"Hmm…" Tsuna paused for a moment, hesitating. "No need. It's not a competition."
Having Shouko cheer him on in front of so many students? He'd rather not.
Besides, it wasn't an important competition—just a small test.
"Alright then. Good luck later. I'll wait for you at the finish line." Shouko seemed to see through his thoughts and nodded.
"Beep!!!"
Mr. Sakai stood at the starting point of the test, took the whistle from his mouth, and shouted loudly to the team:
"Once you're in line, come over quickly! Don't you want to finish the test early and go play?"
As his words fell, the two teams quickly and neatly walked toward Mr. Sakai without even needing the Class Monitor's command.
"Nishimiya, come out for a moment."
After the teams stood at the starting position and quieted down, Mr. Sakai called out to the team.
"Go on. Mr. Sakai is probably asking you to help him record the students' sprint times." Tsuna took advantage of the moment before Shouko left the team to pinch her cheek.
"Mhm." Shouko slapped his pig hand away, rubbed her right cheek, and walked to Mr. Sakai's side. "What's wrong, Mr. Sakai?"
As it turned out, just as Tsuna said, Mr. Sakai asked Shouko to help with the recording.
Mr. Sakai took a stopwatch from his pocket and said to the two people at the front of the team:
"When I blow the whistle, you start running. When you reach the finish line, just go play. You don't need to come back to the team."
"Yes!"
"Okay, Mr. Sakai."
"Beep!!"
As the sharp whistle pierced the stagnant air, the two students, before they even had time to feel nervous, rushed out of the starting line at the sound of the whistle.
Mr. Sakai stared at the figures of the two people until the boy reached the finish line first. Only then did he press the stopwatch that had started when they began running.
"Shouko, boy: 31.56 seconds, Girl: 34.35 seconds."
"Okay."
Upon hearing this, Shouko quickly lowered her head and wrote down the two times Mr. Sakai had just reported under the top two names on the record sheet.
After Shouko finished recording, Mr. Sakai reset the time on the stopwatch, turned his head, and shouted loudly to the team:
"Alright, next one, get ready!"
————————
"Miyamura, get ready!"
Tsuna watched as the students ahead of him gradually decreased with time, and in the blink of an eye, it was his turn to prepare at the starting line.
Because the number of boys and girls in the class was unequal, when it was his turn, he was the only one standing alone at the starting line, and he began to feel a slight tension in his heart.
Most of the students who finished running went to play with their friends.
A small number, however, gathered around Shouko, looking at the record sheet in her hand, and at the same time, were curious about the time the next student would run.
"Tsuna, go for it!"
Shouko ignored the gazes of the students around her and, gathering her courage, shouted loudly to the person at the starting line.
"Ready!" Mr. Sakai didn't give the two of them a chance to exchange glances and directly interrupted.
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"Beep…!"
As the whistle from Mr. Sakai sounded, the surrounding students hadn't even reacted before Tsuna rushed out of the starting line.
When they looked again, only his receding back was left.
"24.86 seconds? This kid is good."
Mr. Sakai looked at the paused stopwatch in his hand and mumbled softly. Surprise was mixed with a little astonishment.
"Mr. Sakai, what was Tsuna's time?" At this moment, Shouko saw that the other party was slow to report Tsuna's time and couldn't hold back her curiosity, so she asked directly.
"24.86." Mr. Sakai reached out and took the record sheet from her hand, quickly glancing at the times on it.
Seeing that Miyamura Tsunayoshi was a full 4 seconds faster than the fastest student, the idea of persuading him to join the track and field club became even stronger in his heart.
"What!?"
"Mr. Sakai, are you sure you didn't press it too early?"
"Yeah, that's four seconds faster than An'o from the track and field club."
"Go, go, go, go play."
Mr. Sakai ignored their surprise and doubt and directly waved his hand to drive away the students gathered around Shouko.
At this moment, Tsuna also returned from the finish line to the starting line, walked to Shouko's side, and asked curiously: "How was it? How many seconds did I run?"
"24 seconds, the fastest in our class, amazing." Shouko gave him a thumbs up.
Tsuna opened his mouth wanting to bite Shouko's thumb directly, but she dodged it and also gave him a slap in return, telling him to be careful; Mr. Sakai was still nearby.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Mr. Sakai coughed, attracting their attention:
"Miyamura, come, come, come, let's go talk aside. I have something to tell you."
After speaking, he also beckoned to Tsuna.
"Go on, Tsuna. I'll go play with Takagi and the others. Just come find me after you're done." Shouko gently pushed Tsuna beside her.
She knew that Mr. Sakai probably had something important to talk to Tsuna about, and it couldn't be about being caught in an early relationship.
So there was nothing to worry about.
"Mhm." He nodded and quickly followed Mr. Sakai, who had left first.
Shouko stood still and waited until the two had walked a little distance before withdrawing her gaze from Tsuna's back and began searching for the two familiar figures in the gymnasium.
"Mr. Sakai, is there something important?"
The two walked out of the gymnasium side by side. Neither of them spoke on the way. It wasn't until they walked out of the gymnasium and found a bench outside to sit down that Tsuna slowly spoke.
"Don't be so nervous, it's nothing big."
Mr. Sakai smiled lightly and waved his hand, then got straight to the point: "Do you have any thoughts about joining the track and field club?"
——————
"Why did your guy go out with Mr. Sakai?"
After Shouko walked over, Ajitani and Takagi made room in the middle, and then Ajitani, unable to contain her curiosity, asked.
Shouko calmly shook her head: "I'm not sure. He probably has something important to talk to Tsuna about."
She was already used to Ajitani and Takagi's usual teasing, as long as Tsuna wasn't by her side.
"I guess it's probably related to the test just now." Takagi's gaze was fixed on Nishikata, who was playing volleyball with others in the distance.
"That makes sense…" Ajitani nodded thoughtfully, then rested her head on Shouko's left shoulder: "I heard those people say Miyamura ran 24 seconds, is that true?"
"Mhm, Mr. Sakai said it himself, so it shouldn't be a lie."
Shouko tried to push her head away and, finding it ineffective, let the other person lean on her.
"Then my guess should be pretty close." Takagi saw that Ajitani was already leaning on her and unceremoniously rested her head on her right shoulder:
"Mr. Sakai is the advisor for the track and field club, so he's probably asking Miyamura to consider joining the track and field club."
"…" The helpless Shouko.
"We'll know when Tsuna comes back."
Shouko gently pushed Takagi's head, finding it somewhat effective, but the other person only adjusted their angle, so she resigned herself to it.
However, she didn't dislike the current situation; on the contrary, she felt it was quite nice…
"Oh right, Takagi-chan, how have things been with you and Nishikata lately?"
After a moment of silence, Ajitani's attention was drawn to the movement from the volleyball game, and then she asked curiously.
"How have things been?" Takagi's gaze was also on the volleyball game, and she asked knowingly.
And Shouko just pricked up an ear, her gaze steady on the entrance of the gymnasium.