Relay Preparations (2)
The four of us arrived at the courtyard and got right to it,
“We don’t have a ton of time, so let’s just dive in and start practicing.”
We began practicing baton passes until it was time for Date to head off to basketball club—
“Hmm, something’s not going quite right, is it?”
Hasumin tilted her head and muttered after seeing Date fumble and drop the baton from Nitta-san.
But it wasn’t just those two—the baton passes overall had a shaky success rate.
“Rather than keep going like this, maybe we should pause and talk strategy a bit.”
We decided to take a break from practice and hold a quick strategy meeting.
“Passing the baton while both people are running… easy to say, but it’s harder than it looks. The baton’s small and slippery, too.”
Date shrugged with a slightly troubled smile as he picked up the fallen baton.
The move looked oddly stylish on him… as expected of the effortlessly cool Date.
“Let’s be real—it’s all pretty slapdash at this point. Even I almost drop it every other time. We’re going to be nervous during the actual race, too.”
In response to Nitta-san’s comment,
“Even if you’ve nailed it in practice, it’s easy to mess up when it really counts—that’s what makes the real thing scary.”
I agreed with her completely, from the bottom of my heart.
(Back when I first became a Hero, I made tons of mistakes… I’d prepare thoroughly, convinced things would go smoothly, and yet somehow still fail. That happened more times than I care to count.)
Even so, I never lost a single battle. That was because the goddess Athena had loved me more deeply than anyone else ever had.
The blessing I received from Athena was said to be the most powerful divine protection in recorded history.
Well, nowadays I hardly mess up anymore, and even if I do, I’m confident I can recover right away.
As I was thinking that—
“—But seriously, Shuhei-kun, you were doing great as always, huh? Don’t tell me you secretly practiced baton passes just in case something like this happened? Come on, fess up~”
Hasumin poked at my side with her index finger, teasing me playfully.
“What kind of overly-prepared guy do you think I am?”
The ticklish sensation made me laugh as I gently brushed her finger away.
But Hasumin wasn’t about to give up—she came at me again with a double poke, both index fingers in full force.
I braced my abs and met her attack head-on.
“Whoa, what the heck!? What is this?! Your abs are like… steel! Take this! And this!”
Hasumin kept poking at me again and again.
But my well-trained muscles were like iron, effortlessly repelling every one of her attacks.
“Sorry, but weak jabs like that aren’t getting through my defenses.”
“Uh, I wasn’t really trying to ‘attack’ you or anything…”
Even as she said that, she went in for a third poke—but at this point, something that minor wasn’t going to land.
“Looks like I win this round. After those three humiliating defeats in the Mini 4WD races, this is sweet revenge.”
I mean, yeah—it’s probably a little weird for a former Hero to go all out against a regular high school girl’s playful pokes.
But hey, I’ve always been the competitive type.
“Wow, you’re still holding a grudge over that? Shuhei-kun, you’re usually so chill, but you get so petty over the weirdest stuff.”
“It’s not petty. That triple loss absolutely shredded my pride to pieces, okay?”
“It was just a game… and now, surprise attack! Ow!?”
“Too bad—I saw that coming from a mile away.”
Hasumin had tried to lull me into a false sense of security with her casual chatter, but I saw right through her trap.
For someone like me, battle-hardened and trained for real combat, this kind of amateur feint was nothing.
As we continued horsing around like that—
“You two are as lovey-dovey as ever. Why don’t you just get married already? Be sure to invite me to the wedding—I will be there.”
Nitta-san said with a mock-exasperated sigh.