Soul for a Girlfriend?

Chapter 143 - So I Had To Participate After All

"Oh… shit!" Is the only word that left my mouth at that moment, as everyone else looked at him and then followed his gaze towards me.

"No, why me?!" I rebelled as all of them suddenly thought that Ts?men was right and decided that I should be Saki's Partner.

"Ohohoho definitely you…" Gaisen was laughing hard with Ts?men as the all girls were probing the heck out of me to be Saki's partner. This was a strange kind of pressure I was feeling.

"Sakamaki-kun… pleeaseeeee!!!!" Saki joined her hands and asked with puppy dog eyes which apparently had no effects on me.

"But I'm not really good at sports… what if I mess everything up?" I said, as no way in hell I'm taking part in something, let alone a three-legged race.

"Don't worry… just help me from not getting disqualified." She asked, and I could see the expectations of others in their eyes too.

"Help her, Saishi!!" Kana said in an authoritative tone which pissed me off at that moment, because it felt like she was ordering me around.

"Yeah… Saishi-kun." Reina also joined in with them. As I turned towards her and remembered that she wasn't taking part in any events, I pointed at her and said, "Bu… Come on, take Reina with you."

"It's one boy and one girl, you stupid?" Saki said in an irritated voice. I looked around and Ts?men was looking at me with a smug. He is definitely a better candidate than me for sports, "Then Ts?men?"

"Bruh I can't run in these…" He held his hakama and said laughing.

"Oh Saishi, don't be a wimp man! Come on… We know you can do it!" Gaisen walked up to me and wrapped his around my neck and pulled me towards him.

"It's not that I'm being a wimp…" I said, and Kana instantly replied in an excited tone, "Ok then… Bestieee he agreed!!!"

"No wait… I didn't…" I looked at her dumbfounded, but she put her hands over her ears and said, "Eh… can't hear you… quite loud here."

"..." 

"What are we gonna do about our pace matching? I haven't practiced with her." I asked the real question but they all seemed unfazed by it as Saki said, "Don't worry about trivial things like that."

"Gaisen, go change their names…"Kana said, and with a smug face he looked towards me and walked off, "Hai Hai! On my way…"

"So you had to participate after all…" Ts?men walked next to me and chuckled, as I replied with a sigh,  "Yeah… thanks to your brilliancy!"

"No problem, fam!" He punched on the shoulder playfully and laughed. The conversation went on for some time as it was mostly me and Saki planning things out about how we were going to do it properly.

As the moment of truth came, as the teacher called out to the participants of second year to gather on the starting line over the microphone. I looked at Tsumen and the others with an unsure look, as Ts?men with his usual goofy smile. 

Saki headed towards the starting line as I followed her. A strange overwhelming feeling was drawn upon me as I stood on the starting line with Saki standing next to me and the hundreds of eyes upon us.

The PE teacher handed us the ribbon to tie our legs together. I took it from her hand and bent down to tie our legs together. Since she was standing on my right side, it was my right leg with her left leg.

I looked up towards her and she was looking at me intently with nervous eyes. The pressure was slowly setting upon her I assumed. I stood up and said, "Tomose-san, relax a bit…"

She looked around for a bit, before saying hesitantly, "Saki…"

"Eh…?" I asked with clear confusion on my face. She looked towards me with her hazel eyes which were reflecting the sunlight off them and repeated herself, a bit restlessly, "Ca… call me Saki…"

"Eh… Saki...san?" I said, as she was requesting me to call her by her first name which was a bit weird considering I'm not really that close with her.

"Mhm…" She nodded with a soft smile, as I continued, "Listen I may not have practiced with you, but just follow my lead...okay?"

She nodded with a half hearted smile of positivity, "I know… just a bit nervous you know…"

Well knowing that cheering her up would just be a waste of time, I started explaining, "Listen… as the race begins… start with your free leg first, and then we will move our joined leg… okay?"

As we were standing still, she slowly stepped forward with her right and as I followed her put my left leg forwards. Then slowly, we paced our joined leg and she said said, "Okay…"

To lighten up her mood, I looked towards her, and said, "Also don't worry about the positions… let's just try our best."

Muttering something to herself, and after a few moments of silence she nodded with a thumbs up gesture, "Alright!"

Standing on my right side were a boy and girl from another class and after them was Kizhashi and Gaisen. They looked quite confident, as Kizhashi was smiling and Gaisen looked like he was entering his game mode. When he gets serious, he actually looks quite intimidating.

The PE teacher came forth with a whistle dangling around his neck, as he ordered, "Participants, on your mark!"

All of us got in position, and Saki wrapped her arm around my shoulder. Both of us were looking straight in front of us. It was a 100 m race, and there were complications to consider such as matching pace with your partner.

"Get set!" The PE teacher yelled and Saki was breathing heavily, as I grabbed her shoulder slightly and said under my breath without looking at her, "It'll be alright."

With the final blow of the whistle, the PE teacher announced, "GO!!!" and the race started.