It was now the very next day after school. Unlike yesterday, however, I wouldn't be able to skip out on the after-school rehearsal.
Mei had asked through text if I was willing to practice the three-legged race with her. I didn't have anything to do, and I wasn't one to turn down an invitation from someone, so I accepted her offer.
I was already at the field and had changed into the gym uniform. Our gym uniform consisted of a plain white shirt, black shorts, and a black jacket—which I didn't have on at the moment.
It was too hot this afternoon to be wearing that. Even without it, I was already sweating just from standing in the sun's heat.
I had been waiting for about two minutes when Mei finally showed up. She was slightly out of breath, her face flushed from exertion. Even so, she continued to wear the gym uniform's black jacket.
"Sorry, I'm late," she panted. "I was helping our classmates set up some of the practice events."
I shook my head, unbothered. "It's fine. I just got here anyway."
Obviously, that was a lie. But it wasn't that long of a wait, so it wasn't a problem. Still, whether I had waited two minutes or ten, my response would have been the same.
The same could be said about her.
"Really? That's a relief," she said, her shoulders relaxing.
And there it is.
"So," I said, moving on. "Do you want to practice now? Or do you want to catch your breath first?"
Mei was clearly tired, but I already knew how she would respond. Not because there was only one right answer—but because the one answering was Mei.
Mei straightened her posture as she wiped the sweat line off her forehead. "No, it's fine. I don't want to keep you waiting any longer."
I could have continued insisting, but that would only lead to an endless loop of back and forth that'd bring us nowhere. It was better to simply move on.
"Then I'll get us started."
I closed the distance between us until our arms were brushing against each other. I knelt down with the cloth band in my hand and looped it around her right ankle and my left.
Maybe it was because she was already tired, but as I tried to stand, the sudden tether caught Mei off guard. She staggered, almost as if she were about to fall at any moment.
Acting on instinct, I reached out and caught her by the right wrist to steady her.
The moment I did, there was a short, sharp pause. In that moment, from our connection, I felt a bolt of tension in her arm.
"...You okay?" I asked, somewhat hesitantly.
As soon as I asked that, the tension vanished.
"Yes!" she replied, her voice full of relief along with gratitude. "That was kind of embarrassing, but thank you for catching me."
"No problem."
After making sure her footing was stable, I let go of her arm. Mei took the time to dust off her clothes. I looked off to the side, but I kept her in the corner of my vision, studying her movements.
The way her hands carefully nicked at the fabric of her clothes carried the same poise she always had, as if the earlier tension never existed in the first place.
I guess—if I were to look at it from her perspective—almost falling and then getting caught the very next second would be quite the shock. Not everyone would register it right away, and Mei was no exception.
"Well, you ready?" Mei asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I gave her a small nod. "Yeah."
Without wasting any more time, I put my arm around her shoulder, and she wrapped her right arm tightly around my chest. Our height difference wasn't that big—maybe two or three inches at most—so it was pretty easy to stabilize ourselves.
I stared straight ahead, focusing on the dirt of the track.
"On three," I signalled. "One. Two. Three."
We didn't plan, we didn't strategize, we just moved.
The first couple of seconds were a disaster of tangled limbs and mismatched strides. I'd try to take a step down while she lifted; she'd speed up while I held back. At one point, she almost toppled over, and she clutched onto my shirt desperately.
I wasn't any better. Every few steps or so, I'd lose my footing and almost fall face first onto the track. Mei would have to grab the back of my collar and pull me upright each time.
It was a real mess—but that only lasted the first couple of seconds.
I stopped looking at the track and started looking at her. I analyzed her stride, her lean, and the way her weight shifted before each step. I adjusted my rhythm to match hers perfectly.
I thought it was going too smoothly at first, but that's when I realized: She was doing the exact same thing.
Her eyes were locked onto my feet, her body micro-adjusting to accommodate every one of my movements.
It was like we were becoming exact copies of each other.
By the time I realized it, we had already finished our first lap. Neither of us was out of breath, but we still took refuge under a nearby tent for a quick break.
"That wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," I admitted.
I've done the three-legged race before with Luna in my first year and Yu in my second. And in all those runs, I'd say this was the best first attempt I've ever done.
Mei giggled, shaking her head. "No, I don't think it was okay. I'm actually willing to say it was… good! I think that might be the best run I've ever done."
It sounded like a bit of a stretch… but I was somewhat inclined to agree. Maybe with a few more practice runs, it could become true.
Mei extended her hand to me. "Let's go again. I think we could do an even better job."
I stared at her hand, then at her, my sarcastic grin growing with each second. "I think we should go for the school record."
It was a half-joke and half-not. I think we actually could beat the record if we tried—whatever that record actually was.
Mei tilted her head in confusion as my words slowly sank in, before letting out a loud laugh. "Hehehe, sure! Let's do it!"
I grabbed her hand, and she helped pull me up.
We returned to the field, and just like before, I bent down and tied our legs together. This time, however, Mei didn't stagger.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, and she wrapped hers around my chest. Not as tight as before, but firmly enough that she wouldn't lose balance. It was probably because we were getting better.
"Three. Two. One!"
The moment I counted to one, we ran. No words were exchanged. We didn't even glance at each other. We simply ran—each step landing perfectly in time with the other one.
The run ended in a flash, but even so, we didn't stop. We continued to run lap after lap, each lap faster than the previous one, even though we should have been getting more tired.
Before I realized it, I found myself having... fun. It was just a simple race, but for some reason, I was enjoying it. I never would have thought running with someone you were perfectly in sync with would be this fun.
And it seemed like I wasn't the only one who shared this sentiment. I noticed that ever since we started, Mei had been... laughing.
I don't know how long we were practicing, but by the time we were out of breath, the sun had already begun its descent, casting long, orange shadows across the field.
Mei and I returned to the nearby tent and finished the rest of our water. While it helped refresh me, it didn't cool off the sweat that ran down my face.
"It's too hot for this shit," I said, fanning my face with the collar of my shirt.
"I know, right?" Mei agreed, trying to regulate her breathing.
I shot her a quick glance. She was sweating, her face bright red from the heat, and yet, even after all this time... she was still wearing her black gym jacket. Zipped up. Sleeves down.
"Then why don't you just take off your jacket?" I asked. It was the only logical solution, after all.
Mei's hand twitched, as if it were about to move, before she held it in place. "Don't get me wrong, it's hot, but I like the heat! It helps me focus when I play sports."
On the surface, it was a reasonable answer. Yu did the same thing whenever he played basketball; he always wore a hoodie. It didn't matter if he was sweating or not; he never took it off. So, her answer should have been perfectly fine.
Except…
A memory suddenly flickered in my mind. While it did rub me the wrong way, it should have been completely nothing. I thought I was just overthinking. But now...
That's right… that day when I was on a walk and ran into Mei… what was she wearing?
If I remember correctly, it had been hot that night, too. She claimed she'd been out running. And yet, she'd still been wearing her uniform—even though it was nighttime.
But most strangely of all, her uniform… had a cardigan over it.
Hot afternoon. Hot night. Always covered. Always zipping up.
From what I could think of, there should have been absolutely nothing connecting these two events. Yet, I couldn't shake off this eerie feeling that settled in my chest.
I studied her face for a moment, but I couldn't find a single crack in that cherry smile of hers.
As if sensing my gaze, she looked up at me from her water bottle and stared back at me, confused as to why I was just looking without saying anything.
Maybe if she hadn't noticed, I could have studied her a bit longer, but now that she was aware, I couldn't do so without looking like a creep.
With a loud, resigned sigh, I stood up and began stretching. "Well, I'm kinda tired. Wanna head home?"
Mei stood up as well. "Sure." She paused for a second, as if thinking about what to say next. "...Are you going to walk me home?"
I couldn't help but scoff. Partially out of shock that Mei actually teased me, but more so out of pride. "Is that supposed to be a challenge? I can if you want, but I thought you said your Dad was strict."
Mei let out a surprised gasp, whether it was genuine or mocking—I couldn't tell. "Wow. I'm surprised you remembered that."
"Of course I do. I thought your Dad reminded me of mine."
Mei giggled softly. "Is that so? You must have a good Dad then."
The words came out before I could even think. "A good Dad? Nah, he's kind of an ass. But he's what I have to deal with."
While the words came out harsher than I would have wanted, I didn't feel bad. I thought it was kind of funny.
Sorry, Dad, but I'm sure you'll forgive me. I know you use my name as a joke to make Mom and Lily laugh, too, so what goes around comes around.
"Well then," I said, nudging my head in the direction of the school gate. "Shall we get going?"
"Sure!" Mei replied, pushing herself up.
With that, we walked to the gate together, talking about nothing and everything. Her smile never wavered, and her jacket never came off.