The exam has come and gone. I didn’t fail any of the subjects, and I’m in the top 20 again. Nagano and Nitta somehow passed all their exams, although some were passed barely than others.

   ‘Man, those are some terrible scores.’ I remark as I look at their scores that are posted on the bulletin board.

   ‘Oh, shut it will you? A pass is a pass!’ Nagano says.

   ‘Exactly. You’ll never understand how we’ll ever feel, Mister Top 20!’ Nitta agrees.

   I walk over to the first years and search for Miiko.

   ‘How did it went for you, Miiko?’ I ask my cousin.

   ‘I passed all of them, onii-chan! And I got a good ranking too! See?’

   She points at where her name is. Yup. Her rank is 47th out of 264 students.

   ‘Well done.’ I congratulate her. ‘I’ll cook up a feast tonight to celebrate. What do you want to eat?’

   ‘Breaded shrimps!’

   ‘Nice timing. I was thinking of having them too.’

   ‘Well that’s not fair onii-chan! You just said that we’re going to celebrate my good result!’

   ‘For your information, you’re not the only one who got good results.’

   ‘I’m pretty sure that this is normal for you.’

   ‘Hey, what’s the harm? I’m cooking a huge batch anyway.’

   ‘By the way, Maya-chan passed her Literature too.’ Miiko tells me while pulling Amamo to her side.

   ‘Good for you, Amano.’ I tell her.

   ‘Thank you, senpai.’ she says modestly.

   ‘Now aren’t you glad that you joined us for the study session?’ Miiko asks.

   ‘...Yes.’ Amano replies reluctantly.

   ‘Well let’s have another one before the next test, okay?’

   ‘No thank you. I was just confused with the new syllabus. I can handle it on my own from now on.’

   ‘Seriously, do you hate to be in a group that much?’

   I look at Motozawa and Matsuda-san.

   ‘How did the two of you do?’ I ask them.

   ‘I did quite well, senpai. I only got a mediocre score in Physics, but still.’ Motozawa answers.

   ‘My results were more or less good too.’

   ‘That’s good to hear. Looks like none of you are going to supplementary classes this summer.’

   ‘We’ll be together the entire day. Right Maya-chan?’ Miiko tells Amano.

   The latter looks at her with dread.

   ‘I rather not.’ she tells Miiko bluntly.

   Even though exam’s over, there’s still one more obstacle left for us. The marathon.

   Granted, compared to an exam, running a few kilometers is nothing. The thing is, that brain dead chairwoman made it compulsory for all of us to complete the marathon. If we somehow failed or were absent, we have to redo it during the summer holiday until we clear it.

   ‘Will you be able to survive, Suzu?’ I ask the girl with the poor stamina as we’re about to start a consultation.

   ‘I definitely can’t~. There goes my summer holiday~.’ Suzu sobs.

   ‘You know, you could just practice jogging. There’s still three weeks, after all.’ I suggest.

   She looks at me with an expression like I just told her that she can’t play video games for the rest of her life.

   ‘What are you saying, Takkun~? There’s no way my frail body can take it~!’

   ‘I guess you can’t join our field trip then.’

   Suzu proceeds to bury her face at the table and sobs loudly.

   ‘How’s your stamina, Futaki?’ I ask Futaki next.

   ‘It’s somewhat around average.’ she answers. ‘I’ll be enhancing it for these next few weeks.’

   I look at Suzu. ‘See Suzu? You should learn from her.’

   The girl is still too busy with her sobbing to reply me.

   I look at the phone. ‘Well, the client should be here any second.’

   ‘Aren’t you going to ask about my stamina, Bandou-kun?’ Nagano demands.

   ‘Don’t know, don’t care.’

   Futaki looks at the two of us.

   ‘I’ve been meaning to ask this for some time now, senpais. Are the two of you in a bad term with each other?’ she asks.

   ‘You could say that.’ I tell her ambiguously.

   ‘It’s best if you don’t ask, Haruka-chan.’ Nagano adds.

   Futaki decides to drop it.

   Fifteen minutes after the appointed time, our first client of the day still hasn’t showed up.

   ‘Hey, is that client showing up or not?’ I ask Nagano. ‘Some of us have better things to do, you know!’

   She takes out her phone. ‘Hold on. I’ll try to call him.’

   It was at this moment that someone knocks on the door.

   ‘Come in.’ Nagano tells whoever is outside.

   The door opens and in comes a male student who’s a bit chubby. He has the look and smell of someone who just hit the showers.

   ‘Just to confirm. You’re Yogi Renji-kun of Class 1-5, right?’ Nagano asks.

   ‘That’s right. I’m sorry for being late.’ he apologizes.

   ‘You’d better. Don’t you know it’s rude to keep people waiting?’ I ask him bluntly.

   ‘I’m sorry, senpai. I really am. I was jogging right before I came here, you see. That took majority of my stamina away. The finisher was the trip to the bathroom. I honestly thought I was going to faint.’

   I raise my eyebrow. ‘You trying to increase you stamina for the marathon or something?’

   ‘Um, yes. Although I have a slight personal motivation.’

   ‘Go on.’

   ‘Well, there’s this girl called Nakahara Ino-san from my class.’

   He has the look of someone who’s absolutely love struck.

   ‘She’s pretty, she’s kind, she’s friendly, she’s smart, and she’s athletic.’ he continues. ‘She’s practically well-liked by everyone!’

   He becomes gloomy all of a sudden.

   ‘And then there’s me. A fat lump of meat.’ he says with a self-loathing tone.

   ‘I need to ask this. Are you in love with her because of some surface level stuff like her looks?’ I ask.

   ‘Well, partly. I mean, she’s everything I couldn’t be.’

   ‘You know, that’s how makeup companies sell their products.’

   Nagano absolutely surprised me with what she said next.

   ‘If that’s all it took to make you fall in love with her, it’s better if you give up on her.’ she advises. ‘Relationship like this never lasts long.’

   Wow, Nagano’s actually making sense. What has the world come to?

   ‘It’s more than that. There was a time when my mouth got dirty, and she borrowed me her handkerchief so that I could wipe my mouth.’ Yogi says. ‘No girl has ever treated me as nice as she did. And at that moment, I was smitten with her.’

   ‘Wait. That’s all it took?’

   He hangs his head in shame. ‘That’s all it took. Pretty pathetic, aren’t I?’

   ‘There’s nothing pathetic about that. Us guys tend to fall in love over the stupidest reasons.’ I tell him.

   He looks at me with an astonished look.

   ‘Even you, Bandou-senpai?’ he asks me.

   ‘Well, yeah. I got rejected 16 times so far.’

   ‘16 times? Are you serious, Bandou-senpai?’

   I raise my eyebrow. ‘Is it really that surprising?’

   ‘It is! You’re one of the people I look up to, after all! You’re tall, you’re buff, and you’re quite handsome! Um, I don’t mean anything when I said that last part.’

   ‘Yes, yes, no need to explain. You’ll just make things awkward.’

   I’m no narcissist, so I’ve never see myself as someone who’s desirable. It’s true that I’m kind of tall with the height of 173cm. My muscles have developed well after my intense Muay Thai training combined with some weight lifting I do every once in a while. I don’t know about the handsome part though.

   The girls look at me closely all of a sudden.

   ‘It’s true. You’re quite pleasing to the eyes, Bandou-senpai.’ Futaki agrees with Yogi.

   ‘Yup yup. Takkun’s one handsome boy!’ Suzu tells me while giving me two thumbs-up.

   ‘I guess you kind of are.’ Nagano admits grudgingly. ‘I’ll give you a 7 out of 10.’

   Yogi slams his head on the table.

   ‘If someone like Bandou-senpai got rejected so many times, what chance do I have?’ he sobs loudly.

   Oh man. I so shouldn’t have brought that up. However, it was Nagano again who spoke up.

   ‘You don’t have to be so depressed. Just because Bandou-kun failed so many times, it doesn’t guarantee that you don’t stand a chance either.’ she comforts him.

   She looks at me apologetically while she said that. I just waved her apology away.

   ‘She’s right, Yogi-kun. You should be brave and confess to her.’ Futaki encourages.

   ‘It’s not as easy as that, though. I have a competition, and he’s a very tough one.’

   ‘Who are you talking about?’ I ask.

   ‘Sakata Hiroya from the same class as us.’

   ‘Oh, dear.’ Futaki mumbles.

   ‘Do you know him, Futaki?’ I ask her.

   ‘Yes, senpai. He’s pretty much a prince among us first years. Well, not to me. I’ve never talked to him personally, but the girls in my class talk about him all the time. Even though he’s still a first year, he’s already the vice-captain of the kendo club. And from what I heard, he’s a very sweet and caring person, not to mention charismatic and outgoing.’

   ‘I’ve heard of him too. Apparently, he’s number one in the “The ideal candidate for a boyfriend” list.’ Nagano says.

   I’m less than enthusiastic on knowing my rank on that list, so I just kept quiet.

   ‘The two of them are quite close, and I always see them hanging out with each other inside and outside the school.’ Yogi says bitterly. ‘I can’t imagine myself having a chance.’

   ‘But you’re willing to give it a go anyway by starting to lose weight?’ I ask.

   ‘Yes. Although I’m having a hard time with it. Every time I’m starting to lose weight, I immediately get them back and then some more after eating a little too much.’ he admits while looking ashamed.

   ‘I know how you feel. It’s very difficult to go on a diet with all these delicious food around.’ Futaki says in a melancholy tone.

   ‘I know, right? Bloody calories.’ Nagano agrees.

   Suzu isn’t saying anything. My guess is that she’s one of those people who’ll never get fat no matter how much they eat. She’s probably keeping quiet so that she doesn’t offend those three.

   ‘Your motivation aside, losing weight is a good thing.’ I tell Yogi. ‘If you’re really willing to work hard, we can go for morning jogs together.’

   ‘Really, senpai? You’ll do that?’

   ‘Sure. I always go for jogs anyway. Having someone else joining me can be quite a change of pace. Can you wake up at 4 in the morning?’

   Suddenly, he looks a lot less enthusiastic.

   ‘I-I’ll try…’

   ‘Good. We’ll meet up at the school gate.’

   I look at Suzu.

   ‘I know I’m wasting my time by asking this, but do you want to join us Suzu?’ I ask her. ‘You don’t want to collapse when we’re running for real, do you?’

   ‘No thanks~.’ she declines lazily. ‘I’ll just walk until i reach the goal~.’

   I shrug. ‘Suit yourself.’

   ‘What are you plans on confessing to Nakahara-san?’ Nagano asks Yogi.

   He looks at her sheepishly. ‘I don’t really have any. For now, I want to concentrate on losing my weight.’

   ‘In that case, you should try to talk to her more before confessing. If you confess to her out of the blue, she might be too surprised to give you a proper answer. Ask about her hobby, favorite food, that sort of things. If you’re bold enough, you should ask her out for a date.’ she suggests to him.

   ‘Date aside, I’ll at least try to talk to her. Thank you very much, senpai.’

   ‘You’re welcome.’

   ‘What got into you, Nagano?’ I couldn’t help but ask Nagano after Yogi left. ‘I mean, you’re giving out decent advises left and right today.’

   ‘I’ve been reading some books and blogs about giving out romantic advises. I can’t keep on relying on you or Haruka-chan, can I?’ she replies.

   Suzu gasps loudly. ‘Aiai actually studied? Is the sky going to fall~?’

   ‘My thoughts exactly.’

   Nagano rolls her eyes. ‘I’m glad that you guys think so highly of me.’

   ‘It’s always a good idea to improve yourself.’ Futaki tells her.

   ‘Oh, Haruka-chan! You’re my only ally in this room!’ Nagano cries.

   To Yogi’s credit, he actually went to the school gate the next day while wearing the school’s sports wear.

   ‘So you actually came. Good for you. Now let’s get started.’ I tell him.

   He bows at me. ‘I’ll be in your care.’

   ‘We’ll start with your form. To jog properly, you need to inhale twice and exhale twice whenever you breath. Also, you have to match your breathing with your footsteps. That way, you’ll never run out of breath.’ I tell him.

   He widens his eyes in surprise.

   ‘There’s actually such a trick for jogging? I never knew!’ he exclaims.

   ‘You do now. Now try it out.’

   ‘Got it, senpai.’

   Yogi’s not used to this method of jogging, so it took him quite a while to get it right. When he eventually starts to get the hang of it, he managed to run for five whole minutes. It’s not because he’s out of breath, but rather his legs are getting sore.

   ‘I guess there’s more than one thing to watch out for when you’re jogging.’ he says while massaging his legs.

   ‘Don’t worry about it. Just take things one at a time.’ I tell him.

   ‘Yes, senpai. Still, it’s already a miracle that I actually get to run for five minutes straight without dying.’

   ‘Keep it up, and you might be able to run for thirty minutes one day.’

   ‘I don’t know about that, but at least I’m making progress.’

   So he is. And not just in jogging. He gives me a report on his progress with Nakahara whenever we jog.

   ‘She isn’t rejecting my approach so far.’ he tells me one day. ‘Her friends are a different story, though. They keep on telling her to stay away from me, and told me to stay away from her.’

   ‘Just ignore them.’ I advise. ‘Ultimately, she’s the one who’s going out with you if things went well. Just stay strong and keep on playing the offense.’

   ‘Speaking of staying strong, I have to prepare myself for a rejection, don’t I?’

   ‘You should.’ I agree. ‘It’s sad, but it happens. Might as well start preparing just in case.’

   Time flies in an instant, and it’s the day of the marathon. After a brief warm-up session, all of us gather at the school gate. I’ve never met Sakata before, but I could know which one is him straight away.

   ‘KYAAAH~! SAKATA-KUN~!’

   ‘LOOK OVER HERE!’

   ‘PLEASE BE MY BOYFRIEND!’

   Sakata himself is smiling and waving at the girls who refuse to shut up. Needless to say, he’s getting a lot of death stares from lots of guys, including me.

   Nitta is also getting lots of attention. Her too, is busy smiling and waving.

   Suzu, on the other hand, is calm considering the fact that the marathon is about to start.

   ‘Just so you know, I’m not going to carry you.’ I tell her.

   ‘There’s no need for that, Takkun~. I’ve thought up of something brilliant, after all~.’ she says to me smugly.

   ‘If you’re talking about Serizawa-san, he’s not coming.’ Nagano tells her.

   That gave Suzu a huge shock.

   ‘Why not~?’

   ‘I called him just in case, and wouldn’t you know? He told me that you wanted him to wait for you at the park nearby so that he could give you a ride.’

   ‘And he just agreed to it?’ I ask.

   ‘She lied to him that she was working as one of the people who mans the check point. So there you have it, Suzu. You’ll have to come back here by yourself.’

   Suzu is so shocked she slumps down on the ground.

   ‘How could you, Aiai? How could you~?’ she sobs.

   I look at Yogi who happens to stand right next to me.

   ‘Are you ready for this, man?’ I ask him.

   ‘I think so.’ he answers after a gulp.

   ‘Just remember what I taught you and you’ll be fine. Unlike the ojou-sama who’s despairing on the floor.’

   ‘Hey~!’

   While we’re still talking, a teacher who’s holding a starting pistol aims the gun towards the air and fires. At the signal, all the students depart on their own pace. Some of the girls are too busy cheering for Sakata they didn’t even bother to start running themselves.

   I was planning to take things slow, but the cheering for Sakata got so annoying I decide to really run for it. It only took me a few seconds to outrun him and even some of those at the lead.

   This marathon is a 10 kilometers course that requires its participants to run through one whole neighbourhood before returning to the school To prevent cheaters, 5 checkpoints had been set up. Students are to collect tokens made of paper in order to complete this marathon. The top ten students who came back the quickest are eligible for some prizes. I don’t care about them at all. I just want to be petty and try to outrun Sakata.

   So far, I’ve run and run and run some more. The only time I slow down was when I have the collect the tokens. Each time, the students or teachers who gave me the token tell me that I’m the first one who arrived at their station. Things are looking good.

   I don’t know how long I’ve ran, but I got back to the school before I know it. After Shimada-sensei verifies all the tokens I collected to be genuine, she declared me the first student who returned here. I ran so quickly I’m actually wheezing a little bit. Even so, it was totally worth it.

   ‘I had a feeling that you went all out just for something pointless and childish.’ Shimada-sensei says.

   ‘You know me so well, sensei. Am I allowed to go back?’

   She raises her eyebrow.

   ‘You don’t want the prize?’ she asks.

   ‘Nope. It’s probably something stupid anyway.’

   ‘It’s a pair ticket to a water park.’

   ‘I stand corrected. What’s a single guy going to do with that?’

   ‘You could invite someone.’ she suggests.

   ‘No thank you.’ I decline politely. ‘Just burn it or something.’

   She hands me a ticket.

   ‘Oh, don’t say that. Just hold on to it. Who knows? You might end up finding someone who wants to go with you. The ticket has no expiry date, so just take your time.’

   I sigh and take the ticket. With that, I’m allowed to go home early that day. On the next day, Yogi dropped by and tells us the good news.

   ‘I found her alone in inside the school after I was done running. Seeing this as a chance, I brought up my courage and went after her. And then, I confessed to her. And she said yes. She actually said yes.’

   ‘Well good for you.’ I tell him.

   I guess Nakahara isn’t some shallow girl who cares about a guy’s shape. I mean, even though Yogi had been jogging every single day and dieting like crazy (at least that’s what he told me), he’s still around the same as before he started the intense training.

   ‘I couldn’t thank you all enough. I would love to bring Makahara-san here, but she has piano practice.’

   ‘Don’t worry about it.’

   He bows at us. ‘Well then, I’m taking my leave. Once again, thank you all for your help.’

   Nagano stretches after he leaves.

   ‘Well, that’s another case solved. You guys ready to take on more cases today?’

   ‘Yes.’

   ‘No.’

   ‘Nope~.’

   ‘Come on, you two! Be more enthusiastic like Haruka-chan!’

   ‘Yeah. Not happening.’