At the Finish Line [Haiji Kiyose] - Run With the Wind

thirty-nine - final leg

Tucking his phone into his pocket, Haiji walks back over to Prince who's holding a bag in his arms.

"Chiyo?" He asks.

Haiji nods. "She's fine, just wishing me good luck."

As Prince opens his mouth to answer, the roar of the crowds around them gains their attention and they look over to the checkpoint marker. Having ran the ninth leg of the race, Fujioka walks over to his teammates and they throw a blanket over him, congratulating his performance and celebrating.

"He came through." Haiji takes a step forwards, Prince right behind him. "Congratulations, Fujioka-san. You ran incredibly."

Fujioka walks over to the pair, sweating dripping from his forehead and a towel around his shoulders. "Thank you, Kiyose. But really, I wasn't that great."

Haiji places his hands in his pockets, smiling. "You broke the section record, by the looks of it. That's no easy task."

"Well, it's not impossible," He shrugs. "Maybe it'll be broken again today? Kakeru has the potential to beat me, you and I both know that."

Haiji huffs a laugh. "I hope that means you're still going to fight. You're not going to quit now, are you?"

"Kansei! You'll be next to the checkpoint, get ready!"

Fujioka shakes his head, walking past the two. "Of course not, this is only the beginning. Good luck, Kiyose."

Smiling to himself, Haiji turns to Prince, unzipping his coat and handing it to him.

Prince looks up at Haiji between his long eyelashes. "You know, I should thank you in return."

"For what?"

"For forcing me to do this." Prince answers. "For pulling me out of my comfort zone. I may not have liked it at first, but this was a good thing for me. I know the others feel the same way.

Haiji smiles, ruffling his hair. "I'm glad. I appreciate how hard you and the others worked. This was my dream and now it's a reality."

Hair in a mess, Prince looks up with pursed lips. "But, I know that Chiyo feels the same way when I say that you should come back in one piece."

"What do you mea-"

"Kansei! To the starting line!"

Prince waves a hand. "Whatever, don't listen to me. I know you'll have fun however you run today."

Eyebrows raised as he's taken aback by Prince's words, Haiji grins. "I'll do my best."

Kansei's name is called out again and Haiji looks back at Prince, sending him a nod before he walks over to the checkpoint line, Prince following close behind.

As he steps out onto the road, Haiji's heart beats faster and louder and the cheers are drowned out as he feels his legs start to shake. He clenches a fist, closing his eyes as he takes in a few deeps breaths to calm his nerves.

The fluttering in his stomach subsides and he opens his eyes, blinking a few times as he turns to see Kakeru rounding the corner.

He raises an arm, waving to him as he continues running.

The way he moves is magic --Haiji thinks to himself. This is the ideal runner's form.

Haiji realises that in all the stages of his runner career he'd reached during middle school and high school, the way Kakeru runs is the level he was never reached.

Had his father not worked him hard and pushed him to the point of breaking, Haiji may have been able to achieve what Kakeru has.

Nonetheless, watching Kakeru run for the last time together is bliss. Haiji always knew this would most likely be his last day, so it's not come as a shock to him.