~Yotsuba~
The bright sun peaked just over the dirty gray buildings surrounding the track field. Yotsuba took a deep gulp of water from her sports bottle, tore open an energy bar, and ate it in two large bites. She squinted in the direction of the sun; the spring heat felt stifling, signaling that it was nearing noon and the end of their practice. Her teammates clumped together in groups—most of them were from Osaka and knew each other from high school—the rest usually stuck to their specialty. The high jumpers chatted with the other high jumpers, the shot putters exchanged towels and snacks with the other shot putters. Even Yotsuba found herself gravitating towards her fellow sprinters. She chatted with the team, sharing running times, improvements, and complaints about the day's practice.
"Nakano-san, can you help us take the mats to storage?" One of the upperclassmen called out to her.
"Sure thing, senpai!" Yotsuba hurried to stuff dusty, sweaty mats into the utility closet at the opposite side of the field.
After packing away all the equipment, Yotsuba stretched and tugged at her drenched practice jersey. She crinkled her nose from the smell that she was embarrassed to admit was her own.
The stench of hard work!
"Ah, I do stink pretty bad, though," she said to no one in particular.
She collected her belongings and returned to the lockers, not forgetting to smack the when the work gets hard, the hard get working sign hung above the entrance. Passing by the booming radio and loud chattering groups of teammates. Yotsuba soaked in the atmosphere. It was the electric high of a hard practice. The kind of raw energy that could power a small city. She quickly found her locker, threw off her sweaty track shoes, and rubbed her sore, blistered feet. She moaned with relief.
"Great work Nakano-san!" her teammate patted her shoulder as she passed by with nothing but a towel covering her body.
Yotsuba slipped her damp clothes off her shoulders, quickly covering herself with a fresh towel embroidered with 'Kansai University Track Team' in their school colors. She sighed with relief as she entered the shower, hanging her towel just outside the door. The warm water bounced off her skin and washed away her weariness. She stepped out a few moments later, her skin flushed pink from the hot water. Throwing on a plain white t-shirt and a fresh pair of comfortable shorts, she vigorously rubbed the towel over her hair one last time to fully dry it.
"Nakano-san?" Her captain asked.
Yotsuba jumped, smacking her elbow on the door of her locker in her haste. "Ow ow ow ow ow!" She soothed her elbow, trying to rub out the static buzzing on her arm.
"Are you okay?" Her team captain laughed.
"Maenaka-senpai," Yotsuba said, ignoring the remaining tingling coming from her elbow. "Yes, I'm okay."
"You sure don't seem like it," Maenaka-senpai said. Her frame was broad and strong. Easily towering over Yotsuba. She could hardly believe Maenaka-senpai was a sprinter like her. But she knew better than to underestimate her. She was strong, yes, But she was also fast. Maenaka-senpai pulled back her lacy black bangs with a sweaty old-looking hairband. "I just wanted to say you first-years are really impressing me. Especially you, Nakano-san. You're smoking some of our fourth years out there!"
"Oh," she paused, unsure how to take the sudden compliment. "Thanks! I promise to try my best!" Yotsuba grinned.
"I'm sure you will, Nakano-san," Maenaka-senpai said. "Are you open to some advice?"
YOU ARE READING
The Quintessential Quintuplets: Marching Forward
FanfictionFollowing the events of the manga, Futaro and the Nakano sisters progress into the next stage of their life: adulthood. Who would have thought college, work, and even relationships could be so confusing, messy, and awkward! Join me in my vision for...
