High Speed!

Chapter 4: Relay

Chapter Four: Relay

A freezing wind was blowing along the road to the school again in the morning. Rin was running by himself down the road where everyone was hunching their shoulders and walking with their faces turned downward. He passed by the other children as they exhaled their white breaths into the air, sometimes almost seeming as if he was going to run into them.

The poplar-lined street didn't lead to the swim club, so it wasn't the best choice for running. During the time when everyone was commuting to school, there were too many people on the road, and he couldn't run like he wanted to. Therefore, there wasn't much meaning in Rin running here, and it couldn't even be said that he wasn't a bit of a nuisance to the people around him.

Ahead of where Rin was running, a brown-tinted white scarf was waving in the wind. Rin raised his pace a little bit and caught up to the scarf, his breath coming out in white puffs as his feet stopped moving.

"Good morning, Yazaki-san."

A smile was blooming on Aki's face today, too, as she turned around. Rin wondered if she just always walked around with a smile on her face.

"Good morning, Matsuoka-kun. Did you run here?"

"Yeah, it's sort of like training." To illustrate this, Rin puffed out a few more white breaths.

"Ah, that's amazing. But running in a place like this is sort of dangerous."

Rin breathed the puffs of white back in. "Yeah, but I'm careful when I run, so..."

Aki's scarf fluttered in the breeze, brushing against Rin's cheek. The scarf which remained stained even though it had been washed... Rin didn't know why Haruka had climbed down the bank to pick up that scarf. At this point, he had no intention of asking, in the same way that he didn't intend to pursue the reason that Makoto had been trembling.

And so, Rin didn't even think of asking Aki why she was still wearing that brown-tinted scarf. "I'm sorry I asked you to do something unreasonable yesterday."

As Rin said this, Aki shook her head slightly. "Not at all. I think it's a good idea for Nanase-kun to swim in the relay, too."

"Oh? Why's that?"

Aki cast her eyes downward at Rin's straightforward question, still smiling. Then she raised her gaze slowly, looking somewhere far away. "Nanase-kun seems like he can do anything all by himself, doesn't he? He's good at studying and sports and even art. He really can do anything, right? That's why everyone relies on him, but it would really be something for Nanase-kun to rely on anyone, wouldn't it?"

Rin certainly thought this was true. He had only just transferred, but the image that Rin had of Haruka was exactly that. But even if Haruka didn't have the will to go out and get involved with other people on his own, it wasn't like he was completely isolated. On the contrary, he was considered the most reliable person in their class, and when people relied on him, he always did his best to meet their expectations. This was the strange balance that people around Haruka had to maintain.

"I think Nanase-kun is a kind person. He probably holds back even when there are things that he really wants to say because he doesn't want to make people worry too much, don't you think? I'm sure he doesn't mean to hurt anyone or push anyone away. But I think it's not good for him to think that way so much. I think he needs to learn to be more assertive." Aki turned to Rin, looking as though she wanted to hear what he thought.

Honestly, Rin had never thought of just going along with Haruka's personality. He knew that Haruka didn't exactly have a happy-go-lucky disposition, but what Rin was only concerned with was the fact that he wanted to swim in the relay with Haruka. "I was thinking the same thing. That guy has no sense of humor. He should learn by watching me, don't you think?" he joked lightly, being vague with his agreement.