Saigenos

Chapter 1: Admiration

"I'm leaving for school, Uncle Kuseno!" Genos gathered his things quickly, hoping he was fast enough to avoid being pressured into joining the track team again. Unfortunately, Genos realized all hope was lost when he ran to the door and saw his uncle standing in front of it, frowning at him. Genos dropped his bag and plopped on the couch, wishing to sink further and become one with it. "I know you've heard this several times, but I do think you should tryout for the track team." Kuseno hoped he could get through to him.

Genos stared blankly at the coffee table in front of him. It's not like he lacked energy, just motivation. There are other things he could be doing with his time. "Forgive me for saying this uncle, but I do not think I will benefit even a little bit from joining the track team. I do not wish to gain friends or be popular. I believe I am strong enough to do what I want to do." Kuseno sighed. "And what is it, that you want to do, again?" Genos furrowed his eyebrows. "You know." Genos replied, looking at the floor. Silence filled the room. Genos eventually relaxed his eyebrows. "May I go to school now? It's bad to be late." Kuseno shook his head to himself and stepped away from the door. "Go ahead." Genos grabbed his bag and walked out the door not saying "goodbye". He hoped Kuseno hadn't picked up on that. He did.

As he walked through the school door he spotted a poster for track team tryouts. He sighed and kept walking. He walked to his locker and once he opened it, saw it was flooded with love letters. Most likely from girls, maybe a few guys. Genos was more confused than disgusted. He didn't understand why they sent letters instead of just confessing to him face to face. He supposed it didn't really matter though, Genos wasn't interested in dating anyone, much less having sex with anyone like some of the letters suggested. After putting the books he needed after lunch in his locker and keeping the ones he needed for his first few classes, Genos headed to his first period.

As he took his seat, he heard the morning announcements. "Today's Anne Marie's birthday! If you see her in the hallways, be sure to wish her a happy birthday! Today's lunch is-" Genos's phone buzzed. "If you try out for track, I'll let you get your ears pierced." Genos frowned at the text. He reaaaallly wanted his ears pierced but he reaaaaallly didn't want to join track. Genos sighed and thought for a moment before replying. He could always quit, right? "Ok. I'll join track." He typed quickly and sent before he got caught texting in class. "...and don't forget students! Track team tryouts are being hosted after school today! If you think you got what it takes, remember to tryout!"  Genos sunk deep into his chair.

~

It was after school. Time for tryouts. Genos changed into his gym clothes and jogged to the track field.  While waiting for instructions, a girl wearing barely appropriate clothes walked  next to him. He looked her up and down. She was wearing pink lipstick and wearing black and white clothes. Her faced seemed familiar. He thought she was called..."Mosquito Girl"? Kind of a weird name, but he wasn't interested enough to ask why that's her nickname, if it was. "Well aren't you handsome? I haven't seen you around school!" Genos glanced at her blankly, then looked away. "Weird." He said, sharply sarcastic. She didn't seem fazed by it. "Wanna make a deal?" She smiled devilishly at him. He didn't respond, subtly searching for the coach. "The deal is if I turn out to be the fastest person to tryout, you'll go to the dance with me." Genos raised an eyebrow, still not looking at her. "You've only known me for about 30 seconds." She laughed and Genos saw her laugh as sickening. "I've got a good feeling about you. So is it a deal? Say nothing for yes." Genos knew she couldn't force him to go to the dance with her, and figured it was smart to not waste his breath.

Luckily, before she could say anything else, the person Genos assumed to be the coach stood in front of everyone and began to talk. "Hello everyone, we're about to begin the tryouts. You will have to run 3 laps around the track, doesn't sound too hard right? We will judge you on speed and technique. So, who wants to go first?" The girl raised her hand confidently. "Excellent. Now I won't have to choose!" The coach chuckled. The girl walked onto the track, getting into her running position.  She pointed at Genos and winked. "Remember, if I'm the fastest person to tryout, you have to go the dance with me!" This caused everyone to stare at Genos, making him mildly annoyed. The coach blew her whistle, and the girl took off. Much to Genos' surprise, she was fast. Really fast. She finished in 1 minute. Everyone clapped for her, telling her how good she is.

"Alright, a minute! That was very good! Now who's next? What about you, boy?" The coach pointed to a boy wearing a blue tracksuit. His hair was really thin, it was possible he was going to go bald really early in his years. He was average looking, and looked really lost. Like he wasn't paying attention to the last five minutes. "Oh, okay." He walked up onto the track, getting into his running position. Genos heard whispers behind him about how the guy probably wouldn't make the team. The coach blew her whistle and he sprinted off like a flash of lightning. Everybody's jaw dropped. This guy was insanely fast. Genos counted as he made his way around the track. The coach barely remembered to stop the stopwatch when he finished. The coach stared at the stopwatch in disbelief. "Th-thirty seconds.." She mumbles, her eyes wide.

Everyone was speechless; Genos' mind raced with a billion questions. The guy looked at everyone, still poker-faced. Then, he turned to Mosquito Girl. "I guess you'll be going to the dance alone, haha." He said matter-of-factly, a small smile on his face. Just who was this guy?

Please give me feedback e.g what you liked and didn't liked. Also I don't know how track tryouts go, so don't choose that as something you didn't like lmao.