I Will Always Be By Your Side

Chapter 13 (part1)

"You seem to be in good mood lately." Yuki said as she put down the book that she's currently reading. "Am I?" Rena, who was standing by the railings of the rooftop - overlooking the school grounds, asked as she turned her head towards the bench where Yuki is seated. "Yeah.. And by the way I see it, I think that you are slowly changing."

Rena fell quiet for a while. Contemplating about the words Yuki has just said. Well, it's true that she's feeling happy in the past few weeks especially during the times that she was talking with Jurina. She doesn't know why but just seeing her smile even from afar like this is enough for her feel content. "Do not think about it too much. It's just my observation." Yuki said upon noticing that Rena became quiet. "I know."

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"Alright class, today me and Sayaka decided to have a joint p.e class session with your class and 2A and have a friendly dodgeball competition." Said their p.e teacher Miyazawa Sae.

The entire class let out a mixture of reactions because of the sudden announcement. Some cheered in excitement while the others let out a sigh, wondering why is it necessary for the two sections to have a joint p.e class. Rena, on the other hand just sat there quietly, looking out on the window, obviously not paying much attention to their teacher's sudden announcement and the loudness of her classmates. 

"You guys go ahead and change into your p.e uniforms and meet me at the gym after fifteen minutes." And with that their p.e teacher left the class.

"Rena-chan," Rena looked back when she felt a poke on her shoulder and saw Jurina standing beside her. "Let's do our best to win the dodgeball competition." Jurina said with a smile which made Rena look at her in confusion. "What are you saying?" Rena asked. "The dodgeball competition which Miss Miyazawa announced just now." Jurina said. Rena tilted her head as if trying to recall about the said announcement. "Eh? Don't tell me you weren't paying attention earlier?" Rena just replied with a child like grin which Jurina find really cute that she couldn't help but drew a smile on her face. She looked around and noticed that their classmates are now going out of the classroom. "Come on. Let's go change to our p.e uniform. Miss Miyazawa might be already waiting at the gym." Jurina said.

The two of them went to the locker room to change their uniform. When they arrived, section 2A is already waiting together with their p.e teacher Akimoto Sayaka who was busy discussing the game with their p.e teacher. Most of their classmates were already there at the gym too.

"Mayu!" Jurina waved happily as soon as she saw her childhood friend who waved back at her. Rena smiled and nodded when she saw Mayu who also did the same.

"Hey, who do you think will win?" Rena overheard her classmates talking. "I guess it will be our section. You see, we have Jurina who is very good at any sports. She's even representing the school in the upcoming interschool competition for track and field."

"But 2A also has Watanabe Mayu who is known for her competitiveness."

"Yeah but we have our last line of defense which is Gekikara. 2A wouldn't dare to hit her or they might get beaten."

Rena doesn't know if she would laugh or get mad or get annoyed with how her classmates view her but then she couldn't really blame them so she just chose to ignore them. Just then, the two p.e teachers called the players for each section. The remaining students stay on the sideline to cheer for their respective teams.

At the sound of Sae's whistle, the game has officially started. Jurina and 2A's Miyazaki Miho went for the jump ball. The ball went outbound on 2B's side but Oku Manami caught it and threw it on 2A's side. Mayu caught the ball threw it directly to Rena with full force but Jurina was quick - before the ball landed on Rena, Jurina caught it and threw it to the unsuspecting Komori Mika from 2A who was then spacing out thus making her unable to notice the ball coming her way, landing her a clean hit. 

"Yes! Whooo!!" 2B cheered and Jurina and Rena hugged each other but quickly pulled away when they noticed it and let out an awkward smile.

The game continued and after a few more rounds, it end up with 2B winning against 2A.