Roped Into the Relay
“Hey—can you come help us out?”
It was a sudden request from Tōko.
She wanted me to fill in as a substitute for a joint practice race between the clubs.
Why me? I thought—but she begged so hard, practically pleading with her hands together, that I eventually gave in.
It was the so-called “Castle Run”—a course that starts in front of Ehime High’s main gate, climbs all the way up to Matsuyama Castle, loops around, and then comes back down.
There’s a decent elevation gain, so it’s pretty tough—but long distances are kind of my thing.
“Don’t tell Miko-chan, okay?”
Tōko made that very clear.
So I sent my brother off like nothing was up, then changed into a red-and-white track uniform Tōko had lent me and slipped quietly out of the house.
Apparently, it used to belong to a graduate. The fit was a little off, but wearing a team tracksuit again—something I hadn’t done since middle school—felt oddly refreshing.
As I rode the streetcar, gazing out the window, I spotted a group from the swim team jogging near the prefectural office.
My brother was with them.
I’d planned to get off there, but instead I stayed on until Minamihoribata.
By the time I reached the meeting spot in front of the art museum, most of the track team was already there.
“Soto-chan! Soto-chan!”
Tōko came running up, her glossy black hair bouncing as she moved.
Before I knew it, I was being dragged over to the team captain.
A tall guy with short hair and silver-rim glasses gave me a curt nod.
“Sorry about this today.”
He looked kind of high-strung.
Next to him, an older girl handed me a sheet of paper and a pen.
“What’s this?”
“Club registration form.”
“…I’m not planning on joining, you know.”
“It’s just a formality. You know, in case anything happens—insurance and all that.”
I glanced at Tōko.
You’re not trying to rope me into the club by making this a done deal, right?
“It’s fine, really. Don’t worry,” she said, trying to soothe me.
I let out a sigh.
Well… if this turns into a mess, I can always just submit a withdrawal form.
Looking more closely, I noticed it even had the advisor’s approval signature already filled in.
Come to think of it, the one who’d been persistently recruiting me back in spring was the advisor.
But the guardian section… there was no way I could fill that out.
Doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose?
Thinking that, I scribbled down my class and name anyway.
Come to think of it, for my brother’s club registration form, it was me—his little sister—who signed the guardian section. I even wrote “proxy,” even though I was still in middle school.
I remember wondering what the point of a form like that even was.
It was only about two years ago, but somehow it feels like a lifetime ago.
“This kind of feels like I’m being recruited into some shady cult,” I muttered to Touko.
“I think high school clubs aren’t so bad, actually,” she replied, completely missing the point.
…Seriously? Coming from the top student?
I shot her a sulky look, and she just smiled it off.
My brother would definitely say something like,
“So you just go with the flow, huh, Sotoko.”
Great. Tonight’s dinner conversation is going to be all about this.
“Well, Tōko asked me, so…”
I was already rehearsing my excuse.
And honestly, the fact that I was doing that already annoyed me.
We did a light warm-up from in front of the museum to the main gate of Ehime High.
I’m not in a sports club, but I run every day and go to karate practice on Sundays, so I don’t think I’m any worse off than the track team.
During stretching, I spread my legs and lowered my upper body flat to the ground.
“Wow, you’re really flexible,” a boy from my class said.
I didn’t say it out loud, but—aren’t you all just kind of stiff?
Back in middle school, there were people who joined track because they liked sports but were bad at ball games.
Still… moving my body together with everyone like this felt genuinely fun.
As I kept moving, my glasses started to get in the way, so I took them off.
I brushed my hair back and tied it up behind me.
…?
I felt eyes on me.
A few of the boys were staring.
When I looked their way, they all quickly looked somewhere else.
One of the boys from my class spoke up.
“Can you even see without your glasses?”
“Uh… wait, who are you again?”
I squinted, pretending not to recognize him.
He laughed.
“Is it that bad?”
“I don’t know… everyone looks kind of cool today.”
“Hey, I always look cool, right?”
“Wow, confident much.”
“I’ve never seen you without your glasses before.”
“Yeah right. I don’t wear them during swimming class.”
“Oh… guess I wasn’t really paying attention.”
“Good. Keep it that way.”
“Kinashi, you’re actually kind of funny.”
“…Actually?”
Was I really that guarded before?
“Huhhh?!”
As the different teams gathered in front of the school gate, a shout went up from the swim team.
I’d gone to bring my brother lunch during summer and cheer at competitions before, so most of them knew me pretty well.
“Sotoko-chan, what’s with the outfit? And you’re not even wearing your glasses!”
A friendly second-year, Ochi, came over.
“Well, actually… she’s one of ours today,” the track team captain muttered.
“No way!”
The swim team erupted.
At the edge of it all, my brother just stood there, gazing off into the distance like nothing was happening.
Calm as ever.
Seriously? A little reaction wouldn’t hurt.
“Sotoko-chan, what happened? I thought you couldn’t join a club ‘cause you had to take care of this siscon here!”
Ochi slung an arm around my brother’s shoulders and leaned in dramatically.
He’s always way too familiar.
“Is my brother really a siscon?” I said, covering my mouth as if in shock.
Ochi nodded with mock seriousness.
“No doubt. You should be careful.”
Careful? Of what? I wondered, but—
“Oh wow… so he is a siscon. And I’m the sister stuck with him,” I said, deadpan.
My brother let out a small laugh.
…Oh? What was that reaction?
The relay between the track team, swim team, and the mountaineering club was run by fifteen runners in alternating order—boy, girl, boy.
I was the fourteenth.
The course started at Ehime High’s main gate, climbed the steep slope behind the prefectural office up to the castle, looped around the keep, then came all the way down to the government complex before heading back from the north gate to the front.
It wasn’t just long—the elevation made it brutal.
At the starting signal, the track team took the lead.
And not just a lead—an overwhelming one.
By the time the swim team’s twelfth runner came back, the track team’s thirteenth runner was already in sight.
The mountaineering club… was a full lap behind.
“Honestly, with things like this, you don’t even need me, right?”
I said to Tōko.
“You have to be the one,” she replied.
“…Huh?”
“Just trust me.”
Trust what?
I don’t get it. I really don’t get Tōko today.
The swim team’s thirteenth runner was—
“My brother?”
“Nice run! You did great!”
He took the sash from the exhausted twelfth runner and sprinted past the museum.
I grabbed the sash from our thirteenth runner as he charged in—and went after him.
My tied-up hair bounced behind me.
We hit the steep climb behind the prefectural office.
I could see him ahead, running upward. The trees around us were still bare.
I eased my pace slightly on the incline.
My vision was a little blurry without my glasses—but my legs felt light.
Tourists were scattered along the slope, moving up and down.
Then I saw the sharp left turn toward the castle.
I was closing in.
He took the turn.
That’s where it starts.
I shifted gears.
The crowd thickened.
I cut sharply around the corner—my ponytail swinging wildly.
Hot.
I pulled the zipper of my jacket down to my chest.
That was the signal.
Let’s go, big brother.
I’ll show you what I can do.
My legs stretched forward effortlessly.
No weight. Just speed.
I weaved past tourists, picking up pace.
The gap closed in an instant.
The castle keep came into view. Wind filled my jacket.
A few girls from the track team were shouting times with stopwatches in hand.
“Kinashi’s sister—how fast!”
Someone yelled.
I caught up right behind him.
Then pulled alongside.
Our eyes met.
I grinned.
He gave me a here we go again look.
Push.
One more gear.
“She passed him!”
A shout from behind.
Cheers erupted.
“No way!”
“She’s on another level!”
I rounded the keep and flew into the downhill.
Fewer people here.
I didn’t care about the steps—I practically leapt down them.
All the way to the government complex in one go.
Near the north gate, I glanced back.
No one behind me.
I kept my pace along the flat road on the west side of the school.
Then—back to the front gate.
Everyone there burst into cheers.
People were shouting times, but I couldn’t even process the numbers.
I gripped the sash in my right hand.
Final sprint.
I passed it at full speed—
—and suddenly the track team swarmed around me, shouting all at once.
It caught me off guard.
Later, I heard I’d been faster than some of the boys who specialized in long-distance.
Great.
When the new term starts, that advisor is definitely coming after me again.
I know club activities wouldn’t be so bad if I could just participate casually—
but I hate the idea of being half-committed and making everyone else adjust around me.
If I’m going to disrupt the harmony, there’s no point in joining at all.
That night, at dinner—
“Sotoko, that was impressive.”
My brother started.
“…‘That was’?”
I looked at him for a moment.
“…Don’t tell me.”
I met his eyes.
“You didn’t put Tōko up to this today, did you?”
He didn’t answer.
Just smiled.
Honestly… really.
