KNB: Stay Forever with Me (Kise Ryouta)

34 - Latches

THIRTY-FOUR - Latches

Teiko High's principal is a man of tradition. And in line with the junior high counterpart's tradition, he tells the Student Council that the Riddle Society's Rally Competition is one of the main events of the Cultural Festival. And since this was one of their highlighted events, their demands were big.

Looking back at the papers that the Riddle Society submitted, they requested one of the biggest budget requests, rented around 2 rooms and the entire track court, and had the most requests from the Council.

However, Sayoko did not see this one coming.

Truly, the Riddle Society has gone overboard. An enormous net rests upon one side of one of the school's two-storey building. The final challenge was that they needed to climb up to the top of the building using the net, and cross the finish line at the top.

She looks up to the other competitors already trying to climb on the net. There were only around three teams, which surprised Sayoko. Thinking that they took a while on the second part of the race, there should be more than that. She thought that someone already won, so it was pretty much useless to keep on trying.

She sees the blond athlete hopping on the net, securing his feet and hands into the thick ropes. "Sayokocchi, what are you daydreaming for? Let's go!" he exclaimed, releasing his one hand and reaches out to her.

"Why?" she asked indifferently, and then scoffed. "I bet someone won already."

And at the moment, Kise pulls her out of the way. She then sees two participants rolling down the net, and into the huge cushion below.

"I'm sorry guys; once you fall you're out!" the Riddle Society President, who served as one of the commentators, exclaimed. "So far, no one has reached the finish line! Good luck guys!"

"Huh? Really?" Sayoko asked in confusion. Most of the competitors here are athletes, so there should be at least one team who are finished with the course.

"Basketball players don't really work on their upper body strength, so we still have a chance," Kise said upon seeing the raven-haired female's puzzled expression. "Some of the other participants are late because they needed to change into their sportswear."

'Well, that explains everything,' Sayoko thought. She gazed upon her partner; his hands still stretched to her while the rest of his limbs hold unto the net.

"How about you? Are you fine climbing that way?" Sayoko looked at Kise's outfit - he was wearing the light blue school polo, dark slacks, and dress shoes. "It might be dangerous, you know."

"I'll be fine..." Kise assured, extending his arm further to grab Sayoko's arm. "I'm used to wearing these stuff. I'd say they feel as comfortable as I was wearing sportswear."

Kise lets Sayoko grab one of the ropes. "If you already grab the ropes, you should be set on climbing all the way. If none of your hands and feet is holding the ropes, you're out."

The female councilor hisses with Kise's snide smirk. Reminding herself to smack him 'till he passes out when they get to the top, her other hand grabs one of the ropes. She then secures her feet unto them. "That's the spirit, Sayokocchi."

Kise climbs the net with no problem. As he tried mountain climbing before, he knew what to do. He lets his right hand go higher, and then his right foot steps on another latch. And then he proceeds to climb with his left hand, and then his left foot follows. His speed was consistent, and he had no trouble at all. If anything, he could accelerate anytime.

However, he needed to take care of his partner as well. As this is a couple's race, both of them needed to reach the top before they could pass the finish line. Sayoko wasn't very athletic, so she had a hard time going up. Kise, of course, helped her out by giving tips and words of encouragement.