The Ultimate Stride | Prince of Stride Fanfiction |

38 | Filling the Void

    | {Kuga's P.O.V.} |

It's so sunny out today.

We were all sitting in the club room.

Dan-sensei was scribbling names on the white board, and those who were paying attention to him were diligently watching his hand as it wrote.

    Thumbs were twiddling. Thoughts were floating around in their heads like smoke filled balloons.

    Club meetings were always like this.

    When such a dull festivity involved people familiar with the intense movements of Stride, the concept of sitting still for more than ten minutes was quite the hard reality to fathom.

We would live, though. We cared about the sport, and each other, more than enough to withstand a bit of boredom.

Or at least I think we do. Everyone looks like they're about to doze off.

Ayumu, Heath, Nana, and Hozumi were sprawled out on the sofas while Riku and Takeru had taken refuge on the floor next to the coffee table to stack protein powder cans.

Kyouko and I were lying on the floor.

Not right next to each other, but close enough to be conscious of it. She was facing the productive side of the room and I was facing the window, arms behind my head and feet propped on Ayumu's old shogi board.

My eyes were focused on things beyond the confinement of our secondary home.

I was always grateful for the size of the windows in our club room. They were big and welcoming to the outer elements, and they gave me a perfect view of the sky I adored so much.

I'd love to be running beneath that sky right now, but this meeting is important.

    The sound of Dan-sensei reading off of his tablet reminded me of this.

    "Okay, correct me if I'm wrong," he scrolled down for a moment. "The runners we're registering for the EOS semi-finals are Hozumi, Kyouko, Heath, Riku, and Takeru. Is this the plan?"

    Kyouko enthusiastically pumped her fist into the air. "Yup. That sounds just right."

    "Then how will Kuga be included?" Ayumu questioned, and she presented a quick response.

    "I'll be switching spots with him once we qualify for finals."

    "Oh really?"

    My eyes shifted from their spot on the sky to peer at the girl next to me.

We had already discussed the matter of who would run when, but it still didn't seem right to me.

She didn't bother to listen to my opinion on the problem. Instead, she just selfishly assumed I wanted the spotlight at finals.

To me, this decision was unjustified. It didn't settle right in my mind or my heart.

    I almost want Kyouko to run in my place.

    "Well how will that work? Wouldn't that create a flaw in the system with our qualifying time?" Nana asked, and Heath scratched the back of his neck.