Suzuka 140 Selection

凉风 #140 選抜 せんばつ

Early morning, Yamato was walking down the stairs with confidence, preparing for the Seijou selection race. Suzuka called him from behind and asked him to wait. She had something for him. She gave Yamato a charm she got yesterday from the temple, though she said that she was there for other business anyway. Yamato looked at the charm and asked why it was the charm for safe baby delivery. She embarassedl told him that he got one for her last time and it worked pretty well for her. Yamato was so happy and thanked her. Suzuka asked her not to make any careless mistakes. Yamato replied that he would be fine as he had the charm and he would run fast like he had always ran.

At the track selection field, the selection would start in 30 minutes time. Yamato was awed with the number of people participating. Suddenly he was grabbed by an elbow. It was his sempai, Kinugasa, asking him if he had trained properly. Yamato replied that he's in top form but Kinugasa told him not to let his guard down. All the participants are strong athletes. Yamato replied that he understood. He told himself that he had to pass the selection for Suzuka's sake. The personnel called for the 100m selection participants to get prepare. There were 5 people including Yamato and all of them were finalist in the inter-high competition. He thought to himself that he barely got the third place last time and there's no gurantee that he could beat them. One of the participant told another that there' only one qualificant for each event and Yamato was panic. All the participants got to their spots and ready for the race. Yamato kept thinking about the one qualification for each event. He told himself that if he didnt succeed in the selection, he wouldnt have any chance getting in Seijou with regular admission given his academic results. Yamato was still thinking of Asahina dream of attending the same university as him and wanting so much to pass the selection as the umpire called for get set. The race started but Yamato had a poor starting due to the tension, he tried his best to catch up but he didnt make it.

In the evening, Yamato reached home and Suzuka was waiting for him. She ran to him and asked him about the selection with a smile. Yamato held the charm firmly but kept silent. Suzuka asked if he didnt make it. He replied that the results were not out yet but he probably couldnt qualify. Yamato apologized to Suzuka since she had helped him. She remarked that the results were not out yet. Yamato apologized again and Suzuka felt sad for him. At Seijou field, one of the personnel asked the person-in-charge about the selection. The person-in-charge replied that they had chosen Yamato unanimously. The personnel asked if they were sure since Yamato's time wasn't the best. The person-in-charge commented that Yamato had a bad start and made several mistakes but he had the best improvement in the second half, showing his potential. He continued that Yamato would probably be the one who would the most surprised to hear that he had been selected.

P/S: Looks like Yamato and Suzuka are going to the same university, that's if he managed to graduate from high school! Oh, by the way, next time I'll go for the safe baby delivery charm as well if I need good luck.^o^