If We Trained Together
One shared goal, four runners, and far too little time.
Something small but important had begun to change among the five students.
For the first time, they arrived at practice before Karen did.
One rainy afternoon, Mei suddenly spoke up in front of everyone.
"If we trained together as a team, we might actually have a chance."
The room went quiet, because no one had expected those words from her.
A needs four runners who fully each other with the .
If even one runner dropped the , the whole team would lose instantly.
Unless they practiced the again and again, they could never .
Karen felt a warmth she had not felt since her own competitive days.
"If you truly want this, I will train you with everything I have."
The meet was only three weeks away, which left almost no time.
Unless they improved quickly, four separate runners would never become one team.
They still needed a fourth strong runner, and everyone thought of Yuto.
If Yuto joined them, their slow team could suddenly become truly dangerous.
But Yuto's situation had not changed, and no one dared to ask him.
Karen decided that she alone would speak to him after school.
Meanwhile, the other four trained harder than they ever had before.
They dropped the countless times, but they always picked it up again.
Aya, once so quiet, began shouting times and cheering for the others.
Unless something went badly wrong, they would finish the together.
For the first time, the losing team looked like a real team.
If they could just add one more runner, a small felt possible.
That evening, Karen walked toward the river, rehearsing what she would say.
If Yuto said no, she was not sure the team could it.