County preliminaries. Ten days left. That number was taped to the club room wall in handwriting. He'd seen it yesterday. The day before that too. But this morning, to Ren, it felt like the news of some distant star. His shoe sole hit the stone pavement of Namiki slope. Usually, this was where he'd ignite his legs. Sprint up the slope at full speed. It was Ren's morning ritual. A habit he'd kept since that summer in fourth grade, the day he lost to Hinata. Today, his legs wouldn't lift. The ginkgo trees swayed in the morning light. The sea breeze unique to Minatohara in May rustled the leaves softly. Only that sound came through clearly. Everything else felt distant somehow. The photograph was still in his head. He'd seen it on his phone screen last night. A new photo on Sota's SNS. He hadn't meant to scroll. But his hand had stopped. Minatohara Harbor at dusk, on the breakwater. Sota and Hinata standing side by side. The comment section said "You two look perfect together!" Someone else had written "You're way too close lol." Ren had closed the screen after that. Then he'd stared at the ceiling for three hours. He stopped halfway up the slope. He tried to run. He really tried. But the moment he put force into his legs, that photograph floated back into his head. The breakwater. The sunset. Two figures standing together. He put his hand in his pocket. His fingertips brushed against worn fabric. An amulet. A navy-blue amulet—his mother's keepsake. Small, slightly fraying at the edges. He'd always thought that holding it made breathing a little easier. This morning, it barely worked at all. Still, he forced himself to start running. When he reached the grounds, Sota had already finished his warm-up. His black hair with red streaks looked vivid in the morning light. Golden eyes found Ren and brightened instantly. "[surprised]Oh, Sakuragi, you're late today?" "[serious]...Overslept." Sota laughed and said it was rare. While stretching his Achilles tendon, Ren checked on Hinata. Hinata was stretching alone at the opposite corner. Not looking this way. Their eyes hadn't met since morning. Ren silently began his warm-up. --- Baton pass practice started. Hinata, running first leg, took off. Following his acceleration with his eyes, Ren extended his right hand backward. Entering the baton zone. Timing it— It was off. His hand came out a beat too late. The baton grazed between his fingers, nearly falling. Sota let out an "Ooh!" Ren managed to catch it, but his running completely fell apart. "[sarcastic]Sakuragi, what's wrong? That's unusual." Coach Togawa stood with his arms crossed. Forty-five years old, a former corporate athlete. When he said something in that quiet voice, it cut deeper than being yelled at normally. "[serious]Sorry. Let me try again." He tried again. His hand came out at the wrong timing again. His fingers closed too late when receiving the baton, and he ended up running an extra three meters. "Why?" "What's wrong with Sakuragi?" He could hear the team members whispering. At first it was light. But after the third mistake, the voices stopped. Heavy air began to drift across the grounds. Before the fourth attempt, Sota walked over. "[gentle]Sakuragi, are you feeling okay? You don't have to push yourself today—" Something snapped. "[angry]I said I'm fine!!" His voice echoed across the grounds, louder than he'd ever heard himself. Everything went silent. Everyone. Sota's eyes went wide. He froze. The team members behind him exchanged glances. Coach Togawa looked at Ren without changing his expression. One second later, Ren regretted it. At the edge of his vision was Hinata's face. Looking straight at him. Those blue eyes wavering with something like sadness. Not just sadness—there was a question in them. A *why*, as if asking: why would you do that? "[serious]...Sorry, Sota. I raised my voice." Sota immediately laughed and said "Don't worry about it." His usual bright smile. But there was a slight pause before his mouth curved upward. That infinitesimal gap—Ren saw all of it. Practice resumed. But the atmosphere never came back. After that, Hinata didn't meet Ren's eyes once. --- After school. While the other team members headed to the club room building, Ren couldn't go. He didn't have the confidence to open his locker and change. If someone asked him "What was that about earlier?" he didn't think he could answer. He sat alone on a bench in the vending machine corner. A shaded spot behind the main building. Three vending machines hummed with motor sounds. He'd bought a 130-yen can of sports drink, but held it in both hands without drinking. The can was growing warm. The sensation of the lukewarm can was the only thing that felt real. He didn't know how long he sat like that. He heard someone laughing from the direction of the grounds. Maybe it was Sota's voice. Ren pretended not to hear. The sound of footsteps on gravel. *Clink, clink.* He looked up. It was Hinata. Silver short hair glowed in the evening light. The usual track club jersey. A faint trace of sweat still on his skin. Before Ren could respond, Hinata sat on the bench next to him. He didn't say anything. Only the vending machine motor sounds continued. The sea breeze came around the corner of the building and passed lukewarmly between them. Ren kept his eyes on the ground, the can still in both hands. *(Go away, Hinata. Just leave me alone tonight.)* He thought that. But he was afraid of what Hinata would say next. For some reason, tonight of all nights, he was afraid. "[serious]Ren, you've been weird lately." His voice was quiet. Not accusatory. But because of that, it reached deeper. "What happened?" He was asked. *If I answer, it ends,* Ren thought. *If I tell him, I'll break even more.* If he stayed quiet, maybe he could still manage. If he laughed and said *well, I was just tired,* Hinata probably wouldn't ask anything more. His mouth moved first. "[serious]...What do you think about Sota?" The moment the words left his mouth, something in his head screamed *stop!* But the words were already out in the air. Hinata froze. Three seconds passed without a word. Only the motor sound continued. Ren felt his pulse quicken in the back of his ears, eyes still on the ground. The sound of fabric shifting. Hinata standing up. "[serious]Sota's my friend." He said it with his back turned. "That's all." There was a pause. "[cold]—But honestly, the way you keep asking me stuff like that... it's hard." Footsteps moved away. The sound of gravel being stepped on grew quieter and quieter. Ren couldn't lift his face. Even after Hinata turned the corner and disappeared from view, he kept staring at the ground. *Hard.* *Talking to me is hard.* Those five words repeated over and over in his head. Hinata had said Sota was a friend. But those five words about it being hard cut much deeper than that answer. Sota's confession. Hinata. The baton pass mistakes—it all receded into the distance. In their place was only that one word: *hard.* At some point, the sports drink can in his hand had crumpled. When he noticed, his fingers were clenched tight. The aluminum was warped, liquid leaking slightly. His jersey sleeve was wet. Ren looked toward the trash can. But he couldn't throw it away. He didn't have the strength to stand. He just kept sitting on the bench. The voices from the grounds grew more distant. The sun sank lower, and the shadows in the vending machine corner deepened. Still, Ren remained there. --- The next morning, Ren came to the grounds with a smile. "Morning," he said out loud. When Sota said "Sakuragi, you're in a good mood today!" he replied, "Yeah, well, this is normal for me." When he told Coach Togawa "I'll make up for yesterday," the coach answered "Understood." It was all a fabricated voice. Baton pass practice began. He didn't mess up as much as yesterday. But it wasn't perfect either. Something was off by millimeters, constantly. Every time he tried to match Hinata's acceleration, yesterday's voice from the vending machine corner came back. *Hard. Hard.* Every time those five words looped, his hand fell a centimeter behind. Times were dropping. Ren knew it. Coach Togawa knew it too. But today he wasn't called out on it. That was what scared him. During a break in practice, Sota was whispering something to Fujimi Takumi—the anchor runner, a same-year team member. Behind Ren's back. "[whispers]Hey Takumi, doesn't Sakuragi seem... scary...?" "[whispers]Scary? What do you mean?" "[whispers]Like... he's smiling but his eyes aren't smiling, you know...? Like... a ghost or something...?" "[whispers]What happens if he hears you say that?" Ren heard it. He'd heard it, but he pretended not to. The word *ghost* seemed oddly accurate. He almost wanted to laugh. But he couldn't laugh. He didn't have the energy to laugh. --- At the end of practice, Coach Togawa gathered everyone on the grounds. In the evening light, Togawa stood with his arms crossed, surveying the team members. No one spoke unnecessarily. They all knew that when this man called everyone together, it wasn't about something light. "[serious]I'm going to be honest about the current state." His voice was quiet. Flat. Which made it heavy. "[serious]Times are dropping. Baton pass precision is dropping. The team isn't functioning as a unit. We're down to less than ten days until the prefectural preliminaries. We can't compete like this." No one moved. Only the wind blew. "[serious]I'm considering changing the relay team roster." The ground tilted beneath him. *Roster change.* The words echoed slowly, once, in Ren's head. Running was all he had. He wasn't exceptionally good at studying. He couldn't make people laugh with interesting stories. Sprinting up Namiki slope every morning, practicing baton passes hundreds of times, carving himself into the grounds—that was all that made up Sakuragi Ren. It could all fall apart. The title of team ace. The fact that he was on the same relay team as Hinata. The last thing—being useful to someone through running. All of it. At once. "[serious]That's all. Dismissed." Team members began to shuffle away. Sota was saying something, but it didn't reach Ren's ears. Whether Hinata was looking at him or not, he couldn't tell. "[serious]...Yes. I'm sorry." Only his voice came out. It came out properly. But the edge of it trembled slightly. He didn't know if anyone noticed. --- Second floor of the Sakuragi house. A six-mat bedroom. Outside the window was darkness. Sitting on his bed, Ren was simply there. The track and field poster on the wall. The competition records. He saw none of it. His vision existed, but nothing registered. He tried to look toward the window, then stopped. Usually, he could see the light from Hinata's room in the direction of the Nanase house. Tonight, he didn't want to see it. If he did, he'd break even more. He reached toward the pillow. His fingertips brushed against fabric. The navy-blue amulet. A small, worn amulet, slightly fraying. His mother's keepsake. Given to him in third grade. "This is an amulet," she'd said. Then she'd started to say something else but couldn't. Ren couldn't either. He held it in both hands, cradling it. It was his habit to try to remember his mother's voice when he touched the amulet. Tonight, it wouldn't come. In his head was only those five words: *hard.* The way you keep asking me stuff like that is hard. That voice, spoken with her back turned. Pretending to be strong. Smiling. Covering everything up. Acting like he was leading the team. Acting like everything was fine. This was the result. Messing up baton passes. Yelling at Sota. Making Hinata say he was *hard* to be around. Having Coach Togawa hint at roster changes. The more he plastered on that smile, the more everything crumbled. Tears fell silently from Ren's e