Tests
The following week was a blur of stress and tests. Their teachers were too evil to stagger their midterms, and their PE teacher was no exception. On their first class day of the week he announced that their physical fitness would be tested as well. He ignored the groans from some of the class- loudest among them Serena- and split them into two groups, girls and boys. He took the boys outside to test their running ability and left the girls inside with another teacher. She told them they'd they'd be doing curl-ups, the bar-hang, the forward stretch, and that they should pair up.
Before Rei could even react Minako had firmly grasped her hand. Rei looked to Serena hoping to pawn Minako off on her, but she was already happily chatting with Molly. She didn't have to look to know that Ami and Makoto were already side by side. She yanked her hand from Minako's grasp and glared at her.
"Fine, but don't press your luck," she said.
"No promises," Minako said. She was beaming at her and practically bouncing in place.
"I see you're not bothered by these tests," Rei said.
"Are you kidding? These are the only tests I know I can ace," she said. She leaned in towards Rei. "And besides, I get to find out how flexible you are."
The teacher came by before Rei could respond and handed her paper and a pen.
"Keep track of you and your partners' results on these papers, students," the teacher announced to the class. She led them to several boxes with overhanging edges on one side. Centimeter increments were marked down the top of the box. Tthe teacher asked for volunteers to go first and Minako immediately raised her hand. Rei frowned, but stepped forward with Minako.
"You first, or should I show you how it's done?" Minako asked challengingly.
"Watch and learn," Rei said and sat at the box with her feet under the overhanging edge. She leaned forward with a long slow exhale and moved her hands along the top of the box, past where her feet met the box. Her back and thighs started to ache and she stopped moving forward. She knew Minako would aim to beat her score. She also knew that she wasn't going to make it easy for the blonde. With a final puff of air she managed just a little more.
"That's it," she grunted.
"Got it," Minako said and Rei pulled back and breathed deeply. Minako whistled. "47 centimeters, not bad," she said.
Rei stood and took the pen and paper from Minako. "Alright, let's see if you're all talk," she said. Minako licked her lips and grinned.
Minako took her place at the device. Rei watched Minako's hands creep towards her record, match it, and just pass it. Rei pursed her lips.
"There," Minako called out.
Rei frowned. One centimeter further than her own result. She marked it down. Minako stood and checked their paper. She laughed and nudged Rei.
"I'm good at talking, but I'm much better at doing," she said, tongue poking cheekily from between her lips. They waited while the other students took their turns at the forward stretch. Serena, Makoto, and Ami all scored well, though some of the other girls didn't try very hard. Minako's score came out as the highest in the class, but that didn't make Rei feel any better, especially after the blonde pointed a smug smile at her.
The teacher next walked them over to one of the walls of the gym where two metal bars were bolted on. She told the class to line up in their pairs and that they would test how long they could hang with their arms flexed and their chin above the bar.
"These tests are really useful," Minako said as they took their place in line. "First I get to see how flexible you are, now how much stamina you have."
Rei huffed and rolled her eyes, but otherwise didn't bother responding. The line moved quickly. Most of the other girls only lasted six or seven seconds by Rei's count. Serena's attempt ended after only four, and when she dropped from the bar she didn't land properly, ending up on her butt. Soon enough it was her and Minako's turn.
"Alright, give me your paper," the teacher said. "When I say go get up there and hang for as long as you can. Ready? Go."
Rei and Minako jumped at the same time and hung from the bar, chins over the metal and palms facing inwards. Rei knew it would be a short but intense match. She started counting in her head and almost immediately her arms started to burn from holding her weight in such an unnatural position. But if there was one thing her shrine duties were good for it was building physical stamina.
When she got to seven seconds she heard a puff of air and strained growling from Minako. Rei could sympathize. Only long hours in front of her shrine's spiritual fire controlling her breath allowed Rei to keep her own breathing steady. Just as she counted ten she heard Minako curse and drop to the ground. A few moments later her own arms gave out and she landed in a crouch. She shot a triumphant look at Minako, who stuck her tongue out in return.
"Very good," the teacher said. "Aino, ten and a quarter, Hino ten point seven."
Rei took their paper back from the teacher and they moved away from the bars.
"Guess you can't hang with me," Rei prodded.
Minako gave her a look. "I can't believe you just said that. Here I was going to say we should hang together more often."
Rei snorted. Together they watched the rest of the class go. When everyone had their turn the teach pointed them all to thin blue mats arranged on the ground.
"Let's get four pairs up here for curl-ups," the teacher said.
Naturally Minako stepped forward, and Rei followed suit. Rei was confident in her core strength. She had built it up through archery practice, holding her body still against the tension in her bow.
"I'll go first, since you went first for the forward stretch," Minako said. She lay with her back on the mat and her feet pulled up almost to her butt. Rei knelt in front of her and held her feet to the ground. Minako grinned up at her from her position on the ground.
The teacher spoke to the students on the mat. "Alright, do as many curl-ups as you can, your partners will count how many you do. Everyone set?" she was met by a collective 'yes'. "Alright, start!"
Minako was moving immediately. Her movements were sharp, rising and moving forward until her elbows hit her legs then quickly back down for another rep. She had ten curl-ups done before ten seconds passed, Rei was sure.
But Minako couldn't maintain that pace. The teacher called out thirty seconds left just as Minako hit thirty reps, but Minako was only slowing down. By the time she hit forty reps Minako was breathing heavily and starting to sweat. The teacher called out ten seconds left and their eyes met. Minako grit her teeth and doubled her pace, panting with her effort. She kept her eyes on Rei, who found her own breath caught in her throat.
Rei could admit that Minako was pretty- and could admit to herself that the other girl was beautiful. But the Minako before her now wasn't merely beautiful. She was stunning. She was a symphony of color; golden hair bouncing with her movements, cheeks flushed red with her effort, and clear blue eyes full of challenge and spirit as they bored into Rei's own. Rei felt the back of her neck heat up. She had never been so struck by someone's appearance before. She couldn't look away.
Then the teacher called time, Minako flopped back, and the spell was broken. Rei blinked. She could breathe again.
"How many," Minako groaned.
"Fifty," Rei said, her voice sounding raspy in her own ears. Minako looked at her and smirked.
"Worried you can't match that?" she asked. Rei blinked and tried to collect herself.
"As if," she scoffed. "Get up so I can show you how it's done. If you can even move."
Minako rolled to the side and pushed herself up. Rei took her place and waited for the teacher's signal to start. Once given Rei was off. She wanted to keep a steady pace, so she didn't start as quickly as Minako had. Still, sixty seconds was a long time, and when the teacher called out thirty seconds had passed Rei could already feel her muscles burning. She knew she was around forty curl-ups when the teacher called out only ten seconds left, so Rei knew she had to speed up. She pushed herself harder than she had in any other year, counting down the seconds until-
"Time!" the teacher shouted.
Rei collapsed back after her last curl-up and lay there panting at the ceiling for a few seconds. Minako moved to stand over her with an unreadable look on her face. Rei waited a few more seconds to catch her breath.
"Since you're not gloating I take it I won," she said.
Minako scoffed and offered a hand to help Rei up.
"Fifty-two."
Rei accepted the hand up and smirked at Minako. "I thought you were an athlete. Maybe you only practice as well as you study."
"Or maybe I could use a hand with that too. I can think of a couple of ways you could help me exercise," Minako said. They moved away from the mats to allow the next set of girls to go.
"I can too," Rei said, Minako's eyebrows shot up and she licked her lips.
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. My idea involves you running up and down the shrine stairs, and me with my bow and arrows providing… motivation."
Minako laughed. "I think my ideas would be more fun for both of us."
"Speak for yourself."
The rest of the class cycled through the test. Makoto did well, but Ami and Molly both struggled. Serena started strong but quickly devolved into moaning and grumbling through her last few reps. Class was almost over when the last of the other girls finished, so the teacher told them they were done for the day and to be ready to run in the next class.
"I feel like I'm gonna throw up," Serena said on the way to the locker rooms, clutching her stomach. Molly patted her consolingly on the back.
"She did twenty," Molly said. Rei's eyebrows shot up and Minako snorted.
"Poor baby," Minako said with a teasing smile.
They entered the locker room and started to change. When Rei was in the middle of putting her regular school shirt back she heard Minako speaking.
"You know, after we're done with all these tests, we should really reward ourselves."
"Oooh, I like the sound of that," Serena said. "What should we do?"
Rei finished changing and watched Minako talking with Serena Ami and Makoto.
"Well my parents are out of town for a while, so why don't we have a sleepover at my place?" Minako said.
The other girls responded excitedly that they'd love to, but Rei's stomach sank. Surely Minako wouldn't try to get her to go as well. Surely.
Minako turned to her, an annoying smile on her face. "How about it Hino?"
"I think it's a little early for you to celebrate. Don't you have a math exam tomorrow?"
"I prefer to think of it as celebrating the effort, not the results," Minako said. "Because I don't think I've ever worked harder for some tests than I have for these ones."
"It'd be a lot of fun," Serena added. "It could be a reward for helping us and letting us use your shrine to study."
Rei was ready to give a hard no, but she was stopped by four pleading faces. She had expected Minako to try to rope her into her idea, but the others jumping in as well was just unfair.
"I'll think about it," she said.
Minako and Serena cheered and Makoto slapped her on the shoulder.
"You'll have fun, you'll see."
As they left the locker room to return to class Rei couldn't help but feel that even though she hadn't said yes, everyone had acted as if she had. And with a groan she realized that they were probably right too.
