Fitness Tests 2

At lunch the next day the other girls finalized plans to meet at Minako's apartment that Saturday. Rei remained noncommittal throughout the meal, but the other girls didn't seem to mind. When gym class came around the following day the classes were again split and Rei and the rest of the girls were led out to the track where they would go through the short sprint test as well as a four lap endurance run. They weren't told to pair up, but during the walk to the track Minako latched onto Rei's arm anyway.

"So Rei, I was thinking," she started.

"I'm already worried," Rei said as she pulled her arm from Minako's grasp. "And don't call me that."

"Fine, fine. Rei-ko," Minako said with a smile. Rei glared at her but she only laughed in return. "I think you should join us at my place on Saturday. It's gonna be a lot of fun."

"And spend time with someone who doesn't respect my wishes?" Rei asked pointedly.

"Oh, is Rei-ko no good?" Minako asked feigning innoncence.

"No."

"See, this is why I think you should come. You could afford to loosen up a little," Minako said.

"After these tests I'd like a chance to relax, and a party isn't my idea of relaxing," Rei said.

"Five friends sleeping over is hardly a party," Minako said.

The group made it to the track and teacher had them line up to sprint in pairs. Rei and Minako settled in behind Ami and Serena around the middle of the pack. The teacher took her clipboard and stopwatch down to the fifty meter line and another round of testing began.

"Please," Rei said. "I've had everyone over at the shrine, and if that's how you all act when you're studying I don't want to see how you act when you're not."

"You say that like you didn't have fun," Minako said. "You won't admit it to me but I know that you did."

Rei pursed her lips. Having the other girls over certainly hadn't been as bad as she had first thought. There was a lot of slacking off and joking around but surprisingly it hadn't bothered her. There was much more excitement than she was used to dealing with, and for some reason their time together seemed to pass very quickly. But would she call it fun? Either way, Minako was right in saying she would never admit to that. When Rei didn't say anything Minako sighed.

"I thought it might come to this," Minako said. "Let's make it a match."

"Make what a match?" Rei asked.

"You scored better than me twice last class, right?"

"Yeah," Rei said slowly.

"But if I beat you twice today, I'll have three better scores to two."

"That's right," Rei said narrowing her eyes.

"So if I do, you have to come to the sleepover."

"That sounds good for you, but what do I get if I win?" Rei asked.

Minako smirked.

"And it has to be something I would actually want to have," Rei added.

"Hm," Minako tapped her lips with her pointer finger. "Got it. I'll leave you alone for a week."

"Wow, a whole week," Rei said sarcastically, though she was surprised that Minako had even offered that amount of time. "Think you'll be able to hold out that long?"

"What, is that not good enough?" Minako asked.

"Two weeks."

"Ten days."

"Ten school days," Rei said.

"That might as well be two weeks," Minako whined.

"Exactly."

Minako sighed dramatically. "You drive a hard bargain" She stared into the distance as if considering her options. "I guess I'll just have to win."

Ami and Serena stepped up to the line and waited for the teacher's signal. When they heard a whistle they started running- slowly. They were close to the end when Serena tripped and rolled past the 50 meter line. Rei smiled and shook her head- typical klutzy Serena. She and Minako stepped up to the starting line.

"You know this means if I win right now that's it, you lose," Rei said.

Minako glanced at her. "I know," she said. She didn't sound worried.

Rei took a few deep breaths to prepare herself and leaned forward. She had never pushed herself for the sprint test before, but even if she did she wasn't sure she could beat Minako. The other girl played volleyball, and they probably had some general fitness and conditioning exercises that would help her in their race.

The teacher's whistle blew and she and Minako were off. She pumped her arms and legs as fast as they would go and kept her gaze steady on the finish line in front of her. It came closer and closer, twenty meters, fifteen, ten. Then, out of the corner of her eye, a flash of gold, just barely in front of her. Minako's hair was bouncing wildly in front of her. She ran the last few meters knowing Minako had won. After they slowed and got their times from the teacher Minako smiled at her triumphantly.

"Hope you're ready to have some fun this weekend," she said.

Rei frowned. "This isn't over yet."

Minako only kept smiling and they met up with Serena, Makoto, Ami, and Molly. Serena was lamenting the fact that they had to run four laps after sprinting.

"Honestly why can't they just test one thing per class?" she asked the group at large. "I was aching all over after last class."

"That would be a lot of time doing nothing," Makoto said.

"We're growing girls, we could use the recovery time," Serena said.

"And some of us could use the exercise," Minako said. "We've seen how many sweets you have with lunch."

Serena turned her nose up at Minako. "That's just so I can stay awake during lessons."

"It doesn't seem to help," Minako laughed.

"Well I can't help it if the classes are sooo boring that even a sugar boost can't help me stay awake."

"I'm sure that's the reason and not the fact that you stay up too late reading manga and playing games," Rei said.

Serena gasped. "How did you know? Are you stalking me?"

"Call it intuition," Rei said flatly.

When all the other girls finished their sprints the teacher gathered everyone together. She told them they would be running four laps around the track to test their endurance, and that they should take a cool down lap so they didn't cramp up. The class gathered around the starting line and Rei stuck next to Minako. She didn't want the other girl to gain an early lead, so she knew she would have to keep pace with her. The teacher blew her whistle and they were off again.

It was easy at first. Minako wasn't out to beat everyone- just Rei. By the end of the first lap the class had settled into distinct groups. Rei and Minako were near some athletic girls, including Makoto. Much of the class were behind them, most setting an average pace and some setting a hopeless place. Rei suspected Serena was in the latter group. Ahead of the their group were some girls who Rei suspected were part of the track and field club.

By the end of the second lap the groups had separated further. Minako didn't look like she was struggling, but Rei wasn't worried. She had to take care of the shrine every day of the week, spending hours on end on her feet often without breaks. She had faith in her endurance. Her only concern was what might happen at the end of the run. She already knew Minako was faster than her; she would have to get some separation before the final lap.

So she tried. She increased her pace, but Minako matched her easily. She pushed herself faster bit by bit, but Minako never fell behind. As they entered their final lap Rei realized that if she went any faster she wouldn't have any energy left if she had to sprint to the finish line. Instead she hugged the inside of the first turn as much as possible, hoping to edge out Minako that way. Minako either couldn't or didn't care to stay side by side and ended up a step behind Rei. She stayed there throughout the next straightaway.

When they got to the final turn Rei stayed tight to the inside of the track. She could hear Minako's footsteps and labored breathing. The turn ended and she could see the finish line again. She was ahead of Minako, and if she were lucky then the blonde would be too tired to try and pass her.

Then she heard Minako move. Her footsteps came faster and Rei felt the other girl bump her arm as she tried to pass Rei on the right. Desperately Rei tried to run faster, to make her legs pump harder, but her body refused to cooperate. Her pace stayed the same. She had miscalculated while trying to get ahead of Minako, and had used up all her energy. Minako passed her and started to pull away.

She crossed the finish line a few paces behind the blonde. The teacher shouted their times to them as they slowed to a walk for their cool down lap. Rei gulped down air and held her side, which had developed a stinging pain. She silently cursed Minako for making her care about these stupid tests.

Minako waited a moment for Rei to catch up then turned to her and smiled. Rei took some comfort in the fact that Minako was breathing as heavily as she was. Neither of them said anything for a while as they recovered from their race.

"You almost got away at the end," Minako said eventually. "I thought your were going to stay ahead after that last turn."

"I couldn't," Rei said, still a little out of breath. "I didn't have anything left. I hoped you wouldn't either."

"So this means you'll come to the sleepover on Saturday?" Minako asked.

"I said I would. I don't go back on my word."

"Good," Minako said. "I really do think you'll have fun."

"I'm not dreading it," Rei conceded.

Minako laughed and they continued cooling down. They watched as Serena and Ami dragged themselves across the finish line, the last girls to do so. The girls who had been ahead of Rei and Minako were already waiting around the finish line, having finished both the test and their cool down laps after.

"Hey," Minako said suddenly. "Wanna know where I got my extra energy from?"

Rei side-eyed Minako suspiciously. "Do I?"

"You must be a little curious, since we were so close otherwise."

Rei sighed. "Go ahead, tell me."

"It came from my desire to get you into my bed," Minako said.

Rei groaned. She took her word seriously and rarely gave it, but she wondered if just this once it would be okay to break it.