Winter Wonder Marathon - Just Run!

"T-This sh-should be c-considered torture," Lotus stuttered through her chattering teeth.

"Once every winter it happens."

Lotus wasn't the only one shivering from the cold. All around her, male students donned in tracksuits were shivering, their clothes did little to protect them from the cold winter air.

"A gym class so cold it makes you want to strangle any teacher in a jacket."

"You can say that again!"

"Alright!" Coach Matsuzaki stepped forward, the gym teacher wearing a warm brown coat. "Get it together! It's time for the winter marathon!"

"Easy for him to say! Look at how warm that coat is!"

A series of groans went off from the male students.

"This is actually the easiest obstacle for me. All I have to do is run, and I can use my pyrokinesis to stay warm."

"Saiki…why haven't you taught me that skill yet?"

"You don't handle the cold well do you?"

"Not when I'm in the thinnest possible tracksuit that has ever existed. I once had to sleep in a tundra during a snowstorm on one of my parents' expeditions and I was warmer then than I am right now."

As subtle as possible Saiki places a hand on Lotus's arm. An instant warmth takes over the girl causing her to let out a relieved sigh.

What sounded like bones rattling came from Lotus's left and she spotted Kitaro. The boy's shivering worse than anyone else's, you could see his knees knocking against one another.

"Are you okay over there Kitaro?" Lotus asked.

"I-I-I'm g-g-g-oood!"

Kitaro turned around and did his best to give a smile, teeth clicking against one another. And was that ice gathering under his nose?

"You look far from good."

"You'll warm up once we start!" Hairo exclaimed.

The gung-ho teen was only in a shirt and a pair of shorts.

"Where's your jacket?"

"Hairo aren't you freezing?"

"Ha! Not at all," Hairo flexed his left arm, "See I've got sleeves," He smiled gesturing to the rolled-up short sleeves of his shirt.

"Does that help?"

"It drops a few degrees and you wimps start whining," Kaidou mocked.

Kaidou too wasn't in his tracksuit, dressed in just a pair of shorts and a shirt, with his normal red bandages wrapped around his forearms.

"Kaidou is that all you're wearing?!"

"He's cheating with fleece bandages."

"I'm so sleepy," Nendou mumbled.

Just like Hairo and Kaidou, he too only wore a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, but what was really out of place was the fact that the tall boy's hands were stuck down his shorts.

"Seriously, Nendou?"

"Let's just ignore Nendou this chapter."

"Hey there Nendou would you like to be running buddies today?" Hairo asked.

"Yeah, that sounds fun!" Nendou said.

Behind Hairo a determined fire roared, a bit of sweat already dripping down the boy's cheek. He had a fist clenched, teeth-gritting in determination.

"I can finally settle this and see who is the better athlete! I will finally have revenge for the physical fitness test!"

Several students started to crowd around Hairo, the heat of the boys' determination warming up the surrounding area.

The students gathered at the school gates, Coach Matsuzaki giving the crowd the instructions for the marathon.

"All right, the race will be 10 km. Every 2 km you'll cross a checkpoint with a teacher to ensure there's no funny business."

"Well sorry about this but," Kaidout made his way to the front of the crowd, "I'm gonna let out my true power, see you at the finish line."

Coach Matsuzaki raised his arm, holding up a starter pistol. "Ready….start!"

The gun went off and the pack of students took off running.

"Ah-ha! So long mortals…" Kaidou taunted as he ran but he soon quickly fell behind the rest of the students. "What? Wait?! Slow down! You fools running fast from….the start…"

Kaidou started to huff and pant, falling further and further behind.

"….will tire you…out."

Saiki and Lotus bypassed Kaidou with ease.

"I'll be waiting for you at the finish line even after throwing the race. Right now I'm in 45th place out of 90 students. At this pace, I'll finish the race without drawing any attention to myself."

"Saiki…"

Saiki glanced over at Lotus the girl with a stern expression on her face.

"I'm going to pull ahead…the sooner I get done the sooner I can get out of this cold! Saiki allow me this one request to stick out and I'll make you any dessert of your request for a full week straight."

". . . Just don't overdo it, you'll draw too much attention."

"Got it! Off I go!"

Lotus took off, shooting forward like a bullet leaving a trail of dust behind her. The other males who had caught sight of the girl gaped at her speed.

"Whoa!"

"Look at that girl go!"

"She did do pretty well during the sports festival."

"Miss Lotus is amazing!"

"I like to see that girl go-!?"

One boy fell forward, tripped by an unseen force.

Lotus had passed by the first checkpoint where Coach Matsuzaki was waiting. The man stood tall with his arms crossed, his usual stern expression on his face. His winter coat was gone and the man was now donned in his normal red tracksuit. Lotus glanced at her teacher, surprised to see him there.

"Oh? Wow, he sure is fast to make it to the first checkpoint."

Lotus looked behind her and saw a few male students behind her, she looked ahead and saw a good chunk before her as well.

"Okay, I'm going at a good speed. At this rate, I can be done soon and out of this cold!"

As Lotus got further she started to notice groups of boys starting to drop off. She knew that was bound to happen to those who didn't pace themselves properly and others who didn't have the fitness level to run for this long. But as she covered more distance she spotted even more guys. She started to grow a bit concerned seeing the throngs of students who had stopped running, a good few had even taken spots on the ground. As she reached the 8 km checkpoint, Lotus once again saw Coach Matsuzaki.

The pink-haired girl gaped at the sight of her teacher. The man's track jacket was now unzipped and sweat dripped down his face.

"Wha-He's here at this one too? Coach Matsuzaki is fast!"

Passing by the checkpoint she saw several boys off to the side collapsed and on the ground, they were completely winded and out of energy.

"What's going on? A good chunk of the guys in our class are pretty good athletes. So why are so many of them so exhausted?"

"Hairo…There's no way that we can keep up," Someone groaned.

"Oh, that's it. Everyone's trying to keep up with Hairo and Nendou." Lotus sweatdropped. "That's such a terrible idea. But still…you have to admire the tenacity and determination. I kind of feel a bit bad for them."

Lotus walked over to the checkpoint.

"Coach Matsuzaki, do we have any water?" She asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, we do," Coach Matsuzaki said.

"Would it be alright if I go around and hand some out?" Lotus asked

"I don't see why not," Coach Matsuzaki said.

He walked around the back of the small overhang set up and pulled out a few bottles handing them over to Lotus.

She took the bottles with a "Thank you" and made her way over to the resting guys. She approached two guys and held out the water.

"Here you go."

The boys', whose heads were hung, looked up at Lotus. The moment they set their sights on the girl a halo of light bloomed shining behind Lotus, illuminating the girl. The boys gazed at her with wide astonished eyes.

Lotus proceeded to hand out the rest of the water getting the same reaction from each guy.

"~Such kindness!~"

"~A goddess!~"

"~Our refreshing hydration saint.~"

"~Miss Lotus is truly amazing!~"

"Geez," Lotus sweatdropped, "I just handed them water."

When she was done Lotus got back on the street, running down the set path.

"Alright, I just passed the last checkpoint I'm almost there….Huh? Is that Hairo and Nendou? Did I really catch up to them? Well considering everyone else fell so far behind that makes sense."

Hairo was running with all he had, drenched in sweat, Nendou on the other hand looked as cool as a cucumber and was running backward with his hands tucked in his pockets.

"~What the heck is fueling this guy?! He's running backward and I still can't pass him! He's not even human!~"

Nendou turned back around and started running more normally, speeding up.

Hairo groaned trying to push on but just couldn't reach Nendou. "~I can't keep up! I can barely move my legs! I'm gonna lose!...Wiiiiin!~"

Hairo suddenly pointed in a random direction. "Look! Its manga author Shuichi Aso!"

"Huh, what?" Nendou stopped running looking around.

Hairo sped forward with a war cry and passed through the finish line.

"Goal! First, Hairo!"

"Wait? Where's that Aso guy, and who is he?" Nendou questioned as he passed the finish line.

"Nendou, Second!"

Hairo stood still sweating profusely with an elated look on his face.

"I won."

"But did you really?"

Lotus passed through the finish line entering the school grounds.

"Third Lotus!"

Lotus stopped, wiping some sweat from her brow.

"Done. And since there's no one around, not a lot of attention is drawn my way."

After cooling down Lotus was once again cold, the sweat on her skin only adding to the bitter chilliness. After grabbing her coat Lotus came back outside to help cheer on the rest of the students. Once again Coach Matsuzaki was present, the man congratulating the students as they passed through the school gates. His jacket was gone, and the man was drenched in sweat with literal steam billowing off of his skin.

Lotus spotted a familiar head of pink hair and smiled.

"Huh, Saiki? I thought there was a bigger gap between me and everyone else," Hairo commented.

"The gap would've been much larger if I had not restored them all, but the real winner is Coach Matsuzaki. He was everywhere."

"That guy deserves a medal."

"Okay, good job! That's some good running!" Coach Matsuzaki clapped as more students ran by.

"That's impressive."

"Think he's got some kind of supernatural powers that makes him the ultimate coach?"

"Who knows. At least I got by with a boring 45th place like I wanted."

Saiki passed through the gates jogging past Coach Matsuzaki.

"Saiki, 44th," Coach Matsuzaki said.

"That's odd. I could've sworn there were 44 ahead of me. Did I pass someone and forget?"

Saiki glanced over at Lotus, looking the girl over. "Did you go inside to get your coat?"

"Yes! I was cold!"

"After running so long?"

"Yes!"

"By the way, were you supposed to run the males' marathon?"

"Well, Coach Matsuzaki asked if I wanted to switch over to the girl's gym class to run their marathon but I turned it down. Not to toot my own horn but I could outrun them all even without my powers."

"Alright, Saiki! Time to fulfill my promise. What desert would you like for today?"

"Surprise me."

Saiki sat in Lotus's kitchen, the girl wearing a white apron with her name embroidered on it, along with a pink bandana atop her head. There was soft music playing in the background, Yami was laid out under the table by Saiki's feet, with Sir Henry resting on his back.

"Oh, that's new. I for sure thought you'd ask for coffee jelly. How about a foreign desert?"

"Sounds good."

"Awesome! I've got the perfect thing in mind!"

Lotus got to work moving across the kitchen swiftly.

Saiki held a book in his hands, every so often glancing up at Lotus. After a bit of time, Saiki had yet to look up, deep into a rather interesting part of his book.

"Saiki check it out."

The teen looked up and saw kitchenware floating about.

"I've been working on using my powers to help cook, it tripled my production."

"Well, if it's for cake, it's a good use of them."

Lotus chuckled as she went back to her work. It wasn't too long before she was pouring batter into some cake pans. Just as she popped the pans into the oven her phone started to ring. Stepping out of the kitchen Lotus answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"..."

"Oh, hello how are you doing?"

"..."

Lotus nodded her head. "I'm doing well too."

"..."

"Oh? Well…" Lotus put a hand on her hip thinking. "That is rather interesting. And it would be pretty good publicity." She smiled. "And it does sound fun! Alright, I'll do it!"

"…."

"Okay then, just send me over the rehearsal schedule."

"…."

"Bye see you soon!"

Lotus smiled as she hung up the phone and made her way back into the kitchen. She walked over to the counter grabbing a bowl and some ingredients. Using her powers she poured all the ingredients into the bowl and once everything was properly in a spoon floated up and into the bowl starting to stir.

Once the cakes were out of the oven and done cooling Lotus moved onto the next step. Lotus had a piping bag in hand as she started adding the last touches to her dessert. She hummed with a serene smile as she picked up some cherries and gently placed them atop her work.

"And I am done."

Lotus grabbed the plate and turned around presenting it to Saiki.

"Ta-da! A Black Forest Cake! Origin, Germany."

Saiki stared at the cake, admiring it. It looked like it was straight out of a bakery. Lotus set the cake on the table and pulled out a cake serving knife.

"You want a big slice right?" Lotus asked

Saiki gave her a look as if to say "Do you even have to ask?"

Lotus gave a small giggle and cut the cake placing the large piece on a plate. She reached across the table handing it over to Saiki. Just as Saiki's hand touched the plate the flash of a camera went off. Both physics looked to their left and saw Ethan and Violet standing in the doorway, the former holding his camera. Violet had a smile on her face looking like she was about to burst from excitement.

"Wha…How long have they been standing there?"

"Since you came back from your phone call."

"Have you guys seriously just been standing there?" Lotus asked.

"We couldn't help it! You two are just so cute!" Violet exclaimed.

"Like a married couple!" Ethan added.

Saiki and Lotus looked at one another then quickly looked away. Both with varying shades of blushes painting their cheeks.

"Oh, this is going to have to go in the scrapbook!" Violet said.

"What scrapbook?" Lotus asked.

"The one me and Kurumi started," Violet said.

"What?"

"It's going to be a nice wedding gift for you two. Something to look back on when your years down the road in blissful marriage," Violet said.

"What?"

"Hey! Why are you planning my wedding when you haven't even planned yours?" Lotus said.

"Now who said I haven't planned ours?" Violet said

She snapped her fingers.

"Ethan!"

"Yes, my Queen!"

Ethan vanished from sight and a few seconds later came back with stacks of binders in his hand. Violet picked up one of the binders opening it up.

"Look I've got everything planned and cataloged for Ethan's and I's wedding."

"We've got a binder on dresses, venues, food, etc," Ethan listed as he held up each one.

Lotus sweatdropped, "I stand corrected then."

"I just got started on yours and Ku-kun's!" Violet held up another binder. "Look, it's pink! I was thinking of a spring wedding, because a cherry blossoms venue would pair perfectly with you two."

"Violet please!"

Saiki sighed, placing a hand on his chin looking off to the side. Saiki's imagination carried his mind off to a vision he had never dreamed of. A vision of him and Lotus in their current position, but in a different home, and they were both a bit older. The psychic shook the thoughts away before they could invade Lotus's mind. He glanced over at the pink-haired girl, lucky for him she was currently very distracted. The girl was flushed face as she went back and forth with her sister and Ethan. Saiki smiled softly, picking up a fork to dig into his cake.