“I should send Takashi-san a thank you bouquet for this…” Yamamoto talked to herself, eyes scanning the mission scroll before her. A traveller from outside the village had shown up, claiming he was the fastest man alive and was now continuing his quest of egotism by harassing the locals and demanding someone challenge him. Given recent events, few had paid little interest to the man’s demands but he was starting to become frustrating for the locals and so a request had been made, a mission submitted, and the call answered.
It was thanks to her teacher at the academy nudging her towards this mission that had brought Yamamoto to the outskirts of the village, after handing her sword over to the blacksmith to be repaired anyway. She walked down the main street, heading towards the arranged meeting point. The plan was to run from here, all the way up main street and then back down. First to get back to the start won. There were no rules beside not interfering with your opponent.
“Hello. Are you my opponent for the foot race?” There was only one other person standing in the street, a middle-aged man who Yamamoto estimated to be in his mid-forties. Dark hair, blue eyes tanned skin, toned musculature. It was the body of a sprinter.
“Yeah. Let’s get this started.” Yamamoto maintained her soft smile, stretching her limbs out as she took up position next to him. They both bent forward, hands resting on the ground as their back right feet pressed against the ground behind them.
“3, 2, 1….RACE!” One of the locals, roped into doing the countdown, chopped his hand down through the air and they were off. Yamamoto and her opponent kicked off the ground, breaking out into a sprint and from the start it was surprisingly one sided. The out of town stranger took the lead, easily pulling ahead of his opponent. However, it was fairly easy for Yamamoto to keep pace and in fact, it was by design. The racers eventually came to the end of the street and turned, pulling a perfect one eighty as they barrelled back down the way they came.
The outsider was confident in his victory. He was only three quarters of the street away from the finishing line but he was starting to get tired, his legs starting to turn to lead and when he turned back, he saw Yamamoto was gaining. The swordsman began to increase her speed, slowly picking up and gaining on her foe. Her strategy was coming to the peak now, having been running just fast enough to force her opponent to exert more energy than he should.
Faster...faster...faster. Her blood vessels expanded, heart rate increased, and lungs started to burn. Her starving muscles were fed oxygen, burning it up yet always demanding more.
“Come on...more speed….I need to go faster. Faster, faster, faster….!” Her thoughts bounced around her skull, demanding her muscles to give her MORE.SPEED. This was as much a matter of personal pride and a need to establish herself, plus it would reflect rather poorly if she let her teacher down. She could see the finish line ahead of her, now neck and neck to her gasping opponent until...yes! She had pulled ahead and now it was time.
She closed her eyes, emptied her mind and extended her thoughts inwards. As she had, with only partial success in the past, reached into the void that for so long had been her goal. Chakra burned through her body, spreading down to her leg muscles as a metaphorical firing pin locked into place. She grit her teeth, bearing the burning sensation until suddenly….it was released.
She burst forward, rocketing away from her opponent. The final half a street was easy for Yamamoto to cover, her body roaring across the finish line but then came the issue of stopping. She turned her body sideways, pushing the heels of her running shoes against the floor and skidding to a stop, the speed and heat fading away. She flopped over forwards, resting her hands on her knees, breathing heavily.
“Some advice...for your next race…..don’t...use up all your stamina at the start.” It was all she would say to her opponent, between heavy breaths anyway, before pushing her fringe out of her eyes, feeling the sweat forming on her forehead. That had been fun. With a casual wave goodbye, and a quick exit to avoid being swarmed by the locals who undoubtedly wanted to thrust some silly medal or something on her, Yamamoto made her way back to the mission office to collect her reward.
It was thanks to her teacher at the academy nudging her towards this mission that had brought Yamamoto to the outskirts of the village, after handing her sword over to the blacksmith to be repaired anyway. She walked down the main street, heading towards the arranged meeting point. The plan was to run from here, all the way up main street and then back down. First to get back to the start won. There were no rules beside not interfering with your opponent.
“Hello. Are you my opponent for the foot race?” There was only one other person standing in the street, a middle-aged man who Yamamoto estimated to be in his mid-forties. Dark hair, blue eyes tanned skin, toned musculature. It was the body of a sprinter.
“Yeah. Let’s get this started.” Yamamoto maintained her soft smile, stretching her limbs out as she took up position next to him. They both bent forward, hands resting on the ground as their back right feet pressed against the ground behind them.
“3, 2, 1….RACE!” One of the locals, roped into doing the countdown, chopped his hand down through the air and they were off. Yamamoto and her opponent kicked off the ground, breaking out into a sprint and from the start it was surprisingly one sided. The out of town stranger took the lead, easily pulling ahead of his opponent. However, it was fairly easy for Yamamoto to keep pace and in fact, it was by design. The racers eventually came to the end of the street and turned, pulling a perfect one eighty as they barrelled back down the way they came.
The outsider was confident in his victory. He was only three quarters of the street away from the finishing line but he was starting to get tired, his legs starting to turn to lead and when he turned back, he saw Yamamoto was gaining. The swordsman began to increase her speed, slowly picking up and gaining on her foe. Her strategy was coming to the peak now, having been running just fast enough to force her opponent to exert more energy than he should.
Faster...faster...faster. Her blood vessels expanded, heart rate increased, and lungs started to burn. Her starving muscles were fed oxygen, burning it up yet always demanding more.
“Come on...more speed….I need to go faster. Faster, faster, faster….!” Her thoughts bounced around her skull, demanding her muscles to give her MORE.SPEED. This was as much a matter of personal pride and a need to establish herself, plus it would reflect rather poorly if she let her teacher down. She could see the finish line ahead of her, now neck and neck to her gasping opponent until...yes! She had pulled ahead and now it was time.
She closed her eyes, emptied her mind and extended her thoughts inwards. As she had, with only partial success in the past, reached into the void that for so long had been her goal. Chakra burned through her body, spreading down to her leg muscles as a metaphorical firing pin locked into place. She grit her teeth, bearing the burning sensation until suddenly….it was released.
She burst forward, rocketing away from her opponent. The final half a street was easy for Yamamoto to cover, her body roaring across the finish line but then came the issue of stopping. She turned her body sideways, pushing the heels of her running shoes against the floor and skidding to a stop, the speed and heat fading away. She flopped over forwards, resting her hands on her knees, breathing heavily.
“Some advice...for your next race…..don’t...use up all your stamina at the start.” It was all she would say to her opponent, between heavy breaths anyway, before pushing her fringe out of her eyes, feeling the sweat forming on her forehead. That had been fun. With a casual wave goodbye, and a quick exit to avoid being swarmed by the locals who undoubtedly wanted to thrust some silly medal or something on her, Yamamoto made her way back to the mission office to collect her reward.
