Quick Running One Shot for /ksg/

Set at an undetermined time, before Hisao shows up.
Maybe early Senior year or late Junior year?  I don't know how Japanese school works.
Whatever

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Quick Running One Shot for /ksg/
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“Yo, Lilly!” came a call from the hallway.  In the crowd, even Lilly's keen hearing could do little more than pick out the direction and begin to recognize the voice.

“Ah...” She forced a smile as awareness slowly dawned on her fair face.  “I apologize, Miura.  I didn't place your voice.”

“No big deal.  Miki's fine, by the way,” the tan girl said as she fell in line, wincing a bit.

“Very well.” She did not bother to comment on the fact that this relatively new girl had already taken the liberty of being familiar with her.  It had been the same way with Emi, and there likely would be countless more.

She led the way into the tea room and began to prepare some tea, before she finally said, “was there something you needed?  Or did you just wish to chat, Miki?”

“It's a little bit of both, actually.” She sighed.  “I wanted to know if you could help me.”

Shizune had not mentioned 'that annoying new student who is dragging my class's average down' by name, but she knew who the culprit was.

Truth be told, Lilly normally couldn't care less for such things.  In the end, students who were going to succeed would and those who wouldn't accept help would fail.  However, with mid-terms having just passed, there was time for even the laziest student to shape up.

“How may I help you?” she asked as she looked toward the sun.  Its warmth was pleasant, though she regretted that she could not even tell the difference that its light made.

“Well, it's really more of how I can help you,” Miki said (and Lilly imagined she was smirking), “you see, I need a boost to one of my grade averages, and...a certain someone said you were a little short of making highest marks in physical education.”

Lilly didn't wince.  She was trained better than that, but she did not have the same cheer when she replied, “so what do you propose?”

“I train you at running, you hook me up with a little tutor magic with those connections of yours?”

“I'll have to make some calls.  It might take a week to arrange something, and they will expect you to work hard.”

“Well, when you're done with tea and get some time to change, I can help you with your running problem today.” That whimsical tone that just screamed that she was smirking was back. “You'll have to work hard too.  Running isn't something that comes easy.”

“Very well,” Lilly answered, “I'll meet you at the track in...an hour?”

“I'll be waiting,” Miki said as she stood, but her voice was gentler as she said, “thanks, by the way.”

“You are welcome.”

She felt a little ill by the time she made her way down toward the track.  She was not really worried about her ability to actually run, of course, but she knew what happened when blind people moved without a point of reference.

That was a reason why she was allowed to use a treadmill for her fitness tests, but she didn't really trust those either.  She could feel them, and she knew where the stop button was, but she really didn't control anything.  What if she fell and the stop trigger didn't work?

Fear was not becoming, but she feared having her face ground up by the treadmill.  That made her run slower, which led to times that were just below 'satisfactory'.  Her physical education marks wouldn't ruin her chances of getting into a university, in all likelihood, but she did not want to risk an application to a good school being rejected because of poor performance in one of her upper years.

That made her worry more, which made anxiety boil up inside of her and snatch control of her normally comfortable world away from her.

“Hey, Lilly!” Miki greeted her at the door.

“Miki.  Thank you for this,” she said, trying to smile.

“No problem!  You're the one working hard for me, so it makes sense that I pay up front.”

Miki, thankfully, guided her with her right arm.  Though she did not necessarily care about the disability that the other woman was afflicted with, she had a feeling that it would lead to all sorts of uncomfortable moments between the two, and she desperately wanted this to be over all ready.

“All right, the track teams hitting the weight room today, so it's just us,” Miki said as they stopped.

“That's for the best.” Lilly nodded her head.

There was a bit of awkward moving as the girl adjusted her around, before finally situating her.

“All right.  Well.  Show me what you've got.”

Lilly actually frowned as she said, “what?”

“This is the starting line for the track.  Go on, jog a bit.  Show me what you've got.  I'll stop you before you run off the end of it.” Miki was smirking again, she could tell.

And that gave her determination, even as she wanted to turn to the girl and tell her how badly this was going to work.

Even though she knew it was a bad idea, a small part of her was pleased that she was being treated as an equal...sort of.

And so she started jogging.  Worry gripped her as she started to move, but she did her best to fight it off.

Stay loose.  Just keep moving.

It wasn't too far before she heard a snort and some giggles, and a call of “stop, stop!”

She was already angry when she swung around, but she held back from saying the first thing that came to mind.

“You're way too stiff, girl!” Miki said, guiding her back to the start.  “When you run, you have to lean forward, swing your arms, and take big steps with your legs.  You're...kinda like bouncing from foot to foot, you're using most of your energy to go up and down rather than forward.”

Lilly huffed, but nodded as she was turned around.

“Seriously, I'll look out for you, so, just let loose.”

This time she did.  Truth be told, she was still worried, but at least it felt much more natural to do it the way Miki described.

“Looking good!” She heard from her right.  “Oh, right, go to the-”

That terror came back in an instant.  The track was ending, she needed to go right or she'd run into something.

She went right into Miki, and they fell all over themselves.

Her nose exploded in pain, and she felt the warmth immediately.

Lilly began to apologize, but Miki just started laughing, and she called out, “what's wrong with you?!?”

“Sorry!” the other girl chuckled from underneath her, still laughing.

“It's not funny,” she said as she eased herself off of the other girl and pinched her noise.  “Damn it.”

“It kinda is,” Miki said as she stood up, “I'll have to talk to my running coach so the next time isn't so messed up.”

So distracted was she with the blood running down her fingers, Lilly didn't notice until Miki had come back.  “Here, take this rag.  Let's go to the nurse, okay?  We can try again tomorrow.  My coach has to know something that'll make this work out better.”

For what it was worth, Lilly was impressed by the girl's determination, even if she knew Shizune and Misha were going to laugh at her later...