accessing one ‘ s full range of motion was something they must work for ; as such , it is no surprise to kakeru that his upperclassman is not as flexible as he could be . prince is a beginner in all this . . . so the underclassmen was trying to get him started with some of basics so he could work on it . HOWEVER , it would seem as though helping him through the basics is a series of actions akin to torture for his friend . hopefully , as the other ‘ s body became used to stretching like this , it would become less torturous to endure . but for now ? akane would have to get through this in order to get to that place !
❝ IT ‘ S BETTER TO STRETCH YOUR BODY AFTER STRAINING IT SO MUCH , PRINCE - SAN . ❞ one might say that a body does not like to be thrust into a STATE OF REST out of nowhere ; as a result , an athlete should take steps to lead it into that state . plus , stretching like this would help an athlete ‘ s muscles to be less sore . ah , but would his upperclassman even care about this if stretching like this is doing nothing but hurting him ? ❝ YOUR BODY NEEDS HELP TO MAKE SURE THAT IT ‘ S NOT SORE . . . AND WE ‘ RE HELPING IT RIGHT NOW . ❞
THE ANSWER to prince ‘ s inquiry is easy enough to find : he has been doing this for YEARS . and he has never stopped doing it . but the road to get to where he is was not easy , despite everyone ‘ s insistence that it is some inborn talent of his or something . hard work is the only way he ‘ s been able to reach the heights that he finds himself at today . . . and even then . . . kakeru still has more climbing to do !
his experience , perhaps , might not parallel akane ‘ s own . . . but the effort they ‘ ve both put into running so far is the same . so the answer that reaches the air is this : ❝ I ‘ VE WORKED HARD TO GET WHERE I AM , PRINCE - SAN . IF YOU DO THE SAME . . . YOU ‘ LL GRADUALLY BE ABLE TO MOVE YOUR BODY ‘ MORE FREELY ‘ . ❞
why does his body need to make sure it isn’t sore...he’s going to be sore, regardless. this is why akane hates running. other high-activity sports he can at least understand the need for intensive stretching, what with the range of movement required, but running is innate. fight or flight. if humans are designed to flee, why is it that they need all this excess conditioning to do it well. why must they subject themselves to such torture. why...why do people do this for fun, again ?
as he reaches toward his ankle with a feeble whimper, akane mulls over kurahara’s words. how long, exactly, did it take him to reach where he’s at ? the entirety of his childhood ? that, plus a few years of adolescence ? they don’t have that amount of time between now and hakone ekiden. it’s not as though he isn’t trying...as unthinkable as it may seem to the likes of kurahara and haiji-san...but akane isn’t so idealistic that he thinks he’ll be anywhere near the point they’re at in less than a year’s time. how far does hard work really get someone like him ?
❛ it's too late for you, ❜ he mumbles, ❛ you're starting to sound just like him. ❜ at least haiji-san’s optimism is rubbing off on someone who needs it, akane supposes. unless kurahara’s only encouraging him to be nice...no, he’s not the type. this is the guy who flat out told him to quit the team if he couldn’t move forward, after all.
akane huffs a humorless laugh at the memory. to kurahara, it must seem as though the running has made him delusional. maybe he is. maybe they all are. ❛ if we keep talking about stretching — while we stretch, i might die. ❜ spine straightens, painstakingly reorients itself over the opposite leg. ❛ please...talk to me about something else. tell me your thoughts on the manga i lent you. did you find it any good ? ❜
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