Gold medalist

Gold medalist

The unremarkable high school for boys with the picturesque name "Funbari" had never been different from any other school. It was always like that until a few years ago, a student appeared within its walls who had one cherished dream - to get a certificate with a hundred points in all subjects. The goal, at first glance, might seem unattainable, but not for this student. Ryunosuke Umemiya, or simply Rio for everyone who wants to, was ready to study the same subjects year after year, just to get the cherished hundred points at the end of the school year. It took him seven years of study in the senior class to get closer to fulfilling his cherished dream. Legends circulated about him, the fame of Rio thundered far beyond the small town. He knew all the school subjects perfectly. All that was left was to receive the cherished document on graduation day. But three months before "Day X", something terrible happened. The school changed the physical education teacher, and this led to a number of unexpected events. Anna Kioyama-sensei became the only teacher and female representative at this all-boys school. She had a slender build, light-brown hair and dark, onyx-like eyes. Despite her small stature, she was very strong. She could lift a barbell with one hand and throw it at a lazy, wayward student. Physical education became a real nightmare not only for the motivated Rio, but for all the students at Funbari High. “Guys, I’m screwed,” the twenty-five-year-old shared his sadness, melting on his desk. The next lesson was physical education. “Kyoyama-sensei is certainly formidable, but I’m sure she’s not that cruel as to cause the collapse of your dreams, Rio,” the short Manta hastened to reassure him. He, like no one else, got his ass kicked by the "Snow Queen" because of his short stature and short legs. "I agree, Rio. Of all of us, you have the best physical training. You will definitely get your hundred points in physical education," the blue-haired informal Trey, who asked to be called Horo-Horo, sympathetically patted him on the shoulder. However, no one really bothered and for the sake of brevity, everyone nicknamed him Horror. "And what do you say, Yoh?" Lyserg Dietel, a young man with refined features and a European appearance, addressed the separately standing brown-haired man. Yoh Asakura turned his dreamy gaze from the view outside the window and, smiling good-naturedly at his friends, suddenly blurted out: "And I think Kioyama-sensei is very cute." All the present guys simultaneously dropped their jaws. “Wait, Yoh,” Rio was the first to come to his senses. “You probably haven't recovered from your last gym class, where you passed out on the fiftieth lap of the stadium run. How did you find her cute? She's a monster!” All the boys nodded in agreement. Yoh scratched his head awkwardly. “Yes, her teaching methods are certainly harsh, but she herself is a very beautiful and strong-willed girl. I think she just wants to make real men out of us. And it's so sweet of her.” The classmates' lower eyelids twitched at what they heard. “We are real men!” Horo-Horo objected vehemently. “Your understanding of the word "cute" is too different from mine. When a girl is really cute, she often smiles, gets embarrassed, likes to eat sweets and say all sorts of stupid things. I can more easily imagine Godzilla in a frilly dress than our gym teacher with a cake in her hands.” The others nodded approvingly. Meanwhile, Yoh thoughtfully looked up, apparently imagining some images, and then confidently proclaimed. “ So, I am lucky in the absence of competitors.” “What?” all the boys' second lower eyelids twitched. “You have a very strange taste in girls,” summed up short Manta. “Okay, it's time for class. If we're late, she won't leave us alive.” The boys sighed sadly. And Yoh went up to Rio and kindly patted him on the shoulder. “Don't worry, Rio. You'll definitely graduate from school with straight A's this year.” The tall young man was so touched that he almost burst into tears. When the bell rang, all the students in the class were already standing in a straight line, waiting for the teacher. Kyoyama-sensei didn't keep them waiting for long. She gracefully walked into the stadium and, pressing the megaphone to her lips, greeted the students. Her voice was loud, clear, confident. She familiarized the boys with the lesson plan and gave the command to spilt into pairs to perform the exercise "Squats with a partner on their shoulders." "W-what?!" Manta thought he misheard, but judging by the sensei's further explanations, he realized that he heard everything correctly. The girl pronounced each word, hammering into the heads of her frail students how to do the exercise correctly. "After ten laps of running, begin the exercise. Do 50 repetitions depending on the partner's weight. One student squats, the partner sits on his shoulders. Then the student straightens his legs with the partner's weight on his shoulders and goes into a squat again. Any questions?” Everyone present looked at the teacher in horror, trying to imagine whether they would be able to move at all after such an exercise? “If there are no questions, march to run ten laps against the clock,” the formidable sensei proclaimed and blew a shrill whistle. The students began to carry out the order. There was no time to relax. They had to run at the speed of sound in order to meet the standard set by the blonde teacher. “Weaklings! You have to run as if a terminator was chasing you! This is not a beach walk, fools! Move your legs! Faster-faster!” “The only terminator here is herself,” Manta, sobbing and running, wailed, his short legs not having time to cover the distance. Meanwhile, Rio, thanks to his tall stature, long legs and seven years of practice in the school physical education program, barely managed to finish the tenth lap on time. However, he was the first to carry out the commander's first order. “Keep it up, big guy,” Kyoyama-sensei praised the winner of the race, looking at the stopwatch. “But you can do better,” before Rio could rejoice, she brought him down to earth. “Your exercise partner will be the shorty. Let him pump up his legs and lower back, lifting you on his shoulders.” Hearing this, Manta almost tripped on level ground. “Kyoyama-sensei, I'm left without a partner,” breathless Yoh, who had just finished running the tenth lap, ran up to her. In fact, he wasn't looking for a partner. The girl appraisingly scanned the young man's thin body with her dark, night-like eyes. Under such a piercing gaze, Asakura even felt a little uneasy. Maybe he shouldn't have approached her. “In that case, I will be your partner today,” she finally announced and noticed how the guy somehow perked up and strangely glowed with an aura of happiness. “But to keep you from breaking prematurely, I’ll have to do this.” With these words, she lifted the cuffs of her coat and began to unfasten the strange bracelets-bandages on her wrists. These accessories were thrown to the ground with an iron clatter, leaving a crater from the impact. Yoh’s face turned blue from what he saw. He couldn’t even imagine how much one such bandage could weigh. Meanwhile, while the high school student was in mute shock, Kioyama-sensei managed to remove the same bracelets from her ankles. They, in turn, left an even bigger crater from the impact with the ground. “Now we can begin,” she commanded imperiously, warming her wrists with circular movements. Yoh obeyed. He squatted down to the limit, only to stand up with the teacher now sitting on his shoulders, whose weight now seemed akin to that of a heavyweight bodybuilder. His legs and back were shaking, and stars were shining before his eyes. Sensei was sitting on his shoulders majestically and gracefully, her arms folded across her chest. In fact, this was a top-notch performance on her part. All the other students could not even properly stay on their partners' shoulders. Not to mention the partners themselves, who were not even able to rise from the squat. "Forty-nine more times, Asakura. Keep it up and maybe something good will come out of you." Yoh smiled through the pain and exhaustion and did another squat. He did not know how many more weights were attached to sensei's slender body, but it felt like he was lifting a sumo wrestler on his back. But for some reason, the heart rejoiced at the words of the blonde "Snow Queen". "So cute," Yoh muttered dreamily under his breath, and began to perform the exercise with even greater enthusiasm, as far as it was possible.