Community [March 2025 ComEvent] Isekh High - Group 1: Cafeteria

[Irihi]

Spoiler: Off to the Races

Miiya Aether
Mentions: Nobody

“I’m here! I’m here!!” Miiya had layered her competition shorts and top underneath before the tutoring session and was pulling off her uniform as she landed and rushed toward the track. Tossing her satchel aside, she took her position among the other runners on the starting blocks. It had been a near thing, but she had just made it in time for the 100-meter dash--her first event. She didn’t have time to check the stands to see if anyone had shown up to cheer her on. She barely had time to size up her competition. They all looked pretty normal; a mix of humans, fae, and beastmen. The latter were usually dominant; many of them were significantly faster than most humans and elves. All runners were required to make the races on two legs when it was a mixed competition like this one, and that sometimes reduced the animalistic humanoids’ edge.

Miiya took particular note of the beastman beside her. She was quite tall and lean with thin twisted horns atop her head. Yesterday the team captain had warned that one of the other schools’ runners was really fast. Miiya wondered if it was gazelle-girl on the blocks beside her.

The starter pistol cracked and--yes--Miiya realized that her guess was correct. Holy frett she’s fast!! The Aerial thought as she pounded down the track, falling well behind the long-legged beastgirl. The Aerial just didn’t have the muscle mass to hit much of a top speed in the sprints, and the races were too short for her extreme cardio ability to come into play. She’d argued with the captain about putting her in ALL the running events, but the club was short on members and the stronger fast kids had been tasked with vaults, jumps, and hurdles--Miiya being too short to clear the high hurdles without using her wings.

Miiya barely managed to come in 4th in the 100M, but she wasn’t all that perturbed. She never won the short sprints, but anything over 200 meters was a different story, as she could sprint full-out for an entire marathon and not even be breathing hard.

Still, Gazelle girl was really fast, and Miiya decided to say so. “Wow! Yew sure can run!” She said with a smile, walking up to her competitor after the first race. “They told me I’d have some competition this time, and they were right!”

“You think you’re in the same league as me?” The girl sniffed haughtily. “Hardly.” she tossed her dun-colored mane. “See you when you finish the next race.” She sneered before trotting off.

“Rude,” Miiya said to herself as she frowned. She normally didn’t mind a little shu-talking from competitors, but today had been a rough one. She really didn’t need more pressure out here on the track.

“Hey! Who dropped their **** on the field?!” The shouts of the team manager didn’t do anything to alleviate the pressure on the birdgirl. “Miiya, Jesus, it’s a home meet; at least use the damn lockers if you’re not gonna show up on time!”

Miiya gritted her teeth and hurried, head down, to collect the gear she’d dropped with a “sorry, sorry.”

Miiya placed second in the 500m sprint, but she came in quite a few seconds behind the taller runner. The rest of the field was left significantly far behind, none of them having the ability sprint flat-out for a half-kilometer. That’s the last time I’m losing to-goddamn-day Miiya thought to herself. She was feeling a little better for the exertion, but all the weight of the day was still pressing down on her. “Hey, thanks for waiting!” Miiya said, a little less amiably than she meant to, as she approached the tall girl again. “That’s the last of the kiddie runs, so next race I’ll return the favor.” Her smile and tone were more pointed than normal, and the gazelle-girl looked nonplussed.

Miiya was feeling angry and fierce. Between events, she gathered with the club members who weren’t warming up for their own events, see how the club was doing. Everyone else was doing well, and it looked like they had a shot at winning enough events to advance to the state semi-finals. “Don’t worry; I’ve got the rest of these in the bag!” Miiya declared to her teammates, with a emphaticness that she substituted for confidence.

Gazelle girl was really fast, and she didn’t show any signs of flagging after 500 meters. Miiya wasn’t wholly sure that the kilometer run would turn out any different. Away from the other teammates, Miiya said as much to the team captain.

“Look, Miiya, we need every win today, okay? So give it everything you’ve got.” The captain encouraged her.[/I][/COLOR]

The 1000m run came up, and Miiya took her position on the track. She was gonna get this one! Miiya stretched and resettled her wings to make sure her circulation was going. A kilometer sprint didn’t really stretch her heart and lungs, she just hoped gazelle-girl would run out of steam so she could catch up. I’ve got this! The start sounded and the runners were off.

Miiya won the 1000m by just a fraction of a second. She trailed the fast, tall girl the entire race, but at the end--unable to sweat to regulate her temperature--the beastgirl had needed to slow down, and Miiya had just managed to pass her. “See? Toldja.” Miiya tossed off as gazelle-girl pulled at her track suit and fanned herself.

The taller girl scowled at the feathered winner. “Enjoy it, birdbrain, that’s your only win today.” she snapped back, angry at herself for not checking her lead. “I could’ve beat you!”

“Butcha didn’t, deerface!” Miiya stuck out her tongue and turned away. I’m sure glad she didn’t look back! Miiya thought to herself as she limped back to her jubilant teammates. She was pretty sure that gazelle-girl had more in the tank, and just a tiny push would have let her win. Miiya had been running flat-out the entire way. She had plenty of cardio capacity left, but her muscles had cramped up from overuse. Miiya could run through the discomfort, but it was a sign that she had no more speed to tap.

Birdgirl and gazellegirl went back to their team areas to stretch and ice down, respectively, before warming up for the 5000m run.[/COLOR][/B]

 

[Irihi]

Miiya Aether
Mentions: Moonberry DarkKitsune Cutiefly

Spoiler: Racey stuff

“Um… what the hell is this?” Miiya complained as gazelle-girl walked up to the start. She glared at the taller competitor. “What, we doing a undie-run or something?! She growled.

The gazelle girl blushed but scowled right back at Miiya. She was wearing a custom outfit, in her school colors, that exposed quite a bit more than the full-length tanktop and shorts, to allow her better temperature regulation. “What? J-jealous?” she tried to project confidence, but her voice cracked, betraying her embarrassment. She didn’t like the outfit, or the attention it garnered, but she needed every advantage if she was going to outrun Miiya in the longer races. ”Oh, I get it, you’re scared of losing in a fair race,” she rallied with haughtiness.

Any other day, Miiya would have let it go. She did like fair competitions. She didn’t mind losing when the other person was just faster. Running was grounder thing, anyway. Miiya did it because the exercise of it relaxed her, and she didn’t usually get spun up about the competition part.

But today was different. Today--on this rough day full of losses--Miiya needed the win. Her team needed the win. They’re counting on me. I’m counting on me. The birdgirl silently justified herself. It didn’t help that Miiya was feeling more than a little frumpy next to the leggy and well-endowed beastgirl exhibition. Miiya raised her arms in a WTF gesture, and decided to run her mouth rather than hold anything back. “Fair? Oh, sure, let’s all run naked at the north pole, so hornhead, here, can have a chance. Tch!” Miiya gestured to herself. “I’m carrying ten pounds of wing on my back that I don’t get to use, cuz yew slow-ass grounders wouldn’t have a prayer if I did,” she turned to make her complaining more general, ”But Miss thang here gets to put on a strip tease and shake her *** at all of us in the name of “fairness.”” Miiya groused, falling off a bit at the end. Even though she was annoyed, those last words had been a bit much, she realized, seeing gazelle-girl blush a deep red.

All the arguing had drawn the attention of the judges, and one of them made their way over to the runners. Gazelle-girl’s blush deepened further as the judge sized her up. “Your uniform is out-of-spec, young lady, he said. ”The rules allow it, but only if it isn’t distracting to the other runners.” He turned to Miiya. ”Are you making a formal complaint?”

For a second, vindictiveness flashed through Miiya. She almost said “yes”. But, no, the birdgirl’s mean streak didn’t run that deep. She was already feeling a little bad about her outburst and the embarrassment it had caused gazelle girl. “No, it’s fine… nevermind.” she muttered.

“It’s obviously distracting her!” Miiya’s team’s manager had also come over. [colorr=red] “Yes, we complain. Make her change back.”[/color] she insisted.

Miiya tried to pull the manager into a quick conference. ”No, I said it’s fine.” Miiya insisted, but the manager repeated herself until the judge said that the race would be on hold until the beast girl changed back into uniform.

“You said, yourself, you didn’t know if you could keep beating her; now you can.” The manager looked satisfied. “You’re welcome.”

Miiya couldn’t look at the taller girl when she returned, but the birdgirl felt like she could feel her competitor’s poisonous stare. She could feel it on her backside for three out of the five kilometers of the race, because Miiya didn’t let her dismay slow her down and she beat the overheated gazelle girl handily.

”You did that on purpose! If you’re gonna cheat, just cheat; don’t hide behind your manager!” she spat at Miiya as she headed back to her team’s area.

Despite her two victories, Miiya was feeling crummy. The first win was more of a fluke, and the second felt dishonest. However, the bird girl's spirits were lifted when she spotted her classmates in the stands. Miiya waved from down on the field and then climbed the stairs to the spectator area.

“Nozomi-Senpai! Yew came! I'd give you a hug, but I'm all sweaty and gross.” Miiya said to Moonberry Hikari.

“Same goes for yew, theater kid.” Miiya grinned. She had just plain given up trying to recollect Aurora and Griffen’s names DarkKitsune .

Miiya cracked her first genuine smile of the afternoon and said honestly: “It really means a lot to me that you guys came. Here.” She paused and winced as she plucked a couple of tawny down feathers from her wings. She offered them to Hikari and Griffin. “There. Sign of my appreciation. Now watch me beat the pants off this gazelle!” She waved and blew out just as quickly as she had blown in. Her next event was starting soon.

Miiya was just about to leave the bleachers when a quiet husky voice stopped her. “EssBee! I knew you were lurking around here somewhere!” This time, Miiya didn't hold back on the hug, no matter how sweaty she was.

 

[Irihi]

Miiya Aether

Mentions: Nobody

Spoiler: Heartthrob

”If it was cooler, I could beat her!” gazelle girl gritted her blunt teeth as the team manager layered wet towels and ice packs on her. She was embarrassed, angry, and frustrated at the prospect of losing the majority of events to the loudmouth birdgirl. ”Or if there were more sprints.”

”Hold on, I might have something. Here!” The team manager for gazelle-girl pointed to her phone. ”Say she’s cheating! Ask the judges to bind her wings.”

”That’s not going to help; she’s not cheating--she’s not flapping at all, I was watching.” The girl scuffed her hoof on the ground. ”From behind. Almost the whole time.”

”It doesn’t matter if she is or not,” The manager replied, tapping her phone’s screen. ”It says here that wing-binding puts pressure on Aerial’s hearts. That might slow her down. I’ll go tell the judges.”

Gazelle girl looked troubled. ”I dunno. Isn’t that dangerous?” She was mad at the birdbrain, but she didn’t want to hurt her.

”No, not if she’s healthy, The manager demurred. ”I’m pretty sure she is, since she’s outrunning you,” she scrolled past the part about getting a physician’s buy-in and pointed the screen toward the gazelle. “This says that they can train like that.”

…

“I’m not cheating!” Miiya insisted, crossing her arms and frowning. “I’ve got twenty feet of wings, dude! If I was using them for propulsion, you’d yfretting notice!”

”I’m sure you’re not, but there have been complaints, and just to make sure everyone feels comfortable, the judges have agreed to require you to wear wing bands.” The official responded.

“I’M not comfortable!” Miiya retorted. “I… I don’t want to!”

The Aerial hated wing bands. She’d given up on the basketball and football teams because of them. Using her wings in those intense competitions was instinctual, and she’d had to band them to keep them closed. That was the whole reason she ran track. Now they wanted to take that away from her, too!?

Gazelle-girl and her manager were nearby, as the 10,000m race was about to start. Overhearing Miiya’s complaint, the manager decided to chime in. ”Sounds like something a cheater would say.”

“Shut up!” Miiya growled at her, visibly distraught. She pointed at gazelle-girl “Maybe she should wear a butt plug, so we all don’t have to suffer through her smelly deer farts!!” The birdgirl wanted to shake off the judge that took her aside to quietly insist that she had to wear bands or be disqualified. She did NOT like the wing bindings and she would have quit the meet, rather than wear them, if the scores were not so close, and if her friend and classmates were not watching.

Miiya had been watching the other events, and the Isekhigh club was doing well--for once. They had a shot at going to state, but they needed a win in every event left--and this race was crucial.

The team captain had come over to see if he could intervene. After talking with the judges, he spoke to Miiya. ”I agree this is crap. It’s your decision, Miiya. You don’t have to run the race if you don’t want to,” he said.

The birdgirl jammed her fists in the pockets of her warm-ups, hunching her shoulders as the captain came to talk to her. Her right leg bounced with a nervous fidget as she stared at the ground, very upset. “I’m not cheating! This is bullshu!” She insisted, but knew there was nothing the captain could do; the judges had made their decision. “It’s fine. They can put them on.” Miiya relented at last. She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes as she felt hands on her feathers, looping and tightening the straps that would keep her from unfolding her feathered limbs.

It was an angry Miiya that took her position at the starting line. She looked at gazelle-girl. “I hope yer happy, yew frett! Have fun losing!” She growled.

Right from the start of the race, Miiya poured it on. The wing bands were embarrassing and uncomfortable, but her anger--and determination to put gazelle-girl in her place--were helping her forget about them. Just like in the five kilometer race, Miiya blew past the beast girl between the 2nd and 3rd kilometer marks.

It was around the 5th kilometer, with Miiya still sprinting full-out, she began to notice something wrong. Her legs were knotted with cramps, but she had trained to run through them. As long as she had cardio power, she could keep going at full speed. This was different, though. She felt a tingling in her extremities and her wings were completely nerveless.

By the 6th kilometer Miiya recognized the symptoms of a deepening arrhythmia. This shouldn’t be happening, I’m not flying! she thought to herself. Running didn’t take enough of her cardio capacity to stress her heart, yet the signs were unmistakable. Miiya couldn’t keep up the pace. If she’d been aviating, she would have had to make an emergency landing. As it was, she slowed and then stopped putting a hand on her chest and feeling the uneven flutters of her heart. Her fingernails were pale and her lips had a bluish tint. I can deal with this! Everyone is counting on me! I’ll figure out what’s wrong later! Miiya forced herself to cough, hard. Really hard, so hard that she went down on one knee.

It worked, slowing down took the pressure off her enlarged left ventricle and the shock of the violent coughs established a steady sinus rhythm. She had lost a lot of ground to gazelle girl, but she was still in the lead. And I’m still faster! She thought as she resumed her flat-out run, limping and skipping until she’d run through the pain of restarting cramped-up muscles.

Miiya made it another two kilometers before she had to stop again. She was feeling dizzy and nauseated. C’mon! C’mon! Don’t pass out! The birdgirl went down on her hands and knees, this time coughing violently enough that she vomited on the track. There wasn’t much to bring up, but the action--along with slamming her doubled fists to her chest, got her heart beating properly again. “I’m fine! I’ve got this!!” She shouted as the coach came running toward the track. I’ve got this! The beast girl had passed her, but Miiya quickly overtook her. I’m not letting this skwitch win--not after everything!

There were just two laps left when Miiya went down hard. She had thought she could make it. Aerials were supposed to be able to fly at altitudes deadly to humans. She thought she could push her oxygen-starved body through for just the last few laps. Then suddenly the track was coming up to meet her and she was instinctively rolling out the low-speed crash, ending up sprawled on her back, looking up at the sky, chest heaving ineffectively as her brain told her to pull in more air. Miiya didn’t have the strength left to cough deeply. She feebly raised her arms and tried to strike herself and failed at that as well.