I’m Back in the First Grade of Elementary School, so I’m Going to Live Well

Fufufu, the time has finally come…!

It was the fifth hour of the day.

The last class of the day was Physical Education.

I was never very good at PE in the past.

I had a body that was not suitable for exercise for the first time in my life: I was not strong, I was stiff, and I was not athletic.

But the second time was different…!

After all, I was devoted to running almost every day during the summer vacation. (I say “almost” because I took two rest days a week during the summer vacation because my parents sometimes worried that I was working too hard.).

Now that I’ve upgraded to Itosaki Sho 2.0, I’m different.

The physical education class I was going to take on was the 50-meter run.

In elementary school, if you’re fast, you’re looked up to, and if you’re not, you’re not looked at at all.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the result of this 50-meter run would determine the rest of my elementary school life.

In the past, I would have been nervous or pretentious, but not now.

For this moment, I was full of confidence.

After all, I had trained for this day not only for running, but also for short-distance running.

I was fully prepared.

I had put in enough effort to be absolutely confident.

All that was left was to show the results.

Fufufu, I can see the surprised faces of my classmates…!

“Fufufu, fufufu.”

While my classmates were changing into their school gym clothes and putting on their red and white caps in an empty classroom that served as the boys’ locker room, I was alone with a fearless smile on my face.

“Oh, hey, Kakeru. Why are you laughing all by yourself? Did you eat something bad?”

“Fufufu… fufufu…”

“……?”

◆

The chime for the start of the fifth period rang.

By that time, all of my classmates were already lined up on the ground, sitting in the order of their attendance numbers by gender.

By the way, the gym clothes at our school are differentiated for boys and girls: white short-sleeved T-shirts and indigo shorts for boys, and the same jacket and red shorts for girls.

“Okay, everyone is here. Let’s start with the preparatory exercises.”

When the jersey-wearing Misato-sensei dangled her whistle and instructed the students to do so, they stood up and spread out in an even space.

It’s tough being an elementary school teacher because you have to be in charge of all the subjects.

I thought to myself as I watched Misato-sensei stand in front of the students and do her preparation exercises.

It had been years, maybe even a decade, since I had done Radio Gymnastics No. 1, but my body remembered it so well that I was able to do it without copying the actions of those around me.

My body relaxed in a good way, and I was ready for the class.

There were two 50-meter lanes in a straight line.

The boys and girls were separated by their odd and even attendance numbers, with the left lane being run by the youngest odd number and the right lane by the youngest even number.

If we did it this way, I would be the second runner in the left lane, since I was number three.

Well, it doesn’t matter what order you run in as long as the result is good.

The problem would be my opponent in the right lane.

The second runner is Imai-kun, number four.

He is an ace in a soccer club for younger elementary school students and has the best sports sense in the class.

In addition, he has a neutral and well-proportioned face, what we call an idol face.

He’s the ace of the soccer club, he’s fast, and he’s a beautiful boy.

It’s rare to find a guy with such an easy-to-follow set of traits.

On the other hand, I’m just an athletically challenged boy.

I’m not exactly a loner, but I’m sure my classmates think I’m just as bad.

The outcome of the game was already obvious.

The purpose of this is to time, not to compete, but the purpose of the class and what the students are interested in are not always the same.

No matter how fast your time is, if you are the loser, your presence will be lost.

Winning is the minimum requirement to stand out.

But the barrier is too high.

I said I was very confident, but to be honest, the chances of beating him were extremely slim.

――However, the more you overcome the obstacles, the more you gain.

If I, a person with no expectations, were to win against him, the attention of my classmates would be tremendous.

In fact, I should take it as an opportunity.

Now I can understand how the hero of an action manga feels when he is excited to face a strong opponent.

I feel my heart beating with elation and wait for my turn to come.

“Aida-kun, 11.1……, Aoki-kun, 11.7 seconds. ――Itosaki-kun and Imai-kun are next.”

My turn came early.

My heart was beating faster, a mixture of nervousness and anticipation.

“Itosaki, he’s going to lose, right?”

“Because it’s against Imai-kun…”

I can hear the pitying voices of my classmates.

It is rather comfortable for me now.

I can betray their expectations to a great extent.

“Position.”

From a standing position, assume a standing start position with your right leg pulled back and slightly forward.

“Ready?”

The excitement in my chest reached its peak and I salivated.

“… … ――Beep!”

“―――!”

The moment the starting whistle sounded, we both started running.

The start of the race was so perfect that we started at the same time.

And until the 10-meter mark, there was no noticeable difference.

It’s a stamina game to see how much you can keep your speed up for the rest of the distance…!

I moved my body with all my strength and kicked the ground so hard that my Achilles tendon felt like it was going to tear.

But even so, I can’t make a difference with Imai-kun.

――But he also can’t make a difference to me.

At the 30 meter mark, there was no difference at all.

At this point, I knew that we were evenly matched in terms of foot speed.

The only way to win now is to bet on the moment of the finish line!

Cross the finish line as soon as possible, even if it’s only 0.01 seconds.

That’s the only way left to win!

Both of the runners showed no signs of slowing down, closing the distance to the goal by 10 meters and then 9 meters.

There was no time to look at Imai-kun, who was already next to me, and I just kept running.

Then, with 5 meters to go and the goal line just around the corner, I gave it my all and ran down the lane.

Even a little…! Go ahead, even if just a little!

――…… So I arrived at the finish line, one step ahead.

I thrust my upper body forward as far as I could to cross the finish line, even if it was just for a moment.

As I crossed the finish line, I heard the result of Misato-sensei’s judgment.

“Imai-kun, 9.5――, Itosaki-kun, 9.5 seconds.”

The result was a tie.

Zugooooooo! And with all the momentum, I decided to go for a head-slide.

That’s right. This was just an elementary school measurement, not a full-fledged short-distance running competition.

There was no time measuring devices or video judgments like those used in competitions. All we had was the teacher’s visual judgment and a stopwatch sold at a 100 yen store.

Even if it’s just 0.01 seconds, it’s faster. If the difference was that small, it would be treated as a tie.

It was neither a victory nor a defeat.

The result was indescribable… 

Feeling inadequate, I crawled on all fours from my prone position and tried to stand up.

Unfortunately, this opportunity was missed.

I was about to give up.

“Itosaki, you’re amazing!”

“I didn’t know your legs were that fast!”

“Yeah! I’m surprised you’re tied with Imai-kun who’s the fastest in the class!”

My classmates, who had been standing in line, rushed over to me and gave me words of praise.

I watch the scene with a puzzled look on my face.

This 50-meter run. I was concerned about winning or losing, but I didn’t need to win.

The fact that I was so close to the fastest guy in the class, Imai-kun, was in itself something to be admired, and if I finished in the same place, it would be more than enough to get high praise from the people around me.

I’ve achieved my goal without winning.

Seriously… 

I couldn’t be too happy about the good feeling I got so abruptly.

But there was definitely a feeling of joy in me.

“It was a good run. Itosaki-kun.”

Imai-kun, who had run with me, reached out his hand to me on all fours and gave me a refreshing smile.

“Oh, thank you.”

I took his hand and stood up.

AN: This was the moment when I saw the results.

Recently, many people have been saying that the main character is not very 28 years old, so let me make an excuse here.

The protagonist had no friendships or club activities during his school years, and his interpersonal skills are extremely low. As an adult, he has no experience in society other than a part-time job, so he is somewhat naive. The reason why his mental and emotional aspects are inappropriate to his actual age is that he has less social experience than most 28-year-olds.

I think the discomfort is caused by the discrepancy between my image of the main character and your image of a 28-year-old.

One of the reasons is that the protagonist’s past is not accurately described.

Over time, the protagonist grows up.

I hope you will enjoy his growth.