‘Is it really normal to be kissed in the cheek by an older friend?’ That question is the only thing on my mind as I headed to the playground after class. Sometimes, I slow down my pace out of confusion and sometimes, I hasten my steps out of embarrassment.

“Maybe it’s normal to siblings,” I suddenly muttered after I stopped my walk.

Well, she said that we’re like brothers and sisters after all. Being an only-child, I’m not really familiar to sibling relationship but I guess that’s the reason. It’s only normal.

“So with that, I need to hurry. I’m already late,” I said and ran towards the playground. Then, when I arrived, I saw Rosa together with a girl my age wearing our school’s uniform and a white wrapped cloth covering her whole face.

“Is that you, Neko?” I asked after I stopped before them.

Why is she wearing a different mask?

“Prince,” Rosa murmured and faced me with furrowed eyebrows. “Someone took Neko’s mask.”

“Someone?” I repeated, surprised from what I’ve heard. “What happened?”

“According to Neko, she left her bag in the classroom for P.E. and once she came back, the mask inside it disappeared. But a note from the culprit was left there,” Rosa continued.

Neko then gave me a piece of paper and I read it out loud.

“If you want to get the mask back, win the Trinity Grand Race with Prince,” I muttered and became shocked. “With me?”

“Is it those three perhaps?” Rosa whispered in a thinking pose.

“I’ll go talk to them,” I said and turned around but Rosa placed a hand on my shoulder so I faced her.

“Even if we accused them of theft, we still don’t have evidence. They will only deny it,” Rosa followed, serious.

“But…” I reacted with a conflicted expression and looked at Neko. Even though I couldn’t see her expression, I knew she was depressed because of what happened.

“Do you have an idea why they want you to join this Trinity Grand Race?” Rosa asked to me.

Trinity Grand Race, an event held in our school every year to celebrate its foundation. It was a tribute to the three founding members, each representing speed, brain, and strength. The first founder was an infamous athlete in track-and-field. The second one was a renowned mathematician of the country and the third one was the former principal of the school, who was said to be the most courageous man you’ll ever meet in your life. According to stories, that former principal got stranded in an island alone and survived through will power until rescue arrived, confronted five robbers in a bank until the police came, and rescued lots of civilians just in time before a building collapsed. So every year, a contest of speed, intellect and courage were held and interested students group their selves into three to participate in the ceremony.

“I don’t,” I answered.

“Then I guess all we could do is to agree to their demands as of now,” Rosa decided and looked at Neko and me.

But if it’s those three bullies, why would they want us to join that event? Would they gain something if we participate?

“But should we agree to their terms that easily?” I asked anxiously.

“As much as I don’t want to, tomorrow is the deadline for the application of participants,” Rosa answered. “So we have to register either way just to be sure.”

So the culprit planned this already.

“I guess we don’t have a choice. Let’s join that event,” I said with a serious face and looked down. “Sorry for dragging you in our problem, Rosa. And sorry if the culprit is those three, Neko.”

After she heard my apology, Rosa smiled and responded, “We’re all friends, right? Of course we’ll help each other in times like this.”

Neko then nodded to agree.

“Thanks,” I said with a smile.

I’m really glad I met these two.

“If I remember correctly, the event needs three members and an optional substitute in case one member can’t participate, right? Should we recruit another one?” Rosa asked to us.

“I don’t think we have to. Substitutes rarely participate in the event after all,” I answered in a thinking pose.

“I see,” Rosa followed, smiling like she was experiencing nostalgia. “Then, Neko will be the one who’ll participate in the speed contest. I’m gonna join the intellect contest and you, Prince, should take the courage contest.”

“But… this whole event is continuous so you can’t start a contest you’re assigned to without the others finishing first. Should I really get the last contest?” I explained, nervous.

“That’s why it’s you,” Rosa followed with a charming smile and Neko nodded. “And it’s about courage, right? Among us, you’re the most courageous one here.”

“Me?” I asked, doubtful.

“Of course,” Rosa followed and Neko nodded.

Rosa… Neko… To think that they believe in me this much… I can’t be discouraged right now!

I then made a serious face and continued, “Yeah. Leave it to me. Let’s win this and get Neko’s mask back.”

★Pixie’s Point-of-View★

“So let’s hide this lame mask here,” the fat kid said with a disgusting smile and placed Neko’s mask inside his locker. He closed it and looked at his company.

“But will we seriously give that back to them if they win?” the kid with glasses asked curiously.

“Of course not,” the fat kid replied and laughed out loud. “And they won’t win because we will participate too. They will only experience despair. My plan is really brilliant.”

“And don’t forget the ‘ace’ in our sleeve,” the skinny kid said with a grin.

“As long as he’s our substitute, it’s impossible for us to lose,” the fat kid followed, amused.

“Let’s go, the event will soon start,” the skinny kid said and the three of them left. After that, Bella and I came out from hiding. Bella brought out her handkerchief and it transformed into a key. She unlocked the locker and grabbed the red mask inside.

“You’re using your powers at its fullest alright,” I commented, amazed.

All I did tell her before was she can change her appearance here in the past. But to think that she’ll also find a way to use that rule as conveniently as this... Bella is really amazing. She really reminds me of the present Prince. She became his role model, that’s without a doubt.

“So now that we have the mask back, should you guys cancel your entry in the event?” I asked curiously.

“No,” Bella answered and gave me a smile. “We will still participate. After all, we need to teach those kids a lesson.”

“Correct. They are really cruel,” I added with a pout.

“And the best way to do that is to show that Prince can win this contest. They’re underestimating him too much.”

“I only hope that Prince winning the contest will really stop them from harassing him,” I commented, somewhat anxious about what will be the outcome.

“I’m sure it will. It’s Prince after all,” Bella continued with a smile. “Let’s go. The event will soon start. I’m gonna head to the first floor of the main building. You?”

“I’m gonna go to the gate so I could watch this event from the start.”

“Sure. See you later.”

“Got it,” I responded and flew away.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

“And the moment you’ve all been waiting for… This is the start of this year’s Trinity Grand Race!” the host of the event announced and every spectator students around applauded. He was sitting behind a desk near the gate and all participants (around 30) of the speed contest were lined up near the gate of the school. “As you all know by now, Trinity Grand Race is an event held in our school every year to celebrate its foundation. It was a tribute to the three founding members, each representing speed, brain, and strength so three contests will be conducted in honor of them. The first one is the speed contest where participants will have a race and the fastest one to arrive in the main building will win. Also, their teammates will have the right to start the next contest, the intellect contest. So the sooner these participants finished this speed contest, the most advantageous it’ll get to their team. That also holds true to the intellect contest. So the courage contest’s participants can’t start if their teammate in the intellect contest hadn’t finish yet. So this whole contest will be teamwork-based more than a solo event.”

Meanwhile, Neko was stretching her legs so she could ready herself for the race. Beside her was the skinny kid, grinning like a fool towards Neko.

“What happened to your mask, weirdo? Lost it?” he asked and chuckled.

As for Neko, she just continued her warm-up without minding the skinny kid. That action made him click his tongue and avert his gaze forward.

“So without further ado, let’s start the first contest! Participants of the speed contest, are you ready?” the announcer asked enthusiastically.

When the participants heard that, some positioned themselves into a crouching start and some just ready their posture into a running one.

“On your marks… ready… go!”

With that shout, all participants ran forward. Neko immediately took the lead.

“How fast! Speed Contestant no. 4 immediately outran her opponents by a meter of lead! Can someone catch up to her? We will all find out in the next few minutes so stay tuned!”

“I have to follow them,” I muttered and flew towards the participants to watch the race.

“You’re fast, I’ll give you that,” the skinny kid commented after he lined up with Rosa. To everyone’s surprise, he was wearing rollerblades.

“Hey, that should be illegal!” one participant complained behind them.

“Have some shame!” another followed furiously.

“There‘s no rule saying you can’t use rollerblades!” he retorted and laughed out loud.

What a coward! Does he want to win that badly?

But Neko didn’t care and only got faster in running. She immediately distanced herself by a meter away from the skinny kid.

“How can she be that fast? I’m using wheels, you know,” the skinny kid reacted in a shocked look and became irritated. He then kicked the ground so he could catch up to Neko. After a minute, both of them were lined up again.

“Is that all you’ve got, weido?” the skinny kid asked, clearly exhausted after pushing himself just to match Neko’s pace.

The other participants already got left behind a wide margin so the winner will surely be one of them. Soon enough, the two turned left and saw the roof of the main building ahead.

“I’ll win this!” the skinny kid yelled and passed Neko.

“Oh no! He got the lead!” I panicked.

“I won’t let you,” Neko whispered and her speed from earlier got doubled. He bypassed the kid easily and gained a meter of distance between them.

“Wait, what? At this rate, I’ll lose!” the skinny kid commented with a devastated face. Then, he smirked and brought out something in his pocket. “I’ll win this no matter what!”

He then threw a banana peel forward and Neko slipped after she stepped on it. She fell on the ground and the skinny kid left her behind.

“Eat my dust!” he shouted and laughed victoriously as he continued to disappear from our sight.

“Neko, are you okay?” I asked in a worried state and stopped before her. She then sat on the ground and saw her knee bleeding.

“You’re hurt! I’ll heal you!” I said and pointed my wand to her injury. “I forgot! I don’t have magic here!”

After the skinny kid completely disappeared, Neko stood up with shaking legs.

“Can you continue?” I asked even though I knew she couldn’t see or hear me.

“I can’t afford to lose. This is all my fault. So I’ll see this until the end,” Neko whispered and continued running. But this time, she was a lot slower. She was even staggering because of the pain. But soon after, every participant passed her and Neko arrived the main building as the last placer.

“Neko!” Bella shouted and went before Neko with an extremely worried look. Neko sat on the ground in exhaustion and Bella kneeled in front of her to see her injury. “You’re hurt. Medic! My teammate is injured!”

Two nurses ran towards them and immediately started treating Neko.

“Sorry, Rosa. Because of me, we can’t win this anymore,” Neko said, her voice strained from sadness. Even though her face was covered by a white cloth, I knew she was crying.

“Bella, it’s the skinny kid. Neko was in the lead but because he threw a banana peel, she tripped and injured herself,” I reported.

When Bella heard that, her eyes became serious. She then looked at Neko and said, “Don’t worry. We’re still in this game. I’ll win the next one, I promise. So stay there and relax. Your effort won’t be for naught.”

After that, Neko got silent but immediately nodded. Bella then stood up and walked towards the stairs of the main building with a determined look.

“Good luck, Bella,” I said and followed her lead.

“I’ll show you what will happen if you let a teacher participate in a child’s game,” Bella murmured with a smile.