"12 seconds. Brand new record."

Tzuyu doubled over and held onto her knees for support, panting heavily. "Only 12? One more time..." The young teen panted a bit more before standing up straight. "Start the timer, Mina. I'm ready."

"No...I think we're done here," Mina received a pout from Tzuyu. "Don't make that face. You're overworking yourself, and you know it. All because you want to beat that Sana girl."

"That's not why!" Tzuyu pretended to be offended. "That's not why at all! There's nothing wrong with wanting to beat your old times."

"Which you did....three times, actually." She held up the sheet where she had been keeping track of Tzuyu's times. "It's time to go, Tzuyu. You need to rest for our first day tomorrow, anyway."

The track star crossed her arms. Tomorrow was the first day, a day she'd been anticipating for so long yet dreading so much at the same time. The thought of entering high school excited her. She could meet new friends, learn thing she never knew before, and even more. But it also meant she had to meet Minatozaki Sana. Tzuyu was the star of her track team in middle school, and they made it all the way to nationals. They came in second, but only due to Tzuyu spraining her ankle near the end of the final race. They definitely would've won if not for that.

Tzuyu was very talented, and no one could even come close to her. Until now. Minatozaki Sana, captain of the winning team of Nationals was attending the same high school as her. Tzuyu wasn't used to competition. She was used to being on top of everyone, always beating everyone out. Sure, if she hadn't sprained her ankle, she definitely would've won. But nationals seemed to inspire Sana. She probably knew she wouldn't have won if not for Tzuyu's ankle, so she trained and trained. Eventually, she was scoring even higher times than Tzuyu.

But Tzuyu didn't see her as much as a threat originally. Tzuyu's middle school was private and Sana's was public, so they never competed against each other. Tzuyu still stood on top.

Yet high school threw them together.

Most wouldn't even see it as a problem. They were on the same team after all, and two stars could only mean a win. Tzuyu was too competitive to let it go like that. Sana was better than her, and she wasn't going to let it stay like that.

Sana was her rival.