Flying Stride

Chapter 1

Bold: english

Regular: Japanese

THIRD PERSON P.O.V.

"Haru, set! Three... Two... One... Go!!!"

A tall red head shot forward, sprinting through the hall way. Her crimson hair that was tied into a high ponytail flying behind her.

"Haru! Drop your speed a bit, Christine won't catch up to you at the take over zone with the pace you're going!"

The female scowled, hearing her father from the earpiece on her ear. A small 'tsk' escaped her lips as she clicked her tongue as her arms pumped beside her torso. Her speed increased as she turned the corner and before she knew it, she realized that she had passed the takeover zone.

With a frown Miharu continued to run, only dropping her pace a bit as she jogged the rest of the course. She purposely turned off her earpiece knowing her father was going to scold her for not listening to him.

Only faintly she could hear Christine panting from behind, giving up on catching up to her.

The 14 year old picked up her pace one again when her breathing evened out. Her electric blue eyes narrowed slightly before she jumped up, gripping onto a horizontal pole, using it to jump over a large wall. She rolled, using her hand and shoulder as a cushion before standing back up, jumping off of the wall with a flip. To pass over different bars that reached her hips, she did a modification of a monkey vault over them.

She was able to slip in another lap before she saw her father and a small group of girls standing on the side of the course.

Miharu didn't flinch or look away as she saw her father give her a disapproving stare. Beside him, she saw an average height blonde scowling and sending a glare towards her.

"Troy, it's impossible to work with Joy, she has no team plays!" Christine growled, using both Miharu and Kouki's American names.

"It's impossible to work with any of you because you guys have no motivation and you're so slow...." Miharu mumbled in Japanese, stretching out her long legs while ignoring the heated glares she was receiving.

Some of the girls who did hear her cocked their head to the side, not understanding what she said in Japanese.

Kouki on the other hand who heard his daughter mumble in Japanese stopped himself from smiling, the corner of his lips twitching in strain. Though his crimson eyes were filled with amusement.

'Ten years ago, I said that I'll make her so powerful that she won't lack in strength compared to the males and be able to keep up with them but I've never thought it'll actually happen' the older male thought proudly, 'Maybe she shouldn't train with these girls who won't allow her to go to her absolute limit....' He eyed his daughter before looking at the other girls.

"Alright, Joy, from now on you're off of the team."

A look of shock appeared on the said girl's face while the other females had smirks on their lips, grinning in victory. They sent Miharu a mocking smile, making her glare right back at them.

"From now on you'll be training with me and the boys. Melanie will be replacing her spot."

The expression the girls had immediately switched. Although they both openly gapped at their coach, Miharu had a grin on her face while Christine and the other girls gritted their teeth in anger, not believing their coach's words.

Miharu's electric blue eyes gleamed with excitement while the rest of the girls glared at their "former" teammate in disbelief.

With triumph Miharu slipped on her jacket, her eyes sending a mocking look back to the females.

"But, Troy! There's no way she'll be able to keep up with-"

"Christine, I'm perfectly aware of what my daughter is capable of without you telling me," Kouki's stern voice froze Christine who looked away with anger in her eyes.

Kouki had become quite famous as a Stride coach in the past few years. 10 years ago, after his daughters exclamation of wanting to do the sport, he had done research, gaining both the knowledge and the experience as a athlete and a coach. All for his little girl who wanted to fly.

Now for Miharu, she started to train for Stride the day after she made her declaration 10 years ago. Using her father's parkour gym, she learned about flips and jumps, maneuvering through obstacle courses before she started to add speed which later transformer to stride.

Although her father never truly allows her to participate in the training with the boys in the gym, she had encountered them multiple times. Befriending them behind his back. 

He didn't need to know about the adventures she had every weekend with them. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

All Miharu knew herself was that she could keep up with her boys with no problem.  And she absolutely enjoyed it.

And of course, her father wouldn't know what she'll be doing tonight.

"I'm going out for a run Dad," the red haired female smirked, rubbing her cheeks.

"I want you back before it gets dark, your mother's making a large dinner tonight," Kouki grinned imagining his wife. He quickly looked back to the rest of the girls, "Alright, we're going to practice again. This time, Melanie will go!"

Miharu smirked and ran out, her red hair flying behind her like wavering flames.

>>TIME SKIPS>>

It was late at night, around 10 o'clock.
Miharu quickly retired for the night, which wasn't unusual because that's what she always did after a day worth of training.

Silently moving through her room, she placed towels in her bed, making it look like she was sleeping in it.

Wearing her running shorts and her jacket, she slipped open the window, effortlessly escaping though it.

With her hood over her head, she covered her red hair as she ran through the dark, maneuvering though objects, jumping onto roofs and stairs.

The familiar route she has taken countless of night will lead to where the boys gathered.

The streets were rather empty, only few people walking, going home from dinner or work.

As the female took a corner, slowly the amount of posters and brightly lit store lessened before the only thing that lit up the streets were the flickering street lamps.

With ease Miharu jumped onto the roof of a nearby building, using her skill from both Stride and parkour.

Through a crack she entered a abandoned mall from years ago, her icy eyes scanning the area, a small smile appearing on her face.

This was the placed which she called heaven. A place where she practiced her skills without any problem.

"Hey you goofs," she spoke up, surprising a group of males who were panting, sprawled on the floor, sweat dripping down their face from the  exercise they have been doing.

"Joy?!"

"What are you doing here?"

"You usually only join us on the weekends. It's a Friday night, what's with the change?"

The female stretched her long legs before sitting beside them, pulling down her hood, revealing her bright red hair.

"Guess who's joining your group from tomorrow?" She questioned, her tone extremely calm.

The boys stared at her in disbelief for a moment, a wide grin appearing on their face.

"Seriously?! The old man's finally going to let you join in with our training?!"

"About time he did!"

A small smile appeared on the females face as she received slaps of congratulations on her back.

One male chuckled and threw his head back, "It still shocks me that Coach never realized you've been training with us. You've gotten considerably faster in these few couple of months. Now the girls would never stand a chance when you'll be openly training with us."

Miharu who has always been one who kept to herself only nodded, watching her group of friends who'll be her teammate from tomorrow.

Miharu lightly smiled, seemed rather comfortable near the males. Unlike the girls who were previously her teammates, these boys worked as hard as they can, something she felt rather refreshing about.

"Hey, check this out guys! These Japanese high schoolers are pretty impressive!" One male called them, holding his phone in his hand.

They all gathered behind him, watching the small screen.

Although none of them except Miharu could understand what the announcer was saying, all of their eyes widen in surprise.

"He's fast as a bullet!! Yagami Tomoe is as smooth as a river!!" The announcer cheered in Japanese, "He's firm, he's fast, his form is beautiful! He's reaching out for a new frontier! He's leaving camera after camera behind."

'A-Amazing.... His form is so beautiful, and his speed.... It's so fast.... The camera is barely keeping up with him....' Miharu's mouth opened slightly, blue eyes staring into the screen in awe.

Her eyes watched every movement until another athlete appeared on the screen, running as fast as the first before their hands met with a loud clap.

Before she knew it the video came to an end, leaving her frozen in place.

"That has to be one of the most successful race I've seen...."

"Yeah, Japanese are really serious in high school sports.... Troy is Japanese as well...." The males suddenly looked at the only female of the group, "Joy is also part Japanese, what do you think Joy! You proud to be that rac-"

"Honan...." The female mumbled.

"Eh?"

"I'm going to Honan for highschool."

A silence fell over them.

"What?!"

>>TIME SKIPS>>

9 months later....

"Haru, set! Three... Two... One.... Go!!!"

The red haired female shot forward, her shoes crunching the gravel underneath her feet.

She quickly entered the takeover zone, her teammate running in front of her.

At the last moment they clapped hands as she increased speed, her arms pumping beside her body.

Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she leaped, jumping onto a roof.

Her opponent was few feet behind her, slowly catching up.

Gritting her teeth she increased her speed, flipping off of the high building doing a screwdriver before landing on the floor with a roll. She quickly did an underbar for some stairs before she sprinted to the finish line where a red ribbon waited.

Although her lungs burned, she leaped through the goal, rolling to a stop as she panted on the floor, taking greedy gulps of breath.

"AND HERE WE HAVE IT FOLKS!!! THE TEAM FROM FLYING NINJA IS THE WINNER!!"

Miharu covered her face with her forearm, hiding the amused smile after hearing the weird name of the gym her father created.

"JOY! JOY! JOOOOOY!!! WE DID IT?!" Her teammate's rushed to the scene, all of them sweating from their own runs.

"You guys are so loud... Stop screaming so much...." Miharu complained as she allowed her teammate's to pull her up to her feet.

Stride was a sport where people are separated with gender because of the physical difference and capability males and female had. Though that wasn't stopping Miharu from participating in small contests like these where the rules were changeable.

Though even Miharu knew that she wouldn't be allowed to participate in serious tournaments. Just because she was born a girl. Well, unless she gets special approval.

Miharu's teammates sent her a cheeky grin, throwing their arms over her shoulder or messing with her hair that was placed neatly under a red wig.

Now the red wig... Well, Miharu didn't like pointing out her gender when it came to Stride. Whenever she entered a tournament, she always wore slightly baggier, larger clothes to hide her curves. Her long red strand of hair was tucked underneath a wig she had specially made with her own hair.

And people didn't known her gender unless they've done their research or personally knew Miharu herself.

Miharu looked around, looking around for a certain red haired man and orange haired women.

She quickly spotted her parents in the crowd though her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she saw an unfamiliar male standing awfully close to them.

Actually not completely unfamiliar....

'Where have I seen him...?'

"Miharu!!! That was beautiful!!!" Adeline yelled in English, grabbing her daughter, pulling her into a tight hug.

The orange haired woman was a tall, slender woman. At 5'8 , her height and her bright orange hair made her stand out in the crowd.

Though her husband stood out as well with his mop of red hair and eyes, being taller than her at 6'1.

Although still growing, Miharu was quickly catching up to her parents, being 5'7, a little above average of the height of American women. 

The teen believed that her height was her advantage for the sport. Longer legs = longer strides = smaller number of steps.

Adeline rubbed her own freckled cheek against her daughter. When the teen was younger, her freckles were more prominent, but as she grew older they lessened and she barely had any left unlike her mother.

Kouki watched in amusement, motioning the male beside him to follow him.

"Good job, Miharu! The last screwdriver and underbar were quick and effective, very nice," Kouki praised his daughter, placing a large hand on her head.

"Thanks Dad..." Although the redhead thanked her father, her eyes was glued onto the tall male who stood at the side.

Her electric blue eyes widen in recognition, staring into his purple orbs and raven hair.

'Yagami Tomoe.... From Honan Academy.... What is he doing here.....?' Miharu thought in shock. Though her emotion was kept in check as she had a neutral expression in her face.

Of course she wouldn't forget him. She couldn't forget the video she watched 9 months ago with her teammates.

The image of Yagami and the lavender almost white haired man running was burned into her mind, never going to disappear.

"Miharu, this is Yagami Tomoe from Japan! He'll be staying at our house for a while as a exchanged student!" Kouki grinned, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Miharu's eyes widen slightly before she composed herself, holding her hand out, "Takanashi Miharu, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Tomoe took her hand, though his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he gave her hand a shake.

"Yagami Tomoe... It's a pleasure as well..." The male held her hand for a while, staring at her hands.

'So small...? Small for a male his height...? Miharu could be a name for both male or female.... A he....?' Tomoe thought in confusion.

Miharu quickly grew self conscious, wanting to pull away from the male's scrutinizing eye.

"Tomoe, this is my daughter!" Adeline chirped with her slightly shaky Japanese as she placed her arms around Miharu.

Before the teen could open her mouth and complain, the older woman pulled off the wig, making Miharu's long hair tumble out.

"Ah..." Both Tomoe and Miharu mumbled, the first being a bit more surprised as he took a step back.

'The screwdriver she did... It becomes so much more impressive because 'she' is the one who did it.....' Tomoe thought as he stared at the red head who was scowling at her mother.

"I want to race you...."

Miharu paused her argument with her mother and stared at the older boy.

"Well, we'll race then."

>>TIME SKIPS>> 3 months....

"You two! Hurry up and stop practicing, you're both going to miss dinner!" Kouki yelled, looking slightly annoyed and amused at the same time.

His crimson eyes stared at his daughter and guest as they ran beside each other, trying to beat the other.

"I believe I won," Miharu calmly spoke, trying to even out her breathing, her chest and legs screaming in pain.

Tomoe rolled his purple eyes, placing his hands on his hip as he straightened his back, trying to get as much oxygen in his body, "No, I'm sure I've won."

"Why don't you two just come with me and get dinner? I've been watching you guys for hours and I would rather be eating my wife's delicious cooking than watching you two argue again who was faster this time."

Miharu rolled her icy blue eyes at her father's statement. Though she indeed was craving for her mother's homemade protein milkshake.

Adeline Takanashi worked with her husband in the gym as his nutritionist, obviously teaching her daughter about a proper diet for athletes like her.

Kouki sent the teens one last look before walking ahead.

"So, you'll be heading to Japan tomorrow..." Tomoe quietly spoke when the older man disappeared. The teen moved a piece of his raven hair out of his face, looking at the female's face.

Miharu hummed in response, stretching out her calf muscles and quads.

The two did have a strange relation. Although being two years younger than Tomoe, Miharu always challenged the male for a race.

She was actually the only one who challenged him because no one else would, not even the boys on her team.

And Tomoe did admire that part of her. She was a female with few words, though her action always spoke louder than anything her mouth released.

He knew she was an extremely hard worker, and it reminded him about his little brother who was the same age as her.

And he wasn't doing to deny how talented she was, all that talent coming from her hard work of countless hours of dedication.

Although she did still lack some skills compared to himself, he did believe she can achieve them if she continued.

The only problem that held her back was her gender. Her love for Stride was as strong as to what he had but she couldn't always join in the competitions with him.

'If she joined Heath, Kyosuke, and I, our team would be invincible...' The 17 year old thought to himself in nostalgia, imagining his friends.

"Tomoe, come on. You're done with stretching right? I'm hungry...." Miharu lightly complained, slipping on a jacket. 

The tall male nodded and walked beside the female, placing a hand on her red mop of hair tied into a ponytail. She was only shorter than him by around 5 centimeters.

Tomoe was never going to admit it out loud but he did enjoy the younger girl's company.

Being a silent man himself, he didn't reach out to many people except those he were very close with. As a result he had become slightly lonely coming to America, a country he didn't have a single acquaintance.

The female waking beside him became a close friend during his stay. It was also because she was one of the only people who understood him when he did speak.

No one spoke Japanese except Miharu and her father Kouki.

Tomoe also felt like she understood him. Understood the passion he held for the sport.

She was someone he could relate to in that aspect. Though he did know she was struggling more than he was, having an unbreakable boundary.

The male's purple eyes hid his emotion as he walked beside the female who hummed a quite tune, excited to have her milkshake, 'Sorry guys... I'm not going back to Honan.... Sorry Miharu for not telling you...'

A/N

Hey guys!! It's trufflerabbit13 with a brand new story!!! Yes, I know, Prince of Stride isn't well known and I'm sure I'm not going to get a lot readers but I just fell in love with the characters I couldn't stop myself from writing. So to those who are going to read, I want to thank you!!

And hopefully you'll enjoy the story!!

Love, trufflerabbit13

Published
2/27/2016

Edited
4/3/16