[Jouma Joukou]

The Sports Festival! Jouma could hardly contain his excitement! Not a whole lot got him excited more than competition and showing everyone just exactly what a real man was capable of! He threw his name down for a whole bunch of events, and when he showed up to the three legged race he was not expecting to get partnered up with the saddest looking girl in the entirety of the world. "Cheer up!" he says, letting their legs be bound by the organizers. "You're partnered with one of the most renowned racers in all of Japan!" It was a needless flex, but he needed a segway to show off his own muscles, flexing a bicep. While he normally wore something stylish, today he was just wearing the uniform track pants (that barely contained his calves) and a tight fitting T-shirt that did nothing to keep his abs in check.

Once they were situated, he'd wait for the buzzer. He was not nervous in the slightest, but there was one problem: Zaya, being there next to him, was a good foot shorter. The moment he took that first step, she'd struggle. A lot. It would no doubt be a struggle, and Jun's words would no doubt return to Zaya in this instance:

"We need to get you up to a higher standard, and this is the best way to do it in a controlled environment! Take it seriously, but try to have some fun in the process! I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines, promise!"

But would she be there to pick Zaya up? There was little to think about, as the race had started and Jouma pushed off his back foot and sent both himself and Zaya forward!

zaya

[zaya]

“Just sign me up for any event, I said…It’ll be fine, I thought…” Zaya was convinced that she was going to get put in one of the events that wouldn’t require too much teamwork, or physical strain, or just effort in general really, but here she was, tied us with some musclebound dingus, about to run a race that relied solely on working as a team.

Hearing this joker brag and flex his muscles only made Zaya roll her eyes. “Just don’t go too fast, ok? I care more about keeping my leg intact than I do about winning.”

Before she could ask him anything further, like if his quirk would be useful, too fast, things of that nature, the race had already started.
Jouma was going way too fast for her to keep up with, and it felt like her leg was going to get torn off as they ran. They were barely a tenth of the way through the race when Zaya decided that it was better to sabotage her partner than to keep up.
“Ok, I’ll just use my power to drain him a little, slow him down a bit…”
Thankfully her target this time was literally bound to her, so it was no trouble at all to reach over, and use her quirk to start draining his energy.
“Just enough to slow this ox down should do it…” Siphoning his energy, it’d serve to refuel her strength while slowing her overgrown partner down enough to keep her from having to do too much more running.

[Jouma Joukou]

Jouma did notice a change: a change in Zaya. At first, she was not putting forth the energy needed to get through the race, but now he felt her pick things up. Excellent! This was good, as he felt a bit more winded than he anticipated, and feeling her arm on him...

Wait, that made too much sense. Well, both things did. The first being that yes, anyone and everyone should feel how his muscles worked while he was working them. He couldn't blame that at all! But there was only one point of contact between the two of them right now. Sure, he was taller than her, but he didn't register that it could be a problem! So he did the only logical thing that made sense to him.

Reaching over, he took hold of her waist to press her against him. He'd be sacrificing balance, but if it kept the two of them more stable then nothing could go wrong! "That's the spirit! Get those legs up, push forward! Show the world just how beautiful those muscles of yours are!" Not his best motivation, but he was throwing a small flirt her way at the same time. He didn't expect it to land as they had something to navigate through: a slalom! "Push left! Push right! Haha, there you go! You're getting it now!" he would force-weave them them through it, yanking her back and forth.

zaya

[zaya]

This guy was still going like a bullet train, despite having some of his energy drained; What was it going to take for this guy to slow down?!
“I don’t want to show people my muscles!” She exclaimed while trying not to get dragged.
“That’s creepy, you creep!”
As they weaved between all of the obstacles, Zaya just felt humiliated as she was less helping in the race and more just trying to stay alive, being tossed around like a rag doll.
“Screw it, better to bring this guy down completely then try to keep with him…”
Grabbing onto Jouma, Zaya clutched him tight, aiming to drain as much of his energy as she could with her quirk. Just as she was about to activate her power, another duo bumped into them, causing Zaya to lose her balance and trip up, stumbling and almost falling to the ground.
“Oh come on! Watch where you’re going!” Now it was a fight to regain her balance and not get her ankle broken as she tried to get her center of gravity.
“Hey, uh, big guy, think you can slow down just a tad?” Zaya pleaded, sweat starting to bead down her face. “We should like, conserve our strength for the final stretch!”
Hopefully that’d let her pick herself up, she thought, already planning to grab onto him to slow him down further. “Think you can hold me close? I'm losing my energy...” She asked through a tired looking smile, hoping that she could get close enough to thoroughly drain him.

[Jouma Joukou]

The position Jouma was in meant that when the other pair jostled Zaya he was jostled as well, and he had to pause just to regain his bearings. "Hey! That was not very sportsman like of you two!" he called after the pair, only for one of them to blow him the raspberry. A fury built up in him, and he was about to take off like a rocket when Zaya asked him to slow down. He was about to explain that they need to give it their all at every single point, but then he explained her reasoning. Ah yes, now that made sense! She was an endurance runner! He could actually respect that, and there was a hill coming up. With a sparkling smile and a thumbs up, he says, "You make an excellent point! And this would be a good way to cause an upset! I love your thinking, Miss Zaya!"

And, in an unexpected move, reaches down to grab hold of her hand, setting off once more from their conjoined feet. "Pace ourselves now! Up the hill we go!" Taking things at a slightly slower pace, he'd start to guide them up.

Meanwhile, from the sidelines, a certain redhead would be shouting: "DON'T GRAB HER HAND LIKE THAT, YOU CRETIN! UNHAND HER, OR I WILL BOMB YOU BACK TO YOUR STONEAGE BREATHEREN!"

zaya

[zaya]

Zaya blushed out of surprise as her hand was clenched by Jouma’s.
“H-hey! I did not give you permission to hold my hand!” She yelled out, startled. Like a cat that didn’t want to be picked up, she retaliated, trying to drain his energy even further; Not out of trying to slow him down, as their pace was more moderate, rather out of sheer annoyance. Honestly, this guy was built like a brick and was about as intelligent as one too.
Moving up the hill as she fought to get her hand free of his, sweat was now completely drenching the girl. Her clothes were basically glued to her from the heat, and her hair looked greasy and disgusting; She could only hope showers were readily available after this.
Finally at the top of the hill, the race looked just about at the halfway point, with the finish line visible, but still a decent way off.
“Hey, is your quirk any use at all for getting us to the end quicker?” Zaya asked, exhausted and uncaring what it took to just end this already. “I can’t even remember if we’re allowed to use our powers for this race, but I think the heat is starting to affect my head…”
Even if it was cheating, its not like they’d get kicked out of the school or anything, right?
“Like, can you maybe teleport, or turn into a car? Anything speed related, honestly…” Even if she was going to have to sprint a bit longer, anything to get this done so she could get water, lie down and pass out.

[Jouma Joukou]

One would think with both of them sweating as much as they were that Zaya would have an easier time getting her hand free, but nope. Jouma had a vice grip, mostly because he recognized that it would be easier to move with the two of them like this, and with everything as slick as it was it was better to overdo it than under! Unfortunately, though, as they made it up he found himself more and more drained. That didn't seem right, and he considered giving up.

But what kind of talk was that! Giving up? In the middle of glory?! Not to mention Zaya was going to rely on his strength to get them through the finish line with a win! He couldn't just give up now! He persevered, getting to the top and breathing hard. "There! Easy, see?" He grins again, but it was obvious he was starting to burn out. The only thing that was going to keep him going was sheer willpower.

As they overlooked the rest of the course, including a monkey bar section, he thought for a moment. Taking in a deep breath, he leaned down to dematerialize a section of the hill. In its place would be a makeshift sled, something to at the very least ease the friction of the hill! Only he didn't know the concept of friction. "Hop on!" he says, not like she had a choice as almost immediately the thing would move. He'd take her by the waist again as they picked up speed, hurtling towards the bottom at a pretty fast pace.

zaya

[zaya]

Looking at the newly created sled, Zaya was thankful that she could give her legs a rest. “Oh, thanks, I-“ Before she could even finish her thought she was shoved onto it, and the sled began moving hellishly fast down the hell.
“This thing has brakes, right?” She asked, peeking around her teammates shoulder to see the quickly approaching bottom of the hill. Its not like she was going to be able to stop their ride, unless she was willing to lose an arm. And she couldn’t bail either, not with this anchor holding them back.

So, she really only had one option to bring them to a stop. Charging up electricity in her right hand, she took aim and blasted a hole right in their path. Before she could even brace for impact, the sled hit the rim of the hole, sending the duo tumbling forward, with Zaya landing directly on top of Jouma. Better than him crushing her, at least.
“Next time you make one of those things, make a brake pedal.” She complained, picking herself up.
“Ok, almost there…So how do we want to approach the monkey bars?” She asked, hoping he wouldn’t suggest something too drastic like the sled. Looking back, she saw many of the other teams now behind them, not having the advantage of a sled to carry them down the hill.
Could they actually win this? Part of Zaya was actually starting to get excited, ignoring her horrible exhaustion and replacing her apathy with genuine excitement.

[Jouma Joukou]

Jouma was not expecting a hole to spring forth like that, but he had to admit he didn't put any brakes on the sled. Of course, how did one put brakes on a sled? Madness! What was worrisome was he felt a pain in his leg now as Zaya fell on top of him. His ankle, pretty sure, was twisted. Unfortunately, she seemed to be expecting a win, and so was he, so he couldn't exactly state as much. Or show it, even.

As he put weight on his foot the pain only increased, and they had to act fast if they were going to get to the finish line in time. Practically picking her up (nearly falling over in the process) he hobbled them to the bars, panting. "I'll jump up, grab with your outer hand!" He'd do the same, bringing his leg up and supporting her with his other arm so she could latch onto it. At the very least, he didn't have to put weight on his leg! "I swing you forward, you grab the next bar, then you do the same for me!" He wasn't thinking of the consequences of this, but he wanted to involve her. Nothing wrong with that.

zaya