Having trained side by side with many upperclassmen countless times, Kitasan Black was quite familiar with it by now.
But during this period of Training Camp, she was shocked to discover that running alongside Rice Shower, this upperclassman, was unexpectedly exhausting.
Her gaze seemed sticky, clinging stubbornly to Kitasan Black's back from start to finish, giving her the illusion of having something stuck in her throat.
Both during training and in the subsequent video analysis, she could see that with almost every step, her upperclassman stepped right into the footprint Kitasan Black had just pushed off from.
The same was true of her posture.
Although there were obvious differences in height and build, her stride, arm swing, the rise and fall of her chest... even the range of motion in her head movements all looked exactly like Kitasan Black's.
To put it exaggeratedly, during these days of training, it felt as though she had split into two.
One was still herself as she appeared now, running ahead in every training session.
The other had taken on Rice Shower's form, firmly and tightly stuck behind her, replicating every movement of the first Kitasan Black.
Of course, they did not run one in front of the other in every side-by-side session.
The goal of a single side-by-side training session was often fairly specific. Running one ahead of the other was meant to practice opening a gap, adapting to pursuit, and so on.
If they ran side by side, then the purpose was to practice positioning, blocking lanes, taking corners, and the like.
At times like those, her upperclassman's gaze was no longer fixed on her, and her footwork and rhythm changed completely as well.
Yet even when Rice Shower was not looking at her, the sensation of being watched from behind still