A Popular Girl Confessed to Me, the Loner—Thinking It Was a Prank, I Tried to Scare Her Off... But She Was Actually Serious. - Chapter 28: The Girl Running Ahead

After school.

The moment the chime rang, the classroom was instantly filled with noise—the scraping of chairs, the shifting of desks, someone’s laughter echoing somewhere.

Amid all that, I was, as usual, packing my textbooks into my bag.

I had no particular plans. I wasn’t in any clubs, so nothing after school either.

But—somehow, today, I just didn’t feel like heading straight home.

So I looked over at Hiyori, who was putting her books away, and said:

“Hey… I don’t have anything going on today, so I thought I’d wait for you until your club activities are over.”

Across from me, Hiyori paused in the middle of organizing her notes and looked up.

“…Really!? I’m so happy!”

She lit up like a flower blooming.

Her voice bounced with so much joy, it made me wonder if it was really that big of a deal.

“Thanks, Masato-kun!”

She stood up, retied her ponytail, slung her bag over her shoulder—

“Okay, I’m off to club then!”

—and waved cheerfully before dashing out of the classroom.

Her figure disappeared past the classroom door, her steps light and full of energy.

I couldn’t help but watch her go.

“…Oh, right. She’s in the track team.”

I’d always just thought, “She leaves at a different time,” like it was a given.

But for the first time today, I really noticed the reason behind that.

“Yo, Manabe. Bet you didn’t know this.”

Kurokawa appeared beside me, giving my shoulder a light tap.

“Hiyori’s the real deal. She doesn’t slack off in practice at all. She even does extra training, like, three times a week.”

“Huh…”

“Her seniors trust her a ton too. She’s less like a ‘cheery queen bee’ and more like ‘the ace of the track team.’”

He was grinning like usual, but somehow his words carried weight.

“Yeah, seriously. Hiyori in full-on tryhard mode is crazy cool,”

Suzusan jumped in, still in her uniform and straddling a chair backward, facing us.

“She’s usually all soft and floaty, right? But when she’s running, she’s like a different person.”

“A different person…?”

“Totally focused. Doesn’t talk much. Her whole vibe changes. You’d probably be like, ‘Wait, who’s that?’ She’s super easy to root for like that.”

“…Huh.”

Suddenly, I found myself really curious about this side of Hiyori I’d never seen.

Even though we’re together every day.

Even though we hold hands.

Even though she smiles at me.

Maybe… I don’t actually know everything about her yet.

***

Around the time the sky started turning orange—

I sat on a bench near the school gate, fiddling with my phone while waiting for Hiyori.

There was a vending machine nearby, and a few other students were also hanging around, seemingly waiting for someone.

(…So this is how long club activities go, huh.)

It was around 6 PM.

Hiyori showed up jogging over, still in her jersey, lightly sweating.

“Sorry for making you wait…!”

Her bangs were slightly messy, her cheeks flushed, and she was breathing a little hard.

But her eyes—like always—were looking straight at me.

“It’s fine. I was just waiting.”

I handed her a bottle of iced lemon tea from the vending machine.

Her face lit up as she took it with a happy, “Thanks~!”

Then, her expression softened slightly.

“…Hey, Masato-kun.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m kinda tired today, so… I might not talk much, sorry.”

“…Okay.”

She gave me a sheepish smile.

“But just walking together like this makes me feel calm. So, thank you.”

She said that to me.

It really did make me happy—

but for some reason, I felt just a little bit like I was being left behind.

***

On the walk home—

We didn’t talk much.

Hiyori walked at her usual rhythm, though her steps definitely carried traces of exhaustion.

I kept trying to say something, but the words kept getting stuck in my throat.

(What could I even say to her right now…?)

“Good job today,” or “Don’t push yourself too hard,”

Everything felt too shallow. Like it would just come off as cheap.

In the end, I stayed silent, just walking beside her.

But—even that silence didn’t feel uncomfortable.

(…Come to think of it, I’ve always been the one getting helped.)

A gloomy, negative guy who shut everyone out.

And yet, the one who always stood by me, never gave up on me—

was the girl walking right next to me.

But that same girl…

is someone who’s always running far ahead of me.

(…I should really watch her more closely. I want to see how amazing she truly is.)

That thought came naturally.

It felt like something inside me had quietly started to shift.