A Pretty Girl Has Her First Kiss Stolen By an Equally Handsome Classmate - Episode 4.3

Saturday, September 17

The 70th Sports Festival of Sakugaoka High School has begun.

Maybe because it’s a well-known local school, the event site is packed with cheering visitors.

Mizuhara was busy all morning setting up the venue and guiding people. She was so busy she didn’t even have time to drink water, but everything was going smoothly without any problems.

During a break between her shifts, she was washing her face at the sink when someone called out from behind.

“Mizuhara! Help!”

That loud voice belonged to her classmate, Masuda.

Mizuhara turned around, surprised by her urgent tone. There stood a cheerful-looking Masuda, her hair tied up higher than usual, and next to her was Kaede Wakamatsu, covered in dust.

“What? What happened to you?”

Mizuhara’s eyes widened.

Wakamatsu’s leg had scrapes from her knee down, mixed with white dust and red bl00d.

“I got dragged during the pole pull game.”

“That’s because you didn’t let go of the pole right away!”

Masuda lightly poked Wakamatsu next to her.

“The obstacle race is about to start! Can we count on you to take her to the nurse?”

“Sorry, Mizuhara, could you take me to the infirmary?”

“Ah, yeah…”

Mizuhara supported Wakamatsu, who was limping.

The scrapes on her lower leg looked painful. In the pole pull game, if you fall and get dragged into the other team’s side, you can get badly injured—just like Wakamatsu now.

“Sorry, Mizuhara.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“…Because your face looks really worried.”

Mizuhara glanced at her reflection in the hallway window.

She saw herself with a furrowed brow, clearly looking anxious. Her face was full of worry for Wakamatsu.

“Of course I’m worried.”

Mizuhara said with a bit of pride.

Wakamatsu smiled and said, “Yeah, I guess so.” That smile was dazzling—it made Mizuhara feel dizzy.

“I’ll be running in the block relay, so come watch, okay?”

“Why?”

“Because I want to show you something cool.”

After Mizuhara left Wakamatsu with the school nurse, Mr. Sato, and was about to leave the infirmary, Wakamatsu called out to her.

Mizuhara checked her schedule. The block relay was the last event of the day.

“…Alright. So rest up until then.”

“Okay, it’s a promise!”

Ignoring the overly energetic voice that didn’t sound like someone injured, Mizuhara Shizuku went back to the management tent.

Before she knew it, the program had moved to the second half. One of the senior staff gave her a late lunch break, and Mizuhara ate a rice ball.

Running the event was busy work.

Time flew by while she kept completing one task after another.

As the program reached its final part, an announcement was made to gather the runners for the block relay. At that moment, Mizuhara stopped what she was doing and peeked out from the management tent.

The athletes entered with loud cheers.

It was the last event of the sports festival. This relay would earn the highest points for the blocks, and even the cheering battles got intense.

“Go, Wakamatsu!”

“Wakamatsu, you got this!”

Cheers poured out for Kaede Wakamatsu.

Wearing her gym uniform with a red bib, she stood out a lot. When Wakamatsu brushed her bangs back with a slightly annoyed look, the girls from the red block screamed in excitement. Meanwhile, Wakamatsu looked serious, took a deep breath, and lightly bounced on her toes to get ready.

When the referee climbed up the platform, the entire area went quiet. Mizuhara held her breath at the tension covering the venue.

The signal sounded.

The runners at the starting line began running all at once, pushing and bumping into each other. The runners from the four blocks kept each other in check. Around halfway through the track, the blue block runner broke out in front, followed by the yellow block runner picking up speed.

“Go, Wakamatsu!”

“You can do it!”

The second runners moved into the takeover zones, ready to receive the batons with running starts. Wakamatsu received the baton in third place.

She switched the baton to her other hand and started running, pushing off the ground with force.

“She once told me, ‘For 200 meters, I just hold my breath and sprint through.’”

“What? You hold your breath?”

“She said her middle school sprint coach taught her that.”

Mizuhara remembered that conversation.

“But for 400 meters, that doesn’t work. It’s long and tough,” Wakamatsu had said, with a bitter smile.

Still, she ran. She kept running.

Her light steps made it feel like even the wind was pushing her forward. She started at a fast pace, aiming to catch up to the yellow block runner ahead of her. The whole stadium was drawn in by her running.

She moved ahead of the runner in the yellow bib.

From the red block cheering section, a flood of screams and shouts erupted—as if she was the anchor of the race.

“…Wakamatsu.”

Mizuhara clenched her hands with nervous energy.

Wakamatsu’s steps grew bigger, and the gap between her and the runner in front was shrinking quickly. Watching her run just felt so refreshing. With about 50 meters left, she suddenly sped up even more.

Wakamatsu overtook the blue block runner.

She ran forward, forward—shining brighter than anyone else in the whole stadium.

“Wakamatsu! Here!”

The red block’s next runner stood in the takeover zone, waiting for the baton. It was Kanzaki, the ace of the track team. Smiling widely, Wakamatsu passed him the baton.

Kanzaki, now carrying the brightest smile in the stadium, started running.

Mizuhara felt a twinge of jealousy. As the baton exchange succeeded, Wakamatsu tumbled toward the inside of the track with the momentum. While watching Kanzaki run off, she gave a small wave toward the red block cheering section. That wave set off another explosion of cheers from the block.

“Mizuhara, can you help over here?”

Just as Mizuhara was still in awe from Wakamatsu’s performance, a senior called out from behind. They wanted her to swap in for someone moving equipment inside the tent. Mizuhara didn’t get to see the end of the relay, but Wakamatsu’s incredible run was burned into her memory.

She stepped back into the tent.

“Mizuhara—!”

A loud voice made Mizuhara turn around on instinct.

Her classmate was grinning from ear to ear, both arms stretched wide as she shouted.

“Wasn’t I cool?!”

With a bright smile that seemed ready to burst, the star of the moment laughed.

That smile was so powerful it could blow away everything—and it shook Mizuhara’s heart.

She wanted to run over to her and wrap her in a hug right now. That shameful, reckless feeling filled her heart.

“…Mizuhara?”

A senior with a puzzled face peeked at her.

Mizuhara felt frozen, burned by that radiant sun.