A Pretty Girl Has Her First Kiss Stolen By an Equally Handsome Classmate - Episode 4.4

Have you ever heard of something called the “Sports Festival Magic”?

It’s a shining moment of extreme popularity, given only to those who stood out during the sports festival.

Tuesday, September 20

Shizuku Mizuhara was shocked.

In the hallway of Class 2-3, a huge group of first-year girls had gathered.

They were standing in a circle around something—or someone. Shizuku walked past them without thinking and reached for the classroom door.

“Good morning, Mizuhara.”

The person in the center said hello like it was nothing.

Just from that one word, Shizuku felt all the girls in the hallway staring at her.

“Excuse me,” Wakamatsu said kindly as she gently stepped out from the crowd.

“Wow, I got so many gifts!”

With a cheerful smile, Wakamatsu dumped her armful of presents onto Shizuku’s desk.

Shizuku said “That’s nice” to her smiling classmate and sat down. The girls outside the classroom seemed happy just watching Wakamatsu and didn’t try to leave.

“Hey, hey, Mizuhara, won’t you give me a reward?”

“What?”

“Oh, the same kind of reward as during the class match is fine.”

Wakamatsu playfully touched her finger to her lips and smiled proudly. The crowd reacted with excitement, but Wakamatsu didn’t seem to care at all.

“Hey, do you think I look best with my hair parted in the middle?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Because I want to wear my hair the way you like it!”

Again, sharp eyes turned toward Shizuku.

Feeling uncomfortable, she got up and moved to sit next to her neighbor, Chisato Wakumura.

“W-What’s going on here?”

She glanced at the girls in the hallway and asked Wakumura.

“Haha, actually, it’s been like this since the cavalry battle ended.”

“Was Wakamatsu the rider?”

“Yep! Kaede really stood out!”

With her big, round eyes even wider than usual, Wakumura spoke loudly about Wakamatsu’s success.

Apparently, after getting hurt during the pole pull event, Wakamatsu had made a big comeback in the cavalry battle.

“And right after all the excitement, the final relay, right?”

“Oh, I see… That explains this.”

Like a princess from another country, Wakumura looked out at the hallway with elegance, as if listening to birds singing. Meanwhile, Shizuku wanted to cover her ears from the loud squealing and wished for a seat change as soon as possible.

After school.

All the event staff gathered in the meeting room for a reflection session. Using the post-event surveys, they looked back on this year’s festival. Finally, the event leader gave a closing speech. Their work was done.

“Maybe I’ll help with the event next year too.”

“Huh, Kanzaki? I didn’t expect you to say that.”

“I didn’t expect to be this moved either.”

Toru Kanzaki from the same class looked forward with sparkling eyes.

He had taken the baton from Wakamatsu and also shined in the team relay.

Shizuku had signed up for the event staff just to get Wakamatsu out of her mind. Unlike Kanzaki, she couldn’t feel any honest sense of accomplishment.

“Hey, Mizuhara.”

After the meeting, as she stared at the class journal in the classroom, a voice came from above.

“Want to walk home together?”

“No way.”

Without stopping her writing, Shizuku replied coldly.

Wakamatsu pulled out the chair in front of her and sat down without hesitation. Their eyes met at close range.

“…What?”

“Mizuhara, your fingers are long and pretty.”

“Yeah. I got my pretty hands from my mom.”

As she held her pen, Wakamatsu placed her warm hand over Shizuku’s. That warmth felt strangely nostalgic.

“It’s not just your hands, Mizuhara.”

“Stop it. I don’t need compliments.”

For someone with low self-esteem, being praised for looks feels more awkward than nice.

Especially when it comes from someone like Kaede Wakamatsu, who seems perfect in every way.

“You’re making it hard to write. Let go of my hand.”

“You’re the one who held my hand first, remember?”

Wakamatsu laughed softly, not letting go.

“…Shut up.”

Back then, Shizuku had been desperate to hold on to Kaede Wakamatsu. She thought only this classmate could fill the hole in her heart.

“You suddenly broke up with me, didn’t you?”

That unexpected question made Shizuku look up.

Wakamatsu’s face was serious. Her eyes seemed to be trying to see through Shizuku’s heart.

“It wasn’t sudden. I’d been meaning to say it for a long time.”

“But you couldn’t, right?”

“…”

“You didn’t want to let go of me, did you?”

Shizuku froze.

Wakamatsu gently took the pen from her hand and slowly held it again.

“You couldn’t let go because it felt good being with me, right?”

“Don’t just assume things.”

“You’re the one who said it. That was your real voice, Mizuhara.”

Her warm hand wrapped around Shizuku’s, and even her heart started to soften.

“…I already know. I should stop this soon.”

“But it feels so good… I…”

Shizuku remembered the words she once said. Wakamatsu must have meant those.

“…I don’t know.”

“Then let’s find the answer together, Mizuhara.”

“I… I…”

Her vision blurred, and the words got stuck in her throat.

Wakamatsu’s intense gaze burned into her. She almost reached out.

“Shizuku won’t leave her mother behind, right?”

“……”

Shizuku Mizuhara fell silent.

She took a deep breath and stood up, journal in hand. Wakamatsu reached for her sleeve.

“…Forget about me.”

“I won’t. I don’t want to.”

She didn’t look back.

“…I’m sorry.”

Without turning around or waiting for forgiveness, she brushed Wakamatsu’s arm away and walked out of the classroom.

The hot, humid hallway made her sweat and left her feeling sticky and uncomfortable.