The last day of the Sports Day began for Xiao Chun Miura with a vague and indistinct dream.
In the dream, she seemed to be sitting face-to-face with Kanzaki Sou in a room she had never seen before, talking about something.
But the atmosphere was completely different from their usual interactions.
Kanzaki Sou seemed quite angry, an expression of fury she had never seen on his face before.
But she couldn’t remember what he was saying.
She only felt that she was arguing with him just as fiercely.
And her heart overflowed with intense grievance.
“…..Ugh—”
Morning sunlight slipped through the gap in the curtains as Xiao Chun Miura struggled to open her eyes.
The moment her consciousness returned to her body, her eyes felt warm and sore.
The emotions from the dream carried over into reality, making Xiao Chun Miura feel as if tears would spill from her eyes and down her cheeks.
Even though it was already the last day, Xiao Chun Miura didn’t feel any sense of relief, like “it’s finally over.”
A sense of exhaustion enveloped her whole body.
And the reason wasn’t just yesterday’s competition.
That heavy pressure weighed not only on her limbs, but on her heart.
If she had resolved the crisis of the Sports Day a few days ago and deflected Kondo Haruka’s advance, then maybe she could relax today.
But she hadn’t.
After today, Kondo Haruka’s favorability in Kanzaki Sou’s heart would reach that “very high level” the system had mentioned.
Then, she would have to wait for the inevitable conclusion.
As long as nothing dramatic happened today.
Last night after returning home, Xiao Chun Miura had done almost nothing.
She didn’t think about countermeasures as usual, didn’t plan for the next day… She barely even ate dinner.
She just numbly crawled under the covers, put her phone aside, and forced herself to cut off contact with the world.
It felt as if, by falling asleep, all those feelings of unwillingness, loss, fear, and regret would dissolve with her sleepiness.
But that was clearly just an escape.
The reality she woke up to was still cold and biting.
Xiao Chun Miura slowly reached for the phone she’d left by her pillow last night. The chill of the casing made her flinch unconsciously.
She only meant to check the time.
But when the screen lit up, a single unread message was displayed on the lock screen.
[ss]
The timestamp showed late last night—or rather, the early hours of this morning.
Seeing that message, Xiao Chun Miura’s heartbeat skipped.
But in the next instant, a complex sourness rose in her chest.
She swiped open the screen and tapped into the chat.
[SS: Sorry, Miura-san. Something urgent came up this afternoon that I had to deal with, so I apologize for the late reply.]
[SS: Regarding today’s events, although the result was a bit regrettable, I’m truly grateful for your support. Whether as a partner or a friend, I felt your efforts.]
[SS: For tomorrow’s Class Group competition, even though you can’t participate, I’ll carry those feelings with me and do my best. I’ll try to get a good result and not let these days of practice go to waste.]
[SS: Good night.]
The message was sent a little past midnight.
Xiao Chun Miura stared at those lines, her gaze unmoving.
Kanzaki Sou was still Kanzaki Sou.
Polite, considerate, and so gentle that no one could fault him.
Even if he was busy until late at night, he would remember to reply to her and try to comfort her feelings.
“Something urgent came up”
Did it have to do with Kondo Haruka?
No matter what, the bond they shared as childhood friends might have deepened again in a corner she could never reach.
And herself—just an “outsider” who received a polite reply afterward.
That line “I’ll carry those feelings with me and do my best” sounded so nice.
But at that moment, to Xiao Chun Miura’s ears, it felt painfully sharp.
It meant that the stage from here on belonged entirely to him and Kondo Haruka.
Xiao Chun Miura cursed quietly, tossing her phone back onto the pillow.
Xiao Chun Miura got up mechanically, washed up, and changed into her school uniform.
Then, she looked at the pale-faced girl with faint dark circles under her eyes in the mirror.
“Let’s just go with this.”
She said to herself.
Today was the last day.
As long as she made it through today, the Sports Day would be over.
With that heavy, gloomy feeling, Xiao Chun Miura stepped out of the house.
On the way, the campus was filled with excited students everywhere. Today was the last day of the Sports Day and also the liveliest. All the finals and the most popular group events were being held today, and a feverish energy filled the air.
But Xiao Chun Miura only felt the noise.
She kept her head down, like a ghost who had wandered into a festival by mistake, silently passing through the crowd to the Class (5) rest area.
She had barely sat down and hadn’t even put down her bag when several familiar figures swept in like the wind.
“Xiao Chun—!”
Yui Hori’s energetic voice was as piercing as ever today.
“Morning, morning! You don’t look so lively, huh?”
“Xiao Chun, morning.”
Mio Sato and Yuzuki Yasuda followed behind, both wearing concerned expressions.
Morning, everyone.”
Xiao Chun Miura replied weakly.
“I’m fine. Maybe I just didn’t sleep well last night.”
“Didn’t sleep well? Because you’re nervous about today’s matches?”
Yui Hori plopped down beside her, eyes sparkling.
“After all, today’s the main event! Kanzaki-kun’s Class Group Borrowed Item Relay is this afternoon!”
At the words “Borrowed Item Relay,” Xiao Chun Miura’s body tensed slightly.
Yeah, I know.”
She lowered her gaze, avoiding Yui Hori’s burning stare.
“But…I don’t have any plans. I’ll probably just read here, or help watch everyone’s things.”
“Ha?!”
Yui Hori’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Read? Watch everyone’s stuff? Xiao Chun, what kind of nonsense is that!”
“Today is the final battle! The final battle!”
“What final battle…”
Xiao Chun Miura smiled bitterly and shook her head.
“I’m not in the competition. That’s Kanzaki-kun and Kondo-san’s stage. It has nothing to do with me…”
“How is it unrelated!”
Yuzuki Yasuda also squeezed closer, looking serious.
“Xiao Chun, you can’t be so down! Even if you lost yesterday, that doesn’t mean you lost at life!”
“That’s right, that’s right!”
Yui Hori smacked Xiao Chun Miura’s back hard.
“If you’re not there in person, who knows how carried away Kondo Haruka might get! We have to be your backup!”
“Being backup is pointless too……..”
Xiao Chun Miura’s voice grew softer and softer, the bitterness in her heart spreading like ink.
Be there in person?
Watch them work together in perfect sync on the field?
Watch them cross the finish line hand-in-hand? Watch them show off their bond in front of the whole school?
For her, that was nothing less than a public execution.
She didn’t want to go.
Not at all.
“I really don’t want to go…”
Xiao Chun Miura lifted her head, her eyes tinged with pleading.
“Yui, Mio, Yuzuki, you guys go have fun, let me be alone…”
Seeing her like this, Yui Hori and the others, who had been full of energy, exchanged glances and were momentarily at a loss for words.
Mio Sato sighed, about to say something to comfort her, when Yui Hori suddenly took a deep breath, her expression more serious than ever.
“No.”
Yui Hori declared firmly.
“Xiao Chun, you have to go.”
“Yui…”
“Because—!”
Yui Hori suddenly stood up, hands on her hips. The eyes that were always smiling now burned with a fire called “determination.”
“Because I signed up too!”
“—Eh?”
Xiao Chun Miura was stunned.
Yuzuki Yasuda and Mio Sato beside her were also frozen. Although they seemed to know already, they still looked shocked, matching Yui Hori’s aura.
“Signed…up?”
Xiao Chun Miura repeated blankly.
“Signed up for what?”
“For the Class Group Borrowed Item Relay, of course!”