Eh?
They saw everything?
Since when?!
In her panic, Xiao Chun Miura nearly twisted her ankle and fell down the stairs.
Fortunately, she managed to grab the handrail in time and narrowly avoided what could have been a serious injury.
If she had actually fallen, even if her leg didn’t break, she’d still have ended up with some scrapes.
However, Xiao Chun Miura didn’t even have time to feel relieved.
As soon as she regained her balance, she ran away from the stairs.
It was as if she was trying to leave the laughter behind her as far as possible—far enough that she could no longer hear it.
This is—
This is way too much!
Too embarrassing!
How could I forget where I was and just stand there stupidly replying to messages?
The round-toed leather shoes under her feet tapped quickly against the floor, making a sharp, clear sound.
Xiao Chun Miura only focused on escaping.
“Ding-ling-ling~”
“It’s almost class time, please return to the classroom….”
By the time Xiao Chun Miura, her face burning red, ran back to the classroom, lunch break was just ending.
The shame of being seen looking foolish was thankfully wiped away by the bell declaring, “Class time is starting.”
“Everyone, get ready for class, okay?”
As if perfectly timed with the ringing of the bell, the middle-aged Mathematics Teacher familiar to the students of Class 5 stepped into the classroom.
Sitting in her seat, Xiao Chun Miura managed to calm down a little.
“…… Ugh? Hmm? Don’t move me.”
From the corner on the same side of the classroom as her seat, a murmur drifted over at that moment—
Without looking, Xiao Chun Miura knew it was probably Yui Hori, who always took a big nap during lunch break.
Most likely, Mio Sato next to her was shaking her shoulder, trying to wake her up.
Despite always being full of energy during class, the most popular person in class was impossible to wake once she fell asleep at lunch.
As these thoughts crossed her mind, Xiao Chun Miura began to relax from her earlier tension.
Familiar scenes always brought peace of mind.
Until just moments ago, her chest was still burning, her cheeks flushed.
To be stared at in public, having her emotions swayed by someone else’s words—
Just the thought made Xiao Chun Miura’s legs go weak.
She’d run back here on pure impulse—almost like a survival instinct.
Thank goodness.
Thank goodness it’s over now.
Xiao Chun Miura began to comfort herself.
—No one will notice, no one knows who I am, those students don’t even know what class I’m from.
…Just knowing they probably don’t know her made her feel a little better.
The girl relaxed her tense back, slumped over her desk, and let out a sigh, her shoulder-length hair spreading softly across the surface.
“If you substitute the whole equation, then change the variable, it turns into a formula we’ve already learned, so it’s easy.”
On the podium, the middle-aged teacher continued lecturing, and for a while, Xiao Chun Miura forgot everything that had just happened.
For the next few days, Xiao Chun Miura felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
The feeling of escaping death and regaining what was lost swept away her earlier gloom—even the math formulas on the blackboard seemed more pleasant to look at.
Although there was no work at the Library for the time being, Xiao Chun Miura still went to her usual spot during lunch break, found an empty desk, and read a book.
When school ended, she would sometimes send a message to Kanzaki Sou.
No reason—just casual conversation.
Sometimes Kanzaki Sou replied instantly, sometimes it took ten minutes, sometimes not until late at night before bed.
It didn’t matter.
But soon, within a few days, Xiao Chun Miura began to feel that something was off.
At first, she didn’t understand the source of this discomfort, but after a day or two, she realized.
It wasn’t anything else.
It was her own emotions.
Chatting with Kanzaki Sou was just a way to kill time and ease the anxiety she felt about the approaching Sports Day.
Not just because of the event itself.
It was like a dungeon about to open, a scenario she would be forcibly dragged into once the time came, with no option to refuse—only left to decide how to deal with it.
But it wasn’t just that.
Besides the anxiety of an impending crisis, Xiao Chun Miura also found herself concerned about something else—
Kanzaki Sou’s thoughts.
Although there was no conflict in terms of timing, what exactly was Kanzaki Sou thinking?
True, even if he accepted both Kondo Haruka’s and her invitation to join two separate Borrowed Item Relays, it was possible—there was no schedule clash.
But what about his motives?
Earlier, in her excitement, she focused on the fact that he agreed to be her partner even knowing Kondo Haruka would be angry, thinking it meant he favored her.
But looking at it from another angle, was there any real difference between accepting her invitation and accepting Kondo Haruka’s, from Kanzaki Sou’s perspective?
Both situations carried the bitterness of potentially rejecting someone.
Kanzaki Sou could have replied to her immediately, yet he only messaged her after talking to Kondo Haruka and accepting her invitation, saying, “I’m willing to be your partner.”
He must have already seen her message beforehand.
Although she wasn’t sure if Kondo Haruka’s invitation to Kanzaki Sou for the Borrowed Item Relay had anything to do with the message she sent—
But judging from what she overheard, it was clear that even if Kondo Haruka knew about the message, it wasn’t Kanzaki Sou who told her.
In other words, Kanzaki Sou chose not to reply right away, and only after talking to Kondo Haruka did he finally make a decision.
What did that mean?
Did Kanzaki Sou only decide to reply after agreeing to Kondo Haruka, thinking, “Since I already agreed to participate with Haruka, it’s fine to accept Miura’s invitation too”?
For days, these questions kept resurfacing in Xiao Chun Miura’s mind…
And gradually, these thoughts stirred the uneasy feelings she thought she had already overcome.
So she found herself messaging Kanzaki Sou more often, more frequently than before.
If it had been earlier, she never would have clicked on Kanzaki Sou’s icon on LIME to send him a message.
With nothing else to do before Sports Day arrived, she had no other choices.
Library work was suspended, the Midterm Exams were long over, and aside from being a colleague, she had no other reason to contact Kanzaki Sou.
Among his friends, she only knew Kondo Haruka—and their relationship was terrible.
There was no reason to approach Kanzaki Sou for now.
***
So, because she couldn’t see Kanzaki Sou in person, Xiao Chun Miura used messaging to confirm his existence.
To make sure that spark of life was still within her reach.
In these few days, the girl’s world had narrowed to a sudden emptiness, and the looming crisis that threatened to engulf her if she failed to act.
And so, amidst Xiao Chun Miura’s inescapable and steadily growing anxiety—
The Registration Period for Sports Day quietly arrived.