As the second-year 100-meter sprint was about to begin, Utaha left the spectator stands with a drink in hand and made her way to the finish line, waiting to greet Ichin once his race was over.
There were already quite a few students gathered at the finish line to welcome their classmates, but as soon as they saw Utaha approaching, everyone instinctively stepped aside to make room for her.
Well, she was the legendary third-year beauty known across the entire school—always ranked in the top two academically.
And now that it was mostly second-years here, seeing a senior like her up close—especially one so rarely seen—naturally prompted a respectful reaction from the underclassmen.
Noticing the space cleared just for her, Utaha walked over with a smile.
"Thanks."
She looked toward the starting line, where Ichin was loosening up his legs. Just catching sight of him made her smile even brighter.
It wasn't just the boys—even many of the girls nearby were a little dazzled.
Compared to the younger students, Utaha had always seemed more mature. With her experience writing published novels, her close involvement in the formation and growth of Ichin's game studio, her insight and mental strength had long surpassed that of an ordinary student. Over time, this had shaped an aura that made her feel completely different from just a year ago.
Simply put—she had become even more perfect.
Soon, the second-year race ended, and it was time for the third-years.
At the referee's signal, Ichin stepped up to the starting line. From a distance, he noticed someone standing ahead, watching him closely.
Even from 100 meters away, he could tell—it was Utaha.
Huh… I was just going to take it easy, but… guess I'll go all out.
Lowering himself into position, Ichin placed his hands lightly on the ground, his feet pressed against the starting blocks.
"Ready—!"
Bang!
With a powerful push off the blocks, Ichin exploded forward.
He hadn't trained much, but during PE class, he had taken learning the proper starting form seriously.
Students on both sides were caught off guard by his explosive start. Surprised, they quickly tried to keep up, putting everything they had into it.
With steady breaths and laser focus, Ichin kept his eyes fixed on the finish line—and in what felt like the blink of an eye, he crossed it.
Wait... was that first place?
After running a short distance past the finish line, Ichin came to a stop, panting slightly as he turned back, scratching his head in disbelief.
Of course, he knew his actual ability wasn't anything special. None of the serious track athletes had entered the race.
"Hey, Ichin."
Utaha came jogging over with a water bottle in hand, smiling brightly. "First place. That's amazing."
"Thanks."
Ichin took the bottle and drank a sip, then reached out to lightly pinch Utaha's cheek. "Why didn't you stay up in the stands?"
"I wanted to be here at the finish line to greet you," she replied with a soft smile. Then, noticing the gazes behind her, she turned around—only to see a bunch of second-year students staring at the two of them.
Ichin saw them too. He flashed them a grin before walking off with Utaha toward the award podium.
The school's sports day was surprisingly formal—every event awarded medals to the top three. They weren't made of real gold or silver, of course, but they made for nice keepsakes.
After receiving his medal, Ichin returned to the stands with Utaha.
The moment they sat down, Ichin's mom beamed with excitement.
"You did great! First place!" she said happily. "I recorded the whole race on my phone! I'll show it to your dad later!"
Seeing how excited his mom was, even Ichin felt a little embarrassed for once.
"It's just a short-distance race, isn't that a bit much?"
"It's absolutely not 'just' a race." Ichin's mother replied righteously, "This is the first time I've ever seen you participate in a sports event with my own eyes. That makes it very memorable."
"Alright, alright." Unable to argue with his mom, Ichin simply gave in and handed her his medal as well.
"Mom, can you keep this for me? I've got nowhere to put it."
"Of course, I'll hold on to it."
Ichin's mother took the medal, gave it a satisfied glance, then happily tucked it into her bag.
When Ichin returned to the stands, his classmates greeted him with enthusiastic applause.
"Alright, that's enough. Don't make such a fuss—other people still have races. Let's go cheer them on."
They continued watching the matches for a bit longer, and soon it was nearly noon.
A lot of parents had come to the event today. Even Toyogasaki's cafeteria couldn't handle the crowd, so Ichin and the others decided to leave campus and eat lunch outside. Since it was sports day, the rules were a bit more relaxed, and students were allowed to go out during the lunch break.
After lunch came the real highlights of the afternoon: not only were there Yukino's 50-meter final and high jump events, but also Eriri's much-anticipated three-legged race.
But before all that, more sprint events were up first.
When the first-year 50-meter sprints were about halfway through, Ichin stretched and casually glanced to the side—only to suddenly widen his eyes in surprise.
"Huh? Is that...?"
"What is it, Ichin?"
Utaha followed his gaze and saw what he did—on the far end of the stands, a middle-aged woman in a kimono with her hair neatly tied up had somehow appeared without anyone noticing.
And beside her, partially obscured, was... was that Haruno?
"Is that—?" Utaha frowned slightly and turned to Sayuri Sawamura. "Aunt Sayuri, is that Yukino's mother?"
"Hm?"
Hearing Utaha's question, Sayuri turned and looked toward the woman in question. Her face lit up in surprise.
"Oh my, it really is! That's quite rare. It's definitely Yukino's mother. I didn't expect her to come all the way from Chiba. Looks like she does care about her daughter after all. Alright, you guys stay here, I'll go say hello."
With that, Sayuri stood up and walked over to the Yukinoshita mother and daughter. She didn't forget to hand her camera to Ichin's mom first—it couldn't fall into Eriri's hands, or all the hard-earned photos would probably vanish in an instant.
Not long after the brief conversation over there, Mrs. Yukinoshita and her eldest daughter, Haruno, walked over.
After exchanging greetings, Mrs. Yukinoshita turned toward Ichin.
"Thank you for looking after Yukino while she's at school, Ichin-kun."
Although her expression had seemed icy while sitting over in the stands earlier, once she came closer and started speaking about her daughter, her face naturally softened a little.
It was clear—she truly cared about Yukino. Otherwise, there's no way she would have traveled all the way from Chiba. If she really didn't want to come, not even Haruno's request would have persuaded her.
Ichin smiled and shook his head. "Yukino is excellent in every way. We haven't done much. We just help each other improve when we're together."
Mrs. Yukinoshita didn't say much more—she simply nodded and took a seat.
Haruno, on the other hand, was as lively as ever. She immediately rushed over to Utaha, bubbling with excitement.
"Utaha, Utaha! Did you manage to get any photos of Yukino this morning?"
"Yup, I've got some," Utaha replied right away, pulling out her phone to show her.
With even more people now gathering around, Yukino—who was warming up on the field—glanced toward the stands. At that moment, her eyes happened to meet a familiar gaze from afar.
"!!!"
Why... is my mother here?!
In that instant, Yukino experienced exactly what Ichin and Eriri had felt earlier that morning.
*She was nervous.*
...
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