Chapter 61: Someone Is Confessing to Him!
"That was such a pity! He almost won!"
Eriri stood beside Kaede, who was constantly drinking water, expressing her regret repeatedly.
"Phew!"
Catching his breath, Kaede said with a smile, "It's not bad. That guy is from the Track and Field Club. I'm satisfied with getting second place."
Usami also nodded from the side: "Exactly! Didn't Uchimaki-san say two people from the Track and Field Club participated? Asakura-san already beat one of them."
At this moment, Takasu Ryuji walked over and said with emotion, "You really ran fast. I only managed to get fifth place."
"That's fine. Participation is what matters, and our Red Team's score is pretty good right now; we're consistently leading."
Looking at the scoreboard, the Red Team was currently leading the White Team by fifteen points, which was quite a large lead.
The events they had to participate in for the morning were now over. Kaede and the others were not planning to linger outside; it was too sunny.
Just as they were about to look for their parents, Kaede's phone rang, followed immediately by Eriri's and Usami's phones ringing as well.
After checking their phones, the three exchanged glances, all revealing expressions of helplessness.
The reason was simple: their three mothers had agreed to go out and eat lunch together, returning only after the afternoon events began.
However, this wasn't bad; at least they could relax more without their parents present.
When the sports festival officially resumed at two o'clock in the afternoon, their parents returned, and they even brought an extra person.
"Ryuji~~~~"
A fashionably dressed blonde woman was standing beside Asakura Reiko, happily waving at Takasu Ryuji on the field.
"Uh..."
Takasu Ryuji had originally been worried that his mother might get lost on the way to school, but he hadn't expected her to be walking with the mothers of Kaede and the others, which relieved him somewhat.
Looking at Kaede beside him, Takasu Ryuji said, "That's my mom, Takasu Yasuko. I didn't realize she d join them."
"That's not bad, is it?"
Patting Takasu Ryuji on the shoulder, Kaede said, "Alright, I'm going to the final relay spot to prepare. Good luck to you too."
By the time the afternoon events began, Utaha, who had been absent all morning, finally arrived in the spectator stands and spotted Kaede waiting on the track.
Similarly, she also noticed Eriri in another section of the stands.
Just as she was wondering whether to go over and greet Eriri, Utaha unexpectedly overheard some girls from her own grade diagonally in front of her discussing something.
Utaha, who usually wasn't interested in gossip discussed among girls, unexpectedly stopped what she was doing, a playful smile unconsciously appearing on her face.
Because the topic of discussion concerned Kaede.
There was no need to dwell on the specifics of the relay race; Kaede ds teammates were all excellent, and as the anchor, Kaede lived up to everyone's expectations, finally securing first place.
After celebrating with his teammates, Kaede had no further events for the day. He planned to go change out of his sportswear; he had sweated a lot and felt uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, Eriri and Usami bought two sports drinks. After giving one to Takasu Ryuji as a reward, they were about to look for Kaede when Utaha walked over.
"Eriri."
"Huh? Why are you here? I haven't seen you all day."
"That's not the point."
Taking Eriri's arm, Utaha said to Usami and Takasu Ryuji, "I'll borrow Eriri for a little while. I'll give her back to you later."
Then, while Eriri looked completely bewildered, she was pulled away.
After watching the two leave, Usami looked at Takasu Ryuji and asked, "That must be Senior Kasumigaoka from the second year, right? Does she know Eriri?"
Shaking his head, Takasu Ryuji said, "They must know each other, but this is the first I've heard of it. I'm going to see my mom. What about you, Usami?"
"Ah, I'll go too! My mom is there as well!"
...After being pulled away from the sports ground by Utaha, Eriri couldn't help but ask, "What is going on? Why the rush?"
"It doesn't concern me, but I happened to overhear something, so I decided to tell you, Eriri."
With no one around, Utaha stopped walking, looked at Eriri, and asked with a smile, "It's quite an important matter!"
"Hmph, so mysterious."
Eriri thought for a moment but couldn't guess what important thing it could be. "Tell me, don't tell me my identity has been discovered?"
"Not that."
Utaha shook her head, leaned close to Eriri's ear, and whispered, "Actually, a girl from the second year went to confess to Asakura-kun. It should be starting soon."
"Huh?"
Eriri was momentarily stunned, staring wide-eyed at Utaha. "Why... why are you telling me this?"
"Hmm~~~"
Utaha wore a playful smile, observing Eriri's unconsciously nervous expression, and said, "Oh, so you don't care, Eriri? Then I'll go watch by myself. Recording such a scene would be very helpful for my novel writing."
Having said that, she actually started to leave.
Seeing her move, Eriri grew increasingly anxious. Although she had known before that Kaede had rejected a girl's confession, encountering the same situation again now, Eriri felt inexplicably more nervous.
"Hey! Wait!"
Quickly calling out, Eriri ran up to Utaha, her face flushed, and said, "Knowing... knowing your personality, you might cause trouble, so I have to go with you and keep an eye on you."
Utaha had already anticipated that Eriri would follow, so she didn't stop her and led her toward the back of the school building.
Coincidentally, the place where Kaede had been confessed to at the start of the school year was also around this area.
After arriving, the two hid around a corner of the school building and indeed saw Kaede and a girl standing there.
Moreover, the second-year girl was quite pretty, had a very good figure, and was slightly taller than Eriri.
Immediately, Eriri became even more nervous, unconsciously clenching her small fists.
Just then, the girl spoke.