Whenever a Class 1-F student took the field, Kotomi Izumi would always stand up and cheer loudly. Her voice alone felt like a power-up buff for the competitors—thanks to her cheers, Class 1-F had already taken several first-place wins that morning.
"First place in long jump, secured!" Seiko Kirigiri returned from the event and tossed her jacket onto the chair before flopping onto Kotomi Izumi's shoulder. "I totally went above and beyond this ti—thanks to your cheering, Kotomi!"
"Haha, you're exaggerating. You're always great at long jump, Seiko."
Kotomi laughed awkwardly. She wasn't so kind of ga support character—how could just shouting "good luck" give people actual buffs?
"My long jump's usually just average. Honestly, I was super nervous! That Shouji Toyokawa from Class 1-D was competing too, and he's been practicing long jump since elentary school. Winning against him might've had a bit of luck involved," Seiko said.
A nearby girl from their class chid in, intrigued:
"Oh! That Toyokawa guy from Class 1-D, right? I heard he's been doing sports since junior high. He's also super popular—like, really handso."
Another classmate added:
"Didn't he send Seiko a love letter too? C'mon, Seiko, how'd you respond? There's been a rumor going around that you two are dating."
"Yeah, I know soone in Class 1-C who ssaged last night asking if it's true you and Toyokawa are a couple."
Seiko was stunned: "What?! I turned him down right away. I said, 'Thanks for your feelings, but I'm not thinking about dating right now.' That's what I told him. Where are these rumors coming from? No wonder so girls from other classes have been giving weird looks lately…"
She let out a sigh. Being wrongly caught up in a baseless rumor and even envied by other girls—it was just exhausting.
After hearing that Seiko rejected Shouji Toyokawa's confession, her classmates looked genuinely shocked:
"No way, you really turned him down?!"
"I thought you two were gonna be a thing!"
"Unbelievable. He's super handso, and he's good at long jump like you."
"Just because we're both good at the sa sport doesn't an we're destined to be a couple," Seiko shrugged. "Anyway, I really did get his love letter and confession, but I turned him down. If you hear any more rumors, help clear things up, okay?"
Kotomi quietly munched on her strawberry daifuku, thinking to herself: Ah, youth. In high school, conversations about who's dating who, who sent a love letter, and who got confessed to were unavoidable.
During self-study sessions, there were always one or two girls gathered around a heartbroken classmate, offering comfort like seasoned love gurus.
Youth wasn't always just sweetness—it had its bitterness too. Like watching the girl you secretly liked get confessed to by soone else, and hiding your jealousy behind cheers like everyone else, shouting, "Say yes!" with a smile. But inside, it felt like crying.
If only you had the courage to walk up, slap that guy away, kick him off his pedestal, grab your crush's wrist, and confess yourself—maybe things would've turned out differently.
Life is like a galga with no save or load function. Just one burst of courage—even a reckless, heat-of-the-mont decision—might change everything.
"Kotomi, I'm going to grab a sports drink. Want one?"
Seiko Kirigiri finished her bottled water but still felt a little thirsty, so she stood up and asked.
"I'm good, thanks," Kotomi waved her hand. She wouldn't be competing until the afternoon, so a sports drink now wouldn't help much.
"Alright then," Seiko said and walked off.
Kotomi had just taken out her phone to read so manga when she saw gumi Kato stretch over with a small fork. On the fork was a piece of strawberry shortcake—with the strawberry on top!
"Kotomi, say ah~"
"Ah~"
Having long been accustod to gumi's constant feeding, Kotomi opened her mouth and enjoyed the best part of the strawberry shortcake.
The strawberry on a strawberry shortcake has a magical effect. On its own, it might not taste all that special—but if you save it for last, eating it after finishing the rest of the cake, it becos the best-tasting strawberry in the world!
"Kotomi, I've got sothing too!" Mashiro Shiina, not wanting to be outdone, offered a spoonful of her mandarin pudding right after Kotomi finished the piece from gumi.
"Kotomi, open up," Yukino Yukinoshita said, feeding her a bite of cheese toast.
"Kotomi, eat slower, okay~" Yui Yuigahama chid in while pulling out a cream puff and feeding that too.
Mmmph mmmph mmmph! With all the treats being fed to her in rapid succession, Kotomi felt like her mouth was about to be stuffed full. But the sweets were too delicious to turn down, so she couldn't bring herself to stop them.
All she could do was silently accept everything—no matter how much they fed her, she'd eat it all!
Watching Kotomi happily eat the desserts she'd made, Yui Yuigahama felt it might be the happiest thing in the world.
She'd once told herself not to be greedy—that just being able to make sweets for Kotomi for the rest of her life would be enough. But once a girl's heart solidifies her love, it always starts to desire more.
Yui was no different.
She wanted to make Kotomi sweets forever. She wanted to confess to Kotomi. She wanted to be Kotomi's girlfriend. She wanted to always be by Kotomi's side. She wanted to build a ho with Kotomi!
"Oh, right!" Kotomi finally swallowed all the sweets in her mouth, took a sip of water, and added, "Once the sports festival ends tomorrow, it won't be long before the cultural festival. Our class's activity has already been decided."
After she spoke, Kotomi subtly glanced at Shizuka Hiratsuka. Sensing the look, Shizuka chuckled awkwardly—she had, after all, deliberately tricked Kotomi into agreeing to both the sports festival and cultural festival.
"Class activity for the cultural festival? I'm not planning to participate. I'd rather just walk around with Kotomi and enjoy it at a leisurely pace," gumi said with a smile.
" too! Kotomi, let's go to the auditorium and watch a play together during the cultural festival!" Mashiro Shiina quickly added, unwilling to lose ground.
"Mashiro, rember—first co, first served," gumi reminded her gently with a smile.
"Isn't gumi ddling a little too much? Shouldn't we let Kotomi decide how she wants to spend the cultural festival?" Mashiro Shiina showed no fear in the face of gumi Kato's sharp gaze.
"There'll be tons of food stalls during the festival. Rather than sitting in the auditorium watching performances, Kotomi would definitely prefer walking around and trying snacks. I heard Class 1-B is setting up a barbecue stall. Kotomi really loves grilled skewers—you know that, right? Heh, maybe not. After all, Mashiro, you haven't even had a al with Kotomi yet, have you?" gumi said with a sweet smile.
"Oh? Is that so? Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but back in Kyoto, Kotomi and I had almost every al together," Mashiro countered with equal force.
gumi clicked her tongue, ready to ntion how Kotomi had not only bought her a Kiyomizu-yaki gift in Kyoto but also wrote her a letter!
"What about Yui and Yukino?"
Kotomi, unaware of the growing tension between gumi and Mashiro, was still pondering who to invite to perform with her on stage.
"I didn't sign up for the cultural festival, but if you need help that day, Kotomi, just let know," Yukino Yukinoshita said coolly—though she was warm beneath the surface.
" too! If there's anything you need, just tell ! If I can do it, I definitely will! And even if I'm not good at it, I'll do my best to learn and help!" Yui Yuigahama said enthusiastically, inching slightly closer to Kotomi. She wanted to lean against her, but hesitated for fear Yukino might notice. Her bright, cheerful smile resembled that of a puppy eager to snuggle against Kotomi.
"Yui, that line made you sound like Kotomi's loyal little girlfriend~"
"Yo—when's the wedding? Can we get so wedding candy?"
"Need a bridesmaid?!"
The girls who were friendly with both Yui and Kotomi chid in teasingly after hearing Yui's heartfelt words.
After all, Kotomi hugged Yui and Mashiro nearly every day. Rumors about Kotomi two-timing had been circulating and evolving for ages. Now, with Arisu Sakayanagi thrown into the mix, it was said she was juggling three at once!
Though the gossip was rampant, most students didn't take it seriously. Especially the girls—they understood that close friends of the sa gender could be physically affectionate. So Kotomi hugging Yui daily wasn't hard to accept. At most, they'd just joke about when the two were getting married.
"....." Yui's cheeks flushed bright red. If it had been earlier in the sester, she might've joked back. But ever since she realized she truly wanted to be Kotomi's girlfriend, hearing such comnts only made her feel shy.
Thankfully, Kotomi was already used to these half-serious teasing sessions. She casually wrapped her arm around Yui's small shoulder and leaned her head against her:
"If Yui were really my girlfriend, I'd probably laugh in my sleep every night from sheer happiness! And when I wake up, the first thing I'd say would be 'Yui, I love you!' Yui might even make my favorite sweets every day—each one filled with her thoughtful little surprises~"
Snap—
The plastic fork in gumi's hand broke.
Crack—
The Baumkuchen Mashiro was holding crumbled apart.
"How boring..."
Yukino Yukinoshita pretended to be uninterested in the topic and pulled a novel from her pocket, quietly reading. But after more than ten minutes, she still hadn't noticed the book was upside down.
anwhile, Yui Yuigahama was lost in a daydream, her face flushed red as she imagined a future where she and Kotomi lived together.
Originally just intending to sit nearby and listen, Shizuka Hiratsuka suddenly stood up—like she was about to go smoke. But before leaving, she said:
"Izumi, co with for a mont. Everyone else, keep it quiet. Class rep, handle the order."
Kotomi wasn't sure why Shizuka was calling her out so suddenly, but since the teacher had spoken, she had no choice but to follow.
"Yui, hold onto this strawberry daifuku for ," Kotomi said, handing the half-eaten sweet to Yui.
"Got it!"
Yui quickly took it, her face lighting up as if she'd just received a priceless treasure. Anyone watching might assu she had… plans for that half-eaten daifuku.
"Sensei, calling out like this… is this going to be a lecture about how high schoolers should focus on studying and not date early?!"
Kotomi followed Shizuka to a quiet corner of the school building. With everyone else at the sports festival, it was one of the calst spots around—both inside and out.
All they could hear were the distant cheers from the field.
"Our school usually turns a blind eye to romance as long as things don't get out of hand. The only thing that's strictly forbidden is student-teacher relationships. Anyway, that's not why I called you. You ntioned the cultural festival earlier—have you already decided what you'll perform?" Shizuka asked.
"I have a small idea. But to pull it off, I need two more people. Not just helpers—I an people to perform with ."
"A magic act?"
"No… I don't even know magic."
"Then what?"
"Music. I want to form a three-person band and perform at the cultural festival."
"Wow! So you're planning to sing on stage? That's pretty ambitious. I've heard that so students preparing for music college entrance exams are also planning to perform. I wonder if your band can beat them? By the way, who's in your band?"
"Just so far. That's why I'm trying to figure out who the other two should be. Should I go ask the Light Music Club for help?" Kotomi sighed. She was set on singing at the cultural festival, and if she was going to do it, she wanted it to be good—a three-mber band on stage!
But after that excitent ca the challenge: where was she going to find two more bandmates?
"If you're thinking of asking the Light Music Club, I'd suggest you give up. There's no way they'd miss performing at the cultural festival. According to their advisor, they're already practicing like crazy. Better start thinking of other options."
Kotomi let out a helpless sigh.
"Tell —what roles are left in your band? Maybe I can suggest soone."
"I'll play guitar. The other two spots are… piano and vocals."
"Piano and vocals? So you're not singing? Wait, you play guitar?! You've never shown that in music class."
Shizuka looked shocked—this was the first she'd heard about Kotomi's guitar skills.
Kotomi just smiled and said she kept a low profile in music class. Truthfully, she hadn't known how to play before, but once she unlocked her Music Level and started leveling it up, she found she could play every instrunt.
"I'm not sure who's good at singing in our class… but I do know a girl who's great at playing piano."
"Who?" Kotomi asked, curious.
"Yukino Yukinoshita."
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