Suzuka Ep 11: Shobu (Contest)

Yamato drags Hattori along to walk around aimlessly on the streets as he doesn't want to turn up for the athletics meet. However, Hattori tricks Yamato to go to the stadium even though he is reluctant to see Asahina after their quarrel the previous night.

Meanwhile, Asahina is at the stadium and recollects Yamato's words which makes her wonder why he knows about Kazuki. Just then, she sees a group of reporters surrounding Arima Emerson who is the No.1 sprinter in senior high school and he used to lose to Kazuki in the past. However, Asahina does not think much of Arima and gets angry when Miyamoto mentions that he has hopes of Yamato replacing Kazuki in the race. She says loudly that Arima is nowhere near Kazuki which is overheard by Arima himself. Miyamoto tries to get her to lower her voice but Asahina cannot be bothered to keep her thoughts to herself.

Yamato and Arima happen to see Arima approaching Asahina for her remarks about him being not comparable to Kazuki. Asahina gives a half-hearted apology which Arima is not happy with. He even mocks that since Kazuki is no longer around, whatever Asahina says would be of no meaning. Fellow athletes overhear their conversation and surround Asahina to make her apologise to Arima. Hattori tells Yamato to leave so that they are not implicated. However, he still goes to Asahina's rescue and brags that he will win the race. Nobody believes Yamato's words but Arima says that he's prepared to see how fast Yamato can be.

Asahina asks Yamato if he had considered carefully before challenging Arima but he says that he's prepared to apologise to Arima if he really loses. Asahina scolds him again for not thinking of the consequences but Yamato feels that as long as he doesn't lose, everything will be fine.

Honoka is helping Yamato to warm up when Miki comes to tell Yamato about Arima's background. His confidence gets shaken as a result. Hattori comes to chat with Asahina who says that she doesn't think Yamato will win over Arima. However, Hattori doesn't speculate on Yamato's chances and simply tells Asahina to go and watch the heats.

Arima and Yamato happen to be in the same heat and the latter is further pressurized by Arima's supporters. Arima thinks that Yamato is just trying to copy Kazuki and thinks lightly of him. Although Yamato thinks that it would be tough for him to beat Arima, he feels that he will have to try his best since he's angry at Arima for bullying Asahina. Yamato lags behind Arima since the start but he suddenly increases his pace after hearing Asahina's voice and almost overtakes Arima who is having problems catching up. However, Yamato falls down before reaching the finishing line and Arima wins the heat easily. Even though Yamato is prepared to apologise to Arima, the latter simply says that he doesn't need that and tells Yamato to scram because he's disturbed by the fact that he was almost beaten. Yamato seizes the chance to scold Arima before running away.

Arima is sitting under a tree and feels that Asahina will dislike him more due to his childish behaviour. Unexpectedly, Asahina comes to look for him with the first aid box and gives him some treatment for his knees. Although Yamato is surprised by Asahina pasting so many plasters on his slightly grazed knees, he is happy to hear that she tells him to return for training which means she's no longer angry with him...

Yamato simply refuses to give up Asahina as seen from his action to protect her from Arima. Although he says that he's not going to get involved, it would be impossible to sever all ties with Asahina just because they quarrelled. Besides, as what Honoka noticed, Yamato got the motivation to accelerate when he heard Asahina's voice so it's obvious how much she means to him.

Honoka is finally making her move. By asking Asahina in the next episode whether it is OK for her to confess to Yamato about her feelings, this helps Asahina to think about how she feels for him but I don't think she will tell Honoka at this point in time that she likes Yamato since she's still pining about Kazuki. In addition, Honoka simply needs some assurance from Asahina that she will not be an obstacle. Only when Honoka really starts to date Yamato, it would be Asahina's turn to feel sorry for not realising how she feels at an earlier point in time.