Suzuka Ep 21: Koukai (Regret)

Yamato makes up his mind to train hard for the upcoming competition. On the other hand, he fails to mend his relationship with Asahina as she is still giving him the cold shoulder. Although Yamato knew very well that things would come to this stage since he lied to Asahina about the reason for his breakup with Honoka, he still feels upset over Asahina's attitude. As a result, this affects his concentration level and he keeps dropping the baton during the relay race practice. Yamato's senior Sasaki grumbles about his lousy techniques but Miyamoto defends Yamato for being a newbie at relay races so as to pacify them. However, Sasaki points out that Yamato is not serious about practice while Miki looks on worriedly.

After practice, Miki waits for Yamato and asks about his training condition. Upon hearing what happened, Miki offers to help Yamato with practising on how to pass the baton. Even though the running track is closed, Miki brings Yamato to a park to practice. After repeated tries, Yamato is getting the hang of it but when he thinks of Asahina's attitude towards him, he gets distracted again and drops the baton. Miki decides to take a rest for a while and buy some drinks.

When Yamato is alone while waiting for Miki to return, he can't help but feel despondent over not meeting up to people's expectations. As he's not sure what his goal is, Yamato doesn't know how to change the current situation. Miki points out that Yamato regrets lying to Asahina but he denies it and puts the blame of his breakup with Honoka on himself. Yamato feels that he cannot tell Asahina the truth so Miki offers to tell her about it on his behalf. However, Yamato decides to do it himself since he wants to make up with Asahina.

The next day, Yamato is troubled over how to tell Asahina the truth when Miki asks why he has yet to take any action. Hattori wants to know what is going on but Miki refuses to divulge. As such, Hattori accuses Miki of trying to get close to Yamato which leads her to scold him for having wild thoughts.

During practice, Yamato is distracted again and incurs the wrath of his teammates. As such, he decides that it is time to settle the matter once and for all as this will continue to be a hindrance to his preparation for the relay.

Asahina returns home to see Yamato waiting for her but she ignores him. When she hears the real reason for his breakup with Honoka, Asahina gets a shock and questions why Yamato had to lie to her. Yamato says that he doesn't want to remain in this situation with her but she leaves when she hears that he is attributing blame for his lack of concentration due to their quarrel.

Yamato goes to the laundry shop and meets Asahina there. The atmosphere between the two of them is awkward as she keeps giving half-hearted answers. This makes Yamato quite disappointed that telling the truth has not brought about any positive effects. He offers some croquettes he bought but she rejects his offer. Despite Asahina having finished her laundry, she remains seated which leads Yamato to remind her to take the clothes out. Yamato finds out that she's just too embarrassed about taking her underwear out from the washing machine so he prepares to leave the shop. Just before he steps out, Asahina stops Yamato and says that she will have one of his croquettes and tells him to go out of the shop once he finishes them.

When Yamato returns home, he receives a call from Miki who asks about what happened. Yamato does not go into details and simply says that everything is fine. Later, Asahina calls him and says that she's not angry anymore so he has no more excuse to fumble at training. Upon hearing his encouragement, Yamato is elated and reaffirms his liking for Asahina.

Well, both Yamato and Asahina are really clumsy at communicating their real thoughts to each other. Although she is no longer angry at Yamato after knowing the truth, she chose to talk to him through the phone instead of while they were in the laundry shop. On the other hand, Yamato knows that he is not eloquent enough to handle the situation and keeps putting off this matter until he realises that not clearing the air would be detrimental to his training progress and his emotions. Sometimes, it can get quite frustrating to see the two of them behaving like kids without social skills. However, since it's nearing the end of the series, I believe that unless one of them decides to come clean with his/her feelings, nothing will come out between the two of them.