Neighborhood Story

Love Relay (1x10)

Date de diffusion: Nov 19, 1995

The time of year for the Athletics Festival has come to Yawaza with Mikako and Risa dreading the whole experience until P-chan suggests that Mikako appraise her fortunes at the cheer-off competition between the teams. Upon having it explained that Mariko has been chosen as a cheerleader on the opposite team, Mikako's resolve intensifies and the whole competition becomes another vehicle for Mikako to act out her vendetta against Mariko along with her long-standing issues with Tsutomu's conduct. Mikako ferociously dedicates herself to devising her counter-strategy that night even going so far as to repulse a dinner date with Ruriko; alas, this gambit is more pain than gain as Mikako collapses from sleep and food deprivation. Concerned about Mikako even though they are on opposite teams, Tsutomu rushes to the rescue and finds that Mikako has recovered herself into a collusive game plan with Yuusuke who has a much healthier perspective of the Festival and gains new insight about her. The next day, Yuusuke and Tsutomu end up availing the sprint time study as the vehicle to resolve their rivalry over Mikako only to end up as the anchors for the relay race. The ultimate irony of the relay race is that as badly as she wants her teammate Yuusuke to win, Mikako starts to realize that Tsutomu has already won her heart many times over.