Aug 09, 2023
I love this moment. Ume offers the old medal only after winning the new one. Would she have done it had she lost the race? I suspect not. But the medal's not the point, and Shizuko's not going to let it be a clear-cut symbol of their relationship. And she's right. It _was_ her decision to drop out. She didn't earn it. Who knows what could have happened that day? She might have still lost.
And then it turned out to all be for nothing. Not only did winning the first race not get Ume what she wanted, but Shizuko ended up with a brighter-looking future than the classmates who put her down.
And that should make you, as the reader, feel good, right? Except Ume's _not_ a bad person. She had her good points too. There's no evidence that giving Shizuko the shoes wasn't altruistic to begin with. So you're left with this messy resolution that's in some ways good, some ways bad, and that even more than the detailed setting you created, that kind of thing makes the story seem so realistic.
And what makes the story _wholesome_ is that Shizuko decides to do her best to improve it, to help Ume, and hopefully make the mixed outcome more positive. All the better that her inspiration came from Shun's advice, showing that as pessimistic as he can be, he's a good guy deep down.
