Ichi Kakeru

Ten years have passed since Kuon Haruka, the female runner who seized Olympic gold, vanished from the public eye. Among the countless athletes whose dreams she ignited is Tsujiinaka Ichi—a girl who first took up track and field after falling in love with the sight of her idol blazing down the track. But the sport that once filled her with wonder has become a source of anguish, and Ichi now finds herself up against a wall she cannot seem to overcome. Crushed beneath wave after wave of pressure, she develops the yips in the middle of a competition, her body refusing to run as it once did. With everything going wrong and convinced she no longer has any worth left in the world of track and field, Ichi agonizes under the weight of despair and doubt. Then, just as she stands on the brink of abandoning it all, someone unexpected appears before her... This is the story of two people who cannot bring themselves to give up—their fateful encounter, and the moment they lace up their shoes and begin to run once more.