We can't make friends (ﾟДﾟ)
1 Month before
World History II
We are recruiting friends
Neighbors Club
Next time
Jeez, stop joking around.
And then...
Senpai will be mad if we don't hurry!
Wait up!
Oh, you actually bought them.
Yep! Starting today, these are my new shoes.
I'm gonna be super fast now! I'm gonna beat you.
Yeah right.
Takayama Keito-sensei, please return to the staff room as soon as possible.
This one was quite touching.
Why is he in the library?
First years, you're late!
We're sorry.
Go get changed and start running!
Okay~
Don't elongate your words!
Okaaay~
Sena-sama, what shall we do now?
I brought that movie you mentioned last time.
Is something the matter, Sena-sama?
Oh, I forgot my gym clothes.
Want to stop at that store again today?
Ah, I was just thinking of inviting you...
S-Sorry!
That was scary.
Miki-chan, are you okay?
We
friends
(´・ω・`)
can't
make
Jeez, Kyou-kun, you're always exaggerating.
I'm telling you, it was super scary!
Don't poke fun at me, it wasn't like that~
What? Whose voice is that? Cell phone?
My fault?
You always say that.
Isn't that...?
Mikazuki Yozora, from my class?
But the Mikazuki that I know isn't the type of person to talk and laugh with someone like that.
She always has this sullen face, emitting an aura of displeasure.
I've never even seen her interact with other people.
And yet... Wait, she's not even holding a cell phone!
What is this? Who is she talking to?
Is there even anyone else there?
It's sunset, and in this classroom a lone girl is talking to something invisible.
On that note, didn't I read something like this in an introduction to a light novel?
Knowing her secret,
I get pulled into the situation and end up throwing myself into battle with things that shouldn't exist in this world...
Then in the end, I'll fall in love with her...
That reminds me, Tomo-chan...
That's her normal look. Her laughing face was cute, though...
What is it?
Can you see ghosts or something?
Huh? There's no such thing as ghosts, duh.
But you were just talking to someo—
You saw me?!
I was just talking to my friend! My air friend!
Air friend? What's that?
Exactly what it sounds like.
There's also air guitar, right? That kind of friend.
In other words, you were pretending that you have a friend here and were talking to her?
It's not pretend, Tomo-chan is real! See?
We were recounting how, back in middle school, Tomo-chan and I went to the amusement park.
We were hit on by several groups of people,
and in one of them was a new, handsome teacher.
This setting I made up...
You just made that up!
I did not! It really did happen.
How much of it was true?
Up until the middle school stuff...
Wasn't about 100% of it a fabrication?
The stuff about going to the amusement park was really what you wanted to happen.
What would be fun about going to an amusement park by yourself?
You just admitted you were by yourself!
Ah, pretend I didn't talk about that.
Tomo-chan is really cute, so if we went to an amusement park,
This person is hopeless. I have to do something.
she'd really attract weird guys, and she'd just tolerate it.
Why are you looking at me like that?
If you want to talk to friends, why don't you make some real friends?
Not air friends, but real-world friends...
If I could, then I would.
I guess you're right...
Come to think of it, aren't you that transfer student that's always alone?
I've already been here for a month. Don't call me a transfer student...
What's your name?
Hasegawa Kodaka.
Kodaka, you have no right to talk to me about friends.
Already dropping the honorific...
You've been here for a whole month and still don't have any friends.
You must be a pretty lonely guy, huh?
I don't want to hear that from someone who has air friends!
Are you making fun of Tomo-chan!?
Tomo-chan is cute, smart, good at sports, kind, a good listener, a good conversationalist, and moreover...
and moreover, she would never betray me.
I know. But I can't help it.
I don't know how to make friends.
What would be a good way to make friends...
You didn't have any friends in your old school?
Yes, I did.
And now?
Well, they said they would keep in touch, but...
Are you sure you weren't the only one who thought of it as friendship?
Don't say that.
I know! What if we paid people to be our friends?
That's too pitiful!
We can pay them 1000 yen a week to hang out with us at school...
A lover's contract... No, that would be a friendship contract.
That doesn't sound bad.
Yes, it is a contract...
What about just making friends normally?
I've seen that on dramas, but otherwise I don't know much about it.
If you just ask them to become friends, and they agree, does that create a friendship?
Even though you've never talked to them?
And if you make that agreement, but never talk to them again, do you still consider yourselves friends?
Well, I guess I'm in the same boat.
To begin with, I don't see why having friends is an absolute must.
Eh?
I hate it when people look at me with eyes that say "She doesn't have any friends. What a lonely person."
I see. Somehow, I can understand that.
Certainly in today's society, having few friends has a bad connotation.
Isn't that a bit wrong?
I'm fine being by myself.
An appearance of a friendship, such as a friendship contract, is enough.
Even so, I think I'd like to naturally make real friends.
What about joining a club?
Rejected!
Why's that?
It's already June of our second year.
Club relationships are fully formed by now.
At this point, doing something like entering a club would be pretty embarrassing.
That's true, but...
Joining a club just to make friends
instead of actually being interested in the club would mess up their teamwork.
Especially since it's unlikely that we have any skills they need.
Who would give us a warm reception?
Well, it's true that our motives aren't very pure, and we don't bring any skills to the table...
And then, nothing is worse than disrupting a group's inner dynamics.
I've got it! A club!
Huh?
See you, Kodaka!
1 Month before
Eh? My hair? My late mother was British.
Half? Well, yeah I guess you could say that.
Thank you. It was sad, but time has helped me move on.
After my father moved overseas, I transferred to St. Chronica Academy in Tooya.
On that day, I got on the wrong bus and ended up being really late.
When I finally reached the school, I was on the verge of tears.
The Crusaders were attacking Saladin's...
Uh, I'm... the new transfer student...
Y...Yes?
Hasegawa... Kodaka... Whoops!
Sensei?
Assault?
What? A delinquent?
A transfer student?
Look at his hair.
Ah, my textbook...
H...Here!
Book : World History II
Thank...
By the evening of my first day,
rumors that I had plundered a textbook from the girl seated next to me
had spread across the entire school.
It's been a month since then, and I've yet to recover from that fatal blunder.
"See you, Kodaka!"
Kodaka, huh?
It's been awhile since someone addressed me without an honorific.
In this algebraic equation for energy, there must always be a root...
As a result, that energy...
Same as always...
...Mikazuki.
Kodaka, come with me for a sec.
Mikazuki talked!
Eh? To the transfer student?
Eh? Hold on, hey!
What is it, all of a sudden?
First of all, I took care of the paperwork.
Paperwork?
To create a new club.
If we can't join an existing club, then we should just make one on our own.
That's true. If it's a new club, then we can start building relationships from scratch.
So, what kind of club did you make?
The Neighbors Club!
The Neighbors Club?
That's right.
Following God's teachings, for the purpose of deepening our friendships with our fellow students,
we will, with all sincerity, devote ourselves to developing our characters.
You petitioned for that kind of club to be created?
Since this school is so broad-minded.
The whole "Following God's teachings" thing is just a cover. Isn't religion useful?
So in the end, what will this so-called "Neighbors Club" do?
Isn't it obvious? Make friends.
We'll make friends with those so-called "friendless, lonely people" who try to avoid people's pitiful stares.
It might even be possible to make "real friends," like you said.
I hadn't thought of that. Well, good luck.
Why do you say that? You're a club member.
Yesterday you just suddenly went home, so I wrote your club registration for you. Be grateful.
Why would I!?
That being said, club activities start today, club member Kodaka.
W-wait up.
The Chapel Lounge...
Is it really okay for us to use this room?
The advisor said it would be fine, so yes.
So is this advisor going to guide us in making friends?
That would be impossible.
Sister Maria is our advisor, but she also doesn't have any friends.
Then why did you ask her to be our advisor?
I'm bad at talking to people who have lots of friends.
Really...
So, first thing is to recruit more club members.
What is this?
It's a poster. From now on, lets have these posted on the bulletin boards around the school.
This? They won't be able to figure out what kind of club this is.
So naive, Kodaka. Try reading it slanted.
Slanted?
We are recruiting friends
We are recruiting friends?
Understand?
This is just a simple trick.
It's not a trick.
If someone wants to make friends, he'll probably find the hidden message.
And that's not all.
The poster depicts a scene from a famous song where someone made 100 friends,
climbed to the top of Mt. Fuji, and they all ate rice balls.
Even if they don't find the slanted message, they'll understand once they see this picture.
I-Is that so?
Come on, let's go put up the posters.
Alright, next!
Hey, I'm not sure I want to be friends with anyone sad enough to be able to read this poster.
You think your opinions are absolute.
You're pretty worldly, aren't you?
I don't want to hear that from you!
Please stop addressing me as "you". It pisses me off.
Understood. Uh... Mikazuki-san.
Yozora. Just call me Yozora.
Okay. Yo-Yozora.
Hey, don't you have a nickname or something? I'd prefer to call you that.
I do.
I did.
I did, but...
I'm not going to tell you what it was.
Why not?
A nickname is something you use with close friends.
Sorry for the wait!
Neighbors Club
Ah, I'm exhausted.
Now then, tomorrow the real activities start.
I don't really think there's going to be anyone who'll want to join after seeing that poster, but...
It seems that a new member has appeared pretty quickly.
Eh? We just finished putting up the posters!
This is the Neighbors Club, right? I'd like to join.
I was wrong.
Eh? Yozora...
Well then, shall we start?
No, wait. There was someone who wanted to join.
It was even a girl. Isn't that exactly what you wanted?
What weird things are you saying, you ocher-colored delinquent?
And if it's about a female friend, I've already got one. Right, Tomo-chan?
Come on...
Why did you close the door? I want to join the club!
Self-satisfied people can just die!
By any chance, is that someone you know?
I don't know her.
She's Kashiwazaki Sena from class 2-3.
The only daughter of the school board's chairman.
The male students always fawn over her.
She acts like a princess; it's disgusting.
Eh? So that was the school board chairman's daughter?
Honestly, once guys see blond hair and big breasts, they fawn and pucker up. It's repulsive.
No, I don't really think that's true...
Besides her flashy appearance, she's great at sports, gets top grades,
and she ranked first on all the exams this year.
What's this self-satisfaction? She should just die!
As I thought, this girl is hopeless.
What's this?
Why are you being so cruel? I said I want to join!
If you're just teasing us, then I refuse.
I'm not teasing! I saw the friend recruitment poster and came here.
I want friends too!
Aren't I perfect?
I'm smart, good at sports, and as you can see, beautiful.
Despite being a vulgar milk cow...
Oh look, did tiny-breasts here say something?
I'm not all that small.
Isn't having half-sized breasts about the same as having none?
If one were to kill all women with breasts bigger than mine,
then relatively speaking, I would have huge breasts.
Maybe I should sacrifice you for the sake of that noble goal?
Uh, this was supposed to be a conversation about wanting friends...
That's right.
You're always surrounded by guys, aren't you?
They're just normal servant boys.
What I want are friends, particularly female ones.
For example, in home economics or on field trips, when we group up,
the people I ask are always like, "You're so popular with the guys, maybe you should go with them..."
Well they can just leave out that irritating speech. It's friends that I need.
Now that you mention it, one does hear that women who are popular with men
and who excel too much face hostility from their own sex.
Even though you're a delinquent, you understand! Go on, kneel down and I'll step on you.
Why do I have to be stepped on by you!?
The guys in my class would rejoice if I did that to them.
Don't tell me you're only interested in people who are more of a delinquent than that? Pervert!
I'm not a delinquent or a pervert!
What are you looking at?
Well, isn't this perfect? With this, both of you can make a friend.
Huh?
Why do I have to be friends with someone like her?
Likewise, I don't want to be friends with someone like her.
What exactly do you mean by that...
How can these two be on such bad terms already?
And your eyes are almond-shaped!
My almond-shaped eyes are cute. Yours look like a fox.
What do you want to eat today?
What about the Mofu by the station?
Die.
Rather, shouldn't you be the one to die?
Actually, get out.
Neighbors Club established, day one.
One person joins, for a total of three members.
If we were to write down our results, it would look promising, but... that's troubling me.
So, I watched the drama that I rented yesterday. It was funny!
How so?
The people that the heroine thought were her friends turned out to not be friends at all...
Afterwards, the two continued their fight.
It's your fault for having a bad personality!
It's better than your stupid head.
I have the top grades in school.
Oh yes, Miss Cow-chan did so well in her studies. Aren't you great?
You... I could ask papa and get you expelled!
Aren't you embarrassed to be running to mommy and daddy at your age?
Maybe you should quit the club?
This is my club.
Since when has this club been yours?
Next time:
There is
no
God
in a
Digital World
(ﾟДﾟ)
There is no God in a Digital World (ﾟДﾟ)
You spoke in unison just for that?