Please get off!
I've fallen in love with the same person as
my precious friend...
You might feel better if you drink some water.
Thanks.
I-I'll pay you back.
Oh, don't worry about that.
Thanks.
I don't actually feel sick at all, but...
I couldn't say that.
Yoshioka.
Huh?
Give me the water.
Eh?!
Don't say "eh."
I bought it, after all.
I'm gonna drink it, too.
So, that would make this...
IN
An in...
DIRECT
direct...
ki...
KI
INDIRECT KI
INDIRECT KI .
INDIRECT KI . .
INDIRECT KI . . .
What is it?
Oh... well... um...
You don't like this kind of thing? Are you a neat freak?
N-No... it's not that...
I accidentally started staring.
I get it.
Cold! I'm choking!
You okay?! I've got a towel...
S-Sorry. It looks like I left my towel… in the classroom…
It's fine.
I never thought the day would come when I'd grow ashamed
of the sloppy character I created for myself.
But everyone puts on nice clothes and
makeup to look good for other people, right?
So I wonder, what's the difference
between that and me wanting boys to think I'm cute?
I really get what she meant right now. I sure do...
So...
What's wrong with me? Am I a little girl?
little girl
Self-berating to maintain composure
Am I pretending to be a sloppy character with her bag in disarray?
disarray
Sloppy
Self-berating to maintain composure
I'm gross! I'm so gross!
Self-berating to maintain composure
Gross! I'm so gross!
What's wrong?
Still don't feel well?
No, I'm fine now.
Really?
Really.
Oh?
Are you wearing perfume or something?
Huh? No, I'm not...
Oh?
Must be your shampoo.
Strange. It's attractive.
No reaction?
That's the part where you object or something.
If you don't, I'm just a pervert.
Th-Then you should say it in a way that makes it clearer that you're joking!
I just didn't know how to react.
Darn it. Jeez...
It's the cheapest shampoo in the supermarket!
Even if it was a joke, I wish I had used something better.
Young girls in love don't have that kind of freedom.
Oh, speaking of which.
What?
I just remembered, I was supposed to buy shampoo on the way home.
Well, good thing I helped you remember.
Shuuei Line - Sakigatani Station
I'm going to stop by the drug store, so...
Are you sure you're feeling okay now?
I'm fine! Fine!
Okay. So long.
The truth is, I really wanted to walk home with Kou, but...
I guess I feel a little shy...
I feel kind of like I'd be doing wrong by Yuuri...
I'm going to...
...come clean with Yuuri.
That I like Kou, too.
I'm going to come clean.
When you're in love, you start to worry about the most trivial details.
It should feel really restrictive,
but worrying about this kind of thing makes me really happy instead.
I'm sorry for the wait.
Do you have a point card?
No.
Here, I'll take that.
Special Campaign
Is that...?
You gave me 3,000 yen...
I have to come clean with Yuuri soon.
Thank you for your patronage.
I wonder what Yuuri will say.
Maybe she'll hate me?
But... I'm sure Yuuri would...
Futaba?
Yumi-chan?
Rock-paper-scissors! Rock-paper-scissors!
Hey, Naito! What are you doing?
Yumi-chan was in my class in middle school.
She was precious to me back then.
We're choosing teams for cops and robbers.
Hey, let's go!
R-Right.
Yumi-chan, back then, was in love with a boy named Naito-kun.
Cops and robbers? You mean what we played when we were kids?
That's right!
You're like elementary schoolers!
Right?
Kou was there, too.
I wanna play, too!
What, seriously?
Futaba, you guys, you play too!
What? Cops and robbers?
What, we're gonna play with girls?
What should we do, Futaba?
I guess... we could play.
Okay! It's settled!
I'll count to a hundred!
Start running!
One... two... three... four...
My first year of middle school was peaceful.
But in my second year...
Hey, Yoshioka's not bad, huh?
Yeah, she's cute.
She's so docile.
Those other girls around her could learn some things from Yoshioka!
Science
...things around me started to get noisy.
Futaba sure does play nicey-nice around the boys.
Yeah!
Makes me mad...
Futaba.
At times like that...
They're just jealous because you're popular with the boys!
That's not your fault, Futaba. They're so stupid.
...the only person who stayed by my side was Yumi-chan.
But I'm on your side, Futaba.
But then, Yumi-chan...
One day, she suddenly stopped talking to me.
Wait a minute! I'm coming, too!
Oh, Yumi. Aren't you going to stay with Futaba?
No... it's fine, it's fine.
I never knew the reason why. I lost the last person who took my side.
We haven't seen each other since graduation, right?
Yeah.
Remember Naito?
The guy you liked?
Yeah.
I really asked you for a lot of advice back then, Futaba.
Those were the days!
Yeah... they sure were.
I'm lying. I can't think fondly back on those days.
I just can't think of what else to say
to the person who distanced herself from me without telling me why.
Listen...
I've wanted to apologize to you for a while, Futaba.
Back in those days,
I heard a rumor from the other girls that you liked Naito, too.
And when I went to check with you about it...
Futaba—
You were watching Naito...
In that moment, I was thinking, "But I liked him first!"
Even though liking him first didn't make me any better. I knew that...
I wasn't acting rationally back then. I was just really mad at you.
Even though I knew that
if I put distance between us, I'd be leaving you alone.
I'm sor—
Yumi-chan, I...
I never liked Naito-kun... at all.
What?
Thinking back now, there was another guy I liked.
Naito-kun was friends with Kou.
I kept wanting to ask him if there'd been any word from Kou,
if he knew anything about Kou...
Yumi-chan probably got the wrong idea from that.
Futaba... I'm sorry.
It's okay.
Liking the same boy as your friend...
Is this what it results in?
Sorry. I'm going home, okay?
I'm glad I saw you today.
I was naive to think what I did.
I thought that Yuuri would definitely forgive me.
Part of me was counting on that.
But like Yumi-chan... she'll just end up hating me.
Why'd I have to run into her at a time like this?
I feel like God is testing me, somehow.
But I can't hide my love for Kou anymore.
So... I just have to tell her!
I have to...
It's been days since I decided I'd do it! Say it already, me!
Incompetent, incompetent, incompetent!
Morning!
Futaba-chan! Morning!
Morning...
Makita.
I brought the CD I mentioned in my e-mail yesterday.
Oh, thank you!
Are they already exchanging e-mails?
It's got a self-cover that hasn't been released yet.
It's pretty great.
Wow!
Lucky Yuuri.
What song do you recommend?
It's easy for her, since she's established herself as a "cute character."
Personally, I recommend...
What was that? That was mean jealousy!
Oh?
But... I understand Yuuri's feelings of wanting him to think she's cute...
I can see both sides.
What's with this feeling?!
Futaba-chan!
Mabuchi-kun lent me a CD!
That's great.
Murao-san, good morning!
Morning.
Hi, there.
Yuuri's just doing the best she can with what she's got.
I'm by far the worst one, for not admitting what I feel.
Yoshioka.
What? What?
What is it?
What do you mean?
What is it?!
The report we handed in before.
Leadership Training Report Class 2-2 Yoshioka Futaba
The part that you wrote had way too many misspellings and stuff.
They want you to fix it and hand it back in.
Oh... roger that...
Are you okay?
I'm going to say it. I just have to say it.
I'll say it!
It's so hard to say...
Futaba-chan, don't you have an appetite? Are you okay?
I bought too much out of habit.
Yuuri, want a chocolate roll?
And anpan? And a yakisoba roll?
I couldn't eat that much...
I guess not.
Murao-san, want some bread?
No, thank you.
I guess not...
Maybe I'll return them.
I don't think you can return bread.
But I think I'll still try.
Futaba-chan!
What?
You want some company?
No! I'll go by myself.
I...
I wonder if I've done something to offend Futaba-chan...
I think I'll go with her, after all.
Excuse me! Did a girl who bought bread come back here?
I don't want to distance myself from Yuuri.
And I want to love Kou, too.
I guess it's too much to expect that I could have both, right?
After all, Kou doesn't even think of me as a girl.
So maybe I could not tell Yuuri, and care for Kou in secret?
Kou! What are you doing?
You scared—
Quiet.
So close! So close! So close! So close!
Kou!
Not good, he's here.
Tanaka-sensei?
Where'd you get off to?
Kou!
Why are you running from Tanaka-sensei?
He won't stop bugging me about eating dinner with him.
Why not eat some dinner with him, then?
That's the silence that says, "Don't ask any more about that."
Did you change your shampoo?
I wanted to be attractive to you...
Yeah... you were right.
You really do have to say it in a way that makes it clear you're joking.
Okay. My brother's gone.
I'm going.
What nonsense. "Care for him in secret"?
I still want things to work out if they can.
Doing things like changing my shampoo just so he'll like it.
It's petty to do that kind of thing without telling Yuuri.
Oh, that's right.
Makita was looking for you.
She seemed really worried.
Did something happen with you guys?
Yuuri is... worried?
Well, you know.
That's the kind of girl Yuuri is.
I know what a good person she is.
And what a precious, precious friend she is to me.
When you talked to me the first time, do you know how happy it made me?
That's why...
I'll never leave you by yourself, Futaba-chan.
That's why I don't want to distance myself.
But the fact that she's so precious to me
is all the more reason I have to tell her, right?
Then Yuuri can be the one to decide to put distance between us or not.
Futaba-chan!
The donuts at the shop in front of the station are 100 yen now, right?
Want to stop by there with me today?
Yuuri...
Yeah.
Today, I might...
...lose a precious friend.
Next Episode . . .
Even if things go better for one of you, I'll always remain neutral, so...
Go for it, both of you.