You look like you're really enjoying that, Ui.
I love cake!
And I love my brother too!
Thank you.
Oh, you've got some cream by your lip.
Oh...
Yesterday, I...
Episode 2
It Shouldn't Taste Like Cheese
Come in, Hoshino.
You're that girl from the other day!
What are you doing in our school?
What do you mean, "what am I doing here?"
I transferred to this school.
That doesn't mean we have to be in the same class!
Hinata, what are you talking about?
Our school only has one class for each year.
There is no other class for juniors.
That's true, but...
I'm surprised that you two know each other.
I don't know him.
Then what?
Well... umm.
It doesn't matter.
Why don't you introduce yourself?
Yes, ma'am.
My name is Kazuma Hoshino.
I'm here because my parents will be moving here soon.
Nice to meet you.
Good.
And you'll sit right next to...
Now wait one second, Mom!
Aren't we going to grill him for fun and embarrassment, Mom?
I am not your mother!
We are in school and you will call me "Teacher".
C'mon! I am your offspring, after all!
That may be,
but remember that there is a time and place for everything,
idiot son.
See, what's the big deal?
You just called me your son.
Don't you dare talk back to me!
I can see it!
You can sit over there, Hoshino.
Where am I supposed to sit?!
Don't you worry about that.
I've got just the place.
Yamabiko Oranges
Hi, Kazu.
Oh... I was thinking I could call you "Kazu", since your name is "Kazuma",
but maybe I shouldn't have done that.
That's fine, I guess,
but who are you?
Oh, excuse me!
My name is Ui Nakatsugawa.
You can call me Ui.
I'm Ibuki.
Ibuki Hinata.
Nice. To. Meet. You.
Uh...
Hinata?
As the Class Rep,
it will be your responsibility to show the new student around.
Okay.
Will do.
And now, what you've all been waiting for: time for questions!
What are your hobbies?
What are your favorite foods?
What is your height? Weight? Zodiac? Blood type?
Are you experienced, or not yet?
I can't answer all these questions at once.
So, what is Ibuki to you, exactly?
You know each other, right?
I don't know him at all.
I don't associate with perverts like him.
Pervert?
What else would you be?
You lured an innocent girl deep into the mountains, just so you could ki-
I mean... So you could push her over!
What?!
Ibuki, I keep telling you, that was a misunderstanding!
Wait a minute... so he pushed you over?
That could only happen to a space cadet like Ui Nakatsugawa!
The fact that her guard
is permanently down is exactly why they call her "Ayaui".
Ayaui means dangerous or close-call
Hey!
Can you not say deceptive stuff about me?
What do you mean by "deceptive"?
I mean that was an accident!
An accident, was it?
I already explained it to you yesterday, but you just don't get it!
Because there's nothing to get!
I don't want to get anything about you!
Contemporary Literature
Now please open your textbooks to page 23.
We'll start where we left off yesterday...
Kazu, if you don't have a textbook you can share with-
If it's a textbook you need, you can look at mine.
It's too dangerous for you two to have any further contact.
Chow time!
I'm so hungry!
You're Kokubaru Minami, right?
You can just call me Daigo.
All right, Daigo.
I was wondering if you could tell me
where I could buy a sandwich for lunch.
I was gonna have a sandwich too,
so we can go buy them together, Bro.
Uh, Bro?
You've just transferred here, but you've already managed
to push a girl over in the mountains.
That commands some respect, man, so if you don't mind,
I'd like to call you my bro!
Ui, if you can't wait, just eat already.
But...
Kazu! Daigo! Come on, hurry, hurry!
I can't believe the gluttony-demon Ui actually waited to eat with us.
That's huge!
Today, it's rice with mountain vegetables!
You're not eating this all alone, right?
Of course I'm not eating this alone!
I've got the side dishes right here!
Then for dessert, I've got some muffins my mom baked me.
That's Ui for you.
Hey...
Yeah?
Are those the vegetables you were picking yesterday?
That's right!
Hey, can you please not talk with your mouth full?
Which reminds me.
What were you doing out there yesterday, Ibuki?
I wasn't doing anything!
I was taking a walk, okay? A walk.
Oh, I bet you went out to the viewing platform.
There is one?
Yeah, if you keep going up that mountain, you get to a look-out.
It's been one of Ibuki and my favorite hangouts since we were little kids.
The view's really great,
and if you ever feel bad, all that will fly away
if you scream "idiot" from up there.
Well, for you nothing needs to be wrong,
you still yell "yahoo" every time.
Hearing a "yahoo" back when you
yell "yahoo" first just cheers me up.
I guess so.
You want to show me around town?
Sure!
You just moved here, right?
So you probably don't know Yamabiko very well at all.
So I was thinking I'd show you around
if you're interested at all.
That would be really helpful.
Then I'm going too.
Who knows what you would do if I left you alone with Ui.
Of course I'm going too!
Great! Then we can all go!
Okay.
Do you mind if I bring my little brother too?
Of course not!
My bro's bro is my bro, Bro.
You have a younger brother?
Yeah.
He moved here with me and just started over at the Junior High.
Hey, Ayumu?
I wonder what his little brother's like.
What are you doing right now?
Probably a pervert, just like him.
Then can you wait at the fork by the bridge?
Later.
Tsumugi...
A Bridge To the Starry Skies
Hoshizora E Kakaru Hashi
You mean you were waiting for me?
Yes.
I figured since you're not familiar with this area,
you might not remember how to get back home.
Thank you for taking the trouble...
Wow, you're lucky when every guy's favorite girl,
Tsumugi, is paying this much attention to you!
Not that he deserves it!
What about Ayumu?
I guess he'll be fine if we meet him at the bridge...
You always put your little brother first, don't you?
But don't worry,
I already took care of that.
Mugi!
Thank you for bringing Ayumu over.
Who's this, Tsumugi?
This is my youngest sister, Kasane.
She's in the same class as Ayumu, so I asked her to look after him.
So then...
...this is your younger brother, Kazu?
It's nice to meet you.
My name is Ayumu Hoshino.
He's so...
Cute!
So your name is Ayumu?
That's right.
But you don't look at all like Kaz...
Ui!
She's right!
It doesn't matter how space cadety you are, you still have to be careful!
Huh? Huh? What do you mean?
Don't you think it's strange how incredibly cute his little brother is?
Yeah! It means they probably have some complicated family situation...
You guys don't have to "be careful"!
We're not half-brothers or anything like that;
he's my full-blood brother!
Liar!
There's no way you could have a little brother that cute!
Why you...
If you really are brothers,
it looks like God played a genetic trick on you two.
You guys...
See, I knew you were a nice person.
Huh?
I noticed it when we walked to school this morning.
When you walk with your brother,
you deliberately make your stride shorter.
You're matching your stride to his.
Really? You do that?
Sorry, I never noticed before.
Hey, don't worry about it.
I choose to do it myself, so you don't have to...
More importantly, Ui,
you said you'd show me the town,
so... where are you taking us?
Let's see... I guess we'll start here.
The convenience store.
It's on the way to school, so a lot of Hikonan...
Hikonan?
It's an abbreviation for Yamabiko South High.
Our junior high school is part of it too.
This convenience store is open
from seven in the morning until eleven at night!
Isn't it wonderful? You can buy candy even when it's dark!
It wasn't always like that...
I see.
So when did they close before?
What do you want to do?
Wanna go in and buy something?
No! If you want to get a snack, let's go to Yahho!
Huh? Yahho?
The... Yahho... Store?
The store's name should actually be read as Yakata,
but we've been calling it Yahho ever since we were little kids.
So what did you all get?
Let's see.
First off, we've got a cheese- flavored Yummy Stick.
Then another cheese- flavored Yummy Stick.
Cheesy Stick.
You only got cheese flavor?
But that's my favorite!
I see.
So that's why it tasted like cheese.
No, it's not like that!
It shouldn't taste... like... cheese.
Huh?
Oh, when you gave me one of your muffins at lunch,
I tasted something strange,
so I thought there was some cheese in it.
Oh, you mean- oh!
Yeah, there was some cream cheese in the batter, yes...
This is the Cedar Ball.
It's made from cedar needles and they hang it under the eaves
to show that they have new sake in stock.
You know so much...
Just what I've been told, here and there.
I'm friends with the daughter of the family who runs this store,
and she told me.
This is where Yorozuyo gets their sake, too.
Ramen
Skewers
There are more stores here.
So would this be the shopping district?
That's right!
The flower store right here is run by a lady who just got married.
She's very excited about that.
Over there, that bike store's owner just had a new baby.
That soba shop over there is currently closed because the husband
hurt himself playing amateur baseball.
Then, see that ramen shop on the corner?
Its owner is known for being really bull-headed.
I really recommend the ramen though.
Then we should go eat there next time.
Yeah!
At the lunch place over there, their only son is taking
his college placement exams right now.
The book store owners' cat just had five kittens and
they're trying to find them homes,
and the owners of the grocery store are in a big fight right now!
You really know a lot about everyone.
Well, I'm not called the News Hound of Yamabiko for nothing.
You always did like your gossip.
Where are we going now?
Let's go to the Twin Peaks!
You want to go mountain climbing now?!
But I wanted to show Kazu the look-out!
The look-out, huh...
Wait... so the Twin Peaks is where I got lost yesterday?
The spot where you were prowling around
is at the very foot of the mountain.
The Twin Peaks are like this,
and since they look like two mountains stuck together
they're called the Twin Peaks.
There's an old legend associated with that mountain.
Long, long ago, a heavenly couple lived on top of that mountain.
They were so infatuated with each other though that they paid
no more attention to their daily work and the god of the heavens
became so angry, they say he split the mountain's top in half.
They were separated forever.
That's a lot like the story of Tanabata.
They say that ever since, those two have been calling
to each other from the peaks saying
"I long for you. I want to be with you."
Isn't that...
[Yamabiko = Echo]
Yes, it's about the echo.
They say that the power of their words
flowed down into the valley and saturated the lands,
and their love for each other made it to the village
and bore great fruits...
They say that that is the origin of the name of this region.
In the fall, we have a festival that celebrates that legend.
They place a float at both ends of the bridge,
representing the Twin Peaks,
and perform a ritual.
And then, the Kotama Shrine-
That's it!
We should go to Kotama Shrine next!
The stone steps going up to it are really long!
So these are the stone steps.
It really is a long climb.
It's a race, Kazu!
Good luck!
Daigo catch!
Those two sure have a lot of energy.
Yeah, huh.
We'll take it leisurely, Ayumu.
Let's go.
A race?
Those two really are so childish.
Done!
You're really fast, Kazu!
I- I guess so.
Huh?
Madoka?
She's a freshman at our school.
Her name is Madoka.
This is the new transfer student.
I'm Kazuma Hoshino.
Hoshino?
Kazuma...
Madoka?
I guess we've shown you basically everything there is to see.
All that's left is the Backpipe.
The Bagpipe?
It's not the Bagpipe. It's the Bacpipe.
It's a coffee shop we go to a lot after school.
They've got a delicious Jumbo Parfait!
So this is the Jumbo Parfait...
It's huge.
It's so good!
That was great!
Hang on!
I think a warp in space-time just occurred!
Hey, Ui.
There's some cream on your lip.
Thanks, brother.
Huh?
This is one of the manifestations of the social phenomenon called
"Calling Your Kindergarten Teacher Mom."
Is that like me calling my mom "Mom" in class?
Your case is different.
I'm sorry.
I think I just did that because Ayumu
is always calling you "brother."
And it was kind of infectious...
You're in a good mood, Ayumu.
Yeah. I really like Yamabiko.
What about you?
I like it too.
So Kazu's younger brother is Ayumu,
and Ayumu's older brother is Kazu.
I see...
Kazu's the older brother.
Brother, yours is really big.
Compared to that, yours is pale and has a long way to go.
Sorry for interrupting your mutual brotherly back washing ritual.
The next time on A Bridge To The Starry Skies: Episode 3
Episode 3
Next time: Acorns Hurt More than You Think
Acorns Hurt More than You Think
Ayumu, can you think of a place
on your body where it would hurt to put acorns?
Hmm, my nostrils?
Safe!