So, it's going pretty well with your girlfriend?
Yeah, it is. T-To tell the truth...
I'm thinking of proposing to her
once this business deal goes through.
Well, that's a reason to celebrate.
If Her Flag Breaks
Episode 1
I'm Going to Marry Her Once I Leave This School
Hatagaya Academy High School
I don't get it...
Students of Hatagaya Academy!
What happened there?
I don't think it was just a normal accident.
I want to know.
Stand.
Bow.
Take your seats.
And that kid...
He was wearing our uniform...
But Hatagaya Academy has classes from
kindergarten all the way to college.
Okay, everyone.
You're all going to
meet a new friend today.
All right. Go ahead and come in.
I won't be able to find him that easi—
Hatate Souta
My name is Hatate Souta.
Nice to meet all of you.
She stood up and then sat right back down...
Was she stretching?
Why did she...
So where should we have our Souta-chan sit?
"Chan"?!
Let's see...
How about...
There's an open seat right there.
The seat right behind Nanami-chan.
H-Hi there.
There's no doubt about it.
This is the same man.
That weird guy from this morning.
Hey there, Hotate-kun.
It's Hatate.
Hatate-kun, nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you, too.
Stare.
Anyway, see you around.
Hotate— I mean, Hatate.
If you need something, just let me know.
Also if you want to know about any of the girls, I've got your back.
All the ladies like me, so I don't think I'll be needing your help.
But no one likes me...
I'll let you be my servant. Be grateful.
I'm sorry.
I'm quite the sadist.
Two sadists won't get along!
Want to join us in our quest to become the number one high school baseball team?
Sorry, I like soccer.
Wait a second! Hotate Souta!
It's Hatate Souta.
You shall give me a moment of your time.
You see, I can't stand not solving any mystery that catches my eye.
Now you shall tell me everything!
Huh? T-Tell you what?
Don't play dumb.
I can see it glistening in front of me.
Glistening?
Like fresh fish or something?
You keep looking above people's heads—
right here—and then making some sort of decision based on that, aren't you?!
Wh-What are you going on about?
You looked again!
You can't fool my eyes!
I can tell you keep worrying about
whatever's above my head!
That truck from this morning.
I know you haven't forgotten.
You were doing something strange.
I know that's why all of that happened.
I don't know what it was, but I'm certain you did something.
You see something, don't you?!
So you were at that intersection...
Yeah, I saw something.
There was this fly—
Don't try to fool me with that rubbish!
Now tell me what you did.
Do you know about "flags"?
Flags?
I can actually see them.
Y-You can see them?
These flags, or whatever.
Not just see them.
I instinctively know what I have to do to destroy those flags,
as well.
That's why I...
That business deal is never going to go through.
I destroyed the "death flag" that was waving above his head.
So did you do the same thing in the classroom, then?
With that guy who was talking about helping you with girls...
I shattered his "friendship flag."
And that girl who was coming on to you?
That was her "romance flag."
That's funny.
That's ridiculous.
My stomach hurts.
Give those bad gags of yours a rest.
I understand the death flag,
but why destroy those friendship and romance flags?
Are you trying to be a hero, who doesn't use his powers for his own good?
Everything you said was just a bad joke, correct?
I don't mind if you laugh at me.
I didn't tell you because I wanted you to believe me.
Misfortune comes to people who get too close to me.
I don't want to
see people get hurt any longer.
I need to be alone.
Alone...
Anyway,
don't involve yourself with me anymore.
It shouldn't matter to you if I'm a loner or not.
Don't talk about being alone so trivially!
In the end, you're just rejecting anyone who approaches you.
Have you heard about the Premium Ambriel disaster?
The luxury liner that sank the other day? What of it?
All of the passengers are missing, except one.
Only a single person was rescued.
The truth behind the Premium Ambriel
Hatate Souta: the lone survivor
That was me.
What of it?!
I'm trying to tell you—
Enough of your double-talk!
My eyes! My eyes!
I've had enough of those eyes of yours.
What are you doing?!
I've had enough of your obsession with your own misfortune.
I'm not trying to—
Most importantly,
I've had enough of you making me remember things I don't want to remember.
Misfortune comes to people who get too close to you?
Enough of your talk about being alone.
How about taking a look?
Is there a "flag" above my head, like the ones you've mentioned?
How about it?!
N-No...
Indeed.
Of course there isn't anything.
I don't feel any love or friendship towards you in the slightest.
And as such, I shouldn't have any of those flags of yours.
Even I did, that overly self-defeating
attitude of yours would destroy it in an instant.
If I don't like something about you, I'm going to tell you,
and when I want to yell at you, I'm going to yell.
You should just do the same to me.
In short...
Just stop looking so depressed in front of me...
You're a nice person.
Thanks.
Nanami Knight Bladefield.
I hate being called by my last name. Use my first name.
You add "-san" or "-chan," and you're dead.
Right, Nanami.
You can call me "Souta."
By all means.
Hatagaya Academy High School
Hatate Souta-kun.
H-Hi there.
A friendship flag, huh?
Wh-Who might you be?
My name is Mahougasawa Akane.
It's Mahougasawa Akane.
Maho...
So, Mahougasawa-san, right?
Akane's fine.
Mahougasawa...
Akane's fine.
Do you need something, Akane?
It's the first time a boy's said my name without an honorific!
Does she have a flag?
Yeah.
Could I eat lunch with you?
No.
He said no!
Hey! You broke her flag, didn't you?
I wasn't really thinking...
I won't bug you at all, so we can eat together, right?
You didn't break her flag?
That can't be...
It's back!
The flag's there again.
Hm?
Can I eat with you?
No, I really don't think so.
I can't?
Well, I'll just start eating until you really think I need to go.
That's fine, right? Right?
I don't know if I want to eat with a girl...
I can see that. I'm sorry.
Sigh.
Then I'll just wait until you finish eating, Souta-kun!
Would that be all right?
Knock yourself out...
Yay! Great!
She shattered your flag instead?
Lunch, lunch! I'm so happy!
Time to eat.
Who is this girl, anyway?
You don't know?
You haven't heard of the Mahougasawa Group?
She's the heir to the owner of the whole group.
I see. So one of those super-rich girls, then.
Not at all. Not at all.
I mean Nanami-chan's a princess.
She's the 13th princess of the Principality of Bladefield.
I might be a princess,
but I'm the princess of a small backwater country in Europe.
We've got 10 princes and
14 princesses in a small castle, so we don't really get along.
That's why I got sent to this island nation in the first place.
We're a poor principality,
so it's strange I'm studying overseas here.
Sorry, I don't have any money...
I have lots of money.
I don't need your money!
That's right. There's something more important than money.
It's our friendship, sparkling like a gem.
From today forth, the three of us will
be bound by friendship, a bond strong than diamond.
All you did is eat your lunch!
That's right.
So her flag comes back?
Yes,
and extremely quick at that. She's a toughie.
I see.
"Why," is the question.
Well, she doesn't brag about being part of the famous Mahougasawa Group,
she's got this kind, lovable atmosphere about her,
and is always surrounded by friends.
In short,
she has everything you don't.
I don't know if that has anything to do with those flags you speak of.
Why is someone like that trying to get close to me?
Don't know.
Try asking her.
Wait up!
Hm?
Don't leave me behind!
Let's all go home together.
Hey...
Why are you trying to get close to me?
Well, I couldn't just leave a dog sitting there getting pelted by rain
or a cat pitiably crying out for help...
So basically a pet?!
I see.
You're basically being charitable to all of the dogs and cats out there
since you have so much money.
Th-That's not it...
That's not it! That's not it!
I feel like you're screaming out for help more than any cat or dog!
So worse than a pet?!
Well, given how gloom and doom you are,
you need a friend like this.
Souta-kun, you'll be my friend, won't you?!
Since we're friends,
can I go to your house, like friends do?!
I, uh...
Oh, yeah. My house is a complete mess.
Then, I'll clean!
I'm a neat-freak, although I may not look it.
Uh huh!
Do as you like.
It's okay for me to like you?!
Not what I meant!
Cleaning!
Why is this happening?!
Why are you bringing me along?
You're a friend, too.
We're all going together.
Right. So where is this "Quest Dorm" place, anyway?
The station after the Hatsudai school station.
The next station over is 10 kilometers away, right?
Hatagaya Academy is too big.
I know the place is large,
but I never would have thought this was part of the school.
A farming village?
We're almost there.
Here we are.
It's abandoned!
I told you two it was a mess.
Danger
It's so dangerous, the sign's crooked.
It's so dangerous, there're holes in the stairway.
The holes are what make it dangerous.
I wouldn't be surprised if the
Quest Dorm
floor on the second level collapsed at any time.
This here's my room.
It doesn't look much better in here.
I don't have anywhere else to go.
I'm just happy I have a place to stay.
I can't ask for much.
It's the first time I've been to a friend's house
and been in a guy's room!
That's an overstatement.
You have lots of friends, don't you?
That's true...
Hm?
I've wanted to be your friend for a while now, too!
Wh-Why me?!
Well, I couldn't just leave a dog sitting there getting pelted by rain
or a cat pitiably crying out for help...
So I'm basically a pet, too?!
It's nice to see you laugh, Souta-kun!
I want you to laugh forever.
I-I'm going to hit the restroom.
I wanted to see him laugh some more.
So what do you like so much about Souta, Akane?
I have no clue.
I can't stand not solving any
mystery that catches my eye.
The first time I saw Souta-kun,
it felt like someone grabbed my heart.
I wanted to do something for him.
So love at first sight?
Love at first sight?
Not that. Not at all.
This story's from when I was a kid.
Since I was the granddaughter of the head of the Mahougasawa Group,
I didn't really have any friends.
They sent me to a library to expand my knowledge,
and that was the first time I met a friend my age, who felt like an equal.
So exchanging the things we cared about was just something
we did to show our feelings for each other.
But to the adults,
the things we shared had very different values.
Our "equal" relationship was shattered,
and a wall went up that
divided us into different worlds.
The Group called her
"pitiable" and looked down on her.
I couldn't save her.
I couldn't save that "pitiable girl."
And so I ran into Souta-kun,
and thought to myself, "I can save someone this time,
and if I could pull that off, then I could, in turn,
somehow make up for being pitiable myself so long ago."
That's why these selfish desires of mine aren't love.
I can't let them be love.
I don't really see a problem.
You two are alike in a way.
Huh?
Souta said something similar.
That people would meet misfortune if they got too close to him, or something.
What caused you two to think like that may have been different,
but if you both aren't trying to make yourselves happy,
and are trying to make each other happy instead,
I think you both will
end up happy in the end.
Nanami-chan, you're a poet!
I take that back!
It was a poem! A poem!
I take it all back!
It was a wonderful poem!
Stop saying poem already!
Nanami, you're so wonderful!
What's going on here?
Danger
I had fun today.
Can I come over again?
No.
He said "no" again!
That's enough. Let's go home.
Okay.
Oh, no!
I left something in Souta-kun's room.
I'm going to go get it.
I guess I'll wait.
Make sure you don't fall.
That's a...
What's wrong?
A death flag just appeared above Akane's head.
What?
Why isn't it breaking?
I didn't see anything that would bring this on...
Which means...
Nanami,
tell me anything you can.
Do you have any idea what could cause this?
What did you talk to Akane about?!
What? You talked about her past?
What? Is that bad?
When you talk about the past,
it creates death flags that are far worse than normal ones.
Damn it!
Souta!
What do I need to destroy this flag?
Friendship? Love? Memories?
Oh, Souta-kun, I found it.
Akane!
Wake up, Akane!
Souta-kun...
I'm sorry.
I destroyed your house...
I'll call an ambulance right now.
The flag's getting stronger.
Did that girl
hate me so much I fell down here?
No, don't be silly.
I'm sure she wanted to be friends with you again.
It's not shattering...
I'm sure you're keeping that safe until you can see her again.
It's not shattering!
You're going to see her again, and become friends with her again.
It's not shattering. Why isn't it shattering?!
This happened to you because you weren't keeping it safe.
Souta-kun,
you shouldn't be alone.
You should give people hope,
just like you did for me.
I want you to surround yourself
by a lot more people...
and do the same for all of them.
No, this isn't working! It won't shatter!
I understand...
I'll do that once you recover from this.
Wait...
It this a romance flag?
I see.
If I can't shatter that one, I'll just make another stand in its place!
A flag of life that will overpower the other one.
Don't hate me for this, Akane.
What are you doing?!
Danger
Ouch...
This still hurts.
Complete
A "conquest complete" flag, huh?
Roar! Gawo!
That was nerve-wracking,
but I'm sure the next episode will have me back to living my old, peaceful life.
Yeah, but you just had that flag appear.
Speaking of which, is there anyone else
living in the Quest Dorm with you?
Who else besides me would choose to live there?
We'll be taking one more flag.
It'll be just like this next time.
Roar! Gawo!
Episode 2
Girls are in the Dorm. But I can't say it yet. Wait until tomorrow.