Then can you and I...
grow up together?
Ah!
The first sunrise of the year,
but we can't see a thing!
We stayed up all night!
Sorry, Yana.
My plan backfired.
Huh?
Oh, is that it?
Yes, behind the building.
Isn't it just when the sun comes into sight for the first time?
I'm pretty sure it's the moment the sun hits the horizon.
Mizutani-san, you're being a little too technical there.
But you have to lay down some ground rules
to figure out if you saw the first sunrise or not...
Hey! There it is!
Let's just say that the first sunrise is when it pops up there.
It's not like we can see the horizon from here.
Why does this feel like a big, unsatisfying cop-out?
Shizuku, don't be so picky.
This counts as a first sunrise.
A building sunrise.
You know, I think this is the first sunrise I've ever seen, period.
What? Really?
I usually catch this every year.
Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen one before, either.
Really?
I think this is my first time.
I guess a lot of people haven't seen sunrises before.
Oh, I bet Natsume-san hasn't seen one before.
I guess I'm too old to celebrate now.
I didn't know the sun was so big.
Yeah.
Shizuku.
Hmm?
This is fun.
Oh?
Everything's fun when I'm with you.
I hope we can all do this again next year!
Spring is Near
The year ended with a bang,
and things were finally quieting down again.
National Mock Exam
My father and brother were visiting my grandmother,
so I had the perfect environment for studying.
But...
I need some peace of mind.
I want proof.
I want you!
That's not happening!
I haven't seen Haru since New Year's.
I would be lying if I said that I wasn't thinking about him.
I wonder what Haru's doing right now?
Shizuku!
Am I hearing things?
Shizuku!
Say something if you're here!
What's up, Haru?
Where is he?!
Huh?
I'm looking for him!
For who?
Did you see him?
Huh?
He ran off when I looked away.
Um, Haru? Can you calm down and explain...
Uh, I want to keep this a secret.
Huh?
Man, this is frustrating!
Haru, what happened?
Shizuku, sorry.
I don't have time to talk to you right now.
Huh?
Bye.
You'll get fat if you keep eating mochi.
Why is he in such a rush?
Natsume!
Wh-What is it?
Why are you dressed like that, Haru-kun?
H-Have you seen him?!
Huh?
I can't find him anywhere!
I'm looking for him!
Wh-What do you mean?
You don't understand?!
Yes.
You don't understand?!
I don't understand!
It should be obvious right away!
I have no idea what you mean!
Sorry, Natsume.
I don't have time to talk to you right now!
Anyway, call me if you find him!
And you always have a bunch of typos on your blog!
Hmm?
A net?
So?
I can't tell you any details.
But call me if you find him!
Bye!
Make sure you handle your bat the right way!
Was that a dirty joke?
Ah.
Incoming Call Sasayan
Sasayan-kun?
Huh? Mizutani-san?
Why?
Haru left his phone when he stopped by earlier.
Do you need something?
Yoshida dropped by our school just now.
He was acting strange, so I wanted to ask what was wrong.
I couldn't tell what was wrong.
It seemed like he was looking for something.
I'm pretty sure it's only a big deal to him.
It probably isn't anything important.
I hope you're right.
Practice just ended,
so I was going to drop off the goggles that he forgot.
What are you going to do?
Yamaguchi General Hospital
Wow!
You just took another step to adulthood!
A scar is a man's badge!
Why are you making such a fuss over appendicitis?
I was kinda worried when you started
foaming at the mouth and keeled over.
Time for your check-up.
See ya, Joji.
Take care.
What?
Hello.
Oh, you're leaving already?
You want to come with us?
My business here is done.
You want to go outside?
Hey, hey!
Did you shave him? Did you shave him?
Don't be such a wimp, Joji.
What?
Hello...
I'm coming in...
Haru, I'm heading out. I'll be back tonight. Find yourself something to eat for dinner.
Natsume-san.
Oh, Mitty. Why are you here?
I was just dropping off Haru's phone, since he forgot it.
What about you?
I also ran into Haru-kun earlier...
He seems to be looking for something.
I was worried because Haru-kun was making
even less sense than usual.
Where's Mi-chan-san?
I-It looks like he went out.
Oh.
But the door was unlocked?
Yes.
Talk about careless...
Are you going to wait around?
Huh?
Oh, I guess...
I don't have anything else I need to do.
In that case, can you give this to Haru when he comes back?
What? You're leaving already?
I was in the middle of studying.
I want to finish this problem set today.
We're on break right now.
You should give it to him yourself.
I don't know when he'll be back, so I'd be wasting my time.
Right, and I'm a loser with nothing else to do.
I can take it then.
Bye.
See you later.
Is something wrong?
Did something happen?
Huh? Wh-What?
Um, why do you ask?
No reason.
If nothing happened, forget I said anything.
I-I don't think anything unusual happened.
I see.
Does she have a fever?
Isn't it bad that Joji got appendicitis?
Why?
We spend so much time with him.
Ah!
Actually, my stomach's starting to hurt!
Seriously?!
You guys are sorely mistaken.
Huh?
Dammit!
Can't find him!
What are you doing, Haru?
Oh, it's you guys!
I just saw a wild boar, so be careful!
Bye!
Yeah, you be careful, too...
Seriously, what does she see in him?
Hello?
Huh? Natsume-san?
Why?
Mitty came by to give Haru-kun his phone,
but she left it with me and went home.
Huh? What do you mean?
I don't understand what's going...
Ah.
So you're here, too.
Too? Did you come here because...
Yep, Yoshida dropped by during practice.
He seemed pretty upset.
H-Hello...
H-Hi...
So Yoshida also came to see you.
I wonder what's up.
He seemed to be looking for something.
I thought he was only interested in Mitty.
Mitty went home because she wanted to study.
Hey, can we buy juice here?
You can probably use the vending machine.
Can we play a few rounds?
What?
I'm pretty sure we shouldn't turn anything on.
Do you even know where the switch is?
I found a rooster. Yuu
Oh, hello? Yuu-chan?
About that rooster...
Oh, really...
Does this rooster have a name?
What? Nagoya?
That's a funny name.
He enjoys being with me.
I failed...
Er, sorry.
I think I'm lost, again.
The railroad crossing, right?
I'm supposed to turn left after passing the railroad crossing, right?
Huh?
Oh.
Good evening, Yuu-chan-san.
See ya, Sasayan.
We're heading home.
Yeah, see ya.
We'll wait for Yoshida a little longer.
Yeah, he never came back.
That blind date this morning was...
That hurt!
S-Sorry!
Oh, the place is closed.
Hold on. What are you guys doing?
Oh, hey. It's Sasayan.
Which means...
Bingo! Natsume-chan!
Wh-Why are you here?!
Why are we here?
That idiot Haru dropped these,
so we came to drop them off.
In other words, Yoshida is still running around looking for Nagoya.
How did Haru look?
He was all wet and dirty.
You couldn't tell that he was looking for a rooster.
Where is Haru-kun right now?
He's probably gone somewhere beyond human comprehension.
He went back into the wild.
What do we do next?
We need to find Haru-kun and tell him that Nagoya's back.
He's probably worried.
But where do we look?
Don't mind me. Please carry on.
He's probably down by the river.
Huh?
He was wet and carrying a net...
And when he dropped by,
I could see grass on him that only grows by the river.
Why would he be there?
That I don't know.
Well, good luck.
Yamaken, you're leaving?
I'm not going to look for Haru.
Bye.
True.
I guess we're leaving, too.
Hmph! What's this?
Haru-kun's friends don't care about him at all!
Fine!
We'll look for him by ourselves!
Right, Mitty?
I'm also leaving then.
Mi-Mitty?
Wait. You're going to look for him, Natsume-chan?
O-Of course!
Even if I'm the last one standing!
See ya, Yamaken.
You should learn to be compassionate sometimes!
Bye.
Then I'll see you at our next class, Yamaken-kun.
Yeah.
Hey...
Well,
I'm going this way.
Damn.
How did you end up here?
Don't ask me.
Stuff happened.
Oh, Yamaken-kun.
The main street is over there.
If you're lost, you should say something.
I'm not lost!
Come on.
The main street's not that far away.
Weren't you listening?
Hey, I can take the rice for you.
Not necessary. This is all I'm carrying.
Okay.
Hey! Haru-kun!
Where are you?!
Come out!
We can't find him...
Are those guys even looking?
It's completely dark now.
Natsume-san, you should head back to the batting center.
Yoshida might have gone back.
The owner might be back, too.
It's best if someone stays there.
No, no, no. Let's keep going.
We left Haru-kun his phone and a letter,
so he'll call us if he goes back.
Oh, really?
Are you sure?
I'm sure.
I want to see him,
but I'm too scared.
In that case, I'm walking all the way upstream!
See you again!
Natsume-chan, we're with you all the way!
If you get tired, I'll carry you!
Huh?
Joji?
What the hell?!
Joji's wound opened up!
Joji?!
Joji!
Haru.
Shizuku!
What are you doing?
I could ask you the same thing.
We found Nagoya.
He's back at the batting center.
Nagoya?
Nagoya was missing?
When did that happen?
You weren't looking for Nagoya?
No, I'm looking for a bug.
A glowing bug.
A glowing bug?
I spotted it this morning, but it ran away.
I looked everywhere, but I still can't find it.
A glowing bug in the middle of winter?
Are you sure you weren't seeing things?
It was real.
It was glowing like a firefly.
There aren't any fireflies in the winter.
It was really pretty.
So I wanted to watch it with you.
Since it'd probably be prettier if you were with me.
Everybody's worried about you.
Let's go back.
Uh-huh.
That looks heavy.
Oh, the bag of rice.
You look surprisingly good in that.
Why does it seem like he's always having fun,
yet, at times, he can feel so distant?
I can't catch up to him yet.
I don't have the ability to handle his innocence or sincerity.
Shizuku, look!
Huh?
I did some research afterwards
and discovered that there was a southern
species of firefly which was active during winter.
I have no idea if what we saw was actually an insect,
but the light soared in a beautiful arc
before disappearing in the night sky.
There's so much I still need to talk about.
Her.
Him.
Her.
Special Delivery
Him.
Will the day ever come
when I can look at the boy beside me
with honest and sincere affection?
For now, I can say that the light was very pretty,
and it was probably much, much prettier
because I wasn't alone.
I'm home!
It started to snow.
Hello there. Good evening.
Uh...
Who are you?