"Ebisu Shrine"
Hey, over here! Throw it here!
S-Stop!
Here it goes!
Give it back! Please!
Over here!
You're so irritating to look at! Always scared of something!
Come get it if you want it back!
A dream...
I'd rather be alone than risk getting hurt by someone...
That's how I protected myself...
...since I was very little.
"Ebisu Shrine"
"Episode 3: Not Alone"
That was such a long time ago...
...and I'm not in grade school anymore.
This way!
Wait up! Wait!
Something's wrong!
Someone...
Um... are you okay?
Um...
Look.
Look... under the eaves?
Yes.
That's my cat. She won't come out...
We're on our way to the vet, but she really hates the hospital...
Come on, Sakura, come out!
I know!
Can you wait one moment?
You must be scared. I understand.
But it's okay. You can come out.
Gotcha!
Thank you so much! You saved me.
Please, it's nothing...
Are you some sort of cat master?
Huh...? Cat master...?
She's so shy and usually never lets anyone other than me touch her.
Not even my little sister.
Really?
Earlier she ran under there because she got startled by the kids' voices.
Oh... those kids.
Shy... Is that what we have in common?
Hmm?
Oh, it's nothing...
But...
But?
I, um... I do understand how it could be scary to approach someone you don't know.
What about me?
Do I scare you, too?
N-Not at all! You actually make me feel safe...
Good! You do have some things in common with Sakura.
Do you think so...?
I don't know if we're that similar, but...
Cats are warm... She makes me feel happy.
Oh, we have to get to the hospital now.
Oh, me, too...
Are you going somewhere today?
Yes, I'm scheduled to meet some friends.
Oh, sorry I kept you.
No, it was great to talk to you. Thank you for the tea!
Thanks again!
Oh, there she is! Hey, Miki-chan!
Did something happen, Miki?
Sorry to make you wait...
Is everything okay?
Um, well...
Come on, we can talk later.
For now let's go to my house!
Sure, sure.
It's been so long since the last time I visited a friend's house...
I'm a bit tense.
I see, so that's what happened.
Yeah, and that's why I was late...
Good job, Miki-chan! Don't worry about it, you helped someone.
Yeah, compared to Aya, who just overslept and came late.
I didn't know cats could be so stubborn, not responding to their owner.
Cats can be really timid.
Timid...
What's wrong, Miki?
Oh... it's nothing.
My cat won't let me touch her either!
Your cat?
Yeah.
Anyway, I wonder where my sister is.
I want to play games with four players!
Oh, she's finally back!
A cat...?
That's our cat, Sakura. Sakura!
Always so cold.
Oh... so...
Hey, Aya, I'm home.
Hey! I brought friends.
Oh, aren't you...?
It's quite a miracle how Miki-chan met Hana, isn't it?
I was surprised. Thanks again for the help.
Let me reintroduce myself. I'm Hana Takayashiki, Aya's elder sister.
Nice to meet you.
I'm Miki Takekasa. Nice to meet you, too.
I'm so glad to see you again, Miki-chan.
Me, too...!
Is she really your sister? She's super pretty!
What does that mean...?
And you are...?
Nice to meet you. I'm Midori Ono, Aya-san's classmate.
Thank you for inviting us to your house today.
Oh, how polite. Nice to meet you, too, Midori-chan.
Yes, thank you!
And this is my best friend...
I'm Maki! Nice to meet ya.
I thought, the more the merrier, so I had her come over.
I-I see.
She has some interesting friends.
Yeah...
Oh, no...
She's not the type I'm comfortable around...
I'm Aya! Nice to meet you, Maki-chan!
So you're Hana's sister, huh?
I can tell. You're not scared of me one bit.
Hana helps me out with stuff all the time. Let me know if you need a hand!
Okay!
Um, where did you two meet...?
I met her at work!
There was a drunk customer harassing me and she saved me.
It was super awesome!
You have to keep an eye on Hana. There's always a creep trying to get near her!
They run away when I'm with Maki-chan.
That's right, I totally--
Hey, Hana!
Jeez...
I guess she could be a nice person after all...?
I wonder if Sakura will come out.
Come here, Sakura-chan!
Oh. Guess not.
It's not just you. She won't even let me touch her.
She didn't have a problem with Miki though, and it was her first time.
Midori-chan, you're mean!
But seriously, she was on Miki-chan's lap and purring.
Miki-chan, what kind of technique did you pull off?!
Huh? Technique?
She's a cat master.
Hey, have I seen you before somewhere?
Miki-chan, was it? Which middle school did you go to?
Um... Kamogawa-West.
Seriously?! Same as me! I'm from Kamo-West, too!
So you're a kohai, huh? Then I guess I must have seen you at school.
But they're still first-year high school students.
You couldn't have gone to school at the same time.
What? Hmm... then where...?
I know I've met her before somewhere...
A long time ago... somewhere...
Oh, well!
Anyway, wanna get on it?
Maki-chan is good at games, too.
That's right! I'm unbeatable at fighting games!
Fighting...?
Fighting video games!
No, Maki-chan, we're playing board games today.
Board games...?
Midori-chan, you're up!
Yes, yes. To be exact, since there's no board, it's not a "board game," but...
"Incan Gold: New Edition" "Race to gather the treasure in the ruins" Incan Gold? What's this?
"Incan Gold: New Edition" "Race to gather the treasure in the ruins" It's a game from overseas.
Lately Aya's been raving on and on about how much fun board games are,
so I got interested.
This is a game...? Never seen this before.
You're behind the times, Maki-chan! They make tons of them in Germany!
Really now, Aya-chan? Well then, can you describe what kind of game this is?
Well, this is... Tell her, Midori-chan!
Yes, yes.
In this game, Incan Gold, players become explorers who explore a ruin.
The player to bring back the most jewels wins.
The rules are simple. First, flip the top card of the deck faceup.
If you get one of these treasure cards,
it means you found the number of jewels on the card.
In this case, 11.
The jewels found are split evenly amongst all of the players.
In this case, there are five of us, so we each get two.
The remainder, one jewel, is left on this card.
I see. So we collect these.
We continue on, flipping cards and getting jewels, but...
Snakes?!
This is a hazard card.
Half of the 30-card deck, 15 cards, are actually these hazard cards.
Half?!
And if you draw that card...?
The first card is a "premonition," so nothing happens. But...
...if a second copy of the same type of hazard appears, the exploration fails.
The explorers must escape from the ruins.
When that happens, you lose all of the treasure that you found.
What?!
Oh.
Hm.
The types of hazards are snakes, spiders, mummies, flame trap, and falling rocks.
There are three copies of these five types, totaling 15 cards.
In order to keep the jewels that you found, you must decide after every card
whether you want to continue on, or go home early.
Decide? You mean, just say out loud?
No, you use this explorer token for that.
If you want to go home, hold the token in your hand.
To keep going, keep your hand empty. Then, everyone reveals it at the same time.
"Go home" "Move on"
I see. I get it, glasses girl!
You can take the risk for more treasure, or get scared and run for your life...
In essence, this game is...
...a chicken race!
That's correct, this is a chicken race.
The further you go, the more dangerous it gets,
but with fewer explorers remaining, your share of the jewels increases.
When you decide to go back, you just have to be careful.
Hmm?
That's because the jewels you found aren't yours at that point.
What does that mean?
Only by going back do you get proper ownership of the jewels,
allowing you to put them in your tent as your earnings.
I see. There's still a possibility that you'd lose the jewels you found.
Right. So in order to get points to win the game, you must go home or keep winning.
I see.
Also, when you go home, you get to take the jewels you left on the cards.
Oh, the person who goes home gets to keep those!
One game consists of five rounds. The person to gather the most points wins.
By the way, there are three types of jewels.
"Gold - $10" "Obsidian - $5" "Turquoise - $1"
Blue is turquoise, the cheapest one, which is only worth one dollar.
"Gold - $10" "Obsidian - $5" "Turquoise - $1" Obsidian is worth five dollars and gold is worth ten dollars.
Do you understand the rules?
Yes...
Mostly, I guess...
What? Are you unsure, Hana?
Well, Hana can pair up with Maki-chan.
Oh, is that allowed? Maki-chan, would that be okay?
Sure, why not? Anyway...
...a chicken race, eh?
Time to get that blood boiling again...
Um, what do you mean...?
Hmm... one more mummy or flame and we'll be in trouble...
Moving on! Let's go!
So Miki's the only one who's going back.
What? Already?
Yes... sorry...
Don't get too greedy, you'll get another mummy.
Don't worry! Go, go, go!
So there's three of us left. Flipping the next card...
Yeah! Five dollar obsidian, here we go!
See? It's a lot harder to die than you'd think.
Hey, Miki-chan. You used to be bullied a lot, right?
I can tell. Bullies have an instinct--they can sense people who are weaker than them.
With that attitude of yours, you're practically asking to get bullied.
You're so irritating to look at! Always scared of something!
I think... there was one girl in that group
I didn't know the name of who was older than the others...
Could it be...?!
Maki-chan!
I won't allow anyone to bully Miki-chan!
She's right!
I will protect Miki!
Midori-chan... Aya-chan...
Oh, what good friendships.
Let's see if you have the courage to match it!
Let's go!
Huh?
See ya!
Oh, so you're leaving, Maki-chan? You're not as brave as we thought.
Right, Midori-chan?
Y-Yes. The two of us can split all of the riches from here on!
Open!
No! The second mummy card!
Got you both! I guess we win this round!
That's great, Maki-chan!
It's experience! I've never lost these types of game before!
Aya-chan... Midori-chan... Hold it together...
I'll beat you next time!
All right! We're close to the finish line!
I'll finish far ahead of you all as number one!
I'll drop out here.
What?! Giant spiders?!
That's four types! Too many hazards!
No whining, make your call! Let's go!
Aya-chan, dropping out here, too, huh?
I can't do it!
So the only ones left are, me and...
M-Me...
Well, now, didn't expect you to be here.
Not going home yet?
That's... um...
I never thought I'd go head to head with you.
Head to head with her...
Miki...
Here we go. Open!
Falling rocks!
Now all five types of hazard cards are open!
From here on, any hazard card means death!
Miki-chan!
If you fail here, you'll finish dead last.
Now is a good time to pull out.
If you pull out now, you won't be able to beat me, but you'd still be second place.
That's not bad, is it?
I know...
Besides, everyone knows I'm a coward.
Even if I left now, nobody would think less of me...
Huh...? Warmth...?
Sakura, have you come to cheer me up...?
Miki...
Miki-chan.
Are you ready? Here it comes.
Let's go!
What?!
Miki!
Miki-chan?!
Huh, surprising. But it's totally crazy!
That's just suicide.
This is my courage... that I got from everyone's kindness...!
If any hazard card comes out, it's over...
Oh... it hurts to even watch...!
Miki-chan...
Jewels!
--Awesome, Miki-chan! --Great!
I did it!
Miki, that's 15 jewels for you alone!
Alone...
--You did it! You did it!
--No... --You did it! You did it!
--No. --Miki! You're awesome!
I was able to move ahead because I wasn't alone.
Wow! Huge upset!
Who would've imagined, me, Kyoko Maki, losing in a game of courage?!
Hey, you got me. I'm sorry for saying those things earlier.
Forgive me!
Oh, no, please, don't do that...
Kyoko...? Is your first name Kyoko, Maki-san?
Yeah, Maki is my last name.
But call me Maki-chan! I don't like my first name, Kyoko.
Why? It's such a nice name!
Maki... Kyoko...
Kyoko... Kyoko...
Kyoko!
"Ebisu Shrine"
Give it back! Please...
Here it goes!
--Hey, hey!
--Over here! --Hey, hey!
--Over here!
Huh...?
What... What are you doing?! Oh...
You're in middle school now, but still picking on little girls?
That's shameful.
K-Kyoko!
It's Mad Dog Kyoko!
Get out of my face, losers!
Mad Dog Kyoko...
Wait, Miki-chan, how do you know my old nickname?!
Did we meet somewhere...?
Yes.
--Where, though? I don't remember at all...
--Painful memories are like caves. It's dark and scary and I couldn't get near it. --Where, though? I don't remember at all...
--Painful memories are like caves. It's dark and scary and I couldn't get near it. --Hey, Maki-chan, how did you get to be called Mad Dog?
But if I find the courage to push forward,
sometimes, I can find precious memories, like jewels in my past.
"Midori's Dream"
Facing off against the student council vice-chair in a game.
"Midori's Dream" If you lose, you have to give up on me.
"Midori's Dream" I have a dream I want to fulfill.