01x07 - Friends

[bunniefuu]

Katagiri High School

How'd you do on the mock exam?

Not too bad.

Third-year high schoolers have fun,

but we spend a lot of time studying.

When we get home, we fight through

reviewing our lessons and old exam problems.

In our spare time, we study vocabulary.

My singular reprieve

from the daily grind is

The super popular KONOHA

will be adapted into an anime!

reading manga!

It's the highlight of my week.

He's a double agent?!

Wait, how?! I never saw that coming!

I thought he was just going

through his daily routine!

A friendship betrayed

What will happen to Konoha?!

To be continued next week

No kidding!

Next week can't come soon enough!

You're sure in high spirits, Sakura.

I'm heading home!

The next Konoha! The next Konoha!

The next Konoha! The next Konoha!

The next Konoha! The next Konoha!

Empty

E-Excuse me

Did you get the new Weekly Shinobi today?

Huh? Oh.

We just sold out of it.

Should we put one on backorder?

No, thank you.

The convenience stores always

sell out on release day,

so I came straight to the book store.

The next Konoha

I can't take it!

AAAAAGH

After thinking about Konoha all day,

the shock might just k*ll me!

Huh?

Kono-san?

Y-Yanagi-kun!

What is it?

He saw me being weird.

Are you looking for the new Weekly Shinobi?

H-How did you know?

You were talking about "the next Konoha."

How embarrassing

Um, you can have this if you'd like.

I haven't opened it yet.

But

Oh, don't worry about me.

I just came in to k*ll time

until my bus comes.

It was the last copy,

so I felt compelled to buy it.

The station I'm going to has

lots of books, so I'll be fine.

My bus will be here soon, so I've gotta go.

Th-Thank you!

I'll pay you back tomorrow.

Yanagi-kun, um

You're

just like Kaoru-san!

SPARKLE

Mysterious

but helpful

Kind to friends

and foes alike

Kaoru-san

A character from Skull Ninja Konoha. Nin-nin!

Er, thank you

He's weirded out!

I compared him to one of

the characters and he froze!

Why did I have to go and say that?

A mysterious woman

Kaoru-san's a female character!

Ya need some help?

Is she saying I'm effeminate?

I'd better be careful.

SHOCK

I weirded him out.

He's definitely weirded out.

Oh.

I guess Yanagi-kun reads manga, too.

Kono-san!

Oh, Yanagi-kun.

Are you going to the bookstore?

Yes.

It's Weekly Shinobi release day!

I just can't put down Konoha lately!

I hear that.

I usually wait for the full-book publication,

but once I start reading the weekly

magazines, I can't stop.

Exactly!

They sure don't look like a couple.

I haven't heard that in a while!

SNAP

I've been hanging around with

Hori's group so long I forgot.

Sh-Should I be about this far?

Did I upset you?

No, it's not like that!

It's, um

If I walk next to you, it'll, um

make the other girls jealous.

Why?

Because you're such a cool guy.

Cool?

Sakura, I got a paper cut!

Think of something fun.

We get to go home early today!

Oh? Yay!

It's gone.

It was just a bug. Nothing to cry about.

I'm not crying

Is it really gone? For real?

You're far cooler!

What? Me?

Wh-What are you saying?

You're obviously much cooler than me.

No, I think I'd want you

there if I got hurt.

What does that mean?

Yanagi-kun's a good guy

but he can be a bit odd.

Paper cut

Moreover, if I had to choose

I'd prefer being c-c-cute over cool.

By the way, I haven't seen you

wear your glasses lately.

Oh, they don't really look good on me.

Besides, I have contacts.

There's no way anything

doesn't look good on you.

Really, I just want a new design.

Maybe I'll go check out frames later.

Yanagi-kun's face is so delicate that

it makes mine stand out even more!

Want to come with, Kono-san?

Huh? Where?

To check out frames.

Frames?

C-Can I really tag along?

If you're busy, don't sweat it.

I-I'm coming!

What a casual invitation.

Who could turn Yanagi-kun down?

I just thought of something.

"Yanagi" and "Sakura" are both kinds of trees.

Er, not that it means anything.

No more!

RUUUUUUUUUUN

Huh? Kono-san, why are you running?

Are you worried they'll be sold out?

Running seemed

the best option

That's a good color.

Everything looks good on him.

You mean it?

Maybe I'll

buy these.

I'm Her

A guy and a girl swap bodies!

She's Me

What book is that?

Oh, I remember this one!

It's really good.

What is it?

Posture, Yoshikawa!

That I'm Her thing.

They made a TV drama out of it.

Really? I didn't see it.

If Hori and Miyamura swapped bodies

What's that supposed to mean, Toru?

Now, now

Whoa!

Is she okay?

Hey!

Someone left their pencil case

in the student council room.

Oh, maybe it's Shu's.

Shu

Did anyone forget a pencil case?

There you go again, Ishikawa!

Man, you're noisy. Pipe down.

The heck?!

Oh, here you are, Sengoku-kun.

That case belongs to a second-year

on next year's student council.

I'm glad we found the owner.

Let's go to a cake buffet later!

We've got cram school first. Jeez

What's with her?

She keeps humming to herself.

Let's just leave her be.

It's 'cause Hori was him,

and then Remi-chan and Kono-san

Knock it off. It's getting old.

I have cooking class next!

Nice. Knock 'em dead.

Oh, yeah!

What is this?!

But if we traded places, what would

I do in the restroom or the bath?

Guys and girls can't go together

What's going on, Yoshikawa?

You can come back now.

What about the restroom?!

The restroom?! What about it?!

If you need to use it, just go.

It's not good to hold it too long.

It's way more complicated than that.

Huh?

Confusion

Library

I'm sure it would feel weird

for you to call me by my first name.

Kyoko-chan.

Shudder

Kyoko-chan!

This is no time for goofing off.

I'll go buy some writing paper.

See ya.

Hori, get some pencil lead, too!

Okay!

Library

I forgot to ask for more red pens!

I didn't think anyone else was here.

Oh, I, um

Sorry.

It's okay.

I got here just as Hori-san was leaving.

This book is cold.

Huh?

It's nothing.

Your hand is just too warm, Yoshikawa-san.

The backs of our hands touched.

Thanks

Yanagi-kun's hand felt so cold

No prob

Hey, did you finish your report?

My hand's cold.

Huh?

My hand's really cold.

What?

Feels pretty warm to me.

SQUEEZE

SQUEEZE

Mine's way colder.

Y-You don't need to grab

and touch it that much!

What?

PRESS

You're such a pain!

What'd you expect me to do?

Y-Y-Yanagi-kun doesn't touch me like this!

So you don't want me doing it?

That's not what I said.

What a pain in the neck!

I don't get you, Yoshikawa.

You're such a headache.

SNAP

Yoshikawa, you are seriously a pain!

More or less

honest

I'm not messing around!

I-I thought you were messing around!

Have you warmed up?

Yeah, but now I'm tired.

It's from writing that report.

Time to go home.

Wanna hold hands?

Not a chance.

I don't get you.

Toru's hands are cold, too.

But when he's with me, they warm up.

Miyamura, are you headed out?

Yeah, I need to stop by the store.

See ya.

Yeah.

Man, it's cold.

Sawada?

For real?

Sawada.

Don't you have any friends?

Why?

You're asking me why?

Well, at least tell me

if you're being bullied.

Okay, you don't need to tell me,

but it looks like those kids on the third

floor threw your scarf out the window.

Walk over to me if I'm right.

Okay.

Hey, what was that? Did you do something?

Who knows?

I didn't say anything.

Did he just mouth "Die, uggos" at us?!

Now I'm pissed! Who does he think he is?!

So you're being bullied, huh?

I just had a different opinion

than everyone else.

Then they suddenly started ignoring me.

That's how things are sometimes.

You don't know how it feels.

You've got tons of friends!

It's not like I went around begging

each of them to be my friend.

Things are bound to get better for you.

You can just ignore those idiots.

And then

When they beg you to be friends with them,

you'll have won.

Wh-What does winning get me?

I figured you wanted to win.

I don't care!

Oh

I accidentally stepped on your scarf.

Hey, ow! Stop!

Sawada-san sure gets along

with the third-years.

She must like talking to them

more than her classmates.

I know what you mean. Every time—

She's looking at us.

Yikes.

I don't care.

It's not that I don't want

to get along with them.

I just don't know how.

It makes being in class uncomfortable.

The wind's so strong!

Oh, Sawada-san!

It's so cold

Sawada-san, come inside. It's cold out here.

What were you doing out there?

Am I weird?

Yeah, pretty much.

But being a little weird is wonderful.

Did something happen?

Not exactly.

And if you're weird, then

What about Remi-chan?

What about Yuki-chan?

Sawada-san, you can have this.

It's stag beetle candy.

It tastes like stag beetles!

You don't have to take it, Sawada-san.

I-I'll take it.

See how popular stag beetles are?

Is popularity really the issue?

D-Do I

get along with third-years too well?

Huh? What's wrong with that?

I don't really have any friends

in my own grade.

So

Ah, that's rough.

There's always a lot of group work.

And girls pick their groups quickly.

Y-Yeah!

That's it. That's exactly it.

Um, Sawada-san, are you

having trouble with your class?

Are you okay?

Th-Things are tough, but I'm still okay!

Yeah?

Yeah.

If you aren't enjoying yourself,

you can come tell us about it.

We're not in your class, so hearing

you out is about all we can do.

Come by anytime!

Thank you!

How about a drone beetle chocolate next?

It tastes like drone beetles!

What?

You don't have to take it, Sawada-san.

I'm not really comfortable in my

class, but I still like school.

ART CLUB

Beginners welcome!

Watercolors, oil paints, sketches

Where should we put this up?

If only we'd reserved some

space on the bulletin board

Yeah.

Shimoda!

Do you know any bulletin

boards that aren't full?

Sure. What about the one

at the main entrance?

The third-years use that one!

They'll get mad at us!

Really?

Recruiting for clubs seems hard.

ART CLUB

Beginners welcome!

I didn't know that.

And afterward

Sawada-san?

You were trying to fix that poster?

They're supposed to be

completely within the frame.

Sengoku-kun, there's a pushpin on the floor.

Yeah, the frame's pretty hard,

so it wouldn't go in deep enough.

A-Actually

That poster is my friends'—

My classmates'—

Um, I mean

It's for a club some people in my class are in.

They said they're having trouble recruiting.

I think they made it big so

it would stand out, so

Maybe it could stay up?

I'm taking it down.

This will be hard without a chair.

Should I get one from the home ec room?

I wonder if it's unlocked.

I'll take it down!

Stand aside, Sengoku!

Hey, you know you can't reach it!

Huh?

Stop moving! You're scaring me!

Passerby Y

They look like a family on their day off.

I can't.

Stay strong, Sengoku.

Pass me the pushpin.

I got it off.

You can put me down.

Okay!

Next stop!

What? Hey, wait. Where are we going?

Put me down! I got the poster off.

You're heavy.

Then hurry up and put me down!

Here we are!

The main entrance.

Hand me the poster. I'll put it up.

Huh?

No matter how big it is, no one's

going to see it in that secluded spot.

Remi, put that one over there.

Right.

And then, look, there's enough space here.

I thought that second-years

couldn't use this bulletin board.

Why not?

Huh? Because the third-years

are always using it.

This is a shared space.

I thought we'd get in trouble if we used it.

Really?!

Then I guess we'll need a poster that says

any grade can use this bulletin board.

All done.

ART CLUB

Beginners welcome!

Watercolors, oil paints, sketches. and sculpting

Come check it out anytime!

See the art room for details

Now every student who comes

through the door will see it.

I hope some people come check it out.

Remiremi-senpai, thank you so much!

Sengoku!

Thanks.

Don't mention it.

Say, Sawada-san, would you like candy?

Not right now.

How about some stag beetle chocolate?

Sawada-san.

I heard you rehung our

recruitment poster. Is that true?

Shimoda said he saw you do it

two days ago after school.

He saw me?!

I-It's not like that. It was put up

where it shouldn't have been,

so I moved it to a suitable place.

And it wasn't really me

A first-year came by to check out the club.

That was all, sure

But we've never had a first-year come before!

When I heard they saw the poster,

I was really surprised.

But it made me really happy.

Thank you, Sawada-san.

I

I hope you get someone to sign up next time!

Yeah.

Oh, and I wanted to ask

Is it true you used the council

president to get around?

N-No! Well, actually, yes.

Friends

So the class president's arms

and legs may as well be your own?

And you're related to that

third-year with piercings?

No!

Konoha!!

Skull Ninja

Konoha

Clang

Gyan

Punished

Konoha dances

yet again tonight

To be continued next week