01x01 - Hajimari no, Natsu no Hi

[bunniefuu]

You're moving?

Yeah. Really far away.

We won't be able to play anymore?

I don't know.

Haruki, we'll always be buddies!

Yeah. Even if we're apart,
we're still pals, Hayato!

I'll see you later.

Yeah. I'll be waiting.

Let's have the transfer
student introduce himself.

Hello, I'm Kirishima Hayato.

OH BOY, WAS I WRONG ABOUT HER

- EPISODE 1 "BEGINNING WITH A SUMMER DAY"

- Himeko, breakfast is almost ready.

Hayato, why didn't you wake me up?!

It's already past seven thirty!

Huh? You've got plenty of time.

Only if I run!

Wait.

This isn't like home.
We live close to school now, right?

Oh, right. I forgot.

Ugh.

Maybe I'll curl my hair.

I know there's a way to do it in seconds.

You should be yourself.

Why not just tell everyone
that we're from the country?

Oh, shut up. First impressions are
what define a transfer student.

My entire school life is on the line.

You sure about that?

Yeah, sure am.

The view just screams "Tokyo!"

I know Haruki's somewhere
in this city too, though.

I wonder how he's doing.

Hello, I'm Kirishima Hayato.

I'm from a place called Tsukinose,

where you can run into monkeys, deer,
and boars on the street.

A real country bumpkin.

Now, for your seat.

The desk next to Nikaido is available.

Here.

Nikaido? That was his name, too.

If he were here, he'd probably hit on her
saying, "hey, we have the same last name"

and then crash and burn.

Nice to meet you, Nikaido-san.

Nice to meet you, Kirishima-kun.

Wait. Why does this
suddenly feel so familiar?

For those of you who haven't
turned in your internship forms,

be sure to get them in this week.
That's all for today.

Hey, Kirishima-kun.

Was that stuff you said
when you introduced yourself true?

How far out in the
boonies were you, anyway?

And then you just up and
moved all the way here?

Yeah. We had to move because my dad
got transferred all of a sudden.

Where I lived before, in the mountains,
only four buses came through each day

and there was more livestock
than there were people.

Honestly, I've never been
around this many people.

It was always chickens and goats instead,
so this is kind of new for me.

Are you for real?

Seriously?

Hilarious.

So, did you have a girlfriend back home?

No way. It was hard enough just
finding people my own age.

How about friends?

I only had one. He was such a great guy.

We'd do stuff like jump from the
bridge into the river together

or climb trees in the mountains that
we couldn't get back down from.

Yeah, more than a friend,

he was kind of like an angry monkey
or some kind of weird creature.

Huh?

Nikaido-san?

Are you okay? Are you hurt?

Oh, I'm just fine! The pencil must
have been defective or something.

But what a way to talk about someone
who was such a close friend.

I only say it because we were so close.

Oh, is that right?

Nikaido-san, is there—

Hey, Kirishima, I wanted
to ask you something else.

Yeah, I'm still wondering
about something, too.

I guess she's in a bad mood.

Is it something I did?

Well, maybe I can just
ask her during lunch.

Nikaido-san, I was—

Excuse me, is Nikaido-san available?

Yes, I'm right here.

Again?

I'm impressed that you're already trying
to put the moves on Nikaido-san, new kid.

I can understand how you feel.

No, I just... and you are?

I'm Mori. Mori Iori.
Nice to meet you, new kid.

Kirishima, I mean.

You can chase after Nikaido if you want,

but she's a real prize, man.

On top of her looks, she's really
sweet and also a good student.

Not to mention that the sports
teams are always fighting over her.

I bet right now she's being begged to
do something for the student council.

All the guys were after
her in middle school too,

but I've never heard of
her falling for anyone.

You'd better not get
your hopes up, Kirishima.

Smirk!

I wasn't even thinking of...

But I get it. She must be something.

She's totally different
from my Nikaido, anyway.

I mean, it goes without saying
that they're the opposite gender.

But after hearing all that,
I'm even more confused than before.

Why is she giving off
such bad vibes toward me?

Who knows?

Here you go. One bun.

Ugh.

Well, at least I was
able to buy something.

Oh, crap! They're gonna run out!

But I should probably start
bringing a box lunch.

I want to enjoy my lunch in peace.

Maybe I can find some
place away from everyone.

Well, this won't work.

Hmm, it isn't really bearing fruit.

Does it need better soil? Or maybe it...

Isn't that zucchini?

Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.

But those yellow flowers
must be zucchini, right?

And those purple flowers are eggplant,

and the white ones are shishito peppers.

I see you've got some corn too.

Huh? Uh, yes. You're absolutely right.

Are they pollinated?

Zucchini won't grow very big if you
don't pollinate the female flower.

You should also trim the extra
flowers from the eggplant

and prune the shishito a bit.

Then they'll grow a lot better.

Wow, y-you sure know a lot.

I helped out on the fields
a bunch back in the country.

Is this for a gardening club or something?

Y-Yes, the gardening club.

But is our garden really that strange?

No, it looks all right to me.

They say that tomatoes were originally
grown as decoration anyway,

and I actually like flowering vegetables.

What do you think you're doing?

Oh, Nikaido-san!

Mitake-san, the fertilizer you requested
was delivered to the club building.

Oh, good! I'll go get it right now.

Thank you very much!

Hitting on girls your first day here?
You've got some nerve.

So is that the kind of girl
you're into, Kirishima-kun?

No, I wasn't...

I wasn't hitting on her.
She just reminded me of someone.

Oh yeah? Who?

Uh...

The sheep at Uncle Gen's place.

The ones he raised to eat the weeds

but then lost his temper at after they
started eating all the vegetables instead?

Right, right.

When I saw that head of shaggy hair
lounging around all those vegetables,

it immediately reminded me of...

Man, talking to her because she
reminded you of Gen-san's sheep?

You're such a jerk, Hayato.

Ouch!

Would you take it easy, Haru...ki?

Oh, there you are, Nikaido-san!

Can I borrow you for a minute?

Sure. How can I help?

Shh!

What?

Is she Haruki?

Hey, I got one! I got a bite too, Hayato!

Yeah, yeah. You don't have to hit me!

Is Nikaido-san actually Haruki?

Or just a little kid?

Hey, Kirishima. Wanna go to Karaoke?

Yeah, yeah. We'll call it your
welcome party and treat you.

Well, I don't really...

Great, then. Let's go!

You can't!

Huh?

Nikaido-san?

Um, well, it's just...

He can't go today.

He asked me to give him a
tour of campus after class.

Isn't that right, Kirishima-kun?

Oh well, another time then.

I sure wish I could get Nikaido-san
to show me around sometime!

Wait. Nikaido-san?

Hey, where are you taking me?

Just come on!

I don't know where we're going,

but pick up the pace!

No kidding.

Jeez, man.

You haven't changed a bit!

NIKAIDO

What's wrong, Hayato?

Nothing at all... Pardon the intrusion.

Make yourself at home.

I'm the only one here anyway,
so you can relax.

Seriously?

Sit anywhere you want.

Here!

Whoa.

You can take 'em off, Hayato. Your socks.

Yeah, I don't know.

So what were you saying about
a monkey creature thing?

Well no, that was...

My bad. My bad.

You know, let's just say
I owe you a favor. Like old times.

You owe me one, huh?

Sure, fine by me.

That sure brings back memories, though.

How many favors have you owed me anyway?

I could say the same thing.

You owed me a bunch too. Right, Haruki?

You're not wrong.

But I mean, Haruki,
this thing you're doing just isn't fair.

Yeah, I've been through a lot.

That's why I'm in camouflage like this.

Camouflage, huh?

- So, like some kind of creature—

- Hayato!

Sorry. I owe you another one.

You just never learn, do you?

Hey, we haven't faced off in a while.

The loser owes one favor.

That'll be an easy favor.

Best of five.

Okay!

- NIKAIDO

- Time sure flew by.

See you later.

Yeah. See you. Also...

Thanks for waiting.

I got a message from Dad.

He said he's gonna go
see Mom tonight again.

Okay.

Would you go get a cell phone already?

I feel like an answering machine.

Yeah, sorry.

So, what do you want for dinner?

Himeko?

Today, I'm in the mood for one
of your decadent hamburg steaks.

You know those take a ton of work.

I'll help you, then. Okay?

Sheesh.

Hey.

Don't worry. She changed
hospitals for a reason, right?

Mm-hmm.

Thank you for the food!

Dig in.

Your sauce always tastes like it
would go so good with a drink!

Himeko, you've never even
had alcohol before.

Well, it's still delicious.

Is it?

I hope I can keep counting on you to cook.

You need to learn too, Himeko.

I can totally handle frozen
and instant dinners!

Oh, right. Did you hear about this?

Hmm?

I just learned this at school today,

but there are no coin-operated
rice mills anywhere near here.

None at all?

And get this. You can walk to the
closest station in only ten minutes.

Then it literally is a close station!

Right?

So how was today?
Did something good happen?

Why do you ask?

Because you've been grinning.

Huh?

Oh. Actually, I ran into Haruki at school.

Huh? No way! That Haru-chan?

And get this, we sit next to each other.

Wow, that's awesome!

So how does Haru-chan look now?

How do I put it...

He hasn't changed a bit.

The same old Haruki.

I even owe him more favors already.

Really? I want to see him too!

I think he's even stronger and
pushier than he used to be.

Like he evolved from a monkey
into a gorilla or something.

What a thing to say.

I hope everything's cool after yesterday.

Good morning.

The flowers are blooming.
Did you pollinate?

Well, actually...

A cotton swab might make it easier.

I don't have any.

Well, would you mind if I helped you?

Oh, please!

I always thought the vegetables would
just start growing on their own.

That the stamen and pistil would do the
deed and come together to reproduce.

And then, yes, their children would
be alive, and then we could eat them!

Oh. Right.

Yeah, that's exactly what happens.

Wait, that... that sounded really weird!

The stamen and pistil...
It's all just so dirty!

Hey! Try to calm down!

Mitake-san turning bright red
over stamens and pistils...

What in the world are you
doing to her, Kirishima-kun?

N-Nikaido-san!

Haru— Nikaido!

U-Um, well, I j-just, I...

Good morning! Please excuse me!

Look, I can explain.

She really does look like the sheep
that ran away when Gen-san got angry.

Haruki.

When did you get there?

Oh, about halfway through the pollination.

I was wondering what you were doing

when she suddenly panicked and turned red,

so I figured I should step
in and throw you a lifeline.

You were standing there for that long?

If you were watching anyway, you could
have said something and saved me.

The way it looks now, it seems
like I said something weird.

Well, I have my own reputation and
image to protect here at school.

There was nothing I could do.

So you just throw me under the bus?

Yeah, you'll survive.

What are friends for, anyway?

What's that supposed to mean?

Nikaido-san, here's the
English exercise I mentioned.

Sorry, can you help me out too?

Me three!

She said "camouflage," right?

She must have her reasons.

I'm sure she'll explain
when the time comes.

We are pals, after all.

But maybe I should give
her some space at school.

Kirishima-kun,
could you come with me a minute?

Huh?

Nikaido-san's after the new kid?

No way. Is he her type?

Since he just transferred, it must be
class business. Please, let it be so!

Um, it's actually, well, about that
thing from before. You know?

Oh, come on.

Oh, sure. That request from
the garden this morning.

Y-Yes, exactly. I was hoping
you could take care of it soon.

Do you have time to handle it now?

All right. Sure.

Phew. I knew it.

Thank goodness.

Aren't you the lucky one, new guy?

Shut up.

Where are we?

My secret base.

This room is only used for storage,
so nobody ever comes in.

It's still pretty empty
for a base, though.

You're right.
I should bring some supplies.

It could also be a good shelter.

A shelter, huh?

So what's this all about?

Uh, well... I'm not sure how to put it.

Promise not to laugh?

That depends.

If you laugh, that's another favor.

Fine.

Actually, I...

always dreamed about being able
to eat lunch with friends.

Huh?

Hey! This is actually
really important to me!

Look, if I eat lunch with someone,

it'll definitely make
someone else jealous.

So I've been eating alone
this whole time, and...

Oh, give me a break.

Well then, looks like your dream is
about to start coming true every day.

Hayato...

Or is it not?

No, it is! Then let's say
I owe you a favor for it.

That's not worth much.

Then how about one favor
for every ten lunches?

Then you'll just keep going into debt.

How about we just say we'll meet here
for lunch if nothing else is going on.

Does that sound like a fair promise?

A promise...

Yeah, a promise. Sure.

Then it's a promise, Hayato.

Y-Yeah.

That day, at the end of summer,

my endless days of waiting finally ended.

Then it's a promise.

Yeah, a promise.

We realized that we had kept
alive that small promise we'd made.

I was a full head taller than her now,

and when we held hands,
hers felt so small.

We ran at the same pace, but her
steps were shorter than mine.

All these differences emerged
during the time we were separated.

But I was confident that those
differences wouldn't matter in the end.

See you later.

Yeah. See you. Also...

welcome back!

Welcome back?

Yeah. As far as I'm concerned,
you've come back!

Our relationship, which
I had thought had ended,

had returned along with the summer.