02x04 - New School Term

[bunniefuu]

Your eyebrows.

Why would a memory
from last year suddenly—

Entering through the south gate...

going down the nearest set of stairs...

and then getting on the train right
in front of me at platform 3...

is the most efficient way
to get to school.

But instead, every morning,
I enter through the north gate...

go down to the farthest end
of the platform...

and ride in the last car of the train.

Doing it this way, I get to sit down,
and I don't run into people I know.

I just sort of found myself
doing it like this.

I feel like there's something else
I was supposed to tell you.

I'll remember it and tell you tomorrow.
Let's have a good new term.

He's really okay with leaving it there?

Whoa! The sky's so dark!

It's like nighttime!

I did happen to bring an umbrella.

Huh? Is it supposed to rain today?

They said it might snow.

My grandma said...

There it is! The grandma forecast!

Oh! Yuu-chan, look!

That nickname...

Taira's already outside the gate.

He tends to head home early
when he doesn't have a shift at work.

I wonder if he just likes it at home.

Really? I never noticed.

That's cold!

Snow?

What is this?

I don't have an umbrella!
Today can't get any worse!

Taira!

You walk way too fast.

I spotted you and thought
I'd join you, so I started walking,

but I couldn't catch up at all!

Huh? Why?

Taira, do you have an umbrella?

No, I don't!

Here.

You should use it.
My jacket's waterproof, so I'm fine.

Later.

Huh?!

No, wait! Wait!
You should use this yourself!

- Don't need it! Go on,
hurry up and open it!

- Hey! Wait!

I said I'm fine!

What's the big deal?

Here.

This is not what I wanted.

No, seriously. You can just leave me here.

But getting soaked when it's
this cold would be rough, right?

At least let me hold it.

Oh. Thank you.

That's crazy, Taira!
You immediately broke it!

I'm not the one who broke it!

Crap! I can't get it to go back!

Just leave it. Let's run!

This is crazy. I'm still cracking up!

You're laughing too much.

Taira, you laughed
a little, too, didn't you?

Ugh. My hands are freezing.

Whoa! They're bright red!

Take a heat pack. Here.

Huh? I'm fine.

Actually, yeah, thanks.

Hey, Taira...

What do you think about dying your hair
black and styling it for a wet look?

Huh? What brought that on?

Because it kinda
looks like that right now.

Seriously?

If I did that, people would think
I was some guy who doesn't wash his hair.

You put yourself down too much.

You should have more confidence
in who you are now.

You changed because you were
interested in fashion, right?

Enjoy it or you'll regret it, y'know?

Huh?

What?!

Three-Quarter Sleeves.

It wasn't for a positive reason like that.

I mean, it's a waste, isn't it?

Putting in all that work and
not having any confidence.

I've been rooting for you
the whole time, you know.

Huh?

My legs get nice and warm
on this train. It makes me sleepy.

Wake me up when we get to the station.

Huh? Hey, wait...

What?

Your eyebrows. Why not try changing them?

Huh?

You made your hair lighter,
so if your eyebrows...

were to match, I think
they'd definitely look better.

Huh? What brought this on?

Can I mess with them?

Of course not!

Oh! You styled your hair!

Oh! Nice backpack!

Why point out every little thing?

I'm absolutely certain she's
making fun of me in her head.

No...

But the way you rooted for me was...

I've had the wrong idea this whole time.

Oh! It's cleared up!

That's great. I'm glad.

Azuma.

I'm sorry.

For what?

Is it because you fell asleep too
and we missed our station?

Uh, well, that too, but...

No, wait. Is that really all my fault?

For lots of stuff. The umbrella,
the heat pack... and everything else.

Everything?!

Uh, well, I don't really get it, but...

Instead of people being weirdly
restrained or saying sorry...

Hearing stuff like "yay" or
"thanks" works better for me...

As long as you're the
one saying it, Taira.

You can be more casual about stuff.
We're friends, right?

Really?

Yeah.

When I'm alone...

When it's quiet, memories
swirl around in my head.

All I worry about is
how other people see me,

but I don't want to hurt anyone,

so I put unnecessary
distance between us.

The way I put myself down...
The way I jump to conclusions...

I only became aware of it today,
and now I'm full of regrets, but...

Even more than that,

today, doing stuff like
running full-out like idiots...

The whole situation was so ridiculous
that it was actually kind of fun.

And there was the stuff about
being thought of as an equal.

For some reason, while mulling over
all these tiny pleasant moments...

I can't tell if I'm happy,
pathetic, or just relieved.

I don't understand it myself...

but I cried just a little.

What's this?

Hey. It's rare for our school commute
times to overlap, isn't it?

Right?

It always gets crowded
at this station, right?

I think I'll go back to
my old car after all.

Tani-kun, you have library
duty this week, right?

Yeah.

You do? Understood.

What is it this time?

What is it? Is something wrong?

No, nothing at all.

Every time I notice that she seems
to be thinking about something,

I can never figure out what it is.

And if I try to speculate, it ends up
being something totally different.

It's been a while.

I look forward to working
with you again this term.

As do I.

For some reason, even though I haven't
spoken with Tani-kun very much,

because Yamada-kun shares all sorts
of things with me every day,

I feel like I'm closer to him
than I was before!

If I get weirdly relaxed,
I might blurt out all kinds of things.

Even though from Tani-kun's perspective,
I'm someone he doesn't know very well!

What is she doing?

Do you feel sick?

No! I'm fine! I'm sorry!

No, I don't mean to scold you.

Come on. It's fine!
Yamada, you should come, too!

Let's go read at the library!

I'm fine with that, but I know
you're gonna be too obvious.

It'll be fine! Don't worry!

I can act much more naturally
than you might expect.

It's already showing on your face.

No, I...

Nishi-san, long time no see.

Yes, it's been a while.

Um, there's no one here right now,
so you don't have to whisper.

Really? That's a relief.

Well then! I suppose I shall
choose myself a book to read!

Formal speech.

Huh?

You're using it again.

Oh, but I was talking to
Suzuki-san just now.

But she's the same year as us, right?

That's true.

I don't know why...

Why are you being so formal?

But when he brings up topics we talked
about alone in front of other people,

it makes me super nervous!

Is Yamada-kun okay with
other people finding out

that the two of us meet
and text each other?

I wonder if Tani-kun thinks
something seems odd.

I want to get to work
processing the returns.

But I guess it isn't really that urgent.

Every once in a while,
I sort of feel like reading.

Do you have another book
you'd recommend?

What? Um...

Yamada-kun.

- Here.

- Snow-san

- Why?

Seriously?

How did it go? Are things proceeding well?

Don't look at me with that fearless face.

Yamada-man, they don't have manga here.
Are you gonna be okay?

Seriously, the both of you!

So, she was like that because she
wanted to come here with Yamada-kun.

Tani-kun, I'll help you reshelve those.

It's fine. There aren't that many.

It's fine! Don't worry!

I came here because
I wanted to see you, you know?

That...

seems a little bit like a lie.

What? But I really mean it.

It's just that I have
a few other tiny errands.

Nishi-san!

I didn't have enough time finish this,
so I wanna borrow it.

Oh, of course! Uh, sure.

You chose a different book.

I mean, I read a little of the other one,

but I'm seriously slow at reading books.

There aren't many novels you can
finish reading just after school.

Let's see. Class 2-7.

A, ka, sa, ta, na...

Ya...

Yamada Kentarou...

Here!

It seemed like I was calling
your name just now!

Right? You said my name without
using any honorifics just now.

I didn't mean to!

Nishi Natsumi.

What?!

Where is it in that file?

Are you gonna borrow anything today?
I wanna try that thing that beeps.

What? Um...

- Nishi Natsumi. Nishi Natsumi.
Nishi Natsumi.

- FWIP

- FWIP

- Don't say it so many times in a row!

No one ended up coming in today.

There aren't usually very many,
but the third-years have stopped coming.

I somehow ended up in the front.

The book...

I'll stop by again to return it.

The truth is...

he doesn't have to wait until after
school. He can return it anytime.

Okay.

But I'm sure he probably
already knows that.

Now that I think about it...

Yamada-kun and Nishi-san seem to
have become friends at some point.

He's pretty amazing.

Well, I'm going this way.

Oh, right!

Bye-bye!

Later!

Oh, we should've all
gone somewhere to eat.

Nah. Nishi-san's family seems
to have a pretty strict curfew.

Oh, what a gentleman.

Formal speech. You're using it again.

Do you have another book you'd recommend?

"Another" one?

The person you're headed toward
falling in love with? Is that right?

That's right!

So that's what's going on.

Huh?

Huh? What's wrong?

So, it was a lie.

No. I'm telling you,
that's the truth, too.

Oh, Yamada. Morning.

Morning.

Wait. Did you come to school eating a bun?

I didn't have time, you know?

- Running Late

- Jam and toast is
the norm for that, isn't it?

- That's what you're scolding me about?

There is one thing...

that I'm hiding from Nisshi.

What?!

Nisshi, what is your relationship
with Yamada right now?

R-Relationship? Why are you
asking so suddenly?

W-We're friends, I think.

He called you out on the class trip.
You two have gone and hung out together.

Yeah.

The two of you also met during New Year's,
and you've been texting a lot.

Yes.

You're friends?

No, but... that's the only way
I can describe the situation.

Nisshi, are you okay
with leaving things like that?

You don't want it to develop further?

What?!

No, I couldn't! I'm totally fine
with the way things are right now.

I think?

This is so aggravating!
But they have their own pace.

Instead of rushing her, being there
for her without butting in—

Hurry up and date.

What?

Oh, I blurted it out.

No, but it's all I can do to deal
with things they way they are.

And I don't really
understand what dating is.

Nisshi, I'm sorry.

I don't think you know this,

but when we first met, I hated you.

U-Um...

What is it?

D-Do we have to switch rooms...
for our next class?

Yeah. Today we're on the fourth floor.

...ank you.

I talked to her once when
she was having trouble,

and she thought I was someone
who'd always help her.

But it's just that when I see a problem,
I have to fix it or I can't relax.

It's not kindness, like empathy
or doing things for others.

She probably thinks that I'm easy
to talk to, or that I'm a nice person.

People always think that
I'm nicer than I actually am.

I hate this.

I don't like it when people cozy up
because they want to be closer.

I don't have that kind
of personality at all.

It must be so nice to be
as perfect as you. I could never.

And when they said that, it made me sad.
That kind of thing hurts.

When people with no confidence,

people who feel sorry for
themselves, get attached to me,

nothing good ever comes of it.

And I'm not good at empathy,
so I can't just say, "I totally get it!"

If you don't like it, you should stop.

What?

I can't do that.
That's why I'm stressed about it.

But I guess you wouldn't
understand, Rikako-chan.

And even though they try to cozy up,
they go and draw lines between us.

Rikako-chan, you're cute.
That's why you can stay so strong!

People on top wouldn't really
understand this, I guess.

If I were to do the same thing...

Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!
Shut up! Shut up!

Don't use the thorns that grow out of
your complexes on other people!

Sorry. I said that out loud.

I'm sure we'll never get along.

I'll keep some distance between us
so she doesn't get too friendly.

Maybe I'll try playing it cool.
At least, that's what I thought.

Rikako-chan, that was a
harsh way of putting it.

I never noticed until you said something.
Thank you for telling me!

It's not like I wanted you
to give me advice.

I see. That's a different way
to think about it.

I pushed her away,
not expecting to accept her.

But before I realized it...

I'm so glad I became friends
with you, Hon-chan.

She was the one who had accepted me.

The better a person Nisshi became,

the more she refused to reject me
and made it easy to be with her,

and the more I thought about how
I treated her in the beginning.

Pretending not to hear

H-Honda-san.

But Nisshi is so kind, she never
noticed that I was bullying her.

Maybe I didn't speak loud enough

That's why, at the very least...

I want to give her a push.

Nisshi, what do you want
for you and Yamada?

What?

Do you want to be his girlfriend?
Would you rather stay friends?

I am... aware of my own feelings.
I think I probably love him.

But I can't imagine myself
as anyone's girlfriend,

so hoping for it seems too bold of me.

Then what about imagining the opposite?

If you just stayed friends like this,

and Yamada fell in love
with another girl...

Nisshi, would you be able to cheer
him on? You wouldn't regret it?

I'd definitely regret it.

I want to be Yamada-kun's girlfriend.

I never thought that a day
I'd feel this way would come.

Oh, I have good news.

Yamada likes chocolate.
Give him some for Valentine's Day.

What?!

No, that event is much too romantic.

Right? Every year, Valentine's
gets every community excited.

What communities?

I can't wait.