Hatsukoi Monster (First Love Monster)

Um...

Would you please tell me your name?

No.

Huh?

I'm not supposed to give my name to strangers.

And you're a little creepy.

Thus my first love ended.

Let me go back to when it started, three hours ago.

My name is Nikaidou Kaho.

My family, well, they own a lot of land.

In other words, they're rich.

My parents treated me like a princess, spoiling me rotten...

...probably because they had me when they were older.

Locals and teachers were hyper-aware of my family's influence

and never got angry with me.

My friends were all schoolmates my folks had asked to hang out with me.

As a result...

...I've never had anyone mad at me.

What do you make of a person like that?

A real mess, right? Hopeless.

I'm sorry for being alive.

So this spring, I left my hometown...

...to turn over a new leaf in the city.

This is Kasumi House?

Ahhh...

Yikes!

I-I'm so sorry! Sorry! I'm sorry!

Um, are you Miss Nikaidou?

M-Might you be the landlord?

Er, uh, I'm, well...

So young! Are all Tokyo landlords this young?

To be making a fortune at such a tender age... I bet it's IT!

He's managing apartments with the money he made in IT!

Uh, no, I'm just a high-school student!

The landlord had some business today, so he asked me to help out.

What a pointless delusion that was.

Um, thank you very much. Nice meeting you.

Yeah, same h—

Can we bring in your things?

Second floor, please!

Oh, I'll help, too!

Oof! Wow, heavier than I thought...

Are you all right?!

Just have a seat! This is our job!

Feels like I'm getting in the way again.

Oh!

The kokeshi my brother gave me!

Wait! That's my brother's kokeshi!

Do you want to die or what?!

Didn't anyone tell you not to jump out at corners?

If a car hit a little kid like you, you'd be squashed dead like an ant!

Are you even listening?

What are you after?

I-Is it money? A favor from my parents?

I'm not interested in your money or your folks.

Liar.

You wouldn't save the likes of me if you weren't after something.

Don't you usually save people who are about to die?

And I heard saying "the likes of me" will mess you up for real.

You're pretty cute, you know? Tiny.

"The likes of me," my foot.

Cute...?

See you.

W-Wait!

Um... Would you please tell me your name?

Huh? No.

I'm not supposed to give my name to strangers.

And you're a little creepy.

And that brings us to where we started.

Um, are you okay?

Uh, er, thank goodness you weren't hurt.

He saw me?!

A boy I only just met saw me fall in love at first sight,

get called "creepy," and be rejected?

About that boy...

Just a second, Shinohara!

Ch-Chiaki!

I'm just going to cut to the chase:

You fell in love, didn't you?

H-How did you know?

Get to be like me and you can just tell.

That's a city high-school girl for you!

But forget it. I don't even know his name,

and it's not like I'll ever see him again.

What if you did?

Huh? If I saw him?

Um, the thing is, he—

Shut it, Shinohara!

Those who'd thwart a young girl's love ought to go trip over a kokeshi!

No wonder you're a virgin!

That has nothing to do with it!

All this noise outside our front door is disturbing the neighbors.

Well, Taga, aren't you cocky.

Geez. Act your age.

I'll show you, Taga...

Oh, please don't fight!

Cram it, virgin.

It's the super-sadist versus the brute!

Wait—how did you...

Am I wrong?

Busted, virgin!

Um, I'll just be on my way.

Oh...

Am I going to be okay? Will I get used to all this?

So much happened today.

Now that I've been dumped...

...clearly no one will want the likes of me as long as I live.

I heard saying "the likes of me" will mess you up for real.

You're pretty cute, you know? Tiny.

"The likes of me," my foot.

No way will I see him again. It'll be fate if I do.

Huh? You live here?

Huh?! Uh, yes!

Huh. Well, good to see you.

It's fate!

Ah, wait!

Today you saved me, and I got yelled at for the first time ever.

Wow. My whole life is being yelled at.

A-And I didn't think we'd meet again...

Well, if we're living in the same place, we're bound to.

And...

Oh, my name. Takahashi Kanade.

You're giving me your name?!

You're not creepy if you live here.

What about you?

It's polite to give your own name when someone gives you theirs.

Sorry. I'm Nikaidou Kaho.

'Kay. Later.

Please, wait!

There's more?

I... um, it looks like...

It looks like I love you!

We can date if you like.

If you can still say you love me once you know the real me...

...then yeah, we can date.

Think it over till tomorrow.

No way!

What's his "real me," anyway?

Is he married? Does he have kids? Is he into guys, too?

Does he have tons of debt?

Is he an alien? Or from the future?

Does he have ESP? Is he really a girl?

I couldn't sleep a wink...

But no matter what his secret is, I'll deal with it...

...and I'll go out with him!

You really came!

Uh-huh!

So, I'm in primary school. What now?

And that's how the monster called "first love" began its assault.

So are we going to go out?

Huh? Um, I, uh...

Yes!

Then as of today, you're my girlfriend.

Now I, too, finally had the cool boyfriend I'd always wanted.

As if!

No way—not a primary-school kid!

Yodel-ay-hoo-hee, Kanade!

Huh? Are these your friends?

Yep. We're in the same class.

This kid with the glasses is Gin...

...and this one with the hair is Tomu.

Is this what all primary-school kids are like these days?!

This here is my girlfriend.

H-Hi.

Aw, man—I wanted a girlfriend! And she's older, too!

I see...

You've climbed the stairs to adulthood, Kanade.

Stairs to adulthood...?

Okay, Kaho, see you later.

Oh, have a good day.

We're off!

We're awful!

We're awfully awesome!

Congrats to the new couple!

Y-You've got it all wrong! It'll never work!

True. After all, he is in primary school.

Indecent?

Criminal? Perverted?

But I wonder.

You did say you'd go out with him.

How would he feel if you told him "Yeah, never mind" now?

Huh?

Kanade's a lonely young man who lost his mother in third grade...

Now, what I'd like the students of Bamboo Primary to remember today

is "SUSHI." Now, I don't mean the food.

The "S" stands for "Stranger danger."

Ow! I sprained my fingers!

"U" is for "Unknown vehicles are not for riding."