Teasing Master Takagi-san (からかい上手の高木さん)

What's wrong?

My mom put green peppers in my lunch again.

I'll get in trouble if I don't eat them.

Ugh.

Show some appreciation.

HUH?!

Appreciation for you suddenly eating my lunch?

But you hate green peppers, right?

Well, yeah...

Thank you.

But I don't know how you stand that bitter taste.

Yeah. They sure are bitter.

Kinda smell like grass, too.

Then what'd you eat them for?

For love... I guess.

Oh jeez, there he goes. Thinking that loving bitter stuff makes him all cool and mature.

No, I know for a fact he totally hates green peppers.

It's been like that since elementary school.

What? So he's just pretending to be a tough guy?

Nope.

He did it to help out the person he likes.

That's what he meant by "love".

Uh, no way! It's just a tough guy act!

Boys like him always do that!

Then why don't you ask him?

Hard pass! He's just gonna tease me for it!

He teases you because he likes you.

Oh yeah, my mom said something like that too...

Nope! Forget it! There's no way that's true!

Dislikes

Dislikes!

Something wrong? Why the big sigh?

Well...

In my breakfast this morning there was...

Well, I've just been feeling off ever since I got up this morning.

Hey. Didn't you say something about breakfast?

Nope. Nothing.

Uh-huh...

Close call!

If she found out the reason I'm feeling down is because I had to eat stupid green peppers for breakfast...

You don't like green peppers? What a baby!

I can't let that happen!

Let me guess, green peppers?

You had to eat something you hate and it ruined your whole morning?

How does she know?!

Green peppers are pretty bitter.

Wait a sec. Do you dislike green peppers, too?

They're also pretty pungent.

She relates!

Yeah, ain't that the truth! Who in their right mind would ever want green peppers for breakfast?

I don't mind them, personally.

So, you hate green peppers, huh?

You have the taste buds of a little kid.

She's making a fool of me!

F-fine, what about you then? Don't you have any dislikes?

Dislikes?

Well, it's not something particular.

Oh yeah. She totally does.

Okay, so I win if I manage to guess the thing that you dislike.

Sure. But I don't think you'll get it right.

Just watch, I'm gonna hit the nail on the head. And then...

Who has the taste buds of a kid now?

I'll let her have it.

Isn't it, like, super hard to choose what kind of emoji to use?

A vegetable?

So you want some hints, huh?

Nope, it's not a vegetable.

It's something that perks you up.

Vegetable

Vegetable

What's it taste like?

Sour and refreshing, but with some sweetness to it.

Okay, so...

Wait, hold on.

You only get one more hint, okay?

You'll eventually get it right if I just keep giving you hints forever.

Nothing gets by Takagi-san. She totally shut down the streak I had going.

I'm gonna have to narrow it down with this last question...

What color is it?

Well...

It's yellow.

YES!

That really limits what it could be!

Now to think...

I've got it!

The thing that you dislike is none other than...

pineapple!

Wrong.

For real?!

I'm still curious. What's the right answer?

Any beverage similar to energy drinks.

But that's not a food!

Yeah, you only asked me what I disliked.

Besides...

I told you that it wasn't "particular".

You did say that...

Right?

Hey.

Whenever the day comes that I have the chance to cook for you...

What chance? That's not gonna happen.

You never know.

Anyway, whenever that happens I'll make some tasty green peppers for you.

Good morning!

Oh, good morning.

Let's go pick up the handouts.

Sure.

So hey, I bought this book the other day and it's super interesting.

No green peppers, please.

Gyoza.

Gyoza

Hey, Mina.

Will you eat my carrots?

Sure thing!

Being picky again, Yukari?

You'll never get taller like that.

Yeah, well, I'm taller than you anyway.

Okay, let's make it a trade.

I'll give you one of my gyoza.

No, I can't accept that. You're doing me a favor by eating the carrots.

It's okay, because I love carrots!

Sure, but you love gyoza too, right?

I love pretty much anything, so no worries!

Really? But...

Go on, I insist!

No, I really shouldn't.

Come on, take it!

I'm good, you have it.

I'm giving it to you!

Like I said, I feel bad...

You don't hav- huh?

Wow. This gyoza is really good.

Why the heck did you eat it, Sanae-chan?!

Yeah, what do you think you're doing?

I mean, you two obviously didn't want it, so...

I never said that.

Look, Sanae, you need to apologize.

Sanae? Where are you going?

Dude, how many of those are you going to eat?

I'm stocking up on calories for all the energy I'll need in tomorrow's meeting.

We have to decide what our class is doing for culture fest, right?

Yep.

I used to think the idea of a donut hole toss was best,

but I decided that we should do a fried chicken cafe instead.

Fried chicken cafe?

Wait, did Tsukimoto-san agree to that idea?

That doesn't matter.

When you get down to it, I'm really the only one who's doing all the culture fest duty work.

So no matter what she says, I'm going to make sure that we do a fried chicken cafe.

Kimura! Yo! Dude!

And then... huh?

Turn around! Behind you!

Tsukimoto-san!

Uh, listen, Nishikata and Takao here agree with me about the cafe, so...

What?!

Don't drag us into it!

MELON

BREAD

Here.

Huh?! For me?!

I was wrong to assume that you didn't want the gyoza.

Wow, thanks!

Whew. So Sanae does have a nice side to her.

Yeah, so...

I'll trade you this for the rest of your gyoza.

What?!

Play nice!

Fried Chicken Cafe

3 Votes

After tallying up all the votes, our class has decided to go ahead

with our idea of putting on a play for the culture festival.

We did it, Yukari-chan!

Yeah!

Audition

I'm the one who will be writing the script.

I'm going to be the director.

And I get to design the costumes!

Okay!

N-no... it can't be!

I knew this would happen. I mean, nobody's ever heard of a "fried chicken cafe".

Which idea did you vote for, Nishikata?

Since you love it so much, I bet you voted for the fried chicken, huh?

Only because Kimura asked me as a favor!

Sensei!

Considering the time that we have left until the event, we should finish doing auditions today

and then next time we can start rehearsing. Does that sound okay?

Have you already decided on the story?

Yeah, more or less.

Listen up!

It's a love story between a prince and princess!

We came up with it together!

And it's really thrilling!

Long, long ago...

There lived a prince who was put under a curse and turned into a frog.

His name was Juliot.

To avoid being seen by others, he spent many long years cooped up in a castle in the forest.

But one day, he has a fateful encounter with a princess named Romiya who gets lost in the forest.

They quickly fall in love with each other.

Until the twist!

An evil wizard appears and tries to tear the two lovers apart.

So Romiya and Juliot flee!