The Balloonatic

What was that all about, Inaba?

Iori is mine!

Stay away from her!

There is no reason for you to complain.

I made it clear that you and Fujishima are rivals.

If you work hard enough,

you can rescue Iori from Fujishima's clutches.

I set the scene for you.

I don't want to turn a classmate into an enemy.

Everyone but you yourself is an enemy.

Huh?

Say, Taichi.

Aren't you in love with Iori?

Huh?

I-I'm in love with Nagase?

What makes you say that?

You've started to overreact to everything.

I recall you being more of a stoic lump.

That's because the circumstances I've been dealing with force me to!

I'm telling you to bag Iori before Fujishima beats you to it.

Why do you keep pushing me in that direction?

And Fujishima's a girl!

Facing adversity to save someone fits you perfectly, doesn't it?

Right?

Selfless freak.

Jobber and Low Blow

What's that supposed to mean?

Exactly what I said.

Why did you volunteer for this painful exercise?

Nobody else wanted to participate, so I had to volunteer

to make sure that no one else would have to suffer.

Which confirms that you're a selfless freak.

Why do you like pro wrestling?

It's the art of enduring.

In pro wrestling, it's not about who can

perform stronger and flashier moves.

Special moves can only be performed on

opponents who are able to endure them.

I'm a big fan of jobbers, who let themselves get beat up.

Shut the hell up, wrestling fanboy.

You asked for an answer.

So, back to Iori.

Have you noticed yet?

She's the weakest link in StuCS.

I've never seen anyone so close

to completely breaking down.

Isn't that what you're looking for?

She needs someone to shield her from the pain and hurt.

Sounds like a job for the selfless freak, right?

Don't put words in my mouth.

I've never looked at her in that light.

I should probably mention that Iori's in love with you.

Nah, that can't be right.

Weak reaction.

She needs someone to cling to.

Someone who will be there to unconditionally support her.

Besides, you and Iori come alive when you're together.

Really?

Well, it's your problem to work out.

Do whatever you want.

But...

I have a feeling that Iori's in the most danger.

Danger?

This personality swapping business

could break any one of us eventually,

but she's the one who's taking the brunt of the adverse effects.

Adverse effects...

But so far, we've only had to deal with a few minor hiccups.

You don't have to be so serious about it—

Are you an idiot?!

How can you be so optimistic?!

There's no question,

you're the most clueless one in our group!

Do you realize how hopeless our current situation is?!

At any moment, any one of us could be seriously hurt, completely broken!

Don't you understand?

Sorry...

Yeah...

No, I was too harsh.

I've been feeling grouchy after everything that's happened.

Sorry.

Can you forgive me?

There's nothing to forgive.

You're absolutely right. It's okay.

W-Well, let's get back to work.

We'll never finish at this rate.

You're completely clueless.

Huh?

Your trash bag was blown away by the wind.

Huh?

Wh-Why didn't you say something?!

Where'd it go?

Ah, there it is!

It was more entertaining this way.

Y-You see...

Student Cultural Society

I'm always yelling at you

because I don't want to admit how I truly feel,

but deep down...

Deep down, I truly love you, Aoki.

I'm sorry about springing this on you now.

But I can't continue to lie to myself.

Please go out with me!

Did you record it?

I did.

Okay, switch!

Y-Yeah...

W-Well, I kinda...

U-Um...

I like you!

So would you please go out with me?

Yup, that was good!

I felt a twinge when I saw

the sharp, manly Inaba-chan confess like a girl!

The first recording was probably taken from one of your fantasies.

I know.

Man, I hope I can get her to say those words one day.

Well, that should be enough for now.

I'll delete the video.

Hey, we're just getting started.

Let's take a few more shots before the girls

come back from shopping.

We may never get a chance like this again.

Right?

Right?

Yui! Grab the cell phones!

I'm on it!

It's hard to move around in this body!

Taichi, you need to exercise more!

W-Well, I kinda...

U-Um...

I like you!

So would you please go out with me?

I see that you boys were having fun.

Um, Inaba? What are you doing?

I'm getting ready to run around campus buck naked.

P-Please stop, Inaba-chan!

If you do that, you'll be killing any chance I have of leading

a normal life!

Die.

Wait, Inaba!

Inaba-san! If you kill my chances at a normal life,

I may have to kill myself!

Silence! This is the punishment you deserve!

Don't expect to survive if you try that again.

Yes, ma'am!

We're very sorry.

I'm just as mad as she is.

I'll beat the crap out of you if you try that again.

Y-Yes, ma'am.

Iori isn't here yet?

Yeah, she had to leave early for something.

Oh, hey.

I've been wondering about something.

Yui-san, are you scared of us?

Every time I'm Yui,

I start to shake whenever there's a man around.

That's nonsense.

Why should I be scared of a couple weaklings...

...like you?

U-Uh, Yui...

After all, I'm way stronger than you guys are.

So...

So men don't scare me.

Sorry!

I kept telling you how I loved you,

but I never realized that you were hurting.

I'm such a big idiot!

Yui!

Forget it.

I'll go help her calm down.

Inaba-chan...

You knew?

Yeah...

She was good at concealing her fear,

so I can't blame you for not noticing.

But she's got it pretty bad.

I can help her get back on her feet.

You guys will have to take it from there.

I hate myself now.

Don't be too hard on yourself.

Her acting was good enough to impress Inaba.

I mean, I didn't notice anything when I was Kiriyama...

But in retrospect, there were signs.

When you look at StuCS,

Inaba-chan is always mad

and beats us up all the time.

Iori-chan likes to touch people.

Yui is an active girl,

so it seemed odd that she never joined in.

You're pretty perceptive, Aoki.

We're talking about the girl I love.