You and I Are Polar Opposites (正反対な君と僕)

High school is no fun.

I wanna go back to middle school.

MIDDLE SCHOOL ALUMNI GATHERING

That's all you keep saying.

Nothing beats the old homestead.

No one uses that word anymore, do they?

Your friends came with you to the culture festival, right?

Individually, all my friends are good people.

But I just don't vibe with the overall feel of the school.

Is it gloomy?

Yes!

It always feels like there's this empty silence!

And there's an overwhelming lack of idiots.

How are we supposed to take that statement?

I don't mean academically. I mean the fun kind.

Third year of middle school after classes was the best, wasn't it?

When the three of us—me, Yamada, and Miyu— did that after-school study group.

That was seriously so much fun.

AH HA HA

HEE HEE

You mean the one where we basically just talked, right?

All I remember is rolling with laughter at conversations with no substance.

Exactly! That's what I liked!

His vehemence is scary.

We were students testing into high school,

but we had no after-school activities, leaving us with such a sense of freedom!

That rush of emotion from thinking, "Let's graduate without any regrets!"

The afternoon sun shining into the classroom... The melancholy feels...

He's monologuing.

POUT

Although, Yamada got a girlfriend partway through and stopped coming.

For real, right?

Hey! That doesn't make me the bad guy here!

FLASHBACK TO THE PREVIOUS EPISODE...

Sometimes, around dusk,

for no reason, I'll take a walk down the route I took to middle school.

You okay?

When I hear them singing choir songs we sang in middle school,

I really feel like I'm about to cry.

He's not okay.

When you're having fun in the moment,

you don't realize how lucky you are to be in that environment.

...is what Ricchan was saying.

I feel like he must have it pretty rough.

What?

He's just too hung up on the past!

That's cold.

I can't empathisize with someone saying "middle school was too much fun."

And why was Suzuki attending this gathering like it was normal?

You okay with that, Tani?

Yeah. I think it's probably fine.

And overthinking everything makes it seem like I don't trust her,

which feels disrespectful.

Thanks for being worried about us.

Why are you getting more confident?

Is that bad?

Monster.

DON'T LEAVE ME BEHIND, TANI...

What?

YOU AND I ARE POLAR OPPOSITES

What are you getting?

I'm in the mood for chicken curry.

Then I think I'll get the chicken hayashi.

Now that I think about it, there's this guy, too.

I might be headed toward falling in love right now!

What happened after that?

Did he make any progress?

No. I won't ask any questions until Yamada brings it up himself.

If it didn't go well, I have nothing I can say to him.

And even if it did go well, I still have nothing to say!

(BECAUSE I'D FEEL CONFLICTED ABOUT IT)

I'm just so...

STAND-IN COMMENTATOR

On the day of the culture festival, this is what happened to Yamada!

Is this one you took?

Yes.

Really? Wow.

SILENCE . . .

What do I do?

I'm nervous again, so this conversation isn't...

"I'm sorry my replies to the messages you sent over summer break were so awful."

"I'm sorry that it seemed like I was rejecting you."

Um, I...

You know...

Please, go ahead!

I'm sorry.

What?

For texting you... and everything else.

If you're not close, wouldn't it be scary to suddenly be asked for contact info?

I thought maybe I've been too pushy.

Like, given the distance between us and stuff.

I'll think a little more before I act.

I'm sorry.

Nishi-san, what were you going to say?

Um...

I'm sorry too.

My phone... Up until now, I've used it to contact my parents,

and once in a while, I message Hon-chan

or other girls I'm friends with, but that's all.

I overthink about whether I've written anything weird

or made typos, and it slows me down.

And yet, I still send ridiculously long texts.

And then I think too much about what would happen if I went silent on a call.

But...

It wasn't that I didn't like it.

Being scared of making mistakes makes me overthink everything.

I want to be able to not overthink so much.

You and I are polar opposites.

When you sent something,

it made me so happy that I'd reply right away without thinking.

I never thought you wrote anything weird.

Thank goodness

And I'm nowhere near as concerned about details as you think I am, Nishi-san.

Oh!

You should just make mistakes! With me.

What?

WHAT?!

Because I'm not someone you need to be careful around at all.

We're peers, right?

And if I'm being annoying, you can just say, "Ugh, what a pain!"

And if I'm making too much noise, you can just say, "Shut up, stupid!"

I wouldn't say that! Not that way.

"You're being entirely too loud."

I'm not that elegant.

RIHITO

INCOMING CALL

Ricchan! I forgot!

I'm gonna head out. Thanks!

Is it okay for me to talk to you at school?

Of course!

Then let's talk again!

And thus, they managed to make a little progress.

Ever since the culture festival, he's been in an oddly good mood,

and he's clearly been looking for someone while we've been here.

I'm not gonna bite. I won't bite!

Yamada-kun, are you looking for someone?

Huh? Oh.

Gapacho.

I'm not biting! You hear me?!

I won't think about it.

But I mean...

Both Yamada and Tani are good guys to begin with.

THINKING ABOUT IT

Of course there's someone who likes them, and they're able to accept that.

Sorry, Taira-kun.

Your personality's kinda different than I thought it was.

Don't remember stuff you hate.

What that friend of Yamada's said...

that middle school was so much fun and high school isn't.

Basically, it's a contrast thing.

Not being able to choose your elementary or middle school makes them more hellish.

Even if he acknowledged that, from my perspective, I'd still be jealo—

MOUTHING

FLAP

FLAP

FLAP

FLAP

You weren't saying anything?

FLAP

FLAP

FLAP

I tricked you! I tricked you! I tricked you!

Don't interfere with my music time!

And don't you laugh.

I'm not laughing.

Laugh.

OTHERWISE THERE'S NO POINT IN MY GETTING TRICKED...

What?

Taira doesn't usually head toward the station.

That means he must be working today.

Das right.

Then I guess I'll head to the convenience store before going home! Okay, Tani-kun?

Why?

Sure.

Don't just say "sure."

We'll only stop by for a little while, so make us some soft serve!

We don't have a machine for that at our shop.

And when we get there, it'll still be the shift before mine.

What?

Tani-kun, can you wait for him?

Just go home.

Hmm...

That's where you hesitate?

You're so funny!

Why do you only come when I'm there, anyway?

Huh?

Because it's more fun when you're there, right?

Right, Tani-kun?

Yeah.

Huh. Is that so?

Well, I guess it's fine.

The ice cream I just bought was a winner!

Hurry up and go home!

Yamada-kun!

What do I do? D-Do I say hello?

BA-DUMP

BA-DUMP

BA-DUMP

BA-DUMP

BA-DUMP