Atsui zo! Neko ke tani! ! (熱いぞ!猫ヶ谷!!)

Watch out for heatstroke! Don't forget to stay hydrated!!

High temperature! Danger! Be careful not to let it come into contact with metal.

Nekogaya Girls' School-

Don't you know the customs at Nekogaya?

In Neko-gaya, Japan’s hottest town where

the average annual temperature exceeds 40 degrees, the “Neko

Project” is underway to beat the heat. One of the initiatives is

a Neko-gaya tradition where men wear aloha shirts and women wear swimsuits—what do

you think? The ultimate Cool Biz look? [Cool Biz: Promoting Light Clothing to Combat Global Warming] Do we

really have to do that? [Cool Biz: Promoting Light Clothing to Combat Global Warming] You

have to do this!

The Neko Committee at Neko-gaya Elementary School, which loves our

school, is definitely going to turn you into a

swimsuit.

No way! Take it off! It's the rule, so

hold on a second—right there!

Are you okay?

NEKO President Harumi Oshino, Transfer

Student Mari Tagawa, School

Nurse Ayumi, Train Enthusiast

Mr. Ito, The Three Villainesses—Are

you ready

for your swimsuits?

-Yes! Teacher—Let’s hurry. If we

don’t take care of this before they wake up, they’ll put up a fight.

Come on, come on, come on…

Wait, what are you doing?

Are you okay? Does your head hurt?

It's okay...

But you were about to do that to me without my consent, weren't you?

Calm down. Want some ice cream?

I'm not

eating. Running at full speed out of

nowhere? You should count yourself lucky that it's

only this hot. Running through Nekogaya without any preparation is suicide.

You're

right. But more importantly, who are you, anyway?

Oh, sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm a cat

girl, and my name is Hagumi Oshino, the chairperson

of the Cat Committee, which is in charge of maintaining discipline

at Nekogaya Girls' School. The

Cat Committee?

N.E.K.O. stands for

the Committee that loves and supports Neko-gaya forever and dearly—N(ne) for Neko, E(e) for Eternity, K(ko) for Special, and O(o)

for O (as in "Oh"). It's a

bit of a stretch...

And even though this kid is the only one left right

now, it’s just “for now.”

This kid is so serious that everyone else ends up quitting, you know?

It’s my mission to help them get into the school they all want and make sure they succeed. Come on,

let’s get changed.

I don’t buy it at all.

Huh?

No, no, that's weird. It's not a law requiring people to go about their

lives in swimsuits—it's just

a custom. Either way, it doesn't matter. If you think about it normally, you'd have

to be out of your mind. Copernicus and Edison

were both pointed at behind their backs and called weird at first, weren't

they? But look at Japan these days.

In the summer, it’s been insanely hot day after day, hasn’t

it? I guess this kid is going to be a pain.

What?

No, so what?

So, Japan is going to turn into Nekogaya at the next funeral,

right?

It won't be long before the national average temperature tops 40 degrees. By then, men will be

wearing aloha shirts and women will be in swimsuits!

With this wonderful tradition, Nekogaya is going to lead Japan—no, the whole world!

Nekogaya, you're so mean! It's

so hot I'm

going to die—oh my goodness! -Oh my goodness!

Aiko, isn't that transfer student still wearing a school uniform?

What should we do? Aiko doesn't

even know how to read the room. Don't you

know that when you go to Ilgal, you have to follow

Ilgal's rules? Aiko, that's not Ilgal—it's Rome! [When in Rome, do as the Romans do]

When in Rome, follow Roman law! I know

that much!

Oh, sorry!

I don't think I'll even be able to finish

half of it. That's right, Aiko is 26 this year. I told

you not to say things like that!

You can see this,

right? Oh, I'm sorry, Eiko-san,

Mari~!

I brought a few different ones just in case none of them matched your taste.

Pick the one you like.

It’s fine—I’m wearing mine

underneath. Huh? "I totally forgot.

Just wait a sec,"

I said. Hagumi is full of

energy again. She's still sparkling.

What's up with her? Is she really that sparkly?

-No way~ -Aiko-san is all glitzy and sparkly, too. Look, here.

It pisses me off

that the transfer student isn't wearing a swimsuit, but it

pisses me off even more to see that guy showing off!

What is this? It's barley

tea. Oh, I'm sorry.

I got a little confused. Let's start

class. Teacher~ Yes,

yes. The

transfer

student isn't following Nekogaya's customs.

Oh. Oh... I mean, Mr. Tagawa, it's just

a matter of custom, after all...

Is it okay to eat somyeon during class?

Yeah, that’s not good. I’ll make him

quit. I’m

done with this. But Chairman, is it really okay to just leave

the transfer

student like this? This is a problem. I

don’t want

to force him either. I understand. Mari, you

heard what Copernicus

and Edison said earlier. How can we convince him?

Man, it's so noisy.

How about we do this instead?

"Let's race 100 meters. If you win, I'll wear a swimsuit." That sounds like it could be fun.

If Hagumi loses like this, the student council

president will get dragged down too, won't he? That's right. But Hagumi

isn't a

good runner, is he? Okay, Let’s do it. I’ll

handle the timing for

you~ I’ll be waiting at the finish line. Just

because you’re the student

council president, do you think you’re some kind of genius? Do you

think you’ll never get tired of whatever you do?

Alright, everyone's

ready.

So, we lost after