Nogizaka...
Where is it...?
Yuuto-san, have you been studying for your finals?
No, I haven't started yet...
Really? In that case...
In that case, would you like to study together?
Um...
I'm sure studying alone isn't fun unless you're with someone else.
Well, so she said, but...
Haruka...
This is the map to my home.
It's not hard to find, so I don't think you'll lose your way.
Her handwriting is nice, at least...
What's the matter, Onii-san?
What's wrong?
I-It's just that I'm kind of lost...
Really? But isn't that a map you've got there?
What's this?! A monster-dex?
If you must ask... it's a map, I guess.
No way! I'm amazed you even made it this far by following this! Oh...!
Wha... Hey!
Anyway, Onii-san, you'll never find your way there by using that!
Really?
You'll be better off without it. All right, here.
You are here
Great drawing...
This is a big help, thanks!
Don't mention it.
Bye, Onii-san. See you later!
Hey, wait...!
Later?
This is it, right?
But...
「I'm Finished...」
Wh-What in the world is this?!
You must be Ayase Yuuto-sama, correct?
I heard about you from Haruka Ojou-sama.
Yes, hello.
This way please.
Please follow me closely.
It will be a lot of trouble if you become lost here.
I-Is this some kind of maze?
This way.
Welcome, Yuuto-san!
Sorry to keep you waiting...
What's wrong? You look tired...
N-No... I'm all right.
I never thought that I'd have to walk for more than thirty minutes to get here.
Why isn't she sweating?
In that case, I'll go and prepare some tea, Haruka-sama.
Okay.
Oh! Wait a moment, please.
Yuuto-san, this is Sakurazaka Hazuki-san.
She's the head maid, and it's her job to take care of our day-to-day lives.
I'm Sakurazaka Hazuki. It's a pleasure to meet you.
All right, Yuuto-san, please come in.
Sorry for intruding...
Let's see... Don't you have any anime posters or anything?
Well, I'd love to put some up...
...but it can't be helped, since I keep my hobby a secret from my family as well.
My parents, especially my father, are extremely strict.
He says that anime and manga aren't good for learning.
He'd throw everything away if he were to find them.
That's kind of outrageous.
Well, let's start studying.
Oh, sure.
My family isn't home today, so we can probably stay focused.
I see... Wait, could you say that again?
I said, my whole family isn't home today.
No one else is home.
My mother and father are working.
R-Really?
"Like the rustling of the homespun cloth set out to bleach in the Tama River."
What this old text means is that...
...like the handmade cloth set out to bleach in the Tama River,
it may not appear to be that great, but you become attached to it as you continue looking at it.
In other words, you like this girl more as you look at her.
No! No, I can't! What the heck am I thinking?
I came here to study!
Get a hold of yourself, Ayase Yuuto!
O-Oww...
That hurts!
Mika! Nanami-san!
Huh?
Hey, Onii-san, we meet again.
Yuuto-san, do you know Mika?
Yuuto-san?
That's— Um... Er...
Haruka, that girl is...
Haruka?
I'm her younger sister, Nogizaka Mika.
I'm fourteen years old, and my interests include the violin, squash, and raising boars.
Pleased to meet you, Onii-san!
Nice to meet you, I am Nanashiro Nanami, third in rank of the Nogizaka family maids...
My apologies for disturbing you at such a bad time.
Y-You saw that?
Well, it's Onee-chan's first time bringing a guy home. How could we not take a peek?
The two of you sure are close!
I-It's not like that!
T-That's right!
Yuuto-san and I are just... Um, well...
Well, what is it?
Onii-san, meow.
Hey, did you have fun on your date at Akiba?
W-What do you mean?
Hiding it doesn't help, we know all about it!
Onee-chan made a special shopping guide, and she was running around in a new outfit!
So, Onii-san, do you know Onee-chan's secret?
Um... I don't know what you're talking about...
Come on!
You know, hiding it won't help — just admit it!
I don't know!
Stop it! Stop it!
Please...
I want you to answer me seriously.
Do you know about Onee-chan's... hobby?
Yeah... Although it was completely by coincidence.
Really? Sounds about right. That's what I thought too.
How do you know about it though?
She said that she even keeps it a secret from her family.
Oh, about that.
She couldn't hide it from us, no matter how hard she tried.
I guess the only one who doesn't actually know about it is our father.
Really? That's just like Haruka.
Here's a serious request from me.
Please don't abandon Onee-chan.
It's all right.
I'll never even think about abandoning Haruka.
Haruka is a really precious friend of mine, and besides...
She's cute...
It doesn't matter if she's a clumsy airhead, or if she has weird interests...
All of that really makes Haruka the person she is.
Yeah! You're exactly the way I thought you'd be, Onii-san!
Whoa! Wai— Hey!
Are you two done talking?
Ah! H-Haruka!
N-No! T-This is... Um...
Oh, come on, Onii-san!
You shouldn't hug me so suddenly, no matter how cute I am!
You're ~ So ~ Bold!
Haruka! It's not what you think! This is...
Mika, don't stick so close to Yuuto-san.
Yuuto-san will be troubled.
Onee-chan is really lacking in that area.
R-Really...
With Onee-chan being as she is, you may experience some trouble.
But still, it's a pleasure to meet you, Onii-san!
Finally, it's over...
Good job, Yuuto-san.
How was the test?
Well, thanks to you I was able to get through it.
Really? I'm glad that I was able to be of help.
Yuuto-san, do you have any plans for the summer break?
No, nothing in particular.
R-Really?
Then, in that case... Um...
Can you come with me to Summer Comiket?
Summer Comiket? What's that?
It's an event that's held in Odaiba every summer and winter.
I've always been interested in it,
and ever since I read the catalogue, I've wanted to go no matter what.
But, I'd be too nervous if I went alone.
B-But if you can't make it, don't force yourself.
It's all right, it's not like I have anything else to do.
Really?!
Yeah. I'm not really familiar with this Summer Comiket thing, but if you're fine with me...
Thank you very much!
I brought the catalog with me. Do you want to take a look at it later?
Haruka, watch out!
O-Ouch...
Haruka?
My bag...!
Everyone, Ohayorkshire Terrier!
(TL Note: Yukari is making a pun while greeting the class.)
Hm?
Oh... Haruka-chan's taking another day off...
It's already the third day...
What's wrong with her?
Your teacher's so lonely! Sob, sob.
Huh? Is that Nogizaka-san's?
It came out of Nogizaka-san's bag!
What? Nogizaka-san has otaku books like that?
No way! Why would Nuit Étoile read such a book?
O-Oh!
Could that be the catalog that I dropped? I was looking for that!
Wow! So you picked it up for me, Nogizaka-san!
As expected from Nogizaka-san!
Oh, so that's how it is.
There's no way Nogizaka-san would read a book like that.
Nogizaka-san is so kind.
Isn't that guy Ayase?
He's Asakura's friend. I guess he's an otaku as well.
Ew... He's disgusting...
Say as you please...
Haruka?
It's over...
H-Hey! Haruka!
Haruka...
I heard that Nogizaka-san is absent again...
It's gotta be Ayase's fault.
Since he's an otaku.
I really don't want to be anywhere near him.
Disgusting... Just disgusting...
Hey, Ayase-kun.
Who are you?
Oh, I forgot to introduce myself.
I'm Ogasawara Takashi, a third year student.
I'd like to say something to the unpleasant otaku who's always bothering Haruka like a leech.
What is it?
Stay away from Haruka-chan!
A perverted otaku like you, who gets turned on by simply looking at figurines of girls,
will only bring her trouble by hanging around her.
Is that all?
If that's all, bye.
H-Hey, wait! Are you running away, you anime otaku?!
Stay away from Haruka-chan!
Otaku like you should just stay home and surf the stupid net!
They all say the same thing...
Is Akiba culture really that bad?
Haruka's just Haruka...
All right!
Onii-san!
T-That scared me...
What did you do to Onee-chan?
She hasn't eaten in three days, and she locked herself in her room!
No way...!
If Onee-chan is this depressed...
You didn't ask her to do anything weird, did you?!
L-Like dress up as a nurse, bunny girl, or even worse — w-wear nothing but an apron!
It's still too early for things like that!
No! It's too dirty!
Our task is to protect the members of the Nogizaka Family.
If Haruka-sama has lost her smile because of Ayase-sama,
we will not allow you to set foot inside.
I... didn't do anything...
Is Onee-chan's secret blown?
No... I somehow managed to cover it up.
But Haruka probably thinks it's blown.
Like I thought... It just felt weird to me...
She's exactly the same as before!
Before?
I guess it'd be better to let Onii-san know about this...
If it's you, then I'm sure it's okay.
Haruka-sama?
Yuuto-sama is here to see you!
Onee-chan! Onii-san came and brought you some cake from Ginkadou!
Let's eat it together!
I had hoped that having both Onii-san and cake would be enough to lure Onee-chan out...
All right, how about this?
If you aren't coming out, then I'll take both Onii-san and the cake!
Right, Onii-san?
H-Hey!
Onii-san...
Come on, let's forget about Onee-chan and go on a date with just the two of us!
Akihabara sounds nice too!
W-What are you talking about?!
Meow!
No, no, no, you can't!
Not Yuuto-san! I'm not giving you Yuuto-san!
Yuuto-san can only go to Akihabara with me!
Looks like it had the opposite result.
Nope, tactically it worked quite well!
Really?
Onii-san, you lady-killer.
Playboy.
At any rate, I'm worried about Haruka-sama's health.
Now that it has come to this, I guess there's no other way than to break in.
Break in...?
Wait a sec!
Hey, Haruka?
Don't worry about the catalog.
I somehow convinced them all that the book was actually mine.
That won't do! It's really hard on me!
Really? Why?
Because... Then other people will give you weird looks...
Don't worry about that.
We were able to keep your secret.
Y-You don't know how it is, Yuuto-san...
You don't know how it feels when the people around you find out that you have different, weird interests...
I can't let that happen...
I can't let you go through what I did...
Haruka...
Back when Onee-chan was in middle school, her secret was exposed to everyone.
That's her, right?
That's right. I heard she's an otaku.
Middle school and still watching anime? Disgusting!
She's terrible...
Even her best friends left her...
In the end... Onee-chan had no choice but to transfer.
It's all because she's scared that others might find out about her secret.
I guess she was traumatized by what happened.
That's why... I'm relying on you...
Me?
Since you know about Onee-chan's interest, and you don't mind hanging around her.
You're the only one like that.
If the others think that the Summer Comiket catalog belongs to you...
...then they'll start giving you weird looks, Yuuto-san.
Everyone will start avoiding you.
I don't want you to experience that.
If someone leaves a friend just for that, then they aren't friends at all.
I'll be fine.
B-But...!
It really hurts to be alone...
I couldn't bear the pain...
Even now... I don't think I could make it...
I don't want to be alone...
I'm scared of being alone!
No one wants to...
No one wants to be alone!
You aren't alone.
If you found out that I was into Akiba culture, would you leave me?
I-I would never do that!
Then, at least I have you.
I'm not alone.
T-True... But...!
It's the same for me.
You are you.
Even if the whole world is against me, I'm willing to stay with you, Haruka.
Yuuto-san...
So you're not alone.
No matter what happens, I will never leave you.
I think I must've been waiting all along for someone to tell me, "You're not alone."
I... I always had...
This is really exciting!
Can you make my wish come true? Just one?
Always stay by my side.
Haruka...
Yay! The exams are over! Just a little longer until summer break.
Do you remember the promise you made earlier?
Of course! Summer Comiket, right?
Yes! The date is August 17th!
Good morning, Haruka-chan.
You again...
Always hanging out with this disgusting otaku...
It just doesn't fit you, Haruka-chan.
This guy's life is already over.
Watching anime at his age, and bringing weird catalogs to school...
Simply put, I'm much better than he is.
Don't you think so, Haruka-chan?
Hey you, enough of...!
Don't ever speak so badly of Yuuto-san again.
Yuuto-san is a gentle, warm, and amazing person.
H-Haruka-chan...?
Besides, that weird catalog that you were referring to actually belongs to me.
So if you have anything to say, say it to my face.
Haruka?
Let's go! We're going to be late!
Next Time
「Isn't It Strange...?」
Sakurazaka Hazuki is one who makes little contact with strangers.
The only things that can open her mind are plush toys...
Facing the maid who is even closer to Haruka than he is, Yuuto is troubled.
Next episode, "Isn't It Strange...?"
All right, we might as well give a lot more service next week, too!