Neighborhood Story

Dealing With a Childhood Friend! (1x2)

: 17, 1995

The euphoria of successfully having won over Noriji quickly gives way to a vivacious divergent concourse between Mikako and Tsutomu over what to name the kitten that she rescued that is only extinguished when Mikako has to quickly take responsibility for her cooking. A pair of star-struck schoolgirls accosting Tsutomu with a love letter during the commute to school and Risa's remarks about the convergent cerebral chemistry demonstrated in the situation along with P-chan's exhortation of an author's signature to a sentimental manga sets Mikako to wondering what infatuation is like; while Tsutomu reads the love letter from the schoolgirls, Yuusuke emphasizes the upcoming diurnal karaoke engagement that he and Jiro want to take place after school that day. Unable to accept that her anguish is because she loves him, Mikako does not respond well to Tsutomu suddenly aborting the shopping trip even though Tsutomu later tries to check in with her. Yuusuke and Jiro's subterfuge backfires on them when Tsutomu becomes the center of attention for the girls and becomes Mariko's infatuation; the ultimate irony is that it is Mikako's vindictive rejection of his apology and the adversarial divergent concourse that it ignites the next morning that inspires Tsutomu to unequivocally return Mariko's sentiments.