"I'm heading out, Hakase!", called a certain robotic high school girl.
Waving back, the professor called back, "Bye! Have a good day, Nano!"
"See ya, girl." Even Sakamoto called out to her as she left.
With a bright smile on her face, Nano Shinonome ventured out on the streets to school. It was the start of a new year, and she couldn't wait to begin her new classes and meet her friends again. Various students were making their way over as well, most of them in pairs or groups, chatting to one another. However, none of them shared the same level of joy and happiness that Nano had. ...well, except for one person.
"Nano-chan!~ Selamat pagi!", called a familiar energetic brown-haired presence.
"Aioi-san, Ohayo!~", said Nano, catching up to Yuuko. "Where's Naganohara-san and Manikami-san? They're usually here with you."
Yuuko looked around, curiously. "Beats me. They better catch up, or they're gonna be late."
As they waited for Mio and Mai, they began their usual girl talk.
"Ne ne, Nano-chan, did you see the newest episode of Lovers' Quarrel? Please tell me you did!"
"Oh, shoot! I forgot!", exclaimed a suddenly panicked Nano.
"WHAT?", shouted Yuuko, "Oh my god, Nano, you need to see it! It's so funny! In that episode, Shima-chan wanted to talk to Kaito-kun about something, so she went into his room and caught him undressing!"
Nano blushed innocently, "Goodness, how much did she see?!"
Yuuko looked at Nano with a stone cold face. "Everything. She. Saw. EVERYTHING."
"Ehh?!" At this point, the robot was red all over. She clearly wasn't used to seeing people of the opposite sex without any clothes, even if it were from an anime like Lovers' Quarrel.
"Yeah, it gets better," continued Yuuko, "Shima-chan didn't even move! She just STARED at him, while Kaito-kun tried to rush and cover himself up, but he tripped and hit his head against his bed frame, knocking him out, hahaha!"
"No way!" Nano wasn't blushing as much, getting more into what Yuuko was telling her. She didn't mind the spoilers at this point.
Yuuko retorted with twinkles in her eyes. "Way! So Shima-chan had to take care of Kaito-kun after he knocked himself out, WHILE STILL NAKED! SHE WAS A MESS! The faces she made were priceless! Oh my god, Nano, you need to see it for yourself, it's so funny!"
Both girls were in a laughing fit as they made their way into the Tokisadame High School building.
The entire classroom is filled with students before lunch began. Two boys were sitting down at a desk and looking at a photo of what appears to be a ghost of a little girl sitting in a corner of an abandoned, dusty room. Tanaka, the afro-wearing boy, brought the photo for Tsuyoshi Nakanojo, the blonde mohawk-wearing skeptic, to analyze it.
"When I visited my grandma," began Tanaka, "I took a picture of this room to add to my scrapbook, and when it developed, I found that cute little ghost sitting right there." He pointed at the spectral figure.
Nakanojo pressed his hand against his chin. "Hmm…" He tried looking for a way to disprove that this is a ghost.
Tanaka added on, "I remember my grandma telling me she had a sister who died a long time ago in this house."
Nakanojo looked up, "Do you think this could be her?"
"I don't see who else it could be."
"And you didn't see this girl when you looked at this room?"
"No."
This is strange, the mohawk boy thought to himself. Normally, when he browsed ghost photos on the internet, he would always find evidence of people shopping the photos to make it look like it had ghosts in the first place. However, the problem is that this is a real photograph produced from a Polaroid. There was no way Tanaka would have tampered with it without destroying it. It was starting to look convincing that this is the first legitimate evidence of ghosts existing. Unsettling feelings took over both Nakanojo and Tanaka.
"I've seen something like this before," said Tadashi while pointing at the ghost. "Usually when you take photos like these in dark rooms, the flash can capture faint reflective light. Look at this window." His finger dragged from the ghost to a window to the side. "See how the dust is collected along the edges? When the sunlight hits the window, it only casts out the light that isn't blocked by the dust, therefore, what you have left is that 'ghost' sitting in the corner."
Just like that, the mystery has been solved. Nakanojo and Tanaka looked at the photo again and confirmed what Tadashi has told them. The sunlight is hitting just at the right angle to make the ghost appear, like a projection in a movie theater.
"That just leaves one more question though…" said Nakanojo. He then turned his head and pointed towards Tadashi.
"Who the hell are you?"
Mai Minakami and Mio Nagahara stared down one another at a school desk, holding hands. Not in a way that you'd see with couples, but with thumb-wrestling. Yuuko officiated the match while Nano spectated from the side.
"Okay, are you two ready?" asked Yuuko.
Both participants nodded, still staring down one another. Mai was calm, collected, and cool as a cucumber. Mio's eyes lit like fire within the azure. She was clearly passionate and determined to win.
Yuuko decided to officially begin the match. "Loser treats me to lunch. Are you ready? Go!"
Mio quickly turned her head towards Yuuko. "Wait, wha-"
Mai's thumb immediately pressed down on Mio's thumb knuckle, and within two seconds…
CRACK.
The sound of a popped knuckle sounded throughout the classroom. Everyone heard it and was left in dead silence, including the teacher. The match was over before it even began.
Mio, with a face that contained the thousand-mile stare, gently let go of Mai's hand and pulled it away. She stood up, grabbed her wallet, pulled out a few hundred yen, and gave it to Yuuko.
"Get what you want," said Mio with an emotionless voice.
Yuuko took the money without warning and calmly walked out of the classroom. Mai returned to reading her book. Mio sat down and covered her face in her hands, basking in this moment of dread. Nano could not believe what she saw.
After witnessing possibly the most interesting thumb-wrestling match in existence, Nano sat at her desk to eat her lunch. She needed to clear those visions and memories from her head. Opening her bento box, she felt proud of what she cooked the night before. She smiled to herself and clapped her hands together.
"Itadakimasu!" She began to eat her chicken stir fry and rice.
A boy sat in his desk to the left of Nano and pulled out his bento box. The robot looked over to see who it was and gasped. It was Tadashi, her neighbor across the street. "Ta… Tadashi-kun?"
He turned his head at the mention of his name. "Oh! Nano-chan! I didn't know you were in my class!"
"I didn't know you were here, either!" She was very excited to see him. "So you're the new transfer student here, huh?"
"Yep!" Tadashi continued on as he ate. "I'm glad you weren't in my first class when I introduced myself to everyone. I… embarrassed myself really bad..."
Nano chuckled, "It can't be as bad as my introduction."
Tadashi looked at his neighbor dead in the eye. "Did you fart in yours?"
"Eh?"
Takasaki-sensei addressed his class."Today, we have a new transfer student joining us today. Fujiomi-san?"
"Hai!" A boy stood up, took a piece of chalk and wrote out his name on the board, reading 'Fujiomi Tadashi.'
"Good morning, everyone, my name is Tadashi Fujiomi. I just moved in town all the way from Osaka. I uh… I like video games, um… sports…"
He tried really hard not to mention his manga and eroge. He succeeded so far.
"A-anyway! I can't wait to meet everyone and be friends. Have a good day!," said Tadashi, all flustered out.
He bowed in front of everyone, and then…
BRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPP…
He didn't dare look back up at his classmates to tell that they were holding back laughter as hard as they could.
"So yeah, that's… basically what happened." explained Tadashi. "I can't believe I messed up like that." He looked up to make eye contact with Nano to see her response.
Her face… was twisted. Her eyes slightly squinted, her teeth was biting her lip, and her cheeks puffed. Shortly…
"PAAHAHAHAHA!" Nano burst out with laughter. Nobody has ever heard the girl in a laughing fit like this. She pressed her hand at his shoulder to try and contain herself. "Ta… Ta… Tadashi-kuuun~, ahahah, I'm sorry, I'm… so sorry, ahahahahaha!"
Tadashi was beet red. He never felt this ashamed in his life. Soon, Nano wiped the tears from her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Tadashi-kun, I shouldn't have laughed at you like that. I just can't imagine how awkward it must have been for you." She said that, trying to be as serious as possible now.
The boy turned away from Nano, "Yeah, yeah, make fun of me all you want now."
Now she felt really guilty. "Aww, Tadashi-kun… you know I don't mean harm, right?" She tried her best to diffuse the tension. "Here, this might cheer you up." She pulled out a juice box from her bag and handed it over to him with a smile.
Tadashi looked at the juice box and then back to Nano. "I can have this?"
Nano nodded happily. "Take it!"
Slowly feeling better, the boy took the juice and began to sip on it. "Arigatou, Nano-chan."
"Anytime!" She was glad his spirits were brightening after accidentally humiliating him. "Oh, while you're here, Tadashi-kun…" Nano pulled out her new school schedule. "Do we have any classes together? We didn't see each other this morning."
Tadashi pulled out his schedule and compared it with Nano's. "Let's see… oh! We have three together! Math, science, and P.E.!"
Nano looked a bit gloomy. "Aww, math? I'm not good at that…"
Tadashi handed her schedule back to her. "That's okay, if you need any help, you can always come over my house."
Surprised by this nonchalant response, Nano blushed. "W-wait, really?"
"Yep!" He had no idea that the thought of a girl casually hanging with a boy, even to study, was embarrassing to her. "I'll even give you some pointers to help you out in the future," he said with a wink this time.
"A-ah!" Now it was Nano's turn to become beet red. "Ha… hai… that sounds… wonderful… ahah…"
Yuuko and Mio looked ahead at Nano and Tadashi from a few seats down.
"Well, well, well, Mio-chan," said Yuuko mischievously, "looks like our little robo friend found herself a playmate~."
"Yuuko, what's that supposed to mean?! And stop calling her a robot!"