Maimaki Mai/Story

==Childhood==
In kindergarten, Mai became close with Azuki Azusa, whom she knew as "A-chan" at the time. After graduation, they promised to keep in contact via letters. However, this means of communication was cut off when Mai's family moved and the postal service failed to forward Azusa's letters, causing them to eventually grow apart.
==Beginning of the Story==
Mai is introduced as the vice president of the track-and-field club when Youto attends a club practice. She immediately distrusts him, accusing him of harboring indecent thoughts about Tsukushi. However, Tsukushi, whom Mai idolizes and reveres, comes to Youto's defense.
The next time she appears is after Youto's reunion with Emi. Asked to show Emi around the school, Youto sneaks in by climbing a wall and is caught by Mai, who immediately tears into him. However, under the effect of Emi's wish, she becomes friendly with Youto and gifts him her sports bra, nonchalantly telling him to "give it back when he's done."
Their conflict grows, forcing Tsukushi to devise a plan to reconcile them. She locks them in a room and organizes a game of Sugoroku. The board is custom-made by Tsukushi's little sister Tsukiko, with bizzare instructions ranging from "you must massage your family member's waist" to "receive Tsukiko's bold black underwear." Several tiles also instruct Tsukushi to study for her upcoming university entrance exams, with six of these tiles lined up consecutively to ensure she studies. However, Tsukushi is so dense that she fails to realize the purpose behind this setup.
Mai is initially against the game, until she sets her eyes on a tile that says "have the person you like pat you on the head." She fervently prays to land on a headpat tile but instead ends up having to act like a "kitty," reluctantly complying with the Steel King's insistence on authenticity.
On Tsukushi's turn, she lands on a tile that reads, "hug everyone and share love." When she hugs Mai, the vice president falls into a heavenly trance, overcome with bliss. After she recovers, Youto lands on the Tsukiko's underwear tile. Though Tsukushi insists the order of the board is absolute, Mai points out some small text that they have missed: In full, the instructions say "receive someone except Tsukiko's bold black underwear."
This backfires on Mai however, as the president, still treating the order as absolute, is about to offer her own. Panicking, she hands a pair of black socks to Youto a pair of socks, arguing that they also count as underwear. Unprompted, she continues to ramble about how she doesn't mind the "white liquid" from one person all while telling Youto to move on. Baffled, Youto asks Mai if she is actually enjoying the situation. She responds with threats again, but subconsciously ends by saying "I don't know, probably," outing herself and confirming Youto's suspicions that she is perverted in her own right.
==Field Trip==
Over time, Mai notices that despite Youto's outward perverted appearance, he has an uncanny ability to form strong bonds with others — a trait that fills her with jealousy. As a part of the committee for an upcoming field trip, she assigns herself to be grouped with Youto, Azuki Azusa, and Cozy-sama, who is the president of the swimming club and a rare friend of Mai. By doing so, she hopes to observe Youto more closely and uncover the secret behind how he forms such strong connections.
On the weekend, Mai spots Youto in a cafe with Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko, leading her to assume that he is cheating on his supposed girlfriend, Azusa. Later, Youto seeks her out in an attempt to smooth things over for the sake of the upcoming field trip. During their conversation, Mai discovers that Youto has received a cat piece from a new game created by Tsukushi — a piece she also possesses. However, while Mai had to beg the president to get her piece, Youto casually claims that Tsukushi forced it upon him. This deepens Mai's jealousy further, as even the person she values most seems to have a stronger bond with Youto than with her.
On the day of the field trip, Mai becomes the target of Cozy-sama's affectionate teasing while aboard the bus. Cozy-sama addresses her as "MaiMai," a nickname which Youto later adopts as well. After returning to the hotel, the girls discover that Youto has "kidnapped" a kouhai. Tsukiko, who has followed Youto on her own volition, tries to explain that it's her own fault, but no one believes her.
Finding Youto's effortless relationships increasingly unbearable, Mai leaves for some time alone. She sits besides a shrine with a stray cat. When Youto joins her, the cat scurries away, and Mai lies that she hated cats and was stepping on it. Their conversation starts with the usual series of insults, but as she tells him to shut up, a subtle laughter escapes her throat. Realizing her slip, Mai quickly begins clicking her tongue in an attempt to cover it up.
Youto thanks Mai for joining their group, but she insists that she did it for herself. Regardless, Youto offers her a hand, suggesting that they go back before people start looking for her. However, Mai hesitates, saying that she doesn't want to be in the same room as Youto's girlfriend and kouhai. She confesses her true motive for joining Youto on this trip — to figure out why he is able to form such strong relationships.
With unprecedented sincerity, Mai expresses frustration over her inability to form such bonds. She recounts the painful experience of losing contact with her kindergarten friend A-chan, and brings up Tsukushi's difference in treatment between her and Youto. Comparing her relationships to Youto's, she confesses her feelings of jealousy.
However, Mai's words strike a nerve as she's completely unaware of Youto's struggle with his extreme levels of forgetfulness. He tells Mai about how his memories disappear almost immediately, and no matter the relationships he forms, he would end up with nothing in the end. Knowing the pain of losing proofs of past relationships, Youto tells Mai that he is much better off with her memories intact, finding himself becoming jealous of Mai as well.
As their argument intensifies, they are interrupted by a teacher, prompting Youto to grab Mai and hide. In the chaos, the "cat" pieces from Tsukushi's game that they both carry collide, triggering a mysterious phenomenon. When they regain consciousness, Youto and Mai are horrified to discover they have switched bodies.
In an empty sports room, Youto explains the Cat God's role in granting their wishes to be like each other. Hopeful that they might be able to revert the wish, Youto suggests to try bashing their heads against each other one more time. However, Mai hesitates, her curiosity about Youto's male anatomy getting the better of her. This leads to a chaotic confrontation in which Mai embraces Youto's perverted persona in front of the Old Miss, a teacher known for her disdain towards Youto, only saved by the kindness of another teacher, the Moustached Daruma.
That night, Mai continues her antics, leaning into her newly acquired perverted reputation and causing even more damage to Youto's already fragile reputation. She even takes the opportunity to satisfy her curiosity by exploring her new form in the washroom, fully exploiting the body swap to indulge her whims.
The next day, Youto's group sets off for Togakushi Ninja Village with Tsukiko tagging along. Due to a group size limit of 4 at the attraction, Tsukiko suggests splitting into groups of 2 and 3. She pairs herself with who she thought was Youto, and Youto, Cozy-sama, and Azusa form the other group.
Once alone with "Youto," Tsukiko bombards Mai with countless questions about his recent experiences, meticulously writing down every detail. She remarks that this is "the least she could do," referencing Youto's earlier mention of his memory loss. Though the hours-long interrogation thoroughly exhausts Mai, realizes that Tsukiko's actions are an earnest attempt to preserve Youto's memories in his place. This revelation deepens Mai's understanding of Tsukiko's bond with Youto, a connection even stronger than she had imagined.
That evening, Mai finds Youto in the girls' room. Using a stray cat as a bargaining tool to gain entry, she proposes switching back bodies. Admitting that Youto's relationships are far too complex for her to handle, Mai acknowledges that the two of them were fundamentally different from the start and could never truly become each other. They manage to reverse the body swap, but the exchange leaves behind lingering consequences. Tsukiko, overhearing their conversation and witnessing the reversal, spirals into despair as she reflects on her dependence on superficial appearances, likening herself to the cat, which "doesn't care who it is so long as it could get sweets."
Consumed by embarrassment, she whispers something to one of the cat pieces resting on the tatami mat and bumps her head against the cat. Suddenly, the room is plunged into a brief power outage. When the lights turn back on, Youto and Mai find the cat lying on Tsukiko's futon, while Tsukiko herself is nowhere to be found.
Youto, Mai, and Azusa form a search party for Tsukiko. With the mysterious cat accompanying them, they encounter Cozy-sama, who describes ghostly sightings of a figure behaving erratically in the hallways and stealing food from the teachers' sashimi dinner. The students are eventually shooed back to their rooms by a teacher, and Youto, realizing he left his cat piece in the girls' room, follows them there.
Upon entering, they find Tsukiko asleep, surrounded by stolen food, confirming Youto's suspicion that Tsukiko had swapped bodies with the cat. The real Tsukiko, sulking in despair, sits in the corner of the room. While Youto attempts to communicate with her, the other girls decide to hand her over to the teacher. Azusa tries to intervene but struggles to find convincing logic. Desperately, Youto and Azusa explain that Tsukiko was possessed by a cat, but their claims are dismissed as absurd.
As the situation grows dire, Mai presses Youto to decide what he intends to do. Youto hesitates, conflicted by his desire to save Tsukiko and his fear that his inevitable memory loss will only cause her more pain. Mai provides a crucial moment of clarity by handing Youto Tsukiko's grade book, filled with meticulous records of his actions — Tsukiko's effort to preserve his memories despite his condition. Calling him a moron, Mai tells Youto that he should take more pride in his life, urging him to face up to it just like he has told her before.
Encouraged by Mai's words and the depth of Tsukiko's care for him, Youto makes up his mind. He communicates with the cat in Tsukiko's body and convinces it to reverse the body swap. When the teachers arrive, Youto fully embraces his perverted persona to take all the blame for the chaos, saving Tsukiko from repercussions. In the end, Youto is forced to write countless reflection letters and volunteer for two weeks, but manages to avoid suspension thanks to the kind Moustached Daruma.
After the field trip, Mai is assigned to supervise Youto's community service. Though Mai maintains a tsundere, mocking attitude, their experiences during the trip have forged a new level of understanding and respect between them, marking the start of a new friendship.
==Club Disputes==
As Tsukushi begins preparing for her university exams, she steps down as president of the track-and-field club, leaving Mai to inherit her position. Driven by her deep admiration for Tsukushi, Mai vows to uphold the legacy she left behind and maintain the club to the best of her ability.
The sports grounds at the school are shared by multiple clubs, and with winter practice underway, disputes arise over the limited space. The baseball club frequently hits balls over the nets, disrupting the track-and-field club's marathon training. This repeated interference frustrates the track-and-field club. Pushed to her limits, Mai calls out the baseball club, telling them that they "suck way too much."
Things escalate when a more senior member of the baseball club, nicknamed Gorilla-senpai, arrives. He dismisses Mai's complaints and argues back for the track-and-field club to practice another time, drumming his chest as he speaks, emboldened by the lack of the Steel King's presence, whom nobody dared to defy while she still served as president.
Other members of the baseball club start joining in, escalating the situation into a standoff. While Youto observes from the sidelines, he is approached by Cozy-sama, who notes Mai's struggle to handle the situation, encouraging him to play the part of "Prince Charming" and save his "princess" from a pinch. He stands up and shouts, "All eyes on me!" in an attempt to defuse the tension. However, both clubs, even track-and-field members, mock him, calling him a pervert and dismissing his intervention entirely.
After this, Youto unknowingly becomes entangled in a conspiracy orchestrated by Emi's father. Awakened by his own inner desire to save others, a mysterious shadow begins to take control of Youto, acting on his behalf. As tension between the track-and-field club and the baseball club continues, the unreasonable yet overpowering Gorilla-senpai of the baseball club shows no sign of budging, maintaining that the practice grounds belong to the baseball club as long as the sky is blue.
Compelled by the shadow's influence, Youto steps up to intervene once again. His mouth moves on its own, questioning Gorilla-senpai if he knew why the sky is blue, catching him off guard. In an intellectual tone, Youto first explains the science behind the Rayleigh scattering effect, before adding a philosophical twist — that the blue sky exists as a reminder of humanity's origins from the sea and of their growth as a species. He passionately urges both clubs to stop wasting their precious lives fighting under the blue sky and instead work together.
After his speech concludes, the silence is broken by the applause of a lone member of the baseball club. The applause soon spreads, with the rest of the club members joining in. Seeing the change in mood, Mai steps forward and takes over. She proposes a compromise: the track-and-field club will practice running and stretching outside the field when the baseball club is doing knocks. In return, the baseball club must keep their balls inside the designated area during track-and-field events like hurdles and throwing practice.
Even though the track-and-field club and the baseball club have largely made up, Gorilla-senpai's attitude remains an issue. Finding Gorilla-senpai in a nearby classroom, the shadow challenges Gorilla-senpai directly, proposing a fair competition during the upcoming marathon tournament. If Youto wins, he will join the baseball club as an assistant and help reform it from within, ensuring peace between the clubs. If Youto loses, he will become Gorilla-senpai's personal servant. His competitor instincts firing up, Gorilla-senpai agrees to the terms.
Mai questions his decision to join the baseball club. The shadow, still inhabiting Youto, declares that Gorilla-senpai is actually not at fault, but is instead another victim of the school's poor system. He gives an inspiring speech that motivates the students to redirect their efforts to fighting the true enemy, earning another round of applause.
When the day of the marathon arrives, Gorilla-senpai — unpopular among his peers — is sabotaged by another student. Tripping on untied shoelaces, he falls down to the nearby riverbanks while running. Instead of taking advantage of the situation, Youto once again demonstrates kindness, helping him up and carrying him to aid.
With the baseball club's issues finally resolved, Youto fulfills his promise and officially leaves the track-and-field club. From this point on, the dynamic between Mai and Youto becomes awkward, as Mai feels betrayed by Youto's departure.
==New Timeline==
Youto and Tsukiko later travel to the past to resolve a "curse" causing a sharp decline in Tsukushi's health. Regressing to his six-year-old self and living with the Tsutsukakushi family, Youto is asked by a seven-year-old Tsukushi to show her around his school. Lacking memories of his childhood, Youto randomly picks a school outside his district to avoid suspicion. Unbeknownst to him, the school he selects is the one attended by a young Mai.
When little Mai spots the two strangers on school grounds, she immediately accuses them of trespassing and demands that they identify themselves, calling them villains. Tsukushi takes offense to Mai's accusations and challenges her with her characteristic arrogance and regal demeanor. A verbal sparring match ensues, with Tsukushi using advanced vocabulary and lofty rhetoric to assert her superiority, while Mai retaliates with straightforward and fiery insults.
The argument escalates into a physical altercation. Both girls throw punches and kicks in a chaotic display of childlike combat. Youto attempts to mediate, stepping between the two to stop the fight. However, his efforts are met with slaps and kicks from both sides.
To defuse the situation, Youto strategically mentions Azuki Azusa, who he has deduced to be the "A-chan" Mai mentioned during the field trip. Claiming to know Azusa, Youto offers to take Mai to her family.
They set off towards the Azuki household, with Mai continuing to bombards Tsukushi with insults the whole way. When they arrive however, she begins to show signs of hesitation. When they ring the doorbell, Azusa's mother greets them warmly, recognizing Youto from a prior encounter at the bathhouse. Adopting a polite tone, Youto introduces "Ma-chan."
A-chan, initially shy, peeks out from behind a hallway corner, wearing her signature red ribbon. Mai hesitantly starts a conversation, complimentimg A-chan's ribbon and asks how she's been. She mentions sending letters but getting no response, expressing concern. With Azusa remaining silent, Mai suspects that she's being a bother, and turns to leave.
A-chan remains silent but clearly emotional, eventually leaping at Mai and pinning her to the ground in a sudden, tearful embrace, surprising both Mai and Youto. Azusa's mother explains that their letters never reached each other due to confusions with the postal system after Mai's family moved. 
The misunderstanding cleared, Azusa and Mai reconcile. They resume frequent hangouts, joined by their new friends Tsukiko and Tsukushi. Despite challenges, Youto and Tsukiko succeed in finding the root cause of the "curse" — a belief held by Tsukasa in order to cope with her own declining health, which manifested in Tsukushi due to an inadvertent wish made as an expression of love for her mother. They also learn why Youto grew acquainted with the Tsutsukakushi family during his childhood — it was the result of Tsukasa's wish for a family in her most desperate and lonely times, which separated him from his actual family.
Due to both wishes being cancelled, particularly the second one, Youto grows distant from Mai and the rest of his acquaintances as he becomes busier with his own family, while Mai's bond with Azusa, Tsukiko, and Tsukushi remains strong. Upset about his absence, Mai questions the sickly auntie Tsukasa. Tsukasa explains that Youto is working to fix his life and relationships, emphasizing the importance of nature taking its course. She promises Mai that Youto would appear in front of her again as long as she remembers him. "People only die when they are forgotten. As long as you remember them, they will exist somewhere... For sure.", Tsukasa says, moments before she leaves the world behind.
In high school, thanks to Tsukiko's persistent efforts guided by her "Yokodera-kun Notes," which transcended timelines due to her wish to preserve Youto's memories — Youto reappears in Mai's life. Tsukiko becomes fixated on restoring the world to its original state, encouraging Youto to reconnect with his former friends. However, Mai, still harboring a grudge over Youto's abandonment, remains hostile toward him. She believes that Youto will inevitably abandon those close to him once again, leaving them hurt in the process. Determined to protect her friends, Mai tries everything she can to stop Youto from interacting with them.
Her frustration eventually leads her to confront him directly at his house. She demands that Youto leave the town immediately, stating that his continued presence will lead to him hurting others again. Youto initially assumes Mai might have gained insight from Tsukiko's notes about the past and their altered reality, his statements confusing Mai. He eventually realizes she's merely talking about the past of the current timeline.
Mai accuses Youto of betraying her by forgetting their childhood friendship. She expresses bitterness that Youto moved on with his life, seemingly disregarding the bond they once shared, admitting that her hostility was an attempt to shield her friends.
Reflecting on the past timelines, Youto realizes that while they succeeded in preserving Mai's friendship with Azusa, she ultimately lost another equally precious connection in the end. He offers a sincere apology, and Mai returns to her tsundere self, but gives Youto the permission to call her by the nickname "MaiMai" once again.
Mai expresses curiosity in the past timeline that Youto mentioned earlier, so Youto decides to share the truth about the two timelines, Tsukiko's notes, and the fears he holds about the current world following the same tragic course as the previous one. To his surprise, Mai believes him, recalling something Tsukasa once told her before her passing, that the world has a way of correcting itself, steering events toward the same outcomes. She reflects that their very conversation may be evidence of this.
Mai speculates that had she known earlier, they might have acted differently. This makes Youto realize that if all of their friends were shown the notes earlier, they might have been able to reunite before reaching this age. However, such a method never occurred to Tsukiko. Instead, she has been attempting to follow the path written in the notes without deviation. Inspired by the realization, Youto suddenly embraces Mai, thanking her and requesting her help.
Deciding to help Tsukiko overcome her overreliance on the notes, Youto organizes a celebratory party at the Tsutsukakushi household, inviting everyone he could. As the party unfolds, lighthearted moments of bonding ensue. Youto eventually confronts Tsukiko, who admits that it simply never occurred to her to involve others or use the notes to bring them closer together.
Youto points out that Tsukiko puts all her trust in the past, specifically the world of the notes, instead of believing in the potential of the present and future. He frames the party as an event that challenges the rigidity of the notes, showing that meaningful relationships can form naturally without adhering to prewritten paths. Tsukiko admits her wish for the notes' world to become reality, believing it would restore her happiness, but Youto reminds her that clinging to the past dishonors her mother's wish for her to move forward. Mai supports him by recounting the conversation she had with Tsukasa before her passing.
Youto asserts that there was no need to "take back" anything — because there was nothing that they lost. Instead, he urges her to join him in discovering all the new things in this world, promising to always be by her side, whether it's in the eleven volumes of her notes, or in the most distant future. Hearing these heartfelt words, Tsukiko breaks down in tears. Deciding to embrace the future, the two of them burn the notes atop the hill where they met, realizing that the most important memories are etched in one's heart.
After Tsukushi retires from the track-and-field club to focus on her university entrance exams, Mai inherits her position as club president. One year later, she, too, begins preparing for university. In the epilogue, Mai, now in the third year of high school, serves as the narrator for a series of short stories.
She shares a series of stories with Cozy-sama, who has also gotten to know her in the new timeline. Their friendship, though recently deepened, feels like a bond that has existed forever. After Youto and Tsukiko move into a new rented apartment near their university, Mai often visits their new place to keep an eye on Tsukushi. While she still loves Tsukushi deeply, she no longer reveres her like a goddess. Instead, she openly critiques Tsukushi's habits, such as lack of exercise and her weight. No matter where she goes, Cozy-sama and her affectionate teasing is never far behind.
==Navigation==