Episode 12

**Goodbye, Best Friend** is the twelfth episode of the anime series.

## Summary

Within the school gymnasium, Tomo, Carol, and Misuzu's parents all waited in the gym crowd to see their children's play of Cinderella for the Culture Fest.

As the lights in the gymnasium start to dim, Tasumi, the narrator, narrates the start of the play where Misuzu, as Cinderella, "sobbingly", cleans the floor. The plot of the play continues as Carol makes her appearance followed by Jun and Tomo. Ultimately, the play was a hit, with the audience earning them all a cheerful standing ovation.

Afterward, Jun asks Tomo if she'd like to walk around the festival with him, and she agrees, but asks that he take off his tree costume first.

They first visit a maid cafe, where they're served by Mifune and Ogawa, who treat Tomo kindly, but Jun disparagingly. Their next stop is a haunted house, where Kousuke dressed as a vampire terrifies Tomo and is nearly KOed by Tomo, but Jun stops her. Outside, they compete against each other in a sports game where Tomo wins against Jun, and they enjoy some takoyaki after it.

Once dusk starts to settle, a bonfire dance is held, and a group of girls asks to dance with them. However, Jun asks Tomo to dance with him, and she agrees, earning Tomo applause from the girls.

Elsewhere, Tatsumi asks Misuzu to dance with him, but tacitly declines by walking away while lost in her own thoughts until Carol latches onto her. They then sit on a bench and have a brief heart-to-heart about how Carol set Misuzu up to make up with Tomo, but that wasn't Carol's true motive.

On the dance floor, Tomo and Jun dance together, and Tomo notes that Jun's dance proposal made it seem like he was asking her as if he was courting her, which Jun insinuates he was. His response shocks Tomo, who then runs away.

Time passes, and on a cold day, Jun exits his home and is tackled by an excited Tomo. They then walk to school together as Jun internally notes that since the day of the Culture Fest, Tomo had acted excitedly toward him. While they walk to school, Jun tries to ask Tomo about the afterparty; however, Tomo flusteredly changes the subject and suggests they head to school. With that, Tomo rushes off ahead, leaving Jun to conclude he was rejected.

At school, Tomo meets with Carol and Misuzu, and after a brief interaction with them, Carol asks Tomo about her attitude toward Jun since the Culture Fest. Again, Tomo becomes flustered and walks off in a ridged manner. In Misuzu's opinion, she deduces that Jun confirmed his feelings toward her, and because of it, she chose to run away from him.

When Jun enters the school grounds, Kousuke greets him and notices his dour mood. On a bench, Jun informs Kousuke of his situation and asks for some advice. Kousuke suggests that Jun bluntly confess his feelings for Tomo, and Jun thanks him for his advice.

Fulled by self-encouragement to confess his feelings to Tomo, Jun first asks to talk with Misuzu. At the top of the stairwell leading to the rooftop, Jun apologizes to Misuzu and admits he had feelings for Tomo even before they dated. Jun's confession left Misuzu in a tizzy as he still cared for her despite having feelings for Tomo. Hence, Misuzu clears up things with Jun, and before they return to class, Misuzu asks Jun if she is his first love, but he denies it.

Later, Tomo finds a letter of challenge on her desk, and when she enters the rooftop, she's confronted by Jun. There, Jun demands that Tomo punch him, which she hesitates to do. However, after recalling when Tomo confessed her feelings to him at the start of the school year. Jun then confirms all of Tomo's questions about how he understood what she was trying to convey that day. Tomo then punches Jun, has a self-realization about her actions, and walks away, but Jun tries to stop her by confessing his love to her. However, Tomo blows him off and leaves him on the rooftop alone.

In her classroom, Tomo laments about what happened between Jun and her to Misuzu and Carol. There, Misuzu tearfully apologizes for suggesting that Tomo act more girly toward Jun since she was perfect as she was. Once that is settled between them, Tomo rushes off to meet with Jun, where she apologizes to him for running away before.

Walking home together, Jun confirms his feelings toward Tomo, who proclaims they'll no longer be "best buds" if he starts a relationship with her. However, this leads to a debate on what their relationship would be like. So to clear things up, Jun has Tomo race up the shrine stairs, and Tomo wins. At the top of the stairway, Jun admits that's how he'd like his relationship with Tomo to be; his best bud, rival, and lover all in one. Tomo then confesses her feelings for Jun, who then comically rolls down the shrine stairs, and when he stops midway, he satisfyingly fist-pumps the air once.

## Characters

* Akemi Aizawa
* Ferris Olston
* Misaki Gundou
* Tatsumi Tanabe
* Misuzu Gundou
* Carol Olston
* Junichirou Kubota
* Gorou Aizawa
* Chiyomi Ogawa
* Naoko Mifune
* Kousuke Misaki