Chapter 1

## Scene 1

* Japanese
* English

## Chapter Chronology

**"Dun-da-DUNNN! A Sparkling-Fresh High Schooler"** (びかぶびびの高校生, *Bi Kabu Bibi no Kōkōsē*?) is the inaugural chapter of Misaki Takamatsu's manga series, *Skip and Loafer*, appearing in the first volume and serving as the opening chapter for the entire series.

## Summary

Mitsumi Iwakura, a 15-year-old teenager, recently moved to Tokyo for her studies, leaving behind her childhood friends, including her best friend Fumino Toyama. During their farewell, Fumino, whom Mitsumi fondly calls "Fumi," gave her a Xiang Xiang hairclip as a gift since she knew of Mitsumi's fondness for pandas. Mitsumi wore the hairclip as a good luck charm on her first day of school by placing it in her uniform's chest pocket. She is currently living with her aunt Nao, who drops her off at the train station on her first day of school, worried that Mitsumi might get lost since she is not familiar with the multiple railroad lines in Tokyo. However, Mitsumi is optimistic and confident that everything will go smoothly, as she has envisioned her future and dreams of pursuing it, despite her parents' desire for her to have a more active social life in Tokyo.

A male student is seated on a toilet bowl and making a phone call to a person named Sousuke who is running late for the entrance ceremony. Sousuke contemplates going back home since the ceremony has already started. However, his friend on the other end of the line convinces him to come to the ceremony. While on the phone, Sousuke gets distracted by a woman who seems to be stuck in the wall at the train station. The woman turns out to be a fellow student at the school. He relays information about the woman's situation to his friend, but Sousuke's friend doesn't show any interest and ends the call. His guy friend leaves the restroom and is caught by a teacher, who directs him to go back to the ceremony. While rushing back to the ceremony, he overhears two teachers discussing a problem they are facing with contacting someone.

Mitsumi finds herself in a difficult situation at the train station, feeling lost, overwhelmed by the crowds during rush hour, and feeling nauseous. Her hopes for a smooth and successful first day at school are fading away. In this state of mind, Sousuke approached her and asked if she was alright. However, due to her exhaustion, Mitsumi's haggard appearance conveyed her weariness when she asked for directions to the school. This was the first time in years that she had spoken to a stranger of the same age. When Sousuke realized that she was lost, he smiled and offered to accompany her to school since he was also running late. Mitsumi pictured herself as a baby duck who needed guidance, with Sousuke acting as a bigger duck leading the way.

While seated next to each other on the train en route to their school, Sousuke attempts to engage Mitsumi in conversation. However, Mitsumi appears distracted and preoccupied with the fear of worrying her family about her rough start to the day. Noticing her anxious and fatigued demeanor, Sousuke reassures her that the ceremony is not a life-or-death matter. Mitsumi nearly vents her frustrations to Sousuke, but he interjects by announcing their arrival at the station. As they exit the station, Sousuke informs Mitsumi that the school is a brisk 10-minute walk away, but since they're running late, they'll have to sprint to get there a bit earlier than that.

While they were making their way to the school, Sousuke noticed that Mitsumi was struggling to keep up with his pace and was running out of breath. He realized that she was not as athletic as he was. Mitsumi tripped over herself, causing her to feel more humiliation. However, she got back up, took off her shoes and socks, and continued to run barefoot. Sousuke, who is trailing behind, finds the situation amusing. Upon their arrival at the school grounds, a female teacher approached the two of them. She then goes to Mitsumi's and informed her that another student has substituted for her temporarily since she arrived late, telling her to express her gratitude to the student afterwards.

Mitsumi proceeded to the stage after being called by the principal, introduced as the freshmen's representative. Sousuke, who stood beside her, found it amusing that she was at the top of the class. When Mitsumi arrived on stage, she realized she had forgotten her speech letter in her bag, but decided not to panic and continued to recite her speech from memory, impressing some of her schoolmates. She delivered her speech flawlessly, without even blinking, which terrified the principal who was watching her. Feeling relieved after successfully delivering her speech, Mitsumi suddenly felt nauseous and had to rush out of the hall. As she was leaving, she accidentally vomited on the dress of the same female teacher who had welcomed her and Sousuke earlier when they arrived at the school, as she was being approached by her.

Mitsumi's day took an unexpected turn, resulting in her being dubbed "The Puker" due to the incident with the teacher. While observing her classmates, she found it interesting how quickly they socialized with each other. Mitsumi attempted to strike up a conversation with the girl behind her, but was ignored in return. Shima Sousuke, the student she ran to school with, approached her as he entered the classroom and complimented her speech, leaving Mitsumi feeling grateful. She noticed that Shima's face appeared to be glowing and wondered if it was due to his kindness or if everyone in Tokyo looked that way. Shima requested Mitsumi's contact information, which she willingly provided. Shortly after her interaction with Shima, the girl behind her, Mika Egashira, introduced herself and asked to exchange contact information with Mitsumi.

After a while, the female teacher who Mitsumi vomited on earlier turns out to be their homeroom teacher, Sakura Maezono, who introduces herself to the class and states that it's her first time as a homeroom teacher. She distributes textbooks that everyone needs to fill out and announces that they will be doing self-introductions the following day.

Mitsumi is currently on a phone call with Fumi, sharing both of their first days encounters at their respective schools. Mitsumi shared that she made two friends, one girl who is very stylish and a nice guy, which made Fumi react with excitement when she heard that Mitsumi made friends with a guy. Fumi then asks how the two of them became friends, and Mitsumi just says that she received help from him, and then they both ended up in the same class. Fumi then asks if the guy is cute, to which Mitsumi answers that he's very chic, making Fumi comment that she'd get lonely if Mitsumi got a boyfriend. The two ended their calls after a short while when Nao arrived at the house from work.

As Nao entered the room, she expressed concern and asked Mitsumi about how her day went. Mitsumi reassured her that everything was fine. Nao then asked if Mitsumi was on the phone, to which Mitsumi confirmed that she was speaking with Fumi, expressing her concern that Fumi might not take her head out of the clouds without her around. Nao just smiled in response, and the two proceeded to have dinner, continuing their discussion about their respective days.

Fumi is currently at the Iwakura residence, where she brings some daikon radish given by her mother. She is approached by Mitsumi's younger siblings, Maharu and Kippei, who inquire if she has spoken to Mitsumi. Fumi confirms that she has, as the three of them contradict Mitsumi's earlier claim to Fumi that her day went perfectly, suggesting that Mitsumi may have gotten lost at the station. As Fumi prepares to leave, Mitsumi's mother gives her some asparagus and expresses her concern that Mitsumi is not street smart despite being academically gifted. She further admits that she would feel more at ease if Fumi were with Mitsumi, a sentiment that Mitsumi's younger siblings share.

Currently, Shima is dining with his friends at a restaurant, where they are sharing their experiences of the first day of school. They inquire about Shima's day, and he mentions that he overslept but managed to make it to the station on time. He also shares that he ran with Mitsumi to school, which intrigues his friends because of his use of the word "we" while talking about it. Shima abruptly ends his statement and says he must leave to avoid being late tomorrow. Although his friends are left confused, they believe that he's in a good mood.

Mitsumi is currently gazing out the window of her bedroom, feeling relieved that she had recently completed her spring homework and post-entrance examinations, so she should be at ease. However, as she prepares to go to sleep, she finds herself consumed with thoughts about the upcoming self-introduction session the next day. These thoughts kept her up all night as she attempted to jot down what she would say. The following morning, Nao was taken aback by Mitsumi's exhausted appearance, with bags under her eyes, a result of her restless night of preparation for the self-introduction.

## Featured Media

Colored Page (1) — in JapaneseColored Page (2)
— in Japanese
## Characters in Order of Appearance

**Fumino Toyama**Debut
**Mitsumi Iwakura**Debut
**Friend 1**Debut
**Friend 2**Debut
**Nao**Debut
**Mother**Debut
**Father**Debut
**Tsukasa Mukai**Debut
**Sousuke Shima**Debut
**School Principal**Debut
**Sakura Hanazono**Debut
**Kippei Iwakura**Debut
**Maharu Iwakura**Debut
**Grandma**Debut
**Satonosuke**Debut
**Omiso**Debut
**Oshio**Debut
**Mika Egashira**Debut
**Yuzuki Murashige**Debut
**Kento Yamada**Debut
**Makoto Kurume**Debut
**Chris**Debut
**Ririka Saijou**Debut