Chapter 85: Yamada Likes Me

**Yamada Likes Me** is the eighty-fifth Chapter of *Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu*.

## Summary

As Nanjou enters into the nurse's office, he addresses Ichikawa, calling him "Mister Student Representative." He praises him for the speech, but Ichikawa doesn't respond, thinking them empty words. Nanjou changes targets to Yamada, asking if they could talk for a second. She looks down and begins speaking, but Ichikawa interrupts her, saying her name and tossing Akita Kentarou back to her. He then says he'll lie down for a while longer, and dives back under the covers. Nanjou approaches the nearby couch, and says it will be fine there since the teacher isn't back, and he takes his seat, reclining with his arm across the headrest, which a peeping Ichikawa considers "a nasty way" to sit. Yamada takes a chair opposite of him.

Yamada begins by congratulating him on his graduation, while Ichikawa considers his options if Nanjou tries anything weird. He considers resorting to violence, and comes up with a bizarre scenario where he takes some of his hair and turns it into a needle to throw at his eye. He considers how he's not how he was before, thinking back to the time he was throwing the bike to distract him. As Nanjou begins, Yamada interrupts him, asking if he'll continue playing soccer in high school. He reacts with shock, asking why she asked. She mentions how she'd see him a few times while walking, and how even when he stopped doing club activities, she would see him watching the practice. She says that he must have really liked soccer. Nanjou, caught off-guard by her comments, offers that he's happy she was watching him so closely. Outside of the room, Mamiya is trying to enter, but is stopped by Moe, who banters with her, with Mamiya saying this is all for show, and how much of an idiot Nanjou is.

Back inside, Nanjou brings up that he was in a youth league in elementary, but he gave up when a lot of people ended up better than him. He brings up how even if you keep going you might not go pro, but then changes topics to Yamada's acting and her being in a movie. He says that seeing her work hard makes him happy, and that she's cool, unlike himself, and that he admires her. Ichikawa considers how similar he is to him in that regard, but Nanjou continues, saying that that's not it, but places his face in his clasped hands and says that he likes Yamada. He reaches into his pocket and produces a button from his school uniform, which he offers to her, saying he wants her to take it. Yamada suddenly exclaims that she understands, which confuses him, and she clarifies that she means about being happy when you see someone working hard, and all the difficulties that can cause. She tells him that she already has someone she likes as tears fall from her eyes, and apologizes, saying her hands are too full for the button as she clasps Akita Kentarou between them. Ichikawa recognizes that he knows the feeling of crying over someone you like, thinking back to when she hurt her nose and when he comforted her at her house. He realizes in this moment that Yamada likes him, too.

Nanjou unceremoniously gets up and announces that his ceremony is over, and leaves the room. He runs into Mamiya, Moe, and the school nurse, and Mamiya brings up how she wasn't trying to stop him. As he walks off, she follows, asking why he didn't bring up that he stopped doing soccer because of an injury. He offers that sympathy can be the start of love, winking, and he stops to address the nurse, but Ichikawa suddenly walks out of the room. Nanjou suddenly grabs him by the shoulder, chiding him since he just left them alone together inside. Yamada then also comes out, and she links eyes with Ichikawa, with both of them blushing and walking off in different directions. Nanjou shrugs and Mamiya asks if they did *it* in such a short amount of time, with Moe beginning her own story about that.

A bonus page is Nanjou repeating that sympathy can be the start of love, but Moe interjects that it started a long tie ago, with Mamiya trying to hush her up.

## Trivia

Ichikawa's hypothetical hair needle attack is a reference to Baki.