Episode 13

"
**It's just the arrival of winter / It's just a delinquent / It's just studying at Nakanaka's / It's just a final exam.**" is the first episode of the second season of the Komi-san wa Komyushou Desu anime series, and the thirteenth overall.

## Synopsis

On one cold morning, Komi wraps a scarf around her neck to keep warm, but as soon as she goes to school Najimi plays a trick on her!

## Summary

**It's just the arrival of winter.**

Komi wakes up from the sound of her alarm, but resets it and tries to go back to bed. Immediately, however, her phone goes off and she falls out of bed and hits her head on the floor trying to get it. When she's able to check it, she checks outside of her window and smiles. The phone text is from Najimi who asks for a notebook they asked Komi to bring. Komi then prepares herself for school and before she leaves, her mother gives her a scarf and sees her off. Arriving at school, Najimi pranks Komi by touching her with their cold hands, which intrigues her. Tadano then arrives, and after much deliberation, Komi performs the same prank on him, but takes no responsibility for it. As they walk to class together, Najimi breaks the fourth wall and performatively details Itan Private High School's background and Komi's goal of reaching 100 friends. Once it is over, Najimi receives the notebook they asked Komi to bring as "Komi's Book of Friends". Its purpose is for Komi to long every friend she makes, asking people who she has befriended to write down their names in it. Komi soons gets signatures from Tadano, Najimi, Agari, Yamai, Yadano, Nakanaka, Onigashima, Kishi, Chiarai Shigeo, Sonoda, Shinobino, Onemine, and Otori. As they have finished, Najimi becomes concerned because she is behind on the expected rate, accidentally offending Komi.

**It's just a delinquent.**

Katai Makoto is a "new student" who also has social anxiety and a shy streak. He had caught the flu just prior to the school year starting, causing him to miss the first week. Anxious at the thought of arriving at the school after everyone has already made introductions, Katai constantly postponed his starting school. He eventually realized he needed to do something, so he began an exercise regiment and dyed his hair blonde in order to build his self-confidence. However, unbeknownst to him, this has caused him to look like a hulking delinquent that is several years older than he actually is, and all of the students who see him are immediately intimidated by him. Katai eventually reaches his classroom - Class 1-1 - and musters the courage to enter it, but when he does, he circles around the room and eventually sits by the back, then gives a creepy smile. Everyone quickly assumes that Katai is looking to pick a fight, but Tadano realizes that he actually does not know where to sit and went to the back to wait for the teacher, then tried to give a friendly smile. Najimi then arrives and tries to happily approach him, but Katai pulls Najimi out of the classroom, and Najimi doesn't return, causing everyone to think he hurt them (in reality, he did this to explain to them that he wants a fresh start at Itan, and Najimi then left for the bathroom). Katai then notices everyone gather around Komi, intending to protect her. However, he assumes they are simply chatting and tries approaching them, causing them to chicken out and head to their seats. Katai then notices Komi, but instead of finding her attractive, he is intimidated by her (and vice versa). In his panic, Katai ends up sitting in the desk in front of Komi, who in her fright freezes still while staring at him. Noting that Komi is the only person to make direct eye contact with him, Katai recalls something about eye contact from a conversation book he's been reading and believes that Komi wants to communicate with him. He tries to do so, but also gets too terrified. Having seen enough, Tadano decides to salvage the situation and speaks with Katai, offering to give him a tour around school because he has missed so much. Katai is touched by the gesture and accepts, making Komi somewhat jealous. As they go on the tour, Katai somehow misinterprets Komi's earlier staring as her trying to teach him proper eye contact, and deems her a "Communication Master", much to Tadano's confusion.

**It's just studying at Nakanaka's.**

After school, Najimi expresses happiness about it being Komi and Tadano. Although Najimi hates cold weather, they love all of the holiday festivities and snow-related activities that come with winter. However, their joy comes to a grinding halt when they realize they have finals before all of that. Ostensibly in order to properly study, Najimi suggests the three of them should have a study session at Nakanaka's place (without asking her). They eventually arrive at Nakanaka's house, alongside Yamai. However, Nakanaka is perturbed by Yamai's presence, claiming to not even know who she is. As they head inside, Najimi immediately feigns sleep (in Nakanaka's bed, no less) to avoid studying. The other four choose to ignore them, but a bigger problem arises when Nakanaka and Yamai soon find themselves quarreling over Komi's attention. As they begin studying, Nakanaka suggests they play video games later, but Yamai insists that Komi doesn't play video games and instead like girly things; she even confesses her love to prove the point, but Komi is again too put off to respond. This seems to simmer things down a bit, but suddenly the two engage in personal insults; Yamai criticizes Nakanaka's otaku lifestyle while Nakanaka calls out Yamai for posing as traditionally girly. Physical looks, living situations, and speech are all soon on the table, all while Komi herself gets increasingly anxious. After Tadano tries and fails to get the conversation back to studying, the two then ask Komi directly which of them she prefers. Komi refuses, however, and says they are both important to her. Realizing that pressuring Komi will achieve nothing, they decide to settle the difference between them by playing one of Nakanaka's games, this time with a foot-racing game (a parody of *Mario Kart*); Najimi "awakens" and also joins, as does Komi, though Tadano again has to teach her how to play. Nakanaka and Yamai end up taking each other out, allowing Najimi to cruise to victory. Nakanaka and Yamai then hang their head in defeat as Najimi jokingly declares they are Komi's best friend for winning, much to Komi's surprise and Tadano's chagrin. Later, Nakanaka and Yamai also compete on their test scores (ironically, Tadano had suggested that earlier in an attempt to get back to studying but was shut down), only for their cumulative score to be equal.

**It's just a final exam.**

On the day of the Term Finals, Komi drops her pencil on the ground, and her spare promptly breaks. She is too nervous to pick up her first pencil as she has to communicate that she is has to do it. Tadano notices this and, to help Komi, intentionally drops his mechanical pencil, and asks the teacher to pick it up for him. The teacher does and picks up Komi's as well. However, Tadano soon realizes that he forgot his eraser. Returning the favor, Komi splits her eraser in two and drops it on the ground. Taking this opportunity, Tadano asks the teacher to pick it up for him and she does. After this, both Komi and Tadano are barely able to focus on their test.

Later, at his home, Hitomi asks to borrow the eraser, but Tadano refuses. The narrator then reveals that it became a family heirloom, further implying the budding romance between Komi and Tadano.

## Characters

*In order of appearance. Bold denotes debuting characters.*

* Komi Shouko
* Najimi Osana
* Omoharu Nakanaka
* Agari Himiko
* Onigashima Akako
* Yadano Makeru
* Ren Yamai
* Tadano Hitohito
* Otori Kaede
* Nene Onemine
* Shinobino Mono
* Chiarai Shigeo
* Sonoda Taisei
* Komi Shuuko
* **Katai Makoto**
* Netsuno Chika
* **Satou Amami**

## Adaptation Notes

**This episode adapts the following material:**

* Manga Volume 6
	+ Communication 76: Delinquent
	+ Communication 78: Winter Arrives
	+ Communication 79: Studying at Nakanaka's House
	+ Communication 82: Final Exam