Episode 3

Show Me Love (Not A Dream)

#### **Flashback to a Winter Past**

While commuting via train to an exam venue, Sanae suddenly begins to be molested from behind by an unknown man. She’s too stunned to do anything. Hanabi, who happens to be standing right by Sanae, notices what’s happening and quietly asks Sanae if he’s bothering her. Silently, with tears beginning to well in her eyes, Sanae shows her the exam paperwork in her bag, which Hanabi is actually attending as well. Hanabi retrieves her phone, sticks it in the man’s face, and takes a picture so he can see himself in the camera. The camera’s default shutter sound clicks distinctly in the quiet train car, causing bystanders to mutter softly and the man assaulting Sanae to awkwardly shuffle away. Hanabi takes Sanae’s hand in hers once they’ve gotten off the train car and onto the platform. She confronts Sanae and encourages her to let herself cry, remarking on the scariness of such an encounter. Sanae meekly agrees as her tears finally fall down her face. The two walk together to the exam venue without Hanabi ever letting go of Sanae’s hand.

#### **Back in the Present, Hanabi's Apartment**

While in Hanabi’s apartment for their sleepover, Sanae narrates that that was the moment she fell in love with Hanabi. Later, Hanabi recounts the discussion she had with the two girls who wanted romantic advice, explaining how their warped perspective will make them end up alone, an outcome that dampens Hanabi’s mood. Sanae quickly suggests they retire for the night.

The girls are sharing Hanabi’s bed, but due to its small size, they’re lying extremely close to one another, which has Sanae very nervously alert. Around two in the morning, Sanae shifts to her side, facing Hanabi, who is also on her side. Sanae is watching her sleep for a moment before Hanabi suddenly opens her eyes and catches Sanae staring at her. Hanabi quietly asks her what her crush is like, a question that catches Sanae off guard. She contemplates for a moment, makes her decision, and takes Hanabi’s face in her hands before suddenly kissing her. Hanabi, wide-eyed and muffled, gasps in surprise. Sanae rolls herself on top of her and holds herself above Hanabi, breathing heavily. Hanabi looks up at her, confused and flustered, with wide eyes. Sanae takes a gamble and asks Hanabi why she’s with Mugi when she doesn’t truly like him, stating that she can tell that it’s the truth from having watched her interact with Mugi with an empty, forlorn expression. Hanabi, stunned at having been found out, quietly reveals the truth of her relationship with him. Sanae, unwilling to re-dam the river of emotion she just let loose, proposes Hanabi let her be the same kind of comforting replacement, just like Mugi is. She tells Hanabi that she loves her.

#### **The Next Morning**

After Sanae has left, Hanabi is lying in bed thinking about the situation when her mother asks her to run an errand for her. On the walk to the store, Hanabi recalls what she told the suitor who confessed to her behind the school soon after she and Mugi had made their agreement: *“There’s nothing more revolting than the affection of someone you’re completely disinterested in, is there?”* She thinks back to the night before, after Sanae had confessed, and ponders how emotionally heavy it is to be the object of someone’s affection.

As she’s thinking, she runs into Noriko, who’s walking from the opposite direction. Noriko confronts her adversary and tries to instigate, but is utterly ignored by Hanabi, who simply continues walking past her without acknowledgement. Noriko yells after her, desperately imploring her to not take Mugi away from her, that Mugi is the only one for her. Hanabi walks on.

Later in her walk, Hanabi considers the self-destructive perspective of the girl she tried to advise before, and how if she cannot choose either of her suitors, she ends up with neither; she loses. She suddenly realizes that her own position with Mugi and Kanai-sensei is a nearly identical dilemma, which makes her no better than that girl, a realization that depresses her.

#### **Flashback to Four Years Ago**

Mugi’s friends are discussing the upper-class girls at their school, specifically Mei, who they remark is particularly sexy. They note her skinny figure and large breasts. An inexperienced Mugi, to fit in, agrees robotically, but it’s evident he hasn’t been paying attention to what the other boys have been, including Mei. Mei, for some reason, takes a particular interest in Mugi. At some point later, they’re in bed together, but Mugi is stiff and uneasy. He can’t even look at Mei out of fear as she’s touching him.

#### **Back in the Present**

Mugi suddenly wakes up. This flashback turned out to be a dream he was having that caused him to ejaculate in his sleep. He looks over and discovers that, having let herself in, Hanabi is standing in his room. Embarrassed, he quickly covers himself with his covers. To his shock, Hanabi crawls into bed with him and snuggles up to him. He tries to prevent it, but she notices his erection. He gauges her reaction and tells her to touch it.

#### **Flashback to (Presumably) Four Years Ago**

Mei informs Mugi she won’t be attending high school in the future as they’re relaxing on a grassy hill overlooking a river. Mugi starts to cry, but Mei reminds him he loves Minagawa-sensei. They briefly discuss their relationship before Mei apologizes to him for *“robbing him of his adolescence”*. Unable to respond, Mugi keeps his true feelings, which apparently were more genuine than Mei ever knew, to himself.

#### **Back in the Present**

Mugi abruptly stops Hanabi before she can touch him. He calls off the suggestion without meeting her eyes. When asked why, he tells her he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. Hanabi tells him not to, an answer that surprises him. Not altogether enthused, Mugi allows her to touch him, but due to her inexperience, she doesn’t know what to do. With his guidance, Hanabi successfully gives him a handjob as they lay together in his bed. She notices how cute it is that he feels good. Afterwards, she wonders why the thought of touching Sanae that night of their sleepover was so formidable, yet touching Mugi was surprisingly easy for her. She decides it must be because of her comfort around him, which she informs him of. He absentmindedly asks her why. She straddles Mugi and begins to playfully tease him before suddenly going quiet and beginning to cry. A shocked Mugi finally sits up and pays attention to her. Hanabi tells him she wants to try to love him.

#### **In a Restaurant, Later That Night**

Mugi and Hanabi are seated across from each other as Hanabi eats. Mugi eyes her and promises to return her clothes to her washed and clean. She lightly scolds him when she suddenly notices over Mugi’s shoulder Minagawa-sensei walking through the restaurant with a tall, blonde man at her side. Mugi, seeing Hanabi’s unhappy face, turns and sees Minagawa-sensei and the man. The two couples awkwardly, silently do nothing for a moment. The man breaks the silence and inquires as to how Minagawa-sensei knows Hanabi and Mugi. She tells him they’re her students from the school she works at. As the two adults talk, Hanabi irritably wonders if this man is her little brother. Minagawa-sensei tries to get the man to leave her side, but he takes her waist in his hand and kisses her neck. An uncomfortable Minagawa-sensei tries to stop this inappropriate behavior that’s being displayed in front of her students. The man takes her wrist and pulls her along. As she’s being pulled away, Minagawa-sensei apologizes and gives Hanabi a sly look. She suggests they keep each other’s activities secret.

#### **At School, The Next Day**

Hanabi scornfully watches Minagawa-sensei and Kanai-sensei walk together from a window above them, noting her distaste for Minagawa-sensei. Mugi approaches her, sees the pair walking on the school grounds below them, and confesses, to Hanabi’s shock, that he knew the man Minagawa-sensei was with the night before. He tells her that he was once a student of Minagawa-sensei’s tutoring, much like he himself was previously. With a sadly naïve smile, he remarks to Hanabi that they must’ve been doing such work together when the two couples ran into each other at the restaurant. Hanabi wordlessly walks away from him in frustration. As she leaves him at the window with a confused look on his face, she remarks how love can make you blind.

Outside, Hanabi wanders alone, still troubled over Mugi. She realizes that, while frustrating, Mugi’s ignorance makes sense. However, she’s unable to understand why Mugi is so blind to the truth while she is not. She soon realizes that she feels something new: hatred for Minagawa-sensei.

Hanabi approaches Minagawa-sensei and asks her if the man she was with at the restaurant was her boyfriend. Minagawa-sensei appears slightly shocked that Hanabi would confront her so directly, but she smiles and denies the assumption, claiming he’s just a friend. Puzzled, Hanabi silently wonders why Minagawa-sensei would ask that she keep the interaction a secret if the man wasn’t a former student of hers. She then considers Kanai-sensei and how he plays into this situation. Minagawa-sensei breaks the silence by sweetly asking Hanabi if something is the matter. Before Hanabi can answer, the school bell rings and Minagawa-sensei quickly suggests the two continue their conversation after school before running off. As the teacher dashes away, Hanabi notices that she’s wearing the same outfit from yesterday.

Unseen to Hanabi, Minagawa-sensei haughtily smirks.

## Gallery

クズの本懐 第4話予告-0Mugi and Hana~ When things weren't so bad.Mugi's Past Love InterestMugi's eyes