Chapter 13

“High School Boys and Hot Spring Balls” is the 13th chapter of the manga.

Cover Page
A still of Karasawa walking past a dog.

Detailed Summary
After their beach trip, the boys visit an inn with a steam bath. While in the bath, Motoharu credits Karasawa for having found a good inn, but some of the others seem to be overwhelmed by the amount of steam. As they leave the bath, Karasawa asks Motoharu what they did at the beach, and he responds that Hidenori had said something strange again. Karasawa guesses correctly that it related to ramen, and an embarrassed Hidenori asks them to drop the subject.

Shortly after, Hidenori notices that table tennis facilities are available. The boys decide to play, with the following rules: any category can be chosen, and one can hit the ball only after saying the right answer. Hidenori mentions there should be a penalty for the loser, and the suggestion that the loser should punch the Student Council President is unanimously agreed upon. Tadakuni, Hidenori, Karasawa and Yoshitake take their places at the table, while Motoharu announces the categories.

Motoharu announces the first category to be ‘the satellites of Uranus’, which startles Tadakuni. Hidenori, Karasawa and Yoshitake rattle off Ariel, Umbriel and Titania in succession, and Tadakuni flounders, getting one strike out of a possible three. He protests that the topic was too difficult, but Motoharu ignores him and declares the second category: Names of international leaders of black ancestry.

Hidenori opens with Mwai Kibaki (Kenya), and Karasawa follows up with Abdoulaye Wade (Senegal). Yoshitake, evidently out of ideas, mutters Obama on his turn, dismaying Tadakuni who had the same name in mind. He takes another strike. Frustrated, he accuses the others of setting him up, but Motoharu denies it. Tadakuni then says he’ll choose the last topic, and the others allow it. He thinks to himself that this is ‘his specialty’, before declaring it to be ‘Countries whose flags have moons on them’.

He serves to Hidenori after choosing Malaysia, and Hidenori continues with Tunisia. Karasawa then chooses Algeria, and Yoshitake takes Pakistan, but Tadakuni flounders a third time, having only known Malaysia all along. Disappointed, he gives up, wondering how the others seemed to know everything.

Characters
In order of appearance:
 * Karasawa
 * Motoharu
 * Yoshitake
 * Tadakuni
 * Hidenori