Chapter 41

“High School Boys and Being Yourself” is the 41st chapter of the manga.

Cover Page
End scene of Chapter 40. Yoshitake’s older sister notes to herself that Yūsuke isn’t dating anyone, as Tadakuni’s younger sister looks at her in alarm.

Detailed Summary
The Literary Girl appears behind Hidenori as he sits on the riverbank. Once again, he rues his luck, but vows never to be chased away by her from the bank by 'this monster', resolving that if anything, he would be the one to make her leave. Just then, he notices that she’s wearing a guilty expression. He guesses that it’s because he had glared at her the previous time for being rude and she now wished to apologize. He personally feels that there is no need for her to do so because high school boys are used to getting hurt, but doesn’t say anything.

On the other hand, he is happy she has the determination to approach him. He believes that her finding the bravery to say sorry was more valuable a life experience than indulging in her fictions. Sweating in anxiety, the Literary Girl reaches out as if to call him. This results in the sheets of her novel flying out of her exposed bag and being lifted away by the wind. The girl is shocked, while Hidenori is exasperated and in downright disbelief when she runs after the papers and trips, falling face-flat.

The Literary Girl props herself up, but her right hand now has a cut. Hidenori, concerned, whips out a bandage, but is stunned to see her taking out her own brand-new box of bandages. He then hopelessly watches her struggle to open the box, and his second-hand embarrassment turns into anguish when she decides to just give up on the first aid and walks back to her original position. To calm herself, she takes out a water bottle and takes a gulp, but spits out all the water after nearly choking. As Hidenori buries his face in his hands, the girl accidentally sneezes and gets it all over her hands.

Hidenori is in tears with suppressed laughter. In his mind, he begs her to stop her exhibition as he's sure he can't hold a straight face much longer. He feels that she should just get her apology over with, because the right atmosphere would now never show up. Meanwhile, the agitated Literary Girl fumbles for tissues to clear her face, only to have the wind sweep them away again. Hidenori wonders if she’s some kind of genius at this, and she starts running to retrieve them. In doing so, she slips on the grass, her legs fly through the air and she crashes straight into his back with her legs ending up over his shoulders. After they both recover from the shock, a highly awkward silence persists for a while. The embarrassed Literary Girl then covers her face and wails loudly, her legs still perched over Hidenori’s shoulders.

Still silent, Hidenori muses that it wasn’t really a bad thing, and that there was no reason to pretend to be cool. After all, one’s lame self is who one truly is. The girl then comes to her senses, and pulls back her legs from his shoulders in embarrassment. After a few moments, Hidenori breaks the silence by getting to the real issue and saying that she didn’t need to worry. He assures her he was never really angry, and that she should cheer up.

He stands up while saying this and his rising head catches the Literary Girl square on her nose. Bleeding, she topples over backward with a gasp and hits the ground. Hidenori turns around to see her lying unconscious. He takes a long, agonized look at her and with a pained smile, remarks “That’s not good”.

Characters
In order of appearance:
 * Yoshitake's older sister (cover)
 * Tadakuni's younger sister (cover)
 * The Literary Girl
 * Hidenori