360° Material [Chapter 4]

Summarized by: Sarah

The chapter begins with the teacher handing back the exams that Taki had been helping Mio and Marui study for. As her friends look on, Mio nervously approaches the teacher, who sneers at her as he hands her the test. Expecting it to be bad, she forces herself to look, and sees that she got a 68 – she passed. The teacher tells her to make sure this trend continues, and resumes handing back the exams. She turns around to find her friends still anxiously waiting to find out if she passed. Shii-chan asks, “How was it?” and Mio responds with a smile and “victory” sign. Marui reminds her that he told her she didn't need to worry. It was an easy victory, right? (Yuni and Shii-chan tease him that he says that, but he only improved his score from an 8 to a 30. Though, that is still an improvement!) They laugh, and Mio leans in to Taki with a smile, thanking him again for helping. He tells her he was happy to, and then Mio tries to decide how to ask him where it's going from here. Forcing an awkward smile, she asks Taki what he'll be doing in the sports tournament tomorrow. He answers basketball, apparently. (The text indicates that he's on the B Team, whereas Marui is on the A Team.) Marui tells him that he's sorry, but his squads' victory is a certainty. Shii-chan points out that Marui is in the basketball club, which seems a bit unfair... Marui asks her if she'll be playing for the volleyball team, then. There are other girls on the team who will, but it's sort of an unspoken rule... As they talk, Mio thinks that the end of the term has caught up with them, and it's not as if she's feeling desperate, but... is she and Taki-kun actually going out? Later at table tennis practice with Yuni and Shii-chan, Mio flashes back on her confession at the train station and Taki's response. Yuni notes that he did say they would be going out, didn't he? Mio remembers that it was right before the exam period started, and maybe things have changed since then. She feels like it was all just a dream. Has she emailed him about it? She has, but Taki-kun doesn't reliably respond. Shii-chan points out that today and tomorrow, they'll be finished before noon, so she should get together with Taki-kun and do something fun. She says she'll give it a try, and, as they walk away, asks Yuni and Shii-chan what they'll be doing for fun. They respond “work” and “club activities,” respectively. Feeling a bit anxious, she decides to try and ask him of he wants to leave together. However, when she gets to the classroom, he isn't there. Marui notices her and tells her that, if she's looking for Taki, he already left. Did he make plans with her? No, Mio answers, disappointed. Marui tells her that it seems as if that fussy Akane's mock examination is getting pretty close. Seeing how down Mio looks, Marui pats her on the shoulder and tells her to hang in there as he walks off. Looking back, Mio flushes with embarrassment and thinks that, even though she didn't really say anything to him, it felt like Marui could see right through her. On the train, Mio thinks that Marui must have been telling her that Taki-kun was meeting with Akane-chan to study. “Neighbors,” how nice... And then Mio realizes that she's somewhat unconsciously taken the train to Taki's neighborhood. Why is she in front of his house!? This is bad; if she stands outside his house like this, she'll look like some sort of criminal! Mio decides it's best to flee the scene.

At the same time, Akane gets up to take a break from studying, and looks out the window. She spots Mio outside the house, and tells Taki that she's running to grab the book with the past exam questions. Akane darts out of the room as Taki yells at her that he already has that book. Outside, Akane asks Mio what she's doing in a place like that. Mio tries to laugh it off, thinking how awkward this is while telling Akane that she was just passing through... Not sure what else to say, Mio just asks if she's working hard, since her mock exams are close. Akane's eyes darken, and Mio mentally berates herself for asking such a silly question. She apologizes, Akane really doesn't need to hear that sort of thing from her... Akane composes herself and says, “Ootaka-san... you and Nao are seeing each other, right?” Mio is surprised that she brought it up, and debates whether or not she can say yes to that (having been wondering herself). But... If Akane is mentioning it, then Taki-kun must have talked about it. Before Mio can really respond, Akane smiles and says that she's very sorry; as soon as she's finished studying for these exams, Mio and Taki should be able to actually go out. Please forgive her. Mio is impressed that Akane-chan is taking them into consideration like that, in the middle of her studying, and Mio tells Akane that she's the one who should be apologizing right now. Thinking that Akane-chan is a good girl, Mio tells her than even though she really can't do anything to help, she'll be cheering her on. Akane tells her then, if she's sure it's all right, will Mio give Akane her email address? Mio is surprised at her request, and Akane explains that she puts on a brave face while she's with Nao, and she can't let him see how nervous she actually is. So, if she could talk to Ootaka-san about her concerns... Mio agrees, thinking that it's sort of embarrassing to have someone depend on her like that, but telling Akane that she can email her anytime. Akane thanks her, then excuses herself because she's still in the middle of studying. Mio waves good-bye, and the smile disappears from Akane's face as she walks off. Then, Akane stops, saying that this was truly unexpected... Mio asks her what she means, and Akane turns back and says it's nothing, just... “Nao likes you, Ootaka-san, even though you're nothing like his last girlfriend.” Ootaka freezes up, thinking, “His last... girlfriend!?”Back at home, Mio is still fixating on what Akane told her. Taki-kun had a girlfriend before. Well, it's not so strange that he would have, but... Akane said that she was completely different from Mio, so what kind of person must she have been? Akane also said that Taki-kun liked Mio, and thinking back on it, Mio realizes that, actually... Taki-kun has never told her that he likes her! Mio jumps up and, as she's starting to compose a message to Taki, her phone buzzes. She sees that the message is from Akane (subject: “It's Akane.”). The message says that Akane is in the middle of studying, and it's really exhausting! Mio replies, asking if she's all right and suggesting that she needs to take it easy. Looking at the message, Mio gets a little sad as it occurs to her that those two must still be working hard together. The scene switches to Taki's house, where he's noticing Akane on the phone and asking her what she's doing. He says that they can move on to the practical problems, now, and Akane says to give her a moment. Akane smiles and tells him she's focusing; it seems she'll be able to concentrate for the test. Taki just looks at her, wondering what she's talking about.

On her way to school the next morning, Mio is looking up at the sky, thinking that the weather is nice today. Mio wonders why, when the sky is so clear, there's a haze over her eyes... Without noticing, Taki is walking next to her, also looking up at the sky. After a moment, Mio becomes aware of him, and calls out his name in surprise. He turns to her, then smiles and asks if she's looking for vapor trails again. Seeing his smiling face, Mio (drawn here with hearts in her eyes) mutters a “yes,” then corrects herself that well, she wasn't really... Mio thinks that the only way to erase this hazy feeling is to make the status of their relationship clear. She starts out, “Taki-kun, about us...” and, with her heart pounding, finally asks, “Are we dating?” Taki responds, “Huh?” and Mio holds her breath until he says, “Yes. Why do you ask?” Mio is relieved, and tells him that since everything settled down, she thought maybe they could leave together yesterday. Taki apologizes, saying that he went home early yesterday, and Mio tells him that Marui explained to her about Akane-chan's upcoming exam. That's part of it, Taki tells her. It seems Taki has also been helping Akane out with her part-time job, during the end of the term. Mio is surprised to hear about that, and notices how tired he looks as Taki yawns. Mio tells Taki that he and Akane-chan should do their best in order to relax. Taki repeats, “In order to relax, do our best...” Mio asks if that was contradicting itself, and Taki rephrases it to something like, “Try our best so that we don't try too hard?” Mio ponders the correct way to tell him to try not to work too hard, and Taki laughs. He tells her thanks; he'll do his best to seem like he isn't trying. As Mio tries to explain that wasn't what she means, Taki continues to laugh, and Mio starts to think again about his ex-girlfriend. “Nao likes you, even though you're nothing like his last girlfriend...” and is bothered by it again. She tells herself to stop thinking about that, and they reach school. No matter what type of person Taki-kun's last girlfriend was, Mio thinks, his current girlfriend is Mio.

The basketball tournament is in progress, and Mio runs up to Shii-chan and Yuni, asking how it's going. They tell her that Taki's B Team won their game, and Yuni points out that Taki-kun didn't play at all (and he didn't seem disappointed about it). Currently, Marui's A Team is playing, and he's putting on a good show. After his team wins, the next match puts them up against the B Team. (Shii-chan notes that putting both of the class 1-2 teams against each other is a self-defeating battle.) As Taki thinks that he's up against an ally, Marui tells him that he's sorry. Should he go easy on him? Marui hears the girls cheering for class 1-2, and looks up. He sees how worried Mio looks, and thinks that even if those guys helped him at the end of the term, he won't go easy on them. He tells Taki that, come to think of it, Ootaka looked pretty down yesterday when he told her that Taki had gone home before her. Taki tells him that they talked about it, and Marui says it's good if that's the case, but... Looking up, he points out that Ootaka looked really concerned just now. Taki sees her watching, and the game begins. The other guys on the B Team yell at Taki not to look around during the game, and Yuni tells Mio that she saw Taki looking at her. Mio questions if she did something to distract him, and Marui steals a pass from the B Team. Taki tells Marui that it isn't Ootaka's feelings that he should be worrying about, and, to Marui's shock, takes the ball from him. He shoots the ball and makes a three-point basket. As everyone congratulates him, Taki notices Mio's happy face, and he gets distracted again. Someone yells at him to watch out, but he doesn't react and the ball hits him in the head, knocking him unconscious. In the infirmary, the nurse explains that he wasn't injured by the ball, he's just lacking sleep. They can go back when he wakes up. Shii-chan mentions that there are more games, so they'll be going back. Mio thanks them, and Marui stops in the door. He looks back and smiles, telling Mio, “That shot he made earlier was probably for you, Ootaka.” As Mio watches Taki sleep, she flashes back to Marui explaining that, when he told Taki that Mio had seemed worried after hearing Taki went home early yesterday, for some reason he took the teasing seriously. Mio says that she doesn't understand the reason for that, and reaches out to try to wake Taki. Just as she's about to touch him, he starts to move in his sleep, and she wonders if he's awake. She hears him say, “...Mio...” and blushes. Her worries from before were wiped away in an instant; just hearing him say her name made her want to smile. The chapter ends with Mio happily sitting back down, hiding her face.

Translator's Commentary: I'm wondering why Akane wasn't able to go to school and apparently needs to work. From glancing ahead at the remaining chapters, Mio not being like Taki's ex-girlfriend is probably a good thing. Next chapter: Conclusion of the sports tournament and Taki's dream.

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