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If Her Flag Breaks Volume 1 Chapter 2

2026-09-06T03:48:34Z

129.170.196.116: /* Flag 2: The Indomitable Magician Quietly Approaches */

==Flag 2: The Indomitable Magician Quietly Approaches==

The day after Souta transferred.

The excitement of the previous day was like a dream. Other than Kikuno, the only person who would actively seek him out to talk, people stopped approaching Souta after class.

As the daylight waned in the noisy classroom, only one word described Souta sitting at his seat — lonely.

His figure evoked loneliness.

“They don’t so much as glance at him, is this reality… Has everyone already lost interest in the transfer student?”

Nanami sat sideways on her chair, expressing her honest opinion of Souta.

However, the classroom atmosphere was less that of ostracism so much as… that feeling of ‘the new transfer student seems to like being alone and doesn’t want to interact, so let’s just let him be.’

Souta didn’t seem to care at all. “Oh, that’s because…” he replied:

“After a flag breaks, it won’t reappear that easily. If something special happens, the flag could reappear or a ‘Flag Recovery’ flag might appear…”

“This mechanism is quite annoying…”

Human relationships might indeed be like this, it’s just that this flag thing is too exaggerated — Nanami understood this implicitly. As the bell rang, she turned to face forward.

However… there was a pair of eyes secretly staring at them.

The eyes’ owner looked breathlessly at Souta, who hadn’t left his seat, for the entire class and seemed to nod with determination…

Lunch break.

The students either started eating lunch with three to five friends around a desk or went to the cafeteria together. A lively atmosphere filled the classroom.

In contrast, Nanami and Souta were too quiet, staring at their respective desks and quietly nibbling on the salty bread they bought that morning.

Their loneliness was so strong that people couldn’t approach them, adding even more loneliness and falling into an endless negative spiral. FYI, the word spiral definitely wasn’t used because it’s a cool word. Spiral.

Based on her excessively protective mentality, if Kikuno was there it would be impossible for Souta to stay in that loneliness spiral, and they would definitely be eating lunch together. Unfortunately, in order to give advice to those who volunteered to study abroad, Kikuno was attending a lunch gathering hosted by the Student Council and wasn’t in the classroom.

Suddenly, a shadow approached this singular space.

It was an approachable girl, a beautiful girl-next-door type person. Each grade generally has one of those.

If Nanami’s beauty was like a rose, hers would be a cherry blossom that rouses people’s protective instincts.

She had shoulder-length hair with big bows swaying on both sides highlighting her cuteness.

“Hi, my name is Mahougasawa Akane.<ref> Akane’s last name includes the characters for ‘magician’, hence the title of this chapter.</ref>”

The girl… Akane smiled gently and suddenly brought her face closer — close enough to feel her breath — and surprised Souta, who stiffened.

The thing that made Souta’s expression most tense was that…

''The flag… It’s been raised…''

A friendship flag flapped on Akane’s head.

“Ah, I hope you don’t feel repulsed! I’m not a suspicious person, I’m a mysterious classmate, okay?”

“You’re mysterious?!”

So suspicious it might explode.

“Excuse me… what does this mysterious classmate want from me?”

“I’m Akane-chan, though?”

“... Mahougasawa-san, what do—”

“I’m Akane-chan, though?”

Souta was interrupted by Akane halfway through his sentence.

“... Akane, what do you want from me?”

“Oh! It’s the first time a boy used my first name directly.”

Souta glanced at the friendship flag, which had been splashed with a hint of pink.

Akane also blushed pink, matching the flag. She didn’t seem to notice the subtle movements of his eyes. She asked generously:

“Can we eat a bento together?”

Honestly, Souta didn’t really want to interact with people, and most importantly, he was more apprehensive than happy at the thought of having lunch with two girls in the classroom. After all, he was a sensitive boy in his teenage years, so this was an expected reaction.

“... It’s bothersome.”

“He thinks I’m a bother!!”

Akane’s friendship flag broke, and Souta was relieved.

Nanami was already peeking at them through the corner of her eyes while drinking from her milk carton. At this time, she leaned over beside Souta’s ear and asked:

“Souta, was the flag raised?”

“Yeah…”

“Did you break it?”

“Pretty much…”

“Oh.” Despite her disinterested expression, Nanami looked into Souta’s eyes, which were filled with self-contempt and self-pity. This guy was torturing himself.

“I won’t be a bother, so can we eat lunch together?”

“Huh?!”

Since Akane’s flag had been broken, Souta thought she should have left already. Yet she stubbornly stayed and continued trying. Souta was absolutely flabbergasted.

“Did it not break?”

Nanami murmured, letting go of the straw in the carton.

“How can this be possible…”

Souta was sure that the flag had been broken and looked above Akane’s head… but —

“It-it rose again…!”

He saw the friendship flag rise again.

Having broken countless flags, Souta had never seen a flag recover so quickly.

Seeing Souta speechless, Akane tilted her head in confusion.

“Can we?”

“Holy…!”

Maybe thinking that Souta’s silence indicated permission, Akane relaxed and brought an empty seat next to Souta’s desk.

Nearly going with the flow, Souta frantically tried to break the flag again as Akane put down the chair.

“N-no, how should I say this… After all… I’ll be teased if I have lunch with girls… you know what I mean?”

“... That makes sense, sorry.”

Seeing the friendship flag break and disappear again, Souta sighed in relief.

… But before the sigh even came out, a new friendship flag had already popped up.

“I’ll eat after Souta-kun has finished eating, so can we sit together?”

“You don’t understand what I’m saying at all?!”

“?”

Souta was scared silly, and Akane tilted her head in confusion, smiling gently.

“But-but, it feels a little rude to eat first, though?”

“...”

Souta didn’t think that she could understand him at all. This kind of situation was desperate, almost like fighting a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pull_switch pull chain] in the middle of a room.

“Can’t I?”

“I’m not saying that… You can’t… No, I’m just saying…”

Attracted by the ruckus, even the classmates who had their flags broken started glancing towards Souta with interest.

“See, everyone’s looking…”

Souta lowered his head, looking extremely distressed. Akane, almost crying, looked around at her classmates.

The spectators crossed their arms in unison, thinking about the best solution for this situation. After contemplating a while, they all looked to the center of the classroom together.

They looked at the wisest person in the class — the academy’s Living Dictionary, the sage Ryuukishibara Tsumugi. Currently, she was nibbling a rice ball.

Her face and body, even if you relaxed the standard, was at most just at the level of a middle schooler… No, this description is still wrong. She looked completely childish, just like a little girl.

Despite her immature appearance, there were rumors that she had been living here even before the academy was founded. How many years she had repeated was a complete mystery. It was one of the seven wonders of the school.

There were other mysteries about her, too. For example, she only wore school uniform’s shirt and coat over a belted kimono — this outfit would surprise every passerby.

If someone asked her about this, she would sigh: “You don’t even know how to wear a kimono? Western tea has poisoned you to forget…”

However, she still wore large lace hair accessories. In this regard, her appreciation of beauty did not distinguish between East and West.

Under the gaze of the whole class, Tsumugi understood the situation, thought quickly, and immediately stood up.

“Everybody listen up!! The weather today is great!! It’s warm and sunny, so go out and eat!”

Tsumugi chewed on her rice ball and put on her [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geta_(footwear) ''geta''.] She walked out of the classroom, geta clicking on the floor.

“Oh, how befitting her title of Grandmother! Great idea!”

“Of course Bento needs to be eaten outside!”

“The courtyard, let’s go to the courtyard!”

Then, everyone started talking again and left the classroom single file. When they realized it, only Souta, Akane, and Nanami, unable to bear the atmosphere, were left in the classroom.

“... Nobody’s looking anymore?”

“Something’s wrong with those guys’s problem-solving methods…”

Akane successfully caught Souta’s attention and smiled at him; Nanami scanned the empty classroom in cold sweat.

“Can we eat bento together?”

“... Yes.”

Since it had already gotten to this point, Souta lost the courage to refuse.

The friendship flag, which had been broken more than once, was raised once again, and broke Souta’s heart to the brink of collapse.

As Akane excitedly sat down on the newly-arranged chair, Nanami also turned her chair 180 degrees.

“Nanami-san, do you want to join us?”

“In this situation, if We were the only one facing forward to eat, wouldn’t We be the only one without friends?”

Nanami acted unexpectedly cute in this situation.

“Wow! I’m so happy!! Actually, I’ve always wanted to find a chance to get along with Nanami-san. But I couldn’t find a chance… Ah! Souta-kun, you have many weaknesses… you could even say that your whole body is covered with them!”

“... Is it really?”

Akane’s carefree words… The aggrieved Souta’s mouth twitched and he asked Nanami:

“... Hey Nanami, is Akane this kind of ‘jerk’?”

“This airhead is a super rich heiress, hmph.”

Nanami replied imperiously, implying that Souta was wasting her breath. Souta wanted to punch her.

“Oh, what’s wrong? Are you investigating me? How am I a rich heiress… my grandfather just happens to be the president of a consortium, that’s all.”

“Consortium?!”

“Isn’t the Mahougasawa Group quite famous? You don’t know?”

“... I’m not familiar with the consortium industry.”

Consortium industry… What the hell is a consortium industry…? Nanami gave Souta a strange look, but Akane smiled.

“My business isn’t important. Speaking of which, Nanami is a princess.”

“A princess?!”

“You aren’t familiar with the princess industry either?”

Where did this industry come from…? Nanami gave Akane a strange look this time, but Akane kept beaming.

“Nanami’s actually the thirteenth princess of the Principality of Bladefield!”

''Huh?! That wasn’t a metaphor, she’s a real princess?!'' Souta’s eyes widened, causing Nanami to look resentful.

“To put it simply, it’s just a small country in the European countryside. And there are ten princes and fourteen princesses. We rank second-to-last. If We had stayed home, We would just be an eyesore. So We were sent to this Far East island country. We are only a princess in name.”

“......”

“S-so what…?” Seeing Souta staring blankly at her, Nanami retreated slightly and asked.

“I don’t have any money though?!”

“We are not running a royal scam on thou!!”

The ‘royal scam’ refers to the crime of posing as a royal and using fake connections to scam people.

“If Nanami wants money, I have some, okay?”

“Don’t need it!”

Souta saw the rare sight of a princess refusing a donation from a rich girl.

“You’re right. There’s something more important than money. And that’s friendth— Ow!”

“She bit her tongue!”

“She bit her tongue at the most important part!!”

Akane, who bit her tongue, was about to cry. So Nanami and Souta ran around babbling: “Friendship is great!” “Long live friendship!” to make Akane’s tears give way to a smile.

“Absolutely! This spirit of mutual protection is friendship! It’s a shining gem!”

Akane happily held Nanami and Souta’s hands and turned towards them. Although Akane’s sappy lines made the two rather uneasy, they forced a shaky smile. They’d have a headache if she really cried.

Then, in the predicament of holding hands with a rich heiress, Souta wanted to secretly withdraw his hand before she thought, ''Boys’ hands are thick and hard, it’s so disgusting~''. Suddenly, Akane faced him and said:

“A boy’s hand…”

Akane’s face stiffened slightly and she paused for a moment. Souta couldn’t help but think ‘as expected’ with a pained expression about as bitter as 99% pure chocolate.

“... is really strong! Other than perhaps my father, it’s the first time I held hands with a boy.”

Seeing Akane’s friendship flag flutter more energetically than before, Souta’s expression was so painfully bitter that it became as bitter as 100% pure chocolate. That said, 100% purity wouldn’t be chocolate, it’d just be cocoa.

“Why does Souta-kun have such a tangled expression? Is it because you indirectly held hands with my father?”

“... That’s not it. But after all, I didn’t think Nanami really was a princess… how do I put it… Although I’ve always thought that Nanami’s speech pattern was different from a normal person’s… but… really? You guys are actually Her Princess Highness and Miss Heiress of a conglomerate… I feel really out of place.”

“It's not a conglomerate, it’s a consortium, though?”

Akane raised her index finger to correct the mistake, and Souta, not well-versed in the conglomerate industry, asked her:

“What’s the difference?”

“They’re all the same.”

“Didst thou not sayest it was different?! If thou actually thinkest they are the same, why didst thou just correct it?”

“...... Then they’re not the same.”

After being exposed by Nanami, Akane became depressed. Souta forced a smile and asked her again:

“So then, what’s the difference?”

“...... They’re all the same.”

“We have hit a wall.”

''Let’s just stop talking about this, search it up yourself later'' — Souta thought, Akane also thought, and Nanami thought too. Young modern people are probably not concerned about financial news, and that’s a serious problem. At the same time, young people not caring about other young people is also a very serious problem.

“It’s a little late to say this kind of thing now, but is it really okay for me to talk to the Princess and Miss Heiress on equal ground…?”

Souta kept his distance a bit, and Akane shook her head very sadly.

“Please don’t use honorifics. Because we’re classmates.”

“Art not thou using honorifics…”

“...... Then let’s use honorifics together.”

Akane hesitantly let out an “Ahh…”, while Nanami burst out.

“We will not!”

“Souta-kun, Nanami is a princess, so it’s not her selfish refusal, it’s me forcing her to do something she can’t do.”

“We know how to use honorifics! Nobody forced Us to say that!”

Akane tried to be too clever and ended up rubbing Nanami the wrong way. Something similar was probably said before. ‘Rubbing the wrong way’ would be cute if written in hiragana and katakana.<ref> According to the Chinese TL, the Japanese version of the idiom ‘to rub the wrong way’ means specifically to irritate elders and people with higher status.</ref>

“Then, I hope you try to use them.”

“... Please allow Us to refuse.”

““Ooh, very princess-like.””<ref> They (Souta and Akane) say this at the same time.</ref>

“Sh-shut up! There definitely won’t be a next time!”

Nanami’s white skin reddened and she looked away in shame and displeasure.

At this point, Akane said she left her tea-filled water bottle at her seat and walked slowly to the back of the classroom.

Souta took the opportunity to whisper to Nanami:

“... That girl is a bit strange… no, she’s really strange. Though she seems like a good girl.”

“... Yeah. Although We are not very familiar with her either, she is cute, gentle, likeable, cheerful, friendly, and always surrounded by friends… It feels like she has everything that thou lacketh.”

Nanami didn’t seem to realize that this sentence applied to herself, too.

“Don’t say it out loud…”

''Why do those kinds of people voluntarily come and talk about themselves…?'' Just as Souta thought this, Akane came back. She looked at them with interest. Although she didn’t hear what they said, she smiled bashfully and asked:

“Souta-kun, do you have a very good relationship with Nanami?”

“Who would have a good relationship with this kind of dithering guy?!”

Nanami roared before Souta had a chance to say anything.

“Even maggots are indispensable creatures for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceship_Earth Spaceship Earth] since they clean up animal corpses, right?”

“Who said he was a maggot? I would never say such a disgusting word!!”

Since the two were constantly hopping the line between good and evil, Souta couldn’t figure out who was right and who was wrong.

“... Akane, why did you want to talk to me?”

“Right. Thou hast so many friends and art welcomed everywhere, so why would thou payest attention to this kind of person?”

Worried he would continue to be teased, Souta felt a sense of crisis and asked Akane. Nanami also joined in, also interested.

Faced with such blunt questions, Akane twirled her fork, her expression a bit troubled. “Ummm…” After thinking for a while, she put down her fork and said:

“... Ummm—I saw a lonely person, like a puppy drenched in rain or a kitten mewling in pain, so I couldn’t ignore them.”

““Treated like cats and dogs?!””

Nanami and Souta blurted, shocked.

At the same time, Souta soon began to think dark thoughts.

“That means that Miss Heiress helps hapless cats and dogs from her high standing above, right?”

Upon mumbling this disdainfully, Souta hated his own immaturity. Letting out his anger like this was shameful.

However, when one enters hell, torn to pieces by lively optimism… He who falls into the earthly abyss often feels that goodwill is a burden.

Well, what was just said is just like someone who had hit rock bottom venting their remaining emotions from that time… No, perhaps they’re still crawling the depths of hell.

Souta didn’t want to say that kind of thing but also didn’t want others to notice, so he inevitably tried to alienate himself. At least, that’s what Akane thought.

She pondered it, but…

''That’s too lonely. Too sad… Too hopeless, isn’t it?'' she decided.

So, she wanted to refute Souta's attitude no matter what.

“No! It’s not like that!”

Akane didn’t care about being misunderstood. She just couldn’t stand Souta’s attitude — how Souta couldn’t bear to trust other people, so he kept tormenting himself with loneliness

Akane shook her head desperately and repeatedly stressed:

“N-no, no! Souta-kun… how do I put this, barks and purrs cannot be mentioned in the same breath as you, I just think it’s really tragic!”

““Not even considered the same level as cats and dogs?!””

Souta, slumped his shoulders, feeling exceedingly miserable. Nanami put her hand on Souta’s shoulder, telling him not to take it to heart.

“Isn’t this a good thing? A gloomy child like thee needs this kind of friend. Get along with her, okay?”

“Really? Souta-kun, as long as you don’t–don’t dislike it, do you want to be friends?”

“I don’t need…”

“Rejected immediately!!”

Hearing the normally timid Souta say this, Akane was hit hard.

At the same time, Akane’s friendship flag broke with an adorable noise… but just like before, a new friendship flag immediately popped up.

“Why? My mother said that friends are the life’s treasures. U-uh… so… treasures are important… I’m just saying that… that… if treasures didn’t exist, they would no longer be shiny, no longer beautiful and polished… So, if you have to clean it up… after you sweep it into the dustpan, there wouldn’t be anywhere to throw it.”

“How did the conversation turn to trash cans?!”

Akane struggled too hard to persuade them, so much so that she eventually could not find a way to make them understand.

“Basically, in Akane’s mind, friends are like trash cans, so it fits Souta perfectly.”

“Nanami, what do you mean by that?!”

“Nothing like that, nothing like that. Souta isn’t so much a trash can as a bento box!”

“So I’m a box, huh…”

Souta isn’t a flower to be sheltered in a box.<ref> The Japanese idiom for being sheltered involves a box</ref> It was hard to tell whether Akane’s consolation counted as consolation or not.

“Anyways, I… don’t want to bother others. Whether it’s Akane or anyone else.”

“I want to bother Souta-kun!”

“You…”

Hearing Akane’s unreasonable outburst about inducing more suffering, Souta was about to reproach her. But Akane continued, cutting him off.

“Also, I want to be bothered by Souta-kun! That’s what friends do! And… I just can’t ignore the lonely person in front of my eyes!”

Akane’s addendum made Souta give up on his retort, and he turned away to escape Akane’s unwavering gaze.

“Just don’t worry about me…”

“Hold on, Souta!”

Seeing that Souta was about to say something she couldn’t ignore, Nanami pulled on his ear.

“Wh-what do you want…?”

“It’s rare for someone to want to be thy friend. Thou art not permitted to break her flag!”

“But…”

“Dost thou want to humiliate girls?”

“Where’s the problem…?”

Seeing Nanami and Souta pretty much arguing, Akane sadly held the tip of her fork in her mouth.

“Is it not okay to be your friend?”

“I believe a friendship between males and females is impossible…”

“So sad…”

“I just said not to break it!!”

Souta was hit behind the head with an unopened package of Klim [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puri_(food) Puri]. (Note: Nanami later ate it with great relish)

“Even if you say that…”

Alas, it was too late. The friendship flag on Akane’s head had snapped, and Akane’s eyes filled with tears.

“Sure enough, it broke, right, Souta?”

“Pretty much…”

Souta was relieved, thinking it wouldn’t recover this time. Against all odds, Akane regrouped and, without giving anyone else time to breathe, said:

“Ah, b-b-b-b-b-but, we can begin with an attempted friendship, what do you think?”

“She’s still not yet satisfied…? Isn’t that wording just like ‘attempted murder’…”<ref> Damn, these are some Cultivation Chat Group-level tangents lol</ref>

“Indeed.” Akane nodded in deep agreement. Souta looked above Akane’s head in disbelief.

“It clearly broke several times… But it still stands…”

He saw the freshly broken flag give way to yet another new flag.

“This Mahougasawa Akane chick is unexpectedly persistent… Isn’t she perfect for thee…? No matter how many times her flag breaks, it quickly recovers. Even if thou hurtest her heart, she will still face thee with an unyielding spirit.”

“Huh… I feel like that’s pretty terrifying…”

“Thou, who can see flags and decide their fate, art the one who is terrifying, alright?”

Well said.

Nanami and Souta quietly held a council. Akane ignored the two, quietly worrying to the side.

“Attempted friendship isn’t okay either…? Hmm… In this case, then the step before attempted friendship… acquaintances… a nodding acquaintance… hmmmmm… more one-sided… stalker? Is stalker okay?”

“Don’t go there!!”

“......”

Nanami was the one who initially recommended that the two be friends, but she soon began to doubt whether she made the correct choice.

“Since you don’t like stalkers, how about being friends?”

“... Do whatever you want.”

“Hooray!”

That’s pretty much a threat.

Watching Akane softly raise her arms and shout hooray with a smile, he felt his mood gradually improve for some reason.

This may be Akane’s unique characteristic.

Nonetheless, this must be…

This must be a temporary whim of Miss Heiress, thinking that he’s interesting.

''After the novelty subsides, she would definitely lose interest immediately'' — that was what Souta thought.

Though he’d soon realize that this train of thought was a huge mistake.

“But I’m kind of happy that Souta-kun’s willing to say such not-so-pleasant things to me.”

“... What?”

“I think that when I’m sad, it doesn’t matter if other people pamper me. But when I’m the one doing the pampering, there’s always this warm fuzzy feeling in my heart.”

“Akane, is it really okay even if you get hurt?”

“Souta-kun thinks I might get hurt and is worrying about me. That makes me really happy.”

Seeing Akane smile bashfully, Souta frowned.

“... You really are a strange chick.”

Souta’s tone was no longer hostile nor malicious, and Akane looked jubilant.

“But even if you’re friends with someone like me, you still wouldn’t be happy, right…”

Souta’s expression darkened like before and he lowered his head slightly, worried — but he also seemed kind of happy.

“Art thou an idiot? Souta. That kind of thing is for them to decide. How can it depend on what thou sayest?”

Nanami snorted and chewed her Klim Puri flatbread.

Akane nodded enthusiastically, agreeing with Nanami.

“Yeah! Nanami said it really well. Just talking to Souta-kun makes me really happy! I might feel a bit self-conscious saying this, but… there are many people close to me, so when I meet someone more distant, it’s a new experience… This is someone that I haven't seen around me so far, an unfamiliar kind of person… an unidentified creature… Yes, an unidentified life form.”

““A UFAO?!””<ref> Unidentified, unFamiliar Animated Object. Just roll with it. I tried. If any of you come up with something better, I welcome you to edit it.</ref>

A chupacabra appeared in Nanami’s and Souta’s minds at the same time. Wanna suck blood?<ref> ‘Do you want to suck blood?’ is apparently a quote from Japanese comedian Kanpei Hazama. Relevant because chupacabras suck blood. </ref>

“Souta-kun, Nanami, you guys are really in sync. You’re actually quite close, right?”

“We’re not close! Rather, our relationship is really bad. So bad that, given the opportunity, We would steal this guy’s leftover bread in exchange for the not-very-tasty bread We are eating right now.”

“My leftover bread is Klim Puri, the very thing Nanami’s eating right now, though?”

Having saved the bread for last, Souta was looking forward to eating it. He grieved a little when he heard this bad news.

“You guys are really similar. That’s great, I’m so jealous--”

“......”

Nanami stared hatefully at Akane wiggling.

Wasn’t it true that friendship can still be established in spite of very different values? Nanami and Akane were polar opposites, and Souta started to feel that Nanami and Akane may yet make a good pair.

The evidence was…

“... Before, ye shall become two peas in a pod and become the envy of everybody else!”

“Actually, I’ve always wanted to become closer with Nanami.”

Hearing Nanami’s slightly lonely words, Akane held Nanami’s hands tightly and smiled. At some point, ‘Nanami-san’ had become ‘Nanami’.

“Wh-why me?!”

“... Whenever I see a lonely person, or a puppy drenched in rain, or a kitten mewling in pain, I just can’t ignore them!”

“Treated like Souta?!”

Nanami was even more shocked at this than Souta was when he was just compared to a cat and dog.

“Nanami regrettably feels like a person of spoiled arrogance, which has always made me interested in her.”

“What dost thou mean by ‘regrettably’?”

“Just that, in the phrase ‘spoiled arrogance’, the ‘spoiled’ part outweighs the ‘arrogant’ part!”

“Shut up!!”

Souta looked at the arguing girls with an magnificent smile, neither forced nor a smirk, and said:

“I for one think that Nanami and Akane can become very good friends.”

“What?! This troublemaker also has a flag for Us?”

Nanami pulled on Souta’s ears again, quietly roaring.

“I don’t know… I basically only see my own— or rather, I should say, flags that have to do with me…”

That is to say, Souta was only able to see the flag for that morning’s accident because it also involved him — with this understanding, Nanami thought: ''This ability seems convenient but isn’t really convenient; it seems to be a convenience, but that’s not entirely the case…''

“Just like that! That’s what makes people think you two are close! Physical contact is proof of a good relationship! Can I pull on Souta-kun’s ears, too?”

“Sure?”

“Don’t pull on people’s ears for no reason!”

“So it’s allowed if there is a reason?”

“Sure?”

“Nanami, no stop seeking schadenfreude! Anyways, what’s so fun about pulling on ears…?”

“Causing mischief… That kind of fun, probably?”

“What a terrible relationship!!”

“No it’s not, no it’s not! That feeling of ‘even if you cause them mischief, they’ll still laugh and forgive you’ is definitely proof of a good relationship.”

Oh, that’s how it is, that does make sense— Souta smiled faintly in agreement, and Akane’s cheeks went slightly red. Joy emanated from the depths of her heart, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“That’s my friend! Looks like you really get me! Souta-kun, you’re really, really charming when you smile! As long as you smile like this a lot, your loneliness will definitely disappear!”

“Ah…”

Souta wasn’t used to being praised so directly in person, so he inadvertently shrugged, and his smile became strained. Seeing this, Akane exclaimed, “Ah, what a waste of the cool smile just now…” Her hands even began to quiver.

Having eaten her bread and sucked her milk carton dry, Nanami smirked playfully and said:

“But Akane, if he wasn’t lonely anymore, wouldn’t you lose interest?”

“In my mind, a laughing Souta is more important than a lonely Souta. This is a historic moment, okay? One small step for mankind, one and a half small steps for me!”

““Close enough!!””

“You guys are really in sync… That’s great, I also want someone to be in sync with me.”

“Why do you need to envy other people? Akane, don’t you also have many strengths?”

Nanami lightly squeezed her empty milk carton and broke eye contact, her expression that of shy admiration. Hearing Nanami’s words, Akane’s smile bloomed.

“R-really?! Like-like what?”

“... Well… like wanting to eat with me and Souta, right?”

Seeing Nanami laugh with a little self-deprecation, Akane laughed with an expression of “Isn’t that normal?” She then fell into deep thought with an “Eh…”

“Is it better to eat alone?”

““You had a conversation with yourself?!””

“Only you two keep getting closer and closer. It’s not fair, it’s not fair!”

However, supposing that Akane and Souta had already eaten half of their lunch, and then Akane and Nanami ate the remaining half, anyone would think that the relationship between Souta and Nanami was deteriorating.

In this way, the three unexpectedly similar people happily ate their lunch in the classroom. Outside, a group of people quietly observed the situation.

“... So, we can probably go in now?”

The rest of the class, who had been driven out of the classroom, searched for an opportunity to go back in.

<noinclude>

==Translator notes and references==
<references/>
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| Back to [[If Her Flag Breaks Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara (If Her Flag Breaks)|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[If Her Flag Breaks Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

If Her Flag Breaks Volume 1 Chapter 1

2026-09-06T03:45:31Z

129.170.196.116: /* Flag 1: The Day the Knight Reminder, Nanami’s middle name is Knight Raised the Flag */

==Flag 1: The Day the Knight<ref> Reminder, Nanami’s middle name is Knight</ref> Raised the Flag==
Hatagaya Academy.

Situated on a vast campus with a view of Yoyogi Park, next to Shinjuku and Meiji Jingu Shrine, it is an enormous school that teaches kindergarten to university.

The academy is renowned not just for their unrivaled academics, but more so for the sound character education their students receive.

The students of Hatagaya Academy are synonymous with kindness in the area, and the locals have a good opinion of them.

Needless to say, students come from thousands of miles away to study there, so the academy has also prepared perfect dormitories for these students.

Since it was the end of the Golden Week, a sluggish atmosphere had permeated the classroom of high school freshman Class F. But due to the appearance of a transfer student, the atmosphere suddenly brightened.

Speaking of transfer students causing a commotion, they are generally beautiful girls. Nevertheless, even if their hopes were shattered by a normal-looking boy, he still raises spirits.

This is because the academy has a relatively high proportion of girls: somewhere between 6:4 and 7:3.

Anyways, the male transfer student stood beside the homeroom teacher on the podium. When he wrote his name on the blackboard, he could hear his classmates’ thoughts about him from their whispers.

“Then again, a transfer during the semester is really strange.”

“It’s not the Emperor of Tokyo again.”

Don’t bring up The Emperor of Tokyo! <ref>Apparently it’s another work by the author, but I couldn’t find it from a quick google search so it might go by a different name. I’m using the literal translation of the Chinese text (东京皇帝).</ref>

Back to the subject. The student sitting in front of the podium… Nanami Knight Bladefield opened her cherry-like mouth in surprise, looking up at the transfer student who seemed uncomfortable under all the attention.

In front of her eyes, feeling a bit downcast… the transfer student unable to hide his gloomy expression and attitude… he was…
“Hello everyone… I’m Hatate… Souta.”

“The guy who ruined other people’s business negotiation on the way to school this morning!!”

Nanami pointed fiercely at Souta, shouting loud enough to make the window vibrate. He raised his eyebrows.

The sound of welcoming clapping was about to start, but Nanami’s outburst changed the atmosphere.

“Business negotiation…?”

“What business negotiation…?”

“Ruin…? Business negotiation…?”

“Wow! How cruel…”

“But, why do business negotiations on the way to school…?”

“In this situation, isn’t it usually something like ‘The pervert who peeked at my panties on the way to school this morning!’, right…?”

The welcoming applause scattered, and the teenagers of Class F were all talking about business.

This class would surely win first place in the high school freshman division of the ‘Business Negotiation’ competition. Although they still wouldn’t be as good as the students of the business school. Wait, that doesn’t count as first place at all!

“Hey, isn’t Hatate Souta the one…”

“Yeah, the only survivor of the luxury cruise ship accident…”

The accident of the luxury cruise ship the ''Premium Ambriel'' —

It was a mysterious event that caused a societal sensation a few weeks ago.

The ship didn’t send any help signal at all during its sinking and just suddenly disappeared into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan. Later, people accidentally found a lifeboat floating in the sea like a leaf.

The sole person on the lifeboat was Souta, unconscious.

But he lost his memories of the time he was on the ship.

The incident had countless layers of mystery, so it went completely unsolved. Later, the public quickly lost interest up until today.

However, the young man at the center of the incident was now standing in front of them.

The whispers of the class passed into Souta’s ears, making his expression even more gloomy.

When his classmates saw this, the curious gazes directed at him became mixed with sympathy.

At this time, an exclamation louder than Nanami’s came from behind her. The atmosphere in the classroom was originally a bizarre mixture of uproar and silence, and this exclamation made this indescribable atmosphere even more chaotic.

“Sou-kun!”

This time it was a girl with a slightly more mature temperament than other students. She stood up from her seat and pointed at Souta dramatically.

Actually, she had been staring at Souta ever since he’d appeared in the classroom.

Her long hair was tied with a dotted ribbon into a side ponytail. It obviously wasn’t a housekeeping class, but she wore an apron over her uniform anyways. This graceful girl was more like a mature beauty than a young beauty. She pointed her finger at Souta, mouth wide open and rooted in place. Usually, someone opening and closing their mouth this frequently should be careful of being mistaken for a goldfish, but she didn’t have this problem due to her good looks.

Faced with the girl calling him ‘Sou-kun’, Souta likewise looked at her with his mouth wide open for a while. He realized that the girl matched a certain person in his memory and inadvertently called out that familiar name:

“... Okiku-nee?”

“You really were Sou-kun!”

The girl jumping for joy upon her unexpected reunion with Souta was Shoukanji Kikuno.

Seeing that someone who knew Souta immediately appeared, the class erupted in a different way than before.

“Sou-kun and Okiku-nee…? They feel so close…”

“This transfer student’s face is really wide<ref> I’m guessing it’s in a surprised way.</ref>...”

“Maybe he’s a popular transfer student?”

“After all, transfer students are usually unknown…”

Regardless of whether she heard her classmates’ whispers or saw their suspicious gazes, Kikuno couldn’t hide her excitement at all and seemed to have understood the situation — yet also seemed not to. She hastily waved her arms to explain.

“Oh, Sou-kun’s my childhood playmate! He transferred away in middle school! And then– It’s just– We haven’t seen each other for two years! He’s actually grown so big! Become super handsome! It’s so great!”

“Don’t be so excited!” “Calm down first!” These admonishments from the rest of the class were mixed with strained smiles in their attempt to alleviate Kikuno’s enthusiasm.

—Right.

Kikuno and Souta had been neighbors from kindergarten until their second year of middle school, and the two were like brother and sister. Especially Kikuno, who didn’t have any siblings, loved Souta as a younger brother. People who weren’t in the know would think that they were real siblings.

Later, the two had gone separate ways because Souta’s family moved. So now that they had unexpectedly reunited, Kikuno’s excitement kept rising.

“Sou-kun… You really are Sou-kun, right? Woohoo! Sou-kun just moved!”<ref> It should be noted that in this case, ‘moved’ refers to actual movement rather than moving to a new place.</ref>

I can’t even move?… Souta’s expression said. The more Kikuno’s excitement rose,<ref> The Chinese literally says it broke through the sky lmao </ref> the more obvious the contrast was with Souta’s inexplicable calmness.

“Listen! I was always ~ always really worried about you, Sou-kun! Always couldn’t contact you… Uncle and Auntie are also… Because of that incident…”

Kikuno suddenly lowered her voice, and Souta added:

“My sister, too…”

“Sister? Sou-kun, aren’t you an only child?”

“......Right, yeah.”

Understanding again that his older sister doesn’t exist anymore, Souta lowered his head, his expression completely dead.

“I can’t reach Souta again…”

“Sorry…”

Seeing Souta become depressed, Kikuno panicked and frantically waved her hands.

“Uh, uh! Big Sis<ref> Referring to herself</ref> isn’t blaming you! Don’t show that face, Sou-kun! Uh! Big Sis will let you lie on her lap and help clean out your ears, okay!? I remember that you like that, right? That would make you feel better, right?”

''“That’s too much.”'' ''“She’s doting on him.”'' The class had felt that they couldn’t keep watching the way the older sister doted on her little brother too much.

Feeling the piercing gazes of his classmates, Souta couldn’t help but change the subject.

“No need, but… Okiku-nee, I think you’re one year older than me…?”

“Yep!! Last year, I went to study abroad for almost a year! So, starting high school a year late makes me a freshman now! But I didn’t think that Sou-kun would transfer and be in the same class as me! I, Big Sis, thank the heavens very much! Super amazing! It’s pretty much fate!”

Although Kikuno’s words came purely from sibling affection and completely lacked romance, her enthusiastic speech still elicited whistles of clear ridicule but also faint affection from the class.

But let’s not bring up this point first. On the other hand, a certain girl was in a completely opposite mood and was inwardly fuming.

That girl was Nanami.

''Our<ref> Nanami refers to herself in a way an empress would, so I’m going to use the royal we. I’ll capitalize it when it’s used.</ref> shocking reunion was washed away by censorship!!''

Nanami, angrily distracted from the subject, glared resentfully nearby. Souta, absolutely confused, felt trouble coming. He broke out into a cold sweat and tried not to look towards Nanami.

At this time, the homeroom teacher, wearing a cat-embroidered apron, clapped her hands with a smile to call everyone’s attention (although she didn’t notice that Souta really wanted to escape). The amount of aprons in this classroom was quite large.

“Okay, class, please welcome new friends more warmly~”

Suddenly snapped out of their stupor, the class resumed clapping. The homeroom teacher nodded in satisfaction, putting her hand to her forehead as if hiding from the sun like a certain exaggerated fruit lady children’s show host.<ref> No idea what this is a reference to.</ref> She looked around the classroom.

“Where should Souta-chan sit~?”

“-Chan…!?”<ref> The suffix -chan is used for little children.</ref>

Even the taciturn Souta inadvertently let out a cry, but the homeroom teacher was completely unmoved and continued looking around the classroom.

“Ah, Miyuki-sensei, I think sitting in the back row would make it difficult to assimilate into the class, so how about my row moves back a row to leave space for him to sit. Since Shoukanji-san and the transfer student seem to know each other, let’s arrange for them to sit next to each other!”

Behind Nanami, a frivolous blonde-haired student with pierced ears made a friendly proposal. The others automatically packed their things and vacated their seats, leaving space for Souta.

“Okay then, Souta-chan will sit behind Nanami-chan~”

The homeroom teacher waved her hands and said “Bye-bye!” Souta didn’t want to bother her at all, so he walked around to the seat behind Nanami.

Then, Souta faced the person seated behind him — the frivolous blonde-haired guy with pierced ears — and gently nodded in greeting.

“... Excuse me.”

“It’s alright… ah — also, our class’s teacher taught kindergarten until last year, so she hasn’t fully adjusted yet.”

“Oh…”

What do you mean adjusted, she hasn’t changed at all!

“Pleasure to meet you.” Although the speech and attitude of the blonde-haired ear-pierced boy was as frivolous as his appearance, he was far more kind than he appeared at first glance.

Watching Souta vaguely nod his head in reply, Kikuno, who originally was all over the place mentally and shaking nonstop, laughed.

“You really grew up~ Big Sis was obviously taller in middle school.”

“You’ve also changed a lot, you’ve become pretty.”

“Oh, naughty Souta! How can you say such polite words~ Sucking up to Big Sis won’t get you any benefits!”

Kikuno reached out and poked Souta’s forehead, teasing him.

Seeing Kikuno as frank as ever, Souta felt a bit dejected. He was already different from before, feeling melancholic, insecure, and guilty—he had mixed feelings.

“Huh? Sou-kun, why are you so listless? Shouldn’t you… feel a bit different?”

“......”

Kikuno quickly noticed, and her words made Souta’s expression more lonely. But she deliberately pretended not to notice, smiled softly, and said,

“Ah, you seem to have become more mature…”

“Now those are polite words.”

Souta understood her intentions and likewise pretended not to notice them, responding with a similar smile.

However, his slightly lonely smile instead worried Kikuno.

''Back then, he was a cheerful kid and loved to smile… but now he seems to have changed. Is it because he was too nervous about the transfer… Am I seeing it wrong? He really hasn’t moved on from the accident…'' Seeing Souta’s lack of vitality and that saying his personality had changed a lot didn’t do the change justice, Kikuno couldn’t help but feel worried.

Anyways, because they sensed each other’s goodwill, the two stopped talking. Only, their intriguing attitudes and words seemed honeyed to the people around them. As a result, Nanami, who was sitting in the front seat, constantly looked over her shoulder to peek.

Faced with her piercing gaze, Souta behaved unnaturally and tried not to look at her, breaking out in a cold sweat.

''Why…??? Why does she keep looking at me…? Hmm? Oh yeah! This woman kept staring at me during the accident this morning…!''

''Sure enough… it’s this guy!! The super suspicious guy!!''

At the time, Souta didn’t think he’d attract such suspicion. He might have been a little negligent, and silently cursed his carelessness. Meanwhile, Nanami stared at him haughtily.

Nanami Knight Bladeflield was a girl as beautiful as she was confident. She was very stubborn and rather aggressive. Speaking of her fierceness and toughness, her classmates were even convinced that Nanami repeated a grade. But they wouldn’t think so about Kikuno.

At the same time, Nanami was indifferent to things she deemed irrelevant. However, she held on to things she cared about like a rabid dog. Rabid dogs drool a lot, so Nanami might one day drool a lot too. It’s said that preserved plums are effective for people who drool. Even Soviet physiologist Ivan Pavlov had experimented with dogs. The Soviets are really unpredictable.

Then, the similarly unpredictable Miyuki-sensei somehow made a gesture like “Close fist and open fist”<ref>A children’s song. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUkJkaEyx6s Here] is a Chinese version.</ref>, smiling kindly at the students.

“Okay, okay~ Everybody, look at Sensei. Everybody get along well with our new friend~ Today, we must be full of energy and work hard at playing games and going for walks~”

''“What do you mean ‘playing games’…”'' ''“We aren’t allowed to go for a walk, right…”'' The class heard Miyuki-sensei’s exaggerated tone for talking to children in kindergarten, and despite the cold sweat in their hearts, they still stood up and saluted according to the class president’s call.

Under Nanami’s fierce rabid dog-like stare, the students unafraid of death came happily next to Souta’s seat after class.

“Hatate-kun, where did you move from?”

“... A place called Kobata<ref> The Chinese text says 小旗 (Small Flag) so I put it in Google translate as Japanese kanji and got the pronunciation. I may be completely wrong in this case.</ref>... in Nagoya.

“Oh, the future capital, Nagoya.”

“He’s from the future.” “The time traveler’s uniform is all new.” Hearing Souta’s response, his classmates started talking all at the same time.

“His uniform’s new because he’s a transfer student! It has nothing to do with the future!!”

Nanami couldn’t help but debunk the theory, startling Souta.

The class gave a thumbs-up to Nanami, praising her great deduction while thinking that the transfer student was quite skinny. A kind-hearted classmate who had no luck with girls leaned forward with a clear, definitely-not-repulsive grin and said:

“Hatate, you just transferred and don’t know many things, right? Just ask me if you have any questions. Especially things about girls, asking me would be the right choice.”

He seemed to be the kind of boy who was a diehard fan of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bish%C5%8Djo_game bishojo game] protagonists. His behavior appeared to be well-known, as his classmates' reactions were “He’s at it again?”

Having said that, his outspokenness made Souta nearly relax his expression a bit.

But…

When Souta inadvertently glanced at the space above his classmate’s head—

His expression suddenly froze, and he fell into silent consideration. His eyes appeared full of heartache, melancholy, and loneliness, and he said:

“... I’m already very popular, so I won’t need to.’

Nanami and the others heard his obvious lie, looking at Souta in confusion while the male student angrily grimaced like a monkey.

“Wow! And I thought we were buddies!”

He suddenly broke out into a Kansai accent and left without another word.

Everyone there believed that his reaction was a half joke and laughed in confusion.

However, in Nanami’s eyes, that classmate’s reaction was genuine.

And another thing…

Only Nanami, who had been intentionally observing Souta’s suspicious behavior, seemed to have noticed something.

Souta felt Nanami’s gaze become fiercer. He felt her pressure but didn’t want to provoke trouble, so he tried not to look at her. At this time, a female student stood in front of Souta with an attitude not quite like Nanami’s but still arrogant like a queen.

“It’ll be you! I’ll accept you as my servant! First, you must join my club. As for what type of club it is, you’ll know after you join…”

The girl spoke haughtily, like it was preordained.

Again, Souta inadvertently looked at the space above her head, his expression froze, and he fell into silent consideration. Again, his eyes appeared full of heartache, melancholy, and loneliness. He said, with a little disgust:

“Sorry, but I’m a super sadist”

But Souta obviously didn’t look like a sadist, and in fact looked easily disheartened. As such, Nanami mentally retorted: ''Who are you kidding?''

But the female student replied, devastated:

“Someone so obviously gloomy is a sadist?! Two sadists don’t fit together!”

She was indeed sadistic… The other classmates watched her huff and leave, nodding repeatedly as if confirming the persuasiveness of her statement.

As a worried sister, Kikuno saw the scene as Souta having fun and making friends (although it doesn’t look that way from an objective point of view).

After that, an endless stream of classmates interested in Souta kept talking to him, repeating similar interactions before leaving.

After seeing Souta’s interactions several times, Nanami discovered something.

''This guy…''

Regardless of what they said to him, he would look above their head and his expression would freeze.

After Souta rejected them, before they gave up, he would once again look at their head to confirm

— As if confirming that they would never interact again.

''Very suspicious… Too suspicious…''

Every time class ended, there would be repeated acts of acquaintance and rejection. Gradually, fewer and fewer classmates came to see Souta, and come lunchtime, not even half a person showed up.

Although Nanami didn’t plan to act at this time, she stood up confidently, looking down at the Souta seated behind her.

“Let’s step aside and talk.”

“...... I refuse.”

“Thou canst not say no.”<ref> Nanami uses an archaic second-person pronoun, so I’ll use thee/thou/thy.</ref>

Even though she wasn’t very tall, her attitude made it seem like she was standing on top of Mt. Fuji and her tone allowed for no excuses. This made Souta raise his head slightly.

''He did it again.''

Nanami glared at Souta, who nodded after looking above her head.

Because of her noble birth, Nanami had seen many people who looked at people’s faces, but this was the first time she met someone who looked above people’s heads. Granted, there are sometimes cats who look above people’s heads. According to this logic, Souta was more like a cat — the Licking Sou-kitty.<ref> Chinese says 飒喵舔舔, literally the first part of Souta + meow + lick + lick. It’s apparently some sort of K-ON! reference, but I haven’t watched it.</ref>

Of course, the thought of linking didn’t occur to Nanami, who was resolutely standing before Souta.

“I think that not associating with me would be better for you.”

The words may have been cold, but it was Souta’s awkward way of expressing his consideration. However, Nanami took no notice, drew a circle on her head with her index finger, and smirked menacingly.

“We think ‘tis better for thou to step aside and talk.”

“......”

''How troublesome…'' Souta frowned. Although he didn’t know how much the girl in front of him knew, he was at least sure she didn’t want to talk about it there, so Souta stood up reluctantly.

“What’s wrong, Sou-kun? Do you want Big Sis to go with you?”

Kikuno, anxiously looking at Souta from nearby, couldn’t help but suggest this.

However, when they overheard this sentence, the classmates around Souta reacted more strongly than he did, breaking into profuse cold sweat.

''Saying that kind of thing in this situation is too overprotective…''

''How can he be spoiled like this…''

''“Big Sis” dotes too much…''’

Although he couldn’t hear their inner thoughts, Souta shook his head with a strained smile.

“It’s fine, Okiku-nee.”

Hearing this reply, Kikuno still seemed uneasy. Nanami and Souta left the classroom under her worried gaze.

Nanami brought Souta up the stairs to the roof, where she stood majestically facing Souta. After Souta shrugged his shoulders, she said:

“First of all, We cannot ignore suspicious oddities. That is to say, We are very concerned about supernatural phenomena. Leaving them unsolved does not sit well with Us. We expect thee to understand this point.”

Nanami coughed to clear her throat and approached Souta.

“So, We implore thou to give an honest confession!”

“Uh… w-what do you want me to say…?”

Souta wasn’t pretending to be dumb. Nanami haughtily believed that others would naturally understand her ideas. Thus her poor communication.

''Why dost thou not understand what we wish to say?'' Although Nanami was rather annoyed, she patiently explained:

“... Thou always looketh above the heads of others… in this area, to make a certain judgment, correct?”

“!!”

Seeing Nanami move her index finger on her head just like she did before in the classroom, Souta’s expression visibly changed.

This admitted half of it already. It’s just like a pizza, fried chicken, Caesar salad, French fries, creamy bacon pasta, and a tuna salad appearing in a thief’s. It was supposed to be sneaky, but it might as well have been his official meal!

“W-what?… I don’t understand what you’re talking about…”

Although Souta was caught a little off guard at first, he immediately feigned ignorance. It was like he ate dirt.<ref> The original idiom was 吃熊心豹子胆, literally ‘to eat bear heart and leopard gall’ and meaning ‘to brace oneself.’ I substituted it for an English idiom about eating, since I think that’s the only part that really matters here.</ref>

“Don’t pretend to be dumb! Don’t feign ignorance! The evidence has flashed!!”<ref> Apparently a reference to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Album_(video_game) White Album] anime.</ref>

Her words didn’t make sense to him, but anyways, Nanami boldly closed in on Souta.

Souta’s intuition told him he had provoked a troublesome girl, and he sighed helplessly. Then he inexplicably observed the top of Nanami’s head, waiting for something to happen.

“See!! Thou looked again!! What exactly doth thou see there?!”

“... If I told you, would you promise to stop harassing me?”

“That would depend on the contents of thy response!”

Souta scratched the back of his head, wondering why that woman was so straight-laced, only shooting straight to the point.

“It’s just a way to calm myself down. Doing it makes me think positively — that’s all.”

“Who art thou kidding?! Which one of the sentences thou hast said after looking above their head hasn’t been negative? More importantly, first thou askest Us to stop bothering thou, then make up random lies! Didst thou think that would work?!”

Souta looked up at the sky, thinking to himself that she had a point.

“Look!! There are videos to prove it! Thou art obviously looking at something! This video as well! Also this video! And this one! And this one!!”

Nanami excitedly pulled out the videos she took with her phone earlier of Souta shutting down his classmates' goodwill in a single sentence.

“... Excuse me, what’s up with the video of you wearing a sundress and spinning…?”

Because she played a lot of videos in a row, she accidentally swiped too many times and showed him unrelated videos.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!! D-don’t look, nyow<ref> Nanami makes a cat noise, and I’m making it a pun.</ref>—!!”

FYI, that was Nanami wearing her middle school uniform for the last time over spring break. Unfortunately, it cannot be played for everyone to see. What a pity.

“S-since We even let thee see something not meant for others to see, thou must tell me what thou doth not want to say, or else We won’t spare you!!”

She says this, yet she was the one who showed it to him. It’s pretty unreasonable, but Nanami was the kind of terrifying girl who does such unreasonable things without batting an eye. Well, she actually pokes people’s eyes while they’re talking. Truly terrifying.<ref> Pretty proud of my wordplay here if I do say so myself. The Chinese just said she’s terrifying because she pokes people’s eyes. </ref>

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh, my eyes!! My eyes!!”

Her terror was already unrelated to reason.

“Don’t just go through the motions! Give Us an honest confession!!”

“My eyes—!! My eyes—!!”

Covering his eyes while rolling on the ground, Souta looked quite happy from another perspective.<ref> What perspective lmfao</ref>

After rolling for a while, Souta, who was both mentally and physically exhausted, finally gave up and stood up, ready to tell the truth.

“... What I say next, if possible… I hope you can keep it a secret.”

“Only if thou deleteth the memory of the video from thy hippocampus.”

“......”

Souta didn’t know how to respond, and smiled in resignation for a few seconds. Feeling bligated to respond, he sighed again. He said, more gloomily than usual:

“Do you know… what a ‘Flag’ is?”

“A ‘Flag’?”

After hearing this, Nanami imagined a translucent sea creature floating around. Only one syllable is the same, though. <ref> According to Chinese TL, the pronunciation of ‘flag’ and the word for ‘jellyfish’ are similar in Japanese, but only one syllable is the same.</ref>

“Survival flags, death flags, love flags, victory flags, loser flags… Human actions and states, different phenomena, etc. are concepts with a significant impact on the future. These are flags. People often say that someone is planting a flag or pulling a flag. For instance, if the death flag is raised, the person with the flag will die; if someone plants a love flag on someone else, the former will like the latter… etc.”

This reminded Nanami of the morning. Before the traffic accident almost happened, the office worker’s words did raise a death flag.

“I… can capture flags visually.”

“... Meaning thou canst see… the flags…?

Souta nodded.

“As long as I look at a flag, I’ll know… what to say to break that flag…”

“Break… the flag?”

Nanami stroked her chin in contemplation.

“Then… the office worker who almost had a traffic accident this morning…”

“That was a death flag…”

“The guy who recommended himself to provide information about girls…”

“That was a friendship flag.”

“The girl who invited you to join her club…”

“That time it was a love flag…”

As Nanami listed them out, Souta thought about them one by one and answered with their corresponding flag.

“So basically he’s a Flag Crusher… right?”

Nanami didn’t believe it at first, and didn’t believe it till the end.

While she didn’t believe it, nevermind what happened in the classroom, the truck accident that morning was indeed too bizarre even if a supernatural force had interfered.

“... Okay, breaking death flags makes sense, but why break friendship flags or love flags? Don’t you want a friend or a lover?”

“......”

Perhaps because the thoughts he didn’t want to think were said aloud, Souta’s expression sank and he sat down on the stairs, lowering his head.

“Nevermind. I’ve already…”

“How is this a ‘nevermind’...”

As Nanami saw it, Souta dropping his shoulders more gloomily than usual didn’t mean that he really agreed.

“People that are too deeply involved with me tend to meet misfortune. I don’t want to see other people hurt anymore.”

To Nanami, Souta was the person who suffered the most.

Was he like this because his amazing power scarred him?

Or was it because he was the only survivor of the luxury cruise ship accident, so he blamed himself?

Or was it both?

Nanami didn’t know the answer.

Regardless, she looked down at Souta with concern. Souta only knew how to use his power to save people like this morning and to awkwardly alienate himself from others like he did in the classroom.

Nanami’s own social skills were not high — in fact, it could be said it was very poor. Her shortcomings weren't the same as Souta’s, but it can still be said to be rock bottom.

So… looking at Souta’s lonely smile, she found that she resonated with him, which made her rather unhappy.

For a moment, a really short moment, a similar expression appeared on Nanami’s face. She seemed to suppress her feelings immediately, and after grinding her molars, she opened her mouth:

“We…”

“...?”

“I have absolutely no feelings for thee ~ neither love nor friendship. It’s impossible to raise a flag! Actually, when I saw thy cowardly appearance, any flag was instantly destroyed and snuffed out!”

Nanami stood up forcefully and said arrogantly:

“Thou canst not worry about breaking things that haven’t been raised nor breaking things that have already been broken! So! We will complain to thee when We want to complain and yell at thou when We want to yell!!”

“......”

Not only were Nanami’s attitude and tone furious, but even the words themselves harbored far from good intentions. Thus, Souta looked dumbly at her when she said these words.

However, when the words sank in and he understood what Nanami meant, Souta’s expression brightened slightly.

Perhaps like Nanami before, because both people were equally awkward people, Souta had certain feelings about Nanami’s candid thoughts.

“... You’re a really good person. Thanks…”

“...!”

Although Souta did feel shy saying this, he wasn’t as shy as Nanami.

Nanami’s clear, white skin obviously reddened, and at that moment even her neck reddened. Nanami closed in towards Souta’s nose, growling softly.

“O-Our name is Nanami! Nanami Knight Bladefield! Just call Us Nanami, because We hate it when other people use surnames. -San and other suffixes are also exempt. Those who dare use a nickname will be punished with death!”

With this belated introduction, Nanami calmed down a bit, and the blush on her face subsided. Souta nodded at her.

“Okay, Nanami-s… Nanami. M-... me too, just call me Souta.”

He almost said ‘Nanami-san’, and Nanami glared at Souta as he forced a smile.

He might’ve been a little angry at Nanami. Souta felt that even if he was harassed in the future, he wouldn’t be too bothered, so he reminisced…Man, it had been a long time… a really long time since he had met someone he could be friends with like this.

To Souta’s relief, there was no hint of a flag on her head.

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==Translator notes and references==
<references/>
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| Return to [[Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara (If Her Flag Breaks)|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[If Her Flag Breaks Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
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