Yamada’s latest encounter with Akane has him remembering a time when an apparent childhood friend of his, was being bullied in their class, and she asked if he’d stay with her forever. He flatly, curtly said he couldn’t promise her that, which looks like it broke the girl’s heart.
In the present, while getting away from the weirdness at Akane’s, a konbini clerk chats him up and asks for his name. He flatly, curtly says he’s in a hurry, which is true, but also…kinda mean? You can argue whether it’s professional for the clerk to do what she did.
But sometimes meeting someone means taking a chance and getting outside your comfort zone. This clerk did that, worked up the courage to talk to this regular customer of hers. But Yamada is simply uncomfortable with “This Kinda Stuff”.
When he returns to Akane’s (as he said he would), she and Runa have already eaten and are napping in the dark (naturally Akane left out some wrapped omurice for Yamada, topped with “Yamada” written in ketchup). He simply admires her as she sleeps so peacefully, then sees her tied up hair, feels bad, and undoes the clip.
Akane’s cascading hair, free at last, is one of the most gorgeous pieces of animation depicting a simple act of physics I’ve seen all season. The flowing, glowing strands of hair mesmerize Yamada, but the moment is rudely interrupted by repeated rings of the doorbell. It’s Akane’s Ex, He Who Shall Not Be Named.
While initially surprised Yamada answers the door, Yamada then confirms it’s “not like that.” The ex provides a back full of bento boxes from lunches Akane made, which he’s only now getting around to returning after dumping her.
He also came because when he saw the boxes, he suddenly felt a pang of guilt for discarding the person who so lovingly prepared the meals within them. So he really came to assuage that guilt; to feel better about himself. Yamada may be clueless about a lot of things, but not this.
Mr. Ex doesn’t get to have peace of mind, so Yamada sends him on his selfish way. Then Akane opens the door, Yamada tells her the boxes “came out of nowhere”, and after looking forelorn for a beat or two, starts to snicker at the transparent but seriously-recited white lie. She also thanks Yamada for “dealing” with Mr. Ex, who she no doubt did not want to see. Fuck that guy!
Once back in Akane’s place, Yamada realizes he still has her hair clip, and returns it. She worries it fell off while she slept, but he flatly, curtly tells her he removed it, because, for reasons he’s not quite sure of, he simply wanted to do it. Akane justifiably wonders what this is all about. Is Yamada coming around?
From the homemade lunches for her ex to the curry she made for Yamada, Akane is someone who works above and beyond to please others. You could say she does it because she believes doing good things for people means good things happen to you, or if you’re less cynical, she’s just really nice and generous, almost to a fault.
When Eita procured secondhand parts to fix her laptop, Akane decided she had to pay him back with cash, so she applies for a part-time job at a konbini. Hopefully she still takes the job so we haven’t seen the last of Ms. Lonely Hearts clerk. But again, no one asked her to do this, nor is she expected to. She’s just taking it on to ensure her debts are paid.
She talks to Momo on this on the phone, but Momo has to go; she’s in the middle of a group date. Another girl in the group notes that Akane hasen’t been on them of late. That’s because we’ve seen her get immersed in FOS. I love how Momo doesn’t judge her friend for going off and doing something else. And of course she knows Akane may have just found someone through gaming.
But the fact remains, Yamada has some serious baggage. It’s no surprise that he’s awkward around women; they rarely act normal around him, instead placing him on a pedestal and fawning over him from afar. Whatever insecurities he may carry, these outsiders have made up their mind about who he is, and don’t care about the truth.
One of the incidents that formed his reticence to interact with most women involves his friend in that flashback who he couldn’t promise to be with forever. My first thought upon seeing how Tsubaki acts towards Yamada (and how she put his phone on a towel so it wouldn’t rattle against the desk) suggests she’s that same girl.
If this is indeed the case, she and Yamada have remained in proximity ever since, but if they were once good childhood friends, there’s now a cold distance between them, far larger than the space between their desks. Even so, Tsubaki seems to express interest in Yamada finding FOS fun.
I’m looking forward to learning more about Tsubaki and how she and Yamada came to have such a complicated and by appearances presently bruised relationship. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be like Miss Konbini Clerk and simply rely on appearances. Yamada wasn’t trying to be rude or mean, just truthful. The gap between perception and reality can be harmful.
As for Akane’s old laptop, it’s good as new…in fact, it may be more new than old now, and must be hooked up to a large toaster-sized external GPU to play FOS. She likes how much more pep the computer response times are, and thanks Yamada, who promptly acknowledges said thanks and leaves promptly without any small talk.
From there, Akane enters the Guild where Rurihime and Kamota are waiting. Kamota’s avatar, incidentally, is a teeny-tiny dust mote-sized puffball with ears and a tail. It’s as adorable as his Battle Mode is breathlessly terrifying, as Akane learns first hand when they go on a quest together.
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