Raika Suga and Yomogi Yakura

Heave... ho!

Oooh! This is the complete "Onishigu" set I've heard so much about!?

Yes!! It's more precious to me than my own heart!

More precious than your heart!? I think you should take better care of your heart...!

My heart doesn't matter! Raika-san wants to know about it, after all!

Of course I do! It's something Yomogi loves, so I want to know about it too!

Th-Thank you!! Before the excitement wears off, please start with Volume 1!

Thanks... Hmm? All these manga have clear covers on them...

Of course! A lowly nobody like me can't go leaving fingerprints on Godo-kun's and Sayuri-chan's faces!

Be sure to look at the cover designs too! Volume 1 is simple, but starting with Volume 10... Ah!!

Aaaah, I'm sorry!! I almost spoiled it! Calm down, calm down, Yomogi~!

Haha, don't worry about it. Seeing you so excited is what matters most to me.

No, that won't do! I need to take this seriously too!

Raika-san, this is a precious, once-in-a-lifetime moment.

Huh?

The precious moment when Raika-san first encounters the world's, no, the universe's, greatest manga, which never loses its shine no matter how many times I read it...!

You only get one first time! That's why I want your first time with it to be perfect!

Whoa... Yomogi, you're making all sorts of faces...!

So that's how much you love it~ Okay! I'll start reading, then!

Yes...! I'll watch in breathless silence...!

Let's see... Whoa! They're fighting right from the start! And there's blood...!

Yomogi, who are these people?

Huh...? I-I think you'll find out if you keep reading...

I see... Ah... so this is Godo-kun!

Mm-hmm... Huh, aren't they going to stop the fight? Why are they just giving commentary?!

A real man's fight is something you watch, not interfere with...! I mean, please just keep reading...!

Okaaay. What...!? Why did this person leave!?

But they were saying something so mysterious before, weren't they? I thought they were going to become part of Godo-kun's family!

Hey, why?

I-If I tell you everything, then there'd be no point in reading it~!!

Really? Sorry! You always tell me so much about it, I just kind of...

Th-That's true, I guess... But there are things you can only feel by reading it yourself, Raika-san...!

Hmm... Maybe you're right...? But still!

I love watching you get all excited when you talk about "Onishigu," Yomogi!

Huh?

Maybe that's why I wanted to read it~ Maybe I wanted to read it with you and enjoy it together!

Raika-san...

Nngh... When you say it like that, it makes me want to talk about it... But I want you to experience "Onishigu" the best way possible too...!

W-What am I supposed to dooooo!?

Oh!

Uuugh, I messed up at the same part again...! No matter how many times I try, I just can't get it right...

Hey, I'm home~! Huh, just you, Yomogi?

Welcome home... Sorry, the only one here to welcome you is a wimpy little nobody like me...

Ohh, you're extra mopey today. What's wrong?

W-Well...

Oh? You were playing bass!

Ah, I-I was just finishing up, so I'll put it away right now. I can't let you listen to something so awful...!

Wait, wait! Let me hear it before you put it away!

No, no, no! I can't let you hear iiit!!

I've never once managed to play it through without making a mistake, and my fingers hurt so much that I'm making even more mistakes...!

I'm a hopeless nobody with weak hands and an even weaker heart... I'll be the band's dead weight before I know it... Uuugh...

I see. Let me see your fingers.

Eeeek!! You can't just touch me out of nowhere! It's bad for my heart!

Oh, sorry. Are the pads of your fingers all soft and squishy?

Huh? Oh, yes. That's what hurts...

I know, it hurts, right~? Mine did too when I first started playing guitar.

You too, Raika-san?

Yeah, everybody goes through it! Bass strings are thicker, so it's even tougher for you, right?

When Granny and others taught me bass, the notes would go all bwoing~ if I didn't press the strings down right.

Yes, exactly! Since it hurts, I can't press down properly either... I'm just so...

That's amazing, Yomogi~! You've been working so hard!

Huh?

You've only been playing bass for a little while, but you've gotten so good already! I was just thinking how amazing that is~

That's because you've been working so hard, bit by bit, Yomogi!

Does that mean... I'm playing okay, at least...?

You are, you are! Your bass has so much soul, Yomogi. It's so cool!

I love your bass playing, Yomogi!

R-Raika-san...

So no more moping! Let's keep building up the phrases you can play, one by one!

Yes! I feel like I could even play that part I've messed up a million times now!!

Ooh! Yomogi's "I can do it" energy is back!

Yomogi, play the part you were practicing! Nail it!

All right then! Yomogi Yakura, here I gooooo!!

Nngh!!

Oooow, that hurts!!

Ah, right! You told me it hurt. I'm sorry!

T-The skin peeled off...!! Uuugh, it stings and tingles...!

This is serious! We have to get you to the hospital!! Yomogi, get on my back. I'll give you a piggyback ride!

The hospital!? For one little patch of skin!?

We're Family, so I have to protect your precious fingers! Come on, piggyback!

No trip to the hospital and no piggyback ride, pleeease!!

Yomogiiii! Help meee!

Aaaah! Please don't hug me!! My heart's pounding out of my chest!!

Oh, sorry! Okay, okay, I'm letting go!

*Pant*... *Pant*... Jeez, what was that all of a sudden...?

Yomogi, come shopping with me!

Huh...? You mean... leave the house...?

That's right! Yamada-san's grandson has a birthday coming up.

Yamada-san wants to make his grandson happy, but he doesn't know what to get him.

Um... Neither Yamada-san nor his grandson knows me, so why am I...?

The Yamadas live three houses down! And their grandson likes manga~!

What kind of manga...?

Hmm, all sorts! Magic stuff, pirate stuff...

Raika-san... You don't remember any of the titles, do you...?

Haha, I thought you might know~ Yomogi!

I-I can't exactly help just because you expect me to...! It's not like I know everything about manga...

Oh, really?

I-I love "Onishigu," not manga in general...!

So this is way too much for someone like me...

Please, Yomogi! Just think of it like it's Onishigu and help me!

Isn't that disrespectful to both "Onishigu" and every other manga out there!?

Huh? Oh, I guess it is~

Besides, you were the one who got asked, Raika-san...!

Is it really okay to agree to something when you know you'll be relying on me from the start...?

Sorry! But I knew I could count on you, Yomogi.

Huh...?

It might be hard on my own, but I've got you, Yomogi.

With our unbeatable team, let's find the perfect present that'll really wow Yamada-san!

!!

That was almost exactly like the scene in Volume 7 of "Saga of the Steel-spirit Bancho: Onishigure," where Godo-kun first learns to trust his friends!!

"I might not be able to do this on my own... But I've got him." On the very next page after Godo-kun says that, his friend appears! It's such an unbelievably hype scene!

Ooh! Yomogi's all fired up!

I never thought a weakling like me would get the chance to recreate that scene... The god of "Onishigu" must be smiling on me!

Raika-san! I feel like I can do anything right now!!

Thank yooou~! I'll be counting on you this weekend!

Yes!!

Uuugh... Why did I go and say that...?!

Yomogi, come on! Time to gooo!

Come on, get up! We can't get started without you, Yomogi.

If Raika-san hadn't said something that sounded just like Godo-kun, this wouldn't have happened... Uuugh...

Waaah!! I always end up like thiiis!!