The Girl Singing in the Restroom (トイレで
Summary[]
On the rooftop, the girls are discussing how a famous idol named Kiki has transferred to Ohananomitsu High; Rentarou has never heard of her and they explain she's a "songstress prodigy" who is popular with a powerful, mature voice but acts clumsy in person.
A while later, Rentarou is helping another teacher with moving some items as he approaches an abandoned restroom; a restroom stated with a legend it was haunted by an opera singer who died of diarrhea. As Rentarou thinks it's a legend, he suddenly does hear someone singing inside, forcing him to hide by putting the cone he was carrying over his face. The mysterious singer emerges from the bathroom as Rentarou checks who it is; and it turns out to be the idol "Kiki", whom Rentarou "zings" with immediately!
Rentarou is shocked this happened (believing his monologue of the legend blocked the "zing" from being realized) as Kiki tries to wonder if she suddenly has felt "love at first sight" for someone before asking if Rentarou was the one who screamed hearing her sing in the bathroom, which he confirmed was just surprise that it would be used that way. Kiki states she was practicing believing that small enclosed spaces are good for the acoustics in singing; when Rentarou states that's actually about "baths" and not "bathrooms", Kiki strangely smiles in a "smug" manner as Rentarou remembers she probably is just clumsy and didn't realize it. "Kiki" reveals her name is actually "Himeka Saiki" and she's in class 1-6 before offering to treat his knee wound from falling over; she brings out sparkling water and a mouse sticker to dress it, but when Rentarou questions why, she smiles smugly again before returning to the topic at hand. Himeka notices Rentarou's hurt hand and uses a bottle of water, but it actually was just regular bottled water and not the sparkling water as both she and Rentarou apologize for one another's mistakes.
Himeka states that Rentarou figured it out when she made those weird decisions prior: she is merely a "garden variety genius" and not an "abnormal genius" like she wants to be! Rentarou is confused as the idol explains: all of the strange decisions she made including singing in a restroom, using sparkling water for treating a wound and dressing with a sticker were attempts to be "abnormal", but it was all putting on a show instead of actually doing it thus making her a mere "genius" instead, confusing Rentarou further.
He wonders why Himeka wants people to believe her as an abnormal talent, and she states it's because "abnormal talents are cooler than ordinary talents"! She reveals her abilities as a child genius her entire life and she felt so natural hearing it that she just didn't really care to keep hearing such things about her abilities. However one day, she saw the singer Kenshi Yonezu wear high heels in a music video; and when she imitated that, she just felt amazing in doing so! (though Renatarou states no one would believe such a thing) She soon started to add abnormal behaviors to her actions to try and appear abnormal to others, but Rentarou believed it to be merely inept.
With her revelations, Himeka states that Rentarou is too "ordinary" and that states even if she likes him, she can't go out with him and abandons him before he could say anything to confess. Desperate, Rentarou tries to speak up to show how abnormal he is: that he has thicker than usual eyebrows; which Himeka passes off in that it's not a unibrow like "a legendary Tokyo beat cop". He tries to be weirder and states he's spoken to God face to face, but Himeka states that many claim that and that's just "normal" behavior. As Rentarou despairs, the judo club suddenly rushes towards him and the idol; Rentarou stands up to them holding them all back as Himeka tells him to stand down, but he states that she was nice enough to dress his scrape and said she liked him and thus he has "the power of love" on his side! As Himeka tears up, Rentarou screams only for the Vice-Principal to appear to chase them away, making Rentarou collapse to the ground in exhaustion!
Himeka rushes to Rentarou worried about nearly getting killed but he states again he had "the power of love" on his side due to "his girlfriends". As Himeka asks about what he means, he states there are 25 girlfriends he loves and cherishes more than anything; which is so abnormal to Himeka that she finally agrees to go out with him!
Characters[]
- Kurumi Haraga
- Meme Kakure
- Rentarou Aijou
- Aashii Kedarui
- Eira Kaho
- Hakari Hanazono
- Karane Inda
- Himeka Saiki
Quote[]
Beginning: Right in the zing of things!
End: An abnormal oddball as ordained by God.
Next Chapter: We'll be on break to get ready for the family introduction. Look for us the week after.
Trivia[]
- After Himeka tells Rentarou she would be more interested on him if he had connected eyebrows like a unibrow, Rentarou regrets not having an unibrow like that legendary Tokyo Beat Cop; this is a reference to Kankichi Ryotsu, the protagonist of Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo, known in other countries as Kochikame: Tokyo Beat Cops. In the original japanese dialogue, he even mentions Ryo-san, the alias of Ryotsu.