(For the chapter image, Yotsuba has an acoustic guitar. She's standing up, with her left hand around the top fret, and her left hand on the pickguard. Her hat is beside her.)
Fuuka is riding her bicycle. She encounters two kids... maybe a little younger than Ena. The shorter one seems worried, as neither has done his homework. The taller one alerts the other to the presence of Fuuka's bike. As she passes, he says they'll be fine, as they have 1o days left: a 10-day vacation. Fuuka likes the way they're thinking of it. But then, she spots... something that shocks her.
Yotsuba tells her dad she's going next door. Good thing it's okay. She goes through the gate, spies Fuuka, and says her name cheerily. Fuuka turns her head, revealing herself to be miserable. She says, "Ohhh, Yotsubaaa..." Yotsuba asks what's wrong, and if it's because of the tsukutsukuboshi, and summer ending. It's not; what it is... is love. Yotsuba invites her inside. It's Fuuka's house, so she was going there, anyway.
Inside, Yotsuba pours milk for both of them, as it's good any time, and prompts Fuuka to talk. Apparently, there's a boy she likes. Yotsuba asks if they've kissed; they haven't. Fuuka hasn't been completely unpopular with boys, even getting a love letter once. Yotsuba guesses at the sort of thing it said. Yotsuba wants to see it, but it's not the sort of thing you show people. (It was probably thrown away at some point, anyway.) Yotsuba asks if she and he kissed. No, because she turned him down. Yotsuba doesn't know what that means, so Fuuka explains that they couldn't be a couple, because the guy who sent it wasn't the guy she liked. Yotsuba hits the nail on the head, figuring that it would have been better if it had been the guy Fuuka liked who left her a love letter. However, Fuuka saw that guy holding hands with a girl from her school, so as Yotsuba guesses, they're close. Fuuka explains that it means the guy is seeing someone already. Yotsuba needs a drawing. The drawing she gets is very simplified. Yotsuba doesn't think Fuuka draws well enough to clarify the situation.
Instead, Fuuka asks Yotsuba to name someone she likes. Naturally, Yotsuba chooses her father. Fuuka tries to convey her own feelings by posing the idea that Yotsuba's dad doesn't like her. It's really effective, so Fuuka has to bring her back to reality by telling her he actually does and it was just an example of what heartbreak is like. Yotsuba understands, thankfully. She has the impression that it's the stuff that dies and kills people, and Fuuka doesn't correct this. Yotsuba starts to run off and tells her to wait there. Fuuka asks her to keep it a secret. Yotsuba tells her not to die or kill anyone.
Yotsuba scrambles up the stairs and finds Asagi. Torako is also there. They seem to be reading magazines or catalogs or something. Asagi thinks Yotsuba looks like she's seen a ghost. Yotsuba tells Asagi about Fuuka's heartbreak, and asks what to do when you get it, and how to fix it. Asagi doesn't know, as she's never been rejected.
I assume this also means that she either never had a breakup (i.e. she has a boyfriend we don't knowingly meet as of vol. 10), or any breakups she's had didn't induce heartbreak.
Torako didn't expect a girl as cute as Fuuka to be rejected. Yotsuba wasn't aware of her cuteness. Asagi notes that her look seems like it would go over well with the guys. Torako thinks her legs are a little fat, which Yotsuba wasn't aware of, either. Asagi thinks guys like them about that size, and that Torako's just too skinny. Yotsuba asks what she should do. Asagi suggests trying to cheer her up, and that anything is fine. She leaves the room.
On the way, she encounters Ena, who greets her. Yotsuba tells her it's too early for her, and to go back to her room and study some more. Ena wonders what that was about.
Downstairs, she sees Mrs. Ayase just about to close the door after having come in. This, Yotsuba feels, is good timing. She asks Mrs. Ayase about heartbreak, but she thinks Yotsuba is a little young for that. But then Yotsuba lets on that it was Fuuka, which Ayase says is too bad. Yotsuba asks if it's like makes-you-sad bad, which is what it is. Yotsuba tries to compare it to when her dad gets mad at her, but apparently, it's much, much sadder. The horror!
Yotsuba rushes into the room where Fuuka is, and finds like lying face-down on the couch, face buried in a pillow. Yotsuba asks if she's okay, and if that makes it hard to breathe. It does, a little. She raises her face. What really makes it hard is how she feels. Yotsuba doesn't understand. She thinks of things that were said. She chops Fuuka's head and says "Too young!" Fuuka sits on her knees in confusion as Yotsuba tells her she's too young for heartbreak. She tells her to cheer up and not be sad, and that Asagi's never had heartbreak, and not to worry about her. She thinks some more, and comes up with telling Fuuka she has fat legs, shocking her. Then she tests this, and tells her that her thighs are all jiggly. Yotsuba then tells her not to die. Fuuka responds with a "Hnngh".
Nooooo, not the memetic meaning.
Mrs. Ayase watches through a window. Asagi comes up and asks how she's doing. Mrs. Ayase calls her evil. Asagi points out that she's watching, too; Mrs. Ayase believes she's allowed, being Fuuka's mother.
Fuuka says she won't die. She hears a tsukutsukuboshi, and wonder if she'll remember the end of her love every time summer ends. Yotsuba looks out the window, too.
"Sayonara, love."
Asagi points out to Mrs. Ayase that Fuuka is her daughter; Mrs. Ayase counters that Fuuka is Asagi's sister.
After a couple of silent panels, Yotsuba asks Fuuka if her heartbreak is over. Fuuka decides she has to make it be over. It's time to take her first step forward.
Yotsuba: Your two fat legs!
This sends Fuuka face-down on the couch again. Oh, Yotsuba...
The after-chapter image has her looking at her drawing and saying it's not that bad.
Next time: Chapter 26!
