Ahko notices Karane eyeing the various charms on her phone and invites her to go shopping after school. The two bond over the various cute items they find (even if Karane finds Ahko is rather indiscriminate about what she finds cute). At the store, they run into Ahko's former friends, who invite them to hang out. Ahko asks what Karane thinks, but Karane doesn't mind, so they go off with the girls.
The group has a fun time eating crepes and playing at an arcade, but Karane has a hard time keeping up with how the gyarus talk. One of the girls laments how distant they and Ahko have been lately while another admits that she'd been hoping for another chance to hang out again. Ahko agrees, but Karane can sense that something is off with her. When the girls leave to use the bathroom, Karane asks her about it. Ahko admits that while they were close friends, there would sometimes be tension between them that was always her fault. This led to a wall forming between them. Now that the group is hanging out again like nothing's happened, she isn't sure how she's supposed to feel about it.
The girls return from the bathroom, and Karane confronts them, insisting that they apologize to Ahko. The girls are not sympathetic, saying that Ahko ought to be thanking them for being willing to hang out with her again. Ahko advises Karane not to pick a fight with them, since she'd likely kill them. Instead, Karane declares that SHE is Ahko's BFF now and for them to beat it. The girls are incensed, threatening to make things unpleasant for Ahko in class. Karane apologizes to Ahko for losing her temper, but Ahko is touched by the gesture.
Karane compliments Ahko on her willingness to be honest about her feelings even if she's not good at expressing them with her face. Catching on that she's jealous, Ahko gives her a hug.
As they leave, they see that Ahko's former friends have run afoul of the Gorira Alliance. They claim to be friends with Karane, which leads to the Alliance's leader being willing to let them off with a warning. Karane swiftly denies this, but admits that Ahko knows them. The girls catch on and apologize to Ahko... who tells the Gorira Alliance to do what they gotta do. She didn't really care about what they said about her, but their insults to Karane were unforgivable. She's like, totally pissed off.
The chapter ends with the Gorira Alliance putting pressure on the girls to apologize while Ahko compliments the leader's necklace. The narrator notes that the girls were forgiven and never gave Ahko or Karane any trouble again.
Tropes
- Beware the Nice Ones: While touched by Karane's defense of her, Ahko says that the harsh words of her former friends don't bother her that much... At least, not the words directed at her. Their words directed at Karane pissed her off to the point where she's fine with the Gorira Alliance doing whatever they want to them.
- Hypocritical Humor: When Ahko admits that she read Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and watched the movie, Karane comes to the conclusion that the reason every store has a Demon Slayer section is because of people like her. The very next panel reveals that Karane did the same thing.
- Ironic Echo: Ahko enables the Gorira Alliance to do their business to her former friends by repeating the same words that led to her friends freezing her out of their group in the first place.
- Lonely Among People: Karane points out the other side of Ahko's situation: While Ahko's borderline Frozen Face could make things awkward, her "friends" ignored her feelings and wrote her off as "clueless".
