At Kirishima school, the three girls talk about Miki in the restroom in The Ramparts of Ice episode 3. They think she doesn’t fit in. They’re afraid and they don’t dare to tell it to her. Miki is behind them. She hears the words. She wants a new environment that can change herself. So she goes to the academy of another city. She wants to get into a top high school.
Four People
Miki is 15 years old. She sits in the classroom. She doesn’t know anyone. Those students have their own small groups. She wants to approach. But she doesn’t have a way. Even if they’re nice to her on the surface, they will badmouth her behind her. She wants to cry when she recalls it. It’s really psychological trauma. She feels lonely. Minato shows up. He wants to sit next to Miki.
At Tomorrow High School in the classroom, Miki cries. She complains that the exam covers such a wide range of material. Minato suggests that she should study hard early. Yota asks Minato why he came back. Minato reveals he forgot to take his notebook. It’s the part that he wants to read today. The book club for four. Koyuki thinks it’s weird.
Minato tells Miki that he and his girlfriend broke up. She’s shocked. She asks him when he did it. He says two days ago. She learns that it happened recently. She asks him what he did. Koyuki is surprised that the two talk about the personal stuff. Minato complains that he’s always the one who gets dumped. Koyuki asks him if he feels troubled because of it. He asks her if she’s surprised. She thinks he would feel frustration or resentment when he just broke up.
But he says that he wouldn’t do that. He wants to thank those girls for liking him, even if the time is short. She’s surprised that there’s a person who has the thought. He asks her if she thinks he’s quite frivolous. It might not being seen. But he’s still sad. She realizes that she’s just so inconsiderate. She apologizes to him. He asks her to comfort him. He leans close to her face.
But Miki grabs Minato’s face. She tells him that’s enough. Yota whispers in Koyuki’s ear. He tells her that she should just take what Minato says with a grain of salt. He knocks Miki’s pen bag off the desk. They go to pick up the pens. She complains it to him that he’s clumsy. Koyuki remembers the two got along very well. She laughs. Minato notices it.
After school, Miki and Koyuki say goodbye to Minato and Yota. Miki wants to go to the station to eat french fries. But Koyuki worries that Miki cannot eat dinner at home. Miki comforts Koyuki that it’s just appetizer. She leaves a stomach for it on purpose.
Yota notices that Miki talks a lot. Minato wishes the girl would do it on a regular basis as well. He asks Yota what he will do. Yota takes out the hot dog. He plans to eat it and go to the academy. Minato reminds Yota that he will ruin his health one day if he does it. He invites him to come to his house to have dinner. His mother always wants to see him. But Yota rejects it. He walks away. Minato persuades Yota not to force himself.
Minato is on the way home. He wonders if Koyuki has feelings for Yota. He thinks she shouldn’t get together with Yota. At the French fry store, Miki asks Koyuki how long she has known Minato. Koyuki says that they did it recently. They knew each other after she and Miki walked home together. The guy talked to her in the stairwell. She remembers Miki wasn’t happy when Minato leaned close to her. She figures it out that her friend loves the guy.
The next day, Koyuki is on the way to the school. She overslept. She planned to set off before other students walked to the school. She should have been half an hour earlier. Mornings during exam period, the road to school will become quiet. She likes the feeling.
Minato walks her. He asks her if she always walks to school at this time. He thought he left early. She tells him that she wouldn’t go out early not during exam periods. He asks her if she knows Igarashi. She doesn’t want to hear the name. She asks him if Igarashi is his friend. He reveals he knew the guy when they trained together. He asks her if she’s close to the guy. He guesses she knew it when he mentioned the guy’s name. But she says that she and the guy had nothing in common. Igarashi won’t know her even if he mentions her name.
Igarashi is going to come to their school. He guesses they won’t know each other even if they meet. Igarashi will come after the exam. She decides to go home early. She realizes that he and Igarashi is close since he asked her about Igarashi. They would talk about the things that happened in middle school. She cannot listen to what he’s saying. An ice wall appears between them.
Koyuki and Minato arrive at the school. He tells her that he brought the Past Exam Questions. She asks him how he got it. He says that he asked a senior a favor. He invites her to come to their classroom after school. She agrees.
Koyuki opens her locker. She takes out a pair of red slippers. She wonders what she should say to Minato. He’s not shy at all. He can talk to anyone. He’s a master communicator. She remembers Miki minded that she knew Minato. She worries about Minato and Igarashi’s relationship. She thinks it’s a good opportunity to keep a distant. She wears the slippers. She wishes she will live a peaceful life.
In the teacher’s office, the female teacher Suwa tells Koyuki that it’s a good thing that she studies diligently. But she should have fun during lunch break. Koyuki points out that the teacher’s office is very warm. It promotes the teacher to think that the girl is a cat. She helps her resolve a question. She drives her out of the office. But Koyuki says that she’s going to go to visit Noriko.
The male teacher Matsumoto mentions Koyuki often comes there. Suwa didn’t see Koyuki with other students. She worries about her. He guesses Koyuki might think it’s pretty easy to talk to adults. There’s a certain sense of distance between teachers and students. Koyuki knows Suwa wouldn’t cross the line. So Suwa made Koyuki feel at ease. Suwa expresses that she wishes students can be her friends so that they can spend the youth together. He tells her that the unwanted kindness might hurt someone. She asks him if something happened to him.
In the locker room, Koyuki runs into Minato who’s with his friends. She remembers he asked her why she ignored him. She tells herself that she should keep a distance. She notices that she doesn’t know the people around him. He doesn’t pay attention to her. She doesn’t turn a blind eye. She needs to stay quiet. Letting him not find her. But he turns around. He sees her. Nodding. The strategy that nodding and running away.
He laughs and waves at her. She thinks he moved too much. It makes his friends stare at her. She’s scared. She wishes those guys ignore her. Minato walks to Koyuki. He asks her what she’s doing. He tells her that she just needed to say hello. She didn’t have to lean forward and come out to take a look. He takes out his cell phone. He asks her for her number.
He gets her number. She’s like a cat who’s backed into a corner. He asks her what is in her bag. She says that it’s the stuff for the next art class. He realizes that it’s an elective course. He asks her if she will use painting. She says that they’re using opaque watercolors. She sees Miki who’s with two girls. She runs away. He remembers she was cold to him. But she was warm to Yota.
Three guys join Minato. They mention he was close to the queen. They think his heart is strong. They don’t know the queen is weak. It’s a mutual understanding that the four are wrong. Minato tells his friends that he wished he would be Koyuki’s friend. But she fled. He’s only interested in opening her ice heart lock. He’s sad.
In the classroom, Miki gets Minato’s Past Exam Questions. She thinks he’s a god. She can deal with those subjects that require memorization with the secret weapon. He tells her that she shouldn’t let her guard down yet. She should be careful. Yota brings up that the average score on the last math test was very low. So this time it might be a bit simpler. Minato asks Yota what score he got. He asks him not to be silent. Miki remembers Yota could choose a better school. She asks him why he chose Tomorrow High School.
He explains it to her that he did it because the school was close to his home. But I guess it was because of her. Chasing his goddess is more important than studying. Minato tells Miki that Yota cannot tell her that he intended to choose a school with low admission requirements. He will get into a college if he’s at the top of the list in the high school. Yota tells Minato that it’s not true. But Miki thinks she and Yota are from two different worlds.
Yota notices that Koyuki is really focused today. Miki blames Yota for deliberately changing the subject. Koyuki explains it to Yota that she wants to clear her mind. She’s full of distracting thoughts. Minato looks at Koyuki. He thinks he’s right that Koyuki’s attitude is completely different. He doesn’t know he cares too much so that he seems aggressive. He asks her if she has a boyfriend.
She says that she doesn’t have a boyfriend. But she wonders why he asked her the question. She remembers he asked her if she knew Igarashi. She realizes something. She feels a bit of a chill run down her spine. There’s nothing wrong with what he says. But from the female lead’s perspective, it looks so scary. Koyuki wonders if Igarashi wants to ask about her through Minato. She tells herself that she must be overthinking it. Igarashi wouldn’t make inquiries through the back channels. That was a long time ago, he wouldn’t go to great lengths.
SEE ALSO: The Ramparts of Ice Episode 2 Recap
Yota asks Minato if he treats Koyuki as a pursuing target. He guards Koyuki with his hand. Koyuki realizes Minato’s motives. She has an illusion that Yota becomes her father. Minato asks Yota to hand Koyuki over to him. Yota tells Minato that he cannot date his daughter. Koyuki feels really embarrassed that she had an inflated sense of self-importance, and she had a persecution complex. She wants to know what Miki thinks. But Miki is hard to figure out. Miki says that she wants to go to buy drinks. She asks Minato to go with her. They leave the classroom. He asks her what happened. It’s purely the result of an excess of adolescent self-consciousness. Essentially, there is no misunderstanding. It’s just that everyone has things they don’t want to say. Something they cannot bring themselves to say. But it’s an opportunity for everyone to get to know themselves. This is the most mind-bending romance anime I’ve ever seen. I have never been in a relationship, I have no idea who likes whom. Miki and Yota saw Minato picking up many girls. Miki thought Minato was a social expert. Miki wished she would be like Minato. But Yota told her that Minato wanted to step in when he saw lonely people. He would feel sorry for them.
At the vending machine, Minato volunteers to pay. He reveals he wanted to buy Koyuki drinks. Miki asks him why he wants to do that. He explains it to her that he scared Koyuki when he talked to her. It caused her to press the wrong button. It turns out that she bought weird drinks. Miki holds the wallet. She asks the guy how he feels about Koyuki. She stares at him. People with low self-esteem will think Minato stands high above everyone else. But in real life, if you encounter a type like him, you can tell easily that the guy is a people-pleaser. Those in high places won’t push themselves so hard.