Suzuka Ep 15: Hotarubukuro (Firefly pocket)

Yamato and Asahina are stuck in Hiroshima after they missed the last train to Tokyo. He apologises for getting her into trouble and suggests that they can go to a karaoke or family restaurant which is open 24 hours. However, Asahina has left her wallet on the train while Yamato has 600 yen only. Yamato has to think of another way when they are harrassed by a drunken man who tease Yamato for making his "girlfriend", Asahina angry. He even suggests that they head to a love hotel so as to make up. Yamato remarks angrily that they don't have the money to go there which Asahina retorts that even if they had money, she won't go with him. Yamato decides to call his father for help so that Asahina can stay at a hotel for the night while he returns home. Asahina asks him why he has to step aside to make the phone call but he tries to evade the question. Actually, Yamato is just scared of letting Asahina hear him speak in dialect.

Meanwhile on the train, the captain is trying to contact Yamato and Asahina but in vain. Honoka gets more worried when she thinks of them being together.

Yamato says that his father will drive to the station to lend money to Asahina and bring him home. Asahina then calls the captain to let him know their plans so they will return tomorrow. Suddenly, she passes her phone to Yamato and he's surprised to hear Honoka on the line. He assures Honoka that nothing will happen since he will go back to his home alone.

Asahina asks Yamato if he was the one who confessed his feelings to Honoka which he confirms accordingly. He lists the good points of Honoka and says that he feels at ease with her. She suddenly tells him to shut up which makes Yamato angry because it was Asahina who initiated the question. After this, the two of them sat together in silence for the next two and a half hours.

Yamato is scolded by his father for being a fool to miss the train. His father insist on bringing Asahina home with them because he's worried for her safety. This makes Yamato very uncomfortable because he had told Honoka that Asahina will not go home wth him.

The next morning, Yamato's family members poke fun at him like usual but he's feeling uneasy because Asahina is around. As Yamato's father is busy, he will only drive them to the train station in the evening.

Yamato has to bring his dog out for a walk and invites Asahina to walk around with him since it will be some time before they go back. However, Asahina tells him to leave her alone which makes him grumble about being treated like that when he's trying to be nice.

When Yamato goes home, he asks her to go with him to see fireflies and stay for another night. She remains cold towards him and says that Yamato is being an idiot to bring her out as this will make Honoka uneasy. He realises her intentions and decides to stay clear of her.

Yamato calls Honoka and tells her that he will return tonight. He also tries to assure her that nothing is wrong between him and Asahina. After the conversation, Yamato tells Asahina to prepare for the return to Tokyo but she suddenly says that she wants to stay on and see the fireflies. Although he is stunned by her sudden decision, he decides to oblige.

Yamato brings Asahina to the bridge over the river but there isn't any firefly in sight. This makes him very puzzled since he knows that they will appear during summer. He apologises for disappointing Asahina and says that this always happens when it comes to the crux. Yamato says that he tried to confess his feelings to a girl during his junior high days here but there wasn't any firefly and he got rejected too. Asahina laughs at him so Yamato retorts that he did confess to someone before under a great atmosphere i.e. Asahina but he also got rejected.

Asahina tells him to simulate what he did at that time and Yamato puts the firefly into a flower named firefly pocket. He gives it to Asahina to show her what he did and she accepts the flower by saying that she will be his girlfriend. Yamato tells her not to make fun of him but she says that she's not. He gets confused about why Asahina is behaving like this as countless fireflies appear to light up the night sky. To break the silence, Asahina says that she was just lying. Yamato is disappointed to hear this even though he knows very well that Asahina does not like him...

It's very obvious that Asahina has taken a liking to Yamato no doubt she may deny it to everyone. This is why she decided to stay on to see fireflies even though Yamato had promised Honoka that they would return as arranged. It might be jealousy at work because she saw how Yamato cared about Honoka's feelings and used this subconsicously as a method to spend more time with him. In addition, her serious expression when Yamato was simulating his past failed confession would have revealed that she wanted so much to tell Yamato she's telling the truth but seeing the stunned look on his face, I guess that made her give up and decided to lie so as to make him feel better.