Chapter 1

Chapter 1 of the Strobe Edge manga series.

Plot
The chapter begins with Ninako going grocery shopping for her mother. Her mother told her not to buy anything useless. A man selling apples approaches her and tells her that the apples are delicious, so she decides to buy some. Ninako returns home with the apples and insists that the apples are tasty. Her mother calls her an idiot and says that if the salesman didn't say it was nice, it wouldn't sell. She tells her daughter to use her brain for once, showing how gullible Ninako can be.

At school, Ninako and her friends gossip about how the popular Ren Ichinose turned down another girl's confession, and then wonder if he has a girlfriend or if he's simply not interested in girls. They always watch Ren as he passes by their classroom.

Then Ninako wonders aloud what someone should do to fall in love. Her friends tell her she shouldn't say something like that because she has Daiki. Ninako tells them that she and Daiki aren't dating, but they insist it's only a matter of time. Daiki walks in and they tease him about overhearing their conversation. After he walks to his seat, Ninako explains that she has fun with Daiki, thinks he's a good guy, and doesn't hate him. Her friends claim that's what love is. Ninako, startled, said that she didn't realize she was in love and accepts her "love" for Daiki.

While wondering about loving Daiki, Ninako looks out the window and sees Ren outside. She realizes she's never seen Ren smile since he seems so cold, and wonders what kind of smile he would have.

Later, on the train ride back home from school, Ninako spots Ren asleep on the train, too. She wants to text her friends about him being there, but as she's typing, the train stops. Ren wakes up abruptly and runs to the doors, but he accidentally knocks over her phone and steps on her cell phone strap. He misses his stop and apologizes for breaking it. He also says he'll compensate for it. Ninako tries to reassure him by saying it was just from a juice bonus and she got it a long time ago, but this upsets him because he can't replace it. He asks what year and class she is before leaving at the next stop.

The next day, Daiki asks where the cell phone strap he gave her was. Ninako explains that it broke, and Daiki dismisses it and says it was just a souvenir. He tells her that he saw his sister for the first time in a while, but didn't see his mother. This is because his parents are divorced and he lives with his father, while his sister and his mom live separately from them.

As Ninako goes to the bathroom, Ren spots her. He gives her a butterfly cell phone strap because he broke the old one. After he walks away, Ninako examines the strap. She notices that it's really girly and wonders if he was embarrassed buying it. She feels very happy that he went out of his way to buy a new one for her. The next day, Daiki notices she got a new strap and says it doesn't fit her, but Ninako insists that she likes it. Ren overhears this comment. When he walks by their class, Ninako notes that he usually has a bright aura, but today there's only a little bit. She makes eye contact with him and thinks he looked at her. The other girls say the same thing and she wonders if she was being conceited.

After school, Ninako notices there are no empty seats except next to the sleeping Ren and nervously sits next to him. She wants to mail everyone, but then decides not to because she'd feel bad to wake him. She gets nervous because their shoulders touch on the train. Ren wakes up and says that she doesn't have to use the cell phone strap since he practically forced her to accept it. Ninako tells him that if someone does something for her, even if it's small and insignificant, she'll be happy, so she'll use the strap. Ren smiles and says she's weird. Then he gets off at his stop.

Ninako notes that her chest hurts and wonders if it was the apple she ate that morning. She thinks that the "delicious" apple actually turned out to be sour.