“High School Boys and Cleaning Up” is the 98th chapter of the manga.
Cover Page
A still in which Hidenori speaks to someone on the phone, seemingly agitated. Yoshitake stands next to him.
Detailed Summary
In Sanada North High, it is the day on which the students clean up their classrooms. While moving out items from Class 2-A, Hidenori asks his classmates what they should do about the TV. Motoharu and Mitsuo decide it would be better to remove it. Hidenori and Tadakuni hold the cabinet on which the TV is placed from either side and prepare to lift it on Hidenori’s count.
Tadakuni, however, tips it forward before Hidenori is ready. The TV crashes to the floor and cracks. Hidenori yells at Tadakuni for his botched sense of timing and Tadakuni apologizes. Yoshitake then suggests that they change the lights and Tadakuni offers to bring the new bulbs. The others position the ladder for the job just as Tadakuni returns. Attempting to enter the narrow door while holding the long bulbs horizontally, he shatters all of them.
The others yell at him in anguish and he apologizes again. Later, after cleaning up the broken glass, Mitsuo remarks that they are nearly done. Motoharu asks for the paint and Tadakuni picks up a bucket. Someone yells at him to be careful, upon which the bucket handle breaks and paint spills all over the floor. He apologises again, but Mitsuo and Motoharu are extremely frustrated with him, and the latter asks him to clean the windows instead.
Tadakuni acquiesces, before being stopped by Hidenori, who thinks it’s a bad idea and tells him to clean the chalkboard instead. He begins wiping it over as Yoshitake and Hidenori sweep the floor behind him. One corner of the board gets unhinged and crashes to the floor, shocking them all.
Tadakuni says he’s sorry yet again, but the others just stare at him in silence, wondering if anyone could really cause such damage as he had.
Characters
In order of appearance:
Notes
- If the cover page is the end scene of Chapter 97, it could be Hidenori calling up Tadakuni to tell him the truth about Yoshitake's story.