Past

Past (昔のこと, Mukashi no koto) is chapter twelve of the Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai light novel series. It is chapter twelve of volume one.

Summary
Kodaka laments that it sure has been quite a while for him to exercise (since his classmates did not want to team up with him in PE out of fear) so he cannot shake off the fatigue after swimming with Sena. On Monday, Kodaka tried not to sleep in class since he may get classified as a delinquent again but he notes that even the teachers seemed to be scared of him now.

Kodaka then went to the club-room after class and sat on the sofa, in half-sleep. Kodaka then dreams of something that occurred a long time ago. Even in the past, Kodaka only ever found those that he could sit or eat with, never any 'real friends'.

Kodaka then recalled that he did once. he did have a best friend he could count on. Ten years ago, he was still in the city, on a certain evening, Kodaka was being bullied by his peers near his primary school.

Kodaka got tired of the bullying and tried to fight back, but he is unable to handle five of them. The children who derived this logic out of their childish reasoning (of saying that Kodaka is a delinquent because of his blond hair) didn't feel stricken with conscience at all. They called out some Kamen Rider or fighter anime moves as they beat him up without mercy.

As a child, Kodaka was even contemplating suicide. At that moment, a boy barged in and shouted to the bullies that they should not bully the weak. The five bullies got enraged and rushed towards to punch the boy. However, Kodaka did the first punch himself.

"What are you doing ?! I'm helping you !"

"I.. AM.. NOT WEAK!"

To Kodaka, those words hurt even more than the violence exerted towards him. Then he punched the person as the person smiled and punched him back hard. The bullies then rushed up and but soon, Kodaka and the new person won.

But to Kodaka, he didn't care what happened to them and the boy seemed to feel that way as well. After those five ran away, Kodaka and the boy started fighting again and this battle ended up being a stalemate. As Kodaka and the boy sprawled out on the ground, covered in dirt, scratches and bruises. Kodaka smiled at the boy.

“You're rather strong.”

“You're not too bad yourself.”

The two eventually become good friends despite being in different schools and one day, the boy said a phrase to Kodaka.

"Taka, my mom mentioned that it doesn't matter even if you can't get 100 friends once you graduate to your next class, you must find a real friend that you can treasure with the feelings of 100 people. Once you get this true friend that you can view as more important than anyone else, your future will be bright."

"Then, I'll use the feelings of a hundred people to treasure **nickname Kodaka forgot**. Even if there's 100 people... no. No matter if it’s a million or trillion people, even if the entire world views you as an enemy, I'll still be your friend."

Kodaka 's friend then blushed and soon both laughed it off. Kodaka then woke up from his half-sleep and noticed Yozora being there as usual.

"It doesn't matter even if you can't make 100 friends once you graduate to next year, but you must find a real friend that you can treasure with the feelings of 100 people... is that so?"

Kodaka blurted this phrase out while still confused.

Pak.

"Ko-Kodaka...so you remembered..."

Yozora was mumbling some things looking at Kodaka as Kodaka asked what's wrong.

“''No-Nothing... I was startled that you suddenly spoke.''”

“''Sorry for startling you... where's Sena and Yukimura ?''”

“''They went back already. There wasn't anything special to do today.''”

“I'm going back too.”

“Oh.”

As Kodaka was walking home, wondered if his old friend was still okay and wondered what does he look like now and what is his name. Kodaka knew that he used to be called Taka (Hawk) last time and he too, gave a nickname but he had forgotten.

Kodaka then tried to forget about it since it was a long time ago and was sure that his old friend no longer remembered him. Kodaka then thinks that it is time for him to let go of the past since everything will change as time continues.

A tinge of loneliness struck Kodaka as he continued home.