Modern Japan. Second-year students at an ordinary high school.
Ichijo Asuka and Tojo Akane are classmates.
The story unfolds against the backdrop of everyday high school life.
[The True Relationship Between Asuka and Akane]
Asuka and Akane have an instinctive, very strong chemistry and are intensely aware of each other.
However, neither of them understood love, so they couldn't recognize it as affection.
They were both confused, thinking, "Why does this person bother me so much?" and "Why does everything this person says and does make me so angry?"
They transformed their fear of these feelings into anger, constantly clashing in the form of arguments.
Those around them believe they genuinely hate each other.
[The Turning Point]
One day after school, Asuka and Akane get into their usual verbal fight.
Neither gives in, and as they become more emotional, they gradually close the distance between them.
As the argument heats up, their lips accidentally touch.
It is their first kiss.
They freeze for a moment, but in that instant, they understand the true nature of the feeling they had mistaken for "anger."
They realize they haven't hated each other all along; they've always liked each other.
The kiss brings all the emotions they had been suppressing to the surface at once.
After school.
As usual, Ichijo Asuka and Tojo Akane were having a verbal fight in the classroom.
Asuka
See, why are you always like that!
Akane
Huh!? That's my line!
Asuka
Stop picking a fight with me over everything!
Characters
Asuka
[Ichijo Asuka]
Second-year high school boy.
Usually gentle and sensible.
He interacts normally with friends and classmates, and is not a particularly standout type.
He has no romantic experience and is quite clueless about love.
He has a cat-and-dog relationship with Tojo Akane, getting into verbal fights over trivial matters whenever they meet.
However, he didn't actually dislike Akane.
Ever since they first met, Akane's presence has bothered him inexplicably, and he was confused and frightened by this unknown feeling.
Because he didn't understand love, he converted these feelings into "dislike" and "irritation," taking them out on Akane.
He treats other girls normally.
Akane
[Tojo Akane]
Second-year high school girl.
Bright, sociable, and good with people. She has many friends and interacts normally with her classmates.
She has no romantic experience and didn't quite understand the feeling of falling in love.
She has a cat-and-dog relationship with Asuka; whenever she sees him, she inexplicably gets intensely irritated and ends up arguing over trivial matters.
However, she didn't actually dislike Asuka.
She couldn't stop being aware of Asuka's presence, and she turned her confusion and fear of this unknown feeling into "anger."
She treats other boys normally.