Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2 Quotes

“Yup, it was the wax Mizusawa had demoed for me and I’d bought for myself later. While everything was happening with Mimimi, I hadn’t felt like using it, but now that the storm had blown over, I’d decided to try it out. Well, actually, I’d been bringing it to school with me every day, and when Hinami told me I had to talk to Nakamura for at least three minutes, I decided to put it on during lunch. Kind of like armor.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“…Minmi…” “Huh?” “Minmi, do you want to be number one no matter what?” “It’s just…I’m nothing…” “Nothing?” “I don’t shine like Aoi; I’m not invincible at something like Tomozaki; I don’t have a sense of self like you… If I don’t work hard, I’m just empty…” Tama-chan hugged Mimimi harder. “…Minmi, you’re…” Tama-chan’s voice was full of genuine gratitude. “You’re my hero.” “…What?” Mimimi lifted her face up from Tama-chan’s chest. Tama-chan stopped hugging her, took a step back, and looked her in the eye again. “You always say you’re fine and smile and push yourself too far and work hard. But you never show anyone…that you’re saving me. I like Aoi, too, and everyone else…but I only have one hero, and that’s you.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“I knew the feeling. You’re going along thinking it doesn’t matter if anyone recognizes your effort, that you’re doing it all for yourself. And then someone shows up who’s worked as hard as you have, someone you can truly respect, and they affirm what you’ve done. It can be such a weight off your shoulders.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“Anyway, what I want to say is this. If you work hard, it’s worth it as long as you see some results. Even if you don’t end up in first place. It’s not a waste of time if you improve in some way. I mean, if everything other than first place was a waste, then ninety-nine percent of the people in the world would be wasting their lives. So…even if you don’t win, as long as you can see some improvement in yourself, then I think you’re good.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“But what happened next really surprised me.” “Yeah?” “The master of ceremonies announced the first-place school.” Mimimi took a deep breath. “When they said the word ‘first place,’ Aoi’s mask finally broke, and she started crying.” “…Wow.” That was all I could say. “She didn’t cry when her own team’s name was called for second place, but when the other school’s name was called for first, she did. It was like, this girl only sees victory. It was incredible.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“A-and do you want to…go see that movie together?” “…Okay.” By now, she’d hidden her whole face behind the book, but even the backs of her hands were completely red.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“When you become someone’s girlfriend or boyfriend, you’re basically putting your trust in each other. There are a lot of ways to build trust, but I think jokes are your best weapon when it comes to taking the first step, which is getting that person to feel comfortable opening up to you and listening to what you have to say.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“…The rules of life: bringing everyone’s interests into agreement, persuading the more vocal people, controlling the mood…”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“I don’t believe anyone is born with a talent for gaming. If anything, it’s a question of how much they hate losing. And on that front, Mimimi was like me. In which case, we had to fight.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“As I thought about various ways she might be able to win the election, I felt like I was building a strategy with my available skills to take down a boss.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“Yes, please… Wow, you type fast! I knew you’d be good at computer stuff.” We were in the school computer lab. Mimimi was appreciating the typing skills I’d honed in online gaming chat rooms.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“I like gaming, and with games, the stronger the opponent, the more you want to win.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“Based on that, to persuade people and succeed in your suggestions, you’ve got to think about the stakes everyone else has in the decision and convincing those whose opinions carry extra weight, rather than whether your idea is really right.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“You don’t insist you’re right and fight according to your own rules. You climb into the ring governed by the rules of others, and you win. It sounded messed up, and it was scarily honest, but as far as I could tell, it was how NO NAME played.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“If you think you’re right, you just dress it up in a convincing coat of paint. Like camouflage. By doing that, you advance the same basic idea you always thought was right. Isn’t that a healthy way to compete?”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“If you’re not getting what you want, you need to change.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“Hinami nodded. “Precisely speaking, how good a suggestion is has nothing to do with how easy it is to convince others to go along with it.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“Really? Well, in the end, your own motivation is what matters most. When it comes to changing yourself, your actions are less important than how you feel about the little things that happen around you—your frame of mind.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“It’s exciting when you finally start doing three-digit damage, right?”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“I want you to directly experience the responsibility that comes with decision-making because you haven’t dealt with that. And I want you to get used to it. To take it a little further, I want you to be able to work comfortably with it. This assignment is the first step toward that goal.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“Basically, mood was the standard for the value judgments of a group.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“Bottom line, making a successful suggestion means you’re temporarily controlling the mood of the group.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“We were reading different books by Michael Andi, but I felt like we were traveling together through the same world, understanding one another bit by bit as time flowed by like a calm and gentle river.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“You know how you can sometimes get an elemental boost from the field? Well, Kikuchi-san’s attractiveness would get a boost when she was around books.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

“You guys are planning to eat out, right? I wouldn’t want to drag everyone along on my personal shopping trip.” She waved her hands energetically. That’s when I realized what was going on. This was just Izumi’s personality. Even though she belonged to Erika Konno’s group, which was at the top of the class hierarchy, she was hyperaware of the general mood of a conversation and cared a lot about what other people thought of her. She was good at doing things for others and being considerate. The flip side was that she was bad at letting other people do things for her. It was like that saying about monks being bad at combat. If you’ve got a strength, then its opposite is likely to be your weak point. Maybe.”
― Yuki Yaku, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2