Chapter 07 - "Welcome to the Summer Days!"

Welcome to the Summer Days! ("Natsu no hi ni yōkoso!", 夏の日にようこそ！) is the seventh chapter of the Welcome to the N.H.K. manga.

Summary
As Tatsuhiro Satou writes the script for their Hentai game, he can't stop mentally substituting the characters he creates for Misaki Nakahara. Yamazaki becomes increasingly more annoyed at him, and reminds him that they will not be prepared to present their game at Comiket if he does not concentrate. Tatsuhiro starts to crumple from his feelings of immorality in front of Yamazaki who then criticizes him for fixating on real-life romance. Yamazaki believes that love was an adopted Western culture that exists solely to keep the wheels of Capitalism turning. It is suggested that this convoluted view spawns from his pain and acquired grudge against females. Tatsuhiro accidentally strikes a nerve of Yamazaki's who then reveals his story on why he gave up on love. Back when he was in primary school, a girl protected him from a group of bullies, and he developed a crush on her. He asked her to see the fireworks with him and she lied about her plans later. He fell apart upon seeing the boy she actually went to see the fireworks with. This intense feeling of betrayal led him to acquire a grudge against females, desiring to rape and torture them within videogames and his imagination. Yamazaki was temporarily successful into pulling Tatsuhiro into this state of mind, until his crush, Nanako Hidorikawa, calls him to let him know that she's free to hang out. Yamazaki retracts his original statements and naively accepts the invitation, leaving Satou in the dust. That night, Misaki throws a pebble at Tatsuhiro's window. She wants to make up with Satou for their previous encounter, and she invites him to see the fireworks with her. She apologizes for causing him so much trouble. They hold hands together under the fireworks.