Childhood Friends — Part 1

 is the forty-ninth chapter of Natsumi Mukai's +Anima manga.

Synopsis
Cooro, Husky and Senri are finishing a week of work digging an irrigation ditch; Cooro is singing about it being payday, and annoys Husky because he is slacking off. After their receive their pay, Nana Alba exits the house having been helping with the housework and playing with the farmer's daughter. Nana was paid less, but also got some fresh bread and cookies. They agree that the family were kind and have a nice home. Nana starts to wonder about how she will live in the future, and becomes embarrassed imagining living together with her friends. As they wander into town, on the notice board they see a poster for the 1st Yellow Valley Race.

In Astar, some soldiers are discussing the race being sponsored by Astaria. The race is being used to scout +Anima for jobs. One of the soldiers notes that +Anima are becoming more accepted into society, however another soldier informs him that giving them jobs is just a method of controlling them. They bring attention to the role of the research facilities in dealing with +Anima, and upon hearing mention of him Fly Greena Aight appears behind the soldiers.

The children arrive in Yellow Valley and are excited to see so many +Anima in one place. A winged +Anima, Jesso, brags about himself and goes around advising the other +Anima not to compete. The children discuss the layout of the race and Husky and Nana decide not to compete, but Cooro and Senri choose to. They notice a girl staring at them and Cooro recognizes her as Lyra. She grows swallow wings and flies away proclaiming that she won't lose to Cooro. Cooro explains that Lyra grew up at the same church as him, but back then she didn't have an Anima.

During the race, Cooro is taking it easy and tries to talk to Lyra but she ignores him. Nana decides that after the race she will get Lyra to tell her about Cooro, but Husky tells her not to pry into people's pasts even though he too is curious. Jesso starts slashing another competitor's wings; after eliminating him Jesso sets his sights on Lyra. Cooro flies down to check on the victim.