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4. Scans are in the title links below, just click the title of the series. If it isn't there, then it isn't uploaded in public sites yet. Those that are not in public sites are usually found in BW Forum = membership required.
5. This is an old blog so no tags nor feeds. Just use the search engines provided below and hopefully, you'll find the past summary you are looking for. ^^
6. Teasers are from Jap raws, not meant to be accurate because I can't read Japanese.
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About this blog:
I usually write about the manga that I'm currently reading. At times, I write about the anime I watched. Since it is hard to share and talk my thoughts about a certain manga series when people don't know about it, I tend to summarize them from Chinese scanlations so beware, this blog is filled with spoilers and they are not 100% perfect. Feel free to point out my mistakes. ^^ Occasionally, I would blog about myself and other misc. things.

Layout Credits:
Diamond Beat pic is from Betsucomi's Official page. The quote's author is unknown. Edited in Photoshop CS2. The background is from GRSites. Fujoshi Kanojo's Yuiko is from Tuku.cc Pleinair by Takehito Harada is from JumpC. Gin and Pleinair edited and animated in Photoshop. Moyashimon germ and Rabi gif are taken from ikunlun forum. Onion is from BW forum. VBR's Ageha is scanned by Amyangel19910323. SB! gif from lynncomic in baidu and Yoru Cafe chibis are from Petit official page. Kanojo wa Uso wo Aishisugiteru picture in the latest entries is from Cheese! official webpage

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Past Dreams:
2010

01/20/03 - 02/20/03

Blog by pitas

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Manga pics from Sky-fire, 17kk, swwdm, 89890& BW Forum.

Most of the Quotes are from
Quote Garden, ThinkExist & Our Daily Bread

To God Be the Glory!

Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu [Chapters 59] Teaser + WSJ Series Reactions
Friday, March 26, 2010

Kyou, koi wo Hajimemasu 59 is out in m蜜x蜜’s album. Sakura knows that Tsubaki had H with Kyouta. Miho helps pretty up Tsubaki with a lip gloss. It seems that she also notices the change in Tsubaki. Kyouta is happy that Tsubaki is wearing the bracelet. In the library, Kyouta is busy bugging Tsubaki so she cannot study. They ended up doing H again in Kyouta’s apartment. She wakes up and it seems to be already 5pm. She panics because she has to be home at 6pm[?]. She still wants him to go out when she dresses up. ^^; Then, there are some more lovey-dovey while studying. At night, Tsubaki struggles hard to study but in the end, she ends up sleeping hence, her grades slip again. She is now in 10th place. So, what are we waiting to happen? That is for Tsubaki’s mother to cause trouble and try to break up the two. Actually, I’m mean and I think it will be interesting how they will all react if Tsubaki gets pregnant. =p I guess I’m not too into smut/H especially if it seems like it is one-sided. Well, Kyouta pretty much turns me off regarding his lust. If he can get away with it once, of course, a guy like him will think it is totally okay now. Hehe, there will be probably lots more later on. Of course those who like smut are really happy with these developments ^^ Kyouta seems to totally disregard of Tsubaki’s need to keep her grades up. He obviously doesn’t realize that Tsubaki isn’t a genius like him. Unlike him, there is a consequence if she didn’t keep her grades up. Her mother is suspicious before when her grades are down and this time, his tutoring isn’t helping so..what are the chances of finding her a male tutor just like what happened in Kokoro Buton? =P Well, hopefully, Kyouta realizes this and corrects his ways before it is too late and they will get another head/heartache soon. Wait a minute..does he know about her need to keep her grades up? As I mentioned before, Tsubaki has a problem voicing her opinions especially to a more dominant guy like Kyouta. Thinking that is what she also wanted, he can easily lead her round and round until she suddenly says something that he totally didn’t know about. ^^; I think that is the usual cause of their love quarrels. Since there is no more problem regarding the physical side of love, I hope the author will tackle more on other sides like the communication part of their relationship. Scan by 小凡

Poor Ichigo in Bleach [c. 397], Aizen is playing some mind games with him. That pretty much how to win against Ichigo without a fight but yay, papa has finally arrived just when Aizen is telling Ichigo about his origin. Hopefully, there will be some descent fight against Aizen to give him some sort of challenge but then, Isshin has a lot of explaining to do to his son =P Maybe a few comedy scenes while the author is at it ^^ [Edit: About Ichigo being the child of shinigami and *beep* I wonder if it is possible that it is with a hollow rather than a human. Maybe Ichigo is special because unlike his sisters, he can see them distinctly. I don't want to think he is adopted or something though ^^; Hopefully, when everything is revealed, it will be a really good twist ^^] I’m not sure if it is okay for Naruto to be secretive about handling Sasuke in Naruto [c. 488]. He is letting their imagination go wild like that and they might do something contrary to what he wants. I think it would have been better if Naruto gives them some sort of assurance like ‘trust me on this’ or some cool line like that. Hehe, Kakashi, maybe you are not destined to become a hokage =P Unless Tsunade let him be so that she can be on her retirement. Perhaps, be more of a mentor than head. Coby’s courage in One Piece [c. 579] is indeed commendable. I’m not sure if I’ll be surprised to see Shanks there. I expected before and when I’m no longer expecting, he appears ^^; Well, Luffy is safe so hopefully with Shanks, this arc will be brought to a close. I’m not sure if Blackbeard and others will be finished here. Those students are quite mean in Beelzebub [c. 54] for picking a fight on defenseless Shiroyama. No wonder Hajime is really pissed off. I guess making that guy pee on his pants is enough punishment for him. Well, Miki finally meets up with Oga. Sorry, Oga, it seems that BL doesn’t want Miki either. =P The new characters in Katekyo Hitman Reborn! [c. 283] are somewhat flashy ^^ Since this is going to be a inheritance ceremony arc, I wonder if the author is going to do some sort of contrast with Tsuna about being a wimp in this first few chapters to become a more mature one. Maybe the new characters are like Varia who are going to ‘test’ him.

For those who were waiting for Faster than a Kiss, I’m sorry because I couldn’t finish it in time. I’m not feeling good + headaches these past few days that I’m forced to rest yesterday. Sigh, I hope that I’ll be fine by Sunday for the trip to HK. Hehe, actually, it always happens when I’m going on a trip - I don't feel well. ^^; Thanks to the happy trip wishers and this will be my last entry for this month. I’ll be back on April. Take care everyone and have fun to those who are also going on a trip next week ^^ It is a four-day holiday in our country. Ja!

Word of the day:
God’s timing is always perfect. ~ Our Daily Bread

Reimei no Arcana -Dawn of the Arcana- [Chapters 11-13 + Side Story]
Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Chapter 11: Caesar comes home and he cannot find Nakaba. He grabs Belias’ collar and asks him where Nakaba went. Belias tells him that he doesn’t know because he went out with Caesar. ^^; Caesar walks away and says he is right. He slams the door and wonders where Nakaba is when she is suppose to be in confinement. Ajilu calls out to him, “Overly jealous prince, are you looking for the red-haired princess..” At the prison, Nakaba is sitting on Loki’s lap. He asks her if she is alright. She says yes and she was just a bit tired. “When I’m with Loki, I feel relaxed..” Loki seems to look a bit concerned about her when he suddenly looks towards the wall. Nakaba asks what it is. Loki says that he felt a wind. Nakaba confirms his suspicions. She pushed a brick and it went in. She peeks in it and says that it doesn’t seem to be a room but rather, a pathway. They decide to check it out. They find themselves in a cavern path. They do not know where they are but they continue to investigate. They notice that it becomes more spacious. Loki perks up and says that there are people coming. He quickly goes in front of Nakaba and they met a few soldiers. The soldiers ask who they are. While Nakaba is trying to explain, the soldiers say that lately there are some suspicious people above ground and it would be better to kill them to shut them up. They draw their swords and ask them not to blame them for it [because they are just doing their job]. As the soldier is about to swing his sword, Loki realizes that he doesn’t have a sword. They were surprised when Caesar arrives and shouts what they are doing. [I guess Caesar went in the tunnel when they don’t find her in the prison] Nakaba calls out to Caesar. Caesar asks what they are doing there. One of the soldiers says that it is their job to kill suspicious people. The other soldier says that girl just called him Caesar. Caesar comments that unexpectedly they don’t know who he is. He asks if they are just hired ruffians. The soldier shouts for him to shut up because if they get paid, the rest doesn’t matter. He attacks Caesar who quickly blocks using his sword.

Nakaba looks scared by what happened. She is then caught by another soldier. She shouts for him to let her go. She bites the soldier’s hand that he lets her go. Nakaba moves away from the soldier. Loki calls out to Nakaba. The bitten soldier wants to kill Nakaba for what she did. Loki quickly pushes the soldier that he is fighting and holds on to Nakaba to protect her. Nakaba freaks out upon seeing Loki’s arm got slashed. The soldier laughs that a half-human without a weapon is nothing to be scared about. The soldier dashes towards Loki. Loki quickly stands up and kicks the sword using the ankle bracelet so that he won’t hurt himself. After the soldier drops the sword, Loki mercilessly kills the soldiers. Pointing his sword at a soldier, Caesar seems speechless over what Loki did. Nakaba goes to Loki and asks about his arm. Caesar says that it should be a deep wound. Loki tells worried Nakaba that it will be okay if he stops the bleeding. Nakaba holds on him and says that is good. She apologizes that he got hurt because he is protecting her. Loki smiles and tells her that he would be happier if she thanks him rather than apologizing to him. Nakaba smiles and thanks him. Caesar interrupts them by asking what the two of them are doing there. Nakaba is about to explain when she remembers Louise saying that Nakaba is the one who stole Caesar. Nakaba becomes sad that she didn’t reply. Caesar is puzzled. Loki holds on to Nakaba and tells Caesar, “It’s because the woman, whom you fooled around with, got jealous.” Then, Loki gets Nakaba to walk ahead. Someone mutters that Caesar is a playboy. Caesar follows them while asking what is going on.

Ajilu calls out to them to ask if the fighting is over and they should continue walking forward. As they walk ahead, Ajilu says for an underground passage to be protected so viciously, he fears that up ahead is some hidden Belquat secret. Since Caesar is puzzled, Ajilu realizes that he also didn’t know about it. Before Caesar can ask what he meant, Ajilu admits that he also doesn’t know what it is but he would want to know what it is. They open a door. Someone asks what this is all about. They are surprised to find a huge room filled with armaments. Ajilu picks up a rock and says that it is an ore. Nakaba asks if it is the ore taken from the country of Ritanaire. The two other guys look at the weapons. Loki takes out one of the swords from the rack and calls out to Caesar to check it out. Waving the sword around, Caesar says the sword is unexpectedly very light-weight. Loki says that is right. Loki unsheathes his sword and says that his sword is taken from the guards earlier. While exclaiming his apology for being rude, Loki attacks surprised Caesar. Loki hits his sword on the sword that Caesar is holding. While Caesar is angrily shouting what Loki is doing and what he meant by that attack, they were all surprised that Loki’s sword cracked into pieces. Loki says that the ore is being used to make the weapon. Ajilu protests what he is saying for that ore cannot be fused with any other metal so it is impossible to be made into a sword. Caesar retorts, but still, it can break a Belquat’s sword and it is surprisingly light-weight. Loki says that Belquat must have found out of a technique to fuse and solidify the ore. Ajilu looks tense and says that having such swords/weapons, Belquat can easily defeat the other surrounding countries and the world will be under Belquat’s domination. This made Nakaba tense, too as she also looks at all the weapons in that storeroom.

Back in her room, Nakaba tells Loki of her fears that a war will start again and those weapons can kill a lot of people. She asks if it is because of those things, they were made into sacrifices. Loki tells her that is true for if there is a war then it will be country vs country or even humans vs half-humans. Nakaba asks what he meant by that. Loki explains that soldiers who have such weapons and armory then even half-humans are no match to them. “When that time comes, the existence of half-humans will be meaningless. Half-humans..will suffer more oppressions..for being in the lowest stratum of society.” Nakaba looks tense and says, it can’t be.. Alone in her room, she looks out the window and wonders what she can do. She doesn’t want those weapons to be used but in this cold-hearted country, the king and some other royalties would want to control and dominate. She is frustrated that she is also a royalty yet she doesn’t have one bit of power. She then remembers that she has the Time’s Arcana. She wonders if she can use it to find the path which she should go. She stares up the starry sky and says that she couldn’t [/it won’t work]. She remembers Loki telling her that it is a rare power and Ajilu wants to lend the use of her power. She thinks that it isn’t the same strength that she wants as Loki and Ajilu for she wants a power that can protect people who are precious to her. She wonders if it is knowledge, military strength, status that she needs. She knows that she is in the middle of the vortex and she didn’t expect that the vortex’s strength is this strong. She felt uneasy because it feels as if she is going to be swallowed in. She suddenly remembers Caesar telling her that he will make her happy by becoming king. She stands up and thinks that she is the princess who was told that by a would-be king.

She goes to see Caesar in his room. While holding a cup of drink, Caesar says that it is quite unexpected for her to take the initiative to visit him. “Is it for some night sex*?” [*adultery is the word used, maybe due to Loki] Since Nakaba looks downcast, Caesar says that he is just kidding so there is no need to put on such a face. He asks her what it is. Since she looks a bit hesitant, Caesar guesses if it is about the weapons they saw in that underground tunnel. Caesar says that it seems that their marriage is just to buy time in order to manufacture those things. He puts his cup on the table and holds her face. “But, I’m still very grateful. Meeting you has changed my life. [You] made everything colorful.” Nakaba is flustered by what he said then she asks him to give her power. “Please, help Loki.” Caesar is taken aback by that. He asks her what’s up. She informs him that if those weapons are used, there will be no use for half-human soldiers and there will be a greater gap in their status. She doesn’t want that to happen. She is already differentiated by her status and clan so her life is more or less strange but what can she do. Caesar says that he wanted to make her happy but then, he is not in any obligation to assist that guy [Loki] or any half-humans. Nakaba looks somewhat downcast and says, is that so. Nakaba is surprised when Caesar adds, “But, in order to make you happy, this is a must. Although all of this, wasn’t my original intention!” Nakaba looks flustered as if she is about to cry that Caesar smiles and asks what’s with her expression. Nakaba thinks, “Caesar who hates half-humans is willing to change for my sake. It seems like I have found the path that I’m looking for..” For all the king’s plotting in buying time to make his new weapons, he miscalculated something in his grand plan. Of course, that is the possibility of Caesar falling in love with Nakaba to the point of doing everything he won’t do just to make her happy. Hehe, too bad for the king, his most hated clan has come back to ‘haunt’ him and probably thwart his grand domination plan. Well, discovering the weapons further made Nakaba and Caesar want to take the initiative to change their current world. Of course, it is indirectly thanks to Loki who has a better grasp of what’s happening. They should get Loki as their adviser. Hehe, with Caesar’s declaration to Nakaba, I think she’ll really fall hopeless in love with him. It’s nice that both are willing to throw aside their hatred and discrimination for a common goal and their love for each other. ^^

Chapter 12: Caesar confronts Louise for putting Nakaba in prison. He warns Louise not to bully Nakaba again. Louise tries to explain but she stops and blushes when Caesar asks if she is jealous. Caesar says, “I’m sorry..but my heart already belongs to someone else.” Louise looks flustered. While walking away, Caesar tells her not to pull a stunt like that again else, he won’t forgive her. Louise cries as she wonders what Nakaba has that made Caesar sever his black hair, the pride of royalty. In a room, Belias is looking into some books when he is startled because Caesar comes from behind and calls his name. Belias exclaims to Caesar what’s up that Caesar suddenly went to his room. Belias tells Caesar not to frighten him like that. Caesar says that Belias is his father’s closest and most trusted military strategist so he should know. He grabs Belias’ collar and asks what those things in the underground tunnel are for. A bit tense, Belias looks at him and says that he doesn’t know what Caesar is talking about. Caesar takes out his sword and threatens to kill Belias if he won’t tell him. Belias didn’t say anything. Belias’ eyes opened wide when Caesar also threatens to kill Belias’ younger sister. Belias shouts for him not to implicate his sister in this. After a pause, he says that it seems that Caesar and the others were the ones who killed the guards there. Caesar becomes a bit tense. Belias assures him to relax for he had already handled the matter before the news reaches the top. Caesar asks if the ‘top’ is his father. Belias admits that it is so. Caesar asks if his father is planning to expand and make Belquat into a more powerful country. He comments that his father is still quite energetic/active at his age. He looks at Belias and tells him to help him.

That night, Nakaba sits up from her bed. She is surprised to hear some sounds on her window. She looks out to find Ajilu. She goes down and asks him what it is. Ajilu says that he wants to ask her one more time. Ajilu says that he wants to ask her one more time about her going with him to his country. Nakaba looks uninterested as she says no. Ajilu says, ah really. Nakaba tells him that there is something she has to finish in this place. Ajilu says that he also has something that he has to quickly do in his country though it doesn’t mean that he, as a delegate, would be giving up on her power. After a bit of hesitation, Nakaba asks if that power is really useful. Ajilu looks at her then starts laughing out loud. He holds her face and tells her to believe in her own power. “Free that power..that kind of power will become hope.” Nakaba blushes and happily runs off while thanking him. Ajilu then mutters, “..but..it has a price..” Nakaba goes back to her room. While sitting on her bed, she remembers what Ajilu said about believing in her power. She also remembers Caesar telling her that he will do it if it will make her happy. She thinks that for the ‘her’ who was told that, she would also want to help him. She tries to make her blood surge and not to feel inferior. She opens her eyes to ‘see’. She sees her mother smiling at her then gets killed. Nakaba is teary-eyed as she doesn’t want to see the past but, the future. She then sees a village near a mountain area and a light-colored long haired human girl who seems to be pointing to a direction. The village is occupied by half-humans. The girl then looks surprised when an armored knight, wielding that special forged sword. The girl is then stabbed using that sword. Nakaba wonders who that girl is. She then faints.

The next day, she wakes up and it is already morning. She wonders why Loki isn’t around. She remembers her dream and then, she looks a bit flustered. She then dresses up and walks in the courtyard. She sits down on the ground and thinks that she feels uncomfortable because of that vision. Then, there is some rustling of the leaves. From the bushes, the girl in Nakaba’s vision comes out. The girl asks her what she is doing in that place. Nakaba looks surprised at her while the girl mutters that she has red hair so could she be Caesar-sama’s.. Nakaba is startled when the girl shouts that it is all because of her that right now, her brother would only talk about her [Nakaba] all the time. Nakaba asks, “Brother--?” The girl exclaims that’s right, her brother Belias. Before, he would always talk about Caesar but lately, it has become all about Nakaba. “Could it be that while you already have Caesar-sama, at the same time, you are also looking at [= interested in] my brother?” Nakaba is stunned. She quickly shakes her head vigorously sideways. The girl stares at her and says that she understands. While running off, the girl shouts that she won’t give her brother to Nakaba. Nakaba sweatdrops as she has no idea what the girl is saying. She then remembers her dream of the girl being stabbed by a sword from the underground tunnel. She wanted to call the girl but she has already left. Nakaba goes back to her room to find Loki but it turns out that Loki, Caesar and Ajilu are there waiting for her. Loki says that he wanted to tell them about some gathered information so he called Caesar and Ajilu. It is about the ore. In order to test the new weapons, not long ago, the king has secretly sends his troops out to a half-human village. Loki says that they have chosen a village that is located deep in the mountains at the north side in order for the commoners and other countries not to learn about this secret. Even if the outsiders learn about it, it is easy to shift the blame to Senan.

Nakaba shouts that they should stop that [plan]. Loki says that is why he called Caesar to think of a reason in order for them to get permission to go out of the capital. Caesar says that he can think of a reason but how did Loki get that information. After a pause, Loki calls Lito to come out. Lito comes out from the curtains near the bed. Ajilu comments that it is quite unexpected for him to hide in that place. Loki carries Lito up and says that even if Lito is young, he is very good. Nakaba asks isn’t it too dangerous for Lito to do that kind of thing. Lito assures her that it is fine because he is also a half-human. Nakaba cannot reply back. Ajilu says that he will be going back to his country tomorrow. Those swords are a threat to his own country so his country should think of a way to counter it. Caesar says that even if he doesn’t trust him [Ajilu] but this time, they have a common concern. Ajilu says that he’ll leave the matters in Belquat to them and if something happened, he hopes that they will inform him about it. Caesar excuses himself and says that he’ll prepare the arrangements of their outing. Ajilu says that he’ll also go. He then stops near Loki and whispers that he has something that he would want to ask Loki. Ajilu asks him why he went to the tunnel during that time when he obviously has to protect the princess. “Even if you just escaped from prison, why would you still go there? No matter how one looks at, it is a very dangerous place.” After a pause, Loki somewhat smiles and says that he is right and at that time, it is quite hasty [for him to do that]. Ajilu sighs and says forget it, he wishes them to work hard in their struggle. Loki seems to be lost in thought. He snaps out of it when Nakaba calls out to him. She tells Loki that she has seen the future of Belias’ younger sister. She is killed by that ore sword. Since Loki mentioned about deploying the soldiers deep in the mountains, she also saw some mountains and also that half-human village. She asks if that is the place where they will kill and why..they should save them.

Loki and Nakaba exclaim, “Bridal tour?!” [like honeymoon, I guess] Caesar happily says yes and with that, they can go out. The truth is it has been decided that they will do that before, but all sorts of things happened but with that, they can go out of the city. Nakaba sweatdrops and says that it seems that Caesar is eagerly anticipating it. Caesar moves clumsily around as he denies it. Of course, Loki and Nakaba don’t believe him. After calming down, Caesar says that they now have an alibi to go the temporary imperial residence up north and they will depart after two days. Belias informs the king about Caesar’s plans about the bridal tour and since the ambassador of the allied country is going home, there is no longer any need to confine Nakaba. When Cain learns about Caesar going to the northern palace, he wonders out loud if Caesar knew about the plan. Belias says that it is impossible. Cain decides to permit it but Belias will go with them to watch over them because the fighting area is nearby so it will be troublesome if Caesar and others would interfere. And so, a convoy is formed and they travel in the forest. Caesar and Nakaba are sitting in the carriage quietly. To Nakaba’s surprise, Caesar calls her name and gives her a kiss. He smiles and says that to that degree, it should be permissible though the goal of this trip is very important. “If all of these troubles can be sufficiently resolved.. As my wife, I want to accompany you in going to all sorts of different places.” She looks surprised and thinks that before, she can only look at the scenery through that small window [in her room] but if it is as Caesar said about touring the world, then it would be really nice to do that.

While they are resting, Belias goes to them to inform them that on their journey, they will be staying at town’s inn/s on the way to the northern residence. Caesar[?] says that he knows. Belias says if that is so then they should quickly move on since they have to reach the town before it is sunset. Nakaba looks at Belias and thinks that she wants to know more about Belias’ sister but it seems unlikely for his sister to be in the same journey. Then, when Belias pull up the supplies carriage’s curtain, he is surprised to see his sister in it. Belias shouts at his sister, Lamelia* for hiding in there and what was she thinking for doing that. [*invented name. In Chinese it is ‘lai-mei-li-ya’] Lamelia tells him that even if she asked her brother about it, he won’t allow her to come along. Belias nervously exclaims of course because he is currently working. Caesar calls out to Lamelia. Lamelia happily asks Caesar if she can go with them because she wants to go on a trip with her brother. Caesar didn’t reply as he mutters that he cannot handle her. Lamelia looks wide-eyed at him. Belias says that it has been a long time since she has seen Caesar but it seems that Lamelia is still the same when he thought that she has already learned from experience [/changed]. Lamelia happily clings on her brother’s arm and says that it’s no problem. Belias says, it is not ‘no problem’. Nakaba looks tense over this development. Lamelia sees Nakaba and asks her, “Can I? Princess Nakaba?” Nakaba is surprised then is shock when Caesar also asks her if it is okay. Nakaba exclaims, “No, absolutely not!” Lamelia says that it is such a strong objection. Caesar comments that it is quite rare for Nakaba to be that agitated. Nakaba apologizes and says that it isn’t like that but.. Lamelia says that it is quite strange for no matter what is said, the troops there are all guys but it won’t be bad for her to accompany Nakaba and be someone whom Nakaba can chat with. To Nakaba’s surprise, Caesar likes the idea. Lamelia happily says that it is then decided. She curtsies and introduces herself as Belias’ younger sister, Lamelia. She then hugs her brother and exclaims, “Ah! But, I won’t give my brother to you!” Caesar comments as to who would want Belias. While looking at the two siblings, Nakaba nervously wonders why things turned out that way and could this be fate. “But, I want to save [her] in accordance to my capabilities. I definitely can change fate.”

I’m glad that Caesar has confronted Louise about what she did. That will really make her think twice before doing something to Nakaba again. Too bad for her, the one she loves isn’t going to wait for her especially since she agreed to marry his brother. Sometimes, I wonder why they didn’t bypass Cain over Caesar. Caesar has black haired and seems to be better at fighting than Cain. Is it just because Cain is the first born? Well, Louise gamble of getting Cain and Caesar at the side has failed. I wonder if she has really given up on Caesar. Haha, I can imagine her regretful expression when it turns out at the end that Caesar is the one who became king. =P Belias is too easily intimidated. I really doubt that Caesar can kill his younger sister but then, I guess Belias went with the safe side and took Caesar’s word for it rather than letting Caesar pull his bluff. I guess Ajilu will be just a ‘side help’ next time they are in a pinch. It is nice that he has given Nakaba confidence but I’m a bit worried about the supposed price for using her power. What could it be? Losing eyesight or short lifespan? Now, that I think of it, perhaps that is the reason why Nakaba’s father died early. Could he have used it while trying to elope with Nakaba’s mother? It seems that something is being set-up about Loki. Is he having conflicting emotions about solely protecting Nakaba or to help his brethren in their struggle? Just like Ajilu observed, Loki risked bringing Nakaba into that place. Maybe because he notices that he is slowly losing Nakaba that he focused on his other goal. As for the new character, I find her really likeable. She’s lively and talkative that she can easily get friends. I like her brother complex, too. It’s quite cute and amusing. I’m glad that the author introduced a new character so that the story would be less of a harem-type story. I hope Lamelia survives the series as in that ‘vision’/fate can be changed.

Side Story: In a different Arcana world, at Dawn Academy, third year student of the student council Caesar calls out to second year student, Nakaba. Caesar confidently tells Nakaba to quickly bring out. Nakaba is puzzled. Caesar says that he’ll accept it, chocolate, for today is Valentine’s Day. With a bored look, Nakaba asks why he thinks that she’ll definitely give him one. Caesar is surprised and exclaims could it be that she didn’t brought a chocolate to be given to him. Nakaba mutters yes. Caesar couldn’t believe it. He shows her the bags of chocolates that he already received. Nakaba says that it has nothing to do with him. Loki, the teacher, asks Caesar what’s the fuss is about. Loki says that according to the rules, if he didn’t get one then he should just accept it and leave. Caesar shouts for him to shut up. He then asks what’s with Loki’s dog ears. Loki says that it is a taboo question. Nakaba just quietly watch them arguing. Caesar then exclaims that about that chocolate, if he isn’t given in this life then it has no meaning. The two look at him as Caesar is ‘pouting’ [acting like a spoiled kid]. With a somewhat bored look, Nakaba says, “..About that..actually, I brought them.” She gives the two some chocolates. Caesar is really happy as Loki’s tail sway behind him. Then, Nakaba wakes up. She looks around and wonders if it is a dream or the Arcana. A narration says that it is a dream. I think that this is a Valentine special. It isn’t really related to the story though ^^; Hehe, the trio somehow reminds of the characters in Ouran. =P

Chapter 13: And so, the convoy moves on but to Caesar’s displeasure, Lamelia is sitting between him and Nakaba. Caesar angrily mutters why Lamelia has to sit in their carriage. Lamelia looks pleased with herself. Nakaba looks out the window and sees a bustling town. She asks if they are going to stay at an inn in that town. Caesar says yes. At the inn, the room arrangement is for all the girls to be together while all the guys will stay in one room. Caesar angrily grabs Belias’ collar and says that shouldn’t he and Nakaba be together in one room. Belias nervously says that it is inevitable because Lamelia is with them. Lamelia giggles and whispers to Nakaba that she is very excited. Nakaba then tells Loki that she has something to tell him. In some place with only the two of them, Nakaba tells him that this is bad because Lamelia unexpectedly followed them in their journey and using the Time’s Arcana, she saw that – Lamelia stabbed. Loki is surprised when Nakaba informs him that she wants to tell Caesar about this, that she saw Lamelia’s future, so that Caesar can send Lamelia home. Loki exclaims if she plans on telling Caesar about her power. Nakaba says yes since if she didn’t do that then Lamelia will be killed. Loki hugs her and says that if she reveals it then Nakaba will be the one who’ll be killed. Loki nervously tells her that it is fine if it is just being used for any country that wants to attain that power but Belquat’s king wanted to eradicate this power so if the king knew that Nakaba has this power.. “I beg of you, I won’t want to lose again..someone precious to me. Even if it is just you, please, you should absolutely keep on living on.” Downcast, Nakaba returns to her room. Sitting on the bed, Lamelia happily exclaims that she finally came back because she is getting bored to death. Lamelia asks Nakaba if she wants to play some international chess. She asks if Nakaba plays because she always plays with her brother but she always loses because her brother isn’t lenient with her [while playing]. Nakaba’s thoughts are elsewhere. She thinks that since Loki said it that way and she couldn’t get Lamelia to go back home, then she would just have to protect Lamelia. “I definitely will--”

The next day, Caesar goes in front of the girls’ room’s door. He clears his throat. He knocks and calls out to Nakaba. *slam* Lamelia opens the door and he got hit. [Lol, he is standing on the wrong side of the door and weird enough, I find it really funny.] While Caesar is holding his forehead in pain, Lamelia greets him a good morning and tells him that they are going out at noon for she wants to go strolling in the streets [= shopping] with Nakaba. Taking Nakaba away, Lamelia says that they will come back soon. Caesar tries to tell them to wait but to no avail. He is in shock for he wanted to invite Nakaba to go out on a date that he even took the pains of knowing the places to go in that town for their date. He thought that the perfect time would be at noon so he bared with it until then to ask her. He wonders if Lamelia didn’t even notice that since ever since before, Lamelia is quite astute regarding these kinds of things. While Caesar is holding his forehead and lost in thought, Nakaba asks Lamelia if this is okay because they are currently in the middle of a journey. Lamelia confidently says that it is alright because Caesar originally planned to date Nakaba. While Nakaba is in shock, Lamelia drags Nakaba to a shop and tells her that they should check out a jewelry store. While Lamelia is deciding what to buy, Nakaba’s eyes strays on a pair of earrings as she remembers Lamelia telling her that Caesar wanted to date her. Lamelia notices this that she approaches Nakaba and asks if she wants to buy those black-stoned earrings. She says that it looks nice but it seems a bit too plain. A bit embarrassed, Nakaba says, no for she is thinking how Caesar would look like if he wears it. With glittering eyes, Lamelia thinks that Nakaba is so cute. Lamelia exclaims that they’ll buy it and she can just steal her brother’s money. Nakaba is surprised by what she said. Lamelia then asks the storekeeper to put the earrings in a pretty box.

Nakaba stares at the box and thinks that they actually bought it. She is surprised when Lamelia exclaims that they are now going to buy clothes because Nakaba should dress up nicely when she gives the gift to Caesar rather than a strange outfit. [A bit blurry but I think that is what she said ^^;] Soon, they are carrying a lot of boxes as Lamelia exclaims that they bought a lot. Nakaba thinks that it totally feels that she is being lead around by Lamelia but nevertheless, being with a girl her age and shopping around, it is the first time she experienced it and it gives her an indescribable feeling. Nakaba smiles over this thought. They didn’t notice that some guys are watching them. Elsewhere in some alley, Loki asks someone if he is the half-human representative of this town. A cat[?]-guy acknowledges that he is. He says that he heard news about Loki who won against the prince in that tournament match and with the status of being a half-human, became a Belquat knight. The guy says that for them, it doesn’t matter which country it is and he can assist Loki. “Only to improve the unfavorable situation of the half-humans, I don’t have any kind of objections.” Loki seems to smile over this. The guy then asks what’s with that little thing. Standing beside Loki, Lito angrily shouts that he isn’t a little thing. Back to the girls, Lamelia says that they should head back now and Caesar will definitely complain about it. Suddenly, a man bumps into Lamelia that she drops the boxes that she is carrying. The man complains that it hurts. Lamelia apologizes. With his two friends, the man says that a sorry isn’t enough and he wants her to hand over whatever valuable belonging she has. Lamelia angrily shouts for them to quit joking around for why she would give her belongings to people like them. Nakaba calls out to Lamelia for saying that but the man already takes out his knife and angrily says that Lamelia is really such a daring little miss. To Nakaba’s surprise, the man takes Lamelia hostage with his knife pointed at her throat.

This made Nakaba quickly take out her knife and shouts for the man to let Lamelia go. The man dares Nakaba to try. The man’s friend goes in front and says that he’ll handle this. Nakaba swings her knife but the other man manages to dodge. He hits her on the face and Nakaba falls down. Nakaba is bruised near her mouth. Looking scared, Lamelia calls out to Nakaba. The other man laughs and dares Nakaba to try again. Pissed off and while still down on the ground, Nakaba slashes the other man’s legs then quickly runs towards the man holding Lamelia hostage. Before the man can slash Lamelia, Nakaba uses her knife to block the man’s knife then uses all her strength to throw away the man’s knife. Nakaba quickly holds out her hand and calls out Lamelia’s name. Lamelia grabs her hand as the two girls make a run for it. The men can only shout for them to not run. Somewhere else, the girls hide at an alley while catching their breath. Nakaba looks at her knife and thinks that she’s injured but then, it is a must in order to protect Lamelia. “Is so-called protecting like this..but if it is like this, I still cannot protect her. I should become stronger.” With twinkle in her eyes, Lamelia tells Nakaba that she’s so cool and is she that strong. Nakaba says that it isn’t about being strong but she only learned a bit from Loki. She then scolds Lamelia not to be reckless next time since it is too dangerous. Nakaba is surprised when Lamelia is pointing at her bruised lip then touches it. Nakaba exclaims in pain. Lamelia says that they are even [the same being reckless] and Nakaba is a princess. Nakaba says yes. Then, the two starts laughing. Lamelia stands up and says that they are now going to take back their things. Nakaba exclaims that she don’t understand what she just said. They go around, asking information about those men but to Lamelia’s irritation and suspicion, the people in the streets claim to not know about them. Nakaba says that maybe they don’t want to get involved since those guys are ruffians in that area. It is because the people are afraid so they won’t dare help them.

When Nakaba is urging Lamelia that they go home, Lamelia sees a dog nearby. Lamelia pats its head and asks, “What do you know?” Lamelia looks into the dog’s eyes. She then stands up and says that they should go in that direction. While Nakaba is following her and telling her that they cannot find those guys anymore and they should go back, Lamelia suddenly turns left and says that this is the direction. Soon, Lamelia finds the house where those guys are. Lamelia whispers that she has found the target and that is probably their base. Nakaba looks in the window and sure enough, the men are inside looking at their loot. Lamelia wonders out loud that they have found the culprits but how are they going to proceed afterwards. Nakaba takes out a whistle and tells Lamelia that it is a dog whistle. She blows the whistle. At the inn, Loki hears it and looks at the side. He is playing chess with Caesar who tells him that it is Loki’s turn. Lito and Belias are watching the game. From Belias’ observation, Caesar is in a disadvantageous situation [= losing]. Caesar says that Nakaba and Lamelia are quite late. Loki looks at him and says that Nakaba is calling him. He apologizes for being rude as he stands up to leave. Caesar shouts what happened to Nakaba and tells him to wait, he’s going with him. Next scene, Loki and Caesar beat up the ruffians. Lamelia is delighted over it [serves you right]. She then goes to the table and takes a small box. She gives it to Nakaba and says that it is hers. Nakaba blushes a little and thanks her. Lamelia remembers something. She then pushes Caesar, Loki and the ruffians out of the house. She tells them to go out first. Back inside, Lamelia looks around the things they bought and wonders what to wear. Nakaba asks what she is doing. Later on, the door opens. Caesar blushes and Loki looks surprise upon seeing Nakaba with long hair [wig] and dressed in a gown. Lamelia is very pleased over her makeover of Nakaba. Loki still looks stunned as Caesar kept on muttering, “Na-na-na” Blushing, Nakaba tells them that Lamelia made her wear it. Lamelia pushes Nakaba to Caesar and tells them to go on a date. This surprises and embarrasses the two. Blushing Caesar holds on to blushing Nakaba and says, “Darn..let’s go.”

At the streets, Caesar is walking ahead as Nakaba shouts for him to walk slowly. Blushing Caesar stops and says that he’s really tired. Nakaba tells him that she is, too. Caesar confesses that it is because she suddenly became cute. “Ah, no, even if I originally already know that you are cute, but it isn’t the same, compared to the outfit you usually wear, this one, makes you look more like a girl..” Nakaba is embarrassed that she covers her face and tells him not to say such things anymore. Caesar sweatdrops over this. Then, they are looking at a fountain. Caesar tells her that he planned to go on a date with her. “Accompany you while walking around town. Do whatever you want to do. I want to buy and give you something, but..you and Lamelia unexpectedly encountered some ruffians, right? ..Let me tell you! How did you get yourself hurt..” He touches her injured lip. Nakaba tells him that she got hit. Caesar exclaims for her not to be reckless. “Because you are a girl.” He looks at her and says, “That’s not right, it’s because..” He bends down and kisses her hand. “..you are- my princess.” [Aw..^^] Nakaba blushes as she feels that her finger tips are set ablaze. She smiles and takes out the box. She opens it and shows a couple of earrings. “—Caesar. This is my..gift to you.” Caesar blushes. Narration: “-It is really such a tranquil night, when obviously, afterwards, a very important mission awaits us. Yet, unexpectedly, we can be at ease in this way. But, this is truly such a blissful night.” Elsewhere, Loki is looking out the window. He is surprised when Lamelia comes in and says, “--you look like, you are an abandoned dog.” Loki turns around as Lamelia continues to say, “Ah, perhaps you really are a dog?” With emotionless eyes, Lamelia says, “..ah, I can guess your inner feelings. ‘Loneliness’, ‘Pain’, ‘Love’, ‘Hatred’, and, you also have a bit of..terror [something frightening/terrifying]. Am I right?” Surprised Loki then sadly smiles.

Haha, Lamelia really spices up this journey. ^^ I really like her and as if her outgoing personality isn’t enough, she also seems to have a power to read/talk with dogs. Okay, for now, it’s dogs but maybe it includes other animals. I actually wonder if it includes humans or could it be that Caesar is just too easy to read for Lamelia =P She really makes such a great female friend ^^ I also really like Nakaba’s action scenes here. That is really quick thinking of her. It’s good that Loki thought of teaching her so that she can protect herself or someone in case he isn’t around. Lamelia’s makeover of Nakaba is really amazing. I love the two guys’ reaction to it. Haha, wig is good solution to her short crop hair. I love their lovey-dovey moments here and it is nice that Nakaba bought him some earrings ^^ Of course, the unhappy guy here is Loki. Lamelia’s description of Loki’s feelings made me think that she could be describing Vampire Knight’s Zero. ^^; Hm..if Lamelia can read the minds of other animals, that might make her also able to read the minds of other half-humans. That might be a very useful ability especially to Loki’s cause. That last scene made me wonder of the chances that Lamelia would end up with Loki though somehow I wonder what is her intention for telling that to him. I think there is a different reason why Loki doesn’t want Caesar to know about Nakaba’s power other than what he mentioned. If Caesar knew, it would seem that Loki has lost his ‘edge’ on Caesar regarding Nakaba. Honestly, I don’t think that Caesar will tell his father about her power. Hm..I don’t recall Caesar knowing that it is his father who killed Nakaba’s mother but I guess since Nakaba got over it, it shouldn’t hinder Caesar too because it isn’t his crime. I somehow think that Nakaba is Loki’s last hope in trusting humans and if he loses her, that single thread might break. Now that I mention about ‘losing her’, maybe he also knows of the price for using the arcana that is why he isn’t encouraging her to use it or use it for his own purpose. I begin to think that Loki is really the one who tried to kill Caesar before but unfortunately, his attempts failed because of Nakaba. For him, Caesar is a threat but with what happened lately, maybe he decided to let it be. Maybe that is the ‘terror’ that Lamelia mentioned. It does seem that Loki has everything but the girl and the status. He is good in fighting, his good in strategies because of chess, he has a good information network/charisma and knows how to use people wherein they equally benefit. The guy is really amazing because I think he learned it all on his own since he doesn’t seem the type to have a formal education. I think Caesar should be careful and not make an enemy out of him. For now, Loki seems to get along with Caesar for Nakaba’s sake. I wonder for how long Loki can endure all of those emotions that he is bearing. Since this chapter seems to be calm before the storm, I guess something big is going to happen when they reach their destination. Scans by xiuxiu/咻咻 for BW and 草莓defer for iieye.

Quote of the day:
The best time to do something worthwhile is between yesterday and tomorrow. ~ Author Unknown

Black Bird 41 and Dengeki Daisy 34 Teasers + WSJ Series Reactions
Monday, March 22, 2010

It seems that something is happening in their village in Black Bird 41. Not sure if they are patrolling or something but Kyou and others arrive back in the village. The people are saying how strong Kyou is but he and the others sense some malicious aura when they seem to say that it is all because he has Misao. Then, some people say something else that made Kyou wave his sword around in a funny way. Then, Kyo catches Misao telling something to Sagami’s wife, probably about him. To Misao’s surprise, Kyou didn’t get angry at first but soon it is a love quarrel something about first love. Misao is mentioning about losing those memories. On cue, Kaede appears and tells them that Sou can unseal those memories. Kyo isn’t too trusting about all this but to his surprise, Misao wants to think about it. This made Kyou leave. There is a lot of talk probably about fears of what if the first love is actually Sou, I think. Misao is telling all these stuff to Sagami’s wife. Well, Kyo overhears it again and leaves again as Misao tries to chase after him to no avail. Kaede sees this scene. While Sagami and his wife are talking, Kyo, who apparently has cooled his head off, comes back. He finds Misao writing a letter of her memories since she fears that unsealing her childhood memories might make her forget about Kyo. The two made up. Sou performs the ritual and yes, it turns out that Kyo is the first love. He even kisses her and made some promise – come back for her? Soon, the two are kissing outside. Kaede is telling something to Sou. Sagami + others are probably investigating the burned Nue village and they found some packets of medicine a house. Hm..could it be that Sou poisoned the village rather than defeating them by fighting? If it is indeed poison, maybe the culprit who gave their mother poison is also behind it. That will be either Sou or Kaede. I feel that they are up to something. It does seem that there is ‘much ado about nothing’ over who the first love is. Well, I guess Misao probably wants some sort of closure about it. The amusing part here is that there is a character poll and Misao is on 7th place. Wow, the readers really dislike her. This must be the first time I’ve seen a female lead character in a shoujo to be that low in the poll. Guess the readers are reading this for the guys =P Scans by flavia for BW.

In Dengeki Daisy 34 while people in the ferris wheel are busy panicking, Akira is busy teasing Teru about telling him something, probably Daisy’s true identity or something, or else, he will send some message to Daisy with her cellphone. Akira claims to know about Daisy’s past. Teru manages to get Akira’s guard down that she quickly punches him and takes her cellphone back. Teru is glad that the message isn’t send yet but Akira is laughing that he already sent it earlier. Teru is stunned when she reads what Akira has send – cannot forgive who killed my brother so disappear. Meanwhile, Kurosaki is still stunned that some people bump into him. Chiharu goes to him and talks with him about stuff and Daisy. Kurosaki looks really pissed off-calm. Back at the ferris wheel, it seems that Teru is beginning to believe about the possibility of Daisy/Kurosaki killed her brother with all the stuff that Akira has said. At the toilet, Kurosaki and Chiharu are still talking. Kurosaki looks stunned from the mention of ‘Jack Frost’ which seems to be the crime of Daisy which took the life of Souichiro. It seems to be a virus, not sure. Chiharu starts flirting with Kurosaki but unfortunately for her, Kurosaki is not in the mood that he starts strangling Chiharu with one hand. He says something to her. Back at the ferris wheel, Akira gets a call from Chiharu. I think that she says that Kurosaki has escaped and took her things[?]. She wants him to buy her a shirt. It turns out that Kurosaki took away her shirt so being half-naked, she is forced to hide in the toilet. Kurosaki types using the laptop and sends a message to Teru. Teru is happy about it until she reads the message. There are ‘kill’, ‘hurt’ and ‘I’ so I guess he admits it and maybe it is a farewell message. Kurosaki throws away the laptop in the trash bin. And, also, I think he just threw away his cellphone, too. Frantic, Teru calls Kurosaki on her cellphone and keeps on shouting about not hurt[?] and early on knowing he’s Daisy[?]. But, Akira zaps her with a stun gun that she passed out. Kurosaki looks somewhat sad as he looks at the direction of the ferris wheel. Hm..I guess Kurosaki is really going to cut off his relation with her but I hope before he 'disappear', he could at least save her from those people. Chiharu is a bit stupid to let her guard down on Kurosaki. Unfortunately for her, she didn't expect him to lash out on her like that. She can count her lucky stars that Kurosaki only took her shirt. Do not mess with a guy who will do anything to protect the person he loves. Kurosaki's crime is really catching up on him. Too bad, someone else told her about it first. Is the crime just writing a virus and somehow Souichiro took the blame which took a toll on his health? Thus, indirect killing? Poor Teru, the emotional roller coaster she has undergone today. Hope she will be fine..but I guess, this day is something she will never forget for the rest of her life. Scans by flavia for BW.

And, Aizen gets the upper hand again in Bleach [c. 396]. Ichigo did manage to wound him but it turns out that Aizen has implanted the hougyoku on his body which healed him. Aizen claims that the hougyoku acknowledges him as its master. I think it is just a protective instinct to protect itself because without Aizen, it will probably be sealed up somewhere again or even destroyed. =P I’m somewhat confused about Aizen’s comments regarding Ichigo’s growth. Does he mean that he plotted everything from the start or he knows all about Ichigo’s battle history because of his reiatsu? Well, maybe it is both. I hope Isshin or Urahara come out soon because if Aizen is saying the truth, Ichigo is going to take a beating soon. Also, they could like tell Aizen, we also know what you were planning from the start. It turns out that Madara has nothing to worry about Sasuke in Naruto [c. 487] because Sasuke is too stubborn and wants to prove to Naruto that he isn’t his equal that Sasuke is willing to get Itachi’s eyes just like what Madara wanted. Oh..maybe when Sasuke uses those eyes, it will be effective with whatever Itachi gave Naruto. Haha, maybe it is like how Sasuke’s flames immediately attack Madara if Sasuke sees his face. Kisame manages to sneak in to someday get Killer Bee. Hehe, they let down their guard. Then, Kabuto has made his appearance. It has been a long time, I forgot how he got Orochimaru’s powers ^^; Anyway, I think he shouldn’t have used a hood with eyes because I’m somewhat reminded that a girl in Soul Eater wears that. I mean a girl can get away with it since it would look cute but for Kabuto, it somehow made me less menacing. As for Sakura, not only she is useless but thanks to her, she almost killed Naruto with that poisonous weapon of hers which was meant for Sasuke. ^^; Still lots of fighting and surviving in One Piece [c. 578]. I wonder if Sengoku and the marines will succeed in stopping Blackbeard. If not, it is indeed the end of the marines’ era. Haha, Buggy ends up helping Luffy even if it isn’t his intention. I’m surprised that Crocodile helped him. In this arc, there are a lot of ‘enemies’ are helping Luffy. The biggest surprise is for Law to be there and conveniently, he’s a doctor. I thought they were caught ^^; Anyway, Luffy is indeed fated to survive all of this and his luck level is really incredible.

I like the cover of Beelzebub [c. 53] ^^ It’s so amusing. There are a lot of cute and amusing scenes here especially those of Oga-BL and those with Aoi. Even if Alex doesn’t want to admit it but Oga is a tough guy who kept on standing up and asking him that really stupid question/joke. Haha, the fight is so boring that it lulled BL to sleep. So, next chapter is stopping Kanzaki from fighting. Even if Aoi doesn’t want to admit it but the more problem they have with the delinquents, the more chances that they can be together..of course, I’m not complaining ^^ So, in Katekyo Hitman Reborn! [c. 282], after bidding goodbye to the others, they went back to the past along with their miniature boxes and we still haven’t seen future Tsuna. I wonder if the revelation about the truth regarding Hayato’s past will help tone down his rebellious ways. Well, I hope that the next arc won’t be too unbelievable as this one. And yes, Otose lives in Gintama [c. 301] ^^ It does seem that there is some turf war going on and they want Otose’s place. The others have left but even if Gin pretends not to care, he seems to be going to set things straight which is typical of him. Also, the one who stabbed Otose has a ‘past’ with her. Well, I hope that Gin makes up to that lost even if the opponent seems really powerful and it will be a miracle if he finally paid his rent as he promised =P Things have really changed in PSYREN [c. 111] since WISE already knows of the Elwood and others. Good thing that Kyle finds them to give them a briefing on how the world has changed so that they can adjust their actions accordingly. It is quite fitting though to Ageha’s plan to attack Miroku’s base. Junas is really ruthless. If there is no value in killing those people, why does he have to kill them? I don’t think that they are the type to talk or well, they aren’t much of a threat. They could be made into obedient monsters or something. It seems that there will be an increase of enemies, too with the one that attacked Kabuto.

Quote of the day:
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm. . . As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others. ~ Audrey Hepburn

Teasers: Vampire Knight 59 and Kaichou wa Maid-sama! 48
Saturday, March 20, 2010

Teasers are based on 鏡花水月’s blog. Vampire Knight 59 is for Zero x Yuuki fans. Cover is a cool-looking Zero. Yuuki is too friendly with a black wolf much to Hanabusa’s displeasure. I think it is Kaname though. Zero is going through emo over his meeting with Sara. Then, something attacks the black wolf when it is growling at something. A pure vampire named 橙茉 appears from bats. This isn’t a nice pure vampire because he attacks Yuuki. Hanabusa as a bodyguard is ultimate fail ^^; Sorry, Hanabusa, it turns out that you want to protect her but she refuses. ^^;; No worries, Zero appears and they meet again. According to 鏡花水月, Zero went to the cemetery to give flowers to Ichiru. Yuuki and Hanabusa went to see another pureblood vampire but were attacked from behind. Not sure if the new vampire is a really a kid or looks like one because of his powers. Zero seems to be influenced by what Sara said that he feels more and more not like a human. He was afraid of going to Ichiru’s grave and started to have hallucinations. He thinks of it as hallucinations but it can seem like souls appearing. Well, that is probably where they meet. So, our lead guys are tormented by something and the leading girl is looking for trouble ^^; What else is new? =P Scans by Zero Zone group.

In Kaichou wa Maid-sama! 48, Sakura is still crying and running over what happened. She turns around to see Usui following her. Is it just me or is Usui getting pissed off by Sakura? ^^;; Then, Misaki and Kuuga are talking and screaming. So basically, I think Usui talks with Sakura and Misaki talks with Kuuga. Then, those two whining people are pissing off Usui and Misaki. =P Sakura and Usui were interrupted by a shout, I think. Last scenes seem to be that Misaki sprained her foot. Usui helps her bandage it ^^ Then, they talk about Tora. Ah, that’s it based on those few scans. Oh ya, there are also scans about the anime which will premiere next month.

Word of the day:
God gives us gifts to aid each other (1 Cor. 12:7). But self-sufficiency shuts the door on much-needed help. Let’s be open to the helping hand He provides. ~ Dennis Fisher from Our Daily Bread

Bokutachi wa Shitte Shimatta [Chapters 33-35 + Side Story]
Thursday, March 18, 2010

Chapter 33: Yukito holds Kotori tight. This surprises her that she looks up to him. They blush. Yukito looks at her kissable lips but he breaks away by pushing her away gently. He apologizes for suddenly pulling her like that and he must have surprised her. He asks if she got burned [by the firecracker]. Kotori says no. Yukito says that it is late so they should go home. Looking somewhat sad, Kotori agrees with him. At work, Yamagami tells Kotori that she looks tired. Surprised, Kotori asks if it is true. Yamagami asks if she didn’t sleep last night and will she be alright working today. He tells her to please not show that kind of face to the customers when she is at the counter. Kotori says yes. He tells her that there are a lot of ingredients that are delivered today so she should help in putting it in the storage. Kotori says yes. She thinks that Yamagami is always reprimanding her and she should do things well. “Since last night, I’ve always been thinking about Yukito..” She remembers him hugging her, then she quickly snaps out of it. She tells herself that she shouldn’t do that because she is currently working and if this continues, she’ll just make Yukito worried. She goes to the back and is shock that there are indeed a lot of ingredients delivered. There are boxes of tomatoes, lettuce, meat, etc. She tries to carry a couple of boxes but it is too heavy for her. To her surprise, Yukito takes the boxes that she is carrying. He tells her that it would be more efficient if he carries the meat which is the heaviest while she just carries the lighter ones. Kotori thanks him as Yukito quietly walks away. Flustered, Kotori thinks that there are times when he is nice and it can feel quite tiring. She wonders if it is just her misunderstanding about the hug yesterday because Yukito already likes someone else.

Later on, Yukito goes to the staff room to find Kotori sound asleep on the sofa. He wonders why she is sleeping and if it is already her break time. He looks at the side blushing and thinks that maybe he should leave. He then glances at sleeping Kotori. His eyes wander on her lips. He goes to her and bends to kiss her but he stops when Keigo enters the room and calls out, hey. Yukito quickly turns around and leaves. Keigo looks at Yukito. Then, Kotori wakes up. While Yukito is working, he wonders what the heck he is doing because ever since the hug yesterday, he became strange. He wanted to touch more of Kotori..really want to touch her. He wonders why he thinks that way. [^^;;] A guy tells Yamagami that they have a delivery order. Yamagami asks if Matsuda has already arrived and it is best to ask someone who is skilled in driving a motorcycle. The guy tells Yamagami that Matsuda is on the night shift and those who have a motorcycle license are all busy. Yamagami then asks Yukito to deliver the food by biking as fast as he could. Keigo then says to let him be the one to deliver because he has a motorcycle license. He tells Yamagami that he has experience since he has done deliveries before and he knows the roads well. So, Yamagami let Keigo do it. Yukito looks flustered. Much later on, Yukito seems to have finished his shift and is on the way home when he meets with Keigo on the hallway. Noticing that Keigo is looking at him that he tells Keigo that he has another job so what is his problem. Keigo says that it is nothing. Yukito says then, he’ll be going. Before Yukito can leave, Keigo asks, “What do you think of Miss Kaji?” Yukito stops and turns around to look at Keigo. He asks, “What I think..what do you mean?” Keigo says that he meant that literally. Yukito says it is nothing because there is nothing between them. Keigo somewhat smiles and asks, “Really, so if I go after Miss Kaji, you’ll have no objections, right?” This surprises Yukito. He looks away and asks why Keigo is asking that and he shouldn’t ask if he [Yukito] has any objections. Keigo says that he is right but Yukito is Kotori’s ex-boyfriend and it seems that he still has some feelings for her so he just wants to verify it. “If we are love rivals, I hate fighting stealthy [behind one’s back].” Keigo smiles and says, “Sorry for calling you. Bye.” Yukito looks flustered and frustrated as he clenches his fist.

At the fireworks display, Keigo happily says that the fireworks is beautiful and the ‘boom’ sounds can be felt to his heart. Haruna tells him that he’s exaggerating. Keigo says that it is because it is his first time to see fireworks so near. Haruna just says, yes, yes, I know. Kotori looks sad and flustered that Keigo also came. She thinks that even if Keigo treats her the same as before, but she really feels nervous that she won’t dare look at him. “And..” Keigo asks, “Yamagami-kun, you also came?” Yamagami asks if he has any objections. Keigo says of course none but rather he just cannot imagine Yamagami connected with matsuri [festival] because it seems like they are still at work and they would feel nervous. Everyone just look tense and seem to agree with Keigo. Yamagami tells him not to mind him and they should just have fun. Keigo says that no, they cannot because he is worried that if he do something, Yamagami will scold him. Yamagami replies then he shouldn’t do something that will make him angry. Keigo says, “See, you are already angry.” Yamagami denies it. Keigo says that he is angry. Yamagami asks why he likes to pick a fight on him. Keigo says that it is because Yamagami is like that so girls are afraid of him. Yamagami exclaims why girls got into the topic. Kotori thinks that Keigo is amazing he dare provoke that Yamagami. Haruna tells them that is enough and they already know that their affection is quite good so they should go already. Both Keigo and Yamagami deny that their affection is good. Kotori starts laughing about this. Keigo blushes and says that he got laughed at. The other guy asks why he is blushing and from what Keigo said, it seems like he likes Kotori. This surprises Kotori. She blushes when Keigo is looking at her. He looks away and says, “...she’s really cute..honestly..” This made Kotori blush even more as she wonders why he is saying it in front of everyone. Keigo says that Kotori is like a pure-innocent girl unlike his sempai, Haruna. Haruna puts him on a neck hold and asks him what he meant by that. While wincing in pain, Keigo says that he meant that literally. One of the guys asks Kotori ask her if Keigo will do for her. Another guy tells the guy not to tease Kotori and apologizes to Kotori that such a question was being asked. Kotori just laughs it off. She thinks that she isn’t used to this kind of mood. She also has some sort of longing. She touches the bracelet that Yukito gave her then looks up the night sky lit by fireworks. “..fireworks, I really want to see it with you..”

Meanwhile, Yukito arrives at work to only learn that he has no work that night because the machine had a problem. Yukito didn’t read his cellphone so he didn’t get that message that he doesn’t need to come to work. The man apologizes for having him go there. Yukito says that it is alright. Seeing the fireworks in the sky, the man mentions about the fireworks display. He tells Yukito to go see it since this is a rare opportunity. Yukito blush a bit. At the fireworks place, there are a lot of people that Kotori has a hard time catching up with the others. She can no longer see Haruna and others and thinks that she will be lost at this rate. To her surprise, Keigo holds her hand and asks her if she is alright. While she is still muttering about her hand, Keigo smiles and pulls her along. She calls for him to wait. Keigo turns around and asks if she wants to drink something or does she want to eat some kakigori [shaved ice flavored with syrup dessert]. “What flavor do you like?” Kotori timidly says strawberry. Keigo says then, strawberry it is. Kotori snaps out of it and calls out to him that isn’t what she wanted to say. Keigo tells her that they are holding hands so that she won’t get lost. “To be honest, what I’m saying is that it’s only because I don’t want to let go..” Kotori is surprised and wonders how she should reply. Keigo then tells her that place [which seems to be an esplanade near the river] has fewer people so they should go and rest there for a while. Later, Keigo gives her kakigori. Kotori thanks him. She wonders what else to say else it will be too quiet. She als thinks that the kakigori looks delicious. She looks at him and asks if he isn’t going to eat, too. Keigo says that he cannot finish a cup. “Kotori, can you give me a part of your share? Just a mouthful.” Kotori blushes and is surprised when Keigo takes a bite from her kakigori. Kotori couldn’t believe what he just did. Keigo happily exclaims that it is so cold yet delicious. Kotori wonders when he stopped calling her ‘Miss Kaji’ and started calling her ‘Kotori’. She becomes confused and thinks that Keigo seems really different from the first time they’ve met. “It seems like he’s really good in dealing with girls. He’s quite different from Yukito. To..towards this type of person..what should I do?” She becomes tense since she hasn’t encountered this kind of situation before.

Yukito arrives at the fireworks display site. He wonders how he is going to find Kotori since there are so many people there. He wonders if Kotori truly wants to see the fireworks with him. Yukito doesn’t want to call her on the phone because Kotori will know that he came specifically for her. He looks somewhat sad then he looks up to see a familiar black haired girl. His eyes widen since it is really Kotori, together with Keigo, passing by. Yukito couldn’t believe it that he would actually see her even if there are so many people there. “Could this be fate?!” He quickly runs after them while squeezing through a lot of people. He calls out to Kotori. Then, Kotori is in front of him. All three looks surprised at each other. When Kotori is about to call Yukito’s name, Keigo holds Kotori’s hand tighter and walks away with her. Looking stunned, Yukito just stands there. “What am I doing..” At home, Masaya enters his room to tell him that dinner is ready. He finds Yukito gloomily lying on bed and hugging his pillow tight. Masaya asks why he is acting difficult that he cannot even get out of bed. “Do you have any objections about the food I made?” Yukito sits up while still pouting. Masaya tells him to quickly go eat. Before Masaya can leave his room, Yukito asks him to lend his motorcycle to him. He tells Masaya to teach him to drive a motorcycle because he wanted to quickly learn and be skilled in driving. Flustered, he thinks, “I don’t want to lose to that guy..” With folded arms, Masaya tells him to talk about that when he gets his driving license. Yukito whines that if he waits until then, it will be too late. Masaya tells him that he cannot do it either. Yukito asks why. Masaya says that he doesn’t want to have a police record. “And, what if you get hurt? If you get hurt then Kotori will cry, right?” Flustered, Yukito asks why he is mentioning about Kotori and why would she cry. Looking a bit amused, Masaya pats Yukito’s head and asks what he is being anxious about. “It seems like you have a lot of reasons why you want to do that [motorcycle] thing, but what is it that you really want? What you really want to do should be the crucial question, right? Shouldn’t you first think what you wanted to do? Love is that kind of thing, basically going along with what one feels so just do things according to your intention in lieu of your current situation.” Yukito looks surprised as Masaya ruffles his hair. A bit irritated, Yukito says that Masaya unexpectedly treats him like a kid. Masaya says that he is a kid. Yukito is flustered and frustrated since it is true. He then looks aghast as to why his brother is ‘superman’ who knows about love.

At work, it is time to go home. A guy bids Kotori goodbye. Kotori’s mind wanders to the thought of Yukito misunderstanding the thing about Keigo. She snaps out of it and asks herself why she is thinking that because Yukito already likes someone else and it doesn’t matter to him whether he misunderstood or not. “But, even if I can say it like that, I cannot help but mind it..” She is surprised when Yukito calls out to her and asks if she is also going home. She says yes. After a pause, Yukito says that they go home together, he’ll bring her home. This surprises Kotori. Then, Keigo says that he’ll also bring her home. “Let me bring you home.” Kotori is surprised blushing over this while the two guys stare at each other. Haha, and that is the purpose of a rival, to get the lead guy to do something. =P The way Yukito is acting at the latter part of this chapter made me wonder if he is like that from the start. Before, he seems cool and everything but then, maybe, he is just pretending to be. In times of trouble and anxiety, that facade probably crumbles and revealed what he truly is ‘a kid’ who is insecure and makes a lot of mistakes. He is still letting his pride get the best of him since he doesn’t want to show Kotori that he still longs for her. He is indeed doing this the other way around because he is focusing too much on having a motorcycle. Masaya does seem like a ‘mom’ of some sort. Good at cooking and apparently, he is good at giving love advice, too. I’m curious about the history of his love life aside from his ego has gotten a beating over a girl’s preference of Yukito over him. Well, Masaya’s advice ought to help him do more initiative and not to be too complacent with thoughts that no one but him would be interested in Kotori. The cast is becoming large. I wonder if the summer work friends will still appear later on after summer. They are quite likeable so I hope they would occasionally. Of course, Keigo is a real threat. He is indeed smooth with girls and isn’t timid at all because he can be brutally frank even with the most intimidating persons like Yamagami. I think the author seems to be saying that yes, it might be fate that keeps on bringing them together but still, one must do something about it rather than just stand there and let some other person take away the person you like right in front of your eyes.

Chapter 34: Yukito tells Keigo that he’ll bring Kotori home because he knows where her house is. Keigo asks what Yukito is saying because if he just asks Kotori himself where she lives then he’ll also know where her house is. The two unrelenting guys glare at each other. Caught in between, Kotori wonders what’s happening..why it turned out that way. Kotori is surprised when the two guys asks Kotori to be the one who’ll decide as to who will bring her home. The two guys stare at Kotori as she stutters what to say. Putting her hand on Kotori’s shoulder, Haruna says that she’ll be the one who’ll bring Kotori home. This surprises the two guys. With a despising look, Haruna says, “Hehe..you guys, really lack any sort of elegance in this kind of competition.” This shocks the two guys speechless. Haruna smiles and tells Kotori that she should get ready and she’ll bring her home. “I have a motorcycle and it’s a brand-new one though still paid by installment basis. Yukito-kun doesn’t have a motorcycle license and Shitara only has a motorcycle license. Yet, would even say ‘I’m bring her home because I know where she lives’ and ‘If I just ask, then I’ll know’, what’s up with those two guys [when they don’t even have a motorcycle].” The two guys still look aghast as the girls walk away. Keigo mutters that it seems like Haruna is showing off. Yukito mutters that she has a motorcycle and it is a brand new one. The two guys look at each other then snub each other as they go their way. At home, Kotori thanks Haruna for bringing her home. Haruna says that it is alright. She tells Kotori that she can just tell her whatever concern she has since it seems that Kotori has some problem. Kotori looks surprised and says that Haruna is really sharp. Haruna advises her not to ‘force herself*/think’ too much. [*something like acting strong] Haruna mutters that she really doesn’t have the right to say that since she has a tendency to hesitate and not act during the crucial moments. Kotori asks if she has a boyfriend. Haruna says that she does have one but then, he is a very arrogant person that she doesn’t know what he is thinking. Haruna tells Kotori not to mind about her but rather, Kotori really shouldn’t ‘force herself’ too much. She then bids Kotori goodbye. She wonders if she is ‘forcing herself’.

[Ah, it turns out that I was right before, that her dog’s name is Ken-ken. It isn’t Keshi-keshi ^^; So, I’ll go back to Ken-ken. Also, from this chapter, it seems to be a real dog.] Ken-ken in human form [Kotori’s imagination] asks if she is ‘forcing herself’. Hugging her pillow, Kotori says that she doesn’t know but if she does, it must be related to Yukito. She is still quite happy if she can talk with Yukito just like the usual times yet when she is away from him, she feels lonely. When he is kind to her, it makes her happy but upon knowing that he likes someone else, that kindness makes her sad. Even if she knows that Yukito is treating her like before, but she tends to entertain some expectation about what Yukito says and does. “So, I don’t know..even if I was the one who decided that we break up, I’m really such a low-life.” She is surprised when Ken-ken offers her a piece of bone. She asks if he is giving it to her. Holding the bone, she says that it is his favorite teething toy. Ken-ken says, “Even if you and Yukito still haven’t realize it but the answer is truly simple, it’s just like that bone..you only have to OO..” Kotori asks what he just said – what those OO is. Ken-ken says that it is two words. [Not sure if it is related but the Chinese word used for ‘bone’ can mean ‘strong character’] Ken-ken touches her face and tells her that it will be okay to have it with her when she is troubled. It doesn’t matter if it is about Yukito or her feelings but rather, she should totally know that her smiling expression is cute and her troubled expression is also not bad. “No matter if you are a low-life, making a lot of mistakes in your choices, I’ll always be by your side--” She blushes when Ken-ken pats her head. While Ken-ken [dog form] puts its paw on Kotori’s head, Kotori mutters his name and says that she’s hopeless. [for imagining all that?]

At school, Kotori thinks that today is the last day of summer’s extra classes and it passed by faster than she imagined so she’ll only meet with Yukito during work. She sighs and wonders what she is thinking. She is surprised when someone touches a cold drink behind her back. She exclaims that is cold and is surprised to see that it is Yukito. He asks her what she is lost in thought and they should quickly go to their class. Kotori just says yes. While Yukito walks ahead of her, Kotori thinks that Yukito is treating her the same as before when she still feels awkward about what happened yesterday. She feels somewhat relieved that he is acting normally but then, it also means that what he said yesterday has no deep meaning to it. She wonders if she is really greedy. Then, she bumps into Yukito’s back. She apologizes for being lost in thought and it is because it is so hot. He shows his apple juice to her and asks Kotori if she wants to drink. He tells her that it is also cold. She takes the drink and thinks that he has already drunk it since there is a straw on the tetra pack. She thinks that because they had gone steady before, it would be strange for her heart to beat fast if she drinks the same beverage but still, she is really nervous. She wonders if it is okay for her to drink. She looks up to Yukito to see him looking at her. She looks at the drink again and thinks that she cannot understand that expression of his as to what he is thinking since there is a bit of expectation from that expression. Yukito blushes a bit and looks surprised when Kotori takes a sip. When Kotori looks up, she is surprised that Yukito is already walking away. Yukito wonders why he is so embarrassed. [I guess he walked away because he doesn’t want to let her see that he’s blushing.] Kotori just looks at the drink.

In the classroom, Kotori is lost in thought as she thinks that nothing that is said by the teacher is entering her head. Yukito, who is sitting behind her, seems to be looking out the window. Later on, Kotori snaps out of her thoughts when Yukito tells her that classes are over and they should go to work. They quietly walk at the hallway. Kotori looks down when Yukito turns around and glances at her. Kotori is surprised when Yukito says that he brought his bicycle today and does she want to ride with him to work. Kotori looks gloomy then declines his offer by saying that she wants to walk to work today. “I’m sorry, thanks..” Yukito looks surprised as Kotori walks past him. At the restaurant’s alley where people throw their garbage, Kotori thinks that she shouldn’t have treated Yukito that way. Because he invited her, she remembered about that motorcycle thing that she couldn’t say ‘yes’. The motorcycle thing is about overhearing Haruna saying that Yukito wants to buy a motorcycle and let the girl he likes ride behind him. She reprimands herself about being depressed and she doesn’t want to keep on thinking about it. She then looks surprised upon the thought that Yamagami will reprimand her again. At the corner, someone is watching her. She tells herself that she should concentrate on work for this year’s summer, she wants to earn money. Then, she feels like someone is watching her. She turns around but no one is there. She wonders if she is mistaken about it and wonders of the possibility that it was Yamagami. Meanwhile, at the locker room, Yukito is heartbroken. While dressing up, he wonders if he is a bit conceited today [assuming she’ll accept his offer] and she actually avoided him. He then overhears a couple of co-workers talking about whether Keigo and Kotori are going steady and that they got separated midway during the fireworks display. They are really curious what happened afterwards so they plan to ask Keigo about it. At the street, Yukito looks depressed. He thinks that he doesn’t have work afterwards so he’ll just go to Abe’s house. He then sees Kotori walking away while reading her cellphone. He just looks at her for a while then walks the opposite way. While walking, Kotori thinks that after work, neither Yukito nor Keigo said something though the reason probably is that their break time isn’t the same. She also thinks that Yukito probably avoided her because of what happened earlier in the day. “It is better this way, being treated normally, without any strange concern [of doing something wrong], without harboring any strange expectation..”

Kotori gets an email from her mom asking her to buy some cabbage at the supermarket on her way home. Kotori gloomily says that she isn’t in the mood for it but it cannot be helped. She thinks that there is a supermarket nearby near the station and maybe she’ll also buy a dog-something [food/toy] for Ken-ken on her way there. Kotori stops then turns around. She feels like someone is watching her. She decides to just walk around and find a shortcut. It seems that she is walking at some elevated railway/subway and no one is around. She stops walking again when she heard someone behind her. She feels as if someone is looking at her from the post. She feels that someone has been looking at her and yet she won’t dare look behind her. She wonders if she is just mistaken. She starts running and thinks that she isn’t mistaken that someone is following her. She runs with all her might as someone wearing sandals and a black shirt is running after her. She quickly hides behind a post and hugs her bag tight. She is really scared that she thought of Yukito. Meanwhile, Yukito is writing a message to Abe asking if he can go to his house because there is something he needs to consult with him. Just when he sends the message, his phone rings. He is surprised to hear Kotori calling his name. She tells him that she is really scared and asks him to save her. Yukito starts to ask what happened and if she is alright. Kotori is surprised that she had unconsciously called him. She apologizes to him and says that it is nothing. Yukito insists that she just said ‘save me’ so how she could be alright. He asks her where she is right now. She tells him that she is near the station at the elevated railway. He asks if it is the station near their workplace. Kotori says yes. He asks if there are any other markers nearby. While Kotori is thinking, she notices someone standing in front of her. Someone in a checkered shirt reaches out to Kotori that she screams. This made Yukito frantically call out her name but he stops when he hears Kotori calling out Keigo’s name. It turns out that the one who found her is Keigo.

As they walk home, Keigo tells Kotori that there doesn’t seem to be any strange person around. He says that he is really startled for he wondered who the one sitting behind that place is and it is a good thing that he is nearby for he usually walks there on his way home. Kotori is just quiet. She is surprised when he asks if she is alright. Kotori manages a smile and says that she is and maybe she is just mistaken about being followed. He notices that she is clenching her fist as she is shaking in fear. He holds her hand and tells her there is no need to force herself. “It is fine now..do you still feel that I’m undependable?” Before Kotori can answer, someone calls out her name. It is Yukito. This made Kotori pull her hand away from Keigo. With a somewhat sad-smile expression, Yukito says that it is very good that she is alright because she mentioned that she is near the elevated railway so he thought that she might pass by there. “It’s really good that you are safe.” This somewhat surprises Kotori. With bowed head, Yukito tells Keigo that he’ll leave Kotori to him then he leaves. At work the next day, a couple other male co-workers are asking Kotori about the thriller she experienced yesterday. Kotori says that is an exaggeration. They say that they heard that she is being followed by a strange guy and it is a crazy society out there so she better be careful. Kotori timidly agrees. One of the workers offers to walk Kotori home starting today because that stalker might still be nearby. Kotori just laughs it off. Yukito overhears everything and just tells the others that he’ll be going to bring something in. Glancing at Yukito’s direction, Kotori looks a bit sad. When Yukito opens the door, he notices someone quickly darting into the corner. He looks at the corner to see a guy quickly walking away into the streets with lots of people. He mutters, “That guy..”.

The first part of the chapter is pretty amusing. Both guys aren’t going to back down but unfortunately for them, Haruna is more ‘manly’ of them since she has a motorcycle. Haruna is basically saying that they are just kids and they really don’t have anything to boast about =P I hope Kotori will also consider Haruna as someone whom she can confide with. She gives me a ‘sisterly’ feeling and since she mentioned her boyfriend, I’m still hoping that her boyfriend will also appear in this series and the two of them would merge in with the cast of this series. Hehe, Kotori has succumbed to her old habit of playing imagination with Ken-ken. I guess she doesn’t want to bother Natsume with her problems so she didn’t call her about it. The two Kaji-s is once again doing the recipe of how to misunderstand each other. They are obviously doing something which can be misunderstood that they don’t care for each other yet in reality, the intention is different. This is the reason why communication is important. At first, I thought that the stalker might be Keigo but after looking again at the clothes, thankfully, it isn’t him. It would be easier to ‘out’ Keigo if he is the stalker but then from the looks of things, Keigo doesn’t really have a chance. I don’t think Keigo is stupid to not know that those two still like each other but I guess he is still doesn’t want to give up unless Kotori would say so. Hm..can Kotori actually turn him down? She seems a bit too timid for that.

Chapter 35: Yukito thinks that he has seen that guy before. “Where could it be?” He then remembers. Kotori calls out to him using his surname again and apologizes to him for suddenly calling him yesterday that he specially came to check up on her. She felt that she should properly thank him. Yukito says that it is only because he is quite concerned that he ran to that place [to meet with her] on his own. “And speaking of that, compared to me, Shitara is more..” He stops himself from continuing because he thinks that there is a hint of sarcasm in it. He turns around and takes some of the boxes. He then says that they leave it as is and there’s no need for thanks. Kotori just looks somewhat sad. Yukito thinks that just from thinking of it, he is really frustrated because at that time, he wanted to be the one who’ll get to Kotori first. “I do not want to lose to that Shitara. Darn it. I’m too yielding. Aren’t I the one who is avoiding her? I should be a bit proactive! I should do my best!” While he is cheering himself up, his co-workers think he is some sort of weirdo. He then remembers the stalker and wonders if that guy is the person whom he thinks that person is. “Shouldn’t it better to maintain some distance from Kotori..?” Kotori is serving customers at the counter. She thinks that there must be a show at the theater that is why there are a lot of people and there might be more people tonight but then, this way, it will keep her busy to not keep on thinking about things. Someone orders one small apple juice and one small French fries. Kotori smiles and says yes, welc.. She didn’t finish because the customer is Risa who smiles at her and says that it seems she works there. Kotori looks surprised as to why Risa is here. Risa asks her why she looks so stiff when it has been a long time since they saw each other. Kotori breaks into a smile and happily repeats her orders and asks if it is dine-in. Risa says that it is take-out. While Kotori is preparing her order, Risa comments about Yukito not manning the cashier when she wants to say something to him. Kotori thinks that it seems Risa came to see Yukito. Kotori assumes that Risa knew of that place because Yukito told her about it and that would mean that those two’s relationship is still quite good. Kotori is surprised when Yamagami reminds her to smile. Holding up the package, Kotori tries to smile but it ends up being a creepy smile as she thanks Risa for waiting and it costs 250 yen. Kotori is surprised when Risa comments that her smiling expression is really frightening. Kotori is stunned when Risa says, “It seems that you are still quite lively, how boring. I thought that because of what happened yesterday, you’ll be very afraid. It’s truly regretful~~” Risa smiles at Kotori and walks away. Kotori is shaken by what Risa told her as to what Risa meant by that and how Risa knew about it.

At the alley, Yukito apologizes for calling Keigo out during his break. Keigo says that it is alright. Keigo asks what does he want to talk about and surely it is about Kotori. Yukito says that based on their current situation, they can only talk concerning Kotori. “About that, I’m sorry for suddenly saying this to you but I hope that from today on, you’ll walk her home after work.” Keigo looks surprised. Keigo asks if Yukito is telling him to walk Kotori home though he planned to do that even if Yukito didn’t say so. Yukito says that is true for he thought that if it is Keigo, he’ll definitely do that but he thinks that he should still ask, just in case. Keigo says that he doesn’t understand why Yukito is asking this and does this mean that he doesn’t have any feelings for Kotori. Yukito tells him to treat it as a favor from an ex-boyfriend. “Because I think that if it is Shitara who likes Kotori, then I can feel at ease..” He thinks, “If I’m the one beside her, I cannot protect her.” Yukito looks down and says, “In short, I’m asking this favor.” Later on, Kotori opens the door and looks at the alley. She wonders if it will be the same as yesterday. She wonders what to do if she is still being stalked and it will be troublesome for the other co-workers if she asks them to accompany her. She thinks that if she based it on what Risa said, she was not mistaken about being followed and it seems that it has something to do with Risa. “Matsushima-classmate really hates me, but I and Yukito had obviously broke up..” She wonders if Risa hasn’t heard of it yet but then, if she didn’t, it means that Risa isn’t the girl that Yukito likes. She feels somewhat relieved by that though perhaps for Yukito, it [their relationship] isn’t an important thing for him. Kotori is becoming depressed again when she is startled when Keigo calls out to her and says that it is good that she hasn’t left yet. “Let’s go home together. I’ll bring you home. Let’s go.” Blushing Kotori tells him that it is alright and she can go home on her own. Keigo asks how can she say that it is alright when she was really frightened by what happened yesterday. Kotori looks timid as she blushes. Keigo asks if she is thinking that if he walks her home, it will give him hope. “If it is so, then you shouldn’t mind it because I have been expecting [/hoping] since early on.” Kotori is flustered as she wonders how to reply to a person like Keigo. Keigo blushes and says, “I’m very worried about you. For such an incident to particularly happen to you, won’t you be more at ease if someone is with you?” Kotori pauses and says, “Yes..”

While the two are walking at the streets, Yukito [the stalker =P] looks at the two from the corner. He angrily wonders what’s up with Keigo and if he is always like that in front of girls. He thinks that Keigo is too talkative that he starts to become worried about that side of Keigo and maybe he isn’t the right person to entrust Kotori to. He is surprised when Ryosuke grabs on him from behind and says that it’s long time no see and why Yukito is hiding there for. Yukito lamely says that he has things to do so goodbye. Ryosuke shouts for him not to snub him since it has been a long time since Yukito has seen Ryosuke-sama and could this place be where Yukito is working. Yukito stops walking away when Ryosuke says that he heard that he broke up with Kotori. Ryosuke puts his arm around Yukito and says that they are really comrades since both of them are single again. Yukito angrily asks who his comrade is. Ryosuke complains about how Yukito is acting when it has been a long time since they saw each other. He says that Yukito’s hair is longer now and is he trying to look cool, and isn’t this just a usual exchange of greetings. Yukito says who’ll do that. He then looks at the street and exclaims, idiot. Ryosuke is puzzled. Preparing to run, Yukito scolds Ryosuke for talking endlessly that he has lost the one he’s following. Yukito runs into the streets and looks surprised. Ryosuke comments that Yukito came back when Yukito hides in the corner again. “What are you doing?” Ryosuke looks out and sees Kotori with Keigo. He then looks at Yukito who isn’t saying anything. Smiling, Ryosuke says, “Not bad, already have a new boyfriend.” Yukito replies, “Even if we haven’t seen each other for a long time, you still infuriate me. You haven’t changed a bit.” Ryosuke asks Yukito if it is like that, Yukito has become a stalker. Yukito asks if he is listening to him and that’s enough, why Ryosuke don’t just leave. Yukito sighs and says that he isn’t stalking but rather, he just wants to confirm something. Ryosuke asks what it is. Meanwhile, Kotori is thinking that it is the first time Keigo is walking her home and she doesn’t know what to talk about when they are all alone which is probably because she knows of his intentions. While wondering what she should say, Kotori is surprised when Keigo holds her hand. Keigo says that he thinks that if it is like this, even if there is a weirdo around, he won’t do anything to her. Blushing Kotori tries to tell him to let her go. Keigo says that he doesn’t know what kind of stalker she has but isn’t it better to make him think that she already has a boyfriend. This made Kotori blush even more. Kotori tells him that he is a bit forceful/aggressive. Keigo asks if she hates forceful guys. This surprises Kotori. She says that he is quite cunning to say that since it is difficult to answer. Keigo starts apologizing to her.

Seeing them, Yukito is really gloomy and angry as he mentally asks what’s with that romantic mood and why they suddenly hold hands. “What’s with this kind of situation! Let me say, Shitara, your luck is going to run out soon--” Ryosuke says that Keigo moves fast that it won’t be long before they would do some unrestricted stuff. Ryosuke starts saying ‘ouch’ since gloomy Yukito starts pulling his ear to shut him up. While walking, Kotori wonders if they will hold hands until she arrives home. She looks at Keigo who notices her looking at him. He smiles at her. She just nervously smiles back and thinks that they will indeed hold hands until she arrives home. She thinks that this is really difficult. She notices the arcade nearby. She sees the UFO catcher/claw crane and Chupa Chups machine. Keigo asks her what is in the arcade. Kotori says it is nothing but she only thinks that it seems that place also has an arcade. Kotori is surprised when Keigo asks her why don’t they check it out and go play there. Kotori tells him to wait but Keigo says, “Let’s go on a date.” Kotori is flustered as she remembers the time when Yukito said that it’s very good and they’ll go on a date. Ryosuke says that it seems that they are going into the arcade or rather, Kotori is being forcibly pulled into the arcade. Yukito is shock when Ryosuke suggests that Keigo might be planning to do some lewd stuff there. Yukito says that they are going. Ryosuke asks if he is going, too [with him]. Yukito angrily runs to the arcade and thinks, “Darn that Shitara! Asking him is really a catastrophe, what’s up with you, I only asked you so that I can relax while I investigate that stalker, idiot--!” At the arcade, flustered Yukito asks where they are. Ryosuke asks maybe they went to the toilet. Yukito is about to ask what Ryosuke is saying when he overhears Kotori and Keigo talking = “Am..amazing..” “Ko..kotori, I cannot do it anymore..” “I cannot anymore..” “..forgive me.” While wondering what they are doing, Yukito quickly goes into their direction and shouts, “Shitara!”

To his surprise, the two were actually just playing a video game. Keigo says in disbelief that Kotori is really strong and great [in playing]. “..Why?” Kotori laughs and says that it is because she is very good in games. Keigo comments that it is beyond one’s expectation. Yukito gloomily mutters for them not to startle him. Ryosuke laughs and says that it is really great for this is the first time he saw Yukito looking that worried and speaking of that, this place [arcade] isn’t where one would do that kind of stuff. Yukito angrily says that it is because Ryosuke said that weird stuff earlier. Ryosuke says that from looking at the two, they seem to be really having fun. Yukito looks glum. Ryosuke looks at him then tells Yukito if he wants to play that – matching game [friends or lovers]. Yukito angrily asks why he would do that. Since Yukito is going the other way, Ryosuke asks if he is going home. Yukito says he isn’t but he’ll go over to that side to look around. Meanwhile, Keigo asks Kotori if they can go to the purikura [photo booth] next. Kotori looks surprised. Keigo asks why she is startled. Kotori quickly excuses herself that she has to go to the toilet. In the toilet, while holding her hand, Kotori thinks that Keigo finally let go of her hand when they are in the arcade. She wonders what’s going to happen next because doing the purikura would just make her remember Yukito even more and their times together. She then remembers that machine. She goes to the Chupa Chups machine and takes out a 100 yen coin. “..I obviously know that even if I do this, nothing will change..but deep within my heart, I have thoughts of severing it [relationship] and also thoughts of still expecting [something to happen]...perhaps, I only wanted a sign [/chance].” She holds the coin tight and prays, “If 5 pieces [of lollipop] come out then I won’t let go of Yukito. If not, I’m letting go.” She puts in the coin and presses the button. Meanwhile, Yukito is looking at a UFO catcher. Yukito laments that going to this kind of arcade made him remember his date with Kotori at the arcade before. He looks up and sees a familiar guy. It is the stalker’s back. Yukito perks up and says that he found him. “So it’s that person..the guy who went steady with Matsushima-?!”

I have no idea what Risa is thinking because her plan is bound to fail. First, she gets her ex-boyfriend to stalk Kotori even if she knows that Yukito works in the same place as Kotori. I guess Risa underestimated the possibility of Yukito still likes Kotori to want to protect her from a stalker. She didn’t expect Yukito to see the stalker whom Yukito can connect to Risa. The second one is what could be the logic of telling Kotori that she knew about some scary thing that happened yesterday. Kotori isn’t that stupid to not know that Risa is the one behind it all. Maybe Risa still wants to somehow want to get back at Kotori because she does know that Yukito likes Kotori. This is a contradiction to the earlier theory. ^^; I just think that Risa is going for broke as in at least get back at Kotori somehow because sooner or later, she will be found out by Yukito and well, maybe she knows that she doesn’t have any hope with Yukito. Maybe her logic to it all will be explained later on. Yukito did a foolish mistake of asking Keigo to bring Kotori home. Hehe, he really underestimated on how fast Keigo can be with girls..in this case, Kotori. Surely someone who isn’t interested in Kotori would be a safer choice but I guess Yukito is thinking that if it is someone who likes Kotori, that person will do everything to protect her. Actually, Keigo’s looks can be quite deceiving because he looks somewhat innocent and timid but he’s actually not. I think he’s fast moves can be good and bad for him. It is good because he can easily get Kotori to agree to what he wants to do since she is timid and cannot protest much. It is bad because Kotori is uneasy in dealing with a person like him. Of course, there is also the problem of Kotori still liking Yukito. Another unfortunate thing for Keigo is that he just happened to bring her to an arcade for a date of all places since an arcade has a lot of memories for Kotori regarding Yukito. Hm..since Keigo looks similar with Natsume’s ‘Kaworu’, I wonder if he’ll end up with Harada ^^; Well, at least we got some ‘serves you right, Yukito’ scenes. He is now in the receiving end of being jealous. I’m surprised that Ryosuke is here, too. I haven’t seen him for a long time and I guess he isn’t making a move on Kotori even if she is now single is because he knows that Yukito still likes her or maybe he wants to confirm that it is really over before he makes a move..oh wait, he is currently looking for Natsume =P I wonder if Kotori will always play that Chupa chups game when she is stumped on what to do. ^^; Well, it cannot be helped because the way Yukito is acting, it can easily confuse any girl as to whether he likes her or not.

Side story: Ken-ken’s afternoon Human form Ken-ken is playing with a lollipop as if it is a cigarette. Ken-ken is bored as he lies on bed. “It’s obvious school break but that girl is either working or taking extra classes everyday... Geez, during this time if she didn’t go out, she would accompany me in playing the whole day..and three more hours, it is already 6 o’clock. [He knows the time based on when he is hungry] She said that she’ll come home early from work today.. *smiles* I’ll go wait for her..” Ken-ken looks at Kotori who came with Masaya. Kotori exclaims if Ken-ken waited for her outside. Ken-ken is quiet. Kotori apologizes to Masaya for bringing her home when he obviously still has cram school. Masaya says that it is alright because after meeting her in the streets, how can he let a girl go home alone at night. “It’s because I like doing this so you shouldn’t mind it too much.” Ken-ken is sniffing then goes into a surprise that he knows this scent. Masaya happily pats Ken-ken’s head and says that he’s really cute. “So it seems that Kotori has a pet dog. We also wanted to have one but we can’t because there is someone who is really afraid of dogs.” Kotori asks if he meant Yukito. While Masaya mentions that Ken-ken is cute, he says that guy [Yukito] is totally not good with dogs. Kotori comments that it is surprising. Ken-ken angrily thinks that on Masaya, it is the same scent that has contaminated Kotori. Ken-ken starts growling at Masaya who wonders why he feels like Ken-ken is emitting ‘want to kill you’ chi/mood. The scene changes to Kotori sadly looking at an unopened Chupa Chups lollipop. Ken-ken thinks that Kotori still won’t throw it away. He approaches Kotori. To Kotori’s surprise, he angrily bites the lollipop and probably tries to pull it away. Kotori shouts for him not to eat it and quickly spit it out. Change scene – Ken-ken looks out the window and thinks that today’s weather is nice. He grumpily thinks, “That guy’s younger brother, Yukito..it seems that he is afraid of dogs..really..afraid..huh..” Ken-ken smiles then starts laughing. Last blurb: It seems that Ken-ken is thinking of some interesting way [to harm/damage Yukito]. Haha, and I can’t wait to see what Ken-ken plans to do to Yukito. I’m curious how Yukito can get the approval of Kotori’s dog since Kotori’s brother isn’t that active in checking Yukito out. This is another love triangle in a way. Somehow, I’m thinking that the author is showing more of Ken-ken as fanservice since he is always shown naked =P Scans by 豆芽豆芽 and xiuxiu/咻咻 for BW and 草莓defer for iieye.

Quote of the day:
After all, life is really simple; we ourselves create the circumstances that complicate it. ~ Anonymous

Teasers: Akuma to Love Song 68 + Some Betsufure Series
Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Sorry, I made a typo about the timeline of the family vacation trip, it is March 28 to April 2. ^^; Thanks to Meryl for pointing that out. ^^ It is just a week, not almost a month. ^^;; I corrected the other entry. For those who want to see Kimi ni Todoke 45 raws, I found it in baidu. It is now summer and this time, there are scenes for all three couples and yes, it is pretty much Ayane x Pin. There are some nice scenes here but I guess I can appreciate it better if I know what they are all talking about. =P

Akuma to Love Song 68 pretty much caps the arc with lots of Maria x Shin moments. The guys learn that Maria lost her voice. There seems to be some talk by the girls about how to cure it. Shintaro seems to want to blame Shin for it but Maria slaps his forehead to stop him from making Shin any guiltier than what he is already feeling. Maria is super cute doing a pout [like a blowfish] to ‘voice’ her displeasure. Her ‘sign language’ makes her surname become true – she’s ‘cute/kawaii’ ^^ Maria offers to distribute the flyers and she is wearing a maid’s outfit. Ah, they are having a school festival. It is going smoothly until a couple of guys seem to harass her. Shin came to her rescue. Shin seems to be going for his ‘avoid you so you won’t get hurt’ tactic. Maria stops him from leaving by hugging him from behind. ^^ Blush and well, a bit of talk and Maria accidentally squeezed his injured hand a bit too tight. Shin says something, probably hand is fine. This made Maria holds his injured hand and then, she kisses his fingers. ^^ She then grabs Shin’s collar and pulls him to the classroom. =P There is a blond girl in their maid cafe which looks odd and I remembered Yuusuke is playing a maid ^^;; I think Maria is gesturing to Tomoyo about a piano but Tomoyo doesn’t understand. A couple of girls come in to check out Shin then freaks out after seeing him. Tomoyo seem to try to explain that Shin cannot play since he injured his hand. They were all surprised when Maria goes to the piano and plays a key. Then, Shin joins her. She plays using the right hand while he plays using his left hand. ^^ Maria seems to be ‘mouthing’ what she sings that soon, the rest join in the singing while the others play their instruments. There are some talk and Maria smiles widely at Shin. When Shin grabs Maria’s hand and leads her out the classroom, Yuusuke blush-smile and Tomoyo blush-surprise. At the roof, Shin says something about ‘lovers’. The two are blushing. Teary-eyed, she hugs him. They kissed while sad-looking Shintaro looks at them. So, officially together? It seems like it...finally. ^^ Scans by yukitokaji for BW.

The above pictures are some new series from this month’s issue of betsufure magazine which yukitokaji also shared in BW. Of course, number 4 isn’t new with three volumes already out =P I won’t bother looking/researching for their names of the first three so those who can read Japanese, feel free to tell me what it is. Thanks to Isa about the names. The first one is Miwa Ueda’s new series, Pre Mari [Pre- Marriage]. I find it a bit odd because it starts with some sort of simulated? wedding and the groom obviously doesn’t want to get married. The lead guy, 坂本悠真 seems to like 百福杏珠, the bride. Fortunately for him, the groom runs away and goes with some other girl [bride’s friend]. It is all because the groom freaked out when 杏珠 showed him a marriage contract. =P In the end, 悠真 proposes to 杏珠 with a cute clover ring he made. I’m not sure whether to like this series or not but the lead girl is somewhat different from her other lead characters. I think 杏珠 is just itching to get married and she’s only 15 years old. So, it made me think if this is another ‘let’s pretend/act like a married couple’ series. Number 2 is Tenchi Shinmei! about 雷 , some magical black cat that makes a good-looking guy when kissed by the lead girl, 明日奈　潮. He seems to be some sort of exorcist that deals with the random ghosts that 潮 encounters – not sure if they are attracted to her. 潮 seems to have some sort of power of knowing the awful past of the ghost which can help the ghost ‘move on’. This series somewhat reminds me of Black Bird because of all the kissing and whatever which seems to help 雷 power up among other things. Since at the end of chapter two, 雷 has become a transfer student even if I’m not sure if he is really a cat or some sort of cursed human and there will be new characters introduce who seem to be rivals since one looks like a monk, I’m curious where the story will go. The story is by 天之ひるめ and drawn by ヒナチなお. A preview of the chapter 1 is available here. Number 3 is Kirara no Hoshi, a new series of Ai Morinaga. This time, the story seems to be from a girl’s perspective rather than a guy’s like some of her other series. Not quite sure about the story but it seems that 星 輝, glasses guy is timid and wanted a quiet life but 雲母亜弓, a girl keeps on harassing him and takes pictures of him without his glasses because without them, he is good-looking. It seems that 亜弓 wants to discover him to become some star but of course, 輝 does it with such a resistance that 亜弓 has to blackmail him with all sorts of things. That is of course where the comedy comes in which is the author’s forte =P

For those who haven’t checked it out, number 4, L-DK, is pretty okay. A group is already scanlating it in English. It is about a girl and guy living together. Kugayama Shuusei used to be the crush of Nishimori Aoi’s best friend but Shuusei isn’t interested in the friend. So far, based on the first volume [raws in BW], they just get into all sorts of situations which is quite amusing like hiding him so that her friend won’t find him in her house and another chapter about being handcuffed together. =P Shuusei really likes teasing her and I think he really likes her since he tends not to care or is rude with other girls. The story is also moving nicely because it seems that her best friend already know that they are living together because of him and she seems to have accepted the fact that the guy doesn’t like her [the friend]. At the end, a new girl appeared and I’m still guessing if it’s his relative like a sister or an ex-girlfriend. As I mentioned above, the Japanese is already in volume 3 so it will be a long wait before knowing what will happen next. In this issue, it is already chapter 13 so it is really disorienting what happened in between since I only saw volume 1. In this chapter, Shuusei’s brother, Souki/Souji [草樹] showed a picture of him and Aoi kissing in the car. Shuusei seems to be acting casual about it. Aoi is grocery shopping and has been thinking of the past events from some moments with Shuusei and Shuusei acting indifferent to Souki’s ‘advances’ – kissing her hand. Shuusei meets up with her at the grocery. They have a talk and it seems that the mood is different. Then, things are also like that in the kitchen – seems normal yet different. Souki then came to say that he forgot something. Before he leaves, he shows Aoi the picture of them kissing. Not sure if he is taunting or testing Shuusei who doesn’t seem to react – face not shown. Well, it is up to Aoi who gives Souki a punch. He laughs it off and mutters something about a secret regarding Satsuki to Shuusei. After a pat on Shuusei’s shoulder, Souki leaves. Shuusei goes to Aoi to put ice on her hand. He then comforts her and I guess that kiss with Souki isn’t mutual. The chapter ends with Shuusei putting too much hot sauce on Aoi’s food – teasing? =P

Word of the day:
God gives blessings to us so that we can give blessings to others. ~ Our Daily Bread

Free Talk: FYI and Weekly Jump Series' Reaction
Saturday, March 13, 2010

FYI: I will be going on a HK vacation trip on 3/28-4/2 so obviously, there will be no summaries during that time. From a realistic point of view, it is really unlikely I can finish the summaries in accordance to the poll so for the rest of March, I think I can at least finish Bokutachi wa Shitte Shimatta and Remei no Arcana. I’ll add in Faster than a Kiss, too since I think a lot of people are waiting for that. It’s nice to see Aizen looking off-guard because he is too arrogant and this happened in Bleach [c. 395]. He lowered his guard and approached Yamamoto whom he thought is down. Hehe, Yamamoto isn’t going to let him get away with his ‘rubbing salt on his wounds’ comment. =P Finally, Ichigo sees the opportunity to get a hit but then, I’m not too optimistic that Ichigo will win especially since Gin is still around. Somehow, with Gin just standing behind, I can’t help wonder like what if he is really the ‘main boss’ rather than Aizen. Unfortunately, in Naruto [c. 486], the one-on-one fight that we are hoping to finally happen got interrupted. Hm..I wonder if it is because the author doesn’t want Naruto to win in this kind of condition wherein Sasuke is already tired from the other fights. Well, if Sasuke is still stubborn about his revenge, Naruto is also stubborn about his want to ‘save’ Sasuke. The guy is really selfless that it does seem that he is willing to give up being hokage just for Sasuke’s sake. Well, it is true though that how can he be a GREAT hokage if he cannot at least save a friend. If he can actually turn Sasuke back from the dark side then he is one step closer in uniting all of the ninja especially those who still have past grudges. Now, is it okay to say all that in front of Madara? He had brought Sasuke to this point of hatred so would he put in some more stuff to make Sasuke continue on being filled with hatred to counter what Naruto said so that he can still use Sasuke?

And, Blackbeard just powered up in One Piece [c. 577]. I think Akainu and marines should let Luffy go for he is just a possible-future problem whereas Blackbeard is a present dangerous problem. Well, maybe the marines had a problem of generalizing that all pirates are bad. This incident seem to show that they got rid of ‘good’ pirates like Ace (directly) and Whitebeard (indirectly) while let a ‘bad’ pirate become an even bigger headache. Blackbeard took advantage of the Shichibukai title and well, the marines didn’t even bother to investigate his background of being a traitor. Ya, it does seem that Blackbeard will be the final boss in this series. Aoi is totally cool in Beelzebub [c. 52] in that katana vs cute ruler. I wonder if she is going to get a haircut soon since some of her hair got cut. I think Oga can make short work of Alex since I believe Toujou is stronger than Alex. Hehe, I wonder if they will recruit them in their respective clubs – kendo and boxing but the blurb seem to hint that Oga is in the risk of getting expelled. There is nothing much about Miki and his past with Oga and Furuichi..maybe in the next chapter. In Katekyo Hitman Reborn! [c. 281], the future arc is finally ending. I did somewhat expected that everything bad is erased ending because after all, they are in the future and they can still re-writing things with the present. I forgot already but have we seen future Tsuna yet? Maybe a little peek of that and then, an arc about the Acrobaleno. I tend to just browse on Gintama so I don’t really know what’s happening in this arc but in Gintama [c. 300], is Otose really dead? As for PSYREN [c. 110], (browsing the raws), it’s time to go back to the future. They are getting more prepared as they visit the future with a proper ‘see you’. I’m curious what the ‘new’ future is like now.

Word of the day:
In faith--and with prayer--we can break life and its often wearisome tasks into bite-size pieces, entrusting the unpredictable future to the grace of Him who promises that "as your days, so shall your strength be" (Dt. 33:25) ~ Vernon C. Grounds from Our Daily Bread

Hapi Mari -Happy Marriage!?- [Side Story]
Friday, March 12, 2010

[This is the side story that was published in the Petit’s January issue. The February issue is a one shot closure chapter of the author’s past series, Sekai wa Bokura no Tameni! The March issue is already out in Japan but no one has shared it in BW yet. If no one did, then, we can only wait for the next chapter to come out in April via Chinese scans. This side story is only 5 pages of Hokuto’s thoughts during the night at the inn in chapter 10.] Narration: “I don’t understand the implication of ‘marriage’ that I thought that it is just a simple thing.” Flashback: At the president’s office, a staff member congratulated Hokuto for getting married. He asked who the other party is. Looking bored, Hokuto said that he doesn’t know since he hasn’t seen her yet. He would propose to her a moment later. He told the guy that this is the chairman’s order and it seems she is working in that place [according to the papers on his table]. He also told the guy not to tell this to the others and to prepare the car since he is going out. At the club, Chiwa greeted him. He looked at her and thought that he didn’t notice it in the picture but her figure isn’t that bad and so is her face so if one is to asked if he would have sex with her, generally, it will be no problem. But then, she will be hard to deal with since she works at a night club - she should be an expert with money and men. He decided to forget about that and just quickly convince her. “Today, I came to--” *splash* Narration: “I hate troublesome women..” The staff member freaked out upon seeing Hokuto all wet. End flashback. Narration: “But, I don’t hate her.” He remembers her telling him that he doesn’t have anything important that he wants to protect.

Narration: “What she said had piqued my interest. After we started to get along with each other, I realized that she is really a troublesome woman. In accordance to the ‘agreement’, this is also too troublesome. My parents aren’t a married couple so I don’t know about ‘marriage’. While living together, isn’t it enough for one to just be faithful without exceeding too much? I had always thought that way but it seems that with this woman, it isn’t like that. It’s troublesome to death, to the point that I have to do some embarrassing stuff [referring to taking her away from her sempai] but still, I’m not fed up at all. What is marriage, I still do not know, but..” He then notices that Chiwa is talking in her sleep about that ‘kaboom’ sound. Hokuto wonders if she is afraid of the sound of the thunder. He lays beside her then pinches her nose. [^^] Narration: “Right now, I understand a bit, that is, I do not want to go back to the life when I’m not with this woman.” Then he thinks with a scowl expression, “But..staring at a woman’s face, depressed and not sleeping..what’s up with me..I shouldn’t be this kind of person..” And so, that is Hokuto’s perspective about their marriage. I guess it will be thanks to Chiwa who is going to teach him what marriage is all about. Unfortunately for him, this isn’t something that can be solved by divorce or the like because there is a condition to this marriage. Just like most arranged marriages, both has to work on it and adapt to each other for things to go smoothly..well, it will be plus if both fell in love with each other later on despite the flaws and everything especially since they started with ‘no romantic feelings whatsoever for each other’. Well, if they keep it up, it will indeed become a ‘happy marriage’ ^^

Word of the day:
Most of us would prefer a successful and fulfilling marriage that just happens by itself. But a growing marriage requires effort and perseverance. God calls us to work at our relationship with Him —and with the person we promised to love. ~ David C. McCasland from Our Daily Bread

Real Kiss ~Lovers in Festival~ [One-shot Chapter]
Wednesday, March 10, 2010

[This is a crossover of the author’s short series Real Kiss and Bokutachi wa Shitte Shimata. Haruna, the female lead of Real Kiss is the female sempai at the fast food chain.] “I’m really frustrated but I like him.” Haruna looks at Mitsuki, her boyfriend while the class president is talking about doing a cosplay for their cultural festival. At the hallway, Haruna’s friends are talking about being interested in the guys’ cosplay and what Mitsuki would wear. They were surprise when Haruna starts laughing gloomily and mutters that she eagerly anticipates it since she wants to see that arrogant guy being ordered around as a waiter. To her shock, her friend reminds her that she won’t be able to participate in their activities at the cafe because she is an executive council member [somewhat like an overseer, I think] during the cultural festival. Her friends think that something happened between Haruna and Mitsuki that is why Haruna is acting strange like that. It turns out that two days ago, they almost had H/sex = before they can totally remove their clothes, Haruna exclaimed to stop [since she couldn’t take the lewdness and the embarrassment]. She sits on the bench and wonders when she became ‘pure’ and there is no progress with her relationship with Mitsuki. Flustered Haruna says out loud about Mitsuki always making her blush/embarrassed because he cannot stop releasing his pheromones. Haruna blushes when Mitsuki blows in her ear and bites her ear. He asks if she meant ‘that’ – making her embarrassed. Haruna reprimands him for doing that in public. To her shock and embarrassment, Mitsuki says that she obviously doesn’t hate it. He asks if she is not going to work today, they can eat together. Haruna is irritated that Mitsuki is right that she didn’t hate it and so what if she liked it. Mitsuki stutters that she’ll think about it. She notices that he is looking at her lips. Mitsuki says that her lip gloss’s color is different today. Haruna blushes and says that he is right and asks him to guess what flavor it is. Mitsuki kisses her – French kiss, I assume and says that it is melon. Haruna says he is right. Mitsuki asks didn’t she hate doing this in public. Haruna shouts for him to shut up. It turns out that lately, Haruna has been wearing different lip gloss so that he’ll kiss her since she couldn’t take the initiative to tell him to kiss her. Mitsuki mutters that she’s not truthful. She didn’t hear it so when she asked what he said, Mitsuki just says that they should go. She asks where. She blushes really red and goes into shock when he says, to the motel. He then smiles and says that he is just kidding.

At work, Haruna is furious over how he has been teasing her ever since that aborted H. She is even more infuriated because even if she is angry at Mitsuki, she still likes him. She ends up venting her frustration on Keigo. Haruna thinks that she is really frustrated because it seems like she is the only one who really likes Mitsuki. Haruna goes to consult her sempai, Masaya about the aborted H. Masaya tells her that her boyfriend is acting like before because he is worried about her. Haruna insists that he isn’t that kind of person and since his expression is too normal, that is why she is asking for his help. Masaya tells her that such an incident is pretty awkward for a guy and it can make a guy depressed if the sex didn’t go smoothly. Haruna asks if he had a history of that happening. Masaya firmly denies it but Haruna doesn’t seem to believe him. =P Masaya says that it has been a long time since they saw each other that he wondered what she is going to talk about, but it turns out that this kind of thing is bothering Haruna. Haruna says that she is a pure/innocent girl. To Haruna’s irritation, Masaya laughs at her. Haruna tells him that it is because she likes the guy that is why this is troubling her and it only happens to her when she is in front of her boyfriend. Masaya apologizes and says that it is because he’s very happy talking with her that it is like talking with guys. Haruna darkly says that so, it is true that she gives that kind of impression and she isn’t charming that she cannot excite the other party’s appetite. It is the same with kissing, it usually ends at the crucial point. Haruna thinks that Mitsuki isn’t angry about it and his expression seems like it doesn’t matter to him if they don’t have H. He likes to tease her and it must be fun for him to see her expression when he teases her. She couldn’t comprehend what he is thinking. She wants to know what he is thinking and what does he really feel about her. Haruna complains out loud about what if her ex-boyfriend is as handsome as Masaya and if Mitsuki sees them together, what would Mitsuki’s reaction be. Masaya laughs and says that he’ll [Mitsuki] sense danger because he [Masaya] is really handsome. Haruna sweatedrops and thinks that she is envious of Masaya who is very self-confident and optimistic. Haruna suddenly realizes something about making Mitsuki sense danger that she shouts, “Sempai!” Masaya tells her that he won’t do it for free. Haruna says that she hasn’t said anything yet. Masaya says that he can guess what it is. Haruna exclaims for him to please help her. Masaya asks how she is going to repay him. Haruna says that he’ll introduce some cute girls from her school to him. Masaya says that he doesn’t need girls. Haruna gloomily asks what Masaya wants. Masaya asks, “Weren’t you working part-time together with Yukito?” He looks at her and mentally asks, “You know what I mean, right?” Haruna darkly thinks, ah, could it be..that is.. She tells him, “I..I’ll help you put your younger brother into an awkward situation..(I’m sorry, Yukito..)” Masaya smiles and says that she answered correctly. After they bid goodbye, Haruna walks away while wondering why Masaya acts childish when he obviously is fond of his younger brother. She didn’t notice Mitsuki has seen her.

On the cultural festival day, everyone is busy and some girls look at the cafe schedule. Haruna wanted to dress up as a maid, too but she is an executive committee member [so they might be giving her something else to wear when she’s free]. She glances at Mitsuki and wonder if he will be jealous. Masaya will be coming in the afternoon. She started feeling nervous and denies that she is feeling guilty about all of this. Her friends started to talk about who they invited for the cultural festival. A friend asks if Haruna invited her ex-boyfriend. Haruna says no, but the one before that. Her friend asks if it is alright and won’t it be awkward. Haruna says no because they are now ordinary friends. She exclaims how handsome that guy is and she becomes embarrassed when her friends wanted to see a picture. Haruna is deliberately creating noise that so that Mitsuki would overhear them. She freezes when Mitsuki turns around and approaches her. She exclaims what’s with him when he corners her on the wall. Haruna nervously asks that shouldn’t he be changing his clothes since it will start soon. Mitsuki asks her what she is thinking and does she have some kind of plan. Haruna is shock that she is discovered yet she denies it. He just smiles and says, forget it. He leans to her and bites her ear then leaves. Haruna blushes and nervously wonders if he is angry and if her ‘ex-boyfriend plot’ has been exposed. She refuses to believe it. Outside, a guy informs Haruna and Keigo, who turns out to be her kouhai about their breaks from 14-16 o’clock as committee members and what kind of activities there are per floor. Haruna is relieved that she is doing this because she cannot face Mitsuki right now. While walking together, Keigo asks what her class is doing. She says a cosplay cafe. Keigo says that means Mitsuki will also cosplay and he is quite popular with the girls. Haruna says that Mitsuki is cold-hearted so they won’t like him. Keigo says that he doesn’t think so. He then asks if she invited Yukito and Kotori. Haruna says that she did. Keigo asks her to please take a lot of picture of Kotori using her cellphone for him. Haruna asks why and he should just ask Kotori about it. Keigo says that he can’t because Yukito is also there. Haruna tells him that if he takes a lot of awkward [looking frustrated/depressed] pictures of Yukito then, they can exchange. While Keigo wonders what kind of pictures those are, Haruna gets an email from her friend about Mitsuki’s cosplay from butler to samurai. Haruna wonders why it is mostly sexy [from half face to chest] pictures. There is also a picture of Mitsuki changing clothes. It made Haruna really curious as to what the cafe is all about but she still has work to do. Meanwhile at the cafe, Mitsuki thanks Haruna’s friend for taking the pictures he asked her and sent them to Haruna.

Haruna arrives early to check out the cafe. Haruna peeks in to see Mitsuki acting as a Shinsengumi who threatens the couple of female customers if they cannot decide what to order then he’ll decide for them. The female customers agree to his proposition. Haruna looks shocked over this [how he can act mean yet the girls are happy?]. Her classmate says that Haruna hasn’t eaten lunch yet so she can order what she wants. Looking at the menu, Haruna says that she wants takoyaki. Her friend apologizes that it is sold out so she has to come back for it later on. Mitsuki overhears this. They were interrupted when they hear some girls screaming because Masaya has arrived. After looking over at Mitsuki who’s back is turned away, Haruna calls out to ‘sempai’..ah no..‘Masaya’.. Masaya says that it is quite lively there. He gives her some food because she said that she is in the committee and she probably hasn’t eaten yet. Haruna happily thanks him. While he unwrapping the hotdog bun, Masaya says that he’s going to feed her. Haruna asks, “Here?” Masaya reminds her of the need to do this in front of her boyfriend to make him think that she is getting along with her ex-boyfriend. Haruna says that he is right. While Masaya shoves the hotdog in her mouth, he says that he is specially doing this for her dirty trick so she should just happily eat it. Having a hard time eating it, Haruna thinks why she is always surrounded by S[adist] guys. [Lol] Just then, Yukito, Kotori and Keigo arrive. Yukito is surprised to see his brother there. The feeding stops midway. Haruna has totally forgotten that she invited Yukito and others. Kotori is really interested in the cosplay cafe that Haruna’s class is doing. [Kotori loves cosplay] Haruna is shock when her friends call out to her and ask her to introduce them to her ex-boyfriend. Yukito goes into shock of disbelief about the impossibility of his brother dating Haruna before. Keigo says that Haruna’s ex-boyfriend is Kazuki so this is very strange. Haruna holds the two guys’ shoulder and says, “How about coming to play with onee-san?” As she takes the two away, Kotori just stands there. Mitsuki comes out to look at them then looks at Kotori who is blushing at him.

After bringing them to some secluded place, the two guys complain why she brought them there. Haruna darkly tells them to shut up and they shouldn’t be too talkative in front of Mitsuki. “If he learns that Kaji-sempai isn’t my ex-boyfriend, you two ought to know what will happen afterwards..right?” Yukito and Keigo freaks out in fright. As Haruna walks away, the two guys are still shaking. They are holding some food which I think is a bribe for them to shut up. Keigo mutters that Haruna is really scary and could it be that she threatened Mitsuki to go steady with her. Yukito mutters his wonder as to what’s up with Haruna and her brother. They were surprised when it seems that Mitsuki has overheard them as he says that it seems very interesting. Haruna goes back to class. To her surprise, she is given a fake wig topknot/ chonmage as her costume. She was given some lame alibi that it is the last one props and it can help the atmosphere rather than as something to be laughed at. Haruna puts it on and wonders if this is some sort of punishment. Keigo gives her a thumbs-up and says that she really looks manly and cool, totally incomparable to other people. Haruna tells him to try looking at her eyes while saying that and if this is revenge for what happened earlier. With his back towards her, Keigo says that this is just a teeny-tiny rebellion. He starts running away while shouting that he doesn’t want to be killed by a Shinsengumi. Haruna is puzzled. Yukito goes to Kotori and apologizes for leaving her. Yukito finds Kotori enchanted by Mitsuki as vice-captain of Shinsengumi [as Hijitaka? Fitting for Mitsuki’s personality]. Yukito ends up covering her eyes and tells her not to look at Mitsuki anymore since he is a monster who enchants pure girls. Haruna’s friend calls out to her and tells her that there is trouble for Mitsuki went to confront Masaya. She urges Haruna to quickly go look at that empty room and it seems that the mood is really nerve-wracking. To her friends’ puzzlement, Haruna looks utterly happy because she wanted Mitsuki to be jealous. Happily skipping to the room, she mentally thinks of telling them not to fight because of her. She slams open the door and shouts, “The two of you stop!” Her eyes widen upon seeing Mitsuki ‘attacking’ [forcing himself on] Masaya who is holding on the curtains. The two guys look at him. Haruna wonders what’s with this scene. Friends and others peek in as they wonder what happened. They all freak out as they thought, “Ex..ex-boyfriend..he isn’t Haruna’s ex-boyfriend, rather he is Mitsuki’s ex-boyfriend?! Is it like that..is it that kind of relationship? No way?!” Haruna falls on her knees and bows down as the wig falls on the floor.

Later on, in a classroom, Haruna looks down to the bonfire outside. She thinks that Mitsuki didn’t deny it nor look at her eyes. She wonders if this is the reason why it didn’t matter to him about the aborted H and treated it as if nothing happened. Is that the reason why he would only tease her? She sadly thinks that Mitsuki actually likes guys. She couldn’t stand herself because even if she can accept the truth, she kept thinking of all sorts of things. She mutters out loud that Mitsuki definitely just pretend to go steady with her in order to cover up the truth. She is surprised when Mitsuki hugs her from behind and asks her what she is talking about. He asks her what she is trying to ‘feel out/probe’. “Are you probing what I’m thinking?” Haruna confesses that she wants to know if he truly likes her because after the failed H, he acted as if nothing happened and based on his actions, it seems that he had easily given up. The more she doesn’t know what Mitsuki is thinking, the more she becomes uneasy. Haruna exclaims that it doesn’t matter anymore, because now, she knows all about it. “It’s not important anymore. It’s alright. I will support you, support you and that guy.” Mitsuki starts laughing out loud. Haruna is totally shock that he can actually laugh like that. She is puzzled when Mitsuki says that she was fooled. He asks her if he is the type of guy who would like another guy. Haruna exclaims if he tricked her. Mitsuki asks if that sempai of hers can become a traitor if he is given a better condition. [Let me guess, to captivate Kotori and make Yukito flustered =P] A chibi Masaya says, of course. She asks why but he kisses her and says of course, it is because she is ‘probing’ him. He says that at that time [during almost H], she is nervous and afraid. “In such a situation even if we continue it, do you think that I will feel happy [about it]?” Haruna blushes and hugs him. She says that she really doesn’t understand him. She realizes that he values her feelings. He tells her that if she doesn’t understand then he has a simple way of making it easier for her to understand. He then goes for her neck then they start kissing. Then, he whispers to her, “That’s right..you still haven’t eaten lunch, right? How about eating this?” He shows her the plastic bag he is carrying. Haruna is still aroused that she asks, wh.what? What he brought is takoyaki. She asks how he knew. He takes one and tries to feed it to her. Haruna is having a hard time again since he is making her swallow it [ball] whole. ^^; She is surprised when he kisses her again. She blushes a bit when he sticks his tongue out and says that it tastes like takoyaki. Narration: “In the end, it is still like this. I’m very frustrated, but, I like him.” Last scene: Keigo and Yukito are darkly muttering about the danger of leaving Kotori behind alone with Mitsuki while Kotori is still mesmerized by Mitsuki.

I like how the author merged the two lead characters of Real Kiss to Bokutachi wa Shitte Shimatta. I’m hoping that Mitsuki will also make an appearance in BwSS because I find it interesting if there is a couple set of generation in it. Haruna and others are from the ‘cool’ and S older type generation =P while Kotori and others are from the cute and innocent type of generation. Of course, Kotori and others would still be the main focus. Anyway, this is a funny one-shot story of how Haruna’s plan has backfired on her. She is right though, the guys around her are S..hehe, if not, they are guys whom she can easily intimidate. =P Scans by xiuxiu/咻咻 for BW.

Quote of the day:
Kissing is like drinking salted water: you drink and your thirst increases ~ Chinese Proverb

Hyakunen Renbo [Chapter 3]
Tuesday, March 9, 2010

[Special thanks to yuu_Chan for sharing the scans and seiryou for translating this to Chinese. Also, thanks to di, Alyzzahp, Isa, rutis, Jane, Joycee Lemoon, SBlossoms, Bubu, and Me for the names in this series ^^ Hehe, I decided to make it look more ‘English’ by changing the ‘k’ to ‘c’. I’ll write this as chapter 3 instead of part 3..even if there is no ‘chapter’ written on it. ^^; On a side note, manga dump has started. Yay! ^^]

Eva is looking out the window. Narration: “For a hundred years, I’ve always been alone that I thought that it will also be like this for rest of my life. But--” Young Louis came in holding a small bunch of flowers. He smiles and says, “Eva, quickly go see. It’s already spring outside.” Narration: “Because you showed that smile to me, I started to want to try living in the world that has you [in it].” End Flashback. The scene is now at the palace. After cornering her, Louis is flirting with a maid. The maid tells him to please not do that because she is currently working. While holding her hair, Louis tells her not to mind that but why is she trying to escape. Angry and flustered, maid Eva clenches her fist and shouts, “-Didn’t I just say that I’m currently working!!” *slap* Narration: “It has been a month already since the new king of Fernest Kingdom is installed. All sorts of uneasiness and expectations intertwine and intensify.” With a slap mark on his face, Louis blankly says that he heard that she came so he specially came to see her. “After seeing you dress up like that..the only explanation that I can think of is that that you wanted to play some forbidden master and maid love [game]..!” On the background is what Louis imaging - as the master, he is flirting with maid Eva. Eva angrily shouts that she never entertained that thought. Narration: “I’m Eva, the witch and Louis, this country’s king and the fifth prince, have a so-called lover relationship.” Looking serious, Louis asks, “Setting that joke aside, why are you working as a maid?” A bit flustered, Eva stutters as she explains that she thought that this way, she can somehow blend in with the others a bit and she plan to try to do something [make people accept her] that is within her ability. Louis brightly smiles. He pats her head and says that is a very good idea. Narration: “A so-called witch is a race of people who have black hair and a long life span. Because of having such a type of hair and having intensive knowledge of medicinal plants, a witch is loathed by [ordinary] people.”

Gilbert who is standing by the door interrupts them by saying, “—oh, that outfit really suits you.” Eva angrily thinks that it is Gilbert. Gilbert says that he is going to use the room so they should go out. Eva angrily shouts that even if he didn’t say it, she’ll leave. “Right, Louis!” Louis and Gilbert just pass by each other without a greeting. Narration: “Gilbert is the first born prince but thanks to his arrogant and cold-hearted personality, Louis who is well-loved by the people had snatched the throne from him.” Eva calls out to Louis that they should quickly go. Louis says yes. They pass by a uniformed man who called out to Gilbert. Narration: “But” The uniformed man glares at Eva. After looking out the window, Gilbert looks at the side and calls out to Eva, “Hey, woman! If you are going to clean, you should also polish Louis’s chair because one day, I’m going to sit there.” Narration: “Until now, this guy still covets for the throne.” Outside, Louis just laughs as Eva angrily says that Gilbert infuriates her. “Speaking of infuriating guy, there is another one-- Who is that guy who is with Gilbert?” Louis tells her that is Ian, Gilbert’s trusted aide who is quite qualified despite his young age. “Although he is from an orphanage, his swordsmanship is quite good that brother had noticed him.” Louis is quiet when Eva laments that she doesn’t like the guy because he looks at her with hostility. “..ah, but that is quite normal.” Eva is surprised when Louis said that perhaps that hostility is towards him because all those within the castle, are his enemy. He tells her that it is nice to hear that this is what the commoners wanted but for the people who are loyal to Gilbert, he is a thorn in one’s flesh. “Generally..even if it obviously my castle but staying here makes me feel uncomfortable.” Eva thinks that this is the first time she heard him complain like this. “And, the one who makes his position much worse is--” Eva clenches her fist. She is surprised when Louis smiles at her and says, “-So, having you here makes me really happy.” Holding her hands and bending his head to hers, he continues, “In this castle, because I’m not all alone, I’ll continue on strive hard. Thinking that Eva will protect me, I will dare to courageously confront [any problem]. ..Thank you, thank you, Eva..” Eva is teary eyed as she thinks, “--am I capable of doing something for this kind-hearted king?”

Later on, Eva inhales and exclaims, “I’m willing to do anything! Please let me work with you!” Scene 1: A maid says, no. Scene 2: A young boy says that he’ll be cursed and will turn bald. Scene 3: Chef says that he won’t let her poison them. Scene 4: Then, a door is slammed on her before she can say anything. And, scene 5: Gilbert looks at her. He tosses her a statue and tells her to polish it. It’s the statue of a mermaid [? sexy-almost naked girl]. End scenes. At Louis’ room, while polishing the statue, Eva angrily shouts, “Stupid Gilbert..!!” Louis happily comments that Eva is becoming more and more tenacious. Eva sadly says that she couldn’t create an opportunity to make the people understand a witch. She thinks that if she cannot do this then she will really become a completely useless person. Louis suggests to her that as a witch, she should try using her medical knowledge and how about using/planting some kinds of herbs. Eva gloomily says that she’ll definitely be refused. Winking, Louis says that it will be alright because he knows of a place. Louis shows her to an old greenhouse and tells her that she could use that even if the place is somewhat far from the castle. “It has been abandoned for many years and is totally neglected..what is it? Do you want a different place..” Eva says, “No, this place is fine. It’s like my courtyard when I haven’t met you yet..” Eva smiles and says, “..Hehe, this place is like our secret base.” Louis looks surprised then he smiles and says, “That’s true.” Eva starts planting some plants on the pots and tells Louis that she actually brought some plants that can be grown there. “Rocca and Helina [names of herbs] are must-haves for a witch.” Looking at the plants, Louis says that they are cute. Louis’ smile froze when Eva tells him to be careful because those two are poisonous herbs. While Eva is happily whistling while she works, Louis wonders if it is because of that, all sorts of rumors [about witches] came about. “Witches are truly strange..”

While Eva is watering some plants, Gilbert comes in with Ian. Gilbert says that he heard from a soldier’s report that she is unexpectedly planting in that place. Eva continues with her gardening and says that whatever she does has nothing to do with them. Gilbert asks that she plans to grow some medicinal plants, then later on use them. “..What a waste of time. Relax, I won’t do anything especially since what you are doing is a waste of time. Let’s go, Ian.” Eva is flustered and frustrated over what Gilbert said. Ian exclaims yes. While going out the greenhouse, Ian’s arm hits the side of the door. Eva is puzzled when Ian is holding his right arm as he follows Gilbert. Later on, with two hands together [apology], Louis apologizes to Eva that he wasn’t able to go to the greenhouse today either. Eva says that it cannot be helped since he has work. “Gambatte.” While walking behind a building, Eva thinks that it is regretful since a flower has bloomed and she wanted him to see it. To her shock, she sees Ian walking towards her. She quickly hides then thinks that it is quite rare to see him alone. Ian winces in pain and pulls up his sleeve. His arm is reddish with some circular-type of swirls on it. After seeing it, Eva rushes to him and exclaims for him to let her see his arm. She thinks that it is like the mark of a creeper vine. She tells him that it is a Siccura illness. Ian slaps her hand away and shouts, “Do not touch me, you witch!” This stuns Eva. Pulling his sleeve down, Ian tells her not to tell Gilbert or anyone what she just saw if she values her life. As he walks away, Eva shouts that those marks will continue to grow and like a creeper vine, not only his hand but soon, his whole body will be affected [= lose mobility]. “I heard that you are a very good swordsman. If it’s me, I can cure it--” Gilbert exclaims for her not to such words as if she can be believed because it is something that even doctors couldn’t cure. “And, I don’t plan on accepting any favor from an enemy of His Highness Gilbert.” Eva thinks, “-as expected, you won’t believe me..then forget about it..” Irritated Eva shouts, “..You think I’ll be thinking of that, right! Young Ian!” Everyone is surprised especially Ian as Eva runs after him in full speed. Ian starts running, too as he shouts what’s up with her. Eva shouts, “~~..it’s about that, that thing!” ← keeping it a secret. Louis sees her and calls to her but Eva just passes by him and continues to chase after Ian. Louis just looks puzzled towards their direction. Eva thinks that illness can be cured and honestly, she won’t dare say that totally has no ulterior motive about the possibility that if she cured him then she can gain a few favors from Ian. “I hope that those people who look at Louis that way would somehow decrease a bit..” Then, there are a few scenes of Eva playing ‘hide and seek’ and ‘tag’ with Ian. =P

Later on, Ian goes to Gilbert’s room. Gilbert comments that the last few days, Eva seems to be always chasing after him. “-is that related with your right arm?” Ian looks a bit tense-surprise. After the meeting is over, Louis is walking at the outside corridor. Eva calls out to him which made him smile. His expression froze when Eva asks if he has seen Ian. [Someone’s jealous =P ] Louis says that he hasn’t seen Ian. He leans towards Eva and asks if she is interested in Ian. Eva shouts that he’s an idiot. She sighs and says that if Ian isn’t there then she’ll look for him elsewhere. “I’m going..I’ll find him another [day]..” Before she can leave, Louis holds her hand and sadly asks, “..Eh, do you like me?” Eva shouts, “~~there’s also a limit to joking around! I’m currently very busy!” Louis maintains his smile. He lets go of her hand and says, “..I’m sorry.” Narration: “You just wait, you just wait, Louis..” At the greenhouse, Eva sits down and complains that in the end, she wasn’t able to find Ian today. She is surprised when Ian appears behind her and asks if the plants there are poisonous. She stands up and says that a few days ago, there are but she had slowly took away a few that would make people investigate/become curious of it. “Even if they are poisonous but--” Holding his sword at Eva, Ian asks, “Who do you plan to kill using those plants?” Eva tries to explain but Ian puts his blade at Eva’s throat. “A few days ago, because you kept on recklessly running after me, His Highness Gilbert has noticed my illness. It is because of my swordsmanship that he noticed me and took me here. If I can no longer use a sword then I won’t be able to return his kindness. I’ll be just deemed as useless then discarded away..!” Preparing to stab Eva, Ian shouts, “Before that happens, even if it is just one person, on behalf of His Highness Gilbert, I will annihilate his enemies!” Eva closes her eyes but *ching* Ian’s sword goes flying away. Ian finds himself faced with Louis’ blade on his throat. Louis seriously asks, “..What are you doing here? Do not defile this place.” Louis uses his knee to ‘kick’ on Ian’s stomach. Ian falls on the ground in pain. Louis asks Eva if she is alright. Eva says yes.

Ian kept on cursing in frustration. Eva kneels beside Ian and says, “Ian, the plants here are really poisonous plants but if you combine two of it into one, it is capable of becoming a medicine that can cure your illness. This is something that only a witch can prescribe.” Eva smiles and says, “You are free to believe if it’s true or not but I believe that a ‘dead horse should be treated as a live horse*’ and it isn’t a bad idea, right?” [*it’s an idiom = Try a last resort, to save a hopeless situation.] At the doctors’ place, [why are they wearing modern clothes ^^;] the doctors were looking at Ian and says that after an hour from taking the medicine, the marks had become lightened. “How do you feel?” Ian tries moving his hand. He is surprised when he could. While the doctors are exclaiming in delight over the miracle drug, Eva tells Ian that if he keeps on drinking the medicine every day for around a weak, he should be cured. Ian clenches his fist on the blanket and apologizes to Eva. “..I’m really sorry, You obviously wanted to save me, yet I--” Eva thinks that he should be too anguish [reflect over it] because she also had some ulterior motive. Eva somewhat smiles and says, “It can’t be helped, right? You only wanted to do your utmost best to be of use, right? This kind of feeling, I also can understand.” Ian is surprised to see Gilbert coming in to see him. Gilbert says that Ian has kept his illness a secret from him and in the end, he was taken care of by this woman. Ian apologizes. Gilbert asks if he doesn’t trust him that much. “..Or do you feel that my strength couldn’t be compared to Louis?” Ian exclaims that he never have such a thought. Gilbert says, “Then, you should just watch me till the time I ascend to the throne!” Ian shouts, “Yes!” While walking, Gilbert notices some herbs, a mortar and pestle and other things on the table. While Eva is holding a medicine bottle, Gilbert says without looking at her, “I won’t thank you. This is just [lending] a favor [to be returned next time].” Eva blushes a bit and smiles.

Eva goes out of the room and thinks, “This is enough. By the way, just now, from the start, I haven’t seen Louis around..” “Loui--” Louis appears from behind and hug her while putting his head on her back shoulder which surprises Eva. Louis says, “Do not treat me as if I’m an outsider. Do not leave me. When you are with me, you might also encounter danger, you might get hurt..so..so I couldn’t say out loud for you to stay by my side..” Eva remembers the time when he grabbed her hand yet he let go afterwards. Louis continues, “..but, even if saying it is very submissive..but I’m truly so lonely that I could no longer bear it!” Eva thinks, “That hand then, that reached out to me is so full of feelings that words cannot fully express. That time, it should be okay if I had tightly returned his grasp.” To Louis’ surprise, Eva grabs his collar and pulls her to him. She gives him a kiss. Eva thinks that some things are easier said but in reality, it is the most difficult since one will become submissive, unable to be honest and unable to make things progress smoothly. While she is thinking of all that, Eva tells him, “..you are the person whom I waited for a hundred years. As long as you do not leave me, I’ll always be here.” Blushing, Eva says, “..I also won’t run around anywhere again.” Louis is surprised. Blushing Louis smiles and says, “Then- please stay by my side always.” Narration: “It’s because of love [we do things even if it is difficult].” Later on, in her [/his?] bedroom, Eva then says that she is now taking her leave and she’ll return to her own house. She is thinking that going steady should be moderate [has limits?]. Eva is busy packing her bag. Sitting on the bed, Louis says that it is already late so it’s good for her to just stay there [for the night]. Eva tells him, “It’s alright, Ian said that he’ll bring me home.” A chibi Ian is saying, “Please let me be the one responsible in bringing you home.” Louis smiles [the fake-jealous type of smile]. Then to Eva’s surprise, he pulls her into the bed. Leaning to her, Louis tells her, “..Nope, as expected, I won’t let you go home. You just said that you’ll always stay beside me, right?” Eva blushes and shouts, “Let me go, you idiot-!!” Narration:”..is this because of love?”

This chapter now focuses on how Eva can change an enemy’s perception of her. It is nice to see that Eva is becoming more proactive. Louis is right in focusing on Eva’s talents in trying to change people’s misconceptions of her. I find it hilarious the way she is chasing after Ian. I was thinking that Louis shouldn’t feel so ‘abandoned’ since he has been putting Eva at the side because of work but then, I guess he lost confidence upon seeing Eva chasing after another guy for some unknown reason and treats him like a nuisance. His insecurity and her reassurance make it believable to me that aside from their ‘different race’ issue, it is an older woman-younger man relationship. So now, they gained an ally and a favor from Gilbert. I think that will be very useful later on. As for Gilbert, I somehow have a feeling that he likes Eva especially since he seems to be teasing her a lot. I think Louis should be careful of Gilbert more than Ian. Gilbert doesn’t seem to be the kind of person who’ll do devious plots to gain the throne again because he could have easily tell everyone that Eva is planting poisonous herbs. Well, if he is into fair play then it is much better for Louis and Eva. Also, I think it would easier to remove this misconception about witches particularly Eva if they just let everyone know that it is thanks to Eva that both princes are now alive and healthy. Haha, I’m once again blaming their parents for not letting the people know and keeping it a secret that they asked the help of a witch. =P If everyone knew, then Ian would know that it is thanks to Eva that Gilbert is saved from an illness when he is young. Oh well, if that happened then there will be no story =P And, since the one she saved still treats her like that, making others accept won’t be that easy either. I wonder if Eva isn’t staying in the castle yet is because they want everyone to accept her as a ‘friendly witch’ and Louis as ‘the king’ before they can be together with a peace of mind. Haha, the kiss made me wonder if this is really a short series or a long one since most Lala series don’t have a kiss after many, many chapters. Actually, when I saw Eva playing maid, it reminded me of Kaichou wa Maid-sama. ^^; The lovey-dovey at the end reminds me of Faster than a Kiss. It is always a nice touch to end a chapter with a lovey-dovey scene. ^^

Quote of the day:
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. ~ Leo Buscaglia

Free Talk: About Blog and WJ summaries
Monday, March 8, 2010

And, another month has passed..sigh, I’m only halfway through the poll based to-do summaries. ^^; I’m archiving even if manga dump hasn’t begin and it’s all because of Hyakunen Renbo. It’s 50 pages so I might as well keep it up on the main page for a longer time. =P As for The One, I’m beginning to lose hope that there is a chapter this month because there is still no sight of it around BW. After Hyakunen Renbo, I’ll write about Real Kiss. It is a crossover of Real Kiss [one-shot series] and Bokutachi wa Shitte Shimatta. If you recall Haruna, the sempai in the fastfood chain, she turns out to be the lead of Real Kiss. I did find it odd that she is named while the other crew members are not when she doesn’t seem to have a significant role in the series. I think this might be important later on so I might as well write about it. In Cheese!, this crossover comes together with BwSS 33. It seems to be a part 2 like the other Cheese! series. Anyway, the first chapter of Real Kiss is already English scanlated so you might want to check it out. ^^

I find Bleach [c. 394] somewhat boring. Well, it is just Yamamoto doing some martial arts moves on Wonderweiss since he can’t use his flames. I think Yamamoto can win this one and well, lose in the next battle. Naruto [c. 485] goes to show why Naruto will be the next great hokage. He is different from the others because he is doing what is right while the others are just going to the easy way out which is to kill Sasuke. I really hope that Naruto royally beats up Sasuke who seems to have become overly confident now after all the victories he had. I’m somewhat hoping for something like that fight between Naruto and Neji. That is the only solution that I can think of since he doesn’t want to kill Sasuke nor let Sasuke do what he is planning. So, Whitebeard died standing in One Piece [c. 576]. Hm..it seems familiar though..died standing. Well, Whitebeard is really such an amazing guy and I guess the reason why he could have had One Piece yet didn’t get it is because he prioritize having a family more than anything else. In the end, I think all of this would have been prevented if only Whitebeard listened to Shanks about not sending Ace to punish Blackbeard. [Edit: whitelite mentioned that Ace went on his own..so well, ah..it's still partially Whitebeard's fault for letting Ace go? But then, this series is more on no regrets so..somehow they did die happy/proud] Also, I think the purpose of this arc is to trim down the enemies. The marines are now in disarray and Whitebeard is out of the way. I think in the finale, it will be Luffy vs Blackbeard.

Quote of the day:
That old law about 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.