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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/tv shows I watched and the PS2 games I played. 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:
Kuroshitsuji picture is taken from Skyfire. Quote is by William E Gladstone. Edited in Photoshop CS2. The background is from GRSites. Gin-san of Gintama is a screecap from piyopiyo2006 in Youtube, and Pleinair by Takehito Harada is from JumpC. Kimi ni Todoke pic is scanned by bluemiko. 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 from a scan by Amyangel19910323, colored by me.

Final Fantasy 12

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Past Dreams:
2008

01/20/03 - 02/20/03

Blog by pitas

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Manga pics from
Sky-fire, Iieye, & Billwang.

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

Kimi ni Todoke [Chapter 18]
Thursday, November 13, 2008 @ 08:07 p.m.

Sawako’s free day usually starts with feeding the birds. Then, she goes jogging while picking up litter. She goes home then takes a bath. If it is an ordinary day, she would clean and eat breakfast but today, October 21st, Sunday is different because Ayane and Chizuru are coming to her house. The door bell rings. Sawako’s father goes to answer the door and is shock to see fierce-looking Chizuru. Chizuru asks if Sawako is home. Sawako’s father thinks that she is a delinquent. Chizuru starts laughing that Sawako looks like her father. Ayane hits Chizuru’s head and says that she is being rude. Ayane reminds her to greet first. Sawako’s father nervously thinks that Ayane is polite but she seems like a ganguro. He asks if they are Sawako’s friends. Ayane shows off her multi-pierced ear with earrings and introduces herself. This freaks out Sawko’s father. Sawako comes out and apologizes for not answering the door because she has been busy making a cake. Chizuru shouts a handmade cake. Ayane then shows her some cakes that they have bought. Sawako becomes nervous for not thinking of this but they told her that they like handmade better. Sawako then introduces her parents to them. Sawako mentions that her friends always took care of her. This embarrasses her friends a bit. The girls head up as Sawako’s mother tells them that she is going to make some coffee [their preference] for them. Sawako’s father is still worried but Sawako’s mother says it will be fine.

In her room, they are surprised that it is neat and tidy. Sawako tells them that it is because it is her room and she doesn’t want others to be inconvenience by it. Chizuru exclaims about the pictures she has on the table. They look at them and it is filled with Chizuru and Ayane with Sawako ‘stalking’ behind them like some ghost. Sawako is embarrassed that she just got pictures of only both of her friends. Ayane gives her a gift, their photos together during the karaoke. Sawako is moved to tears that she doesn’t look like a ghost anymore in the pictures. Ayane urges her to continue looking at the other pictures. She sees a picture of Shouta sitting next to sleeping Sawako at the stairs. Her friends tell her that it is a stolen shot. Sawako is more worried about giving Shouta trouble because she is leaning on his shoulder. Ayane tells her that there is another picture. It is a picture of shock Shouta when he realizes they took his picture. Sawako is really happy about the picture. She thanks them. To Sawako and Chizuru’s shock, Ayane suggests that if she is really happy with such pictures, then she should just confess to him. Sawako asks confess to whom. Ayane tells confess your love to Shouta. Sawako looks surprised as she imagined it. Then, she asks why she has to confess. Ayane says but of course, so that they can go steady. Sawako says that it is impossible. Ayane wonders why, since it is not impossible. Blushing, Sawako says that the current situation is enough for her. Chizuru laughs and says that if Sawako wasn’t able to do that then, Shouta might be stolen by some other person. Sawako gloomily says that she can’t cheer them to do their best nor wish them luck. Chizuru nervously apologizes for that. She says that even if one likes the other, it is not definite that they will go steady. Ayane feels sorry for Shouta. Sawako shows them some cds of ghost stories she made. She asks if they want to listen to them. Ayane wants to hear them but Chizuru looks scared.

Near the bridge overlooking the river, Shouta calls out to Ryu. Ryu looks really happy when he sees Maru/Pedro. Shouta exclaims that Maru looks really happy and Ryu really likes animals. Shouta’s phone starts ringing. Shouta notices that it is Pin. He didn’t answer it. He then realizes that Pin has called 14 times. His phone starts ringing again. Ryu tells him that it will be quite troublesome if he doesn’t answer it. Shouta decided to call him up. Pin shouts at him as to what’s up with him. Shouta says there’s nothing up with him. Pin begs him to bring Sawako to him. Shouta thinks that Pin is sick since he is coughing. Pin tells him that he met Sawako at the video store last night. Flashback: Sawako asked him if he is doing some research. He is standing behind the adult section. He quickly hid the porn videos behind his back. He told her that he is. He noticed that she is holding some horror movies. Sawako smiled and asked if it’s about adult films. This freaked Pin out as he thought that Sawako has seen through him. Sawako assumed that he is renting some society and documentary films since the shelves beside him are those types of videos. She looked at him and told him to wash his hands and gargle with salt water. Before leaving, she told him to be careful. Pin is freaking about why Sawako is telling him to do those things. It turned out that Sawako thinks that Pin is going to get sick because he sounded a bit bad. He totally forgot about her advice as he just drank wine and watched the videos. End flashback. Shouta realizes that Pin has been watching some porn videos. Pin asks this favor of Shouta again before hanging up. Ryu asks Shouta what’s the matter. Shouta says that Pin sounds weak and he wants to see Sawako. Ryu tells him that Chizuru has gone to Sawako’s house. Looking at Maru, Shouta wonders out loud if Sawako would want to see Maru. Ryu just slightly smiles at Shouta.

In the living room, Sawako’s father is still overly worried about Sawako. Sawako’s mother isn’t listening as she tells him that Sawako’s friends bought 5 pieces of cake so that means two of the cakes are for them. Chizuru brings down the cups and plates that they have used. Sawako’s mother exclaims why she has to do that. Chizuru says that she just escaped from the scary stories. Sawako’s mother tells her to leave them at the sink but Chizuru insists on washing them. She even exclaims that she is good at it. After washing, Chizuru looks at the parents and tells them which parts of their faces that Sawako inherited. She then waves goodbye as she heads back to the room. Her phone starts ringing. This convinces the father that Sawako’s friends are good people. Entering the room, Chizuru tells someone on the phone that they are going. She then gives the phone to Sawako while Shouta is telling Chizuru that even if it’s a bit disgusting but still, this is a favor from Pin. “I’m also worried about him and Maru-chan is here.” Sawako says, “Maru-chan?..Kazehaya-classmate..” This surprises Shouta. He blushes then says, “..Kuronuma?” Chizuru is happy with what she did as Ayane seems to approve. Shouta tells her that Pin is feeling weak and would want to see her. Sawako realizes that Pin’s illness has gotten worse. She agrees to go there quickly. Shouta says, “..Yes. Come. I think Maru-chan also wants to see you.” Sawako smiles and says, “..Yes..!” After hanging up, Ryu asks Shouta if that is okay. Shouta asks what he meant. Ryu says, “Aren’t you going to say, I also want to see you. I thought you are going to say that.” This made Shouta blushes as he exclaims that he won’t say that. Sawako thinks that she is really happy that day and she even get to see Shouta.

In Pin’s apartment, Pin opens the door and says that they came. He quickly goes back to bed and says that he is already finished. They are shock at how dirty and messy the place is. Sawako is carrying some bags. Shouta is surprised when Sawako touches Pin’s forehead to check if he has a fever. Sawako tells Pin that his situation is quite grave. Pin says is that so. The others realize that Pin has a flu. Sawako says that she brought a lot of things. Pin thinks it is for exorcism. Sawako is about to put an ice pack on Pin’s forehead but Shouta grabs it. He slams the ice pack on Pin’s forehead. Sawako then brings out a bento for him to eat even if they are leftovers. Shouta offers to be the one who feeds Pin. Shouta also helps Pin drink some medicine. Shouta wonders why he is doing that for Pin. Sawako happily looks on and thinks that Shouta is quite dependable. [Lol, Shouta just doesn’t want Sawako to be the one taking care of Pin =P ] Pin asks her if the room is okay because he has been hearing some noise. Sawako tells him that it’s okay and he should just rest. She offers to clean the place for him and it is her expertise. Ayane tells Pin that if he can’t sleep, then she will tell him a story. She tells him some ghost story about someone knocking yet when opened, there is no one there. Later on, Pin is sound asleep. Ayane says that even if he was really scared because of the story, he can still sleep soundly. Shouta says maybe it is because of the medicine. They are all helping clean Pin’s apartment. Sawako then sees a picture of young Shouta crying with Pin laughing at him. Blushing, Shouta quickly takes the picture. Sawako apologizes for looking at it as she pleases. Shouta tells her it isn’t because of that but rather because he is crying in that picture. He is crying because they lost the game. Sawako asks if she can look at it again. Shouta says she can’t. They realize that they are too close to each other that they quickly separate. Shouta exclaims isn’t she going to pet Maru-chan. Sawako says that she can’t since Ryu is quite close with Maru-chan now so it’s not good to disturb them. The girls think that it would be better if those two just go steady. Maru-chan is barking at something beside Ayane. Ryu asks what is it.

Later on, Pin wakes up and says that his body feels light. Shouta mentions that it seems the medicine has worked on him. Together with the others, Sawako is petting Maru-chan. Pin exclaims that his room’s atmosphere is different. They all think that it is because they cleaned up the place. To Shouta’s shock, Pin holds Sawako’s hands to thank her. He then asks why the others are there. He tells them to go home and don’t be a hindrance. This made Shouta, Ayane and Chizuru angry. They shout that they won’t come back there again. As they are leaving, Sawako tells Pin to take care. Pin tells her that he wasn’t able to give her anything but if there is something about Shouta and Ryu’s past that she wants to know, she can just ask him. Shouta looks nervous as to what Pin might tell Sawako. Pin then whispers something about Shouta to Sawako. Sawako exclaims if it is true. Pin says that it is and if she wants to thank him, then she should do that. “He will be very happy!” After they all left, Pin feels that his body is so light. Someone then knocks on the door. He wonders if they forgot something. He opens the door and no one is there. He screams out loud. Note says that there is a ghost there. The girls wonder what’s with the scream of a revived person. Chizuru tells Sawako that her cake is delicious. Ayane tells Sawako that they can visit her house again next time because they were interrupted by what happened today. Sawako happily tells them to come. While Shouta is looking at her, Sawako then says that having everyone together for one day, she doesn’t want to leave. She thinks that she wants to be with them longer.

Sawako then bids them goodbye because she is walking the other way. The other girls then tell Shouta to walk Sawako home since it is dark already. This surprises Sawako. She exclaims that she will be careful so that she won’t scare anyone and she doesn’t want to trouble anyone. Shouta tells her that he will walk her home. Sawako tries to protest. Shouta tells her that if she doesn’t want to then she can just say so. Blushing, Sawako says that isn’t so. Ryu wants to go where Shouta is heading but the girls stop him and tells him to go with them. They bid Sawako goodbye and to greet her parents for them. Shouta tells Sawako that they should go. Sawako is thinking that there is no way for her to not agree and she is very, very happy. The two are blushing while they are walking. Sawako thinks that she wants to thank Shouta but she wasn’t able to say it and she can’t even look at his face. She then remembers something. Shouta is surprised when Sawako holds his coat/sleeve. He turns around to see Sawako with her eyes closed. He then leans over to her [most probably to kiss her] but Sawako suddenly opens her eyes. This surprises the two that they quickly part from each other. They are blushing. Sawako exclaims that he surprised her. Shouta exclaims what she was doing a while ago. Sawako tells him that Pin told her that if she wants to thank Shouta, she should just hold him then close her eyes for 5 seconds. Shouta mentally calls Pin an idiot. He looks at Sawako and says, “I won’t care anymore next time! Let me tell you! If you did that again next time, I won’t care anymore!” [That is more like, if she did it again and he kissed her, he won’t be responsible for it.] Sawako is totally clueless over what he meant. She thinks that she heard him say a lot of things. “Together with him..looking at his face..see, it seems that I don’t want to part from him. Will there be a day when I can say this feeling out loud.” Embarrassed, Shouta tells her not to look at his face.

This is such a nice romantic chapter. ^^ It’s a bit different from the usual taking care of the sick romance chapter which most shoujo have. We learn that Sawako doesn’t want to confess yet and well, Shouta is equally shy, too. It’s totally cute when they are clueless about each other’s feelings. I guess it is amusing for the others to watch them. Pin’s trick is quite clever. Shouta must have been embarrassed for falling for that. Hehe It’s quite a ‘high’ for Sawako to have seen many kinds of pictures that day ^^ The parents have seen her friends. I’m a bit curious about her father’s reaction when Sawako introduces Shouta to him. =P

Quote of the day:
Each photograph is a story captured in a single moment ~ M. Lopez

Kaichou wa-Maid-sama! [Chapters 30-31]
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 @ 12:14 p.m.

[Chapter 30:] Misaki, Usui and Hinata are in front of the café. Misaki is pep up to do everything as planned. Three days ago, she told her predicament to the others. Satsuki and Erika decided to help her. The plan: ‘Rather for Hinata to just suddenly go to the café and catches Misaki working there, it would be better if Misaki accompanies Hinata to the café. Then while eating, Misaki will excuse herself as she goes wear her maid costume and a disguise that Satsuki has prepared so that he won’t realize that she is Misaki. Then, they have a picture together.’ Misaki keeps on apologizing for the hassle as Satsuki tells her that she understands her reason why she is keeping it a secret. Honoka wasn’t too happy about this. End flashback. In front of the café, Hinata is whining why Usui has to go with them when it is suppose to be a date. Usui has told Misaki that he will come to help and just came there on his own. Erika comes and gives them the menu. The theme of the café for the day is family day wherein ordinary customers can bring their children to show what happens in a maid café. There are meals made especially for kids, too. Misaki is happy that they picked that day since there are many people around. She thinks that everything will be alright as long as Usui doesn’t say anything. Usui and Hinata are fighting as Hinata complains why Usui is always around Misaki. Misaki slaps the two with imaginary tapes on their mouth. She exclaims to them not to fight there since there are rules [way to behave] there. This reminds Hinata of young Misaki that he happily complies.

This made Misaki angry as to why is he smiling like that. Hinata tells her that he knows about that since this is a workplace. He tells her that he is currently wearing his work clothes since his uniform got wet when he drank a soda which overflowed. Misaki couldn’t believe that Hinata has a part time job. He tells her that he is currently working hard at a gas station. He wants to become a more dependable guy and he hopes that next time, Misaki would go visit [play around] him at his work to show to her that he isn’t the same as before because now he is working. This surprises Misaki. She then tells him that she can’t go there to ‘play around’. Hinata sadly agrees. Misaki says that when he was young, he is very lazy and a hopeless brat because he doesn’t want to study nor exercise. Misaki laments that he also likes to lie. There is a scene of young Misaki asking young Hinata if he is eating which Hinata denied but he is really eating. Usui looked at Hinata darkly as he says so he’s that kind of guy. Hinata nervously says that is in the past and he isn’t lying about what he said earlier [that he’s working]. Misaki smiles and says that he has changed and become a lively person. Hinata tells her that it is all because of her since she used to be everyone’s inspiration. Usui asks embarrassed Misaki if that is true. Misaki tells Hinata not to talk about the past anymore. Misaki also tells him that there are those who think she is annoying like some wife. Hinata laughs and says but most of the guys are just shy because her smile is so cute. Misaki is surprised about this. Hinata said that even some guy named Shin also said so. I’m not sure about this part but I think Usui has gotten jealous that he nudges Misaki then says sorry, don’t mind it. Hinata is puzzled whereas Misaki is blushing. She just tells Hinata to do his best with his work.

Hinata then says that he heard that Misaki also has a part time job. He wants to know what kind of work is it. Misaki is shock for this is the question she is avoiding. She makes up some alibi that it is in some restaurant but he can’t go see her there. Hinata asks why. He says that surely Usui also wants to know or could it be that Usui already knows about it. Misaki is in a pinch. She is somewhat hoping Usui to cover her. Misaki then realizes that she is hoping Usui would lie for her. She quickly stands up. This surprises the boys. Hinata asks if something is wrong. Misaki looks at Usui then says that she is going to the comfort room. Hinata wonders if she had a stomachache. Usui murmurs that Misaki doesn’t want to lie to the other person. Hinata asks what it is. Usui feints as if he is sleeping. Hinata comments that Misaki used to smile more before. Hinata tells Usui about the time when his parents passed away. Flashback: He didn’t know what is happening then. His relatives all came and everyone are crying non-stop. He felt that he is separated from everyone and everyday he is just ‘floating’ through everything. While he is with Misaki at the swing, Hinata told her that his uncle came to his house to tell him to live with them even if there are no convenient stores or supermarkets close by because at least, he won’t be lonely. Hinata told Misaki that he doesn’t feel lonely and he can just do what he wants – eat how much snacks as he want. His uncle arrived and reprimanded him as to what he is saying. His uncle has been looking for him in the house. His uncle told him not to force himself to become strong. Hinata told him that he isn’t. He also told his uncle that he can go back since even if he [Hinata] is alone, he isn’t lonely nor sad. This made Misaki slap Hinata’s face and said, “Do not lie about being lonely or sad!” End flashback.

Hinata tells Usui that slap has opened his eyes and it made him cry painfully as he remembered a lot of things. When his uncle saw him cry, he also cried, too. Hinata says that even if Misaki has forgotten all about that, he still remembers it clearly. There is a scene of Misaki apologizing for hitting Hinata. Hinata says that he only stopped crying when Misaki said that and showed her smiling face to him. “Because she is the girl I like even when I was still young.” In the comfort room, Misaki is disappointed at herself for having to lie just to protect her status as student president. Honoka then enters in. Misaki apologizes and says that she is going. Honoka tells her that she [Honoka] is very confident in working there and working as a maid is her way of survival so no matter what is the reason, what Misaki is doing is an insult for the rest of them. Misaki is stunned by this. Outside, Usui asks if what Hinata said earlier is a fighting/challenge declaration. They were interrupted when Misaki gets her bag and says that she is leaving for a while. Hinata is panicking that Misaki has overheard what they are talking. He cries if she is already going home. Usui is glancing at Hinata. Misaki enters the dressing room. Satsuki asks isn’t she suppose to change after they ate. Misaki didn’t reply as she changed into her maid uniform. Misaki thinks that becoming a ‘demon president’ and working at maid latte is also okay since this is the path that she has chosen. Satsuki then shows her the maid mask that she made and put it on Misaki. Misaki removes it and is about to say something to Satsuki when they are interrupted by a loud cry of a baby.

Satsuki wonders if they have some toy for the child to play with. Misaki looks out to see Hinata carrying the crying baby as he tries to calm the baby down. He talks to it saying that it will be okay else its sister will be quite troubled. Hinata asks the little girl where their mother is. The girl says that their mother went to the comfort room. He continues to talk to the girl as the baby starts to smile. Hinata laughs about this as he says the baby’s smile is very cute. Misaki’s expression softens as she becomes determined. Hinata feels like crying because Usui is also missing. He is surprised when a maid tells him that his food is ready and he should sit down. Hinata exclaims, “Misaki!” Misaki says that indeed she is Misaki. Misaki tells him to just put the baby in the baby carriage and it will be fine. Hinata is blushing as he did as told. While sitting, he asks again if she is Misaki. Misaki gives him a ‘sh’ [secret] sign that made Hinata blush even more. Holding her hand, Hinata asks if she is really Misaki-chan and she is working there. Misaki tells him to lower his voice. Hinata tells her then she should have told him plainly in the first place. He asks her why she lied to him. All dressed up, Usui pulls Misaki to him and says, “Sorry for being rude but do not touch my maid as you please, can you?” Usui shoves a lollipop in Hinata’s mouth and says, “Are you listening?! This is an apology for my rudeness. Is it delicious?” Usui then bumps his head on Hinata. Usui reprimands Misaki for getting too close with the customer. Holding her hand, he walks her inside for some punishment. Misaki looks back at Hinata. Everyone are amused over the little incident and thinks that a maid café is so interesting. Hinata then stands up from the table.

Outside, behind the café, Usui asks her why she did that. Misaki says that she cannot lie to Hinata. Usui comments, “but then, that is more like you.” Misaki apologizes for troubling him and thanks him for his support. Usui says that she is quite cruel. Misaki is puzzled by his comment. Hinata then goes to them. Misaki is surprised that he is there. Hinata says that they came out together so does that mean they work together. Misaki says that he does occasionally. Holding her hands, Hinata blushes and says that it really suits her for she looks really cute. Pulling her hand away from Hinata, Usui darkly says, “I told you just now, if you dare to touch Ayuzawa, next time, I’ll definitely bite you. Remember that.” This surprises Hinata then he angrily looks at Usui. There an image of two dogs looking at each other. Misaki just wonders what’s up with them. And, so another person knows and more stress is going to start. Inside, Honoka laments about Misaki being so intelligent yet can be so clueless at times that she wants to kick her butt. Subaru asks Satsuki what’s up. Satsuki just says that Honoka is also looking after Misaki. [Haha, someone can’t control his jealousy anymore. I guess Hinata’s edge from Usui is that he knows Misaki’s past and what she used to be like. If I were Usui, I would feel out of place as if I’m some outsider. I’m not sure as to which one Usui is referring that Misaki did that makes her cruel to him. Is it because they are talking about their past together or for also revealing to Hinata that she works there. Anyway, it seems that Misaki is clueless over the two boys/’dogs’ fight over her. =P Well, since Misaki is leaning towards Usui, I hope Hinata finds that special person for him, too. He is so adorable and lovable in this chapter ^^]

[Chapter 31:] At home, Usui receives a letter. After reading it, he crumples it. At the train station, Sakura, together with Shizuko, calls out to Misaki that they are there. Misaki apologizes for making them wait. Sakura asks if it is okay, going with him. Embarrassed Misaki says that she can’t shake him off and that he just won’t leave her alone. Usui says that he also wants to go to Yumesaki High’s cultural festival. Misaki groans that he’s noisy. Sakura and Shizuko say that it is fine with them. They then whisper to each other that Usui is so strange since in their own school, he isn’t interested in their own cultural festival. Misaki shouts for Usui to go home. Usui looks at her with doggy [Doberman] sad eyes. Misaki blushes as she is taken aback by this. Sakura then calls out to her and says that she has seen something like that. Sakura points out to a gas station where Hinata is working. Sakura exclaims that Hinata turns out to be quite hardworking. Misaki smiles and says that is right, for he is such a remarkable guy. Hinata then notices them. Hinata happily smiles at them like a dog [Akita just like Hanabi’s dog] wagging his tail. Looking away, Misaki says they should leave. Sakura exclaims if that is okay when obviously he wants her to notice him. Shizuko wonders if there is something wrong with her glasses since she also can see an Akita behind Hinata. As the girls leave, Usui looks at Hinata. Looking displeased, Hinata just slightly tip his cap to Usui. [I don’t know who just curse there, maybe it’s Hinata since he can’t go with them.]

In the train, Misaki asks Sakura if she really wants to see that guy’s concert after how that guy treated Sakura badly. [That’s in chapter 20] Sakura tells her that Kuka has already changed a bit. Shizuko tells Misaki that Kuka got into an accident after having a joyride. From the scene, he has a leg cast. When Sakura visited him, it seems that his character has changed. Misaki and Shizuka do not want to believe this as Sakura insisted that he has changed so she wants Misaki to see it for herself. At Yumesaki High, Misaki is surprised at how grand their cultural festival is. Sakura tells them that it is because the cultural festival there is eagerly anticipated that they prepare it for half a year. A rose got thrown on the floor. Kuka, together with his band, apologizes and says he doesn’t need it anymore. Some fan girls then head towards the band as they wish him luck for the concert and exclaims how cool and handsome they are. Misaki angrily thinks that he hasn’t changed. The fangirls had bumped Sakura that she falls on the ground. Misaki asks if she is alright. Sakura is surprised when Kuka pulls her up. Kuka tells the girls that if they love them, they should be nice girls. He then tells the ‘kittens’ to follow them. The fangirls go crazy and rush towards the band.

Soon, Misaki and Usui got separated from Sakura and Shizuko. Misaki calls up Shizuko to know where they are. Shizuko says they are near the stage and they couldn’t move away there because Sakura doesn’t want to lose that spot where she can watch the band. Shizuko suggests that Misaki and Usui go and have fun. They will meet later on after the concert ended. Misaki couldn’t believe that has happened. She then overhears some girls saying that Kuka has changed for he is more concerned about fans now and very happy if the fans like their songs. Misaki still can’t easily believe that and she is still very worried about Sakura. Usui pats her head and says that it is useless even if she continues to worry about it. He asks her how about they go and have fun elsewhere since it is too crowded there. Misaki agrees. She thinks that she came there because she is worried about Sakura. She knows it is meaningless to just see Kuka and it is also meaningless if she just go home now. She decides to just be with Usui until the concert ends. Misaki complains that it is very crowded there. Usui agrees. Misaki is surprised to see Usui, wearing a mask on his head and a garland around his neck while carrying lots of food, agreeing with her. Misaki shouts what’s up with all that. Usui says that he doesn’t know why but while walking, many people gave him lots of free sample food. I’m not sure if it’s imaginary or not but Usui seems to be creating some flowers behind him to show Misaki.

Some girls saw him ‘that super cool guy’ and start chasing after him. Usui takes shocked Misaki’s hand as they quickly run away. Behind some building, Misaki exclaims if he is doing some magic trick with those flowers. Usui says he isn’t but it is rebellion. Misaki is shock and wonders what he is rebelling about. Usui tells her not to be angry and just eat something. At first, Misaki refuses but in the end, she did takes a bite on the dango [rice ball] stick that Usui offered her. He asks if it is delicious. Blushing, Misaki says that it is sweet. Misaki thinks that it seems that something has changed. I think it is Usui who said that it seems like a date. Misaki is then surprised that Usui has put a cat ears headband on her head. Blushing, Misaki exclaims what he just put on her head. “You pervert alien! Why do you have that extraordinary [different from humans] ability! Not only making those flower bloom but stealthily putting things on my head, try to be more proper.” Usui lets out a laugh. Misaki angrily shouts why he is laughing. Usui apologizes. While blushing a bit, Usui says that both of them are thinking of the same thing. This made Misaki blush that she quickly stands up. Usui asks if she is leaving. Removing the headband, Misaki says that since this is a cultural festival, they shouldn’t just stay in one place. Usui removes his garland and says that she is right. While walking around, Misaki complain about her still red face. They pass by a fortune telling booth. A guy with a crystal ball calls the two of them and says that they cannot continue on like that. Since they pass by, the guy exclaims if they don’t want to hear some more and have a fortune reading. One session costs 100 yen. Misaki declines. Usui is interested and says that they try it out. The man tells them to enter the room inside.

Usui gets Misaki inside as Misaki asks what they will know in this kind of fortunetelling place. Some hooded guys welcome them. The man in the middle exclaims that he is going to look at the crystal ball regarding their future. They start shouting some random magic words. Misaki tells Usui that it is a total waste of time and money. The guy exclaims that he has seen it. “Regarding the future for both of you, there is no future.” The two are stunned. Misaki says, “..Is that so?” The man exclaims, “Both of your personalities are wide apart! Always hurting! Frequently fickle! The two of you are like oil and water! Couldn’t forgive the same kind of person! But, if you continue on being together, then, you will face a huge trial so the two of you should prepared/assume responsibility for it.” They go out of the room. Misaki angrily says that is why she doesn’t want to go in for they just wasted 100 yen for such a thing. Misaki turns around to Usui as she asks who would believe such a fortune. Usui is looking really gloomy. Misaki becomes nervous as she exclaims if he is the type who would easily be wavered by that. Usui says that it is true that their personalities are are..and Misaki treats only him quite coldly. Misaki exclaims that it is because he’s a pervert alien. Usui laments that she also always calls him bad names. Misaki angrily shouts that he’s an idiot! Usui wonders out loud if they really can’t be together. Misaki exclaims, “Just because of this, you already plan to leave my side?!” Misaki blushes over what she said. Usui looks surprised.

Misaki tries to say that isn’t what she meant to say but they were interrupted by some students who exclaim if they have noticed that. They ask if they came to a delicate end after the fortune telling. They exclaim that the two of them are a good match and how about testing it if it’s true. They invited them to a ‘love trial’ as a chance to test it. Misaki tries to explain that they aren’t lovers but they aren’t listening. They tell them the mechanics is simple. They are just going to do some various games/activities and finish them until the end. If they manage to finish all of the activities, they will win a special night entertainment tickets. They would have to hold hands and not let go from start to finish. No matter what kind of trials, the two of them will be together is the theme. They ask the two if they would dare take the challenge. To Misaki’s shock, Usui says that they will join. Usui tells her that he wants to know if they can be together. Misaki looks nervous as she asks if he really believes that fortune telling. The students exclaim that they have decided to join. Usui pays the 500 yen fee. They give him map and a proof of participation. They tell the two that if they are prepared then they can quickly go there.

Later on, the two are in some lockers where they can put their things. Misaki angrily reprimands him for wasting money. Usui just whistles and says that he thinks that it is fun. Misaki angrily shouts that 500 yen is too expensive. Usui says but still, with just 500 yen they can test a lot of things. Usui shows her a necklace with a heart pendant. He tells her that it is the proof of participation and it should be worn where it can be easily seen. Misaki isn’t too happy that she is the one who has to wear it. She removes her bow tie. She blushes when Usui puts the necklace on her. Usui says that it seems that they can take it home. “See, it’s not a total waste!” Misaki is blushing really red. Holding out his hand to her, he says, “All of the things that I’ve done are hateful, right?” Blushing Misaki looked surprised. She looks away then says, “~~Yes. You said it yourself, stupid Usui…” Misaki holds his hand as they enter the love trial. Back at the stage, Shizuko asks Sakura what time does the concert starts. Sakura sheepishly tells her around two hours later. Shizuka angrily tells her then she has two hours to lecture Sakura. Sakura is shock by this.

I think what the fortune tellers hit the bully’s eye regarding Usui that is why he becomes really gloomy after it. It is really bad timing I guess since he also got that letter, probably that night before. Maybe he suddenly becomes uneasy that is why he keeps on following Misaki where she goes the next day. I wonder if Usui is regretting going to that fortune telling. The fortune made him sad but then, getting Misaki to go with him to the love trial is a good thing ^^ I think that school’s cultural festival is really grand. I think they are experts in it already. I mean what if the fortune telling is a trap for lovers to participate in the love trial. It’s quite a clever gimmick. ^^ Hehe, I wonder what kind of love trials they would encounter since they have to always hold hands. I’m also thinking if their reward is a band concert. =P Actually, even without a confession, it is already pretty obvious what Misaki feels for Usui. She even had a slip of the tongue. ^^ It’s nice of Misaki to be worried about Sakura. It is good to have a friend looking out for you when you have fallen hard for some guy that you can’t think clearly if he’s really good for you or not. Kuka has a lot of proving to do in order to win Misaki’s trust again. I feel sorry for Shizuka though for having to wait two long hours even if she isn’t interested in the band. Well from the looks of things, we might have a lot more ‘romantic’ scenes of Misaki and Usui in the next chapter ^^

Quote of the day:
It's essential to tell the truth at all times. This will reduce life's pain. ~ John Bardshaw

Hanayome-sama wa 16 Sai 2nd Season [ Chapters 2-10 (End)]
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 @ 09:40 p.m.

[After seeing the final chapter, I suddenly lost interest in this series. I’m a bit disappointment as to how the author continued the story. It’s quite cliché and repetitive like girl gets in trouble, guy saves her. I’ll just briefly summarize what had happened in the rest of the chapters.]

The second chapter is about the appearance of Tenri, Tamaki’s childhood friend who was taught by her mother in some tea ceremony. Just like Shinga, Tenri is super rich and handsome. He came from abroad in the hope of getting her unfortunately, she’s already taken. Then, some events of jealousy like Tamaki entertaining Tenri once to bring him to her mother’s grave but ended up in the hospital for food poisoning and this made Shinga confront Tenri. In the end, Shinga just takes Tamaki home even as she still likes eating caviar which gave her sick. The third chapter is about Tamaki wanting to get some herb for some congee which she used to eat. She wants Shinga to try it, too. While picking the herb, she clumsily fell down into the water but was saved by Tenri who followed her there. She had asked him where they used to get that herb. Shinga gets jealous that Tamaki wore some skimpy shirt because her clothes get wet especially since Tenri saw her in them. But they made up when Tamaki explained that she did it all because of him. By the way, Tenri thinks that Shinga doesn’t really love Tamaki since she is just payment for her mother’s loan. From chapter 4 to chapter 10 [finale], they are all raws. In chapter 4, Tamaki is pressured to be more lady-like for Shinga because of all the beautiful ladies who surround Shinga. Then, at a party, there is a bit of jealousy but things seem to be okay when Shinga runs after Tamaki. Chapter 5 is missing. In chapter 6, Tamaki goes into a trip with friends. While gathering some firewood and talking to Shinga on the phone, she fell off a cliff just when a typhoon is coming. Shinga comes to the rescue, complete with helicopter. They, including Tamaki’s friends, are all brought to Ohtori hotel at Karuizawa. Then, Shinga made some lovey-dovey with Tamaki in the shower. In chapter 7, Tamaki has failing marks and Tenri makes his move. He brought her to his office probably offers to tutor her. He tries to flirt with Tamaki but it is interrupted by Tamaki’s stomach growl. They later on went to a shrine. Tamaki gets a good luck fortune in love which Tenri burns up with a lighter. He finally confesses to Tamaki that he loves her then tries to ah..rape her? Tamaki is too kind since she hugs him and probably thinking that she also loves him but not in a romantic way. Shinga appears and punch Tenri away.

Hehe, he must have put her phone on GPRS again. =P It’s quite a useful tool. Tamaki leaves with Shinga then they have a bit of fight. Then, Tamaki learns that Tenri is going back abroad. They finally said their goodbyes. At home, Tamaki plans to throw away all of her old things including her mother’s picture just for Shinga but Shinga stops her. Shinga confesses his love to her again and they made up. In chapter 8, since Tamaki manages to improve her grades, Shinga brings her to a trip to Italy. It must be a business trip since later on, she is on her own. She tends to freak out when people talks to her in Italian. She walks around outside then got her bag stolen. She trips while trying to run after the thieves. She realizes that she is lost and doesn’t know the language there. A guy tries to ‘pick’ her up but Shinga saves her. They head to Trevi Fountain where Tamaki makes some wish which is Shinga related. The two then had their formal honeymoon that night. In the last chapter, Tamaki must be telling her friend about what happened and probably missing her period. She begins to suspect that she is pregnant. She tries to hide this from Shinga because she thinks that he doesn’t like children nor have a family. When Shinga tries to make some lovey-dovey, she is hesitant that made Shinga angry. On a Sunday, Tamaki decides to make sure by buying a pregnancy kit. She accidentally drops her bag and reveals its contents. Seeing this, Shinga realizes that she might be pregnant. Because of this, Shinga finally decided that they have a formal wedding ceremony. Dressed in a wedding gown, they are married again with witnesses in a church. The last scenes are Tamaki telling her friend what happened. She quit school and visited her mother’s grave with Shinga. And they live happily ever after.

Haha, if this story continues, it would have been about being pregnant at 16 year old. =P The author decided not to mention about the relatives but then, I wonder if it is in the missing chapter. Anyway, it’s good that the author ended it when she doesn’t have any more ideas to prolong the story. The theme tends to be repetitive or rather episodic every chapter that it can get boring. The second season is an okay read but then, you won’t miss a thing if you just stick with the first part. ^^ Scans by amyangel119910323 for BW.

Quote of the day:
A good marriage is at least 80 percent good luck in finding the right person at the right time. The rest is trust. ~ Nanette Newman

Weekly Jump Update: Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, D. Gray-man, Reborn and PSYREN
Monday, November 10, 2008 @ 02:55 p.m.

After lecturing Omaeda about attacking the enemy from behind when the enemy is distracted and other ways of their division, SoiFon easily defeats Ggio in Bleach [c. 333]. It seems that she isn’t aiming for the wound but rather at Ggio’s internal organs. SoiFon decides not to talk anymore about her technique since she and Omaeda is going to face Barrangan. Meanwhile, Rangiku is having a hard time with the three underlings. Apache, one of the underlings, tell her to get Hitsugaya so that it will be 3 vs 2. Rangiku tries to fight her but Apache seems more powerful then suddenly someone attacks Apache. Rangiku realizes who it is but it isn’t shown to the readers. Hm..I wonder who saved her. I was thinking Gin but then, that doesn’t seem to be his power. It is also doubtful if it’s Shinji and others since it looks like a blast. I’m guessing maybe one of Ichigo’s friends, Keigo =P Haha Since SoiFon and Omaeda are going to fight Barrangan, whom is Yamato going to fight with? Maybe he’s back-up if SoiFon loses. =P

Tsunade senses the many injured through her slugs in Naruto [c. 424]. Elsewhere, Danzo is planning to overthrow Tsunade and make himself hokage. The interrogation team learns from their hostage about a certain building where people bring dead people in. It is rumored to be the place where Pain lives. Shizune and others come in to exchange information with them about Pain. I think a couple of Pain-s are heading their direction. Thinking that he has defeated Kakashi and others, Pain leaves. Chaoji is crying over his father who had protected him. Kakashi tells him to stop crying and tell Tsunade about Pain’s ability. They are interrupted when puppet Pain is still moving. It tries to fire a missile at Chaoji. Chaoji thanks his father then runs off. Kakashi decides to use all of his strength even if he dies for the sake of the village and get that information delivered. Kakashi made the missile disappear before passing out. Pain realizes that Kakashi also used that technique to make the nail disappear a while ago. I’m disappointed at Danzo. I thought he is the type who would be selfless for the village but it turns out that he is just a selfish guy who wants to be hokage. That seems like a convenient excuse for Naruto and Sasuke to team up and finish the ‘common enemy’. As for Kakashi, I wonder if he is really dead. I’m still wondering if Kakashi still have a use in the story. ^^; He seems to have finished teaching what needs to be taught to his students. Haha, I’m actually thinking that most if not all of the grown up characters will be dead by the time this series ends.

Hancock’s sisters apologize to Hancock for failing to defeat Luffy and even got saved by him in One Piece [c. 521]. Hancock decides to test Luffy’s true nature by making him decide if he wants to get off the island safely or change Margaret and others to normal. To their shock, Luffy chose to save them. Later on, Margaret and others leave the arena as their comrades are glad that they are safe. They are shock when Margaret informs them that Luffy went to the castle. Luffy and Hancock’s sisters are waiting outside a small curtained ‘room’. Luffy wonders if they are going to give him some food. Hancock calls out to Luffy and showed him the symbol on her back. She asks him where he has seen it before. Luffy says that it is like his friend, Hachi’s symbol on the forehead but it is more a bit different. Nyon informs Hancock that guy is Luffy from the news who just send a Tenryubito flying. Luffy tells them that he doesn’t know how he got there and he doesn’t regret doing that to the Tenryubito. Hancock could not believe that there is such an idiot still exists. She mentions that he is like a certain someone. Hancock tells everything to Luffy. That symbol on her back is the symbol placed on the slaves of Tenryubito. She and her sisters were once kidnapped by slave traders then sold to the Tenryubito who maltreated them. They were also made to eat devil fruits just for the Tenryubito’s entertainment.

The sisters are all crying in anguish when they remember what happened that Luffy tells them not to force themselves. They including other slaves are saved by Fisher Tiger who wanted to free the fishermen who were captured. Fisher Tiger then formed the ‘Sun Pirates’ and made that symbol into a sun symbol. When he died, the pirates split into many groups. Hachi’s symbol is that of the pirate and he’s not necessarily a slave before. They are able to deceive the others with the use of their powers. They fear that if the others knew they can’t stay there anymore. She exclaims that is why she doesn’t want to be controlled anymore and let her guard down. While she is sobbing, Nyon says that it seems Hancock hasn’t become cold-hearted. They exchange insults. It seems that Nyon was the one who brought the sisters back to the island. Hancock asks Luffy if he looks down on her because she used to be a slave. Luffy says he doesn’t because he also hates those Tenryubito. Luffy wins Hancock’s trust and offers to bring Luffy to any place where he wants. Hehe, Luffy was won their hearts. It’s quite a contrast to the way Hancock wins other people’s hearts. ^^ It helps that they share the same hatred for the Tenryubito. I do wonder how they are going to explain to the others about Luffy = not enemy. I wonder if Kuma sent Luffy in that place for this reason. I hope they get to teach him to use his haki ^^ And, I wonder if he’ll go on a detour to help out Ace.

Allen tries to help Link and others but L4 attacks him in D. Gray-man [c. 178]. Allen is down. Noise and Kanda are shot at by L4. Noise has to sacrifice some fingers that got hit. Kanda’s attack is useless. Noise thinks that even with the three of them, they are no match for L4. Allen hears Timothy crying as the three akuma take him from Link. Ticampi takes Link’s pen microphone to Timothy. Allen tries to assure Timothy that they will save him but Timothy cries they are also going to take him away in some other place. Timothy also cries that he just wants to stay in that place. Timothy remembers the reason why he became phantom G and that is to save the place from closing down. Timothy tries to justify that he isn’t doing anything wrong but Allen tells him otherwise. Timothy then realizes that just like they are destroying his life, he has destroyed the lives of others who got blamed for the crimes of phantom G. Holding a gun, Emilia fires at the akuma-s as she shouts for them to let Timothy go. They are about to attack Emilia even as Timothy tells her to stop it. Emilia keeps on firing. They are surprised when cowboy L2 akuma saved Emilia. So, Timothy can indeed go in akuma’s body. Now, if he can also use the akuma’s power then that will be the resolution to this arc. I think cowboy akuma is the one that can change people into dolls so if he just look at the other akuma for more than 6 seconds, they are all finished including L4. It’s nice that Ticampi is a bit helpful. =P

In Katekyo Hitman Reborn! [c. 217], Genkishi laughs at Tsuna about not forgiving him when Tsuna is about to die. To their surprise, Tsuna has frozen the flames that are used to make the illusion. So, his illusion comrades can no longer strangle him. Because of that, Tsuna has enough time to set-up is X-burner then he fries Genkishi. Unfortunately, Genkishi escaped as he still raving about Byakuran controlling everything. Tsuna protects Spanner before he is burn into a crisp. In the end, Tsuna’s blast has exposed the white round disc that they are looking for. Ya, finally, we won’t be seeing Genkishi for a while. ^^ That guy is really Byakuran’s fanboy. =P I wonder why he looks up to Byakuran so much. Well, they finally found what they are looking for but then, would they focus on that first or finding/saving the others first?

Yoshina is interested in Kagetora’s favor about helping him but he can’t in PSYREN [c. 46] . Later on, Matsuri and Hiryuu came. Since it’s relax day, they just swim. Later on Yoshina goes to Elmore as he plans to tell them about the kids but Nemesis Q came. Elmore feels that Nemesis Q is just a created ‘program’ with a personality by multiple people. Elmore goes out to call Van since Yoshina is in extreme pain because of Nemesis Q suppressing him from talking about the future. Yoshina doesn’t want to be defeated by that as he badmouths Nemesis Q. He then realizes that he is all alone with Nemesis Q is some place. Elsewhere, it turns out that the ones that Kagetora is investigating have an association with WISE. Hehe, being sent do some place like that somewhat reminds me of Chaos;Head. I wonder if Nemesis Q will reveal things only to Yoshina. He does seem really ‘special’ among the other characters. It’s interesting that the ones Kagetora is chasing are actually related to WISE. I wonder if Yoshina will help him later on.

Quote of the day:
The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him your friend. ~ Abraham Lincoln

Skip Beat! [Chapters 131]
Saturday, November 8, 2008 @ 04:01 p.m.

Kyouko is putting together pieces of paper of her name. Makino and friend ask what is she doing. Kyouko explains to them that her name tag on the door was torn into pieces. Makino quickly denies that it is her. She becomes embarrassed when Kyouko smiles and tells her that she knows. Makino’s friend wonders who could have done it. Kyouko hypothesizes that maybe it’s someone who just wants to take out their stress on someone else regardless of who that person is. Kyouko says that they even left the evidence so maybe that person wants to scare the victim. Kyouko looks quite happy about it that the two girls think that Natsu is also like that since the reason why she bullies is because it’s fun. Kyouko throws away the paper then asks the two if they want to go for eat something on the way home. Kyouko tells them that she wants to eat at a stand-while-eating ramen store on a cold January night. She happily asks them if they want to try it out to know what kind of feeling one has when one does that. Makino’s friend doesn’t want to since they are actresses and not some old office worker. To her shock, Makino agrees to go with Kyouko. She then asks if they should find the one who tore the name sign. Kyouko said that there’s no need since she doesn’t know who it is and it is useless to continuously worry about it. The girls left to change. Kyouko remembers what she said about it is useless to continuously worry if they don’t know who it is. After a pause, she laughs at this.

Yoshimoto, Chiori’s manager reminds Chiori about her schedule the next day then assures her that everything will turn out okay at the drama shoot. Yoshimoto thinks that Chiori will get the director’s approval because Chiori now looks mature. Chiori has changed her hairstyle. After she left, she goes into dark mode and thinks that her manager is useless because looking mature isn’t really what the director want but then, she is clueless what the director wants. She decided to focus on keep on deliberately failing from achieving the look that the director wanted so that everyone would soon get tired since there is no progress. In the end, she hopes that everyone would direct their ire at the one who made caused this problem -> Kyouko. She seems to be showing her dark side to her mother. Elsewhere, Kyouko and her ‘new’ friends are freezing outside then happily eat a hot bowlful of ramen at a stall. The next day, Chiori takes Kyouko’s name sign from the door. She finds a note from Natsu saying “Incentive Grade 5 Points. <- they are really friendship points. Next time do something different and more mischievous. I’m eagerly waiting! The target is 100 points. Natsu.” This made Chiori quickly put back the sign and look around if someone is there. Chiori begins to wonder if Kyouko has realized that it was her since Kyouko wrote ‘friendship points’ but Chiori dismisses that thought because she haven’t shown her resentment openly towards Kyouko. Chiori assumes that Kyouko is thinking that it is those two other girls again.

At the set, the director looks depressed. Makino and friend wonder is wrong this time since they like how Chiori looks now. The director tells Chiori that he didn’t meant to make her change her appearance since he still wants ‘Yumika’ [Chiori’s role] to look cute. That is why the director chose her to do the role. Chiori apologizes about it. Yoshimoto is stressed by this. Chiori also admitted not thinking about the acting since she only changed her appearance. The assistant says that they have a problem since Chiori has another job at 2pm. Chiori is quite pleased about this until she learns that Kyouko is also leaving as well. The assistant says that they had finished redoing the scenes where Yumika isn’t present so it’s okay if Yumika changed her appearance but they can’t do much today if two important characters are missing. Chiori asks them if Kyouko is shooting for Dark Moon again. To her shock, she learns that Kyouko has another regular work. The director decides that they shoot what they can. He calls out to Kotani, the make-up/hairdo artist to fix Chiori’s hair to make it somewhat cute. He suggests pulling the hair up. This shocks Chiori that she quickly disagrees out loud. She exclaims that she will do whatever hairstyle including her old one as long as her hair isn’t pulled up. Everyone is surprised by her outburst. The director agrees that maybe it doesn’t look that nice. Makino and friend mention to Kyouko about Chiori not wanting others to see it. They tell her that they learn about it from Kotani.

While Bridge Rock are walking and pushing a cart, Hikaru [short guy] are practicing with the other two hosts about a drama that has made Masahiko known as a sexy actor. The two exclaim that it’s “Scarlet Dice”. They are very pressured by the producers to know things about their guests especially if they are popular. Hikaru then mentions about a trivia about the drama. Kyouko is sitting on the cart. She interrupts their conversation and says that she wants to go down and walk by herself. It seems that ‘Natsu’ has left her so she begins to feel her muscle pain and blisters on her feet that she can’t walk. Since she can’t quite walk, Bridge Rock had offered to put her on the cart and ‘walk’ with her. She won’t tell them the reason though since she is embarrassed. Hikaru tells them about a fire accident that has happened in ‘Scarlet Dice’. Part of the set has fallen on a girl but she decided to keep on acting until the end even if Masahiko and all of the others are quite worried. They all agree that girl is quite strong especially since she is just 6 years old when that happened. Kyouko thinks the girl is quite professional. Hikaru tells them that the girl has a burn scar behind her neck because of the accident. Kyouko is surprised since Makino also told her that Chiori has a scar behind her neck.

So, if Chiori is the same as the girl that Hikaru mentioned, then, she just reminds me of that spoiled ‘pop singer’ who doesn’t want to become dark because of the sun. In Chiori’s case, she has become dark and hides it with a fake personality. I wonder if it is because of the drama that she wasn’t able to get any good roles anymore. Since she is quite professional at such a young age, I think she is really mature compared to others that is why she easily ‘badmouths’ others from behind as stupid and useless. If she only uses that talent and perseverance on improving her acting rather than thinking of tactics to destroy Kyouko. Well, I guess that is why Chiori has a manager. She is a child actress so she has been in showbiz for a long time already. Obviously, things have back-fired at Chiori once again. She was hoping that she’ll leave and make the others angry at Kyouko. She didn’t expect that Kyouko is leaving early, too. So much for her plan =P I also think Chiori is no match for Kyouko in ‘darkness’. I’m thinking that Chiori thinks that Kyouko is just one of those girls. Hehe, she doesn’t how dark Kyouko can really be. =P I think Kyouko knows that her bully is Chiori since who else than Chiori who needs to relieve her stress and obviously, Kyouko knows that she is causing that stress. Anyway, since Kyouko knows about her past, I guess Kyouko can understand her more now. Hopefully, make her a friend just like how she did with Makino and others. I have a sudden thought. ‘Professionalism at a young age’ and ‘being dark yet hiding it’ reminds me of Ren. I wonder if Chiori’s story/past will later on connect to Ren’s. I’m guessing that the next arc will be about Ren since that BJ shooting will happen soon.

Word of the day:
Returning good for good is commendable; returning good for evil is Christlike. ~ Our Daily Bread

Hana to Akuma [Chapter 18]
Friday, November 7, 2008 @ 09:57 p.m.

Holding a pair of scissors and some cut flowers, Tony is wearing a paper bag on his head. Tony says, “Good morning. This is really such a refreshing day!” Removing the paper bag, Tony says, “Ah, sorry, if it’s like that you won’t know who I am. It’s me! Huh..even I removed this you still don’t know? Let me show you some scenes so that you can recall me. What, you still can’t recall! [Some wrong pronunciations of Tony] It’s me, Tony! How could you be mistaken about my name? It’s so easy to remember!” With a paper bag again in his head, Tony says that he is wearing it so that his face won’t accidentally touch the flowers. Tony says, “Once again, good morning! This time, let Tony accompany everybody. You ask why? That is because today is my 200th birthday!! Although young master Vivi had a grand celebration on his birthday but I’m just a middle class akuma so this is how it is. But since this is my 200th birthday, let me be the leading role while young master Vivi is still asleep!” Flashback: Narration: “The family where I was born is a family who had long been serving young master Vivi’s family. The name ‘Tony’ is from my family’s long ago..ah, there’s no need? Really? My family is composed, ah, apparently, there’s no need for that, too. Then, I’ll start when I was around 10 years old when I started working as young master Vivi’s servant.” Someone introduced Tony who is the same age as Vivi to Vivi. Tony greeted him. Vivi is lying on the sofa with chocolates scattered on the floor. Vivi darkly said, “..what. It’s another brat.” Tony looks aghast as he thought that Vivi is so dark and as if something really black is coming out of this ‘young master Vivi’. “His former servants won’t even last longer than a month.”

Vivi said, “What, who is the stupid person who brought this kid here.” Tony thought, “Aren’t you a kid, too?” Vivi sat up and exclaimed, “Then, Tony, help me tie my shoe!” Tony went to tie Vivi’s shoe. Then, Vivi kicked him in the face. Vivi lay down on the sofa again and said, “Forget it, I still want to sleep.” Tony holds his face where Vivi kicked him. Narration: “From the very start, young master Vivi is young master Vivi. Now that I think about it, if at that time, I just reply ‘yes yes’ then continue on letting him hit me then around two weeks time, it would have been best that I would just run away. But, I’m too sentimental.” Tony grabs Vivi’s collar then said, “Young master Vivi! If you want to rest then go to your room! Do not just reckless lie here, it’s very unsightly!” Narration: “As a family member of a family which always served young master Vivi’s family, I was trained from the very start on strict etiquette.” Vivi looks surprised at Tony. Tony let Vivi’s collar go and said, “No..that, I said too much.” Vivi said, “Never before has anyone dare do that to me..” Narration: “But when I realized it, it was already too late.” Vivi stood up and stepped on Tony’s head. Vivi darkly said, “For you to do that to me! You’re really daring! Very well, I accept your challenge.” Tony shouted, “I..I’m not challenging you!” Narration: “And that is how my hellish life began. No..forget it. I’m also half way deliberately being bad.” Scene 1: While eating, Tony told Vivi not to be picky with food and he should eat a balance diet. Vivi angrily shoved the carrot and ham into tied up Tony’s mouth. Scene 2: Vivi is still reading in bed. Tony shouted that if he doesn’t sleep early, he can’t wake up early tomorrow. Vivi tied him up and hanged him out the balcony. Vivi shouted for him to sleep there.

Narration: “There’s no need for me to hide this but generally, it’s all blood related. From the very start, my grandpa is the butler of young master Vivi’s family.” While having tea, Vivi said, “..what, you are that old guy’s grandson?” Holding a pitcher, Tony said that is true. Vivi said, “No wonder, being annoying and everything is totally the same.” Tony said, “I admire him very much! Grandpa is my goal! I also want to become like him who is a very capable butler.” Vivi said, “Having two people like you here, how can one endure that.” Tony then reprimanded Vivi that it is bad manners for him to cross his leg. Vivi is crossing his leg so that he can read his book. Vivi sadly says that only the two of them can lecture him like that. “It really puts me in a bad mood.” Narration: “Young master Vivi’s family is one of the direct descendants of the akuma king to the point that one can possibly become king. Although, even if he is still young, Vivi is one of those candidates to be king since the people around him would already bow low to him. This attitude towards still young, young master Vivi is pretty much a huge pressure.” Tony went to Vivi’s room and thought that young master Vivi will be late in coming home since he went to suppress the West. [Maybe there is a rebellion or something there] “But I still have to prepare his bath.” Tony noticed the balcony window open that Tony exclaimed, “Young master Vivi, you have arrived? I’m very sor..” He sees bloodied Vivi carrying an akuma hand. Vivi looked tired. Vivi said, “No, I have just returned.” Tony freaked out and asked what’s with all the blood. Vivi said that it must have been sprayed on him. [when he cut of the hand?] He gave Tony the hand and said that it’s a gift for him. Tony freaked out and shouted what it is. Vivi said, “It’s a low class akuma’s hand or maybe foot, I don’t know..” Tony shouted that he doesn’t want it. Removing Vivi’s cape, Tony asked if he won since he came home early. Vivi said of course and he even received a title.

Tony exclaimed that’s great. He asked if Vivi is the youngest to have attained it. Vivi said it seems. Vivi asked if Tony is happy. Tony happily said, “But of course! One’s master’s reputation is also one’s glory..” Vivi said, “I’m not one bit happy. I have no interest in this whatsoever..” This surprises Tony then he looks sad. Vivi said, “I’m tired. I’m going to sleep.” Tony holds his collar from behind. Vivi said, “What..let me sleep.” Tony exclaims, “No! You should bath first to remove that blood stains before you can go sleep.” Vivi said, “I don’t want to. I want to sleep.” Tony shouted, “I’ll help you bath!” Tony stripped off Vivi’s clothes and dragged him naked into the bathroom. While Tony is showering Vivi, Vivi grumpily complained, “Geez, you really make me furious.” Tony just smiled at him and thought, “If we really made him furious, then it would have been better for him to just fire me and grandpa but after 110 years, young master Vivi never did it.” Narration: “Later on..” Older Tony exclaimed, “What?! We’re going to the human world?!” Vivi told him that he is very bored. Tony shouted that he doesn’t want to go but he doesn’t have any choice since Vivi just tied him up and taped his mouth before flying off with him to the human world. Narration: “And that is how I was taken to live in the human world.” Above ground, Vivi showed him the castle where they would live. Tony tells Vivi that things grow on the soil. Holding some wild flowers, Tony exclaimed, “Young master Vivi, look at these flowers! They are so beautiful!” Vivi isn’t paying attention because he is already looking ill because it’s too bright for him that he is already thinking about going back. Narration: “From akuma world, we called up some servants and that is how we started to live above ground.” Tony is checking the servants – maids and menservants – on a checklist. They already have those who can cook, laundry and clean. Tony told Vivi that they are missing the most important one, a butler. Vivi said, “But of course, that’s you.” Tony is surprised by this as he exclaimed how he could be the butler. Vivi smiled and said, “What are you saying..Didn’t you say that your grandpa is your ‘goal’? Could it be that you are joking? How about showing it to me?” Tony is still shock and said how could Vivi say that so unexpectedly. Still smiling, Vivi said, “Okay, I’ll leave my house under your care. Having you is enough for me so don’t you refuse.” Tony is still surprised yet he didn’t refuse. End flashback.

Narration: “On the second year, we picked up a marvelous thing. I think that young master Vivi has changed. Until now, I have gotten used to living quite relaxed here. Afterwards, I and Vivi became 200 years old.” Still picking some flowers, Tony says, “Ah..I didn’t realize that I have been reminiscing of the past for too long. Ah? What? Compared to things about me, you are more interested in Vivi’s? But..a quiet and peaceful morning of one’s birthday is also not bad..” He hears a “Ah!” from behind that he looks behind. It is shock Hana. Removing the paper bag from his face, he greets Hana a good morning. Hana greets him back and asks if it is his birthday today. Smiling, Tony says that is true and he is now 200 years old just like Vivi. Hana blushes when she hears this and tells Tony that they should have a celebration. Tony tells her that there is no need for that. Hana says, “No! Tony made a lot of delicious things for Hana-chan’s birthday! This should be told to everyone including Felten and Elenore..ah, I’ll go wake up Vivi!” Tony tells Hana that there is no need to get Vivi since his birthday is unimportant. Hana exclaims for him to wait as she quickly leaves. Tony just sheepishly smiles. Looking up the sky, he says that it is really such a nice day. “Young master Vivi, even if I’m like this, I’m also very thankful that you didn’t fire me even if I’m annoying. You even made me your butler and accompanied me to this beautiful world, full of flowers--” A maid calls Tony and leads him to where the others are waiting who greet him. There are poppers with confetti and wine. Tony is surprised by it. At first, Vivi isn’t smiling then he smiled. It is a forced smile as Vivi pokes his cane on Tony’s forehead and says, “It’s too bright! Stop joking around, you..” Tony apologizes that he was born on that day.

Felten leads the toast for Tony’s 200th birthday. Tony thanks them. After the toast, Tony is eating. Hana calls out to him and gives him some flowers that Tony taught her to grow. Tony is in tears as he exclaims Hana’s name. Felten says that it’s nice. Tony thanks Hana for the gorgeous flowers. Hana then kisses Tony on the cheek and greets him a happy birthday. Vivi becomes gloomy and angry. [Hehe, that’s a huge angry vein pop =P] Tony is really happy about it. Felten is laughing. Vivi is not happy. Someone then calls Hana so she left the table. Vivi stands up and angrily pokes Tony’s head. Vivi says, “Do not be too arrogant!” Tony cries and exclaims that he isn’t. Felten tells Vivi that is enough. Felten then says, “..Vivi, you, could it be that you have not received Hana’s kiss?” Tony is shock. Vivi looks more gloomy and angry. He starts poking his cane on Felten. Felten laughs and says that is why Vivi is so angry when he got his second kiss. [Hehe, I actually recall only one kiss when Hana is pretending to be his lover ^^;] There is a small scene of Hana kissing sleeping Vivi during their first outdoor tea party. The author writes, “The truth is there is one kiss but nobody knows about it!” Tony blushes as he thinks that he got a kiss from Hana ahead of Vivi. Looking really happy, Tony feels more superior to Vivi. Vivi angrily looks at him. Later on, Hana asks what’s wrong with Vivi who is looking very displeased. “Is it too bright? You want to sleep?” Vivi grumpily replies, “..No.” Felten says, “Hana-chan, Vivi is just angry about the marvelous gift that you gave Tony.” Vivi tells Felten to shut up. Hana exclaims, “Ha? Really? Vivi also wants one? Then, I’ll give you one!” Vivi looks surprised then angry when Hana gives him some flowers that she grew. “Here, flowers that Hana planted!” Vivi angrily thinks, “Wrong, idiot!!” Felten is laughing his head off. Narration: “And that’s how it is. Although a little bit of a drag but this ‘Hana and Tony’ has ended. I’m living happily above ground..generally.” The last scene is Tony tied up and hanged upside down on a tree.

Hehe, Vivi wants a kiss, too. =P Poor Tony..so much for a good start of his birthday. =P Well, goes to show that there are good times and bad times. I really do commend him for sticking it with Vivi all those years. After all the abuse and everything, he finally attained his goal and even more. ^^ From this flashback chapter, we learn a bit about Vivi, too. It seems that the titles are given through achievements rather than inherited. No wonder the akuma king knows Vivi, they are blood related. Hehe, Vivi is such a book worm and loner ever since he was a kid aside from being gloomy and everything. I guess that is why he doesn’t want to be king. With everyone pressuring him to do things that he isn’t interested in like slaying low class akuma, no wonder he would go to some place that the other akuma-s won’t go. There, he is all alone with servants of course. =P Ironically though, he is actually ‘perfect’ to be the king because of his accomplishments. Also, I’m actually amused that Hana also invited Ayame to the party. When Tony mentioned about the readers being more interested in Vivi’s past and stuff about him, I am indeed and that includes how he met Ayame.

Quote of the day:
Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. ~ Harriet Tubman

The One [Chapter 53]
Thursday, November 6, 2008 @ 06:35 p.m.

In the article, it says that Angus is ‘forcibly carrying’ a female model at the street. “Taiwan born model Lele is Angus’ latest prey! The two of them are currently working together for ZAC’s new advertisement and publicity.” An Bai tells Angus that it must have been taken by a bystander and gave it to a reporter. “Obviously, they have mistaken him for you. The biggest problem is the headline..” An Bai laments that all of her effort last year to change Angus’ ‘sex fiend’ reputation is wasted. “It is all destroyed by this new gossip! It’s hard to say but this might also conveniently get you fired from that Zac commercial! But..” An Bai is surprised when she realizes that Angus is no longer there. At Eros’ house, Eros is smoking while looking at the rose Lele gave him. He put it in a bottle of water. Looking aghast, Eros thinks, “What does she mean by ‘bring happiness’ flower..? It’s really preposterous! I should have thrown that flower into the waste basket! In the end, I couldn’t just like those girls who received a flower..” Thinking hard, Eros thinks, “Could it be..because of that vulnerable smile?” He remembers Lele smiling and telling him that she knew that he will definitely come because he can’t just leave her. Eros thinks, “That girl apparently believes that I could never hurt her nor abandon her! It’s like a puppy who recognizes its master, that 100% trust...how troublesome..if this continues--”

His thoughts are interrupted by a doorbell. Eros thinks that it is very early in the morning so who could it be. When he opens the door, Angus quickly hugs him and greets him a good morning. Aghast, Eros pushes him away and asks if he is drunk so early in the morning. Angus hugs him again and says that he only drunk a little bit. Eros asks isn’t he currently shooting an advertisement for ZAC. Angus says that the shooting hasn’t formally started yet. “Marshall is a type of photographer who has many procedures/preparations!” Eros looks serious as he pulls away Angus from him. He asks if Angus is talking about Marshall whom Angus wanted to work with before. Smiling, Angus says that is right. Hugging Eros again, Angus says, “It seems that he knew about you ‘switching’ for me! How come you didn’t tell me?” There is a scene of Angus smashing the mirror and using a shard to slit his wrist. Eros hugs him and says, “Because I don’t want you to remember that time again!” Angus says, “Don’t worry! I won’t be like that again.. Marshall said that you are the most charismatic model he ever taken picture of!” Angus pulls Eros away then smiles at him. Angus says, “No wonder because you are my twin brother! No matter what, you can excel in it!” Eros asks if he minds. Angus says he doesn’t. The two then sit at the sofa as Angus put his head on Eros’ shoulder. Angus says, “I will never be jealous of you! Wanting to work with Marshall, it’s simply because I really admire his talent! I want to know how I would appear in his camera lens. He said that he likes photographing a model’s ‘true character’! I wanted to see how much of my true..”

Angus notices the rose on the table. Then, he remembers that Lele is holding it in the picture. Angus’ mood then changed. He asks, “Didn’t you hate flowers so that you don’t put any fresh flowers in your house?” Eros then says, “Huh? Oh, you’re talking about that! That is..” Eros thinks, “Ah, how should I say it? I’m also puzzled by it..” Eros just says that someone gave it to him so..[he wasn’t able to throw it away]. While Eros still thinking of a way to explain it, Angus looks at him then stands up. He starts looking around [more like investigating] Eros’ house. Then he notices a flower-designed robe on the sofa. Holding the robe, Angus asks, “...has Feidna lately stayed overnight here?” Eros says, “You know that I don’t let anyone spend the night here!” [The side comment is too small but I think Eros won’t even let Angus stay overnight there either.] Angus says, “I know! So whenever I come here, I don’t see anything that belongs to a girl that is left behind.” Eros who still didn’t notice what Angus has found, asks, “Why are you asking this all of a sudden?” Still holding the gown, Angus asks, “Since when do you wear a girl’s night robe? I didn’t know you have this ‘inclination’?” Eros is shock when he realizes what Angus meant.

After feeling aghast and speechless, Eros says, “That night robe is Lele’s. She forgot to bring it with her! She came to see me.. ‘to have a little chat about something’ and it’s raining outside..she is totally wet, so I got her to change clothes before going back..Okay! I’m going out to work now! If you are not going to do anything then you can just stay here! After work, we can eat together..” To his shock, Angus grabs him then gives him a lips-to-lips kiss. [I’m not sure if Eros is shock by Angus forcibly kissing him or there is some tongue work going on there ^^;;] Angus then hugs him tight. Angus exclaims, “You are mine--! No one can take you away--!” Eros is shock and aghast. He then slaps Angus hard and shouts, “Idiot! You’re drunk so you should quickly go to sleep!” Eros quickly goes out of the house and slams the door. Angus touches his face as he looks displeased at the door. Outside, Eros touches his lips and looks nervous as he remembers what Angus said about being his and not letting anyone take him away. With a blank ‘in a daze’ look, Angus thinks, “In this world, only I..can be forever by your side--!” Elsewhere, Marshall is looking at the window as the snow falls. Marshall comments to his assistant[?] that this year’s snow is quite early. His assistant agrees and says that he hopes that it doesn’t affect the progress of the photo shoot. Marshall says, “No! This gives me a lot of inspiration! A freezing world..suits the feeling that person [Angus] gave me!”

So, that picture of Lele and Eros opened a can of worms. It’s like Angus’ Pandora box. =P An Bai might be worrying about his reputation but it seems that there are other things to worry about. First, I’m worried about Lele. Being described as ‘gives one a icy feel and having a blank look’, Angus seems like some dangerous person. I think Eros has somewhat sensed it, too after what Angus said and this doesn’t seem fun and games anymore like how Angus being so ‘clingy’ to Eros before. I think for Angus, Lele is a real threat. Before it seems that there is something between them but seeing a rose that Eros kept even if he doesn’t like flowers and a night gown left after a ‘chat’, he feels that Eros is slipping away from him hence he has to declare his possession of him. I will be amazed if Angus can still work with Lele in his current mentality. A lot of possibilities can happen with this and I have a feeling that Eros might be staying away from Lele for some time. It could be because Angus’ possessiveness and he would want to protect her. I somewhat think it’s a premonition when Eros mentioned about Lele believing that he will never hurt nor abandon her. What if he did? Actually, I don’t know if the author would go ‘soap opera’ on us in this one. Haha, the way Angus is acting, I actually thought before that Feidna will be the one doing that. =P Oh ya, Eros’ cluelessness about keeping the rose is quite amusing. Ah, if Eros goes out tonight with Angus then there will be no date for Lele that night. I guess Eros’ being ‘loved’ by some many people can be either a blessing or a curse =P Well, maybe the author will surprise us again as to how she will move the story’s direction. It’s a short wait for the next chapter will be out on November 20th. Scans by yukiru

Quote of the day:
Selfishness is the making a man's self his own centre, the beginning and end of all he doeth. ~ John Owen

Random Blahs: The One [Chapter 53] Teaser
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 @ 09:04 p.m.

I just got to get this out of my system. What the-- The author really surprised me there. The chapter is like Angus X Eros. @_@;; Twincest?! ^^; Angus is so messed up. Lele doesn’t need to worry about Feidna, she needs to worry about Angus. Here’s what happened. While An Bai is worrying about the article, she notices that Angus is gone. Eros is still thinking about Lele and the rose she gave him – why he didn’t throw it away. =P He is interrupted when Angus came. Angus quickly hugs him and keeps on hugging him even if Eros pushes him away. He tells Eros about Marshall. He asks why Eros didn’t tell him that Marshall knew that they switched. There is a scene of Angus trying to commit suicide. Eros tells him that he just doesn’t want Angus to remember that time. Angus then says that he isn’t jealous of his brother after Marshall said that Eros is the most charismatic model he has taken picture of. Angus notices the rose on a bottle and remembers Lele holding a rose in the picture. He asks about it but Eros just says that someone gave it to him. Looking around, Angus notices Lele’s robe on the sofa. Eros tells him that Lele was wet from the rain when they had a little chat. Eros tries to excuse himself since he got work to do. To his shock, Angus gives him a deep kiss on the mouth then hugs him. Angus says, “You are mine--! I won’t let anyone take you away!” Eros slaps Angus away and shouts that he should go sleep since he's drunk. Eros leaves and begins to look nervous about what Angus said. Sitting on the sofa, Angus has that empty look on his face. The last scene is Marshall’s assistant saying that it is snowing. Marshall doesn’t mind it. He says that icy cold feeling is the same as what Angus made him feel. Wow, talk about possessiveness. The story takes a dark turn and I guess the author is going to explore the famous models who tend to feel empty and hm..mentally unstable[?] ^^; Scan by yukiru

Faster than A Kiss [Chapter 17]
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 @ 05:31 p.m.

Narration: “Second term exams have just ended. Even if we are a bit in turmoil, but this has something to do with the exams.” Holding Fumino down, Kazuma is looking sad as he says, “Hey, Fumino, do you hate me?” Blushing and looks as if she’s in a pinch, Fumino says, “Of..of course I like you.” Crying, Kazuma says, “Then, why of all the subjects, you have to take a make-up exam for English?” Note says that Kazuma is her English teacher. Fumino shouts, “So I said, I’m sorry!!” Teppei is blushing at them. Dressed in a maid uniform as an apology, Fumino weeps and thinks that she did her best to study during the time when she is working and studying for Kazuma’s birthday. The one she didn’t concentrate on is English. After working so hard, that is the result – two low grades in English. It’s 20 and 18 while her other grades are 67, 50, 61. [I don’t know if that’s failing or not but obviously, it’s not. In our country and in my time, below 75 is fail.] Kazuma and Teppei are already eating. Kazuma says, “Don’t mind it too much, Fumino. We can’t help it if you are not good in it but at least, your ranking has moved up..” Fumino angrily hits him with her maid hairband and shouts, “Don’t spoil me!” She goes to the desk and shouts, “From now on, until the make-up exam, I will be studying English!!” Putting the hairband on Teppei, Kazuma goes into S [sadist] mode. He says, “How about we speak English at home? Please eat KATSUDON before it gets cold.” [I’ll be using italics for words that are used in English in the chapter and Katsudon is fried breaded pork chop on top of rice] This freaks out Fumino that she grabs Kazuma’s collar. Kazuma laughs and says he is just kidding. Fumino continues to study and thinks, “No matter what, I should be an expert on the subject that my husband teaches!”

At school, Fumino is being gloomy since after a whole night of study, she yields to English. She says, “Why am I not an American?” Her friends freak out and try to help her. Kazuma sees this and smiles. In the library, Fumino groans as she thinks that she can’t be an expert in something that she isn’t an expert in. She complains, “This English thing..why isn’t it Japanese..” Someone calls out to her that she is embarrassed that someone has heard her. A notebook is put on her desk. She looks up to see that it is Kazuma who makes a sign to be quiet. She looks at the notebook and notices that Kazuma wrote something inside. Kazuma wrote that learning English would be more fun if she uses English to ask him something. “I will use English to answer you.” Fumino blushes and thinks that this is like an exchange diary. She becomes excited. Narration: “In my first year, I spend most of my time fighting so in other people’s eyes, I’m a ‘bad student’. Right now, I have change and it is all thanks to sensei.” Fumino and others smell something. Some girls complain that the boys are always smoking behind the library. They do not want to complain to the teacher else the boys will get back at them. To their shock, Fumino splashes some water from a pail on the boys. Fumino’s sense of justice [what is right] is quite high so she can’t help it. The boys are angrily screaming at her but Fumino goes back to her seat and wonders what she should ask Kazuma. She is really excited.

At home, Fumino gives the notebook back to Kazuma who is reading a book with Teppei. Kazuma reads the notebook. Fumino wrote, “What like food?” To Fumino’s shock and embarrassment, Kazuma laughs out loud. Fumino shouts that she already knows that her English is bad. She hugs Teppei for comfort. Still laughing, Kazuma apologizes for laughing and says that he understands what she wants to say so he will properly answer it. He calls her back to teach her that it should be What kind of food do you like best?. Fumino feels frustrated for she wants to become a grown up soon. The next day, before they leave for school, Kazuma gives her back the notebook and tells her that his reply is inside. Kazuma then leaves for school. After he left, Fumino quickly opens the notebook. Kazuma wrote, “I like ‘beef curry’ very much! I want you to cook it for me someday.” Fumino wonders what he wrote. She thinks that ‘you’ means something about her. She has to hurry to school else she’ll be late. In the library, she looks up the words in a dictionary. She blushes really red when she realizes what it means. She can’t believe that she can communicate with Kazuma in English. While reading and walking at the hallway, Fumino just passes by the two angry boys whom she threw water on yesterday. She has decided not to get into fights and do what she can in order to quickly chase up to Kazuma. “I want to be quickly at his side.” While teaching in the classroom, Kazuma puts a note on Fumino’s table.”

While walking down the stairs, Fumino reads a book and wonders what she should ask Kazuma – what’s his favorite season or that other question. She looks up to see a pail of water being thrown down her direction. In the English subject room, Shoma gives Kazuma the schoolwork that his class has finished. Kazuma thanks him then notices that Shoma is looking at his shirt. Kazuma happily tells him that he is indeed wearing the shirt he gave him on his birthday. This embarrasses Shoma that he quickly says that it is just a cheap gift. When he opens the door, he is surprised when Fumino is running away in full speed while being chased by the two guys who shout for her to wait. Fumino shouts, “You already threw water on me, so we’re even! Let me go!!” One of the guys shout, “Stop joking! I want to at least hit you!!” Kazuma looks out the door and laughs, “Haha, what is Kaiji up to..” Shoma quickly grabs Kazuma’s sleeve and shouts, “Brother, you don’t need to go! This is high school! You don’t have an obligation to do this, right? She should deal with her own mess and you don’t have to be the one to fix it! You shouldn’t even if you have a special relationship [with her]! She should be responsible for her own failures--” Pointing to his bag, Kazuma smiles and says, “Shoma, you have your PE uniform right? Let me borrow it ♥” Holding the bag, Kazuma tells him that he doesn’t overanalyze [make things complicated]. Because it’s fun so there’s no other way but to do that.” The two boys are panting as they say that Fumino has finally chased after her. Fumino is standing in the hallway and behind her are windows. To their shock and embarrassment, Fumino tells them, “I stopped on my own. Idi--ot! If you’re not smoking then you won’t be gasping for air, right?” She angrily asks, “If I let you hit me then you won’t be angry anymore right? Then quickly hit me for I still have a make-up exam to study for. I’m really busy!”

The boy is really thrilled that he gets to hit her as he prepares to punch/slap her. Fumino thinks that she really wants to punch them but she can’t so she must endure this. “Even if my cheek becomes swollen, I can still be a student--” The boy hit her but someone pulls her up that she evades it. They are shock that it is someone with a paper bag on his head and wearing PE uniform. The boys scream who is that person as paper bag man quickly runs off with Fumino. He is barefooted =P In the stockroom, Fumino asks, “What are you doing!” Kazuma takes off the paper bag and sticks out his tongue. He says, “Am I exposed?” Fumino angrily shouts, “Trying to be cute is useless!! Sensei, you shouldn’t have anything to do with me in school! Weren’t there rumors at school before?!” Kazuma makes a ‘quiet’ sign and says “I’ve already disguised so it’s no problem.” Fumino says, “That isn’t the problem.” She thinks that she has troubled him again. Slightly poking her head, he asks, “Did I make you perplex again? But I’m very happy.” Kazuma has put the PE coat on wet Fumino. Fumino looks up and asks, “Very happy?” Kazuma whistles and says, “Because I’m a ‘teacher’. No matter what, you still want to become a student here, even if you are not interested in enduring not to fight and studying English with all your might, right?” Hugging blushing Fumino, Kazuma says, “And also..this is a ‘husband’s view. It’s enough for us to be together in school. No matter what troublesome or happy things that happen, in everything, I hope that we can be together in experiencing them. So, there is no need to restrain myself from something. Even after today.”

He kisses her on her eye as she says, “But..the notebook is wet..I’m sorry.” She is blushing since they are too close to each other. Kazuma says, “Then, let’s have a listening exercise then you’ll answer the questions later on.” Whispering to her ear, he says, “ I’m crazy about you. You look yummy… Can I bite you a bit?” He then bites her neck to make a hickey. Fumino thinks that in the end, she still cannot handle this warm feeling yet she hopes it doesn’t stop. Blushing, Fumino angrily exclaims that he is quite disappointing that he even bit her neck and they are in school. Kazuma says, “Thank you for your cooperation. What you heard just now, translate that into English and use English to write your reaction to it. Then, submit it to me.” Fumino exclaims, “How could I remember that!” Kazuma says, “Then, let me repeat it.” Fumino shouts, “No!” The next scene is Kazuma and Fumino returning late at night. Since Fumino is dripping wet and run all over the place, Lao [PE teacher] made Fumino and Kazuma clean up the mess. The two boys are then punished by Lao. Fumino says that they have troubled Ryuu again for making him take care of Teppei. Fumino then notices a short haired beautiful girl, holding a luggage, at their door. She wonders if it’s a guest. To her shock, the girl rushes to Kazuma and hugs her. The girl exclaims in English, “I missed you! Kazuma!!” While looking at Kazuma, Fumino thinks, “Who?!” The girl keeps on making lovey-dovey sounds while clinging on Kazuma who can’t seem to explain to Fumino. Teppei blushes while Ryuu flashes a V-sign. Narration: “A bishoujo [beautiful girl] unexpectedly appears. What’s her relation to with Ma-kun? Worry and uneasy, this will be continued in the next issue.”

Aw..such a sweet chapter. Hehe, even if Kazuma is a sadist, he is also such a romantic guy. =P I actually guessed that Kazuma will be saying some romantic things in English at the end. Haha, it’s a bit unfair that Fumino doesn’t understand what he said. Those guys are just so low that they would even strike a girl. Fumino should be commended by what she did. Now, who is the new girl? His sister? Someone in BW said that she is his fiancée. Well, that shouldn’t be something to worry about since Fumino is married but then, their marriage is a secret. To complicate things, if she is the fiancée, Fumino will be comparing herself to that girl..she has a sexier body and a grown up. If she is the fiancée, I guess I can relate as to why Kazuma run away from his home since everything is controlled down to the wife he has to marry. Anyway, I can’t shrug off the feeling that the father send this girl to Kazuma. He must be thinking, sending Shoma is a failure, so let’s send someone else to cause trouble. Haha, I’m actually guessing that she’s someone from his delinquent days. Well, it’s obvious that Kazuma has a lot of explaining to do =P Scans by Akpk for BW

Quote of the day:
Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things. ~ Flora Lewis

Zenbu Chodai [Chapter 5]
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 @ 10:47 p.m.

While riding on a train, a couple of guys try to flirt with Himeko but Himeko tells them to first kneel down to her before they talk with her. The two boys are turned on by what she said. Himeko does her usual introduction of being queen and everyone kneels down to her except for a certain Oozora Ren whom she really wants to kneel down to her and he is the guy she likes. She thinks that with Ren, it feels refreshing. [Not boring] It is the school’s cultural festival and their class is going to do a café activity. Fanboys scream that Himeko looks beautiful. Himeko smiles and says, “Of course!” Standing from behind, Ren tells them that it is about to start. Fanboys scream that Ren looks great. They ask Himeko what’s her opinion. Himeko just says that he looks okay. Ren goes to her and says, “To have been praised, it’s an honor, Queen-sama.” This made Himeko blush. She exclaims that she isn’t praising him and don’t think too highly of himself. Looking at her, Ren says that he thinks she’s cute. Himeko exclaims, “But of course!” She blushes and thinks that she is already used to people telling her that she’s cute but when Ren said it, she feels really happy. “If I heard him say, ‘I like you’, what will I feel then?”

Himeko starts to get the orders of some guys. Her fanboys exclaim that thanks to Himeko, their sales are doing well. Himeko says, “But of course!” She is surprised to hear some screaming. The fangirls have come to see Ren. Himeko’s fanboys say that the girl guests from other schools came for Ren. Himeko thinks that those girls came to see Ren because they like Ren. She is quite gloomy as she tries to calm herself. She closes her eyes and thinks, “I’m not bothered. I’m Sakura Himeko. My beauty is perfect. There’s no other girl who can compare to me.” She opens her eyes and sees Ren serving the fangirls. She suddenly starts pushing Ren until he hits his head on the window. Ren says that it hurts and asks what she is doing. He is surprised to see her looking quite shock. Himeko thinks, “Wait, what did I just do?! Oozora Ren is just with those girls and I’m already agitated. I’m Sakura Himeko who is beautiful compared to others, perfect compared to others. This thing, it seems like..” Ren then asks, “Jealous?” This made Himeko embarrassed as she loudly denies it. “That is totally impossible! I’m Sakura Himeko, a perfect queen! How could I be like that.. That is really impossible!” She turns away and angrily stomps her feet. Ren just smiles at her. He is then surprise by a scream. One of the fanboys has tripped and spilled a pot full of tea on Himeko’s back.

Ren accompanies Himeko to the clinic. Holding an ice pack, Ren tells Himeko to strip. Himeko exclaims in shock. Ren tells her that he needs to put the ice on her back. Himeko insists that she can do it on her own. Ren tells her to stop resisting else he’ll do it. He unintentionally touch Himeko’s chest that Himeko either punched him or headbutts him. Himeko shouts that he is a pervert and she really doesn’t want to take it off. Ren shouts for her to strip by herself then. “If we didn’t put the ice quickly, it will become a scar! You’re making me worry..!” Himeko blushes and finally relents. She just takes off her clothes [only the top part so that the ice can be put at her back]. Ren sees her underwear that he blushes. He looks away and says that he is now going to put the ice. He hugs her while putting the ice on her back. Himeko is embarrassed and thinks that this is what they call ‘one’s heart beating like a drum’. Ren is blushing then to Himeko’s surprise, he laughs that her heart is beating too loudly. Himeko tries to explain why but Ren says, “You really like me, don’t you?” Himeko is totally shock. After putting her clothes on, she exclaims, “What are you talking about?! Having someone seen one in one’s underwear, anyone would..Let me say, you are quite disappointing. Who..who do you think I am? I’m Sakura Himeko!!!” Ren starts laughing that Himeko shouts why he is laughing. Pulling her to him, Ren says, “It’s no use. Your whole body is saying that you like me.” Blushing, Himeko says, “I’ve said, what are you talking about..?!” She thinks, “He’ really an infuriating guy! Because of Oozora Ren, for the first time, I’m jealous of someone. He also made my heart beat so fast as if it’s going to break. Right now, too..to the point of embarrassment since I felt that I like him.”

Himeko screams, “I don’t like you..!” Ren lets her go as Himeko moves away from him. Blushing a bit, Ren says, “You said before that you want me to kneel down to you, right? It’s very simple. If you said that you like me then I will really like you to the point of kneeling down to you.” Surprised Himeko blushes. She looks back as Ren touches her lips. Himeko says, “You’re an idiot..I’m Sakura Himeko. There’s no way I’ll say those words!” To her surprise, Ren kisses her on the lips. He says, “You’ll say it. Come, let me hear it, Himeko!” He then starts to kiss her again. Haha, in shoujo like this, I’m assuming that they are going to make out in the clinic =P Anyway, this is serialized in shocomi so things usually happen fast in those stories. So, it’s a matter of swallowing her pride and agreeing to say that she likes Ren. Ren pretty much confessed that he likes her. I actually like her waitress costume. I’m actually relieved that it is like that rather than some skimpy maid costume. ^^ Scans by amyangel119910323 and a598154691.

Quote of the day:
To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides. ~ David Viscott

Weekly Jump Update: Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, D. Gray-man, Reborn and PSYREN
Monday, November 3, 2008 @ 12:00 p.m.

Omaeda gloats about defeating his enemy and even taunts the enemy’s nose in Bleach [c. 332]. He changes his tune when the enemy grabbed him with his nose. The opponent was suddenly hit unconscious. Omaeda looks up to see that SoiFon seems to be having a hard time against Ggio. SoiFon is pinned on the wall that Omaeda grabs Ggio and exclaims to SoiFon to finish him. Ggio is about to use cero on Omaeda but SoiFon saves him by kicking Ggio away. SoiFon tells him that he doesn’t need his help since she is just observing the arrancar’s released form in preparation for a fight against an espada. SoiFon adds that she has seen enough. Ah, so I guess she will finish Ggio in the next chapter. I can’t get the feeling that the author is just dragging the story in this chapter. SoiFon could have finished Ggio off in this chapter. I mean, she would have been the weakest captain if she can’t take care of an underling of an espada. Maybe this chapter is to show the two’s teamwork. Also, which espada is she planning to fight? All are already taken, iirc. ^^; I’m sort of thinking if SoiFon is some sort of masochist for allowing Ggio beat her up first. ^^; Isn’t it more productive to finish off an enemy without injuries. If she wants to see the power, she can just watch the others’ fights. ^^;

Chouza realizes that Kakashi’s technique is to use a clone in order to find out the enemies’ abilities in Naruto [c. 423]. He is low on chakra though because of making a clone. Since Pain proceeds to attack, they all get ready to fight. After the fight, only Kakashi, Chouji and Chouza are okay. Kakashi explains that Pain’s power is to attract or repel things/people though there is a short interval between each use of that power. Kakashi tells them of his plan. Kakashi attacks Pain from below that Pain repels him. Pain plans to finish off Kakashi since he deemed Kakashi dangerous and would be troublesome to deal with later on. Chouji and Chousa attack then grab the chain that Kakashi had laid down. This had made Pain unable to move. Kakashi is about to finish Pain when fat Pain uses his body to protect Pain. Kakashi dives in anyway. In the end, they are all defeated. Kakashi is pinned down by some rubble as Pain uses a nail to hit Kakashi’s head to kill him. Meanwhile Fukasaku finds Naruto to teach him the fusion. Naruto worries about the village since it might be attacked because of him. Fukasaku assures him that there are powerful warriors in the village to take care of it and they will be informed anyway if something happens. Naruto then goes back to his training. Well, I don’t think Kakashi’s dead. Maybe it is some illusion or something or someone will save him. Hehe, I think this author likes dramatic deaths so it’s unlikely for Kakashi to die like that. Pain’s power reminds me of a magnet. ^^;

Luffy goes into second gear which surprises everyone in One Piece [c. 520]. Sandersonia assures Marigold that it isn’t something to be afraid of. Sandersonia attacks Luffy with a multiple snake hair attack but she can’t hit Luffy since he is too fast for her. Luffy grabs her from behind and slams her on the floor. Luffy then uses Jet bazooka to hit Marigold backwards. Everyone is shock. Hancock tells her sisters to stop playing around. The sisters apologize as they attack Luffy again with their full force. Luffy uses Jet gatling then hits them below so that the two sisters hit each other. Marigold starts to burn Sandersonia so Marigold tries to stay away from her but she realizes that their tails are tied together. Sandersonia keeps on screaming as Marigold tries to back away. Luffy is making a v-sign pose. Sandersonia manages to catch the edge before she fell into the spikes. Luffy then notices something on Sandersonia. He then jumps into Sandersonia’s back. The audience calls Luffy cruel since they think Luffy is going to make her fall. Sandersonia shouts at Luffy but Luffy tells her not to move. He also tells her that he doesn’t intent to kill them even if they intent to kill him. Sandersonia shouts for Marigold to kill Luffy but she hesitates. Marigold tells her sister that Luffy is protecting them since Sandersonia’s clothes are burned off so her back is exposed. The audience shouts that if Luffy moved then the gorgon eyes will be exposed. Luffy tells her that according to Hancock, it shouldn’t be exposed even if they die so she mustn’t move. Hancock looks tense that she quickly calls for everyone to evacuate. While they are leaving in fear of being turned into stone, Sandersonia says that why is he helping them when they are fighting as enemies a while ago. Luffy says that their fight and not letting others see it are two different things. Hancock is sitting on her chair, crying. I wonder if that cry is sincere like she’s touched over what Luffy did or something else like sinister. Well, snakes aren’t exactly known for niceness. The audience has a double standard. It is okay for the sisters to finish off Luffy but if it’s vice-versa, they call Luffy cruel. Of course, Luffy is awesome in this chapter. I find it rare lately in Jump for a character to pose for ‘kick ass time’ and delivers. =P

Timothy remembers the time when the director has taken him in the orphanage in D. Gray-man [c. 177]. Everyone has become doll-like that Emilia rushes to the director. They are surprised when Emilia is gunned down. The ‘traitor’ nun who sold them to the earl grabs Timothy. Link realizes that nun is a broker, humans who give information and humans to become akuma to the earl in exchange for money. A L2 akuma can turn people it sees within 6 seconds into living dolls kills the ‘traitor’ nun even as she screams that she is on their side. L2 takes Timothy. Link thinks that he can handle a L2 akuma. He rushes out to save Timothy but a couple more of akuma attack Link. Link tries to rescue Timothy within 6 seconds. After a huge explosion, he succeeds but he fails to defeat the akuma-s and got himself turned into a doll. Allen who is fighting with L4 notices the explosion. L4 tells him that he isn’t alone. Allen quickly tries to contact Link but there is no answer. L2 praises Link for his efforts even if he’s not an exorcist. They then prepare to finish off Link. Hm..it made me wonder if that turn into doll thing doesn’t work on exorcists. Since Kanda and Noise aren’t there, maybe they will be the one to help Timothy. Noise can hear things so he could probably hear what happened inside. Why he didn’t help them early on..I have no idea. ^^; Well, maybe Timothy will use his powers. Ah..can he transfer minds with akuma-s? It would be nice if Ticampi is more useful. =P I guess that ‘traitor’ nun deserves her fate. She doesn’t seem to know that those who betrays can also be betrayed.

Reborn asks Spanner if Genkishi ‘Skeleton Knight’ is an illusion in Katekyo Hitman Reborn! [c. 216]. Spanner says he isn’t. Irie tells us that the appearance is from the hell ring and there are 6 cursed mist rings that still exist. It is a contract with the ring and its user. In exchange for power, the ring consumes the user. Cervello asks if Tsuna posses some power that made Genkishi ‘Skeleteon Knight’ resort to using the ring. Irie dismisses it since Tsuna is just a kid. Genkishi ‘Skeleteon Knight’ attacks Tsuna. They fight then to Genkishi ‘Skeleteon Knight’s irritation, Tsuna tells him that he’s not strong because if he loses his cool, he loses his strength. Genkishi ‘Skeleteon Knight’ laughs at him then starts to create illusions of Tsuna’s friends who strangle Tsuna. Tsuna wants to destroy them but Genkishi ‘Skeleteon Knight’ tells him that the illusions are tied to his guardians’ lives. Reborn tells Tsuna that they can’t be sure if what Genkishi ‘Skeleteon Knight’ is true or not. Genkishi ‘Skeleteon Knight’ taunts Tsuna about it’s either he dies or they die. Irie comments that the hell ring is scary since it will even use such an unfair method or maybe that is its true nature. Genkishi ‘Skeleteon Knight’ laughs and says that he wants to see someone being killed by one’s own comrades since he wanted to try it out before. Irie is puzzled by what he meant. Seeing Lambo and I-pin crying, Tsuna says that he can’t forgive Genkishi. His glove then shines. I guess doing such a thing is within the ‘bounds’ of what mafias do. Those cursed rings seem like a pact with the devil since the designs are satanic. I wonder how Tsuna will deal with this. I think I said before that Genkishi is stupid. Even the hell ring is stupid. One thing that the villains shouldn’t use to threaten/put Tsuna in a pinch is if it is about his friends. That makes Tsuna more determined to win. I guess Tsuna is right that Genkishi isn’t that strong because he is doing this tactic instead of a head on fight. Hopefully, Tsuna deals with this guy in the next chapter.

Grana learns what happened to Dhlokai in PSYREN [c. 45] . Shiner and Junas think that he deserved it while Capricio is just drawing. Grana starts whining that everyone is bullying him when they told him that Yoshina and others had disappeared. When Shiner says it’s true, Grana laughs it off and hopes to fight them sooner or later. Back at the present, Yoshina is goofing at the school’s roof. He calls Oboro to greet him. Oboro is currently shooting for something. Yoshina wonders how to tell the kids about what will happen without being killed by Nemesis Q. Amamiya then calls out Yoshina to swim at a pool reserved by Matsuri. Amamiya tells him that they go ahead while Matsuri and Hiryuu will be arriving soon. She says that she failed to get in touch with Kabuto. Kabuto is busy stalking the lottery booth with the numbers that he got from the future. In the car, Matsuri tells Hiryuu that she learns from Amamiya what happened. She also tells Hiryuu to watch over Yoshina and Oboro since their strengths are different and seem dangerous. She asks Hiryuu to stop them from being any wrong decisions. While swimming, Amamiya thanks Yoshina. They were interrupted by Kagetora with an offer to help him investigate some burglaries. So, now they are going to play detectives ^^; Hm..I wonder if it’s recruit-a-new-character time. Well, in situations like this, it is true for DGM. =P Also, I find Grana not threatening. It isn’t often we have a goofy main villain. The underling is more ‘threatening’. Hehe, it seems that Yoshina and Oboro are quite close. =P

Quote of the day:
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~ Anne Frank

Ouran High Host Club [Chapter 65]
Friday, October 31, 2008 @ 10:49 p.m.

In the zoo, Tamaki is staring at a tiger in the cage for so long that a kid told his mother that Tamaki has been there since the start [when he went there]. Tamaki remembers Hikaru telling him that he has confessed to Haruhi and that Tamaki shouldn’t lose to some trauma. He also remembers Hikaru telling him that they are not family yet they won’t be easily break apart so open his eyes wide and look at them. He grips the bar tightly when he remembers saving Haruhi and Haruhi smiling while holding the sushi ring. At school, the host club is entertaining their guests outdoor – riding a horse/equestrian. The girls tell Kyouya that they are really happy since it has been a long time since there was a club activity. They ask him if the club members know how to ride a horse. Kyouya says that only two can. Mori shows off his skills as well as Honey who is riding a pony. At the side, Haruhi is nervous as she offers a carrot to a horse while the twins try to keep her calm. Hikaru then teases Kaoru that he was also scared when he did it the first time. Haruhi is really happy when the horse eats the carrot. The twins then tell her that they can teach her how to ride a horse. To their shock, Haruhi declines because it is cold. They ask what happened to ‘extreme’ [try everything] Haruhi. Haruhi tells them that she thought that doing everything would make her too busy so she decided to use her own strength that will match her ‘all things is an experience’ mentality. The twins ask her that isn’t it the same as before. She shouts that she has thought of wanting to try out riding a horse but then after thinking, she has decided that it is too troublesome. The twins think that Haruhi has changed from quickly answering then declines -> extremely want to do it -> hesitating while thinking if she wants to do it or not. The guys wonder what happened to Haruhi. Haruhi goes to the girls who are calling her. A note says that it is all because of what Tamaki told her before at the ‘hatsumode’.

Honey mentions that there is also the problem about Tamaki for it seems that something is wrong. They look at Tamaki who is just walking the horse. The girls notice the change in Tamaki ever since the break. He doesn’t react much when they talk to him and he is always looking out the window during the break. [Hehe, posing like a model] Kaoru says that it seems that kind of Tamaki is very popular. Kyouya says that isn’t it because Hikaru said things to finally make Tamaki realize his feelings for Haruhi. Hikaru says that Tamaki has become like that when he realizes how important Haruhi is to him when Haruhi was in danger. They think that Tamaki is really strange like that as if it’s a black box. Kaoru then asks why is their theme that day is riding a horse. Kyouya says he doesn’t know why but Tamaki told him that he wants to see a horse. This surprises Mori who tells them that the other day, Tamaki asked him as to which zoo where he see a tiger. The twins freak out as they think it is some kind of bad joke – tiger [tora] + horse [uma] sounds alike. Just then, a crow flies low which scares the horse. A girl in front of the horse is screaming. Everyone is shock as Kyouya shouts at the person in charge as to why that horse got out of the fence. The horse is going to kick the girl but Tamaki quickly protects her with his body. Tamaki says that it hurts. He then asks if the girl is alright. He collapses to the ground. Everyone rushes to him as Mori and Honey calm the horse. At the hospital, the doctor says that there are no broken bones and his bruise will probably heal in 10 days. There is a huge bruise on Tamaki’s left shoulder. He comes out and is surprised that everyone is waiting for him. They all call out to him. Tamaki says that he’s lucky that he was just lightly kicked by the horse. Honey asks if it hurts. Tamaki says that only his left shoulder hurts so temporarily he can’t raise/use it. Tamaki notices that Haruhi looks worried. He pats her head and thanks her for bringing his clothes. They were interrupted by the girl whom Tamaki saved. She apologizes that it is her fault that he is injured. Tamaki says that it isn’t her fault and the injury isn’t that serious. He says that it is because of their neglect for not making sure the fence is closed. He then asks who she is. Kyouya says that he is being rude for he is always just staring somewhere the whole day. Kyouya tells him that she is a new transfer student in their class. The girl introduces herself as Shikadani Megumi. They are all surprised when they see her.

At the canteen, Megumi calls out to Tamaki and says that she has reserved a place for him. The twins and Haruhi are already there eating. Mori and Honey just got their meals. Tamaki tells Megumi that he can do that by himself. Megumi tells him to let her at least do some things for him since she is the reason why he is injured. She then shows him a beautifully decorated, delicious looking food in a bento box. She says she doesn’t know if it suits his taste. Tamaki asks if Megumi made it. Megumi says she did because she loves to cook. Joining them at the table, Kyouya mentions that Megumi’s family has a lot of restaurants. Blushing, Megumi says it’s true for since she was young, she likes to stay at the kitchen to learn cooking from her father. Haruhi perks up then looks at her own bento box. Kyouya asks why she transferred school from Kobe. Megumi says that it is her mother’s wishes because this is her mother’s hometown. Tamaki says that as thanks for the bento box she made for him, he’ll accompany her to any place she wants to go in Tokyo. Tamaki asks her where she would want to go. Megumi smiles and says everywhere is fine since Tamaki is going to accompany her. The twins whisper to each other that Megumi definitely likes Tamaki. They say that it is definitely because Tamaki had saved her. They think that Tamaki seems like a prince if his stupidity is all sealed up. Honey then tells the twins that Megumi seems to look like Haruhi. This surprises the twins and Haruhi. Megumi says that Tamaki is so silent that he is like an adult. The twins slap Tamaki’s back as they tell him to be a bit lively. Tamaki is wincing in pain since they hit his bruise. They start telling Megumi that Tamaki is a crybaby and sleeps with his teddy bear. He even mistakes a heart pattern bento as part of Japanese culture. Tamaki exclaims what they are planning. The twins tell him that Megumi looks like Haruhi and they are just doing a little test. They are stunned when Megumi says that Tamaki has a lot of sides [to his personality] and she will make a bear and heart bento for him tomorrow. The twins mention some more embarrassing stuffy that Tamaki likes. Tamaki likes to hold hands and dance by whirling the girl around. Megumi would want to try that. Tamaki has a delusion about a girl doing ‘wife/bride’ things. [I think being a housewife] Megumi says that is her dream. Tamaki likes to play some ‘1 2 3 stoplight’ and things that commoner does. Megumi says that if Tamaki wants to do those then it will be very interesting that 24 hours in a day is not enough. The twins and Honey are shock since Megumi personifies the Haruhi that Tamaki imagined Haruhi to be. It is like Tamaki’s imagined Haruhi has become a real person. Megumi notices that Tamaki is sweating. [Probably from pain since the twins hit his injury hard] She tries to wipe it and asks if it hurts. Tamaki tells her that he is okay. Haruhi looks surprised then continues to eat.

Soon, everyone notices that Megumi is always with Tamaki to help him since he is injured and can’t use his left arm. Tamaki’s fan club members are crying since they never thought that Tamaki will be going out with another girl. Renge then insinuate that since Haruhi and Megumi looks alike and if Tamaki is taken away by that girl, they can just imagine it as homo [homosexual]. Some girls like this that someone shouts, “Go BL!” ^^; At the club, Kyouya sees Honey and the twins angrily pouting. He asks where Tamaki and Haruhi are. They shout that Haruhi is in the library and they don’t where Tamaki is. Kyouya asks what’s with their reactions. He says that there is nothing they can do about the ‘sex scandal’ between Tamaki and Megumi. Megumi has been taking care of Tamaki because she thinks it is her fault and Tamaki doesn’t objects. The twins angrily exclaim that they know and I think they are complaining that Tamaki can’t be easily become a laughingstock when he started to become conscious of his trauma. Honey asks if Tamaki starts to change because Megumi is his imagined Haruhi. Kyouya sighs and says he doesn’t know. He tells them a surprising report about the reason why Megumi transferred school. It is because the feelings of her parents aren’t a match or rather her parents had a disagreement. Megumi’s father plan to set up a new business but her mother furiously objects. She told him, ‘If you plan to go ahead with your plan then let’s divorce and you won’t see your beloved daughter again.’ Tamaki is about to enter the room and he has overheard partly of what Kyouya had said. Kyouya says that right now, Megumi isn’t allowed to meet with her father and that situation is somewhat similar to a certain someone. They ask Kyouya if Tamaki knew about that. Kyouya says he doesn’t know for he might already know or Megumi will tell him later on. Tamaki already goes away. Kyouya concludes to the others that Megumi undoubtedly is Tamaki’s ideal girl and the two would easily understand each other’s situation.

Outside, Tamaki finds Megumi reading a book while sitting on a bench. Megumi offers to drive him to the doctor. Tamaki asks what she is reading. Megumi says it is a cookbook that her father wrote and it is old now because she always read it before. She tells him that she is deciding what to cook for tomorrow’s bento. She asks him how he likes his fried egg [rolled omelet/dashi maki tamago?] sweet or salty. Tamaki likes it sweet. She asks if he likes Chinese food or national [Japanese?] food. Tamaki says Chinese. She asks him what he would like for dessert. Tamaki says pancake. She is about to ask him something more when Tamaki says, “Shikadani-classmate, you are always asking what I like. How about you, what do you like? What do you like to do?” Megumi looks surprised and says that she doesn’t have any.. They were interrupted when they hear some books falling. Tamaki asks what Haruhi is doing. Haruhi says that she just lend too many books. Tamaki helps her pick up the books. He notices that it is about books on working women. Blushing, Haruhi says that it is because Kousaka is quite cool before. [She wants to be like Kousaka] Tamaki smiles then ask if Haruhi likes her fried eggs salty. Haruhi says that is right. He asks her what she likes to put on top of a pancake. Haruhi says butter. Tamaki says he likes maple syrup. Haruhi asks why he is asking these things. With a sad look, Tamaki says he and Haruhi are quite different. Megumi looks as if she overhears this. Haruhi is shaking in anger as she says that she thought he is going to say something serious but he is just saying some obvious thing. She shouts that obviously, everyone has their differences and that having one strange person like Tamaki is enough. This stuns Tamaki. Holding her books, Haruhi exclaims that she has things to do so take care. Haruhi leaves him. Tamaki picks up a book that she has left behind and shouts after Haruhi. Megumi tells him not to go else he’ll be late for the doctor’s appointment. Tamaki apologizes and says that he will return the book to Haruhi. Tamaki is walking away as Megumi says, “Ah..Suou..don’t leave me alone..don’t leave me all alone here.” This surprises Tamaki that he looks back. Megumi is blushing as she says, “..I like Suou-classmate. With me..will you go steady with me?”

So, that is Megumi’s love rival. Pretty much Haruhi’s opposite in terms of character. I’m still thinking if she is really like that or she is just acting. That’s because I’m thinking if this is some ploy by Tamaki’s grandmother like hiring Megumi and feed her all those information as to what Tamaki likes, etc including the background. Since Kyouya researched about her and he doesn’t seem to be suspicious of her, maybe she is the real thing. I guess Tamaki would be more empathetic to Megumi because of their similar circumstances. I think Haruhi’s outburst has somewhat snap him out from thinking that people with different interests can’t be together. =P What Haruhi said can actually be interpreted that he is special. Hm..I still don’t know if Tamaki would fall for Megumi just because they are so similar. Tamaki is ‘different’ from other people so what he does and thinks tend to be out of the ordinary. Also, it seems the author is exploring something regarding relationships. It’s like what if you are going to marry to someone, would you like the other person to be similar or have the same interests as you or completely different? There are pros and cons for both. For couples with similar interests, it is good to always get along but then, it can become boring. For couples with different interests, things are always interesting but then there will a lot of disagreements. Then, there is also the ‘dream/ideal girl’ vs ‘the girl you have feelings for’. Who would you choose? It’s quite interesting. So, it’s the first time that someone has confessed to Tamaki. What would be his reply? Yes, No, or I’ll think about it =P Yes is doubtful. No is well, he is nice and everything so he might not know how to turn her down. Anyway, with a rival, things can progress between Haruhi and Tamaki. In stories like this, I wonder if Hikaru will team up with Megumi so that he can get Haruhi. For now, Hikaru doesn’t seem to be leaning towards that. Anyway, I hope she doesn’t suddenly turn into some bad girl because I think it is more interesting if the rival is equally nice as the lead thus making the choosing a bit harder. ^^

Quote of the day:
Gratitude is the best attitude. ~ Author Unknown

Bokutachi wa Shitte Shimatta [Chapter 18]
Friday, October 31, 2008 @ 02:47 p.m.

Yukito gets an email from Kotori. She apologizes that she went to school early because there is something that she needs to do. She wrote that she has already arrived at school. She then apologized again. Yukito thinks that Kotori has escaped but it’s okay since he just got out of his house. While walking, he sees a girl talking to a guy. The girl is telling the guy that she didn’t know that his house is nearby. Yukito is surprised because the boy looks like Hikaru in the game. He then emails to Kotori, ‘okay’. At school, Kotori nervously apologizes to him mentally. She couldn’t face him after what she said yesterday especially if he notices that she’s jealous. She doesn’t know what to do when they are alone. She feels that she is still lacking since she vented her angry on Yukito. She looks up to see Natsume entering the room. Natsume glances at her then looks away. A girl shouts that Natsume is there. Then all of the other girls group together and gossip while looking at Natsume. Kotori wonders what happened and what’s with that mood. Natsume looks a bit tense as she holds her back tighter. Kotori notices that Harada is smirking with her friend so Kotori realizes that it is all Harada’s doing. Yukito is about to enter the class when Abe meets up with him. Abe asks if he’s alone [where’s Kotori]. Yukito says that it happens at times. Abe notices that their class is very quiet. They were surprised when Kotori suddenly shouts a good morning to Natsume. Natsume greets her back then realizes what she has done. She quickly looks away thus making Kotori sad. Harada passes by Kotori and tells her what she is doing. “You’re so annoying.” Natsume overhears this that she tells Harada that if there is anything that she wants to tell her then tell it to her upfront. “It seems that you can’t do things alone.” This infuriates Harada. Natsume takes her seat while Kotori just looks at Natsume. The boys are fussing about that the girls are fighting though they don’t know what it is about. They are disappointed that it is all over. Yukito looks at Kotori.

Looking outside the window, Kotori wonders if Natsume just protected her. She becomes gloomy again since Natsume won’t look at her. Looking dark, Yukito grabs her by the neck with his arm. He says that she has escaped this morning. “It is so obvious.” She tells him that she isn’t escaping but rather it is about yesterday. To her shock, Yukito tells her that it would seem that she lied about having to do something in the morning at school. Yukito is forcing her to tell him what happened but Kotori won’t say it. He then says that she has been acting strange lately and if it is related to Harada and others. Blushing a bit, Yukito tells her that they can talk about this. Kotori blushes when she heard this. He then strangles her again and says that he won’t let her go if she doesn’t tell him. Outside, while they eat lunch, Kotori tells him about Natsume. Yukito is a bit relieved that the one whom Kotori chats with is a girl. He asks her what happened with her and Natsume. Kotori doesn’t want to tell him that Natsume has been hiding her identity as a model with a wig because of the nasty rumors. She just tells him that she did something that Natsume hated and it seems that she can’t make up for it. She looks sad when she remembers Natsume telling her that she isn’t her friend. Yukito asks her what she plans to do because it is obvious that is what’s bothering her. Remembering the times they are together, Kotori says that she wants to be Natsume’s friend. Yukito gives her a thumbs up and says that she should just tell Natsume that. Kotori exclaims that she already did but it doesn’t seem to be enough that she doesn’t know what to do. She adds that maybe she should have used some moving words to move Natsume’s heart. Yukito tells her that it is okay even if it’s just ordinary. “You don’t have to do something special. It will be alright if you just depend on your own way of doing things. Even if you are afraid, telling honestly your feelings is also okay. You just have to believe and not lie to the other. Soon, your feelings will come across to the other.”

Kotori asks if it’s true. Yukito says it is. Kotori smiles and thinks that it is good that she talked to Yukito about it. Yukito starts to pose and asks if he looks good. Kotori looks aghast as she just agrees. She then pushes him away and laughs at him. Yukito then offers Kotori a chupa chups lollipop to give her more energy [so that she won’t be depressed]. Kotori remembers Matsushima with the lollipop. She then blushes. Yukito says that it is strawberry milk flavor. He unwraps it and says if she doesn’t want it then he’ll eat it. When Yukito starts licking the lollopop, Kotori looks at him then starts to blush. To his surprise, Kotori shouts, “No!”. Then, she quickly grabs the lollipop from him. She says that she accepts it and will eat it. She then freaks out as she exclaims that she’s leaving since noon break is about to be over. She quickly runs away, leaving puzzled Yukito. While running, Kotori wonders to herself what she is doing. She thinks that it isn’t like that girl is the one who is eating the lollipop yet why is her heart in chaos. Stopping near a building, she thinks that it is seems as if that girl and Yukito are kissing [when he eats the lollipop]. She notices the lollipop she is holding. She thinks that if she eats it then it would seem that she and Yukito did some bad thing. She also thinks that she’s really strange for taking a candy that is licked by someone else. Her thoughts are interrupted when she overhears Harada telling her friend at how angry she is at Natsume. She says that it isn’t easy to get everyone to back her up and it is all ruined by Kotori. Harada’s friend says that it seems that nothing works on Natsume. Harada says that Natsume’s hair seems to be a wig. It is odd for them not to recognize a famous model like her since her organizer is filled with work schedules. Her friend praises her for being perceptive. They then see Natsume nearby. Harada smiles with malicious intent to her friend’s shock. Harada says that she will make fun of Natsume by pulling of her wig in front of everyone. She feels excited to see Natsume looking shock.

Upon hearing this, Kotori quickly goes out in the open and shouts for Harada not to do that. Harada tells her what is her problem and not to bother her since she is a hindrance. Kotori remembers Yukito’s words of doing what she can do and say things that she really feels so that her feelings can get across. She cheers herself up as she shouts for Harada not to do that thing to Natsume. Kotori decided not to be wishy-washy in dealing with Harada. Harada asks her what she will do in return for them not to do that. “Will you break up with Yukito in exchange?” Kotori says that she won’t because Yukito and Natsume are important to her and they cannot be exchanged. Harada calls her stupid and that she will do whatever she wants. Harada and friend leave as Kotori tries to call Harada. She looks sad. They didn’t notice that Natsume has seen everything. Kotori freaks out when she notices that she has held the lollipop candy on her hand. [She hold the candy and not the stick] She feels depressed that nothing happened even if she says something. She tries to wipe off the stickiness from her palm. She is frustrated that she wasn’t able to stop Harada from doing that nasty thing to Natsume. She is surprised when Natsume sits beside her. Natsume shows her DS so Kotori takes out hers, too. Natsume logged in the chatroom as Hikaru. Natsume writes that Kotori is stupid for she will incur the ire of Harada. Kotori writes that at that time, she should come out. She also writes that it is okay since she is already used to Harada. Natsume writes that it isn’t something one should get used to. Kotori thanks her for protecting her earlier on. Natsume writes that Harada is really laughable for planning to pull off her wig. Kotori writes that she has overheard. Natsume writes that her ears are sharp and Harada is so easy to read. Kotori types a smiley. Natsume types about wanting take of the wig just to shock Harada but then, Harada would just deny everything. Kotori apologizes and says that if only she could say something good [for Harada not to do that]. She fears what will happen to Natsume if Harada gangs up on her with the other girls again and do something just like what happened today.

To Kotori’s surprise, Natsume says that it is alright for a friend is strength. “Even if I have only one friend, I will be fine. Okay?” She shows her DS with the parrot chain. Kotori blushes as Natsume smiles at her. Natsume apologizes for what happened before because since the time when they first chat together, she really wanted her to become her friend. The next day, everyone including Harada is shock to see a new girl in class. The boys wonder who the girl is and where they have seen her before. Kotori turns around to see Natsume, without her wig. Natsume greets her a good morning. Yukito sees this and smiles. Kotori is so lucky to have a boyfriend like Yukito. ^^ Actually, it is interesting that Natsume helps things with Yukito whereas Yukito helps her with things regarding Natsume. And, Harada’s plan backfired on her. =P She never learns. Also, I think it’s pretty cool for Kotori to be unwavering and say that she can’t exchange Yukito and Natsume for they are important to her. I think it’s already a major step for Kotori. Hehe, the author has mercy on us since that can easily be dragged into many chapters. ^^ So, Kotori now has a friend and boyfriend ^^ I guess the next chapters would be about the lollipop-jealousy problem. Scans by Xiuxiu for BW

Quote of the day:
A true friend is a gift from God. ~ Our Daily Bread

Nana [Chapter 78②]
Thursday, October 30, 2008 @ 01:23 p.m.

[The chapter numbering is actually like that. I guess the author planned this to be part of chapter 78 wherein everyone learns what happened to Ren and since it’s too long, she made it into two parts.]

At the airport, Miu calls out to Hachi who is being held by Takumi. Takumi asks if Miu is also to board that plane. He asks her to take care of Hachi since there are still many things that he has to do. Miu says that his company must have been pretty uneasy so if there is anything she can do to help, please tell her. Takumi thanks her. Narration says that she would want everyone who were born and grew up together to go back to that town but not for this reason. They have arrived at the place and are going to ride the taxi to the hospital. Naoki is busy trying to contact Reira but her phone is diverted to voice-recording. Someone says that they are going to board two cars and Hachi should ride first. Hachi looks bothered then tells them that she would wait there for Nana. Miu tells her that Nana will be coming tomorrow because all of the flights from Osaka have already been cancelled. Hachi is stunned. Miu tells her that Yasu and Mai are already in Osaka so she should relax. This made Hachi frantic that she exclaims that she also wants to go to Osaka because she wants to be with Nana. Nobu holds on to her and tells her that there is no way for her to go there. Hachi is protesting but Nobu tells her that it will be alright since Yasu will handle it. He tells her that they should see Ren first. Hachi has calmed down as she cries again, thinking that she’s stupid. Nobu helps Hachi in the taxi. The guy [I forgot who he is] tells Miu to go in, too and Shin will go with him. Shin is just bowing down. Miu looks as if she is feeling helpless. In the taxi, Hachi is saying that if only she has stopped Ren then it wouldn’t have happened. Nobu tells her that she’s not the reason [why that happened]. Hachi says that Ren’s situation then is really bad. Nobu says that Ren wanted to do that and she has supported him so Ren must have been really happy then. A bit teary eyed, he also says that it isn’t her fault. Hachi continues to cry. Soon, even Miu is crying. [Ah, I noticed that the guys here are wear sunglasses to cover their sadness/tears]

At the hotel, in room 2501, while drinking wine with Gin, Nana says that the rain is getting strong. She tells Gin that she wants to watch the television. This surprises Gin. Nana asks if there is a weather report on the television. Gin just lies that he heard that it will be a good day tomorrow. Nana smiles and says that is good. In room 2103, Yasu is smoking his third cigarette. Mai notices this that she asks him if he would want her to tell Nana. Yasu says that it’s okay, he’ll be the one to tell Nana. He tells Mai that Miu will call when they have identified the body then after that, they will tell Nana. Mai says that maybe there is some mistake. Yasu says that it is unlikely but he is still anticipating and hoping that Ren is fine for his heart is making him hold on that thread..[of hope]. At the hospital, the doctor says that since there are no relatives, then those who are close to the deceased. Takumi says that he and the president [Narita] will go and identify the body. Nobu asks to go with them. Takumi tells him to wait there for he’ll have plenty of time to see Ren later on. Nobu shouts that among all of them, he is the one who has been with Ren the longest. Hachi calls out to Takumi that Takumi relents and let Nobu go with them. Hachi thinks that for young Nobu, Ren is his invincible hero. She then realizes something and looks around. She asks where Shin is. Shin is shaking [probably crying] at a chair. Hachi quickly goes to him and comfort him. She thinks that she has to be stronger else she won’t have the right to be a mother. While Hachi is hugging him, Shin is crying.

Meanwhile, Reira is trying to write an email to Shin. At first, she thanks him. She writes that she is very happy and since they are young, she will wait. She then changes it to although she’s very happy, but there are still many possibilities for Shin in the future so forget about her. She is surprise when suddenly the phone rings. It is Naoki. At the hospital, Naoki only gets a voice message. He hangs up. He is surprised when Reira calls back. Reira says how she could rest when he keeps on calling. She whines that she doesn’t want to hear his complaints. Naoki exclaims that it is about Ren. Reira is surprised when she hears Naoki crying. She then asks him what happened to Ren. Before going in the room, the doctor says that the car is running fast so the corpse has a lot of serious injuries. Takumi says that he is prepared for that. Nobu looks a bit tense. Narita has succumbs to grief that he sits outside the room and cries. In the room, they approach the body as the doctor prepares to take off the blanket. When Nobu sees the body, he quickly looks away and covers his mouth since he is feeling nauseous. Nobu starts to cry. Takumi looks stunned then looks sad. Takumi says that it’s a miracle that the hands have no injuries. This surprises Nobu that he looks back. Ren’s hands on his chest are shown and there are indeed no wounds on them. The doctor says that it is definitely because in the instant before the crash, Ren had used all his might to protect his hands. When he was found inside the car, his body position suggests that is what had happened. Nobu cries and goes to Ren and calls out Ren’s name. Takumi’s head is just bowed.

In Yasu’s hotel, Miu calls Yasu to tell him what happened. Miu is standing in a porch of an inn [probably] and it is snowing. She says that they weren’t able to see the body because Takumi doesn’t allow it. The hands are said to be perfectly alright and don’t have any wounds. Yasu takes of his sunglasses and tells her that is enough. Miu is already crying. Mai is sitting in the sofa, crying. Yasu asks about the others’ situation. Miu says that everyone is crying nonstop, but things are okay. Everyone has been helpful and cooperative. Miu apologizes for not being of help. While holding crying Mai’s head to comfort her, Yasu tells Miu that isn’t true. Miu tells him that everyone is staying at Nobu’s family inn and they will be staying there for the night. Yasu asks if the Trapnest people will also go there. Miu says yes but right now, they are still at the hospital while Takumi is at the police station. Everyone is busy. They have decided to hold the funeral there. If she learns the definite place then she will inform them [Yasu and others]. Ren’s body would then be brought to that place in the morning. Yasu says he understands and thanks her. Miu tells him not to say that [no need to thank her] and she apologizes for calling so late at night. She tells him that she thought that he has already told Nana. Yasu puts out his cigarette in an ashtray filled with cigarette butts. [I counted that he smoked 7 cigarettes]. Yasu says he hasn’t because he has been procrastinating a bit. Miu tells him to tell Nana first then she’ll call him back. Yasu agrees and hangs up. Yasu then puts on his sunglasses again and hold out his hand to crying Mai. Mai takes his hand as they head out of the room. In Nana’s room, Nana asks what time is it. Gin says it is 11:30. Nana looks out the window and thinks that [they] aren’t coming. Nana starts to feel nostalgic as she says that this year has been long. She went to Tokyo on her 20th birthday and tomorrow is once again another year. [Ah, correct me if I’m wrong, has it been only a year since Nana came to Tokyo? ^^;;] Gin realizes that she meant it has been a year since she came there. Nana says that a lot of things had happened that it was such a colorful year. A lot of unhappy things had happened but in the end, she still feels happy. Gin just says yes.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings. Nana perks up and exclaims that maybe it’s Hachi. She rushes to the door but Gin stops her and tells her to wait inside for it could be just a reporter or a fan who got in. Gin goes to look at the peephole then he looks sad. He opens the door and it is Yasu with crying Mai. Nana looks out and is surprised to see him. She runs to him and exclaims why he came. She asks if it’s a surprise birthday. She is surprised that Mai is also there. Nana thinks that Mai is crying because she misses Nana so much. Since Mai is sobbing really hard, Nana realizes that something is wrong. Looking worried, she asks Mai what’s wrong. She looks at Yasu who apologizes to her. Nana is puzzled. Yasu cries and says that he cannot think of any words that could save her. Nana’s eyes open wide as Yasu tells her that Ren’s dead. Nana just looks stunned as everyone around her are crying. Then, there is a scene of crying Reira wanting to see Ren but Naoki stops her. He tells her that she can’t look. Reira exclaims why. Naoki says that Ren can’t be seen anymore. Narration: Chasing after Ren’s back. Everyday, nonstop chasing. On year 2002 of March 4, my last night as a 20 year old, my time has stopped.

So, even if Ren survives the car crash, he would have been disfigured. I guess he really values his hands to protect them so that he can still play. I guess it is a thoughtful decision for Takumi not to make the others see Ren that way. It made me look at the past chapters to check when Nana still saw him alive. Good thing that it is when they are acting like husband and wife that Nana even cooked for him. Nevertheless, it is still awful that they haven’t reconciled before this happened. I’m sure Nana will regret that. Since all of this had happened in a year, I guess that year with Ren is her consolation. It reminded me of the question. Wouldn’t it have been better if Nana didn’t go to Tokyo? She would be spared from this grief yet she would have not experience the happy + unhappy times with Ren and others. Hm..I wonder if Miu feels a bit of an outsider since she can’t help much like comforting Hachi and others. Anyway, I think it is still a good help to be just there for them. And yes, it is awful for all of them to be gathered all together because of that reason. I guess Nana will soon be going to her accident soon. I’m guessing that it is when she is on her way to the funeral/see Ren.

Quote of the day:
Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. ~ Sydney J. Harris

Oresama Teacher [Chapters 2 - 10]
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 @ 08:35 p.m.

[If Otomen is about ‘otomen’ (guys who tend to like things that girls are usually associated with), then Oresama Teacher is all about delinquents. I’m comparing this with Otomen because it’s basically about the ‘mis-adventures’ of the daily lives of delinquents. It is not much on romance but high on comedy. ^^ Our female lead is Kurosaki Mafuyu who got expelled from her former school because she is a delinquent/ganster-type student who was caught by the police. She decides to become a ‘different person’ in her new school. Then, there is her ‘ex-delinquent’ teacher, Saeki Takaomi. Then, there is her ‘new’ friend, Hayasaka who turns out to be a delinquent, too. The art is pretty okay. Some of the guy characters remind me of the ‘manly-big’ guy characters of Clamp. Anyway, what’s fun about this are the comedy and the twists in the story. A group is already scanlating this so you can go check out the first chapter. Oh ya, these scans are all from BW forum. Chapters 2-5 are scanned by fuuko. Chapters 6-8 are by carolleung0808. Chapters 9-10 are by mandyyamap.]

Chapter 2: Mafuyu couldn’t believe that her homeroom teacher is that guy who bullied her and stole her food. Takaomi thanks her for helping him out since as a teacher, he can’t beat up the brats. Mafuyu realizes why he didn’t want to fight yesterday. She asks him who those kids are. He tells her that they are messing with the kids in their school so he wants to do away with them. Mafuyu goes into shock when he gives her some books that were stolen. Mafuyu wonders if Takaomi is a split-personality type. Takaomi tells her that he isn’t and that the students and teachers there aren’t enough so unless they asked to, they won’t be entering/enrolling the school. He says that isn’t she the same. He is about to say something about before but her stomach growls He then offered her some expired onigiri [rice ball] =P She wants to punch him but she decides to go easy. She then fixes her uniform like a delinquent – tucked out blouse and button open to show off her gold necklace. Takaomi hits her on the head and tells her that they are going. Before heading into the classroom, he tells her to think of a nice introduction. She then does a cutie-cutie introduction that made Takaomi laugh at her because she looks like an idiot.

Mafuyu introduces herself normally in class. She is warmly welcomed that she is so touched by this. She gets to sit beside a delinquent looking guy, Hayasaka. Hayasaka angrily looks at her that the others told her that he is just like that. The classes start. Mafuyu thinks that she has been sitting for 20 minutes already. She asks Hayasaka how long is each subject. Hayasaka says 50 minutes. She asks how many subjects they have for the day. Hayasaka says 6. Mafuyu multiplies 50 by 6 = 300. She has to sit there for 270 more minutes. She is emitting her killer chi that Hayasaka realizes that she is the source of the killer chi he felt earlier. [That is why he is unfriendly with her] After a lesson break, Mafuyu learns that their school is a place where rich people send their problematic children. They think that Mafuyu isn’t one of those people. Mafuyu laughs it off and uses a different alibi as to why she is there. The ‘normal’ students go there because they want to stay at a school dorm just like in a manga. ^^; It is now the third subject for the lesson. It’s 11am. Mafuyu tries to use the toilet excuse to go out but the teacher won’t let her out yet. Hayasaka is sensing Mafuyu’s killer chi as she can’t bear to just sit down in class anymore. To her surprise, Hayasaka asks if he can go to the toilet. He actually wants to escape from her but to his surprise, Mafuyu also asks to go to the toilet. Hayasaka thought that she is after him so he runs away. He goes at the back of the school only to find some delinquents who wants to beat him up.

While Mafuyu is running, she bumps into Takaomi who told her that her friend is having problems at the back at the school. Mafuyu is shock that he meant Hayasaka. Then, Mafuyu realizes that Hayasaka is in trouble but she wants to be just an ordinary student. Takaomi tells it is okay if she doesn’t go or not but then, has she been this kind of person always. Mafuyu looks flustered as she wonders what he is thinking. In the end, Mafuyu goes at the back to see Hayasaka beaten up by other delinquents. This made Mafuyu furios for it is 5 vs 1. She ends up beating them all up. She freaks out after she realizes what she has done. When Hayasaka is about to become conscious, Mafuyu quickly lie on the ground to fake that she was unconscious. Hayasaka goes to her and asks what happened. She tells him that she tripped and she finds the others lying there when she got there. Hayasaka laughs and says that he had a misunderstanding and it seems that she is just an ordinary student. Mafuyu is relieved that her true self isn’t exposed. Since Hayasaka couldn’t walk because he injured his foot, Mafuyu carries him ala princess-style to the clinic. This freaks out Hayasaka as he exclaims that she isn’t ordinary because how could she easily carry a guy. Mafuyu is happily carrying him as Hayasaka shouts for her to put him down. Mafuyu is happy about her first day of school and having a friend. Takaomi looks at them from the window and says that things will become interesting from then on. [Hehe, and that is how she got her first friend in school. ^^ Of all people, it’s a delinquent.]

Chapter 3: Mafuyu is dreaming about the next door ‘brother’ whom she aspires to be like. She wonders what his name is. She wakes up in a start when she remembers that his name is Takaomi. She freaks out that it is the same name as her teacher. She quickly calls home to ask her mother about that ‘brother’ who used to live next door to them. She freaks out when her mother said that it is Takaomi. She asks what the surname is. She is relieved that it is Gojou but since she wants to be sure, she decided to investigate. She manages to get Hayasaka’s help. First, they tried to put a chip on him but Takaomi easily notices it and throws it in the wastebasket. They then tried to call him about something but it failed. [I didn’t get that one ^^;] Then, they try to sneak in but it turns out to be the principal’s office. Mafuyu escapes and left Hayasaka on his own. She is then caught by Takaomi who reprimands her for investigating during his class. He says that he is tired of her investigation and he will tell her what she wanted to know. That’s right, he is indeed that ‘brother Takaomi’ who used to live next door.

Mafuyu couldn’t believe that it is him for ‘Takaomi’ wouldn’t be as bad as him. She exclaims that his surname isn’t ‘Gojou’. Takaomi tells her that his mother has re-married so his surname changed. Takaomi decides to make her quickly remember him. He releases her and shouts, “Mafuyu..Go!” Mafuyu shouts, “Yes, Takaomi-bro!” This surprises Mafuyu. Takaomi says that even if the brain has forgotten, it seems the body hasn’t. She starts remembering the past. Flashback: She is just an elementary kid who is always bullied when someone steals her toy bunny. High school delinquent Takaomi always gets her to come with him and his gang. One day, she cried to him that someone stole her bunny. Takaomi told her to get it by herself even if her enemies are all five people. Mafuyu cried about it that Takaomi grabbed her head and shouted for her not to say such embarrassing things else he’ll kill her. Since she is more scared of Takaomi, she beat up the bullies and Takomi even records her time [how fast she can beat them up]. He told her to improve her time of 20 minutes and 35 seconds next time. Mafuyu is shock that there is a next time. End flashback. Mafuyu is so depressed when she remembered. He tells her that he doesn’t plan on telling her about himself if she has already changed but it seems that she has not changed. “Long time no see, Mafuyu.” [Hehe..so Takaomi turns out to be the guy who lead her to a delinquent life =P He is like those ‘used to be delinquent but later on becomes a teacher’ types. I think he is more like Onizuka of GTO since he isn’t hiding his ‘delinquent’ ways. =P ]

Chapter 4: While shopping for food, Mafuyu couldn’t believe that her first love was that kind of person. She manages to escape but she would have to meet him again tomorrow. She then sees him reading some porn at the magazine stand. She reprimands him for reading that. To her shock, he tells her that he became a person who likes to read that. Seeing that she only bought instant food, Takaomi puts some vegetables so that she would become stronger. He offers to pay for them. Mafuyu wonders what this is about since he even offers to walk her home. Has he become a nice person? When they are at her house, she realizes that he has an ulterior motive. He has left his key at school so he can’t go home. It’s a good thing that he met her and now, he plans to stay at her apartment for the night. Mafuyu couldn’t believe for being so stupid. He then kneads her head for escaping while they were talking before. Mafuyu shouts that she hasn’t totally remembered everything. He then teases her about promising to give her hand in marriage to him. ^^ Then, he raids her cabinet to wear something. She exclaims what is Saeki-sensei is doing. He tells her to call him Takaomi else he won’t feel good about it. Mafuyu is not used to that. He wears a t-shirt with ‘a person in charge’ at the back. Mafuyu tells her that her things suck. Mafuyu wants him to go home already or is he really going to stay for the night. He finds a picture of Mafuyu with her gang posing over a beaten up guy. He says she is also a delinquent. Mafuyu shouts for him to shut up. Takaomi sees an empty frame. Mafuyu says that she would want to put a picture of her friend in her current school there. Takaomi takes a picture of himself and puts it in the empty frame. =P This made Mafuyu cry about Takaomi destroying her little happiness.

He then looks at a toy mouse and tells her that she has some weird toys. He then unintentionally destroys it so he throws it away. ^^; He orders her to cook but she doesn’t know how to. Takaomi decides to cook even if he doesn’t know how to. ^^; He tells her that cooking is love so if she loves him then she will eat it all up. Mafuyu shouts what he is talking about. Since Takaomi is making such nasty noises while chopping something, Mafuyu offers to do it. He tells her that this reminds him of the times when he has been training Mafuyu. Mafuyu is aghast as she remembers those times. Mafuyu blames him for making the others afraid of her. Takaomi says that it is true for she is strong since Takaomi tells her that no matter how much he hits her, she still comes back to him. The more she does this, the more she becomes strong. He finds her a bit disgusting for keep on saying something about first love. He says that maybe she is a Masochist. They then talk about how he knew then that she is his neighbor. [I don’t quite get it but it is when they are being taught about smoking makes the lungs black] He comments that her external expression is the same as before which made her angry. She then says that he is actually surprise at how pretty she has become. He smirks and tells her to talk such dreamy words while she’s asleep. This made her angry that she accidentally cuts her finger while trying to chop the carrot. Takaomi carries her up and brings her outside the kitchen. He tells her that she is useless so she should just take care of the wound. She wonders if he is actually worried about her since it’s just a small wound. She feels a bit happy about it then not when she hears more scary chopping sounds at the kitchen.

Later on, she tries to run away from Takaomi’s yucky looking dish. He forces her to eat a spoonful and from her reaction, it is really yucky. Takaomi tells her that she’s being rude but his reaction changes when he tasted it himself. He just makes an excuse that he just ate. Mafuyu knows he’s lying. He says that since he isn’t very full, he’ll eat instant noodles instead. He asks her if she wants one, too. Remembering him saying that cooking is love, Mafuyu forces herself to eat the food. She thinks that it is because he made this for her so she is a bit happy about it. This surprises Takaomi and tells her that she is really strange. Mafuyu is surprised when he laughs. He then offers to make some dessert. Mafuyu freaks out and shouts for him to stop. =P Later on, Mafuyu looks ill after reading it all up. She then asks him why he became a teacher since he doesn’t seem the type to become one. The text is blurred as he says something about being a teacher but he doesn’t want to become a teacher who cannot do anything. Mafuyu is puzzled by what he meant. He tells her that the reason is not much that others might think he’s stupid but then, there should be some priority. He goes out the balcony as Mafuyu doesn’t understand what he meant. She is surprised that he is gone. She is surprised that he jumped off from the third floor. She just thinks that everyone has their own way of living and that Takaomi has a secret. She decides to become stronger and go to school tomorrow. She then sees a porn magazine on the balcony. She thinks that Takaomi isn’t really serious about becoming a teacher. [So, Takaomi has a secret as to why he became a teacher. I find their chemistry amusing though it isn’t a romantic type. They do seem like brother-sister because of the way he teases her, gets the upper hand and at times, being nice. Oh wait, that also happens in romantic couples. ^^; ]

Chapter 5: Hayasaka has just beaten up three guys and thinks that it isn’t much for he wants to become stronger. He then sees another ‘challenge to a fight’ note on his shoe locker. He senses a killer chi. When he turns around, it is Mafuyu greeting him a good morning. Hayasaka instinctly hits her on the head. He thinks that he can’t determine if Mafuyu is strong or not. She notices his bruises that she grabs him and asks if it is her fault for leaving him behind with the principal. Hayasaka shouts that it isn’t and it is from fighting. Hayasaka then learns that she didn’t know that they have a student president because she didn’t go to the early morning general assembly. For her, assembly means gang in motorcycles. In the class, Mafuyu realizes that she hasn’t been taking notes. She borrows Hayasaka’s notes. She notices that he doesn’t put his name on the notebook, only his surname. He tells her that they would know it is him from his surname. She also noticed that he is really intently studying whereas she and her delinquent friends before would doodle on their notes. She thinks that he would seem and yet not seem like a delinquent. She wonders what his family is like. Later on, Takaomi asks Mafuyu to carry a box for him to the storeroom. Since Mafuyu wasn’t toured around school, she doesn’t know where it is. Takaomi tells Hayasaka to accompany Mafuyu. Hayasaka declines but is forced to do as he said when Takaomi threatens to tell ‘that important thing about him’ to others. Mafuyu realizes that Takaomi knows Hayasaka’s weakness. Hayasaka puts out his hand that Mafuyu gives him a candy. Hayasaka hits her head and tells her that wasn’t what he meant. He is telling her to give him the box so that he will be the one to carry it. Mafuyu is touched by this. Hayasaka finds her pitiful and wonders what kind of life has she been living before.

In the storeroom, they put away the box. Holding a rabbit mask, Mafuyu sees some animal masks and wonders what it is for. The ‘challenge’ note falls on the floor. Mafuyu picks it up and exclaims at Hayasaka about fighting again. She asks him when the fight is. Mafuyu says after school dismissal. She asks him what is his reason for fighting and if he doesn’t have one, he should stop fighting. She says that he is fighting someone everyday. Everyday getting injured, he is obviously not happy. He then looks a bit sad and asks if there was any time when she doesn’t understand herself. Mafuyu apologizes and says she hasn’t. He tells her that it is only when fighting that he can relax and forget all the unhappy things. It is the only time for him to feel that he isn’t ‘that person before’. “Fighting is my main drive/vitality.” He tells her to let him be. This made Mafuyu sad for in school, there should be other things to make one energetic like sports, cultural events, valentine’s day, etc so saying that fighting makes one energetic would seem so sad. She wonders why Hayasaka doesn’t know that living an ordinary life is also happiness. She decides to do something.

Later on, Hayasaka is fighting but he got hit on the head behind. He falls down and the other guy is about to hit him again, a masked-rabbit girl saves him. Using her fake voice, Mafuyu exclaims that she is the friend of justice, cute Usagi [rabbit] -chan will now punish them. Hayasaka and the other guys freak out as Hayasaka denies that he knows that person. Mafuyu finishes off the other guys. She then touches his head and asks what does fighting change. She says that they are not the same because he doesn’t like fighting. She adds that as a man, he should aim for bigger things rather than small ones. He asks what she meant. This made Mafuyu panic and tells him just not to fight anymore. She then runs away. Hayasaka laughs that what she said is true about aiming to do big things. He feels useless for a girl is able to defeat 5 guys. He takes out his wallet to look at a picture of a little girl. [The girl’s face isn’t shown] He smiles and says that what Usagi-chan said is right. The next day, Hayasaka is looking out the window. Mafuyu wonders if he is angry. He tells her that he won’t let himself be provoked easily anymore nor accept other people’s challenge. Mafuyu is really happy about this. He then wonders out loud who is that strange girl wearing a rabbit mask. This freaks out Mafuyu and says how she would know. She looks at his face to see him blushing while he asks when he would see her [Usagi-chan] again. Mafuyu is in shock as she realizes that expression is like a girl in love. At the chairman’s office, Takaomi is betting something with the chairman as the chairman reluctantly agrees. [Hehe, Hayasaka has fallen for her alter-ego. When I saw the rabbit mask, the first thing I thought that it looks familiar then I wonder, “Is that you Yappy? [of SA]” Anyway, it seems that Hayasaka became a delinquent to forget things. I think he is more like Faster than a Kiss’s Kazuma kind of delinquent.]

Chapter 6: The next day, everyone is freaking out that Takaomi is smiling and looking quite happy. He is such in a good mood that he didn’t punish nor scold anyone. Then, they wonder if he is going to kill someone when there was an announcement for Mafuyu and Hayasaka to see Takaomi. In the teacher’s room, Takaomi informs the two about joining a club. The two think that since they are delinquents, they don’t join clubs. Takaomi says that he is going to recommend a club to them. This freaks out the two that they quickly run away. The two think that they didn’t know why but they have the sudden urge to run and not listen to what Takaomi is going to say. Takaomi laments that the two’s sixth sense have exposed him. The two decide to join some other club so that they won’t be recruited by Takaomi. Mafuyu wants to join the rugby club but there is no rugby for girls. Mafuyu has ulterior motives for joining sports club. She wants to be with a good looking sempai who would teach her. They try the equestrian team but they freak out when a couple of girls are intensely competing. [I think it’s a spoof of some old shoujo comic]

Later on, they weren’t able to join any clubs that would suit them. While looking at Mafuyu, Hayasaka begins to wonder whom Mafuyu looks like. He is about to imagine Usagi-chan when Mafuyu exclaims that she can’t think of anything. Hayasaka then comforts her and tells her not to say such things since she is a girl. He helps fix her hair which Mafuyu has tangled while thinking. Mafuyu is really happy that Hayasaka considers her a girl. They then try to join the sewing club. To their shock, the members are all muscled guys. They cannot match the concept of muscled guys doing embroidery. Hayasaka manages to sew the pattern well but Mafuyu’s is really bad that the member reprimands her for not being able to do it when she’s a girl. Mafuyu is hurt that she wants to give up on that club. Someone shouts for her to wait. Mafuyu looks behind to see Hayasaka crying and asking her to take him with her. The muscled guys try to get Hayasaka to sign the membership form. Mafuyu plans to save him but the muscled guys made her leave. Outside the locked room, Mafuyu tries to go in especially since she heard Hayasaka screaming. She apologizes to him for being powerless. She then sees Takaomi who asks what she is doing. Thinking that it is the first time he looks so sparkling, she hugs him and exclaims about Hayasaka and muscled men. He asks if she wants him to help her. She looks suspicious since Takaomi is smiling but she finally let him help them when she heard Hayasaka shouting for her.

She asks what is a good way to do this. To her shock, Takaomi kicks down the door and tells the muscled guys that Hayasaka isn’t joining their club. The muscled guys tell him that it is too late for Hayasaka has already signed the form. Mafuyu freaks out that lifeless Hayasaka is being held by two muscled guys. Takaomi tells them that regretfully, that form is useless because these two are already members of the discipline committee. This freaks out the two as they wonder what that is. Hayasaka has already gone home so Takaomi explains things to Mafuyu. He says that it is a bet for a one year salary. Takaomi asks what does a discipline committee member does. Isn’t it to check the uniform when the students enter the gate? Takaomi tells her it isn’t that boring thing but rather to annihilate all of the delinquents. Mafuyu angrily shouts if he is asking her to fight. Takaomi tells her that isn’t so but rather, it’s for justice. He illustrates it like some power rangers destroying the monster to save the world. It is okay since it isn’t human. Mafuyu says but the delinquents aren’t destroying the world. He punches her and shouts that for a student, the school is their world. Mafuyu asks what it has to do with the bet. He tells her that he was given the approval to do any method to increase the students going to that school. If it increased then he wins. Takaomi is so confident about being able to do this that Mafuyu feels that she wants to do this. Takaomi then tells her that their first assignment is defeating the boss. This freaks out Mafuyu. [Maybe because she expects the deal with the small fry first =P Hehe, I think this is borrowing some of Reborn! concepts since Hibari and gang seems like delinquent, too. Well, it is a good way to keep delinquents in check by using ex-delinquent and a not so bad delinquent. ^^; About the muscled man good in sewing, I wonder if they are spoofing Otomen. =P]

Chapter 7: Mafuyu informs Hayasaka about their first job as discipline committee members and that is to resolve the boss problem. She asks him about this boss. Pointing to a building, Hayasaka tells her that is where they stay and the boss is someone who is able to beat up everyone. She asks him why isn’t he with that group. Hayasaka tells her that he doesn’t want to belong to a group. With sparkling eyes, Mafuyu says that he is the loner-type. Takaomi has given them the picture of the boss whose name is Okegawa Kyotaro, a third year student. Kyotaro is quite powerful and his specialty is Morse code. Mafuyu happily exclaims that she also likes Morse code. Haysaka speechlessly looks ather. Mafuyu plans to talk things with Kyotaro but to her shock, Hayasaka is interested in fighting Kyotaro. They go to check out the place. With lots of graffiti on the building, it reminds Mafuyu of her former years. She thinks that in her school, there is no boss though. Then, she remembers that everyone is calling her ‘big sis’. She freaks out when she realizes that she was the boss. There is no one at that place so they thought that the delinquents are eating. Mafuyu sees a couple of cockroaches on the floor. She quickly grabs a bag and hits them dead. They realize that the bag belongs to Okegawa Kyotaro = boss. They quickly retreat from the place. ^^;

Back in class, they are wondering how to defeat the boss. Mafuyu suggests that while the others aren’t there, they beat up Kyotaro. Hayasaka doesn’t want that since it’s unfair. Mafuyu asks if he plans on taking them alone. She thinks that Hayesaka always loses is because he just believes in fighting with just full strength. Mafuyu feels sorry for him and wants him to read some shounen manga for one also needs skill and fighting spirit to win. Some of the delinquents come and ask the two to come out for messing up their place. Outside, looking at those delinquents, Mafuyu remembers her comrades that she starts crying. Hayasaka reprimands the guys for making her cry. They are puzzled that they try to offer her some candy so that she won’t cry. This made Mafuyu cry some more that they start carrying her like a kid to cheer her up. They are interrupted when Kyotaro arrives. He says that it seems that it is only Hayasaka who is causing trouble. The two are then staring at his bag. Kyotaro is puzzled but asks them to give them money. Hayasaka asks what if they didn’t give. Kyotaro then says that he will beat him up then. Mafuyu panics because Hayasaka will lose. Hayasaka maybe stronger than an ordinary person but he isn’t stronger than Kyotaro. Since Hayasaka is being stubborn and things are leading to a fight, Mafuyu decides that she has to stop them. She didn’t bring her rabbit mask. She plans to put her blouse on her head but her undershirt has her name on it. She takes out the necklace that her comrades gave her before. She puts it on her eye like a patch as One Eyed Ryuu/Dragon. Hayasaka asks what is she doing. The two manages to evade Kyotaro’s punch.

They are shock that he made a huge dent on the brick wall. To her shock, Hayasaka wants to fight Kyotaro. Hayaska charges. Mafuyu pretends to be clumsy and kept on pushing Hayasaka around. With her guidance, Hayasaka ‘accidentally’ beats up all of Kyotaro’s comrades. Hayasaka shouts at her for doing that and she should just stay behind. Kyotaro realizes what Mafuyu did and that she isn’t an ordinary girl. He somewhat freaks out that Mafuyu has defeated 5 guys. Mafuyu is standing behind Hayasaka. She is emiting killer chi and gets ready to pounce on Kyotaro. Kyotaro realizes that she is threatening him. Hayasaka is puzzled when Kyotaro shouts that he won’t retreat. Mafuyu then starts emitting some sounds. Kyotaro realizes that Mafuyu is using morse code. Kyotaro deciphers it into ‘decide the winner another day’. Kyotaro thinks she’s great. Kyotaro tells Hayasaka that he’ll let him/her go for now. Hayasaka is totally clueless over what happened. Kyotaro says that they will determine the winner after school at the back of school. Mafuyu gives him a thumbs up and uses Morse code to say ‘Okay’. Mafuyu is relieved that it is settled for now but she is worried about Hayasaka dealing things alone so she has to think of a good way to help him. Later on, Mafuyu goes to the storage room to get the rabbit mask. She cannot think of some different way so she decides to use it again. She happily tosses it up but she wasn’t able to catch it. It fell on the floor and cracked into two. [It seems the mask is clay type which easily breaks. I think that Hayasaka is the stupid type of character in this series. ^^; That is a unique way of saving him. Well, Mafuyu saves him again without him knowing. The way she kills the cockroaches, I think she is afraid of them. I find her silly when she tries to disguise herself. =P Well, the morse code turns out to be quite handy.]

Chapter 8: Mafuyu goes to Takaomi and cries about her broken mask. She can’t fight without a disguise else she’ll be expelled. Takaomi decides to help her by putting glue on the mask. Unfortunately, he put the mask together a bit too hard that it is crashed into tiny pieces. Takaomi apologizes and says that he doesn’t know his own strength. He tells her that he’ll help her find another one next time. Mafuyu cries that she needs a disguise now. They went to some room with lots of costumes [I think it is for cultural festivals ^^;]. Mafuyu happily picks a magical girl outfit. She comes out and says, “Love soldier Love bishoujo is on stage! I will steal your heart!” She then laughs that she is joking. [She is spoofing Sailormoon] She is surprised since Takaomi is staring at her. He tells her that her legs look nice. This freaks out Mafuyu that she goes inside again to change. Takaomi asks what the matter is when it looks okay. Mafuyu is blushing and thought that he is just joking. She then changes into a policewoman costume and is probably spoofing You’re Under Arrest but she blushes when Takaomi comments that outfit is good because it shows off her curves. She ends up changing again and picking something else.

At the meeting place, Hayasaka is all alone waiting. He wonders if Mafuyu is scared of the boss so she won’t come. He thinks that it is okay. Then, someone calls out to him. He is surprised that it is a short delinquent looking boy. The boy tells her that Mafuyu asks him to come. Well, the boy is actually Mafuyu who is wearing a wig, boy’s junior high uniform, lowering her voice, etc. She thinks that since Hayasaka is slow-witted, he won’t be able to recognize her since he can’t even recognize her with just a rabbit mask. He asks for her name. She just says, “Natsudan” [Summer boy] then regrets for using such a bad name but Hayasaka thinks it’s a manly name because there is a ‘boy’ in the name. Kyotaro and gang arrive. He asks if it is okay to just bring a short boy for help. Mafuyu is really happy that they didn’t recognize her. Worrying that there are too many opponents, Mafuyu tells Hayasaka to carry a piece of wood but Hayasaka doesn’t want to. Kyotaro is about to hit Hayasaka from behind with a piece of wood that Mafuyu quickly blocks it. Mafuyu shouts for Hayasaka to retreat behind. Hayasaka misunderstood it as an order to deal with the goons behind. Since Mafuyu is all alone, Kyotaro shouts for his gang to beat up Mafuyu. Mafuyu shouts isn’t it one on one. Kyotaro says that he isn’t into fair and justice for the most important thing is to win.

To their shock, an arrow with suction hits Mafuyu on the head. She looks up to see Takaomi out the window with a bow. She reads the letter attached. It says that he will deal with the small fry. Ps. Lower your head. Mafuyu lowers her head and is puzzled by what it meant. She is surprised when a shower of arrows flies across her head. The arrows created a barrier/fence to stop Kyotaro’s gang from attacking Mafuyu. They freak out as Mafuyu thinks that Takaomi isn’t human. A guy tries to go out of the arrow fence but he was quickly pinned on the wall by the arrows. Kyotaro decides to face Mafuyu for he can’t possibly lose to a short guy. He tries to punch Mafuyu but Mafuyu evades and punches him real hard on the face that Kyotaro falls down. They are all shock that Kyotaro has fallen. Mafuyu exclaims that he is now the leader so he has to conditions for them and that is for them to study and not to fight with ordinary people. If anyone doesn’t want that then they can come and fight ‘him’. After they left, Hayasaka thinks that ‘Natsudan’ is cool. Mafuyu freaks out that she forgot to tell them to disband. She is freaking out that Takaomi is going to kill her for it. Hayasaka tells her that ‘he’ can do it next time. Mafuyu cheers up about this then heads off. While running off, Takaomi thinks that ‘Natsudan’ reminds him of someone.

Later on, Mafuyu apologizes to Hayasaka for not coming. She feels like crying for being useless but she just doesn’t want to be expelled. Hayasaka pats her head and says it is okay to run away. He tells her that he is more at ease if she is not there. Mafuyu smiles about this. At the stairs, Takaomi meets with them. He tells Hayasaka that his face looks awful. He then says that he is just joking and praises Hayasaka for doing well. He then pats Mafuyu’s head and says, “also the helper.” He walks away and Mafuyu turns out to him. She thinks that she finally remembers why she is always chasing after Takaomi. “It isn’t because I want to become strong. It isn’t because I want to have a brother. And it isn’t because I’m some crazy brutal person. It’s because I want to be praised by Takaomi.” [Hehe, first job accomplished. The way Mafuyu said that final line made me think that her feelings for Takaomi before are just infatuation and admiration. Base on the two pats on the head she had today, these two guys are special to her. I had begun to wonder if Hayasaka treats Mafuyu like that based on the girl picture in his wallet. Is she a sister or something? Mafuyu is really strong to knock out the boss in just one punch. I guess Kyotaro underestimated ‘him’ because ‘he’ is short. =P Also, the coplay scenes are fun. ^^]

Chapter 9: Mafuyu is writing a letter to her friend, Ichigo [Strawberry] Love. She apologizes for not writing for a long time since a lot of things had happened since she moved. Her everyday life is going smooth and if her prince appears, she would inform Ichigo. PS. Love and it will become deeper, hate will also become deeper. She actually wants to tell Ichigo about the fight but she can’t. Mafuyu is shock when Takaomi exclaims what she is doing, if she is writing a diary. Mafuyu asks why he is inside. Takaomi tells her that it is because the door is open. Mafuyu shouts that he shouldn’t just enter. She tells him that she is writing to her penpal. Takaomi is aghast that someone would actually read such a letter. Mafuyu shouts that he is being rude for she has been writing letters with Ichigo for a long time already. Takaomi then grabs Ichigo’s letter and reads about buying some things – peko mandarin orange. [The way it is written is like cutie-cutie] Looking aghast, he asks Mafuyu where that person came from. Mafuyu tells him that Ichigo is probably Japanese. This totally shocks Takaomi. He asks where the address is. Mafuyu says there is none. Takaomi freaks out and wonders if it is just some imaginary friend. Mafuyu then exclaims that it has arrived and she is going to show it to Takaomi. She happily introduces him to a pigeon which flew in from the balcony. Mafuyu exclaims that it is troublesome to move houses since it has been a long time since she has seen it. Takaomi couldn’t believe it. He says that she has changed. Mafuyu exclaims if he meant that she has become beautiful. Takaomi tells him to be careful else he’ll hit her but in the end, he did hit her on the head.

He asks her when they started exchanging letters. She tells him that one day last year, she is walking around when she found the pigeon drowning in the water. Flashback: She saved it and saw a letter attached on its neck. She opened the envelope but the water has ruined the ink so the writing is illegible. She wrote a new letter saying that the pigeon has fallen in the water so be careful next time. She signed a pen name – Hiroyuki [white snow/snow white]. After some time, it went to find her again with a reply to her letter. She was eating instant noodles when it flew inside the balcony. End flashback. Mafuyu happily says that is how she got a penpal. Takaomi says that the pigeon is really great for being able to find her again. He then asks what is the meaning of what she had wrote in the PS. She says that she thinks it’s cool even if she doesn’t know what it means. Takaomi tells her not to write things that one doesn’t understand because it’s embarrassing. He then looks at Ichigo’s letter and it has ‘Sea meow meow’ on it. He freaks out and decides to drop the subject since Ichigo is the same as Takaomi in their way of writing. Takaomi bids her goodbye. She then asks why he is there in the first place. Takaomi remembers and gives her a new rabbit mask. Mafuyu thanks him and shows him a scary rabbit mask which she planned to use. Takaomi thinks that if he knew earlier on then he wouldn’t help her since the scary rabbit mask is much more fun. He then tells her that the teachers had a meeting as to what to do with Kyotaro and that is suspension/detention for 4 days.

While walking, Mafuyu feels guilty for Kyotaro because she has also experienced that – have to write a reflection essay as to what one has learned from the experience. She then bumps into someone. It is Kyotaro who greets her as Morse code girl. Mafuyu is totally shock to see him. She asks why he is there when he is in detention. Mafuyu says that he wants to eat ice cream so he went out. They can go out during detention. Mafuyu thinks that their school is very lenient for it would make the suspension meaningless. To her surprise, Kyotaro offers her some ice cream. They are sitting beside the river. Mafuyu happily looks at the ice cream and thinks that it has been a long time since she has eaten one. Kyotaro then cries about being weak for he lost to a short boy. Mafuyu thinks that if he learns that it is really a girl then he would have cried a river. She tries to cheer him up by saying to depend on his fighting spirit. He says that is what he has been doing when he is fighting. Since she feels guilty and responsible for making him sad, she tells him that they do something for a change of mood. She suggests that they watch a movie. He tells her that he can’t since he is currently suspended so he can’t be away for too long. Mafuyu tells him that she will protect him if anything happens. Kyotaro hits her on the head and says that it isn’t that easy. He blushes a bit then asks her what they will watch. She tells him that they watch some action movie since she loves those. Kyotaro is reading the list when he is suddenly surprised. He offers to pay for Mafuyu’s ticket as he heads to the ticket counter. She wonders if they are going to watch some violent movie. It turns out to be some cat cartoon wherein ‘Nekomata’ [cat with mustache] is leaving but two other cats are crying. Mafuyu is shock that Kyotaro is crying over it when all of the other audiences are bored to sleep. Mafuyu learns that Kyotaro likes this kind of movie that he even buys the dvd.

While walking home, Kyotaro tells Mafuyu that it’s such an intimate movie. She just agrees and then asks if he likes cute things. Kyotaro messes up her hair and shouts that it isn’t cute but rather it’s a very manly movie. They pass by an amusement center so Mafuyu says that they go play something. Mafuyu is stunned when Kyotaro wants to play a UFO catcher [claw crane] game to catch toy Nekomata before playing some fighting games. Mafuyu is aghast that in just one day, Kyotaro has changed her impression of him. Seeing him trying to get the toy, she smiles then offers to get it for him since she is an expert in UFO catcher games. She gets Nekomata for him. She happily gives it to him and thinks that compared to arrogant Kyotaro, she likes the current him that she wants to stretch out her hand to him. Kyotaro is stunned then puzzled. He thanks her and is about to get the toy when some bullies takes the toy and teases him for liking such a thing when he’s Midori ga Oka’s boss. One of the guys steps on the toy and laughs that he can’t fight back since he is currently suspended. Mafuyu is furious that they are deliberately agitating Kyotaro. Mafuyu is about to hit the guy but to her and the other’s shock, Kyotaro punches the guy. He tells them that he won’t be expelled because he won’t give them a chance to tell on him. Mafuyu is scared as she thinks that it has been a long time since she has seen this scene wherein a wolf eats the rabbits. It’s a sea of blood like hell. Kyotaro is beating them to a pulp.

Mafuyu then sees some people whom she thinks are the police. She quickly grabs Kyotaro and runs away. Kyotaro shouts what she is doing and to let him go. He exclaims that it is embarrassing to leave things half-way. She remembers her gang then she lets him go. She hits him on the head and shouts that he’s stupid for if he was caught by the police then he’ll be expelled and then, he won’t be able to see the others again. She holds his hand again and walks. She tells him not to be easily agitated for she doesn’t want to say goodbye to him there since it will be too sad. Kyotaro apologizes. Mafuyu smiles and tells him that retreating is also a way of winning. Kyotaro smiles about this and thinks that it’s like an old movie wherein he is her prince. Mafuyu has overheard this and thinks that Kyotaro is such a romantic person. Later on, holding the toy, Kyotaro apologizes for what happened to the toy she gave him. Mafuyu says it is okay. She asks if a boss always get into fights. Kyotaro says that is right because the boss is the school’s façade and it would be dangerous if they don’t have a boss. Although the people outside still thinks that he is still the boss, sooner or later, they will know the truth. Mafuyu looks aghast. He tells her that he will cope with them for the meantime since that is the thing that he can do. He puts the toy on his shoulder for it face her and says, “So, next time, keep me company.” He takes the toy and leaves. Mafuyu blushes and thinks that he is so manly. Later on, a pigeon flies to Kyotaro. He notices a letter and says that it is Hiroyuki’s letter and he will quickly answer it. Okegawa Kyotaro’s pen name is Ichigo Love. Hobbies: Writing his penpal, morse code and romantic justice. [Hehe, who would have thought that her penpal turns out to be Kyotaro? =P Hehe, I feel like singing ‘it’s a small world’ since she met Takaomi again and now this. It made me wonder if Kyotaro becomes a delinquent because of how people tease him about the things he likes. So instead of letting himself be bullied, he fought back. I think this side of Kyotaro is nice, just as Mafuyu thought. Hehe, it’s also nice to have a penpal whose letters are specially delivered by a pigeon ^^ ]

Chapter 10: Outside, Hayasaka sees some students fighting. He looks at them that they wonder if he wants to fight. He sighs and leaves. It turns out that he is looking for Usagi-chan – where are you.. At the roof, Mafuyu and Hayasaka are reading a manga wherein two guys are willing to fight for the leading girl. Story: The leading girl could not choose and runs away. Then, a guy appears and confesses to her. Then later on, two more guys confess that they love her. The girl wonders what she should do for she likes all of them. End story. Mafuyu says that girl is something since 7 guys are courting her. She wonders if it really too hard to choose. She asks why not go out with all seven at once. Hayasaka says then that would be like ‘two-timing’. Mafuyu then asks Hayasaka if he was ever in love. Hayasaka blushes and exclaims why she is asking that all of a sudden. She says that after reading that manga, she imagines the scenario wherein the guy would just kills the girl then commit suicide. Hayasaka admits that there is someone whom he wants to meet but denies he is in love. Mafuyu opens to a love quiz and asks if he unconsciously keeps on chasing after that person. Hayasaka is shock for he is actively looking for Usagi-chan. Mafuyu asks if he sometimes mistake that person in a group of people. Hayasaka is shock again for it happened. Mafuyu thinks that Hayasaka is too easy as she tells him that is love. Hayasaka is totally shock. Walking home, Hayasaka thinks he is in love because he just can’t forget about her. He tends to fall for mysterious people. He then has an idea.

The next day, Mafuyu is shock when Hayasaka shows her a wanted poster of Usagi-chan. It is written that if anyone sees her then contact Hayasaka. She comments that he draws well. Hayasaka thanks her. She asks what he plans to do after finding Usagi-chan. Hayasaka says but of course to just look at her. Mafuyu freaks out and thinks he is a stalker. Mafuyu begins to feel envious of Usagi-chan even if it is really her. Mafuyu then freaks out when she sees that he covered the bulletin board with the posters. While walking in the hallway, Hayasaka thinks that the posters are of no help. Some delinquent guys approach him and ask what he has been doing lately. They were shock when Hayasaka looks happy upon seeing them. He asks them about the masked rabbit. They tell him that maybe it isn’t a person but rather a rabbit that one of them bullied before. This shocks Hayasaka. He then goes to the rabbit cage and thinks that no wonder he can’t find her, it is because she isn’t a person. Mafuyu passes by and is shock to see Hayasaka bowing to a rabbit to thank it. She quickly goes to him and asks what he is doing. He tells her that it isn’t an ordinary rabbit, it’s Usagi-chan. As thanks, Hayasaka gives it some carrots to eat. Mafuyu tells him not to dream on for if he is going to fall in love, at least fall for a human being. This stuns Hayasaka. Mafuyu quickly leaves and mentally apologizes to him. Hayasaka can’t believe that Mafuyu has read through him. He then thinks that maybe Usagi-chan is really human and that face is just a mask for everything below looks human.

At home, Mafuyu looks at the rabbit mask and thinks that she never expects Hayasaka to be that serious in looking for Usagi-chan. She still keeps on thinking of love is killing the other person then committing suicide. She thinks that if he realizes that she is Usagi-chan, he will be disappointed. Putting the mask in her bag, she decides to return the mask to Takaomi. The next day after school, she sees a lot of people looking at something. She wonders if something happened. She is shock to see Hayasaka holding a megaphone and a huge poster of Rabbit-chan. Mafuyu shouts what he is doing. Hayasaka says that he realized that Usagi-chan is definitely a person so he is going to do the extreme way to find her. He then asks if she is free so that she could help him. Mafuyu declines and says that she has something to do. She cannot bear to watch Hayasaka doing this pitiful thing so she shouts, “I have something important to tell you..the truth is I’m..” Takaomi greets Mafuyu and hits her on the head. This stuns everyone since she has fallen unconscious. Takaomi laughs it off and says that Mafuyu has low blood pressure. They all think that of course it is because Takaomi hit her on the head too hard. He asks if anyone would want to bring her to the clinic. They don’t want to because an unconscious person is very heavy. Takaomi says then he will be the one to do it. They all blush and wonder if he is going to carry her ala princess style. To their shock, Takaomi puts Mafuyu on his shoulder like a worker carrying bundles of rice. Takaomi points to the side and tells them to go home. They shout for him to treat her better since she is quite pitiful like that.

At school, everyone is shock that Takaomi is carrying Mafuyu, princess style. Actually, Takaomi is asked by the others to carry her that way. Mafuyu wakes up and freaks out that Takaomi is carrying her. She exclaims that it is disgusting for him to carry her like that. Takaomi tells her to shut up for he doesn’t want to do that. Mafuyu thanks him then asks why his hand is touching her buttocks. [Actually, it’s the middle of her leg] Takaomi asks if she really wants to know why. He faces a mirror and holds her near her knee/lower part of her leg. He then says that her underwear can be seen. [If he didn’t hold her by the buttocks, her skirt will fall down and her underwear is exposed.] Mafuyu freaks out that she quickly kicks him on the face. Takaomi tells her that she is the one who wants to know and he is kind enough to tell her. Embarrassed, Mafuyu tells him that he should just say it to her. Takaomi says that he doesn’t want to because it’s boring. Takaomi laughs and says that it is good that he held her buttocks so no one else has seen it. The way he talks infuriates Mafuyu. In the clinic, Takaomi tells her not to tell Hayasaka that she is that abnormal rabbit. Mafuyu corrects him that it is cute Usagi-chan. He warns her that if someone knows, then soon, everyone knows. She must keep it a secret from everyone and she shouldn’t be naïve. Mafuyu tells him that even so, she should tell Hayasaka since he is dependable. Takaomi tells her a story about someone who vows not to be a delinquent when he is already in high school. Story: His friend comes to see him and says that they are friends. He says that he doesn’t want to fight anymore. His friend calls him stupid and says that even if he isn’t a delinquent anymore, they are still friends. But at the end of the year, he is exposed as a delinquent before that he ends up becoming a delinquent again. End story.

Takaomi asks her why she thinks that happened. She exclaims that the friend betrayed him. Takaomi says that it isn’t but rather, the friend is quite talkative that he talks about how strong the guy is and how he respects him. Some delinquent guys overheard the friend. So, the secret is exposed even if the friend didn’t intent to reveal it. Mafuyu cries about this and exclaims why it has happened when the two of them didn’t do anything wrong. Takaomi tells her that is life and that person is his kouhai/underling. He asks her what she thinks of Hayasaka as a person. Mafuyu thinks that Hayasaka is always saying wanting to be stronger thus he is fighting. He loves to fight so he accepts fight challenges. He would even say that he won’t pay up to boss [Kyotaro] before. Looking away, Mafuyu says that she isn’t criticizing Hayasaka but he is really looking for trouble though she likes his character. Takaomi thinks that she actually knows. He tells her that it is because of that so she shouldn’t tell Hayasaka. She then asks where Hayasaka is and if he already went home. Takaomi tells her that he asked him to get her bag. This shocks Mafuyu for in her bag is.. Hayasaka goes to their classroom 1-1 and gets Mafuyu’s bag. He wasn’t able to hold the bag well that the contents fall out. He quickly tries to pick them up and to his surprise, he sees the rabbit mask.

Hehe, I wonder if Hayasaka will finally know who is Usagi-chan or the author will drag this more. Since Hayasaka is stupid as in stupid enough to momentarily believe that Usagi-chan is a real rabbit, it made me think that Mafuyu and Takaomi can think of something. I do admit that I admire his perseverance in looking for Usagi-chan. But if it is revealed, I wonder what Hayasaka will think of Mafuyu since she hide her identity from him. Won’t he be hurt and won’t he think he is made a fool for looking for Usagi-chan when it is actually Mafuyu. Haha, Takaomi is so un-gentleman from the way he carries unconscious Mafuyu to the way he shows her why he carried her that way. Also, Mafuyu has a weird sense of love. That love scenario of killing someone then committing suicide is so twisted. But then, it does suit her ‘delinquent’ way of thinking. Lastly, about the manga they read. I wonder if it is a glimpse on what will happen to this series later on. Currently, Mafuyu has three guys who are special to her. There are no other girls in this series as of now.

Quote of the day:
Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God's best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of one's self, and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another. ~ Thomas Hughes

Random Blahs: Ouran High Host Club [Chapter 65] Teaser
Monday, October 27, 2008 @ 10:39 a.m.

Hehe, this time, I have seen the raws but I don’t understand much. Anyway, this is what happened. Tamaki is in a zoo. He is thinking about what Hikaru told him. He remembers rescuing Haruhi and smiling Haruhi over the sushi ring. I’m not sure if it is hockey PE or equestrian host club session. The guys show off their riding skills. Haruhi is being cute about feeding the horse a carrot for the first time. The twins notice that Haruhi has changed again from complacent/bored -> flustered -> ah, determined [?]. Well, it’s most probably because of what Tamaki told her before. Anyway, the guys are worried about Tamaki who has been brooding and thinking more lately. Mori said something about Tamaki with animals lately. Then, a girl is almost stepped on by horse that is frightened by a low-flying bird. Tamaki saves her but he ends up on the floor. They rush him to the hospital. Tamaki’s left shoulder is bruised and would probably heal in 10 days. They are all worried about him especially Haruhi. The girl whom he saved thanks him. They are all surprised about the girl [Ah, gxsky, the one who scanned this for BW, said that she looks like Haruhi but with longer hair so maybe that is why they are surprised.] In the canteen, the girl invites everyone with her and gives them beautiful decorated bento boxes. I think her father is related to cooking or have a restaurant or something. Kyouya asks something which the girl replied something about her mother. This made Tamaki says something which made the girl smile and probably praise him.

The twins say something and tease Tamaki. The girl seems to defend him Tamaki they realize that this girl is the cutie ‘Haruhi’ that Tamaki imagines Haruhi to be like. In short, what Tamaki imagined Haruhi to be like has become a real person. The girl is trying to wipe Tamaki with her handkerchief as Tamaki tries to tell her it is okay. Haruhi looks at them then looks glum. [A little jealous?] Later on, the girl is always seen with Tamaki that fangirls are crying probably because he won’t be single/free anymore soon. In the club, the twins and Honey are complaining something about Tamaki to Kyouya. Kyouya is telling them something about Tamaki’s family situation. Tamaki is at the door and he overheard them. He then leaves. He meets the girl outside who is telling him about ah, her father’s cookbook [?] Tamaki says something while looking happy-sad. They are interrupted when Haruhi drops her books. [Probably upon seeing them together] Tamaki helps her with the books and they talk a bit. Haruhi seems to be in a hurry to leave that she left one book. Tamaki takes it and wants to chase after Haruhi. The girl shouts to him which made Tamaki look at her in surprise. According to gxsky, the girl just confessed to Tamaki. What would be Tamaki’s answer? So, a love rival has appeared.

Weekly Jump Update: Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, Reborn and PSYREN
Saturday, October 25, 2008 @ 09:42 p.m.

SoiFon prepares to give the final blow but Ggio, her opponent, manages to escape and and attack her in Bleach [c. 331]. Ggio taunts SoiFon for not finishing him off quickly. He then releases his zanpaku. [Ah, I think Ggio is a he ^^;] Meanwhile, Oomaeda is trying to hit his opponent but it don’t work. He got slapped and he was sent flying. His opponent tells him that he doesn’t want someone fat like him. Oomaeda shouts back that he has no right to say that and he isn’t fat but plump which is a sign of wealth. His opponent releases his zanpaku and turns into a mammoth-like arrancar. Oomaeda exclaims that it isn’t fair as his opponent tries to crush him with his trunk and feet. Oomaeda is running away but his opponent can catch up to him even if he admitted that he is slow but powerful. Oomaeda tries to go up as he exclaims that since he’s big he can’t chase him but his opponent can catch up to him. Just when he thought he has crushed Oomaeda, his opponent is surprised that Oomaeda is now standing on his shoulder with his zanpaku pointed at his head. Oomaeda introduces his full name and asks his opponent how he can assume that he is slow when he is part of special operations division. His opponent realizes that Oomaeda is faking that he is weak. He tried to grab Oomaeda but Oomaeda jumps up and releases his zanpaku. It turns into a flail and Oomaeda hits his opponent’s head with it. He then throws back what his opponent said to him about not judging people by their appearance. So, it’s now reverse. Oomaeda is winning and SoiFon is in a pinch. I guess it goes with the theme of this chapter – don’t judge people by their appearance. Since Oomaeda’s opponent is a mammoth, I’m guessing that Ggio is a sabertooth tiger. It made me wonder if Barragan is a T-rex. =P oh wait, maybe a lion since it is ‘king’. From the looks of it, those who haven’t shown their zanpaku’s release/bankai are going to easily win their fights.

Pain-s and Konan continuously looking for Naruto in Naruto [c. 422]. Tsunade orders her slug to take the injured and heal them. Her giant slug turns into smaller ones and they go around the village. Tsunade vows to herself that she will protect the village as its hokage. Chouza notices something that he tells his group to go in a different direction. Kakashi is still fighting the two Pain-s. The fat one manages to evade his attack while the other one is just standing. Kakashi remembers Fukasaku’s words about the Pain-s’s visions are interlinked with each other so what one Pain sees, all of the Pain-s see. He also remembered to try fighting only one at a time since a Pain only knows one technique. Kakashi couldn’t believe that Jiraiya manages to fight all six of them. The fat guy takes off his coat and becomes some sort of four armed with tail puppet. The thin one stretches out his hand and somehow manages to pull Kakashi towards the fat one. Kakashi realizes the thin one’s power. He quickly throws a chain to stop himself. He thinks that he needs back-up since he can’t defeat Pain all by himself. Kakashi gets stabbed but it turns out to be just a clone. Chouza and someone else [Ah, is that his wife?] made their hands huge and pressed on fat Pain that he is stuck on the ground. Kakashi thanks them. He is still in the rubble and tells them that he has a back-up plan. Hm..that seems easy but then, I think they can still be revived after they are seemingly killed. If they are easily defeated then that means Pain didn’t do his research because there are many strong people in Konoha. It would have been a better tactic for them to just lure Naruto out. Like say, we have Sasuke with us, save him. With that, I’m sure Naruto would quickly go alone or with a small group. About thin Pain’s power, I think it is manipulating the enemy since he has stopped Kakashi from attacking before him before and now, he can pull him towards him. If I recall right, that is after Pain stabbed Kakashi with a black pole thing.

In One Piece [c. 519], Hancock’s sisters go into their snake form and it made the audience go wild because they think it is the curse for fighting the Gorgon monster. Luffy thinks that it is just a devil fruit. Hancock orders her sister to kill Luffy off for intruding in their island and for insulting her. They are all surprised when Luffy put stoned Margaret and others to the side to keep them safe. Luffy thinks that they can still be returned normal and that he will just have to defeat the sisters. Marigold, third sister + cobra devil fruit, tells Luffy not to fall else he gets himself impaled by the spikes below the arena. Luffy manages to evade her attacks and poison. To Luffy’s surprise, his kick bounces back. Luffy is puzzled why Marigold’s hit actually hurts since it shouldn’t because he’s rubber. The audience cheer that Luffy’s boasts earlier are just nothing. Just as Luffy is about to attack Marigold, he was caught by Sandersonia, second sister + anaconda devil fruit. While Luffy is complaining why it hurts, Sandersonia tells him that he also has devil fruit powers but he doesn’t have ‘haki’ [it’s the power using one’s eyes (glare) to make people fear someone, collapse, etc. It’s like Silver’s power. I think it could be like hypnosis.] which everyone outside the island doesn’t have. Sandersonia reads Luffy’s move so she quickly evades and hits Luffy on the floor. No matter what Luffy does, it can be read so Luffy’s attacks are useless. Marigold joins in the fight. Luffy luckily manages to keep himself from falling into the spikes. Hancock makes a beautiful pose and says that Luffy is just all-talk. The audience praise her beautiful pose. Luffy tells her to shut up and calls her an idiot. Hancock is aghast over this while the audience gets angry at Luffy. Hancock orders her sister to quickly finish off Luffy.

The sisters want Luffy to experience ‘despair’ and ‘death’. Sandersonia takes stoned Margaret and threatens to smash her into pieces. This made Luffy angry as he shouts for them not to do that since she is his savior and this is their fight. The sisters tell him that this is an execution and not a duel. Marigold wraps her tail on Luffy while Sandersonia starts tossing Margaret. Luffy shouts that Margaret admires them. Sandersonia says that everyone is like that and Margaret would be happy to die for their sake. Luffy doesn’t believe it. The audience freak out as Margaret is about to be smashed on the floor. Luffy glares at them as he angrily shouts for them to stop. The sisters are shock. Some of the women in the audience have passed out. Luffy is surprised when the sisters let him and Margaret go. He laughs it off and is pleased that they actually listened to him. The audience is shock that Luffy can use the ‘haoushoku’ [king’s color]’s haki. They wonder how it is possible since only one in a million has it. Sandersonia says that aside from her sister, she has not seen anyone who has it. Marigold says that Luffy has the ‘king’s disposition/quality/attribute’. Hancock could not believe that Luffy has it when she thought he looks like an ordinary person. Hancock assures herself that Luffy haven’t mastered it yet. Luffy tells them to quit talking about things that he doesn’t understand. He says that since they are stronger than he expected, he is now going to use full strength. He then does the ‘second gear’ pose. The author just gave Luffy a power up with that special ‘haki’ thing. Hm..I wonder if they will be teaching him how to use it later on after he defeated the sisters. Since Hancock has that ‘haoushouku’ haki and Luffy recognizing the mark on her back, it got me thinking if they are somehow related. ^^; I dismissed that thought since she doesn’t react much when Ace is about to be executed. Also, it seems that ‘haoushouku’ haki isn’t hereditary and I think it is to make others obey orders. Ah..wouldn’t that be like geass? =P Anyway, that just shows that Luffy is destined for greatness. ^^ I think by the end of this arc, Luffy would have also changed the ways of that island just as how he and his crew do in every dictator-type controlled island. =P Slowly and surely, he is changing the world. I think it’s a different interpretation of being a [pirate] king – instead of ruling over people, he is changing the way people think for the better and overthrowing dictators. ^^ Oh ya, I think since Hancock and others are secluded, they still don’t know about Luffy. Hehe I think they would fear him if they learned that he defeated Crocodile and Moria =P

Tsuna manages to absorb some of Genkishi’s flames so he powers up in Katekyo Hitman Reborn! [c. 215]. Tsuna now has the upper hand as he beats up Genkishi. Everyone is surprised by Tsuna’s strength. Reborn says that the difference in strength shouldn’t be that strong. He notes that it seems that Genkishi isn’t concentrating in the fight. Reborn’s observation is true because Genkishi is bothered by the similarity of Tsuna’s eyes with Uni’s. He then remembered his past on swearing loyalty to Byakuran. Flashback: Byakuran wanted proof of his loyalty by asking him to give him the 7 mare rings and Uni’s pacifier. Byakuran suggested that he fake his injuries and kill the others while they are concerned about him. Genkishi did as told but because of Uni telling him that she understood him and that look in her eyes, he wasn’t able to kill them all. End flashback. Genkishi doesn’t want to be swayed by those eyes again since he won’t be forgiven if he didn’t do his duties again. He powers up his ring then shouts that his true loyalty won't be evident [if he wasn't able to defeat Tsuna]. This surprises Tsuna, Reborn and Spanner. Genkishi transformed into a skeleton knight. Irie says that Genkishi has powered up because the hell ring has possessed him. Okay, so will Tsuna be able to defeat a powered up Genkishi. Hm, I wonder if it will toll Genkishi’s body for using it beyond his full power. Hopefully, this fight won’t be long with the two alternating their power-ups. ^^; I’m a bit curious though why Genkishi suddenly wants to change sides and why he thinks of Byakuran as god. Did Byakuran ever do something for him? I don’t think it’s for power else, he’ll just be the boss himself.

In Psyren [c. 44], Shinier reprimands Dholaki for losing his temper. Shinier is interested in Yoshina and warns him about changing since he has that kind of power. Dholaki tried to get Shinier to finish off Yoshina and others but Shinier tells him that is his duty. He takes Dholaki and leaves. Yoshina and others quickly go to their phone booth to return home. In a different siren tower, the commanders are assembling. Shinier tells Junas, second rank about Dholaki’s defeat. In some lab, Caprico is doing some research on a core from one of her experiment worm. Then, Grana, the first rank, is sleeping. When Shinier wakes him up, Grana almost forgot that he summoned everyone. He then whines that only Shinier came to get him so feeling dejected, he asks Shinier to have his job. Shinier tells him not to give up since everyone is there. Well, 5 ranking WISE and 5 protagonists so if they ever fight, it’s the end of this series. =P The villains are quite likeable, well, Shinier and Grana. Except for Dholaki and Junas, they don’t seem evil.

Quote of the day
People come in all sizes, colors, and conditions. Before we set aside those who don't match our personal standards, we need to remind ourselves that our Creator doesn't play favorites. Neither should we. ~ Dave Branon

Random Blahs: Nana [Chapter 78-2] Teaser
Friday, October 24, 2008 @ 10:40 p.m.

[I haven’t seen the scans yet. This is from room 708's winterbell. I think the story will last until next year with its current pacing. Poor Ren.. Edit: That is how the chapter is numbered. Maybe because it can't fit in just one chapter.]

Everyone wants to go where Ren is but only Hachi wants to go where Nana is but she knew that she cannot tell Nana about it. Hachi blames herself for not stopping Ren but Nobu comforts her by telling her that it isn’t her fault. Gin is doing everything he could so that Nana will not watch television. Yasu and Mai are together. Shin is crying and saying that his mother has neglected him while he’s hugging Hachi. In order to confirm the body, Nobu and Takumi go in. After one look, Nobu feels nauseous that he quickly goes out. Takumi didn’t move. He just said one thing, “It’s a miracle that only these two hands are alright.” Reira is happy because of Shin. She is wondering if she is going to wait or is she going to reject him. Her phone rings and it is Naoki who informs her about the sad news.

In the evening, everyone is in Nobu’s family inn where they are going to stay for the night. The funeral is planned to be held in that vicinity. Meanwhile, Nana is still waiting if Ren will come or not. Then, Yasu arrived with crying Mai.

「Sorry」

「I could not think of any way to tell you so that I can save you」

Yasu sobs.

「Ren is dead」

Monologue: My time has stopped.

Faster than A Kiss [Chapter 16]
Friday, October 24, 2008 @ 03:28 p.m.

Narration: “For me, the ‘first time’ is coming soon--” Kazuma arrives home and is greeted by Fumino and Teppei in their Chinese theme cosplay. Fumino is wearing a ‘Chun-Li’ [from Street Fighter] outfit while cute Teppei dresses up as a panda. [Do they rent these clothes or buy them? ^^;] Blushing, Fumino exclaims that since they are eating dumplings for dinner, their theme is Chinese. While hugging Teppei, Kazuma tells her that she is like a character in a fighting game. This shocks Fumino. Kazuma tells her that even so, he is quite satisfied and happy. Narration: “Right now, I’m doing a cosplay for my teacher/sensei-husband...but honestly, I’m not used to this.” Fumino holds up a dumpling with her chopsticks and tries to feed it to Kazuma. She ends up blushing that Kazuma teases her about being embarrassed when she’s the one who’s doing this. He hugs her and tells her to finish what she has started especially since he is now so close to her. This made Fumino blush and shout for him to wait a minute. Kazuma tells her not to force herself so that he won’t be teasing her like that. Fumino shouts that he is infuriating. Since Teppei is already used to this, he just happily eats his dumplings and says that they are delicious.

Narration: “Let me tell you why I’m very excited..” Fumino points to a calendar with the date 22th encircled. Fumino thinks, “There are two more weeks left. It is because on 11/22...sensei’s birthday is coming soon! I recorded it when I saw sensei filled up the marriage form. This is a way of gratitude! Love! As a ‘Wife’, as a ‘family’! This is the best opportunity to give a surprise gift to sensei!” Fumino is all fired up as she imagines giving Kazuma a gift wherein she says, “I love you!!” and he says, “Thank you!!” Fumino looks at the door where Kazuma is doing his work. She wonders what kind of style is the best in giving the gift to Kazuma with her current ability. In school, Fumino is busy thinking. “..but, right now, I still don’t have any idea. I’m not an expert in cooking. It’s impossible for me to learn to bake a cake within two weeks. And buying the ingredients will be quite expensive.” Just when Kazuma is about to tell them the next topic, Fumino loudly slams her elbows on the table with her head buried in her hands. She tries to think as to what kind of gift she should give to Kazuma. This surprises everyone as they wonder what’s up with Fumino. Kazuma is also puzzled.

Later on, she goes to pick up Teppei in his school. Ryu suggests that she work to get the money she needs. Fumino tells him that she couldn’t just leave Teppei all alone by himself. Ryuu offers to help her look after Teppei for two weeks. Fumino asks won’t that be troublesome for him. Ryuu says that it is okay because this is for Kazuma. “Let me help a bit since I had never celebrated Ma-kun [‘s birthday] before.” Teppei tells Fumino that he will help her look after the house. Fumino pats Teppei’s head. So, Ryuu says that it is all decided then. He shouts, “Then, we are going to give Ma-kun a surprise party! Keep this a secret from Ma-kun!” While holding up their fist just like Ryuu, Fumino and Teppei shouts, “Ya!” Narration: “..that’s right. ‘Ask help from others’. This is the best that I can do right now.” While Kazuma is cooking, Kazuma asks, “Study meeting?” Ryuu says, “Right! Fumino said that in order to improve her grades, she will be studying with her friends on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. So during that time, I will be the one taking care of Teppei. Okay?” Ryuu is carrying Teppei who puts his hands on his mouth. Fumino is standing behind Ryuu with a note that she isn’t good at lying so she leaves it all to Ryuu. Kazuma asks, “Whose house is the study meeting going to be held?” Fumino panics and shouts that she will be with Oka and the rest of the volleyball girl members. Kazuma smiles and says, “Really? But don’t come home so late.” Fumino is really nervous as she thinks that she was successful and tomorrow, she would have to tell Oka and others about it. “Ryuu will be helping me find a job.” Teppei cheers Fumino on. The two raise their fist for Fumino to do their best. Teppei happily whispers to Fumino that he also give a gift to Kazuma. Kazuma looks at them and thinks that Fumino is lying and wonders what it is about but he decides to drop it since the two look very happy. Narration: “I’m a bit uneasy about this lying but I’m very excited.”

During lunch break, Fumino bows down and asks her friends to tell the same story about studying together for two weeks. She also tells them not to ask the reason. Oka innocently asks if this has something to do with Ojiro-sensei. This shocks Fumino. She is also blushing really red. Okay happily says, “Bingo.” They then agree not to ask anymore and tell her to do her best. Fumino just thanks them. Narration: “Next, to observe sensei.” In class, while Kazuma is passing some forms, Fumino notices that Kazuma doesn’t have many [business] shirts and neckties. “What color does sensei like? Both color blue and green suit sensei. Does he like imported brands? And thinking like this, made me realize that I don’t know much about sensei..” Retsu smiles and salutes Fumino. He says, “I have heard of it, wife-chan! I heard you need money for your husband. Then, come, sweep this whole floor then earn money for him!” A note said that Ryuu had asked Retsu for help about the job so she is now doing janitorial work. While carrying a pail, Fumino calls him stupid for shouting out loud such unrefined words. So, Fumino busily works and studies, works and studies.. Narration: Hey, sensei, what is that thing that you want?” In a department store, Fumino is busy testing a necktie on Teppei. Shoma asks what she is doing since that necktie she is testing is for adults so she should go to the children’s section. They tell him that it is a birthday gift for Kazuma. Blushing, Shoma asks when it is. Fumino says it is on the 22th. She asks why he doesn’t know when he is Kazuma’s younger brother. Shoma tells her that it is because in Ojirou’s family, they don’t celebrate birthdays. Narration: “A huge cake with candles that corresponds to one’s age and all of one’s favorite foods. Together with all my family in celebrating one’s birthday, my heart feels a special warmth but right now, it is impossible for that to happen again. Sensei, don’t you have that kind of memories? That happy feeling, I want sensei to also feel it.”

When Fumino is moping at the first floor, Kazuma is watching from the window. After work, he has followed her. He wonders why she is working and if it is because she needs money. “Why didn’t she just tell me..” Just then a yakuza [gangster] looking guy holds Kazuma’s shoulder and shouts that he is a hindrance. Kazuma punches him as he thinks that place is not a safe place either. At home, Fumino struggles to study but she is very tired. She has fallen asleep on the study table. She then wakes up to see Kazuma carrying her [princess style] and is about to put her on her futon/bed. Fumino blushes and exclaims if she is heavy. Her heart is beating loudly. Kazuma smiles and tells her that she isn’t. Fumino thinks that this isn’t good for her heart. She is surprised when Kazuma leans to her that his face is directly in front of her. He then asks why she is cleaning a whole building. Fumino panics since Kazuma knew. Kazuma asks why she is hiding from him about her work. “And also, wasn’t that building, Retsu’s? Why didn’t you consult me about this?” Fumino realizes that Kazuma still doesn’t know about the surprise party. In order to keep the secret, she shouts that maybe Kazuma has mistaken her for someone else. Kazuma has this sad-smile expression and says, “..really, sorry then.” He then leaves the room. Fumino feels guilty for making Kazuma show that kind of expression.

In Teppei’s school, Fumino is helping in making paper flowers with Teppei and Ryuu. Fumino tells them that after that, their relationship has been quite bad since she is avoiding him. She laments that she is disappointed with herself since she can’t lie well. “But, the birthday has not been exposed yet. Because it’s a surprise, it will make him happy..but, I want to quickly say, ‘Happy Birthday!’..” Ryuu puts one of the paper flowers on her head and tells her that she is right for it is better if the wife is the first to say ‘Happy Birthday’. This made Fumino blush. Narration: “Sorry sensei. If I didn’t lie then I’ll be the only one who is happy and satisfied.” While Fumino is cleaning, a co-worker notices some ruckus outside. Another co-worker says that lately, there have been a lot of sex maniacs and yakuza being caught/beaten up. Soon, Fumino gets her salary from Retsu and she buys the gift with Teppei. The two happily go home. Narration: “..But, sensei..in a year, it is only once wherein one has the opportunity to have this kind of feeling.” It’s 11/21, 7:00pm. A note is written on the door. “Before 0:00 am, sensei cannot enter inside!” Kazuma is speechless then says, “But this is my house.” He is in a bad mood as Ryuu calls out to him to come inside his house for refuge. He goes in ‘dark mode’ as he grabs Ryuu’s hair and collar. He says, “Then, will you explain to me a bit as to who instigated my wife to work?” Ryuu looks scared as he tells him that he doesn’t know. “Let me say Ma-kun, do you know what day is the 22th?” Kazuma is puzzled. After Kazuma calms down, he says that he doesn’t know. Ryuu thinks that Kazuma doesn’t even know things that concern himself. Kazuma laments that he obviously still hides a lot of things from Fumino yet he doesn’t want Fumino to hide things from him. He thinks that he just wants to keep on cherishing Fumino and as an adult, what he did [confronting Fumino about it] seems very selfish. Kazuma tells Ryuu that he wants to keep on just observing Fumino by his side and like a kid, he wants her attention to be only his. He finds himself quite disappointing and irritating the more he realizes this. Ryuu is laughing at him that Kazuma grabs him and angrily asks why he is laughing. Ryuu says he isn’t but rather he is quite delighted about it. He suggests that they have a drink while he is waiting since doesn’t he want to keep on observing Fumino by his side. Kazuma angrily shouts for him to shut up.

Kazuma’s Narration: “A few days ago, Fumino showed to me her ‘weakness’ and that is a proof of trust.” [That is when Fumino cried and told him that she is lonely without him.] It’s 11/21, 11:59pm. Kazuma heads back to his apartment. Ryuu waves goodbye and says, “See you tomorrow.” Kazuma is puzzled. He enters his house and says, “I’m home.” Narration: “But can I sufficiently not let her down? As ‘family’, I--” He is puzzled to see a lot of paper flowers scattered all over the place. He takes off his shoes and opens the door inside. To his surprise, Fumino, who is wearing a pretty dress, rushes out and hugs him. There is a huge banner greeting him a happy 25th birthday with drawings by Teppei. Blushing, Fumino exclaims, “Sensei—Happy Birthday! I finally said it! I won’t lie again. I’m sorry! I will definitely do better next year!” Kazuma is still wide-eyed as it sinks in that it is actually his birthday. Fumino then gives him his birthday gift. Fumino tells him that Teppei has also prepared a gift for him but it will have to wait until morning. Teppei has already fallen asleep at 10pm. Kazuma wonders what it is. Fumino tells him that it is the reason why she was working. She asks him to open it. Kazuma opens the box and it is a necktie. Blushing, Fumino says that she thinks that it suits Kazuma. She asks if he likes color green. Kazuma still looks stunned that he just says, “Yes, thanks..” Still blushing, Fumino says, “Hey, sensei..For me, today is a special day. Together, we can make this day a beautiful memory. Thank you for being born 25 years ago!” Kazuma is a bit teary-eyed since in all his 25 years of life, such a meaningful day has not happened. “Since before I was always alone and dark that I had lost my self-worth but only because of this light that I was able to live on.” Fumino notices Kazuma’s teary eyes that Kazuma quickly hugs her and tells her not to look. He tells her, “It..it is very good that I was born so that I can meet you. Thank you..Fumino.” Blushing, Fumino says, “Sen..” Kazuma tells her, “No, you should call me ‘Kazuma’” Fumino ends up saying, “Ka Kazu..Kazu Kazu..”

The next day, Teppei apologizes for falling asleep. He then gives Kazuma a portrait using water colors for the first time. Kazuma is moved and thanked him as he looks at the picture. Ryuu and Retsu are laughing that his face looks fat. [I think they are laughing at Kazuma’s expression] Kazuma is embarrassed that he shouts why they are still there. They are all in the dining table. There is a cake with candles on the table. Sitting beside Kazuma, Fumino tells embarrassed Shoma to give his gift. Shoma has not yet prepared his feelings as he holds his gift. Narration: “I will protect them. In the future, I will always protect them. For this special happiness to become a very beautiful memory--” Elsewhere, Kazuma has become an urban legend among yakuza and others. A beaten up guy is holding a drawn picture of Kazuma warning others to quickly run away if they ever see that office worker since he can send someone flying away with just a light touch. Hehe, I think Kazuma has beaten up those yakuza that are near where Fumino works to protect her. =P Anyway, this is such a nice chapter and it is actually a bit the same as Hanayome-sama wa 16 2nd season chapter 1. The female lead works as a janitor secretly in order to buy a surprise gift for her husband. I do find Kazuma’s family strange. Are his parents so busy that they don’t celebrate birthdays? I find it odd especially since they are super rich. Scans by yanyan1110

Quote of the day:
Celebrating a birthday is exalting life and being glad for it. On a birthday, we do not say: 'Thanks for what you did, or said, or accomplished.' No, we say: 'Thank you for being born and being among us.' Celebrating a birthday reminds us of the goodness of life. ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen

Vampire Knight [Chapter 44]
Thursday, October 23, 2008 @ 10:43 p.m.

Kaname is walking from some building when a black mist, which turns into a blood whip [? just like Senri’s weapon], comes near him. Kaname says that they are the same because even if they are turned into residue, they cannot make that unsightly attachment disappear. Meanwhile, Zero is pointing his gun at Yuuki. He feels that his finger is heavy that he can’t fire the trigger. He wonders why he who wanted to end everything would still have an attachment to the past. He thinks it would be better not to remember the past but he did remember. Flashback: Young Yuuki is helping Zero stop scratching his neck until it bled. While holding his hand, she told him that she is there and will stay like that until he is able to forget that vampiress’ touch so he shouldn’t hurt himself like that anymore. He thought that Yuuki’s hand is warm. He said okay but he thinks that he won’t let Yuuki know about it next time. At night, Zero is having a nightmare as he calls out to Ichiru. He realized that Yuuki is outside the door so he called out to her to sleep in her own bedroom. Yuuki opened the door and told him that she is worried since he can’t sleep well. She asked if she can come in. Zero told her that she can since this is her house. Yuuki replied that it isn’t. Zero tried to sleep but he couldn’t because of the feelings of insanity that he is trying to suppress. He is surprised when Yuuki patted his head to help him sleep. She told him that someone did that to her before. Zero managed to fall asleep as he thought that warm hand has supported him.

Later on, Zero met Kaname, a pureblood vampire, who is admired by Yuuki, a human girl. After Kaname put his hand on Yuuki’s head, Yuuki happily pulled him in the room. Later on, Zero doesn’t want to be touched by Yuuki’s hand that has also touched Kaname. Yuuki brought some bandages for Zero but Zero told her to just leave it. He looked at the mirror while he is removing the bandages on his neck. He wondered why he is so irritated – is it because of seeing a pureblood or is it the possibility that person who taught her to be empathetic and loving is a pureblood. He then noticed that his scratched wounds heal fast and wondered if it is because of that. He then angrily smashed the mirror with his bare hands. This made Yuuki enter the room to check on him. She held his hand and tried to pull his hand from the broken mirror so that he won’t be badly injured. Zero pulled his hand from her and shouted for her not to touch him. This injured Yuuki’s hand. Zero starts to shake upon seeing Yuuki’s blood that he asked Yuuki to call the president. After Yuuki left, Zero realized that he wasn’t human anymore when he smelled Yuuki’s blood because he felt hungry. He thought that it isn’t the same as his own blood or Kaname’s. When Kaien entered the room, Zero told him that he wanted to become stronger in order not to lose to himself and vampires. Later on, Zero saw Yuuki sleeping in the table. Zero thought that she is sleeping because she has been taking care of him every night. Yuuki woke up and asked if he is okay. Zero apologized for injuring her hand. Yuuki told him that it’s okay for it is just a small wound and it’s good that Zero has calmed down. Yuuki almost slip that she is actually afraid. Zero apologized. Yuuki told him that she was afraid just like when that vampire that attacked her before. Zero tried to tell Yuuki something but Yuuki kept on talking about Zero experiencing the same scary thing so he would hate it when she is close with Kaname-sama who is a vampire. Yuuki tries to hold his hand but he wouldn’t. He thought that it isn’t as Yuuki thought but rather that he would someday become that scary vampire she is scared of.

Zero is actually afraid but to his surprise, Yuuki hugged him. Yuuki told him that if he found a peaceful place, no matter if he encountered something scary, it will be alright. She also told him not to be afraid. Then, when that fearful day came, Yuuki still stood by his side. He doesn’t want to seek that hand that held him together and gave him peace. Her sincere eyes haven’t changed for they still gave him strength and support. End flashback. Zero thinks that right now, Yuuki still look at him with those eyes. He can’t seem to bear to look at her that he looks away and asks why she doesn’t move. He shouts that right now, it doesn’t matter to him if he killed her there. He thinks that hope has already disappeared from the future so why do Yuuki and Ichiru still want him to live. So, the chapter ended up being a reason for Zero not to kill Yuuki. =P Someone even teased if he doesn’t get tired from holding that ‘pointing gun pose’. Anyway, for a while there, I suddenly thought of Naruto. Well, Zero does seem like Sasuke. There is the theme of ‘bonds/attachment’ and ‘revenge’. That flashback seems to be the final piece since it showed to us when Zero learned that he became a vampire and somehow got over it with thanks to Yuuki. Actually, I was thinking that the way Yuuki takes care of Zero, it reminds me of how a mom comforts a scared kid. Hehe, Zero was the favorite kid so maybe he also warmed up to her because she reminds him of his mom. =P I’m actually entertaining bad thoughts like what if Rido is still alive and attacked them while they are doing that face/stand-off. Speaking of Rido, was that mist-blood whip thingie near Kaname, Rido? I also wonder if Kaname is talking about him and Rido or him and Zero about having an attachment. If Zero kills Yuuki then that’s the end of the story and he would be a really ungrateful guy. If Zero doesn’t kill Yuuki because of his attachment with her in the past for all the things she did for him, then Kaname’s gamble is a success. He did tell Zero before that there is no way for Zero to betray Yuuki. It is indeed dangerous to ‘raise’ a powerful vampire hunter for that person might try to kill someone whom he loves and that is Yuuki. Since Kaname’s philosophy seems to be ‘start them young or teach them while they are young’ so I guess that is why he let Zero get close to Yuuki. =P Scans from Notalk

Quote of the day:
If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them. ~ Dalai Lama

The One [Chapter 52]
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 05:50 p.m.

Narration: “Someone said that New York is a cold city but every weekend nights of New York, it is filled with warmth atmosphere all over the place.” Lele sneezes as she rubs her arms to keep herself warm. She is waiting in the streets for Eros. She thinks, “Oh no, I forgot to bring a coat. The weather is becoming cooler. Why didn’t he call yet? If he really isn’t going to come then he should at least call me about it.” At the set, Eros notices that his mobile phone has run out of batteries. He thinks, “Forget it! It’s alright! It’s already past 9 o’ clock so she should know that there’s no need to wait and she would have just gone home. She shouldn’t be so stupid to do this..” Back to Lele, she is blushing as she is surrounded by kissing lovers. She thinks that New York becomes more beautiful as it grows late at night. She then notices a guy proposing to his girlfriend in the streets with people shouting, clapping and throwing confetti. A clown is giving out flowers. He gives a rose to Lele while saying, “A weekend’s happiness! Cute miss! It’s a flower which symbolizes ‘happiness.’” Holding the rose, she looks surprised at first but then, she realizes what he meant when she saw the two lovers kissing. She smiles and thinks that it is really joyous.

At the set, Eros and others have finally finished their work. Everyone bid each other goodbye. Leo calls Lele but she isn’t answering. This made Leo shout out loud as to what Lele is doing since she isn’t home yet. This surprises Eros who overheard him. Eros remembers Lele telling him that she will be waiting until he comes. He thinks, “That girl..no way?!” At a nearby stage, a man shouts, “Do you want to shout out your love confession? Do you want to loudly scold your cold-hearted supervisor a bastard? You can do that by standing on this stage and you can shout out your feelings to your heart’s content! Let us welcome our first contestant..” In a corner, Lele is freezing. She laments that she is cold and hungry. “How much longer would I have to wait? Five hours have already passed and I only got one phone call from Leo. Sorry Leo! It isn’t that I deliberately do not want answer your call but..” Lele is surprised when she heard someone shouts, “Darley! You two-timing bastard! I hate you..” Another person shouts, “Obama, I support you!!” A woman shouts, “Save me ~~” A guy shouts, “Stock market don’t fall down again~~!” Lele looks at them bewildered as the audience cheer for the constestants. She then asks a woman what is going on. The woman tells her that this is ‘XX Burger King’ shoutfest contest and if you participate, you’ll get a free burger meal. Lele starts drooling because she is really hungry. The woman also tells her that the winner will get a free one month’s worth of meal coupons.

While Eros is busy looking for her, Lele raises up her hand that she wants to join after the announcer asks if anyone still wants to join. Holding the megaphone, Lele thinks, “What should I shout? For the whole night, I have been cold and hungry that I really want to explode! But..because it is that person! So, I’ll believe-- ” Lele deeply inhales. Eros looks up when he heard Lele shouting onstage. She shouts, “Silver-eye monster! Until when are you going to make me wait!? Come here quickly~~!!” Lele closes her eyes after she finished shouting but when she opens them, she is surprised to see Eros right in front of her. She becomes excited that she shouts, “You’ve come!” This made the people look at the person whom she is addressing. This surprises Eros who sweatdrops since everyone looks at him with wide-eyed. [It’s such a funny scene] It embarrasses Eros as he wonders what’s up with Lele. He then walks onstage. There are people holding up their mobile phones to take a picture because they think that Eros is looks familiar and maybe he is that famous model. Lele is still on stage. Lele is surprised when Eros grabs her hand and carries her on his shoulder. He shouts what she is doing there and why isn’t she going down stage yet. As Eros tries to take her away, Lele shouts for him to wait. That pose made more people take their picture. Lele shouts, “Wait!! My burger meal ~~!!” The announcer is carrying a burger meal box and calls out, “Miss, your..”

Somewhere else, Lele is happily eating her hamburger while Eros accompanies her. Eros shouts, “Didn’t I tell you not to wait for me and just go ahead and eat?” Eros thinks, “It seems that she can no longer endure her hunger that is why she joined that stupid contest. Geez! In my whole life, I have never been so embarrassed..” While drinking, Lele happily answers, “How can I eat by myself on a date? That won’t be romantic!” Eros is aghast as he angrily shouts, “Like this, right now, is it romantic? What if I didn’t come!” He is surprised when Lele happily tells him, “There is no way for you not to come! I know that you will definitely come! Even if, later on, I wasn’t able to contact your phone, but I still know that you’ll come!” Eros looks nervous as he asks, “Why?” Lele then says, “Because there’s no way for you to just leave me be and not care! Every time I’m quite distress, you would always come like a prince on a white horse even if your face has this ‘reluctant’ look on it.” Eros angrily says, “But I’m really reluctant!” He thinks, “What do you mean prince on a white horse? Aren’t you disgusted by that?” Lele makes a cute face and says, “And also..sorry for mentioning this..in a dream, my grandma told me that you are my ‘guardian angel’.” Eros sweatdrops and is speechless. He then says, “Really? But today I really want to stand you up so I closed the phone.” Lele looks aghast as she exclaims, “What? No way?” Eros sighs for always getting involved with her. [Ah, I’m not too sure about that last sentence. ^^;]

Eros stands up and tells her that they are going since she already finished eating. Lele asks where they are going. Eros tells her, “Home!” Lele exclaims, “Ha? We’re going home already?” Eros tells her that he still has work in the morning. Lele looks sad [lose hope] so she just agrees. Eros looks at her then turns away. He then says, “Perhaps tomorrow..” This perks Lele up. She quickly follows him then the two noticed that it is snowing. Holding her rose, Lele thinks, “It’s snowing! This is the first time that I’ve encountered snow in New York..no wonder it is so cold today..” Lele shivers. To her surprise, Eros put his coat on her. He tells her that next time, she should pay attention to the weather before going out. “A model’s body is an asset!” Lele blushes. Holding out her hand to him, she says, “But, my hand is also cold~~” She cries as she looks quite pitiful. Eros holds her hand as he tells her not to push her luck too much. While walking in the snow, Lele thinks, “Grandma..the truth is that this isn’t really like a date’s date, right?..but..my heart feels quite warm. It is the first time I notice that Yin’s hand is big and warm-- and I..started to cling [get attached/came to like] this warmth!” Soon, they have arrived home [since Eros is now wearing his coat]. Lele offers him the rose. Eros asks what it is. A note says that he doesn’t like flowers. Eros is surprised when Lele happily tells him that it is a flower that can bring happiness. To his surprise, Lele kisses him on the cheek and says, “Thank you for tonight! Silver-eyed monster!” This made Eros angrily shout, “Hey..you!” Lele makes a face [sticks out tongue and pulls the corner of her eye] and shouts, “A date has ‘a beginning and an end’!” She then happily waves goodnight as she leaves. Eros is aghast while he sweatdrops. He thinks, “That girl..” then he looks at the flower that Lele gave him.

It is snowing that night. Soon, it’s morning. Angus is fast asleep. An Bai goes in the room and grabs a blanket[? Angus is still in the blanket ^^;]. She shouts for Angus to wake up. Angus wakes up and asks her what’s up so early in the morning. An Bai throws a magazine on the bed. It is opened to an article which has a picture of Eros carrying Lele but the title is, “Angus New Love”. Angus is surprised as he looks at the magazine. An Bai says, “Your brother is in the gossip entertainment page!” So, that ends their first ‘date’. I’m actually really amused because it’s like Lele is the ‘male’ in the date. She initiated the date, she is the one waiting for Eros [usually girls are late in stories] and she is the one who gives the flower and the goodbye kiss. =P Hehe, Eros just couldn’t resist her. I wonder if it’s in Lele’s genes because this is somewhat similar to how her mother got her father. At least, Lele gets to show that she is serious when she said that she’ll wait for him. I think it’s a romantic touch when she believes that he will come. So about the cliffhanger, a lot of things can happen with that. I think the media didn’t know that Angus got a haircut. Actually, I think that it might be exposed later on that it wasn’t Angus because a lot of people saw him with short hair in that ZAC party. Also, I think Lele shouted in English so wouldn’t they realize that Lele called out ‘silver-eyed’ and isn’t it already a clue? Actually, what would Angus think of Lele who got her brother whom he adores into the gossip page? Could it affect her work with Angus? What about Eros? How will he react? That also includes Lele and Leo. Anyway, I think it is good publicity for their ZAC photo shoot. ^^ The author never fails to amaze me, I wonder what she will do with this development. We will know soon what happened next because the next chapter will be out on November 5th in Taiwan ^^ Scans by Yukiru.

Quote of the day:
Anything worth having is worth waiting for ~ Author Unknown

Random Blahs: Vampire Knight [Chapter 44] + Kaichou wa Maid-sama [Chapter 31] Teaser
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 @ 02:00 p.m.

Disclaimer: These are all from gougouzhizuozu forum’s 镜花水月 who had bought Lala and I have not seen the scans yet.

Well, the truth is there is not much information about VK chapter 44 but anyway, this is what 镜花水月 wrote. “Nothing special happened. It started with Zero pointing his gun at Yuuki then the rest is just Zero remembering some memories that concern Yuuki. Zero x Yuuki fans would probably like it very much because we haven’t seen much of those Zero-Yuuki childhood scenes.” Since 镜花水月 is a Kaname fan, she laments that there are only 4-5 pages of him in this chapter. According to her, Volume 9 cover is Yuuki X Kaname X Zero and in 8, there is a page for the novel illustration of Kain and Ruka who is super beautiful. In the next Lala, it will be giving out a calendar for next year and it includes a picture of the Kuran family – Kaname, Yuuki, Juri and Yuu. I got the scan below from baidu’s白花苜蓿. I think the scan is really from notalk.bbs.com.

Since she wrote about KWMS chapter 31, I’ll mention it here, too. In the last chapter, I think Hinata already knows that Misaki works in the maid café. According to 镜花水月, something major has happened in chapter 31. “It started with Usui getting a letter. He looks very unhappy that he destroyed it. Later on, Misaki and friends go to Yumesaki[?] Academy’s cultural festival. It is Sakura’s idea. It seems that Sakura likes the four member band/orchestra of that school. [She said it was mentioned before. I have no idea since I just browsed through the other chapters ^^;] Of course, Usui is with them. When Misaki asked why he is going, Usui looks as if he is going to cry which is cute. The two go to a fortune teller and in the end, they are told that there is no future for them. From Usui’s expression, he is bothered by it. Misaki tries to comfort him and even said, “I will not leave you.” ^^ Later on, they joined other games which are usually for lovers, probably to test their bond. In the end, it seems that Usui is going to tell Misaki things about him.”

Random Blahs: The One [Chapter 52] Teaser
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 @ 10:38 p.m.

This is a short synopsis on what happened. ^^ I’ll write the full summary tomorrow. Lele stubbornly waits for Eros to finish but Eros thinking it’s late so Lele would have probably gone home. Then, there is a street marriage proposal where Lele is waiting. A clown gives her a rose which symbolizes ‘happiness’. Soon, Eros work has finished. Eros overheard Leo screaming that Lele has not gone home yet. Eros can’t believe that Lele is waiting for him. Lele is freezing in the cold and she is really hungry. She then hears someone cursing someone. She wonders what it is about. She asks some people who have gathered around. It is a ‘shouting contest’ sponsored by ‘Burger King’ wherein those who participates will get a burger meal. Lele joins just as Eros is currently looking for her. On stage, Lele shouts about silver-eyed monster making her wait for so long and he should come quickly. When Lele opens her eyes, Eros is in front of her. Fate? ^^ She then exclaims that he has arrived. Eros doesn’t look good when everyone is staring at him. He goes up stage and tries to take her away but Lele screams for him to wait because she wants her burger meal.

Later on, Lele happily eats her meal while Eros accompanies her. Eros angrily tells her why she waited. Lele tells him that it is because she knew he would come because he is always there when she is in distress. To her shock, Eros tells her that he almost stood her up. After eating, Eros tells Lele that they are going home because he has work early in the morning. Lele gives up and just agrees. To her surprise, Eros says, “Maybe tomorrow.” It is soon snowing. Eros put his coat on her and tells her to take care of her body as a model. Lele cries and says that her hand is also cold. This forces Eros to hold her hand. =P It is time for them to part. Lele gives him the flower to him and then kisses him on the cheek to thank him. Eros can only sweatdrop. The next day, An Bai wakes up Angus and shows him a magazine photo of Eros and Lele but the article mistakes Eros for Angus since the title is Angus New Love.

Skip Beat! [Chapter 130]
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 @ 10:13 p.m.

The chapter starts with what happened in the last chapter but this time, from Chiori’s point of view. Rumi has told her about Kyouko being different since she gives a ‘Miss Natsu’ feeling. When Chiori sees Kyouko’s ‘Natsu’, she is stunned. She thinks that this isn’t the Natsu that she is expecting for she has been hoping that Kyouko would be powerless in showing her opinion. Then, Chiori perks up when Makino starts accusing Kyouko of losing the bow and not looking for it. Chiori notices the smile on Kyouko’s face. It feels like it can freeze her. Kyouko then says that maybe it’s true and maybe she should look for it. Kyouko starts walking towards Makino. Makino steps back a bit when Kyouko is already in front of her. Everyone looks tense. Kyouko says that what if she did all of those and still wasn’t able to find it. Makino is surprised when Kyouko holds her bow. To everyone’s shock [their mouths are all open], Kyouko rips the bow from Makino. Holding the bow, Kyouko says, “At this time..you..” Makino looks really scared that she turns away [maybe she thinks that Kyouko would slap her or she can’t face her] from Kyouko. Kyouko just drops her bow on the floor. To Makino’s surprise, Kyouko also opens up Makino’s blouse and make it like hers. Kyouko says, “..can also do this, right? Because we are ‘friends’, right? We are a ‘same group/groupie’. [Friends = same look]” Kyouko then calls out to the director and asks him if it looks good for her to be with ‘Kaori’ [Makino’s role] like that and if not, she’ll just look for her bow again. Makino looks scared as Kyouko leans on her and puts her head on Makino’s shoulder. The director says, “No.”

The assistant director thinks that it turns out to be a ‘no’ and maybe he was the only one who thought it was ‘cool’. The director tells the assistant director that it really won’t do because of ‘Yumika’. That is Chiori’s role. The assistant director agrees that Chiori looks out of place in ‘Natsu’ Kyouko’s group. The director says it’s like Kyouko and Makino are triangles, Makino’s friend is square but Chiori is circle. The girls are puzzled at what the director said. The director calls Chiori and tells her that it seems that she can’t change her appearance [no bow] because she doesn’t match with the other three girls. Chiori is shock. The assistant director asks the director if he will do with the look that ‘Natsu’ [Kyouko] has decided on. The director admits that it looks good since it will make the bullying scenes more heart-gripping. This shocks Chiori further. Makino’s friend begins to wonder if they would have to re-take the scenes before. She can’t determine if the director is really great or not. While the director talks with Chiori, Makino’s friend and Rumi notice that Makino is looking at Kyouko. Makino tells Kyouko that she definitely knew about the bow so why didn’t she say anything about it. Rumi is totally clueless about this. Makino’s friend looks tense. Kyouko tells her that if she did that then the director would definitely scold her. “Since I’m the only one whom you bullied then I’m the only one who should be scolding you. I don’t want others to interfere in our affairs because you are my friend. If you are in this situation, you would also not quickly sell out your friend.” Kyouko sighs and tells Makino whom she addresses as Kaori that they should act based on their feelings and since they have temporarily calmed down, she wants to understand her feelings and thoughts. Kyouko slightly smiles at her. This surprises Makino and it seems Makino went into character because of that flash in her eye.

Somewhere else, Chiori slams the chair and sits down. She is quite frustrated and angry while her manager, Yoshimoto, tries to calm her down. Yoshimoto assures her that surely Chiori will think of something even if she can’t understand what the director meant by triangles and circles. She says maybe the director wants her to be a bit mature type since Chiori is a cute type. Chiori doesn’t reply so Yoshimoto offers to go get a drink for her. Chiori remembers her talk with the director. Flashback: Chiori had asked if it is okay that Kyouko didn’t follow the director in making ‘Natsu’ like ‘Mio’. The director said that he wasn’t happy at first since he is the director but seeing that, it is much suitable to the role than he had imagined. The director laughed and admitted that he is actually surprised. End flashback. Chiori couldn’t believe at how fast the director has recovered to his original state. She calls him stupid and having no pride as a director since he said before that he is going to crush quickly crush Kyouko’s pride if she goes against his wishes. Chiori remembers again what the other things that the director said about Natsu’s friends is a ‘groupie’ that has the same thinking in life and in everything else. He told her that he wants ‘Yumika’ to also give out that feeling of being like ‘Natsu’. “It’s like a feeling of a ‘bang’ or a ‘clang’. Chiori angrily hits the table with her fists since she cannot understand what the director meant. She is frustrated that she now has to deal with this. She is pressured because the director told her to come out with something tomorrow since she is a newbie like Kyouko. Chiori clenches her fists and grinds her teeth in anger. She blames everything to Kyouko for making that kind of ‘Natsu’. There is a scene of ‘Natsu’ Kyouko laughing over what ‘Kaori’ Makino said. Looking really angry, Chiori thinks, “Kyouko, I won’t forgive you.”

So, Chiori got the tables turn on her. Kyouko unintentionally made her the ‘odd man out’ in their group. She is now in the predicament where Kyouko was earlier. Unlike Kyouko, Chiori isn’t interested in thinking about what she should do to change her acting but rather, she is intent on destroying the source of her predicament. Since Chiori is a backstabber, I’m sure she will be planning something later on. I’m wondering if it will be exposed because I was thinking maybe it would be nice to add a ‘backstabber’ in Natsu’s group. =P Well, I’m not sure if it will go with the plot of the drama. I think Kyouko will not be easily beaten by whatever Chiori is planning on how to get back at Kyouko since the others are now on her side. I begin to wonder why the author is developing Chiori like what she thinks, etc. Will she be Kyouko’s rival in showbiz? A rival who do dirty tricks just like Kanae’s rival in acting before? Anyway, Kyouko manages to score points with Makino and friend. Since Kyouko kept on addressing her as Kaori and acting as Natsu, I think it helps her to easily get in the role. After all, Makino prides herself as being an actress. Kyouko also got the director’s approval. Hehe, the director tends to think in an abstract way so I guess they don’t quite get what he means. It seems the director is inherently nice and everything that he can be easily swayed by what Chiori said before but he isn’t that stubborn to change his opinion if he thinks something is better. Scans by Alicia

Quote of the day:
Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? ~ Abraham Lincoln

Teppen! [Chapter 4]
Monday, October 20, 2008 @ 08:03 p.m.

Looking at a magazine photo of herself and Takeru, Kobato thinks that this is really suitable for the summer weather because it makes one feel hot. Narration: “Hello, Everyone! My name is Uehara Kobato, 16 years old and future idol.” The magazine is called ‘date’. She exclaims loudly that she is in the same page as Takeru. This made Takeru kick her on the head and says “You’re very troublesome.” Takeru just came out of the shower[?]. Narration: “This violent guy is Shijou Takeru, 18 years old. Even though his face looks handsome, his personality is quite temperamental. He is my sempai at work, my roommate at the dorm and my rival. He’s also the only one who knows my secret. So what could be Uehara Kobato’s, who is one of the male idols being groomed by E3, secret? I’m a girl.” Kobato turns around while holding her head in pain. She is puzzled when Takeru darkly looks at her and says, “And also..” He kicks her again as he exclaim why is she being obscene and that just by wearing his polo shirt makes her look strange.

Kobato is puzzled as to what makes it look obscene. She tells him that it is hot so she wearing it. “It is better than a t-shirt.” Takeru shouts that isn’t the problem. Kobato tells him that she is already wearing shorts. She shows it to him. Takeru angrily grabs her wrist and reminds her that he has told her before that he doesn’t want to see her legs. He sighs and it would have been better if she acts a bit like a girl. Kobato blushes and tells him that didn’t he said if she acted like a girl, he will quickly drive her away. He let goes of her wrist and says, “So I had said that you are quite troublesome.” Kobato is puzzled. Narration: “When my mother had passed away, I had become an orphan. For the reason of looking for my lost brother, I went from New York to Japan. Then, I was mistaken for a boy and got entered in an audition and got chosen. In order to get close to my brother who works in the television industry, I have decided to do my best in showbiz.”

At the president’s office, the president gives the two their fan mails. Kobato is surprised while Takeru doesn’t react. [He’s probably used to it.] The president happily tells them that there have been many phone calls from media asking about their background and when they will come out [photos/do other works] again. To the two’s surprise, the president tells them that the most frequent question is if the two of them are going to debut as a duo. Narration: “Media is really great. The response to the ‘apology to the public relations’ is quite huge that the two of us are unexpectedly recognized as a duo. Since then, there are photo shoots and dance performance only for the two of us.” In another photo shoot, the staff is blushing over how good they look together. The people are saying that even if the two are not the same but together, they are a match and wonder if it is because their relationship is quite good. During the lunch break of the photo shoot, the president informs the two that the dress rehearsal in the afternoon has been delayed until tomorrow so it’s already a wrap up for the day. Takeru perks up and asks if they can take a break in the afternoon. Kobato is also really happy because ever since she went to Japan, she has been always practicing, working and studying. She feels like she has not rested sufficiently. Takeru says that he is going out to buy something. The president says that is good so why don’t he bring Kobato along. This surprises Kobato.

Takeru asks the president why he has to do that. The president takes a mail among the fan mails and reads from a fan that she used to be scared of Takeru but seeing how he treated Kobato that way, she now supports him. [I guess the president is telling Takeru that he owes Kobato]. This shocks Takeru. The president tells Takeru that it seems Kobato wasn’t able to have any fun. “She can’t quite read Japanese. She still doesn’t know her way around. Just making her go on her own during her break, makes me uneasy. Isn’t it so, sempai. ♥ Don’t escape.” The president grabs Takeru before he runs off. Takeru darkly thinks that he really can’t take this president. Takeru turns around to look at Kobato who perks up. He sighs and tells her that there is no choice and tells her to buy some clothes. “Don’t wear my clothes as if you’re doing cosplay. I’ll accompany you.” Kobato blushes and she is very happy because it has been a long time since she has gone out. Kobato shouts that she is going to change her clothes. Takeru tells her to wear something so that she won’t be recognized. Kobato goes into the dressing room of the set and look around the costumes and wigs.

Later on, Takeru is waiting outside. He looks her direction when Kobato apologizes about being late. He looks shock upon seeing Kobato wearing a girl’s outfit and a long wig. He’s so shock that he dropped the bag he is carrying. Kobato exclaims what he is doing. Kobato is puzzled when Takeru asks if she is Kobato. A couple of guys pass by and wonders about the cute girl and if she is a newbie. Kobato becomes more puzzled when Takeru bends down on his knees and sighs heavily. Takeru just says that she is really troublesome. He stands up again and tells her that she just made others pay more attention to her because of her outfit. Kobato is shock as she tells him that didn’t he told her to wear something so that she won’t be recognized so she wore something that is the opposite of what she usually wears. Takeru tells her that wearing a hat and glasses would have been enough. Kobato becomes uneasy. Blushing, she tells Takeru that she’ll go change because this is the first time she is wearing such a light, flowing outfit that she is uneasy with it. She feels that she wore something wrong when people kept on staring at her on her way to see him. Takeru then asks about her wearing it for the first time. This embarrasses Kobato. She explains that it is because she has always been wearing those boyish clothes at work and they are just her brother’s leftover clothes so maybe these light and floating clothes don’t suit her. [I wonder if there’s an error here because how did she knew that those are her brother’s clothes? Maybe she is guessing since she only knew of his existence when her mother is dying.]

Takeru asks if she is working to pay for the treatment of her mother’s illness. This surprises Kobato. She tells him that is one reason and the other is to show to her mother that she’s okay. “Early on, my mother already knew that her illness has no cure so she is always worrying. It’s alright. Even if my mother is no longer here, I will still do my best to work and do my best to live on. I want to show to my mother so that she can be at ease.” There’s a scene of Kobato showing to her sick mother her salary from her work. Kobato happily tells Takeru that before, she used to work alone and she finds it quite fulfilling but working with someone else, it is really not the same since she finds it more fun. Takeru stares at her speechless then looks away before saying, “..really.” This made Kobato angrily shout at him about his reaction when she just said such embarrassing things. Blushing a bit, Takeru turns around and tells her that such flowing, light clothes suit her. This made Kobato blush and asks if he ate something wrong [because he is acting nice.] This made Takeru hit her head and tells her that they should get going.

Soon, they went shopping for clothes. When Kobato gets bump by someone while they are walking, Takeru pulls her close to him. He blushes a bit. Kobato thinks that she is very strange because all throughout, her face won’t stop blushing. They then decided to drink something at a restaurant. Takeru buys the drinks while Kobato waits for him at the seats outside. She notices Takeru coming. She mentally comments about Takeru’s long limbs, small face and even if he is lanky, he is quite used to it. She also comments to herself that his sharp eyes are really different from others. She perks up and sweatdrops as she thinks that just with a hat, it is not enough to disguise Takeru since a lot of women behind him are looking at him. Takeru looks at her and becomes irritated. He thinks Kobato is really troublesome because of all the guys who are looking at her from behind her. He puts the drinks on the table then sits down. Takeru glares at the other guys. The guys get scared and back away since they think Takeru is her boyfriend. Takeru sighs and angrily thinks that he has won. He thinks that they are idiots for not knowing that Kobato usually wears men clothes. He then wonders why he is so angry.

While drinking, Kobato calls out to him. Takeru asks what it is. Kobato pinches his cheek and asks why he is angry. Takeru takes her hand off his face and blushes a bit. He thinks that she is just a brat. Kobato then pinches both of his cheeks and tells him to smile because the girls are looking at him. This made Takeru angry. He grabs her hand and angrily tries to explain but they freeze when they overheard the others talking. “Ah..they are holding hands.” “So, it’s a date.” “No way, Shijou-kun has a girlfriend. I’m shock.” Kobato and Takeru look shock then quickly let go of each other’s hand since others think they are on a date and she is his girlfriend. Takeru gets his drink and tells Kobato that they are leaving. Takeru is walking so fast that Kobato shouts for him to wait. She didn’t notice a door opening that she hits someone who is going out of the door. Takeru looks back when Kobato shouts that it hurts. His eyes widen because it is Iori. Iori asks Kobato if she is okay. Iori is there together with the other three members of TOPZ. Kobato wonders why Iori is there. Kobato narrates a bit about Fujishima Iori who is beautiful and is a part of the young top group, TOPZ. “He came out in showbiz together with Takeru and their relationship should be good and well..but then maybe not.” Kobato becomes nervous as she wonders what she should do in case Iori realize that she is wearing girl clothes. Iori tells the others that he hits Kobato when he opened the door.

Kobato is surprised when Takeru pulls Kobato from Iori and says, “What are you doing? Let’s go.” Iori is surprised to see Takeru. The mood suddenly became dark. The three TOPZ guys exclaim that it is Takeru and asks what he is doing there. Takeru tells them that he is on a break. They ask if he is on a date with his girlfriend. Takeru angrily thinks that everyone thinks that way. Takeru just says that they are on date and since it is their break, they are going and sorry for disturbing them. This made Kobato blush and exclaim to Takeru what is he saying. Takeru quickly covers her mouth and tells her not to talk else she’ll be exposed. “Just go along with what I’m doing.” Iori is looking at them. The three TOPZ guys ask Takeru to introduce her to them because she is cute and what is their love story. One of TOPZ’s members likes cute things. Pointing to Kobato, Takeru says he can’t because that lady is easily embarrassed. The other TOPZ guys are saying that Takeru is so arrogant. Kobato is shock by what he said that she dropped her shopping bag. Iori picks up the bag and is about to give it to Kobato when he asks if she is Kobato-kun. This made Kobato really nervous and wonders how he knew. Iori asks again if she is Kobato. Kobato just closes her eyes and thinks that she has been exposed so what she should do. She is trembling that Iori holds her hand is about to put the bag on her hand. Iori says, “..It seems..you..” Kobato looks at him and wonders what now. Takeru slaps Iori’s hand away and takes the bag. Takeru says, “Don’t use your hand to touch her.” This made Kobato blush and Iori surprised. Takeru says, “Don’t mistake a person’s woman for a guy [Kobato]. Idiot. We are going to continue our da~~te. Goodbye.” The other TOPZ guys are surprised that Takeru is quite possessive and wasn’t the persistent with others before. “He has changed.” This made Iori smile. While Takeru and Kobato are about to leave, Iori tells Takeru to go to HM Music Company at 16:00. “Together with your GIRLFRIEND.”

Kobato is puzzled by what Iori said. She then calls out to Takeru to put her down and where are they going. In a small alley, Takeru pins her on the wall. His hat fell on the floor. He seriously asks why Iori knows and as to why he would doubt she is she. “Is there any reason to it?” Kobato thinks that he looks quite scary. She tells him that she doesn’t know. She then remembers the time when she fell down the stairs and Iori caught her. She exclaims loudly that maybe it could be that. Takeru asks what it is. She tells him that she has fallen down the stairs and Iori was at the bottom. “For just a moment, he has caught me by hugging me.” She is surprised when Takeru suddenly hugs her. This made Kobato blush as she exclaims what he is doing. She shouts for him to let her go. Takeru says that he has to do this in order to believe. He cannot believe that by just hugging, Iori knew especially since her chest is – [flat]. This made Kobato embarrassed as she angrily shouts for him to let her go. Takeru then tells her that when he entered EGG, he is a duo together with Iori. Kobato says that she has heard others say about it. He tells her that their relationship is very good and their work went smoothly that one can believe that they are going to debut together. “But within TOPZ, my name isn’t there. For this to happen is common. It’s logical that everyone would want to get ahead. I can’t say that whoever comes out first is either a traitor or scoundrel. I do know this a bit but to be honest, I don’t want to team up with anybody and perhaps because I can’t let down my guard on anyone.”

Kobato asks if he can work enthusiastically if he is alone. Takeru says, “..forget it. Because you are with me..that is the reason.” Kobato blushes as she realizes that is why Takeru teamed up with her. Kobato covers her face from him that Takeru puzzledly asks why she is doing that. Kobato says that it is because she doesn’t want to show her face to him. She is still blushing. Takeru is surprised then smiles. He asks her to show it to him. Kobato tells him she doesn’t want to. Then, he keeps on insisting as Kobato shouts for him not to look. Kobato thinks that today is really strange. They then overheard some screaming girls about a mini-concert by TOPZ for their new single. Takeru wonders out loud if that is what Iori mentioned earlier. They watch together with the audience. Kobato tells Takeru about his hat. Takeru says that he’ll get it later on after he watched them [TOPZ]. Looking at TOPZ, Takeru says, “Don’t think that I will always be looking at you down below.” Narration: “What suppressing strength. Even if alone, one can still fight. This kind of thinking has produced a strength that is like the summer’s weather. It makes one feel hot. Let’s combine our strength. Progress together as we go up.” Takeru and Kobato look at each other then hold hands. On the way back, they are still holding hands. Flustered and blushing Kobato exclaims to Takeru, “Let me tell you clearly that this isn’t a date! Do you understand?!” Flustered and blushing Takeru exclaims back, “~~Of..of course, I know! You better not make any misunderstanding!”

Ah, this chapter is super cute and nice. The two’s relationship has improved and obviously, they are falling for each other but they are still in a state of denial. Even if they deny it, for me, it seems like they are on a date. Hehe, they look together especially in their photos. I wonder if Iori knew she is a girl because of the time when she fell down or aside from that, it is because normally, Takeru won’t team up with any guy. I guess with a girl, Takeru has lowered down his guard in trying to outshine the other. Takeru has finally told his past to Kobato and with that talk, I think it can help strengthen their relationship. Hehe, a major factor though is Iori who is either intentionally or unintentionally helping them along. I wonder if he invited them in order to challenge them as an encouragement. It seems that Takeru has a soft spot about Kobato’s sick mother. Could he be the brother? The way he is protecting her can also be interpreted as a brother protecting a sister. I wonder if they would debut in the next chapter. The pacing of the story is quite good and I guess it is that way since this series comes out once every two months. So, if the author goes on a break..it will be a long wait for the next one. Anyway for those who are reading this series, the scans are finally out in iieye. Scans by 水无月さくら.

Quote of the day:
Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. ~ Henry Ford

Weekly Jump Update: Bleach, Naruto, D. Gray-man, Reborn and PSYREN
Saturday, October 18, 2008 @ 08:12 p.m.

Halibel’s underlings are angry at Hitsugaya for drawing his zanpaku against Halibel in Bleach [c. 330]. They face Rangiku who can easily provoke the girls. When they are all together, Rangiku quickly unleashes her zanpaku but it seems that those arrancar girls aren’t going to go down easily as they attack back. Oomaeda is having a hard time with his enemy. SoiFon doesn’t seem to care about him as she can easily defeat her enemy for now. I think it is no surprise for SoiFon to defeat her enemy because that person is just an underling as compared to the other captains, they are facing off an espada/s. I suddenly wondered if Hitsugaya is more powerful than Ichigo. Ichigo already had a hard time with the skinny espada, Nnoitra and easily defeated before by Ulquiorra so what more if it’s the top 3 and Hitsugaya is fighting one of them. I guess Hitsugaya is fighting Halibel to make it seem ‘fair’ since she is a girl and he is a kid. Hm, would SoiFon help him later on if he can’t finish her off? As for Rangiku, I think she might have a bit of hard time since after all there are three of them. Since they seem a bit stupid, I think it will be Rangiku’s advantage if she uses her brains. Ah..but then, Hitsugaya tend to make her appear stupid. ^^;

The village is in chaos as some people are running away from some centipede until Sakura defeats it in Naruto [c. 421]. Iruka finds her and tells her that it is an Akatsuki attack. Iruka tells her to go to the hospital to help out. Elsewhere, Kakashi survives Pain’s attack. When he is about to attack, another [fat] Pain arrives. Meanwhile, Tsunade is arguing with the elders about sending Naruto back to the village or not. The elders argue that Naruto shouldn’t be brought back else the Akatsuki manages to get him. Tsunade wants Naruto to avenge Jiraiya and protect the village as a grown-up. Shizune arrives to inform her about their discovery that the stick is a chakra receiver which could be a secret to Pain’s power. Since it is reacting now, they figured that the one who invaded them is Pain. Tsunade orders a frog to get Naruto back. She and everyone else left. Before the frog could go, it is killed by Danzo since he doesn’t want Naruto to return. Actually, whether Naruto comes back or not, I think the villagers will still hate him since they are hurt and dying because of him. It took a long time for him to be accepted before. Well, I guess that hatred will be much more if he didn’t return to at least help out. I’m not sure if Tsunade’s argument is sound either. What if her confidence in Naruto is not translated to reality? I mean, judging from the past, Naruto isn’t exactly powerful yet so the elders doesn’t want to risk the possibility of Naruto being captured. Maybe they should just ask Naruto to lure Pain away from the village and deal with him somewhere unpopulated. Anyway, I wonder if the author is planning on making the elders the villains since it is already established why they have to go because of what they did to Itachi. They do seem to tend to sacrifice something to attain something. Actually, about the ‘in with the new generation and out with the old’ theme of this series, it reminds me of the US elections. ^^; One thing I dislike here is how Tsunade treats the elders. Sure, she might not agree with them but does she have to grab their collars, shout at them and throw them down on the floor? Oh well, I guess she is just really angry then and that is the only way for the elders to listen to her.

The akuma have sealed off the orphanage so that ordinary humans can enter and those inside can’t get out in D. Gray-man [c. 176]. A skull says that they have also used some techniques using a ladybug to seal off Allen’s musician abilities. Their plan is for the L4 to deal with the exorcists while the lower level akuma-s to get the innocence. Allen protects Timothy, director/mother superior and Emilia. L4 is about to attack the kids but Allen and Kanda kick it away. When it tries to fight back, Noise attacks it. The director hurriedly gets the children down the basement. Allen wants to use the gate to escape but Link tries to stop him since it is forbidden unless he is given permission by Central. Allen shouts if Link is stupid since they are all trapped and Timothy is the target. Link stubbornly refuses since rules are rules. He asks if Allen wants to make his position much worse. Allen doesn’t care because his position is bad anyway. Timothy and Emilia have overheard them about Timothy being a target. Timothy asks Link about this. Link tells him about the innocence, a thing that can destroy akuma so the akuma would do everything to stop the exorcists from attaining it. Link is surprised when Allen tells him that he can’t open the gate. L4 attacks back so Link grabs Timothy and Emilia to safety. L4 taunts that Allen cannot always have the edge of having his left eye and his musician powers against them. With Noise as back-up, Allen and Kanda attack L4. Meanwhile, at the base of the staircase, Link and others notice the children and the director just standing there. She turns around and she looks like she has been ‘zombied/possessed’ as she tells the others to not go near them. I guess an akuma got them. Did the other children become stone? They don’t seem to be moving. So, I guess it will be Link + Timothy vs lower level akuma and Allen + others vs L4. I find the mention of having the edge against Allen and Allen’s powers are useless quite redundant. ^^; Is that the only thing that those akumas can say? Hm..I wonder if Emilia will survive this one since I think the rest are already dead/finished.

Tsuna tries to use X-burner but Genkishi quickly attacks him in Katekyo Hitman Reborn! [c. 214]. Tsuna wonders if Genkishi knows about it. He then hits a wall. Reborn says that Tsuna is stupid for trying to fire it against an enemy like Genkishi since it takes time to prepare that attack. Spanner informs him that the level of Tsuna’s flame is only 1/5. Reborn realizes that Tsuna no longer has the energy to keep on using X-burner. Spanner says that even if Tsuna hits Genkishi, it will be useless. Tsuna then contacts Reborn and informs him of a plan. Reborn approves of the plan to keep Genkishi attacking and distract him for some time. Genkishi boasts that Tsuna’s hyper intuition is useless against him since his sword can multiply and attack simulaneously. Tsuna appears from the smoke and Genkishi attacks him but Tsuna kept on evading by running away. Genkishi goes after him and slashes him but to his surprise, it is just an illusion/hologram. Genkishi is furious that he got tricked as he sees the real Tsuna preparing his attack from behind him. Tsuna fires his X-burner even if Spanner exclaims that it is too weak. Genkishi slices through as blood spills. Spanner and Reborn’s mouths hang open. Tsuna has grabbed Genkishi’s sword with his gloved hands. Tsuna tells Genkishi that he relied too much on the information about being cautious of X-burner and since it is supposedly strong, Genkishi had put all of his strength on a one sword attack. Then, Reborn and Spanner realize that Tsuna used the hologram and the X-burner as bait and now, he is going to use his zero point breakthrough revised. Hehe, since I didn’t get Tsuna’s abilities memorized, I actually checked what it does – if it’s freezing the enemy or something. It seems that it absorbs the enemy’s flames. So, this will weaken Genkishi and Tsuna can use that power against Genkishi. It’s amazing that Tsuna actually has brains. No wonder he’s in the top spot now in the polls. He has been ‘powerful’ in the last few chapters. That technique of catching the blade with bare hands is quite cool though this isn’t the first time I saw it. Ya, maybe if Genkishi uses illusions, he might have an edge especially since Tsuna’s flames are already weaken then. Also, I think Spanner has unintentionally helped Tsuna in fooling Genkishi because he is freaking out and everything. Well, Reborn is also acting for a while there. =P

Dholaki tries to attack Yoshina who manages to escape in PSYREN [c. 43] . Dholaki traps Kabuto so Yoshina decides to save him. Yoshina is no longer hesitant to finish off Dholaki as he uses his power. He actually easily overpowers Dholaki if it hasn’t been for another WISE, Shiner who saved Dholaki. Hehe, Yoshina’s attack seems like an archer’s. I guess it is because Amamiya already has the sword. Shiner doesn’t seem that menacing as compared to Dholaki so I wonder if they can head home after this or they will have to fight him.

Word of the day:
Excelling in respect for others honors God. ~ Albert Lee from Our Daily Bread

Koibana! Koiseyo Hanabi [Chapters 21 - 22]
Friday, October 17, 2008 @ 10:48 p.m.

Chikai calls Yukine up. Yukine happily asks what’s up since it has been awhile since he called. Chikai tells her that he will be going out with his dog along with Marui Hanabi. Yukine is surprised. After a pause, she then smiles and says, “Going out? Really? Take care on your way there! Wear something warm.” Chikai looks surprise and sad[?]. The next day, Hanabi is very excited about going out with Uno Chikai. She has overpacked because she is carrying four bags that a policeman calls her attention. Hanabi is delighted to see Chikai carrying Cleo is a bag. Chikai looks ill as he asks if she is going to a very long overnight trip because of all the things she is carrying. This made Hanabi blush as she exclaims that they are going to return on the same day so what is he saying. Chikai says of course and that they should go before the train leaves. Hanabi is surprised that Chikai didn’t brought a lot of things with him. Chikai asks Hanabi to give him a bag so that he would look good in case someone sees them. Hanabi tells herself that she is going to be with a guy...together with Uno Chikai. During the train ride, Hanabi happily offers candies like milk candy and snacks for one of her bags. At the park, the foursome look happy as they think that a dog park is a dog’s paradise. The dogs happily run. Nanpa goes to a female dog. Cleo reprimands him about it that Nanpa barks back that he is just greeting ‘someone’. Hanabi happily shouts to Nanpa and throws a Frisbee disc. Nanpa catches it. Chikai comments that Nanpa is quite able. Cleo seems jealous. Hanabi then happily shows Chikai her bag filled with dog toys and asks if he wants to try it. Chikai says later on. Chikai then tries to get Cleo to jump over a little pole [like those used in equestrian.] Cleo just goes under it. Chikai reprimands Cleo as Hanabi laughs. A woman asks if they are lovers. This made Hanabi blush. She asks if she meant the dogs. The woman says both. This surprises Hanabi. Then, she thinks that it doesn’t matter because in this occasion, it doesn’t matter if others have a bit of misunderstanding. Hanabi smiles as she watches Chikai playing chase with the two dogs.

Soon, it’s lunch time. Hanabi puts all the food on a picnic blanket. Chikai asks if she made all of it. Hanabi says that she did and it is the L cuisine which she is proud of though she isn’t that confident about the taste. She then gives some to the two dogs. Chikai says that it’s not bad [?] and asks Hanabi if the secret ingredient is love. This made Hanabi blush. Chikai then says that it isn’t really secret. This made Hanabi exclaim not to eat it but Chikai says she already told him to eat. Chikai notices his cellphone rings. [I think when he got it, it has stopped ringing.] Chikai checks his call log and is surprised to see the number of times that Yukine called – 11:21, 11:56, 12:05, 12:21, 12:57 and 12:59. Chikai then excuses himself to call someone. Hanabi knows that it is Yukine. Farther away, near a tree, Chikai calls up Yukine and asks what the matter is. Yukine apologizes and says that it is not a big deal. She tells Chikai that she is just wondering if her KAT-TUN album is at Chikai’s place. Chikai says that it is with him. “[you called]..Just because of that?” Yukine then says, “Ah! Sorry! I’m disturbing you! Goodbye!” She then presses the hang-up button. The two look sad. Chikai returns to see another dog pouncing on Hanabi who is laughing. She tells Chikai that she’s playing dead. This made Chikai smile slightly. While they are playing with the dogs, Hanabi thinks, “It’s like the time in a dream..and just like in a dream, it passes away quickly. It’s Uno Chikai who made it pass by quickly.” On their way home, it has already become dark and soon, it starts raining. They say that it is a good thing that they are already going home. Hanabi says that it is going to fall heavily soon so they should make a run for it to the train station. When they arrive at the station, they are all wet. It’s a station with no staff in it. Inside, Hanabi berates herself for forgetting to bring towels when she has brought tissues and dog roller [?]. Chikai tells her that she is easily excited. He says that it is okay since the train is coming soon and it would be warmer inside. Hanabi blushes that Chikai tells her that he isn’t comforting her.

After some time, the train has not yet arrived. Chikai decides to call the emergency phone. Chikai exclaims in surprise and talks for a while. After he hung up the phone, Hanabi asks what the person said. Chikai tells her that it seems that they can’t go home today. This made Hanbi blush and exclaim what he meant by that. Chikai tells her that because of the storm, the train has stopped running. “Whether it will run today would depend on the weather.” Hanabi shouts that they should get someone to fetch them. Chikai says that all the roads are blocked. [I think they are in the mountains so roads are slippery.] Hanabi gets scared and panics as she exclaims how they can stay there when there is no one there at the station. Chikai calmly tells her, “We can only wait, faithful dog. Even if something happens to the three of you, I can handle it by myself.” As Chikai goes back in the station, Hanabi blushes and thinks, “That isn’t what I meant. What is that charm? He is so ‘manly’ that I actually thought, he’s ‘very cool’. It isn’t ‘disgusting’ nor ‘fear’, ah, it seems I’m done for. Is this love? But how can I handle this situation?!” Inside, Chikai is drying up Cleo. Hanabi calls her sister about the situation but her sister kept on implying that there’s something other than that will happened. After she hangs up, Hanabi freaks out when Chikai takes off his jacket. She exclaims why he is removing his clothes. She also shouts that she didn’t see anything. Chikai says that his clothes are wet. “No way, when you obviously hate guys, are you anticipating?” Making a pose, Chikai says, “Feeling hot.” Hanabi blushes and thinks that she really loses against him. She looks at her bag for something that can warm Chikai like the small towels/tissues but Chikai doesn’t like any of them. Hanabi is frustrated that she packed a lot of things but they are all useless. Then she spots something. The two huddle together and used the picnic blanket to warm themselves. The dogs think they are acting obscene. Hanabi is really tense because they are too close to each other. Chikai says that he is still cold and in times like this, one should hug. Hanabi exclaims, “No--!!! You shouldn’t to that! You have ‘Yukine’..’s..[love?]” Chikai is puzzled as he looks at her. It turns out that he meant hugging Cleo. This embarrasses Hanabi that she says that it’s nothing. Carrying Cleo, Chikai says that it seems she is still minds about taking other people’s things. Hanabi asks if he will tell. Chikai says he will since he is Uno Chikai. Hanabi says that there’s no way for her not to mind but compared to regret, the part which likes him is much stronger. Hanabi blushes and closes her eyes.

To her surprise, Chikai slightly smiles and pats her head. She becomes teary-eyed and wonders what it meant. Chikai then puts out his hand and says, “Paw.” Hanabi puts her hand on his. She then pulls her hand away since he is teasing her. Chikai climbs back in with Cleo in the blanket. Hanabi calls Nanpa to get in, too. Hanabi wonders what that pat meant. “Is he saying ‘okay’ [or be good]? ‘Okay’..is that a bit acceptable? I don’t know but my tears fell down. For the me, who is on my way to grief/pain, I felt that hand is very gentle.” Soon, that night [I think], they manage to return home. After bidding goodbye to each other, Hanabi calls out to Chikai and thanks him for accompanying her. Chikai points and says, “House!” [It probably meant go in the house.] This embarrasses Hanabi. Upon arriving at his house, Chikai notices an umbrella. It is Yukine waiting for him. Chikai asks what she is doing and until when has she been waiting there. Yukine says that she just arrived. Chikai tells her that the rain has already stopped. This surprises Yukine and says that she didn’t notice it. She closes her umbrella. Chikai asks her why she is there. Yukine seems to force herself to smile and tells him that she wants to get that CD that she talked about on the phone because she really wants to listen to it. Chikai tells her to wait while he go inside to get it. Later on, Hanabi is walking with Nanpa while eating a chicken lollipop. She tells him that it is quite an eventful day and he got to ride a train, too. Nanpa is interested in the chicken that she is eating. Hanabi thinks, “..and that guy is there.” She is surprised to see Chikai and Yukine together. Hanabi looks down and wonders why they are there. Yukine is looking away. Chikai asks what Hanabi is doing because it would make his ‘walking her home’ meaningless. Showing him the chicken, she nervously smiles and says it’s her late dinner since she wasn’t able to eat dinner, she went to buy at a convenient store. Suddenly, Chikai looks surprised. Yukine walks towards Hanabi and slaps Hanabi so hard that Hanabi drops the chicken. Nanpa is happy about it as he goes to the chicken. Hanabi looks shock.

Ouch..that must have hurt. I guess Yukine can no longer contain her feelings. For me, all three have a part to why things ended up that way. First, Yukine was informed about it by Chikai himself. She just lets him go without a fuss. I was thinking that maybe she tries to convince herself that it is nothing. Hanabi just happens to be a friend who has a dog. She doesn’t want to be too possessive and stop Chikai from going out with a friend. I begin to wonder why Chikai didn’t just go with Yukine. Could it be that she doesn’t like dogs? From these two chapters, the rift between the two is imminent. Is it because their relationship has become stagnant? Yukine is obviously faking it – faking her smile, faking that it’s okay with her, etc. I think that is quite dangerous in a relationship. Is it just a coincidence that the cracks in their relationship have already started when Hanabi shows up or is it because of her? I somewhat doubt that it is because of Hanabi because from the way Yukine is acting, she seems insecure. Second, Chikai should have known better than to go with Hanabi. There are some who wonder if he is testing Yukine’s reaction and he’s using Hanabi. I think Chikai is already having a hard time with Yukine since he doesn’t know what she is thinking anymore whereas he can easily know what Hanabi is thinking. Anyway, I don’t think Chikai has any romantic feelings for Hanabi yet. Maybe he just wants time out from Yukine. Lastly, Hanabi does know what she is getting herself into so.. Actually, I think it is aggravated because Hanabi went to Yukine’s store before to apologize. Yukine would be thinking, “Apologize for what?” Then, she learns that her boyfriend is going out with Hanabi along with his dog. Of course, her imagination would go wild. She could be thinking, “Is she apologizing about stealing my boyfriend?” Then, they came home late. I don’t think Chikai called her up about it. So, she manages to get a hold of herself until she sees Hanabi. I guess the final straw is learning Chikai walking Hanabi home. She finally exploded. Hehe, this is a nice cliffhanger for it can keep one guessing what happened next. =P No matter whom Chikai sides with, it will be messy. I wonder if this will make Hanabi give up or well, start avoiding him again. Also, that numerous missed calls reminds me of ef~tale of memories. =P Will Yukine go psycho on us? Ah..Nanpa, you’re disappointing. Hehe, your master got slapped and you just want to eat. =P Scans by Xiuxiu for BW.

Quote of the day:
Jealousy, that dragon which slays love under the pretence of keeping it alive. ~ Havelock Ellis

Hadashi de Bara wo Fume [Chapters 14-15]
Thursday, October 16, 2008 @ 07:55 p.m.

In the burning inn, Sumi cannot believe that this is happening. She got married to Soichiroh for money but Nozomu confessed and brought her there. “How did things turn out this way? Everything is all my fault.” Outside, they are shouting that someone went in and wonder where the firemen are. Inside the inn, Soichiroh shouts for Sumi and Nozomu. When the fire debris falls down near him, Soichiroh goes into panic and starts crying. He remembers the past. Flashback: Young Komai went to the separate house [presumably the servant quarters] and told young Soichiroh that the madam is calling him. Inside the main house, Komai fixed Soichiroh’s bow after being properly dressed up. His stepmother told him not to tell the grandfather that he is living outside. Youjirou, his half-brother, asked his mother why Soichiroh is living outside. [His name used to be Shouha but the translator changed it ^^;] His mother replied that it is because Soichiroh’s mother is an ‘outsider’. The grandfather visited and praised Soichiroh’s good grades. He told Youjirou to study hard like Soichiroh. The stepmother is displeased. After the grandfather left, the stepmother complained to the father that because of Soichiroh, Youjirou is made to appear stupid when he is an intelligent boy. The father replied that it doesn’t matter. The stepmother argued that it matters. Soichiroh looked sad about this.

Youjirou showed him a box of matches from Europe. Youjirou lit up a match that Soichiroh quickly grabbed the box and shouted that it is dangerous. Youjirou cried. The stepmother quickly slapped Soichiroh and accused Soichiroh of stealing Youjirou’s things. “I really do not want to see you. Go back to the servant quarters! What an annoying kid!” She carried crying Youjirou. The father just pretended not to see anything and just continue reading the newspapers. That night, Komai woke Soichiroh up and told him to quickly run away. Then, he saw the main house is burning. The servants have survived. Soichiroh called out to his family but in the end, it is burned to the ground. It is already morning. The grandfather hugged Soichiroh and asked how such a thing could had happen. Aunt Natsuko cried for her sister, Fuyuko while her husband tried to comfort her. [FYI: Natsuko means Summer while Fuyuko means Winter.] She then accused Soichiroh to be the reason for the fire. The grandfather shouted for her to shut up. Aunt Natsuko continued to cry. Soichiroh cried and thought, “It isn’t me. I want to get along with my family. I want to spend more time with my family. I want to be with my family..” End flashback. Soichiroh is crying when he remembers Sumi as family. He snaps out of it and starts looking for Sumi again.

Meanwhile, Sumi is thinking, “How awful. Before when I was hungry, I have never really thought of dying. I don’t want to die this way. As long as the children haven’t grown up yet, I cannot die. I cannot just leave Soichiroh and die. I want to live!” At that moment, Soichiroh kicks the door down and calls out to her. He shouts what they are doing. Nozomu looks up and tells him not to mind them for he and Sumi will die there. This made Soichiroh furious that he punches Nozomu away. Soichiroh frees Sumi. To Sumi’s surprise, Soichiroh says that it is good that she is okay. Sumi wonders if Soichiroh isn’t angry. Soichiroh calls out to Nozomu to quickly stand up and run. Nozomu tells him to forget it because even if he lived, life is meaningless. This made Soichiroh furious as he shouts for him to run. [I think he punched Nozomu unconscious.] Outside the burning inn, Komai frantically looks for Soichiroh. Just then, a man calls out that someone is coming out. Komai cries in relief because Soichiroh came out. He is carrying unconscious Nozomu in one arm while in the other arm is Sumi who is covered with Soichiroh’s shirt. Soichiroh shouts for them to quickly bring the others to the hospital but he collapses. Later on, Soichiroh is dreaming about Sumi whom he married not for love and she isn’t family. He wakes up and sees overjoyed Sumi and Komai. Soichiroh is heavily bandaged. He asks where he is. Sumi tells him that he is in the hospital and he has been sleeping for three days and three nights. He then asks if Sumi is hurt. Sumi tells him that she is fine because he used his shirt to cover her. She starts crying and apologizes for going with Nozomu so Soichiroh is badly injured. Soichiroh smiles and says that as long as Sumi is okay then it’s fine. This scares Sumi that she clings on to Komai and exclaims that maybe Soichiroh is in grave condition because he isn’t angry. This made Soichiroh shout what does she meant by that.

From the door, Nozomu is watching them. His father arrives and shouts what he is doing there. He quickly grabs Nozomu to bring him back to his room. Soichiroh asks if Nozomu is also in the hospital. Komai confirms this and says that Nozomu is only slightly injured so he will be discharged soon. Sumi tells Soichiroh that she will not see Nozomu again. “Goodbye Nozomu,” she thinks. In Nozomu’s room, his father shouts for him not to go near Sumi again. He reprimands him about falling for Soichiroh’s wife and asks if he plans on ruining their family reputation. Nozomu doesn’t react. His father shows him numerous pictures of girls and tells him to pick one if he really wants a woman for himself. A few days later, a lot of visitors want to ask about Soichiroh’s condition but Komai tells them to be quiet because Soichiroh needs rest. Sumi prays that Soichiroh gets well soon. She is then surprised to hear someone knocking on the window. It is her brother, Eisuke. Sumi lets him in and asks what he is doing there. Eisuke demands compensation from Soichiroh for putting Sumi in danger. Sumi cries that he is after money again. Soichiroh tells him that it is no problem and he’ll tell Komai to bring some later on. Eisuke is happy about this that he hugs Sumi and tells her that she married such a good person so she should have a child with him soon. Sumi shouts at her brother who quickly leaves through the window. Sumi apologizes to Soichiroh. She is surprised to see Soichiroh getting up from bed. She tells him that he still needs to rest. Soichiroh tells her that he is fine and he wants to go home then quickly go back to work.

Outside, Komai carries the suitcases. Sumi is helping Soichiroh. Komai tells them that he will call a rickshaw. Above the hospital, Nozomu is watching them. To Soichiroh’s embarrassment, Sumi tells him to put his arm on her. She then asks if he is embarrassed but Soichiroh who is blushing denies it. Nozomu darkly looks at them and tears one of the pictures of the girls. Sumi is asking Soichiroh if he is sweating. Soichiroh tells her not to come close to him. Then, Sumi notices some pieces of paper falling down. She is puzzled by it. Nozomu still looks dark while looking at the two. At the house, Soichiroh shouts to call Komai to do it. Sumi exclaims that she can do this - changing bandages. Rising up her arms, Sumi exclaims that he do a ‘Long Live’ position. Soichiroh is puzzled. Sumi raise up his arms to show it to him. Soichiroh says, “Long Live” Sumi tells him not to move. Sumi then wraps the bandage around his chest and Soichiroh looks quite nervous and embarrassed. She then looks up to him and asks if it hurts. This surprises Soichiroh who just says, “Ah? Ah.Ah.” Sumi smiles and says, “That’s good.” This made Soichiroh blush. Sumi then tells him that she is finished so he can put his arms down. “I think that today’s Soichiroh is really cute.” She is puzzled when Soichiroh gets up and heads to the door. To her surprise, Soichiroh says that he is going to sleep in another room. Soichiroh slams the door as Sumi is calling him. She wonders why then becomes scared as she thinks that Soichiroh is really angry. She imagines him as a demon shouting that he is going to throw her into the sea. Soichiroh goes into a different room and closes the door. He is blushing and asks, “Could there be some mistake, that stupid woman!”

Well, it seems that Youjirou is the one responsible for the house being burned down since he is the one who is playing with the matches. Natsuko is really too much for blaming Soichiroh for that. There is still no mention as to why Soichiroh wants to destroy the reputation of Ijuin. I guess no matter what, Soichiroh doesn’t want Nozomu dead. Is it because he’s a friend or his goal isn’t accomplished yet? Well, because of what happened, I think Nozomu will be causing troubles later on. He doesn’t have a care in the world so he has nothing to lose. They say that makes a person more dangerous. Then, there’s Eisuke who is like a leech. I guess he is like the typical relative wherein if one’s sibling got married to a rich person, it is a license to keep on asking for money. So, it seems that Soichiroh is slowly falling for Sumi but he won’t admit it yet. At least, he hasn’t been treating her that badly for now. Hehe, I’m really amused when Sumi thinks Soichiroh is sick if he is being nice to her. =P Scans by Xiuxiu for BW

Quote of the day:
Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. ~ Jane Howard

Chocolate Cosmos [Chapter 14] + Boku wa Kiss de Uso wo Tsuku [Chapter 4]
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 @ 08:32 p.m.

Chocolate Cosmos [c. 14]: So at age 16, Sayuki becomes Katsuya’s girlfriend. She tells her girl friends about it while they are at the roof top during lunch break. Mina says that since it went smoothly for them, she feels sorry for Yuushi. Shiori says that Mina is quite disappointing [for telling Sayuki]. Mina quickly exclaims that surely Sayuki has noticed that Yuushi likes Sayuki. Sayuki dismisses it and says that it is opposite because Yuushi hates her since he has been bullying her when they were young – not sharing candies with her, kicking the building blocks she piled up, telling her that her favorite outfit looks old and in junior high, she picked up the eraser he dropped but he won’t glance at her. Sayuki then stops and wonders that it seems Yuushi is going to tell her something then but she decides to forget about it. In class, Katsuya teases Sayuki by calling her to read something since she isn’t listening. That night, Sayuki calls him about it. When she realizes that he is in a convenient store, she goes to see him. He then reprimands her for coming out late and what if someone sees them. Sayuki says that he has no right to tell her that since he did that to her. Sayuki asks what does he meant by ‘that’. Sayuki becomes embarrassed about the kiss that she decides to leave. Katsuya apologizes and tells her that it is his nature to tease the girl that he likes. He says that he really wanted to see her, too. While Katsuya is eating an ice cream, he asks her if she has any plans on Golden Week. Sayuki says she doesn’t. He invites her to go out with him on the 5th to a faraway place so that no one will see them together. Sayuki is happy about this and decides to go. Seeing her looking happy, Katsuya teases her about being nervous on the first date and what should she wear.

The next day, Sayuki happily goes to class and is greeted by the others including Yukako. Sayuki asks why she is there. Yukako tells her that they have all decided to watch a baseball game during Golden Week on Yuushi’s birthday which is on May 5th. Sayuki remembers that it is Yuushi’s birthday and since Yuushi gave her something for her birthday, she should also give him something. She then remembers that it is the day when she has a date with Katsuya. Yukako asks if she is free on that day. Since Sayuki can’t quite say it, Yukako asks if she already has plans with Katsuya. Sayuki doesn’t want to say it because their relationship is a secret. Yuushi says that he doesn’t want Sayuki to go. Sayuki is stunned then she laughs it off by saying that she already has plans that day. Without looking at her, Yuushi says that is nice that she can’t go. This made Sayuki furious as she thought that even if he didn’t say it, she won’t go. While eating, Mina laughs and says that Yuushi is quite complicated. Sayuki exclaims why it is so. Shiori tells Sayuki that it isn’t that she doesn’t understand Yuushi but rather, she doesn’t want to think about her feelings and Yuushi’s feelings. At school, Sayuki is walking at the hallway and wonders what what Shiori said. She then meets with Yuushi. Yuushi sighs that Sayuki shouts that is what she should be doing, not him. Before Yuushi leaves, Sayuki decides to confront him because only the person himself knows what he is feeling and others won’t know if it isn’t said. She asks him to tell her if he hates her so that she won’t talk to him anymore and won’t have any relationship with him anymore. Yuushi decides to tell her. He tells her, “I like you but it’s all over, goodbye and don’t talk to me again.” Yuushi turns to leave. Sayuki is shock then recovers as she shouts for him to wait and stop kidding. She angrily shouts that after treating her like that before, now, he is saying he likes her. She mentioned about the eraser. It turns out that Yuushi has noticed that she doesn’t have any eraser so he tossed it to her. Unfortunately, it fell so he looked away, feeling gloomy when Sayuki tried to return it.

Sayuki hits him and shouts that she can’t believe that. Yuushi exclaims that he was quite embarrassed then. Sayuki shouts that he shouldn’t be saying things like that now. Sayuki realizes that she decided to hate Yuushi since Yuushi seems to also hate her because if she didn’t do that, she cannot accept it since she likes/liked Yuushi. Yuushi grabs her hand then tells her to come on the 5th. Sayuki pulls away and exclaims didn’t he had told her not to come. Yuushi tells her that if she came, that’s enough for him. “I’ll be waiting.” Yuushi leaves stunned/at-a-loss Sayuki. So, since chapter 15 is the finale, it will be a decision whether to go with Katsuya or celebrate Yuushi’s birthday. Poor Yuushi..it will be such a sad birthday if she didn’t come. Oh well, at least, everything is out in the open. Maybe later on, they can move on and just be friends. Sayuki didn’t realize that Katsuya’s teasing is pretty much like what Yuushi has been doing before. =P Scans by Xiuxiu for BW

Boku wa Kiss de Uso wo Tsuku [c. 4]: Just when Meiko is about to kiss Shinobu, he pinches her nose and tells her not to easily do that. This embarrasses Meiko that she quickly runs away. She thinks that she is the only one who wanted that and she wasn’t able to sleep the whole night because of it. The next day, she forgot her umbrella but Shinobu arrives and shares his umbrella with her. He asks her why she ran off yesterday but she can’t answer. He then tells her to walk inside the street [so that she won’t get wet] and that she is like a lost cat which he likes. A car runs by them that Shinobu uses the umbrella so that they won’t get wet. He gives the umbrella to her and tells her that they will be again when she returns it. He uses his bag to cover his head. Meiko thinks that she likes Shinobu for being warm and nice. She wonders what he was thinking yesterday. In school, Mogami and Hachiya greet Meiko casually that Meiko is relieved that the two aren’t acting awkward towards her. In the library, Shinobu asks Meiko why she is staring at the same page all the time. Shinobu takes the book and says she is reading a mystery novel again. He begins to read the end page as to who the culprit is while Meiko tries to grab the book from him. When a teacher came to reprimand them for being noisy at the library, Meiko has ripped a page. The two then quickly runs away.

In the science lab, Shinobu laughs that it is torn. When he flips the book upside down, the book got separated from its cover. The two laugh about it. A globe on the cabinet fell down when they slightly knock the cabinet but Shinobu shields Meiko from it. It hits his head that he whines so loud that Meiko laughs at him. Shinobu asks why she is laughing. Meiko says that she actually thought that he would act normal and just ask her if she is alright. Shinobu says that seeing that expression, it makes him want to tear up the pages of the book to once again hear her laughter. Meiko asks, “Why?” Shinobu says, “..Why? Why..would I kiss you? Because I like you? Even if it’s like that, I think that isn’t the reason.” Shinobu pokes her forehead and says, “How arrogant.” Meiko realizes that it wasn’t Shinobu who kissed her. She becomes embarrassed and quickly runs off. She leaves the umbrella on Shinobu’s locker and walks home in the rain. She is crying because she feels like an idiot. She is surprised that Kyoichiro is there, using his umbrella to cover her. He asks if she is crying. She says that it is just the rain. He asks if it is about Shinobu. Meiko stops and says that she thought the one who kissed her was Shinobu but she was mistaken. She is at a loss since it isn’t Shinobu who kissed her. She turns around and asks Kyouichiro who is it since he knows. She then notices that he is also wet in the rain then apologizes. To her surprise, Kyouichiro drops the umbrella and grabs her bow. He tells her that she is really an idiot and he hates her. “Isn’t it just a kiss? Doing this much over a small thing. Looking at you, saying why this and why that, makes one worry. You kept on crying and not notice that I’m getting wet behind you. Keep on focusing about the kiss, you didn’t notice his feelings.” [I don’t know who he is referring to, maybe the other guys or Shinobu.] Meiko exclaims that is not true.

Kyouichiro laughs about this. He then says, “What if I was the one who kissed you, what now? What if it’s that freshman? What if it’s Mogami? If it’s Shinobu, how will it affect you? If you find the one who kissed you, would you now play a ‘love game’? How idiotic. I just want to bully you or do you want me to bully you?” He throws away her bow and starts to pull open her collar, touch her lips then trace his finger from her neck down a bit. He then says, “Just a small kiss has already deeply engrained in your heart. If I did something more than that, what will happen? I want to confirm it.” And, my first impression from this is, someone save Meiko from this lunatic. And also, why did Meiko let him do that to her. Isn’t that sexual harassment? Shouldn’t she be running and be scared? Don’t tell me he is just teasing her. I’m actually not that sure if he just confessed that he was the one who kissed her. I’m a bit confused. I still have a gut feel that the guys are teasing her. Like, how Mogami and Hachiya greet her casually as if nothing happened. Maybe she should avoid all of them and spare herself the trouble. Scans by tongyanen

Quote of the day:
Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.” ~Alexander Graham Bell

Zenbu Chodai [Chapter 4]
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 @ 08:12 p.m.

Narration: “I’m Sakura Himeko who is perfect in every aspect but for the first time, I had met a guy who is more perfect than me. Even if I’m quite frustrated [won’t admit defeat], I do admit that I like Oozora Ren.” At school, the fanboys happily greet Himeko and says that she is also beautiful today. Himeko says, “But of course.” Himeko looks around the class and says that Ren isn’t there yet. The fanboys tell her that Ren must be absent. “Maybe his fever hasn’t gone down yet. After class, we are going to visit him. Do you want to go with us?” Blushing, Himeko says, “Why should I go?” Number 1 fanboy exclaims, “That’s too bad..” Then he and the other fanboys are surprised that Himeko is gone. They wonder where she went. In front of a building, Himeko says that it is Ren’s house. She thinks, “I didn’t come here because I’m worried about him but rather, I feel responsible for making me compete even if he is feverish.” She wonders if her hairstyle looks strange. She has fixed her hair rather than just let it all down. After one last check on her hair, she rings the door bell of Ren’s apartment.

Himeko’s heart is beating really loud and louder when she hears Ren asking who it is. Ren opens the door and she goes into shock because he just came out of the shower. He is just wearing a pair of shorts [which he probably hastily grabbed] and a towel on his head. Ren says, “Ah? You..” Himeko is really embarrassed that she quickly bids him goodbye and walks away. Ren is puzzled. Himeko wasn’t looking where she is going that she walks straight on the door of the neighbor who just opened the door. Himeko is really dizzy that she tries to grab something to steady herself. To Himeko and Ren’s surprise, Himeko grabs Ren’s shorts. She loses balance and pulls the shorts down. Lol Himeko goes into total shock as Ren just looks embarrassed.

In Ren’s bedroom, Ren has already dressed up. Himeko is sitting on the bed. Ren asks if she has calmed down. Himeko just whimpers and asks if he is feeling better. He tells her that he no longer has a fever and he is just skipping class. Ren then laughs and teases Himeko about her really nervous expression a while ago. Holding a cup of tea, Himeko angrily pouts and thinks that Ren is such an annoying guy because whenever she is with him, she isn’t her normal self. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come.” Ren tells her that he didn’t expect her to come. Himeko exclaims that she just came because someone told her to. To Himeko’s surprise, Ren says, “Even if that is so, I’m really happy that you came.” Blushing, Himeko tells him not to call her ‘you’ since it’s quite rude. Ren then whispers to her ear, “Himeko.” This made Himeko blush beet red that she pushes him away and exclaims that he’s quite thick-faced to casually call her by her name. [I think she just wants him to call her by her surname like ‘Sakura-chan’ since saying one’s first name means they are close.] Ren laughs and tells her not to be that embarrassed. Himeko denies that she is very embarrassed.

Ren sits beside her and holds her hand. He leans near to her and asks, “Really?” Since he is very near, Himeko closes her eyes and thinks that he is going to kiss her. Suddenly, Ren’s stomach growls. Ren just says, “I’m hungry. I better eat something.” He casually just walks away. This made Himeko really embarrassed and wonders if Ren wasn’t thinking of kissing her. She doesn’t understand what happened and that maybe Ren is really just an annoying guy. Before going out of the room, Ren asks if she wants to eat, too. “I’m quite good in cooking.” Himeko proudly says that she is better at cooking. Ren says that she doesn’t seem to be. Himeko gets irked by this as she challenges Ren, “Then let’s have a contest! There is nothing that I, perfect queen Himeko, can’t do!” Ren holds her hand and pats her head. He says, “No, today we are not going to compete. Just let me taste the food you’ve cooked.”

At the dining table, Ren is sitting on the chair and lots of food are on the table. Himeko proudly says, “How is it? It’s pretty good, right?” Ren says that it is delicious. Himeko exclaims, “But of course! I’m Sakura Himeko!” Ren laughs and says, “It’s really delicious.” Himeko blushes and thinks that her food is very delicious and it’s no big deal to her but when she heard Oozora Ren say it, it is quite nice to hear. Himeko then hears a cat meow. She sees a cute little kitten. Himeko happily touches it and says that it is very cute. She asks Ren what is its name then sees Ren looking dark. Himeko notices Ren’s chopsticks holding a strip of green pepper. She asks what’s with that reaction. “Don’t you like to eat green pepper?” Ren tells her not to laugh at him like a kid. Himeko is surprised then starts laughing as she says, “Okay. I won’t laugh.” Ren is speechless and says that he is finished eating. The two then washes the dishes together. Ren tells her to go ahead to the room. [He’ll probably finish washing after all, she is his guest] Himeko goes into Ren’s bedroom and starts to laugh. “Green pepper. Perfect Ren Oozora turns out to be afraid of eating green pepper! It’s very funny. He likes to eat, has a pet cat, his room is a bit disorderly..I came to know a little more about Ren Oozora. I have also experience a heart beat that I have never experienced before.” Himeko smiles and blushes.

Ren enters the room and apologizes for making her wait. Ren finds her sound asleep on his bed. Ren says, “How defenseless.” He approaches her. He is surprised when Himeko shouts in her sleep, “I will definitely win, Oozora Ren!” Ren laughs and says, “Do you really want to win that much?” He bends near the bed and says, “When I first met you, you are really such a strange girl. Saying things like making me kneel down to you. Everyday, you challenge me to a competition and do so many reckless things but, you are strong, straightforward, and I don’t hate those aspects of you...it’s not that I don’t hate..,” Ren removes his glasses and says, “I..like you.” He gives sleeping Himeko a kiss on the lips. His kitten meows. Ren points to his lips and tells the cat, “Can you keep this a secret? As long as the thing about Kiriasa isn’t resolve yet, the confession will have to wait until then.” Touching Himeko’s face, Ren says, “Until that day comes, keep on liking me.” Narration: “At that time, I didn’t know of the blissful thing that has happened but this is satisfying dream that I had.” Dream: In a suit, Ren runs towards Himeko and says, “I like you. I love you. I want to kneel down to you all throughout my whole lifetime, can I?” Himeko says, “Oozora Ren..of course you can.” Ren kneels down and kisses her hand.

Hehe..will Himeko’s dream come true? I like the combination of comedy, cute and romance in this chapter. It’s the elements that I like in a shoujo. Himeko can be quite hilarious. I really laugh when she pulls down Ren’s shorts. That expression was priceless. Since Ren doesn’t look that shock, I’m sure he is wearing something underneath. As I mentioned before, I like the chemistry and how the two look when they are together. ^^ So, the two likes each other but then, because of circumstances, they can’t confess. Well, there is Himeko’s pride and for Ren, there’s his problem with Kiriasa, whatever it is. Well, it seems that Ren lives alone..or maybe not. Isn’t it odd that his refrigerator has a green pepper when he doesn’t like to eat it? Well, it could be possible that Himeko went out and bought the ingredients outside. Scans by amyangel119910323 and a598154691.

Quote of the day:
The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. ~ Allan K. Chalmers

Skip Beat! [Chapters 129]
Monday, October 13, 2008 @ 05:24 p.m.

The two actresses still cannot believe that the person standing in front of them is the same Kyouko two days ago who was apologizing to them. Kyouko asks what they are doing there. They tell her that they delivered the costumes since the staff asked them to. Kyouko thanks them. As the two actresses walk away, one of the actresses imagines that if it was old Kyouko before, she would be apologizing non-stop. She complains about the way Kyouko talked to them as if she is above them. Makino, the taller actress, wonders out loud if it is possible that Kyouko is already acting as ‘Natsu’. The other actress say that is right since for them, Natsu is like their leader. They comment that they usually can’t get into the role unless they are in the set but how could Kyouko be able to do that. The other actress exclaim if that is what the veteran actors/actresses talk about wherein once they are in a role, they can’t get out of it even in ordinary life. Makino doesn’t believe that is what Kyouko is doing since she doesn’t consider Kyouko an actress. The other actress believes Makino since the two of them who are actresses and they have a hard time doing that. She then goes to say that they should at least praise an amateur like Kyouko to be able to do that. Makino says that they bully Kyouko a bit so that her role would fall apart. She shows the other actress the bow that she has taken from Kyouko’s uniform.

In the dressing room, Kyouko didn’t see the bow. She grabs the plastic and finds that it has been opened. At the set, the staff is getting ready. Rumi is telling Chiori about her encounter with Kyouko as to how different Kyouko was. When asked how different Kyouko was, Rumi pulls up her hair to show how surprised she is. Chiori asks if Rumi meant that Kyouko isn’t acting as Kyouko nor as Mio. Rumi confirms this and says that Kyouko feels like ‘Miss Natsu’. Rumi begins to tell Chiori about how Kyouko caught her hat. Chiori is pleased about this. The director has overheard this. He looks displeased. Elsewhere, Ren is having a photo shoot. After that, he notices that Yashiro kept on staring at him. He asks Yashiro about it. Yashiro snaps out of it and asks if he wants to change his clothes. Ren tells him he plans to. Ren asks him why Yashiro has been glumly staring at him since yesterday. Yashiro apologizes for this and says that it is not a big deal but something has been on his mind. Ren asks if it is something concerning him. Yashiro says that he cannot imagine how Ren’s girl model catwalk is like so would Ren please show him at least once. Ren quickly goes away and starts bidding the staff goodbye. =P At the car, Yashiro keeps on talking about it. Ren tells him to just forget that nonsense thing already. Yashiro says that he can’t because after seeing Kyouko acting as a model yesterday and since he was the one who taught her, surely, Ren has demonstrated it to Kyouko. Yashiro thinks that from his pose earlier and the other ones before, he just can’t imagine how Ren taught Kyouko to do that in such a short period of time. He is quite scared of how Ren demonstrated it to Kyouko that the poses are censored. Ren laughs about this and says that compared to his teaching method, it’s more on Kyouko’s characteristics like good comprehension, recall, etc that he just needs to teach her a bit and she already gets it. Yashiro then says that Kyouko will be going out as ‘Natsu’ today since she asks about lending some outfit that will suit ‘Natsu’ – something that looks like a ‘big sister’. Yashiro also mentions about using the jewel from ‘Princess of Rosa’ into a pendant. Ren smiles as he remembers Kyouko showing him the finished necklace. Yashiro [I think] says that since all the elements complement each other, Kyouko would probably become someone whom they can’t recognize.

At the set, Makino is surprised to see Kyouko that her actress friend notices it. Rumi perks up. The director and Chiori are stunned. Kyouko shows up without the bow on her uniform but just opens up the button of the blouse to show off her necklace. It looks more sophisticated. Kyouko greets everyone a good morning and apologizes for being late. The two actresses are shock that she came out without the bow on the uniform. The assistant asks the director what has happened to Kyouko. Chiori and the director are quite shock that they are speechless. Kyouko approaches the director and apologizes for being late. She tells him that she can’t find the bow on her uniform costume. The director calls for the dresser [the one in charge of the costumes] and asks about the bow. The dresser insists that she put it inside. While arguing, she realizes something and asks Makino about it. She asks if Makino has seen the bow since she asked Makino to give the costume to ‘Natsu’. Makino makes a side glance at Kyouko who also looks at her. Makino says that she doesn’t look carefully at other people’s clothes and maybe Natsu has lost it. Makino starts saying that Kyouko is so into her role that she forgot where she placed it and Kyouko didn’t really look for it. The other actress with Makino and the director look surprised at Kyouko. Makino haven’t notice it yet so she is still saying that it would have been better if Kyouko look hard enough for it. She stops when she finally notices that Kyouko is smiling at her. She is puzzled then looks scared when Kyouko starts giving her an icy-cold smile. What would be the director and Chiori’s reaction--?

I think Kyouko is really awesome here. Just from Ren's description, Kyouko isn't stupid not to know who did it. Makino pretty much gave herself away when she kept on talking and pinning the blame on Kyouko. I love that icy smile of Kyouko’s. It’s like a warning to everyone to better not try something like that on her aside from maybe, ‘I know what you did’. I wonder if Chiori will give up after this or still try to do something. Well, I’m sure they especially Makino will have a hard time bullying Kyouko when she’s in ‘Natsu’ mode. One thing is for sure, they are all wow-ed by her take on the role and being in character already. I think it is more suitable for Natsu’s uniform to be like that. I think the director will more or less accept the way Kyouko handled this role. He forgot all about shouting and putting her down. ^^; Hehe, I'm sure Kyouko will be having modeling jobs later on. ^^ Oh, since Kyouko's basis for the model is probably Ren's mother. I wonder how she would react when she sees Kyouko. Hehe, actually, how would Ren react? ^^ Yashiro is still being funny as usual. ^^ I doubt Ren would do that. =P The author has mercy on Ren’s fangirls and didn’t show what Yashiro was imagining. Hehe

Word of the day:
Resentment comes from looking at others; contentment comes from looking to God. ~ Our Daily Bread

Weekly Jump Update: Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, D. Gray-man, Reborn and PSYREN
Monday, October 13, 2008 @ 02:27 p.m.

Yamato orders the others to defeat the enemies and not let them pass and go to Soul Society in Bleach [c. 329]. After a pep talk with one’s corresponding partner, the shinigami head out to face their enemy. Barragan tells his underlings not to lose else they have no place to return to. They face Soifon and Omaeda. Together with Ukitake, Shunsui asks Stark to send his partner, Lilineth away so that they can fight in full strength. Stark tells him that they just pretend to fight. Shunsui says he would agree to that but not this time around. Stark is disappointed as he draws his zanpaku. Rangiku handles Halibel’s underlings as Hitsugaya faces Halibel. Arrancars/espada drew their zanpaku and attack. So, that’s the match-up. I guess it will be Barragan vs Yamamoto later on after they are finished. Well, by the time they are finished, maybe it’s Ichigo’s then Aizen’s. I think the battles can last until next year. ^^; I wonder who’s going to win. If we are going to base it on the ‘appetizer battles’, the ones will win are those who haven’t shown their bankai/powers yet.

While Naruto is training, Pain has started causing destruction in the village and looking for Naruto in Naruto [c. 420]. Just when Iruka is about to be killed off, Kakeshi saves him and fights with Pain. For now, Pain seems to have the edge. The investigation team and interrogation team are about to discover Pain’s secret when they felt the commotion in the village. Tsunade learns of the situation. She tells the others to sound the alarm and call Naruto back. Meanwhile, Naruto learns about the need to merge with Fukasaku to maintain sennin mode. Tsunade’s decision to bring back Naruto seems like a gamble and for me, it somewhat like they are sacrificing Naruto. I guess Naruto would rather want that rather than for the villagers to get hurt/killed because of him. Hehe, since he thinks of himself as the future hokage. Since all of Naruto’s comrades are shown, I guess that at least one group would be fighting a ‘Pain’. Since training is pretty much over, everyone vs Pain will be what is going to happen for the next future chapters.

Hancock’s sisters enter the room as Hancock tells them that a man has seen her back in One Piece [c. 518]. Hancock tries to turn Luffy into stone but it doesn’t work on him since Luffy isn’t attracted to her. Luffy tries to get away but ends up being captured. In a huge arena, they ask Luffy why he was there. Luffy tries to tell them but they didn’t listen anyway because they believe he is lying. Hancock orders him to die. Margaret tries to help Luffy while her comrades try to help Margaret. In the end, Hancock changes Margaret and others into stone. Luffy gets angry about this since they had saved his life. They brought a huge panther, Bracura to finish off Luffy but it ends up being finished by Luffy with just one punch. He shouts at the audience as to how can they laugh as if nothing happened to their nakamas who have turned into stone. They shout at him that they can always forgive whatever Hancock does. Hancock asks Luffy if he would forgive her. To her shock, Luffy tells her off. Hancock’s sisters then go down the arena to fight Luffy. Hehe, I think only the sisters would be a threat to Luffy because Hancock’s powers and beauty doesn’t work on Luffy. Since Margaret said that the sisters are the strongest, I doubt the other pirates, warriors and etc would be hard for Luffy. Margaret and others are quite nice and loyal to each other so it would be easy for Luffy to want to protect and fight for them.

At an orphanage, Emilia is looking for a boy named Timothy in D. Gray-man [c. 175]. Timothy is sleeping at the roof since he doesn’t want to study. The mother superior gets another anonymous donation for the orphanage so that it won’t close down. Timothy complains that he would have gotten much more if it hasn’t been for the two guys in black who stopped him. He wonders who they are because they have the powers like him. Emilia finds him and chase after him. Timothy sexually harasses Emilia and made a run to the door just when Allen and others are about to enter. Noise has told them that G is last heard in that place. Emilia counterattacks by kicking Timothy who bumps into Allen’s head when Allen opens the door. Allen wakes up and is surprised when his head is bleeding. Noise and Kanda ask unconscious Timothy if he is alright. Since Noise is blind, Kanda tells him that there’s a huge orb on Timothy’s head. They were surprised when Allen starts to cry out loud because he is bleeding. Link grabs him and shouts at him for crying at loud over a little thing like that. Allen/Timothy realizes that he has exchange bodies with Allen. He looks for his body but Kanda has already held his body hostage and tells him that they are going to have a talk.

In a room, they told the nun about what Timothy has been doing. Allen notices a nun looking at them. The nun then leaves and calls the earl/master [In Chinese, they wrote it as the earl] on the phone about Allen and others. Allen and others learn that the orb on Timothy’s head is from the jewel that his father made him swallow before. His father is a thief who was caught by Galmar later on. After his father was caught, Timothy was sent to the orphanage. They want to investigate if the orb is indeed an innocence. If it’s not, then they will just return him back to them. Emilia asks what if it is. Kanda says they will make him into an exorcist. Timothy angrily protests since he doesn’t like being treated like a thing just like how his father did. Timothy cries to the mother superior. The mother superior and Emilia shout at Kanda not to force Timothy but Kanda doesn’t care about that. Allen thinks that it’s better to just ask Komui about it. Suddenly, it became dark outside. Kanda realizes that they have fallen in a trap. He tells the others that they are in a barrier. Allen wonders why his left eye didn’t detect the akuma. Outside the orphanage, a L4 akuma says that Allen’s eye is useless. It seems that they figured out a way to get over it. Sigh, I thought I would never see that ugly akuma again and here’s another one. I guess there would be a lot more later on. =( That nun before is probably the L4 akuma or she called it. I’m sure they are already spying on the orphanage because of Timothy’s orb. They would want to stop the exorcists from getting more recruits. I guess this will make Timothy want to join the exorcists. He is such a crybaby. So, it seems that Timothy can possess Allen, too. Hehe, I find Kanda really amusing here especially using Timothy’s body as hostage. He’s really mean and really serious at work =P Anyway, I think by the end of this arc, Timothy will become an exorcist.

Tsuna was able to evade Genkishi’s invisible exploding slugs in Katekyo Hitman Reborn! [c. 213]. Genkishi praises him for that is what he expected from someone who has hyper intuition. He tells Tsuna that it all ends there for he won’t let Tsuna go to the research lab. Spanner shouts to Tsuna that the enemy is Genkishi. Tsuna is puzzled why he is there when he was supposed to be fighting against the others. Genkishi tells him that he has finished them up after some difficulty. This made Tsuna angry that he charges at Genkishi but Genkishi easily defeats him. Reborn comments that Genkishi is really strong since present Hibari is at his level. Irie who is watching the fight also says that Genkishi is quite powerful and yet he wants to use those boxes which require Byakuran’s persmission. That box creates ‘an armor + sword’ for Genkishi as he plans to destroy Tsuna with everything he got because this was ordered by Byakuran. Genkishi tells Tsuna not to resist because it’s futile. He also tells Tsuna that to his guardians but they still fought and end up dead. Tsuna tells him that even if he knows Genkishi is strong, he will still fight. Genkishi remembers Uni. Tsuna prepares himself and says, “Operation X.” Hm..what is that? A new power? bk1 said that it's just X-burner..I thought it is something else ^^; I think Genkishi is an idiot. He doesn’t have to tell Tsuna that the others didn’t listen to him and still fought. As the leader, I doubt Tsuna would not fight after hearing that. =P As for the others, I think they survive somehow.

In PSYREN [c. 42], Yoshina finishes off the bird that Dholaki is on but fails to hit Dholaki. Dholaki is furious that he goes after Yoshina. Then, there’s a flashback on how Yoshina learns ‘program’ from Marie. Yoshina tries to home in his attack at Dholaki but he still survives. Dhloaki prepares to attack back as Yoshina decides to stand his ground and fight else Kabuto would be attacked by Dholaki. Elsewhere, Hiryuu and Amamiya notice what’s happening. Hm..I wonder what will be the outcome. It would seem too early if they finish off Dholaki already and I doubt he would be the ‘used to be enemy but now friend’ type. I wonder if the others would help Yoshina because teamwork is better than being alone unless Yoshina is insanely powerful.

Quote of the day:
Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength. ~ Author Unknown

Hana to Akuma [Chapter 17]
Saturday, October 11, 2008 @ 03:37 p.m.

Narration: “I had said it many times. ‘Whenever Hana-chan goes out, nothing good ever happens.’ Yesterday, she jumped into the river then brought back a troublesome annoying human.” Outside the castle, Momo thinks that he haven’t observe things clearly yesterday but he never thought the gate is that huge. The shadow bird crows at him. Momo is scared as he wonders if it is really a bird or not. “Damn, just looking at it, it seems really dubious. I want to go home.” Narration: “Furthermore, Hana-chan called me her brother. Who’s her brother? It really puts me in a bad mood.” In the room, Tony is busy dressing up Vivi. Carrying a rose, Hana enters the room and happily greets Vivi a good morning. Vivi asks her why is she there. Hana tells him that she came to give him a flower. Tony warns Hana that today, Vivi is in a bad mood. Hana says, “Is that so?” Narration: “I don’t even know myself as to why I am unhappy just hearing those words [that he’s Hana’s brother].” While Tony is tying Vivi’s shoes, Hana puts the flower on Vivi’s head and tells him that they have a tea party today. “Hana-chan is almost finished with her studies today. I had been eagerly anticipating it.” Seeing Hana smile, Vivi smiles and says that he isn’t anticipating it one bit. Hana smiles and says that he smiled. Tony suppresses his laugh as he thinks that with Hana’s smile, it can change one’s bad mood into a good one. Narration: “That’s right. I should forget about it. If I don’t see that kid anymore then I won’t be hearing those words again.” Someone then tells Vivi that he has a visitor.

Vivi looks really gloomy and dark because his visitor is Momo. Momo nervously tells him, “Ah, good day, brother. I’m really grateful about yesterday. I came to return this clothes that I borrowed. And as a token of gratitude, I brought some tea. Thank you for saving me yesterday.” Vivi asks why he is there. Momo is puzzled. Vivi asks Tony why Momo got in when all other people and cats shouldn’t be able to enter the castle. Tony informs him that it could be because Momo entered in yesterday with Vivi so now, Momo can enter the castle. Vivi is displeased about this. They are interrupted when Hana comes in and greets Momo. Momo tells him not to call him by his name. Hana insists that Momo-chan is Momo-chan. Momo tells her to drop the –chan. He then apologizes to her. He returns the extra pocket money he gave her yesterday and apologizes for tricking her. [I made a mistake last chapter, Momo forgot to return the money not forgot to take the money ^^; ] He then gives her a basketful of flowers as an apology. Hana doesn’t feel good about it so she wants to pay him with the pocket money he gave her. Momo protests and tells her that he has tricked her and her pocket money before can already buy a basketful of flowers. Hana asks won’t he be in the losing end if he just gives all the flowers in the basket for that amount of money. Hana tells him that they are even because she is also at fault for not knowing the right value of things. Momo blushes while Vivi and Tony doesn’t understand what the two are arguing. Hana then asks if it’s like that, doesn’t the small flower shop have a good advantage in the transaction. Momo tries to explain that there’s no good advantage because he tricked her and he is just forced to sell them. He asks her to re-consider this but Hana is already showing the flowers to Tony. Momo thinks that Hana is a weird girl. “Ah, forget it, I’ll explain it to her properly next time.” Momo bids Hana goodbye. Hana invites Momo to their tea party at the courtyard. Hana then says to Vivi, “Ah, can he, Viv..no..brother!” Vivi looks dark and gloomy again. Looking nervous, Momo says that maybe it’s a no since Vivi looks really angry. Hana tells him it’s okay because Vivi is in a bad mood today. Vivi thinks, “You idiot. Whose fault is it that things turn out this way!”

While having tea at the courtyard, Felten greets Vivi that the tea/food smells good. “I thought that it is very quiet and it seems because Hana isn’t here.” Pointing to the side, Vivi tells him that the children are playing there. Felten says that it is nice that Hana now has a friend her age. Vivi then looks at the two. At the garden, Hana picks some flowers and Momo is making a flower wreath. Momo tells Hana that he learned it from his grandfather. Hana asks if she can see it. Holding the flower wreath, Hana says that it is cute. Hana puts it on Momo’s head and says that it suits him. Momo blushes and tells her that he isn’t the least bit happy about that. Vivi has had enough that he slams the tea cup on the table and leaves. He says that it is too bright so he is going inside. Felten looks at him and then says, “It certainly is too bright.” Walking at the hallway, Vivi sees a vase full of flowers. He gets one flower and it withers in his hand. Vivi looks unhappy. Holding a flower wreath, Hana asks Felten where is Vivi. Felten tells her that Vivi told him it’s too bright so he went inside. Hana says that she made a flower wreath for Vivi. Felten tells her that most probably, Vivi is somewhere sleeping inside. Hana looks for Vivi and finds him sleeping on a sofa, with a book on his head. Hana takes the book from Vivi’s face and says, “I found you!” Vivi complains that she’s heavy. “Don’t sit on me. Let me sleep peacefully.” Hana says, “Vivi, get up for now. Look, look! Hana-chan can make a flower wreath!” Vivi replies, “Ah..ah..is that so. That’s great.” Hana-chan says, “Yup, that’s great. This is a gift for Vivi.” Hana is about to put the wreath on Vivi’s head. Vivi looks surprise and suddenly remembers Hana smiling with Momo who had a wreath on his head and the flower from the vase which withered in his hand. Vivi slaps Hana’s hand away that she drops the wreath. Vivi tells her that he doesn’t want it. Hana is shock that she apologizes. She quickly takes the wreath and runs out of the room. Vivi looks at his hand and becomes angry. He thinks, “Do not learn such nonsense things. That thing doesn’t have any meaning. In the end, putting a flower wreath on an akuma’s head will only make it wither.”

At the garden, Momo asks Hana if she gave the flower wreath. Hana puts the wreath on her head and happily says that she can’t. Momo asks why not. Hana says it’s nothing. Momo asks how it could be nothing when she looks like that. Hana is on the verge of tears. Hana just tells him that it is late so Momo should go home. She offers to bring him home. Momo looks worried about Hana. In the room, Vivi is lying again on the sofa with a book on his face. Felten tells Vivi that Hana will bring Momo home and has left. “She looks like she is about to cry. What did you do?” Vivi says, “A person who likes flowers want to give flowers to two people. The first person can make flowers wither while the other person doesn’t. A normal person would choose the person who doesn’t make the flowers wither.” Felten is speechless then asks, “..Could it be that..you’re jealous of Momo?” Felten starts laughing about Vivi being jealous of a human child. Vivi angrily hits him with the book. Felten says, “If that is how it is then I’ll help you by telling Hana about it. Do not always have that kind of expression - All by yourself and being bad-tempered.” Vivi looks displeased and embarrassed. He kicks Felten and shouts that he’s noisy and he should shut up.

At the bridge, Momo learns that Vivi doesn’t want the flower wreath. Hana says that it is okay and it is all her fault because she knew that Vivi doesn’t like flowers yet she still gives it to him and she knew that he is in a bad mood that day. Momo then holds Hana’s wrist and says, “Then..if he said that he doesn’t want it, give it to me!” Hana is surprised by this. Momo is surprised when suddenly a cane separates him from Hana. Vivi holds Hana and says, “I won’t give [this/her] to you. This is mine.” Hana calls out to Vivi. Vivi tells her that they are going home. As Vivi holds Hana’s hand and walks away, Hana bids Momo goodbye. “It seems that Vivi wants that flower wreath so I’ve decided to give it to Vivi. Sorry and thanks!” Momo waves back. He blushes and then wonders what he impulsively said a while ago. In the carriage, Hana is pouting. Vivi asks, “Didn’t you say you were going to give it to me?” Hana replies, “But you just said that you don’t want it.” Vivi tells her that he changed his mind. Hana asks him what he so angry about. Vivi says that it’s a secret. Hana looks out him with a frown. Vivi says, “You should know, right? No matter how beautiful the flowers are intertwined, it is still basically flowers. If you put it on my head then it will definitely wither.” Hana says, “But I did this for Vivi. I want to give this to Vivi.” Vivi smiles at her and reaches out his hand. He says, “Then..I accept it.” Hana blushes and puts the wreath on his head. She then hugs him. Vivi thinks, “It is certain that putting flowers on an akuma’s head doesn’t have any meaning to it. But, being afraid of this for now is okay since it always totally withers for just a second.” [Sorry, I don’t quite understand that last part ^^;] The flower wreath starts to wither as Vivi hugs Hana back.

Later on, Vivi is looking dark again as Momo greets him and apologizes for intruding. Holding a book, Vivi asks Hana why this person is here again. Hana happily says, “He brought the flower that Hana-chan likes. Also, Momo-chan said he wants to see our greenhouse.” Momo exclaims, “Hey! Hana-chan! I told you not to call me Momo-chan.” Hana asks why when it’s cute. Momo angrily shouts that it doesn’t make him happy. Vivi puts his book on Momo’s head and darkly tells Momo, “Hey, brat, I’m the only one who can call her that! You will call her Miss Hana-chan!” Momo says, “Huh? Miss?!” Felten and Elenore arrive and greet Hana-chan. Momo complains that the others also call her Hana-chan quite cordially. Vivi tells him that only he [Momo] can’t call that. Hana happily shows them her drawing of Momo. On a paper, it’s a small circle. Everyone sweatdrops and wonders what it is. Hana says that she is going to give it to Momo. Vivi angrily says, “Wait a minute. My portrait is also black so won’t this is be the same with mine? Stop joking around.” A note says that the drawing is colored black. Hana says, “Ah, but, compared to Vivi’s, Momo’s is a bit smaller.” Momo angrily shouts about being called small. Vivi tells Hana, “Since he is called Momo, then wouldn’t it be better if you use peach (pink)?” [Peach blossoms are pink.] Hana exclaims, “That’s right! Peach color! You’re so intelligent, Vivi!” Momo angrily shouts, “Don’t! Who’s Peach color?!” Vivi says, “Give it to me. I help you draw a very, very small peach color [circle].” Momo angrily shouts, “Who’s a brat!!”. Felten is smiling and says, “About that. I have known Vivi for a long time but..this is the first time that I had seen him being pretty obvious in showing his hostility towards another person.” Elenore is speechless. Tony blushes and says, “Doing such a thing to a kid is quite unsightly.” Vivi is holding a pink crayola and a paper. Momo is angrily protesting. Hana is laughing and smiling.

So from being jealous and angry in the last chapter, in this chapter, Vivi is now the one doing the teasing to make Momo angry. It is also thanks to that talk with Felten for this is indeed better than being in a bad mood and hurting Hana’s feelings. They are now in a reverse position from the last chapter. I think Momo still doesn’t know his feelings for Hana. Momo is quite a rival indeed. Aside from being human and liking flowers, Vivi is jealous that the flowers wither if he touches it. He did vent his frustration and anger on Hana. Hehe, at the end, things turn out okay ^^ I think it’s nice that the author also makes Vivi jealous as Hana is also jealous of the women around Vivi. It’s now fair for both parties. Scans by Hiromao.

Word of the day:
Being committed to loving others is the secret to overcoming envy. ~ Herbert Vander Lugt from Our Daily Bread

V.B. Rose [Chapters 73-74]
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 09:20 a.m.

Ageha and Yukari are shock when Mitsuya tells them that he is going to leave that place at the end of the month. Ageha couldn’t believe that Mitsuya could easily just say that when she had a hard time saying her problem to Yukari especially since what Mitsuya said is even more serious compared to her problem. Mitsuya notices Ageha fainting then falling backwards that he quickly shouted for Ageha to get up and that they misunderstood him. He clarifies that he is no longer going to live there in V.B.R but he is still going to work there. Ageha stands up again and sighs in relief. She tells him not to surprise her like that. She asks if he is going to live in a place of his own. Ageha is surprised when Mitsuya says that he is going to live with Tsuyu. Blushing, Ageha asks if they are going to live in the same house. Mitsuya says they would since he is going to move to Tsuyu’s place. Ageha is happy about this then wonders what about Tsuyu’s father. Ageha decides not to spoil Mistuya’s happiness since technically they aren’t living together [alone]. Mitsuya happily tells Yukari that he will commute on his way to work. Yukari asks about a celebration due to his moving out but Mitsuya says he is just satisfied with Yukari’s love. Yukari tells him that he doesn’t want to do that. [Basically, they are joking around] Mitsuya says that if they are busy at work then he will just stay there for the night so things will be the same as before. Ageha asks won’t Yukari be lonely since he is all alone there at night. Mitsuya tells Yukari that they nurture their love for each other while they don’t see each other. Yukari is deadpan as he tells him, “Whatever.” Ageha shouts at Mitsuya that compared to that, he should be focusing on giving back to Tsuyu the 10 years that they had lost. Then, Ageha goes into shock again. Yukari tells her if it is hard for her to be ‘calm’. He asks her what it is this time. Ageha tells him that this will add to the emotions that Yukari is feeling. She says that she will be having her exams soon. Yukari tells her to do her best. What she said sunk in and he goes into shock. [I think that is because Ageha won’t be coming to the store so he would be lonelier and they are quite busy so more work for them.] Yukari snaps out of it and tells her that it is already late so he’ll drive her home.

The car is parked outside of Ageha’s house and they are silent. Ageha thinks that ever since Yukari’s father died, Mitsuya lives in the house with him so now that Mitsuya is moving out, he’s probably lonely. Ageha lightly pulls his sleeve and tells him to cheer up. Yukari asks what she is talking about. Ageha exclaims that it is about Mitsuya because he must be thinking about it. Yukari denies that he is thinking of that. He says that since she is going to have her exams, the store will be quieter. Ageha angrily apologizes for being noisy. He smiles at her and says that [without her], the place seems empty. Ageha blushes about this until he tells her that if he said that, what she would do. Ageha is furious since he was teasing her. She shouts that he is stupid and she won’t worry about him anymore. Yukari tells her that he was just teasing her. Ageha angrily shouts that she doesn’t understand what he is saying. To Ageha’s shock, Yukari asks what that thing she was hiding earlier was. She tries to muster the courage to tell him but in the end, she chickens out. She gets out of the car and tells him that he might be lonely if she isn’t at the store but, she will email him. She bids him goodbye as she tells him that she will do her best in her exams. Yukari tries to call her back but it was futile. Both of them then wonder what they are doing. Yukari returns home but no one is there. Mitsuya left a letter to tell him that he has gone out for a while. Yukari looks at the empty and dark workplace. He remembers the time he looks at it when he was in junior high. [It’s probably after his father died]. Yukari thinks that time cannot be stopped.

Ageha’s exams are finished so she goes back to VBR to greet everyone. What she sees are Yukari and others all very busy at work. She is surprised that even Natsume is there. Mitsuya notices that Ageha is there so he gives her some paperwork to check the materials that were delivered. Natsuna shouts at Mitsuya being an eyesore before going to a room. Ageha asks if Natsume now works in the store. Mitsuya says yes and within the year, they had asked her for 1.5 times already. Ageha is glad about the work and she hopes that things will turn out okay that day. Mitsuya then asks her to trim the gown by 2cm. Ageha didn’t get what he was saying that Tsuyu tells Mitsuya that she is free so she’ll handle that. Then, Natsuna shouts to Mitsuya about giving her some work. While they are all busy, Ageha becomes depressed that she wasn’t able to help much. She gloomily checks the materials when she notices that Yukari is looking at her. She asks him what the matter is. Yukari says that it seems she’s already there. This made Ageha more depressed since Yukari didn’t notice that she was already there a while ago. She tells him that the others can do a lot of things but she can only talk to herself. Yukari tells her that she has done a lot of things for them that they are now more relaxed. [I think he means their personal lives] Ageha cheers up a bit until Yukari asks him about her future aspiration/plan. Ageha goes into shock for this is the topic that she doesn’t want to discuss about.

Yukari, Mitsuya and Tsuyu are surprised when Ageha is about to faint but Ageha stops herself. She then tells Yukari that she hasn’t decided on it yet. Yukari is shock and comments that until now she hasn’t. This struck Ageha since she manages to avoid it by running away from Saki-sensei. Ageha thinks that this is the chance to ask. She asks Yukari if she can work at VBR. To her shock, Yukari quickly answers, “No.” Yukari goes back to work as he tells Mitsuya to be careful on his way home. Ageha recovers from her shock and exclaims to Yukari that she is serious about this and she really wants to work there since she wants to work with everyone else. Mitsuya and others overhear this. Yukari tells her that he is serious because right now, what can she do. Ageha is stunned since a while ago, she wasn’t able to help much with anything. Ageha admits that there are still many things that she cannot do but if the others would teach her then she would slowly learn it. Yukari tells her that they don’t have free time to teach her. He adds that it is her future aspiration so she should think about it really well and no matter what she studies, she should really think what she should study [after graduating]. Ageha looks sad as she thinks that she has been thinking and can’t think of something. She wonders why Yukari said such harsh words to her.

At home, Ageha goes to bed and cries about being lectured by her boyfriend. She was really depressed that she had quickly finished her work in VBR and run back home. Ageha ponders on what are her aspiration, wish and circumstance. She then thinks what her dream is. To her shock, she doesn’t have any. She then remembers something and that is to be a bride. She then browses her diary. She remembers that her world before revolves around her sister. She wants to become like her sister who is kind and can do everything but that world crashes down when her sister told her that she is pregnant. She then realizes that she doesn’t live for ‘herself’. After that incident, she realize that she cannot be like her sister but she still likes her. Soon, she came to like working on bridal dresses that she works at VBR. She likes to sew and making bags is her specialty but she never thought of doing it in the future. [Probably it’s just a hobby]. In VBR, she has fun even if they are busy. She begins to cry that even if it’s fun, she can’t do many things at VBR. She starts to cry as she cannot think of anything else for she has lost her own goal in life.

At VBR, Mitsuya thinks of himself as a brother so he wants to help out Ageha. He tells Yukari that ever since that day, Ageha didn’t go back to the store. Yukari doesn’t react to this so Mitsuya shows him an email from Ageha. Ageha wrote to Mitsuya that that she is sorry and she doesn’t have any face to show herself to the others. She will go back to the store after she has prepared herself [emotionally]. She apologizes again for not being able to help when everyone is busy and she apologizes for giving them trouble. Mitsuya tries to irritate Yukari as he cries that Ageha has emailed him which she did for the first time. Yukari sadly says that he didn’t say anything wrong. Mitsuya says that Yukari is wrong in how he said it. Mistsuya also tells Yukari that he made a mistake in the measurements for making it 2m instead of 2cm. Mitsuya tells him that if he is bothered by what he said to Ageha then he should talk to her about it. Mitsuya asks him, “What’s your reason for saying that to Ageha.” Yukari looks sad then blushes as he looks away. Mitsuya angrily shouts that he isn’t cute at all. While the two fight, Tsuyu looks thoughtful. At Ageha’s house, Ageha thinks that it has already been a week since then and she even emailed that strange mail. She is still trying to find ‘herself’ and what she wants to do. She now fears facing Yukari. Her thoughts are interrupted when someone mails her. It is Tsuyu who wants to have tea with her at a nearby café.

In the café, Tsuyu greets Ageha who is looking lifeless and gloomy. Mitsuya who is also there tells Ageha that it seems she is carrying a lot on her shoulders. When she notices that he is there, she reprimands him for being there since useful people should be where they are needed. The two freak out. Tsuyu try to calm her down by offering her some tea and cake to eat while Mitsuya tries to explain that he is currently free. After Ageha calms down, she apologizes to Mitsuya because she vented her frustration on him. He comments that being a ‘brother’ is quite hard work. Tsuyu tries to cheer Ageha up and explain why Yukari said that but Ageha becomes gloomy. Ageha wonders out loud what has she been doing in VBR and she knows that she is giving others trouble that she didn’t notice it. Tsuyu and Mitsuya tell her that she did do something like saving Yukari’s heart, falling in love, etc. Ageha asks if they mean the time when they met. Tsuyu and Mitsuya are at a loss what to say. Mitsuya apologizes to Ageha and says that he could be the reason why Yukari said that.

So, it’s now the others turn to help Ageha out. Ageha is currently in a pinch on what she wants to do in the future. It is understandable that she is having a hard time thinking of it since her world used to be all about her sister and recently, she just carried away over the things that are happening in VBR. Since she is a part timer, she only knows how to sew and do the basic errands. Actually, she did thought of what she can specially do for VBR before she went steady with Yukari. Yukari is indeed quite harsh to tell her that. I guess we’ll know what the reason behind what he said in future chapters. Chapter 73 scans are by 芳兰幽芷 and Chapter 74 are scans by Hiromao.

Quote of the day:
To become fully alive a person must have goals and aims that transcend himself - Herbert A. Otto