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Chapter 12

The cover is adorableeee, Futaba with Kou on her lap. I mean the stray cat. Which is Kou in spirit! Anyway, cute.

No time jumps, thank god! Everyone’s back in Kou’s room, and Futaba’s sneaking glances over the top of her reference book, dying to know exactly what went down behind the scenes. She makes eye-contact with Yuuri at one point, who quickly looks away. Futaba’s like, “She avoided eye-contact again! Whaaaat? Whyyyy?! What happeeeeened?!” And then, haha, she starts speculating just like all the readers have been doing for about a month - did one of them confess? Or could they possibly have... ki--GAAH. No, no! Nevermind!!

Uneasy, she shifts her attention to Kou, wondering if it’s possible he likes Yuuri. Kou’s letting his brain run away with him (stop fighting your inner genius, man), solving math problems easily after Kominato shows him how, and Komi comments that he’s really quick on the uptake. “Is the problem just that you’re not paying attention in class? Why’d you start to hate studying?”

Kou says he didn’t really start hating it, it’s more like he just lost the “need” (motivation?) to study. “...That’s right. I don’t need it, so why am I even doing this? Stupid.” And he drops his pen, ready to give up, but Yuuri speaks up to say that if he doesn’t at least put in some minimal effort, he might really be unable to advance to third year with the rest of them, and that’s no good (no good!) and won’t make anyone happy! (No one!)

Kou looks at her, and Yuuri looks at Kou, and Futaba looks at Yuuri and Kou, wondering what this atmosphere between them is about... (I bet all my money that it’s nothing romantic (on Kou’s end). ALL MY MONEYS OKAY).

Kominato bangs his fist on the table, hyped by Yuuri’s enthusiasm, “That’s right, we need to become third years together!” And also, if Kou does badly on the next round of tests as well, he’ll have to take summer classes, and then where will all their fun go?! They have to play together all summer! (Yeeees!) “So let’s keep studying together a bit more!”

And Kou’s like, “...Yeah,” hiding his face (awhawhaw, how cute), but adding that it’s enough for today, though, cause he’s tired. So the group heads home, minus Kou who is already home, and as they walk together, Futaba asks Yuuri one more time whether something happened between her and Kou. Yuuri seems to deliberate for a moment, there’s a pause, but then she repeats that nothing happened. That pause, Futaba thinks, tells her that something definitely happened, something she isn’t let in on... They all go their separate ways at the station and Futaba, unable to swallow her curiosity, turns back to Kou’s place. I believe it’s time for the mandatory FutaxKou moment(s) yes yes!

Futaba rings the doorbell, and Kou opens, looking much less like he just tumbled out of bed (which was the case, of course) than when she last saw him. She asks if he’s on his way out, and he says yeah, but not quite yet. He wonders what she’s doing back, and though she first seems to intend to just ask him straight out right off the bat, she loses her nerve and comes up with a flimsy excuse, saying she thinks she might have forgotten her cell phone. Kou offers to go look for it, fishing his own phone out of his pocket to call her so her phone will make that “here I am” sound, which of course means that her cell phone starts ringing... in her bag. Hah, that’s embarrassing.

She comes up with another: “Oh, could I borrow the bathroom...?”
And another: “Let me have a glass of water!”
She proceeds to drink 7.
...You’ll have to borrow the bathroom again...

Kou eventually asks her what she actually came back for, having kept quiet and watched until now because he found it amusing. Realizing that she’s not convincing anyone with her acting, Futaba finally gets to the point, asking Kou the same thing she asked Yuuri; did something happen between them? He says “Nothing, really?”, but Futaba recognizes the same pause that Yuuri had, and tries again, saying Yuuri seemed weird, but she still denies that anything happened. She wonders to herself why they won’t tell her. She feels left out, and it frustrates her.

Kou says that if Yuuri said nothing happened, that means nothing happened, and anyway, it’s not really any of her business. Sulky, Futaba decides to try something else, “Also, I want to know the reason you’ve changed.”
“That again? I told you to stop looking for the old me, didn’t I?”
“I’m not. I’m not looking for the old you anymore. I just want to know who you are right now. I want to know what happened to you. I want to know everything.”
Kou pauses, then says that normally people stop prying once things reach a certain point. “You’re amazing, in a sense.”
Futaba’s not sure if he’s being sarcastic or not, but resolves not to back down. Then Kou grabs her arm and says, “All right.”

He pulls her through the kitchen and pushes her lightly into a neighbouring room with no lights on. Futaba wonders what his deal is at first, but then something catches her eye, and she stares. Inside is a home altar (a memorial-type thing), the kind they typically have for dead family members in Japanese homes, with a picture of the deceased and incense candles and such.

“My mom,” Kou says. Futaba looks at him, and Kou tells her not to make that face, adding that he wasn’t actually going out of his way to hide it, just that when you tell people things like these, they start worrying about how to respond. “And then people always make that face. Makita also made that exact same face earlier.”

And so Futaba realizes that Yuuri found out about Kou’s mom, and that that’s why she couldn’t easily tell what had happened, because it’s not the kind of thing you spread around without permission. She starts to feel bad about how self-centered her worries are, when both Kou and Yuuri are properly considering other people’s feelings. Tears start trickling down her face, and Kou complains that she cries too easily. She says, “Yeah, sorry,” and Kou (iiiiis that a tender look I spy?) ruffles her hair, calling her hopeless.

Futaba grabs his shirt, looking up at him all adorable and teary-eyed and saying, “You won’t quit school, right? Don’t you want to stay together?” She squeezes her eyes shut, more tears more tears, “I want us to stay together!”

Kou’s kept his hand on top of her head, but now it slides down to cup her face, wiping away a tear along the way.They loooook into each others eyeeeesss... and then someone comes along to interrupt what was maybe possibly about to happen, which I forgive because it’s TANAKA-SENSEI and he’s adorable and looks about 5 as he happily appears from around a corner, calling out for Kou, and then freezing as he observes the scene before him. And then he CROUCHES BEHIND THE CORNER HAHAHA, stuttering and blushing until Kou tells him that it’s, you know, not what it looks like, it’s just that Futaba started crying after hearing about their mom. And then Tanaka’s all, OH I see, and everything’s okay. Hahaha.

But then Kou has to go, not to wander the streets, but to his part time job (it’s nearing 7 PM). I’m upset with Futaba for not being interested in knowing what this job is (she doesn’t ask), because I want to know. Boo. Tanaka offers to give him a ride, but Kou tells him to take Futaba home instead, and then he leaves. We get a rrrrreally rare, short look into his mind (YAY. YAAAY), as he thinks back to how he like, kinda caressed Futaba’s face just now, and asking himself what he’s doing. Good question. Why aren’t you dating her yet.

Futaba asks Tanaka whether he and Kou have a bad relationship, and he laughs a little, saying that Kou probably just can’t forgive him. When their parents divorced, he’d told Kou, “I leave mom to you” (so Tanaka stayed with their dad, while Kou moved away with their mother, as we already know - at least those who have not been misled by some unfortunate mistranslations (there is no third brother, for example)), but soon the situation had become really tough as their mom got sick, and Tanaka had ended up leaving the whole burden on Kou’s shoulders (I wonder what’s wrong with their dad. Even if they were divorced and Kou lived with her and not him, shouldn’t he still have like... done something?). When she first got hospitalized, he had only just become a teacher, and the hospital she was in was all the way in Nagasaki, so he could only visit occasionally. Seeing his mom get thinner every time they met was hard, and he was always scared to enter the hospital room. Really, really scared. (Little Kou’s eyes are totally haunting in one of these frames. My hearrrrt). “He had to feel those thing every day, all by himself...” He goes quiet, then brightens again, telling Futaba that Kou is actually a really nice kid, so--

“I know.” She’s crying again. “I know!” And then Tanaka looks a little like he could cry himself, saying “Right? He’s a good kid......... Thank you.”

BAW.

Tanaka drops Futaba off, and again she remembers Kou’s “When you care about things, it ends up wearing you out.” Him saying that makes sense to her now, and she thinks that those were the words of someone who knows how scary it is to lose someone. She goes on thinking that he’s been walking in a night she never knew about, which is a repetition of the line on the cover of chapter 10, when it simply meant that he’s been wandering the streets at night. There’s an added figurative meaning to it this time, however. Deep, Sakisaka-sensei. That’s deep. (Okay maybe it was already kind of abstract back then too, but now it’s EVEN DEEPER DESU.)

Futaba continues to muse that Kou has a weakness. No matter how much he pretends not to care and no matter how brusque he acts, in the end he’s definitely kind. And she knows.

Next day, Futaba and Yuuri are up on the rooftop during lunch break, and Futaba apologizes. Yuuri asks what for, and Futaba says she heard about Kou’s mom, and that she understands now why Yuuri wouldn’t tell her anything. She’s sorry for selfishly obsessing over it. Yuuri says that she’s no better - lately, whenever she sees how well Futaba and Kou gets along, she feels like she’s at a disadvantage and feels uneasy. Even though she’s the one who said there should be no hard feelings, she gets jealous and insecure. “When I didn’t tell you about Kou’s mom, part of me was just hoping to become someone more special to him than you. So don’t apologize to me, it makes me feel bad. I’m sorry...”
Futaba yells in frustration, saying she sick of this situation already. Why did they have to fall in love with the same guy?! “I really love you too, you know!”
“I love you too, Futaba-chan!”
And then they hug and wail haha :D

We then see three guys sitting behind that little rooftop building thing, two of them commenting on the scene they’re accidentally witnessing. “Sounds like they both like the same guy.”
“Who are they?”
“Aren’t they in our year?”
But then the third guy tells them to stop eavesdropping on people, and they turn their attention to him, going, “Goody-goody!” and “Are you Hasebe?!” (Hasebe is this baseball player or soccer player or something, I don’t know sports, but anyway, he’s known for being ridiculously honest, haha.) Goody-goody just tells them to eat their lunch.

I get a New Character vibe from this Goody-goody guy, but I may be wrong. He just, he seems to have a thought-out character design (fluffy hair, earring (random no-ones don’t have earrings!), big honest eyes?), and I think he has potential. I’d like to see him more. Also, it would be pretty random to have this scene if not to ease in a new face, right?

Anyway, after classes end, Kominato comes over to Kou with a stack of papers, which he proudly (and hilariously) presents as his self-composed summary of math stuff. (“I’m so niiiice!” Hahaha. Did I ever say I love this guy. Because I do.)

Kou is hardly appreciative, though, and Kominato’s upset. “DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD I...” But despite Kou’s attitude, Futaba sees him slip the papers into his bag, and she smiles to herself, going over to offer writing a summary of the chemistry bit for him. Murao asks when they’ll have their next study session, and Yuuri asks Kou when he’s free. Kou’s like “...L... let me think about it...” feeling under attack, haha. D’aw they’re such a fun group.

Futaba thinks: “Even if Kou is still walking in darkness... we’ll become signs showing him the way out.”

CH12 END

Bikkuri's notes: Ahhh. Though it’s a sad turn, I’m kind of relieved that there’s a really good reason why Kou’s been acting all hot and cold like he has, cause usually in shoujo, the hero is like that because of an ex-girlfriend haha (or they’re just arrogant jerks by nature). The divorce itself could have been reason enough, though, and I was prepared for that to be all (though I hoped for more details as to what exactly went down). A parent’s death, though, is... awful. Probably especially so during the transition from child to teenager.

By the way, I like how Kou is always leaving his hand on Futaba’s head. XD So cute.

And seriously, I just like all the characters so much! LET ME ADOPT YOU ALL.

…Also, if Goody-goody IS a new character, I wonder if he’s there for Yuuri or Futaba... ‘Cause IF he is a new character, I can only assume he’s there to add a new conflict to the romance aspect. And seeing as the mystery of Kou’s past is pretty much solved now, and there are definite signs of mutual attraction between Futaba and Kou, there needs to be a new conflict, or the story’ll have to end, haha D: And I kinda think that if Futaba and Kou is ever going to get around to happening, either Futaba needs to take the lead (which would be AWESOME), or Kou needs a push. And nothing pushes heroes of shoujo like jealousyyyy......

OH LOOK I RAMBLED. Sorry.

Raws: Shmook
Translator: Bikkuri

Chapter 11

 The chapter starts off with Futaba thinking back to what Kou said last chapter, "when you care about things, it ends up wearing you out," with the speech bubble coming from the cat, which is really nice, I like it. I'm guessing Sakisaka's drawing a parallel between Kou and the (stray) cat, and it's a nice touch.

Futaba's hung up on whether Kou really doesn't care about school and friends at all, even though he looks like he has fun when he's talking to people in between classes. She talks to Yuuri about it during a break, mentioning his nightly habit of hanging out with random people and walking around aimlessly. Ah, sharing your secret Kou information with your rival, you're so fair and square it's scary.

Yuuri wonders at her detailed knowledge, and Futaba casually goes, "I happened to run into him the other night, so I stalked him a bit." (Hahaha, she actually says 'stalked', Futaba is awesome.)

Futaba wonders if he still managed to do all right on the midterms, despite roaming around instead of studying, and Murao cuts in to say that it seems his results were pretty bad. She overheard a conversation between Tanaka-sensei and Kou earlier (her attention attracted by the sound of Tanaka-sensei’s voice). Wyoo, flashback: Tanaka-sensei’s telling Kou that with his grades all below the passing grade, he’ll wind up having to repeat a year (if he doesn’t do well on the retakes). Kou’s just like, “Whatever, if that happens, I’ll just quit school.” He then starts backtracking with a J/K, but when he sees Tanaka-sensei’s face, he stops smiling and, repeating that he was just kidding, fist-bumps Tanaka-sensei on the shoulder and walks away.

Murao’s  thinking to herself that those who wants to quit should just go ahead and do so, but Tanaka-sensei made a sad puppy face, so... “That damn brat!” Haha, I love that Murao has no sympathy for Kou’s immaturity. Yuuri and Futaba naturally cares quite a bit more, Yuuri saying she wishes he wouldn’t say stuff like that even as a joke, and then wonders, much like Futaba has, whether even the time they spent together during the camp means nothing to Kou. Futaba says that she’s sure Kou has his reasons for saying depressing things like that, and then she puts her serious-face on to say, “But from now on, we’ll just make sure he won’t be able to say stuff like that anymore.” And then she literally sparkles, hahaha. Looking at her, Yuuri goes like, “You’ve gotten really pretty recently,” and Futaba’s all, “oooh really? I’ve been putting on a bit of make-up lately,” and aw, that’s such a girly moment, I love it. Yuuri thinks to herself that she doesn’t think it’s just the make-up’s doing.

Later on in class (aaah, fun FutaxKou moment coming up, everyone bounce up and down and be excited!), Futaba thinks, while staring at him, about how she wants Kou to think that things will definitely be fun if he’s hanging out with them, and wonders how to proceed with her plan to make him feel included in their group. Then Kou glances back (you were gonna sneak a peak at her, weren’t you. You were. You were!), sees her looking at him, makes a hilarious face while scribbling something in his notebook, and holds it up for her to read. “What’re you staring at”

She scribbles back, “I wasn’t staring.”

“Hah? You were clearly staring! Uuugly.”

“I’m telling you, I wasn’t staring. Baaaaldy.”

“I’m not bald! Peach is the bald one!!” (Teacher’s nickname.)

It’s a note fight, oh my god. Too cute. But of course flailing notebooks around during class doesn’t go unnoticed, and soon Peach the Baldy is there to interrupt their fun (and read Kou’s notes).

Kou comes over after class to complain, blaming Futaba for getting him into trouble with the teacher, saying it was embarrassing. What, you have a sense of shame. I didn’t know. Futaba rightly points out that it was he who wrote “Peach it the bald one,” so clearly it’s all his own fault. And Kou’s like, “But he IS bald!” and Futaba’s like, “Yeah he’s bald, but that’s not the point!” and the teacher, still present, is like *glare*. Hahaha.

Then Kou notices something, and says, “Isn’t your face kinda different?” Futaba coyly admits to having put on a bit of make-up, and then Kominato comes along to make things awkward (love him XD), claiming that there’s only one reason why someone would suddenly get an interest in make-up when they never bothered with it before, and that is: “Love, right!”

Futaba: “Huh?!”

Komi: “So I’m right.”

Futaba: “Uh!”

Kou: “...Even though you’re Yoshioka. How shameless.”

Futaba: “What’s with that ‘you’re only Nobita’-like remark...”

(Reference to Doraemon (the cartoon everyone in Japan watched as a kid), “Nobita no kuse ni, namaiki da na,” is a famous line by one of the characters. Has the feeling of telling someone they’re acting out of their league, sort of. “You’re just you, what do you think you’re doing.”)

Kominato takes Kou away (boo) to buy lunch, but Kou pauses on the way out, and then turns back to wipe the gloss off Futaba’s lips with his thumb. He then declares that make-up doesn’t suit her and walk off. Hah! Haaah. You mean it suits her too well.

Futaba’s pissed, haha, grumbling to herself that he needn’t trouble himself with coming back just to tell her something like that. Aaand, having seen the whole thing is Yuuri, feeling, I think, her first pang of that really terrible, painful kind of jealousy. Had to happen. Futaba and Kou radiates so much awesome together, even I’m jealous. Now to see how she handles it.

Kominato’s hanging on Kou’s shoulder on their way to the canteen (aaaah XD cute) going all, you wanna eat this or this or this? And Kou being like, ah? ….well if I have to pick... And yeah, that’s just cute okay, excuse me as I giggle. Then they meet a couple of Kou’s old classmates from the advanced class (drawn with typical ‘nerd faces’ :| Meh). They comment on how he seems to fit right in with the normal students, and then go on to say lots of nasty shit in a pleasant way (insulting him with a smile), like, “I  always wondered why you were in the advanced class in the first place,” and “You got in through your brother, didn’t you?”

And then Kominato goes all cool (living in Japan is getting to me, I totally feel like going “kakkoiiiiii!”), grabbing one of them by his tie and telling him to shut up already. When the guy claims it was just a joke, Kominato goes, “In that case, your sense of humour is way off,” but before he can headbutt him or something, which I dunno, it kinda looked like he was gonna do (maybe just my wishful thinking), Kou tells him to calm down, wondering why HE’s the one getting angry. Kominato yells that hearing his friend be insulted like that is obviously going to piss him off. Kou’s eyes widen. Hah. Impact! Maybe I’ll just ship these two.

...I mean. Aw, friendship. Anyway, in the mean time the two smiling jerks have taken off (running), much to Kominato’s annoyance, and he sticks his tongue out after them, declaring his hatred for their kind of people. Kou just stands looking at him, back to his usual blank expression. Man, I want to poke you or something, just to loosen up your facial muscles.

After school, Kominato’s waiting for Futaba and co by the shoe lockers, and when the girls show up, he asks whether they have any plans the coming Saturday...

Cut to Kou being woken by his cell phone vibrating and picking it up unhappily. It’s Kominato (of course), asking where he is right now. Kou says he’s at home, and Kominato’s like, “Great! We’re having a study session at your place today, so we’re coming over right now! See ya!”

In his half asleep state, it takes Kou a moment to register the meaning in that, and he’s just wondering if he’d heard something about a study session or if that was just a dream, when the door goes ding dong and his room is invaded. Futaba comments that his room is pretty big, while Kominato looks around to see if he’s properly hidden all his ‘indecent objects’. XD

Futaba explains that they’re there to tutor him in their respective specialties (Kou is dubious), and Kominato adds that he should show those advanced class guys what he’s good for. Kou promptly loses all interest and lies back down in bed, back turned to them. Futaba, sensing low spirits in need of raising, starts this really cute attempt to catch his interest, all, “When everyone’s doing it together, even studying is fun!” and, “Loooook! We have snacks!” and, “There’s chocolate too!” like she’s coaxing a child, haha, adorable. Just marry already. I want you to marry.

Yuuri says he’s probably still too sleepy to feel like joining in, so they decide to start without him for the time being. Kominato claims decent math skills, so Futaba and Yuuri asks him to explain a problem to them. Kou’s annoyed, thinking they’re noisy, but eventually turns around to sneak a peek. Kominato and Futaba sits right in front of his bed, and he sees Kominato leaning over to look at something Futaba’s pointing at in her book. He stretches his arm out. Leans in between them. To... stick his hand into the bag of chips on the table.

But that’s obviously just a convenient pretext!!! Jealousy! That was jealousy!

Kou munches on his chips, complaining that it’s not consomme flavor (his favourite. I’ve tasted it! It’s good!). Futaba blocks his access to the bag by stretching her arm out in front of him, saying that people who don’t study don’t get to eat . Kou glances at her, then surrenders, going like, okay okay, and then he tells Kominato TO MOVE FURTHER AWAY (jealousy!) because “it’s cramped”.  Hah, psh.

Futaba’s like, success! The snack lured him in! And again Yuuri has been watching, probably also (along with us) realizing that what lured Kou in wasn’t his non-favourite chips.

Kou asks Futaba what her speciality is, and she says chemistry. Kou’s like, “Huh, how unexpected,” and Futaba says she hears that a lot. Well, yeah. Because it is. Then Kou is all *hot-mode* leaning his head on his hand and telling her, “Then teach me that, Sensei.” And Futaba is like, !! thiking, “I’m pretty sure he’s making fun of me, so why did I just go ‘thump’?! It is because I’m a pervert?!” (HAhahaa. Yeah, probably.) Kou starts whining at her to hurry up (aaah), and she tells him to be patient, and then there’s Yuuri... still looking. And she seems to be at her limit, calling on Kou’s attention to ask him to bring them cups. He gets up to do so.

...You know, I feel sorry for Yuuri and all, BUT WHYYYY. Ah sigh, cute moment cut short. Oh well.

Yuuri follows Kou into the kitchen, asking if he needs any help. Who else is feeling nervous at this point. I was totally nervous when I read this the first time, hahah. Anyway, Kou’s cleaning the cups because they haven’t been used for a while, so Yuuri ends up helping him dry them off. Then she hesitantly begins asking, “Do you... like Futaba-chan?

Buuut her voice is drowned out by the sound of the water from the tap, so he doesn’t hear her. When he asks her to say it again, she chickens out, saying it was nothing (also wondering to herself what exactly she would do if he admitted to liking Futaba). She grabs a couple of cups, ready to make her escape with them, but bumps into a bag of groceries and a bunch of potatoes comes rolling out onto the floor. Kou helps her pick them up, and at one point their eyes meet, and then they’re just looking at each other, and... we cut to the others in Kou’s room, where Futaba’s wondering what’s taking the two of them so long and deciding to go see what’s up.

When she gets to the kitchen, it looks empty at first, but then Kou appears (I’m not sure from where. Some corner). Futaba asks what’s up with the slow, then wonders where Yuuri is. She appears behind Kou, downcast eyes, blushing, making a face I don’t get. Kou says nothing’s up (walking off into a shadowed area, looking dark with his hair covering his eyes and I just don’t know how to interpret this!). Futaba, taking in the really weird atmosphere, asks Yuuri if something happened between her and Kou. Yuuri looks at her, then quickly looks away again, saying, “Nothing at all,” and following Kou back to his room. Futaba’s left thinking that that was totally not a “nothing happened” atmosphere.

...TELL ME ABOUT IT. That’s was more like THE definition of a “something happened” atmosphere, ahhhh I’m scaaaareeeedddd.

Oh right, chapter ends there! CH11 END!



Bikkuri's notes: Anyway, allow me to vent some general thoughts:

This chapter brings about a bit of a change, I think - the focus goes from Futaba finding her niche, to Kou's issues and... I dunno, fixing whatever it is in him that’s broken?

It's basically 'Project: Make Kou Care!'

I'M SO ON BOARD.

Then there's the love triangle still going strong, so of course Yuuri has it tough. I totally understand where she's coming from and all, but I'm still pissed she interrupted that super adorable moment, argh! AND WHAT. WHAT WAS THAT AT THE END. 

WHAAAAAT

Translator: Bikkuri
Scans: Shmook


Chapter 10

Yet again, we pretty much start where we left off last chapter, that is, with Futaba and Yuuri headed to a cafe. Futaba’s willing herself to tell Yuuri clearly about her feelings for Kou today, thinking that she’s really really GOING TO DO IT... whiiich is easy enough to say, she thinks, but she’ll probably end up losing her nerve again... and it’ll all continue in an endless loop... “Oh, I got it. If I don’t tell her today, I’m cutting off my hair!”
 
Nothing like threatening yourself to get things done.
 
They reach the shoe lockers, and Yuuri spots Murao, deciding to invite her as well. Futaba is like, whaaaat?! Because, well, telling Yuuri that she also likes Kou with Murao as spectator is bound to be an awkward affair. But Yuuri excitedly runs up to Murao, not noticing Futaba’s hesitation. (Murao’s coming too?! Interesting!)
 
While Futaba waits, Asumi walks by. Ah, we meet again. She comments, perhaps with slight disdain, though she’s pretty whatever about it, “You’re actually hanging around with Makita Yuuri. You’ve really changed, huh.” And Futaba’s like, “Thank you! I’ve been trying to, so I’ll take that as a compliment!” Yeah! Go Futaba. Asumi’s just like, “...Huh,” because she’s boring, go away, and Futaba narrates that while she used to be too scared of being disliked to speak her mind before, now she wants to be honest because her friends are important to her. Then Yuuri comes running back, happy to have scored another participant for their outing.
 
So then they’re sitting around a table together at some doughnut shop. Yuuri’s all abuzz, going on about the CD Kou lent her, Futaba’s worrying about saying what she needs to say with the right timing, and Murao’s looking at Futaba, probably noticing her discomfort.
 
Futaba reminds herself repeatedly that she’s going to cut her hair really short if she doesn’t say it today (Futaba must be fond of her hair?), her heart beats wildly, and she thinks, “I’m scared. I’m scared to tell her. Feels like my chest is being crushed. But...”
 
And then she says: “Yuuri... There’s something I really have to tell you.”
“Hm?” 
“Uh... Actually... I like Kou... as well. The same person as you. I’m sorry...”
 
YES I KNEW SHE’D SAY IIIIT. Loving Futaba right now. Wait. Always loving Futaba.
 
Yuuri says, “FUTABA-CHAN, YOU TOOOO?” ...like it’s the most charming news she’s ever heard. Okay, I NEVER saw that coming. I didn’t think she’d be angry, but I thought she’d have some trouble replying. WHAT. WHAT IS THIS. Is this shoujo?! Anyway, Yuuri goes on, “Well, Mabuchi-kun is really cool, after all! Right, right?” Murao slips in a, “You two sure there isn’t something wrong with your eyes?”
 
And Futaba’s all: “...Huh? If I’d known there was a possibility of it playing out like this... I would have told her sooner...” And she breathes a sigh of relief. (At the same time, Yuuri’s asking  Murao what part of Kou she has a problem with, and Murao says, “the part that’s a damn brat.” Haha.)
 
Yuuri notes that she’s pretty much set to lose though, since Futaba’s already close with Kou, but Futaba protests, saying Kou’s made it clear that he doesn’t like her. When Yuuri wonders if she’s already confessed, Futaba’s prompted to give the whole story of how she and Kou liked each other in middle school, but after meeting again Kou told her that was all in the past, and she also used to think she didn’t like him anymore. But now...
 
So Yuuri goes, “Okay! Then there’ll be no hard feelings no matter which of us succeeds, right!” And then she excuses herself to go to the bathroom. Bathroom... Oh... Oh. Ohhh. I see.
 
When Yuuri’s gone, Futaba slumps a bit, saying, “That... was so scary...” And that even though she’d decided she had to say it, actually getting up the nerve to do so had been so hard... But she finally did it. Murao looks at her, seemingly a bit touched (at how seriously Futaba takes her friendship with Yuuri, I guess).
 
In the bathroom, Yuuri lets her brave face give way to tears, ahhhh. Yeah, I thought it was a bit weird how she actually seemed HAPPY about it. But this makes everything make sense. Really believable, really real, yay Sakisaka Io for writing shoujo with reason! /Fangirling again. Sorry.
 
Yuuri takes a moment to really take in the fact that she and Futaba likes the same person. But, she thinks, it must have been really hard on Futaba, telling her about it. So she wipes away her tears, and decides that they’ll just have to like him then, the both of them, and be fair and square about it. Yay Yuuri.
 
When she comes back, both Futaba and Murao notice the red around her eyes, and Futaba’s relief probably shrinks a bit, as she realizes Yuuri went to the bathroom to cry. Murao is awesome though, and diverts everyone’s attention by suddenly confessing: “I... like... Tanaka-sensei.” AHHHLOLOL. Futaba’s like, “WHAT?! Or rather, why tell us that all out of the blue?!” But then she notices that Yuuri’s... not surprised. When she asks if Yuuri already knew, Murao says she kinda accidentally found out about it. She’d thought she might tell Futaba about it, but Yuuri had kept the secret. “Makita-san’s a good person, right? Yoshioka-san, you know that too, which is why you did your best to tell her something that was hard for you to say. Somehow, looking at the two of you, I figured I wouldn’t mind even if you found out about who I like. So I decided to give it a go and tell you.” Then she says this is actually the first time since entering high school that she’s stopped by somewhere with someone on her way home from school, and Futaba’s all, BAAW MURAO-SAN...
 
Murao changes the topic again, saying that the one who’ll have to make a choice is Kou. Even if Futaba and Yuuri were to start a war about it, it wouldn’t have much meaning. Too TRUE. And in the end, he might not choose either of them. “If it does work out for one of you, at least I’ll always be a neutral party. Good luck, both of you.”
 
And the mood is nice and yay friendship and Murao comments yet again that they sure have strange tastes, the both of them, and they laugh and I love this.
 
It’s gotten dark by the time she’s on her way home, and Futaba thinks to herself that girls talk is a scary thing... (it’s a time-suck, yeah. Haha.)
 
She’s reached the station, and then Kou is there, playing with the black cat they both played with before. (YESSS IT’S KOU TIME.) They talk a bit about it (the cat), Kou noting how it seems to have gotten thinner, and Futaba suggesting he take it in, if he’s worried about it.
 
But Kou says he won’t. He’ll end up caring about it. 
“Then go ahead and care?”
“When you have stuff you care about, it ends up wearing you out...”
 
Kou stands and says bye-bye as he starts walking towards the station. Futaba asks if he’s going to take a train, and wonders where he could be going this late. “Secret,” he says. You playing Mysterious Boy again? You think I’m gonna fall for that?! ...I’m so falling for that. SPILL ALREADY.
 
Futaba replays his last words in her mind, about it wearing him out to care, and wonders if that means he doesn’t care about school or friends or anything. “If so, then... I’m worried.”
 
...And so she ends up following him (hah! Yay) onto the train, then off the train and to an area with lots of youngsters hanging around. She sees him meet some people he’s obviously acquainted with, and watching him together with them, she thinks that he seems like a Kou of a different world. “I don’t like it.”
 
So she walks up to him, and he starts a bit when he sees her, asking what she’s doing there. She snaps that that’s what SHE wants to ask HIM, and he’s like, uh... why are YOU angry? She fumbles a bit, not actually sure what to say to that, and then ends up blurting something about midterms coming up and how he should be studying. Haha. Kou sits there, disgruntled, as a buddy on one side laughs and mockingly chides him for not studying when he should, and a buddy on his other side asks if Futaba’s his girlfriend, which he denies. So then the first buddy asks if it’s okay for him to hit on her then, ‘cause he likes her face. Kou gives a little “Heh...” and starts listing out all Futaba’s “bad points” (/tricks to ward off guys), “She’s messy, she eats more than me and her legs are fat (what?!), there’s nothing even remotely feminine about her?” Futaba’s like, huh? What? What are you talking about? (lol, she looks so lost and out of place...)
 
Buddy 1 isn’t convinced though, saying she looks plenty feminine to him. He whispers: “She looks like she’s decent THERE, you know?” People are calling out to Futaba, and she’s all eh, huh, what. Buddy 1 specifies what he’s talking about. “Breasts.”
 
He smiles at Kou, and Kou smiles back, though it’s quickly replaced by a glare as he says, “hearing that from a friend seriously disgusts me.”
 
Really now. Heh. (If anyone (for some reason? XD) happens to know a better way to translate マジ引くわ (rather than ‘disgust’), tell meee)
 
Kou gets up to leave, making a ‘come on’ movement with his head to make Futaba follow him, which she happily does. But then he’s pointing out the direction to the station, clearly not intending to go home yet himself. Futaba won’t have that, so instead of going home on her own, she continues her stalking. After a while, Kou shouts over his shoulder for her to give it up already, but she pretends not to hear him and sticks to it.
 
She thinks: “I mean, it’s just so frustrating! It’s like there’s no way to get close to him, and I can’t take it.”
 
Kou stops by a vending machine and buys her a drink. Heh, so you gave up getting rid of her.
 
They sit down on a grassy hill. Futaba asks him what kind of people they were, the ones he was with earlier. He says he doesn’t really know. 
“Do you go there often? Why?” 
“Just kinda ended up there, killing time.”
“...Are you... doing anything bad?”
“Like drinking or smoking?” 
Futaba doesn’t say anything. Kou leans back on the grass, saying that yeah, sure, there are those who do that, too. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t go there because he wants to do stuff like that. “I’m really just talking with them.”
“If all you want is a conversation partner, then just talk to ME.”
Kou looks at her, taken a bit by surprise (I guess that was straightforward of her), and Futaba, realizing what she just said, blushes and adds, “That is, me or Kominato or Yuuri, for example? Anyway, there are lots of us available, see!”
 
Then she also lays down, returning him the favour of pointing out that friends like those other people are nothing but... fake friends. Haha.
 
But Kou’s mind has wandered elsewhere, and he sits up a little, going, “Don’t you think you’re a bit too careless? I might assault you, you know?” And Futaba’s like, “Whaaat, no way, hahaha. You don’t see me that way, anyway. And I know you wouldn’t do that sort of thing.” She’s blushing, not looking at him, but then he leans over her, grabs her wrists. “You take guys to lightly. If there’s a question of physical strength, you’re much weaker. And guys can perfectly well assault a girl whether they like her or not.” And he lowers his face towards hers, and he’s just inches away, AND THEN THEY---don’t kiss. (It’s too bad I already used that joke/lie/insufferable attempt at deception when I summ’d ch08, cause it would have been much more believable here... It’s an almost kiss! It’s an ALMOST KISS. It’s a “their lips were an inch apart (and Kou almost closed his eyes)” almost kiss! Excuse me for obsessing. BUT I MEAN!)
 
...He bumps his forehead (intentionally) into hers, then sits back up. She sits up too, confused, while Kou’s all, see, you were scared, right? He says the only reason she wasn’t really assaulted just now was because the other person happened to be him. Then he gets to the point, telling her that if she doesn’t want to experience stuff like that for real, she’d better not go to a place like that (where they were earlier) alone again. Futaba figures he did what he just did to make sure she’d really understand what he just told her, and then... she starts to cry. Kou’s all, “Huh, what? You’re crying? I’m sorry. I guess I overdid it.” (When she keeps crying, he goes like, “I said I’m sorry.” Haha. Cute.)
 
Futaba narrates: I was surprised. I was scared. But that’s not the only reason I’m crying. More than any of that, I’m crying because my heart was really racing just now, and I’m embarrassed at myself.
 
...But I won’t tell Kou that.
 
10/end
 
Bikkuri's notes:  ijsfdnsai too much FUN. I actually shut the magazine when I first flipped to the page where he leans down and it looks like he’ll kiss her, and then I just sat there going NOWAY for an eternity. Though I did kinda know it wasn’t what it looked like... but the drawings are still... like... GAAAH. You know? You know. Ahhh really. Aoharaido brings me so much giggly joy. And also, FutabaxYuurixMurao friendship FTW! (BTW, the whole “guy pretends he’s gonna do Bad Thing to girl to prove a point and basically to protect her” thing has definitely been done before (like say, Kyouya in Ouran HSHC, anyone?), but I mean... 1. IT’S FUN and 2. doesn’t it... seem... like jealousy, and a need to protect, and LOVE? :D Kou hasn’t really blushed since middle school, haha, so it’s hard to tell what he feels... (or at least how conscious he is about it.)) Well anyway. Things are going in an interesting direction, I’m happy! <--- Minchi's note: Me toooo t.t

Translator: Bikkuri
Scanner: Shmook
 
Chapter 9

"My important friend... and I... like the same person."
 
We continue were we left off, with Futaba and Kou waiting for the next train. Kou's gone to buy a bottle of water, because he thinks Futaba is feeling sick. She, of course, isn't actually feeling sick, and as she thinks of how she's pretty much lost her chance to fess up on how completely not-sick she is, Kou demands a sip of water. Futaba goes, "HUH?!", Kou goes, "I paid for it, IT'S MIEN." ...Basically.
 
Futaba freaks out over the impending indirect kiss this sharing of bottle will lead to, but then Kou notices her staring, and figures she has some sort of OCD thing going on with things like these, so he courteously opts for pouring water all over his face instead. See, that's just wasteful. I suppose some of it went into your mouth, though. Futaba immediately offers to lend him a towel, but changes her mind when she sees the inside of her bag. She zips it back up in horror, recalling the role she's playing; the uncute, messy girl. Suddenly embarrassed by this, she leaves Kou to wipe off his face on his sweater, which he does SO ADORABLY. WHAT, ARE YOU A PUPPY.
 
Futaba remembers something Yuuri said once, about there being nothing wrong with wanting to look cute in front of a boy. "I understand what she meant now REALLY well.........No, gah! Wait! Am I some kind of innocent maiden?! Gross, I'm so gross!"
 
(Sorry for this completely unrelated side note, but HAH. She's reminding me of Kyouko from Skip Beat right now.)
 
Kou looks at her (pulling her hair in front of her face in some sort of Pose of Despair), asking her what's up and if she's still feeling sick. She denies, shielding her face from view with her hands. He moves her hands aside, asking if she's sure, and a slight breeze ruffles their hair and everything is sparkly and cute and pretty for a moment.
 
Kou wonders if Futaba wears perfume, finding it a bit surprising. Hah. So it's your time to be sniffing people, is it. You two are obviously made for each other.
 
Futaba denies wearing any sort of perfume though, so Kou concludes it must be the smell of her shampoo. "It's kinda hot, actually."
 
Confused by the following silence, Kou glances over at Futaba, starting when he sees her wide-eyed and blushing. He quickly looks away, saying this is when she's supposed to retort with a similar joke, or he'll just look like a pervert. No worries, Kou. She's not much better.
 
Futaba tells him to make it more obvious when he's joking next time, cause she had no idea how to respond. She thinks of how the shampoo she's using is the cheapest she could find, and that whether he was joking or not, she wishes she had used something more refined. "Being a maiden in love will leave me in poverty..."
 
Then she remembers that she was actually supposed to buy a new bottle of shampoo on her way home today, so she has to pop by a store before taking the train. So she finally gets Kou to leave ahead of her, that thing she kept failing at last chapter. Even though she'd actually like to go home together, she feels like she's being unfair towards Yuuri, spending too much time with him before she comes clean. She decides to tell Yuuri the next day, definitely (yeah, right), though she's scared of what she'll say. If she'll come to resent her...
 
At the store, she first finds the cheapest shampoo of the day, but then she catches sight of a more feminine, expensive looking bottle, and finding that she likes the smell of it, buys it despite the higher price.
 
On her way back to the station, she runs into someone I knew would show up again! Since she was given a name and everything, in the prologue. Yumi-chan, Futaba's friend from middle school. There's a pretty predictable explanation as to why they stopped being friends, but Sakisaka Io tells predictable stories is sweet ways, so it's ok, I guess. Basically, Yumi was the friend who stayed by Futaba the longest, but when she caught wind of some rumours saying Futaba also like Naitou, the boy Yumi liked back then (as you might remember), she felt betrayed, and started ignoring Futaba along with the other girls (after seeing Futaba staring after Naitou, and taking that as confirmation of her feelings). Futaba however, had only been paying attention to Naitou because he'd been pretty close with Kou, and she'd hoped to overhear news through him somehow.
 
But all she says to Yumi is that she never liked Naitou. Yumi really does seem to feel bad about it all, and apologizes. Futaba doesn't care about it anymore though. The reason she feels bad now is because, though the both-friends-liking-Naitou thing had been a misunderstanding, both-friends-liking-Kou is for real. She mulls it all over for a while more, but still concludes that she'd better tell Yuuri the truth.
 
...Several days later, she's sitting at school, still despairing. Hah, see, I knew it'd be like this. It's understandable, though.
 
She witnesses Kou handing Yuuri a CD, saying it's the CD she asked to borrow in her text. And Futaba is all, "They send each other texts now?" And then she stews in some jealousy, haha, resenting Yuuri for her cutesy ways and all that, before realizing she's acting like Asumi and co. "I understand Asumi better now... but I also understand Yuuri, wanting to look cute... Seriously, what is this feeeliiiiing..."
 
Yuuri comes over, showing off the CD happily. Futaba doesn't quite manage to sound sincere when she congratulates, so Yuuri starts noticing that something's off.
 
Later, Futaba sits outside, beneath a window, wondering if she can't manage to like Kou quietly without ever saying anything to anyone. It's not like he sees her as a girl, anyway, so she doesn't stand a chance, right?
 
Then Kou comes jumping out the window, and they both yell in surprise when they see each other. Kou quickly puts his hand over her mouth, telling her to be quiet, and Futaba freaks out over their proximity. Kou's running from Tanaka-sensei as usual, who wants to eat dinner with him again. Kou holds Futaba's head down when Tanaka-sensei passes by the window. Yeah. This is Aoharaido. So much touching.
 
Futaba asks why Kou won't even have dinner with Tanaka-sensei. That's much should be fine, right? But Kou just gives a small smile, his hand sliding off her head. Futaba is smart enough to realize this is the "please stop asking" kind of silence, so she really does stop asking. Then Kou catches the smell of her hair again, asking if she changed her shampoo. She says yeah, "because I want you to think I'm hot." And Kou is like, "Ah... I see what you mean. If you don't say stuff like that so it's obvious you're joking, it's a bit hard to respond." Pssh, no one's joking! Stop fooling yourselves, both of ya.
 
Anyway, then Kou climbs back in the window, and Futaba has that realization that took Ninako in SE quuuuite a lot longer to have; when you like someone, you won't want to stay quietly looking at them from afar forever. You'll want to make an effort to be liked in return.
 
Kou says over his shoulder that Yuuri was looking for her, and that she seemed to be a bit worried about her. Futaba thinks of how she knows Yuuri is a sweet person. A really good friend, someone important she doesn't want to lose. But that's exactly why she needs to be honest with her. Then it'll be up to Yuuri whether they'll continue to be friends or not. 
 
So when Yuuri asks her to stop by a coffee shop with her on the way home, she says yes with a sad little smile, thinking: "I might lose a good friend today."
.
.
 
...Continues in a month!
 Bikku's notes: Futaba thought a lot this chapter, haha. Actually, she always thinks a lot, doesn't she. But yeah. I expect she really will tell Yuuri next chapter. So I look forward to that. Might make things interesting. I really don't want to see Futaba even trying to give up for Yuuri's sake, because that would be typical and boring, and I might cry. But at least Yuuri really is sweet, and not that annoying type of random-girl-in-love-with-the-male-lead who sneaks around plotting evil. Anyway, other than that, Kou and Futaba are cute together, as usual! Cute and touchy-feely! XD

Minchi's notes: OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG, why so awesome, damn you, Kou >_<. Hope Futaba can deal with Yuuri. Please Sakisaka Io, surprise me (in a good way, of course xD).