Since this is the last chapter, I’ve decided to do a full translation (which isn’t that hard since most of my summaries are almost word-for-word anyways :P). Italics are Chiwa’s thoughts, and the rest are as usual.
“Enough!! I’m for sure not sleeping with you tonight!!” Chiwa says in defiance.
“You’ll probably be lonely…” Hokuto cheekily comments.
“I won’t! Definitely won’t!!” Chiwa puffs.
Hello. After Hokuto pulled out from the Mamiya registry and we’ve remarried, I became Miura Chiwa. The flat we’ve been living in has been sold off after the divorce, so Hokuto and I are presently living at my house. Yet we’ve been fighting every day.
“Why?! Why didn’t you consult with me before buying it?? This is the umpteenth time!” Chiwa complains.
“Oh shut up. Why do I need to report back to you for every single thing I buy. I told you I’m not used to sleeping in a futon,” Hokuto retorts.
“But you didn’t have to go and buy a double king-sized bed. It doesn’t even fit in the room!!” Chiwa argues back.
“You too said you liked wide beds in the past. It’s useful for doing stuff,” Hokuto comments.
“That’s not the point! You just don’t get it! I’m going to sleep somewhere else tonight!” Chiwa replies, flustered and shocked by his comment.
“What? You were serious? Where are you going to sleep?”
“Anywhere will do! If I sleep with you…” Chiwa drifts off as she remembers the last time she slept with him.
Hokuto was teasing her during foreplay when Chiwa asked him to hurry.
As he licked off his fingers, Hokuto coldly said, “If you apologize, I’ll continue.”
“Eh?”
“If you apologize for what you did during the afternoon, I’ll continue.”
“What…! You were at fault. I was just…”
“I see. Then let’s end here. Goodni -- ”
“Wait…Fine, I got it, I got it! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!! So just…” Chiwa said impatiently.
After the flashback, Chiwa says, “It’s because you always do things like that that we never settle things! You do that every time after we fight!!”
“Well you were the one to apologize…”
“What are you going on about when you’re the one coming on to me!! Anyways, I’m not settling until you apologize this time.”
“Hmm…says the woman who can’t sleep without me,” Hokuto insolently comments.
Clenching her fists, Chiwa says, “I…may not be able to live without you, but I can sure as hell live on without having sex with you!!”
Shocked by her outburst, Hokuto is rendered speechless as Chiwa runs away from him.
As Chiwa soaks in the bath, she thinks, “Why did it turn out like this? Hokuto has been through a lot. He lost both his parents and even had to change his name. I should have been kinder to him. Am I that shallow-minded? I know if one looks in from the outside, these are just small things. But…he’s the egocentric one who’s always calling all the shots. And there I was thinking that if we put the past behind us, we’ll be able to live together peacefully. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, me having to always hold back. We may love each other, but I wonder if our personalities are just that fundamentally incompatible…”
The scene cuts to Hokuto walking down the street, frustrated by the morning’s exchange with Chiwa, wherein he tried to talk to make conversation only to be ignored by her.
“What’s with that attitude this morning? How can I make up with her if she won’t even let me talk to her? Still I’ll have to find a way. Her birthday is nearing, so I should look for a present,” Hokuto thinks before he stops in front of a shop’s window, a dawn of recognition on his face.
A few days later, Asahina goes up to Chiwa with some leaflets in his hands.
“Ma…I mean Miura! I’ve gathered quite a few options for the banquet location,” Asahina chirps.
“Ha?”
“I wanted to hear you opinion on which is best,” he continues.
“Umm…what are you talking about?” Chiwa asks.
“What, aren’t you preparing for a wedding?” Asahina asks confused.
“Eh???”
“I was asked by your husband to organize things for the banquet…”
“Haaah?”
That night back at the house, Chiwa storms down the hallway in search for Hokuto.
“HOKUTO!!”
“What’s…” Hokuto turns around from the floor.
“What wedding? What’s this about?” Chiwa asks.
Hokuto pauses a moment, not understanding until he figures it was Asahina who blurted it out.
“I told him to consult with me,” he mutters.
“So it’s true?!”
“…yea, it’s true. I wanted to see you wear a wedding dress.”
“What…what…”
“But I wanted to do it secretly.”
“This isn’t something you can do secretly!! Why are you always the sole decider when it comes to these big decisions? Why?” Chiwa yells as she grips Hokuto.
Hokuto pauses yet again before sighing, “So you are neither happy nor surprised by this. Never mind then, let’s not do it. ”
“Eh…”
“I thought you would be happy. I can’t even find the chance to talk to you, let alone have sex. I see this isn’t even a surprise for you.”
“St—stop it with the egoism, anata!!” (T/N: Anata is an endearing term used by husbands/wives for each other. It’s quite lovey-dovey, which is why Hokuto is always a little appalled by her usage, like the first time she said it after they’ve finally made love.)
“Ana…?” Hokuto sweats.
“I never wished for you to go to such lengths to make me happy. What I’m saying is I want you to stop deciding everything by yourself without consulting me. I just want you to talk it out with me. That’s all…” Chiwa says.
“Urgh…Why am I always so angry…” Chiwa buries her face in her hands. “I’ve been thinking lately why I’m not more generous. Why can’t I just be silent and accept all your decisions, like Shitara-san? But I just can’t. That’s not me at all. If it weren’t for those circumstances, we would have never met. And even if we did, it’s highly unlikely we would have dated each other. It’s exactly because of your past circumstances that we married. Now that it’s all cleared up, what’s left is really that our values and ways of thinking are just too different. We’re an ill-matched pair.”
Hokuto’s expression sours as he takes her words in.
“So?” he asks.
“Like I said, our personalities are incompatible…”
“Who cares?” Hokuto replies with exasperation.
“Were you even listening to me?!” Chiwa asks.
“I see. So it’s not enough to try and please you. But I don’t think we can act just like lovers. We’re husband and wife after all. Got it, then let’s fight for the rest of our lives my wife,” Hokuto says as he pats her head.
“Feel free to complain about all the things you don’t like. I’ll accept all of it, but we have to make up each time afterwards. I don’t know about our personalities, but one thing’s for sure. I had always liked that about you from the beginning. You’ve never given up on me.”
“But aren’t you tired by it?” Chiwa asks.
“Of course I’m tired. But I think it’s what couples do. Come here,” Hokuto says as he slides the door open.
“Fireflies??” Chiwa exclaims in awe. “Why? There’s never been any here.”
“Is that so? Then maybe a neighbor has released them. I’ve seen them lingering in the garden lately and I wanted to show it to you,” Hokuto says.
“But there’s no water…”
“Please don’t say things like our personalities are incompatible so lightly. Just tell me all the things you don’t like,” Hokuto says as he hugs Chiwa from the back.
“Don’t…” he begins.
“Okay.”
Don’t leave me alone. His unspoken wish is the same as mine. No matter how many fights we have, I still want to be together with him.
“So…are we not going through with it?” Chiwa asks.
“Hmm?”
“The..uhh..wedding…”
“Eh, you wanted to have one?”
“If we can talk it out with each other, I want to have one,” Chiwa smiles.
“…I see.”
“But, why did you think of a wedding all of a sudden?”
“I saw a wedding dress in a shop display in the city, and was imagining you wearing it.”
“…that’s it?”
“Mostly, and then…I would have to draw the line so I can only invite gramps and Souma. There are no other relatives or acquaintances from work I can invite. Satoru and his wife may not come even if I did invite them.”
“Hokuto doesn’t have very many friends,” Chiwa smiles, earning Hokuto’s ire. “But I would probably only invite my father, the people at work and Sakuraba-san.”
“There’s one more thing I want to talk with you about. I won’t force you concerning your current work, but once my business gets up and running, I want you to come over and help me.”
“Eh? Am I all right for it?”
“You’re fine. Actually, I want it to be you,” Hokuto answers.
“Alright.”
~The day of the wedding~
Hokuto and Chiwa walks out to greet the guests as they receive congratulations from here and there.
“Chiwa, you’re so beautiful!” her dad cries.
“I agree. I’ve become more sentimental lately, my wrinkles…” Souma says.
“You look like Yuuko-sama on the day of her wedding. If only I were fifty years younger,” grandpa says to Chiwa.
“You’re not kidding, are you,” Hokuto mumbles.
Chiwa smiles tightly as she thinks, “Just a little more. I have to last…”
“Bride and groom! This may be a bit rushed, but please get on the car! Let’s go to the banquet!” Sakuraba says.
It turns out that Chiwa’s prior colleages (including Yagami-kun) from Mamiya company were invited too.
“Is—isn’t that the ex-president of our company!!” colleague 1 says.
“What’s so good about Chiwa…” colleague 2 complains.
“Then the reason I was relocated to the north was because…” Yagami-kun grumbles.
Meanwhile, Katagiri approaches Hokuto.
“Yo, congrats,” he says.
“Katagiri-senpai.”
“It looked tough but I gather you were finally able to tie things up. Good for you. But are you sure you want to be tied down to one woman for the rest of your life?” Katagiri asks.
“Senpai never had the desire to marry in the past.”
“You were the same.”
“It’s true it’s easier being by myself. I didn’t think marriage would be so troublesome,” Hokuto answers.
“Eh, didn’t you marry because you wanted to?”
“It’s something worth doing. Senpai should try it too,” Hokuto smiles.
Someone suddenly screams, and the two men turn around to see Chiwa hunched down on the floor.
“Takanashi what’s wrong? Are you alright?”
Hokuto runs up to her, “What’s wrong?”
“Hmm..I was a bit dizzy,” she answers sheepishly.
“You feel hot to the touch. Were you unwell this whole time?”
“I’m fine. It’s nothing big.”
“That’s not the problem!!” Hokuto raises his voice. “Didn’t you tell me not to keep everything to myself? Why didn’t you tell me? Don’t you understand you’re just causing more trouble? We could have delayed the wedding to any other date.”
“I wanted it to be today no matter what!! We’ve prepared so much for it already!”
“You’re not some kid looking forward to a sports festival! Idiot!”
“Don’t call me an idiot! Hokuto you’re so tyrannical!” Chiwa wails.
“You’re too reckless!” he retorts back.
Chiwa suddenly buckles down again.
“I told you so…Don’t push yourself. Here, have some water,” Hokuto says as Katagiri carries forth a glass. Chiwa looks reluctant to take it, however.
“Eh, you don’t want to drink any?” asks Katagiri. “Are you…possibly pregnant?”
The crowd looks on in wonderment as Hokuto picks Chiwa up.
“Wait…Hokuto, what’re you doing?”
“I’m bringing you to the hospital for a checkup.”
“We’re still in the middle of the banquet!”
“Pipe down. What’ll I do if something happens to you?”
“What do you mean by that? It’s just going to be one more hour so we can go to the checkup afterwards. I don’t even know if I’m pregnant for sure!” Chiwa pummels Hokuto’s shoulders.
“What if you happen to collapse in that one hour?”
Unable to bear it any longer, Asahina steps forward. “Calm down you two! It’s supposed to be an auspicious day.”
The couple turn back to him, “Fine then! We’ll stop here!!” They make up just as suddenly as the fight started.
“My my, looks like they’ve finally calmed down. It’s my second time seeing those two fight,” Sakuraba comments.
“Sakuraba-san has seen it too? I’ve also seen it. It’s quite intense,” Asahina says.
“But it seems that the more they fight, the closer they get with each other. It must have been how they finally became a true couple,” Sakuraba says.
“…does that mean that I’m never going to be able to get married if I hate confrontation and am always just being nice to woman?” Asahina panics.
“So you’ve finally noticed, Asahina-san,” laughs a colleague while Chiwa’s ex-colleagues from Mamiya zone in on him as a potential marriage partner.
“It might be a little quick, but could we have a last word from the groom?” Sakuraba asks as he hands Hokuto the mike.
“Thank you for gathering here this day. There have been many twists and turns, and being able to reach this day should have been the happiest for us. But we’re going to become even happier from today onwards. I know this is possible as long as we don’t give up on each other. Lastly, I would like to leave a special word for the bride on this special day,” Hokuto says.
Chiwa looks up in awe at her husband, unaware of what’s to come.
“I love you,” Hokuto says as he kisses Chiwa in front of the audience. “Well, I guess it’s okay to say it once in my life.”
Chiwa blushes before stammering, “O—one more time! I wasn’t ready!!”
“No way,” Hokuto says.
“But, it was the first time you’ve told me face to face!!”
“It’s valuable because I’ve only said it once.”
“No way…”
The scene cuts to the audience and we see the words of the wedding vows.
良き時も悪き時も、病める時も 健やかなる時も、死が二人を分かつまで私たちはずーっとケンカすることを違います
（For better or worse, in sickness and in health, we vow to keep fighting until death do us part. ）
The End [shalalalá]
Commentary: The last line was for those who could understand Japanese because I think it’s more meaningful to be read in the original language. Anyways…wow, we’re finally done! I can’t say the last chapter blew me away or anything since we all knew what to expect. There were too many silly arguments in the chapter for my taste, but I suppose others may find it amusing. I’m really glad the series finally ended though. At moments I already felt it was dragging, revisiting the same story over and over again, which may be realistic in real life (like when a woman ponders and ponders the situation in her mind), but can be a bit boring to read. I look forward to her next series for the October issue (released in September) and hopefully the heroine is more…let’s say, stronger and independent? I found Chiwa likeable at first and rooted for her during the beginning, but it started going downhill from chapter 18 or so. There was less and less character development, and even in this last chapter, she doubted their relationship when there was no need to. Her insecurities kept resurfacing no matter how hard Hokuto tried to reassure her that he loves her. How many times has he told her he loves her in different ways now? There was the one when he said he wanted to live and die by her side, another time when he said he wanted to begin anew with her, etc. etc. It was almost exasperating to have to read another chapter again where he has to proclaim his love for the sake of assuaging her lack of confidence. Anyways, I should probably stop complaining about her before I lose the urge to buy the final volume…which btw is slated for a September 10th release.
Volumes 1-9 are going to be reprinted, so for all the readers out there who can read Japanese or just want a collection, now’s the time to buy! Not many series get reprints (the only one on the top of my head to get continuous reruns at the press is One Piece right now), and it becomes harder to find new copies the longer the series has been completed. Anyways, I would like to thank everyone for sticking to my cruddy summaries for the series. I know they’re not the most polished of writing pieces, and sometimes I cringe when looking back on past ones. I hope I can improve upon her next serialization, so see you then!
“Enough!! I’m for sure not sleeping with you tonight!!” Chiwa says in defiance.
“You’ll probably be lonely…” Hokuto cheekily comments.
“I won’t! Definitely won’t!!” Chiwa puffs.
Hello. After Hokuto pulled out from the Mamiya registry and we’ve remarried, I became Miura Chiwa. The flat we’ve been living in has been sold off after the divorce, so Hokuto and I are presently living at my house. Yet we’ve been fighting every day.
“Why?! Why didn’t you consult with me before buying it?? This is the umpteenth time!” Chiwa complains.
“Oh shut up. Why do I need to report back to you for every single thing I buy. I told you I’m not used to sleeping in a futon,” Hokuto retorts.
“But you didn’t have to go and buy a double king-sized bed. It doesn’t even fit in the room!!” Chiwa argues back.
“You too said you liked wide beds in the past. It’s useful for doing stuff,” Hokuto comments.
“That’s not the point! You just don’t get it! I’m going to sleep somewhere else tonight!” Chiwa replies, flustered and shocked by his comment.
“What? You were serious? Where are you going to sleep?”
“Anywhere will do! If I sleep with you…” Chiwa drifts off as she remembers the last time she slept with him.
Hokuto was teasing her during foreplay when Chiwa asked him to hurry.
As he licked off his fingers, Hokuto coldly said, “If you apologize, I’ll continue.”
“Eh?”
“If you apologize for what you did during the afternoon, I’ll continue.”
“What…! You were at fault. I was just…”
“I see. Then let’s end here. Goodni -- ”
“Wait…Fine, I got it, I got it! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!! So just…” Chiwa said impatiently.
After the flashback, Chiwa says, “It’s because you always do things like that that we never settle things! You do that every time after we fight!!”
“Well you were the one to apologize…”
“What are you going on about when you’re the one coming on to me!! Anyways, I’m not settling until you apologize this time.”
“Hmm…says the woman who can’t sleep without me,” Hokuto insolently comments.
Clenching her fists, Chiwa says, “I…may not be able to live without you, but I can sure as hell live on without having sex with you!!”
Shocked by her outburst, Hokuto is rendered speechless as Chiwa runs away from him.
As Chiwa soaks in the bath, she thinks, “Why did it turn out like this? Hokuto has been through a lot. He lost both his parents and even had to change his name. I should have been kinder to him. Am I that shallow-minded? I know if one looks in from the outside, these are just small things. But…he’s the egocentric one who’s always calling all the shots. And there I was thinking that if we put the past behind us, we’ll be able to live together peacefully. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, me having to always hold back. We may love each other, but I wonder if our personalities are just that fundamentally incompatible…”
The scene cuts to Hokuto walking down the street, frustrated by the morning’s exchange with Chiwa, wherein he tried to talk to make conversation only to be ignored by her.
“What’s with that attitude this morning? How can I make up with her if she won’t even let me talk to her? Still I’ll have to find a way. Her birthday is nearing, so I should look for a present,” Hokuto thinks before he stops in front of a shop’s window, a dawn of recognition on his face.
A few days later, Asahina goes up to Chiwa with some leaflets in his hands.
“Ma…I mean Miura! I’ve gathered quite a few options for the banquet location,” Asahina chirps.
“Ha?”
“I wanted to hear you opinion on which is best,” he continues.
“Umm…what are you talking about?” Chiwa asks.
“What, aren’t you preparing for a wedding?” Asahina asks confused.
“Eh???”
“I was asked by your husband to organize things for the banquet…”
“Haaah?”
That night back at the house, Chiwa storms down the hallway in search for Hokuto.
“HOKUTO!!”
“What’s…” Hokuto turns around from the floor.
“What wedding? What’s this about?” Chiwa asks.
Hokuto pauses a moment, not understanding until he figures it was Asahina who blurted it out.
“I told him to consult with me,” he mutters.
“So it’s true?!”
“…yea, it’s true. I wanted to see you wear a wedding dress.”
“What…what…”
“But I wanted to do it secretly.”
“This isn’t something you can do secretly!! Why are you always the sole decider when it comes to these big decisions? Why?” Chiwa yells as she grips Hokuto.
Hokuto pauses yet again before sighing, “So you are neither happy nor surprised by this. Never mind then, let’s not do it. ”
“Eh…”
“I thought you would be happy. I can’t even find the chance to talk to you, let alone have sex. I see this isn’t even a surprise for you.”
“St—stop it with the egoism, anata!!” (T/N: Anata is an endearing term used by husbands/wives for each other. It’s quite lovey-dovey, which is why Hokuto is always a little appalled by her usage, like the first time she said it after they’ve finally made love.)
“Ana…?” Hokuto sweats.
“I never wished for you to go to such lengths to make me happy. What I’m saying is I want you to stop deciding everything by yourself without consulting me. I just want you to talk it out with me. That’s all…” Chiwa says.
“Urgh…Why am I always so angry…” Chiwa buries her face in her hands. “I’ve been thinking lately why I’m not more generous. Why can’t I just be silent and accept all your decisions, like Shitara-san? But I just can’t. That’s not me at all. If it weren’t for those circumstances, we would have never met. And even if we did, it’s highly unlikely we would have dated each other. It’s exactly because of your past circumstances that we married. Now that it’s all cleared up, what’s left is really that our values and ways of thinking are just too different. We’re an ill-matched pair.”
Hokuto’s expression sours as he takes her words in.
“So?” he asks.
“Like I said, our personalities are incompatible…”
“Who cares?” Hokuto replies with exasperation.
“Were you even listening to me?!” Chiwa asks.
“I see. So it’s not enough to try and please you. But I don’t think we can act just like lovers. We’re husband and wife after all. Got it, then let’s fight for the rest of our lives my wife,” Hokuto says as he pats her head.
“Feel free to complain about all the things you don’t like. I’ll accept all of it, but we have to make up each time afterwards. I don’t know about our personalities, but one thing’s for sure. I had always liked that about you from the beginning. You’ve never given up on me.”
“But aren’t you tired by it?” Chiwa asks.
“Of course I’m tired. But I think it’s what couples do. Come here,” Hokuto says as he slides the door open.
“Fireflies??” Chiwa exclaims in awe. “Why? There’s never been any here.”
“Is that so? Then maybe a neighbor has released them. I’ve seen them lingering in the garden lately and I wanted to show it to you,” Hokuto says.
“But there’s no water…”
“Please don’t say things like our personalities are incompatible so lightly. Just tell me all the things you don’t like,” Hokuto says as he hugs Chiwa from the back.
“Don’t…” he begins.
“Okay.”
Don’t leave me alone. His unspoken wish is the same as mine. No matter how many fights we have, I still want to be together with him.
“So…are we not going through with it?” Chiwa asks.
“Hmm?”
“The..uhh..wedding…”
“Eh, you wanted to have one?”
“If we can talk it out with each other, I want to have one,” Chiwa smiles.
“…I see.”
“But, why did you think of a wedding all of a sudden?”
“I saw a wedding dress in a shop display in the city, and was imagining you wearing it.”
“…that’s it?”
“Mostly, and then…I would have to draw the line so I can only invite gramps and Souma. There are no other relatives or acquaintances from work I can invite. Satoru and his wife may not come even if I did invite them.”
“Hokuto doesn’t have very many friends,” Chiwa smiles, earning Hokuto’s ire. “But I would probably only invite my father, the people at work and Sakuraba-san.”
“There’s one more thing I want to talk with you about. I won’t force you concerning your current work, but once my business gets up and running, I want you to come over and help me.”
“Eh? Am I all right for it?”
“You’re fine. Actually, I want it to be you,” Hokuto answers.
“Alright.”
~The day of the wedding~
Hokuto and Chiwa walks out to greet the guests as they receive congratulations from here and there.
“Chiwa, you’re so beautiful!” her dad cries.
“I agree. I’ve become more sentimental lately, my wrinkles…” Souma says.
“You look like Yuuko-sama on the day of her wedding. If only I were fifty years younger,” grandpa says to Chiwa.
“You’re not kidding, are you,” Hokuto mumbles.
Chiwa smiles tightly as she thinks, “Just a little more. I have to last…”
“Bride and groom! This may be a bit rushed, but please get on the car! Let’s go to the banquet!” Sakuraba says.
It turns out that Chiwa’s prior colleages (including Yagami-kun) from Mamiya company were invited too.
“Is—isn’t that the ex-president of our company!!” colleague 1 says.
“What’s so good about Chiwa…” colleague 2 complains.
“Then the reason I was relocated to the north was because…” Yagami-kun grumbles.
Meanwhile, Katagiri approaches Hokuto.
“Yo, congrats,” he says.
“Katagiri-senpai.”
“It looked tough but I gather you were finally able to tie things up. Good for you. But are you sure you want to be tied down to one woman for the rest of your life?” Katagiri asks.
“Senpai never had the desire to marry in the past.”
“You were the same.”
“It’s true it’s easier being by myself. I didn’t think marriage would be so troublesome,” Hokuto answers.
“Eh, didn’t you marry because you wanted to?”
“It’s something worth doing. Senpai should try it too,” Hokuto smiles.
Someone suddenly screams, and the two men turn around to see Chiwa hunched down on the floor.
“Takanashi what’s wrong? Are you alright?”
Hokuto runs up to her, “What’s wrong?”
“Hmm..I was a bit dizzy,” she answers sheepishly.
“You feel hot to the touch. Were you unwell this whole time?”
“I’m fine. It’s nothing big.”
“That’s not the problem!!” Hokuto raises his voice. “Didn’t you tell me not to keep everything to myself? Why didn’t you tell me? Don’t you understand you’re just causing more trouble? We could have delayed the wedding to any other date.”
“I wanted it to be today no matter what!! We’ve prepared so much for it already!”
“You’re not some kid looking forward to a sports festival! Idiot!”
“Don’t call me an idiot! Hokuto you’re so tyrannical!” Chiwa wails.
“You’re too reckless!” he retorts back.
Chiwa suddenly buckles down again.
“I told you so…Don’t push yourself. Here, have some water,” Hokuto says as Katagiri carries forth a glass. Chiwa looks reluctant to take it, however.
“Eh, you don’t want to drink any?” asks Katagiri. “Are you…possibly pregnant?”
The crowd looks on in wonderment as Hokuto picks Chiwa up.
“Wait…Hokuto, what’re you doing?”
“I’m bringing you to the hospital for a checkup.”
“We’re still in the middle of the banquet!”
“Pipe down. What’ll I do if something happens to you?”
“What do you mean by that? It’s just going to be one more hour so we can go to the checkup afterwards. I don’t even know if I’m pregnant for sure!” Chiwa pummels Hokuto’s shoulders.
“What if you happen to collapse in that one hour?”
Unable to bear it any longer, Asahina steps forward. “Calm down you two! It’s supposed to be an auspicious day.”
The couple turn back to him, “Fine then! We’ll stop here!!” They make up just as suddenly as the fight started.
“My my, looks like they’ve finally calmed down. It’s my second time seeing those two fight,” Sakuraba comments.
“Sakuraba-san has seen it too? I’ve also seen it. It’s quite intense,” Asahina says.
“But it seems that the more they fight, the closer they get with each other. It must have been how they finally became a true couple,” Sakuraba says.
“…does that mean that I’m never going to be able to get married if I hate confrontation and am always just being nice to woman?” Asahina panics.
“So you’ve finally noticed, Asahina-san,” laughs a colleague while Chiwa’s ex-colleagues from Mamiya zone in on him as a potential marriage partner.
“It might be a little quick, but could we have a last word from the groom?” Sakuraba asks as he hands Hokuto the mike.
“Thank you for gathering here this day. There have been many twists and turns, and being able to reach this day should have been the happiest for us. But we’re going to become even happier from today onwards. I know this is possible as long as we don’t give up on each other. Lastly, I would like to leave a special word for the bride on this special day,” Hokuto says.
Chiwa looks up in awe at her husband, unaware of what’s to come.
“I love you,” Hokuto says as he kisses Chiwa in front of the audience. “Well, I guess it’s okay to say it once in my life.”
Chiwa blushes before stammering, “O—one more time! I wasn’t ready!!”
“No way,” Hokuto says.
“But, it was the first time you’ve told me face to face!!”
“It’s valuable because I’ve only said it once.”
“No way…”
The scene cuts to the audience and we see the words of the wedding vows.
良き時も悪き時も、病める時も 健やかなる時も、死が二人を分かつまで私たちはずーっとケンカすることを違います
（For better or worse, in sickness and in health, we vow to keep fighting until death do us part. ）
The End [shalalalá]
Commentary: The last line was for those who could understand Japanese because I think it’s more meaningful to be read in the original language. Anyways…wow, we’re finally done! I can’t say the last chapter blew me away or anything since we all knew what to expect. There were too many silly arguments in the chapter for my taste, but I suppose others may find it amusing. I’m really glad the series finally ended though. At moments I already felt it was dragging, revisiting the same story over and over again, which may be realistic in real life (like when a woman ponders and ponders the situation in her mind), but can be a bit boring to read. I look forward to her next series for the October issue (released in September) and hopefully the heroine is more…let’s say, stronger and independent? I found Chiwa likeable at first and rooted for her during the beginning, but it started going downhill from chapter 18 or so. There was less and less character development, and even in this last chapter, she doubted their relationship when there was no need to. Her insecurities kept resurfacing no matter how hard Hokuto tried to reassure her that he loves her. How many times has he told her he loves her in different ways now? There was the one when he said he wanted to live and die by her side, another time when he said he wanted to begin anew with her, etc. etc. It was almost exasperating to have to read another chapter again where he has to proclaim his love for the sake of assuaging her lack of confidence. Anyways, I should probably stop complaining about her before I lose the urge to buy the final volume…which btw is slated for a September 10th release.
Volumes 1-9 are going to be reprinted, so for all the readers out there who can read Japanese or just want a collection, now’s the time to buy! Not many series get reprints (the only one on the top of my head to get continuous reruns at the press is One Piece right now), and it becomes harder to find new copies the longer the series has been completed. Anyways, I would like to thank everyone for sticking to my cruddy summaries for the series. I know they’re not the most polished of writing pieces, and sometimes I cringe when looking back on past ones. I hope I can improve upon her next serialization, so see you then!
