Shiori: What should I do? I feel very uneasy today.

Her manager senses it and gives her some advice: gravure is different from fashion modelling- firstly, it is entirely self directed and down to your own abilities. Shiroi thinks for a while and wonders if she will end up overdoing it, with her heart beating loudly. Secondly, she has to get used to wearing swimsuits for long periods of time, at least 30 minutes at the start. This piece of info gets Shiori irritated now knowing what she has decided to put herself through. Thirdly, he tells her that he will protect her so be a girl who puts her heart into the work. The crew informs her that the set-up is done and her jacket gets taken away. As she thinks over the advice, while she is still nervous, but there is also a sense of relief. She greets the crew as she starts her first gravure shoot.

Shiroi wakes up and is told by Akio that Sunday is their father’s death anniversy and that Shiori was the one suggested going together today to visit his grave. Shiroi pretends to remember but she doesn’t a bit. To be truthful, “father” to her is just the guy in the picture. As they sit on the train, Shiroi wonders what kind of scary face would Akio make when she tells him that she has done a gravure shoot. She unexpectedly enjoyed the shoot- the staff were all friendly, she got to move about a lot. Turns out she really does enjoy taking photos. While modelling, everything else in her head seems to disappear. The trio finally reach the family gravesite, and Akio tells her that their father, along with their grandparents are buried here. They start to clean up the grave and arrange the flowers they brought. While everyday they say their greetings to the altar, it has only really struck Shiori that her father is dead and no longer exists in this world as they pay their respects at the grave.  Akio tells her that their father was fine with them not following the mourning process proper, that is why they only do grave visits. Shiori asks why he said so. Akio deduces that he was considerate for them, as it is tedious and the grave site issue was settled by him being buried here. In fact, the father had applied for himself to be buried there before his death. This shocks Shiroi, but Akio explains that once their father knew his time was limited, he started to sort out his will and the money issues before admitting himself into hospital. Shiori finds their father an admirable man to have done so much preparations. She blurts out that she would have wanted to meet him, which catches Akio and Maho’s attention. According to Akio, she and her strict father had a lot of conflicts in the past. She wonders what he thought of her then, and what he would think of the current her if he were alive. Doing gravure probably wouldn’t be to his liking. Both Akio and Maho liked their father, but she still has no recollections of her parents, leaving her feeling a bit empty.

Mizuki’s colleague asks if her boyfriend is really from Hankadai University, which impresses her. She asks how they met and Mizuki replies that they were childhood friends. The colleague probes further, asking what kind of person he is, which Mizuki shyly replies a very interesting and affectionate person. The colleague envily says he sounds like a good catch. Graduating from such a good university will assure him a job in a good company. If Mizuki were to marry him, she would lead a comfortable life. Mizuki says nothing is sure at this point, and in this current economic situation it is hard for anyone to get a job. The colleague suddenly changes her tone and says in truth her boyfriend must be really proud of having graduated from a good university. The store manager asks Mizuki to cover the dinner shift for another colleague who has called in sick. When Mizuki says yes, the manager bows his head in appreciation for helping him. When he leaves, the other colleague comments that the manager is too easy to bully, that is why such things happen. Mizuki continues with her work, and tried not to be bothered by the previous comments. She didn’t date Akio because of what school he is in, though coming from a good university is something she respects him for. Then it draws on her- she is a high school graduate with no resume to speak of. She has no specialty and has no interests. If Akio wasn’t her boyfriend, she really has nothing. If they are together forever, she would have a very happy life, but without Akio…

School is off, and Uchi says bye to Shiori as she walks out with Chika. Shiori observes something different between the two friends as they chat and laugh. Shiroi receives a call from her manager that she is in Cookie magazine again after getting good reviews of her hair and make-up photo spread from the surveys sent in by readers. To Shiori, it is a nice surprise. He adds that her gravure photos were published earlier in this week’s issue which was released the day before instead of the intended week as they needed to fill in some pages and he has sent her house a copy. Shiori is in disbelief as she rushes home to get the package. Kai is waiting for her at the school gate to ask her out to Karaoke, but Shiori just rushes by him, hitting his confidence hard.

Akio meets his university friends while he is on his date with Mizuki, who guess if she is his girlfriend that he often speaks fondly of. This makes Mizuki cheerful and smiley which Akio gets curious about. She talks of Christmas which is to come, and says that it will be her first Christmas with him, and hence she specially took leave on Christmas eve and Christmas day. Akio is a bit in a fix as he must not have planned anything for the both of them on Christmas eve. But turns out she wants to have a party at his house with his family. She reminds him of the email he sent her last Christmas- from now on, I will always spend Christmas with my family, and until his family is well supported, he wont have a girlfriend. Akio freaks out, shocked at what he wrote. So that is why she has planned to spend Christmas eve with Maho and Shiori too. Akio squats down, in disbelief of his happiness as his sister were the ones who forced him to go on a Christmas date too. He thanks Mizuki for being so thoughtful of his family. Mizuki: I need to become a lover that Akio absolutely needs.

They head to the convenience store where Akio spots a magazine with Shiori’s artist name. It is the gravure magazine. Akio looks inside the magazine, and his expression changes. He apologises to Mizuki as he cancels his dinner plans with her. He rushes off without explaining much.

Shiori reaches home just in time to meet the deliveryman carrying the parcel containing her copy of the magazine. She sits on her bed, preparing herself for the spread. She tells herself if the pictures give her a bad feeling, she won’t do such jobs a second time. If it goes well, then she will continue to hide it from her siblings. She looks. And she is happy with the result, pointing out that it was the most she has smiled in all her spreads. Despite all the apprehension she had, it turned out well. Though, if Akio were to see it, she would be slightly embarrassed. But he has seen her in her swimsuit when they went to the beach. Kai would probably react by sulking. If her father were alive… Akio comes through her bedroom doors. Shiori scrambles to hid her magazine, but if gets stached out by Akio. He flips to her photo spread and starts to tear it out. He angrily asks her what is this. 

When Kai just joined high school, he greeted Shiori excitedly. Shiori was surprised to see Kai there, who had managed to get into the same high school. It was unexpected as Kai himself thought the standard was much higher than what he was capable of, but he managed it eventually with some hard work. Kai asks for Shiori to take good care of him as a senior and leaves humming a happy tune. Shiori explains to Chika that he was her middle school junior who kept on confessing to her, and seems to have chased her to high school now. Chika asks what is stopping her from accepting, to which Shiroi replies that his hair is outdated and he isn’t very bright, things she can’t stand about a guy. Shiroi then turns around and asks if Chika is interested in him. “Shiori always had that condescending look…”

We continue with the phone call to Kai made by a very round man who I believe is Chika’s current boyfriend. Chika’s friend tries to persuade Chika from stopping the meeting, knowing full well that it is not going to end well for Kai. Chika’s boyfriend announces that Kai has arrived. He tells her to stop having that uneasy look on her face. He will definitely teach Kai a lesson so that he won’t approach Chika again in future. (It seems like she told him a different story.) Chika apologies for giving him trouble but he must be really happy that she is relying on him for something and that he is becoming her boyfriend. He goes out to take a call and tells her to wait her for a while. Ucchi tells her that she finds this Shimizu scary. He just picked her up on the streets and they don’t even know what sort of person he really is. Chika tells her to shut up harshly. If Ucchi is so bothered by it, she can leave first, Chika tells her. They meet Kai outside, who just tells Shimizu to hurry up because he needs to be home by morning as their family owns a tofu store. Shimizu, believing Chika’s story that Kai was a stalker and some horrible boyfriend, can’t believe Kai’s attitude. It is at this point that Kai realizes why she managed to convince someone to fight him. He keeps quiet which infuriates Shimizu more, who thinks that his silence is an acknowledgement to his accusations. This wins Shimizu the admiration of his lackeys and he even waves back to them like an idol. This surprises Kai. Kai just scratches his head and says he has nothing to say. Chika’s eyes are full of hatred as she thinks what an awful person Kai is, chasing Shiori countless of times; getting tricked by Shiori. She needs to teach him that Shiori doesn’t like him a bit.

The night before, Shiori ended up falling asleep in Akio’s room and woke up for a while, to find Akio not in the room. She hears chatting sounds in the living room and peeks out. Akio is in in the balcony, calling Mizuki, wanting to just hear her voice. The scene just makes Shiori more resigned.

In the morning, Akio is rushing Shiroi to eat faster knowing Kai would be arriving any time. The doorbell rings, and he asks Kai to enter into the house. Akio exclaims loudly upon seeing Kai. Shiori starts to scold Kai a fool for getting into a fight as she looks upon his beaten face. Kai’s version of the story was some random strangers he met on the road who bruised him. Miho asks Akio what he would have done if he had met the same people on the road. Akio sheepishly replies that he would have just ran away. The two sisters agree that that would be the smartest thing to do then. Shiori turns around towards Kai, and continues to scold for being the idiot who decided to fight and get injured and asks if he thought he was very cool by doing so. With such a fierce look on his face, Kai can barely eke out a word. She tells him she hates violence and Akio has to calm her down reminding her that Kai already knows.

In school, Yuusuke tells Kai that he was quite lucky that he only suffered that degree of injuries. Kai mutters if it is enough to appease Chika. Yuusuke tells him to be more careful about who he dates in future. Shiori who is still in the dark, thinks that it must be Kai’s hairdo that got him into trouble.  Chika is absent from school and when they have to leave the classroom to go for gym, Shiori seems to show a bit of concern for Ucchi who is on her own today. Ucchi is busily messaging Chika, who claims to have a cold. We shift to Chika who is in her bedroom. She thinks back to yesterday’s events where Kai was defending himself as the guys beat him and diss him. Chika starts to despair wondering what has she done. How did she become like this?

Shiori is flipping through gravure magazine still thinking of the comment that her body is more suitable for it than fashion modeling. She thinks back to when Akio went to the veranda to chat on his phone. She knows it wasn’t a very significant sort of thing, but yet it causes the stones in her chest to fall away piece by piece.  She meets Mizuki on the overhead bridge, who explains she is on her way to meet her colleagues for drinks. Shiori makes up an excuse that she was just strolling around here, but in reality she came here because the area’s bookstores stocked gravure magazines. Mizuki stares at Shiori while thinking back to when Akio told her that they aren’t blood related. This gets Shiori curious, but Mizuki brushes it off by telling her she really is a beauty and would succeed in the entertainment world then get rich and live in a nice apartment in Tokyo, ending brightly. Shiroi wonders if that is the kind of life Mizuki wants. But no, she knows herself better; that she would have a normal family and lead an ordinary life and that is enough to satisfy her. She starts to fluster and tell Shiori that Akio doesn’t know of her such ambitions. Shiori reminds Mizuki of the time and Mizuki starts to climb down the stairs. She finally manages to make out what Shiroi was saying softly just now- “Mizuki has it good”.

The next day in school, Chika is still absent. The girl who left the clique, Ona asks Uchi what happened to Chika, who is still using the excuse of a bad cold to skip school for the whole week. She then invites Uchi to have lunch with her. As she turns to walk away, she makes eye contact with Shiori.

Kai’s injuries have recovered and he asks if Shiori is free after school to go out with him on a date. Shiori turns to Yuusuke and asks if Kai is a demon. His face was all bruised and somewhat disfigured to an extent, yet it managed to heal perfectly. Kai angrily tells her not to say it so bluntly. She and Yuusuke continue to ignore him as if the faraway noise prevented them from hearing him. As she walks back home, Shiori thinks that it wouldn’t be hard to just go on a date with no real feelings, just that her mind seems to be against it somehow. Shiori sees Uchi being physically harassed by Shimizu and marches front to start defending her, shouting so fiercely that the boyfriend can’t even try to explain his side of the story. She calls Yuusuke for back up, who recognizes the boyfriend quickly. Shimizu explains that he hasn’t been able to contact Chika at all, which made him worried, so decided to take the chance by coming to their school and see if he could meet her. Ucchi angrily shouts at him that Chika doesn’t like him at all and it is all one sided. Chika only likes Kai, and tells Shimizu not to approach Chika anymore. This obviously confuses Shimizu. Yuusuke explains to him that he has been used by Chika to get back at Kai. The only one who doesn’t understand is Shiori and she demands an explanation of all that has happened.

Ucchi is in Chika’s room and tells her that Shimizu came to find her in school, but doesn’t exactly see like a bad guy. He was satisfied to hear that Chika was fine and left. She tells her that Kai had come prepared to get beaten up according to Yuusuke. He wanted to make up for his wrongdoings towards Chika, that was why he didn’t even deny the false version that Chika told Shimizu. Chika doesn’t look very bothered by the use and tells Ucchi that she plans to quit school. Now that she is quitting, she tells Ucchi meanly that she doesn’t really like Ucchi, finding her clingy and a nuisance. This causes a change in mood in Ucchi, who then tells Chika she detests the current her. Chika pauses upon hearing it then turns her head away and tell her to leave then. Ucchi tells her that she was nice during middle school time. Then when they got to high school, Chika became friends with Shiori. Shiori was prettier and slimmer than Ucchi, so of course Ucchi got relegated to the “idiot” role, but all she wanted was to play with the old Chika she knew. Chika recalls back to the time they went to check their high school admission results where they were hugging and being all excited that they were going to the same school. She thinks to her previous thoughts and finally breaks down in tears.

Before Kai left to meet Chika’s boyfriend, he did tell Yuusuke what he was going to do. He didn’t know what the result would be.  If it ends badly, he hopes Yuusuke would send him home, but never to intervene. Yuusuke assures Shiori that Kai can distinct right from wrong and that he really likes Shiori a lot. But he promised to keep it a secret for Kai, so hopes she won’t blab about what he told her.  Shiori thinks it over and feels bad for having scolded him for being idiotic all these while. Akio comes in to tell Shiori that it is her turn to bathe. She keeps quiet for a while then tells Akio that Kai asked her out. Akio breaks out into a smile while going “ehhh…” He says Kai is a good guy and is very cool too. Akio then asks if Shiori likes Kai as she was very concerned and fired up when he was beaten up. In her heart she does know she is concerned for Kai and does like him, but… She tells Akio she won’t date him as she is putting her work first. In her heart, she thinks that she will protect Akio from whoever who wants to injure him, and make it 100 times more painful for the other side.  She gets a call from her manager who says they have a gravure job lined up for her. And asks for her make her own decision. “The stones in my chest are rolling away; A lot at this moment.” 

We continue from Kai’s confession of him liking the current Shiori. As she is being hugged by Kai, she thinks back to the time when Akio was hugging her. She roughly pushes Kai away and tells him she has no plans of dating him as she sees him only as a friend. She lowers her face as she continues about herself. But Kai angrily cuts her off asking if she is going to tell him that she still likes her brother. He reminds her that they are siblings and that she doesn’t want to lose her family. She knows very well, and when that image of three of them in their younger days floats into her mind, the reminder is stronger. Her brain full well understands it and she is trying very hard to make it into reality. Kai takes the opportunity to tell him to date him as a way, to which Shiori questions with slight avoidance. Kai says it will take her mind off things. Shirori asks if he would be happy if she dated him because of such reasons, and with a big idiotic smile Kai proudly says yes, that way he can worry less about other guys approaching her and in that time, he will make her like him. Shiori is very much in disbelief.

Akio is teaching Maho how to solve a math problem as Shiori stares intently, catching Akio’s attention. She quickly deflects by saying she needs to continue with her studying. She thinks how good a brother Akio is. When she was hugging him, she felt warm, comfortable and safe in his arms. How sweet it would be if she could always be that close to him. But when Kai hugged her, it was a different feeling.  It was painful as he was too strong, uncomfortable as she was being suffocated, in all-scary yet it made her heart beat. She suddenly snaps out of her reverie with a loud squeal. Then has to apologies to her siblings and assure them it was nothing. Her heart still is racing as she assures there is nothing even though he confessed her liked her (No.2).

Kai picks her up from her house with a big smile on his face. His chirpiness so early in the morning irritates Shiori. He tries to justify it by the really good weather they are having. He continues to be in a happy mood, even whistling on their way to school. Shiori double checks that she rejected Kai the day before, since his behavior doesn’t match her expectations. He confirms that she did, and asks maybe if she changed her mind, which she says she hasn’t. She then asks what put him in such a good mood, since she can’t understand it. He replies that it was because he was able to tell her what he wanted. He then tells her he likes her and asks her out again, leaving Shiori in utter disbelief.

Daiki confirms with Akio that he told Mizuki about his family issue, and checks her reaction with him. Akio was afraid that telling her the entire truth that way would scare Mizuki, but upon hearing it, she just cried, making him feel apologetic for not having greater confidence in her previously. Daiki comments about Shiori’s appearance in the magazine, with Akio complimenting how cute Shiori is. Daiki turns serious and asks Akio a question…

Shiori goes to Yuusuke to complain about Kai. Yuusuke just happily comments that Kai is really serious about it. The last time it took him numerous times of asking before he managed to date No.1. Shiroi thinks about it and feels irritated.

Kai tries to talk to Chika (who haven’t seen in quite a while), but she just ignores him. Hence he just proclaims it out loud that he hasn’t broken his promise from before, the one where he promised her he wouldn’t date the current Shiori. Chika is stunned for a while, but cooly saunters away after that. Kai makes a little bow in her direction.

Shiori is at her modeling job, and after that has a drink with the manager. She seems to be enjoying it even though she admits she isn’t that good at it yet. He offers a really tiny job, which Shiori expresses her somewhat appreciation for.  He goes on to tell her that in the modeling world, the greatest asset is youth- it is something everyone holds initially and it is something everyone loses eventually. He tells her they have to bank on that now as it will get harder to promote her after she passes the age of 20, which shocks Shiori. They need to use their weapon to create the greatest impact within the shortest amount of time, so as to receive affirmation of her abilities before her “expiry date”. He then pulls out the card and asks her to do gravure modeling. Shiori has no idea what is that, so he spells out “male targeted”, “swimsuits”. Shiori strongly rejects the idea at the table, reasoning that she will be embarrassed and has no confidence in doing it. She claims to have no sex appeal and that no one would want to see her in a swimsuit. He comments that her body shape and aura actually fits gravure more than fashion magazine jobs, and asks if why she doesn’t want to do it is because she looks down on such jobs. She won’t be able to survive in this world if she only wants to work on the cute angle. 

Shiori returns home and checks in on Akio, who has fallen asleep on the floor after drinking beer while reading a gravure magazine. She flips through it and thinks how cute the models are, but the focus seems to be the breasts, and she wonders how boys get happy over this.  She thinks, if she were to do it, how would Akio react? Maho would just look down on her; she can’t imagine what Kai would do. And the friends she had made because of her audition, would they turn on her and call her rude names? Her thoughts are disrupted by Akio making noises as he finds a more comfortable position in his sleep. Shiori observes him face and comments that while she doesn’t know what his dream is, it looks like something happy. She puts down the magazine and lies on the floor beside him. 26

Akio awakes from his slumber and mistakes Shiori next to him as Mizuki and cuddles her. He looks carefully and realizes his mistake, and takes him back to what Daiki had asked him- has he ever seen Shiori as a woman before? He had replied him that it wasn’t possible, even if they were blood related, she was his sister. He takes Shiori’s arm off him, as he sits upright and holds her hand as she continues to sleep.

Akio receives a call from Chika’s current boyfriend Shimizu. He asks to meet Kai for a “chat” and tells him to bring friends along.  

We continue from the last chapter where Akio informs Mizuki that he shares no blood ties with Shiori. Mizuki is shocked and asks for elaboration. Akio tells her that their parents remarried- he was the son of his father’s previous marriage, Shiori of their mother’s. Maho was born later during their marriage. Hence, he isn’t blood-related to Shiori. Mizuki freezes before regaining her composure and comments so that is how it is, and she never knew. Akio thinks back to Mizuki’s previous statement- that it is good Shiori is Akio’s sister. He continues his story that his mom divorced his dad when he was 5, and he lived with her till she passed away when he was 9, having been involved in a traffic accident after falling asleep at the wheel. She had working hard with the intention to bring him up the best as she could. And at that time, he thought he had become all alone. As he never saw his father after the divorce, he never inquired about his father and the possibility of him coming never occurred to him. When he first saw him, he didn’t even recognize him, but the warmth from his father’s hands when he came to fetch him home, he can still remember it up to now. He just clung onto him and cried his heart out. And he joined the family, while his father quickly moved the family to this place, where he met Mizuki and Daiki in elementary school as the new transfer student.

Shiori calls out to Kai, asking where is he going. But Kai is much too preoccupied calling Shiori a liar, repeating how she said she wasn’t going to enter the entertainment world. Shiori apologizes and said then she really did intend to quit, but considering other factors… She puts her palms together and earnestly tries to make him forgive her. She finally gives up and stomps off to school. Kai’s cheeks are red as Shiori turns away.

Akio explains his reason for revealing the truth to Mizuki now. As Shiori and Maho were both young when it all happened, they don’t know about the remarriage. Their father only planned on telling them when they were older, but now that Shiori is entering the public spotlight, he is afraid she might accidentally find out. But Mizuki is more focused on the sob story not thinking that he had that hard a time all this while. Akio nervously apologies for having been silent about it. But Mizuki agrees that it would be hard to talk about such stuff. Now she kind of understands why Akio puts his family in such high importance. Akio confesses that it was because of him joining the family that his father divorced again. He is to blame for Shiori and Maho losing their mother. But to him, they are his most important sisters. Mizuki agrees with the statement. Akio starts to crying as he was so nervous and scared about telling her the truth. Both of them are both in tears as they sit on the bed.

Shiori is at the agency and expresses her wish to not use her real name. The head of the company doesn’t see the need considering her name isn’t bad and it was used in the publication of the magazine previously. But Shiori says she wants to make a clear cut divide between her personal life and work, which the manager agrees to since it makes the social media publicity easier. He asks if she has another requestions, which she directly replies no. But the real reason is she wants no relation with the her she has no memory of, with Akio, with Maho- she just wants to be herself.

The next day in school, she shows Kai and Yuusuke the name the boss chose for her- Kurata Ayumi, with the intention for her to succeed in this path. It is a strange Kanji to use for Ayumi (they chose the one to represent progression, whereas Hamasaki Ayumi uses the hiragana), which Yuusuke points out. Shiori and him continue their discussion about her name, and Kai silently packs up his food and leaves the room they are in. It seems he has been giving her the silent treatment since finding out she was taking the job. Yuusuke explains that it is because he feels uneasy that the distance between them would widen. But Shiori just thinks, even so, what has been done cannot be reversed.

Shiori returns home to be greeted by Mizuki, who has made kariage using her mom’s recipe with Maho for dinner. Mizuki excitedly tells Shiori to anticipate some good food for dinner. Akio greets Shiori from behind. Mizuki’s expressions changes as she drops her smile at their interaction. Maho is strange, being happy over adding a lot of garlic (not sure if it is cause she likes it or it is going to be a prank). Shiori gets Akio to sign and seal her excuse form from class so that she can visit the talent agency the next day. Akio expresses concern whether this frequent excuses from class would affect her school work and result her staying back a year. Shiroi tells him she will put graduating from high school in highest priority, and tells him not to worry as long as he reminds the manager. Mizuki asks Maho when did Shiori start calling Akio oniichan, and Maho recounts Shioris explanation of just matching her friends style of calling their brothers. 

Akio tells of how Shiori just decided to call him oniichan henceforth to Mizuki in the balcony. Calling out their connection is probably a more assuring way as opposed to Acchan. But it makes him a bit sad. Because Shiori since young called him acchan, to suddenly change now make it feel distant. But he will eventually get used to it, Akio says positively. She called him other things during her rebellious stage, mostly rude words and he got used to that too. Mizuki asks if the Shiori before knew that Akio wasn’t blood related. And Akio acknowledges that she did. She found out during her upper years at elementary school, when the mother who had left them, came back asking for both her daugthers, telling his father that Akio should be enough for him. As it was late, Maho was sleeping, but Shiori had been awake and overheard everything. When her mother returned, his father decided to explain everything. Shiroi smiled and said she wasn’t upset and that she didn’t want to go with her mother either. But the trouble came when she was at the rebelling age, not respecting Akio’s opinion since he wasn’t a real brother to her. But no matter how bad a temper she was in, she always managed to conceal the facts from Maho, showing how she was bothered by the fact. He wonders how it would be like in the future, would his two sister leave him just like how his parents did? Would he be left alone again? Mizuki comforts him that she will always be there for him for life.

Two of Shiori’s fans come looking for her, only to be disappointed that she had left school for an audition. They show Yuusuke and Kai the spread Shiori had previously done, leaving them impressed by her.

Kai’s family owns a drink shop, and he informs his father he took a bottle of oolong tea. His father rushes him back to his room because Shiori has come to visit. Kai rushes back muttering under his breath why of all times did his father not message him, and he enters his room to find Shiori looking through his porn collection, which embarrasses him immensely. Shiori came to make clear her thoughts about Kai- that she thinks of him as her bestest friend. She knows and is fine that Kai treats her as “Shiori sempai”. In school she has to hold on to her pride, hence she came to his house to apologise instead for lying, even bowing her head in apology. She then tells him to not wait for “Shiori sempai” anymore. They have a tensed moment as they allow the statement to soak in, then Shiori takes her bags and prepares to leave. Kai blocks her way out of his room, giving Shiori the wrong impression that he is still upset over the issue. He tells her no, it isn’t that.  He asks her to date him then and there, which catches Shiori by surprise and asks if she heard right. He puts it plainly- he likes her. Shiori thinks he likes Shiori No.1, but he shouts no no no. He likes everything about Shiori, and he likes the Shiori now he professes, as he tightly hugs her.  

REMINDER: When I sent the chapter to the translator, I missed pages 12-13 so the summary doesn't include them. If you want to help us, let us know what happens there :)


EDIT2: Complete summary now thanks to our awesome translator Kurochan :). Enjoy!


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Daiki tells Shiori that they did dirty things together in the past. Shiori calls bluff, but Daiki smirks and says he isn’t. She says he dislikes her so much, but he laughs that emotional and physical aspects can be separated. She is quite upset and exclaims that Akio calls him his closest friend, and because of that, despite her current irritation with him, she is going to bear it and still try to like him as a person for Akio’s sake. Daiki says that it is a cute way of thinking, but his face is a giveaway that he thinks it is illogical. And if it were true, Shiori tells Daiki very seriously, keep it a secret from Akio. Daiki’s phone starts to ring, and it is Akio calling to check that Shiori is with him. When Akio offers to pick up Shiori, Shiori shakes her head vehemently. When asked how they ended up together, Daiki says that she was staggering and crying when he met her on the road, so offered her a lift. Shiori denies the crying having occurred. Sensing how worried Akio is, Daiki placates him by telling him that he is sending Shiori back now and hangs up. Shiori looks down and states that Akio is too good a person, too good a brother who only gets really upset once in a while. 6-7 Well, Daiki tells her, as a sister, she has to give her blessings to Akio, as he predicts that Akio would be getting married.

When they get back to the house, Akio cheerily welcomes them in, but Shiori just trudges back to her room, weakly replying him. Akio is concerned about her attitude, and thanks Daiki for sending her back home. While lying on her bed, she thinks of how Mizuki and Akio are already at that stage, and wonders if they have already done it. This gets her agitated and she tries to stop thinking about it, convincing herself it can’t be, but instead she remembers what she had overheard the last time…

The next morning, when Akio asks whether she wants the jam, Shiori replies she is fine with what she has in a surly manner. When he offers her margarine instead, her reply doesn’t change and she just focuses on eating her plain bread while her two siblings stare at her wondering what happened.

As Mizuki is applying her make up in the room, she asks Akio what the manager said. He was told to try and help with the situation, but Shiori has verbally expressed no desire in modelling, probably overthinking things. He feels that he is the same. He felt Shiori wasa very happy when the magazine was published, and when she was failed to make it, despite feeling down, she put up an expression as if nothing had happened. They leave the room and by the elevator, Mizuki shows her support for Shiori to preserve and enter the modelling industry, and will do all she can to persuade her. Akio doesn’t think there is a need for persuasion, as it should be decided by the person doing it, whether they want to do. He doesn’t want to be particularly unreasonable about it. Mizuki solemnly questions if he understands the consequences of having such an attitude. Akio ponders on his way home why Mizuki was showing such an expression of hurt, and thinks how the atmosphere didn’t fit the discussion about Shiori.  

Shiori is waiting at in the hallway when Akio gets back. Her face is solemn as she asks if Akio went on a date with Mizuki. While he confirms it, Shiori grabs his collar and sniffs the inside of his jacket, whiffing a soap smell even though he just returned from outside, hinting that he had slept with Mizuki.

Shiori receives a call from the editor, requesting her to model for their hair and make-up feature. Shiori begins to reject starting with that she doesn’t want to be involved with such stuff, but the editor says she is giving her the job because what she told her previously has been weighing on her mind, even though the audition was really quite bad. She doesn’t give Shiori much chance to reply, telling her date and time, saying she will mail her the venue later and warns that if she doesn’t come, there will be a gaping hole in the magazine spread, then promptly hangs up. Shiori just thinks over the news while standing on the train platform. Zoom out, and turns out it was the manager guy who had asked her to act it, but she does personally hope that Shiori would appear at the shoot, saying that she has taken a liking to her. The manager smiles and tells the editor he is treating her to sushi.

Shiori meets Daiki at the pier, and states outright that she likes Akio, and somehow can’t think of him as an older brother. Daiki wonders why is she telling him this. Shiori feels that he could perceive her feelings. That is why he specially told her how far Akio and Mizuki’s relationship had progressed to. Daiki pauses for a while, then tells Shiori never to tell Akio this. Knowing Akio’s nature, he would pointlessly worry about it. Shiroi of course knows that, and thinks to herself, that is why she is being a good sister to him.

Shiori appears on set, and firmly states “Just this time”. She is primped up, and ready for the camera, looking cute. Even Shiori is surprised at her own transformation. She starts to take the photographs, and is told to smile showing her teeth. 

The photo shoot wraps up and Shiori thanks the staff for their efforts. She specially thanks the editor for the fun she had today. As she glances up, she sees Akio there, who wanted to see the set. He is surprised by how pretty it is. 26 Tears well up in Shiori’s eyes, and finally pour out as she tells Akio that she wants to do this job. As Akio hugs her to comfort her, she asks him if it is fine she calls him older brother from now on. 

Thinking back to Daiki’s advice, Akio breaks some news to Mizuki: he and Shiori are in no way related by blood, a pair of sibling not bound by blood ties.

 

 

When I think of Akio, who gave up his dream to become the mother of Maho and I at eleven years old, my tears fall.

Akio found the magazine where Shiori was featured mixed in the pile of magazines to be thrown. He knows how important it is to her, so tells her to keep it properly. Shiori nonchalantly says that it is alright to throw it for she no longer clings on to that past.

On her way to school, she informs Kai that she rejected the scout over the phone the previous day. It elicits a big reaction from him, since he thought she still wanted to do it when they were in school early in the day yesterday. She just states that she changed her mind and that it seemed like she had taken her loss in the audition too seriously. Once she started to think about not doing it, conversely her desire to do it just vanished. This of course just confuses Kai. She then asks Kai very seriously if he thinks this is a good way of becoming famous.  Shiori remembers what Daiki told her, which made her realised that she had been too engrossed in herself to think the issue through- she didn’t really care for the fame or the money or how it would affect her family, she just wanted to make herself happy.

Daiki goes back home to be lectured by his parents for being out all night instead of helping out with the house work. He retorts back that there are no guests anyway, so what work is there. He plonks onto his bed and thinks how nothing really changes around here in this town.

Akio comes back home after making love to Mizuki, to find his two sisters sleeping in the living room under the kotatsu. He smiles at the scene and inhales deeply to shout a loud “I am home”. He continues to chide them loudly for sleeping like that for they would catch a cold. Shiori, now more awake, welcomes Akio home. Akio dreams of the future where the whole family is eating together, with a good atmosphere and Mizuki by his side.  But it cost Shiori’s memory in exchange.

Shiori goes to look for Daiki, and the first hostel she enquires at turns out to the right one, and Shiori is freaked out by her luck and decided to leave instead. Daiki’s brother tells him of his visitor, describing her uniform and her cute appearances. His brother tells him that while he is good with girls, he should limit to girls older than high school ones, obviously mistaking Shiori to be another of Daiki’s exes. As Shiori walks away, she thinks whether her coming to look for Daiki was a good idea or not as she doesn’t really know much about him. But the first memory that had come back to her was that of Akio’s disgusted face, telling her that he hates her. It was scary and while she has yet to confirm it, it is likely a real memory. Others, some are clear yet while others are blurry. She can walk somewhere and remember that was a field in the past. As a child, she stuck a bunny sticker on the kitchen counter. But the most vivid memory was a sunset, where Akio’s smiling face, her hand holding onto the bar of Maho’s pram, on their way home. Akio picks up a phone call at home which content surprises him.

Shiori finishes up her phone call and turns around to be shocked by Kai and Yuusuke who were standing behind her with their lunches. Kai says it is because she had a really serious look on her face that made them curious. Yuusuke guesses that it is a confession by the way she ended the call, which has Kai getting nervous. But it is just another call from a modelling agency. Yuusuke thinks it is really awesome that she has been getting scouted by a few companies, but Shiori says the feeling is horrible, knowing that they have her handphone number. Not only that, since the audition, it seems like a few guys have approached her too. Kai tells Shiori with a slightly downcast face to travel with him home after school. He brings up the issue that she asked the last time on the train. He personally doesn’t want her to be famous because he worries for her and he doesn’t want a huge number of men to know her. This answer shocks Shiori a bit. Kai confirms with Shiori that she really doesn’t want to do it, going back and forth a few times till he is able to show a comfortable smile. Shiori thinks that Kai still really likes Shiori 1. A Shiori return back home and meet Akio leaving the house going to the supermarket, and decides to tag along. Looking at the sunset, Shiori is reminded of the only memory of herself when she was much younger, walking with Akio and holding Maho’s hand, leading the way.  Akio suddenly brings up the phone call, which is from the modelling company, and he asks her why she kept quiet about it. Turns out the manager didn’t want to give up scouting Shiori, and since she didn’t really give an explanation, he decided to go straight to her guardian, hence the phone call. Akio tells her to do it, since she will be happy doing it. He will assist her, he assures. She asks what is he so confident about, the showbiz arena has no certainties, and no one knows what will happen in the future. He says it is just doing it now, she doesn’t need to continue it in the future. She says it is a scary world out there, while he replies with a smile that she can just come home. Shiori’s eyes become as round as saucers as she ask Akio why is he being pushy about it, does he want to become a celebrity? During the auditions he was all against it, but now…, is it cause he doesn’t worry about her anymore? He tells her confidently that he always worries for her, but he wishes for Shiori to do the things that she wishes to do. Of course that is the same with Maho. He thinks Shiori will do just fine being cute. Shiori is shell-shocked- she gave up what she wanted to do and now he is smiling and saying all these? She angrily tells him she won’t do it and stomps towards the way home instead of continuing towards the supermarket. Akio watches her leave, then calls up the manager guy to tell him the result of their discussion. Shiori thinks as she walks back- the thing she wants to do most is to stay at Akio’s side forever till they grow old, but that is likely not possible. She is in tears when Daiki meets her by chance while driving and he stops to ask her the reason for her tears.

Maho is walking home with her classmate when she sees Shiori in a van. The atmosphere in the van is awkward, and while Shiori tries to break it by striking a conversation, Daiki cuts her and states that she came to look for him at his house, even though they fought. Shiori replies that she wanted to hear about his recollections about Akio, and who knows maybe some memories may come back to her. Daiki is surprised that she wants to regain her memories. Shiori herself actually doesn’t know if she should want her memories to come back, she doesn’t really get herself, and maybe it is happier that she doesn’t know them. Daiki offers to tell her whatever he knows- where he saw her, doing what etcetera. Does she want to take up the offer he asks? Maybe it will help her recollect something. Maho returns home to a worried Akio who is waiting for Shiori to return and she left her handphone at home. Maho says it is not even seven, so there is nothing to be worried about. Anyways she saw Shiori in a van with a brand of hostel that clicks with Akio- Daiki’s.

Shiori: I understood the results, a week went pass. At home, in school, the topic of the audition was not brought up. Life returned to normal.

Akio and Mizuki meets up with Daiki, who seems very cool about seeing them, unlike the excited Akio. Akio asks where Daiki has been for he hasn’t been able to contact him since spring, which got him worried. Daiki nonchalantly replies that he was in Yokohama with a girl and while they were fighting, he lost his handphone at sea. After that fight, he broke up with the girl and led an unsteady life till he started working in a bar. And he had a sudden urge to return home, so yesterday he finally did. And he found Akio’s house telephone number from his mother. Akio can only say that Daiki hasn’t change in how free he is as a person. Daiki says he is fine, and more importantly he asks why aren’t they doing what they planned to do with their life. He doesn’t explicitly say what Akio’s plan from before was.  Akio explains that it coincided with when Shiori lost her memory, and he wasn’t confident of doing it. Daiki thinks Akio is lying, being so ambiguous, and he turns his attention to Mizuki, whom he notes just happily remained in their hometown, sticking onto Akio. It is offensive to Mizuki, but Daiki doesn’t see the problem in him stating it that way. Then Daiki comments about Akio’s sexuality, which gets even more protest from Akio and leaves Mizuki red from the embarrassment. Mizuki returns home quietly and excuses herself from the meeting with a message to Akio about having to work the next day. Daiki asks if Akio has told Mizuki everything about his family. Akio says he has tried, but everytime he finds it scary that it might lead to a huge change that he can’t predict. So for the meanwhile he thinks the best solution is to appropriately cover it up, he says with a smile. Seeing Daiki’s serious expression, his own smile fades away. He asks for Daiki’s agreement that he is cunning good for nothing.

Shiori looks at the name card she was given and thinks back to the encounter in the afternoon. The manager tells him he is here to scout her to join their company after seeing her at the Cookie audition. He passes her his name card along with a production pamphlet. Shiori is shell shocked, and double checks that she is the right person he is looking for. She confirms they don’t make adult videos either. He understands that it is probably a bit sudden to pass her this information on her way home, and tells her to discuss it with her family, any questions just ring him a call and he can even visit her house to explain everything to her family. Shiori is more confused as to what she would do, for she feels she can’t do anything. He offers her every option available- model, actress, talent, singer, whatever she knows how to do, she can choose one of them to do. Shiori reflects over the words- what she knows about herself. The manager continues to say that the fact she made it to the last round of auditions and received thousands of votes goes to show she has the support of these people, and she just needs to choose something to do, something that she is proud of. She thinks, this me who has no memory, who is hated, actually can do something. Shirori is caught by surprise by the loud “I am home” in the house. Thinking it is Akio, she welcomes him home and tells him Maho is asleep already, only to realise Daiki, who tells her long time no see. Having lost her memory, she obviously can’t remember who he is. He explains Akio knocked out while entering the main door so he brought him into his room. He holds Shiori’s face, and notes that she really differs from his impression of her. Shiori obviously uncomfortable with the close range and physical contact, pushes him away and rubs at the area that he touched. Daiki chuckles that even with her memory lost, she is still as strong willed. As he leaves, he asks Shiori to tell Akio for him that it has been a long time since he has been in this town.

The next morning, Shiori is reporting the previous night’s happenings to Akio, who is nursing a hangover. He tells Shiori Daiki was his schoolmate throughout apart from university. Then he remembers that he didn’t prepare their lunches for the two girls to bring to school. Maho just sticks out her hand for bread as a replacement. As he lays his head on the table, he states that Daiki is his best-est of friends. Shiori on the otherhand thinks Daiki is shady looking, and wonders if Akio has been tricked into believing otherwise. And then she sighs that she didn’t managed to discuss the scouting matter with him as she looks at the manager’s name card. Kai comes from behind and takes the card out of Shiori’s hands, wondering what it is. Shiori insists he return it to her, while he just reads out the content of the card, then more seriously ask her what the card is about. Shiori explains the scout matter to Kai and Yuusuke back in school. Kai asks what her brother’s response was. She quietly says that she has yet to tell him about it. Kai is surprised, while Yuusuke notices that she wants to try it out. Kai then loudly asks Shiori if she wanted to become a celebrity. Shiori says it is not like that. It is that since the results were released, all this while the audition was all she could think about- how she couldn’t be like the others and pose so naturally in front of the camera, the surprise she felt when she being acknowledged, and just when she was fired up about it, it all ended for her.  When she heard that they wanted to scout her, her heart somehow was beating loudly. She wants to stand in front of the camera once again, this time being something she can comprehend, and gain even more recognition from more people. For all this while she has been living with an empty feeling. Yuusuke says he supports her decision to take the offer, while Kai finds his response inappropriate. Yuusuke just reminds her that it would be better to tell Akio. She is a bit apprehensive about telling him considering how he objected her participating in the audition. Yuusuke reminds her that he eventually supported her, so she should still try. When the two boys return to their own class, Kai asks Yuusuke why he supported the move. Yuusuke nonchalantly replies that he felt Shiori wanted to do it, so he supported it. Whereas Kai feels that with her becoming a star, their friendly (?) relationship would be threatened. The boss of the agency asks the manager whether he has heard back from Shiori. He is worried because the more famous celebrities that they manage are each giving the agency some problems. And he wonders if another agency may have approached her too. The manager gives his boss a boost in confidence, believing that Shiori will likely join, having seen her reaction.

Shiori is walking on the beach, and thinking back to Akio’s reaction when her contestant number was published in the magazine. She decided that that night would be the night she discussed the matter with Akio. She meets Daiki there. They sit down together as Daiki so happen has things to tell her. He banters for a while which irritates Shiori, then suddenly says that when they were in year 5, Akio just quit the soccer team without any prior notice. They were both training very hard to get into the regular team, so a really good reason would have to warrant such a drastic move. The young Akio said that he was to become the mother of his two sisters now that their mother has left them. Daiki couldn’t understand what Akio was thinking then, but from then on, Akio really did start doing all the housework and taking care of both his sisters, not playing with the rest of them. And it was a choice he chose willingly. He had asked Akio about his dream to be part of the J league, and Akio replied that without family or friends then would he truly have nothing. Shiori thinks back to the time when she was looking through the albums and asked about the photo of him playing soccer, and he replied that he played a long time ago with a smile. Daiki wants her, “the cute little sister”, to understand how Akio’s meagre dream was dashed entirely. He tells her that it is good that she has lost her memory- now she can live more honestly. And she can start living like a grown up and not trouble Akio further. And lest he forgets, Daiki tells Shiori that he really hated the previous her. Shiori is left alone on the beach to reflect and she sees a mother-child pair with the mother warning her child of the danger around. A very old memory pops into her head, of her as a kid, with Akio pushing a pram, asking her what she would like for dinner. Tears start to fall.

Shiori calls back the manager guy and rejects him out flat. He is surprised and asked if it is because another company has approached her or her family objects to it. She says no to both, and that it is her decision that she has made and she has no interest in doing such a job. She thinks in her head that all this while she had only been thinking about herself and once again might make him worry.  She has always been too reliant on Akio’s kindness.  She wants to do something for Akio too.

Back home, she is patting Akio’s head calling him a good boy, which has Akio a bit weirded out since it is sudden. But she is doing it because she can’t give anything to the eleven year old Akio. Maho, who just stepped out the bath, comments that if she does that, it will make Akio bald. This just spurs Shiori to continue while Akio worriedly tells her to stop it. Shiori just starts to ruffle his hair harder, escalating to something that looks a bit like wrestling between siblings.

“What I can give to Akio, is to not take away the smile on his face. That is enough, that is enough…”

Shiori receives the email from Akio, and blushes reading it. She thinks about the girls who approached her as she writes back her reply: I was shocked, and don’t really think it would be as you say. While I am embarrassed, I was cheered up by it. She thinks to the more negative comments she got, one who doesn’t believe that she really lost her memory. As usual people were seeing her as something interesting, but for once some people were being supportive of her. She is packing her stuff to go home, when her big burly classmate approaches her. She is not familiar with him, but he wants a word with her. She is scared by his presence and to play safe, she requests he say it there and then where the other classmates are looking on. The atmosphere is tense and then he says, that having seen Shiori in the magazine, his sister now aspires to be a model, so he is here for tips. He explains that his sister is three years younger and doesn’t look like him, for she is actually pretty. So to help his sister achieve her dream, he wants Shiori’s advice. She tells him frankly that she herself has no idea how she managed her way through all the tests. He turns away in disappointment, making Shiori feel bad and she apologises to him and to his sister too.  

Shiori is back home recounting the encounter to Akio while playing a rubix cube, how unexpected that a guy like Haranishi would ask her about such stuff. At first she was so nervous, but because of his sister, they actually greeted each other. Haranishi apparently is super strong in judo, being of national standard. Shirori thinks in her head it would have been nice if she could also boast about her suave brother. She asks Akio if she is bothering him as he does the family accounts, which he says no, as such things are fairly straightforward. He offers to teach her how to do it, so that in the future where she lives alone or has her own family she would know what to do. But she declines saying it too bothersome. Even cooking is troublesome to her, and in comparison she prefers cleaning, she tells Akio as she rolls on his floor. Akio warns her that she can’t sleep there.  “I like the nights where I can spend time in Akio’s room like this, next to Akio as he chats with me and reads his manga.” Shiori challenges Akio to reaching behind his back, with both his hands in a prayer position. Then he challenges her to doing a split. “It would be nice if this could last a life time.”

The next day in school, Haranishi greets Shiori good morning, and so do some other classmates. Chika’s clique looks on but says nothing. The clique eats at a donut shop. They point out the change in Shiori, like how in the past, she would have treated all these “plain” people as idiots. Chika lies to them that Shiori’s acting skills are superb. Ona questions Chika’s statement, for it has been such a long time since the accident, and by now there is no merit in her pretending to be suffering from memory loss. Chika is offended and accuses Ona of trusting Shiori more than her. She states how everyone thinks Shiori is still lying too anyway. Ona points out that the current Chika is becoming very Shiori-of-the-past-ish.  Chika asks for explanation of that statement. The other girl tries to break up the fight before it escalates further. Ona brings up the time when rumours of Shiori prostituting herself were going around, and Chika was crying, telling them that it is actually true, but Shiori told her not to discuss about it. She says it was true that Shiori often switched boyfriends to her fancy, and because she didn’t care about others, there was a sense of discomfort. Then, because it was Shiori’s best friend, Chika was saying that she believed it, but the truth is she heard the rumour from Chika personally.  Chika with an angelic smile on her face, tells her such thin eyes don’t suit blonde hair. Ona corrects herself- it is not that Shiori had a good personality, but she definitely wasn’t as petty as Chika, and leaves. The next morning Ona greets Shiori in passing, and starts to hang out with other people in the class, leaving Chika alone with the other girl.

Yuusuke reminds Kai that the 25th is approaching. Kai doesn’t know what is happening on the 25th and Yuusuke has to point out to him that it is when the voting results of the Cookie model selection is out. Kai is impressed by Yuusuke’s memory and starts to think of the future that awaits her when she gets in. Yuusuke says Kai doesn’t get it- yes, Shiori is pretty, but she doesn’t seem to have much selfawareness that…

We cut to Shiori at home, thinking that in 4 days the results will be out. She finds it funny that while she thinks she won’t be getting in, she is getting nervous over it. She rolls and rolls on her bed until she falls off. She finds Akio in his room reading, and request to roll on his floor for a while, to which of course he agrees. He offers his new monthly manga magazine to her, which she declines saying she has no mood. Lying face down, she sighs how good tatami feels. Akio looks at his phone’s calendar and knows the coming 25th is bothering her.

Shiori is by the sea when she receives the results. When she first picked up the call, it took a while for it to register in her brain. The editor tells her the results would be published the next day, and she is telling her in advance as she has other things to settle after the publication. And the outcome is… she failed. She thinks to all the encouragement she received in recent days. She politely thanks the editor. Suddenly the editor says “What can I receive?” This puzzles Shiori. The editor tells her that is what she said at the interview, that she had nothing so thinking what she can do, what she can get, she came to the audition. Shiori said no matter what she would have done, as long as she had put in her best effort, it would be good. Now thinking back, she kinds of regret what she said. The editor tells her she was in 7th place and tells them most of the other contestants actually are contracted to model companies and have experience and probably that is the crux.

Shiori calls Akio to tell him of the result. She assures him that she isn’t down and that it would have actually been a miracle if she had got enough votes to qualify for the top 5. Then she tells him she is going home soon.

“The previous me would have more skilfully handled it, the feeling that I have now, is a bit like indigestion.” At school, her supporters each offer their two cents- some thinking big companies manipulated the results, others think the fact she lasted so long in the competition is commendable. Haranishi tells her to cheer up. But her anti- fans say behind her back how shameful it is to have lost. Kai and Yuusuke try to cheer her up by each offering their food to her, Kai bread, Yuusuke pickled radish made from scratch by his grandmother. Kai scolds Yuusuke for being stingy, and Shiori suggest putting the radish into the bread to each. This idea seems to disgust both boys and instantly stops their fight.   

 The various winners are shown on tv as the family are eating their dinner. Shiori exclaims that she remembers that girl for she stood out among all the cute girls. Then she points out another 2 girls who have super long legs. She comments that one is too skinny and more, showing that she is okay with the results, as Maho observes her.

Akio is in a hotel room with Mizuki. Mizuki tells Akio frankly that she thinks Shiori is hot. Akio thinks she is overrating her, but she is serious. Then she comments how overprotective a brother Akio is, and tells him to take it easy. Akio wants to say something, but Mizuki cuts him, saying that it is lucky that Shiori is his sister, for having such a cute girl at his side all the time, Akio may very well have ended up liking her romantically. It is so hard for her and yet she doesn’t even get an apology. She turns to Akio remembering he wanted to say something, but Akio just smiles and says there was nothing.

Shiroi is walking back from school alone. She thinks to herself. Because of the audition, a lot more people talked to her in school, and that with her loss, she expected things to return as they were before, but unexpectedly people didn’t. She is cheered up by it, but she still feels a sense of emptiness is her heart. She still has feelings for Akio, and wonders what can distract her from it. She thinks about the question the editor quoted her. Indeed it isn’t just about Akio, but also what she wants to do. She doesn’t have memories of studying for an exam or participating in sports day. No memories of herself working hard, feeling satisfied or even having a sense of regret. To her gaining honour as a person, or working towards a dream has no meaning. As Shiori reaches home, the manager guy from a few chapters ago approaches her, introduces himself and tells her he is here to scout her.  

Shiori: The parts I spent so long considering in the shop about, the Swarovski heart I pieced together, the handmade strap to put it together, cruelly burnt into nothing.

Maho asks Akio if Shiori was really once a good girl like what he told her. He confirms it saying Shiori was a very bright and cheery girl who often looked out for Maho. Then what made her change, Maho asks. And would that memory change her for the worse again should she regain it? And which is the real Shiori- the old one or the current one?

Shiori tells Kai she is going to sleep since she is exhausted from playing all day. He tries to get a word in, but she just ignores him and announces she is turning off the lights or else she can’t fall asleep. Shiori and Kai sleep on separate mattresses with a very small distance between them. They both face opposite directions, but Kai is nervous as hell. He can't believe that Akio had allowed such an arrangement, and he slowly turns to look at Shiori's back. Then he reminds himself to control his actions while rubbing his face in his pillow. Shiori isn’t asleep either. She can't forget that when she saw Maho crying, she could only think how pitiful she was, and that she had gone through a lot of tough experiences. Because of me, I pitied her as if someone else caused it. If Akio knew how I was thinking, he probably would be very sad. Shiori finally closes her eyes

Kai climbs on top of Shiori (what is he trying to do /o.o\ Bad idea!) and Akio walks into the room to tell Shiori to go back to her room since Maho has fallen asleep. Akio sees the scene and is stunned, with Kai quickly surrendering with his hands up, having been caught. Shiori totally does not notice anything and just sleepily flicks the lights on. Akio while still a bit shocked, but because Kai is kneeling behind, he keeps quiet about what he saw and just tells Shiori Maho's situation. Shiori tells him she is okay in this room and Maho might be pissed if she woke up seeing her next to her. She is perfectly safe since Kai has no interest in her, and looks to Kai to confirm it, only to see a Kai brooding in the corner, scaring her. Akio apologizes to Kai, and Kai in a haunting way accepts his apology, leaving Shiori very confused, as she doesn’t know what they are talking about. Akio then suggests that he will sleep with his sisters so help him move the beddings. Shiori is obviously excited about this arrangement whereas Kai doesn’t want to be alone in such a huge room. Thus leading to the final conclusion of the 4 of them in one room, and in order of left to right- Kai, Akio, Maho and Shiori. Shiroi can't fall asleep, having already dozed off just now. She starts to talk to Akio who is awake too. Akio tells her that Maho was simply bewildered by the situation and hence please forgive her. Shiori tells him that she likes Maho despite Maho hating her since before. And she likes Akio too. The siblings stare into each other’s eyes. Shiori gets a bit flustered and tells him, because of such reasons, he doesn’t need to worry, although it is a bit regretful of what happened to the present. Akio tells her that Maho doesn't actually hate her.

Maho is the first to wake up and is amused to find the other 3 in the same room.

Shiori: After waking up, Maho was the usual Maho.

They all return home from their trip. Akio exclaims it is good to be home. Maho says he is like some old man. Shiori thinks about Akio's expression when talk to her the previous night, and wonders if that split second where his expression became intense was her imagination. Akio finds the delivery note that was left at their house for Shiori.

Kai calls Yuusuke, and tells him that while he likes Shiori 1, he seems to be starting to like Shiori 2 too. Yuusuke replies that he could tell from a while ago.

Akio and Shiori look at Shiori's profile in the newest Cookie magazine. Akio is a bit in disbelief that Shiori is contestant number 13, while Shiori, thinking that the camera test had gone really really badly, is kind of delighted that she got in, though she doesn't understand why. Akio looks the blushing Shiori and compliments her that she looks cute in the pictures. Akio passes the magazine to Maho, who reads out in a flat tone that Shiori's interest are housework, and favourite phrase is thank you, which really is the opposite of her. Shiori belatedly realizes those were part of the application form when she signed up and that she should have changed it before they published it. Maho comments that Shiori is the only one with a different expression, and not in a good way. Akio claims it isnt like that, while Shiori still a bit deranged from her embarrassing profile agrees that she is the only one without a smily face. Akio looks again and tries to reassure her, but his voice lacks confidence, which Shiori points out.

School term starts. Girls are discussing Shiori's appearance in the magazine. Shiroi walks onto school grounds with Kai. She spends her lunch break with Kai and Yuusuke in the garden. Yuusuke tells Shiori people are making a big fuss about her appearance in the magazine. Shiori says it is probably people who dislike her cause she can always hear whispering but no one comes up to talk to her about it. Yuusuke is surprised as for him, people keep on asking him what kind of person Shiori is.  Kai stares at the magazine intensely, pissing Shiori off as she uses it to hit his head. She asks him why did he specially buy the magazine. He answers he just did. Yuusuke points out the same thing as Maho did about her pictures to which Shiori covers her ears, upset. Kai announces he will no longer call her Shiori 2. The other two are silenced. Yuusuke asks if he is going to revert back to "Shiori Sempai", but nope, Kai is going to just call her "Shiori", without the "san", which in a way is disrespecting her seniority. He tells her that if she doesn't like it, he can stop, but Shiori doesn't mind it. Yuusuke watches as Kai asks then would it be okay to call her a pillbug, which Shiori sassily responds that she will just call him that too, and thinks that it is like an elementary school crush.   A few junior girls approach Shiori and turns out they are big fans of hers after seeing her in the magazine and want to take a picture with her like she is some celebrity. Shiori is stunned and embarrassed, while Kai and Yuusuke broadly smile behind her.

Akio receives a message from Shiori, telling him about her sudden fame and how she is embarrassed that her fans give her their support for the competition.  He sends her a reply and Mizuki asks if it is alright for such a short and no value-added reply. He tells her that Shiori has been messaging about the little things that happen in school since school started, like the teacher's wig moving out of place, falling asleep in math class, that she is on her way home and always tells him her opinion on her bento that he packed. Shiori has been sensible enough to message him less when he is meeting people like Mizuki. He says that she must have been greatly cheered up by her juniors' actions.  Mizuki climbs into Akio lap, telling him that she relies on him too. She kisses him and hugs him tighter. Mizuki reminisces that as a kid, Shiori used to cling onto Akio. This reminds Akio of Maho's statement of when did Shiori change for the worse.  Mizuki asks Akio if he wants to do ecchi things with her. Akio is like now? Mizuki tells him her family only returns at night. She tells him that she wants to do it today, that she wants to possess Akio. She is fine that Akio always puts his sisters above everything else, since that is the part she likes about him. But once in a while she wants to be the one who owns him. She starts to unbutton her blouse, but Akio grabs her wrists. She tells she feels like an idiot being jealous of his sisters. Akio thinks back to the night where he saw Kai climb onto of Shiori. Akio kisses Mizuki, and tells her he has always liked her...

Kai is over at their house eating watermelons with Maho and Akio. Akio has fallen asleep on the floor and Kai and asks Maho if there is anything she wants, or anything she likes. Maho questions his motive for asking. Obviously it is to help Shiori, who Kai meets afterwards, eating an ice Popsicle. He lists what Maho told him- a personal laptop as first choice, second choice a wok, and third choice a model of the human body. Kai ponders upon the third choice and concludes that Maho is unusual, thinking that if such a model was in his house, he would have nightmares. He ignores Shiori as he thinks, and Shiori finally pokes her popsicle stick into his hair to get his attention. It of course gets him pissed and he asks Shiori with a scary face what is she doing. She shouts back that she can't possibly afford a laptop, and a wok is what Akio wants but there is no place to put it. And if it is the human model, it will be in her house, so no worries for him. She wails why can't she be like other junior high girls, liking cute character items. Kai tells her not to say it like that, it seems as if she hates it.  Maho had told him that cute things don't suit her.

At home, Akio is watching tv while having a beer and some food. Shiori borrows his laptop and looks up human body models. They don't come cheap, and she continues to search for cheaper alternatives. Maho's statement resonates in her mind. Akio's face is right next to Shiori's, when he suddenly asks why is she searching for human models. She quickly shoos him away, the proximity having made her heart race.

After Shiori is done with her research, Akio asks her where does she want to go? Summer holidays are ending and her part time job ends on the 25th, so as a family, they should go out together to have some fun. Shiori thinks how quickly her lonely summer had ended.

And off they are on their holiday, when a deliveryman comes by with a package for Shiori, only to find an empty house. Cut to the Cookie magazine, where they list out all the girls who made it through the photography session and Shiori is contestant 13. The manager guy is a bit disappointed that the judge didn't fulfill his wish, but works with the situation and approaches his boss for a meeting.

The group consisting of Akio, Shiori, Maho and Kai stay at a seaside bungalow, which they are pretty impressed with, not realising that nearby had such a nice place. Akio comments that it seems new and because a rental car was cheaper than taking the train, they drove there. They split rooms according to gender, with Shiori and Maho in one, and Kai and Akio in the other. Shiori was a bit worried at first that Maho wouldn't come along since Mizuki couldn't join them due to her job, but luckily things worked out. As they unpack their things, Shiori comments that the room is a lot bigger than she expected. Maho tells her to look away as she is changing, to which Shiori complies with. Shiori thinks about how she planned this event once Akio had popped the question of where she wanted to go, and she is really happy about it, having even bought a bikini for the trip. Maho looks at the swimsuit she packed, which is the one that she uses for school, then turns to look at Shiori wearing her bikini.

They head to the waters, with Kai already in as Shiori throws seaweed in his face. The look on Kai's face makes Shiori and Akio burst out in laughter. Shiori suggests a floating competition. Kai blushes at the sight of Shiori, and mutters he is fine. Shiori teases him that he can't exert his strength cause he is overflowing with resentment? Then she and Akio bend over laughing, while Kai is barking at her about all the tension she created. Kai heads back to shore and sits next to Maho on the beach mat. He asks her why isn’t she swimming, and she replies she will later. He tells her that the water is now perfect, being a bit cold since it is the end of August. Akio is floating with Shiori and also comments that the water feels good. Mentally, Shiori asks Akio if he is sad that Mizuki couldn't join them. Akio is pretty pleased with this whole excursion as he tells Shiori that he hasn't been to the beach with her since she was in elementary school. Even though it is prohibited to swim here, he tells her as he brushes away her fringe, they can continue swimming. Shiori asks Akio if he is okay and the beer he had before hadn't messed his brain. Thinking back about the comment of what they did in the past, Shiori realises while Akio has had shared a past with her, but for it has disappeared, and that makes her a bit lonely. Kai asks Maho if he has anyone she likes or is going out with. She replies there is no reason for her to have one. He tells her he liked Shiori after a glance. Maho's temper starts rise and she calls him an idiot. She tells him it is because he doesn't know what kind of person Shiori really is, and makes some condescending comments about guys. Kai says yes, he didn't know much about Shiori when he first saw her, but her smiling face was so cute. He asks Maho to try smiling a bit more too.

They have a barbecue and everyone is happy and smiling, apart from Maho who is her usual self. After that, it gets darker and Maho starts to play with fireworks, with Akio reminding her to be careful. To thank them for helping her lead a normal life despite her circumstances, Shiori announces she has prepared gifts for her siblings. She hands them their gifts, and says that while her memory is limited, but she bought these with her first pay. It isn't much but it is a token of her appreciation for them. Akio opens his to see a set of socks and is so happy he starts to tear and tells her he will treat it preciously, while she tells him to just use it well. Maho stares at hers, which is a beaded ribbon keychain. Shiori tells her she had trouble deciding what to buy for her, so she made this instead for Maho. The guys are in disbelief that it is handmade by Shiori,to which Shiori reminds Kai she made him a bear before. She tells Maho that if she carries it, it would make her very happy. Shiori, Akio and Kai start to pay with the fireworks too. Maho thinks back to the time Kai talked to her, asking all those questions and says "Don't bullshit".  Maho takes the lighter and sets the gift ablaze. As it falls apart, tears fall from Maho's eyes.

They return to their lodgings, and Shiori enters Kai's room to update him on the current situation. Maho is still crying at the moment, and insists she can't sleep with Shiori in the same room. And so Shiori has to share a room with Kai now. Shiori ponders over the situation and thinks, she likes both Akio and Maho and wants to be the Shiori, but in the end, no matter what she does, there isn't a real sense of family.