Classes already started.
Frowning Chihiro thinks that there is totally no sign that he’s coming.
“Is he absent today? Isn’t he feeling well? He seems to have a lot of vitality
yesterday.. And he even swung the shinai 1500 times. Kirigaya also said that he
doesn’t know.. *sigh and looks at the omamori* I really want to see him soon..
*kisses the omamori* Eh? *blushes* I’ve unexpectedly wanted to see him..!”
Holds the omamori tightly, Chihiro blurts out, “No..that’s not right..” The other
students look at her. Embarrassed Chihiro looks down. “Geez, since yesterday,
I’ve been played into his hand. Ah. *looks at the bent omamori* Uh..oh.. I’ve
bent it out of shape.” Soon, it is lunch time and some students are going to
the canteen. Looking at the bent omamori, Chihiro wonders if she totally bent
the thing inside out of shape. “How am I going to get it back to its original
shape.. It ought to be alright for me to take out the thing inside. I won’t get
retribution, right? [<- since it is an amulet] Ah, what is this! *notices a
transparent tape at the side of the omamori* What, even using transparent tape
for this. This is quite troubling but it is inevitable, I’ll just have to take
out the thing outside for me to sew the [pouch] bag.. *opens the pouch bag of
the omamori and notices a small paper which contains the picture of a man
wearing a kendo uniform and he’s holding a trophy* Ah..Hinase? It doesn’t seem
to be but it seems to be.. and he’s even wearing a kendo uniform.. *surprised
to see the surname ‘Hinase’ on the name plate* Since the surname is also
Hinase, could it be his father?” Rino approaches her and tells her that she’ll
be going to eat at the canteen today. Chihiro says that she’ll also go. Holding
the omamori, Chihiro thinks that this is something very important to Hinase. At
the canteen, while eating, Rino asks Chihiro what she has been sewing a while
ago. Chihiro nervously tells her that it is an omamori which she carelessly
ruined a bit. Rino says is that so, and it seems that Hinase isn’t coming to
school today. Chihiro says who knows, maybe he skipped class. With a doubting
expression, Rino asks if that’s for real. Chihiro asks what’s up with that.
Then, she is surprised when someone is complaining about being so hungry that
he’ll die. Chihiro turns around and is surprised that it is Hinase. Chihiro is
glad that he came and it turns out that he’s fine, health-wise. Holding the
omamori, Chihiro stands up to return it to him. But, she sees Hinase’s fangirl,
clinging on his arm. Short haired fangirl asks long haired fangirl if they are
together. Flashing a v-sign, still clinging on Hinase’s arm, long haired
fangirl says yes, that’s right. Hinase is busy wondering what to eat. Chihiro
thinks that it turns out that he is late because of that. Rino watches Chihiro
sits back to her chair again and holds the omamori tight. Rino asks,
“..Chihiro, in the end, you like Hinase-kun.”
After looking surprised, Chihiro denies it and tells Rino
not to say strange things. Smiling Rino tells her that it isn’t only just now,
she is always concerned about Hinase. “With just one glance, it is only with
you that I can know it, right? There’s no need to meticulously hide it from me.
*Chihiro continues denying it* But, it’s great. I’m at ease that you didn’t
deeply fell for Nanjou-kun’s attack. Always acting strong and even saying that
you won’t fall in love again, it really made me worried.” Chihiro looks
surprised. She thinks that not long ago, she obviously still like Nanjou-kun,
and right now, towards some other guy.. “Like this, isn’t my self-awareness also
excessively good? Rino has already seen it through, and that is saying that one
day, Hinase will also.. Even if that is the case, but right now, he still
thinks that the one I like is Nanjou-kun.. I don’t want Hinase to think that
I’m a very frivolous[/fickle] girl.” Blushing Chihiro stands up and tells Rino
that she doesn’t like that guy-whatever. She goes to Hinase and asks if this is
his. Chihiro holds up the omamori and Hinase exclaims in disbelief. Holding the
omamori, he asks her where she.. Chihiro has already turned around to leave. Hinase
manages to grab her arm and asks if she was the one who picked it up. Conscious
over him holding her arm, Chihiro pulls her arm from his grip and says that it
is nothing. Looking away, she tells him that it was coincidentally dropped in
front of her house’s gate. Chihiro thinks that she said un-cute words again.
Hinase exclaims if it is for real, because since this morning, he has always
been looking for it after he couldn’t find it. And, he is even thinking that he
definitely won’t be able to get it back. Chihiro is surprised over what he said
because wasn’t he together with that girl just now. Hinase exclaims in delight
that Shichimi is amazing for she even helped him sew it that it became very
beautiful. “It’s really great that you were able to help me find it.” Chihiro
blushes. She realizes that she is blushing so she quickly fans her face with
her hand to cool it down. She fears that he’ll see through her. Turning around,
Chihiro tells him that she wasn’t careful that she bent it while holding it.
“I’M SORRY. If you want compensation, don’t hesitate to ask. Good..goodbye.”
Chihiro starts walking away fast but he calls out to her and says, “Thank you,
Shichimi.” Trying to act normal, deadpan Chihiro tells him that it is totally
not needed since she only just coincidentally picked it up. She starts to walk
away as Hinase is puzzled over his thanks being totally not needed. Chihiro is
blushing as she goes out of the canteen. Rino tries to call her but Chihiro
didn’t hear her so she just lets her be. She happily sighs and thinks that she
is bad for sighing in relief upon learning that Chihiro likes Hinase because it
is like being happy over Kirigaya being jilted [by Chihiro]. “Yesterday,
Kirigaya-kun invited me to go home together and it is definitely because he
wants to ask me about Chihiro..” She didn’t notice that Kirigaya is looking at
her.
Soon, it is dismissal time. The other students hurry off to
their club activity. While putting her books in her bag, Chihiro is
concentrating on being calm and don’t look at the side. Hinase is looking at
her though. Then, he calls out, “Hey, Shichimi, that guy yesterday who has been
following you, was it always like that before? If you’re afraid, I can walk you
home.” Standing up, Chihiro says that it’s fine because she usually goes home
together with Rino and yesterday was a special case. Then, Chihiro blushes and
thinks, “Walk..walk me home.. Didn’t he just say that he’ll walk me home?”
Chihiro casually tells Rino that they are going. Hinase just looks at her. At
the lockers, Rino notices that she forgot something so she has to go back to
the classroom to get it. Chihiro says okay. Chihiro sighs over her loathsome
attitude towards Hinase and she’s really not a bit cute at all. She is startled
when someone asks, “Can I have a moment, Tachibana?” It is the stalker, the guy
from yesterday. Chihiro slightly backs away from him and starts to wonder how
she is going to run away. The stalker asks if she had thought about the manager
position. Chihiro is puzzled so he asks if she has seen the card in her shoe
locker. Chihiro recalls that it is that note from 2nd year’s K•Y. Stalker says
that they hope that she’ll be the manager of their kendo club so can she give
him her answer. Frowning, Chihiro thinks that it turns out to be the kendo club
and how can he say, ‘if she thought of it or not’, when he didn’t even mention
on the note, which club he is from. Smiling stalker says that she is also a
bishoujo [beautiful girl] that upon seeing her causing an uproar during the
opening ceremony, he already has a good feeling about her. “Yesterday, I
fundamentally want to talk with you but I made a mistake with the timing.” Not
convinced, Chihiro says is that so. She thinks that she doesn’t know when
Hinase would join the kendo club.. “If he is going to join.. Wrong! This has
nothing to do with Hinase!” Chihiro apologizes and tells stalker that right
now, she isn’t inclined towards that direction. Stalker happily says that even
if it is not right now, but the future isn’t decided, and wasn’t she also a
manager of the kendo club during junior high. Chihiro asks how come he knows
about that. Stalker says that several managers had already left their club and
actually, it is quite troublesome so can she help them, okay? Chihiro thinks
that this guy is quite annoying. Chihiro says about that.. The guy happily asks
if she agrees to join. Looking dark, Chihiro replies, “I DON’T WANT TO JOIN.”
After a pause, stalker sheepishly says that it turns out
that way, is that so, it’s like that. This puzzles Chihiro. With a bit
serious-threatening look, stalker asks if she meant that she is busy dating with
her boyfriend that she isn’t free to do club activity. “From his looks, he
seems to be a playful guy, YOUR BOYFRIEND.” Chihiro backs away and is surprised
over what the stalker is implying. To Chihiro’s surprise, Hinase holds her shoulder
and pulls her to him. He asks, “What do you want with my girlfriend?” Stalker
asks what’s with him. “What’s with that look? You obviously know that I’m a
second year. Are you trying deliberately looking for a fight?” With a taunting
look, Hinase asks what about it. “Is it wrong to treat a guy in school this way,
whose repulsive face is bothering a girl?” Scowling stalker tells him not to be
overjoyed by that. Hinase tells him to shut up. While the two are on a
stare-off, Chihiro tries to stop Hinase because she thinks that it is bad if he
had a dispute with someone in the kendo club and it will be quite troublesome
if he joins the kendo club later on. Chihiro bows to the stalker in apology and
shouts, “Really so sorry.. Having such an arrogant attitude, I’m sorry! He
doesn’t have any malice towards it, please forgive him. It is possible that you
won’t recognize my apology but..please..!” Hinase is surprised and displeased
by this. Stalker warns Hinase that there should be no repeat of this. “Take
note of that next time.” After he left, Hinase exclaims to Chihiro what’s up
with that. “Why did you have to apologize? You hate that guy, right? You only
need to go along with me on this and that’s it. *seeing Chihiro’s flustered
expression* Is that so.. It turns out to be like that. I almost forgot. Ha..
*expression softens* I’m sorry for being meddlesome. *Chihiro is surprised that
she looks at him* You hate me, right?” Thinking that she doesn’t hate him,
Chihiro exclaims, “No..” but she stops upon seeing Hinase’s frowning
expression. Hinase tartly says, “But, forget it. Saying that you are my
GIRLFRIEND is also just to deal with his PRETENSE, so don’t mind it.” Chihiro
is quite frustrated and flustered. Just as Hinase starts to leave, Chihiro clenches
her fist and shouts, “Idiot..! *Hinase turns to look at her* Even if for you,
it is possibly just dealing with PRETENSION. But it isn’t so with me.. For me,
it isn’t the same..” With that, Chihiro quickly runs off just as surprised Hinase
tries to say something. Narration: “During this kind of time, I couldn’t openly
be frank.. In the end, I’m too spineless.” Blurb: “Even if [it is] ‘like’, but
cannot get closer. Because [they] ‘like’ [each other], all the more [they] cannot
get closer..!”
Comment: Hehe, apparently, these two have some issues. Chihiro is
really in denial over her feelings even if it is already a bit obvious. And, she
doesn’t know Hinase’s feelings for her. It doesn’t help that Hinase thinks that
she is still in love with Nanjou and the crucial one is, he actually still believes
that she hates him. That impression must have really stuck on his mind that
Chihiro is already showing obvious signs of liking him. For example: would a
girl who hates him would even make it out of her way to sew his uniform and
omamori? But then, maybe he is the type who believes her words rather than her
blushing expressions and other telltale signs which she desperately tries to
hide. Well, she is indeed giving a bit of mixed signals. ^^; The stalker can be
quite annoying and a jerk who flaunts his ‘status’. With that kind of guy, aside
from the Hinase reason, it is understandable why Chihiro would never join that
kendo club. If she, Rino and Hinase don’t join, I somewhat feel sorry for
Kirigaya being there by himself..aside from feeling sorry for him that the girl
he likes actually thinks he likes her best friend even if he is obviously
trying to spend more time with her. ^^; Unlike the main couple, his ‘date’ was
a failure. It is nice that Hinase helped her with the stalker. Chihiro meant
well to apologize to that guy on Hinase’s behalf because she is thinking of his
future with the club. But, that might be a no-no since Hinase’s pride/ego as a
guy must have hurt because it really does seem like a girl just saved him from
a situation which he believes he can handle. Being confrontational does seem to
be part of Hinase’s personality since it is also like that during the
competition before. Not that it is bad since he is willing to stand up to those
kinds of people especially if it involves Chihiro ^^ but the result might not
be favorable for him. That and other misunderstandings cause a rift between
them again. So, about Hinase’s quitting kendo is indeed related to his father.
For him to work hard and everything must have been because he wanted to be like
his father. So, why quit? Did something happen to his father? I wonder if I’m
just overly thinking about this because maybe Hinase is just the type who is
quite sloppy like a guy who would use tape rather than sew or ask his mother to
sew his uniform or the omamori, but both items are related to kendo so is it
possible that if there is a deal to quit kendo, it is related to his mother
instead? Scans by 深雪汉化组
Quote of the day:
Love involves a peculiar unfathomable combination of understanding
and misunderstanding. ~ Diane Arbus