Akai Ito [Chapter 12]

Narration: “The person I previously hate the most has become the person I like the most.” Cover page: “Just like this, being tightly hugged, even if I felt embarrassed and heart beating like a deer [about to be hit by a car] but I also felt quite happy that I’m moved endlessly..” At the dojo, everyone is given a five minutes rest. Complaining that it is hot, Sho tries to wipe his sweat on his sleeve. While looking at the side, Chihiro gives him a towel and timidly tells him ‘good work’. Sho thanks her. Then, he tightly holds her hand before taking the towel. This surprises Chihiro and made her blush. Chihiro thinks that after they have gone steady, there are all sorts of changes and the time they are together had also become longer.. “After all, that mood had changed and I’m quite shock that he had unexpectedly joined the club. *Sho is talking with Ren about the shinai* But, that’s really great.. And it appears that the Kagamido brothers still hasn’t picked a fight. *Kagamido brothers are angry and fretful* But, I wish that there will be a lot of times like this, I’m at his side, cheering for him[/gambatte]...” After school, Sho walks together with Ren and behind them, Chihiro and Rino. Sho glances back at Chihiro who blushes a bit. She thinks that it has been two days since they’ve started going steady. At the train, Chihiro is now standing beside Sho. She thinks that it feels like the distance between her and Sho has gotten closer and that would be physically very close. Chihiro feels that they are standing too close. She glances at Sho and thinks that for Sho to look like this, he is very eye-catching that even girls from other schools are looking at him. “Ever since he cut his hair short, it seems that a lot more people are looking at him.. I seems that I also like this current look more even if his long hair before, is also not bad. I obviously hate him very much before and right now, he unexpectedly became my boyfriend, it’s such a strange feeling..” Sho notices that she’s looking at him. Chihiro timidly looks away. Sho corners her which made Chihiro more nervous since he is so close..actually, too close. Sho asks her what’s up. Thinking that he’s doing it deliberately, Chihiro looks away from him and says that it is nothing. He calls out to her and says that it seems something is stuck on her hair. Chihiro asks where, really. Sho says that it cannot be seen if she moves so look up her head for him to see it. Chihiro holds up her head and says is it like this. To her surprise, Sho gives her a quick kiss on the lips. She covers her mouth and blushes. Sho laughs that she got duped and in the end, she’s very easy to fool just like during junior high, she totally didn’t change-

Chihiro gets embarrassed that she angrily steps on his shoe. Sho says that hurts.. Blushing Chihiro tells him, geez, this is in the train! Then, Sho keeps on complaining of the pain that it made Chihiro nervous and asks him if he is alright, and sorry for unconsciously stepping on him. Sho looks at up her and says, tricked you. Since his lips are quite near, she quickly covers her lips and tells him that she won’t do it. Sho asks if she thought that he’s going to kiss her, and she’s really bold~~ Chihiro bites her lip in frustration that she calls him stupid. Sho lamely says, yeah, yeah. Rino blushes and tells them to stop for Ren is watching. [<- I think she’s concerned because she thinks Ren likes Chihiro]. Narration: “I’m obviously felt extremely infuriated over that teasing, cunning to the extreme, smile of his but, I couldn’t win against it..” Sho kisses Chihiro. Chihiro blushes and thinks, “After the first kiss, this is already the sixth.. Huhu, he led me on again..! And, we are still in front of the house gate. *covers face* I obviously do not want to be seen by my family but I still did it.” Sho wonders what’s up with her. Sho holds out a card and tells her to give it to Souta, it is a Battle Legend limited edition card. Chihiro says okay so Sho bids her goodbye. Chihiro thinks that after kissing, she has this unsatisfied feeling for Sho always has this attitude of ‘doing it skillfully and easily’ that it appears that she’s the only one who’s anxious.. Inside the house, Souta is quite happy that Sho still remembered his promise[/agreement].  Chihiro tells him to properly thank Sho and she’ll call to thank him on Souta’s behalf. Chihiro starts to wonder what this promise is. Souta happily says that there’s no need for her to call, he knows it [Sho’s number] and he’ll text ‘Sho’ directly to thank him. This surprises Chihiro for when did they start to text and he even calls him ‘Sho’ [first name = close with each other]. Chihiro couldn’t believe that she lost to her own younger brother in calling Sho by his first name for currently, she still hasn’t done that. To Souta’s surprise, Chihiro takes his cellphone and says that she’ll help him write the thanks. Souta tries to get it from his sister who texts, ‘Thank you for the card♡ I’m super happy♪ By the way, Sho, in the end, what do you like about my sis?’ Chihiro decides to forget about it and erase but Souta suddenly grabs her arm to get the phone back. This made Chihiro accidentally send the message. Chihiro totally freaks out over it. Holding his iPhone, Souta calls his sister stupid, and ah, he replied. Chihiro immediately stands up and tries to go somewhere else. Souta asks where she is going, Sho replied. Chihiro says that it isn’t necessary.

To Chihiro’s embarrassment, Souta starts to read the message out, “About that, your sister, although she’s a tsundere, but when she’s shy, her ears become red and I thought that’s quite interesting. *Chihiro shouts for him not to say it anymore* And, I can say that this part is quite cute. Ah, as far as for which part I like, that is another matter.” Souta asks if she’s a tsundere. Covering his mouth, Chihiro exclaims that she’ll give him a snack so shut up. Souta is quite happy that he’ll have a snack. Narration: “Ever since going steady, I’ve realized that she cannot take this thing called boyfriend out of her head the whole day and this makes me quite frustrated..” At the dojo, Chihiro is carrying a basin of washed uniforms. Rino tells her that she’s going to get some tea for everyone. Chihiro says okay, she’s going at the back to hang these to dry. Just when she is saying that it is heavy, the Kagamido brothers toss their uniform to the one she’s carrying and says that she forgot these. Chihiro shouts at them not to put them on the clothes that have already been washed. White Kagamido tells her to shut up, that is within the job of the manager so don’t complain and just be good to wash it all up. Black Kagamido calls her stupid for just call Sho to help her out. As Chihiro sighs, Sho takes the basin and carries it for her since it’s heavy. Chihiro goes after him and says that it is alright, for this is her work so give it back. She tells him that it will be bad if the captain sees it. She looks behind and she’s worried that the Kagamido brothers are still nearby. Putting down the basin, Sho asks what is bad and why would she mention the captain at this time. Chihiro timidly tells him that before, the captain said that he doesn’t want to have problems because of romance within the club..so she’s saying that during this time, if a club member saw it, it might possibly be bad.. She glances at Sho and thinks that she doesn’t want him to find out the real reason. Sho says that is that so, so it’s like that. Chihiro is surprised by how fast his response is and he would even say that. Sho says that anyway, he didn’t say that love is forbidden, only don’t cause trouble, right. Chihiro timidly says that is right. Sho says that’s quite simple, then. Chihiro wonders what’s up with that arrogant look and he definitely didn’t deeply think about this. Chihiro says that still, even if that is how he thinks, she also doesn’t want others to find out. She thinks that if people notice that they are going steady, the kendo club might make her quit. Somewhat surprised, Sho says that is why she minds it too much and he totally doesn’t understand. “Then, it would be better if we get the captain’s approval early on. So I’ll go and come back.”

Sho turns to leave. Worried Chihiro quickly grabs his arm and says no, don’t say it. Then, she lets go of his arm and apologizes. Thinking for a while, Sho says that he understands, it is okay to just hide it right, and that’s it. Chihiro is relieved for that’s great, she doesn’t have to quit the club and they can be together. Sho seems to misinterpret her expression that he says that she should quit the club. Chihiro asks why, when just now, he said that they are going to hide it and now, why all of a suddenly he wants her to quit, it’s too strange. Sho says that he changed his mind. Chihiro shouts that she won’t quit. He asks why. She exclaims, “You’re asking why, of course I want to be.. Ah.. (want to be with you.. That’s the real reason why I don’t want to quit, I want to be together with Hinase. Simply, it is like I’m the only one who likes him, if I made Hinase find out about this, it would truly be giving in [lose face to him]..” Pouting with crossed arms, Sho says, see, she couldn’t say the reason. Chihiro exclaims that she’ll say it. “Be..because, you see! I’m quite responsible, okay? *nervous* Right, of course, it is because I’m ultra-responsible!!” Hinase says that she’s deceiving him. Shaking her head and looking aghast, she mutters that she is absolutely not lying. She tells him that in short, it is because of that, she won’t quit the club. Sho touches her face and she blushes but looks down and is a bit tense. Sho lets go and softens his look. He tells her that it is because he’s very worried about her. “If you quit the club, the Kagamido brothers would also not trouble you like this. *Chihiro realizes that Sho had just seen that a while ago* And, since I’ve already joined the club, then you also have no other reason to stay here, right?” Chihiro timidly says that what he said is right. Sho says that he doesn’t want that. “I also do not want you to immediately resign as manager and even if I feel that I can protect you if only I’m beside you. But, in places where I cannot reach [in time] and something like today had happened, then, that’s a different thing.” Chihiro thinks that he unexpectedly decided to enter the club because of her. “It turns out to be like that, Hinase is quite worried about me.. *blush* (What to do. After he said that to me, I’ve come to like him even more..)” Chihiro tells him that it is alright, she cannot lose to the Kagamido brother for as a manager, she has a tooth for a tooth awareness. Sho scowls and says, Wha? “According to the trend just now, why is it concluded this way. During this time, you should say, ‘Yes♡ I understand Hinase♡’” Blushing Chihiro asks, ha, that is quite disgusting and is he an idiot. Sho shouts for her to quit. Chihiro says that SHE WON’T QUIT. Sho angrily answers back, QUIT ALREADY. Chihiro answers, “I FIRMLY DECIDED NOT TO QUIT” The two glare at each other stubbornly. Then, Sho leaves and tells her to do what she wants.

Later on, the club is being dismissed. The members leave and Chihiro thinks that Sho didn’t look at her even once. Rino says that it is Chihiro’s turn to clean the dojo so does she want her to help. Chihiro says no, it is alright, she can do it by herself so she can go home first. Rino tries to offer to wait until she finish up but Chihiro looks so depressed that Rino says that Chihiro wants to stay alone by herself, yes, she understands, and she’ll just text her later on. While wiping the floor with a rag, Chihiro thinks that she made Sho angry and it was rare for Sho to tell those words to her, and she got things on a deadlock again. “Hinase, he really values me a lot. It isn’t only me who one-sidedly likes him.. *sigh*” Later on, she opens the door and thinks that she did things idly that it is already late. To her surprise, she sees Sho sitting by the post. She goes to him and finds him sleeping. She wonders if he was waiting for her. She bends down to him and looks at him. “Is it because he’s quite tired? After all, practice is quite tiring.. By the way, it is possible that he’s quite tired because of me.. How can I say this, it seems that I haven’t seen Hinase’s face up close.. Ah..sweat..” Chihiro takes her handkerchief to wipe it from Sho’s face. Sho suddenly grabs her wrist and pushes her down the floor. He leans close to her that she says no, let her go. Sho tells him that if she doesn’t say the truth then, he won’t let go. Chihiro mutters about saying the truth..but she clams up. Sho lets her go and walks away. He says that she doesn’t want to go steady with him at all, right? “It is because you hate it so you don’t want the people around to know, right? Despite this, I still don’t know why you don’t want to quit the club.” Chihiro says, “It isn’ that. I don’t hate it at all..” Sho turns and says, that when he touches her, she’s quite afraid that yet she always follow him, so what is she thinking. “If you hate it, then let’s break up.” Chihiro is surprised when Sho starts to walk away. She mentally tells him no, wait..Hinase! She immediately stands up and hugs him from behind. She shouts, “It is because I want to be together with you..! It’s because I want to be with you, Hinase. Even for a while is okay, I want to stay longer at your side. That..if others know that we’re going steady, it is possible that it would spread into something very strange and it is possible that I can no longer stay at the kendo club, I don’t want that. I’m..sorry.. *pause* ..Hinase?” Sho is blushing really red. Chihiro apologizes and let him go. Blushing Hinase says, “Darn.. you’re also quite cunning.. *holds her shoulder* You’ll take responsibility.” Chihiro timidly says, “Ye..yes.” They kiss. As Hinase holds her tight, Chihiro thinks that the kiss is too long. After the kiss, Chihiro timidly says, “..about that, I feel that we seem to be kissing quite frequently..” Pokerfaced Sho replies, “It’s just your imagination.”

Comment: Hehe, it seems that Sho is using his advantage to trick Chihiro to kiss her. =P And, whether willing or not, Chihiro usually gives in to him. ^^ Sho is really good in ‘bribing’ to the younger brother. They really clicked with each other though I wonder what that agreement was. Was it about earlier, Souta pretending to sleep or something else? It’s always fun if family members are into the love story regarding the couple especially this way. The other part about quitting the club and hiding their relationship, there are indeed pros and cons to it. I feel that hiding their relationship might cause problems later on and could include some jealousy but then, given how many people are causing trouble when they aren’t going steady yet, there is a point not to let others know especially if the main objective is for her to stay at the club and be with Sho. It does seem to imply that both think that they are only lopsidedly liking each other. It is obviously with Chihiro but it is only later on with Sho since he assumes that Chihiro doesn’t like him like he likes her, and Chihiro is just ‘going with the flow’ but stops at revealing their relationship to others. But thanks to their ‘confessions’, they know the truth. Honestly, I got a bit worried there for I thought they would have a quarrel/break up and things would drag on. Thankfully, the mangaka didn’t do it and even put a lot of kissing scenes in this chapter. ^^ Scans by 深雪汉化组

Word of the day:

Knowing that God loves us can dispel doubt. ~ Our Daily Bread