| VOLUME FIVE Ch. 17 Masayoshi slips up---intending only to motivate Arisawa (and earn himself a moment's peace), he makes a deal with the devil: if Arisawa scores a perfect 100 on a test, he'll go out on a date with the boy. Arisawa studies so hard that when he finally hands the test in, he passes out from exhaustion. Masayoshi decides that such effort should be  rewarded (plus he figures anybody who studied so hard must have done well),
so he agrees to go out on the date.From the beginning, they're trailed by the others---Inagaki to make sure Nothing Happens, Yukiko hoping that Something Will, Tooru and Masami just for the hell of it. Ch. 18 The date begins, as Masayoshi takes Arisawa to the amusement park, and the rest of the KKH gang follow. From the beginning Masayoshi treats the outing as a friendly one, but Arisawa is determined to treat it like an actual romantic date. His efforts are hampered by the fact that he has no money and that Masayoshi is determined to lose their pursuers, which leads them on a madcap round of the park's attractions. Everyone has a good time, in spite of themselves; there is a brief moment of almost-attraction between Yukiko and Inagaki, and a sweet moment between Tooru and Masami. Arisawa steals a kiss when he thinks Masayoshi is asleep, and Masayoshi (awake) decides to continue pretending to be asleep and allow it. After they get back to the school, Masayoshi discovers to his chagrin that Arisawa only scored a 96 on the test. Ch. 20 The day starts as usual. Masayoshi and Tooru go to a hotel where some kind of convention is taking place. There a new character is introduced: Satsuki Haruhiko. Back when they were in high school, Satsuki had a terrible crush on Masayoshi, and he finally confessed it to him one day. Masayoshi called him an okama yarou (effeminate wretch---kind of has the same connotations as "fag" in Western society), flipped him the finger, and broke his heart. Ever since then, the once-homely and shy Satsuki has worked hard; he's very popular with the boys in Shinjuku, and has grown up to be a handsome, suave man. But he's never forgotten---or gotten over---Masayoshi, and when he sees Masayoshi in the hotel lobby, the old feelings return all over again. Only now he believes he's figured out why Masayoshi rejected him long ago: he sees Masayoshi and Tooru looking intimate (Tooru's helping Masayoshi get something out of his eye), and suddenly "figures out" that Masayoshi must have been dating Tooru all those years ago. He resolves to get  even... but Masayoshi, to Satsuki's chagrin, doesn't even remember him.The next day, a new teacher (substitute?) arrives at the school---Satsuki. Arisawa is given the task of showing him around, and Satsuki is enraptured; Arisawa is exactly his type. When he corners Arisawa in the school nurse's office, Masayoshi comes in. Ch. 20 Masayoshi again doesn't remember Satsuki. Arisawa flees to his sensei's protection, leading Satsuki to believe that Masayoshi has both Tooru and Arisawa as his lovers. He flees, humiliated and heartbroken again. Masami goes to visit a friend down in the Shinjuku gay district, and Tooru decides to meet him there to make sure no one hits on him (since Masami looks like a woman, nobody bothers him---Tooru, on the other hand, gets a lot of attention). By chance they meet Satsuki again, who's accompanying one of the Club Lush "boys" (the lone woman of the foursome), and who immediately accuses Tooru of two-timing Masayoshi. There is an ugly confrontation, first between Satsuki and Tooru and then between Tooru and Masami as Tooru tries to explain who this "other person" was.
Stay tuned---volume 6 should be out soon. |
despite the effeminate name. It's the
first time Masayoshi's ever admitted attraction to another man. But
wait---Masayoshi's would-be fiancee is also named Mizuha, and looks an awful lot like the
male Mizuha! Is Mizuha male or female? Is Masayoshi in love? And worst
of all, has Masayoshi found a more appropriate replacement for both Arisawa and Masami in
his heart?