NERVOUS VENUS  Chapter 1    
	(by WASEDA Chie, originally published in Amie Feb'97)


         "Like a comet...that's the only way I can say it.  Suddenly it
 appears, engulfs everything...and destroys it.  The comet that
 destroyed everything I am and vanished..."
 
         The main character, Sekiya Haru, has forgotten her swimsuit.
 She panics, because she can't go to practice.  Then Minato Akira offers
 her his swimsuit to use, saying "Besides, you haven't got a body to be
 embarrased about!"  (Haru hits him)  Onlookers laugh and chant, "You two
 are sure close!" implying they are a couple, but they just tell them to
 cut it out.  Haru thinks to herself..."But even seeing him like that,
 Minato Akira had charisma."
 
         Since last year's new members race, the swimming club was in an
 uproar.  "Where in that little body does that power come from?" they'd
 think as his incredible speed rewrote the record books.  "Aki" was the
 undefeated "king".
 
         But when Akira gets a 16 on his exam, he worries he won't be
 able to get into Kitakou (the top school in inter-high competiton).  The
 fact that he's talking about something like this with her makes Haru's
 heart skip a beat.  Although she teases him about it, she sees how much
 he loves swimming.  She's so happy that he's talking about this with
 her.
 
         Another day...as Haru is talking to a friend, Akira runs up to
 her, grabs her and runs off.  Her friend just thinks "My, they're
 close!"  "Nobody'll come here under the pool", Akira says.  More than a
 little ticked off, Haru asks what he wants.  "Tadaaaah!"  He whips out 2
 cigarettes.  "I wanted to smoke one once..." he says.  Haru says that's
 stupid, but he's very serious...so she relents, and they light up.  Both
 immediately start coughing.  Then Akira says, "When they execute you,
 the let you have a smoke, right!?  Its the excecutioner's kindness that
 touchs your heart."  "What's this all of a sudden??" wonders Haru.
 
         "Aa...I thought I was gonna die!" Haru says.  Then Akira says,
 you know, tomorrow..."  Thinking he remembered her birthday, Haru gets
 excited.  Then she blurts out "It's my birthday!"  But that's not what
 he was talking about.  One of the upperclassmen got his license and is
 gonna let Akira ride in his car.  Just then the teacher yells at them to
 get to class...they didn't hear the bell ring.  Akira says as he walks
 away, "This ain't good...makin' people think we're a couple or
 somethin'..."  Haru blushes, then hits him, shouting, "That's what I was
 gonna say!"  Holding up the cigarrette but, Akira adds, "Oh
 yeah...don't tell anybody bout this."  "Of course not!" Haru says.
 Suddenly leaning in close, he says "We're partners in crime..."  Haru
 turns bright red, which makes Akira jump back.  "W...well...tomorrow
 then!  No, today!  Today!"  Haru says, "huh?", to which Akira only
 replies, "Later!"  As he walks away...Haru says to herself "'Later'??
 But we're in the same class..."
 
         Later that day, Haru's talking to her friend, when she hears the
 call waiting catch.  When she switches over, she doesn't hear
 anything..."Is this a prank!?" she wonders.  Then after a long pause,
 "Sekiya? It's Takatsuka..." (#2 boy on the swim team).  "Oh...sorry!
 Wow this's rare, getting a call from you...what's going on?"  Takatsuka:
 "...I should've called you earlier, but...I'm just a messed up and...it
 suddenly started raining and all and......he's dead.  Akira's dead..."
 
         "...The car smashed through the guardrail and fell into the
 ocean...everybody in the car...they say it's hopeless..."  Haru goes to
 see the scene of the crash with Takatsuka.  All those around her are
 crying, but she seems to be in shock.  "I didn't have any sense it was
 gonna happen..." (Remembering Akira saying, "...when they excecute
 you...")  "Even when he was talking about that...not a thing."
 
         The car they pulled from the ocean told the story of the
 freakish accident.  Of the 5 in the car, 4 bodies were found, but
 Akira's never came up.  No matter where they looked, his body wasn't
 found, and eventually they gave up.  The funeral was given without a
 body...
 
         Takatsuka and Haru are talking, when Takatsuka reveals, "I was
 supposed to go with them that day.  My little brother suddenly came down
 with a fever, and I was the only one home, so...he told me not to tell
 you, but I will anyway...on your birthday, he decided he was going to
 tell you he loved you..."
 
         Haru slams the door behind her...Her mind races, "What was he
 doing!  Even though we were together every day...we were so close...why
 didn't he say it!?  I loved him so much...and he didn't know
 anything...didn't know ANYTHING!!!  (Flashback: "We're partners in
 crime")  "I...I'm never gonna see him again!"  (Flashback: "Later...")
 "Iyaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"
 
         The school opening ceremonies are going on as a guy walks up,
 put a piece of gum in his mouth.  He decides coming in late will draw
 attention, so he'll skip the ceremony.  A loud noise startles him
 (coughing), and he shouts.  Sitting on the stairs, tears in her eyes,
 smoking a cigarette, sits Haru.  She scowls at him.  Smiling, he says,
 "Shall I give you a piece of gum?"  "I don't want any!!!" shouts Haru.
 
         Sekiya Haru...enters Kitakou high school...


End of Chapter 1.

This text is copyright of Suka-chan: sukachan@postoffice.worldnet.att.net
You can find other synopsis by her of this and other mangas serialized in the
Amie monthly magazine at: 
http://www.swb.de/~zahara/amie/amie.html 
Comments are welcome! And remember this is not for profit and is meant to be
a guide for the people who wants to understand the manga or read more about
it! ^^