Hot Gimmick manga synopsis.

These synopsis are done by Zahara Medina and can't be used anywhere else without her consent. As she is just a student of Japanese, there are bound to be mistakes. If you spot any mistake, please report it to me, thanks! :) (comments are also appreciated....)
Please remember to support your favorite authors by buying the Japanese tankoubon or official translations.

Note: B/w scans are from the magazine, where the print is in low quality paper and different ink colors so it sometimes scans pretty bad and leaves lots of noise in the picture. The tankoubon quality is, of course, much better (perfect, that is).

Note 2: Ryouki is the direct katakana reading used for the kanji in his name, but the romanization of it seems to be Lyoki. I'm using Ryouki because it's easier for the reader.

Part 10 (Sep'2001) [ vol.03 ]
Hatsumi tries to get away from Ryouki and he gets fed up with her talking all the time about Azusa. He tells her that she looks like an idiot, spending all her time talking about him. Ryouki sees Azusa's message on Hatsumi's keitai and he tells her that they are going to the meeting... together. Meanwhile, Shinogu keeps looking for Hatsumi. Subaru and his sister see Azusa, but he denies being Hatsumi's date. Subaru starts to get worried... As Azusa walks away, he thinks to himself that things must have started by now. When Ryouki and Hatsumi arrive to Azusa's place, they meet some of Azusa's friends Hatsumi met at the pub. They start to be really friendly with Hatsumi and when they get into the appartment, Azusa is nowhere in sight... Ryouki starts to get quite suspicious. The men start to get really pushy with Hatsumi and try to make her drink some alcohol and then more. Ryouki doesn't like this at all and tries to stop them, but it's Azusa who saves the day... or not? Hatsumi is very relieved to see him, but Ryouki knows what Azusa is about and doesn't trust him. Azusa starts to make cruel jokes about who's going to get it on with Hatsumi first and ends up pushing Ryouki and a very shocked Hatsumi into a room with a bed. He tells them to do their best... Hatsumi asks him why he is doing this as she realizes Azusa never actually liked her. Azusa tells her that his mother commited suicide because of her father, so now it's payback time. He goes over Hatsumi and starts undressing her, but Ryouki roughly pushes him aside. He tells Azusa to cut it off and let her go, because she is *his*. Hatsumi is very surprised that Ryouki actually saved her this time. Azusa smiles and points out at a video camera on a shelf, focused on the bed. The other guys appear at the door of the room leering, and Azusa says that it doesn't really matter who makes it, (her father) is going to see her pain. Hatsumi just stares, while Ryouki has a pretty serious face.
Part 11 (Oct'2001) [ vol.03 ]
The gang enters the room while Azusa leaves and Hatsumi tells him she is sorry for what happened to his mother and that she understands him. Of course Azusa ignores her. One of the guys holds Ryouki while the others start to force Hatsumi to undress... but Ryouki has had enough and he takes down the guy holding him and uses a pen as arm. He tells them that since they are all models and their faces are very important, either they stop or they will realize how dangerous to their skin a pen can be. Azusa ignores him and Ryouki "stabs" the guy, slicing his cheek. The other guys get worried that he is not joking, but before anybody has the chance to do anything else, a young woman enters the room and tells Azusa to stop it. The woman, Rina, seems to be everybody's boss and tells them she wants them out, now, and the guys are very happy to obey. The woman goes to Hatsumi and asks her if she is ok, telling her she will take her home in her car... but Ryouki stops her before she touches Hatsumi (who is still wondering who this woman is) and tells her *he* is taking Hatsumi home, as Hatsumi herself clings to his arm. Rina seems to recognize Hatsumi's name and tries to tell her something, but Azusa stops her. Hatsumi wonders why that woman knows about her, but Azusa interrupts and tells her to give his rewards to her father. When Ryouki and Hatsumi are gone, Rina tries to comfort Azusa but he ignores her efforts and looks at one of Hatsumi's presents he destroyed earlier. Hatsumi and Ryouki take a taxi and Ryouki rants about Azusa. Hatsumi is still holding Ryouki's arm and he tries to cheer her up. Hatsumi cries and says that Azusa never really liked her, even though she has always liked him since they were kids. Ryouki tries to stop her, and before she gets to say she likes Azusa, Ryouki kisses her on the mouth. He seems to be agitated and tells her to stop saying Azusa's name in his presence. Hatsumi gets mad and wipes her mouth, but Ryouki just kisses her again (^^). They repeat that once more, but this time Hatsumi lets him do it.
Part 12 (Nov'2001) [ vol.03 ]
Ryouki kisses Hatsumi again in the taxi but he stops tired that she is not responding... They have a fight about Azusa again when she tells him he is the same as Azusa. Hatsumi's brother and sister are waiting for her, her brother takes her back home in his arms because Hatsumi feels weak. He tells her not to believe anything Azusa says. Later when Hatsumi is crying in her room, he listens from the outside with a worried expression on his face. Next day after school, Akane meets Hatsumi at the station and proceeds to act like a b*tch and accuse her of double-timing around between Azusa and Ryouki. Hatsumi is mad at this because after all it was Akane's fault that she ended up as Ryouki's "slave". As Ryouki returns home, still pondering about what Hatsumi said about he and Azusa, Akane just "happens" to bump into him, falling to the floor and showing her underwear. She plays the innocent and manages to have Ryouki help her back home... and Hatsumi doesn't like any of this a all! However when she is about to move in to stop Akane, the woman from the day before appears and calls for her, she tells Hatsumi that she has to speak with her about Azusa... at the same time, Ryouki keeps on walking away and Akane looks back all smiles.
Part 13 (Dec'2001) [ vol.03 ]
Hatsumi sits with the woman, Rina Katsuragi, who works for the model agency. Hatsumi is worried about the evil things Ryouki might do to Akane (*), but Rina interrupts her thoughts with an apology for the incident the day before, and starts to tell Hatsumi about "poor" Azusa, who has left for Okinawa and when he comes back, will be living at her place... Meanwhile, Akane is trying her best to get Ryouki to give her some attention, including the "C cup direct attack!" (-_-; ) But even though Ryouki is affected, he really doesn't care and starts to talk about Hatsumi... Akane gets really mad at this and tries again in her sweet/shy mode, telling him that she likes him and that even though she is a jr.high student... does he hate her?? Hatsumi and Rina talk some more about Azusa's life after his mom died and he met Rina and turned into a model. She also tells Hatsumi that after she went away, she saw a really weird expression on his face for the first time. At his workplace, Shinogu is being harassed by a group of girls and is saved by Asahi (Subaru's sister), who also has a crush on him. She tells him that she has spotted Hatsumi talking with a woman... Shinogu runs out right away and Asahi is left wondering if his are really normal feelings towards a sister... Shinogu finds them and is mad at Rina but Hatsumi tries to tell her that she is not dangerous or anything, and manages to drag him away. Shinogu tells Hatsumi that he is really sorry he couldn't protect her from Azusa... Shinogu suddenly realizes he is not acting in a very brotherly way and goes away. Hatsumi realizes Shinogu knows about the problem between Azusa and her father. When Hatsumi returns home, she meets Ryouki at the building entrance. Hatsumi tries to talk to him about her sister, and is in total shock (*) when he tells her that Akane said she liked him... Hatsumi starts to babble about him and Akane and dating, so Ryouki gets mad and goes to her, demanding that Hatsumi asks him not to look at other girls. Akane is with Subaru and looks very mad and disappointed, as it turns out Ryouki (with his usual "I don't care" face) dumped her with a "I don't feel that way about you" as an answer to her question and proceeded to walk away. Subaru tries to comfort him, but Akane is totally into her own thoughts and treats him rather nastily before leaving... to call on Ryouki's mother! Akane looks all nice and shy and tells her that her sister and Ryouki have become rather close and etc, etc, etc... After the message has been delivered, Akane feels rather happy with herself as she thinks she just managed to stop them from going out together. Ryouki keeps on nagging Hatsumi and reminds her that it was him who saved her from Azusa, even though she keeps on saying she hates him. Ryouki hugs her close and tells Hatsumi to ask him to look only at her... to ask him if it's ok to turn from his slave into his girlfriend! *: Let's pass the hat around so we can BUY HER A CLUE! -_-;;;
Part 14 (Jan'2002) [ vol.03 ]
Ryooki asks Hatsumi to become his girlfriend, even though the poor girl doesn't really see the difference between being his girlfriend or being his "slave." Hatsumi says that she wants to be the girlfriend of somebody she can like a lot and spend a lot of good times with. Akane interrupts their conversation and walks away without looking at them. Hatsumi follows her, leaving Ryouki alone. Akane says that Hatsumi is ok for Ryouki and even though Hatsumi tries to explain about them, Akane runs away after telling her that she hates her. Hatsumi goes back but Ryouki is no longer around. His mother is, however, and she er... "invites" Hatsumi to her appartment because she has something to tell her. Ryouki's mother tells her about Akane's visit. She grills Hatsumi about her relationship with Ryouki, and when Hatsumi says that it's nothing, Ryouki's mother is happy and basically tells her that she is not good enough. Meanwhile, Akane goes looking for Shinogu but can't find him. Subaru's sister sends Subaru to look after her, even though he really doesn't want to. Akane looks at all the mails from other boys in her celphone and thinks with relief that she is not really boyfriend-less... A man approaches her and tries to force her to go out with him, however Subaru appears and saves the day. Subaru reproaches Akane for going out alone in the night, but Akane is just depressed and tells him that everybody seems to like Hatsumi better than her... Subaru comforts her. Hatsumi goes out as well, thinking all the time about what Akane said to her. She arrives to the conclusion that it's all Ryouki's fault... Talking about which, of course, she bumps into him in the building's stairs. Ryouki spanks her for making him wait so long and at first Hatsumi doesn't know what he is talking about, so he reminds her that she said earlier "see you later!" before running after Akane. Ryouki asks her again about turning into his girlfriend and even though Hatsumi is starting to wonder if his feelings are for real and if it's possible... she tells him that she can't be his slave, and it's even less possible that she can be his girlfriend. Hatsumi runs away as Ryouki stays behind with a weird mix of disbelief and hurt on his face. Hatsumi goes out of the building thinking that she is scared (of a possible relationship with Ryouki?). She sees an ad with Azusa as a model and wonders what she really wants... when Azusa himself appears behind her.

Next Chapter...

All images © Aihara Miki (except backgrounds)