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(And remember to buy these tankobon if you like the summaries, it's the best way of thanking the authors and the synopsis are nothing compared to the real thing! ^^ )

All synopsis are by Zahara Medina, and cannot be used anywhere else without her permission. As she is just a student of Japanese, any help, comments or corrections are more than welcome! ^^;

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).

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Chapter 8 (Dec'2003)
(beta version) Riku's popularity between the students increases a lot after the tournament. Yuzuru confesses to Riku that after watching Kaede run, she has realized she still has feelings for him, and Riku tells her to tell him of her feelings. There are exams coming and Natori tells Riku she should place between the 100 best scores, which is hard because Riku is really bad at studying, so Natori tells Kaede to help her, to Riku's embarrassment. Afterwards, Maki finds Riku in the library studying and helps her. Another guy whom she had noticed earlier offers to help, but she tells him she rather stay with Maki (who is trying very hard not to blush when he is near her). Later on, the same guy asks Riku to go out with him. Chapter Images: [ 01 ] [ 02 ] [ 03 ]
Chapter 9 (Jan'2004)
Riku is shocked at Rokujou's confession but eventually tells him she would like them to start as friends (aka, "no" ^^; )(*). Riku arrives to school depressed because she handled it really bad, but just as she was going to tell Yuzuru about it, Rokujou appears and asks Riku to eat lunch with him. Riku is worried he misunderstood her answer as a "yes," but Rokujou tells her that he is not giving up yet because he likes her. The rest of the class is shocked at this open confession. Rokujou leaves the class just as Maki and Kaede arrive and gives them a slightly smug look. Maki seems to remember him but is distracted (and quite upset ^^) when the other guys tell him Rokujou just confessed to Riku. The other girls tell Riku that Rokujou is really cool and popular in the school. Kaede asks to talk to Riku alone for a moment. He asks her if she will really be okay studying alone for the exams. Riku is in a pinch and has to explain that as it turned out Maki is now helping her. Kaede has an odd expression for a moment but Riku doesn't see it because she is too busy worrying he will get angry. But the moment passes and Kaede smiles and says that's good and there are no worries then. Kaede leaves and Riku wonders why he didn't seem upset at all... was it because it was just Natori-sensei's request and he himself had no special feelings about it? Yuzuru asks Kaede what he talked with Riku, but he says it was nothing. At lunch time, Riku eats with Rokujou in the school's cafeteria and he says he might be a bother to her, but he just wanted to learn more about her and have her learn more about him. They talk animatedly. From a nearby table, Kaede, Yuzuru and Maki wonder what Riku and Co. are talking about. Yuzuru says it's boring without Riku and then catches herself. She says she is sorry for what she just said and leaves the table. After she is gone, Kaede asks Maki about him helping Riku with her studies. Maki is uncomfortable and just says that he did it just because she came crying for his help. Kaede looks to the side. To change the subject, Maki wonders where he has heard Rokujou's name before... Riku takes Rokujou to the principal's office to show it to him. Rokujou starts to flirt with her but Natori appears and he takes Riku away running. Afterwards, Rokujou passes Kaede in a hallway and intentionally bumps into him, making Kaede drop his book. Rokujou then steps over it. Kaede watches him walk away. Riku (who thinks Rokujou is a nice, wonderful guy) wonders if she should go out with him. Yuzuru wonders if Riku likes him, and Riku says that he seems like a nice guy and now that she is in high school she always wanted to have a boyfriend. Riku looks at Kaede, who just entered the class, and thinks that aside from that, she must start looking to others besides Kaede. Maki, who has been getting more and more irritated, says she is a fool for thinking he declared himself just because she is herself. Riku asks him what he means with that, and he says that it's just about being able to go out with the school's chairman and stuff like that. Yuzuru gets angry at him and asks for Kaede's opinion, but Kaede says he can't agree about Rokujou either, and is about to tell them about the incident earlier when Riku, who has been getting more and more upset, explodes and leaves the room. Yuzuru tells Kaede and Maki they are idiots and they really messed it up. Riku runs to Rokujou's class, determined that Rokujou is not that type of guy, and tells him she agrees to going out with him. (* - In Japan the nice way to say "no" to a person who just declared her/himself to you is to say "gomennasai" (I'm sorry), sometimes followed by a "lets stay as friends". Riku does a mangled version of the later after forgetting the former. ^^;;; )
Chapter 10 (Feb'2004)
In the morning, Rokujou accompanies Riku to her principal's office. Riku is really tired and still has to do a lot of work as the school's president. The students are shocked to see Riku with a guy, and ask Kaede and Maki if that's okay with them. They both answer it's no concern of theirs. However in private Maki is still irked and complains about how stupid Riku is being, going out with a guy she doesn't know anything about. Yuzuru tells them she heard from a student that used to go to the same junior high as Rokujou that he didn't have a good reputation. Riku arrives to the class and Maki tells her he won't be helping her with her studies since she has so much time she can go play around with some guy. Riku gets mad and tells him she is not playing around but Maki ignores her. Riku gets more annoyed. During PE class, Yuzuru asks Riku if it's really okay. Riku says she thinks Rokujou is a good person. Yuzuru wonders if he's really who Riku wants to be with. Riku's eyes, of course, go over where Kaede is standing. After changing, Kaede leaves the room and overhears a conversation between Rokujou and another guy. The guy is surprised he is going out with Riku since she is not his type, but Rokujou says that she is the principal and to wait and see, in next rounds of tests, he will be in first place. Later on Rokujou meets Riku as she is leaving her office. He wonders about the key, and as she puts her in her jacket, she says she always keeps forgetting it around. He offers to wait for her while she goes for her school bag. As she goes for it, she tells herself Rokujou is a good person and she should stop thinking about anything else (Kaede and Maki being mad at her). While she is gone, Rokujou takes the key from Riku's jacket. When Riku returns, Rokujou appears a bit later and tells her a friend called him. They leave the school together. Next morning however, when Riku arrives, Natori-sensei takes her to the office... the place is trashed, and it looks like someone looked at the tests. Natori and the other nasty teacher think a student did it, and she asks Riku about the key to the room. Riku says of course she has it, but when she looks in her jacket pocket, it's no longer there. At the shoe lockers(*), Kaede has found a key inside his. He an Maki wonder what it is when Riku sees them and recognizes the key. They are both taken to the principal's office and Maki has a fight with the nasty teacher. However Riku stands up for them and says there is no way they could have done it. Natori says they will believe them this time, but warns them. Riku is relieved and is about to talk to them and apologize when Rokujou appears. Kaede and Maki leave and Riku feels even worse about how things are between them. Maki and Kaede agree that it must have been Rokujou who put the key in Kaede's shoe locker. Maki says Kaede is being a bit too cold to Riku and asks him if it's okay with him to leave things as they are now. Kaede answers with a really scary expression that he doesn't need her approval. Maki is very surprised at the look on his face. Meanwhile, Riku is alone wondering who might have stolen the key. As they keep walking, Maki keeps thinking he has seen Rokujou's name somewhere before... As they pass a list of tests results he finally remembers, he is the guy who finished second behind Kaede in the all-students tests results/grades rank. Maki and Kaede start to realize what's going on... Rokujou meets Riku in her class and tells her to go to the cinema with him. Riku is concerned about the upcoming tests, but Rokujou tells her that it's a well-needed rest from studying and that when they come back, he will help her study all she wants... in the principal's office. Riku thinks that there is something wrong going on about Rokujou and his fixation with going to the principal's office. (* - Japanese schools use "indoor" shoes for the school buildings, so there are shoe lockers in the entrance for the students to leave their outdoor shoes while in school, and their indoor/school shoes while outside. This also applies to teachers and visitors. Because each locker is assigned to a student, it's the perfect place to leave anonymous "surprises." At least in the manga world ^^; )

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All images © Tajima Mimi (except backgrounds).