Bazaar
Index Page
Manga Pages
My art

(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).

previous chapter

Chapter 15 (Apr'2004)
Riku finds an excuse to break off from Maki and enters a store to buy some presents. She gets a little mascot-shaped bell for Kaede, thinking its sound fits him very well. Maki walks Riku home and tells her he understood something that day--but isn't telling her what. Riku thinks she also felt something that day. Next day Riku gives Yuzuru some things she bought for her at the park. Yuzuru admits she went there with Kaede and Riku is scared for a moment she saw her with Maki holding hands. But Yuzuru says they went home right away. Riku notices there is something wrong with Yuzuru. Riku leaves then to give the things she bought for the teachers, however she is hesitant to give Kaede the bell, since she feels something might have happened between him and Yuzuru. Right then Natori-sensei appears with Kaede in the teachers' lounge and a teacher explains Riku they had a meeting because of Kaede's top scores in the tests. Riku wonders why she wasn't in the meeting and the teacher tells her it's not her job to worry about those things. Riku wonders what her job is then. Afterwards Riku catches up with Kaede outside the building. She wonders if there is something wrong with him, as he doesn't look too good. Riku is convinced he has a cold or something like that and tries to feel his forehead. Kaede thanks her for being so worried about him. Kaede discovers the bell and says it looks like her because the mascot is always smiling and laughing, like Riku. Riku then explains that before dying, her mother was very sick and in the hospital, so she always smiled for her and made with her the promise to keep smiling. Riku asks Kaede about his family and says she wants to know what kind of mother he has, about his friends, etc. But Kaede pulls her down to his side and, with a dark face, tells her that because they are friends there are things he doesn't want to talk about. He then goes over her, slightly leers at her and tells her that if she really wants to know however, should he show her...?
Chapter 16 (May'2004)
Riku looks up at Kaede, scared and wondering what he is really seeing right now. He holds her hands down and she tells him to release her. He asks her what she is scared of since it was she who wanted to get close to him. He takes her chin and makes her look up, then leans closer and says it's better if she learns to disdain him as soon as possible... Some students come near and Kaede leaves. Riku wonders why he said something like that. In class, Riku reacts weirdly when Maki tries to take a leaf stuck in her hair, and then around Kaede. Maki notices this. Later on, Maki invades Riku's office. He asks Riku why she was acting weird around Kaede, and when she doesn't want explain, he decides to take a nap on her couch. Riku thinks you can see/read Maki's face very well, but you can't see Kaede's quite so well. At the same time, Kaede is looking at the bell. Yuzuru notices this and wonders. Kaede tells her to give it back, and when she says what if she doesn't want to, he shows a pretty scary face. She puts the bell in his hand, then kisses it. She tells him she likes him and if its okay to think his feelings are the same as hers. Maki eventually wakes up and finds Riku has fallen asleep right next to him. He plays with her hair, but Riku wakes up suddenly, covers her head and starts to say "Stop it Kaede..."! Maki then demands to know what happened between her and Kaede. Maki runs to their class, intent of having the truth out of Kaede if Riku doesn't want to tell him. He goes up to Kaede and bluntly asks what he did to Riku. Riku takes Maki's arm and tries to defuse the situation, but Kaede says it was nothing, just that he felt like kissing her since she is so defenseless around men. Riku is shocked he said something like that, and in front of Yuzuru! Yuzuru wants to know if it's true while Maki tries to punch Kaede. Maki tells him to cut the crap and to stop doing things like that when he doesn't give a damn about Yuzuru, doesn't care and doesn't think about anybody but himself. Kaede gets angry and asks what's so wrong about that. Riku tries to make them stop fighting, but Maki rounds on her and says to stop laughing all the time like that. He says he is most angry with her and tells her to stop tormenting herself and just say she likes Kaede! Everybody is shocked at this, including Kaede. Riku can't believe that he knew all along and Yuzuru is very hurt. Riku gets really angry and tells Maki he is an idiot, since she had wanted so much for it not to be said. Maki then says he doesn't want to be friends with people like them who won't declare their real intentions, and the four look and walk away with Maki saying never to speak to him again.
Chapter 17 (May'2004)
Next day, the four ex-friends project a thick, black atmosphere in the class that scares the hell out of everybody. Maki kicks Riku, Riku slaps the back of his head, Yuzuru openly gives her the cut and Kaede just... is. (^^; ) Poor Riku wishes she had talked to Yuzuru before it came to this. During chemistry class, Riku watches Yuzuru talking with other girls and Maki laughing with other people. She gets angry at Maki again because it's all his big mouth's fault and burns a bit of her hair on the boiler flame accidentally. Maki stands up worried when he hears about it, but then catches himself and sits back. The teacher tells Kaede to go with Riku to the infirmary. Once they are alone, Riku tries to makes amends and tells him to forget about what Maki said. Kaede suddenly grabs her by the shoulders and asks her with one of his scary expressions if that's okay with her. Riku is very surprised, but before she can say anything, he lets her go and says he understands (aka, that he will do as she says), then leaves the room. Riku cries a bit in silent, wondering what else was she supposed to say in a situation like this. Meanwhile in class, some of the students joke about Riku and Kaede taking so long to return. Yuzuru and Maki don't look too happy. On her way back, a pretty, older looking student stops Riku. She introduces herself as 3rd year student MOEGI Nao and asks her to allow her to participate in the school's festival (*) no matter what. Riku has no idea why she wouldn't be able to participate, and a nearby group of her male classmates gets annoyed and complains about how much Riku doesn't know even though she is the president. They tell her third year students can't participate in the festival. (*2) Moegi says that it's her last festival and there is something she really wants to do. Riku goes into her happy, smiling self and says that everybody should be able to enjoy the festival and have fun, and tells her she will try her best and to leave it to her. After Moegi leaves, Riku is about to re-enter her class when she overhears the same group as before. They talk about how angering Riku's "happy speech" was and how irritating it is that she says things like that when they all have to worry about studying and specially since Riku is someone who won't be able to do anything by herself. Riku is very upset and doesn't know what to do. But Maki suddenly appears behind her and opens the door completely, saying aloud she is in the way. The group gets nervous and tells him they weren't saying anything insulting about her, but Maki cuts them and says he just came in to grab his things. The guys are relieved, but Riku is a bit surprised, then seems to arrive to a conclusion. She tells them with resolve on her face that she will do it even if she has to do it alone. As she leaves the room she thinks that because she is alone right now, she will show them what she can do by herself. Oh, and Riku has one of the worst hairstyles ever shown by a female in a shoujo manga ^^; (*: Schools and universities in Japan traditionally have an annual "school festival" in which each class and/or club prepares some special event (or ends up doing the ever-famous cafe/drinks stand). People from the outside are invited into the school as well during that day. At the end of the day, all the material used for the event (boards, posters, etc...) is burnt in a fire. ) (*2: High School in Japan has 3 years/grades. Because of the really tough university examinations, 3rd years are supposed to spend all their 3rd year studying for them, so theoretically (hah, hah! ;) they have no time for things like clubs or summer holidays. University/school entrance examinations are held around February, the Japanese school term starts in April. )

Next Chapter...

All images © Tajima Mimi (except backgrounds).