Low-level Witch

Year 2, Class 7: 16:30 (After School) — Rainy

Back at the classroom, the six start Old Maid.

Azuma: Uh-oh...

She got the Yeti wearing a jack-o-lantern mask card from Tani. Tani doesn't say anything.

Taira: You pulled the old maid, didn't you? Azuma: I didn't, though? Taira: You literally made a noise just now. Azuma: And what if that was just reverse psychology? Satou: I have to be really careful with the next card I pick now... Taira: Sato's also onto you.

Azuma gives up and starts shuffling her cards. She fans out the four she has and grins at Satou. Satou concentrates and picks a card.

Azuma: All right! Satou: Even if I keep a poker face, Azuma's announcing it to the whole world... Azuma: Whoops, my bad!

She laughs. The game continues and the location of the joker becomes ambiguous. Next round, Tani pulls a 2 of spades and has nothing to discard. He turns towards Azuma.

Azuma: Hmm... Which is the joker? Do you even have it?

She seems genuinely perplexed. Taira stares at Tani.

Taira: You really can't tell with Tani's face. Satou: That's what we call a pokerface. I have confidence in mine, too.

Azuma gives up on the mind games and pulls the 2 of the spades. She matches it with the 2 of hearts and throws them into the middle pile.

Azuma: Yesss! Thank you, Tani! Watanabe: You're done for, Tani-kun. Tani: ...I'm not.

The game continues. It becomes obvious that Suzuki pulled the old maid from Watanabe. The game nears climax.

Watanabe: Yahoo! I rise! First place is all mine—!! Taira: Damn it. I can't believe I lost to Nabe!

Azuma, Satou, and Taira finish their hands. All that's left are Suzuki and Tani. The joker is back in Tani's hand.

Azuma: Ooh, a fated showdown between lovers!

Tani has two cards; Suzuki has one.

Taira: You got this, Tani. Move one of the cards higher than the other. Azuma: It's time for psychological warfare. How exciting! Don't lose your head to Suzuki's wily charms~ Satou: I believe in you, Tani-kun. Watanabe: Go, go, Tani-kun! Suzuki: Hey, why is no one cheering me on?! Forget it, I'm going over to the dark side...

Someone: That's where we're going now...? [4] Someone: Actually, this is more entertaining. [4]

Suzuki: My hands are tied... I didn't want to have to fight you, Tani-kun, but... I'm no longer the Suzuki you know... Now that I've awakened to the dark forces, no one can stand in my way.

Someone: You don't have to fall that far. [4]

Tani feels a bit daunted by Suzuki's earnestness. For a second, she looks up into his eyes, surprising him. She seems to figure something out.

Suzuki: You know, you guys were going on about Tani-kun's pokerface, but...

She grins at him, showing her teeth.

Suzuki: He's pretty easy to understand, for me at least!

Tani feels taken aback. He hopes she's bluffing. Suzuki looks into his eyes without flinching. He thinks about all the things she picked up on today. She knows him. He starts panicking. His eyes stray to the joker in his hand.

Suzuki: This one!

Her eyes sparkle when she sees the card she pulled. She drops the cards and then throws her hands up in the air.

Suzuki: YEAAAH! I won!! Taira: Tani, of all people, is last? Azuma: His love for his girlfriend is astounding. Watanabe: Time to punish the loser—! Satou: What should we do? What would be a good penalty? Tani: Spare me the punishment...

He feels worried that even Satou is jumping on this bandwagon. They didn't even agree to have a penalty before they started playing. Luckily, Yamada enters the classroom like he's throwing Tani a lifeline.

Yamada: Wait, are you guys playing Old Maid?! Taira: We just finished. Yamada: Whaaat? Too bad. Watanabe: Tani-kun and Suzuki had a face-off, and Suzuki won by reading his mind. Yamada: Huh, seriously? That's crazy...

Thanks to Yamada, no one's talking about punishing Tani anymore.

Tani: ...I looked for you before we started playing, but I couldn't find you anywhere. Yamada: Yeah? It's chill, I had something to do.

Yamada looks really happy. Tani wonders what he was up to.

Watanabe: AHH! Hey, everyone, look!

But Tani doesn't look at Watanabe; his attention is on the light that's suddenly coming through the window. The rain has stopped, the clouds have parted, and the sunlight is streaming over Tani's desk.

Everyone: It's sunny—!!

Entranceway: 16:45 (After School) — Sunny

The group heads out in two lines as to stay out of the way of the students heading to their sports clubs. Tani and Yamada bring up the rear. Yamada is looking up at the sky with his fingers entwined behind his head.

Tani: Yamada-kun. Did something good happen to you?

The group is pointing excitedly at the rainbow in the sky, but Tani gets the sense that it isn't just the rainbow that's making Yamada happy.

Yamada: Huh? You can tell? ...Well, you know what? It might be thanks to you. Tani: Huh? Really?

Yamada thinks hard for some seconds.

Yamada: No, if I think about it, it might... not be thanks to you?

Tani doesn't get which it is. His guess: it's something that his actions helped put into effect but it would be a stretch to say that his actions were the only factors.

Yamada: Eh, it doesn't matter in the end. I gotta skip the deets, but basically good stuff happened to me because of you. So thanks!

Tani: Uh, sure...

He doesn't really feel satisfied with that explanation but remembers something else he wants to ask Yamada. He lowers his voice.

Tani: ...By the way, Yamada-kun. Where did you buy your hair wax? Yamada: Huh? They sell it at your usual pharmacy or grocery store. Tani: I see. Yamada: ...Hm. With how soft your hair is, you might need something stronger. The wax did wear off today, after all.

Yamada does more thinking and recommends him a store in front of the station. Tani thanks him, but Yamada's already headed off, humming happily.

The group reaches the school gates and splits. Taira and Azuma normally head to the station while everyone else heads in the opposite direction, but today Suzuki and Tani are joining them so that Tani can visit the store Yamada recommended.

Watanabe: Guess it's just us today, then. Satou: See you tomorrow.

She waves. Suzuki waves at them and Yamada.

Suzuki: Bye! See you all tomorrow!

Station Neighborhood: 17:02 — Sunny

Tani walks alongside Taira while Suzuki and Azuma walk ahead of them. Azuma suddenly turns around and tells them what she was telling Watanabe earlier.

Azuma: You know, Taira fell into a puddle earlier behind the school. Taira: Quit randomly bringing that up! Azuma: Huh?

Azuma puts a finger to her chin and thinks about it.

Azuma: But they all saw you change clothes a bunch of times today, so I thought I'd explain what was going on... Taira: No one even asked!

Azuma ignores him and proceeds to tell them about all the things that happened to him today in a funny way. Suzuki smiles.

Suzuki: Taira's also got the unlucky touch, I see. Welcome to the club, bestie! Taira: This is not a club I want to be in... Suzuki: It beats being the only pathetic character in the cast, though, right? [5] Taira: Who are you calling a pathetic character?

Tani does feel some pity for Taira in having to change his clothes, not once or twice, but three times today.

Tani: It sounds like your day was a complete disaster. Taira: ...No, not completely. Tani: ?

Tani looks at where Taira's staring — straight ahead — but all he sees is Suzuki and Azuma with her rucksack on her back, holding her sides in laughter. When Tani looks back at Taira, he meets his eyes.

Taira: What? Don't laugh. Tani: ...I'm not laughing.

The one laughing is Taira. Tani thinks that Taira will be annoyed if he points that out, so he says nothing.

Station: 17:05 — Sunny

They reach the station. Suzuki and Tani are saying goodbye to Azuma and Taira at the gates. The store they're headed to is in a building nearby.

Taira: You don't have to bother with seeing us off.

It wouldn't sit right with Tani if he didn't see them off, but Suzuki looks like she's really having fun.

Azuma: Come now, Taira. We can part ways without throwing a tantrum.

She says that like a teacher would to their student and heads over to the ticket gate. Taira glances at the people around and then follows her. Tani and Suzuki tag along, and Taira doesn't say anything else.

Taira takes out his train pass, and Tani is surprised to see a Yeti sticker in the transparent part of it, against a completely black case. It's something he'd expect to see Yamada carrying, not Taira.

Tani: ...Hey. Taira, is that... Taira: What?

Taira sounds completely calm, but he quickly flips the case over. He and Azuma go through the gates. Suzuki waves while saying, "Bye bye!"

Azuma: Well then, see you tomorrow, Suzuki and Tani. Suzuki: Mhm! Tani: Take care, you two. Until tomorrow. Taira: Yeah.

Tani can hear a trace of happiness in his voice. In the distance, Tani can see Azuma peering at Taira's face and him staring back. Tani finds himself thinking again today that they get along really well.

River Bank: 17:40 — Sunny [6]

Finished with shopping, Tani and Suzuki cross the river bank and get ready to head their separate ways.

Suzuki: It feels like it got dark outside in a blink of an eye. Tani: Yeah, but I also had fun looking through the store...

They had found the hair wax Yamada recommended right away, then spent time looking at unrelated items and things that Suzuki wanted to buy.

Suzuki: I took over the shopping trip again. Sorry about that. Tani: No, I asked you to come with me to begin with...

It's dark outside. The stars have started dotting the sky, and the smell of earth after the rain fills their noses. Tani quietly takes Suzuki's hand, and the two walk close together.

Sequel

Tani Heads to School

This part is from Tani's POV.

Tani's House: The next day, 7:20 — Sunny

Tani tries to use the hair wax according to a video, but no matter what he does, it doesn't look anything like it did yesterday; it doesn't even look any different from how it usually does. He doesn't understand how Yamada and Taira manage to style their hair. He now respects them for this.

From his feet, he hears a meow — Tempura wants to be held. Tani washes the wax off his hands, dries them, and picks up Tempura. Guess that's all he can do today. He leaves with his hair as is.

A new day has started.

No one notices his attempt at a new hairstyle.

...But the next day, Suzuki says, "You're not fiddling with your hair as much today," which makes Tani feel so embarrassed he could die. But that's a story for another day.

THE END

Personal Commentary:

These parts were cuter and had funnier banter. Overall, this book was all right. Each part was better than the previous part, but I still don't like the initial Suzuki/Tani part. Happy to have read it, though.

I also think that there should've been a Watanabe part. I don't care if they had to put it right after Satou's or whatever, it's weird to leave her out and I wanted to read things from her silly perspective. I didn't bother to keep in the first person perspective in this summary, but it was interesting to see how their character voices differed.

Translation Notes:

As always, thanks to my friend @magical-pun-girl for helping with some of the dialogue.

雨男 "man who brings the rain with him wherever he goes; man who is constantly unlucky with the weather​" ↩︎

Seems like a variation on Crazy Eights. ↩︎

Maybe related to the card game I Doubt It? ↩︎

They didn't bother to specify speakers, or rather they attributed it to crowd speak. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

I haven't listened to the dub, but from what I've gathered, they use a lot of internet lingo. I was almost tempted to write "poor little meow meow" here. ↩︎

Taira is actually relieved that she wasn't seriously worried about him because, if she was, he'd feel bad about assuming that she thought he was being creepy.

Azuma: Wait, don't tell me— Is this because you were talking to Suzuki all up close? Taira: Absolutely not. Azuma: Didn't skip a beat, there.

Taira thinks of Suzuki completely as a friend and has never gotten any indication otherwise from her. He's pretty sure that she's not his type.

Azuma: You seem like you'd prefer the quiet type. Taira: Wouldn't say that's true. Azuma: Huh? Then what's your type? Taira: Uh... It's more like... Azuma: Like what? Taira: I don't really spend time thinking about that kind of stuff. Azuma: Hmmm...

Azuma's expression doesn't change, but Taira gets the sense that this wasn't the fun answer she was looking for. He feels like he's sweating for some weird reason, so he doesn't say anything else of substance and gets back to his seat. He starts wondering what the right answer to her question would've been. He really has no idea what his type is, and the fact that it was Azuma asking just makes him even more at a loss for words. He still feels nervous talking about personal things because she's from his middle school. He tried to pick somewhere away from all his middle school classmates, but she somehow chose the same high school, which really shocked him at first.

Taira was fat in middle school. He left his hair up to the barber once and ended up with a haircut that was like a kappa's plate. The girls made it a point to avoid him, and he didn't really make any friends. At the bottom of the class hierarchy, he didn't really meet anyone's eyes. Though he eventually lost weight and started paying attention to his appearance, he hasn't changed on the inside. Azuma didn't do anything bad to him in middle school, but he can't help but wonder what she's thinking whenever she sees him getting along with people now. He's worried that she might laugh at all the things he's now chosen for himself — it'd feel like a rejection of his entire being. She's the only one who has the information necessary to judge him, and that makes him really scared. He keeps remembering the air she gave off in middle school, which was like someone of the upper strata looking down at the others.

She hasn't been giving off that air recently, but he's always unsure if she might randomly pull that out someday. He doesn't really get her. Is she interested in his thoughts and preferences, or was she just trying to pass time with meaningless conversation? He feels like if he had answered her question, he'd just be bracing himself for the rejection. He still can't answer the question now.

Just then, Yamada comes skipping into the classroom. He notices Taira and immediately asks if he heard about what Gapacho just did. Taira wants to take a look inside his head just once to see how simple his thoughts really are. For now, he makes perfunctory listening noises. Yamada's story isn't interesting at all since he says stuff on instinct. It's like he's just passing on his positivity. But he's so innocently cheery that basically everything can be forgiven. Taira thinks of him as an overly good guy. Every time he sees him, he thinks—

Taira: Communication breakdowns are primarily my fault... Yamada: Huh? Did you say something? Taira: ...No, it's nothing.

Taira thinks about how he's the one building walls and doubting Azuma all on his own because he's afraid of getting hurt or being laughed at. Meanwhile, Yamada doesn't doubt anyone, and he likewise doesn't beat himself up about things he's said. Taira doesn't connect to other people, so he won't get to celebrate his birthday with anyone.

This is the same as in middle school. Nothing has changed.

Memory: Middle School, Year 3

Taira's birthday was written on the calendar alongside another student's as the homeroom teacher wrote all the birthdays in the class down. Yet only the other student, a kid in the basketball club, was celebrated. His classmates acted like he didn't exist, so he pretended to fall asleep on his desk. Standing in a circle with their backs to him, they went on about how great the class got along. When it was time to move classrooms, they left behind a bunch of trash, and no one tried to wake Taira up to inform him about the move. Taira picked up the trash, wondering why he was even bothering to clean up after them. Why couldn't the others see all the trash they left out?

This wasn't why he was originally upset, but his anger has transferred to this now. Taira thinks about how much of a drag he is. He's choosing to pick up the trash and likewise choosing to complain internally about it.

That day, he could only remember what happened up until the moment that he angrily threw all that trash away. So he had nothing to write in his communication notebook. And nothing has changed to this day.

Year 2, Class 7, Classroom: 14:00 (Fifth Period) — Rainy

Fifth period is the Classics [1], and Taira can't focus for many reasons. Classical Japanese is so boring that even Tani is looking sleepy though he's still trying his best to focus. Suzuki started off sitting up straight but is now slouching. Watanabe is leaning on her elbow and is probably asleep. Azuma is taking notes and pretending that she understands anything. Yamada's looking up at the ceiling, probably thinking about what he's going to do after school. Some kids are playing games on their phones or listening to something else with earbuds in, secretly.

Taira's thinking about how nothing is going his way today. A list:

Morning: Yamada accidentally splashed him with water, so he had to change into gym clothes and dry his uniform on the veranda.

After first period: He went to talk to Tani. The girls standing around were chatting away about how different Tani's hair was and treating him like he didn't exist.

After second period: While erasing the chalkboard, he dropped the eraser on his head and said, "Ow! What are you doing?!" like a comedy routine all by himself, which had the classmate next to him staring.

After third period: Satou looked worried and asked him if his uniform was okay. Taira remembered he was drying it on the veranda. It wasn't just sopping wet but also muddy; the wind blew it outside of the veranda, and Taira had to retrieve it from the ground.

After fourth period: He discovered that the lid to the hair wax he used for Tani came off in his bag and made 60% of this things sticky. [2]

What makes him even more annoyed is that most of this was due to his own clumsiness.

Taira realizes that he's behind on copying what's on the board and tries to start writing but accidentally stabs his eraser instead. The lead breaks off. He tries to dig the pencil lead out of his eraser but fails and only breaks his eraser. Then the teacher calls on him to translate a sentence. Taira stands up but has no idea what page they're on. There's a deathly silence. The teacher coldly asks if he was playing around on his desk. Taira says he got caught up in trying to get lead out of his eraser; he can hear some girls laugh. It goes back to being quiet, and Taira apologizes before sitting down again.

The teacher asks who knows the answer, and Tani volunteers. Taira feels like he was the only one who hadn't been paying attention.

Year 2, Class 7, Classroom: 14:35 (Break) — Rainy

Fifth period ends, and Azuma comes up to his desk with a faint smile.

Azuma: Mr. Taira, was the eraser surgery a success? Taira: Don't start this again.

Taira matched Azuma's joke on reflex, and he can hear a boy in their vicinity laugh. Taira feels a bit better since it's like his suffering wasn't for nothing. Azuma glances at his desk and innocently picks up his eraser.

Azuma: Ack! The heck?! This is gory! What you have here is nothing but the remains of an eraser... Taira: It's not that far gone. Stop insulting my eraser. Watanabe: Y'know, I totes relate to forgetting 'bout class 'cause of eraser surgery. Take a look at this.

She takes out her own eraser. It has "Watanabe" in katakana engraved beautifully in it.

Taira: Wait, how the hell did you do this?! It's pristine! Watanabe: I sculpted this here with a chisel in class... Taira: Which class even let you get away with perfecting this? Watanabe: Well, y'see... I was trying to kill some time in Gomapon's class, and it just grabbed me, heart and soul. Oh, I know! Next time I'm at it, I might as well make y'all some! Yamada: That sounds sick! Give me one! Suzuki: Be careful with those tools if you're making more.

The others continue to talk, but both Taira and Azuma are quiet. Azuma is probably just observing, but Taira finds himself kind of wanting that eraser with his name engraved on it for real, so he can't make any of his usual interjections. He feels himself relax at realizing that these people probably won't exclude him.

Suzuki: Wait, I just remembered! We gotta move for our next class, so we need to get our things together!

The other disperse and Taira is sitting alone at his desk. He thinks that it's probably fine even if no one wishes him a happy birthday as it's not really a big deal at this age. He'd be rather happy if someone remembered, but if no one does, he's still living differently than how he was before. That's probably what he needs more than anything.

With art tools in hand, he looks over the classroom.

Side B: Doesn't Azuma seem kind of lost in thought?

This part is from Azuma's POV.

Year 2, Class 7, Classroom: 14:42 (Break) — Rainy

Azuma splits up from Suzuki, Watanabe, and Satou because her art elective is fine arts. She chose this because it seemed easiest — she doesn't want to have to sing in front of other people for music, and calligraphy might get her clothes dirty. There's only one person from their usual group that picked the same thing she did.

Azuma says, "Let's go," to Taira. Taira was getting his materials together very slowly, probably unsure about whether they would head to the art room together. He used to just go on his own, but lately he seems to be more confused about whether to hang around for her. Given that, Azuma figures she can just make the invitation. It's really no big deal to her, but she knows that he dwells on these kinds of things. She wants him to have more confidence.

They head down the hall together. Azuma comments on how the rain doesn't seem to be letting up, and Taira agrees. The conversation ends there. Azuma can't tell if he just doesn't feel like talking more or if he doesn't have interest in the topic. Azuma sometimes gets bored with people like this, but she tends to feel more at ease with Taira since she's not really expecting anything. Though today, he seems kind of gloomy.

Azuma: What's wrong? Still mulling over your eraser? Taira: No, not really. Or maybe it's sort of related... But it's not the main thing I'm thinking about, it's more like... the whole day itself... Which traces back to something else in the past, I guess...

His voice gets quieter as he continues talking, and Azuma can't hear all of it. It's quiet again. Taira seems to be overthinking things all the time. She's wanted to say that, but she can't find the timing, and now it's awkward. Suzuki and the others probably don't know about how negative Taira can get. Azuma can feel a bit impatient about it at times, but it's not strong enough to make her upset. Sometimes she finds herself waiting to see his weird personality quirk.

Azuma: Well, uh... Something good might happen at some point...? You never know... Taira: You don't sound convinced yourself.

And now they're back to their usual pattern. Azuma wonders why she finds their winding talk comforting. They reach the art room.

Azuma: Here we go. We're free after this last hour, so hang in there. Taira: Yeah.

Azuma realizes there's only one hour left in the school day and feels like she's forgetting something important. But she stops thinking about it as she enters the room.

Art Room: 14:50 (6th Period) — Rainy

Their task today is to do a study of something in the art room. Azuma is feeling tired from the day. She observes Taira, who also didn't coordinate this class selection with anyone and is acting intensely solitary. He suddenly looks her way. Their eyes meet, and Taira nervously diverts his gaze. Azuma assumes this is because groups tend to separate by gender when class starts. She hears the music class on the same floor — Suzuki's voice in particular, because she's the only one who isn't trying to sing quieter.

Kawasaki: Azumaaaa, did you hear that song during lunch break?

Azuma was in Kawasaki's class last year and came to know her as someone who's diligent with a strong sense of responsibility, though a lot of people find her strong aura hard to approach.

Azuma: Yep, I did. Kawasaki: Oh, right. It was a school-wide broadcast after all...

Kawasaki goes on to say that it was done by a cringey couple. She had people like that at her middle school too. Azuma agrees, but then she starts wondering about how it was in her middle school again. Before she can think through the hazy memories, Kawasaki goes on about how, at her middle school, the popular group looped everyone in the class into celebrating a birthday for a friend. Kawasaki went along with it at the time, but looking back at it now, she feels like she was just pulled into their flow. People who are part of the group don't notice, but those who were on the outside or otherwise uninterested must not have liked it. Azuma says she understands that influencing power of the inner group.

Azuma remembers getting celebrated by her middle school friends like this. Being greeted with party poppers and Happy Birthday's at the door. A passing teacher feigning annoyance before giving approval with a "Kids will be kids"-like statement and a smile; the class apologizing to the teacher while laughing. Azuma played along at the time, but now she can't remember any of the details of the actual celebration. Her boyfriend, her friends, the members of the group were all there, but her feelings weren't. She remembers the strings and the confetti paper that landed in the hallway more than the presents she received. No one was looking at the floor. They were pushing her into the classroom, and then the rest is a blur.

Azuma wonders now who cleaned up all of that trash. She probably didn't say anything about it at the time since she thought she had to go along with the flow and act happy. Situations like this haven't really happened much in high school since fewer people know each other and each other's birthdays. It's a bit more lonely, but also somewhat of a relief.

Azuma starts thinking about whose birthdays she knows here. She knows Suzuki's, Satou's, Watanabe's, and someone else's, she feels. The study of the bust she's working on looks gloomy, so she draws in confetti trash from the party poppers.

Kawasaki: What's all that, Azuma? Azuma: Hm? Oh, I just felt like adding this. It was looking gloomy, after all. Kawasaki: ...Aren't you taking too many liberties with this? You have to hand that in, you know? Azuma: Huh? But it's cuter this way, isn't it?

Art Classroom: 15:40 (Before Cleaning Duty) — Rainy

Azuma heads over to Taira and asks him what he drew. Taira panics and hides his art.

Taira: It sucks, so don't look at it! Azuma: What now? Is this a setup for a joke? Taira: This drawing is neither good nor bad, so it's the worst type of thing to have to comment on! Azuma: Hmmm...

Azuma doesn't really care if she sees it or not, but she wants an opportunity to tease him. From the glance she got, it was a drawing of fruit lined up. And it looked pretty good.

Taira: What did you draw? Azuma: Wanna see?

Azuma leads him back to her desk. Taira furrows his brows.

Taira: Uh, what's going on here? Azuma: It's cute, right? Taira: ...Is this really okay? This part. You drew something extra when it was supposed to be a study. Azuma: Yeah? I asked when our teacher was doing rounds earlier, and it's totally okay. Taira: Yeah, all right, then.

Taira says that without much emotion. He's staring at the confetti trash.

Azuma: What's wrong, Taira? Taira: Huh? Nothing, really... Azuma: What is it? If it's really that weird, why don't you just say something? Taira: ...No, it's just that, even though you added all of this, it doesn't really feel celebratory. Azuma: Really...? It doesn't? Taira: I don't know how to explain this, but... If you wanted this to be celebratory, normally you'd have the confetti flying through the air or sitting on top of the statue, right? Just having it scattered across the ground makes it look more like trash— Ack.

He makes a face at accidentally saying something rude.

Taira: Sorry...

He goes stiff.

Azuma: It does kind of look like that, huh...? Is this a total flop?

She doesn't really care either way, but she asks anyway.

Taira: No, like I was saying, I don't know! I'm not an artist of any kind! Kawasaki: Azuma! Let's head home together! Azuma: Sorry, can't today. I have some cleaning to do with this one here.

She points at Taira.

Taira: Don't refer to me like that.

Kawasaki heads off.

Azuma: Guess that's that. Let's get cleaning, then. Taira: Yeah. Uh, what are we in charge of, again? Azuma: You didn't check earlier? It's the staircase. Taira: That's all? Should be easy.

He seems relieved. They do cleaning chores on rotation, and the staircase is nowhere as bad as the toilets.

Staircase Landing: 15:45 (Cleaning Duty) — Rainy

It's the place where the third years were celebrating that birthday. There's confetti paper and party popper strings on the ground. Though there's evidence that they picked up the biggest pieces, they left all the small stuff.

Satou: Sheesh, it's like those third years didn't clean anything up. Taira: Nothing else to do about it...

He gets a broom from the cleaning locker. The other two boys brought dust cloths from the classroom; five people in total for this cleaning crew. Taira hands Azuma a broom.

Azuma: When you think about it, having really obvious trash is motivating in its own way. Satou: What a positive spin. Azuma: If there's no trash lying around, don't you start worrying about whether you're wasting your time? Satou: Well, I suppose...

Azuma and Satou start sweeping stuff up, but when they make it to the first floor and ready the dustpan, they realize that all the little bits of party popper cord have gotten stuck in the broom, possibly because the rain made it damp. They try stamping on it but nothing comes free. Azuma is finally getting annoyed when a big shadow appears next to her.

Taira: Hey, what are you doing that for...

He quietly takes the broom from them and begins picking the strings free.

Taira: Man, this is filthy. Azuma: ...Oh, Taira. Thanks. Satou: Thank you.

Taira doesn't pay them any attention and throws away the trash in a nearby trashcan. Azuma follows him with the dustpan. They notice that the various bin types are full.

Azuma: Wow, they're all full. We're going to have to empty them outside. Taira: ...Yeah. I'll do it. Azuma: Want me to come with you? That looks like it's too much for one person. Taira: I'll take you up on that.

The rain looks like it's only drizzling now. They inform Satou and the others that they're going out to the schoolyard to empty the bins and head out.

Entranceway: 15:50 (Cleaning Duty) — Rainy

Azuma is the only one who bothers to bring an umbrella; Taira is carrying two bags. Azuma holds out the umbrella.

Azuma: Why don't you come under? Taira: It's not raining that hard. We don't have to go that far out, either. Azuma: Uh-huh. That's boys for you. Taira: What? Azuma: You boys don't really worry about getting your hair wet from the rain. Taira: ...Even if my hair gets wet, it's not going to be as bad as it was this morning.

He says that like he's holding a grudge against Yamada. Azuma snickers. Taira heads straight out with the bags in hand. They hear a small rumble, possibly thunder.

Azuma: Huh? Wait. That's Suzuki.

Suzuki is sharing a cat-patterned umbrella with Tani. Tani notices Azuma looking and darts out, pretending like he was never under it to begin with.

Suzuki: Hey, it's Tairazuma! Azuma: What's going on, Suzuki? Suzuki: Um, we just threw out some trash and were on our way back! Looks like we just missed each other, huh?

Suzuki scratches her cheek and looks away as Azuma stares.

Azuma: Hmmm? Under one umbrella, I see...♡ Tani: Both my hands were occupied with things to throw away...

Tani averts his eyes. Azuma notes that his right shoulder is sopping wet. The umbrella is small, and Tani probably wasn't sticking close while making sure that Suzuki wasn't getting wet.

Taira: Hey, Azuma! Hurry up!

He sounds like he's annoyed at what he's seeing. Azuma waves Suzuki and Tani goodbye and follows Taira, who is speeding away.

They successfully hand off the trash to a raincoat-clad Gomapon. Taira walks back in front of Azuma, and she holds out her umbrella to cover even a bit of his head. Suzuki and Tani might've been sharing a couple's umbrella, but her and Taira are different.

Azuma: Suzuki and Tani were hilarious just now! Taira: Nothing about that was funny at all...

Though Taira can be a bit twisted, he's weirdly earnest in that he doesn't like to poke fun at other people's relationships. Taira is practically stomping with irritation as Azuma continues to giggle.

Just then, the sky suddenly lights up. Less than a second later, there's a huge roar of thunder. Azuma lets out a little yelp of surprise.

Taira: Ugh, thunder... Let's get inside the school building.

Taira looks over at her and beckons. Azuma agrees and they start running. She's holding the umbrella in front of her to block the wind and rain.

At that moment, Taira slips and falls right into a puddle.

Taira: ARGH! What the heck is up with today?!

He shouts that while continuing to sit on the puddle, like he's given up on everything.

Azuma starts laughing before she knows it. Of course he tripped — he was running while constantly looking over at Azuma as if to guide her.

Infirmary: 16:05 (Homeroom) — Thunderstorm

Now having gotten both his uniform and gym clothes wet, Taira borrowed a spare uniform at the infirmary. Azuma came with him and is waiting in the hallway. It's technically time for homeroom now, but there's no helping it if they're going to be a bit late. Taira emerges in a uniform that's even shorter for him than usual.

Azuma: ...Yeesh. Looks like you've been through the gauntlet today, Taira.

His shoulders are slumped, and Azuma doesn't feel like teasing him anymore.

Taira: Yeah. I don't get why this is happening to me, but... My luck's just in the pits today.

Azuma notes that Taira's been looking particularly down today. There's a dark aura surrounding him that seems to contain a special resentment for "today." Azuma has a hunch she's not completely sure about, but she figures she'll trick him into confirming whether she's right.

Azuma: Even though today is your birthday. Taira: ...What? You knew?

Taira looks at her. Azuma finds herself looking into his eyes.

Azuma: Wait, it actually is? I was just going off a hunch. Taira: So you were just guessing.

But as he says that, Azuma has a hand to her chin, thinking it over. She feels like it wasn't a complete guess.

Azuma: No... I feel like I really did hear you say this when we were asking each other questions in English class... I remember it was somewhere around the middle or the end of the month... Taira: That's practically a guess, still. Azuma: Maybe I forgot, but my subconscious remembered.

Taira stays silent without saying anything snappy back.

Azuma: ...Were you maybe hoping that someone would congratulate you? Taira: As if. Azuma: I know, I'll give you a present. Here you go!

She gives him something she put in her wallet at lunch. Taira has a mysterious expression on his face.

Taira: What is this? Azuma: It's a Yeti Bread sticker. It came with the bread I had for lunch.

Taira stares at the sticker without saying anything.

Azuma: Huh? What's with that disgusted face? Taira: No... Thanks.

Azuma was waiting for him to snap back with a, "Like I'd want something like this." For some reason, she feels a little relieved that wasn't his answer.

It's still pouring outside, but Azuma feels like it's extremely sunny. The clock in the hall catches her attention.

Azuma: Wait, we're on class duty today! We gotta hurry, Taira! Taira: Crap!

He starts panicking too. They start running to the classroom side by side. Azuma finds herself wondering if Taira was happy to get the sticker. She starts to look over at him, but stops when she feels herself start to make a certain expression.

Yeah, right, she thinks. There's no way.

Personal Commentary:

I tried more here because of personal bias, but also this is the only section that wasn't as predictable.

You know, I was wondering if they were going to get into Taira's past body. I guess I should be glad that they didn't make it so that he feels so much better about himself for being thin now, but I've always found it kind of a weird character detail because we don't have any fat characters that actually get any in-depth treatment. There still is some implication that getting thin was an active choice of his. It feels weird to me that Taira seems to be stereotypically attractive now that he's thin, and I seriously doubt that he would be popular with the fanbase at all if he was still fat. Kind of makes me sad to think about.

Felt that about Classical Japanese being a chore. I don't want to even try, me too stupid. I already don't like reading Shakespeare in English.

The whole part about him getting called out in class by the teacher is. Well. I would die, personally. This truly was Taira's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

This detail about Azuma not really feeling like singing in front of other people is interesting considering the epilogue with her and Taira in the manga.

I feel like this section was more compelling than the previous two since it gives more texture to both Taira and Azuma's pasts. It's just also neat to see the subtext that they always end up being there for each other. Metaphorically, Taira notices when Azuma is upset (correctly identifying her emotions in making her art even when she wasn't really thinking too much about it), and he cleans up the mess from experiences Azuma doesn't enjoy, both in the past before they were friends, and now in the present when she was actually reaching the end of her patience with the broom. He's the only one who understands what Azuma's expressing with the trash confetti in her art, even when she's not completely aware of it herself. On the flip side, Azuma is also the only one who picks up on Taira's general gloom about his birthday, and the only one to give him a present. And of course, she's always been trying to encourage him in high school, even when he took her suggestions for hairstyling in the opposite manner. And look at him now, he's giving Tani hair suggestions...

I feel like this kind of extra metaphorical layer (which isn't even that hard to pick up on) is what was missing from the previous two sections. The section with Yamada and Nishi had the thing with the tiles and Nishi finding a book that she wouldn't have without Yamada, and Yamada doing something he wouldn't have (reading a book) without her, but the meaning of these instances were so obviously spelled out that both characters basically said what you were supposed to take away word for word. That's not bad since it was cute, but it's less compelling of a literary structure. Here the audience has to at least try a little bit because the characters aren't aware of the connection themselves. Azuma will probably never know that Taira was the one that picked up trash from her unwanted classroom birthday celebration.

The detail that didn't make it into the anime of Taira falling into the puddle because he was watching out for Azuma is also very cute. It's interesting to see the changes they made in the anime to cut down on the time (such as Azuma actually remembering the date accurately, compared to her vague impression of when his birthday takes place here).

Notes:

Not sure if this is only classical literature or if it contains something else. ↩︎

Personal Commentary:

Honda, I agree. Tani being normie fashionable is more boring than him being his typical boring self. Where's the contrast? Are we "Polar Opposites" here or not?

Also, while it is funny that she checked in on Nishi and Yamada, it is also an infringement on privacy, so good that she's learned her lesson.

Honda is such a real one, though. Always a fan of her.

Translation Notes:

As always, thanks to my friend @magical-pun-girl for helping with dialogue.

Shopping Mall: Two Days Before, 15:45 - Rainy

Yamada and Nishi are walking around the mall together after the show. Yamada says that he invited his guy friends, but Tani had something to do, Taira had his part-time job, and Gachapon had something come up last minute. Nishi asks if he hangs out with Tani a lot. Yamada says not really, he just felt like inviting him.

Yamada asks Nishi why she's here. She says to do shopping. Yamada asks what she was buying, and she says sweets like chocolate and marshmallows. Can't she just get that at the convenience store, he asks? Nishi says she likes looking around.

Nishi realizes that she's slipped into formal speech again. She's been staring at the floor this whole time and thinking too much about the sea of white tiles and the fewer black tiles in between. She's happy to have run into him, and some part of her was hoping for a coincidental meeting like this, but it actually happening without any preparation has made her afraid of talking. She feels like she's trying to avoid having Yamada take over all of her thoughts, like sticking to the black tiles while avoiding the white tiles as if they were lava in a child's game.

The next black tile her eyes cross, Yamada jumps onto with a light hop. Nishi looks at him with surprise.

Yamada: Oh, whoops... Seeing the black ones just made my brain go "safe."

Nishi laughs.

Yamada: Huh? Are you laughing at me for being such a kid? Back in elementary school, we played the tile lava game so much that it's second nature at this point. I know it's kinda silly, but I can't help it. Nishi: Oh, um, that's not it... I do that too. Yamada: Huh? Nishi: I was just thinking to myself that black tile looked like a safe zone... I had the same thought...

Nishi feels embarrassed for saying that.

Yamada: Cute...

Nishi realizes that Yamada just voiced an unconscious thought as his mouth is hanging open. When she processes the word, she immediately covers her face in both hands. She feels like her body and mind are in chaos and doesn't know what to say back to him. She desperately looks around and sees a bookstore and says she was planning on looking around there. Though it's somewhat of a lie, it isn't like she's uninterested in looking. Yamada looks over at it and asks if he can tag along too. Nishi says, "Um, yes. Wouldn't you like to go with me, please...?" This is both formal and somewhat incorrect grammatically. They head to the bookstore.

The bookstore is quite small since it's in a mall of a rural area, but it's easier to navigate. Sometimes Nishi feels lost in the big bookstores. Here, all the publishing companies are mixed together with the author names alphabetical, and there are fewer shelves to look through.

Yamada comes over to Nishi, saying that he can't find the manga magazine he was looking for. Nishi's heart is going wild. Yamada asks if she as able to find the book she was looking for. She says she hasn't yet. Though, to be specific, she's not looking for anything in particular but seeing whether there's anything she wants. Now that she's off-kilter, she's forgotten where she was looking. But then she sees a familiar title. It's the 7th volume of a fantasy series written by a female author that she read as a kid. She thought the author had given up on writing these, so she'd stored the first 6 volumes in a case somewhere in her room. She's so excited that when Yamada asks if that was the book she was looking for, she says yes and then rambles on about how she read this series in middle school, and the first book was the first time she'd pulled an all-nighter reading. She read it over and over, and then the second and third books also had her up late, reading and crying.

Yamada notes that's a lot of words she's saying. Nishi apologizes, but Yamada says no, he was just thinking that it was rare for her to talk so much. His warm grin makes Nishi feel a little more at ease. Yamada thinks over aloud how the series must be really interesting, and it's got 7 volumes too, which is long. Nishi says that the books are easy to read. Yamada asks if she's going to buy the book. She says yes and rushes to the register to buy it, excited to make it hers as soon as possible. Nishi thinks to herself that there was no other book that she needed more than this, and it might be thanks to Yamada for talking to her and leading her to find something unexpected.

Nishi buys the book and then goes back to Yamada. He asks her if she has volume one of that book series. She says she does have it at her house. Yamada asks if he can borrow it. Nishi is surprised and asks if he wants to read this series. He says he doesn't really know since he doesn't normally read books, but what she was saying earlier got him interested in trying it. Nishi is excited to hear this, already looking forward to sharing the fun between them. She says she'll contact him later, and he says okay.

Nishi finds herself looking forward to lending him the book, which is a curious emotion. She feels that her world is expanding to include more people.

Year 2, Class 8, Classroom: 11:35 (Third Period) — Rainy

Nishi finishes telling Honda what happened, and then says that she gave Yamada the book this morning, quietly, since it looked like he was busy. Honda says they're practically dating. Nishi fumbles for a response. It's embarrassing to be told that, but it's not like she hates the idea and denying it outright could be rude also.

Honda changes the topic to ask why Nishi is worried if everything seems to be going well. Nishi confesses that she read the 7th volume of this series last night and realized that it might be something that she enjoyed specifically because she was a middle schooler at the time. The book series is less polished than she remembers, and now she's worried about whether the book she inadvertantly recommended to Yamada will actually be interesting to him. She had been waiting for this book for years, so she immediately read it, but there were a lot of forced plot developments, a lot of things were left at surface level, the lines from a character she thought was cool sounded rather childlike, and the way the characters' thoughts were written seemed kind of outdated. It wasn't boring, but the same kind of spark she felt when she was younger wasn't there.

Nishi says that this is also what the book reviews she found said. She shows an article on her phone to Honda, who reads aloud: - "Despite its strengths, this book is ultimately for middle schoolers who aren't accustomed to reading novels. It's best not to think too much about the worldbuilding or realism." - "I didn't hate it, but I'm giving it 2 stars. The ending was so unsatisfying that I laughed." - "I don't get what anyone likes about this. I was pointing out flaw after flaw the whole time."

There are also a lot of good reviews, but enough negative ones to make you notice. The overall reception of the book isn't overwhelmingly positive.

Honda: Wooow. These are so malicious. Some of these comments are just hung up on insignificant details, too. Nishi: But I kind of feel like I understand them... Honda: These trash reviews? If they're stressing you out that much, how 'bout you quit reading these books? Nishi: Oh no, I think there's a lot of good parts too, and I've liked this series for a long time, so I'm still interested in how it'll develop from here... So, I don't mean I feel exactly the same as them, just that...

Nishi thinks she'll still be excited about getting more of these books. No matter if they follow or betray her expectations, there's still something good about the experience. But not being able to enjoy the stories she was obsessed with as a middle schooler makes her wonder if she's lost something.

Nishi says she's worried about the fact that she didn't check over the book again before recommending it to Yamada. Reading books takes time, so she's scared that Yamada might find it boring after all of that. She feels like Honda is thinking, "Do you really have to worry about all that?" but Honda slowly makes a more serious expression and says that she doesn't think Nishi has to worry because Yamada probably won't finish reading the book. He doesn't seem to be the type to read many books, so even if he finishes it and finds it boring, he'll probably just think it's because he lacks experience.

Nishi thinks this over and feels that she'll probably feel lonely if he doesn't finish reading it. Both possible outcomes make her uneasy. But Yamada did look like he was genuinely interested in reading it. She wishes she could confirm that the book she leant him was actually interesting... which gives her an idea.

B-side: Yamada was reading a novel...

This section is written from Yamada's POV.

Year 2, Class 7, Classroom: 11:35 (Third Period) — Rainy

Yamada closes the book, his body trembling. He's done it. He's finished a novel and read everything, even the bar code on the back. He feels like a new world has opened to him. Suddenly, he realizes that the classroom is bustling with chaotic activity. He'd normally join in, but instead he spots Tani studying and goes over to him, saying, "Tani! Tani! Tani!"

Tani asks what's going on as Yamada looks very happy. Yamada only just then realizes that he's smiling big. He proudly says he finished reading a novel. Tani is quiet for a few seconds before saying that's great. Yamada assumes that the silence was because Tani didn't think it was a big deal, but Tani says that's not what he meant. Yamada brushes over that and asks Tani if he's ever read this book. Tani says yes, in middle school. Yamada says Tani's amazing for reading through the whole thing in middle school and asks how many books of the series he's read. Tani says 3. Yamada is impressed, though Tani notes that there's more books in the series, so he wasn't that thorough about it.

Yamada remembers that Nishi said she also read this book in middle school. Maybe if he had known about it then, he would've also read it. He thinks Nishi and Tani are cool for doing so. But he's also cool for reading it now. It would've also been cool if he read it in middle school.

Yamada says he and Tani should talk about the book, but no spoilers past the first one. Tani thinks it over and says that his memory is foggy now but he does remember that it had an impressive setting. Though it was fantasy, it was also easy to read. There were also mysteries in the narrative that kept him interested in reading more. Yamada is in enthusiastic agreement with all of this. And then Tani says that there was a part that bothered him, but other than that, he remembers it being a fun read. Yamada is confused about this and asks him what part. Tani points out how the opposing country's king's only motivation for doing evil things was his own pleasure and he didn't really have any humanity to him. Yamada says, isn't that just common for fantasy, though? Tani says yes, but since he was enjoying the rest of the book, this part didn't sit right with him. Yamada is quiet. Tani goes on to say that he had been completely engrossed in the book, but that part made him come back to reality a bit. It was disappointing because if it had been slightly different, he would've had more fun. Yamada says that makes sense and thinks more about it.

Thinking over the book, there were places that gave Yamada pause, but he couldn't put it into words, so he didn't think too hard about it. He thinks Tani is probably right. This conversation has returned Yamada to reality and made him aware that the book he just read was purposefully made by someone. Tani's attention to detail also has him wondering if he was too slapdash about the way he read the book.

Year 2, Class 8, Classroom: 12:55 (Lunch) — Rainy

Yamada figures he should go ask Nishi about it. Honda says she went to the library. Internally, he describes Honda as someone who was in his class last year, so she's basically his friend. Honda's making that weird expression, and Yamada asks what's wrong and laughs. He feels like he saw a hint of a grin, but Honda forces herself back to a straight face and says there's nothing. Honda asks what he needs Nishi for, and Yamada says he wants to return a book to her. Honda asks if he read all of this, given that he borrowed it just this morning; he doesn't seem the type to finish a book that fast. Yamada says that he did because Nishi strongly recommended it, and he wants to tell her his impressions. Honda suggests he hurries up to the library, then. Yamada thanks her and heads off, but before he turns away, he feels like he saw her making that weird expression again. Yamada wonders briefly why she knew about when he borrowed this book but doesn't think deeper about it.

As he steps into the hallway, Gapacho comes up to talk to him, looking really excited. Yamada says he can't chat since he's in a hurry.

Library: 13:00 (Lunch) — Rainy

Yamada asks for Nishi at the counter since she's a library assistant. The two first-year girls staffing seem a bit annoyed but start discussing with each other, trying to remember who Nishi is. One of them says that they've probably seen her around. Nishi's not on duty today; it's just the two of them.

Yamada walks around the library and starts noticing all the various types of books. He spots Nishi, crouched in the fantasy corner, and calls out to her. She lets out a small yelp and falls over. Yamada holds out the book and says that he's finished reading it, so he came to return it. Then he notices that Nishi's holding the same book that he is. He looks to the bookshelf and asks if those books are the rest of the series. Nishi says yes. Yamada comments that the subtitles sound so impressive. He feels excited.

Yamada asks why Nishi is here. He thinks over how Nishi owns the whole series and he's borrowing book one right now. Nishi replies in a very small voice (library volume) and says that there's some stuff she become worried about after she lent him the book. She suggests they talk at a nearby desk.

Nishi starts out by apologizing to Yamada; Yamada asks what for. Nishi says she might have lent him a weird book and she doesn't know if it was interesting at all. He says it was super interesting. Nishi says, "Really?" so Yamada says that the world was huge and there were so many mysteries that made him want to read more. As he says that, he feels like he's heard someone else say that before, but doesn't think too hard about it. He tells her that basically he had a good time. Internally, he notices that's pretty vague, but he's not someone who can put exactly what he found fun into words. But seeing the rest of the books lined up makes him excited, so that's good enough.

Nishi says that's good, then, but she looks bothered. Yamada asks if what he said was superficial. Nishi immediately says no, she was just thinking that if he didn't find it fun at all, then she would've felt bad about wasting his time. Yamada asks if Nishi's here because she wanted to check over the contents of the book. Nishi says she would've felt bad if she had recommended him a bad book. He says that she doesn't need to think about it that hard but thanks her. Nishi is quiet.

Yamada asks, wasn't this a book that she really liked before? Nishi says yes, she found it at a bookstore and used her New Year's money [1] from her grandma to buy it. Yamada says that means that this is a really memorable book for her. And then he realizes that's why she came to check the book: She stayed up all night the first time reading it, but what if all her excitement from that time disappeared? Yamada feels like he gets it.

Yamada: Hey, that reminds me. You remember that comedian we saw together? Nishi: Uh, um...

Nishi is confused why he's bringing this up. Yamada doesn't have a fully formed thought yet either, but he feels like it's connected, and if he talks about it, he'll figure it out. If not, that's okay too.

Yamada: That comedian was crazy funny back when I was in elementary school. I'd laugh so hard every time they [2] came on TV, but they weren't funny at all this time... Nishi: Huh? But Yamada-kun... Weren't you laughing? Yamada: Yeah. I was crackin' up. Nishi: So you were laugh—

She makes a noise.

Yamada: ...Did you just laugh? Nishi: I mean, you're acting like you did the complete opposite... Yamada: Okay, look! The jokes weren't that funny, but it brought me back to old times, so I was laughing before I knew it! It happens. Nishi: Really... Yamada: Don't you just laugh for no reason sometimes?

Nishi seems to suddenly think of something and stares directly at him.

Nishi: Well, now that you mention it...

She's looks down, her face red. Yamada can feel his own face heating up. He averts his gaze slightly.

Yamada: Being the only one laughing is kinda lonely, or at least that's what I was feeling. But then you happened to be there, laughing too, and...

His voice is decreasing in volume. His head is growing hotter and his throat feels dry.

Yamada: ...I felt kinda better... Happy, even....

Nishi is quiet.

Yamada: And you know, it's wild, yeah?! The jokes didn't get me laughing, but something else 'bout it did, so I was having a blast for a whole other reason! Nishi: Yamada-kun, shhhh!

Yamada forgot they were in a library. He lowers his volume.

Yamada: So, how do I say this... It's chill if no one laughs but us, right? It can be fun in its own way. I think this book's like that too. Nishi: ...... Yamada: ...At least, I'm glad I read this book. And I'm happy I got to talk to you more.

Yamada doesn't know what Nishi was like in middle school, but he knows that she loved this book then, and he feels like he gets how she felt. Nishi has a hand to her chin and is thinking very deeply.

Nishi: ...Maybe you're right. It's important for books and comedy skits to be interesting, but even just making a space where you can experience something together and make new memories might be meaningful already... Yamada: It definitely is. Nishi: Yeah. ...Thank you, Yamada-kun.

Nishi is smiling like all her worries are gone. Yamada returns the book to her and thanks her for recommending it. Parting with the book feels a bit sad. He tells Nishi that he had a ton of fun reading it.

Yamada's never had memories of a book before. He thought you needed some kind of talent to finish a book; he's always just winged it for his book reports at school. He feels like he's going to really remember these last three days. Yamada's grateful for the whole experience, the good and bad.

Nishi holds the book with a small smile and says that she's happy Yamada enjoyed it. Her pure, unguarded smile sends an arrow right through Yamada's heart. He stops himself from saying out loud that she's cute again. But he already opened his mouth, so he thinks of something else to say and suggests that they talk more about the book again later. Nishi says yes, and Yamada feels himself breaking out into a grin.

The two of them wonder if it'll be sunny after school. Yamada finds himself thinking ever so slightly that he hopes it won't be sunny if it'll lengthen their time together.

Personal Commentary

This section is much better than the beginning Tani/Suzuki part. Baby's first book. I can't imagine that Yamada will ever read stuff with a very critical eye, but maybe Nishi will just be happy to have someone that is excited to read whatever she's reading. The way he parroted Tani because he hasn't exercised any critical thought about fiction before is kind of funny. Hopefully he develops his own sense of interpreting story craft.

As for me, I think I would've liked to read something with a little bit of friction here. I am curious about how these two would handle having a genuine disagreement in opinion, and I don't really recall anything like that happening in the manga. Again, the story flow is a little predictable, so I feel like it's not as good as it could've been. To paraphrase Tani's review of this fictional fantasy book.

Translation Footnotes

As always, thanks to my friend @magical-pun-girl for helping with some of the dialogue.

Otoshidama ↩︎ ↩︎

Personal Commentary:

My guess is that Suzuki is the one who said this title? This breaks the pattern of random background characters commenting on the characters, but the rest of the chapters seem to follow that again later. Still don't get why they went with this naming. I even tried to match the A-side/B-side titles up to characters of the main cast, but they didn't quite fit.

Lots of cute banter in this interlude. Satou surprisingly has a good read on everyone. I guess that's not really that surprising considering her character, but I wasn't really expecting this sort of guide on how we should be perceiving everyone. The fact that she even caught that Azuma has similar self-image issues to Taira underlying her speech, for instance, is more insight than I expected to be present. Satou's read on Taira also clarifies that no one is really taking his words as being mean, despite what they might look like at face-value.

I think it's cute that Watanabe and Satou have this comedy duo going on and they're both aware of it. Watanabe says silly things and is happy when Satou follows up on it, and Satou knows that and follows her on purpose.

Suzuki and Yamada are apparently the weather-calling duo.

Translation Notes:

Honestly, I'm not sure whether this refers to the weather-jinxing, the comedic blunders, or Suzuki being dramatically emo. Most likely it's the first, but whenever I'm hit with the こういうこと I don't always pick up on the right referent for this vague phrase. ↩︎

毎日パン, which I don't think is a particular reference to anything. ↩︎

Konekogawa, Riverside: 19:00 — Sunny

Suzuki and Tani are watching fireworks together. Suzuki is feeling nervous and says that it's good that they were able to come see fireworks together this year too. Tani says they did promise to last year, after all. Tani is wearing the same clothes as always, but he's grown taller. They talk about how Suzuki nearly dropped her phone off the cliff last time. Tani comments that Suzuki's hairstyle is the same as the previous year's. Tani gently puts a hand on Suzuki's shoulder, and she gets super flustered inside.

Suzuki's House: 6:45 — Sunny

Suzuki's alarm, Yeti Gymnastics, goes off. She realizes that the scene before was just a dream. The next part goes through her morning routine. The weather report says that there's only 10% chance of rain, so umbrellas are unnecessary.

School Route: 8:15 — Sunny

On the way to school, Suzuki runs into Azuma, who has apparently gone to the convenience store before class. They walk together and spot Honda. Suzuki wants to know more about her but doesn't have the courage to talk to her.

Watanabe and Satou are at Class 7's shoe-changing area and greet Suzuki and Azuma. Watanabe drops her slippers straight to the ground and changes into them without looking. Suzuki notes that Watanabe is always light on her feet and seems to defy gravity sometimes. The four of them walk to class and chatter away.

Yamada calls out to them. He was apparently washing his hands at the faucet near the classroom.

Suzuki: So even Yamada washes his hands... Yamada: Of course I do. What do you think I am? Suzuki: You're all good for the next part? You're not gonna wipe your hands off on your pants? You brought a handkerchief? Yamada: Yeah, I have one. More or less.

Yamada takes out a crumpled handkerchief and wipes his hands on them. They head to class.

Year 2, Class 7, Classroom: 8:25 — Sunny

Suzuki says hello to Taira, who's in his seat, staring out the window. He's in his gym clothes. He replies listlessly.

Suzuki: Taira, you doing okay? You feel even more like a corpse today. Taira: I'm always alive and kicking. Suzuki: So, why are you in your gym clothes already? ...You were so excited for gym class that you couldn't wait? Taira: Yeah, no. My uniform got wet.

Suzuki wonders if he was playing in the water or something. She goes to say hi to Tani. Tani to her is someone who is natural, always having a calm, grounding air that feels healing.

But today, there's some other boy in his seat. Suzuki is confused before realizing that it's still Tani. He greets her sheepishly as she stares at him and pieces this together.

"HUUUH?! Wh-what happened to you, Tani-kun?!"

Chapter 1

A-side: "Isn't Tani-kun from Class 7's hair kind of different today?"

This section is written from Tani's POV.

Boys Bathroom: 8:12 — Sunny

There are two mirrors in the boys bathroom, and both are occupied. At one, Yamada is setting his hair carefully. At the other, Taira is examining his flyaways. Taira notices Tani first and moves aside for him.

Tani sees Taira staring at the back of his head from the mirror. Taira asks Tani what happened to his hair — the back is sticking up. Tani says it's bedhead while trying to smooth it out. He had tried to get it to behave with water earlier, but nothing is working. Yamada starts laughing and says that it's funny since it makes Tani look like he's kind of out of it. He apologizes for laughing but can't stop. Taira stares at Yamada with a critical eye and says that he's being rude, even for Tani. Tani repeats, "Even for Tani..." out loud as he thinks about what it means. He decides that Taira must mean that there's a certain level of respect that should be present even in friendly relationships [1] and that he doesn't mean it as an insult to Tani.

Yamada finally stops laughing and makes a thinking noise. He points out that it's really eye-grabbing even for bedhead. Tani agrees and says that he wants to do something before class if possible. Yamada suddenly thinks of something and says that this should fix it. Tani and Taira say "Huh?" at nearly the same time. Yamada has turned on the faucet to full force, and the water is spilling out of his cupped hands. He throws all of that at the back of Tani's head.

Tani is so shocked he's unable to say anything. He hears Taira yelling, "Hey! What are you doing?!" and "You splashed me too!" Tani looks over at Taira and sees that both his face and stomach are wet. Rather, Taira has taken the brunt of the water, and the front of his shirt is now somewhat transparent. Tani lets out a small laugh, to which Taira immediately glares at. Yamada, who's basically completely dry, flashes Taira a thumbs-up and says, "Oh well! We're also wet!" The two of them continue to banter.

Tani checks his hair in the mirror and notices that the water didn't work. He tries to smooth it down, which does nothing. Earlier in the morning he had also tried to spray it down multiple times to no avail, so perhaps it was a given that this wouldn't do anything either. Taira and Yamada notice the persisting bedhead, and Yamada thinks real hard. Yamada suggests that Tani use wax in his hair like Yamada and Taira do. Tani studies their hair and thinks about Suzuki's voice on Saturday (their last date). He says it might be a good idea.

Taira lends Tani his hair wax, saying Yamada's is too strong. Tani scoops out some wax and is confused on what to do. He tries to apply it directly to the part that's sticking up. Taira gets worried and immediately stops him. He and Yamada explain how to apply it; Tani is a bit embarrassed that he doesn't know anything about this. Yamada says that they'll apply it for him this time. Yamada asks if he wants his bangs up. Tani hesitantly agrees. Taira asks if Tani always leaves it up to the barber.

The two of them finish styling Tani's hair, though he answered all their questions vaguely. His bedhead has disappeared.

Year 2, Class 7, Classroom: 8:25 — Sunny

"HUUUH?! Wh-what happened to you, Tani-kun?!"

Everyone turns to look at Tani. He feels the weight of stares on his back.

Suzuki is surprised and points out the different parts of his hair, saying he's like a "Super Tani" now. Tani doesn't really understand her description, and he's even more confused by Super Tani. He asks nervously if it looks weird, but Suzuki gives him a thumbs-up with sparkling eyes and says that she's really happy to get to see a different side of him. Tani internally compares her beaming smile with her fang poking out to a carefree cat's yawn. Every time he sees this smile, he feels like it has the power to hold him tight and blow away all of his worries.

Tani feels a gaze from behind him and turns around to find only Azuma staring at him with a mischievous grin. Tani feels uncomfortable and looks back at her with a questioning eye. He gets the sense that Azuma noticed his embarrassment.

Suzuki asks why Tani did his hair today. Tani starts to explain, but Yamada talks over him and says that he and Taira were fiddling with it in the bathroom. Tani glances at Taira, who only says, "Yeah." Suzuki tells Yamada not to mess around with Tani, to which Yamada says he wasn't really. Taira casts doubt on this statement, but Yamada says he's for real, even though it was pretty funny.

Tani figures he should explain the situation better to Suzuki, but as he's about to do so, the teacher comes into the classroom. During the morning greeting routine, the teacher stares wordlessly at Tani. Tani starts wondering if hair wax is against the school rules. He then realizes that can't be the case because there's many students with unique hairstyles in his class. The teacher says nothing and goes through the normal announcements.

There's still some time before 1st period, so Tani looks over to Suzuki, figuring he'll explain himself. But Suzuki is completely concentrated on a novel (which is an adaptation of a shoujo manga, how meta), so he just finds himself observing her hair and earrings. Tani thinks about how he's never thought of changing himself; he's never thought about what other people would think suits him or what he thinks would suit him, either.

Watanabe appears next to him with a weird smile, pointing out his hair. Suzuki jolts, asking if she warped. Watanabe flashes a peace sign and says "You bet!" in response. Satou walks up to them from behind Watanabe and asks if Tani is going for an image change. Suzuki says that apparently Taira and Yamada did this to him. Watanabe seems satisfied with this answer, which Satou points out in a quip. Tani says that it's because they (unspecified) got his hair wet, and Watanabe is surprised to hear that there's bullying going on in this class. Tani says that isn't it, and then explains the whole bedhead situation.

Satou says Yamada is an idiot. Watanabe says she'd do the same thing though, since it worked. Tani is about to say something, but Suzuki ends up cutting him off with commenting that Tani looks kind of like Sudaken today. Satou and Watanabe say, "What?" simultaneously. Tani also thinks this doesn't make any sense. Suzuki gets flustered and tries to describe that the top of his hair from the angle she's looking at is weirdly Sudaken-like. Satou and Watanabe tilt their heads and stare at Tani before agreeing.

The bell goes off, and the two go back to their seats. Tani feels that he wasn't able to interrupt the flow of their conversation at all and feels unsettled that Suzuki, Satou, and Watanabe still have the impression that Yamada and Taira were doing whatever they wanted to Tani rather than following his opinions when they styled his hair. Tani looks at Yamada and Tani. Yamada is putting away some book in his desk quietly, while Taira is leaning against the wall and staring into space at the class. Tani figures he should talk to people one-on-one later.

Year 2, Class 7, Classroom: 8:45 (First Period) — Sunny

First period starts and Suzuki whispers to Tani that she's sorry for cutting him off and asks if he had something he wanted to say. Tani turns to whisper back, but they get called out by the teacher (Gotou-sensei, aka Gomapon). Gomapon says that, if they can't see the board, they can tilt their desks diagonally. Both of them saw the board fine, but they comply anyway. Suzuki makes a hand gesture that indicates they'll save the conversation for later.

As the class wears on, Tani can hear the voices of girls chattering, which Gomapon doesn't notice. Suzuki is completely focused on the lecture and is furiously scribbling notes away, so Tani concludes that he can't talk to her. This reminds Tani of a couple they saw on Saturday.

Memory: Saturday

Tani was invited to a comedy performance by Yamada that day, but he refused because he had a date with Suzuki. Yamada then apparently went with Gachapo (who Tani also doesn't know). Tani and Suzuki take the train into a city that's lined with fashion shops selling all sorts of clothes unavailable in the shops near home. The people in this location are extremely fashionable, so both Suzuki and Tani seem out of place (Suzuki is wearing a rather simple outfit).

The plan is to just walk around and buy anything they're interested in. Suzuki checks out a lot of shops while Tani follows and gives occasional comments of, "It looks like something you'd like," and "It suits you." Suzuki takes this very seriously and scrutinizes the clothing pieces. They go back and forth between shops. However, all the pieces are pricey, and Suzuki only manages to buy one even though she wanted a lot of different things.

Suzuki apologizes for making Tani walk in circles when most of it was pointless, but he says he had fun since this is a place he'd never come to alone. Suzuki is happy to hear that and says she had a lot of fun being with Tani. She's shining as she says that. Though they didn't do anything but walk around together, Tani feels that the day was special in its own way, which is a new feeling.

But on the way to the station, a more mature couple passes by them, and Tani feels them looking at him and Suzuki. He hears, "Hey, those two just now..." followed by some laughing. Tani couldn't hear exactly what they said, but when he looks back, his eyes meet with the girl's, who then looks away, flustered. Tani looks away but continues to wonder what the couple had been saying.

Suzuki says that it's apparently raining in their neighborhood even though it's sunny where they're currently. She got the news from a family text. Tani finds her oblivious voice grounding. Suzuki is worried and wonders if they have to buy an umbrella. Tani says they can think about it after getting to the station.

At the station convenience store, Tani finds himself thinking about the couple again. He's fine if they were just laughing at him, but the phrasing included Suzuki too. Which means that they were laughing at something about seeing him and Suzuki together.

Today, Tani remembered the couple again when he talked with Yamada and Taira in the bathroom and changed his hair. He feels that Yamada and Taira gave him needed encouragement, even if they weren't aware of doing so. He really wants to clear this up.

Year 2, Class 7, Classroom: 9:40 (Break) — Sunny

As Suzuki is getting ready for second period, Tani tells her that he asked Yamada and Taira to change his hair. Suzuki is surprised and asks if he was trying to change his style. Tani clarifies and says that they did get his hair wet, but it wasn't like they forced him to style his hair; he thought that it might be a good idea and told them so. Suzuki replies, "Oh, so that's what happened!" and the conversation ends there. Tani falls silent for a moment, mulling over how easy that went. Suzuki apparently didn't think the situation was as weird as he thought she did. Tani feels that it's probably fine since he cleared up the misunderstanding. Suzuki goes back to preparing for English class.

Tani feels that he should at least convey his thoughts in detail, so he starts another conversation, intending to lead with what had happened on Saturday, but he notices that Suzuki is frozen, staring at her textbook. He concludes again that her attention is elsewhere. Tani asks Suzuki what's wrong. Suzuki says that it's a first-year book and then falls dramatically to her desk, looking like she's about to cry. She exclaims that she really messed up now, even though she took all that time to prepare her books yesterday. Tani translates this as Suzuki accidentally packed a textbook from their first year of high school rather than the one they're using in this upcoming period.

Tani looks at the clock and suggests that she borrow one from another class as there's still time. Suzuki immediately revives and dashes off to get one, apologizing to Tani and saying that they'll take their time talking later. Tani watches her slow-running figure leave the classroom, then stares at her empty seat.

Azuma says that he seems to be getting cut off all the time today. Tani jolts, noticing her at his side. There seems to be a trace of a smile on her face. Tani asks if she's been watching this whole time. She says yes. Azuma then says that at least no one will bother them when they talk again later. She seems to be teasing him a bit, but Tani recalls Suzuki's parting words that Azuma's referencing and feels a bit happy that Suzuki's intending to take time to talk with him later. But he doesn't want Azuma to give him that sly grin again, so he doesn't show it on his face.

B-side: Doesn't Suzuki's makeup look really good today?

This is back to Suzuki's POV.

Hallway: 9:42 (Break) — Sunny

Suzuki is fast-walking down the hallway because running is forbidden. She actually couldn't focus on the social studies class they just had since she was thinking about Tani's hair. Even now, she's super curious what he means by the fact that he asked Yamada and Taira to style it. Suzuki really likes his hair today, though she also likes his normal look. She thinks Yamada and Taira did an incredible job. She's been feeling nervous at their eyes meeting more with his bangs out of the way.

In the hallway, Suzuki passes by a class that is coming back from P.E. She hears some girls talking about how the sweat messed up their makeup and starts worrying about whether hers will hold. Suzuki wants to look cuter for Tani today if he's going to see her more clearly. She heads to the girls bathroom.

Girls Bathroom: 9:45 (Break) — Sunny

Suzuki picks a relatively quiet bathroom near the library to use the mirrors. She notices that her eyebrows are uneven and that she still has some flyaways. She quickly fixes them. Suzuki starts wondering if Tani is interested in fashion more now because of their Saturday date. She briefly thinks about how there was a couple they passed by on Saturday that looked model-esque. Suzuki thinks of Tani on the same level. After all, she heard someone from the back of the classroom comment that he looks suave today. Though, changing up his bangs isn't what makes him handsome in Suzuki's eyes; there's also his symmetrical facial features, his low voice, his height and body, etc.

Suzuki starts daydreaming about what Tani would look like if he became more fashionable: swapping glasses for contacts, growing out his hair and tying it up, dyeing his hair pink and wearing matching accessories for a pair look with her...

She suddenly feels that it's gross of her to randomly imagine stuff about him like this. She quickly composes herself and feels grateful that no one comes by this particular bathroom. Just as she's thinking that, though, she hears a voice to her left. It's Nishi, speaking up timidly to move past Suzuki. She's backing away like Suzuki is a bear. Suzuki calls after her that she wasn't trying to commune with the mirror world. Nishi looks up at her. Suzuki then remembers...

Year 2, Class 8, Classroom: 9:48 (Break) — Sunny

Suzuki successfully borrows an English textbook from Nishi. She recounts what happened with her textbook, making Nishi laugh. Nishi shyly asks about Tani's new hair since she saw him in the hallway earlier. Suzuki says that Tani said he wanted to change how he looks. Nishi is surprised to hear this.

Suzuki heads out and catches a whiff of a really good scent. It's the beauty of Class 8, Honda, returning to the classroom. Much in the way that Suzuki thinks Sudaken is cool, she has the urge to squeal when she sees really cute girls.

Year 2, Class 7, Classroom: 9:52 (Second Period) — Sunny

Suzuki makes it back just in time for second period. Nishi's textbook somehow looks pristine even after a year, and Suzuki is gingerly flipping pages in slow-motion in order not to damage it. Even the highlight marks are neat. Suzuki thinks about how different this is to her own textbook, which is worn at the edges from being stuffed in a bag and has writing and stickers all over it.

Suzuki feels Tani looking at her before looking down at his desk. She sneaks looks at him in return and realizes that he seems kind of out of it, like something's bothering him. The teacher calls on Tani, but has to say his name again to get his attention.

Year 2, Class 7, Classroom: 10:45 (Break) — Sunny

After English class, Suzuki invites Tani to talk at a staircase outside of the classroom so that they won't be interrupted again. She asks him awkwardly if something happened on their date. Tani finally gets to explain everything.

Suzuki mulls over where to start with her response. She actually heard everything that college-aged couple said, but she realizes she should begin with the heart of the matter and leave that detail for later. So the first thing she says is that fashion isn't for others; it's something to lift your own mood. She says that there's no point in dressing in a way that loses yourself. Tani still seems confused, so Suzuki explains that while she does put in effort for her makeup for their dates, the way she dresses isn't for Tani. Tani repeats this, thinking about it, and Suzuki scrambles to say that she means that in a good way. Tani says he thinks he understands what she means. Suzuki clarifies that it's to build a mood that she brings with her when she meets him — gear to carry her feelings. So she doesn't think that dressing up is something that Tani should be worrying about. For her, the most important thing is that she likes what she's wearing and it makes her feel proud and upbeat in front of the person she likes.

Suzuki can't tell whether Tani's getting it or not, so she continues to ramble even though she feels like her words are a bit of a mess. She says that she's of course thankful that Tani was thinking of matching what she liked and being considerate to her, but if it's something that makes him nervous or stressed, then being fashionable probably doesn't have any importance to Tani himself. Dressing up is something you do because you want to and because it helps you become who you want to be.

Suzuki thinks about how she's gotten negative comments from other people for the stuff she chooses to wear, but she feels worse if she doesn't wear what she wants more than she does hearing those comments. Meanwhile, Tani thinks over what she said and then says he thinks he gets it. But... he asks Suzuki if he looked nervous today. She says yes. Then, to avoid letting him know that she's been observing him all day, she changes the topic to the couple they saw.

That couple had actually been calling them cute. Suzuki had been really happy to hear that they looked like a couple to other people, but she was distracted by her family's text update on rain. Tani is super embarrassed that he misinterpreted what had happened, and Suzuki teases him.

Suzuki takes a bunch of photos of Tani with his current hairstyle, and then they take a selfie together before going back to the classroom. Third period is P.E., so they need to change. Tani stops Suzuki and shyly says that if Suzuki likes his hair that much, he'll try to remember how to style it this way, though it'll only be every once in a while. Suzuki is super happy about this. Tani might've liked the hairstyle more than she thought.

Looking at the photo they just took, she sees that Tani is smiling faintly. Suzuki suggests they go buy some hair wax on the way home and wonders what brand Taira uses. Then she notices that it's almost time for P.E. and gets even more excited.

"The skies are all clear! I'll finish this with a twist serve—!"

______________

Personal Commentary

Why did they decide to make every character attractive? This honestly bothers me. I liked thinking of Tani and Nishi as average people, with Tani not being interested in dressing up and Nishi only doing it occasionally when she feels like it but otherwise defaulting to comfort. Something that I really thought was unique about Polar Opposites is how the characters would mention facets about each other's personalities when talking about what they liked about each other rather than physical appearance. In fact, the avoidance of mentioning physical appearance as a key factor felt pretty deliberate to me as a seasoned romance comic fan. Generally, the formula for one character asking what the other likes about them is: 1. mention physical qualities like being cute, handsome, hot; 2. then specific quirks like the way they hold their fork when they eat something and how cute that is; 3. and only then, round it out with a personal quality such as being kind to other people. Often you don't even get all three of these and it's 1+2 or 1+3 — but step number 1, talking about how beautiful they are etc., is virtually never skipped, to the point that its absence in both Polar Opposites and Ramparts of Ice struck me as unique. The fact that it's included in this book just really underscores that Agasawa is not the writer to me.

Craftwise, this book is also absurdly easy to read. I struggled more with Kuromajo-san ga Tooru!! than I did with this. Not a great sign when the characters are supposed to be in high school but the writing style is written for like 5th graders. Some of the things here feel extremely basic and boring, such as Suzuki randomly getting enamored with imagining styling Tani in a way that definitely runs counter to his personality and interests. Suzuki really comes across as way too simple in this book, which feels like a disservice to her.

Otherwise, though, I am glad for the easy Japanese practice. Whenever you come across a book that is written way below the level it should be at, just remind yourself that some second-language learner might be benefiting from it.

_________________

Translation Footnotes

She speaks in a very soft voice. Matsuoka says that she's here because of her dad's job and will only be staying for a month. The seat assigned to her is next to Perv Ace. Perv Ace is immediately taken with her, so he says his eyes and ears are better to keep his seat. Later, the students crowd Lulu to ask her a bunch of questions about herself, but Lulu doesn't answer and just keeps her eyes down. Perv Ace tells them to back off and to funnel questions through him. Mai asks why they have to do that, and he actually stands up to her for once and says that it's because, as Lulu's seatmate, he can sense how lost Lulu is. Perv Ace tries to tell poop jokes to loosen Lulu up.

During the break after second period, Mai and Yuri lead their girl factions to block out Perv Ace and ask Lulu questions. Lulu doesn't answer until Yuri asks about Lulu's dad's job. Suddenly, Lulu snaps that it's none of their business. Mai and Yuri leave in a huff. Once they're gone, all the boys surround Lulu, taking her side. Lulu says nothing to them. Mai is talking seriously with the girls in her group and eyeing Lulu.

2. Gentleman Perv Ace

Choco reports to Gyubid what happened at school, but Gyubid is staring at a book, Encyclopedia of Demons & Witches, without even flipping a page. Choco wonders what's up and sneaks behind her. Gyubid is staring at a section that lists the demon [1] Eurinome, who is said to be the King of Death. [2] He has two sons, Ecranome and Exonome. Under the blurb is a drawing of what looks to be some sort of monster with horns and long, curved nose.

Choco says it's creepy. Gyubid jumps up and snaps her book shut, saying that it's improper to peek at her stuff. Choco says it was because Gyubid wasn't listening to her at all. Gyubid says that she was listening and can listen to even 10 people at once — she won't lose to Prince Shotoku in this regard. Choco realizes that reference is from one of her books and that Gyubid's been reading her stuff. Choco sarcastically says that she's more than happy to have Gyubid read her books if it's helpful for her. Gyubid protests that she would never read such baby stuff, and even mentions the magazines Nakayoshi and Bessatsu Friend (which Choco notes is typically shortened to BetsuFure; the fact that Gyubid doesn't know this means that she's really just reading the magazine rather than hearing of it from someone else).

Gyubid says they should go take a look at what Lulu's up to, but Choco doesn't know where she lives. Gyubid is mad to hear this, and tells her to use the gaze on Lulu tomorrow.

The next day, Choco walks into the classroom to find Mai and Yuri surrounding Lulu with all of their posse. The two of them are making fun of Lulu in an indirect way by implying that she's wearing the same clothing as the day before. (This is a funny thing to say, considering that the anime really only gave everyone like one set of clothing.) They put on a whole skit about how there's some kind of smell of perfume coming from Lulu. Choco observes Lulu trembling ever so slightly, even though her eyes are still cast downwards. Mai and Yuri say it's Amour de Patou, but no elementary schooler would be wearing that to school. As they look each other and grin and then eye Lulu.

Just then, Perv Ace cuts in, saying to stop treating Lulu badly. Mai and Yuri feign ignorance and ask if he's implying they did anything wrong when they were just curious about the scent that was coming from Lulu. (And bullying her, Choco internally notes.)

Perv Ace pushes his way through the crowd and sits down in his seat. He says that it's only natural that Lulu is wearing perfume, because her place is a — Lulu quietly says to stop, but he doesn't hear her — beauty salon. Beauty salon? Did this city have something like that? Mai and Yuri remember that there's one near Daienji. Lulu again asks softly for Perv Ace to stop talking, but he keeps going and says the shop is right next to a cemetery. Lulu shouts his name, and the whole class goes quiet. Perv Ace apologizes. Lulu goes back to staring downwards. Mai and Yuri say that he has nothing to apologize for — or is where she lives also a private matter? Choco mentally notes that people generally figure out the area you live in even when you don't say anything. Though no one knows there's a black witch living in her house.

Mai and Yuri continue their bullying tactics and start wondering aloud if the reason why Lulu's family store is near the graveyard is because they do funeral makeup for dead bodies. That would explain why Lulu's always coming in that white dress: to mimic the white kimono Buddha would wear. Then they start implying that Lulu is actually a ghost if she's really going to disappear in a month.

This bullying continues every time Matsuoka leaves the room. Though he's now devoted to stopping bullying, he's completely unaware of what's going on. Perv Ace continues sitting like a guard next to Lulu through all of this even though he doesn't say anything, perhaps because of her scolding him before. Choco thinks that he's being rather gentleman-like and that this must have made Lulu soften towards him because she flipped over his lunch sandwich even though Mai and Yuri would've given her trouble for it if they saw her do it.

3. The Top and Bottom of French Bread

Choco reports what happened at school and says that she thinks Perv Ace is in love with Lulu. Gyubid asks her how she knows that. Choco says it's obvious, but then Gyubid gets her to admit that she has no love experience. Choco, annoyed, asks if Gyubid does, to which Gyubid immediately says yes.

Her first love was with the second son of the King of Death Eurinome: Exonome. He was a teacher while she was at the Witch Academy and was strong and fair in all his matters. She gave him a fox pelt she skinned via magic, and he was so happy with the gift that he invited her to go hiking. So they went gravedigging at a place where bodies had just been buried the previous night.

And then Gyubid made him a sandwich with dried toad and lizard, dressed with blood from a live pig. But she accidentally put the sandwich upside-down. Apparently, the bread in the Demon World is like French bread, where one side has the diagonal slashes. Except in the Demon Realm, the slashes indicate the bottom rather than the top like in the Human Realm. In both realms, though, putting the French bread upside-down is a bad omen and indicates death row convict treatment. Choco thinks about how this is just like how you're not supposed to stick your chopsticks straight up in your rice since you only do that when you're offering it to the deceased. After Gyubid gave Exonome the wrong-side-up sandwich, he didn't show anger, but he stopped talking to her.

Choco mentions that Lulu did the same flip thing to Perv Ace recently. Gyubid jumps into action and says they have to go to Lulu's house that night. She goes to make preparations and leaves Choco's room by climbing out of the window (so much for witches flying, Choco thinks), and hurts herself on the way down. Sloppy.

Gyubid comes back at 9PM with a concoction of toad, lizard, snake, and belladonna that was pulverized and simmered for four hours. She says that once it's finished cooling, Choco needs to put some on her face, arms, and legs or else she can't get close to Lulu since Lulu is a witch. Lulu is probably planning on having Perv Ace participate in the esbat, which is what they call mini versions of Witches' Sabbats (a large assembly of witches). If Choco doesn't put that mixture on places her bare skin shows, they'll think she's a human spy and eat her. Choco just says she won't go then, but Gyubid threatens to cast a curse that will make her allowance zero. Then she won't be able to buy Betsufure, Nakayoshi, or Sugar Sugar Rune. Choco says that's fine, she can just borrow it from her friends. Gyubid points out that she doesn't have friends. Choco internally agrees, but figures she can borrow from Megu. Gyubid says Megu doesn't read Betsufure, she only reads Vivi and VOCE (fashion magazines). Choco gives in. The smell of the concoction makes her think of puking.

4. The Guest of the Esbat

Choco and Gyubid make their way over in the night. Choco has gotten used to the smell, but the feeling of the sticky liquid is still gross. She asks if people they pass by will realize she's a human. Gyubid says that she cast a spell to stop their sense of smell.

They enter a dark forest with no streetlights. Gyubid has Choco walk in front into the cemetary. Choco gets scared and clings to her, but only a cat pops out. Gyubid tells her not to stick to her with her dirty arms. They look for Lulu, and Gyubid spots a dark figure standing in front of a huge grave. The figure is wearing a baseball cap. From the side, Choco can make out the overbite — it's Perv Ace. They follow him. He's walking around like he knows the place. Then his figure disappears. They hear Lulu greet him and see their shadowy figures on the path. Gyubid and Choco watch from behind a gravestone. Lulu is wearing the same dress as always, but it's glowing here.

Perv Ace isn't scared at all, and asks her what she needs from him. Lulu asks him to open up a grave. This rattles Perv Ace. He asks why, but she says not to ask her. She wants him to open up this grave. Didn't he say he'd do anything for her? She directs him to take a pole and stick it into a gap and then push the top off. Perv Ace reluctantly takes the pole from her and follows directions. Lulu giddily thanks him, and they see her figure rushing up to him. Perv Ace suddenly staggers and his face glows bright red even in the dark. He deliriously says he can't believe she kissed him on the cheek. Choco is confused because Lulu did no such thing. Gyubid explains that it's a spell that makes someone think that they were kissed. Gyubid's laughing and holding her sides now (she was snickering throughout this whole thing).

Lulu descends into the grave. Perv Ace is scared and asks what she's doing. Lulu says she's searching for bones to make an inverted cross. This grave belongs to a 20-year-old who was placed here the day before yesterday; that means their bones aren't brittle like old people's. Perv Ace asks what she needs a pendant like that for. Lulu says she's giving it to her teacher. Matsuoka? Perv Ace asks. Lulu snickers and says of course not, it's for her black magic instructor, who will arrive very soon.

Choco is speechless. Even Gyubid has nothing to say to this and is gripping her cloak tightly and staring at Lulu with her golden eyes ablaze. Perv Ace tries to duck out and run, but Lulu casts "Wacium ⬥ wacium ⬥ corire." [3] This makes the pole fly out in front of him. Perv Ace freezes. Lulu says that he can't leave yet and takes his hand and leads him back to the grave. He follows obediently, so Choco assumes he had some kind of spell cast on him. [4] Lulu leaves him standing in front of the grave and kneels before him, offering him as a monthly sacrifice to her instructor. Gyubid deduces that Lulu is trying to become a black witch without training by offering human sacrifices every month. Lulu is a poltergeist, just like the ones Choco encountered in Harajuku. Gyubid says that poltergeists can become black witches if they train, but they hate training.

Choco starts to rush in to save Perv Ace, but Gyubid pulls her back and tells her to wait until the last moment. Gyubid wants to see who this instructor is. Accepting sacrifices makes them a worthless maggot of a mage. [5]

5. The End of a Heartbreaking First Love

The instructor appears and asks Lulu if the sacrifice is ready. He's a bit confused on who the sacrifice is, since he senses other people around. Gyubid tells Choco not to move; they have the potion on them, so he shouldn't be able to sense them.

Lulu walks straight at Gyubid and Choco but passes by them. A scream comes out from behind Choco and Gyubid: It's Yuri and Mai. Lulu forces them to follow her with a spell. Her instructor scolds her for not noticing them earlier, and Lulu prostrates herself on the ground in apology. Her instructor excuses her and then asks which of these three she wants to make the sacrifice. Lulu spins around and looks Mai and Yuri over, saying that she initially wanted to make Kojima her sacrifice, but since they bullied her, that changes her calculations. She can only choose one sacrifice, though, and she wonders aloud who she should pick. Mai and Yuri stumble over excuses for why they each shouldn't be picked: Mai says that she's the class idol, mediator between the girls, and the class representative, so everyone will be sad if she disappears; Yuri says that she's not a frigid beauty like Mai, and the boys will be sad without a sweet girl like her around. Choco mentally notes that both of their reasons are equally bad. Lulu scoffs at the fact that they're fine with bullying but become so pathetic when it's their turn. Choco mentally agrees, but it's still not okay to turn them into sacrifices.

Gyubid stands up and tells Choco that it's go-time. She yells out to the group to hold it. Lulu jumps and asks who's there. Gyubid says that Lulu's not worth giving her name out to, but in summary, she's a black witch. Lulu tells her to stay out of her training. Gyubid says not to make her laugh, Lulu's just trying to buy levels with sacrifices. Actual training means doing the hard work, like this one here — and she pushes Choco out from behind her. Lulu pales, and Mai and Yuri shout, "Kurotori-san!" Choco sheepishly greets them (unclear if this is just in her head or out loud). Gyubid says that Choco is up from 5 in the morning to 12 at night cleaning and reading grimoires, working both her body and mind. So Gyubid's not about to let someone just buy levels in front of her. Lulu says that it's against the rules to interfere in another black witch's training. Gyubid says that's true, but she can't let someone she knows accept sacrifices. So from now on, she's going to be talking with her instructor.

Gyubid turns to the instructor and starts to tell them to call off the ritual but stops mid-sentence. She recognizes the instructor as Exonome. He gets flustered and turns around, claiming not to be Exonome.

Gyubid stumbles over an apology, confusing the heck out of Choco. This isn't the time to be feeling all sentimental over your first love! Choco thinks. Gyubid starts talking extremely formally and asks him not to select a sacrifice from these three, as they are friends of the black witch she's guiding. Exonome agrees and, with his back still turned, tells Lulu he doesn't need a sacrifice this month and not to meddle with these children again. Lulu asks him about her magic level, and he tells her to work on it without a sacrifice.

Choco feels like something's wrong with this situation — even if Lulu doesn't take a sacrifice this month, there's always next month. She speaks up and asks Exonome to quit taking sacrifices and stop Lulu from coming near this city again. Gyubid tries to quiet her for speaking so rudely, but Choco says she doesn't know and doesn't care who she's talking to; all she knows is that they're trying to take human sacrifices. And Gyubid said it herself: anyone who takes sacrifices is a worthless maggot of a mage. Gyubid again tries to quiet Choco, but Exonome agrees. He tells Lulu that he won't be taking any more sacrifices and that she has to work to raise her level herself. Then he disappears into vapor.

Lulu's face warps in rage, making her look like an old witch as she yells Choco's full name. She warns Choco that one day she'll knock her to the ground. Choco seems confused about this verb (たおす), even though it's a common way to say "defeat," and comments in her head that this isn't kung-fu or combat sports. Cursing all the while, Lulu runs over to the stick in the ground, jumps onto it, and launches into the sky. Choco is surprised as she hasn't seen any black witch fly before. Choco asks Gyubid if she saw that, but Gyubid has a hand on the gravestone and is saying "Prince Exonome..." sadly.

That confirms his identity, but Choco wonders why the two of them didn't exchange names earlier if it was really him. Was it because Gyubid was in a shock at seeing that he'd fallen low enough to take sacrifices from a poltergeist? Was it because he had physically turned away from Gyubid because he didn't want to let her see him like this? It feels like complicated adult stuff to Choco, but she gets that something sad has happened. And wait, Gyubid's crying. Choco is confused on how to comfort her, as she's never experienced a first love of her own.

Mai speaks up, asking if everything's okay now. Choco says probably, but she can't let them go back home yet. Mai gets scared that Choco wants to sacrifice them, which Choco internally retorts against. Choco asks Gyubid to wipe their memories. Gyubid scrubs away her tears like a kid, then turns around and squats in front of Mai and Yuri. Choco mentally apologizes as Gyubid wraps the two of them along with the soulless Perv Ace into her black coat. They yell that it reeks, which Choco notes is from the potion they slathered on themselves earlier. The three emerge from Gyubid's coat, staggering, and head towards the exit. Choco tells them to be careful in her head, noting that there's probably not any ghosts out there, but there might be some very scary cars.

Choco says to Gyubid that they should go home too, figuring that she'll try to comfort Gyubid on the way back, but Gyubid says Choco has to clean up the grave that Lulu left in a mess. So much for worrying about Gyubid. But Choco thinks to herself that it's fine since she got to know that Perv Ace was serious about his crush and she got to see Gyubid cry also. Choco wonders to herself whether she'll ever find a boy that she likes that much. If she does, though, it's going to be a regular old handsome-looking human. She'll make sure of that with the gazing technique. After all, they say that you should choose your partner seriously by looking at them deeply rather than going off of appearances. Choco resolves to try a little harder at her training from tomorrow on.

Bat: See you later!!

Personal Commentary

Don't really like the detail of Yokozuna also taking looks at Megu's miniskirt sometimes. There was no trace of that in the anime, where he only looked bothered that Perv Ace wanted to move him out of his seat. The book feels kind of "boys will be boys" about this, which is annoying.

You can really feel the budget in the anime for condensing all of this. The book mentions other classmates to shore up Mai and Yuri's classroom bossiness, but the anime just keeps it to Mai, Yuri, and Megu (who doesn't even say anything) when confronting Lulu. Which is interesting because the anime does show other classmates even in ep 1, but I guess they're all classmates that have their own eps later and not ones that you'd imagine would be Mai and Yuri's groupies. Though, honestly, with every new quirky classmate introduced in this series, you do start to wonder who those groupies even would be. You can't tell me that karate girl is standing around meekly nodding to Mai and Yuri for instance. And who are all the boys mentioned that do the no-rules dodgeball bullying in story one, and who crowd around Lulu to come to her defense in this story? There's Yokozuna, two boys randomly in love with Choco, a random Detective Conan kid, a tough aloof guy, and Oogata is also currently just in lala land with the puppet on his hand — just off the top of my head. Which or how many of these boys are supposed to be smitten with Lulu besides Perv Ace?

For that matter though, Mai and Yuri aren't really bullies in the anime. Rather, besides the initial questioning about Lulu's background, they just give Mai a few lines about getting on Lulu's case for wearing a ring. This reads more just like Mai is a sticker for rules and finds Lulu annoying rather than she and Yuri have made an active agreement to bully this new girl. I prefer that version of Mai, but I will say that seeing the bullying Mai and Yuri engage in makes Choco's comments about how she can't make enemies of the girls in her class by defying Mai and Yuri make much more sense.

In the anime, Lulu comes off as much more stoic and controlled than her presentation here in the book. Makes sense why they would do that to save on time.

We get more detail here about Gyubid's crush on Exonome, and the sandwich thing is funny, but this really only reflects even more poorly on her romantic taste. Exonome was her teacher and yet he still went on a date with her. According to character bios from Japanese fan blogs, he later apologizes to Gyubid for running off and marrying some princess of another kingdom. The amount of fail on this man. I'm glad they don't end up together. The chapter title for this last section makes it sound like Gyubid's love is over, but I remember in later episodes of the anime she still mentioned him in a crush-y way. Wonder how long it takes for her to drop this dude.

Also, Gyubid?? You're only letting Choco get 5 hours of sleep? I sure hope training to be a black witch also means that you don't need as much sleep 'cause that's evil otherwise.

In the quip about dating a human, Choco mentions the Johnny & Associates agency. I guess, if Choco at least thinks idol boys are cute, Oogata does have a chance. I don't think that goes anywhere, though.

Notes

魔神, which is like a god-like demon. I don't know if this distinction actually matters in this series though, as I don't know if there's any average 魔人 around. While I haven't met Eurinome or Ecranome, Exonome doesn't seem to necessarily have any powers that other demons do not, so I'm just leaving this translation as "demon" for now. ↩︎

This makes it sound like he has extra powers, but I think this might just be referring to the fact that he is the ruler of the Kingdom of Death. Considering that human souls seem to just fizzle out when they die, I'm not sure what "death" he could be ruling over exactly. Maybe future books will explain this. ↩︎

ワキウム・ワキウム・コリエーレ. The first two words start with "wa" and ends with "mu," though the "kiu" in the middle is the same as in Luciuge spells. Japanese fan blogs don't really know what the etymology for this is either, so it's probably just a bootleg version of Luciuge and Lulu's version of a catch-all spell. コリエーレ may be from the Latin word coorior, "to appear; to arise; to spring forth/attack." Corire is an infinitive form of this verb, but don't rely on me to conjugate Latin. Just picked this form because it ends in -re, which fits the spell pattern. ↩︎

The spell isn't the one they just heard, since that was just to make the pole fly. Maybe the kiss illusion Lulu gave him earlier doubled as some kind of enchantment? ↩︎

Choco's mom is watching TV with hearts for eyes for the young man in the leading role of a Tokusatsu Hero show. Choco notes that this fad (moms smitten by children's show heroes) has long passed, and her mom is always engaging in things late. She's always consuming milk and yogurt past their expiration dates also.

The bell rings and Megu pipes up loudly from the other side of the door, which makes the bell functionally useless. She's in another gaudy outfit today, with some pieces of Onee-kei style with other super childish pieces (like a big red heart badge). Choco thinks her style is so loud it would wake up anyone.

Choco asks her what's going on. Megu thinks she's asking where she got her outfit, so she starts explaining where she bought her jacket, but Choco interrupts and clarifies that she's asking Megu why she's here this early in the morning. Megu says that she was thinking they'd go shopping together. Megu was planning on shopping with her mom, but her mom suddenly came down with a fever this morning even though she was completely fine yesterday. Choco asks if Megu should be nursing her mom then. Megu says it's fine because her mom said that her being around would only raise her fever. Choco says she doesn't have any interest in fashion. This is her true feeling; even thinking about what to wear is already a pain to her. So she always puts on a T-shirt and overalls. Megu says that's just because Choco isn't familiar with fashion. If she dressed up, even if she wouldn't look as good as Megu, she'd be able to at least get Yokozuna to fall for her. Choco is mentally annoyed about how disrespectful that statement was to Yokozuna.

Choco's mom agrees with Megu that Choco could be really cute if she dresses up and hands Megu ten 10,000 yen bills. Choco is shocked, but her mom says that it's just a bonus because Choco has been working so hard by getting up early and cleaning her room. Choco thinks that this amount of money is way too much, when she realizes... wait... 100,000 yen...

Megu drags Choco out to go shopping. Choco reflexively looks back at her room's window, where she sees two yellow glinting eyes. Mentally, she yells at how this is all Gyubid's fault.

2. An Apprentice Black Witch on Takeshita Street

They arrive at Harajuku and it's jam-packed already at 10AM. Megu tells Choco that this is Takeshita Street and points out all sorts of stores. She asks Choco what style she likes, and Choco says she doesn't know. Megu explains fashion using more sophisticated and unfamiliar terms (in Kanji and Katakana), and Choco marvels at the fact that Megu isn't just locked to elementary (Hiragana) words like she is in school. This is the first time in more than 7 years of knowing each other that Megu has ever taught Choco anything.

Megu takes Choco all over the street and asks her what she thinks of different fashion they see on mannequins. Choco ends up making an X over her chest every time, and every time Megu somehow manages to relate it back to her own ability to pull of fashion. Choco doesn't really care what they get, since everything looks the same to her. It also doesn't matter since this is all a scheme by Gyubid, so Choco's task is actually to compensate her for her leather coat. Choco is getting more and more annoyed and thinking to herself that she hates humans and wants to go home. She wonders if Gyubid is following them.

Just then, a beautiful 30-year-old woman in stylish black clothes taps Choco's shoulder starts a conversation, handing her a business card that indicates that she's an editor of the monthly magazine Ora (オラ). Choco thinks that that's such an unsophisticated title ("ora" is an informal Kansai personal pronoun). The woman explains that she just started this magazine and decided on a Spanish title to compete against magazines that are using Italian (such as "Grazie"; probably a reference to Grazia). So it's actually meant to be read as "Hola."

The editor, Jirudo Rei [5], starts explaining that their magazine is going to have a page that goes over Summer Harajuku fashion, when Megu cuts in and starts explaining what she's wearing, assuming that Rei's looking for an amateur model. Rei tells her to wait her turn, turns back to Choco, and asks her to model for the magazine. Choco says that she thinks Megu is a better fit. Megu, who is pouting, agrees. She's been coming to Harajuku since 2nd grade. Rei says that Megu can help out, but she really wants someone fresh to Harajuku. Rei talks about a store Megu doesn't know about called Yamihara, and Megu gets really excited. Choco senses something is off, but she gives Rei her name. Megu chimes in, and then Rei introduces them to her cameraman, who is also dressed in all black.

3. Choco's First Skirt

Inside the store, Rei tells Choco to pick out an out with the store owner. The owner is a young woman in all white with tons of lace, which really confuses Choco because her only reference of what store owners would wear is people working at grocery stores. She's even confused at the headband that the woman is wearing and mistakes it for a towel before realizing that it's also lace.

The owner asks Choco if this is her first time with lolita. Choco has no idea what that is, so the owner explains that it's a princess-like clothing style. There's also gothic lolita, which uses a black base. She thinks that would suit Choco more. Megu chimes in and says she agrees, since Choco is a magic nerd and would look good in something witch-like. She starts to talk about what clothing would suit herself when Rei tells her to stand back since they're getting material from Choco right now. Megu says that she'll go pick something by herself then. Rei agrees that something with a high contrast with gothic lolita would be good. Choco finds it amazing Megu can't sense that she's being treated like a bother because she's so self-absorbed and even begins to admire her resilience.

Choco is presented with hangers full of white and black clothes and told to choose a dress and a jumper skirt. Choco is shocked at how her only option is a skirt — she's never worn a skirt before, at least since she can remember. She doesn't even own one. Choco decides that since gothic lolita has a black base, she can buy something for Gyubid instead to pay her back for the coat. Since Gyubid is only ever wearing the same coat, maybe it'd be better if she had something frilly and cute for once. Now having made up her mind to dodge this whole matter, Choco asks the shop owner if she has anything that would really make someone think of a black witch. The store owner says, "Of course!" and starts pushing aside hangers furiously. Choco feels like she's being treated like a princess and kind of likes it.

The store owner presents her with a black blouse and a white skirt with a large ribbon. The collar is shaped like bat wings. There's red tape lining the edges. The shop owner explains the fluttery princess sleeves, as well as other elements of lolita fashion like the pannier. Choco is confused but told to change into it with the store owner helping her. This is ultimately Choco's iconic witch outfit.

Choco leaves the dressing room and the camera man immediately starts taking shots. Rei is thrilled by how good Choco looks and starts clapping. Everyone in the store stares at Choco, making her embarrassed. Among the shoppers is a handsome man with long bangs over his eyes. Choco can feel a strong power in his stare.

Megu pops out of the next changing room in a rose pink classical lolita outfit. She explains all the elements of it but is met with a disgusted face from Rei. Megu actually notices this time and glares at Choco.

Choco is told to turn around by the cameraman and more photos are taken of her. The guy in the store keeps staring at her. Choco can't take it anymore and decides to start her exit by asking how much the outfit costs. It's 45,000 yen (something like $450 in the 2000s). That's half of what Choco expected, and she's happy about it.

Choco tells Megu that they should head back after she pays for this outfit, but Rei stops her, saying they have to take shots of her outside as well. Choco doesn't want to, as she finds the whole idea embarrassing, but she's wheedled into it.

4. The Mysterious, Handsome Man on Omotesandou Avenue

Rei says they'll take candid photos in the street. Choco doesn't get what that means, so Megu explains that it's a type of photography where the photographer takes photos from a hidden location. It's to prevent models from getting nervous and acting unnatural.

Rei hands Megu and Choco two separate routes to go on. Choco tries to read her map but it has names of places she doesn't know. Rei says that she'll stay 10 meters behind Choco. Rei also asks that they pose occasionally, when they walk, like they're excited but a little nervous to see Harajuku for the first time. Choco dreads doing this and knows she's going to be bad at it. Rei shows them the pose she wants, and it's of them crossing their arms over their chest.

Megu and Choco split up and Choco starts walking Meijidoori. Choco feels extremely embarrassed walking around in these clothes around all these people. She wishes Gyubid had taught her a disappearing spell. As she thinks that, she starts wondering whether this is all Gyubid's work too. Gyubid must have engineered this situation so that she'd come back begging to learn magic. Choco imagines Gyubid's gloating smirk and gets so frustrated she promises herself she won't give Gyubid what she wants.

Rei shouts her directions from the back. Choco notes that no one is staring at her since everyone is dressed in their own fashions. They come to an open cafe, which has fashionable people sitting under parasols in the garden, facing the street. Rei tells Choco to take a peek inside, like she's a little witch who's landed and admiring the humans. Choco internally thinks that this is nonsense, for Gyubid would never. Choco is instructed to pose in a specific way, and she finds herself following instructions.

Choco notices a stare from someone in the cafe. It's the man from before. Choco feels extremely embarrassed, especially because this guy saw her in overalls before. This man has hair covering one eye, and is laughing in a "giheehee" way... Wait a second. That's just like Gyubid's laugh.

But Gyubid wouldn't wear these clothes, would she? White jacket and pants with a navy-blue collared shirt? But the way she's laughing at Choco only confirms that it is Gyubid. Choco realizes Gyubid has been following her, presumably to confirm that Choco is paying her back. Choco suspects that Gyubid has pulled some magical strings to put Choco in this outfit to embarrass her. Choco is about to march right in there to attack Gyubid, but Rei's directions to start walking again snap her out of her anger. It would be even more embarrassing to just start whaling on someone in the middle of a busy cafe.

Choco continues visiting places and looking in their windows, and every time she sees Gyubid snickering at her. Choco resolves to make her pay when she's back home and thinks about looking into historical witch hunts for ideas. Choco reaches the last location, and all the buildings are now tall rather than small shops, there's somehow a forest in the city, and the sky has gotten all dark with clouds. Choco is still oblivious, though, thinking only about how to make Gyubid cry.

5. After 5,900 steps comes...

Rei says they're in Minami-Aoyama now. Choco gets the feeling that this is a completely different city that shouldn't be that close to Harajuku, but she doesn't know enough to be sure. There's fewer and fewer people the farther they go. Rei keeps giving specific directions, and Choco finds herself in front of Aoyama Cemetary. Choco senses something is off. Rei says that they're here because she's in gothic lolita clothing, and that this cemetary is so important that even famous people have their funerals here. Rei lifts Choco's blouse and checks a step counter attached to her lower back. They're at 5,673.

Choco is nervous. There's no more people or cars, just tall buildings and a single crow. As she turns again, the forest appears before her, with a line of gravestones. Choco's knees are shaking, but her feet keep moving, like someone is leading them.

"Remember the spell."

Suddenly, there's a voice in her ear. Choco thinks it's a ghost, but it's then it's Gyubid calling her dumb: how many times does she have to tell Choco that there's no such thing as ghosts? Choco looks around, but she only sees an old woman about 3 meters ahead. Gyubid's voice says she really is a low-level witch. The old woman lifts her face, and it's Gyubid.

Gyubid tells her again to remember the Luciuge Rofocale spell and to use it when Rei tells her to stop. Choco asks what she means, but Gyubid's voice disappears. Rei tells Choco to go in and walk about 50 steps. Choco pieces together that the device attached to her is a step counter. She adds up numbers Rei mentioned before and realizes Rei wants 5,900, the number of steps needed to summon dead spirits. Choco has been making the Andrea Cross pose this whole time.

There are 10 steps left. Rei starts counting down, excited. 3... 2... 1... In front of Choco is a huge grave stone. Rei clamps down on her shoulder with a smile and asks why she's shaking. She takes out a paper from her bag and tells Choco to read it. It says: "I seek thy presence. Appear before me." Choco asks if she has to read it aloud. If it's just for a picture, she can fake it, right? Rei's face is like an oni. "No!" she says, Choco has to read it with her voice. Rei says Megu should also be reading the slip around this time. Rei continues to order Choco to read it, but she chants "Luciuge ⬥ luciuge ⬥ rofocale!" over and over.

The grip on Choco's shoulder lessens. A boom, and then there's white smoke. Choco keeps chanting over and over until Gyubid tells her she can stop, since Jiruido Rei has already disappeared.

Choco immediately hugs Gyubid (who is now in her usual outfit). She forgets to attach "-sama" when addressing her, but Gyubid doesn't say anything about that. Choco thanks her and then asks why she's here. Gyubid says that Choco's dad got mad when he heard about Choco going to Harajuku without an adult, worried something could've happened to her, so Gyubid decided to check on Choco. And what was Choco doing? Making a bunch of Andrea Crosses. Choco recalls that she was doing that reflexively as she was saying no to all of these fashion options Megu brought up. She had attracted low level poltergeists and even stepped into their nest. It turns out that the cameraman and store employee were also poltergeists.

Choco asks why Gyubid didn't help her earlier. Gyubid says she thought Choco would notice on her own, since the things they said, like "Yami no Harajuku" (Dark Harajuku), were obviously off. Choco protests internally that she wouldn't know any better. Gyubid says that Choco doesn't need to be so mad. She thought it'd be good training for Choco, and it was such a low level poltergeist that even Choco's spell was able to destroy it in one go. Choco asks what poltergeist she would've even summoned if she had gone through with it. Gyubid asks her if she wants to give it a try and see. Naturally, Choco does not.

Gyubid says they should head back, but Choco asks what she should do about this outfit she didn't even pay for. Gyubid says that Choco should just take it as a present from a poltergeist since there isn't any curse on the clothing. And the dress suits Choco; it gives off the air of a black witch. Choco doesn't have to pay Gyubid back as long as she keeps wearing that outfit. Choco doesn't want to, but Gyubid says that, if she doesn't, she'll curse her parents and make Choco's allowance 0.

Choco remembers that Megu is also supposed to be summoning a poltergeist. She starts to run off to look for her, but Gyubid pulls her back and points. Megu is in front of a gravestone. Choco says they have to hurry, but Gyubid says they can leave her be. She'll never perform the spell, because she can't read kanji. They get closer and listen to Megu attempting the chant. She's reading it all wrong.

Bat: There's more to come!

Personal Comment Section

I think it's interesting that this is how Choco got her gothic lolita dress in the novels. In the anime, they don't bother with this and just have Gyubid present her with the outfit. Something I was never quite sure about was whether or not this outfit actually had magical properties or if Gyubid was just pulling her leg all the time for aura points, given that we see other kids do magic without having to wear a fancy outfit. (But then again, the anime was a low budget production, so what if they just didn't want to bother designing the witch outfits for them? lol) I hope the novels answer this question for me!

Gyubid GNC win. The whole compensation thing about her coat was funny.

Footnotes

Probably a play on 無用 (muyou), "unnecessary," and　無料 (muryou), "free (of price)". "Gratuitous" also has both meanings. Shoutout to @magical-pun-girl for all the terminology help this story too.

Reference to Saint Andrew's cross, with "Andrea" (アンドレア), though the JP wiki article refers to it as 聖アンデレ十字, which reads more like "Andere." Some other websites also use the -a version, though. 

『我、汝を待ち望む。現れよ。』 

Gyubid distinguishes between 幽霊 and 死霊, which share the same second character (spirit). Both of these basically translate to ghost, so it's a distinction unique to this series. 幽霊 (yuurei) is referring to the spirits of dead humans, while 死霊 (shiryou) are spirits that already exist in the Demon Realm and cross over to the Human Realm sometimes. Given that they're their own species of beings and to make this lore distinction clearer, my friend and I went with "poltergeist," which is from German and means "noisy spirit." 

2. Megu's Spirit Photography

Choco has unearthed her floor for the first time in five years when Megu suddenly calls her name from the front door. She says she wants to walk to school with Choco, and Choco's mom starts crying again. Choco again is annoyed by this overblown reaction, but her mom says that this is the first time this has happened since Choco entered elementary school. Choco mentally notes that this is true, but she also doesn't care because she thinks having to deal with girl talk (fashion, etc.) is annoying. Gyubid says Choco has a bad personality. Choco thinks she doesn't want to be told that by a black witch.

Choco invites Megu up to Choco's room. Gyubid goes to hide in the corner of the ceiling again for the fun of it.

Choco hears Megu counting the steps as she comes up the stairs, but she falls silent right before Choco's room. She starts going down the stairs and the count starts over. Then Megu dashes up the stairs and cheerily bursts in with a, "Good morning!" Her outfit is loud as always in Onee-kei style (likely Gal-adjacent, given Choco's reaction). Megu has been into fashion since kindergarten. Choco asks what she was doing on the stairs, and Megu talks about how there's a story about their school's stairs where something bad happens to you when the number of the stairs going up vs. down aren't the same. Choco thinks this is ridiculous and doesn't appreciate that Megu's playing around with her home staircase. Though the formatting of the text indicates that it's a thought,[3] Megu catches on and insists that she's not playing around; it's real, and that's why she's come to talk to Choco. Choco mentally notes that this checks out since there's no way Megu would hang out with her unless it had to do with occult stuff.

Megu brings out her fashionable tote bag (of which she's the only student to be using as a school bag) and shows Choco a picture. Unlike the class photo in the anime, it's a pic of Megu, Mai, Yuri, and Shou. There's a figure behind Megu's peace sign but only their hair is visible. Megu says that they took the photo after making up after fighting over Shou (to which Choco is internally annoyed about because she was the one who solved that for Megu with the attempt to call Cupid), but weird stuff has been happening to her since.

The hair apparently belongs to their teacher, who snuck in the photo because he was so touched his students were making up and getting along or whatever.

Megu insists that there's a face in the wall and that other creepy things have been happening to her. She lists off things that all sound normal to Choco. Megu wants Choco to be her bodyguard, and Choco wants to say no, but Gyubid telepathically tells her to say yes because the photo really is haunted.

3. When It Comes to the Self-Proclaimed "Hearty Hunk of a Teacher"...[4]

The two walk to school and Megu imagines all sorts of paranormal phenomena, but Choco points out that it's all regular stuff. Megu doesn't listen to this and, at school, tells the other kids that all this bad stuff happened to her but Choco guarded her. Mai asks Choco to be the president of the Paranormal Investigation Committee because other stuff has been happening to the students in this class. Yuri is worried about the stairs thing.

Their teacher, Matsuoka, comes in and looks around for attendance and points out that there's someone crying: Yokozuna, to Choco's diagonal left. Choco apparently didn't notice this because Yokozuna cries often, like whenever people say that he's fat or his legs are short or that he cries a lot. (leave this kid alone)

Matsuoka's mean nickname for Yokozuna (Iwata Daigorou) is "Kuishinbou Banzai" in the novel (the "Banzai" part didn't make it to anime, just "Kuishinbou," which was translated to "Piggy"). When Matsuoka says it, the other boys in their class put their hands up and repeat the name, or just the "Banzai" part.

Matsuoka tells him to speak up about what's wrong, but Yokozuna just weeps, so Mai stands up and says that the boys were bullying him with no-rules dodgeball. Choco notices marks on his face and the back of his T-shirt. In no-rules dodgeball, there's no court, so people who are hit with the ball can keep playing instead of standing on the side and waiting. Choco thinks this way of playing dodgeball makes no sense. Since balls can fly out from anywhere, it often hits people in the face. Being bigger and someone who's quick to cry, Yokozuna ends up getting targeted more. Choco thinks the other boys are stupid. Mai goes on about how no-rules dodgeball is supposed to be forbidden, and it's unforgivable that the boys were using that game to bully Yokozuna. The boys grow flustered and say they weren't bullying him. They demand proof. Mai swiftly replies that the proof is the marks on Yokozuna's face and his nosebleed. Choco mentally cheers Mai on.

Matsuoka asks "Piggy Banzai" if that's true. Yokozuna nods. The boys protest and tell Yokozuna to say that it isn't true. The teacher gets mad at them.... for calling him Yokozuna instead of Piggy Banzai. He then tells him to just wear thicker clothes. Mai insists that the problem is the no-rules dodgeball and the boys are in the wrong. Matsuoka just laughs and says that humans hate following rules. Mai protests, but he says that there's no point in banning the game. Then he turns to Yokozuna and tells him that hard experiences make you stronger, and that's what youth's about. The girls are aghast.

Matsuoka then changes the subject to a surprise kanji quiz. Everyone groans, and he gleefully says wanting to hear that sound is why he became a teacher. Choco thinks something is deeply wrong with him. Choco barely has time to do her homework due to all her witch training, so she does poorly. Matsuoka makes them read their scores out loud. Mai says "full points" egotistically. Yokozuna also got full points, at which point Matsuoka bullies him by saying he's full both on the test and on food. The boys all join in on the "Banzai" joke again. Choco is forced to read out that she got 3 points, but Matsuoka pretends not to hear her and asks if she said full points ("santen" sounds close to "manten"). She repeats 3, aggravated that he's pretending not to hear her when she sits right in front of him. Matsuoka joke asks if she's had a curse put on her. Choco mentally thinks, yes, by the freeloader black witch in her house. Megu scores 0 points. After making an annoying joke about if she's speaking Kansai, Matsuoka looks at her paper and reads aloud her first kanji mistake with its unintentional warped meaning. He starts laughing and the boys laugh with him, and ask him to read out more. He does, and Megu stands there biting her lips and staring at the floor. Choco thinks she must be really hurt, since normally she expresses her feelings loud and clear.

4. Black Witch Debut!

Choco is home recounting what happened to Gyubid. Yokozuna cried all day; Megu got so mad she screamed and kept talking about how she was going to make Matsuoka pay. Mai and Yuri agreed to help her. Choco likewise can't forgive Matsuoka's behavior. Gyubid interrupts her and asks what she's going to do about the Paranormal Investigation Committee. Choco doesn't get the connection, but Gyubid says that Matsuoka is probably dealing with something supernatural. Choco says she checked out the area where they took the photo, but the face that Megu saw was just a trick of the eye or some kind of prank. Gyubid says that the problem isn't with the location of the photo, but who took the photo. Ghosts don't exist. Humans just disappear after being cremated, so all psychic phenomena are created by the feelings of living humans. [5]

Choco takes out the photo and Gyubid sniffs it. Then she tells Choco to head to the school at night with Megu. Taking out another black coat from inside her coat, Gyubid tells Choco to wear it since it raises magic power and also wards off evil. Naturally, she also tells Choco that she'll be in trouble if she loses it or gets it dirty.

Choco meets up with Megu at the children's park behind the school. She's really embarrassed to be wearing Gyubid's spare coat. Megu freezes in place when she sees Choco, so Choco starts saying something about how she should change, but Megu interrupts her with excited praise about how she knew Choco wasn't just your average occult maniac; she even looks like a black witch, how wonderful! Megu says she couldnt help but feel scared about checking out the staircase together, but she feels full of courage now since she knows that Choco can resolve the issue.

They go to the school and Megu worries about opening the gates, which are locked shut and will sound an alarm if forced open without a card-key. Choco calmly states that the gate isn't locked and alarm system is out of order tonight, and pushes the gates open. No alarm. Megu is amazed. Choco thinks to herself that it's not like she did anything particularly amazing — it was all Gyubid. Choco says that since the card-key system is broken tonight, Matsuoka will be patrolling instead. They head to the staircase.

They climb up and count the steps from the second floor to the third (where their classroom is). Going up is 14, but going down is... Megu starts counting, but when Choco turns around, she sees a new shadow on the floor from the window that wasn't there before. It looks human-shaped.

Megu finishes counting: 13. There's one step missing. The shadow disappears, and Choco and Megu head to the next place paranormal phenomena have been occurring: the girl's bathroom on the third floor. All the single use stalls are closed even though there should be no one around to use them. Megu says they're also closed during the day and there's no response when you knock on them. Choco spots the shadow from earlier sitting on the floor in front of the stall furthest in. The shadow is big and its shoulders seem to be trembling, like it's crying.

Choco asks Megu who took the photo she showed her earlier. Megu says Yokozuna. Matsuoka saw Yokozuna passing by and made him take the photo for them. Choco asks how Yokozuna was acting when he took the photo. Megu says he was crying while doing so because their teacher had taunted him by asking if his fat finger could even press the shutter and saying that the camera might get lost in his fat cheeks. Choco confirms mentally that the problem with the spirit photograph isn't the location but who took the photo. Yokozuna's resentment turned into a vengeful astral body [6] and was causing paranormal phenomena throughout school. To dispel this spirit, they have to solve its grudge, or rather, take revenge on Matsuoka.

Choco asks Megu to go ahead to the next location, the music room. Megu is afraid to go alone, but Choco tells her that she's going to perform exorcism now and Megu could get caught up in it if she sticks around. Megu agrees to leave Choco, shaking all the while. Choco gets to work — not on exorcism, but on using a spell to give shape to Yokozuna's resentment. After all, the specialty of black magic is to cast curses.

Choco chants "Luciuge ⬥ luciuge ⬥ liberare" [7] three times, and the shadow stands up and charges at her. She reflexively steps back, but the shadow darts to her side and then off to the music room, where Megu is.

5. An Astral Body's Vengeance

Choco finds Megu in the brightly lit music classroom: she's fine. They hear Matsuoka humming and talking to himself, coming down the hallway. He's annoyed about being on patrol duty and talks to himself about how he wanted to dance in a club all night long instead.

Choco and Megu hide themselves between a window and a desk. Matsuoka assumes that the light was left on by mistake and turns it off. Then the piano suddenly starts to play slow, sad sounding notes. Megu is clinging to Choco, who has a hand against Megu's mouth to keep her from screaming. Choco's legs are shaking. Matsuoka directs his flashlight to the piano. There's a figure there — Beethoven.

Choco looks to the wall. Of the pictures of the composers, Beethoven's is missing from his. Beethoven starts speaking (in Japanese, which even Choco comments on) about how sad the sounds of the trampled are, then yells at Matsuoka for failing to grasp his meaning. Matsuoka fails to form any words, but when Beethoven comes closer (without feet, Japanese ghost style), Matsuoka throws his flashlight and runs out the room. Beethoven's picture reappears in its frame, smirking.

Choco tells Megu that they gotta get going since they don't want to be in this room anymore. Outside in the hallway, Matsuoka keeps running two or three steps before falling on his hands and knees, crashing into the walls or hallway windows. He reaches the girl's bathroom and darts into it. Choco looks in and he's desperately knocking on the closed stall, screaming about how it won't open. He's crying buckets. None of the doors will open, and there's no response to his knocks. He screams for some reason unknown to Choco and tries to open the stall furthest in.

A response comes: "This stall is occupied by the student you've nicknamed so cruelly." The voice comes out in small starts, interrupted by weeping in between.

The voice says that it will be out shortly to clear away its resentment towards Matsuoka. Just as Matsuoka takes a step back, the door slams open. Yokozuna's dark shadow comes out and asks Matsuoka to flush himself away along with all of the bad things he's said. All the toilets suddenly flush. Yokozuna's shadow reaches out a hand to Matsuoka. Matsuoka squeaks out a "Help me," and then bolts from the bathroom. Yokozuna's shadow chases him.

Megu's knees give out, and her eyes are hollow. Choco is worried about her, but she's more worried that Matsuoka is going to be killed, which she'll then feel guilty about because it was her spell that gave Yokozuna's astral body a form. Choco tells Megu, who looks like she's half-fainted, to wait there, and runs after Matsuoka and the shadow.

Matsuoka pleads "Help me," and starts running down the cursed stairs, but stops halfway when Yokozuna's shadow teleports to the bottom of it when it had been behind Matsuoka just seconds ago. It calls out to Matsuoka; he recognizes the voice as Yokozuna's. Yokozuna's shadow says that the Matsuoka only ever says mean things to him and never helps him. He resents Matsuoka. And it's not just him; many others in the class also resent Matsuoka. Matsuoka says he'll apologize. The shadow says that if apologies were good enough, we wouldn't need the police. It gets closer to Matsuoka. Matsuoka begs for forgiveness, saying he won't call him any more weird names, and he'll reprimand the other boys.

Matsuoka suddenly turns around in Choco's direction, frantically trying to run up the stairs instead. He collides into Choco and screams out another "Help me!" while trying to cling to her. But Choco's coat is slick, and his attempts at grabbing her slide right off. Matsuoka's foot slips, and he goes tumbling down the staircase.

"Luciuge ⬥ luciuge ⬥ retractale." [8]

Gyubid stands at the bottom of the stairs. She chants the spell again. Yokozuna's shadow fades away.

Choco asks Gyubid why she's here and steps over Matsuoka to descend the stairs. Gyubid says that she came to check on Choco since the astral body's grudge was stronger than expected and might have been too much for her. Choco asks if everything's all right now. Gyubid says yes, because she chanted the spell to withdraw the astral body. Gyubid says she also wiped the memory of Choco's flashy friend (Megu), since she looked so scared that Gyubid figured she might not come to school again if she remembers what happened. Gyubid says that Yokozuna's spirit [9] is also satisfied now, though that might not last if the teacher pulls the same stunts.

Gyubid says that Choco did good on her debut, since usually people freeze up when they see astral bodies. She's in the middle of saying that Choco passed when she lets out a yelp and points at the jacket Choco is wearing. She asks accusatorily what Choco did to her precious spare coat. There's a bunch of tiny scratches all over the bottom part of it. Choco says that Matsuoka did that when he was trying to run away from Yokozuna's astral body. Gyubid fires off a stream of her typical insults: "Idiot! Moron! Blockhead! Numskull! Dipstick! Utter imbecile!" (The book describes this as like a machine gun.)

Gyubid yell-asks what Choco's gonna do about this. Choco says she's going to do nothing since this is just what happens when you use black magic. Gyubid yells not to give her attitude when Choco's nothing but a low-level witch and demands compensation. Choco protests that she has no way of doing so, but Gyubid is shouting, "Compensation! Compensation!" as she runs down the stairs. What a childish tantrum, Choco thinks, but there's no way she can actually replace the coat, so it doesn't matter. All in all, Yokozuna's resentment has been satisfied, Matsuoka is reflecting on his actions, and the school hauntings have been solved, so things turned out pretty well. Matsuoka starts to get up, so Choco quickly gathers Megu and returns home.

The next day at school, the classroom's air is tense. When Matsuoka hobbles in, Mai immediately stands up and says that she became the leader of the "Denouncing Mr. Matsuoka Trampling All Over His Students' Feelings Committee", and she wants to have a word with him during this morning session to...

Mai trails off and the whole class gasps in shock. Matsuoka apologizes and says he was in the wrong. His face is covered with injuries. He apologizes to Iwata for giving him the Piggy Banzai nickname and for saying it was his own fault for being bullied. Matsuoka also says he won't make fun of people's tests anymore and he'll be watching for people breaking the rules. He apologizes again. Mai starts to say something, but Matsuoka cuts in, saying he understands: If apologies were good enough they wouldn't need the police. He asks her what he should do and says he'll do anything. Mai says that wasn't what she was going to say — she's curious about what happened to his face. The whole class nods. Matsuoka rubs his swollen face with his fingers, and says, "I hurt myself ghosting down— I mean, going down the stairs at school." [10] Choco thinks to herself that he's hopeless for making a pun in this situation.

(The text says, "Just kidding...")

Bat: And then? And then??

— End of Volume 1, Story One —

Personal Comment Section

I don't think they clarified the Beethoven thing in the novel, but that definitely has to be Gyubid's doing.

Choco is so real for also being like... "Man, I just don't want to feel responsible for someone dying on me."

Interestingly, we don't get any dialogue here of Yokozuna saying that he prefers the nickname Yokozuna rather than his name Iwata. I guess they added that in the anime? It's weird to not have it here, since nicknaming a fat kid "Yokozuna" (top rank in Sumo) can also be offensive if the kid doesn't like it.

I'm not into how the book describes Yokozuna's body. Uses a lot of imagery tied to food (like he looks like a steamed bun) and SFX that emphasizes the plump feeling. I don't feel like other characters' bodies get this type of treatment; it reads as fatphobic.

In general, I prefer the anime's take on this first story since the crimes fit the punishment there (one bad nickname, not enabling bullying nor bullying all the students = one big scare by Yokozuna's astral body) rather than what happened here. I'm guessing since it was a 3-pronged "ghost" scare (music room, bathroom, staircase), it was meant to stand in for each of these bad things he did in the novel (calling Yokozuna "Piggy Banzai", excusing the dodgeball bullying, shaming Megu's kanji test), but it still doesn't feel equal. The section with the girl's bathroom also didn't make sense to me. It feels like the more logical thing to do is to just try to exit the building entirely rather than bang on the stalls of the bathroom, asking to be let in. Let in to do what? Take a nervous poop? Hiding in the bathroom doesn't seem any safer than hiding in another open room. Maybe if they had gone into the horror element more rather than the kiddy ghost story vibe, it would've been better.

I do think the counting stairs thing is pretty funny, though. I definitely remember having this discussion in elementary school on step counting and whether it was the same going up or down.

Footnotes

1: The general format of the spells is Luciuge ⬥ luciuge ⬥ __re (ルキウゲ・ルキウゲ・～ーレ), which derives from the demon Lucifuge Rofocale in the Grand Grimoire. As a result, "Rofocale" is the most common spell in the series. (Note: the dots in the Japanese just emphasize the split in words for katakana, but me and my friend think they look cool and opted to use diamonds instead of just commas or spaces.)

"ルキウゲ is referring to Lucifuge, but they changed the フ to a ウ in the name, so I dropped the F as well. "Lucifuge" is a combination of two Latin words, "Lux" (light) and "Fugio" (flee), which makes the term "one who flees from the light". I suppose that's pretty black witch-y.

The ーレ ending is likely a reference to the れ command form in Japanese.

All of this is to say that this spell (ルキウゲ・ルキウゲ・タイトゥムス), which only ever shows up in book 1, doesn't follow the format of the typical spells. The last word, "タイトゥムス" doesn't end in ーレ, and doesn't seem Latin, either. My guess is that it's a portmanteau of the English words "tight" and "bottoms" (as in referring to lower garments), タイト and ボトムス. This would fit the effects of making Choco's overalls constrict around her. "Titetoms" is my way of combining these words. I used "ite" instead of "ight" to not seem so obviously English in a sea of Latin-like spells.

The anime doesn't use "Titetoms" (タイトゥムス) but "Contages" (my best transcription guess: コンティギネス), which the Anxious-He sub group rendered as "Contagiarsi." I don't actually know why they did that over "Contages." But also, I don't really know Latin that well anyway so I don't know if my spelling is the most correct either, but it actually gets a result on internet searching while "Contagiarsi" does not.

The anime also differs from the book in that "Contages" uses a strand of Choco's hair to control her like a puppet.

Still, neither the "Titetoms" nor "Contages" follow the typical spell format, and they also never show up again (at least according to a Japanese blog post I'm using as reference for the spells in the books. Limited-edition redacted spell?

2: Choco in this book regularly says she doesn't have any friends (友だち), yet during the ritual to call out Gyubid in the prologue the narration said "friends from school" (クラスの友だち). I guess she means she doesn't really have people she's close with. I'm not really sure why this inconsistency exists; Choco could just call them classmates if she really wanted to. Choco also later does use the word "friend" for Megu in her head when she's reacting to her mom's tears, like "There's no need to get so emotional just because a friend came to pick me up!" (友だちがむかえにきたからって、そんなに感動するなぁ！) but I guess you could say this is more rhetorical.

3: Sometimes people respond to Choco's internal thoughts, so I guess her face just displays what she's thinking really clearly or she somehow says parts of it out loud without quotation marks. This kind of confused me when reading at times. In the anime, she does sometimes make small side comments to herself, but she also has times where she quips without voicing anything.

4: Fansubs seem to use something like "Schoolgirls' Heartthrob Teacher," but this doesn't actually make sense with the Japanese. For one thing, "schoolgirls" is nowhere to be found. The Japanese is 熱血イケメン教師, which basically means "hot-blooded handsome teacher." The point of this isn't that he wants young girls to fall in love with him but that he sees himself as one of those inspirational young teachers you see in Japanese Dramas. In fact, this self-proclaimed name is rooted in the term 熱血教師, which is just "passionate/enthusiastic teacher." The イケメン (good-looking guy) being inserted here is just for his ego. As such, we're going with "Hearty Hunk of a Teacher," as it rolls off the tongue and captures all 3 parts of this self-given title.

5: The word Gyubid uses here is 霊 (rei), which is "soul; spirit; departed soul; ghost." The sense I get here is that souls of dead people don't haunt the living, so there are no "ghosts." More on this to come in future chapters.

6: The term used for this is 生き霊 (ikiryou), which is a "vengeful spirit (spawned from a person's hate)." The kanji that make up this word are literally "alive" and "spirit".

7: ルキウゲ・ルキウゲ・リヴェラーレ "Liberare" is a Latin word meaning "to set free." This spell only appears in book 1. It is also used in the anime, though.

8: ルキウゲ・ルキウゲ・リトラッターレ "リトラッタ" from the English word "retractable" (リトラクタブル). The ッ could be standing in for the omitted ク. The ending of the word is replaced by the typical spell format. This spell only appears in book 1. Not used in the anime.

9: Uses the word 気 here (spirit; mind; heart).

Miki and Inori are walking along a bank with their collars turned up. It's almost Christmas Eve. They talk about how quickly time has passed; it's been a year now since they fought Labyrinth. Though they had eventually gotten their parents' permission before heading out to Labyrinth, Miki learned after the fact that Remi had been the final holdout. When Miki had returned after the fight, Remi neglected her customer and dashed over to hug her in tears. Miki thought to herself that she really must have made her mom lonely. So she had refused the Paris modeling offer from her dad, but…

Miki and Inori haven't talked about the modeling offer since their argument. Miki realizes that she hasn't apologized to Inori properly and stops walking and looks at Inori. Inori meets her eyes. Miki then realizes that Inori had actually stopped before she had and had looked at her first. Just from their eyes meeting, Miki understands that Inori had been thinking the same thing she had.

Just then, Inori suddenly starts to speak. She says that since she wants to be a veterinarian in the future, she's taking the entrance exam of a high school that is associated with a university that has a veterinary department. But the competition is really fierce. Miki says that she's sure it'll be easy for Inori. Inori laughs and then says that even if she gets in, she'll have to be in education for 6 years, which will cost a lot of money. Miki asks how much. The figure Inori cites is way more than Miki even imagined. Inori says that it costs so much that she had actually given up on becoming a veterinarian before. She didn't think she could make her parents pay that much.

Miki is shocked; this is the first time she's heard anything about this. Inori says that at that time it was Love who cheered her on. She sits down on the bank, and Miki joins her. She says that while she was tutoring Love, Love suddenly asked her if she was still thinking of becoming a vet. Inori had told her what she had just told Miki, and Love just said, "Hmm, that's a lot…" But then she went and researched a bunch of scholarship opportunities for Inori, to the point of neglecting her own studies.

Inori had thanked her, and Love said that Inori just had to make sure she passed the exams first. Inori shot back that she didn't want to hear that from Love. Love joked that Inori was being mean, and they laughed. That night, Inori told her parents her true feelings, and together they decided on her path towards becoming a veterinarian.

So, Inori had thought that this time it was her turn to cheer on Miki, and she had gotten presumptuous about it. She apologizes. Miki immediately says no, she's the one who should be sorry. She's now crying and can't stop. She loudly apologizes for saying something as cruel as that Inori could never understand her feelings, bawling like a kid. Inori has never seen Miki cry like this before. And before she knows it, she's crying too.

After some time of crying, Miki regains her determination and says that she'll tell her mom her true feelings. Inori wipes her tears and says that she knows it'll go well — she believes it! Miki says she's got this; she'll definitely get her mom on the same page as her. She wipes her tears away, grinning wide, and says, "I'm perfect!"

That night, Miki tells Remi about the Paris offer… Only to find out that she already heard from her dad and assumed Miki was going. Miki asks her if it's really okay, since that means Remi will be alone, but Remi says cheerfully that she's already talked to Katsuhiko about it and when Miki leaves, her brother Kazuki will come to live with Remi instead. Miki makes a strained smile, a bit annoyed that Remi decided all of this without speaking to her at all. But she knows that this is the type of person her mom is. Remi probably predicted that Miki would worry about her and say no to the Paris offer, so she set this up in the background. She had been in the palm of her mother's hand the whole time. Miki thinks again about how formidable her mother's love is.

Miki teases her mom and says that if Kazuki is going to live here, she might as well remarry Katsuhiko. Remi flatly says that isn't going to happen.

Time passes. Inori got into her first choice. The time for Miki to depart for Paris has come. At the airport, Inori, Setsuna, Remi, Kazuki are there to see her off… Love is nowhere to be found. The high school she wants to get into is announcing who they've accepted that day.

At the school, Love can't bring herself to look and tries to ask Kaoru to go look at the postings for her, but he says it's something she has to see with her own eyes, holding up a donut to frame her in the hole. She asks Tarte next, but he refuses. Just then, a voice calls out to her. It's Daisuke. Love is confused why he's there, and he tells her that he took the exam too, commenting that she really doesn't listen to him. He acts a bit shy. Love asks if he passed, and he says he did, barely. Love congratulates him and asks him if he saw if she passed. He mimicks her response to his confession at the end of ep 50 and says that he won't tell her. Then he wonders to himself how he even knows her exam number. He pushes her forward to see her own result. Love gathers her resolve, thinking that she did everything she was supposed to, then says out loud that if Daisuke passed then surely she did too. Daisuke is offended, and Love laughs.

At the airport, Miki, Inori, and Setsuna are wondering where the heck Love's text is. She was supposed to tell them if she passed or not, but it's been radio silent. Miki has to board soon, so she gives up on waiting. She hugs Inori and Setsuna goodbye.

Around that time, a car drives up next to the airport. The moment it parks, a pigtailed girl jumps out of it. The car has KAORU'S Doughnut Cafe written on it.

Remi wanted to wait until Miki was gone to cry, but she can't hold back her tears as she hugs Miki tightly. She tells her to be sure to call often, to which Miki says that she's already told her that. Remi starts going on about how even text is okay, since calling internationally is expensive, and… Sensing that her mom is rambling, Miki pulls out of the embrace and says she has to go. She looks to Kazuki and tells him to take care of their mom. He says he will. Miki waves to everyone and heads to the check-in counter. She thinks about how a text from Love never arrived, and how she had wanted to see Love one more time.

Just then, a voice calls her name. The voice sounds just like Love, which surprises her so much she stops and whips around. There's Love, standing there and breathing heavily. Inori and Setsuna are also surprised. Inori asks why she's here, and Setsuna says that the distance between the place where the results were posted and the airport is so far that she shouldn't have been able to make it. Kaoru appears next to Love, with Tarte on his shoulder, and says that he ramped it up a notch. He used to be a F1 racer in his past. Inori is surprised, "But the speed limit is…" Tarte immediately jumps in and says it's just a joke; they never broke any laws.

Just then, an airport staff member comes over to politely tell Kaoru that he can't have any pets in the send-off area. Kaoru says there's no problem, since this isn't his pet but his brother. The staff person is confused. Tarte verbally agrees. Inori and the others immediately grab him for speaking. The staff member yells that the animal spoke. Inori tries to keep up appearances and says that they must've heard wrong and laughs awkwardly.

In the midst of all the fuss, Love saw Miki off with a smile. "Take care, Miki!" "You bet! Though, isn't there something you should say to me before that?" At Miki's words, the others quieted down, turning to look at Love. Love smiled wide and flashed a thumbs up. "I got my admission!"

The End

Personal commentary:

I don't. agree that Manami shouldn't know? what? if this is some weird ability of hers then she should be able to grapple with this and the truth and work on not harming other people. Maphisto is the embodiment of her lashing out at others in her mind so that's legitimately something she has to work on??? She can't just use Kentarou as her emotional support crutch. I mean, she can, but it's not satisfying because it feels like it's not her own true arc.

Why is she immediately getting married to Kentarou. I saw this coming but it feels kind of dumb, like being married is the ultimate happiness for a woman so this is the only way she can avoid feeling pathetic. I would prefer they date for a year or two while she works on her negative thought cycles and he gets better at communication. I just think the book is jumping the gun on this.

Not Love also becoming a teacher. What is it with Toei and slotting all their early Genki girls into becoming teachers. Doremi, Nozomi, and now Love? Come on guys. The You Must Enter a Woman's Profession gender curse is rearing its ugly head so hard right now. Why isn't Love becoming a professional dancer? It's still coded feminine. Is Fresh not about dancing? None of them are going to dance as their future career? Nonsensical. The more i think about this the more I'm shocked that they didn't include dancing at all in this novel when it's Fresh's primary distinguishing characteristic.

No berry or passionfruit juice. Guess we'll never get confirmation on what type of berry Miki is (most likely blueberry, but you know.)

Is vet school that expensive that having two (2) parents who actually became veterinarians wouldn't be able to afford it for their kid? That seems weird to me.

Satisfying end to the Miki/Inori arc. Liked that Inori helping Love study wasn't entirely one-sided.

Meanwhile, in room 305, Animal Yoshida is all wrapped up in bandages since he fractured a bone, but is otherwise all right. He sighs, realizing that he basically did the same thing he did a year ago when he tried to steal Tarte for TV ratings. He felt bad about breaking up a family then and vowed not to do so again, and yet…

He had been filming a wild animal in the forest when that soba man had been turned into a Fushiawase. By chance, he saw the Precure, and with them, the talking animal Azukina, handing the Precure the Clover Box. A talking animal would be a bigger scoop than a ferret with no belly button, so he became determined to capture Azukina. He had staked out the donut cafe for several days after hearing that she had a habit of appearing there. He feels ashamed of giving in to temptation like that.

Just then, Animal Yoshida notices a woman standing in the corner of his room. She looks like she's also a patient. He tries to tell her that she got her room wrong, but she begins to speak in a man's voice, introducing herself as Maphisto. They do the speaking ritual; Yoshida says the forbidden words and is wrapped in bandages, transformed into a Fushiawase.

"Hayato" and "Shun" run towards the screams they hear and find a nurse being attacked by the Fushiawase. They yell, "Switch over!" and drop their disguises. Westar takes on the Fushiawase while Soular gets the nurse out of the hospital.

Meanwhile, a different nurse at the nursing station is wondering if she's cut out to be a nurse. She made another mistake today and was scolded harshly by her supervisors. It had been her dream to be a nurse since she was a child, but she didn't realize it would be this hard. Suddenly, she realizes that there's a woman standing in front of the station. The woman looks as if she can't move, as if she's in a sleep paralysis.

Soular drops the nurse off and runs back into the hospital. As he passes the nursing station, he sees a nurse with her back to him. He tells her to run from the hospital. She begins to slowly turn her head towards him — "FUSHIAWASE! GET WELL SOON!" Before his eyes, she completes her transformation into a fang-bearing Fushiawase. Soular grits his teeth and mutters in frustration that he was too late.

Maphisto is turning more and more people into Fushiawase, increasing his dark power with every one. Now, he can turn anyone with the slightest bit of dissatisfaction into a Fushiawase: people who are just tired, hungry, or even frustrated from simply watching a soccer game.

Meanwhile, Westar and Soular finish evacuating everyone who isn't a Fushiawase. Soular thinks to himself that they've handled this poorly; seeing it himself is really different from hearing about the situation from Setsuna. Westar yells for Soular to watch out. Soular looks behind him, only to see the incoming attack from the fanged nurse Fushiawase. He thinks he's done for when suddenly Cure Passion comes in with a Precure Kick. Behind her, Peach, Pine, and Berry come running in, calling Westar and Soular's names.

The other three Precure are surprised to see Westar and Soular, and they piece together that this is what Setsuna meant when she said she had taken countermeasures. Westar greets them and then squares up against the Fushiawase zombies coming down the hall, all shouting "FUSHIAWASE! MAAAANY ZOOOMBIES!"

Westar says that they've evacuated everyone and there are only Fushiawase left. Peach asks about Manami, but he says they don't know where she is. The Precure turns to the hordes of Fushiawase and purify them one by one with their Fresh moves. Since these Fushiawase are smaller, they don't require team moves to purify.

Meanwhile, Manami is standing on the edge of the roof of the hospital. Maphisto is laughing to himself about how powerful he has become now that he's absorbed the despair of everyone here. He says that all that's left to do is to be reborn. The people outside of the hospital notice Manami standing there and think she's about to leap to her death; some scream. Kentarou sees her and immediately rushes into the hospital.

Peach purifies Animal Yoshida, and the purification also fixes his bone fracture. Peach smiles and says that it's a little bonus. More Fushiawase appear, and Berry expresses her annoyance. Kentarou reaches them. Pine tries to guard him, telling him that it's dangerous, but he says that Manami is on the roof and is about to jump off. Peach surveys the area; there's a bunch of Fushiawase blocking the elevator. Westar and Soular exchange glances and immediately throw themselves into the hordes of Fushiawase. Back-to-back, they summon an energy barrier. The barrier advances and pushes the Fushiawase to the side, creating a path to the elevator. The book likens this to Moses parting the Red Sea.

Westar and Soular tell the others to go on ahead. Peach, Berry, Pine, Passion, and Kentarou run to the elevator.

Peach presses the button for the elevator. Just in time, since the elevator door opens — only to show it filled with Fushiawase. The team runs for the stairs instead. After climbing four floors, Kentarou's pace is slowing down. Pine runs back to him and lends him a hand, even as he tells them to leave him be and focus on protecting Manami. Just then, Passion, who's at the back of their group, stops in her tracks. Pine notices and asks her what's wrong. Passion tells them to go on ahead without her. Peach and Berry stop and turn to look at her. Passion says that Westar and Soular won't be able to purify that many Fushiawase on their own, so she's heading back down. She'll catch up with them as soon as she can.

The roof has many sheets drying on a clothes line. Manami is standing on the edge of the raised roof, facing out. Maphisto has been integrating himself with Manami and is almost to his ultimate form. Peach, Berry, Pine, and Kentarou, who Pine assisted, see her. Kentarou calls out, "Manami!"; Maphisto turns towards them and orders him to stay back. Peach reflexively yells to be careful. One step backwards and Manami will tumble a long way to the ground. Maphisto tells them that if he moves just a little bit, he can end Manami's life. The team freezes, obeying his order.

But Kentarou takes a step forward and says that he won't be deceived by his bluff. The Precure are surprised, not sure what to make of this. Manami stares at them with possessed, red burning eyes, and Maphisto repeats, "Bluff, you say…?" Kentarou says that he saw the moment Maphisto was born, so he knows that Maphisto is a part of Manami. Therefore, if Manami dies, Maphisto will too. Manami smiles evilly and Maphisto's voice asks if he wants to test this idea. The Precure jolt forward, sure that Maphisto is actually going to make Manami jump, but at that moment Kentarou tells her to look at what he has in his hand — the same type of dolphin keychain Manami has. He says that since Manami couldn't throw away the keychain she got with her fiance, he went and bought the same one. Peach finally puts together the deeper meaning to why he has the same keychain as Manami.

Kentarou laughs awkwardly and says that this means that Manami's now matching with him. But Manami just laughs at him. Maphisto says that this is foolish, as he's already fully taken over her body. Kentarou tells him to shut up, he's talking to Manami. Kentarou holds the keychain up high and says that it's okay if she doesn't throw away the keychain — come back, Manami! The red eyes disappear for a second and Manami's voice comes out, saying Kentarou's name. The Precure smile, knowing that his love reached Manami.

However, the eyes come back and Maphisto laughs and says that it's too late; now he's going to progress to his final form. Dark mist explodes from Manami and transforms into a giant monster with a large mouth. The monster declares its name as Maphisto. Manami loses consciousness and slowly falls backwards. Peach dashes forward and grabs her arm before she falls completely off the roof.

Manami is hanging by her arm. Peach vows to herself that she won't let go and pulls up with all her strength. Berry and Pine come and assist. The giant Maphisto sets its eyes on Kentarou and begins shooting bullets made of mist at him. One hits him directly and sends him flying. Maphisto is angry with Kentarou for making part of Manami's consciousness come back, and he swears he will pay him back for getting in his way. Maphisto opens his giant mouth, and sucks Kentarou inside like a black hole. The Precure witness this happening as they finish rescuing Manami. They lay her on the ground and then stand and face Maphisto, telling Kentarou to hold tight; they're coming to save him.

Meanwhile, on the first floor, Westar and Soular get the Fushiawase to chase them in two separate streams before meeting up at the lobby, where Passion is waiting. She thanks them for rounding them up, and then, pouring all of her power into her harp, purifies them with a Happiness Hurricane Fresh. She tells the purified people to escape outside when suddenly the whole building shakes due to the fierce battle on the roof. The people break out of their daze and evacuate. Passion watches them all to make sure they get out safely and then speaks aloud as if Love were there, saying that she finished turning people back to themselves. Her words are halting, the exhaustion catching up to her. She collapses, but Westar and Soular catch her.

On the roof, the three Precure dodge Maphisto's blows and launch themselves into the air to perform a Precure Combination Kick. Despite all their hits, the giant Maphisto takes no damage. Maphisto gloats that it won't work on him and opens his mouth to suck them all in. The Precure barely dodge his attack.

Kaoru has just about arrived at the hospital, but the police have blocked off the area and are directing cars to turn around. Kaoru joke asks if everyone forgot something. He parks when the police try to direct him away. They tell him that this place is off limits so he has to make a U-turn. Kaoru sticks his head out of the window and asks them if there's something going on. The rude police officer brushes away his question and tells him to hurry up and leave. Kaoru flashes a badge of some sort. The police officer immediately bows and then begins to politely describe the situation. Tarte (pretending to be a normal ferret) wonders again who the heck Kaoru really is.

Meanwhile, the people who evacuated the hospital are watching the Precures' battle from a hill nearby, along with others in the area, including Daisuke and Miyuki. Now apprised of the situation, Kaoru makes it to the hill. The team gets out and Tarte uses binoculars to view the fight between the Precure and Maphisto, and then realizes that Passion is missing.

The three Precure launch their Fresh moves as a direct it, but it still has no effect. Berry tells Love they need to use the Clover Box, but Pine says they can't because they don't have Setsuna. They're all so flustered that they forget to refer to each other with their Cure names. (This continues for the rest of the fight.)

Just then, they hear a "I'm here…!" from behind them. It's Passion, held up by Westar and Soular; she's totally exhausted. She reports that she purified all of the Fushiawase in the hospital, and Maphisto is the only one left. Peach asks if she's okay, and Passion smiles with another, "Who do you think I am?" Peach perks up and starts the Clover Box move. Passion, Pine, and Berry's leaves are all added successfully, but when Berry throws it to Peach, Maphisto suddenly opens his giant mouth and tries to suck Passion in. Westar and Soular fire an energy beam at Maphisto, saving Passion.

"Setsuna!" Peach, Berry, and Pine run over to Passion. Berry says she can't believe their Grand Finale was interrupted; Pine says that attacking in the middle of a move is so unfair! Watching Soular and Westar try to fight Maphisto, Peach thinks seriously to herself about how they can possibly win and save Kentarou. Then she remembers what Kentarou said before: when Maphisto was born, Manami lost her consciousness. This matches up with when Manami had collapsed in her kitchen; at the same time, Berry and Pine were fighting Maphisto. She explains this to the team, and Pine asks if that means that Maphisto will disappear if Manami regains consciousness. How can they do that…? "Kentarou!" says Berry.

Westar and Soular try to fire off multiple energy beams from the left and right, but Maphisto sucks them all in and unleashes a barrage of dark mist projectiles. Soular is hit by one of them and goes flying. The damage he sustains is too great for him to stand up again. Westar dodges two projectiles but fails to dodge the third, and ends up right in front of Maphisto's line of sight. Maphisto tries to swallow him, but Passion teleports in, grabs Westar, and then teleports away, right next to where Manami is lying. Westar is frustrated and apologizes to Setsuna for always having to be saved by her, but she says she doesn't know what he's going on about after all this time she's been relying on him. He brightens up at hearing that.

Setsuna wonders how they can defeat Maphisto. She thinks back to the conversation the other three were having and decides that there's only one thing to do. She tells Westar that she needs to jump into the world of Manami's memories to find the key to defeating Maphisto. Westar asks if she can do that. She takes out Akarun and asks it if it can. Akarun says that there's nothing they can't do, but she can only be in there for three minutes. If she stays there for more than three minutes, she can't come back and Manami's life will be in danger. Passion says she understands. Westar grabs onto her, telling her not to go; it's too dangerous.

Peach, Berry, and Pine continue to launch attacks against Maphisto but are blown away. Passion steels her resolve and she calls out to them, telling them to hold him off for just 3 more minutes. Peach says they've got it. Though none of the other three heard Passion and Westar's conversation, they're ready to trust that Setsuna has come up with a plan. Berry says that they're counting on her, and Pine says that they'll hold him off. Setsuna asks Akarun to take her into the world of Manami's memories.

There are all sorts of of memories floating around as balls of light. Happy memories glowing orange, sad memories blue, memories of anger in red and tranquil memories in green… all kinds of colors, as if they were neon. Letting her body be swept by the stream, Setsuna dives into a recent memory in pale yellow. It's a memory of waking up on a stretcher in an ambulance and answering the responder's questions. Setsuna drifts further in. The next memory Setsuna dives ito is light purple, of opening the door to Love visiting. The memory after is red, and it's of meeting Kentarou at the cafe. Thinking that the memories with Kentarou will give the key to waking up Manami, Setsuna takes a deep dive into this one, but it's just the memory of the incident Daisuke already reported to them. Setsuna exits and continues looking for other Kentarou memories.

Other memories go by: her fiance breaking up with her at the ocean, talking with Love about her future career plans. Remembering that Kentarou is a childhood friend, Setsuna goes deeper, farther back in time. Akarun appears and tells her to hurry since she doesn't have much time left. Setsuna speeds up. A memory of Manami's first day as a teacher, then her as a high schooler saying she wanted to become a teacher at her career counseling, then of her as a middle schooler trying to give a male student chocolate for Valentine's Day, then of walking her dog Coco as an elementary schooler. Setsuna goes back further. Akarun frantically leaps in front of Setsuna and says that it's dangerous and she needs to go back. Setsuna says she's almost there.

They were friends since kindergarten. Setsuna dives further and further, until she reaches the depths of the stream of time; there, she sees a memory glowing faintly, but conspicuously, pink. Setsuna knows it has to be this one and dives into it.

Kindergartener Manami is playing with a boy in the sand pit. She says his name — it's Kentarou! Then she says, "You know, when I grow up, I'm going to be your—"

Akarun shouts TIME'S UP—!

On the hospital's roof, the other three Cures launch a Triple Precure Punch. Soular and Westar are also back in action. But even with their help, the team can't inflict any damage on Maphisto. Maphisto hurls a shockwave at them with all of his strength.

Tarte's group is watching from the hill. Azukina, Tarte, and Chiffon yell as they watch part of the roof crumble, the Precure being tossed around like rags. Azukina says she can't watch anymore and covers her face with her paws. Tarte says that this is bad. Kaoru goes to his truck and starts setting up his donut cafe, making a joke about how you don't want donuts to taste bad, they should taste good.

Peach, Berry, Pine, Westar, and Soular are lying on the roof, having taken too much damage. Maphisto tells them to give up. But the Precure use all of their strength to stagger to their feet.

Pine says that she won't give up. They'll win — she believes in it! Berry says that she won't give up, since that'd mean she wouldn't be perfect! Peach says she won't give up, not until she gets everyone's happiness!

Maphisto laughs at Peach's catchphrase again and says that for every happiness there is an equal misfortune. Thus, they're bringing people despair with their own happiness.

Berry immediately tells Love not to be deceived by Maphisto's words. Pine chimes and and says that it has to be a lie. Love looks Maphisto straight on and declares that if that's true, she'll just bring happiness to those other people. Maphisto says that that's stupid, since that would make other people sad, and Love says that then she'll bring happiness to those people next.

A red light jumps out of Manami and takes form as Cure Passion. She's breathing heavily and falls to her knees. The team runs over to her, asking if she's okay. With her remaining strength, Passion gives Love a pink glowing ball of light. Peach asks what this is; Passion says that it's a memory Manami has forgotten. Passion tells her through heavy breaths to take this to Kentarou.

Maphisto tells them to die and fires his biggest shockwave yet. Tarte says he can't watch this anymore. Forgetting to act like a ferret, he stands on his two feet and calls out to the people watching the Precure. He tells them to please give the Precure their power. Azukina joins him in this call. The people that aren't from Clover Town Street are confused about this talking animal. Daisuke gets annoyed and says that that doesn't matter, and turns to the hospital roof. He takes a deep breath and begins to say, "You can do it, Pre—" but there's an even louder voice, "YOU CAN DO IT, PRECURE—!"

It's Animal Yoshida. Tarte and Azukina exchange glances and smile. A white heart appears from the left side of Animal Yoshida's chest. Daisuke and Miyuki shout their cheers and white hearts appear from them as well. The other people the Precure have saved before individually join in. However, those who escaped from the hospital and the other people from the neighborhood look uneasy. Kaoru starts handing out donuts to them.

Suddenly, there's a huge explosion from the hospital roof. Seeing that, the people turn away, saying that it's weird to have donuts in this situation. But a particularly hungry office lady (one of the people mentioned before in the hospital) takes a bite of a donut and then exclaims how delicious it is. Seeing her smile, others start eating their donuts. The donuts are delicious, and as they say that, white hearts pop into view. Tarte's eyes sparkle and he praises Kaoru for his maneuver. His sunglasses shining, Kaoru laughs and says that no matter how tired or upset you are, you feel cozy when you eat delicious donuts. That's how happiness works. As he says that, eating a donut himself, a white heart pops into view from his left chest.

Tarte and Azukina rally the people again, telling them to send their hearts of happiness to the Precure to power them up. Following Azukina's cues, everyone shouts "YOU CAN DO IT, PRECURE———!" The mark on Chiffon's forehead shines a dazzling light, sending the hearts to the Precure fighting on the roof that lies half in destruction.

On the roof, the four Precure are lying on the ground, having been hit by Maphisto's greatest shockwave. Soular and Westar had managed to throw up a barrier in time and are hiding in the shadow of some debris. Westar wants to help Setsuna, but his body won't move. Both him and Soular are at their limits.

Maphisto gets ready to finish them off when the sky suddenly glows bright, like it's midday. He looks up to see the night sky blocked out by a bunch of white hearts. The hearts combine into one and shine their light on the Precure. The Cures awaken, feeling their power restored. Their Pickruns fly out and in a circle, transforming into Shiroruns (white Pickrun). Each Shirorun is sucked into the clover on each Cure's chest, turning the four leaves into five. The fifth leaf is one representing everyone's hearts. The Cures transform into Cure Angels.

Maphisto laughs at them and says they still can't beat him. He fires another shockwave at them, but they fly out of the way. The light also restored Soular and Westar's powers, and they get ready to jump into the fray.

Angel Passion tells Angel Peach that they can't defeat Maphisto unless they heal Manami's sorrow, which only Kentarou can do. Peach says she's got it, ball of light still in her hand. Peach holds it out and flies directly at Maphisto. From point blank range, she casts Loving True Heart and fires the ball of light directly into Maphisto's left chest. The ball spills out a dazzling pink light that envelops Maphisto. Maphisto lets out an anguished roar.

The other Cures and Soular watch with hope in their eyes. Westar declares their victory. The people on the hill break out into cheers. Angel Peach begins to comment that Manami will be able to return to normal, but she's cut off by Maphisto cackling.

Maphisto remains unscathed. The ball of light loses its shine and drops with a thud. The other 3 Cures all express how shocked they are, using variations of their catchphrases. Everyone on the hill is shocked as well. Angel Peach lands and picks up the ball, lamenting with her own version of her catchphrase, "She was supposed to get her happiness…"

Maphisto appears behind Peach and opens his mouth to swallow her. Everyone yells for Peach to watch out, but she stands there motionless, glaring. She disappears into his jaws. Berry and Pine scream about how she was just eaten, but Passion noticed the look in Peach's eyes and tells them she got swallowed on purpose so she can deliver Manami's feelings directly to Kentarou.

Inside, all is dark, without physicality, no way to tell up from down. Almost like it's own pocket universe or another dimension. Peach drifts and searches for Kentarou. Every now and then there's a faraway sound of impacts that causes the space to shake. She knows that must be her teammates fighting Maphisto outside. The sounds remind her that it's not another dimension, she's inside Maphisto.

Peach continues searching and eventually comes across Kentarou, who is unconscious. Peach tries to fly towards him but is caught by a bunch of black mist. It engulfs her, stopping her from moving. She feels powerless as it nearly covers her face. But then another sound of impact rings out from afar, and the space shakes again. Peach remembers that she isn't alone; her team is fighting outside. The flame of hope lights again in her heart, and she gathers all her strength to shout to her friends to give her their strength.

Maphisto fires his shockwaves in every direction and throws off the Cures and Soular and Westar. The hospital roof lies in ruins. The Cures lie in the rubble, completely still. Maphisto checks that none of them are breathing before going over to Manami, who lies magically unharmed in all of the destruction. He says that he has already seen through their plan to revive Manami and thus erase him. So he's decided to absorb her entirely. At that moment, Passion's finger twitches. She, along with the rest of the team, aren't dead yet. She looks at Manami in a haze, eyes unfocused. She tries to get up. Berry does too, but they're all truly at their limit now.

Just then, Pine says she heard something. As she says that, she's unsure if she really did. But the voice comes again — it's Love's voice, asking for them to lend her their power. The three of them realize that she's still fighting inside. Then a miracle: their power returns once again. The three Cures stand up again, in Angel form, determined to keep going. Westar and Soular follow suit.

The sight of this gives Maphisto a twinge of fear for the first time. As if to refute it, he opens his jaws wide and tries to suck Manami in. At that moment, white hearts appear in front of their chests: the five on the rooftop and Angel Peach as well, in the middle of the dark mist. Peach calls out their cue, and all 6 of them cast Precure Loving True Heart Fresh.

The five white hearts from the team on the roof crash into Maphisto. Inside, Peach's heart frees her from the mist. The hearts combine inside into one giant one, wrapping around the memory Peach is holding. The whole team shouts, "GOOOOOO!" as the memory, now having regained its shine, flies off and hits Kentarou.

That day at the playground: "You know, when I grow up, I'm going to be your wife!" Little Manami says, all full of smiles. "Yeah! I'm definitely, definitely, deeeefinitely going to…"

"Make you happy!" the last words come out of Kentarou's mouth amid all the haze.

A tear trickles down Manami's face. She begins to slowly open her eyes. Her consciousness has returned! Streams of dazzling light pour out of Maphisto, purifying him. He yells in confusion, then realizes that this light is the light of happiness. He curses it, promising that he'll be back as long as despair exists in this world. He disappears in a final scream.

The people on the hill erupt in celebration. Kaoru gears up to give everyone free donuts. Daisuke says, "Way to go, Love!" He makes a resolve to give it his all as well.

On the wrecked roof, Angel Peach appears, bracing Kentarou on her shoulder. The other Cures rush over to her. Manami says Kentarou's name, and everyone turns to look at her. Kentarou walks over to her. She says that she's remembered the promise they made as children. Bashfully, she comments that Kentarou has always remembered this for her. Kentarou laughs awkwardly and says that it's kind of creepy to carry a kindergarten promise with you even into adulthood, huh. Manami says she doesn't think that at all. She takes out her dolphin keychain and says that it was good that she never threw it away, after all. Kentarou says well, he still thinks she should throw that out. Manami asks why, when she remembers what Kentarou desperately called out to her. She chuckles; didn't he go out of his way to buy a matching one? He says yes, but the one she has was still from her ex-fiance. He asks her if she can take this instead.

What he brings out is a ring case. Inside are couple rings. She lets out a gasp, then slowly looks up at him. They stare at each other in silence. Eventually, Kentarou can't take it anymore and lets out an "Um…" Manami says that this is like the Bluebird of Happiness. Kentarou is confused, so she explains: She had closed her heart off after losing happiness once, but there wasn't only one kind of happiness. There was happiness much closer than she had realized, waiting for her all this time. She takes a ring from him, smiling shyly, and thanks him for teaching her that.

Watching this, Westar shouts that this is so bittersweet. The Cures, having detransformed, burst into laughter. They all congratulate Manami and Kentarou with their catchphrases: "Perfect, Kentarou!" "You really did your best!" "The two of you have a great future ahead of you! I believe it!" And Love grins from ear to ear — "You got your happiness!"

End of chapter 3

Notes:

Bluebird of Happiness is something Japanese media likes to reference. Comes from a Belgian play.

Personal Commentary:

THIS CHAPTER WAS SO LONG the next one is going to be so tiny

It's fun to see the Peach/Berry/Pine moves with their corresponding beginning chants be used as a hospital. After all, these chants, "Nasty things, Nasty things, fly away!", are a reference a chant you say to little kids when they get hurt in Japanese: 痛いの痛いの飛んでいけ "Pain, pain, fly away!" So seeing it in a hospital setting is almost like they're the doctors sending out their pain-relieving medicine.

Me when Kentarou held up his own dolphin keychain:

The ex-fiance better have thrown his away if he wants to get out of this forced polycule

You know I'm kinda surprised that Peach needed any help at all in getting Manami up when she was dangling on the roof like. these girls regularly punch through boulders and you're telling me that they can't lift a single person easily, even if it's against the weight of gravity? lol

Not into the solution to Manami's sadness boiling down to "childhood promises are the ultimate happiness". Like... 5 year olds don't know what they want. That's a good thing. They haven't experienced the world yet. This is the most unsatisfying part of this novel, the rest I enjoyed.

Setsuna is hauling ass. Nearly thought she was just going to keel over multiple times. (I mean, she kind of did, but every time it was like... no... I stand up again!!) Doing the most out here.

Did they need to say their catchphrases like 4 times in different ways? A bit overkill. But having them end the chapter was nice.

Love invites Manami to tell her if there's anything Love can do to help her. Manami looks down with a lonely smile and says that Love is such a busybody, but that it's to be expected when Love is working to protect everyone's happiness as Cure Peach. Love spits out the donut she was chewing and asks how Manami knows that. Manami says that everyone in the neighborhood knows. Love remembers that the team did transform before people of Clover Town Street before (Ep 45, in the park). Though the people living on the street likely didn't spread the news intentionally, the street gets a lot of traffic from shoppers, so it had likely spread naturally that way. That said, it had been a year since they defeated Moebius and stopped transforming, so it had slipped the minds of most people and the members of the Precure team themselves. Now that they'd become Precure again, though, it was likely that the people in the town would remember, making Love a bit of a small celebrity. Love starts idly wondering what will happen with Miki and Inori. It's not like they've been asked to sign anything, but…

Manami comments that Love is incredible for fighting for other people's happiness. Love gets all bashful. Manami then comments that she can't even grasp her own happiness, and Love kicks herself for getting carried away and forgetting that she's here to provide emotional support for her teacher. Love stuffs her face with donuts and tries to get Manami to eat some, saying that Kaoru's donuts always pick her up when she's down. Manami looks down and says that not everyone is as strong as Love. Love gets the sense that Manami's despair runs deeper than she had imagined. Her eyes drift over the room, when she spots a dolphin keychain on Manami's wallet at the edge of a table. It matches the one she's seen on that man that appears whenever there's a Fushiawase. Love first saw it on Manami's wallet when Manami bought her juice while talking about Love's plans for high school.

Manami notices Love looking at the keychain and says that her fiance gave it to her. Love pieces together that the man they've been seeing must be Manami's fiance, then. Manami corrects herself, saying it's actually her "former" fiance, and Love chokes on a donut. After washing it down with tea, she asks if the rumors were true then, that she broke up with her fiance. Manami confirms it and notes that it's already become a rumor. Love tries to backpedal but fails. Manami smiles at her and thanks Love for coming to check in on her, also signaling that it's time for Love to leave. At the entranceway, Love puts on a big smile and tells her to come back to school and that everyone is waiting for her to return. Manami shows her the biggest smile she's seen today. Love feels a little relieved to see that.

Manami also feels better after Love's visit and starts thinking that she should go back to school, but a dark haze floats behind her… On Sunday, Miki heads to Love's house as they're having a strategy plan on what to do about Maphisto and the Fushiawase. Just then, she gets honked at from behind. When she looks over, she realizes she knows this driver, who says they have something they need to talk to her about. Miki says that she's heading to Love's place, but they insist that the talk won't take long. Miki says she understands and gets in the passenger's seat.

At Love's place, Keitarou is reading a lifestyle magazine. He shows an article to Ayumi, which says that the Detective Pet Scoop show is in danger of ending. (The show is from ep 30.)

Miki arrives and apologizes for being late when she throws open the door to Love's room. Inori asks her if something happened, since she's not usually late. Miki says no, nothing really. They summarize what Love has told them about the keychain and that they're wondering if Manami's fiance is Maphisto. But wouldn't that make Manami the next target, then? Love notices that Miki isn't paying attention and calls her back; Azukina asks if Miki's feeling unwell. Miki says that she was just zoning out and sticks out her tongue in an "oopsie" way. Love and Setsuna go on to explain that they're going to try to catch the man next time and figure out his identity. Miki agrees, but Inori is observing her and wonders about what happened, as Miki isn't acting like she usually does.

Outside above Love's window, Maphisto hovers there, eavesdropping. He grumbles about how the Precure are getting in his way, but then smirks and says he knows what their weakness is before disappearing. The next day after school, Inori is on the way home when she notices Miki ahead of her walking in the opposite direction. Inori calls out to her, but Miki doesn't notice and walks onto a side street. That isn't the way to her house.

Inori runs after her starts to call out again, but stops when she notices that Miki is acting very strange. Miki normally walks with her head held high, but she has a slouch to her and is walking fast, wary of her surroundings. Since the day they had the meeting at Love's place, Inori has noticed that Miki has been acting very weird, always thinking about something else.

Miki stops in front of a coffee shop and goes in, still in uniform. Inori feels that she should turn back to respect Miki's privacy, but her worry wins out. Inori also enters the coffee shop, still in uniform, hoping that her teachers won't find out. (Note: Some schools forbid their students to wear their uniforms in places like cafes because they see it as the student acting as a representative for their school when they haven't approved it. If the student does anything bad, the school will also be blamed. This seems to be more of a stickler thing for private schools.) As Inori looks around anxiously, she spots Miki sitting at a table in the back. Her back is to Inori. Across from Miki is an adult man, but his face is in the shadow cast by Miki, so Inori can't make out his face. Heart pounding, Inori sits down nearby. At which point, she finally makes out the face of this well-dressed man: Miki's father, Katsuhiko Ichijou. Miki's parents are divorced, and her brother Kazuki lives with him. He's a famous music producer.

Inori feels embarrassed about following Miki and is about to stand up and leave when she hears Katsuhiko ask if Miki has rethought her answer about going to Paris. Inori stays and orders pineapple juice when the waitress comes by. (In case you were wondering, Cure Pine is for Pineapple, as its common abbreviation for this borrowed English word in Japanese is just Pine, パイン) Inori thinks about how Miki never mentioned anything about this. Katsuhiko says that he knows Miki is being considerate of her mother, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Apparently, an acquaintance who works at a modeling company in Paris had offered to let Miki stay with them after middle school to study becoming a model.

Inori's heart races as she thinks about what a great chance this is for Miki and her throat is so dry she downs her juice at once when it arrives. However, Miki refuses, saying she's no longer interested in becoming a model and that this matter is closed. She stands up to leave. Katushiko demands that Miki stop. Miki gets out of her seat and turns around — just to spot Inori staring at her, frozen. Inori struggles to think of what to say and blurts out that she was also just about to leave.

Outside, the two of them walk together. Inori apologizes and says that she wasn't planning on eavesdropping, but… Miki tells her not to tell her mother that she met her father. Inori says she won't. They continue walking in silence. Inori wants to tell Miki to reconsider the offer, but she knows that she has no right to tell Miki what to do as an outsider — this is for Miki to decide. Her heart, however, cries out that this is wrong and Miki is lying to herself. She figures that Miki is lying about having lost interest in being a model because going to Paris would mean leaving her mother alone. Miki is talking slightly more than usual, explaining that she met her dad on that day they had the strategy meeting at Love's, and that he brought up the Paris thing then. She finds this a bother. She can't believe he would suddenly come out of the blue with an offer for Paris after years of only looking out for Kazuki and leaving her alone. Inori, trying to find something to say, agrees that it's difficult for him to suddenly do that. Miki latches onto this and continues on, saying that she already lost interest in being a model, anyway. Inori can't take it anymore and tells Miki that she thinks it's better if Miki doesn't lie to herself. She knows that Miki wants to go to Paris and become a model, and Miki shouldn't pretend otherwise! Miki tries to deny it, but Inori cuts her off by calling it a lie. Like a dam collapsing, Inori can't stop herself from saying that anyone can tell that Miki is lying, her dad included, which is why he keeps trying to tell Miki to reconsider. If she would just talk to her mother, she's sure that she'd understand—

Miki gets mad and yells at her to quit it, Inori has no right to lecture her on top of tailing her today. This is Miki's own problem, and she should stay out of it! Inori starts to apologize and explain, but Miki snaps that an honors student like Inori would never understand her feelings, and runs off.

Inori stands there, unable to stop Miki or run after her. She knows she was in the wrong, so she tried to be quiet… but she couldn't take it anymore… She mutters that she's acting like Love. But Love is so genuine that other people don't resent her for butting in. In comparison, she's… Inori chokes out a laugh and then begins to cry. Around the same time, Love and Setsuna are walking home from school. Setsuna "transferred" when she went back to Labyrinth, but she felt like seeing her classmates so she tagged along with Love to school. Though everyone went up a grade, the class composition hadn't changed. Everyone was happy to see her, but their homeroom teacher, Manami, was still missing. As a result, Setsuna and Love ended up talking about Manami again.

Though Maphisto hasn't appeared since, Love is worried about Manami and decides to visit her again, inviting Setsuna to join. Setsuna begins to say that she'll come, when she spots Manami's fiance on the other side of the road. Setsuna points him out and says that it's a good chance to grab him, but Love points out that there's a lot of people around. Setsuna directs Love to head to Manami's place, and Setsuna herself will tail the fiance until she sees a good chance to stop him. Love asks if she'll be okay alone, since that might be Maphisto. Setsuna shoots back a rare, playful, "Who do you think I am?" Love responds with, "True!" Setsuna clarifies that push comes to shove, she has a her two people from the Labyrinth as backup. The signal turns to walk, and she crosses the street to tail the fiance.

Love rings the doorbell for Manami's place again. This time, Manami opens the door on the first ring. She looks really tired, but lets Love in and pours Love some orange juice. Love immediately gets into it and asks her if she's heard about the monsters that say Fushiawase. Manami says she has, of course. Love explains that those monsters come from someone named Maphisto warping people who are feeling weak. She originally wanted to say "people whose minds are weak," but she left out the first part out of consideration for Manami. (In Japanese the verb 弱る can refer to 'to grow weak' healthwise, as well as being downcast. So it's probably more like "who are struggling mentally", but that wouldn't match the omission part in English. There might be a better translation that doesn't sound as mean. The omission is primarily to obfuscate whether it's physical or mental.)

Love says that because of that, she's worried about Manami. She asks if anything has changed lately, but Manami says no after thinking for a bit. In truth though, a lot has changed. She's been dealing with gaps in her memory lately, only to find that she had fallen asleep at some point again and again. When she was grocery shopping the other day, she suddenly found herself lying down in an office. The employee said she had collapsed. She thinks that anxiety is the reason. But she doesn't tell any of this to Love. Manami starts to find Love's concern tiresome. She tells Love that she's doing the best she can to return to school as soon as possible, and asks if Love can leave her alone. Love immediately says she can't, because Manami is her teacher, who she likes very much. This persistence is annoying, but Manami also finds herself crying before she knows it. Love asks if she's okay, and Manami says yes, and then says Love can stay as long as she likes.

Meanwhile, Setunsa is tailing the fiance at a set distance, waiting for them to get to somewhere without other people so she can question him. If necessary, she's ready to transform and fight. She's gripping her Linkrun tight, unconsciously.

The man suddenly breaks into a run. Setsuna gives chase. The man is surprisingly fast, increasing the distance between them. His frantic running only confirms that he's Maphisto in Setsuna's mind. Setsuna yells, "You're not getting away!" and places Akarun in her Linkrun, all while running. She teleports in front of him and cuts him off. The man scrambles away from her, but she teleports in front of him again and again and again. Before he knows it, he finds himself in a dead end. No one is around them.

Setsuna yells that he can't run anymore and to show his true identity. The man is confused and says he has no idea what she's talking about, and who is she, anyway?! Setsuna yells that he better quit playing dumb and that she'll never forgive him for making Manami-sensei sad. (In JP they've been calling her Manami-sensei this whole time, but that's a first name so I figured it might be weird to render it as Ms. Manami, since American English only really does that for last names). Picking up on the address, he asks if she's a student of Manami's. Setsuna says what does it matter if she is, and then calls him Maphisto. The man says, "Maphisto? You know him?" He then asks her to calm down; he's not Maphisto, he's Kentarou Kazama, Manami's childhood friend. "Manami's childhood friend?" Setsuna asks, "But aren't you her fiance?" He denies it, and asks her to please calm down so that they can talk it out. He doesn't seem to be lying. Setsuna curses Love mentally for getting the story all mixed up somehow. Elsewhere, Kaoru has just finished his last sale of the day. He calls out to the wagon that his bro can come out now. Tarte, Chiffon, and then Azukina pop into view, all with a donut in hand. Tarte tells the other two to dig in, and they do, with Azukina taking the bigger bite. She savors the taste in bliss. Tarte says that Azukina wanted to taste Kaoru's donuts right away when they got to Clover Town, so they headed here. Kaoru says he's real glad to hear it, and gives them free drinks. Tarte eats his donut in one bite, and then laughs and says he wonders if Azukina tagging along with him was not because she didn't want to part with him but actually because she wanted Kaoru's donuts. Azukina immediately denies it, then becomes shy and blushes, saying that the donuts are her second reason, but her first reason is Tarte. Tarte says her name, touched, and she says his back. The two of them go off to their own world, forgetting about Chiffon and Kaoru.

Kaoru says, how about getting married? And then cracks a joke that he'll be their matchmaker, even though he doesn't have a wife himself. Azukina comes to, then gets embarrassed about his teasing and runs out from the wagon. She runs off to the edge of the park, when a figure suddenly appears before her. She stops and looks up — to see a dark hooded figure. She screams, and when Tarte and Chiffon look over they see a man in a black cloak get on his motorcycle and start to drive off, Azukina in hand. However, Kaoru is already in front of him, blocking his way. Kaoru tells him to stop, that's his bro's fiancee. He has to leap out of the way, though, since the motorcycle just runs on ahead. Tarte desperately runs after the motorcycle but is left in the dust.

The rushing wind blows down the man's hood. It's the guy who ran that TV show, Animal Yoshida. Yoshida's thinking that this weird talking chipmunk-like animal will save the ratings of his show and prevent it from being canceled. Kaoru drives after him in his car, Tarte and Chiffon riding with him. But he's lost sight of Yoshida, since it took time to pack away all his cafe items. Tarte is nearly crying, but Kaoru tells him not to worry and presses his a button on his car navigation. A moving red dot appears on the map. He had placed a tracker on the motorcycle while he was jumping out of the way earlier.

Meanwhile, Animal Yoshida's rounding a slight curve, still going rather fast. Azukina, looking to escape, creeps out of his cloak. Yoshida tells her that it's dangerous and to get back inside, but she instead bites an arm. This combined with the curve wrecks his balance and the bike falls sideways, throwing both Yoshida and Azukina into the air.

By the time Kaoru arrives, Animal Yoshida is being carted off in an ambulance. Tarte frets over Azukina missing, worrying that she might have been crushed by the bike. A voice immediately scolds him not to say such an unlucky thing — turning around, there Azukina is. The two of them run into an embrace. Looking at them, Kaoru states that this why he wants to be their matchmaker, and then looks to Chiffon and asks if she wants to join him in doing so. Chiffon replies with a "Cure———!" Kaoru has no idea what that means, but she's hopping around happily. That evening, Inori heads to Miki's place to apologize for what happened that afternoon. When she arrives, she sees Miki's mother, Remi, closing up shop. Remi greets her as cheerfully as always, so Inori figures that Miki hasn't told her mother anything. Or, wait… Inori asks where Miki is, and Remi says that she hasn't come home yet; Remi thought she would be with Inori. Remi invites Inori in to wait for Miki to come back, but Inori wants to apologize as soon as she can to Miki and respectfully declines. When she's out of Remi's field of vision, she breaks into a run. If there's anywhere Miki went, it would probably be the park where they used to all dance together.

Meanwhile, Love realizes that it's gotten late and gets ready to leave in hurry. Manami, however, stops her and tells her to stay and have dinner. She insists that she'll phone Love's parents and boasts about her cooking skills. Love, noticing that Manami looks like she's barely holding it together and is forcing herself to smile, scrambles for words. Manami's smile fades as she admits that she doesn't want to eat alone. Seeing the light slide out from Manami's eyes, Love accepts the offer. Manami smiles again and turns to the kitchen, but when Love asks what she's making, she hears a sudden thump. Love turns around and finds Manami collapsed on the floor. Love calls her name, but there's no response. Elsewhere, inside of Kaoru's car, Tarte is trying to reassure Azukina. Azukina feels bad about causing an accident that injured Yoshida. Tarte says that it's not her fault since Yoshida was the one who was in the wrong for this whole incident, but Azukina mentions that Yoshida protected her when they went flying in the air by holding her to his chest. He crashed into the guard rail while doing that. As a result, Azukina came out unscathed. Azukina asks if they can go visit him in the hospital. Kaoru cracks a joke about simmering fish balls but not dried fish, which he has to clarify means that you condemn the action and not the person. He makes a U-turn so they can go in the direction the ambulance went. Miki did come to the park as Inori predicted, and is sitting on the stage. Miki had wanted to talk to Kaoru, but for obvious reasons to the reader, he wasn't there. Under the street lamp, Miki reflects on what happened that afternoon. She knows that Inori said what she did only because she was worried about Miki, but Miki had lashed out at her. And in her heart, she knows why — because everything Inori had said was true.

Miki hadn't given up on her dreams of becoming a model even once before, but their last year in middle school had made her feel responsible for having a concrete plan for her future and forced her to confront the reality of the situation. Then her mother had tripped down the stairs and sprained her ankle, and had to take a week off of work as a result. Remi had then joked that she was getting old and could relax more if Miki took over the shop. If it had been the usual Miki, she would've retorted that her mama shouldn't call herself feeble over one sprain, but that day she was different. She was thinking in concrete terms: If I want to be a model, what do I have to do? And it became an unrealistic dream for her. Remi saw her brooding and reassured her that she was just joking, but seeing her mom act so sweet led Miki to say that the idea sounded fine to her, she would always been with her mother. Words have a power, and saying it aloud made it seem real.

Then Miki's dad had come with that offer for Paris. Suddenly, the dream had a path that could make it real, and Miki's heart is wavering. Maybe she could talk about her father's offer with her mother, and her mother might understand, just like Inori said. She knows this, but that would then feel like she's choosing her dad over her mom. Then what would her mom think? She can't help but spiral into worry.

"I'm not perfect at all…" As Miki says this softly, she hears a snicker. Miki looks up to see a man in a black hood, gleaming in the moonlight. Smugly, Maphisto declares that Cure Berry is the weakpoint of the Precure. Miki stands up, on guard, but Maphisto stares at her with burning eyes, paralyzing her. He confirms that her heart has darkness in it, and tells her that she can no longer get away from him. Miki wants to protest that her heart has no such thing, but her voice won't come out. Maphisto begins his questioning, asking if she's sad. Disregarding her will, her voice answers yes, and yes again. She can feel him possessing her heart. He smirks at her when she's forced to beg him for the magic words to make the pain go away. He tells her she already knows the words. The words flash in her mind. He goads her to say them, sure of his victory now. But Miki, with her head hanging, only says, "But that's…"

FWIP! Miki whips her head up and glares daggers at him. "Like I'd ever say something like that!" Maphisto's smile vanishes. Miki is sweating and breathing hard, her Linkrun gripped tightly in one hand. She thinks to herself that she might've been done for if it wasn't for her Linkrun. Maphisto is annoyed. Miki tells him not to look down on the Precure and transforms into Cure Beat. The two begin to fight.

Inori makes it to the park, sure that Miki would have come here. However, she doesn't see Miki anywhere. In the middle of her confusion, the bushes suddenly shift, and both Berry and a man in a black cloak jump out of them, still exchanging blows. The man dodges Berry's kick and heads straight for Inori. Inori dodges him and immediately transforms into Cure Pine. But she's still confused and asks Berry what's going on. Berry tells her to watch out, that's Maphisto. Meanwhile, Love is calling Manami's name again and again. There's no response. Love dials for an ambulance on her Linkrun.

Beat and Pine launch a double kick and land a hit on Maphisto. He staggers and takes a step back.

Manami suddenly groans. Love frantically asks if she's okay. The sound of the ambulance's sirens grow nearer.

Berry and Pine continue to launch attacks at Maphisto, but he dodges them and smirks. He remarks that they make a pretty good combo for friends who had just hurt each other in an argument. Berry and Pine freeze for a second, becoming aware of each other. Seizing the opportunity, Maphisto makes his escape with a flick of his cloak, laughing all the while. The Precure run after him.

The ambulance arrives at Manami's apartment and the responders carry her into the ambulance. Love, worried, watches the process and looks after them as they drive off into the distance. Just then, Cure Berry and Cure Pine appear in front of her, asking if she saw Maphisto come this way.

The sirens of the ambulance ring through the night. On the stretcher, Manami is still unconscious. The paramedics are communicating by radio to the hospital when a man in a black cloak suddenly jumps in front of them from the side. The driver immediately hits the brakes, stopping the ambulance in the middle of the road. The driver gets out, thinking that they must've hit the man, but he is nowhere to be found. And thinking back, there was no feeling of impact when the driver stopped the car, either. The car shows no signs of impact anywhere. Another paramedic inside the ambulance is calling out to Manami, and she opens her eyes.

In front of Manami's apartment, Miki and Inori, now detransformed, explain the situation to Love. Love puts together the timeline, and then realizes that Maphisto must have appeared in front of Miki because Miki is troubled about something. She asks Miki what she was upset about. Miki starts to say something, then glances at Inori. She stops and looks away awkwardly. Inori attempts an explanation instead, but before she can say anything of substance, Setsuna comes running over, calling Love's name. With her is Kentarou. Love is surprised and asks why she's with Manami's fiance, but Setsuna ignores it and urgently asks where Manami is. Love says that she's in an ambulance. Setsuna nods, her face grave, then after a moment tells them to be calm and listen to her; she knows who Maphisto is.

Maphisto is Manami.

Love is so startled that she can't wrap her head around it. "What are you talking about," she says, "Manami-sensei is a woman, and…"

"Isn't Maphisto a man?" Inori finishes.

Miki demands that Setsuna explain it in a way they can understand. Manami's friend says they'll explain in the car, but they have to hurry to the hospital Manami was taken to.

Setsuna points out the direction of the car, and they all run after her. Setsuna takes the passenger seat and the other 3 climb into the back. There's very little traffic, and Kentarou drives at the speed limit. Love is surprised to hear that he's not Manami's fiance; he's her childhood friend, all the way from kindergarten. He laughs about how they played in the sand pit together, but most of the time they'd end up fighting and he would cry. Setsuna explains that Kentarou had heard Manami's fiance had broken up with her, and he had been trying to give her advice about it. Love thinks back to what Daisuke said, and asks if he was the man at the cafe that got into an argument with Manami. He confirms it, and says it was careless of him to be seen by her students.

The next parts are all explanation from Kentarou and Setsuna. That day, he met Manami and they had a conversation by the cafe's window. He hadn't picked those seats on purpose; those were the only ones open. At one point, Manami had taken out her wallet. Kentarou tried to say that she didn't need to, but the dolphin keychain on her wallet caught his eye. "You still carry that around?" he asked, and she got embarrassed and hid it by wrapping her hand around it. That keychain was from her first date with her fiance, which was to an aquarium; they had bought a set together. Kentarou had spent the whole conversation telling her to forget about her fiance, so seeing that dolphin irritated him. He told her again to throw it away. She apologized and said she would, but he told her to take it off right this second. She hesitated, which made him even more annoyed. He grabbed her wallet and said he'd do it for her. Manami pleaded for him to give it back, promising that she'd throw the keychain away, which led to other patrons turning to stare at what the fuss was all about. Kentarou thinks that was probably what Love's friend saw. Since that day, though, Kentarou felt that Manami was acting more and more off.

Another day, Kentarou was getting drinks for them from a vending machine in a park. He noticed Manami staring at the couples around them from her seat on a bench. He tried to hand her her drink, but she didn't notice and continued staring at the happy couples. Manami wondered aloud why she was the only one who had to suffer like this, then cursed them all, wishing for them all to fall into despair. As she said that, a black mist rose from her back. Kentarou thought he was just imagining it.

Yet, on another day, Kentarou had driven Manami to the ocean at her request. There, she stood on a cliff, staring at the sea with dark eyes. She told him that she had met her fiance one more time, since she couldn't accept being broken up with over the phone. And he had broken up with her again, in this location. Kentarou asked why she wanted to come here, as Manami took out her wallet and removed the dolphin. Manami said that she kept telling herself to throw the keychain away, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. If she was going to throw it away, it should be here. Telling him to watch, she wound her arm back, but then gave into tears before she could throw it. Kentarou urged her to throw it away, trying to be encouraging, but instead it hurt her, and she yelled that she couldn't do it. Kentarou told her she had to throw it away so she could be happy, again trying to give her the final push, but it made her feel more trapped each time he said this — and he hadn't realized. Her eyes grew lifeless, and she said the forbidden words, "Then… I just won't be happy." This time the dark haze seeped out of her, clear as day.

"Happiness is worthless."

When she said that, she suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed. As Kentarou rushed over to her, the dark haze took shape as a man in a black hooded cloak. He announced his name as Maphisto, and then bounded off. Kentarou put Manami in his car and then drove after Maphisto, but Maphisto disappeared and attacked Miyuki, which brought forth the Fushiawase. Kentarou figured the monster must be Maphisto, so he had driven to the shopping street and then gotten out of his car to make his way against the flow of people escaping. He stared in horror at the Fushiawase that came from Manami's despair.

Love saw him and told him to run, so he tried to make his way back to the car, but couldn't because of the crowds of people. He saw them transform into Precure then. Figuring there was nothing anyone else could do against a monster, and that it was up to the Precure could solve this incident, he started cheering for them.

After the Precure defeated the monster, he made it back to his car, but didn't see Manami anywhere. No matter how much he texted and called, she wouldn't respond to him. So every time a monster appeared, he tried to get to the scene, thinking that she must be somewhere nearby. But, as Miki says, Manami didn't bring forth the Fushiawase… It was Maphisto, who uses the sadness of others to make the monsters, Kentarou agrees. But since Maphisto was from Manami, it's virtually the same. And he doesn't want any more victims.

Miki notes that a hospital is bound to be full of struggling patients. Inori gets upset, saying that the hospital is a place that's supposed to give hope and courage. Love gets heated too, saying they must stop him if he tries to make the patients into monsters. Setsuna comments that she's taken some preventive measures, but…

The car arrives at the hospital. They immediately spot a large number of panicked patients, doctors, and nurses running away from the building.

"We were too slow!"

Kentarou parks and bolts from the car. The others do the same and run after him. Going against the flow of the crowd, they can hear the calls of the Fushiawase inside the building. And there's not just one or two. Love directs Kentarou to stay; they'll take it from here. The team leaps into the building and transforms.

End of Chapter 2

Personal commentary:

This chapter was so long my god. I think I'm like 3/5ths of the way through the book and there's like 3 more chapters to go (maybe only like 2 substantial ones if the last one is just an epilogue.) On the bright side, this chapter was extremely good and gave everyone something to do, with real character drama between Inori and Miki while Love and Setsuna advance the plot and Kaoru and Tarte go on a wild goose ferret chase that somehow ends up at the same hospital. The callback to Animal Yoshida is also fun. Unlike the Heartcatch or Suite novels, I actually feel like the writing is paying attention to the events of the show.

I'm particularly pleased by the sections Inori is getting, especially since she was mostly forgotten in the second half of the show. This novel has done well so far showing her selfless side (taking a hit for an ungrateful dog) and also keeping a little bit of attitude that doesn't make her boring. It's also great to see her be in the wrong for once in terms of handling people. I feel like in the show she only had issues with Tarte and the rest of the relationship blundering was Love's job. This novel gave her a chance to like mess up in a slightly more selfish way, while being completely in line with her character. The fact that she couldn't shut up because what Miki was doing contradicted her beliefs too much? Good. Inori's name and catchphrase is about believing, after all.

Miki's whole thing with her dream and home life and not wanting to abandon her mom is also very good and works specifically because her parents are divorced and don't talk to each other much. We don't get family drama like this nowadays in Precure.

Okay also how many murderous vibes was Setsuna giving off for an adult man to just start running for his life when he noticed a 14 (15?)-year-old girl tailing him?? That section was so funny GET HIS ASS. The fact also that he was running because he didn't know she was a Precure (since she arrived late in the first battle) is also a detail I only realized upon thinking back over the events. Good.

Maphisto thinking Miki is the weak link... If she was at top form her sheer aura would probably repel him. The Cures should just gather everyone together and make them shout "ATASHI KANPEKI" and see if that blows him into pieces.

So they CAN use their Linkruns as a phone? lolol like I said… Daisuke just call Love up when your sister is in trouble. just dial L O V E, I'm sure that's her Precure number. (Dokidoki don't interact)

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this in the chapter 1 summary but Manami bought Love peach juice at her request, and this chapter has Inori drinking pineapple juice. I wonder if the other two will also get to drink their flavor in the next chapters?

Does Kentarou not know where Manami lives...? Did he really gotta go around to every Fushiawase location instead of ringing her doorbell?

Also I feel like they're setting up Manami x Kentarou but I don't really like him. I expect a speech from him about how sorry he is for not being sensitive enough to her feelings before he gets together with her.

I also think it's funny that Maphisto is a man like is he supposed to be Manami's idea of her fiance? I think that's what they should do. I'm curious if that'll happen

Meanwhile, Daisuke is hanging out at his baseball club even though practice has long ended for 3rd years. He told his friends he wanted to see his club since they're almost graduating, and got laughed at for saying something so uncharacteristically sentimental. However, his true purpose was to intercept Love coming back from her counseling session so that he could talk to her and find out what high school she's aiming for. Which is exactly what he does. He confirms that she's aiming for Yotsuba High School, which is where most of their middle school students go.

Love asks Daisuke where he's aiming for, and he says that he's unsure. This surprises her. He mentions that Yuki's (guy who had a crush on Miki) family owns a sushi restaurant, so he's planning on studying to become a chef rather than going to high school. Kento (guy who had a crush on Inori) is from the Mikoshiba conglomerate so he's going to study abroad in America. Daisuke says that he feels like the only one who doesn't have things figured out. Love immediately grabs one of his hands in both of hers and says she feels the same while shaking it up and down.

Daisuke's heart skips a beat. At the intersection, he says that he was thinking of trying for the private high school a town over since they have a strong baseball team, but if Love is going to Yotsuba High he might try that instead. He says this while blushing. Just then the signal turns green, and Love bounds off on the road while bidding him goodbye. She wasn't listening to him at all. Daisuke is left standing there, and the signal turns red again.

At home, Love speeds through dinner and her bath to start studying immediately in her room. There, though, she finds that Tarte has put Chiffon to sleep and is demanding that she stay quiet. She says sorry, and then points out that this is her room. She starts trying to study and it's not going well; she doesn't even know what questions she would have to ask to get an explanation that would make sense. Tarte goes on about how he agrees with her teacher and she doesn't need to compare herself to Pine or Berry. Love tells him to shush it so she can focus on studying. He apologizes and goes back to reading his manga magazine. All is quiet until Love starts making sleeping noises; she fell asleep at her desk. Tarte puts her cardigan over her.

The next day, Manami is absent from school. Everyone expects that she'll show up later in the day, but she doesn't. They feel that something's off as there's rumors going around that something happened with her fiance. Love doesn't believe it since Manami looked so happy on her counseling day and the wedding was only a few days away.

Daisuke is looking through reference books, thinking he's going to get serious about studying now that he's talked to Love, when Kento and Yuki appear. They get chummy with him and say they heard about how he was actually waiting for Love that one day. Daisuke denies it, but they tell him that they're rooting for him since their own crushes have no future (Yuki not being able to go to high school with Miki and beauty school doesn't match up with owning a sushi restaurant; Kento leaving for America). The two of them then march him off to the game arcade despite him saying he needs to study. He realizes that this is why he hasn't gotten serious about studying, since these two don't have entrance exams to worry about.

Daisuke loses a fighting game to Kento because Kento is rich and has every new game at home that he can play as much as he wants (though they always hang out on the second floor with the old games, so I guess Kento just is game buff). Daisuke goes to get something from the vending machine and looks out the window to see Manami sitting at a cafe.

At school during break time, Daisuke whisper reports to Love what he saw in a hallway. He saw Manami at a cafe in front of the station arguing with a man. Daisuke says that this must be her fiance. Love asks if Daisuke saw the man's face or knew what they were talking about, to which he answers no to both. Love says that he actually doesn't know if it was her fiance or not then. Daisuke insists that they were arguing about something and that it's weird for their teacher to skip school just to argue with a man in a coffee shop.

A few days later, Love is heading to Inori's house for studying. Passing by the park, she sees Kaoru's truck and decides to get some donuts to go. From the truck's shadow, she sees Miyuki sitting alone at the seating area. Love stops in her tracks. They had all stopped dancing after that competition they won due to having to study for entrance exams, so she hasn't seen Miyuki in a while and feels awkward about calling out to her. Love gathers up her courage and starts to call out her name, but Miyuki doesn't notice and suddenly leaves with a serious face.

Kaoru greets Love and asks if she wants donuts. Love asks him about what's going on with Miyuki, but he says he didn't notice anything.

Love arrives at Inori's house, which is behind their vet hospital in Clover Town Street. The person that opens the door for her isn't Inori, however, but Miki. Miki was at Inori's house to return a book and heard that Love was coming, so she thought she'd give her a little scare. Miki gets ready to take her leave so she won't get in the way of them studying, but Love tells her to stay and study with them. Miki asks why she should do that when she has no entrance exams. Love says that it's too bad then, since she brought Kaoru's donuts with her, which catches Miki's attention. Inori plays along and says that they should just eat them between the two of them, while Miki protests that they should've brought the donuts up first and joins them. Love jokes that this is her return-fire knockout surprise move.

That night, Miyuki thinks over the day's events in her room. Reika had suddenly said that she wanted to quit Trinity during a break in their dance lessons. Miyuki and Nana had pressed her for reasons, but Reika only cried and said that it was due to family matters and that she had to return to her hometown immediately. Miyuki knew that Reika was the one in most pain, but she couldn't help herself and snapped at her, saying she had enough and Reika could just do whatever. Miyuki wonders why she said that and why she didn't run after Reika and thank her for all the hard work she put in their group until now. She didn't want Trinity to break up, but in the end she was the one who broke them apart. Now crying, Miyuki concludes that she's the worst.

Just then, she feels a presence of a person in her room and lifts her head to look behind her. In the corner of her room stands a man in a dark hooded cloak. Normally she would yell, but for some reason she doesn't feel any sense of fear. She feels fascinated, like she's been hypnotized.

The man introduces himself as Maphisto, which uses the Kanji 魔 (demon, evil) for the "Ma" part. The rest of the name is in Katakana. His face isn't visible under the shadow of his hood, but his eyes shine with a strange light that she can't look away from. He asks her if she's sad, and she says yes. He asks again, and she says yes. He says he knows a way that will take away the pain of mourning a happiness that will never return. Miyuki begs him to tell her what that is. He tells her to say magic words, and she pleads with him to tell her what they are. He says that she already knows them. The words appear in her head, and at his goading she says them aloud: "Happiness is worthless." (Note about the Japanese: "幸せなんかいらない" literally translated, it could be "I don't need something like happiness." as well as "I don't want to be happy." いらない carries both the idea of not wanting something and not needing something; therefore I used "worthless" given the gravity of this statement in this particular context.)

The next moment, a murky darkness flies out of Maphisto's mouth and attacks Miyuki's body.

Daisuke is in the next room over and was listening to music with headphones, but took them off thinking he would buy a snack. When he does, he hears Miyuki scream. He immediately rushes to her room and sees her turning into a monster. Once fully a monster, what-was-once-Miyuki breaks the window and flies outside. It chants "Fushiawase" (Unhappiness) and also the word "Dancing."

Love, Miki, and Inori have finished studying and are heading out (Inori to see them off halfway). Love recounts how she saw Miyuki at the park. Miki jokes about how Love is always worried about other people when her own studying isn't going well, when they hear a yell. A beat later they hear a crowd screaming in fear. They run over there and see a 3 meter tall monster moving jerkily, as if dancing, as people scramble away. It grabs people with multiple long arms, and the people caught begin dancing in the same manner against their will. The book compares this to the fairy tale the red shoes; the people must dance until they die.

Miki wonders if it's the Labyrinth at work again, but Love immediately denies it since Setsuna is working to make that place better. The three of them start helping people escape. The monster is using anything around it to attack people.

Elsewhere, Tarte (with Chiffon on his back) has climbed onto a lamp post to see what's going on.

Love sees a man in his 20s looking up at the monster with a sad look on his face and directs him to escape. As he leaves, she sees a dolphin keychain on his bag, which she feels like she's seen somewhere before. Before she can recall where, Daisuke comes running over and calling her name.

Daisuke tells them that the monster is Miyuki and begs them to transform into Precure to save her. The three of them can't though, because they gave their items back to the Sweets Kingdom. The three of them try to call out to Miyuki but the monster only attacks them. They keep trying to no avail. Love shouts that she wants to save Miyuki, and from the lamp post Chiffon suddenly cries out. A light shines from the mark on her forehead, and the next moment Love, Miki, and Inori all have their Linkruns in their hands. Their Pickruns come flying down from the sky. The girls are surprised, but Pirun tells them that Love called them when she said she wanted to save Miyuki. The girls look at each other and then raise their hands all at once and shout their transformation phrase. Tarte finally catches up with them once they've transformed.

The Precure fight the monster, and it takes them a bit to get used to their roles again. Once they get the hang of it though, they hit it with a Love Sunshine Fresh and Espoir Shower Fresh, but as Cure Pine tries to cast Healing Prayer Fresh, a lone pet dog jumps in front of her. Pine immediately leaps and grabs it, and is hit directly by the monster's flailing arms. She crashes hard into concrete walls. The dog however is safe, and runs off happily once it hears its owner calling for it. Relieved, Pine passes out. Berry and Peach try to run over to her but are hit by the monster and go flying.

Peach spots a gallant figure lit by the moonlight on the roof of a building for a moment and immediately recognizes it as Cure Passion. Passion casts Happiness Hurricane, giving them that last purifying power they need to beat the monster. The people stop dancing, finally free.

The three of them, transformations undone, run over to Inori and help her stand. Inori asks about Miyuki, and they turn around to see Daisuke at her side. All four of them rush over. Miyuki struggles to remember what happened, and then recalls Maphisto. She tells them about the hooded figure that was standing in the corner of her room, but can't remember anything after that. Miki tells Daisuke that they should get her home so she can rest. Daisuke and Love help Miyuki up, and Miyuki finally notices the girls' presence. When she sees Love, she comments that it's been a long time and that she feels better getting to see Love. She asks Love to say her catchphrase so Love replies with a "Get your happiness!" with a thumbs up. Miyuki thanks her and says she can feel her energy returning.

They see Miyuki off. From the shadows, Maphisto watches them and scoffs at Love's catchphrase. Setsuna notices his presence and turns around, but he's already gone. The other three surround her and welcome her back, and she replies with a smile, already forgetting about the presence she felt. Tarte and Chiffon also welcome her back, and Setsuna calls their names and opens her arms wide. Tarte tries to leap into her hug but she only hugs Chiffon. Tarte makes a corny joke about how painful ("Setsunai") it is to get this from "Passion"-han. No one hears this pun and Setsuna greets him after and asks how he's doing.

Love asks Setsuna why she's here, and Setsuna recounts for them. When Chiffon's light shone, she was eating her handmade donuts with Wester and Soular. They said her donuts were good, but she noticed that they were holding something back and pointed it out. The other two were hesitant but told her that though her donuts were good, they didn't really match up to Kaoru's. She took a bite herself, said she'd do her best (catchphrase), then laughed, and the other two laughed as well. At that moment, her Linkrun suddenly appeared in her hand and Akarun came flying in. She realized that for the Linkrun and Akarun to cross dimensions from the Sweets Kingdom like that it must mean that the Precure team was out there fighting. Wester and Soular came to the same conclusion and told her that she should go, with Wester saying she had to bring back Kaoru's donuts as a souvenir. She transformed and the two of them clapped when she finished, to which she said, "Cut it out". After that, she used Akarun's teleportation powers to get to where they were fighting.

Setsuna and Love surprise Love's mom with Setsuna. Ayumi is touched to see Setsuna and welcomes her home. Setsuna shyly replies that she's back, and addresses Ayumi as her mother again. Ayumi hugs her hard. The same thing happens when Love's dad (Keitarou) returns, except he hugs Tarte hard because he can't hug Setsuna. (I don't understand why not.)

They have their first dinner together as a family in a year. Ayumi says that Love should have told her that Setsuna was coming because she didn't prepare anything special. Dinner is stuffed green bell peppers, which Love says is no good since Setsuna hates bell peppers. Setsuna laughs and starts eating them, and actually looks like she's finding them delicious. Love insists that she doesn't have to force herself, but Setsuna says that she's now able to eat them. Ayumi praises Setsuna and then gets on Love's case about not eating carrots. Love protests that her mom hates spinach, but her mom retorts that she can eat them if she forces herself. Setsuna starts laughing. She thinks about how much she loves this family.

Love and Setsuna go upstairs and Love says that Setsuna's room is just how she left it. Setsuna remembers that one time Northa acted as a fake Ayumi that Setsuna immediately clocked, but when she tried to convince Love that that wasn't mom, Love didn't believe her and took offense that Setsuna would be so mean. Ultimately, it was Ayumi's feelings towards Setsuna that was the key to saving her, and Setsuna started calling her "Mom" that day. The red heart bracelet from that day is something Setsuna brought with her to Labyrinth and is sitting on her desk there. (Episode 40)

Love entwines her arm around Setsuna's and tells her that she should stay for a while because it's been so long, and she's sure Setsuna wants to talk more with Miki and Inori. Setsuna had told them she was going back the next afternoon, but she has second thoughts now and decides to stay, thinking it might be okay to leave matters to Soular and Wester for up to a week.

The next day, another Fushiawase appears on Clover town street, this time sunflower themed. Now having gotten back into the swing of things, the four immediately transform and purify it quickly. The Fushiawase continue to appear day by day, at any time. The people they save say the same things as Miyuki did, and the team figures out that the "Happiness is worthless" phrase is the trigger. They visit Miyuki and ask her what she had been upset about, and Miyuki tells them that Trinity is disbanding and of the mean things she said to Reika. She has since met up with Reika to apologize, and they made up. The girls resolve to catch this Maphisto.

The Fushiawase keep coming and they keep purifying them, but they get the sense that the monsters are getting stronger. Tarte and Chiffon go to retrieve the Clover box from the shrine in the Sweets Kingdom, but when they get there they find the box missing.

Personal Commentary:

Forcing people to dance until they die? Is this Space Channel 5?

Despite having cell phones, they continue not to use them. Daisuke could have phoned Love but instead he had to book it over and hope she would already be at the scene of action.

At the donut scene I legit thought Setsuna was gonna rake Wester and Soular over the coals. I guess this is redeemed Setsuna, but it's really boring how they sanded off all her edges when they redeemed her. I think she should be able to to make annoyed jabs sometimes.

I really think that Ayumi should stop getting on Love's case about not eating carrots. There's so many reasons why specific foods don't work for people rather than just being selfish, and I really didn't like that part of Ayumi when watching the show. Love eats other vegetables so it's fine if she doesn't want to eat carrots. Lots of people with sensory problems have specific items they can't eat, and treating it as a moral failing helps no one. (Of course, everyone should eat vegetables because they vastly help your health. In cases where someone isn't eating vegetables at all, it's better to experiment to see what they can eat, slowly increase their tolerance by pairing it with food they like, and otherwise hiding the veggies and letting them know so they have a good method to eat veggies in the future. But anyway.)

[VERY DIFFERENT FOR SOME REASON!]

The book describes the area where Blossom and Moonlight meet Dark Precure as a Colosseum where Dune would make people he captured fight to the death. There's traces of blood on the stone ground. This is not how the area looks in show.

There's an extra conversation between Dark Precure and Moonlight not in show where Dark Precure asks who Moonlight fights for. Moonlight naturally says that she fights to protect everyone's heart flowers and Dark Precure says that she only fights for the person she loves. Moonlight questions this, as Dark Precure doesn't have a heart, does she? Dark Precure insists that she's fighting for Professor Sabaku, and that Moonlight, who doesn't love anyone, can't match up to her.

The book describes Sabaku watching them from the audience stands but the architecture doesn't match that in show. The book also has Blossom take the hit for Moonlight when he fires at her. Dark Precure then lands a kick on Moonlight that sends her crashing into a wall.

Sabaku beams Blossom a few more times and Chypre comes in to defend her. Moonlight notices that Chypre is about to get smoked and runs in to take the hit for her. Moonlight tells Blossom that she told her not to let the fairies get involved in the battles. having taken a lot of damage, Dark Precure kicks her and gets her to cough up blood and Moonlight is blown away. Dark Precure hits her with another beam and Moonlight collapses to the ground. Blossom tries to help her but gets hit with more of Sabaku's beams and likewise hits the ground and stops moving. This whole segment is for some reason very different from the show.

Sabaku says his line about Blossom being history's weakest Precure and Blossom and Moonlight start to move again and muster up the words to protest. Blossom says she's changed and Moonlight says stuff about how she isn't alone anymore and they carry people's feelings with them. Blossom agrees and she stands up slowly. Dark Precure says that she'll teach them that people's feelings mean nothing. Moonlight says that she doesn't understand people's true feelings and that she'll show her the full weight of the feelings of the Precure. Blossom and Moonlight start overpowering their respective opponents. Dark Precure and Moonlight fortissimo at each other again and Dark Precure falls over onto the ground and struggles to get up, trying to use her tact to prop herself up and failing. Moonlight shoots a silver forte wave at her when Sabaku dives in, like he does in show. (in show though, Dark Precure just had her back to a wall and Moonlight was shooting a normal beam. they hadn't fortissimo'd yet, either)

With his mask off and finally recognizing Yuri, she runs over to him, still in Moonlight form, and throws her arms around him.

[NEW!]

Yuri's dad goes on a longer summary of what happened to him than in show. He mentions finding the Heart Tree in Paris, how it touched him, and him and trying to research it only to get nowhere. He mentions that Dune told him you can control people's hearts if you use the Heart Tree and that he would pay for all of his research expenses if he joined him. Then Dune put the mask on him, which slowly erased his memories. (In the show, Hideaki put the mask on by himself. So another continuity error.)

Hideaki explains that he was afraid of forgetting Yuri and her mother so he took cells from the heart tree and some of Yuri's hair to make Dark Precure. He uses "omae" to refer to Yuri here which probably indicates distance, since I don't think you would normally address your daughter with this pronoun. He says that he wanted Dark Precure next to him so he wouldn't forget Yuri, but he ended up making her to make Yuri suffer.

The rest happens like it does in show with Dark Precure's final moments. after she disappears, Dune claps from the audience seating, which again doesn't exist in show.

[VERY DIFFERENT FOR SOME REASON!]

Dune specifically aims to kill Hideaki, unlike in the show where all 3 of them fight him for a bit. He launches an energy ball at Hideaki. Blossom and Moonlight block it but dark energy explodes from in it and knock the two of them out of transformation. He fires another at them and Hideaki jumps in the way and then does his dying thing. The book implies that the mask also gave him extra powers, since it notes that it was a dangerous thing for him to do without his mask.

When Tsubomi tells Yuri not to fight from hatred and holds up her other heart seed fragment, Yuri takes the part from her necklace and combines it while holding Tsubomi's hand. In the show, she just takes it from Tsubomi. At that moment, Sunshine, Marine, Kaoruko and Coppe arrive rather than in the show when they appear after Blossom and Moonlight had transformed and fought Dune a bit.

Dune has a little conversation with Kaoruko where he asks her why they're still fighting when the Heart Tree has withered. Kaoruko says that as long as people have hope and believe in the Precure the tree can bloom again. Not sure why this conversation was necessary considering that she basically said the same thing earlier.

[NEW!]

Dune decides that means that he should kill them in front of the Heart Tree to nullify all hope that remains. He says he'll be waiting for them there and poofs. Yuri and Tsubomi catch the others up on what's been going down. then Coppe tells them to take a break and it's revealed that Coppe can actually speak and does so with the fairies normally but just chooses not to most of the time.

So they all take a break by entering Coppe's heart mark which apparently links to a space that has a blue sky, a giant flower field, butterflies, birds, etc. there is also a hot spring so they go sit in it. Huh.

While Tsubomi, Erika, and Itsuki are kicking back and relaxing, Yuri is thinking about her heart seed and her dad's situation. She thinks over how she doesn't agree with how her dad called Dark Precure a doll without a heart, since Dark Precure tried so hard to be loved and to keep his love to herself. Yuri thinks of how if they weren't enemies they would have been sisters. She feels bad for Dark Precure; disappearing in her father's arms was her only saving grace.

Tsubomi realizes something is up with Yuri and asks her if something's wrong. Yuri says no, then asks forgiveness for her father's actions. Tsubomi tears up and tells her that she doesn't need to apologize, especially as she's the one who was hurt the most. She then cries and hugs Yuri. Then Erika and Itsuki also tell her that she can cry and they hug her too. Then the fairies also pile onto the cry-while-hugging-Yuri heap. Yuri thanks them and then breaks out into an ugly loud sob, and they all join her in crying loudly.

They all cry until they naturally quiet down, but the tears keep coming. Erika comments on this and then wipes away her tears and talks about how she used to cry alone when she felt insecure about herself in comparison to Momoka, but after crying she felt like she was tackle it again. Tsubomi adds in how she used to cry alone when her parents were gone and she couldn't make any friends, but she felt lighter after crying. Itsuki says that she used to cry about suppressing her true self but the tears helped wash away her moments of weakness. Yuri listens quietly, no longer crying. and then she says that her dad may have actually made them stronger.

[STOLEN LINES FROM LATER IN THE SHOW]

Tsubomi apologizes for her comments back when she was stopping Yuri from fighting Dune. Yuri shakes her head and says that Tsubomi helped her remember something important. Erika suddenly stands up in a loud splash and declares that it's funny that 14-year-old beauties have to fight Dune to save the world. Coffret regards the "beauty" comment with doubt, and Chypre corrects that Yuri is 17. Erika sheepishly apologizes to Yuri and Yuri laughs. Everyone else joins in laughing and are grateful that Erika is their teammate.

Tsubomi asks what they'll do after they defeat Dune. Erika says she wants to be a pro designer have her own brand. Itsuki says what she does in show about continuing with martial arts and trying other this out, but what exactly she's thinking of trying is a secret. Yuri says she wants to continue protecting her mother and become a botanist like her father. Tsubomi says she wants a job of greening the desert, which is a bit different from in the show. Tsubomi says that if she succeeds there she'd like to then go into space and plant flowers on all planets. (And this is a good time as any to drop links for why that's not necessarily a good idea.)

[NEW!!!]

They all feel ready to take on the final battle. Yuri says they'll fight with love rather than hate. They leave Coppe's space.

Outside of Coppe, they thank him and he smiles for maybe the only time in this franchise. They transform and ride Coppe's back to the Heart Tree.

At the Heart Tree, Moonlight asks Dune why he targets Earth when there must be planets out there that the suited for the Desert Apostles. He says that since the Earth intensifies his hatred, it's the most suitable planet for him.

He wants to pollute the planet his father, who he hates more than anything in the world, tried to obtain — though that world doesn't exist anymore, though, since he killed it. He decides to explain himself since he's going to kill the Precure soon anyway. His father was the head of the Desert Apostles and was convinced by Dune's stepmother to try to kill his first successor, aka Dune. His nanny sensed this was happening and led him to escape outside the castle, but their pursuer caught up to them and killed his nanny in front of his eyes. He was 7. He continued running and then hid in a building that happened to be the church of an evil god (they refer to this as a devil later). He prayed to the statue there and offered his soul in exchange for the power to kill his father. With that power, he killed his father, his step-mother, and his younger half-brother (who I assume the step-mother wanted to replace him with).

The Precure listen to this all and then start crying for him. Dune is like, hey, you're supposed to clap there.

[VERY DIFFERENT FOR SOME REASON!]

So they get started with the battles. The fairies become capes now. The fight is completely different from the show for some reason. Marine tries to land hits on Dune and gets blown into a mound of dirt. Sunshine tries and likewise. Not sure why they're trying to fight him one on one. Blossom nearly repeats the mistake but Moonlight holds her back and tells her that they can't win 1-on-1. I really thought they would've spent time in the hot spring talking about strategy considering they had downtime and Yuri used to do that with Cologne, but I guess the author wasn't actually serious about having to write that. Blossom and Moonlight attack him together and Marine and Sunshine stand up and use a red heart seed to up their speed. They knock him into yet another mound of dirt and then use Heartcatch Mirage. It describes the move as extending a flower road towards him. No mention of the goddess figure for some reason. It doesn't work on him.

Dune transforms to his giant form which is described as a devil form. He also has a long tail and bat wings, which is different from his design in the anime. No mention of the lizard. He summons purple clouds that cover the Earth and shoot dark energy that breaks up all the land around the Heart Tree. Coppe and Kaoruko move the base of the tree around to keep it safe, and Coppe's barrier prevents it from getting hit by the dark energy. Kaoruko beckons the Precure inside of Coppe's barrier.

Blossom asks if that form is Dune's true form. Kaoruko says that in her time she only fought him as a human. Moonlight says that this sad form must be from selling his soul to the devil and having his body taken over. Dune stops growing when he's 1/2 the size of the earth. Sunshine wonders if that's the size of his hatred. Since the book used the 14-year-old beauty line in the hot springs earlier, instead Marine notes that at least it isn't infinite. They can win if they use Precure's infinite power.

Dune starts hitting the Earth, which he has changed to be ashen now (probably from the clouds. In the anime it just was desertified and looked orange). Moonlight says that they can't let Dune having his way with the Earth. They all go out together, unlike in the anime. (Probably because the hot spring used their lines from this scene in the anime.)

Dune fires dark energy beams at them from his hands but they dodge and stop in front of him. Blossom looks at him with tender eyes and the lines here match the anime. The Heartcatch Mirage appears overhead when the Precure feelings are one. They become infinity silhouette, which is described as having a face as a mix of Tsubomi and Itsuki, hair falling in light waves like Erika, with the color of Yuri's hair. The cape around her is the fusion of all 3 fairies. (This is interesting because it implies that Infinity Silhouette should have dark hair. The anime version is basically a giant Tsubomi, down to the fact that the flowers in her pigtails are cherry blossoms, which is where cure Blossom gets her name from.)

After Dune's multiple punches get repelled, his expression changes to fear and he takes a few steps back. Infinity Silhouette says a different line than she does in the anime.

Infinity Silhouette: Your hatred is all for naught in the face of Infinity Silhouette. The love of the Precure shall envelope your hatred and your sadness, and purify it for you. Dune: S-stop… Stay away!

He tries to run away but is swiftly enclosed in an embrace. (Lamer than punching.)

The devil controlling him lets out a scream as it's purified, and all the dark energy shoots out from his body. Dune transforms back to his previous form. In Infinity Silhouette's embrace, Dune remembers being hugged by his mother as a child. He deages from being a man to a boy.

Dune: S-so this is… the Precure's love… I've lost.

He then disappears in golden particles like he does in the anime.

Infinity Silhouette sees him off with a smile and then the holy light is sucked back into the Heartcatch Mirage, leaving the Super Silhouette Precure and their fairies.

[NEW!]

Later, the team, detransformed, stands in front of the Heart Tree. Kaoruko ask for the Heart Pot from Coppe and its lid from Yuri. the book says Yuri apparently was using that to transform before, even though the anime always showed the entire pot being used. Kaoruko sets the pot down at the tree's root, and from the pot comes a rainbow that repairs the trunk of the tree. At the same time, a small purple light pops out. Yuri immediately says, "Cologne…!" and the light circles them happily. The tree fully revives, unlike in the anime where the new one is still a sprout at the end.

A breeze carries petals from countless of flowers from the Heart Tree to Earth's surface and purifies the desert devils, brings people back from their crystal states, and restores Earth. The Precure travel to the Precure palace and place the Heartcatch Mirage back there. They look upon their statues and then say goodbye to the fairies, who need to stay and protect the Heart Tree. They return to their everyday lives.

2 years later in spring, Yuri and Haruna visit Hideaki's grave in his birthtown in the Yamanashi prefecture. They light incense and clasp their hands together to pray. Yuri (mentally) tells him she has just passed the entrance exam into her father's alma mater, a big university in Kyoto, and is planning on becoming a botanist like him. They weren't able to keep any of his ashes given what went down, so instead in his grave is his white lab coat from a locker in the botanical garden. Her mom prays for a long time, during which Yuri reflects on what's happened.

After they defeated Dune, Yuri told her everything about being a Precure and what happened to her dad. Her mom had listened and accepted it all and just said she was glad that Yuri came back safe. Yuri cried at her mom's kindness. When Yuri got accepted into the university in Kyoto, she invited her mom to move to Kyoto with her, since it was clear that her mom couldn't keep living in the botanical garden apartments after her father died, but her mom had just shook her head silently. Haruna told her that Kaoruko said Yuri would become an employee at the botanical gardens after she graduates, so she doesn't have to move. Haruna says she got herself this favor with a smile, so Yuri doesn't ask her to move with her again. She thinks that her mom likely doesn't want to cry in front of Yuri whenever she remembers Hideaki.

Haruna finally finishes praying. Yuri asks her what she was praying so long for and Haruna says that she was praying to Hideaki that Yuri won't run into any weird bugs when she gets to Kyoto. This phrase "虫がつく" can also mean "to begin to keep bad company; to have an (unfavorable, unfavourable) lover​", so it likely that her mom is saying that she hopes Yuri doesn't run into anyone bad. She smiles and takes Yuri's arm.

As they come out of the temple that's halfway up a mountain, they're greeted with a panoramic view of Mount Fuji, which still has snow on its top. Surrounding all the mountains is a blanket of pink and white flowers in full bloom: cherry blossoms, peach blossoms, and pear blossoms. Seeing those flowers makes Yuri think of Tsubomi, Erika, and Itsuki (though Erika and Itsuki's don't match their heart flowers, and we can only assume Tsubomi's is meant to be a cherry blossom.) The 3 of them just entered Myoudou's high school and made a new fashion club since one didn't already exist.

Itsuki started being a model for a fashion magazine (guess that was her secret thing she wanted to try out). Momoka has graduated and gone on to become an international model in Paris, so Itsuki has taken her place as an in-house model. (So you mean, she does gravure too? Yikes.) She's going to balance it with her martial arts.

Erika has become her mom's right hand at Fairy Drop and has worked on designing clothes.

Tsubomi is doing her best to get employed by NASA in the future, so she's learning English. To conquer her fear of heights, she's been trying thrill rides at the amusement park when she has time.

Their days as a Precure flew by, but Yuri swears to the flowers before her that she will also work her hardest to make her dreams come true, holding that wondrous experience close to her heart.

THE END

Personal commentary:

The only important part of this was Dune's backstory. Which, by the way, is written wrong on the Precure wiki. I don't do any wiki editing so if someone wants to correct that, please do so. The wiki says he got help from his stepmother and stepbrother, but that's not true. He hated them and killed them also.

The whole hot spring thing was so random. Like the Yuri bath scene in like chapter 1, its inclusion raises questions about author intent, given that they have a major heartfelt talk and then all hug each other... while being naked. Like this can't be animated without a lot of censoring. They could have easily done the same thing in the giant flower field while clothed and had a picnic or something. I also don't see why they needed to steal lines from later in the show.

For that matter, I don't understand why there were so many details that were different from the show. I really don't understand who this book is for.

Dune while waiting for them to take a communal bath for like 2 hours: "What is taking them so long. I should have just warped all of us."

Already dropped links above because I couldn't help myself but the idea that everywhere needs flowers is cringe. Introducing species just because you like them to ecosystems that don't need them is all sorts of folly. What if the planets already have life and you're giving them something invasive. Tsubomi also says this in show with the implication that the flowers would heal people's hearts and prevent another Dune from appearing but that's very simplistic. In real life at any rate, the violence that produces people who hurt other people is very often systemic and can't be fixed just by letting people live among flowers. They should have leaned more into the magic approach here and indicate that she wants to help the heart flowers of people rather than literally planting physical flowers. But I guess the Heart Tree is only supposed to cover Earth, so who knows if there's another one of it in space. Regardless, this is a very ill-thought out dream. She's 14 here so let's hope she rethinks it in the future. (Probably not though, due to the bias against deserts.)

Dying at Itsuki basically becoming a bikini model (some of the time). Her arc in show is just so bad already by telling girls that the real freedom is embracing the status quo of gender norms. Every day I wish she had actually been written as a trans girl.

Well. This book was a lot of nothing. 5/10.

When skimming this I noticed that Dark Precure / Moonlight's fight parallels the one where Moonlight lost. They hit each other with Fortissimo and then one of them thinks that they've won only to be hit with the effects much worse than the other person.