Hatsukoi Limited 18

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Hatsukoi Limited
Chapter 18
The Melancholy of the Chocolate Bomber: 1/3 (ignite)
[insert text: Gripped within that hand... a sweet-tasting bomb. Melting, flowing, lighting a fire within your chest.]

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Yamamoto: (February the 14th is approaching so fast... // I can't just wait for it like this. // I was worrying about it all night... // ...and in the end, I bought the chocolate... // I guess girls in love... / are just fodder for the chocolate companies' marketing tricks.) // Ah!

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[sFX: dash]
Mamoru: Saki-nee!
Yamamoto: What is it~? You heading home too?
Mamoru: ...You know, you must be freezing to death in that getup...
Yamamoto: This is just my policy!
Mamoru: Well, at least take my scarf...
Yamamoto: Don't bother! You catch colds so easily, if you don't wear it -
Mamoru: Oh, come on, that was back in primary school...
Yamamoto: [aside]eheheh...[/aside] Just don't bother, okay?
[sFX: stop]

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[side:]
Character Introductions
Yamamoto Misaki... High-school first-year. For the sake of Arihara (the brother), she bought her first ever honmei-choco. So she's in a pretty good mood.
[/Side]
Yamamoto: A~nd there we go!
[sFX: clench...]
Mamoru: You didn't have to tie it like that...
Yamamoto: Heheh!
Mamoru: ...... / More importantly, Saki-nee...
Yamamoto: Mm?
Mamoru: That... box you're holding there. // I've been wondering for a while, but...
Yamamoto: Oh, this? // This is a box of honmei-choco! // It cost a ton! 4500 yen!!
Mamoru: [aside]four...![/aside]
Yamamoto: I blew a ton of money buying this, so you might not get any this year, 'kay?

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[side text: Last issue: Valentine chocolate... it can be sweet, or it can be bitter.]
Yamamoto: Oh, just kidding~!♪ // I'll make sure you get some too, all right? // Wha~t?
Mamoru: ......
Yamamoto: Something wrong? You look kinda sulky!
Mamoru: Oh... / I was just kinda thinking... "Wow, so Saki-nee has someone like that, huh?", you know... // I - I mean, I'm just a little kid who catches colds easily... / There's no way I'd ever get given something like that~!
Yamamoto: Hey, but I thought you got tons of chocolates every year?
Mamoru: I...

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Mamoru: As long as I have some from you... from Yamamoto Misaki... / I don't need chocolate from anyone else... // ......Ahh!!
[sFX: blu~~~~sh]
Mamoru: Th - That's right! / There's a - a shop I have to drop by...
[sFX: dash]
Yamamoto: M - Mamoru...
[TN: Huh. I have a little newfound respect for the guy, coming straight out and saying something like that.]

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Yamamoto: Mamoru! // Mamoru...... // .........
[sFX: collapse~]
Yamamoto: (But, Mamoru... he's just my childhood friend...)
[sFX: whoosh]
[sFX: ahh!]
Yamamoto: (I've never even thought about him in... that way...)
[sFX: stride, stride]

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Pedestrians: Wh - What's with that guy...?! // Wh - what should we do? Should we contact the police?
[sFX: stride stride]
[sFX: CRASH]
Yamamoto: Ahh......!
[sFX: tumble...]
Yamamoto: Owww... // !!
[sFX: grab]
[TN: Ooh. A mysterious chocolate-switcher. The plot thickens.]

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[sFX: dash]
Yamamoto: Who was that guy......? [aside]White robes and a helmet?[/aside] // Huh? // My chocolate...... // There! // Ahh... I hope it's not broken at all... // ............ // (Mamoru......)

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[side:]
Bessho Yoshihiko... High-school first-year. Has a real one-sided thing for Yamamoto. He's a nice guy, but he's the kind of guy who can end up being too nice, and getting looked over.
[/Side]
[sFX: bustle, bustle]
Yuuji: So yeah, my sister was in a total slump yesterday...
[TN: I wonder why that was? :p Poor Ayumi...]
Yoshihiko: You look kinda down, Yamamoto-san...
Yamamoto: Bessho-kun... // Well, I... / I've kinda found myself another thing to worry about......
Yoshihiko: Is it about him?
Yamamoto: No... Well, I guess it's kinda related... or not, really...

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Yoshihiko: Want me to hear you out again?
Yamamoto: After school, then...
Yoshihiko: [aside]So, I listened to that CD...[/aside]
Meguru: (.........) // Say, Yamamoto... / You seem to be on real friendly terms with Bessho lately.
Yamamoto: Good terms.........? / He's just being kind enough to listen to me once in a while, is all...
Meguru: Oh, but the two of you? After school? All alone? Isn't that a bit of a... cosy little situation?
Yamamoto: Don't start getting the wrong idea, Meguru...! / I'm not interested in him like that!
Meguru: Oh, but what about him?

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Meguru: Don't you think he might have a thing for you?
[sFX: thump]
Yamamoto: Ahahah... No way... // (Bessho-kun just happens to know that I like Arihara, that's all... / That's why... that's...)
Meguru: Well, you are an attractive girl, you know... // Tell you what... // How about you try this?

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[sFX: guaahhhh~~~~~]
Kei: Ayumi... Ayumi!!!
[sFX: guaahhhh~~~~~]
Nao: What's happened, Ayumi-chan...?!!
Rika: D'you think we'd better take her down to the nurse's office...?
[sFX: guaahhhh~~~~~]
[sFX: mutter]
Ayumi: ...Koyo...
Kei: Huh? [aside]what's this?[/aside]
Ayumi: KOYOI-CHAN-YOU-MIGHD-BE-ABLE-DO-UNDERSDAND-ME!!
Koyoi: [aside]ah![/aside]
[sFX: !]
[sFX: gra~~b]
Ayumi: SINCE-YOU'RE-IN-LOVE-WID-SOMEONE-JUST-LIKE-ME!!! [aside]even if it is your brother...[/aside]

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Koyoi: [aside]Ehhhhhh?![/aside] Zaitsu-kun has someone he likes?!
Ayumi: I - It didn't really look like she feels the same way... but - but - she was really pretty, and...
[sFX: sniff]
Koyoi: Uh-huh...
Ayumi: It looked like Zaitsu-kun really, really likes her... you could tell just by looking...
[sFX: gulp]
Koyoi: Uh-huh... // Me, too! I found out last year, my Onii-chan has a girl he likes...
Ayumi: You too, Koyoi-chan?!
Koyoi: But you know what?! I'm gonna fight! That's what I decided at New Year's!!

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Ayumi: But... she really was a total, total TOTAL hottie, you know?!
[sFX: graaargh!]
Koyoi: Uh-huh, mine too! She's, like, final-boss-level super-gorgeous, you know?
Ayumi: And she's a high-schooler, too... // So she has great style, and a huge chest...
Koyoi: ...Yeah, mine too... // So soft you feel like you're gonna pass out... it's the real deal.
Ayumi: That name... I'll never forget it, as long as I live!!
[sFX: waaahhh!!]
Ayumi: Yamamoto Misaki!! Who the hell is she, anyway.........?!!!
Koyoi: EEEEEHHHHHHHHH?!!
[sFX: aaaahhhhh!]
Ayumi: Wh - What's wrong, Koyoi-chan...?

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Flashback!Meguru: Why don't you try heading home instead of meeting him after school today? // If he really likes you, you know, he'll probably wait there for ages and ages...
[sFX: peek...]
[sFX: KA-THUMP]

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Teacher: Oi!
[sFX: jump]
Teacher: The five-o'clock chime rang already, you know! / You oughta get out of here sharpish! // Hm? There somebody still in here?
Yamamoto: (Bessho-kun...)
[sFX: dash]
Yamamoto: (I'm sorry... // I'm so sorry.........!!)
Pedestrian: Ahh... it's that guy again...
[sFX: aahh!]
MysteriousGuy: ............

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Yamamoto: (To me, chocolate is like a sweet-tasting bomb... // I just wanted to slip it into Arihara's heart... // ...and light a blazing fire inside... // ...But then Bessho-kun... and Mamoru... // If the two of them both really do like me like that... // Then what does this chocolate really mean, in the end...?)

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[sFX: fwump]
Yamamoto: Aaaaghhhh! / This is all too much at once~!
[sFX: flail, fidget, shuffle]
Yamamoto: I'm really not cut out for this sort of stuff... // (But, even so, I... // I still have to give this bomb to Arihara... right?)
[sFX: tick, tick, tick, tick]
Yamamoto: (Only one day, two and a half hours left... / ...until February the 14th...)
[insert text: "That time" draws closer, minute by minute...!!]
[TN: Oh, and please don't tell me there's a REAL bomb inside that thing >_<]
[bottom text: Who will be the recipient of that chocolate?! To be continued next issue, in "drop"!!]