Hatsukoi Limited 17

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Hatsukoi Limited
Chapter 17: The Forms Love Takes
[insert text: There are times in life when a girl has no choice but to fight!!]

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[side text: Last issue: Suddenly, Watase-san doesn't mind wearing swimsuits any more. (But only when she's bossing people about...)]
Girls: Bye-bye, Yuki-chan~! // See you tomorrow~!
Yamamoto: Hey... // D'you know that song that's number one on this week's western-music chart?
Yoshihiko: Ahh - yeah, of course...
Yamamoto: Yeah, well, I'm not usually big on ballads and stuff, but this one really got me.
Yoshihiko: Mmm, yeah... It's good... S - Sabi-something, right...?
Yamamoto: ...Why, Bessho-kun, you wouldn't happen to just be pretending you know what you're talking about...?
Bessho: Ahahahahahahahahaha... [aside]sorry 'bout that...[/aside]

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[side:]
Character Introductions
Yamamoto Misaki... High-school first-year. A beautiful, cool girl - eating lollipops, falling in love, offering romantic aid, and generally getting up to all sorts of things off-frame.
Bessho Yoshihiko... High-school first-year. He likes Yamamoto-san. But before he knew what was happening, he ended up becoming her confidant after she fell for his friend. Poor guy...
[/Side]
Yamamoto: Tell you what, I'll burn you a CD so you can listen.
Yoshihiko: N - no, you don't have to! / Just tell me the title, and I can buy it myself......
Yamamoto: Oh, I don't know... / When somebody makes you an offer, you should just count yourself lucky, you know?
Yoshihiko: Ha...haha...
Yamamoto: [aside]ah...[/aside] Come to think of it... // Valentine's Day is coming up, isn't it...?
Yoshihiko: ......
Yamamoto: I guess I probably ought to give Arihara-san some chocolate or something... / Hmmmmm...
[TN: The rundown on Valentine's Day in Japan for anyone unfamiliar: In Japan, Valentine's Day is generally celebrated by girls giving chocolates to guys. There's "giri-choco", or "obligation chocolate", which are cheaper, smaller chocolates given out just generally to males you associate with, and then there's "honmei-choco", which is more expensive chocolate given to someone you really care about. Oh, and whilst guys aren't expected to give anything on Valentine's Day, they are expected to return the favour a month later by giving gifts on "White Day".]

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[side:]
Arihara Ayumi... Middle-school second-year. She's crazy for Zaitsu Mamoru. However, he doesn't really seem to notice her. Read the first volume if you want to find out more!
[/Side]
Yamamoto: Hey, what do you think? / I'd like to hear a guy's opinion.
Yoshihiko: Wh - what do I think...? // I mean... / Aren't girls usually really big on this sort of thing...?
[sFX: KA-CRASH]
[bubbleSFX: splurt]
[sFX: waaaaahhh!]
Ayumi: It's no good!! I just can't handle this candy-making stuff!!
Mother: Ah - Ayumi-chan, try not to make a mess of the kitchen...
Ayumi: And everything in this kitchen is absolutely USELESS! Aghhhhh.........!!
[sFX: smash, smash]
Mother: Ahhh! I just bought that new oven, don't break it!!

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Ayumi: But Valentine's Day is finally almost here... It's the perfect chance for me to let him know how I feel... // I want to give him the most incredible home-made chocolate...
[bubbleSFX: munch]
Ayumi: [indecipherable noises XD]
[sFX: clutch / clutch / grasp]
Mother: ...
Ayumi: If I gave Zaitsu-kun this stuff, he'd hate me forever~~~~! [aside]it was so bad i thought i was gonna die...[/aside]
[sFX: waaahh]
Mother: More importantly, what are you going to do with all these failures?!
Ayumi: Maybe I'll give them to Onii-chan when he gets home...
Mother: Now, now...
Misao: February the 14th...
[Calendar: Valentine's Day]

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Misao: Wouldn't it be great to get a chocolate from Ayumi... / Something home-made!
[sFX: ta-daa]
Misao: And no matter how terrible it was, I'd eat every last bite!! // Yeah, right!♪ / There's no way an angel like her could make crappy chocolate... // [aside]ah, I said "crappy"... I'm sorry, Ayumi-chan...[/aside]
[Label: The Truth]
Yamamoto: I see... a home-made chocolate... // But wouldn't that be a bit of a pain?
Yoshihiko: Huh?
Yamamoto: I mean... if the feelings went both ways, I could understand it... / But if it's just a one-way sort of thing, I think it would just kind of annoy the person getting it, too...
Yoshihiko: I - / I...

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[side:]
Bessho Koyoi... Middle-school second-year. She really really really really loves her big brother. Not that he even thinks of her in that way. Read the first volume (etc.)
[/Side]
Yoshihiko: Well, I always seem to get home-made chocolates, even if it's just giri-choco...
Koyoi: Hmhmhmmm~!♪ // Last year it was Sachertorte, the year before it was Gateau Chocolat, the year before that it was a Chocolate Blancmange...
[sFX: fwump]
Koyoi: I wonder what I should make this year~! [aside]eheheh!♡[/aside] // Of course!! What about a super-ultra-huge Chocolate Wedding Cake?! [aside]yeah! yeah![/aside]

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Koyoi: [aside]ah![/aside] But I mustn't forget I'm up against the Final Boss...
Imaginary!Koyoi: [aside]he~y![/aside]
Imaginary!Yamamoto: Yoshihiko-ku~~~~n... // Hurry up and say "aah", now, before the chocolate melts...!♡
Imaginary!Yoshihiko: Aa~~~h!
[sFX: boing boing]
[sFX: AAAAHHH!]
Koyoi: NO! NO! THAT'S JUST NOT FAIR!! // That chest of hers possesses a truly terrible power...!!
[sFX: pant.. pant... // pant...]
[bubbleSFX: clutch, shudder]
Koyoi: I have to come up with a recipe incredible enough to compete... / ...Am I going to have to resort to a love potion?!
Yoshihiko: [aside]what's this?[/aside] Suddenly I have a really bad feeling all of a sudden...
[sFX: shudder]
Yamamoto: [aside]me too...[/aside]

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Yoshihiko: A - Anyway, forget whether it's home-made or whatever... // I think as long as there's feeling behind it, I wouldn't really mind... // I mean, just the act of getting something would make a guy feel... I dunno, relieved...?
Yamamoto: That's the thing! // There are any number of girls out there who are putting everything they have into giving out these chocolates... but when it comes to the guys, isn't it just the number that really counts? / At any rate, that's how it seems to me sometimes... And I don't think that's any good at all! // Say... // What does Valentine's Day really mean to a guy?

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Kusuda: If you ask me... // Valentine's Day, it's just another day, you know...?
Mamoru: Now, now, you never know, Kusuda-kun. This could always be the year that you finally -
Kusuda: You don't have to PITY me! / You know I've never got a single chocolate except from my own mother in my whole life!! // As for you... you can just suffocate to death under your mountain of chocolate! // [aside]go on! just die![/aside]
Mamoru: [aside]could you maybe stop that...?[/aside] // ...I don't get that many, really. // And besides... even if I do, I'm sure it's all just giri-choco in the end. // (I'm sure this year... / ...I'll get another chocolate from Saki-nee, but...)
Imaginary!Yamamoto: Hey, Mamoru, have some chocolate!

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[side:]
Zaitsu Mamoru... Middle-school second-year. He like Yamamoto-san. However, she never sees him as anything more than her little childhood friend. He's scared of Ayumi.
[/Side]
Mamoru: (But... that's...)
Imaginary!Yamamoto: Make sure you share it out nicely with Misao, too, okay?
Kusuda: Of course... that's it! / On February the 14th, we'll finally know if my suspicions are correct!
Mamoru: ...What are you going on about?
Kusuda: Oh, come on! / If Arihara Ayumi gives you chocolates on Valentine's Day, that means I was right all along!!
Yoshihiko: Yes... I suppose to me... // Valentine's Day is the day when you find out which girls really like which guys... I guess.

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Yamamoto: ......... // Well... that's true...
Yoshihiko: Well, the way I said that makes me sound like an outsider looking in, so it probably sounded a little pathetic... // ......But still... // I really do think there's some meaning in giving a guy chocolate on Valentine's Day... // And if you decide you're not going to, Yamamoto-san, well, I don't think the guy's going to be completely oblivious...
Yamamoto: Yeah... // ............

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Yamamoto: There isn't... anyone that Arihara likes right now, is there?
[sFX: gulp]
Yoshihiko: (Well... // When you put it like that, there kinda is someone... // But when we're talking about the guy's own sister...well...! // That isn't something I could possibly say out loud!!) // There isn't!! Definitely not!! Nobody at all!!
[sFX: clatter]
Yamamoto: Right...

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Yamamoto: In that case... has he ever been given any chocolates...?
Yoshihiko: Oh, no, never! // The guy's like me, he's just not popular like that!
Yamamoto: Really?
Yoshihiko: Absolutely! // I mean, what kind of idiot would go for I guy like - [aside]ahhhhhh...[/aside]
Yuuji: Guaaaahhh... what IS this stuff?!
[sFX: twitch / twitch]
Yuuji: My... my tongue... it's going n - n - numb... this stuff's not edible!!
Ayumi: How can you say things like that?!! / I even used a Belgian chocolate recipe...!
[sFX: fu~~~me]
Ayumi: Fine, then! I'll just have to give them to Zaitsu-kun after all!

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Ayumi: Zaitsu-kun's nice, I'm sure he'll eat the whole lot!
[sFX: Nghhhhhhhh...]
Yuuji: What the HELL did you mix in here to make it taste this bad...?!!
[sFX: pant... pant... pant... pant...]
[sFX: ruffle ruffle ruffle ruffle etc.]
Ayumi: But even though you're saying that, you're still eating it all up~! [aside]you're so nice~![/aside] / It makes me so happy I just want to ruffle your hair all day~!♡
Yuuji: I - I'll do my best, so if you could wake me up like that in the mornings -
[sFX: SMASH / thunk]
Ayumi: NO WAY!! / Onii-chan, why do you have to say such creepy things all the time?!!
[TN: ...You know, I'm starting to think Mamoru has the right idea about Ayumi. She IS scary and evil. Even if she is cute.]

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[side:]
Arihara Yuuji... High-school first-year. He's openly admitted to having a thing for his sister. But even so, it seems like he's managed to catch Yamamoto-san's eye...
[/Side]
Yuuji: Well, could you at least try and make things that are actually physically edible, then?! / You're the only one I ever get any chocolate from, every year, you know!!
[sFX: clutch]
Ayumi: That's just your fault for being so unpopular~!
[sFX: ahhhh! // aaaahhh! // cut it out already!]
Yamamoto: ...Well, thanks for this, Bessho-kun.
Yoshihiko: Oh, no... I mean, all I really did was listen, and...
Yamamoto: But that's just right. / That's the nice thing about you.
[sFX: clatter]
Yamamoto: You're always so nice to me... // I just kind of end up relying on you like this, you know......?

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[sFX: place]
Yamamoto: To be honest, that's just something I was going to have yesterday... // But you can have it if you like!
[sFX: clunk]
Yoshihiko: (And appropriately enough... // ...it's chocolate flavour.........) // Ahhhh...... // What on Earth am I even doing......?
[sFX: thunk]

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Yamamoto: (Chocolate given on February the 14th can have many meanings... // They can be a form of love letter...)
RandomPeople: Hey, what d'you think of this? // Oh, come on...
Yamamoto: (A kind of insurance, or even bribe, to ensure continued good relations...)
[sign: Only the best chocolate for that one special person...]
Yamamoto: (And then...)

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Yamamoto: (There's the kind that I've got my eye on... // ...It might call itself "chocolate", and it might taste sweet... but it's more like a bomb.)
[insert text: Yamamoto Misaki begins her battle in earnest...?!]
[bottom text: Chaos and desperation... how many casualties will there be?! To be continued in "The Melancholy of the Chocolate Bomber"!!]