Hatsukoi Limited 27

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Hatsukoi LImited
Chapter 27: The Boys' Escape
Part 1: The Disappearing Sleepless Dreamers
[insert text: We shall be reborn.]

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[Text: It happened back in the fourth year of primary school... In a swimming lesson, I failed to swim 25 metres, and I ended up running all the way to the next town in nothing but my swimming trunks. // Come to think of it, I guess I'm the type of person who always ends up running away when things get difficult.]
Someone: Hey, Kusuda!

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[side text: Last issue: For various reasons, Watase Meguru's back to her old swimsuit self.]
Kusuda: Mm?
Someone: I was thinking... you talk to Enomoto-san a lot, right...? // Here... // Could you give this to her for me? // It's nice to have a guy like you around, Kusuda!
[Letter: To Enomoto-san]
Someone: With Enomoto-san just messing around with you all the time, and stuff...
Kusuda: (What I'd like to know... // ...is why a guy like that, all tall and with a face like that and stuff, can't even give her the freaking letter himself!)
[sFX: su~~lk]
[sFX: wave, wave]
[sFX: ahh...]

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[sFX: stuff]
Kusuda: Eh, that should do it!
[sFX: ahahaha!]
Koyoi: It's nice that we don't change classes in the third year, so we're all still together, huh~?
Nao: Uh-huh~!
[sFX: smile, smile, smile]
Ayumi: Ahh, Kei-chan, you must be happy because you're still in the same class as Kusuda-kun, huh?

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[side:]
Kusuda... He certainly seems to like Enomoto-san, but he's always acting cold to her, picking fights with her, and stuff. A young man's heart can be a complicated thing.
Zaitsu Mamoru... The girl next door, who he'd harboured secret feelings for for many long years, told him "sorry" to his face, so he's going through a bout of depression.
[/Side]
Kei: Wh - Whaaaat?!
[sFX: jump]
Ayumi: I mean, you two are always flirting and stuff... you must like him, right?
Kei: The heck's with that?!! / H - He just pisses me off all the time, that's all...! // Besides, do you really think I'd go for a guy with a face like that?! / Not - a - chance! A man is only as good as his face!! That's all that matters!!
Kusuda: (.........)
Ayumi: [aside]sure, sure...[/aside]
[sFX: peek]
Ayumi: Anyway, about tomorrow...
Kusuda: ......... // ...Hm!

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[side: Sogabe-kun... He's always thought of himself as the kind of guy who can "do what it takes", but after witnessing a guy with real life talent, he's lost all his confidence.]
Kusuda: (Well, me too! / It'd not like I have any plans to fall for you either~~~~! So there~~~~~~~!!) // [aside]stu~~~pid! du~~~~mmy![/aside]
[sFX: move]
Sumire: Care for a tasty cucumber~~~~?

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Sumire: It's a lovely, fat, ripe cucumber~~~! // The almost painful sharpness proves that it's wonderfully fresh~~~~!
Kusuda: ......... // You still want something with me, huh?!
Sumire: Oh, no... I just had a few cucumbers left over to get rid of...
[sFX: glare]
Kusuda: And you call them "fresh" and "ripe"?!!
Sumire: I just saw you walking along looking rather unhappy, so I thought I'd say something, that's all. // How about it? If something's wrong, I'll hear you out. // So what is it? You spent too long on top of a hill and now you don't know the way back to the Kappa Kingdom?!
[sFX: prick, prick]
Kusuda: Oh, come on!! // ......But come to think of it, I guess you're a girl too... // ...Well, whatever, might as well tell you.

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Sumire: I see... / So you want to know how this "Girl A" feels about this "Boy B" who she says she hates, but she's always picking on him... // Yeah, I think she's probably interested in you. / That Enomoto-san, that is!
[sFX: gaaahhh!]
Kusuda: No - this is hypothetical! Girl A and Boy B!! I'm not talking about me!!
Sumire: And why would you be so worked up about a "hypothetical question"...?
Kusuda: Well...
Sumire: Personally, I'd say this is a classic example of emotional reversal; you see it all the time.
Kusuda: ...But, you know... I'm not exactly good-looking, and...
[sFX: storm]
Kei: Hey, you! / What are you two getting all cosy about, huh?!
[sFX: stomp, stomp]

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Sumire: Oh, and here comes Girl A now...
Kei: [aside]Girl A?[/aside]
Kusuda: What are you getting all angry about, huh?!!
Kei: W - Well, it's because you're so pathetically useless, of course!! // Still fawning over that stupid girl with that kappa face of yours...!!
Flashback!Kei: Do you really think I'd go for a guy with a face like that?!
Kusuda: ......... // Geez, what's wrong with you... // Why do you always have to pick a fight any time you come near me, huh?!!
Kei: Huh......?
Kusuda: It pisses me off! If you just like annoying people, then go annoy someone other than me for a change, okay?!

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Kusuda: But always picking on me, confusing the hell out of me... / I hate the hell out of people like you, okay?!!
[sFX: ahh...]
[sFX: stare]
Kei: ...I... // ...I'm sorry...

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[sFX: bluuuuuush]
[sFX: DASH]
Kei: Kusuda?!
[sFX: worry worry worry worry etc]
[sFX: shake]

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Mamoru: Kusu...da...kun?
Sogabe: ...What're you acting like us for?
Kusuda: Could I join you guys...? // I'm... a terrible guy, you see...
Mamoru: You're not terrible, Kusuda-kun...
[sFX: sigh~]
Mamoru: I'm the one who just can't seem to get back on my feet...
Sogabe: Me, too...
[sFX: sigh~]
Sogabe: I know I don't have a single redeeming quality, but I can't even do a thing about it...
Kusuda: I wish...... I dunno...... / ...I could go... like, I mean......... / .........

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Kusuda: I just want... // ...to get far, far away from here right now... // ...Wait... / [aside]eheh...[/aside] // Forget I said anything! Yeah...?
Sogabe: That's it!!
[sFX: stand]
Kusuda: Huh?
Sogabe: A journey, Kusuda!! / We have to go on a journey...! To rediscover ourselves... to be reborn!!
Mamoru: Huh? / Huh?
Kusuda: Huh - ? Ah - ? S - Seriously?! / Hell, then, why not! Let's go to the ends of the earth, and sort ourselves out once and for all!!!

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Kusuda: Let's go right away, right this moment, Sogabe!!
Sogabe: Don't get ahead of yourself! There are preparations we'll need to make, right?!
Mamoru: Ahh... Um...
Sogabe: We can leave tomorrow morning... make it an early departure, before dawn! / And let's just take the absolute bare necessities with us! Let's see, what do we need... food, and...
Mamoru: Wait a minute, already! Are you two including me in this?!
Sogabe/Kusuda: 'Course we are.
Mamoru: But we have to go to school tomorrow, and besides, I don't have the money for -
Sogabe: Zaitsu! If we don't leave right away, we could spend our whole lives crippled, never recovering from this crisis, you know?!
Mamoru: But do we really have the money to take trains and stay at hotels...?
Sogabe: Don't be stupid!! We'll be travelling by bicycle!! / [aside]it's better for the environment![/aside]
Kusuda: And at night, we can camp out! / [aside]of course[/aside]
Mamoru: ~~~~~~~~~~~!!

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Mamoru: And we'll at least need toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Kusuda: Huuuuh~?
Mamoru: Come on, think... we can brush our teeth in the park... we can probably clean our underwear there, too. / Working like that, we should be okay with just two pairs of underwear, I'd say.
Kusuda: Hmmmm...
Mamoru: ...Wait, what about baths?! How on Earth are we meant to take a bath?!
[sFX: clatter]
Kusuda/Sogabe: [aside]huh?[/aside] / Do we really need those?
Girls: What are those three talking about? // Who knows...
Kei: .........
Mamoru: [aside]come on...![/aside]
Kusuda: Right! We're meeting up tomorrow, half past five! The meeting point is the highway junction in 4-chome!
Sogabe: If Zaitsu doesn't want to come, then that's fine, we can just go by ourselves! For the sake of change!!

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Sogabe: If you do decide to come, don't forget to leave a note for your parents!
Kusuda: See you tomorrow!!
[Text: That night, I thought it over.]
Kusuda: ...And so... // ...please don't look for me...
[Text: What I really need is "confidence". // I want to become a guy who actually does stuff... / ...instead of just thinking "A guy like me could never do that..."]

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[Text: We've got a guy who wants to be reborn... // ...and a guy who wants to pick himself back up... // I'm sure this journey should be fun, at least...]
Sogabe: ...What's the time now, Kusuda?
Kusuda: Ehhh... 5:42.
Sogabe: ...Maybe Zaitsu really isn't going to show, huh?
Kusuda: We should wait just a bit longer -

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Mamoru: I'm really sorry! // I had a bit of trouble finding the house keys... // I hope you weren't planning on leaving without me or anything, right...?
Sogabe: ......
Kusuda: Not a chance!
Guys: Well, then... let's go!! // YEAH~~~~~~!!
Sogabe: ...So, where are we going, exactly?
Mamoru: I - I hadn't thought that far, okay?! Sogabe-kun!!
Sogabe: Wh - What, you want me to decide...?!

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Kusuda: Hey. // I say we head that way.
Mamoru: .........The east...
Sogabe: Towards the birth of the day... I like it!!
Kusuda: All right! We race to the morning sun~~!!
Sogabe: Whoo-hoo!
Mamoru: Seriously, guys, you shouldn't rush like that...!
[insert text: A journey of rebirth... begins!!]
[bottom text: Next issue, with the girls and the high-schoolers getting involved, this journey is filled with the power of youth?! To be continued in Part 2!!]