Sakuranbo Syndrome - Cupid no Itazura II Volume 2

Second volume for this winsome manga. Scanlated release soon to follow.

This is a Gantz Waiting Room translation.

003
The arrows that Cupid, of Roman legend fame would shoot around at a whim had an uncanny power that let him have men and women's hearts at his beck and call. Any human being whose heart he pierced with a golden arrow would awaken to love, and there was no passion that wouldn't be squelched after a shot from his arrows of lead. Nowadays, should Cupid ever get in a mischievous mood..............

004
Previously.
Agawa Munenori is struggling in his female-dominated environment when a mysterious young girl, Amami Rena comes to him. If he doesn't kiss her, she'll turn back into a child, she says to an incredulous Agawa. He listens to her talk about the night she actually became smaller, and agrees to kiss her. Then they head for a love hotel.......
Sakuranbo SYNDROME [Cupid's Prank II] {2}.

Chapter 9 - Rubbish......5
Chapter 10 - Let's do this.....25 Chapter 11 - What the hell...? ......47
Chapter 12 - I like you......67 Chapter 13 - A snowball's chances in Hell... ......87
Chapter 14 - How about this?......107 Chapter 15 - Some nerve you got there.......127
Chapter 16 - I wonder how she's doing... ......147 Chapter 17 - Must've been my imagination... ......167
Chapter 18 - I'll just disappear......187

005
Chapter 9: Rubbish.
Rena: Ho!//Hold it!/Agawa-san?!

007
Chapter 9: Rubbish.

008
Rena: N.../No...!!/I don't want....../Stop it, Agawa-san! Stop!!

009
*sbom*
Rena: ...........
*tremble*
Mune: Pft...

010
Mune: Ahahahahah!//"I don't want thaaaat."/Hahaha.
Rena: ..........

011
Mune: Oh, don't look at me like that./You should be thankful you were with me.//The other guys out there would have been serious about it you know?/Haha......//Especially with a cute girl like you./Even for me it was a tough call, to be honest.//This is your first time, isn't it?

012
Mune: You know what I mean.../Or well...//Dating a guy, and all that.//..........
Rena: .........
Mune: ........../Ahhhhh.//I understand./I've been a teen, too.//You're kinda left out in the cold, naked./You're all impatience strangely enough, but you got no clue what you should do about it or how to do it.........

013
Mune: You think the answers will come to you somehow, once you're no longer a child.//And then, you can't wait to grow up........//Thing is,/growing up doesn't always come with answers, you see.//If you must know, in society you're bound by more rules than I'd ever dare to count/And you gotta fall in line with something, whatever that is.//I it makes me sound like an old fart/and I'm feeling kinda awkward saying this, but//you get to be a carefree teen only once.

014
Mune: Your life never gets any brighter than that./And then there's the stuff you only get to do then, and you should hold nothing back and go for it.//Only now do I understand this, though.
Rena: Heh...
Mune: ?
Rena: You said something... about sounding like an old man...//Rubbish.

015
Rena: If there's any truth to that, you had a wonderful adolescence, Agawa-san. Congratulations./You just forgot what it was like, that's all.
Mune: ......../Mh...
Rena: Carefree adolescence, my foot./That's a lie.//Ever since "I" was born, "I" have been nothing if not "me"./Stuck with being "myself", and doomed to carry on living that way.

016
Rena: Everybody.../All of them...
*todom todom*
*panic*
Girl: What are you doing?*chuckle*
Rena: They've all been making fun of me!//Then I became an adult at last!

017
Rena: I'd become an adult at last/And I could start a new life here, where nobody knew me.......//Here I though I could cut out a corner of my own/Live as great a life as I could!!

018
Rena: Life never gets any brighter...?!/That's a big lie!!

019
*rub rub*
*poof*
Mune: Eh?*yoink*
*baf*

020
Mune: Wai-wait a sec...
*flap*
*rustle*

022
Mune: ........

023
Yuri: Hey, Mucchan......../How do you feel about me......?[tn: "Mucchan" is short for "Munenori-chan". Since they were on a first name basis, Agawa and his girlfriend must have been very close.]
*pof*
*creak*

024
Rena: You can do whatever you want to me. Feel free. I just wanna be an adult again.........[/end

025
Chapter 25: Let's do this.

027
Mune: Thi...*dom dom dom*
*dom dom*
Mune: This is silly...
*dom dom dom*
*dom dom dom*

028
Rena: It's a small price to pay/if that means I can become an adult

029
*flap*
Rena: !!
*bolt*
Rena: ......!

030
Mune: Don't./Don't you treat me like I'm an idiot!!//You... you think every guy's gonna be happy.../if you just get naked and do the deed with him!/That's just condescending... ......//...Kof/Cough...//Cough cough!
Rena: A... are you o...

031
Mune: Piss off!!//Get out of my sight!!
*poof*
Rena: Ow!*bom*
*waddle...*

032
*clank*
Rena: ........
Mune: ........
Yuri: M'kay?
Mune: .../Yuki... What is it you wanna tell me?

033
Yuri: My parents won't be coming home, today.
*todom todom*
Mune: Uh... Uuh...//...........
*todom todom todom*
Yuri: Mucchan?
Mune: Eh?!*todom*
*TODOMOOOM*
Mune: !!

034
Yuri: ..........
Mune: ........!!*todom todom todom*
*dom dom dom*
Mune: ........//Yuri.........
Yuri: !!//Wait/First, we need to talk.
Mune: ..........
Yuri: You see, Mucchan.../It's about me...

035
Yuri: I've fallen in love.........
Mune: !!/Uh..........//Uuh...
Yuri: I'll make love with you one last time/And then we're done.[tn: This is called adding insult to injury. Poor guy.]

036
*stomp stomp*
*squeak squeak*
Mune: !!*clasp*
Mune: !!

037
*fshaaaaaaaa*
*creak creak*
*clank*

038
*silence*
*glub*
Mune: Sorry...//I didn't have to shout.//Also...//What I said about adolescence being the best thing ever./You're right/That/was a lie.
Rena: ........
Mune: I remember now..........

039
Mune: My own adolescence/has been a long succession of hardships./I said something about being a woman-hater/I don't think I ever fell seriously in love... Probably not.//I just read the manual and acted in kind. Studied the rules of the game./Only got involved with the girls who approached me//I wouldn't hook up with a girl till she'd confessed her love first. So when we broke up, for whatever reason: natural degradation or anything, I never got hurt./And I thought that's what grown ups' love was about...//But that/was just me being a coward. I've been one ever since my girlfriend dumped me when I was 16.

040
Mune: When I started to work, I thought I had become a grown man/but I still wasn't over my 16-year-old's love...//When she dumped me, I wished I could have looked her in the face, but the words I couldn't tell her because I could barely hold myself together./I've just realized I told them to you.//From that time onward, I'd been forgetting what is was to fall in love.//I.../I really.......

041
Mune: I really loved her...

042
Rena: Sure.

043
Mune Thank you.//But...//you shouldn't give yourself to a man you don't even love. Don't say things like that./Get yourself a good love story.

044
Rena: Yes./I'm sorry.

045
Mune: The first trains are running, now.
Rena: Yeah.
Mune: What you gonna do?
Rena: I'll get back to the hospital.//Though I must say, you still don't believe me.
Mune: Nah,/I do believe you.

046
Mune: At least for tonight, I do.
Rena: Ahaha./The night's almost over.//Well, kiss me, then.//Just to say goodbye./Come on.../Ju-just kidding.
Mune: Sure./Let's do this.[/end

047
Chapter 11 - What the hell...?

048
Rena: Let's do what........?/You mean.../the kiss...?
Mune: You're the one who brought that up, aren't you./Just to say goodbye... Talk about a lame pretext!

049
Mune: If if you don't want to, I don't mind.
Rena: !
*gulp*
*grab*
Rena: Do it! Please kiss me!!//........
Mune: Man.../You look scary........
Rena: Ju-just give me a minute.*flip flop*

050
*glub glub*
Mune: (Don't ask me why./I thought a simple peck on the lips couldn't be such a big deal...//But instead, I found myself actually thinking of kissing and embracing the girl. Rena.)
Rena: Haaaaaaah
Mune: (Well, self-styled Amami Rena, with "Rena" in kana writing.//On that night//I got yelled at like there was no tomorrow.//And I did some serious yelling back, too.)

051
Mune: (That hadn't happened in a while, when I was still a kid.//......... Early grade school, maybe.../Peh...//I had a past heartbreak put right into my face,/and I ended up crying for it.//Then/she comforted me./So kind and considerate.

052
Rena: Sorry I kept you waiting./Go ahead.
Mune: Still scary.
Rena: I've caused you much trouble./Sorry about that.//..........//But

053
Rena: All in all, I'm glad it was you rather than anyone else./Thank you.
Mune: .........//Same here./Thanks.

054
Rena: Eeeeeeer. What for? Why would you thank me?*chuckle*
Mune: ....... Who knows?

057
Rena: ........//Hah/Hah/Hah.*dom dom dom*
Mune: Rena?
Rena: Hah!/Hah!*DOM DOM DOM*

058
*smooooch* *GRAB*
Mune: !!
Mune: Mh?!/Mmhh?!
*slurp slurp*
*gulp gulp*

059
Mune: Bwah!
Rena: Haaahhh!/Haaahh
Mune: Re... Rena?
Rena: Just as I thought....... Tastes like tobacco and coffee..........
*lick*
Mune: ........
*lick lick*

060
Mune: ..........!!*smooch smooch schlurp*
*sblam*
Mune: Ouch.../Wai.../RENA...?!//!!

061
Mune: ...........................!!

062
Mune: {Don't ask me why, but I had that image in my head of a large afghan hound playfully leaning on me./(Not a trained one, however...)}
Jogger: Hop/hop.
Mune: ........
*swipe*
Rena: ..........//...........Ah/Ahah!

063
Rena: I'm not hungry at all!/Not even a little bit!!//I'm cured./Looks like I'm completely healed!!//Thank you!/My Prince!

064
Rena: See you! Bye bye!!

065
*tap tap tap*
Mune: Rena?!*rustle*
bonk bonk*
Mune: .........!!//Wha... What the hell...?

066
Mune: A pain in the neck, all the way........//What am I supposed to do with that truckload of stuff from the convini...?[tn: Convini=Convenience store. A store that's open 24/7.]/What about the food, eh...?//(At this point I could already feel it./That one kiss/would have a small, but definite impact on the rest of my life.[/end

067
Chapter 12 - I like you.
Mune: (Dang.../What do I do with all that foodstuff I bought...?)

068
Rena: Bye bye!
Narrator: With that smile on her face, Rena quickly disappeared into the morning sun.
Chapter 12 - I like you.

069
Narrator: And by quickly, I mean REALLY quickly.
Mune: (Maybe I should make a few lunchboxes, and bring them to work. Then, the rest might do well for tonight's dinner...//To think we went to a love hotel and it went as far as she letting me see her naked./She was still downy, she was.//Maybe I should squeeze in an hour of sleep before I go to work.)/.........//(Seeing as I've been awake all night, and all./It would definitely not hurt to get some rest...
*katang*
Narrator: I went to work without even a little nap, ultimately.*katang katang*
*pain* *katang*
Mune: (Ouch...//I've cut myself inside the mouth.)

070
Narrator: I kissed.//It's been a long time./Love only takes that one kiss, for the briefest of moments.
Mune: (Alright/Let's take care of that POP draft for the Ogawa drugstore.
*squeak squeak*
Narrator: But my kiss with her brought things I'd forgotten back to the surface.//Ever since that heartbreak when I was in 10th grade,/I'd been stifling all the spontaneous feelings that had to do with seriously falling in love with someone.*squeak*

071
Mune: (Shoot!/I'm dozing off!! Figures.)*bwah*
*beeeep* *clong*
*glub glub*
Mune: Aaaaah./Batteries full. No more sleeping!)//.....//Zzzzzzzzz.

072
*beeeep *clang* *startle*
Asou: And here I was, thinking people usually aren't here that early in the morning...
Mune: ...?!//(Asou-san)*snap*
Mune: So-sorry for rejecting your offer yesterday. I know that doesn't happen every day!
Asou: You already had an appointment elsewhere, didn't you? I don't mind.

073
Mune: ......Su-sure.
Asou: .......//Looks like you managed to have those glasses replaced somehow. You still had another spare pair, apparently...//Wearing yesterday's clothes and broken glasses would make a rather bad impression on our favorite customers, you see.
Mune: Uh......../Eeer....... Hum...
Asou: Unless you already have a change of clothes waiting for you here?
Mune: (This is somewhat......)/Well no. I did go back to change.......
Asou: On top of all that, factor in your sleepy-looking face, as well as your bloodshot eyes. Are you really planning to visit our clients this way?
Mune: (She sounds exactly like Gotou-san, she does........//Like when she's asking uncomfortable questions about my privacy...)
Asou: Of course, you're free to go anywhere you like and do whatever you please after work, but you see.

074
Asou: Sickly-looking people selling cosmetics...
Mune: No, ma'am.//The... The person I met is no one you should concern yourself about overmuch.
Asou: Me? Worrying?
Mune: I did see a girl but...
Asou: ........
Mune: She was a teenager who'd run away from home.../Not my girlfriend or anything of the sort...
Asou: Wha-what are you talking about? Who asked you about that?*clonk*
Mune: ........
Asou: Spare me your out-of-place assumptions, will you?/I'm not particularly interested in your private life.

075
Mune: But I like you an awful lot, you know.[tn: By Japanese standards, this is actually pretty blunt.]
Asou: ...../...Wha/You like... you mean...//...........

076
Asou: Ah, Shimatani-buchou, good morning!
Shima: Morning.
Asou: I've prepared the material for today morning's reunion and put it on your desk.
Shima: That was fast. You fail to disappoint me.
Asou: Thank you very much.
Shima: .......Is he gonna be okay?
Asou: We... well, it's nothing.......
Mune: .........//(Jesus/Did I just spout out what I think I did......?)*todom todom*

077
Mune: (Asou-san has a good grasp of my weaknesses, since I conveyed them during the OG-houmon./She's the elite of the company//always acting all superior and lecturing me.//But she does have her ditzy moments/she's so cute when she smiles...//And that sideways glance I had at her when she was all alone.../There's no forgetting it.........)
*dom dom dom*
Mune: (Am I falling in love, here...?/Yeeesh./Rena's fault, maybe.)

078
Mune: (It's hot./And the lack of sleep doesn't help./Gotta be careful, here. My usual self is threatening to fly right out the window.)//Good day.
Gals: Agawa-san
Mune: I've brought the business objectives for the next month with me.//Where's Kago-san?
Gal: She's in the waiting room, at the moment. Resting.//Gotou-san is in there with her.
Mune: Uh?

079
*creak*
Mune: They're sitting face to face, glaring at each other./And...//(They're smiling faintly while at it!!)
Gal: At first, everybody was discussing yesterday's musical program.
Mune: Wha, what of it?
Gal: Gotou-san started...

080
Gotou: Good thing **-club are reforming.//I'd sing their songs along, reminding myself of my schoolgirl days.
Gal: That's when Kago-chan went
Kago: Hey, I know about these.
Gotou: Eh? You do, Kago-san?
Kago: My mom used to say the same thing when I watched TV with her, and she'd sing along, too.
*tiiiiiilt*
Mune: Jesus Christ.*crestfallen* *drag drag*
Gals: What now?/If you wanna flee, you can leave the business objectives documents to us.
Mune: (I'm considering acting like I didn't see anything........./But...//If I leave the crap to accumulate just because it doesn't smell, it's gonna devolve into a huge shitstorm of a fight someday...)[tn: I took some liberty with the text here. The original metaphor was about a contained fire leading to a massive explosion because it wasn't tended to.]/(As a supervisor, I'll get involved either way...)

081
Kago: Bespectacled beauties are fairly trendy, you know./I always thought these looked so classy on you.
Gotou: They've been part of my look well before it became trendy./These are for work, by the way. I've got plenty of them back home, so I can have fun swapping them.
Mune: Enough with the mutual evaluation./I suggest you both speak your minds right here, right now!!*slam*
Kago: Ah
Gotou: Agawa-kun...
Gals: He said it./Whewwww./Guess he'd been keeping that down for a while. It had to get out.*whispering* *grin*

082
*huffff*
Mune: The two of you don't get along./there's no helping it.*Haa*
Gals: Whoa, wooooow!/Straight to the point./Who are you, Mister Competent?! What did you do with Agawa?!*whispering*
Mune: But letting that getting in the way of your work is not the adult thing to do!//I-I'll be listening!*sbom*
Mune: In the meantime, you just come right up and say what's on your minds./Then, we can work out something positive out of it.
Kago&Gotou: ............

083
Kago&Gotou: What business do you have repeating all the bad rumors you hear about?
Gotou: We were just having a little chat on our break time!
Mune: Duh?/Uh?
Kago: What did you have to come barging in and shouting for?!//What kind of man tries to squeeze himself into a conversation between girls anyway...?*vlam*
Gotou: Unthinkable![tn: Bitches!]
Mune: (Wuuuuuuuut?!)
Gals: Why, that hot-bloodedness spell wasn't quite that bad./That wasn't like you, Agawa-san. Quite cool, actually.//Haven't touched any inappropriate substances now, have we?*pof*
Mune: ........//Uuuuughhh.

084
Mune: This is no good./There's gotta be something wrong with me today.//(Guess I've been building up too much tension. The entire world seems to be spinning around...//Aaah, Rena/The pace of my life is getting out of control and it's your fault...//Let's go./I think I'll call it a day, return home and get some sleep.)
*slide* *diiiiing*

085
Mune: Uh.//Asou-san.*flustered*
Asou: You're already going?/You went fast about that business.
Mune: We... well. Uuuhm...//Sorry I'm leaving earlier.[tn: Japanese etiquette: when you leave work earlier that others, you apologize about it. Yes, even if you've already done your hours.]
Asou: Are you busy with another appointment today?
Mune: No... I'm not./I'm... not feeling all that great today, so I'll just go home and leave it at that...

086
Asou: Should I extend another invitation to dinner...//would you refuse me again?[/end

087
Chapter 13: A snowball's chances in Hell...[tn: Nekkid Galz FTW!!]

088
*knip*
*knip*
Mune: ........
Asou: And then,/that's when Shimatani-buchou stormed in Development,//yelling something along the lines of "How the hell are we supposed to compete with Mikadou's products if we just follow the leader?!"/But hey! He's from R&D originally, you see?

089
Mune: Ah hah...
Narrator: Asou Sayako invited me to dinner, right out of the blue.//Of course, she'd had a readily available reason for that several days ago. "To make up for your broken glasses."//By now, though, it's pretty much turned out to be a facade.//Today/this morning/after what I said to her
Asou: I'm not particularly interested in your private life.
Mune: But.../I...

090
Mune: I like you an awful lot, you know.//(So of course/she invited me to pick up this conversation where we left off.)
Asou: Agawa-kun/About this morning... we weren't quite done talking yet.//Am I right to interpret what you said as a confession?

091
Mune: Of/of course.*nod*
Asou: I never thought I'd hear such a thing from a boy younger than me.../I was really taken aback, honestly...//But it reminded me I was a woman. That hadn't happened in a long time...
Mune: Asou-san... You're always very feminine./Even when you're giving it your all at work, you're still beautiful//though I'd appreciate it if you weren't so... tense and distant around me.
Asou: Agawa-kun......
Mune: .........

092
Narrator: But from start to finish, she kept talking about work all the way.
Mune: ........
Asou: Three days ago, he was like "Put that project together." Can you believe it?/What am I supposed to do in three days without even some preliminary work to start with?
Mune: (Crap.../I haven't slept at all, and that plus the alcohol are making me sleepy...)
Asou: To think I'd gone through the trouble to processing two months' worth of sales data.
Mune: (Tha-that's my work...)
Asou: He didn't even bother to read it properly that he already reached his conclusions. He had no intention to use it in the first place./Ah//Come to think of it, I had you do that one for me, Agawa-kun.
Mune: ("Come to think of it"...?
Asou: How very thoughtful of you!
Mune: Well... It was nothing/it didn't even prove useful...

093
Asou: He had me do this so he could get in Yamamura-shoumu's good graces, that's it.[tn: Shoumu (常務)=Executive director.]
Mune: Eh?
Asou: You don't get it?/What I'm saying is, he meant to go along with Yamamura-san's project all along. His decision was made from the beginning.//But things between Shimatani-buchou and Yamamura-san are rather awkward, so he pulled me out of the box and put me in competition with him, only to cave in and withdraw my project in the end, thus currying favor Yamamura-san.
Mune: Uh-huh...
Asou: That's so much like him.
Mune: (The rumor that there was something on between her and Shimatani-buchou........./was a load of bull, apparently.//That said/I'm still baffled to find out things didn't work out so well for her on the job today.........)

094
Mune: I like you an awful lot, you know.//(As for what I told her before that important meeting,/she might not eve remember it........//I guess she merely picked me because she needed someone/someone she could complain to to take the edge off...)
Asou: ......./Am I boring you........?
Mune: Uh- Uuuuh!
Asou: Be honest with me. Nobody likes to hear somebody else bitching about their work.
Mune: ........Rea-really/I'm a newbie in this company, so I'm glad to hear as much as I can about it. And...

095
Mune: No matter what kind of person you are, everyone needs to complain every once in a while to blow off some steam...//If I can help you do that, that's good enough for me.//You're a hard worker, Asou-san. Anyone can see that./And you always look impeccable, at that. I was really impressed about that. Knowing how hard it actually is is something of a relief./Feel free to turn to [me anytime if you like][tn: The text is partially obscured, but still perfectly legible.]
Asou: Agawa-kun.

096
Asou: Let me get this straight right now//Abandon the illusion that working women are expecting men to treat them like porcelain dolls.
Mune: Uh?
Asou: Women who find more interest in their work than in love do exist.//As for this morning/About you having something for me... It's a bit one-sided, don't you think?

097
Asou: I have no such plans. The likeliness of anything of the sort happening between us/is less than a snowball's chances in Hell.[tn: Ouch!]

098
Narrator: I... I was so ashamed/I wished I could have cleared the place ASAP...........//But our meal was far from over/so I had no other choice but to keep drinking.......//However/I didn't manage to get drunk at all..........

099
Mune: (The day is over at last.....//This morning, under the sunrise/I was totally pumped up, as if I'd been reborn........//But now, I doubt I could sink any lower.....)

100
Taxi: Sir. Ma'am.
Mune: Ah./Asou-san, there we are.
Asou: Mh........//Tha... thank you... Good night.*teeter*
Mune: Sh-shall I accompany you home, maybe?//..........*totter*
Asou: Ow!*bong* *clang*
Mune: !!//Excuse me.... Can you wait for me here?
Taxi: .......
Dog: Woof woof.*vrrrrrrr vrrrrrrrr*
Taxi: I can spare around 5 minutes.
Mune: ........

101
*wail*
Mune: Come on, walk straight.../I'm gonna take you to your place.
Asou: Good, I can manage from here./Uh?/Duh?*clink clink*
*cling*
Mune: I'll take you to your room and leave immediately.[tn: I like where this is going...]
*clank*

102
Asou: ..........
Mune: Uh.*sbom*
*teeter*
Mune: ......./I....... I'll be on my way, now./Don't forget to lock up before you go to sleep.
*vlaaaam* **sbodom* *thud*
Mune: Asou-san?!

103
Asou: Uh.../Ughhhh.*grab grab*
Mune: (This desk/is uninviting/as you'd expect from a working-addict like her.)
Asou: Uh... Uuughhh
Mune: .........

104
Mune: (........And at the opposite, is the bed/with a crapton of fancy plushes on it, as if it belonged to a little girl...//Hence, why she struggled to hard to hide this from he, even though she could barely move........)
Asou: Ow...
Mune: Pft...//Asou-san

105
Mune: Here, have some water.
Asou: Uuuuugh./Agawa Munenori........../Don't look at meeeeeee.//Don't looooook.
Mune: ........

106
Mune: (Playing it cool, are we...)
Asou: .....//....
*squeeze*
Mune: ...........[/end

107
Chapter 14: How about this?
*pat*
Asou: Mh...Mh...*grab grab*

108
Chapter 14: How about this?

109
*giddy*
*sbodom*
*quietly*
*zzzz*
*clank*

110
Asou: We did it......
*turn* *creak creak*
*creak*
Mune: Mh.......//.......

111
Mune: (Oh shit!/Oh shit!/Go... gotta...//go)*snip*
Mune: (Aaauuuuugh!!)//Hah/Hah./(Run... running away. Then what...?
*creak creak*
Asou: Phew.

112
*slam*
Mune: .......
Asou: You're still here?*start*
Asou: .......
Mune: (Whoa.../Even her makeup is impeccable./She's built up her fortress and got into rejection mode...)

113
Asou: ........//Thanks, for bringing me back here last night...
Mune: .......
Asou: I've been drinking a bit too much, it seems.
Mune: We-well/Maybe I should have said something to stop you..........
Asou: ......../Nevermind. It was a mistake. These things happen.
Mune: (Mistake.........)
Asou: We're both adults/so let that be a lesson for the two of us.

114
Mune: Coming from you, Asou-san, this is fai-fairly.../unoriginal and prefabricated.
Asou: Pre.../Prefabricated?
Mune: You don't remember?/That's what you told me during the OG-houmon. "Instead of those boring cookie-cutter lines, let me hear what you really have to say."..........[tn: It's a bit different from how I rendered this in the first volume, but since the Japanese text itself is not quite the same...]//If you hate me, come right out and say it./I wanna know why you hate me, what it is you hate. Tell me with your own words, in a way that I can understand.
Asou: ........

115
Asou: I already told you last night, but between you and me
Mune: Wai-wait a minute!/I'd like to say my piece first, please!!//.......//I-I do remember what you told me.
Asou: Never./The likeliness of anything of the sort happening between us is less than a snowball's chances in Hell..//Abandon the illusion that working women are expecting men to treat them like porcelain dolls.
Mune: ...I can understand that, but...//I can't help but feeling like being kind to you./It's not my fault.
Asou: I also recall telling you how arbitrary it was.

116
Mune: Asou-san/I love you.
Asou: Until recently...*GRRR gurgle gurgle*
*GRRR gurgle*
Asou: I thought you hated me, and avoided me whenever you could?

117
Mune: I did dislike you at some point/but such feelings doing a complete turnaround and becoming desperate love is not unheard of.
Asou: Pft.//That was one original declaration.//You surprise me./I figured you were a tad more of an emotionless sort.//But there you go, straightforward as they come/talking even at the risk of wounding your own pride.

118
Asou: I assume you judged that now that we've slept once, the time has come to launch your offensive?
Mune: You/you don't meant you opened to me only because you were intoxicated, do you?//You aren't telling me that you would have gone with any man who happened to be around.../Are you?

119
Asou: .......//That's it.........//I'll make a wild guess/and say you kinda fit the cuteness criteria I'd look for in a man. The kind that could make a good replacement for my plushies.
*ticked*
Asou: Heheh...
Mune: Is- Is that your bloody idea of trying to wound my bloody pride?!*rude entrance* *startle*[tn: In Japanese, Munenori drops the formal speech in favor or casual, which is a rather rude thing to do towards someone who's older than you AND your senpai at work.]
Asou: ..........

120
Mune: To be honest/I'm sure I can make you happier than that panda collection ever could.

121
Asou: .........//The stuffed animals/aren't asking anything of me...//My-my work is my love./The most important person to me is myself.//Personally, I don' think I've ever been dishonest with any of the men I've been involved with so far.../........Not once. But the way men see it... A woman... who makes a bigger priority of herself than of men or love is a weirdo.

122
Asou: As a woman, there's something/that isn't quite right about her...!
Mune: Asou-san./You're saying this now...

123
Mune: But you must be thinking about a million different things at the same time, right?/Like, what's you're gonna say when we break up. "I never wanted to fall in love and have an affair in the first place." Preparing excuses.
Asou: ........
Mune: Your other worries? "What if they find out ot the company? That can't be any good." Or else,/"It's really gonna suck if the man gets clingy."
Asou: Um,/Are you gonna pick over everything? Cause that's kinda mean, you know.
Mune: I would know./Yesterday again, that's exactly what I was like.
Asou: Yesterday?
Mune: ...........!/.....Well...

124
Mune: ........!
Asou: You said something about meeting up with that runaway girl, the other night./Did something happen...?
Mune: .........
Asou: ........../Obviously,/something happened with that girl that translated into a lack of sleep, and from there, you just felt like socializing?[tn: Agawa Mune-loli...!!]
Mune: Well, no. That's not what I.../This is one thing. That was ano...
Asou: .........
Mune: Aaaahhhhhh./Damn!/(Silly me..........)

125
Asou: ........./Hey.//So,/how about this?
Mune: ........!
Asou: I'll go out with you.

126
Asou: However//our affair only lasts...//as long as I see fit.[/end

127
Chapter 15: Some nerve you got there.

128
Mune:How long.../it lasts...?
Asou: If I say it's over/then it's over.

129
Asou: No more running after one another.//We forget whatever there was in the meantime.//as if it never happened.
Mune: ..............//Should I ever agree to that/would you be in the mood to end it right here, right now?
Asou: ....../If you can stick to that, I may not mind going out with you.........
Mune: That was fairly ambiguous, Asou-san. This isn't like you.

130
Mune: .......//Alright./If that's how it is, I guess I'll just have to make sure you'll never forget me.
Asou: Some nerve, you got there.

131
*smooch*
*smooooch*

132
Asou: You've got some lipstick on you.
Mune: After all the trouble you had applying that makeup...
Asou: I got so many LOA to spare I don't know what to do with them.[tn: LOA=Leave Of Absence.]
Mune: You mean, you're not going to work today?
*smooch* *VLAM*

133
Asou: Let's see you show up at the company, now.
Mune: (Ugh...//That was mean)
Asou: Aha./Look at your face!!//There's something I always wanted to do./At least once.*grab*
Asou: Manhandling a guy...*grab grab* *shake shake*
Asou: with reckless abandon!
Mune: (Ouch!)
*clank*[tn: Poor glasses.]

134
Mune: Nasty......
Asou: Huhu.
Mune: .......
Asou: ........

136
*peck* *pew*
Asou: .......//Hey./Let me take it all off.

137
*twitch* *tilt* *jiggle*
Asou: It's col...
Mune: I've been wanting to manhandle you at least once myself, Asou-san.[tn: First name basis comes A LOT less naturally to the Japanese. So don't be surprised that he still calls her Asou-san even while tearing her clothes off.]//You look really cute from where I'm standing.
*snap*

139
*clonk clonk*
Kids: HAHAHAHAHA*stap tap tap*
*creak creak creak* *Hahaha*
*CREAK CREAK CREAK*
*CREAK CREAK CREAK*
CREAK CREAK*

140
Asou: Mh!!/Mh!*creak creak creak*

141
Asou: Mh!!*creak*
Mune: Hah/Hah*creak*
Asou: Mh.../Mnh!
Mune: Hah/Hah*creak creak*

142
Mune: Asou-san. I.../I'm about to...*creak*
Asou: It's fine!/Come!
Mune: No, wai.../If you could let go of my waist.../Wow./Oh, crap...
Asou: I don't give a damn!/Come wherever you want!!

143
Asou&Mune: Uuh?!//Haa/Haa/Haa/Haa
Mune: Today.../was it a safe day?
Asou: Haa/Haa...//No idea./It's not like I check my temperature or anything.[tn: In women, monitoring BBT (Basal Body Temperature) is a known method to help determine the day of ovulation.]

144
Mune: (Uuuuuuuuuuuuh?)
Asou: You cummed the exact same way yesterday, so don't chicken out now!/*beep* Asou, here.
Mune: (For someone so impeccable usually... she might be more devil-may-care than I expected.)
Asou: I think I've caught a cold, so I won't be coming today... Uh? About Hamaya-san?//Uh-huh. Yes./Understood! I'll put the data together and bring it to the office./Uh? Never mind my cold!//Sorry.*type type*
Mune: Uh?
Asou: I just jumped into that page for the journal's special edition.//I'm gonna leave for the office, so you should get going.
Mune: .........

145
*type type*
*type type*
Asou: Sti-still there?
Mune: Uh?//Er, um. You're gonna have to lock the door after me.../And the way you are now...
Asou: I-I know that.*nervous*
Asou: I'm not a kid.
Mune: ........
Asou: ............
Mune: Well, then./If you'll excuse me.
*type*

146
Asou: Agawa-kun.//I'll call you later./We can have dinner again this evening.//If that's fine with you, of course.
Narrator: She spoke while keeping her cool//Without even turning around.
Mune: ........//Sure./Gladly.
Narrator: And failing to notice her tomato-red face reflected in the mirror nearby.[/end

147
Umedzu: Hey, Agawa. I already knew you had no business ambition.*poke poke*
Narrator: I was just having a coffee...//But there was that thing about a late report a week ago, and before I knew it
Umedzu: You can't expect everyone to make it into Projects or Publicity with flying colors.
Dudes: ........./..........
Narrator: this senpai guy had switched into pointless lecturing mode on me.
Mune: ...........
Chapter 16: I wonder how she's doing...
Umedzu: I've been in this company for a good four years. Don't you expect you'll get to stand out before I do.*poke*
Narrator: Like I care.
Dudes: Ah.
Umedzu: Uh.
Mune: (Meh.)

148-149
Chapter 16: I wonder how she's doing...

150
Umedzu: Ah.../Asou!
Mune: ........
Umedzu: Your fall promotion for "Untouchable" has been yet another success, it has! Made business that much easier. It's been a great help!//Being from the same year as you, and all, I must say I feel rather proud myself...
Asou: Umedzu-kun.[tn: Bitchslapping Mode: Activate!]

151
Asou: Regarding that work you submitted for the in-company project competition.
Umedzu: Eh? Mh?/Uh?
Asou: Quite the letdown, it was.
Umedzu: ........//Well, I wasn't precisely at my best when I produced that.
Asou: Apparently not.//But projects that look like Mikadou rip-offs are the sort of thing Shimatani-buchou hates with a passion./If you wanna make it into Publicity, be careful next time.[tn: Asou Sayako, Deliverer of Verbal Pimp Backhands since chapter one!]
Mune: Umedzu-san's face after that was just priceless.*click click click*

152
Mune: He was blushing like mad, and he kept silent the whole time./I almost felt sorry for the guy.*type type type*
Asou: That was true. I remember it from being from the same year as him./That project of his was utter crap.*type type*
Mune: Scary.........*click*
Asou: It's your fault for being so easy to take advantage of, don't you think?

153
Mune: So you did protect me...........
Asou: ........//........*step*
*step*
Mune: ........
Asou: I don't have to work on my day off, tomorrow.
Mune: Huh. That's unusual.
Asou: ......../Do you have any projects?*frr frr*
Mune: Um./I thought maybe I should get back to my place a bit...//I'm gonna need to renew my lease sometime soon, now.......

154
Asou: You don't have to renew that lease, do you?/For all the good it does you.
*click*
Mune: !*GRRRRR gurgle gurgle gurgle*[tn: Coffee machine sounds.]
Mune: ("The two of us can just live here.")*vrrrrrrrrr* *gurgle*
Mune: ......../(That's the point she's making, essentially.........//We've been dating for about a couple of months...//It started the way it started.)//Pheeeewww.//(But I've been routinely coming to stay here after work.//As for my personal belongings,/I've been accumulating quite a few of them in here.)

155
Mune: Ah yeah.
Asou: What?
Mune: Can I leave my own shampoo here next time?
Asou: Shampoo?
Mune: A girl from the BA told me...
Kago: Agawa-san./Did you change your shampoo?
Mune: Uh?*sniff sniff*
Kago: You've been using VIDAL SALOON, haven't you?[tn: You get three guesses as to what famous brand of shampoo has been referenced here. The first two don't count.]
Mune: Eeeeeeeerm. How do you know?
Kago: Because I use VIDAL SALOON myself.
Mune: Duh?!*uneasy*

156
Kago: Come on,/don't tell me you're living with a girl.*todom*
Mune: !!
Asou: Kago, was it?
Mune: Eh? How come?
Asou: She's got a thing for you.
Mune: Uh?/Wut?/She's always making fun of me, you know?
Asou: Idiot./A girl would never bother with what kind of shampoo a guy she hates uses.//Happy?/Miss Boobies has a soft spot for you, Agawa-kun.
Mune: Boobies are precisely why I fell in love you, Asou-san, right?
Asou: No girl is going to complain/about having an attractive boyfriend.

157
Asou&Mune: Mh./Hah.
Asou: Careful today./We're right in the middle of my danger zone.
Mune: Mh...*tilt*
Asou: Ha.......//I think......./I've just remembered a little trick........

158
Asou: Mh*creak creak*

159
Asou: Mh/Mh*creak creak*
Asou: Yeah./That's it!/Just like that!![tn: More creaking.]
Asou&Mune: Hah/Hah//Hah/Hah
Asou: Not yet... Just a little bit/come on...

160
*CRACK*
Asou: Wha... what?!
Mune: That cracking noise...... it came from the bed.......//........//The plywood/is broken.......//........

161
Asou: I-I've had that bed ever since I was a schoolgirl./A-and it was a cheap one in the first place!!
Mune: ....../
Asou: .....
Mune: Well, then.//How about/we go by another one tomorrow?

162
Mune: Aren't we getting a bit too close to the company?
Asou: Today's Saturday! I don't work on Saturday, so no problem.
Mune: Haha.//Humm.♥//This one looks really snug and comfortable./And cheap, too./I really like it.
Asou: The previous ones were expensive indeed... But I liked them better.
Mune: Uuh?/Come on, this one is so soft.
Asou: Tired of walking already, are you?
Mune: We-well no, that's not.../One bed, another bed, same difference, no?
Asou: We could do with a solid one this time.☆

163
Asou: I think I'll go have a look at the previous store./You can stay here and have a smoke.
Mune: Thank you so much for your very kind offer...
Asou: ♪
Mune: (Ever since I started dating her/I've been able to see God only knows how many aspects of her I never suspected.
*vrooom* *vrrr*
Mune: And God only knows how much more I'm gonna find out about, probably.)

164
Mune: (I wanna get to know a lot more of her.........//So moving in with her/should make me a happy man.)*vrooom*
Mune: (Yeah. Falling in love/has made me happy.)
*glimmer*
Truck: Cool CUPID Services.
Mune: (It's all thanks to that girl for beefing me up. Giving me the courage make my confession./I wonder how she's doing, at the moment.

165
Mune: Rena.
*flicker*
*vroooommmm*
*fwoosh* *fwoosh* *gwoooooosh*
*VRROOAAAAAARRR*

166
Mune: !![/end

167
Chapter 17: Must've been my imagination...
Mune: ...........!!

168
Mune: (Re.../Rena?!)
Chapter 17: Must've been my imagination...

169
*fwooosh* *vrooaaarr*
Mune: (Nah........//If that's Rena/she's turned a whole lot younger........//No matter how you look at it/I'm pretty sure she didn't quite look like someone in primary school.........//--Progressive Aging Regression Syndrome--

170
Rena: "If you don't kiss me/I'll end up reverting into an even younger child."
Mune: ..........*chatter*
Mune: (No way! NO WAY!!)*splat*
Mune: (That was true?!//No way!!/It can't be!!)*vroaar* *fwoosh*
Mune: (Is that someone else who happens to look like her?! Or her little sister?!/CS Enzyme. That sort of disease actually exists?/And Rena has been calling for help the whole time!/IT CAN'T BE!!

171
*vrooaaar* *vrooaar*

172
Asou: Agawa-kun!*grip*
Mune: !!
Asou: I've got something to show you!/There was another shop right next to the last one.//There's a bed I like there. Follow me.
Mune: Uh... Sure........
Asou: Something wrong?
Mune: We... well./There. The bags.
Asou: Ah-hah.
*flick*

173
*fwooosh* *vrooaaar*
Mune: (She's gone....)
Asou: We're gonna have to dispose of the old bed before they deliver the new one.//Large as it is, I might have to give the municipality a call so they can retrieve it.//Do they do that on weekends./If they work on weekdays only, what am I gonna do about the office?//Are you listening?
Mune: Su-sure.

174
Asou: Certainly if I contact them and leave it in front of the building they can pick it up there?/........Why, yes. That sounds about right.
Mune: Yeah, probably.
Asou: ..........//What are you gonna do about last night?
Mune: Eh?
Asou: About the lease on your apartment.
Mune: Ah, um...
Asou: You could move in with me, Agawa-kun./We could live together if you like.
Mune: .........../(If I sleep at her place tonight, that'll be one full, week of me continuously staying there.........)

175
Mune: (On the way back from work we meet up someplace far from the office/and we have dinner there.//Then we go back to her place.//If we get sick of each other's constant presence/we just kill time doing whatever either of us likes best.//We do well together.)/......./(I guess there's no mistake there.)//If it doesn't bother you, Asou-san/I'll be glad to.

176
Mune: I'm sorry.//I'm gonna need to go back to my place tonight after all.*katang katang*
Asou: That came right out of nowhere.*katang katang*
Mune: I forgot I'd been staying at your place non-stop for a week.........//I've just remembered those DVDs I'd borrowed.
Asou: DVDs?
Mune: I-I haven't watched them yet, of course. But paying extra for a late return would suck.

177
Asou: Didn't you spend the whole week at my place, starting last Saturday?
Mune: A-actually, I rented them on Friday, when I got back home./So I'm already late, you see..........//I... I had to go to sleep on my own, and I felt kinda lonely.
Asou: Hu... Humph. So you watch that sort of thing too.*katang katang*
Mune: Sorry about that.
Asou: .........No need to apologize.

178
Asou: Seeing as you'll be leaving ME all alone tonight.
Mune: So/Sorry...
Asou: Pft.//Fine. I think I can let you go every once in a while./After all, there won't be much sleeping alone to be done in the foreseeable future.//Well, see you on Monday at the office then.
Mune: Right. I'll call tomorrow.
*katang katang*

179
*katang katang katang katang*
*katang katang katang katang*
Mune: .........
Clerk: That's ￥6700 total, please!

180
Rena: You can do whatever you want to me............//Just turn me back into an adult........//I'm glad it was you rather than anyone else......

181
Rena: Thank you.

182
*stap*
Mune: (Rena!)*glance*
*clonk clonk*
Rena: Kiss me.
Mune: (Rena!!//Rena!!)

184
Mune: (Ha.../Haha...)/Thought so........ Yeah.//Must've been my imagination...//It's not like....... diseases like that actually exist.)/Haha. The heck am I doing...?//Way to look silly......../The girl I saw just happened to look the same.

185
Mune: (Above all, why am I worrying so much about her?)/Pft/(I'm old enough to know better by now.)
*huff*
*clink*
Mune: Oh, well...*clank*
Mune: (Getting back at my place after one week and do whatever can't hurt either...........)*woof woof woof*
*clonk*
Cop: Where do you live? Around here? Really?*woof woof*
*woof woof*
Cop: There's a creepy old guy out there who's been more than a little insistent with the ladies, of late. That includes grade schoolgirls too.
Rena: Wait! Not so fast!! Who are you calling a grade schoolgirl?!!

186
Rena: I'm 19, I am!! And I'm certainly no child!!
Mune: ..........Rena?*woof woof woof*[/end

187
Chapter 18: I'll just disappear.

188
Mune: (Rena!!//It's Rena!!)
Cop: ......./19? What are you.....//You can't.......

189
Cop: ..........What's your name anyway?
Rena: Amami Rena.
Cop: And how would you write that?
Rena: The Firmament's Sea,/and Rena in hiragana or katakana.
Cop: Your contact address, now. Any phone number?/Uh,//Not your cell phone or anything. I just wanna call your mom or your dad.*GACKT*
Rena: I even have my student card with me.
Mune: (Stupid, don't say that! You'll just draw undue suspicion to yourself if you pull that out! >Like, you're a thief or something.<//...........//Looks like she's second-guessing that one, considering how well it went with me. >Good. Good.<)
Rena: ..........
Mune: (Wait a minute? Doesn't my coming out here make things that much more complicated?/Even if I claim I know her, I might just end up looking like a schoolgirl kidnapper........//Should I pose as her brother?/Nah, without any papers to produce, that'll look like a lie........ Which it is.

190
Rena: !/Agawa-san!
*startle*
Mune: !!//..........
Cop: .........../Who are you?
*grip*
Rena: My brother!!//Right./Tell him, bro.♥
Mune: Aaaaaaaahhhhh.
Cop: Didn't you just call him by his last name?/"Something-san", or other...
Rena: Our.../Our parents are divorced, so we both have different names.
Mune: Aaahhh. Ahhhh.

191
Rena: ...........
Mune: Aaahh Aaahh.
Cop: ............
Sakai: Rena-chan!//Don't go so far ahead on your own, it's dangerous!*stap stap*
Mune: Ruu-kun!
Cop: You're the sister?
Sakai: No, not quite.
Narrator: With that honest-looking woman showing up, the cop's attitude softened immediately.//Ruu-kun came up with a plausible lie about being a private tutor, and gracefully pulled our bacons out of the fire.//And I got away as a mere passerby who got dragged into someone else's business........
Mune: (Thank goodness she knew what she was doing.)

192
*crunch crunch*
*crunch crunch crunch*
Mune: (So it really was Rena...)

193
Mune: (She lost meat in quite a few places.//And she got even smaller than she already was.)*snip*
Mune: (But her eyes look far too intelligent to belong on someone of her apparent age./No doubt about it, she's Rena.//So I guess that disease of hers actually existed after all./The kind that makes you age backwards.//Progressive Aging Regression Syndrome-------//But/that means)

194
Mune: That whatever-enzyme I had didn't do anything about your condition?
Rena: ACS. Anti Counter Spiral enzyme.//It worked wonders. When I got back to the hospital after that, I had an examination right away./The doctor was just as surprised.
Doc: I am surprised./Your CS enzymes are going completely inactive.........
Rena: So, that means I can go back to normal, right?!/I can get my 19-year-old's body back!

195
Doc: That's right./If the CS enzymes remain inactive as they are now, you should be able to grow back at the normal speed.
Rena: Uh?/So I won't get back to normal right away...
Doc: Your body's becoming around 4 years younger had to do with the "foreign substance" that is CS.//Even if you stop that substance's activity, recovering 4 years' worth of growth will still take 4 years./You'll need just as much time as if you were growing normally.
Rena: (But shortly after that, my appetite went totally out of whack again...........*stomach noises*
Doc: It would seem the ACS' effect is only temporary.
Rena: Uuuh?!
Doc: The CS enzymes are activating again.
Rena: !!

196
Mune: ........//And then/you ended up like this.....//Idiot!/Why didn't you contact me immediately, then?
Rena: I wanted to.../But I never asked for your phone number... and they've been watching me at the hospital, to make sure I didn't escape again.........

197
Sakai: The methods the hospital used to find out about your having the ACS enzyme/were very much illegal, at any rate. Or so it would seem.//As in....... Usurping your physical examination data from the company........//No... no way. My personal info.......?
Sakai: On top of that Rena-chan didn't exactly ask for permission when she looked at those.........
Rena: .........
Sakai: Anyway, she eventually managed to escape the hospital, and she's been hiding at my place ever since.//Thing is, Agawa-san.../you didn't get back home even once over the last week..........

198
Mune: I... I was......
Rena: We tried having a look around at your office, eventually......./That's how I got to find you, but..........//You have no idea what I've been going through/Where the hell have you been the whole time?!!//As a result, I......./I...... I turned. Again.

200
Rena: .........
Mune: .......Sorry.
Rena: .......You lied.

201
Rena: A girlfriend./You were able to get one...........//I'm wondering/if you told her you loved her first.

202
Mune: My girlfriend dumped me when I was 16, and I've been a coward ever since.//Ever since that happened, I'd forgotten how to love.//Yeah./I told her first.
Rena: That's neat./Good going.

203
Mune: If your condition persists.../what happens then?
Rena: I'll turn into an even smaller child.//Before long, I'll be a baby again.../and probably

204-205
Rena: Probably/I'll just disappear.

206
*slam*
*grab*
Rena: !!
Mune: Let's kiss!//If at least I can make sure you don't get any smaller/I'll keep kissing you every day if I have to!
---SAKURANBO SYNDROME. Cupid's Prank II [2] The End---

207
THE OTHER SIDE OF CUPID
Making of Cupid II
An insider's view of the series' production, delivered by the author. And a bit of a mixed bag.
Please come along.

208
[The Mysterious Girls] Chapter 9.
The couple of girls who appear in Rena's memories (?). No explanation given about them, so there's no sorting it out... But we'll get to know who they are later, so just wait for for it... You get the idea.
I'm wondering if they're gonna show up in the 3rd volume? (lol)

[Mucchan] Chapter 10.
One glance is enough to work out that Asou-san and Rena's names resemble Asami and Reiko's names from my previous work, "Nujidama". And Agawa himself is "Mucchan".
Nothing as fancy as a parallel world, here. This is merely the work of a capricious (playful) author, keeping the same names with just that little change that might make all the difference.

[Kago-chan's Three Coworkers] Chapter 12.
I tried to come up with three girls without thinking too hard about it, and I ended up imparting the same designs as in something I wrote earlier, Idol Detective. Don't ask me how... (lol)
I made up their names along those lines: Akira, Rina, and Kanako. Is that good enough? By the way, the one with a different uniform (Rina) is not intended as a Lèvres Cosmetics Marketing staff member.
[tn: The small round black dot is advertisement for Detective Idol vol.18, one of the author's other works.]

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[Tsundere] Chapter 15.
The word Tsundere is fairly in vogue with the public, apparently. Ever since the term was first coined, the author's been in love with it. (lol)

[How to Eat Sushi] Chapter 17.
I wanted to add some measure of variety from the pictures of Asou-san next to Agawa-kun, so I settled for drawing her eating sushi with chopsticks. This is relatively widespread among females (according to the supervisor's little information-gathering in the editorial department). The author himself is of a "non-rolled sushi are picked by hand, rolled sushi are handled with chopsticks" persuasion. Go figure.[tn: Nigiri-sushi (like the one Asou eats) are traditionally hand picked, though eating them with chopsticks, though uncommon, is not unheard of.]

[Espresso Machine] Chapter 14.
The easy way to have an honest to goodness espresso coffee at home! Manufactured in Italy itself, it costs something around ￥150.000!! ...How much of an espresso lover does that make Asou-san?!! But Agawa-kun and Asou-san have both been drinking coffee all the way, from the very beginning. In this as well, it would appear that their tastes are similar. They don't drink the same alcohols at the restaurant, though.

[The Initial First Chapter]Chapter 16.
"The protagonist lives with his girlfriend, when a mysterious girl appears before him and asks him to kiss her."
In other words, this chapter was actually meant to be the first one before the publication of the story started. Rather than the main character having a girl from the get-go, I wanted to show him finding one so very badly we ended up with the current situation instead.
.............Making of "Cupid". To be continued.