"It's Ito and Makoto's increasingly exciting couple story!! There's a bunch of new members, and the usual anual summer camp time has arrived. Furthermore, with the arrival of Toki-senpai, will everything be chaotic again?!" ISBN#: ISBN4-592-17343-0 Cast of Volume 3: ~Ito ~Makoto ~Toki ~Takashi ~Tsugumi ~Kouhei ~Itou-sensei ~Miura bros ~Akane ~Yoshirou ~Misaki ~Nobuko Just click on the bullet to go to the part you want! ^_^! Part1 Part2 Part3 Part4 Part 1 Not yet! Part 2 This chapter takes place during the first 10 days of July, which is final exam time at Ito and Mako's school. We see Ito's teacher tell the students "Time's up! Please put down your pencils and pass your sheets forward from the back. Good job everyone." All the students stretch and are tired and such (you know how those scantron tests are!) and then they all throw their stuff up in the air in celebration, saying "IT'S OVEEEER!" (the teacher's like "Hey, you people! Oh, this class..-.-"). Ito narrasplains that final exams are finally over and that summer vacation will begin in two weeks. From the next day until those two weeks are over, they'll only have morning lessons. As Yoshirou hands in his answer sheet, he tells Ito it looks like he's gonna be seeing her at summer school cause he totally failed math (well, not exactly at summer school but at extra classes you gotta take if you failed, which is sorta similar ^_^;). Ito tells her she's sorry, but she won't be seeing him there this time. Yoshirou is understandably surprised like "You did GOOD this time?!" and Takashi (who's collecting the answer sheets on Ito's row) asks Ito for her answer sheet, which she hands in. Takashi looks at her answer sheet and then laughs and says "You say you won't be there this time? You didn't even fill out half of the sheet!" and Ito looks angered and thinks to herself "I filled up more than I usually do though!" (apparently Ito usually gets a 15/100 and Yoshirou gets 20/100 on the test). Ito then goes on narrasplaining and says that the time they don't use on lessons during the afternoon becomes club-time, and so that means they'll be doing more club activities, which means she'll be seeing Makoto more often. After the test, Ito goes to meet up with Makoto, who's saying goodbye to some of his classmates. Makoto asks Ito how the test went and Ito embarrassedly tells him that it was so-so, but that she did better than usual because Makoto tutored her, and Makoto says he's glad. Suddenly, Ito smells Mako's hair and says "Mako, you always smell really nice. Do you put on something?" and goes on about how neat it is that he smells good. Makoto just smiles in his secretive way. Ito then takes the opportunity to narrasplain Makoto's predicament again for anyone who missed the last chapters and is lost on why he crossdresses (there's a neat picture here of Girl-Mako and Boy-Mako with their arms linked and dressed in both the girls uniform and boys uniform). At the end of her explanation, Ito adds that she's the only one who knows his secret (well, besides Takashi and them). At the club lockeroom, Ito comments on how it's been a while since they had club cause apparently club had been canceled for the whole week because of exams. Suddenly, Mako remembers something and tells Ito that he has something he has to do that he couldn't reschedule, so he has to miss club today. Ito looks a little peeved and wishes he would have mentioned it sooner, for she feels ditched, but gives in and says she'll tell everyone at club for him. Makoto smiles and thanks her and leaves saying he'll see her tomorrow (Ito thinks to herself that Mako's smile really is her weakness). But then Ito narrasplains that since that time, Makoto always ditched club saying he had "something" to do and giving no other explanation besides that (there are lil panels of Makoto telling everyone he has to leave and Nobuko giving Ito notes from Mako saying he has to leave and such, and then a panel of the other students wondering if "she" got a boyfriend "she" keeps sneaking off to see). Ito says that at first she didn't really pay any attention to it, but after a while she really wanted to ask him what was up. Finally, on July 14, Ito goes into club ready to ask Makoto, but because her homeroom had run a little late, she had just missed Makoto, who had left her another note with Misaki. Yoshirou asks Ito if she knows what it is that Makoto keeps ditching club for, but Ito gets annoyed and says "How should I know?". Yoshirou says he just thought Ito might know (them being so close and all). Ito thinks about that and thinks Yoshirou's right. She understands if Mako's keeping something a secret from their other club friends, but she doesn't understand why Mako's keeping a secret from Ito herself (there's a panel of Ito looking really mad and everyone else thinking she looks like she's gonna snap in five seconds). Nobuko and Misaki invite Ito to come along with them on a shopping spree in preparation for summer vacation. Ito looks a little sad and disappointed but agrees. While Nobuko and Misaki rejoice about it, Ito thinks that even though she and Makoto have never really directly said they "love" each other, they know how the other feels, and that she really thought Makoto felt like he could tell her anything. She thinks to herself she really doesn't understand him and wonders why Makoto never really tells her anything. While shopping, Ito, Misaki, Nobuko, and Yoshirou stop at a restaurant. They all comment on how hot it is outside and such until the waitress shows up and asks how many people are in their party. Ito tells her "four", but then takes a closer look at the waitress only to realize...It's Makoto! And so now they all know what Makoto keeps ditching club for. Ito is naturally surprised and yells/asks in a REALLY loud voice what the heck Makoto is doing there (everyone's like "Whoa, that's the experienced loud voice of someone from the Drama Club"). After they've all calmed down, Makoto explains "she" has some sort of debt to pay and that's why "she" got the job. Mako explains that "her" sister lent "her" half of the fee for the school trip they went on and that "she" wanted to pay her back this month. Everyone thinks she's very silly because if it was just that, then she should have just told them, cause they would have understood. Makoto explains she (^_^; I'll use it without "s now, but just know if I use "she" instead of "he" it's cause people other than Ito are there too) didn't tell anyone because she'd heard it was forbidden at school to have a part-time job. The others reassure her that it's cool, cause everyone does it anyway, and they all comment on how serious Makoto is. Ito is still sulking, though, and Makoto asks her if she's angry. Ito says she's really mad because Makoto didn't tell her anything. Makoto tries to explain further, but Ito cuts her off by saying she's decided to work there too. Makoto says that that's why she didn't tell Ito, and that she can't do that. Ito asks why can't she work there and says that by the time Mako gets off from work it's late and dark and dangerous on the streets and such. Plus, if they both work, they can pay Mako's sister back faster. Makoto says that's exactly what she doesn't want, and Ito says "Then I'll use it for myself!" and Makoto's like "-.-". They keep arguing back and forth about it and Yoshirou says that they're going to go on and on about it forever. Ito thinks to herself that she says she wants to do it to help Mako out too, but she really just wants to be with him. She fills out a job application and tells Mako she's going to give it to the owner/manager dude, but Mako says "I'm sorry, but we're not looking for waitresses right now". Ito looks a little dejected (Nobuko and Yoshirou are like "Ooh, good comeback!"), but then she says "Heh...who do you think you're talking to?". Two days later, a couple of ko-gals (them girls who wear looots of make-up and dye their hair blonde and such) come into the restaurant complaining about the weather (it's raining baaadly). A waitress asks them how many are in their party and the gals say 2, and keep walking past the waitress rudely. The managerdude is like "Oh, we have some gals here" and tells the waiters to go take their order and to put their hearts into it (like be smileative and kind and not like "-.- can i take yer order?"), but neither of the two waiters wants to go (^_^; AHAHA!). As one of the gals sneezes on the table (for they are both drenched) and the other one laughs at her and calls her dirty, a mysterious waiter approaches them and gives the gal who sneezed (ahaha, that sounds like a book title. "The Gal Who Sneezed"! ...nevermind ^_^;) a towel. The "waiter", who is now revealed to be Ito (looking snazzy and handsome in a nifty waiter uniform), tells them to please call her once they've decided their order. The gals blush embarrassedly, for they think Ito is a guy and have probably developed crushes on her. The waiters who didn't want to help the gals (that sounds like a book title too) watched the whole thing and speak amongs themselves about how cooly Ito shut the gals up (for they were being loud) and speak about how Ito started working there the day before and she's "Miura from Sakura High". Makoto looks at Ito and finally says "...You're a male host?" (like...a male escort I guess ^_^;) but Ito says "I'm a WAITER!". Apparently the only way they'd hire her was as a waiter cause they didn't need any more waitresses. Makoto looks at Ito worriedly and says he didn't think Ito'd really try to work there. Ito says that the more Mako told her not to work there, the more she wanted to, plus it's not like the clothes look bad on her or anything. But alas, Mako is still not pleased and he walks off to work. As she polishes some glass cupthings (I forget their names), Ito thinks that Mako still seems kinda funky about all this and wonders if there's something else Mako's hiding...something he doesn't want Ito to know about. Ito worries even more when she thinks that maybe Mako just wants to be away from Ito for a while, and she wonders what shall she do if that is the case (she worries so much she breaks the glass cupthing she was polishing and gets yelled at by the manager). Mako watches Ito get yelled at and can't help but laugh. The next day, Ito narrasplains that her working hours are from 1 PM till 8 PM and that the restaurant is 5 train stations away from the school (or is it train station #5? O.o I couldn't really understand that part but it's not that important) and it's a seaside restaurant. But Ito explains that, although Makoto acts normal at school, he acts kind of guarded and such at work, like he really wishes Ito wouldn't be there (while she says that, there's a panel of Yoshirou going all ballistic and jealoused cause Ito and Mako get paid ^_^;). Ito decides to seriously talk with Makoto today and confront him about it. But, alas, Ito has seriously bad luck. The teacher calls her outside and tells Ito that she has to go to the extra lessons. Ito is all surprised because she did a lot better this time (she got a 51/100 ^_^;;) so she apparently seriously thought she wouldn't have to go to extra lessons (^_^;), but the teacher tells her that a 51 is still not enough. Yoshirou laughs at her and says he knew it would happen, but the teacher tells him that he has to go to extra lessons too. But extra lessons means that they both have to stay after, and the teacher says they really better stay if they really want their summer vacation o.o Makoto tells Ito that she can do it and wishes her luck and such, but Ito is all disappointed and wonders why this had to happen now. When Ito and Yoshirou get to the extra lessons classroom, they find that there are a LOT of people there (Hah! Guess a lot of people failed...) and Yoshirou tells Ito they should go sit by the window. As they look out the window, they see Makoto leaving school to go to work, and he waves to them. Yoshirou says " You guys had work today too, right?" and Ito says "Yep. I thought we'd go together but... Man, being dumb is tough". Then Ito thinks to herself that working at the restaurant just to be with Makoto is a kind of unpure motive, and that maybe Makoto didn't like Ito doing that (the working there just to be with him thing). Elsewhere, Makoto smiles his secretive smile and thinks to himself that now that Ito's not around, he'll do "that" today. Back at the classroom, the teacher says that he has a meeting and he'll be back in 30 minutes. Until then, the students are to complete a printout worksheet and put it on the desk when they're done. Everyone's like "WHAT!? 5 pages?! You gotta be kidding me!" and they all start cheating off of each other right away ^_^; (Yoshirou's like "We're using dirty tactics?" and Ito says "The sooner we get done, the sooner we can go!"). While working on her worksheet, Ito overhears two girls talking about the day's horoscope. One girl tells the other that her horoscope's really bad and asks "Your birthday's July 23, right? You're a Leo!" and Ito is all shocked, for that's her birthday too. Apparently the horoscope says that this month, Leos will have really bad luck, especially in love, and Ito freezes up. The girl proceeds to read the horoscope, which says things like "Ever since that time, he's been in a bad mood" and "He's hiding something from you" and finally "The final confrontation will come after July 23!". The girl who has Ito's birthday gets all creeped out and finally tells her friend to stop reading the dang thing. Ito gets really worried and thinks that it all really fits for her, and that she really wanted to be talking to Makoto about the whole situation but instead she's in this classroom. She finally can't take it anymore and stands up. Yoshirou says "Miura?" and Ito tells him she has to go to the bathroom and leaves (everyone's like "She's running away isn't she..." and "Maybe we should escape too.."). Ito thinks to herself that she'll make it to the restaurant before it closes and that she won't be at peace until she asks Makoto himself. Ito arrives at the restaurant and one of the waitresses says "Miura-kun, weren't you off today?", but Ito explains she "finished her business early", and asks the waitress if she could call Makoto for her. But alas, the waitress confusedly replies that Makoto is off from work today too. o.o The waitress further explains that Makoto called at noon that same day and said that something came up and she couldn't come to work today. Ito remembers all the stuffs the horoscope said and looks all shocked, and the waitress asks her if something's wrong, but Ito says no. Ito then goes to a nearby public telephone and tries calling Mako's cell phone, but she gets a message saying the phone she's calling is not in range or is not turned on (Ito's like "What the hell does he have a cell phone for then!? That jerk!!" and there's a cute lil picture of chibi-Mako smiling). But then Ito remembers Makoto telling her "Good luck!" before he left. She realizes Makoto picked the one day he knew Ito would be at extra lessons and so Ito is like "Two can play at the same gaaame...". The next day at club practice, Makoto calls out to Ito in the gym, but Ito completely ignores him. She thinks to herself that she's acting really dumb, too, now and is like "C'mooon...chase after me!". There's a lil panel of Ito as her heart pounds and she's looking out of the corner of her eye at Mako, who looks pensive. Mako finally turns around and wonders if Ito's in a bad mood. Ito suddenly turns around and says "WAITAMINUTE, YOU!" (I guess she thought he was just going to leave o.o) and bangs her hand on the wall as she says "I'll ask you straight out! What were you doing yesterday?". Makoto says "What do you mean? I was at work-", but Ito cuts him off and says "Don't lie to me! I went there to see you yesterday". Mako realizes he's caught and says "Damn..." under his breath, but stays kind of silent as Ito asks him "Why?". Makoto changes the subject and asks Ito if she plans to continue working at the restaurant, since summer vacation starts the next day. Ito replies that she does, and tells Mako not to change the subject. She asks Makoto why he's so distant, and then asks if he doesn't need her. Makoto starts to say that it's not that, it's just that the restaurant's by the sea and it's dangerous and such things, but Ito won't have it. She smacks Makoto's hand away and Makoto surprisedly says "Ito-san! o.o". Ito says "I'm not listening to you! I'm gonna do whatever I want to too! So don't go mouthing off!" and runs off. Makoto looks after Ito worriedly and wonders if he made her mad again (^_^; I'd say so! Oh, Mako, you're so bright and yet so clueless sometiiiimes) as Nobuko and Misaki look on from the back of the gym and wonder if Ito and Mako had a fight. Finally, July 23 has arrived! Apparently Ito has been ignoring Mako since their fight at the gym, and at the restaurant Makoto is following Ito around saying that he has to talk to her. Ito replies that she's working, but Makoto says they can talk when they get off from work. But Ito is still not budging and says "No way. I'll go home right after that. I've decided not to talk to you for now. Got that?" (Makoto thinks to himself that they were talking just now and that Ito's not supposed to say anything if she says she won't talk to him ^____^;). Suddenly, they both hear one of the waitresses say "Please let me go!". Ito and Mako look over to see what's going on, and they see a bunch of surfer dudes who are pulling onto her arm, telling her to come hang out with them and such things. The waiters in the back see what's happening but they're all too chicken to do anything about it because the surfer dudes outnumber them, but in the end decide to try to save her. But, luckily for them, they end up not having to. Ito is gentlemanly and goes to help the waitress, explaining to the dudes that it's not possible that the waitress come hang out with them, for her shift isn't over yet. The dude nearest to Ito basically tells her to mind her own beeswax and pushes Ito away, touching her chest in the process o.o Ito's really pissed now, but tries to remind herself that she has to be polite to them (cause they're still customers and all) and to be an adult about it. But the dude looks at his hand in surprise and then at Ito and says "Hey...are you a girl?". Everyone in the restaurant (for everyone was watching by now) including waiters and waitresses are all shocked upon hearing this (some of the waitresses say "No waaay!!) and Makoto goes "!". Ito thinks that this is a baaad situation, for if they find out she's a girl, she'll be fired (ahaha, now Ito's the one keeping such a secret!) and she thinks "I'm not supposed to be Mako!" (ooh, she thought like me!). She calmly/nervously tells the dudes that she's a guy, but they still don't believe her and they all start groping her everywhere to make sure (O.o!). To add insult to the injury, even after all their groping, they're still not sure (but one of them's like "but don't you think her body's kinda soft and squishy?" ^_^; AHAHA! *ahem*). Ito finally (and understandably) snaps and punches the first surfer dude out, saying "CUT IT OUT!!". The other surfer dudes go "WHY YOU!! Okay, it's a guy! Let's go!" and go after Ito to beat her up (Ito's like "What?!"). The manager's holds his face worriedly and wails about his restaurant, which is about to be destroyed, as Mako walks by with a stick (o.o Whoa, Mako...who knew you were so violent!). Ito and the dudes fight for a bit, throwing insults back and forth, but then one of the dudes grabs Ito by the shirt and it opens up revealing her bra. o.o Then another dude comes up from behind and is about to hit Ito with a chair, but his plan is foiled when Mako shows up with the stick he brought from the kitchen and blocks the chair (Ito's just clutching her shirt closed now). Mako smiles at the dudes and says "Violence is no good, sirs. It's just painful. Like this, and this, and this!". And for every "this" he said, Mako whacked a surfer's head (Ahahaha, I rhymed! ...*sobs* Okay, I lied. For some surfers he whacked their tummies instead >.< *is shamed*). After Mako whacked the last surfer's head (and it WAS a head this time), Ito thinks Mako's real scary (as do most of the people there too, probably, especially the scary aura he has around him at the moment). The surfer dudes yell at each other to beat Mako up even if he's "a babe", but they all apparently have enough gentlemanliness left (or are too scared) to beat Mako up. But Mako just smiles scarily and tells them "Thank you for coming. The exit is this way". The dudes leave with their tails between their legs, whining about how Mako's not a "normal woman" and how they'll never go back to that restaurant again. After they're gone, Mako goes over to Ito (who's still clutching her shirt) and asks her if she's ok, and fixes Ito's clothes around (and basically touching her all over like the surfer dudes did ^_^; Ahaha, Mako, you sly dog! *ahem* And...apparently he was particularly po'd cause the surfer dudes touched Ito even when Mako himself hadn't touched her yet. Whoooa). Ito apologizes, but Mako says he predicted something like this would happen and that that's why he didn't want Ito to work there. Ito thinks back to when Mako was explaining that it was dangerous and such and realizes it's true. But they are interrupted by Mr. Managerdude, who is not happy about his restaurant being destroyed (the waitresses in the back are like "Whoa, she IS a girl!"). Ito is about ready to begin explaining, but Mr. Managerdude says "You're BOTH FIRED!". And with that, Mako and Ito's dabble in the workforce ended for the time being. On their way home, Ito and Mako comment on what a nice evening it is and how it's been a while since they returned home like that. But Ito suddenly remembers that Mako had said he wanted to talk to her and asks him what it was he wanted to say. Mako explains he just wanted to tell her why he'd been avoiding her before, and Ito thinks "Oh yeah! What is it he was hiding so sneakily?". Mako takes a prettily-wrapped...canthing and tells Ito to take a look at it. He says if she likes it, he'll give it to her. Ito's like "What is it?" but Mako asks her to tell him what she thinks of it first. Ito thinks that the conversation went off on a different direction and looks at the canthing confusedly. Finally, she asks Mako if it's canned food (AHAHA) but Mako tells her "It's perfume" (Ito's like "What!? This canthing is perfume?!"). He goes on to say "Today's July 23rd, right? It's your birthday!". Ito blushes badly and is surprised. Makoto goes on explaining, saying he wanted to give it to her in a more special way or cooler place or such, but it just didn't come out right (aaawww!!). Ito runs after him and tells him to wait, but he turns around and tells her "You asked me before if I didn't need you...but that's not it at all. I want you to know more about me. Because you're the most important woman to me. Don't forget that." (AAAW! And he even used the male "ore" to refer to himself tooo!). And so he hugs and holds Ito cutely and asks her if she'll accept his present. Ito snatches the present and clutches it closely to her chest blushing really badly (she looks so cute, like she thinks someone will steal it), and Makoto smiles and says "I'm glad". Ito blushes further and says "Thank you, Mako!!" and thinks to herself "UWAAA! What should I say!? I'm so HAPPY!!". Mako then says "The truth is, I paid my sister back long ago for the school trip. Now I just have to pay this summer's gas, electricity, water-" and he's going off reciting all his expenses (poor Mako), but he gets cut off by Ito, who covers his mouth up saying "Aaah, I get it!". But then Ito asks Mako where he was the other day when he wasn't at work, and Mako tells her that's when he went to actually buy the present ^_^! Ito's still shaking and not calming down cause she's so happy, but Mako tells her that's one of her good points and one of the things he likes about her, plus it's amusing. He says Ito becomes so involved, she can't see but "that one person". Then he takes her hand and says "Let's go home". Ito thinks about how Makoto was thinking about her the whole time she was afraid he wasn't. She decides to be wiser and not so hasty from now on. As they walk home holding hands, Ito asks Mako more... Ito: "You don't have any more secrets, do you?" Makoto: "Nope!" Ito: "Really?" Makoto: "Though I do have a lie" Ito: "What does that meaan?" Makoto: "But I think I already gave it away. Besides, I'll tell you when the new semester starts..." And so, the chapter ends with Ito thinking "Let's walk slowly together". THE END! Part 3 This chapter begins with Ito opening the canthing perfume that Makoto got her for her birthday. But she has to laugh at it because the perfume bottle inside it is...such a funny bottle (it's like...the thingy on the top of the bottle is in the shape of lips, so it looks kind of funny). She thinks to herself "Sometimes I just don't understand his hobbies...". She narrasplains that she had just been staring at the canthing the past few days, kind of just gazing at it, and hadn't even opened it until now, but today...she will put it on! And so she does and... she starts spraying it all over the room as if it was an air freshner or something o.O Then she wonders why Makoto chose perfume as her gift (actualllyyy it's...eau de toilette o.o I didn't know there was a difference but I think there iiis. I think it's not as strong as real perfume...? @_@ *is as bad as Ito*). But Ito is interrupted from her thoughts when Tatsuyoshi comes in to tell her that dinner's ready. Then he goes "AAUGH! What the hell?! Why's it so stinky in here?!" and Ito beats him up. ^_^; As she beats on poor Tatsuyoshi, Ryuuya and Yuuto come up to see what's going on. Ryuuya says "Is this...perfume?" and Yuuto says "It's totally reeking though. Don't you know how to use that?". But as they observer Ito beat Tatsuyoshi up, Ryuuya comments that, though Ito was always very boyish before, now she's becoming more feminine (I guess she's beating Tatsuyoshi up in a more ladylike manner. Bwahah ^0^;). He thinks maybe a guy has appeared that made her change. Fast forward to school! Ito is being chased and yelled at by one of the teachers because she came to school in casual clothes instead of her uniform (Ito argues "But it's summer vacation! What does it matter?" as she runs). Their shouting can be heard at the meeting Itou-sensei is at, and one of her colleagues asks if that's Miura from the Drama Club. Itou-sensei just laughs (apparently this had been happening for several days). Ito then narrasplains that in the spring, the Drama Club had been saved from being cut because enough students joined, and now they have 17 new members. As Ito arrives at the gym, she asks where Itou-sensei is, and Yoshirou explains she's at a meeting cause they'll be going to a boarding house next week (kinda like Drama Camp, I guess!). Suddenly, someone taps Ito on the shoulder, and she turns around to see a smiling Makoto, who says "Good morning, Ito-san". Ito smiles at Mako and says "good morning" back (as all the new female drama club girls take pictures and giggle and spazz out because Ito smiled). Ito narrasplains that they've both become kinda famous because of what happened back in volume 2 (the whole play with jumping from the school roof and such). But then Ito explains that, although things have been quiet for a while, a small problem remains... And at that moment we hear a voice say "Good morning, Makoto-senpai!!". And we see a cute little boy holding up a HUUUGE flower bouquet thing. o.o Makoto and Ito are shocked and make "o.o" faces too, and then Makoto tells the little boy that "she" appreciates all the trouble he's gone through to bring the flowers but he really shouldn't do it anymore. But alas, the little boy says he is serious! Everyday him and Makoto joke around and such but today he will ask for real! And so he gets on one knee and holds the flowers up...and says... "Please go out with me!!" Ito narrasplains that after that, rumors and news of the lil boy's love confession spread all over the school (we see a scene of some of the boys at school talking about how the lil boy got on one knee and everything and how cute and brave he was and junk and how he's going after Makoto for real). Makoto and Ito hear all of this and Ito asks Makoto what he plans to do about the situation, but Mako is unsure. He's not interested in the lil boy, of course, but he also doesn't want to hurt his feelings (cause Mako's kindhearted and all). Mako's also disturbed by the way all the school boys are egging the kid on and encouraging him to go after Makoto, and Ito comments that it's cause Makoto's like "the unreachable flower" that all the school boys dream of, yet the lil boy was the only boy that ever dared to make such a daring and serious love confession, so everyone's having fun with it. Ito goes on and narrasplains that the lil boy's name is Takada Kouhei and he's a first year student that had just joined the Drama Club that year. He's cheerful, polite, and loves beautiful things and his family owns a flower shop. He'd started speaking to Mako a while before, but they always ended their conversations with a joke and such, so Ito thought it'd be ok. But now she is troubled cause Kouhei was serious and all (and he brought Mako flowers every single day too o.o). Mako goes on to say "she" doesn't even understand what Kouhei likes so much about "her" (aww, Mako...you knew not of your charm!) and Ito's like "-.-; Dude... Don't ask me". As Mako ponders what words to let Kouhei down in, Ito suddenly seems to realize something and asks Makoto to kneel down for a second (cause Ito was on the floor kneeling already). Elsewhere, Kouhei is on his way to where Ito and Mako are, and is calling out to Makoto, saying "Makoto-senpaaai! Let's have lunch togetheeer!". Two school boys tell him that they say Makoto on the second floor and keep telling him to go after "her" and such. Kouhei thanks them and the school boys are just too cuted out by him and kinda fall to the floor, unable to take Kouhei's cuteness (the girls just comment that Kouhei's become the school boys' mascot). As he goes up to the second floor, Kouhei sees that Mako is indeed there, kneeling down on the floor! And so he starts to skip on over and begins to call "her" name...before he sees what appears to be a shocking scene! o.o W..W...Why..It looks like...Makoto-senpai...and Miura-senpai...are kissing!!! Kouhei is shocked and scandalized by this, of course, and he sort of hides behind the wall. But alas, you were mistaken, Kouhei! Ito just wanted to smell Mako's hair, because she figured out why Mako gave her the perfume he gave her for her birthday (if you'll remember, a couple of chapters back Ito commented on how Mako always smelled good and wondered what he used). Mako apologizes a little cause he thinks it might have been a little too simple a thing to do, to just get her that perfume, but Ito says she's happy and will wear it everyday. Behind the other wall, Kouhei is still all shocked and red-faced. The school boys from before ask him what's up and Kouhei just babbles "Makoto-senpai...and Miura-senpai...are over there...and...!". But by this time, Mako and Ito were just talking about how to put on the perfume, and the school boys don't get what Kouhei's so redfaced about, but then they realize Kouhei must be jealous cause Ito and Makoto are such good friends. And so they tease Kouhei but tell him that those two are really close and the Drama Club's golden combination. But the school boys do say that maybe they're a little too close... Ito then narrasplains again and says that Kouhei's motto seems to be "Pure, righteous, and beautiful". Because of this, he was frowned upon by everyone else in the club (cause they were all not so rigid as him in manners, I guess). One day, Kouhei stood up to the older classmen and complained about the cleaning regulations of the club. It's the first year students' job to clean the clubroom, but it was too hard for them to do it alone because the older classmen had a lot of personal belongings that had to be organized and such. Kouhei suggested that the second years and third years should help clean too but, of course, the 2nd years and 3rd years complained and yelled at him, saying that this was the way the regulations were and calling Kouhei a girly boy and such. But Mako spoke up at that time and said that it probably would actually be troublesome for the olderclassmen to have the 1st years organize their stuff because they might misplace it or such, so it would be beneficial to have a clean up day where everyone cleans. And so the matter was resolved like that. After that, everyone grew fond of Kouhei's purity and he became the club mascot. In spite of what Makoto had told him before, Kouhei brought more flowers the next day (white roses this time cause he thought they fit Mako). Mako tries to explain to him again that he shouldn't bring "her" flowers anymore, but Kouhei keeps talking about how much they suit Mako. And so, Ito decides to step in and repeats (nicely and with a smile) that Mako had told Kouhei to please stop it with the flowers, and that he should do it cause it must be a bother for Kouhei too. But Kouhei just stares at Ito in a funky manner of I-dislike-youness. And then he looks the other way with a "hmph!". Ito didn't realize it until after but...apparently she was now the object of Kouhei's hatred. Ito realizes that it must be because she's always with Makoto, and the club girls confirm this, saying he must be jealous. But Ito is still troubled cause she really felt like he hated her (Nobuko and Misaki say it's the same thing ^_^;). The class boys say Kouhei probably wants Makoto all to himself and comment on how cute it all is. Then Yoshirou tells Ito she should think of how Kouhei feels and let go of Makoto a lil bit cause she's Ito's best friend and she shouldn't take away her best friend's chance at a boyfriend (^_^;;;). Ito is troubled by this cause she's not supposed to be anything more than a best friend to Mako at school, of course. Mako asks her what's wrong, for she seems uncheerful, but Ito says it's nothing. Ito then remembers Yoshirou talking about how Kouhei wants Makoto all to himself...and thinks "But I want Mako all to myself too!". After that, Ito runs into Kouhei again at school and he blocks her path. Ito asks him to please move cause she has to go to the clubroom, but Kouhei says he has to talk to her. He asks her quite directly why she's always with Makoto and in Makoto's business so much, and tells her he thinks it's a bit much (^_^; Duuude, Kouhei, you should talk!). Ito is bugged by this, of course, and thinks that for such an angelic-looking kid he has a pretty big mouth, and she then turns the question over to him, asking Kouhei why he likes Makoto so much. Kouhei smiles and explains that it's because he has a thing for truly beautiful people. He explains how taken he was with the way Makoto shut everyone up when the whole clean up incident happened when he'd just joined the club, and how Makoto said all the things that he himself wanted to say, and it made Kouhei think "There really is such a thing as a pure, righteous, beautiful person". After school, Makoto meets Ito at a boat docky place near the school (I guess o.o) and asks her why she looks so spacey. He also points out that lately she doesn't look too energetic. Ito tells Mako she's ok, more or less, and then hands him a piece of paper. It's a note from Kouhei telling Makoto to wait for him after school tomorrow in the courtyard. Ito says she just wants it all to get settled and that she heard Kouhei's full story from the other club members. Apparently Kouhei always falls for beautiful, older women that remind him of his older sister. After she heard this from the club members (who laughed a lot about it) she asked Kouhei himself about it, and Kouhei told her his older sister had died. Ito can't help but be sensitive to the situation cause she understands, since her mother died too. Mako is surprised, for it's the first time he'd heard that, and Ito says it's the first time she told him, and that it happened 10 years ago. She says that although she thought Kouhei was a brat at first, she still can't hate him cause he's too pure. On the other hand, she says, there are people who'll just make fun of him. As for Ito herself, she can't understand why people like the people they like. Makoto just smiles at her gently. Nex, it's already "tomorrow", and it's time for Mako to go to the courtyard and meet up with Kouhei. But Mako asks Ito to not come along. Ito asks why, and Makoto explains it would be rude to Kouhei, plus Mako just doesn't want her to be there. Mako then says he'll be back soon, and for Ito to wait for him in the clubroom. But, as we all know, Ito's a terrible snoop (^_^;) and she is bugged by this, for now she's really curious about what they'll talk about. Makoto meets up with Kouhei, who brought her yet another flower bottle thing, and Kouhei thanks "her" for coming. But Makoto tells Kouhei "she" can't accept the flower bottle, or any other flowers for that matter, from him (Ito snoops from behind a door, and tries to console herself for her evil deed by saying that anyone would have been too curious to stay away ^_^;). Makoto goes on to explain to Kouhei that "she" can't accept the flowers because "she" already has someone very important to "her", so "she" can't reciprocate Kouhei's feelings. Ito realizes that the reason Mako didn't want her there was cause this is what he was going to tell Kouhei, and is all surprised and junk. Kouhei is a lil stubborn still and asks what kind of person the person Makoto likes is, and why does Makoto like him. But before Makoto answers, he realizes that Ito is snooping from behind the door, and then he smiles mischiveously... Makoto tells Kouhei the person "she" loves is tall, and wonderful...and SUCKS at studying, and relies on physical force and is very explosive, has a bad attitude, is violent, has a quick temper, and can be so childish! Ito, of course, falls over at this and thinks "THAT JEEERK...I'm gonna beat him up!" as Mako goes on and on about her evil qualities (Kouhei's like "But that sounds like a demon!").But then Mako says "But...that person can understand people's pain...and is actually a very warm-hearted person...and I wouldn't change that person for the world". Mako then tells Kouhei that if he's looking for people who'll fall in the shadow of his sister, it's not really love, and to search for his own love for now on. Mako then apologizes one more time as "she" pats Kouhei's head (*sniffle*). And then all Ito can hear is silence... She wonders if their conversation's over, until suddenly Mako shows up next to her and calls her a snoop. Ito is surprised and embarrassed, and Mako crosses his arms and says "You came after I told you not to... What are you doing snooping around? Do you think that's a good quality?" and Ito embarrassedly apologizes politely (Ahaha). Ito explains it just had bugged her too much...and she didn't think Mako would come to say all that. She apologizes again and Mako smiles and says there's no helping it. And so the "problem" ended! The club boys ask Kouhei how it went with Makoto and he tells them he got shot down (with a big smile too o.o). The boys are disappointed, but Yoshirou says that for someone who just got shut down, Kouhei's pretty happy. But Kouhei explains that it's cause now he finally understood that Makoto really IS the "woman of his dreams", and that it wasn't just for his sister! He says he'll keep trying, and Yoshirou encourages him on, saying there's still the boarding house Drama camp thing left. Kouhei says he'll never give up, as Ito and Mako overhear from behind the door with "o.o" faces. And so, this chapter ends with Ito saying that she thought the problems were over...but it seems they'll continue. Part 4 Not yet! Back to Summaries Back Home Back to Volume 2 On to Volume 4