MARMALADE BOY #71 (KD)
Meiko
sits at her desk "Kei-kun asked you to call him Kei? I think
it's fine but...usually that sort of thing isn't changed deliberately.
It changes naturally." She thinks to herself "In Namura-sensei's
case...Shinichi." Back to the letter, she writes that it's
too bad she can't go camping and asks Miki to enjoy it for her
too.
Two
vans travel along some back woods roads. Kijima is driving the
first load of friends and Akira follows behind. They pull up
in an area with a lake. Miki gets out and stretches and takes
in the forest air. Suzu run up to the water and puts her hand
in. The rest of the girls follow - Miki, Arimi, Yayoi, and Anju.
Suzu, feeling her oats, splashes the cold mountain water on Arimi
and Miki. The girls start razzing each other.
Kijima
who is unloading the vans starts bitching, "Wouldn't you
know the women would..." He doesn't finish the sentence
before Rei and Ryouko peak out from the end of the van and say
"What's that about women?!" Kijima feigns innocence
"They're cute aren't they?" The ladies
simultaneously say "That's better."
Meanwhile
Miki's backing up to where the vans are because she's already
been drenched by the others but she's not looking where she's
going and backs right into Yuu. She lowers her head and apologizes.
Yuu returns a proper reply. They're feeling a little uncomfortable
about it. Miki's name is called out by Kei. A towel flies through
the air and lands on Miki's head.
Kei teasingly yells "STRIKE!" Miki makes a silly face
"Ah, you're a brat! She stomps towards him cutely.
He
tries to cheerfully weasel out of it "But Miki, your face
made a nice catch!" She answers "No way... Hey Kei!"
At hearing the familiarity of Miki calling him, Kei (without
the "kun"), Yuu's shoulders sink and he looks back
at the other two over his shoulder as continue their
playful banter.
Ginta watches the three from a distance away. At seeing Ginta's
serious face, Arimi asks him what’s wrong. When he sees
the direction of his gaze, she understands. "There's still
reason to be concerned about them." Ginta agrees.
Ginta
isn't the only one to notice. Anju's watching.
Kijima,
Rei, Akira, and Ryouko are in a group by themselves working on
things. Ryouko comments that the area is private and secluded
and wonders how they found this spot. Akira explains that he
travels around trying to find things to draw and that's how he
ran into this place...it's his favorite spot.
Michael
suddenly yells "HEY EVERYONE! LET'S HURRY AND GET THESE
PITCHED!" Kijima gets juiced up and ready and the guys get
to work setting up the tents. Michael informs the rest that if
they have any questions, they can ask him because he's been trained
at summer camp since he was a little boy. Tsutomu wonders what
the big deal is about going to summer
camp...no sooner said, than he clobbers himself with the mallet
he was using to put in stakes.
Later
Ryouko admires the rock stove that Kijima is putting together.
Rei teases "He always works hard at THESE kinds of chores."
Kijima in a cute tone say "Hey, hey...I work hard at my
job too!" Rei feigns politeness "I'm sorry, excuse
me." and bows to him even though she's a distance away.
He returns the tone "Not at all". They laugh.
The
younger set of ladies decide they've gathered enough wood and
start heading back from the woods. Miki is delighted when she
gets close enough to see that the camp is all set up. Suddenly,
she hears Yuu tell Anju he'll help her with her load of wood.
She can't help staring. Suzu sidles up and accuses her. "Do
you still care about Yuu and Anju-san?" Miki a little too
quickly denies it. Suzu adds in a smart alecky voice "Do
you feel like a step sister now?" (Actually she said sister-in-law.)
The
guys are all out fishing. The first to make a catch is Yuu. Akira
comments that he has a lot of talent for a first time fisherman.
Ginta follow suit. When Tsutomu sees that Ginta has made a catch,
he gets determined that he'll get something too. He tosses his
line in and it
gets wrapped around Michael's line (Michael's on the other side
of the stream). The two start to wrangle. Akira yells to them
that there's a fish on the end of the line. They argue about
who's fish it is and try from both sides of the stream to pull
it out. It's lost.
Yuu
is packing the fish into an ice chest when a shadow falls across
his back. It's Ginta. Yuu is in a sullen mood. He asks Ginta
"What's with the scary face." Ginta in almost an accusing
sound voice asks Yuu if he's all right. Then he goes on to get
something off his mind.
"I thought you and Miki had something special...but you've
given it up to study abroad." Yuu answers him "I'm
not all right." Before Ginta can argue, Yuu sets him in
his place with a very stern "But..." "But...it's
for Miki's sake. Miki's able to smile if she's with him."
Yuu tells him
that Tsuchiya is not as bad as Ginta thinks and that he has no
place in Miki's life anymore. Ginta is stunned "Matsuura,
you really think that's okay?!"
Rei
explains some of the finer points of cooking rice (for camping
trips)to Suzu while the other girls prepare things for dinner.
Miki tries to gingerly cut tofu for the tonjiru. She's trying
so hard she accidentally dumps it into the pot. She feels just
awful about it, but Ryouko assures her that sometimes for tonjiru
the tofu is broken on purpose. Miki is sad.
All the other girls can cook well and she herself is a disaster.
The
men arrive back at camp proud of their big catch. Ginta can be
seen telling Arimi about what happened when he talked to Matsuura;
while Tsutomu loudly makes a big deal out of the fact that this
will be the first time he'll have had Yayoi's cooking.
"The first time I cooked for someone..." Miki remembers
the first time she cooked for Yuu after they became a couple.
It was scrambled eggs and tuna.
Kei
interrupts "Oh, tonjiru". Miki behaves cute and embarrassed
and tells him she broke the tofu. Kei teasingly tells her she's
a klutz. Anju asks Yuu to taste what she's cooking for her but
he doesn't hear her right away. He's staring at Kei and Miki.
He finally recognizes that he
was being talked to and tastes it. He warmly tells her it's good.
Miki is drawn to the situation. She wonders why she cares about
Yuu so much. He's got to remain in her past. Kei watches Miki
like he knows what she's thinking about.
The group eat dinner under canopies. Suzu exclaims that she's
never had such tasty fish. Akira adds that the tonjiru is good
too. Rokutanda wants Yayoi to eat the fish he caught for her.
Michael gets upset "I got THAT ONE!" And the argument
is on again.
A
slightly pissed off Ginta stands up and tries to stop it "It
doesn't matter!" Arimi adds irritably "Who can tell
who caught the fish?!" Yuu cheerfully agrees, grabs the
fish and wolfs it down. Everyone laughs. Miki grins bright eyed
and thinks "Yuu, you nut. You're clowning around."
Again
Kei watches Miki with a serious look. Anju notices too but her
thoughts are interrupted by Rei's question, "Are you going
back to Boston, Anju-san". Anju tells her that she'll be
staying there awhile because of violin lessons.
Michael
suddenly remembers that his brother told him that he took Anju
to the beach house.
Yuu adds that it's a nice place... Miki listens to the others
talk about New York and can't help thinking that even though
she and Yuu are near each other they have different worlds. She
can't understand why she feels a sense of loneliness even though
she has Kei-kun. Again Kei's watching her.
Kei
and Miki come out of a tent. Miki expresses sheer joy at seeing
the all the stars. Kei asks her if she'll go for a walk with
him.
Ginta,
Arimi, Tsutomu, and Yayoi sit around a light in another tent.
Tsutomu has the cards and asks what they should play next. Yayoi
suggests shichinarabe.
Kijima,
Rei, Akira, and Ryouko are in another tent. Ryouko remarks that
she can't remember the last time she was in a tent. Kijima thinks
she ought to appreciate him for this great idea.
In
another tent, Suzu squeals with delight over having won the game.
Michael whines over having lost while Anju comments on the fact
that Yuu's so late. Suzu reminds her that he said he wanted to
cool off. Michael doesn't care though. He suggests they continue
the game. This time he's not going to lose.
Miki
cheerfully chatters about the stars and the wind as she walks
somewhat behind Kei. When she comments that they should've brought
Meiko and adds a "Right Kei-kun?" (with the "kun")
Miki immediately corrects herself and calls him "Kei".
Kei stops walking. His back is towards her. "Miki....do
you love me." Miki is startled by the question "Why
are you asking
me suddenly?" Kei gets serious 'I'm asking "Do you
love me?"'. Miki stumbles over "Of course I do".
A worried Kei demands "Then tell me". Miki lowers her
head "I-I love you."
Yuu
walks sadly along a woodland path in the dark remembering things:
when he asked her if she was happy and her answer of "Yes",
Miki calling Tsuchiya by "Kei" after they arrived on
the camping trip, Ginta saying "Matsuura, you really think
it's okay?!", and Miki at the New York airport "If
you go back to Japan with me now... Her final words ring in his
head "Sayonara....
Sayonara.... Sayonara.... Yuu reels from the emotions he's feeling
and lands up against a tree.
Meanwhile,
Miki can clearly see that Kei is planning to kiss her. She closes
her eyes and waits. Without planning it, memories of Yuu return
to her. His words to her in Hakone "Can you wait for me?
I have only you, Miki" and the kiss that followed. She remembers
his words at the New York airport "You're in pain...I didn't
know...obviously. As for me, all I can say is wait for me. Is
that so bad? If you still feel pain.........I can't do anything
about you breaking up with
me."
Kei
is leaning in to kiss her when he stops cold. When Miki opens
her eyes and asks "What's wrong", she notices there
are tears streaming down her face. She seems somewhat surprised
by them. She doesn't know what to say but Kei appears to know
he's lost her. She struggles with her emotions for a minute then
cries out that she's sorry and runs off through the woods.
As
she runs she mentally apologizes to Kei and says that she needs
Yuu. She mentally calls
out Yuu's name over and over. Suddenly, she hears the roar of
a waterfall. She stops and sees Yuu in the distance. She barely
whispers his name but his head comes up as though he could hear
her voice mentally. His head turns towards her as he murmurs
her name. Miki yells out his name as she runs into his arms.
Yuu
seems a bit confused and after a few minutes, he holds her a
arms length so he can listen to her. "It won't work",
she tells him. "I can't accept anyone but you. Yuu, I need
only you." Yuu grabs her up and embraces her very soundly.
Kei
in the distance sees what's happened, turns and walks away. He
comes across Anju and sadly notes that he could've guessed it
was going to be like this. Anju seemed to think so too. Kei seems
to be at a loss to know how to give up someone he loves.
At
the waterfall, Yuu again stands at arms length from Miki looking
at the tears rolling down her face lovingly. He cups his hand
around her face and wipes the tears away with his thumbs. He
tells her with a great deal of passion that he won't let go.
They kiss deeply.
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