confessions
you'll always be a part of me, i'm a part of you indefinitely, boy don't you know you can't escape me, oh darling, 'cause you'll always be my baby, and we'll linger on, time can't erase a feeling this strong, no way you're ever gonna shake me, oh darling 'cause you'll always be my baby. - "always be my baby" by mariah carey
After confirming her feelings for Otani, Risa looks.. alot happier than before. After the whole mess with Seiko, that can be explained in this section, Risa definitely feels alot happier that Otani is now "free", and begins to enjoy his company. They are still the all Hanjin-Kyojin, and Risa thinks very hard about how her confession would go, knowing that it would be completely unnecessary because.. they're not really like that. Nobu and the others can easily figure out that she's head-over-heels for Otani, but Otani doesn't seem to notice.
They all plan to go out to the beach together, and this is all part of Nobu's scheme to get Otani and Risa alone together. The chapter feels a little remeniscent of the first chapter of LoveCom - where they're at the pool, but things have changed, drastically. They have alot of fun together at the beach, swimming together happily, until Risa gets a glass stuck in her foot. Risa says she'll be fine alone, but Otani agrees to stay with her instead. Nobu teases them with, "You guys should tan together! Doesn't Koizumi (Risa) look all lonely by herself?" Risa instantly pushes Otani away by saying, "Even if you tan a weak body like that, it won't do anything! If you have time, just swim instead!" -- Otani gets pissed and drags Nakao and Suzuki out of the beachhouse. Nobu is a little ticked, too, because that was the perfect time for Risa to confess, but she blew it by pulling another one of those impulsive arguments.
When Risa's sitting at the beach by herself, thinking about Otani, Otani comes by and hands her a drink. They begin to argue - yet again - over the drinks, but settle it quickly. Otani, then, says: "You know, you've been acting weird lately.." Risa says it's just because she's wounded, and he offers to buy her some sort of medicine, but she says she's alright. Then, out of the blue, Risa asks Otani:
"What if I accidentally happened to fall in love with you?"Otani says, "Don't say such creepy things." Both break out in laughter, pointing at one another playfully. However, the playfulness is only one sided. Risa begins to cry. "Otani! What did you do?!?! A girl in love is always emotional!" Nobu cries out, along with the other, then he finally gets about 50% of what Risa is trying to say, but asking them:
"Eh? Koizumi, you like someone? Who?"
..Everyone is disappointed in Otani, and they all just walk off, leaving him. After the beach, Otani tries to pry it out of Risa - he tries to figure out who she's crushing on, because he wants to be that shoulder that she can lean on, and he's feeling a little left out. Though Risa and the others drop so many obvious hints that are pointing to him, Otani just can't seem to figure it out. Still trying to pry it out of her, he takes her out to eat, asking her who this guy really is. After she calms down a bit, she drops alot of obvious hints. Otani: "What kind of person is he?"The date marks August 8th, in the next scene we see, which happens to be Risa's birthday. Risa is beginning to lose hope that.. she and Otani will ever become anything more than just the All Hanjin-Kyojin, until she gets a text message on her cell phone that very evening, while both Seiko and Nobu are over her house, celebrating her birthday. He tells her to meet him at the roof at 7PM of the building next to the train station. She wants to ask why - but he just tells her to go.
Risa: "I like him. He's an idiot, and he may be stupid, but he's a good person. And he's shorter than me, but he makes it so I don't care about his height."
When she gets there, he instantly hands her a small bag with.. gasp! An Umibozu CD in it, and Otani claims it as his "treasure". But that wasn't all of his gift to her - that very night, as the sky grows black, fireworks begin to shoot up in the sky.
"Recently, Koizumi, you've been troubled, and your skull might be going bad. Watch the fireworks, and get your energy back!"This is what triggers her first confession to him, trying to tell him upfront that she.. really likes him.
Risa: "Otani."There you have it! How does he take it? He doesn't take it as expected, rather, he just laughs it off, saying:
Otani: "Huh? What is it?"
Risa: "I, like Otani."
"What are you saying! Becoming so serious all of a sudden! This way i'll get embarassed!"He goes off by saying that he'll work hard as part of the All Hanjin-kyojin, and sheepishly smiles while saying so. Without a doubt, this really upsets Risa, and they begin their "lovers' spat" arguments once again, this time, Risa accusing him of being an idiot and a fool times three. Who can really blame her?
Want to know how this all comes out? Read this next section.