Yes? Excuse me , miss, are you all finished Yes I will clear your dishes then May I say something What is it Congratulations on winning that literature award I’m very proud of you, Miss Meiko Thank you so much Oh, by the way, a crowd of reporters has been gathering in front of the house since this morning I hope you don't mind , but I gave copies of your novel to your parents when they left for the day , I’m sure they will be very pleased , Miss Meiko I don't know about that Oh, wait, it sounds like the back entrance intercom I wonder who it could be at this hour So much excitement It doesn’t even feel like it’s real yet Until last night, I didn’t even know I was entered in the competition I wonder if I’m gonna be able to leave the house
Marmalade Boy MEIKO’S TURNAROUND I’M GOING TO HIROSHIMA
Hi Satoshi , what are you doing here, it’s awfully early Well I thought the beautiful and famous student author might be mobbed by enthusiastic media hungry for a story, and be unable to leave the house I see that this is indeed the situation here Yeah, well, it doesn’t look like I can go to school today , thanks to someone we know Which I didn’t want to hear about the rest of my life , so I came to own up my responsibility and deliver you to school myself What? Don't you want to go to school, Meiko Don't worry about it, I have a taxi waiting for us out in back Right, let’s go Isn’t that the girl we’re here for Wait All right, I guess we’ve cleared the first hurdle Well, I’m already not liking this much Why’d you have to enter my novel in the Asahi competition Because I knew that you would never send it in yourself And to tell you the truth , I really didn’t think it would even be in the running to actually win the grant prize But when I read it, I could tell that somehow there was something really special about it I suddenly had a strong desire to find out why that was You see, I figured if more people had the chance to read your book like I did, the reason might become obvious I guess I was right after all Meiko and Satoshi , how strange He’s all flashy but then again he usually is I wonder why they arrived together in a taxi, it just doesn’t make any sense Meiko Pipe down, I think we should give them some privacy What? You’re right Satoshi and Meiko must be doing well, I wonder if Meiko was able to open her heart to Satoshi Was she able to forget about Na-chan Come on, we’d better hurry up or we'll be late Right Meiko The principal wants to see you right away Huh So what do you suppose is going on with Meiko today First she arrived at school in a taxi with Satoshi and now she’s been called to the principal’s office Do you think it could be about Na-chan Who knows Hey, Meiko , so what happened, you okay Well, actually I This is a special broadcast , really big news Meiko Akizuki’s won the Asahi Literature Prize with her first novel that titled “tropical fish ” She’s our very first high school author , this is indeed a proud moment for our school Wow, Meiko , great, is it really true Wait a minute Meiko You told me you decided to just be a critic You said you wrote a novel before but weren’t good enough to win the Asahi Literature Prize With Satoshi’s encouragement I sat down and tried to write a novel for the first time I never dreamed it would win a prize, I still can’t believe it really happened Meiko Amazing Good job, Meiko Meiko Akizuki’s story “tropical fish” is about a young girl who falls in love with an older man, and undergoes an extremely painful breakup With the expressive language and precise story structure , the novel has the useful vitality of a teenager in love The judges gave it high marks Due to the media who preyed on the “beautiful girl novelist ”, and her controversial story, things were crazy around school for a while Meiko who really doesn’t like to stand out, turned down most of the interview requests she received , but her beautiful face appeared in a few newspapers and more than a few magazines Wow, Meiko’s amazing She’s blessed with beauty and brains Yeah, and the story is wonderfully heartbreaking I cried after I read it The description of the setting is pretty amazing , I swear I can visualize the whole thing I wanna know how she came up with such beautiful langrage Just knowing that your best friend is as unbelievably amazing as she is, makes us really excited too, you know Yeah, that’s right I wonder what she’ll write next The Asahi Literature Prize I never even knew that Meiko was so talented I know, I had absolutely no idea that someone that amazing was hanging around with us , she’d actually go into our school Now that she’s accomplished this, I guess her future is pretty much set up for life huh? Yeah, you’re right In ten years, she’ll be a great novelist , and probably world-famous In ten years I wonder what I’ll be doing In ten years Geeze, I could be married and raising a bunch of kids, and I guess just be a regular ordinary woman Ginta , what’s wrong Look, Arimi , the only thing I know is that I’ll still be with you in ten years , I promise you that Yeah, me too , I feel the same way See, I love you Ginta Whenever I’m with you, I feel happy inside Oh, Arimi , I I didn't feel exactly the same way I did with Yuu But , then again, there’s also no insecurity or longing or tears I just feel very safe and very calm and I finally feel like I can be honest and good What I really want is to be together forever Ginta , you can really be quite forceful at times Arimi , I’m sorry I really wish that you wouldn’t do that to me in a place like this Then again Our first kiss was wonderful so I guess I will forgive you Yeah Speaking of which, I’ve been wanting to ask you something important I wanted to know if you ever kissed Miki Answer me please Was I your fist , how about it, Ginta, I want to know now, was I your first or not What I did once What I’m sorry I’m sorry, but at the time, I thought that we There’s really no need to apologize , it’s all in the past It’s not really my place to judge after all we went together then But I don't like it one little bit Of course, this last kiss we had was our second one Which means you’ve kissed me more times than her, so I guess I can forgive you Ginta , don't ever kiss another girl again, okay I definitely won’t Arimi , only you Explain it Please don't raise your voice to me She actually wrote a novel about her affair for everyone to see I don't understand What was that girl thinking How should I know Don't be irresponsible Your daughter is out there disgracing herself Doesn’t it bother you? Hello Oh, hi, Meiko Hey, wait, what’s wrong , you sound like you feel really down Not really Anyway, I called because I have a big favor to ask you So, do you have a minute Of course, if you need a favor, I’m happy to listen , whatever you want So what is it Well, you see, there’s a reward party that the publisher wants me to attend, and I really don't want to go alone So, can you both please come to this thing with me and keep me company Well, of course Meiko , we’d be happy to, but I I don't understand , how could you be alone, aren’t your parents going with you It turns out, instead of being happy about my book, they are angry They think that I’m just disgracing myself and the family No. You know, Miki , I found the whole situation more than a bit odd myself And I felt pretty sad about it I really thought I had given up on them already But somewhere deep inside my heart , I still wanted my parents to understand and accept me I expected them to Meiko , you poor thing Her parents are just too awful At times like this , it was Na-chan who was always there for her to comfort her and make her feel better I finally realized that I was in denial But I guess I’m feeling better now I suppose that’s because I have no expectations left that can really hurt me Nothing would make me happier than if you two would come with me Oh, say you will come, please Will Satoshi ever be able to replace Na-chan Will Meiko ever be able to find a new love This is it Very elegant Um-hum It feels like some kind of adult world I wonder where Meiko is Everyone seems so excited, I wonder if Meiko’s in there Yeah, most likely This is no good, I can’t even see her face Oh, yeah, there she is So you can see her Miss Akizuki, look this way now please Meiko Miki It’s almost time to start , so we’ll end the photo session now and ask you to return to your seats Oh, Miki , thank you so much for coming here tonight And thank Yuu too Satoshi Hi Satoshi What’re you doing here Actually I’m the one who submitted her novel for consideration for this award What? So does that mean she really didn’t know anything about this until Right Until the publisher called me and told me I had no idea about any of this That is just so like you , you know that Now, I’d like to read some of the congratulatory telegrams she received tonight This first one is from Mr. Nakamori , the editor in chief Let’s face it, If you hadn’t won the Asahi Reward , you wouldn’t have had the chance to come to this amazing party, right So if Satoshi hadn’t submitted your novel to the contest then none of us would have had the opportunity to be here That’s right This massage comes all the way from Hiroshima , from Mr. Shinichi Namura Dear Meiko , you’ve done a great job , congratulations Hey, Meiko Meiko , are you okay Meiko I’m gonna go after her See you later Oh, Meiko I’ve been thinking about this for a very long time I’m going to Hiroshima What? To Hiroshima ? you’re going to see Na-chan At this point, there’s not a single thing I could say ,that won’t bring us back together Not true , he still loves you And I’m sure he’ll accept you with open arms and understanding No, cause Mr. Namura is, is involved with Miss Ryouko now What? Oh, Na-chan Look, it’s getting late Just stop it , you need to go home now You parents are probably very worried about you But you Go on, just drop and go home No, I’m not gonna go home It’s over, I’m with Ryouko now What did you say You heard it right, it’s true, I’m with Ryouko now Na-chan is going out with Miss Ryouko I still miss him so much I want to talk to him no matter what he says to me Na-chan and Miss Ryouko are really involved with each other? I just can’t believe it But Meiko needs Na-chan now , probably more than never She wants to see Na-chan more than anyone else in this world right now
It may be no good, but I still miss him I want to see him one more time Okay, let’s go to Hiroshima I’ll go with you and I’ll arrange for you two to meet But Meiko , you’ve gotta be strong
Marmalade Boy TO HIROSHIMA LET ME BE BY YOUR SIDE AGAIN!
Excuse me , miss, are you all finished
Yes
I will clear your dishes then
May I say something
What is it
Congratulations on winning that literature award
I’m very proud of you, Miss Meiko
Thank you so much
Oh, by the way, a crowd of reporters has been gathering in front of the house since this morning
I hope you don't mind , but I gave copies of your novel to your parents when they left for the day , I’m sure they will be very pleased , Miss Meiko
I don't know about that
Oh, wait, it sounds like the back entrance intercom
I wonder who it could be at this hour
So much excitement
It doesn’t even feel like it’s real yet
Until last night, I didn’t even know I was entered in the competition
I wonder if I’m gonna be able to leave the house
Marmalade Boy
MEIKO’S TURNAROUND
I’M GOING TO HIROSHIMA
Hi
Satoshi , what are you doing here, it’s awfully early
Well I thought the beautiful and famous student author might be mobbed by enthusiastic media hungry for a story, and be unable to leave the house
I see that this is indeed the situation here
Yeah, well, it doesn’t look like I can go to school today , thanks to someone we know
Which I didn’t want to hear about the rest of my life , so I came to own up my responsibility and deliver you to school myself
What?
Don't you want to go to school, Meiko
Don't worry about it, I have a taxi waiting for us out in back
Right, let’s go
Isn’t that the girl we’re here for
Wait
All right, I guess we’ve cleared the first hurdle
Well, I’m already not liking this much
Why’d you have to enter my novel in the Asahi competition
Because I knew that you would never send it in yourself
And to tell you the truth , I really didn’t think it would even be in the running to actually win the grant prize
But when I read it, I could tell that somehow there was something really special about it
I suddenly had a strong desire to find out why that was
You see, I figured if more people had the chance to read your book like I did, the reason might become obvious
I guess I was right after all
Meiko and Satoshi , how strange
He’s all flashy but then again he usually is
I wonder why they arrived together in a taxi, it just doesn’t make any sense
Meiko
Pipe down, I think we should give them some privacy
What?
You’re right
Satoshi and Meiko must be doing well, I wonder if Meiko was able to open her heart to Satoshi
Was she able to forget about Na-chan
Come on, we’d better hurry up or we'll be late
Right
Meiko
The principal wants to see you right away
Huh
So what do you suppose is going on with Meiko today
First she arrived at school in a taxi with Satoshi and now she’s been called to the principal’s office
Do you think it could be about Na-chan
Who knows
Hey, Meiko , so what happened, you okay
Well, actually I
This is a special broadcast , really big news
Meiko Akizuki’s won the Asahi Literature Prize with her first novel that titled “tropical fish ”
She’s our very first high school author , this is indeed a proud moment for our school
Wow, Meiko , great, is it really true
Wait a minute Meiko
You told me you decided to just be a critic
You said you wrote a novel before but weren’t good enough to win the Asahi Literature Prize
With Satoshi’s encouragement
I sat down and tried to write a novel for the first time
I never dreamed it would win a prize, I still can’t believe it really happened
Meiko
Amazing
Good job, Meiko
Meiko Akizuki’s story “tropical fish” is about a young girl who falls in love with an older man, and undergoes an extremely painful breakup
With the expressive language and precise story structure , the novel has the useful vitality of a teenager in love
The judges gave it high marks
Due to the media who preyed on the “beautiful girl novelist ”, and her controversial story, things were crazy around school for a while
Meiko who really doesn’t like to stand out, turned down most of the interview requests she received , but her beautiful face appeared in a few newspapers and more than a few magazines
Wow, Meiko’s amazing
She’s blessed with beauty and brains
Yeah, and the story is wonderfully heartbreaking
I cried after I read it
The description of the setting is pretty amazing , I swear I can visualize the whole thing
I wanna know how she came up with such beautiful langrage
Just knowing that your best friend is as unbelievably amazing as she is, makes us really excited too, you know
Yeah, that’s right
I wonder what she’ll write next
The Asahi Literature Prize
I never even knew that Meiko was so talented
I know, I had absolutely no idea that someone that amazing was hanging around with us , she’d actually go into our school
Now that she’s accomplished this, I guess her future is pretty much set up for life huh?
Yeah, you’re right
In ten years, she’ll be a great novelist , and probably world-famous
In ten years
I wonder what I’ll be doing In ten years
Geeze, I could be married and raising a bunch of kids, and I guess just be a regular ordinary woman
Ginta , what’s wrong
Look, Arimi , the only thing I know is that I’ll still be with you in ten years , I promise you that
Yeah, me too , I feel the same way
See, I love you Ginta
Whenever I’m with you, I feel happy inside
Oh, Arimi , I
I didn't feel exactly the same way I did with Yuu
But , then again, there’s also no insecurity or longing or tears
I just feel very safe and very calm and I finally feel like I can be honest and good
What I really want is to be together forever
Ginta , you can really be quite forceful at times
Arimi , I’m sorry
I really wish that you wouldn’t do that to me in a place like this
Then again
Our first kiss was wonderful so I guess I will forgive you
Yeah
Speaking of which, I’ve been wanting to ask you something important
I wanted to know if you ever kissed Miki
Answer me please
Was I your fist , how about it, Ginta, I want to know now, was I your first or not
What
I did once
What
I’m sorry
I’m sorry, but at the time, I thought that we
There’s really no need to apologize , it’s all in the past
It’s not really my place to judge after all we went together then
But I don't like it one little bit
Of course, this last kiss we had was our second one
Which means you’ve kissed me more times than her, so I guess I can forgive you
Ginta , don't ever kiss another girl again, okay
I definitely won’t Arimi , only you
Explain it
Please don't raise your voice to me
She actually wrote a novel about her affair for everyone to see
I don't understand
What was that girl thinking
How should I know
Don't be irresponsible
Your daughter is out there disgracing herself
Doesn’t it bother you?
Hello
Oh, hi, Meiko
Hey, wait, what’s wrong , you sound like you feel really down
Not really
Anyway, I called because I have a big favor to ask you
So, do you have a minute
Of course, if you need a favor, I’m happy to listen , whatever you want
So what is it
Well, you see, there’s a reward party that the publisher wants me to attend, and I really don't want to go alone
So, can you both please come to this thing with me and keep me company
Well, of course Meiko , we’d be happy to, but I
I don't understand , how could you be alone, aren’t your parents going with you
It turns out, instead of being happy about my book, they are angry
They think that I’m just disgracing myself and the family
No.
You know, Miki , I found the whole situation more than a bit odd myself
And I felt pretty sad about it
I really thought I had given up on them already
But somewhere deep inside my heart , I still wanted my parents to understand and accept me
I expected them to
Meiko , you poor thing
Her parents are just too awful
At times like this , it was Na-chan who was always there for her to comfort her and make her feel better
I finally realized that I was in denial
But I guess I’m feeling better now
I suppose that’s because I have no expectations left that can really hurt me
Nothing would make me happier than if you two would come with me
Oh, say you will come, please
Will Satoshi ever be able to replace Na-chan
Will Meiko ever be able to find a new love
This is it
Very elegant
Um-hum
It feels like some kind of adult world
I wonder where Meiko is
Everyone seems so excited, I wonder if Meiko’s in there
Yeah, most likely
This is no good, I can’t even see her face
Oh, yeah, there she is
So you can see her
Miss Akizuki, look this way now please
Meiko
Miki
It’s almost time to start , so we’ll end the photo session now and ask you to return to your seats
Oh, Miki , thank you so much for coming here tonight
And thank Yuu too
Satoshi
Hi
Satoshi
What’re you doing here
Actually I’m the one who submitted her novel for consideration for this award
What?
So does that mean she really didn’t know anything about this until
Right
Until the publisher called me and told me I had no idea about any of this
That is just so like you , you know that
Now, I’d like to read some of the congratulatory telegrams she received tonight
This first one is from Mr. Nakamori , the editor in chief
Let’s face it, If you hadn’t won the Asahi Reward , you wouldn’t have had the chance to come to this amazing party, right
So if Satoshi hadn’t submitted your novel to the contest then none of us would have had the opportunity to be here
That’s right
This massage comes all the way from Hiroshima , from Mr. Shinichi Namura
Dear Meiko , you’ve done a great job , congratulations
Hey, Meiko
Meiko , are you okay
Meiko
I’m gonna go after her
See you later
Oh, Meiko
I’ve been thinking about this for a very long time
I’m going to Hiroshima
What? To Hiroshima ? you’re going to see Na-chan
At this point, there’s not a single thing I could say ,that won’t bring us back together
Not true , he still loves you
And I’m sure he’ll accept you with open arms and understanding
No, cause Mr. Namura is, is involved with Miss Ryouko now
What?
Oh, Na-chan
Look, it’s getting late
Just stop it , you need to go home now
You parents are probably very worried about you
But you
Go on, just drop and go home
No, I’m not gonna go home
It’s over, I’m with Ryouko now
What did you say
You heard it right, it’s true, I’m with Ryouko now
Na-chan is going out with Miss Ryouko
I still miss him so much
I want to talk to him no matter what he says to me
Na-chan and Miss Ryouko are really involved with each other?
I just can’t believe it
But Meiko needs Na-chan now , probably more than never
She wants to see Na-chan more than anyone else in this world right now
It may be no good, but I still miss him
I want to see him one more time
Okay, let’s go to Hiroshima
I’ll go with you and I’ll arrange for you two to meet
But Meiko , you’ve gotta be strong
Marmalade Boy
TO HIROSHIMA
LET ME BE BY YOUR SIDE AGAIN!