Bokura wa Itsumo [Chapter 33]

Summarized by: Sarah

Hungry Young Boy
The chapter begins with Haruna at school, reading something, while a group of girls watch. Haruna is gorgeous today, as usual. They wonder what book he's reading? Cue a look at what Haruna is reading – sales flyers for discount food (and side dish recipes). He's thinking that he only has 1500 yen left this month, and is trying to work on a budget. As the girls continue to gush over his lovely profile (none of the other boys can hope to compete), they hear, “Are you idiots? Quiet down, stupid girls. Scatter!” The girls look behind them, and it's... Kubo Shun! From their perspective, he's the noisy idiot! Stuuupid! Kubo attempts to outdo them, continuing to call them stupid – he won't lose out to a bunch of idiot girls! One of his friends comes up behind him and suggests that he may be taking this a little far, and Kubo cuts him off by reaching back to hit him on the head. The girls give up and walk away (saying, “Bye, bye, Haruna-kun” ♥♥♥), and Kubo begins to explain his rage. Damn it... That bastard, does he even notice? Is he affected by anything? Is he actually able to ignore that? (An arrow pointing to Haruna notes that he is in the middle of balancing his household finances.) Seriously, it pisses Kubo off. As he seethes, one of the other boys agrees. Since [Haruna] transferred there, the girls interest [in anyone else] has withered. “Right, that's it...” Kubo starts to respond, then remembers his problem, “...It's not that!” With a slightly crazed look, Kubo explains that he and that bastard have been on the same beautification committee for two months, and the guy still doesn't remember his name!! A short flashback is inserted, with Haruna asking him if he could please deliver a note to someone named Kubo. Kubo accepts it, then, as Haruna walks away, yells back at him, “Hey, that's me!” Kubo Shunta: It's a pretty simple name to remember! He shakes his fist and continues; it really pisses him off... And [Haruna] doesn't get to know anyone, he just puts off an air of superiority that really makes Kubo sick. (Kubo's friend: “Kubo-san... I pity you.”) Kubo's rant is interrupted by a girl, who comes up and asks him to step aside for a moment. The boys look on in shock as she boldly approaches Haruna. The other guys note that the girl is Sano Reina-chan, Kubo's current unrequited love. (Kubo's thought: “No way...”) She asks Haruna if she can have a moment, and he turns around. She tells him, “Haruna-kun, I like you. Will you please go out with me?” (Kubo: “That's what I thought...!”) Haruna tells her that he's sorry; he's in love with someone else. As Kubo wonders if Haruna is for real, the other boys marvel at how easily he shot down Reina-chan, the cutest girl in school, with a good personality to boot... Looking a bit stunned, Reina asks, “But Haruna-kun, you broke up with Onohira-san, right?” It doesn't have anything to do with Onohira; Haruna is in love with a different person. He belongs to her. As Kubo gawks at him, Haruna thinks that, speaking of Onohira, she said something to him before: “Even if you go out with [Nori], it will only hurt.” He won't be in this city long; sooner or later, he and Nori will have to separate. Even though he knew all that, he confessed. What does he want to do? Haruna returns to his budget planning, and Kubo's expression turns angry again. “That bastard... seriously, don't make me sick.”

The following Saturday, Haruna is out shopping, while Kubo and friends are trying to track him. One of the boys declares that he spotted Sekikawa, and Kubo exclaims, “All right, let's do this!” Kubo proudly explains that Haruna circled the limited-time sales in the leaflet for that supermarket over there, and they didn't miss him! One of his friends finally asks the obvious question: Why are they stalking this guy? “Spying!” Kubo clarifies, “We're spying on him.” Anyway, it's because Kubo is going to expose his secrets, so keep an eye on Sekikawa. Whispering amongst themselves, his friends point out that Kubo can't help but hold a grudge. Even after she was rejected so directly, Reina-chan still had a satisfied look on her face (I guess she found that bit about belonging to the girl he loved romantic). Kubo grumbles that he can hear them, then they take notice of the big, flat package that Haruna is carrying. It looks like a canvas or something? Kubo pictures Haruna passionately painting pictures, and wonders if he's trying to find yet another way to be popular [with the the girls]. Haruna's phone rings, and he answers, “Nori?” The guys trailing him overhear: Nori? Nori asks if it's a good time, and he says that it is. What is Haruna doing? He just finished his shopping, so he's on his way home. Where is he? Haruna takes a look around, and Nori tells him to send her a photo email of the scenery around him. She wants to see if she can find him. He agrees and holds his phone out, trying to decide what to send a picture of, as the guys in the bushes wonder why he's suddenly assuming a picturing-taking posture. Haruna ends up taking a picture of a cat on a fence, and Nori immediately responds, “Aww, it's a cute cat, but... I don't know!!” Haruna chuckles warmly at the response, and Kubo's eyes widen. He's never even smiled at school, that bastard. Haruna starts to look around, trying to find a better spot to photograph, but Nori calls again. She tells Haruna to wait right there – she thinks she knows that fence and that cat. Haruna is surprised, and Nori tells him to hold on – she's on her way. As he waits, Haruna thinks that, certainly, if he doesn't tell Nori something, he also doesn't burden her with it. The landscape of this town remains unchanged; this dazzling scenery... Haruna starts to hear something coming behind him, and realizes with a bit of concern that something is racing down the slope. (Seeing the same thing, Kubo wonders if it's a wild boar.) Haruna is not especially surprised to see that it's Nori, sledding down the hill on a piece of cardboard. He tells her, “You... are a mess.” Nori tells him, triumphantly, that she thought she knew that fence. As Nori talks to Haruna, Kubo realizes who that woman is... So the source of that was Prince Murakami-senpai's buddy, that wild girl! Even after starting high school, there's been no change. That's the person Sekikawa is so in love with... really!? Nori tells Haruna, with a big smile, that her heart started pounding, wondering what picture he would send. Then it was that cat, and she wasn't sure she'd get it. Haruna tells her that she really must know the layout of this town well. Being born and raised in one place, she's fully immersed in it. Nori turns to Haruna's purchases and asks him what he bought. Ah, that thing... It's an ironing board. (Across the street, Kubo and friends are unable to hear what they're saying, and considering the possibility that he's asking her to pose for a nude painting.)

Haruna asks Nori how her brother is doing, and she tells him that he's feeling much better. She adds that Haruna made a really good impression on Yuu. He smiles, saying, “Is that right?” Nori looks down at her feet, and tells Haruna that she's sorry. She said some weird things about a “girlfriend test”, and she thinks it must have made him worry. Well, she's worried... Looking at her, Haruna wonders if this was about the nature of her relationship with Kyou-chan...? She held back what she was going to say. He just tells her, “Nori, I'll be waiting.” She looks up in surprise, and he smiles a little and repeats, “I'll wait.” Moved, Nori asks for a kiss. From the bushes, Kubo's friends look away shyly and wonder if middle school students like them should be watching this. It's getting more and more pointless. Kubo, blushing, tells them to hold on; it's over. Haruna excuses himself, telling Nori that for now, he needs to get home and put some things in the refrigerator. Nori offers to give him a hand, but her phone rings as they start to walk away. Haruna asks what's wrong, and Nori tells him that it's from Saeka. She says that things went badly with Sensei. What should Nori say to her...? Haruna looks at Nori sympathetically – Saeka-san has always been there for Nori, right? Right... He tells Nori to go. He'll be fine, so she should go to where Saeka-san is. Nori agrees, and Haruna says he'll get in touch later. Haruna tells her good-bye, and turns to walk the other way down the road. As he's walking away, Haruna is grabbed from behind. (Kubo's thought: “Tackle.”) He looks a little shocked as he turns to see Nori holding on to him. What is she...? Nori tells him she doesn't know why, but she wanted to do something like this. Nori continues to hug him from behind, and Haruna listens to her. Telling him that she was in the middle of a test, she thinks that it was a bad thing to say... She's sorry, she said something selfish. Nori apologizes again, and Haruna's expression softens. He puts his hands over hers and looks back over his shoulder, telling her that it's all right if it's selfish, so hurry and finish her test. They separate, and Nori tells him she will. Well, she's off to find Saeka. They say good bye again, and Nori runs off with her piece of cardboard. Watching her, he wonders if she'll be using that cardboard for another shortcut. Once she's out of sight, Haruna turns and says, “So... Is there something I can do for you?” to the guys watching in the bushes. Kubo stands up, fists clenched, and says, “Hello! Thank you very much for noticing me!!” (In the background, his friends are amused at how Kubo's being completely defiant.) Haruna thinks that these guys must have seen Nori tackle him just now; he's glad it wasn't a kiss... Noticing that he's already zoning out, Kubo yells, “Pay attention to me, Sekikawa!” There are some things he's been wanting to say to Haruna for a while now. Haruna narrows his eyes, and replies, “What's that, Kubo Shun?” Right, Kubo Shun... Then, it hits him – for the first time, he said his name... “You, just now, my name...!” Kubo's friends, moved to tears, say that they're happy for him... [Haruna] finally remembered! Kubo, stunned and flustered with happiness, tries to get back to what he wanted to say. Resuming an aggressive stance, he points at Haruna and says that they're on the same cleaning duty, right? So don't take it upon himself to try to do things like carrying the buckets. Haruna's probably hurting his injured hand! As Kubo huffs over blurting all of that out, Haruna, expecting a fight or some such, is taken aback. Flushed, Kubo runs off, telling Haruna that he has other things he wants to talk to him about, but that's enough for today. Later! As Kubo disappears, with his friends chasing after him, Haruna processes what just happens and smiles softly. He came back to this city, for just a little while. Just once more, like he did that summer, he wanted to spend some time there. So... He'll remember the scenery around him. He'll remember these streets. He'll remember people's names; he'll fix them in his mind. He'll be helpless to resist Nori. If he can hope – in this city with the big river flowing through the center – to be here together with everyone, forever.

Translator's Commentary: So, in short, Kubo spent all day stalking Haruna, then was so happy he remembered his name that he just ended up saying something thoughtful and kind of nice. I hope that they are able to become best friends forever. At any rate, I think the whole point of having Haruna remember him was to indicate his increasing will to make connections and find a way to continue living there. Also, Nori is definitely going to kill herself if she doesn't stop making cardboard sleds. Next chapter: Saeka and Nori have a good talk and hug each other. (So it seems, I've only flipped through and haven't actually read it yet.)

Back to [Bokura wa Itsumo] Main Page