Random Curiosity

Summary:

After Shigeru caught Tsukasa on top of her and then runs out, Tsukushi wants to give chase and try to explain things so that Shigeru doesn’t get the wrong idea. Tsukasa, however, doesn’t care so much because his marriage with Shigeru still hasn’t been formalized after he skipped that dinner with Shigeru’s parents. He blames this on Tsukushi’s bad timing and says that it was all because he was worried for her after he found out that she collapsed. Tsukushi panics a little when she hears that he came to the hospital and questions when that was. Starting to suspect something, Tsukasa answers that he left when he saw Rui there and then suddenly wonders if Rui kissed her. The more Tsukushi tries to deny it, the more Tsukasa thinks that something happened. When Susumu interrupts them, Tsukushi uses the opportunity to try to kick him out, but Tsukasa persists with his questioning until Tsukushi finally admits that she was suddenly kissed by Rui. An angry Tsukasa proceeds to call her a slut, and when they start arguing again, he says that his reason for objecting is because he doesn’t like it. While all this is going on, Shigeru calls Akira to ask about Tsukushi and Tsukasa’s relationship. Akira tells her that their relationship is over and feels that Tsukasa chose to go out with Shigeru, so she should trust in him and wait patiently.

The next day, after Susumu leaves home for his high school entrance exams, Tsukushi talks to herself and loudly clears her throat a few times outside of Tsukasa’s room, but there’s no response. Later, while Tsukushi is in the process of taking her own exams, Rui, Soujirou, and Akira meet in their lounge. Rui had hung up the phone the previous night soon after Shigeru had caught Tsukushi and Tsukasa together, and is now learning why Tsukasa was there from the other two guys. The man in question shows up in a foul mood that gets worse when he notices Rui. He confronts Rui about what happened in the hospital, and when Rui wonders if he’s mad about the kiss, Tsukasa lunges to attack. Rui easily dodges and blocks Tsukasa’s punches and then counters with one of his own that busts up Tsukasa’s lip. Rui is the angry one now, and he feels that he should be the one asking what Tsukasa did to Tsukushi. In shock, Tsukasa asks if Rui is serious about Tsukushi, and Rui affirms that he is indeed serious. Rui then reminds Tsukasa of what he said a year ago: he wouldn’t hold back if something happens between Tsukasa and Tsukushi. He blames Tsukasa for trampling on Makino’s feelings since then and calls him the worst. Hearing these words, Tsukasa goes into a rage and tosses a potted plant into the lunchroom below the lounge. He then goes downstairs and starts beating up random guys, making a mess of the entire place.

Tsukasa is long gong by the time Tsukushi finds the lunch room in shambles after she’s finished her exams. Akira’s not to happy about it, but Soujirou tells her not to worry. In talking about where she moved, Soujirou gets her to laugh again and says that it’s not like her to be depressed. She thanks him and then tries to convince him to take Yuuki on his bike to the beach, but Soujirou refuses to give girls a ride. Tsukasa meanwhile is attempting to clear things up with Shigeru about last night and is surprised to learn that she’s not concerned about it at all. She even jokingly asks if he had sex with Tsukushi and pretends to see Tsukushi nearby. When Tsukasa ends up asking her what she’s thinking, Shigeru answers that she’s always thinking about only him. At the same time, Tsukushi and Rui are at a cafe, and he’s explaining how his feelings for her developed. At first, he thought she was annoying with how she cried, laughed, and was angry all the time. But something inside of him started to change when he saw how hard she was trying. He started to feel that it was natural for them to be together and he became lonely when she wasn’t there. To Rui, this all means that he likes her.

When she goes to the dango shop later, Tsukushi hears Okami-san frame the question to be who she loves the most now. Yuuki thinks that Tsukushi can’t forget about Tsukasa so easily, but Tsukushi feels that he should become happy with Shigeru. At that time, Tsukasa is walking home when he spots Susumu sitting alone in a playground looking dejected. As it turns out, Susumu fell in love at first sight with a girl who lent him an eraser during his exam. The problem is that he never found out who she was and doesn’t know what school she goes to. Seeing these first-time feelings of love developing in Susumu, Tsukasa decides to help out. His strategy is for Susumu to wait for the girl on the day that the exam results are announced - that’s when Susumu should confess his feelings. Tsukasa tells Susumu to be confident in himself and says that Susumu will definitely be ok because he’s the younger brother of the woman Tsukasa approved of. While he’s away, Tsukasa’s mother is meanwhile reading the paper about the poor financial fortunes of the Doumyouji group. After telling Nishida again to mark Tsukasa, Kaede calls up Shigeru and takes her out to dinner to check up on their relationship. Although things look good on the surface, Kaede notices something in the way Shigeru smiles and talks.

When his sister returns home, Susumu hides the love letter that he’s been practicing writing. His odd behavior gets Tsukushi a little suspicious, but she doesn’t act on it. The next day, Tsukasa gets Akira and Soujirou to help mold Susumu into the proper type of guy they think he should be. This leads to a complete makeover, them proofing his love letter, and even practice runs of what Susumu will say when the time comes. When Susumu panics because Tsukasa won’t be coming with him, Tsukasa reassures him that he’ll be ok because the two of them exist under the same sky. The night before the exam results are to be announced, Susumu stays out late to practice what he’ll say. He rushes to the school the next morning and is surprised to find Tsukasa already there waiting for him. Tsukasa encourages him to do his best and feels that Susumu will be ok by himself. He reminds Susumu again that they’re under the same sky and then heads to the park to wait to hear what happened. Since Susumu seems to be taking his time, Tsukasa gets plenty of time to reminisce about all the times he confessed his feelings to Tsukushi. In the end, Tsukasa is left waiting for the better part of the day because the girl Susumu likes doesn’t show up until very late. Upon seeing her, Susumu goes through with his confession and hands the girl his love letter without a hitch.

Tsukushi gets home later that afternoon and finds her parents waiting. They’re back because they want to hear about Susumu passing his exams, but they all realize that Susumu hasn’t returned home yet. By this point, Susumu is finally reporting back to Tsukasa about what happened. The first thing Tsukasa asks is if Susumu passed his exams, and the answer is yes. When he then asks about the girl, Susumu shakes his head no. Seeing that Susumu still has the love letter confirms to Tsukasa that the confession ended in rejection. Since Susumu can’t help but start crying, Tsukasa says that Susumu did his best and then comforts the boy with a hug. Even as the tears flow down his face, Susumu thanks Tsukasa over and over again for his help. By the time they head home together, it’s gotten dark and Tsukushi is out searching for her brother. When they run into her, Tsukasa tells her about Susumu passing his exams, but she’s still suspicious as to why they didn’t call or anything. Tsukushi accuses Tsukasa of plotting something and feels that he causes them trouble. That’s why she doesn’t want him to show himself in front of them. Despite Susumu’s protests, she starts badmouthing Tsukasa and tells him to leave the room he now occupies next door to them.

Tsukasa, however, refuses to go. He explains that he learned something important from Susumu - Susumu made him remember the important feelings he had forgotten in this past year. What Tsukasa realized is that he likes Tsukushi and can’t think about any woman other than her. Even though she might think of him as the worst, he is still falling in love with her. Unsure of how to respond, Tsukushi tells him that this isn’t a joke and then drags Susumu back home. Unbeknownst to all of them, Nishida had witnessed the entire scene. Tsukushi ends up being unable to sleep that night and remembers how Yuuki had advised that although she doesn’t need to answer Rui immediately, it’s also not good for Tsukushi to leave things as they are. With those words in mind, Tsukushi calls up Rui, but she hangs up as soon as he answers the phone. As a result of this, Rui gets in his car and races off somewhere. Tsukushi is still awake by the time someone arrives and knocks on her apartment door. However, it’s not Rui - it’s Nishida.

Preview:

I thought that pairing Susumu and Tsukasa together would end in disaster, but it actually turned out pretty well. In the big brother role, Tsukasa’s a pretty nice guy and did a lot for Susumu. Although the rejection was predictable, I still enjoyed watching Tsukasa not make a fool of himself for once. I laughed when they were playing with his hair and loved the scene when Susumu’s crying and Tsukasa comforts him. The end result of all of this is that Tsukasa has once again come to terms with his feelings for Tsukushi. That means that both Tsukasa and Rui said that they liked her this week, and I would venture to say that Rui has won the first round. He certainly got the better of Tsukasa in their fight, and Tsukushi isn’t currently pissed off at him.
They almost got through the entire episode without playing Flavor of Life -Ballad Version-…almost. Towards the end of the episode, I had noticed that they hadn’t played it yet and was wondering if they would because they already used the full version of Love so sweet as an insert song. Still, I just knew it was coming during the scene where Tsukasa declares that he likes Tsukushi and that’s indeed where it played. Again, it’s not that I don’t like the song, but I think it would be cool if they could showcase several different artists for a little variety.
The big questions left at the end of this episode are what Nishida is doing at Tsukushi’s apartment, where Rui went, and what Tsukushi is doing in a maid outfit in the preview. As always, I’m looking forward to seeing next week’s episode.