The last few days have been disastrous. My PSP Memory Stick suddenly died on me, so I had to buy a new one and do Kinema all over again.. but I finally finished Susumu’s route today. ♥
The fourth son of the Miyanomori family, 23 years old. Gentle and kind, Susumu always looks after his brothers and often acts as a mediator. His mother Fumiko brought him up to be kind to other people, especially towards women. Underneath his mild demeanor, Susumu has actually stabbed Genichirou in the past. It was subconscious, and so his memory about the time of the accident was completely blank. Susumu is the heaviest drinker among the seven brothers, but he’s currently banning himself from drinking. He’s a police officer in the traffic division.
April 2
Haru is wondering about the survey’s purpose when she notices Susumu walking out of his room. The brothers were drinking in his room last night, so today he’s got a terrible hangover. Susumu can’t remember what happened after they started drinking, but he did remember that Isami and Shigeru shoved “the strongest sake in the world” down his throat lol. Susumu went wild and started laughing only a few seconds after drinking the sake, while both Tadashi and Isami fainted after taking a sip. Shigeru then sealed the dangerous thing away, and Susumu can’t remember what happened after that. He’s doing his best not to drink, but he sadly says it might be impossible around his brothers. xD
April 3
When Haru is thinking of writing Susumu’s name on her form, suddenly Susumu appears going “what’s wrong with me?” and takes the form from her hands lol. He asks whose name she’s planning to write, but he finds it surprising when Haru reluctantly admits it’s him. Haru is afraid that he’d get angry upon, but Susumu says it’s just unexpected because he doesn’t stand out much compared to his brothers. Plus, his mother is a commoner and he’s just a normal police. Haru says it doesn’t matter, because if she can choose her own master, she wants to serve Susumu regardless of his occupation and background. After Susumu leaves, Tae says she can understand why Haru chose him. Tadashi is strict about etiquettes, Isami will probably kill them if they make a mistake, Shigeru is hard to catch, Hiroshi will definitely turn them into his guinea pigs, and Masashi will torture them nonstop — Susumu is the best choice.
Later on, Isami starts attacking Mamoru in the hallway. Noticing that Mamoru is only defending himself, Susumu quickly goes to stop Isami by locking his arms behind his back. Since Susumu won’t let go of his arms until he gives up, Isami eventually says he won’t attack Mamoru again. For now. He’ll come back to attack Mamoru again later.
April 5
In the afternoon, Susumu returns home to find Hiroshi talking to Haru near the entrance. Yoshi said Hiroshi is free to choose his own path, so he’s wondering if he should just postpone his plan to study in England, or enroll to a university in Teito instead. After asking Haru to take his bag to his room, Susumu takes Hiroshi to talk in the terrace. Noticing that Hiroshi feels bad for his late grandfather, Susumu tells him to choose his own path in life. If he wants to stand on his own feet someday, he should be able to do this much. As a brother, Susumu can only help pushing his back. The decision depends on Hiroshi himself. Hiroshi then says he’ll think about this, and Susumu says he’ll always support Hiroshi’s decision.
April 6
During breakfast, Hiroshi informs his brothers that he decided to enter Teito University instead of going to England. The atmosphere suddenly turns heavy when Mamoru comes to join them for breakfast, and Hiroshi runs out of the dining hall while Isami starts attacking Mamoru again. Masashi is too tired to throw plates at them today, so everyone decides to ignore them instead lol. Before sending Masashi off to school, Haru returns the room key Susumu handed to her yesterday. He only gave it to her because she had to carry his bag to his room, but Shigeru excitedly goes “Is that Susumu’s room key? So that means.. how naughty!” (*ﾉ∀ﾉ)ｲﾔﾝ upon seeing this. Haru then leaves to prepare the car for Masashi, while Shigeru clings to Susumu saying “What does this mean? Hey, what does this mea~n? Please explain, Susumu-kun.” xD Susumu quickly says it’s nothing and runs away saying he needs to go to work lol.
April 9
After collecting the survey forms, Chitomi asks Haru to confirm Susumu’s schedule for today. Since Isami’s birthday is coming up, Susumu is planning to buy a present for him in Ginza. At night he meets Sanji on the streets, who then explains that he couldn’t contact Susumu lately because his family has been busy with Sanae’s case. He was thinking of leaving the Tokkou division, but in the end he couldn’t quit since his family has to pay for Sanae’s debts as well. Sanji then invites Susumu to have some drink, and Susumu accepts since his brothers already ruined his plan to stop drinking anyway lol. He also tells Sanji about what’s happening in the mansion right now, and he says his brothers have been fighting with Mamoru ever since he came to live with them. Hiroshi already calmed down recently, but they need to do something about Isami’s hostile attitude towards Mamoru.
April 11
After dinner, Susumu goes to ask Mamoru directly about his reason for staying here. Mamoru says it’s got nothing to do with him, but then he admits it’s because there’s something he has to do. He’s going to deal with them after he’s done with this task, and he asks Susumu not to approach him anymore. Susumu joins his brothers in Masashi’s room after that, and knowing Mamoru came here because of a deal with Genichirou, Masashi says they’re going to force him to spill the truth in the flower-viewing festival — in front of Genichirou. Now the problem is they need someone to pull the truth out of Mamoru, and they’re going to decide who’s going to take that role tonight.
April 16
Today is Miyanomori’s annual flower-viewing festival, and Haru finds a nervous Susumu in the hallway. He seems concerned about Mamoru, but when she asks him what’s wrong, he quickly excuses himself and runs off to the garden.. where he sighs saying the burden on his shoulders are really heavy. It can’t be helped though, since last night the brothers determined their roles with lottery and Susumu just happened to be lucky. ヽ(*´ー`*)ﾉ Tadashi is worried if Susumu can squeeze the information out of Mamoru properly, but Masashi is pretty confident with the script he wrote for Susumu. Just before Heisuke formally introduces Mamoru to their guests, Susumu suddenly stands up and does his best to say the line from Masashi’s script: “Father, I was wondering why Mamoru nii-san came to the mansion.” Unfortunately, Susumu gets really nervous and keeps stuttering, which causes Genichirou to turn to Heisuke asking “what the heck is Susumu saying?” ﾌﾟｯ(※థэథ)∵.*.∵ While Yoshi is telling the mothers that Mamoru and Susumu look similar, Shigeru snorts saying Susumu can never be an actor lol.
Heisuke then asks the servants to drag Susumu away, but suddenly Susumu sighs, takes out his sword, and point it towards Mamoru. Which is completely different from the plan, which is actually to make Mamoru draw out his sword in public. Susumu then repeats his question from before: “Why do you come here? What’s your objective” ..and knowing he can’t escape from this situation, Mamoru finally says they should talk in private. However, once they’re alone, Mamoru warns Susumu not to underestimate him. Before Susumu could even reply, Mamoru suddenly takes out his sword and points it towards Susumu — saying he’s been training all these years just to kill them. Mamoru says he’ll tell them everything when the time comes, but he tells Susumu not to interfere if he doesn’t want to die. Then he puts away his sword and walks off — leaving Susumu in silence.
At the same time, Haru and Tae notice that Hideo is gone from the crowd.
April 19
It’s the anniversary of trains today, and Susumu is busy working since Ginza is packed with people. Haru is also in Ginza to do some shopping, but she can’t go home since the crowd is swarming the station. She’s thinking of walking all the way back to the mansion when Susumu finds her among the crowd, and he offers to give her a ride on his beloved bike. Haru refuses because she doesn’t want to disturb him at work, but Susumu says it’s okay since he’s going to return to his post too. Before they can walk out of the crowded street, suddenly a bunch of people push them all the way into the “flower train” in the station lol. As the train carries them away from Ginza, the people around them keep pushing Haru towards Susumu.. and he gets really nervous when the train makes sudden stops. (。-∀-)ﾆﾋｯ♪ Haru apologized for pulling him into this situation, but Susumu admits that he actually feels happy about this. xD
When Haru finally returns to the mansion, she’s completely exhausted thanks to the crowded train. Hideo mentions it wasn’t that crowded last year, but when Haru asks if he’s already in Teito last year, he quickly says he only heard from people. She then hands him a package and asks him to take it to their dining hall, but when they open the box to check the contents.. they only find squashed lumps of sweets that used to be parlor’s cream puffs lol.
April 21
Today is Isami’s birthday, and he starts attacking Mamoru again. Isami won’t stop even when Susumu comes to stop him, so Susumu decides to leave them alone knowing his words won’t work anyway. However, Isami announces a temporary truce with Mamoru during his birthday celebration at night. Isami knows Mamoru has his own reasons for staying here, and Mamoru explains to his brothers that he only wants to know Genichirou’s real objective. He’s planning something bigger behind their backs, and Mamoru won’t kill any of them before he finds the answer. Since they all share the same objective, the brothers finally decide to work together.
April 24
At noon, Haru meets Fumiko on the way home from Ginza. Fumiko invites Haru to eat a new menu in the parlor before going back to the mansion, but soon Susumu comes and asks her not to disturb Haru’s shopping duty. Well.. Susumu is currently at work too, and yet he came here to talk to them anyway. xD After Haru leaves, Susumu and Fumiko meet Sanji — who’s currently on the way to a mission. Susumu feels bad upon seeing Sanji so busy with his job, but Sanji tells him not to look so sad. He was the one who wanted to join the Tokkou division, even though right now he has no choice but to continue working. However, Susumu doesn’t know that Sanji is meeting up with Mamoru regularly. Late at night, Mamoru informs Sanji that Genichirou might be plotting something behind their backs.. and Sanji says he’ll try looking for more information from the Tokkou division. Aside from Genichirou, Mamoru says he also has another request for Sanji: “look for information regarding Onoda Hideo.”
April 29
To celebrate the truce, the brothers are having a banquet in Yasuda tonight. Shigeru asks if Mamoru can give them a proof that he won’t attack them, but Masashi says it’s safe to trust him. After all, Mamoru can kill them anytime if he wants to. Susumu helps Shigeru and Kurenai to serve his brothers, but since he refuses to drink, Isami drank Susumu’s share of sake until he falls asleep lol. Before returning to the mansion, Mamoru suddenly stops Susumu saying he wants to talk for a while. Mamoru then admits there were times when he wished that Susumu isn’t around, because Susumu is the one who takes his place as the fourth son in the family. Mamoru also says grudge, hatred and sadness won’t last long because time will purify those feelings, but it’s difficult for him since he’s been holding a grudge against them ever since his mother died. When Susumu asks why Mamoru is telling him all of this, Mamoru smiles saying it’s probably because of the alcohol. They leave Yasuda after that, and Susumu realized it’s been a month since Mamoru started living with them.
May 1
In the morning, Haru reminds Susumu that he forgot his lunchbox. She brings it to the entrance for him, and she asks if he has any favorite dishes. Susumu admits that unlike most people out there, he doesn’t have any particular likes and dislikes when it comes to food. When Susumu returns the question at her, Haru says she really loves sweets. She never ate anything other than ohagi back in her hometown, so she was touched when she fist ate the parlor’s cream puffs. Now that he knows Haru loves sweets, Susumu visits the parlor to buy some sweets for her. He doesn’t know anything about sweets though, so he decides to buy everything on the take-out list. ﾌﾟｯ(※థэథ)∵.*.∵ The car is packed with sweets when Susumu returns to the mansion at night, so Haru helps him to carry the sweets inside. He asks her to share them with everyone in the servants’ quarter, so naturally Haru thinks he bought them for everyone.. and Susumu sighs saying he made a big mistake by buying that much. ( *´艸`)ｸｽｯ♪
May 6
At work, someone asks Susumu about how Sanji is doing recently. Susumu answers Sanji is doing well even though he seems busy, but this reminds him that Sanae is going to move out of her mansion by the end of the month. Sanji’s family can’t pay off her debts, so she has to sell the Sumida house and return to her mother’s house. While Susumu will be busy working during the exhibition tomorow, Haru doesn’t think she can go and see the event. Last year she got excited upon hearing about all sorts of exciting events, but Kisuke notices that Haru has grown to be more responsible this year — she won’t leave work just to have fun. Haru says she wants to keep working in the mansion for a little longer, but she’s a bit worried since her family might receive a matchmaking offer again this year.
During dinner, Susumu asks if Tadashi has any plans to help Sanae. Tadashi simply says “no”, and Susumu apologized if his question comes off as annoying. On the other side of the table, Shigeru is informing everyone that they’re going to work in the Beer Hall tomorow, and they’re going to take some servants to help too. Guess who the lucky servants are. (人´∀`)☆゜’・:*
May 7
Right after the exhibition starts, Susumu gets busy handling the crowd in front of the exhibition site. Fumiko and Sanji also come to greet him by the entrance, but since he doesn’t have time to chat with them, Susumu runs off after telling Sanji to help looking for Fumiko’s missing ticket — which has been in her left hand all along lol. Fumiko asks if Sanji is here for a date, but he says he doesn’t have a girlfriend and invites her to enjoy the exhibition with him instead. Sanji obviously didn’t come to the exhibition to have fun, since he’s actually here to spy on a certain someone. They meet Susumu again in front of the Beer Hall, where Shigeru and the others are getting ready to change into their uniforms. Sanji greets Haru and Tae upon seeing them, and since this is the first time they talk to each other directly, Tae politely greets him back.
Shigeru then drags his brothers to get changed, but he leaves Haru so she can talk to Susumu for a while. It’s 100% intentional too, because he teasingly says “Susumu-kun, please take her to the Beer Hall later (。-∀-)ﾆﾋｯ♪” before walking away lol. When Haru, Hideo and Tae leave to join the brothers, Susumu notices that Sanji looks distracted beside him and Fumiko. He asks him what’s wrong, but Sanji quickly takes his leave saying he wants to visit a certain place. Of course Susumu finds this weird, though he has no idea about what’s wrong with Sanji.
May 10
In the evening, Susumu was waiting for his car to pick him up from work when suddenly Isami comes out of the car saying they’re going out for a drink. Susumu tries to resist and says he’s on the wagon, but Isami doesn’t care and drags the poor guy into the car. ﾌﾟｯ(※థэథ)∵.*.∵ On the way to Yasuda, Isami asks if Susumu already has a plan to use his 1000 yen. Susumu says he doesn’t have any plans, because he’s not interested in the head position at all. Last year he participated in Genichirou’s game because he wants to know the reason why he was born as a Miyanomori, but this year he joined in only because Genichirou forced all of his sons to participate. This reminds Isami that Susumu stabbed Genichirou in the past, and he knows Genichirou still needs Susumu for the game. Otherwise Genichirou won’t even bother to talk to Susumu, even though they’re father and son.
When they return home later, Haru helps carrying Susumu’s bag to his room. Haru notices that Susumu looks a little down, but he quickly says it’s nothing and stirs the conversation towards the exhibition instead. Susumu says Sanji left them to visit a certain place, and Haru wonders if Sanji had a date during the event. Haru thinks he looks like the type who has a lot of friends, and Susumu says it’s true — Sanji is like the exact opposite of himself. Back when Sanji was still working in the traffic division, he kept refusing matchmakings because he doesn’t want to get married. Sanji has became much calmer right now, but his parents probably won’t receive any matchmaking offers for the time being. Nobody would want to marry a Sumida after what happened to Sanae after all.
Before Haru leaves, Susumu stops her and blushes as he says “I’m free next Sunday. Do you want to go out with me?” ( *´艸`)ｸｽｯ♪ He invites her to watch a play together, but sadly she refuses because he’s a Miyanomori and she’s only a maid — they’re not allowed to have fun together. Haru admits she does feel happy to receive the invitation since she has never seen a play before, and Susumu nervously tries to tell her that the most important thing isn’t the play itself.. but to watch it together with him. (๑´ლ`๑)♡ Haru laughs and answers she’d be happy to watch a play with Susumu, and she’s wishing they can watch one together someday. Haru then excuses herself, and after a short silence, Susumu mutters “I’ll drink again.. (´・ω・`)” — most likely to comfort himself since his plan failed again lol.
May 14
At noon, Hiroshi goes to see Haru and shows her two tickets for “Hamlet”. He received them from his university, so today he’s planning to watch the play with her. Hiroshi then goes to ask for Chitomi’s permission, but just as Haru expected, Chitomi says no and scolds Hiroshi for not understanding his position as a member of Miyanomori and Saeki. Feeling disappointed, Hiroshi hands the tickets to Susumu when they meet in the hallway — telling him to go watch the play with Masashi out of all people. (○´ﾟωﾟ｀):;*.’:;ﾌﾞｯ Susumu is thinking of using the tickets to invite Haru again, but soon Chitomi appears asking “you too, Susumu-sama? ( ≖_ゝ≖ )” lol. He quickly explains that he only received the tickets from Hiroshi earlier, and when he reluctantly asks if they’re really not allowed to watch plays with a maid, Chitomi instantly answers “of course!”
However, Genichirou has a different opinion. When he learns about this from Chitomi, he only laughs saying it’s okay to give his sons permissions to go out with a maid. Susumu is delighted to hear this, and he happily runs off to invite Haru to watch the play. Chitomi says Genichirou is being too lenient, but Genichirou doesn’t give a crap about the gap in their social standings. He’s more interested in Susumu’s relationship with Haru.
Haru is surprised when she learns that Genichirou allows them to go out, and Susumu admits that he doesn’t understand Genichirou either. He only knows Genichirou married a commoner like Fumiko only because he wanted a different type of son, and as a father, Genichirou never expects anything from him. Genichirou didn’t object when Susumu decided to become a police, and he never said anything about Susumu’s education either. As they watch Hamlet together, Susumu starts wondering why the play is so popular because it’s different from the novel. He turns around to ask for Haru’s opinion, and he instantly goes ･･･(・д・ ；) since she’s crying her eyes out lol. They both fall asleep during the second half of the play though, and when Haru apologized later, Susumu lets out a nervous laugh before whispering “..such a waste” LOL. Haru thinks it’s because they missed like half of the play, but Susumu is obviously referring to something else. (*ﾉ∀ﾉ)ｲﾔﾝ
After leaving the theatre, Haru takes Susumu to buy some cream puffs in the parlor. Susumu says he doesn’t know how it feels to have fun or take a liking to something — which is why he doesn’t have any favorite dishes — so Haru is hoping he can learn how it feels by eating the delicious cream puffs. Susumu simply describes the taste as “not bad”, so Haru explains that if he finds a dish delicious, he’d want to eat the same dish over and over again. Just like how she’s wishing to eat cream puffs everyday, though she’d probably get bored if she can really eat them daily lol.
Susumu: “I see, so that’s what it means by liking a dish.”
Susumu: “Then what about someone that you like?”
Haru: “Eh!? S-Someone..”
Susumu: “Ah, n-no.. Σ(〃д〃) I-I didn’t mean.. Uh.. T-This is so delicious!”
Haru: “Y-Yes..”
WHAT IS THIS SO ADORABLE. ||萌||ョ´∀`。)萌えぇ～↑
May 18
Today is the annual tea ceremony, and all the mothers are present except for Sanae. Fumiko is the first to arrive in the mansion, though she feels reluctant about coming here. When Haru asks why she rarely comes to the mansion, Fumiko sadly says it’s because she’s no longer Genichirou’s wife. That, and because she’s only a commoner unlike Genichirou’s other wives. She’s afraid that she’d only cause trouble for Susumu, thinking his brothers won’t like the idea of welcoming a commoner into their mansion. Fumiko knew Genichirou only wanted to have a son from a commoner, but she married him anyway because she loves him. Haru then admits she doesn’t understand when people marry because they love each other, since everything is usually determined by family backgrounds — including her own matchmaking. Fumiko asks if she received any matchmaking again this year, and Haru says she probably will in summer. It would be her third, and she won’t be able to refuse anymore.
When the tea ceremony starts, Susumu notices that Mamoru is watching their brothers’ hands movements really closely. Susumu then asks what he’s doing, and Mamoru admits that he has no idea how to make tea properly lol. Well.. just “watching” certainly doesn’t help, because he ends up breaking the rare cup anyway. (○´ﾟωﾟ｀):;*.’:;ﾌﾞｯ Luckily (for Mamoru anyway), Yoshi then stops the rage parade saying she wants to talk to both Tadashi and Mamoru. Meanwhile, Haru and Susumu are watching this from the side — wondering if they’re going to talk about Sanae’s problems.
May 21
Susumu goes to visit Fumiko today, hoping to learn more about their discussion with Tadashi and Mamoru. Fumiko explains that the mothers are planning to save Sanae’s house, because Sanae has to watch Tadashi’s fight up until the end — it’s her duty as a monther. Susumu is surprised to hear their plan, but Fumiko says she has enough savings to help.. even though it might be nothing compared to Toki and the others. Fumiko then asks if Susumu is doing well with Haru, which causes him to go “wha.. what are you saying?” Σ(〃д〃) lol. Susumu says they’re not romantically involved, but knowing that he does like Haru, Fumiko tells him to move fast. If Haru receives a matchmaking in summer, she won’t be able to refuse since it’s already her third. Fumiko doesn’t want Susumu to lose Haru just because he’s reluctant, and Susumu knows she’s right.
Meanwhile, Genichirou is planning to assign Haru as Susumu’s personal maid. Heisuke asks if he’s planning to use Haru for a certain plan, and Genichirou says it depends on Susumu.. but he’s pretty sure Haru will be useful in the future.
May 27
Just before bedtime, Tae takes Haru to the laundry and shows her the bag she brought from her hometown. Tae also tells Haru everything about her past, saying she doesn’t want to hide anything from her best friend. After telling Haru to go back inside first, Tae returns the bag to the bushes.. and that’s when she notices Heisuke talking to Hideo in the shadows. When Tae comes to ask what they’re talking about, Hideo explains that they’re going to assign Haru as Susumu’s personal maid by the end of the month. Heisuke only asked him to help Haru since she will be busy with work, and to erase Tae’s suspicion even more, Hideo says he doesn’t know why Heisuke asked for his help.
May 28
Today Chitomi gives Tae a letter from her hometown, which surprised her since it’s so rare for her family to send a letter. Chitomi goes to talk to Haru after that, asking about her impression after going out with Susumu two weeks ago. When Haru says it was fun, Chitomi replies with “I’m glad to see you’re getting along well with Susumu-sama.” Haru is confused upon hearing her words, but Chitomi says she’ll find out after the exam.
Later on, Haru brings some drinks for Susumu and Masashi in the billiard room. Nobody wants to play with Masashi because he’s the strongest among the brothers, so Susumu invites the poor kid to play together from time to time. After Haru leaves them, Masashi tells Susumu that Mamoru keeps doing his own research all this time.. but since he hasn’t told them anything yet, that means he hasn’t found any important clues. Susumu thinks doubting Genichirou is going a bit too far, but Masashi warns him to be careful of Genichirou. He can feel something is going to happen by the end of the month, because Genichirou is planning to assign a personal maid for Susumu. When Haru meets Susumu in the evening, he suddenly asks her what it means to have a personal maid. He doesn’t know who’s going to be his personal maid, but he thinks it’s still too early for him to have one. Haru answers a personal maid will have to serve his / her master forever — like Chitomi and Genichirou — but Susumu can’t imagine having a personal maid to serve him all the time. Completely unaware of Genichirou’s plan, Haru wonders who’s going to become Susumu’s personal maid.
May 31
After the exam, Heisuke announces that Genichirou has assigned Haru to become Susumu’s personal maid starting from today. Haru is surprised to hear the announcement, but she goes to greet Susumu after the morning assembly. At first Susumu couldn’t believe his ears, but he admits he actually feels relieved. He’s been feeling blue ever since Masashi told him about this, but he’s more than happy to accept Haru as his personal maid. Susumu then hands his room key to Haru, and he blushes saying it feels weird to take the “first step”. Susumu also holds Haru’s hands saying they should do their best together, and whenHaru says she will be the one working for him, Susumu nervously laughs before adding “w-well, I’ll have to guide you too.” (๑´ლ`๑)♡ Haru promises to become a personal maid who can make Susumu proud, and Susumu says the first thing he should do is to brag to Sanji. ﾌﾟｯ(※థэథ)∵.*.∵ Then he goes to work feeling happy lol.
June 1
Right after the morning assembly, Tae goes to talk to Chitomi. Both Haru and Hideo notice that Tae seems really irritated, and the reason is because she can’t accept the fact that Genichirou assigned Haru instead of her to become Susumu’s personal maid. Since Tae is really confident in her skills as a maid, Chitomi says she’ll talk to Genichirou about this.. but she wants Tae to know something: “A servant’s job is to follow order, but if you don’t put your heart into it, you will become nothing more than an empty doll.” Unfortunately, Tae doesn’t understand what it means to put one’s heart into work. She wants to be a “perfect” maid, and it’s her ultimate goal to become a personal servant.
After discussing with Chitomi, Genichirou decides to assign both Haru and Tae as Susumu’s personal maids. Susumu can choose whoever he likes between them later, so Tae is doing her best to defeat Haru in every area — like serving Susumu faster than Haru. As if Haru isn’t losing confidence already, Tae also brags that she received Susumu’s room key AND starts acting super bitchy towards Haru. (╯ ಠ益ಠ ）╯︵ ┻━┻ She tells Haru to back down since her skills as a maid are far more superior, and she thinks it’s weird for Haru to get chosen in the first place. Plus, Haru will have to quit to marry someday while Tae will work here forever. Haru sadly admits that Tae is right, but her reason to become a personal maid is different from Tae’s. She wants to become Susumu’s personal maid for Susumu’s sake, not for the position itself. Tae only replies with “You can’t be a personal maid. Just quit right now.” before walking away — leaving Haru in silence.
June 4
When Kisuke comes to tease Haru about the “battle” with Tae, she sadly admits that she has no intentions to fight and win Susumu. She might receive a matchmaking in summer break, and she will have to quit her job after that. That, and because it was Genichirou who assigned her to be Susumu’s personal maid — not Susumu himself. Haru then asks if she better back down, and Kisuke replies with “What do you want to do? Isn’t that the most important thing?” At the same time, Susumu goes to consult with Fumiko. He says he can’t choose between Haru and Tae, so Fumiko tells him to trust them. Haru and Tae were best friends, so they should be able to resolve their issue even before Susumu can choose.
At night, Susumu goes drinking with Sanji. Thanks to Toki and the others, Sanae can keep her mansion and the burden on Sanji’s family has been lifted as well. Of course they can’t return to Sumida’s glory days, but at least they can live a normal life as commoners. When Susumu tells him what happened with Haru and Tae, Sanji laughs saying it’s just like how the brothers are fighting over the head seat. Sanji then orders for more sake, and Susumu says he’ll drink his heart out tonight.
June 7
Today is Genichirou’s birthday, but Susumu keeps sighing during the celebration. He needs to think of a way to entertain Genichirou, and yet they’re adding more burden onto his shoulders by assigning two personal maids at once. After dinner, Tae comes looking for Susumu in the terrace. When he asks why she wanted to become his personal maid, Tae says it’s because Haru will only cause problems for Susumu, while she can work for Susumu forever. Susumu thinks Tae is attentive and it might be easier if he picks her, but somehow he can feel that he’ll regret not choosing Haru instead.
Meanwhile, Hideo is talking to Haru near the entrance. He doesn’t understand why Tae wants to snatch the position from Haru so bad, since normally best friends would be happy for each other. However, Haru knows this happens exactly because they’re best friends. Tae doesn’t want to lose to her best friend because she feels confident, though it might be hard for Hideo to understand such a complicated relationship.
June 11
Mamoru is meeting up with his editor in Ginza today. He says his next novel’s protagonist will be a politician, so his editor has been feeding him information about the current political world. After saying goodbye to his editor, Mamoru visits the bookstore to meet up with Sanji. Mamoru explains that he’s going to attack Kayama during the grand opening on the 25th, so he wants Sanji to provide him with a weapon. At first Sanji is shocked to hear this, but he agrees when Mamoru says he won’t kill Kayama — he’s just planning to scare Kayama a little bit. Sanji also did his own research in the Tokkou division, but he doesn’t find anything suspicious. Mamoru then asks if Hideo did something suspicious during the exhibition, and Sanji says he didn’t do anything at all. Sanji is curious as of why Mamoru is so concerned about Hideo, but Mamoru refuses to explain. All that Sanji needs to do is to provide him with information.
In the evening, Haru informs Tae that she will prepare Susumu’s clothes for tomorrow. Sadly Tae already took care of everything, and she says Haru doesn’t need to do anything because there’s nothing left for her to do. Haru falls into silence upon hearing Tae’s answer, and Tae leaves after saying “Just get married and quit already! A half-hearted personal maid like you isn’t necessary!” ( ´_ゝ`) Tae, I know how you feel.. but do you need to be THAT bitchy?
June 12
In the morning, Haru trips while carrying Susumu’s lunchbox to the entrance. Before she could hand it to Susumu, Tae calmly gives Susumu another lunchbox that she made for him. Susumu reluctantly accepts the lunchbox from Tae, and he goes to work feeling complicated. Tae then asks if Haru also made the lunchbox by herself, and when Haru answers it was made by the chef, she sneers saying “too bad, how about returning it then?” ( ಠ_ಠ ) Later on, Hideo asks Haru if he can help cleaning up Susumu’s room with her. Haru says it’s not necessary since Tae already did the job, and she sadly admits this “battle” with Tae feels really painful for her. Hideo says it’s exactly why Haru is losing, because the choice actually lies in her own hands — not Susumu’s. Haru has to choose between her best friend and becoming a personal maid, but since she can’t pick one of them.. Haru decides to resolve this issue with her own way.
Meanwhile, Tae meets Sanji in Ginza. Sanji is curious why Tae wants to become Susumu’s personal maid that bad, but she coldly says it’s none of his business. Sanji gets pissed since Tae is being so disrespectful even though he only wanted to greet her, but Tae leaves saying she doesn’t want to be greeted by Sanji anyway. When Tae returns from her shopping duty, Haru directly asks her to stop this nonsense already. Haru asks if Tae would take anyone as her master if that means she can become a personal maid, but Tae suddenly slaps her saying she doesn’t understand anything. Tae then yells that she won’t lose to a half-hearted maid like Haru, and she storms out of the room before Haru could stop her. However, Haru notices that Tae drops something on the ground — the letter from her family. After reading the contents, Haru finally understands the reason behind Tae’s actions.
June 16
Haru goes to do some shopping in Ginza today, and Susumu nervously greets her when they meet each other on the streets. When Haru mentions that Tae is cleaning up his room, Susumu honestly admits that he can’t choose one of them to become his personal maid. Not because he can’t decide, but because he doesn’t want to hurt them. After a short silence, Haru asks if she can talk to him tonight. There’s something she wants to tell Susumu regarding this issue, and she also asks for Hideo’s help to distract Tae so she won’t disturb them.
Just as planned, Hideo literally drags Tae away after dinner lol. Haru goes to talk to Susumu in his room after that, and she explains that Tae’s parents are actually planning to visit Teito next week. Tae never returned after she came to Teito, and the words “we’ll drag you back home” were written in the letter. She’s probably desperate to become a personal maid because she doesn’t want to return to her hometown, though Haru thinks Tae will still refuse even without becoming anyone’s personal maid. Susumu then asks if Haru is asking him to take Tae as his personal maid, and Haru says it’s true. However, Susumu wonders if Tae will really be happy if Haru forfeits on purpose. Realizing that Susumu is right, Haru then says Tae will definitely get angry. Susumu understands how Haru feels though, so he suggests resolving the issue by talking to Tae directly. Haru thanks him and excuses herself, while Susumu smiles saying he might already chose one of them.. but he’s leaving the rest to them.
Since Tae keeps acting hostile and refuses to talk, eventually Haru takes out her parents’ letter and returns it to her — apologizing for reading the contents. At first Tae says she’s the worst, but she finally softens up and explains that her parents actually arranged a matchmaking for her. The man is well-known in her hometown and her parents just couldn’t refuse, so they’re going to take Tae back home next week. Tae then admits that she wants to become Susumu’s personal maid so she can refuse the matchmaking, and she’s aware that she’s a failure as a maid for doing this. Deep inside she actually misses her parents, but since seeing them means she has to deal with the matchmaking.. she also needs a reason to refuse. Sadly, Tae is still in bitch mode and forces Haru to hand over the position instead. Haru answers she can’t do that since Tae actually doesn’t care about Susumu, and despite Tae’s insults, Haru says she will help thinking of another way for Tae to refuse the matchmaking.
June 20
After discussing with Susumu, Haru and Tae receives Chitomi’s permission to go out at noon. Chitomi wonders why Haru is going to meet Tae’s parents too, but Tae says it’s because she feels scared going alone. Knowing that Tae really does feel worried, Haru holds Tae’s hands and says everything will be alright — she will be waiting near the entrance until Tae is done. Haru then asks if Tae has calmed down, and before Tae could go tsundere on her, suddenly Sanji appears and goes “why are you girls holding hands? ( ಠ_ಠ )” LOL. This really surprised Tae, and she tells him to go away since it’s got nothing to do with him. Soon Haru points out that Tae’s parents are coming to approach them, and Tae pushes Sanji away saying he’s in the way. Too late though, since her parents already saw Sanji and completely got the wrong idea about their relationship.. and it doesn’t help that instead of leaving, Sanji decides to politely introduce himself to them. xD
In the end Tae’s family return home thinking Tae is going to marry Sanji, and even though Tae keeps complaining along the way back to the mansion, this finally resolved her matchmaking problem. On the other hand, Sanji is grumbling that everyone keeps taking advantage of him so much he’s starting to get used to it. Susumu notices him looking pissed in Ginza, but Sanji asks him to meet up in the bar at night since he has to return to work now. Of course this leads to Susumu getting drunk, and Haru has to help him walk when he returns home lol. He says he might attack her, but she doesn’t take it seriously until they reach his room and he refuses to let go. (❤ฺ￫艸￩) Haru manages to throw him onto the bed somehow, but when she’s tidying up his belongings, Susumu suddenly calls her and goes “Haru. It so nice~ to have a personal maid. I can do whatever I want to you! Muhahaha!” ..then he falls asleep. ﾌﾟｯ(※థэథ)∵.*.∵
June 25
Today is the grand opening of the new Miyanomori Ginza Hall, and Genichirou already has a certain plan to stop Mamoru from attacking Kayama. Susumu received a day off to attend the grand opening (and he’s in the traffic division anyway), but Sanji is here to work as a part of the Tokkou division. Chitomi and Tae prepares some drinks for the brothers when Genichirou is giving his opening speech, but here Haru notices that Hideo is gone. Chitomi then asks her to look for him, so Haru wanders around the hall searching for Hideo until Sanji comes to ask her what’s wrong. Realizing that Mamoru might be in danger, Sanji offers his help and splits up with Haru to find Hideo before it’s too late. Noticing that Haru, Sanji and Mamoru are gone from the hall, Susumu then decides to sneak out as well. Isami actually wants to go with him, but Tadashi stops him knowing Isami will cause an uproar wherever he goes. (○´ﾟωﾟ｀):;*.’:;ﾌﾞｯ
The first one to find Mamoru is Haru, but she’s really shocked upon seeing him holding a gun. Mamoru asks Haru to keep quiet and leave, but soon Susumu comes and asks him to drop the gun. Even though Susumu doesn’t want Mamoru to kill people anymore, Mamoru says this is necessary to find out Genichirou’s real objective. Susumu then asks if he’s planning to shoot Genichirou, but Mamoru suddenly protects them when someone suddenly fires a gun at them from the shadows. Haru panicks upon seeing blood dripping out of Mamoru’s wound, but he tells Susumu to quickly take Haru and the brothers out of the hall before it’s too late. However, the next bullet suddenly hits Haru’s arm before they could run away. Susumu is shocked and looks around to find the culprit, but when Haru calls his name, he tells her everything will be fine. After asking Isami to prepare the car, Susumu carries Haru out of the hall and takes her to the hospital along with Mamoru.
Meanwhile, somewhere inside the hall, Sanji finally finds Hideo and asks who ordered him to shoot both Mamoru and Haru. Since Sanji calls Mamoru “Mimori-sama”, Hideo knows he must be working for Mamoru behind Susumu’s back. Hideo honestly admits that it was Genichirou who ordered him, but if Sanji doesn’t want Hideo to reveal the truth to Susumu, he should keep quiet about what he saw today — they’ll protect each other’s secret.
June 26
When Haru wakes up in the hospital, she finds Susumu sitting by her bedside. Haru was shot on her left shoulder, and Susumu feels really guilty for failing to protect her. Mamoru already left the hospital since his injury wasn’t deep, but it’s different for Haru since she had to take a surgery. Soon Tae comes to visit Haru, and Susumu leaves saying he’ll come to see her again tomorrow. Tae explains that things were pretty chaotic after the incident, but just like Susumu and everyone else, she doesn’t know why the culprit shot Haru out of all people.
June 29
Chitomi comes to visit Haru today, and she says Haru can leave the hospital next week. She also feels responsible for sending Haru to search for Hideo, and this reminds Haru about him. Apparently Hideo told Chitomi that he skipped work just to take a closer look at the stage, and Chitomi already gave him a good scolding after that. Both Chitomi and Susumu are wondering if Haru still wants to continue working after this incident, but Haru says she won’t quit even though her wounded shoulder might give them problems until it’s fully recovered. Chitomi then says Tae already withdrew from the “battle”, and Susumu himself also said he wants Haru to become his personal maid — if she doesn’t mind. Just then Susumu comes to visit, so Chitomi leaves the rest in his hands.
Susumu explains that he finally decided to choose Haru this morning, but when he told Chitomi about this, he learned that Tae already submitted a withdrawal. Haru is worried that they might fire Tae, but Susumu says they have no reason to do that. However, Susumu wants Haru to know that he didn’t choose her because of Tae’s withdrawal, but because he only wants her as his personal maid. ||萌||ョ´∀`。)萌えぇ～↑ The incident was the trigger that opened his eyes, and he finally asks her to become his personal maid. She gladly accepts the position, but she still needs to recover for now. Susumu feels guilty since the wound might leave a scar, but Haru says she doesn’t mind at all. It’s hidden under her sleeves anyway. After promising to catch the culprit, Susumu leaves saying he’ll come to visit again tomorrow.
At the same time in Ginza, Tae is thinking of buying some sweets for Haru when Sanji comes to greet her. She rages at him since Haru got shot even though there were a lot of police in the hall, but he only apologized and asks her to deliver a message for Susumu: “I want to talk after Haru leaves the hospital, please contact me.”
July 1
When Tae comes to visit, she informs Haru that she already explained everything to Susumu. She’s glad it’s Susumu instead Tadashi or Isami, or else they might fire her on the spot lol. Tae doesn’t admit that she was being mean to Haru, but when Haru laughs saying she’s glad they made up, Tae goes “ふんっ” before giving Haru her room key. xD Soon Susumu comes for his daily visit, and Tae delivers the message from Sanji. Tae doesn’t tell him anything about what happened between her and Sanji though, so Susumu thinks her parents gave up because of her position as a “personal maid”. Haru also admits that she might have to quit if she receives a matchmaking in Summer, and Susumu sadly says it’s really too bad.. but he wants to enjoy their remaining time together, so Haru promises to do her best as well.
Since Susumu is now free to give personal orders to Haru, he decides to give his first order today: “Let’s go out together after you get released from the hospital.” (๑´ლ`๑)♡ Haru laughs saying it can’t be helped because it’s an “order”, and Susumu says the destination is up to her — it’s to celebrate her recovery too. Later on, Fumiko also comes to visit with a huge present for Haru: a bunch of health charms from various shrines all over Teito. Σ(ﾟ∀ﾟﾉ)ﾉ She kept her wallet on her hand all the time when she gathered the charms, though she lost her bag in the process lol. Haru is really touched and says she can’t possibly return Fumiko’s kindness, but all that Fumiko asks from her is to get well soon.
July 6
In the evening, Mamoru finally tells Susumu that it was undoubtedly Genichirou who shot him and Haru. Mamoru admits that he was planning to attack Kayama, and he was ready to face the risk of getting captured. From this incident, they can draw the conclusion that Genichirou doesn’t want Kayama to die. They can’t figure out the reason yet, but Genichirou is pressing the media and police force to stay quiet. Susumu goes to visit Haru after that, and she asks if the police will come to question her later. Based on what Mamoru said earlier, Susumu says they probably won’t. The guests who were in the hall panicked upon hearing the sounds of gunshots, but the ones who witnessed the actual shootings are only Susumu, Mamoru, and Haru herself. Noticing that Haru is worried, Susumu assures her that everything will be okay. He won’t allow anyone to put her in danger anymore.
Meanwhile, Mamoru is meeting up with Sanji outside. Sanji reports that it was Hideo who shot them, and the second bullet was actually aimed towards Mamoru as well — to make sure he’s dead. This means Genichirou already knows about Mamoru’s plan, but Mamoru laughs saying Sanji’s information is valuable. He’s going to prepare the rewards as a payment.
July 7
It’s Tanabata today, and Haru is finally released from the hospital. Tae is going to pick her up with Hideo, but they agreed to meet up in Ginza later since Hideo needs to “send money” back to his hometown first. Even though Kisuke knows Hideo moved based on Genichirou’s order, he’s clearly pissed that Hideo shot twice and one of the bullets hit Haru. Kisuke warns Hideo that Genichirou will probably get rid of him after his mission is over, but Hideo knows it’s just too late to turn back. No matter what he does, the end result will be the same anyway.
When Haru returns to the mansion, Hiroshi gives her a tanzaku to write her Tanabata wish on. Shigeru, Hiroshi and Mamoru are all concerned about her arm, but Haru says it doesn’t feel as painful anymore. It’s just she won’t be able to work properly for a while, and Chitomi asks her not to force herself until the wound is fully healed. Chitomi sends Haru to get some rest until Susumu returns home, so she decides to write her wish — “to serve Susumu-sama forever” — on her tanzaku. She feels sad knowing it’s an impossible wish, and she’s wishing she can refuse the matchmaking like Tae.
That night, Tae helps Susumu to sneak into Haru’s room. Susumu is reluctant since Chitomi will rage if she finds out, but Tae opens the door to Haru’s room and sends Susumu inside before anyone sees them lol. Haru is actually fast asleep inside, so Susumu carefully carries her onto the bed before she caught a cold. Susumu was planning to leave a small bamboo tree and a tanzaku for Haru, but then he notices her tanzaku lying on the table. Upon reading her wish, he gently whispers “It’d be nice if it comes true. Good night.” and quietly leaves her room.
July 10
Today Susumu goes drinking wih Sanji at night, and Sanji says he’s going to transfer to Kyoto next month. Susumu is surprised since it’s so sudden, not to mention Sanji also adds he won’t be able to visit Teito easily once he moves away. Transferring away from Teito is similar to a demotion, so Sanji will have to work even harder or else everyone will judge his performance. Susumu asks if Sanji did something wrong, but Sanji says it’s just because he’s a hindrance in the Tokkou division. His uncle is a senior in the same division, and it’s not easy to work with a relative in the police department. Since they won’t be able to go drinking together again, Sanji decides to tell Susumu about his background — something Susumu has never asked before.
Just like the Miyanomori brothers, Sanji’s entire life has been planned out by the Sumida family. Even though he hates it, Sanji doesn’t have any reasons to go against his parents.. and in the end he will always be the son of Sumida’s branch family. Sanji had no interest in becoming a police even after entering the traffic division, but he started to feel that he really became one after meeting Susumu. Sanji also tried doing a lot of things after that, like learning how to drive, though in the end he never mastered anything. He transferred to the Tokkou division hoping to reach a higher position, but he admits there’s only one difference between the Tokkou division and the traffic division: connection to politicians. Even though the Tokkou division are in charge of controlling the political world, Sanji honestly says a lot of them would turn a blind eye if the politicians are willing to bribe them. Susumu wonders why Sanji continues working in such a dangerous world, and Sanji says it’s necessary to open his own path. He doesn’t want to be known as “the son of Sumida’s branch family” forever, so he’s trying to overcome all kinds of danger just to find his own path.
July 14
During dinner, Genichirou reminds his sons about the upcoming music festival. Hiroshi doesn’t feel excited since they always force him to play the violin every year, but Shigeru suggests a better idea — “the seven of us should perform together!” ＼(^o^)／ Both Mamoru and Tadashi instantly go “are you nuts!? ( ಠ_ಠ )” upon hearing this idea, but they have no choice since the others are excited to perform together lol. Since they need money to fund their orchestra, the brothers decide to pool their money instead of using Genichirou’s 1000 yen. Susumu agrees to prepare the musical instruments, and Isami will ask Toki to get some music teachers for them.
Masashi is going to determine the song, and as usual, he stresses that failure is not an option.
After dinner, Susumu notices that Haru’s injured shoulder isn’t wrapped in bandages anymore. Earlier the doctor said she should be fine without them now, so Haru can freely move her left arm again. Susumu then explains the brothers’ performance plan to Haru, and he asks her to help him preparing musical instruments for everyone. Before Haru leaves to check the prices, Susumu suddenly stops her and asks if she still remembers about his “order”. Haru asks if it’s really okay for her to determine the location, but Susumu smiles and says they should go after the music festival is over.
July 15
During his practice session, Susumu comes out of his room looking extremely tired. Haru asks if he’s okay, and Susumu explains that he can’t read music scores.. so he needs to remember the teacher’s movements instead. Susumu also admits that he actually doesn’t like music and drawing, and he decides to take a break before returning to practice. From Susumu, Haru then learns about Sanji’s transfer to Kyoto next month. Haru wonders if Tae already thanked Sanji for last time, and since Susumu still doesn’t know about what actually happened, Haru finally tells him everything.
Meanwhile, Sanji suddenly sneezes (because Haru and Susumu are talking about him LOL) in front of Tae in Ginza. Tae rages that he’s being impolite to her, but she’s surprised when Sanji mentions about his transfer. Since Sanji is going away, Tae says she’ll inform her parents that they “broke up” lol. Sanji responds with “You haven’t told them yet? ( ಠ_ಠ )”, and Tae blushes as she goes “I’m busy you know! Not to mention I had to take care of Haru too.” Upon hearing this, Sanji asks if Tae often talks to Hideo. When Tae says she does since they’re workmates, Sanji warns her to be careful of Hideo. He can’t tell her the reason, and she wonders if Hideo did something wrong.
July 18
After spending the last three days practicing nonstop, it’s time for the brothers to perform their orchestra today. Fumiko is worried since Susumu hates playing music, and she tells Haru that even though Susumu loves reading novels, he actually hates watching movies. Both Haru and Fumiko have nothing to worry about though, because the brothers’ performance tonight turns out to be really impressive — even for Genichirou and Sanae. Fumiko is admiring the orchestra when Genichirou comes to talk to her, saying his sons seem to be getting along really well this year. Fumiko smiles and says they’re brothers after all, and the mothers are starting to share a similar relationship even though they’re not related by blood. She’s glad to come to watch their performance tonight, since this is probably her only chance to see Susumu playing a musical instrument.
July 20
When Susumu comes to visit Fumiko, she’s still really excited about his amazing performance. Susumu is completely exhausted after the music festival though, and he’s still sleepy since he barely slept during the practice days. Fumiko asks if anything changes after Haru became his personal maid, and Susumu answers he’s not really sure, but he does know that he wants to protect Haru so she won’t get in danger again. He’s also planning to catch the culprit who shot her, though he still doesn’t know what he’s going to do with the culprit later. Just like Susumu, Fumiko also finds it weird that Sanji is transferring next month. Susumu is wondering if Sanji got transferred because of what happened with Tae.. and so the story spreads to Fumiko lol.
In the evening, Haru welcomes Susumu back when he comes home from work. As they walk to his room, Susumu tells Haru that he’s been thinking of Fumiko’s question, and he’s starting to realize that Haru is an important person to him. He blushes saying he doesn’t want her to get into danger anymore, and his heart keeps telling him to treasure her. ||萌||ョ´∀`。)萌えぇ～↑ Haru is worried when Susumu says he wants to find the person who shot her and Mamoru, but Susumu promises to catch him no matter what. He’s a police, and protecting his important person is a part of his duty. After walking into his room, Susumu asks Haru to take a kimono from the shelf. Haru apologized saying she can’t reach that high, and Susumu feels really bad upon realizing that her shoulder is still wounded. When Haru leaves to prepare dinner for him, and Susumu tells himself to do his best for her sake.
July 23
After getting Chitomi’s permission, Susumu takes Haru to the beach to celebrate her recovery. He runs into Hiroshi near the entrance, and despite his attempt to escape…
Hiroshi: “Ah, Susumu. Where are you going?”
Susumu: “Oh, um.. well..”
Hiroshi: “How suspicious.. You’re not going on a date with Haru-kichi right? Right!?”
Susumu: “Eh!? W-Why is he so sharp when it comes to this..”
Shigeru: “Hiroshi~ the fan in my room broke~ …what’s wrong?”
Susumu: “N-No, nothing! U-Um, it’d be better if you go back inside..”
Haru: “Susumu-sama! I’m sorry to keep you waiting!”
Susumu: “…aah…” (´・ω・`)
Hiroshi: “So it’s a date after all! How mean! It’s so sly even though she’s your personal maid!”
Shigeru: “W-What? Date? Susumu? Hohooo! We have to come along too!”
Susumu: “Why!?”
Mamoru: “Oi, fifth son! The fan you made– ..w-what’s happening?”
Susumu: “Mimori-san is busy with writing right!? You should go back inside!”
Shigeru: “Oh no you don’t. Susumu is going on a date with Haru. Where are you going?”
Susumu: “Just leave us alone already!”
Haru: “Susumu-sama is taking me to the beach.”
Susumu: “…aah…” (´・ω・`)
THE END. For Susumu’s date plan, anyway.
While Haru is excited upon arriving at the beach, Susumu sadly goes “…why Tadashi nii-san too..” beside her. Yes, Tadashi and Mamoru actually join the beach trip in this route. xD As if that’s not enough for poor Susumu, his brothers are keeping Haru busy with their orders too. She tells him to join his brothers for a swim, and he wonders why she wanted to come to the beach. Since Masashi is busy making something on the sand, Tadashi comes to see what he makes — a sand miniature of Teito. Masashi proudly points a location in the miniature saying it’s a cursed spot, and he’s going to kill them in that location. The first victims would be Isami, Hiroshi and Mamoru, so Tadashi’s turn will come after they died. Tadashi smiles saying it’s a really dangerous creation, and he slips on purpose to destroy Masahi’s masterpiece.. which causes the latter to go “y-you.. I’ll kill you first, Tadashi!!” ﾌﾟｯ(※థэథ)∵.*.∵
On the other side of the beach, Shigeru clings to Susumu and asks “so what are you planning by taking her here? (。-∀-)ﾆﾋｯ♪” lol. Susumu says he only wants to take Haru on a recreation trip, since she has just recovered recently. When Isami drags everyone from a swimming race towards a really far cliff, Susumu decides to leave his brothers and goes to see Haru instead. When Susumu asks why she wants to visit the beach, Haru answers it’s because she won’t be able to see the beach again next year. She really loves living in Teito, since she can see a lot of new, exciting things here.. though she will have to leave to get married one day. Susumu then says “If it’s me, I’ll take you wherever you like. Even if we live in a mountain village, I want to do everything I can for you.”, and he sadly wonders what marriage really means. For Haru, marriage is something she needs to do for her family, but she admits that she actually wants to marry someone she truly loves.
Just then a huge wave suddenly comes to splash Haru, and she falls down onto the sand. At first Susumu holds out his hand to help her stand, but he suddenly blushes, panicks and looks away.. because Haru’s clothes turn transparent thanks to the wave. (*ﾉ∀ﾉ)ｲﾔﾝ Hiroshi also comes to see what happened to Haru, but Shigeru quickly drags him away saying this isn’t for kids LOL. As Haru takes Susumu’s hand and stands up, he keeps telling her “I-I-I’m not seeing anything!” so much she’s starting to think he actually did see something. xD Then he runs off to grab some clothes to cover her body. Y⌒Y⌒Y⌒Y⌒Y⌒Y⌒(。A。)ｱﾋｬﾋｬﾋｬﾋｬ!!
July 27
Susumu meets up with Sanji in Ginza today, and he invites Sanji to come to the mansion on the 31st. Sanji will start working in Kyoto from August 7, and he’s going to live alone in the Tokkou division’s dormitory. His parents were actually against the transfer, but they can’t do anything since it’s an order from above. Just then they notice Haru walking out of the hospital, and for some reason she looks really sad. Susumu asks her about this when he returns home later, and Haru says it’s only because she has to take regular check-ups for a little longer. Susumu thinks he’s worrying too much, but later on he notices that Haru is acting strange. He knows she loves reading novels too, so he finds it weird when she refuses his recommendation and tries to leave instead. Before Haru could run away, Susumu grabs her hand and asks if she’s hiding something from him. After asking Susumu not to tell Chitomi, Haru finally explains that the wound caused a fatal effect on her nerve system — she can’t lift her left arm anymore. Earlier she refused his novel recommendation because she couldn’t reach the shelf. While the doctors said she might be able to recover through rehabilitation, there’s no guarantee that her left arm can return to its original state.
Haru knows that she won’t be able to do her job properly with her left arm, but she wants to keep working.. and that’s why she kept quiet about this. Haru apologized for hiding such an important thing from Susumu, but Susumu says he won’t fire Haru just because of something like this. In fact, he won’t ever remove her as his personal maid. He promises to keep this a secret from Chitomi, and he asks her to tell him whenever she needs help. After telling Haru about Sanji’s visit on the 31st, Susumu asks if she’ll receive a matchmaking next month. When Haru says the matchmaking probably will come during summer break, Susumu admits that he actually wants to stop her marriage if possible.. even though they both know it’s impossible.
July 31
After passing the exam, Haru goes to report the result to Susumu — who gets so worried he couldn’t sleep at all last night. (๑´ლ`๑)♡ When Sanji comes to the mansion at night, Haru and Susumu guide him to the dining hall. He’s wondering where Tae is, but Haru says she’s busy with other work right now. However, Tae comes to help serving their dinner after that. Sanji is surprised to see her, but she’s still being as thorny as usual. Even though Sanji is a guest lol. Susumu then asks what happened to their fake engagement, and Tae says she already sent a letter to her parents informing she “broke up” with Sanji. After Tae excuses herself, Susumu says “I think Sanji and Tae-san look good together”, but Sanji only answers with “you must be joking ( ಠ_ಠ )” lol.
Late at night, Sanji goes to the garden to get some fresh air. Before he could go inside to call Susumu, suddenly Hideo appears and asks if he drank too much tonight. Sanji then tells Hideo that he’s going to move to Kyoto tomorrow, and Hideo wonders if it’s necessary to go that far just to escape. When Sanji says it’s necessary, Hideo realized that Mamoru must have used his connections to prepare this “reward” for Sanji. Hideo then admits that he wasn’t planning to shoot twice back on the grand opening, but they’re startled when Haru suddenly appears and asks what they’re talking about. They try to stop her from reporting to Susumu, but it’s too late since Susumu soon comes looking for Sanji. Knowing they can’t escape anymore, Hideo finally decides to drop his act and reveal everything. However, he protects Sanji’s secret by saying he threatened Sanji too keep quiet or else he’ll kill Susumu.
Hideo then says Susumu should ask Genichirou if he wants to know more, but his confession has just switched on the dark side in Susumu. Now that he finally found the culprit who shot Haru, Susumu grabs Hideo’s collar saying he’s going to kill him right now.. and he doesn’t let go until Haru finally slaps him across the face — asking him to open his eyes. Susumu’s rage isn’t gone yet though, and he starts strangling Haru until Sanji yells at him to look carefully at the person he’s attacking. This finally opens Susumu’s eyes, but Haru is beyond terrified and cries at Tae’s arms when she comes to see what’s happening. Susumu stares in disbelief at what he’s just done, while Sanji only remains silent beside him.
Meanwhile, Heisuke reports what just happened to Genichirou. He’s worried since Hideo said Genichirou’s name in front of Susumu, but Genichirou says it’s still too early to kill Hideo. They should let him be for now, because he still has one last job for Hideo to do.
August 1
During the morning assembly, Chitomi informs everyone that Hideo has quit due to an urgent reason. Chitomi already heard about what happened last night, and knowing that Haru feels really scared after seeing Susumu’s rage, she says this isn’t the first time Susumu snapped. Back when Susumu was 12, Genichirou received the news that Kazue has died. Genichirou knew that Mamoru would hate Susumu the most, because the fourth son is supposed to be him and not Susumu. Besides, Kazue and Fumiko are both commoners. Just like what Fumiko said before, Genichirou only wanted a son from a commoner background — it doesn’t have to be her and Susumu. Genichirou and Heisuke didn’t notice that Susumu was listening to their conversation from outside, and he was already in rage mode when they walk out of the room. Before any of them could even react, Susumu stabbed Genichirou’s leg with a knife.
When Chitomi came to see what happened, she noticed that Susumu’s eyes were “blank”. He didn’t even react to anyone’s voices, and he only stood still holding the bloodied knife until he eventually regained his senses later. Fumiko was really sad upon learning about the incident, and that’s when she started teaching Susumu to be kind to people. Especially to women. Back then Chitomi didn’t know why Fumiko put an emphasis on women, but she understands after seeing what happened to Haru last night. If Haru gets hurt because of him, Susumu won’t be able to take back what he did. Even though Haru was scared last night, today she decides to go and talk to Susumu directly. She’s his personal maid after all.
Haru goes to visit Susumu’s room after that, and she finds him drowning in guilt inside. All that he wanted to do is to protect Haru, but he ended up hurting her instead. If Sanji didn’t stop him, Haru might really die in his hands. Knowing that Haru is scared of him, Susumu tells her to go back to her hometown — he doesn’t need a personal maid anymore. Haru is surprised to hear this dismissal, but she says she understands and leaves. Meanwhile, Hideo is now staying in Kisuke’s apartment. Kisuke notices that Genichirou’s men are lurking outside looking for Hideo, and it’s just a matter of time before they find out that he’s here.
August 5
At noon, Kisuke runs into Mamoru in Ginza. Mamoru’s editor told him about an upcoming ball in the Miyanomori mansion, and Kisuke confirms that it’s true.. though he can’t say anything right now. Before Kisuke leaves, Mamoru notices that Genichirou’s men are spying on Kisuke. He asks if Kisuke is hiding something, and Kisuke sighs before eventually admitting that Hideo is now living with him. He didn’t want to hide things from Genichirou, but he ends up keeping it a secret to protect Hideo’s safety.
Back in the mansion, Susumu still won’t come out of his room. During dinner, the brothers are discussing about what Genichirou is expecting from Susumu. Isami says even soldiers can’t erase their feelings completely, and yet Susumu can attack Genichirou and even Haru without showing any emotions. They all want to return Susumu to his normal self, and Masashi says they have to make it quick. Summer break is drawing closer, and Haru might have to leave to marry someone else while Susumu is still spacing out in his room. Just then Mamoru comes in to inform them about Hideo’s location, and he finally explains the meaning behind his plan back in the grand opening day. Mamoru tried to attack Kayama to see his importance to Genichirou, and from the result, they can conclude that Genichirou is protecting Kayama because they’re planning to do something together.
At the same time, Tae is telling Haru to cheer up and get her act together. Fearing for Haru’s safety, Tae admits she’s glad that Haru got removed from her position as Susumu’s personal maid.. but Haru just can’t feel the same. While Tae finds it almost impossible to forgive Hideo, Haru says she can’t hate Hideo like Susumu does. Later on, Tae receives a phone call from Sanji in Kyoto. He asks if he can talk to Susumu, but Tae tells him Susumu won’t come out of his room at all. Sanji feels guilty upon learning about what happened to Susumu and Hideo, but when Tae says he can’t do anything to fix this situation, Sanji admits it’s true since he already escaped far, far away from Teito. Sanji then says he’ll call again later, and Tae wonders what the heck is Sanji doing. He’s Susumu’s best friend, and Susumu might need him during these hard times.
August 6
When Fumiko learns about what happened, she explains that Susumu also locked himself up in his room after stabbing Genichirou in the past. Back then Fumiko didn’t know what to do, but right now she knows she needs to act fast. Haru might receive a matchmaking during summer break, and Susumu will be sad if Haru already got engaged by the time he returns to normal. Haru isn’t sure about that since she’s no longer Susumu’s personal maid, but Fumiko asks her to understand that Susumu didn’t remove her because he wants to. In any case, Fumiko and the brothers think they need a trigger to bring Susumu back to normal. Since Mamoru knows Hideo’s whereabouts, eventually they decide to use Hideo as the trigger. Of course Susumu might turn violent again upon seeing Hideo, so Isami says he’ll stop Susumu when things get dangerous.
That night, Haru comes to visit Susumu with a handmade present — a pair of wooden charms. She was actually planning to give it to both Susumu and Sanji, because she recently learned that people keep half of something paired when they’re apart and hoping to be reunited again someday. Haru says she did her best to make them for Susumu and Sanji, but sadly Susumu only says he doesn’t need these charms because he won’t ever see Sanji anymore. Susumu doesn’t think he has the right to have anything, and that includes having a friend or a personal maid. Even though Susumu doesn’t understand himself, Haru says she can understand him a little from the time they spent together. She will never forget the days he spent with her in the hospital too. Before leaving, Haru finally tells Susumu that she’s going home next week.
August 12
After the morning assembly, Tae informs Haru that she received a telegram from Sanji. He’s going to visit Susumu tomorrow, so Tae is planning to stay and watch over Susumu as well. Since Susumu already comes out of his room recently, at noon Haru tries to tell him that she’s going home tonight. Just then Chitomi suddenly appears and asks her to call the doctor, since Genichirou has just collapsed earlier. Susumu still hasn’t returned to normal, but he’s showing some thin, broken reactions and goes to see Genichirou’s condition directly. Even though he’s clearly not alright, Genichirou refuses to visit the hospital to avoid any unnecessary rumors. The word “hospital” rings a bell in Susumu’s mind, and the next second.. he suddenly returns to his normal self. He tries to carry Genichirou to the hospital, but Genichirou says he’s NOT going to the hospital and that’s final. This is an order, and he’s going to kill them if they keep disobeying him. Susumu finally gives up saying he understands, but he asks Genichirou to go to the hospital after everything calms down.
Now that he’s finally back to is normal self, Susumu wonders what he’s been doing in the last few days. Haru says she feels useless for not being able to do anything, and Susumu admits he didn’t attack Hideo because of hatred. He’s been thinking about what to do once he finds the person who shot Haru, but instead of seizing Hideo like a normal police would do, he ends up turning violent instead. Susumu then explains that he always thought of Genichirou as his father despite the latter’s attitude, so he felt betrayed when Genichirou said “anyone would do as long as he’s a commoner’s son”. That was the reason he stabbed Genichirou in the past, though he can’t remember what exactly happened. He can’t remember strangling Hideo and Haru, and he doesn’t even remember removing Haru from her position as his personal maid. Haru then says Susumu’s best friend will come to Teito tomorrow, and she excuses herself after saying “I’m glad I had the chance to serve Susumu-sama before summer break. Now I can go home without any regrets.”
August 13
When Hiroshi finds Susumu in the dining hall today, he’s really happy to see Susumu back to his normal self. Mamoru was planning to use Hideo as the trigger, but in the end he cancelled the plan knowing it probably won’t really change anything. Susumu might turn violent again if something happens in the future, and he’s well aware of this fact too. From the documents Mamoru gave them, the brothers already figured out that Genichirou is trying to buy Teito Touei Electricity from Kayama. Since Susumu doesn’t know anything yet, the brothers then explain that Genichirou will probably kill Kayama in the future.. and since he’s planning to retire soon, the blame will go to Miyanomori’s next head instead. However, there might be some changes after Genichirou collapsed yesterday. Rumors will spread and Kayama will find out eventually.
At noon, Sanji comes to the mansion and is relieved upon seeing Susumu back to normal. Tae says they already prepared lunch for him, but Sanji refuses to enter the mansion because he doesn’t want to disturb Genichirou and the brothers. When Sanji asks about Haru, Tae says she already went home last night. She was planning to go with Haru too, but her plans were ruined thanks to a certain someone lol. Sanji then says “I thought you’re staying because you want to see me”, which causes Tae to blush and replies with “D-Don’t say such a stupid thing! I’m only staying to help Chitomi-san! It’s not for you!” (。-∀-)ﾆﾋｯ♪ Susumu laughs saying they get along really well, and Sanji says Susumu’s head must have turned weird after staying in his room for so long lol.
Tae: “What do you wanna do? If you’re not coming inside, I’m going to Haru’s hometown.”
Sanji: “What for?”
Tae: “To see how her matchmaking will go.”
Sanji: “Well, normally girls her age already got married.”
Sanji: “It’s forever impossible for a twisted one like you though, right?”
Tae: “Oh? Isn’t it also impossible for you?”
Tae: “You’re from Sumida’s branch family and got demoted too.”
Tae: “You absolutely don’t fulfill any criterias for marriage.”
Sanji: “I don’t want to hear that coming from you!!” (╯ ಠ益ಠ ）╯︵ ┻━┻
Rather than Sanji and Tae’s relationship, right now Susumu is more concerned about Haru’s matchmaking. He asks if Haru is going to meet the man directly, and Tae says most likely she will. Haru only goes home twice a year, so if she doesn’t meet the man during summer break, they will have to wait until winter break to meet up. Tae leaves after telling Sanji to go away, and when Sanji turns around to ask if Susumu heard that, Susumu replies with “I’m going to Haru’s hometown”. .｡ﾟ+.ヽ(*´∀`*)ﾉﾟ+.ﾟ。.
August 14
Upon arriving in Haru’s hometown, Sanji keeps complaining since his back, shoulders and butt hurts so much. ﾌﾟｯ(※థэథ)∵.*.∵ Tae and him keep bickering along the way to Oboro-tei, but they’re surprised to see the inn looking unbelievanly quiet. It turns out that Oboro-tei is already closed for business, but they have no other choice since it’s the closest inn to Haru’s house. Despite Tae’s protests, Sanji takes Susumu into the inn saying they’ll ask the owner to let them stay. Tae is really surprised when Sanji starts calling her “Tae” without any suffix, but Sanji just walks away saying they shouldn’t make a fuss over trivial things. xD
After leaving Sanji and Susumu, Tae goes over to stay in Haru’s house. From Haru, she learns that the matchmaking will take place tomorrow. While Tae is telling Haru about what happened after she left the mansion, Sanji manages to convince Oboro-tei’s owner to let them stay for a few days. They have to get their own meals since the owner didn’t cook anything for guests, and Susumu says it’d be lonely if the inn really closes down. At night, Tae takes Haru to meet Susumu in Oboro-tei. Haru doesn’t know what to say to Susumu, but Tae says she should at least greet him — he came all the way here just for her. Tae doesn’t know Susumu’s reason for coming here, and Haru should find the answer from Susumu himself. Noticing that Haru is still concerned about Susumu’s rage, Tae tells her to stop worrying about that already. It’s an issue that Susumu has to resolve by himself.
When they reach Oboro-tei, Sanji and Tae start bickering again while Susumu takes Haru for a walk nearby. After telling Susumu that the matchmaking is scheduled for tomorrow, Haru asks why he came all the way here. Susumu admits that he doesn’t understand either, but he feels lonely upon learning about her matchmaking. It’s similar to how he felt when Sanji transferred away, but it’s a little different. Even though Haru isn’t his personal maid anymore, Susumu still feels lonely if she’s leaving him behind. After spending more than a week thinking alone in his room, Susumu realized that he actually doesn’t feel attached to other people — to Genichirou, Fumiko, his brothers, and even Haru. They’re all important to him, but he doesn’t truly love them from his heart. It’s more like a “job” he needs to do. Susumu knows that he’s not a kind person and probably doesn’t have any rights to become a police, but he wants to learn more about himself and accept everything. Before saying goodbye, Susumu then asks Haru to come and report to him after the matchmaking is over. He will be waiting for her at the inn.
August 15
Before the matchmaking starts, Haru’s father mentions that they’re going to see the son of the Onoda family today, but Haru doesn’t pick up the hint until Hideo’s father comes to her house. He actually comes here to apologize today, because Hideo still hasn’t returned home. Hideo’s father already informed Hideo about the matchmaking, but they suddenly lost contact because Hideo is obviously still hiding in Teito right now. Since Hideo isn’t present for the matchmaking, both families have no choice but to cancel everything. When Tae informs Sanji and Susumu about this later, Sanji notices that Susumu seems unsure about everything. Sanji then reminds Susumu that he came here because he’s bothered by Haru’s matchmaking, so he tells Susumu to go and see Haru already. He might feel complicated upon learning about what happened to Hideo, but he should think about Haru’s feelings too.
Following Sanji’s advice, Susumu goes to Haru’s house and runs into her on the way. While Susumu thinks Hideo’s absence solved Haru’s matchmaking issue, Haru knows the villagers will start gossiping about her family. Her mother told her not to worry, but she just can’t help it because she has little sisters too. Since Hideo’s father said he doesn’t want to cause them anymore problems, it doesn’t seem like Haru will receive any matchmakings in the meantime. Knowing Susumu’s personality, Haru thinks he will be worried about her future, so she finds it surprising when he only smiles saying “I’m glad to hear that.” However, Susumu isn’t amused when Haru admits that she’s worried about Hideo. When Haru says she can’t hate Hideo no matter what, Susumu says he doesn’t want to rage and put her in danger again. He still can’t understand himself, but he knows that he doesn’t want to repeat the same mistake. Susumu thinks it’s weird that he’s trying to protect her despite not feeling attached to her, but then he asks Haru to become his personal maid again. Somehow Susumu feels that he needs Haru in order to discover himself.
August 16
Feeling that she can’t understand the current Susumu, Haru wonders if trying to understand her master was a mistake after all. Of course Tae thinks a maid’s duty is only to follow orders, so she says Haru should be satisfied that the brothers allow her to ask questions. Meanwhile, Sanji suddenly asks Susumu why they’re best friends. Susumu doesn’t think people need any reasons to be friends, but Sanji only answers there are times when those reasons become necessary. Susumu then says it’s probably because he gets along well with Sanji, and Sanji laughs saying it’s uncommon to find someone who can really get along with Susumu.. but he admits he had a good time during their trip here.
Before Tae walks back to Haru’s home at night, Sanji suddenly tells her that he didn’t become a police because he wanted to. Tae then asks if he became one based on someone’s order, but she’s surprised when Sanji says yes. Sanji also tells her that he won’t ever see Susumu, Haru and her anymore, and he doesn’t have any intentions to see them in the future. He says Tae should stop being stubborn and get married already since her cooking tastes pretty good, but Tae only replies with “I hope you die in the gutter in Kyoto! Goodbye!” and runs off.
August 17
Today Haru is going back to Teito with Susumu and Tae, while Sanji returns to Kyoto since he has to return to work tomorrow. Tae notices that while Susumu became more coercive lately, Haru also became more submissive.. but she doesn’t think it’s a problem because maids have to act submissive anyway. Susumu gives Haru his room key again before they ride the train, and he finds it odd that she keeps answering with short sentences instead of being talkative as usual. Susumu then asks if there’s something wrong with him, but before Haru could say anything, suddenly they see Tae running away in tears with Sanji chasing after her. Haru is worried about them, but Susumu tells her to leave them alone for now. Tae remains silent on their way back to Teito, while Sanji only says he’ll explain everything to Susumu if they ever meet again someday. Susumu can tell what happened between them though, but when he offers to punch Sanji later, Tae says she already slapped him earlier.
August 20
Ever since Susumu returns from Haru’s hometown, Shigeru and Hiroshi keep sulking because he didn’t take them along lol. Tadashi and Mamoru are like “so you went there to witness her matchmaking fail and assign her as your personal maid again? what a great scenario ( ≖‿≖)”, and Susumu quickly says he wasn’t planning something like that. xD For now they should pay attention to the upcoming ball though, since it’s an event to celebrate Genichirou’s successful purchase of Teito Touei Electricity. That, and they also have to think about who’s going to take the head position from Genichirou. It’s important, because whoever inherits the position will become Genichirou’s scapegoat.
Meanwhile, Tae finally tells Haru what happened between her and Sanji. While Haru went to talk to Susumu three days ago, Tae actually asked Sanji why he warned her to be careful of Hideo before. Since Sanji only remained silent, Tae figured out it must be because he actually knew Hideo all along. Sanji then asked her to shut up, but Tae got pissed and asked what he’s doing behind their backs. Eventually Sanji said he warned her to be careful because he was worried about her, but since Tae kept screaming and resisting when Sanji held her hand.. he kissed her and she slapped him before running away in tears. Haru then goes to tell Susumu about this, and he sighs saying it’s just as expected. It was Tae’s first kiss, so the next time Sanji visits Teito again, Susumu says he’ll make sure Sanji apologizes to Tae.
August 27
Today is the ball Genichirou holds for Kayama, and Haru helps Susumu dressing up before the event starts. She notices that his tuxedo is a little torn, and she goes to get the sewing kit from the shelf. Forgetting about her damaged left arm, Haru uses it to reach the box and winces in pain. Susumu feels really bad because he forgot too, so he takes the sewing kit and hands it to Haru. Instead of being more responsive like she used to be, Haru simply says “thank you” and starts sewing Susumu’s torn suit. Susumu is clearly bothered by this, and after a short silence, he admits he feels happy that Hideo didn’t come to the matchmaking. Haru admits that she’s actually worried about her family, especially because she knows she won’t receive any matchmakings anymore. When Susumu asks if there’s a problem with her family, Haru finally realized that Susumu doesn’t understand because he has absolutely zero interest towards her family. Thinking Susumu probably won’t understand even if she explains, Haru says it’s nothing and says they should go to the hall now.
During the ball, Susumu leaves the hall saying he’s got something to do. Shigeru also notices that Susumu became much more assertive after returning from Haru’s hometown, and Hiroshi panicks thinking something might have happened between them lol. Tadashi says they have no time for this though, because recently they figured out that Genichirou’s real objective is to obtain the two railway companies under Teito Touei Electricity. Meanwhile, Susumu goes to talk to Haru instead of dancing like his brothers. He admits that he’s missing something, but he can’t point out what is it. He wants to accept and fix his flaws too — like losing control and turning violent when he rages — and he feels that she might be able to help him understanding himself better. Susumu admits it’s just like he’s taking advantage of her, but Haru says she’s willing to do anything to help him. When he asks if it’s because she’s his personal maid, she answers that’s how she does her job.. and because she’s doing it for him. This reminds Haru that she’s been forgetting an important thing lately — she needs to put her heart into work.
August 31
Based on Susumu’s request, Haru goes to pick him up from work at night. She wonders if he needs something from her, but Susumu says he doesn’t need anything. He only wants to meet up with her in Ginza and go home together. Susumu notices that Haru is bringing a bunch of stuff, and she says she’s taking all the necessary things just in case he needs something — ranging from sewing kit to a shirt. ﾌﾟｯ(※థэథ)∵.*.∵ This is Haru’s first time visiting Ginza at night, and when she says she doesn’t know which shops are open, Susumu answers with “You don’t need to know right? You’re just a servant after all.” He also says it’s not good to go out with a servant at night, but he chuckles when Haru turns quiet and stiffly says she’ll go to prepare the car. Susumu is actually just testing her reaction, and he asks her to show more emotions when they’re alone — just like how she used to be. Haru then admits that sometimes she forgot her initial resolution, and she starts comparing her current herself to last year.. until she realized that Susumu actually isn’t listening at all, even though he says otherwise. As he chases Haru towards the car, Susumu wonders how did Haru find out that he’s not paying attention lol.
September 1
After the morning assembly, Chitomi hands Haru a letter from her family. Haru’s parents keep telling her not to worry, but it only makes her worry even more. Hideo still hasn’t returned, and they didn’t mention anything about her little sisters. She doesn’t know what kind of rumors are spreading in her hometown, so she can only hope that her family aren’t having a hard time. At night, Haru asks Susumu for a permission to visit her hometown again. She tells him about the letter, but just like before, Susumu doesn’t get why she needs to go home. The letter tells her not to worry, so he thinks going home because of her “baseless worries” is a selfish reason. Haru sadly says she understands, but Susumu then laughs and admits it was only a lie to test her reaction again — he wants her to show her emotions after all. He says he’s not interested in her family, but it’s different when it comes to her. Susumu asks Haru to return as soon as possible, and Haru promises to spend only one night with her family. He notices that she looks really happy to go home, and he wonders about how happiness feels like.
September 10
When Susumu goes out to buy a present for Hiroshi, he runs into Kisuke in Ginza. Kisuke asks him about Genichirou’s condition, since he doesn’t notice any change at all. If anything, the old man became much sharper instead. Noticing that Susumu is curious about Hideo, Kisuke says Hideo already left his apartment quite a while ago. Hideo only left a farewell letter for him, and they have no idea where he is right now. Susumu then asks Kisuke to report to him if he finds Hideo and Kisuke agrees, but Kisuke also warns Susumu not to kill anyone. He’s not Mamoru who kills people to destroy Miyanomori, but if he loses control and accidentally kills someone, the result will be the same. Susumu knows that Kisuke is right, and in order to control his rage, he needs to find out the cause first.
That night, everyone celebrates Hiroshi’s birthday. Hiroshi gets excited when Susumu gives a strange device for his birthday present, but he instantly turns ( ಠ_ಠ ) when Masashi gives him a voodoo doll. Now he can curse people too. ﾌﾟｯ(※థэథ)∵.*.∵ Mamoru doesn’t give Hiroshi anything since he only came here to kill Genichirou, but when Susumu tells him not to act that way during Hiroshi’s birthday party, Mamoru admits it’s actually because he’s in no position to give presents to Hiroshi. However, he does have something for Susumu — a script of a short story. Mamoru modeled the protagonist after Susumu, and the story contains the reason why Mamoru wrote it just for him. Mamoru also notices that Sanji never told Susumu anything, but he knows Susumu will find out eventually. Or rather, Susumu has to learn the truth.
September 16
After discussing with Chitomi, Haru decided to go home today. Susumu keeps thinking about Haru at work, and he eventually leaves early saying he’s got something to do. Upon arriving in her hometown, Haru is welcomed by some ladies gossiping about her and her family — just as expected. They call her family “weird” for letting Haru continue working in Teito, and they think Haru’s little sisters will follow her footsteps in the future. Not only that, but they’re also acting really bitchy towards Haru when she walks by. When Haru returns home, she learns that the elder refuses to buy vegetables from her family. The elder is also planning to take the field away from them, so they just can’t stay in the village anymore. Even though Haru’s father says it’s not her fault that the last matchmaking got broken off, Haru keeps blaming herself for putting her family into this situation.
Late at night, someone comes knocking on the door.. and they’re surprised to see it’s Susumu. Haru asks why he came all the way here, and Susumu honestly admits it’s because he can’t stop thinking about her. Even at work, he kept wondering if Haru has reached her hometown safely. Susumu then asks if she’s glad to return home and learn the truth, and Haru answers she is.. because she doesn’t want to run away from reality. Everything would be much better if Hideo came to the matchmaking last month, but Susumu admits he doesn’t want Haru to get married and leave his side. Haru is surprised because Susumu “isn’t interested” in her, but he smiles saying he won’t go this far just for a maid he’s not interested in — she holds a special place in his heart. Sadly, Haru responds to Susumu’s confession by saying “I’m going to quit my job” instead. (´・ω・`) Haru keeps blaming herself for refusing the matchmaking last year, and she doesn’t stop until Susumu hugs her saying everything will be okay. She’s not alone. He’s going to think of a solution and make sure she can continue working.
After Susumu lets her go, Haru asks where he’s staying at tonight. He finally realized that he didn’t make any inn reservations, and he ends up spending the night in Haru’s house lol.
September 17
When Susumu wakes up in the morning, Haru’s little sisters guide him to the bathroom. Haru is listening to their conversation feeling all nervous, while her parents say they’re surprised to get sudden visits from both Haru and Susumu. It reminds them that the brothers came to stay in Oboro-tei last month, but the inn already closed down last month due to recession. Susumu also asked them to call the elder today, though they don’t know what kind of plan Susumu has in mind. Haru is still feeling terrible, but her parents say this is a family problem and they should resolve it together. Haru cries and apologized to them, but she quickly wipes her tears when Susumu returns with her little sisters. They don’t have much to offer to Susumu, but he says he likes the warmth of Haru’s family. It’s something he can never have in the mansion.
After breakfast, Haru’s father takes the elder to see Susumu in their house. Since they don’t want to move away from the village, Susumu decides to buy the village’s field for them. The elder demands 1000 yen as the payment — which is ridiculously expensive — but Susumu agrees saying he’ll send the money later and even leaves his police handbook as a guarantee. Susumu also warns the elder to be fair and buy the vegetables from them, or else he’s going to arrest him for intimidation. The elder finally signs the contract stating he’s handing the field to Susumu, but since he’s still acting hostile towards them, Susumu quietly whispers to him in a really low voice: “Remember, you won’t be able to live if you oppose Miyanomori.” Then he returns to normal and politely thanks the elder.
Even though Haru feels grateful that Susumu saved her family, she admits she can’t be happy. She doesn’t understand why he’s willing to pay that much money just for her, not to mention he also says he’s going to use the money Genichirou gave him. It doesn’t change the fact that she feels indebted to him though, so she promises to do her best to serve him from now on.
September 21
Before their departure to Kyoto, Susumu remembers that he hasn’t read Mamoru’s short story and decides to bring the script along. He also informs Sanji that he’s going to Kyoto today, and he asks if Sanji can come to see him after Honjouin’s tea ceremony. Susumu says they need to talk about Tae, but Sanji quickly says they’ll get to that once Susumu arrives in Kyoto. From Sanji, Susumu also learns that Kayama is planning to hold a political party soon. He needs a lot of money to fund the event, so Sanji thinks Kayama is approaching Genichirou for this reason. After that, Susumu goes to the dining hall and finds his brothers discussing about Genichirou. Mamoru then reports that Genichirou merged the two railway companies into the Miyanomori Railway Company — with Kayama as the chairman. Based on Masashi’s analysis, they reach the conclusion that:
- Genichirou is using Kayama to raise their company’s value in the government’s eye.
- Genichirou is going to murder Kayama after that, and the blame will be pinned onto the new head once he retires.
- Genichirou is planning to escape overseas using the money, since he’s been building a big ship ever since last year.
When Shigeru mentions that Genichirou probably gave them 1000 yen each to lead them into this direction, Susumu goes “…ah (´・ω・`)” since he already used the money for Haru’s family. Isami forces him to spill the truth, and the obviously brothers go “huh..? (ﾟдﾟ ；)” when Susumu explains everything. Just then Chitomi comes to tell them to get into the car already, and when Susumu wonders if Haru is already in the car, Shigeru slaps his back saying “so dirty!” LOL. Since Haru is the only maid who comes to Kyoto with them, she has to carry all of their heavy belongings all the way to the Honjouin house. Susumu is worried about her arm, but she says it’s okay — it’s a part of her job as a maid.
September 22
Similar to Shigeru’s route, the brothers ended up having a drinking match last night. Isami was teaching Mamoru how to make tea properly, but chaos ensued when Mamoru started drinking. They all have blurry memories this morning, and Susumu has absolutely no idea why he was naked when he woke up. ヽ(*´ー`*)ﾉ After the tea ceremony, Susumu informs Haru that he already sent the money to the elder. Haru feels really bad because they can’t do anything for him in return, but Susumu says it’s okay because he only did what he wanted to do. Susumu knows that Genichirou will probably get angry, though he tells Haru not to worry. He also tells her that they’re going to see Sanji tonight, and he’s going to read Mamoru’s script until then.
However, Haru notices that Susumu has been acting strange ever since he finished reading the short story. They go out to see Sanji at night, but for some reason.. Susumu is carrying a gun with him. He remains silent as they walk through the streets, and when Haru asks him if there’s something wrong, he finally answers “Sanji has been deceiving me for a long time.” The script obviously reveals Sanji’s connection to Mamoru, and now Susumu is back in rage mode after learning everything. Feeling betrayed, Susumu then tells Haru that he’s going to kill Sanji tonight. Haru can do anything to stop him, but he won’t be able to guarantee her safety. The moment Sanji comes to meet them, Susumu takes out the gun and points it towards him.
When Susumu says he already learned everything from Mamoru himself, Sanji admits that he transferred to Kyoto to run away from Susumu. They were never “friends” to begin with — everything was a part of Mamoru’s plan.
Sanji then asks Susumu to shoot him already, but Haru suddenly jumps in to stop Susumu from killing him. Susumu doesn’t care and shoots anyway, but Haru still refuses to move away and continues shielding Sanji. Haru remembers that Susumu said he wants to fix this fatal flaw, so she won’t allow him to kill anyone. At first Susumu only responds by repeating “I’m going to kill Sanji” over and over again, but eventually he stops when Sanji tells him to open his eyes. He’s about to shoot someone important in his life. Haru also asks him to remember that he wants to accept himself, and when Susumu stops moving, Sanji finally snatches the gun from his hand. Haru loses her consciousness right after that, and Sanji drags Susumu along as he takes her to the hospital.
September 23
Haru wakes up in the Honjouin house today, and she finds both Susumu and Sanji in her room. Susumu says his brothers already went back to Teito earlier, while Sanji already covered up what actually happened from the police. He doesn’t have any connections yet though, so he had to use Miyanomori’s name to make sure they keep their mouths shut. Haru’s long hair has to be cut short because Susumu’s bullet teared off one of her braids, and he feels really guilty about everything. On the other hand, Sanji already explaind everything behind his betrayal to Susumu. He also said that he didn’t feel anything for deceiving Susumu at first, but he started to feel guilty as they spent more time together. Sanji also asked what he’s going to do about Haru, and Susumu wondered if he’s in a position to tell him anything — he also hurt Tae back in summer. Sanji clearly said he is, because this is an entirely different case. Susumu nearly killed Haru twice, and the guilt is now killing him.
Before they go back to Teito, Susumu sadly tells Haru this: “I didn’t assign you as my personal maid so you’ll get into danger like this. Please understand that.” Haru answers she believed he would turn back to normal, but Sanji thinks she’s being too reckless. Sanji then says he’s going to quit his job and start over from scratch.. but first, Sanji wants to find Hideo and ask why did Hideo protect his secret back then. After apologizing to Haru, Susumu then helps cutting her hair short and says he’s going to take responsibility forever. Even though Susumu and Sanji’s friendship was destroyed, Susumu says he wants to start over and be friends with him again someday. Sanji doesn’t think Susumu will be able to forgive his betrayal, but he smiles saying he’ll think about it.
September 30
By the time of the servants’ exam, both Haru and Tae already got used to the former’s short hairstyle. They also heard that Sanji is returning to Teito next month, since he’s quitting his job today. Just like the last exam, Susumu gets so worried he can’t sleep at all. He’s wandering in the hallway when Haru finds him, and he sighs with relief when she says she passed. Ever since they returned from Kyoto, everyone notices that Susumu has became a lot calmer. He would probably rage at Mamoru before, but now he “strangely” feels really calm. When Haru says the incident with Sanji brought a good result for Susumu, he shyly says it’s because of her. (๑´ლ`๑)♡ He’s planning to take responsibility by marrying her, and he’s going to inform Genichirou and Fumiko about this later.
Unfortunately, Haru takes this as Susumu taking responsibility for her own reckless actions. Chitomi knows both Haru and Susumu are feeling responsible for what happened in Kyoto, but for now they should focus on Genichirou’s movements first. He’s holding a ball to celebrate the birth of the Miyanomori Railway Company tomorrow, and even if Susumu tells him about his plan to marry Haru, most likely Genichirou won’t approve the idea.
October 1
During the ball, Mamoru informs his brothers that in the past, Kayama murdered the chairmen of the two railway companies under Teito Touei Electricity. Mamoru also asks if Susumu has told Genichirou about his plan to marry Haru, but Susumu blushes saying the subject can wait until tomorrow. However, Genichirou suddenly collapsed before giving his speech and has to be carried away to the hospital by Susumu. Haru is the one who prepares the car for them, and she reports this to Chitomi right after they leave the mansion. When Chitomi comes to visit the hospital later, she feels responsible for not realizing that Genichirou has been burning up with a high fever. She asks him to get some rest for now, and he laughs upon realizing that he never really took a break ever since he decided to take Miyanomori to the top.
October 2
When Fumiko learns that Genichirou is hospitalized, she’s really shocked. That, and because Chitomi also informs her about Susumu’s plan to marry Haru. After leaving Kisuke’s apartment, Hideo actually has been staying with Fumiko all along.. and Fumiko knows both of them have to talk to Susumu soon. While Tae is happy to hear Susumu’s plan to marry Haru, Haru herself feels really bad thinking she’s causing a lot of problems for Susumu. Tae says Haru just can’t refuse this offer, because receiving an order for marriage from her master is just the same as receiving an arranged matchmaking.
October 5
From Heisuke, Susumu finds out that Genichirou needs to stay in the hospital until they’re done examining his condition. Heisuke also says Genichirou was disappointed that Susumu used his 1000 yen to save Haru’s family, but he’s hinting that Genichirou is interested in Susumu’s plan to marry Haru. During Shigeru’s birthday celebration at night, Shigeru forces Susumu to tell them the plan in details. (。-∀-)ﾆﾋｯ♪ Aside from Shigeru, most of them aren’t pleased for different reasons:
Hiroshi: “You’re so mean! You cut off her hair too!” ← this is clearly jealousy ( ≖‿≖)
Isami: “You should be ashamed for marrying a maid!” ( ಠ益ಠ )
Tadashi: “You’re not thinking of taking care of her, right?” ( ಠ_ಠ )
Masashi: “Marriage as an apology? I don’t get it.” ( ≖_ゝ≖ )
Tadashi then says they should wait for Mamoru before starting any discussion, and Susumu goes to call Mamoru from his room. On the way, he meets Haru who informs him that Mamoru is currently writing since he’s being chased by the deadline. When Susumu asks if her family is doing well, Haru explains it might take quite a long time before they get used to the current situation. Even though the villagers already stopped intimidating her family, they’re now calling her family “Miyanomori’s spies” instead. ( ´_ゝ`) They’re afraid they might get reported to the Miyanomori family if something happens, so now everyone is avoiding her family. Haru doesn’t want to cause more problems for Susumu though, so she tells him they’re really grateful for his help. From now on they’re going to solve their own problems, so Susumu doesn’t have to worry. Haru excuses herself after that, and Susumu wonders if he did something wrong.
October 8
Haru runs into Fumiko in Ginza today, and Fumiko is surprised to see Haru’s short hair. Fumiko says she approves Susumu’s plan to marry Haru and asks if Genichirou said anything about this, but Haru only stays quiet before eventually excusing herself. Hideo, who was hiding in the shadows, notices that Haru looks really sad, and they can only wonder what happened to her. When Tae points out that she’s been looking really gloomy recently, Haru admits she can’t feel happy about Susumu’s plan to marry her. She hasn’t told her parents either, because she thinks Genichirou definitely won’t allow them to marry.
That night, Sanji returns to Teito and goes drinking with Susumu. When Susumu tells Sanji that he’s planning to marry Haru because he feels responsible, Sanji says he’s really a fool for not realizing the real reason. Haru threw herself into danger just to bring him back to normal, and he’s giving her the reward in the form of a marriage. Before thinking of marrying Haru, Susumu needs to do something to control his rage first. What would happen if Susumu tries to kill Haru again in the future? How would he take responsibility if that happens? If Susumu really cares about Haru, then he should listen to her opinion instead of forcing his wish onto her. Susumu asks if it’s bad for him to get married, but Sanji says he should think of the answer by himself. Sanji is now doing his best to find his own power, so Susumu also needs to think about what he wants to do from now on.
October 12
After days of examinations, Genichirou is diagnosed with a deadly cancer. He only has half a year to live, but he thinks it’s more than enough to continue his battle agaisnt Kayama and the government. Of course they won’t let this news reach Kayama’s ears, so Genichirou orders Heisuke to make sure the doctors stay quiet about his cancer. Plus, they have to keep this a secret from Chitomi, the brothers and everyone else.
At noon, Chitomi asks Haru to deliver lunch to Genichirou’s room because she needs to get his medicines first. Just outside of Genichirou’s room, Haru overhears Genichirou talking about his cancer to Heisuke.. and of course she just HAVE to drop the entire tray with a loud crashing sound. ( ಠ_ಠ ) When Heisuke drags her inside, Genichirou threatens her to keep quiet about this. If she ever tells other people, he’s going to kill her and her family. However, Genichirou suddenly gets a nice idea upon realizing that Haru is the maid Susumu wants to marry — they should make a bet. Genichirou will allow Susumu to marry Haru, and Haru wins the bet if she can endure everything without running away from the mansion. However, if Haru leaves the mansion before Genichirou dies, that means she lost and he’s going to take the field Susumu bought for her family. Haru can’t refuse since this is Genichirou she’s dealing with, and she’s not allowed to tell anyone about their bet.
Meanwhile, Sanji was looking at a detective agency in Ginza when Tae suddenly appears to rage at him. She’s pissed since he didn’t come to apologize to her upon arriving in Teito, and when he says he already apologized, she answers “it’s not enough!” lol. When Tae asks if he already heard about Susumu’s plan to marry Haru, Sanji admits he doesn’t think marrying just to take responsibility is the right thing to do. Tae says Sanji needs to take responsibility too for stealing her first kiss, but when he asks what can he do to get her forgiveness, she goes “I don’t know. Goodbye!” xD
October 15
When Susumu goes to talk to Genichirou today, Genichirou gives him the permission to marry Haru so easily it’s suspicious. Susumu is still confused about what to do from now on, since he doesn’t understand why he wants to marry her just to take responsibility. He knows their marriage will only worsen her family reputation back in the village too, but in the end marriage is still the conclusion he landed into. Susumu then goes to discuss about this with Haru, but she quickly excuses herself and runs away from him. This makes him realize that Sanji might be right — he’s forcing his own wish onto Haru. While Susumu is certain that he’s not doing this just to give Haru a reward, he’s can’t really point out the real reason.
At the same time in Ginza, Sanji is walking home to inform his parents about his new job when he suddenly bumps into Hideo. Yes, the man he’s been looking for lol. Hideo then drags Sanji to a quiet place, where he explains that he just left Fumiko’s house without saying anything. Hideo admits feels comfortable living with Fumiko, and Fumiko herself also wants him to stay, but he’s starting to forget his real objective because of the peaceful days he spent with her. When Sanji asks why Hideo didn’t reveal his connection to Mamoru back then, Hideo says it’s because he doesn’t want Susumu to kill anyone. Hideo also says that he didn’t shot Haru on purpose back in the grand opening. Of course he doesn’t know how to use a gun properly, so he shot twice because his first bullet only scratched Mamoru. Sanji then asks Hideo to come to Ginza again tomorrow night. He needs to explain everything to Susumu, Haru and Tae.. and then he has to apologize to them. Hideo wonders why Sanji calls Tae without any suffix, but Sanji only lets out a nervous laugh before running away lol.
That night, the brothers are celebrating Susumu’s marriage in Yasuda. Shigeru knows there’s a deeper reason behind the marriage, so he wants to squeeze the truth out of poor Susumu tonight. xD Susumu then explains that he wants to marry Haru to take responsibility of all the things he has done to her, but he admits he can’t understand why he chose marriage instead of other options. Susumu can’t feel happy about their marriage in this condition, and judging by Haru’s reaction earlier, he knows that she’s not happy either. Shigeru asks if Susumu himself wants to marry Haru, and Susumu admits he does.. but right now he just doesn’t know what to do. Eventually Shigeru gets irritated since Susumu is being unclear, so he orders more sake and shoves it down Susumu’s throat instead. ＼(^o^)／ Isami also orders Mamoru to hold the poor guy in place. Drunk or not, they’re going to get a clear answer from Susumu tonight lol.
As soon as Susumu starts his trademark drunk laughter, the brothers begin their interrogation.
ROUND 1
Shigeru: “Susumu-kun, what does marriage mean to you?”
Susumu: “Marriage.. M-Monopoly~! Don’t make me say such embarrasing things!!”
Mamoru: *gets kicked by Susumu* “Ouch! Y-you..!!”
Shigeru: “Hold him! I see, is marriage the only option to monopolize Haru?”
Susumu: “Well.. yes, but..”
Shigeru: “Haa.. I’m tired. Tadashi nii-san, change.”
ROUND 2
Tadashi: “Eh.. Susumu, do you want to get married?”
Susumu: “It’d be nice if I can marry her, but she’ll hate me for sure..”
Isami: “Why don’t you tell her how you truly feel?”
Susumu: “I can’t.. I don’t have the right to.. It was me who cut her hair.. but..”
Susumu: “How can I tell her I want to marry her~! She’ll reject me~! Wahahahaha!”
Shigeru: “Uh, this is so sad..” (´・ω・`)
Mamoru: “I feel sad just by hearing this..” (´・ω・`)
CONCLUSION
Isami: “We have to make sure this stays as a secret.”
Isami: “Tadashi, erase Susumu’s memories with more sake.”
Isami: “No, wait. We’re the ones who should have our memories erased.”
Shigeru: “Wait, no! We’ll forget it! Mamoru-kun will forget this too, right!?”
Mamoru: “It has nothing to do with m– Hey! I said I don’t need this!”
Isami: “Listen, we have to do this for Susumu!”
Tadashi: “I agree, but do we have to drink too?”
Mamoru: “I have a feeling that we WON’T forget even after getting drunk.”
Shigeru: “There’s one sake that will make us forget everything.”
..and so everyone downs the strongest sake in the world. ﾌﾟｯ(※థэథ)∵.*.∵
October 16
Just as expected, everyone aside from Hiroshi and Masashi has a terrible hangover today lol. The sake works wonders too, because they really can’t remember what Susumu told them last night. They get a splitting headache everytime they try to remember, and the only thing left in their minds was Susumu’s sad laughter. (○´ﾟωﾟ｀):;*.’:;ﾌﾞｯ When Haru comes to visit Susumu later, he apologized for causing more trouble for her. Haru was the one who carried Susumu to bed last night, and today she’s bringing some medicines to relieve his headache. Susumu then informs Haru that Sanji asked him to meet up in Fumiko’s house tonight, and he asks her to come along. When Haru hesitates to answer, Susumu sadly asks “you don’t want to marry me right?” He says he’ll talk to Genichirou about cancelling their marriage, and he apologized for forcing his wish on her. Haru admits that she actually feels happy about the marriage, but Susumu says they really should stop. Susumu isn’t sure if Haru should keep working as his personal maid either, so he’s going to discuss with Chitomi as well.
When Susumu goes to report this to Fumiko and Sanji, their words finally make him realize that he’s actually in love with Haru — that’s the real reason why he wants to marry her. They also call Hideo out to meet Susumu after that, and Fumiko explains that she picked him up from the streets a few weeks ago. Hideo says he actually wants to apologize to Haru first, but he can’t find any chance to see her at all. He can’t visit the mansion anymore, and Susumu can’t help either since things became so awkward between him and Haru. Sanji then informs them that he started working in a detective agency, though he’s still an assistant for now. As for Hideo, he’s planning to return to the acting world and start over with his career. Since everyone is moving on with their lives, all Susumu needs to do is take care of Haru and her issues.
Back in the mansion, Haru asks Tae if she’s going to be fired when Susumu removes her from his personal maid. Tae says she’ll just return to be a regular maid, but it might be hard because everyone might throw insults at her. When Haru replies with “I can’t quit no matter what”, Tae notices that there must be something else other than her relationship problems with Susumu. Sadly Haru can’t tell her anything because of Genichirou’s threat, and Tae leaves thinking Haru doesn’t trust her as a friend. Haru can only apologize to her, and she cries because everyday feels so painful for her to go through.
…why? Sorry Haru, but I just don’t get it. You’re the one who’s avoiding Susumu, and yet you say it’s painful. Then how about stop avoiding him already? ( ಠ_ಠ )
October 22
Today Chitomi announces a maple-leaf viewing event in the garden, but she notices that Haru isn’t present for the morning assembly. Tae then goes to check Haru’s room, and she finds her crying quietly inside. Haru only asks Tae to deliver her apology for Chitomi, and right after Tae leaves, Haru says she knows nothing will be solved if she keeps drowing in sorrow like this. Chitomi also goes to visit Haru’s room after that, but Haru doesn’t answer and blocks her door from inside. When Susumu learns about this from Chitomi later, he realized that what Haru is doing right now is just the same as what he did back in summer. Knowing that Susumu is the only one who cal pull Haru out of her misery, Chitomi provokes him on purpose until he runs off to see Haru in her room.
Since Haru is still staying silent like a lifeless doll, Susumu finally tells her how he truly feels. He was thinking of removing her as his personal maid because it feels painful for him too, but his feelings for her will never change. When Susumu says she’s an important person for him, Haru only apologized because she can’t tell him anything.. so Susumu tells her to believe that he will always be on her side. Even though he can’t show her any proof that he won’t rage again in the future, Susumu wants Haru to believe that his feelings are real — “because I love you.” Before Haru could reply, Susumu asks her to start working again tomorrow and leaves.
October 30
From Tae, Sanji learns that Susumu is doing well recently.. but Haru seems to be terrified of a certain something they don’t know. At first Tae thought Haru was only sad because Susumu cancelled their marriage, but now she knows there must be another reason. Sanji is about to say something to her, but he changes his mind saying he’ll wait until everything’s over. Back in the mansion, Susumu finally tells Genichirou that he’s cancelling his marriage to Haru. Susumu then asks why did Genichirou give them the permission to marry, and Genichirou answers it’s because Susumu is only the fourth son. Genichirou is only interested in him because he’s one of the pawns in the game, and also because he can kill people without showing emotions. In any case, they have to be prepared because Genichirou is throwing another ball for Kayama tomorrow.
Despite his initial plan to remove Haru, in the end Susumu decides to keep her as his personal maid. His feelings for her will always stay the same anyway, so he prefers having her by his side all the time. However, Susumu grows suspicious when Genichirou asks for Haru’s name when he walks past them in the hallway. After Genichirou leaves, Susumu turns to Haru and asks if Genichirou did something to her. Haru simply says it’s nothing and excuses herself, but this only confirms Susumu’s suspicion. She’s hiding her emotions perfectly, which means the reason must be something big.
At night, Susumu takes Haru to Ginza saying it’s an order. They see Hideo’s name on a theater poster, and Susumu explains what happened in Fumiko’s house two weeks ago. He didn’t tell Hideo about Haru’s damaged left arm, but Hideo said he wants to apologize to her if possible. Hideo only received a minor role in this play, but Haru is impressed after watching his acting. Since Susumu knows Hideo is now staying with his new friends, he says he can take Haru to see Hideo next time — if Genichirou doesn’t do anything malicious. Haru gets nervous when he mentions Genichirou’s name, so Susumu decides to get to the point: “Let’s get to the main subject. What did father say to you?”
Even though Haru refuses to say anything, her reaction is enough for Susumu to find out that Genichirou must have threatened to kill her family. Susumu then asks if Haru would feel better if she tells him everything, and when she says yes, he tries to get her to reveal the truth. It’s not because he wants to “take responsibility” — he’s just worried about her. Susumu grabs Haru’s hands and asks her to give him a clue about what actually happened, but sadly Haru brushes his hands away, apologized, and runs away from him. Susumu sighs and wonders if Haru doesn’t trust him, but suddenly Kisuke appears from the shadows saying it’s not true. He did some research since Genichirou never called him again, and he found out that Genichirou is planning to do something big tomorrow. Before leaving, Kisuke gives Susumu “Love’s Steps – October edition” so he can resolve his relationship problems with Haru lol.
October 31
Since Haru is keeping her lips sealed, Susumu is planning to ask Genichirou directly today. He joins his brothers in the hall after that, but Chitomi explains that Genichirou is currently talking to Kayama in a guest room. When Susumu tells them about what Kisuke said, Masashi says there might be something that forces Genichirou to hasten his plans. Mamoru then realized that Genichirou might be using Kayama’s crime list to force him to sell their railway company, and then he’ll murder Kayama as soon as the deal is over. Haru feels really worried upon seeing Susumu walking out of the hall, and despite Tae’s protests, she decides to follow him outside. If Susumu doesn’t return soon, Mamoru says he’ll go and check what’s happening.
Just as expected, Genichirou is threatening Kayama using a LOT of evidence — ranging from unpublished articles to pictures of his hitmen. Unlike Genichirou’s neat moves when it comes to murder, Kayama made a mistake by hiring amateur hitmen.. and that’s why Genichirou can find these incriminating evidence. Ignoring Kayama’s denial, Genichirou says he won’t send these evidence to the Tokkou division. Instead, he asks Kayama to sell their railway company tomorrow. At first Kayama doesn’t get why Genichirou is rushing the plan, but he suddenly realized that it must be because Genichirou is sick. This makes him feel extremely confident, and he laughs saying the Miyanomori Railway Company now completely belongs to him. Of course such words won’t affect Genichirou at all, especially because Genichirou is holding the evidence of Kayama’s crimes. He also demands 80% of the profit after selling the railway company, and he denies ever agreeting to split the profit in half.
Just then Susumu enters the guest room, and he points a gun towards Genichirou saying he wants to talk. Kayama is happy to see this because Genichirou already deceived him, and he says “Genichirou will die from an illness soon, and that’s why he’s threatening me with false evidence! Just die in your son’s hands before the illness takes your life!” Susumu is shocked since he only came here to set Haru free from Genichirou’s threat, but the moment he drops his guard down, Kayama suddenly snatches the gun from his hands and shoots Genichirou.
Meanwhile, Haru is waiting for Susumu by the entrance. She’s about to go back inside since he’s not coming out, but suddenly he walks out of the door and hugs her from behind — with bloodied hands. She asks if something happened, but he only says “it didn’t go that well.” He seems really tired, but when she says they should go back to his room, he says he wants to stay like this for a little longer. Susumu then says he’s a really selfish person who only wants to keep her to himself, but he can’t help it because he loves her that much. He asks how she feels towards him, and Haru finally admits that she loves him as well. She’s been avoiding him because she doesn’t want to cause any problems for him, and her attempts to grow stronger all ended in failures. Haru notices there’s something really wrong with Susumu because his words are starting to trail off, and the moment she turns around.. he falls onto the ground.
Ever since Susumu got hospitalized, Haru has been watching over him all day long. She didn’t sleep at all until Chitomi asks her to get some rest, and Chitomi asks her not to blame herself. Sometimes there are things you just don’t realize until it’s too late, and it goes the same for her and Genichirou too. Three days after Susumu’s surgery, Genichirou comes to visit him in the hospital. Susumu is still unconscious, so Genichirou hands something to Chitomi and asks her to give it to Susumu when he wakes up — it’s a present for shielding him from Kayama.
When Susumu finally regains his consciousness, his brothers say they were really surprised that night. They were wondering why Susumu and Genichirou didn’t come back to the hall, so Mamoru went to check and found Susumu lying unconscious with Haru crying beside him. In the end Susumu sacrificed himself to protect Genichirou, and now Genichirou won’t have to kill Kayama anymore since the police already captured him. To celebrate Susumu’s recovery, Shigeru and Isami take out a bottle of sake saying they should drink in the hospital! ＼(^o^)／ ..and Mamoru doesn’t mind even though their truce is supposed to end soon lol. Shigeru also prepares another drink for Hiroshi and Masashi, and when Masashi asks what is it, Shigeru answers “poison”. ﾌﾟｯ(※థэథ)∵.*.∵ They’re still forcing Susumu to drink when Haru finally comes to visit, and Shigeru drags everyone away so they won’t disturb them. (๑´ლ`๑)♡
After assuring Haru that he didn’t drink anything, Susumu shows her a medical certiciate and says it’s a present from Genichirou. He doesn’t know what Genichirou wants to say by giving him the certificate, but he wants to think of the meaning properly — though it might only be a reward for winning the game. Haru says she won’t be able to remain calm like Susumu if her father only has six months left to live, and Susumu saying it’s normal. It’s him and his brothers aren’t normal, so they can remain calm in this situation. Susumu then says he can leave the hospital in a few days, and there’s something he wants to do after he gets released. Several days later, Susumu finally leaves the hospital and meets up with Sanji — who’s planning to confess to Tae today. Sanji says Tae and him probably will marry earlier than Susumu and Haru, but Susumu smiles saying he doesn’t mind at all. Later on, Sanji gives Tae his room key. She says she doesn’t need it, trolls him by saying “I’m pregnant because you kissed me”, and runs away from him in the end, so Sanji has to chase her going “Hey! You forgot the key!” lol.
A few months later, Haru and Susumu are attending Tae and Sanji’s wedding. At first Susumu thought Tae would marry Sanji right away, but it took quite a long time since Tae kept refusing lol. Tae will keep working after marrying Sanji though, since she has became the head of the servants after Chitomi retires to look after Genichirou. Susumu then asks if Haru remembers that he wants to do something after leaving the hospital, and he finally says he wants to hear her feelings once again, because he couldn’t hear her words clearly on the night he got shot. Haru panicks since Susumu keeps leaning closer and they’re in public, but Susumu eventually says “I’ll hear your answer next time then” and kisses Haru. ||萌||ョ´∀`。)萌えぇ～↑
Extra Ending
In the extra ending, Susumu and Haru go to watch Hideo’s performance in winter. Hideo says he feels glad that Haru is willing to forgive him, but Haru says she was never angry to begin with. They also give Hideo some feedback to help him improve his acting, and he promises to act better when they come to see his performance again next time. Susumu takes Haru to visit Fumiko after that, and Fumiko is glad to see Haru’s hair growing longer. Hair is really important for women, so she says a “certain someone” was really mean to cut Haru’s long hair.. while Susumu begs them to drop the subject for now. xD When Fumiko asks why they come here today, Susumu finally proposes to Haru in front of Fumiko. (๑´ლ`๑)♡ Haru reluctantly asks if it’s an order, but Susumu quickly says it’s not — he only wants to hear how she really feels. When Haru finally accepts the proposal and asks Susumu to take care of her from now on, Fumiko lets out an excited scream beside them. (❤ฺ￫艸￩) She also tells them to start living in Susumu’s room, and she’s already looking forward to see their future child. xD
When they return to the mansion, Tae says she’s returning to Sanji’s place this weekend and asks Haru to cover her job during her absence. Haru is impressed that Tae can handle her job and marriage at the same time, but Tae tells her to get married to Susumu already. She’s really busy as the new head of the servants, but she’s willing to attend their wedding. ヽ(*´ー`*)ﾉ Later on, Susumu says he only wants to invite a few people to their wedding — a few people who know about Genichirou’s cancer. The reason is because Susumu wants Genichirou to come to their wedding ceremony no matter what. He still doesn’t know why Genichirou gave that medical certificate to him, but if Genichirou doesn’t want people to know about his cancer, then he’ll protect the secret too. When Haru asks why does he want to invite Genichirou that bad, Susumu admits it’s because he wants to show off. (｡￫∀￩｡) Knowing it would be hard to hold a private wedding ceremony, Susumu then says he wants to hold it in Haru’s hometown. If Genichirou himself really comes to her hometown, the villagers will really stop troubling her parents anymore. Haru can’t imagine Genichirou in her parents’ house, but Susumu says he might really come to her house. After all, Genichirou always do unexpected things.
When Haru and Susumu’s wedding day finally comes, Genichirou really comes to visit Haru’s parents’ house. Y⌒Y⌒Y⌒Y⌒Y⌒Y⌒(。A。)ｱﾋｬﾋｬﾋｬﾋｬ!! Her parents are really nervous to have the Miyanomori family head in their tiny house, but Genichirou himself is impressed that Susumu is using him to keep Haru’s family safe. Again, since this is Genichirou they’re dealing with, he doesn’t want to go through all of the troublesome formal wedding greetings. Instead, he asks Heisuke to take the marriage certificate so Susumu and Haru can sign it immediately. Haru gets really nervous and can’t write properly since her hand is shaking, so Susumu holds her hand from behind and helps her to sign the certificate. ||萌||ョ´∀`。)萌えぇ～↑ When Haru says this only makes her even more nervous, Susumu laughs saying he’s doing this to show off after all. Then he says “stay still” with his breath tickling her ear. (*ﾉ∀ﾉ)ｲﾔﾝ Right after they’re done signing the certificate, Susumu promises that he will make Haru happy. She asks him not to say it so loudly in front of Genichirou, but he goes “was it too small? I’ll say it again with louder voice then” and laughs when she apologized. xD
Honestly, I have mixed feelings about Susumu’s route. Susumu’s interactions with his brothers are one of the best in the whole game, and that’s why I wrote down so many dialogues in this post. (人´∀`)☆゜’・:* The story itself is like an enhanced version of Susumu’s HanaIchi route, and I love everything — the plot, the development, and especially the ending. What I don’t like is Haru’s actions in October. She was fine before then, but after Genichirou’s threat, she just starts running around like a fool.. and I found that irritating. (´・ω・`；) Tae was rather annoying too at first, but I’ll let it slide because her relationship with Sanji is really cute. I’m so glad they have their own happy ending too. .｡ﾟ+.ヽ(*´∀`*)ﾉﾟ+.ﾟ。.
Love-colored Sky 
Ohh this route is good too and I was conflicted for awhile cause I wasn’t sure if I like Susumu more or Shigeru. I think I like Shigeru more but Susumu himself always manages to surprise me. He is so deceptively sweet and kind but hiding a darker side.I was a little mad at how he almost killed Haru twice but hes so cute I cant hate him. Im looking forward to your next review.
As a character, I like Susumu more than Shigeru.. but if we’re speaking of routes, I have to say I loved Shigeru’s more lol. It’s all because of Haru and Tae.. orz;; Well, Susumu’s killing attempts weren’t intentional, so yeah it’s impossible for me to hate him too. Especially because he always feels really guilty afterwards.
I are quick! XD I like.
It took me 3-4 days to complete each route + write posts, so no it’s not quick at all. xD;;
Hmm Susumu’s route is really good here, well me too totally forgive him for his killing attempt lol since he do it unintentionally.o.O I think Haru looks better with short hair :)
Yeah, you can’t blame him since it wasn’t intentional. His issue in HanaIchi was the same, so this route is like an enhanced version with more background and less Sanji drama. xD I think Haru looks better with short hair too! She looks more fresh that way.
KYAAAAAAAAAA~~~~~~~~~~~~ I love you Susumu!!!! (๑´ლ`๑) Don’t marry Haru, marry me~~~ (joking, Haru is the only one for you). I love how in the beginning Susumu keeps trying to get Haru to go on dates with him and the part where he bought all those sweets, lol. xD His interactions with the brothers is so funny~ hehehe~. Shouldn’t they not be drinking in a hospital, it’s bad for Susumu because he’s recovering from his injuries, right? So cute, cute~ Moe to the max~!
Goodness, Tae is such a tsundere. She irritated me at first, but like you, I’ll forgive her because her interaction with Sanji is cute.
LOL yes. Susumu’s attempts to ask Haru out are so adorable. xD I love how the brothers often pick on Susumu too. He’s their victim (especially when drinking) before Mamoru comes, and after Mamoru starts living in the mansion they sort of shared the victim position. 8D Normally you shouldn’t drink alcohol in a hospital, yes, but you forgot that logic and common sense won’t apply to these brothers. Especially Isami. xD
I’ve ordered this game, i’ve been reading the review and posts about this game (yes, including your posts :p ). What i’m afraid of is the maid test, some people and some posts told me that in Kinema the test is harder ;_; . I actually found your post about solving the maid test (a link to a specific website). But, since my japanese reading skill is sucks, i can’t find where the answer of the maid test on that web :'( can you explain me a bit about the maid test? XD
NB : Is this game fully-voiced? ;_;
Yes, the game is fully voiced. As for the exams, other than Kisuke, the wiki guides you through them. You only have to fill your schedule with the activities they suggested, and you’re guaranteed to pass the exams. If it’s hard to read, maybe you can match up the kanji in the wiki to the one in the game? :D
Sadly, none of the guides provide a step-by-step stat building for Kisuke. They only gave you the requirements, and you have to plan your own schedule. ;__;
Oh so, to see the activities (for example) Tadashi suggested. I’ll just match Haru’s schedule with the list on this link ( http://hanayaka.stgtk.com/?%E5%AE%AE%E3%83%8E%E6%9D%9C%E6%AD%A3) , right?
Thank God, it’s fully-voiced, it’s different with the first HanaIchi which is not fully-voiced (it is not fully-voiced right?)
Yes. :D
For Kisuke, I posted the requirements somewhere.. It should be in the wiki too, and you can use it to track your progress. Oh, and the first HanaIchi was full voice too.
Thank you soo much!
So the first hanaichi is fully voi…ced too? :O lol, i found a youtube video containing a short cut of the dialouge of the brothers on the beach (i believe it’s the first hanaichi). And the video has no voice .____.
Maybe the voice was taken out?
But yeah, the game is full-voiced.