Bronze: Zetsuai since 1989 by Minami Ozaki, volume 4 [Title page]>> Only those days are everything to me >> Kouji: Ah, it hurts! (My cut...) >> Izumi: Good grief, didn't I tell you not to get it wet? Now it's gross just to look at. No matter how shallow it is, it's still got stitches in, you have to be careful! (Raise your arms!) [ Ozaki note: Izumi <- born with the compulsion to take care of people Kouji <- needs several times more care than anyone else ] Izumi: Can't even remember something like that, I swear- Kouji: *doki* Izumi... *stroke* >> (Where in the name of wonder did that pot come from??) Izumi [who obviously has access to the same hyperspace pocket as the chick from City Hunter]: Are you looking to get locked up? Kouji: ...All right, I'm sorry! Izumi: *wrap* I swear, it's exactly this attitude of yours that invites murder. Kouji: //This is torture...// /* Izumi: What are you going to do about the girl? Kouji: You know her, don't you, Izumi? >> Izumi: Know her? She's Kunihide's girlfriend! Kouji: Then I've _got_ to sue her! (Ouch!) I expect to be awarded major damages! Shibuya: Oh no, not again... Izumi: Kou--! Kouji: It's a joke! I've already gotten Shibuya to minimize the press coverage. On the other hand, there were too many eyewitnesses to the attack, so it might be difficult work... */ Izumi: Have you really decided not to sing anymore? All those girls cried so bitterly! >> Izumi: You know, I never understood before how a cold-blooded playboy like you could be so popular. Kouji: (cold-blooded playboy...?) Izumi: But now that I've seen you in concert, I finally get it. I felt as if you were in another world... you looked so completely different... it was like receiving an electric shock throughout my body. Kouji [putting the moves on Izumi yet again]: You felt that? >> [With predictable consequences...] Izumi: He never learns! (I'm going to make dinner.) Izumi: Personally, I don't care if you're a singer or not. I just feel that it's a bit of a waste if you abandon your career like that. Kouji: *big hug* I'm nearly unconscious with happiness to be praised by you! (Am I really so wonderful?) Izumi: I'll reduce you to unconsciousness all right! (One punch!) [Doesn't care if he _is_ punched, he's not letting go] Kouji: Didn't I say it before? >> Even if a million people love me and need me, if the person _I_ love doesn't need me, then I have no more reason to live. The important thing isn't so much how deeply one loves the other, but one's standing in that other's heart. Izumi, in your heart... what standing do I have? >> //What standing?// //Izumi: The sudden retirement and the assassination attempt brought intense scrutiny from the press. To avoid reporters, we've been living jointly in this house.// [Translator's Note: In other words, here beginneth the Married Couple section of Bronze (sono ichi) - which is either cute or alarming depending on your take. It only lasts one hot volume anyhow. ^^;] Izumi: Takasaka, I'm sorry for making you come to pick me up every morning. [School's too far and has soccer practice, so has to get up at five] Takasaka: Good morning! (Don't worry about it.) //Shibuya's put a damper on any press releases since the first conference.// Takasaka [excited]: Nanjou instructed us to bring over the guitars, mixing board and piano. (He's still motivated to work after all!) Did you say something to him? (Like that he looks cool singing or some such?) Izumi: Ur... >> //Kouji's been very obedient, doesn't take a step out of the house.// Kouji [morning face]: Ah... the alarm clock didn't even ring, how'd he manage to wake up? I wanted to give him a kiss before he left! [Izumi note: Lunch is in the fridge, microwave three minutes] //The bank foreclosed on the (?)nais' house after all. Serika and Yuugo switched out of their expensive private schools. Even though they declared personal bankruptcy, apart from becoming poorer, everything's the same within the family.// Serika: Oniichan! Is Nanjou-san all right? That woman - unforgivable! [<- as if it were the time to worry about such things] >> //And as for me...// Kouji: What magnificent music! Beethoven's Piano Concerto no.14, but I only like the first movement. [TN: I hate Kouji. Don't you just hate Kouji?] >> //Such long fingers...// Izumi: You're good at _everything_, aren't you? Kouji: I can't cook! Can't sew either. (Or do the laundry or clean house...) //Pale hair, handsome face, just the type to make women swoon.// Kouji: Can't play soccer either. //Wide shoulders, broad chest, in those strong arms warming myself against his body, listening to his heartbeat...// Kouji: To me, you're nothing short of a miracle. Izumi: I... //I feel an incomparable sense of peace!// Izumi: I've decided not to go to Italy. >> Kouji: Ah...? Izumi: After what happened to the (?)nais, I can't go on happily with my soccer exchanges. Even if I go to Italy, I won't become a first- rate player right away, and money is more important now. It's not as if Japan doesn't have professional soccer. If we create a good record at this year's nationals, the scouts will come. My legs are worth their trouble, >> of that I'm confident! //Soccer's always been by my side. No matter what anguish or sadness I endure, as long as I can chase after soccer in my dreams, I can forget everything. Soccer would never betray me, and the joy it brings me is beyond compare...// >> Izumi: Do you know? In the second you score, that feeling of elation, of fulfillment! The more hotly disputed the match, the greater the excitement when the ball goes in the net! You only have to feel the rush once to be hooked for the rest of your life! So... [Kouji shifts his attentions from Beethoven to Izumi's ankles.] //If... >> If this person hadn't appeared in my life, would I have continued to play soccer? I would have repressed myself forever, never allowed to burn with all my might! But even so, I could't give up soccer. I've never been so needed before! As if something within me is continuously in danger of being swallowed by this raging stream... a devouring fear wells up from the very soles of my feet. I curse, resist, refuse constantly by playing the victim. I've always been so afraid of him! >> I feel such peace in his arms. But then why... is there anxiety smouldering in my heart?// Player A: That Kunihide skipped practice again! (I'm leaving!) Player B: (Let's go to MacDonald's!) The match is tomorrow, think he's gonna be okay? >> Izumi: I'll lock up. You guys leave. Players: Really? Then we'll be off, Captain. Izumi [all cool and everythin']: Uhuh. //Kunihide hasn't been to school since that day.// Izumi: (No consideration! Leaves marks all over me so I can't even change with the other guys...) /* Shibuya: Izumi, it seems that girl Eri slit her own wrists. Not deeply though. Izumi: Ah... Shibuya: The reporters are making her life unlivable. */ *door opening* Izumi: Kuni... *door closing* Izumi: Ah... I've been worried about you! Kunihide: Sorry. I'll be playing tomorrow. >> Izumi: Oh... all right then. Kunihide [designating Izumi's coupla gazillion hickies, poor boy]: Izumi-sempai... did _he_ do this to you? Izumi: ...! Kunihide: I don't want to probe too deeply, but are you the one Nanjou Kouji has such feelings for? >> [No answer. Izumi is, of course, notoriously bad at lying. For once if he'd said "Naw, me and Kouji are buddies and we picked up a pair of chicks in Roppogi last night" life would be a lot easier...] Kunihide: It's not true, is it? Izumi-sempai, I've always admired your skill on the field, but to find out that you're homosexual is really quite a disappointment. Izumi: _I'm not_-- Kunihide: NOT WHAT? *slams hands against wall* Kunihide: Sempai, Eri slit her wrists three times in a row! She doesn't eat, doesn't sleep... her family has to watch her constantly for fear she'd try it again. They can't leave the house because of the reporters massed outside the door, and other fans track her down just to insult her. She was finally moved into the countryside only today. Every time she sees me she breaks into tears and apologies! /* Eri: I didn't realize how much I loved him! As if I've never see him again, as if I've been abandoned... every time I think of it I feel as if I'd rather die, and when I open my eyes again I've... */ >> Kunihide: Of course she asked for it. Jumping into obsession with both feet, and once she can't have him she tries to kill him! But then, love itself isn't something that common sense can explain... That bastard... what causes him the most pain should be... to make his loved one suffer for his mistake, isn't that right? Sempai. If that person were a woman, he'd worry about her getting raped, being made pregnant... >> [Palpable menace hanging in the air.] Kunihide: Thank goodness sempai is male. I'm not a pervert like you, so I don't do it with men. I don't get it. Disgusting! Does it feel good between two guys? The tabloids'd pay through the nose for this one... Izumi: He... It's not men he loves, it's just me! He says he'd love me no matter if I were a man or a woman! No matter what I am at all! If your girlfriend were a boy, would you stop loving her? Are your feelings as shallow as that? >> Don't compare that sort of love... //I'm delivering...// /* Kouji: Don't compare that shallow sort of love... */ Izumi: With what we have! //The same speech as he!// /* Kouji: Don't take him... */ Kunihide: Do you really believe... /* from my side... */ Kunihide: Everything he says? Kunihide: What makes you think he's speaking the truth? One can only understand one's own heart, not anyone else's. And even if it's true now, who can guarantee the future? Don't they say that love is only a fever-sickness? >> //Kunihide: Eri said that she loved me too! We've been together for five years...// Kunihide: If you believe him, will you throw yourself into an affair that society doesn't accept? Spend the rest of your life this way? Izumi-sempai! Nothing is eternal! There will always be coldness, irritation, abandonment. Isn't that why humans wish always to preserve the _now_, to stop time in this very moment? Isn't that so? [Kunihide the understudy for Shoujo Kakumei Utena. Yar.] >> //Humankind doesn't aspire to momentary peace// /* Izumi's mother: I love you...! */ //Or a bond between souls that is fleeting,// /* Eri: Let's die together then! */ //But...// /* Kouji: Stop me... */ //a kind of eternity... what could be an eternal robbery!// //Izumi: What...?// >> Kunihide: Sempai... //Izumi: I know... I know it so clearly! It hurts... >>My... the bleeding won't stop!// Shibuya: What sort of expression is that? Where's the beauty? >> Kouji: *glare* Are you looking to get raped? [TN: `Kay, normally I would chalk this up to... well, to Kouji, except I've seen this particular threat in "Clover" of all mangas. So your guess is as good as mine. For all I know it's a Taiwanese thing.] Shibuya: Oy vey- (how scary - but he's so cool!) What is it now? I mean, you're officially living together with Taku-chan who cooks, cleans and takes care of you. Aren't you supposed to be in seventh heaven? (You must stick to each other like glue every day!) I heard he's not even going to Italy anymore. (It's great.) Kouji: Screw Italy, it's not important. I decided long ago to follow him wherever he goes. Shibuya [fifty parsecs/second on the uptake]: AAH! You mean that mini-album out of nowhere was... to cover following Izumi around? Kouji: I made the money, didn't I? Shibuya: Evil motivations - if your fans knew they'd cry themselves catatonic! (And I was touched too! What an idiot!) You're hopeless! >> Kouji: What, words like that out of you? I thought you were a straightforward creature. Shibuya: ...Izumi's playing a dangerous game. If he's so deeply wounded, why doesn't he show it on the outside? And if he's built his defenses so high, why leave in them such a fatal breach? He seems so complicated, but in reality he's the simple one. So it's not hard to figure out how to hurt him, or to own him. Shibuya: For instance, one can use his weak point - that is his family. Exploit his natural sense of responsibility, his love for his siblings and his desire to protect them... >> even though you've distracted him momentarily, still one day he'll realize it, be hurt and leave! Shibuya: Last time, when you almost died from your injuries, Izumi collapsed suddenly clutching his side. A psychosomatic reaction probably. It was bizarre, so I did some research. It seems to me that Izumi is deeply traumatized, and that his painful memories have created in him a total distrust of the outside world. >> His normally straightforward personality only compounds the problem... he damages himself with his own defense mechanisms. Kouji: Don't talk anymore... Shibuya: *random piano key* Love is brutal; never more than a hair away from true violence. That uncertainty only worsens Izumi's injury. Kouji: SHUT UP! Shibuya: Sorry about that, it's just the way I am. I was only theorizing, but one look at your face tells me I'm on the money after all. >> If pretty words and a sweet attitude could bring you happiness, then you would be happy already, wouldn't you? /* Izumi: what's wrong? I thought you'd be happy that I wasn't going to Italy after all... >> Kouji: Should I be happy? Then I'll be happy! *glomp* Izumi: (Let go of me!) Kouji: Hmm... maybe it's better to go to Italy after all? *smooch smooch* Izumi: Why? (Stop it with my clothes!) Kouji: `Cause it's so restrictive in Japan, not being able to make out with you in public! Izumi: (What are you thinking with that brain of yours!) //Rent a big house, keep a big dog, go grocery shopping for dinner hand in hand. >> If you have long vacations, travel to soccer competitions all around the world. England, France, Germany... back to Japan for the J-league, but you'd have to sneak back because you're with an Italian club...// Kouji: Ah, Izumi's going to become a famous athlete one day, so it doesn't really matter if I retire from the entertainment world... [total seriousness] Izumi'd be a world celebrity! (But then we won't be able to make out in public either!) Izumi: *hahahaha* What sort of plan for the future is that? (You can't even if I'm not a celebrity!) Kouji: It's a great idea. You'll be a soccer superstar, I'll be a musician residing in Italy... >> Izumi [and Takurin Piyo!]: What, didn't you quit singing? Kouji: But you said I looked cool doing it. (So I pretty much have to continue.) Izumi: (When the hell did I say that?) So that's the kind of person you are... (Your fans have wasted their tears...) //Forever and ever together! A time of happiness, sweet everlasting life!// Izumi: You're too unrealistic! Dream-ideals like eternal happiness >> just don't exist! //Just...// Izumi: (First of all, do you think it's easy to become a soccer superstar in Italy? The difference is just out there!) //Don't exist...// */ >> //I don't know how to love, because I have no memory of being loved. All I know is how to brutalize with the body, to wound myself... >> I won't be injured again, I'll be careful. I won't be apart from you; I'll protect you with all my heart. I won't burden you, and I won't betray you. I'll become someone you need, someone who makes you happy. I want to love you for the rest of my life! Even so... it's not enough...// *running water* //Even though you're by my side...// >> *drip* *towel being thrown over head* Kouji: Wah! Why'd you walk home in this downpour? Come in quick! You're soaked, you'll catch cold... I'll go run a bath, get in the hot water! Isn't there an important match tomorrow? Go warm yourself up, do you hear me? Izumi: Kouji... I'm cold! >> [Subtext = "Kouji, come jump in the shower with me." And Kou-ji does. ^^; Lord, I want that bathroom...] *shower* >> Izumi: ...Kouji, do you love me? Kouji: ...I do! Izumi: Will you love only me forever? Even if I had a girl I liked? Even if I got married and had kids? Kouji: I'd still love you. Izumi: How do you know you'd always love me? You might find a woman you liked better someday! We're both men! Damn you, I hate you, you're always bothering me! Kouji: I love you! I love you! Izumi: I'll never be happy as long as you're there! >> Will you make me unhappy just so you could be content? I hate people like you the most! >> Kouji: I... still love you. Izumi: I hate you! I hate you! I don't need you at all! Kouji: But I love you! Izumi: I hate you! Kouji: Even if you hate me, I still love you! [And realizing with his purportedly stunning IQ that this conversation is going nowhere fast, picks Izumi up and sets out for greener pastures...] Izumi: !!... Kou... >> Ah! Kouji: I want you to see! With your lovely eyes to see all of me... from head to feet. Izumi Takuto, you are my everything! >> My heart is here. If I could tear my body apart, I would rip it out and show it to you. If that could make you believe me! >> *dokun dokun* Kouji: Can you hear the blood in my body? It's calling out my love for you! What do I have to do to make you believe me? What should I do? I know words are useless! I know what we have now isn't enough! Izumi: Ho... hold me tight... //Embracing each other like this,// >> Izumi: Tighter! //I can be certain of my own existence.// Izumi: Tighter... even more tightly... //I... want to accept you with all my body.// Kouji: I'm breaking your slender waist. I'm going to hurt you... Izumi: _Hurt me, then!_ //And you need me so much...// >> //My need to trust and my self that doesn't believe in trust - I hear myself crying out, being destroyed slowly, little by little by little...// Izumi: Ah... Besides you... //Anxiety...// Izumi: I wouldn't ever let anyone else do this to me... >> Kouji: Mm... I know. //I destroy myself with anxiety.// Kouji: So relax... I'll let you see everything... //Even though I...// Kouji: I want you to become my sole possession! //I need you so much...// >> //I can see the instant of our bodies melding together, >> but not the eternity of our souls!// *referee whistle* >> Announcer: Game over, Kou(?)dai High wins a berth in the National Championships as the representative of Kanegawa! Their ace player Izumi's five points guaranteed their success! Announcer: Captain Izumi Takuto's technique inspires awe; it's rumoured that he's in talks with representatives from three professional teams. The rest of the school team is playing at a much higher level than before as well! The goaltender Kunihide Hisaya holds a record for shutouts. They have a great chance of winning the championship this year! [TN: Please to correct my soccer terminology, BTW. I live in a hockey country and cut my teeth on Slam Dunk scripts.] Izumi: Kuni- [Who ignores him totally. Sigh.] Player: Captain, time for the presentation ceremony! Izumi: Ah... >> Hirose: We've already investigated you throughly, and we wish to sign you to our company team. How does ten million a year sound? >> Kunihide: Ten million... is this a joke? First, your name... I refuse! Hirose: Are you talking about my younger brother? I can't do anything about him either. Take part of the money as apology if you will... we'll help your girlfriend, keep the reporters from hounding her. Kunihide: Is it possible...? Hirose: Even moving to the countryside didn't discourage the media. They'll continue to cover her until they've sucked her dry. If you agree to sign with us, however, I'll have the problem resolved by tomorrow. This is the contract for the team, and we can supply housing for your girlfriend as well. >> Kunihide: Why? Why are you going out of your way to help me? Hirose: As I said, I can't do anything about my brother, so I'd like to punish him a little. And you're the best person for the job! Not only do you hate Kouji, but his "boyfriend" holds you in trust. Hirose: It's really quite simple. >> I want you to sleep with Izumi Takuto! >> >> //His movements are fierce but unpolluted! He knows his strength, but strives constantly for more. He aspires to... That explosive energy! Toward heights that all desire, he spreads his wings and rises with all his force. Like the last warrior left upon the earth!// >> //Izumi set many records during competition, but his injuries were continuous as well.// Izumi [appears!]: I won! (They deserved it - go to hell!) //Like a wildcat fighting to preserve his territory.// >> Kouji: So, how does that feel? Izumi. Izumi: Un... *pant* Oh, yes. Harder! Kouji: Like this? Izumi: Ah... ah! That feels good... [You who live in proud soccer nations: you've seen them get their massages on the sidelines, haven't you? ^^;;] Kouji [obviously having trouble keeping his mind on shiatsu]: Ah... (The delicious sounds he makes! It's too much!) Izumi: Yes! Right there! So good... //So I spend my spare time studying sport physiotherapy, from massage to acupuncture.// [Ozaki note: If I drew it all this would turn into a gag manga (laugh).] [mountain of medical books: massage, acupuncture, shiatsu...] >> Kouji [in a trance]: Izumi, you're so thin, but you've built yourself up so well! (so supple...) [He bought a metre-wide-screen telly to watch Izumi's tournament tapes!] Kouji: Even if you collide with someone of the same size, it's the other guy who goes down. (Though weight is important too!) Izumi: (And how many dozens of times are you going to watch that tape?) _I'm_ the standard, _you're_ the one who's larger than average! [still training at home] What am I supposed to do, fall down whenever I take one of those hits? Weight isn't everything! (Stop saying I'm skinny all the time!) Kouji [not listening]: You're so wonderful! Izumi's so handsome... manly and pure and formidable and awesome and wild... Telly announcer: And Izumi is in possession! No one can catch him! And he scores! Kouji: And his body scent's as sweet as a virgin's... >> Izumi [wielding dumbbell]: What the hell are you saying? (What did you just call me?) Kouji: I was just... talking to myself... (If you hit me with that you'll kill me...) Izumi: You're the same! With your height you'd have to be ten kilos heavier to fit your ideal weight. //Izumi...// Kouji: (That's too heavy! --I'd crush you...) Izumi: (WHAT?) //Izumi's become more talkative lately, always about soccer. I have to be able to hold up my end of the conversation, so I learnt a lot more about the sport.// >> Izumi: So why the sudden popularity of soccer in Japan? It's frightening! [Erhm... the nefarious influence of Captain Tsubasa? ^^;;] //He always sits hugging his knees... habit?// Izumi: I suppose if it's a sudden fad, it'd fade away just as quickly... Kouji: ...! //Quietly afraid...// Kouji: Izumi, what do you like about soccer? //I must be the one making Izumi afraid.// >> Izumi: There is no `what', it's everything about it. Not any single thing, but soccer's entirety! >> //Kouji: ...I can't anymore!// Izumi: ...Kouji? //Living like that, he can still be straightforward and pure... Both strong and fragile, a realist and a dreamer...// Kouji: I don't just love one point about you either... but your entirety... //My Izumi! I can't any longer, do you see?// Izumi:... //I'm wavering again! I have to try hard, I can't waver! I can't allow myself to be submerged by emotion!// Kouji: Ah... I... I can start playing soccer too! With my atheleticism and build there shouldn't be a problem! I want to be able to embrace you in front of the crowd! (To touch you, lift you in the air...) We could go all the way to the World Cup, we could win! [Take five for reality check. -_-; Did you see the J-team at France '98? They coulda done with an Izumi Takuto.] Izumi: Huh, you idiot! Like it's that easy! (Don't underestimate soccer!) First of all, would you wear the uniform and shorts? You'd look horrible! (And you're not a big runner...) Kouji: I could be the team doctor! (He laughed!) But I wouldn't treat anyone but you, so it probably wouldn't work out either. (The rest of them are jerks.) //I can tell from Izumi's eyes that he's uneasy. His precarious heart seems as if it would fall apart at a touch. His wound has opened, the flesh inside seeping blood.// //It's my fault: I'm not trustworthy enough, that's why he doesn't believe in me.// Izumi: (Your motives are suspect! Just the type of doctor who gets stripped of his licence to practice...) Kouji: (Really?) Izumi: (Beyond bounds! *thinks* Though you don't give a bad massage... Treat just me? How despicable!) //Damn it, I want him suddenly... Don't push me, don't ask me questions! >> I suffer not being able to protect you, to heal you! I'm falling apart at the seams. Even though I love you and you are close by me, my own uneasy desire makes me wish to possess, to tear your chest open and remove your heart!// //Isn't my shoulder enough for you?// // "The demon in my body shifts." //No! I won't let you out! // "Trust in me! I'll protect you: I love you." //Izumi's afraid...! // "I'm here! I want to save you! Look at me!" //I can't! I'll only hurt Izumi this way! //Even now, Izumi is still... Izumi: What is it now, Kouji? Trying to be cute? Kouji: (Just let me be cute!) Izumi: ...Moron! //all by himself...// >> //Weeping, unable to trust, but craving love more than anyone else!// >> Hirose: I reserved a suite at Hotel T for a month. I just received the key. There seem to be some difficulties with the publishing house, I should be able to resolve it soon... but at great expenditure... Akihito: Hirose! Why do you mind Kouji so much? Didn't we always ignore him before? Pretend he didn't exist? Why are you paying attention to him now? Is he really that important to tradition? I don't get it at all! Hirose: Bad Akihito! Eavesdropping on my conversations again? Akihito: I never understood what you thought before, but you're even stranger now! It's not like you! What is it? Hirose: Akihito. You're a good boy. I'm not planning to give Kouji anything, so don't worry about it. You don't need to bother yourself with what I do. Don't rebel against me either! [This while giving him a pat on the cheek. Oy. -_-;] Akihito: Hiro... Shibuya: Yo, the third wheel is here! >> Kouji: And what a third wheel he is. Shibuya [glomping Izumi]: Oh, how horrid! How awful! (Did you hear him? Anyone who's not Taku-chan isn't human to him!) Taku-chan, tell off that wretch for me! (Not a speck of gratitude for the one who helped you to this wonderful life - humph!) Izumi: (_What_ wonderful life?) Kouji! Kouji: Nothing good ever happens when you drop by. What is it today? (Don't touch my Izumi!) Shibuya [inviting himself for dinner]: Fine, I won't tell you a thing. Let Taku-chan meet with misfortune. Kouji: Out with it! Shibuya: All the media hounding that girl dropped the story like a hot potato. Your average joe couldn't pull that off; it's Joutou pulling strings from the sidelines. I don't know what they're trying to achieve, but it does have to do with Izumi. What happened to that goaltender kouhai of yours? [Joutou? Think that's what it is, anyway... friggin' onyoumi. Could be an artefact of the Chinese version but I don't think so. How would it come out in English - Nanjou Consolidated? Nanjou Conglomerate? NanCon? Something like that.] >> Izumi: Nothing much - practice as usual! Shibuya: Him and his girlfriend must be in a spot. Apart from the reporters, they're suffering the pranks of fans (though a minority sided with her). //I'm quite familiar with the feeling of being pursued and hounded by media and public.// [TN: Rest of chapter is missing due to lack of time - the last sentence I wrote ten minutes before my rental ran out - and quite frankly vol.5 is far more interesting ^^; Just the bit where Kunihide tries to bring Eri out of her depressive catatonia without success; and Izumi watches a cassette (that Shibuya casually left behind) of the dorama Kouji shot with la Minamimoto way back when, and is all embarrassed... So skip to next. That's right, the one with Kouji cooking. ^_^] Chapter III -------------------------- //It's really very simple! All you have to do is destroy their love.// Shibuya [dizzy]: What...? >> Shibuya: AAAHHH! PLEASE SOMEBODY TELL ME IT'S NOT HAPPENING! Kouji: (He's so annoying. I have to change the locks.) Shibuya: Nanjou Kouji, standing in the kitchen with a ladle in his hand! The guy who couldn't turn on a stove without burning his hair off is... that's it. Earthquakes, storms, fires, mamma mia the world is ending! (The apocalypse is here--) Shibuya: I heard from Taka-chan that you were asking for cookbooks after the medical texts... (Scary! I thought they were for Izumi!) /* Takasaka [holding "Good Food" mag]: That's right, he asked for cookbooks. I wouldn't mind eating something he made himself... [obviously assuming Izumi as well] [Ozaki note: the cookbook suits you!] >> Kouji [proudly]: I'm a handy person! As long as I take the trouble to learn the basics, I can manage. Shibuya: That's not where the problem lies~~ *bawl* *doorbell* *steps* Izumi: I'm home - Hey, Shibuya! (You're here!) Kouji: (It's cold outside, isn't it!) [Ozaki note (saying it all since 1989): didn't think I'd see the day I'd be drawing food cooked by Kouji...] Izumi: That's right, I was freaked too. Came back home to find dinner already on the table, I thought he'd called a caterer. He's cooked all the meals since that day (except breakfast 'cos he can't get up in time for it). (At first the kitchen looked as if a bomb had gone off-) Shibuya: (It's... good... AHHH! This is WEIRD!) [Ozaki note: didn't cook for him, he appropriated a portion] >> Izumi: I'm so full! (It's great!) I'll go take a bath, you can give me a massage afterward. Kouji [beloved darling pet]: Sure! (You've got rice on your face.) Rest a few minutes first, though. (It's not good for your digestion if you jump in the bath right away.) Izumi: All right. Shibuya: Ahh... (_Totally_ divorced from reality. They are _so_ newlywed-couple!) Shibuya: *groan* I can't believe it. Nanjou Kouji making dinner, running the bath, giving massages, diligently taking care of someone else... your fans'd keel over if they knew! Taka-chan'd cry himself into a fit! (He's wiping the table. Nanjou Kouji wiping the table...?) To be the perfect bride, I suppose the next step is... Kouji: Cleaning and laundry. I don't care. I'm willing to do anything; if I don't know how, I learn. But that's not enough. It's not enough if it's all talk! >> Shibuya: Bodyguard? For Izumi? Kouji: That's right. I'm constantly worried about what *he* might do. I can take care of myself, but Izumi's more problematical. Place a bodyguard with him. Shibuya; He'd get angry if he knew he was under surveillance- Kouji: Of course you can't let him know! I wish I could stay by his side to protect him, but it'd only have the opposite effect. Shibuya: Well, that I know. You're too unusual a person not to attract notice. Kouji: ... >> Shibuya: (What, did I hurt your feelings?) In all honesty, I don't know how to help. Izumi's not that easy. But I do believe that if you keep on giving, eventually you'll get something in return. Kouji: I'm not looking for repayment. Shibuya: How admirable! //Kouji: As long as Izumi's by my side, I'm happy. I don't do this hoping that he'll love me. I just...// Kouji: (Lie down. Where does it hurt today?) Izumi: (Left calf's a bit sore...) Shibuya: Ah... (Massage, my foot - you just want to get your hands on him!) You're spoiling him! Spoiling him rotten! Izumi: (Ow, that hurts!) Kouji: (Sorry, sorry!) Izumi: (Oh, right there! That feels good!) //When he comes home tired from his day, I want to gently disperse his fatigue. I want him to feel safe smiling around me. And then...// [Shibuya being perceptive as all heck, is starting to feel like the third man in the proverbial crowd...] >> //Like feathers to softly cradle his sleep...// Shibuya: Good grief, he actually fell asleep! (Forehead's showing...) Kouji: He's been very tired lately. Shibuya: That boy who's usually as wary as a wildcat just... you're not missing love, are you? (I'm still _here_, guys!) Izumi: (Mmph...) [Kouji picks him up and carries him into the bedroom, absolutely brimming with tenderness - leaving a somewhat shell-shocked Shibuya Katsumi in the living room.] >> //Shibuya: I can't believe it! Kouji's expression, Izumi's behavior... I've never seen anything like it! But then, what's the meaning of the apprehension that Izumi's uncertain step betrays? That heart- wrenching anxiety (because too removed from reality?) musn't be! (Correct intuition) Kouji's sunk deeper than I ever thought! But... (Not Izumi, he can't...) >> Shibuya: Is it still impossible for Izumi to love him? Izumi... do you know what you show on your face?// //I thought it was too easy. I knew this affair could only end in tragedy! I always thought it would come together in the end, someone has to break them apart, someone... I must! When this uneasy balance collapses, >> it'd be too late to save Izumi!// Izumi: There's only the meeting after the ceremony, so I'll be back by evening. You're the important one tonight, so just wait for me at home and I'll make something good to eat! Kouji [morning-genki]: Sure, I'll wait! (Happy birthday me~~) Izumi: I'm going. (Damn him, he looks sex-crazed.) [There's no practice today, so he's taking the bus] Kouji: Oh, Izumi! *wrap* >> The weather report says it's going to be cold, so wear a scarf. You catch colds easily, and yet you still don't wear enough. >> [They stare into each other's eyes a moment - and Izumi turns abruptly to go. Upon impulse, Kouji catches Izumi by the arm and pins him against the wall in a passionate - almost desperate - kiss. Izumi quite drops his book bag. ^_^] >> Kouji: Izumi... I love you so, I love you... I love you, I love you, I love you! I don't want you to go anywhere at all... >> //Kouji's so headstrong! There's no way I can answer him! He handles me like some fragile ornament, and then he pulls me to him by force. In his sweet burning arms I feel as if I should disintegrate. I'd want abruptly to tear at our bodies, try frenziedly to escape. Because if I delayed one instant, I'd lose all of myself...// >> //Kouji: I love you! I love you... I love you...!// //Those endlessly repeated words... never once received a reply!// Kouji: Izumi... Why do you gaze at me with those eyes? I'll lock you up, really... >> //The phrase chokes in my throat, but I won't say it for all the pain it causes me. Perhaps because of old wounds; to be desired ardently is satisfaction, but it's abandoned me before.// //"I love you too..."// //Kouji loves me, I just don't want to give up that love. >> Perhaps... I'm being cruel to him after all.// Coach: Izumi... Izumi! Izumi: Ah... yes! Player: Captain, what are you daydreaming about? These are stats on the rival teams! Izumi: I - I'm sorry! ...All right, that's it for today. I want everyone to have memorized this material by tomorrow! //How is it that as soon as I'm apart from him, I start thinking of nothing but him?// Player A: (Yes! It's over! Homeward bound!) Player B: (Hurry up!) //Since when did I become this wimpy? Unable to forget being held, being kissed... and always getting nervous and thinking the stupidest things!// >> [God, he's so adorable. ^^;; Remind me again how two people with Emotional Quotients of zero manage a rel - oh yeah, they don't. There we go.] //Time to go home... Kouji's waiting for me. That's right: today's Christmas Eve, and Kouji's birthday. I'll go buy chicken, and bake a cake. Kouji'd take care of the champagne. Go home quick and cook a good meal, get Kouji to help out too... celebrate with a glass in front of a warm fire!// Kunihide: Sempai! //Quick...// >> Kunihide: There's something I'd like to discuss with you. Could you follow me a moment? //Yes... Kouji's waiting for me. Hurry home!// Izumi: Oh... now? Kunihide: Yes... Only you can help me with this! //Kouji's waiting for me!// >> [The bodyguard shadowing Izumi is quietly chloroformed in the very act of phoning.] //Izumi: (Snowflakes...) Is it going to snow?// [What rain is to Zetsuai, snow is to Bronze. Izumi should know better.] Kunihide: It's not convenient to stand here outside. Would you mind coming over to my place? Izumi: Ah.. all right... >> //Hurry home!// Hirose [from within the depths of his Yakuza Merc]: *quiet evil laugh* //I'm going to make hot beef soup and...// >> Kunihide: Here, tea. //What is it...? I've lived here before, so why do I feel so uneasy? It's uncomfortable compared to last time, could it be because Kouji's scent is gone?// Kunihide: I went overboard last time, I apologize. But I don't think what I said was wrong! *tea spills* //Ah... What's wrong?// >> *ropes tightening* Kunihide: They say this drug will cause voluntary muscular paralysis for two hours only. It doesn't harm the system. //Izumi: _Kunihide?_ Kunihide: It wouldn't be an easy matter for me to fight you, so... I don't hate you, but I don't have a choice. >> I may be angry at you... [He's unbuttoning Izumi... as Sa-chan realizes what she's let herself in for when she agreed to translate Bronze 4-5... ;_;] Izumi: (St...stop...) Kunihide: But I hate _him_! He drove Eri mad... Eri whom I love so deeply! Love won't save her, even if I throw my life into the balance it won't save her! Izumi: (Ah...) Kunihide: Because I don't have the time or the conditions to help her recover... If I violate you here, I can protect Eri! I don't have any other choice! >> Izumi: What... what kind of joke is this! Stop it! Are you crazy? I'm a man! Are you a pervert or something? //I can't move my arms or my legs!// Kunihide: You're one to talk! Don't you do it all the time with men? Don't you feel like a girl when you're in Nanjou Kouji's arms? >> [This particular attack on Izumi's masculinity more or less gives him the strength to break the ropes and deck Kunihide.] Kunihide: Ow... Izumi [half-collapsing back on bed]: (It hurts!) >> I... I'm sorry too for what happened to your girlfriend, but that has nothing to do with us! We're not anything like what you said! Don't you dare insult other people's feelings - don't you dare call us dirty names! He... Kouji just... just fell in love with me, that's all there is to it! >> If you really love your girlfriend, _you should understand this!_ We're all the same, why should we trade insults? Izumi: I... when you came to the school, I was so happy! I never made friends because of soccer before... I kept from it on purpose... After you came, I didn't have to fake losing any more! I could play my best without hiding my skill! The whole team played better too, even the atmosphere was different... I was so happy, I relied on you! Kunihide: ...! >> Izumi: Urgh... Kunihide [holding him by the wrist]: ...A man's naked body does nothing for me. You'd have to be twisted to get it on with someone of the same sex. I understand the ones who do both men and women even less. No matter how beautiful the person, it's still disgusting! Your looks and physique are nothing like a girl's, you even fight better than me... you're obviously male! >> ...Izumi-sempai, then... are you in love with him too? [And here we are at the heart of the matter...] Izumi: I... don't know... I don't understand the mentality of homosexuals either. I don't despise them, I just find it gross. I never really tried to understand, but... Kouji's not the same! Even though he's a Don Juan, and has no sense... he fell in love with me beyond retrieval. That's all. He says that besides me nothing matters, he could give up anything! >> Kunihide: That sort of emotion I can understand. To love someone past all help, to love and not be able to stop! It's precisely because I don't care about anything else that I brought myself to do this to you... I'm sorry! Please forgive me, Izumi-sempai... >> Hirose [marching in like an evil Deus Ex Machina]: The agreement is void! Kunihide: ...! What? [And is rapidly chloroformed...] Izumi: Kunihide! Hirose: After having taken a drug like that, you're still able to fight? You have better stamina than I thought. *smile* Formidable! >> Izumi: Nanjou... Hirose! *sound of Izumi's sleeve meeting its maker* Hirose [syringe in hand]: Let me help you to another dose. >> //KOUJI!// //Kouji: Izumi's voice? He's calling me?// //It must be an illusion like always, mustn't it? I'm always thinking of Izumi... Every day before Izumi gets home, I worry!// >> //A white Christmas! Izumi...// //This is a ring I wore in a film, I like it a lot. I had them resize it to Izumi, he should be able to wear it. He might be angry again, forbid me from treating him like a girl, and turn red... I've prepared the wine, Izumi, will you be back home soon? We'll celebrate just the two of us, spend the day happily... spend it happily... Izumi!// >> //But then why? Why this gnawing apprehension in my heart?// >> *** [Cliffhanger? Nah. Y'all know the story already, ne? ^^]