天下制覇

One drop will open up your eyes.

Impressions:

What a wonderful episode. Futami was blushing and being happy. Sacchin was blushing and being happy. Yumi practically threw herself at Kouichi. Only Maou had to rain on the parade of good times. Obviously, the whole Kazuki/Futami/Sacchin thing is going to have to be resolved at some point, but the dude was actually being chivalric and confident around both his ladies, so they should feel happy and special. There were also almost no frogs whatsoever in the episode. That’s just… fantastic. Hopefully the damn things will be ruined in the rain and lost forever. There was some dodgy art in a few spots, but even that can’t put a damper on the good feelings that suffused this one. Sure, there’s drama ahead, but this week we had sunbeams, happiness, confidence and finally some ‘action’ for Kouichi and Yumi after 11 chaste episodes. Mitsuki and Hiiragi also may have finally gotten their tryst underway too.

Yumi sits at her desk, brushing her hair sadly. She remembers saying goodbye to Kouichi in tears. Her mother calls down to her, telling her to get ready to go to school. She looks at her calendar and thinks that she has a little more time.

At Kouichi’s household, he watches TV and eats breakfast. Mao wanders in sleepily. His horoscope today is pretty good. Mao asks him about Yumi, but he blushes and doesn’t respond. Mao gets in his face, telling him that love is something he needs to work for.

Breakfast continues more or less in the same way. Mao gets fired up about the weather, telling him that rain is the perfect chance for him. Kouichi asks for advice on girls, and Mao thinks that he did something to Yumi and yells at him. He denies it and goes running off.

Once outside, Kouichi looks up at the sky. He turns back and runs to the house as Mao is locking up. He runs inside, telling her to wait a minute.

The two head to school together. Kazuki catches up to them, strangely energetic. Greetings are had all around before the Satanic little frogs show up. Kazuki quickly loses himself in fantasies of summer and bikinis.

He pats his sister’s frog and wishes it luck too. She brings up that he must be happy because the horoscope for love for today was good. Mao wonders if something happened to him too, which sets him blushing and grinning like an imbecile thinking about making out with Futami.

At school, Sakino  happily practices on her own. She’s got a nice curve shot.

A little later, Sakino is amazed by Kazuki’s test scores. He tells her that he finally got serious. She’s really jealous… but honestly… neither is exactly brain surgeon material. Hiiragi and Kouichi laugh at them. Yumi checks in with Kouichi. She’s much more cheerful now.

During class, Kouichi keeps looking at her. He happily thinks to himself that the tears weren’t really anything.

At lunch, Futami is flagged down by the frog wrenches. They start following her around, chattering like idiots. She curtly responds when they directly ask her questions, but otherwise ignores them. They yammer about a new menu, food, etc etc. Futami finally stops when they ask her if she’d like to try the new honey dish, and she says that she will. The frog girls dance in happiness. Futami smiles at them.

Kazuki pours on the mayo. Futami aced the test yet again. Kazuki’s actually surprised that the mayo on chips is pretty good. Futami stares at him in surprise as he switches to honey. She tells him that she’s having second thoughts about her experiments. She’s starting to experience a new feeling… but it’s not something unpleasant. She and Kazuki smile at eachother.

Class ends. Yumi asks Kouichi to leave with her. Mao sees them walk out together as she’s cleaning up her classroom. Kai asks her what she’s looking at. She tells him not much, just Kouichi and Yumi. It makes her a bit nostalgic. Kai looks at her and she stammers for a bit. She grabs a bucket and trots off.

Kouichi and Yumi walk through town together without talking. She stops, and asks him if there’s somewhere that he’d like to go; she’s feeling a bit hungry. They end up looking at a sushi place, which reminds Kouichi of his horoscope from this morning. They end up going elsewhere though.

The two keep walking through the shopping district. Yumi opens up a bit more, telling him how happy she is right now. She asks him for his hand. He holds it out, and the two walk together, hand in hand. <em>HOT!</em>

Sakino and Kazuki practice together. She razzes him, but he says that he’s being serious today. She says that she may have lost on the test, but he can’t beat her and steals the ball from him.

He runs up behind her and slide tackles it away from her. She’s so surprised that she twists her ankle.

Kazuki takes her to the nurse’s office, but it’s empty. Her ankle’s pretty swollen, but she tells him that it’s nothing. He tells her that she needs to be more careful. She tries to talk her way out of it, but he says that it’s important and they’re going to a clinic. Sakino is surprised by him.

Kazuki bikes while she holds on behind him. She quietly asks him something, but he doesn’t hear her. It starts to rain, so Kazuki tells her to hold on tight as he speeds up. She hugs him closely.

As the rain pours down, Kouichi and Yumi leave a store. Both have their own umbrellas, but they decide to share Kouichi’s. Yumi starts to say something, but stops.

As they walk, she moves in closer and holds onto his arm.

Hiiragi leaves the school as well. He doesn’t have an umbrella, but Mitsuki is there with her’s. The two leave together. It’s a short walk to the limo. Hiiragi gets ready to get in, but Mitsuki’s dog pounces on him from the backseat.

Mao runs through the rain. She sees Kouichi and Yumi walking together, arm in arm and is shocked. She sadly watches them leave.

At Kai’s jazz bar, he hears a sound, but goes back to working.

The frog brats experiment with the udon. I’m not sure it’s edible.

Hiiragi enjoys the limo ride with Mitsuki’s doberman.

Kazuki anxiously waits at the clinic. Sakino comes out with a cast on. It’s not serious, but she’ll need to take some time off from soccer. Kazuki yells at her for not taking better care of herself. He wonders about the cost, but Sakino says that it’s fine. She blushes, and thanks him. He calls her strange. The two wait for the rain to let up. He tells her that today was supposed to be a ‘lucky point’ for his horoscope, but it’s turned out like this. Sakino blushes and smiles.

Futami watches the rain from her room.