Mahoraba 11

There, she sees Shiratori trying to solve a dispute between a boy and girl over who gets a taiyaki. He ends up buying another for them.. Momono goes over and says hi, buying a taiyaki. She splits it in half -- he could've just done that, but hey, Shiratori's a good guy ;) She asks if he's free the next day, and of course, he's got nothing to do, so Momono asks if he'll go out with her for a bit. Kozue-chan walks out of a store and to Shiratori as he's about to buy a taiyaki, but.. No taiyaki left :(

The next day, Momono drops by Shiratori's room, ready to go. She's looking rather good today, contacts instead of glasses, and not drunk for once ;) Shiratori doesn't recognize who she is at first.. Time to leave on their "date". Shiratori goes a bit crazy upon hearing the "d" word, but Momono got permission from Kozue to borrow him for a bit so it's okay ;) So they're off..

...to nowhere in particular, just wherever seems fun, stopping by the "Kojima Fair" that's selling dolls of Kojima-sensei -- Momono (laughing and holding a big Kojima doll): "What's this?" -- a video store, looking at some fish... Momono's kinda kawaii today.. but she must be planning something, Shiratori thinks... Next up is swimsuits, Shiratori getting all red when Momono asks how it looks on her, then lunch... where to go next? Before then can decide, a fortuneteller harasses them, trying to get them to have their fortunes read, but they make a getaway to the park.. holding hands. Back at Narutakisou, Kozue goes to knock on Shiratori's room, holding a bag full of taiyaki, but then remembers he's with Momono...

Next up is a movie... during the movie Shiratori is extremely nervous, worrying about holding hands with Momono,and can't concentrate on what's going on.. but Momono seems to be somewhere else..

[begin flashback]
This next section comes from a chapter called 『ヒカリ』 Kojima-sensei wrote for a special DVD Comic Gangan Wing Digital Edition, that covers Momono's past. You can see a bit of it here. Anyways, it's self-explanatory so moving on ;)
[end flashback]

After remembering all those things Momono grabs Shiratori's hand, crying. Outside, Momono aplogizes. She was testing -- not Shiratori, but herself. Back when she was in middle school a lot of stuff happened (as we saw during the flashback) and she started going out with that boy we saw, and she still is now. But now, that person's far away studying films, so letters are the only way they can communicate. Now that she thinks about it, maybe she should've gone with him.. she wouldn't have had to test whether or not she could start liking another person. Shiratori being the perfect guy to test that with since he does have a lot of good qualities.. but she still can't stop thinking about that person. She apologizes again, and waits for the punishment.. But we know Shiratori's not that kinda guy and says he had a lot of fun. And tonight he'll definitely be participating in all the partying with Momono, of course ;)

When they arrive back at Narutakisou, an air mail letter has arrived for Momono, and she reads it. Shiratori's brought back some taiyaki for Kozue, but she already bought a bunch.. so Sayoko downs 'em whole ;) It's time to party now, and Momono takes out the usual and drinks, inviting Shiratori to have a drink as well. But he's got homework...

---

Things really came together well this time, better than the manga, I think. Especially with "Hikari" included -- it isn't in the tankoubon so I hadn't heard anything about it 'til MOON PHASE mentioned it.

Next time, umi, umi, umi, umi, umi! Umi to ieba onna no ko no mizugi sugata! (Wait, that's something "Hot Stuff" would say...) So all y'all that have wanted to see Kozue in a swimsuit should be happy ;) Moon Phase also mentioned that Mahiru would be making her first appearance, but that's something we'll be talking about more later on..