H2
	 Volume 9
	  Chapter 6 (85)
	   You're Late!

 - Page 95 -

(Ch. 6) You're Late!

 - Page 96 -

 - Page 97 -

 - Page 98 -

Rain: (fshhh)

 - Page 99 -

[The latest day off without a practice...]

Hiro: Oooh,
	perfect aquarium visiting weather.
	Ugh!

Mom: Breakfast, Hiro.

Hiro: Don't need it!

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[Why do I have to run on a day without practice?]
[Geez!]

<<Haruka: 9:00 AM in front of the Enzoji Park statue.

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Hiro: Safe!
	The fleet-footed Kunimi is safe by a hair.
	I'll pretend I've been here for 15 minutes...

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 - Page 103 -

Hiro: You're late!
	Achoo!
	Okay,
	game called.

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Hiro: I'm hungry.

<<Haruka: I've been looking forward to this, since yesterday...

Hiro: Ah, hello?
	Is this the Koga family?

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Hiro: May I speak with Haruka-san?
	Oh,
	she left this morning?
	Oh,
	nothing...
	Goodbye.

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Hiro: Okay!
	Time to go home and take a nap.

Mom: Welcome home.

Hiro: No calls for me?

Mom: Nope.

Hiro: Ah,
	I see.

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[Thinking of explanations is a waste of time.]
[It's probably a stupid reason, anyways.]

Rain: (splash splash)

Hiro: Shit.
	It's got to be some stupid reason.

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Phone: (rrrrrr...)

Dad: Hello?
	Oh,
	what do you want?
	Hmm?
	Shut up.
	Leave me alone.
	Okay,
	whatever.
	Later.
	Noda-kun's coming over here to hang out.

Hiro: Huh?

Dad: He totally thought I was you.
	Bwahaha.

Mom: That's right, your voices have gotten remarkably similar lately,
	Dad's and Hiro's.

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Hiro: Noda has bad hearing.
	I don't sound like an old man.

Dad: It's not just Noda.
	Last night, President Koga's daughter thought I was you, too.  (clik)
	She just started talking, so I didn't have time to explain.
	I didn't mean to trick her, but I ended up on the phone until the end of the call.

[Ooh, look at this piece of beef...]

(Note: This is a line from a famous commercial several years ago in which a housewife is surprised to find a piece of beef in her refridgerator.
	For a short time (around the time these chapters were being published) this phrase was used in the general Japanese lexicon to express
	surprise and delight at something you didn't expect to find.  The use here, of course, is rather sarcastic.  Naturally, over time it has
	become forgotten and it's rarely used anymore.)

Hiro: And what did she say?

Dad: Oh right,
	it would be raining tomorrow, so forget about the statue,
	and meet at some cafe in front of the station.

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Hiro: Which one?

Dad: Ummmm.
	Oh, right.
	Donho, right in front of the station.

Hiro: Dumbo...

Dad: No, no,
	DONHO.

Sign: Cafe Donho

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Hiro: What time do you think it is?

Haruka: Quarter to noon.

Hiro: You could have called!

Haruka: You were sleeping because you were tired from practice, right?
	We don't get breaks often, and I didn't want to wake you up...

Hiro: C'mon.

 - Page 112 -

Hiro: Why did you make the meeting time at 9 o'clock, then?

Haruka: The time you spend waiting is still part of the date.
	And the longer the date, the better.

[...oh yeah,]
[I guess Noda is supposed to be coming over to my house...]
[Whatever...]

 - Chapter 6 End -