H2
	 Volume 29
	  Chapter 1 (279)
	   No It's Not

 - Page 5 -

(Ch. 1) No It's Not

 - Page 6 -

[Champions of this year's invitational baseball tournament...]
[Senkawa Private High School's baseball team...]
[New member introductions.]

 - Page 7 -

[First, the players who were stars on their middle school teams...]
[Murakoshi,]
[Yano,]
[Mukai.]
[And...]
[The mighty armed Yama]
[Motojiro.]

 - Page 8 -

[The oddly named]
[Urushidani,]
[Hiruma,]
[Chabatake.]
[And,]
[Kogure,]
[Tsuchida,]
[Araki,]
[Fukumoto,]
[Hayashi,]
[Torimitsu,]
[Asai,]
[Hori,]
[Sonoda,]
[Furukawa.]

Players: You didn't draw our faces.

[17 in total.]

 - Page 9 -

[And two girls who make no distinction between celebrities, baseball players or mass murderers,]
[simple ditzes who love anyone famous.]
[Mii,]
[and Haa.]

(Note: "Miihaa" is a slang term for someone who is easily sucked into fads.)

Girl: That's not very nice to say.

[Yumi,]
[and Ami.]

(Note: AKA Puffy AmiYumi.)

Girl: Hey.
	Stop changing our name.

[Jun,]
[and Nene.]

(Note: An old female due from 1969-1972.)

Girl: That's TOO old, now.

[Anyways, two new managers.]

Girl: Get back here!

[We head toward our final summer, the third year...]

 - Page 10 -

Girls: Ku-ni-mi!
	Ku-ni-mi!
	Hiro!  Hiro!

[Murata,]
[and Tamura.]

Girl: Is that supposed to be a palindrome?

Haruka: How's your mother?

Hiro: Right.
	She seems to be healthier than anyone in the hospital.
	Including the doctors.

 - Page 11 -

Hiro: So now I'm worried she might get out early.

Haruka: Why?
	That's a good thing.

Hiro: No it's not.
	I'm just starting to enjoy my quiet evenings alone.
	My dad stays out at night, so the house is silent,
	nobody's there to yell at me for doing anything...

Haruka: What about food?
	Is Hikari-san cooking for you?

Hiro: Idiot!  That was just that one day.
	My mom was already making dinner when she fainted, anyways...

Haruka: So,
	what do you eat then?

Hiro: There are these great places called convenience stores now.
	Lots of them are even open 24 hours a day.
	You never have to worry about food, even living alone.

[Convenience store aburage...]

(Note: Aburage is thin, flat tofu that is fried in oil.)

 - Page 12 -

Microwave: (ding)

Hiro: Hmmm.
	There are lots of flavors,
	and they're not bad, but...

 - Page 13 -

<<Hikari: I said you were fine, but Mom made me give it to you.

Hiro: That was the only day...
	I guess her mom didn't force her to give me anymore.
	That's pretty cold.
	All right,
	I'll see if I can't wheedle another one out of her when returning the container.

 - Page 14 -

Hiro: Huh?
	Huh?

Hikari: Hiro.

 - Page 15 -

Mr. Amamiya: Yo.

Hikari: Good timing, I was just about to call you.

Hiro: Hospitalized?
	Your mom?
	At the same hospital my mom's in?

 - Page 16 -

Mr. Amamiya: Yeah,
	they've always been such good friends.

Hiro: Appendicitis, too?

Mr. Amamiya: No,
	I think this one is fatigue.
	She'd been feeling poor for two or three days,
	so she agreed to take some tests and stay there for three days to start.

Hikari: Have you eaten dinner, Hiro?

Hiro: I already did.

Hikari: Store-bought food?

Hiro: Yeah.

Hikari: It's not very good when you eat it alone, is it?

Hiro: Not true.

 - Page 17 -

Mr. Amamiya: I know,
	you should start eating dinner here, starting tomorrow.
	It'll be lonely eating just with Hikari here.

Hikari: I don't mind.
	Two portions or three portions isn't much of a difference.

Mr. Amamiya: That's settled, then!

Hiro: Does it have to be tomorrow?

Hikari: Huh?

Hiro: Tonjiru soup is one of my favorites,
	you know.

(Note: Tonjiru is pork miso soup.)

 - Page 18 -

Hideo: Huh?

 - Page 19 -

Hideo: No,
	they wouldn't be together in the dark...

 - Page 20 -

Punch: (ON!)

Hiro: Huh?
	Where's your dad?

Hikari: Huh?
	Oh dear,
	when did this happen?

Mr. Amamiya: (zzz)

 - Page 21 -

Hiro: Well then,
	you can explain everything.

Hikari: To whom?

Hiro: To Hideo.

Hikari: Why?

Hiro: You ought to make things clear for him.
	So he doesn't get any stupid ideas.

 - Page 22 -

Hiro: Your mom went to the hospital too,
	and so you have to do all the cooking.
	Cooking for two is kind of odd and uneconomical,
	and your dad said dinner just with you is boring,
	so you made some for me so that everyone is fairly fed.
	And that's all there is to it.

Hikari: Did you get all that?

Hideo: Loud and clear.

Hiro: What happened to you?
	Your leg's hurt.

Hideo: Nothing.

 - Chapter 1 End -