Koi Kaze - 8: Wind Flower

Koushiro looks at apartment ads in the window and thinks about his situation and Nanoka, who's shown at school with her friends. They are boy-watching and get spotted by a teacher who puts them to work cleaning a classroom. They do so and while Nanoka thinks they should straighten the books on the shelf, Futaba-chan and Tamaki-chan disagree and they take off.

That night at home, Nanoka gets Koushiro's sweater out to take some measurments. He gets home sooner than expected. Coming into the main room of the house, Koushiro compains about the mess there, including cookie crumbs on the newspaper. He teases her that eating so many snack will turn her into a pig. She gets frustrated and strongly denies that she'll turn into a pig. When their father pops in to tell her to take a bath, she forgets herself and tells him to shut up. This stuns him and she apologizes, he thinks the worst. Koushiro asks her why she puts on the innocent face for their dad, which she also denies.

The next morning, she comes down to find that Koushiro is already at work and her Dad has already left. The phone rings and it is Koushiro. Apparently it is not a school day since Nanoka slept in. Koushiro needs a large envelope he left behind and asks Nanoka to bring it by his office. She reminds him that he told her to never come to his work again. He tries to lay the guilt trip on her saying he could return home to get it, but she says that she can do it if he needs her to do so.

On the train ride, Nanoka reflects on her reaction to Koushiro's responce. She makes it to his office with no problem and Koushiro actually seems very nice to her. He even says he'll give her some money to do some shopping before she goes back home. Nanoka asks if he'll be working late. She says she wants to go home with him. Some of his co-worker interupt, so Koushiro asks her to just take a seat and wait for him while he takes care of a client.

Nanoka paitently waits for him as she watches him work. Koushiro's female boss comes by and talks with Nanoka. She gives Nanoka a cup of coffee and says its OK for her to be there, but wonders if she wouldn't be better served waiting for her brother in the downstairs cafe. Nanoka is fine staying where she is, watching her oniichan work.

After work, Nanoka and Koushiro walk through the city together. Nanoka is amused at how different Koushiro is at work than when he's at home. He acknowledges this as a normal thing. Nanoka tells him about how her friends see her as so serious. She feels that she has been putting on a facade as he'd accused her of doing in front of their father. He apologizes for having said too much then, but assures her that people do this for work, home, or other situations and this must seem very adult to her. She thinks that he was "cool" at work. He tells her that if she knew the truth about him, she would hate him. She denies this and to prove her point, runs to him to give him a hug.

Moments later, Koushiro's boss sees Nanoka leading a protesting Koushiro by the hand. She finds this sweet and goes on her way while the two of them walk hand in hand.

Then next day, Koushiro gets up and wishes that Nanoka wasn't his little sister. Nanoka is preparing food and for a moment, it seems like they are a newly wed couple. As they walk to the train station, Nanoka grabs Koushiro's arm like a girl would do to her boyfriend. He weakly protests, but allows it to happen. Later, and unattached, the pair encounter a neighbor who's happy to see the siblings getting along so well, especially since her kids fight all the time. On the train ride, Nanoka observes a young couple who are doing silly couple things on the train. She tells Koushiro that she wants to go out for some fun with him. He doesn't want to and tells her they do go out to different places (shopping being one of them). She won't accept that and says that he has to promise to take her someplace nice.

At work, Koushiro's boss teases him a bit about seeing him with Nanoka. She remarks on how cute Nanoka is and how he could get wrapped up in taking care of her. She further remarks that if one didn't know better, one might think the two of them were in a relationship of some kind. He doesn't get mad, only smiles, stands up, and quitely walks away.

Koushiro's boss, Odagiri, and Koushiro go out drinking after work. She tells Odagiri that "Chidori-sama" will pour him another drink, something he doesn't seem to keen on. Koushiro reflects to himself that he'll have to do something about this thing between he and Nanoka.

Meanwhile at home, Nanoka sneaks into Koushiro's room, knowing he'll get pissed if he finds out about it. She sits on his bed.

Koushiro on the final leg home tells himself that Nanoka is his little sister. He comes home and pours himself a glass of water. Entering his room, he finds Nanoka sleeping on top of his bed. He doesn't get angry, but wonders what he's going to do with her and lays down fully clothed facing away from her. She wakes up and asks him what he's doing. He tells her she'll catch a cold. She wonders if he's going to get angry, but drops the subject as the two of them look at each other. He softly touches her face and asks if she wants to sleep in the bed with him. He then says he's joking and quietly asks her to go to her bed so he can get some sleep.

Nanoka asks him what he thinks of her. She asks if he knows how she feels. He tries to stop her, but she again confesses her love for him. He asks her not to say it, telling her that she loves him like a sister would love a brother, even though he knows better. He wants to tell her his feelings, but says the proper things. She begins to cry and tries to rush out of the room. He grabs her and gives her a hug. That causes her to panic, and she flees from him, running unsteadily to her room and leaving Koushiro with a world crashing around him.

AstroNerdBoy: 09 December 2006

Well, Nanoka is clearly in love with her oniichan and confesses again. This time it has more meaning because she states it more clearly and in a way a girl would confess to the boy she loves. Well, I know now why Koushiro was nicer. His defences had clearly been worn down and he no longer felt much like fighting it.

I may be wrong, but I think this is the first time we hear the name of Koushiro's boss, and that's when she calls herself "Chidori-sama."