Koi Kaze - 5: Distant Thunder

Koushiro and Nanoka's father takes off while Koushiro sits and thinks. Nanoka is trying to do some cleaning and asks him to clean the tub if he's got nothing better to do while she vacumns. He gets up, then stops as he gets close to her and gives her a long look, which has her puzzled. But he goes and cleans the tub as requested. As he does, he wonders if Nanoka knows what he was doing with her bra when she accidently came in on him in the laundry room the day before. Eventually, he figures that she couldn't have as he looks at her underwear drying on the line outside.

Coming back to his room, he sees that the trash with the incriminating tissues has been emptied. He rushes out of his room only to meet his sister who wants to know what he wants to eat. He gets mad with her for entering his room without permission. She's puzzled by his anger since all she did was take out the trash and troubled by his insults of her. He goes to his room paranoid that maybe she knows what he did and he's clearly frustrated with himself. So at lunch, Nanoka eats her soumen alone.

The next day at school, Nanoka consults with her friends about Koushiro's anger over her entering his room. She finds it suspicious. Her friends wonder if he's got a birthday present hidden in his room for her, but she thinks not.

Meanwhile at Koushiro's job, Odagiri has a flyer printed a proposal allows 15-year old girls to attend a Japanese festival party. Natrually, the boss rejects this and notices Koushiro decerating the bamboo plant with paper wishes without complaining. One of them is from Odagiri, stating he wants Koushiro's sister. He "modifies" Odagiri's request and hangs it on the tree, remarking that having a little sister isn't all its cracked up to be.

Late that evening, Koushiro and his boss walk home. They go for a drink where she enjoys her beer, but he's acting all depressed. She suspects that his problems relate to Nanoka, thoguht he denies it. At home later that night, he still tells himself he doesn't care about Nanoka as he holds her bowl and remembers what he did. Nanoka comes down and surprises him, causing him to drop the bowl. When she tries to approach, he again gets mad with her, but tries to make it seem as if he's concerned for her safety as he picks up the broken pieces. Nanoka takes advantage of the sistuation and demands to know what he's going to do about breaking her favorite bowl. He does not respond. Backing off, she asks if he knows what tomorrow is (her birthday). He doesn't answer, simply stating he doesn't need a bento from her and leaves, causing her to feel down.

In his room, Koushiro is curled up, upset with himself. He wants to apologize to Nanoka for sniffing her bra and being sexually aroused by her. He decides against it. Seeing her bear against the wall causes him to have a startled reaction.

The next morning, Nanoka is alone at breakfast when their father comes down. He wonders if Koushiro knows its her birthday, but she says she doesn't mind that he's not there. A storm approaches while Nanoka gets presents from her friends at school and Koushiro does his thing at work. Nanoka ponders her brother's odd behavior of late and Koushiro continues to be angry. His boss comes in with two umbrellas and a message from his dad asking him to pick Nanoka up from the train station since she didn't have an umbrella. He wonders why he has to do it and is surprised to learn of Nanoka's 16th birthday party. He remembers what Nanoka had tried to say to her the night before, and as he does, he grabs the umbrellas and races through the streets. He plans to use her birthday as a way to patch things up with her and ease his guilt.

At the train station, he's caught in the gate which sets off the ding-dong chime, and Nanoka turns to see him there. They stand for a moment and Koushiro gets off a small apology. Koushiro begins to make a fool of himself as the crowd of people at the station stop and stare. He apologized for forgetting her birthday. She gently accaptes and wonders if he came to pick her up and give her the flowers. Flustered, he denies it.

Walking through the rainy streets home, Nanoka tells him that she thought he was angry because she saw him in his underwear. He apologizes and she tells him how scary he was the night before. He then says that for her birthday, he'll buy her anything she wants. She takes him to a shop to buy a new bowl and is very happy about it.

AstroNerdBoy: 8 December 2006

Well, Koushiro's torment certainly continues and his being a jerk is irritating (but in a weird way understandable). I feel sorry for Nanoka having to deal with this kind of verbal crap from him. It is amazing how quickly she forgives, as seen in her happiness over buying a new bowl to eat rice in.