Hikaeme ni Itte mo, Kore wa Ai 18 *SPOILERS*

READ HIKAEME NI ITTE MO, KORE WA AI 17 SPOILERS HERE

Aftermath of Chapter 16's Incident

A group of boys discuss among themselves that Ohira (Zen) got into an incident with Mizuki (Fuumin/ Fumiya).

They mention that Zen got beaten up. They also agree among themselves that anyone who's targeted by Mizuki (Fuumin) wouldn't be able to achieve anything in Tsuka High (Zen and Fuumin's school).

Fuumin himself happens to be walking by with his lackeys, and overhears the conversation. He asks them what they're speaking so loudly for, thus scaring them off.

One of Fuumin's lackeys is impressed by how the other boys ran off and praises Fuumin for how fearsome he is - that Zen must be shivering in fear somewhere. Fuumin is pleased.

What is Zen Up To?

Somewhere else, Zen yawns. He and his buddies (Fudou, Raku, Ryuu and Touji) are lying down on the ground in the courtyard of their school. Ryuu and Touji are playing a card game, but Touji is complaining to Zen that Ryuu cheated.

Fuumin and his lackeys spot Zen's group. Fuumin goes up to Zen (who's still lying on the ground) and stands over him, saying that the courtyard is his, not Zen's. He adds that the courtyard isn't a suitable place for a loser.

Touji and Ryuu get mad at Fuumin's taunts, but Zen quickly shuts them up and gets them all to leave. Still angry, Touji and Ryuu turn around to glare at Fuumin.

Leave a Message

Fuumin glares back for a moment, then calls out to Zen. He asks Zen to pass on a message to Risa for him. "If you can catch up to me, try to."

Zen asks Fuumin why to Risa, which leads Fuumin to infer that Zen doesn't know about what happened between Fuumin and Risa at cram school (Fuumin says this out loud). Fuumin tells Zen that his beloved Risa is working hard at her studies with Fuumin as her goal.

Zen is confused and asks Fuumin what he's talking about, but Fuumin says for him to ask Risa herself. He then leaves with his lackeys.

Fuumin and Zen

One of Fuumin's lackeys notices Zen staring after them. He asks another lackey why Fuumin keeps messing with Zen. The other lackey explains that when Zen first entered their school, Fuumin was extremely fond of him.

This shocks the lackey. The other lackey continues explaining that Fuumin admired Zen's strength and tried very hard to recruit Zen, but soon after, their relationship became what it is today.

The lackey asks what on earth happened between them, but the other one doesn't know either. He shrugs it off with, "I guess, the deeper the love, the deeper the hate?"

At Risa's School

There's an announcement for committee members of the cultural festival to stay back after school at classroom 2-A for a meeting.

Risa briefs the committee members on the documents she has handed out. She starts explaining the contents of the documents, which are about the budget. One of the female committee members wonders aloud who Risa is, as she remembers that someone else (called Takami-kun) was supposed to be in charge of budgeting.

A teacher enters the classroom and helps to explain to the committee members that as Takami got injured during club activities, Risa has stepped in to fill the role. The teacher adds that Risa is an outstanding and capable person who would be able to help them. Risa (with her serious face) says that she will do her best. She proceeds to continue the briefing.

Everyone is intimidated by her seriousness.

Risa's Seriousness

In the midst of her briefing, Risa wonders to herself why she took on such a difficult task in this period when she's already busy studying. The Risa from before would not have done it. She continues thinking to herself that hanging out with Zen has seemed to make her feel a little more confident about interacting with people. 

She reminds herself to be responsible, as she's accepted this task.

A female committee member shyly raises her hand to ask Risa a question. She suggests to Risa to take a break, since it must be tiring for Risa to keep talking. Risa looks confused and answers that it's only been 30 minutes. The female committee member adds that today is the first committee meeting, so they should take a break and have a small welcoming party.

Risa holds out her hand to say no, stunning the female committee member. Risa says that if they take a break now, the meeting will end late and they'd have to go home late. She proceeds to continue explaining. However, some people whisper (complain) that they're tired. They start dozing off. Risa notices and looks troubled.

Savior...?

Someone else raises their hand. Risa recognizes that it's Hikari, the girl she met who talked to her about Zen's motorcycle.

Hikari shows everyone her desk, which is full of snacks and candy. She says that they were refreshments from kind teachers. Also, she enthusiastically informs them that she got permission for them to eat while having the committee briefing.

Everyone rejoices and says that with the sweets, they can focus better. Risa notices how Hikari was able to change the mood in an instant.

Hikari offers two flavours of a snack to Risa and asks which flavour she wants. Risa gets flustered and mixes up the names of the flavours. Hikari laughs and offers both flavours to Risa.

Other female committee members notice Risa and Hikari's exchange and whisper among themselves that the current clumsy Risa is very different from the serious Risa from before (gap moe). They find it quite funny. (Risa can hear them and she blushes from embarrassment.)

Risa and Hikari

Risa looks at Hikari while Hikari goes on to offer snacks to the other committee members.

A while later (it's roughly 5.50pm), the committee briefing ends and everyone gets up to leave. Risa starts wiping the blackboard and Hikari goes up to help her.

While wiping the blackboard, Risa remembers that she hasn't thanked Hikari for the snacks. She's about to speak, but Hikari beats her to it.

Hikari thanks Risa for stepping in to replace Takami at such short notice and says that it must have been tough for her to prepare the budgeting documents. She adds that many of the committee members are poor at math, so Risa joining them is big help.

Hikari gives Risa a big smile and says, "We'll be in your care from here on." Risa looks at her and thinks to herself that Hikari is dazzling.

Back At Home

Risa flops onto her bed as she's exhausted. However, she thinks to herself that it isn't time to rest yet, as she needs to consolidate the discussion points from earlier.

As she reviews the documents, Risa recalls the complaints made by the other committee members before Hikari lightened the mood. She thinks to herself that she failed right from the first day. She knows that things don't always go smoothly at the start, but she still feels a little disheartened because it seems like she hasn't changed at all.

Risa wonders what she should do to be like Hikari. She sits down, hugs her knees and buries her head in her arms for a moment, wallowing in self-pity.

However, Risa suddenly looks up and flaps away her negative thoughts. She does some light exercises and takes a deep breath to calm down. She then looks at her phone and there's a blush on her face.

Video Call

Zen appears on her phone screen, which freaks Risa out.

Risa: Eh?! What's this!!!

Zen: What, you say... Risa, you were the one who video called me.

Risa (surprised that she video called him): ...Zen, are you still out?

Zen: Yep- I'm at the convenience store. (He's with his buddies)

Risa: ...Ah, then-

Zen: Wait, wait, it's fine. Risa, your camera is turned off. Turn it on.

Risa: Eh...? How do I do that?

Zen: There should be a video camera icon at the bottom.

Risa: ...Ah...This one?

Risa's face appears on Zen's phone but he only sees her forehead. He gets her to adjust her camera angle 😂 She ends up deciding to prop her phone up on a platform while she sits at her desk. Risa narrates that it's amazing how they are able to look at each other and talk even though they're at completely different locations.

Zen: Did you want to see my face that badly?

Risa: No. I just made a mistake.

Zen: You sure are quick to deny it.

Risa and Zen's Conversation

Zen: ...Did you go to cram school today?

Risa: Hm? I didn't today... What's up?

Zen (thinking of what Fuumin said): ...No, it's nothing. You're still wearing your school uniform, so I was just wondering if you just got home.

Risa: Ah... It's because I had a cultural festival committee meeting.

Zen: What's that? Have you done it before?

Risa: My teacher asked me to join in order to replace someone who quit...

Zen (annoyed): No way, was it forced on you? (Tell me the person's name.)

Risa: No... I wanted to do it. ...I'm surprised myself, but I've seen how Zen interacts with so many people, so I also wanted to try harder in my interpersonal relationships.

Risa recalls how she used to think that Zen and her are from completely different worlds. She narrates that while she was thinking that way, she must also have been longing for it (meaning that she wanted to be like Zen too).

Zen: ...Risa-

Risa: ...Well, I failed, though.

Zen: Failed?

Risa: I was nervous, so I got overly enthusiastic and ended up talking in circles.

Zen: Pfft- What's with that? That's cute.

Risa: I-It wasn't cute! Everyone's mood turned sour... I-...

Zen (chuckling): Go and make lots more mistakes, I'll laugh at them for you. That said, there must be someone out there who will keep an eye on Risa, so go and talk in circles with confidence.

Risa (reminded of how Hikari helped her): ...I see.

Zen: Yep.

Risa: ...Yes, that's right.

Risa narrates that Zen's words were more effective than deep breathing or light exercises at lifting the weight from her shoulders.

Risa: Hold on, I wanna jot this down.

Zen: Seriously? Write it down. Carve it in your heart. ✨

Cat Risa

Touji asks Zen how long more he's going to chat with Risa. Zen asks him for one more hour, but Touji adamantly declines.

While Risa tries to wrap up the conversation (she can hear Touji complaining), she sees a button on her phone screen and wonders what it is. She presses it.

A cat filter appears on the video call, giving Risa cat ears, nose, whiskers and paws. Risa freaks out, which causes Zen to look at his phone at Risa. He asks her if it's her first time using the filter effects. Risa is still panicking, saying that she pressed something weird and asks how to return it to normal.

However, Zen simply blushes, looking at the screen without answering her. He then says that it's fine this way, as Cat Risa is the best. Risa asks again to teach her how to return it to normal and Zen says that he understands, but he'll take a screenshot first.

Risa is very embarrassed but says that she'll endure it, as a "thank you" gift for consulting Zen today. She makes a grimace but with a blush, and Zen takes a screenshot while laughing.

Zen thanks Risa and they end the video call.

Zen and His Buddies

Zen continues looking at the screenshot of Cat Risa that he took and blushes. Raku tells Zen that he has a gross look on his face. Zen answers that he likes cat ears, and Raku asks if he's coming out about his fetishes.

Raku then informs Zen that there's something he'd like to update him about. Raku says that among the girls he played around with before, there was one who said that she wanted to be introduced to Zen. However, he turned her down without discussing it with Zen first. Zen answers that it's fine, and also to reject future requests.

Raku adds that the girl's name was Hikari and it seemed like she knew Zen. However, Zen doesn't recall knowing a Hikari.

Just then, Ryuu sees the screenshot of Cat Risa on Zen's phone and laughs. Zen covers his phone and tells Ryuu not to look, but Ryuu calls him stingy and starts teasing Zen about cat fetishes. While Zen and Ryuu bicker, Raku watches Zen and sighs.

Ryuu remarks that Risa has a strong character so he failed to notice, but from seeing the cat picture, she is actually adorable. He asks Zen if he's worried, as Risa is in a mixed school, plus she also attends cram school.

Ryuu: What would you do if someone approached you? Uwah- if it were me, I wouldn't be able to resist.

Zen: You'll be fine, you don't have a girlfriend.

Ryuu: 😩 (he goes to cry in Fudou's chest, saying that he wants a girlfriend)

Zen: Well, if there is such a person, of course I'll crush them.

READ HIKAEME NI ITTE MO, KORE WA AI 19 SPOILERS HERE