| Chapter 23. The Rose of Versailles? | |
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| Titles | |
| Information | |
| Release Date | March 12, 2010 |
| Chapter | 23 |
| Volume | 4 |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-4-06-340790-7 |
| Previous ← Chapter 22. Some Like it Hot? |
Next Chapter 24. Close Encounters of the Third Kind → |
| Volumes and Chapters | |
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Kuranosuke treats Chieko and Jiji to eating out in order to cover up his identity with a lie. Later he accuses Tsukimi of being jealous of Inari because she has feelings for Shuu.
Summary[]
Tsukimi eats the hotpot meal at Amamizukan with Mayaya and Banba. She muses that a warm-water life with no stimulation is just as it should be for the Amars. Mayaya, however, immediately emotes aloud that she craves stimulation, and she and Banba readily pour in the kimchi sauce for the second half of the hotpot.
Chieko and Jiji are shocked about Kuranosuke's gender, but he insists on taking them out to eat to explain things. Keiichiro tries to join them, but Kuranosuke refuses to let his father come.
Outside, they encounter Shuu and Inari fighting as he finally drags her out of the Mercedes himself. Kuranosuke asks Hanamori to drive them to his favorite peking duck restaurant, but checks that he isn't busy. Hanamori waves off what's happening with Shuu and Inari as a lovers' quarrel. Kuranosuke is surprised, but decides he's got his own problems right then. Chieko and Jiji react to being inside a Mercedes Benz.
Left alone with Inari, Shuu finally demands from her to know what exactly she's trying to accomplish. Inari changes her attitude completely. She turns toward Shuu to tell him she sees that he means to not make their relationship serious after their night together, so she'll just leave. Shuu is left stricken by the accusation of being a womanizer, especially since he believes the two of them actually had sex that night.
Walking away, Inari is satisfied that she's played him well enough to make him phone her in the next two or three days. When Shuu calls out for her to wait, she's taken aback by how quickly he took the bait and decides to ignore him. She immediately gets a taxi and is driven away.
At a Chinese restaurant where he buys them peking duck, Kuranosuke manages to convince Chieko and Jiji that he is a woman named "Kurako" who was raised to be a man. Jiji and Chieko equate his lie to the famous manga The Rose of Versailles, and therefore find it easy to believe. Finally, they has "her" what her real name is... up until then, they didn't know. Kuranosuke feels put on the spot and comes up with something that sounds similar to his own name, "Kurako." They immediately by it as a nice, classic name and propose a toast to Kurako becoming one of the Amars. Kuranosuke quickly tries to refuse.
Later, Tsukimi is sulking in her room. She could never wear the dress she made, but that woman probably could. Inari is probably a Portugues Man-o-War jellyfish. Not that Tsukimi would want her to wear a jellyfish dress even a poisonous one. Tsukimi remembers the cell phone image and Shuu grabbign hold of Inari's wrist at the Koibuchi mansion gate and struggles with the sick feeling in her chest.
Kuranosuke arrives, letting himself into her room and waiting for her to notice him since he's prepared a dramatic entrance. He has to call her name to get her out of her daze. When she turns around, he's dressed similarly to a period French outfit, completel with a ruffled shirt and buttoned coat. He introduces himself as the Oscar Francois of Tokyo: Kurako Koibuchi!
Tsukimi looks at him confused, and he clarifies that she's to call him Kurako from now on and that he has permission to come to Amamizukan whenever. He also adds that Chieko and Jiji are passed out on the couch from too much wine.
He tries to convince her to finish the second dress but she carefully tried to refuse. Kuranosuke insists that she can't back out after having already torn up one of his dresses. When she refuses again he asks her if she lost her nerve because she saw Shuu with Inari at his place. Tsukimi stutters and tries to deny it, but Kuranosuke cuts her off. "Jealous much?"[1]
Tsukimi tries to pretend that she misheard him. Kuranosuke drives the point home by informing her that she's feeling jealousy and that she should just admit already that she's into his brother. Tsukimi freezes. Kuranosuke waits and gets stressed, so he knocks her in the head to "reboot" her.
Tsukimi's brain kicks in to think that it would be impossible for that to be true. She pictures Shuu straightening his glasses, and sees Kuranosuke in the room with her. If she did actually have feelings for Shuu, then that would make her like a normal girl.
Kuranosuke leaves in a bad mood.
Shuu tries to call Inari, frustrated that she's not answering.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
Quotes[]
- (Kuranosuke, introducing his new identity cover to Tsukimi) ❝Tsukimi! Hi thereee! It's the Oscar Francois of Tokyo, also known as—Kurako Koibuchi!❞[2]
- (Kuranosuke to Tsukimi) ❝Just admit it, already. You're into my brother, aren't you?❞[3]
Trivia[]
- The chapter title comes from the popular manga of the same name.