Three Stories that Began to Run: "Grandma Nagomi's Room Assignment," "Kazuya Mama's Ring," and "Mami's message”
■The original Japanese version
【191話】走り出した3つの物語：「和おばあさんの部屋割り」「和也ママの指輪」「麻美のLINE」
■Previous chapter
[ch 190] I Love Kazuya, So I Can't Be His Lover
Hello! Are you enjoying Kanokari?
In chapter 191, the roller coaster started to climb up the rails, if I may say so. There's a lot of foreshadowing going on, and I have a feeling that the story is about to take off!
Today, as usual, I'll talk about this week's Chizuru, and then summarize the main story and the two foreshadowings.
Chizuru Has Very Little Time Left
◆笑顔で麻美殿登場 (Mami-dono appears with a smile.) (191)
What ......!!!?
Mami appeared with a smile on her face. "What ......!!!?", Chizuru and Kazuya are in perfect harmony.
What Chizuru is most afraid of now is that Gramma Nagomi and Kazuya's friends will find out that she and Kazuya have been lying about their relationship. She told Kazuya, "Let's ride this out. You and me together" (chapter 189), but Mami unexpectedly appeared.
◆麻美を警戒する千鶴 (Chizuru is wary of Mami) (191)
Why? What's Mami-san doing here? If she gets serious, it would be so easy for her to expose our lies. There's nothing I can do to stop it (Chapter 184). She went out of her way to approach Grandmother Nagomi and even arrived on this trip. Maybe this trip itself was arranged by Mami-san.
I'm sure Chizuru is thinking something like that.
◆麻美のニコッ (Mami smiling at Chizuru) (191)
Chizuru has very little time left to make the lie come true. Mami smiles back (sorry, I thought her smile was very kawaii lol). If this smile is an act, then Mami is really scary. Her smile really looks like saying, "Don't worry, it's okay," from the bottom of her heart. Chizuru's vigilance must be at its maximum.
At this point, I think it will be difficult for Chizuru to accept Kazuya's confession, but I wonder how she will overcome this crisis. Let's hope for the best.
So let's take a look at the three stories that have started running.
Grandma Nagomi's Room Assignment
Let's start with the main storyline.
◆にやる和おばあさん (Grandma Nagomi with her eerie smile.) (191)
At the end of this chapter, Grandma Wa smiles eerily. Naturally, she was scheming, wasn't she? No doubt she was planning to put Chizuru and Kazuya in the same room. I feel a little bit sorry for Ruka-chan that she is left all alone.
But well, considering the current situation, I don't think Kazuya and Chizuru will be in the same room easily.
There is no doubt that the Ruka bomb will sound a near-explosion alert. Ruka has come along on this trip to stop Kazuya and Chizuru from confessing their love, so she will do everything in her power to stop them.
Chizuru and Kazuya must know that, too. If the two of them try to be alone, Ruka will inevitably go out of control. I'm sure Chizuru and Kazuya will try to find a reason to be in different rooms at all costs.
I'm sure things will get messy, but depending on what kind of room assignments are made in the end, the story could go either this way or that way. I can't wait to see what kind of scene awaits us.
Kazuya Mama's Ring
Here is the first foreshadowing.
◆千鶴の手を気にする晴美（和也ママ） (Harumi [Kazuya's mom] is worried about Chizuru's hand.) (191)
Kazuya's mother (Harumi) was wondering if Chizuru was wearing a ring.
Well, Chizuru has always played the role of the "ideal girlfriend" and "ideal wife" in front of Kazuya's family, so it would be more natural for her to wear the ring in response to their expectations (this is what my friend told me). If she and Kazuya could have been real lovers, I think Chizuru would have worn the ring on one of her fingers, not necessarily on the ring finger of her left hand.
But if you look at it from a normal sense (from a general Japanese sense), just because your son's girlfriend is a nice girl, it's obviously too much to expect her to accept an engage-like ring when they're not even engaged. I'm sure Harumi also wondered what was wrong with Chizuru, but at this point, she wouldn't have suspected Kazuya and Chizuru's relationship. She probably simply wondered what was wrong with Chizuru and if the ring was becoming a burden.
If Harumi and Chizuru talk about something, or if Harumi says something to Kazuya, I'm sure that Harumi will move the story in some way. If the ring thing is combined with Chizuru and Kazuya's refusal to be in the same room, Harumi might start to suspect that there is something going on between them.
Mami's message
The second foreshadowing is this: Mami's message.
It was secretly planted (well, it was obvious to me). On this trip, Mami immediately started to move.
◆ちょっと 話あるんだけど… (I need to talk to you about something...) (191)
ちょっと 話があるんだけど…
(I need to talk to you about something...)
Suddenly, Kuribayashi started talking to Ruka.
Hmm? That's strange... Why is this guy saying this? Kuribayashi felt uncomfortable being with Ruka this trip, so he avoided contact with her as much as possible. He even said he was thinking of stopping this trip and going home. So why?
It should describe the reason why Kuribayashi is talking to Ruka. When I read it again, it all connected... It seems that Mami had been manipulating Kuribayashi.
◆なにやらスマホを笑顔で操作する麻美殿 (Mami-dono operates her smartphone with a smile on her face.) (191)
◆スマホを片手に緊張した面持ちの栗林 (Kuribayashi looking nervous with his phone in his hand) (191)
Mami is operating her phone. Kuribayashi looks at the screen of his phone as well, and looks nervous. I guess Kuribayashi had to talk to Ruka because he learned something from Mami's message (probably on Line app).
I happened to meet Kazu-kun before, and Ruka-chan was there. She stuck to Kazu-kun and said she was his girlfriend. Do you know anything about it? I wonder if Chizuru-san knows about it.
Mami has seen Ruka claiming to be Kazuya's girlfriend before (chapters 75-76), but she doesn't know that Ruka was a rental girlfriend and that Kuribayashi was dumped by Ruka (no such scene is shown in the story). If that's the case, we still don't know why she messaged Kuribayashi about Ruka.
Of course, it's possible that Mami chose Kuribayashi by accident. But I think she did a thorough investigation and found out that Ruka was a rental girlfriend and that Kuribayashi was dumped by her. Because it's that Mami, right? She's the one who, without our knowledge, found out that Chizuru is an actress and that she made a movie with Kazuya. There were plenty of opportunities for her to find out, such as Ruka's profile being left undeleted on the web page of the rental girlfriend office, Ruka having a social networking account for rental girlfriend job and her noticing it, or seeing Kuribayashi's tweets. In fact, I think Mami invited him to this trip (suggested to Grandma Nagomi to invite him) because she knew about Kuribayashi and Ruka's relationship.
In other words, Miyajima-san can make up any number of ways for Mami to find out about Ruka and Kuribayashi's relationship. Unlike the other characters, Mami doesn't show a lot of information to us. That's why she's so scary, and that's why she's so appealing. I wouldn't be surprised if Miyajima-san draws Mami in that way again.
Mami, who moved Kuribayashi with a single message, is as clever as ever. Minimal risk, maximum effect. She's been portrayed as a villain so far, and of course from Chizuru and Kazuya's perspective, she looks like a threat. But if you were to look at her actions from a neutral standpoint and according to "common standards," it's hardly something that anyone would blame her for.
◆恋人ごっこはやめて (Stop playing lover.) (47)
◆和君の人生は一回なんだよっ (You have only one life, Kazu-kun.) (61)
Mami rents Chizuru Mizuhara for a decent amount of money. She sees Chizuru and Kazuya acting as false lovers on campus, so she just tells them that they should stop lying. Since they are breaking most of the terms and conditions of the office, she just advises the rental girlfriend not to continue to "play the lover" with her client (chapters 47-49). The same is true when she visits Kazuya's room and tells him on campus not to rent a "girlfriend". She's just trying to persuade her friend who's passionate about a rental girlfriend, a love that will never come true (chapters 60-61). The same goes for working with Grandma Nagomi to develop an app. She's just trying to learn and gain experience (chapter 175).
On the surface, this is what it looks like. This girl is not going to get her hands dirty. She doesn't take risks that she can be blamed for. The things she does are all things that can be easily justified with a little reasoning. To those who don't know about Kazuya and Chizuru's relationship, they could be seen as "good girls".
Even the message to Kuribayashi this time is just telling her friends what she knows. Even though Mami says often things that are contrary to her feelings, she never makes up outright lies. She just gives the information she has gathered to the right person at the right time. I'm not at fault for anything. That's all it takes to get people to do what I want them to do. This may be Mami's way of fighting in this trip.
I wonder what kind of information Kuribayashi is given by Mami, what he feels, and what he tells Ruka... I spent about 10 minutes trying to be Kuribayashi, but... I don't know.
For Kuribayashi, Mami is a friend from college and Kazuya's ex-girlfriend. Chizuru and Kazuya have helped him a lot and he trusts them a lot and wants to be there for them if they need him.
Ruka is the girl he was in love with, and since this girl dumped him, he has a hard time talking to her. If he were to receive the same information from Mami that I just told you about, Kuribayashi would naturally want to confirm the relationship between Kazuya and Ruka, but I think he would ask Kazuya. Why Ruka? Tell me, Kuribayashi!
I imagine again what Mami told him. Did she say something like, "Ruka is trying to ruin Chizuru-san and Kazu-kun's relationship," or "Ruka is stalking Kazuya?" No, Mami actually saw Ruka going to Kazuya's house and said, "I saw that Kazu-kun let that girl stay in his room, is Chizuru-san okay?" Maybe she said something like that. If that's the case, it seems like Kuribayashi would have a hard time asking Kazuya. No, I wonder if he's going to scold Kazuya. Hmmm. Anyway, it's just my imagination. Let's look forward to the next chapter.
Omake
◆和おばあさん 和也の頑張りを知る (Grandma Nagomi knows how hard Kazuya's been working for Chizuru) (191)
This is an omake. I was a little relieved when I saw the scene where Grandma Nagomi scolded Kazuya. She is very strict with Kazuya, but I'm sure that when she heard from Mami-dono about Chizuru and Kazuya's movie production, she must have thought, "That's my grandson".
I think that Nagomi will be the one to give them a push in the end, and I wanted her to know how much Kazuya cares about Chizuru. Well, Chizuru is a real "princess" in her eyes, and I'm sure she knows that when she sees Kazuya. But still, I wanted her to know about the movie making. I think that Granny Nagomi would never doubt the "truth" of their relationship, even if they told her it was a lie. She is like a red thread that will always guide Chizuru and Kazuya in the end, no matter how far they are apart.
It's pretty short compared to usual, but this is how I looked back at chapter 191. Let's look forward to seeing how the three stories that have started running will explode.
