Just moments ago I tried to reheat my coffee in a kitchen cabinet. I swayed sleepily into the kitchen, yanked open a kitchen cupboard, deposited my mug between the jar of pink Himalayan salt and packages of potato starch and panko, and then I waited. Moments later, I realized it was the kitchen cabinet and NOT the microwave, and that I had nestled my cup of coffee in between dried goods. Moments after that, the blood rushed to my ears.
Had anyone seen me? No, it was quiet, except for the resonant hum of the refrigerator. Phew.
Weeks ago, the restaurant that my younger brother held his reception at last June – the same one where his wife made a scene and refused to cut the cake until my sister and I was ushered away – shut down. I bumped into him the other day, bringing my car to our dads’ for a check-up, and I mentioned it to him in passing because I had nothing else to talk to him about, and that was the first thing that popped in my mind.
“Did you hear that La Papaya, or whatever you call that place you had your reception at, shut its doors?”
My brother’s face turned into stone. His face could have been a Buddha statue head sitting in a garden covered in weeds for all I knew. Omae kokoro chiisee na, he said. You’re freaking petty. Me, petty? No, no, no my friend. Tell that to your waifu. Instinctively, I balled up my fists, but our mom came out on the porch with an eager smile to greet us. Her hair was cropped into a round helmet that stuck close to her skull. I was startled into laughter, and the moment had passed for me to send my knuckles flying into my brother’s Buddha face.
That event replayed in my mind, while I was standing alone in the kitchen in my slip, holding onto a cup of coffee I had tried to microwave in a kitchen cabinet, my ears burning from humiliation. I wondered, could my Buddha brother (and maybe even his half-German waifu) be right about me? That I was one freaking petty specimen of a human being. Had I really let go of the resentment I held over their wedding day when I was spurned at the reception in front of all those people, and so by mentioning that the place they had cherished and chosen to ply their friends with cheap alcohol and tolerable Mexican food barely lasted a year after their wedding, I was in some way taking a dig at their relationship?
Then I yawned, and that fleeting uncertainty that gnawed at me fled with it. My intentions were once again misunderstood. Just like the long gone Fridge tyrant who tried to pin fault on me for draping my sweater over the office chair. Just like the dozens of people who filtered in and out of my life. And now that I’ll be turning thirty at the end of August, I feel no desire to flag down the irate and bitter to explain. All I was left with was the sad fact that I had tried to microwave a beverage in a kitchen cabinet.
As for intentions, I meant well when I said we were to release on May 30-31. It didn’t happen. I could try to make more excuses, but I won’t. Let’s just let these releases speak for themselves. Read ’em and weep.
3 AM Dangerous Zone Final Chapter: Yes, Momoko and Tagaya may still be sharing an oyakodon together, but things are different now that it’s finally coming to an end. Oh, I’ll miss this crew so freaking much! See you all again in 3 AM Terrible Zone!
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Anata no Koto wa Sorehodo ch.3: I hate Arishima? Pendulum of indecisiveness keeps swinging back and forth.
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Ane no Kekkon ch.11: The real “pig” in here isn’t Maki, it’s Hamasato.
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Gad Sfortunato ch.6: Lapin Peluche (our Russian bosom buddies) and Minelauva, I can’t thank you guys enough for bringing this project to completion. I, BL-avoider that I am, enjoyed this one IMMENSELY. I’m even a little sad to see it go…
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Gad Sfortunato ch.7 Final Chapter: Download | Read Online
Mani Mani ch.6 Final Chapter (Joint w/ Hotcakes): Nightswan, thank you thank you & thank you. This story was just the ending a girl could ask for.
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Principal ch.16: Oh my god, Gen! How could you say that to Shima? HOW?
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Teke Teke Rendezvous ch.12: Damn, Shishimaru, I feel for you.
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Thank you so much for the releases!!
Thank you for the release! Time to read Mani Mani, 3AM Danger Zone, and Gad Sfortunato! 😀
Thanks a lot for finishing Gad Sfortunato!
I’ve read most of the way through the updates, except for Mani Mani and Gad Sfortunato now. hehehehe
re: Anata no Koto wa Sorehodo ch.3: wow, this series is bubbling up to be quite a nice stew. When it’s literature it just comes across as juicy and even enjoyable to consume. I don’t know how I would tolerate this story in real life though o-o;; Kinda painful and difficult to weigh and consider each person’s side, probably would be unpleasantly sticky and complicated. 🙁
Arishima seems to have changed quite a bit between middle school and high school. In middle school he was kinda a cool chara, stoic little boy but when we see him in high school his personality seems to have changed a lot. “Mr. Popular,” indeed, huh… I guess that often happens between middle school and high school realistically though. I liked middle school Arishima. High school Arishima is… and adult Arishima is even more ?_?. Hmmm. They are interesting characters though (everyone in the story so far).
You know I didn’t realize until a few weeks ago, when I reread the first two chapters, that Arishima and Miyoshi got down and dirty in her room the night she invited him in through the back door of her house. Quite possibly, he had taken her virginity, and the stoic look on his face when he did it would have been cool in any other circumstance, but at that moment I found him rather frightening. I wouldn’t go for middle school Arishi because of that situation. While I can’t agree with him fooling around, high school Arishi doesn’t look down on Reika like the other kids in class. He actually seems genuine and friendly with her even though I’m certain she’s not his type based on his past collection of girls. Adult Arishi on the order hand, deserves to have his nuts smashed.
I could see why you might get the creeps from Arishima’s unemotional face in that situation. I realized what was going on in that frame when I read the scene, but I didn’t think too much about it. I just thought he might not show his emotion too much on his face as an inexpressive cool chara, stoic boy. 😛
Since we are seeing everyone’s stories chapter by chapter, I’m interested in whether we’ll also get a vignette from his perspective that explains Arishima’s motives. There’s some ambiguity right now as to whether he’s just been a predator or lowlifer lurking beneath the surface all along, like Mi-chan glimpses at the end of the 1st(?) chapter and you might have glimpsed in your reaction to the aforementioned scene, or if something is motivating him to cheat on his wife, who he seemed to genuinely like in high school. (You’re right, that Mr. Popular falls for plain girl story was cute. I was just taken aback by the change in personality transformation.) But then, Mi-chan said it herself.. maybe we’re all simply bad and weak people at the core. Not sure what the entire deal is, but I’m curious!!
aha. ahha. hahahfajefalfkjalef THAT BITCH DRIVES ME INSANE (ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ︵ ┻━┻ SERIOUSLY WHAT THE FUCKFSDMF OFEAFKKF LFPEPFJKearjkjk SEEEEERIOUSLY? SERIOUSLY FXXXING MAKING PEOPLE *LEAVE* DURING THE RECEPTION TO CUT THE CAKE? WHAT
THE
FUCK
Especially YOUR HUSBAND’S SISTERS
I can’t believe that no one there punched her in the solar plexus. I know she’s always been a hideous person but to do it so brazenly in front of that many people… WOW. WOWWWwwWwwwWw
You, petty? PETTY? REALLLLLY?? AFJEAJFAKEF,ef
AJGEALFAJKEFAEFJaefJAEFJAEFJ
Ahem, sorry
I even waited a while before commenting to let my rage settle a little. SORRY BUT I AM JUST TOO PISSED OFF!!!
In any case, you’re definitely not petty, and I don’t blame you for still being resentful if you still are.
I lol’d though that your brother automatically took it as a dig — had he had no reason to feel guilty or known he was in the wrong he’d probably just take the comment as… a comment (which it may or may not have been).
I think I’ve mistaken the garbage can for the fridge, before… or put freezer things in the fridge and vice versa. (Always with the fridge!)
On another subject, OMG 3 AM キタ━━━(゜∀゜)━━━!!!! AND GAD! WEE! AND THE END OF MANI WHICH MEANS I CAN READ IT NOW (;ﾟ∀ﾟ)=3ﾊｧﾊｧ
Thanks everyone for all your hard works ;w;//
Dude, you had me holding my guts from laughter. Take a deep breath. In and out, in and out. All good now? Now listen, I have nothing against the girl right now. I think we were caught up in that mess created by that batman-obsessed boy man who got in our way. Now that he’s out of the picture – and nothing but a Gaussian blur in my memory – she’s been acting less crazy. But that is beside the point. What I’m concerned over is why you haven’t started Sekine’s Love because you are years too late, and don’t feed me that bull about waiting until it’s finished! I want you to go through that emotional torment of Sekine withdrawal like the rest of the world dammit. Queue it up girl!（;≧皿≦）
Haha! Hats, today I headed over to the laundry room to pick up my laundry and suddenly somehow found myself jabbing my mailbox repeatedly with the wrong key. I had already checked the mail on the first trip over. What the heck was I doing?? I was just brooding about something too early in the morning, like you.
You, my friend, have just made my day. I love your story.（＞ε＜）/cackle cackle
Thank you for all your work on 3 A.M. I really enjoyed reading it! Your writing style is pretty fab, too~
Thank you for all the hard work!
Thank you for finishing Gad Sfortunato!
Thank you so much for the ane kekkon release! Ive been waiting for this! Thanks again
Your life blog posts are as amusing as the releases. Keep it up, even if you ain’t got it up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCU3K6l95Xw
Mimi is an awesome writer. ^o^
So many releases!
I admire you for being able to let go of the bitterness of being misunderstood or having your intentions mistaken. Kusa and I have been bickering plenty lately in our platonic relationship called sestrahood (sorry, I’ve been affected by this Canadian tv show called Orphan Black and its lingo). Maybe when we’re 30 we’ll be like you! Buddha-like in your magnanimous implacability.
Woooo,thank you guys!!! 🙂 always love to read your genious posts Hats, but I wish you lots of colorful ponies and hamsters and sausages and lollipops, so cheer up! And Happy Birthday in advance! *pony hug*
These people seem lovely.
I lost one of my best friends over a series of misunderstandings so I can sort of relate, even if having it happen with your brother must be much worse. I was called petty too, because I wasn’t able to forgive an unacceptable behaviour. It made me realize our relationship was over and I was able to let go.
Now, I’m off to read the last chapter of 3am Dangerous Zone!
Thank you so much.
Thank you for the updates of Ikuemi’s works! I’m not really into Anata no koto, but this chapter was… ehh, interesting 😀 (meat power rules)
Thanks so much for the ending of Gad Sfortunato!
This release is glorious, muah xoxo
Lesson of the day:
Dont try to think before coffee and breakfast!
Freaking morning!!!
Also nitpick: wrong ddl link to ane no kekkon c11
I fixed the link, and now I’m going to crash. If anything crops up don’t be afraid to hit me up and I’ll get to it asap tomorrow.