Kare Kano vol 5

    In volume 4 Miyazawa finds her self both ostracized by the girls in her class and the target of revenge by an old acquaintance of Arima's.  Tsubasa refuses to give up her love for Arima sand continues to relent until her own friends absorb Miyazawa into their circle and she is forced to confess her true feelings to Arima.  Miyazawa's new companions help her to work through the issues with her own class and confront the ring leader, Maho, about the silent treatment  Summer marks the end of the first semester and all of the problems the young couple encounter.  But before they can plan to see each other continuously Arima has to concentrate on his duties in the kendo club as they compete in the nationals tournament.  Will they ever achieve a long stretch of comfort and security?

    Miyazawa kicks off her summer by spending a day with her new friends, including her recent enemy, Maho.  She gets to know how everyone first met the other and the reason's they became and continue stay friends.  The other girls each have their own special talent that makes them unique and Miyazawa ruminates on her complete lack of ability outside of studying.  Maho agrees that she too needs to find a greater purpose than the praise of others and suggest that they work together to find their true selves.  After a day of fun, everyone heads their separate ways, with the exception of Tsubasa, who has suddenly decided to attach herself to Miyazawa.  Fearing for what it may mean Maho is also made to join the festivities.  Once the three girls are on their own, Tsubasa reveals she is running away from home, planning to stay at Miyazawa's house.

    Tsubasa is running away from home because her father is planning to remarry.  Her mother died in child birth so it has been Tsubasa and her dad only.  While he loves her with all of his heart, he also has a demanding job and is forced to leave her in other people's care.  Due to the way she was raised she has become quite selfish and emotionally stunted.  Her father, and the woman he wants to marry, arrive at the Miyazawa residence in order to resolve the problem.  Tsubasa though refuses to budge and tells the woman that she hates her.  Tsubasa is shaken when her father slaps her for the first time in her life.  They leave, letting her stay at overnight with her new friend, but expect her to be more mature about the situation moving forward.

    The woman who Tsubasa's father wants to marry has a son the same age, and lost her husband when he was young.  She too has been in need of someone else to look to for support.  Tsubasa agrees to meet her son who surprises her by his appearance and attitude as the member of a rock band.  Kazuma is incredibly happy to meet Tsubasa's father and with the opportunity to have a little sister...except Tsubasa is actually the older one.  A few days later they run into each other on the street and he helps her deal with a pedophile.  They go back to his apartment afterwards and she gets to see that they have a lot in common.  Both being single children of working single parents, having a life in which you are greeted only by an empty home every day.  This greater understanding convinces Tsubasa that she can give her father her blessings.  What once was two lonely families of two is now a family of four.

    Asaba spends an afternoon at the Miyazawa residence after Yukino's father refuses to let them go to the pool together.  She learns that Asaba lives on his own due to he and his father not getting along.  The discussion about his complicated home life brings Yukino's idyllic life into stark contrast.  Many of her new friends come from complicated families, far different from her own. She comes to realize the struggles that others face help to define them and give them different skills for navigating through life.  In contrast her life has been taken for granted, coming form a stable and very loving environment.  She doesn't think she is able to be as strong as those around her because she has never experienced real hardship.

    The Miyazawa family heads to her maternal grandfathers house for some time away.  Her father and mother begin to talk about their childhood and how there love grew, even against the wishes of Miyako's father.  Her father still hates Yukino's dad and tries to fight as much as possible, while cherishing his daughter and granddaughters to no end.  As Yukino's parents go shopping for dinner they reminisce about their childhood in the neighborhood that has changed with time.  Yukino's father, Hiroyuki, was the terror of the neighborhood as a child, feared even by many adults for his uncontrollable behavior.  Hiroyuki lived alone in a large mansion with his elderly grandfather.  With the amount of terror Hiroyuko reigned through the neighborhood, his grandfather showed him nothing but love and compassion, understanding he was the only stable thing in the young boys life.

 

    Miyako met Hiroyuki when she was four and he six, and did whatever she could to hang out with him, even with his dangerous habits.  She was drawn to him because he had lost both of his parents just as she had lost her mother.  While somewhat separated during middle school, it is the moment they run into each other when she enters the same school that he realizes his love for her.

Continue on to volume 6.