V.B. Rose: Volume 11

by Banri Hidaka, 194 pages

Ever curious, Ageha pesters her boyfriend Arisaka about how he and his best friend, the irrepressible Mitsuya Kuromine, met and became friends. Mitsu is only too happy to spill all the embarrassing details. Only he gives away a little too much about his long acquaintance with their friend and colleague Tsuyu, whom he's always mercilessly teasing. Ageha senses romantic drama and goes to Tsuyu for her half of the story, only to find that it may finally be coming to an end.

The boys are so cute in their precociousness. And Mistu's attachment to Tsuyu is sweet in childhood and, now that we know the details, bittersweet in adulthood. If he doesn't want it to stay that way--or get even sadder--they're both going to have to get over their fatalistic attitudes before it's too late.