Chapter 10 is the 10th chapter of Kodocha, as well as the fifth, and final chapter of the second book.
Summary[]
Akito's dad is fine, and the whole situation puts into perspective how Sana has gotten unexpectedly close to Akito. Sana is ostracized by some classmates due to her being busy with work, meanwhile Akito worries about Tsuyoshi after he comes to school with odd injuries, and misses class.
Plot[]
At the hospital, Sana dwells on how she and Akito like to think they're grown up, but in all reality they're still kids. Thankfully they get news quickly that Mr. Hayama will be fine, he has a stomach ulcer and will be kept at the hospital for a bit, but ultimately will be fine. Everyone is relieved, and Sana leaves. Sana dwells on how she feels Akito's started to open up to her, and is glad he's less of a lone wolf.
At school, their classmate Hisae has a birthday party tomorrow, and Sana tries her best to put it in her now very busy schedule (thanks to Rei). Akito meanwhile asks Tsuyoshi about a bandage he has on his neck, Tsuyoshi brushes it off as an accident, but Akito worries.
The next day, Sana works hard on commercials and falls asleep, completely missing Hisae's party. At school the following they all the girls to ignore Sana. Sana is troubled by this, but tries to cheer herself up reminding herself the heightened workload won't last much longer. Akito and Tsuyoshi worry about Sana seeing their classmates ignoring her, especially after Akito intercepts a note being passed around the classroom that reads "If you talk to Sana, no one will talk to you." He takes the note to Mr. Tanaka, who checks in with Sana.
Sana insists she's not bothered, but that she appreciates that he cares because if it weren't for him caring, she would be bothered. This makes her dwell on how happy she is that she and Akito have become friends and help each other out.
Sana apologizes to Hisae and the girls and explains the whole situation with Rei giving her more work for the time being, but also says shes done with it all now! The girls are interested in hearing about the work she's been up to, and with that they've mended their friendships.
Aya separates from the other girls to ask Akito if he knows why Tsuyoshi missed school that day. Supposedly, he's always told the teacher if there's a reason why he wouldn't be at school in advanced, but didn't for once, and also his sister Aono missed school also. Akito goes to ask the teachers about this, but find them already discussing something. They tell him something, and he immediately runs for it. Sana sees Akito and is shocked by how frantic he is. Akito just says it's something to do with Tsuyoshi and drags her along with him.
Characters[]
Author's Notes[]
All About Dodge Ball "Writing so much about elementary school makes me think a lot about my elementary school days. Did you have to play dodgeball in elementary school? We did, and I hated it. I was totally scared of the ball and trying to hit people with it made me really nervous. But even though I was freaking out, I somehow always manage to stay in the court until the very end. When the game was finally over, I felt like the whole world had come to a stop. When I got a little older, I learned about cutting class, so after that, I always avoided dodgeball. I don't know what it was. I like the other ball games and I was even on a basketball team! I just didn't like dodgeball!"
Extra Work "I'm doing a lot of work making drawings for Kodocha inserts for Ribon magazine and others. I knew it was going to be a lot of work, but I didn't realize how hard it was actually going to be until I started doing it. Now that I'm doing all this extra work, I only have one day to work on the color piece for each story – when I'd rather have five! I'm not real happy about it, but my fans seem to really like the extras – so I'm gonna hang in there! I was really happy to find out Kie-chan from Appare TV show uses the "World Note" o(ne of the inserts I did). I'd love to see you guys using them too! If you get a hold of any, please let me know what you think!"
The Last Word "Well, it looks like I'm getting close to the end! Thank you for reading this far. In book 1, I told you I was going to try to make this four volumes... But now I'm not sure if I'm going to make it. (Editors note: actually, Ms. Obana ended up writing 10 whole books! Yay!) I'm sort of extending the story (for a good reason – what is it?). That's why the plot has been developing so slowly. Hee-hee. But fans seem to be enjoying the extra sub-plots I've been throwing in, so I'm getting to have fun and I'm happy about it. You'll see it to new characters later: they'll be interacting with Akito and Sana. I'll make this a really exciting drama, so, please keep reading!
(Here they are, identities, disguised!) They're in the dark... This one's (The one on the left) has already appeared in Ribon magazine! See you in book 3!" - Signed Miho Obana, 1995
Trivia[]
- This chapter was adapted into two episodes, being Mr. Hayama, You're a Real Dad and This Time, Sana is the Lone Wolf.
- While at the hospital, Natsumi mentions needing to call their Aunt. This marks the first mention of any further family.
- The silhouettes in the author's notes are presumably Naozumi Kamura and Fuka Matsui.