Chapter 8:

Fuuko is in a very bad mood, which is aggravated when she finds out not only her little brother, but her mother also has her own cell phone. When she complains, her mom says she bought it with her own part-time job salary. Then her brother gets a call on his, and then says he won't be home for dinner. Mom smiles and says that's fine, of course he'll be on a date because it's Valentine's Day. Fuuko wishes that Armageddon would come just to get rid of all the annoying couples around. When she gets to school, she runs into another couple, Natsuki and Yumi, and she asks where Ruka is. Yumi says he's probably skipping again, and Fuuko is upset that she can't make up with him. Then Shiozaki appears, wishing Fuuko a Happy Valentine's Day and saying they should go somewhere after school since there's no club.
Ruka is actually helping his uncle with a shoot, and while they're in the apartment getting ready Occhan apologizes for taking his time up, but Ruka says he was in a bad mood and probably would have skipped school anyways. He says he should go feed Choro though, when the doorbell rings and it's Fuuko, Shiozaki, and Choro. Fuuko says Choro seemed hungry, and Shiozaki pushes her to hurry up so they can go on a date. Then he notices Occhan, and recognizes him from the photo exhibition. He's really impressed, and asks him all sorts of questions, saying that he wants to be a professional photographer as well. Occhan notices how tense things are between Fuuko and Ruka, and invited her and Shiozaki along on the photo shoot. Of course Shiozaki wants to go, and Fuuko is a bit dismayed but goes.
Later, Yumi gives Natsuki a scarf for Valentine's which he's happy about until she mentions she bought it with Ruka's help. Natsuki scowls and says he doesn't understand her, and then when Yumi looks surprised, quickly apologizes, saying it's one of the things he likes about her. He leaves, and Yumi looks troubled. In the bathroom, Natsuki tells himself not to take it out on Yumi, and decides that this issue has to be resolved for good. x
The photo shoot is on a hot air balloon above Nanyou Sea Park. Occhan explains that they're getting a new ride soon and want to have some ad??W{*& shots for it. Fuuko goes over to Ruka and says how great it is that Ruka knows a lot of stuff about photography from helping his uncle, and she, while being a former photography club member, doesn't even know how to set up a tripod. Then Shiozaki calls to her, pulling her to the edge to show her the ferris wheel, and Fuuko snaps at him not to be so pushy when the basket is small. Ruka turns back to the equipment and says he'll just work, so they should have fun by themselves. Fuuko is really hurt by this, thinking that Ruka is really mad and that when she accused him of still liking Yumi she touched a sore spot. Shiozaki looks at her, wondering aloud where their school is, and is surprised to see tears in her eyes.
Choro jumps onto Fuuko's head, and she shakily tells him to get off, and bats at him. Choro jumps up onto a pole and runs up, but is surprised by a sound into jumping off into the air. He starts to fall, and instincitively Fuuko leaps after him, and they both start falling...Fuuko wonders if she's going to die here like this, without having bought a cell phone, or nice hairdryer, without making up with Ruka... Ruka jumps after them while everyone else is frozen with horror, and catches hold of Fuuko, so now all of them are plunging to the ground together. Ruka tells Fuuko to make herself light and trust him like the time before, and plop! they land on an ad balloon.
Up in the basket, everybody's freaking out, and Occhan gets a call on his cell from Ruka. He's relieved and tries to explain to everyone, saying that just in case, he had made them wear parachutes. Shiozaki thinks that he's lost, and is resigned to it, thinking that Fuuko never showed him the faces she shows Ruka.
On the ad balloon, Fuuko is still in a daze and Ruka is holding her, trying to wake her up. A firework snaps her out of her daze, and they watch the fireworks. Ruka says he's glad he was able to keep his promise to watch them with Fuuko, and apologizes for being mad. He says that he shouldn't get mad about her and Shiozaki because it has nothing to do with him, (Fuuko is disappointed at this), and adds that sometimes he feels even if he's not there, everyone has someone (Natsuki and Yumi have each other, his family has Ruu,Occhan has a girlfriend) but when he wondered who he had, he somehow thought Fuuko would always be with him. He says of course she has Shiozaki now, looks at him, and then kisses him! Ruka just stares at her, and Fuuko tries to stammer out an explanation, then gives up, says "Sorry!" and runs off the balloon(by the string), leaving Ruka in a trance. Fuuko calls herself an idiot, asking who would kiss someone, no matter how much they liked them, without having confessed first.
The next day at school, Fuuko doesn't know how she'll treat Ruka, but hopes that maybe there's some hope for them because of what he said. As she's thinking, Ruka appears above her and asks what she's doing, and she doesn't know what to say to him. Natsuki distracts them by booting Fuuko to the floor, and Fuuko is mad but a bit relieved as well. Natsuki asks if Fuuko wants a cellphone, and of course she says yes. He asks if she wants to earn money for it with a part-time job, and she says yes, if the pay was good. Natsuki asks if she's busy during spring break, then announces that they are, all four of them, going to Okinawa next month!