My dear friend Shamazing,

It took me a while to read this entry of yours. Considering the New Year, i've been quite behind on my reading - online and otherwise. I have to tell you that Kate Brandt is growing on me. Ever since Bicycle, i was even thinking that Kate was a newer love interest to Noriko - well she was invited to the Brandt household. But of course that is my imagination running away.

I am glad that Shimako finally visited Noriko. It is so like her to be mindful of Noriko's continued lack of sleep in the series. (Or was Noriko's lack of sleep really in Bicycle?) At any rate, the continuity between Bicycle and Cups make it one fluid yet complementing stories.

Didn't you know that Noriko played the lead in the Little Prince during her first year in Lillian for the School Festival apart from participating in the Yamayurikai edition of Torikaebaya Monogatari? I think it was animated somewhere in the OVA Season or was it only in the novels? But at any rate, it's uncanny how you'd be reminded of the Antoine de Saint Exupéry classic.

Btw, if you haven't watched Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers), i highly suggest you do. Next to Marimite, this is the only other shojou ai / yuri themed anime that i seriously enjoyed.

Hope the holidays were fun and meaningful for you despite you having to work in the lab.

I have a small question about polysebacic acids [PSA] : how can they degrade as naturally occurring molecules making them biodegradable? I was reading a paper published by the Justin Hanes Lab in Johns Hopkins on biodegradable nanoparticles as ideal carriers for drug delivery. PSA is like latex isn't it? So how can it really break down without having harmful side effects? Or am i being too simplistic in my understanding of polymers and equating it too much with the hideous plastic? I was an Applied Physics major and then choose Technical Writing as a minor - so chemical & biomolecular engineering is quite alien to me.

Allow me to take a guess - you're currently attending the University of Chicago, are you not? Big Ten it is.

Thanks and hope you have a fun year ahead.

~ Tekiru 2010.

well i have got to say this one through me for a loop in the beginning when you introduced a new character but i've got to say this one is a bit different from the rest it still has the same vibe that makes me enjoy your stories so much but this time with the added character and the constant flip flop of the story i had a little problem figuring out from whos prospective you were writing in but after i figured it out i enjoyed it all the same :)

It's nice. Warming and comfortable.
Hope u keep on updating!

OH my, this is rather sweet! Please make a continuation from this !

ooh how cool!! shimako went to visit noriko in america!! i hope there is an update to this...eh it doesn't really need one ;P

Heh, I really liked this one. Nice characterization of Noriko and Shimako through the eyes of Sei. I always wondered what Sei would have to say about Noriko...

Shamazing -

I like this.

There was once a Sheena Easton and Prince song in the late 80's entitled "Arms of Orion." Many people may have forgotten the melodramatic ballad (and perhaps young people may not have heard much of it) but it was a mesmerizing song that was played in a Batman movie. And somehow because your story reminded of a line there that said: "The Arms of Orion, that's where i want to be. Since you've been gone i've been searching for a lover in the Sea of Tranquility." Actually the song starts with the lyrics: "The Arms of Orion is wide enough to hold us both together. Although we're worlds apart, i'd cross the stars for you."

Shimako, in all her pure simplicity gives profound meaning to the phrase star-crossed love.

(I will write soon - just have to contend with end-of-year budget allocations which for the past weeks are making my head spin because my boss' boss is a cost traditionalist. I'm actually looking forward to quieter days wherein i can simply be me and write. Gambarre to me.)

Be gentle always -
Tekiru-kun

:) loved it like always
hope to see another one soon.

lol great use of one of the final scenes of 5cm per second. man I really have been lagging in my reading time. lost my job :( but i have to say now that i have found a new job and i'm reading over the multiple chapters in way to many stories that i have to read i still can't quite put into words how happy it makes me to read your posts whenever i can. Hope your doing well and i can't wait to see what else you got up your sleeves :)

Hey there my friend -

Kumusta? (One of those things i learned in Manila.)

I've been particularly scarce lately but i like the fact that you write short because it allows people like me to get mesmerized in a 10-minute read. The Youko-Sei-Shiori triangle is something that has always made me wonder even when i first read the Forest of Thorns in its original Japanese form. In a 5cm environment though, my heart will go out to Youko though if Akira is Shiori. Doesn't it make you wonder why Youko for all her strength and leadership skills would fall for someone as dynamic (unpredictable?) as Sei... People will probably say it is the natural opposites-attract phenomenon but i do not think so for this assumed pairing. There is this little something about the former Rosa Chinensis that makes her one of my favorite characters in the light novel series. (She should've had more screen time in the anime if you asked me.)

Perhaps as a favor you can write something of this train incident in Youko's perspective. I'd like to know your creative take.

Again, written with utmost subtlety and lightness, this piece does not disappoint. I hope you are well and taking a break from the report loads.

Your FFNet friend - Tekiru
PS. Visit my blog at circle - blogspot (dot) com.

i had something like this happen to me once

Sweet chapter!

I'm sorry that you weren't feeling good. I hope you feel better soon.

Hello my dear friend shamazing,

Like always - the things unspoken are the best words of all. Shimako did not really need to hear the last line - in my guess, she knew that Noriko perhaps like her only needed to hear her voice. Like stars sparkling early in the morning, a gentle way of waking up. (Obviously, Shimako did not hear a thud from the bed. She did not need to.)

You know what - i've always liked the seiyuu for Shimako (Mamiko Noto - even in other animes / OVAs), but i like her best here. (Her signature breathy voice is incomparable and according to Wikipedia is difficult to imitate. The only other voice that comes close to adapting to her style is Kaori Shimizu - who is Noriko's seiyuu. Small wonder, isn't it? Then again Kaori and Mami-mami work often together.)

I've been making myself scarce in the writing scene. Been traveling for almost two weeks now and won't be able to settle back until Nov 21. Like Noriko and you, i am sleep-deprived on week days. And on weekends especially if you are in a foreign country, one tends to get swept into endless invitations that somehow it is impolite to say no to country-hosts. Actually i am writing this review while a colleague and i are waiting for the hotel car to arrive. We all need to manage to get some alone time. I wish.

Anyway - thanks for updating...

Tekiru

ok this one was really pieceful and to be honest i really liked the air to it. It was more of a call just to call but at the same time it was nice to see just a small conversation that really didn't lead to anything too important but made it really feel like your calling someone you havn't heard from in a while but in reality you see them or speak with them somewhat regularly and there isn't much to talk about. Its kinda a hard feeling to put into word when I think about it but if i had to i would call it "longing" would best describe it. Oh well i got onto another rant and yet again you did what so many others of your stories have and thats put my mind at ease with another touching norikoXshimako story.

r u working on a thesis too? that's why you've got migraines?

shimako should make a surprise visit to noriko in Bicycle.

also, i think you need to write at least one more Y&S he

anyway, thanks!