Suki, Vol. 3

When Hina's power goes out, she is trapped in the house with Asou-sensei and two of his mysterious friends. Fortunately, the intruder flees. The next day, as Hina and Asou-sensei are walking home from school, they are suddenly chased down by a car. When they duck into an alley, they come upon one of Hina's school friends, Emi - who paralyzes them with a stun gun. She is the one who has been trying to kidnap Hina! Emi's father is deeply in debt, and since Emi learned of Hina's rich and powerful background through their other friend, Touko, she decided to take matters into her own hands. While Hina and Asou are in captivity, Emi tells Hina she has learned about Asou's background as well - he used to be in the Secret Police and is currently a private bodyguard hired by Hina's father to protect her from just such a situation. Asou breaks his thumb to escape his bindings, beats up the guards, and he and Hina escape, taking Emi with them. However, Hina is more shaken by the idea that Asou's being nice to her all this time was just part of his job than she is about the abduction. At school, Emi begs for forgiveness, but Hina forgives her right away - although she is upset at what Emi had put Asou-sensei through. When they get to class, their old teacher is back - Asou is gone. And when she gets home that day, Hina realizes she really does love Asou-san, even if he had no real feelings for her after all. But when she goes to his house to tell her this, she finds he has already moved out. Desperate, she finds Tomoaki at his usual cafe spot. He tells her Asou is leaving town right then, but feels she should catch him if she can - he really thinks Hina can change the cold, unfeeling Asou for the better. Hina races to the train station just as Asou is about to catch his train and confesses her feelings. He finally lets her know the feelings are mutual, and gives her his phone number just before he leaves.