Mariko is able to face Akiko again, but every time she sees her, she thinks about kissing her. Since Akiko is her first best friend, she wonders if this desire to kiss her might just be a part of having a best friend.
Mariko's brother shows her some pictures their grandmother sent (they were taken during their spring break). There's a picture of her cat, Sanji. Sanji was tiny the first time they saw him, but he's really gotten big now. He was positively adorable when Mariko's grandmother first took him in. Mariko couldn't help kissing him a lot. He smelled like milk, and he was so tiny and cute... Incidentally, her brother thinks the cat is still cute even though it's gotten fat now. lol
Mariko has a sudden realization: Akiko's a bit like a cat (she's little and cute, and she smells good).
Mariko agrees that the cat is cute, and her brother suggests they approach their mom together and ask her if they can get a cat. Bewildered, Mariko can only watch as he rushes off to find a cat...
Just then, she gets a message from Akiko asking if she's free after school tomorrow and can come hang out with Akiko, Satoko (Sugi), and Tamami. Mariko decides to go. It's been a while since the four of them have all gotten together.
Mariko reflects that people often kiss cute things like kittens and puppies without really thinking about it.
Mariko's mother comes home and is surprised that Mariko's brother isn't home yet, since she asked him to mind the house; he turns up later with a snail instead of a cat--that was all he could find.
The four girls get together at Akiko's apartment after school the next day. Tamami envies Akiko because Akiko's parents are hardly ever home--Tamami's are always around because her family runs a shop.
Mariko accuses Tamami of buying too many sweets.
Akiko asks Tamami and Satoko why they were so insistent about inviting Mariko today.
They bring up the mixer that they went to the other day, and the fact that Mariko was supposed to go. Mariko immediately apologizes for not having thanked them properly, but Satoko tells her not to worry about it, since she loves going to mixers. The girls confirm that it would've been Mariko's first mixer, which was apparently Not Good. Akiko and Mariko don't understand why. One of the girls points out that Akiko is pretty absent-minded, which she takes offense at. She goes on to point out that two of the guys at the mixer thought it was a hookup party (uh, not sure what this would actually be called; it's a party where people expect to hook up with other people for sex afterwards, but it's not an orgy or anything like that), and the other two were totally lame (literally, they had "eighth-grader disease," which confuses Mariko because she's never heard of the term). Therefore, Satoko and Tamami are going to teach her about mixers, so she won't get taken advantage of when she goes to her first one.
Satoko and Tamami's first tip is not to drink Kahlua and milk, since it's too strong for first-time drinkers--there are still first-time drinkers out there who naively believe people when they tell them to try it because it's sweet. Mariko privately still can't get over the fact that they're all minors (and so wouldn't theoretically be drinking anyway).
Tamami adds that cocktails are high in calories. Meanwhile, Akiko is wondering when Tamami swiped the Kahlua from Akiko's kitchen...
Mariko remembers that Kahlua and milk is Akiko's favorite drink.
Akiko gets angry at Satoko, who apologizes and says that she's just giving an example. (Mariko--and the rest of us--don't find out why until the end of the chapter.)
Their next piece of advice is to not play the King Game (Ou-sama Game). When Mariko asks them what that is, they're shocked at her ignorance and (pretending to be reluctant about it) decide to demonstrate it for her. They all draw chopsticks, and Satoko gets the one with the crown on it, making her the king. She wonders what she should choose as her first order as King, and Akiko asks her not to pick anything weird.
Unfortunately for Akiko (but fortunately for most readers of this manga, I'd assume), Sugi's order is that person number 2 kiss person number 1. She tells Mariko that everyone has to obey the king's orders, and asks who person number 1 and person number 2 are. We then discover that Mariko is number 1. She thinks to herself, "N-... no way... I'm... going to kiss a friend again...?"
Mariko looks over at Akiko and sees that Akiko might be person number 2. She reminds herself that it's just like kissing a puppy or a kitten, and tells the group that she's person number 1. Satoko asks who person number 2 is. Mariko's heart is pounding. Someone puts her hand on Mariko's shoulder, leaning in to kiss her...
And it's Tamami! Naturally, Mariko freaks out. Akiko unsuccessfully tries to intervene, and Satoko prepares to take a picture of them with her phone.
Mariko screams, "NOOOOO!" and slaps Tamami. (Satoko takes a picture of that instead. lol)
Mariko immediately apologizes, but the damage is done--Tamami is crying,
worried that she must be really unappealing if Mariko was that opposed to it. Mariko tries to apologize and explain that it wasn't that, but Tamami doesn't seem to hear her--she complains that nobody will ever "eat" her again. So...
Sugi whips off her own shirt (wtf, Sugi) and kisses her, then tells her that she's plenty cute,
and that she could "eat" her. As Tamami and Sugi kiss once more, Akiko tells Mariko that this always happens when they drink (Hmm...).
Akiko is surprised to see how much Tamami and Sugi have drunk--she didn't even notice they were doing it.
Akiko asks Mariko to go get some water from the fridge. Akiko separates Satoko and Tamami; Tamami is saying "Booobs!" (rofl) Mariko feels bad for Akiko.
Though it was two girls, this was Mariko's first time seeing two people kiss right in front of her.
She wonders if she did something bad to Tamami.
It wasn't that she was completely against it--she just rejected her unconsciously.
The thing with Tamami completely blows Mariko's "she's cute like a pet" theory out of the water, since Tamami is even more animal-cute than Akiko.
It did bother Mariko that Akiko was watching them,
and that Satoko was planning to take a picture of them.
As Mariko is returning to the room, she overhears the other girls talking--Akiko is asking Satoko not to bring "that" up again, because she just wants to forget about it. Satoko apologizes, but reminds Akiko that she's broken things off [with him] anyway. Tamami figures out that they're talking about the Kahlua and milk guy--the first guy Akiko ever had sex with.
The next chapter is due out on February 22.