Chika sneezes. Nobue asks if she's coming down with something, which she says she is, and thinks she has a fever. (Matsuri is present, reading manga.) Her head hurts, as well. She sneezes again. Nobue says that's not good. Miu starts a sneeze, and... hiccups. She claims to have a fever, but Nobue says otherwise.
episode. 19: Sick Jokes
(On the episode page, Nobue, Miu, Matsuri, and Chika are walking in a line, dressed as nurses and carrying needleless syringes. Nobue, in back, has Miu's hat off, and has the syringe at Miu's head. Chika, in front, has the plunger farthest out; Matsuri, who's next, has it pushed a little more in; and Miu and Nobue have theirs the most pressed in. I can't tell the difference. There's a graphic of a syringe in the upper left.)
Nobue checks Chika's temperature by touching forehead to forehead. She starts to tell Chika she has a fever, but doesn't get that far before Chika sneezes. So now there's a string attaching Chika's nose to Nobue's cheek. Nobue asks for a tissue.
Miu wants checked as well, claiming she has a sneeze. Nobue, wiping her face, asks what Miu's worked up about, and says she's competitive. Miu puts her forehead to Nobue's and tells her to check her out. Nobue "checks her out" and says she's "completely abnormal, as always." Miu closes her eyes... and kisses Nobue on the lips. ("Gupe-tsu"? The "gu" and "pe" are in hiragana, but the "tsu" is in katakana.) Matsuri can't believe she did that. Nobue asks if she wants checked out, as well, but Matsuri declines.
Nobue considers finding their ice pack, and notes that this isn't her field of expertise. Miu sneezes an "Ah... Ahh...ASHANTI!!
" Nobue muses that their parents probably don't remember, either, being twice as forgetful as she is. Miu sneezes an "Ohh... OPRAH!!!" Then she sneezes a "Ja-..Justin TIMBERLAKE!!", prompting Nobue to tell her to shut up. Chika is shaking trying to hold in the laughter. Nobue tells her to change into her PJs, and stop laughing or she'll make the disease worse. (I don't know if that's the case, or if she's trying not to encourage Miu.) She says she's going for supplies, and tells Chika to get to bed. Chika agrees, and thanks Nobue. She leaves Chika in the care of Matsuri and Miu, which is wise.
Chika, now in striped PJs, notes that it's drafty, and is not surprised that she caught a cold. She opens the door to find... Miu with a doctor's coat and stethoscope, and Matsuri with a pad of paper and pencil. Miu tells her to have a seat, but Chika gets into bed. Miu points it out, and thinks that might be a sign of a brain tumor. Chika thinks that might be true of Miu.
Miu tells her to remain calm, and to sit. Miu is going to examine her. Chika wants her to give it a rest. Miu has her tell her her symptoms: running nose, light-headedness. Miu says that sucks, and after a Beat Panel, tells her she has a cold. Chika is annoyed that she gave a long pause, only to be told what she already knows. Miu tells Matsuri to make a note of the fact that the "patient" is fully conscious and aware of her surroundings, but Chika tells her she doesn't have to go along with it.
Now Miu wants Chika to show her tummy so she can listen to her heart. Chika has to wonder what up with the stethoscope, and where she gets all those outfits of hers. (My theory, not proven in the first 5 volumes, and the 6th... I don't have it, and I haven't read scanlations of any of the episodes, so I don't know, is that one or both of her parents own a costume shop. Or she just collects them.) So she lifts her top some and shows her cute little tummy while Miu "Mmm"s and "Mm-hmm"s. Finally, Miu tells Chika that her stomach is highly exposed. Chika asks if Miu wants strangled with her stethoscope.
Miu asks her to turn around. Chika asks how much longer it's going to take. Until she gets better is the answer. Chika wonders why she (Chika) is doing this. Miu says that her entire body is undergoing "gablaggle". "What?!" (Probably "Nani?!") Miu explains that she's giving of "gablaggle"-ish nuances. Chika asks what that's supposed to mean; apparently it means, as Miu says sort of more quietly, she has a cold. Chika's just about at the limit as she yells that she's known all along. Miu tells her to stop being a baby and to suck it up, earning her a punch.
Nobue comes in, apologizing for taking so long, and finds Chika not in bed, and Miu and Matsuri sitting in front of her. She wonders what they're doing. Chika goes to Nobue and embraces her, starting to tell her what Miu has been doing, but Nobue says (before she gets far) she was afraid something like that would happen. (I guess she didn't really become afraid until she was too far away to turn back, because if she thought of that before, she would've done well to say after "I'm trusting you two to look after her while I'm out," "and by that I mean, y'know, hang out and let her sleep, and if she asks for something, do it." But then, you wouldn't have that part of the episode. Nobue checks her forehead again, and finds that she's getting worse. Chika blames Miu, but while she's trying to speak, she sneezes in Nobue's face.
A cooling cloth is laid on Chika's forehead (pitan) (Tanta mojipittan?) and some sort of lemon vitamin drink can be assumed to have been given (goku). So Chika finally gets to bed.
Now Miu wants Nobue to be the doctor. She hands over her coat and stethoscope and, as she leaves the room, tells Nobue to call her in. Nobue reflects that even though it's winter, Miu doesn't dress for it; she's more of a candidate for catching a cold.
She calls Miu in and asks what the problem is. Miu, wearing a Coldplay shirt, hands her some magazine or a book or something. Let's see... sorry, I can only tell that the middle hiragana is "ba". It's a special express delivery. Nobue asks if Miu is her mailman. Miu tells her that since it's a special delivery, it's delivered express. Nobue says she quits, but Miu says she'll be good, and sits (chiyokon).
Nobue reiterates the question. Miu says she can't pee. After some Visible Silence, Nobue asks if she wants to elaborate. Miu says she can't stop peeing, or correctly. Nobue asks if she pees endlessly, and Miu responds that she "can't pee until I can't stop or stop until I can't. pee." Nobue is understandably confused. Miu changes her ailment to a hurting tummy. Nobue asks if she can quit, but Miu reassures her that she's doing fine. Nobue asks to see her tummy, so Miu bares it. Nobue sees the "problem": it is, according to her, "quite oversized and inflated. So flabbily huge." Miu objects to that. Nobue applies her remedy... writing "Healthy Belly" on her belly, above her bellybutton. Nobue calls for the next patient, but Miu objects. She doesn't feel that Nobue is giving her highest level of professional care. Nobue asks whether her first clue was being written on in permanent ink. Miu says she feels like she's getting a death fever, which Nobue tells her to enjoy. (We'll get back to that...)
She calls for the next patient, and tells Matsuri that she's that patient. Matsuri seems to not have been expecting this. Miu says she'll be the dad. Nobue asks why she needs one, but Miu doesn't elaborate. She pulls a confused Matsuri out of the room. Nobue tells her to do it right.
Nobue calls for the next patient again, and in come Matsuri and Miu. Miu tells Matsuri that they're almost there, and to hang on. Matsuri says that her baby wants to come out. That's right, Nobue is an obstetrician now. Miu puts the baby's life in Nobue's hands. Nobue says the baby's going to live, and tells Miu to lay Matsuri on her back on the floor. Poor Chika is lying there, awake, emitting Visible Silence. Nobue calls for towels and warm water, but Miu asks what that's for, reminding Nobue that it's "the worst idea possible". Nobue starts Matsuri on the Lamaze breathing method. Matsuri says "Hi! Hi! Woo!" but Nobue tells her to breathe it. She starts to check if Matsuri is dilated, but Matsuri asks what she's doing. Nobue asks if she's isn't trying to get Matsuri's baby out. She tells Masturi that there's no time for shyness with a baby coming. Matsuri says she changed her mind, but Miu deposits an egg... well... You Know... then pretends to notice it. She picks it up and declares it a healthy baby boy... well, she guesses it's a boy. She starts to ask where — it — is, but Nobue cuts her off, blushing and saying they're "cruising toward seriously embarrassing waters."
Matsuri asks if the egg is what a human egg looks like, and Miu says it is. Nobue tells her not to teach Matsuri her weird lies. So she begins saying how when a man and woman fall in love, (how did she get into this?) the stork flies in and brings a baby. (Yeah! Teach her more traditional lies! Those tried and... well... not true... yeah. And hey, a little tweak on the usual story: drop a baby on 'em right when they fall in love!) Matsuri is still confused, but Nobue tries to discourage her from thinking about it.
Then Miu gets Nobue's attention and asks her to touch her forehead. Nobue thinks she's still playing... until she looks at her face. She doesn't look well. Nobue touches her forehead, and indeed, she's burning up! (I wonder if Nobue is regretting not checking her in earnest earlier...) Matsuri thinks they should call her mom, but Nobue reminds her that Miu's mother is at work, so that won't help at the moment.
At the hospital (clinic?), Matsuri, Nobue, and... Chika?!? Y'know... unless she needs professional attention herself... shouldn't she be in bed, maybe with Matsuri watching over her? Nobue notes that just when you think she's gotten into the maximum amount of trouble...
In the actual office, the physician has gotten to the point in the examination where the patient lifts her shirt. Of course, the marker ink is still there, in Miu's case. He asks if that's some sort of a joke, but Miu has a confused look on her face.
HALLO WORK
This page is Ana as a secretary. She's sitting on the desk, leaning on her hand, and touching the right side of her glasses. (In-story, Ana doesn't wear them.) The picture might possibly be trying to evoke Sexy Secretary without actually being a straight example... for most people. ...I hope.
Next, Sasazuka as an "Amusement Park Atmosphere Performer", a.k.a. a mascot. He's wearing a dog suit and holding balloons.
Next time: episode 20 and the end-of-volume stuff, since it's short!
