Manga / Missions of Love

"Fall in love with me!"

—Yukina Himuro

Missions of Love (Watashi ni XX Shinasai!) is a manga series by Ema Toyama, which was serialized in Nakayoshi from 2009 to 2015 and compiled into 19 volumes.

It revolves around Yukina Himuro, nicknamed "The Snow Woman" and feared by everyone in her school—except her cousin Akira Shimotsuki—for her glaring eyes and cold skin.

Unknowingly to them, Yukina is really the famous cell phone novelist Yupina. However, as Yukina learns that her readers want more "love" in her story, Yukina decides to personally experience love in order to write a good novel.

Her target is Shigure Kitami—a nice bishounen adored by both students and teachers, but secretly gets girls to like him as a fun pass time. Yukina blackmails him into doing love "missions" with her to experience love.

Has been licensed in English by Kodansha USA. A one-volume continuation named Couples Arc came out in 2018.

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This series provides examples of:

• Accidental Pervert:
  • Yukina purposely makes Shigure look like one when she takes a picture of him on her cell phone looking through her gym shorts (Shigure was misled by Yukina into thinking that her "weakness" was hidden in her gym clothes). Lampshaded in second four-panel of Chapter 15.5.
  • Shigure was strictly against Akira sleeping over Yukina's house, which is somewhat justified since this was only a day after Akira confessed to Yukina, so Akira's intentions could have been questionable. Shigure is shocked when he finds out it was a typical family sleepover rather than the one he had in mind. Akira hilariously calls him out on it.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Played with. Fandom seems to prefer Shigure over Akira for his bad boy behavior and strong chemistry with Yukina. However, in-universe, Shigure's fangirls are oblivious to Shigure's bad boy side and favor his Nice Guy facade while Yukina initially thought Shigure was boring and only took interest in him because of his womanizing secret; when Shigure uses his facade around her, Yukina is actually turned off by him.
• Alliterative Name: Mami Mizuno.
• All Love Is Unrequited: Hisame loves Mami, Mami likes Akira, Akira likes Yukina, and Yukina loves Shigure. There's a perfect example of this trope in chapter 51, page 11.
• Becoming the Mask:
  • Both Yukina and Shigure end up "dating" for their personal benefit (or lack of), Yukina for her love novel ideas and Shigure to keep his womanizer ways a secret. Eventually, they both start falling for each other.
  • Averted with the "mask" Shigure puts up with to make his life easier.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Yukina and Shigure have shades of this. When they're at each other's throats, of course.
• Betty and Veronica: Akira and Shigure for Yukina; Mami and Yukina for Shigure.
• Big Eater: Akira.
• Bitch In Sheep's Clothing: Shigure, at first.
  Shigure: It's just easier to live that way, isn't it? If I treat them nicely, the girls like me. If I try to go along with their conversations, the boys like me. If I act like a good boy, the adults place their trust in me without a second thought! Reading between the lines and acting accordingly is the easiest way to get along in life.
  • Akira as well. Not so much in the beginning...but he actually has quite a nasty side to him.
• Bland-Name Product: Tmitter
• Bridal Carry: Shigure carries Mami when he finds her "fainted." Yukina, seeing this, later uses it as a love mission with Shigure; Shigure enjoys carrying Yukina, but Yukina realizes she does not like heights.
• Broken Bird/Dark and Troubled Past: The reason for Yukina's fear of not having her glasses is implied to stem from an incident when she was a child involving her teacher, who makes an appearance in Chapter 29.
• Brutal Honesty: Yukina. It works well when she is fending off Shigure's vapid fangirls.
• The Caretaker: Shigure towards Mami.
• Chapter Drop: Every chapter title is usually said in the chapter.
• Chick Magnet: Shigure. Mami is a gender-flipped version of this.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Mami.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Akira. Shigure to a much lesser extent.
• The Cutie: Mami. To a degree.
• Dating Catwoman: In the novel-universe, Princess Lilia and The Earl.
• Death Glare: Yukina's eyes are often mistaken for this.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: It's a very, very slow process, mind you.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?:
  • In Chapter 13, Yukina asks Shigure to bite her neck and certain panels would have you think they were having sex.
  • In Chapters 16, 17, and 19 (and according to raws, 20), a strange one occurs where ears could be the G-rated version of other... organs.
• Erotic Eating: In a more inverted example, Shigure licks a melting popsicle off of Yukina's fingers in Chapter 26.
  • Inverted again in chapter 42 where Shigure playing and nibbling an apple sugestively while reciting what else he could do with Akina.
• Expy:
  • Shigure resembles Hinata from Ema Toyama's previous work, I Am Here!.
  • Likewise, Mami resembles Hiyori from a one-shot in the above example and Momo from Hyakuen!
• Fanservice Pack: Yukina's breasts are noticably bigger than when the manga fist started.
• First Love: Mami's first love is Shigure, Shigure's and Akira's first love is Yukina, and Yukina's first love is Kirishima-sensei.
• Forceful Kiss:
  • Shigure spreads Malicious Slander that Yukina pulled this on him, in hopes that this will stop her blackmailing him.
  • Akira tries to kiss Yukina in Chapter 18, but she pushes him away.
  • Shigure tries to pull one on Yukina in Chapter 18, but Yukina stops him.
  • In Chapter 23, for a new love "mission," Yukina requests for Akira to force kiss her. Naturally, Shigure interrupts this and tries to pull one on Yukina himself, but it's not on the lips and she slaps him afterward.
• Genki Girl: Mami.
• The Glasses Gotta Go: Averted. Yukina's one weakness is her glasses. Without them, Yukina is weak and helpness against everyone staring at her, and it has been a terrifying thing for her since she was little.
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • Shigure is more or less in denial of his feelings for Yukina, often going back and forth with it, but when Akira starts displaying more affection towards Yukina, Shigure demands for Yukina to only fall in love with him (after having previously told her that he'd never fall in love with her, no less).
  • As Akira notices the growing closeness between Yukina and Shigure, his jealousy grows and his feelings for Yukina become more evident.
  • Yukina's jealousy towards Shigure's childhood friend Mami. As a result, Yukina nearly breaks off her "love" missions with Shigure. Her jealousy surfaces again after Mami confesses to Shigure, which momentarily keeps him preoccupied from Yukina and makes the latter realize her feelings for him.
  • Mami very much towards Yukina's closeness with Shigure. So much that she tries to ruin their growing relationship.
• Harsh Word Impact: Akira inadvertently delivers several of these to Mami in Chapter 55.
• Hot-Blooded: Shigure.
• Ice Queen: Yukina, who's literally called "The Snow Woman," and her novel persona, Princess Lilia of the Ice Country.
• Idiot Crows: When Shigure carries out the third mission, to kiss Yukina and does so - on the cheek.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
  • Surprisingly averted. Every contender is actively struggling to get their respective love interest to reciprocate his or her feelings.
  • Shigure, mistakenly tells Akira to take care of Mami after noticing how "close" they are. Akira's really blackmailing Mami, hence the forced "friendship."
    • Yukina tells Shigure that their relationship isn't like her relationship with Akira or his relationship with Mami and tells him to take care of Mami and to not go to her unless it's for love missions.
    • Subverted in Chapter 25. Realizing that if Shigure and Mami got together, then that would mean Yukina and Shigure wouldn't be able to do love "missions" anymore and their "bond" will end, Yukina slowly realizes her feelings for Shigure and flat-out tells Mami that she will not hand over Shigure to her.
• Jerkass/Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Shigure.
  • In the most recent chapters, he definitely is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Shigure re-evaluates his strange relationship with Yukina and his confused feelings throughout the later chapters. He comes to the conclusion that he really likes her and trusts her enough to ask her out in Chapter 22. From this point on, he makes an honest effort to at least make Yukina understand what falling in love with and dating him would really entail and actually tries to train her to overcome her weaknesses. He really can be quite nice, but his methods are a bit misdirected.
  • Akira is definitely a jerkass in the later chapters What else do you call a guy who tries to take off a girl's dress in PUBLIC? What about someone who ties his cousin up on the couch and starts LICKING her?
• KidAnova: Shigure.
• Kissing Cousins: It isn't quite that noticeable at first, but it soon becomes evident that Akira has a crush on Yukina and isn't taking Yukina's and Shigure's growing closeness with kind. Yukina initially only sees Akira as her cousin and doesn't understand his love for her (or love in general), but she is slowly taking notice of him.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Akira's novel persona, Knight Cain.
• Kuudere: Yukina.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Hisame has feelings for Mami and at the same time, toys with her for his own amusement and tends to do the same to Yukina occasionally. He then reveals that Mami's hairpin being a keepsake from her mother was all a lie he made up to keep Mami wrapped around his finger. When she learns about it, she flips at Hisame and basically tells him she's through with him.
  • As of chapter 61,everything Hisame did is biting him back in the ass. Apparently, confessing to Mami, who he mentally abused & toyed with throughout her entire life, leads to being rejected FOR AS LONG AS SHE LIVES.Insulting her feelings of love towards Akira was just the cherry on top that further made Mami reject him. Who knew.
• Lap Pillow: In Chapter 23, Yukina does this with Akira to test what kind of "bond" they have and if her feelings for him are out of love.
• Long Runner: 19 volumes.
• Love Confession: Akira in Chapter 6 and Chapter 8. Shigure asks Yukina out in Chapter 22, and Mami confessing to Shigure in Chapter 24.
  • Hisame to Mami in Chapter 61. To say that it horribly backfires on him is a huge understatement.
• Love Dodecahedron: Mami likes Shigure, who likes Yukina, who also likes Shigure back but might also like Akira, who likes Yukina back.
• Love Triangle:
  • Shugire, Yukina, and Akira.
    • In the Yupina novel-universe (mirroring the above triangle): The Earl, Princess Lilia, and Knight Cain.
  • Yukina, Shigure, and Mami.
• Malicious Slander: Shigure attempts to get out of Yukina blackmailing him by doing this twice. And both attempts hilariously backfire on him:
  • He tells everyone that someone stole his notebook and the teacher orders a search of everyone's belongings, and Yukina is the only one left. She admits that she does have a notebook and reveals some contents of Shigure's notebook that insults their homeroom teacher and claims she has no idea "whose" notebook it is, irritating Shigure.
  • Tries this again when Shigure slips it out to the girls that Yukina pulled a Forceful Kiss on him, leading a bunch of his fangirls to antagonize Yukina, who then reveals all of Shigure's fangirls' secrets because she has observed the girls so much, causing the girls to run off in embarrassment.
• The Masochism Tango:
  • Yukina and Shigure go through elements of this when they're at each other's throats trying to expose the other's secrets.
  • Especially evident in Chapter 18 where Shigure actually picks Yukina up and throws her onto a piano, (which no one really notices even when she hits the keys with her full weight), in an attempt to kiss her.
• Meaningful Echo: "Fall in love with me!" Said by Shigure to Yukina in an attempt to stop Akira .
• Moment Killer:
  • Akira is often one for Shigure/Yukina, just as Shigure is often one for Akira/Yukina.
  • This happens a lot in the later chapters (Chapters 17-20s) in the form of Mami, some sudden loud noise, or other contrived interruptions.
• Name of Cain: Averted with Akira's novel persona, Knight Cain, who's role is simply Princess Lilia's protector and The Earl's love rival.
• Nice Guy:
  • Shigure uses this as a facade around his classmates and teachers to make his life easier. The only people he doesn't show this facade around is Yukina (having revealed his true personality), Akira (his rival), and Mami (his childhood friend). Though, it begins breaking and he starts accidentally showing a bit more of his Hot-Blooded self when it concerns Yukina.
  • Akira is one... unless you're his love rival or trying to mess with Yukina.
  • Or flirt with Yukina...or talk to Yukina...or give your phone number to Yukina...or breathe the air around her...
• No Guy Wants to Be Chased: Justified. Shigure initially dislikes Yukina for forcefully putting love "missions" on him when 1) they're not even in love, and 2) she's blackmailing him. At one point, Shigure even flat-out tells her he could never love someone who forces their love onto others.

• Only Six Faces: Tooyama's style seems limited to certain looks, especially within this series.
• Parental Abandonment: Akira's parents were killed in a car accident when he was four years old.

• Pinky Swear: Shigure and Mami made a promise as kids not to seriously like a person. Fat lot of good that did.
• Poor Communication Kills:
  • Mami plays a game with Yukina: if Yukina doesn't talk to Shigure for a week, Mami will tell her a secret about Shigure's "mask." Yuki agrees without Shigure knowing of it, and Mami convinces Shigure that Yukina's mad at him because of his "mask." Naturally, Yukina's confused when Shigure questions her about it.
  • The "kissing" incidents between Akira/Yukina and Shigure/Mami on the ferris wheel ride. It only looked like it happened to the other parties.
• Precocious Crush/Teacher/Student Romance: Chapter 30 reveals that Kirishima-sensei was Yukina's first love.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Shigure and Yukina; Shigure and Akira; Mami and Yukina.
• Relationship Sabotage: Though they aren't technically a couple yet, Mami tries to sabotage the growing relationship between Shigure and Yukina.
• The Rival: Akira for Shigure; Mami for Yukina.
• Romanticized Abuse: The Belligerent Sexual Tension and Masochism Tango between Shigure and Yukina. Guilty Pleasure, indeed.
• Satellite Love Interest: In-universe, Yukina and Shigure are initially this since they start off having no genuine feelings for each other. The same could be said in novel-universe with Princess Lilia and The Earl since their relationship mirrors the former's, as well as abruptly introducing "Knight Cain" as a love rival into the novel right after Akira confesses to Yukina.
• Secret-Keeper: Akira is the only person who knows Yukina is the famous cell phone novelist Yupina.
• Ship Tease: Lampshaded and subverted with Akira and Mami. If anything, they're still too attached to their Love Interest to play it straight.
• Shōjo
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: Yukina's parents.
• Single Girl Seeks Most Popular Guy: Though the context is different than the normal conventions of the trope. Yukina didn't want to use Shigure as her target at first because she found his perpetually smiling face boring and had no interest in him. When Yukina discovers Shigure's womanizing secret, she changes her mind and decides to use him.
• Stepford Smiler: Shigure and Mami.
• The Stoic: Yukina.
• Student Council President: Shigure.
• Super-Deformed
• Tsundere: Shigure is anything but pleased with being Yukina's "fake lover," but he eventually develops feelings for her, and goes back and forth between admitting and denying any feelings for her.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend: Mami. Whether Akira will follow in suit or not remains to be seen.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: A fair amount between Shigure and Yukina.
• What Happened To The Mouse?: The reason for Yukina's weakness being her glasses has been implied in the beginning of the story, but hasn't been mentioned since then, having been shafted off of the plot to make room for the Love Triangles. They finally get around to it again in Chapter 29.
• What Is This Thing You Call Love?
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Shigure uses this several times on the girls to gang up against Yukina to get Yukina to stop blackmailing him. A worse case was early into the story when he even took her glasses—Yukina's weakness—leading Yukina to nearly break down in front of a group of bitter girls.
• Write Who You Know: invoked How Yukina creates characters for her cell phone novellas. She observes her classmates and uses them as models for her story. The whole plot even revolves around Yukina personally experiencing love so that she can write a good love novel. In said novel, Princess Lilia is based on herself, The Earl/Count Louie is based on Shigure, and Knight Cain is based on Akira.
• Yandere: Mami has her moments. She's extremely clingy towards Shigure and is trying to ruin Yukina's relationship with Shigure. Akira himself can be considered one, giving his love rival the Death Glare quite occasionally and telling Yukina "I want to be with you until I die." Just a tad bit creepy, no?

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