Marmalade Boy Episode 16
Otoko no ketsudan Nacchan, yamenai de!
A Man's Decision; Na-chan! Please Don't Quit!

Miki is sitting in her room crying, thinking about what Meiko said to
her.  She doesn't know what do because nothing like this had ever
happened between them before.

Miki remembers the firt time she and Meiko met, at the Jr. High
entrance ceremony. Miki was impressed by how pretty and mature Meiko
looked.  She wished to be her friend.  After Meiko and Miki became
close friends Miki was happy because she admired Meiko.  Miki recalls
how Meiko never talked much about herself, but that she was always
kind and cheerful.  Then Miki worries that maybe she was bothering
Meiko all along.  Yuu walks by and looks like he may try knocking on
Miki's door again, but then decides against it. Miki then thinks about
the fact that Meiko had already secretly falen in love on times she was
remembering.  Miki gets up and asks why the Meiko she knows went away,
and she starts crying again.

In her room, Meiko is thinking about Namura-sensei.  She thinks to that
if Namura-sensei wasn't in her life she wouldn't have known what to do.
Then Meiko gets upset because she is afraid sensei will get fired because
of her. Then Meiko sees a picture on her desk of her and Miki.  She turns
her desk lamp on and off, over and over, thinking that she surely hurt
Miki.  Then something breaks in the next room, and Meiko's father can be
heard asking her mother how she dealt with the "incident."  Her parents
talk about how cold and icy Meiko is.  Meiko covers her ears and yells,
but no sounds come out.

Miki's four parents knock on her door and tell her that if she has any
problems, not to hesitate to talk to them.  Miki opens the door and
starts crying like a baby. Downstairs her parents all exclaim how amazing
Meiko is!  They are all talking about how they had always wished for the
forbidden love between student and teacher.  Miki gets really pissed at
them for making light of her situaton and stomps upstairs.  Yuu is at the
top waiting for her, and tells her that everyone has deep secrets they can
not share with anyone. Then he flicks her in the forehead and says goodnite
and Miki thinks Yuu might also have been talking about himself.

The next day in class Kyoto-sensei comes in and tells them that first period
will be sel-study.  The kids ask where "Na-chan" is and Kyoto-sensei says
that such a "deplorable thing" has happened because of Namura-sensei's cross
of the student-teacher relationship boundry.  In the principal's office,
Namura-sensei hands his letter of resignation over to the principal...

[eye catch]

Ryoko-sensei thinks about the time when she was in highschool, and was going
out with Kijima-san.  She felt her feelings being swayed in Namura's direction
and one day, Kijima's parents got transferred to America.  Kijima seemed de-
pressed the day he left and Ryoko got one letter from him.  It said "Be happy
with Namura!"  Ryoko and Namura went through college together as friends be-
cause Ryoko was too afraid to express her feelings.  Kijima came back with his
new wife and he and Ryoko were still good friends. Kijima told her that if she
never tells Namura her feelings, he will never know.  Then Ryoko-sensei wakes
up from her reverie, thinking she had never expected things to turn out the way
they had.

Ryoko-sensei then runs into the principal's office to beg him not to fire Namura
sensei, she tells him that Namura-sensei cares deeply for Meiko and that they
were not playing around.  At her own words, Ryoko-sensei realizes the depth of
Namura-sensei's feelings for Meiko, but she goes on to plead that Namura-sensei
is not dismissed.  The principal looked away as Namura-sensei told her that he
hasn't been fired but that he resigned.

At school Miki tries to call Meiko, but the maid has been told not to allow Meiko
to answer any phone calls.  Miki hangs up and says she is so worried about Meiko,
then she says to herself that its none of her business.

Namura-sensei leaes the office, and Ryoko-sensei follows.  She asks him why he had
to quit, and Namura tells her that he will leave Tokyo to move to Hiroshima and
help his parents with their Real Estate business. Ryoko-sensei asks him what Meiko
will do with him gone.  Namura says that dissappearing from her life is the best
for him to show his love for her.  Miwa has over heard this, and when Ryoko-sensei
leaves, he comes out and tells Namura that he isn't leaving for Meiko, but that he
is leaving because he is a coward.  Then Miwa says it is better for him to leave
because it will be easier for him to approach Meiko.

[Moment is playing]

Namura walks into his classroom and tells the students that he has just quit.  Miki
is shocked, as is everyone else in the class...