Marmalade Boy Episode 17: 
Meiko's Separation: "I Can't Say Goodbye!"

Miki stares at the open exchange book, thinking of Namura's resignment,
wondering if Meiko knew.  She picks up the phone to call, and remembers
Meiko's "I don't want that kind of friend."  She puts it down, and starts
crying.

[Title]

Meiko stares out of her window, listening to her arguing parents.  Namura
rings the doorbell and asks to talk to Meiko.  Her father picks up the phone,
sending him away.  He drops Meiko's medallion--with his picture in
it--through the mail slot, and leaves.

Meiko doesn't attend school the next day, and simply stares at a picture of
Miki, her, Ginta, another classmate, and Namura.  She caresses his face.
Namura calls, and Meiko's maid sneaks the phone call to Meiko's room.  Namura
apologizes, and tells her of his resignation and that he is moving to
Hiroshima to take over his father's business.  He says that he loved her, but
couldn't make her happy, and that she should find someone else.  He says
goodbye and hangs up.  The maid hands Meiko the medallion she found in the
mailbox--the picture is gone.

Miki sits in her room, thinking of Namura and Meiko's relationship.  Yuu
knocks on the door and tells her that Meiko is there.  Miki is hesitant to
come out.  On the other side of the door, Meiko asks Miki only to listen.

[Eyecatch]

Meiko apologizes for her words ("I don't want that kind of friend") and
explains about how she met Namura in the high school library when she was 15
and he was 23.  Meiko went to the library weekly to see Namura.  She slowly
began to fall for him.  However, she didn't realize her feelings until she
looked at his opened journal one day, and he yelled at her, and did not come
back the next week.  When he finally returned, she begins crying, saying that
she was in love with him.  He hugs her, expressing his feelings for her
(worrying that he had a "Lolita complex").

Back in the present, Meiko says that she COULDN'T tell Miki her secret,
because she was afraid that Miki wouldn't like her.  She says that she still
considers them to be friends, and leaves, telling Yuu to take care of Miki.

Yuu realizes what Meiko is about to do, and bursts into Miki's room, saying
that Meiko was planning on eloping with Namura.  When she hesitates, he
reassures her that he would be with her, so they both run to the train
station.

Namura waits for his train, and is surprised when Meiko appears.  She says
that she can't say goodbye to him, so she wanted him to take her with him.
He hugs her, and says that he can't.  He pushes her away, telling her to go
home, saying that it wasn't right to be with him.  She says that she can't be
happy without him, and that she'd wait for him.  He refuses the promise, and
says goodbye.

[Song: Saigo no Yakusoku]

Meiko embraces Namura and slips the medallion into his pocket, kissing him.
She realizes that he does not return the kiss, and draws back.  The train
closes with him inside, and she chases it to the end of the platform, with
Namura refusing to look at her.

Miki and Yuu arrive and find Meiko, who says that Namura told her "no" and
left, and that he wouldn't even look at her.  She begins to cry, and flies
into Miki's arms.

On the train, Namura begins to cry.