Cute. ]

cute! a post card from shimako.

i totally agree with you about the countries and olympics, YEA USA!

ha interesting crack-fic. i wonder who tricked them all to drink the lemonade...can't be sei since the cards were written in their oneesama's handwriting. anyway, too much thinking on my part! haa

oh my goodness that was so funny! especially the part of yoshino,hahaha that crack me up!typical yumi, loved to see the reaction on her face. um want some lemonade now!bye and thanks for the fic. keep it up!

Cute chapters. I liked them. ]

Oh, LOLisms! That made NO sense whatsoever! XDD Why would they be so apologetic if there were notes there addressed to them? Wouldn't one of them have thought of that and gone "Oh, there was a note next to the glass..." etc etc?

Nearly fell off my chair. As it is, I think I sprained my face. XD

These drabbles of Shimako and Noriko are very cute. Can't wait to see the next update.

My dear friend Shamazing,

It took me a while to read this entry of yours. Considering the New Year, i've been quite behind on my reading - online and otherwise. I have to tell you that Kate Brandt is growing on me. Ever since Bicycle, i was even thinking that Kate was a newer love interest to Noriko - well she was invited to the Brandt household. But of course that is my imagination running away.

I am glad that Shimako finally visited Noriko. It is so like her to be mindful of Noriko's continued lack of sleep in the series. (Or was Noriko's lack of sleep really in Bicycle?) At any rate, the continuity between Bicycle and Cups make it one fluid yet complementing stories.

Didn't you know that Noriko played the lead in the Little Prince during her first year in Lillian for the School Festival apart from participating in the Yamayurikai edition of Torikaebaya Monogatari? I think it was animated somewhere in the OVA Season or was it only in the novels? But at any rate, it's uncanny how you'd be reminded of the Antoine de Saint Exupéry classic.

Btw, if you haven't watched Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers), i highly suggest you do. Next to Marimite, this is the only other shojou ai / yuri themed anime that i seriously enjoyed.

Hope the holidays were fun and meaningful for you despite you having to work in the lab.

I have a small question about polysebacic acids [PSA] : how can they degrade as naturally occurring molecules making them biodegradable? I was reading a paper published by the Justin Hanes Lab in Johns Hopkins on biodegradable nanoparticles as ideal carriers for drug delivery. PSA is like latex isn't it? So how can it really break down without having harmful side effects? Or am i being too simplistic in my understanding of polymers and equating it too much with the hideous plastic? I was an Applied Physics major and then choose Technical Writing as a minor - so chemical & biomolecular engineering is quite alien to me.

Allow me to take a guess - you're currently attending the University of Chicago, are you not? Big Ten it is.

Thanks and hope you have a fun year ahead.

~ Tekiru 2010.

well i have got to say this one through me for a loop in the beginning when you introduced a new character but i've got to say this one is a bit different from the rest it still has the same vibe that makes me enjoy your stories so much but this time with the added character and the constant flip flop of the story i had a little problem figuring out from whos prospective you were writing in but after i figured it out i enjoyed it all the same :)

It's nice. Warming and comfortable.

Hope u keep on updating!

OH my, this is rather sweet! Please make a continuation from this !

ooh how cool! shimako went to visit noriko in america! i hope there is an update to this...eh it doesn't really need one ;P

Heh, I really liked this one. Nice characterization of Noriko and Shimako through the eyes of Sei. I always wondered what Sei would have to say about Noriko...

Shamazing -

I like this.

There was once a Sheena Easton and Prince song in the late 80's entitled "Arms of Orion." Many people may have forgotten the melodramatic ballad (and perhaps young people may not have heard much of it) but it was a mesmerizing song that was played in a Batman movie. And somehow because your story reminded of a line there that said: "The Arms of Orion, that's where i want to be. Since you've been gone i've been searching for a lover in the Sea of Tranquility." Actually the song starts with the lyrics: "The Arms of Orion is wide enough to hold us both together. Although we're worlds apart, i'd cross the stars for you."

Shimako, in all her pure simplicity gives profound meaning to the phrase star-crossed love.

(I will write soon - just have to contend with end-of-year budget allocations which for the past weeks are making my head spin because my boss' boss is a cost traditionalist. I'm actually looking forward to quieter days wherein i can simply be me and write. Gambarre to me.)

Be gentle always -

Tekiru-kun

:) loved it like always

hope to see another one soon.