Title: Loveless
Mangaka: Kouga Yun
ISBNs: volume 3: 4-7580-5034-1, volume 4: 4-7580-5077-5
Warnings: boys' love (but no sex, I don't think)

This series has been licensed by TokyoPop.

Scans of these pages.
New: now updated to include the "train scene" from the end of volume 3 and the fight scene from the beginning of volume 4.

Screencaps of the corresponding episodes:
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10

p45-49:
If you haven't seen/read this series before, there are these fighting pairs that consist of a Sentouki (Fighting Machine) and a Sacrifice. From what I know, the Sentouki does the fighting and the Sacrifice takes the damage. The enemy's Sacrifice has to be bound in order to win a fight, I think (sorry, only seen the first few eps of the anime so far, and haven't read the manga at all except for this volume). The Sentouki in this pair is Sakagami Kouya and the Sacrifice is Nakano Yamato.

Their boss, Nagisa, says she'll give Kouya a new Sacrifice so that Yamato won't be a burden on her (because she's injured? or for some other reason? I'm not sure... only skimmed through the fight scene), but Kouya says she doesn't want anyone but Yamato. Yamato says that if she's going to be a burden on Kouya, she'll just die. Which of course upsets Kouya. Nagisa lets them go for the day, and Yamato tries to change the subject but Kouya won't let her. Yamato reiterates what she said before, but Kouya says that she wants the two of them to always be together. Yamato replies that she's sick of hearing Kouya say, "If you die, I die, too," and tries to change the subject again, saying they won't be dying yet anyway, and she wants a French crueller (that's a type of donut, right? ^^) from Misudo. Kouya says that if Yamato really wants to keep them from talking about it, she should kiss her. lol. So she does, and Kouya turns bright red. Very cute. ^^ Then she makes light of the situation, telling Kouya that if she likes/loves her that much, she should buy her a French crueller. lol. Kouya replies something I'll loosely translate as, "Don't come crying to me if you put on weight!!"

p73-78:
Kouya is throwing up. Someone calls, and Yamato answers Kouya's cell phone for her. When the person asks why, she tells them what's going on, and when they ask why she's throwing up, she says Kouya might be pregnant. The person asks whose child it is, and Yamato says it's hers. lol. The person freaks out, telling her she's getting weird, and they'll kill her if she does anything to Kouya. She hangs up on them. Yamato says that she wishes Kouya was really pregnant. Kouya comes out of the bathroom, and sarcastically says that people can apparently get pregnant from kissing these days. Yamato says that if it's not pregnancy, it must be stress. She asks Kouya what's stressing her out enough to make her throw up, and Kouya thinks/says that it's her worry of losing Yamato. She remembers Nagisa saying that she has a new Sacrifice ready, and that Sacrifices who aren't useful should be replaced. Kouya is scared. She wonders if Nagisa was serious about what she said. She thinks to herself that she couldn't stand having Yamato replaced, being separated from her. Yamato says she wishes that everything could become hers if only she wished for it hard enough (I don't really understand what she means here. Does anyone else?). She embraces Kouya.

p115-118:
Yamato is talking to Ritsuka (main character of "Loveless," little boy with cat ears, also a Sacrifice) about names. Usually the fighting pairs have the same special name marked on their bodies somewhere. Ritsuka has a different name from his Sentouki because his Sentouki's Sacrifice was originally his brother. So he doesn't understand the other pairs' feelings of being bonded to each other through their common name. Yamato tells him that people with the same name are really special, that it's like a divine power decided they should be together; they're a fated couple/pair. Ritsuka says he hates that. No matter what, he wants to decide things for himself. He says that people should decide themselves who they want to be with. Yamato tells him that he can say that because he doesn't understand anything (though she herself will change her stance on this issue later...). Yamato gets up to go to the bathroom.

She remembers seeing Kouya's name mark for the first time; they both have the mark on their chests. Kouya asks her if she wants to see it, and she said yes, so Kouya shows it to her. It's a zero, because they're Team Zero or something like that (there's some weird stuff with the Zero model(s) being interchangable and stuff, so I don't know if there are other Zero Sentouki out there or what). Yamato tells Kouya that her chest is small, and Kouya tells her to shut up. lol.

Back in present time, Yamato looks in the mirror and sees that her mark is starting to fade. She thinks to herself that if they fight today, it'll probably disappear completely. She thinks to herself that she doesn't want to become different from Kouya. She knows it's foolish for her to allow herself to be controlled by her name, but her name gave Kouya to her. And now it's disappearing...

p136-151:
Kouya and Yamato are battling Ritsuka and Soubi (Ritsuka's Sentouki). Yamato is trying not to show her pain, because she knows it would hurt Kouya to see her in pain. Kouya asks to see Yamato's name mark, and sees that it's not there anymore. Kouya asks why, and Yamato tells her she doesn't know. Yamato wonders why she's the only one [who's become different now]. She says she'd rather die than be a burden on Kouya. Soubi asks if they're giving up the fight, and Kouya says she can't continue on. Ritsuka convinces Soubi not to finish them off. Soubi tells them that if they surrender this fight, they can't challenge him and Ritsuka ever again. Kouya says that she won't fight with anyone again. Yamato thinks to herself that it's all over. She can't be with Kouya anymore. She wishes everything would just end. Soubi tells Kouya that that means her death as a Sentouki. He asks if she's all right with that, and she says yes. He says that he has no use for them, no connection with them, and no interest in them, and he and Ritsuka leave.

Yamato apologizes to Kouya, and says that there was nothing she could do about her name disappearing. Kouya says that now that Yamato's name is gone, Yamato isn't Zero anymore. She kisses Yamato's forehead, and asks her if she loves her even though she's not Zero anymore. She asks Yamato if she'll die with her. Yamato says she will if that's what Kouya wants. Kouya says this is the first time she's seen Yamato cry. She says, "Let's die together," and pulls a knife out of her pocket. She says she's always thought she might want to die. Living is bothersome, but dying isn't easy either. She continues, saying that if she's with Yamato, she'll be able to die; she won't be afraid. Yamato says that she doesn't want to die. She loves Kouya alive, warm and moving and crying and laughing. But if they can't be together, she wants to die. They embrace tightly. One of them says, "Let's die together," and the other agrees. Kouya thinks to herself that she loves Yamato, then repeats the thought aloud. She thinks to herself that she loves Yamato more than [she loves] anyone else. She tells she's loved her for a long time--since the first time she saw her, in fact. She says she was truly happy that Yamato was her Sacrifice and her destiny. Yamato says that she feels the same way. Kouya thinks to herself that she loves Yamato more than anyone, and in particular, much more than she loves her foolish self (note: in this last sentence, she uses the word "aishiteru" to describe her feelings for Yamato; up until this point, both of them have only used "suki," which could theoretically be interpreted as being less than love; not going to go into a language lecture here, just wanted to mention that tidbit for any skeptics out there ^^).

Kouya grips her cell phone, saying that she's trembling because it's her first time doing this. She says, "Shall we begin!!?" and drops the somewhat crushed cell phone to the ground. Kouya says she'll protect Yamato forever, and that they should start their lives anew (literally, "be reborn"). Nagisa gets a phone call from Kouya, wherein Kouya tells her goodbye. Nagisa doesn't understand what's going on, but Kouya just apologizes, says she'll return the cell phone, and tells her that the ones who are living now are "just Yamato" and "just Kouya." Zero is dead.

They're both trembling. This is the first time they've defied Nagisa. They kiss, and tell each other "yoroshiku" (ritual phrase... in this case, I'd interpret it to mean that they're going to depend on each other from now on, because Yamato says "yoroshiku from now on").

One (or both) of them thinks to herself that if they do have a bond that's stronger than their name-bond, they want to determine its strength. Kouya says that she wonders if the fact that they "died" that night really means that they were "born" that night. Yamato says she doesn't understand what Kouya's saying.

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