Hot Gimmick, Vol. 7

Neighbors in Love!

In company-owned rabbit-hutch apartments live tenants who can't afford to live anywhere else, and the apartment complex in which high-school girl Hatsumi Narita lives is ruled over by the rumor mongering, self-righteous Mrs. Tachibana. Get on Tachibana's bad side, and life becomes hell. When Hatsumi has to buy a pregnancy test because her popular sister Akane is late, Mrs. Tachibana's son, Ryoki, who used to bully Hatsumi as a kid, promises not to tell the world about Hatsumi's secret only if she becomes his slave. Suddenly Azusa, Hatsumi's protector in their youth, reappears to save her again! He's moving back into the neighborhood! Despite the budding romance between Hatsumi and Azusa, Ryoki has control over her through the secret that could ruin the lives of everyone in Hatsumi's family, and he hasn't forgotten who his slave is!

But she says he's just a friend...Well that's not how Ryoki feels. His New Year's fete with our hapless heroine Hatsumi didn't go according to plan, so childhood bully/potential boyfriend Ryoki hightails it back home in a huff. Luckily, Hatsumi's heavenly older brother Shinogu is there to give her a lift back to civilization. A botched burglary at the Narita household leaves Hatsumi panicky and, in an act that goes way against character, Ryoki lends her a hand, but their affections do not go unseen. Will Hatsumi and Ryoki's feelings be able to survive the harsh scrutiny of company-housing life? All this and more in Volume 7 of Hot Gimmick, one of the most talked about new shôjo titles from Japan.