:::::Chapter l48::::::

Upon the realization that she can no longer see "Eve," Ririsu wonders again to herself if it was because of the kiss she shared with Tarou.

Tarou suggests that whatever the case might be, what's important is that they get out of there before Dad and his maelstrom of First Love Zombies make it to Ririru's family compound. Before they can leave, Suzuko comes in and invites them to play Karuta, a card game popular to play on New Years Day in Japan. She notices them acting tense, so she asks what's up. Ririsu explains that Tarou's Dad is angry with him over their argument earlier and is on his way to the house, so they gotta bail.

Suzuko suggests that Ririsu talk to his Dad alone to patch things up, but Ririsu states that he's mad at her, too. Suzuko is shocked and wonders what could have happened and imagines his Dad getting angry over how unbelievably gullible his son is for believing Ririsu could possibly be a guy. Suzuko tells them that she understands the situation, and reassures them to leave it up to her... so she takes them to her home to hide out.

They arrive at Suzuko's rather nice apartment. As it turns out, Suzuko's parents are currently away for an extended period of time so she can have friends stay over and nobody will object. However, Suzuko tells them that as a girl, it would be inappropriate for her to spend the night with TWO BOYS (emphasized) so she says she will leave the two of them alone at her house while she will go back to Ririsu's house to stay.  Ririsu tries to object but Suzuko leaves before she can really discuss it with her.  And thus, Suzuko cheerfully leaves while wishing her a little New Years luck.

Tarou and Ririsu are trying to nervously process their situation. To Ririsu, even if Eve is there, because she can no longer see her, they might as well be alone together. Tarou breaks the tension by asking Ririsu if she had seen any other First Love Zombies on their way to Suzuko's home.  Ririsu confirms that she saw both First Love Zombies and Broken-Heart Zombies, and that it indeed appears that the only FLZ she cannot see is Eve.

Tarou asks Ririsu if she has any idea why. She immediately gets flustered because she DOES have some idea why, but she is still embarrassed about it. (The Kiss) Tarou says that Eve has something to say, and he passes it on to Ririsu. She asks if Ririsu could see her when they bumped into everyone before Tarou, Ririsu, and her Dad went off together, and Ririsu confirms that she could. With this info, Tarou surmises that whatever caused this must have happened while he was unconscious. In particular, he wonders why Ibusuki-Kun (AKA Ririsu) had experienced a change while Dad and Tarou apparently didn't. Furthermore, he wonders why Ririsu suddenly got a fever afterwards, and starts to pry into whether or not some stimulus or experience had prompted her change.

Ririsu gets upset and tells him to lay off the interrogation because he (she) doesn't know any more than Tarou does. She tells him leave him alone for a while as she storms off into another room and slams the door behind her. Tarou checks on Eve to see how she's feeling. Eve says she believes that finding out what caused Ririsu to no longer see her could help lead to a method of 'curing' Ririsu so she no longer sees any FLZ, which she says would be a good outcome. She then tells him that she will go outside for a bit to keep an eye out for Tarou's Dad's FLZ Tornado.

Outside, Eve remarks the coast is clear, as she can't see anything peculiar. However, when she says the phrase "can't see"  she shows a rare glimpse of her more melancholic/serious side. She says that although she should be satisfied with just being there for Tarou and nobody else, in reality she doesn't want to lose Ibusuki-Kun even though she had promised to help Tarou rid 'him' of 'his' powers.

Back in the apartment, Ririsu enters Suzuko's room and remarks that it is predictably girly and cute. Regardless, Ririsu collapses and frustratedly ponders to herself what she should do, troubled by the prospect of 'losing' Eve by virtue of having Eve removed from detection. Just then, she looks up at a post board with several pictures of Tarou and Ririsu together on their hiking trip from last Autumn. She reflects warmly back on how she was able to make a boxed-lunch for Tarou (AKA o-Bentou). If you recall, she had worked very hard on it as a means of expressing her femininity in a covert way, and Tarou was very complimentary of it, although Ririsu had initially downplayed her own involvement in making it. Specifically, he told her that it had the flavor of love.

Just then, she smells something in the kitchen. She walks in and sees Tarou cooking. Ririsu gently admonishes him for eating Suzuko's family's food without their permission, but Tarou says that it's okay because Suzuko said to make themselves at home, which he takes to heart. Tarou asks if she's hungry, and she tells him she is, and she insists on helping him out by making soup to go with his main dish, Omu-rice.

They eat together, as she compliments him for being a very resourceful guy around the house.  He takes a sip of the soup she made, and gets a surprised expression on his face. Ririsu asks if she messed it up, but instead, he says that this time it has an even stronger flavor.  We see a flashback to when he said her food had the flavor of 'love' and Ririsu gets a bit of a lustful and excited expression on her face.

Tarou kinda reads the situation, and thinks to himself that he might have said a bit too much just then. He thinks back to how Suzuko has been active in putting them in various intimate situations. He knows that she most definitely knows that Ibusuki-Kun is actually a girl, so perhaps Suzuko wants him and Ibusuki together after all. Just then, Ririsu asks him what's wrong and he deflects, as they both eat awkwardly in silence.

Ririsu asks where Eve is right then, and Tarou tells her that Eve is on outside on the look-out. Tarou remarks that she seems depressed that Ririsu can no longer see her. Ririsu responds with what appears to be a subtle nostalgic smile.

He tells Ririsu that Eve believes that if they can pinpoint what could have caused her to stop seeing Eve, they could cure her of her affliction. He says he agrees with this, so he implores her to try to remember what the 'cause' of the change in her status was.

Ririsu gets REALLY flustered. She begins to reason: If that kiss with Tarou was enough to rid her of the ability to see Eve, it would surely necessitate an even STRONGER and more intense stimulus to make it where she can no longer see any zombie. She begins to fantasize just what she could do with Tarou that would be an even stronger stimulus than kissing.

Tarou sees her hiding her face, and asks "Uh, are you gonna be alright?"

End of Chapter