Chidori and Nanoha have a secret, we are told in Volume 1 and Volume 2. They are lovers, we are told. And we will have to believe what we are told, because what we are shown is two young woman in a romantic relationship that, for completely sensible reasons, they prefer to keep secret from their friends. They aren’t doing a particularly great job of hiding it, but the relative self-absorption of people means they are hiding in plain sight. The only one who has cottoned on to their relationship is Nanoha’s younger sister. She, admittedly, has had the benefit of seeing them during their off-school hours when they, for one moment, let their guard slip and were holding hands, while on a date.

In love, probably. Lovers? No. Not yet. They are still in very early stages of their romance. Holding hands is where we are at.

In Volume 3 of Hana ni Arashi (はなにあらし), we accompany them as they celebrate Chidori’s birthday, and the gang goes over Nanoha’s house for a summer sleepover.

Unusually, this volume does not just end on a generic feel good moment, but with Chidori spotting someone we don’t know, but she clearly does, talking about her “kouhai” on the phone. What this will mean to us will wait until the next volume to find out.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 3
Service – 2 There was some gratuitous Chidori decolletage for us, the readers, not for Nanoha, which was depressing.

Overall – 6

I guess I am reading this series now. ^_^