Past Life? Say What?

HAJIMARI NO NIINA
**SPOILER ALERT:  This post includes my summary of what happens in this manga, excluding a few scenes.**
Hello!  So this manga is so, so cute and adorable, but sad at the same time.  I for real cried when I read it.  It currently consists of 3 and a half chapters at the moment, but apparently it's not completely scanlated.  Here is the summary from Shouju Crusade:               


     Hajimari No Niina Manga Summary:
     From Shoujo Crusade: 11-year old Niina is special. This is because she has the memories of her past life as a girl named Chitose still intact. Among these memories is a promise with Chitose's boyfriend which Niina then decides to try and fulfill. But can she really?

     So there it is.  I think I stumbled upon this manga when it was featured on the main page of Mangafox.  I thought it sounded interesting so I read it.  At first when I found out about the age difference I wasn't too sure about it, but it turned out pretty swell!  I love it so much.  I can't wait till they come out with the next chapters.  I can't wait for very long though..  Niina is so cute and Atsurou is a cutie as well.  They are 15 years apart.  Is that weird?  Probably, but it is still sweet if you just get past that detail.  Atsurou, who is twenty-five in the beginning of the manga, lives next door to Niina, who has just recently moved into town.  One day when she accidentally hits her volleyball into his backyard, she climbs the wall separating their houses and almost lands on a chicken.  Turns out the chicken is Atsurou's pet, Fujiko-san.  Atsurou somehow saved Fujiko, and Niina, by using his body to cushion her fall and at the same time grab Fujiko out of the way.  Niina says that though it should be her first time seeing him, he is very familiar to her.  This is because Niina was Atsurou's girlfriend, Chitose, in her past life and she still has Chitose's memories from before.  This concept was pretty cool for me; I've never read something with that idea before.  

     She loved Atsurou in her previous life, so it isn't surprising that she would fall in love a second time.  Since Niina can remember many of Chitose's memories, **Spoilers from here on**she recalls how Chitose promised Atsurou that they would go back to the lake in the winter time to see the swans that mate for life, but in the end couldn't keep her promise (because she died in an accident while trying to support a pregnant woman who was falling down the subway stairs).  So Niina decides that she will try and fulfill that promise and she does.  It's way sweet.  

     Then six years later, Niina is 16, which also makes Atsurou 31 I believe...freaky, but hey, at least he's not 51?  Anyway, it's been this long and Niina believes that Atsurou still has no feelings for her.  One day while eating dinner, her parents inform her and her sister the news that they will soon be moving to Hokkaido in April.  She is shocked and runs to Atsurou's house.  She ends up twisting her ankle when she trips over a rock and Atsurou takes her into his house to tend to it.  There, she tells him about how she won't be able to watch the cherry trees blossom this spring with him and so he suggests that they go next week, though the blossoms wouldn't have bloomed yet.  She's elated, but then a bit disappointed when he tells her to ask her family to go as well.  
     They go and she makes enormous onigiri with three different ingredients.  This sparks a flashback memory for Atsurou who remembers when he and Chitose went to the lake and she also made giant onigiri with three different ingredients.  
     When they get back home Niina confronts Atsurou once again to confess her love to him, just like she did when she was ten years old.  He says that he is not confident that he will be able to protect her and she smiles and and thanks him before running off.  She collapses onto her knees and cries on the street.  
     On the day that Niina's family is to move to Hokkaido, Atsurou goes into his backyard to find a grave and flowers for Fujiko.  He talks to Fujiko about Niina saying that she hasn't come to visit in a while.  He sees something on the side of the grave and sees that it is Fujiko's birth and death day.  He doesn't remember telling Niina when Fujiko was born and has a flashback to when Chitose and he first got Fujiko at a festival.  In the flashback, Chitose says that the chicks name will be Fujiko so that she will have a long life and that that day would be Fujiko's birthday.  

     Meanwhile, Niina is sent off to buy food and is thinking about how to forget Atsurou.  At a railroad crossing, she sees a little girl who has dropped her ice cream crying and digs in her purse to see if she has anything to help.  The little girl's grandmother soothes her and tells her that she will make her pudding when they get home solving the problem.  Then Niina realizes she was intentionally trying to forget Atsurou.  She thinks it is impossible to forget him and turns around to go see him.  At that moment, the grandmother falls over and gets her leg (somehow) stuck on the railroad track.  A train is coming and Niina runs to help the grandmother.  The train gets closer and closer and the last thing she thinks is Atsurou's name.
     Back at Niina's house, Atsurou stops by to ask where Niina is and Niina's sister tells him she went out on an errand, then ponders about how she's taken a long time.  Then, Niina's mother bursts into the room and informs everyone that she has gotten a call that Niina has gotten into an accident by the Railroad tracks.  
     There is a flashback scene to the day Chitose died.  She and Atsurou, holding hands, are trying to catch the subway, but Atsurou can't find his subway pass.  He tells Chitose to go on ahead and buy him some time by standing in the train doorway, letting go of her hand.  As she runs up the stairs she sees a pregnant woman who looks like she is having trouble.  The woman starts to fall over and Chitose tries to help her.  Atsurou finally gets there and he sees Chitose lying there.  He calls her name many times, but she doesn't answer.  In her mind Chitose is apologizing to him, saying she is sorry she couldn't say anything in response to him.  She says that if they were ever to be given a second chance, she would definitely answer him that time.  
     Later, Niina is fine and in a hospital bed with Atsurou sitting on a chair next to her.  She explains what happened to him, but he keeps silent.  She has a deja vu about how the last time she helped a boy who fell down some stairs and Atsurou smacks both of his hands on her face.  She apologizes, even bowing, and tells him she is sorry she makes him worry so much.  Finally he starts talking saying, "You got that right" and "You want me to have a heart attack?".  He embraces her and tells her about that day with Chitose and how he let go of her hand.  He was scared that he would make the same mistake with Niina, but then says that now he is even more afraid of losing her and her not being in the world ever again.  He says he doesn't want that to happen and that he won't let go of her anymore.
     In the last few pages of chapter 3, Niina is about to depart for Hokkaido and she is speaking with Atsurou one last time.  He tells her not to get into anymore trouble like those times before, and also mentions that time when Chitose helped the pregnant woman, which led me to think that he knows that Niina was Chitose in her previous life.  Niina laughs and says she can't help it, she was born that way.  As she turns to leave, Atsurou grasps her hand and tells her that this time, he will come to visit her and kisses her on the forehead.  
**End of Spoiler**
     If you are interested in reading this manga, I fully encourage you to do so!  You won't regret it!! (I don't think...) 

CHECK IT OUT SOMETIME!! <3