Monkey High! Volume 6 by Shouko Akira

Haruna Aizawa likens High School to a hill full of monkeys, with all the monkeys fighting to be in the top position. She was always on or near the top until her politician father was caught in an embarrassing scandal, so to escape her own monkey mountain, she switched schools and found a new boyfriend who really looked like a monkey!

In this volume, the class goes on a class trip to Kyoto. Macharu is excited to go to Kyoto, even if they are going in winter, but Haruna is less happy. Macharu is excitedly buying souvenirs for his family. Haruna helps him pick out something his sister would like, but when he asks if she's going to buy souvenirs for her own family, she grows sad and quiet. Her family wouldn't want souvenirs, or thank her for them. Not anything like Macharu's would.

Macharu and Haruna visit a monkey sanctuary, where Macharu gets some good-natured ribbing about his name and resemblance to a Monkey, and that all the monkeys seem to love him. But when the time comes to return to their bus so that they can go to the hotel, Macharu is nowhere to be found, and Haruna goes off to look for him, accompanied by Macharu's best friend, Atsu.

Macharu makes it back to the bus in time, but Haruna and Atsu don't, and must wait for a taxi. While they are waiting, Atsu wants to talk about Haruna and Macharu's relationship. He tells her that as nice as he is, Macharu will never "get it" and that he is a much better fit for her than Macharu is. He's more enlightened, and he knows why Haruna feels the way she does sometimes. And even though he knows that Macharu is her boyfriend, he won't give up until she is his.

Haruna is flustered by this attention. Yes, Atsu is attractive, but she really feels something for Macharu- not for Atsu. They finally get to the hotel, but not before Atsu has made Haruna very uncomfortable. The next day, sick from exposure to the cold, Haruna is bed-ridden, but discovers that the reason why Macharu was late the night before was that he'd been desperately looking for the souvenir he'd bought her, which he lost at the monkey sanctuary. She gets up from her sickbed to go to him and be with him.

Then, she invites Macharu home to meet her father for lunch. But when her father doesn't show, they go to the office to meet him. Can Macharu convince Haruna's father that he's serious about his love for Haruna? And can he remonstrate her father for not paying attention to Haruna?

Finally, the new school year starts, and students who are not going to college are separated from those who are, and now Haruna and Macharu are no longer in the same class. She is, however, in a class with Atsu. Now that they no longer see each other every day, and Macharu has been drafted for the basketball team, will Macharu and Haruna be able to enjoy the same closeness they once shared? Or will they drift apart, allowing Atsu to make his move?

The story takes a sharp turn in this volume. No longer will Macharu and Haruna be able to enjoy their time together, not even in school, now that Atsu has declared his intention to steal Haruna from Macharu. But it's more than just competition from someone Macharu considers his friend- it's their physical separation, not only out of the same classroom, but even the same building, as college-bound classes are taught in one building, and the trade school kids (like Macharu) in another.

What will be the cost of this separation? Will Atsu find a chance to win Haruna? Can their relationship ever be the same? I suspect not, but this isn't always a bad thing. Change can be for the better, not just for the worse. And both of them are getting older. So it's entirely possible that this enforced separation could draw them closer outside of school.

Well, the story appears to be getting more serious, but that's only to the good for this series. It's only getting better, and the two are facing some serious relationship issues on both sides. It will be interesting to see where the story, and the relationship go in the future. Recommended.