In 2005 it won the prestigious Naoki Prize, awarded semiannually for the best work of popular fiction by an established writer.Sayoko, a thirty-five-year-old homemaker with a three-year-old child, begins working for Aoi, a free-spirited, single career woman her own age who runs a travel agency-housekeeping business. Timid and unable to connect with other mothers in her neighborhood, Sayoko finds herself drawn to Aoi's independent lifestyle and easygoing personality. The two hit it off from the start, beginning a friendship that is for Sayoko also a reaffirmation of what living is about.Aoi, meanwhile, has not always been the self-confident person she appears to be. Severe classroom bullying in junior high had forced her to change schools, uprooting her and her family to the countryside; and at her new school, she was so afraid of again becoming the object of her classmates' cruelties that she spent most of her time steering clear of those around her.The present-day friendship between Sayoko and Aoi on the one hand, and Aoi's painful high school past on the other, form a gripping two-tier narrative that converges in the final chapter. The book touches on a broad range of issues of concern to women today, from marriage and childrearing to being single and working for oneself. It is a universal story about both the fear and the joy of opening up to others.

    Kino wanders around the world on the back of Hermes, her unusual motorcycle. During their adventures, they find happiness, sadness, pain, decadence, violence, beauty, and wisdom. But through it all, they never lose their sense of freedom. This work tells the tale of one girl and her bike and the road ahead.

    These poems have been selected on the basis of the poignancy of their message and their relevance to contemporary life.This is timeless wisdom translated for modern readers. It is a guide for meditation and a light switch that you can turn on to make your daily connection with spirit. Use these words as tools to better your life each day, to draw continued guidance, inspiration and spiritual wealth.

    Believe it! ·Moves, combos, and Secret Techniques for all 14 playable characters. ·Detailed tutorials and tables reveal all scrolls, certificates, figures, and audio collections.·Mission mode walkthroughs aid you in your quest to increase your ninja rank.·Excerpts from the manga and insights into the Naruto storyline make this guide perfect for both gamers and collectors.

    Then she rescued a boy flung into a raging river -- and at that moment, her destiny changed. Now Balsa must protect the boy -- the Prince Chagum -- on his quest to deliver the great egg of the water spirit to its source in the sea. As they travel across the land of Yogo and discover the truth about the spirit, they find themselves hunted by two deadly enemies: the egg-eating monster Rarunga . . . and the prince's own father.

    A terrible earthquake hits, and Katsuji, his brother, and Yuka, along with four high-schoolers in Spain on a field-trip, all fall deep underground. While trapped below the surface, they encounter a mysterious old woman who reveals to them prophecies that the wealthy nation of Japan will meet the same demise as the once prosperous city of Carthage. Katsuji and the others insult the old woman, who then sends them to see the world of the future with their own eyes, a future of desolation and death...

    Many of the ideas in this were carried over into the full series, but there are some interesting differences.

    Cool lives his life moderately as a delivery boy. One day, he meets Ann accidentally. Only after a relationship begins to take shape, Mr. Cool realises that Ann is actually the sister of his ex-lover, Angel, who went missing without a trace. Situation starts to get cockle when Elvin, a friend of Ann begin showing his affection towards her. With all histories start to come up, their loves surely would end with more than just unhappy.

    Our hero's search takes him from the surface of his fantastic alien planet to an off-kilter modern Japan where Pelu meets aspiring singers, sassy girls, paint-sniffing bad boys, and the body-switching students of a mysterious high school. Artist Junko Mizuno unleashes her unique graphic storytelling sensibilities on a tale that's frequently adorable, sometimes grotesque, and surprisingly moving.

    But things go from bad to worse when they are suddenly attacked by a cadre of Arm Slaves.

    It was raining. That was the day that she brought me home.”This is the story of Miyu, a woman who lives alone with her cat, Chobi. As Miyu navigates the world of adulthood, she discovers both the freedom and loneliness that come with living independently, and Chobi learns of the outside world through her actions. Time drifts slowly for Miyu and her cat, but the harsh realities of the world soon catch up…

    In search of a way to resurrect their dead friends, Kuririn, Gohan, and Bulma go into space in search of Namek--Piccolo's home planet where the Dragon Balls were originally made. But Namek has become a battleground, where evil emperor Freeza and his minions are slaughtering the peaceful Namekians to fulfill Freeza's wish for immortality! Stranded on a planet full of enemies, the three astronauts radio back to Earth...but "help" comes from an unexpected source as Vegeta turns against his former master Freeza in order to get the Dragon Balls for himself!

    If you know, that your favorite idol is a player and know exactly where he is at the moment and you can get there, and you've dreamed about him since the fist day you saw him, what would you do? Misaki goes for it, for Michiru, but not everything goes as she planned...

    In it, players are rabbits who must do everything in their power to uncover the wolf in rabbit's clothing before it kills them off. The wolf, a randomly selected player, must use his wiles to create mistrust among the rabbits and knock his adversaries off one by one. When five fans of this game decide to meet offline for fun, the last thing they expect is to lose consciousness and wake up trapped in an abandoned building with a corpse strung up in front of them, a mysterious barcode tattooed on each of their bodies. Will the virtual friends be able to pull it together in the real world and figure out what's going on in time to avoid ending up the wolf's dinner?

    What if you can restart your life with a different setting just like a game? DONG TAE always get bullied by his classmates, but TAE BIN, sits right next to him, is handsome and popular at school; and now, TAE BIN suggests DONG TAE to play a little game.