Imadoki! Nowadays, Vol. 2: Magnolia

I always loved this short series from Yu Watase.

Things are progressing at Meio high school for Tanpopo and the other members of the planting committee, but there is a new classmate who starts to stir up trouble for everyone on campus, literally. Aoi Kyogoku is a genius hacker and a bit of a loose cannon. One day he decides to hack into the school system and cause a campus wide power outage, trapping Tanpopo and Koki in the elevator together. Seems harmless enough, except for the fact that Tanpopo is afraid of the dark and small spaces, and Aoi is messing with the elevator so that it keeps going up and down. The motion forces Koki to embrace Tanpopo so that she doesn't get hurt and this stirs up mixed emotions for them both. When they finally emerge from the elevator Tanpopo is taken hostage by Aoi who is determined to join their planting committee. Thing is that in order for them to allow another member they have to become a club instead of a committee, so the formal request is put into the student council. During the meeting Tanpopo finds out that Koki's older brother has been missing for a few years, and that's not the only odd thing to occur... student council president Ogata has a proposition in store for Tanpopo... Their request will be approved but she has to accomplish one of two tasks first, to get one of his admirers off of his back, or to go out with him... what's a young high school girl to do?I can't even begin to describe how much I love this series. My appreciation goes fathoms deep. It is so different from previous Watase work because it is more light hearted and upbeat, but at the same time there are all these complications that are so indicative of her style. I just can't get enough of it, my cup of bliss overflows with every subsequent volume. As is, I am waiting with breathless anticipation to get the next volume tomorrow, but for now I will encourage all to pick up the first of this series. You'll be hooked before you get to this volume, trust me.