pinky swear; pinky promise; hooking each other's little fingers to confirm a promise
to age; to grow old (esp. in appearance); to show marks of age
sound argument; fair argument; just reasoning
violent emotion; passion; fury
to be caught; to be captured; to be taken prisoner; to be seized with (fear, etc.); to be a slave to; to stick to
to torment; to torture; to harass
no matter what; whatever happens; in any situation; rain or shine
making; producing; appearance (attire, make-up, etc.); build; physique; sashimi
Japanese food; Japanese-style meal; Japanese cuisine
center; centre; middle; -centered; -centred; -focused
simple; plain; modest; frugal; reserved
hinomaru bento (contains plain white rice with a single red umeboshi on top)
transfiguration; transformation; change of appearance
to accomplish; to achieve; to carry out; to arrive at (a certain outcome); to come to; to end with
cooking; food preparation
(not) even once; (not) ever
to cook (grains, e.g. rice); to boil; to simmer; to stew
umeboshi; pickled dried ume; pickled dried plum
it does not mean that ...; I don't mean that ...; it is not the case that...
in a crowd; in droves; crawling (of insects); swarming; dragging (e.g. along the ground); trailing
simmering; (boiling) gently
to boil; to be boiling hot; to be on a rolling boil
piping hot; scalding; madly in love; passionately in love
to take a seat; to sit; to occupy a position (e.g. committee president)
victory; triumph; conquest; success; win
incidentally; taking the opportunity; while (you) are at it; on the occasion
whereabouts; place; location; place where one belongs; where one fits in; place where one can be oneself
outsider; someone outside of a group
or rather (say); or better (say); or perhaps I should say; or, how should I put it,...; I mean
to one's heart's content; as much as one wants; as hard as one can; resolution; decisiveness; determination
patching (clothing); darning; cobbling together (other people's writings, thoughts, etc.); gathering
reason; cause; history; origin
arbitration; intercession; mediation
so-so; passable; now, now; my, my
while; during (the time when)