She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not...

­Raku Ichijo's in a pickle! He's stuck in a false love relationship with Chitoge Kirisaki, a girl who is the daughter of a rival gang's boss and irritates him to no end. Moreover, since the safety of innocent civilians is at stake, he can't call it off. His life gets no better as his current crush, Kosaki Onodera (who also harbors secret feelings of love for him), truly believes he's in love with Chitoge! Despite all this, Raku's still hung up on his childhood sweetheart, a girl whose name or face he can't remember. Will he ever solve this love conundrum, or is he hopelessly stuck inside the pickle jar of love?

The Onodera Dilemma

Raku's feeling a bit conflicted. He still thinks about his childhood sweetheart, the one he made a promise to marry ten years ago, and the only thing he has to show for it is a pendant with a lock around his neck. His sweetheart has the key to the pendant, but he can't remember much about her. And now he's head-over-heels for his classmate Onodera, a sweet and supremely popular girl in class. She too has a secret crush on Raku, but the problem is both of them are not exactly go-getters.

Raku wishes that his idyllic childhood love is Onodera, but wouldn't that be too much of a coincidence? That small ray of hope he has that she truly is the one all of a sudden becomes a blinding flash of light when he discovers that Onodera is carrying an old key with her. Could that mean...?!

Sink or Swim

While Raku is trying to come to grips with this new discovery about Onodera, he still has to put up a good front about his false love with Chitoge. The two bicker constantly, but to the passing observer, it looks like they really get along and have great chemistry. How can he ever find out about Onodera while still making pretend he's in love with someone else?

At a school swim meet, Miyamoto, Onodera's best friend, tries to set Raku up with Onodera by asking him to teach Onodera how to swim. Wanting to join in on the fun, Chitoge, a superb athlete, volunteers to also help out! Despite her athletic prowess, a sudden cramp paralyzes Chitoge, and she helplessly sinks to the bottom. In a mad rush, the gallant Raku dives headfirst to save his beloved. Chitoge's grateful for being saved, but she's having a bit of a hard time expressing her gratitude...

May the Best MAN...

Seems like Raku is one lucky dog, right? A super-hot girl likes him and he's involved in a relationship with another one (albeit a false one). However, his luck is about to run out when a mysterious new transfer student with ties to Chitoge's past enrolls at school... The new transfer student is not too keen on Raku. In fact, the student's actually a famed assassin that works for the Beehive whose next target is none other than Raku himself!

Just like in good ol'-fashioned Westerns, a showdown between the two rivals is inevitable. But Raku isn't exactly a fighter. And what chance does he truly have against a trained assassin?!

What crazy shenanigans will these crazy kids be up to next? Find out in Nisekoi volume 2, available at VIZmanga.com!

On the fence about volume 2? Then check out our FREE PREVIEW at VIZmanga.com now!

And if you wanna read the latest chapters of Nisekoi, be sure to check out Weekly Shonen Jump!

by John Bae