Chapter 30

**The Maid Who's Always Smiling** (いつも笑顔のメイドさん *Itsumo Egao no Meido-san*) is the thirtieth chapter of the *100 Kanojo* manga.

## Summary

Rentarou and his girlfriends are sat on the roof being served tea by Hahari’s personal maid, Medio Mei. Hakari says that Kurumi’s eyes are really pretty when she eats as they glow like emeralds, sparking a conversation where everyone compliments each other’s eyes. Hahari comments that Mei’s eyes are really pretty, which results in Karane stating that she’s never seen Mei open her eyes before and has only seen her smiling. Hakari agrees with her, saying that she too has never seen Mei’s eyes, despite living in the same house as her.

Shizuka wonders what colour her eyes are, prompting Hahari to state they’re rainbow coloured. Kusuri says that she wants to see and asks Mei to stop smiling. She initially refuses but agrees to after Hahari says that she’d like to see her eyes as well. Mei attempts to open her eyes but fails to as her facial muscles don’t respond to her. She wonders if her expression has become stuck by constantly smiling and tries to force her eyelids open with her hands, to no avail. She runs off to fetch a scalpel to cut off her eyelids but is stopped by Hahari telling her not to. She states to the group that Mei can be diligent to an outright dangerous degree. Kusuri asks Mei what she would do if she was asked to drink potassium cyanide, and she replies firmly stating that she would “pour it down the hatch”. Kurumi asks her how she’s able to see if her eyes are closed all the time. She replies saying that she obviously cannot see and relies on sounds and feeling the presence of things to go about her day.

Shizuka attempts to scare Mei to get her to open her eyes by saying boo. This however doesn’t work and instead embarrasses herself, so Rentarou pretends to be scared to cover for her. Kusuri suggests trying the “Getting splashed with it will melt your skin and hurt like hell drug” but the idea is shot down immediately. Mei does make a point however that if Hahari asked her to do so, she would gladly do it. Nano says that warning Mei beforehand is inefficient and stabs her out of the blue with a box cutter. Mei does not flinch however and instead thanks Hahari for everything she’s done for her. She’s questioned why she’s unfazed and she simply states that it would be inexcusable for her to pass on before expressing her gratitude to her master. Nano reaffirms everyone that she didn’t actually hurt Mei, retracting the blade before it stabbed her. The relief makes Shizuka cry which stuns Nano. Kurumi tries to get Mei to open her eyes by presenting her with a steamed bun to eat. This however also does not work, which surprises her as she believes that delicious food should make someone’s eyes fly open. Rentarou presents the idea that people’s eyes tend to open wider when they’re happy, which makes Hakari ask Mei what makes her happy. Mei says that Hahari’s happiness is her happiness, so Hakari turns the question to her mother, which she responds by saying that she enjoys flirting around with everyone. Hakari then pushes Karane towards her mother, asking her to flirt with her. Karane was initially against the idea, but after realising that Hahari and Hakari smell similar, goes in to kiss Hahari. She’s interrupted by Hakari however who’s angry that she was actually going to kiss her mother. Hahari gets upset that the opportunity was taken away from her but quickly cheers up after Shizuka and Kusuri hug her from either side of her, dubbed a “Little girl sandwich”.

Rentarou suggests that they should try to make Mei laugh to open her eyes. Karane questions how he would suddenly make her laugh, which results in Rentarou telling them a dumb story. Kusuri was doing the “ten-times quiz” to Rentarou and because of it, he was briefly unable to say “Tonari no Totoro”, instead saying “Tororo ro Tororo”. This makes Mei laugh, although she still doesn’t open her eyes. Rentarou then states that the story didn’t actually happen to him, but to Hahari instead. This causes Mei to open her eyes and the two of them zing—his 8th girlfriend. Karane questions why Mei opened her eyes. Rentarou explains that she used Mei’s loyalty against her, as when she realised she was laughing at her masters failure, she instinctively forced herself to stop smiling. Hahari notices that Mei’s face has flushed and wonders if she fell in love at first sight with Rentarou, as the rest of his girlfriends have. Everyone says that Mei should join the family, but she refuses, saying that its inexcusable for a maid to have feelings for the same person as their master. However, Hahari tells her that its ok and for Mei to be honest with her feelings, which results in her asking Rentarou if she may have the honour of dating him.

## Characters

* Hanazono Hakari
* Haraga Kurumi
* Aijou Rentarou
* Yoshimoto Shizuka
* Eiai Nano
* Yakuzen Kusuri
* Inda Karane
* Hanazono Hahari
* Meido Mei

## Quote

**Beginning:** He Really Really Really Really Really Loves All of His Girlfriends. As That Is His Noblesse Oblige.

**End:** ...No Way... Meido-san...!!

**Next Chapter:** Volume 3 Will Be Out On The Day After, Sept. 18.