V03 – Kirishima’s teasing persists and Yokozawa still gets riled up, but not as much. Yokozawa has made some strides, of course, not without struggle. He uses “we” a lot more when thinking about Kirishima family matters. Kirishima has peeled back a few of his own layers and that’s helped Yokozawa settle his thoughts about how he compares to Kirishima a bit more. Yokozawa already dealt with a crush and easily by admitting that he was in a relationship. Unfortunately, Kirishima did not fare so well with his turning into a stalker. I need someone else to know about their relationship. Someone other than Takano, though I am looking forward to Yokozawa telling Takano. Or better yet, Takano questioning him about it because he sensed something.
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V04 – I get Yokozawa’s feelings about being found out, but it’s not something they can keep a secret forever. So he should be working towards getting to a place where he can deal with it being known that one, he’s gay, or not–I still am not sure what he considers himself–and two, that he is in a relationship with Kirishima. If Hiyori was upset that he didn’t tell them his birthday was two days after Kirishima’s, how does he think she’s going to feel when she finds out that he and her father have been in a relationship pretty much since she met him? Putting aside his fear of her being disgusted, he’s been with Kirishima for more than six months, dating right under her nose. Whether she approves or not, she’s going to feel betrayed. Though he’s more likely to consider breaking up as the only real solution to their situation. That’s not going to go over well.
Yokozawa has improved, but he’s still unable to handle Kirishima and is still drowning in embarrassment when it comes to anything intimate. On the other hand, Kirishima is kind of coming apart at the seems with his jealousy. His bullying does sour things a bit for me, but if I had to highlight one thing that really bothers me about the story, it’s the nosy people. Well, not just nosy, but forward. Just… wow, like why do you think it’s any of your business? And the thing where people just assume something in one conversation and speak to the opposite in another like they’re trying to trip someone up. If someone gives you a vague answer and they don’t actually owe you a straight one, just let it go. Isn’t one of the prominent characteristics of Japanese communication vagueness chased my inappropriate levels of ambiguity? Is Fujisaki writing them this way to be contrary? Though I prefer straight talk and it would save a lot of time (and I get that the hemming and hawing fills in the story), but it’s here in all the wrong places. Henmi’s assumptions and prying grate on my very last nerve. Why does it even matter when two people became “close” or started hanging out? Even if from your perspective they have nothing in common, so what? Keep your trivial observations to yourself. Better yet, get a life so you’ll have your own relationships to worry about. I have to remind myself that this is fiction.