"And if, we're no longer married... I want you to start being my girlfriend..."
Taken out of context, these words in this beautifully colored scene sounds really weird.
Nobody other than Sachi (and friends, maybe) know he and Akari are going to start dating in a while, so I wonder how this will hit Shiori even after he already rejected her. Is she still waiting for another chance? But maybe her moving to a different prefecture for university might be the moving on from Jirou part I'm expecting.
That look of pain on Minami's face. I see he still hasn't let go of his feelings so the hurt continues for this guy having to see his brother and his wife on family gatherings. Terafune still infatuated with Akari, but he has no idea he has absolutely zero chance.
Wait, who was that girl with the hair ribbon in the panel on page 22? I can only think of Natsumi. Even more, who's that girl hanging out with Sadaharu?! Don't tell me she's Satsuki, his marriage practical wife who I don't remember ever seeing.
Anyway, Jirou has no choice but to play the hand he's been dealt with. No fancy well-thought out gifts because Sachi only even leaked Akari's birthday to him, not even Akari said something so he shouldn't sweat it too much: it would be stupid for Akari to get angry over him failing to find her a birthday gift.
Who are the other characters again and why do we see how they spending their Christmas?
Page 22, manga reading order:
- Mei Hamano - Shiori's tanned tomboy athlete friend with the pixie cut hair, she likes Shiori
- Terafune - Mei's marriage practical husband, has a crush on Akari, part of Minami's circle of friends
- Minami Tenjin - popular blond guy and Shiori's marriage practical husband, he's Akari's old crush who rejected her
- (?)Natsumi Ohashi - Not actually sure who, but if she's Natsumi then she's the other girl in Akari and Sachi's friend circle.
Page 23
- Sadaharu Kamo - Jirou's nerdy friend with glasses (dunno who's the ponytailed girl he's hanging out with)
- Sachi Takamiya - Akari's friend, last chapter's MVP, IIRC she had an older BF but recently broke up
- Shiori Sakurazaka - Jirou's childhood friend and middle school crush who he recently rejected
- Jirou Yakuin - male lead of this story
I cannot remember any of the names linked to the faces, i remember 3 things:
1. FMC friend has got some kind of past that i dont think was revealed?
2. And blond guy fell for his brothers wife??
3. Childhood friend BF is actually in love with her. Wants to be more than friends?
1. Do you mean Sachi, friend of Akari? All I know is that she had a BF and recently broke up. Now she seems to be on a date with someone and sharing a fist bump with the bartender. If you mean Mei as Shiori's friend, no I don't remember her past being revealed.
2. Yes, Minami is painfully in love with his brother's wife and it seems he hasn't yet let go.
3. Childhood friend BF...? Shiori has no boyfriend. If you mean Terafune who has a crush on Akari, he's not anybody's boyfriend. If you mean Mei, Shiori's bestie, yeah, she has romantic feelings and wants to be more than friends with her.