That was a hard
'love' by the way.
Kasumi's trauma gets clearer. There's the self-loathing expressed in self-sabotage. The belief that she has no value, offering nothing to Haruyo and that
Haruyo might only be with her out of pity. She's said this before,
'why do you always give me what I want.' It makes her uncomfortable. There's the return of fearing becoming dependent on another, that
Onee-sama could disappear from her life and she needs to be ready. The fear of intimacy is stronger than ever. That she wasn't sure she could ever love like this, that the greatest love she can offer is to step out of the way. She didn't want to
taint Onee-sama with her ugliness, was afraid she's the only one getting turned on by this.
Haruyo is still on that fantasy Onee-sama pedestal. From this chapter it's like Kasumi doesn't even believe Haruyo shares those feelings, that she angelically
overlooks and accepts that part of her. But considering Haruyo is so innocent she
didn't notice the way she was touching Kasumi, she'd never have thought Kasumi was after a faceful of boobs. Kasumi takes
one soft comment and twists it into Haruyo obsessing over the letter's sender. She assumes Haruyo would be happy with someone else. And in doing so, she's giving up their secret.
Since we haven't seen in Haruyo's head in a while, it's easy to get caught up in some lesser misconceptions. She's straining herself as much as Kasumi is to keep their relationship going. Trying hard to work off the guilt she felt for abandoning Kasumi. She doesn't understand the times
Kasumi's self-loathing slips through. She isn't intentionally being a gay nightmare for her repressed little sister (older). Haruyo is a confused middle schooler wearing a mask. And if Kasumi keeps this up that mask is going to crack.
I won't spoil much but if you don't trust this manga yet:
If you're seriously concerned about Sayori, don't be.
The manga practically always uses the Japanese translation of sub rosa, literally "under the rose." This is just as obvious in Japanese as in English so yeah, let's just say Haruyo was distracted by her cute imouto. But
sub rosa sounds cooler so I'm not going to deny Sayori her moment.
The dual nature of cold is back: it's both pretense for the invitation to warm herself under Haruyo's coat and the pretext Kasumi uses to be distant. Kasumi is purposefully choosing the cold in a way that explores the old themes of repressed, forbidden sexuality in Class S but through a repurposed angle. The manga's also expanding on rose symbolism, between constricting thorns and hanging roses you've seen in the past.
The concept of
'the greatest love you can offer' being to step away came up in both protagonists of Igarashi's previous manga, Dominant. I'll have more to say on that when I get around to translating AriSaku's Bluesky extras, but Igarashi seems to like exploring twisted outlets for love.
We're now .5 chapters away from being caught up. I'm going to be working on Sylph and Aizawa's latest chapters now so don't expect 10 until after the 28th, when the second half releases. After that I'll likely start uploading half chapters bimonthly going forward.
In other recent news,
Igarashi was going to draw a 'violent' doujinshi for November's COMITIA event, but currently only has lewd yuri thoughts on the brain and will likely do that instead.
It is a mystery why Igarashi now has lewd yuri thoughts on the brain.
