And so it begins anew.
Kasumi's love language for her onee-sama in this first half continues to rend me. I cannot wait for her to love herself as much as she loves Haruyo, and as much as Haruyo loves her. And it's kinda heartbreaking that she doesn't see it all in herself--the fact she took the letter, almost on impulse, simply to try and alleviate some of the hurt for Yamabe says a lot. So whatever else is going to happen, the continuing journey of Kasumi accepting herself is something I am hanging all my hopes on.
I kinda both hope that The Assistant has, and has not, been peeking in on all the letters going through The Volumes Three. I hope she has, because it would be a wild bit of 3rd Wall action to have a member of the cast be hip to the goings-on of all the others' private and personal moments, and I hope she has not, because it would be a wild bit of 3rd Wall action to have a member of the cast be hip to the goings-on of all the others' private and personal moments.
Having someone within the story possessing the readers' meta-knowledge, even in part, opens up some interesting avenues for how the rest of them all interact and interconnect, but it also puts her in a position to meddle in ways that may not be ideal. If she's a perfect arbiter of "time and place", then that's one thing, but I just dunno how I'd feel about it.
That said, I am interested to see if she did get a response, even if it wasn't Yamabe. Perhaps with a different letter attempt? It really does seem like everyone gets an Other Half, at least at some point in their personal narrative arc, so I can't help but imagine that trend won't break here. I look forward to seeing how Kasumi gets herself roped into it, though.
Thanks for all you do with this series.