Imasara desu ga, Osananajimi wo Suki ni Natte Shimaimashita - Ch. 36 - After The Festival、Before The Storm

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but really think about it all he would have to explain to her that he ran into his ex who he never told her about its just a big can of worms that would be opened

Like this arc is Hikari getting hit w/ the shrapnel b/c neither Yuu nor Aya could gather the courage to have a difficult conversation w/ her.

over a real relationship with Yami for some reason
The real relationship where she constantly lies to him, ghosts him, and then screws up her best friend's big night that she's all psyched for instead of texting him anytime in the year prior?
 
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I'm gonna need to reference a wikipedia timeline of events to know how to feel about this :wooow:

Even with Yuu's perspective, he could have texted Hikari before he went to bang / talk to Yami the whole afternoon. At least give her a heads-up with an excuse before leaving her on read and waiting.
"Sorry for ignoring you and forgetting about our promise, actually I just happened to meet my hot-ex and we had a really hot sex just now that I completely forgot you exist. Hope you are not mad or anything..."
:huh:
 
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Lmao, the relationship with Yami is exactly why he man up and does not act like a baby boy anymore, which ironically makes him more attractive to Hikari, Hikari never liked him in the first place. Her love feels so childish but somehow people in this comment section still want that puppy love over a real relationship with Yami for some reason. I guess the majority of people can't get their high school crush so they are now just projecting...
If getting completely ghosted is part of a real relationship, i'd rather not deal with it.
 
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Me either, because this shit looks BAD, but in addition to that, let's not forget that he didn't just up and blow off Hikari. She strongarmed him into coming (in a way even she can't defend) and then left him unaccompanied and hassled by her friends at a school where the only person that she's aware of him knowing is her. With no plan. They both fucked this up pretty badly.

So yeah, I'll admit that I totally didn't see a drawn out "keeping secrets from each other" arc to all this coming, which this feels like the beginning to. Hopefully the storm is imminent, because this was fucking boring.
That's not how human relationships work.

Sure, she pushed him into coming - which is normal between friends, or when you want to drag your crush somewhere. You don't just ask once and give up, because sometimes people are just obstinant. At my age, I won't go anywhere, but when young, you are prone to be influenced by your friends "come on, it will be fun" said over and over. And that's just how it is. This is not a major demerit.

She left him unaccompanied - totally normal when you invite someone to some kind of school activity. If you ask them to come to your sports game, they accept that they will have to wait until the game proceedings are over. If it's a festival, they will have to wait for you to have time off - because in those cases your obligation is first to other people involved in the event. This is the teen equivalent of work - you can't just ditch because your friend came to visit.

hassled by her friends - obviously normal when your friend's crush comes to visit. Even if it's just a good friend of a friend, the school friend group will want to check him out if there is a chance.

Those are all things Yuu accepted when he agreed to come - reluctantly or not. Hikari did nothing wrong.

Yuu, in turn, ditched her for hours with no contact, the second they were going to meet up. We don't know his thoughts on the matter yet - if he thought that this was just a casual hangout, then he was just being a regular size ass for that. But if he had an inkling of Hikari being into him, and/or was still trying to get together, and he still ditched her in this way, he is a massive PoS.

Usually, I'm on the side "Yuu didn't try hard enough to get with Hikari over the years, but he doesn't owe her anything, so what he did is his business". So if he exchanged contacts after the kiss to talk about the situation, and left because he had another, prior obligation - this would be completely fine on his end even if he ended up with Yami.

But him ditching Hikari in this setting put him clearly on a-hole list. He is not as bad as Yami - as long as he wasn't aware of Hikari courting him or still trying to court her - but he is definitely the only one who fucked up between him, and her.
 
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Wow, it took you people that long to know that Yuu and Yami deserve each others? People hated me so much when I said that Hikari is better off with someone else when she is not even love Yuu until recently lmao (JFYI, I like all 3 characters and I want them all to be happy). Watching people's meltdown is so funny I swear.
I honestly have no idea why you're saying this to me. I've been saying for ages that Yami and Yuu deserve each other and that Hikari should cut ties with Yami and move on from Yuu.
 
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Welp, I didn’t expect this reaction from Hikari at all—it seriously caught me off guard. Also, Yuu really decided to still not be honest with Hikari, huh? At this point, he’s just utterly pathetic. Yami and Yuu truly deserve each other, and Hikari deserves so much better than both of them.

That said, it’s extremely disappointing that after all this time, we still haven’t seen what happened with Yami and Yuu. What led to the slap? And what about the aftermath of the kiss? It’s incredibly frustrating.


Maruto on X:

7DkBFLo.png



Novel Chapter (MTL):

Chapter 36: After the Festival, Before the Storm

"Yami-senpai, I..."
"Shut up! You're just Yuu!"

...

...

It's a Saturday in late September.
Outside, the rain has intensified without notice, accentuating the "darkness" of the night.

The school building, now empty after the cultural festival, has only minimal lighting in parts of the hallway and near the shoe lockers. Both the classrooms and the corridors are likely devoid of people.

However, from the wide-open doors of the gymnasium, where the after-festival event is about to begin, a dazzling light and the cheerful voices of students spill out, as if carrying over the atmosphere from the festival just moments ago.

I... Shirakasa Hikari, am standing in the first-floor hallway of the school building directly opposite the gymnasium.
From the window, I take in the light and commotion from the gym.

...Alone, in the middle of the pitch-dark hallway.

The colorful flyers still pasted on the windows and walls of the surrounding classrooms, and the signs standing in the hallway, only enhance the darkness and silence, making the corridor feel eerily ominous.

No, that's not it.
Perhaps it's just my current state of mind that makes the scene feel eerie and terrifying.

The scene I just witnessed in my own classroom.

The boy I like, Ta-kun, and the girl I like, Aya-chan, were alone together...

Two people who should never have met.
A boy and a girl whose paths should never have crossed.
"Friends of friends" who were supposed to get to know each other from now on...

The conversation between those two keeps spinning around in my head.

Ta-kun called her "Yami-senpai," an old nickname of my best friend.
Aya-chan called him "Yuu," dropping the honorifics as if they were childhood friends.
It might have been a side of them I never knew existed, a "time of their own."

The rain is getting heavier.
Outside the window, the bright and lively gymnasium, just a short distance away, is being obscured by the sound and color of the raindrops.

Yuu: "Hikari..."
Hikari: "......"

Hikari: "Then, why didn’t you check LINE?"
Yuu: "Actually, um... my phone died..."

As if he could see right through my thoughts, he started making excuses for all the times we’d missed each other, even though I hadn’t asked.

But, you know, that’s a lie, right?
Because, just a moment ago, it showed as "read."

Yuu: "And then, I was wandering around the school... before I knew it, it got completely dark..."

Truth is, you probably forgot about me until you checked your phone, didn’t you?
You only started frantically looking for me after you saw the notification, right?

Are you really that shaken up that you’d tell such an obvious lie?

Yuu: "The cultural festival’s over, huh... I’m really sorry."

Yeah, it’s over.

While you were kissing Aya-chan, you know.

...

...

Yuu: "...I get it if you can’t forgive me. Hikari, you were looking forward to it so much, and I ruined it because of my stupid mistake."

It must have been about a minute.
But it felt like an hour.

He kept apologizing to me the whole time.

Yuu: "I... I wanted to go around the festival with you too, Hikari... I really did."
Hikari: "......"

His words, his attitude—they felt so sincere.
At the very least, he was "seriously lying."

He’s clearly shaken up by what happened in the classroom.
Probably feeling incredibly guilty toward me.

And surely...
He genuinely thinks the reason I’ve been silent this whole time is because he stood me up on our promise to go around the festival together.

He doesn’t have the slightest clue that I saw "that moment," does he?

Yuu: "So, cheer up, Hikari..."
Hikari: "......"

Hey, hey, Ta-kun?
You know I wouldn’t make you apologize to me over and over for something like that, right?

Sure, I’d sulk.
I might even cry a little...

But I definitely wouldn’t stay silent—I’d get mad right away.
Then, as you apologized, I’d gradually cheer up, and in the end, I’d forgive you with tears and a smile, right?

And as a sign of making up, I’d probably make a little selfish request, you know?
Like making you treat me to dinner tonight.
Or getting you to promise me our next date.

But one thing’s for sure...
If things were normal, I’d be talking nonstop right now.
I’d be that super chatty, noisy girl.

Are you so distracted by something else that you don’t even notice how off I am?
Like, maybe... thinking about her? Ta-kun...

Hikari: "...Ta-kun."
Yuu: "Ah, H-Hikari!"

At the sound of my voice—the first he’s heard in hours—his expression lights up.

Probably because he thinks the "proper fight" is finally starting.
He believes the moment he’s been waiting for—the moment I’d get mad at him—has arrived.

Hikari: "The cultural festival... it’s not over yet, you know?"
Yuu: "Huh?"
Hikari: "Look, over there."

Without turning to face him...
No, because I don’t want to face him, I point outside the window.

Hikari: "Over there, they’re about to start the after-festival dance party."

There, the gymnasium stands, drawing in students like moths to a flame, a place where everyone continues to gather.

Hikari: "It’s an annual tradition. To celebrate the end of the festival, everyone dances and goes wild together."

It’s a door to paradise, where the lingering afterglow of the festival is shattered in the best way, and everyone lets loose one last time.

Hikari: "Want to go together? Ta-kun..."
Yuu: "But... isn’t the after-festival dance usually just for current students...?"
Hikari: "No... no one really follows that rule, you know?"

I turn to the side.
No, I turn to face him.

I turn away from the window and face him directly.

Hikari: "Let’s dance, okay?"
Yuu: "Hikari..."

I reach out my hand to him.

His profile, illuminated not by moonlight but by the lights from the gymnasium, still carries a look of confusion.

Hikari: "It’s not over yet... right?"

But I desperately steady my trembling voice and fight to keep my crumbling expression in place.

Hikari: "Let’s make this time fun, okay? The cultural festival."

Hey, God.
Am I smiling right now?

Wait, what does it even mean to smile?

...

...

Shirakasa Hikari, 16 years old...

I’m going to confess, right?
No matter what happens, I’m going to confess... right?

your mistake is expecting any better from Maruto.

Maruto trying to write a decent protagonist.... impossible.
 
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Yuu, in turn, ditched her for hours with no contact, the second they were going to meet up.
That's not what happened. They didn't make any plans except for his note about how he is gonna wait for her shift to end. She messaged him after finishing her maid duties and went to look for him, seeing how he didn't read the message. There was no "ditching for hours" and they didn't even agree on meeting beforehands.
...Anyway, back to the matter at hand.

"He still hasn't read it yet..."

I haven't received any reply from him yet.

Could he have already gone home?
It's about to rain, after all. And I did keep him waiting for over an hour.

We hadn't even made a solid plan or confirmed anything properly.
My reply to him was just sent a little while ago.
Maybe he changed his mind in the meantime and is already relaxing at home by now.

But...

"To Hikari: Message me when your shift ends. I'll wait."

The message he'd written on a napkin. His kind, thoughtful words.
I can't imagine -- no, I don't want to imagine -- him breaking that promise so easily.

"Maybe I should just go back to the classroom..."

Yeah... If I can't reach him, wandering around aimlessly is just wasting time.

After all, this is his first time at my school.
The only place he knows where I might be is my classroom -- the one he visited earlier.

And following your logic, that's also normal, right? If you suddenly meet a girl you were in love with, who you didn't even properly break up with, for the first time in god knows how long, it's normal to forget about a meeting with a friend, especially the one that you had to wait for, isn't it?
 
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That's not what happened. They didn't make any plans except for his note about how he is gonna wait for her shift to end.
That is implied. If you make plans with someone and they are busy for a time, you don't have to spell out that you will do stuff after they are done with their work.

And if you were to ditch those plans for some reason, it is the bare minimum of courtesy to let the other person know. Unless it's an emergency, your time is "reserved" by the person who asked you to come, and they should take priority. Jesus, people are selfish to the extent they don't even understand this?

She says "we didn't make any plans" because she's coping. Sure. They didn't have a written pledge, but, again, that doesn't change the implied social contract. Just not contacting Hikari in this setting makes Yuu an ass. And, again, depending on what he thought this day was about for her, he can either be a minor ass, or a massive PoS. The fact he is hiding what happened from her completely, makes me lean toward him understanding that it would hurt her to know he was with another girl. Or maybe he's just shy about talking to his former crush about his current one. We don't know, so I don't judge him too harshly.

And also, to have the audacity to show his face after blowing Hikari off, and likely spending a "good time" with Yami for hours, followed by some flimsy excuses that can be disproved by just checking when the message was read? Just wow. although maybe that is supposed to show that he is not used to lying, so, again, I'll hold my judgment.

All of this doesn't change the fact that the Yami/Yuu side is like 95% in the wrong, at least. How significant are their respective "wrongs"? That's for everyone to judge on their own.

The next arc will likely focus on the process and aftermath of Yami's and Hikari's relationship's violent or gradual destruction, so we might not get Yuu's PoV for a long time, if ever. This continues the main theme of the story - Yuu is not an actor, he is an object, a catalyst that affects the relationship between the heroines. We don't know anything about him mind you, what he thinks, what he feels, why he does what he does. We never did. We are only privy to the internal monologue of the heroines, and their perspective. With that, unless there is a shift, I don't think we will spend too long dwelling on Yuu's fault or lack thereof because it doesn't really matter. The main issue is Yami's betrayal and the fact it was witnessed, and Hikari was aware of the situation from the moment it started.
 
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There was no "ditching for hours" and they didn't even agree on meeting beforehands.
It's about to rain, after all. And I did keep him waiting for over an hour.
and besides, because its intentionally written that we dont know the exact times of all the things that happen during this school festival, are we really sure its even hours between hikari seeing the slap/kiss and then yuu looking for her and apologizing? like in the wn excerpt it was mentioned about how its going to rain already when hikari was looking for yuu.
 
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If you make plans with someone and they are busy for a time, you don't have to spell out that you will do stuff after they are done with their work.
But the point is that they did not make any plans. That's why I included that excerpt.
She says "we didn't make any plans" because she's coping. Sure. They didn't have a written pledge, but, again, that doesn't change the implied social contract.
Coping with what? They just never agreed on anything, the whole meeting after festival was initiated by Yuu's note on the napkin (which didn't even specify where and when they will meet), nothing else. Of course you'd assume she invited him to the festival not for the sole purpose of him visting her school, but since she already left him on his own, it's normal he'd be doing something else or even lose track of time.
And also, to have the audacity to show his face after blowing Hikari off, and likely spending a "good time" with Yami for hours
Again, where do those "hours" come from? We have no idea how long the whole thing lasted. For all we know, he might've made her wait less than he waiting for her.

What I'm always trying to avoid is being some sort of a judge when discussing characters. This is morally acceptable, this is morally wrong. This is normal and this is unforgivable etc. Because then it all comes to biases. If this character I like did some questionable thing, it's normal and acceptable in that situation, and they didn't mean anything bad by it. If this character I dislike did some questionable thing, it's horrible and everyone should curse them immediately and cut ties with them.

This continues the main theme of the story - Yuu is not an actor, he is an object, a catalyst that affects the relationship between the heroines. We don't know anything about him mind you, what he thinks, what he feels, why he does what he does. We never did.
If he was an object, people would not be so mad at him in these chapters. If he was not an actor, there would be no point in blaming him for anything.
We know quite a lot about him, especially with all the context from the flashback. It's not that hard to see what kind of person he is, although the changes he went through between the flashback and the present are a little hard to grasp yet.
 
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You may be right honestly, but I’m just getting suspicious vibes from Yuu right now, it doesn’t sit right with me.
think all the yami hate is starting to cloud your judgement here hahaha.
Nah but for real tho, yuu was shitty for ditching hikari but i cant believe some of the reaction towards him on this comment section lol.
 
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and besides, because its intentionally written that we dont know the exact times of all the things that happen during this school festival, are we really sure its even hours between hikari seeing the slap/kiss and then yuu looking for her and apologizing? like in the wn excerpt it was mentioned about how its going to rain already when hikari was looking for yuu.
That's what I was asking myself. Like, how many hours passed? Did they get it on on top of the kiss or they chatted after that or what?
 
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He's always kinda treated Aya as the side chick, not telling Hikari or anyone else about her the first go around either.
hahahaha, i remember lots of people were angry at yuu too for not telling hikari about his past relationship etc. in previous chapter discussion.
But seriously tho, think its obvious that yuu doesnt want hikari to know about his past for whatever reason. Shame we prob gonna have to wait for a while before finding out his reasoning on keeping the secrets
 
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But the point is that they did not make any plans. That's why I included that excerpt.
Yuu is invited by Hikari. He doesn't want to go. Hikari convinces him to go. He goes 100% due to Hikari. Ergo. they are going together. The plans are already implied and later confirmed by Yuu.

She is coping, as in looking for excuses to make him not ignore her on purpose. Which he did.
Again, where do those "hours" come from? We have no idea how long the whole thing lasted. For all we know, he might've made her wait less than he waiting for her.
Fair, the timeline is not too clear. I assumed the kiss happened when it was still day and the festival was running, so maybe 2-4PM, and in this chapter we skip to the after-party, so presumably something like 6-7PM. But I might be completely off, and I can't be bothered to investigate at what times Japanese school festivals are held.
If he was an object, people would not be so mad at him in these chapters. If he was not an actor, there would be no point in blaming him for anything.
We know quite a lot about him, especially with all the context from the flashback. It's not that hard to see what kind of person he is, although the changes he went through between the flashback and the present are a little hard to grasp yet.
I think in this story, without knowing his thoughts, we can't say anything about him.
He can be aware of everything, and manipulate the situation, for all we know. It's been a year since he was ghosted, things can happen. A year at that age is like 20% of your entire identity development period.

I call him an object because I see the entire story thus far as happening without Yuu's agency at all. He just wanders around and is being acted upon by other characters. He is still a character, so he will do things, but he is not contributing much.
 

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