"I
am going out with him."
Brave, beautiful and simply brutal honesty from Kaoruko.
I half-expected them to try to hide it and say they just know each other over something trivial or some similar excuse, but man that was one bold move on her part! I should've trusted them more, especially Kaoruko. She showed me a real strength of character that contrasts with her gentle, fragile-looking exterior. I'd say she has confident girlfriend energy that makes her more than deserving of being the female lead, so I'm liking her even more now. She had the most to lose from doing that, and yet she did it.
Those were some icy-cold, withering stares they gave Rintaro. It's the perfect reminder for me just how deep the divide is, and how serious this conflict that their love must overcome. Kaoruko could even lose her scholarship over this, because the Kikyou teachers are that bad. I did like how not all of the girls were deeply biased though. At least one of them was willing to accept this "unthinkable" reality they just saw regarding their supposed friend.
(Could she be a potential new girl member of their friend group who I've always hoped for..?)
But anyway, this crisis has just started to unfold...