Such a nice chapter.
I'm not surprised at all about my predictions being right.
After this gift exchange, the next few chapters will be the most awkward chapters ever.
Also, surely we'll get to see what happened with Ya's present and confession, right? I can't see him getting accepted lol
Now, if we just get to see Ya's inevitable failure, I would be satisfied. Hikoichi's reaction to Ya's rejection would be priceless.
The bystanders were so expressive and agitated this chapter, which makes sense. Manager in particular was on thalasin on that one page. Hikoichi and Nayu both got dumbed down this chapter as well: if only the two were even somewhat self-aware, they would realize how much they are both fumbling and winning. I can't wait for more "low-level psychological battles": this increased dorkiness is absolutely hilarious.
We have gotten several glimpses of the bystander's past love lives: Manager was embarrassingly bold when he was young, Office Lady was a quiet high school girl, and Uni Student gets war flashbacks whenever someone talks about his love life. I want to know more about Uni Student's past love, shown in one panel this chapter. His social intelligence is off the charts; how could he have fumbled?