So the mysterious childhood friend was secretly a yandere? You know I can get a possessive immature kid doing that (and I’m not really gonna blame a five year old for making a harmful decision; its on parents/guardians to correct that), but as she grew up she saw how much emotional trauma the curse brought him. He saw how much he hated it and how poorly he came to think of himself because it. She should have lifted it when she stopped being five and learned basic empathy. When, she grew up she should have also learned how to express her feelings properly and stop hiding behind roundabout ways and curses. She had literally no competition. All she needed to do was drop the curse and ask him out. I would have been more okay if the Oni he made a promise to cursed him. She would have similarly been an immature kid when she cast it, but not had the benefit of seeing firsthand how much distress, pain, and trauma the curse cause the mc. This childhood friend isn’t even cute, she’s just the worse. I was also just hoping the person that placed the curse would be more of a mystery and then maybe it’d turn out it was him yandere mom that’s actually a supernatural being too (or step mom or something; idk) or maybe so other crazy powerful immortal with no sense of empathy and a messed up definition of love. Or you know just like anything more interesting and surprising than it being the random female childhood friend that was just introduced (almost specifically to hint at her being behind the curse).