Another brilliant chapter by Norio-sensei! Seriously, more than the artwork, Norio-sensei's writing deserves praise too. I'm glad that she executed this plot very well.
With that said, I posted in the last chapter that I theorized two things that might happen when I saw the preview in Norio-sensei's Twitter timeline.
1. The relationship would be out of the bag, and Anna's friends can assure the couple that they can be comfortable around them and not need to keep their feelings hidden from the others.
OR
2. Anna does a faux-rejection, giving another L to Kankan, and they can keep their relationship a secret.
I REALLY wanted number 1 to happen. Anna and Kyo deserve to have a circle of people whom they can trust with their relationship. But then, Rin was there to play the music, and everyone else in the class was peering through those huge windows. But then again, number 2 was executed brilliantly and it highlighted how Anna and Kyo complement each other. It was a spur of the moment but Kyo masterminded this with ease and Anna was quick to pick up.
The ending was heartwarming and made the relationship stronger. Kyo was finally able to blurt out "I love you" and Anna's smile was beautiful.
As much as I hate Kankan for doing this, again, how come no one has shown irritation over Moeko? She was enjoying messing with the two. If I were Norio-sensei, I see some drama developing over this. What if Moeko is starting to develop feelings for Kyo and has been sowing discord by getting in the way? She did say during the summer retreat that she is jealous of how privileged Anna is and that people around her love her. Anna got an endorsement in a high school without the need for an entrance exam, and she even has a boyfriend. In fairness though, Moeko did hold back Kankan when Anna chased after Kyo. But still, I'm beginning to smell a fake friend here.
Bayashiko will always be the clueless one but I do hope she gets the hint this time. I do hope that the next few chapters show how Anna and Kyo explain the relationship to her. I foresee a devastated Bayashiko who they would have to console.
I saw the Adachi preview for Chapter 145. Some say that Adachi knows what's going on and he might confront Kyo to "continue fighting for her". But I swear if Adachi comes up with a "Now that Yamada rejected you, I have a chance, right?" kind of line, I'd look for a real-life Adachi and slap him silly. Although I know that Norio-sensei will not do that, otherwise, Adachi's character development during the sports festival would have been for naught.
For the sake of satisfaction, I want to see some scenes where the gang will rip Kankan a new one. She deserves a tongue-lashing over this, especially from Hanzawa.
To those trolls saying that either Kyo or Anna could have done a "We'll reveal our relationship if we want to. But for now, we are close with each other and we want to keep it that way" kind of deal, please remember that they are 14-year-olds. No one can come up with such a declaration in that heat of the moment. They had to resort to playing along with the charades.
Lastly, I'm amused that after all this, Anna is still a kid. They could have walked out of the school and celebrated that tender moment together but Anna just had to run back to the class to get her presents
.