2024-12-05

As expected, the something that happened last week turned into nothing, as Chinatsu was merely reaching for the cold pad on Taiki’s forehead, which had slipped off. She then gets up and leaves him to it. But it isn’t nothing, and it isn’t nothing for more than just Taiki. During pool cleaning, he tries to get some advice from Haryu about how to know when someone likes you, but there’s no surefire signs because everyone’s different.

I’ve been operating under the assumption that even if Taiki has no idea, Chinatsu does like him. This is a sports romance, after all. But this episode keeps us out of Chinatsu’s head entirely, and like Taiki we can only go off of her outward demeanor and expressions (though she does make quite a few telling looks when he’s not looking).

When the two end up alone in the storage room together, Taiki takes her arm like he’s about to talk about when she fell on him in bed, but he has no idea how to broach the topic and so aborts the attempt.

That night the Inomatas have a backyard barbecue, and Taiki’s dad has his first good long talk with Chinatsu, about how his wife convinced him that allowing her to stay was the right decision considering how important Chinatsu’s two years will be.

After sending Chinatsu and a hesitant Taiki off on a shopping errand, Dad and mom note how Chinatsu seems much more grown-up than Taiki despite being only a year younger…Dad says she might even be too serious, and there’ something to be said for the pressure she puts on herself to achieve greatness.

I love how talk of how mature Chinatsu is is immediately followed by her very seriously contemplating eating ice cream now, before noodles, and without the others. When Chinatsu gives her the permission she seeks, she’s over the moon.

Taiki was worried about having topics to talk to Chinatsu about to avoid awkward silence, but Chinatsu takes the lead, telling Taiki that he takes after her mom (and meaning it in a good way): both are “positive, strong, and direct.” Alas, Taiki isn’t being any of those things this week—quite the opposite!

When Taiki saves Chinatsu from the loathsome and omnipresent Truck-kun, resulting in another moment of physical closeness, Chinatsu suddenly brings up the other day when he had a fever. She says they should forget all about it, and that she hasn’t considered that she’s living with a boy.

She says “it’s not a good thing” to dwell on such things, and that she’ll be careful in future. To Taiki, it feels like she’s drawing a line; creating distance. But that’s just one way to look at it. It could well be Chinatsu is simply worried about offending him or putting him out—the precise same thing he’s worried about doing to her.

We’re now reaching the halfway point of the series and summer vacation is approaching, just in time for what is starting to feel like the nadir of Taiki and Chinatsu’s romantic arc. Both new to romance, now that they’ve gotten super close on occasion, they’re both scared shitless of losing what they have and are overcorrecting; trying to maintain the status quo.

As usual, Hina can see right through Taiki’s feigned chipper-ness and smiles the day summer vacation starts. She can tell he’s going through it, and far too kind to consider how it would benefit her for the distance between him and Chinatsu to grow and his crush to dissipate. Hina wants Taiki to be happy, and to not have to wear fake smiles. Hina probably would prefer Taiki tell her how things are really going, so she can help him.

All Taiki and his inner thoughts and doubts have managed to do is bring things to a standstill. Taiki needs to clarify his feelings to Chinatsu, because he doesn’t really want to forget the things she said they should. The specter of distracting her from her sports goals is ever-looming. But I’d argue that whatever is going on between them now could be just as harmful, if not more so.

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