The fateful encounter between Ayane and Kento begins!

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This chapter was pretty dramatic and quite interesting. After resolving things between Chizuru and Ryu, the manga moves on to Kento and Ayane. Kento confronts Mogi about treating Ayane callously by telling her that he expected her to want to do perverted stuff with him. He gets angry because Mogi thinks Ayane didn’t care about the break up and Kento starts to beat him up. Sawako runs to get Ayane, and Pin pulls the two apart. Ayane apologizes to Mogi who apologizes in turn to her for disregarding her feelings. Ayane ends up chasing after Kento and he confesses to her. She agrees to try to return his feelings over time.

This chapter was refreshing in every way. I really enjoyed the moments between Chizuru and Ryu; but the all-out confession of Kento was really nice to see. I’m glad the characters are finally being honest about their feelings and saying things out loud. Ayane has always been one of my favorite characters because of her generous personality and I think she deserves to be cherished by Kento. She always gets written off as mature and strong and that can really hurt a person. Kento seems to be one of the only people who understands this part of her besides Sawako, and I think he can make her feel happier.

It seems all that is missing from this positive-outcome Christmas party is some honesty between Sawako and Kazehaya. They could use the example of their friends to improve their relationship. Kento didn’t weave his way around his feelings, he simply told the truth. The main characters have been missing from this plot quite a bit, but I can’t say I’m super disappointed. Chizuru, Ayane, Ryu, and Kento have been getting far too little attention despite being such great characters. Each of them has a great amount of depth and unique characteristics and I hope to see more of them in the future. I can easily root for them despite them having less plot time.

I’m looking forward to the conclusion of this party, which I can only assume is coming soon. This chapter was a great addition to the series because it gave so much attention to a pivotal side character like Ayane. I hope that the good atmosphere of the party so far will influence Sawako and Kazehaya to get out of their rut. They should take notes from all of the honesty and cuteness around them, because it has been great!

GO Rating: 4.5/5

[mangahere]