Kusakabe's wholehearted dedication to bold gestures of affection contrasts so beautifully with Sajou's more shy and reserved manner. It was great getting to see how they came to terms with their relationship changing as they prepared to walk their own paths in life and figure out a place for each other in their plans for the future. These two volumes certainly have adorably fluffy moments where they casually learn more about each other, but if you're reading this series to see them explore their relationship and steadily let each other deeper into their lives, you may also be disappointed to see that there is aheavier focus on the child predator in this volume.

In fact, the most shocking reveal is that most of the teachers in this series are apparently pedophiles, which is treated as okay and normal by the story and makes some disturbing (and false) implications about homosexuality in the process. The incorrect stereotype pushed by bigots that pedophilia and homosexuality go hand in hand is gross, but it's particularly unsettling here when it gets used as a plot device to make the kids feel insecure in their relationship... and then they're told that that insecurity is stupid to feel because the pedophile "wasn't a threat" all along. That's so backwards and manipulative, and it's just played off as a funny little part of young love to feel jealous or worry that someone with clear power over you and your partner will use that power against you.

The only silver lining here is that the story still mostly focuses on Kusakabe and Sajou outside of all that, so if you can ignore the aforementioned issues to focus on the wholesome moments of their relationship instead I would still recommend giving this volume a read. But if any of those details is a deal-breaker for you, definitely give this one a pass.

On a final note, I do have one more tiny nitpick that should be addressed. I'm not exactly a fan of boys negatively saying they're "acting like girls" or "turning into girls" just because they're dating boys and having emotions and caring about each other, as though boys can't also feel or act that way. It's really weird and unsettling the way I've seen it handled in this genre, but the story between these two kids is still very wholesome despite those few moments, so I was able to let it slide because it's not so bad that it comes across as sexist or fetish-y like in some other BL series I can think of.