Damn, she never got an answer. Only a silent rejection.

Damn, she never got an answer. Only a silent rejection.

What answer, when?

Damn, she never got an answer. Only a silent rejection.

What answer, when?

She didn't get an answer. According to the prologue, they simply moved on with their lives.

That's not how I interpret it. Kei-chan liked her back, but left to Tokyo for college. Then they reunite years later.

She didn't get an answer. According to the prologue, they simply moved on with their lives.

I feel really dumb right now, what was the question? I either missed it or she never asked her out and they just had this vague thing going, no?

So many dangling threads. Hope we get more of this some day.

That's not how I interpret it. Kei-chan liked her back, but left to Tokyo for college. Then they reunite years later.

I agree with you, because later on they didn't only kiss again once but twice again. That felt like the love was conveyed. And then yeah, off to go do adulting. I'm confident that they'll get back together, although poor girl at the festival with Nao. She genuinely looked happy to be there with Nao.

She didn't get an answer. According to the prologue, they simply moved on with their lives.

I feel really dumb right now, what was the question? I either missed it or she never asked her out and they just had this vague thing going, no?

Didn't see any unanswered questions tbh, they went out in school after the festival incident, had to separate due to different goals in life, the one who stayed took a while to recover, finally did with another person, got rekt by meeting the ex just as she thought she got over her.

At least that's my read of the situation.

The new girl looks a bit similar to young Kei O_O......

My eyes are sweating

Best game of shiritori i ever saw.

This gives me like late 1990s-early 2000s vibe when being gay was very not a thing and no one spoke about it regarding themselves. Seems like they were very attracted to one another but never discussed it and just moved on with their lives.

A lot of people are more open to homosexuality these days, it makes me happy for everyone, but sad for me.

Rip me projecting on some random manga lol

last edited at Sep 25, 2022 11:59PM

Thanks to the translators!

So atmospheric (─‿‿─)
I think you did a really incredible job with the writing and typesetting for this translation.

Those extras are adorable!

Loved this story, hope they do get back together, although I do feel bad for the other girl at the festival.

It does say prologue, so...maybe that means more is in the works?

Arai Sumiko's art is so freakin good though

arai sumiko is the goat

That's not how I interpret it. Kei-chan liked her back, but left to Tokyo for college. Then they reunite years later.

I agree with you, because later on they didn't only kiss again once but twice again. That felt like the love was conveyed. And then yeah, off to go do adulting. I'm confident that they'll get back together, although poor girl at the festival with Nao. She genuinely looked happy to be there with Nao.

Yeah she was saying ‘dont launch any’ or something about the fireworks but looks like they did anyway so seems like she’s jumpin back on that ship. Poor girl

last edited at Sep 26, 2022 10:12AM

Great to see more stuff of this author, keep going!

That's not how I interpret it. Kei-chan liked her back, but left to Tokyo for college. Then they reunite years later.

I agree with you, because later on they didn't only kiss again once but twice again. That felt like the love was conveyed. And then yeah, off to go do adulting. I'm confident that they'll get back together, although poor girl at the festival with Nao. She genuinely looked happy to be there with Nao.

Yeah she was saying ‘dont launch any’ or something about the fireworks but looks like they did anyway so seems like she’s jumpin back on that ship. Poor girl

I thought she said that she sees the fireworks anyway so it's not clear if they launched or that was just her vision of Kei.

i saw the cover and went "oh this looks pretty, who's it by" and then just screamed "WHOO???" when i read that it was sumiko-sensei <3 <3 <3 good god i'd read absolutely anything and everything by this artist, she's absolutely brilliant

arai sumiko-san just never misses man. 10/10 as always

Ok, I freaking love these two, give me more short stories with them sensei, pleaaaase :( I always dig her work, I can tell she actually knows what she's writing about , there's always a certain realism to how she portraits emotions, the little moments, the shy flirtiness, etc . It's a rarer quality than you might think for that medium !

last edited at Sep 26, 2022 5:42PM

That's not how I interpret it. Kei-chan liked her back, but left to Tokyo for college. Then they reunite years later.

I agree with you, because later on they didn't only kiss again once but twice again. That felt like the love was conveyed. And then yeah, off to go do adulting. I'm confident that they'll get back together, although poor girl at the festival with Nao. She genuinely looked happy to be there with Nao.

Yeah she was saying ‘dont launch any’ or something about the fireworks but looks like they did anyway so seems like she’s jumpin back on that ship. Poor girl

I thought she said that she sees the fireworks anyway so it's not clear if they launched or that was just her vision of Kei.

I feel like that's her going to herself "please don't feel the same feelings as before" but, she did.

I typed up the prologue narration, additional comments are my interpretation, and it gives a pretty clean throughline:

My first love was like fireworks. sees Kei-chan backlit by fireworks
I remember fireworks going off in the opposite direction of where I had fallen in love.
That night, Kei-chan was pissed [because of the boy who was teasing me].
For me, it felt like that geta, lost in the woods back there, had already filled its purpose [of getting Kei-chan's protective attention and revealing my feelings to me].
It was only the fractured rhythm of the fireworks, and the sound of frogs in the rice fields, plus the sound of my heart's yearning, that I was listening to [and not fireworks?]
~ jump to the train station where they're playing the game
It was the final winter of high school when I stole her first kiss.
The lights of a passing train reflected in her eyes made me remember those flickering fireworks.
From the beginning, till the end [I see fireworks with her].
~ Kei-chan leaving for university
Since then, I haven't gone to see the fireworks.
But this year, I thought "What the heck".
As long as I can hold this girl's hand...
Or so I thought.
sees Kei-chan
It's so strange. It's not like I hear fireworks...
But whenever I look at her... sees fireworks behind older super hot Kei-chan
"I'm begging you..." (Kobayashi dialogue)
Don't launch any.

The only thing left up in the air is what Kei-chan feels in the present, but it's not a straight rejection and even rather optimistic, if we take that page 24 extra to mean that at some point they WERE a thing. Kei will beat up boys for Kobayashi and can't resist her when it comes to doing what she wants. I mean, she left for university but came back...

last edited at Sep 26, 2022 9:02PM

SUMIKOOOOOO!

God, that was cute and angtsy asf ;__;