This chapter goes a LONG way to address the scars Kaoru left on Shizuka, in my opinion.
Shizuka desperately wanted something Kaoru SEEMED to offer her (stability, devotion- 'pampering', as she puts it in this chapter), but Kaoru only says that stuff to get girls in bed (to put it bluntly). In reality, Kaoru isn't a particularly strong person, which is what Shizuka desires. This is in contrast to Mio, who has proven that, despite her appearances, she is a VERY strong and emotionally mature person- which is what Shizuka ACTUALLY needs in a partner.
I've said before that I don't think Shizuka is any worse than Kaoru, and yet Kaoru gets virtually no hate despite being the whole reason Shizuka was so emotionally messed up to begin with. I feel like Kaoru has been granted a LOT of grace by the fandom without anything by way of redemption (she has yet to apologize for any of what she did to Shizuka) and Shizuka has seen the opposite treatment despite actually making an effort. A lot of that is probably because of how sweet and loyal Mio is (as opposed to Mask being significantly darker, with plenty of issues of her own), so naturally nobody wants to see her get hurt, and Shizuka DID hurt her. But everyone seems to forget that Shizuka was hurt very deeply too- and that up until recently, she never got a chance to heal because she immediately had to go back to being around Kaoru when the latter stopped eating (there was that line about Honoka going to Shizuka because she couldn't get Kaoru to eat, and even recently Shizuka has asked Kaoru 'how she's eating'). This naturally led to the very messy, angst events we've seen from this pair.
Sometimes people get hurt. Sometimes it's uneven, and it's not fair, and it happens to the 'wrong people'. Mio didn't deserve to be caught up in it and had every right to walk away if she wanted. But Mio made her decision and she communicated and worked through it because Shizuka was that important to her. And Shizuka TRIED, which proves that Mio is important to her, too. She actually put in the effort to get over Kaoru and (from what we've seen) succeeded. She messed up, and Mio didn't, but I don't think that is really a good mark of whether or not someone 'deserves' someone else.
last edited at Jun 21, 2023 12:10AM