You're both just enabling each other's mental illnesses. You're both perfect for each other. Never change. Just never involve anybody else in what you've got going on.

Ah, matching with your beloved is so nice, isn't it?

oh no not codependency my greatest fear

also damn I hope they disinfected those wounds imagine they got tetanus from their weirdo edgeplay

OH!

I mean - I like this kind of horror vibe, but the sudden tone shift makes me worry about whether the manga might somehow be struggling - trying to find new readers by going into radical new directions.

Wow a double Yandere pair, that's like seeing a shiny pokemon right there.

Made for each other
Matching each other's freak
Jumping off a cliff whilst holding hands when

Since they both are into it...and they both seems weirdly okay with that...I would say it makes me feel less awful about it. I didn't want to read this or see this but I would say I prefer that than one sided abuse I guess...
My gf only think they both needs therapy.

all the cowards who preen on about how much they love toxic yuri, now avert their eyes when things get properly spicy

Since they both are into it...and they both seems weirdly okay with that...I would say it makes me feel less awful about it. I didn't want to read this or see this but I would say I prefer that than one sided abuse I guess...
My gf only think they both needs therapy.

It almost feels like it may have become a sort of BDSM play for the two of them, which like... it might not be my thing but if they're consenting, who cares

EDIT: I'm reminded of a line from Unbreakable Sugar Bowl, "There's nobody else in this world whose blood flows on my command, right?". From the outside it may seem like a weird, fucked up thing, but in the context of their relationship and the play they engage in it's actually incredibly romantic and, I might even argue, wholesome.

last edited at Sep 26, 2025 4:49PM

well that's certainly something.

I bet there aren't even safe words with these two.

last edited at Sep 26, 2025 4:50PM

So I know noighd had a note at the end of the last chapter about the flower on the title page being a chrysanthemum, but we have more of the plant from the flowers spilling out of the cut on Sayori's back on page 11. That's definitely clover. Some of the hanakotoba meanings are "Think of me", "good fortune", "promises", and "revenge"

It almost feels like it may have become a sort of BDSM play for the two of them, which like... it might not be my thing but if they're consenting, who cares

BDSM play requires explicit (not implicit) consent and safety from major health hazards. These two things are ignored here.

Or if we're headed down an anthology route of crazy side couples continually nudging the mains back on the wholesome road.

I had not considered that possibility but my gosh that would be fun

to be honest I think the author has done a pretty good job steadily building up the darker themes in the manga until this chapter. it's an escalation but I don't think it's that out of step with what else we've seen so far. it's just that Sayori and Mizuki have decided to wallow in their issues while Kasumi and Haruyo, we hope, will get better.

one other thing i'd like to point out is the different expressions they each have at the start. Mizuki seems to be remembering wistfully a time when their relationship was simpler and more innocent, while Sayori is enjoying poking fun at her for having been the one to destroy that innocence. seems like there are still some jagged edges to their relationship (pun half-intended <_<).

o.O

all the cowards who preen on about how much they love toxic yuri, now avert their eyes when things get properly spicy

Meanwhile, how I was as I read this chapter

When you pick a flower it rots. In the very modern context, yuri has become somewhat removed from its old taboos. It freely indulges in sex and abuse, examining them as many facets of romance without shame. The roots of Class S remain but it's bloomed wholly anew to be almost unrecognizable at times. If you want to view AriSaku as a bridge across time, a love letter to Class S respectfully carrying it into the modern age, the rotten flower isn't something ugly but a transformation of its beauty. I would not be surprised if this symbolism sticks around.

Thank you for the translation and the notes! I like to hear about the author's comparaison with their previous work.

Im curious as to why you chose to translate 枯れる in rot instead of classic wither/die meaning to it though. Rot is much more powerful word I think, more degrading.

last edited at Sep 26, 2025 5:25PM

I'm not even horrified by just how dark this chapter was, but those kinds of cuts along your spine must've been hell in earth. Maybe it's just because I'm someone whose injures take forever to heal up, but I can't even imagine trying to move without the feeling of the wounds splitting open again. Jfc that's going on my list of, "Most horrible things you could probably do to a person."

I'm not even horrified by just how dark this chapter was, but those kinds of cuts along your spine must've been hell in earth. Maybe it's just because I'm someone whose injures take forever to heal up, but I can't even imagine trying to move without the feeling of the wounds splitting open again. Jfc that's going on my list of, "Most horrible things you could probably do to a person."

If they're sufficiently superficial (down to dermis but not subcutaneous fat), they should heal pretty quickly, like in a day or two. There's no real risk of the wounds reopening since it's not a region that's under major stress.

The real trouble with this... Well, actually there's several troubles with this. Mostly infection risk, since you're using a non-sterile blade on skin that hasn't been disinfected, without gloves, and then reusing the same blade on another person. Tetanus is one concern, soft tissue infections are another, and particularly sharing HIV and HCV.

So it's technically possible to do this with minor health hazard if both parties are willing, although it's vastly more risky than other BDSM edge play stuff like ropes and candles. I like ropes and I'm a trained physician, but even I won't touch scarring and related stuff.

But when it comes to doing horrible things to a person, these are relatively mild. Oil burns are far worse. The worst I can think of are napalm burns. That stuff is vile.

last edited at Sep 26, 2025 5:37PM

Woaw...

Hot.

It almost feels like it may have become a sort of BDSM play for the two of them, which like... it might not be my thing but if they're consenting, who cares

BDSM play requires explicit (not implicit) consent and safety from major health hazards. These two things are ignored here.

Hence why I used the term "become". Obviously the first occasion depicted in the flashback was non-consensual and fucked up, but as was mentioned elsewhere in the thread such wounds can heal with relative ease, and given the presence of the scarring on Mizuki at the end, it could have developed into a more regular thing of scarification. Again, this is speculative, I may just be coping that their relationship isn't quite as toxic internally as it may first seem externally.

It almost feels like it may have become a sort of BDSM play for the two of them, which like... it might not be my thing but if they're consenting, who cares

BDSM play requires explicit (not implicit) consent and safety from major health hazards. These two things are ignored here.

Hence why I used the term "become". Obviously the first occasion depicted in the flashback was non-consensual and fucked up, but as was mentioned elsewhere in the thread such wounds can heal with relative ease, and given the presence of the scarring on Mizuki at the end, it could have developed into a more regular thing of scarification. Again, this is speculative, I may just be coping that their relationship isn't quite as toxic internally as it may first seem externally.

I said that. It will heal easily if it's superficial, but that's not my concern here. If someone is incurring in significant risks to their partner's health without proper consideration for consequences, that's not BDSM play, that's just violence.

I understand the comparison, but I've seen my fair share of BDSM-interested folks taking stupid risks with their partners, so I always like to stress that stuff like what's depicted here isn't real BDSM.

Is it pedantic? A little. But I think it's also warranted.

Of course, I'm not criticising the manga. If it's fiction, there's no real world consequences.

last edited at Sep 26, 2025 6:00PM

...Oh my god. I'm glad to see they seem to be happy with each other, at the very least.

It's a scenario that evokes a lot of the bitter parting into adulthood you see in Class S — but this one has a sickly sweet conclusion that's much more modern menhera.

If you want to view AriSaku as a bridge across time, a love letter to Class S respectfully carrying it into the modern age, the rotten flower isn't something ugly but a transformation of its beauty.

You very nicely describe how Igarashi Jun creates a feeling of modernity within this story. I'm kind of getting the feeling that Kasumi and Haruyo have opened the box that is Class S, and are currently on the way to experience its painful history, while they themselves come to understand what it means for them. I have no idea whether we'll come to see an anthology route like you said, or whether the story will focus on the relationship between the heroines and Sayori and Mizuki, but that only makes me more excited for what's to come. Igarashi Jun is a sadist, and I seem to be a masochist.