Upon reflection, another part I liked about that update is that Nami has some level of trauma related to their past. One of her closest friends confessed to her and then cut her off, without Nami ever having a clear understanding of why. That likely led to her spending a lot of time doubting herself, as well as making romantic relationships feel like a high stakes activity.

Yes. I think some have given Kaede way too much of a pass for ghosting (presumably because she is the one who got rejected and we've been in her head more). These chapters make it clear Nami did not have a good time either and is still a bit uncomfortable with having been abandoned like that so suddenly.

I might have forgotten but I don't think there's enough to know if Nami was even aware of Kaede's feelings, so it might have been confusing all around for her. Like you, I'm eager to learn more and see how they were able to salvage their relationship and end up comfortably together as adults. I'm also eager to watch our main couple witness more trainwrecks around them before they go home to cuddle more on that cuddle couch. This next one seems like a particular brand of mess.

Nami did know Kaede was romantically interested in her.

Kaede: "I love you Nami-senpai..."

Nami: "Um. Is there some sort of misunderstanding going on here...? Come on. You're supposed to act like a cute junior and I'm supposed to dote on you."

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/learning_love_ch05#1

"Terrified of destroying the relationship we already had... [I]n the end, I did get completely rejected, but [was] unable to hide my feelings when we were together."

-https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/learning_love_ch04#20

At least Kaede believes she was extremely obvious after that. She felt like she was unable to move on (Chapter 5) due to her friendship with Nami.

I'm not sure it was ghosting, as it's phrased more ambiguously as "cut things off," but that still implies a sudden change. There may have been some type of explanation, but it at least sounds like it wasn't what high school Nami was expecting or wanting to happen. We still don't know exactly why she turned down Kaede I think.

last edited at Jan 30, 2026 8:15PM

Upon reflection, another part I liked about that update is that Nami has some level of trauma related to their past. One of her closest friends confessed to her and then cut her off, without Nami ever having a clear understanding of why. That likely led to her spending a lot of time doubting herself, as well as making romantic relationships feel like a high stakes activity.

Yes. I think some have given Kaede way too much of a pass for ghosting (presumably because she is the one who got rejected and we've been in her head more). These chapters make it clear Nami did not have a good time either and is still a bit uncomfortable with having been abandoned like that so suddenly.

I might have forgotten but I don't think there's enough to know if Nami was even aware of Kaede's feelings, so it might have been confusing all around for her. Like you, I'm eager to learn more and see how they were able to salvage their relationship and end up comfortably together as adults. I'm also eager to watch our main couple witness more trainwrecks around them before they go home to cuddle more on that cuddle couch. This next one seems like a particular brand of mess.

Nami did know Kaede was romantically interested in her.

Kaede: "I love you Nami-senpai..."

"Terrified of destroying the relationship we already had... [I]n the end, I did get completely rejected, but [was] unable to hide my feelings when we were together."

-https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/learning_love_ch04#20

At least Kaede believes she was extremely obvious after that. She felt like she was unable to move on (Chapter 5) due to her friendship with Nami.

Yeah but the page directly after this could imply Nami didn't know before the confession. It at least implies Kaede believed Nami was oblivious at some point, while Kaede desperately wanted to make her aware but also realized she wasn't capable of hiding her feelings anymore. It feels like the confession was more a moment of finally getting that definite acknowledgement which is why that memory allows Kaede to understand what Nakanishi is thinking in the first volume with her own confession. If that parallel holds true, Kaede definitely wasn't aware of Nakanishi's feelings before that confession. It's still shaky though so we'll see.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/learning_love_ch04#21

Nami also reacted in a surprised way when the confession happened. It didn't feel like she was acting but who knows, it's too short. Maybe she knew something was up but didn't know to what extent or maybe she genuinely wasn't aware and wanted to brush it off when the confession happened. It's all just possibilities at this point. Like you said though the main takeaway is Nami was just as heart broken by the separation. I wonder if that affected her next relationships.

last edited at Jan 30, 2026 8:48PM

I could be getting confused, but I thought the timeline was:

(1) Nami and Kaede are friends in high school.

(2) After Kaede works up her courage for a long time, Kaede confesses to Nami.

(3) Nami is surprised, rejects the confession, and tells Kaede that she wants to maintain the relationship they have as friends and classmates.

(4) Nami tries to act like the confession never happened and continues pampering Kaede. Kaede keeps doing Kaede things, where she is getting worked up emotionally and reacting to what Nami does around her. Nami is unbothered by Kaede's reactions and tries to act like it's not a big deal to reassure Kaede. Nami may or may not be interested in Kaede, but is happy with that equilibrium.

(5) Kaede feels like this is stopping her from moving on emotionally and cuts things off with Nami. Kaede then proceeds to not move on emotionally. Nami pursues friendships and romantic relationships with other people, but is sad about losing the connection with Kaede.

(6) They end up working at the same school and reconnect. This leads to their secret relationship since two lesbian teachers at the same school in a relationship with each other would be a drama bomb.

(7) The story starts from chapter 1.

In this situation, it would make a lot of sense for Kaede to be unable to be friends with Nami, but it would also make a lot of sense for Nami to be sad about it.

If I'm understanding this right, there is no contradiction. Pre "I love you," Nami didn't know, but afterwards, Nami would have understood why Kaede reacted as she did toward Nami. The statements about not being recognized would therefore be referring to the period before the confession, where they were already friends, but also to how Kaede's confession was dismissed as "confusion" without giving Kaede a serious answer.

I can't say for certain that this explanation is correct, but this is how I've pieced together the bits we got out of order.

last edited at Jan 30, 2026 10:24PM

Upon reflection, another part I liked about that update is that Nami has some level of trauma related to their past. One of her closest friends confessed to her and then cut her off, without Nami ever having a clear understanding of why. That likely led to her spending a lot of time doubting herself, as well as making romantic relationships feel like a high stakes activity.

Yes. I think some have given Kaede way too much of a pass for ghosting (presumably because she is the one who got rejected and we've been in her head more). These chapters make it clear Nami did not have a good time either and is still a bit uncomfortable with having been abandoned like that so suddenly.
I might have forgotten but I don't think there's enough to know if Nami was even aware of Kaede's feelings, so it might have been confusing all around for her. Like you, I'm eager to learn more and see how they were able to salvage their relationship and end up comfortably together as adults. I'm also eager to watch our main couple witness more trainwrecks around them before they go home to cuddle more on that cuddle couch. This next one seems like a particular brand of mess.

Nami did know Kaede was romantically interested in her.
Kaede: "I love you Nami-senpai..."
Nami: "Um. Is there some sort of misunderstanding going on here...? Come on. You're supposed to act like a cute junior and I'm supposed to dote on you."

Basically Nami didn't know MC/Kaede had romantic feeling till the confession...After the confession Nami knew 100% percent though (Relationship turn awkward though between them).

Both Namie and Kaede could have done things better or did/perform actions to help reduce and remove the awkwardness...but alas regrets will stay in the past and its seems neither was willing to make the first move after the auto-rejection by Nami (Not sure if Nami knew that she liked girls at the the time, though she was definitely the prince type in a all-girls school types setting archetype due to being popular and getting lots of love letters...Not sure if they went to an all girls school or co-ed school though.)

Ch.4-
Nami: Yeah, I was so popular. If only you given me one as well..then I might've realized your feelings much sooner
MC: ...So why did you reject me back then.
Nami: (trying to be smooth and romantic) Yeah. Why didn't I realize...how good you were to me.

Yes Nami does care a lot for the MC (Would still throw MC/Kaede butt to a zombie horde to save herself if needed though lol...But Nami does love and care about MC.).

Though RIP to the girl who has a crush on MC though according to the other commentator revealing who seems to be likely the end-game couple.

(1) Nami and Kaede are friends in high school.
(2) After Kaede works up her courage for a long time, Kaede confesses to Nami.
Yup, correct.
(3) Nami is surprised, rejects the confession, and tells Kaede that she wants to maintain the relationship they have as friends and classmates.

(1) and (2) 10000% correct.

(3)...hmmm...Umm honestly I don't know if it is confirm or shown that Nami 'telling' MC that she want to maintain their relationship as friends (Nami was definitely surprised though and probably wants to still be friends and things not to be awkward but Not sure if there was a page confirming her telling MC this outloud.)...Nami just asked if there was a 'misunderstanding' and they kind of become awkward due to MC/Kaede fleeing like a scaredy cat after the "rejection".

(4) and (5)---
I believe/think the whole relationship turned totally awkward and troublesome between Nami and Kaede/MC. Likely min 6 months to a whole fking year. According to the MC, they barely even talked at all (This is assuming MC is telling the true and not influence by bias/false memories like the average person like mostly everyone here, Evidence can be found in ch.10-12 I believe of MC saying they stop talking altogether).

I mean Nami would probably want to Pamper MC and continue their relationship. But both of them are not going to make the first move (months to a whole year in highschool, might be 6-7 months of total awkward non-talking), It seems to be implied (Not sure but seems likely) that MC and Nami went to different universities and their connection/contact was non-existence for years till the 8 year reunion after the 1st confession in highschool.

(6)-(7)....lol XD

6-7 you totally 100% got correct :)

I say you got pretty much most of the timeline correct but there might be a few things not fully confirmed or being guessed.
I think Kaede and MC never touching the whole confession event with a 10-foot stick [should have gotten a 11 or 12 foot stick] and MC fleeing like a scaredy-cat/ panic attacks and Nami not choosing or taking the actions to confront MC about the confession/serious talk about feeling or desire to at least get their relationship back to normal friends. Seems both were not experience enough in social-fu to fix the whole situation lol XD

Wonder what miracle or event managed to get them to fall in love and romantically involved when they managed to meet again after 8 years.

last edited at Jan 30, 2026 11:05PM

I decided to reread. While I could explain the reasoning behind my guesses and assumptions in 3 and 4, I think your interpretation is correct.

In Chapter 1, Kaede said that she attended an all-girls school, which must mean Nami did too. In a Chapter 11 flashback, we see a girl referring to child Nami as "so slick" while Nami talks to another girl. This implies the majority of confessions and love letters were from girls.

Then, in the same flashback, we see an image of Kaede literally running away from Nami:

"I have no idea how to face Nami-senpai anymore. I don't remember how we used to interact. Why is that? This is a mistake. Just put things back the way they used to be."

This makes it seem like Kaede panicked any time she saw Nami after that. I bet Nami did try to make the first move to reestablish the friendship, but when someone is literally running from you, you would give up pretty fast. If anything, that's a level beyond ghosting.

Something else I noticed in Chapter 3... Ironically, Kaede rejects Itaoka-sensei similarly to how Nami rejected Kaede, except she calls it a joke and has never reflected on this again. RIP Itaoka. I get that it was such a bad time and place from Kaede's perspective that she interprets it as a joke, but the guy was still serious.

last edited at Jan 31, 2026 11:10AM

In Chapter 1, Kaede said that she attended an all-girls school, which must mean Nami did too. In a Chapter 11 flashback, we see a girl referring to child Nami as "so slick" while Nami talks to another girl. This implies the majority of confessions and love letters were from girls.

Then, in the same flashback, we see an image of Kaede literally running away from Nami:

"I have no idea how to face Nami-senpai anymore. I don't remember how we used to interact. Why is that? This is a mistake. Just put things back the way they used to be."

This makes it seem like Kaede panicked any time she saw Nami after that. I bet Nami did try to make the first move to reestablish the friendship, but when someone is literally running from you, you would give up pretty fast. If anything, that's a level beyond ghosting.

Yes. There's also this page: https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/learning_love_ch04#15

Nami wishes Kaede had been more upfront, wanting her to have written a love letter like she received from all the other girls. She wished Kaede had been clearer about her feelings earlier so Nami would have known about the crush then.

The question is why Nami eventually passed on the confession. Could be she simply didn't feel the same at the time or was unsure; her following comments seem to imply that was the case ("why didn't I realize how good you were to me?"). I guess she never got the chance to explain herself anyway given how Kaede quickly spiraled and distanced herself by literally running away.

I actually don't think their history is that dramatic. I imagine they weren't at the same place emotionally as teens but things are very different after 8 years. They both clearly didn't forget each other during those 8 years though, so maybe if Kaede hadn't run away they would have been together even earlier. I would love to see how they reconnected more than how they split, especially since Nami dated at least one other woman during that time. These bits and pieces of their story are fun.

last edited at Jan 31, 2026 11:39AM

On a certain level, Nami's reaction may be the typical reaction to a friend dramatically confessing. People get used to framing their relationships a certain way and associate consistent traits with themselves or other people. Even if someone is open to it upon reflection, there could be that initial surprise and desire to assert that things are as they thought they were. If this was one of their last conversations, she may have never had a chance to give a more measured response.

This is part of why people often act more like Itaoka, where they try to hint at it to gauge the other person's reaction and then bring it up nonchalantly in a way the other person can easily reject. Trying to act out the manga confession scene while dramatically declaring one's love will lead to people being self conscious and confused. That's in line with how someone socially clumsy like Kaede would act though, especially with her first confession as a teenager.

Dropping a letter in the other person's locker may be the teenage version of lowering the pressure, now that I think about it.

last edited at Jan 31, 2026 1:18PM

..to be fair, I wanted to see more of Kaede san and Nami san's backstory but right now the progression is more on the other students and the latest one being the teacher x student...

And uh my latest reaction was
"Uh oh uh... What is the teacher doing D;"..

...(⁠｡⁠•́⁠︿⁠•̀⁠｡⁠)

But good to know that the student gave up taking her own life. Nami san is a good teacher.
She gave good advice telling her that loving someone too much will only drive the person away.

last edited at Feb 6, 2026 1:03AM

PEDO ALERT WEEWOO WEEWOO