• Aya's hickey, on her neck, is red.
• The "Sold Out" message, on Japanese vending machines, is a red light.
• Aya's hair is "red". In the top right panel of page 4, Aya's hair flutters right in Shu's field of vision.
• Maybe her lipstick is red too (hard to tell).

So, the color "red" represents everything that makes Shu think of Aya and frustrates her, for unstated reasons.

Where is your pfp from?

It's a character from the Horimiya manga.

Basically, the only "lesbian" character, who's in love with Hori.

last edited at Mar 15, 2026 12:10PM

Something new is starting.

• Aya's hickey, on her neck, is red.
• The "Sold Out" message, on Japanese vending machines, is a red light.
• Aya's hair is "red". In the top right panel of page 4, Aya's hair flutters right in Shu's field of vision.
• Maybe her lipstick is red too (hard to tell).

So, the color "red" represents everything that makes Shu think of Aya and frustrates her, for unstated reasons.

Where is your pfp from?

It's a character from the Horimiya manga.

Basically, the only "lesbian" character, who's in love with Hori.

I knew she was familiar. Love that manga and I know who you’re talking about. Thanks. Surprised I didn't clock that sooner.

last edited at Mar 15, 2026 12:20PM

So lay doooooooowwwnnnn
the threat is real
When her siiiiiiiiiiiggghhtt
goes red again

last edited at Mar 15, 2026 9:05PM

Saw the title and thought someone was gonna snap

Glad it didn't happen. Kinda confused on this chick's deal tho. Is she pissed off cuz she has feelings but she knows Aya is taken so she can't do anything about it which is why she kinda takes it out on Aya (the muttering and stuff)

Maybe I'll get it once we learn more? Idk

My prediction is that Shu thinks poorly of Aya because she knows she has a girlfriend, but she was making out with that mysterious rocker dude with the bolo tie and black nail polish who picked her up when she was drunk.

Pride and Prejudice and Rock and Roll.

My prediction is that Shu thinks poorly of Aya because she knows she has a girlfriend, but she was making out with that mysterious rocker dude with the bolo tie and black nail polish who picked her up when she was drunk.

Pride and Prejudice and Rock and Roll.

I dunno, people in Japan aren't likely to advertise their orientation since there's still a lot of prejudice to contend with if you're out. If she doesn't know Aya's significant other is Mitsuki, she's probably not going to be aware that it's a woman, and she'd have no basis to assume, even if she mistook Mitsuki for a guy, that "he" isn't her "boyfriend."

The most likely causes in my estimation are either latent homophobia, or a crush that she doesn't know how to resolve so it's pissing her off.

I suppose it could also be that she's also gay, but not interested in Aya that way, but jealous that Aya got her girl and Shu hasn't got anybody.

My prediction is that Shu thinks poorly of Aya because she knows she has a girlfriend, but she was making out with that mysterious rocker dude with the bolo tie and black nail polish who picked her up when she was drunk.

Pride and Prejudice and Rock and Roll.

I dunno, people in Japan aren't likely to advertise their orientation since there's still a lot of prejudice to contend with if you're out. If she doesn't know Aya's significant other is Mitsuki, she's probably not going to be aware that it's a woman, and she'd have no basis to assume, even if she mistook Mitsuki for a guy, that "he" isn't her "boyfriend."

Most Japanese people are just very private with their lives, regardless of their sexual orientation. Aya had no problem displaying herself with Mitsuki in highschool, because everyone knew them, so I don't think this is the issue there. My guess here is that she never really talked about Mitsuki as a girl, because the subject didn't come out.

last edited at Mar 16, 2026 11:48PM

Meh. Regardless of the characterization, Chu is a sociopath. They see Aya's mere presence as "provoking" and are distressed by the mere sight of her. Currently their response is shitty, mean comments, but the question is where this will escalate. Will Chu physically lash out at Aya to remove the "provocation"?

I've personally known a few Chu-chans in my life, and it never ends well. Not sure which direction the author plans to take this character, but if it's "change for the better," it's not going to be easy or quick to reform a sociopath. Good luck with that!

Meh. Regardless of the characterization, Chu is a sociopath. They see Aya's mere presence as "provoking" and are distressed by the mere sight of her. Currently their response is shitty, mean comments, but the question is where this will escalate. Will Chu physically lash out at Aya to remove the "provocation"?

idk that seems like quite the jump to conclusions about a character who's so far just internally expressed vague feelings of discontent/annoyance for reasons as of yet unexplained.

And that one comment no one actually heard she muttered under her breath, to herself.

last edited at Mar 17, 2026 12:24PM

Meh. Regardless of the characterization, Chu is a sociopath. They see Aya's mere presence as "provoking" and are distressed by the mere sight of her. Currently their response is shitty, mean comments, but the question is where this will escalate. Will Chu physically lash out at Aya to remove the "provocation"?

idk that seems like quite the jump to conclusions about a character who's so far just internally expressed vague feelings of discontent/annoyance for reasons as of yet unexplained.

And that one comment no one actually heard she muttered under her breath, to herself.

Disagree. I'm not a native Japanese speaker so can't comment on the meaning of "provoke" here, but if it's the same as the western meaning then Chu sees Aya's mere existence as being an attack on them personally.

If someone existing is a provocation/attack, what are Chu's options to resolving that?

We currently have no idea what Shu's deal is, so I think it's best for everyone to just take a couple steps back, get holstered, and take a few deep breaths. Throwing around baseless accusations at characters we don't even understand yet isn't going to help anything.

We currently have no idea what Shu's deal is, so I think it's best for everyone to just take a couple steps back, get holstered, and take a few deep breaths. Throwing around baseless accusations at characters we don't even understand yet isn't going to help anything.

I think this is a pretty good reminder. If we recall the introduction of Narita (“Jerkface”), he looked at first like (and was regarded by many readers, including me, as) the worst of the worst kind of unpleasant guy character in yuri stories. But of course he turned out to be more than just a “good guy,” but an absolute angel facilitator of the MC’s relationship. Other characters who looked like trouble when introduced (the hostile guy at school who messed with Mitsuki’s notebook, the producer’s daughter) turned out to be OK, or even better.

So yeah, let’s see where this goes before pronouncing sentence on Crabcake-chan.

last edited at Mar 17, 2026 7:34PM

she's just jealouuus, arent we aaaall?
she wants a gf so bad

last edited at Mar 18, 2026 8:32AM

Ah, it looks like Shu may be, perhaps unintentionally, reminding Aya that she and Mitsuki communicate best through\with music.

Haha, what a song choice. Although even at the 1 minute mark/chorus, it doesn't seem noisy enough to get that startled—unless you play it an obnoxious volume. (And while we're at thematically relevant works, have we had a NIN mention yet?)

I note that Shu is missing her hairband. The one that zigzags like Mitsuki’s tattoo.
What does it mean?

Please don't blast people's ears with music suddenly. That's a major thing for me, simply ask the person if it's okay to share a song and play it at a reasonable volume.

sending my psychic mind rays that make you cheat on your girlfriend to aya

i think shu is cute i like grumpy girls, but if aya cheats on mitsuki even emotionally, the yuri fandom part of twitter might just implode on itself for real lol

Guys, relax, this is just a minor relationship bump, which has happened before. Whenever Aya has doubts about her relationship with Mitsuki, she retreats into herself and suffers in silence. Seeking solace outside would be entirely out of character for her.

^^ some (many?) green yuri fans just can't stop being unnormal about green yuri

last edited at Mar 22, 2026 7:12AM

Guys, relax, this is just a minor relationship bump, which has happened before. Whenever Aya has doubts about her relationship with Mitsuki, she retreats into herself and suffers in silence. Seeking solace outside would be entirely out of character for her.

Oddly, sometimes comments here have a (barely subtextual) implication the “Mitsuki is a bad girlfriend; Aya deserves better,” an idea that I don’t understand myself, but which is clearly in contrast to the usual sh*tstorm that blows up whenever a yuri story gives the slightest hint of any kind of cheating at all on the part of the OTP.

It seems clear to me that Shu’s statement, “Talking about it just makes it feel more painful” is the key takeaway for Aya here, and that music will, as usual, be the thing that blows up the emotional logjam.

Korn does generate a certain emotional reaction, that's for sure lol. It's been a looooong time since I listened to a song from them though. So Shu-chan has an injury that causing consistent pain, sort of similar to the constant "pain" she's been feeling whenever Aya pops up. She's such a mysterious character; it's nice unraveling something new, while we continue developing Aya's troubles and worries.

I think Aya spending some time away is fine for now. Sometimes you do need time to process and think about the things bothering you and clearly Mitsuki's avoidance and potential trauma about the band situation is shaking her a bit. In that way "painkiller" could be referring to both the music joke but also what Aya's currently doing, hanging out with friends and thinking to herself. As always, I'm enjoying the piecing together of the bigger picture. Everything is mostly in place now except the ultimate role Shu-chan plays.

Haha, what a song choice. Although even at the 1 minute mark/chorus, it doesn't seem noisy enough to get that startled—unless you play it an obnoxious volume. (And while we're at thematically relevant works, have we had a NIN mention yet?)

I feel like we did get a NIN mention way earlier in the series but that was way earlier in the series and my memory that far back is beyond shaky.

last edited at Mar 22, 2026 7:59AM

I woulda gone with Word Up for a Korn related dopamine boost but that's just me.