And I'm saying that, except for that highly ambiguous statement in Chapter 63, there is absolutely no evidence in the text for the existence of this other person--who they are, where they are now, when QT knew them, what relationship they might have had--nothing.

There has been little mention about either of their pasts so I believe it’s a definite possibility.

In these types of stories, it’s common to bring in a character to disrupt the flow of progress or even incite jealousy to further the relationship.

If a new person is brought in, we would probably get their backstory from their point of view, just like we got from the pink haired girl.

But judging by the dynamic of the interactions between QT and SJ both before and afterward, I think that's very, very unlikely. It's much more likely that the Chapter 63 statement either (in descending order of likeliness) applies to SJ in a way that QT doesn't want to directly admit, was a bluff by QT of some kind, or was simply the author leaving a door open for potential future drama, a possibility that, by any concrete evidence from the text, has long since been abandoned.

It could be thrown away, just like how pink haired girls confession went. I just would not discount it as a possibility.

I’m a little unsure if the updates are regular but the translations update infrequently so this could all be moot. Perhaps the author is losing interest in the story so they won’t throw in too many curveballs.

QT's primary character trait is her ambivalence in how she deals with and expresses her own emotions, especially towards SJ--moments after her "I can't return your feelings speech" she's throwing herself into SJ's arms. Again and again their interactions are structured around a push-me-pull-you dynamic in which QT resists giving SJ exactly what she wants (and thus granting Ms. Cockypants the upper hand) while still expressing how much SJ means to her.

Like I said, I believe QT is tactile because of her parents absense and her lack of friends.

In the beginning the things she does were never meant to be romantic for QT. She finally has someone she can connect with so she’s essentially latching on and doesn’t see a problem with touching SJ since SJ is also a girl and they are friends.

In other words, QT is the last person in the world for whom the phrase "I like someone," in the context she says it, is going to have that contractual, binary, either-or meaning it often has in other stories.

I think that’s the difference between us. You’re inferring that QT is ambivalent about things but I don’t think she is.

She’s pretty in touch with her emotions. She just doesn’t want to admit them aloud. Like in the case of her parents, it’s clear she’s lonely but doesn’t want to say she is because she seems to feel like she’d be seen as ungrateful for it.

I think she has trouble admitting her true feelings to others due to how previous people reacted. Maybe previous relations were always quick to dismiss her feelings. Maybe they even belittled her emotions and thought she was too sensitive. Hence why she’s sad when SJ admits she thinks QT is weird.

In her inner musings, QT clearly still hasn’t figured out she likes SJ. Mostly I think she hasn’t given it much thought.

She’s operating on instinct. She feels comfortable SJ so she’s touchy and when SJ told her she likes her, she hugged SJ not because she reciprocated but because she admires SJ for not being pushy. Which I infer means that she probably has lost friendships due to her rejecting their confessions.

QT and SJ just seem to be the type who don’t dwell too much on thoughts. They just accept things as is, especially SJ.

But I suppose we just have varying opinions on our interpretations so we might never see eye to eye.

I just wanted to point out the possibility that QT may have liked someone else and that she was never aware she had romantic inclinations toward SJ.

So Qui had someone else she likes/liked aside from Sun right?

Chapter 63
Qui admits she likes someone.

Chapter 65
Qui just looks at Sun when Sun asks who it is.

Chapter 86
Qui says she’s unable to return Sun’s feelings so that means Sun isn’t the person Qui likes.

Chapter 146
Qui does ‘that’ with Sun but it seems like she only did it cuz Sun looked sad.

Now it’s clear Qui’s developed feelings because Sun is just so smooth but I wonder if whoever Qui originally likes/liked will later disrupt them?

It could just remain nice and fluffy but I think there might be a little drama later.

Since it seems the pink haired girl’s been dropped from the story that means probably someone new is gonna come in to stir up trouble.

Talk about cherry-picking evidence:

Chapter 63:
QT says she likes someone.

Chapter 64:
QT rubs her face on SJ’s tits.

Chapter 65:
QT looks at SJ when SJ asks her who she likes.

Chapter 81:
SJ tells QT she likes her (romantically).

Chapter 82:
QT says she can’t return her feelings.

Chapter 87:
QT feels awkward around SJ and isn’t sure she wants to see her. SJ turns and smiles, and QT’s heart totally loses its shit in an epic putong-putong, doki-doki, pitter-patter meltdown.

My reading: QT has liked SJ for quite some time, but in chapter 82 she “can’t return her feelings” because they’re both girls. She later decides that “we’re both girls” doesn’t matter.

And while absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, there’s absolutely no other evidence that QT likes someone besides SJ, and a great deal of evidence that QT likes SJ, and pretty much always has.

Likes her a lot, in fact.

Chapter 43
SJ wipes herself and QT’s heart beats faster.

There are times prior to the confession where she gets those feelings around SJ but she doesn’t seem to understand why she’s feeling that way.

Chapter 63
Unless QT answered in a non romantic way, I’d say she legitimately liked someone else. Or maybe not liked, but at least had a crush on someone but it isn’t SJ.

Chapter 64
I don’t think the touchiness is evidence that QT likes SJ. They’re girls and it’s normal for girls to be touchy with each other. In QT’s case, at that point it’s entirely platonic.

For SJ, it’s clearly romantic since she’s liked QT forever.

Chapter 65
For me, that look definitely means QT hasn’t recognized that she likes SJ. If she had, she definitely wouldn’t be able to look SJ in the eyes!

QT is they type who gets flustered so if she realized how she feels for SJ, she’d be an awkward but adorable mess even in the beginning.

And yeah, she was awkward in the beginning but that’s because she thought SJ was a bully.

Chapter 80
QT says she’s not good around ‘people’ but the picture shows girls so I’m going to guess that QT doesn’t have a lot of friends, despite being popular.

This probably means guys are quick to confess and girls are probably jealous of her because she’s been pretty forever.

Basically people know who she is because she’s hot but that doesn’t mean they’re close with her.

Chapter 82
I suppose it’s open to interpretation but QT says implicitly that she doesn’t like SJ like that. SJ is her friend and that’s why she’s taking the confession seriously and she doesn’t want to give SJ false hope that she could reciprocate.

To me it means: I don’t like you right now but I don’t want to say I could and hurt you when it turns out that I can’t.

Which means SJ definitely isn’t who QT was talking about when she answered that she likes someone.

Chapter 106
QT doesn’t understand why she’s feeling nervous after SQ touched her eyelashes, which I take means she hasn’t confronted/recognized that her feelings have become romantic.

Chapter 110
QT confesses that she feels lonely because no ones ever home.

I included this because it explains why QT is touchy with SJ. This and the fact that she doesn’t have close friends means QT’s touchiness stems from her feeling lonely and alienated, not necessarily because she likes SJ.

At least not at this point.

Chapter 146
After what happens, QT’s motivation for it is that she doesn’t want to see SJ cry. They’re friends and she doesn’t want to see her hurt.

And obviously this means she still hasn’t recognized that she actually has feelings for SJ.

Chapter 159
QT won’t admit that they’re dating.

But that’s probably because SJ hasn’t really asked her out properly.

I’m not denying that QT likes SJ. Clearly her feelings, their bond, has been steadily getting stronger and even though she didn’t know it, she definitely does reciprocate SJ’s feelings. QT has felt similar to SJ way longer than she herself realizes.

I'm saying I don’t think SJ is the person QT was referring to when she was asked who she likes because QT hadn’t given her feelings for SJ any thought at that point.

Which means there could be someone else.

So Qui had someone else she likes/liked aside from Sun right?

Chapter 63
Qui admits she likes someone.

Chapter 65
Qui just looks at Sun when Sun asks who it is.

Chapter 86
Qui says she’s unable to return Sun’s feelings so that means Sun isn’t the person Qui likes.

Chapter 146
Qui does ‘that’ with Sun but it seems like she only did it cuz Sun looked sad.

Now it’s clear Qui’s developed feelings because Sun is just so smooth but I wonder if whoever Qui originally likes/liked will later disrupt them?

It could just remain nice and fluffy but I think there might be a little drama later.

Since it seems the pink haired girl’s been dropped from the story that means probably someone new is gonna come in to stir up trouble.

So Ayano seems like she’s starting to realize that her feelings for Yuki run deeper than friendship but Oguri’s probably going to fall for Yuki too.

Enter Anna who clearly has a thing for Oguri. I think Oguri was her maid when they were younger. Oguri seems like she too is a congenital Catulus so maybe Anna’s one of the reasons why she believes Catulus and humans can’t be friends. Or she’s the reason why Oguri hates the idea of being friends just because your Catulus.

Either way, Anna’s there to cause Yuki trouble.

Just wish the intro of the new character came later, after we had more Ayano x Yuki bonding moments.

Also wish that this will leave the island of subtext. Doesn’t have to be soon but just that it will.