Reiichi stocks continue to plummet. It's been a long time since that injury/bridge encounter, but had there ever been anything to ever suggest that Reiichi had a legitimate reason to be there, with Risako, around Kaoru's birthday, instead of on a supposed "business trip"? Don't think there was even any bday present to show unless I missed a page somewhere.
The parents thing just seems like arbitrary drama created for the sake of drama. Meh.
Kaoru's maturity level seems to be going even more backward.
Speaks volume that she chose to call Uta instead of the useless husband. At the same time, I'm not happy that she called Uta. My impression was that she never properly resolved//come to terms /dealt with Uta's confession. Gee, but who else is she gonna call? Friends (obviously not Risako). Suicidal hotline. Some sort of emotional crisis hotline. Leaning on Uta is a safe strat, but at the same time it's just falling back into bad habits. All this dancing around and beating around the bushes is driving the readers bonkers.