ok, its obvious that Meguru has a messed up perception of love

But her (real) sister should have a normal sense of things. So why did she let Meguru kiss her?

I mean, it definitely looks like Hiromi herself ran away to not have to deal with her own feelings.

And this also leaves the question of her mother- because it definitely seems like she had been hooking up with other women while married with a man. Who also seems to be no longer here?

Im under the impression that they were already divorced. The mother took Meguru while her sister went with the dad. Meguru probably got neglected so after some time her dad came to pick her up. But because he's too bussy, he let the sister take care of Meguru. Thats what I think

edit: @DrJamesFox said that the mother actually passed away, I guess I missed that

Easy to miss. Brief panel of their father lighting incense at a shrine for their mother: https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/contract_sisters_ch14_1#7

Love how the manga balances Meguru's angst with Kasane's goofiness. Will be interesting to see what happens with that balance now that we're getting into the meat of the plot.

Didn't see a comment elaborating on Meguru's family situation prior to living with her sister.
Her mother passed away and Meguru first meets her sister at 10 years old.
Prior to that she was living with her mother, who had apparently divorced her father and was now seeing other women. Guess that means Meguru's sister had been living with their father after the divorce.

Wow what a wonderful series.
Pretty sure I'd been avoiding it because updates are so few and far between. Guess I'll just reread it whenever there's an update 3 or so times a year.

I wonder about Shou not wanting Umi to tell Nae, seeing as how Shou doesn't seem to care much about what others think of her.
Maybe she's more worried about it causing trouble for Umi?
Or maybe I'm misreading Shou and she does care what people think and that's why she keeps to herself so much.
She doesn't like sticking out and is afraid of bullying for being "weird", like what happened in elementary school.

Nanase is so useless at everything that isn't volleyball. I bet she could find a volleyball in that crowd where she couldn't find the Yuna right in front of her.

Bahaha this is gold.

Seriously though the implication here is that Yuna to her looks generic enough to not stand out.

Maybe. Could also be that Nanase is in a similar frame of mind as Yuni in regards to their relationship.
Neither love each other and the relationship feels more burdensome as time passes. They are increasingly "going through the motions" of being together by putting in the bare minimum of effort and attention necessary to maintain the status quo.

I don't think both of them want to see each other for cheating reasons.
They have so many new self-discoveries which they want to share with someone who fully understands.
They are each other persons.

Yeah Fuuko is obviously not making a booty call here and that's not why Yuni's going to meet up with her. Comments acting like it's simply "cheating time again" or something makes me wonder if they're reading the text or just looking at the (very well-drawn) pictures.

You intuition is wrong and I'd appreciate it if you didn't invent your own stuff with your Google translate knowledge of Japanese and try to spread doubt or misinformation. You're not trying to translate manga I hope.

I was confused by your previous question about "lover", now I see why. You're using google translate or DeepL.

愛人 isn't a generic lover here. It's specifically in the meaning of mistress, or, if you want "the person I love sexually as opposed to the person I'm married to/in an official relationship with".

If she meant a "lover" it would be 恋人 (the one you love)

Here, I found a video that explains the difference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL0gvr2LOWk

Or here, an actual Japanese answering the question: https://hinative.com/questions/13485754 : 浮気相手 "Adulterous lover".

So, YES, she implies two-timing. Or her reaction, with the sparkling eye, doesn't makes sense.

And "chigau" doesn't only mean wrong, it means "different", so here it's a "no, different" (ie, not my girlfriend, someone else).

Are you Masina?

Why is it that translators always come across as total narcissists when talking to other people lol? You don't need to insult the other person's intelligence or accuse them of being some kind of fake news spreader.

you could just leave out all the narccy bull and still give all the same information.

inb4 bad attitudes and generated social apathy really lead to Ai generation

Could the translator have been nicer? Sure. But some sass doesn't bother me much as long as they're willing to discuss translation.

My view is:
Translator politely discussing translation > Translator rudely correcting others>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Translator not saying anything at all in discussion of translation.

Getting it right is FAR more important than being nice about it.
At the same time, we are on a yuri forum. We're "comrades in arms" over our shared love of yuri and in an ideal world we would treat each other in a way that reflects this.

Back to the chapter...
The failure of Yuni and Nanase's relationship is inevitable. After all the drama we've previously had, I expect their breakup will be low key and maybe mutual.
We only see Yuni's thoughts as she continues to see all the ways they're not compatible, but I'd bet Nanase can feel it too.

The contrast between Yuni and Fuuko's home life could not be more stark.
Fuuko lives in an affluent home with a family that gives her no love or emotional support while Yuni lives in a modest apartment where her mother showers her in love and support.
Clearly Yuni missing her cat is referencing how she misses Fuuko.
I think Fuuko recognizing the baby being adorable is her breaking free of the toxic way she views love and the beginning of learning how to love someone in a healthy way.

-Mother's face looks very similar like face of Nanase!

It could be coincidence if there's not another similarity:
-Mother was always busy and Yuni waited for her to come home.

Sounds familiar?
I'm curious if someone noticed same things as me, or have any thoughts about what I said?

Don't see the facial similarity, but you're cooking with the similarity between Yuni's mom and Nanase.
Both are too busy to spend much time with Yuni, who is lonely while she waits for them.

I know I'm reading into this too much, but I saw parallels with the exchange about eating pancakes:
Yuni: "Here's your yakisoba(Nanase)"
Yuni's mom: "Tonight I want pancakes(Fuuko), not yakisoba(Nanase)!"
Yuni: "Ok you can have pancakes(Fuuko), just make sure you eat the yakisoba(Nanase) tomorrow."

That aside, Yuni's dead cat clearly represents Fuuko. The cat kept her from feeling lonely. She grew extremely attached to it and misses it now that it's gone.
Yuni wondering why the cat had to die despite trying so hard to live...
Yuni being unwilling to move on, choosing to endure the loneliness instead of getting a new pet...
Yuni was devastated about the cat dying but felt just as bad about how her reaction made her mom cry...
All are topics that could be dissected.

I'd always considered this more of a guilty pleasure "watching a car crash" type of read, but this chapter felt like it had a ton of depth.

Iwami Kiyoko: "I put in Yuni all the bad traits, flaws and shortcomings that I can't stand in a girl. All the things that, if I found them in my gf, would make me break up with her."

Yes, Iwami-sama, we can see that. You did a good job!

I vaguely recalled a quote like that so went back to check.

From Volume 1 Ch 5.5 afterword:

"Yuni encapsulates everything I picture when I say 'women are a pain in the ass'."

Yeah pretty much what you said but with fewer words.
Some of us hate Yuni more than others, but of all the negative ways and terms we might use to describe her, "pain in the ass" feels like one we could all agree on.

So yes, Iwami-sensei, you did a good job!

This is definitely calm before the next storm. No idea where we're going.
Only thing I'm sure of is Nanase x Yuni is doomed.
At this point, I'll consider it a "happy ending" if everyone makes it out alive.
Looks at Ch 20.5 titled 'Murder-Suicide Attempt'.

I'm not surprised that Yuki is hoping that Yuni breaks up with Nanase, that way she can be Nanase girlfriend instead.

Could be. Can't remember if we got definitive signs Yuki's into Nanase.
Could also be the not uncommon "my best friend's significant other is AWFUL and they need to dump their ass and move on."
Most of us have probably been in a similar position as Yuki, with a friend dating someone terrible and not knowing how hard you should push to help your friend wake up to it.

So...Fuuko's super vulnerable after the rejection and looks like that text has her ready to snap. What's she gonna do now?

last edited at Dec 19, 2023 4:28PM

Honestly, this chapter did go a fair ways to making the Mizuku/nurse couple compelling to me, which I had not really thought was possible beforehand, so good job author lol.

Thats kinda funny because it does the opposite for me, now that I know the nurse met her back when she was still a middle schooler I think its even weirder that she would ever want to date her

Agreed. She was a child when they first met. She's since grown into a girl on the cusp of adulthood, but it's hard to shake that first impression. Especially when you're in a teacher/student dynamic.
The normal feeling towards that growth, as a teacher close to the student, is pride in their student.
I'd be much more comfortable with their relationship if they'd started getting to know each other during Mizuki's final year.

But I have an aversion to age gap romances that involve a minor and an adult. This one does feel less uncomfortable than most for the reason a previous comment mentioned:

I think the reason the age gap feels less...uncomfortable...than it usually does is the nurse never really exerts any of her authority. There's always the inherent power dynamic issues between an adult and a child, but at least in this case, it's not as important as if she were her actual teacher or boss.

Regardless, I don't care much about the side couples.
The main couple has been absolutely adorable and the reason I've enjoyed this manga. I'm quickly losing interest now that the focus has shifted away from them.
Hopefully the focus will shift back to the main couple or the mangaka will wrap this all up quickly so we can see their beautiful artwork in a new series.