There's just nothing here to hold on to; it's about a relationship that barely exists and two people who seem to be pretty happy with it that way.
Seems to sum up what this story is all about.
Which I don't think is a bad thing? The main message is that they still care about each other, appreciate each other, think of each other, but they don't always need to be around each other or always talking. I think the relationship humble and wholesome.
I think that's a large part of what these last few chapters have been trying to get across: Their relationship doesn't have a lot of the hallmarks you'd expect from a traditional marriage, because they're not trying to fit into a mold. Karumi's personality type and work don't really fit well into a ... let's call it a Hallmark marriage, since that's what people seem to be expecting. Trying to constrain her to one probably wouldn't end well, regardless of who it's with, but Ruriko doesn't seem to place much value on those things either, so giving them to her wouldn't be a real benefit.
Instead, what we're seeing is them creating a structure that works for who they are, rather than what other people expect. Karumi may be physically absent more often, she also frequently thinks of Ruriko and what she would like. More than that a lot of what we see is her subtly attempting to make their time together more meaningful or to share things that are important to her, even if this behavior isn't explicitly called out and she doesn't consciously realize she's doing it.
Take Ruriko's walk home, this chapter, as an example. It's filled with memories of Karumi excitedly sharing something with her, despite the other girl not being there. You could view those scenes as showing how head-over-heals she is for Karumi, while Karumi is only focused on things she likes, but I don't think that really lines up with thoughts like "Just by walking around, I get little bits and pieces of the world Karumi-san lives in. It's a really lovely feeling."
Karumi engages with the world in a way most people don't and she brings a lot of that back to Ruriko, because she wants to share her experiences with the person she cares about. She tells Ruriko about the book and the movie, not because she enjoyed them, but because she things Ruriko will too and because she wants to have that shared experience with her. She tells Ruriko that she's craving curry not because she wants to eat some — she's more capable of eating out on her own —, but because she want to eat curry with Ruriko.
Yes! This is exactly what the whole story is about.
I’m surprised this story is getting so much hate because this is a website devoted to WLW fiction so getting caught up on heteronormative ideals of what marriage means feels... kinda silly
