oh wow. here's to hoping that the mangaka isn't as stupid as this buildup is starting to lead me to believe. after this chapter i'm starting to wonder if the conclusion will just be another derivative of the melodramatic "to you in 15 years" bittersweet endings.
but then again, we've seen kaoru's indecisiveness and unwillingness to actually talk things out many a time before this chapter, so this probably isn't the last nail in the coffin. uta's absence is already bringing out a change in kaoru's thinking and way of processing emotions. maybe next chapter she'll get the push she needs to finally make a change in her life (possibly in the middle of a 7-page long sequence of having sex with reiichi... yuck..)
either way, i don't think we're ever going to see uta and kaoru ever truly happy with each other, but here's to hoping we at least get some form of resolution in her shitty married life!