It’s no exaggeration to say tension between the two schools is insane to say the least, and we got to these just that these past two episodes. What would otherwise not be considered a ‘big deal’ anywhere else, becomes a big event when Kaoruko decides to wait outside of the gates of Chidori for Rintaro to come out after class. It was exceptionally adorable how flustered Rintaro got when he realized she was there waiting for him, but unfortunately things got messy when Shohei decided to try and act tough– which only serves to further deepen their already poor reputation. Really, it was the stupidest thing he could do in that moment, especially since it wasn’t like Kaoruko was standing there, menacingly. Like come on. I get your fed up with the girls from the school, but why feed into the image they established on their own? Thankfully Rintaro stepped in and apologized before he pushed the intimidation act further. Although it was followed with Shohei’s bawling and whining like a baby over how jealous he is to see that Kaoruko was waiting for someone, it doesn’t simply erase the stupid thing he did.
And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the whole situation was being watched by both sides, which includes the Kikyo students. So of course they had their own two people come running, shoving Shohei aside (who had already been handled by Rintaro) as though Kaoruko’s in mortal danger, and scolding her for being there. Of course and having absolutely no decency to apologize for shoving Shohei, even going as far as slapping his hand away. But it just goes to show, the tension between the schools is far worse than either Kaoruko and Rintaro had though. Nevertheless, the tension is wholly over-dramatic to say the least.
So for the mean time, the only real place the two of them can have any peaceful conversations is quite literally at Rintaro’s family’s cake shop. And this is really the highlight moments because they are exceptionally adorable with how flustered they are around each other. Unfortunately Rintaro made a mistake of not only pushing his own assumptions of what Kaoruko may think of him now that she knew he’s a student from Chidori, but also felt like things wouldn’t turn out well if she were to associate with him. That of course hurt Kaoruko because she was happy to learn he attended a school right next door to her, and it saddened her that he thought of her that way.
But it was thanks to his mom that Rintaro came to realize the error of his ways. And I just want to stress, it’s so good that we actually got to see Rintaro’s mom walk him through this. We don’t really see this kind of interactions between characters and their parents all that often. Most of the time they are just left to their own devices to figure out on their own. But it was thanks to her that he realized he had been unconsciously inflicting his own presumptions on others the same way others been pushing their own onto him. He understands all too well the pain, which is why he was mad at himself for doing that to others. It’s an important step forward, as this is the main thing he needed to address in order to take his walls down around others. Poor guy decided to punch himself hard for it, and his mom was rightfully distressed to see that.
Thanks to that he was the one who met her outside of the gates of Kikyo, and both were able to apologize and clear the air further. It was exactly what they needed to set things straight again, and it made Kaoruko very happy. I thought it was really sweet the way she redid their introductions, with Kaoruko emphasizing she wants to get to know him for who he is.
