I was a little worried about how the big misunderstanding between Mitsuki, Kazuhiko, and Chihaya would pan out. Fortunately, it doesn’t go the cliche route of blowing out of proportion. Mitsuki actually comes clean first by admitting that he’s been hanging out with Lemon because he’s been asking her for relationship advice. In a vacuum, Mitsuki’s reasoning is actually sound. Lemon is popular so it would stand to reason that she probably has some experience when it comes dating. Of course, it’s also very ironic given that Lemon is forever alone and she has been crushing on Mitsuki since childhood.
Kazuhiko doesn’t really tell Mitsuki why he was hanging out around with Chihaya, presumably out of respect for Chihaya. He instead pretends that he was asking for relationship advice, same as Mitsuki. This accidentally causes Mitsuki to speculate that Kazuhiko has the hots for one of the literature club girls. Wanting to help a bro out, Mitsuki proposes that Kazuhiko invite his “crush” to a hangout with him, Chihaya, and Lemon. I love that Kazuhiko invites Anna. Funny how the two are often paired together when they’re currently just friends. At this point, I’m convinced they’ll marry each other if they’re both still single by the time they hit 30. Admittedly, he would pick her by process of elimination, what with Koto already in a relationship and Chika likely not wanting hang out with people she doesn’t know. Also, it’s very neat that Kazuhiko explains exactly what is going on to Anna and that Anna is completely cool with it.
The hangout takes place in the “City of Toyohashi Underground Museum”. A very good joke in this scene is Anna complaining that they’re all hanging out in a museum, finding out that she’s the only one who feels this way, and eventually managing to change her mind and have fun. I kind of figured Mitsuki and Chihaya would enjoy the place; it is what they agreed on for a date and it just seems up their alley. Kind of interesting Lemon has fun from the get go; it goes to show that she and Mitsuki probably could’ve worked out as a couple.
Towards the end of the hangout, Mitsuki decides to check out a planetarium with Chihaya and Lemon so that Kazuhiko can have some alone time with Anna. Lemon however insists on splitting off from them so that Mitsuki can spend more time with Chihaya. In the process, she accidentally reveals her feelings to Mitsuki, resulting in her running off in embarrassment. I kind of figured that this would eventually happen. It just seemed like a ticking time bomb to me. That said, I really feel bad for Lemon here. She’s trying so hard to move on and this one slip up is enough to ruin it all for her. By far, the biggest sting is when Lemon confides to Kazuhiko that she’s thinking of writing a children’s story for the Literature Club project (which would be a bit out of place with all the light novel degeneracy some of the other members are writing but that’s besides the point). The story is about a girl working hard to meet and marry a prince she fell in love with. It’s very clearly Lemon drawing off of her feelings towards Mitsuki. The big difference is that Lemon deliberately plans on giving it a happy ending, because that’s kind of thing that would happen in a fairytale.
After some radio silence from Lemon, Kazuhiko and Chihaya meet up to discuss the current situation. Chihaya is beating herself up over the matter, especially since she impulsively stopped Mitsuki from running after Lemon despite saying earlier that she’d be willing to step down and let Lemon be his girlfriend. While I get Chihaya feeling bad here, I think Kazuhiko has a point. Even though Chihaya did act hypocritically, she shouldn’t deny herself from dating Mitsuki. And if the two were to break up, that would just make Lemon feel bad anyway.
Apparently, both the track team and the literature club have gotten concerned about Lemon so they eventually ask her equally worried mother, who reveals that Lemon has been staying at her grandmother’s house. I like how the house is out in the mountains. That perfectly conveys how much Lemon wants to run away from things. Anyway, with the exception of Shintarō, Koto drives her club over to the residence to pay Lemon a visit. You later learn that this is also an excuse to just hang around in the mountains, provided that Lemon is okay. That’s quite the ulterior motive but both Lemon and her grandmother do let everyone spend the night at the house so I guess Koto hedged her bets well. I love how throughout all of this, Anna is just ecstatic to finally eat something other than somen. Poor girl was losing her mind (more than she already has).
Anyway, it seems like Lemon is in good spirits. She’s certainly cheery enough that she’s tries to a pull a prank on Anna when she reunites with everyone. This actually worries Kazuhiko, who’s concerned that Lemon might be forcing herself to cheer up. Koto raises a good counterpoint. Like, it’s entirely possible that Lemon is in a better mood simply because she’s feeling better. Whatever the case may be, the gang should just worry about keeping her company for the time being. That said, we’ve yet to see Lemon confront Mitsuki after the hangout so it does remain to seen whether or not she truly is over the whole debacle.
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