Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu: Episode 6-7

If cigarettes is a gateway drug then a hug is a gateway to more intimacy. Tsuzaki and Mikuri haven’t even held hands yet but the every Tuesday hug proves to be a pre-cursor to better days ahead. However, Tsuzaki’s immaturity in relationship and Mikuri’s assertiveness can either be a hindrance or a help for them to make their relationship work.

Here is quick recap of Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu: Episode 6-7

The atmosphere in Tsuzaki’s household is exactly what Mikuri has been aiming for- calm. Tsuzaki seems more comfortable now as he greets Mikuri every morning while still wearing his pajamas, and she enjoys the view of seeing him wash his face and likens Tsuzaki’s change to taming a capybara, haha. She looks at him like a mother fawning over her former wild child. Also, Mikuri looks forward to the promised every Tuesday hug, she even prepares tea after dinner for him before she reminds him that it’s Tuesday.

Tsuzaki tells her that he is aware of the day, but the hug for that Tuesday has already been given in advance (that time when they had picnic for Yuri’s view). Still, Tsuzaki doesn’t want to feel bad so he tells Mikuri that she can sit beside him on the sofa as they watched TV and Mikuri enjoys the calmness.

Speaking of Yuri, she’s been called by their compliance supervisor because there was a complaint that she sexually harassed her kouhai, Natsuki, haha. Remember that scene when Yuri remarked that Natsuki is good-looking but he doesn’t bug her at all? However, according to the complaint, she told Natsuki that she wants to fawn over him because he’s cute. Moreover, their department’s head also complained that Yuri is being specifically hard on other kouhai, Yusu, who has a disastrous Japanese grammar so Yuri always corrects her.

Thankfully, the compliance officer doesn’t believe the complaints but she tells Yuri to be careful. Yuri goes to Mikuri and Tsuzaki to rant on how she was called a nit-picking and sexual harrasser old woman. Anyway, after her tirade, she tells the couple that she had accumulated 50,000 points in her credit card and decided to exchange it with a complimentary onsen trip for two.

Tsuzaki thinks that she’s there to invite Mikuri and quickly volunteers her but Yuri tells him that the trip is for them, it’s their honeymoon gift. The two immediately offers excuses but Yuri is quick to shut them up by giving them a thorough lecture on how they should enjoy things like that when they are still young and not when they already have kids. She also tells them that not all things goes according to plan because if it is, she would have gotten married at 27 and she don’t have to face the day that she’ll be accused of being a nit-picking and sexual harasser. This is the first time that Mikuri and Tsuzaki had a shared imagination and it’s pretty cute. In the end, Tsuzaki accepts the offer for them.

At work, Tsuzaki checks on the place that they will be going when Hino catches him about the hot spring trip. Of course, Hino immediately teases him of plans to flirt while in an open-air bath and Tsuzaki quickly says that there will be no flirting and no open-air bath. However, Tsuzaki laments that his biggest concern is what will happen at night time. He wonders if he’ll be able to sleep with Mikuri in the same room, even though they’ll be sleeping in separate beds, he has never slept in the same room with a woman.

Knowing Hino, he completely misunderstands Tsuzaki’s concern and tells him that he’ll give him something for his problem. Tsuzaki tells him not to tell Numata because he’ll surely tell Kazami so he shouldn’t tell Kazami either. Tsuzaki feels something is odd and immediately looks around because he felt Numata’s presence around the corner but when he checks, Numata is nowhere to be seen. Well, he’s not wrong about Numata because he heard everything while he hides behind the sofa. He sees that Kazami is about to enter the pantry so he stops him and tells him that there must be a reason (for Tsuzaki’s trip with his wife) and that Tsuzaki’s heart would never drift away from him, haha.

The next day is the honeymoon day or “company retreat” as Tsuzaki wants to call it. He sees Hino’s gift, neatly wrapped with a huge smiley, which he tucked in his bag. The two heads to the company retreat and even sits beside each other as they eat their bento. However, they get a surprise when they see a double bed (single) instead of a twin bed. Apparently, the inn called Yuri for confirmation and when she heard that it will be a twin room, she immediately cancels it and requested for a double bed.

Moreover, all twin rooms in the inn have been fully booked and Tsuzaki decides to just let it go since it was the inn’s fault. For some reason, Mikuri recalls her high school boyfriend who loves to argue to get what he wants, just like the time when they ordered espresso in a coffee shop and they were surprise to see just an espresso shot (those in small cups), so her then boyfriend complains and asks for their order to be change. In contrast, if Tsuzaki were her boyfriend, while he will be surprise on the espresso shot, he will probably say that they’ll just treat it as a lesson for the next time they order a coffee. Well, it must be fate that Mikuri recalled that ex-boyfriend of her’s because he’s in the same inn, and as usual, arguing to the reception about the food.

Tsuzaki also sees the ex-boyfriend and tells Mikuri that the girl who is dating that guy is also of questionable character, haha. Mikuri recalls how they started dating and that they broke-up because their character didn’t match at all; he also told Mikuri that she’s no fun at all.

Back in their room, Tsuzaki uses that time to open Hino’s gift and gets a shock of his life to see a sex performance-enhancing drink. Well, Tsuzaki’s shock hasn’t worn-off when Mikuri comes back with their drinks so Tsuzaki decides to hide the drink under the comforter. Thinking that Tsuzaki is worried about their sleeping arrangement, Mikuri tells him that the bed is big enough for two so it wouldn’t feel like that they are together and she lie down for good measure. Of course, she feels that something is under the bed and Tsuzaki jokes that it’s a bug. Well, Mikuri might be scared with bugs, because instead of checking under the comforter, she decides to call the reception while Tsuzaki files the drink away under the table.

He tells Mikuri that the bug is gone and things happen so fast that the next thing we see is that Mikuri is about to fall, Tsuzaki rushing to stop her from falling, but he slipped so they ended falling together with Tsuzaki on top of her. I so love this kind of scenes. A very awkward situation follows, both feeling hot by the sudden closeness, though the room’s temperature is really hot since the aircon is broken.

So they asked for a change of room, still a double room for them, but the only difference is having an open-air bath (that looks lovely!). As they settle down, the inn’s keeper approaches the couple because they left something in their room, haha. She goes straight to Tsuzaki to hand him the package with a knowing smile and leaves the couple at peace. Well, not exactly at peace, since Tsuzaki won’t tell Mikuri what is that package, she startles him by asking if he wants to take a bath together, Tsuzaki drops the package in surprise, but immediately jumps over to hide the thing. For someone who doesn’t exercise at all, Tsuzaki has quick reflexes.

Anyway, Mikuri gets scolded for her joke and she really feels bad about it, seriously? While she is aware that her pretentious attitude is the reason her past relationships failed, she also can’t help anything about it.

While the couple are enjoying their honeymoon, er, company retreat, Yuri is trying her hardest not to be misunderstood as a sexual harasser/nit-picking woman. She maintains her distance when Natsuki approaches her, though he leaves a note on how he cleared her name by telling the compliance section that there’s no such thing as a sexual harassment that happened. As for Yusu, instead of asking her to edit her work, Yuri decides to do it for her.

Yuri shares this with Numata, her now drinking buddy, and Numata says that at the end of the day, you do half of the work that you  really don’t want to do. He asks Yuri if the work she do now is what she always wanted, and Yuri says that it is, but she feels like all the time and effort she invested in her work didn’t earn any profit. Numata argues that once profit enters the picture, you really can’t do anything. At this, the bartender speaks and says that just like in love, if they don’t receive the same or more amount from the person their giving love, they start to worry. Eventually all those worries would pile-up and soon, they will start thinking how it’s always been  all about her, or all about him, until the relationship reach its end.

The bartender and Numata starts to cry and later on, Kazami arrives. Yuri immediately gets up to leave, but not before telling Kazami not to bother Mikuri since she’s on her honeymoon with Tsuzaki and even shows a picture for proof.

Well, our lovely couple is indeed enjoying their sumptuous meal and that’s the picture they sent to Yuri for show. Mikuri says that she’ll probably start cooking complicated dishes, like the one they’re eating, and Tsuzaki says that he has always loved anything that Mikuri made. With that, all the sadness she got from Tsuzaki’s scolding have vanished.

Later on, Tsuzaki enjoys the open-air bath and little did he know, Mikuri accidentally kicked his bag, spilling it’s contents, which includes that drink, haha. Mikuri is a bit shock, she didn’t think that Tsuzaki would have that courage, so she didn’t know whether to be thankful that she prepared beforehand, haha. She got herself a lingerie, as recommended by Yassan, and sadly, we didn’t get to see what kind of lingerie it is. Well, she might be nervous on what might happened, until Tsuzaki goes out of the bath looking pretty worn-out. He must have stayed too long, causing his blood pressure to dip, so Mikuri spent the next minutes fanning him till he regain his strength.

Afterward, it’s Mikuri’s turn to use the bath and once she’s done, she sees Tsuzaki sleeping at the far end of the bed. Mikuri looks a tad disappointed as she positions herself at the other end. It looks cute that both of them are trying not to move and trying not to open their eyes when they feel that one of them is moving. Tsuzaki wants to move but he doesn’t want Mikuri to misunderstand, after all, it’s just a company retreat. He wonders if he should have Googled on how a man and a woman sleeps in one futon. He checks if Mikuri is asleep and when he thinks that she is fast asleep, he gets up to lie on the tatami mat, covers his eyes, and put on ear plugs. If Mikuri looks disappointed that Tsuzaki is already asleep after she went out of the bath, then she looks hurt when Tsuzaki left her on bed.

The next day, Tsuzaki praises himself for sleeping with an eye mask and ear plugs since he slept peacefully while Mikuri wonders on what a waste the lingerie was, haha. It might sound funny, but Mikuri looks back on how everything has been one-sided, on how she was the one who demanded the marriage, to the becoming lovers, to doing hugs and so. It was all her and Tsuzaki just happened to be so kind to agree. For this, Mikuri feels exhausted.

Well, Mikuri’s exhaustion extends up to their meal, while Tsuzaki is looking too chirpy that it looks unreal. To add edge with Mikuri’s bad mood, Kaoru sees them eating and introduces himself as Mikuri’s ex-boyfriend, which made Mikuri in more bad mood. Kaoru tells Tsuzaki that Mikuri is such a fussy girlfriend and even shared how she scolded him when they were in Shibuya. Mikuri tells him not to talk unnecessary stuff and Tsuzaki stands-up, tells them to take their time, and leaves the place. Kaoru remarks on how Mikuri’s taste with guys has changed and Mikuri tells him that it isn’t, she realized that her taste in men is still the same.

Back in the city and for a change, Yuri approaches Kazami first and apologizes on how she acted last night. Kazami asks what has changed, and she says that she wasn’t expecting that he will make that face, the face of someone who looks hurt and shock, and Yuri adds that even at her age, she still doesn’t understand people’s feelings. At this, Kazami agrees that even he doesn’t understand his own feelings and wonders what it is that he has been looking for.

Back to our main couple, they are heading back home and Mikuri sits with her saddest face that I’ve seen since episode 1. She recalls the earlier events with ex-boyfriend Kaoru and how Tsuzaki didn’t even stand-up for her. She looks at his hand and knows that if she asks to hold hands, he would be in defensive but then he’ll comply because she asked and because he has no choice. She wonders, what it is that she really want from Tsuzaki?

If Mikuri is being mellow, Tsuzaki is happy. Yep, happy. The earlier run-in with Kaoru didn’t dull his spirits one bit, in fact, he left not because he’s having a low self-esteem moment, but because he doesn’t need to hear what Kaoru has to say about Mikuri because he knows her better. Just like Mikuri, Tsuzaki looks at her hand and wonders how would she react if he puts his hand on her. He thinks that when the trip ends, their relationship will be back as usual, between an employee and an employer who hugs once a week, the same as before.

In Mikuri’s mind, she thinks that going back to the same as before is okay, she gives up, she’s exhausted, she won’t ask for anything, and she won’t do anything. When the trip ends, they will go back to their usual lives, and that usual lives is one more station to go. Despite that, in their mind, both Tsuzaki and Mikuri wish that they will never reach their destination.

The train makes its stop at Mishima station (hello Gomen ne Seishun!) where they will be transferring train bound to Tokyo and Mikuri tries to look cheerful when she tells Tsuzaki that they have to go. However, she gets a surprise of the entire trip (or their entire relationship) when Tsuzaki holds her and plants a kiss on her lips! Finally!

Well, the kiss is definitely not the end of the destination that once Tsuzaki realized that he kissed Mikuri, he ignored her by feigning sleep on the bus on their way home.As for the rest of the week, he acts cool like it never happened at all. Mikuri wonders, what does the kiss mean? She likens him to an arsonist, setting the fire and just leave it to burn, haha. So she tries to subtlety drop the subject of kiss by asking about their breakfast, a grilled kisu (kiss=kisu), which made Tsuzaki choke on his food.

While Mikuri is doing her chores, she starts to think if everything is nothing but an illusion. While Tsuzaki returns that drink to Hino, he argues that Tsuzaki should have used it and Tsuzaki says that it’s something that he’ll never need in his life, haha. Obviously, Tsuzaki means something else but Hino thinks that Tsuzaki is someone amazing. Anyway, Tsuzaki tells himself that a pro-bachelor like him shouldn’t have fallen in love easily, or he shouldn’t let a relationship progress into love, and just aim for tranquility. He recalls the kiss, the feelings he felt before it happened, and he can’t contain his happiness that he ends-up screaming in the toilet. He tells himself that he’s having a high from that fake honeymoon and diverts his attention elsewhere by buying a sudoku book to finish in one sitting, to kill time before he goes home, and he makes sure that Mikuri is already asleep bu the time he arrives.

Well, the house is already dark by the time he arrives home, but unfortunately for him, Mikuri is still awake, waiting for him to fulfill their once a week hug. Tsuzaki hugs her, that same force hug that he used to give just to comply, and Mikuri thinks that Tsuzaki regrets that kiss. In Tsuzaki’s room, he wonders if he did okay with that hug, like nothing had happened, but in Mikuri’s side, she can’t pretend that it didn’t happen.

Mikuri is far from forgetting the kiss since Kazami teases her about their honeymoon and if they have already cross the line. Mikuri says that instead of crossing the line, they went on the wrong path, and she asks if Kazami wouldn’t leave for work, but he says that he came to work last Saturday so it’s his day-off. Anyway, Kazami tells her that he’s surprised that she also gets emotional, and Mikuri says that’s the real her, she was just faking her composure before like someone in a sheep’s clothing. Kazami tells her that side of her’s is also attractive and Mikuri says that if Kazami were her partner, if he did some moves on her, she’ll probably think that it’s a technique (to get girls or make her gush), but with someone who isn’t that type, she doesn’t know how to take it.Taking her words to heart, Kazami hugs her and asks her if her heart is pounding, and Mikuri just take it in stride and tells him not to joke around.

Later on, Kazami tells Yuri that he’s starting to get jealous over Tsuzaki. The two are having lunch, wow, so they are lunch buddies now? This is a development. Anyway, Kazami clarifies that men like him aren’t taken seriously, they are always mistaken for being players while the likes of Tsuzaki are always taken as sincere so they can get serious love. Yuri says that she doesn’t really get his feelings though people used to say something similar when she was younger, like how they aren’t suited for someone like Yuri, and when Kazami comments that she’s popular, she says that she might not be popular in truest sense of the word.

Anyway, lunch time is over and both Yuri and Kazami wants to pay the bill.  Yuri won’t have it and even calls Kazami her “cheeky nephew”, seriously? Kazami jokes back if he can call her aunt then, and Yuri just pushes him away.

Speaking of lunch, Tsuzaki and Hino are also having their lunch and Hino shares that he ran out of ideas for presents for his wife, and asks Tsuzaki what he gave his wife. Tsuzaki says that her birthday hasn’t passed yet and stops when he recalls that Mikuri’s birthday is on Sept 02, 1990, which happened more than a month, hoho. Hino tells him that Tsuzaki should treasure the little things or he’ll get a divorce, so Tsuzaki tells him that in his case, it’ll be weird if he gets her anything. Hino tells her that it’s not weird, it’s actually weird that it’s isn’t weird at all. More of the weirdness talk follows until Kazami butts in and shares about the woman who cleans his house twice a week, he shares that when he learned about the woman’s birthday, he casually gave her a present. When Tsuzaki asks what he gave that woman, he answers that he gave a Sri Lankan tea, and to Tsuzaki’s horror, he recalls how Mikuri made him drink that tea and he doesn’t even know.

To add salt to the wound, Kazami tells them that the woman is quite her type and asks Tsuzaki on how she’s not a straightforward person. When Hino asks why is he asking Tsuzaki, Kazami tells him that Tsuzaki also knows her and they talk about her a lot, and Hino says that must be the reason why they are so close lately. Anyway, Numata has been listening all along and gets pretty irksome when he realizes that his assumption that Kazami and Tsuzaki are lovers has been wrong.

At Yassan’s place/vegetable store, Mikuri suggests that Yassan revamp the store by selling vegetable jams or sharing recipes that would appeal to the housewives. Yassan tells her that she’s always been like that, telling others to do this and that, and while it’s no big deal on Mikuri’s side, it sounds annoying being told what to do. Yassan’s words hit Mikuri hard and thinks how things aren’t going well for her, when Yassan asks if she’s talking about her boyfriend, she says that it’s not even her boyfriend, and while they are married, she’s not in the family register, but most of all, she was kissed once. Knowing Mikuri’s penchant for imagination, Yassan asks if it’s all her imagination to which Mikuri answers that it might be.

Still reeling that he didn’t give Mikuri anything, Tsuzaki waits for Yuri to go home and pretends that he just happened to be on his way home as well. He asks what did Yuri give Mikuri on her birthday and she says that she gave him a bamix (a hand mixer brand). Realizing how blind he had been since both gifts from Kazami and Yuri has been on their kitchen and being openly used by Mikuri, he goes to the department store the next day to buy a gift for Mikuri, and he looks chic in his casual wear.

Anyway, buying a gift for Mikuri proves to be a harder task for Tsuzaki since he has no idea what to buy so he decided to call Mikuri’s parents for help. Well, asking the help of Mikuri’s overly excited and overly chatty parents is a mistake because they immediately deviate from Tsuzaki’s question and starts talking about Mikuri’s late dog, Pero.

In the end, Tsuzaki decides to give Mikuri something more business-like, which is cash, and asks her to treat it like a bonus. However, Mikuri has a different idea, she couldn’t believe that Tsuzaki got her a birthday present when her birthday had been more than a month ago so it can only be damage payment for the kiss, what?! She wants to ask Tsuzaki about it but she can’t face him so she decided to ask him via email. In her email, she thanks him for the bonus and asks why did he kiss her. Shock by Mikuri’s question, Tsuzaki took his time to answer to the point that Mikuri is about to give-up since it’s past  midnight. Nevertheless, Tsuzaki did answer, but he answered with an apology and this irks Mikuri since she wants a reason not an apology. Anyway, Mikuri email’s back that he doesn’t have to apologize, but Tsuzaki counters about his “unfavorable conduct as an employer” and adds that he’s reflecting on it deeply. Mikuri wonders why he need to reflect on it so she tells him that in terms of company retreat, what he did would be considered as a sexual harassment, but it’s also a honeymoon and since they are technically lovers, the kiss should be an acceptable extension of their skinship.

Tsuzaki is surprise that the kiss is “acceptable”, so Tsuzaki thanks her and to keep him in her favor from now on. Mikuri is puzzled on what kind favor Tsuzaki is talking about and she doesn’t know how to respond to that. She plans to tell him, “likewise, pls. keep me in you favor from now on. I’ll be waiting for the second one,” nice one Mikuri! Well, Mikuri might have thought that it might scare Tsuzaki so instead of “I’ll be waiting for the second one”, she simply types, “forever”. Awww. Forever it is, Tsuzaki finds himself giggly from that thought.

Tuesday arrives and before Tsuzaki goes to work, he gives Mikuri a hug, much to her surprise since he initiated it. Mikuri feels overwhelmed from the feelings of love that she finds herself in deep throes of her overly active imagination doing the “Tsuzaki’s Best 10”, haha. Mikuri wonders if it’s okay to fall that hard since it might bring problems at work and she decides to just be happy for now. Happy it is as both Tsuzaki and Mikuri looks forward to Tuesday and when it arrives, Tsuzaki tells her that he’ll be arriving at normal time that night and Mikuri looks forward to that promised hug.

Well, it’s not just Mikuri who had her “rolling on the floor” moment, Tsuzaki also had that moment since he finds Mikuri too cute for words, which I totally understand since Mikuri is the epitome of cuteness. In fact, Tsuzaki is overly pleased by Mikuri’s cuteness that when the two not-so-lovebirds are exchanging goodbye waves with Mikuri in the balcony and Tsuzaki on the road, he almost got hit by an elf truck since he was paying attention at Mikuri’s cuteness, haha. In Tsuzaki’s mind, he can’t die yet, he definitely can’t die before he goes home tonight.

Night comes and fortunately, Tsuzaki is still alive, he thinks about going home to that warm place, to warmed his frozen body, am I the only one thinking something different? After that hug, they bid each other goodnight, so much for warming your frozen body, Tsuzaki. Unknown to Mikuri, Tsuzaki is researching on the topic, “when to kiss again?”. Uhm, how about now?

The next day, Tsuzaki looks like he didn’t get any sleep at all. When Kazami comments on it, Tsuzaki says that he was researching on something, but the more results it gives him, the more research he needs to do. Hino arrives and teases the two that if they are chatting like that, Numata might misunderstand again. Tsuzaki says that he can’t believe that Numata ever thought of that and says that he always thought that Numata has both male and female view points. Kazami disagrees and says that being gay doesn’t mean anything (like having two view points), Numata is just Numata. At this, Tsuzaki asks why do they always hold prejudices and Kazami says that there’s also prejudices on ikemen and Hino wishes that he has that kind of prejudice (being an ikemen). Speaking of Numata, he’s following one of the company’s employees and learns about an upcoming buy-out.

At Yuri’s workplace, Natsuki comments on her nice nails and Yuri says that he shouldn’t be saying things like that or people might misunderstand. Natsuki says that the sexual harassment issue have been cleared-up and Yuri laments that once a rumor started, it stays there. To prove her point, they look at the employees at the nearby cubicles and almost everyone are looking at them with malice. Well, Yusu decides to defend Yuri and says that if people has time to spread rumors then that means that they have too much time in their hands. She says loudly for everyone to hear that it doesn’t matter who is in love with whom and if they have too much time on their hands then they should do half of Yuri’s work. Yuri tells her that she just made a lot of enemy and Yusu says that she doesn’t care, she hates Japan but she hates America as well.

As it happens, Yusu is actually a returnee and that’s one of the reasons why her Japanese writing is so bad. Yuri shares to Mikuri that her kouhais are good kids even though they are a handful. Yuri adds that work is about connection and Mikuri says that that might be the kind of work that she wants to do, she doesn’t want to work in large companies, but just in small ones made up of connection with other people.

Mikuri arrives home and invites Tsuzaki to some wine that Yuri gave her. While they were drinking, Mikuri tells him that she has fun working for him each day and because she can’t say that she likes him, she simply puts her head on his shoulder much to Tsuzaki’s discomfort. So he drinks another gulp of wine and proceeds to kiss her, woot for the second kiss! Tsuzaki wants to say something after the kiss but he can’t bring himself to so Mikuri beats her by hugging him and telling him that, “it’s okay with me, it’s okay if it’s with Hiramasa-san for me to do that sort of thing”. Well, Mikuri’s words must be a cold water splashed on Tsuzaki’s face because he breaks the hug, tells Mikuri that he’s sorry since it’s impossible for him. Shock by Tsuzaki’s rejection, Mikuri tries to save her ego by apologizing too and tells him to just forget about it.

Mikuri wants to bury herself in a hole if there is one, and a hole it is, she ran away one night from apartment 303.

Comments

Ugh, that burns. I applaud Mikuri for not crying in front of Tsuzaki because I’ll probably bawl with matching slap on his cheeks. Isn’t it ironic that the likes of Kazami wants to be taken seriously but people thinks they are only out to play, while the likes of Tsuzaki are seen as sincere but they don’t want a serious relationship? True, Tsuzaki is inexperienced and so, but he should at least know that a kiss is not just a kiss. Does he take Mikuri as an easy woman or so to do those stuff for nothing?

That’s why I totally get Mikuri’s feelings in episode 6, it’s exhausting being always on the giving end. It might sound unfair on Tsuzaki’s part since he never asked her to do those things, but Mikuri has always been considerate of his feelings and its high time for Tsuzaki to do a fact check on his feelings instead of avoiding it. After all, he wouldn’t be in that situation if he didn’t agree with the marriage in the first place. Well, in fairness to Tsuzaki, he looks genuinely struggling when he rejected Mikuri’s love offer, whether it’s from shock or pure cowardice, we’ll have to see that. The revelation that Mikuri has been in love all along is a surprise, I really thought that she just wanted to uplift Tsuzaki’s confidence because he has been a huge help on her.

Nevertheless, two (sloppy) kisses in consecutive episodes and I was really screaming during the first kiss on the train. I actually saw that part in the manga before I saw this episode and I was so excited to see it on live. I hope Tsuzaki will always be like that, the one who takes the initiative since I love seeing a surprise Mikuri. She always seem like she knows what to do in their relationship so moments when Tsuzaki shocks her (like that pit viper drink) is priceless.

Aside from our main couple, I’m so glad to see development between Yuri and Kazami. Whatever feelings he has for Mikuri seems to have evaporated after seeing that honeymoon picture since he seems pretty spirited during that lunch with Yuri.I think one of the cons that Yuri might have to face is the age gap. It’s a pretty huge age gap and will surely spread rumors that might sound badder than the sexual harassment issue. Also, that sexual harassment issue is so unfair for Yuri, she’s such a cool boss whose only doing her job for people to actually think that she will do something like that. Moreover, rumors like that circulated because she’s old and single, that’s blatant prejudice against single women!

All in all, these two episodes are not only swoon-worthy, but we’re already at that part where our leads have to face this struggle where instead of overcoming them, they have to accept them. For Mikuri, it’s to accept that Tsuzaki has to bid his own time is processing his feelings for her, and for Tsuzaki, it’s to accept that what he has with Mikuri is no longer a matter of contract between an employee and boss, it’s now more physical and emotional and he has to adjust to that huge change in his life. His days may not be calm, but it’s definitely going to be happy.