Summary
After Aoi and Shusei discover Soju's hidden agenda for trying to stir up trouble, Aoi confronts him to protect herself and Shusei. Afterwards, Shusei tells Aoi that Soju kissing her doesn't count because he tricked her. Because Shusei discovers that Aoi has lied to him about meeting Soju, Shusei decides to up his playful teasing game with her. Shusei's sister and their cousin come to visit to go swimming together, but Shusei's cousin is jealous of Aoi for stealing Shusei's attentions. When Aoi learns about a Firework event, she decides to ask Shusei to go with her. Will this be the time when Aoi admits her feelings to Shusei?
My Rating:
4 Stars
My Review:
I liked this volume much better than the last time because there was so much sexual assault and trickery that it was disgusting. One thing about these volumes if you get into them or are debating if you want to keep reading them, is that the groping and sexual assault unfortunately does not get any better in the later volumes. In this particular volume there is only one scene where Shusei undoes Aoi's bra and feels her up, which is obviously not right.
Other than that, this was a pretty entertaining volume, there are some really cute and sweet moments between Aoi and Shusei and I felt this volume was much more original than the last one.
SPOILER ALERT BELOW. Do not read any further if you don't want to read them.
I'll admit that I totally saw it coming that Soju is a complete asshole. I knew he had a hidden motivation and agenda all along. Even though he "pretended" to be on Aoi's side to help her get Shusei's attentions, I knew that he was scum when he kissed Aoi. I also kind of thought maybe the author was hinting that he was not a very good man because he "stole Shusei's girlfriend" away. I was so happy when Aoi stood up for herself, because she doesn't do it as much as she should and socked Soju right in the face! He totally deserved it for trying to screw with Aoi and Shusei's relationship.
I also liked how Shusei got a little bit of his own revenge on Aoi for lying to him. Even though Shusei teases her way too much, for the most part I thought it was harmless how he teased her by using Habenero sauce in her dinner and tricking her into checking out porn videos. Aoi is so naive that it was pretty hilarious!
As Aoi's feelings for Shusei grow, she continues to become more curious about him, including being physically attracted to him, Shusei catches on to this and pins her down and feels her up in response. This really ticks me off. It's totally ok and normal for a young girl to be curious about a man's body which is one thing, but it's another for Shusei to take advantage of Aoi because he knows that. I honestly don't understand why we are seeing a at least one scene like this in every novel. If I wasn't so curious to see what happens to Shusei and Aoi's relationship, then I would put this series down in a heartbeat.
After all that, we meet Momo who is jealous of Aoi for being close to Shusei. Because she is jealous when they go to the pool Momo unties Aoi's bikini top. Afterwards, Momo is harassed by some young guys because she's cute and despite what Momo did to Aoi, Aoi sacrifices herself to distract the young men and protect Momo from being assaulted. Hmph! Shows what a better person Aoi is. When Momo realized how sweet and good of a person Aoi is, she realizes that what she did is really wrong and she apologizes to Aoi and admits her feelings for Shusei (WHAT?! Hello your his cousin!). It's possible Momo is just jealous of Aoi and Shusei's attentions, but I really interpreted this scene as Momo actually really liking Shusei. The whole scene very entertaining, but seriously? It's your cousin, stupid! So now, not only do we have teachers lusting after Shusei, but we also have "kissing cousins." Oh brother! I think even Shusei realizes his cousin is being ridiculous and he talks with her and explains she shouldn't be jealous.
It appears that Shusei may indeed have feelings for Shusei after all as Shusei admits to Aoi's brother that he does not planning on leaving her. Despite this, Shusei does not act on his feelings yet for whatever reason, whether he is not ready or has some secret reason for not doing so. In the end, readers can take pleasure in Shusei and Aoi watching the fireworks together.