Last book Kamishiro talked to Iwata about a girl he has been crushing on, not cluing her in to who he was talking to, so the opening is Iwata doing pushups, perhaps in an attempt to tired herself out and physically work through thoughts and feelings. Fortunately, she has some supportive friends in the room too. She tries to distance herself from Kamishiro, but he doesn’t clue in to what she is doing and keeps approaching her. Classic lack of communication going on. Kamishiro notices and asks her if she is avoiding him and Iwata confesses she has, if only not to give his crush the impression that they are together…

Classic shoujo action is afoot, from miscommunication, attempting to ignore blossoming feelings, to helping classmates improve skills <i>(for a jump rope contest no less)</i>, a festival that throws them all into a play…it’s all here. Eventually they both tell each other that they will confess to their crushes…which does not happen in this book so there is no true confirmation that Kamishiro likes Iwata.

To be honest, the amount of ‘stuff’ that happens is very much going on in the school environment around them, but their actual progression in their relationship goes pretty much nowhere. I’m hoping that the end of this volume sets up the next. As usual the art was pretty great.

I liked this volume as much as I liked the first one. A lot of the standard shoujo tropes and scenarios show up in this series, but the characters are surprisingly refreshing and makes the read still feel new and enjoyable.