hontou ni Stripey Insists Sisters Cry Oniichan Now

Sasameki Koto 12

The scent of a woman

It's that day in the summer holidays when everyone heads back to school. Sumika is cheesed off when their teacher complains about the cold in the comfort of the air-conditioned staff room while it's blazing outside but finally starts to rain heavily, trapping most of the students in school. While on clean-up duty, Sumika asks Azusa about her next work and offers to help but the latter declines. The gang waits, in the library, for the rain to stop and Sumika makes a sour face seeing Ushio chat so happily with Library-senpai. After a Kiyori-distracted Ushio spills her books, Miyako finds a mysterious note on one of the pages which sends Tomoe into treasure hunt mode.

Kiyori's food-orientated thinking cracks the first clue and gets them the key to a locker in the boys' changing room. They try to find a guy to use and Sumika taps Masaki. Who ends up being buried under a pile of smelly clothes. Another clue, pointing to a German man, is recovered. While trying to unravel it, Azusa passes by and Tomoe asks to read her novel when the draft is done. Azusa realizes the next place is the music room and Miyako finds the next clue behind Bach's portrait. Remembering a Beethoven quote about Bach, the gang head to the school's water feature and search in the rain. Everyone ends up slipping and getting soaked. The rain finally stops and Sumika finds it. Miyako sees it as an elaborate prank but Tomoe says they all had fun and wonders where to hide it for the next searchers. At home, in the evening, Sumika calls Ushio.

Reaction:

There wasn't much character development after the milestone in the previous episode when we found out that Sumika does have a more than decent chance of fulfilling her love. Though I wouldn't call it a filler episode as it consolidated what we've learnt so far and showed how cohesive the girls' club members have become. Also LOL at how their antics caused other students, and even their marginally disgruntled teacher, to notice them (the funniest was still Library-senpai's repeated ??? scenes) - not quite as spectacularly as Live Alive though.

I am guessing that Sumika was calling Ushio about the career and study track/stream form so this episode also planted the seed of another potential obstacle in Sumika x Ushio - will our heroines be separated by different aspirations in life and take the different formal routes towards them yet away from each other?

Related posts:

1. Sasameki Koto 11
2. Sasameki Koto 10
3. Sasameki Koto 09