You said what I’ve always thought myself. Out of all the relationships of my friends and family members, past and present, not a single one makes being in a relationship seem… appealing. They aren’t terrible relationships, but I’d never think “wow they are so great together”. It’s mostly lukewarm at best.
Of course my opinion on their relationships doesn’t matter, but it has definitely shaped my own perspective and my pessimistic view. Couple that with the naivety of inexperience, and I just can’t imagine getting that close to someone and wanting to be around them all the time. I mean even my family and friends that I love I need time away from, and I’ve known them most of my life, how could i become closer to someone I’ve known for a fraction of the time?
All that to say I feel more positively toward this fictional couple in their 40’s than any real person, and i don’t know what to think of that. But for real they are so cute I wonder if relationships like this really exist. I also want more chapters of them!
Ngl this made me cry. I'm approaching 25 and have never dated or fallen in love, and I don't see it happening any time soon. Honestly a big part of it is because it terrifies me. I don't have a single example of a healthy and happy relationship in my life. Everyone around me, gay or straight, is stuck in a miserable relationship where, honestly, both people in the relationship genuinely dislike or even hate each other, but they stay together because it's financially easier, or because they're terrified of being alone, or because they had children and now feel they can't raise their child alone.
And that scares me. I'm terrified of falling in love only for my relationship to be the same, for me to feel stuck with someone that would end up hating everything about me, or that I'd eventually come to detest every little thing my partner does.
All this to say that I really see myself in Harue. He expects the happiness he has with Fujishima to end. He can't help but think of the ways things could go wrong, and he can't help being self conscious of himself. He sees no worth in himself, sees nothing he can bring to the table or provide for his partner. But he took that risk and pursued the relationship despite his fears, and I think that's so beautiful :')
I would love to see more from them! I hope the author makes a sequel some day, maybe we could see more about their life after moving in together. I felt very emotional seeing the kitten they got after moving in together. Seriously such a sweet story.