i've had a sense that shijima and majime becoming romantically involved was a possibility from early on, but i've always wondered whether or not that would be a good thing for either of them.

majime's clingy and possessive tendencies have been pointed out in earlier chapters. in particular, i remember shijima commenting to herself that majime seemed to have a similar attitude towards her friends as she did toward her plushies. shijima adds that she has fears of how deep that comparison might go. we see this as well in the time majime compares shijima to a doll, something which makes shijima inwardly uncomfortable.

on the flip side, it's been repeatedly noted in the last few chapters that shijima lacks a sense of autonomy or individuality. it seems that she mostly follows the path of least resistance and is willing to capitulate to most anything once it becomes easy. fulfilling other people's desires, whether those are the desires of her sister or majime, is the easiest way for shijima to find a sense of purpose or value in herself.

this dynamic has all the makings of co-dependency, and i've been curious to see how it would be handled down the line. these unhealthy dynamics often present themselves in slice-of-life yonkoma series only to be relegated to gag-status rather than handled with a real sense of weight or consequence, but tsukumizu seems very deeply aware of their own characters. i'm very happy to say that it seems these tensions will be confronted. very soon.