Yagate Kimi ni Naru – 07

「秘密のたくさん／種火」 (Himitsu no takusan / Tanebi)
“Secrets Galore / Sparks”

Well if last week was all about explaining the mystery of Touko and the likely developments in her relationship with Yuu, this one was showing how complex that development is likely to be thanks to a little Sayaka attention. Secondary characters may not be Yagakimi’s focus a lot of the time (remember Seiji? Didn’t think so), but as our loyal student council adjutant shows they’re going to have some prime importance in steering this little yuri love story.

While a lot of Sayaka’s revealed past will likely prove surprising, quite a bit certainly won’t be raising too many eyebrows. As many probably suspected Sayaka is firmly in love with Touko, but in a way opposite to that of Yuu. For Sayaka Touko’s perfection is the object of attention, she’s someone who does what Sayaka attempts to do, but seemingly without a hitch. Everything Touko does she does perfectly. Of course this isn’t actually the case, but it’s part of what made Sayaka fall so hard for Touko in the first place. With Touko needing support to achieve perfection (in Sayaka’s eyes), Sayaka creates a place for herself with a girl so strongly immune to any feelings of love. If no one can be with Touko, then Sayaka will simply be the one who gets closest, because if matters ever change then Sayaka will be the one best positioned to reap the rewards.

As Yuu keeps on showing though, matters aren’t as easy as Sayaka believes them to be. The problem with Sayaka’s love is that she cannot accept the flaws Touko possesses. She may see them, but she refuses to acknowledge them—to do so is to realize she’s not as critical to Touko’s well-being as she leads herself to believe. This is part of the reason for Sayaka’s jealousy of Yuu, she dislikes not only the attention and intimacy Touko is lavishing on our new girl, but the likelihood Yuu is filling a hole Sayaka has not. Just the threat of Touko needing someone else scares Sayaka, because if Touko desires someone else then maybe she might find love with them, and if she finds love Sayaka’s whole house of cards comes crashing down.

Sayaka’s mental conundrum thus indicates Yagakimi’s immediate conflict will be one of reciprocation: the first pairing (Yuu/Touko, Touko/Sayaka) to find mutual love will likely wind up the winner in this battle of hearts. We know for example Yuu is slowly falling for Touko thanks to the latter’s wonderfully adorable quirks (and they’re pretty damn adorable), but Touko is fearful of such an outcome because the vulnerability it requires on her part directly interferes with her stated mission. This could prove enough to see Touko drawn closer to Sayaka considering Sayaka’s current variety of support, but whether actual love emerges from such a shift is anyone’s guess right now.

There’s a surprising amount of shifting sands to work our way through before Yagakimi ends, and as one couple (and frank admission) shows, quite a few ways for these relationships to end up playing out.