The Cross Academy Festival is upon us, the main event of which is a dance that causes a flurry of couples and mad dash of asking out. Apparently, there has to be a boy and a girl couple to attend the dance, which is definitely the source material showing its age (like the cross-dressing last week). Heteronormative much?
Shima thought he was being proactive, but gets rejected over twenty times. Izumo, like Bon, has no interest in frivolous activities when exams are so near (a rare thing they agree on). Even her friend Noriko is already spoken for. Even so, Bon make a girl cry when he rejects her, while Yukio uses his status as a festival staff member to gently let down his would-be dates.
You might be asking, why doesn’t Rin just ask Shiemi out? Well, she’s not a student at the academy, so she’s ineligible … until she suddenly shows up one day as a transfer student. All that tutoring with Yukio was so she could enroll. Surprise! It only took thirteen years (our time) for it to happen!
This shocks Izumi, who suddenly finds herself eating lunch with Noriko and Shiemi. As Noriko is telling Shiemi how good the timing of her arrival is, and how most of the school is pairing off for the coming dance, Rin stops by to ask Shiemi to come with him.
Rin is prepared to ask her out to the dance, but Shiemi wants to say something too: she’s going to ask … Yukio. Mind you, this out of any romantic interest in Rin’s brother. It’s just she’s spent a lot of time with him and can see that he’s been burdened with stuff of late, and thinks he could use a break from that stress.
Rin doesn’t quite grasp this, and believes this is Shiemi rejecting him for Yukio, who gets to Win Again. He’s devastated, and decides to give up on the dance and work the onigiri stall. Unfortunately, Yukio gently shoots down Shiemi the exact same way, word for word, he declined other girls’ offers. That leaves both Rin and Shiemi without dates for the dance.
Shiemi decides to participate in the haunted house, and puts her all into it, but Noriko points out to her that Rin definitely intended to ask her out, and asks who she likes more: Rin or Yukio. Shiemi answers she “likes” both as precious friends, but Noriko is only interested in who she likes romantically. Shiemi laughs and says it’s simply “too early” for her to be thinking about that stuff, which just reinforces how pure, innocent, and inexperienced she is about such things.
We know Izumo has feelings for Rin, but is too stubborn to do anything with them but let them stew. It occurred to me that no one actually asked her out to the dance, they just accepted she wasn’t interested. But Rin does end up asking for her help at the food stall, presenting her with an cute working outfit to wear.
When she tells him there are plenty of women he can ask for that, he tells her because this is work it has to be a woman he can trust. The words It can’t just be anyone ring in Izumo’s ears a lot differently than Rin intended. Izumo gives in, but tells Rin he should “learn to see people’s hidden sides,” then telling him she doesn’t trust anyone as they part ways.
That night, as Noriko is heading out for the dance, she tells a studying Izumo to be honest about her feelings. She’s late to help out at the stall, but they’re doing fine anyway, to the point Rin gets a break. He wants to bad to dance with Shiemi, and just like magic, there she is, resplendent in her yukata, the crowd parting around her like a sea as she comes into focus.
He approaches her, she explains what she’s doing there, he tells her he ended up making rice balls, and she laughs and starts to tear up, so ridiculously happy she’s able to talk to him like this again. That’s when Rin asks her, straight up, to dance with him. She blushes and clutches her garment, thinking about how this means he feels “that way” about her, and recalling Noriko’s question of which brother she likes more.
But while she does admit in her thoughts she likes Rin, he taps her forehead, having inferred her wish. He takes her by the arm and they both approach Yukio and ask him if he’ll dance with them. They all take each others’ hands and spin around to the music, happy as clams. Shiemi’s beaming smile is everything. In the end, everyone got to enjoy their youth!
It’s a good thing, too, because this festival is most definitely a Calm Before the Storm
. In the stinger, the Vatican reported that there are Illuminati spies among the exorcists, including one in the Japan branch, and Shura is charged with discovering who it is. There were times I suspected Yukio, but the silent but omnipresent Takara Nemu emerged as the prime candidate.
That was only reinforced at the lovely mood-killing final scene. Izumo, using the excuse of not wanting to break her word, put on the outfit Rin gave her and is headed down to work with him. I was worried she would see Rin dancing with Shiemi (and Yukio) and feel crestfallen or betrayed, but something worse happens.
She doesn’t even make it to the festival before Nemu stops her and presents her with “Kamiki Tsukumo’s precious mascot”, a stuffed fox spirit. Izumo’s furious reaction confirms this is some messed-up shit, and the season’s storm is about to arrive in earnest.
Commercials Cooperation Advertisements:
(1) IT Teacher IT Freelance
立刻註冊及報名電腦補習課程吧!
电子计算机 -教育 -IT 電腦班” ( IT電腦補習 ) 提供一個方便的电子计算机 教育平台, 為大家配對信息技术, 電腦 老師, IT freelance 和 programming expert. 讓大家方便地就能找到合適的電腦補習, 電腦班, 家教, 私人老師.
We are a education and information platform which you can find a IT private tutorial teacher or freelance.
Also we provide different information about information technology, Computer, programming, mobile, Android, apple, game, movie, anime, animation…
(2) ITSec
www.ITSeceu.uk
Secure Your Computers from Cyber Threats and mitigate risks with professional services to defend Hackers.
ITSec provide IT Security and Compliance Services, including IT Compliance Services, Risk Assessment, IT Audit, Security Assessment and Audit, ISO 27001 Consulting and Certification, GDPR Compliance Services, Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), Penetration test, Ethical Hacking, Vulnerabilities scan, IT Consulting, Data Privacy Consulting, Data Protection Services, Information Security Consulting, Cyber Security Consulting, Network Security Audit, Security Awareness Training.
Contact us right away.
Email (Prefer using email to contact us):
SalesExecutive@ITSec.vip