Story About Buying My Classmate Once A Week Chapter 314 Discussion

It's been two days since I discovered this novel thanks to the translation, and I've slept a total of 6 hours since then. The synopsis for the novel seemed extremely dubious, reminding me of AriOto, but as a joke between friends, I decided to read further and was morbidly interested. Clarification for the rest of the review: this is based on reading the novel directly from KakuYomu, I did not use the translation to read the novel, so I cannot comment on the quality of the translation linked here on NovelUpdates.

And no, the reason that drew me into this was my weakness for angst and mutual pining. And the chapters I've read so far are heavily laden with it, even if Miyagi and Sendai are absolutely stubborn about ever admitting having any relation to each other outside of their weird agreement. And fair warning, when the tags for this novel say [codependency] and [slow burn], Haneda Usa really means it. It's a long ride that takes lots of patience to understand the full scope of their slowly-transforming relationship, so buckle up and get ready to experience a relationship to last for years.

For all it started out as what appears to be Miyagi as the assailant, and Sendai as the victim (a la Aya and Marika in AriOto), that isn't quite the case as we learn early on. It's surprisingly clear a few chapters in that Spoiler

Sendai is interested in Miyagi, even to the point of pushing her way back into Miyagi's life after she decides to cut off their relationship when pushing a bit too far over the line. If anything, the more that we see, Miyagi is the one constantly running away and Sendai is the one doggedly chasing her down until she gives up, which is exactly how their strange little arrangement came to be. They're both pretty shitty people in their own ways, but so far from what I've read, it feels like they're just two lonely people who had the (mis?) fortune to meet a kindred soul to fill up the void they have outside of the classroom. I've enjoyed seeing their dynamic changed from the initial impression I got.

That being said, I swore this author had a bit of a foot fetish, in the beginning, but that died down in about 15 or so chapters. Who knows if it'll come back after chapter 35. (update: it did, but it's a lot less frequent than the first time around...)

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The story itself is pretty simple to read, with the plot not having crazy turns. I'm not completely fluent in Japanese, but the language is easy to follow and a lot of the vocab is repetitive. I think the characters are decently made with complex traits, so it's not all tropes and cliches.

I'm actually so shocked there are 200+ chapters of this, so I'm wondering how far the author is going to go with their relationship. Spoiler

At this point where I'm at, they've finally had their first kiss after a lot of anxiety, but haven't acknowledged a relationship past Miyagi's stubborness against calling each other friends (Sendai thinks they are, at least. Or at least she did before Miyagi said they weren't a few chapters prior).

[collapse] Who really knows what what will happen. For now, I'll continue to lose sleep over this story.

Update: I got extremely sick after not sleeping for a week because of this book, but it was so worth it. The later chapters highlight their feelings for each other beyond the contract they made, and getting to see their dynamic without the contract as an excuse was absolutely brilliant. The author is absolutely amazing at timing. They know exactly when to break the suspense and when to hold the tension, leaving satisfactory closures to various conflicts in the stories, while still letting you wanting more for their relationship.

I also love how a lot of plot points build up and come into play later. A lot of things may seem initially very frustrating to understand, such as Miyagi's constant bad mood and Sendai's vague obedience to someone who she should really leave behind, but each contradiction and confusing choice have a reason behind them, and Haneda Usa does a really good job tying up every end.

Spoiler

Such an example includes why Miyagi can't trust Sendai:

"Because up to this point, every rule that we've made was broken by Sendai-san."

It's honestly just so heartbreaking to see Miyagi pull back so many times, despite Sendai going leaps and bounds to express her love, because of her fear of abandonment and the subtle trauma she holds from her mother and father's neglect. And Sendai, who has given her so many things--her earrings, a person to share meals with, a full round cake without leftovers--makes her keenly aware of the stark future she will have when Sendai no longer stays by her side.

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Also, Sendai is honestly one of the best things to have happened to Miyagi, Spoiler

like the amount of attention and care she puts into their relationship despite thinking it's one-sided and without Miyagi even mentioning what's wrong has made me cry more than once. Like when she chose Miyagi's earrings:

"But, if, someday, she were to love someone else other than me.

My heart wouldn't widen enough to wish for her happiness. That's why, when I can't wish for her happiness, I thought that this piercing could wish for her happiness in my place."

And all of this is because---

"Miyagi, like a stray cat, slipped into my high school life that was riddled with cracks, slowly warmed up to me, and gave me all that I am. If she wasn't here, I think I would have continued living in that monochrome world, a fake smile forever plastered on my face."

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Update (06/26/2023) : With the release of the second volume and the flood of new readers from the voiced PV, I wanted to address some concerns people had:

Spoiler

The backwards step from their relationship as high schoolers to roommates is quite simply explained. Up to this point, practically all of their interactions up to this point has been in the context of the 5, 000 yen bill, which muddles up their sense of boundaries and where they're allowed to cross. Living with someone isn't the same as spending hours after-school together--and for Miyagi, who very much enjoys her space, it's easily understandable that the first few weeks will be rocky as they adapt to each other's living styles and re-contextualize their relationship as roommates.

That being said, this relationship progression is very much on Miyagi's terms, and given her reluctance to be vulnerable to other people, it takes a very, very long time for them to move up steps in their relationship--and this speaks volumes of Sendai's patience and kindness as she waits for Miyagi to open to her.

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