Much the like rest of the series in tone and theme, so I won't repeat that here. There are two things going on in this volume: rivalry and communication. A major theme is Mami's intrusion into the tense relationship between Yukina, Shigure and Akira, and as I expected from the last volume, she does indeed prove to be annoyingly manipulative.

At times this is convincing, since it's perfectly possible to manipulate people who know they're being manipulated. At others, it isn't, like the bet storyline: there is simply no reason whatsoever for Yukina to accept a new term added on to a bet after that bet is over, particularly one that's obviously a plot against her, and particularly one that's got an extra layer of subterfuge in "agree to do a thing I will tell you later". In fact there's never any reason for anyone to do that sort of thing, but particularly not here, and particularly not an intelligent and strong-willed girl like Yukina. The correct, Yukina-esque response is, "No, we agreed the terms of the bet beforehand." The rest of the writing pulled me through that section, but it felt unexpectedly lazy and clumsy from Toyama, who I normally find reliable.

The second is a more pleasing development: the characters actually start trying to understand and then to articulate their own feelings. It's a sign of maturity, and also shows that there is actually some development going on here.

I confess a small amount of regret that Yukina doesn't go for "So, how about you just both be my boyfriend?" ( )