Shuu ni Ichido Classmate wo Kau Hanashi Vol 8 - Shiori is almost there, one more push!

Volume 8 of Shuu ni Ichido Classmate wo Kau Hanashi (週に一度クラスメイトを買う話) continues right from where we left off, with things between Hazuki and Shiori starting to heat up as the "we're just roommates" excuse they use becomes less and less believable in the eyes of everyone, both inside and outside the story.

There are three key themes in this volume. The first is the fear Shiori has of being home alone: she reiterates that she hates being alone at home whenever Hazuki leaves for her part-time job. Everything seems to indicate that it's not strictly about being alone, but about the fact that Hazuki is with someone else.

As usual Shiori looks way younger than Hazuki, it has to be the fact that she's always a bit grumpy.

Photos are nice, gotta start doing more, especially in the many intimate moments Shiori. Leave a trace!

Shiori repeats that it's not "my Hazuki" whenever she's working at the café or tutoring, and that irritates her. Then again, it's Shiori we're talking about, so she isn't even fully aware herself of why she thinks that way. She's still "figuring it out," while Hazuki realizes it, but Hazuki still needs to balance her need for money so she can stay away from home permanently in case she doesn't land a job once she graduates from university.

Shiori tried multiple times to get her to stop going, but never really pressed the issue because she understands Hazuki's perspective and doesn't want to strain their relationship. Instead, that usually leads her to escalate the "bite marks" habit to prove Hazuki belongs to her and nobody else, which is hilarious to see at times. Remember, they're doing all this while still telling themselves "we're just roommates" as an excuse.

Hazuki's patience must be at the limit with all the biting that Shiori does all the time on her body! Is Shiori a squirrel or something?

The second theme revolves around photos and memories. One scene reveals that, despite being together for years now, they have never taken a single photo together, which is interesting, but not unheard of. When was the last time you took a photo with someone? Honestly, it's been months for me, probably at a birthday or something...

The third theme is ownership, which ties into the first: Shiori needs constant reminders and proof that Hazuki belongs to her, yet at the same time, she doesn't want others to know it, creating an internal contradiction. Shiori gifts a pair of earrings to Hazuki, but immediately objects when Hazuki changes her hairstyle to a ponytail to show them off.

They got caught by some friend walking hand to hand, but it didn't result to much. I'm sure at some point they'll catch up though with their relationship...

I wasn't expecting Hazuki to actually act that childish wanting to get the toy from the gacha machine, but was fun to see Shiori being the adult one here.

Is it just me, or could about 90% of the conflict in this series be resolved if Shiori simply accepted the fact that she's in love with Hazuki? That seems like something that will happen soon, though, because by the end of this eighth volume, despite still clinging to the roommate excuse, they take their intimacy a step further.

I don't expect the series to last much longer at this point because time in the story is moving fast, and it won't be long before their university days are over. And then what? Will they continue this well into their working lives? I wouldn't mind, to be honest, but I worry about whether the author has enough ideas to keep things fresh. Either way, I'll read the ninth volume soon to see where this is going.