I've graduated and went to college.... I started when I found this novel, I was younger than Reika-sama at the time... Now, I'm older than Reika-sama I'll always be waiting, Reika-sama Edit: I've re read it again, why do I torture myself like this
I'm tempted to reread Kenkyo again but at the same time, I don't want to?? Because I really really loved this novel but knowing that this hadn't been updated for years would just make things more painful for me when I finally caught up again ;v; Similar with @Mino Micha, I was starting high school when I read this novel, and now I'm in college now ;-; Kenkyo is really one of a kind to make me visit this thread once in a while, hoping against hope that the author would continue writing it again.
I am still hoping too. This is one of the best novels I have ever read. Reika deserves a happy ending and not a cliffhanger. Author-san, please notice us.
I like to think that in an alternate universe, Kenkyo isn't in hiatus and is actually completed with a manga and anime adaptation to boot.
I pondered some stuff, and no I'm not saying this is undiscutable proof that Reinjou is canon or something, but I find those observations curious, and want to talk about them So I was wondering, Reika's reaction every time she has a love rival or someone view her as their love rival (every time she's a stalking horse basically) If some chick (Tsuruhana & Maihama for example) go out of their way to pick a fight with her and/or try to undermine her authority/reputation, she would mercilessly shut them down, also shown with Katsuragi but if that person feel threatened by Reika but isn't malicious to her/too antagonistic, she generally go out of her way to reassure them that no, she isn't into that boy, she really isn't a threat to their love life, and befriend them if possible. For example Sakurako, who at the beginning would feel threatened every time she breathed next to Akizawa, Moriyama since Umekawa showed her special treatment, or random Kaburagi/Enjou fangirl for example. In the case of that manager who was into Akizawa, Reika told her that he basically had a girlfriend, but made no more reaction. when a person is liked/popular with someone people assume Reika would be into (Wakaba/Yurie), Reika also doesn't react and has no problem with the situation, which, of course, because it's not a boy Reika is into Now, if we use the example of someone Reika was actually in love with (Tomoe-senpai), while she didn't plan on interfering, she was pretty hurt by the revelation and looked at Kasumi's main characteristics (cute, unreliable) that were precisely something Reika didn't have (or thought she didn't have in the case of the cute adjective) and thought "oh I never stood a chance", and wondered if even the cute platonic interactions between Reika and Tomoe were false and Tomoe using her. Then silently leave NOW, my point is when meeting Yuiko, instead of going "oh pretty" or placating Yuiko that no the rumors with Enjou are just rumors or basically any other reaction, she just goes silent then thinks "oh I can't win", which, why does she want to win against Yuiko in particular ? It's not like Reika feels compelled to compare herself to every girl around unless they act antagonistic/are a threat to her. When she learns that Yuiko is a fiancee candidate It really gave her a shock, and she mentions that her feelings were complicated, and it felt like she was left behind not even when Sakurako x Akizawa became canon did she feel like that, and knowing Akizawa he wasn't going to break up with Sakurako later on since he doesn't want to break his cute childhood friend's heart, and really care about her, and love her if his reaction to Dite is any indication. With Reika knowing Akizawa and Sakurako since elementary school and being Sakurako's best friend Why did the revelation of Enjou having a fiancee candidate give her such a shock ? later on, Ririna describe what Yuiko is like "beautiful, gentle, kind, and someone you want to protect", and they ponder upon the characteristics, she then immediately get compared to Reika ("basically the complete opposite of Reika-san" since Reika is generally the type to protect other students rather than to be protected), Reika once again and get offended, but this time, it's followed by Ririna saying " Don't worry, you have your good points too", and she always had them, but them being verbally acknowledged probably means it's gonna be different from the Tomoe situation this time around. During ch 207 & 208 (yet another Sakura viewing Kaburagi party I think), Reika's monologue is unusual, she comments on the beauty and fragileness of Yuiko and her attracting the attention of guys, she comments that the other guys didn't stand a chance against Enjou because these two were "picture perfect", and Yuiko's popularity, but it isn't said in a fangirling tone, when looking at cool popular and pretty girls like Yurie and Aira, or beautiful popular girls that give a fragile and to be protected vibe like Sakurako, she's just impressed and admiring and also thinks it's cool like the bi disaster she is. Even in non popular cases like Wakaba but that do attract the love of someone she knew since she was 6yo (Kaburagi) or since middle school (FSH) she barely reacts and try to befriend the girl/lessen the hostility of the others towards Wakaba. But with Yuiko, that doesn't happen, she just thinks about that Yuiko popularity/attractiveness in a kind of subdued manner, and doesn't follow up on admiration/anything else and is just kind of.. saying it, we don't know for sure what Reika was feeling but she kinda gave a defeated/resigned vibe ? those are my shipping lenses talking though. Then she takes the choice of going closer to the scary Sakura trees rather than staying with them, and power walk out of there, in c208 we see she's kind of upset, felt like a total third wheel and thinks the sight of those two together was an eyesore and even go into binge eating mode while wearing a furisode with a tight obi because of how frustrated she was by that. In 266, she see Yuiko, thinks that Yuiko looks much better in a white dress than Reika ever could, and once again run away Instead of taking the opportunity to befriend Yuiko since they have a shared acquaintance/friend (love interest for Yuiko), she feels awkward as hell, continue to monologue on how inadequate she feels next to her, and flee from them at the first opportunity. Hey Reika, why do you feel upset about Yuiko hanging around Enjou ? One might think it's because you're into him.
I think that there's an alternate explanation. Yuiko is very different personality wise from any other character in the story, and it's entirely possible that Reika just can't deal with her because of that. Now it's true that it can be because Reika is into Enjou and she doesn't like the competition, but she's basically into everyone. Sure, she constantly denies it but Reika is famous for being completely unable to read herself. I do think that if the story were to be continued, Enjou is the most likely person for Reika to get attached to and that her response to Yuiko hints at this. However, I don't think this is a very strong hint.
That's a very valid reading. Yuiko does give an unsettling and otherwordly vibe, you might be unto something. Though I personally disagree But Reika doesn't really have the character trait of being uncomfortable when with a new type of person because the cast is honestly pretty wild. She just get weirded out for a bit then shrug it off, the case that is most like you described is Fuyuko, and it's mostly because Reika is afraid of getting cursed/possessed from their antics, and Fuyuko is really really weird, and it doesn't prevent her from hanging out with her and making genuine attempts to connect. And there are honestly plenty of haraguro in the cast (Enjou, Sakurako and Takateru to mention those she know are haraguro and interacts the most with), and Yuiko is literally acting the same as Sakurako(Reika's literal best friend) from what we see so far. And it doesn't explain the Reika comparing herself to Yuiko and finding herself lacking and feeling self conscious about the fact that she feels like she lose to Yuiko. She's generally only bothered with people threatening her Suiran status/peace at school and actively antagonistic against her (proof, she was never bothered with Wakaba/Yurie for example, or people feeling romantically threatened by her as long as they didn't pick a fight). For example, Reika canonically states multiples times that she can't win against Sakurako, and I'm pretty certain she can't or doesn't think she can't win against Yurie or Youko (the pivoine prez), but she's never shown to be bothered by that or to care. In Yuiko's case, she oddly care, and the girl never made a move against her or even made a mocking/insulting comment or anything, she just clings to Enjou and smile at her. Why does Reika compare herself to Yuiko ? Formerly, she only ever compared herself to a girl and felt really bothered by the result in Kasumi's case, and arguably when she compared her weight to Ichinokura's model girlfriend, and the thing is she had a crush into their boyfriend. There are cases where she's irritated by the Fulfilling romance village (whatever the gender of those people are) or that she was a bug repellent and Maihama was beloved by the fireflies, but that's not quite the same thing And it doesn't explain why she had the feeling of "being left behind", or keep describing how she feels like Enjou are Yuiko are perfect for each other, but never in a glad/admiring tone, and just kinda leaves. Like I said, she doesn't have the emotion of being left behind for Akizawa&Sakurako (despite Akizawa&Sakurako being a thing almost certainly leading to marriage), or Kaburagi having a crush for Wakaba, and she knew those people since forever and was even Sakurako's best friend. When Aoi announce she has a boyfriend, she's shocked, has her usual jealousy at the Fulfilling Romance Village, but the subject change rapidly to Suiran school life and Reika doesn't particularly ponder about it or is bothered by that. So Reika certainly feels something about Enjou, she might not have outright fallen for him, but the potential is there, should she be less wary/on guard around him (and Yukino is perfect for that honestly), and she's gotten more relaxed around him who fits these criterias, I wonder ? That, with the fact that she said she preferred Enjou's face over Kaburagi's, and said she liked kind and composed boys (she doesn't like the immature type that picked on her in her past life) that are like her Onii-sama, but upon seeing Akizawa, also said that she prefered them dangerous, who fits that criteria ? It's not like he acts particularly different from Takateru either And yeah, Enjou is not the only guy she was into or the only dude she was attracted to, she had crushes (Tomoe, Ichinokura, Naru-kun, arguably Aira too), and she had her heart races for other people (Imari mainly, Kaburagi papa, even Kaburagi himself, and maybe other examples that I can't remember), but the point of my post is that among those people, her reaction about the Yuiko-Enjou thing is weird. There's also the fact that among the guys in her age zone, most are acquaintances/terrified of her/guys she barely interacted with, others are taken (Akizawa, Satomi for example), even if Akizawa wasn't taken he's still in the friendzone, others are maiden zoned(Class Rep, Iwamuro, both she and Enjou compared Kaburagi to a maiden/like a female friend of Wakaba), the opposite of her type (she said she didn't like the overbearing type like Kaburagi) Umekawa is literally into his dog and Minami never registered as something close to a love interest and is into Ririna, and the other dudes in cram school who I don't think Reika was ever into. So around her age, there's only FSH who is honestly pretty cool and get along great with her(who may be stalking horse zoned, AND he's probably into Wakaba, even if there's no proof), Enjou himself, and other girls like Wakaba. If you include a bigger age zone, there's Kanta-kun(who is a pretty valid option but since she's into older guys, a middle schooler is probably too young, though still an interesting option) and even if she was into Imari he would be messily murdered by Takateru (there won't even be ashes left). So, I'm not saying Reinjou/Ennrei is the only valid option, but this time, instead of searching for people into Reika, or people who we thinks are suited for Reika, I wanted to make a case for "who is Reika into ?", and while for Wakaba it's obvious that Reika get along great with her and care about her a lot, same with Mizusaki & Reika, the hints that Reika is into Enjou are less obvious so I searched for them.