Turns out I did not leave off on pg 82 of 明日をくれた君に last time, but rather pg 83, so that post’s been updated. Good thing is that, in rereading it, I figured out a construction that I couldn’t last time, so that’s good. Today I left off on pg 110, reading 27 pages and finishing ch 2!
They started discussing こころ a bit, which I feel like I’d understand a lot better if I’d actually read the book, but uh… I don’t think I’m ready for that yet lol. I also don’t have it yet. I’m collecting 海王社文庫’s 朗読CD付 versions of classics (wherein a popular seiyuu reads a passage from each), and I’m hoping to get their version of こころ at some point as well.
spoilers/speculation
Hmm so it’s seeming like 図書委員の佐藤先輩 isn’t 佐藤くん. Since Satou-kun doesn’t want Midzuki to know who he is, if he’s Satou-senpai then when Midzuki interacts with him it could be that it’s an act so she doesn’t find him out, but then the chapter ends with the latest letter she gets from Satou-kun reading, “藍原さんに、会いたい.” Doesn’t exactly sound like the words of someone who’s been interacting with her!
I kind of don’t think he’d go that far, either. When she tries to talk to him, Satou-senpai doesn’t seem to want her to, seems to just want to be left alone. (Of course, he does warm up to her and he does finally give her that book recommendation she’d asked for the first time she talked to him, but. That’s later.) But Satou-kun likes her romantically, so if he had the chance to interact with her as himself, especially without her actually knowing it’s him, wouldn’t he want to take it? Of course, he could have his reasons.
I’m also still not discounting that “Satou” is an alias. Sugiura could possibly be Satou-kun, then. He’s definitely important to the story, and at the end of this chapter, Midzuki had an interaction with him wherein she realized that he’s a nice person, contrary to how he looks and his reputation as a delinquent. She’d hurt her hand, and when he patted her head as he left the library, he left a band-aid on top of her head to put on her injury! Yeah, they do kind of know each other, but they’ve never really interacted before here, at which point the “I want to meet you” note is already in the book, and he’s surprised that Midzuki knows his name.
I suppose it’s technically possible that we haven’t met Satou-kun yet, but since this is chapter 2 out of 6 (nearly halfway through the novel page-wise), it’s almost certainly one of these two. I was originally thinking the librarian kid, a.k.a. Satou-senpai, but that was before Midzuki started actually interacting with him—and suspecting that he’s Satou-kun! —so early. Right now I’m definitely leaning toward it being Sugiura-kun.
Also if Sugiura is the love interest, then it would be ironic (hilarious) because Midzuki’d go from boggling at Ritsu because “you’re dating Kaito-kun who’s amazing, yet you’ll fawn over Sugiura-kun of all people?” to. dating him. lmao (Well, ‘fawn over’ might not really be the right word, but)
「そこ、どいてもらっていいですか」
Am I so used to hearing “どいて!” that どく sounds rude to me despite it not being inherently so, or is that still kinda rude but wrapped up in politeness? (Also, is he referring to her as そこ [like そこの方 but less polite] or is he asking her to move from there?)
Some vocab of note:
割り箸 (わりばし) [noun] disposable chopsticks
程なくして (ほどなくして) [expression] after a short while; not long after; soon; before long; shortly thereafter