It was only a matter of time before Tsubaki made her move on Hyouma – she’s clearly had her sights set on him from day one.  The only question is what form that would take.  Tsubaki is obviously a pretty capricious woman and someone whose desires don’t neatly align with conventional norms.  And her bloodline suggests a worldview where everyone and everything is there as a tool for her own ends.  Again, just a question of what those ends are in Hyouma’s case.

Indeed, as I speculated last week the troll factor seems to drive Tsubaki more than anything.  She certainly did have a relationship with Hyouma’s older siblings, and that’s why she too is after the paper umbrella.  But it doesn’t seem to be rooted in affection or admiration – she just enjoyed the fact that they were on her level, and made life less boring.  And for a prodigy as gifted as she is boredom is a big problem.  Once she picked up the secretes of the Kunato Saenome style no one in the Kadomori household could hold her interest.

That’s what Hyouma represents to her, pretty clearly.  Another time-filler, a guy strong enough to be interesting.  And while I don’t think she has any romantic interest (in him and perhaps anybody) the idea that he’s so fumbling and inexperienced surely also strikes her as another potential source of amusement.  Everyone is pretty surprised when Hyouma turns down her invitation to become her partner in hunting the paper umbrella (which annoys him, as it should).  But Hyouma cites prior commitments.  And while you can make of that what you will, one wonders if in Tsubaki’s mind this now turns Botan into an obstacle to be dealt with.

Meanwhile, back home, Haori slips into troll mode herself.  She declares that Botan (university) and Hyouma’s (sleeping over) three-month anniversaries are a good enough excuse to hold a sukiyaki party.  But while the Japanese (even marebito) do love a good sukiyaki party, Haori’s real agenda is to get Botan and Hyouma some alone time together.  She even gives Botan a list of questions to ask in researching Hyouma’s romantic past (which I’m guessing is non-existent) while they fulfill their assignment of searching the kura for the nabe pot.

This chapter is full of amusing moments, like the confirmation that Hyouma slips into archaic Japanese when he’s flustered and that yes – he blushes too.  Nagi has a drinking contest with a sake-making masu tsukumogami, and eventually everyone gathers around the pot (which had actually been loaned out to the neighborhood association).  This is as much about the drinking as the sukiyaki – that little exchange with Kagami being underage was clever.  Slowly built surely Hyouma’s attitudes about tsukumogami are being broken down and reshaped by this eccentric family – one it almost seems as if he’s starting to feel a part of.