This is We Must Never Fall in Love!‘s fourth volume, but here, the key number is three. Yes, the number three — the number of people involved in a love triangle. Because this volume is allll about the love triangle.
Kaede passes out and has to be escorted home with Sakura, so they have no idea Hatano has lied to the entire student body by saying Sakura is dating him. Things only get more complicated when Sakura ends up agreeing to temporarily date Hatano. It’s fake dating in her mind, but Hatano is pushing for it to turn into a real relationship. Sakura is a little overwhelmed by Hatano’s gestures and words toward her (not to mention all the attention they’re getting!), but Kaede is just as bewildered by the situation.
Yep, this volume is all about the love triangle heating up. Hatano has become fonder of Sakura since their initial misunderstandings, and now is the perfect chance for him to get her to like him again. Sakura rationalizes this arrangement is one that would be better than rumors of her and Kaede spreading. Kaede himself once said he would never see Sakura that way for that reason, but based on what he says and does, readers know he’s backtracking. He did so last volume with the see Sakura as a girl remark, and he can’t spit out what he meant by that.
Much of We Must Never Fall in Love! volume 4 is textbook school romance. You got one interest being more forward, the other expressing signs of jealousy, and friends adding their own two cents (or rather, yen) to the situation. Of course, the fact that Sakura and Kaede are stepsiblings makes the whole situation less common. There are some scenes with their parents (mostly Dad bonding with Sakura), and nothing here suggests either he or his wife would blow their top if their children were to date.
But nothing suggests they’d be happy either. So while love triangles can often be frustrating that a protagonist seems to run into the arms of someone they’re not that into, at least Sakura has somewhat of a reason to. Plus Hatano is very aware he’s somewhat pushing her into dating him.
Still, there’s a level of frustration as Sakura and Kaede keep feeling awkward around each other. Every time they seem to get back into the stepsibling lane, one of them steps on a landmine that causes another round of blushing and/or haughty denials. And the process starts over again.
However, miscommunication is practically synonymous with romantic fiction, so a lot of We Must Never Fall in Love‘s target audience might not even blink. Probably won’t want to blink so much at the art, as this volume features a lot of large, teasingly romantic images that are sure to delight. I also love Kaede’s derp face. Based upon how this volume ends, Sakura might be stealing that face for the next volume! Volume 5 is probably going to be more significant in terms of the romance, but while love triangles aren’t to everyone’s liking, volume 4 at least leads to a good pay-off in that department.