26:26 ( )

Ren has one of his scary BJ (Black Jack) moments and almost hurts another actor. Kyoko's voice stops him, and she later wonders what set him off. Was someone hurt in the past because of Ren? Then, while off doing another job, Kijima sends Kyoko an email right in front of Ren. Kyoko is excited to get a GIF-filled email (because she associates those with female friendships, even though Kijima isn't a girl), so she sends one back with a poorly-chosen “Love” GIF – which has the unfortunate effect of communicating interest to Kijima and possibly upsetting Ren.

The dark stuff with Ren was only mildly interesting to me, but I loved the fluffy bit with Ren, Kijima, and Kyoko at the end. It's always fun watching Yashiro freak out about Ren and Kyoko's possible relationship drama – he tends to be more on edge about their semi-relationship than they are. I finished the volume wondering whether Ren would be jealous of Kyoko and Kijima's email exchange, or whether Kyoko would mention her excitement at receiving a “girly” email and Ren would just accept it, similar to what happened during (I think) the Valentine's Day portion of the series.

Another one for the “this series can be so adorable sometimes” list: Ren setting up caller ID for himself and requesting that the agency do so as well, just so that Kyoko could safely ignore all calls without caller ID (like, for instance, Sho's).

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )