By Sunsunsun and Momoco. Released in Japan as “Tokidoki Bosotto Russia-go de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Matthew Rutsohn.

There was only so long that the main mystery of this series that doesn’t involve “who will the winning girl be” got cleared up. (And honestly, “who will the winning girl be” is not much of a mystery, either – this isn’t the sort of series that’s going for a last-minute swerve.) So yes, Masachika admits to Alya what the relationship between him and Yuki really is, and then goes to visit her. That said, the series still wants to be a romcom, even in what amounts to the most serious volume to date, and so it also flashes to Alya’s POV during these scenes, which amounts to “OMG we’re holding hands no stop I’m comforting him, shut up brain” over and over again. Alya may be a romantic wreck, but thanks to the boy she not-so-secretly loves she’s found a way forward in life. In this book, Masachika also finds a way forward in life, but sadly he manages to botch that in a really bad way.

Yes, that’s Yuki on the cover, only the 2nd person to feature on a cover that isn’t Alya. She’s looking surprisingly serious as well, which fits the tone of this serious volume. After arriving at his sister’s house, and seeing how far Yuki has relapsed, Masachika decides that it’s time he stop running away from everything and has a long chat with his mother about why she started to reject him. Unsurprisingly, the answer turns out to be that they have a lot more in common than they possibly imagined. He then comes to a decision – he’s going to return to the family and become its head, which means Yuki doesn’t have to. He talks with his father about this, who is as easygoing and hands-off as always. He talks to his grandfather about this, who is grumpy but will let him try. He does NOT talk to Yuki about this. That’s where he botches things.

Of course, not all the upcoming chaos is going to be caused by Masachika. Nonoa still exists, of course. I’ve talked before about how much I appreciate her role in this, and I still do. I really liked her showing up late to “comfort” Masachika, and being genuinely a bit annoyed at Alya for getting there first. Which leads to what she does best, making Alya doubt Masachika. She frames things she found out by coincidence – which she freely admits – as if Alya ended up being the last to find out, and this plants seeds that I’m sure will extend this series into at least three to four more books. She’s also seemingly working on Ayano, and I have a sneaking suspicion that will be Nonoa’s downfall. Don’t try to outplot the woman who freely tells Masachika he makes her womb tremble.

I also did not mention Yuki’s complete meltdown when she hears what happened, or her heart-to-heart with Alya, where we realizing just how much all the incest subtext we love (OK, everyone but me loves) is an act – ALL of it. Basically, the next volume promises to be filled with a lot of repressed rage and tension…..short story volume? (checks) Oooh, differently numbered short story volume! So may be 10, may be BTS, which I assume stands for Behind The Scenes rather than a crossover with the KPop band.