SaiTeru: Chapter 182 and Saiki’s Offu (Chapter 214)
Okay so honestly, I’ve been confused about what, exactly, triggered Saiki’s ‘Offu’ in Chapter 214. I’ve always been on the camp that argued that the offu was genuine, but I did understand why some people found it ambiguous.
But after writing that post about Chapter 182, I suddenly realized that if I keep that chapter in mind, then the reason for the offu becomes pretty blatant. I think that:
In Chapter 184, Saiki realizes that Teruhashi likes him as he is.
In Chapter 214, Saiki realizes that he likes Teruhashi as she is, too.
I mean, Chapter 182 is big on two fronts:
first, Saiki realizes at last that Teruhashi genuinely likes him for him, as he is;
second, this touches his heart and makes him give up on his plan to make her like someone else, thus basically implying that he’s okay with being liked by her.
Fast-forward to Chapter 214, coincidentally the first chapter completely focused on SaiTeru since Chapter 182. Teruhashi spends most of the chapter trying to change herself for Saiki, thinking he likes Gyaru girls.
So, Saiki asks Aiura for help. What exactly did he ask Aiura to do, is honestly anyone’s guess. But if you ask me, I think he probably just asked Aiura to read Teruhashi her fortune and to tell her to give up on the object of her affections (him).
I feel this way because Saiki says later that he failed in “making Teruhashi give up on him”, and these parts of Aiura’s fortune are the ones that actually fit with his intentions:
Given how much Aiura insists on Teruhashi forgetting about him, it feels to me that that’s the part Saiki wanted her to tell Teruhashi.
Which would mean the whole thing about Saiki liking people who stay true to themselves was very much outside of Saiki’s calculations, and a genuine reading from Aiura.
Now, let’s take a look at Saiki:
Look at his reaction! His plan to have Teruhashi give up on him failed, and yet he looks fairly pleased with himself. So, it basically confirms that Saiki is now pretty okay with Teruhashi liking him. This is the first important tie to Chapter 182, because it directly follows the development that took place in that chapter.
Moreover, given how pleased he looks, it’s safe to assume that just the fact of having Teruhashi going back to normal was enough for him.
But the thing is—Saiki is a world-class tsundere who is great at reading other people’s emotions but terrible at accepting his own.
Which means it’s fairly likely he didn’t realize this himself until Teruhashi spelled it out for him.
And that’s what gets Saiki, IMO. At this moment, he honestly realizes that Teruhashi is right.
Which means he honest to God likes her as she is.
And that’s the true reason of why he went out of his way to ask for Aiura’s help just so Teruhashi would go back to normal.
It’s not that it’d have been annoying if Teruhashi showed up wearing even more make-up: it’s that he would honestly just rather Teruhashi be herself, because he’s grown to like her as she is.
Which means that, well—maybe Teruhashi’s right and it is a matter of time, after all. Offu.
tl;dr His offu and the outcome of this chapter can easily be the natural counterpart to Chapter 184, where Saiki is now aware that he’s grown to like Teruhashi as she is, just like she’s grown to like him as he is, too. After all, we even get confirmation that Saiki doesn’t seem to mind being the object of Teruhashi’s affections any more—something that was also hinted at in Chapter 184, where he outright tells the guys he won’t let them have her.
So honestly, I think that if we look at both chapters together, Saiki’s offu makes all the sense in the world lol
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