Now that we’ve seen how the relationship between Mafuyu and Yuuki played out, it’s a lot easier to understand Mafuyu himself. The first time they meet, in my opinion, is the key to understand everything that comes next. Mafuyu was a quiet child, who didn’t really interact with anyone. When Yuuki meets him, he’s curious as to why Mafuyu is like that. His answer is heartbreaking: his father hits him every time he talks. Yuuki’s answer to that is really important: a real father isn’t supposed to do that. In the flashbacks in episode 9, we see Mafuyu’s father getting arrested. The way I see it, one of two things happened: Yuuki’s words encouraged Mafuyu to tell someone or Yuuki himself told someone which lead to the scene we see. Whatever the case, Mafuyu is free of his father’s abuse and it’s all thanks to Yuuki. Yuuki was his salvation, like an angel that came into his life.
For the next few years, they would get closer and closer and eventually start dating. Everything went great until they went to different schools and, more importantly, until Yuuki started a band with Hiiragi and Yagi. At that point, Mafuyu started to feel left out. Not in a jealous “you’re not spending enough time with me” way, but in a “I want to be a part of that band too, why won’t you ask me to join it? Why are you leaving me out of your life” way. When Mafuyu hummed that song, what he really wanted, was for Yuuki to ask him about it, to suggest that they develop it together (as someone else would later do, but I’ll get to that in a minute). As Hiiragi points out, Yuuki wanted to write that song for Mafuyu, but Mafuyu wanted to write it with Yuuki. That was the source of their conflict and I assume that’s what their fight was about. Mafuyu saw it as Yuuki leaving him out of his life, while Yuuki saw it as a romantic surprise to the boy he loved. Mafuyu isn’t very good at expressing his feelings (and he says so a few times), which lead to a huge misunderstanding that would end in tragedy. We don’t know exactly what they say during that fight, but we know it ended with Mafuyu saying “Would you die for me, then?”. And when Yuuki did, Mafuyu’s heart broke, along with the string in Yuuki’s guitar (the parallel between the guitar strings and Mafuyu’s heart is explicitly pointed out to us in episode 9). He’s wrecked with guilt for leading his boyfriend to his death (in his mind, I don’t actually think he should be blamed for it) and carries his guitar around as a painful reminder.
That’s where Uenoyama comes in. He comes into Mafuyu’s life unexpectedly and what’s the first thing he does? Fixes his guitar (which is a metaphor for fixing his heart). And when Mafuyu asks him to teach him how to play it, Uenoyama is a bit hesitant, but eventually agrees to do it. In fact he goes beyond that: he helps him maintain it and buy accessories. And when Mafuyu sings, Uenoyama immediately asks him to join his band. And he then starts composing music while Mafuyu is in charge of writing lyrics. He’s doing all the things Mafuyu wanted Yuuki to do: let him into that part of his life. Mafuyu starts falling in love because he sees just how patient, dedicated and kind Uenoyama is. And it’s not just Uenoyama, actually: Haruki and Akihiko are also quick to welcome him to the band. The three of them keep encouraging him to write the song, assuring him that he can do it and Akihiko even suggests that it would be a great way to let his feelings out. So, when the day of the big concert comes out and the lyrics aren’t ready, Uenoyama gets impatient and says all the wrong things. All of a sudden, it’s as if Mafuyu is talking to Yuuki all over again. So much so, that the string in his guitar breaks once more. But, as Haruki says, when a string breaks, you have to fix it. And, once again, Uenoyama fixes it. That’s what encourages Mafuyu to sing. In that song, he lets out all the feelings he has been keeping inside, all the heartbreak and regret. And when the song is over, he looks at Uenoyama with new eyes. He can finally start to heal. Yuuki saved him once and Uenoyama saved him a second time.
I should also note the meaning of their names. “Fuyu” means winter. Yuuki means snow. “Ka” (as in Ritsuka) means summer. Mafuyu himself points out that his relationship with Yuuki was a winter story, while his relationship with Uenoyama is a summer story. He is the one who will bring the light and warmth into his life.
I will end by saying this: Uenoyama understands what Mafuyu needs better than Yuuki. And he knows how to give him what he needs and how not to let their fights linger long enough for one of them to do something foolish. In that sense, I think their relationship might actually become healthier. We’ll see how it plays out.
I’ve been trying to write everything I wanted to say about episode 9 since yesterday. I hope I succeeded and that this post makes sense to those reading it.
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