Kokuyou's voice keeps being described as "strange" and "cheerful" in the Japanese
and also that same word for "strange" was used for slightly socially taboo behaviors in the setting, including homosexuality. And Kokuyou and Sazen seem to be a lot touchier and emotionally closer in the original text than the English translation captures.
In fact, when Sazen is "threatening" Kokuyou with a contract, he's saying "shomon" (証文). This shares the first character in 証明制度, "shomei seido," which may be the author making a nod towards the audience at same-sex partnership oaths (パートナーシップ証明制度).
(if so, that would also be especially fascinating considering that Sazen's biggest concern with co-habitation with Kokuyou seems to be that their Landlord, the Madam, will jack the rent. A big legal problem with partnership oaths is that they don't provide legal protection for housing discrimination.)
Anyway fellas I'm INCREDIBLY tempted to describe Kokuyou's "strange and cheerful" voice as "queer and gay" at LEAST once and you'll have to kill me to stop me
