I’m not sure if the image you see is a cover or a missing persons poster. Kagura is only seen in a splash page. Kiyo is also MIA, but at least she had a role in the last volume. It’s obvious that Tora and Kagura are the least important out of the main 8, and I doubt I’m going to care about them at this rate.
Instead, Hatsu*Haru volume 8 features more Kai/Riko antics, and the fake couple are now pushed into the spotlight.
Most of the couples (or soon-to-be couples) in this series are opposites — tall Kiyo with short Miki; playboy Kai with the serious and devoted Riko. Ayumi is high-energy and a “my pace” type of character while Taka is calm, quiet, and somewhat unemotional. However, he’s visibly irritated when he notices guys leering at Ayumi, but that’s nothing compared to his unexpected anger after Ayumi asks for a favor: to write an article about them breaking up since she’s desperate for a story.
I am partial to their love story since these two are my favorite characters, but their chapters are truly well done. Both remain in character, neither suddenly becoming a silly love slave (that’s Kai’s department). The two do require a little help from the main couple as they try to analyze their feelings, which is a nice reversal from the usual. But in Ayumi’s case, I do mean analyze: she compares herself to a snail and writes a whole report on reasons Taka confesses to her. Being Ayumi, she has a bonus theory in case the other seven (!) were off-base: her chest size. (Taka and Kai give priceless reactions to that one.) This arc is not over yet, but I love the simple but poignant way it ended for now. Even if we never did learn what Ayumi wrote for her article, which is what caused this whole problem to being with…
After that, Kai tries to not-plan a date after overplanning their first one, but he still can’t avoid making some basic plans. But his idea is ruined when he’s guilted into taking his sister’s kids to a fun park. The first half of this arc is standard awkwardness and hilarity of two teens hanging out with young children. But the second has Riko reflecting on her relationship with a sick father, and it’s one of the few times I remember seeing something from Riko’s past that didn’t involve Suwa. Readers could psychoanalyze this chapter, with Kai “replacing” her father, but I think Fujisaki was going for more a wedding feel. The fact that it ends with an unofficial proposal reinforces this.
So now that the two of them are starting to picture their lives together, hopefully the author can devote some time to Tora and Kagura and have them reclaim their positions as main characters. Still, Taka and Ayumi’s relationship is developing nicely, and Hatsu*Haru volume 8 treats my favorite characters as well as I could hope for.