@ehscans Thank you for your service! Does Tsurumi's "friend" have a special connotation or is it just meant in the sense of being friends with someone?
@ExtraOrder My thought too. I doubt he will be swayed by a little heart to heart or hesitate as much as Ogata did on the ice (I still think he wanted her to shoot first, though)
I'd like to see that and how it impacts Asirpa's reasoning how to achieve her goals.
@carmeliba3
Sugimoto explicitly says so in chapter 5 when he meets Ogata for the first time. And in a flashback in chapter 6, when he begs Umeko to marry Toraji instead before he leaves their village.