Unmarked spoilers are ahead, per Spoilers Off rule.
- All the little moments where Sawako makes friends and earns recognition by being herself, whereas a lesser story might require her to get dolled up or force herself to act happy.
- Most of the Heartwarming Moments in the series tend to become tear-jerkers for some, just because of the sentiment behind them.
- Any time Sawako cries is bound to get you teary-eyed at the least.
- The Chizu/Ryu ship in general is very tearjerky, especially in the more recent chapters, where Chizu is still struggling to accept Ryu's confession and the two have been very awkward towards one another, when they're not avoiding each other entirely. It makes reading back on all of the early chapters where the two were so close completely heartwrenching.
- Season 1, Episode 21: "Comfort me, Ryu..."
- The end of Season 2 when the Official Couple finally gets together.
- Also, Kurumi allowing it to happen, even if it hurts her to do so.
- Chapter 59, when Ayane tearfully realizes that, unlike Sawako and Chizuru, she has never really liked or dated anyone because of love.
- Chizuru flat out refused to accept Ryu's feeling in his second confession.
- Chizuru's reaction to finding about Ryu's feelings for her, at which point she believes that their friendship will never return to the way it was.Chizu: *crying* He's not my brother anymore.
- Chapter 63, which has the flashback of Ryu's family grieving over the death of his mother.
- Even in that chapter, little Chizuru making onigiri (like his mother made) and bringing them to Ryu, which finally cracks his stoic shell to show his grief, stands out as a tear-jerking scene. Also notable (although it's a small thing) is Chizu tightening his scarf, something his mother always used to do for him.
- The chapter in itself is sad enough, but seeing Ryu, of all people, break down and cry is the real kicker.
- At the end of chapter 66, Sawako starts to cry and delivers this line. It's not so much the line itself as how upset she looks when she says it.Sawako: I wasn't the one who created the distance between us. He was.
- Chapter 82: Just when Chizu seems to be slowly accepting that she might have feelings for Ryu, he announces that he's going away to study at university. Made worse by the fact that she's not been planning on going anywhere, and a large reason for this seems to have been the fact that she thought he'd be staying, too.
- And later, in Chapter 88: "Since when did that start? Since when was I the only one who noticed him?"
- Ayane's Character Development, whilst astonishingly good, hits very hard at points. It's sad to realise that the group's Cool Big Sis is actually unhappier and more insecure than anyone realised.
- Especially in Chapter 93 which involves her realizing she never loved Kent and feeling that she is a horrible person.
- And poor, poor, heartbroken Kento.
- When Kurumi returns to the manga after a long absence, she has to deal with the downside of her Character Development - namely, the soul-crushing guilt that comes along with it. Her villainous actions were a long time ago at this point and Sawako had already forgiven her for them even during that time, and yet it takes a long time for Kurumi to actually accept that forgiveness from her, and from Ayane and Chizu, as she is so deep into self-loathing that she has convinced herself that she doesn't deserve any happiness or friendship in her life.
