Words on a yuri manga: Wagamama Juliet volume 2
My thoughts on volume 1 are here.

When Youko went home the next morning and told Kouta that she'd had sex with Ayari, he slapped her and yelled at her. She left, and went to stay with Ayari at her apartment. A week later, she met Kouta at a hotel coffee lounge to talk. He asked her to come back to his place so they could talk in private (to which I couldn't help thinking, "Don't go! Don't go!"); Youko agreed. Thankfully, all that happened was that they talked for a while and he eventually agreed to a divorce--he still didn't understand why Youko would want to be with a woman, but he knew that if things kept on, they would come to hate each other, and he didn't want that to happen. So he gave in.
Youko and Ayari are happy--but also scared--to be on their own now, just the two of them.

But the story doesn't end there.

We jump ahead a year. Youko and Ayari are still living happily together, but things aren't perfect between them. Ayari begins working as a hostess again; she lies to Youko about it, saying she's changing jobs for the money and that she'll be working in a snack bar. Youko, for her part, finds that she is always wanting more from Ayari, and I think Ayari finds Youko's love stifling.

One night, Ayari runs into Kouta at the club. He honestly just wants Youko to be happy, and begs Ayari not to do anything to make her unhappy. He comes back another time to make the same request. Ayari doesn't think there's anything wrong with being a hostess, even going so far as to kiss customers (and Kouta himself) and say it means nothing. And what Youko doesn't know can't hurt her, right?

However, Ayari never picked up one of her dresses from the dry cleaner's, and they call the apartment. Youko, who has already picked up on the fact that something is wrong but has no idea what it is, goes to get the dress. When she sees it, she realizes that Ayari isn't working in a snack bar after all.

They have a gigantic argument when Ayari gets home that night/morning. Youko wants Ayari to be honest, Ayari cruelly shares details that she knows will hurt Youko, Youko slaps Ayari, Ayari demands that Youko kneel down and kiss her feet and is horrified when Youko complies... At the end, Ayari leaves. Neither of them knows if she will ever be back.

Youko comes out to her mother, who has been pressuring her to remarry. Her parents talk to Kouta about it, which leads to Youko talking to Kouta about it. He continues to hope that things will work out for her--either with Ayari or with somebody else. He offers to take Youko to the club where Ayari works, but Youko says no--she wants to wait and see if Ayari will come back on her own.

Later, he encourages her to start moving on with her life, and so she goes out drinking with her coworkers and ends up coming out to them. People start whispering about her at work after that, but she's too numb to care. Kouta worries that though coming out is all well and good, in this case, Youko might just be doing it to punish herself. But really, it's about being true to herself--something she learned from Ayari. She used to worry about being "normal," but her new goal is to be a stronger person.

Spoilers for the end of the story (highlight to read):
Ayari has slept with a bunch of guys (ones she met at the club) since she left Youko, but not one of them has turned her on. She goes to Youko's apartment, then turns around to leave; Youko happens to be coming home just then, and sees her. Ayari says she doesn't want to get back together, but Youko insists that she at least come in for a cup of tea. When Youko refuses to let go of Ayari's wrist, Ayari flings her off and ends up hurting her in the process. She takes Youko to the hospital, where Youko is hospitalized for an ulcer (one she first developed when she and Ayari started having problems). They have a serious talk, and end up getting back together.


I liked that Youko and Ayari didn't just magically get a happy ending without working out some of their issues first, and that the second volume focused on the problems they had after they got together. I also liked that the issues were things that followed logically from the characters' personalities and interactions in volume 1, rather than just throwing in drama for the sake of drama or bringing in an outside villain (Ayari's ex never reappears, thank goodness).

When Youko comes out to her parents, they disapprove and want her to have a normal life. They even ask Ayari to withdraw. But at the very end, we find out that despite their reluctance to accept Youko's sexuality, they are having Youko and Ayari over once a month. That was another thing I liked.

I didn't particularly like Ayari (which makes sense, since she's not supposed to be likable), and the ending was a bit abrupt, but aside from that, I thought Wagamama Juliet was a good read, and it covered some important points.