Takeaways from Therapy Game Restart Chapter 16 – A Mellifluous Melody

Hi lovelies! 💜❤️💛

First of all, thank you for all the kind words of support! I honestly couldn’t believe it when I read your comments, it truly made me feel better! 😭

And thank you for being so patient! 🥰 The reason for my delay this time around is… I moved houses!! It’s been a long time coming, and after some drama over the last couple of weeks, I’ve finally started settling into my new place! Still a mountain of boxes ahead of me, but you know the saying, slow and steady wins the race! 🙌

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Anywho~ Shall we get right into our takeaways for chapter 16? In this chapter:

1. Oh man, I was kind of expecting this backstory about Shizuma and Yuka, but daaaaang, sweet bb Shizuma! 😢😢
2. Onodera, you are a crazy driver, LMFAO! Poor Shizuma, almost had a heart attack there! 🤣
3. Aww Shizuma, all excited for the date! AND YES, YOU FIGHT FOR WHAT YOU WANT! 🙌
4. You know what, Onodera, I’m proud of you for trying, and for learning. You go! 🙌
5. EEEEK… Ahh, Minato, it isn’t like what you saw at all! I PROMISE! 🥺🥺🥺
6. Oh gosh, my heart is breaking just a little seeing Minato like this… 💔
7. MINATO, you will never be like your mother! 😭
8. SHIZUMA, you deserved better! 😭
9. AWWWW NUUU, Minato… in tears? 😭
10. YES, COMMUNICATION IS KEY! BLESSSSSSS!😍🥰❤️💛
11. Blesssss… make up NSFW incoming 🔞🔞🔞🥰❤️💛

And that’s it for this chapter’s takeaways! We have quite the long, heavy, emotional chapter ahead of us, so get some tissues, a bottle of water, and stay tuned! I’ll try my best to relay the important details in this chapter!

And so, for a more detailed breakdown/summary of this chapter, please continue after the cut! There may or may not be a surprise scene (or way more) there. Please keep reading if you want to see~😉✨

Our chapter begins with an even earlier flashback-Shizuma goes to see Yuka, but he only sees her at her front door, in tears, saying she’s tired of enduring (the loneliness) and that it’s not Shizuma’s fault.

Fast forward to where we left off in the last chapter. Onodera calls out to Shizuma, telling him that they’ve arrived at their destination. Despite almost dying from Onodera’s reckless driving, he is thankful for the lift and tells her to be careful on her way home.

Onodera glances over to Shizuma as he exits her vehicle, noticing that he is giddy from the excitement of his date. She wonders if Shizuma’s girlfriend is that good of a person. As she looks back towards her car, she notices that he’s left his mobile on the passenger seat. She opens her window and calls out to him to hand him his phone, telling him his current forgetful state is due to his over-excitement. He snaps back to reality, apologises for this blunder, and thanks Onodera for giving it back to him.

As she closes the window, long strands of her hair get stuck in it. Shizuma notices this and goes to help her. He reminds her that she’s growing it as a prayer of sorts so she shouldn’t treat her hair like this. While untangling it and trying to get it free from the window, Shizuma then says he should try growing his hair out, praying that he can become a great veterinarian who can balance his work and private life. As she imagines what Shizuma would look like with long hair, he tells her that he really cannot give up on his lover nor his dream.

Onodera remembers that discussion they had, and realises Shizuma has been thinking about it all this time. Shizuma confides in her that while he understands her perpective, his becoming a vet wouldn’t have been possible without his partner by his side-his dream is something they’ve made come true together. And that there are ways for him to balance out his work and private life.

Shizuma preempts his next response to Onodera by telling her he has nothing but the utmost respect for her, but she tells him to just spit it out and say it. Shizuma goes on to tell her that she shouldn’t offer such ‘intense/extreme’ advice on love, such as giving up on your partner-it not only sours one’s mood, but also would upset the person if their loved one was being badmouthed. Just as Shizuma seems conflicted about telling Onodera, she apologises to him and tells him she’ll be more mindful about that.

Shizuma is slightly taken aback, surprised that Onodera can apologise so easily like this. Just as he thinks this, he finally untangles her hair from the window and softly lets it loose in the wind. He walks towards Minato, turning back to excuse himself from Onodera. Onodera then wishes Shizuma all the best in reconciling with his partner. Again, he is taken aback by her words. She asks if words of support are off the table, but he just smiles, indicating that they are most welcome.

As Shizuma makes his way towards Minato, he realises all his worries and issues are blown away the closer he gets to seeing him. With a panel showing their stolen moment at the shops in an earlier chapter, he wonders where he should take him and what they should do, and that he will indulge Minato’s every desire, no matter how selfish they may be. As he gets closer to Minato and apologises for making him wait, we see a brooding Minato, staring sharply at Shizuma. Shizuma then realises something is wrong. Before he can even begin to explain what has happened, Minato takes him by the hand, saying “It’s fine. You don’t have to say anything. Just come with me.”

And we finally arrive back to where chapter 13 ends-Minato on top of Shizuma on a hotel bed, with Minato declaring that he will be the one to hold Shizuma, ensuring that he will never be satisfied by a woman again.

Minato reminds Shizuma that he has been the one to hold another before (i.e. be the top). He begins to take the lead in their love making, assuring Shizuma that everything will be fine, no matter how dirty Shizuma becomes nor how loud he yells. Despite telling Shizuma not to fear anything, Shizuma’s internal monologue repeatedly says he is scared.

Just as he tries to tell Minato that he understands where he is coming from and tries to calm him down, Minato pins Shizuma back down onto the bed by his wrists, telling him to be quiet and watch as he’s already reached his limit.

Minato says it’ll be too late for him if Shizuma is taken away by someone else, which would leave him so upset and in tears. But he reassures Shizuma that everything will be okay, especially since Minato will be making Shizuma’s behind writhe in so much pleasure that he won’t be able to live without being taken from behind.

Shizuma looks over to where Minato is pinning him down quite forcefully, realising he is very serious about this. He also realises that of course Minato is acting this way as he saw Shizuma and Onodera’s interaction as he left her car. So he tries to explain that Onodera was offering him a lift after their doctor visits, nothing more. He also tries to assure Minato that there’d be no way he would look at another while being with him.

Minato smirks, asking Shizuma if he remembers their first time in bed together (i.e. the very beginning of Therapy Game). He reminds Shizuma that he (Shizuma) was so surprised that he slept with another man. But now, what Minato could only imagine actually came true-they’re now dating. Minato’s eyes glare at Shizuma, telling Shizuma that he fell in love way too easily.

He tells Shizuma that he is kind to everyone he meets, is drawn to others easily, and that he doesn’t understand how his own feelings change. So before Shizuma goes off and does that all over again with someone else, Minato will teach his body to always come home to him.

Shizuma looks up at Minato, with a slightly blank yet sad face, and pats his head. He asks Minato if doing this can truly make him feel at ease, why he is in such a rush to do this, and if there is something else Minato wants to tell him. Just as he offers a listening ear, Minato slaps his hand away, telling Shizuma “If you don’t understand when I tell you, then it’s better that you remain in the dark about it.” He tells Shizuma to stay quiet and sleep with him, going down on him to give a bl*wjob.

Shizuma looks over at Minato, wondering how he should ask what he doesn’t like, and what pains him so. He knows that if it were Itsuki in this situation, he’d be able to get Minato to listen to him. He wonders if he’ll be able to get Minato to confess his feelings.

Our perspective now changes to Minato, who wonders why Shizuma isn’t getting hard. He looks up at Shizuma who now has a pained, cold look on his face. Shocked by this realisation, he wonders why Shizuma looks like that. He then looks over to where he pinned Shizuma down and discovers that his wrists are now bruised. He begins to see what has happened-he brought Shizuma here against his own will, made him listen to his sharp, spiteful words, and wonders if this is what he wanted to do all along. He realises that when he is so enraged, he is unable to keep his emotions in check. He also seems to realise a pattern to what he just did:

Upon hearing those words, Shizuma freezes and recalls his break up with Yuka.

She tells him that he will continue being busy, even if she tells him how hard it’s been on her. She didn’t want to burden him with such a selfish complaint, so she couldn’t bring herself to tell him. Despite enduring it for so long, when she thought ahead to the future and that she might have to endure even more of this… she couldn’t handle the loneliness/lack of time together and just got tired of enduring it all. With her face buried in her hands, she apologises to Shizuma.

Shizuma begins to process what is happening, and his inner monologue reveals that he never wanted her to do that. He would’ve preferred if she told him her selfish requests. He starts to question if he is the one that made it hard for her to be honest and tell him about her feelings, if he is supposed to know how she feels even when she doesn’t tell him anything. He wonders why he didn’t notice it…

Shizuma is brought back to reality when Minato begins to tell him how he actually wanted today to go, and yet…

Shizuma doesn’t know how to respond to Minato’s sudden overflowing tears and freezes. Minato then goes on to tell Shizuma that he understands that he’s busy, that he needs to work with those other people, as he too is a working adult. He confesses that he gets worried over each and every thing, despite trying to be like Itsuki and become a man who can watch over Shizuma in a cool, calm manner. When Minato begins to tell Shizuma that seeing such a “lovey-dovey” scene unfold in front of him (i.e. Shizuma with Onodera and her hair troubles), Shizuma proceeds to tell him it wasn’t like that at all. Minato, still visibly upset with tears in his eyes, covers Shizuma’s face with a pillow and tells him to be quiet.

He apologises to Shizuma, saying that he really doesn’t seem like the type to “love” someone, but…

After hearing this, Shizuma looks up softly at Minato.

Now enraged by Shizuma’s sudden soft, loving gaze, Minato demands that he make a more apologetic face instead and smacks him with a pillow. Continuing with his pillow attacks, he reminds Shizuma to listen carefully to when he is having a tough time, and for Shizuma to remember this as he won’t repeat himself. He then warns Shizuma that he’d send him flying if he brings Onodera again next time. Before he can finish saying this last line, he pauses and sees Shizuma isn’t frantically apologising and hugging him. He calls out to Shizuma, but freezes. He now asks Shizuma if his pillow attacks were that painful. After a while of no response or movement, Shizuma tells Minato that it didn’t hurt, that he was just relieved. With his hand covering half of his face, Shizuma confesses that he thought Minato would break up with him when he said “I’m so tired.”

Quite taken aback himself, Minato asks Shizuma if he shouldn’t say those words, offering to stop saying it. Shizuma says he doesn’t have to do that and grabs him into his arms, embracing him, and tells him…

We’re met with Shizuma’s inner monologue:

I want to make you happy. I want you to be happy. So I desperately try to imagine what you are thinking. But, I end up not knowing anything when you hide it away from me, saying everything is okay. As thickheaded as I am, even if I hurt you, I don’t realise I have. So I wanted you to be angry with me. Not that you’ll test me by saying, “You should understand even without me saying anything.” Not that you’ll hold back from telling me anything and just give up on us in the end. I wanted you to tell me, “I’m having a hard time, so look at me and do something,” and hold on tight to me.

At the end of this monologue, we see Shizuma looking on lovingly at Minato, and Minato looking softly back at him. They’ve finally let out all the emotions that have been building for so long and told each other how they felt.

After another passionate kiss, Shizuma says, “I love you, Minato.” Things get more steamy, and Minato breaks away from their kiss, asking Shizuma to give him a moment as he can’t breathe. Just as he says this, his knee touches Shizuma’s appendage (🍆) and notices that it’s hard. He wonders why it wasn’t earlier, and asks Shizuma if the reason is because he didn’t want to be held.

Shizuma says he wouldn’t mind being held if he’d be held by Minato, however…

Minato asks himself if he’s flipped some sort of switch in Shizuma today to be like this-dominant and so forward. Shizuma takes his shirt off and gently pushes Minato onto the bed. Minato tells Shizuma that he was supposed to be on top today since they’ve finally cleared the air and made up, but Shizuma won’t budge, saying he refuses to concede today. If Minato wants to hold him, Shizuma tells him to overthrow him, hit him, and pull away from him. Just as Minato says he’s being serious, he once again sees the bruise he gave Shizuma, and tears begin to well in his eyes again.

Minato wraps his arms and legs around Shizuma, instead saying he doesn’t want to do those kinds of things to him, and for Shizuma not to tell him he can. Shizuma cups Minato’s face and wipes a tear from his eye, saying it’s a day filled with many (of Minato’s) tears. He apologises to Minato, with the two holding hands, interlocking their fingers, lying on the bed, and Shizuma going in for another kiss with a teary-eyed Minato.

And that’s it for this chapter! THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR! 💜 This summary was a bit longer than most, but I was hoping to give as much detail as I could for it! It was quite the roller coaster! I personally have so many thoughts on this chapter, I can’t possibly write it all in this post! I’ll have to write it one day, after I process all of my feelings! 🥰😭❤️💛

But TL;DR version: I’m so glad they talked it out, ahhhh! My heart broke so many times reading this. I still personally don’t like Yuka. Glad that they addressed that since I first got that feeling when TGR started in 2019. Also very glad they’re working on their communication skills. That builds a strong relationship. And man that steamy part at the end got me like 👀😍👀 I AM READY FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!!!!!

EDIT 2021-12-15: Oh gosh, I totally forgot to proofread this last week! AHH! Anyway, it’s a lot more readable now! Thank you for being so patient! (I also got distracted by some Secret XXX and Therapy Game goods, hahahha!) 💜EDIT 2021-12-24: Just realised I mistranslated a panel in one of the preview pictures! It’s been fixed now, sorry about that! ;A;

📢 As always, please support Hinohara-sensei by purchasing her books and CDs! 📢

And please also refrain from resharing these translations and images outside of this post! Thank you for understanding! ❤️💛

There won’t be a chapter in next month’s Dear+, so I shall see you all again for our next set of takeaways in January, 2022!

Again, thank you for all your support in these takeaways, and for your lovely, kind comments! I hope you all have an amazing day/week/month ahead! 💜💜

As always, stay safe during these turbulent times and look out for each other and for your loved ones! 💜❤️💛