The only relationship I understand is of Haruki and Akihiko. All others just slip past my...

I-
until you said it, I never knew I felt the same way. strongly agree with you ╮(￣▽￣)╭

Yeah bro.

Same

I feel you so much

i mean to be fair, akihiko and haruki (& subsequently ugetsu) are kinda the only characters in the series so far that have a pretty clear end-and-start of their relationships. you Know that akihiko is making an effort to be better Because of haruki's influence, and you know that haruki's been infatuated with akihiko for a long time. there's clear emotions there, and you can pretty clearly see their development-- they hit their dramatic peak with ugetsu throwing akihiko out, and now that things have calmed down it's easy to see how clear-cut their relationship is and how they communicate with each other.

but with uenoyama and mafuyu, they haven't hit their peak yet, we haven't gotten their Real Conflict as a couple. we know mafuyu's trauma with yuuki, and we know that uenoyama has major puppy love for mafuyu, but that's all we have for now. we haven't seen their major conflict yet, and chances are if akiharu foreshadowed anything, it's gonna be a Worse Case of insecurities and trauma piling on and coming to a head together. insecurities revolving around mafuyu's feelings for yuuki, around mafuyu's emotional parallels with ugetsu, and confronting the trauma that is Whatever Happened to Yuuki & mafuyu's direct involvment in it. (remember, mafuyu & uenoyama are teenagers whereas akihiko & haruki are adults. the emotional maturity that akiharu has over uemafu is yet to be seen, so i'm personally betting on the idea that uenoyama's ability to maturely handle stress and drama will be less-than for both akihiko & haruki)

hiirashizu is probably gonna explore the Worst-Case-Scenario with how uemafu could possibly turn out, whereash akiharu is uemafu's bar, that's the standard and where people are expecting them to exceed and surpass. which isn't to say that hiiragi and shizusumi is gonna be a relationship that will flop, but we're seeing development that suggests that hiiragi brings out the worst in shizusumi: obsessive tendencies, manipulative desires, aggression and malice, etc. etc. & it looks like their conflict is going to be How hiiragi navigates that, whether he indulges shizusumi's worst traits or if they choose to work together to manage them. anyways that all suggests that hiirashuzu hasn't hit their dramatic peak yet either, nor their conclusion, their story is still actively being told.