I don't know either if we can trust Kuze but I think Kusakabe was damaged by all the bullies. You mentioned it: he can be dangerous because of depression and anxiety but I think his trauma can also lead him to being paranoid. Maybe, it was he (Kusakabe) who imagined Kuze's smile as a devil one altough it was maybe a gentle one.
It's a thing I like in this story: we don't know the truth about the characters. Are they nice or bad? Do they want to have fun at the expense of others or do they really want to confort them?
What the pupils have to undergo in this school is awful but the plot of this story is really great.
It's also bothering me that the story Starts when they were in second year of high school. May be there are a lot of things happened when they were in 1st year.
Nice point! This can be important to clarify the plot...
Thanks!! may be sensei will explain this in the manga.
~~~SPOILER ALERT~~~
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English is not my native language so I’m sorry about the mistakes and everything~
There's one thing that is bothering me a lot! When I was rereading the kuzexatsumu chapters, I found pretty strange the way Kuze met Kusakabe. Like, the uke was playing basketball and someone (nobody knows who) hit him with the ball. We know he wasn’t even participating this much in the match, we know he’s not good with sports. Someone did this on purpose. He bleeds, and this thing must have hurted A LOT. Nobody found it strange because he was the target anyway. Ok.
Then Kusababe goes to the infirmary and Kuze is – ~HOW CONVENIENT~ - there. The girl must have entered there because she was chasing him and, he, for not act strange or anything & she not get mad & suspicious at him, he was making out with her. Soon as Kusakabe entered the room he wanted to stop. She could also be an excuse for him to be there.
He act sooooo sober and everything. Nooo – let me take care of youuuu (was he the chief of the infirmary or anything idk), like a hero lol how manipulative
MAN, I THINK KUZE ORDERED TO SOMEONE HIT KUSAKABE WITH THE BALL for him to enter the infirmary to talk to Kuze! Like, there is the perfect place! Nobody would see them, Kuze is alone with the needy & target Atsumu, everybody else was playing basketball. Other option would be strange: anyone could see them or maybe Kusakabe could get suspicious of his suddently good actions. He was gentle to gain Kusakabe’s trust (remember when he was so emocional because someone was gentle with him! Kuze totally calculated that). And even jerked him off because Kuze wanted him to depend him also physically, just look at the way he seduces Atsumu. The seme knew everything he wanted to do with the uke that time.
This is important because we can see here that Kuze is capable of violent actions against Atsumu to get what he wants of him (after all, Atsumu’s nose was bleeding). Just like Karino. Well, Kuze is very smart and terrible at the same time. I don’t know if I still can trust him. Maybe it was Karino’s idea to punch Kusakabe¿ Idk. But he’s dangerous to the little rabbit..................
I think Kusakabe is different from the other characthers because he is not evil. Yes, he has mental illness. But a depreciative one. Depression and anxiety, this can turn him into a “dangerous” (I like to think “impulsive” is the right word) person, like we saw on the last chapter. But he does not want to be like that. His feelings are always on the edge, he just doesn’t know what to do. And Kuze surely doesn’t want him to find out.