[kujoe]

Originally Posted by Shouta

Here's the other thing with the illness/macguffins, they usually are an important part to the overall theme or conflict of the work. It's very noticable for Sakuranbo but for it's there for Sakuranbo and Ore x Yome story 1. So while the Stigma doesn't require an explanation to complete the story, I think it needs to be somewhat there to make the theme of the story apparent. While we have had glimpses of it so far, it's not quite as concrete so far.

I think of these as part of the setting. To me, they're a backdrop for the real story that is going on. For example in Ore x Yome, it does not need to be some spouse-matching system that allows them to enter into cohabitation. Its only role is to get them together in the first place. What matters is what the characters go through during the phase, and what lessons they learn after. It could've been a simpler agreement of sorts, a wager (which it was essentially), or even an unforeseen mistake in apartment hunting.

Originally Posted by Shouta

As for the direction of the manga currently...

Spoiler:

Like I said, it's the wording which I find interesting. The specific use of the word "curse" alongside the word "stigma". There lies perhaps an implicit association between the two words within the context of the story.

Your further explanation of the current events precisely reflects my views regarding the nature of the story as a "past vs. moving on" kind of tale. "Real vs. illusion" is perhaps another way of putting it, especially with characters like Chizuru and Makoto living out their lives in denial, but the 'illusions' that each character carries are rooted in their past and their memories.

So yes... for me, going with the typical expectations for this type of story—plus, and let's face it, the views and odds levelled against the 'older woman' archetype—the likely or predictable route is Makoto's. That is, if the manga would have Rin end up with anyone at all.