Kobato, Volume 3 Book

I wrote in my review of the last volume that I hoped the authors would give Kobato's love interest some character development to avoid what would certainly be an abrupt turnaround for his character when he inevitably falls for her, and I'm happy to report that they did! We get a few scenes with Fujimoto actually showing genuine concern for Kobato, and it seems that their apparent dislike for each other is softening. Hooray!
Getting some backstory and context for Ioryogi's predicament was a welcome surprise, and if I had to make a guess I would say he's some sort of fire-based cat demon/spirit. While this wouldn't mean much to other fans, I loved the nod to CLAMP's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure parody comic character, Jouta(?) in the form of the bird spirit that delivers news to Ioryogi. I just thought that was a neat addition.
We learned quite a bit more information surrounding the kindergarten and Sayaka's ex, Something Something Okiura (we don't know his first name). This brings up another issue I have with CLAMP's writing style, which often resorts to "tell, don't show". They were doing pretty well in the other two volumes, but it would have been nice to see Sayaka's backstory rather than have the page filled with speech bubbles. I am enjoying the plot, and I'm curious to see how Kobato handles this new batch of information.
I didn't bring this up last time, but I noticed it in this volume as well. CLAMP is very good at getting character's feelings across through mannerisms and movements. I also like the build-up we've seen regarding the phone at the kindergarten. The reader feels a sense of dread every time it rings since we've only heard the loan shark calling to make threats up until this point, and I like how that expectation was played with a bit in this volume. Nevertheless, I think they should disconnect it, the damn thing never brings any good news.