Responses
"Keiichi is a leopard" and " It's like Keiichi is a complete mystery"...this!!! I really like your comment overall because I agree with you. I would like the development of Keii's character a little bit more, I have the feeling that sensei probably will surprise us! (I hope).
OK, I took a couple of days before commenting and I read it more than twice.
My first impression was, it was somehow hollow. So I put a lot of attention into details - someone wrote it's all in Keiichi's eyes, and I agree with that.
Sensei is amazing. She draws in a way I never saw before. She puts everything into shades. Look at this one:
http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/kuroneko_kareshi_no_afurekata/mf/v01/c012/21/
…what does it really mean?… I'm under the impression there is something more beyond appearances. Like Angelo holds something against Keiichi (Ei himself says openly he's protecting himself, keeping Jin away from that man), and he decides to take it to the limits. Keiichi is a leopard, after all, and sometimes, it's like he might have killed before. He was not the cleanest man in the world. Yes, he drugged Shingo and practically abused him (even though, reality is, Shingo liked it a lot, it was not raping, c'mon). But maybe he had bad intentions that only turned out into a love story. It's like Keiichi is a complete mystery. I wrote this before, we know nothing about him besides he loves Shingo crazily. But who the hell is he.
So, I really don't know. I disagree with those who take every word literally. Of course a ring can't be shaped into a form that won't allow to get rid of it. Of course when Keiichi says he wants to bully Shingo he doesn't mean it literally (actually, that seems like a romantic little game).
"it doesn't matter even if it hurts" that is not about sex, I think it's clear, Shingo means he is ready to stay even if it scares him.
"there's no problem with this suit, right? No problems" no problems, in my opinion is not about the suit or work in general, he's talking to Shingo, and to himself.
But there's something more. Like a sad undertone, like there's really something dramatic above their heads. Otherwise, a couple of pages more, and the story could have happily ended.
So, in the end…there are two possibilities. Sensei is creating a pattern for another story (and I hope so, personally)….or she lost her narrative rhythm, but it's hard to believe, all of a sudden. I want to trust her.
One last consideration: I don't know if somebody else noticed that before, but Ei's really amazing. That man has style. I admire his composure. She should write again about them.