it's probably not what it was intended to mean, but hashiba not having his string connected to anyone and then realizing Miyanari is still his most special person was such an aroace example of love and care for a person
i know at the end he still wanted to kiss Miyanari but i choose my hc and I've decided to not read that as romantic attraction anyways
also, Miyanari being so fucking infatuated with Hashiba and still not even thinking of having sex at all is so ace of him
like, it's not even that sex doesn't exist in this world, he's very aware of that possibility (hence the bl manga he read) but he still didn't *want* to have sex
like... it would've been so easy for the BL manga to insert the idea of "wanting to have sex" in his mind AND IT STILL DIDN'T
ugh anyways idc idc they're aroace coded and its final !!!!
That's why I'm saying I don't see it. These two like each other romantically. If the seme were aroace or just aro he wouldn't have gotten to the realization that he likes the uke as more than a friend. Choosing to be in a relationship when you are aroace is like choosing to marry a friend just cause of convenience or going into an arranged marriage with the mindset to making it work. You don't choose the person because there's something inherent about them that makes them special over everyone else to you. The love that is involved is familiar love or friendship. It's not romantic and it's not sexual. It is moreso based on reason than emotion. Some people in the community struggle with that and have strong feelings against marrying because they feel like they would be deceiving the other person or depriving them of someone that could actually love them (romantically or sexually). In this story, both the uke and the seme develop romantic feelings and then sexual attraction (at the very end in the seme's case). That's neither aro nor even ace really. If we want to label the seme with something then I think something like demisexual fits better here.
(Note: I disagree with aro being associated with not liking romance. It has to do with truly not feeling romantic attraction. Being aroace is like seeing people as flowers. You don't fall in love with a plant. And you don't thirst after them either.)
For context I am an adult woman and have been aroace my whole life. No crushes. No interest whatsoever to date or hold hands with or kiss or sleep with anybody. I grew up thinking my friends were dumb for having relationships in elementary/middle/high school when clearly they weren't going to get married with their bfs. I could not comprehend what they were feeling (and I will never truly understand tbh). I eventually realized it wasn't normal to not feel attracted to someone before 20. I didn't understand why my mom would solemnly ask me every once in a while if I was lesbian. I eventually found my community around 10 years ago and came to accept that I didn't have the capability to have certain feelings/desires that people normally have. At least based on my experience, and the people like me that I've interacted with, the kids in the manga seem like regular ass boys who in a manga world would probably end up marrying out of love and live 'happily ever after'. There's nothing wrong with that. I just really don't see how anything that's portrayed in the manga falls into my (perhaps outdated) understanding of what aroace is.
GOOOOOOD THEYRE SO AROACE AND ACE CODED I LOVE THEM SO MUUUUCH WHAAAT AAAAAAAAA