Responses
I am straight, and live in a fairly conventional country. Thus, at the beginning, it was hard for me to understand the love between people with the same gender. But I always believe that as long as they did not disturb anybody, it was nobody's business. Story like this, especially this one, opens my mind that love between two people could be pure, not driven by lust, regardless the gender. However, this kind of opinion is not popular in many parts of the world. So, yeah, it could be devastating if the one you love is someone from the same gender.
I wasn't a fan of Hozuki. he was so fk'd up, but he served as a foil to make Yousuke and Ikou think about their future together AND seeing Yousuke call him out on his bs and be so cool was an awesome surprise.
I don't think that being gay should be seen as something to despair about, and it always hurts to read about people thinking they're giving up their future just because they love someone of the same sex. Surrogacy and adoption are real alternatives to treating some poor woman as a convenient baby maker.