beta
For anyone confused let me clear this up once and for all. In chapter 1 p.13, the person spoken to when one of the gang members says "yer 18 yerself" is not Mori. It's not clear who it is but they respond that they're working, and Mori hid the fact that he works from everyone except 2 people (as evidenced by ch.3 pages 4-5). An argument could be made that it's a different job, but ch.4, p.3 sounds pretty conclusive to me. He says that he was a "little younger" than 25 at the time so he must've been 24/23, a far cry from 19 if you ask me. Realistically, what 18 year old is leading a gang like that?
On the question of whether this constitutes grooming or not, how do you guys define grooming? It's any act done to gain a child's trust for the purpose of sleeping with said child. He showed Tora preferential treatment for a whole year. Grooming is often depicted as relentless, but in reality it's very covert and insidious. Some small things you'd never pay attention to can be constituted as grooming, especially acts of kindness. As for whether he was planning on sleeping with him from the start or not I don't think that matters. He did it and it wasn't a heat of the moment thing. He took his sweet time buying condoms and all. So what makes his actions different from grooming? Is it intent? What more could he have done to concretely turn this into grooming?
I understand wanting to enjoy this manga, but please don't try denying the facts. Feel free to create your own headcanon by changing their ages, but I'm sure the mangaka intended the story to be this way. I say that because there's precedent (see Nirameba Koi vol.1, ch.6). I enjoy a few things about this manga, especially the biker gang concept, but let's be honest with ourselves. I respect the people who admit they change the details in their minds more than those frantically trying to deny the facts.