4 stars // First I would like to make it clear that i do not care for the second story, like, at all. I have a really close platonic bond with my cousins and all of my family in general, i get it if they're like, super distant cousins so they have no way in knowing that they were in any way related, but when you're a first cousin and has actually met each other multiple times and are even close, no. Have no grudges against people who like these but it's just, not for me.
Now that that's out of the way-- Yes i have a soft spot for this couple, they're just so fucking adorably in love with each other. One is in a serious teenage horny stage where they want to always be with the person they love and wants to know absolutely everything about them, and the other one is a dude with ambition that has fallen in love because of the nonstop affection given, it's just so wholesome. Akimoto being so whipped for Saitoh and totally caring about Saitoh's feelings more than his after learning what Saitoh went through, and Saitoh realizing his feelings when Akimoto distanced himself from him and he got pissed because he *wants* to be annoyed by this dog he's just fake hating it please don't ignore him, it's so adorable. The plot in general progression was nice too, it flowed nicely, from Akimoto's admiration slowly turning into love, the reveal of the accident, the heartbreak, reconciliation and the Saitou starts to realize his own feelings and then major heartbreak and then final reconciliation and confession! And the timeline isn't too quick or too slow-paced either so i liked it a lot, laughed a lot, and definitely cooed the two of them being adorable together a lot lmao.
Dash!