muse ✨'s manga / #reencounter(186)

Ivan, a spy in the Russian army, is sent to infiltrate the mafia - specifically, to spy on his former best friend whom he's still in love with. This lacks the plotty espionage I was expecting; Ivan's motivations are discovered far too soon for someone who is supposedly an accomplished spy, but I loved their relationship and passion.

Years after a drunken one-night stand, Hiroki is shocked to find his new boss, Kurosawa, is the man who'd found and comforted him in the wake of his father's death. Hiroki doesn't expect to be recognized; he's since reinvented his image in order to pay off his father's debts, but Kurosawa knows him immediately and confesses that he's been searching for Hiroki for the past four years. Overall an enjoyable story, although there is an immature test of Hiroki's motives for being in the relationship that could've been settled with a frank conversation, and the ending is a bit rushed.

Aratsuka Kaoru, a strict math teacher nicknamed "Alaska" by students who find his manner cold, loses the key to his apartment and spends the night in the care of his neighbor. The neighbor, Suzuki Kouta, is the new infirmary sensei and seduces Kaoru during the night. Kaoru, who doesn't have an interest in or understand romantic love, slips out before morning. He develops a fever while teaching and goes to the infirmary, where he learns Kouta was his student many years earlier and chose this career because of his love for Kaoru. But Kaoru rejects his confession, causing things to become awkward between them, and finds Kaota in a compromising position with a student not days later. Furious and battling his own jealousy, Kaoru vows he'll never speak to Kouta again and avoids the infirmary until he's tricked into going. Kouta reveals that he never slept with a student, but caught them having sex in the infirmary and promised not to reveal it. With all cards on the table, their relationship seems off to a promising start until someone from Kouta's past appears. # Spoilers: This would've been a wonderful slow-burn, watching Kaoru fall in love and accept these newfound feelings, but the pacing ruined the story for me. Additionally, the introduction of the antagonist - Kouta's college friend who kidnaps Kaoru and forces an infatuated student to perform oral sex on him in an attempt to coax him to leave Kouta - was a sloppy plot device to get emotions running hot. Futher, Kaoru won't reveal what happened to Kouta and has to shoulder the emotional fallout from his assault alone. Overall it left me feeling sad for both of them.

On their graduation day ten years ago, Takashi confessed to Hayate, a fellow club member, who was kind but firm with his rejection. But when Takashi started to cry, Hayate promised to celebrate his birthday with him every year until Takashi found someone to love. Ten years later and still in love, Takashi lies to Hayate about having a lover in order to end what has become a masochistic ritual, which forces Hayate to make a decision about how he really feels for Takashi. The bulk of this story happens after Hayate decides that, in spite of his preference for women, he loves and wants to be intimate with Takashi. Although other comments mention having an issue with how long this took for Hayate to accept, to the point of it being cruel to Takashi, I found it relatable. Hayate never met with him to be cruel, and I don't think he had any idea he'd caused Takashi to suffer. He was trying to be a supportive friend. After they get together, he is devoted to Takashi and their relationship, and prepared to live it openly. I found this surprisingly happy and sweet. Also: They have REALLY NICE AND SUPPORTIVE FRIENDS FROM HS! <3

A man awaiting cancer results sees an omen in a black cat and a young man who looks exactly like a friend he lost several years before. SPOILERS: This manga is a little confusing, but the jist is this: Nakatsu and Miyashita went to school together. When he realized he was developing feelings for Nakatsu, Miyashita prank-called him on April Fool's Day with the message that he, Miyashita, had been killed in a car accident. Nakatsu believed the call and never verified the information with anyone. Years later, walking home in the heat, Nakatsu faints in front of a young man who is the spitting image of Miyashita, breaking his glasses in the process. He begins to dream of the black cat and of Miyashita, who seems to transform from it. A bit later, he spots the same young man outside of his apartment and falls over the balcony trying to get a better look at him, knocking himself unconscious. He wakes up to find Miyashita in his apartment, having carried him inside. Worried about his own future and overwhelmed to see Miyashita again, albeit in supernatural form, Nakatsu confesses he's always loved him. They sleep together, and when he wakes, Miyashita is gone. Nakatsu, remembering the call about Miyashita's death years earlier, accepts that Miyashita must be a ghost and is shocked to receive a phone call from him ordering him to go the hospital for his test results. To his relief, the tumor is benign, and on his way out, he runs into...Miyashita, who is alive and well and working as a med tech. He also has a young son, who is his spitting image. It turns out he'd seen Nakatsu at the hospital before and asked his son to find out where he lives. The son is the person Nakatsu met initially, before his glasses break. With his glasses broken, he doesn't notice that it's his friend Miyashita, not the son, who actually visits his apartment and sleeps with him. Miyashita confesses to the prank phone call and they bicker affectionately in a park, and presumably live happily ever after or something like that.

"Ichimura has just quit his job of eight years and lost his girlfriend. While feeling bummed out and uninspired, his best friend from college appears on his doorstep. But maybe there was more to their friendship than meets the eye..."

Ayase is a disgraced doctor who returns to his childhood home after it's revealed his lover was married, and is reunited with his childhood friend Taishi. (The first few and final few chapters.) The second story takes place in a restaurant.

A young man who blames himself for his brother's apparent suicide is reunited with a boy he'd known one summer when they were small.

Former baseball club teammates are reunited when a kouhai tutors his sempai's younger sister. SuBLime has this and its sequel, so I picked it up even though I only liked the sequel the first time I read this series. I loved this on reread. Maybe I didn’t like something about the scanlation? The official story was beautiful and so I raised this from 3 to 5 stars. I didn't feel much reading this story, although the art style is lovely.

Stepbrothers are reunited when one returns home after his stepmother is hospitalized.