sadslime's manga / #childhood friends(67)

Shino is a regular salaryman until his high school friend Mio asks to crash with him. Shino is a little surprised at how naturally the two of them fall back into their old friendship, but he hears rumors that Mio has changed and the reason he needs a place to crash is because he cheated on his fiance with a man. Shino doesn't let it get to him and gets Mio a job, but when he starts to see Mio getting a little too close to one of their superiors, Shino realizes he can't let Mio go. I felt like the emotions of their friendship were depicted well. Otherwise, the story didn't stand out to me but it was good enough for a read. Trigger warnings: coercion, voyuerism.

Historical childhood friends

Ch.1 - Music of the Blue Sky - Aoi is a male prostitute working in a brothel who gets selected by the young nobleman Akeboshi. Akeboshi is known for causing trouble in the brothel before over a prostitute he fell in love with, but this time he just wants to listen to Aoi play music for him. As the two talk and he listens to Aoi's music, Aoi realizes he's fallen in love with Akeboshi, though Akeboshi's heart still belongs to another. Slightly bittersweet with a hopeful ending. I liked it. Trigger warning: sex work. I believe ch.2-3 are short oneshots about characters from another of the author's works. Ch.3 has an underage (child) prostitute, so be warned. Ch.4 - Raider Black - Matsuba was once a young lord, but his family fortune fell apart and his father died. In that moment, a former family servant, Suou, returned, and even though Suou stole from them when he left, Matsuba trusted him as a child and thought he returned to save him. But Suou returned for revenge on Matsuba's father who cheated, impregnated and abandoned his sister, and since Matsuba's father is dead, he takes it out on Matsuba instead by forcing him into prostitution and buying him every night. Not really my thing, but I do appreciate the complex emotions being depicted. Trigger warnings: sex trafficking, sex work, rape. - Wind Chime - a prostitute and a customer trade ghost stories, but the prostitute was a ghost all along! - The King and the Potion - A noble-hearted young king is introduced to the red light district and sees a boy selling himself for his first time. He buys the boy, Moegi, to save him, but the two are drugged and have a wild first night. After that, Moegi works at the palace and the two have a happy, chaste romance, until Moegi is convinced to leave by the king's enemies. The king then wastes away, and only Moegi's return can save him. This one was a bit fairytale-esque, but very cute and fun. Trigger warnings: sex work, attempted murder.

Aoi and Ryouta are childhood friends who do everything together, so it only seemed natural to live together when they started college. But when Ryouta finds Aoi sleeping in a compromising position one night he touches Aoi's lips, and when Aoi wakes up and demands to know why, Ryouta says he couldn't control himself because he likes Aoi! Aoi never thought about their relationship that way, but their gay neighbors are here to help them figure all this out. Very cute and sweet. Trigger warnings: forced outing, somnophilia (in a relationship).

Ever since her father died leaving her under the care of her abusive stepmother and spoiled stepsister, Ninette has only had her adopted brother/guard, Tilson (Til) to rely on. That's why, when her stepsister says the spirits have told her they need a sacrifice from Ninette's family to avoid calamity coming to the town, Ninette is willing to sacrifice herself for Til's sake. But when it turns out it was all a trap, Ninette ends up hiding out in a cave and meeting a spirit, and when she emerges, eight years have passed! Ninette starts a new life with the help of a businessman who took her under his wing while looking for Til, but when she's recognized by a powerful noble family as one beloved by the spirits, they force her into a marriage to protect her patron's business interests. But to the shock of everyone involved, her arranged marriage partner is none other than Til! Both are delighted to be reunited, but Til is a little less enthusiastic when he realizes Ninette still sees him as a little brother, and he becomes determined to change her mind. Cute setup with an interesting and unique twist to their world by including spirit and spirit contracts as such a big facet. Trigger warnings: child abuse/neglect, attempted human trafficking.

Ch.1-3 - Runaway at 3 AM - Two years ago, Takaoka's lover Yukihito left their home with only a note, and Takaoka didn't chase him. Now, a young man who claims to be Yukihito has appeared, though he's too young. It turns out he's Yukihito's younger brother, Naoto, and he gives Takaoka the push to find out why things ended between them two years ago. Ch.2 includes the story of Naoto and why he ran away from his lover, Ise, kicking off this whole thing. No trigger warnings. Ch.4-5 - Sense of Love - Nagi and his childhood friend, Takao, have been friends with benefits for years, but when they graduated and Takao suddenly moved away, Nagi was left sexually frustrated, so he propositioned his friend Madoka instead. Madoka insists that only lovers should do that, but agrees to a trial relationship of a week in which he's very sweet to Nagi and helps him to see what his relationship with Takao really meant to him all along. No trigger warnings.

Ch.1-2, 6.5 - 5 Seconds - Hayato has special eyes that have been passed down in his family. For him, this means that when he meets eyes with someone for five seconds he can copy their "sensuality," so he uses his friends to help him jerk off. The one person he won't use is his childhood friend, Tsukasa, who he's tried to avoid since he realized his ability, but Tsukasa is too sharp not to notice, and when Hayato accidentally copies some eyes he shouldn't have and goes into heat, only Tsukasa can help him. A kind of random and unexpected setup, but I liked the characters well enough. Trigger warning: dubcon(heat). Ch.3 - The Way to Nurture Love - Keiichirou is a normal working man who got dragged to a gay bar and told to pick his type, so he randomly pointed to a worker, but when they turned around he saw it was actually his long lost twin brother, Yuuichirou. Yuu seems to be living life as a woman now, and Kei isn't sure he approves, but he can't help but worry, so he invites Yuu to live with him. But the longer they live together, the more the feelings from their past that forced Yuu to leave seem to reemerge. I liked it, but it is an incest story, so don't read if that's not your thing. Note: I don't think Yuu identifies as a woman, so if you're looking for trans characters, he won't really fit the bill. Trigger warnings: incest, transphobia(?). Ch.4 - Too - An unnamed protagonist (Nameless-kun) lives an ordinary college life, except for the fact that he has a stalker following him every day, buying and wearing all the same clothes as him, and putting not-so-secret cameras in his apartment, which is especially weird since he's a nobody and his stalker, Kudou, is quite popular. Nameless-kun doesn't see it as causing any harm though, so he lets it go until one day Kudou seems to stop dressing like him, causing Nameless-kun to wonder if his affections have changed, and that's when he realizes just how much he's been watching Kudou in turn. I'm not really into stalker romances, but this one was fine for what it was. Trigger warning: stalking. Ch.5 - Itai no, Itai no - Rei spends every day at high school breaking up fights between his childhood friends, Takuma, and Shinobu, who are at each other's throats over everything but insist on spending time together because of Rei. But Rei knows that secretly, the two are in a physical relationship fueled by their shared masochism. Rei has trauma to do with pain that has caused him to develop a masochistic streak too, so he wants in on this. Not my thing. Trigger warnings: masochism, suicide, voyuerism, violence, violent sex. Ch.6 - Mushuusei no Ohisama - Aki and Asahi were friends in high school when Asahi said he'd become the best actor ever and Aki promised to be the one to shoot it on film. Now, years later, Asahi seems to have given up on his dream and only works in the porn industry, but Aki is still determined to capture the best of him. But when they fight, Aki decides to rape Asahi on camera to show him all the faces he hasn't seen yet. Or something. I wasn't really paying attention because I don't like rape stories. Trigger warnings: sex work, rape.

A selection of short stories, almost all shounen ai (Ch.2 depicts a sex scene), about lovers with a personality gap. Ch.1 - Only I Know Chief Iwatsugi! - Shimizu is always getting scolded by his demon boss Iwatsuji at work, but he doesn't mind because secretly he and his boss are dating, and at home Iwatsuji is a total cutie. No trigger warnings. Ch.2 - Adorable Liar - High schooler Tanoi has a crush on his straight-laced classmate Mizuno, so he tells his anonymous friend that he's going to confess on the last day of school. He does and gets shot down hard, so he agrees to go sleep with his anonymous friend to get over it only to find out the friend and Mizuno are actually the same. No trigger warnings. Ch.3 - Non-stop Zaizen-kun - Poor student Hida finds an expensive wallet in his shoe box that the other students assume he stole from rich classmate Zaizen. But it turns out that Zaizen is in love with Hida and this was his weird way of giving him a matching wallet. No trigger warnings. Ch.4 - The Right Way to Shorten Our Distance - Actor Kashiwara doesn't understand why his popular and affable manager, Tsubaki, is so kind to everyone but so distant with him! But when he tries to shorten the distance, he learns that Tsubaki is a way bigger fan than he thought. No trigger warnings. Ch.5 - Akaoni-kun's Rice Ball - Katori is a salaryman who ends up with no choice but to buy lunch from a nearby restaurant with a terrifying chef, Akaoni. But after he tries the food he's hooked, and when he comes back, he finds out that Akaoni is anything but scary underneath it all. No trigger warnings. Ch.6 - It's Your Fault for Being so Suggestive! - Chitose noticed that his childhood friend Nao has a crush on him recently, so he's been teasing him with it while waiting for the right moment to confess. But Nao has enough of it and turns the tables on him. No trigger warnings. Ch.7 - About a Guy Called "Matsubara" - Suzuki is a serious loner-type student, and popular student Matsubara always seems to be bothering him about something. But really the two are dating, and Matsubara is a little bit of a yandere. Trigger warning: obsessive behavior. Ch.8 - Tell Me About Your Fingers - Beauty school stuent Souta has a huge hand fetish, and right now he's into the cool loner Kodomori's hands. But when Kodomori finds out about it and calls him creepy, Souta is mortified, only to find Kodomori using it to sadistically tease him later. No trigger warnings.

Mio and Sagara grew up together, Mio as the boss's daughter and Sagara as his subordinate in the yakuza, but one night Mio sees Sagara having sex and suddenly realizes how sexy he can be. She wants on in that, so when he confronts her, she invites him and they find out they have great compatibility. But after they started this relationship as basically friends with benefits, how can they transition once feelings are involved? Surprisingly cute despite the stupid name, though it is smutty. I liked the non-traditional FL in this one. Even just having a FL who can say out loud she wants to have sex is a huge plus, and she wasn't even embarrassed. Trigger warnings: voyuerism, somnophilia(in a relationship).

Gilbert is a young master who's been confined to his manor under the watchful eye of his butler and childhood friend, Noah, but Noah won't give Gilbert any alone time, even when he wants to get off. Gilbert tries to scare Noah off by suggesting Noah be his partner, only for him to remember how cute Noah actually is. I wish Noah's character felt more cohesive, and less like two separate people, but still a cute, short read. No trigger warnings