Wow. This was really beautiful and sad, and I loved it. I really love a focus on male/male friendship, too. It's so rare to see. Even with the lingering hints of feelings one of them had for the girl, that was never the focus, so it didn't take away from the power of the story.
The cat stuff--NO. Fucking hell. I hated it so much. I wish I could erase that from my mind. I know it's only pretend, but it was so drawn out and awful, and one of my cats looks like that cat, so even worse. But other than that, this was a really good manga. I wish that scene would exit my brain, but I'm glad I read the story. I do wish that there'd been more emphasis on the healing of the survivors, especially someone who's been so brutally bullied and mistreated for so long, but at least he said that sweet thing at the end about how he feels hopeful being with the other boy. Very sad but a very good story.
Yagiza no Yuujin