A story so delicate it brings tears to your eyes — “A Boy and Love” by Kumonosuke（雲之助）

ICHIJINSHA gateau Comics “A Boy and Love” will be introduced!

The following is quoted from the back cover. This review does touch on the story’s content! If you just want a quick overview!! I’d be happy if you read only the red text and highlighted sections.

A world where a boy like you and a boy like me fall in love…―――――

More girlish than any girl, “Meguru” is confessed to by his best friend and childhood friend, Hayato.

“I’m a guy, and Hayato is a guy too—that’s not normal.”

That confusion creates the first distance ever between the two of them. But watched over by kind yet firm people, their relationship begins to…

When the two who were always together begin to feel that warmth slip farther away, their true feelings finally come into view.

A delicate, romantically depicted love story

From ICHIJINSHA gateau Comics “A Boy and Love”

I never expected such beautifully drawn tears to move me to tears as well…

Characters drawn by Kumonosuke-sensei often carry a sense of kindness and fragility, with many who feel so gentle they seem to cleanse the heart—but personally, Meguru-kun felt like the most delicate of them all. From a young age, he loved cute things and fairy tales, and as he grew older, he became confused by how different he was from those around him. Yet he is saved by his childhood friend Hayato-kun and Hayato’s older sister, Hiroko-san. The siblings stay by Meguru-kun’s side, but Hayato-kun eventually takes a step forward, realizing he can’t remain just a childhood friend. And then, faced with an unexpected confession, Meguru-kun ends up rejecting him once… it’s heartbreaking. Because you can empathize so deeply with both of their feelings, this scene tightens your chest every time you reread it—your heart feels squeezed tight.

Freckles and a mysterious charm—an encounter with someone who will later become a confidant

After talking about it with Hiroko-san and her boyfriend, Tamotsu-san, Meguru-kun becomes overwhelmed and, not knowing what to do, impulsively runs away from the scene—only to meet someone by the roadside with charming freckles. That encounter becomes an important turning point for Meguru-kun. Making friends or starting conversations on his own had always been difficult for him. Unsure of how to face Hayato-kun, who had been his childhood friend, Meguru-kun slowly opens up to the person he meets, Akari Mizusawa, little by little, gradually calming the turbulence in his heart.

Meguru-kun is asked by Hayato-kun to meet again after some time, and he finds himself caught in repeated rounds of self-questioning.

As time passes, Meguru-kun’s longing to see Hayato-kun only grows stronger, and though he continues to question himself over and over, he comes to realize once again that Hayato-kun is an irreplaceable presence in his life. His tears won’t stop, and the way they quietly trail down his cheeks is unbearably beautiful. Hayato-kun, too, faces himself head-on, learning to let his feelings sink in rather than simply letting them burst out. I truly hope you’ll watch over where these two ultimately arrive—by seeing it for yourself.