Tomadoi no yukue written by Kuibara Harumo and illustrated by Asato Eiri
Tomadoi no yukue by Kuibara Harumo and illustrated by Asato Eiri is a saccharine and conventional novel about how a sheltered teen and his overprotective guardian become lovers that manages to keep things grounded. The teen is sweet and innocent, indulged and protected and loved by the guardian. But suddenly the guardian is pushing him away! Oh noes! Teen has abandonment issues thanks to his father, so the idea that the guardian might not want him around is a big deal. Of course, guardian is pushing teen away because he has "inappropriate" (wrong, criminal, SINFUL) feelings towards his ward. This and that happen, but in the end they become a happy couple. How many stories have been written just like this? A zillion? What I like about this particular novel (besides the art by Asato Eiri, which has a sweetness that matches perfectly) is that I didn't get irritated by eternal rounds of misunderstanding and angst. There's some of that, but the characters are pretty straightforward. Especially the teen. True to his "sweet and innocent" nature, he tries to engage his guardian very directly. He appeals to his guardian that he loves him and wants to be with him instead of angsting and suffering and imagining a thousand horrible things in his head for most of half the book. He may be innocent and a bit needy, but he's not weak. Guardian is a little more complicated, but it can easily be explained by the fact that he's an adult. You know, adults make everything complicated. ^_~ His concerns are for the most part legitimate, and he doesn't hold onto them in spite of all evidence to the contrary (like in too many stories to be counted).
I don't think I need to bother explaining most of them. Seriously, there is just sweetness and more sweetness dripping from them...
Guardian providing shelter to the (at the time) pre-teen...
Guardian: You must stay away from me because I'm dangerous!
Teen: Huh?
Guardian finds and takes teen home...
