Edit The second part of the manga is really the best one, in my humble opinion. The plot was definitely original, more so the following times I read it, as curious as it sounds. It is, of course, too short to excel in every possible way--although it does in some particular domains, to be fair--but overall it is quite well executed and what one may assume to be its flaws turned out to be the story's strengths, I thought. For instance, we are given close to zero background concerning Shirou-san, but then again I think the ambiguous hints at it strengthened the plot as a whole, conveyed a little more substance to this unconventional- almost eccentric- relationship. This makes no sense, I'm afraid.
Of course there's also something to be said about the artist's style. As concerns the art, I gave in long ago to Kiyo Kozumi-sensei. I wish there was more than two short mangas from her, but still I lost count to how many times I've returned to them on the sake of the art alone. It's different from everything else out there. The storytelling is almost gracious sometimes--e.g. how Nao-chan conveys his conflicted thoughts through lingering moments of silence. And really now, the main characters are complete opposites. How did she manage to make me root for them so? I loved Nao-chan from the very first second I set my eyes on him, but Shirou-san too had the most compelling personality. Random, erratic, visibly unstable, absolutely grotesque, unbalanced, anxious--the list goes on forever. Not to mention his sexual ambiguity (and I loved their scene in the bathtub: random, classy, funny, superior).
The first story is perfectly fine as well, although I found the characters from the second one easier to relate to and overall more interesting. They are both worthy, of course.
PS: So, I'll ask you over to watch some variety show and then I'll just leave you in the room alone so you can enjoy it properly. Sounds legit.
(-30)
