I recently collected the quiet, charming, insightful Hide & Seek by Yaya Sakuragi. I confess, I prefer it to the mangaka's better-known Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love.
One aspect I greatly enjoy about Hide & Seek is that the doctor has a type. He tends to fall for laid-back, seemingly que sera sera types. The problem: laid-back, que sera sera types sometimes come with extra baggage, such as not paying bills or caring all that much about how the other person feels.
So the doctor falls for Shuji Tanihara (the blond, who is literally blond in the manga), a representative of this type. Shuji takes things as they come. He is not hugely ambitious. He is divorced and tends to party but in a desultory way that suggests he could be persuaded to do something else.
He also owns the candy/convenience store that he has always wanted to own. It doesn't get many customers, but he plans to hold onto it. He also cares for his daughter. Sure, he shows up at her school looking like a member of the Rat Pack, but hey, he shows up!
The best indication that Shuji is the doctor's type without the negative baggage is when he tells off the doctor's ex. The doctor's ex is currently dating someone else (actually two someone elses). He descends on the doctor to mooch.
Shuji is appalled. Why should the doctor be paying for someone else's mistakes? Why should the doctor be responsible for someone else screwing up? Why should he help out an ex who is an "ex"?Shuji is partly jealous, but the interaction between the three of them indicates that despite being the doctor's "type," this time, the doctor has fallen for a guy who won't mooch or leave or use him for his own ends. This time, the guy, Shuji, will be loyal, will stick around, will invest himself.
Excellent character depiction!
