Minato's Laundromat (2022 - 2023)

Despite the age gap between them, Akira and Shintaro find themselves getting closer and closer by the day, to a point where Shintaro's fierce pursuit of Akira has the latter overwhelmed. One day, while Shintaro is busy texting Akira from school, he is caught by his classmate, Asuka, who is intrigued by Shintaro's secret love interest. Meanwhile, although Shintaro is persistent about his effort towards Akira, he is ultimately seen holding hands and walking around with a beautiful classmate of his.

Upon further revelation, Shintaro is surprised to find out that Akira and Asuka have known each other from the very beginning and even went to a bathhouse together in the past. The nature of their close friendship eventually leaves Shintaro feeling a little jealous. Around the same time, Akira receives an invitation to attend his high school reunion but something that happened in the past has him hesitating about the get-together

A strange turn of events occurs as Akira suddenly finds himself confronting an underwear thief while he's going about his usual business at the laundromat. Immediately, Akira makes an effort to stop the thief and a fierce battle ensues between the two. It is at that very moment that Shintaro arrives at the laundromat and he's successfully able to bring the thief down thereby saving Akira from any possible harm. Thereafter, Shintaro requests Akira to attend the school's sports meet and to cheer for him to which Akira reluctantly agrees. On the day of the meet, Akira suddenly encounters a man he least expected to at the school.

The man that Akira meets at the school's sports meet turns out to be none other than Sakuma Takayuki, the teacher that Akira had a crush on as a student and who has now returned to the school as the head of Shintaro's class. Flushed with many emotions, Akira is left feeling sick and flees the scene upon seeing Takayuki. However, with Shintaro's encouragement, Akira finally musters up the courage to personally visit Takayuki to settle things once and for all.

As he's going about his days operating the laundromat normally, Akira is left stunned when he is greeted with a surprise visit by his former colleague, Machida Saki. Having dated each other briefly in the past, Akira left Saki with no words when he abruptly decided to quit his job and return back to his hometown. Now, in her quest to find a proper closure, Saki confronts Akira about the breakup upfront as an anxious Shintaro watches the two from the sidelines.

With Shintaro just days away from turning 18, Sakurako, Shin's sister, decides to throw a surprise birthday party for Shin for which she invites Akira to join the celebrations at their home. Confused about what he should get, Akira then goes about looking for the perfect gift and picks something special just for Shin. Fast forward to the day of the party, Shintaro takes out a photo album and hands it over to Akira as he finally decides to reveal a secret that he's kept buried deep in his heart for more than a decade.

The summer course break has officially begun, and Akira, who is assisting with the school's swimming lessons, decides it's time for him to confess the past to Takayuki. Meanwhile, in the face of Shintaro's request for a relationship, Akira feels it's not right of him to keep avoiding Shintaro, and therefore, asks Shintaro to head to the beach with him now that he's finally ready to give him his answer.

Although Akira ultimately declines Shintaro's pursuit, Shintaro nevertheless decides to do his best to support the supposed "love" between Akira and Sakuma. Meanwhile, Sakurako falls for Shuu, the teacher from her cram class for which she seeks Asuka for advice. But little does Sakurako know that Asuka had dated Shuu in the past, and the love between them still seems to be very much alive?

Asuka decides that he no longer wants to hide the fact that he, too, likes Shuu and chooses to tell Sakurako about it, unaware of how she might react.. At the same time, Akira finally bolsters up the courage to finally talk to Sakuma about his feelings and the kiss from the graduation ceremony 10 years ago. Will he perhaps finally get the answer he's been looking for this time around?

With his eyes all set for a university in Tokyo, Shintaro invites Akira to attend the open house event at the Tokyo Eiwa University to which he willingly agrees to guide Shintaro around the city. The two are also joined by Asuka who decides to visit Tokyo for his own apparent reasons. However, as they are supposed to return that evening, they unfortunately happen to miss their ride back home thereby resulting in Shintaro and Akira spending the night together in a hotel for the very first time.

Having put all his might and determination into his studies, Shintaro has finally passed the examinations with flying colors. However, deep in his heart, he's getting increasingly hesitant about leaving for Tokyo as he's afraid he'll no longer be able to be by Akira's side. Just how is Shintaro to make a decision? And what will ultimately become of his relationship with Akira?