Awkward Silence



Awkward Silence or Bukiyou Na Silent is a Boys Love genre manga by Takanaga Hinako, author of many other popular Yaoi series such as The Tyrant Falls in Love and Little Butterfly. . It was started in 2004 and first serialised in Be X Boy. It now stands complete at three volumes.

Poor communication kills... or at least makes relationships a more dificult than usual.

Toono Satoru is a mostly expressionless boy who has a crush on popular Baseball player Tamiya. He spends most of his time shut away in the art room at school drawing him and never for a moment thinks that his crush would ever be anything more than one sided... until Tamiya asks him out. Inwardly Toono is thrilled but it doesn't show on his face.

It requires endless patience on Tamiya's part just to not give up on him, and incredible effort on Toono's just to get his feelings across.

This manga provides examples of:

 * Being Personal Isn't Professional: Sagara tried to warn Kagami off with this.
 * Bi the Way: Kagami
 * Boys Love Genre: The entire series.
 * Coitus Ensues
 * Emotionless Girl: Toono's mother - clearly he takes after her.
 * Fainting: When Toono makes a long speech, he suffers a combo sort-of Corset Faint and Emotional Faint because he is so unused to speaking for long periods of time that he completely runs out of breath and nearly asphyxiates.
 * French Maid Outfit: Machida wears one for her class' Maid Cafe for the
 * Generic Cuteness: As is typical in Yaoi manga.
 * Genki Girl: Machida Yukari
 * High School: The setting for the entire manga.
 * Horrible Judge of Character: Toono's obliviousness make's him this in Tamiya's eyes.
 * Luminescent Blush: Toono, but only during sex. Tamiya wishes he'd show his emotions that easily at other times.
 * Maid Cafe: Machida's class does this for the culture fair.
 * One Head Taller: Toono and Tamiya and Sagara and Kagami.
 * Patient Childhood Love Interest: Sagara Yuu meets up with Toono again years after he moved away.
 * School Festival: Complete with its very own Cosplay Cafe! (Their class did a Haunted House the previous year.) It also has the effect of completely exhausting Toono after he ends up put on the organisation committee before he has a chance to say no.
 * Shrinking Violet: Toono.
 * Silent Bob: Toono.
 * Sprouting Ears: In the Doggy and Kitty Ears special. Tamiya's a dog and Toono's a cat, and alternate between looking like the animals normally would and looking like their normal selves only a Little Bit Beastly.
 * Stalker With a Crush: Alternative Character Interpretation for Toono. The guy has fourteen notebooks filled with sketches of Tamiya playing baseball. In the manga, it comes off as more sweet than stalkerish - the art club room does happen to look over the baseball pitch, after all - but it's still a bit weird.
 * I thought it was eleven?
 * Strong Family Resemblance: Toono and his mother.
 * Student Council President: Kagami.
 * Sugar and Ice Personality: Sagara, who only really shows his warm side to Toono.
 * Kagami sends him into full on Tsundere mode, though.
 * The Matchmaker: Both Toono and Tamiya try this with the Kagami and Sagara Yuu.
 * The Not Love Interest: Machida.
 * The Quiet One: Toono is small, cute and very shy.
 * This and That: One of the few ways Toono can fully express his emotions.
 * Two Guys and A Girl: Toono and Tamiya are the Official Couple, and Machida is the friend they're initially both jealous of,.
 * Understanding Boyfriend: Until Sagara showed up again, Tamiya was the only person who could read Toono's moods and wasn't put off by his blank expression.