It's funny to look back on my initial reactions to this series, because it's absolutely a top favorite now. Top ten, easily, possibly top five, although I'd need to think through my list.
Honestly, it just needed the smut to story ratio balanced out a bit, and suddenly it was perfect. I absolutely loved both volumes of Long Take, which I wouldn't have expected earlier in the series, when I liked Hisashi and Mao but wasn't all that invested in them. They're gaining a ton of depth over time, which is actually more realistic as they and their relationship matures. It started out as a friendship thing, then quite frankly kinda just two horny guys in the prime of their life having fun, then transitioned into significant feelings and thoughts about the future.
And now that we're in that stage, it's so, so good. I love seeing them growing individually, and together, with Mao working a lot on being more in tune with other people, and Hisashi doing his hardest to come out of his shell and be the kind of person Mao already fully believes he is: talented, kind, hardworking, so many wonderfully embarrassing compliments that Hisashi is learning, slowly, to accept, even if he doesn't fully believe them just yet.
This volume was mostly about their school trip, where they learned that being apart isn't necessarily a bad thing - it gives them opportunities to build other friendships and to learn more about each other through different types of communication. Love having that mixed in with Jin and Ichikawa having one of their big explosive fights and make-up sessions during the school trip - with Jin following him there because he'd thought Ichikawa was breaking up with him and desperately needed to see him and talk him out of it.
I adore them so much, too, and I'm so happy their story's getting a sequel. Although at this point I also really, really want to see Hisashi meeting Mao's family.