Ven Stym

“That one sure is clingy. Ain’t it heavy?”

“I’m used to it, so it’s fine. But I’ll have to take a shower before going home. Kuma will find out that I was getting friendly with other dogs if the smell stays on me.”

“Where are you gonna take that shower?”

“Minato’s place. I’ll go in from the back door so that Kuma won’t notice.”

“You’ll be mistaken for some buglar.”

“This always happens, so there’s no problem.”

Someone blew a whistle. The dogs sled to their feet and went into their hut. The song was “Greensleeves”.

English lyrics: Alas, my love, you do me wrong Greensleeves was all my joy Greensleeves was my delight

Japanese translation: Ah, my love, you're such a cruel one Greensleeves, you were my joy Greensleeves, such merry days I was happy just being by your side

Invited by nostalgia, scenes that one both would and would not want to remember came to mind. The two went into the shade to avoid the sun. Heat-haze rose from within the grass.

“I just recently learned something; the Bernese Mountain Dog has a short lifespan even in comparison to other dogs, and apparently, there’s a Swiss proverb that goes, ‘Three years a young dog, three years a good dog and three years an old dog... all else is a gift from God’. The Ainu people call bears ‘kamuy’ – ‘gods’. I accidentally named a short-lived dog ‘Bear’ and kept it by my side. This had me thinking that ignorance is such a scary thing.”

“There ain’t any problem with that, y’know? Some grade school brat gave his pet a name that sounded strong. The Ainu people saw strong bears as gods. Isn't that all there is to it? Unlike in the past, medicine is advanced now. You’re just overthinking too much stuff.”

“Fuh, you’re right. Hey, Kaito.”

“Hm?”

“Ah... it’s almost time for lunch. Let’s go back to the meeting spot.”

Under the sunlight filtered through foliage, red shoes chased after blue ones.

I don’t know if it’s okay to catch up to you, since you’re so full of secrets. Is it selfish of me to want to know what’s burdening you, or to hope that you’ll share the load with me, even if just a little bit of it?

A cool breeze blew past the two, who at some point started walking side by side.

Okay, this scene needs a break-down.

On one side, you have some very obvious stuff, like Kaito’s thoughts about Seiya. His actions have been screaming “rely on me, goddamn it” since volume 1. No news here. Did I ever imagine we’d get it thrown in our faces word by word, coming from Kaito himself? Absolutely the fuck not.

Now, the rest leaves a lot of questions. Why did Seiya bring up the topic of Kuma’s name all of a sudden, and why at a moment when he’s all alone with Kaito instead of when everyone’s together? Why did the song in the background have to be Greensleeves? Why

the fuck

did it have to be such a suggestive part of the song?

Ayano. Fucking answer me, Ayano.

The first thing that got me about this moment is that there’s a Japanese version paired to the original English. Although I wouldn’t call it an accurate translation, I think the Japanese one hits closer to home when it comes to the author’s intention in picking this song (or else, it wouldn’t even be here). These specific verses wouldn’t be used without purpose in the first place, and literally all of it matches with the story.

“You’re such a cruel one”? Yeah, Seiya is indeed a cruel person. Not in the sense that he’s ill-intentioned or mean-spirited (far from it, actually), but in the sense that he doesn’t have any mercy when it comes to protecting what’s important to him. He doesn’t play fair and ends up hurting people in the process (even the very people he’s trying to protect), but he’s fully aware of that. It’s a price he’s willing to pay.

“I was happy just being by your side” reminds me a lot of volume 1, when Kaito was a hair’s breadth away from uncovering the whole truth about what happened in middle school and Seiya’s real intentions, but decided to leave it alone because it wouldn’t be of help for anyone if he knew. Back then, it really felt like just being by Seiya’s side and watching things unfold was enough for him.

But then again, even the English version of the lyrics hits bull’s-eye, ‘cause let’s be honest, Seiya did do Kaito a lot of wrong at the beginning. From blatantly ignoring Kaito to lying through his teeth with a straight face and throwing shade at every opportunity. We really saw it all, lol.

So yeah. Without a doubt, “my love” refers to Seiya. From Kaito’s point of view.

And like.

Why. In the fuck.

Why in all the nine fucks would you use that term for two guys who are supposed to be friends?

ALSO, WHAT THE FUCK WAS SEIYA GOING TO SAY. WHY DID YOU CUT HIM OFF THERE. WHY DOES EVERY SCENE IN THIS GODFORSAKEN SERIES CUT OFF WHEN IT REACHES PEAK GAY.

I just wanna talk, Ayano. I just wanna fucking talk.

This book feels like the author channeled everything the readers have been thinking into one volume and then added some more juicy stuff to it because why the fuck not.

I just... love the way that there’s literally nowhere else to run? Like, no matter how you try to look at it, Seiya is the one “my love” is referring to, and the rest is about his and Kaito’s relationship. It’s not even debatable at all.

Am I saying that Kaito is in love with Seiya? No. But can I say for sure that he isn’t? Also no. This is the magic of Tsurune. The gay is heavy as fuck and the author doesn’t let you find excuses for it.

What I mean by this wall of text is that we now can associate a sentence as straightforward as “alas, my love” with Kaito and Seiya. In canon.

Thank you, Ayano. Fuck you, Ayano.

But mind you, this isn’t the worst of all. There’s a lot going on in volume 3. A whole fucking lot.