Stay with me

As was noted in other sneaks, we pick up with Yashiro being very upset with Doumeki. Holding his head, kicking over the bowl of water he used to nurse Doumeki back to health. He doesn't look up from this position, he just says, "You've got to be kidding me." (alternative translations were "You're really stupid." (Talking about Doumeki... or himself?? HAHA!)

We are back in bookmark mode! Lots of long shots. Doumeki arrives confidently at Tsunakawa's. Just as an aside, I love Tsunakawa's house. The garden, the traditional Japanese style. Love it!

Tsunakawa asks Doumeki if he's going to get on his knees and beg like he did 4 years ago. Doumeki says, "I won't."

So Tsunakawa's guys help him.

Tsunakawa is pissed because Doumeki should be hanging his head in shame.

Tsunakawa says maybe you're glad this happened.

A cute pic of Kamiya because we don't see those much. Cue the Doumeki beating montage...

Tsunakawa says "I'm surprised you came back here." Doumeki says he's grateful to them for taking him in back then. Tsunakawa says, "You only came here because Yashiro didn't want you."

Tsunakawa says Yakuza are people who can't live a decent life. But he looked into Doumeki's life. Doumeki was a cop, who has a cute little sister and a mother, and went to jail for assault after protecting his little sister. Even so, a person with a family could still live a normal life.

Tsunakawa: "What does the Yakuza mean to you?"

Doumeki: "It's... a place to live."

Tsunakawa: "What does Yashiro mean to you?"

Doumeki: "He's the reason I live."

Tsunakawa: "Can't you at least hesitate a little?"

Tsunakawa looks so heartbroken here. Doumeki really did the only thing he could to break his heart.

Doumeki says, that Yashiro is precious to him. That pisses off Tsunakawa more. Is he mad that he wasn't the one. (Seriously... but in a Yakuza way.)

Doumeki receives his orders. "Kill Kai. Because you're a felon, there's no telling how long you'll be eating prison food, so get your affairs in order." Really brokenhearted.

Then he's told by Miraji that when he is released from prison, he'll be excommunicated. This is the only time Doumeki seems at a loss for words.

Because how does he stay by Yashiro if he can't be in the Yakuza?

Kamiya is told to make sure Doumeki kills Kai.

Kamiya takes Doumeki to a hotel room. Doumeki puts ice on his face and Kamiya tells him he'll use this gun and it's loaded.

He thanks Kamiya for all his help. Kamiya tells him that he can thank him but can't apologize to Tsunakawa?

Doumeki said he won't apologize, and he thinks that Tsunakawa wouldn't be satisfied with just an apology anyway.

Kamiya is mad because Doumeki betrayed the family, fell in love with a man, and put him in the middle of his crap. Doumeki says he doesn't see the gender of the person you love being an issue. You tell him, Doumeki!!!

At this moment, Kamiya opens up to Doumeki about his own little sister, whom he couldn't protect because he was just a kid too. Doumeki says that it's unusual for Kamiya to open up like that.

Kamiya says that when he was young (before he even had pubic hair), he stabbed his abusive parents in the stomach. (Under-aged violence is handled differently in Japan, as is murder.) He says he was just a dumb kid, because if he was going to stab someone anyway, he should have done it before his sister died. (I'm only guessing here, so reserve judgment until we have a translation, but OMG, did they abuse her until she died? Or is he saying he would have killed her before they did to save her from the abuse? Or perhaps that if he'd stabbed the parents while she was alive, she would have gotten better too.) It also looks like they lived in squalor.

Kamiya laughs and says, 'Yeah, it's not at all like me to share."

This chapter had so many levels of sadness, defeat, rejection, confession. Brazen boldness from our big baby bird. I really hope to see Yashiro meet with Tsunakawa again, this time for property rights!!!

Kamiya has reached Kuga status. I am so glad we got to know this about him. Now I hope that doesn't mean he's going to die now. Because he opened up.

Are Hirata, Aoi, Yashiro, and Doumeki the only people in the world who didn't deal with their trauma? It's worth noting that Yashiro managed to get yet another Yakuza fired from his job because he was in love with him. It's a record when you do it to the one you actually like.

It's Yashiro's game now. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I have entertained the end of this story with Yashiro and Doumeki ending up in jail together. They'll go to the same jail as Ryuuzaki on the day Ryuuzaki is released. LOL!

That's it! Chapter 66 will be out on May 29. It's gonna be a cruel Summer!

CHAPTER 61 SUMMARY

First we have the title page with a gorgeous illustration of Doumeki and Yashiro. Yashiro is leaning on Doumeki's shoulder with his eyes closed and D has his eyes downcast, looking protective.

The text says どうしたら、一緒にいられるー which translates to "What can I do, to be able to stay with you?" There aren't any pronouns or context clues giving away who's thought this might be (which seems to be a trend recently?) so I think this line could be attributed to either D or Y.

The chapter opens seconds after the ending of ch 60. Doumeki has been shot and is kneeling in front of Yashiro. Yashiro has a look of horror on his face as he takes in just how injured D really is. D stands and claims that the bullet just grazed him, clearly a lie considering the immense pain that's apparent on his face. Muraji marches over and grabs D by his collar, berating him for not protecting Tsunakawa. Muraji throws D against the car at which point Tsunakawa steps in to stop the violence. Tsuna goes on to confirm that Yashiro is alright and remarks that if something had happened to Yashiro, Misumi wouldn't have been pleased. Tsuna points out that the police will surely be there soon to respond to the gun fire, so they should disperse. He orders Muraji to stay and deal with Doumeki and the aftermath of the shooting. Tsunakawa gets into his car and says to the underling driving (I can't believe we haven't learned this guy's name yet lol) that they can use this as an excuse to destroy them all (I assume he means Ryuuzu and Okuyamagumi?). He implies that he'll have Okuyama himself get involved.

As they start to drive away, Tsunakawa recalls the sight of Doumeki, covering Yashiro during the shooting and he doesn't look pleased as he remembers. Meanwhile, Doumeki is lying weakly against the car that Muraji had slammed him against. Muraji orders another underling to carry D inside while Yashiro looks on with an inscrutable expression. There's a slight time skip and we're in a car with Yashiro, Nanahara, and Doumeki, who's in the backseat, condition deteriorating. Yashiro orders Nana to drive faster, though he's maintaining his usual cool demeanor. Nana does as he's told. There's a one panel flashback to the scene back at Sakuraikka's mansion. We're shown Yashiro telling the underling carrying Doumeki that it would likely be bad/troublesome to keep an injured person there at the mansion. This was Yashiro's indirect way of getting Doumeki into his care and Nanahara knows it. There's another small time skip and we're in Kageyama's clinic. Nana is carrying a barely conscious Doumeki, his arm flung over Nana's shoulder. As soon as Kageyama realizes who's injured and how seriously he springs into action to care for D.

Some time later, Yashiro is waiting in the hallway smoking a cigarette when Nana approaches and informs him that Sakuraikka will send Kamiya to collect Doumeki later. He also says he needs to leave to deal with something concerning Yamakawa. As he turns to go, he looks over his shoulder at Yashiro, clearly concerned but unable to say anything, as it would overstep his bounds.

Kage exits D's room into the hallway. He's surprised that Y is still there. He tells Y that D is stable and while he lost a lot of blood and tissue, he's going to be alright. Y makes a snarky remark about D not dying and Kage retorts. This leads to a conversation about how D got injured. Kage is aware that D was protecting Y (and not protecting Tsuna) and that led to his injury. Y says that D was an idiot to do such a thing and that surely the matter "isn't over". Kage gives him a knowing stare and says, "Yeah, you're right, it probably isn't." It seems like Kage is clearly alluding to Y and D's entanglement not being over, but Y is referring to D's situation with Tsunakawa and Kage's double meaning apparently goes over his head.

Kage leaves Yashiro and now Yashiro is alone in the hallway, facing the door to D's room. Y seems to steel himself (though still keeping his poker face) and then stands up and enters the room.

He draws back the curtain surrounding D's hospital bed and finds D, apparently asleep, looking so fragile and human. D is covered in Y's shadow as Y looks at him, his poker face falling the slightest to reveal his fatigue. Y begins to reach out his hand to D, but he stops short and turns to leave. D stops him by calling out Y's name and asking, "Aren't you going to ask?" Y says he isn't going to. We see two panels of D's face, one is surprise at Y's response and the second is pained acceptance. (I think we've seen this kind of expression from D a few times before. To me, he seems to make this face when he was expecting Y to take a step toward a closer relationship but then realizes that D must be the one to do it.)

D says that he was returning the favor. Y doesn't understand so D goes on to say that D was protected by Y in the past. Y still doesn't get it so D says that when he first joined Y's group as a yakuza member he understood nothing and because of that, even though D wanted to protect Y, in the end D was protect by Y instead. That's what he was returning by protecting Y during the shooting. Y gives D a perplexed look over his shoulder. He turns to leave once again, beginning to slide open the hospital room door and says that D is mistaken. He says that Tsunakawa won't look favorably on what D has done. Suddenly, D's hand slams down on the door and stops Y from leaving. D has dragged himself from the hospital bed and is standing behind Y, framing him with both arms against the door, his head nearly resting on the back of Y's head. D seems to have lost control of himself and he begins to say something but catches himself and pulls back. (To me, it seems like he was about to say something along the lines of "Well if Tsunakawa is going to throw me away then you should take me" but he stops talking waaay before what he wants to say is made clear.) D withdraws his hands and arms, freeing Y, and apologizes, saying the fever is making him act strange. D tells Y to leave because D's fine now. Y watches D withdraw, sweat from the effort of moving across the room gathering on the back of his neck, his breathing labored. Y doesn't seem quite sure what to make of the interaction.

The last page of the chapter is three panels. In the first, Y has exited D's room and is perched against the door, seeming to have realized something or to be on the verge of understanding. The middle panel shows D, having returned to his hospital bed, sitting pensively. And the last panel is a close up of D's face, his right hand covering most of his face, wearing a truly defeated and exhausted expression.

END OF SUMMARY

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