Side couple? Going to be great how they explain that down the road.
"So you two are married? How did you meet?"
"I stole from her. Three times. First some money and then her brooch. Then I stole her heart."
Honestly, with how slow the other relationships are taking to develop this relationship is the only one I look forward to since there's actual, real progress.
What can I say, as a man whore I gotta represent somehow and there isn't a whole lot of straight slutty male representation. Could use some that isn't harem bait. :(
For those that are confused the mermaid was never real. It was just a coping mechanism for Shou to help her deal with the loss of her mother. The splash at the end is to just symbolise that Shou has finally been able to move on.
They can. If I remember correctly in the first couple of chapters it's mentioned that the reason they don't is that their friends will absolutely tease the shit out of them and they'd rather just keep their relationship under wraps than deal with all that.
Probably one of my favorite chapters in a romance series. No words, no thought bubbles. Just two people who love each other finally being able to let go of the pain that has held them back for so long. It's just utterly fantastic.