Ahh it ends with Maki finding purpose and learns to forgive himself, Aoki working towards seeing Maki as a person not just his very capable chief. Very fitting, since Maki at first seemed borderline suicidal and Aoki was just a loyal puppy. The last case brought Maki down from his pedestal in Aoki's eyes, and opened Maki's eyes to the possibility of a good future to work toward - Aoki's happiness, proper protection to his subordinates in this line of work. Both of their dedication to each other is so beautiful and heart-wrenching 😢
Someone once described this series as 99.7% shonen ai and I definitely agree 😂 though their connection is far more complex than what that genre suggests. Maki definitely loves him, it's both subtle and not subtle at all, while Aoki just doesn't realize that wanting to be at ease and spending time with each other is what love is to him. If Maki was a woman it would be simpler for him to recognize that, heck, I think he fell for Yukiko in the first place because she's similar to Maki in some ways. The ending is just perfect, it just feels so natural for them.
I am very happy seeing how Yukiko married someone else, I always felt off when she was dating Aoki - like she was still in the shadows of her past, and this volume clears that up. Glad for her moving on.
Thank you so much Dayment Scans for completing this scanlation 😭 it was dropped for many years and it meant so much to me that you guys picked this up and completed it 😭 why this manga is not yet licensed in English is a big mystery.