I feel like it's TOTALLY a canon romantic relationship rather than implied, especially if you compare this with shounen-ai like Silver Diamond! The only person who doesn't say that they're boyfriends is Takara ;) Classic tsundere move. They've obviously been in a romantic relationship for a long time, but by the end of the series they're still emotionally immature and haven't put the right label on it, even though EVERYONE ELSE who encounters them already has. But, I mean, not only have they been sleeping in the same bed for most of the series, they also actively cuddle! They say extremely romantic things to each other and are planning to always be together! They aren't shown having that much skinship towards the end of the series because they've just been having it "offscreen" so to say as more emphasis got put on other characters.
I actually find the whole thing kind of realistic- I've had multiple couple friends who have been OBVIOUSLY a couple to everyone but themselves for awhile, insisting they are only friends, who eventually went on to admit they'd been a couple for awhile and then eventually marry :)
Well, there are times when Takara describe Kiyomine as the person he likes the most and often times caught feeling lonely and confuse when Kiyomine focus his attention to someone. And I seriously thought that Takara has exceeded Ayako's place as the most important person in Kiyomine's life since Takara is the only person he would follow his selfish demands and it's obvious they need each other to survive hence the "shacking" up together. And if you consider Takara's attitude about love, he was the type who would fall inlove with someone without even noticing it thats why I agree with everyone has considered them as couple and exclusive to each other but not totally labeling them as a lovers. And if Takara stop worrying about peoples reaction to him and Kiyomine, you would notice that there's this mysterious romantic aura enveloping them that makes people go kyaaaa and seem so natural for them to do. So there's really a clear sign of them being in an established relationship..
Well, there are times when Takara describe Kiyomine as the person he likes the most and often times caught feeling lonely and confuse when Kiyomine focus his attention to someone. And I seriously thought that Takara has exceeded Ayako's place as the most important person in Kiyomine's life since Takara is the only person he would follow his selfish demands and it's obvious they need each other to survive hence the "shacking" up together. And if you consider Takara's attitude about love, he was the type who would fall inlove with someone without even noticing it thats why I agree with everyone has considered them as couple and exclusive to each other but not totally labeling them as a lovers. And if Takara stop worrying about peoples reaction to him and Kiyomine, you would notice that there's this mysterious romantic aura enveloping them that makes people go kyaaaa and seem so natural for them to do. So there's really a clear sign of them being in an established relationship.. ╮(￣▽￣)╭
I loooooove ur comment
I JUST FINISHED IT AND I FEEL LIKE CRYING!!!
SPOILER ALERT! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!
I know this is shounen-ai and all but isn't this going a bit far? I mean too far I feel like this can still be considered seinen or something OTL I really wanted them to be officially together.. there were so many opportunities for their relationship to grow and it just stayed in this ambiguous state. Sure, they promised each other they'll be together and now they're living together as well but this happens with friends too! I'm just not satisfied with this "it's implied" kind of situation（/TДT)/ I was even looking forward to Takara at least being at the same level as Ayako in Mine's eyes. Even the whole "He always likes to keep the things he likes hidden" theme was a bit snubbed about more than halfway the series. I mean, could you imagine Kiyomine letting Ayako model or even be video taped to be posted all around the city? I think not. But he let Takara do it without much opposition as I would expect to see. The last one was prolly the gym banning. I'm so sad because they actually had real chemistry and seriously all of the characters were amazing and extremely likable ლ(´ڡ`ლ) This is one of the best mangas out there and it's such a shame for this couple to never be actually canon huhuhuhu ╥﹏╥ Also, just when you think their feelings are totally romantic, it always gets dropped and is never resolved.ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ Along about 2/3 in the series, their skinship actually became even less frequent than before. I'm so sad about this since I really like couples that are actually comfortable with each other. Their feelings and interactions got downplayed a lot eventually. I'm so disappointed about the ending and how the mangaka handled their relationship, but I don't regret one bit reading this. Just reading about their friendship and relationships with others was joy enough! On the other hand, if their relationship actually got romantic, as I assume how it was supposed to be (until they decided they needed to broaden their target audience instead), THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY THE BEST SHOUNEN-AI out there!! If you're thinking of reading this, please do! It's totally recommended~