exactly this though, like going from the start of the story to now with him making his own family a safe space for Morinaga and defending his identity to Morinaga’s mom, even with all the huffing and puffing he does this shows that he accepts and understands morinaga as he is, like even on a platonic level that is still so much care and love being expressed
“Platonic” is not the word here because they have a sexual relationship, but I get what you’re saying. I am waiting for Tatsumi to acknowledge his own orientation (obviously not straight!) and true feelings for Morinaga (in love!). But this is a MAJOR development after all these years and I am happy!
of course i want this to be romantic, but honestly i'm so pleased with the chapter even if souichi is only thinking about it in a platonic way (on the surface, obviously he does have feelings for morinaga even if he cant fully voice them still). regardless of romance, he's in it with morinaga for the long haul. i also appreciate that even though he talks about having homophobic feelings himself and disliking his brother's partner, souichi doesnt say that he dislikes morinaga being gay. the only feelings about morinaga he expresses are the desire to support his happiness
part of the username ive been using for 15 years came from this manga, im so happy i've stuck with it so long. lol this chapter genuinely made me tear up. i love watching how much they've grown