Okay, I still have a lot of feelings about the ending of banana fish, but one thing I haven’t really seen anyone talk about is that part after the gang busts Ash out of Fox’s hideout. There’s that scene where they’re regrouping and Ash (understandably to us) snaps at Cain for touching his shoulder. Everyone kinda chalks it up to Ash having been beat while in there and him needing a moment because he’s in pain, but then it focuses on Eiji and the look he has shows that he knows it’s more than that. He knows they did more than just beat him, and he just has this look of pain in his eyes for Ash. And then he goes over to Ash and just gently, holds him. And you can see Ash shaking because of what he had just went through and all of the pain that he’s bottling up, but slowly he relaxes into Eiji, and stops. Like, I know everyone loses their shit about the kiss and all the (high key) flirting through the series, but this scene is honestly what proves to me that they were more than just friends. More than best friends. The trust that Ash has in Eiji, to the extent that he allows himself to be so vulnerable, even without words, even without telling him, is love and it’s so tragic and beautiful.