Exactly. Honestly, the whole story is depressing ... then it goes and ends depressing. It would be so boring.
And if people expect this to end tragically because it would be realistic ( meaning if they were in real life they would be dead because they are Yakuza) then there isn't much of a challenge for the author in this kind of ending. Any way she wrote, it would not need too much thought because tragedy is the easy route here.
The challenge for someone with talent is to create a way out for these two in a way that absolutely looks convincing. I don't need any convincing that Yashiro or Doumeki could take a bullet. This is easy to see.
That Yashiro is condemned to tragedy is something i feel since I started reading this story so I need the author to convince me of an unexpected thing. Bring on that happy ending and make me believe in it.
Agreeing a hundred percent. (I cannot thumbs up so commenting). I trust sensei to be talented enough to make us truly believe in the ending she chooses. Nevertheless, I could definitely see her choose a bittersweet ending. I don't think she is the type to kill Yashiro or Doumeki. I think it will be more like Yashiro becoming the head and Doumeki being by his side forever. That is kind of a happy ending and yet Doumeki would be sad not being able to save Yashiro from the darkness of this kind of world.
If you wanna think about realistic, the fact that someone like Doumeki who loves Yashiro is very unlikely in the first place. That someone as tragic as Yashiro actually had the chance and blessing to meet a guy who he could change with. A happy ending makes more sense, because even if the manga has had its depressing and tragic parts it has always had a build up for a happy ending, as far as I can see. Exactly because we have seen yashiro's tragic life it makes sense for him to finally be at peace at the end. Whether it will be realistic or not is not determined by whether it's a happy ending or not, it's determined by how the ending and build up to the ending is done.