#<- i should go back and add that to a few of my past yttd posts...

[datastate]

Could we hear more about Kai's mom pretty please? 👀🤲

ahhh!! thank you sm for your interest (& patience :'D) ... i'm afraid this leans more into both qingyue & gashu, but...!! i hope it suffices <3

Qingyuè (清越) Satou was a very ambitious surgical researcher, particularly focused on respiratory health! (Gashu, by contrast, has always strived to do laboratory research with emphasis on medicine—though I'll refrain from talking about him just yet...)

Though she was born in China, her parents moved to the Chinese Mainland specifically to find better education/opportunities for her when she was young and first began school. She eventually graduated with high marks and immediately sought out work alongside university courses up until she was given chances to practical clinical work, all of which kept her away from visits to her extended family...

...and, as cold as it sounds, she preferred this feeling of freedom. While she did genuinely care for her family, she has always been curious about the world and wanted to explore it on her own rather than feel tied down to tradition. Beyond her own family, she wanted to learn more about its people, the people she wanted to help. Qingyuè is fond of people who are open about how they see the world, which usually draws her to childrens' uniformed views as well as elders who've already experienced most of it. She very much believed in listening to one's elders - not exactly heeding them, depending on the situation, but understanding the value of their perspectives.

This is out of respect, of course, but also because of her personal view on 'talent'—namely, experience outranks innate talent.

Despite most often commenting on her 'being a natural' at mathematics & chemistry, she wouldn't accept this praise until years into her education when she felt she at last earned it. Especially with her mixed heritage, Wa-Chinese, she often placed pressure on herself to represent something worthwhile... something that she, personally, could be proud of. If she wasn't satisfied with where she was, she couldn't stand for anything. All it took was someone else that they believed was 'just as gifted' and she would be dismissed; she had to prove she was more than that.

In any case... her work in the field was quickly recognized, as was Gashu's in Japan. Some time after he was well-established, he had taken a mourning period; the one thing that reinitialized his work was an overseas request for collaboration on an anti-viral drug that was based upon some of Gashu's discovery. He was invested in it, and found the other scientists easy to work with... but particularly Qingyuè caught his interest with how easily she built upon what ideas he would propose. She was intelligent, thoughtful, and became one of the untold reasons he stayed in China as long as he did.

Truthfully, Gashu already pushed his contract by staying in China for a little over a year. Due to sentiments she'd expressed before, however, he risked asking her if she'd be willing to return to Japan with him. It didn't need to be permanent, but he felt his own [forensics work, at the time] would heavily benefit with her advice. Qingyuè accepts his offer and spends the next few months refreshing herself on Japanese (beyond conversational basics) so they can leave by the year and a half point; meaning Gashu has been inactive in his field for about two years before he returns.

A few years after this, with them building a closer friendship & Qingyuè's occasional messages to her family (she's better with casual technology than most were at this point lol), Gashu's work again caught Asunaro's eye and he was invited to work under their management. It was only with his encouragement that Qingyuè also applied there, and was accepted (albeit on the 'outer circle'—never privy to what they'd eventually disclose to Gashu; though she met the qualifications, only her work in Japan was worth noting, to them).

In reality, this is the point where their relationship somewhat begins to fracture, though it's also where they both cling to it more than they once did. While not unusual to keep information confidential, Gashu's told to keep all advancements Asunaro presents concealed from Qingyuè. And she's not oblivious to it in the least...! However... neither have reason at this point to suspect that Gashu's being slowly indoctrinated into something worse, more dangerous, so she's the one who suggest they go on more outings to reconnect with each other. She's felt distant from him, and how terrible is that? They both need a break from how intense Asunaro can be (Gashu agrees all too sincerely...)

[They've been 'unofficially' dating for a while at this point, which makes it easier to lead into engagement -> having Kai -> marriage...]

Things were steadily improving, other than the fact they couldn't see each other as much at work/how stressful that subject had become. Still, Gashu earned a good reputation among Asunaro's elite and it initiated Hiyori's wondering if Gashu would be best with further clearance.

However... before anything could be laid out concretely, Gashu found one of the first obstructors [meant for assassination training] and ended up confronting one of his superiors on it—but rather than being faced with threat for his curiosity, Mrs. Hiyori takes advantage of it to praise him for his calm reaction. Clever, straightforward, vital for future research... Gashu's forced further into the organization's depths, and with his loyalty proven, he's ordered to stay for increasingly longer times.

So Qingyuè is entirely restless. Many of her corresponding messages with her family have petered out; Gashu's away for longer times and she's not allowed to see him to even say goodbye before her shifts end; and she's very, very alone. Without putting Gashu at risk, she dares to pry into the organization that had conveniently picked them up despite not being especially significant before Gashu left for China. Where had they come from? What were they developing? Who exactly stands on top, and who funds them...?

& Asunaro notices. This is a problem.

Now, I don't especially enjoy talking about racial prejudice, but it is worth noting that there is tension between Japanese yakuza and Chinese groups, which most definitely played a factor in why they were so wary of Qingyuè and led to her being killed (rather than apprehended any other way). Gashu was the first to warn her, and his fear was contagious, but all the more reason for her to push to help get him out of this—but soon after, an Asunaro associate had been next to warn her, and it was this agent that truly confirmed just how much of this organization was a front. Qingyuè seemingly accepts defeat and resigns of her own volition, untethering herself from what they've done and hopefully disallowing them from keeping further tabs on her.

However, Asunaro has no guarantee that Gashu hasn't divulged anything to her that initiated this in the first place, even if it was unintentional on his part to inspire paranoia. Paranoia that they cannot allow to spread to authorities (for inconvenience's sake), but certainly not other organizations. If word of mouth spreads further than it has, there is only so much damage control they can do. They must snip this in the bud immediately.

Hence... she's killed before she can come clean on what Asunaro is complicit in. Mrs. Hiyori has too much attention on her to do it, but it hardly matters once her hit's been sent out. It's a fight, but Asunaro's well-versed in erasing the inconvenient.

It's framed as an accident with the obstructors she sought out. Gashu already knew Qingyuè was breaching Asunaro's rules, but didn't fully register the danger of what he was working on up until this point. He has little room to voice any suspicions that it was staged without risking himself, and certainly not when Mrs. Hiyori approaches him to ask if they should send away his child as well, seeing as family is such an impediment... she understands his hesitance, but, well... who knows what he could become?

(The unspoken irony in this is that Kai does end up mirroring his mother in many ways. Qingyuè's curiosity for the world and adamant desire to protect/act upon what she deems 'right' (even if, especially in Kai's case, it isn't necessarily 'good') and so on...)

In any case... Asunaro eventually lets go of all pretense they're solely a medical facility. Kai is raised to test the obstructors and, inevitably, it is made clear they're raising him to be an assassin. Useful to the organization, and as Gashu hopes, indispensable.