#Also not to fuel my “Mori and Kouyou have a close-siblings like relationship” headcanon but chapter 19:

[kyouka-supremacy]

On Kouyou and Mori's relationship

@2offayyo-kzt THANK YOU FOR ASKING because you prompted me to talk about Kouyou and I love talking about Kouyou. Original post the reply is referring to.

Okay most of it comes from the Kouyou / Mori / Chuuya scene at the closing of the guild arc. First off: in chapter 37 we are made aware that Kouyou decided to stay at the agency of her own accord. Besides from the reasons she had to stay, it's just pretty cool how it's confirmed that Kouyou doesn't feel like having Mori's orders or will she has to answer to and just... Pretty much is free to do whatever she wants. She doesn't care about what Mori requires from her - Mori who most definitely would have wanted her back at the pm as soon as possible - and just acts of her own accord, which is something that even Chuuya doesn't do.

Following up, Kouyou and Mori also reflect over how she's perfectly capable of freely leave the pm, yet she chooses not to (btw her little smirk following Mori acknowledgement of her abilities is SO cute). Again, it goes to show how independent she is from Mori (pretty much putting her on his same level I guess?), being able to leave the pm facing no consequences or retaliation, and just in general how master of her fate she is. It's nice, it's RARE for a franchise where female characters are usually just thrown from one side to the other by external factors and rarely get to choose for themselves.

Then - and so far I strayed a bit from the initial matter, but this is most relevant to the point I was making in the original post - she says “Shut up. I'll sew your mouth shout.” There's A LOT in those lines because it plainly shows how she just... Doesn't fear Mori, doesn't fear calling him out on his creepy behavior, doesn't fear (playfully? ← arguable) menacing him. She's just so unbound and free and self-governed, and totally unbothered by Mori unlike any other character (except for, well, Elise, who's part of Mori herself). It's a joy to see.

Next, the volume 10 extra. The “that's why I told you”, “I'll punch you”, it all goes to reinforce the concept that Kouyou is perfectly unafraid of Mori and doesn't shy away from calling him out and scolding him even sternly. But it's especially interesting to compare her behavior with Chuuya's. Where Chuuya tries to find accomodations for Mori, Kouyou scolds him, and later even accuses Chuuya of being “spoiling him”; their approach is completely different, and as a consequence their relationships with Mori are diametrically opposite. Again, back to my initial point: even Chuuya, who is one of the most self-reliant characters of them all, knows he has to answer to Mori, and accordingly treats him with respect; Kouyou is perfectly unbothered and unafraid.

And even more examples: chapter 42, Kouyou openly arguing with Mori's decision, lacking that mentality that is shared between pm operatives that Mori's plans are infallible and there's no point in questioning them (just think about how sure, confident and even smug Chuuya was about Mori's plan during the Guild arc, chapter 22). Chapter 43, Kouyou spending “half a year's worth of founds” to attack a government van, which I can guess goes against what Mori wants for the pm (lol) and once again just shows how Kouyou... Freely bosses around and does whatever she wants, answering to no one.

With this I'm not saying Kouyou doesn't care about Mori. She DOES care about Mori, she just doesn't in a “subordinate is loyal to their superior” kind of way. She cares about Mori, the thing is that she does because she chooses to and not for any other constraint, which arguably makes her the person that is closer and most loyal to him?? Because she has no second means for being loyal to him, and just does that because she wants to, which makes her loyalty the truest, most authentic one. And Mori knows that, and that's why she deserves to be the next pm boss, and I know they (authors) will never make her but she deserves it and she's the pm boss of my heart end of conversation.

Headcanon time while we're at it, I like to think for Kouyou to address to Mori so informally and familiarly is a way to make up / compensate for the trauma she underwent with the previous boss. When Mori killed the previous boss, she swore she would have never lived in fear again, and even though she ultimately decided to stay in the darkness, it's now her choice; a choice she personally and freely makes despite being aware of potentially, realistically being able to leave at any moment. Addressing Mori as he was her equal is a way for Kouyou to remind to herself about how free and unbound she is.

About Mori and Kouyou, I like to think they had this siblings-like relationship since before Mori became boss I mean, they canonly go cherry blossom sighting together. I like to think a very small, subconscious part of Mori killed the previous boss because Mori held resentment towards him for hurting Kouyou- but that's definitely straying too far alcbdklzbdkskxbks. I like to think Kouyou wanted Kyouka in the pm because she genuinely believed that under hers and Mori's lead Kyouka could be happy, that the pm was the place that most would have welcomed Kyouka, welcomed what Kouyou believed to be her nature.