#EMMA BEING SOMEONE WHO WISHES TO BE A GROWN UP VS YUZUHA WHO WAS FORCED TO GROW UP TOO FAST

[windywriter]

Headcanon's abt Karen Kuroawa bc they could never make me hate her.

TLDR: I think Karen's story should have mirrored Emma's since at the beginning Emma's arc was hinted to be that she wanted be "grown up" to match the people around her but Wakui just fucking gave up.

I think Karen's father was stationed at a military base while her mother was a citizen. She dropped out of highschool to be with her boyfriend (Mr.Kurokawa) and the two of them ran away from home. Things were fine the first few years. There were tough times sure, but that's nothing a night on the town couldn't fix. It was just the two of them against the world.

Eventually Mr.Kurokawa got a job where he would frequently travel. Particularly to the Philippines. That was a lie. And one day he came back from a trip, not just holding a briefcase, but an infant Izana. Maybe he just dropped Izana on Karen and left. Maybe he pressured her into taking care of the child. She's a woman after all, isn't it only natural that she take care of children? Or maybe he begged her to take Izana in. Saying that he may have messed up but the boy didn't deserve to suffer. But despite the sudden and drastic change, I think Karen learned to genuinely love Izana as her own.

I think she was used to being looked down upon for being "different" or "foreign". So, I think she tried to make it so Izana never felt like that.

Then she heard her husband died. And while she may have thought "Good riddance" the tears that poured down her cheeks said otherwise.

And after a night of drinking, she met Makoto Sano. Emma being the result of that meeting. And I think Karen tried her best. She had already raised Izana, so this should be fine. Right?

Two weeks passed after Emma was born and Karen Kurokawa was the talk of the town. "If they're really her children, why do they look so different?" "Where's her husband?" "Can she really take care of them?"

It also didn't help that Makoto had died and, in his grief and rage, Mansaku Sano had basically cut all contact with Karen leaving her with almost nothing. I like to think she didn't even know he was dead until she saw it in the newspaper.

I think eventually things just hit a breaking point where Karen just could not keep up with things. The whispers, the stares, it all hit a breaking point where she just couldn't take it anymore.

I think she gave up Izana first, due to a mixture of societal pressure and as a sort of "test" for herself. Could she really go through with it. And, I guess she could. And you could argue that after giving up Izana, Karen soon left Emma at the Sano household. But I think she tried to be with Emma for at least a year or two. They were blood related after all. So, that should be "normal" right?

But as time passed, I think Karen began to see pieces of her younger self in her daughter. Her innocence and naivete, all things Karen lost long ago. It didn't help that Emma was her spitting image either.

I think the reason Emma's abandonment was colder compared to Izana was because Karen was just kind of on autopilot. She was a failure and this was the last straw. She probably cut a deal with Mansaku where in exchange for leaving Emma with the Sano family she'd never try to make contact with them or her daughter ever again. Mansaku also probably gave her some money as further incentive.

And while in her final appearance she may have been all dolled up, wearing fancy clothes and floral perfume, does this really look like the face of a mother who's "happy" to abandon her daughter? And I genuinely don't trust the wiki.

Once Emma was given away, I think Karen simply returned to her old habits. After all, "there's nothing a night on the town couldn't fix." And maybe, as time passed, Karken Kurokawa simply became bitter. The "sweet" memories she had of the past clarifying and condensing until she was forced to realize how absurd and meaningless they were. After all, she was a girl who tried to grow up too fast and became nothing more than a rotten adult.