#I’m gonna be honest my SS fixation is pretty much gone

[cosien]

Perfectly smol

[lilacflamesss]

ive been meaning to ask you but what do you think about what happened with hinami in the latest chapter :(( our ayahina D:

I love her, of course, she’s my Princess who can kick ass. :D I got kinda annoyed when it did come out because I felt like her character went backwards? I thought her slapping Kaneki and questioning him in Cochlea meant that she had stepped away from her fixation on him and I really regarded that scene as a huge step for Hinami’s character when she questioned him about his flaws. So seeing 142 was a little upsetting for me because, like she went back to what she used to be? Or at least that’s how I saw it the first time I read the chapter. But my interpretations of that scene with her keeps changing ever since the chapter came out. 

At first I thought she had romantic feelings for Kaneki, but I’ve been hearing that the original Japanese raws don’t seem to imply it? Idk but, either way, the more I think about it, the more I feel really sad for her because let’s be honest, she’s very distant from both Touka and Kaneki right now. 

I was thinking about how Hinami used to be really close with Touka and Kaneki back in the beginning of TG. They were like a mini family of their own and Hinami was always being doted on by them. Even during the post-Aogiri arc, this still continued when Touka and Kaneki were apart and Hinami, who was in touch with both of them, was one of the things that were still keeping them together. Her reaction to Kaneki wanting to go back to Anteiku was that she’ll be happy to see Kaneki and Touka together again. I think deep down, she just wanted that mini family she had back together again and she still keeps holding onto that dream. 

But in :re, her relationship with both of them had deteriorated. Not to say they don’t care about her or anything, but the distance between them had grown to such a huge degree. And in a way, even Touka and Kaneki had gotten distant, but they managed to close that distance recently and really fast as well but there had been no development to Hinami’s relationship with them since she hasn’t had a conversation with either of them ever since they got back from Cochlea and no, her fighting together with Touka and asking Touka to go on ahead doesn’t count.

 So in a way, she’s watching Touka and Kaneki move on and take their own relationship to the next level, while perhaps feeling left behind, 

which is why she’s looking at their backs as they look on ahead. 

Not to mention, when they do have a kid, where would Hinami stand? I’m sure that Touka and Kaneki would still consider her as a part of their family, but the issue here is, would Hinami realise that they actually do, since she believes that she has to prove herself before being able to gain a spot beside them? 

The Hinami in Aogiri was her when she believed she no longer had Touka and Kaneki in her life. It was Hinami standing on her own and acting on her own. She was a respected leader among her underlings and one her peers looked up to and relied on as well. Chapter 33 wasn’t just Ayato standing up to Tatara. Ayato had the support of Miza, Naki and Torso in this-- they all wanted to save her. Miza points out how rare her ability is. Torso had previously also admitted how amazing Hinami is. She was a central figure of their circle. 

Perhaps joining Goat and having Touka and Kaneki back into her life had resulted in her relapsing to what she used to once be, because she’s once again pushed to the sidelines and being made to rely on people, particularly Kaneki who’s the King. Almost everyone, aside from Touka who’s pregnant and probably excluded herself, were involved in some form of mission or at least some strategy meeting when they were in the 24th Ward, except for Hinami. It probably explains the return of her former mindset and why she seems to have gone backwards with her character development.

And with that, her world is back to what it used to be-- Touka and Kaneki.

Hinami probably feels really lonely right now, just like how she felt really lonely after her parents died and in a way, left her behind. Hinami’s relationship with everyone from Anteiku and the 6th Ward gang isn’t what it used to be (eg. that scene she had with Banjou about Akira). She’s not as close as she used to be with them anymore. 

It also probably doesn’t help that these feelings might have all rushed out and intensified with the raid and the danger everyone’s in, which resulted in her desperation to prove herself and to protect everyone in the current arc.

Which brings me to my next point. :D A smiley face to start of some Ayahina discussion. Also, if you’re gonna be a salty asshole about Ayahina, just don’t read any further. 

I wouldn’t write off Ayato’s significance to her as a character just yet. I think it’s worth noting that he’s absent as all these events played out since he’s busy being Dora the Explorer with his squad and those kids right now. If Hinami has all these conflicting emotions within her right now, she’s only left with the option of bottling everything up because her number one confidant is absent right now (for god knows how long as well). 

Even if she isn’t comfortable with telling him about how she longs to be like Touka, does that mean she won’t be comfortable with talking about how weak she feels and how she feels left behind? 

No, because they’ve had that conversation before. 

It was the same with the Akira incident– Hinami’s side of things wasn’t really being considered and she was essentially left alone to deal with her own grief, which was when she turned to Ayato for support.

Ayahina’s relationship is currently very one-way: Ayato’s the one who’s always giving and Hinami’s the one who’s always receiving. She’s always voicing out her troubles and he’s always the one listening to them and at most, giving her one or two words of comfort. Their relationship (outside of work) is structured in this manner, which is probably why in the novel, Hinami seemed to believe Ayato is a quiet person who doesn’t really talk much. And as much as I used to think it was maybe him trying to live up to the Uncle Yomo 2.0 role, it probably was meant to reflect this about their relationship. After all, he’s a pretty vocal person in manga canon after all. (I could also go on about how she had no idea what he was thinking of, while he’s able to easily read what exactly was on her mind, but let’s not go there.) 

But just like what people have predicted beforehand, Hinami breaking out of her old Touka/Kaneki-worship will probably involve Ayato in some way. Her relationship with him is probably the relationship where Hinami has the most agency in. To Kaneki in Goat, Hinami plays the role of support but to Ayato, she’s his ears and let’s not forget how crucial a rabbit’s ears are to a rabbit. Ayato leaves command to her in Auction-- she was essentially the Vice-Commander of the Aogiri team in Auction. She practically stood by his side when they were in Aogiri. 

And if she can stand beside the SS-rated Aogiri Tree Executive Rabbit, then is she truly as weak as she claims to be? Hinami’s fixation on Touka and Kaneki blinds her to this fact. She’s never truly been given a chance to fight alongside Touka and Kaneki for her to see for herself that she isn’t falling behind or holding them back. Even when she fought to protect Touka in this arc, Hinami was on the losing end and she ends up being saved by Kaneki. It’s because of this that she fails to see her own other achievements and that her, as the SS-rated Yotsume who stood above even the leaders of the White Suits and the Blades in Aogiri Tree means nothing to her, not when she isn’t able to help Touka and Kaneki out without ending up a burden to them. 

Which is why I think, it will have to be someone from the Aogiri squad who makes her realise this eventually, because they’re the only ones who had never treated her like a child. But Naki is gone now and I doubt the other White Suits would bother. Between Miza and Ayato, it’ll likely have to be Ayato, who she’s already established a deep bond with.

Also, at some point in time, Ayato’s increasingly stagnant character will have to go through some development as well. His character arc is far from complete after all. In fact, his issues with Arata hasn’t even been touched on in :re at all. When the day comes where the this plot point is addressed, I wonder if he’ll end up turning to her just like she turned to him about her own sorrows about her parents. If that happens, their relationship would also break from that one-way path it currently is taking and it’ll become on based on a more mutual sort of emotional dependence. 

Idk. 

TLDR: Hinami best girl.