#a hanakou fic! that's awesome!! We need more hanakou in this fandom! :D

[mari-lair]

Facing a conundrum rn and I was wondering if you could help??? Trying to write HanaKou but I couldn't figure out whether or not to use honorifics since in the official translation Kou only refers to the ghost as 'Hanako' leaving two possibilities:

1. Kou DOESN'T use honorifics to insult to Hanako (which makes sense since they're sorta frienemies)

2. Kou DOES use honorifics in the original version but the translators kept them out to appeal to wider audiences??? (It's probably this one but there's a lot of other instances that Kou use honorifics? Like Kou says Teru-nii and Yashiro senpai so why exclude Hanako-kun at all???)

Any help would be really appreciated!!

I don't know Japanese to check the og scans and give you a 100% correct answer but I am 99% sure it isn't a sloppy translation, Kou just doesn't use honorifics with Hanako.

Kou tends to be nicer to people he likes who are older than him (he always calls Nene, Aoi, and Akane 'senpai' and as you mentioned, teru is 'teru-nii') but he never uses honorifics with guys around his age. Not even the ones that are his friends: Like Yooko, Satou, and Sousuke

Even tiara doesn't get an honorific and he adores her! He is proud of her!

Kou is especially rude to supernaturals, I don't think there are any supernaturals Kou gives honorifics. Like, even when he is touched he calls Tsuchi a nice 'spider face' instead of showing him the respectful honorific a teacher would normally get.

The only exception to this is Yako, who he was naturally going to keep calling 'fox' even when she is nice, but only changed cause she was ADAMANT he called her Yako neesan. Only then does he change.

So is not necessarily a lack of respect, he just uses a more 'rude' speech.