#b-plot (c-plot at this point?) love triangle that ends in a poly Sitch

[aliosne]

Y E L L S S S S S

NOT SICK OF YOU IN THE LEAST BC YOU FEED ME SO WELL BLESS YOU FOR KIKUMOMO this is all so perfect I’m Invested in the drama (and potential romeo and juliet romance?) of the hanabs (Hanai obviously doesn’t want anyone to know he’s kikue’s son bc he needs to PROVE he can make it ON HIS OWN—maybe his story will be about learning to accept help when he and Abe get marooned in the Swiss alps during a mission) (but then there’s DRAMA when the star athlete starts putting the moves on Hanai)

Also Kikue was the one who originally trained Momoe but there was a BIG BETRAYAL that Kikue still resents, even tho she knows no one is better or more dependable than the woman she trained herself. There’s a duel/training session between the two of them during the second act (when the groups have to join forces) and they taunt each other with how well they know each other’s tells/weaknesses/habits. There’s a moment when they’re grappling together where if they had not been in public it would have turned into something Very Different and their protégés are watching like wtf is this (Hanai is ready to wash his eyes with soap). THEN leading into the final act, they have to pose as a wealthy socialite and her young lover, and feelings bubble to the surface. It’s revealed that—GASP—Momoe’s betrayal was forced, she HAD to reveal the rendezvous point or they would have killed Kikue’s new family, and as much as she wanted Kikue to herself, she knew how important they were to her. All is forgiven and they find it very easy to convince anyone watching that they are madly in love. They’re able to go into the final mission fighting side by side with nothing left unspoken between them.

merry oofmas briarrrrr, are you sick of me yet >:D @aliosne @oofurixmas

I immediately latched on to your spies/assassins suggestion as well as kikumomo, so in this AU Kikue and Momoe are competent spies both training up their (currently incompetent) protégées. Momoe and Abe don't know yet that Hanai is Kikue's son... it will be a big third act twist, so shhh, keep it a secret.

Izumi and Mizutani make gadgets and do man-in-the-chair stuff for them back at hq, probably overseen by Shiga because otherwise they would get nothing done, ever. (That is mostly a lie, they are both competent, they just also horse around approximately 110% of the time. maybe sakaeguchi and the rest of the team can also be there with various specializations. hamada did not finish the training so he is an information broker on the outside that they use all the time)

They get a mission to investigate a (short, loud, filterless) star athlete after he shows up a bunch around some longtime enemies and they start wondering if he's a target or a recruit or a third worse thing, and his teammate with horrible social anxiety ends up getting caught up in all the drama, as well. :)