#being abruptly woken by Events (youkai). disheveled and coming out of the same room together

[sea-of-dandelions]

Hiiii hello I saw your tags I'm climbing in here to ask about daisuke and okame ^^

i hold you. my most reliable mewtual. oblig spoilers for the entire series

Daisuke and Okame are two of the five main characters of the book trilogy Shadow of the Fox (written by Julie Kagawa, published 2019-2020)

Okay a little backstory on the plot itself. It's set in a fantasy version of Japan, Iwagoto, and heavily influenced by Japanese mythology. It follows a half-kitsune, Yumeko, and a demonslayer, Kage Tatsumi (and their group of friends that they pick up along the way. Mentioning Reika here. She's the head miko at this one really important shrine I can't remember the name of).

Essentially, there's this scroll that can summon a dragon and make a wish to alter reality every 1000 years or so. And after last time, it's been split up into three(?) pieces, to avoid. like. the possibility of someone being able to make said wish in 1000 years. Tatsumi has been sent by clan (the Kage/Shadow Clan, samurai iirc) to retrieve the pieces, and allies himself with Yumeko, who also wants to protect the pieces.

this is literally the best photo I can find of the map online. i cannot find a good photo of the english map. have fun.

Now. Taiyo Daisuke is a noble of the Sun Clan. Related to the Emperor of Iwagoto. An excellent swordsman. Refined, courteous, cultivated, etc etc etc, but disagrees with nobility's prejudices and way of life. And like. Tartaglia levels of bloodthirst here. iirc he went around Iwagoto as Oni no Mikoto and challenging people to duels for shits and giggles. One of the reasons he joins the group is specifically to fight Tatsumi. Has kinda a "neither of us can die until I get to duel you" relationship w him.

Hino Okame is a ronin. Snarky, sarcastic, annoying, loyal to a fault. Archer, gambler, alcoholic. I think some of his backstory was revealed in book 3 but that was the first book i read and it's been about two years since i've read it. I remember he has an older brother he feels very guilty towards. VERY important though, mentioning he refers to himself as an 'honourless ronin dog' several times throughout the series.

Initially, there's a lot of tension going on between the two. I mean. Nobility and ronin. See the above two paragraphs, their personalities conflict in several ways. It's mentioned several times that Wow nobles are dicks to everyone else. so like. what do you expect. Initially, Okame calls Daisuke by his last name (Taiyo). Eventually we see that Daisuke is Not Like Other Girls Nobles, and treats commoners as equals, even Okame.

HOWEVER there's a scene (in book 2, iirc) where the group is travelling to the Steel Feather temple (somewhere in the mountain range). The Confession Scene. Middle of the night. Daisuke and Okame are talking underneath a tree.

It's pretty blatantly stated that they're star-crossed. With like. The whole social status difference and everything. Okame (and likely several other people) would get killed if someone were to find out the Taiyo nobleman was kissing a ronin. being considered less than human and all. yk how it goes.

But they still kiss. Under the moonlight. Tada.

Unfortunately, since this is third person limited with a POV swap between Yumeko and Tatsumi (and Suki in the third book, who is, for all intents and purposes of this post, irrelevant) and you're just Aware that this private scene is being watched by Yumeko (foxed, thank god, but still).

BUT from this point on, Okame calls Daisuke by his first name. And idk when exactly this starts, but Okame starts referring to Daisuke as a peacock, and to himself as a dog. I think it might've came up in the confession scene

As I mentioned earlier, Daisuke is, well, Daisuke. In addition to wanting to fight Tatsumi, his preferred manner of death is to "die a glorious death in battle". Noting here that while Okame being as brash as he is, gets scared shitless and is very vocal about it.

etc etc their relationship progresses over the course of the series, beta couple to Yumeko and Tatsumi.

Nearing towards the climax of the story, they're going up a mountain (pointing to the map. territorio clan de la luna. moon clan territory.) and they're trying to stop the bbeg from summoning the dragon. They get ambushed halfway, Okame is incapacitated, Daisuke stays behind to fight the oni while Yumeko and Tatsumi continue forward.

Briefly. before i recount this entire chapter. Okame gets fatally wounded, Daisuke ends up having to stab himself to defeat the oni. They bleed out in each other's arms. Fully 1000% cuddling soaked in (mostly) their own blood. And depart to Meido together. And later say their goodbyes to Yumeko together. Daisuke gets his wish to die a glorious death and Okame keeps his promise to stay loyal to Daisuke.

And most importantly, by the end of book 3, Okame's petname for Daisuke was 'peacock'.