#doing this instead of threads or hw; the double procrastinate to finish something else i procrastinated on~ )

[wcnderfulrush]

Yo who’s ready for Kotori’s dad / Kotori’s early life hcs~ ( even though no one asked for them and nothing really prompted this whatsoever )?? Well I am, because I haven’t really talked about him or that, so let’s go! ( After a year of slowly writing these down; literally a year I’m not joking on this )

Shunsuke Minami = Kotori’s dad!

Photography/graphic design major going to the same university as Kotori’s mother. They met in philosophy class and became study buddies, then over their college years they grew closer and started dating, trying to set up classes around one another to get the most time together possible. They married after they both graduated with Masters, Kotori’s mom 22 years old whilst Kotori’s dad was 23.

He was 25 when they had Kotori. Shunsuke was working as a freelance photographer; Kotori’s mom was a 2nd year literature teacher at Otonokizaka High School. 

Both jobs paid a fair enough amount for them to buy a house ( moving right next Honoka’s bakery/home so Kotori’s mom could still stay close to her childhood best friend, and so both of them could give their daughter’s playdates ) and they started their suburban life together as a family of 3. Kotori’s father takes pictures of the bakery and chats up both of the Kousakas and basically makes flyers and a small website for them, wanting to do it free of charge but Honoka’s dad pays him anyways. And so the parents become fast friends.

And Kotori’s initial upbringing is basically filled with prosperity. She has loving and supportive parents, and already has such a great childhood friend right next door. There’s always food on the table, and she finds out she basically likes most food, and the house is always warm and filled with laughs and life. She gets a bit pampered because her mother slowly moves up in income because the school board is really impressed with her work, while her dad earns a steady income with the occasional big bucks on photo-shoot jobs. Kotori and her mom go on location with him on weekends if they’re allowed to, and Kotori even got to be in a children’s magazine once when she was 4 because the publishers thought she fit the spring theme perfectly. And Kotori’s father took so many photos of Kotori’s childhood, so if asked Kotori could probably bring you a whole binder or two of pictures of her and her family, a few of the photos even used in her father’s professional portfolio.

The spring photo shoot Kotori was in brought him and his family a bit more popularity, and by age 5 Kotori was in two more additions of the same children’s magazine, and Kotori’s father was hired onto the magazine full time while also being allowed to do some freelance work if it fit with his schedule. Here was where Kotori probably gained her love for fashion too, helping even the older kids arrange their outfits in just the right way, and giving the fashion designers there some pretty good advice that everyone was a bit impressed. No one could be more impressed than her parents though, who started to let her learn a tiny bit of sewing and let her have complete free will over her wardrobe, wondering if this was the start of a modeling or a fashion future for their daughter.

And her father stayed working at the magazine for a year and never felt better about the study flow of work, Kotori’s mother was named teacher of the year at Otonokizaka and was getting more attention by the school board due to her dedication and leadership skills in school meetings, and Kotori herself was as happy as a little girl could be. The sun was shining so brightly on the family...

Until the next summer. 

Kotori’s father was doing an all day shoot at the beach for a clothing company’s summer teen line. All the kids and photographers were having fun all day and night, even playing with Kotori when she and her mom visited just a few hours before. But during nighttime a pair of models had started to argue and one of the girls ran off in tears into town. Kotori’s dad helped a few of the other models start to look for the girl, and he found her a couple of blocks away, sulking on the sidewalk near a convenience store. When he tried to console her she cussed him out; when he tried to approach her she flipped out, and when he got closer, saying that maybe it’d be best if they just went back to the beach to talk, she ran. First on the sidewalk, but then taking a sharp turn onto the street to lose him. But Kotori’s father was keeping an eye on traffic just in case the girl fell over, and he caught a glimpse of what the girl wasn’t aware of: A sedan, headlights off, drunkenly speeding down the road. With only a split second to think, Kotori’s dad had pushed the girl to the other side of the road, feet wanting to run after her but slipping on the asphalt ---

The model got a sprained ankle and a skinned knee. Kotori and her mother got condolences, new simple black dresses, and bribe money from the clothing company and from the model’s family so that they wouldn’t sue or spread bad words about what happened. Kotori’s mother wouldn’t even dream of doing something like that, even sitting down with the model before the funeral to talk things out and give back her family’s money...But she couldn’t help pocketing the company money, worried they might have to rely on it for a bit for expenses. 

And after the event, Honoka was much more present in Kotori’s life whilst her mother was distant, wanting her daughter to be happy away from her grief. The Kousakas understood that, Kotori herself understood the situation quickly, but it didn’t emotionally hit her until her 7th birthday that September when her father wasn’t bringing out the cake with her mother. It sent her into a crying fit that modern Kotori kind of regrets and doesn’t like looking back on, the timing and thinking of the way her mother probably felt seeing that making her chest tighten with guilt. That event also partially contributed to her growing more attentive and putting others’ feelings first while hiding her own ( though since my main verse Kotori is S2 and through all of the interactions she’s had over the years, she’s a bit more open with how she feels about certain things ). Kotori would probably never bring up her father unless asked, and she probably wouldn’t go into details about him unless she’s comfortable enough with the person and the timing felt right.

As little asides, these events are probably also why Kotori’s mother has wanted her daughter to reach for any opportunity but also follow her true feelings and her own path, kind of noted by the small talk they have in S1. And also why Kotori is one of the most natural and comfortable with photo shoots ( i.e. the SIF cards and random threads that involve photo shoots ) having the experiences with her father, and also very gracious with photography staff, bringing along waters and snacks for them in case they need them.