#hakuouki headcanon

[kurayami-no-ko]

I have modern au hakuoki thoughts regarding their occupations what do you think

Hijkata: overly jaded police detective

Kondo: overly sincere police chiefs

Sanan: doctor or bio professor? War historian?

Nagakura: personal trainer by day, restaurant chef by night, competed on ninja warrior once. I will die on this hill

Harada: literally don't know, stumped.

Okita: I simply don't understand this man

Saito: supernatural creature who lives in the woods.

Toudou: pizza delivery by day, breakdancer by night.

Yamazaki: overworked emt, matcha coffee addict

Chizuru: pediatrician, physical therapist, I could see her really getting into sports medicine?

Iba: is inheriting a family business

Sakamoto: sports announcer guy. Sports journalist.

Kaoru: sells essential oils and fake watches on tiktok live at 3 am

lol I like your headcanon on Nagakura. Though don’t you think Sakamoto would be more ambitious, more political or more businessman-like? He never gives off sports announcer kinda vibe.

[widemushroom]

So i was playing a game and there's this one event where a character gets temporarily turned into a plushie (roll with it) but is responding with complete seriousness and composure as he researches how to turn back and like, i need to know which of the shinsengumi would handle being turned into a plush the best, assuming they find out the spell will wear off in an hour

Yamazaki and Sannan

I can imagine a very cute adventure for Chizuru if she turned into a plushie, too.

The first guy that came to my head was Kazama because i think his adventure would be so fun. I imagine him to get so rash and angry. He'd be goofy.

[queengurako]

This tags by @sabraeal are essential and accurate.

I have this silly idea in my head that I wanted to share with the Hakuouki fandom.

You know this episode of The Office in which they spend the day hotly debating if Hilary Swank is hot or not (featuring presentations of arguments on both sides)? The same thing but with the captains of the Shinsengumi about Kimigiku after they went out to Shimabara.

Team Kimigiku is hot:

Shinpachi (developping the Jim-like argument that we judge courtisans according to different and unfair standarts, and that if Kimigiku wasn't a courtisan no one would ever say she isn't hot)

Heisuke

Chizuru

Team Kimigiku is not hot:

Saito

Souji

Sano (developping the argument that yes Kimigiku is beautiful, extremely so even, but hot is a gut feeling and that he simply does not feel it for her)

They spend hours debating this. Nothing of value is accomplished during the entire afternoon and it only stops because one of them has to leave to lead a patrol.

[eleiyaumei]

Just got diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder.

Looking back on characters I loved/deeply related to, I can see why.

So here's some IMO potential/HC BPD characters:

It's the unhealthy clinging to people dear to you. It's the deep fear of losing people dear to you. It's the paranoia of people betraying you. It's the unhealthy ways of dealing with your emotions, often resulting in outbursts or self-deprecating downward spirals.

[otobabe]

Please may you create headcanons on the hakuouki boys and even kazama if possible on what they would be like if your pregnant thank you

Ahhhh I'm not sure i'm the best to ask about pregnancy HCs, but I do have thoughts on how some of the Hakuouki boys would do babysitting with you! Hope that's an okay substitution 😘

🖤Amagiri- 100% in control. Patient, practiced, kind, he can help babysit kids of any age and will be able to keep conversation with you throughout the intermingling of kids conversations and questions! You'll happily be chatting about what you want for the future while playing your third round of 'Go Fish' with the kids, get asked "Do Caterpillars poop?", and Amagiri will be able to respond eloquently and correctly (yes, a lot, in pellet form much like a small rodent), and then smoothly continue your conversation whether it be "I do hope any future children of ours could inherit my well-defined cheekbones" or "I'm excited to see you progress in your career, I'll make sure to keep dinner warm on the table during your late nights". <3

❤️Sano- He's enjoys being around kids, even if he isn't "the best" at knowing what to do with him. Still, your favorite "date", if you could call it that, was babysitting twin 3 year olds with him. Watching him trying to hide that tall and lanky (begrudgingly handsome) frame behind a kid's sized chair for hide and seek, smiling on and cheering against him as they chased him in circles around the backyard for hours, and hearing the different inflections in his voice for different characters when the four of you snuggled up for their bedtime stories, all created a lasting memory of fun and laughter in your heart!

💚Souma- Fucking it up in the least damaging and hilarious way, which all in all means he does a pretty good job as your co-babysitter, so long as you're there to help clean up the mess. School age kids LOVE him, but they also love to tease and torture him. The kids you babysit together, ages 5 &7, know damn well how to get what they want out of him and con him into playing what they want to play. Homework? No, thank you! It's actually way past the time you were meant to show up for your haircut Kazue! Where do you think you're going?? Sit in this chair! Unfortunately for him, this will not have been the first time one of the kids have snuck a real pair of scissors into the mix and given him an "asymmetrical bob" before...

🤍Kazama- Might surprise some of you with this, but read it through before disagreeing with me! Kazama is fantastic with babies. Would he admit it? Absolutely not. But they love to coo and laugh at his various facial expressions (even his 'serious' ones) as he holds them, and something about his temperament is a true baby-sleep-whisperer to them. He won't forget to slide in comments about how, "It's cute, but ours would be cuter", and reminding you that you ARE betrothed to him and this could be your future soon enough. The cutest part? When you go to put down the baby for a nap, Kazama takes them from you and, a little degradingly, tells you that he "can do it better, you can just take a rest". The walls aren't that thick, so you can hear him lowly singing a lullaby that you'd never heard before to the baby in the rocking chair next door, and you snuggle up on the couch with a cup of warm cocoa daydreaming about your future together <3

[voyagerxv]

shinsengumitober day 31 - river 🏞️

Ending things off with okitas death poem:

|Until they fall,

|The darkness keeps them apart —

| Flowers and water

[azeofspades]

Funnily enough, my transfem Okita headcanon wasn't born from fgo!Okita, it appeared before I even knew fgo existed.

My very first exposition to the Shinsengumi was through Samurai Comeback (rlly good manga - if you can get past the fatphobia*). I took one (1) look at Samurai Comeback!Okita and I was like

*Harada is depicted as fat in the manga and his fatness's played for laughs. Multiple times, Kondo, Hijikata and Okita get recognized but Harada doesn't specifically because he's fat. One girl says to him "[Harada] was handsome, he didn't look like that" explicitly referring to his weight. There's a bunch more fatphobic jokes at his expense over the 5 volumes but if I decide to list and analyze them all I'll just make a separate post because there's. So many

[simonetheestan]

Nagakura would totes be in a frat.

[eleiyaumei]

Another "Okita is ace" exhibit/indication:

ASEXUAL SWIMMING TRUNKS

[apricifate]

the hayakawa family is known for their studies with medicine and for coming up with treatments for various ailments, their father a military man who passed in battle leaves the siblings to keep his name going by continuing his work as medics. this eventually leads them under orders to assist with the shinsengumi for a brief period of time - that is until a certain someone gets attached.

hakuouki verse facts for plotting purposes:

shiku is a medical professional aiding when things get bad for the shinsengumi. 

aillah is more or less his assistant, helping with wrapping bandages and other more minor health / injury-related tasks. 

shiku is quite skilled with the bo staff. he can be found training and improving his skills whenever he’s not busy doing his primary tasks. 

aillah is more on the moderate skill level and uses war fans, tessen, she can do basic self-defense but the more skilled her opponent, the less likely she may be able to hold her own. depends on the circumstance. but she does know how to defend herself and keeps her fans concealed for the most part unless she absolutely needs them. 

their father was a military man who also specialized in medicine but passed in battle before shiku took over for the family name.

they weren’t supposed to stay long with the shinsengumi, shiku was brought in for one task and aillah got attached -- so they’re staying now. 

in the SSL Timeline ( REINCARNATION BABY ) shiku and aillah both enter hakuou academy around the same time after their father’s business has them move into town.

[eksvilbcrihxv]

4 5 1 7 8 9 2 6 3 0

[ozzgin]

Baki Headcanons: Musashi Miyamoto x Reader

I was recently considering getting back into playing Hakuouki and so the idea randomly came to me: Musashi Miyamoto and a reader that is very much into feudal/samurai otome games and is often on their phone/Switch/DS. Hopefully this hasn’t been done yet! Just a very short musing.

He notices your frown and focused expression as you stare at the screen and can’t help his curiosity. He asks you about the mysterious activity and you casually respond it’s just a dating sim.

A…what? You have realized your mistake. You proceed to explain what a visual novel is - really just an interactive story - and follow with awkward details regarding the particular case of an otome game. By the time you’re finished, you’re blushing pathetically. Musashi, on the other hand, seems very amused by the whole concept. He used to be a writer himself and the idea of a branching, immersive story is simply fascinating.

He insists on witnessing it with his very own eyes. You show him the screen. A man in traditional hakama and Shinsengumi robe holds up his sword. The dialogue goes on about protecting you in the midst of this military conflict, and your name is highlighted within the sentence. Musashi’s eyebrows raise further up. The technology may be foreign to him, but the narration depicted is rather familiar.

You outline the plot and the characters. You point to the man on the screen and confess, embarrassed, that he was your choice. As you name the features and characteristics that caused your decision, you begin to realize a lot of the traits might as well describe Musashi himself. He must’ve caught on, too, because a grin creeps onto his face.

“Hmmm. So that’s the kind of man you like.” He ponders with a smug expression. “Good to know.”

[shoujothoughts]

Harada:

Somehow holds his liquor better than several people there?

Encourages Heisuke & Shinpachi in their foolishness; Okita fondly calls him an asshole

Takes off his shirt; oh, wait, he's very drunk after all...

Offers to set up Yamazaki with a girl he knows from the bar downtown

Dances while singing "I'm too Sexy" (still sans shirt)

Pays for the Uber, and wakes up in a pile of limbs on Shinpachi's bed (along with several other dudes)

Hangover? What's that?

Hakuouki AU headcanons: karaoke bar edition

Hijikata:

Really didn’t want to be here but was afraid to let Chizuru come along without at least one adult present

Makes the mistake of having a very large sake with Saito

Shinpachi rummages through a thousand discs to find him a song he knows. He couldn’t care less, is just like ‘if it’ll shut you shits up’

Gets halfway through the first verse before he spots Okita’s cameraphone

‘YOU BASTARD GIVE IT’

Nearly forfeits their deposit in the ensuing brawl

Shinpachi:

He and Heisuke start the night balls-to-the-wall with shots

No brakes or moderation

Both rapidly getting shitfaced

Wrap their arms around each other for a duet of ‘Can’t Smile Without You’

It’s very pure and also very bad and off-key

‘Bro seriously I love you’

‘I love you too big bro’

Okita heckles them to get off the stage or get a room

Chizuru:

She’s having fun watching everyone else. Cherishes every performance and applauds them all with complete sincerity

Pretty soon though everyone is ganging up on her to go next

‘CHI-ZU-RU! CHI-ZU-RU!’

Finally relents after Heisuke physically drags her up to the front

Gives a shy but adorable performance of ‘Time After Time’

None of the guys can look at each other. Hijikata is a little choked up

Yamazaki:

Dude he just came as the designated driver

Witnessing all this foolishness is a definite plus though

Harada takes him under his wing, plies him with bro-talk and Sapporo (‘relax I’ll pay for the Uber’)

Gets surprisingly emotional

Ends up sad-drunk and spills his life story

‘Why am I still single’ -Yamazaki, crying into beer

‘Dunno man you’re a catch’

Saito:

Is quietly getting smashed with Okita in the back row

Mouth curled up in a small smile, just enough to let everybody know how absolutely hilarious he finds all of this

Waits till the end of the night when things are winding down

Steps up to the mic and just fucking murders some Kendrick Lamar

Song ends, sits back down

Heisuke speaks for everyone: ‘the fuck just happened?!’

They all do sake shots for Hajime

[eleiyaumei]

Hakuōki's Okita Sōji and BPD

As I mentioned in this post, I was recently diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and think/HC that Sōji has BPD too.

OkiChi

Like people with BPD, Sōji is rather distrustful of people but also very scared of losing people dear to him and because of that, he keeps most relationships rather superficial (even with Heisuke and Saito). He starts off distrustful and unapproachable towards Chizuru as well and it takes a lot of her showing genuine interest in and care for him till he starts opening up and trusting her.

When Kondō dies, Sōji loses the person he unhealthily centered his whole life, identity and purpose around, it's devasting for him. After that, Chizuru becomes his replacement for Kondō. It's a healthier attachment, since she's more on par with him and has the time and energy to have a deeper relationship with him. Yet, in the CG above, he shows his fear of loss and desperate clinging onto the most important person in his life and states that he will never let Chizuru go, even if she doesn't want to be with him anymore. That's abusive and unhealthy, btw.

In his Bad Ending where Chizuru dies, he kills Kaoru and then himself, not wanting to continue living without his last remaining attachment figure.

Sōji's past

Sōji very likely developed the deep fear of losing people dear to him/attachment figures when his parents and his sister left him to Kondō back when he was still a child. The latter could have made him feel like his sister didn't love him, that he was unwanted. On top of that, the kids at the Shieikan bullied him. Until Kondō showed kindness towards him, he was completely alone.

His past also influenced his self-esteem. Since Kondō dedicated his life first to the Shieikan, then to the Roshigomi/Shinsengumi and didn't have much time for Sōji, Sōji probably thought the way to get/keep Kondō's attention was to be useful to him - first as a student, then as a Shinsengumi member. Or maybe his self-esteem was so low that he thought he only deserved Kondō's attention/to live if he was useful to the only person he deeply cared about.

(And we all know why Sōji hates Hijikata so much: Because he is jealous of him for having a deep, equal relationship with Kondō.)

[otobabe]

Omg girlie (gender neutral) I was not expecting you to include Kondou!!! If you have others you’re thinking ab def tell us!

ugh kondou is just so good!!!! and that's not just my daddy issues talking!!!

More praise thoughts/headcanons~

(from) Harada: He's infatuated with his partners, that much is certain. Especially in the beginning of a relationship (or fwb situation) he's full of compliments that make you feel like you're in the center of a nsfw fairytale, examples like "oh my god you're adorable" and "you really know how to get me going". Later on, if you express interest in exploring~ and more praise, he'd get really into praises that emphasize size differences or age differences. "I love to see your little hole taking my big cock so well", "My older man/woman/partner is so good at teaching me new things", "What a cute little princess/prince/majesty you are, riding daddy's big dick so well " (yes i am assigning sano both milf fucker and daddy kink, this is my barbie dream house)

(to) Souji: in the right moments you'll send shivers down Souji's spine with a "Souji-kun~ you look so cute like this~", praises with a teasing edge, almost on the brink of sounding degrading, can get him blushing and embarrassed from how hard he gets hearing it come from your mouth. He likes to banter and has more attitude and walls up than most can bear, just make sure if your praising him it's playful and not too serious or accidentally hurtful ;)

from) Amagiri the type to kiss you mid-moan then send you reeling with his low voice telling you "Quiet now, I want to hear how wet you are for me/I want to hear you take in my thrusts". Erotic, deep, sensual, that's the game Amagiri plays, but it comes out naturally. Nothing he says will sound like he read it from some '50 ways to get in their pants' how-to book. He's kinky, but classy, urging you on both with his words and his fingers, and it's a pleasant surprise when you catch him teasing you with a hint of a smile like, "don't give in now, I'm just getting started".

to) Motoyama: To be friends with Iba and to have taught Iba many many things over their lives, Motoyama has got to have some special characteristics, one of those is that he loves to be praised. Iba might praise his partner often, but as far as his bestie goes it doesn't happen often but is very genuine when it does, and that's something Motoyama craves in romantic experiences too! I know I said this about Nomura as well, but it's true for both of them: Motoyama looooves to be called a "pretty boy", he doesn't have that haircut for nothing. He's also a reader and though he's not normally reading romance, he does love praises with a little more substance to them, "You're intoxicating", "i love how obedient you are", "you look so silly squirming like that, but don't worry, I know you can endure this<3", all examples of words that will keep him straining in his pants 💖

more praise headcanons below the cut!

from) Ootori: Ahhhh Ootori Keisuke, my sassy "30-something" plot device lol. He's such a tease, you'd be surprised how much filth can come out of his outwardly-polite mouth. This tea drinking, romance novel reading, aristoCAT is all about shmoozy words in bed. Honestly, he's quoting from stuff he's read before and hoping you won't notice. "You look as beautiful as the morning glory's flower, my love~ Your legs are opening up for me quite nicely~", whenever he opens his mouth it makes you question whether or not you should expect better from him, or whether it's exactly the kind of charming corniness you need in your life (it is). He wants to come home to you trying on some new lingerie and praise "what a thoughtful little slut you are<3", he wants to bring you almost to orgasm over and over again and then tease that he "loves how needy you are".

from) Kimigiku: Ugh the most perfect femdom is here!!! She can give you gentle or kinky, it's all about giving YOU what YOU want. While not exclusively a service top, she does love to give a lot of coaxing like "doing so good, princess/prince/majesty" and "i'll take care of you cutie, i promise, just give me one more, I know you can". Now let's say you've touched her nerves a little this week: stayed out a little late with your coworkers, or gave her attitude a couple times... She's more than willing to tie you up and taunt you, telling you "Oh, I'm sure you can get out of those restraints yourself, right? Such a big strong man/woman/lover that I have". She'll degrade you and make it sound like the most enchanting curse you've ever heard; "I love using you", "No one else could ever match up to you, my biggest whore<3", "You don't need to cum, right? It's enough just to please me, right?"

from) Yamazaki: Hakuouki's own sweet little romantic nerd + killer spy <3 Idk if anyone else was surprised that he's canonically supposed to be 30 but I was when I first saw it lol! He's experienced: with sneaking around, one night stands, keeping things quiet, but when he finds someone special he turns into a blushing mess. His duality also pertains to praise, he likes hearing it and giving it, and he also likes giving and receiving degradation, just not normally at the same time ;). If you want him to he'll definitely put on his spy persona in bed for you! That said, he loves to assure you "Don't worry, you're safe with me, you can let it all out, you sound so beautiful", and loves to make little promises in bed when you're pleasing him like "That's my baby, I'll reward you so well for this. I love to see you full of me".

to) Yamazaki: Like I said, I think he's a duality-pleasing man. Praise him in bed and he's working double time to please you. Very enthusiastic when hearing what you like, if you tell him "I love it when you give me head", he'll make sure to spend extra time pleasing you down there~

to) Miki: Beat up his ego a little bit. Unlike Souji, Miki is a brat who can take what he gives. He's down with being called a slut/whore/etc or being referred to as your sex toy. If you top him it's a secret turn on of his to get embarrassed so saying "I know it hurts but you're taking it so well!" is an insta-nut. He's also into hearing you egg him on when he's being a brat and rub it in when he gives in, "You're such a good listener when I give you what you need, huh?" and "Can't you beg sweeter than that? Or is it beneath you even when you're already on your knees for me?"

from) Miki: Aaaaand he gives as good as he gets~ His mouth is filthy, and he's shameless when it comes to fucking you. Brash and abrasive, he'll tell you that "you look so beautiful with my cock in your mouth" with a haughty smirk on his face and he knows his confidence is a turn on in this case. He's not pussyfooting around what he means, with "you can beg better than that, little slut" often proceeding a later groan of "your screams sound so good baby". If you've been flirting or sexting before meeting up, he loves to throw in a "I've been waiting all day to put my cock in you" as soon as he walks through the door.

[fierce-little-miana]

may i ask you what u mean when you say that kodo emotionally isolated Chizuru? do you mean by not telling her of her true nature or something else? love your souji route commentary btw!!❤️

Hello anon,

I am glad your like my commentaries on Souji's route. I like making them too so at least two of us are having a nice time with them.

It is true that I must have said 3 or 4 times now that for me Kodo emotionally isolated Chizuru while raising her, without ever explaining what exactly I was referring to. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about this.

(However, please be aware that I haven't play the game in its entirety yet and I am playing Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi which is a ten-years-old game and far from the newest iteration that might explore the subject a bit more. So this is informed by the anime, the movies and the part of the game I have played as of today. Plus by some of the discussions I have seen in the fandom.)

Also, I am so very sorry for the long post.

When I say Kodo emotionally isolated Chizuru am I referring to him lying to her about who she is or to something else? The answer is both, or rather I think the lying and other things were tools he used to isolate her (emotionally and also physically to an extent) in order to control her easily.

First the lying. Kodo lied to Chizuru, and he lied to her constantly including on things that cannot be reframed as a safety issue for her. Let's list the extent of his lies:

Not telling Chizuru she is an oni: This could potentially be reframed as a way to protect her from a world that would hunt her down. However, Chizuru still knows she is not like other people because of her healing. She has to hide it from ´outside’ people. This means Kodo only gave her half of the truth so she can't have a full picture of herself while also being convinced the only person she can trust entirely is him.

Not telling Chizuru she is not his biological daughter: Kodo is not Chizuru's biological dad. Biologically I am not even sure who Kodo is supposed to be for her. He is part of the Yukimura clan but he is not a pure blood oni. This means that the closest he could be to her is her uncle as the half-brother of one her parents. In the movies Kaoru calls him "Kodo-ojisan" (meaning uncle Kodo) but in Japanese as a younger person you can call middle-aged man ojisan as a mark of respect that is less formal than san (Mister/Sir). The official French subtitles translate this as "M'sieur Kodo", an informal version of Mister Kodo. In the game I am pretty sure Kaoru only calls him "Kodo-san". Which would mean that Kodo is not extremely closely related to the Yukimura twins (personally in my fic I made him the (half-)uncle of their mother who was born only a few years before her so they were raised as siblings more than uncle-niece, which meant that while Kodo is Chizuru's great-uncle he actually served as an uncle figure, I love family drama and complicated family tree). What does any of this matter? Well this lie does not serve any safety or cultural properness purpose. Adoption was extremely common in Japan at the time. Kondo Isami was adopted, Inoue (Okita) Rintaro (Okita Souji's brother-in-law) was adopted by the Okita family, Ito Kashitaro was adopted, Iemochi the Shogun at the beginning of the Hakuouki game was adopted, twice!, apparently Okita Mitsu was adopted by the Kondo family too so she could marry Inoue (now Okita) Rintaro... It would not have been shocking for Kodo to present himself as Chizuru adoptive father. What he actually is, btw. Yet he preferred to lie to her and say that he is her father, period.

Not telling her she ever had a sibling: as a follow-up to lying to her about being her bio dad, Kodo never mentioned to Chizuru that she had a brother. Reminder that Chizuru was 7 when her village was destroyed which meant she could have memories of her previous life (I can't remember if this is a popular headcanon or something backed by canon but it was Kodo who altered her memory right?). Hypothetically Kodo could have told her she had a brother (without mentioning the twin thing considering the negative superstitions surrounding them) adding that he died/disappeared. This could have match with snippets of memory she might have. It might also have salvaged Kaoru and Chizuru's relationship if they ever met again (something I believe Kodo was planning) because I personally thing that what definitely broke Kaoru was his sister not recognizing nor remembering him at all.

All of this accumulate to create a picture of "it was always just me and my dad and no one else" (why would she ever think she might need anyone else?) and "my father is the only person I can really trust". This is plain bad for Chizuru's development as a person and an absolute lie.

To this, one must add other ways Kodo used to make Chizuru dependent on him alone:

While Chizuru is well-educated and has attended a dojo for a short while, she has no (let alone close) friend. She never mentioned anyone back in Edo. I know some of this come from otome protagonists being some sort of a blank page so you can project on them but if we compare her to Hoshino Ichika for exemple (from Collar x Malice), Ichika does have friends and relations outside of the main cast that date back before the plot kicks in. Chizuru does not, besides Kodo.

The inclusion of Iba Hachiro in the new games might mitigate that but from my understanding Kodo did put some distance between the two at some point.

Chizuru had no prospect of her own, no goal with her future life despite being on the brink of adult life. Was the plan for her to live with her father forever?

While Kodo seems to be well-integrated in the medical/scientific community, no one seems to really care about Chizuru. No one seemed to have actually looked for her after she disappeared from the family home and went missing. Chizuru was 16 when she left Edo! She must have more or less run her father's household (which must have make her interact with people), maybe she helped him in the clinic and her father must have been a known figure in the neighborhood at least (as a doctor)... I understand that were more than troubled times but no one cared about the missing 16 years old girl they must have interacted with regularly? Really?

As a result we see a Chizuru that is an extremely strong-willed (she travelled alone from Edo to Kyoto by foot at sixteen years old disguising her gender in the middle of a deeply trouble political time! That takes guts!) and rather intelligent girl, yet she is also quite timid and does not seem to have a point of reference on how people should treat her.

The Shinsengumi kidnaps her and holds her captive for months for being at the wrong place at the wrong time and she is not deeply resentful to them? She thinks they are "nice men" deep down?

It takes her being physically put in danger in the place she is forced to live in to go:

???

She has no basis for what a sane relationship with someone should look like. She take being controlled as normal. Ironically, it is with the political militia who kidnapped her that she starts learning how to interact relatively normally with people. Because for what I think is the first time in her life since Kodo adopted her, she is allowed to interact with a multitude of people who have different opinion and act as if disagreeing with each other from time to time is normal (which it is). Hijikata gave the order for her to stay in her room? Well it is stupid order and we are not following it. Etc etc.

My thoughts about Kodo's behavior is that he raised Chizuru so she would be able to nominally be the head of Yukimura clan and his future oni/rasetsu kingdom (giving her Shotsuren, making sure she is passable with it, making sure she is educated, etc.) while making sure she could never really escape his clutches and would never even think about trying to do so.