#i can't wait to think about the different sort of toxicity Vic would bring to that relationship

[another-corpo-rat]

Vic x Michiko? I know they’re friends in your canon and I’m honestly desperate to know more about their dynamic. xD (can’t remember if I’ve asked before, sorry)

oml the besties, the co-conspirators-

are you ready for me to ramble? cos im going to- the readmore is a warning tbh

I have 100% considered them as a couple -- a polycule actually tbh, Smasher wedged his way in there as he's wont to do -- and i haven't exactly ruled it out just yet. One of the sticklers for my consideration is Michiko's husband Marc and his position/role in it all, or if i want him alive at all.

The foundations for it is already there, or will be if i ever actually write but yknow,

Victoria and Michiko's companionship starts with a simple basis: the mistrust of Yorinobu Arasaka. I'm operating soundly on headcanon here, but I reckon any corpo worth their lick of salt would feel something in the air before Yorinobu stole the relic; an anticipation, kinda like when your hair stands on end before lightning strikes too close.

For Victoria, Michiko is more appealing than any other of the Arasaka bloodline, and while she holds no love for the family she recognises them as powerful pieces of the board: if change is to happen, it has to be with one of them at the helm. Yorinobu made it clear he held no love for his father and the company in tandem, and Victoria holds something of a grudge after he attempted to have her replaced as Smasher's netrunner. Hanako would be more appealing were she not confined to a compound for most of her adult life - too sheltered, even from the teeth of their own company. Victoria doubts she could solve a conflict if the weight of her family name wasn't enough.

And that leaves Michiko; the black sheep. Once sheltered herself but thrust into the public and Arasaka eye following the death of her father. And while once Victoria did fall for that sweet, naive act that she held up like a shield, it was soundly shattered in her eyes once she learned the girl and Smasher had a thing. Her founding and the success of Danger Gal also raised her quite a bit in Victoria's opinion.

For Michiko, Victoria is another ally in her pocket but perhaps one with more gusto than the rest of the Hato faction - Michiko despises talking ill of her own people, but a majority of them think that her leading them is enough for victory. She knows it is not, and she wasn't going to turn down the opportunity of having a damn good combative netrunner with a direct line into Yorinobu's dealings on her side

Beyond that practical reason, Michiko did just genuinely want to get to know Victoria as well. She was curious of the woman, but noted her aversion to companionship and so wanted to think her approach through carefully - kinda like building trust with a stray cat, done gradually with consistence

Later in Victoria's canon, when Yorinobu is dead and Hanako has retreated to Japan, not quite with her tail between her legs but certainly shaken by the sharp turn taken by the Hato faction, Victoria and Michiko's dynamic become what it would remain if they were to be a couple; the empress and her shadow. Very much a 'they shout my name, yet whisper yours' sort of thing

Michiko doesn't want to destroy Arasaka in the same way her uncle did, reform is enough for her. Rebuilding, restructuring (because unlike her uncle, she doesn't spew moralisms and then turn around and destroy livelihoods with the same self-righteous folly he condemned his father for-) but she's not naive, and she trusts Victoria to reel her in when her ideas border too closely to ideals.

Just as she is there to reel it back when Victoria's suggested methods are a touch too brutal to be acceptable, too much how things used to be done. She understands that force and fear are necessary at times, but the netrunner tends to push it too far; her bloodlust more readily apparent when its not being overshadowed by Smasher - and as much as its a steady cause of conflict between them, it is something that draws Michiko closer to Victoria. she has a thing for danger, she guesses

It would bring them together, already close as they are after planning a coup within a coup - placing an explicit trust that paid off for them both, solidifying their companionship into friendship and then potentially something more

so yes, 10/10. absolutely am considering Michiko as a potential partner for Victoria