#in this hypothetical au verlaine is the only prev executive left in his original role and therefore he and kouyou should

[blackwaves]

meditatively. the unfortunate part of being a "chuuya is set up to succeed mori as the PM's next leader" truther (-> i can and will justify this if asked, but it's not the point rn) is that the #feminist alternative i've often seen people offer as successor is kouyou — i don't think it's a placement that suits her? i think she's content in her current position, and i think she'd be opposed to being set into serving the organization-above-herself in the way that's integral to mori's philosophy re:leadership.

however. However. i do think the reasons that i believe she wouldn't naturally fall into place as the pm's leader make it so much more interesting to explore in fic as a hypothetical what-of.

like. sit down and think with me about 200k words of a kouyou longfic where there's been an incident with a high kill-count and mori's dead and chuuya's... incapacitated somehow? believed to be dead? actually dead? and kouyou is left as the highest-ranked PM member standing. the weird horrible friction of: it's not a position that suits her and it's not the position she wants, but she's the one whose shoulders it's fallen on, and she's the one grappling and wrestling with the burden/responsibility/power in the aftermath. longfic because i think it is a slow, begrudging acclimation, and that it's half-accidental when she shapes herself into a philosophy influenced-by-but-not-the-same as mori's.