#including some stuff with Ukitake and Kaito's relationship

[akaluan]

Are the others already starting to suspect Kaito is somehow Ishida? It still seems like a bit of a logical leap at this point, but of course we haven't seen as much of the other characters' POV as Kaito's; can you tell us some of the things they're seeing that've begun to tip them off? Is it little things, or is something in his guise slipping?

They’re not, honestly. It /is/ a huge leap in logic, and it’s not one that immediately comes to mind when faced with the facts as portrayed.

What they ARE starting to suspect is that Kaito isn’t being entirely honest about a lot of things. Uryuu is especially suspicious, because he’s watching Kaito closely (a thing that started out of self-preservation, based on their initial interaction) and he’s seeing lots of familiar patterns in Kaito’s actions? And he really doesn’t like the thought of that for several reasons; first because it’s humanizing a being that he initially wants to fear/distrust/hate (due to that first meeting and also because of being a Shinigami in all but name), second because it means Kaito had similar experiences, and third because he’s seeing Kaito turning towards Urahara a lot and that makes Uryuu kinda lowkey hate Kaito sometimes? Because Kaito has something that Uryuu’s never had.

Kaito’s guise isn’t slipping; if anything it’s solidifying as Kaito starts to internalize more and more of the habits of those close to him, especially Urahara. Combine that with his moments of cheerfulness and laughter and the way he /appears/ to be pretty open, and he contrasts pretty drastically with Uryuu.

But then you have moments where they act the same. I don’t make a big deal about it, especially since DE is written from Kaito’s POV, but Kaito does slip at times. Because of the way Kaito is weaving his /actual/ history into his backstory as Kaito, some of the worst of it can be brushed off as similar upbringing or experiences, but there are other things, like Kaito and Uryuu’s reactions to praise, or thanks, that stand out. Not so much that they would react in a specific way? (Because that can be chalked up to similar experiences of an upbringing lacking such things) But because they /make the same motions in response/. If you put them next to each other and made them both react, it would be like looking at a copy, though Kaito’s motions are starting to lose the sharpness of Uryuu’s due to exposure to the Shoten’s residents.

Also, I know I mentioned it almost exactly once and then never brought it up again (sloppy writing on my part), but I REALLY cannot overstress the fact that KAITO ISN’T WEARING GLASSES. And, in fact, the character of “Kaito” would have NEVER NEEDED THEM. And yet Kaito has the automatic “adjust glasses” response that /all/ glasses-wearers develop. That’s an awkward tell that Uryuu’s noticed and picked up on, but no one else has because no one else wears glasses amongst the Karakura crew. Uryuu’s not sure what to make of it right now, but he’s suspicious of it. On the other hand, Kaito actually hasn’t spoken about his vision at all? So Uryuu’s suspicions are partially allayed with the idea that Kaito ONCE HAD glasses, and Urahara has introduced him to contacts since coming to the Living World. It’s a pretty easily disproven theory, but at this point in the story Uryuu hasn’t had the close-friendship-invading-private-spaces sort of relationship with Kaito that would reveal a lack of backup glasses laying around.

All in all, none of them have anything solid for their suspicions, beyond “Kaito sometimes acts weirdly akin to Ishida”. And of course Uryuu has the glasses thing.