#junpeke

[tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang]

TUMBLR'S WORST TOKYO REV CHARACTER ROUND 2 MATCH 16, the final match of the round it's Junpeke vs Takemichi!

[deathfavor]

I used Hanma to sweet talk Hanemiya.  

Kazutora is the only person who we know that Kisaki had to use another person to get to Kazutora rather than talk to the person himself. Hanma has always been called Kisaki’s weapon, his blade, while Kisaki’s known to be the charismatic and people person, the one pulling the strings. The fact that it has to be passed off to Hanma of all people puts a rather huge implication that Kisaki tried and failed with Kazutora.   

And honestly? I think it has a lot to do with the same reasons that Kazutora did not like Mikey initially. Growing up in an abusive situation, Kazutora is very alert to the way people hold themselves. It was part of his survival strategy. He doesn’t like only selfish people or people who look down on others. Kazutora is bad at perceiving genuine kindness and care, but he’s extremely good at perceiving that selfishness and those who look down on others due to his father. More than likely, Kazutora’s entire paternal side carries themselves with the same aura to them. In different degrees and forms, but it’s taught Kazutora what to notice and what to be on guard for.

Which is a little bit of a detour point I want to make. Hanma and Mikey are selfish, but they're selfish in different ways. Which I think is why Kazutora responds better to Hanma than he did to when he first was meeting Mikey. ( Not to mention Kazutora is far more unstable when he meets Hanma so there's that + the promise of killing Mikey that Hanma offers. ) To Kazutora, Mikey is a selfish in a way that directly effects everyone around him. Throwing tantrums, causing a scene, etc. Kazutora hates that. Hanma? Hanma's selfish but in a way that really only applies to himself. He doesn't demand people change things or cater to his will. He's like 'I'm going to do [x] and you can come if you want to'. There's freedom in Hanma's selfishness to join or not. Sure it might effect people as a side effect, but he's not 'everyone must listen to me' sort of selfish. Not in Kazutora's eyes. Kisaki's aura reminds him of Mikey. 

So when Kisaki approached him? The tiger’s hackles raised in wariness. He knows that look in Kisaki's eyes, that attitude that surrounds him and he wants no part of it. Even if nobody else sees it Kazutora knows damn well that it’s there. It immediately sets him against Kisaki, and Kazutora has no interest in what is promised to him by people like Kisaki. He’s done with those days. He’s not the same boy that Junpeke used to push around. Not since meeting Baji, and especially since not killing Shinichiro. Getting entangled with people like him doesn’t end well. (Nor does not getting involved it seems in this case.) 

So it takes Hanma to draw the tiger in. Hanma who promises danger and adrenaline. Hanma who radiates power and strength and offers him freedom. Hanma who tells Kazutora how strong he is and who promises that he’ll help Kazutora get to Mikey through Valhalla. Hanma knows a broken and wounded person when he sees one. He doesn't often go for that style of interaction but he knows to hand feed the tiger praise and shape him the way he wants ( or rather, that Kisaki wants - although Hanma never 100% listens to Kisaki, he likes his own fun too. ) Kazutora responds well to Hanma's praise and freedom and what he offers.

I just think it's interesting to see a more hands on approach with Hanma being the one who has to lure in Kazutora because Kisaki can't get to him the way Kisaki gets to everyone else. 

[choshasan]

As requested by @bookdragonlibrary here are the characters with *both* ears pearced;

1- Haitani Ran

2- Chome

3- Kurokawa Izana

4- Madarame Shion

5- Arashi Keizo

6- Junpeke

Tokyo Revengers that have the left ear pierced (iykyk)

1- Matsuno Chifuyu

2- Hanemiya Kazutora

3- Mitsuya Takashi

4- Ryuguji Ken

5- Kokonoi Hajime

6- Haitani Rindou

7- Shiba Hakkai

8- Chonbo

9- Kisaki Tetta

10- Hanma Shuji

11- Imaushi Wakasa

12-Hansen

[feralchildsposts]

Y'all noticed how Peke J (chifuyu's cat) has a similar name to Junpeke (Kazutora's ex friend) ????

Its just a coincidence or?????

[strawberryclementine]

Is Peke J named after Junpeke somehow or are the similar names a coincidence 🧐

[bakuhoewriting]

what becomes of the broken-hearted || sano family mini-series ft. twin!reader [part 2]

Idea: Sano!Family x Female Reader, Mikey-Twin!Reader Genre: Angst, Family, Romance Series Summary: The rise and fall of the Invincible Mikey and Irrefutable [N/N] through the eyes of those they've loved, lost and found.  Between shifting timelines, can the love of their friends and family save them from themselves? 

Part 1 – Part 2 

Chapter Summary: 

Baji would do anything for [Y/N]. His actions end with moments he wishes could last forever and moments that will haunt him for the rest of his life. 

Baji [Original Timeline] 

Baji Keisuke meets Sano [F/N] for the first time at age 5.

His mother takes him to the Sano Family Dojo after he gets his fourth warning at school where he sits sullenly in a corner, only to laugh when she knocks the instructor flat on his ass with a single punch. 

The instructor cries, calls his little sister a bully, and Kiesuki falls in love when she turns to him with a grin as sharp as his. 

Keisuke makes sure to sit back with her when his own introductory warm-up is over, makes sure they exchange names ("My name’s Baji Keisuke!" "Nice to meet ya! I’m Sano [F/N]!"), and Keisuke sits at [Y/N]'s side again for the next 8 years.

He learns quickly that she’s different from other children their age. Namely because [Y/N] is a twin, and Keisuki has never met a twin before.

Manjiro is fourteen minutes younger than his sister, but the younger Sano wins Keisuki over the same way [Y/N] did when he knocks out his training partner with a fierce kick.

Thankfully, it's not their brother this time (”Shin-kun is too soft!” she huffs, fondly) and respectfully, Keisuke laughs louder. 

[Y/N]'s father is killed and then her mother, and one day the twins are accompanied to the class by an even younger girl who Shin-chan introduces as their sister.

How they're still so strong, Keisuke doesn't know.

What he does know is that with Emma now in the family, Keisuki doesn't get to talk to [Y/N] as much as he'd like, which is fine.

In the time [Y/N] focuses on getting to know their new sister more, being a girl herself, Keisuke bonds with Manjiro.

Together, they give themselves new names in honour of their newest addition, and as [Y/N] pulls a flustered Emma back to them when she catches on to them, Keisuke never wants the moment to end.

Or rather, Edward doesn't want the moment to end as he sits and giggles with Mikey and [N/N], Emma smiling wider than she's ever had before. 

Over time, their friendship follows them outside the Dojo and with Emma finally comfortable to be away from [N/N]'s side, something in Keisuki's heart just feels right when she's there during Toman's creation.

He can tell the others are a little unsure about her being there (not that they're sexist, but because most of them have sisters and mothers and they see them when they look at [N/N])–but Keisuke reminds them all with his fierce grin and years worth of memories that [N/N] is equally as strong as her brother. 

Draken, who's come to know the twins just as well, notes her involvement in the fight a couple weeks ago and as the collective respect and admiration swells over the twins taking down Junpeke and his goons together–Keisuke thinks of the siblings he's gotten to know through the years.

He re-imagines Mikey as a spear, tearing through Junpeke's defences with his relentless kicks, and [N/N] as an impenetrable shield, blocking all the blind shots his goons had given, holding steady before she struck back just as hard.

The twins, he knows, are weapons in their own right, and Keisuke finds steel in his spine when he declares his oldest friends Co-Presidents. 

Haruki and Takashi are the ones who title them officially as the Invincible Mikey (a monicker Mikey had gotten a while back) and the Irrefutable [N/N], but Keisuke takes pride in being the one to get Toman up and running to begin with.

In fact, he thinks back to the day they chose their new names because he doesn't want this moment to end, either.

Not when his friends are all together, all riding on the high of this new era that they're about to create together, and not when [N/N] breaks away from Mikey's side to join his instead. 

"Ed," she grins, canines glinting, and [eye colour] eyes sparkling brightly despite the changing skylight. She’s the only who calls him by that name these days. 

He loves it. 

"[N/N]?" Keisuke says, chuckling. 

Practically glowing, his first friend (though she and Mikey are his oldest friends, being his first friend is an honour only [N/N] holds) thanks him for vouching for her before they fall into discussions about the future for the Gang. 

[N/N] explains that there are already people on her mind to bring in as seconds, territories she knows they can easily claim.

As she speaks and plans and schemes joyously, Keisuke’s smile is more soft than it is sharp when he tells her she’s already proving herself to be a good Co-president. That he’d volunteered her name because she’s someone he’d follow anywhere. 

He’d do anything for her. 

The statement leads him behind Kazutora as they break into this repair shop one evening, one where Kazutora says there are two bikes that their friends deserve. Just waiting to be taken to them. 

"They’re gonna love it, Kei!". 

Though Keisuke himself is not entirely convinced, he thinks of how excited [N/N] will be and he tags along. 

He’d do anything for her.

They don't get the bikes.

Instead, Keisuke finds heartbreak and grief and everything in between as he becomes an accomplice in her brother's accidental murder. 

“Shit, Shin-chan!”

When Kazutora is whisked away to Juvie, Keisuke is the one who faces the aftermath of their actions. The one who stands at the back of the funeral procession with his mother as they watch the Sano family assemble before Shin-kun’s grave. 

Shinichiro’s ghost stands behind the twins, behind Emma and their Grandfather, but his eyes are pinned on Keisuke. 

Slowly, he shifts his head to nod at the twins and as he does, Keisuke sees it. 

There’s something brewing in their eyes, something cold in [N/N]’s stare and something dangerous in Mikey’s that has him thinking of thunderclouds clustering before a storm. 

Unease settles in his stomach. And then Shinichiro vanishes, Emma runs from their Grandfather’s arms and crashes into the twins, and suddenly it’s as if everything was as it was before. 

Keisuke's heart swells and then breaks all at once and then again three weeks later when his oldest friends come looking for him with sunken eyes and tired smiles to tell him they forgive him. 

Shinichiro’s ghost visits his dreams in the months that follow, as does the memory of [N/N] and Mikey on that day ( It’s more haunting than the memory of the night Shinichiro died) and Keisuke wakes with the same guilt and shame pounding in his head. 

“Hey, Ed! Come back me up here! Draken always agrees with Mikey!” 

Jogging over to their little circle, the unease that’s followed him since the funeral grows into burning determination as [N/N] peers up at him, canines glinting as she smiles for the first time in months. 

He’d do anything for her.

[In another life, anything leads to his death.]

[deathfavor]

It's no accident that Kazutora doesn't look towards Baji even when he feels the pointed stare on him. It's not hard to imagine the look on his face either. He purposefully tries not to think about that particular fact.

" You're fine without me. " Kazutora mumbles, lowering his head. " You did fine for two years. You'd be okay. " Better, maybe. It's a though that feels like self crucifixion. He closes his eyes, lips pressed together. " I could just be talking about going to jail forever, you know. " It doesn't sound very convincing even to his own ears but it isn't wrong either. His hands flex, gripping and relaxing in some attempt of self-soothing behavior.

" I know that in technicality, but we basically ran it. " He bristles defensively only for his shoulders to slump down. Was it worth defending? What Baji suggested said it wouldn't be. Kisaki? Why bother? What was the plan if Kazutora HAD succeeded in his goal? That didn't make much sense. "Fuck." He whispers, wincing in pain when he yanks on his own hair. " God fucking damn it! " He sounds half angry and half like sobbing. It wasn't quite the same as with Junpeke but it was starting to feel painfully familiar. " I thought- I thought it'd be different...."

Everyone turns traitor eventually. The thought resurfaces with piercing accuracy.

It practically hurts to force his fingers to uncurl from his hair, his breathing frantic and ragged. " No. " He shakes his head in rejection. " 'Cause that's always the fucking problem, isn't it? That's how all this shit started. Back of the whole stupid Black Dragons messing with me and you all deciding to strike back. " He gives a choked, bitter laugh. " I'll....I'll deal with it....." He mumbles. He could deal with it. Baji could stay safe from him, from everything, and not be involved. Slowly he unsteadily climbs to his feet again, gaze unfocused and distant.

He's tempted to ignore the request, but the please has his eyes lifting to focus properly on Baji for a long moment. Please isn't a normal part of his language. Kazutora stands perfectly still, tense like he might bolt at the slightest movement. Eventually he takes a step closer to the bed, but refuses to sit down and keeps his hands buried in his jacket like he's afraid.

Baji cast a pointed look over towards his companion. He knew Kazutora, probably better than he knew himself sometimes. They had been through so much together both wonderful and awful and still came out the other side because of each other.

"Ain't gotta remember ya, cause ya ain't goin' nowhere." Baji stated in more than a matter of fact. "Hear me? Baji ain't nothin' without Kazutora. That's just how it is, and how it's gonna be. I can forgive ya' for what ya' did ta me, but I ain't gonna forgive ya' hurting yourself."

He knew it probably wasn't the best time to bring up Kisaki and the whole Valhalla thing, but honestly? When was the right time? "Ya know that's not true. Hanma was the vice, ya' were the second vice. Headless angel and all that shit, just a ploy not ta reveal the truth."

He could tell that Kazutora was having trouble facing this. But that it wasn't falling on deaf ears either. He was actually considering it as a possibility. Something Baji was thankful for at least. That Kazutora wasn't just blowing off what he was saying.

"Hey..." He wanted desperately to come down to his level. Embrace him and tell him everything was fine. But he couldn't move from that spot, just the gentle touch through his hair. "I ain't tellin' ya' this ta make ya' upset. I just want ya' ta know the truth. We'll get through this and kick the shit out of anyone that fucked with ya', got it? Cause it' ain't about Valhalla or Toman, but Baji and Kazutora."

"Come 'ere... please."

[emzmuu]

“Or Are You On My Side?”

Betrayal, Choices, & Blame

— an analysis | theory

under the cut!

From a young age, Kazutora has been conditioned to think in black and white. Having to choose which parents to side with, he wasn’t allowed to have both, neither, nor to find the grey area within. He was given no other choices than what was picked for him, an illusion of choice. The fight between his mother and father involved him, a bystander to their conflict, to become a victim to their neglectfulness. He felt hurt and betrayed by how they treated him or rather, their lack of treatment towards him. Kazutora even describes his home as cold and never a warm environment. This mindset grows up with him— always popping up in his thoughts when interacting with others.

He asks the questions, who will betray me next? Who can hurt me next?

This is the start of a code he creates for himself, a mantra repeated through his thoughts as he develops, but never reversed as he doesn't reflect within himself.

As a victim between the fights and abuse, he carries that mentality with him growing up; as a defensive approach to others. With Kazutora, the thought of betrayal festered. Of others having potential to hurt him. He was suffering with these thoughts, never letting others in. With this fear buried in his mind, he still attempted to reach out for friends with hope that things would be better with them compared to his parents. And they were, for a time.

For Kazutora’s birthday, his friends take him to an arcade to have fun, only to make him pay for it instead. It’s mentioned that this happens often when his friend Junpeke apologizes for always asking him to pay. Kazutora’s mood turns slightly depressed when reminded of that fact just after saying how much he likes being with them, and how they help him forget his anxiety. On the inside, he knows the truth but won’t admit that he’s being used until pushed by someone else.

That's where Baji comes in, who he meets for the first time. He points out the fault within the group, that they don’t see Kazutora as a friend but as a money tree instead. That they only saw him as something— someone— to be used when it helped them out. They ran away leaving Kazutora alone to fend for himself. Again, he was the one being hurt by those around him.

After fighting with Baji on his own, in the end he admits that he has always seen himself as a money tree as well— disappointed that he’s been betrayed by them and left behind, even though he was aware it was bound to happen— he wanted to believe, but his hopes were betrayed.

“Having friends isn’t about who takes advantage. From now and onwards, you and I are... Friends.” - Baji  

After finding out it was Kazutora’s birthday, Baji goes ahead to make up for the sorry excuse of friends and celebration he had. He declares himself as Kazutora’s friend, goes to burn a car together, encourages Kazutora to beat up Junpeke to feel better, gives him a piercing for the earring, and later introduces Kazutora to the rest of his friends; the future founding members of Toman. 

During all this, the side story shows how Baji pulled Kazutora along and made choices for him so he wouldn’t have to, and helped encourage Kazutora to act how he wanted, even if they were bad choices. To be free from the confines he made himself and to become more confident with what he wants to do. 

One day on a ride, Kazutora gets lost in his memories— of his father telling him to be thankful to whoever made him live without inconvenience. The father refers to himself here but to Kazutora, the one he is most thankful towards and respects is Baji. While the one that reminds him of his father is Mikey with his arrogance, inconsiderate of others feelings, and how it feels like he looks down on others. To be gazed down on like an ant. 

He runs into his father again who traumatizes him and is rescued by Mikey, who declares himself as Kazutora’s friend. In this instance, there’s a drastic comparison in how others choose to be Kazutora’s friend.

Junpeke only said it himself when it was convenient for him, but Mikey said it when it would inconvenience him and get him in trouble.

Still, after the events, Kazutora goes to cut himself off from them; a way to ensure he will never be hurt or to involve them with his own troubles.

He goes to distance himself from them as he learns that friends can betray him too, not just his own parents. Kazutora thinks it's best to deal with it all on his own and to not inconvenience/burden others. He keeps them at a distance, to not let them in. That way he can never be hurt.

"People will always betray anyone. Be it father, mother, or friends. Every single one of them are idiots." - Kazutora

From that point on, Kazutora's thoughts changed from,"The only one who will never betray me are my friends." To, "People can betray anyone." His fear has been confirmed, and that mantra begins to haunt him.

Kazutora reflects on this, he considered his friend Junpeke a betrayer, but never considered how his actions at retaliation for the first time built up to Junpeke coming back for his own revenge. Kazutora considers this as revenge for himself, yet Junpeke also sees it as revenge for Kazutora beating him up in the past. There is no grey area considered that both are in the wrong. His world is still in black and white.

What's interesting to note is also how Kazutora always looked on from a perspective that others would betray him. That he was exempt from that. He's an outsider to his own views, there's a disconnect. It was always how others would harm him and not that he could harm others, him retaliating was his own form of 'justice'. After all, he was always the victim since a young age— the decisions he makes whether he sees it as good or bad still ends up hurting him, so he remains a victim in his mindset.

He can't handle the consequences of his own actions and doesn't want to perceive himself as being able to hurt or betray friends, like how others have done unto him. Mikey eases him of this worry.

This scene itself caused a shift within Kazutora’s mind. Mikey had no idea that the power of his words took a hold within Kazutora. The words that saved him and cursed their relationship. From Mikey's perspective, it was him saying he accepted Kazutora for who he was and that they'll face his troubles together. To not keep his worries to himself and depend on one another, because they're friends. 

Everything that is Kazutora's is also Mikey's.

To Kazutora with a victim complex, Mikey was his saving grace. Kazutora placed Mikey as his as well— in a sense that all his troubles and faults would be Mikey's. Kazutora was free from burdens to act as he wanted, as Mikey would take responsibility for him and his actions.

This is what led him to blame Mikey in a very convoluted sense.

In the side stories and flashbacks, Kazutora is fine hurting and threatening others that he considers rivals and enemies— he shows no remorse. But in the panels above, he cannot accept that reality anymore, considering that he killed someone close to his friend— indirectly hurting Mikey.

He doesn't want to accept that he betrayed Mikey. He didn't want to think himself capable of hurting those close to him. 

Then he remembers.

He only remembers how Mikey said all of Kazutora's problems, thoughts, himself— would be his. Through those words, Kazutora places Mikey as his Jungian shadow. He separates that entity and all of his problems from himself onto one singular person.

For Kazutora, it was all for Mikey in the first place. It was all because of Mikey. So he should shoulder the blame for everything. Kazutora doesn't want to recognize himself as a bad person like his parents or those who hurt him.

“It’s your fault I got sent to juvie.” - Kazutora

At the Valhalla initiation, the words chosen here by Kazutora as he explains the process to Takemichi is also interesting. As this is how Kazutora viewed Mikey before— when he put him on a pedestal, only to end up hurting himself and Mikey. Idolization does more harm than good. It shows that this might be how he still perceives him as well, he wants to kill off his beliefs and Mikey, but he’s also scared of Mikey and the power he holds over him still.

“Chifuyu... What have I told you over and over? Don’t trust anybody but your friends.” - Baji

Back when Draken tells Kazutora that they're still friends, Kazutora responds with "that's what I hate about you." Baji probably told him to trust no one but his friends as well. At this point Kazutora still trusts in the fact that Baji won't 'betray' him— so when Draken declares himself as his friend no matter the events of the past, Kazutora doesn't want to accept that fact. He wants to see in black and white, to have clear cut definitions that are easy to place as what can hurt him and what can't hurt him. 

Draken is from a group that hurt him, he can't imagine himself going back to that when events could repeat again. At this moment, the fact that there's a gray area in-between the black and white does not exist to him. He doesn't want to blend the two together when it still has the possibility to harm him, so Kazutora would rather throw it away than to trust again.

This is how Kazutora tries to translate his worldview to the others, albeit childishly. It's how he can see redemption for himself while everyone views him as a villain for killing Shinichiro. Mikey, his enemy, is a problem that he made himself. If he can get rid of that problem, a shadow that he made— then he can become his own hero, and all his problems will disappear.

With Valhalla, a gang who accepted his ideals and encouraged it— Kazutora was flying high on his emotions, feeling that it was the right thing to do, that he could be a hero and gain positive recognition from it. No one could harm him ever again, he would be too high up for others to even touch. Not even his old friends.

Baji did understand Kazutora to an extent but he didn't understand how to help him. Instead he accepted Kazutora's self-destructiveness and encouraged him, thinking that as long as Kazutora felt someone was on his side, he would be fine. But as incidents unfolded, Kazutora was too far gone into himself and needed a push to bring his mind back into clarity. 

Baji didn't want Mikey blaming Kazutora, or Kazutora ending up blaming himself for his death, so he took it upon himself and decided it would be his own fault for dying. 

After Baji dies, Kazutora realizes that he was his own enemy and that Baji never did leave him, nor did Toman. He only betrayed himself in the end, ruining and pushing away the good things he did have. Rejecting others who tried to stop or even reconnect with him.

In the end he faces the truth, and realizes that he was also part of the problem— that it's not just others that can betray him, but also himself.

"I'm staying Baji. You guys go on… This is my fault. I want to take responsibility. I won't ask you to forgive me. I'll live my whole life with Shinichiro-kun… and Baji's deaths… on my shoulders." - Kazutora

Later, after the events of Bloody Halloween, Draken goes with Takemichi to visit Kazutora in juvie and to pass on a message from Mikey.

They knew that these words were important for Kazutora to hear— for his sense of self and his feelings of belonging. He's been struggling all his life with a mindset made to protect himself. That there was no one else on his side, or that there was nothing he could ever truly be a part of— without worrying how things could end up hurting him.

"Why…?" 

He's been forgiven by Mikey and in essence of that, Toman. Kazutora though, doesn't seem to quite forgive himself yet and Draken understands some part of that. He is aware that he caused problems too and can no longer blame others for his own faults. He has no one else to share it with. 

Black and white, choosing a hero and a villain. He understands he is not completely good and that no one is completely evil, but gray.

Mikey is no longer a shadow for Kazutora to push his faults onto as he has come to accept and take responsibility for the trouble he has caused. He is back to holding onto his own burdens/shadow— for himself to handle. He just has to learn how to carry it right this time.

____________

He is used to being betrayed but he doesn't think he's capable of betraying others. When he kills Shinichiro he realizes that he betrayed Mikey, it went against all reasoning that he built up, that he could do no wrong. He broke one of the stable points in his mind and the cause of him breaking his own code, was the cause of his own betrayal —> Mikey 

TLDR::: 

In the side stories it shows that he is used to being used and having shitty friends but doesn't want to confront it bc they're all he has. 

And then in the Valhalla fight when Kisaki calls Hanma and they mention Baji betrayed them Kazutora loses it and goes to stab Baji because that was the person he least expected to betray him. Baji saved him when he was younger and made his life better and to know the person he depends and relies on broke the code? His last stable pillar? Goodbye to kazutoras mental health.

[xlappy]

So now we have a….

Fake peh-chan

Fake takemichi

Fake kakucho

and a fake junpeke ( kazatora old friend)

[captivemuses]

👫 BajiKazu

Send a 👫and I’ll write four headcanons I have about our muse’s relationship

-Baji likes Kazutora's long hair. He can't put his finger on exactly why he thinks the hair length just suits him so much better than the short hairstyles he had as a kid, but Baji does.

-He doesn't ever tell Kazutora this, but one of Baji's favorite things to do with him for their alone time is simply sit on the couch and cuddle Kazutora. Having always watched him grow up with the less than stellar mother no matter what timeline they were in, Baji will always make a point to put time aside to give his boyfriend gentle affection and touches that he didn't get growing up.

-He 100% supports the idea of Kazutora modeling for Mitsuya someday because he knows his boyfriend would look damn good doing it.

-The memory of Kazutora's 13th birthday when the two of them went on the overnight rampage causing chaos and ending things with beating up Junpeke is one of Baji's favorite childhood memories with him because it was the first time he really saw Kazutora let loose and not be the straight laced doormat that Kazutora was when they first met, and he also loved seeing Kazutora stand up to the ringleader of who was being shitty to him. The earring is just a symbol of Kazutora no longer letting people walk all over him and Baji loves that Kazutora gets that reminder daily from wearing it.

[tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang]

TUMBLR'S WORST TOKYO REV CHARACTER ROUND QUARTER FINALS MATCH 4, it's Grandpa Sano vs Junpeke!

[deathfavor]

The Song Analysis that was never asked for but here it is (like every song analysis I do) 

  We’re going back to the song “Leave A Light On” by Papa Roach & Kazutora. I said before how it’s a good song from the perspective of anyone that has a positive, deeper connection with Kazutora. The song has a clear emphasis on the struggle someone else is having while the singer themselves is full of compassion and commitment to helping that struggling person. And Kazutora does struggle. I know I’ve said it, I’ve written it, but Kazutora has a LOT of struggles and issues regardless of what point in his time you look at it. They really aren't something to be glossed over in the grand scheme of things. 

Dry bones rattle in a lonely soul Slipped and fell into a deep black hole I can tell you're lost, I'm here for you 

   Kazutora is a lonely person. Prior to Baji, he didn’t have friends. He hung out with Junpeke and his group because they gave him acknowledgement and the illusion of happiness, which is always Kazutora’s weakest point. He eats up praise and attention with a voracious hunger because he never knew it with his own family. On top of his loneliness though, Kazutora also doesn’t trust people which augments his loneliness. It’s a crux of his personality, of his character. He’s going to try to push people away first. It’s only if you’re persistent that he starts to warm up and finally start to let someone in. Even then its on a one by one basis, not a wide acceptance of a group.  

     He gets lost in his own head a lot and people can see that. They can see that Kazutora is lost more than he is found. In the past, he's living day by day either trying to get through juvie, and even once he's free, he's taking it day by day. It applies to the future as well. Kazutora is lost. He’s trying to atone for his past, but he doesn’t fit in the picture with others anymore and he’s acutely aware of it. That's how it is in his perspective. He didn’t have the big dreams or plans, and then being locked away for 12+ years of his life, there wasn’t a point to it for a long time. Now he has to try to find it in a world that’s left him behind. I’ll talk about this next point more in a bit, but it’s so, so important for people to be there for Kazutora. To show that even if he's lost, they're still there with him. They aren't going to leave him behind and forget him. ( Like by his family long before he met anyone, like by Toman, like in juvie. He's the first to be forgotten and it's a trauma that's only worsened with time. ) He needs actions more than he needs words. Yes, he craves the affection and praise, but actions speak so much on their own.  He needs to be able to know he can count on someone.  

To wash away the remnants of all your doubt I hope that you'll see me looking out 

   This ties in beautifully to what I just said. He needs people that can wash away his doubts. He needs people who can and will do that as needed. People that will stay when he runs. Soothe him, be there, brush away his fears. You can be upset, you can be sad, but be there for him all the same. Even if you’re angry, as long as you can convey the why, that it’s because you care, it still ultimately has a positive effect on Kazutora.  It’s something that both Baji and later on Chifuyu do for Kazutora. They are the one he latches onto ( Baji when he’s younger, Chifuyu when he’s older) to be support. They’re the ones he turns to, they’re the pillars. They are there for him even when he needs to run or tries to shut down. They persist. It helps soothe away the fear and the doubts that take root in his heart to a point he can genuinely believe it without their reassurances ( even if it does help ).  

   Kazutora does know when people look out for him – at least when he’s accepted them. He knew Baji would always be there for him. He comes to realize Chifuyu will be too. Kazutora absolutely tried to tell Chifuyu that he shouldn’t visit or shouldn’t write because he doesn’t deserve it. ( There’s also trauma after what happened with Baji – that if they get closer, he will hurt him sooner or later. ) It just evidently wasn't listened to, and it's ultimately what let Kazutora start to open up more. That despite his attempt to push, Chifuyu stays like Baji did. He does know they’re looking out, and he appreciates it more than he knows how to show or say. 

But when I see you fading in the dark I'll leave a light on for you Through the long nights, I will be right There for you if you drift too far  I'll leave a light on for you

   Be the shelter, be the beacon. See his struggles and leave some kind of hope for Kazutora. Tell him he can give you a call or show up if he needs to. There’s days and nights where Kazutora struggles, be it with nightmares, depression, temptation of old habits, or a million other things, and being there is the best thing that you can do. Reaching a hand out to hold him tight and ground him back into the present. There’s a few lines from a different song that go well for these long nights from Kazutora’s point of view. ( Don’t leave me alone with myself / cause I don’t trust this monster not to leave a mark / I know it won’t be gentle when my thoughts go dark / It’s focused on my fears - it knows them all by heart. ) Being right there means the whole world to Kazutora; seeing him at his worst and still being there, offering him comfort. He needs someone who will reach out and grab him when he starts to drift a million miles away. Even if its just sitting there and eating snacks or watching a show together. It doesn't need to be grand, it just needs to be something that reminds him he isn't alone if he doesn't want to be. And Kazutora will return it tenfold however he can. He'll be there for you too.  

[tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang]

TUMBLR'S WORST TOKYO REV CHARACTER ROUND SEMI FINALS MATCH 2, it's Mochi vs Junpeke!

[tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang]

TUMBLR'S WORST TOKYO REV CHARACTER ROUND 3 MATCH 8, the last match of this round it's the time leaper vs Junpeke!

[tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang]

TUMBLR'S WORST TOKYO REV CHARACTER FINALS, and finally to finish us off it's Kiyomasa vs Junpeke!

[tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang]

And that makes today the day Kazutora got his iconic earring! (Which Baji pierced for him)