#just look at how cute Hanako is being clingy with Kou cause he want attention

[mari-lair]

I love how Hanako tried to have a sad emo moment in hell of mirrors

and Kou completely disrespected his emo hours

[mari-lair]

This spiraled out of control so I apologize in advance if you wanted something goofy, I must hit you with a brief analysis of Hanako's gender bend chapter before we get to the silly headcanons.

(heads up: I'll refer to girl Hanako as 'he' since he didn't seem bothered by Nene calling his girl form 'Hanako-kun', but if there are any hints I missed that genderbend Hanako prefers to use she/her I'll correct the pronouns.)

When Hanako is turned into a girl he lists things that only girls can do, and the chapter ends with him trying to seduce Kou, so that's something Hanako would consider off-limits normally.

Hanako's reaction reflects that, clearly flustered considering his heavy blush, but also unsure. Sweating. Out of his comfort zone.

It's interesting, cause being touchy and flirty is Hanako's comfort zone, he tends to exude a playful energy even when he barely knows the person: Be it girls or boys.

Yet flirting with Kou made him nervous?

Yes, because he isn't being touchy in a playfull way, he is explicitly tying his clinginess to the idea of attraction here, something he only ever does with girls. All his pervert gags are about girls, the idea he can be attracted to guys in that way is something he seemingly doesn't think about. Or if he does, he doesn't allow himself to express it.

Not as Hanako-kun, the boy, anyways.

I have never seen Hanako jump into someone's arms until he was turned into a girl. Even with Kou, he does his usual "I'll hug you from behind, sit on your shoulders, hug you from above, have you in my hold." approach to get his attention, which is a less stereotypical feminine way of being clingy than jumping in someone's arms.

So Hanako, who has somewhat of a 1960 mentality, seems to only let himself explicitly flirt with a guy when he hides behind a girly persona.

Just like he hides his vulnerability with a playful persona because a part of him genuinely loves teasing and being mischievous, he genuinely enjoys being a girl and doing things "only girls can do".

Dressing up is something he claims to not personally like, that he is 'just kidding', or that it isn't his really for him, but his behavior contradicts that. He wants to show off his new hairstyle with a big smile and a blush, not showing any distress at the gender or wardrope change.

He likely thought about styling up way before his girl transformation, considering we see him be "playful" in chapter 30, wanting Nene to paint his nails.

Maybe he wants to be cute? Cause "Cute" is a word girl Hanako uses a lot in the spin-off. He is constantly asking for reassurance that he is cute. And it is implied that what caught his attention and convinced him to let Nene dress him up was her saying it would make him 'cute'.

He wants to be a cute girl.

Not a sexy girl.

What does he always use to tease Kou? Indecent and lewd comments. He has a pervy humor that he didn't lose as a girl.

But despite the golden opportunity, it doesn't even cross his mind to tease Kou. He just asks Kou if he is cute, something that is personally important to Hanako.

The vastly different vibes between how he asks his dear assistant if he is cute (confident, excited, playful enough to go 'teehee') and how he asks the kid (nervous, flustered, dialogue full of '...' in it) is why I believe that on top of wanting the reassurance that he is a cute girl, Hanako also genuinely wants Kou to be attracted to his girl form.

He gets emo that he isn't Kou's type, not that he isn't cute. He explicitly says "I got rejected" So he was, even if subconsciously, serious in his seduction attempt.

Hanako is attached to Kou, but when he is a boy we don't get any heavy hints that Hanako wants to be seen as desirable by him. If he thought about flirting with Kou as a boy, (He sure was eager to jump in Kou's arms and play with his hair?? He play with Kou's hair! Wow...) he didn't show.

The closest we get is the promo art where Kou and Hanako are looking as far away from each other as possible and shifting in place, restless (either from anxiety or excitement). This is only noteworthy cause it is the first Valentine's Day art Aidairo posted.

And the way Hanako blushes, with little hearts, at the idea of biting Kou when he is zombified. (amyythestarry2's post was what made me aware of this scene, link: Here.)

If there are more moments I forgot, please let me know! But regardless of how he perceives Kou, we can say gender has an effect on how Hanako interacts with people. So it's hard to have a solid idea of how he would react if Kou turned into a girl.

You did ask for my opinion on it though, so below are my favorite headcanons!

I am a firm believer that Kou would not be a very feminine girl. He has a complex from getting the "mom role" at home and he wants to be "dependable, strong, and manly" so he would try to be as brash, 'tough', and boyish, as usual, occasionally switching to being self-conscious and mortified.

I can't see him wanting to wear dresses to fit his girl body, considering Mitsuba's loud displeasure didn't make him even consider taking his earring off and Kou isn't super into conforming anyways, he climb rooftops and scream at "air" so much he has a reputation in school, so it all boils down to personal preference and this official art shows how uncomfortable Kou looks compared to Hanako in a skirt/dress (is Kou crying here?? help-)

Just cause Kou isn't being cute doesn't change that being gender-bend would destroy the "Kou is a boy, and boys don't flirt with boys" box Hanako had trapped himself in.

For as much as Kou will express that he still wants to be treated as a boy, and Hanako doesn't make fun of things the kid is genuinely bothered by unprompted, it's... hard to pretend nothing has changed.

Baggy uniforms aside, Kou being a girl is still super feminine compared to usual, when Hanako playfully pokes Kou's cheek, he'll notice it's rounder now, he'll play with his longer hair with curiosity, and a tiny blush, notices Kou may still swing his raiteijou like a fighter but he got delicate hands now (we both know how different girls and boys hands are drawn in this manga, and Hanako like hands iughuyg) he got boobs too, Hanako is a 1960s pre-teen in his approach to attraction/sexuality, he will not be able to stay chill if girl Kou put him in a headlock for saying some dumb shit.

So Hanako goes in full '??' and '!!!' mode while trying to act normal, until he hits the same conclusion of "Wait, why am I panicking? I can flirt with the kid now! I can flirt with girls!!" and hides behind his playful persona to the max.

And since flirting with girls is something he is more used to, he will be more confused by how he feels when he wraps his arms around Kou in this new context, but also less nervous. Kou doesn't really take him too seriously though. "hanako is being clingy and playful and annoying." kind of dismissal.

When Nene shows up and tells Kou he should wear a girl's uniform, Kou will eventually cave in, cause he can't say no to Nene when she is genuinely so happy and eager to dress him up! He is more awkward and shy in a dress, his caring side also shine with Nene.

Kou is super sweet with Nene, when she cries that Kou has slender legs as a girl, Kou will reassure her that Nene is the one super cute.

That's the kind of girl Hanako likes on a very superficial level: feminine girls. Sweet girls.

And he already likes Kou as a boy, so this mix of different attractions to his caring side and his boyish attitude will make him want to explode. Hanako is full on ba-dum ba-dum mode and he have no idea what to do about it.

Think of this scene where Nene dresses up and the change in her appearance flusters him so much he gets overwhelmed and confused. He doesn't know what to do when he thinks she is being cuter than normal, so he defaults to making fun of her with something he finds attractive (her chunky legs) but knows she personally hates it.

Any confusion that comes with being flustered would increase tenfold with Kou cause he is aware Kou looks like a cute girl but he is not? Like he is, currently, but he is also attracted to Kou's normal attitude? His wide smiles, his goofy attitude, is all the same, and he always found it kind of endearing before, but is so cute now?? Attractive??

So what does he do? Act like an asshole to protect himself, just poke at his insecurities to hide how much Kou affects him, only to go to far and feel awful about it when Kou is visibly upset by it.

it would be one messy event.