#of your pairing doesn't have red string of fate symbolism i don't want it

[herbarimoon]

Bound

[nanakah]

Kaguya-sama: Bonds and hands

Yes, I can't stop spotting details...could it be just a coincidence? Yes, but I've been taught to think of coincidences as inevitable, unfortunately.

The way Ishigami and Miko hold hands for "escorting" is very particular and incredibly contrived, and I've wondered why a couple of times. Something that makes the angle very unique is that Ishigami has his back turned, and a detail I already knew about is that he holds out his left hand, and Miko - having broken her dominant arm - takes it with her left as well.

It may not be immediately obvious what is so particular here, but I'll present to you in a metatextual level, the opening to the chapter that immediately follows this one.

The two pairings in Kaguya-sama are very much Prezguya and Ishimiko, no matter how much each of the separate parts end up twisting and tangling.

As I've said a couple of times before, both have parallels between each other and are very much inverse in their construction and in their issues.

This detail in particular is very interesting! Given Aka's attention to those, I definitely don't think this is just overthinking (though some extra considerations are on me).

Most people should be familiar with the Red string of fate in anime. It's a myth that says "two people connected by the red thread are destined lovers, regardless of place, time, or circumstances. This magical cord may stretch or tangle, but never break." The specifics vary, but it usually connects those two people by their fingers - often the pinkies, which are also symbolic of a promise between two people in various cultures ("yubikiri") or left ankles (as in the left being the heart's dominant side in the chest).

The reason the escort hold is positioned that way is likely to show that Ishigami's and Miko's hands are touching completely except for their left pinkies (which would be the natural resting position there) - resistance.

Meanwhile the only thing keeping Miyuki's and Kaguya's hands touching are their pinkies - a difficult choice.

There's a huge focus in Miko's reaction and their hands, while Ishigami's face is completely obscured once his hand is held out. He extends it as a whole and doesn't seem to be making any sort of effort to "hide" his pinky.

And not too long ago, Kaguya had given Ishigami a ring to be worn on his left pinky finger as a charm - precisely for having a love returned. That night, after saying his goodbye to Kaguya, the first and last person he meets is Miko. If we are to believe Aka's clues, he has liked Miko for a long time, but repressed his emotions. It only gets more ironic the harder you think about it.

Kaguya-sama is a charming tale. It's about an optimistic yet cynical take on love. No lessons it attempts to pass face value are meant to be just that.

It tries to tell you nothing is so black or white. It may be best for you to accept fate, or it could be best for you to defy fate. No matter which is it, the end results depend on what you make of it and the effort you put into your choice.

It constantly speaks of fate not being real, yet there are tales of eternal love and jinxes the characters follow to heart and swear to be real. It says there is no destiny, yet speaks of Kusare-en and follows it to a T. It mentions love needing rationality to find and that eternal love is a lie, yet has couples that stay in love forever and many supertistions surrounding the characters.

About Ishimiko in particular, it gets even funnier when characters around them want to deny their connection, do so and sound like they're in a constant fight against visual metaphors of it that are played for laughs.

Yeah, you two try breaking those ropes. I'll wait.

And even then, another strong metaphor of theirs is refusing to break that connection by reaching out and not letting go - Thus the iconic cover (And of course, the fall down the stairs in Christmas.):

To me, the supertitions in Kaguya-sama are about "wanting to believe", and how that has the power to make things real. Is there fate? Maybe there is.

As long as you use your head.

"True love will find you in the end - but how can it recognize you

If you don't step out into the light? Only if you're looking can it find you."

Ishigami and Miko's story is about two people that are undeniably bound by fate. I say this over and over - they are so obviously made for each other it's challenging as a writer to sell them, yet I'm absolutely sold. They are perfect in paper and they're perfect interacting precisely because of their imperfections. Their love is so messy - riddled with clashing, jealousy, possessive, too attached at times - yet it's incredibly beautiful because it borders on selfless more often than not. They're to themselves someone they can't ignore even if it pains them. The reluctance in touching the pinkies is precisely symbolic of their reluctance to admit they're "made for each other" - specially because they have screwed up so often and so hard it's difficult to admit they possibly should have been together a long time ago if they weren't so stubborn. The moment Miko recognized she can love and Ishigami opens his eyes is all it takes. They navigated the worst part of love and only need to open themselves to admit to being in love and learning to let go. The moment they stop trying to tie each other - for they are already tied - and let the other go/grow is the moment they will return.

Shirogane and Kaguya are the opposite. Even with their rocky beggining, they fall in love from the start because of a fated connection they built themselves. The fairytale Ishigami and Miko thought they were cut out for ("true love"/"real love") finds its way here as even at first sight, Shirogane and Kaguya seem to decide they are meant to be. They strive to be together but the catch for THEM is that only after they do get together, they discover everything else about the other part and need to work it out backwards into figuring out who they are and finding things to fall in love with.

Ishigami and Miko often feel like a couple bickering because honestly, they have everything BUT the easy part of love down. They know their real selves too much (the bad sides at least - the best sides are only now becoming clearer to them). They are undeniably close and at times they act like exes without ever having dated yet. Their sense of boundaries is extremely blurred. They have such a strong foundation that to any outsiders, they just look weird. It's incomprehensible. Their biggest challenge to learn and overcome is that the fact they fight and clash all the time isn't telling of their incompatibility- it's proof of how much they love and care for each other. That's why it's so silly of Miko to wish during Christmas he stopped fighting with her and treated her like someone else, or of him to say it's hopeless to engage with her. They simply are yet to learn what that really means and how unfortunate it would have been to make such genuine feelings like the ones they have become performative, like a fake love.

Shirogane and Kaguya, on the other hands, wish they knew more about each other. It did not come easy. To reach to that starting point we know Ishimiko from, they had to drag it out and it was painful. I have theories and my own interpretation as to what it means to them NOW (as I sincerely don't think the way Iceguya handled it throwing away all of Shirogane's masks at once was good for him, but we'll see in the future), but even considering the arc we did get - by the time they begun dating, Shirogane was still hiding himself. Just before that arc and that image of their hands.

Shirogane couldn't show himself, so they couldn't love all of each other, ugly part and all. They are the opposite of fated - The suitor and Kaguya-hime, who should have married the Emperor. But they created a connection for themselves, and want to make it real. This is what holding their pinkies means.

And of course - to end that volume we get both Maki's trip to India (related to the heart sutra Miko writes down not too long after - this is an incredibly loaded metaphor for this romance story, as non-attachment and unconditional love in Buddhism are deeply related) and Papagane's iconic speech about eternal love being a lie, but true love being something you may choose for yourself.

Do you want to get deeper on how the India chapter is relevant? The bowl of Buddha (here represented by Kobachi Osaragi) is said to have been in India. Kobachi at first doesn't acknowledge Ishigami and Miko's bond because of the "voids" it was riddled with. The moment they both learn to let go of their expectations that generated frustration in their relationship to embrace simply wishing for the other's happiness (smile, literally), they have begun to reach a halfway meeting point.

I don't even need to say who's in the foreground and background of Papagane's climax monologue to that, do I?

(Those lines in particular are Tsubame's skepticism of love in general, but soon after Papagane takes over and challenges her views. Ishigami and Miko are hidden from the reader - as their story is still halfway at that point - and Kaguya confesses to Shirogane mid-monologue).

Fridge brilliance: If Tsubame says a confession is a "contract" or "promise", and my theory is right that ShiroKagu went about revealing their "true selves" the wrong way (for some masks are necessary to protect us or the ones we love, plus a relationship NEEDS conflict) and will still have to get back to their starting point; you could say that

Shirogane and Kaguya have the confession (the pinkies touching), but still have to build everything else properly.

Ishigami and Miko have everything BUT the confession (they even have the contract - "Your efforts will bear fruit someday"), they just have to voice their promise properly to reach for grasp the other's heart.

Small addition: turns out the pinky in Japan can be used as a gesture to represent a relationship(Because of the red string of fate) - it also represents the concept of "en".

SO. SYMBOLICALLY: Ishigami and Miko have everything they need - except a "relationship". They love each other deeply and have already overcome several problems, they simply need to get on the same page and make it official.

:)

JUST. AKA.