#shiratori did not plan his actions out well

[tonguetiedraven]

can you do something like bullying or rin getting into a fight? any ship if you like, im not sure if you r comfortable with that topic gkdnckd

I hope this fits? It's the fight more than the bullying, and mostly it's Rin getting really (justifiably) mad.

No ships. Just broship and friendship, lol.

TW/CW: for some mentions of blood and broken noses

— — — — —

Rin spotted Yukio at the top of the staircase and waved to get his twin’s attention. They had lunch together today, and he’d been looking forward to it all morning. And not only because his pork had smelled really good last night when he was preparing the week’s food. Yukio was smiling more, and it seemed like things might finally be getting better for Yukio. He knew the cheerfulness could evaporate again, but he really hoped it stayed around for longer this time. Yukio deserved to always be happy.

Yukio spot his waving hand, looked in his direction, and smiled in his soft way. It was a real smile though, not the polite one he wore for everyone else.

Rin’s chest went happily tight and he started to move through the crowd to meet him at the stairs.

It was probably his demonic senses that let him hear the quiet and shocked ‘oh!’ Yukio released, but it might have been something he heard anyway because it was Yukio and Rin’s ears always seemed to hear him clearest.

He glanced up in time to see a flash of gray hair, and Yukio’s body suddenly moving through the air. Rin sucked in a horrified breath, Yukio seemed to hang suspended mid-motion forever, and then he was crashing to the earth. Rin ran, shoving people aside, possibly trampling them, and screamed his twin’s name as he moved.

Despite all his supernatural speed, he wasn’t fast enough to catch his twin. Yukio collided with the concrete with a deafening thud, and a sickening crunch.

(His glasses or his nose? What had crunched?!)

Rin reached his side an infinite second later, skidding to his own knees, not caring that he ripped the knees of his uniform slacks, and reached for Yukio’s shoulders.

“Yukio?! Oh my god—” what if he was broken? You weren’t supposed to move really hurt people — “Can you— fuck, they—” Someone had pushed his twin. He’d seen gray, spiky hair. Who was it? He’d kill them. But— “Yuki, can you hear—”

Yukio shifted the slightest bit. Just enough that Rin could see his blinking eyes. His glasses were smashed and his nose was bleeding and looked like it was already swelling somehow. His cheeks were scraped, and his teeth were coated with blood. The sharp metallic scent of blood and fear coated his nostrils and Rin needed to find who had done this.

“Rin?” Yukio’s voice was scratchy, shocked, and a bit disoriented. His head had probably been hurt. He needed to get to the doctor—

Rin’s ear twitched at the faint sound of a laugh. People were pushing in around them, worried voices were rising up everywhere in concern for his twin, and there was someone laughing.

“Yukio—” Ryuuji and Shiemi’s voice cut through the cacophony, and that was all Rin needed. He could see Ryuuji forcing his way forward with Renzou, and if they were near Yukio would be safe and Rin could take care of the person who had dared to touch his twin.

He waited just long enough for Shiemi to break through — she had the advantage of being small and capable of slipping between people — before he jumped to his feet and ran to the top of the stairs. Anyone in his way was shoved out of it, he bolted over several steps, and he reached the crest of the stairs right as Shiratori tried to dart away. The cacophony of shouts and shrieks faded to the background, the taste of blood was still heavy in his mouth, and the red of rage flooded his vision as he jerked Shiratori around to face him.

“Hey!” Shiratori snapped, “hand’s off—”

Rin didn’t give him a chance to finish the statement. He brought his fist around and clocked Shiratori across his ugly jaw, not minding at all that the spike Shiratori had on his lip tore at Rin’s knuckles. Before the boy could get away, Rin caught him by the collar and hit him higher on the face, taking an intense satisfaction at the crunch of his nose.

Even when they had fought in middle school, Shiratori hadn’t been good. He’d had a lot of lackeys, and that was the only reason Rin had ever struggled against him. Numbers always made up for a lack of talent. Now that he was alone, he couldn’t have fended off Rin’s attacks even if he didn’t have the demonic strength and speed.

Rin did have those, and they were making everything a little red as his pulse pounded in his ears. He tackled Shiratori to the ground, shoved away his flailing hands, and punched him in the stomach. The boy doubled over with a hack, and it wasn’t nearly enough. Yukio was bleeding and hurt, and this bastard had done it. Rin had let him go after everything that happened because it wasn’t really his fault. Being possessed had meant he wasn’t in control of his actions, but this…

Rin swung with abandoned. A small part of his mind stopped him from covering himself in flames, and a voice that sounded like Yukio in his head kept him from using all his strength.

“Rin!” He ignored the call of his name and threw another punch at Shiratori. He continued to ignore the shouts until Ryuuji was coming up to him from behind and curling his arms over Rin’s to haul him back and away from Shiratori.

“Shima! Get—agh!”

Rin clocked Ryuuji against the side of the face (mostly unintentionally) as he scrambled to get back at Shiratori. Shima and Izumo both collided into him, and more arms wrapped around him to haul him back as one voice broke through the din and furious roaring in his ears.

“Rin! STOP!”

Yukio.

Rin twisted in Ryuuji’s hold and peered over the aria’s shoulder to see Yukio standing with Shiemi and Konekomaru’s help.

Blinking, he realized that Ryuuji, Izumo, Renzou, Godaiin, and Paku, had all gathered to try and subdue him. Shiratori was bleeding and curled up on his side in an attempt to protect himself from Rin’s attack, and there were a lot of people around staring at them.

Forget all of them.

“Don’t you ever fucking touch him again,” Rin snarled, forcing his flames down as he glared and struggled against everyone’s grip. “I don’t care what your fucking beef with me is. I will kil—” The word strangled out in his throat as Ryuuji pulled on his tail.

“Shut up, you moron.” Ryuuji tugged him backwards and the entire group followed. “Don’t threaten a student like that! There’ll be serious consequences—”

“I don’t care who hears! No one messes with Yukio!”

“Rin,” Yukio called again, struggling his way up the steps. Shura had shown up when Rin wasn’t looking and was taking most of Yukio’s weight now. Had he broken more than his nose? “Settle down. Godaiin, would you and Paku mind fetching Mr. Light for me? He’ll handle… this.”

Ryuuji dragged Rin back another step.

“Rin, we’re going to the nurse. Suguro, would you and Miwa stay and explain?”

Yukio reached them, Shura passed Yukio’s weight off to Rin, Ryuuji released him and put himself between Rin and Shiratori, and more staff gathered around as Rin looped his arm around Yukio’s waist.

“Sure thing.”

Rin gave Shiratori one final glare before Ryuuji shifted so he couldn’t see the bastard any longer. He didn’t care if there were going to be consequences. No one was going to mess with his baby brother. No one was going to mess with any of the people he cared about. Not while he could stop it.

[amaya-chwan]

Takeaways from Therapy Game Restart 14 + Illustration Book Release Date

Hello again everyone! ❤️💛💜

It's finally here... chapter 14! In all its glory! 😍🥰✨

Before we get to our takeaways, just some news I missed in the last post!

🎉 SENSEI'S ILLUSTRATION BOOK WILL BE RELEASED AROUND THURSDAY, 23RD SEPTEMBER! 🎉

Image taken from this Twitter post from Dear+!

It is titled "日ノ原巡イラスト集���DARLING" and boasts a collection of illustrations from Sensei's works so far: Secret XXX, Therapy Game, and Kamisama no Uroko.

The current price is ¥2970 with tax (¥2700 without tax). If you'd like to preorder it on your proxy shopping service, I've found it on the Comi Comi Studios website here! The bonus for purchasing it on this website is a B5 clear file~ I haven't seen it on Animate just yet, so fingers crossed it'll appear on their website soon with another (different) bonus! ❤️💛

Alright, with this amazing news done, let's move onto our takeaways, the long awaited takeaways! Thank you for being so patient with me! 💜

My short life update: currently in week 8 of lockdown and I haven't left my house in a long time other than for exercise or groceries. But I do have my vaccination appointment booked so YAY! 🎉

Here are our takeaways for this chapter:

Oh man, we pick right up from the last page of chapter 13. MINATO, BB, YOU LOOK SO PAINED! 😭

Sensei is the BIGGEST tease... that's all we got of that Minato and Shizuma scene...👀😭

The female staff at the veterinary hospital have really mellowed out! They're not bad, after all. ☺️

Oh dear, Nakajou-sensei, please get better ASAP!

Whoa... did Onodera just...?? I'm starting to think back to that Onodera discussion we had a couple of months ago... 🤔

Poor Shizuma, always roped into Onodera's workplace stuff! IT'S BECAUSE YOU HAVE GREAT PEOPLE SKILLS, SHIZUMA! PROUD OF YOU! 😍🙌

Man, Onodera has a really... blunt way of saying things to her human clients. Wow, brave. 😲

But I will say, Onodera really is good with animals. 🙌

Yet again, I think about that Onodera discussion we had... 🤔🤔

And that’s it for this chapter’s takeaways! For a more detailed breakdown/summary of this chapter, please continue after the cut! There may or may not be a surprise scene (or two) there. Please keep reading if you want to see~  😉✨

Our chapter begins where we left off in chapter 13--Minato pinning Shizuma down on the bed. Shizuma looks up at Minato and reflects on his actions that caused the pained look he is seeing.

Image taken from this Dear+ Twitter post!

On the next page (title page), the dialogue reads: Shizuma wants to understand what it is about his director (Onodera) that is making Minato uneasy. // However, that beautiful liar hides it well...

(I believe we are taken back to the morning before Shizuma and Minato meet up for their date.)

The title page features Onodera walking back to the clinic, bread in hand, with a cat cozying up on her leg. We are then brought to the clinic's lunchroom, with the female staff and Shizuma on break. The roster in the room shows that Onodera is extremely busy, Nakajou-sensei has afternoon house call appointments, Tatsumi is Nakajou-sensei's support for these appointments, and Shizuma has a half day and finishes in the afternoon in lieu of working on his scheduled day off.

Shizuma asks his coworkers what presents they like from their partners and takes note of their answers. One of the female nurses asks if it's Minato's birthday. Shizuma confesses that their relationship has been affected by the various things happening lately, so he wants to get Minato a gift before seeing him later that day.

The nurses quickly pick up that the gift is a "tribute" of sorts as this line of work means a lot of missed appointments and dates, and Shizuma confirms their suspicions. While the nurses realise male-male relationships and male-female relationships aren't that different in this aspect, everyone in the lunchroom is alerted to someone shouting Nakajou-sensei's name.

Shizuma and a nurse see Tatsumi with Nakajou-sensei, who has collapsed on the floor. While the staff are concerned about Nakajou's well-being, she brushes it off as a dizzy spell. Before they can help her up, Onodera sweeps her off her feet and carries Nakajou to her (Onodera's) office. While Nakajou asks Onodera to put her down out of sheer embarrassment, Shizuma and Tatsumi are in shock, with Tatsumi commenting on Onodera's manliness in that moment. One of the other nurses gently smacks Shizuma's shoulder and tells the two to grab a blanket and a drink for Nakajou.

In her office, Onodera asks Nakajou why she's been overworking herself to the point of collapsing. The nurse (who gave the gentle smack) very obviously hints to Onodera that it is her fault. As Nakajou calms the nurse by saying that's just how the director is, Tatsumi asks Nakajou about their afternoon appointments. She says she'll be fine to go after a little rest, but the nurse says she mustn't overexert herself.

After a few back and forths about who should go and the clients' needs/personality (picky about the vet, had a pet that doesn't like men, etc), Onodera says she will go. The nurses are shocked and reminisce about all the issues they've had when Onodera interacts with the owners. Tatsumi and Shizuma stand there, and can very clearly imagine those situations happening.

While Onodera rearranges and informs the nurses of the shift changes to accommodate Nakajou-sensei, Shizuma has a terrible premonition that unfortunately comes true: he is appointed as Onodera's support for the afternoon house calls.

Wearing a sulky expression, Shizuma packs the necessary equipment in Onodera's car and reminds her that he has a very important engagement that night that he cannot miss, and as such will leave immediately after the house call appointments are done. Onodera bursts his bubble, and tells him to give up on those plans while he can since this is the line of work he's chosen.

As Shizuma reads the client files, he questions Onodera on why he is her support when he's never attended to these clients before. While Onodera tells him that good coordination is important with a physician's support and that he's the only one she can rely on to give her an honest opinion and calm the clients, Shizuma realises that he's basically the mediator between her and the owners. She confirms that this is his strong point, has great expectations for him, and proceeds to drive. Shizuma then reads the patient files at lightning speed, realising there's a threatening 'something' that Minato has sensed, but that's just how the director is. He then vows to make it to their meeting tonight, no matter what.

The first three house calls, as expected, involve Onodera insulting and angering the owners--Onodera tells the first client that his insistence on seeing Nakajou rather than a 'young' director is having a negative effect on his pet who needs immediate medical care; Onodera offends the second client, inferring from their conversation that her pet's appearance is more important than the need to shave their fur and get an ultrasound done; Onodera accuses the third client of being irresponsible in caring for his exotic animals and asks for more effort on his part. In all three scenarios, Shizuma awkwardly smiles while trying to ease the tension.

The scene skips to Onodera and Shizuma arriving at their fourth and final house call for the day. Just as Onodera explains to Shizuma that she must check a whole host of things at house calls (and indirectly be too blunt about it with the owners), Shizuma asks her to consider the owner's feelings and change when and how she says things. She glares ahead in silence, and Shizuma is just glad that she is now aware of it. He again reminds her to talk with the owner nicely and gently as he probably won't be able to help with the next client as their pet dislikes men. Onodera tells him to just sit in the corner and witness the client become furious while he doesn't help, making him feel slightly guilty for saying that. He is now adament on not helping her.

They reach the owner's home and we meet an elderly woman named Shiratori and her 9-year-old male cat, Tono. Shiratori apologises to Shizuma as her cat doesn't like men. Tono hisses at them as Onodera opens his cage, but is then coaxed into submission by Onodera who covers his vision with a towel and takes him into her lap to calm down. Shiratori and Shizuma are surprised at his sudden docile nature, with Shizuma witnessing how well she deals with animals.

As Shizuma looks on at Onodera while she completes a check on Tono, he sees she is crumbling at the friendliness and talkative nature of Shiratori, who sings nothing but praise for Onodera and how her family must be proud to have such an amazing daughter. Aiming to ease her troubles and remembering the earlier guilt-trip she gave him, he redirects Shiratori's attention to her broken fly screen and offers to fix that plus everything else that needs repair in her home.

Onodera watches as the two leave the room for a bit before apologising to Tono for ignoring him. Tono looks on at Onodera happily while she asks him how he can live with such a lively human and to tell her his secret to this. She brings him into her arms once more to check his limbs, and as Tono looks up smiling at Onodera, Onodera sees her reflection in Tono's eyes, and both seem to realise something.

BG Text: Stare...

Suddenly, Shizuma and Shiratori, who are busy fixing the window, hear a loud crash and rush into the room to find Tono atop the cabinet and Onodera on the floor, with her hair in disarray. In the next panel, Tono is shown to be hiding in the bookshelf, looking on irritatingly at the humans. Shiratori apologises to Onodera, who shakes it off and says it's nothing to worry about and no harm's been done.

Shiratori asks if Onodera will fix/tie her hair up again, but when Onodera says her hair tie was broken when Tono used her as a launchpad to get on the cabinet, Shiratori runs to get her a new one. As Shiratori gushes over the 3 piece dopey looking character hair tie set she received as a present from her grandchild (and lets Onodera pick one), a greatly displeased look is plastered on Onodera's face. Shizuma, in shock, notices her displeasure and hopes she just thanks Shiratori for it. And Onodera does, bringing a great big smile to Shiratori's face.

As Onodera and Shizuma leave, Shiratori says she's glad to have talked with Onodera and invites her to come over again. As she says this, we see Onodera looking back with a blank look in her eyes.

And that’s it for this chapter! THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR! 💜 While I was surprised at the lack of Minato in this chapter (Sensei legit is such a tease, LOL 🤣), I'm happy we can learn more about Onodera. Ngl, I'm starting to really question if Onodera is male or female now, given what transpired in this chapter. I guess we shall see in the next one!

I also changed the formatting a bit and removed the bullet points. Please let me know which format is better/easier to read! Ahah!

EDIT: Spelling and grammar checks are done! Didn't change a lot, but hope it reads better! 💜

📢 As always, please support Hinohara-sensei by purchasing her books and CDs! 📢

And please also refrain from resharing these translations and images outside of this post! Thank you for understanding! ❤️💛

There won't be a chapter in next month's (September release) Dear+, so I shall see you in two months for the next chapter (Dear+ November Issue, to be released in October).

As always, stay safe during these turbulent times and look out for each other and for your loved ones! 💜❤️💛

[mobu-time]

Read the tag and out of curiosity, how would you pacing the broccoli arc for season 3?

lmao I'm sorry you probably weren’t asking me to go so hard on this but uhhh this is my favorite arc and I've got some opinions

Here’s how I’d love the arc to be paced

Episode 1: Youkai Hunting

-Chapter 93

-probably include and end with the Has It Begun? My Era? panels from Chapter 92

Episode 2: Future Prospects + Carried Away

-opening from chp 94 (the youkai getting pulled into the broccoli)

-Chapter 92

   --skip right over has it begun bc it was in ep1 and go straight into next scene

-Chapter 94

-end with dimple leaving after the “eat shit, dimple” smackdown I guess

Episode 3: The Psycho Helmet Cult Part 1(things start to get weird)

-Chapter 95

-if they wanted to, this would be the episode to add in a new scene with Tsubomi or remind the audience that takenaka was a character at one point

   --basically as just a bit of prep for the other two arcs

-either ends where vol13 ends (teru setting out for the broccoli) or ends where the teru fight cuts off (just after dimple reveal)    

   --I think ending with the dimple reveal is the way to go, plus this way there’s a fight scene in this episode and not two in the next one       

Episode 4: The Psycho Helmet Cult Part 2 (things go wrong fast)

-Chapter 96 and 5-6 parts of Chapter 97

-The quest to destroy the broccoli

-The teru v mob fight

-probably end just before or after dimple actually shows up

Episode 5: Dimple and Mob

-The rest of it   

   --@bones pls do go ham with the dimple v psycho helmet fight

Here’s how the episodes fit into your mp100 season patterns, which are Very Correct btw      

I big agree with you about having the youkai hunting as the first episode. It’s a super solid way to start the season. It’s also especially funny bc this chapter starts with a parody of the show’s usual introduction to psychics, replacing “psychics” with “youkai hunters”. It’s a good piece of mob growth+slice of life, at some point Amakusa wonders if the broccoli is attracting spirits that want to use its life energy or whatever (foreshadowing), plus inukawa (who plays a bigger role later in the season) is in it.   

For the second episodes, I would def say it’s just fun stuff for most of the ep, but I think another thing the second episodes do is that they end with something that sets up the third episode and is usually the start of a big chain of events. S1: join BIC, S2: reigen puts up the website, S3: dimple leaves      

Future Prospects is important to include here bc it’s an easy way to reintroduce mezato and the psycho helmet cult plot. It’s also some of Serizawa’s only screen time this arc and we can’t let it go to waste.  

Ep3 is still mostly a mob character study, bc a lot of the chapter is mob dealing with being (or suddenly not being) recognized as the psycho helmet cult leader + reacting to the spread of the cult’s influence in general.

Ep4 is the beginning of mob’s concrete The Broccoli Must Be Removed quest, which continues into Ep5      

Ep5 -Dimple was a friend r.i.p.

Side Note: I desperately want the omake adventures of Hoshino and Asahi to be referenced in some way. Maybe when the shiratori brothers show up they can have a “what are the other awakening kids up to rn?” 10 second bit.  

And now here’s the reason WHY I organized things the way I did, but it’s under a read more bc this post is already too long

So full disclosure: the reason I paced the broccoli arc the way I did is entirely bc it’s my favorite arc and I want them to take their time with it. It’s also an arc that requires a LOT of setup before getting to the payoff, so I’d like the arc to be more like 4-ish episodes instead of the 3-ish episodes you predicted. This isn’t an arc you can just kind of start. Part of why the separation arc worked as well as it did was because they were subtly setting it up all season with little comments here and there between reigen and mob. It wasn’t something that just happened one day. They had to lay the groundwork and build off of it, and this arc isn’t much different. 

Another thing is that the vibe of this arc is one that will take some effort to establish. The slow, creeping influence of the psycho helmet cult is unsettling, and then suddenly getting caught up in the effects of the widespread brainwashing is even worse, but in order for those feelings to really come across we have to spend time with them. Slowly realizing that something is very wrong and then being horrified by it is something that, unsurprisingly, has to develop slowly. And by ‘slowly’ I mean spreading it across two episodes (3-4) instead of shoving it all into one. 

This arc, more so than most of the others, is driven by a complicated combination of emotions that can very easily be misunderstood if they aren’t displayed fully. I know this because when I was reading this arc for the first time I read through it too quickly, and had to start over because I didn’t pay enough attention to what was going on and confused myself. One of the only weaknesses, imo, that the anime has is that they have to cut stuff out. This is usually fine, but sometimes it can have a significant impact on the audience’s understanding of a character. It’s something that happened with ritsu’s arc. It wasn’t really That much different in the anime, but a few lines were cut here and a few shots were skipped there and the result is that ritsu’s fall is a bit harder to actually understand. At least for me, somehow the manga only has a few more lines and yet it makes ritsu’s character and his whole character Arc much clearer. 

I feel like something similar happened in the anime with dimple. There isn’t much aside from a few cut omakes and punching Suzuki in the face that’s significantly different, but a decent amount of time his lines get cut or altered a tiny bit over the course of the series and ultimately the result is that manga dimple is a slightly different, and slightly fuller, character than anime dimple. Idk fam I just watch people’s reactions and I worry that the fact that dimple actually has feelings that can potentially be hurt isn’t something the anime-onlies are prepped for. 

If the anime doesn’t take its time in this arc, and decides to cut some things here and there the way it has in the past, it runs the risk of 1. Being all around harder to follow, 2. Feeling out of character, and 3. Not hitting nearly as hard. Feeling out of character is the riskiest part of all this because mob and dimple ARE acting out of character. That’s the point! They both get carried away and they fight and they do and say things they shouldn’t and usually wouldn’t do, but if it isn’t clear that that’s what’s happening then their behavior can feel confusing or even disappointing. 

One more thing. I love mob psycho fight scenes. I really do think they’re some of the best I’ve seen, and there are a lot of fights in this arc I can’t wait to see animated. It can kinda become a problem though if emotional content screen time is sacrificed for action content screen time. Not to beat a dead horse (or cat in this case), but, uh, *cough* mogami. I’d rather they go ham with the animation in the confession arc and spend more time in this one on the other stuff. 

There’s just a fuck ton of shit that happens in this arc and fitting it all in before episode 6 without rushing anything is gonna be a process. It’s possible, but it’s really gonna take some planning.                

[linkspooky]

So in MB, what are your thoughts on Iihiko Shishime? Is he a foil to Ajimu, or what Medaka could be in the future if she didn't have people behind her to be human with?

So, I don’t really feel as strong about Iihiko as I do about Ajimu. As a character he’s more like a concept brought to life rather than an actual person, like Ajimu and Kumagawa were eventually. 

For me, the real emotional climax of the manga was Ajimu’s prevented suicide. Everything that happened afterwards really seemed like a wind down towards the ending which is why I call the last two arcs the “Kanji Puns’ arcs. They have great moments but they’re not really as thematically tight of a lead up as Flask Plan Arc -> Student Council Battle -> Medaka’s Sucessors Arc. 

He’s actually both, he’s a foil to Ajimu, and a bad ending of sorts of Medaka but in different ways than you might think. The first thing set up about him is that he’s a “Main Character” the kind that Ajimu talks about being a special being she can’t defeat exaclty the same way Medaka is. 

The last arc itself also has the main characters willingly choosing to invert the promises they once made. Ajimu chooses to die instead of living with the impossibility that Medaka will never kill her, Medaka chooses to throw away her freedom with her own hands after finally earning it. That inversion is also in play, Ajimu’s facing of Iihiko brings out her bias. Remember, Ajimu’s thing is that she’s impartial towards everyone but she clearly hates Iihiko. After this, she also makes it clear she’s partial towards Kumagawa above all else her first action of bias as an impartial being. So Iihiko provoking others also represents this theme of inversion of previously established ideas, that the main characters undergo willingly. 

There’s also the fact that for the first time, Medaka can’t save everyone present. Another inversion as to this point Medaka has basically never failed to save everyone present, she even managed to stop the suicide of a god like being, and then later on create a scenario where she perfectly controlled everybody’s words in Shiratori in order to make her fiancee candidates completely surrender. So, another inversion represented by Iihiko, Medaka fails for the very first time to save everyone present.  

Iihiko’s habits, not really understanding what people who are weaker than him are like (he calls Kurokami phantom moving slowly because he can move faster) and also his habit of using whatever is around to win and making up cool attack names on the spot that just makes him seem like a sadist with levels of sociopathy, both of those are Medaka traits just turned up all the way to 11 to the point where they seem terrifying. One of Medaka’s strongest traits is how out of touch with others she is to the point of seeming dense in some situations, or not understanding when people are being violent or attacking her. She also tends to make up new attacks on the spot, name her attacks, act eccentrically as part of her persona, she goofs around and makes puns or jokes too which contrasts her serious persona. Iihiko is doing the exact same thing it’s just terrifying because he has no remorse or pity at all for those he’s fighting, he literally beheads Ajimu and then chews on her hair afterwards, he’s a Medaka without restraint. 

Another inversion of Medaka, “the man born to destroy the world” as opposed to the man born to save it. 

Hanten, or rather Hanten’in later explains the paralllel to more depth. Iihiko is a hero exactly the same way Medaka was. A hero on an even larger scale, however one of five thousand years ago in roughly greek times where the values of what was considered a hero are far different. After all, read most greek heroic tales pretty much none of them are nice people or what today’s standards would be considered a hero. In greek times, basically being a hero required just being a mortal who was worshipped as one by a cult. Which is why Oedipus is considered a greek hero despite… not really… doing anything remotely heroic. 

He’s also meant to represent what Medaka would have if she did not have anything to fight for or protect. This is the idea discussed several times before, that there’s an element of Medaka that is dangerous, that she purposefully keeps people around her to humanize herself, and to chain herself down so she won’t go out of control because her personality is legitimately that overwhelming. 

Another thing in common between them is both Medaka and Iihiko get treated like an anomaly, as something inhuman that needs to be preserved like an anime figurine on a shelf or something. 

So, part of what corrupted Iihiko’s legacy was the Shiranui household preserving him for so long, to the point where he most likely went mad from the perservation and isolation.IIihiko’s greatest failing is his failure to adapt, he didn’t change as Ajimu eventually did in trying to grow up and be one of the students of Sandbox Academy. It’s even referenced in Ajimu’s death, the reason she was able to stand up to him is because she had changed finally from the person who just continually ran away from him. He’s disappointed when Medaka doesn’t act like a girl from his era, a hero who exists only to fight. However, this was the point of the Medaka’s successor arc, that Medaka at one point just wanted to stay the same living to help people forever and she too needed to change just as well.  Both Medaka and Ajimu have reached the growth that Iihiko hasn’t. 

Medaka even references the feelings she had in the election arc when discussing this with her mother. That she felt she was doing the absolute right thing in continually forcing herself and others to be saved and to get better, but in the end she was rejected by the same people she wanted to save.

Medaka’s ultimate resolution is the opposite of Iihiko’s mindset that he’s stuck in, that people just give him a reason to fight and exist for his sake to give him reason. Medaka finally comes to term with her love of people and realize that she can love them for what they are, not particularly what they give her, or what reason they give her. 

Which is also what completely baffles Iihiko in the end who is still using his old standards of heroics to see the world. He thinks he gave her the most honorable death possible, and doesn’t understand why she’s fighting, because she’s fighting out of pure affection not just wanting to win and have a reason to fight.

Then, in his monologue we see the similiarities between him and Ajimu. They’re both completely out of touch with their humanity because of how distant they are, because they have nothing. A person who has nothing to fight for, nobody to interact with, will no longer become human. That’s what Iihiko fears, that’s what he sees Ajimu as. Somebody who is above everything and has nothing tethering them to this world, ironically though Ajimu has become the opposite of that while Iihiko has become exactly that, somebody only fighting for its sake and not because he has anything to protect. He even, purpsoefully targets Medaka’s things to protect and tries to destroy them so she’ll become more like him. He just doesn’t understand living without something to fight for, so he desperately keeps fighting the way Medaka did all the way back in the Medaka’s Succesors arc but he has no friends or anything to correct him or hold him back. Thus, he becomes the most inhuman monster in the series. 

[cc-hatredisland]

{.Healing Takes Time.}

First was the hand on my arm. Second was something vaguely on my back. At least, I thought it was, I turned around, too tired to be fierce about it and thanked my lucky stars I hadn’t been. Looking a little pale and somehow smaller than usual, Buki stood in front of me, with a quilt over her shoulders, her hat missing. It somehow seemed surreal to see her without it.

I took the opportunity to check my back and sure enough, she’d... huh. Some things never changed, huh? I took the charm off and I stared hard at it before I met her eyes.

“I'm still not ghost-free, huh?“

“Not ghosts, Shimizu-dono, but an ominous presence nonetheless. You are very clearly possessed by something. I cannot fathom what made you extend a hand to me, a cursed being. A moment of madness? It is a strange affair. Besides...“

“I fear that your kindness will lead to misfortune. Particularly if you tangle with me. I must ask you take care and keep a good distance.“

To be honest, I was surprised she was out and about. I got the impression Kumatani was the type to fret over someone more and she didn’t look a 100% to me.

“You should go back and rest. You look like shit.”

“W-why I never! I am as upright as a daisy! You would gainsay this?”

I still need a thesaurus when speaking to her. Even when she’s not feeling well. Ahh, my head hurts.

“How come Kumatani let you come out?”

Speaking about him like that made him kinda seem like a mom. I didn’t realize that until the words left my mouth. Buki wrung her hands together as she considered her answer.

“... True. He also bestowed upon me terrible kindness. Such eyes burned right into my flesh! Because it has been me and Panayomogi-sama for so long... I felt threatened! But even if he forgets his manners, I do not. I owe you a debt and this gnawed at me. So, I made a plea to Kumatani-dono. A brief trip is all. He could count the minutes, should he like! But, to Shimizu-dono, I had to go.“

“... You didn’t have to, I mean. I’m not going anywhere.”

I hope I’m not, anyway.

“Perhaps not. But what if the world ended tomorrow? What if, by chance, I said your first name and allowed Panayomogi-sama access into your soul? You would perish! And the chance would pass. Dramatic, I know, but this is why I had to rush to your side.“

So, wait... if she uses my first name I’ll be cursed too? Is that part of the Panayomogi mythos or something? I still don’t get everything about Buki or her weird dark god but... I guess at least certain pieces are coming together? In any case, I should try and bear in mind what I can for the future.

“Well. I’m here. I’m hoping that doesn’t change.“

“I also...”

The words tumbled out of her mouth quickly before she put an end to them with a shake of her head.

“Three souls lost is already too many... but while we remain on this dark ground... I fear for the future. Furthermore, I have brought Panayomogi-sama here. That was careless of me...“

“You say that, but you must’ve lived with people you cared about before. I mean... you can’t just act like this is your fault. You didn’t tell people to kill each other, right?“

“No! No, no, I wouldn’t! Perish the thought!“

“Then it’s fine, right? Trust me, you didn’t make this happen or anything.“

She stands there, silent for a few seconds before whipping out another charm and sticking it directly on my face. I really should begin to see this coming. How many of those does she have, anyway...?

“You truly are very cursed, Shimizu-dono. I implore you to keep that to yourself! You stay for my ceremony and hear me out... you do not turn your head away when I am weak and disgusting... and now this? To ignore Panayomogi-sama but pay me mind... it’s dangerous! It’s a buffoon’s gambit.“

Was I really being that kind to her? I kinda thought my actions were pretty normal. But maybe normal things felt special to people who hadn’t ever had them.

“I’m not cursed, I’m normal. And I’m not afraid of some curse, hell, I have enough things to be worried about without a dark god entering the picture.“

“Which is why! You need to watch your sweet talking!”

“... I’m sorry, sweet talking?”

“You know what it is! I won’t hear it! If I am not careful, I will cost you your life. If you value that, keep your distance. And... and I, too, will try to meditate to calm myself.”

Why was she so sure she’d be responsible for hurting me? Like Mikiro and what he’d said, I had to assume something big had happened to her.

“Look, I know you’re afraid. But getting along just makes sense. If we work together, we’ll get out of this easier.”

“I do not know whether... you can trust me or not. Can you say for sure I’d speed up your plans of escape? There is a very good chance I would hinder them.”

“Because you’re cursed. Right?”

She gives me a slow nod.

“I don’t expect you to take my word for it. So it’s enough if you keep your distance.”

That didn’t strike me as right. Buki hadn’t really done anything wrong yet. Rather than judge people on what I heard, I’d always just judged them on what I saw. And yeah, she was kinda out there but she wasn’t a bad person. No one to avoid, anyway. And if I was tolerating people like Shiratori, there was no reason not to tolerate her, too. Everything about her came from some really dark unknown place. Like... everything about her would just make sense if I knew a little more about her.

“When you collapsed... Kumatani said you were under a lot of stress. At the time I figured he was just being Captain Obvious but... he said, even before all this shit happened, you were under pressure. That’s why your body rejected the food. So is it really okay for you to be out here? I don’t know much about it but... you should probably rest up.“

“...“

She searched her person for something until she found... oh come on, is that another charm? I took on a defensive stance but she didn’t seem to have any intention of hitting me with it.

“Open your hands, Shimizu-dono.”

I kinda felt like I was being pranked but it also kinda felt like a jerk move to just leave a sick girl hanging like that so I did as she requested. She put the charm gently in my hands and then pressed her hands together, as if in prayer.

“That’s a protection charm. Panayomogi-sama targets those close to me. He is able to infect people with his darkness should I allow him to. If I break my rules. Those people will be driven mad by misfortune. I cannot... protect people from him when he like that. But I can do this much. Your ‘worry’ I believe is routine behaviour... so I understand this is the right thing to do. Normally people give up, though. I worry you will not. This ‘stress’, as you name it, is... mine to bear. And it would not change, whether this happened or not. So put it out of your mind. Worry not, I will recover and... for your discretion, I am grateful.“

She bows her head and then trots back indoors. Her steps seem a little shaky at times but she seems to be fine enough. I looked at the charm she’d given me and decide to pocket it. I’d thrown all the others away, I mean, they were slapped onto me and I was annoyed. But this one felt like more of a gift.

At this time the sun was going down and the whole outside coated in a kinda orange glow. I sat down and took in the sun for a bit.

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