ai ♡ kou!

♡ misayume.straw.page

— rentry.co/kouminamoto

- rentry.co/kouadashino

— rentry.co/mtsk-nation

about me: i’m asian-american (filo & viet), go by they/she, and a minor!

i am extremely hyperfocused on chiba shoya, kou minamoto, mitsuba sousuke, and mitsuba (no. 3). i love to talk about them, whether it be as their own characters or as mitsukou, soukou, or even mitsukousuke!! (not mitsucest) ☆（ゝω・）v

my other major interests are alien stage, omori, project sekai, hirano and kagiura, and various other bls.

socials:

aikouify on twt

mitsukousukee on tiktok

kkoucaine on instagram

stream brightness by chibasho ♡

Kou, while he may not be the best at fighting or the strongest, has great survival instincts. He has a fast reaction speed, strong situational awareness, and (while sometimes caught off-guard) is constantly on-guard. We see this various times throughout the manga, going as far back as to when he was introduced. For example, we can see Kou jump back quickly as Hanako brings his knife to Kou’s neck. Immediately after, Kou brings his staff in front of him as a means of defense. He does this often throughout the series, so it is most likely a habit he developed from training. Even while his raiteijou is being held by Hanako, Kou is still able to evade the attacks.

A more recent example of his survival instincts would be chapter 98, in which Kou senses the supernatural approaching him and Mitsuba and reacts quickly by swiftly grabbing Mitsuba, then jumping back with him. He again puts his raiteijou in front of the two of them to act as a barrier and as a means of protection from the supernatural.

Kou’s relationship with Mitsuba offers a window for us to see a a side of Kou that we don’t usually get to see, as well as someone that helps us to hear his internal conflicts. Kou, who tends to keep his feelings to himself, bawls his eyes out in front of Mitsuba and ever so slightly opens up.

However, Kou wasn't always this vulnerable with Mitsuba. In fact, Mitsuba himself was no exception to this guarded behavior. In chapter 47, we yet again see Kou jump back and put his staff in front of him to defend himself as soon as Mitsuba transforms into his school wonder form, even though Mitsuba assures Kou he isn’t going to hurt him.

At this point in the story, Kou is under the impression that Tsukasa is forcing Mitsuba to do something that he doesn’t want to do, so he is on-guard as he would be with any other person capable of harming people or worthy of suspicion.

However, when Mitsuba reveals that he agreed to this fake world on his own accord, reveals his self-awareness when it comes to the impossibility of his wish, and allows himself to be open with Kou, Kou seems to let down his guard with Mitsuba.

Despite keeping his distance moments before, Kou allows Mitsuba to get close to him, their faces being only inches apart. Part of this is because Mitsuba reopened a wound of Kou's by showing a memory of Sousuke, but another part of it is that Kou feels bad for mitsuba, who feels like this fake happiness is all he can have.

Kou tells Mitsuba that he’ll help him find happiness in the real world, to which Mitsuba replies with anger. Kou has always been human. He’s the complete opposite of Mitsuba, who was born as a supernatural. Kou will never understand how Mitsuba feels, they are two worlds apart.

Following this interaction, Kou begins to be vulnerable with Mitsuba. He wants to understand Mitsuba, and he is willing to die in order to do so. He entirely abandons any logical thinking and acts on his emotions. Mitsuba is the only thing on his mind; not anyone or anything else, Mitsuba.

Vulnerability by definition is "the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.” By jumping off the building, Kou puts Mitsuba and the chance to understand him fully above his own life, exposing himself to the possibility of being harmed, as per the definition.

Kou jumping off the building not only displays his selflessness and dedication to understanding mitsuba, but also a selfish side of him. He jumps without any regard to how Mitsuba, or even his own siblings, would feel. It also displays his emotional commitment to Mitsuba. From this moment on, Mitsuba has become someone that Kou deems a priority. He has found his way into Kou’s heart. This in itself is vulnerability, as Kou’s promise to help Mitsuba become human and to stay with him forever has turned Mitsuba into someone important to Kou, someone capable of hurting him, both emotionally and physically as we come to find out in later chapters.

Another example of Kou’s vulnerability when it comes to Mitsuba is chapter 77, the Red House arc. The Red House contains a supernatural entity that has the ability to grant a wish in exchange for life, and Kou finds himself face to face with the red house’s manifestation of Mitsuba.

Kou claims that he’ll ignore whatever the Red House throws at him, which includes this manifestation of Mitsuba. However, he treats this manifestation as if it really were Mitsuba, and Kou is unable to fully ignore it. When it holds him back from leaving, he replies and doesn’t try to pull away.

When it tells Kou to die and become a supernatural so that they can be together forever, Kou stands still. He stares at the manifestation and allows for it to reach out to him, nearly touching his face before it says "I trust you to keep your promise." He then slaps its hand away, claiming "Mitsuba would never trust someone like him.”

This is a prime example of Kou’s vulnerability with Mitsuba. For someone who’s constantly on-guard, Kou allows this manifestation to get close to him. He lets his guard down because it takes on Mitsuba’s appearance and he goes against what he knows: that this isn’t actually Mitsuba. He knows that this is just a manifestation made by the Red House to trap him, yet he still finds himself being affected emotionally. He’s unable to shut off the part of him that cares for Mitsuba, so he lets the manifestation close to him and fails to look away. If it weren’t for that one statement, Kou might have been fooled.

Kou’s vulnerability with Mitsuba can also be seen all throughout the Night Life arc, starting at the very beginning. Kou jumps at the slightest rustle of a bush, yet he is caught off-guard by Mitsuba yet again. We know that Kou has a keen sense of hearing (see chapter 65, when Kou hears a noise just before Natsuhiko screams) and is also aware of his surroundings a good amount of the time, yet he is caught off-guard by Mitsuba, who gets close enough to cling onto him. While Mitsuba could have just been moving silently, this moment still accurately depicts how easily Kou’s usual guarded behavior is constantly disrupted by Mitsuba; It depicts his vulnerability with Mitsuba. He has let Mitsuba get in his bubble enough to affect him this way. Mitsuba has once again found a way to get past the walls Kou has put up.

Chapter 99 is when Kou is most vulnerable with Mitsuba. when Mitsuba tells Kou about his situation, Kou is immediately upset at the fact Mitsuba invited him out just to ask Kou to exorcise him. He then angrily exorcises a supernatural, providing a heart for Mitsuba to eat.

Mitsuba refuses to eat it, which just angers Kou even more. Despite mitsuba refusing to eat, Kou persists. As Kou tries to get force Mitsuba to eat the heart, we see him upset, we see him frustrated, we see him being aggressive, all in a desperate act to fix Mitsuba's body. It’s an act full of pure fear and panic. He doesn’t want to lose Mitsuba again, so he desperately tries to prevent it from happening, though he does it violently. He isn’t acting rationally and his emotions are getting the best of him, which is a form of vulnerability.

Alongside that, Kou refuses to exorcise Mitsuba, even saying "Don't you dare..." to the supernatural, which is presumably an unfinished "Don't you dare say that." He is unable to fathom the thought of doing that to Mitsuba. By refusing to exorcise Mitsuba, Kou is unknowingly and selfishly indulging in his own desire to stay with Mitsuba forever, even though Mitsuba has given up on his supernatural life. Through his emotions, we see that Kou is exposed to emotional hurt from Mitsuba, another form of vulnerability.

As this moment of desperation for Kou continues on, we can see him crack. The emotions and side of him that usually tends to stay hidden are revealed: we see his fear of losing Mitsuba, his emotional attachment to him, and his weakness towards the supernatural.

Chapter 99 is also the first time we see tears actually fall from Kou’s eyes rather than just seeing his eyes water up (see chapter 10 & chapter 74) or him crying into his pillow (see chapter 20). His tears show raw emotion, emotion that he’s not holding back like usual. Kou is unguarded, he is showing Mitsuba how much he truly cares about him. He non-verbally tells Mitsuba that he does not want to lose him. Not only does he offer Mitsuba the supernatural heart, but he offers his own to Mitsuba as well.

Early on in the manga, Kou had mostly been depicted as cheerful, dedicated, and selfless, with a desire to make everyone happy, even if he’s not expected to. Yet in chapter 99, he yells, he cries, he’s stubborn, he’s violent, he’s selfish, and he's vulnerable. This is by far the most emotionally vulnerable we have seen Kou be.

Prior to this arc, Kou had been known to tend to keep his emotions and thoughts, especially regarding Mitsuba, to himself. However, Kou continues to cry in front of Mitsuba, not attempting to hold his tears back. Kou’s tendency to ball up and cover his face to hide his tears is revealed in this moment, and while he doesn’t break the habit, he does allow himself to be comforted by Mitsuba and expresses how he feels, slightly opening up to Mitsuba.

Mitsuba jokes that Kou would be lonely without him, to which kou denies. Though, his tears say otherwise. By admitting he would be lonely without Mitsuba would be admitting his emotional dependence on him, to admit that he would be left with pain he wouldn’t know how to deal with. Yet by trying to hold back, he ends up being more emotionally exposed and vulnerable. His tears tell Mitsuba everything he needs to know, and vulnerability is in the words that Kou isn’t able to say. Though, Kou himself may not fully understand this yet; He might not know why it is that he wouldn’t be able to handle Mitsuba being gone or why he would be sad with him gone, which makes him even more vulnerable. Kou fails to hide how much he truly cares about Mitsuba, and his failure to suppress the truth makes him vulnerable, it makes the moment intimate and real.

In a promotional art for volume 20, we see Kou leaning into Mitsuba as Mitsuba comforts him. Here, Kou stops trying to be strong and allows himself to be weak with Mitsuba. Kou, who tends to keep his feelings to himself, allows himself to be cared for and comforted by Mitsuba instead of holding back. He doesn’t try to pretend like he’s okay, he feels his emotions rather than suppressing them, and he allows Mitsuba to see him in this state. He lets Mitsuba hold and comfort him, showing that he trusts Mitsuba enough to see him in such a fragile state even for just a moment. Kou allows Mitsuba to see how much he truly cares for him, even if he doesn’t verbalize it. In the end, Kou is most vulnerable with Mitsuba.