whatās your opinion on koko x inui ship ? (sorry if this was asked before)
I think theyāre kind of likely to become canon, to be honest.
I donāt think theyāre toxic to each other, but their own individual hangups are harmful to themselves, because they wonāt talk about it. It seems like they both hurt each other unintentionally by trying to do what they think they should for the other person. Making themselves miserable, because of a misunderstanding and trying to protect the other person, when they didnāt need to protecting, they needed communication.
Speaking of misunderstandings between them, kiramoran13 posted this recently and it made me š
Iām sure other people besides me have probably pointed this out already (I donāt pay attention to discourse around this ship), so forgive me if Iām being redundant at all in talking about Inupiās hair:Ā
It seems like Inupi goes out of his way to not remind Koko of Akane with the way he looks.Ā
Whenever they stay together, Inupi looks a lot more āmasculineā. He cuts his hair short and wears it in a more masculine style that a girl wouldnāt necessarily be likely to wear.
In all the future timelines they stay together in, he has close cropped hair and is very āmasculineā looking, as much as a character like Pah-chin or Taiju is. Like, I wouldnāt describe Inupi here as pretty, or attractive, or good looking. Heās handsome.Ā
And then compare that to Inupi without Koko.
When heās on his own, without Koko, he presents more āfemininelyā, heās quite pretty even instead of handsome. He even opens his eyes more, and doesnāt try to look so tough all the time. At Pah-chinās wedding, heās wearing a suit like he did in the Toman execs meeting, but heās not holding himself in the same way he used to, puffing himself up, so heās just a man in a suit instead of a *manly man tough man* in a suit.
When he got out of reform school, where he was separated from Koko, he had long hair, but when they see each other again, heās still puffing himself up and putting on a face for Koko. And the next time we see them after that, heās cut his hair short.Ā
Thatās not a big deal, everyone changes their style up. But in the Bonten timeline, where he and Koko have parted ways, his hair is long again. In the current 2008 timeline, heās also growing his hair out (his head was shaved down to the scalp, so his hair couldnāt really be any longer in a year and a half, because he would have to keep cutting the longer layers, or it would look ridiculous).Ā
Kind of makes me think thatās how Inupi prefers to look, but heās been forcing himself to look as masculine as possible (not that any hair length is inherently masculine or feminine) because he thinks Koko couldnāt stand to be around him if he resembles his sister in any way.
Even when Koko rescues him, half of his eyelashes look like Akaneās, Inupi isnāt usually shown with long eyelashes like that. Noticeably, heās saying heās notĀ his sister here. I kind of wonder if Inupi cuts his eyelashes to look less pretty when heās around Koko. His eyelashes are long when the library kiss happens, but thatās right after he gets out of reform school, before he cuts his hair.Ā
Maybe the kiss is why he started trying to look as masculine as he possibly can.
Kokoās obsession with making money is interesting too. Because I think (?) itās implied Koko comes from a decently well off family. The Shibaās are well off, it seems like Taiju went to a private school from the uniforms, and Koko went to the same school as him. It also seems like his earring is gold, a thick gold rope earring like that would not be cheap. So why does he need to still make money? Iāve seen it theorised (I donāt remember by whom, sorry!) that itās just become a compulsion for him and that definitely makes sense, him just needing to make money as a coping mechanism.
However, I also kind of wonder if heās still compulsively making as much money as he can for Inupi. Or at least for the Inui family.
Inupi tells him that his parents (who are alive) still had so much to pay off on their house, in addition to the cost of Akaneās medical treatment. So what if heās obsessed with making money because itās all for Inupi?Ā
In the library scene, Inupi says that Koko should go home because heās not like Inupi. I didnāt really get what that meant upon initial reading, but does Inupi hang out at the library because he doesnāt have a home to go back to? Or perhaps his housing situation is precarious and he can only go back to wherever he/his parents are staying at a certain time, so he stays out all day. I donāt know the state of affairs for temporary housing/homeless shelters in Japan, and Iām not invested enough to look it up, but I think that would make sense that he sleeps there, if he doesnāt have anywhere to go home to until a certain time.
I also wonder if thatās why Inupi joined the Black Dragons in the first place, to make money and help out his parents and Akane (before she passed). When Izana ran the Black Dragons, they did deal in a lot of illegal stuff that would have made them a lot more money than legitimate work would. Of course, we know Inupi admired Shinichiro and would likely want to be involved in anything to do with him, but making money could have also been an incentivizing factor. After all, Koko got sucked in to the Black Dragons 8th generation too, because Izana wanted his financial skills.
Like, what if Koko is saving up money to buy them a new house, or pay off their debts, now that Akane is dead and he canāt pay for her treatment? Or maybe not that, but I have the feeling that Koko is definitely doing something with that money for Inupiās sake.Ā
Even if they donāt become canon romantically (but I mean thereās a veryĀ good chance they will) and stay as like, queerplatonic friends, I think their dynamic is very interesting. Theyāre so preoccupied with protecting each other that they donāt take time to think of themselves. Koko keeps getting dragged into gang shit because he wants to protect Inupi. Inupi hides himself away so he doesnāt remind Koko of Akane, because he wants to protect him from heartbreak.Ā
But all they really have to do is talk to each other. Poor Koko has repeatedly told Inupi he forgot all about his promise, that he goes where Inupi goes, and Inupi is convinced that Koko has never, and will neverĀ move on from his dead sister. Even though everything about Kokoās actions during the conflict with Tenjiku screams:Ā āwhy are you so fucking stupid youāre lucky I love you so much holy shit why do I put up with you just listen to me for once Inupi, youāre so denseā
I really feel like thereās something else going on there that we donāt know about yet. Theyāre both very overprotective of each other, but Koko more so, he even tells Inupi heāll be able to protect him in Tenjiku. So I think thereās definitely something Koko knows about Inupi that we donāt. Their entire interaction during the Tenjiku conflict was really weird, like theyāre speaking in code and you canāt understand it until you have the right keyword.Ā
Anyway, back to that kiss:
ItāsĀ incredibly likely that Koko kissed him, because Akane told him that he should only kiss the person he likes, and he likes Inupi like that, so he does.Ā
Now, for why he cries and says Akaneās name afterwards? It could just be straightforward and he remembers that time with Akane in the library at that moment, as it was the last day he had with her.Ā
I have another idea of why he cried, involving Koko knowing more than the rest of us, but I might be way off, so Iāll keep that to myself for now lol. Heās probably just sad because he has feelings for his best friend and his first loveās younger brother, who looks like her, and that is really complicated.Ā