drawing with haru

During this scene, I had expected Tenn to say something more general or generic like “You could have gotten hurt” or “That was so dangerous. Why did you take such a risk?”. Or at most on a personal level (because how serious the situation looked), “Don’t know you know how worried you made me?”

But here, he specifically mentions the concerns from the perspective of their parents.

One reason may be because of what happened at the end of Second Beat (when IDOLiSH7 and TRIGGER try to confront imposter Zero)

(funny enough, this was also on episode 15. Well played, Troyca)

If Tenn feels like his scoldings don’t have the same effect on Riku because they’re “no longer family”, then it makes sense why he’d tried to appeal to Riku’s concern for their parents instead of something more general or personal coming from Tenn (which if that is really the case, then wow. Props to Tenn for thinking about that on the spot, despite the situation he was in).

Another reason (and far more heavily into speculation territory. Please take it with a grain of salt):

I don’t think Tenn mentioned only their parents as a way to deliberately mask his own concern for Riku like he normally does in past seasons. He, the professional among professionals, damaged an idol’s face. He’s definitely not thinking straight and probably acting on the spur of the moment, unless he really collected himself half a second later.

Compared to how Tenn normally is, there is something almost raw and unrestrained with the way he said that line to Riku. It was kind of like he was drawing from a distant memory or imagining something worse was about to play out during the earlier confrontation.

I don’t think has to be from a single specific incident from the past per say (though it could be). It could be several situations growing up where there were close calls with Riku’s health, and then he overheard their parents’ conversations afterwards. If those sorts of memories had been accumulating for Tenn for many years (especially at his age), it may be possible it became a deep-seeded fear for him that he hasn’t gotten completely over. So when he saw Riku having an attack (which is the first time he’s seen in person in a long time since childhood) in what looked to be dire, helpless circumstances, those old memories and fears may have been brought up.

Ultimately, I don’t really know what was the exact conditions regarding Tenn’s deal with Kujo, if providing relief to his parents was part of it, or how Tenn really felt about his situation (other than that one vague comment in Second Beat). But to see all what you build up and sacrificed for to protect only for it to come crashing down in this one life-or-death situation, for something Tenn may view himself responsible for (getting kidnapped and not being able to escape), its not unlikely that those old memories about Riku and his parents were on his mind, even subconsciously. Him thinking of those memories and fears being about to play out maybe be why Tenn says that more oddly situation-specific line to Riku.