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They’re both popular dream boys at Kamome. Unlike characters like Aoi, they both appreciate and encourage this attention. Teru is often compared to a prince, and Natsuhiko’s hair makes a little crown on the top of his head. They both disguise their core personalities; Natsuhiko by acting harmless and dumb while actually being very threatening; and Teru by acting charming and perfect while actually being far more complex. There are a few more layers to Teru’s facade, yes he does it to hide his ruthless side like Natsuhiko but I think it goes even deeper with him, deep down he’s just a teenager forced into a heavy role. I wouldn’t call his sadistic side an act (just like Natsuhiko’s laidback personality isn’t fully an act, it’s still part of him), but at the end of the day I think he’s most himself when he’s teasing Akane and doting on his siblings. It’s not as clear cut as Aoi and Mitsuba where they have very distinct fake personalities, but Teru and Natsuhiko definitely play up elements of themselves in order to hide the things they don’t want others to see. They do this most notably by stepping into the role of the flirty, reliable upperclassmen

They both hold the ability to destroy supernaturals, and their respective groups rely on them to be the ones to get the job done. Teru is the protector, Natsuhiko is the destroyer. Sakura sends Natsuhiko in when she needs somebody killed, Akane enlists Teru’s help when somebody needs to be saved. They both act very parental/brotherly towards their younger counterparts. Obviously Teru acts like a loving but strict older brother to Kou, and Natsuhiko goes out of his way to make Mitsuba feel welcomed. I would say he also cares about Tsukasa to an extent, though he acts a bit annoyed with him at times. That would be another similarity between Teru and Natsuhiko, they both have issues with one of the Yugi twins

Now, what canon interactions do they have? Very few, but they have met off-screen. I couldn’t find the panels but in one of the earliest chapters, Natsuhiko says something to Sakura expressing concern about what “President Minamoto” would do if he knew about their actions. Then when he meets Kou during the sleepover chapter, he notes that he’s a lot more gullible than “his brother.” Both of these scenarios point towards Teru and Natsuhiko having some sort of relation to each other, though the extent to which it goes remains unknown. I will say that it reminds me of how Teru and Akane’s dynamic was introduced before we saw them interact, Akane seemed irritated with Teru’s existence and acted surprised when he realized how different Kou is compared to him. Little mentions of them knowing each other before AidaIro established a proper dynamic for them. The same could very well happen with Natsuteru, I’m confident we’ll see them interact at some point seeing as they’re both important to the plot

They also interact in AUs frequently. In the Minamoto Supernatural Detective Agency au, upon interviewing Natsuhiko, Teru calls him a freak. This is amusing to me, usually Teru is the one unsettling people. He expresses disdain for others often, but only supernaturals. So him being disturbed by Natsuhiko stands out to me. A common belief/headcanon among Natsuteru shippers is that Natsuhiko is able to pull emotions out of Teru in a way others aren’t. Similar to how Teru is able to put Natsuhiko on edge in a way most people don’t. By the way this is absolutely a “toxic yaoi” ship, we gotta get that out of the way. There are other ways to characterize them ofc since we don’t know much about their dynamic but most Natsuteru shippers agree on them being messy as hell

As for other interactions in AUs, in the Hanako-Kun Of The Opera AU, Natsuhiko mentioned that he talked to Teru off-screen. They were also depicted together in official art for the au (in the background). And in art for the Ghost Hotel AU you can kind of see them looking at each other. So yeah, there’s not a whole lot but the crumbs are most certainly there. The thing with Natsuteru is you just have to take what we’re given and run with it

Then there’s this scene, which is the most interesting of all. This is the closest we’ve come to an onscreen Natsuteru interaction. This scene is famous among Natsuteru shippers because it gives us more insight into what might happen if these two were to interact. Because in this scene, Natsuhiko outsmarted Teru. This is something we pretty much never see, even when Akane betrayed him he has to catch him off guard. Teru is always depicted as the strongest and most intelligent person in the room, unmovable. And yet, in this scene, Natsuhiko got the upper hand so easily. He knew that Teru wouldn’t be able to turn away his fans, that his protectiveness of humans outweighs his bloodlust for supernaturals. He used Teru’s caring side against him, and succeeded in saving Mitsuba

This is where the toxicity comes in. A lot of Natsuteru fans see Natsuhiko as being the more manipulative one in the relationship, whereas Teru is toxic in more physically aggressive ways (like he is with Akane). Full disclaimer tho, this is usually depicted as them fighting mutually or Natsuhiko encouraging Teru to kick his ass bcuz he’s a simp. I personally like to headcanon that they meet up to fight once a week and Teru wins every time. While most Teru ships center around him being taken care of, Natsuteru provides more conflict for him. Natsuhiko isn’t the type of person he could leave behind his life of exorcism with, and he’s not the type of boyfriend to hold him while he cries. To me this makes the ship stand out among other Teru pairings. I do think they’d genuinely care about each other, they’re just very messed up in their own ways so they hurt each other instead of healing each other

But that’s just the popular depiction, they could absolutely be written differently. Some people like more fluff in their ships and that’s totally valid. I’m focusing on the toxic element here because that’s why most people seem to like Natsuteru. On the flip side tho, a lot of fans like them because they’re silly. In fact this somehow goes hand-in-hand with the toxicity. They’re often made out to fit the “loser and his pretty wife” trope, with Natsuhiko being the loser ofc. Teru is a bit prettier and stronger and cooler than Natsuhiko so they have lots of girlboss x malewife potential (a trope I usually hate but I don’t mind it as much with them). It’s very tropey, Natsuhiko is characterized as the dumbass simp and Teru is the one who pretends to hate him but is secretly down bad. Lots of meme potential

I hope this helped you understand the ship a bit better, I wouldn’t call them one of my absolute favorites but I do love them a lot. I tend to write them as transfem butch lesbian ex-girlfriends because that makes the toxic side a bit more interesting to me lol. I would promote my 25k fic for them called “Racing on the Thunder” on ao3 but that would be obnoxious (leave kudos and comments and don’t forget to hit that subscribe button)

AoiAoi

• Out of every couple these two are the most likely to get married and have kids

• They would have an insane amount of kids. Like they’d be on the news for how many kids they have. Poor Aoi

• Buuuut she’s just as eager to have a house full of kids as Akane is. She gives them flower names and they probably have at least one Harry Potter ass kid who’s named smth like “Teru Nene Aoi.” She doesn’t have to be as strict with them bcuz Akane takes over most of the parenting, trust tho she’s still very involved in her kids’ lives. She probably has a binder to keep track of what’s going on with each of them

• I mentioned before that I see Aoi becoming a florist in the future, I see Akane becoming a therapist. He uses a bunch of psychology tricks to parent their kids, but he has a habit of using too many technical terms when he gives advice. “No honey, you just need to develop an internal locus of control.” The kids and Aoi are both very tired of it. He would absolutely love being a dad tho and be the biggest family guy ever

• They have a sign on their front porch that says smth like “Home of Aoi Aoi Aoi Aoi Aoi Aoi Aoi Aoi Aoi Aoi Aoi Aoi Aoi Aoi & Aoi❤️”

• Their home life is very chaotic and stressful at times but it’s built on so much love and dedication. Akane and Aoi are both living their dream lives (likely with a lot of nannies) (or with Akane quitting his job to be a househusband after him and Aoi rock-paper-scissored over who got to do it) (Aoi didn’t speak to him for a week after he won)

Natsuteru

• Oh wow it is hard for me to imagine them as parents

• I say they would have two sons (I’m loosely basing this off a series one of my moots @/teru.kisser made on TikTok)

• No matter who he’s with, Teru is gonna be a helicopter. His parental instincts come before anything else in his life so he fully dedicates himself to the kids. He either has some cool ass job like a private investigator or he’s a stay at home dad, no in between (no he’s not an exorcist in this I’m letting him be happy). He dotes on the kids all the time but can be overly strict in order to keep them safe

• Natsuhiko tries to be the fun dad but he’s so aloof that the kids don’t know much about him. Some kind of super secretive job. His and Teru’s parenting styles tend to conflict so they essentially parent separately. They argue a lot bcuz of their differences but they manage to make it work because both of them are deeply in love with each other. Their kids frequently question how they ended up together

• They take the boys to amusement parks a lot

• While the household can be a bit tense and they could definitely use some family counseling, they all love each other a lot. None of them know how to express it bcuz they’re all so secretive in their own ways but they care about each other more than anything. It’s a weird life but a charming one

Kounene

• Old married couple Kounene save me…old married couple Kounene…save me old married couple Kounene

• Two sons and a daughter. That’s the vibe I’m getting

• Kou has some deep-seated issues he’s unwilling to address but he makes up for it by loving his wife and kids Gomez Addams style. Mans is fully devoted to his family and he makes sure to tell them that every day. I might let him go the exorcist route bcuz I want to see him suffer a lot little. He’s there at every sports game his kids have yelling at the ref. He makes Nene breakfast in bed every morning. One thing abt Kou is he’s gonna spoil the ppl he loves

• Writer!Nene is still a thing in this universe, she has her own trauma and writes to make sense of it. She’s a bit better with the kids because when they need her help, she focuses more on understanding why they’re upset as opposed to Kou who solely focuses on solving all their problems. She has a hard time keeping up with all their extracurricular activities but she supports them nonetheless

• All of Kou and Nene’s friends admire them for being high school sweethearts

• They’re a stereotypical sitcom family. Corny life lessons at the end of each day. The kids get into shenanigans. They probably have a dog too, a golden retriever. It’s a whole bit

Single Dad Lemon

• I love this one, we need more single parent rep

• I’m gonna say he has a son

• I really want to go with some tropey story of how he was living a rough lifestyle and found a troubled kid that he had to look out for and eventually he had to fix up his life to adopt the kid bcuz they changed each other’s lives but would that be too corny?? Maybe he just up and decided he wanted to be a dad someday. Maybe his baby mama left him. You decide

• He would be one of those dads that acts like an older brother at times but in a good way. Instead of rising to his rebellious son’s bait, he meets him halfway, confronting him abt his bs without putting up with it. One of those parents you can swear around but he will throw in a half-hearted “Language.” It’s rocky at first but they end up super close, a rare instance of finding a parent who is genuinely your best friend

• Their house is a mess but it’s a home <3 Similar to the Kounene family they’d probably have a sitcom type lifestyle, the Boy Meets World to Kounene’s Full House. The kid throws a party while Lemon is a way and they have to have a heart-to-heart about it. Cue the tears