sleeping

redraw of one of the first pieces i posted for Ship in a Bottle now that i have some experience constructing more impactful compositions! and using brushes. and proportions. and drawing in general.

also closeup:

Cause if he was talking about kindness as a whole it would make no sense. We already stablished by multiple characters that he is kind:

Hell, just in this chapter alone Akane felt bad for leaving his duties to Nene despite knowing he had no choice.

It was not his fault, no one can blame him for how bad everything got, but he still felt responsable for her pain, apologising for it:

Akane was the one who made a deal after all, Nene had no obligation to fix this.

He is very mindfull of Nene this entire chapter.

His last timeline involved leaving Aoi to die, and we all know, he both deeply value aoi and has trauma of it, nearly losing Aoi during the clock keeper contract and the severance.

The reason he sent her to the past right away is because from the start, he was in a hurry.

But he prioritized Nene distress, he understands that she wouldn't be able to do the mission like that, so he gave her a boost.

This is not a 'you impressed me recently, I gotta let you know' moment, is an attempt to cheer her up. Nene even comments that Akane praising her is weird af

Because it is.

As Akane mentioned: This is a pep talk.

I am sure that Akane and Nene have gotten closer over time, but I cannot believe Akane respect for Nene has gotten much higher. Cause while he had seen more of her strenghts recently, her fatal flaws are still the same.

Things he talked about are still aplicable:

Nene did grow a lot from the 'simp' of the start of the manga, she won't be swayed by every handsome guy she sees anymore! But that was never what Akane considered her fatal flaw: Her behavior with Hanako specifically was what bothered him.

The arc where Nene should have changed this attitude, at least a little, the one where Akane believed she would change, even teaming up with her...

Did nothing.

Nene did not change. Even the manga acknowladge she is making the same mistakes she used to make in the very start of this story.

Nene refused to face reality so she can live in a fantasy world where romance reigns supreme. She sidelined both Aoi rescue and keeping Hanako acountable for the sake of a love confession.

Yes, he was angry at hanako, she hit him, but she spend more time treating the situation as he would the confession tree chapter, a silly slice of life romance, over every other major issue happening.

No matter the situation, Hanako is always what she priotize above all else. She is still doing what Akane hates. Excusing all of his action regardless of who he hurt, prioritize Hanako about it all regardless of the situation, just as she had been doing from the start:

Even thought Hanako is not in the new arc, we know she haven't changed. Nene is still only getting strenght when thinking about hanako: not aoi, or teru, or so on. Hanako.

And Akane know she did not change, he even use Hanako to hype her up despite his own dislike for the ghost:

When mentioning Hanako gives Nene her determination back he put on the exact same fake as hell smile that he had used when Nene first defended Hanako to his face:

Akane cares about her, though, he never wanted her to be in pain because she likes hanako. Look at how stressed he is trying to make sure she isn't seen as guilty in court:

Sure he get dissapointed af she is focusing on romance and confessions even in such a dire situation:

But saying he doesn't look up to her and have some issues with her does NOT mean he hates her, he did genuinely grow to appreciate her attitude on life. He is kind, he want the best for her:

It's sweet that he is happy to see her gain her optimism back

This is a real smile.

bonus: