Trying to get my thoughts in order here... I'm still going back and forth on the "mainstory" in birdsquad, with how the vivids and bird dogs meet + the initial conflict between them, but right now I have held in my mind that Kohane and Akito have an explicitly Worse first impression of each other, and Akito really tears into her about a simple beginner's mistake she makes. I've mentioned previously that Akito and An pre-story have some baggage and it does lead to Akito being harsher with Kohane, which I promise to explain Later but this isn't about akian right now. I will just say part of him is jealous of Kohane for multifaceted reasons he has not consciously processed. But he's not going to admit that to anyone - least of all to himself - for like a year.

Anyway, Kohane assumes an orange hummingbird is a Rufous Hummingbird, when actually most orange hummingbirds in LA county are Allen's Hummingbirds bar a specific time of year (during which you can't easily distinguish them anyway). This is why allen's/rufous hummingbirds are an inside joke among vbs and An keeps setting their group chat background to pics of them. She's mocking Akito for his past transgressions, lol, and also comparing him to them (cute little orange bundles of pathetically temperamental anger). Kotaro Does exist in the birdsquad timeline (also a birder, all the vivid street NPCs are) but I've yet to figure out if he's involved here and how.

Akito is appropriately ashamed of that, since he's someone who would like to think he is welcoming to newcomers (like Ken, whom he idolizes) but clearly his conscious actions haven't reflected that and his impulses still get the better of him. But he's not much one for apologies words about feelings - anyway, it doesn't matter, because his actions were what they were, which is much more the kind of guy he is - so he's just trying to show up more and let his new actions lead where they may. Kohane generally wants to see the good in people, for better or for worse, and has accepted this second chance to grow to understand each other, though Akito does really intimidate her for a while.

As they grow into that, part of Akito winds up becoming a bit protective of Kohane, but he sees her potential and usually expresses that concern through pushing her to stand on her own rather than coddling her. He's someone who is hyperaware of how people around him are feeling (on account of a canon-typical home life) so he is also with some trepidation quietly observing An getting her Anxious Attachment Style all up on Kohane, and kind of vacillates between saying something or just staying out of it. Either way, Kohane eventually gets to see the soft and patient side of Akito that directs his admirable tenacity to the benefit of those he cares about - though he becomes flustered when it's called out plainly, so she usually spares him the embarrassment and just appreciates it in peace. Kohane has figured out that he's highly dependable, and she finds it comforting to have him as part of their group - frankly she thinks it's a bit silly that he's embarrassed about that, but whatever. A kind of formative memory/turning point in their relationship for her is a time when everyone else was busy and had to head off, but Akito stayed behind for hours on his own through dusk to help her find an only-moderately-rare bird he had already seen himself several times in the past.

Something that has emerged for me somewhat organically is the idea that Akito will often go to Kohane when he needs a sanity check on something, because he feels that she is his fellow Most Normal Person In The Group. Toya is the one he's most comfortable with and An is the one he's probably most similar to, but surely Kohane is the most grounded. She grew up in the normal world, just like he did - unlike Toya, and unlike An. This pans out for him about 50% of the time but sometimes she's letting a wasp share her ice cream with her ("wasps are very clean actually! and we're taking turns!") and it's like, oh okay never mind, she's the weirdest of all of them, huh (<- guy who is still denying that he is Also Weird. all birders are weird). Akito is still getting to know Kohane, and as she gets more comfortable around him she is pretty good at catching him off guard with her unexpected moments of boldness to sometimes comedic effect.

A last random aspect I will comment on is that they both have specific dietary concerns - birdsquad Kohane is t1 diabetic (maybe some astute observers have noticed in my drawings), and Akito at some point in the run of things develops alpha-gal syndrome, which is a severe allergy to mammalian products (triggered by certain tick bites). Kohane is already always reading nutritional information so she starts picking out things Akito should be worried about now too; in return he develops a good sense of what she looks at herself. I think it's sweet.

Since I shared An and Toya's, here are Kohane's song for Akito and Akito's song for Kohane from thee comprehensive birdsquad playlist... I should note the songs I've collected there are just about some aspect of the characters' relationships at some point in time, not the thesis statement or anything. eg the Kohane pov one is really early on.

* Kohane is gap moe because she is so cute and sweet but she loves bugs and things conventionally considered gross and scary. Akito is gap moe because he seems rude and stiff but he's always looking out for his friends and his hoodies have little thumb holes. you understand me right???

I think Toya is initially taken by the brightness An projects and how easily she seems to move in the world, which are both things he feels he fundamentally lacks - and when eventually he develops more perspective and confidence as An comes to peel back more of her insecurity, kind of the tables shift and he discovers something he can give her in return, which means a huge deal to him...

An does still struggle to understand him at first - as in canon, she meets him in birdsquad as Akito's incomprehensible tagalong (and here she and Akito already have a moderately complicated history of at least a year or so at that point), which is mostly what he will remain to her for a while yet. But honestly she struggles to understand herself as well, so it kinda goes hand in hand? As she grows to learn more about Toya and understand him better, and understand his relationship with his family etc, she figures out a bit more about how to understand herself too in a way she did not realize she was missing. Eg when they meet she still hasn't fully realized she also is struggling to understand her relationship with her own dad. Oh Ken I love you but (Shiraishi An voice) is anyone else their father's female son (pained smile). I'll talk more about birdsquad Ken eventually... though I think he's flawed in canon too so it just carries over.

In general An is so straightforward and candid with Toya, which he really appreciates as someone who finds it difficult and confusing how often so many people Aren't straightforward. An says what she means and if she wants him to know something she tells him. While trying to make her own sense of him she ends up helping him understand the things he's expressing too, and once she realizes that he's actually much more plainly enthusiastic about being included in things than Akito is, she makes sure to do so and treats them increasingly as separate people. But in general An doesn't really understand the weight of what she does for people and how much it means to them. She's just being An.

Toya to me is also so openminded and additionally is further than Kohane and Akito from what I lovingly refer to as An's "crazy fucking baggage issues problems blast radius", which is something she appreciates that about him - there are all these ugly and sad parts of her she barely realizes are there and doesn't know what to do with when she finally can't look away, but she finds it surprisingly easy to be vulnerable around Toya, who is a gentle presence. I think An mostly grew up in a chaotic and fast-paced environment which she has embraced as part of who she is, and it's not inherently a bad thing, but she also never really had a chance to appreciate that she could benefit from quiet introspection too. She thinks she has, there are lots of quiet moments before sunrise out at the marsh after all, but she still hasn't fully turned it inwards... Like her father, she spends more time keeping busy and thinking about other people. By July, An is possibly like two awkward rare bird stakeouts away from breaking down full-on ugly sobbing looking at a White Wagtail in a Wendy's parking lot.

Meanwhile most of Toya's life has been all quiet introspection and restraint - the only place that was ever truly his own was in his own head, and even that was rarely a comfortable retreat. So he very much wants to be part of An's world of wacky bird impressions, and scrambling down ridges (scary!) because she wants to stand in the stream she saw at the bottom, and impulsive car rides at 11 pm for ice cream. Compared to Akito, who is a bit more 'proud', An is much more likely to mess around in this free-spirited way which is new and infectious for Toya, who could never access such levity before. Yes, Toya carries a deep and particular affection for Akito, to whom he owes inconceivably much, but the texture there is its own, and that's a good thing - there's something unique and special to cherish about every person who for some reason has let Toya into their life and kept him around, and isn't that remarkable? Then, if the perspective Toya's past has enabled him to offer can return even a bit of that precious levity to that girl, it almost makes it a little easier for him to accept that he had to go through those things in the first place.

Sidenote. To be clear I don't think Akito is a stiff lol, and he definitely goes out of his way to have fun with Toya but. This post ain't about that guy. Nor is it about comparing him and An in depth because Toya himself isn't measuring those two against each other - he is just peacefully appreciating their differences. I think a particularly interesting part of where vbs starts to gel as a group and not just a set of duos is when each of them can begin to appreciate how their partner interacts with the others, and how they learn about each other through that. eg what Akito learns about Toya through how he interacts with An, or what An learns about Akito through how he treats Kohane, so on.

The drawings are based on An's song for Toya and Toya's song for An from my birdsquad playlist (which has songs for every combination of characters from each POV)...