#6926

guys. guys. i might've figured out the absolute worst possible crossover i could've come up with:

So right out of the bat lets refute the obvious complaint. "But mukuro thinks of fran as his kid in the present" he does not on account of mukuro being a 15 year old boy and fran being like, 10. Don't.

Ok so onto ship reasons: the reason I ship mukuro/fran actually stems from the kokuyo arc and how mukuro is depicted there.

In the kokuyo arc, mukuro is mature and polite and serious and hes factually traumatized as shit. Our only hints that he knows how to behave like a 15 year old kid is when we find out in an extra he chose the Kokuyo as a hideout because he likes their uniform. He otherwise bitter af here, and in this arc its debatable if he genuinely likes Ken and Chikusa or if hes telling the truth about just using them.

Cut to future arc where we find out the Kokuyo has a new member, Fran. In this arc, we dont see much of the gangs interactions, but we do find out M.M thinks Chrome is being majorly manipulated by Mukuro during this timeline. Which is a fair assumption, actually.

Because Chrome and the gang failed to help Mukuro escape. She then spent years with an unknown status, despite being the mist guardian. Then Fran comes along and solos the mission. From M.M's pov, its very possible she thought Mukuro abandoned Chrome for the more powerful Fran.

And the interesting part is? Future arc Mukuro/Fran is narratively framed like secretive lovers of sorts, which given M.M's assumption raises eyebrows. Their interactions just keep surprising ppl. Byakuran did not know Fran existed, that Mukuro knew someone like Fran, and throws a tantrum over it. The Varia didnt know Mukuro was his teacher and are genuinely shocked. No one knows how to feel about their strangely close interactions where Fran is joking about Mukuro being into violent horror and Mukuro is reacting like they are in a comedy routine and not like hes being disrespected big time.

So we then cut to the Daemon Spade arc. Daemon Spade pretends to be Fran and Mukuro is like "come on hes not even that age rn as far as I know" so in response Daemon Spade makes a strangely fascinating point that ends up popping up in the final arc:

Hes only afraid of future Fran.

Which is how we switch to the Arcobaleno Arc and their interactions.

In the Arcobaleno Arc, the Kokuyo are depicted so much more differently than the rest of the manga. They are practically a makeshift family by this point.

The reason? Fran.

Mukuro takes Fran to Japan and Fran seems to adore the Kokuyo. Ken is his new Ken niisan. M.M and Chikusa treat him surprisingly well. Even Verde gets in on the Fran affection in an interview where Fran is hugging Verde like a plushie. They all basically have something gluing the Kokuyo together now --- a little brother who wasnt traumatized by the mafia and is surprisingly innocent.

The problem is Mukuro.

Mukuro is absolutely enabling and spoiling Fran. Hes letting him get away with things like bullying Verde, hes buying him junk food and games. He seems to actually be having genuine fun with Fran too. Fran listens to him without hesitation like a good little loyal apprentice, but more importantly... Mukuro is clearly endeared by this kid who makes him laugh.

Mukuro is acting like a 15 year old boy during this arc because of Fran. Fran, the rude little shit, is genuinely helping Mukuro become a better person.

But like Daemon Spade said, hes also seemingly scared of Fran. He knows what Fran will become --- an incredibly talented illusionist capable of using the 666 ring, which implies he isnt capable of fear or self preservation because to master the 666 ring is to be okay with misfortune.

He is so, so genuinely relieved upon finding out Fran is afraid of the Vindicre.

Thats when he starts properly humanizing Fran. He is now upset with himself for treating Fran like a weapon. Hes even comparing himself to the no good adults who experimented on him as a kid.

Yet he still sends Fran into battle. Because Chromes flames are special but Fran is amazing and to the end, Fran is just more powerful. Its the only choice he can make.

In conclusion of this essay: