my wind breaker hot take/rent lowering gunshot this morning is multilayered: from a doylist perspective, i do not think romance between any of the leads is an end goal because thats not really the story niisato is trying to tell, and i also do not think it would be narratively satisfying if it did happen. it may in fact Undermine haruka's story and character growth depending on how its done. simultaneously, from a watsonian perspective, i do not think it would be Good for any of the characters to get into a romantic relationship at any point during the narrative, especially if the narrative does not extend past their years in high school, and i also do not think they would choose to do so. i do not think haruka can even conceptualize the concept as a teenager, akihiko would give himself a panic attack attempting anything, and hayato would rather die than be vulnerable in that sort of fashion. i do not think expecting any ship to be endgame is going to pay off, i do not think it would be good for the narrative, and i do not think it would be in character.
and these are not really things that people who experience fandom and the consumption of art media through the lens of pure shipping goggles like to hear . i have found. no i dont think haruka and akihiko were making out in that box. i think. that they are friends. and are both Far too fucking stressed out right now to even think about that sort of thing. maybe we should all calm down
