#kaochizu

chizuru and kaoru were born to the head of a clan of demons. though we don't see a lot of their past when they were super young, what we do see is really sweet and cute (such as one making a flower crown for the other).

unfortunately that ended when humans attacked the clan and basically wiped it out one night. chizuru and kaoru managed to flee together at the age of like. 6? 7? idk, they were pretty young.

now, depending on the media, some make it so that they were both taken in by their relative, until a different demon clan contacted him requesting the female heir (for demon mating purposes). kaoru ending up going in chizuru's place in order to protect her.

otherwise, the story goes that kaoru and chizuru lost each other while running away, with kaoru being found and mistakenly assumed to be the female heir by the same clan mentioned before, and chizuru being found by their uncle.

either way, the other demon clan was furious when they discovered they'd gotten the male heir instead of the female one, and it's heavily implied that kaoru faced physical and sexual abuse at their hands for years because of this.

cut to like 10 years later. chizuru has forgotten all about kaoru, and thinks that her caretaker is her father. she also doesn't remember anything about being a demon. plot stuff happens, she has to crossdress as a boy to find her "father", she makes friends with a group of samurai, yadda yadda yadda. there's like artificial demon stuff happening too, where people are being made into DemonsLiteTM, and it's pretty fucked up.

this is when kaoru first shows up. he's pretending to be a woman (yeah, he and his sister reunite while they're both crossdressing lol) and is being harassed by some men when chizuru and co save him. chizuru doesn't recognize him, but she is curious because they look so similar (which one of her friends points out; the other says they don't look alike at all, which is really funny haha). he's all mysterious and leaves and that's it for a little bit.

eventually he shows up again to pretty much just cause trouble (he tries to turn one of her friends into a fake demon), but he hides himself, so she's oblivious to the fact that he's behind so much. he's just orchestrating stuff from the shadows for now.

when he does confront her, he admits they're twins and explains everything that happened when they were little. chizuru obviously has trouble grappling with these new revelations. she rejects his offer to join him, saying that she can't betray her friends.

depending on the media, he might try to kill her, or in other scenarios, he doesn't even offer her to join him at all (iirc). usually he has a little rant about how much he hates her for being so oblivious and living a happy life while he suffered. yeah :')

regardless, one thing always happens at the end: kaoru dies. in the anime series (not to be confused with the movies), he's killed by another demon. before he dies, he crawls towards chizuru and asks her why it was always her. she finally remembers him, cupping his cheek, but it's too late. he dies.

but!!!! that's only in the og hakuouki universe (set in edo japan iirc)!!! i haven't even talked about the spin-off game that takes place in a highschool: hakuouki sweet school life!!!!

in ssl, chizuru's just a normal highschool student whose biggest worry is the fact that she just joined an all-boys school. kaoru's still her estranged twin brother, but they get along much *much* better than in the og story. he's also suuuuper protective of her, but refuses to admit it and often times insults her because he doesn't know how to be affectionate (tsunderes my beloved <3).

ssl has routes for all the main guys, just like the og game(s), but!!! it also has a route for kaoru!!!! which the og game didn't have!!!! (which im not salty about at all, in case you were wondering..........)

the routes are all very similar, with chizuru trying to get closer to her love interest--btw kaoru is not officially considered a *romantic* love interest, but.....a lot of the dialogue says otherwise--through giving gifts, spending time together, etc. her moments with kaoru are adorable, enough so that i ended up falling entirely in love with their au selves. other than them, i've never had a highschool au that i've enjoyed, canon or otherwise.

during the short game, chizuru wants to deepen her bond with kaoru, as they've lived most of their lives apart (kaoru was adopted by a different family when they were younger). she makes him valentine's chocolates and even goes out of her way to bring them to school to give him on valentine's day, despite the fact all outside snacks are banned. (side note: the reason that this is a rule is because kaoru, who's a part of the disciplinary committee, knew valentine's was coming up and didn't want chizuru to confess to anyone/be confessed to. so he made it an official school rule using his powers lol.)

he catches her with the chocolates before she can explain they're for him, and makes a huge fuss and basically berates her in front of the whole school, leading to her shouting they're for him. after which he's like "....oh. you should've said that sooner." and grabs her and runs away so they can be in private. btw when she confessed some students who were watching were like "isn't this a bit too close, even for siblings??" which is so funny.

anyways kaoru thanks her for the chocolates but is suuuuper tsundere about it and it's the cutest thing ever!!!!! and he says he'll be sure to pay her back on white day. the entire time this takes place under a sakura tree, which is such a common trope for animes and stuff to have characters confess under.

OH i almost forgot, but in a previous part of the game, chizuru sprains her ankle and kaoru gives her a piggy back ride!! just wanted to mention that because it was a really adorable moment. okay yeah back to after valentine's day.

there's a time skip in the epilogue, and kaoru's now moving in with chizuru!! this is because her dad (again, not actually her dad) is always away on trips overseas, and it's not safe for a girl to live alone (also it's lonely). so!!!! they canonically live together now!!!!!! the cg in my banner is from the end of the game, when they talk after he's pretty much completely moved in. it's soooo sweet and gahhhh. i love how these two get so many happy moments to make up for og chizuru and kaoru having to go through All Of That. it's such a nice comfort <3

okay i think that's all!!!! well, not everything, but that's all i can think of atm. WAIT I LIED. fun fact: in the og games they each have one half of a set of swords thatve been passed down in their (deceased) family for generations!! idk why, but something about that fact just makes my heart pang. like even before chizuru knew she had a brother, she was already carrying around a part of him with her, and she with him. aughhhhhhhh <3