#kazujunko

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The small town Kazuya had grown up in looked much different at night.

She sat on the porch swing of her family home, waiting for her savior. She'd be here any moment. In the meantime, Kazuya kicked her legs and drummed her fingers against her thigh. The lights of the distant houses glowed like stars. Occasionally, someone remembered the time and another light flickered on.

Next to her was a small bag containing all of her personal things: an extra jumpsuit, a shirt and pants, a skirt she'd kept hidden, her sewing kit, some socks, a toothbrush, and about ¥20,000. She didn't have much to her name besides that. Ditching her tool kit and some of her projects left her stomach churning with anxiety, but she could always make more once she settled down again.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and checked the time for the third time that night. 10:28 PM, close to when her girlfriend was supposed to be here. Kazuya looked up from the screen to check for the car again. Everything had fallen into place so perfectly, too perfectly for things to go wrong now. But that didn't stop the familiar coldness of her dread from creeping up on her.

She'd made a big meal for her parents so that they didn't pay too much attention to her. It was rare that anyone made dinner, especially her, which Kazuya hoped would keep their eyes off of her. And because he couldn't help himself, her father berated her for how late into the night she had made it. He always found something to nitpick about whatever Kazuya did, usually punctured with a “stupid boy” or a myriad of swears. They were still eating when she slipped out of the back door.

At that moment, she swore that she saw a black car crawling along the back road. It was far away and her contacts were more for aesthetic than for practicality, but she'd spent too much time around vehicles to not notice it. She leaned forward and squinted, and her suspicions were confirmed when it passed under a house light. The body shone brighter than any car she'd ever seen before. Slowly, it drove onto the unpaved road that led to her house.

Holy shit, did she bring a limo?

The headlights were turned off, but she could tell that something expensive-looking was creeping down the road. It stopped a few yards in front of the house lights. A door opened, and out she stepped: Junko Enoshima. The one and only Junko Enoshima has come to save her. Junko's pale arm frantically waved for Kazuya to come on.

She rose from the swing with her bag and walked down the stairs, peering back to make sure that her parents weren't looking out the window. Two shadows sat at the dinner table. Kazuya turned back around and ran straight for her girlfriend, finding the girl's arms around her before she knew what was going on. Junko squeezed her tight and let go of her equally as fast.

“Let's get out of here, I'm feeling poorer just by being here,” she whispered. They both giggled. Junko ducked into the backseat first, and Kazuya started to get in as well.

“BOY!”

She froze, looking up at her father who now stood on the porch. The light hanging overhead illuminated his enraged face. Quickly, Kazuya followed her girlfriend into the limo and closed the door. Junko whistled, and the car took off, speeding back down the road fast enough to make her head spin. And just like that, she was sailing past the town that she'd spent her whole life in.

“See, was that so bad?” Junko asked once they made it to the outskirts. “You're free! And when we get back, you're getting a nice hot shower. Tomorrow… who knows!”

“That sounds good, yeah,” Kazuya agreed. She stared out the tilted window at the occasional stores and gas stations passing by. The only time that she had seen them was when she was taken to Hope's Peak, but their last day had been about a month ago. Seeing them whiz by made another strange feeling bubble in her stomach.

Junko hopped onto the seat that Kazuya sat on and leaned into her, snuggling against her shoulder with her cheek. “Everything is gonna be much better. So disgustingly hopeful. I know it.”

When she'd suggested that Kazuya run away with her, the mechanic almost couldn't believe it. They'd been dating in secret, mainly because Junko was… Junko. Her friends would've never expected the snarky gyaru to even look at her, especially with her obsessing over Sonia so openly. They didn't know that it had become a front for her real feelings. No, Kazuya gave all of her attention to Junko and her antics when they were alone.

Her obsession with hope and despair would never fail to catch her off guard, though.

Kazuya gave a weak chuckle at her words. The roads had started to become a little bumpy and her motion sickness was getting to her. She moved her gaze to the back window, hoping that it relieved her stomach. It didn't. “Oh, man…”

“Still nervous?”

“Motion sickness.”

Junko sighed. “It'll be another hour or so. Just try not to throw up, Daddy got this cleaned last week.” But she grinned and sat back up. “Would looking at my magazines help?”

“Yeah…”

“I'll do you one better.” Kazuya was confused for a moment, until Junko leaned forward and kissed her cheek. Her face heated up.

“I-uh… oh, you uh. Yeah. Better.” The girl sputtered for a while as Junko giggled at her. Then, she leaned closer and gave Junko a kiss back. Her skin was soft and smooth, brushed with a light layer of makeup that gave her the complexion of a porcelain doll. It didn't taste the best but man did it look cute. When she pulled away, Junko had a peculiar look on her face.

But that was just how Junko was. She was cunning and intelligent, possibly one of the smartest members of their graduating class. In fact, she had been the one to orchestrate this whole thing. Kazuya didn't have to worry about anything going wrong. Because Junko loved her, and wouldn't let anything hurt her.

Right?

Right.

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I think the thing that makes me so so insane about Kazujunko is just how Obvious Kazuichi is as like. a perfect Junko victim. In the same way that Sdr2 shows us multiple chapters of Mikan's struggles and trauma and how this culminates in her remnanthood obsession with her Beloved, Kazuichi feels like. The Other Mikan. failboy mikan. AND I MEAN. LOOK AT HIS 'CRUSH' ON SONIA. I think my kazujunko thesis statement is that if souda got a 'crush' on junko and acted a fraction of the way he did about sonia, junko would fucking LOVE it. She would encourage it, she would feed into it, and she would make sure he feels So So gross for stalking and obsessing over her, even as she obviously delights in it.

(whichhhh leads into my Personally Considered Canon theory that Souda's obsession with Sonia in-game is just a projection of his past obsession with Junko...I did a comic and everything!)

I love love love all Junko x Remnant ships BUT kazujunko is my forever favorite, not just cause I love Kazuichi and Junko as characters so much, but cause they're the perfect flavor of dysfunctional. She's a gorgeous girl who will happily give him all her attention and affection one minute, then turn around and insult him the next. She'll treat him like her boyfriend, then her dog, then her Weird Little Freak and he'll accept it all!! Their PDA would be so uncomfortable....And I think pre-game, everything about Souda's struggle with charisma vs Junko's excellent charisma would blind their classmates to the abuse threaded into their relationship...

PLUS THE PRACTICALLY CANON FACT THAT HE BUILT THE EXECUTIONS. CRAZY. Pre-Junko death Remnanthood!!!! HE BUILT HER A ROCKET SHIP. THAT WAS HIS DREAM AND NOW IT'S USED FOR DEATH. Just thinking of how their dynamic morphs from pre-game Cutesy Abuse to the insane Souda Lives In Her Basement and Builds Her Death Traps cause she threatened to break up with him, to his remnanthood where's forever still obsessed over her...Pining over screens and mechanical mimics.....AN OBSESSION THAT FOLLOWS HIM INTO A MEMORY-WIPED KILLING GAME. ARGH. And of course as you've said, the aesthetic is just so so so good.

As for Remnant Kazuichi....god i love him. Have been eagerly rereading @reddpenn's Honorary Remnant series over the last few days (PLEASE READ IT. EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT. JUST READ ALL THEIR REMNANT STUFF ITS SO SO GOOD) and it's been making me miss Remnant Kazuichi....Feel like he's succhhhh a fun guy to think about as a remnant cause: 1. He's such a delightful balance of distrust and insane trusting obsession ingame, both very fun directions to push him further in the direction of! 2. HIS TALENT HAS SO MANY POSSIBILITIES FOR EVIL. 3. I feel like his talent ALSO gives so many options for how he could Personally Despair...

My original take on Remnant Kazuichi (which you can see here and here especially) had him as someone who is Living in The Past, obsessing over his digital recreations and footage of Junko, living surrounded by her image and doing very little else. Over the course of writing my Remnant Possibilities fic, I've also given him severe radium poisoning, taken his hands, and given him a Monokuma Helmet for the entirety of Despair Era! Fun future ideas include chainsaw arm, Nuking the World, and having a really really weird dynamic with Sonia! (I'm sure there's more to say about Remnant Kazuichi but I've run out of energy lol. Take a kazujunko doodle as compensation.)