#kurane

Like a madman with a death wish, I am going to attempt... three posts this weekend. One for each of the Aetheria trio - Waruna, Kurane, and Yoshiko. (人◕ω◕)** Why? Because this is the harem series lagging behind, and honestly... There's gonna be overlap with these three in particular. I'll isolate the parts that are different as best as I can so that we taste the distinct flavors of each actress. I won't disrespect them and lump them into a single post... That's just not polite. (人◕ω◕)***

It means more work for me. But what you gonna do? There won't be as many pictures involved because fanart of these gals is few and far in-between. I'll still attach some from a buddy of mine, but that might be it.

The Beginning

Kurane-chan... (人◕ω◕) She is... a wallflower. Not entirely happy with her status as one, but Kurane uses her quiet, unseen nature to support Aiko, Yoshiko, and Waruna.

... That's how things used to be. Before Aiko died. To give a Danganronpa comparison, she's gentle, nervous, and kind like Seiko Kimura, while having a little bit of Touko Fukawa's waspish tongue when she's upset or irritated. Kurane hadn't even wanted to be an actress in the first place; her parents made her join to make her more sociable. She had been fine on her own, reading romance/mystery books...

But Kurane met Aiko, Yoshiko, and Waruna through the theater club. Things weren't perfect with how competitive the club could be, but she at least had her first real friends. (人◕ω◕) In this AU, she has an adopted older brother, Ken Historia, who's a university professor that she idolizes a great deal. ... So when Peacekeepers arrested and threw him in prison on trumped up charges three years before present day, Kurane had been beside herself in grief. Only receiving comfort from the few friends she made since joining the theater club.

... Then six months before present day, Aiko was murdered. Around that time, Waruna and Yoshiko drifted away from Kurane because they suspected each other, and it broke Kurane even more. But after offering her help, Kurane and Yoshiko look into Aiko's death, and determine Karen was the culprit, and they make up with Waruna soon enough.

They try everything they can to expose Karen's crimes, bring her to justice, but every method is met with failure - and at worst, threat of Peacekeeper reaction. Karen's father is a big-shot at Amaterasu, so clearly the Peacekeepers want to keep this incident covered up and write Aiko's death off as a suicide.

When they hit a wall of what else to do, Yoshiko... puts forward the idea of killing Karen. Waruna immediately and loudly objects, and gets in a fierce argument with Yoshiko that Kurane can tell eats away at Yoshiko; she didn't propose the murder option because she liked it, they were just... out of options. And Kurane could at least understand the desire to see Karen receive justice for killing Aiko, their best friend. It frustrated all of them to see Karen walk around without consequences for what she did.

So Kurane tries... placating both sides. She also understands Waruna refusing to stoop to Karen's level, and Kurane would prefer it if Yoshiko and Waruna didn't have to stain their hands with blood. It's just... graduation is this year, and they're running out of time to strike at Karen. They... have to keep options open, much as it pains Kurane. They can't let Karen go unpunished; once Karen graduates, it'll be all but impossible to get at her.

They reluctantly settle on the murder plot, so long as they do it together. Yoshiko and Waruna effectively gave up on other options, but Kurane always kept her eyes and ears open. Desperate. Anxiously waiting. The only detective left in Kanai Ward isn't allowed near serious crimes like Aiko's death, but she hears rumors that his agency has expanded lately with WDO sending new recruits from out of town... So Kurane goes to investigate on her own.

And what Kurane finds is... a bunch of eccentric, unruly people that might or might not be able to help them. ... Kurane is conflicted how to feel about the Nocturnal Detective Agency. But she homes in on Yuma, because he's the "rookie" of the group, very similar to herself with how nervous and shy he can be... It makes Kurane feel so rotten, but she blackmails Yuma into investigating Aiko's death. She wants to test him and make sure he can actually help...

Yuma ends up bringing along Desuhiko and Melami to Aetheria, much to Kurane's dismay. She wanted to test him, not them... And further, Desuhiko is a pervert and keeps trying to hit on her schoolmates... Yoshiko is gonna be so pissed when she finds out what Kurane did.........

Yoshiko is in fact very pissed, and it destroys Kurane on the inside when confronted. Even though Kurane refuses to take part in the murder plot any more, Yoshiko and Waruna seemingly go through with it... Karen "dies" on stage as planned, and Kurane is left devastated beyond belief. Because Yuma and the others will undoubtedly try to get to the bottom of the case, and the Peacekeepers were impossibly quick in responding to Karen's "death", and now she, Waruna, and Yoshiko are pegged as the culprits...

Kurane throws Yuma under the bus to keep the rest of them safe... It makes her inconsolable and she withdraws in on herself as the investigation progresses. She worries for Yuma and his friends as they investigate, keeping the Peacekeepers running around... And when they get cornered on stage, Kurane fears that's the end for Yuma...

But unexpectedly, Karen outs herself and confesses to her crime of killing another student to fake her death. Yuma and the detectives are released, and Yoshiko and Waruna were never murderers... Kurane is so relieved, but she's also incredibly guilty over everything that happened... Kurane runs off in grief to be by herself, and it takes Yuma coming to find her and calm her down. Kurane's blackmail and throwing the blame onto him during the investigation wasn't "okay", but Yuma understands she was desperate to protect Yoshiko and Waruna. Yuma wants to start over and be Kurane's friend, and that... means the world to Kurane. She harbors a dream to become a detective herself one day. Maybe now she can start striving for that. (人◕ω◕)

The Middle Act

In the weeks that follow, Kurane is in her happy place. (人◕ω◕) She's friends with Yuma, and she's getting used to the colorful characters of the Nocturnal Detective Agency. Waruna is giving the detectives a chance, and she has a new friend in Kurumi, who was also besties with Aiko. (人◕ω◕) Sure, Kurane skips school a lot more to be with Yuma and the other detectives, and Yoshiko has a cow over it, but she is in her happy place~ Kurane is not ignored or treated as a creep. She is content. (人◕ω◕)

Although when the sub is nuked by Yomi... And Yuma is kidnapped by the Resistance... Kurane suffers more heart attacks and rallies the troops as it were, determined to save Yuma and fix this mess. (人◕ω◕) In the subsequent incidents, Kurane helps Yoshiko and Kurumi investigate crime scenes to help Yuma out as he strives to get to the bottom of these bombings.

... If she's a little jelly about Waruna getting more time with Yuma, that's Kurane's business. (人◕ω◕);;;

The Red Rain fiasco resolves itself soon enough, and Yuma and crew get a new sub out of the deal. Yomi's off licking his wounds. Everything is right with the world. (人◕ω◕) ... Well, Yuma seems affected by this latest incident, traumatized by something, but Kurane will be there for him.

One result of the Red Rain fiasco is that her adopted brother, Ken, escaped from prison with a number of others, and Kurane is relieved to reunite with him and bring him back home. She also gets to see Yuma meet with him, and Ken imparts some encouraging wisdom that Yuma sorely needs in this turbulent time. (人◕ω◕)

Having the Resistance around as more friends is... interesting... But it's just a sign that Kanai Ward is shaping up, little by little. She and Yoshiko have Yuma attend mandatory sleepovers with them over the next week, to ensure he remains safe and sound.

... Kurane is worried sick when Yuma gets pulled into the mess at Amaterasu Corp (Chapter 4, spoilers). And even more worried when he's dropped in the Restricted Area (Chapter 5, spoilers). But they all manage to resolve these incidents, and Kanai Ward is finally freed from Amaterasu's oppression. (人◕ω◕)

The Future

Considering how fast-paced Rain Code is, we can keep the summaries short and sweet like that. Honestly, all those events serve as how the girls met Yuma and got to know him a little better in subsequent events. The meat of their relationship lies in the post-game. (人◕ω◕)

In the immediate aftermath of Chapter 5, after graduating from Aetheria with her friends, Kurane decides to go train at the WDO and become a Master Detective. It's not an easy decision, leaving home, leaving Yuma, but she wants to be a proper, official detective and not just a freelance. Yuma is a freelance, but he's tutoring under Yakou, and Kurane doesn't want to take that away from him. While at the WDO, she develops her Forte, Chameleon (name subject to change), which allows her to be "invisible" whenever she wills it. She can only keep up the invisibility for so long, though.

After completing her training with the WDO, Kurane is formally assigned to Kanai Ward, in part due to her nature as a homunculus. It's safer to station her there. And that's where she wanted to go anyway. Kurane has a nice homecoming with Yoshiko, Waruna, Kurumi, Aiko, Yuma, and the NDA. And she's slotted with Yuma at the branch office (the sub). (人◕ω◕)

Kanai Ward has healed a great deal in the two years Kurane's been away, but they're still getting back on their feet and things are still changing. Shachi and a number of the Resistance volunteered to form the police force, keeping the streets safe; Zange helped train them to be competent law-enforcers. The courts are still being ironed out, but at least they're not taking bribes from Amaterasu or anyone else thus far. Damages from the bombings is largely cleared away by now, and new construction projects are ongoing.

One of the biggest changes is seeing that... murder cases are handled very differently now. Since they're all homunculi, it's impossible to truly kill anyone. Yet this doesn't stop criminal elements from committing "murder" anyway - whether out of spite or some darker purpose. The "victims" can become key witnesses, but people can still be framed for crimes. Crime isn't completely expunged from Kanai Ward, but they're all working to be a better community overall.

This is the Kanai Ward Kurane comes home to, two years later. Yuma's doing better with some experience and training under his belt, but he's still a little green, and now Kurane's joined him as a detective. (人◕ω◕) It's not the sanest job to have (that is, keeping your own sanity while doing the work), but Kanai needs detectives to stay on the up and up. And they're developing a real community of detectives, police, informants, courts... Things will still go wrong, but it won't be "as bad" as when Yomi was in charge. (人◕ω◕)

Kurane also develops a hobby of romance/mystery writing, mostly short stories but sometimes writes novels. If she takes inspiration from their own lives, that's her business. (人◕ω◕) When the girls confess their feelings to Yuma after some time as friends, Kurane's the one bursting with ideas for dates and all the relationship details... Sometimes her overexuberance is overwhelming, but Yuma takes it in stride. Kurane's a good girl. (人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)

While Kurane sometimes butts heads with Pucci still, as the harem gets far enough along they somewhat settle down compared to Pucci butting heads with Waruna and Yoshiko. Kurane gets along with Fubuki and Kurumi, is clearly friends with Waruna and Yoshiko... Kurane and Guillaume don't interact much, though. Mostly because Guillaume retains her bullying streak a little bit. It's been reduced to mean teasing, but she's still not the easiest to get along with. (人◕ω◕) Not to mention, Kurane isn't sure what to make of Dominic, who's essentially like a father figure to Guillaume...

While Kurane isn't as much of a homemaker as Yoshiko and Kurumi, she still lends them her support. Cuz Yuma often overextends himself during the day and tuckers himself out. Hubby needs his rest. (人◕ω◕) They all settle into Makoto's old penthouse suite easily enough.

As to who gets preggo with Yuma's kids first... (人◕ω◕);;

Kurane would rather not talk about it. That's a highly divisive debate... (人◕ω◕);;

First post (Kurumi): https://www.tumblr.com/pyropsychiccollector/744071239670300672/yuma-harem-down-came-the-rain-17?source=share

Second post (Fubuki): https://www.tumblr.com/pyropsychiccollector/769062324656111616/yuma-harem-down-came-the-rain-27?source=share