#mikanatsu

First of all, thank you very much for taking notice of them. I actually wrote fanfiction that attempts to showcase my headcanons and how they get together with XVII and Marigold Eyes, but I guess your questions give me a chance to more explicitly state the details outside of a narrative! 🥺 I should mention that I like to weave my own headcanons between the spaces of canon, and even if EnStars provides material that could potentially hurt them, I try to (re)interpret things to keep both official and delusional things plausible. But I think canon already provides something to work with for NatsuMika(Natsu) and what they like about each other.

I think I need to talk about the significance of their similarities first though. They're rivals (over Shu mostly, but also as fellow idols), and a big portion of their identities are tied to their status as a junior (of Shu for Mika and of the Eccentrics for Natsume, which also includes Shu lol). But most importantly, during ! Era, they both went through The War™ as victims that were ultimately not powerful enough to do anything for their loved one(s). There’s just an inherent understanding of what they both went through that the former first years, like Nazuna’s Ra*bits, missed out on, and Natsume and Mika don’t need to elaborate on it for themselves, because they’ve lived through it (a dynamic also shared by my OT5).

I cannot emphasize how interesting it is that Natsume considers Mika a friend. For Natsume during ! Era, he doesn’t have that many friends that are his year, and even if he does have people he gets along with well enough, like Subaru or maybe Makoto, they didn’t experience The War™ in quite the same perspective as he did. Mika is the only one that felt similarly victimized in the position of a junior, in a unit or group. Why I keep stressing this similarity in lived experience is because Natsume doesn't call just anyone a friend. In other words, he seems to form strict in-group and out-group categories for people, evidenced by Natsume's relationship chart.

Subaru considers Natsume a close buddy, but Natsume has such a tsundere-like "Well, he's not NOT a friend, I guess" kind of description for Subaru, which I find hilarious. And the only other notable relationships he has is his bond with his niisans, his bond as Switch, his !! Era roommates, and either wariness or downright hatred for Ibara and Eichi respectively. There's a clear divide between people he's comfortable with and uncomfortable with, and the people he's comfortable with have the commonality of having been through The War™ as not the true perpetrator of it (Subaru, the Eccentrics, Tsumugi, Leo, and Nazuna) or having shared a connection from the past (Tsumugi again, and Sora).

I think it's safe to say Natsume feels comfortable with Mika, but he probably likes him enough as a person if he's considering him a friend so bluntly. I'd say Makoto is more so friends with Sora, but the fact that he couldn't squeeze into Natsume's chart despite being on good terms with him by proxy of Sora is also interesting.

For Mika, he's more personable than Natsume, so him considering Natsume a friend isn't as profound, but I think the way they interact as friends is the insightful aspect. Natsume can be mean. He likes to bully tease Mika, utilizing his relationship with Shu-niisan to make him jealous (see: Victoria). But you know who else can be a bit mean? Arashi. Mika is best friends with Arashi, and the two of them have been compared to be somewhat similar before, so it's unsurprising that Mika wouldn't mind Natsume's sharp tongue too much either. And this is important, since Natsume can act as a good ego check for Mika to where he isn’t too threatened, whether Mika is conscious of it or not.

Mika has complicated feelings towards Nazuna, but Natsume being in a similar position as him (again, as a junior to Shu) and bestie-adjacent also helps take the edge off of any self-deprecation that may arise from the bullying goading, whether it's related to his skill as an idol or when it's Natsume trying to cuck him.

More often than not, ships in EnStars tend to have at least one half of the ship having such an obsessed, hyperfixated focus for another character, so unfortunately a lot of their rivalry has to hinge on Shu’s recognition and affections, but I’ll take it. As noted in my carrd, I'll be upfront and respectfully say that I don’t ship ShuMika (they’re technically a NOTP and I settle on a MikaShu ❌🔄 preference if it really comes down to it), but I’m okay with them in this almost love-triangle dynamic. It's part of my compromise of honoring the often romantic-coded portrayal of Mika's relationship with Shu (whether you view it as platonic, queer-platonic, or romantic) while shipping NatsuMika, and it's the reasoning for why I headcanon or approach NatsuMika as part of a poly ship, besides the fact that I ship Natsume with Shu too. This approach is why I naturally ended up thinking that they would probably get closer after having a heart-to-heart about their insecurities resulting from trauma of The War™, and their feelings of "not being enough" with one another. It's hard to completely divorce their individual relationships with Shu without removing the foundation of their friendship or potential romance, but basically, if they ever get prolonged, one-on-one time without too much of Shu's presence, I can see them being vulnerable with each other and realizing any romantic feelings they may have (which I made them go through in XVII, haha).

I feel like they'd work well as a versatile couple, or switches, in the bedroom, but Natsume probably likes to take the lead in similar manner to his usual teasing and do-S (sadist) tendencies. Meanwhile Mika is just happy to be there, so he doesn't mind too much LMAO. Somewhat related, but I can't help but also think Natsume sees Mika as a cute kitten to play with either. Especially because in Victoria, he says "Koneko-chan tachi"/"Kittens" when lumping him with Arashi and Anzu, and while there's some ambiguity of whether it's "Anzu and company" versus "All you kittens," it's hard not to separate Mika or Arashi from their connection to cats.

All in all, it's kind of a lot of subtext for NatsuMika(Natsu)'s relationship, but I think there's something compelling about their rivalry, and it's touching seeing their parallel efforts of growing into people worthy of being praised by Shu.