#saibashira

The Beginning

Tenko Chabashira. ... Ooh boy. (人◕ω◕);;

To be perfectly candid about her: Not all of Tenko's quirks/flaws are her fault. As canon explained, when she was young Tenko was prone to anger tantrums and over-activity. To the point that her parents feared she might not fit in society if they allowed her to keep on as she is.

... So her parents tried sending her to a temple to drill some discipline into Tenko.

This... had mixed results... (人◕ω◕);;

While at the temple, Tenko bonded with a particular priest that she called "Master", and they developed an aggressive martial arts style they called "Neo-Aikido". This "Master" of hers did help to curb some of Tenko's hyper energy, but not to the extent her parents hoped for. He cautioned Tenko to not be overexcited about Christmas or Valentine's Day; to not eat more than three sweets a day; to keep the environment clean; and other semi-useful advice like that. If she wasn't careful, Tenko would sabotage her Neo-Aikido energy... that's the training method the "Master" used to keep her invested. All the wisdom he gave to her went back to their Neo-Aikido, which Tenko was over the moon about. (人◕ω◕);;;

Tenko had fun times with her "Master", not just training, but also dressing up in masks and performing Good Samaritan actions like helping old ladies with their groceries, entertaining or helping children, exposing cheaters and sex offenders (and punishing them), and helping console girls after bad breakups. Through these experiences, Tenko began fostering a distaste for men... And her "Master" only fed the flames of these feelings into a raging inferno as he advised her to keep away from boys herself - otherwise, you guessed it, her Neo-Aikido energy would deplete.

Tenko swallowed everything her "Master" fed her. (人◕ω◕);; Admittedly the advice he gave Tenko was out of protective concern for her, but Tenko took everything quite literally and zealously. She despised boys with a passion, lumping them all as "degenerate males", and never quite realizing her "Master" was a "degenerate male" himself.

Her gullibility and hyper energy were still through the roof, but she was... sort of disciplined. (人◕ω◕);;; Fortunately for her parents, Hope's Peak scouted Tenko as the Ultimate Aikido Master, and they gladly supported her decision to attend... because they didn't know what else to do with the poor girl. And so she joined the 79th Class of HPA, for the few months that they were a formal Class before the Tragedy transpired.

To be frank, Tenko did not like any of the boys in her class and gave them all a wide berth, electing to associate with only the girls. Of course some boys - like poor Kaito - tried being friendly with her, but Tenko's aggressive method for dealing with her "problems" led to Tenko seizing said boys by the arms and tossing them. Because her "Master" said there is no shame in using weapons or attacking before a match begins. (人◕ω◕);;

So to be clear: Shuichi knew of Tenko, in those first few months. But he never got too close because he saw what she did to boys. Tenko similarly had Shuichi pegged as someone shady because he wore his cap all the time, and rarely was able to look people in the eyes. Of course he was just shy... But try telling Tenko that. Won't work out for you. (人◕ω◕);;

The Hazy Middle

As brought up in previous posts, the Tragedy hits and Class 79 is abducted by a separate party from Junko and Ultimate Despair. They have no idea where they are brought to, or why they're doing any of this. But they are eventually forced through "loops" of Killing Games, where they have to kill a classmate and fool everyone so that they can get the chance to leave the Ultimate Academy of Gifted Juveniles.

Except they're not really killing each other. All deaths are faked, and at the end of each "loop" their memories are "wiped" (suppressed), and the next "loop" carries on with a new scenario, a blank slate. Sometimes they're given fake names and talents to see what they do with them, but most of the time they are just themselves. And at times, they are made to "act out" scenes - like sifting through ruins in a "city" they believe to be Tokyo - to fool themselves into believing those are real memories.

None of them realize this is some sort of research project, they just press on with each "loop" in the hopes of escaping the Killing Game. Hopefully with their friends, and without resorting to murder.

Tenko is one of the few to almost never become a murderer herself, in spite of her anger management problems at the worst of times. Not even being around the boys gets the bloodlust pumping; Tenko's noble, heroic nature saves her from falling for most of the motives thrown their way. She doesn't like the boys due to her upbringing, but she doesn't want them dead... Just away from the girls. Maybe.

But Tenko is also a gullible one, often far too trusting. And as such, this leads her to become a victim or a scapegoat for murder. Despite her clinginess to Himiko, who she loves as a friend very much, the magician never hates her enough to want Tenko dead. Really, barring the most prickly classmates, Tenko sows a great deal of good will towards herself for being perky, optimistic, if not... naïve. Her aggression towards the boys does grate at times, but the class usually manages to get Tenko to dial it back as the Killing Games progress. She doesn't quite trust the boys, but for the sake of getting the girls out alive Tenko makes compromises where she must.

There's a few rare times where Tenko accidentally kills her classmates... But the memories of those incidents never come up in subsequent cycles. After determining that such memories bring Tenko to a broken, guilt-ridden state every time, the Mastermind elects to keep Tenko in a blank slate as much as possible during the "loops". Tenko never does anything "intriguing" with her repressed memories, she's just very confused and writes them off as dreams.

Bearing all this in mind, you might assume that Tenko and Shuichi never hit it off. A lot of the time, you may be right; they often don't get too close because of Tenko's upbringing and Shuichi's desire to not set the girl off.

Nevertheless, the first few "loops" where they did form a tentative friendship, these memories and emotions bubble at the back of Shuichi and Tenko's minds. The friendship is... an odd one. Shuichi will usually timidly approach Tenko to attempt to get to know her better, and Tenko will subsequently chuck him and accidentally knock him out. This will lead Tenko to guiltily carry Shuichi back to his room, and then have conflicting emotions later when Shuichi comes to talk to her again - still not happy with his status as a boy, yet still has some mild admiration for Shuichi's willingness to listen and his attempts at helping her learn things... Which she never asked for, but, you know. (人◕ω◕)

These same sort of experiences keep happening, and eventually it gets easier for Shuichi to approach Tenko and for her to allow him to get close. On an instinctual level, they remember their bond is safe; Shuichi won't try to pull anything, and Tenko won't legitimately hurt him beyond chucking him a few times because of misunderstandings. (人◕ω◕) Eventually when they grow close enough, Shuichi opens her eyes to the fact that her "Master" was a male, and that means not all guys are trash. Some can be good. Tenko in turn helps Shuichi realize some of the roots of his insecurities, and helps him to be a better, more confident person little by little. ... Even if Tenko has proposed more than a few times that Shuichi gets a sex change so she can be comfy with holding his hand. ... That, or he masters Neo-Aikido right that second... (人◕ω◕)

As a result of their quirky friendship, they rarely edge toward a romantic relationship in the Killing Game... There's hardly ever enough time where they're both alive long enough to let Tenko fully experience and demonstrate the affection she has for Shuichi. Likewise, any fond feelings Shuichi may have for Tenko are hampered by her reluctance to give boys a chance, and dreading what she might do if he admits to anything more than friendship. (人◕ω◕)

But these feelings do bubble beneath the surface. They're good friends despite the constant blank slates, and there's almost never a "loop" where Tenko well and truly hates Shuichi. She's a puppy and kitten rolled into one, so... yeah. (人◕ω◕)

The Ending... or a new Beginning...?

Eventually Class 79 earns their freedom. For a time, they do suffer comas from all their repressed memories returning... But once that's over and they can decide their own futures, Class 79 drifts their separate ways for a while.

Tenko's the last to make her way to the Saihara Detective Agency, after months of opening up a School of Neo-Aikido and feeling like something was missing from her life. Really, she moves her School to the same city/neck of the woods as Shuichi's agency, and they pick up where their friendship from the various Killing Games left off. Kirumi watches Tenko like a hawk, refusing to let Tenko chuck Shuichi around like a ragdoll again. (人◕ω◕)

When Tenko's romantic feelings grow into full bloom, Kirumi, Kaede, and Maki are all a bit... territorial of Shuichi, not too eager for sharing. Miu's crass, lewd suggestions of orgies do not help. (人◕ω◕) But Shuichi has them all sit down and talk about it, as they've done before. Shuichi can admit to loving Tenko as well, but doesn't want to press forward if anyone's truly against the relationship. He's aware of the struggles they've had with getting the harem to work as it is, but adding Tenko...?

Well, no one can really, truly object. Tenko has matured a lot. They all have. (人◕ω◕) ... Though Kirumi will still be watching like a hawk, as will Maki. Kaede does her best to play peacemaker. ... Miu makes things horny and difficult. (人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕) Tenko vibes with Kaede the best, and can get along with Kirumi... Maki and Miu, she'd rather not deal with, but Tenko keeps up her positive, upbeat energy. ... Even if she wants to practice her Neo-Aikido on them. (人◕ω◕)

It's not a perfect life. But they're making the most of it~

Part 1 (Kaede): https://www.tumblr.com/pyropsychiccollector/743632006552993792/shuichi-harem-saihara-detective-agency-15?source=share