Relationship meme!

[mikkeneko]

Character Relationship meme!

I'm reviving this meme, but with a slight twist: Instead of asking me about one specific character, ask me about a relationship. It doesn't have to be a romantic or sexual relationship (although it can be;) any two people who know each other and have a history. Kurogane+Syaoran, Fai+Sakura, Yuuko+Watanuki, anything you like... and I will tell you my Thoughts On Yaoi Relationships.

Name me a pair of characters from one of my fandoms (GW, TRC, or FMA), and I will tell you:
* How I feel about their relationship
* The high point and the low point of their relationship
* My unpopular opinion about their relationship
* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with these two in canon
* Something about them I consider true, though it's just head canon
* A ficlet (100~500 words) of them having a quiet moment together

Fire away, although as per usual I add the disclaimer that if I think you're trollin' me (say, asking about Muraki and Tsuzuki from Yami no Matsuei) I will decline to fill the prompt.

Comments

[uakari]

But for srs though, Kurogane and Mokona

[mikkeneko]

1. In some ways it's hard for me to disentangle my feelings about Kurogane and Mokona's relationship from Kurogane and Fai's. In the first half of the manga, Fai and Mokona frequently team up to tease and double-team Kurogane, such that it's hard to remember whether or not Kurogane and Mokona ever interacted much on their own. Mokona's teasing, mischievous nature and Kurogane's straight-man reaction to it made for a lot of fun, laughing times, but would they have had the same kind of dynamic if Fai had not been in the picture? For that matter, would Fai and Kurogane have had the same dynamic if Mokona had not been there to egg Fai on? Might Fai never have crossed that line that he'd drawn for himself, without the encouragement of his partner in crime?

2. The high point of their relationship, in my opinion, is best illustrated in a scene not even in the manga itself. In one of the episodes of the B-train anime adaptation which was Mokona-focused, Mokona is trying to decide which of the gang to sleep with tonight. She rejects Fai because he holds too tight, Sakura because she moves around too much, and then considers Kurogane. Kurogane scoffs and is very "Che! Stupid manjuu," and dismissive, but then he lays down and holds out one arm very pointedly towards her! (His injured expression when she then decides not to cuddle with him either is priceless.)

As in the case with Sakura, their relationship doesn't really have a low point per se. The closest it comes is in the first few days they knew each other, when Kurogane had no patience for a wicked, impudent rabbit-thing that called him names and stole his food, and Mokona had not much reason to be impressed with the brute and the bully that Kurogane appeared to be.

3. Once again with the "I don't even know what popular opinions fandom has" line. I've often seen them portrayed in fanfic as very shallow and one-dimensional, with Mokona throwing crude taunts or ruining Kurogane's possessions for fun, and him roaring and stomping around violently. I think any authors who go that route are rather missing the point. :P

4. This sort of telescopes with things I wish might have happened with Mokona in the series. Someone speculating about a Doctor Who crossover got me really thinking: given how incredibly powerful and valuable Mokona is (having the ability to transport multiple people across dimensions essentually indefinite times) why do they never encounter anyone who tries to capture her for their own use? The closest I can think of is in the Hanshin arc when she gets kidnapped... but the person who snatched her didn't even know what she was.

So I'd kind of have liked to see Mokona get grabbed by someone (like Seishirou, who really could have used a power like Mokona's) and Kurogane to come down on them like the wrath of God.

5. I think that Mokona must have access to some sort of extradimensional clothes outlet which she taps into when they come to a new world. How else would they be able to find clothing appropriate for a six-foot-six linebacker-built man no matter how remote or impoverished a locale they end up in?

6.

"Hey guys, look at the retarded rabbit."

Mokona twitched her ears up, looking around her. She'd been waiting on a park bench while her friends did the shopping; for some reason the store had a strict "No Animals" policy (Mokona wasn't an animal!) and she hadn't been allowed inside.

Sometime during her preoccupation, she had acquired company. The park bench where she'd been sitting was surrounded by kids, anywhere between the ages of eight and eleven and all of them boys. There were four of them, nudging and poking and slapping each other, all of them wearing most unpleasant expressions.

"Naw, it's not a rabbit," one of the boys spoke up. "Look at its gimpy little legs. It's probably a rat."

Mokona sat up straight, huffing indignantly. Rat, indeed! One of the other boys replied by punching the first in the chest, prompting an angry scowl. "That ain't no rat! Are you stupid?"

"It is so!" The first boy made a grab for Mokona, and she didn't dodge in time; she found herself swept up by a pair of grubby hands that squeezed painfully. *Not* the careful way that any of her friends held her. "You know what, we could feed it some rat poison. Then if it dies, it's a rat!"

She squirmed with all her might, and when that failed to win her free, resorted to her voice. "Mokona is not a rat!" she said stridently. "Mokona is Mokona!"

The boys all jumped, and Mokona managed to wriggle free and hopped back onto the bench. They goggled at her. "Holy shit, that rat just talked!" one of them said.

"It must be a robot," another said. "Hey, open it up and find its batteries! My walkman's busted, I need new ones."

"Leave Mokona alone!" She gave them her best glare, but it wasn't very threatening from her vantage point. "Mokona isn't a robot!"

Another punk made a grab for Mokona, which she barely avoided. "Yeah, take it apart and find out what makes it tick!"

Mokona gave a wail and jumped off the park bench, hurrying towards the cover of a nearby hedge. A viciously swung foot almost connected with her, and she was forced to veer hastily off. A forest of legs crowded around her, kicking and stomping, and Mokona gave a quick blast of Secret Technique #24: Reverse Vacuum Blast (Medium Power) which scattered them temporarily. Taking the opportunity, Mokona bolted off down the street.

Ugly shouts and tramping footsteps followed her, and Mokona redoubled her speed as she considered her dilemma. If it came down to it, she probably *could* defend herself more strenuously. Some of Mokona's secret techniques were quite powerful. The problem was, Mokona didn't want to really hurt any kids, even mean punk kids. She wasn't sure she could get them to leave her alone without seriously hurting someone.

A black figure loomed at the end of the block, and Mokona brightened hopefully as she made for it. "Kuro-daddy!" she cried out, and he turned towards her with some surprise. He looked up the block at her pursuers, and his expression darkened thunderously.

Completely winded, Mokona used her last effort to jump into the crook of Kurogane's arms. He caught her and quickly hid her safely in the folds of his black cloak, then turned to the kids who'd followed her. "What the hell do you little punks think you're doing?" he snarled dangerously. His deep baritone voice made the space around his ribcage rumble like a thunderstorm, and Mokona quivered in the safe space as she caught her breath. She peeked out around the corner of her cloak just in time to see her would-be tormenters slink away, spooked and chastened. Apparently scary-face Kurogane could do what Mokona's Secret Techniques couldn't, and banish the bullies without any further need for violence.

"You okay?" Kurogane said abruptly, and Mokona realized he was talking to her.

"Hmph!" Mokona said, regaining some of her composure. "Stupid kids. They called Mokona a rat! Mokona's not a rat, or a bunny, or a robot, either!"

"Nah," Kurogane said in agreement. "Good thing they didn't figure out what you really were."

"What do you mean?" Mokona frowned in confusion, and Kurogane chuckled.

"If they realized you were a pork bun, they might have tried to eat you!"

"HEY!" Mokona squawked, and pinched the side of his neck hard enough to make him wince. "Kuro-bully is just as bad as the rest of them!"

But she made no move to leave the shelter of Kurogane's cloak, and he made no move to evict her, either. As they turned down the street to meet up with the rest of their friends, he laid one warm hand on her head between her ears, to keep her steady and safe.

[zelinxia]

Bawww, I'm grinning like a fool here. You hit all the greatest points I like the manga BeeTrain established: acknowledging that hilarious and adorable scene in the anime, and him teasing her! (*is not surprised*)