Hey all, so I just wanted to write a little something about Iori Fuyusaka and Ei Sekigahara. I was playing through the 13 sentinels and I came up with a little bit of a headcanon while playing the game when Ei told Iori he wished he had the courage to take her hand. And this is basically just that headcanon in paragraph form. Enjoy!
Ayame Park, Sector 4 (1985)
"Ei-Kun... I'll protect you. Let's do this together."
"If only I had the courage to take your hand. That would have been for the best."
The white-haired boy had turned around and was about to run away, however, Iori beat him to it, grabbing onto his left hand with both of hers. "Then I'll take yours, Ei-Kun!" Fuyusaka looked up at Sekigahara, tightening her grasp. Sekigahara let out a small, strained smile and pulled his hand away, turning around. Fuyusaka then decided she needed to be a little more upfront about the fact that she wouldn't let him leave. As Sekigahara turned his back once again, the small girl threw her arms around the boy from behind. "Ei-Kun.." Fuyusaka buried her face into Sekigahara's back. Sekigahara's strained smile loosened up a bit, and he turned around, now facing the girl who tried so hard to keep him from leaving. "You really won't let me leave, huh?" Sekigahara chuckled a little, and Fuyusaka looked him in the eyes. "Ei-Kun... I mean what I said.." She stepped a little closer to the boy, her face flushed a light pink. "I promise.. I'll protect you.." Sekigahara, his face warming a bit, wordlessly wrapped his arms around the girl, bringing her into a tight embrace. Fuyusaka's pink deepened into a dark red. "E-Ei-Kun.." Still, without a word, Sekigahara let go of Fuyusaka and smiled before he ran away. "Ei-Kun.."
Before the Final Battle, Flashback
Sekigahara and Fuyusaka ran into the old, decrepit school building. "Ei-Kun, wait!" Sekigahara turned and looked at the slightly out of breath Fuyusaka silently. "First you show up at school all of a sudden, and then you pull me away to a place like this?" Sekigahara, hands in his pockets, walked behind Fuyusaka, causing her to turn around and gasp. "Stay still.." Sekigahara examined the body of Fuyusaka, despite her obvious discomfort. He then bent down and started feeling her right thigh, causing a blush to coat Fuyusaka's face. "I'm not.. ready for this.." Sekigahara continued to examine Fuyusaka's leg. "Found it." Sekigahara placed a finger on the girl's leg, causing it to glow an ethereal blue. "Odd place to be shot." Sekigahara looked up at the girl he had just examined, noting the confusion on her face. "Woah.. what is that?" Fuyusaka admired the glow on her thigh as she asked her question to the boy. "An activation switch. It's used to call your Sentinel." Sekigahara continued to examine Fuyusaka's leg, her face a little less flushed. "Don't move." With a move of his finger, the blue light on Fuyusaka's leg disappeared. "That should do it." Sekigahara stood up, looking at Fuyusaka. "If what 426 said is true, that's all I need to do." Sekigahara moved to make eye contact with the platinum-blonde. "I registered my Sentinel. Sentinel No. 15. It's a robot used to fight the Deimos. It was mine, but it's in better hands with you." Sekigahara averted his gaze before fully turning his head away from Fuyusaka. "..I really was worthless in the end." Fuyusaka took both Sekigahara's hands in her own, prompting the boy to look in her direction. "Don't say that.." Fuyusaka kept her gaze locked with Sekigahara's. "Fuyusaka.. I.." Sekigahara looked down a little. "What was that, Ei-Kun?" Sekigahara looked up and brought his head down, pressing his lips deep onto Fuyusaka's. Both of them went deeply red before Sekigahara pulled back a bit. "I.. I love you.." Fuyusaka blushed deeper than Sekigahara had seen before. "I... I love you too Ei-Kun.." She took Sekigahara's hands back in his, prompting the boy to lean forward, placing his forehead against Fuyusaka's. "Forget what Morimura said. Believe in yourself." With that, Sekigahara turned around and ran towards the exit of the old school building, leaving Fuyusaka blushing in the hall.
Before the Final Battle, Ashitaba City
There in the abandoned Ashitaba City, with nothing but the distant screams of civilians and the rumbling of mechanical nightmares crushing the roads with their enormous size and weight, stood Iori Fuyusaka. Now armed with the memories of her lover. "Just as Ei-Kun said... I'm going to believe in myself now. Mom... Dad... Miwa-Chan and the rest... I can do it. I can protect you all... It's time!" Fuyusaka, a new-found shine in her eyes, threw her fists down. "I may be just a schoolgirl.. but now.. I'm a schoolgirl with a giant robot!" With the swipe of her hand, she traced over the mark where Megumi Yakushiji had shot her prior, summoning Sentinel No. 15. "Ei-Kun... I promised that I'd protect you. I promised I'd take your hand.. and that's exactly what I'm going to do!" With a beam of light, Iori Fuyusaka was beamed into the pilot's seat of the 2,200-ton mechanical marvel, ready to fight for the ones.. no.. the one she loved.
So that's that! I know it isn't much, but I just wanted to offer up an alternate ending to Iori's story that ended up a little more romantic. I love her original ending, I just figured I'd throw in a bit more fluff.