I'm surprised I didn't break out in hives writing the Keiichi/Shion one, since that ruins two of my OTPs. Ah, well. This is basically all the ways I would interpret the Higurashi ships, from both sides, for all ships. Except the very young kids, obviously. Rika may have the experience of hundreds of years, but she is ten, you creepy fuckers, and I'm not sexualizing her or pairing her with anyone physically older than she is. Same for Satoko and Hanyuu, and since Rika is distantly related to Hanyuu, well…Rika's only viable pairing is with Satoko. I get that all of these kids are underage, but at least the others are all teenagers who can have crushes and so on with people their own age. Hanyuu's also older than everyone else by such a margin that she shoots right on by Satoko and Rika and lands in the "immortal child, do not ever" sexualization range.
June 18th, 2020
What Keiichi loved about Mion was her strength, her passion. Mion flew at him head-on, with a wicked grin and a challenging grip that didn't let go. Mion fought like a champion, someone he never needed to hold back for or change his ways.
That had always scared him about girls, and what had held him back from pursuing his relationship with Mion for so long. Would he have to act –different? Girls were different. He didn't know what to do with them.
And Mion…his friendship with Mion was so easy, so comfortable. Clenched fists and sly grins, comradeship and rivalry –it was natural in ways no other friendship before Hinamizawa had ever been. Would he have to change that?
It scared him. He didn't want to.
That was the fear that had held him back with the doll in all those cycles, the cowardice that had him switching it off to Rena instead of Mion, why he took the easiest course instead of the one with risk.
Mion pushed him to be better. She took one look at the soft city boy he had been and showed him a rough, rugged world filled with fun and childish fears, of pranks and play that lasted for so, so much longer than anything else he had ever known. Under Mion's guidance as club leader, Keiichi hardened and became a warrior that, though he only knew it in a few cycles, could face down against a whole group of blooded professionals.
What Keiichi loved about Rena was how they fit together. Whether in the cycles with the sparks flying atop the school roof or the quiet ones that ended in blood and frenzy in his eyes, Rena was right there with him, quiet and unassuming or brutal and confident.
She was a ditz with a weakness for cheesy lines, someone who always smiled brightly at him and wished him good morning on the way to school, someone who blushed easily but had a strong right hook when she got embarrassed. When he took the lead, Rena was the first one to follow, and she was always there, backing him up.
She was a white-hot brand of a woman, indomitable strength and icy blue eyes that wouldn't back down or yield an inch when she stuck to her chosen course, a maiden all in black atop the trashyard heap who stared him down and cut his arguments to pieces. He, Keiichi, Magician of the Mouth, was struggling for the words to convince her, to tell her what they all knew, and she spat her own words back, clashing like swords in the air until he slowly, desperately, backed her into a corner and disarmed her with his honest words and caring heart.
She was a force of nature, a cleaving blade that came down like a thunderbolt and made his wrists go numb when it slammed against his bat, when her eyes were blank and crazed with madness, and she was a slithering ribbon in the dark as they fought against other opponents, hitting to disable or kill with equal determination, the warrior who would not stop until she stood upon a mountain of corpses or was struck down in her turn.
They fit together in those times, him with his bat hurtling towards her blind spot as she turned her back to present it, her with her force of will and strength pushing through the crowd to fight at his side, the way they grinned at each other with dripping water pistols in the sticky June heat as their hearts beat as one, and faster, caught up in the thrill of battle with an equal and the joy of supporting a friend.
What Keiichi loved about Shion was her contradictions. She met him with a smile and a soft outstretched hand, but underneath that tender green leaf was poison, sharp and stinging. Her delicate femininity was the sword and shield behind which glared a demon, fierce and unyielding as an inferno and with an ominous smirk that could cut glass.
She knew what she was doing, every second of every day, and her coquettish fluttering eyelashes always, always hid a wicked grin, posturing with velvet gloves to hide her iron fists. It was easy to go with the flow with Shion: he'd nod and smile, or else he'd bumble along in her wake anyways, so irresistible was her planning and so adamant was her will.
She was lovely, but her loveliness was like that of a sword, pristine and shining but sharp-edged, deadly, ready to cut at a moment's glance or a mere second of mishandling. Her loveliness was poison, bright and enticing, but an exotic sting that would lull you into oblivion before you knew what was happening.
What Keiichi loved about Satoshi was their resonance. The duo had a lot in common: their shared weapon, their shared uniform with only a few different color changes, their position as the only two boys their age in the entire Hinamizawa class.
Other similarities were there too, subtle and unconscious. Satoshi and Keiichi were both fiercely protective of the younger club members, of their family. Keiichi echoed Satoshi in so many ways, so many cycles, taking up Satoshi's weapon to defend himself in the world where he went mad and bludgeoned Mion and Rena to death, going home with that bat and isolating himself just as Satoshi had to avoid the consequences of his murder overflowing to his friends. Keiichi echoed him too in Rika's least favorite cycle, the cycle where Satoko was worn to a haunted whisper, the cycle where Keiichi's protective instincts were fired as Satoshi's had been and he was the one to stain his hands with murder, with the very same bat and for the very same reason, even revenging himself upon the husband of the woman Satoshi had killed for tormenting Satoko as the wife had done.
But in the cycles where they actually meet, their love is comfortable, easy, a casual thing of shared space and draped arms, two young males amongst a horde of females, resting and empathizing together. Keiichi helps push Satoshi out of his shell, a little, becoming Satoshi's first male friend, and Satoshi gives Keiichi a sense of belonging and camaraderie.
Its shy, tentative, but the affection and passion slowly pushes them closer together. It's the first flush of summer love, quiet and demure and warm, something bracing and tingling like the sea breeze, something to make hearts leap and flutter and smiles bloom shyly but surely.
What Mion loves about Keiichi is how he was more than just her equal, someone who could truly challenge her if and when she pushed him. Keiichi is someone who burns red-hot, and that passion is directed towards her and her alone, sometimes, when they play their club games.
He asks for her orders and he follows, grinning at her with a heady mix of adrenaline and excitement, and she grins back, heart fluttering over how he is so confident in her, how unlike all the other expectations that crush her life in their grip, this expectation is pure, clean, worshipful.
Keiichi believes her to be the best leader he has ever followed, someone clever, wise, cunning, and it is a belief that is solid and unshakeable (as she finds out sometimes, curled up in a dirt cell as he calls her sister by her name and vows to never, ever stop believing in her strength) and nigh-inhuman. She feels superhuman, sometimes, when he looks at her with those shining eyes and says she can totally do whatever there is to be done, because she's Mion, not Mion Sonozaki, not heir to the Sonozaki Family, but just Mion, she feels like she can stretch her hand to the stars and pluck them out of the sky with ease, feels like she can drag the world to lie at her feet and it will, because she is that strong, that perfect, that unconquerable.
She wishes, sometimes, she can truly be herself with him, and its why she wants the doll, why she treasures the doll in the cycles where he gives it to her. She wants Keiichi to see her as the cute girl she is, wants to spend time with him and have him shower her with more of that attention, go shopping together and an amusement park, and all the normal things kids of their age do romantically, without being the Sonozaki heir and with all of that undivided admiration shining in his eyes.
What Mion loves about Rena is how supportive she is, how Rena can be her steady rock and her smiling sun all at once. Rena has been there longer than everyone except Shion, been the first to wake Mion up from her boring everyday school activities and make her know the joy of being friends with someone her own age, of being able to have fun with someone who could keep up with her.
Rena was soft and gentle and warm, healing the leftover pain from Shion's absence, from the fact that Mion's family had torn her first and only companion away from her and locked Shion far, far away, only letting her come back on holidays and vacations, and even then, reluctantly and rarely. Rena gave her companionship, and listened attentively whenever Mion had a problem, and always had something wise and logical to say, some good piece of advice to give.
Rena was sensitive: she knew things without those things needing to be said, she gave Mion space when she needed space and affection when she needed affection, whether Mion knew she needed these things or not. And Rena was always right, always supportive, always knowing when to do this and when it was better to do that.
What Mion loves about Satoshi is how he is so kind-hearted. Even though her family is so cruel to him, even though all she can do is put up a front, smile and give him a safe place, a club where he and Satoko can play and no one will hate them, he still smiles at her and "muu"s, doesn't hold a grudge or hide any resentment. He knows that she's not like her relatives and she'd stop them if she could, that she cares for him and wants him to have a better life.
Satoshi inspires her, makes her think about what it would be like if she faced Batcha down and shouted at her like Satoshi does for Satoko, defied Batcha and told her to bring Shion back now, to bring her back and love her the same way she does Mion. That's what Satoshi does, that's how he gets his bruises and cuts, shielding his sister and taking the resulting punishment. If Mion wasn't such a coward, if she dared those same bruises and being locked in a cell or losing her place as heir, she might be able to help Shion like Satoshi helps Satoko.
And when she tells Satoshi this, he's gentle, telling her that its okay, that she is strong and brave in her own way and its not strange to be too scared to do things. He tells her he's always afraid, but having Satoko be hurt scares him more than the thought of pain, and that understanding makes her hug him tight, and in the dark nights of cycle after cycle, makes her cry as she cradles the place where her three fingernails had been, cry and apologize to Shion over and over, apologize to Satoshi's memory, apologize for everything that she cannot help with him gone now.
What Shion loved about Keiichi was his mind. It's a strange thing to love someone for, but how transcendently idiotic he can be, it always makes her smile and laugh. Its so fun to trick him, to watch him fluster and blush and wave his arms in confusion and awkwardness. He's a dupe that falls for her tricks over and over again, but never holds a grudge for it, always grinning and threatening her afterwards, or not even threatening her at all, just scratching the back of his head and sheepishly chuckling as Mion roared at him.
She loves how normal he makes her feel, how she can study with him and do all the stupid cutesy girl things she could've done with Satoshi-kun with him, and no one cares, no one will stop or even dislike them for it, except maybe her jealous rivals for his heart. She loves how Keiichi doesn't see her body and assume her friendly flirtiness implies an obligation, that she's interested in more than just a relationship, that he can ask and take things. Despite his perversity, Keiichi takes her friendly interactions for what they are: friendliness, letting Shion set the pace and tamely following along in her wake.
And every so often, Keiichi will do something that brings her first love to mind, and blindside her out of nowhere with a pang of longing and love. She sees his devotion, his unshakeable faith in Mion in some cycles, how he looks what he thinks is his best friend straight in the eye and tells her that any murders she may have committed don't matter, that she is his best friend and that will never, ever change.
She wants that devotion for herself.
What Shion loves about Rena is her creativity. Rena is one of those moe girls you think can't possibly be real, but she is: everything she does has a cute little touch, a little something of panache and frills. The contents of her lunchboxes are cut into cute animal shapes, and her art projects are always rounded and adorable, a pop of eccentricity giving them extra endearment right along with the artist.
Rena has an unyielding passion that matches Shion's, and even in the worlds where nothing comes of that chill running down her spine at the bus stop, the chill that whispers that however vicious Shion's demon is, Rena hides a far greater demon within her mind, Shion still recognizes Rena as an equal opponent and comrade. Rena doesn't give in: she has to be beat down, just like Shion.
But unlike Shion, Rena never crumbles under the pressure of the world trying to crush her spirits, always shining brighter and smiling wider, as if in defiance. When she's told she's unladylike, she laughs, and when she's scolded for bringing home trash from the dump, she giggles modestly and strokes whatever garbage she brought home, like it was a compliment. When bad spirits drag her down, she smiles brighter for others, holding them and comforting them.
Shion is not exempt to that, and part of her spirit clings to Rena with everything that she is, loving her as fiercely as she loves her silently, knowing she can never say what she feels. There are many reasons: cultural convention, stronger rivals, lingering embarrassment, shyness, a dislike of being perceived as weak, but it is what it is, and she never tells.
What Shion loved about Satoshi was, well, everything. She loved how he disarmed her normally acute mimicry of her twin, how he noticed but didn't care, how she could sometimes almost be herself around him and he wouldn't judge her, not like everyone and everything she had ever known.
She loved his fierce streak of protectiveness, how even outmatched and weaker he would still fight for what he believed was right. Her heart ached for him when she saw those bruises and bumps, and her newly-grown nails dug into her palms like claws as she envisioned the bitch that caused them.
If Satoshi had not murdered Tamae Hojo on Watanagashi of 1982, Shion surely would have by 1983.
In the worlds where she doesn't forget herself to madness, she smothers Satoko with affection, and her heart thrills when she thinks of how Satoshi will come home and see the people he loves best being so happy and carefree, and then the joyous disbelieving shout before they both run to him and smother him in hugs…
Her attitude towards Satoko stirs an unexpected motherly urge in Shion, and she dreams of starting a family with Satoshi, of watching that tender care and fierce protectiveness day by day as they have children of their own, how she has found a family who truly accepts her and loves her for who she is, how Satoshi will love her and their children will love her and their wicked, mischievous aunt Satoko will love her, and they all will be together and happy.
What Satoshi loves about Keiichi, when he meets him, is how clever Keiichi is, how comfortable and welcoming he makes this new Hinamizawa Satoshi comes back to. Keiichi is right there with a friendly smile and a handshake that very first day, and his amazing charisma and boundless energy enraptures Satoshi, like the sun. It's too bright to look at, but at the same time one can hardly dare look away.
Satoshi drinks in that light, that warmth, and he laughs with Keiichi, and he plays with Keiichi in the club games, exhilaration and dirt and sweat and pure, clean fun, and his heart flutters when Keiichi wraps an arm around his shoulders and laughs, when a friendly knee nudges his own and Keiichi grins and winks sidelong behind his fan of cards.
Their love is something shy and warm and innocent, new and awkward but at the same time so natural, casual touches that shift just a little bit closer when their eyes meet and their hearts jump, but at the same time it is bright and enthusiastic and sharp, like fireworks, Keiichi pulling Satoshi along and firing him up until he too laughs with joy and exuberance, until they go at the club games with the same enthusiasm and make an unbeatable team when they join together.
What Satoshi loved about Mion was her bluntness. Mion told you if she didn't like you, she didn't waste time with sullen glares and sidelong glances and harsh whispers. If you did something to make her mad or offend her, Mion's solution was a right hook and a left cross, not ostracization, and she loved as fiercely as she fought, scowling and bristling like an alpha wolf at those that dared to attack or whisper about those she cared for.
There was nothing of pretense about Mion, no falsehoods or deceptions, except when they played club games, and it was such an unmitigated relief, when the worst consequences of him making a mistake was a stupid drawing scrawled on his face or a weird, frilly crossplay costume that he only had to wear until the games were over. Mion saw that relief, that release of tension, and she had organized this club purely for that purpose, had created a place just for him and Satoko to have fun in and feel protected and safe, to play with their friends. She gave up her time, her care, and some of her valuable games for them, and never a hint of weariness or regret crossed her face.
What Satoshi loves about Shion is a sense of belonging, a camaraderie. They are both outcasts, they are both ostracized by Hinamizawa, the place in which they live. They're both isolated, but Shion is peppery and sly, not taking that lying down. Satoshi's not stupid, though he is a bit airheaded: he saw the twitch of fear that crossed her face when they were confronted by the police and she admitted her real name, he saw the bandages on her fingers when they met a few days later. He doesn't know what happened, but he knows it was painful, and he knows, instinctively perhaps, that she had done it for him.
He was never around long enough to find out the details, but he knew that much.
Satoshi would never be so brave as that, to not hide meekly away in his apartment or some other place but instead boldly march outside and hide his unlawful presence by deception and sheer bravado. Having a twin might make doing so easy, but the fear, that twitch, those nails –Satoshi only had to face beatings and harsh glares at his failures.
But Shion was brave, and she was beautiful, and she was just like him –how could he not fall in love with her? How could anyone help it?
And her care, the fondness in the way she teased him, how she carelessly told him things he didn't know and scolded him in a way that never made him feel afraid (and wasn't that a rare thing), how she skipped along with her hands clasped behind her back and her nose in the air, relentlessly mocking the things he too disliked, but with far more wit and acuity…Satoshi never knew her long enough to truly plunge head over heels in love, but he was never far from it when the Syndrome took him.
What Rena loved about Keiichi was how well they fit together. She loved making sweets, he loved eating them. She loved playing in the trash heap, he loved showing off how strong he was (occasionally earning himself some embarrassment) at pulling things out for her. She loved sweet words and cheesy lines, and he was from the big city and had read more than she'd ever seen in her life. He could repeat them verbatim, too, and sometimes liked to tease her on their morning walks by doing so.
The world was quiet when they were together in the morning like that, just the two of them walking and chattering easily about everything and nothing at all. They talked about the weather, about the club, about their games, about everyone else in Hinamizawa, about his father's job as an artist, about how she coaxed her own to find a job of his own, about the things they read, about the homework in class, about the things Keiichi had seen but she had only heard of, about the good and bad things she had seen and done when she was in the city, too. Those talks were like a web binding them together, slowly drawing closer and tighter, but it was something they never noticed until they looked at one another and felt their hearts turn over.
Rena loved that he never treated her like something fragile, like someone he needed to hold back for. In the club games, they both went full-throttle, and there was always something so incredibly exhilarating about facing off against someone like they were your archrival while still knowing the two of you were the best of friends. It got even better when the club games took them outside, how they ran and jumped and fought and ducked and dodged, laughing and vowing threats at one another with scraped knees and grungy faces.
And in more dangerous times, it was a thrill and a flutter in her heart as she hacked and cleaved her way through the Yamainu threatening her friends, knowing and trusting always that Keiichi was right behind her and he was, a solid warm presence she could almost feel against her back as he stuck to her blind spot like glue and they whirled around each other in a deadly pirouette of blade and bludgeon, smacking and slashing at their enemies in the dark.
What Rena loved about Mion was how Mion trusted her, how Mion implicitly told her in every movement and thought that Rena wasn't filthy, wasn't someone who made bad choices, was someone pure and bright and to be cherished. Mion made her feel happy, feel like the mask she wore was genuine for a few precious moments at a time. As their friendship progressed, not only did Mion make Rena forget that mask, she even peeled it away for hours at a time, creating a wonderland of fun and friends that had Rena laughing with utter sincerity, her heart as light and shining as a soap bubble.
And Mion did more than peel away Rena's mask, she erased it, eroding it day by fun-filled day, showering Rena with affection and challenge and childish play, filling her with wonder and love and making the grey, sad days a rarity rather than the norm, those days when sometimes the dark cloud in her heart covered over everything. But it was like the summer thunderstorm, there and gone in a night, and Rena always greeted Mion with a smile that only grew brighter at whatever ridiculously outrageous extravagance Mion planned or had to tell her about.
Mion made her happy, and more than that, Mion made her feel not only as if she belonged, but that belonging was a part of her, as much as her own skin and hair. The Hinamizawa Club wouldn't be complete without Rena, that much was carved in stone and in the flesh of Mion's heart, and Rena felt that with every touch and smile.
What Rena loved about Shion was how Shion struggled and clung and didn't give up, not even a little bit, no matter how awful the world was to her. When Rena hid her feelings behind a brightly smiling mask, Shion got mad, got furious, hissing and spitting like a cat with her eyes blazing in righteous anger, nails clenched into her fists and teeth bared, down and dirty and angry, always ready to fight for what was right.
And when things didn't go their way, when Shion was battered and beaten by the cruel choices of the world, she crystalized all her feelings, all her rage and sorrow, into a gleaming facet of her heart and never let them go, never forgot her feelings or allowed time to wash them away, but held on tightly, choosing to suffer rather than move on, preserving all of these feelings against the day when she might finally be able to realize them again. It wasn't a refusal to look at the future, it was a love that treasured these things so much that Shion refused to ever erase or cheapen them by forgetfulness and leaving them behind.
And when everything was torn away, Shion did not yield or fall with those memories, but rather stood defiant to the last, sharing her passion and her strength and her fire with all those around her, striding forward first into danger to either shield others with her body or serve as the head of a phalanx, and not caring about either outcome, only that those she loved would be kept safe.
What Rena loved about Satoshi was how he knew, like no one else she knew, what it felt like to be struck by the curse. It was a crawling, itching, creeping fear, one you couldn't express to others without looking deranged or attention-seeking, but she knew, and he knew too, what it felt like. It was a silent comradeship, a feeling expressed more in silent nods and looks, of matching bruise-colored shadows under the eye and weary smiles.
She admired his mind, how Satoshi could juggle various tasks but still sometimes come up hilariously shorthanded, how his ditzy nature sometimes overcame him despite his good technical skills. She loved how Satoshi could still smile naturally after everything that had happened to him, how he could laugh and play with her and the others and still make her laugh, with his clumsy ways and his shy, heartfelt smile.
What Rika loved about Satoko was her resilience, her ingenuity, her bravery. Rika had lived hundreds of years trapped in the same maze, but she still looked to Satoko for inspiration, for strength and courage. If Satoko could overcome a slew of harsh parents, of adults who beat, humiliated, and ripped her mind open with fear and degradation, and turn into the smirking, sly, spunky and confident Satoko that Rika knew and loved, what was the mere fate of death? How could Rika complain when her every cycle merely ended in a greyed-out haze, and she just watched as her friends committed their crimes? What claim did she have to suffering, when Satoko had endured so much?
It was frustrating, though. She had the experience of an adult, but not the mind or body, and she yearned for Satoko in ways that her mind and body could not comprehend. She wanted to stay with Satoko always, in every cycle, wanted to protect her and be strong for her, wanted to cradle and shelter her and, it must be confessed, prompt the curse towards her wicked relatives.
There have been worlds in which Rika watched, as Keiichi caved in Teppei Hojo's skull with a metal bat. She watched, and she smiled.
And the worlds of living with Satoko, every world except for the most unspeakable one, the one where that uncle returned, living with her as though they were relatives or even husband and wife, Rika loved that too. Their had such a comfy domesticity, were so close and comfortable with each other, in ways that Rika knew would not be possible as the two of them aged. But for now, they moved together in perfect sync, always knowing what was in which place within the outbuilding they had made their home, always knowing what chores needed to be done and what kind of smile needed to be offered to greet the day and each other.
What Satoko loved about Rika was her devotion, her care and wisdom. Alone out of everyone she knew and loved, Rika had stayed, and would always stay. Satoko knew this instinctively, somehow, unaware that Rika had truly stayed a hundred lifetimes with her in their house, but still feeling the weight of all those loving summers in her heart. Rika was always there to offer wisdom just a touch beyond what a child of their age would know, her beautiful eyes large and dark with secret knowledge.
They would giggle and poke each other on their futons, some nights, as Satoko asked question after question, each one more ludicrous than the last, and Rika would somehow answer them all as correctly as such ridiculous questions could be. Those times were like being at a sleepover, warm and snuggly in her pajamas and with her bestest best friend in the world by her side, and it was an innocent, childish sort of fun that would form the jewel of her childhood memories, in the sparse fragments that the Great Hinamizawa Disaster did not happen and Satoko lived past her childhood.
Rika was her sidekick, the innocent blinking eyes that hid a smug compliance with Satoko's tricks, the little angel look that so often got them out of trouble. Rika was her rock, the one that always backed Satoko up when it counted, more often than she knew, more often than she could understand in those dark early nights when she clung to Rika and wept, and Rika somehow knew exactly what to say to soothe her into a dreamless sleep finally free of nightmares.
10.53 AM, USA Central Time