shuu/kazu
incredible pairing
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ShuuKazu is the name for a pairing involving two characters from Hatoful Boyfriend, Shuu Iwamine and Kazuaki Nanaki. The funny thing is, it's neither a normal ship nor a "they never met in canon" ship. Hatoful has multiple canonical "universes", and in the main canon, their paths never crossed, and Kazuaki died before the events of the game. In the second game, the characters did technically interact, being in the same place at the same time, but there isn't a single scene showing them interact. There is a third canonical timeline, the MIRROR timeline, and it will be the first time that Shuu and Kazuaki actually coexist and work together. But MIRROR might never be finished, so all that's left is the short story, "Preliminary Inspection", and Kazuaki-kun's Shrine Date, that give us a glimpse at ShuuKazu's dynamic, and their attitudes towards one another. Truth be told, from the moment I saw them exchange those two sentences of dialogue in canon, I became thoroughly batshit obsessed.
Kazuaki: "-pant-...-pant-......."
Kazuaki: "Uzune, w-wait..."
Hitori: "We haven't even been here half a day. Here, have some tea."
Kazuaki: "Aah... thank you, Uzune... Maybe I should have Iwamine take a look at me and make sure I'm doing okay..."
Shuu: "I am here to prepare for the field trip. I have no obligation to look after you."
Kazuaki: "Uzuneeee...!"
Kazuaki does something that no other character in Hatoful has ever done. He actively desires to be examined by Shuu. Him saying that maybe he should have Shuu take a look at him is an attempt at initiating conversation with Shuu, a sign that he wants to involve him in the conversation somehow.
What's really riveting is the fact that this is not the action of someone who may simply not know that Shuu is a sicko yet. The three phasianids are all employed as faculty at St. Pigeonation's, so Kazuaki knows Shuu since at least several months. When you think even harder about it, this is the MIRROR timeline, and Shuu is the one who cured Nageki, so Kazuaki may have been familiar with Shuu for as long as Hitori has been in contact with him, which is several years.
But despite knowing one another since possibly several years, this dialogue implies that Shuu and Kazuaki are nothing more than acquaintances.
Kazuaki: "Waaahh!"
Shuu: "What is it? You sound as if you regret ever having been born."
Kazuaki: "Aaah...I...I do think I shouldn't have been born..."
Kazuaki: "Uzuneeee! Iwameanie is picking on me again!"
Shuu is mean, rude, creepy, and unpleasant, yet Kazuaki still pesters him. Most importantly, Kazuaki is the only character aside from Ryuuji to ever refer to Shuu with an affectionate nickname. In Japanese, Kazuaki calls him "Iwamine-kun". In this way, Kazuaki identifies Shuu as a peer and friend.
Given Kazuaki's general personality, many fans would assume that he is such a pants-pissing crybaby that he'd never go out of his way to spend time with a character like Shuu. What a thrilling subversion of expectation, right? Kazuaki-kun is clearly drawn to Shuu for some reason, and when you connect the dots and try to guess why he does so, the thoughts don't stop...
Kazuaki: "I'm really, really sorry... I-I really should just die..."
Shuu: "Do you want to jump off right here?"
Kazuaki: "Nooooo! If I did that I'd die!"
Kazuaki has severe social anxiety. He's so scared of pain and the disapproval of others that he once became a hikikomori. Kazuaki is clumsy, airheaded, and attention-deficit (shown through his difficulty to organize, keep track of time, emotional dysregulation)... He's not friends with Hitori because they have anything in common. They don't. Kazuaki seems to have a tendency to mooch off of Hitori's kindness, and otherwise sees him as a role model.....
or babysitter.
So it seems that Kazuaki has the opposite type of magnetic pull towards Shuu. He wants to be friends with Shuu because he thinks Shuu might be very similar to him. Think about it deeper. He sees Shuu's personality but doesn't give up on trying to be friends with him. So he sees Shuu's coldness and abrasiveness as a facade. Shuu puts on a cold front to shoo others away... Because he's scared of letting somebody in, and ending up having his feelings hurt, in case they leave? It is a real social, psychological phenomenon. People who are scared of abandonment and heartbreak will sabotage their relationships and push others away. Sometimes the motivation is "If I deliberately make someone leave me alone, at least I will feel like I am in control of the situation. If I were to be sincere, vulnerable, and they'd leave, it would have happened against my will, and it would make me feel horrible."
If Kazuaki is aware of this pattern, it means that he is more socially intelligent than many other people. Additionally, if what I just described actually does apply to Shuu, even just a bit, then it also may make you look at Shuu in a different way. Suddenly he stops looking like just a powerful and menacing criminal, and starts looking like a grown-up who never recovered from intense emotional trauma inflicted on him in his childhood.
