APPLICATIONS | 2012; 01

[tripled_mods]

THIS APPLICATIONS POST IS CLOSED. Please direct your attention to the new one here!

Comments

yoite » nabari no ou » (5/?)

[insensate]

As for his grumpy moods? Well, like Miharu, Yoite occasionally unleashes this blunt side to him (though this is not always grumpy). If something pops up that he doesn't want to do and someone tells him to do it (like in the situation where he was told to go after Flosetti, a target they were protecting), he will tell them no quite directly! Similarly, he also possesses a kind of strange reluctance and inability to accept failure (like failing to sneak into Hanabusa's house), so he attempts to try to cover it up with words. Yoite is also visibly flustered on more than one occasion, and that occurs when someone is particularly kind to him or embarrasses him/humiliates him. In this way, it proves that Yoite has a heart that can, again, be touched despite his deep reluctance.

In order to finish this section at all, it is important to also detail his personality when it comes to Miharu:

In the beginning, Yoite possessed no trouble clearing off his teammates and injuring Miharu. After all, they first met when the Banten ninja rushed to the aid of the Fuuma Clan – and Yoite was, quite simply, dispatched to deal with the continuing nuisances that Banten posed to obtaining and securing Fuuma’s kinjutsusho. No, it was only when Yoite was called off by Yukimi, did he ultimately decide to back-off (though, really, Fuuma-sensei’s appearance also had a large part in his being called back). Similarly, due to the quickly gained knowledge of what he holds (the Shinrabanshou), Yoite also deemed it necessary to later confront him on his own time – never mind spare his life. Even so, it isn’t to say that Miharu’s allegiance and willingness to use the Shinrabanshou to make Yoite disappear was ever gained fully or, at least, fairly at the outset. Yoite, being as desperate as he was to escape having ever existed, abducted and subsequently threatened Miharu. He claimed he had placed his ki inside of his friends/teammates, and would not hesitate to kill them by allowing it to erupt if he did not agree. Though it was a massive bluff, Miharu eventually agreed to help him. In this way, Miharu actually began to overcome bits and pieces of his indifference – he didn’t want to be responsible for the death of those people who had been kind to him, but, at the same time, he hadn’t wanted to be involved with them in the first place. So, in this way, Yoite grants the beginning push toward Miharu’s “opening” to others. However, what Yoite hadn’t intended? Well, it was the eventual connection that Miharu would forge with him. Miharu would eventually become to believe that he was “another me” – a person who suffered in the same way he did. That deep sadness was understood by Miharu as time went on, despite Yoite’s attempts to scare him away from him. However, it is always best to show. Not tell.

Following the initial incident, a good chunk of time would go by before they would meet again. While it would not take nearly as long as expected, Yoite and Yukimi were tasked with looking after Fog Blue’s target – the very same individual that Banten was sent to assassinate by them. While it might have been luck or might have been manipulated circumstance – the slow “bundling together” of Yoite and Miharu would begin to form more visibly, here. In either case, Banten agreed to the mission because they were promised another kinjutsu for a successful completion. Meanwhile, it can be speculated that the Kairoushuu was sent here partially to block that effort (even though they initially appeared unneeded and were told as much by their assignment). Even so, even at this point, Miharu heeded both Yoite’s words and the words of Fuuma: by obtaining these scrolls, he might be able to use the Shinrabanshou effectively – or rid of it. For both these reasons, Miharu did not go against the continuing efforts to seize them, especially when Yoite was able to clearly define to him how they operate. But, while enacting their individual roles and missions, it was inevitable that Yoite and Miharu would bump back into each other. As Miharu ran to tell Thobari of the presence of the Kairoushuu at the convention, he was captured by Yukimi and Yoite. Unsurprisingly, though Yukimi expressed surprise that Yoite decided to come, it is possible that Yoite knew bits and pieces of how the convention operated. Similarly, despite Thobari’s efforts to rid of the target – and the eventual brouhaha that ensued as Flosetti was shuffled out of the room – his assistant once again told off Yukimi and Yoite, calling them “lowly ninja.” Coupled with Miharu’s presence and the insult, it’s quite unsurprising giving all that has been detailed thus far, for Yoite’s “grumpiness” to appear. He refused to go after them, even despite Yukimi’s request for him to do so. Predictably enough, he’d much rather use this opportunity to confer with Miharu on the standing of the Kairoushuu when it comes to the kinjutsusho than go after the ungrateful. So, faux-fighting, they exchange information that allows them to get a clear standing on what’s occurring on either side. Ultimately, Yoite opts to “even the playing field” and surrenders the inevitability of garnering the kinjutsusho over to Banten. In this way, it already begins to show the earliest stages of plotting between the two, outside the initial agreement. Working together toward Yoite’s goal (and Miharu’s, eventually, to be freed of the Shinrabanshou), it displays the sort of secretive cooperation and conferring that goes on between them. In fact, it is Yoite that alerts him to the fact that they’re being watched, so they might amp up their fighting believably. Skipping through this a bit, their bond becomes a little more apparent, especially when Miharu warns him that his heart can be read by Oda, and Yoite only ceases rampaging when Miharu steps in.

As you note, this kind of continuing back-and-forth eventually would come to reveal a bond that was beyond friendship, but is also unable to be defined. Though it starts with a singular idea, it grows. Yoite becomes genuinely worried for Miharu on more than one occasion, and goes out of his way to try to do him favors (retrieving the kinjutsusho for example). Even though it is partially for his wish, it is also for the person. Even though he initially battles against Miharu's kindness, Yoite's care for him also eventually slips through. This is especially notable when he bandages Miharu's feet, and when he apologizes to him on the occasion for "being heavy" when he is hoisting him up or even opting to clear out missions entirely due in part to his desperately wanting to keep up his Death God reputation, but also because it makes it easier on Miharu. So, while at first it was for pure profit, it begins to change and evolve slowly into something past a friendship and past differences - Miharu only came to genuinely want to save Yoite, and Yoite came to genuinely only want to see Miharu happy in the future. While the initial promise was kept, the reasons behind it gradually morphed. Miharu's persistence and Miharu's willingness to even think of him made Yoite, in the end, happy. Similarly, his lack of questioning and his plain determination and really - care for Yoite also added to that. It was natural that Yoite, even despite his trembling heart, would eventually reciprocate that willingness in his own way.