furuba

fruits basket

kureno

the rooster

relations

a twisted web

essays

in depth thoughts

exeunt

to freedom

Uotani and Akito

"I'm the one who decided to do this."

When Kureno meets Uotani Arisa it's a sort of love at first sight. The way he acts around her is completely different from the way he presents himself to Akito. What exactly is it that makes the two bonds different and is one side of Kureno more real than the other

With Akito, Kureno is not acting for himself. He is either acting as Akito's shadow or assistant and while they have a sexual relationship. They are not in love. Akito seeks comfort in Kureno and he allows it because he promised he would. He loves her, even if he isn't in love with her. Instead he holds back his feelings so that she can express hers without fear of rejection. Kureno with Akito is a more subdued and guarded version of himself.

When he meets Uotani for the first time he is out on his own. She seems him being clumsy and panicking over dropping things and she laughs at him. Unlike Akito when she laughs at him she's not doing it in a cruel or mocking way. Instead she's laughing because she's happy. Kureno is used to dealing with Akito at her worst and to hear an honest laugh is refreshing. Certainly that is not the only thing that created the intangible connection between them. From the start Kureno learns he doesn't have to hide any aspect of himself from Uo because she finds is clumsiness charming.

Kureno's connection with Akito was formed through loneliness and years of isolation. They came together in a moment of desperation and remained together because of an unbreakable promise. Any connection Akito and Kureno might have had was buried under the obligation to remain by her side. With Uo it was different, in just two meetings the bond between them was nearly as strong as the bond he had with Akito. He was able to make a choice of whether or not to date Uo because there was no obligation to do so which allowed their love to form naturally from that intangible connection.