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TL;CR
TL;CR MEME
1. Comment with your character.
2. Receive comments from others.
3. Reply to their comments with long ballads and explanations of your characters' relationship throughout the game.
4. Endure everyone else reading your comment like the vultures they are.
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anyway this is complicated, as is fitting for Mikazuki Munechika!
Like everyone else, Kara started this whole thing out without a clue who Lune was and feeling very disgruntled about the situation. He was… curious at first, seeing how quickly Tsuru got attached to him? But he didn’t like the vague answers to all the questions, or the way he was so relaxed about them being trapped in this village that he threw them a welcome party. It seemed like a waste of time, when they were apparently brought there for a reason? Kara was anxious to get it over with and get home to his actual mission, but neither of the signs would give them any information with which to do whatever they were supposed to be doing, and nothing on how to get back, either.
It wasn’t until Tsuru died that he started to feel suspicious, especially after seeing that Tsuru had given Lune his necklace. Kara knows him - he knows that Tsuru is too dedicated to his aesthetic to lose any piece of it or to entrust it with someone after such a short time. Kara saw it as indication that Tsuru did, for some reason, trust Lune, and took it to mean that he should, too. So he kept an eye on Lune whenever he appeared in the village, and always went to him if he needed something (though honestly he would have done that anyway, since Sol was being a little bitch as far as he was concerned).
And, of course, there was always something familiar about him whenever they met. I think Kara realized somewhere in week 2 that it had to be Mikazuki, but because he didn’t see any need to say so, he just… didn’t. Kara was the only one at any kind of disadvantage with information here, so it didn’t matter? He would have gone on not saying anything for a while, too, if not for being given the partner role. It felt right in that moment to say something, and though he never particularly liked Jiji? He was kind of relieved to have another sword there, to have someone who understood how much of a shock it was to lose Tsurumaru - and how much it hurt. Mikazuki would also understand why Kara needed to get home so badly and why he was so determined to succeed.
And because he knew for sure at that point it was Jiji, he started making treats for him! Not even only when he wanted an audience, but just. In general, because he knows how Jiji is. He didn’t even send Tsuru quite so many snacks, so he was justified in being jealous haha. Anyway he liked hearing those small updates on Tsuru, and he trusted Mikazuki to put their situation into terms Kara could more easily understand, as a sword. No human ever quite seemed to get where they were coming from - for good reason, but still. This is why he never really asked for important information from Sol, even after their spar and subsequent reevaluation of their opinions on each other.
(He also may have lowkey tried to not hate Sol, once he found out Lune was Mikazuki, because if a sword trusts him he must be okay? It didn’t quite work because of that alone but eventually they got there.)
Also Kara never said it, but he did appreciate Mikazuki’s attempts to recreate Mitsutada’s food - both for the party (only after realizing it was Jiji lmao) and when he holed up in the volcano. It was a little weird, to get an offering like that? They were never exactly close, after all, and a few weeks stranded in a village didn’t change that. But it was almost like home, and Kara is a nostalgic bitch who is really weak to that shit. If he were a better person, he would have thanked Jiji, but alas, he is not.
Also thank god he didn’t send a white lily, or Kara would have come for blood HAHA
So anyway! Both because he knew the requirements to end the whole situation and because he knew Lune’s identity, Kara was comfortable volunteering to take over Four and Miki’s role in the village. As he said multiple times over the course of the game, Kara believed it would be better to kill the corrupted than leave them that way - and so he stuck to his guns (sword?) on that one and stepped up when necessary. It sucked, but a mission’s a mission - Mikazuki understood that, but Kara suuuuper resented him for the task that followed. It made him extremely uncomfortable, given who was left at the time - but it worked well enough? So whatever. Moving on.
Lune and Sol were going to be corrupted! Which, of course, meant that they would have to be eliminated as well, per Kara’s own principles. Mikazuki seemed to understand that, but at the same time, because of Roxas, he made it clear that as long as Roxas was still alive, he would stand in their way.
Kara hated that.
He knew Mikazuki would do what he wanted - he always has. But Kara thought it was still for the sake of the mission, in the end? He never thought Jiji would actively get in their way, so he didn’t necessarily mind giving Jiji time for his one last task. Then again, he knew Mikazuki’s power. He knew they shouldn’t wait for him to be fully corrupted to attack - so he did actually look for Jiji, before that Friday came around. Of course he didn’t find him, but Kara tried. If asked, he’d probably say it’s because Roxas was still there, because Mikazuki made it clear he wouldn’t go until Roxas did. But he was certainly willing to try.
When that failed, he went to find Mikazuki on Friday, and well. Some things sure did happen. The whole fight was an exercise in frustration, and Kara got his ass kicked six ways to Sunday, but frankly? He knew that would happen. He went in accepting that Jiji would break him, but he was determined to break Jiji along the way, because later, they would both understand. It wouldn’t be so bad.
And then! Corrupted Jiji opened his big mouth!
Like, forget the stabbing in the heart. Like I said, he’d accepted that Mikazuki would break him and only wanted to make sure that Jiji would go down with him. But it turns out the things he said got to Kara a little too well - enough to provoke him into using the meteors to TPK (sorry, North), and enough that he… couldn’t really forgive Mikazuki, after they were all revived.
That was definitely not Kara’s intent. He genuinely thought it would be fine, that they would move on like they’d just completed another mission and now needed to move onto the next. But as Jiji so loved to point out, he had a very human, very emotional heart as a result of gaining this form. If it weren’t for that - yeah, maybe they could have moved forward without any further issues! The real problem was that Kara served the Date clan for generations, even when all the other Dategumi had left, for whatever reason, so he’s probably more attached to the family than all of them… which means insulting them is personal for him.
The funny thing is, he honestly thought he’d be able to forgive even that, because he knew it was the corruption speaking more than Jiji himself. But the moment he saw Mikazuki, Kara felt so wretched that he knew he couldn’t do it. Maybe someday, he’ll be able to forgive, but not now. Not yet. It’s still too raw.
Aside from that… haha! Kara is still grateful that Mikazuki was here, that Tsuru had someone familiar to keep him company even after he was broken, and even someone to be romantic with, since it made him happy. He was grateful to have someone nearby who understood where he was coming from, after Tsuru was gone. Even now, he’s grateful for all that Mikazuki tried to help him in the village. It’s just going to take a while for the (metaphorical) wounds from corrupted Jiji to heal and the scars to fade before Kara can really face him again without feeling stabs of anger and resentment.
So. No more treats for Jiji for a while :(
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I’ve told you this before, but Kara definitely didn’t get a good first impression of Lili! He walked in on her and Kaoru fighting over the bed of all things, so he immediately decided both of them were dumb as bricks and had their priorities as mixed up as they could possibly be, but if they wanted to waste their time, who was he to stop them? And later she came after him when he just wanted to pet his chicken, insisting on helping him with the magic even when he didn’t want her help or anything to do with her at all - and in so doing, she pushed a little too far. So he decided she wasn’t just stupid - she was annoying, and he wanted nothing to do with her.
Then the party happened! He thought the whole thing was pointless and was rather irritated to have to be there at all, and if it weren’t for the jello shots and the drinks he and Tsuru had earlier, he probably would have just walked away from her again. She was being annoying as usual, insisting he do things he didn’t want to do? But when she gave him an out, a way to escape the party, he had to take it. Why wouldn’t he? Even if it meant leaving with her, they didn’t have to hang out for the whole night or anything. They had no obligation to stick together.
But petting chickens with her wasn’t so bad? She didn’t freeze them like he was worried about before - in fact, she was pretty gentle! Kara didn’t expect that, given what he’d seen of her personality so far. And then she suggested he adopt a second chicken, and she found a Masamune helmet for Kazakiri, and that was. So much better. It’s honestly ridiculous how much that alone improved his opinion of her, and then she agreed to help him with the jello shots to surprise Tsuru? Suddenly, she became tolerable!
Then Friday came, and Tsurumaru was dead. He doesn’t know if she came to him first, or if she spoke to someone else before that, but her first instinct was, apparently, to go investigate and look for him. He didn’t know much about her would-be relationship with Tsuru, but he appreciated her attempts to help more than he could say, even if they didn’t find anything at all.
The trial came and went, and he… wasn’t expecting anyone, except maybe Shess, to come check on him afterward. He made it clear he didn’t want to be bothered, and he was busy cleaning Tsurumaru’s broken blade, so he really would have preferred to be left alone, but Lili came anyway. He was too emotionally exhausted to really be annoyed with her pressing that he didn’t have to alright, and he didn’t have to be alone, but… even if he had the energy, could he really have been upset with her, when he knew she’d cared about Tsuru? And she brought him food, even though he didn’t really have an appetite and it wasn’t even that great… but she’d tried, and expressed an interest in learning more. Agreeing to teach her to cook was probably the least he could do, especially after she suggested doing some kind of funeral rights for Tsuru. That… wasn’t really something swords ever got to have? So in a way, it was kind of touching and very human of her to suggest it, and of course Tsuru would have loved the attention (aside from, you know, the having to be broken to get it part). If it weren’t for that, he would have said no, but it went well, so he was grateful to her for that, for better or worse.
So when she told him about the nightmares and wanting to work off the stress they’d caused instead of wallowing, and she asked him to help by teaching her how to wield a sword properly? Again, he would have said no, if she hadn’t already told him that Tsuru had planned on it… and just like before, he appreciated her desire to improve and protect herself instead of remaining weak and relying on others to protect her. So he agreed, and even though she could never really stand up to him, Kara liked sparring with her. Lili always tried her hardest, and he definitely understood the need to move instead of dwelling on how she felt, so. It worked? And she showed some ingenuity in using her magic in tandem with the sword - she was weak, but she tried to cover for it however she could. That much was admirable, even though she still had a long way to go.
AND THEN a week later this bitch had to go and gain his respect by outing her ability in the next trial, just in case it could have been her? All because she wanted to be sure it wasn’t, and if it was her, to make sure she would be brought to justice and be unable to hurt anyone else? What the fuck?? Kara himself had been thinking since Tsuru’s death that there was no real reason to hide their powers, and though he never told anyone who didn’t ask, he would have without any protest. Hiding it out of fear, as he thought the others were doing, only got in the way, so when Lili stepped up like that to prove her innocence (or her guilt, since they didn’t know until she activated it) despite the potential danger to herself, she became one of the few people he could legitimately respect. At the time, even Mikazuki didn’t have that - only Shess did, but even he didn’t reveal his ability easily, so she was starting to become his favorite person in the village.
Oh and I somehow forgot this part but she was the only other person besides Shess to put together that he was a sword! Which was also a big deal for him! So maybe Kara didn’t exactly trust her with that information at first, but she proved herself to be worth his trust, and honestly if anyone had to figure it out, he’s glad it was Lili.
What confused Kara was her apparent concern for him when she expressed her desire not to see him break - or even to drop his sword. It seemed silly to think he would never break? Of course he didn’t want to, but given the circumstances and, well, the passage of time, naturally Kara would break sooner or later. It was… very human of her, and it’s a sentiment he’ll always struggle to comprehend, at least a little. But between this and everything else, he was… well, I wouldn’t say happy just yet, but maybe content to accept her as an ally. Lili had proven herself many times over, so if he really had to work with someone while stuck in that village, she probably would have been his first choice (or Shess, but Lili isn’t a shady bitch so that gave her an edge). Haha and when she was missing an eye, she reminded him a lot of Masamune - not just the physical similarity, but also her attitude and her nobility in putting her people over herself and also to be willing to sacrifice herself, if the need came for it (ie if she was corrupted). All of that meant that, whether he wanted to or not, they kind of were friends?
Weird.
Things only started to get complicated when Kara started learning about romance! Well, not immediately - he first learned about it when Milla was hunked and Lili explained all of the kissing and crush stuff very badly, but he thought it was just useless, unnecessary stuff that he could ignore. Kaoru is the one who made it complicated by explaining romance in a different way, which made Kara start to reevaluate how he felt about Lili. Even if he didn’t necessarily want to kiss her (with his only experience with that being Milla, he didn’t really understand the appeal), he did trust Lili, and Kara was willing to listen to her when he wouldn’t really consider anyone else. He didn’t mind spending time with her instead of being alone, which was… weird, for him, but it was because she seemed to understand why he was Like That, and didn’t seem to want him to change? That’s something even the Dategumi struggle with sometimes - they always want him to be friendlier, but Lili thought he was fine as he was, and that was a new feeling, one even Kara could appreciate. I think that’s what set her apart from the other Date swords, when it came to Kara wondering about friends versus crushes.
And honestly? He didn’t really want to have a crush on her - being friends was bad enough, when Kara was convinced she would leave him just like they always do. Lili could claim she never would all she likes, but even if she never willingly did, she would still die sooner or later simply by virtue of being mortal.
And then she did, and he was… well, he would have handled it better if he wasn’t cursed, let me just say that, because yeah, he was expecting it. If not here in the village, then when they leave for home, even if she found a path between worlds. But between trying to figure out their relationship or friendship or whatever it was and Lili being one of the only people he actually trusted in the village, and then having the choice of deciding how to feel about her death taken from him… haha that didn’t end well at all, and he ended up being more upset about it than he might have been, if left alone - because once Kara learned that she’d been corrupted when she died, he would have accepted it as a necessary loss, even if he kind of hated it.
From then on, he resolved that he had to make it to the end. His priority, after reviving the dead, was to find a way to go between worlds, like Lili wanted - and besides, he’d promised he would try to keep from breaking. Even if he didn’t expect to be able to keep that promise, especially if he and Shess were the ones at the end, Kara wanted to at least try to keep his word for as long as he could.
Side quest: figure out what his heart was feeling about Lili?? Was it a crush or not?? For the longest time, he didn’t know, but he sought some clarification from Kaoru, and after considering all the things he’d been told about romance, he finally came up with an answer. It royally sucked that he took so long that she, you know, wasn’t alive to hear his decision? But as far as Kara was concerned, he’d promised he would give her an answer either way, so it didn’t particularly matter as long as she knew he hadn’t completely let her down. That was more important - and then the dead came to visit the living in the digital world, which meant Kara actually had an opportunity to tell her face-to-face, without even having to break. So he did.
So, surprise! We have a ship now. How the fuck did that happen.
(that’s the power of shoujo)
Anyway that just gave him one more reason to try and make it to the end. Aside from his personal mission to get back and protect his former master, Lili and Tsuru were the reasons driving him to keep going in the village and to defeat the corruption, whatever it took. And he did make it to the end! Sort of. As soon as Mikazuki and Roxas revealed that they would be corrupted, he knew he wouldn’t be the last man standing - but Kara dedicated everything he had to making sure that they would still have a way to get the ending they both wanted in this place. Good thing it worked out!
And now that they’ve been revived and everyone is all and well… It’ll be weird going back to his citadel and not having her by his side, after all those weeks, but he’ll be satisfied enough with knowing she’s alive and that they can text each other without the old limitations. He’ll miss her! And then when his war is over, and he’s free to choose, Kara is going to find her first, and help her with the problems in her world. He doesn’t really know how to be a boyfriend, or how to live without some kind of purpose over his head, but Lili has helped him figure things out before, so he figures she can help him with this, too.
She also probably won’t blame him for wanting to kick Tsuru’s ass either, so that’s nice.
BUT YEAH ANYWAY THIS GOT LONG and honestly… I wouldn’t say Kara loves her just yet? He’s still figuring out how that works. But he likes her more than he likes most people, in a different way than he likes the other Date swords. Lili is very important to him, and that scares him! She’s human and she can’t be at his side forever no matter how much both of them want that, but Kara wants to pretend, and even when she’s gone, he’ll remember her as well as he remembers each and every one of his previous masters. I think he will come to love her if they’re together long enough, but he’ll continue to be very awkward and useless and she will probably have to continue making the first move for most things.
So uh - yeah! Lili is dumb and reckless and silly, but she’s gained Kara’s respect and affection and he lives in fear of the day the rest of the Dategumi learn of this because he will never live it down hahaha.