OK, so hereās my Fence essay (Fencessay?), entitled āSeiji and Jesse: We Still Have No Idea What the Fuck Happened.ā
First off, what was their relationship? Were they mutually in love? One in love with the other unrequited? Dating? Only hooking up? Just a seriously fraught friendship? I could make a compelling, evidence-based case for any of the above. I know many readers are pointing to the two-page Jesse-narrated spread culminating in Seiji and Jesse reclining on a haystack (??) in Chapter 20 as evidence that they were mutually in love, but I could totally see Jesse saying all that stuff to lead Seiji on because Jesse needs everyone to be in love with him.
And secondly, what happened that caused Seiji to leave the country and cut off all contact with Jesse after Nationals? Presumably just the fact that Jesse beat Seiji for #1 is not enough because, like, dudes, you had to have known that one of you would win and one would lose, right? And I donāt really believe that Seiji is just a sore loser and thatās the entire explanation.
Hereās one possible interpretation, backed up with citations where possible:
They were more than friends - at least hooking up, possibly dating. Evidence: in Chapter 13, when Jesse comes to Kings Row and tells Seiji, āIām here to ask you back,ā Seiji responds, āYou mean you want me back on your team?ā (the implication being āinstead of back with you romanticallyā). Also in Chapter 13, when Nicholas says to Seiji, āI didnāt realize you and Jesse were friends,ā Seiji responds, āWe were⦠something.ā [though that could also mean āI thought we were friends but we werenāt even that.ā In theory.]Ā
Seiji was really in love with Jesse and thought it was mutual, but Jesse was just casually hooking up and didnāt really care about Seiji. Evidence: In Chapter 13, when Nicholas asks Seiji, āWhat really happened between you and Jesse?ā Seiji responds, āI had the wrong idea about something⦠Sometimes I⦠take things too seriously.āĀ
Something else bad (a āfightā?) happened between them beyond just Jesse beating Seiji at Nationals. Evidence: In Chapter 13, Jesse says to Seiji, āThe way we left things⦠I hate fighting with you.ā
The something else bad that happened must have happened very, very close in time to Nationals. Evidence that it could not have happened earlier: In Chapter 20, Kyle says, āThey used to spend all their time together. They were inseparable. Then Seiji lost to Jesse at Nationals and justālost it.ā No reference to any period of time before Nationals when they were not inseparable. Evidence that it could not have happened later: In Chapter 20, Kyle says, āSeiji left the next day for France and wouldnāt speak to Jesse again.āĀ
Also in Chapter 20 Seiji says, āI must have practiced that parry a thousand times. I kept thinking that if I could just beat him, Iā¦ā Some readers are choosing to interpret this as Seiji practicing the parry before Nationals and thinking that if he could just beat him at Nationals he could [what? Get over him?]. But if thatās the case, then whatever fight they had must have happened far enough before Nationals for Seiji to practice that parry a thousand times (which I guess, given what we know of Seiji, could have only been a couple of days, LOL). Another option is that Seiji is talking about practicing the parry after Nationals and thinking about beating Jesse in the future. That would be consistent with the timeline requirements inherent in Kyleās narration of their relationship, and with Seijiās current obsession with beating Jesse.
My not-fully-fleshed-out theory is that the fight was about Seiji realizing that Jesse didnāt love Seiji the way Seiji loved Jesse, based on either the way Jesse beat Seiji (I originally thought ātaking Seijiās bladeā was somehow a uniquely horrific thing to do, but discovered in Volume 5 that itās just another fencing move, so itās probably not that) or the way Jesse treated Seiji after he beat him (e.g. gloating rather than comforting him), but I have no evidence for this theory.
Thoughts? WTF did happen with these two?!? Tell me your theories!