Novel discussion: about Riki's romantic feelings towards Guy.
Spoilers and long rambling ahead.
Until some days ago I had a very clear opinion about Riki’s romantic feelings towards Guy: Riki was in love with Guy when they were kids. Growing up, the romantic feelings faded until becoming something almost platonic, his feelings becoming an attachment mainly based on the sense that Guy was his family. But since re-reading some parts of the novel, I'm very confused about what to think towards this topic.
In comparison to the feelings of other characters, Ai no kusabi is very vague about the nature of the feelings that Riki has for Guy. The novel is very clear about the romantic nature of the feelings both Iason and Guy have, and in comparison, the feelings Riki has for Iason are also made very clear to be romantic in nature. The feelings that Riki has for Guy stand out for being ambiguous.
In this post, I will list the reasons I have to think that Riki was in love with Guy even after the three years passed and reasons I have to think that's not the case at all. I would appreciate it if anyone wanted to share their opinion on the topic since honestly, I'm very confused, and I barely know what to think at this point.
To start, one of the reasons why I always thought Riki wasn't really in love with Guy when they were older was because of the one-sided nature of their relationship. Riki cared about and loved Guy, yes, but this love was one where Riki didn't care to leave him behind, sort of abandoned him emotionally, and was, in general, not interested on the well-being of their relationship. But in the case of Guy his whole world revolved around Riki. And while yes, the way Riki loved Guy does leave the impression that Riki wasn't really that much into him, we need to consider how love is framed in this work.
Ai no kusabi fundamentally talks about love, about how in a messed up society, the concept of love becomes distorted, and as a consequence, people love in terrible ways. Ai no kusabi argues that it is not the lack of love that makes people love badly, but a society that constantly promotes this behavior. Because of this, it's not a very good argument to say that Riki wasn't in love with Guy because of the way he loved him. Since unhealthy love doesn't equal not loving at all in Ai no kusabi's argument.
Let's talk about the scene that sparked the most of my confusion, the scene where Guy asks Riki if he wants to be pairing partners again. First, let's look at how this scene is presented in the rewritten version of the novels:
In the matter of which is the nature of the feelings Riki has for Guy, this scene is unclear. The novel doesn't make clear textually if Riki wants or not to be pairing partners with Guy again. But something the scene puts a lot of emphasis on is that Riki has to go back with Iason, so he can't pair up with Guy again. Considering this, it is rational to get to the conclusion that maybe Riki does want to pair with Guy again. The problem is that he just can't. But this gets confusing when you consider that the original novel gave a totally different impression of Riki’s feelings here.
In the original version of the novel, it is very clear that Riki doesn't want to pair up again with Guy, and it's not implied at all that this has to do with Iason at all. Instead, the narration puts a lot of focus on Riki feeling objectified by Guy.
One could disregard what the original novel says with the argument that it's an outdated version, that what matters is solely what the new version says. And while this argument makes sense, we need to take into account that a lot of times, the original novel was more direct with what it wanted to express because of the brevity of the original. But at the same time, I can not say for sure that this difference doesn't come from the place of Yoshihara regretting the way she portrayed Riki as not wanting to get back together with Guy.
Another reason why I thought Riki wasn't in love with Guy is because when the novel makes any direct remark about what Riki feels towards Guy, it always feels ultimately platonic. The text itself constantly puts Guy as Riki’s family. This is very different from the way the text frames the feelings Guy has towards Riki, where there are clear romantic connotations. Also, as far as I remember, Riki isn't frequently addressed as his family (I don't even recall him being addressed like that at all). Instead, he is addressed as someone he is in love with.
Comparison between Riki and Guy’s pov
To Guy, that person was Riki.
The joy of having met him. Being with Riki was what gave Guy the will to live. He always felt that it wasn’t a mere coincidence, but that it must have been fate.
But now, Katze’s words contradicted that notion”
— Yoshihara Rieko, Ai no kusabi vol 8 retranslation, page 245
“I don't know how it is for anyone else, but... a pairing doesn’t mean anything if it’s just about fucking. Maybe humans need some deeper connection with each other, some support, in order to survive. If I say it like that..., does it sound silly?”
— Yoshihara Rieko, Ai no kusabi vol 8 retranslation, page 79
But the most strong example of this is what Riki says when Iason asks directly about Riki’s feelings for Guy. Let's take into account that in the original novel, Iason directly asked Riki about being in love with Guy, while in the rewritten versions, he asks if Guy is that important to him.
A detail that has always caught my attention is the way Riki immediately responds, “Don't say that” to Iason’s question. This can be interpreted in two ways, depending on how we look at it. On one hand, Riki saying this feels like him reprimanding Iason for asking something like that when they are both responsible for a very serious situation. But in the other hand, I can not pretend that this doesn't read as him possibly dismissing his feelings towards Guy, especially considering that in the original novel Iason directly asks if Riki is in love with Guy.
There's also the way that the text refers strongly to Guy’s as Riki’s family, as I mentioned previously. Obviously, being his family doesn't contradict any romantic feelings Riki may have, but the way the text constantly refers to him in that way with no other romantic connotations makes you think he's just his family. Especially considering that's the response he gives when Iason asks him, a question that in the original novel was explicitly about if he loved him. But also, I can not ignore that in the rewritten version Riki seems to maybe want to go back together with Guy. There's also the detail that you have other characters like Iason, Kirie, and to a certain extent Katze, implying Riki is in love with Guy. So at the end, what does he feel about him?
Honestly, the way the novel is so vague about the nature of Riki’s feelings towards Guy frustrates me. I'm not against something in a work being open to interpretation, but I believe that whatever is up to interpretation must be important, must bring nuance and complexity to the work. There must be a reason why something is up to interpretation. But here it really doesn't feel that way. Riki being in love with Guy when he was older or not doesn't make any difference. The lack of clarity towards it is just confusing, and the way his feelings are framed is almost inconsistent. Maybe I would change my opinion if I re-read all the novels again, but at least right now, I feel like the vagueness on it doesn't contribute anything worthy to the novels and at the end just feels lazy.
