wondering if i really, really like displays of devotion because i have some kind of thing for it. because the number of OTPs I have that are literally just #devotion is. unreal.
sooo i just wanted to share my interpretation of how i think Ichi/Kumugi might develop in canon, if it ever does
To start, i think Ichi would be the one to develop romantic feelings first.
Since they met, he's had an extremely positive opinion on her. Which is very interesting, since everyone else needed to prove themselves to him (he didn't trust Desscaras or Gokuraku initially)
He'll often ask Kumugi for her thoughts on subjects, bring her up when she wasn't even involved in the conversation in the first place, and he seems convinced that she knows everything and will go to her for help for any little thing
Of all the characters he's gotten close to, she's the one he seems the most excited to share things with. And whenever she's brought up or interacts with him, his face lights up.
The only time he's ever looked sad around her is when he thinks she's going to leave him.
He's also been the one to most notice when she's upset or scared, and will go out of his way to comfort her, even for the smallest things
Part of that is just his unnaturally high insight, but he never really puts that level of focus and concern towards anyone else on a day-to-day basis
However, i don't think Ichi would recognize these feelings as romantic. He's been alone for most of his life, he's still learning about what friendship and family mean, let alone something as complicated as romance.
I imagine he'd act on those feelings as best he could- by complimenting her, getting close to her, getting excited when she's around, cooking hotpot and sharing it with her, asking her to be family with him- etc.
Ichi is a creature who acts on instincts and feelings, and if his emotions told him to act like that towards Kumugi, he would, even if he didn't understand the reason for it yet. And he's started doing some of these already
But imo, it would take a long time for him to realize what those feelings mean, and even longer to try and figure out how he should consciously act on them, if at all.
(Should he try to push a romantic relationship? How would he even do that? What would that mean for them? Would that hurt the friendship they had now? Should he risk that? Etc)
Meanwhile, with Kumugi, i don't think she'd notice Ichi's feelings.
Ichi seems to be the first person to really compliment her. She's so unused to this behavior towards her, that she immediately tries to downplay it and play it off when it happens
Since meeting him- since he called her amazing - she's gotten better about not doing that. But a lifetime of being convinced that you were a failure is hard to move past. It took Ichi directly explaining his thoughts to her, and bluntly stating his opinion, before she accepted his words
So, if Ichi did develop feelings for her, I don't think she'd notice. Her self esteem is still recovering, and the idea that- someone would be interested in her? Really? Might be too much of a stretch for her to even consider for a while
And as for her feelings towards Ichi- well. She clearly admires him deeply. But I feel like she would be similar to Ichi, and not realize she had any sort of romantic feelings towards him. In fact, she might not think about romance at all unless it was brought to her attention that it was even an option in the first place. Bc someone as amazing as Ichi having those kinds of feelings??? for her????? What???????
This is the first time she's ever really had friends, and honestly i think she's just happy to be having fun with everyone.
The biggest difference between Ichi and Kumugi in this scenario is that, i think Ichi would subconsciously act on his feelings (wanting to get closer to her in various ways, not understanding why, but knowing he wanted to bc instinct), while Kumugi would subconsciously refuse to consider alternate reasons for his behavior besides "It's just Ichi being Ichi."
Sooo... If Ichi did start crushing on Kumugi, i think progress would be really slow and awkward. Mostly Ichi stumbling in his accidental attempts at courting her, and Kumugi having no idea what he was trying to do, but being flattered regardless.
Kinda like a cat bringing dead things to their owner to show their affection, and the owner being confused, but happy that the cat considered them anyway
I've seen some of Nishi's writing in Iruma-kun, and i wouldn't be surprised if it went in a direction like this, since she's very adept at writing slow burn romances. Idk where it might develop after that tho, we just don't have enough info to speculate yet
But yeah i just really wanted to share my thoughts here lol i hadn't seen anyone else have this interpretation and figured id share it myself
I will NEVER FORGIVE the Ichi The Witch fandom for popularizing the (admittedly very cute) ship name of "Appleslice" for Ichi and Kumugi cuz they made it SO MUCH HARDER TO SEARCH FOR ANYTHING ABOUT THE SHIP
