Do you like firestormshipping?
Hell yeah I do! They have so much potential, and I like how things between them are developing slowly and naturally. I’m really looking forward to how their relationship grows this season.
So far, between the two of them, it’s been all business. Yusaku keeps everyone at a distance, so there’s not often many bonding moments between him and other characters, even Kusanagi who has been there from the start.
But these two are obviously very compatible while still being distinctly different as people. Takeru seems to be very easily influenced by people and his judgement of others is so far very fickle, the polar opposite of the distant and steady Yusaku. Takeru’s rougher around the edges, more unstable, but also a lot more vulnerable. Vulnerability is something Yusaku shows very rarely, and for good reason: he can’t afford vulnerability. But I think Takeru could and will drag it out of him in due time. Takeru, meanwhile, is very sensitive to the words of others, so Yusaku’s quiet, no-nonsense nature of only saying what he feels needs to be said will certainly spare Takeru a great deal of hurt.
I think my favorite, but very brief moments between them so far is when Takeru comes back after his duel with Go.
“You’re okay.” Yusaku says, like he wasn’t quite expecting him to be. Like he’s impressed, and Takeru’s little smile is so charming. Yusaku has apparently gotten used to the people around him being unreliable or incapable, and came to terms with the fact that the people that join his side tend to not come back. Now, here’s someone that can actually keep up, not someone he has to leave behind for their own good.
It’s not easy, though. Yusaku is still a little awkward with splitting the work, but it’s good for him to have someone to count on, even if it takes him time to get used to it. Takeru also has the best chance at forcing Yusaku to confront a lot of his issues with endangering other people and accepting help. (Even now, just about the only entity in Vrains Yusaku has willingly approached for help is Windy. Take that in. Absorb it.)
Even more so, all this time, Yusaku has been operating under the impression that only his special person can save him. But Takeru challenges that, and does so without all the baggage that weighs down the relationship between Yusaku and Ryoken (but we all know I love that baggage). He’s already taken one hit for Yusaku, and will probably take many more. Takeru is, frankly, refreshing to Yusaku, as someone he can both relate to and can rely on.
And it’s obvious Takeru wants to protect people. He’s gentle with his grandfather even as the guy tosses him around like a sack of potatoes, and goes to Kiku’s rescue even though it means dealing with Flame and dueling. And now he wants to protect Yusaku, and even makes such a sweet, concerned face.
I think Takeru is in the best position of seeing who Playmaker really is, under his cool, under his infallibility: more so than any other character, even Kusanagi. To see how much of himself Yusaku puts into a given task, to the point of near self-destruction should he fail. He’s getting to see exactly how Playmaker operates, and what makes Yusaku tick, and experiencing first hand the struggles and dangers that come along with being Playmaker: the SOL agents, the constant and frustrating challengers, and the groundless aggression that faces Yusaku everywhere he turns. One could certainly make the argument that Takeru is getting more protective by the episode considering his tendency to throw himself in front of their enemies first, and once he recovers from Blood Shepherd’s recent bullshit, I figure he might very well be even more protective. After all, he knows that Yusaku is really the one BS wanted to torment, and there’s no way he’d want Yusaku to go through that. Especially since, going by that face above, Takeru seems to be the only character so far to recognize just how much of a ticking time bomb Yusaku is.
Meanwhile, Yusaku refuses to abandon him. Yusaku, who already had to accept the reality of losing allies, who had to move on even as everyone he knew turned to data. Yusaku wants to protect people too, but for him that means involving himself with others as little as possible. Takeru does the opposite, and challenges Yusaku’s notion that it’s easiest to protect people by keeping his distance.
Not to mention that Takeru’s the first character besides Kusanagi and Ai to be set up as a companion for Yusaku. And the first besides Kusanagi to be someone Yusaku doesn’t mind working with and spending time around from the get-go. If all goes well, Takeru will help Yusaku open up, and take some of the burden of everything off his shoulders.
The show is clearly going to take its time building the relationship between these two. If the current opening is going to stick around ~40 episodes, we’re going to see these two working up to the closeness we see there and probably a bit dramatic season finale about their bond.
But I really hate the ship name, so I never use it. It makes it just sound like Not-Datastormshipping, which isn’t fair to the gradual trust these two have been building at all. I just call it TakeYu or Torchshipping.
