My favorite Kanji and Naoto fic got an update yesterday.  Instead of just sending the author a review, I’ll just post it on my tumblr since a) she reads my tumblr and b) people seemed to like it when I posted the fic recommendation, so I might as well talk about it here.

Very, very small spoilers to the fic behind the cut.

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So previously in Shortest Distance, Kanji and Naoto finally kissed, but Naoto ran away.  This chapter is a lot of Kanji dealing with the aftermath of it, Naoto avoiding his calls until Kanji finally sort of gives up… or so he thinks.  

What I really like about this chapter (and this story in general, which I’ve probably said before) is how in-character everyone is.  As painful as it was to read Naoto running away, I don’t think she would let herself be with someone that easily.  Naoto Shirogane is a complicated person, hell, maybe the most complicated character in the game – and not just over her gender issues, but just the way she acts.  Do I want her and Kanji to get together?  Of course I do!  But what I like is that the author makes it into this process.  Is Naoto the type of character who would kiss the boy and be happy with that?  No.  And the best part?  Kanji calls her on it.  He calls her out on running away, because that’s what she’s doing.

But isn’t that what a lot of people do?

When you’re scared of being alone, when you finally get close to someone you get scared.  Is this actually about to happen?  How do I know I won’t end up alone again?  What if this person hurts me?  Naoto, to me, is a very lonely character.  Let’s review.  Her parents died when she was young.  She’s in a profession where she felt like she wouldn’t get any respect by being herself.  Even after making herself a boy, she still has people not wanting her around because of her age.  But more than that – as the last chapter showed – is that it’s not just gender and age, but it’s her attitude.  She did come into the Inaba police force with this air about her, like she was already better than all of them, and that’s a terrible way to enter into a situation.  She even did it with the Investigation Team, assuming that they were just playing games.  

How do you recover from that?  I mean, sure, they’re all friends now, but I’ve always felt like Naoto was sort of the odd one out.  Like… she enters into things so late, and doesn’t really get to build that bond that the team has.  There’s the beauty pageant and hot springs, and then BAM Nanako’s missing Adachi’s the killer and just… yeah.

Anyhow, I think this fic captures that.  Kanji is trying so, so hard, and I think Naoto gets it, but she’s terrified.  

Meanwhile, the other thing I love about this fic is Souji, his social links, and how that whole thing works.  It addresses things, like essentially how you get to Rank 10 and then… you basically never talk to that person again.  And Souji is trying to figure that out, trying to figure out if he actually cares about all of these people or if he’s just going through the motions.  It’s a bit sad to read, because you feel like he really, really wants these friendships (and he even mentions how things weren’t like this before he got to Inaba) but – kind of like Naoto – he has no idea what to do.  

I like how there’s sort of kind of this Souji and Naoto thing (because I think they sort of understand each other) but this Kanji and Naoto romance that is and isn’t happening.  

The last scene of the chapter, to me, is really, really sweet.  Like, I feel like Kanji and Naoto have a chance, and that makes me happy.  Though since this fic is going to go through the entire game, I fear for later events (aka Izanami).