#bc yeah kazutora would STRUGGLE to get out of a bad relationship

[deathfavor]

I know this is a going to be a messy post so this is your forewarning and apology in advance for how all over the place it is. Good luck.

Kazutora is not someone who can easily break away from bad influences or habits. Quite frankly, he probably can't all on his own. The reasons vary a bit depending on the age, but it doesn't change that even if he KNOWS it's bad or fucked up, he really struggles. Whether it's a toxic connection with someone or bad habits, the claws sink in and draw him in. When he's younger, it's a mix of things. He doesn't trust few, but once he DOES, he has a very intense connection and sense of clinging on to someone. ( Admittedly that lingers in adulthood though not as severe. ) He wants their attention and approval, and he'd do a lot to gain it, in the case that it's a person. When he's older, its a mix of longing for familiarity and a sense of self punishment, and that part of him that still clings on to whatever connection was in the past. If you've had him wrapped around your finger at any point, you definitely can reawaken those poisonous vines in him again.

It's one reason I say Hanma is so dangerous for Kazutora in the future without Kazutora necessarily realizing it. It's not in the physical sense so much as Hanma KNOWS Kazutora and he's already had an influential hold over Kazutora in the past. ( Even if genuine, it is nonetheless a powerful weapon on hand. ) But it can go for anyone he's looked up to or wanted attention from at any point ever. Kazutora can be lured back into a bad situation or arrangement far too easily. Same goes in for bad habits ; when opportunity presents itself he might accept it. Less so if he's doing well, but whenever he's frustrated or sad or feeling isolated, he's more inclined to accept the opportunity or act on it.

And here's the thing. Kazutora's plenty aware he's messed up and no saint. Which is also part of what makes him more willing to accept a bad situation. Because he feels he deserves it, or it's a case of mutual destruction, of you fuck me up and i fuck you up, an unhealthy dynamic that festers and worsens. And he CAN walk away if he really wants to, but he's a very vulnerable target when he's at his worst. Kazutora can be mean, he can be manipulative, he can lash out be it in words or actions. When pushed to a point, despite all the progress older Kazutora has made, it still kicks his act first think later instincts into being in charge. Toxic / unhealthy / bad connections make him feel less guilty when the worst parts of him show up.

Kazutora, truthfully, needs someone who can pry him out of those situations. Who can intervene, but can also be patient when Kazutora slips and fucks up. He WILL and that's a fact. You can't just strongarm him out of things or it'll either make him worse or he'll never really learn it. Even if it's painful, even if it hurts, he has to reach the conclusions himself, especially in the case of a person. Be there when he's crumbling or intervene to say go home or something like that. But being like " [X] is bad for you" ? That won't do anything. He probably KNOWS that already, it's just that he thinks he deserves that pain or suffering or whatever it might be. He needs to see how it makes him worse. Otherwise without that, we end up with gestures at all my bad ending aus