#full disclosure i hate 'what ifs' that turn kind characters into very non complex mean people

[mari-lair]

Hello and good day! I'm sorry if this has already been asked before and you can totally just ignore this if you want, but I'm curious: can you imagine a world where somehow, Aoi likes someone else and not Akane? Cause I think that while the canon version of her is cute, I have recently read a what-if fanfic in her pov where she absolutely hates Akane the same way she does her other admirers and now I am hyperfixating on that. What habits would have been different compared to canon Aoi? Would Akane have grown more deperate since he (presumably) would know that Aoi genuinely does not like him in this scenario? What if he began noticing Aoi starting to like her dream boy in class? The possibilities are killing meeeeee!

Oh man, I'm the wrong person to ask this cause I genuinely can't imagine this scenario being possible without obliterating Akane's characterization.

Do you remember why Akane fell in love with Aoi? Because Aoi loved him so much that she broke her "cold and indifferent, hate dealing with people" mask for him. She TRIED so hard to hate him but still ended up crying cause she cared so much.

If the mask was real and she truly didn't care about him, I don't think Akane would fall for her.

If he did fall for her later on anyways, I can't see him trying to pursue her after being rejected/met with her discomfort/annoyance. Even in the timeline where she does like him and comes up with the silliest of excuses to keep him around without straight up accepting his confessions, he had admitted that he would keep keeping her safe while keeping a distance in case she doesn't want him.

He only pursues her so much cause she actively flirts and encourages him to.

The idea Aoi would encourage him if she didn't like him does make Akane pestering her believable but at the cost of Aoi's own character being obliterated. I don't think I'm being harsh when I say Aoi would be a bitch if she went "hehe try harder <3 Impress me Akane-kun!" consistently enough for him to buy it that she could date him while thinking "Tch, hate this guy, he keeps harassing me".

That would means she doesn't even consider him a friend, she doesn't care AT ALL about his feelings, which is nothing like the Aoi who tries to pretend the people she dislikes don't bother her/don't exist and loves her friends dearly, putting them above her.

The most I can picture is Aoi falling for someone else and Akane either not getting a crush on her and supporting her fully, or slowly putting some barrier between them cause he can see Aoi doesn't like him and being in pain, the classic 'i want her to be happy' and 'she won't be with me' conflict where he has a crisis but eventually learn to let her go, reach the point he can be comfortable by her side even when she is with someone else.

Or Aoi realizing Akane likes her romantically and being anxious that she has to reject a friend, whom she deeply values, but her growing unease and lack of encouragement wouldn't be able to fool Akane for long. Their whole thing is that they know each other well after all and Akane consistently asks 'are you okay?' when he senses anything may be wrong with Aoi.

Maybe it would take some months for Akane to understand without Aoi giving him a straight-up rejection, especially if they are small when he gets the crush, but Akane pays so much attention to her, he would pick up the signs she is uncomfortable, especially if it reaches a point of Aoi staring to resent him for it more than being scared of losing him. He either drop it silently or straight up confront her about it, probably.