Locked Heart was born the moment I finished reading Volume 14 and thought about additional, subtle info Umeda leaked out (say Volume 1, when he talks about the person he loves.) I remembered I had always wondered about it, but then I got distracted by how great Hanakimi was, how everything shone even more when characters like Shin and Akiha appeared in the scene - then I reached Umeda's little history arc, and when I reached the end of that side story, the only word that kept chanting in my brain was 'TRIBUTE, TRIBUTE, TRIBUTE." It was quite an unexpected feeling, because the only time when I bothered making sites for something I like was CloudxAeris in FF7 fandom, and the reason why I kept going was because of the sequel that's about to be released (eventually). Anyway...
I have tons of OTPs in the many fandoms I'm in, but I didn't have the inspiration to do sites for them as much as I adore them to death, so I'm frankly quite amazed at the effort I put into this site (um, lost sleep over it). I begged and went on my knees to ask a fellow friend for scans from both mangas, I had to twist a friend's arm to translate additional comments made from Hisaya Nakajo though I don't regret it because it allows me to sparkle at something new at the same time. *laughs* Now, the question is, why?
Considering that Ryouichi is only a guest character in the series, it doesn't make much sense to pool effort for a pairing that's hardly even the highlight
of the manga. But it does more good to me, in the sense that Locked Heart gave an opportunity to get everything off my chest - after all, wouldn't you get sick of grinning and bouncing off walls at the mere thought of them? Friends, bless them, were literally quite sick of me mentioning them every five seconds (though I did interest some of them, mission accomplished) so rather than keeping the rest bottled inside myself, I let it out into the site, and God, it feels great (maybe now, I can finally move onto other fandoms without thoughts of these two creeping into my mind. (O RLY.)
Perhaps one of the reasons for my attachment was because it was from Umeda's point of view, as we watched Ryouichi and how his character is presented through his eyes, that it wouldn't have delivered as much impact if it had been told through a distant viewpoint. I've always wondered how Umeda was in his teens, and it was intriguing - even more, when Umeda acted in ways I couldn't even imagine during the times he spent with Ryouichi. Being with him added many dimensions to Umeda's character, and it didn't take long for my appreciation for him to grow more, as well as for the person who is able to bring them out. The rain scene was what finally nailed it; it was a moment, though short and fleeting and perhaps never will take place again, that they were both completely open with each other, before sharing kisses under the falling rain.
Hanakimi somewhat reinstalled my faith in the shoujo genre, and by introducing Sano and Mizuki (people who are supposed to make me go this sparkly?), whose relationship is so carefully crafted and handled that I've rarely ever seen (based on what I've read in a few shoujo manga) it didn't take me long for me to warm up to them right away. But, as wonderful as they are, Kjima and Umeda stole my heart completely, and thus, led to the creation of this site. It doesn't matter to me whether this pairing is official or not (since when did it matter when it comes to shipping wholeheartedly?) and I indeed love them so, very much.
Another way to look at it is that I've simply too much time in my hands. That, and 53589735 hours of Googling pays off.
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