Rukawa & Ayako Appreciation Post
I really, really love their interactions. Their dynamic is easy to overlook because they aren't each other's most prominent bond, but I like how suble yet well-built it is.
We know that Rukawa & Ayako went to the same Junior High, so unless I'm missing something (and I may be), Ayako is the one who has known Rukawa the longest (and vice-versa) at the start of the series. This is shown in various ways, notably in the chapter where Ayako teases Haruko by poking fun at Rukawa.
While Haruko idealizes Rukawa, leading her to project a bunch of stuff that he doesn't actually feel onto him, Ayako is the opposite. She doesn't see him through rose-tinted glasses and even pokes fun at him in order to tease Haruko.
However, when Haruko feels sorry for Rukawa because of Akagi going all out, Ayako is the one to spell it out for her: it's the opposite! Rukawa is the kind of guy who gets fired up by a challenge.
The wording she uses is also very telling, because it shows that Ayako sees through Rukawa's aloof disposition and into the kind of player (of person) he truly is. She knows that while he may look uncaring, in truth he actually does care and he cares a lot.
I liked this exchange a lot. In just a couple of pages, Inoue establishes that Ayako has a well-rounded read of Rukawa. She sees both, the idiot (affectionate) kid and the incredible player. And she knows what makes him tick, too.
This happens once again near the end of the manga. During the tutoring session, Haruko is once again shown trying to understand Rukawa, but she does so by projecting her worries onto him. Just like last time, Ayako is the one shown having actual insight into him.
This isn't the only that caught my eye about their dynamic, though. My favorite thing would be the familiarity between them.
From the get-go, we're shown that Ayako is prone to teasing Rukawa; a welcome sight considering how serious he usually is. And we're also shown that Rukawa seems pretty used to it, always taking it stride even when Ayako airs his dirty laundry in front of the entire gym lol
He also seems used to how touchy-feely she is, particularly at the start of the manga. He makes no effort to put any distance between them, which to me shows that not only is he used to it, he knows Ayako means no harm by it and is fine letting her be.
In other words, he trusts her.
This trust he has in Ayako is also shown in the way he respects her. While he may complain when she wants him to play mediator when the others are being idiots, he listens to her most of the time. The biggest example of this for me is during the fight with Mitsui. When Ryota yells at Rukawa to stop, Rukawa doesn't listen. He only stops when Ayako steps in, grabbing his arm and telling him that he'd only make the situation worse.
This is big, because the manga shows that when it comes to Rukawa, respect is earned. Case in point, it takes him a while to start attaching "senpai" to Mitsui's name. So by the start of the manga, Ayako has already done enough to earn Rukawa's respect.
Their interactions are also super easy-going, once again showing the familiarity and trust there is between them.
So while their dynamic may not get that much attention in the manga, I feel like we see enough of it to get a clear idea of how well they get along.
I think it's really sweet that Rukawa has a reliable senpai in Ayako, even more so because literally every other girl around him is too busy projecting their fantasies onto him lol
