At the end of a long hard day, the only thing Mamoru Kishi wants is you. Why? Why the hell not? Even if he'd never say it, you drive him wild. After having avenged his partner, coming to terms with the people that care about him and sorting out his feelings, the only thing he wants to do at the end of the night is collapse with his lady. He brought down a huge syndicate that used love as a cover, joined Interpol, and got stationed in Dubai. The only thing he wants at the end of the day is for the world to stop screeching at him and let him get some peace and quiet. Or spend some time with his lady. Maybe tease her a little with kisses because he's spent all day playing the good guy, trying to mind his manners and behave. Alone with Mamoru means fiery kisses and passion, the complete bliss of love. At the end of the day when you have each other the world spins a little better, the sun shines a little brighter, and the stars sparkle a little harder. He may be a rough and tough detective but his heart belongs completely to his lady. Sweetheart, babe, kid - whatever meets his fancy, whatever will give him the greatest reaction, because it all means the same thing: I love you.
There's just one little problem. I started at the end. Let me recap for you. Once upon a time there was a lazy slacker detective that got wrapped up in black market auctions. One day a hotel worker accidently breaks an important item, and to make up for that gets sold. In hopes to save herself, she chooses the least scary person, someone that she thinks will be able to help her: Detective Mamoru Kishi. Poor lass doesn't understand that he's good for nothing.
Initially, Mamoru Kishi is dead set against the main character being anywhere near him. He has better things to do than worry about some kid. After a small chat he realizes that there's no way that she'll leave him alone (she's too honest) and that he has to put up with her because the consequences would be too bad for her. He ends up using her as bait to get into the AID headquarters. He insists that they have to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend and that it was his love for her that made him sneak into the compound. Unknown to most, this is a cover for him so that he can gather information about the group that supposedly killed his partner, Minami. It is only through this raid of the AID that we learn that deep down, Mamoru cares more than he likes to admit and that he's just lost all motivation to move forward. With revenge the only thing on his mind and heart, can love reach him?
Spoiler Alert! It can and does. Mamoru falls head over heels for the sweet little daredevil. He knows he has to look after her because she's dedicated her time to look after him. Sometimes he can't articulate how much he loves her and sometimes when she puts herself in danger (even on accident) it drives him insane and breaks his heart. He wants nothing more than for her to be safe but she has the natural ability to attract trouble; in part due to her good and forgiving nature. Still, Mamoru finds her charming because he knows it's all those traits that make him work harder and that inspire him to be a better man.
Mamoru may be slow on the uptake and he may be a little too rough around the edges, but he means well. When he puts his mind to something he devotes 100% of himself to the task. He makes larger messes when he tries to clean, he eats out as much as possible, and he smokes like a damn chimney, but one little word from you breaks down every single wall he has and he tries to do even the things he's terrible at. Cleaning provides a bigger mess than before, dinner gets burnt and has to be ordered, the challenge to quit smoking replaces cigarettes with kisses at the most inopportune moments. The essence of all these silly things is his love for the protagonist and how he can make her life better because she's inspired and motivated him. He will do anything and everything within his power to protect her, and I love it.
Mamoru Kishi is not so basic as to be rough and tough on the outside and soft and smushy on the inside. He genuinely loves his girl, he wants what's best for her and he can be inarticulate about relaying those feelings because he's spent the last four years telling everyone to shut their traps because it was easier not to care. It was easier to keep everyone at a distance rather than care for others and get hurt again. He's very introspective, and I feel like there's one particular scene that embodies how much he genuinely cares. At one point, his lady gets captured and the bad boss decides that the only way to test their love is through Russian roulette. At this point, Mamoru tells his love that she must take the shot because he is so assured that their love will survive. He goes so far as to tell her to aim for his heart because there's no way that their love can hurt each other and that he knows that together they'll be alright. I'm a sucker for this kind of badassery because he's not only telling his opponent to F off, he's telling his girl that he loves her, and that because of her love everything is going to work out. She aims straight for his heart. BAM! It wasn't empty. I didn't expect it to be, neither did he - he wore a vest.
I'm not normally so cynical and usually, I'd believe that the writers would make it work with the poor girl's heart at the forefront of their mind. There's no drama in that, if it had been a soft click then it would have meant less to me. Especially since I know that Mamoru is cynical and that he always plans for the worst to happen. His allowing you to take the shot is his way of saying I'm going to protect you at all costs. It doesn't matter what harm comes to him as long as his lady is safe, and I'm a sucker for the sort of knight in shining armor, badass that has to make me work for his love. People are not two dimensional you can love someone but not the things they do. You can loathe someone but still recognize the good they are capable of. You can learn to respect someone that you didn't before, and you can fall more in love with someone the more you know about them. You can still make a mess of all of it by opening your mouth. He wants what's best for you but doesn't know how to articulate that. He tries, gets frustrated, causes stupid fights, but when it all boils down his first and only thought is for the woman he loves despite the way he acts and talks.
Let's face it, when he becomes serious about his work and protecting the woman he loves, he's a totally different man. His sarcasm slips away and is replaced with only the desire to protect and serve. He'll protect his lady and serve up justice. Did I go there? Yes, I did! LOOK AT HIM. When he wants too, he can look cool. In all honesty, Mamoru's detached behavior is what drew me to him in the first place. Although he's cold, he doesn't try to be outright mean. He's actually just not used to having to care for people. He's lost all motivation to love and be loved, and he's just stuck on the fact that his best friend is dead. Minami was everything to him, and it was his partner that made everything good about him. So, when he lost Minami, he lost direction. When he gets that direction back, he can still be lazy and sloppy. He likes to conserve energy. He prioritizes his energy usage in ways that make little sense but his lady becomes his driving force for everything he does.
I'm crazy about her - what else matters?
At the end of the day the only thing that matters to him is that he and his lady are safe. In fact, the only thing the matters to him is that he can tease her, touch her, and express his love for her. I feel like after four years of keeping everyone at arm's length he has to have her as close to him as humanly possible. Something I find charming and hilarious because she rarely expects him to be as involved with her as he is. Despite the fact that he teases her he genuinely wants her and only her. He gets jealous when the others flirt with her, and he works harder because he knows that she supports him. I genuinely love the give and take of their relationship. It's not perfect; both still say things in the heat of the moment that hurt the other. They try to work things out and often a simple misunderstanding can be fixed through open dialogue and communication. Despite neither being very good at expressing their feelings completely, the fact remains that they love each other more than enough to keep trying. This is something I feel is very important in the relationship dynamic. People argue, they misunderstand, but it doesn't always mean that they don't love each other. Mamoru tries not to keep her at arm's length but still says stupid things. She's much younger and an awful lot more idealistic and finds some of the things he's doing hurtful, and although they have these minor issues, they keep trying. For me, the relationship doesn't have to be perfect because I find it to be more realistic. Mamoru is not completely forthcoming with his feelings, she can be too sensitive, but they care about each other.
How would Mamoru spend his Valentine's Day?
Due to Mamoru's fantastically cynical nature, he believes that some holidays are just made up to cater to companies trying to make money. In some way, I agree with him because I don't need one day to show you that I love you. It would definitely be an every day type of thing for me. Mamoru shows that he cares in little ways. His ideal date involves staying in because dates are troublesome. He loves soba, so dinner's easy - other than that all he wants to do is spend some quality time with his lady. You wanna go back to his place for soba and sex? What, you don't like soba? Fine, he can live without the soba. Basically, Mamoru likes to keep things simple and the only thing he really wants at the end of the day is time with his lady in any way he can. He doesn't want the overly complicated things, he just wants to express his love in the only way that he can.
Mamoru's ideal night starts with dinner, something homemade - most likely soba. Something easy. Although, he's not picky as long as you're cooking he's willing to eat anything. A good meal is important for him because he likes to conserve energy. I bet he really wouldn't care one way or another because ideally he just wants to spend time with his lady. He loves surprising her and teasing her in the most loving ways. A hug, a kiss, sweet talk, whatever he can to get her to blush and screech at him. He's very loving, in fact, and he just likes to show it in little ways every day.
In all honesty, I believe that Mamoru would work his way up to spending some more passionate moments with his lady. He has to touch her, has to feel her, and has to know that he can have her in his arms. He struggles with saying what he feels but not showing it. Again, she is younger than he is so she's a little shy about things with him, but she wants to try out all these little things and make him happy just as much as he wants to make her happy. They communicate, albeit, badly sometimes - but they keep trying.
Let's be real, it always ends in the bedroom. I'm not sure I need to elaborate on this, so I will just say that every chance he gets to make out with her, he does. It always escalates into more. They're content and happy with each other, and he always takes his opportunities to tease and kiss her. I honestly believe that Mamoru could not contain his affections to a single day. For him Valentine's Day would be so against the point of showering her with love and affections at every opportunity. If you want to do something nice for him, do it. If you want to do something with him, do it. If you want to spend time, go on dates, see a movie, go shopping, whatever -talk to him and he will make it happen. Yes, he'll say it's troublesome, he'll call you a kid because you want to do silly things, but he's always more than happy to oblige in any way to see you smile. It gives him fuel to steal a kiss, to caress your cheek, to embrace you, to love you.
Maybe that's why I love him. Everything he does ultimately leads to the happiness of his lady. He wants her to be happy, and he's willing to do whatever is within his power to keep her happy. He's devoted solely to her (even more than his job much to her dismay sometimes). He genuinely cares for her, and I appreciate that because he always tries his best to balance her happiness with his happiness. He's content to keep her happy because it makes him happy. When everything else is crap around him, the one thing he draws support and motivation from is his lady. I love that, he's cool and rough around the edges. He struggles with articulating his feelings, but his actions are always based in creating a wonderful, happy, and safe life with his girl. I'm a romantic at heart, you know? I love when two people work together to make their relationship stronger. Even though he starts out being a distant person, he opens his heart to the protagonist and shares everything about himself with her. He still keeps everyone else at a reasonable distance, but the distance between his heart and his home is quickly engulfed in her embrace.
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This is a Kishi Mamoru tribute based on the otome game Kissed by the Baddest Bidder by Voltage. It was coded in notepad and all graphics were designed in Paint Shop Pro 8. Heart Background modified with sister privileges from Mikari's resources. This was part of the Valentines Date Challenge issued by Emrys, in which all participants tried their best to complete their one page shrine to their Valentine's Date. All thoughts and views expressed on this site are mine (Snow Rayjah) unless otherwise stated or supported with citations.
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Listed // Amassment, Emotion, Flesh for Fantasy