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WHY IZUMI LOVES KOJI Eversince I started getting really obsessed with ZetsuAi and BRONZE, I've always been struck by the uncanny relationship between Kouji and Izumi. Here, you see the beautiful Kouji running after the reluctant lover, Izumi. The fact that Izumi doesn't seem to reciprocate Kouji's love for him has driven me practically insane! I used to ask people around on what they thought of Izumi's feelings towards Kouji and almost everybody said "NO, Izumi doesn't love Kouji," which, needless to say, broke my heart everytime. T_T But I've always thought that Izumi has feelings for Kouji, LOVE being the most prominent of them. Anybody could say, "Yeah, Izumi does have feelings for Kouji --- anger, pity, gratitude, etc. etc. but not love, really." That could be true, but not in my book! ^_^ And I'm going to tell to you why... The first "real" encounter between Kouji and Izumi can speak volumes already. Izumi goes home from work and sees a wasted Kouji lying in a dark corner drunk and unconscious, not to mention with a high fever. Izumi decides to take this stranger home with him. Now judging from Izumi's character, I don't think that he's really the trusting type. Izumi is anti-social, cynical, and treats people like lepers. Would he help this stranger when he couldn't really care less about the world? The drunk guy is beautiful. Now if he were some old, stinking hag, do you think that he would still have helped Kouji? I don't think so. What I'm trying to say is that from the very first time that Izumi saw Kouji, there was already a physical attraction in there somewhere. Or at least something in Izumi must have told him that he should not let this stranger alone. From the time when Kouji first glimpsed Izumi playing soccer up to this moment when Izumi saw Kouji in that dark corner was almost predestined. In BRONZE 1, Izumi decided that he would abandon Kouji. I just bet that he couldn't have done this at all! Or maybe he could have really left but that he wouldn't even survive a single day without thinking of Kouji and his touch. IMO, Kouji's sudden awakening had not really prevented Izumi's departure, but rather only preceded Izumi's feelings that he can't really leave Kouji's side. By this, I mean that Izumi would have stayed even if Kouji continued to stay in coma, but Kouji did wake up before Izumi can realize this fact himself. But hey, I ain't complaining that it didn't happen this way --- I absolutely adore Kouji and was only too ecstatic when Kouji came out of his coma! And then there's that scene towards the end of BRONZE 2 where Izumi had thoughtlessly defended Kouji from those reporters who were planning to dish out the dirt about his love. Just like a knight in shining armor, he went over, got the film, and beat the men up. Afterwards, he questions himself on why he had acted that way, i.e., carelessly putting his own reputation in line for defending Kouji. TSK, TSK! The poor boy is still in denial and can't tell his own self that it was out of love that he did this. For me, this is only one of the few examples where we see Izumi acts out his love unconsciously, based on instincts/instinctive actions. Another one would be in BRONZE 3 where both boys slept in Izumi's apartment with their backs to each other. Izumi woke up seeing Kouji's beautiful face smiling down at him and realized that he was sleeping in Kouji's arms, with his own hand clasped on Kouji's shoulders. Hehehe... Izumi's body sure knows what his mind doesn't. ^_^ If Izumi doesn't give a damn about Kouji and his relationship with him, why then would Izumi appear so jealous and even mad when he smells a woman's perfume on Kouji? Taken that Izumi feels disgusted by Kouji's womanizing habits, I think that if Izumi doesn't really want Kouji by his side all the time, he'd feel relieved that Kouji has found another woman whom he could have a possible relationship with. It's pretty obvious that Izumi doesn't feel this way, though. ^_^ There's a scene in BRONZE 4 where Shibuya visited the duo in their apartment and brought a tape of one of Kouji's t.v. appearances. When Izumi couldn't sleep at night, he watched the tape and found out that the tape contained a scene of Kouji making love to a woman! Was Izumi red from shock and jealousy!!! Seeing Koji making love to somebody else but him, it looked like he felt sick watching it. He could have been comparing how he and Koji make love with how Koji appears to be making love with the woman --- anyhow, it is clear that Izumi doesn't find it a pretty picture. I've always thought that sex is the ultimate expression of love between two people. It's where lovers can get really close to each other. Sex demands not only emotions but also extreme, intimate physical contact between two people. That's why I feel that without Izumi feeling something for Kouji, he wouldn't have allowed himself to give in to Kouji like that. Yep, folks, I used the word "allowed" because whatever anyone says about it, the sex between Kouji and Izumi IS consensual. Izumi is an athlete --- he can always give Kouji a kick here and there (well, you know what body part I'm really talking about) if he really wants to. However, everytime Kouji touches him, he turns into this blushing, trembling creature who can just say "Stop!" just to show that he doesn't like what Kouji's doing to him, when in fact he himself hungers for that intimate, physical contact! When it comes to sex, Izumi's protests are just all for show. =P So Izumi just doesn't love Kouji, he also LUSTS after Kouji! C'mon, have you seen how he positively daydreams about Kouji touching him, kissing him, making love to him, etc? O_O One thing that also makes me wonder is that despite the fact that Izumi seems to be hurt always by sticking to Kouji, why doesn't he leave Kouji??? Hmmm… is it because he knows that psycho-Kouji will keep stalking him anyway so he just gives up the fight? Or maybe because Kouji is great in bed and that Kouji is like a portable whore who can always satisfy him whenever he feels horny (although he'll never in his life admit this, folks)? Or is it because he's afraid to be alone so he's thinking that he better just SETTLE for Kouji who he knows would never leave him? Could be all of the above, in my opinion. However, when Izumi got raped by Kouji's brother Hirose, instead of finally losing his patience, he sticks with Kouji. Rape should have been the ultimatum, the ultimate reason why Izumi should stay FAR AWAY from Kouji and his family. But the exact opposite thing happened! If you'd agree that Izumi did NOT choose to stay with Kouji in his own volition, I'd throttle you like a rag doll! Well, okay, I wouldn't get that violent, but I'd surely disagree with you. But then again, maybe Izumi didn't think too much on the rape because Kouji has been raping him all along!!! HAHAHAhaha..haha..ha..That's the biggest joke, my dear friends. As what I've written earlier, the sex between Kouji and Izumi has always been consensual. There was a reason that Izumi made that choice to stay with Kouji, and it was LOVE. But that's what I've been saying all along. After years and years of being alone, Izumi has now found someone precious whom he realized he cannot live without anymore. Have you seen that soccer match in BRONZE 7? Izumi, after winning his soccer match, ignored his teammates and instead sought out Kouji in the crowd. He then ran towards Kouji and embraced Kouji tightly. T_T Beautiful. Kouji must have been pretty tough to withstand that impact from Izumi! ^_^ And remember that Kouji has now lost one of his arms, but he was still able to carry Izumi off the field! What a HUNK! *drool* Okay, now going back to what I was saying... Kouji was just standing there, he wasn't telling Izumi to come to him. Izumi came (ran, to be exact) to him on his own. And there is a desperation in that scene, it felt like Izumi was declaring his love for Kouji to the whole world. He was running towards the goal like the goal was Kouji. In BRONZE 8 and 9, we see Izumi finally taking the initiative to show his affections for Kouji. I'll say it was about TIME! I'm sure that fans who have diligently followed Kouji and Izumi's relationship for the past nine years (!!!) were deliriously happy in seeing those scenes for the first time! ^_^ BRONZE 8 has that eye-popping swimming pool scene, and an even more shocking scene in BRONZE 9 where Izumi kissed the stunned Kouji! But as always with Ozaki's never-ending sadistic tendencies, Izumi suffered that car accident t the end of the 9th volume. T_T First thing that Izumi says when he wakes up is Kouji's name. sobs Of course he can always follow this up with "You idiot, this is all your fault," especially when he finds out that there's a big possibility that he might not play soccer again. But until BRONZE 11 comes out, give this poor fan girl a chance to fantasize about the utter romantic notion of that single scene. T_T |