Mizumafu

Mizumafu is the non-binary ship between Mizuki Akiyama and Mafuyu Asahina from the Project SEKAI fandom.

Canon
Mizuki and Mafuyu are second-year high school students as well as members of the music circle Niigo (Nightcord at 25:00), where Mizuki is their animator under the name "Amia" and Mafuyu writes the lyrics for the group's songs under the name "Yuki." Mizuki is cheerful, always wants to "enjoy their life while they can" and enjoys teasing their friends and groupmates alike, while Mafuyu, when she's not pretending to be her "honor student" self, is apathetic, stoic and speaks in a low voice.

While the group's other two members' Kanade and Ena's struggles are related to their artistic talents, Mizuki and Mafuyu suffer due to their identities. Mafuyu, a beloved ace student who does her best to live up to her parents' expectations, started doing everything her parents pushed her onto (such as studying to become a doctor instead of a nurse) and in the process, ended up becoming broken, forgot what her dreams are and lost sight of her own identity. As such, she tries to find herself by making songs. Meanwhile Mizuki, although appearing as confident outside, is ostracized and treated like a weirdo due to their appearance, when all they want to do is dress up and present themselves in the cute clothes they love a lot. Due to a past incident, Mizuki is known to have a secret they refuse to tell anyone else (in order to avoid getting hurt like in the past).

In Niigo's Main Story, Mizuki and Mafuyu are shown to have a one-on-one conversation in Chapter 4. They meet up at Nightcord earlier than usual and are both surprised. When Mafuyu mentions she had a short schoolday and as such wants to be able to do work she can't normally do on weekdays, Mizuki tells her she's really serious about the circle's work, and Mafuyu tells her she needs to do her best as well since the others work really hard. Mafuyu's mother enters the room and asks how Mafuyu's day went. When Mafuyu answers, her mother tells her that she should turn down her friends' request for help if it's too much of an incovenience, and how she should rather spend time with people who could challenge her so she could value her time more. Mizuki apologizes for eavesdropping their conversation and then asks if Mafuyu's mother really told her to not be friends with girls who aren't on her level. Mafuyu says she rather meant that she should study with the smarter girls at times too, and Mizuki questions it more, saying they wouldn't like it if others tried to force their values on them or say how their way of doing things is better than Mizuki's, but also clarifies that they aren't implying Mafuyu's mother did so. Mafuyu goes silent and then tells Mizuki how it doesn't bother her. Mizuki is convinced for the time being and apologizes for taking too much of her time before going back to work.

After the other members run into Mafuyu in the Empty SEKAI, who says she knows they've all wanted to disappear before as well and ends up causing a rift within the group, Mizuki starts talking about Mafuyu with Ena in Chapter 14. Mizuki mentions them overhearing Mafuyu and her mother's conversation and mentions the things they had deduced before and how Mafuyu claimed it didn't bother her. Mizuki then explains how they believe Mafuyu - as mentioned before - changed herself according to others' expectations of her in order to become the "good girl" she is, and the pressure is starting to be too much for her to handle, leading to her wanting to completely disappear. Mizuki mentions how they can understand Mafuyu's struggle and how sad her "transformation" to her current self sounds. When Mizuki says they want to talk to Mafuyu again, the latter uploads multiple depressing songs in a row, showcasing Mafuyu's current mental state and shocking both Mizuki and Ena.

When the whole group visits Mafuyu in Chapter 18, Mizuki says they understand how the former feels and she's free to disappear if she wants, since only Mafuyu can truly understand what goes on in her mind. Before Mafuyu can speak more, Mizuki continues and says they're quite alike, in regards to not knowing whether to forcing themselves to change for the people around them to the point where nothing matters anymore, and how it would be sad if Mafuyu actually went and disappeared.

Fanon
Mizumafu isn't that popular but it isn't a rarepair at the same time. It is mostly overshadowed by more popular ships like Mafuena, Kanamafu and Mizuena. Its unpopularity mostly stems from their limited interactions.

It is currently Mizuki's 2nd, and Mafuyu's 3rd most written ship on AO3.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

ART

Trivia

 * Out of all the Niigo member combinations, Mizumafu currently have the most covers together (Otome Kaibou, Bocca della Verità, Villain and Usseewa). As such, some fans have joked that "somebody in Colorful Palette ships Mizumafu".
 * Mafuyu attends school at normal times, while Mizuki constantly skips and has to even take makeup classes.
 * Mafuyu has a diluted sense of taste while Mizuki can't handle anything that is too spicy or hot. This is especially shown in an area conversation, where Mafuyu tries out the limited-time extra spicy french fry, only to comment it's only slightly spicy. When Mizuki tastes it afterwards, they freak out over its spiciness level, and Mafuyu asks if she should get them water.