AkiMeno

AkiHime is the het ship between Aki Hayakawa and Himeno from the Chainsaw Man fandom.

Canon
Aki Hayakawa's family was killed by the Gun Devil. He decided to work in Public Safety Devil Hunter to avenge his family. There, he met Himeno, the first partner and senior who taught him things while working at Public Safety Devil Hunter. Himeno also repeatedly told Aki to quit and go to another job without danger with her, however, Aki disagreed. Himeno said only crazy people work at Public Safety Devil Hunter. But she and Aki both work there, and both have the same goal which is to kill the Gun Devil. Himeno could have quit Public Safety Devil Hunter a long time ago but she stayed, for Aki's sake, she won't give up on that place until Aki gives up on his revenge.

At first, Himeno's feelings for Aki were just those between teammates, she simply didn't want him to die. But after a long time working together, her feelings develop gradually, she likes Aki, simply because he is cool, and most of all, he is a normal person. She fully knew that he was incapable of defeating the Gun Devil, so she certainly didn't want the person she liked to die.

Aki has always known Himeno's feelings for her. He didn't deny it, but he didn't accept it either. He was still grieved about his family being killed by the Gun Demon. Even though he knows he can't fight the Gun Demon alone, so Aki can't give up on revenge. Only when Himeno sacrificed for him did Aki really feel the pain, he was still determined to avenge his family, but he also avenge Himeno and her family. When he died, he left his passbook, half to Denji and Power, half to the Himeno family.

Despite saying that, Himeno is always grieving over her partner's death, she visits their grave every month. Once she was slapped by a dead partner's girlfriend, Aki took revenge for her by sneaking chewing gum on the other girl. It was the first time Himeno laughed out loud in front of Aki, also the scene where the relationship between the two of them developed.

Once, when Aki, Himeno, Arai, Kobeni, Power and Denji were stucked on the 8th floor by the devil's power. Aki asked Himeno if she had any cigarettes left. Unfortunately it was Himeno's last cigarette, Aki stepped forward and took the half-burnt cigarette to smoke without hesitation, this was an indirect kiss. Himeno always tries to protect Aki, when he asked her opinion about using Cursed Devil (he will lose his life span) Himeno disagreed and used Ghost Devil to stop Aki. When she saw Aki being stabbed, someone with an always calm state like Himeno also collapsed and almost cried, she was very confused, she didn't know what to do at that time, she was afraid that Aki would die.

While fighting the Shadow Demon, Denji and Power collapsed, the memory of Himeno before his death immediately flashed in Aki's mind. He is afraid that another person he loves will die, Himeno is the motivation for Aki to try.

Himeno also cut Aki's top knot when she was drunk and she keeps it as heirloom.

Fanon
AkiMeno is a fairly popular ship; Aki’s second most popular and Himeno’s most popular. Fans admire their mutual faith and support in each other, and they consider one another a source of motivation. The ship shares the same amount of popularity in both eastern and western fandom. Many supporters admire how Himeno had lost hopes in her past partners with Aki being the only one who surpasses her and was with her the longest. Another common theme is their friendly rivalry which mainly focuses around Himeno encouraging Aki and reminding him to not die.

However, the fandom is split when it comes to this ship and considers them to be controversial as Aki had met Himeno while he was a few years younger than her. Himeno’s behavior towards Denji also plays a role in the tension between AkiAngel and AkiMeno shippers; Himeno’s predatory behavior caused a part of the fandom to be uncomfortable. In a Q&A, Fujimoto did confirm that Himeno was originally written to be Aki’s younger sister but eventually was cancelled. Due to them meant to be siblings at first along with the initial age gap, many fans tend to stray away from it.

Fandom
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