Soushin

"Midori's scarf... I had somehow come to wear it myself. I wonder why? I don't want to admit it, but... When he suddenly went away... maybe I felt lonely?"

- Shin talking with Sara while recovering his memories with Sou.

SouShin is the slash ship between Sou Hiyori and Shin Tsukimi from the Your Turn To Die fandom.

Before the Death Game
When Shin was in high school, Sou disguised himself as one of the students and befriended Shin in order to steal information for his AI. It is implied that they spent a lot of time together, in contrast with the other participants, who only met Sou once or briefly.

Even with the friendship, Shin would get uncomfortable when he looked into Sou's eyes: he got anxious, and Sou seemed to enjoy him being uncomfortable. One day, Sou disappeared and never came back, killed by Alice Yabusame at some point before the Death Game, around two and a half years before. With his disappearance, Shin says he felt confusing feeling between happy relief and loneliness at the same time at losing a friend.

In Shin's first trial, he was told that he had a 0.0% chance of survival based on countless simulations of the game. This knowledge caused him to break down and assume the identity of Sou Hiyori in an attempt to escape his inevitable death. Shin imitated Sou's manipulative and personality, impling that he always saw the cold and mean part of Hiyori.

Chapter 3, Part 1
Sou is revived as an AI doll and takes part in the Death Game as Floor Master of the 4th and 5th floors. At this point, the player has decided whether Shin or Kanna survived Chapter 2. Sou has different dialogue depending on which one of them is alive.

Both routes include the discovery of the Shin AI, which Sou keeps on a computer and is very possessive of. He also has a journal documenting his interactions with the AI.

When asked about Sou by Sara, the Shin AI states that Sou is his "scary friend" and tells the story of how they met. He mentions how being around Sou makes him feel uneasy and anxious, and that he can tell Sou takes pleasure in having this effect on him, but doesn't seem to think of it as a deterrent to their friendship. He is also aware that Sou infiltrated his school and was not actually a student there.

Shin lives route
In Sou's first appearance, he tells all of them to gather close to him, and incentives Shin to go to him too while laughing. Then, he introduces himself as the real Sou Hiyori, but after seeing Shin using it with such care, he decides let the player rename him. Sou says it was a pity about Kanna's death, and Shin tells him to shut up, followed by Sou laughing saying that Shin has a wonderful look on his face, Shin says he's just an enemy now and Sou ends the dialogue recognizing that Shin have grown. Shin is visibly uncomfortable with the situation and by Sou's revival and views him as an enemy comparable to Sara, who he despises for her role in Kanna's death. He postpones his plan to murder Sara and cooperates with the rest of the group to fight against Sou, saying they'd beat his expectations. When everyone is investigating the 4th floor, Shin is found staring at a portrait of Sou and Kurumada comments that he's obsessed with him.

Kanna lives route
Sou admits that he is disappointed with this outcome as he wanted to kill Shin with his own hands since he was going to die anyway. This disturbs the other characters, and Sou states that they don't understand his "affection" towards Shin.

Fanon
Sou is somewhat frequently interpreted by the fandom as a yandere or yandere-like character. Because of this, many fans interpret his obsession and self-identified "affection" with Shin as a twisted form of romantic love. Conversely, some fans may consider Shin's opinion that Sou is "like a big brother" to imply a strictly platonic relationship, although it is also possible that Shin was not aware of the true nature of his romantic feelings for Sou at the time and misinterpreted them as fraternal. A possibly similar youthful crush hidden behind a sibling-like relationship supporting this possibility could be observed between Kanna Kizuchi and Sara Chidouin, as Kanna seems to exhibit some more romantic admiration for Sara in Chapter 2, Part 1's optional bath scene. Other evidence supporting a romantic reading includes Sou's Shin AI test data book filled with poems, as well as the amount of time Shin spent in Sou's apartment, displaying his own personal belongings on the shelves and being there even after Sou disappeared from his life.

In fanon, Soushin is seen as an abusive relationship due to the implications of their past history. Portrayals tend to depict Sou being possessive of Shin, cruelly seeking pleasure out of making him feel uneasy. Shin in the relationship, especially in pre-game portrayals, is seen as someone who latched onto Sou, despite the mistreatment and discomfort he felt when he was with him. The chemistry between the two characters is one of the highlights of the ship, as well as the vagueness of their relationship so far in canon. It allows for many scenarios to be explored through fanon content.

Quotes
"I think it was in high school... I met him at school, and we started talking... But whenever I looked in his eyes... I felt really restless... I was so scared, I started sweating, I got anxious... He really seemed to enjoy seeing me like that..."

- Shin AI talking about his friendship with Sou. "Every day, like we were playing at a secret base, we'd assemble at his house and mess with computers... When Midori suddenly disappeared... I was left with a confusing feeling between happy relief and loneliness at losing a friend."

- Shin talking about when Sou disappeared. "This is Midori we're talking about... The time limit must be impossibly tight. Heh... Let's beat his expectations."

- Shin talking with Sara about saving Keiji in the coffin and Sou's schemes.

Trivia

 * During the events of the game, Shin is always seen wearing the same scarf as Sou. It is unknown exactly when he obtained it, but he claims he "somehow came to wear it himself," citing his loneliness without Sou as a cause.
 * According to the Personality Database, Sou and Shin are both the same MBTI type (ENTP).
 * They have a similar instinctual variant, both being sp dom, differing only with Sou being sp/sx while Shin is sp/so.
 * They have a similar tritype, with a 8 in the middle: Sou is 783, while Shin is 684.

Fandom
FAN FICTION



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