KusaHime

KusaHime is the het ship between Atsuya Kusakabe and Utahime Iori from the Jujutsu Kaisen fandom.

Canon
Utahime and Atsuya are professional sorcerers and teachers. Utahime works as a student supervisor at Kyoto Jujutsu High, while Kusakabe is a second-years instructor at its sister college in Tokyo. Kusakabe’s precise age is unknown but he appears to be around Utahime’s age, which makes them attending college around the same time probable.

On October 31, Kusakabe arrives at Shibuya Station, he tells Panda that their task is to stay on the outlines and deal with the curses that get past Gojo who is in the epicenter – it’s an excuse not to engage with Special Grade curses swarming the territory. As the events in Shibuya unfold further, Utahime and her students arrive to aid fellow sorcerers fight the curses. When Miwa sees Geto, she attempts to strike him with her katana, but he catches the blade and breaks it. Geto immediately summons Maximum: Uzumaki, and as everyone in shock awaits Miwa’s impending doom, Kusakabe appears out of thin air with Utahime and Momo. He shields Utahime and her students and stops Geto’s technique. Momo chastises Utahime for running to the front lines as she could have been easily killed along with Miwa, had it not been for Kusakabe’s effective intervention.

When Choso arrives on the battlefield and addresses Geto, everyone, including Atsuya and Utahime, is stupefied, when he calls him by the name of Noritoshi Kamo. The students are unaware of who it could be, only Utahime and Atsuya know that name. Utahime concludes it must be Kamo’s ancestor, and Kusakabe agrees with her. Choso attacks Geto and the fight ensues, Kusakabe runs headlong right into the center, and Utahime stays behind preparing for using her technique. They’re both almost killed by Uraume’s Icefall, but Yuki Tsukumo arrives in time to block the attack. Now the two remain among the few faculty members alive.

Fanon
The ship is a rarepair, considering that both Utahime and Atsuya are minor characters with limited appearances. However, both are believed to have potential in the story moving forward, as Utahime still hasn’t showed her technique in action, and Kusakabe had the honor of featuring a volume cover (volume 13). Fans theorize whether the two have to work closely in the professional area. It seems probable that they do, since when Kusakabe arrives at the battle site, Miwa yells him name, so the Kyoto students know him. Miwa mentions how she met a mentor, who taught her how to use katana, and her sword technique, New Shadow Style: Batto Sword Drawing, makes it apparent the mentor is Kusakabe, as the two are the only known Batto style users. It is safe to conclude that while Kusakabe affiliates with the Tokyo college, he trains students from the Kyoto Jujutsu High, too, college where Utahime works as a head teacher.

The ship was born when Kusakabe saved Utahime’s student Miwa and shielded Utahime by proxy, too. Utahime is often considered to be a protective mother-figure to her students – she is not coddling them and can be strict, but she is always ready to risk her life for the kids’ safety. When mangaka Gege Akutami revealed that one of the characters was married, fans put their bets on Kusakabe, many believed he is a divorcée with a daughter. This interpretation has to do with his general “don’t care” attitude and the way he and Utahime rushed forward to protect their student Miwa. Given the two were the only adults in the scene (who were on the side of good), fans compared them to parents guarding their cubs from the predator.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

TUMBLR

Trivia

 * Utahime persuaded her close friend Shoko Ieiri to quit smoking; Kusakabe quit smoking, too.
 * Atsuya is often depicted with a lollipop in manga, Utahime hates sweets.
 * Kusakabe was the name of a Japanese prince (from his father’s death in 681 to his own death in 689), Utahime's first name (歌姫) means “song princess”.