| SPOILER WARNING! this article may contain major plot or ending details |
|
|
|
|
|
|
- You were right, Aki-chan... I should have cared more about myself... I should have joined a club instead of running around doing errands for everyone else. Did I even have hobbies? What club would I have joined? I don't know. But now... I... I see....I wanted to fall in love after all.
- —Koharu
Akiharu is the femslash ship between Tamaki Aki and Sakurada Koharu from the Love Bullet fandom.
Canon[]
Aki and Koharu are best friends since childhood. In high school, while a more timid Koharu was busy matchmaking her peers, a more assertive Aki would step in to get the others to leave Koharu alone. Frustrated, Aki asks Koharu to think about her own love life and her future. When Aki later brings it up again, Koharu figures out that Aki is actually upset that the two of them haven’t been able to hang out together as just the two of them for a while. Aki gets sheepish at this, then admits to having romantic feelings for Koharu.
Shortly after Aki’s confession, a beam and other construction materials fall from above. Koharu pushes Aki out of the way but gets impaled by a rebar in the process. Aki comes to a fallen Koharu’s side immediately, holding her hand as Koharu bleeds out. In her dying moments, Koharu wishes Aki didn’t have to see her like this and silently apologizes for not answering Aki’s confession. She dies wishing she’d gotten the chance to fall in love, too.
5 years later, Koharu reawakens as a cupid. Her first mission as a cupid is to make Aki fall in love with someone new. While looking through Aki’s data record, Koharu discovers that Aki had loved her since they were 9 years old and continued to love her even 5 years after Koharu’s death. Koharu gets emotional over this; she apologizes and thanks Aki for thinking about her for all this time.
To better understand Aki’s current interests, Koharu disguises herself as a human and infiltrates Aki’s friend group as a new student who Aki is supposed to give a campus tour to. The two of them get along quickly and easily, and Koharu briefly worries that she’ll be seen as a “rival” by the others who are all interested in Aki. Koharu soon identifies one of the friends as a match for Aki, has only the two of them come with her somewhere else, and then reverts back to being a cupid, with Aki and the others forgetting Koharu was even there in the first place.
With just Aki and her friend by themselves, Aki reveals her past trauma with Koharu’s death and how until recently, she was still in love with Koharu. Aki still misses Koharu deeply, but she has to move forward, to show Koharu that she’ll be okay. Koharu thanks Aki for this, then shoots her, making her fall in love with her friend. Before leaving, Koharu tells Aki that she’ll see her later, and Aki has a brief moment where she remembers Koharu disguised as a human before, before forgetting again.
Fanon[]
Akiharu is a ship that appeals to people primarily because of the doomed yuri aspect of it. Their story is considered painful and tragic, with Koharu’s untimely death and her subsequent first mission as a cupid targeting Aki. Despite its unlikeliness (since Aki has moved on), some fans still hope for Akiharu to happen after Koharu returns to being human. A popular speculation for the ship is that a cupid was supposed to shoot Koharu so that she would love Aki back, but Koharu died before it could happen.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Aki/Koharu tag on AO3
- Aki & Koharu tag on AO3
Trivia[]
- Aki likely thinks about Koharu around the time when the cherry blossoms begin to bloom because that is when Koharu’s birthday was. (Cherry blossoms begin to bloom in Japan in late March, and Koharu’s birthday is March 23.[1])