Mitsuba Sousuke/Relationships (2024)

Background[]

Mitsuba Sousuke used to attend Kamome Academy's middle-school division before he passed away in a car accident. Before his death, he had previously met Minamoto Kou. Sometime in the past, before entering Kamome, he was bullied for his girlish traits and co*cky attitude—thus, he began to mask his personality, holding a passive, caring persona in order to make friends. However, this did not help him achieve his goal, and he mostly faded away into the background of his class and didn't form any close friendships while he was still alive. Due to his lifelong desire to have friends, his soul remained attached to the middle school following his death, haunting the locker rooms and often asking students if they remembered him. Kou confronted him once he was made aware, and together they tried to help Mitsuba fulfill his wish and pass on.

Mitsuba did not remember much from his past, only that he had held a camera that was donated to the photography club. It is later seen that he was part of the said club and often took pictures for the school albums, as noted by the pictures taken of Nene's gardening club. Nene remembers that he was a boy that won many awards for his photographs, but Mitsuba rarely brings it up. While he was still alive, Mitsuba was very close with his mother after his father passed away, though he often teased her for her appearance and style of clothing.

Relationships[]

Minamoto Kou[]

At first, Kou and Mitsuba did not get along, as Kou found Mitsuba's attitude annoying while Mitsuba would continuously insult him, accusing him of being a pervert and calling him nicknames such as "Hella-Lame, Traffic-Safety-Earring Boy,” and generally being rude towards him.

In order to let Mitsuba pass on to the afterlife, Kou and Mitsuba try to figure out what Mitsuba wanted to take a picture of before he died. During this, Kou finds out Mitsuba's reason behind his haunting, they quickly come to an understanding. After learning about Mitsuba’s ostracization and faked personality to fit in when he was alive, Kou assured him that he'd remember "Mitsuba Sousuke" as someone who's "co*cky, looks like a girl, sarcastic, selfish, has an annoying voice, obsessed with his camera, goes emo sometimes, and is only fake nice,” and assured Mitsuba that he only needed to be himself to make friends. Kou admits that Mitsuba has a warped personality, but blushes as Kou says that he doesn’t hate it.

When Mitsuba asks if they would have been friends if he were still alive, Kou responds, can’t they be friends even if he’s dead? Mitsuba takes a picture of Kou, and when Kou asks what he took a picture of, Mitsuba responds, “something important to me… maybe?”

Their time together is cut short after Tsukasa appears, killing Mitsuba’s ghost. Kou is furious and attempts to fight Tsukasa and continues to do so even after he’s injured. Kou is forced to watch Mitsuba turn into a warped supernatural. Mitsuba calls for him, using “Minamoto-kun” as Mitsuba transforms, dropping the rude nicknames.

After Hanako subdues Mitsuba’s warped form, Kou holds the remains of Mitsuba’s ghost in his arms as he begs for Mitsuba to come back. Kou processes the photos that Mitsuba took that day, finding the picture Mitsuba took of him on the rooftop. Kou recalls their conversation, and cries.

At their reunion in the Mirror Hell boundary, Kou is enraged when Tsukasa explains that he remade a clone of Mitsuba from his remains, screaming that Mitsuba wasn’t Tsukasa’s toy and attempts to attack Tsukasa. Kou was shocked to find out that Mitsuba has no memory of him. Kou gives Mitsuba the gardening book in hopes of getting Mitsuba to remember his past, since the book contains pictures he took when the original Mitsuba was alive.

In the Picture Perfect Arc, Kou and Mitsuba are seen in Chapter 47 in the school building, Mitsuba wanting to look at the shooting stars. Kou confronts Mitsuba about him knowing the way to get out of the fake world created by Shijima Mei, but is interrupted by Mitsuba revealing his true form. Mitsuba explains to Kou how he learned about his original self from when the original Mitsuba was alive. Mitsuba says he is envious of his past self, and how he hates that Kou only cares about the original Mitsuba rather than him—a fake with only parts of the original’s soul. Kou tries to deny this, but is knocked down by Mitsuba smashing down a window. Mitsuba tells Kou it was fun to hang out with his classmates, and that since he’s happy in the fake world, Kou should be too, and that if Kou pretended it was real then they could be happy there together.

Mitsuba holds out his hand, asking if they could be friends again. Kou rejects this, telling Mitsuba that he could never find happiness in a fake world, upsetting Mitsuba. The two engage in a physical fight. When they stop, Kou tells him that it’s wrong for him to spend his life trying to replicate the original Mitsuba when he isn’t. Kou claims he can make Mitsuba’s wishes of being alive true in the real world, only angering Mitsuba more. Mitsuba yells at Kou, asking with what power he could to make his wishes come true and wishes that the people he loved were also dead so he wouldn’t feel so alone. Mitsuba screams, asking how could something like him be understood by a human like Kou.

In response, Kou grabs Mitsuba’s hand, telling Mitsuba that in that case, Kou should die too, so they could stay together forever. Kou’s impulsive and naive nature is demonstrated through his desperateness to comfort and help Mitsuba, and he proceeds to fall out of the building while holding onto Mitsuba. Mitsuba quickly cushions Kou as they hit the ground, shocked by Kou’s willingness to sacrifice himself. By the end of the Picture Perfect Arc, their relationship has grown significantly as Mitsuba and Kou gain mutual understanding of eachother’s circ*mstances. Even though Mitsuba is shown to be afraid of Hanako, Mitsuba still tries to protect Kou from him.

In Chapter 65, Mitsuba shows growing concern for Kou with his offstandish behavior. Mitsuba tries to inquire to Kou about what’s bothering him, but before he can, Natsuhiko is heard in the distance- cutting their talk short.

Kou is with Mitsuba during the beginning of the severance and witnesses Mitsuba falling away into shards with the rest of the supernaturals.

During their reunion in the beginning of the Nightlife Arc, Kou is overwhelmed with happiness with seeing his friend back and okay. Mitsuba replies that he’s not okay at all, but grabs Kou’s wrist and insists that he come with him. Kou tries to ask about what Mitsuba meant by not okay, but Mitsuba replies that he’ll only tell Kou if he takes him somewhere. Kou asserts that he’ll give Mitsuba “a date to die for,” to which Mitsuba giggles and calls Kou a simpleton under his breath.

To Mitsuba's disappointment, Kou decides to play red light, green light and build sandcastles. Trying to find the best place to bring Mitsuba, Kou texts Nene, Akane, Aoi, and Teru on places to go during the nightlife. They assume Kou is going on a romantic date with someone. While Kou struggles to find an available place, Mitsuba spots some bright and colorful lights in the distance and decides he wants to go there.

They follow the lights and enter an aquarium, where they engage in banter and compete with each other on who could find the biggest fish. After looking at some more animals, Mitsuba gains an affinity for penguins and tries to go through the glass to catch it as Kou holds him back. When Mitsuba wants a keychain from a gachapon, Kou is annoyed but gives Mitsuba the money. Mitsuba is disappointed when he receives a keychain of a giant isopod, and claims Kou won the jackpot when Kou receives the penguin keychain.

Kou immediately offers the penguin keychain to Mitsuba, saying “You wanted this one, right? Let’s trade.” Kou’s immediate offer to Mitsuba demonstrates his strong selflessness and knowledge of what makes Mitsuba happy. After accepting the keychain while joking with Kou and saying that Kou is creepy when he’s nice, Mitsuba laughs, saying, “This is pretty fun!” Kou is surprised by Mitsuba’s sudden joy, agreeing while blushing and turning his head away as Mitsuba smiles at the penguin keychain.

Kou reminds Mitsuba of their deal; Mitsuba would tell Kou what was bothering him if he’s satisfied with where they went. As Mitsuba is about to answer, the fish in the aquarium attack, revealing themselves and the patrons at the aquarium as supernaturals and ghosts. Kou responds by grabbing Mitsuba’s hand to escape, but Mitsuba falls apart, apologizing and saying that he doesn’t think he can move anymore.

Mitsuba wakes up where Kou has brought the both of them to a safe part of the aquarium. Kou claims that before they can escape, Mitsuba needs to explain what happened to him. Mitsuba confides in Kou about what happened during their time apart, and that his supernatural state can only be sustained by eating other supernatural’s hearts and that he is tired of it. Kou tries to comfort Mitsuba, but Mitsuba asks Kou for a favor; to exorcise him.

Though Mitsuba quickly attempts to play it off as a joke and change the subject, Kou cuts him off, saying that what Mitsuba said wasn’t really a joke and is angered at Mitsuba. Kou leaves momentarily to kill a supernatural fish, harvesting its heart and commanding Mitsuba to eat it so he can heal. When Mitsuba refuses, Kou only gets angrier in his desperateness to help Mitsuba become whole. Kou’s idea of what is good for Mitsuba overshadows Mitsuba’s rejections of to eat the heart, and he pins Mitsuba down, fighting with him on eating it. Mitsuba bites him and says it’s Kou’s fault, staring at Kou’s bloody hand as he says he’s been holding back. Kou realizes that it is not just supernaturals that Mitsuba can eat, but instead of being afraid, he asks why Mitsuba didn’t just tell him from the start, asking if he’s so weak and unreliable that Mitsuba would rather trust Tsukasa instead of him.

Mitsuba turns to yell, but freezes as he sees Kou crying. Mitsuba immediately apologizes, trying to comfort Kou, but Kou yells to not look at him. Kou offers the heart again, to which Mitsuba reluctantly eats in order to make Kou feel better. Mitsuba rubs Kou’s head, comforting him and asking what’s wrong. Kou replies that Mitsuba was being so stupid it made him cry.

Kou tells Mitsuba that, no matter how much of a bastard or a monster Mitsuba is, it would bother Kou if he was gone. Mitsuba teases that Kou would be lonely if he was gone. When Kou remains silent and looks at Mitsuba instead of immediately denying it, Mitsuba is shocked.

After Kou cries for a bit, he looks up to see Mitsuba grinning at him mischievously, and teases Kou again on the reason for his crying being funny. Mitsuba says that he’s glad the last person he met up with was Kou, although it would be easier to be killed by a supernatural, he knew Kou would feel regret over it, demonstrating his understanding of Kou’s feelings. Mitsuba then deflects, saying that Kou would be regretful over anyone dying like that.

Kou accuses Mitsuba of being a masoch*st, agreeing to exorcise him under the condition that Mitsuba beats him in a competition to kill the most supernatural fish. However, Kou’s bet backfires on him when Mitsuba kills more fish than him. They agree to a different condition; whoever can kill the large stringray.

Kou ends up killing the stingray, and Mitsuba’s wish of being exorcise is unfulfilled. While leaving the aquarium, Mitsuba piggy-backs Kou as they leave. When Mitsuba says there’s no reason for him to stay, Kou tells Mitsuba that they could go around the upcoming school festival together, and that it was a promise. Although Mitsuba teases him for not having anyone else to go with, he smiles, swinging around on Kou’s back light-heartedly.

Yugi Tsukasa[]

Sometime after his death, Mitsuba made a wish to Tsukasa to not be forgotten by people, however the wish was too unclear for him to be able to make anything but a weak supernatural form for Mitsuba, which he then used to haunt the school lockers in order to speak to his schoolmates.

After Mitsuba's real wish was drawn out thanks to his involvement with Kou, Tsukasa took advantage of the vagueness of the wish and twisted the rumors about him, turning him into "The Bent-Neck Boy at the School Entrance". This altered, monstrous form is more powerful but has also lost the humanity that Mitsuba once had.

In the Hell of Mirrors Arc, it was revealed that Tsukasa had created Mitsuba using an amalgamation of body parts he found from lesser spirits as well as part of his original soul. This newly formed "Mitsuba" has the same personality but does not retain any of the original's memory. Tsukasa gifted this new "Mitsuba" with a brand new scarf that is dark red in color. This Mitsuba doesn't seem to be aware of the fact that he was Tsukasa's creation, or that his "original" version was once a normal human until later in the story.

Mitsuba is scared of Tsukasa, as he often forces him to do things he doesn't want to, like eating Number 3's heart in order to make him a school mystery, or forcing him to attack. However, having lost his memories, he sticks closely by Tsukasa, the first person he ever met. He seems to have settled in somewhat with Sakura and Tsukasa, though Tsukasa still teases Mitsuba sometimes.

Yashiro Nene[]

Prior to the story, Mitsuba took pictures for Nene's gardening club back in middle school, but the two did not formally meet until the Hell of Mirrors Arc after the disembodied hands brought her to him.

At first sight, she thought that he looked handsome and prince-like, but Mitsuba quickly shattered that impression by commenting on how fat Nene's ankles are. When he explained that he was trapped in the boundary and had asked the hands to bring him someone that could help, he quickly won Nene over by acting cute in front of her so she would want to help him.

Later, he revealed that he does not remember anything about his former life or the cause of his death, and that's probably why the mirror boundary hadn't been able to attack him yet.

When the 3rd School Mystery's minions began attacking them and Nene was caught, he tried to save her by throwing items at her attackers, but he also ended up getting himself caught.

Mitsuba seems pretty fond of Nene as a senpai. He protected her from falling debris after he accidentally hit them with his new powers, and tried to impress her by exclaiming that he's gotten stronger now, even though Nene didn't really understand what he was talking out. When he forcefully pulled Nene, Kou, and Hanako out of the mirror boundary, he told her to keep quiet, and that they'd see each other again.

In chapter 65, Mitsuba confronts Kou about his troubles, then he asks if they can talk about Nene, admitting that he “doesn’t hate her.” Kou, deep in thought, didn’t pay attention to what he was saying.

Nanamine Sakura[]

Sakura and Mitsuba appear to be on good terms and Mitsuba usually refrains from teasing her as he would tease others. Sakura is somewhat of a mother or older sister figure for Mitsuba, as she treats him kindly and lectures Tsukasa for teasing him.

Hyuuga Natsuhiko[]

Mitsuba and Natsuhiko seem to be on good terms, despite the fact that Mitsuba never calls Natsuhiko by his name and doesn't want to be friends with him. Natsuhiko saved Mitsuba from Minamoto Teru once, showing how he does care for Mitsuba.

Hanako[]

The relationship between Hanako and Mitsuba is rarely shown other than their ties as ghosts. Their first meeting featured Hanako suggesting that Kou should try to get rid of Mitsuba's regret since the exorcist was looking for a different way, and he attempted to tease the captive ghost a bit by blatantly saying he should exorcise him.

Although Hanako had killed the real Mitsuba's deformed state in order to rescue Kou, No. 7 was adamant on insisting that ghosts like him no longer had a viable future. He alludes to Mitsuba's attempt at trying to fulfill his regret of having no friends in his past life and his yearning to land on the Moon, and that there was no possible way to change their life after death. Even after meeting again in the Hell of Mirrors, Hanako was still insistent on persuading Mitsuba that he couldn't become a human again. Mitsuba was scared of Hanako in this arc, as he feared his knife.

The only time Hanako worked with him was when the artificial Mitsuba (who now had previous recollections of his past life) and No. 7 were humans, because they were the main characters of the Picture Perfect world that Shijima created. Both of their wishes would be fulfilled through this method, but Hanako immediately became confrontational when he witnessed Mitsuba in his No. 3 form as he tried to retreat.

Minamoto Teru[]

Mitsuba first meets Teru in the Melancholy of the New No.3 Arc, only to be directed with disgust. However, Mitsuba sees a clear similarity with the person he saw in his memories, almost mistaking Teru with Kou. Mitsuba asks why is his face is scary. Before Teru could use his weapon against him, Natsuhiko saves him after proclaiming Teru was looking for a date, which draws a crowd of people, letting them get away.

Mitsuba’s Mother[]

Mitsuba often criticized his mom about her fashion choices, as he wouldn’t take pictures or let her go to work in the outfits she’d chosen. She didn’t really seem to mind, as she often followed his advice. He would also call her a “carrot monster hag,” showing his habit for calling people strange names. When Mitsuba started earning awards for his photos, Mitsuba’s mom was very happy for him, though Mitsuba seemed a bit shy about it. When Nene and Kou came over to Mitsuba’s house, she revealed to them how Mitsuba never brought friends over or shared his personal life with her, showing how lonely Mitsuba was when he was alive.

Despite Mitsuba’s co*cky attitude, it’s evident that they had a loving relationship. Mitsuba’s mom was supportive and caring towards Mitsuba, while Mitsuba very much cared for his mom. This shows when Mitsuba offered to make dinner for his mom’s birthday. Mitsuba’s mom was very pleased about this, though this would be the last time she saw her son. She came back Hanako-kun Wiki to the smell of curry but no Sousuke.