💌 BOW CHAN

Your's truly: Manami Aikawa

MOONSTRUCK • DECEPTIVE • DEVOTED

Describe your character's personality here.

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CHILDHOOD

Manami Aikawa’s childhood was frighteningly normal. No tragedies occurred in her life that molded her into the person she became, in fact, it was quite the opposite. A native of the Gifu Prefecture, Manami and her twin brother, Ren, were surrounded by love when they were able to get it. Their father worked at a law firm and their mother was a busy housewife, and with that, they weren’t able to receive a lot of attention, but they knew they were loved. Manami was lucky in life. She was able to attend good schools and was popular with her peers and even gained a circle of friends, which included her childhood best friend, Kiko Fujisake. She was given the nickname “Bow Chan” by her peers because of the bows she would be seen wearing.

It was evident from the get go that Manami had a gift for writing and calligraphy, and she always wanted to be a writer. Her teachers took note and encouraged her passion, and some of her classmates would ask her for help on writing homework, or writing passionate love letters to their crush. Love and the very concept always fascinated Manami, from watching her peers fiddle with their hands as they nervously talked to their crush, to the romance novels she read. These stories often explored tales of immense passion and tragedy, and she found herself heavily relating to the toxic and possessive nature of the characters. She deeply admired their willingness to go to the extreme for the sake of love.

The idea of all consuming obsessive love that knew no bounds was so… Captivating. Intoxicating, even.

ADOLESENCE

When she entered her teen years, she yearned for that kind of love, or rather, to give someone that kind of love. The kind that transcended the ordinary. She wanted to love someone so intensely she would go completely insane. She would watch her peers as they would experience what they thought was love, and Manami was both envious and often questioned if the relationships between her peers would even last. In her mind, love was a force that demanded nothing but complete and utter devotion, even if it meant extreme sacrifices on both ends.

While she tried to channel her emotions into writing short stories that comprised the themes of obsessive love and sacrifice, it wasn't enough. It got to the point where she became so envious that she sabotaged a few relationships between her peers. She was able to mix in half truths with a few white lies, and even forged evidence by mimicking others handwritings. When she went to the couples, they were distraught from these revelations that she presented, and why wouldn’t you believe her? The evidence she presented was incredibly compelling… Near the end of high school, she met who she now believes to be her one true love.

Haru Aono.

Their meeting, in Manami’s eyes, felt like fate. He caught her bow from flying away in the wind and returned it to her. After conversing for a moment, they headed back to their respective classes. At first, she didn't like him. Manami thought he was incredibly snobby and aloof. He seemed incredibly distant and not present in the small conversation they had. But as the two kept seeing one another through complete coincidence... She began to fall for him more and more. It wasn't long until she concluded that he was now hers. And that she had to have him, no matter what it took.

HER TRUE FEELINGS

Her actions were subtle, keeping an eye on his class schedule so she could ‘conveniently’ bump into him, but knew that doing it too much would raise suspicion. On days where she didn’t run into him, Manami still continued to obsessively gather information on him, such as his favourite hangout spots, his favourite snacks, about his family life, his ambitions, and the university he planned to attend. But when they did hang out, they got along like a house on fire. Manami loved how logical he was. He never played around with his words and was to the point. He carried himself highly and radiated so much confidence and she was fascinated by his intelligence and his aspiration to become a doctor. He shared her love for novels and mythology… Haru appreciated how Manami was true to herself and never cared what others thought of her and was insanely impressed by her writing skills, and even said to her that she could become a famous author.

Hanging out with him was also a risk, as he not long after became a part of her small circle of close friends, and he became quite fond of the group. Despite the bubbly attitude she put on, feigning excitement that he was a part of her little squad, she kept a diligent eye on her friends. If there was anyone who could be a potential romantic rival, it was her friends. And she can’t have that. Manami managed to be accepted into Miura University, which was situated in the Hyogo Prefecture and would be studying Japanese Language and Linguistics. The same university Haru had applied to.

Haru was also accepted which was a huge relief, after all, there was the risk of him attending another university and never seeing him again. But her circle of friends, who she thought would no longer be a threat after graduation… They were attending too.

She faked her excitement, lying about how she was SO HAPPY they would all stay together at university! But she was furious. She convinced herself that they wanted Haru.

She couldn’t risk it. She was willing to throw away years of friendship. If that was the sacrifice she had to make, she was going to do it without hesitation. She was going to make him hers, even if that meant breaking Haru.

He would be hers. Only hers.