Mitsuba Sousuke/Relationships

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 cocky 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.

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

However, once he finds out Mitsuba's reason behind his haunting, they quickly came to an understanding. Hearing about how Mitsuba was bullied in the past and how he tried to fake a personality to fit in better yet ending up being forgotten either way, Kou assured him that he'd remember "Mitsuba Sousuke" as someone who's "cocky, looks like a girl, sarcastic, selfish, has an annoying voice, obsessed with his camera, goes emo sometimes, and is only fake nice", and that he only needed to be himself to make friends. It was also confirmed that Mitsuba used to be Kou's classmate before he died.

When Mitsuba asked if they would have been friends if he were still alive, Kou responded that it didn't matter if he were dead and that they could still be friends. Mitsuba also took a picture of him, and when asked what photo he took, he answered that it was "something important" to him. Their time is cut short by Tsukasa, and Mitsuba dies as a ghost.

Having never made any friends in middle school, Mitsuba greatly appreciated Kou's company, and his declaration they're friends. He was able to be more genuine and display emotional vulnerability around him.

During their reunion in the Hell of Mirrors, Mitsuba did not recognize Kou due to losing his memories. He is confused, but can clearly see how much Kou wants him to remember of what they did when Mitsuba was living as a ghost. By the end of the Hell of Mirrors Arc, Mitsuba is left with the only source of information about his past; the gardening club photograph book (in which he was the photographer taking them).

In the Picture Perfect Arc, both of their character developments evolve here, as well as their relationship, seen especially in Chapter 47 and Chapter 48. Kou and Mitsuba are first seen in Chapter 47 in the school building - Mitsuba wanting to look at the shooting stars. Kou first 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 and using his power to present the past. He explains to Kou how he learned about his original self from when he was alive till now. Mitsuba says he is envious of his past self, and how he hates the fact Kou only truly cares about the true Mitsuba rather than him—a fake. Kou tries to deny this but is knocked back by the blow from the window Mitsuba smashed. Mitsuba goes on to tell Kou how much fun it was to hang out with his classmates (making cookies, cleaning the pool), and then turns to Kou. He says that he’s happy in the fake world and that Kou should be happy there too. He tells him to pretend that he’s real and that they could be happy there if he did.

He asks Kou if they could be friends again while putting on a smile and holding out a shaky hand. Kou chucks his hand away and denies him, telling him that he could never find happiness in a fake world, upsetting Mitsuba. The two start to fight. When they stop, Kou tells him that it’s wrong for him to want to ”...spend the rest of your fake life, in this fake world, with your fake friends,” and how it’s wrong for him to spend his life being Mitsuba when he isn’t. Kou then says that he could make his wish come true in the real world, and it makes Mitsuba angry. He starts to cry and shoves Kou, asking him with what power could he have to make that come true, and how he doesn’t understand at all. Mitsuba then wishes that Kou would stay by his side when he calms down, and how he wished the people he loved were dead, so that he wouldn’t be so alone and jealous of their lives. He says, “How could something like me be understood by a human like you?!”

Kou grabs Mitsuba's hand, and tells him that in that case, he should die too, “So we can stay together forever?” Kou proceeds to fall back and jump off the building in order to stick to his word and die, but Mitsuba is quick enough to save them. By the end of this arc, it is seen that their relationship grows significantly more. Mitsuba even going as far as to protect Kou from Hanako - he was previously shown to be quite scared of Hanako beforehand.

In Chapter 65, Mitsuba shows growing concern for Kou with his behavior. Something is clearly bothering him, and so he tries to talk to him. Before he can, Natsuhiko can be heard in the distance who is in trouble- cutting their talk short.

After their reunion in chapter 97, Kou is overwhelmed with happiness with seeing his friend back again after his disappearance with the other supernaturals, and asks if he is okay, which Mitsuba replies to with "I am not okay at all" leaving Kou confused. After that, Mitsuba says it's fine now and asks Kou to hang out with him. After Kou's failed attempt to find out what is wrong, Mitsuba asks Kou to take him out again, and after Kou asks him what the hell he is talking about, Mitsuba calls him a "cringe-ass chuunibyou scaredy cat goody two shoes earring boy". Kou called Teru telling him he rain into an acquaintance of his, he hangs up and says that he is taking Mitsuba on a "date to die for" which is extremely gay but that is normal for them. To Mitsuba's disappointment the duo decides to play red light, green light and build sandcastles. Kou couldn't find any place to hang out at, but Mitsuba spots some bright and colorful lights in the distance and decides he wants to go there. The lights turned out to be from an aquarium, and inside the two friends decide to race for who can find the biggest fish. In the next panel is shown that Mitsuba finds a shark and Kou finding a seal, they bicker about if the seal counts since it isn't a fish, but after they see a manta ray they both decide that is the winner. After looking at some more animals, including penguins which they both liked very much, Mitsuba wanted a keychain and lent money from Kou, but to his disgust got a giant isopod. Kou also tries and gets the penguin, and when he sees that Mitsuba likes his more, he decides to trade, and Mitsuba tells Kou that he is creepy when nice. Sadly, after Kou is close to knowing the truth, they are disturbed after a monstrous fish, and find out the aquarium was a ghost aquarium the whole time. At the end it shows Mitsuba slowly falling apart.

Chapter 97 ends and we are led into the beginning of chapter 98. This will be long, as chapter 98 builds a lot on their relationship. So sit back and enjoy these next 7 paragraphs.

On chapter 98, we begin with Mistuba getting a flashback of him and Tsukasa on the Day of Severance. In this flashback, Tsukasa appears to be feeding him human flesh and organs. We do not know why until later in the chapter. Then, his flash back ends and Mitsuba is woken up by Kou, and they both appear to be hiding from a supernatural. Kou explains that they need to run away. But before then, he demands Mitsuba answers as to why he appears to be falling apart. Here is information as too why this is happening to him:

Mitsuba begins explaining the reason as to why he looks the way he does currently. And he explains that during the Day of Severance, "After we parted ways..I...completely fell apart. Momentarily." And he adds that Tsukasa was the one who helped him turn back to his normal appearance. Sadly however, not permanently. He explains how that was the only time where he was unable to maintain his fallen apart form for a very long time. That's why Tsukasa helped him. Kou, obviously concerned and worried, asks if there is anything he can do instead of letting that "runt" be the only one who can fix him. Mitsuba explains that he gets stronger by eating other supernaturals. However, he really hates doing so. But if he falls apart too much, his thoughts are clouded with hunger, and he eats a supernatural. And then he has the same thoughts yet again until he gets hungry yet again. For him, it's an endless cycle. He speaks of his desires of wanting to be a human but feels that he is nothing but a monster.

And then, he hits Kou with a surprising, and saddening question. Mitsuba look at Kou in the eyes before asking, "I was wondering if you could exorcise me?" Now we know that there are many times where Kou is concerned or worried for his friend. But this scene is where it really hits for him. Kou can't do anything but just stare at Mitsuba, his eyes wide and his face shocked. Mitsuba notices Kou's demeanor, and quickly begins to try and shrug it off and begins to act as if he is being his usual cocky, annoying self. He states that it is a joke and that they should start running out of the aquarium before Kou interrupts him.

Keep in mind that Kou is no longer shocked, but rather mad. He was mad a Mitsuba for spending a whole night with him. Only to realize that the whole time, Mitsuba was thinking about basically dying. For real this time. Kou is furious and walks away from him. Mitsuba is still unable to move in his state of condition, so he assumes that Kou decided to abandon him. But it's not until a couple seconds after, that Kou comes back to Mitsuba with a dead supernatural in his hand. He asks Mitsuba which part of the supernatural he needs to be okay again. Mitsuba is surprised and confused, but he then explains that it's the heart he needs. Kou then carves the heart out of the supernatural's body. (By the way, the supernatural is a fish. Do not be frightened.) He takes the heart in his hand and shoves it in front of Mitsuba's face, demanding him to eat it. Mitsuba refuses, saying that it is gross to do so. Which is fair. But Kou did not like that.

Kou yanks Mitsuba towads him by the collar. Kou sees Mitsuba's behavior right now as selfish. He shoves the heart against Mitsuba's lips, trying to force it into him. Mitsuba refuses to open part his lips, which leaves Kou furious. He even goes as far as yelling, "Open your damn mouth!!" Out of self defense, Mitsuba kicks him in the face, forcing him to back off. He yells at Kou, demanding to know what brought on his sudden anger and forcefulness. But he doesn't say anything.

(This paragraph might be a little too graphic for some. Just a heads up!) Instead he grabs Mitsuba's foot and forces him to fall onto the ground, letting Kou tower over him and pin him on the floor. Kou begins to mutter the words that Mitsuba told him earlier. Specifically saying, in an infuriated voice, "What do you mean...'Exorcise me'? Stop screwing around..." Mitsuba is surprised by Kou's tone of voice, and asks why he is so angry. But before he can say or do anything else, Kou puts his fingers in Mitsuba's mouth, forcing it open. Mitsuba's limbs is flail as he tries to push Kou away. But he is unsuccessful. Kou continues to speak, explaining that it shouldn't matter what he eats, because humans also need to eat to survive. Eventually, Mitsuba bites Kou's fingers and Kou pulls away. Kou asks why he did that, anger and rage replaced with confusion. Mitsuba says that he shouldn't have put his hand in his mouth in the first place...saying that he has been holding back. From this, Kou is shocked. He realizes that it is not just supernaturals that he eats but humans too. Mitsuba explains how that was the reason as to why he wanted to be exorcised. Kou then grows sad and he walks over to Mitsuba.

As he walks over, he begins to speak about how Mitsuba thinks he is too weak or not dependable enough to ask for advice, but would still go to Tsukasa for help. He then holds the heart once again in front of Mitsuba. Mitsuba tries to explain again, saying he doesn't want it. That is, until he looks up at Kou. And Kou looks down at him, crying. Kou then squats down into a ball and Mitsuba is concerned over his crying. When he asks what is wrong, Kou tells him not to look at him and just eat the heart. Mitsuba does so, in attempts to make him feel better. But Kou continues to cry. Mitsuba once again asks Kou what is wrong. Kou explains that it would be troublesome for him if Mitsuba was gone. But it's not the truth. Mitsuba teases him by saying that Kou will get lonely if he disappears, but becomes surprised when he sees Kou's reaction. Kou can't help but cry a little harder, trying to hide his face as he ends chapter 98 by responding with a simple "As if." to Mitsuba.

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 cocky 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.