outline: shinkane 3

[cloudedhues]

fandom: psycho pass | shinkane
prompt/summary: "Shinkane AU set during World War I? (Also thanks so much for the sugino fic, that was me)" - anonymous

as for this au, i’d probably make it into a oneshot. basic setting would be the western front at the turn of the 20th century. japan and us relations are currently shitty partly bc america is being a major dick to japanese immigrants.

here’s how the timeline of this universe would go (this is how most of my brainstorming outlines go actually hahaha)

• 1889 - kou is born in japan.
• 1894 - his family migrates to a neighborhood at the outskirts of chinatown, san francisco around the same time as akane’s family does (so like this would be the year the us signs a treaty that allows free immigration for the japanese)
• 1897 - akane is born. their families are in each other’s company a lot and become good friends bc…well…sticking together is just the reality of how it is for immigrant families who live in a neighborhood in a city that’s mainly governed by and for white people.
• 1902 - kou’s parents die during the san francisco plague. coupled with the struggles of being an orphan as well as the general negativity against asian-americans during that time, kou matures more quickly than most kids. he’s taken in by akane’s family and they grow up together in the same house.
• 1907 - kou comes of age and moves east to find his prospects. he and akane don’t see each other during this time.
• 1914 - franz ferdinand gets shot. kou moves back to san francisco and rekindles his relationship with akane and her family.
• 1916 - akane turns 19. shortly after her birthday, he realizes he’s in love with her. he never confesses (because he’s stupid).
• 1917 - america formally declares war on germany. kou is conscripted to an all-japanese regiment. akane sees him off before he leaves, promising to write to him constantly. he writes back but never sends them, which doesn’t deter her as she continues to send him letters anyway. after a month in the trenches, kou grows increasingly disillusioned and hopeless about life. only akane’s letters keep him anchored.
• october 1918 - kou is mortally wounded from a stray grenade and dies from infection three days later. his last legible words is a request to the military surgeon to send all the letters he’s written to akane.
• so i see the entire fic as a back-and-forth between the letters kou wrote and scenes from the past during his time with akane. the ending would basically be the last letter he writes to her the night before he gets killed paralleled with the scene where she sees him off in the train station before he leaves for the army. so it’d be both first-person and third-person, which i now find intimidating in retrospect because kou in first person especially in letter format is something i wouldn’t know how to tackle hahaha