So, despite the title a good chunk of this deals solely with the anime. In fact, I’ve recently been rewatching March Comes In Like a Lion in preparation for the new episodes starting March 3rd, and a theory hascome to my attention that won’t leave my head.I think Kyoko and Rei were in love with each other, though for Kyoko it was subconscious.Now this may seem fairly obvious to anyone paying attention. The relationship between Kyoko and Rei was blunt in it’s toxicity. However, when surfing through comments I was surprised to find that people had missed this – so I’m just going to do a general analysis. I apologize if everything I mention sounds inexact and vague – all the flashbacks I need are in the anime so I’ll try tostate the episodes when applicable.Here’s how I think it went:First off, we know the two knew each other (even if they were just friend-enemies) before the car accident due to that umbrella flashback when Rei was telling Momo and Hina that Kyoko is his sister and that the two were just fighting in that under the bridge scene. We also know that their parents, Kouda and Kiriyama, were rivals and Kouda lived close by enough to personally visit their home to play Rei in shogi. Lastly, around this time, Rei was being bullied and, given Kyoko’sfirebrand personality, I can easily imagine her being “Kiriyama’s defender” if she knew of it. Remember this for later.If things had kept on as they were the two would have had a very different relationship. For starters, Rei may not have even gotten involved with serious shogi, and only do so asa leisurely activity. We know he had latched onto shogi as a survival mechanism – it was the only thing he had. But even if he had, Rei would have been “good for his age” but not “pro by middle school good”. If anything, this would have spurred Kyoko to see him as a rival, her working hard (because she came from a shogi household) but Rei keeping up with her due to natural genius. As they aged and matured that may have turned into genuine friendship.But none of this happened because of the accident.That was really a turning point for Rei.As for their relationship from then on, the next flashback we have of Kyoko is her grabbing her father’s pant leg and glaring at (presumably) Rei. I think this was the moment that she found out that Rei was going to be let into their home and made into her father’s apprentice. I can imagine how that conversation went (“Wait. Didn’t you say I would be your apprentice!?”From then on, Rei delved into the world of shogi – learning/memorizing different movesand playsets. He could often be seen just studying (as seen in Fighter, the end of episode 22) where he spent the entire lunch on his own just studying. This all lead to Rei being bullied again, being called a “Shogi Robot” but with the death of his family to addsocial isolation to the mix.That was one thing that was made clear to us– Rei was alone. He had to face off against the bullying without being able to rely on his home like Hina could years later. And he did not have any friends to back him up. If Kyoko had acted last time she did not this time.During these years, Kyoko’s and Rei’s relationship became…complicated. While on the one hand Kyoko was hostile to him – seen slapping Rei when she lost a game and punching him just for looking at her, but on the other she does show some odd intimacy/vulnerability in episode 15 when shesneaks into his futon when Rei was asleep, wrapping her arms around his chest and saying, “Don’t touch me but don’t move away from me.”The next major event to happen is when their relationship truly deteriorated. Basically, in her second year of middle school her father asked her to stop playing shogi as Rei had surpassed her, telling her “there are other things in life than shogi”. Kyoko did not take this well. Like a wine glass with cracks in it, Kyoko was struck with a “loneliness ate into her heart” as Rei put it. Kyoko, perhaps correctly or incorrectly, didn’t think her father meant it but was really branding her as a failure as “shogi is the only thing you [Rei] and Dad think about”.After middle school three major things happened before the series started. First off, there is the scene we see in Episode 4, on thinking of love, he remembers a scene of Kyoko pulling off his glasses and pulling open his pajama shirt while straddling him. We don’t know what caused this or the context at all, just like we don’t know what ledto the second major flashback, but we do know what followed it.Kyoko’s pursuit of Godou.Their relationship is complicated. There are a few signs that point to him disliking her with calling her “his stalker”, refusing to let her intothe taxi, refusing to let her into his hotel roomthen tying up her wrists so she can’t attack him in his sleep. While she says she’s in love with him, and does honestly show some attraction in her internal dialogue in that previously described hands bound scene. Theflashback depicts Godou beating on Rei...thistoo has yet to be fully explained. What caused it? Was it honestly over Kyoko? I find that hard to believe, as I don't think Godou feels that deeply for the young woman. I thinktheir relationship is honestly one-sided and shallow.The last major flashback is the one immediately before the series starts when Reidecides to leave. It’s in Episode 15, and in it we see Kyoko packing saying she planned to leave and be with Godou because she loves him. Rei decides he should leave instead.Then things get weird.It starts around the ten minute mark with Kyoko running past him and the flashback starting with her saying, “Hey. Are you really leaving?” and him thinking I really didn’t want to move away. Then the Flashback!Kyoko asks “Are you running away from me?”Up until this point it looked like she didn’t want him in the house, in the family, but something clearly changed in the sense that she wanted Rei to stay by her side, but as he puts it next in the flashback: but I couldn’t be with her anymore. I was in a hurry to become an adult. I thought I couldn’t stand on my owntwo feet there was no way I could protect cut to him rubbing the head of Child!Kyoko after the scene of her sneaking into his futon thosewho were dear to me.So, it looks like the two started off as enemies, became close (at least close enough for her to seek him out for comfort when they were kids, had that closeness turn into a first love (at least on Rei’s side) had a falling out with Kyoko pursuing Godou and Rei “running away” from her. Later, we see` her going out of her way to “poison” Rei with psychological torment against his opponents.And that’s generally where Rei is with her withtheir toxic relationship.Then Hina happened and everything changed.

So, as I mentioned in my OP, I'm actually currently rewatching the series in preparation for the new episodes. As such, I had a realization when it comes to bullying, Kyoko and Rei's debt to Hina.Let's say that Kyoko did act the first time Rei was bullied, back before the car accident and Rei had a "defender" and his family to fall back on. But the second time, after the accident, even if the two went to the same school Kyoko didn't go out of her way to stop it. There's definitely some overlap with Hina being there for Chihiro when she was bullied and Kyoko deliberatelynotbeing there for Rei- in fact, she may have even acclerated things. Remember, she said "he's like a robot"first. His bullies may have taken it from her.I think that's the reason why was struck so heavily by what Hina said. Unlike Kyoko, she actually stood up for her bullied friend, and furthermore does not regret it. At that moment Rei knew/believed that if Hina had been there when sitting alone behind the Ladybug bush/being bullied she would have done something.I think this is the first time the two acted as foils to each other. There will hopefully be more instances in the future.