Destroy It All And Love Me In Hell! - Vol. 2 Ch. 8 - Because you seem happy

[mogzig]

Thanks for the TL! Love this series.

 

[Raknasuu]

It's kinda funny how Naoi gets mad that she actually started stripping.

Good luck on your surgery! Hopefully you'll come out stronger!

 

[asbun123]

maybe aku no hana tho that might be more over the top edgy (but i can imagine this mutually toxic relationship among straight ppl irl too. i'm sure there are a lot of BLs with a similar theme/abuse, tho one sided, but not what you're looking for)

https://mangadex.org/title/01882116-3e45-4d67-b932-34f60d360086/the-flowers-of-evil
This one right? Thank you

 

[Syapaaye]

Ah, my (2nd) favorite toxic yuri manga is finally here.
Thank you for the update!

 

[deathpigeon]

"If I refuse, would she end up like mom?"

.......That's such a depressing reason to date someone.

 

[VariousThrenodies]

Somebody is gonna end up dead.

 

[alienhands]

at least it's like toxic and bad in an interesting way instead of in a gross and kinda just off puttingly unrealistic way like a lot of mangas are, who knows if that will last though

 

[gmanhunt]

they’re mentally ill like me

 

[NinjaGoemon]

It's kinda funny how Naoi gets mad that she actually started stripping.

Yeah just meekly going along with it. But I'm sure Naoi liked that she lashed out and dunked them both in the pool.

 

[Iosif]

These bishes all need some serious therapy, maybe some anti-psychotics and/or anti-depressants as well

At least one deserves an ass whooping.

 

[Yanako]

The last chapter wasn't that long ago but for some reason it took a while for remembef what happened.

 

[TanyaTheEvil]

I am so loving this manga, I loved that panel where she said, "I just don't hand that out for free"... Thanks for the chapter and the translation

 

[Wachtail]

I really fucking enjoy this type of toxic yuri, but the teacher and the bullies really add fuck all to the story, and are just infuriating as all hecks.
Thanks for the translation & godspeed with your surgery!

 

[Nicopico]

Kurumi is trying so damn hard to not be in love with Naoi. Hugs her after tossing the papers and symbolically freeing her then hides her face and says that to distance herself. gayass.

 

[Eukene]

And now, my friends, feel free to share speculation about Naoi's future career. I am going with her either becoming a cult leader or gaining complete control of the yakuza.

I'm glad we got a panel of Naoi grabbing Kurumi, as I was going into withdrawal last chapter. Kokoro's panel was no substitute.

However, their homeroom teacher was the worst. Ask students in class to do things him should do on their own over and over again. You're just a lazy person, right?

Yeah, "I'll have to collect them again", like bro you never collected them to begin with. Meanwhile our protagonist is out here risking her life for papers.

I do enjoy how much drama the author is getting out of this completely normal situation (collecting some papers, walking to school, sitting on a bench, etc). We have the fake dating, Naoi stealing the papers, Kokoro dramatically collapsing in the hall for little reason other than that she is less athletic I guess (and of course Naoi is even more athletic than Kurumi somehow), Naoi telling Kurumi to strip at school (something she wouldn't have risked her reputation for in the past, especially over some papers) to try to get a reaction only to then dramatically throw the papers after Kurumi actually strips, followed by the Kurumi outright tackling Naoi into the pool.

On one hand I feel bad for Kokoro, but on the other hand, she's clearly fucking crazy, and Kurumi might actually be better off with Naoi. Anyways, which one is the tachi and which one is the neko?

Kokoro has definitely failed in the EQ / empathy department. I guess makes sense if she has spent most of her time alone. For all her insane behavior, she is basically acting like a yuri protagonist trying to win over the second lead and it mainly seems creepy because of the framing.

It's unclear how far she'll go with this, but Naoi will be able to draw out Kokoro's possessive and jealous tendencies, at which point Kokoro will either have to change her mindset or she'll go far enough for Kurumi to not tolerate the situation. Our issue here is that Kurumi is currently in a mental space where she would accept basically anything, but we see her still making choices on some level (eg prioritizing the papers over following the dress code that presumably requires skirt or pants), even if the underlying logic is getting pretty weird.

 

[shittycoolusername69]

Kurumi is trying so damn hard to not be in love with Naoi. Hugs her after tossing the papers and symbolically freeing her then hides her face and says that to distance herself. gayass.

I would say she's more "in hate" than in love. Naoi turns her on for sure, but right now it looks like her spirit and soul is barely present at all; she's just going through the motions. Completely withdrawn from the world, and people-pleasing on auto pilot. Pushing Naoi in the pool seems like measured revenge, plus she had to collect the papers from the pool, so might as well jump in after. It's a far cry from the previous moments where her feelings truly came out. Pushing someone in a pool is pretty gentle compared to the time she repeatedly slapped Naoi, or how she carved into that girl's desk in a violent frenzy.

It's true that her face was hidden for most of the pool moment, so we can't be completely sure what she was feeling. But I would argue that the pool scene is from Naoi's POV: that's why Kurumi's narration stops, and Kurumi's face is hidden after they land in the pool. I think the takeaway from the pool scene is Naoi realizing that simply messing with Kurumi is not going to have the same effect as before. If she wants to break through the wall that is between them now, she will need to find a different way.

 

[Nicopico]

I would say she's more "in hate" than in love. Pushing Naoi in the pool seems like measured revenge, plus she had to collect the papers from the pool, so might as well jump in after. It's a far cry from the previous moments where her feelings truly came out. Pushing someone in a pool is pretty gentle compared to the time she repeatedly slapped Naoi, or how she carved into that girl's desk in a violent frenzy.

Oh it's definitely a mix. Like Kurumi gets super fed up with her at a minimum every time they interact, but she also genuinely thanks her when Naoi told her not to go back home the last time they fought. She also shows curiosity (concern?) when Kokoro mentions Naoi when they met outside her place. And yeah, she also gets turned on by her too. It's a messy flurry of emotions for sure.

It's true that her face was hidden for most of the pool moment, so we can't be completely sure what she was feeling. But I would argue that the pool scene is from Naoi's POV. I think the takeaway from the pool scene is Naoi realizing that simply messing with Kurumi is not going to have the same effect as before.

Agree here too. We don't know Kurumi's actual thoughts. But various times (including this chapter when she compares Kokoro to her mom) the mangaka had delayed showing us Kurumi's opinions, so we will probably get that in the future.

In any case, i'm as excited as ever to see what happens next.

Edit: oh and also, page 30 is totally from Kurumi's pov, where instead of focusing on the papers, she reaches out, panneling brighter than most for this manga, towards Naoi, as if to the sun.

 

[deathpigeon]

For all her insane behavior, she is basically acting like a yuri protagonist trying to win over the second lead and it mainly seems creepy because of the framing.

Like... It seems creepy because she's being controlling. If what she was acting like a yuri protagonist trying to win someone over, that would be one thing, but she's forcing a relationship on Kurumi, she's repeatedly ignoring and dismissing Kurumi's agency, she's getting possessive over someone she has no right to be, not just in feeling, but also in an attempt to control access to her, she's acting aggressive basically to the point of violence toward others with romantic interest in Kurumi, etc.

In many ways, she's engaging in specific behavior that many yuri protagonists struggle with having the urge to do, but, because they're supposed to be sympathetic, hold back on.

For example, it's common in yuri for a protagonist to feel jealous over others having a romantic interest in the same girl as the protagonist, but it's uncommon for the protagonist to force that other girl to separate from the one they're interested in. That's more typical of antagonists than protaginists. In Citrus, that's behavior Matsuri engages in, but Yuzu and Mē do not engage in.

 

[AlienNeighbour]

maybe aku no hana tho that might be more over the top edgy (but i can imagine this mutually toxic relationship among straight ppl irl too. i'm sure there are a lot of BLs with a similar theme/abuse, tho one sided, but not what you're looking for)

Yeah,Naoi has some Nakamura vibes (maybe less crazy and more violent),I wouldn't be suprised if the author took some inspiration from Aku no Hana.

 

[Eukene]

Like... It seems creepy because she's being controlling. If what she was acting like a yuri protagonist trying to win someone over, that would be one thing, but she's forcing a relationship on Kurumi, she's repeatedly ignoring and dismissing Kurumi's agency, she's getting possessive over someone she has no right to be, not just in feeling, but also in an attempt to control access to her, she's acting aggressive basically to the point of violence toward others with romantic interest in Kurumi, etc.

A lot of this would be framed as romantic in other works, eg, being jealous shows they love the person, pursuing them is being passionate, being controlling shows they care enough to want to protect the person, etc. I have a hard time thinking you've never seen any romance structured like this, but, for instance, those of who watch anime are getting to see an adaption of I'm in Love with the Villainness where the protagonist is basically sexually harassing the second female lead until she gives in, Bloom into You has a character going along with dating despite not being interested in the person, etc.

(Edit: Also, I think female characters sometimes get away with more in Japanese works because they are seen as more pure and harmless, but I can certainly think of similar romance tropes in male female romance stories like otome isekai stories).

What makes it seem creepy is not the behavior per say (unless you found these other series creepy, which was clearly not the goal of the respective authors), but that we are getting a traumatized MC reacting to it somewhat realistically while we mainly see the story from said MC's perspective. It would be pretty easy to selective edit panels to write from Kokoro's perspective, leaving out various details about Kurumi's background, and then change it so Kurumi becomes interested in her, which would culminate in something closer to a standard romance story.

I may be wrong, but I suspect this trope subversion is intentional from the author. Kokoro is living in this kind of fantasy without stopping to think of Kurumi's actual feelings, whereas Naoi is basically this redpilled character who sees things as they are and therefore doesn't care about following the norms of the various false social realities that surround them. Therefore Naoi must save Kurumi who lives under the yoke of all of the false realities, which is why Naoi has a focus on getting Kurumi to express hidden desires in their interactions while often giving vague instructions.

Another edit: Also re forced seperation, Naoi is not just someone who is interested in Kurumi, but someone who got into a brawl with her and blackmailed her with a cell phone photo. Kokoro is trying to remove Kurumi from a percieved threat, which is in fact common in other works. However quite often it is a real threat in those works, whereas right now in reality Kokoro is like the biggest threat after maybe Kurumi's mother, but even misunderstanding a situation and overreacting in a protective way could be framed as romantic in a different work.