Hatori & his devotion to Akira and Akito.

♠️ Headcanon: I’ve used this headcanon on here for over a year now, but I’ve never gotten around to typing it up! In the canon material, we know that Hatori’s father was the previous memory suppressor and the previous sole physician of the Sohma Estate. Because of this, he was very close to Akira- the previous head of the family, before Akito. Being the head of the family, and being rather ill towards the end of his life, it wouldn’t be surprising, nor far-fetched to assume that Hatori’s father spent quite a bit of his time serving and being around Akira. Because of this, Hatori himself grew quite attached to the previous head.

Hatori’s father was unloving and cold, as was his mother– Akira was the complete opposite of them, he was warm and loving- Hatori very much saw a father figure in the male. More so than in his own. As Hatori’s father was so loyal to Akira, it was expected for Hatori, as the memory suppressor, doctor, and now: dragon, to follow suit and give his unwavering loyalty to Akito. This was expected of him, and he obliged. 

More so, it was Akira who instilled that moral code within the dragon; Hatori’s father hammered it into his mind to do whatever Akito said, to stay by her side until death. Akira, however, was nowhere near as militant. Instead, he simply encouraged Hatori to give her a chance, and he told him time and time again how special Akito was to him, and that he hoped the family would love her as much as he loved her.

Hatori’s admiration and unwavering devotion for Akira had already been set in stone, and as a little boy sitting on Akira’s lap, he promised to watch over Akito until his dying breath. A promise he would never, not once, take lightly.

Of course, Shigure had the dream about Akito- the dog very much felt as if it was his job to watch over Akito and protect her. When the canine caught wind of Hatori’s promise to Akira, it caused quite a bit of animosity between the of them. This is evident in their interactions- Shigure is always snarky, scathing- his way of taking his anger out on Hatori. To take his anger out on Akito, he uses and manipulates her. Shigure never got over that blinding jealousy of his, even to this day.

Because of this, even after the curse was broken- while all the other Sohma(s) began to spread out and leave the Estate, Hatori reminded in his home on the property, up until Akito finally decided to leave herself. The promise he made to Akira is one of the few things he has left to hold onto in his life; the thought of ever disappointing Akira is always looming over him. It also plays a factor in his lack of anger or resentment over the Kana situation– no one would blame him for holding on to some resentment after Akito took not only his sight in his left eye, but his pride, and forced him to cast out of the love of his life. Even then, he could only forgive her, because he knew it was what Akira would’ve wanted.

I think a lot of people under-estimate Hatori’s loyalty to Akito. In the canon material, Hatori pushes himself to do things outside his moral code– but only for her. He is quick to judge Shigure for acting out and putting the family in harm’s way, but if Akito ordered him to do it, Hatori would do anything. His devotion is endless, and that in and of itself is completely terrifying. I think people need to take a second look at his character, he always hailed as a white-knight who can do no wrong, but Hatori is actually rather problematic, and very, very sick mentally. That is often over-looked, unfortunately.