He Cares About You But Won't Admit It. Deeper Character Layers in Fiction

You know what's fascinating?

When someone clearly cares about you, but can’t say a nice thing to save their life.

You probably know people like that. And these folks crop up in fiction, too.

One notable example is Leo Kurosagi. He’s from the graphic novel and video game, Tokyo Debunker.

The story takes place in Darkwick, the top academy in Japan. The staff secretly study anomalies—these are the monsters in their universe. Not all anomalies are bad, though.

Some students are ghouls, who look human but are physically much stronger. The ghouls each have a special ability called a stigma.

Leo Kurosagi is a ghoul. And he has the stigma of enhanced hearing.

He’s arguably the most hated character in the game, since he’s bratty and mean. Some of us love him, though.

The Hidden Side of Leo

Leo can be callous and manipulative.

But he also has a softer, caring side that most people can’t see.

One reason why we can’t see it, is because his actions are so terrible. So people believe in the worst of his motives.

When you assume the worst, you only see the bad things and become blind to the good things.

The other problem, is that Leo is determined to keep up his “demon” image. So he hides away his more vulnerable sides.

The graphic novel hasn’t revealed his backstory yet. But he likely grew up in a place where showing soft feelings will get you hurt or killed.

Spoiler alert for the story!

Leo’s hacking and snooping

Leo is an exceptional hacker.

He also belongs to Vagastrom, one of Darkwick’s seven school houses. Leo is the Vice Captain of Vagastrom; his Captain is Alan Mido.

Alan has been meeting up in secret with Tohma, the vice captain of Frostheim. Since Frostheim and Vagastrom are known enemies, Leo gets suspicious. So he uses his enhanced hearing to eavesdrop on them.

Later, Leo hacks into their phones. He fakes a call so Alan and Tohma think that the other is calling them.

When the two men meet in a car in the garage—their usual meetup spot—they are puzzled. Then Leo pops up from the back seats, triumphant.

After a barbed exchange, Leo reveals that he’s hacked into Tohma’s secret bank account. Leo taunts him about a guy Tohma extorted, claiming that he could have gotten more money from it.

Alan is mad and tells Leo to stop messing around, and to keep his nose out of Tohma’s business. Leo snaps back that he’s just trying to look out for him. Alan of course rejects this, and Leo calls him a “fucking moron.”

What do you think of this “evil” hacker?

He’s quite shameless and intrusive, huh? Not to mention arrogant.

Yet, what if Leo does want to look out for Alan? Tohma, a vice captain from the enemy house, could be tricking him, after all.

Sure, Leo probably wants to beat Tohma and prove himself to Alan. But that doesn’t mean he has no desire to protect his captain, especially as Alan is quite trusting and naive.

You’ll soon see that Leo indeed cares about Alan’s well-being, despite his surface rudeness.

He just puts on a nonchalant front. Look beyond his facial expressions and sassy words, and watch his actions instead.

More dedicated as a vice captain than you think

During one episode, Leo’s friend Romeo invites him on a mission. The mission involves ghosts at a graveyard.

But Leo declines because he’s busy with Samhain preparations.

Romeo is aghast, as he thought Leo didn’t care about Darkwick events.

Many readers were bewildered, too. Leo is more involved as a Vice Captain than you’d think from his diabolic personality.

In contrast, when his best friend Sho asks him to help out at the food truck, since Leo gets to eat there for free, Leo refuses.

So he looks like a brat who brushes off all work. But this is a misleading impression.

In truth, Leo only brushes off work that’s boring and unimportant to him. He has little interest in cooking.

So he probably sees Samhain as more valuable and intriguing than cooking. It’s also a chance to score brownie points with his captain Alan, who I believe Leo has a crush on.

Surprisingly helpful and proactive

In one scene, Alan saw a Vagastrom student jump in front of a train, but was too late to save him. So Alan grew obsessed with finding out why the student did it.

In fact, Alan wants to interview all 80+ Vagastrom students to find answers!

Leo tells him he’s being absurd and inefficient. You can check the student’s social media account for his thoughts instead.

Alan asserts that some things can only be seen in person. Leo disagrees and says everyone their age rants about their woes on social media these days.

When MC (the main character you play as) appears, Leo asks you to talk some sense into Alan, who is being “fucking unbelievable.” Leo complains that he can’t believe Alan is wasting his time on this shit.

What’s funny is that Alan never demanded anything of Leo. Alan would just do the interviews himself. Leo could simply ignore him!

But instead, Leo gets all worked up, trying to persuade him to use a more efficient method, which will save Alan tons of time and energy.

Of course, Leo doesn’t frame it as: “I want to save you time and energy.”

He frames it as: “You’re so stupid I can’t believe you’re using such a dumb nut strategy.”

Not his exact words but that’s essentially what he said.

If Leo didn’t care about Alan, he wouldn’t “waste” his precious time trying to “talk sense” into him.

It’s bonkers that when someone calls you dumb and unbelievable, they could be showing their caring for you.

But for people like Leo, they don’t say nice things. They only say mean things. So you have to watch their actions, not their words.

The medical report shenanigans

When MC requests the medical report, Alan hands it to her. But Leo snatches it away, protesting that they can't give it to outsiders. Alan retorts that MC is not an outsider, but Leo has already run away.

Alan sighs and apologizes to the MC, but Leo soon returns. He has photocopied the files and hands the copy to MC. Leo explains to Alan that if anything happened to the original, it would be on his head.

Alan, realizing what danger Leo just saved him from, thanks him.

At Alan’s words of gratitude, a cat-like smile appears on Leo’s face. Then he says that MC now owes them a favor.

Did you see what just happened? Leo is giddy that Alan acknowledged his efforts, for once. But Leo doesn’t dwell on mushy sentiments, so he swiftly turns himself into a selfish, conniving git again.

He is so determined to maintain his demon image. It’s like it would kill him to admit that he has any human decency.

However, his act can’t fool us if we pay close attention to what he’s actually doing.

Sincere gift to his best friend?

Leo programs an ordering app for his best friend, Sho’s, food truck.

Surely that’s an act of caring for his best friend, right?

Yet, some people believe that Leo only did Sho a favor to trap him and keep him in debt.

Wow.

Yet, how do you tell the difference between someone who helps you sincerely, versus someone who wants to keep you in debt?

What’s more, no one, except for the rare saint, does a favor with no selfish motives at all. Most people hope for some return in the future.

They might wish for help, support, companionship, or some other “reward.” We’re deluding ourselves if we believe that we never want anything back from a friend.

How many people bemoan that they “give so much to someone, but never get much in return?”

It’s hypocritical to accuse Leo of wanting something back from Sho, when most of us want something back from our friendships.

That said, the real concern isn’t if Leo wants Sho to “repay” him.

The concern is if Leo treats Sho like a slave rather than a friend.

In an interview, Leo casually states that Sho is his slave. But honestly, Leo was just being provocative and rude. They do not have a master-slave relationship.

What really happens, is that Leo pushes and demands, while Sho snaps back but gives in later. No real slave would dare to argue, scold, or even mock their master like Sho does.

In a text conversation, Leo complains when Sho ignores his request. He says, “You’re the worst!”

Sho replies, “Yeah, I’m the worst. Cry about it.”

When Leo wants Sho to find information about their advisor, Dante, Sho questions:

“Why Dante of all people? You after a sugar daddy or something?”

Leo laughs and says, “Lmao shut it.”

They’re more like teasing best friends, comfortable roasting each other. Sho has trouble not caving in to requests, but he has this problem with other people too, not just Leo.

His captain Alan might be overworking Sho in his training. Sho always complains but gives in to Alan anyway.

Another time, the staff from Mystery Diner manage to rope Sho into cooking and selling food for them at a festival stall. In short, he’s a people pleaser.

Regardless, it’s unclear whether Leo made an app for Sho to keep him in debt, or if Leo sincerely cares about his happiness. Is it a bribe to maintain their friendship, or a genuine gift?

Some of us believe that it’s a sincere gift. Others see it as a pure bribe with no caring behind it.

But it could be both. He wishes to do something for someone he cares about. But he also wants Sho to stay with him. Leo has a great fear of abandonment, after all.

Leo freaking out at Alan being taken away for lifetime imprisonment

During a mission at a prison, Alan gets possessed by a ghost and murders an inmate.

As a result, the prison guards cart Alan off to lifetime confinement.

Leo could easily say, “That’s too bad. Guess we’ll need a new captain.” Since Leo is vice cap, he could become the captain himself.

But instead, Leo loses his shit. He screams at Sho and at Sho’s friend, Subaru.

When they finally get Sho’s motorbike, Leo clings so tightly to Sho, yelling for him to go faster. Leo holds on so tight that poor MC is squashed between him and Sho. Sho demands if Leo is high, because his motorcycle can barely carry the three of them.

Leo is someone who doesn't show his fear directly, but instead lashes out at others. He’s terrified that he’ll lose Alan forever.

While Leo is a brat, he does care about Alan’s safety and wellbeing.

In fact, Leo reminds me of those kids who are normally spiteful towards their parents. But they become scared and sad when they see their parents getting tortured or killed.

Final thoughts

Leo can be such a menace, with his barbed words and mean ploys.

Yet, he also cares about the close people in his life. The problem is that Leo only shows his caring through actions, not words. His words are quite cruel and often demeaning.

But you can see that he uses his words to maintain his demon image. Pay close attention to what he does, as opposed to what he says.

Moreover, you can interpret his behavior in different ways. If you’re determined to see him as rotten to the core, then even his helpful actions would seem insincere and malicious.

If you take a more open and sympathetic perspective, then you will see his redeeming moments.

What about you? Have you seen characters who care about some people in their lives, but keep pretending that they don't?

If you’re passionate about writing in-depth, complex characters in fiction, join me here!