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Who is Ryo Tonari?

君のトナリにいつでも戸成!下町のヒーローここにあり！

戸成綾 (Tonari Ryou) is a 26-year-old man who works at Nippori Station, representing his workplace within the Yamanote Line-based idol collective Latch. He is best described as the kind of man who is capable of getting along with anybody, even the bad guys. Influenced by his interest in Tokusatsu films as a child, he outgrew his shy disposition in order to become someone who fits the archetype of a hero perfectly! A highly-capable older brother figure, taking his colleague Miharu from Nishi-Nippori station in when he expressed nerves about living alone for the first time. Incredibly skilled at sewing, making his own costumes by hand with a quality that rivals even the professionals. Represented by the needle-and-thread emoji.

Born July 19 (Cancer). Blood-type A. 173cm. Member of NØ Crew and Leader Block. Likes Tomatoes. Dislikes English Grammar (but specialises in English Conversation). Hobbies include Housework (particularly sewing), and playing Guitar.

#Nippori Station #Leave the housework to him #90 percent Miharu-talk

How did you fall in love with him?

Completely on accident. This is the best way of describing it. I had no intent to self-insert with a character from Station Idol Latch! in the beginning... but had already started crushing on another character beforehand! Some kind of switch flicked inside me, though, and I found myself falling further and further in love with him after January 1st, 2024.

What I noticed about him on his first encounter is that he's a gentlemanly figure who is always keen to help out those in need. Acting as an older brother figure to Miharu who constantly hypes him up to his peers, it's clear that he treasures those he's close to deeply. Since he's known for talking a lot about Miharu as though he's a proud older brother, it's pretty clear he's a kindhearted and earnest individual who wants nothing more than to show the world how great the ones he loves truly are! Combine this with the fact that he grew up yearning to be like the heroes he'd see on television, and you've got a recipe for a heroic downtown idol who has a great adoration for many things!

In my opinion, I think he has many charm points. In particular, he is heavily associated with cats! Due to many parts of Arakawa city having cats roaming around, Nippori station has adopted a cat mascot named Nyappori, and decorated their newly-built exit sign with cat motifs. This extends to Ryo's design, with the sign motifs being present on his initial costume! He also is often drawn with a prominent fang because of this, which is really cute, too...

I'm also particularly fond of his love for sewing, which shows in the handmade costumes he produces and the amount of detail in which he talks about them! He's said to be a frequenter of Nippori Fabric Town, and perhaps his fondness of tomatoes is a reference to a popular fabric store of the same name. His enjoyment of creation in the form of sewing is so potent, in fact, that I've found myself thinking about taking up sewing classes in my spare time! But that's also because I want to daydream more about the idea of him showing me how to use a sewing machine, guiding my hands as I feed the fabric through... I know he'd be incredibly gentle and patient with me while I learn. And picking out fabrics together for personal projects seems like one of the most wonderful ideas ever! ♡

I also like that Ryo's adoration of hobbies that'd widely be considered "un-manly" don't dictate his appearance or personality outside of them, too! I think Station Idol Latch! handles the fact that male characters can like things that aren't typical for their respective gendered stereotypes without it making them a "lesser" man for it incredibly well, but that's a ramble for another time. His domesticity in regards to his love for cooking and sewing really makes him feel so homey, like he was personally tailored for yumejoshi such as myself who really enjoy the idea of collaborating on certain daily tasks and working as a team with their lover... ♡

Self-insert

My self-insert goes by the name Kiley, and is best described as a jack-of-all-trades type who never seems to have enough time in the day to indulge in everything she wishes to achieve. Tends to come off as unsociable due to her constant neutral expression and tendency to shut herself indoors to work on projects, but is described as a passionate, well-humoured and very relaxed individual. Works at a store in Nippori Fabric Town, and attended the same high school as Ryo. A deeply (secretly) sentimental woman who likes to collect all manner of things. Represented by the strawberry emoji.

Born May 1 (Taurus). Blood-type A. 157cm. Likes apple-custard taiyaki and travelling. Dislikes hot weather. Hobbies include collecting goshuin & making spreadsheets.

#Busy Passenger #Shitamachi Explorer #Not-so-subtle height complex

I should note that while I tend to use the term "self-insert" here, I consider the Kiley mentioned above to be basically the same as the Kiley who runs this site. She's literally just me with a few caveats so things make sense in canon.

A brief history

Both Kiley and Ryo met while in high school, being in the same friend circle as a result of being seated next to each other on the class seating plan. Initially, they got to know each other when they ended up helping each other with school work due to being good at the things the other struggled with (sewing for Kiley, English grammar for Ryo). After becoming rather good friends due to these shared studying sessions, the two ended up developing feelings for each other. However, due to the fact they didn't want to make their feelings known and have problems arise due to unrequited feelings and not wanting to cause trouble in the friend group, the two kept their feelings to themselves and tried to move on.

After graduation, they went about their daily lives as usual while forming relationships with others. They didn't see each other as much as they would when they were in school together, as they were often too busy to make it to group outings frequently enough. However, their feelings for each other still lingered, and these relationships usually fizzled out soon after because of this. After spending several years stuck in what felt like a revolving-door of relationships, Ryo finally managed to muster up the courage to ask her if she wanted to get coffee one day...

...As such, RyoKai was born

Ship name

As stated before, their ship name is RyoKai (rendered as 綾カイ). However, they're also represented by their combination emojis as listed in their respective profiles, and are also referred to as "BerrySteadyShipping"-- which refers to Kiley's love of berries, and the fact that you need a steady hand when it comes to sewing.

Headcanons

• Since Ryo enjoys housework and is particularly fond of tomatoes, I like to imagine he has a small garden in the back yard of his sharehouse where he grows a variety of vegetables! Also, the idea of him wearing one of those wide-brimmed straw hats to protect his face from the sun while tending to them makes my heart flutter...
• Being someone who likes to help others out, I think he'd be very popular among the older folk in the local area.
• He's a casual Goshuin collector! This is mostly me connecting my yume stuff to a hobby I have but I like to imagine that he has a collection book from a local Shinto Shrine just outside of Yanaka, which he uses to periodically get new ones. On one of their first trips together, he surprised her with this fact by getting one of his own while they were lined up.
• In my opinion, the first of Ryo's colleagues to find out about his relationship was Akira, as he had asked him for dating advice. Miharu was the first colleague to actually meet Kiley, though, since him and Ryo live together.
• Ryo's lockscreen is a photo of the Omamori he and Kiley got together during New Years'. He changes it every year.

Misc. unorganised lore

• Out of the other members of Latch! who she didn't meet through Ryo, Kiley is also friends with Rihito, Rei and Allen.
• Their first date was in Yanaka Ginza, a local shopping street not too far from his workplace.
• One of their favourite ways of spending time together during the season 3 election period was by riding the same train to their respective destinations.
• Both Ryo and Kiley prefer cats to dogs, prefer koshian to tsubuan, and don't have a preference when it comes to chocolate flavour. However, Ryo is a morning person while Kiley isn't.