Riko has been a prick pretty much since day one, but the original Riko wasn’t technically a bad guy. He was Kevin’s boyfriend, and they’d broken up because Riko cheated on Kevin with Jean. (Kevin and Jean were Fuji and Miki, back then) Jean was the one who injured Kevin’s hand when they got into a fight over that indiscretion, and Kevin transferred over to the Foxes in protest.

How Riko went from that to this is like trying to explain how Andrew derailed so far over the years. I wanted a stronger antagonist, so I kept giving him more power–and then I tore a chunk of it away in the final draft out of necessity. He had more presence in the second-to-last draft, just as Neil’s father did, but I had to delete entire chunks to balance the story out. It’s hard to talk about Riko without talking about Tetsuji, though, so there’s a pretty good chance we’re gonna detour halfway through this. Sorry in advance.

Riko was a mistake, a second son in a family only allowed to have one. He was passed off to Tetsuji as soon as possible, and his mother was quietly disposed of for not taking proper precautions. ((Never mind that she didn’t make Riko on her own)) Riko was kept alive in case something happened to Ichirou before Ichirou managed to have his own first son, but that was pretty much the only point of his existence as far as the main family was concerned. Because he was a contingency plan, Riko had to be educated on who his family was and what sorts of things they were capable of.

For his safety, the security guards that patrolled the stadium and Edgar Allan’s campus were Moriyama’s people. It didn’t matter that Tetsuji & Riko were castoffs– they still bore the Moriyama name, and the Ravens were a costly investment.

((Only one person was stupid enough to make an attempt on Riko. He was handed over to the Butcher and killed in Evermore’s tower with a dull axe. Riko was made to watch, and he brought Nathaniel and Kevin with him. They needed to know what happened to those who threatened a Moriyama.))

Perhaps Riko still could have come out of this okay, since he was being raised far away from the Moriyama family business, except no one comes out okay where Tetsuji is involved.

Riko grew up at the Nest, watched over by Tetsuji’s assistants so Tetsuji could focus on his Ravens. The only toys he was allowed were Exy balls, and when his tiny arms could hold more weight he was given tiny racquets.

Kayleigh brought Kevin by the Nest whenever her job brought her to the States, and Riko and Kevin would gurgle at each other in the locker room while their parents worked. These were the only times in those first years that Tetsuji interacted with Riko. Tetsuji wanted nothing to do with Riko until Riko was old enough to shape into a star. Riko was too young to understand any of it, but he could connect the dots on at least some level that Kevin being at the Nest = Tetsuji would actually look at him instead of just walk past him without slowing.

Tetsuji, who had plans for Riko, advised Kayleigh to leave Kevin with him. Her job meant she was traveling all the time–it would be better if her son got to stay in one place. She turned him down but said if something ever happened to her, she’d make sure he as the godfather got custody of her child. Tetsuji asked if the father would be a problem ((he’d known since her pregancy who it was)) and Kayleigh reminded him that the father would never know the truth. Tetsuji believed her because he wanted to.

And when Kevin was old enough that he could finally start properly training, something happened to Kayleigh, and Tetsuji inherited her son.

Here is a fact: Tetsuji is not a good person, but he is not his brother. He is concerned with his little kingdom and nothing else outside of it; the Ravens are the only things he must control 100% of the time. He treats them like objects to manipulate, unruly animals that have to be broken before they fall in line, but he does not kill those who can’t keep up. He simply breaks them to the point that they can’t fight back. (Failed Ravens had a tendency to commit suicide)

But Tetsuji was still responsible for Kayleigh’s death, in a roundabout way, because he opened his mouth about her to Kengo. He wanted more of his brother’s money so he could invest in a new program for the Ravens, and he told Kengo his plans for Riko. He also told him about Kevin. Two days later Kayleigh was dead, and Tetsuji had both his money and his second pet project. Tetsuji immediately handed Kevin off to Riko. It took him a few years before he spoke to his brother again.

Having Kevin around could have saved Riko in a different life, a different draft. Kevin used to love Riko as desperately and obsessively as he loved Exy. Riko finally had someone his age around at all times, someone else to help draw Tetsuji’s attention, someone else to struggle and learn and practice with. Up until this point he’d been surrounded by adults, the Ravens and the staff, with zero access to other children. His world literally stopped and started with Exy–before he was old enough for Tetsuji to train him, he only left Evermore when the Ravens went on away games or to Exy events. It was literally all he had, and he had absolutely no say in it.

Luckily, because Riko knew nothing but Exy, he didn’t know how to want anything but Exy. He didn’t resent his lot in life because as far as he was aware nothing else existed. The only thing he wanted that he couldn’t have was to meet his father and brother, because when he was old enough to learn who he really was, he also learned that he was Not Wanted. Tetsuji said the only thing Kengo cared about was Riko living up to Tetsuji’s promises on the court. Riko took that to mean that he could win his father’s respect by being the best player in the world; he didn’t understand at the time that Kengo only cared about the money.

Riko’s life feels like a series of near-misses. He could never be a decent human being, but he could have been—less broken. He could’ve been kept with the main family. He could’ve been treated a little more like a human by Tetsuji. He could’ve let Kevin love him instead of venting his frustrations out on him. He could have been acknowledged at least once in his life by his father, or allowed to meet his brother a single time. He could have not grown up at the Nest.

Because in the end, the Nest is what broke him beyond repair.

We’ve talked about the Ravens, yes, and what Tetsuji made them into. You saw them for a brief chapter in The Raven King. The Ravens are not a healthy group. Whatever they were before they came to the Nest, they will never be again. Tetsuji is too controlling, too psychologically manipulative, too quick to punish. He created an environment ripe for hazing and–like Wymack–lets the Ravens police themselves. The Nest is a holding cell for a hive mind that can’t survive apart, that rewards them for acting in sync but demands they be the best, that severely punishes those who fall behind and anyone who lets them.

This was Riko’s family. These are the people Riko watched growing up. The people who tutored him when Tetsuji couldn’t. The people who let him watch as they beat the ever-living hell out of each other for drawing Tetsuji’s wrath at practice. The people who knew he was the master’s nephew, who knew he’d rule their team one day, who never laughed at the one on his face. A few called him captain instead of his name– a joke, an affectionate nickname (as affectionate as the Ravens could be)– but the current captain disliked sharing a title with a kid. Riko opted instead to be King, and oh, did the Ravens like that.

Because the Ravens hated each other, but the Ravens loved each other, with a hateful and obsessive need that let them not kill one another despite everything Tetsuji put them through. They came to Evermore on five-year contracts, but the Ravens kept 16-hr days and what should have been five years were seven and a half. They had a symbiotic relationship built on a core of pure rage and determination. As the Foxes observed in the books, the Ravens bought into their own hype. They were miserable all the time but they believed in their image, in their skill, in their reputation. Because of this, they believed in Riko with a ferocity that fueled that raging fire inside him.

This was Riko’s family. This was his kingdom. This was his, and he would be the best of them. Over and over they said it, and they believed it, because Riko was the master’s progeny. And as Riko grew older, as he finally was old enough to join the Ravens, as he took the captain’s title for real and was practically handled multiple contracts, Riko had justification for everything he’d built his life around. #1. King. Captain.

And then one winter Tetsuji sat Riko and Kevin down, and said to Riko, The ERC thinks you are holding Kevin back.

Kevin, who’d been there since the beginning. Kevin, who was sharp-tongued and brilliant, who could spot latent talent a thousand miles away but who never outscored Riko at games or at practice. His second half, his righthand man, his confidante.

Kevin – who reacted to Tetsuji’s news with horror, not surprise.

Kevin, who lost the showdown Tetsuji forced them into, but whose performance didn’t sway Tetsuji’s opinion on the matter. Tetsuji wrote Riko off as a complete waste of his time and threatened to demote him if he didn’t fix things. He meant for Riko to work harder, to improve, to keep his pet in line and to not let his ego get in the way of all of his flaws.

But Riko remembered what happens to those who threaten the Moriyamas, and he chose to eliminate the threat. Tetsuji responded by beating him within an inch of his life, which is why Riko & Tetsuji both disappeared from public view after the “skiing accident”, but Riko wasn’t sorry.

He wasn’t sorry, but he didn’t know how to live without Kevin, either. They’d been together for too long. Kevin left a hole behind that Riko didn’t know how to fill, and Riko struggled in his absence. Luckily the Ravens were ignorant of the rumors, and they were equally oblivious to what really happened to Kevin. They never lost faith in their King and instead turned on Kevin, hating him for walking out and then transferring to the Foxes. Their malevolent support only proved to Riko that he’d done the right thing.

Riko wasn’t happy, and he wasn’t okay, but he was on his way to the top once more. They were going to get Kevin back as a coach so he could properly train his replacement strikers, Riko was going to make him watch from the sidelines as Riko lived out their dreams alone, and Riko would never be questioned by the ERC again.

And then some nameless, talentless child from a nowhere town in Arizona opened his mouth on live TV, and it was all downhill from there.