WARNING: The following contains spoilers for To Your Eternity Episode 7, “The Boy Who Wants to Change,” now streaming on Crunchyroll.
After nearly losing all of the parts of himself to a sinister creature, Fushi has a brief reprieve in To Your Eternity's Episode 7. As Fushi spends more time in the human world, his connection to humans grows stronger. First, he found a mother in March, and now he has found a brother in Gugu -- a young boy who chooses to wear a chameleon mask to hide his tragic past.
As with previous friendships, Fushi connects with a person who sees something in him that they're missing in their lives or a degree of kinship. For Fushi and Gugu, it's how the latter views each of them as monsters in their own way -- even as they search for a way to be human.
Before meeting Fushi, Gugu had an older brother -- Shin -- and the two dreamt of living together in a grand mansion as soon as they earned enough money. Gugu spent his days in the market, selling the vegetables they'd grown and subsequently fell in love with a wealthy young girl in a green dress -- Reann-- he'd frequently see. After saving her dog, she gifts him with a ring as thanks. However, when he goes to tell his brother the exciting news, Shin has suddenly disappeared with all of their savings.
Gugu struggles with the idea of fate and being born into a life that he had never chosen for himself. He wanted to change his destiny, and he believed that the only way he could do that was if he was someone else. However, Gugu's life is irrevocably altered when he escapes death twice in a single terrifying incident, which again involves Reann.
When a massive log falls off of a cart, it narrowly misses Gugu. However, he quickly notices that it's headed straight for Reann. Though he's quick enough to rescue her from the impact, he isn't lucky enough to avoid the log a second time, and it appears to crush him. While he survived the incident with the help of Booze Man, the damage to his face causes Gugu to choose to wear a chameleon mask. Now, he embraces this new identity, calling himself a "monster."
Later, when Gugu meets Fushi, he immediately takes to the immortal being. With Gugu, Fushi learns what fear is and learns to say, "I don't know." Gugu also teaches Fushi his everyday routine of cleaning in the morning, cooking and farming in the fields until noon. Gugu quickly realizes that Fushi is just as much of an orphan as he is and adopts Fushi as his "little" brother.
Along with Pioran and Booze Man, the four of them settle into an easy and comfortable rhythm -- and eventually, start brainstorming how they could make a profit off of Fushi. Affronted, Gugu explodes at them and asks why they're so greedy. He is the only one to come to Fushi's defense, saying he wants to be family with him. It's heartbreakingly clear that Gugu doesn't want to lose another brother. Strangely, Fushi is someone Gugu feels connected with on a different emotional level because he recognized that the two of them were "monsters" who yearned to be humans.
Gugu's mask offers him a chance at a fresh start and a sense of safety, feeling it grants him the illusion of being human. But, at the same time, Gugu does embrace the term "monster" because he can hide behind it. Gugu believed his future was set in stone in To Your Eternity, but he could escape from his unwanted situation with the mask.
