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Jack Jeanne Complete Collection - Interview with Ishida Sui and Towada Shin Translation

This interview is from the Jack Jeanne Complete Collection art book, it’s available on CDJapan and Amazon jp. You can also purchase a digital only version on bookwalker jp. I encourage anyone reading to purchase the game (if you haven't already) or the art book itself to support Ishida and Towada directly. 💕

This is a VERY long interview so I apologise for any typos or errors I may have missed.

~ ~ ~

An interview with Ishida Sui and Towada Shin, who both worked on writing the story of Jack Jeanne. In this interview they reveal what went on behind the scenes during production, rejected story ideas and much more. This interview was conducted remotely on the 9th of February 2021.

Interviewer: Yui Kashima

How did Ishida Sui end up making an otome game?

—How did the production of Jack Jeanne begin?

Ishida: It was sometime around Autumn 2015 I think… On an old personal site that I used to run, I received an email from the company Broccoli to an email address that I no longer use. It was a commission request for character designs.

—In 2015 Tokyo Ghoul was still being serialised wasn’t it?

Ishida: Yes. Usually job offers like that go through Shueisha first, so I contacted my editor asking why this one was sent to my private email… At the time, in addition to working on Tokyo Ghoul, I was also drawing illustrations for a tear-off calendar and very busy with various other things, so when my editorial department heard about the offer they seemed very shocked like "What!?".

—Why did you decide to accept the offer even though you were so busy?

Ishida: I would often receive offers asking for me to draw manga or illustrations, so I figured that this one was a similar case. However, some words in the email caught my eye. Like ‘Gender Swap’, ‘Takarazuka’ and ‘All Boys Opera'. When I saw these concept ideas, a dream began to swell in my chest and I felt like giving it a try.

I think if it had just been a normal character design job, I would have turned it down. However just from reading the short brief in the email my interest was piqued. While in discussions with the Young Jump editorial department, I also casually mentioned the kind of offer I’d received to Towada-san.

Towada: Yeah, Ishida-san asked me for some advice. I was also drawn to the ‘Gender Swap’ and ‘Opera’ concepts. I could easily visualise the setting of the story. Additionally, it seemed like it would be a story that included many different themes such as gender. When I thought about that, I figured that Ishida-san would be a good fit, since I knew he would be able to draw something that went beyond all genders.

Ishida: I’ve been drawing androgynous characters for a long time, so Towada-san and I talked and wondered if that's what they must be looking for. After that, I created my own proposal and submitted it to Broccoli.

—You created your own proposal, Ishida-san?

Ishida: When I looked at the original proposal that Broccoli had sent me, a lot of it differed from my personal tastes. It was a very upbeat and dazzling story. It would’ve been hard for me to match my art style to that, so in my proposal I noted things like ‘if it were me, I’d do something more like this’. I was interested in this unpolished gem of a story, so I thought it would be a waste to turn it down altogether. I wanted to at least try throwing my own ideas into the ring, so I spent a week creating the six main characters and sent them in.

—At that time, I heard that the game wasn’t titled ‘Jack Jeanne’ yet, but was instead called ‘Jiemarie’.

Ishida: At first, I wanted to try creating a word that doesn’t exist. So using French as a base, I came up with ‘Jiemarie’ as the game's provisional title. But then a month later when I was reconsidering the title, I looked at it again and thought, damn this looks lame. So I hurriedly called Towada-san on Skype and we entered a discussion that lasted about ten hours over what the title should be.

That’s when we decided on ‘Jack Jeanne’. The male roles take the name from the knight, or the ‘Jack’ in a deck of playing cards. And the female roles ‘Jeanne’ take from the word parisienne and Jeanne d’Arc. When these two terms are put together, I feel like you can comprehend what the game is about with a bit of nuance. Plus you can shorten it to ‘JJ’… That’s also the title of a magazine though (lol).

—Taking on another job whilst your manga was being serialised sounds like it would be tough on you both physically and mentally.

Ishida: I think I must’ve been a bit unwell (lol). My body was fine, but being able to work on something other than a serialised manga was a lot easier on me mentally. I may have seen it as a way to escape, so I didn’t feel that working on two projects at the same time was difficult. When it comes to game development, I can only create what I’m capable of, and there was no set release date yet. Of course, I would work on and submit things whenever I could though.

—What kind of things would you submit?

Ishida: I would sketch character designs, discuss and create story elements with Towada-san and try to put Univeils history into chronological order. Then I would share the progress with Broccoli and have meetings and such with them. In the beginning, rather than having to draw anything yet, it was mostly just brainstorming and planning. That’s why I think I was able to do it all concurrently with the serialisation of my manga.

~ ~ ~

How Ishida Sui and Towada Shin know each other

—Do you chat with Towada-san often?

Ishida: Well yeah, she is my older sister after all.

Towada: We talk a lot. When we both have the time we chat over Skype.

Ishida: Once we start the conversation can last up to five or six hours. We mostly talk about things that happened throughout our day. When I’m talking to someone I often bring up something that’s happened to me and ask their opinion on it. She became someone that I could chat with whilst working on my manga. Ever since my student days we’d talk until early morning, I usually told her about storyboards I’d drawn.

—At the Ishida Sui exhibition it was revealed that Towada-san had even given you advice on some of your earliest works.

Ishida: Yeah that’s right. It was a work I’d prepared for a 'bring your own work along' induction course in Tokyo that I attended back in my student days. It was a manga about two characters who eventually became the prototypes for Tsukiyama and Hori Chie in Tokyo Ghoul. It was only about 30 pages long, however when I showed it to Towada-san the day before the presentation, she told me that she thought my linework was too thin.

Towada: Yeah, the overall linework of the manga was thinly drawn. Once I told Ishida-san this thought, he began tracing over his linework and making it thicker. And then when he looked at it again, he said “Yep, I need to redraw the whole thing”.

The linework being too thin was only my personal opinion and the presentation was in Tokyo the next day, so in horror, I began hastily telling him, “You won’t make it in time, stop, stop!”

Ishida: All I could think about was that the lines really were too thin, so I wanted to redraw it. All of the screentones had already been affixed to the panels, but I didn’t want to bring something along with me whilst knowing it wasn’t the best that it could be.

Towada: Ishida-san handled the linework and I helped with redoing the screentones. We worked throughout the night and finished redrawing the whole manuscript. Once it was done, it wasn’t even comparable to the previous version, the lines were powerful and the characters' expressions conveyed a lot. I was seriously worried though (lol), I didn’t know if we’d complete it in time.

Ishida: I couldn’t think about anything other than the lines being too thin, so I wasn’t even worried about whether I had enough time or not.

Towada: I fell asleep halfway through, but you continued and boarded that Tokyo bound flight without having slept a wink, didn’t you?

Ishida: Yeah. I let Towada-san sleep and continued applying the screentones myself right up until the very last minute. I was still applying them whilst on the plane and also after my arrival in Tokyo. I used screentone number 10 a lot, so I remember the scenery around me gradually began to look grainy like the screentone. It felt as though I was hallucinating.

—Sounds like it was a tough manuscript to complete. Towada-san was also the author for the Tokyo Ghoul novels, has your relationship always been one akin to work partners?

Ishida: When it was decided that Tokyo Ghoul would be getting a novelisation, I was given other authors' works to look at. However, none of their styles really clicked with me, and they didn’t seem right for the series. I knew that Towada-san wrote, so I tried reaching out to her.

Although back in the days of Tokyo Ghoul’s serialisation, Towada-san and I didn’t talk as much as we do now. If I had any concerns I would just try and sort them out by myself. We’d always gotten along as brother and sister, however we didn’t really start to have a ‘work partners’ kind of relationship until we started working on Jack Jeanne together.

Towada: That’s true. Back then, we only occasionally conversed regarding the novelisation of Tokyo Ghoul. Before :re we only spoke once every few months over Skype. As Ishida-san said, it wasn’t until I started working on Jack Jeanne that we really started properly talking to one another.

—How often would you contact each other?

Towada: Depending on what stage we were at, we would bounce ideas off each other once every three or so days. Ishida-san would make a request like “I’d be happy if this part of the script was done within the next two weeks.” And then I’d present what I’d written and we’d discuss it and then I’d return to writing again. This process was repeated until Jack Jeanne reached its completion.

—Was Ishida-san the one that reached out to Towada-san to write the script of Jack Janne?

Towada: He didn’t ask me specifically to write the script, early in development he’d ask me to help with some research like “I’d like you to look up some information on this, could you help me?”. I’ve always liked ikusei games and within that genre I also enjoy romance and otome games. So I think that’s why it was easy for Ishida-san to consult me about it. We’ve had a common interest in games ever since we were kids.

Ishida: Back then I played games like ‘Pinnochia no Miru Yume’ and ‘Angelique’. I wanted to try and conquer Marcel in Angelique but it was one difficult game, so it was a tough task. Before I could even raise any flags with him, the training aspect of the game was so hard that no matter how many times I played I never got any good at it.

Towada: I’m the type that loves playing games, so after talking with Ishida-san, I went on to play every popular otome game that had been released around 2015, as well as every Broccoli published otoge. I completed every single character route in those games. I began analysing otome game trends and Broccoli’s brand identity and relayed my findings to Ishida-san. After that, I went along with the Jack Jeanne production team and Makasano Chuuji-san from Shueisha, who was the scriptwriter of the Tokyo Ghoul anime. We all visited the city of Takarazuka for research.

Ishida: I was also supposed to be there for the Takarazuka trip but since I had my manga to worry about, I had Towada-san go and take in the atmosphere in my place.

Towada: I did have to gather material but I think I visited Takarazuka a total of five or six times. From morning I would watch the Takarazuka theatre from afar and simply watch the guests move about, soaking in the atmosphere of the city.

Along with the Takarazuka plays, I also watched student plays, in total I probably went and watched one hundred shows. Theatre shows that are performed by professionals are fully realised and flawless. So getting to see the contrast to student plays, where they progress and improve until the show is complete was a very helpful reference.

I’ve always enjoyed watching plays, so everything I had to research overlapped with my own hobbies. I still shared my own input with Ishida-san though.

Ishida: I’d never formally been asked to write a script before… I felt like a fraud (lol). I think it’s because I’m not very good at being considerate of other people. I don’t think I’d be able to work with anyone other than Towada-san on something.

—Why is that?

Ishida: Well, for one I don’t want to talk to anyone for long periods of time (lol). Because Towada-san understands what aspects of a story are important to me, she’s also able to comprehend what I mean when I talk in abstract concepts. We could save time by not needing to have any pointless discussions.

Towada: Back then Ishida-san was still very busy publishing his manga, so bringing in all sorts of new people to work on the project probably would’ve put quite the burden on him. That’s why I wanted to help him out in some way.

After researching all sorts of things, I ended up participating in a production meeting for Jack Jeanne, but I was not expecting that I myself would end up being in charge of writing the script. Rather, I was more just looking forward to getting to play a game made by Ishida-san. As things progressed though, I was asked to try plotting things out, or to write part of the script to be used temporarily. Eventually I came to think, why don’t I just write the scenario myself?

I’d never written the script for a game before though, so that’s what had been holding me back. Unlike novels, it’s commonplace to not have to write descriptively. Novels are made up of dialogue and descriptions, like describing the setting and characters' expressions or emotions. So I had to spend a lot of time working out how to write to properly convey a story through dialogue alone.

When I first started getting the hang of it, I tried writing a script that still included descriptions but I quickly stopped. Jack Jeanne is about theatre, so I figured that it would be easier to convey the presence and narrative of the story through conversation. I usually write novels, so I was uncertain, but since Jack Jeanne has sprites of the characters on screen, I thought that I could do it. I suppose it’s closer to writing for a manga rather than a novel.

~ ~ ~

The rejected character routes

—Before Tokyo Ghoul was completed, what kind of things did you work on?

Ishida: The first two years were mostly spent creating the game’s world and mechanics. Like deciding how many performances there would be, how the plays would be presented. Would it be a dialogue drama? Would there be mini games? Things like that. We also had to decide whether summer break would be included or not, how raising affection would work and how the choices would be presented. Those are the sort of things that were talked about first.

—You got to watch over the entire game’s development then.

Ishida: At first, I got carried away and envisioned a stage play game full of skill mechanics that I personally enjoyed. A busy game full of specs you can raise and improve in mini games, however when I explained these details to a friend of mine, they were like “You’re just imagining a game that you would like, right?”.

They asked me if that’s what the eventual players of Jack Jeanne would be looking for. That same friend said that since it’s a story that deals with the theme of theatre, it would be better if the player could witness the performances themselves. So I took that advice and the prototype of the current Jack Jeanne was created. I told all of this to Towada-san and had her handle the script.

Towada: You can’t write a script without knowing how the game’s system works after all.

Ishida: Now that I think about it, before Tokyo Ghoul was finished, rather than build the game's foundation, all I was really doing was scattering the sand to prepare for said foundation.

When Tokyo Ghoul entered its endgame especially, I really had to concentrate on it, so I took a six month break from Jack Jeanne. Ending a story requires a lot of energy and attention, so I left the practical work of Jack Jeanne to Towada-san and only supervised the music production and attended any important meetings.

—So during serialisation you were making preparations to jump right into it afterwards?

Ishida: Yes exactly. I wasn’t able to do much practical work, so I had Towada-san prepare the script in advance for me. And for the time being, create one character route.

—Which character was it?

Towada: It was Shirota. I wrote about the equivalent length of a short book and it was more or less complete. In the end, we scrapped the entire thing though… Because the atmosphere in the beginning was quite dark.

Ishida: It was dark because I was too used to Tokyo Ghoul. It included issues like a troubled household and severe bullying. Reading something like that wouldn’t put the player in a happy mood.

Despite it being a story about the theatre, my attention drifted to other topics which didn’t fit. And it was me who had asked Towada-san to write something like that… A couple months after the Shirota route had been completed, I read over what Towada-san had written for me once again and realised that it was a bit too gloomy. I’d forgotten what prompt I’d even given to her in the first place (lol).

The first character portraits and CGs that I created were for Shirota too. The reason being that Shirota is the only second year student and he was already a complete individual, so he was easy to create for. As for the third year students, there’s three of them, Fumi, Kai and Neji. Along with Kisa, Suzu and Yonoga are also first years, so continuity and character relationships need to be taken into account in order to create them, so they were a little more complex.

—How did the other characters come to be?

Ishida: At the proposal stage, the first character that I created was Kai. It’s a game where characters will be falling in love and confessing to one another, so first off I wanted a character that was handsome. Then I made Fumi who would be Kai’s partner. After that, I think Shirota was next.

Towada: At first you created the characters by basing them on plays didn’t you?

Ishida: I’m a fan of Yamamoto Shugoro’s work ‘Kikuchiyosho’ so Shirota was created using that as a base. In Shirota's case the genders are swapped, but Kikuchiyosho is a story about a girl who is born into a samurai family and raised as a boy. It has an element of androgyny and portrays the confusion and anger concerning gender quite well.

—How did you select the plays to base the characters on?

Ishida: I chose plays that lots of people are familiar with and would be easy to assign characters to. Kai is ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, Fumi is ‘Salome’, Neji is ‘Faust’ and Yonoga is ‘Shintokumaru’. Kisa and her classmate Ootori are ‘Don Quixote’. Ootori ended up becoming a side character though.

—So Ootori was originally meant to be a main character?

Ishida: Yeah. If I were to compare it to Tokyo Ghoul, Ootori is in the same position as Tsukiyama. I wanted a pompous character like that in Quartz. However I may have made him a little too unique (lol).

I received feedback from Broccoli that they want the main six characters to be an elite group, so a more easy to approach character would be better. So I moved the bright and cheerful character that I had originally made as Onyx’s Jack Ace over. That character was Suzu.

Making the characters personifications of plays started to become difficult to stick with though, so I abandoned the idea entirely halfway through.

—Despite appearing glamorous, the characters are all dealing with their own issues, like certain complexes and family troubles. I think that they’re all conflicts that are easy to sympathise with, how did you decide what the backbone of each character's conflict would be?

Ishida: First I created the character's appearance and then decided what personality would match them. Like with Fumi, when I began to think about making his story about the unique struggles that come with being born into a respected family, if becoming a successor was going to come into question, then he needed to have a brother.

In this way, I worked backwards from the vibe of his appearance and created his home life. I did the same with the other characters too, thinking things like ‘to have a personality like this they must not have parents, or they must struggle with expressing themselves’.

I think that if you let your characters do human-like things, then aspects of them that are easy to sympathise with will be born.

Jealousy, setbacks due to failure, inferiority complexes… Each and every character naturally ended up having some form of theme attached to them.

—I feel as though Kisa had a different sort of personality than that of a typical heroine.

Ishida: To put it simply, I want my protagonists to be fighting something. If they’re not giving it their all, then it’s no good. If they’re just standing around, then you can’t empathise with them.

—There’s times where she draws others towards her or supports those around her. She also has some masculine aspects to her.

Ishida: I think that I’m moved by characters who make me think “This kid’s really admirable”. That’s why I made Kisa a girl who works hard no matter the difficult situation that she’s in. I like Kisa and I’m sure Towada-san feels the same way.

Towada: She’s the result of both of our preferences. While due to the game’s setting, she of course has struggles related to being a girl, but I was careful to write the main thread of her story in a way that transcended gender and instead simply showed her charm as a human being.

—Regarding gender, I was impressed by how neutrally it was portrayed.

Ishida: Yes. Originally, I was going to make Shirota a character with a feminine personality, but I ended up scrapping the idea. In the end, he ended up having more of a masculine mentality. The premise of Jack Jeanne is that boys also play the female roles on stage, but it’s not a metaphor for anything and I didn’t want it to raise any questions. I simply wanted to give it my all creating plays with that setting and create something new and refreshing.

I don’t struggle with any gender related issues myself, so it’s not like I can fully understand what it’s like, but in general I’ve never considered gender to be a very big deal. If someone born male were to tell me “I have the heart of a woman” then I’d just think ‘ok cool’.

To me it feels strange to place so much weight on such an issue. I don't see why others need to be bothered by someone else's gender, I'm not since I myself am not able to speak for such experiences.

Towada: At first, it was possible to take that direction with Shirota but as I continued to write, I came to realise that there was no need to exaggerate any emphasis on his gender identity.

To those looking from an outside perspective, it may seem like a unique identity such as that is a person's defining trait, when in reality it's only just a portion of their whole self. If you consider it to be all they are, then you end up denying the other aspects of that person.

Whilst considering the individually of each character, I kept in mind to write them in a way that seemed natural for them.

—The side character, Tanakamigi Chui of Amber, had a very striking presence. How did you go about creating him?

Ishida: I wanted someone that’s easily understood to be the antagonist, so I went ahead and tried to draw someone who looked like an unstoppable genius. Despite being a second year, it’s as if he controls the school. I wanted an enigmatic and intriguing character like that. Once I named him Tanakamigi Chui I felt as though he was complete and his inclusion in the story was quickly decided on.

—On the flip side, were there any characters that you had a hard time creating?

Ishida: I had to think a little harder about the other members of Amber. They needed to have the aura of the enemy but since they’re only villains in the context of the stage, they’re not actually bad people. So it was hard to find that balance between them.

Visually they’re edgy and have a talented vibe, but they also have their own individual quirks, they’re not all homogeneous. I struggled with Kamiya Utsuri especially, I wanted him to visually look like he could be a Jeanne while also still looking like a boy, so it was difficult to get him right. I didn’t have to do many redesigns though and all the other characters came to be without much trouble.

What I actually had more trouble with, was the fact I made the cast too large. I initially created almost double the amount of first year characters, but when I looked back over the script that Towada-san created, I told her “There’s way too many characters, please cut some of them out.” To which Towada-san replied, “Ishida-san, you’re the one who created them in the first place.” (lol).

Towada: That’s because the cut characters had already appeared in the script (lol).

Ishida: I feel that when there’s too many characters a lot of them get wasted, so just like that I end up creating and scrapping a lot of my characters. I think even Broccoli were surprised by the amount of times I’d suddenly tell them “Oh that character doesn’t exist anymore.”

—Apart from characters, were there any other aspects of the game that were abruptly discarded?

Ishida: The performances I suppose… Originally I had wanted there to be a larger variety of shows, but if you were to put all of them in the script it probably would’ve ended up being three million characters long.

In the beginning of development, I had originally planned for each character's route to have a different final performance. There’s six main characters, and including Kisa’s route, that would total to seven unique shows.

Before that there’s the newcomers, summer, autumn and winter performances, so I arranged to have a script written for each. Basically I wanted to include more shows and increase the amount of sub stories, but that would be confusing to play through and development would never end. The game engine has its limits too, so I decided to keep it simple.

Towada: It would’ve been difficult to play through all that as well (lol). For the final performance, we settled on it being one show and letting the player enjoy it from each character’s perspective instead. And even then, there’s still over 20 different endings to the game, so it still took a long time until everything was fully complete.

—Newcomers, summer, autumn, winter and the final performance, were these five show’s scripts all original?

Towada: Yes. However at first, like the characters, we had planned to base them on famous productions. Like Shakespeare or fairy tales. We figured that players would find it easy to get immersed in plays that they were already familiar with.

Ishida: For the newcomers' performance, I thought we could have a show called ‘House of Biscuits and Candy’ based on Hansel and Gretel. I had also originally planned to use each character's motif to base the plays on.

Towada: Like Shintokumaru, right?

Ishida: Yeah yeah. I even went as far as getting permission to use it, but if the show were to be following a story that already exists, then the script would be bound to it. Once I understood that it would make it difficult to relate the stories to Univeil, we decided to create the plays ourselves.

Since I acquired the permission to adapt Shintokumaru though, maybe I’ll have to make a manga about it someday…

By the way, the one who was saying “Let’s do this” and then changing it to “Nevermind let’s not” was all me. I’ll start on something wholeheartedly thinking that it’s the right choice before realising halfway through that I can’t actually take it anywhere and stop. Jack Jeanne’s development was full of trial and error.

Whenever I’m about to start something, Towada-san will express her concerns with my ideas but I always end up pushing on with them only to ultimately scrap it.

I probably have at least ten books worth of scrapped drafts alone. I had no real knowledge of how to properly craft a story. I hadn’t drawn anything other than Tokyo Ghoul, so even though I had no idea what the fundamentals of storytelling were, I misunderstood that I could write other kinds of stories too. This time around I studied and revised each time… I really learnt a lot.

Towada: You learn things by doing them, so I think I just got used to it (lol). Also, you don’t commonly see stories presented within stories, I thought that it was a rare case for a game especially.

~ ~ ~

The story behind ‘Lyrics: Ishida Sui’

—You also wrote the lyrics for each of the songs used in the performances didn’t you, Ishida-san?

Ishida: Yes, that’s how things ended up. It goes without saying, but no one, including myself, thought that I’d be the one writing the lyrics.

Originally Broccoli brought in several professional lyricists and had me look over what they’d written. However I couldn’t help but feel that they were lyrics I’d heard somewhere before, or they at least didn’t leave a unique impression on me. I did feel the finesse of a professional, and they were beautiful lyrics that fit the story in one way or another… But the words used didn’t touch on the core of the story.

The songs in Jack Jeanne are stage songs that Neji wrote for the members of Quartz. So unless you’re familiar with the setting and understand how the characters are feeling, then you won’t be able to write lyrics that perfectly fit the scenario.

While I knew that my lyric writing technique would be far from that of a professionals, I thought that no one understands and loves these characters more than me, so I approached Broccoli about it. I’d poured my heart into not only the character designs, but also the story and system of the game, so I didn’t want to compromise on the lyrics and have them pale in comparison.

So, to the best of my ability, I wanted to at least try my hand at writing them. I had Broccoli check whether or not what I’d written was viable and asked them “If there are no problems, then please let me write the lyrics.”

—Did you sing the temporary vocals for the songs too?

Ishida: When I submitted the lyrics to Broccoli, I got the normal response of “Thank you, we’ll leave the temporary vocals to you.” Along with this message they also wrote “You can hire a professional vocalist if you’d like, or you could record the temporary vocals yourself.”

Because of this I started thinking that maybe I should record them myself. Similar to how one wouldn’t be able to write lyrics for the songs without a deep understanding of the story, if you weren’t the one who wrote the lyrics, you wouldn’t know how they’re supposed to be sung either.

So, after deciding that I had to be the one to do it, I made preparations to acquire some audio recording equipment and downloaded some editing software. I divided up the parts and harmonised with myself and over the course of three days, I finished recording the temporary vocals. That’s more or less how I did it.

—When recording yourself singing, being self conscious about it can interfere, can’t it?

Ishida: I don’t think I was possessed by him or anything, but… When I tried to go all out, as expected I felt a bit hesitant, so I began recording whilst imagining I was Neji.

In the game, Neji is the one who writes the scripts, so surely he would also write the lyrics and subdivide the song and do everything himself. So I got through it thinking like that. In that pumped up mental state, I sent in the temporarily recorded songs but all Broccoli said back was “Alright, let us know your upcoming schedule”, I got so carried away that I was somewhat bewildered by the cold response (lol).

~ ~ ~

Recruiting via DM, gathering specifically selected creators

—It appears the creators you gathered to handle things such as the concept art and music are all people whose work you enjoy.

Ishida: Yes. Almost everyone was sent a targeted offer. For example, I’ve always loved the concept artist Lownine-san’s work ever since I was a student. I suppose you could say I was jealous of how high quality their artwork is… They’re someone who I thought I'd never be able to beat in my entire life. Lownine-san is an amazing artist who is especially good at blending characters into their backgrounds.

When we were creating Jack Jeanne, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to pull something like that off, so I definitely wanted to recruit Lownine-san for the job. After getting permission from Broccoli, I reached out to Lownine-san myself through Twitter DM’s. I had only appreciated Lownine-san’s work from afar, and we’d never actually interacted before, but we did both follow each other. I received a reply that Lownine-san was fully on board to accept the job.

Towards the end of Jack Jeanne’s development, I got the chance to speak with Lownine-san, so I asked them “Could you teach me how to draw?” They gladly accepted this request and taught me how to draw whilst screen sharing over Skype. However, in about 10 minutes, they’d already drawn such an amazing piece that I felt I should just put my pen down (lol).

Towada: You were a little down after that, weren’t you?

—Had you been a fan of Kosemura-san, who was in charge of music, since you were a student as well?

Ishida: Yes, I’ve listened to Kosemura-san’s music a lot since I was a student. When I was brainstorming what kind of music would fit Jack Jeanne, Kosemura-san’s ‘Light Dance’ immediately came to mind, since it fit perfectly. Because I didn’t have any personal connections to Kosemura-san however, I didn’t know how to get in contact with him, so I made the request through Broccoli. I only found out about this recently, but apparently Kosemura-san almost turned the offer down*, I was quite shocked to hear that (lol).

*When the initial request was sent, it was under wraps that the game was being made by Ishida Sui, and since Kosemura-san didn’t have much experience in writing game music, he wasn’t optimistic about the offer. However, later, when he learned that it was a game being made by Ishida Sui, he readily accepted the offer.

—How did Seishiro-san, who was in charge of the choreography, get chosen for the job?

Ishida: A very long time ago I saw the group Tokyo Gegegay appear on a program called DANCE @ HERO JAPAN and I remember thinking ‘this group is crazy good’ and I was immediately charmed by them. After that, whilst I was looking through more videos of Tokyo Gegegay on YouTube, I happened upon a studio workshop video and discovered Seishiro-san.

—What about him caught your eye?

Ishida: Whilst first and foremost his dancing was super sexy, it also had a certain strength to it. I remember thinking that he danced in a way that embraced the best elements of both masculinity and femininity. And that had stayed in my memory ever since. When Seishiro-san was recording motion capture for the game, he allowed me to interrupt and even taught me some of the choreography.

(note: you can watch Seishiro dance here, he is also the choreographer behind this RADWIMPS music video!)

—I hear you’ve known Gyudon-san, who was in charge of making the movies, since your Tokyo Ghoul days.

Ishida: Yes. Around the time volume 13 of Tokyo Ghoul was set to be released, we held a still image MAD (Music Anime Douga) contest. The grand prize winner of said contest was Gyudon-san, who at the time was still only a student. The way they made a video by manipulating the manga panels to move so fluidly was really cool and stood out from the rest.

Around when Tokyo Ghoul had ended and :re was about to start, I had Gyudon-san make a minute long video for me. After that, Gyudon-san grew in popularity and became someone whose work is in high demand, so they seemed very busy.

However when Jack Jeanne was announced, we were able to have them create a promotional video for us. Since I’ve known them since Tokyo Ghoul, I figured I couldn’t go wrong entrusting the job to Gyudon-san. They didn’t just deliver their finished work without a word either, Gyudon-san also made a variety of suggestions and worked on the project with a positive attitude. For the videos used in the performances, I was asked to provide materials and became very involved in the process. I think it took about two weeks… Despite the really tight deadline, Gyudon-san allowed me to catch up and was super helpful.

I was also the one who reached out to Touyama Maki-san, who was in charge of creating the in-game chibi characters and the 4koma manga used for promotional purposes. During Tokyo Ghoul’s publication, Touyama-san would draw short comics for the series as a hobby, I thought they were a nice person for doing so. Their art was great too and I was very thankful. So when it was decided that we’d be displaying chibi characters during the game’s lesson segments, I wanted to leave it to Touyama-san and sent them the offer.

(note: this is the MAD that gyudon won the contest with, they now regularly make moving manga CM's for jump titles, they make the Choujin X ones too!)

~ ~ ~

The winter performance moves into Quartz’s ending, and the divergence in the story since the beginning of the year drastically branches off

—The performances, packed full of each of the character’s skills, continue for a year and pass by in the blink of an eye. Once the new year breaks, it feels as though the atmosphere of the game drastically changes. What were your intentions behind this?

Towada: That’s when the character route specific endings begin. So we packed all the needed material to set them up into the winter performance.

Ishida: The winter performance is like an ending for Quartz as a whole, so we packed it full of good lines and scenes without holding back. I may have used up all of my cards but by using them all without compromise, we were able to make the story reach a nice peak. After that, the story switches to focusing on each character's individual ending.

Towada: We used a lot of great material in the winter performance, which meant the final performance would have to be even better still. In a good way, it gave us a higher hurdle that we now needed to overcome.

—So you needed to create even more anticipation heading into March?

Towada: From January to March, each character’s route is completely different. From the new year onwards I needed to create seven different scripts, so it was very challenging. The amount of text for the last three months of the game alone just about eclipses the amount of text from up until the winter performance. There was so much to write that I began to fear I wouldn’t even be able to finish it.

Ishida: Having more choices that drastically change the ending of the game makes the player feel more involved. So, despite it making things tougher on ourselves, around the time we were working on the autumn performance is when we began thinking about how the game’s big branches should work. Along with the main routes, we also planned for there to be the option to deepen your bonds with the side characters.

—How did you go about creating the confession scenes?

Towada: Before the winter performance, to some extent each character has already grown closer to Kisa, so I kept in mind not to disrupt that flow. Since if I didn’t make it a confession that respected both Kisa and her suitor’s feelings, then I felt it would spoil the fun.

—Is that how you approached the ‘realising Kisa’s a girl’ scenes as well?

Towada: Yes, I suppose so. As I was writing the script, I knew that a point was going to come where Kisa would have no choice but to acknowledge the fact that she’s a girl. There’s characters that realise her true gender once their bond deepens and on the flip side, there are some who don’t realise it at all. There’s also the case of Yonaga, who knew Kisa’s situation from the beginning. I guess you could say each reveal followed one of these three patterns. Those who came to realise it, those who didn’t notice anything and those who knew from the start. I think they ended up being nice variations and I put careful consideration into writing them to make sure none of the realisations felt forced.

Also, the beginning half of the story is akin to that of a sports drama about teenagers putting on shows together, so the room for romance to be added is limited. That’s why, when I first started adding romantic elements to the character routes, it felt strange to me, so I discussed it with Ishida-san. I wasn’t able to effortlessly soak the story in romance. I think I had to rewrite Shirota’s ending at least three times…

Ishida: Shirota was who you tried writing an ending for first after all.

Towada: Shirota and Kisa aren’t the sort of people who’d be all flirty, and Shirota’s initial route was already muddy, so it was difficult to pull everything together. However, once I stopped trying to write in a way that forced romance on them and instead wrote them becoming closer as partners, things went more smoothly.

It may not be a stereotypical sort of love, but it was a human love. I thought that the natural way these two would be drawn together wouldn’t be through whispering sweet nothings to one another, but instead by coming to understand one another without having to exchange words at all. Once I’d completed Shirota’s route, to some extent, I continued writing the other routes in a similar way.

Ishida: While it’s true Shirota acts like that, the other characters all act differently. To the point some aren’t even comparable. In contrast to Shirota, Suzu’s route ended up being more of your stereotypical kind of romance. I thought that it would be nice for each character to have their own unique form of love.

Towada-san’s strong suit is writing a love story with your more classic otome guys like Suzu and Kai. I have no idea about that kind of thing, so I left Towada-san to pour her own ideas into their routes. On the flip side, characters like Fumi and Neji were dyed more with my own ideas. Neji’s way of flirting especially were mostly lines that I requested.

Towada: He’d say “Make him say something like ‘Try seduce me!’ Because I want this CG to appear.” (lol).

Neji especially plays with his words a lot, so unless Ishida-san told me what wordplay to write, I wouldn’t have been able to expand on it. Ishida-san has a very unique way of phrasing things, so I asked him for advice a lot to make sure I was making Neji speak in a Neji-like way. I then arranged the lines and created events in order to reach the intended goal. I constructed the route in a way that wouldn’t disrupt the flow of the story. As for Fumi, Ishida-san wrote his route himself.

Ishida: Yes, I wrote it all myself.

—Well isn’t this quite the exciting plot twist?

Ishida: I turned into quite the young maiden myself (lol). Even though I’m clumsy at it… I began wondering why I ended up loving writing it so much. I added some lines that have more of an adult and deeper meaning to them, so when I played the route myself I was like “Woah!”.

Towada: It’s more interesting if at least one character is that way. From the early days of production, I’d quietly wanted Ishida-san to write a character himself, so I was happy. I was unsure how to deal with Fumi too, so it was a big help that Ishida-san took him on. His route ended up being a lot sweeter than I’d been expecting though, it got my heart racing (lol).

Ishida: I was also the main writer for Kisa’s solo route. There’s no romance in it, but it’s an ending where long lasting friendships are born and it ended up being the kind of story you’d see in an uplifting shoujo manga.

Towada: It’s full of Ishida-san’s flair, I loved it.

Ishida: If love is a lie, then how do you face that lie? That’s the sort of thing I thought about. Kisa is lying about her gender and pretending to be a boy, but Neji, Suzu, Fumi, Yonaga and so on, are also hiding lies within themselves.

The fact they’re all hiding their true motives is something that they have in common with Kisa. Whilst hiding, the two grow closer. I think that a confession is a scene where all these lies intersect and burst open. Everyone is lying, and I thought that was like a play, without realising it I think that slowly became the theme of the work.

As people, we meet others whilst lacking something and some people end up becoming a necessary part for someone else. I wanted to see a drama like that. Despite it being a game with confession scenes, I wanted it to be a story that both women and men alike are able to identify with.

~ ~ ~

From thorns to rounded edges, how the style of work transformed

—If there was a small novels worth of rejected material, then how many books worth of words made it into the final game?

Towada: In terms of paperback books, probably about twenty volumes worth.

—Because as well as the main scenario, there’s also the sub scenarios and the stage plays?

Ishida: As much as time allowed, I put my all into creating the game. However there was a deadline for things like the voiceline recordings, so I was working both day and night to get things done in time.

Towada: I was only getting around three hours of sleep. I feel like at one point Ishida-san didn’t sleep for four days.

Ishida: I was in a serious pinch so I don’t remember it well, but when I was writing the script I would hole myself up in a manga cafe for around thirty hours at a time. Multiple times a month. Once I felt as though I’d written to a good point, I’d go home only to return to the manga cafe again. Why? Because I was sleeping in the manga cafe. I mays well have been living there…

Towada: Once Ishida-san had finished writing his part of the script, he’d have me check it. So at the same time, I’d have Ishida-san check what I’d written.

Ishida: For a period of time it seemed like Towada-san was always awake. Whenever I would send a check request she always responded right away regardless of the time, so I figured she must not be sleeping.

So that my productivity wouldn’t be affected, I made sure to sleep at a regular time, however I’d be awake for like 30~40 hours at a time and then sleep for 10 and then be awake again for another 40. My sleeping patterns would repeat in this cycle. During Tokyo Ghoul’s serialisation my sleeping patterns were similar, so to some extent I might’ve gotten used to it.

—That’s just like Neji-senpai, isn’t it?

Ishida: Yeah yeah, I worked in a similar way to him. However in Neji’s case, he can complete a script just one day after coming up with the idea for it, so he works way faster than us. It took us around two months to write parts of the script, so Neji really is a genius isn’t he? I was writing whilst wishing I could be like Neji.

After experiencing writing a script, I’ve come to have a lot of respect for authors. Writing is completely different from drawing. When writing I need to really concentrate on it, I can’t multi-task or think about anything else. Whereas with drawing, there are some things that can be done as long as you can move your hand, so I can talk to someone whilst drawing or watch a movie in the background or work whilst thinking about other things. I can’t do that when I’m writing though, I was starting to wonder if I really had to think so deeply about everything I wrote.

—During the production of Jack Jeanne, as you worked on the script or the lyrics etc, did you notice any changes in how you worked?

Ishida: For Tokyo Ghoul, I was always consciously adding things, meaning I would draw everything that I came up with. I thought that it was fine to only put 20% of my output into the characters and dialogue. However, when I was working on Jack Jeanne, I began to think that my method of just adding things was incorrect and that I should also consciously remove things. It’s ok to just be left with what’s necessary. My way of thinking ended up being the exact opposite to before.

—What brought about this change in thinking?

Ishida: It was early in production, when I had asked Towada-san to write Shirota’s route for me, I got concerned about the ‘sharpness’ of the story. As I mentioned earlier, I ordered Towada-san to add this and that and sent her walking on a long journey. Except, what lay completed at the end of that road was such a painful story that even I myself was shocked by it. When I looked down at the world I had created it was as if I’d received a psychological shock. I think I even smelt the faint scent of blood.

—From thorns to rounded edges. I still remember the comment you made during a press conference saying, “I was careful to not kill off any characters”.

Ishida: Stories where characters die are usually fast paced with high stakes, however, the kids at univeil are living a different kind of story. I had to consider the best way to create drama in that kind of setting. I thought about it a lot and it may have only ended up being possible because of the fact it was a game.

—Why is that?

Ishida: Because of the flow of the dialogue, backed by Kosemura-san’s music while it's being read out by all of the voice actors. It all comes together as one… That’s what I think at least. Writing and illustrating are Towada-san and I’s main domain of expertise, but I think that it was thanks to all of the other various creators involved that we were able to create something new.

—Do you think anything about yourself changed, Towada-san?

Towada: It came down to the fact I wanted to create something for Ishida-san whilst there were also things that I wanted to add myself. This dilemma caused me trouble at times, however when I started to consider what components I should add, or which ones I should remove, I began to discover what elements I liked and what my own skillset was.

The way that Ishida-san and I go about creating stories is different. I came to understand that Ishida-san’s strong point is creating impactful scenes, whilst mine is plotting and world building. Ishida-san being in charge of the pivotal scenes would make things more exciting, so I concentrated on writing everything else whilst keeping the balance in mind. Through working on Jack Jeanne, I’ve become able to say that my strong suit is being able to create a story that flows well.

It may be true that by working with other people, you come to understand more about yourself. Starting with Ishida-san, I also looked at what the other creators were doing and thought ‘so this is how they interpret the story.’ Seeing what they came up with made me notice different approaches that I hadn’t thought of.

I’d write whilst listening to Kosemura-san’s music and decide which way to take a scene. Or I’d watch Seishiro-san dance and think about how I could make the performances more exciting. We were all connected in some way. Novels are usually written alone by one person, so I came to learn the thrill of working on something in a team.

—The way you all came together as gears to create a single work sounds similar to the story of Univeil.

Towada: True. I never thought I’d experience something straight out of my youth again at this age. Being helped by other team members or being supported by them, being motivated by simple phrases like “It was great” or “I like this idea”.

For example, when I was working on the final phases of the story, I was just writing and writing with no end in sight, I couldn’t take it anymore and my pen just stopped moving. During this dire moment so close to the end, my proofreader messaged me saying, “You’re almost done.” And with that simple message alone, it was as if a burst of light appeared before my eyes. Everything had gone pitch black, but they lit everything back up again. Ishida-san also wrote some of the script, so I didn’t feel as alone.

Ishida: At that time I left all my drawings alone and decided to solely focus on the scenario.

Towada: Yeah, because I hit a point where I wasn’t able to write it on my own anymore… When Ishida-san sent me the script he’d written, it was interesting and I let out a breath of relief. I felt the joy of being able to see someone else's work. I was the same as the Univeil students who find joy in performing with others. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do it if I was alone.

Ishida: You’ve got that right. I think that if anyone was missing from the team, it wouldn’t have worked out. Not to mention that in my case, everyone’s contributions were directed to me, and they were all people that I’d personally gathered.

With manga, even if it comes to the worst case scenario, at the very least it would all just fall on me. However this game isn’t just something I made on my own, I need to contribute as much as I can or the efforts of everyone around me will go to waste as well. There was a moment where I felt afraid of having such a heavy responsibility placed on me. However, if I had tried to do it all on my own, I think I would have given up.

By listening to wonderful music, reading interesting scripts and moving forward together with everyone, I was inspired. Coming together with fellow creators to make one work came with a lot of challenges, but it was fun. It was refreshing being in an environment working alongside other people, and because of it I was able to experience something new.

—Has working alongside other people changed the way you work at all?

Ishida: Right now I’m still in the state immediately after being swept away by the raging waves of a storm, so I’m not sure how I really feel yet. I’m in the phase of just watching what becomes of Jack Jeanne as the waves subside.

Even though the script and illustrations were done, like bonus stages lots and lots of new tasks kept popping up. So I was still busy with work up until the beginning of October last year. When I looked at some of the thoughts people had on the demo version of the game, it felt as though what we’d all been working so hard on had finally taken shape, and I was relieved.

Working on this project I’ve come to learn both the hardships and the fulfilment that comes with creating something with others. So, I suppose I’ve started considering working on something by myself again… I’m not trying to say that it’s in my nature to want to work alone, I think I’m just experiencing some kind of aftershock. I think the waves are returning.

Towada: I’m still working overtime and supervising Jack Jeanne (lol). Like checking content that will be posted on social media, as well as the 4koma manga. Content is still being released and there have been bug reports from some people who played the demo… Meaning that my journey is still not over yet. I think that things should calm down once the game has been released for a while.

Ishida: Yeah, probably after around five months (lol).

—After their final performance, the members of Quartz all threw a party to celebrate. Did you and the rest of the creators do the same upon the game's completion?

Towada: I celebrated with Ishida-san as siblings. And then afterwards we got swamped with work again (lol).

Ishida: Yeah, we didn’t end up meeting with the other developers or the voice cast. Big project after parties aren’t as common these days, but I do want to hear everyone’s stories of any struggles they had.

Towada: There were way too many people involved in total for me to be able to speak with them all, but I’d still love to convey my impressions to them. Like letting them know what I thought was good, or letting them know that a certain thing really helped me out.

Ishida: Ideally I would like to gather everyone and really have it feel that ‘this is the team of people that created Jack Jeanne’ and I’d like to express my gratitude to them all in person. I hope that an opportunity like that will come one day.

~ ~ ~

#jack jeanne #sui ishida #towada shin #translation #jack jeanne translation #jack jeanne interview #sui ishida translation #otome game #jack jeanne art book

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blues824 · 11 months

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Can I please request the hashiras with a female izuru Kamukura.

🖤Her being the hashiras who can preform all breathing styles and she did not train she just saw sombudy doing it and coptd it perfectly.

❤️Imagen them learning about her being a test rat maby they see her files that she hid with ubuyashiki and alowd them to read what they did to her (Somtimes humans are worse than demons. )

🖤Her being easily bord and has difficulty finding things interesting because of her ultimate talent being everything.

❤️How would they react to her nicherin sword being so rare that Hotaru haganzuka was so happy to make her sword being his favourite project ever .

🖤How would they react to her being being able to fight with her floor length hair lose and whoud they help her style her hair (of course being careful with her labotemy scares )

❤️Her being known and feard with the demons she is as feard with the demon like they feard yoriichi with her being able to use sun breathing just by reading about it.

These are romantic headcanons with the Hashiras, unlike my other series with Izuru Kamukura!Reader x Yoriichi Tsugikuni. Spoiler warning for Muichiro’s.

Gyomei Himejima

He thought you were a gift from the gods, to be honest. A typical civilian usually wasn’t able to master every single breathing technique. He could tell that you weren’t a demon either, even though you could recreate the blood demon arts that you’ve witnessed… aside from Rip-Off Michael Jackson’s Muzan Kibutsuji’s.

When you said that you wanted to become a demon slayer, he can’t say that he was exactly supportive. It’s not that he thought you weren’t capable (obviously), but rather he was very scared about the prospect of losing you. You were just doing this to try and find something interesting and intriguing since you were always bored, but this loving giant was so worried every single time you had a mission that he was not a part of.

This man was crying while praying that you would survive Final Selection. Once he heard from Ubuyashiki that you did make it through, he let out a sigh of relief. But, Ubuyashiki also pulled him aside from his training for a few moments to inform him of something that you requested him to know while you were gone. To hear about the procedure… he couldn’t even cry. But he was definitely angry that his beloved had to go through that.

Once Haganezuka had your sword ready, Gyomei sat with you as you unsheathed it. The swordsmith was angry upon seeing your blade turn black, but then you readjusted your grip and it turned bright red. The Stone Hashira could feel the immense heat coming from your nichirin sword and was actually very surprised. The swordsmith went from sour to super sweet, happy to know that he forged your sword.

To be honest, he doesn’t like how you fight with your hair down, as it can get in the way. If you ask him to put your hair into a ponytail, he will consider it the highest honor and might even tear up a tad bit. As he gathered the hair from in front of your face, he actually brushed his finger against the lobotomy scar you had and apologized. You said it was fine, and you even thanked him for putting your hair up for you.

A lot of demons are typically afraid of you aside from the Uppermoons, but all of the Hashira know that Muzan is scared of you. You were able to use Sun Breathing, the technique that was basically the mother of all other breathing techniques, and the only person who was able to scare the Demon King. Gyomei, however, is still very worried about you, since you only ever cared about doing something unpredictable.

Mitsuri Kanroji

She found you so hot, not going to lie. We all know that she’s looking for a strong bachelor/bachelorette to be her spouse, and you being the only person who could master any breathing technique including Sun Breathing. She’s swooning, and she’s imagining you catching her and being her hero.

That excitement kind of ends once she finds out that you desired to become a demon slayer, and even a Hashira. Don’t you know that you could get killed? Well, apparently you did, and you even told her that you were mostly doing this for the unpredictability that comes with each battle you go into. She couldn’t even begin to process the thought of possibly losing you because you are trying to find fun in battle, and for once she actually yelled at you for being reckless. You were definitely not prepared for that, but you were not going to let Mitsuri get hurt without you being there.

You passed Final Selection, and she was upset that you didn’t listen to her. For once, couldn’t you listen to her? She would have been proud had you told her your reasoning behind your decision beforehand. She loved you, and did not want to see you hurt in battle. But, you didn’t want the same thing happening to her either. Quite the conundrum that you have found yourselves in, hm?

Her nightmare was further solidified when you had received your blade and it was originally black. She made sure to have mitarashi dango on hand, luckily, but then you said that this wasn’t it and readjusted your grip on the handle. The sword turned bright red, and both the swordsmith and Love Hashira let out a gasp upon seeing it.

When you ask her if she could tie up your hair, she giggles before grabbing a ribbon and tying your hair up. However, it reveals the scar on your forehead. She knows better than to ask about it, but you were fine with telling her what happened. Poor baby cried upon hearing about the excruciating pain you endured just so those sick people could create a human with the abilities of both demons and demon slayers.

She also knows how you quickly rose in reputation amongst everyone. The Ultimate Hashira, a person who demons and slayers both feared. You actually worried that someone would target her to try and get to you, and the sight of you being scared for her made her heart flutter just a tad bit. But she had to admit, she was scared too.

Giyu Tomioka

He was very wary of you at first, considering you only had to watch him perform his breathing style and then you could take his sword and recreate it perfectly. Not just that, but you could also, with a blade, recreate some Blood Demon Arts that you have bore witness to. You were a total hazard to humanity, but he does not know why he fell for you.

It could be that you constantly butt heads. He did not want you to be in the Demon Slayer Corps for such a reason as pure boredom. That was not a noble cause in his eyes, but you did it anyway and actually passed Final Selection (unsurprisingly). He was still relieved that none of the demons trapped in there got the best of you, though. You were not expecting to be pulled into his arms when he saw you again.

Giyu was also sitting with you once you got your blade, along with Ubuyashiki and Haganezuka. All four of you could tell that this wouldn’t be your typical unsheathing. Once you did, it turned black. The Water Hashira’s eyes widened in realization, but his master put a reassuring hand upon his and the swordsmith’s shoulders before looking back at you. You put more pressure on your grip upon the handle, and your blade turned bright red. It was a shock to both Giyu and Haganezuka, but not to you or Ubuyashiki.

When he found out about your lobotomy, it was during training and your hair moved in a way that revealed the scar. He stopped his swing as he slowly walked towards you and gently placed his hand on the side of your head and his thumb softly ran over the rough skin. You let out a sigh before explaining what happened to you, and it made him sick to be honest. However, you seemed perfectly fine, but kind of filled with a desire to get your revenge…

Anyways, you once asked him to tie your hair up so that it was out of your way for training, and he did it with no questions asked. He seemed to know what he was doing, but internally his heart was pounding against his chest as he gathered all of your hair into a ponytail. After he tied it up, he pressed a soft kiss upon your neck before going back to his ready stance so the two of you could continue training.

Your reputation as the Ultimate Hashira did not intimidate Giyu at all. In fact, he was definitely very honored to see a Sun Breather. When you tell him that you are kind of worried about him being a target, he will make sure to stay with you as long as he can when you’re not on missions. When you get assigned, however, you both think it’s better if you don’t go on the same one, otherwise both of you will be distracted.

Tengen Uzui

At first glance, you seemed relatively boring. However, upon seeing that you could master any blade handed to you as well as any Breathing Technique, you became flashy to the Sound Hashira. He was actually very impressed with how you copied his Sound Breathing to perfection; better than any of his wives could even though they’ve been around him the longest compared to you.

When you told him that you wanted to become a Hashira, he smirked, knowing that if anyone could manage it, it would be you. You mastered Sun Breathing itself, so there was really nothing you couldn’t do. Now, it was when you were at Final Selection when he found out about the procedure done to you. Suma burst into tears as Makio and Hinatsuru gasped. Tengen could barely keep his anger inside, as he was aware that it went against the rules of the Corps to fight another human.

You returned to your lovers (yes, lovers) and they all waited with you for your blade. Considering Uzui was a Hashira, Haganezuka worked his hardest on your sword. Gasps sounded as well as a shout of angry surprise upon revealing that the metal had turned black. Your man had to hold the swordsmith back from hurting you when you said that there was something else. You readjusted your grip and it turned a glowing red. Your face held no shock, but everyone else’s did. Haganezuka just about passed out from the amount of joy he had.

That aside, your husband and wives loved seeing you use your range of breathing techniques. You were the only person in the world who could use all of them, including the original Sun Breathing. To train, you went against your spouses and Tengen even called it flashy whenever you used his Sound Breathing (this man has an ego bigger than my love for food).

Once, you asked Suma to help you tie up your hair before going back to training, but that caused a bit of an argument to break out between your wives. You let out a sigh before changing your mind and asking your husband to help out. Let me tell you, the argument shifted from just your wives to now your husband and wives. So, in an act to try and get them all to shut up, you unwrapped Tengen’s headwrap and instead wrapped it around yourself. This got everyone to settle down in just a few seconds.

If Tengen considers himself a god, you are probably in a higher rank than him as a deity (in his perspective). After all, you were much stronger than he was. Your wives often fawned over your strength, fainting whenever you carried one of them on your back. You could even carry the Sound Hashira himself, and he laughed out loud when you picked him up off of the ground.

Sanemi Shinazugawa

When Ubuyashiki said that you were a civilian who mastered every breathing technique you’ve seen, Sanemi thought it was bullshit. Well, one match later and there he is, getting the wind knocked out of him, and the pun is intended. But, he had to admit that the fact that you were able to put him in his place made his heart beat fast against his chest.

He is supportive when you voice your desire to join the Corps, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t scared without you being there next to him. While you were at Final Selection, he was training harder than ever to get his mind off of you. The Master had to make sure that he set aside time to take a break, eat, and sleep. It was during one of these breaks where one of the daughters of Ubuyashiki came out and gave Sanemi the file of your procedure, saying that you wished for him to receive it in your absence.

The Wind Hashira sat down and read it and got increasingly mad upon each word he read. The lobotomy procedure was recorded in excruciating detail, and he could feel himself getting sick. When you came back, he brushed your hair off of your forehead and looked at the scar that the surgery had left behind. Bro was just about ready to murder the people who did this to you, but you told him that they were long gone even though he didn’t actually say anything.

Haganezuka eventually arrived with your sword, and Sanemi sat with you as you unsheathed it. His eyes went wide when he saw it was black, but he tackled the swordsmith so that he wouldn’t lay a finger upon a single strand of hair on your head. But then the room lit up a bit and you stood up and showed them your sword. It was bright red. The men stopped fighting each other and each stood shocked at what happened.

This man has no idea how to tie up hair, so when you ask him he’s gonna refuse. You ask if it’s because he doesn’t know how and he says he does, but you know the truth. The man was just a bit too predictable when it came to his pride being questioned. You shrugged as you tied your own hair up, but later he goes to ask Mitsuri to teach him how to do it because he wants to learn how without admitting to you that he was not able to. The Love Hashira squealed in excitement when she learned the intentions behind it, and gladly assisted him by practicing with ropes.

You mastered Sun Breathing, and that meant that you were the most feared Hashira among any of them. You were as relentless as you were graceful in battle, and Sanemi knew this. However, he was aware that he was a target. Time and time again, you would scold him for rushing into battle head-on without thinking, but he never really listened to you until the fight was against an Uppermoon.

Shinobu Kocho

She was definitely very intrigued when she heard that you were capable of mastering all of the breathing techniques that you either witnessed or read about. Heck, you were even able to recreate most of the Blood Demon Arts that you’ve seen, aside from Muzan’s. She actually wondered if there was something inside of you that gave you the capability.

That was the moment where you handed her an older-looking file before you headed off to Final Selection. While you were away, she did tests on the DNA samples as well as read what you gave her… only to find out that the abilities you have were given to you via a lobotomy. She read word-for-word what they had done to you to create the Ultimate Humanbeing. It was sickening and infuriating, to say the least.

When you had arrived at the Butterfly Estate, she immediately took you to one of the rooms where you would be hospitalized for a few days. During this time, she would ask you about the procedure and the… scientists… who did it to you. You said that you had exacted your revenge a while ago, and now were trying to turn your life around for the better.

A few days later, Aoi, Sumi, Kiyo, and Naho all reported to Shinobu that Haganezuka was approaching the mansion with your new sword. He was let in, and you were getting annoyed by how long his speech was getting. You pulled him by the coat and dragged him inside, and that surprised everyone. With a death glare in your eye, you said that you would be willing to use your Sun Breathing technique with your wife’s sword if he didn’t shut up and give him your sword. Well, we all know how it goes, and you now have a bright red nichirin sword.

Shinobu likes tying up your hair for you because it’s a whole other level of intimacy. If you want, she’ll even acquire for you a butterfly clip so that the two of you could match. Maybe one in a red color rather than a purple color to match the handle of your sword. She would feign sadness if you refused her offer, but she’d giggle before getting one for you anyway.

Being the Ultimate Hashira, demons are aware of your abilities and how you are immune from every attack save for age. But, another thing you weren’t immune to was losing someone you cared about. Muzan did not order your death, but rather your wife’s, knowing that it would get to you and leave you in an angrily distracted and vulnerable state. That’s what he wanted, or else you would not be stoppable.

Kyojuro Rengoku

This man is definitely surprised when Ubuyashiki introduces you to everyone as a civilian woman who mastered Sun Breathing just by reading about it. So, that being said, he takes a deep interest in you and introduces himself to you first, and offers to show you around. He even showed off his Flame Breathing, and handed his sword to you to show him Sun Breathing, only for you to do both.

When you tell him that you want to become a demon slayer and go to Final Selection, he knows that he cannot interfere with your decision. So, he offers to help you train. Once you do leave, you have your crow deliver a file for you to Rengoku. It was from your lobotomy, and the Flame Hashira already knew of your scar. But, now he had all of the gorey details, and a sick stomach upon reading more and more. All that torture… just to create a superhuman?

Once you came back from Final Selection alive and well, he gave you the biggest hug you have ever experienced in your life. You honestly did not know how to react, and asked what he was doing. He apologized for all of the things you had to go through just to be where you are today, and you finally understood where he was coming from. Hesitantly, you wrapped your arms around him in return and leaned into him, letting a stray tear fall down your face.

Anyways, it was about a week after you returned when Haganezuka came to the Rengoku household with your sword. You, Kyojuro, and Senjuro all sat together with the swordsmith as you unsheathed your sword. The youngest Rengoku son almost cried upon seeing the metal turn black, as he read in a book what that typically meant. However, the oldest Rengoku son felt a heat coming from it and had the swordsmith and his brother back up as you readjusted your grip upon the handle. The sword was bright red.

It wasn’t long after where you began training once again. But, you had to admit that your hair was kind of getting in the way and it was annoying you. So, you asked your husband if he could tie your hair up. I feel like when Mitsuri was his Tsugoku, he tied her hair up before, so he knows how to do it. He’s actually surprisingly gentle as well, and you honestly weren’t predicting it at all.

The Ultimate Hashira and the Flame Hashira being romantically involved was supposed to only be known to Ubuyashiki and the rest of the Pillars, along with the Kamaboko squad. However, somehow, the demons heard about it and reported it back to Muzan. Now there was a hit on Kyojuro, and you begged and pleaded with him to not go to the Mugen Train. Well, we all know how that went…

Obanai Iguro

Not only could you copy anyone’s Breathing Technique, but you were also able to understand and utilize Kaburamaru. You weren’t even a proper demon slayer. But, Obanai had to admit that he could trust you, since his snake trusted you almost as much as he trusted him. You both actually got along quite well, with your whole I’m not putting up with anyone’s crap attitude.

He is understandably scared when you say that you want to become a demon slayer, and he tries to convince you not to go to Final Selection. However, you just took your placeholder sword and went, and he knew that he couldn’t stop you. But, before you left, you gave him a kiss on the bandages on his face and gave him a file filled with details of the procedure you had endured. He read it, and to say that it brought him PTSD would be an understatement. You both were forced into different torturous procedures to make other people happier.

When you returned alive, he let a tear fall before wrapping his arms around you. You definitely were not expecting this, but knowing Obanai, he wasn’t expecting himself to do this either. But, you knew that it was because he now knew that you understood his pain. You took a step back before pulling your hair from your face and showing him the lobotomy scar. He knew what he had to do now, and he unwrapped his bandages to show you the scars he had across his mouth and cheeks. For the next few days, he had his bandages off around you, because he was staying with you as you recovered your stamina.

A few days later, Mr. Haganezuka arrived with your sword. Both you and your husband (during your recovery period, he definitely did ask you to be his wife) were annoyed by the guy’s constant talking and you unsheathed it without waiting. Kaburamaru restricted the swordsmith’s movement when your blade turned black, and Obanai was scared about your fate. However, you gripped the handle tighter and it turned a bright red. Now the swordsmith was happy.

I think he knows how to tie up hair. He might do it to rebandage his face from time to time so that his hair doesn’t get in the way. When you ask him to tie your hair into a ponytail, he is careful to not brush up against your scar, as he knows the skin can be sensitive. He does a pretty good job as well, and he predicts your quick tackle against him to try and tease him a bit. You loved his smile, you thought.

Again, you were known as the Ultimate Hashira, and you were untouchable. Muzan was aware of this, and targeted Obanai upon finding out that you were romantically involved with him. Now, this got you absolutely angry. Your husband was not going to get killed if you had anything to say about it, and now you both became the Ultimate Duo. Your crows were aware that you would stick with each other so he wouldn’t be hurt… or killed.

Muichiro Tokito

You grew to be kind of annoyed by his in-the-clouds attitude, and smacked him in the back of the head to make him snap out of it. Well, it worked for a bit and he actually saw you. He was lowkey in love, but we’re not going to talk about that yet. You could tell that his airheadedness was not intentional, and that he was a bit like you in that he had lost his memories. Actually, he once took you cloud gazing and it was the most relaxing thing you have done thus far. It was… nice.

Another moment where you’ve made him snap back to reality (oh, there goes gravity) was when you told him that you had received Ubuyashiki’s permission and recommendation to go to Final Selection. He couldn’t go against the word of his master, but he was scared the entire time you were gone. He often went to your house to stay, and there he saw a file and a note that said to read what was inside the cover. It was your procedure, and it was absolutely horrifying for him to read. Those people were sick.

Then you came back in one piece, he asked you about the lobotomy, and the anger he had buried inside of himself came outside to play for a bit. You pulled your hair out of your face as you showed him your scar, and he stood up and walked over to you to gently run his fingers along the marred skin. You told him that you couldn’t remember anything from your past, as the scientists had made sure you forgot any humane qualities about you to create the ultimate superhuman. So, you both agreed that you would try to regain your memories together.

When Haganezuka arrived at your estate with your sword, Muichiro watched intently as you unsheathed the blade. It turned black, but before the swordsmith had the chance to attack you for ‘ruining such a beautiful sword’, you readjusted your grip and put more pressure and it turned bright red, most likely due to your mastery of the Sun Breathing technique and the sheer anger you have inside of you.

This man definitely knows how to tie up hair. If you ask, he’s ready to do it. He has long hair as well, and he’s probably had to tie it up many times. Long hair gets infuriating sometimes. This is just a quick headcanon at this point, but whenever he ties your hair up, there are no bumps. Hailey Bieber’s slicked back ponytail could not compete with the expertise Muichiro has.

Back to the emotional story. The Ultimate Hashira and the Mist Hashira, a couple with anger hidden so deep, my father would come back with the milk by the time we get to the end of the deep pit of fury. One of you was actually the descendent of the Tsugikuni clan, so you were definitely a force to be reckoned with.

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konohamaru-sensei · 4 months

Note

Because im predictable, gray/juvia: "I wanna waste all of my time with you.” 🥺

Merry Christmas Shore! I am very grateful that I somehow made it into your circle of 5 fairy tail fandom friends!! I really admire your art and the speed at which you create, i love that we have the same brain when it comes to shipping and just your general love for Juvia. I promised something fluffy for christmas to offset all the angst, but I'm not sure about the quality of what I wrote. I hope you enjoy it anyway <3

Gray x Juvia

Post Alvarez lol i mean.

“I’m going to buy a drink.” Gray pushed himself out of the seat he had been sitting in for what was the better part of the day. His limbs felt numb and every bone in his body hurt so much that he wasn’t sure if stretching them out even helped. He’d been perched up on that wooden bench so long that he never wanted to go back there again ever, even though he knew he had to.

Juvia gave him a nod and said nothing, which he took as her not wanting one herself. She’d gotten very quiet in the last hour. Also another reason he needed a drink: When Juvia gave up her always cheery attitude in favour of being sombre something was usually very wrong.

The first beer that was handed to him Gray downed in one go without taking a breath and then he ordered the next one immediately and watched the baffled barman fill his glass again. Then he walked back to the table, frowning at the look of the bench he had to force himself onto again.

They’d been out on this job for three days. A wizard who was rumoured to have stolen some valuable diamonds was supposed to come by this bar or sell here and the mission giver had tasked them to sit there and wait for the guy to come by. Gray had asked Juvia to join, because he didn’t think that making conversation with Erza or Natsu during a full day was a bearable idea. Juvia on the other hand was pleasant to be around.

They had spent their days sitting in the back of that bar, the cheapest seats at the very back where it was mostly dark, waiting for a guy to appear that never appeared. Each night Gray had to watch the tenants of the pub get drunk without being allowed to drink himself. After all, alcohol and fighting didn’t match well - unless you were Cana, but she had incredible resistance anyway.

Gray sat back down in the damned place and he had half the second drink down right away. “If the guy doesn’t show up tonight,” he said, “we will go back.” Abandoning jobs was not his style, but wasting his time wasn’t his style either.

“What about the master?” Juvia asked and circled the table with her pointer finger. She looked dejected in a way that Gray hated, as if she was personally responsible for the misery of the last three days.

He emptied his glass. “Don’t mind him.” Gray shrugged. “I’d rather not get paid than be here for another 12 hours in this dark and uncomfortable and boring place.”

“I’m sorry, Gray-sama,” Juvia put the ends of her fingers together, “Juvia wishes she were better company.”

“What do you mean by that?” Gray waved to one of the staff to refill his drink and they did.

Juvia looked from the alcohol back to him. “Juvia is boring Gray-sama. That is why Gray-sama is annoyed.”

“It’s the guy that refuses to show up that annoys me,” Gray says decidedly. “You’ve not done anything wrong.” He tapped his finger in irritation and then sipped his beer again.

“But if Juvia were better company…” she murmured, “..maybe Gray-sama would be happier. Gray-sama asked Juvia to come along and now she is of no help.”

He let out an irritated grunt. “Nonsense,” he said and shook his head. “I don’t know how you always come up with this stuff.” There was already a considerable warmth in his chest and probably on his cheeks too. Surely the alcohol was getting to him. He downed the next drink.

Juvia looked at him as if she was trying to find words to say. The way she looked when she looked away from him, when she tried to do stay away from him if he was moody or angry, when she had somehow gotten it into her head that she was doing something that was wrong, he hated that look on her face. Juvia was the best when she was happy, when she was enthusiastic and a little weird.

“Don’t make that face,” he said and put his head onto his flat hand to keep it upright. “I asked you to come, didn't I? If I were bothered by your presence I wouldn’t have asked you.”

She opened her mouth, but he cut her off. “Seriously, it’s pleasant to have you around, you have a nice- “ he gestured a little with his hand - “..everything.”

Juvia blushed, which somehow made the warmth at his core worse, so he waved for another drink. He already felt a little confused in his mind, like it was slightly clouded over, but drinking helped with the frustration of the day.

Apparently having found her usual stride again with what he said Juvia moved closer to him and picked one of the strands of his hair away from the beer: “Why exactly does Gray-sama like hanging out with Juvia?”

Gray briefly closed his eyes and moved his head sideways into her hand so he could breathe in a little of the smell of the hand soap she was always using. He’d noticed it long ago, but he’d never been close enough to soak it in like now.

“You smell nice,” he said and by the way her fingers jumped away from his hair he could tell that his answer surprised her. He made a frowny face and reached for her hand again to put it into his hair. “I like when you do that too.” He looked at her and though she was slightly foggy, he could make out the red cheeks.

“You are always happy and positive and smiling - I like when you smile. Your powers are so compatible with mine so I like doing jobs with you and I enjoy every conversation we have with one another. “ He weighed his head. “But I also enjoy just being quiet around you. It’s pleasant to have you near me no matter what.”

He reached for one of the strands of her hair and turned it around his finger. “Gray…sama…” Juvia murmured in reply as if she didn’t quite know what to say to that onslaught of compliments.

His eyes shot up: “That I hate,l though.” Juvia blinked and he waved with his hand. “I don’t like how you are so formal with me. We’ve known each other for ages, hell, you’ve died for me, you should stop addressing me like I am a prince of some kind.”

“Well then, what if I call you dear then?” she asked slowly.

Gray grabbed the beer in front of him and drank half of it. Through his foggy mind the answer came much easier than it would have if he hadn’t been drinking. “Sure..” he said but didn't look at her. “Whatever you want.” His insides felt strange at this admission. He finished the glass for good measure.

Juvia let out a squeal and then, as if to test the waters, she leaned forward to his ear and slowly said: “Don’t you think that is enough drinks, my dear?”

It was like a magic spell had been cast. From where her breath had touched his ear goosebumps spread all through his body to the tips of his toes. He hadn’t experienced this since the last time he had been actually cold, which happened so very rarely that he couldn’t even recall when that was. But here she had done that to him, just with one word alone.

He buried his head forward into his arms, combatting the spinning of his head by having his eyes closed. Gray let go of the strand of hair he’d been holding and instead ran a hand through his hair to regain composure, but then he found her fingers already there. He’d forgotten he had put her hand into his hair in the first place.

“Dangerous..” Gray murmured and pulled away from her fingers. “You are a dangerous woman.”

Juvia leaned closer to him again. “Why? Do you not like it, my dear?” She made sure to make the last syllables very clear again. She stopped moving through his hair.

“No.” Gray said, decidedly and then slightly shook his head to invite her to continue what she’d been doing. “No.. it’s not.. Like that..” He didn’t know how to explain what confused him so much, so he just grunted in frustration and gave up. He buried his head deeper into his arms.

“Juvia thinks you had too much to drink, dear,” Juvia giggled and combed through his hair. “Maybe it’s time to leave.”

Somewhere beyond the fog, Gray knew she was right, but he found himself entirely unable to move. Too tired and comfortable with her body close, her smell in his nose and her hand in his hair. So he decided to pretend he’d fallen asleep, just to enjoy it all a little longer.

#fic tag #gruvia #there arent even fairies in this show!#gray fullbuster #juvia lockser #gray x juvia #writing out of the persepctive of someone who IS drunk is kinda hard ngl #FALl #should have picked juvias pov but ah too late LOL #this is qed and idk where i am when this goes out

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coopigeoncoo · 10 months

Text

The Cardinal Rule

Pairing: Hawks/Gender Neutral Reader

Rating: Teen+

Tags: Romantic Comedy, Bird Puns, Ritual Blood Letting, Blood and Injury, Descriptions of Surgical Procedures, Vomit, The Teachings of Karl Marx

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A story where Hawks learns that while humans might be awed by his flying skills, the bird population is decidedly less impressed.

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"The birds are refusing to work until their demands are met," you explained, trying to subtly slide your body between Hawks and the birds who were quite literally calling for bloodshed.

"Which are?" Hawks asked as he lifted the bottle of water to his mouth and took a long sip.

"They, ah, want you held accountable for your numerous bird crimes."

Hawks abruptly choked, water spurting from the corner of his lips as he attempted to swallow the remaining liquid as he sputtered helplessly.

"My what?" He coughed, thumping solidly on his chest with a closed fist.

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Continue Reading below or follow the link to Ao3!

The air inside the studio was stifling; hot from the numerous bodies crammed into one room and the too-bright spotlights shining down onto the immaculately styled set pieces. The entire thing looked like something your Art History Professor would have gushed over, the words ‘Brutalistic’ and ‘Industrial’ echoing through your head in their booming voice. And you understood this set design just about as much as you understood that entire unit in school- pretty much not at all.

But it wasn’t your job to understand the aesthetic appeal of the bone white pillars jutting out from the concrete floor at harsh angles. Your job was to mind the birds.

You liked your job at the bird rehabilitation center well enough and found it soothing most days. Getting to spend your days caring for sick and infirmed birds was emotionally rewarding as well as lucrative. It turns out that Ornithologists were very willing to shell out the big bucks to have someone with an Avian Communication Quirk on their payroll. You had cemented yourself as an irreplaceable employee when you single handedly turned a failing breeding program around by informing the lead scientist that the female bird wasn’t receptive to the male’s advances because she thought he didn’t groom himself well enough. One emergency bath later and the courtship proceeded without a hitch. Last you heard the endangered pair was happily raising their forth successful brood.

The only part of your work you didn’t like was what you were forced into doing today; accompanying the birds on sojourns outside of the rescue facility. Schools loved to have the birds visit as they were a good distraction for the children that allowed the harried teachers to catch their breaths and chug a cup of coffee while your feathered companions dazzled the students with their aerial acrobatics. And even though those bouts of public speaking absolutely wracked your nerves, you would happily subject yourself to a dozen school assemblies if it meant escaping the hell that was waiting stand-by at a Pro Hero photo shoot.

Pro Heroes, by the nature of their work, had unpredictable schedules at best and were unreachable at worst, leaving the support and PR people who orbited around them in a perpetual state of limbo. In general, you found lateness to be deeply inconsiderate of everybody’s time and energy, but it was a social faux paus to call Heroes out on their tardiness. They were usually late due to being called out for emergencies and rescues, so chiding them for missing appointments was a surefire way to come off looking like an absolute jerk to the public at large.

But internally you can, and often do, curse them for keeping you waiting in a sweltering studio for hours as your birds grew increasingly agitated and your stock of treats ran low.

“Hot," a brilliant red cardinal complained, hopping into the bowl of water you had placed at the bottom of his cage.

“I know, buddy. Hold on just a little longer, okay?”

“Too many suns,” one of the hawks complained, ducking her head beneath her wing to block out the blinding glow of the stand lights.

“There sure are. Do you want me to put a blanket over your cage?”

“Yes,” she agreed readily, shifting her weight from foot to foot in irritation as pulled out a dark blue blanket and draped it over the side of her cage that faced the lights.

A frazzled looking assistant darted your way, hand pressed to the earpiece of their headset as she took in the newest bout of information being relayed.

"Hawks is on-site now. He's just about done in wardrobe and then he'll make his way here," the assistant said, her eyes frantically scanning over the clipboard in her hands.

"Thank goodness," you sighed, turning to the cages that housed the birds. "Are you all ready?"

"Leave? Leave now?" The cardinal chirped, bouncing excitedly in his bath.

"Unfortunately, no. We still have work to do."

"Not ready then," the cardinal huffed petulantly, puffing up his bright red body as he sank down into his pool.

"C'mon, it won't be too bad! If you all follow directions I bet the photos will go really fast and we'll be out of here in no time!" You assured the tiny red bird, crouching down to give him your full attention as he flapped his wings too fast and sent water sloshing out of his pool.

"Treat would make me ready," the cardinal said slyly, tilting his head to the side in an attempt to distract you from his manipulations by reminding you of how cute he was.

"Treat?" The overwhelmed hawk inquired, peeping her head from around her shroud.

"Treat?" A dove cooed, nudging its friends awake who immediately joined in with the call for snacks.

"Treat! Treat!" The birds chirped and squawked, hitting their wings against the side of their cage and creating a loud enough ruckus that people were beginning to send irritated glances your way.

"Okay!," you hissed in capitulation, pulling a handful of dried crickets out of a paper bag. "But this is the last of the treats I brought with me, so you all need to behave and make it through the rest of the photoshoot. Got it?"

"Yes, yes," the cardinal readily agreed, bouncing along the bottom of his cage and picking up the grasshopper in its beak, chomping happily. "Be good. Promise."

The cardinal was a dirty rotten liar.

Snacks had bought you a tentative peace that lasted until the moment Hawks arrived on set. The birds took one look at the Hero and promptly began screeching, startling everyone in the studio and causing more than one person to drop their cup of coffee in surprise. Hawks took to air, landing on top of one of the pillars and artfully arranged himself according to the Photographer's instructions while your birds went wild; hurling insults his way.

"Rude! Rude bird!" The cockatoo called, flairing his crest in displeasure.

"Bad flier!" The doves chastised together with sharp clicks of their beaks.

"Miscreant!" The cardinal called, easily the most wound up of the bunch, fluffing up his feathers to look threatening. "Criminal!"

"Hey, guys! Shhhh, you have to quiet down!" You begged, aware of all the judgemental glares settling onto your back like a physical weight. "You promised you'd behave!"

"No behave! Need justice!" The cardinal called, hopping up onto his perch and opening his bright orange beak to let out a high pitched chirp. " JUSTICE!"

"Justice!" The rest of the birds echoed. Justice! Justice! Justice!"

"We're ready for the birds on set!" The assistant informed you as she motioned over her shoulder to where the photographer circled around Hawks, snapping a few last minute test shots.

"Right," you coughed nervously. "About that."

"What do you mean the birds refuse to work?!" The photographer roared in your face, his cheeks colored a splotchy red. "They're birds! "

"Yes, they are. And they refuse to take pictures with Hawks."

"All of them?" The photographer scrubbed a frustrated hand down his face, a vein at his temple pulsating in time with his thundering heartbeat.

"Seems like," you admit with a sheepish shrug. "It's pretty unusual for them to agree on anything like this. The raptors and the songbirds are almost always at odds with each other."

"I'm so glad they've managed to achieve bird peace instead of doing, oh, I don't know; WHAT I'VE PAID FOR THEM TO DO!" The photographer bellowed through gritted teeth, pulling out fistfuls of his already thinning hair in frustration.

"No price on honor!" The cardinal chirped boldly, the other birds supporting their tweeted proclamation with chirps of their own.

"What's going in here?" A passing member of the crew asked, hoisting a coiled extension cord up onto his shoulder.

"The birds are uh- unionizing, apparently? And have decided to go on strike," you explain.

"Really?" The man said, eyes wide in astonishment as he gave the birds a thumbs up and a wide smile. "Right on, little dudes! Fight the power!"

"Yes! Fight! Fight!" The cardinal called.

"Fight!" The birds chorused.

"Bite! Bite!" The cardinal screeched as he snapped his beak in demonstration.

"You uh, might want to get away from the cages," you warn the photographer. "They're starting to call for violence."

The photographer turned away from the cages and appeared to take cleansing breaths before he noticed the crew orderly filing out of the studio.

"Wait!" The photographer called out to the workers. "Where are you going?"

"Sorry man, but we don't cross picket lines," the man holding the extension cord explained as he grabbed a soggy donut from craft services table on his way out the door. The crew's act of solidarity seemed to please the birds, who let out joyous calls in return.

"We are flock!" The cardinal cheered. "The flock is strong!"

"I'm so going to get fired for this," you mutter despondently as the birds began flipping over their feeders, spilling seeds and slices of fresh fruit across the studio floor.

"So what's the excitement over here all about?" Hawks asked, finally curious enough about the disruption your birds were causing to come over and investigate.

"So, um. The birds are upset, " you begin warily, hyper aware that the birds were screeching louder and louder with every step Hawks took towards their cages.

"I can see that," he smirked as he twisted the lid off of a bottle of water, the lopsided grin perfectly at home on his scruffy face.

"And they're refusing to work until their demands are met," you explained, trying to subtly slide your body between Hawks and the birds who were quite literally calling for bloodshed.

"Which are?" Hawks asked as he lifted the bottle of water to his mouth and took a long sip.

"They, ah, want you held accountable for your numerous bird crimes."

Hawks abruptly choked, water spurting from the corner of his lips as he attempted to swallow the remaining liquid as he sputtered helplessly.

"My what? " He coughed, thumping solidly on his chest with a closed fist.

"Crimes! So many crimes!" The cardinal squawked. "Criminal!"

"Villain! Bad Hawk!" The hawk supplied, eager to distance herself from this other hawk's misdeeds.

"You seem to have acquired a terrible reputation amongst the bird population in the city. They're calling you a Villain," you explain ruefully, desperately wishing that you had woken up dead this morning so you could have avoided this entire mortifying ordeal.

"Tell me- tell me everything, " Hawks sputtered, staring intensely at the rioting birds with wide golden eyes.

Since you were the only person who could understand both human and avians, you were selected to mediate by default. The birds, unsurprisingly, chose the rabble-rousing cardinal as their representative.

"I'm going to let you out of the cage now," you told the cardinal, unlocking the door to his enclosure. "No funny business or you're going right back in, understood?"

"Yes," the cardinal groused, hopping up and down to psych himself up for confronting the number one bird-sona non grata.

"That means no biting."

"..."

"Agree not to bite or I'm leaving you in the cage."

"Fine," the cardinal agreed, puffing his feathers up in irritation. "No bite."

"Took him a while to agree to that rule," Hawks murmured uneasily, eyeing the cardinal's sharp orange beak.

"Yeah, they made up a song about biting you earlier and I think it got him really excited about the prospect."

"Oh, wow," Hawks said, a genuine thread of amazement lacing through his words. "They've really put a lot of effort into hating me."

"Yeah, they really have. It's super impressive, right?"

"No chatting!" The cardinal admonished, squeezing your finger with his tiny feet; talons prickling your skin. "List his crimes! Prepare for judgment!"

"Right, okay. So, their biggest complaint is that you're an inconsiderate flier," you begin, keeping an eye on the cardinal perched on your finger as he nods along to your words.

"Inconsiderate how?"

"For starters, you often fly through a flock. That makes them consider you a predator and unnecessarily stresses them out. It's an especially big deal during the spring when the females are incubating."

"I see," Hawks murmured, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

You listened closely to the clarifying chirp of the cardinal before addressing Hawks once more. "He says that you will also position yourself at the front of a flock, putting yourself in charge of navigation and end up leading them wildly off course."

"I had no idea," Hawks admitted with a sigh, grimacing under the beady glare of the cockatoo. "I was just enjoying their company while I flew."

"And that's kind of the underlying issue here," you point out, running a calming finger over the fluffy crest of feathers atop his head. "You're playing on their field but totally ignoring the rules of the game and just sowing chaos everywhere you fly."

"I feel like a complete jerk," Hawks admitted, moving his head so he was face to face with the feisty cardinal. "I'm sorry for causing trouble and making such a mess of things. I'll be much more conscious about how I fly in the future."

The cardinal was quiet on your finger, mulling over Hawk's words thoughtfully.

"Tell him more."

"Really?" You groan. "Can't you just accept his apology and move on?"

"Hear all crimes! Then retribution!"

"Okay, so are you ready to hear the rest?"

"There's more? " Hawks asked incredulously, staring at the cardinal with wide eyes.

"You better grab a seat," you advise him with a sigh. "It's a long list of complaints."

To his immense credit, Hawks sat through the translated tongue lashing with rapt attention, taking in each and every criticism with a solemn nod of his head. He was accused of everything from taking up all the best perches to not sharing the snacks he brought up onto rooftops with him. That one seemed especially egregious in the eyes of the birds, as the mere mention of unshared snacks past sent them into a wild screeching fit it took you minutes to calm them down from.

"Last crime," the cardinal proclaimed grandiosely, as though he was delivering a sermon from a pulpit and not yelling at an increasingly despondent man while perched on your finger. "Duck got head stuck in fence. Hawks took picture and laughed!"

"You laughed and took a picture of a duck that got its head stuck in a fence?"

"Yeah," Hawks winced, fingers running across the grooves in his water bottle nervously. "I freed them afterwards though!"

"After you laughed at them and took a picture, you mean?" You huffed, completely siding with the birds in this particular instance.

"Crimes done. Retribution now!" The cardinal chirped, sending the rest of the birds into an uproar of wildly flapping wings and agreeing squeaks.

"What's he saying?"

"He's, uh, calling for retribution."

"Feathers and blood!" The cardinal demanded.

"Feathers and blood!" The doves warbled in agreement.

"They're calling for your feathers and blood," you informed the Hero.

"And snacks!" The hawk added, the rest of the birds silent as they considered the added request.

"Yes, snacks!" The cardinal chirped in triumph as the rest of the birds joined him in his chant. "Snacks! Snacks! Snacks!"

"Feathers, blood…and snacks," you clarify, watching anxiously as Hawks' brow furrowed deeply in thought.

"I agree to your terms," Hawks said, holding out his extended index finger in front of the cardinal. "Blood and feathers now, with snacks to be delivered later. Deal?"

The cardinal, being a legitimately good representative for his species, turned to briefly confer with the rest of the birds before hopping from your finger onto Hawks'; the closest approximation to a handshake as they could get.

"It's a deal," you smiled brightly to Hawks, who returned your brilliant grin with one of his own that set off sharp pangs of nervousness in your belly. It had been easy to ignore how handsome he was while you were busy trying to quell a feathery uprising; but now that the panic that had been crashing through your body was abating, your brain had apparently decided you had more than enough brain cells free to contemplate how pleasing Hawks' appearance was.

He was a bit more disheveled than he was at the start of this entire debacle, hair tousled from where he had run his hands through it in bouts of sheepishness; but he still looked put together and expertly coiffed. You, on the other hand, could tell that an entire day spent in a sweltering room hadn't done you any favors by the way your uniform polo clung to your sweat-dampened skin. Suddenly self conscious and desperate for a shower, you puff your chest out in a false show of bravado and do your best to move things along.

"Alright, which do you want to do first? The blood or the feathers?"

The birds, by and large, considered giving up feathers to be the most important act of contrition and agreed that the request for blood was mostly just a ceremonial inclusion for traditions sake. But Hawks, determined to repent, ran one of his sharpened feathers across his forearm with no complaint; dulling the blood tipped feather and presenting it to the cardinal with a deep bow.

The cardinal accepted the offering with a pleased chirp, taking the feather in his beak and carefully tucking it in amongst his tail feathers. Hawks' plume, being about twice the length of the entire cardinal, trailed out comically from his tail and made him look like a far more exotic bird than he actually was.

"Atonement!" The cardinal cried, shaking his new tail feather for his comrades to see.

"So red!" A dove praised.

"Very shiny," the cockatoo nodded.

"Well, that's one down," Hawks said as he curled his left wing in front of his body, hands already running through his feathers as he carefully selected his next offering. "Who's next?"

"Me! Me! Me!" The birds chirped in unison, a great many hopping up and down in their excitement to possess a colorful new treasure.

"You don't have to give them all feathers, Hawks," you assured him as you frantically calculated how many birds you'd brought with you versus how many feathers he could probably surrender while still retaining his ability to fly. "I know you need them for your job."

"That's true," Hawks nodded as he plucked out another feather and presented it to a brown-headed thrush. "But I also need to hold myself accountable for my mistakes. The birds have very generously offered me a way to make things right, and I won't take this opportunity for granted."

You didn't know what to say so you opted instead for silence, watching intently as he methodically worked his way through the collected cages; respectful and solemn as he repeated the feather presentation for each and every bird.

The photographer had been thrilled when he returned to set and found Hawks in place on set, lounging bonelessly across the pillars with a collection of raptors perched around him. That excitement faded quickly when he saw the bare patches in Hawks' normally full wings, a far cry from the picture perfect style he'd be envisioning.

Hawks had simply run an admiring finger across the bright red feather tucked into an eagle's wing and proclaimed that 'He liked it better this way' and that was that. The photographer began barking orders and the crew jumped into action, adjusting light positioning and turning on a wind machine to ruffle everyone's feathers just so.

The rest of the shoot went by smoothly, and in no time at all you were refilling water dishes and loading up the cages into the back of the large box truck with the bird rescues' name and phone number stenciled onto the back. You cranked the AC up to the highest setting and sank down into the faux leather driver's seat, enjoying the merciless onslaught of frigid air on your overheated skin as you buckled up.

Peering into your side mirror, you were startled by the presence of the Number Two Hero illuminated in the red glow of your taillights. He was leaning out of the studio exit, a small smile tugging at his lips and a hand held up in farewell while you shifted the truck into drive and rolled out of the parking lot. The sharp shrill of birds complaining as you hit a pothole pulled your attention back to the road and away from Hawks' golden eyes; glowing brightly from the shadows.

It was hard not to think about Hawks as you cruised along on the empty highway, so you allowed yourself a brief flight of fancy; reminiscing about the scant distance between your bodies and the tangy redolence of his cologne.

It would be a good story to regale your coworkers with over drinks and to pull out at parties when you needed to impress someone; the tale of a bird rebellion and how Hawks managed to both literally and figuratively soothe the birds' ruffled feathers. A once in a lifetime meeting that you would think back fondly on, made ever more precious by the knowledge that such a thing would never occur again.

It wasn't like you to answer your personal phone at work, but it also wasn't something that had honestly ever happened before. Your family knew your work schedule and your friends all belonged to the very reasonable school of thought where they would rather drink poison than talk on the phone, so any communication from them would arrive in text form. Curious, you pulled your phone out of your back pocket and swiped to answer; stomach plummeting to your feet when your camera booted up and you belatedly realized you'd accepted a request to video chat.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, " you swore, reaching to press the disconnect button as Hawks' beaming face appeared on screen.

"Hey there!," he greeted cheerily, face disappearing from view as he momentarily fumbled with his phone.

"Hawks? " You croak in disbelief, quickly examining your appearance in the small facecam and hurriedly knocking a chunk of dried mealworm out of your hair.

"That's what they call me!"

"Are you- is everything okay?" You manage to stammer out, impressed that you managed to say actual words and not a series of confused grunts.

"Everything is fine! I was just calling to thank you for all your help a few weeks back," he explained, the camera drifting off to the side to show off the sprawling city skyline. Wherever Hawks was, he was up high. "Word has been getting around to all the birds around the city and I've noticed a definite shift in their demeanor."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, for starters, they've stopped dive bombing me mid-flight. And they aren't pooping on that statue of me downtown nearly as much as they used to. Oh! And a couple days ago a crow brought me a couple of soda tabs," Hawks said proudly as he reached into the collar of his shirt and pulled out a leather cord with some aluminum pieces tied into the middle. "So I turned them into a necklace!"

"Very stylish," you complimented sincerely, thinking about the box of bird gifted trinkets you had at home and how much each of those shiny bits of metal meant to you.

"And I've taken to carrying around some food for them- bird seed and raisins, mostly; so we can all hang out and eat together!"

"It really sounds like things have turned around for you. I'm glad."

"They really have," Hawks nodded eagerly, phone tilting off-kilter once again as a particularly strong gust blew by. "And it's all because of you."

"I think you're definitely downplaying that cardinal's excellent negotiation tactics," you reminded him as you shuffled a few papers across the top of a nearby desk, trying to distract yourself from the sense of unease you felt under the weight of both his attention and gratitude.

"Speaking of negotiations, did the treats I sent arrive safely? I would hate for this tentative peace we've achieved to crumble due to shipping errors."

"They did!" You assured him, spinning your phone around to point the camera at the large stack of express shipped boxes in the corner. "The birds were very excited when they arrived, but now that they know we have such a huge backlog they just keep bugging me about getting snacks all the time."

"Sorry about that. But sacrifices must be made in the name of peace," Hawks shook his head sadly.

"I think you're a bit more knowledgeable about sacrifices than I am. Are your replacement feathers coming in alright?"

"They've already fully grown back in, see?" He tilted his camera to landscape and extended one wing out to the side, fluffing his feathers to show off how nicely they'd filled in.

"Woah," you whistled in appreciation, cutting off the sound abruptly when you saw his cheeks flush, realizing how inappropriately he had taken your display of awe. "That's ah- really fast for full regrowth."

"That's sort of my thing, you know. Being fast," he smirked proudly before he suddenly froze, cheeks reddening even further as he seemed to sink his face down into the collar of his coat. "Well, uh- most of the time at least. Sometimes I'm slow though. When I want to be. I can be reeeeally slow."

Deciding to ignore his floundering since he had so graciously let your own bout of verbal idiocy pass unmentioned, you frantically gazed around the room and found the perfect segue to shift your conversation back into neutral waters.

"Do you want to see what they did with your feathers?"

"They kept them?" Hawks asked, voice hitching in excitement.

"More than that; they made art with them," you cheerfully explained, flipping the phone around to show off the wreath hanging in the window a handful of weaver birds had worked together to craft; Hawk's brilliant red feathers tucked and woven amongst reedy pieces of grass and straw. "Since there weren't enough feathers for every bird here at the rescue, they thought that displaying them publicly was more fair."

"Wow," Hawks breathed, impressed by both their craft skills and sense of equitability. "They're really taking this union thing seriously."

"You have no idea," you laughed dryly. "They're starting to talk about collecting dues. "

It was strange how quickly you became accustomed to communicating with Hawks. Calls were a rare occurrence due to how overwhelmingly busy he was pretty much every moment of the day. There were multiple instances where you would be texting, sending funny memes back and forth to each other, and then mere moments after his last message was sent you would see him flash across the screen in a live news broadcast. A blur of red and beige swooping in to pull civilians out of harm's way or expertly apprehend Villains without breaking a sweat.

Knowing how full Hawks' schedule was made you even more appreciative of that evening he'd spent with you and the birds all those weeks ago. You had thought that the feathers were the most valuable thing he had given up that day, but you now knew that his time was an infinitely more precious commodity.

So you treasured each moment that he chose to share with you, regardless of the form it took. Snapshots of cute birds he'd seen on patrol, lengthy personal reviews of what had to be every fried chicken restaurant in the city, and picking up the phone whenever he was free to chat.

Even when that call came in at four in the morning, like today.

"You should try to eat breakfast before you crash for the night," you reminded him, tone a touch scolding because this was not the first time you'd had to remind him to make time for a meal.

"I don't like breakfast foods," Hawks grumbled, lip stuck out in a deep pout as he trudged towards his kitchen.

"You don't have to eat breakfast foods, you just have to eat, " you huff in exasperation, grabbing a box of cereal from your pantry, hoping that a healthy dose of peer pressure might tip the scales in your favor. "Cold pizza was invented for pretty much this exact purpose."

"I don't think I have any pizza," Hawks muttered, prying open the double doors of his fridge and examining the contents critically. "I think I have the stuff for a sandwich though."

"Sandwiches are good. They meet all the necessary desperation meal requirements."

"Which are?" Hawks asked as he shoved a packet of lunch meat into the crook of his arm and sent a couple of feathers in to grab condiments so he wouldn't have to set down his phone.

"They contain calories and don't dirty up too many dishes," you explain, hip checking your own fridge closed as you grab a carton of milk. "Handfuls of cheese you eat over the sink are also a classic choice."

"What are you eating?"

"Cereal," you say, holding up your bowl of puffed grains next to your face for his inspection.

"Ugh, gross," he says, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

"I'm going to toss some berries on top."

"That doesn't make the cereal better, that just makes the berries worse, " he complained as he squirted a generous serving of mayonnaise across a slice of bread, paused, and then squeezed on some more.

"Hey, now! If I wanted this level of judgment before the sun came up I would talk to my Grandma instead," you huffed, shoving a spoonful of cereal into your mouth and bringing the microphone closer to your jaw to subject Hawks to the loudest crunching sounds you could manage.

"I- sorry," he sighed, shoulders drooping in exhaustion. "I didn't mean to be so prickly. Today was…really rough."

"I know," you said soothingly. "I saw the News. Even went to bed early because I thought you might call."

"Thank you," he says, voice small so it could slip past the emotions welling in his throat. "For picking up."

"Anytime, Hawks," you assured him, eyes darting to the time displayed in the upper corner of your phone screen. "Literally."

You, 11:45am

"Hey, Hawks? I have a question."

Hawks, 11:52am

"Of course! What's up?"

You, 11:53am

"I've been wondering for a while now- how did you get my phone number?"

Hawks, 1:15pm

"I saw the rescue logo on the back of the truck when you were leaving the photo shoot."

"Called them up and told them how impressed I was with your professionalism and how I wanted to thank you personally."

You, 1:18pm

"And they just gave you my number?!"

Hawks, 1:20pm

"Yep. Major breach of confidentiality. You might want to look into that, actually.

"They didn't ask me to verify my identity or anything!"

You, 1:22

"Gotta go. I need to send a strongly worded letter to HR."

Hawks, 1:25

"Make sure to start it with a 'To Whom It May Concern'; let them know you really mean business!"

The familiar jingle of Hawk's custom ringtone only sounded for a moment before you were able to swap which hand was holding onto your grocery basket and fish your phone out of your back pocket.

"Hey, there!" Hawks greeted, smile strained as he waved his arm around frantically at something off screen. "Can I- Ugh! Ask for a favor in a- argh! Professional capacity?"

"Uh, sure?" You agreed, re-shelving a can of soup you were having second thoughts about.

"Great!" Hawks shouted in relief, pulling a flailing pigeon into frame, reeling back momentarily as he took a wing straight to the face. "This little cutie has been following me for hours , trying to- oof! Get my attention and I'm starting to get very curious as to their underlying motivation."

"Maybe she just wants an autograph?" You joke, snorting in amusement as Hawks dodged another hit from the distressed bird.

"I'll give her whatever she wants if she just- ugh ! Stops hitting me!"

You whistled shrilly, gaining the attention of nearby shoppers and the pigeon on Hawks' end; the bird stilling in his hands at your call. "Hey, little pigeon. What's going on?"

The pigeon launched into a series of urgent coos, head bobbing along frantically with her cries.

"Are you sure?" You asked, eyes wide as she cooed in confirmation, heaving a relieved sigh that her message had been successfully conveyed.

"What? What is it?" Hawks asked anxiously, cradling the bird snugly to his chest now that she wasn't a thrashing mass of beak and talons.

"She says, ah-," you pause, looking around at all the shoppers lingering about you with prying eyes. Flashing them a wobbly smile, you quickly shuffle off towards the other end of the store, dropping your voice to a whisper in a bid for some level of confidentiality. "She says that she knows where they're hiding all the drugs?"

It's quiet for a moment as Hawks peers down at the pigeon in his hands with comically wide eyes before he shifts into a more professional demeanor; shooting a too-bright smile at you through his phone.

"I've gotta' go now! Bye!"

Your phone kicks you back to your home screen as he hangs up, leaving you staring at your phone; dumbfounded by the abrupt turn of events.

A few days passed before you heard from Hawks again, and when the next call came in he wasn't alone.

"This is Cookie," he beamed as he proudly introduced the familiar pigeon perched on his shoulder. "Get it? Because you can't spell 'Cookie' without 'coo'? And she's a pigeon? And pigeons-"

"-pigeons say 'coo'. Yeah, I get it," you groan miserably. After years working at the rescue you had limited patience for bird jokes and were pretty sure you had heard them all hundreds of times by this point. Unfortunately for you, Hawks seemed to have acquired puns as a second language and was determined to impress you with his fluency.

"Anyway, it turns out Cookie has a real knack for surveillance. She led me right to a massive distribution center that was operating right under our noses."

"Is it okay for you to be telling me all of this?"

"Probably not!" Hawks laughed, bringing a finger up to give Cookie an affectionate scratch at the side of her head. "Anyway, I hope you weren't too attached to that dim sum place downtown. It was totally a drug front."

"Wait- the one with the little ginger dumplings?" You gasped in dawning horror.

"The very same."

"And the chef-?"

"The ringleader of the entire operation, I'm afraid."

"God dammit!"

"So they pack me up, ship me across the country to some far flung zoo to talk to their penguin in person because he's, and I quote, 'camera shy'. And do you know how that little gremlin thanked me?" You ranted into your phone, freshly clad in an old pair of pajamas with your skin still dewy from your flesh-searingly hot shower.

"He threw up on you, didn't he?" Hawks said, poorly disguising his restrained laughter with a forced cough.

"He threw up on me !" You screeched, throwing your hands up into the air as you fell backwards onto the couch, accidentally smacking yourself in the face with the corner or your phone during your uncontrolled plummet. "Ouch!"

"You alright?" Hawks asked, voice muffled from your speaker being pressed into the couch cushions.

"Yes. And no?" you sigh, rubbing a fist across the rising welt on your temple while you propped your phone up on your stomach, providing Hawks with the most unflattering viewing angle of your face as possible. "Just wishing things were different, I guess?"

"What sorts of things?" Hawks asked quietly, the distant beacons on airplane wings blinking methodically in the night sky behind him; false stars in a pollution filled sky.

"I don't know. Everything? I wish I had a different job, one where penguins didn't vomit on me. Or a different Quirk. Just- an entirely different life, sometimes."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I thought," Hawks paused, allowing himself to carefully select his words. "I thought you liked your job?"

"I do. Most of the time, at least. But it also feels like I never really have a choice, you know? Like, what else could I really do with a Quirk like mine?"

"You could always not use your Quirk," he said, gaze intensely focused away from his phone on some distant point on the horizon you couldn't see. "Get a job doing something entirely different."

"I didn't want to when I was a kid- use my Quirk, I mean. I wanted to be a doctor. And a best-selling author. And a ninja."

"Quite the triple threat."

"Yeah," you chuckled, thinking back on all the crayon drawings you had made, scribbles of a distant future that would never come to pass. "But everyone said it would be a waste to not use my natural-born talent, especially since it's a moderately useful one."

"I've always wanted to be Hero. For as long as I can remember, that's always been my dream," Hawks stated flatly, with the same lackluster affect of someone discussing the weather; an automatic response honed through years of systematic repetition. "But I get it."

"You do?"

"Yeah," he swallowed thickly, focusing his attention back onto you; eyes glistening strangely with reflections of the city lights.

"It's hard being… pigeonholed into a profession."

"Hawks, noooooo," you groan piteously. "We were having a moment! And you ruined it!"

"I'm sorry!" He lied, head thrown back as he cackled.

"I'm hanging up now," you grumbled, more amused than you were irritated but determined not to let Hawks know that.

"Don't go! I'll be lonely without you!"

"Cookie will keep you company. Won't you, girl?"

At the mention of her name, the pigeon poked her head out from where she was nestled inside of Hawks' collar, cooing her agreement.

"I still can't believe you commissioned a tiny visor for her," you snorted in delight at the miniature replica of Hawks' headset perched on top of Cookie's beak.

"What? She needed it!" Hawks defended, drawing his collar shut and pulling Cookie in more snugly towards his chest. "Her eyes were drying out when I flew too fast!"

"Uh-huh. Sure they were."

"They were! And besides, she likes wearing it," he insists petulantly before he is carried away by a sudden wave of uncertainty. "Right?"

"She does," you assure him. "Cookie really loves being with you, Hawks."

"Really?" He whispered, staring down at the bird in awe, who cooed happily and nuzzled her head into his chin.

A quiet moment stretched on between you, silent except for the sound of your breathing and the distant wail of a car alarm.

"For the record, I think your Quirk is amazing," Hawks said sincerely. "You have this entire extra world you get to communicate with. That's pretty special."

"I guess," you say with a sigh, pushing up into a sitting position with the naive aspirations of mustering up the energy to make it to bed in the next hour or two. "But it's not like they're particularly great conversationalists. Once Spring rolls around I just have to deal with listening to hundreds of voices outside my window screaming about how horny they are for weeks on end."

"You prefer a more subtle seduction method then?" Hawks asked, tone playful and also somehow entirely inappropriate.

"Just a smidgen," you laugh nervously, steadfastly ignoring the frantic beating of your heart.

"I'll make a note of that."

You had grown so used to looking at Hawks through your phone screen that seeing him in person, bursting through the doors of the rescue, was as startling as having ice shoved down the back of your shirt. And that feeling of alarm was quickly upgraded to absolute panic by the fact that he was covered in blood splatter and cradling Cookie's limp and twisted body in his hands.

"HELP!" Hawks yelled, eyes darting wildly around the room as he searched for assistance. There wasn't even time for a single breath between Hawks spotting you and then him suddenly being at your side; a gust of air heralding his arrival before your eyes could even begin to try to focus on where he had been.

"Please! You have to help! Cookie she- she's hurt," Hawks pleaded, his eyes wild as he cradled his injured friend to his chest.

"Let me see," you ordered firmly, prying open Hawks' shaking hands to get a better look at the bird.

"Cold," Cookie warbled weakly when Hawks' hands were pulled away from her body.

"Shh, I know sweet girl," you said soothingly, lifting her as carefully as you could into your own grasp.

"Hawks hurt? Hawks okay?"

"What is it?" Hawks asked anxiously. "What's she saying?"

"She wants to know if you're hurt."

"No," Hawks assured her, voice cracking as he ran soothing fingers across a patch of disheveled feathers between her eyes. "I'm just fine, thanks to you."

"I need to take Cookie now, Hawks," you informed him gently, "I'll take good care of her. I promise."

"I know," he sniffed, wiping damp cheeks onto the sleeve of his coat. "I trust you."

It was hard witnessing Hawks' desperation; seeing someone who was normally a paragon of strength so visibly shaken. It made you scared, having to be strong and brave; to help when a Hero couldn't.

But you could be brave, just this once.

For Hawks' sake.

Just like you, the rest of the staff at the bird rescue had been cherry picked to provide the highest level of Avian care possible. So while Cookie had been grievously injured with an absolutely staggering number of blunt force fractures, there was likely no better place in the city she could have been brought to for treatment.

Cookie had made it through numerous scans and a long operation, but you knew that was only the beginning of her struggle. Her road to recovery would be a long one, and she would likely never be able to fly as well as she did before after having the bones in her left wing nearly ground to dust. But you couldn't bring yourself to feel too discouraged by that bit of bad news in the face of Cookie's near miraculous survival.

There hadn't been anything for you to do during the surgery since you didn’t possess any sort of veterinary license, but Hawks had entrusted Cookie to you and it felt wrong to just leave her. You knew your coworkers well and had the utmost faith in their capabilities, but you'd been determined to stay there beside her should the worst have come to pass.

So you'd tucked yourself into a corner, already overwhelmed and ready to leave before the scalpel had even made its first incision. You’d watched as they cut and tugged and stitched; blood running and bones popping and Quirks glowing. And dear lord, the smells-

It was the absolute worst thing you’d ever witnessed in your life.

But Hawks had trusted you with this; to be where he couldn’t.

And you wouldn't let him down.

Hawks sprang up from his stolen chair behind the reception desk as you stumbled back to the front of the building, heartbeat thundering as images from the surgery clung to the inside of your eyelids; replaying with gruesome clarity every time you blinked.

"How is she?" He asked breathlessly, eager to hear the news but dreading the likely outcome.

“Cookie made it through surgery,” you said, voice too loud as you attempted to make yourself heard over the ringing in your ears. “She’ll survive.”

“Oh, thank God,” Hawks gasped in relief, his words distant and muffled. “I don’t know how to thank you for this.”

“Don’t worry about it,” you said, waving off his gratitude right before you bent forward and threw up all over his boots.

You, 2:14am

“Once again: I’m so sorry about the vomit.”

Hawks, 2:15am

“I told you, it’s fine! Stop apologizing.”

You, 2:15am

“Never. I am going to be apologizing about this for the rest of my life.”

“Every time we meet I’ll be like, ‘Hey, Hawks! How are you? Sorry about horking on your boots that one time.’”

Hawks, 2:17am

“Listen, at least this time you were the one throwing up on a bird instead of having a bird throw up on you!"

You, 2:18am

“You’re not a bird though.”

Hawks, 2:20am

“I’ll be whatever you want me to be.”

You, 2:21am

“I want you to be ASLEEP.”

Hawks, 2:23am

“Best I can do is propping up my feet and chugging an energy drink.”

You, 2:24am

“That isn’t even remotely close to an acceptable substitute.”

Hawks, 2:26am

“That’s all you’re getting. Take it or leave it.”

You, 2:28am

"Fine. But I'm going to tell Cookie you're not taking care of yourself."

Hawks, 2:28am

"Oh, that's low."

You, 2:29am

"I literally threw up on the Number Two Hero yesterday. I cannot possibly get any lower than I already am. I might as well just double down and enjoy the perks of my new bottom dweller status."

You were changing out the bedding in Cookie's cage when she saw it.

"Hawks feathers?" She warbled excitedly at the sight of the brilliant red wreath hanging in the window.

"Oh! Yeah, those are Hawks' feathers all right. Good eye."

"I see?"

"Do you want to perch there while I finish cleaning out your cage?"

"Please," Cookie cooed eagerly, practically vibrating with excitement. It was the most energetic you had seen her since her operation and you were happy to indulge her whims.

"Here you go," you said, lowering her gently into the inner hollow of the wreath. Mindful of her injuries, Cookie nestled down happily into the tangle of grass and feathers.

By the time you had sanitized everything in the cage and tucked a warm water bottle into her bed, Cookie had fallen fast asleep in the cradle of feather wreath. Heart melting, you crept closer on silent feet and took a dozen pictures at various angles and filter settings to send to Hawks later.

You felt a familiar weight settle on your shoulder, needle-like nails scraping for purchase against your skin as the cardinal joined you in observing Cookie's rest.

"Is this okay?" You asked, knowing how important the wreath was to all the birds in the rescue and unsure if napping spot was one of the agreed upon uses for it. To your immense relief, the cardinal bobbed his head in affirmation.

"From each by ability, to each by need," he chirped firmly.

"'To each by need '…?" You echo suspiciously with narrowed eyes. "Has someone been reading Karl Marx to you again?

"The proletariat has nothing to lose but chains!"

After many weeks of worried video calls and unapproved after hours visits that your boss chose to turn a blind eye to after Hawks made a hefty donation, Cookie was ready to be released back into Hawks' care.

"So I need you to sign these discharge papers," you tell Hawks, tapping multiple spaces on the cover page that required his initials and signature. "Mostly just standard release stuff, detailing the treatment plan listing the dates for follow up visits, etcetera, etcetera."

"Got it," Hawks agreed, having one of his feathers sign for him since he was loath to stop cuddling with Cookie for a single instant.

"This one says that I've informed you of all the recommended follow up care."

"Uh-huh," he grinned, happily nuzzling his nose against Cookie's beak as his feather kept scribbling.

"This one says that we cannot be held legally responsible for anything that happens to her once she leaves the rescue."

"Sure," he agreed, chuckling as Cookie nipped playfully at his jaw; feather still dutifully signing away.

"And this one is the list of demands drawn up by Cookie's union."

Hawks paused, brow furrowing as Cookie continued to pluck at his beard scruff.

"The what now?"

Hawks paced as he read through the notes you had typed up on Cookie's behalf. As much as the pigeon adored Hawks and couldn't wait to get back to working alongside him, the cardinal had proven himself to be an incredibly persuasive orator and managed to convince Cookie to submit a list of demands.

"'The Union of Working Birds, henceforth to be referred to as 'The Birds of Pay'', " Hawks snorted in delight. "-'formally submit the following requests. Number one: guaranteed housing'. Done."

"Didn't figure you'd object to that one," you said, having helped Hawks painstakingly pick out supplies to house and care for Cookie in his apartment.

"'Number 2: food will be provided in compensation for labor and will be appropriately calculated by bird weight and provided daily'. No complaints there-," he murmured, voice trailing off as he continued reading as he strode around the room; drawing to a sudden halt about five pages in.

"The demands seem to shift a bit around number forty-tree," Hawks said, clearing his throat dramatically before he began reading aloud again. "'The Birds of Pay retain exclusive rights for requesting avian-based employment with the Hawks Hero Agency'."

"Influence works both ways, Hawks. Just like Cookie was swayed by the cardinal's talk of worker's rights, a lot of the other birds were really impressed by the stories Cookie told about you," you explained. "At this point, you could employ an entire flock of birds if you wanted to."

The air inside your office was the perfect temperature, the thermostat set to exactly where you liked it and not a single degree higher or lower. The furniture selection was a bit too fancy for your liking, polished marble and smudge proof glass where you felt tile and laminate would have sufficed for a fraction of the cost.

But it wasn't your job to understand the aesthetic design choices of Heroes. Your job was to mind the birds.

"Songbird 2, do you copy?" You spoke clearly into your headset listening closely to the responding chirps; eyes glued to the live video feed playing across your screen. "We have all the footage we need. Return to the Aviary, over."

You breathed a sigh of relief as the blackbird chirped in acknowledgement, the video feed shifting from the inside of an abandoned warehouse to a wide expanse of sky as they began to make their way back toward Hawks' agency. It had been a long day of staking out the area of an upcoming Hero Commission raid, but Songbird 2 was the last of the scouts still deployed. The blackbird's return would herald the end of your workday, and you were excited to finally be able to go home indulge in the carton of ice cream you'd been fantasizing about for hours.

"Home safe," the blackbird announced as it flew in through the window that had slid open automatically at their approach; the mechanism responding to the proximity sensor built into the standard Hawks style headgear each bird was equipped with.

"Thank goodness," you smiled, pulling off the tiny headset and visor and setting them to the side for cleaning later. "Your food dish is filled up and waiting."

"Corn?" The blackbird asked, fluffing up its feathers in excitement.

"Why don't you go check and see?"

The blackbird flew quickly towards the cubbyhole it had claimed for its own, one of many set into the large back wall; each filled with lovingly crafted nests and bright wooden toys. You heard the distant cry of 'Corn!' followed by a chorus of shushing sounds from the birds that had been pulled from sleep by the blackbird's delighted cry.

Shaking your head with an amused snort, you move to return to your desk to log out for the day, only to run headlong into Hawks' chest.

"ACK!" You screeched, reeling back in surprise from the impact.

"SHHHHH!" The wall of irritated birds hissed.

"Sorry!" You whispered sheepishly, channeling your embarrassment into making the glare you leveled at Hawks extra piercing.

"All done for the day?" Hawks asked, unmoved by your display of irritation.

"Yep. Everyone is back safe and sound, the surveillance footage has been submitted for review, and now all that remains is for me to clock out and head home," you said as you wandered over to your desk, dropping down into your swivel chair to exit out of the last handful of open programs you had running. "Do you need anything before I leave?"

"Can we chat? For just a little?" He asked as he leaned against your desk, putting far more faith in the structural integrity of the tempered glass than you do. "We haven't really had time to talk recently."

"I know," you groaned, heaving a deep sigh as you shoved your empty water bottle into the side pocket of your work bag. "I've just been so busy getting set up here and making sure the birds are acclimating well. And then this big stakeout dropped into my lap and it's just been so crazy-"

"Is that- are you okay here? I know Hero work is a lot sometimes and I just-," he paused, letting out a quiet huff. "I just want to make sure you're happy here."

"I am, I think. It's definitely more stressful than working at the rescue, but I feel like I have more purpose here? Like I'm more than just the person who talks to birds."

"Now you're the person who talks to birds with spy gear. "

"Exactly!" you laughed. "It's totally different."

"I'm glad you're happy," Hawks smiled, one of his real ones that crinkled his nose and made your knees a little weak. "I've been thinking about making some personal changes myself."

"Oh? What kind of changes?"

"Something like this," he mumbled heatedly, the shift in his tone prompting you to swivel both your head and chair in his direction.

And then suddenly, his lips were pressed to yours. Hopelessly chapped from hours of constant flying but oh so warm against your own. It was short and sweet, a simple sort of kiss; but it stirred up so many complex feelings you were used to keeping caged up inside your chest.

"That's quite the change," you whispered against his lips, trying to remember the exact sequence of steps required for breathing.

"It's been a long time coming, I think."

"I wholeheartedly agree. But I'm ah- not so sure I should be kissing my boss?" You remark apprehensively. "I really like both you and this job and don't want to risk losing either."

"We set you up to work as an independent contractor, so technically you're your own boss," Hawks assured you, hands clasping your waist as he moved to pull you in for a second kiss. "And even if it isn't allowed, I'd absolutely commit some bluebird- collar crimes for you."

"Hawks!" You huff, swatting at his shoulder in reprimand. "I can't believe you just ruined our first kiss with a bird pun."

"A kiss? No, that was just a peck ," Hawks chortled at your pained groan. "This is a kiss."

With a firm tug Hawks pulled your body flush with his as his lips descended, and with the fresh addition of his tongue and teeth you couldn't bring yourself to mind the puns all that much anymore.

#bnha x reader #bnha x y/n #bnha x you #mha x reader #mha x y/n #mha x you #bnha x self insert #pigeoncoos🕊#mha x gender neutral reader #bnha x gender neutral reader #hawks x y/n #hawks x reader #hawks x me #hawks x gender neutral reader #keigo takami x reader #keigo takami x you #keigo takami x y/n #keigo takami x me

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chimkin-samich · 2 months

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Hi!

I have had a block for both writing and drawing for several years. I look at your works with longing in my eyes and think how wonderful it would be to draw regularly again. I was never particularly talented and had many gaps in learning to draw, but I enjoyed it. Now I don't know how to start drawing or writing. My laptop is full of unfinished stories. I have lots of ideas for drawings, but it's hard for me to get down to work.

Therefore, my question is: Do you have any advice for people who haven't drawn/written for several years and would really like to get back to it, but can't motivate themselves, have no ideas, etc.? Or quite the opposite. They have lots of ideas, but for some reason they can't draw anything?

Greetings and have a nice morning/day/evening/night!

Hello! Sorry it took so long to respond, I wanted to make sure I could respond properly to this so I thought it over a lot, I’m going to put it under a read more cuz it’s gonna get long lol

I (sly) am kinda in the same position as you at least when it comes more to art, writing ive kinda cracked the block but still trying to break through the ice, all the art on our blog is Ferals art, I only complete the line work and shading (but not always) I haven’t drawn any of my own stuff in probably a few years but I’m trying to get back into it cuz I miss it as well, I completely get the whole feeling of looking at Feral’s art and wanting to create my own but finding it so difficult to do

For the art aspect my plan is to start at square 1, start how I first starting drawing, which for me was to look up refs, animals and draw them by sight, just to get back into the groove of trying to bring back that muscle memory, maybe you started by tracing images, you could trace only the rough outlines and then shade and detail them, just something simply and easy, you probably won’t be happy with the results (I know I certainly won’t be with my own) but it’s a start

Look up things that you enjoy, draw your squad, incorrect quotes to do with ocs maybe even draw them out, try and keep it simple, you don’t need to create a masterpiece on the first day back, any attempt is a step forward even if you dislike it, try it out at least once a day everyday, a simple doodle just for fun or to exercise your muscle memory again, the first part is gonna be hard and messy, that’s totally ok! All that matters is the attempt!

For the writing aspect try and keep it simple as well, focus on making short one-shots or even just bullet point dialogues, your old unfinished writing isn’t going anywhere, when you feel comfortable enough to attempt to continue it just go for it!

I had a big gap in my writing periods and sometimes I still go a few months with out touching any of my stories, blocks happen and are normal, something that I try to get back into is read other people’s work, both to see the writing style and to get some inspiration to continue my own works

When I actually get down to actually writing my story I just dump down the story as I think it, I just keep writing even if it looks messy and grammatically incorrect to at least get the story moving and progressing. After I have the rough story down, is when I go back to correct spelling mistakes, add more details/dialogues or events in between to create a much better flow for the story

I usually do this multiple times for each fic I create, usually in between pauses (either due to blanking on ideas or just cuz I wasn’t feeling it) so whenever I reopen my doc, I just reread and add on, then I do it again one or two more times once it’s completed

I struggle a lot with perfectionism when it comes to my art and writing, and unfortunately it’s a big killer for my motivation, especially when I see others that make better works than me. I’ve been slowly unlearning that urge to make everything perfect, by just allowing myself to have messy and rough works, it’s not always going to come out how I want it but at least I got it as close as I could in the moment with my current skill level

I like to tell myself, the more I keep doing it, the more I’ll improve, and I’ll always be able to come back with more ideas and skill to remake this better than my first attempts, just because I did it doesn’t mean I can’t try to do it again

Being easier on yourself does wonders (I know easier said than done unfortunately 😭) but your practically having to relearn skills that have gotten rusty, even if you were doing great before, your gonna have to build back up to that point, it’s just like exercising a muscle ✨

I hope this was able to help! I wish you much luck in your journey back into art and writing!

#mods speaketh #mod sly

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yanderecrazysie · 9 months

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[if this request goes against the rules please lmk and just ignore the parts that are againt the rules]

request:

sadistic kenma, who still plays volleyball and is dominate with reader being on the more submissive side and is tall who likes anime and a few games (not many but has a common knowledge on them)

Not against the rules at all, lovely Anon! I love that I’m writing for a tall reader btw, I think it’s my first time!

Title: Façade

Pairings: Kenma x Reader

WARNINGS: Yandere themes, sadistic tendencies, slight dacryphilia, bullying, mild description of injuries, tall reader, Kenma’s a bit OOC

Summary: Who would believe you if you were to say that quiet, barely-noticeable Kenma terrified you?

façade

/noun/

an outward appearance that is maintained to conceal a less pleasant or creditable reality.·

Kenma was barely known throughout the school, even in his own class. Even though he was the setter of a volleyball team that’d made it to nationals multiple times, he was somehow invisible.

To the people who did notice him, he wasn’t anything special. Just a quiet, video game-addicted boy that didn’t bother anyone.

Anyone but you.

You were the only one who had seen a different side of Kenma. You doubted even his best friend, Kuroo, knew what kind of monster reared its ugly head when the two of you were alone.

It started after art class. Or maybe you just hadn’t noticed it until then.

The two of you were tasked to clean the classroom, so everyone left you together in awkward silence. You knew nothing about your classmate, so a part of you had been hoping to talk to him, but you could tell he wasn’t the talkative type.

It was as you were moving some of the sharper scissors that one slipped and sliced your hand open. You hissed and dropped the offending art tool, clutching your bleeding hand while inspecting the damage.

It wasn’t a deep cut, but it hurt and bled like one. You’d be fine, you’d just have to pick up a bandage from the nurse’s office. Everything was fine.

Until you turned around.

Kenma’s eyes were locked on your bleeding hand, a deep insatiable hunger swirling in them. He couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away, but definitely not out of horror. A chilling grin split his lips and his tongue flicked out to wet them once.

You were frozen in terror, horrified by this awful change in your classmate. Frightened beyond words by the way he seemed to enjoy seeing you injured. You barely remember muttering “nurse’s office…” before hurrying away from him and his sadistically hungry expression.

You couldn’t avoid him in class, but you stayed far away from him every other chance you got. Kenma, however… something must’ve awoken in him because, suddenly, the shy boy was inching closer to you whenever he could. He still gave you the chills.

When he walked into the anime club one Monday evening after school, you thought your heart stopped beating. He claimed volleyball practice was canceled, but that he wanted to stay at school until he normally left anyway.

You wished he just went home and didn’t invade your club room. You felt dirty all of a sudden, like something you loved had been tainted. You couldn’t enjoy yourself that day, nor could you focus on anime and the anime-style video games that Kenma weaseled into the conversation.

The worst part came when he walked home with you. He apparently walked home with Kuroo usually, but he’d gone home after volleyball practice. Since your house was on the way, why not? Your clubmates encouraged you, probably trying to play cupid between you both.

You could tell your closest friend was shipping you with the boy, finding your height differences cute or something. Or maybe it was because she knew that you shared a love for a few of the games he had mentioned and, apparently, anime in general. Either way…

How could you explain that quiet, shy, harmless Kenma terrified you?

You trudged alongside him as you went home, thanking everything that you lived close to the school and it would be a short walk.

You were so grateful, you didn’t even notice him sticking out his leg to trip you.

When you stood up, wincing from the pain, you found your knees and right elbow bleeding slightly. You seethed inside, wanting to lash out at him after you were sure he tripped you.

He played the part well, gasping and asking if you were alright. Fussing over you. Acting like he was innocent in all of this. But you knew better. His eyes were glued to your injuries and they gleamed with excitement and something darker.

It was as he dropped you off at your doorstep that you confirmed that you weren’t imagining it all.

“You’re so pretty when you’re in pain.”

Would anyone believe you if you told them what he said?

No. No, they wouldn’t. You wouldn’t have, had you been an outsider to this situation.

But now you worried about him more than ever. You no longer felt safe in the anime club, worried he’d barge in and infect it with his creepiness whenever his club was cancelled. You were never safe in class, since he had switched seats to be by you each time.

It wasn’t until he started sitting behind you, though, that the trouble really started in class.

Yanking on your hair, kicking your heels, stabbing a pencil into the back of your neck… You had to sit there silently and endure it all, crying to yourself after class and hoping he didn’t see because, whenever he sought you out and found you that way, he looked more excited than ever to see your tears.

He’d even said once, when he’d followed you to your locker to find you crying there, “You’re so pretty when you cry.”

He was sadistic, that much was obvious, but no matter what you tried, he never backed down. You even tried to use your height to be intimidating, but he wasn’t phased. He’d never be phased as long as he had access to you. Or, more specifically, hurting you and making you cry.

You’d tried to hint to your friend that there was more to Kenma than meets the eye, but she was dismissive and playful, more concerned with an upcoming wedding than a funeral.

You tried to get evidence that he was hurting you, but it was difficult. If you had a camera out, Kenma wouldn’t try anything. If you tried to be sneakier and audio record him, he just remained silent. He always seemed to know what you were up to.

Kenma was intelligent and good at predicting others’ movements. You’d seen that in him the last time the school went to a volleyball tournament, but you never expected that to be used on you.

Would there ever be a way to show others that Kenma was nothing but cruel to you?

At this point, you were ready to give up.

The next time he cornered you, ready to hurt you once more, you begged to know why. You begged him to stop and leave you alone until your throat burned and tears pricked your eyes. It wasn’t long until you bowed so low that he became taller and the tears escaped your eyes, dripping to the floor, as you promised that you’d do anything for him if he’d just stop.

But as you raised your teary eyes to see his expression, you realized that it was all in vain. That Kenma would never stop torturing you.

His smile was wider than it had ever been before.

#yandere #yandere haikyuu #haikyuu!!#yandere one shot #one shot #yandere x reader #yandere kenma #kozume kenma

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crystalrose36 · 2 months

Text

(I don’t own Bucchigiri or any of the characters. This is a work of fanficiton, all the original characters belong to their rightful owners. The fanficiton new characters belong to me)

Summary: Have you ever wanted something so bad that you would do anything to get it? Could you handle the consequences once you got that wish? Shindo Akutaro wasn’t always the villain we see today. You, Shindo (y/n), are his younger sister who is a witness to his ascension to power and a light during his down fall. Let’s see where this story will take you, a blue diamond in the rough.

Blue Diamond Ch 1

You leave your brother once you get to the schools entrance as you both go talk to your friends. Taking a deep breath, you shakily open your shoe locker. Praying that no one put tacks in your shoes this time. The small door creaks open and you carefully pull out your shoes and try to clean them out. Thankfully, your shoes are clean. Maybe whoever was bullying you got bored and moved on, as sad as it was you weren’t naive enough to think they had a change of heart and stopped bullying all together. This isn’t some teary eyed anime.

“(Y/n)! Good morning! Spacing out again?” You turn around as a girl your age tries to tackle you. Thankfully you caught your footing and didn’t topple over. As you look up to see who it was, it’s Najima Kana, your best friend since the start of your high school life. She is the daughter of family who owned a large shipping company and her grades were a little above average, but her appetite was something to be admired.

“Good morning Kana. And I guess I was a little.” You replied smiling at her. Kana takes her arms off you and inspects your shoes closer. “Did someone bully you again? I wish they would just stop hiding so I can kick their-“

“Okay! Let’s not start this again Kana. I don’t want you to get expelled.” You say as you slip on your school shoes and put your usual ones in the locker. “Come on, let’s head to class. I bet everyone is excited to see the results of our mock midterm exams.” Kana jumped away and looked down, “Oh man! I totally forgot! My Uncle is going to kill me if I get a below average score again!”

As you both enter the classroom you see people huddled together in groups and going over what answers they could have gotten wrong. However, there were a few others who were talking about what kind of vacation they will getting of the results of their mock exams went well. Your desk was in the second row from the back while Kana sat directly behind you……though for her it was more of sleeping.

The bell rings and students slowly return to their seats and the teacher opens the door. “Alright! Seattle down everyone! Let’s begin homeroom and before anyone asks the results for the mock midterm exams will be posted after school today. Now, open your text books to page 94 and Nijima you can start us off.” The class sighs as the results were going to be posted so soon. You turn around and Kana finally found the page and began reading.

Your fourth period ends with the toll of the lunch bell and Kana drags you along to the cafeteria. Since you packed a lunch she makes you in charge of getting a table. You sit down and open your lunch box full of leftovers. Looking around the room you notice your brother is on the opposite end having fun with his friends. They seem to be really interested in the way you’ve chosen to do kitty cats as your food art style today. One of them seems to be……putting him into a chokehold?

Shindo Akutaros P.O.V

“Please! Taro! Let go! I swear I don’t have a girlfriend, the lunch was made by my sister.” I managed to say as my air way began to get tighter and tighter. Thankfully my wild willed friend let go.

“Aw man! I thought you finally got a girl. Speaking of your sister, is she single?” He got a little too close to my face for comfort. I began to eat my lunch as I pushed him away. “First of all! You will never ever date my sister and second no she doesn’t have a boyfriend. Leave her alone Taro, I mean it.”

Taro began to laugh in his chair, “I’m sorry man I just can’t take you seriously when you are like this. I mean what are going to do if I don’t?” He straightened himself out, “Seriously though, don’t worry. I follow the bro code. However, can you hook me up with a cute looking lunch of my own?”

I roll my eyes at him, maybe I should ask (y/n) to not my lunch look so artsy. The guys get the wrong idea despite my many protests. I see Fuji sit down across from us looking nervous, not even touching his curry. “What is wrong Fuji? Afraid of the mock exam results? Don’t tell me your mother is threatening to take away your phone again, we all know she won’t.” He gives the curry to Taro who doesn’t seem to mind having second lunch.

“This is bad you guys and I mean real bad! The gangs from Ichizu High are moving to this part of the city!” He slams his head down on the table, “I really like those walks home too! Having to be picked up in my mom’s stuffy Limo sucks!” I sigh and try to be sympathetic……I wish my family could afford a limo. “Do you know what they want? Money perhaps?”

Fuji looks up, “Probably, but who knows. I guess we all have to keep our guard up.”

Back to (Y/n) and her friend Kana

Kana traded you a few pieces from her Tiger Shrimp pasta for a few slices of the left over chicken. You didn’t think it was a fair trade at first but seeing her beaming smile as she ate it made that thought go away. You really did love that Kana was your friend, but you couldn’t help wonder if she was your friend out of pity. You and your brother weren’t the ‘normal’ type of kids this school usually accepted.

“So (y/n), I was wondering do you have any plans today after school?” You look up from your plate, “No, why?”“Well, there’s this new Dragon Fire dessert at Cafe Deluxe and I wanted to know if you would go with me. Pretty please! I don’t like eating alone!” Kana clasped her hands into yours across the table.

You couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction, “Sure, I mean who can say no to a free dessert?” Kana looked so happy, “Yay! And don’t think I didn’t catch what you were saying. Fine, I’ll pay for your dessert too. Food tastes better when you eat it with other people after all.”

After lunch the rest of your classes seem to fly by and the final bell rang. Everyone ran out of the classroom to see the results of the mock exams. Boys from your grade were on one list and girls were on the other list. As you and Kana made your way to the front people began to side eye you and whisper. You gulped and looked up. Your ranking as Shindo (y/n) was first place. And the results from the other schools were second to your academy.

“Congratulations! Didnt doubt you for a second and I got five places ahead of my usual ranking!” Kana said giving you a high five. “Now we can order double the desserts!” Kana really was an enigma to you sometimes, the heiress of the one of the largest shipping companies in Japan and she spends her time eating food and hanging out with you. Your celebration was short lived when students began to part away. The student council president, Omari Kyoko, with the other members arrived. The student council president looked up at her ranking and smiled, turning towards you. “Congratulations Shindo (y/n). You have bested me yet again.” You became nervous and tried to say something. “No, no, no. I just got lucky! I am- um”

She started to chuckle, “Nonsense! And why are you nervous? Having someone like you and your brother is a blessing to our school! For you carry our academic success. Everyone! Let this be an example to all of you! Our academy will be number 1 again this year in all of Japan! The Shindo siblings will the lead charge and we will be victorious!” The eruption of the students cheering made the glass windows of the hallway shake. You wanted nothing more than to leave the suffocating situation.

#bucchigiri x reader #shindo akutarou #arajin tomoshibi

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hearts4robs · 3 months

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Hii! Never done matchups before so sorry if I mess something up! 😭 Your writing is nice though so I wanted to try :)

Btw for fandom DC please! Pretty much the only one I'm more into from the ones you write about lol

I'm 18, gender is whatever to me but I prefer they/them pronouns and I'm okay with any gendered terms. I'm 5'2 and my hair is short and I usually dye it dark red. I'm asexual and kiss men (in theory). I'm pale and I have dark circles under my eyes that I just can't get rid off. Might be the bad sleeping schedule. Anyway. I'm slavic and English isn't my first language so I sometimes mess up pronunciation and grammar (this is both a trait and an apology for my English). Oh also my eyes are brown! I sometimes wear baggier clothes and sometimes switch to really feminine ones.

I've never been good at describing my personality, but I'll try my best. I love hanging out with people and socializing, but I also can't handle big loud events. I get anxious easily and feel like throwing up because of it. My friends have told me I'm funny because I often say stuff that makes no sense (it makes sense to me...). I don't like it when people help me with pretty much anything, I only ask for help if I REALLY need it. I love sending my friends silly images and stuff and talking about my interests. Oh, I draw! And I play guitar (I usually play an electric guitar, but I have an acoustic one too). I also play videogames if I have the time. As I mentioned before, I have a really bad sleeping schedule, but coffee makes me sleepy so I prefer tea. My love languages are quality time and words of affirmation. I usually enjoy physical touch, but it sometimes depends on the person and my mood. I consider myself an optimist. I think that's pretty much everything??

My perfect date would be a picnic in spring. I like warm (but not hot) weather and spring just makes me really happy. Me and the other person could bake something for each other and bring other snacks + drinks and then sit on a picnic blanket and talk for hours. Maybe play some music too if it's too quiet. It would be better if the picnic was at a park and not in a forest haha. Oh also for music I could also bring a guitar but there's a chance I would get too embarrassed to play in public. If there aren't any people around I won't be anxious, though.

My perfect type is someone smart and patient. Someone who can help me out when I'm struggling with something I don't understand but also won't get mad at me if it takes too much time. Also someone who can deal with my anxiety without just going "calm down". I would also like someone who would enjoy listening to me ramble about my interests and someone I can show my art to (without giving me unwanted criticism). Overall someone who supports me even when I'm being weird. It's not necessary, but it's definitely a bonus if the person is lowkey a nerd.

My favourite trope is pretty basic but I like friends to lovers. It's simple and cute. I'm a sucker for some mutual pining. That, combined with the "everyone knows but them"... perfect.

I feel like this is too short, sorry! I just really don't know what else to say.

Have a great day/night :)

𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐧𝐞: 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫

“Wine or no?” Damian asks, picking up the wine glasses from the picnic basket.

There was no answer the first time, so, Damian turns his head, his brows tugging inward.

“Love.” Damian says, finally catching your attention. Your raise your head again, looking at him.

“Hm?”

“Wine or no wine?”

“Uh, wine.” You say with a smile before your return your eyes to your phone that was propped on your knee. Your legs were bended in criss-cross apple sauce style, guitar in hand.

You let out a quiet, frustrated grunt. Your guitar wasn’t tuning probably. Damian pours up two glasses of wine, sending you a sideways glance.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, cocking his brow at your furrowed brows.

“It won’t tune.” You grumble.

“Give it here, then.” Damian says, not waiting for you to agree as he grabs the guitar. And that son of a bitch doesn’t need more than three tries before getting it tuned perfectly, by ear.

“Oh, fuck you.”

“Sure.”

Headcanons:

Damian taught himself how to play your favourite song on guitar as soon as he found out you could play.

He has a habit of tapping his finger against your hand whenever you hold it. It’s not because he needs your attention, and he barely notices when he does it, but it’s just him checking you’re still beside him. (Even though he’s holding your fucking hand).

Damian is really bad at words so he tries to spend as much time with you as possible, even if it’s hard due to his job.

Damian knows how to handle your anxiety. Mostly due to his job as a vigilante, and because he sometimes deals with it himself, but also because he researched for hours after the first time it got bad around him. He’ll take care of you without a second of hesitation.

I rlly hope you like this and I am so sorry that it’s this delayed ☹️ </3

#★ robins events ★#dc x reader #dc #sfw #★ robins match up event! ★#damian wayne x reader #damian wayne

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lablass-2882 · 3 months

Text

Happy Cody Day!

So, in Honor of Cody Day (2/2/24), that I completely didn’t.....somewhat.... forget about until last minute. I attempted to draw some cute fan art of Cody with all his nieces and nephews from my Clone kiddo Au.

And.....

I didn’t like it. It just wasn’t working the way I wanted it to. So, I tried something else. And that looked terrible. So I went for attempt number 3 aaaannnnd.... you can guess how that went.

Anyway

Here is a cute little short story instead featuring Cody and one of his nieces from my whacky AU.

Story below the cut.

Enjoy.

“Ow...”

“Sorry.” Cody mumbled.

“They don't have to be....kandos” A small voice mumbled. (Perfect)

“Ba’vod is almost done. This will only take a moment.” (Uncle)

“Gar said megin eyn hour’ago.” The small voice retorted. (You said that an hour ago.)

Cody huffed as he stared down at his messy work. Despite weeks of careful planning, endless research, and diligent practice..... he really sucked at braiding. In particular, he sucked at braiding hair. There was something about braiding hair chaffed him to no end. His braids were always uneven, messy, and, quite frankly, just inadequate. He was just really bad at it. He always had been and he expected that he always would be. Much to his young and fidgety niece’s bad luck.

Now, Taliyah, or Tally for short, was trying her best to sit still. But she was also a ten-year old child who really, really wanted to go play with the other kids in the yard. What had started as a simple request for twin braids in her hair had turned into a battle of attrition for the young girl. She had been so blissfully unaware of Cody’s utter disdain for braids. And now, two hours later, her patience was reaching a breaking point. So, in a moment of defeat.....Cody throw in the towel and let the messy braids win.

“Alright, I guess that will have to do.” He huffed out. “So, how do they look?”

He handed Tally a small mirror to look at her braids. Her pale purple hair was so different than Cody’s own. It was softer than the hair of the clones and had more of a wavy curl when compared to the tight curls that he and Vod’s sported. This made his usual styling techniques and tricks ineffective on most days. Especially braids. But Tally didn’t seem to care about the messy braids or their uneven alignment, as a bright smile blossomed across her face.

“Val're Kandosii! I Love it, Ba’vod Kote!” (They’re perfect.)

Whirling around to face him, Cody was met with a tight hug and a wide toothy grin that made his heart melt.

“Ori'vor'e, ori’vor’e!” (An excited thank you expression.) The young girl chimed. “Now I have braids too. Just like Aurora and the ashi’vods.” (other kids)

Cody hummed and nodded along with her excitement. He honestly thought that he could have done better, but if his niece was happy. That was all that mattered.

“Now, these won’t last all day, okay. I don’t think your hair is long enough to leave the braids in like the others. If they start to get loose, come and find me to fix it. Utre’la?” (Means alright or clear.)

“Ultre’la.” Tally nodded.

Cody doubted that the braids would last for very long. Not with how the kids played, it would be a miracle if they stayed for the rest of the day. Plus, Tally’s hair really wasn’t long enough for tight braids. Aurora, Neo, and Ulh’ta all had hair similar to him and his vods, and it could hold tight braids. While most of Tally’s hair had been chopped off during her surgery. It was starting to grow back, but at a snail’s pace. He had tried to explain that to her when she asked him about putting braids in her hair....... but her pleading eyes broke down any resistance he had. So, this old clone soldier dug out his styling tools and attempted to make his ad'ika happy. (niece, nephew, child, etc.) Maybe Rex was right, and he had grown soft.

“May I go play in the yard now? Geedet’te Ba’vod Kote.” Tally chimed. (Please, uncle Cody.)

“You may.” He sighed. “But be careful and no climbing things.”

“Okay.” She chirped while trying to wiggle out of his grip.

“Especially trees.”

“I won’t.”

“And no hitting the other kids.”

“Shi meh val nynir ni sol'yc” (Only if they hit me first.)

“Tal’ika.”

“I promise I won’t.” Tally giggled before running off. Metal feet clanged against the floors as she ran. Pausing momentarily at the doorframe before turning back to face him, “kar’taylir darasuum, Ba’vod Kote.” (Love you, Uncle Cody.) And with that, she was off.

Cody signed and went to pick up his tools. “Kar'taylir darasuum gar too ad'ika.” (Love you too, little one.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And there you have it. A nice short and sweet like fic.

Apologies for no doodles or drawings. I attempted so many different ideas, but drawing.exe in my brain just wasn't working. So I went with a short story instead.

Anyway, see y'all next time.

#cody day 2224 #commander cody #my ocs #clone kiddos au #crack au #Tally is sweetheart right up until the moment she slugs ya #“Talk shit get hit” is her motto #star wars the clone wars #star wars #clone trooper #clone of the day #coday #cody day #and for anyone who is curious tally is the daughter of a clone who was taken in by cody #i also tried to put the English translation of the mando'a words close to the phrase #also also tally has metal leggies #do with that what you will

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insertmesoftly · 2 years

Text

Reasons To Keep You Here (Yuri x AFAB Immigrant Reader Trying to Get a Visa) Part 2

Part 1: HERE

Yuri dragged his feet as he left his work. This would be the first official meeting between you and him. He had a small pile of candidates he hoped would be enough. He made it to your door, longingly looking at Yor’s beside it, and knocked. He wanted to get this over quick.

… Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t that easy. The first batch, though some looked promising, with further research from an informant, they ended up being crossed out. Every movement of his felt like a chore.

Still, duty called and he’d make it to your apartment without fail. You would open the door and greet him. Sometimes you’d have food prepared. He hesitated to try anything at first, but you got him one day by telling him that Yor had helped.

He hasn’t exactly refused since then… It was, of course, because he considered your feeding him as another part of the deal. And totally not because he liked the things you made. He was already wasting time and money coming all the way over, why not get a meal for his effort?

You wholeheartedly agreed. You always let him know how grateful you were for his help. You know how busy his work makes him, and you know how bad his temperament can get. You don’t want to be on his bad side. You’re always on alert when he visits for ways keep him feeling content. He hasn’t realized it, but it’s worked.

His footsteps don’t drag as much anymore. He stopped complaining about the food needing more of something. You’ve learned and adapted. And as you two got more comfortable around each other…

You’d sometimes talk about things other than the assignment you were on. He knew about your life but… he still found himself asking questions sometimes.

‘How did you learn to make so much?’

You looked back at him eating fried dough with two cheeses and a fried piece of seasoned ham in the middle. You smiled.

‘Mostly from watching my mom. But there was a time when I was pulled in to help a restaurant next door to where I was living.

This… was not on his files. He begins to wonder what other secrets you are unknowingly keeping from him. He finishes his meal and reminds himself that he shouldn’t care.

You’ve already been caught by Anya on who your identity is as a cartoonist, though neither you or her have talked about it. Anya knows not to mention that she knows. The second person who knows about your profession, is Yuri. He looked into a bit of your comics just to make sure they were not something that was not in line with the country’s sensibilities. …

All he saw was a regular children’s cartoon with a unique art style. So he stopped looking into them until he caught you on a day where you had a deadline and no idea.

You had been on a roll with the Forger family. They gave you material for little odd things that could happen in a household that were humorous. But you haven’t been visiting as often because of your recent meet ups with Yuri, and now you were panicking.

Yuri walked inside the mess your living room had become, with papers strewn about everywhere and mugs of different teas and coffees all over. You looked worse than usual.

You apologized and told him it would probably be better if he left you alone that day. You couldn’t really concentrate on anything else. You laughed as you confessed you hadn’t even gotten to cook anything for yourself yet.

Yuri’s eyes narrow as he really takes you in. Your hair is all over the place. Your clothing has stains. You look like you’re about to pass out at any moment.

‘You need to eat.’

‘Yeah… I should probably go buy something later-‘

‘NOW.’

He picks up his coat and is back outside. He comes back twenty minutes later with food from a restaurant for the both of you. Despite your concerns over taking up too much of his time, he stays and eats with you. And he asks you what your latest ideas for strips are.

Yuri had it in his head that he could help you decide on one of your already-made strips and that would be that. He’d make it that simple for you; it was just a children’s cartoon strip. There was no need to overthink it if you didn’t land a joke that Sunday!

…. He didn’t account for your lore dumps of all the characters. Or to be shown twenty different strips, all differing in content. The hours pass by. You’re both deeply discussing the motivations of a four-year-old child and her imaginary friend’s psychology. You get into an argument over whether the father character is a good man or not. It’s an emotional roller coaster. He chokes up as he watches you put the last, best idea onto paper finally.

It’s been a long day and you both cheer like goofballs at your finished 4-panel masterpiece. A job well done. Yuri leaves you apartment feeling a bit accomplished, even smiling. He doesn’t realize he never got to inform you of anything new until he’s halfway to his home. He slumps as he continues his walk home, wondering how he got lost in your work.

….. his coworkers notice him reading the cartoon page of the newspaper now whenever he’s on break. One of them has even started talking to Yuri about it.

‘So you’re also a fan?’

‘You… read them, sir?’

‘Yeah! Every Sunday morning with my kids, haha. We like to clip our favorites and paste them into a journal. My daughter loves em.’ The coworker took a newspaper for himself and looked over the newest strip for the second time that day.

‘This week’s strip was pretty sweet, wasn’t it? My little Camila begged her mother to call her friend after she read it. Those two have been pretending to be each other’s imaginary friend. They kept telling each other how they’ll always be together just like the girl in the comic with her friend- WOAH, HEY, SON ARE YOU OK?’

‘I am fine, it’s just seasonal allergies!’

Yuri is so invested now. He’ll be a bit obnoxious asking you what your latest idea is and demanding brainstorms if he doesn’t like it. He’s become like your second manager on top of everything else now.

There comes a day Yuri took off from work. He planned on staying home, cooking something simple horrendous for himself, and simply spend the day relaxing. Thanks to your insight, he knew he wouldn’t be able to see Yor, unfortunately, so he resigned himself from treading on the familiar path to your…. Her apartment. He went to pick up ingredients for his favorite childhood dish instead.

When he got out, he was making his way back home when he began faintly hearing your voice. It made him pause.

Was he beginning to go crazy? He whipped his head around but couldn’t see you. He did, however, see two kids standing over a ledge looking down at something and talking. The voice that replied back to them was definitely yours. Yuri sighed as he moved his ingredients around and walked over.

What mischief was this homebody getting into?

He walked in on quite the scene. You were over the ledge and walking through the rocky and muddy shore of the river, digging around without a care. The face he was making was indescribable.

‘Uh oh, we have company.’

‘Get out of here, mister! This doesn’t concern you!’

The two kids got in Yuri’s way and tried to make themselves look bigger to block his view. They were identical boys, older than Anya but still young. They wore clean, pristine clothes and had their hair styled nicely. Yuri wondered why these kids were messing with someone like you.

‘Kris, did you say somethi- OH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE YURI!!!’

The embarrassment all over your face. You had been caught. Yuri could only give you a disappointed look that made you sweat.

‘I should be asking YOU the same thing. Why is this bachelorette wanting to get married wading around in the muck while little boys watch?’

You couldn’t be any redder if you tried. You wipe your hands on your overalls, and try stuttering out a reply, but the kids speak up and immediately cut you off.

‘WHAT? Y/N IS GETTING MARRIED?’

‘NO! I FORBID IT!’

One of them began tearing up while the other immediately got mad at Yuri. He looked back at his crying brother, then at the adult man. ‘YOU CAN’T HAVE Y/N! TELL HIM!’ He moved to face you, face red with fury and he stamped his feet.

‘TELL HIM YOU CAN’T MARRY HIM! DAD SAID YOU WOULD NEVER CUT IT AS A WIFE ANYWAYS!’

The sudden attack on your pride left you speechless and made Yuri unexpectedly have to hold in his laughter.

‘KRIS! THAT’S-‘

‘YOU’RE LAZY, UGLY AND UNDESH-UN-deshire-‘

The other kid chimed in with a sob.

‘UNDESIRABLE!’

‘YEAH! YOU CAN’T MARRY ANYONE! YOU HAVE TO COME BACK HOME!’

You were wrong. You were so wrong. You could get so much more embarrassed. You began shaking from the shame and Yuri was not containing his laughter anymore, clutching his bags and hiding his face as he let it all out.

‘ALRIGHT ALRIGHT, IT’S NOT THAT FUNNY, YURI, SHUT UP!’ You climbed the ledge and moved right over to the kids, handing them a toy plane that was battered but not broken.

‘I’m NOT getting married to him! He’s just a friend! ... And I couldn’t find the soldier, I’m sorry.’

The boys looked at their plane, then back at the shore over the ledge. They gave a salute.

‘We lost another one.’

‘Rest in Peace, Charlie.’

Yuri had seen enough. He finally calmed down, but his smile was still evident.

‘These are your brothers?’

‘Yeah.’ You moved to be beside him. ‘I know, we don’t look… anything alike. We uh… have different fathers.’

… right. Yuri had read about your family. He looked over the boys who were cautiously looking back at him. They looked like kittens ready to fight.

‘So you have friends now?’

‘How come we’ve never seen him before?!’

‘He looks shifty…’

… they were funny at first but it was clear now Yuri would not get along with them. His face hardened back to a familiar glare that spooked the kids. You stepped in.

‘I assure you two, Yuri is very trustworthy. He works in the government offices! That’s one of the most respectable jobs anyone could hope to have!’

The kids didn’t look convinced and moved to be closer to you. Yuri didn’t mind. He supposed it was time for him to go anyways.

‘Since I know now that this situation is… under control. I think I’ll take my leave now.’

‘Oh- uh, sure but, do you need any help with your groceries?’

‘I can manage-‘

His response was interrupted by the sibling’s screams. They didn’t want you to go with him, and they were holding onto your clothing as you had stepped up to help Yuri. They wanted you to stay talking to them. Your eyebrows furrowed and you smiled, a bit sadly.

‘I’m sorry, you two, but you should really get going. We all know how mom gets when you’re late coming home.’

‘But we haven’t seen you in forever!’

‘You never visit!!’

You made a pained expression. It didn’t go unnoticed by Yuri.

You crouched to be on their level, and you held both their hands. You promised to try to visit them soon. The kids didn’t believe you, but you insisted. At their crying, you gave them a hug and told them that you loved them. That you missed them every day. Shakily… they repeated it back.

They clung to you and made you pinkie swear to let them see you again soon.

The kids went off a little ways after, and it left the two adults alone. You turned back to Yuri, face trying to smile like normal, and asked him again if you could help him bring his food to his place. Yuri narrowed his eyes at you.

‘You’re going to get married.’

‘Yes? And?’

‘…. You’re going to see them there, right?’

The thought of it struck you, and made you laugh. ‘Maybe… we’ll see if there’s enough time for a ceremony.’

You were trying to be optimistic. Yuri knew there probably wouldn’t be, but the image was… enough for now. He took in a breath and handed you a bag.

‘Come on. Follow me.’

He invited you to his home for a change and tried giving you some of his cooking.

It was terrible. But you stomached it because this was Yuri’s attempt at cheering you up.

Looking for candidates is an ongoing trial. They all largely suck, and you’ve shut them all down except… one of them is looking like the best. He has a good job, he’s your age, he seems like a good guy and on top of all that… he’s also good looking!

Just in time, too. The deadline for the law was still being decided but… it was looking like it’d be close. Too close. This could be your last chance.

Yuri tells you about it. You see his picture and nod along to the things Yuri has pointed out. Though not as excited about it as he hoped you’d be, he still takes you agreeing to see him as a victory. Now came the harder part.

Yuri is nervous with figuring out how to convince him into giving you a shot, but everything seemed to work itself out when Yuri tried finding him in a café he frequented and…. Awkwardly casually beginning a chat with him. He strung along their conversation from ‘what makes a good coffee’ to ‘wanting to find a good wife to marry and make it for you every morning’ like a poet that lost his credibility. He posed as your friend, and was clear about his intent to set you two up on a date tomorrow. Despite his lackluster performance, the man took a look at your photo and agreed with a laugh. It was like a miracle had occurred for Yuri.

This was PERFECT!

He orders you to dress up in your best. He’s made reservations somewhere good. It’s all up to you now! He won’t meddle in this any longer. He’s done his job. You agree he has and thank him for his help. You say you can take it from here.

So, he left your apartment without worry. Everything was right on track! You would dress nicely. You two would have a nice talk. The atmosphere in the restaurant would be lovely…

… this was it, wasn’t it?

No more of your daily cooking. No more brainstorms. No more visits. Sure… Yuri concedes he may… think you’re a friend worth checking up on but…

What kind of husband would allow their wife to have another man visit them?

Yuri got ready for bed, feeling as if he was losing something. His stomach was in knots over tomorrow.

This weekend.

Yuri got the confirmation on the date the new law would pass. It would be this weekend.

Despite his protests to himself all day, this new information won over his initial promise to stay out of the date. He dressed himself up and called the restaurant. Pulled some strings and made it to his reservation in, what he was hoping was the middle of your date. He knew where you were immediately, and not just because he plotted where you’d sit.

Your get up… was not up to this place’s standards. Yuri had a hand to his temple as he sat down across the room and glared at you. There shouldn’t be a next time, but if there is… he’ll smother you into a dress. You both had been served your food, at least, but though the man was eagerly eating and talking, you… hadn’t touched your food. And you weren't talking. You had on the face you used to make around Yuri when you both first met. It was the fake, pained smile.

Something was wrong.

Yuri tried calming his nerves as a waiter came to ask him what he’d like to drink. You were probably just nervous still. He was considering ordering you some alcohol to loosen you up when a loud smacking noise interrupted all chatter.

You had slapped your candidate. The restaurant was aghast.

Yuri asked for a bottle of their strongest alcohol to go.

He caught you on your way out, bottle in hand, and walked you home. You didn’t even question why he was there, you had already suspected his meddling as you’ve come to know how much he loves it. You merely take the bottle and open it. So begins your night drinking with Yuri.

You tell him, plain and frankly before he can ask what happened, that the man wasn’t a good person and Yuri… accepts it at first. Tries to. One thing at a time. First, he’s commenting on the ways you failed even before getting to the restaurant until you’re both in your home.

You invite him in just as he finished explaining the etiquette of how to sit properly. Without slouching. Then you both sat in your couch, and he asked you again to explain what was so bad about the man. You laugh bitterly as you go to a cabinet to get another drink, wine this time. You offer him some. After you’ve both been poured a glass, you finally explain.

You’re slurring your words a bit but your infuriation still keeps your memory fresh. You are laying all the man's faults down, things that were obvious to you, but a drunken Yuri is not particularly letting himself be convinced. It becomes obvious the more you go on that he doesn’t actually believe you.

And this is confirmed as he stops you to… begin calling you picky. He thinks you’re dragging out a process that could’ve been infinitely simpler if you just SETTLED instead of insisting on waiting for your prince charming. You have responsibilities. You have family. Why are you focusing on such trivial details?

‘It’s like you don’t really want to get married! Isn’t the most important thing that you stay-‘

He is attacked by a pillow. He drops his drink. He’s in shock as it slips from his face, ready to yell at you.

‘WHAT THE HELL?!’

‘OF COURSE I'M NOT WAITING FOR MY PRINCE CHARMING!’

‘WELL, YOU’RE ACTING LIKE YOU ARE! WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT THAT GUY? SO HE WAS A LITTLE BRASH? THIS IS A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE. WHY WOULD HIS PERSONALITY-‘

‘I KNOW HIS TYPE.’ You cut him off. You’re crying. He’s staring.

‘The way he talked about me… the way he ogled me… he is NOT a good man! I never ASKED you for someone with good looks. I never said anything about love. I JUST WANT SOMEONE WHO WILL RESPECT ME!’

Yuri… narrows his eyes. He doesn’t really get it. He feels more sober now and is in a huff and gets up, too annoyed to continue the conversation.

‘Whatever. Then we’re back to square one and the law will be in place this weekend.’

You look at him with wide eyes. That soon? Yuri grunts as he picks up his things.

‘I’ll be back tomorrow with more candidates. No more of your prerequisites. We are going to look at ANYONE we can.’

Your mouth is glued shut. You can only curl up and stare miserably at the spilled alcohol on the floor as he leaves.

Yuri was planning on just another day at work. He was going to put his entire focus into it! Let out all his emotions by being productive! … He wasn’t counting on them sending him home earlier because he finished his interrogation so fast. The boss gave him a pat on the back and told him to get himself a treat.

Yuri wasn’t one for indulging in things much… but he decided to today. He’s been feeling like he had two jobs because of you. He went inside a bakery on the way to you and ran into the person he least wanted to see. With a bruise in his cheek.

The man sees Yuri and walks straight over to him. Yuri prepares himself for the damage control. It goes down as things usually do.

He’s livid, complaining about what you did. Yuri apologizes.

He recounts how everything about you was not as he said. He apologizes profusely.

The man loses most of his steam by this point and keeps hammering in how disinterested you were in him since the beginning, how he was so kind as to overlook your appearance and your low tone and your weird sense of humor because he knew you were an immigrant. He wanted to give you a chance. Yuri simply nods along, finding all these points valid. Now the man is feeling better.

The man decides… to be kind to Yuri about it. He was just trying to help a friend out. That was admirable of him. With this stroke of good luck, Yuri takes the compliment and offers to pay for the man’s pastry as another apology. The man is smiling now and patting his back as his boss does. Everything has been smoothed over. It was this easy. But-

The man has more to talk about as they wait for their food. He asks Yuri if he ‘has anymore immigrant lady friends.’ Yuri furrows a brow and says that he doesn’t.

‘That’s a shame… I really would like to date a girl from that country.’

‘….. Why?’

The things the man begins to detail make Yuri’s eyes widen. You were right.

This man was not good.

And he was most definitely not allowed to be anywhere near Yor.

There was a commotion in the bakery, as the man received another, harder hit in his other cheek. Yuri did pay for his pastry… which he dropped in his face. He gave the cashier extra money for the disturbance and excused himself. He had more stuff to think about on his walk home. He didn’t visit you that day.

He had pictures of all the men he once thought were suitable for you displayed on his floor. They all passed some level of psychological and temperament checks… but if that guy had been holding onto thoughts like those… who was to say any of them were different?

How was he supposed to know? How could he trust in this process anymore? He sat in his couch and groaned in frustration. There were only five more days until the due date. You had to be married in five days.

… there’s really no time. And no more leads. Everything was doomed. You were doomed.

…. Unless….

That night was storming. You love the sound of rain and thunder. You wonder if it’ll be the same once you’re gone… You were lost in your melancholy when a harsh knocking made you almost drop your favorite mug. You weren’t expecting anyone… You slowly move to the door to open it.

You are greeted by a drenched, and evil looking Yuri standing way too close to the door.

‘I’m sorry-‘

SLAM.

You’d think you were used to his creepy aura by then but… it was instinct at this point. You sigh, calming yourself down as you open the door again.

‘For the love of everything, Yuri, PLEASE DON’T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!!!!’

‘I CAME TO APOLOGIZE!’

This finally caught your attention. You looked right at his eyes. He was being serious as he went on about how he’s been wrong in his judgment.

He thought you were an immigrant with no value, but his sister and your siblings loved you. He thought you were dumb because of your previous works but you’ve shown time and time again to be handy, creative and intuitive. He thought you were being picky… but he was the one overlooking your needs. For all this… he is sorry.

You blink. An apologetic Yuri. … His face is as cute as Yor described. You can’t help laugh, surprising him.

‘Alright, you’ve apologized. Now come in. You can make it up to me by taking off that coat and telling me of other candidates.’

‘Y/N…’

You drag him inside and close the door. ‘Come on! The coat! You’re soaked… I’ll go bring you a towel. I know we’re in a time-crunch, but you didn’t have to come running for an apology!’

‘Y/N!’

‘Yes yes, sit down while I get you that towel. Do you want a warm drink too? I made something for myself but I’m not sure if you’ll like it-‘

‘Y/N, I think it’s time we stopped looking for your husband.’

You stop. You turn around. He was being apologetic just a second ago… where was he coming with this?

‘Why?’ Your tone is hard. ‘Are you giving up on me?’

‘No…’ Yuri shakes his head and looked away. His expression… was one you hadn’t seen before. ‘I just… thought of a better…. Faster solution.’ He sighed into his hands as he hid his face. You crossed your arms.

‘Oh? And what’s that?’

He took the biggest breath you’ve ever seen him take. And groaned. It was like looking at a child that was told to do his homework.

‘I guess… I’m going to marry you.’

You dropped your mug.

Part 3: Here

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