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#(mikan at the very least would not stand for this ending)

m-y-fandoms · 1 year

Text

COMMISSION: Nagito Komaeda x Reader - Love Hotel

Details: V3 has the Love Hotel/Love Key scenarios - I’ve been asked to make a version for SDR2 as if it were canon in the second game as well. If you didn’t play V3 and aren’t familiar with the Love Hotel scenarios/scenes, don’t worry, Monokuma will explain the concept early on in the fanfiction below! Also, I don’t think I used any gendered terms for the reader, it just didn’t come up/wasn’t necessary with the details I was describing. So, anyone can read this with themselves in mind.

Warnings: Spicy but not NSFW - mature themes and romance into a fade to black/implied at the end just like the actual V3 Love Hotel scenes. Would probably be Mature but not Explicit on AO3 - Also SDR2 spoilers!!!

Word Count: 4k words

When hanging out with your peers and exploring the island, you often found these little Monokuma coins tucked behind objects or hidden under things. These “Monocoins” could be exchanged at the Monomono gacha machine for prizes. Some were tiny, and some had no business even fitting inside the machine. It was a wonder how they got there. In between the stress of the killings and trials, it was nice to exchange little gifts that said “I see you, and I trust you, and I want to be closer to you” with the friends you had left. The Monomono machine often rewarded you with intriguing and seemingly targeted items. For example, when you got a magazine on beast breeding and taming, it was clearly meant for your exchanges with Gundham Tanaka. When wound gauze or a nurse’s apron dropped from the machine, it was obviously a sign to get to know Mikan.

Today’s trinket was a mystery to you: an ornate key - golden with a pink heart-shaped gem embedded onto its handle. It dropped into your hand as you popped it out of the gacha capsule that protected it. It was a nice size, probably to a door rather than say, a locket or jewelry box.

Immediately upon receiving it you began to look for what it unlocked. It didn’t seem like a gift subliminally meant for any of your friends, so instead you chose to find a little adventure in all the chaos, a treasure hunt of sorts. You’d tried little tool sheds or abandoned buildings around the first three islands, back doors or closets inside places like the market or pharmacy. The pink gem made you think of Monomi - or rather Usami. It matched her aesthetic and color scheme. You’d questioned her about it, and she seemed to draw a blank. You felt like she was being honest with you, so you moved on. A frustrating thought began brewing in your mind: maybe the key went to a door on an island that was still locked away from you and your peers. Perhaps the bridges guarded by Monobeasts blocked your path. Unfortunately, following the ongoing pattern, someone would have to die for a new island to become accessible, and that was most defintiely not worth sating your burning curiosity. And so, you asked your closer friends, such as Hajime and Chiaki, to keep an eye out for a possible clue, but ultimately let it go, tossing the key into a accessory dish on the beside table of your cabin.

Speaking of your cabin, there you were, winding down for the night in your customized little cottage in the lineup of huts at the resort. It was cozy, a personalized type of dorm room substitute decked out with items to serve and encourage the development of your Super Highschool Level talent. The cream-colored canopy bed was pretty large for single student and super comfortable, and so on days when the survivor’s guilt wasn’t weighing on your mind like a plague, it was very easy to fall asleep quite quickly.

You’d been asleep for what must’ve been at least a couple of hours when a noise startled you awake. Still groggy and half-asleep, you spot the black and white bear you all hated so very much standing in the middle of your cottage.

“What the…” your words slurred, eyes barely open. You would’ve been freaking out at his appearance, had it not been extremely normal for the bear to pop up out of nowhere. That and the fact that it was against Monokuma’s rules for him to ever hurt a student on his own left you at ease and not fearing for your life.

“Oh, great, you’re awake! Would’ve been awkward if I had to crawl up on the bed and shake ya’ to life! Phew, saves me the trouble!” He giggled in his own little mischievous way as you sat up, giving him mostly your full attention. He never left until he made his point anyway, so why waste time arguing with him for interrupting your beauty sleep?

“Alright, alright what do you want? I’m still tired! Unless someone is dead, say what you need to say and leave…” you grumbled. Monokuma bristled at that.

“How rude! My time is very valuable, you know! Since you’ve been hurting your puny little brain trying to find the solution to that Love Key over there, here I am, going out of my way to help you! You should be more appreciative!” He growled, claws displayed.

“Love Key…?” You looked to the key on your bedside table, still in a bit of a daze. “So that’s what it’s called…” Still not much of a hint, you thought.

“Yep, yep! I’ll tell you how to use it!” He perked up once again. “You see, it opens the way to a very special place! A place you’ve searched many times before… however, it’s form has now changed!”

“Hmmm…” How curious… since you had in fact checked every available area multiple times over.

“You see, if you go visit the motel on the third island right about now, you’ll find it buzzing with an aura of lust and romance!” Your brow raised as he laughed impishly. “That key you got transforms the motel into a place you can clear out some of your most carnal desires at night, but… only the one with the key and… one other person will see this change!”

“What are you talking about?!” You were only half-awake before, but now you were sure you had to still be dreaming. What an insane concept. This is what he came to say? This nonsense?

“Oh, are you starting to get worked up? Are you ready to let it all hang out?” He began to sweat, a wicked, messed up grin on his face. “Your key will unlock a particular Love Suite at the motel,” he continued, barely containing his excitement, “and you and one other person will be invited to spend the night. There, you will be a part of that person’s fantasy. They will see you as their romantic ‘ideal’ and basically just swoon all over you. Think of it as a kind of sexy dream that lets you escape the cruel reality of the killing game! It’s their escape, too though, so it’s important for you to play the role your Love Suite partner wants you to! If you break character, your dear partner may very well wake up in anguish, all pent up and frustrated! And you wouldn’t want that, would you?” He snickered.

“This all sounds very inappropriate and embarrassing, so I think I’ll pass.” You grumbled, shuffling uncomfortably in your sheets. At this point, you just wanted him to go away.

“Oh, don’t worry! What happens there, stays there. Memories are wiped when you exit. Oh, and one last thing: anyone can show up there. Any of your classmates, even those who’ve passed on.

Well now, you had to be dreaming. Memories wiped, the motel transforming, and not to mention four of your classmates were very much dead… how could they show up? Seeing the look on your face, incredulous and lost in thought, Monokuma gasped softly to grab your attention, speaking up again:

“What’s wrong? You seem skeptical. Why not try it out for yourself, then?” If Monokuma were allowed to cause a killing, you’ve sworn this was a plot to set you up. Not that it mattered in a dream, anway. “Let love take hold! Take that ol’ Love Key for a spin!”

After much hesitance and with Monokuma having left your cabin nearly a half hour beforehand, you were now out walking alone, leaving the resort and making your way to the third island. You tried not to disturb your other classmates in their cabins, being sure not to make any noise as it must have been well past one in the morning. Sand and gravel crunched below your shoes as you walked rather hurriedly to the long wooden bridge that connected the islands. Moonlight shined off of your pajamas in the cool tropical night breeze, giving a small relief from the usual humidity, and if you weren’t sure this were a dream, you would’ve felt like an idiot, opening yourself up to being an easy target for a killing.

You wrapped your arms around your waist nervously. In the end, you were too curious not to try it out, but you had to admit, you were still mulling it over in your brain:

Their ideal… a shared fantasy… So they wouldn’t really see you as you are per se… but what did that mean? Did that mean that if they liked submissive cute pretty boys, that’s how you appeared to them? If they wanted a buff aggressive woman, you’d suddenly grow muscles? Would it all be an illusion? Maybe just your personality would change…

Play along, Monokuma had said…

Passing the hospital and music venue, you approached the motel and immediately noticed the change. The retro sign out front was now decked out in pink and red neon lettering boasting the words Love Motel. The building itself, once dingy, dirty and forgettable, now had spotlights and strobes out front and the yellow, beige and brown chipped paint had transformed into a Valentine’s-type aesthetic. Pinks, reds, whites, the typical colors of the heart and romance surrounded you and gave the motel a whole new vibe. The line of ground-level rooms were still present, and though you assumed your key only lead to one of them, you’d have no trouble figuring out which. One door in particular, smack dab in the middle seemed to be pulsing with life. The paint seemed to be a shade darker on this door, and pink smoke spilled out from underneath the crack. It was like it was luring you in, tempting you to enter. It was as if pheromones leaked from its crevices. You placed a shaky hand on the door knob, entered the key with the other, and gave it a twist. It opened with a hiss, like pressure releasing. You stepped inside, the door closing on its own behind you.

The room around you was mesmirizing, unlike anything you’d seen on Jabberwock Island before. Scattered around were velvety plush love seats and cushions in crimson reds and deep pinks. The carpet was luxurious and pink lava lamps stood nearly five feet tall in the corners of the room. Soft lighting set a dreamy mood. The floor underneath the carpet was checkered tile like a chessboard. Above you dangled a large, expensive-looking crystal chandelier with heart-shaped accents. In the middle of the room was a round, almost comically large bed with a thick red duvet and a mountain of pillows. Your eyes bounced around the room, taking it all in with wonder, until they settled on the area just beside the bed.

“No way…” You gasp lightly, hands coming up to cover your mouth.

“Hello there, (Y/N),” Nagito smiled back at you: genuine, warm, welcoming. His eyes creased into little lines with the expression. Dressed in his usual attire, he raised a hand to wave gently.

It was like every step of this journey, every new discovery proved over and over to you that this was in fact, a dream. You had to be asleep for Nagito to be here. Nagito… Out of all of your classmates, fate chose your crush to place upon you. It felt like an ambush, like a trap.

Your feelings for Nagito had blossomed almost immediately upon meeting him. There was physical attraction at first sight. He was tall, thin, with a pronounced Adam’s Apple and veiny arms. His pale skin was vampiric almost, translucent in the bright sun, especially when he went swimming with little on but his trunks. His hair was wispy like cotton candy, soft and full. You imagined running your hands through it often. You were lured in by his kind and helpful personality. After the first class trial, when you all learned of his true disposition, you fought to keep your feelings under wraps. He was dangerous, volatile, unstable, and a whole lot of other negative adjectives, so you held it all in.

Still, you couldn’t deny your attraction to the mystery that came along with him. He was obviously extremely intelligent, often moving behind the scenes and one step ahead of everyone else. His mind and the way it worked, just the way he talked was alluring to you. It often felt like he was flirting with you when you were around him. You just assumed he was just trying to butter you up to use you, trying to get closer to further his goals of “hope.”

You tried to be around him as little as possible, though… or that’s what you wanted your peers to perceive. You tried to only hang out with him when you had an excuse: looking for clues and evidence, during investigations, interrogating him, trying to get closer to him under the guise of wanting to control his crazy so he wouldn’t hurt your friends. In reality, you enjoyed every moment spent with him. He could be scary at times though for sure, getting all wild and frantic when speaking of the future and his plans for hope, or even knowing he was plotting when he was quiet. Which is why it was so odd that he was almost… shy at the moment?

“(Y/N)...?” He cleared his throat, gaining your attention once again. Shaken out of your trance, you made eye contact with him, feeling instantly a bit shy yourself.

“Yes, Nagito?” You speak softly, never moving an inch. This felt surreal.

“I knew it would be you…” He smiled just barely and took a step forward, a gleam in his eye.

“Nagito… do you know what’s going on here?” You inquired, and he nodded enthusiastically. Always a step ahead.

“When I learned of this place, I just knew it would be you that showed… after all, you’re the ultimate shining hope that eclipses all others! It could only be you!” His arms were outstretched as if to embrace you, or welcoming you to embrace him, but yet he didn’t step any closer.

Ah, yes, his ideal… you think to yourself. He was obviously very mentally ill, you’d gathered, obsessed with the idea of hope even if there had to be an event of despair that preceded in order to propel forward such hope. Sometimes it was vague, to you at least, what hope meant to him. He seemed to know very well what he meant, though nobody else did. Not one hundred percent of the time, anyway.

“So, where should I begin? Tell me how best to serve you! Let me please you!” He took a large stride forward, grasping your hand in his own and bringing it to his lips in a gentlemanly gesture. Like some victorian nobleman greeting a lady, he kissed the back of your knuckles as if he revered and respected you highly. Taken aback by the sudden action, you jerked your hand away.

You felt hesitant… Weren’t you supposed to be his ideal? Why is he all up on you, then, asking to serve and please you?

“Please, allow me to be your stepping stone. Use me, let me be your tool for hope! I know I’m less than nothing, but if I can help you even a microscopic amount, I can die happy!” He fell to his knees, wrapping around your legs like a child latching onto their mother. He looked quite pathetic, actually. He ran a cold, pale hand up and under the pant leg of your pajamas and you shivered. Your heart rate began to pick up at the skin to skin contact. “Whip me if it pleases you, if it feels better and relieves your stress. Hit me! Take out your build-up from the day on me, so you can continue to work hard for the cause of hope!”

This is wrong… You shook him off gently, backing away until your back hit the door. He stood, a displeased look across his face.

“Nagito…”

“Am I fucking it up? I can do better, please. I’ll do anything for you!” He began to shuck off his outer layer of clothing, his green coat. You found your eyes instantly glued to the veiny expanse of his ghostly white arms, the callous of his knuckles, the way his Adam’s Apple bobbed when he swallowed nervously and-

No… this is wrong! You repeatedly to yourself mentally. Reluctance, sweat running down the back of your neck, this awkward knot in your stomach. You felt confused. This had to be wrong. He probably didn’t really feel this way. Not about you, anyway. Monokuma influenced this for sure… obviously. How could he see you as an ideal? There was no way… you had to get out of here… back to your room and…

But then again… this was a dream. Your mind wandered. This was some kind of freakish lucid dream that you could be aware of and be in control of. Who could fault you for enjoying a dream? When would you ever get an opportunity like this - with your crush of all people - ever again? Maybe you should just… let go… enjoy the night.

Nagito, now devoid of his coat, crossed his arms at his pelvis, taking up the bottom hem of his white t-shirt and began to lift it with the intent to remove it altogether, exposing his belly button and the veins that ran down his lower abdomen. He looked to you for approval. He couldn’t help but notice that even with his eagerness to please, you had a twisted expression on your face. It was uncertain, puzzled, maybe upset with his efforts? You certainly weren’t paying attention to him, that was for sure. He let go of the shirt, and it fell back into place.

“Am I still disappointing you?” His words brought you back to the present, and you looked him up and down once again, stepping a bit forward and back fully into the suffocating ambience of the suite. You were tempted, so very tempted by the mere sight of him. Monokuma had said this was a building of lust and romance. “It is to be expected. I am a total filthy useless loser, and you are the epitome of goodness and cleanliness in this world.” He spoke matter-of-factly, now approaching you again, circling you like a hawk with it’s prey. “Hmmm… well maybe, you aren’t as clean as you’d like people to think?” Suddenly, more forceful than you’d ever seen him, you found yourself pushed back, up against the wall, and he held you there, pinned by his own body weight.

“N-Nagito!” You sputtered, more shocked by the position he now had you in than than anything else so far on this very strange night. But wasn’t he all submissive just a second ago? This is what you meant by volatile, unstable…

“Ah well, that’s fine with me, as long as you’re the ray of hope the world needs you to be outside of the bedroom…” His thin fingers trailed up your forearms until they met your hands. Interlocking your fingers with his own, he forced them up and beside your head, locking you into place against the red wall. You swallowed, suddenly feeling very small. His eyes seemed dreamy, lazily glazed over and sultry. A crooked smirk formed upon seeing your flustered reaction. “I have no issue changing strategies…” He leaned forward, whispering suggestively into the shell of your ear. He could feel you tremble at that, content to let him take over. “Your reactions are quite telling.” His grip slipped down from your fingers to your wrists. There was a shit-eating grin, a condescending tone behind his seemingly effortless bravado.

What you were starting to realize was that Nagito could be whoever he needed to be at any given moment in order to meet his goals. In an instant, he could change and adapt. His personality shifted just like that. You questioned how the groveling servant-like act from before could flip into this dominant, aggressively contrasting performance, but that was just it. Nagito’s fantasy was to be the stepping stone that would support and propel the greatest hope the world had ever seen to glory, to have that beacon of hope see him as useful and genuinely feel like he means the world to them. He did this by enabling them to do their best, whatever the cost, therefore, their fantasy was his fantasy. Being what they needed and wanted, that was all he wanted. Their pleasure was his pleasure, like an endlessly looping cycle. You didn’t seem to respond well to the sniveling slave character, so now, he would show you that you could be made to submit to him, that he could be your ideal and force you to relinquish control. If that’s what you wanted, he would fill that role.

His grip on your wrists tightened, a bit painfully. You sucked in air through your teeth at the pressure. He was so lanky and thin, you’d never guess he was this strong. You probably couldn’t shake him off unless you used your full strength and and the boost of an adrenaline rush. Your eyelids fluttered closed, finally accepting the blissful feeling this dream could provide.

“I can tell you like this… You’re trying to hold back all reactions and sounds, but you should just let go… I know already… I know~” He teased, leaning in until his forehead touched yours. The closeness, the invasion of your personal space excited him. He truly didn’t have many opportunities for physical touch in his life. Knowing it was with his ideal match, this experience, all of it set his heart ablaze in his chest. “Who would’ve thought? Heh, wait until the others hear you’re not so innocent…” You knew Nagito as one who never missed a beat, that’s why he was so useful in class trials and during investiagations. So of course he noticed when your bottom lip quivered and the tiniest, quietest moan escaped the depths of your throat. He exhaled amusedly, a puff of satisfaction through his nostrils. A checkmate of sorts. “Oh? You seem to like even the threat of me telling…” He was smug, so very smug.

“N-No, that’s not true…” You breathed out an overstimulated, constrained response.

“You want me to be meaner to you?” It was posed as a question, but he wasn’t asking for permission. Without waiting for a response, he firmly pressed his mouth to yours, lips enveloping your own. Your head tilted to meet his, melding perfectly into each other. Your hands itched, begging to be allowed move, to run your fingers through his hair, but he wouldn’t release his grip on your wrists. He loved to feel you struggle against him. Pulling back from the kiss, he allowed you a moment of air. “Okay, okay… I’ll extend this one little kindness…” he whispered, throaty and intoxicating. He let go of your left wrist, using that hand instead to move to the front of your pajama shirt. He popped upon the first button with a single graceful movement. With your newly freed hand, you savored your first little taste of the cloud-like texture at your fingers. You were in heaven. His hair was just as fluffy and soft as you’d always imagined.

As his fingers descended down and down, removing the obstacles of every button in his way, you looked over his shoulder at the expansive, lavish bed behind him. It seemed a very long night was ahead of you.

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dragondemoness · 2 years

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Mahiru, Tenko, Kaede, Miu, Kirumi, Mikan and Junko with the Younger brother reader of Akane who is ultimate street fighter reader but he's stoic but very affectionate and habitually wanders off and ends up in weird places and situations. Also is a bit ditzy despite his stoic appearance

Mahiru, Tenko, Kaede, Miu, Kirumi, Mikan and Junko with an S/O who's Akane's Stoic but Chaotic Younger Brother

Mahiru Koizumi

She thought Akane was concerning enough, but you were worse

Instead of getting into fights all the time, you ended up in situations she didn't even know were possible

Like this one time you were both on a date at a nice restaurant, and you left to use the bathroom, and managed to destroy one of the toilets

And it wasn't because you were using it

Or this one time you were in the park together, you climbed a tree and got stuck, and the fire department to get you down

Mahiru has the fire department on speed dial at this point

She gets so exhausted with your antics

The worst part is that she never sees them coming

But she does enjoy your affections though

She can't stay mad when you're so adorable

Tenko Chabashira

She gets very irritated with your antics

She feels like she has to babysit you all the time

She can't even trust you to mow the lawn

When you tried, you basically mowed the ground bald

Like how does a person even do that

And when you wandered off to talk to Gonta, you ended up running away from an entire hive of bees while he desperately tried to rein them in

Tenko just facepalmed herself before going to help Gonta

She has no idea how she puts up with you

Your affection isn't terrible, but she acts a little tsundere-ish about it

She still loves you though

Kaede Akamatsu

Sometimes you can be fun, sometimes you stress her out

She just wants to enjoy a nice date without worrying about what you might do

It's impossible to rein you in

Like you were once on a nice park date, and you wandered off

She called your phone and you were on a boat, with the excuse that you wanted to find the lost city of Atlantis

She's lucky you managed to come back

You're probably gonna give her a heart attack one of these days

But your affection somehow makes up for it

Miu Iruma

She thinks your antics are funny as hell

If you wander off without her, it is annoying when she has to drag you back every time

But, for example, when you were watching fireworks and you managed to set the stand on fire, she was just cackling

It's only annoying if you commit crazy by yourself

When she's with you, it's funny most of the time

But you're not allowed in her lab

She doesn't trust you in there

She loves your affection, even if she denies it

When you're not acting like morons, you're usually cuddled up together

Fun for the whole family

Kirumi Tojo

She knows how to deal with your chaos most of the time

She's careful not to let you run off, at least without her

Most of the time, it works

Other times, you take a plane to Brazil in only two minutes

There is no rhyme or reason to what you do

Like when you destroyed her teamaker trying to make her tea

It was a nice gesture, but come on

She does enjoy your affection though

Our precious maid girl deserves love

Mikan Tsumiki

She thought Akane was worrying, but you’re something else entirely

You keep her on the edge of her seat, but for a different reason

She has like, six first aid kits on hand when you’re around

There is no telling what you’ll do

She is so horrified when you wander off and get lost

She once found you with your head stuck in a fence because you wanted to see if it would fit

Sometimes, it’s more tame

Like you’ll have other students walk into Mikan’s office to find her wrapped in bandages, laying on the floor

Thanks to your shenanigans

And poor Mikan is just like “well I guess I can work with this”

But she does love your affection

It makes up for all the horror you cause her

Junko Enoshima

How.

She just wants to know how you end up in the strangest situations ever

And you don’t even mean to do it half the time

It just happens

Like when you were at the shopping mall and you got stuck in a clothing rack

Or another time when you just ran up to the nearest window, jumped out of it, and took a bus to a random city

It can be pretty fun when you’re together though

And she does enjoy your affections

But honestly, sometimes you need to just stay at home

But knowing you, you’ll probably manage to cause chaos there too

#danganronpa #danganronpa x reader #danganronpa trigger happy havoc #danganronpa goodbye despair #danganronpa killing harmony #mahiru koizumi x reader #tenko chabashira x reader #kaede akamatsu x reader #miu iruma x reader #kirumi tojo x reader #mikan tsumiki x reader #junko enoshima x reader

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vrisrezis · 2 years

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I'm in love with your "dr characters + their ideal partners" posts. It all feels very true to their characters.

By any chance, would you write the sdr2 cast + the types of people they would hate? I'd just love to analyze/see what opinions they might have on other charactees I know.

Keep safe, I love your writing!

TYSM !!! I’m glad u agree :) this was rlly fun !

Mahiru would hate anyone that’s lazy, I feel as though this would be obvious to her though, she’s an open book and makes it very clear she hates those that are unreliable. If you remind her of her father, she just isn’t interested!

Peko would hate you if you acted like you were of the moral high ground but deep down were a piece of trash that didn’t actually care about others at all. The reason she liked fuyuhiko was because despite how he acted he has a kind heart deep down, so having somebody be the complete opposite.. she would hate that kinda person.

Ibuki doesn’t hate people really, but when it comes to romantically interests she’d be the least interested in somebody with an attitude like fuyuhiko or more accurately, hiyokos. She’s not gonna be very attracted to somebody that constantly belittles her and makes her feel bad, but I also find that ibuki things being kind to those around you is an important thing? She would be put off by this, deep down of course.

Hiyoko would hate you if you didn’t know how to defend yourself, perhaps like Mikan. It just reminds her of her old self and it would make her just fucking hate looking at you. However, I can see her somehow getting over this if she ended up liking you for some reason.

Mikan wouldn’t hate you either, but she wouldn’t like somebody that’s mean to her. It would form a toxic relationship with her for obvious reasons, she would feel an intense need to get you to forgive her already for living, maybe you do constantly berate her but you care about her somewhere right? She knows you make her feel awful all the time but it’s okay right?

Nekomaru hates the idea of dating somebody who isn’t themselves. Who is constantly trying to be somebody else, he’s an honest guy and he just can’t stand the idea of dating somebody who can’t be honest to anybody, especially themselves.

Gundham is similar to nekomaru, he cannot stand dating a liar. Dating somebody who isn’t true to themselves, but at the same time he also feels like it’s due to the trust issues he possesses that makes him feel this way. Also not being an animal lover cuz. Tf

Nagito would hate anyone that’s .. yknow.. sad. Miserable. It’s the epitome of despair and he would hate somebody like that. To add onto this, being talentless. To him, you’re just boring and average and do nothing to improve society.

Chiaki wouldn’t want to date somebody who’s overly negative. It’s one thing to be pessimistic but being a Debby downer about everything is just upsetting to her and she’s extremely bothered by this. She won’t say too much on it though.

Sonia would hate if somebody was just simply a shallow individual. She’s a kind person and cannot imagine dating somebody that doesn’t care for others or have empathy in anyway. Especially for animals!

Akane can’t stand the idea of somebody constantly blubbering about how pathetic and useless they are. Like she doesn’t hate Mikan or anything, but somebody that uses being a victim as a shield for holding accountability. That’s the shit she truly hates.

Souda just can’t stand the thought of dating anyone that is like junko but honestly that’s really it. Souda is a pretty open guy and doesn’t hate people all that easily and would be down to date most people. You’d have to be downright terrible for him to hate you.

Fuyuhiko would hate to date anyone that made him feel like he didn’t matter to them. Example; not answering his texts, calls, only talking to him to get things from him, etc. he hates people like that so much.

Hajime hates the idea of dating an egotistical asshole to be honest. He just can’t imagine it, maybe it comes from a place of insecurity and a lack of confidence but he finds egotism annoying. He can excuse it if it’s due to an inferiority complex though.

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ohmyronpa-imagines · 10 months

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Hi! Can I get a Fuyuhiko, Kokichi and Korekiyo X a reader who is very clumsy and forgets things easily?

I bet you thought I was dead, huh? Nope, I'm just a procrastinator and a student! Thank you for your patience! <3 -Mod Hajime

Fuyuhiko, Kokichi, and Korekiyo with a Clumsy & Forgetful Reader

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu

Okay, one clumsy person wasn’t too bad, but two? Between you and Mikan, Fuyuhiko couldn’t stand being in the classroom. One minute everything was fine and the next both of you were on the ground and Mikan was in an impossible position. At least whatever was going on with the nurse wasn’t happening to you.

He just didn’t get it. How were you so clumsy? Was there some genetic issue, did you have a weak leg? He wanted to ask you but 1. It felt rude to do that, and 2. It was kind of his whole thing to not care about anyone.

So he remained concerned in silence.

Over all, you were a nice person and you weren’t as annoying as some of the other characters in the class, even if his confusion and concern grew with each day.

Not only were you clumsy, but you were also the most forgetful person he knew. It wasn’t even minimal things you were forgetting, like what you ate for breakfast. It was the names of people, what things were called, the test on Friday, ect.

It finally reached a breaking point where he had to ask you. What was going on?

When you answered him he felt dumb. No, you didn’t have a bad leg and you didn’t hit your head either. You were just born that way. It didn’t hinder how you lived your life because after so many tumbles you could just laugh it off.

What was there to be embarrassed or worried about? People fall and forget all the time! You just happened to do it more than others.

Your words stuck with him. You were just yourself. Unashamed of being yourself and uncaring of other people’s opinion of you. It was admirable, something he’d never been able to do.

Afterwards, Fuyuhiko found himself trying to open up and you ended up supporting him without trying to. He would start to help you stand up after a fall and he’d remind you of things when you forgot.

Somehow your clumsy-ass saved him from being closed off forever.

Kokichi Ouma

Honestly, he found you mildly amusing at best, being clumsy or forgetful didn’t make him interested. If that was what interested him, he would’ve been all over his upperclassman, Mikan.

Still, there was at least something fun about you. Because you forgot stuff so easily he could easily trick you into helping him. You were like a less innocent and dumb Gonta to him!

When he started to rope you into his pranks and schemes it was just something to pass the time. He had tons of lackeys and now you were one of them.

That was until one day, while you two were preparing a prank that involved messing with the sprinklers in your classroom something bad happened. You had insisted on loosening the sprinklers and while Kokichi was still preparing tie-dye, you had fallen off the ladder.

He watched you hit the ground with the ladder falling on you and felt a weird pain in his chest. Was he actually worried for you? Apparently, he was.

Before he could check you for an injury you pushed the ladder off of you and started laughing. It surprised him but it slowly began to make sense. Someone so accident-prone had to have developed some resilience over time, right? Your skull was probably reinforced with metal or something with how many times he saw you trip over your own feet in the halls.

Once he was convinced you were okay he chose to finish with the sprinklers and fill the capsule he brought with the dye. Both of you were wearing white and when the rest of the class entered Kokichi stood up on Ryoma’s desk and lifted a match up to the sprinklers, triggering the prank.

You had forgotten the prank while the lesson was happening but once the dye sprayed out of the sprinklers, you remembered what you had set up.

By the time the school managed to shut the sprinklers off, the entire class was covered in red, blue, yellow, and whatever colors bled together.

Even with your clumsiness and forgetfulness, Kokichi didn’t mind hanging out with you. It made it more fun because not only did you help with his endless schemes, you would forget it too, giving him another genuine reaction.

It was at a certain moment when he saw you laughing that he realized that maybe you weren’t so bad.

Korekiyo Shinguji

Everyone tripped over things and forgot, it was just the way humans were. Yet, you seemed to be the exception of that average.

The first day of class you fell through the door, tripped over Akamatsu’s desk, and dropped literally everything you were holding. Kiyo wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do.

Was he meant to help you? Maybe you had done it on purpose and it was a joke. He chose to leave you be, though now he was interested.

Every day it was something new. You got tangled in his hair once and Kirumi had to untangle you. Another time you somehow fell out of your chair and brought the whole desk with you. Was it possible you had been cursed?

Not only were you clumsy, but you were also very forgetful, not that he minded. You sat near him so he was willing to assist you. It had gotten to a point where he would just bring a printed copy of his notes for you in case you forgot to bring them or write them for that matter. Every time you apologized, though he reassured you that he didn’t mind.

He really didn’t. You were intriguing to him. Studying your behavior was fun because while you were predictable, you were also incredibly difficult to understand. There wasn’t really a pattern to your clumsiness or something specific you would forget. All he could do was ask questions and watch.

At some point he had started considering you a friend and less of something to study. Your resilience and confidence were admirable. You weren’t ashamed of being forgetful or clumsy like others were.

He enjoyed your presence, even if your clumsiness could result in both of you falling. The number of times he’d had to save you from falling down the stairs was almost as common as you tripping over your own feet, which is to say it had been a daily thing at one point. Still, he didn’t dislike being around you.

There was still no explanation for why you were so forgetful and clumsy but Kiyo found that it didn’t matter anymore. You were just yourself and that was all humans really needed to be.

#mod hajime #danganronpa v3 #fuyuhiko kuzuryu #kokichi ouma #korekiyo shinguji

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sailormoonrewrite · 1 year

Text

Episode 7: Usagi Learns Her Lesson: Becoming a Star is Hard Work

Cries and cheers of her fans drifted through the large theatre. The stage lights burned her eyes as she sang her latest song until her diaphragm burned. The speakers blaring so loudly she could barely focus. Her costume itched everywhere. Her painted face ached from smiling so much, however, she knew she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t disappoint anyone.

“Thank you, Tokyo! You’ve been wonderful!” She said as the shouts got louder and stronger as she began to leave the stage all the while blowing kisses to the audience as she disappeared backstage. Another show was over.

She headed straight to her dressing room where she knew she would be safe from stares and blinding lights at least for a little while and wouldn’t have to wear a mask for a little while.

Inside her dressing room, she washed off the heavy makeup she wore for every show before removing her elaborate idol outfit and replacing it with a plain white robe before finally plopping down onto her makeup chair. Yawning, she caught sight of herself in the mirror and smiled.

“Shiratori-san,” called a male voice from outside which turned her gaze from her reflection to the door. “Are you decent?”

“Um...yes! Please come in!” she called out and soon enough the door was flung open and in walked her manager Hoga Yoshi, a man with a blazing bright smile that could charm anyone into doing what he want.

“Wonderful work tonight!” he said while throwing his arms in the air.

“Thank you, Hoga-sama,” she said back with a small smile.

“No, thank you!” Hoga-sama continued. “Thanks to tonight’s performance, the company just called me about having you do an international tour.”

“An international tour?” she asked, a little afraid. She just finished her nationwide tour and now they already wanted her to do another one so quickly?

“Just think about it, Malaysia, China, South Korea! Maybe even a few Western countries will all know the name, Shiratori Mikan!” Hoga-sama continued with a blaze of fire in his eyes. Pride? Greed? She didn’t know. Mikan just put on her mask and nodded Hoga-sama continued about ‘her’ future as her eyes drifted away to the still-open door. “With my help, Shiratori-san, you’ll be the most popular and well-known idol on the planet!” Before she could say anything, he was already out the door.

An international tour.

The thought made her loudly sigh. Mikan supposed she shouldn’t complain since this was the life she signed up for the moment she chose the life of a star over the life of an average sixteen-year-old and yet...didn’t she have a choice?

Mikan’s head fell into her hands as she began to take deep, heavy breaths.

After what felt like hours (but was only a few minutes), Mikan lifted her head and turned toward her reflection. She didn’t look happy.

She tried to smile.

It didn’t work.

Mikan sighed as tears started to pierce her eyes.

She couldn’t stop crying.

She looked sad in the mirror.

And then she didn’t.

Her reflection smirked.

She didn’t.

And before Mikan even knew what happened, everything just went black.

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It had been a bad day in middle school for the fourteen-year-old secret superheroine, Tsukino Usagi. Today she woke up late and so she ended up being late for school and then she forgot her homework! Now all of this was very normal, but what wasn’t very normal was what came next. Now, the blonde knew that she wasn’t exactly the greatest student, and sure that might make Sakurada-sensei mad, but to make her clean the entire classroom?! Now that had to be some kind of cruel and unusual punishment somewhere!

As Usagi groaned over the unfairness of it all, a pair of fingers snapped directly in her face. “Usagi!” cried the voice attached to the fingers.

Usagi quickly came out of her trance to see Naru standing next to her. “You know if you keep dazing off like that, Sakurada-sensei might make you do this for the rest of the week,” Naru said as she turned to dust the shelves.

Usagi groaned at the thought of being so unjustly punished before saying “Don’t worry, Naru-chan!” with a bright smile before going to clean each and every desk with the gross chemicals they had to use. “And sorry you’re staying here with me,” the blond superheroine continued since she did feel really bad that instead of being home listening to music or playing video games, Naru was helping Usagi with her punishment.

“Hey! That’s what best friends are for right? Being miserable together when one of them is being punished,” Naru said with a joking smile which made Usagi laugh out loud. “However, for the rest of the week, you’re paying for all my milkshakes!”

“Hey! No fair,” Usagi said as she tossed a rag at Naru who simply laughed it off before trying to chase her blonde, blue-eyed best friend which filled the ultra-boring classroom into a den of fun and laughs. Sure, they really weren’t supposed to because you know punishments and all that, but the blonde and redhead couldn’t really find themselves caring! Especially the blonde since because of her ‘special secret’, she’s been having to deal with evil, energy-stealing monsters that feed on people’s desires and magic-talking cats insisting she trains more, little moments like this where she could just hang out with her best friend were getting really rare.

“Greetings, ladies,” came a familiar voice that caused the girls to stumble over a couple of desks and ended up smacking into each other causing them to fall and hit the tile floor. Furious, the two girls looked up and they both groaned. It was Umino! Did he have to come in now? They were having fun!

“What do you want, Umino?” Usagi said angrily as she and Naru picked themselves off the dusty floor.

“I just thought you girls would want to see this,” he said as he pulled out a rolled-up flier from a thin air and tossed it open revealing a picture of a beautiful brunette with field green eyes and a youthful face posing like a singer in front of a brightly lit, rainbow-colored stage and underneath were pink words that read, Make Your Dreams Come True! Join Famous Idol Group! Audition for the Cinderella Caravan Today! Hosted by Our Newest Shining Star Shiratori Mikan!

“Shiratori Mikan!” Naru cried out in joy as she grabbed the flier with stars in her eyes.

“Shiratori Mikan?” Usagi asked, thinking that name sounded way too familiar but she couldn’t remember why. Well, okay, she was obviously an idol so maybe she heard it from a store or a commercial or something, but something inside was telling her that wasn’t it.

“Are you seriously telling me you don’t know who Shiratori Mikan is?!” Naru cried out in disbelief and then shoved the poster in Usagi’s face. “She’s only the newest, upcoming idol in Japan!”

“And she also attended our school top of her class before being recruited when she was 16,” Umino said as he took back the poster from a suddenly irate Naru. “She’s absolutely the perfect woman! Beautiful, smart, and she seems so incredible on stage!”

“I didn’t know you were such a big fan, Umino,” Naru asked with a hand on her hip and an annoyed expression on her face.

“How could I not be?” Umino said in a daze as he squeezed the poster causing it to wrinkle before pulling it back to look at it. “Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have gone to this school when she was here,” he continued as both girls just rolled their eyes.

As Umino continued on and on and on about how amazing the pop sensation was and that he’d give, Usagi was thinking back about what was actually on the flier he showed them. Something about dreams coming true and auditions and stars.

Wait a minute.

Usagi’s eyes shot open.

Dreams come true?! Audition?! Star?!

Suddenly, Usagi was struck by a vision!

It was of her on a beautifully lit stage in an elaborate idol costume that kind of resembled her Sailor Moon fuku with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of fans shouting and cheering her name as she sings so beautifully it makes birds want to sing with her. Not only that but on stage, she was the most beautiful, most elegant dancer who never missed a beat of the music as she did elaborate spins and twists and turns that made the already happy crowd wild. As she would stay there showing off her moves to the audience who would absolutely adore her then a rain of rose petals would come in and then her true love, Tuxedo Mask would jump down and propose to her right then and there. She would of course say yes and then he would grab her along the waist and gently stroke her bright red cheeks as her idol dress transformed into a beautiful wedding dress and veil. Then, slowly, he would inch closer and closer to her as she puckered her lips to meet him and-

“USAGI-CHAN!” Tuxedo Mask screamed. No. Wait. That didn’t sound like her precious masked savior. That sounded like Naru-chan. Wait. NARU-CHAN!

Usagi’s eyes burst wide open to see that instead of embracing her handsome hero, she was instead seconds away from kissing her obviously flushed, obviously embarrassed best friend.

Usagi’s face was a similar crimson color as she quickly released Naru and fell over from the shock Naru hid her face behind her hands while Umino was just a frozen statue.

You know it’s moments like this that make you wish the Earth would just swallow you up.

Unfortunately, no such luck for Tsukino Usagi today.

“S-sorry Naru-chan,” Usagi said while do everything to avoid eye contact with her best friend so she didn’t have to address the big elephant in the room.

“D-Don’t worry about it,” Naru said, clearly wanting to avoid the subject as well.

Still, with a bright red face, Usagi stumbled to her feet and swiped the poster away from their nerdy friend, and stared at the beautiful idol, and then at her best friend. “We should try out Naru-chan!” Usagi said grabbing Naru’s shoulders and coming very close to her redheaded friend’s face.

Naru avoided Usagi’s eyes as she said, “Us?”

“Of course, us! Who would be better?!” Usagi cried out in joy with stars in her eyes. “Just imagine, you and me starting our own idol duo, going on tour, and becoming famous!”

“It does sound amazing,” Naru said, stars started to form in her own eyes. “Wait...we don’t know anything about being idols!”

“Well, that’s why they’ll teach us and besides it can’t hurt to just try out, right?” Usagi said as she showed the picture of Shiratori Mikan to Naru who gently took it from her friend who stared at, thinking. Come on, Naru-chan. PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!PLEASE!

Naru looked up at her friend with a dreamy smile. “Alright! Let’s do it!” The two girls then proceeded to break glass with their squeals of joy alone as they danced around with glee.

“Wait a minute! What about Usagi’s punishment!?” Umino, who they kind of forgot was still in the room, said with his hands on his hips and clearly annoyed. “Sakurada-sensei might find out and when she does, Usagi will be in even bigger trouble and-” before he could get another word out, the two girls dogpiled him with cleaning supplies as they booked it out the door.

“Thanks, Umino!” Usagi called back as she and her redheaded best friend booked it out of the school before they could get caught.

“We’ll be back soon!” Naru yelled as well, knowing Umino must not be excited about having to clean the classroom all on his own.

Oh, well. They’ll make it up to him later when they become famous, world-renowned pop idols!

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Following the directions on the poster to a local idol trainee academy, the blonde and redhead were met by a huge crowd of girls around waiting to be let in for the auditions, all looking hopeful and happy.

Honestly, it looked so cheery and festive it made Usagi smile to see so many girls there wanting to make their dreams a reality. As Usagi surveyed the crowd of wide-eyed girls, she felt Naru’s hand grip tighten with her green eyes quickly looking around. That was weird. What was going on with Naru?

Before Usagi could get to the bottom of her friend’s strange behavior, a semi-familiar male voice began to speak over the speakers. “Welcome, ladies,” it said which caused the giggling, happily talking teenage girls to quiet down. “Today you have the unique pleasure of participating in the upcoming idol group The Cinderella Caravan led by the one and only Shiratori Mikan!” Loud applause and cheers sounded out from the crowd, including Usagi and Naru who were happily clapping along. “Speaking of Shiratori-chan, as an extra treat, all of you will be having the pleasure of meeting her!” This made the crowd go insane as people began to happily chant about how amazing and adorable she is and how they wanted to be just like her.

“Isn’t this amazing, Naru-chan?!” Usagi asked, well shouted over the crowd of screaming girls, to her best friend who was staring at the ground with a weird expression. It was like she wasn’t paying any attention to her. “Naru-chan?!” Usagi called again, this time to just get her to look at her.

Naru seemed to snap out of whatever daze she was in and looked up at Usagi who staring intently at her, trying to figure out why she wasn’t being herself. “Sorry, Usagi-chan!” Naru said pulling away her hand to scratch the back of her head. “Must’ve just gotten lost in thought there,” Naru continued before giving a small but barely reassuring smile.

Usagi, from the look on her face, was clearly not convinced. However, there was no time to dwell on this as the speakers went off again announcing, “Alright, Cinderellas, it’s time to make your dreams a reality!” This was barely announced as girls began to shove and push with huge smiles on their faces to be the first to make their ways into the academy. Unfortunately, this also came at the cost of knocking both Usagi and Naru onto the hard concrete beneath them.

Great! Now they were going to have bruises on their bums!

“Ow!” Usagi groaned as she rubbed her bruised bum. “What the heck!? I can’t believe they just threw us onto the ground! It’s not like the contest is going to grow legs and run off!” Usagi shouted but it was clear that her yells of righteous indignation were barely heard or cared about as the girls around them pushed and shoved to be one of the first inside. This made the blonde secret senshi burn with fury as she clenched her fist ranting about how rude the other girls were. If this was on TV she bet she would have steam coming out of her.

However, she heard a slight groan behind her. It sounded familiar. Was that?

Naru!

Quickly, Usagi spun around and saw her friend still on the ground dejected. “I’m so sorry, Naru-chan!” Usagi said as she stumbled over towards her friend. “Are you okay?!” she asked. “You didn’t hit your head or something?”

Her redheaded friend just shook her head before sighing sadly. “Maybe we should go, Usagi-chan,” Naru said in a small voice as she brought her knees up to her chin.

“What do you mean?” Usagi cried out. Didn’t she want to be famous too? “We came all this way and it’ll be fun! And then we’ll win and become famous and everyone will want us and want to know us and we’ll get any guy we want,” Usagi continued trying to inspire her friend who just stayed sad. “Okay, Naru-chan, you’re really freaking me out,” Usagi said, genuinely afraid. Naru had never, NEVER been like this before. Usually, she was the first to jump at activities and events like this like that one time when they were eleven and Usagi was absolutely terrified about riding the rollercoaster at Dreamland but Naru managed to convince her and it was the best ride she had ever been on! They actually made it a tradition that every year they’d ride it together. Yet now, Usagi couldn’t believe the Naru-chan who practically shoved her onto the coaster and the girl in front of her were the same people.

The girl in front of her looked so scared, so delicate, so not Naru.

“Come on, Naru-chan! What’s wrong?” Usagi asked, well-pleaded, as the sounds of footsteps faded away.

The blonde impatiently waited for her friend to tell her why she was acting so weird when she heard the tiniest little muttering of, “...go...”

“Wh-what?” Usagi asked. Go? Go where? Go inside? She’s trying. The blue-eyed girl looked back to see the green eyes of her best friend.

“I wanna go home,” Naru slowly said before looking down and Usagi literally thought the world was going to stop and light on fire around her.

Go home?

Go home!

Why would Naru want to go home?!

“Why would you want to go home?!” Usagi yelled in disbelief.

Naru looked away with a mix of sadness and fear. “We’re never going to win, Usagi-chan.”

“What are you talking about Naru-chan? Of course, we’ll win!”

Naru glared, yes actually glared, at Usagi which really frightened her. “There are tons of girls here, Usagi-chan! Some who are way prettier and older than us, so why would they ever pick two random fourteen-year-olds?” Naru said as she slowly looked down, tears starting to form in her eyes.

So, that was what Naru-chan was worried about. Usagi looked down sadly as she grabbed her handkerchief from her skirt pocket and slowly started to wipe away the tears in her friend’s eyes. “Just because there’s a lot of girls here,” Usagi began as she slowly eased her friend in for a hug, “doesn’t mean we won’t win and even if we don’t, we’ll still have a lot of fun.” Naru looked at Usagi before starting to stand up but instead of joining her to walk inside, Naru was starting to walk in the other direction! “Oh no, you don’t!” Usagi cried out as she grabbed her arm. “Weren’t you the one who always told me to take a chance even if it might be scary?”

Naru didn’t respond though. Or maybe she just didn’t want to admit Usagi was right. Usagi herself assumed the latter.

“You were!” Usagi said as she pointed one finger in the air before pointing it directly at Naru’s face. “And that is why there’s no way I’m going in there if you’re not there!”

“But...” Naru started before looking at the resolve in Usagi’s eyes before turning away for a moment and didn’t look back. Usagi started to feel worried that her words didn’t reach her. Usagi was honestly starting to worry she was going to have to drag her best friend kicking and screaming inside because there was no way was she going to go in there without her. For now, though, Usagi just stared intently hoping that intimidation will force Naru to come in with her. Um...could that be seen as wrong? Who cares. This is for the greater good! “...I’m still not sure about this, Usagi-chan, but I guess it can’t hurt to try.” Naru then smiled, a bit shakily if Usagi was being honest, but still smiling!

For her turn, Usagi shot back a massive smile as she put her elbow around Naru’s and then started to march them towards the double doors of the academy as the blonde loudly declared, “Just you wait, Naru-chan, we’ll have Mikan-san begging for us to join her group in no time!” This made both girls give each other good-hearted before running into the academy as the doors shut behind them.

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Herded along with the many, many other girls, Usagi and Naru found themselves push and pulled and shoved towards the center of what seemed like a big dome with giant stage lights hanging from the white ceiling that pointed towards a stage that kind of looked like the runways they have in those shows about models Usagi and her mom always watch on the weekends. The stage itself seemed to be made of some kind of glass or plastic surrounded by walls covered in tiny blue curtains.

For her part, Usagi was imagining what it would be like to be up on that stage. It must be amazing! Having people cheer for you, want your autograph, want to be friends with you, people wanting to be you, and have every eye on you!

She was broken from her little daydream when she felt a tiny squeeze in her hand. Usagi looked over to see Naru still had a worried look on her face. The blonde guessed that Naru must still be feeling scared.

Usagi, wanting to help, gave a warm smile to her best friend and gave back a tiny, reassuring squeeze of her own. Looking at Naru’s face, she looked a bit happier which made Usagi a bit happier too. They are best friends after all!

Suddenly, the lights dimmed. Every conversation, every word was silenced. Every girl, including Usagi and Naru, turned their full attention to the stage.

She emerged like a goddess from the ceiling on a decorated swing, a beautiful teenager mocha-brown hair done up in a fancy ponytail with a big, bright blue bow holding it together with her pale skin glistening under the bright yellow stage lights and her emerald eyes glinting with the joy of being the object of everyone’s attention. On her body, she wore a beautiful light purple dress with a wide skirt decorated with blue crystals along the frilly hem. Her pink-colored lips were done up in a wide smile with the beginning of a beautiful song.

Slowly, she descended onto the stage without missing a beat or a note. She walked towards the end of the stage where she reached out to the girls who began to scream in joy as they clearly wanted to get closer.

Usagi and Naru weren’t any different. They were both completely entranced by the beautiful woman. They watched as she danced towards the back of the stage where she began dancing with three other girls as the music picked up and the lights were changing to every color of the rainbow.

Everything was incredible.

The dancing, the singing, the music.

The idols looked so majestic.

Mikan looked divine.

Everything was intoxicating.

At the climax of the song, Mikan shot her arm into the sky before everything went dark.

No music, no light. No dancing, no idols. No talking, no moving. Just darkness.

No one turned from the stage though. No one wanted to.

No one even seemed to want to breathe in that moment.

It was like they were in a trance.

Slowly, slowly the room lights turned on. And there was Shiratori Mikan now dressed in a puffy orange dress with a green sash and matching green bow in her now loose brown hair with that same smile on her face as she now gazed upon the audience below her. For its part, the audience couldn’t help but stare in awe and relief to see her again.

“Welcome ladies to the Cinderella Caravan, where one of you will have the once-in-a-lifetime become a real-life Cinderella and join my idol group where fame and riches beyond your wildest dreams await,” she said in the sweetest voice as she gracefully walked towards the end of the stage. “And of course, I know each one of you is a beautiful and special young woman like her,” Shiratori-sama said as she pointed at someone in the front row. All the audience members turned to the girl at the end of her pointed finger. The girl in question turned out to be a short, stocky twelve-year-old with long hair tied up in pigtails and covered in freckles. “She has such a unique appearance and the fact she’s so young and still trying to dream big!” she continued as she patted the girl on the head. Strangely though, the girl didn’t look happy about it. She was shifting around with bright blush and a big frown as she played with her uniform skirt. Weird. Shouldn’t she be happy? She was the lucky girl that got picked by Shiratori-sama herself to be called an inspiration. The blonde heard whispers in the background. “Now onto our first challenge. Idols can’t just be beautiful, they need to have exceptional endurance. Idols can be on stage for ours and have shows that last for weeks where they not only have to sing and dance. but remain smiling and perfect looking for their thousands of adoring fans to test this we’ll be entering into the personal gym we have here in the academy,” she said as light poured into the room. “Unfortunately, though I want to take all of you, we only have enough room for one hundred of you, so it’s going to be a first come, first serve scenario to anyone who can get to the entrance so...Go!” Shiratori-sama declared with a wide smile before every girl began to shove and push. It was almost like every girl had been taken out of one spell and put into another as they all fought to be one of the lucky hundred.

Usagi and Naru found themselves being shoved and thrown and tossed around in this craziness until they were forced onto their hands and knees with just a hopeless prayer that they might be able to get to the door before everyone else and trying to avoid getting their fingers smashed by the many teenaged girls’ sneakers and heels.

It didn’t work though when Usagi heard Naru give a loud cry which caused her to turn her head to check on her friend who was shaking her hand as if her very life depended on it. “Are you okay, Naru?!” Usagi yelled out in order to be heard over the crowd of girls that surrounded them before crawling over to her friend. As she did so though, she felt something tumble over her which caused her attention to be to the side of her where she saw a semi-dazed girl with pigtails being knocked into another girl with long hair who was winding up to punch someone, causing them all to fall and then to fall into other people. Those people then fall onto other people. And then those people fell onto other people and so on and so on until the was a giant pile of collapsed and deeply confused girls except for the girl who started this and her friend.

Usagi did feel pretty guilty but at least she was able to stand now. Quickly she got to her feet and dove towards Naru who was now staring at the room of collapsed females. “Is your hand okay?” Usagi asked as she sat next to her and Naru simply nodded still in shock over what just happened. “Good!” Usagi cried out before looking over at the unblocked door and a wide, huge smile rose to her face. “Come on!” Usagi yelled as she grabbed Naru up by her other hand and together they made a mad dash for the door though they were careful to not step on the fingers or toes of the girls below them as people were starting to become more aware. Slowly and then quickly, many of the other girls began to rise and chase after Usagi and Naru.

However, they were too late!

Usagi and Naru were already through the door where a man was waiting for them dressed like one of those fancy security suits who proceeded to direct them and the 98 other girls that came piling in after them to another room.

Usagi and Naru squealed in delight!

They were one step closer to their goal!

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Usagi and Naru found themselves in a large gym with what looked like a wooden dance floor covered with one hundred really fancy exercise bikes. Wait, why were those there? Oh. Yeah. Shiratori-sama said this was supposed to be an endurance challenge or something. A challenge of endurance. Fancy exercise bikes. Oh, wait…Oh no. Looking at the really fancy exercise bikes, the two teens stared in horror at what they were about to be subjected to since neither of them was particularly good when it came to athletics. Okay, sure Usagi was secretly Sailor Moon but that still didn’t mean she was that capable when it came to this kind of stuff! And poor Naru doesn’t even have that to fall on! Ugh! Why couldn’t this challenge have been how long could someone play Sailor V!?

Usagi looked over at Naru with worry when suddenly a door to their right swung open. Two people entered the room first it was a bored-looking guy with blonde hair, green eyes, and a red suit. He didn’t seem like a security guard so maybe he was the idol’s manager but for some weird reason, he looked very familiar to Usagi. Maybe she’d seen him on TV or something.

However, he wasn’t important because in walked Shiratori Mikan. She was wearing a huge confident smile and instead of her beautiful idol outfit, was pair of black and blue sweats with a matching short shirt and her chocolate hair was pulled out of her face in an elaborate twist that made her look like the model on one of those workout magazines her mom brings home. Needless to say, every eye was glued to her form as she walked through the crowd of girls who parted as though it was expected of them in the say way you bow for a great queen. Shiratori-sama proceeded to the middle of the room without a care in the world before she stopped in the center where she could be at the forefront of everyone in the room’s attention if she wasn’t already.

“Welcome, ladies! I’m so excited to have so many fresh and lovely faces for our first challenge!” she announced. Wow. Even without a microphone, she was still able to make her lovely voice sing to everyone. “Now that we only have you lucky one hundred, we’ll begin our first challenge of endurance. As you might’ve guessed already, we will be testing your endurance with these incredible exercise bikes. I know this might be difficult for,” she continued as her eyes gazed over the crowd before landing on a particularly plump girl, “some of you. But never fear, myself and my wonderful manager will be watching to ensure that we have a fair and equal challenge for all of you so we can see which 50 girls have the greatest ability to preserve their stamina. Now if you would all like to grab a bike and we can begin,” Mikan said as she walked out of the way, every girl made their way towards a bike.

Usagi hopped onto a bright blue bike before with excitement on her face before she looked over at Naru who had taken the green bike next to her, “Isn’t this exciting, Na-”. Usagi was unable to finish her sentence as she was suddenly now pedaling and very clumsily at that. She didn’t do that!

Shiratori-sama began to speak again. “Now that everyone has a bike, we’re going to begin. With these state-of-the-art exercise bikes we can control the speed with just one remote,” she continued as she brought out a black remote controller with a bunch of strange buttons and a great big dial. “Right now, it’s only on its lowest setting but if I just crank up this nifty little dial,” Shiratori-sama continued as she slowly turned the dial up which caused the blonde to nearly be knocked off her bike out of shock before barely being able to get her footing back. “Isn’t technology just amazing?” Shiratori-sama sang in her sing-song voice before saying. “My manager and I will be watching from the corner and seeing how all of you do and to see which of you get out first, so please do your best and keep your breaths steady!”

The group of girls watched as Shiratori-sama made their way toward her manager who was standing in the corner before turning to face forward.

Usagi was trying her best to keep up with their bikes' speed and pumping her legs as fast as they could go which wasn’t a lot on a good day. However, they were already starting to feel shaky and achy already! She could already feel those pins and needles shoot up like she had been sitting on her legs for like a week. And for some weird reason, she was already feeling super tired! How many dials was she up to? 2! WAH!

Usagi was on the brink of crying when she looked over at Naru who also looked like she was ready to throw in the towel! Usagi was sad for the both of them but before she could tell Naru about their shared pain, she heard something from her left. It sounded like a whisper or something though against the sound of the exercise bikes, she could’ve been wrong.

Still, she was interested and turned to her left. The whisper seemed to come from the girl next to her to someone on her left. Usagi craned her neck to see it was the plump girl Shiratori-sama addressed earlier.

Usagi try to lean in to listen to their whispers but she could barely hear them when the girl’s orange eyes landed on Usagi who sneered in her direction before saying in a cold voice, “Mind your own business.”

“Well, excuse me!” Usagi said putting her hand on her hip. How dare they be so rude to her!? She was ready to go all Sailor Moon on their butts when she noticed the look on the plump girl’s face. She looked really super sad but why? Was it something those girls said? Unfortunately, Usagi didn’t get a chance to say or ask anything as the plump girl stood up from her bike and left with a sad expression on her face. “Hey, wa-” Usagi began when she heard the mean girls whisper again.

“What a loser,” the girl next to her said to a girl ahead of her.

“What was a girl like her doing here anyway?” the girl ahead of her said back. A friend of hers? “Shouldn’t she be shoveling down her eighteenth doughnut or something?!” Hey! There’s nothing wrong with having a lot of doughnuts! And who were they to kick that girl out? This injustice will not stand!

“You shouldn’t be mean to people,” Usagi said, no longer caring about the pain in her legs or the sweat on her face, or how tired she was feeling. All she cared about was stopping these people.

The girl next to her and the girl ahead of her turned to Usagi who put on her best glare though it probably looked more like a pouty kitten. “And who or what are you?”

“I’m Tsukino Usagi and you should go apologies to that girl!” Usagi demanded.

Her demands were met by cruel laughter. “What are you 5!?” said the girl ahead of the other girl.

“Aw, sweetie. The fact is she was never going to win anyway, even Shiratori-chan knew that, so maybe we were actually being quite nice saving her the embarrassment of trying and failing,” the girl next to her said with a chuckle. Usagi’s face was not blaring red from the sheer rudeness of these girls and the injustice of the situation. “Besides what can you do about it?”

“I bet she’s going to try and tell on us,” the girl next to her’s friend said.

Tell on them? That was a great idea! They cheated so they should be kicked out! Surely, Shiratori-sama would see how wrong it was for them to cheat.

Usagi stood up on her bike with her, still pedaling somehow, and waving her hand in the air. “HEY! HEY! I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!” she cried out, causing everyone’s attention to be on her. Even Naru and the two other girls were shocked by the fact Usagi was willing to risk it all for some girl she never knew. “PLEASE, SHIRATORI-SAMA! I HAVE SOMETHING TO REPORT!”

Usagi saw Shiratori-sama look over at her and she thought she saw a look of annoyance on her face that made her cheeks grow red from a different feeling, embarrassment. Thankfully, it looked like she imagined it! Shiratori-sama was now walking over to the blonde with a wide smile on her face and she felt honored to have the idol’s full attention on her. “Is everything alright?” Shiratori began as she walked right up to the blonde.

The blonde teenager was starstruck. She was so pretty! The words died in her throat. Why did she call her over here? Why did the blond bother her in the first place? Shouldn’t she stop?

She heard snickering behind her. She ripped her eyes away from Shiratori-sama and at the two mean girls as the memory of what they did hit her like a sack of bricks. “Shiratori-sama, these two girls were mean to another contestant and I don’t find that very fair!”

“It’s true, Shiratori-sama,” the redhead said, backing up her blonde friend. “I saw the whole thing.”

“I see,” Shiratori-sama said before shrugging. “Well, people are sometimes going to be mean to idols, so if the girl couldn’t handle some light jokes, then maybe she shouldn’t be in show business at all. Honestly, my dear, you should just focus on yourself and not concern yourself with those around you. I mean look at your figure.”

The blond looked down at her body. What did Shiratori-sama mean by her figure? She thought she looked fine. D-didn’t she? “What do you mean?” the blonde asked.

“I mean, look at your thighs and your hips. Tell me do you eat a lot of sweets?” Shiratori-sama asked with a bit of concern on her face.

“Well, I-I guess sometimes…” the blonde said, remembering all the sweets and desserts she loves. Chocolate-covered strawberries, chocolate milkshakes, strawberry shortcakes, and her mom’s famous lemon pies! Sure she wasn’t eating them as often due to the whole incident with that evil bakery but she wasn’t really pulling away from them either.

“Oh, you poor girl!” Shiratori-sama said, startled. “Don’t you know how bad those are for you? They go right to your hips and then in a couple of years or so you’ll be practically bursting! You’d definitely never survive in this business if you keep eating that stuff,” Shiratori-sama said. The words raced around the blonde’s mind. Practically bursting? Her hips? Did she really look that bad?

The blonde looked at herself in one of the adjacent mirrors as she heard laughter and chuckles from some of the other girls, especially the ones she was trying to get in trouble.

She felt something on her head. It was Shiratori-sama’s perfectly manicured hand patting the blonde on the head. “But don’t worry dear. I can help,” she said before she pressed a button and then used the dial to push only the blonde’s bike to maximum speed which forced the blonde into an upright position as she desperately tried to keep up with the bike. Unfortunately, she was now aching everywhere and her mind was rushing as her body was now crying out with pain as her tiredness returned this time worst than ever. She felt her lungs pulse and shake, the sweat turn from a lake to rive under her clothes and on her forehead. Soon enough she could barely feel her legs as her whole body was crying out for its stops.

It stopped. It went back to the second dial causing the blonde to fall onto the seat as Shiratori-sama gave her a smile before clapping her hands, “Well done! There might be hope for you yet!” With that said, Shiratori-sama returned to her spot next to her manager and everything happened as before except people around them were snickering and Usagi now overthinking about her weight.

Did she really look that bad that just anyone could see? Usagi looked around at the other girls. Did they see it too? Usagi grabbed onto her thigh. It didn’t seem too bad but what did she know? Shiratori-sama was this big-time pop star so she must know! Right?

“-chan! USAGI-CHAN!” she heard. Usagi snapped out of her thoughts and looked over the owner of the voice. It was Naru who was now glaring at Shiratori-sama. “Are you okay?” she turned to Usagi with a concerned look.

Usagi put on her typical Usagi smile before saying, “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Naru asked again. “You looked sad there.”

“No, I’m fine. She’s probably right though. I should probably cut back on the sweets,” Usagi said. Naru didn’t look convinced. “No! Really, she’s right! If I want to be in this business, I just need to adjust to it. Shouldn’t be too hard!” Naru didn’t look convinced but sighed in defeat.

Soon after this, more and more girls started to get out until only half of the girls who came in were left including Usagi and Naru and those two mean girls.

“Well done, ladies!” Shiratori-sama said as she was clapping. “Now that we have a much more manageable number of girls, we’re going to pick up tomorrow’s challenge at 12 o’clock sharp where we will figure out the finalists so I want everyone to head home and get a good night’s sleep!”

With that everyone left and started to head their separate ways. Strangely, though they all looked much paler than when they came in.

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Usagi poked at the meat of her nikujaga with the words and laughter of the girls from the endurance challenge ringing in her ears. Thanks to Naru, she was able to make it home just as her mother had finished making dinner and quickly made her a plate upon seeing her face. Unfortunately, Usagi wasn’t very hungry or at least she shouldn’t be. Future pop stars watch their weight she guessed. The blonde teenager stared at her barely touched but delicious-looking and smelling meal. It really did look delicious. Usagi sighed before looking over at the finished dishes of her brother and father who were happily chatting away about something that she didn’t really understand before turning her attention to Luna who was happily devouring her meal of tuna and water.

Usagi growled a bit before she went back to stare at her meal. She should probably eat a little more or else her parents would get suspicious. It was already pretty suspicious that she hadn’t already devoured her meal like she usually did. As Usagi took a small bit of her delicious meal, another smell floated into her nostrils.

It was so sweet! So sugary! So lemony! Oh NO!

“Did you make your famous lemon pie, sweetheart?” her papa asked as Usagi turned her head to the doorway that lead from the kitchen to the dining room to see her mother holding her famous lemon pie! How could she?! AND IT LOOKED SO GOOD!

“I thought it would be a wonderful surprise to celebrate your promotion,” her mama asked as she set the pie down in the middle of the table where the look and smell assaulted poor, innocent Usagi who was desperately trying to resist.

“Well, thank you,” Kenji said as he kissed his wife on the cheek as she took her seat across from Usagi who was in agony. It was so beautiful and so tempting. It was like it was calling for her to take a bite out of it! To let its deliciousness run down her throat and savor it! She knew she couldn’t though. As Shiratori-sama said, that stuff goes right to her thighs, and if she wants to be a star she needs to make sacrifices. Right? Isn’t that right?

But it did look so good!

“Usagi?” her mother’s voice said. Oh no! “Are you alright? You’ve barely touched your food,” her mama said, giving a worried look at Usagi’s mostly full plate. Oh no! They caught on! Think of something quick!

“Oh, I wasn’t that hungry,” Usagi said meekly. At her words, the world stopped turning. A pin could be dropped. The faces of her family were struck by shock. Even Luna looked up from her meal to stare at Usagi. “W-what? I’m just not hungry,” Usagi said as she turned away from her food.

“So Usagi-baka learned to stop stuffing her face?” Shingo asked as he grabbed a piece of the pie.

“Shingo!” their mother scolded. “Are you sure you aren’t hungry, Usagi-chan?”

“Yeah, I’m just not that hungry. I realized that I do eat a lot so I thought I should cut back a little,” Usagi said with a shrug.

“And how did you come to this realization?” her mother asked as she gave that all-knowing mom look.

“It’s not because of a boy, is it?!” Kenji quickly cried as he jumped up with a look of pure horror on his face.

“N-no. I’m actually competing in a contest,” Usagi said in an excited voice.

Kenji and Ikuko looked at each other with confused looks before back to Usagi. Suddenly, Usagi really wished it was just because of a boy. That would be way easier to explain at least. “What kind of contest?” they asked at the same time.

“There’s this pop idol named Shiratori Mikan and she’s holding this contest called the Cinderella Caravan and the winner gets to be a part of her pop group! Isn’t it exciting?!”’ Usagi cried out with joy. Usagi looked at her parents’ faces and they didn’t look happy at all.

“Why do you want to be an idol? You’d probably just end up tripping over your big feet,” Shingo said with a roll of his eyes as he took a large bite of his lemon pie.

“HEY!” Usagi cried angrily. How dare Shingo say that? She won’t end up tripping.

“Shingo that’s very rude to say to your sister,” Ikuko scolded her son before turning to her daughter. “He does have a point, however, do you really this contest is a good idea? You’re not doing very well and school and being an idol is a lot of work.”

“And there’s a lot of weirdos out there! Weirdos who would want to hurt you!” Kenji yelled out, his expression having a really concerned look.

“I know that but it could be fun!” Usagi continued. Why weren’t her parents happy for her? Shingo was one thing but her mama and papa? Shouldn’t they be happy for her? “Besides, Naru-chan is doing it too!”

“We just don’t think it's a good idea, Usagi,” Ikuko said.

“But mama!” Usagi whined. This was SO not fair!

“I’m just being honest,” Ikuko continued. “I’m not going to stop you but I won’t say I’m not worried. You’re not eating because of this contest.”

“I’m just not hungry!” Usagi cried out. She was so angry! “You all just want to destroy my dreams!” Usagi stood up, tears now flowing from her eyes before she ran away from the dinner table. Her legs didn’t stop moving until she was in her own room before throwing herself onto her bed and angrily crying into her pillow.

They were so mean! They should be happy! She got the chance to become rich and famous! She got the chance to be known by the whole world! Shouldn’t they be happy for her? And then stupid Shingo! She wasn’t stupid! She could be graceful if she wanted to be! It was so mean! They were so mean!

As Usagi was thinking over the meanness of everything, she barely heard the door to her room crack open and the shuffling of paws against the floor. “Are you alright, Usagi-chan?” Luna asked as Usagi finally realized she was there.

“Does it look like it?” Usagi bitterly whined. “They’re so mean!”

She felt Luna’s cat eyes peer at her before she heard a loud sigh, “You know Usagi-chan, your parents do have a point though. You already fail a lot in school and you're a Senshi. You have a duty to your princess to find her and the Silver Crystal. Do you really need to add something else to your plate?”

Usagi became so furious at this. Even Luna! Why?! So what if she didn’t have dinner or dessert? So what if she already has a lot to do?! She could do it! Besides! It's none of their business! This was something she wants! Why can’t they just be happy for her? “Well, if you agree with them, why don’t you go sleep with them tonight and leave me alone!” Usagi cried out.

“Usagi?” Luna tried. Usagi didn’t care.

“Go away!” Usagi cried out again before flopping onto her side. She didn’t want to deal with Luna anymore for the rest of the night. She was mean just like her mama and papa!

Usagi heard a sigh and then the whoosh of a jump followed by paw steps that soon faded. Usagi looked over to see that Luna had indeed left. Well…Good!

Usagi went back to her tears with only the thought to show them all she could do it!

Eventually, the blonde passed out, stomach empty and her head spinning from anger.

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Standing next to Naru, Usagi was once more in the now-empty gym. Speaking of empty, Usagi was desperately trying to ignore her own empty stomach. Her stomach wasn’t making it easy though! It was growling and angry! It ached and hurt! But it wasn’t her fault! She had to sneak out this morning! Her parents and stupid Shingo and stupid Luna were going to judge her as they did at dinner last night! And she couldn’t have breakfast! Everyone knew she wasn’t a good cook! Besides, she wasn’t hungry then!

“Are you okay, Usagi-chan?” Usagi heard Naru ask. Oh no! Did Naru see her suffering?

Usagi looked over with a big smile in order to reassure Naru when the door was thrown open and in entered her.

Shiratori Mikan entered, her wide smile on her face and grace in her step as she took her place at the center of everyone’s attention. She was wearing a bright-blue, crystal-patterned leotard with light-purple tights and her silky chocolate locks tucked up into a bun and decorated with a violet headband. “Good morning, ladies!” she said in a jovial voice as she looked over the group of 50. “It’s so wonderful to see everyone so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed since today we’re going to be practicing dancing because when an idol’s on stage, they have to be able to move to the beat while enchanting her audience with her voice. However, dancing isn’t just running around all wily nily, it’s being able to exude the grace and elegance your fandom expects of you so for this exercise, I will be personally teaching you a dance so all you have to do is follow around and try to get it perfect. And to be certain you do,” the whoosh of the doors opening was vaguely heard by the gathering girls and the footsteps following, “my wonderful manager will be supplying you with one of these state-of-the-art pins.” Shiratori-sama said holding up a small pin designed with a 3D glass slipper. “Aren’t they amazing? With this little pin, we’re able to track your movements and record the ones who won’t be joining us in the next round which if all goes to plan will be later today,” Shiratori-sama then watched in eager anticipation as the blonde manager started to spread the pins out to each girl until everyone had one including the blonde and the redhead. “Now that we’re all ready,” Shiratori-sama said. “We’re going to start with a ladylike twirl on one foot like so,” Shiratori-sama said as she rose onto the very tips of her toes and gracefully twirled in a complete circle before stopping elegantly with a bow. “Your turn.”

The girls slowly rose to the tops of their own toes to try and copy the twirl Shiratori-sama. Some were successful, some were not. In the former category was a certain redheaded friend who actually managed to make a full 360 turn before smoothly stopping.

In the latter category was Usagi. Between her empty belly and usual lack of grace and elegance and ability to stop smoothly, her turning was a disaster. She had barely managed to rise to her toes before she was about to trip on them and then when she tried to do the twirl itself, she ended up looking more like a spinning top of destruction especially when she ended up crashing into some other girls. Oh gosh! The look in their eyes was so mean as all Usagi could do was sputter out apology after apology. It was so embarrassing!

“What the heck is she doing here anyway?” Usagi overheard one of the girls say to the other. Usagi recognized her as the girl from yesterday, the one who made fun of the girl from before.

“Isn’t she that weirdo from yesterday?” the girl from yesterday snickered as though they thought Usagi couldn’t hear. Or maybe they just didn’t care if she did. “You know the one who defended the doughnut girl?”

Usagi stared at them. Why were they being so mean to her? She didn’t do anything to them.

However, the blonde didn’t have long to wonder about this since Shiratori-sama voice rang out through the gym. “Wonderful job to most of you,” she said with a beautiful smile toward the crowd of girls. “For our next move we’re going to use our arms and move them to the beat so try to follow along,” Shiratori-sama said as she stared at the girls she brought her arms in close before popping them out and doing some sort of swirl motion to them as one of her upbeat songs played in the background. It looked kind of complicated.

And it was.

Usagi ended up looking like an out-of-control monkey who slipped on a banana peel. She felt ridiculous!

She looked around again to see Naru-chan was doing just fine. Usagi stared in shock. How is Naru-chan doing so well?

However, the dance wasn’t done yet! And despite her hopes, Usagi didn’t get better. No. Somehow she became worse and even accidentally smacked her best friend in the face. This quickly made Usagi panic as she turned to Naru who luckily didn’t seem hurt but she was rubbing her nose. Usagi quickly blurted out sorry after sorry to her friend.

“It’s f-” Naru-chan began.

Laughter ran out behind them. It was those girls again and they were laughing at Usagi who blushed in embarrassment and anger.

“Watch out she might smack you too,” the girl from yesterday told her friend.

“You would think Shiratori-sama would throw her out for being so useless,” the other girl said.

Usagi’s hand turned into a fist. What was with these girls!? Someone should teach them a lesson!

The blonde felt a hand on her fist. She turned to see it was Naru-chan who quietly said, “Just ignore them, Usagi-chan. They’re annoying.”

Naru-chan was right. They were annoying which Usagi hated to admit, even to herself, since she liked to see the good in everyone and everything but she guessed they weren’t actually doing anything. The blonde sighed and turned away from them though she was still mad at them.

The lesson dragged on and with every new dance move and every new song, it seemed like Usagi just got worse and worse. She was tripping over herself falling over her own two feet, missing the beats she was supposed to hit, and stepping on the other girls' toes or falling on top of them which led to a long string of apologies spilling from Usagi’s mouth. She was basically a walking, talking tornado in tights.

And during all this, during her feeble attempts to match the movements of the other girls and sad tries of not being last, she could hear the other girls’ cruel laughter. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just those girls anymore. It was lots of girls now, staring and laughing at her. Usagi felt so small. Usagi felt so sad. Usagi felt so embarrassed. Most of all, Usagi felt so…angry.

This emotion wasn’t one that was unfamiliar to her. In contrast to how she normally was, she knew what it was like to be angry. To have that weird bubbly sensation in your stomach and your face getting all red before you want to scream or break something. She’s had that feeling before when she was dealing with the monsters who kept attacking the city and hurting innocent people or when Shingo kept breaking into her room to steal her favorite Mysterious 2098 Face manga in order to make fun of her with her friends or whenever she has to deal with being in trouble with her parents or at school. However, this kind of anger was different.

She did have that weird bubbly sensation and the red face but not the yelling or screaming part of being angry. No. Her face felt surprisingly stoic as Usagi simply glared at the girls before she who continued their hyena laughs at her expense. However, she may not want to scream but she wanted to do…to do something to them.

With anger rising in her chest and her head getting all fuzzy, Usagi noticed one of the girls laughing so hard that she was actually walking backward toward the fourteen-year-old and her friend. A devious plan came to Usagi at that quick moment.

She slipped out one of her feet.

Only a tiny bit. Not a lot but just enough.

The mean girl barely grazed Usagi’s outstretched foot before she tripped and crashed right into Usagi who smacked her face right into the mirror. That hurt! Luckily, no blood or broken noses but still! OW!

She felt a hand on her shoulder but also heard screaming, “You!” it was the girl she tripped, pointing right at Usagi. “You tripped me!”

The blonde felt herself gulp and all the anger she had faded away being replaced with fear and guilt. “I-I,” Usagi said, trying to get something out but the words got stuck in her throat. Worst of all, every eye turned to watch what was going on.

“I knew it’s always the stupid ones!” the girl screamed as she pushed Usagi straight into her redheaded friend’s arms. “Trying to mess me up, huh!?” the girl demanded as she tried to get closer which made Naru back away.

“I-I,” Usagi sputtered out.

“What is going on over here?” a musical voice rang out. Everyone looked up and all the yelling and screaming was silenced. It was Shiratori-sama with a small frown on her face. “I hope no one’s hurt.”

“She tried to trip me, Shiratori-sama,” a girl said, pointing a long finger at the blonde.

“I-I,” was all the blonde managed out.

“I’m sure it was an accident,” a redhead tried to say.

“You’re her friend so what do you know?!” a girl screamed at the redhead.

“Well, well, this is quite the scene,” Shiratori-sama said before turning to the blonde. “Did you trip her?”

“I-I,” the blonde tried to speak. “Y-yes.” Seems like she can talk after all.

“See! She’s a snake, Shiratori-sama!” the girl said.

“Usagi!” the redhead cried out.

“Well, that settles it then,” Shiratori-sama said before turning to the blonde. “You’re eliminated.”

“Wh-what?” the blonde asked.

“Well, obviously, I can’t let you continue. Someone so bratty and selfish can’t possibly make a good idol,” Shiratori-sama said, never letting her smile fall. “Besides, it’s not like you were ever going to get past this round. You dance like an overweight clown with two left feet.”

The blonde’s eyes started to get wet before nodding.

“C-come on,” she said to the redhead next to her. “Let’s go.” She grabbed the redhead’s hand.

“Oh no. Fortunately, your friend’s actually moving on to the next round,” Shiratori-sama said. “Isn’t that wonderful that at least one of you has talent and doesn’t need to resort to cheap tricks?”

“Really?” the redhead said, shocked pulled away her hand from her friend. She had a sparkle in her eye. Perfect. However, the blonde stared at the redhead in disbelief.

“You’re coming right?” the blonde asked. The redhead stood there. “You’re coming right?” the blonde asked again, sounding desperate. How pathetic. The blonde stared in shock and sadness and then anger before she kicked up her heels and raced out of the gym. All alone.

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Tears poured from Usagi as she simply ran through the streets of Azabujuban, uncaring about who she bumped into or where she was going. She was just so tired, hungry, sad, betrayed, and angry! She just didn’t care anymore!

How could Naru betray her like that?! To stay behind after everything that happened! They were supposed to be best friends, weren’t they!? Usagi knew she did wrong. Usagi knew she shouldn’t have tripped that girl but still! Aren’t best friends supposed to always be on each other’s side!?

Usagi found herself in an alley and just fell to her knees and cried there. Everything was just so unfair! This whole thing had been a mistake! Why?! Why Naru!? Why!?

The tears were just falling uncontrollably now.

“Odango Atama?” a voice. A male voice. A familiar male voice said. Usagi looked up before her face went from sadness to anger. It was HIM! The guy with silver-rimmed glasses and ugly pea soup-colored jacket and eggplant purple plants. Great! As if this day couldn’t get any worse, Usagi just had to bump into the last person she wanted to see! Maybe if she pretends, she’s invisible he would go away. “You know I can see you, Odango Atama.” Well, that didn’t work! “Where have you been? I was starting to wonder why I haven’t been attacked for the last couple of days. Get in trouble or something?” Maybe he’ll get bored and go away if Usagi continues to ignore him. “Odango Atama?” he asked. “Wait…a minute, d-did you join that Cinderella Caravan? Well, I guess maybe you could do a comedy routine or something?”

How did he-Oh right. Her pin. However, Usagi was not in the mood and she looked up at him and screamed. “WILL YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!? I’M NOT IN THE MOOD!”

She saw his expression of joyful mocking turned into shock before…compassion? No. Not from him. He was a jerk…right?

“Wait…you were actually sad?” Usagi heard him quietly mutter. What did that mean? Oh. Who cares at this point!? She hid her face in her knees again. At this moment, she didn’t care what he thought of her. She was just too sad! She did hear shifting though and the wrinkling sound of paper. She looked up and saw the jerk was now sitting next to her with only a small paper bag of something between them. “So, you’re sad,” he stated, sucking her in with those intense sapphire-blue eyes of his. “Why?”

Usagi quickly looked away from him. “Why should I tell you? You’re a jerk, remember?”

“Because I’m here,” he answered. “Besides, it’s no fun messing with someone who's too sad to argue back.”

Usagi glared at this last statement before wondering if she should just tell him. He probably wouldn’t care one way or another and hopefully wouldn’t judge her for her actions. Besides, maybe talking about it would help. “Well, yes I was in the Cinderella Caravan but I got eliminated just because I may have, sort of, kind of tripped this other girl,” Usagi said the last part in a mutter before seeing the unfazed look in his eyes. Somehow that actually made her angrier. “Don’t give me that look. She was mean! She and her friends treated me and this other girl horribly so I just wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine, okay!?” He still didn’t change his expression but just stared at Usagi who quickly blushed before looking away. “Fine. It was wrong. But then when I was about to leave I wanted to leave with my friend but she stayed! How stupid is that?! I’m her best friend! I’m the reason she was even there and she just abandons me like that!”

“Was she eliminated?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Usagi shook her head. “But still! We’ve been best friends since we were kids and just let me leave!” Usagi cried as she slowly wiped away her tears as the memory of Naru just standing there while she ran out in tears played over and over again in her head. “And even after Shiratori-sam said I had no talent and that I had fat thighs and she said I’d never make it as a pop idol!”

“Here,” she heard. She looked up at him who was now holding out a napkin. Usagi reluctantly took and wiped her tears and nose. “Look, Odango Atama, the whole thing sounds pretty stupid.”

Usagi paused wiping her face. Stupid? Stupid?! What did he mean stupid?! Here she was breaking down to him about the deterioration of her friendship and he calls it stupid! He really was a jerk. “What is that supposed to mean?!” the blonde demanded with the worst glare she could manage (which honestly looked more like a pouting rabbit).

“I mean who cares if you got eliminated from some dumb contest by some stupid celebrity? She’s still your friend, right? So shouldn’t you want to support her even if you don’t get in?” he continued.

“She still stayed even after what they said to me,” Usagi countered, sniffling. She was still mad about that!

“Maybe she didn’t know what to do or maybe she wanted to see how far she could get. And no offense, Odango Atama, but you did trip somebody even if they were a jerk,” he continued before looking downwards. “Look, all I’ll say is you can either sit here crying and annoying nearby pedestrians or try and talk to your friend and see where that takes you.”

As much as Usagi hated to admit it, the baka had a point. Flashes of her past with Naru went through her head. The first time they met in their First Year, going to each other’s birthday parties, shopping around Azabujuban, having slumber parties, just being each other’s shoulder to cry on whenever one of them failed a particularly hard exam, and messed around in detention. They were all great memories and she knew Naru was a great person which brought Usagi to the hard question; whether or not to give all that up.

She looked back to where the baka was to ask what she should do but to her surprise, annoyance, and anger he was gone. Disappeared like a ghost or phantom or something. Wait, what? Did he just leave her here all alone!?

That jerk!

That complete and utter baka!

To top it all off, he left his stupid paper bag. What was even in that stupid paper bag? Usagi curious and with dignified anger ripped open the bag only to find…PORK BUNS!

Freshly made and delicious pork buns! They even still seemed hot.

She felt her hungry belly roar as the delicious scents poured into her nostrils. She was so hungry! And all this thinking and stress just made it worst!

…

Would he mind if she had some?

Maybe not.

He did just leave it there.

Finders keepers and all that.

Slowly, she plucked out a pork bun and took a large bite. She didn’t know if it was because she skipped dessert, breakfast, and lunch but it was one of the tastiest things she had all week! If only Naru-chan was here to share. Usagi paused in the middle of her second bite, the aching sad feeling returning. Not hunger, not anger. It felt worse than either of those.

…

She knew what she had to do.

“Usagi?” a familiar female voice called out. Wait…

“Luna?” Usagi asked, looking all around for the cat before spotting her on a nearby windowsill.

“I’ve been looking all over for you! I tried going to where the Cinderella Caravan was being held but I couldn’t find you,” Luna said as she jumped onto a dumpster and then towards Usagi.

Usagi wiped her eyes before saying, “I was eliminated from the contest after tripping a girl and Naru-chan got to move on.”

The fourteen-year-old secret superheroine saw Luna stare at her before the black feline said, “I’m sorry to hear that Usagi. Do you…do you want to go home?”

Usagi stood up with a determined look and grabbed the bag. “No. I still have something to do.” Luna gave a confused look to her blonde charge before sighing.

“Alright,” the cat said, sounding kind of defeated before she jumped onto Usagi’s shoulders.

The blonde ran with all her might towards the Cinderella Caravan.

And towards Naru-chan!

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Here’s a piece of good advice; when breaking into an academy used to train future idols, don’t sneak into through the smallest window they have because there’s a very good chance you’ll end up falling on your face. Usagi had to learn this the hard way when she well, broke in through the smallest window after being denied entry by the stupid security guards. “Ow,” the blonde whined as she slowly picked herself off the hard wooden floor.

“I told you that was a bad idea.” It was Luna’s voice, mocking her as the loud sound of scratching could be heard.

“Shut up, Luna,” Usagi muttered into the floor before the blonde looked up at the black cat. She was fine. “Wait, you fell in with me. How are you okay?”

Luna stared at her for a moment before in a simple voice saying, “I’m a cat.”

Usagi gave an ‘oh…right’ face before slowly picking herself up when she heard the loud voices and quiet whimpers. Wait a minute those whimpers. She knew those whimpers! It was Naru!

Naru was in trouble!

Usagi quickly ran past her guardian cat and rounded a corner where she arrived backstage where she saw six girls, including the one she tripped, ganging up on someone. No. Not just someone. Naru!

“Why are you still here?” one of the girls said in a mocking tone.

“Hey weren’t you the one with the freak?” asked the girl Usagi tripped in a tone that showed she obviously knew the truth.

Naru said nothing. Usagi saw that she was just standing there, taking the abuse that was being flung at her and that made her blood boil! How dare they treat Naru like that?! She was her best friend!

“HEY!” Usagi called out, anger obvious in her voice which caused all seven of the girl to look back in shock to see the voice belonged to the former contestant. “How dare you treat, Naru-chan that way!?”

“How did you get past security?” the one on the left asked with a sneering tone.

The pain of falling into a building from a window flashed into Usagi’s head that she quickly shook away. Got to stay strong in the face of these girls! “Nevermind that! Who do you think you mocking Naru-chan that way? She has just as much a right to be here as you do and given that you probably have another competition soon, but you should worry more about that instead of being mean to your competitors.”

The mean girls blinked in unison at the defiance in Usagi’s voice before they laughed. Cackled more like when the girl who tripped Usagi asked, “And just what are you going to do about it?”

Usagi, grabbed Luna off the floor, who had been licking her paw, and held her up to the girl who just stared confused at the feline. Usagi stared back at the girl and then in a low voice said, “I’ll sic my cat on you.” Usagi then turned a pleading eye to the cat who looked at her confused before sighing and turning to the girl in front of her. Luna let out several hisses and threatening meows before extending her claws to show she was serious.

The girl Usagi tripped jumped back before she stared at Usagi who looked deadly serious which actually frightened her. However, she quickly regained composure before saying to her friends, “Let’s leave the weirdos alone. They’re not worth our time.” With that, the six girls left the three alone.

“Usagi?” Naru asked with happiness in her voice. Maybe she wasn’t mad that Usagi tried to drag her out. Unfortunately, no. Naru looked down and turned her back to Usagi, “What do you want?”

The secret superheroine slowly put down the black cat and said, “I wanted to apologize, Naru-chan. Someone,” even if he was a jerk, “helped me realize that my friendship with you is way more important than not being in some stupid contest and I should’ve supported you instead of trying to drag you away from it.”

“Really?” she heard Naru hopefully ask.

“Yeah. You’re still my best friend no matter what and I’m here to support you, win or lose,” Usagi said with a smile.

Naru looked back with a smile as well before running over to Usagi and giving her the biggest hug which the blonde happily returned. “Thank you so much, Usagi-chan! Honestly, I was just about to leave when you arrived. And I’m so sorry that I didn’t defend you against them! You were right to trip her! She and her friends are absolutely awful!”

“Well, make it up to me by beating them! You’re amazing Naru-chan and I know you’re going to win this!” Usagi said as the two hugged again.

“Osaka Naru?” a male voice said. The two girls looked over. It was Shiratori-sama’s manager. “You’re needed on stage since Shiratori will be out soon.”

“But-” Naru said before looking at her friend.

“Go on! Break a leg! I’ll be right here in the wings watching!” Usagi said with a smile. This seemed to be all the encouragement Naru needed before she let go of Usagi and walked onto the stage where a microphone was set up for her. The blonde snuck over to get a better looking waiting to see her friend’s moment to shine since.

She felt a scratch on her cheek before anything could start, however. It was Luna who really wanted to get her attention. “What?” Usagi angrily whispered back. What did Luna want now? The competition was just about to start! Usagi watched as Luna’s head pointed straight toward the manager who was now walking further backstage. “Yeah? So what?”

“I think there’s something off about him,” Luna said in a mumbly whisper so as not to be heard by anyone else. “I think we should follow him.”

“But what about Naru-chan?” Usagi said in a similarly low voice.

“I’m sure we’ll be back in time to watch you friend if we go now,” Luna said before she jumped off Usagi’s shoulders.

Not seeing the point in arguing with the cat, Usagi reluctantly followed her with a prayer that she’d be right and they’d be back before Naru could sing.

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The black cat and her human charge found themselves outside a dressing room that was open a crack. Secretly, ever so secretly they peeked in to see the manager and Shiratori-sama, who was sitting in front of a mirror applying a layer of makeup, talking. “Don’t worry, master. Everything is completely under control,” Shiratori-sama said in a rather cruel tone. And why did she call her manager her master?

“And you’re sure she hasn’t come?” the manager asked.

“She’s been none the wiser and the competition will be over before she ever gets the chance,” she continued. Wait who was she? Usagi’s started to get a pit in her stomach as she watched the scene unfold.

“Do not get cocky,” the manager warned.

“Master,” she cut off before looking at him curtly. “You needn’t be afraid. There’s absolutely no way Sailor Moon will ever know the true reason behind the Cinderella Caravan because, unlike the others, I actually learn from mistakes.” Sailor Moon? Wait! Usagi was Sailor Moon! How would Shiratori Mikan know about Sailor Moon? Unless…The idol was working with her enemies. It would explain what she meant about the true purpose of the Cinderella Caravan. That pit in her stomach became larger and more obvious.

“What about the girls you turned away? They could’ve been useful as energy resources for our Great Queen,” the manager(?) questioned.

“Master the goal is not to get caught, isn’t it? People will take notice if a whole bunch of girls went missing,” the evil idol continued. “Besides the exercise bikes, I used during the endurance test siphoned off a ton of energy from them and the pins from the dancing class are continuing to do so.” Usagi looked down and quickly ripped off the pin from her clothes. She almost forgot she was wearing it. Oh no! Was she giving energy to the Dark Kingdom without realizing it? Quickly, she crushed the object in her grip reducing it to nothing more than glass bits that leaked out dark energy.

“But-” the man continued.

“I assure you, master. Our Great Queen will have all she needs once I crystalize those girls as I did to the real Shiratori Mikan.” Wait real Shiratori Mikan? So this woman was a fake. Thank goodness. But wait where was the real idol then? Usagi peeked back in to see the fake Shiratori Mikan standing up and opening the closet where she saw something glistening brightly making her unable to see from her position. What was that? “Besides, it’s not like we can’t get more energy from these stupid little girls. So desperate and needy to be accepted, they’re practically begging to be used for my plot. Say a couple of nice things, a couple of bad things, and soon enough their putty in our hands and for Our Great Queen.”

“Fine, but be warned, that if Sailor Moon ends up getting involved then there will be no help for you,” he continued.

“Alright, Master Jadeite, and when I do collect all the energy, be sure to tell Our Great Queen which youma finally came through.” The manager, no the dark general, disappeared in a cloud of black smoke as the fake put on a false smile and headed for the door.

SHOOT!

Quickly, the two ran around for a moment before quickly hiding.

The fake walked passed them and thankfully they didn’t get seen.

Then again, Usagi and Luna did hide in a base and cello box respectively.

Once the two were sure, she was gone the two emerged.

“I think it’s time for Sailor Moon to make an appearance,” Luna said to which Usagi simply nodded in agreement.

“Moon Prism Power Make Up!” Usagi cried as the familiar pink ribbons surrounded her, transforming her normal clothes into the sailor-themed fuku of a sailor guardian with its accessories turning her from normal girl Usagi into the one and only Sailor Moon!

Sailor Moon quickly ran into the dressing room where she saw a horrific sight. It was Shiratori Mikan. The real Shiratori Mikan trapped in glowing blue crystal with a look of paralyzing fear on her face! She looked so terrified! So afraid! It almost made Sailor Moon cry. No. She can’t cry. Not now. She needs help. Wiping at her eyes, the sailor guardian turned to her cat, “How do I free her?”

Luna paced around, clearly trying to think of a way to solve the problem. Unfortunately, she was cut out of her thought process when she heard a loud whirring sound from behind her which caused her to quickly look back to see Sailor Moon trying to free Shiratori Mikan…with a hairdryer. “Put that down!” Luna cried out.

“I panicked okay!” Sailor Moon cried out as she quickly set down the hairdryer.

“We need a real solution, not a hair- The moon tiara!”

“The moon tiara?” Sailor Moon asked confused. “Won’t that turn her into moon dust though?”

“Not if we do this right,” Luna said. “Just concentrate on the evil energy and not Mikan Shiratori and she should be okay.”

Well, if Luna says it will work…Sailor Moon took off her tiara and concentrated with all her might on the crystal and only the crystal. Only the crystal. Only the crystal. “Moon tiara boomerang!” Sailor Moon cried as the tiara soared through the air before instead of just going through the crystal, it did something Sailor Moon never saw before, it made an X. It surrounded the evil crystal, piercing it so light burst out from the inside as the crystal slowly disintegrated into moon dust before the tiara came flying back into the superheroine’s hand.

A loud gasp was heard and Sailor Moon quickly ran over to see the older teenager gasping and coughing loudly. “Are you al-”

“No get away!” the idol screamed out in fear as she huddled into a corner like a frightened puppy. She must’ve been through a lot. Sailor Moon took a step back before Mikan stared at her. “Wait, you’re not that monster,” she said in a shaky but relieved tone. “W-who are you?”

“I’m the pretty guardian in a sailor suit, Sailor Moon!” Sailor Moon said as she struck a pose. “Are you Shiratori Mikan? The pop idol?”

“Y-yeah. I was finishing up a concert when I was-” her face gleamed with obvious fear as she shook violently. “I w-was…” Sailor Moon quickly rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug. It was really the only thing she could think of at the moment to calm the older girl before she could completely break down and thankfully it seemed to work. Slowly, the idol stopped breathing so heavily and she wasn’t shaking so much anymore. Good. “Attacked. I was attacked by some kind of demon then everything went black.” Sailor Moon felt so bad for her. How long had she been in that crystal anyway? “Are you here to stop her?” Mikan asked in a hopeful but desperate voice.

The superheroine nodded. “Don’t worry, everything’s going to be okay! Just get out of here while you can,” Sailor Moon said as she slowly helped Mikan-san to her feet.

“I want to come to,” Mikan asked to which both Luna and Sailor Moon gave a look of shock. Mikan-san come to? But wouldn’t she be scared?

“Wouldn’t you be scared?” Sailor Moon asked out loud.

“I can’t let that thing continue to run around. Who knows what else it might do,” Mikan-san said with a shaky voice and eyes full of resolve.

Sailor Moon and Luna gave each other a quick glance before the latter gestured for the idol to follow. They better hurry though. Mikan-san was right; who knows what that thing might do?

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Naru was holding a microphone between the six other finalists as Shiratori-sama walked in with a smile reaching ear-to-ear as she started to explain the rules of the contest.

However, the redhead wasn’t listening. She was instead trying to catch a glimpse of Usagi behind the curtain to see where she disappeared to. Did she need to use the bathroom or something? Or maybe she was grabbing a snack or something? That did sound like Usagi. Naru remembers when she and Usagi were in their second year of school before they met Umino, they were little terrors to Usagi’s mom and would constantly swipe a cookie or cake that Tsukino-san was going to serve. Naru smiled a bit at that memory as more began to play in her head. That time at the ice cream parlor where they both simultaneously got brain freeze. That time when Naru had to practically drag Usagi onto a rollercoaster. The 14-year-old giggled a bit at remembering the look of horror on Usagi’s face as they went speeding down the incline.

Would she still be able to have moments like that if she went through with the contest?

Naru paused as she began to dwell on this though. Would she have time to hang out with Usagi if she did win?

Already it was a lot of work just getting to this point. All the dancing and exercise and endurance and worst of all, she’s been feeling so weak from it. Like something was literally zapping away her energy. It was all so tiring!

And if she did win, would it continue? Shiratori-sama did say that being idol is only for those who can deal with it. She even mocked Usagi when Usagi was just trying to defend someone! Would that be what Naru would have to deal with if she became an idol? Just allowing people to be bullied in front of her?

And then what about her friendship with Usagi? Would she just be expected to break it off or would they just grow apart? Would she have to lose her best friend?

…

Did Naru really want to be an idol?

…

No.

No. She didn’t. She wanted to just be a normal girl with her best friend and be able to do normal things and be nice to others.

That was who she was.

Osaka Naru knew what she had to do.

Slowly, she raised her hand in order to get Shiratori-sama’s attention when the idol let out a loud, horrific screech.

Naru was in shock for a moment until she saw something terrifying.

SHIRATORI’S-SAMA’S SKIN WAS CRACKING OFF!

The screech became louder as more cracks formed on her skin as though the idol was made out of glass or crystal or something.

Naru had no idea what to do and could only stand there in horrified shock as the girls next to her let out screams of terror.

The skin fell completely as it shattered into little pieces once it hit the ground, revealing the idol wasn’t an idol at all! It was some kind of strange creature made out of pure glass that sort of resembled an old woman if the old woman had grotesque fangs and yellow eyes that glared at everything. On her body, she wore a light purple dress with a slit that barely hung from its body and she was completely barefoot.

“What is that thing!?” Naru finally cried out, finally finding her voice! What was going on!?

The other girls tried to run away but the monster used the pieces of his fake skins to entrap their feet, forcing them into a freeze. Only Naru was spared because she was too terrified to even move at this point.

“Well, it seems I’ll be having to keep all six of you for our Great Queen’s resurrection,” it said with a cold, heartless tone before snapping its fingers.

All of a sudden Naru’s arm felt heavy. Quickly, she looked over to see the microphone she was holding had completely disappeared and now the entire lower half of her arm was being engulfed by glass crystal or something! Naru let out a huge scream as she tried to rip it off as it began crawling towards her!

Silently crying, Naru pleaded and prayed for someone, ANYONE to come and wake her from this nightmare!

“Stop right there!” a voice called. Naru’s teary eyes turned to see two girls and a black cat who emerged from the shadows of backstage. “How dare you take advantage of innocent girls who just want to light up the stage with singing and dancing by using their fears and insecurities to turn them on each other causing hate and division?! I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and for justice! I am Sailor Moon and in the name of of the moon, I will punish you!”

“This is show business, if they can’t take the heat then they can get out of the kitchen. Our Great Queen doesn’t need subpar sacrifices for her grand resurrection. Which reminds me,” the monster snapped its fingers and the glass began crawling faster along Naru’s arm as the girl in the sailor outfit looked on in horror.

“Stop!” the girl, Sailor Moon, cried out as she tried to run over to her. It was too late though, the crystal had reached Naru’s face! As her vision started to turn black, she thought she heard something like “NARU-CHAN!”

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“NARU-CHAN!” Sailor Moon cried out as she reached the crystal her friend had been cocooned in! She’d been too late to save Naru-chan and the other girls! “Set them free!” Sailor Moon cried out to the monster with tears in her eyes.

“Now why would I do that?” the monster asked with a wicked smile that looked like the one she faked as Mikan-san but all twisted and evil. Maybe it always was and Sailor Moon was just too blind to it. “Already these crystals are providing a delicious amount of energy to our Great Queen and once I encase that brat again,” the creature cried out pointing to Mikan-san who looked like she did when she was first freed from her own crystal, “I will be able to collect energy for years to come and then this pathetic planet will bow to her!”

“I will never let that happen!” Sailor Moon said as she ran over to where Mikan-san was standing and got in the way.

“I know. That’s why I, Derella, is going to kill you here and now,” the monster continued before her hand twisted and bent itself into a sword before charging at Sailor Moon, Mikan, and Luna.

“Mikan-san! RUN!” Sailor Moon cried out as she and Mikan-san split into opposite directions. Luckily, the monster Derella came after Sailor Moon and Luna. UNLUCKILY, DERELLA WAS COMING AFTER THEM! The cat yelped in fear as Sailor Moon screamed, both trying to avoid Derella’s sword arm that was currently lunging at all their important points.

The superheroine looked around them. She saw Mikan-san heading for the lever that activated the trapdoors which brought down herself and the crystals with her friend and the other girls. Thank goodness, they’ll be okay at least. Unfortunately, that did little to help them in this current moment! Sailor Moon desperately needed something, anything that could get them out of this situation. Unfortunately, there was nothing.

Unless…Sailor Moon’s eyes landed on Luna who looked up at her with confused eyes. “What are you?-” Luna asked before yelping as she was roughly grabbed by Sailor Moon and held over the blonde superheroine’s shoulder.

“Sorry, Luna!” Sailor Moon cried out before she straight up threw the cat who screamed out in fear as went barreling towards the glass monster.

It did…nothing.

At most, it made her give a look of annoyance but that didn’t even matter as she simply tossed aside the cat who yelled, “SAILOR MOON!” in fury.

“Sorry!” Sailor Moon shouted back but Derella didn’t care. No, the monster just continued to lunge and chase the blonde senshi across the stage which was only ended in the worst way when Sailor Moon fell on her foot in the worst way possible.

With a loud crunch and yelp coming from her lips, the superheroine was taken out by a twisted ankle. Pain shot up throughout her body as she went into the fetal position, clutching her ankle. It really hurt! However, this wasn’t the end of her troubles either. A loud cackle filled the theatre and before Sailor Moon could even try to get up, a violet heel ground into her causing a lot more pain to fill her body. Through pained eyes Sailor Moon looked up to see Derella giving a twisted smile. “You know I’m a little disappointed. I thought after you defeated the others, you would be harder to beat. Aw well,” Derella spoke as Sailor Moon desperately tried to pull herself off the ground or even to just push her stupid foot off her chest. It was no use though! She looked up to see Derella’s sword arm swinging right to her head, which she desperately tried to hide as a last resort as the superheroine let out a long scream for help! From someone! ANYONE!

Derella let out a loud screech and Sailor Moon dared to open her eyes to see a crimson red rose sticking out of the ground next to her and Derella’s glass-sword arm now back to a normal human arm with deep cracks which appeared to cause her pain…Could it be?

“Taking advantage of innocent women and girls’ dreams of fame and renown and twisting them into being servants for your own twisted purposes, that is a crime of which I, Tuxedo Mask, can never forgive!” It was! It was Tuxedo Mask! Sailor Moon nearly cried in joy and hope as she searched all around for where he was until her eyes landed on his handsome, tuxedoed form on the top of the stage before he jumped down.

She watched with joy as her rose-throwing savior jumped toward them before smacking the glass monster out of the way causing her to fall off the stage with a loud crack. Did that kill her? Sailor Moon didn’t have long to wonder about this as she took her into his strong arms and jumped away. “Are you alright?” Tuxedo Mask asked, once they were in the wings near the entrance to the flys.

“I-I think so. My ankle got twisted though,” Sailor Moon said.

“Your ankle?” Tuxedo Mask softly asked as he gently set her down before he started to look around him until Sailor Moon noticed his eyes landing on a clothes rack. “Wait here.” Quickly, he ran towards the clothes rack and Sailor Moon saw him tearing off a piece of fabric and grabbing a small piece of set wood that was nearby before rushing over.

Sailor Moon watched in wonder as he tied the makeshift cast around her ankle with a blush. Tuxedo Mask really was so kind and thoughtful! “How’s that?” she heard him ask as she admired his handiwork.

“Much better. Thank you!” Sailor Moon cried out with delight. She looked at Tuxedo Mask, who seemed to be satisfied at her answer, and noticed how close they were to each other. Close enough that if she just leaned in slightly their lips would be touching. Sailor Moon felt her already red cheeks become a deeper shade at that sweet thought.

Unfortunately, the thought wasn’t going to last as they both heard a long yowl and the screams of “SAILOR MOON!” Oh no! Sailor Moon knew that voice! LUNA!

The two jumped to their feet and ran (or fastly limped in Sailor Moon’s case) to the stage where they saw Derella with a crazed smile and cracks all along her glass body holding up her glass-sword that was filled with shards to Luna’s neck who was held in her grasp as the cat fought with all her might to be free. “LET HER GO!” Sailor Moon cried out.

“Gladly,” Derella said as she threw Luna at Sailor Moon as Sailor Moon had done earlier.

“Sailor Moon!” Tuxedo Mask cried out in fear as Luna came barrelling into Sailor Moon who just barely managed to catch her. A loud, terrible cackle flooded onto the stage as through her daze Sailor Moon saw Derella rushing at the three of them with her shard glass sword arm. Thank goodness, Tuxedo Mask had great reflexes though! In a flash, Sailor Moon saw him whip out his cane and block the would-be lethal attack! Tuxedo Mask was so amazing! “SAILOR MOON! RUN! I’LL HOLD HER OFF!” he shouted at her, as he continued to block the glass monster’s attacks.

Not going to argue with him, Sailor Moon rose to her feet with Luna jumping onto her shoulder as Sailor Moon tried to think of some way to help Tuxedo Mask as she ran backstage until she saw the ladder that led to flys before remembering that when Derella had been in her disguise as Mikan-san she had traveled on a swing that must still be up there! Sailor Moon grew a huge smile and grabbed onto the ladder. “What are you doing, Sailor Moon?” the superheroine heard her guardian cat ask.

“Don’t worry, Luna. Just trust me!” Sailor Moon said and even with her injured leg she flew up those stairs until she arrived to the flys themselves as the sounds of steel meeting glass continued to echo throughout the theatre. Sailor Moon quickly looked down to see her masked hero still in deep combat with monster as he remained on the defensive. He looked like her was holding his own against her but Sailor Moon could tell he was getting winded. He won’t have much time soon! Sailor Moon had to act fast!

Luckily, the swing was still over the stage but unfortunately, it was tied. Fortunately, she had a magic cat with super long claws. “Wait, are you going to drop the swing on top of Derella?” Luna questioned as she finally understood Sailor Moon’s plan.

“Is that a problem?” Sailor Moon asked.

“Nope. Just checking,” Luna said before she jumped off Usagi’s shoulders and jumped from one side of the flys to the other, cutting the swing's ropes as she went by before landing perfectly.

The swing started to fall quickly towards the stage with a great swoosh accompanied by Sailor Moon crying out, “TUXEDO MASK! WATCH OUT!” Fortunately, he seemed to understand this as he quickly jumped out of the way. Not Derella though, who seemed to be a way to focus on defeating Tuxedo Mask to notice the falling swing coming right toward her head until way too late! The swing came crashing on top of her leaving a small crater in the stage floor as Sailor Moon ran back down the ladder towards Tuxedo Mask who looked really sweaty and tired. He did fight really hard after all.

However, there was no time for the exchange of words as they heard the cracking and shaking of shattered glass. Oh no! She was getting back up again! Not this time!

Before she could completely rise to her feet again, Sailor Moon activated her tiara! “Moon Tiara Boomerang!” The tiara, for the second time today, became of a disk of pure and unbreakable light that flew through the air until it reached its target. It flew through Derella’s shattered body as she let out a scream of pure hate and terror that was quickly silenced by her body dissolving into a pile of moondust.

Sailor Moon fell to the ground and just lay there for a moment. She was so tired. Not eating today, being overworked, defeating monsters, twisting your ankle, AND having your energy drained were just a recipe for being pooped. “Well done, Sailor Moon,” she heard Tuxedo Mask say as she watched him crouch next to her. “Are you going to be okay after I leave?” he asked with worry obvious in his voice. Aw! He’s so sweet!

As for the answer to his question, Sailor Moon wanted to say she wasn’t and that she should be carried home again, Luna go to him first. “She’ll be fine without you.” She sounded pretty rude to him.

“Luna!” Sailor Moon said angrily. She shouldn’t be rude, you know.

“We need to go check on Derella’s victims, Sailor Moon,” Luna continued looking her dead in the eye. Sailor Moon let out a gasp. Naru-chan! Mikan-san! The others! The last time she saw them, Mikan-san was getting them all to safety but now that the monster was gone, were they okay? She knew they should be because Derella was dead but they probably were still pretty shaken up!

“She’s right! I got to go!” Sailor Moon said as she stood up before smiling sweetly at Tuxedo Mask. “But thank you so much for all your help.”

Sailor Moon saw the corners of Tuxedo Mask’s lips turn upwards which made Sailor Moon’s heart skip a beat at how beautiful his small smile was. “It was my pleasure, Sailor Moon. And if you should ever have need of me, I’ll be there,” Tuxedo Mask continued with a bow.

Sailor Moon looked down for a moment, a blush still obvious on her cheeks. She then reluctantly turned to leave but as she looked back one last time to give one more goodbye to her tuxedoed hero, he was already gone. The sailor guardian felt a pain in her chest as she looked around for him until she heard, “Sailor Moon!”

“Coming!” Sailor Moon called back as she chased after the cat to make sure everyone was okay. She’ll see him again soon. And maybe next time they’ll have more time to talk!

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

“But I am sorry!” Usagi whined. It was Monday morning and once again Naru-chan and Usagi were placed on cleaning duty as detention again. Usagi guessed abandoning their cleaning duty to join an evil competition and leaving their nerdy friend to do most of the work afterwards was grounds for this but still sucked. Well…at least everything turned out okay, more or less. After last night, that was all Usagi could ask for. Luckily, all the girls including Naru-chan were fine. Shaken and a little fearful, but they weren’t in crystals at least. Thankfully, Mikan was there to calm them down and they managed to get home okay but the overwhelming guilt Usagi was feeling wasn’t going away anytime soon.

“Really, Usagi! It’s totally fine. I’m okay,” Naru-chan replied. “It’s still really weird what happened though. It was almost like a dream or something.”

Usagi got a frightened look on her face before she asked, “What do you remember about yesterday?”

“I remember I was on stage when that monster thing attacked me before some girl in a sailor suit appeared,” Naru-chan said with a clearly strained look on her face before she looked over at Usagi had fear written all over her face. “Where did you go by the way?”

“Uh…the bathroom,” Usagi then gave the most pathetic excuse of smile anyone probably had ever seen. Usagi didn’t even buy it and clearly, neither did Naru.

However, before Usagi had to deal with that something happened. “THIS IS HORRIBLE!” shouted the distraction which turned out to be Umino.

“UMINO!” Usagi cried out in joy, thankful for the unexpected distraction!

“Look! The worst has happened!” Umino said before throwing a paper at Usagi’s face.

The blonde secret superheroine slowly peeled the newspaper off her face as Naru headed over to scan it as well. There written in bold, black letters was Upcoming Idol, Shiratori Mikan, Leaves the Idol Business!

Did it just say leave?

Usagi and Naru both reread the paper and it did confirm that Shiratori Mikan was leaving the business altogether. Was it because of what happened with Derella? Did her reputation take a big hit or something? Usagi wouldn’t be surprised if that was the reason but it would be really sad.

“Sources say that Shiratori Mikan, age 17, is leaving the idol business in order to pursue her new dream of being a humanitarian and helping people all across the planet. Her former manager, Hoga Yoshi, has chosen not to comment,” Naru read from the paper as Usagi read along with her. “Well, that sucks. I thought she really liked being an idol but I guess I can’t blame her.”

“What do you mean!?” Umino cried as he fell to the ground with tears in his eyes. “Now I’ll never hear her songs or have a chance with her!”

Usagi rolled her eyes, before saying, “You probably wouldn’t have a chance with her anyway, Umino. Besides, what matters is what makes her happy, and the fact she’s using that to help build people up and show them a better way is wonderful.” Usagi smiled as she looked at the picture of Shiratori Mikan hoping that she’ll be able to be happy with whatever she does.

#sailor moon #bishoujo sailor moon #bishoujo senshi sailor moon #usagi tsukino #tsukino usagi #osaka naru #naru osaka #luna #chiba mamoru #mamoru chiba #tuxedo mask #sailor moon rewritten #sailor moon rewrite #sailor moon rewrite season 1 #sailor moon rewrite classic #usamamo #mamousa #usagi x mamoru #mamoru x usagi

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everythingsinred · 5 months

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It's surprising and curious how Mikan's words can actually hurt or affect Natsume in some way and this is 100% canon in the manga, at least it happens twice.

The first is that time at the Festival when his fans started saying bad things about Mikan and she, in a fit of fury, said that she would never ever dance with Natsume and later we can see that these words really affected him because later he didn't want to dance with her and he even went with another girl!

Natsume, the introvert who never participates in academy events or interacts with girls, this time he did it only because Mikan said she would never dance with him.

And later we have that moment in the new year, when everyone ended up stuck together because of a prank by Tsubasa, at one point Mikan without realizing it says that she likes Ruka more than Natsume and at that moment Natsume doesn't seem affected but when are they going to sleep Natsume remembers Mikan's words twice; the first time when they were entering the room and mikan was complaining and Natsume replies "I'm sorry but I'm not Ruka" and at some point I know he says "I'll return you to Ruka later"

I don't remember if there is another instance in which something similar happens but I think that the 5 of us who are still alive in the fandom don't talk enough about how Mikan's words do have an importance in Natsume and that he can really feel hurt by they. It's also funny because all these scenes occur when Natsume was in the mood of "leaving Mikan and Ruka together" and he stepped aside so those words from Mikan should have been a joy or relief for Natsume but in reality they weren't.

(and very honestly I think that as much as Natsume loved Ruka I think he would never have been able to stand him being with Mikan, I'm sorry but every time there seemed to be some 'progress' between Mikan and Ruka, Natsume never reacted well, in fact he was affected)

hi! thanks for sending a message! my reply is a bit long, so it's under the cut.

it certainly is 100% canon but i dont think it's surprising to me, considering that it's typical for someone with a crush to be particularly vulnerable to any harsh words from said crush (whether they were harsh on purpose or not).

i did discuss these instances and more in my essays bc of how interesting those scenes are from both natsume and mikan's perspective but i will always take an excuse to talk more about them!

i always thought the festival dance instance was interesting, especially when you compare the anime and manga events, bc the anime seems more like what you'd expect from natsume: after pushing ruka and mikan together, he sulks off and isnt seen again at the dance for the rest of the night until mikan finds him. the manga is interesting bc he does the opposite, at least for a little while. yes, he does still push mikan and ruka together, but instead of brooding about it by himself, he acts out of spite, dancing with every girl EXCEPT for mikan.

i love this scene for what it reveals about both of them: they're too stubborn, for their own reasons, to actually communicate their feelings of jealousy. anime!mikan asks natsume to dance but manga!mikan would never, and analyzing those differences is pretty interesting.

and for the new years chapters, he actually gets hurt by her a couple times that day. the first instance is when she asks him how many greeting cards he got, when the answer is 0 and it is technically something she could have deduced. this event is a little different than the "i prefer ruka" one because mikan is instantly berated and feels really guilty for hurting natsume. she even gifts him her mochi as an apology though actually saying the words "im sorry" is difficult for her. natsume is a lil different too, because although he's hurt in the moment, he forgives her pretty quick and is still contemplating giving her his alice stone and he even eats her mochi without receiving any real apology at first. in this case, he knows she didn't mean to hurt him and there's no ill will involved, so it's easier to move past.

the case of confirming out loud that she would rather be attached to ruka than natsume is different for a few reasons:

mikan doesn't know that natsume loves her, so even though she instantly takes it back and tries to clarify, because she knows it's a mean thing to say, she doesn't fully understand why natsume would be particularly hurt by it. i would actually argue that mikan doesn't really mean what she says here, either. she doesn't prefer ruka to natsume at all. she loves both of them (in different ways) but considering her actions up to this point, it's pretty clear she's devoted to natsume. she's just petty here because he's irritating her.

i think mikan does in some way know ruka has feelings for her, and her feelings in response are complicated. i talked a lot about why i feel this way in my essays, but the main takeaway is that, because she isn't sure how she feels about him back, she doesn't want to really confirm or deny anything. saying things like that she prefers ruka to natsume might hint at some confirmation she isn't ready to give.

natsume does get hurt here in a way he doesn't with the greeting cards because this isn't a silly misunderstanding; it's a statement of her feelings. natsume has given up from the beginning. just a few chapters earlier, he even tells ruka "i was never trying to win in the first place" because he has no future to give mikan, being in a relationship with her would put her in more danger, and he hates himself and views himself as unlovable. altogether, he has no hopes of mikan falling in love with him as opposed to ruka. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean hearing things like this doesn't hurt. he's still jealous and sad about it, and that's why he doesn't get over it quickly even when she says that's not what she meant. he stays bitter about it for a long time, because, as far as he's concerned, she told the truth.

i think, usually, natsume doesn't really get very hurt by mikan's words because he knows she's careless and talks without thinking. there's plenty of things she says in the heat of anger or without considering how her words might make someone feel, and understanding what kind of person she is means her words don't hit as hard for him. there's a few instances where she does hurt him, and those are usually related to saying how she feels out of spite. she lashes out, and he gets hurt in the process. he loves her, and nobody on the planet would feel good getting any kind of hint that the person they love doesn't feel the same way.

for me, one of the most interesting scenes in the manga is chapter 81, when natsume asks mikan if people worrying about her is a burden, and she says "yes". she doesn't say it because of luna's threats or carelessly like she might have earlier. usually mikan hurts natsume on accident, or without thinking she could hurt him, but this time she hurts him on purpose, because she's jealous. he hurt her by choosing luna's team over hers, so she hurts him on purpose by saying he's bothering her. she doesn't mean it, and she regrets saying it, but i find it so interesting that she feels so bitter about being rejected by him that she hits back.

we don't really see much of natsume's reaction to that. he's not happy, for sure, but we don't really see if that hurts more than anything else that happens to him in this arc. still, mikan's side of things gives the moment an extra layer of angst.

natsume is, i would argue, almost always team ruka, at least until the sports fest arc. he gets jealous, yes, but like i said, he doesn't consider that he could get the girl and he doesn't really aim to get the girl either, out of fear she could get hurt. he loves mikan and he loves ruka and he thinks, if they like each other, they should be together to make each other happy (because he can't). that doesn't mean he doesn't get jealous, it just means he's choosing the path that hurts him the most for the sake of others because of his martyr complex.

things start changing around the sports fest arc because he becomes increasingly less capable of resisting showing his affection toward mikan. he has been pretending to hate her for so long without ever apologizing, but this time is different. he can't do it. he has to apologize, he has to hug her, to anonymously confess to her. he can't fight it anymore. thus, his jealousy towards ruka (while never once taking the form of anger towards ruka) also becomes stronger.

natsume is fascinating because he in constant conflict between selfishness and selflessness, the conflict between choosing what will make everyone else happy and what will make him happy.

he chooses selflessness each time, even when it's hard, until mikan makes her feelings known to him. he'd already completely let go of hiding his feelings by that point because he wasn't doing any of these things for reciprocation, but just because he loves her. but when she says she loves him back, he chooses selfishness. he's still dying. a relationship would still hurt her. and he still doesn't view himself as lovable (he underestimates how much she loves him). AND YET he still kisses her and proposes.

*note that when i talk about selfishness when it comes to natsume i don't mean it in a necessarily negative way.*

as for natsume not "standing it", i'm sure he wouldn't be able to. but his poor reactions towards mikan and ruka's relationship are mostly internal, which he is willing to take, with maybe some bitterness towards mikan, which works in his favor because he's constantly trying to push her away. he doesn't WANT mikan to be with ruka, but natsume doesn't care about what he wants. what he wants is never his priority. besides, he knows his death is imminent, so at least he wouldn't have to watch mikan be with ruka for too long. he sets the stage and he puts this misery on himself because he's convinced himself everyone would be better off without him.

but that's why it's interesting when he finds out his feelings are reciprocated. he doesn't try to put ruka and mikan together anymore. even when he has ruka promise to take care of mikan for him if anything happens, he doesn't mean for ruka to be with mikan after that. after all, natsume even tells mikan "you are mine," and that he will never give her stone back to her, even if her feelings change. and then, after natsume does die, ruka confesses again to mikan and tells her he will win her over next time. i think he does this to lure natsume back to life. kinda like a "see natsume? im making moves on your girl! come back and fight for her!"

so i do agree with you that he wouldn't be able to stand it, especially after he finds out mikan loves him back. he never wants mikan with someone else, but after that point, he wouldn't be able to tolerate anybody with mikan except for him.

i really can't talk enough about natsume or mikan or their relationship which is why i've written so much about them. natsume's jealousy is so interesting to me because it's rarely as simple as "i don't like the idea of mikan being with someone else." that's definitely a factor, but it's complicated by his love for ruka as well as his own self-hatred and martyr complex. this is what makes him so different from most male leads in other romances and also what makes natsumikan so unique.

tbh i think jealousy gets a bad rep these days. people lump it in with aggression and abuse, and though jealousy can certainly play a role in those things, it's an emotion and no emotion is intrinsically bad or abusive. EVERYONE gets jealous. it's what we do with that jealousy that makes a relationship healthy or toxic. i definitely wouldn't say natsume's jealousy takes a healthy form, but he's not abusive towards mikan in that way, mainly he hurts himself. he puts himself in this situation time and time again. this struggle requires natsume to choose himself every once in a while, rather than what other MLs might need (to choose other people over themselves).

i know you didn't necessarily ask a question, but i love having discussions like this. i hope you have a lovely day!

#answered #anonymous #gakuen alice #natsumikan #ga #hyuuga natsume #ppl hate jealousy but i think they just hate normalized abusive actions justified by jealousy #same w anger. there's a difference between feeling anger from time to time and having anger issues that hurt others #but these feelings aren't necessarily good or bad. feelings don't have morality. they just are #its fun when i go somewhere and leave tumblr for a while and come back to convos like this in my inbox... a nice surprise!

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ultimateplaylistmaker · 1 year

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Do the other students (like Yasuhiro) also have some kind of luck?

Well, I would argue any talent no one has trained for likely involves some Luck, so that'd be Leon at least.

Aoi has some interesting stuff with luck and chance, finding alter ego, getting close to sakura which then lead into trial four, it might be worth looking more into her

Toko might have some around not getting arrested but also the police is terrible so I wouldn't give her the credit

Sayaka and Kirigiri are both hinted at having magical powers, from Sayaka's intuition and Kirigiri's 'i hear the footsteps of the gods of death' that might be luck based as well, giving Sayaka decent luck at predicting others and kirigiris good luck in finding cases

Yasuhiro has inherently bad luck which is fun to watch, but overall thats more him just being stupid

No one in the Goodbye Despair cast really strikes me as a person with notable luck either way except maybe Mikan with bad luck?

Miu definitely has SOMETHING going on with her, and she tends to pick out culprits pretty fast on just pure impulse, she does it constantly

Meanwhile Kokichi's name literally means little luck and BOY does he show it, Kokichi's luck is horrendous but he manages to show just how far good skill and planning can make up for bad luck.

Shuichi might have a luck thing but im more inclined to believe he's less got luck with his cases and more people are constantly leading him by the nose to the conclusions they want, something he gets better at realizing when its happening by the end of the game

All the Warriors of Hope definitely qualify as having bad luck but its unknown if it's actually their own luck or just the fact as kids they have very little control, Nagisa and Kotoko definitely stand out to me though as the two Warriors with the worst luck of the bunch, it wouldn't surprise me if those two are more inclined for bad luck.

#goodbye despair #musings from the music manager #trigger happy havoc #ndrv3 #ultra despair girls

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aprikotea · 7 months

Text

Same Practice as the Last Times and a Special Occasion

Still in preparation for the tea ceremony event in December, we continued to practice kind of the same temae flow as the last several practices. But since we had a special occasion today as well, we were practicing in a different location.

We have been practicing at this location before. It’s a small residence not even a 5 minute walk from the temple where we usually have our okeiko. I am not quite sure who is the owner of this house and how it is related to the temple, but it has at least two tea rooms, several gardens, two really fancy toilets, a study room, a huge kitchen, some kind of dinning room and several other rooms I haven’t even seen. It is build in a very traditional style, but it is definitely build or renovated in quite modern times. It is super interesting and being there always feels like a different world. I added some pictures from the other times we practiced at this location. Only the first picture is from today. And since this is someones residence, I don’t want to reveal too much of the location due to privacy.

Today we started with almost everyone present joining as guest. In this way we also get to practice being an assistant. Due to that, soon everyone drank already several cups of matcha and no one wanted to be a guest anymore. So I didn’t had the chance to an assistant, because I had to join as guest each time. My caffeine level is really high right now lol.

We practiced in the order of how it will be on the day of the event. Since we were at a different location, the utensils were slightly different. But overall they were equivalents of the utensils we used the last time. Which was a good practice, since the utensils on the day of the event might also be different ones.

Our teachers also measured the time each round took, since they are afraid of the schedule for the event. But it seems like we are quite in time and could even offer a second bowl. But they were still troubled, if they want to offer a second bowl or not.

Before it was my turn, we made lunch break. Since we had the special occasion today, lunch was provided by the monks (if my Japanese skills didn’t got that wrong). We had sekihan with some vegetable toppings and - of course - mikan. I don’t know why, but somehow there are always mikan when we have food provided from someone.

After lunch the special occasion took place. We did a ceremony with the monks to burn the chasen we used this year. This was really interesting to participate. But the language barrier for some of these special occasions is quite huge. Especially for the chants of the monks. So I didn’t understood everything that was going on. Usually I just go with the flow of the others for these events. Some of the other younger students told me, they just do the same. But I think they are still more familiar with whats going on then I am. Therefore I don’t feel qualified to explain to much about it. Sorry.

After we finished that, it was my time to practice temae. And to take up what I wrote about last practice: I am definitely getting confident! Like yes, everyone complimented me. But I was so nervous that I started practicing every other day at home. And it really helps a lot! Yet practicing in a real tea room wit ALL real utensils is still so much different.

In the course of everything going on today I learned a lot. But these two thing stuck with me:

If you take back two chawan at the same time as assistant, you take the first one, place it in front of your left knee, you take the second one, place it in front of your right knee, you take the first chawan with two hands into your left hand and than take the second one with your right hand. The first chawan in your left hand is hold slightly higher but directly above the second one. Almost like you would want to stack them up onto each other. Oh and don’t forget the bows!

When clearing the chawan at the end, you take it with the right hand. Because it stands pretty far on the left side at the end in case of haiken, the left hand wouldn’t fit in between and it is easier to take the right hand.

I am always so glad for all the experiences I can have because of tea ceremony. It really its own little world and I feel honored to be invited into it.

#japan #japanese culture #tea #tea ceremony #omotesenke #matcha #the way of tea #茶道 #抹茶 #茶 #okeiko

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hopeymchope · 1 year

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Hiyoko needs to be bound, gagged and left like that for the time being, with someone from her classmates (ideally Mikan lol) taking care of her biological needs while she is in this state. Hopefully would teach her that the way she was using her ability to talk was actually massively harmful for her herself foremost. As well as make her potentially way less annoying for the audience. As well as protect wildlife on Jabberwock/Hope's Peak grounds. /half-joking / I actually like and even sympathize a bit with her, but,looking at how she ends up looking for the majority of audience...

Christ I wrote such a long answer to these and now I have to retype it all. Why the fuck doesn't Tumblr have any kind of 'redo' function if it has an 'undo' function that just deletes EVERYTHING FROM THE PAST 20 MINUTES IN ONE FAT-FINGERED SWOOP?

*ahem*

Anyway, welcome back to Anti-Hiyoko Saionji Theater (tagged appropriately for your blocking needs, of course)

First Anon:

Well I understand that Mikan is the most qualified to take care of Hiyoko's biological needs in such a scenario, I don't think she should have to deal with any more of Saionji's shit either FIGURATIVELY or LITERALLY :P lol

I'm sure you understand that it's hard to sympathize with someone (regardless of their past trauma) when A) they make no real effort to change or improve themselves and B) they are such an unreliable source of information that you can't trust anything they say. Which includes the supposed "past trauma." Honestly, on my first play of DR2, I naturally assumed she was lying about her past to get some kind of pity or wrench some kind of favor/slave labor out of it. Because that is ENTIRELY IN KEEPING with her behavior everywhere else. I was sort of surprised to learn that online, she's just kinda... taken at her word on that stuff? Because she sure doesn't earn such trust.

*pokes feebly at a WIP I've worked on sporadically over the course of three or four years now* Actually, I've long been trying to build out a story where Hiyoko at least STARTS down the path of trying to be better. I hope I can get this fic to a place I'm satisfied with someday.

Second Anon:

Firstly, do I think there's some truth to what you say. Like, I can understand why a staunch feminist might feel some hesitation when faced with a situation where a woman deserves overt condemnation... because I've experienced something similar myself just recently.

Not sure where you are from, Second Anon, but in the U.S. right now, we're in the midst of a culture war over trans people (either "gender" or "sexual") and their rights. And I admit that when confronted with a rare situation where a person who identifies as trans does something Very Bad, I've had similar hesitations to talk about it or condemn it openly. Because I'm trying to work to defend the rights of trans people, and there's an inherent fear that by calling out the Bad Eggs or bringing attention to them, I'm just going to make the hateful mob feel more justified and entrenched in their fear and hate. I don't want to ever let people lose sight of the fact that for every singular story about a trans person committing some violence or other form of assault, another 300 trans people are straight-up murdered in this fucking country, and another 600+ people who call themselves trans are sexually assaulted. The situation is not remotely even. And every negative story just drives the hate that creates those huge numbers. So what do you do there? In a fair and just society, we could all agree to condemn individuals based on their own behavior without bringing race, gender identity, or sexual orientation into it whatsoever. But as things stand, there's this guilty feeling of "Can we even afford to loudly condemn this individual - regardless of how much they deserve it - if doing so could indirectly lead to more persecution and suffering and death for undeserving people?"

But okay, back to Hiyoko and/or Monomi. My immediate doubt is: Surely this logic wouldn't extend to Japanese schools/classmates, right? Nobody is going to condemn an entire class or school for the behavior of a single person, are they... ? Or would Japanese society really operate that way? I can't claim to know. Consuming media that originates from Japan doesn't give me THAT much insight into their everyday biases.

#anti-hiyoko saionji #hiyoko saionji #monomi #mikan tsumiki #asks #anon #japan #tumblr #wtf tumblr #tumblr staff

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my-gf-is-kazuichi-soda · 11 months

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I think you are very cute. Can you please tell me Zoey’s relationship with the other students other than Kazuichi? Thanky

Thank YOU anon I appreciate this!

This ended up being long I hope you enjoy the read!

Fair warning not everything is a one-to-one with how I see the characters, because Zoey sees them as real people and I see them from a fiction perspective. For example, real life me thinks Nagito is a great character and the game wouldn't be the same without him, but Zoey obviously sees him as a(n attempted) murderer who shouldn't be allowed to walk around free. So dont take everything I say to mean I hate the character. Except for Mahiru, I actually cant stand Mahiru irl.

Btw, important to note that I mention my fanfic (that I'm currently still writing) a lot in this, and that it's pretty canon-divergent.

-Monokuma isn't there at first and the killing game doesn't start until at least one week into being on the island, maybe two weeks. So for a while they're just supposed to follow Usami's goal: make friends with everybody.

-Zoey is the special ed student who gets "accommodations" from Usami. Usami is supposed to make sure Zoey understands what's going on and help her if she needs it. Usami is a sweetheart, but she clearly doesn't know what she's doing and usually babies Zoey when she doesn't need it and then leaves Zoey alone or fails to help when she actually does need something. Hey, at least it's not too different from Zoey's pas special educators! :D Funny enough, the accommodations thing is made into one of the rules, and when Monokuma takes over he actually has to fulfill these accommodations as well. Of course he takes advantage of this opportunity in order to mock Zoey and manipulate her. Oh hey, this is also not too different from Zoey's past special educators! Haha...oof.....

-Monokuma has Zoey in a weird sort of mental trap, and I'd rather show it in the actual fic than talk about it here; I only mention it for Byakuya's piece.

-The only canon death I've kept is Twogami, who dies the exact way he does in the game, but everyone else stays alive for most or all of the fanfic, and it's still a simulation anyway. I'm a softy and I hate killing off characters in my writing. I only killed off Twogami because they were too competent and would have solved Zoey's Monokuma Trap too fast, and I didn't know how to nerf that. Sorry Twogami. You were too competent for Danganronpa.

-characters dont die as punishment for killing. Alter Ego is in this story and she got to the rules before Monokuma did, so she blocked violence and death as punishments (oh and believe me she tried to block Monokuma himself, but it didn't work and he showed up anyway). Monokuma still insists that the killing game goes on, and his strategy to get around being nerfed is to continue to get the students to kill and distrust each other, stirring up drama and chaos. Trials are still a thing too (and he'll find any excuse to hold them since they can be a source of petty drama).

(This had to be broken up into reblogs bc tumblr has a character limit! Please see reblogs for complete list!)

Nagito: They start off as acquaintences. Zoey thought he was alright, and actually one of the most easygoing people to get along with, though her gut feeling told her not to trust him too much. After he reveals his more murderous side, she avoids him like the plague. She admires that Kazuichi and Nekomaru tied him up and said that if she were there she would have kicked him while he was down (which got Kazuichi scared for Zoey's safety, so she promised she wouldn't go into the room where he was tied up). When someone lets him go later, Zoey avoids him like the plague and is disgusted with him, though he's neutral to Zoey.

Hiyoko: Hiyoko picks on Zoey, not nearly as much as Mikan but she gets under Zoey's skin by calling her "stupid" (I'm wondering if it would be out of character for her to say the r-slur. I feel like she would.) Zoey starts off thinking Hiyoko is a little kid and is way more lenient and gentle to calling her out ("stop saying that….that's mean… you could…. hurt someone's feelings….. thank goodness…. you didn't hurt….. mine" Zoey says, crying in between the words. "This is just …allergies.") Zoey is a lot nastier in responding to the insults when Hiyoko admits to being seventeen years old, though Zoey doesn't hate her as much as Mahiru.

Mahiru: ). Ohhh boy. Here we go. Anon I apologize in advance if you like Mahiru, because I portray her character way less kindly than most of the fandom content I've seen of her. Zoey probably thinks of her as worse than she is, but Mahiru in my story is baaad, and she really brings out the worst in Zoey. For every bit that Kazuichi is a sweet girl in bitch's clothing, Mahiru is the bitch in sweet girl's clothing. She's able to get away with saying and doing so much nasty shit because she can lean on a reputation of "nice, good girl who's 'empowered' and just 'tells it like it is' to the boys." But really, she's mean, pushy, physically aggressive, rude, insulting, mean to "weirdos" and meaner to "boys." And she gets away with it because she's a "just a nice girl." Zoey doesn't fall for her shit, which confuses and pisses her off because she's used to girls being easygoing with her. Though Zoey assumes that she's a "queen bee" she's more of a slightly less extroverted queen bee's best friend type. Zoey is mad enough to want to attack her character; both in the "I'm going to call you out" way and the "I'm going to punch you if you open your mouth one more time" way. Zoey can be cruel and loud when she thinks someone deserves a kick to the face.* *(I must emphasize, me as a teenager is NOT the same person as me as an adult. I stopped acting aggressive at 17 years old, initially from a fear that I might do something that gets me sent to jail and ruins my life, and I eventually learned how to cope with my sense of justice in ways that dont involve threats or violence or (unless I have to) direct confrontation. It strongly helps that I'm not going to high school anymore. Irl high school was a nightmare for me.)

Fuyuhiko: Eventual Friendship, possibly a rocky friendship though I'm still working on this one. Zoey is pretty sensitive to yelling and insults, so when Fuyuhiko's initial attitude is "everybody leave me the hell alone!" Zoey listens. Though normally Zoey would stand up to someone who was insulting and threatening people, the first time Zoey and Fuyuhiko met Zoey tried to protect the "little guy" (from Mahiru) and then Peko intercepted and made it clear to Zoey that Fuyuhiko doesn't need (Zoey's) protection and that for Zoey's own safety she should stay away from him and not talk to him. So at first they avoid each other. I'm still working out a later scene though, where Zoey's gut feeling leads to her following him around to protect him and unknowingly stopping Fuyuhiko from playing Twilight Syndrome Murder Case. I have planned some progression into a friendship with Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi as well!

Peko: Friendship. Peko understands Zoey's desire to protect people, and lowkey appreciated the attempt to protect Fuyuhiko, but she also thinks Zoey is too careless and should learn to discern situations better before jumping in to defend somebody (yeah, a little hypocritical coming from her, but in Peko's defense at least Peko is a trained swordwoman, while Zoey is very physically sensitive and has no weapon or combat training). She intimidated Zoey into staying away from Fuyuhiko, and even though she scared Zoey a bit herself, Zoey did continue to talk to her and they are Okay Friends. Zoey once asked Peko to train her in using weapons and Peko said no. Teruteru: Mixed Feelings, Pseudo-Friendship but Zoey is easily creeped out by him. Teruteru thinks Zoey is funny and adorably charming and roots for her and Kazuichi to get together. It's so funny, he might have one of the highest opinions of Zoey (obviously less than Kazuichi's and a little less than Ibuki's) and Zoey is creeped out by him. She wants to like Teruteru but he creeps her out. She tries to assume that he doesn't know he's creeping anybody out (like with Kazuichi) but Kazuichi assures Zoey that no, Teruteru is a creep. I write Teruteru as a "creepy little bastard" /affectionate, and he does say icky things like in the game because I think it's funny (sorry xD). Despite his ickyness and occasional smug attitude, he can be a good friend and actually helps Zoey and Kazuichi in a couple of situations, and he is the only one to realize without being told that Kazuichi is a girl (and he decided on his own to keep it a secret to protect the babyqueer). He does switch from flirty comments about Zoey to teasing her about her crush on Kazuichi, but she made him promise to keep that a secret and he holds up to it. Zoey and Kazuichi are Barbie dolls he keeps trying to smush together to make them kiss.

Sonia (who comes out as a trans guy named Coby later): Strangers to Enemies-Ish??? to Friendship-ish??? arc. Coby is Zoey's kryptonite: Zoey thinks "Sonia" is a mean popular girly girl that is probably going to bully her, and doesn't give him a chance at friendship until she feels forced into talking to him. Coby tries a little to be friends with Zoey and Zoey avoids him, which confuses him and hurts his feelings a little bit but he's just not sure what to think of Zoey. There's also Zoey's reason of "I'm jealous of Kazuichi's crush on you and I dont want to act unfairly mean at you so I wont talk to you unless you talk to me." They do become friends later, though he's on thin ice if he insults Kazuichi, so Coby agrees not to do that. He is rooting for her and Zoey, mainly to get Kazuichi off his back (ironically he says this after Kazuichi's already decided she doesn't care about Sonia any more). He's autistic too. I see him and Kazuichi as two autistic kids who were socially trained in opposite directions and fail in communicating to each other; I don't think of either of them as all bad or all good, they were both being self-centered and immature but they also are both good people. This fic doesn't villainize Coby, though later it shows Coby's own creepier side.

#my art #parallel play #that's the working title of the story #zoey parker #danganronpa 2 #fanfic

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aparticularbandit · 3 months

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here's a fun question that i haven't thought through yet but could be fun

a giant mecha monokuma slammed through the ceiling right

mass destruction on people who were not suspecting it

of the three people who were there, one of them is still conscious (kyoko, the answer is kyoko, she's the pov character, i needed her conscious), one of them is dead (which was not intended but fits, i think, with the whole), and one is unconscious. definitely with a head wound, but probably no lasting head trauma.

here's the question.

should the character who is currently unconscious with a head wound, by nature of being closest to the epicenter of the landing monokuma, maybe also have some sort of spinal injury. re: paralysis.

like maybe they should be the one that isn't dead and the other person should be paralyzed (which actually would make sense, but there's a different sort of. impact. depending on who dies)....

you know what, spoiler talk under the cut, i actually want to crowd source this and talk this through and have thoughts.

right now hina is dead. done. gone. dead.

this currently leads to a potential conversation between kyoko and junko (or ryoko post-memory recovery - i'm not sure how much is still junko at that point, i'll get there) about whether junko knew hina would die and if she did, then why didn't she tell kyoko because hina was right next to kyoko and kyoko could have saved her.

i like this potential conversation in terms of 1) junko trauma (if i go with what i'm currently planning re: chiaki, the lasting impact of good people die saving people becomes its own theme - chiaki dying saving junko (when they were kids! so i guess more chiaki dying saving ryoko); makoto dying saving junko; junko choosing to die (sort of) because that's the proper ending (and also saves everyone else from her); kyoko doesn't get the option to die saving hina because kyoko would have died instead) and 2) the limits of junko's ability - she could predict that mikan would come save her, she could even predict how mikan came to save her, but she can't predict where all of the debris landed or where everyone was standing when the debris landed (she could guess at that, at least), and so couldn't have predicted who got hit where/how and so couldn't have known that hina would die to tell kyoko in the first place (not that she would have told kyoko anyway).

but.

byakuya could die instead.

he was at the epicenter of the monokuma landing by proxy of being right next to junko. the monokuma could literally have landed on him and crushed him.

...but i think actually being at the epicenter would protect him because they would need to make sure that junko wasn't hurt when they came to get her, so it's likely he shouldn't be hurt too terribly bad either.

and also byakuya dying would lead to a whole thing with toko/jack, which would lead to even more wanting to murder junko, but anything that hurts byakuya could do that, just not on necessarily the same scale. permanent lasting damage would have a similar effect. especially if he's paralyzed from the waist down.

(this would also lead to toko hovering around byakuya even more than before because she would be trying to help him with the wheelchair and etc. which he would hate. but she would absolutely try to play nurse with him. which would feel really gross but would also be very much in line with danganronpa and would also parallel mikan's treatment of ryoko. for all that we love mikan, there are definitely elements of yeah, but going on with her treatment of ryoko. particularly regarding yasuke. what she knows and says and keeps to herself. what she tries to control with regards to ryoko.

the idea of this injury also being worse because toko tried to move him. like - that's something you instinctively do, right, or maybe she would, seeing byakuya passed out and surrounded by sparking wires and potential more falling debris - it's pick him up, get him out - but like. there are very clear moments when that's a bad idea and you let the professionals do it (but they wouldn't know that professionals were on the way at all!) - and the effects of trying to move and help and save someone who's hurt who was better off not being moved because of things you did not know - how interfering can sometimes make things worse is also a good. parallel with mikan and junko in this situation.)

....

which means i've maybe talked myself into hina stays dead and yes, byakuya paralysis, but.

still taking thoughts if people have thoughts? would like thoughts.

#musings #bandit brainstorms #dr1 end rewrite fic

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danganmompa · 2 years

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These are some useless notes, but I'm a casual detail observer at heart and read into things that may not be there.

This Reddit post lays out the positions of the characters in the class trials. Which is good, because there's no way I would be able to figure it out by staring at YouTube playthroughs.

Full post beneath the cut because there was a lot as I went through the layouts.

Trigger Happy Havoc

Makoto stood beside Sayaka's place, and he was the prime suspect at first. Had she succeeded in killing Leon, she would have been standing right beside the person she planned on framing.

Kiyotaka stood between Sayaka and Mukuro/Fake!Junko's spots. Both of them died in Chapter 1. Poor guy.

Reddit pointed out that Makoto was right across from Junko/Monokuma. Funni.

Byakuya stood next to Chihiro. He messed with Chihiro's murder scene. COINCIDENCE? Probably.

Celestia, Hifumi, and Kiyotaka are evenly spaced from each other, at least if you go from Celestia to Taka. That strikes me as interesting.

I still find it weird how both Yasuhiro and Aoi were standing next to Junko, and both of them survived. Were it not for the punishment, they could have smothered her in hair and muscles, right?

Kyoko stood between two perpetrators and was gonna be framed as one.

Leon and Celestia stood next to each other, and they were both killers. Their crimes were split up with Chapter 2, but still.

Kiyotaka and Mondo were evenly spaced and in similar positions in the circle. The same goes for Chihiro and Mondo.

Sayaka and Yasuhiro are across from each other, and Yasuhiro is the first victim in the demo, isn't he?

Goodbye Despair

I find it interesting how Teruteru and Peko's spots were right next to each other, and they were the first two killers.

Gundham is across from Nekomaru :(

Sonia and Akane are across from each other and they both survive.

Hajime was between Mahiru and Hiyoko, and they were very close, not to mention both die in adjacent chapters.

Kazuichi and Gundham's positions mirror each other, and they're both commonly shipped with Sonia. (By me. Mostly me.)

Hiyoko's position is a mirror of Mikan's. This is funny for obvious reasons but also because Hiyoko insulted Mikan INCESSANTLY during the trials.

Nagito is across from Kazuichi and Kazuichi was one of the two who "kidnapped" Nagito in Chapter 2. Must have been awkward to look him in the face after that.

Akane and Fuyuhiko are right next to each other, and they both survive. This is the only instance of survivors being adjacent to each other in the trials. [While Yasuhiro and Aoi were close, they were separated by one seat.]

Byakuya's seat and Teruteru's seat are at cardinal points of the circle. So are Hajime and Fuyuhiko's. Two of them die in Chapter 1, two of them survive till the end.

Mikan is across from Mahiru, and both were involved in the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case game. Mahiru was also nice to Mikan, compared to Hiyoko.

Killing Harmony

Shuichi being right next to Kaito will never not be adorable to me.

Like Hajime, Shuichi is across from Rantaro, the first victim.

Angie and Tenko are across from each other. Alas.

Korekiyo is right next to Angie. Hmm.

Kaede and Gonta are next to each other, and both were found guilty. Interestingly enough, the circumstances surrounding their crimes are unique. (Kaede not actually being the blackened; Gonta not remembering what he did in the virtual world.)

Shuichi and Maki are both at cardinal points of the circle. Kokichi is at another. While Shuichi and Maki survive, Kokichi does not. But he WAS around for most of the game.

Kirumi and Korekiyo's positions in the circle are similar. They were the killers of adjacent chapters.

Similarly, Kirumi is across from Kaede's spot. Their executions were in adjacent chapters.

Tenko is in a similar position as Himiko, whose position is a mirror of Angie's. This is interesting considering the tension among the three in Chapters 2 and 3 especially.

Miu being right next to K1-BO is really intriguing to me.

Can't believe it took me till down here to catch it, Ryoma is right next to Kirumi, who is his killer. I think this is the only instance of this (save for Korekiyo and Angie).

Himiko and Ryoma are the shortest members of the cast, and they're across from each other. Ryoma's "death" happened during Himiko's magic show, and she was the prime suspect for a while.

Kaede, K1-BO, Korekiyo, and Kirumi are across from each other/mirrors of each other, and all of their names start with "K" in English.

I retract the thing about Ryoma and Kirumi, because Tsumugi is next to Rantaro's place, and she was his real killer. Interestingly, he is in the spot Junko was in during Chapter 6 of THH, and he was thought to be the mastermind for 5 seconds. He was onto Tsumugi until Kaede and Shuichi's plan worked all too well.

Miu and Gonta's positions are mirrors of each other. Kokichi lies in between them. I hate these games.

Ryoma and Maki had each other's motive videos, if I remember correctly. And they're right next to each other. It was similar with Shuichi having Kaito's. In between those two pairs is Kirumi, who got her own motive video. The Monokubs said that was an accident, but IS IT?

That is all I cared to think more about/look into. I'm sure there is much, much more, but for now, that is all I have.

Thank you for putting up with my fandom observations!

#danganronpa #danganronpa: trigger happy havoc #danganronpa 2: goodbye despair #danganronpa v3: killing harmony #danganronpa observations #gen's words of hope

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owo-shenanigans · 3 years

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hey I noticed that the request were open and I was wondering if you could do a romantic relationship with sonia, mikan, kiyoko, and celestia with a very hyper s/o that is like almost a sugar rush every day and very happy but one day they just come to school with a messy uniform/clothes and messy hair which their s/o just seems tired and done with life and when they ask they just say "it's horrible.. th-they cancelled my favorite tv show.." thanks if you do end up doing this request and (burrito)

You asked for too many characters so im not going to write for sonia, cheers. Also i love women thanks for the request

Mikan, Kyoko and Celeste with a Hyper S/O who got depressed over their favorite TV show ending

KYOKO KIRIGIRI

Kyoko is more on the low energy side when she’s not at work. She would much prefer a quiet night in than a night out, though if you’re a fan of parties and the like she’s willing to go with you- her limit is one per week, though.

You have the ‘talks a lot - listens’ dynamic, but Kyoko is definitely part of the conversation! You’ll say what you want to and when you take a breath, Kyoko will interject with her opinions.

You send her a lot of texts and she responds with emojis when she’s especially low energy.

That said, she could tell something was wrong when you didn’t text her at all the night before. Usually you would live text her your reactions to the newest episode of your favorite show, but she assumed that something extra big was happening.

When the next day you arrive at school and collapse at her desk with your tie barely around your neck and your shirt buttoned wrong, she feels your forehead for a fever. Perhaps you got sick last night?

When you burst into tears and clutch her, saying that your favorite show had been cancelled, and with your hatred of spoilers you didn't know until the episode wasn’t airing.

She comforts you and promises to loan you her notes for that day, and makes a plan of her own.

Kyoko isn’t influential enough to get a show uncancelled, but she was able to pull a few favors from former cases to get copies of the show notes and plans to give to you. You won’t be able to see it on the screen, but at least now you’ll know how it was supposed to go!

CELESTIA LUDENBURG

Only god knows how you two got together, but she gives off the vibe of ‘only I’m allowed to tease my partner. Try it and die’. She’s honestly a bit of a bitch, so please understand that she does care for you heavily.

She takes you out to fancy parties and gambling dens often- she loves seeing your face as you watch her in her element!

If you livetext her your reactions to episodes and stuff, she usually only scans them for anything to react to, and even that’s because she really loves you. For anyone else she would send them ‘uhuh. Right. Okay.’ if that.

The morning you come to school with your hair a rat's nest and your shoes untied, a dead look in your eyes, she’s crossing the room to ask what’s wrong.

When you break down crying into her handkerchief, explaining how your favorite show was cancelled mid season without even a hasty tie up ending.

Celeste gives you pats on the back, murmuring reassuring words and telling you that Hifumi will take care of your notes for the day.

A few days later, she stands in front of the TV station owner with a proposition- they both bet it all. She wins, of course, and a few weeks later the show is announced to be continuing (with your voice offering ideas that may or may not be taken into consideration).

When you find out what she did, you attack her with kisses and manage to fluster her for one of the few times in your relationship.

MIKAN TSUMIKI

She thinks you have a chemical imbalance LMAO

When you come in vibrating every day and cheerfully tell her that you had a simple breakfast of a slapdash sandwich she wants to drag you off and examine your blood to find out why you have so much energy.

She believes everything is related to the body.

When you come in that day with your uniform crumpled and dark circles under your eyes, she’s flitting around you, worried questions flowing from her lips.

You break into a sob and bury your face in her stomach, causing her face to flush. The only reason she doesn’t faint is because then you would collapse along with her.

“D-dear, what’s wrong?” She rubs your cheek, finally managing to sit down (in your lap, because school seats are tiny).

“My… My favorite show…. It’s cancelled! And- and the season wasn’t even finished! I’ll never know what was going to happen!” You wail into her shirt.

She can’t help but think ‘is that it?’ before hastening to get a handkerchief out of her pocket and dabbing at your tears.

Mikan will comfort you but she can’t really…. Do anything about it. She’ll write the station and ask them to continue the show, but even the plea of an Ultimate student can’t bring a TV show back on the air.

Maybe you two could find a new TV show to watch together!

#dr x reader #danganronpa imagines #danganronpa x reader #mikan x reader #mikan tsumiki x reader #kyoko x reader #kyoko kirigiri x reader #celestia ludenburg x reader #celeste x reader

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nagitoandkokichioneshots · 3 years

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I’ll see you again

Mod Mikan: I usually don’t write for the killing game, but I just got super inspired. This is based off of a headcanon that my lovely daughter @annastormfly shared with me a few weeks ago, and it’s also a gift to her. So um....yeah. This will most likely be my first and last time writing in the killing game AU. I, uh...got nothing else to say. Enjoy :)

Trigger warnings: Death, Suicide at the end

Kokichi knew that Miu was up to something. He had his violet-hued orbs locked into what she was doing, scanning her every movement as she started to work on the virtual world via the electronic technology that created the computer room. The ultimate supreme leader still kept his suspicions held high when she gathered everyone to the technological filled room after she was done. It took some--er, interesting--banter between the ultimate inventor her classmates, along with Monokuma and his remaining monokubs to ensure that it was safe. But what grasped everyone’s attention the most was the ‘secret of the outside’ world

“Huh? There’s a clue about the....secret of the outside world in this simulator? I.....” Anna’s voice trailed off, thinking for a second. Her eyes reverted from the large monitor in the middle of the room, back to Miu’s face, growing some slightly impatient to flat-out annoyed at her. Contemplating the possibilities, both positive and negative, that could result in this risk, the ultimate Dragon Trainer was about to make up her mind

That was...until she felt the warmth of small hand wrap around her own. With a tiny squeeze, her eyes turned to Kokichi’s amethyst colored ones. He extended his height by standing on his tippy-toes, whispering in her ear

“Don’t worry, Anna. You remember what I promised you when we got together? I’ll protect you with my life. No lies,” He smirked, making a pastel pink blush dust upon Anna cheeks. Her boyfriend could be such a pain at times, but when he really needed to tend to his lover, he always knew what to say. He was immaculate with his words and actions when the time called for it, which she absolutely adored

“Hey! Fucking liar and fucking slut! You done whispering about your next fuck session tonight?!” The strawberry blond snarled at them, making Kokichi roll his eyes and plaster an, albeit nonchalant, terrifying poker face towards her direction, earning a slightly frightened face from her

“Geez, don’t get your soaked panties in a twist. We’re coming, we’re coming,” The short-statured leader sighed, taking his seat next to his girlfriend. As he sat down and hooked up the proper wires to his helmet, he gave his girlfriend’s hand one last squeeze, gazing into her eyes for a split second, silently assuring her that everything was going to be okay. Y/N flashed a small smile in his direction as well, ready to tackle anything that happened to them--in reality or the virtual world

And with that, they were whisked away into the virtual world, followed my Miu’s commands

Which only later proved Kokichi’s suspicions

*****************************************************************************************************

The victim was Anna, the ultimate Dragon Trainer. The body was discovered in the computer room on the fifth floor. The approximate time of death was 6:30 am. The cause of death was a blow to the back of the head

Shuichi mumbled to himself, reading the monopad he was given. He bit his lip, frustrated at not only the horrifying sight of one of his best friends with a bleeding gash to the back of their head, but with Kokichi in a state that no one thought he was capable of

The ultimate supreme leader was kneeled down next to his lover’s corpse, bawling his eyes out. Waterfalls poured from his glossy eyes, sniffles left his chapped lips in between heavy breathes. Every time he tried to steady himself and stand back up, he was brought back down to his knees, falling into the pit of despair that was put in front of him. A single blow to his lover’s head.....

How?

How could he let this happen?

He tried to say something when Miu decided on the investigation groups. He knew it was a bad idea to let her call the shots, despite her creating this world. But the ultimate inventor was as stubborn as...well, as she always perceived herself

Was it...his fault he couldn’t stop her head-strong attitude?

“Anna.....” Kokichi started to choke out, raising a surprised look on Shuichi’s face. He ran towards Kokichi, about to comfort and lift him back on his feet, but the shorter boy just snubbed him away. He carried on with his monologue, but really, was speaking and begging for an apology from the only person he was sure he could trust

“Anna....I...I said I would....”

Another sob escaped from his lips

“I said I would protect you......Wh-what kind of leader am I?” He fumbled along his words, containing no energy--or motivation--to even lie in this situation. Shuichi hesitated, before placing a gentle hand on Kokichi’s shoulder. He looked up from his hunched over form, looking at the ultimate detective with a tear-strained face

Not even Kokichi could lie about the despair he felt

“Kokichi.....we need to start investigating. After that, we’ll start the trial and bring Anna’s killer to justice,” Shuichi said, trying to assure Kokichi. The purple haired male just nodded, still not standing up and composing himself after his sob session

“Who....who did this?” Was all he asked. Shuichi frowned, knowing Kokichi needed to clear answer to who brought this upon the only person that was the beacon of light in his broken life

“Koki--”

“WHO DID THIS?!” This time, it came out as a demanding screech, allowing a surge of energy to rush through his small body, enabling him to finally stand up. Before Shuichi could say anything more, Kokichi took a deep breath, looking Shuichi’s in the eyes one last time

“I’ll.....join you later,”

The dark-haired detective nodded, pausing before heading off to question Kaito about his sudden disappearance during the investigation. Kokichi turned back to his girlfriend’s dead body, pressing a kiss on her forehead. His body was all dry from tears to cry, but he choked out another sniffle, running a lanky hand through her hair. Below a whisper, he made one last promise to her

“Don’t worry, my queen......we’ll bring your killer to justice. And after that, you won’t have to wait long for me. I promise,”

*****************************************************************************************************

“The murder must’ve took place during the investigation. It was Anna, Kaito, Kiibo, Kokichi, me, and Tsumugi investigating the mansion area,” Shuichi started, covering his hand with his mouth, as if he was trying his best to recall the events of the scene. Shuichi fixated his eyes onto Miu who remained...awfully quiet during the trial

“Miu, if I recall, you....” Shuichi grimaced at the obvious action of her flipping the sign off the bridge, making it fall into the water on purpose. “...Accidentally” he continued to speak “Accidentally dropped the sign board down the river stream, yes?” Shuichi asked her, earning a small nod from her

“Y-Yeah! So what?! That only means it couldn’t possibly be me! After all, I was investigating the chapel with everyone else!” She snapped, making Shuichi fall silent for a while. Before he could open his mouth to further press the matter, Kokichi interrupted him with a harsh tone

“That cum-soaked urinal cake is toooottallly lying!” He pointed out, shooting daggers in Miu’s direction. She flinched, stuttering and falling upon her words, failing at forming a sentence to squeak out. Shuichi turned to Kokichi with a confused expression painted on his face, which made Kokichi bark an abrupt explanation to his seldom grave attitude

“Kokichi? Wh--”

“I’m not here to play games during this trial. One of you killed my precious Anna. I know exactly who, too. To save you to the boring and pointless mystery-solving shit, I’ll be frank. No lies,” Kokichi cleared his voice, his intense, malicious glance never ripping away from Miu’s face. With that, Kokichi cleared everyone from being executed, except for the killer that brought his lover to hell. The one who ripped the only good thing that happened to Kokichi

“Anna’s killer is Miu Iruma,”

*****************************************************************************************************

“Ding! Ding! Ding! You guys got it right again! Wow, four times in a row!” Monokuma cheered, as Miu was panicking and quivering in fear. She was sweating bullets, too frightened to even glare at Kokichi and scream at him for calling her out

“I-I-I....” Miu stumbled once again with her words, trying to say something to at least die with peace from everyone. Kokichi didn’t bother looking at Miu’s direction, hiding his already sobbing face in Gonta’s chest. The ultimate Entomologist hugged him gently, patting his back

“Gonta very sorry, Kokichi. Anna in better place now,” The large gentleman tried his best to comfort the supreme leader, only to gain more wails and genuine cries from him. Himiko watched Kokichi’s whole break down, shocked at the sincerity he showed from his cries. She frowned, looking down, flashbacks and agonizing memories flooding her own brain

Pondering over her own crying after Tenko and Angie’s trial

“So he can cry real tears....” The ultimate mage slurred out, almost feeling a seed of pity bloom inside of her, watching Kokichi seek more warmth from Gonta’s embrace. Shuichi turned to Miu, a glare glossed over his face, determined to find her reason

“Why did you do it, Miu? Please...at the end...at least give us a reason,” He stated flatly, desiring some sort of answer that would--hopefully--display a human side of Miu. Maybe her reasoning wasn’t shallow?

Wrong

“B-But you don’t understand! The world needs my genius! P-Please!” Miu howled, balling her hands into fist, weakly shaking them. Tears left her face, as they streamed and strained down her cheeks. She looked at Shuichi, her blue orbs pawning at Kokichi’s breakdown next, and finally towards Monokuma. Getting down on her knees, the same way she was when persuading everyone to try out her virtual world simulator, she was ready to beg for her life

“PLEASE! PLEASE MONOKUMA! I DON’T WANNA DIE! PLEASE, I NEED TO GET OUT HERE!!!!” She sniveled obnoxiously, knowing damn well that she wasn’t going to be let off the hook so easily. Of course, the dual-colored bear just laughed at her pathetic nature, his mind not changing

“And waste such an elaborate punishment I have prepared for you? Wow, so insensitive of you. Not thinking about how much thought I put into your very own execution,” Monokuma placed a fake facade of sadness radiating from his atmosphere

“So rude of you not to think of Daddy!” Monophanie huffed and turned to her brother, whom was....er--still suffering from memory loss. Monotaro gasped and whimpered at his mother still shaking like a lost puppy

“Mommy! Don’t go!” He roared, just sending Miu into another breakdown. Before she could even speak, another desperate plea for mercy about to leave her hoarse throat, she felt a tap on her shoulder. The ultimate inventor whipped her head, looking down at Kokichi. Like hers, his face was stained with tear stains and even more red from his immense breakdown. But his words was a cool and torturing contrast to what he was about to spew out next

“Now you get to feel the pain you caused Anna.....only this time....I hope Monokuma triples it,”

Monokuma took Kokichi’s final words as a signal to finally conclude the fourth class trial

“Now, I prepared a special punishment for Miu Iruma, the ultimate inventor! It’s punishment time!!!!”

*****************************************************************************************************

Kokichi didn’t get much sleep that night. He lied down, staring at the ceiling of his room. He frowned, feeling the emptiness of the bed that he sometimes shared with Anna. All those nights he got paranoid and have nightmares about the killing game. The one person he trusted with his life....the one person he, on layman terms “loved”

Gone

Ripped away from him

“What’s the point of living anymore....” He mumbled to himself. Having no energy to even crawl out of bed. He entrusted Anna with his plans to end this killing game. To win it, and take her with him. But what was the point of that now? He saw the only good in his world lying lifelessly on the floor of the computer room

“Everyone hates me......the one person that didn’t is gone.....”

Kokichi felt tired, but couldn’t sleep. It was excruciating. Go to sleep, dammit! He told himself, slapping his cheeks to knock some pointless sense into him.

Useless.....

But there was one thing he can do

Kokichi yanked off the bedsheets from the mattress, wrapping them into the form of a noose. Tying one end around his neck, he looped the other one from his ceiling and tied off the end to make it tight. Stepping onto the bed with a lovestruck, yet twisted smile on his face, a final verbal message escaped his mouth

“I’ll see you very soon, my queen...”

*****************************************************************************************************

“A body has been discovered! Everyone, please report to Kokichi Ouma’s dorm!”

#danganronpa kokichi #kokichi oma #kokichi oma x reader #kokichi oma x y/n #Kokichi oma drabble #Kokichi oma oneshot #kokichi #DRV3 #drv3 x reader #danganronpa x reader #danganronpa #danganronpa x y/n #danganronpa oneshot #danganronpa killing harmony #Kokichi x reader

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everythingsinred · 3 years

Text

Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 12)

Oof, the long-awaited Christmas Ball arc has finally arrived! Let's get into it!

What does it look like to see Natsume at his most selfish? One needs only to look at Chapter Fifty.

Chapter Forty-Eight

The Christmas Ball is finally here!

Natsume has to begin the ball just like he has to begin the festival, sitting on stage with the other Principal students, as if he’s some kind of representative. When he catches Mikan looking at him, he sticks his tongue out at her, and she’s taken aback and offended, but he’s trying to be cute. When Natsume is around Mikan, they always bicker and argue. She’s someone he can argue with, something he can’t do with most people. He can’t argue with the people in the DA class because he’ll get punished. He can’t argue with Ruka because he already causes him enough stress. With Mikan, none of the arguments are deep. She forgives and forgets easily, and he can act freely act like a little kid. In the last chapter, even, he smiles at her when they’re in the midst of an argument, because just the freedom of being able to bicker makes him happy.

He's trying to be cute, so go easy on him, Mikan.

He sticks his tongue out at her, acting silly and childish, because she’s special and he can act silly and childish around her.

For most of the ball, Natsume is content to sit in the tree, minding his own business and keeping away from the commotion. He does notice Mikan, though, because he always does, when she acts as Trash Santa to help Youichi play with Mr. Bear. He doesn’t say anything, and he’s only present for a couple panels, but it’s obvious she stands out to him.

Chapter Forty-Nine

Natsume is eating a good piece of cake when he meets with Ruka, who is overcome with guilt for kissing Mikan on the cheek a few minutes ago. Ruka knows that Natsume likes Mikan too, but he doesn’t understand that Natsume has jumped that ship before it could even leave the dock. Natsume gets that Ruka is conflicted about something, so he playfully squeezes Ruka’s nose to assure him in his own way. Natsume’s love language is physical touch even if it is awkward, whether it’s ruffling Ruka’s hair or squeezing his nose. That’s how he comforts people, particularly Ruka.

It apparently does make Ruka feel better, because when he next sees Mikan, he doesn’t freak out like she does. He’s calmed down a bit, isn’t quite as guilty. So he does his own version of what Natsume did for him at the alice festival closing dance. He gets Mikan to dance with Natsume. It’s his way of evening the score, giving Natsume the same chance he got. Either he doesn’t understand that Natsume isn’t playing the game at all, or he’s trying to convince him to start.

He walks away and Natsume and Mikan are left standing there without their masks. There’s a moment of awkwardness, where they stand around and don’t say anything, but Natsume has a moment of resolve. He takes her hand and pulls her close. It starts off proper and gentle, like a dance is supposed to be. They dance and Natsume notices that Mikan is not happy to be with him at all. She’s quiet and frowning. He’s seen her smile while dancing before, because she always catches his eye, so he knows she’s capable of it. She’s danced with Ruka, Tsubasa, Narumi, and all sorts of people, and she’s had a big grin on her face for all of it. For some reason, that smile is absent when her partner is Natsume.

Natsume got upset and hurt when Mikan said she would never want to dance the last dance with him. He’s hurt now that she seems so reluctant to dance with him in a zero-stakes dance at the Christmas Ball. He will be hurt in the future too, because he has a low self esteem. This girl that he likes may see him as a friend, but she gets so uneasy around him, and only him. Natsume thinks he cares so much more about her than she does about him, and it’s moments like these where he gets the feeling more than ever, and it hurts. He thinks it’s a given. He’s helped make it happen on purpose. But he still wishes deep down that it wasn’t that way.

He's doing everything right and she's still upset to dance with him! What's her deal? (heheheh)

And so he argues with her. Why isn’t she smiling with him, huh? He’s doing it all right, the way he’s supposed to. He’s dancing normally and she seems to hate it. He turns to insults because it’s his most reliable technique, and suddenly Mikan is energetic.

To avoid making a scene, they bicker and insult each other under their breaths, dancing just the same as they had before, but with a new aura around them. He twirls her and she’s smiling now. And his eyes get soft, because that’s all he wanted. One moment of selfishness for him to keep in his memories, where they danced and she actually liked it.

The moment ends when they get shoved and fall over, Mikan landing with her teeth on Natsume’s lip.

They’re both tense and uncomfortable with what just happened in front of so many people. Natsume hates that he tripped in front of everybody, so his mood has suddenly soured. If this had been a proper kiss, he wouldn’t have gotten so angry, and he won’t, spoiler alert. He was actually having a nice time, only for the moment to be so abruptly stolen from him. He fell down and now his lip is bleeding. Her teeth hitting his mouth also could be the closest he’ll ever get to a kiss with Mikan, and she looks horrified. Being under so many watchful eyes, all nervous about what’s about to happen. He has very few options, really. He can walk away, or he can cause upset. Natsume isn’t in the mood to run away, since he’s already embarrassed himself by tripping, so he tells her that she’s bad at dancing and kissing, even though he obviously very much likes dancing with her.

He is a problem child.

Chapter Fifty

Mikan is enraged that he had the audacity to call what happened a kiss. There’s also the trouble of Ruka, who had been nice and arranged for them to dance in the first place, only for this to happen.

Now it’s Natsume’s turn to feel guilty. It was an accident, of course, but Natsume already messed up by calling it a kiss, so now Ruka is upset. The only thing he can say to comfort his friend is to downplay it, acting as if everyone is making a big deal over nothing.

Don't worry about it, man. It's a whatever situation.

Natsume’s admirers take that as some sort of confirmation that he’s the man, probably going around kissing all the time. This really meant nothing, because it’s just one kiss of many. It’s far from the truth: Natsume has never kissed anybody before. This kiss doesn’t mean anything only because it was an accident.

Natsume escapes. He feels horrible for hurting Ruka, and probably let down that the teeth-kiss is the closest he’ll ever get to the real thing, least of all with Mikan. He stays in his tree, safe and isolated, alone with his thoughts. He has no intention of returning to the party.

In fact, it’s Mikan who finds him, when she climbs up the tree to find someone to comfort her. She’s looking for Tsubasa or Hotaru or Ruka or Iinchou. Not him. She admits that she’s just settling for him (or at least that’s the way it comes off in the TokyoPop version), and not being one of the people she can count on is something that he sadly resigns himself to.

Still, even if she’s only venting to him because there’s nobody else around, he listens to her whole story.

Just like with the Christmas Ball prep, he insults her and it somehow works. The worry leaves her face and she grins.

Forgive me. These scans leave much to be desired. Apologies.

Natsume is a bit preoccupied. He’s had some time to think and he has a lot on his mind, so he reminds her that she was angry at him just a bit ago, reviving her rage. It’s short-lived, though, because then he asks what happened between her and Ruka. Mikan shuts down, then tries to change the subject, mentioning all the gossip about his many kisses, suggesting Natsume talk about himself before demanding to know other people’s business, which leads him to the conclusion that she’d kissed Ruka.

They argue a bit more, but then she insists that the accident before didn’t count as a kiss, so he decides to fix that.

Natsume’s selfish acts are still in the single-digits, but this belongs on the shortest list in the world. Keep in mind that Natsume is convinced that Mikan and Ruka kissed already. They did, but that was a cheek kiss, and not on the same level. He has no idea. They’re arguing, so it won’t seem romantic or mushy at all, especially when compared to whatever Ruka surely did (though he did not do anything at all, in fact) and she won’t get the wrong (right) idea. It seems like a low-consequence move, like something he could do, so that he could have it for the rest of his life and then die with it. He doesn’t dare assume it’ll mean something to her.

He pulls her into a kiss, in any case.

She pushes him away, gasping for breath.

He explains that he did it because she said it wasn’t real before. An easy excuse. Then he muses, “So that’s what kissing is like…” and essentially answers her question from earlier, about all the rumors that he has plenty of experience kissing. He says it’s no big deal and then jumps from the tree.

"Wow! That sucked! Let's do more of this next year!"

To him, it is a big deal.

He says things aren’t a big deal when he wishes he could do them, like competing in the alice festival and now with kissing. Things are a big fuss over nothing when he can’t do them but wants to. Just like the alice festival, this is something he can’t look forward to. This is done, and it’ll probably--definitely--never happen again. Being selfish once is one thing. He wouldn’t do that to Ruka.

Downplaying it is supposed to comfort her. It’s no big deal after all, so she can just move on and keep kissing Ruka, which she probably prefers anyway. It obviously meant a lot to him, since in about a year he’d ask for more and more kisses, but for now, he’s content with one. It’s all he can ask for, and all he needs. Just one kiss, to know what it’s like to kiss the girl he loves. And now he’s done.

His post-kiss behavior is all for her sake, acting casual and blase about it so that she doesn’t catch on that it meant something more to him. “Huh, whatever,” is an easier kiss to get over than a romantic and sappy one, in his mind.

Besides, she’s not like him. It’s not like she’s never kissed somebody before.

Chapter Fifty-One

It’s post-Christmas cleaning day in Class B and the kids are gathering in a circle to tell scary stories on their lunch break. Koko calls Natsume over to make a demon fire for the atmosphere. Ruka and Natsume catch Mikan’s gaze and she runs to avoid them both.

She’s an anxious mess because of the Christmas Ball, unable to look either of them in the eye.

Natsume and Ruka both join the group anyway, and once Mikan is thoroughly spooked, Natsume scares her even more with Yo-chan’s help. It’s not that he wants her to suffer, but he wants to seem as unaffected as possible. See, he’s right back to normal, so there’s nothing to worry about. She doesn’t need to freak out about what happened, because ultimately, nothing happened. It was no big deal, a big fuss over nothing.

Jinno then separates the class into smaller cleaning groups, and Mikan is stuck with Natsume and Ruka. She’s awkward and anxious, Ruka’s embarrassed and doesn’t know what to say, and Natsume’s not the type to talk much anyway.

He isn’t really the kind of person who fixes things, but it’s on him now, because the other two sure as hell won’t. So first he teases Mikan by scaring her. She gets a little upset, so he tells her to quit ignoring Ruka. He makes it about Ruka, because he’s okay being the one ignored. Again, he’s never considered himself in the running for Mikan’s affections. He’s Team Ruka, all the way.

Ruka is touched, and there’s obviously no hard feelings about the accidental kiss at the ball. That doesn’t mean that they’re talking much, or that there’s no tension. They both know that something happened with the other in regards to Mikan, and broaching that topic is uncomfortable. They’ve been letting it sit for so long untouched--months even, since the very start of it all--and it’s only gotten bigger and bigger.

Before they can have an actual conversation, though, the lights go out.

They’re all sitting against the wall, Ruka and Natsume on either side of Mikan.

They’re both aware that Mikan is easily scared and that she’s particularly afraid of the dark, and so they both independently decide to hold her hand in an attempt to comfort her. Natsume remembers how afraid she’d been when they were trapped together in the haunted house, and how all she’d wanted at the time was to hold his hand, because if they’re touching, they’ll be warm and less scared.

Don't overthink it, Mikan. You might figure him out.

For now, it’s not about being selfish, just being helpful, because he wants to reassure her and comfort her. He’s learning ways that he can be comforting to Mikan, that don’t necessarily involve insults and getting her mad.

But then he looks up and he and Ruka notice each other, see what the other is doing, and after all this built-up tension and awkwardness and lack of conversation, it only makes sense that…

They start laughing. They start talking, suddenly so honest, because the hardest part is over. They got to skip over the confrontation and now they can just talk about it with each other. They’ve known the truth about each other all along, but now they don’t have to pretend to hide it anymore.

And Ruka feels free to tease Natsume, and Natsume can tease Ruka, and that’s amazing too. Even before Mikan came to the academy, Natsume and Ruka had a lot left unsaid. They didn’t communicate well, and their talks never involved bickering or friendly teasing. It’s like all the tension that had accrued between them for years has suddenly lifted, and they can laugh about it now.

There's so much honesty here now.

Natsume can tease that Ruka has terrible taste in women, Ruka can shoot back that that means Natsume does too, and Natsume can scold him for putting himself on his level.

If anything, this was good for their relationship. They’re in a place now where they can communicate about their feelings somewhat. Natsume is never really that emotionally open, even at his most communicative, and he’ll continue to keep his secrets, but the wall that has built between them has been more or less knocked down.

This moment doesn’t seem romantic at all to Mikan, but romance is intrinsic to their conversation. Ruka swears he won’t lose, and Natsume scoffs that he’d never intended to win in the first place.

And just like that, without even including Mikan in their conversation, everything is back to normal, or even better than normal. The Christmas Ball tensions have officially been eliminated. The feelings may still be there, but the problems are gone.

But it’s still dark and scary, and now it seems that a ghost has joined them in the hall, wielding scissors--so Ruka and Mikan run away. Natsume is not so easily spooked, so he sticks around long enough to see that the ghost in question is Nobara.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Natsume starts his conversation with Nobara by reminding her of an off-screen (off-page?) conversation, where he told her to stay away from Mikan. Nobara explains that she came to see him, because she was watching Mikan for the entire Christmas party and has something to tell him. Though it’s a bit creepy, the lengths Nobara went to in order to watch Mikan (including special opera glasses that catch sound), she says she saw something strange.

At first, Natsume thinks she’s going to mention the kiss, and he’s uncomfortable that Nobara probably knows about it. First, she’s still just as untrustworthy to him as before, because she’s loyal to Persona. That their kiss might get back to Persona could be potentially quite dangerous, and he might face serious punishment as a result. Secondly, he’s also capable of getting embarrassed, and the idea that this girl was watching when he had no idea at all, especially during such a vulnerable moment, is a little off-putting.

But Nobara isn’t talking about the kiss. She’s talking about the fact that the person who danced with Mikan and upset her by making her mask fall was probably the ESP. She tells Natsume because she’s seen the way he looks at her and she knows that he cares about her. She can even tell that Natsume forbidding her from talking to Mikan is his way of protecting her, even though she must not be a fan of such a rule. She’s a middle-schooler, and not as close to Mikan, but Natsume is in her class. He’s her partner and he cares about her, so he is the best person to have protecting her. Because he will, no questions asked.

Natsume remembers the warning he’s been given, that he should continue isolating himself or bad things will happen to his loved ones, so we can tell that he finds himself somewhat responsible for the ESP upsetting Mikan. More than that, he’s understandably concerned that this is merely the first move of many, and that the ESP will continue to antagonize her and even put her in danger, and that it would all be his fault.

In any case, Natsume is kind of stuck regarding his options.

He can go back to trying to avoid her. He was never that great at it in the first place, but it’s bound to be even harder now. But he also has to protect her, and that will be harder to do from a distance. Besides, the damage seems to have already been done. Whatever happens, he’s willing to take all the punishment in her stead, as long as she’s safe.

Conclusion

Natsume has done all he intends to do: he got a kiss from Mikan and now he'll more or less step aside. Or will he? The plot thickens! But in any case, he's up to face some serious repercussions for his actions so far, and his punishment will be any day now...

Also, sorry, I couldn't find full scans for Chapter Fifty-Two, so there's no pics. It's okay, I wouldn't have done much for it anyway, because Natsume's only around for a few pages.

Hope y'all are having a nice day! Thank you so much for reading this far!

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