#Here you have Mikoto actually believing he's doing okay; that he's fine and everything is okay

[oboetemasuka]

Refuge

(An "Order of Attack" side story)

A while ago, I sent a suggestion to @good-beanswrites about Yuno and Mahiru before the attacks. Then one day I decided that maybe I should try a "fanfic swap", so... here. Another take on what happened before everything went down.

It's just a little writing exercise, not strictly part of the fic. I believe the term is "loose canon". Two parts, written about a week apart, so sorry if the tone changes abruptly. And a few moments of "wait a minute, how does that work-"

Edit: I forgot to link to Beans's writing. Here!

-

Yuno heard a knock on her cell door out of the blue. Well, it was more like a kick. A gentle kick. 

She wasn't sure how to respond. Who would want to talk to her? She had been so distant from everyone that they had all given up on trying to talk to her. 

Even the unforgiven prisoners kept their distance. Yuno had first approached Fuuta, who was making a huge racket in the next cell over, only for him to cuss her out. Fine, maybe the racket will distract from my own voices, then. Amane shooed her out immediately. Mahiru turned down her offer, seemingly out of shame.

If the person at the door was not Fuuta, and not Amane, then could it be…

There was another kick, followed by a soft "Yuno-chan…"

Yuno opened the door almost immediately. "Mahiru-san, what… Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just… a little lonely."

"Do you want to stay with me?" The question spilled out of Yuno's lips faster than she could think. Was she really that desperate for companionship? No, not if she stayed in her cell while Mahiru approached her.

Mahiru shook her head at the question. "Actually, I was wondering if you would mind coming with me."

That was an odd request. Was there much of a difference between their cells? Still, if it made Mahiru more comfortable, there was no reason to deny her.

"Sure. Let's go."

Mahiru's cell was somewhat messier since the last time Yuno visited. Furniture was shifted a bit out of place. A few books were scattered on the ground. Mahiru probably would have picked them up if she could.

"Do you want me to get that?" Yuno asked, gesturing to the books.

"Oh, sure! I've been meaning to get those organized. Sorry you had to see my cell in this state."

"It's no problem. I get that it would be tough- oh, do you want me to help out?"

Mahiru shook her head. "It's fine. Just the books will be enough for now. I can clean this up when I get the chance."

"But do you know if you'll get the chance?"

"Of course! I just have to… hm… eat faster during meal times!"

Meal times. As far as Yuno knew, they were one of the precious few times the unforgiven prisoners had to move about freely. But still-

"It wouldn't be healthy to rush a meal just for a few extra minutes of free time."

"I suppose…" Mahiru looked up contemplatively.

"Maybe I can unbuckle the straps," Yuno suggested.

"If you want…"

But Yuno couldn't figure out how to undo them.

"Maybe I can cut them."

"I wouldn't want to damage the uniform, though. Who knows what the consequences would be?"

"Mikoto-san did that, and he's fine. Well, not 'fine' fine, but the restraints don't affect him anymore."

"I guess… I don't mind this, though. It's like giving myself a hug. And it would be a shame to destroy such a nice outfit anyway."

"Whatever you say… Anyway, my offer to clean up the room still stands."

Mahiru accepted the offer this time. No shame in admitting that one can't do everything.

As Yuno organized the various dropped items, she found a conversation topic in the voices that plagued their thoughts.

After a while, Mahiru seemed more at ease, but the carefully-built atmosphere was abruptly brought down.

A scream rang throughout the panopticon.

#milgram #yuno kashiki #mahiru shiina #bad things happen to amane

[httpsaiki]

Campfires and Confessions (Kusuo Saiki x Reader)

Angsty at the start but ends off cute!  Reader is gender neutral in pronouns (as in no she/he) but it is slightly implied the reader is female in one small part.

WC: 1627

Italics are Kusuo “speaking” aka telepathy.

In which the reader and friends are on a camping trip, but they convince themself that their feelings will not be reciprocated.

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

You and your friend group had decided that going camping together would be a great idea this summer. That’s how you, 3 girls (being Teruhashi, Yumehara, and Mikoto) and 4 boys (being Nendou, Kaidou, Saiki, and Kuboyasu) ended up here, sitting around this campfire. Generally, you’d been having a wonderful time. All of you were somewhere that was free from regular day to day responsibilities and overbearing adult figures. It was rather nice, except for one small thing. 

Saiki Kusuo. One of your closest friends and incidentally also your crush. There had been many times you’d considered telling Saiki about how you felt but stopping yourself every time out of pure respect for his clear boundaries. Over the past couple of weeks, you started to realize maybe you weren't as close as you thought you were. You had begun to convince yourself you were nothing more than a bother for Saiki and had contemplated distancing yourself from him. Would it be better for him? Would it make him happy for you to give him the space you felt he desired so badly?

Ultimately, you decided it would be better to leave him alone. The very last thing you wanted was to cause any further trouble for Saiki and you knew that more than anything he didn’t want to draw attention to himself. It wouldn’t be easy, considering how close you thought you had become but you knew you’d be able to manage. You had all your other wonderful friends with you and this may be a great chance to get even closer with some of them. What’s a better way to bond than being stuck in the wilderness for a week? 

You had been zoned out for a while now and were surprised to see Teruhashi’s hand waving in front of your face. 

“Y/N? Are you alright?” Teruhashi asked you, a rather clear worried expression on her face. 

“Yeah! I’m fine.” You managed to get out unphased. Thankfully, the worried expression was wiped off of her face and was replaced with a gorgeous, glowing smile. 

“I’m glad, Y/N! Anyways, we were talking about heading back to our tents for the night, but some of the boys are staying out. Are you coming?” 

Thinking for a moment about her question, you glanced over at where Saiki was sitting, trying to deduce if he’d be heading in for the night too. Seeing that he was getting ready to pack up, you decided you were in the clear to stay out longer. 

“I think I’ll be staying out a little longer. I’d like to chat!” You said eagerly in reply. 

“Alright, Y/N. Just don’t stay out too late, okay? Good night!” 

“Goodnight, Teruhashi!” 

Moving your gaze towards whoever had chosen to stay outside, you see only Kuboyasu and Kaidou. They would be fun to talk to. The three of you talked about nothing and everything until the sun had fully set and countless stars painted the deep night sky. You decided to ask about Saiki. They were rather close to him, and you trusted them enough not to tattle. 

“I have a weird question. It’s about Saiki.” You tested the waters with that. If they didn’t react too well, you’d just ask something unimportant like his favourite sweets, or manga series. 

“What’s up Y/N?” Kuboyasu was quick to reply, obviously curious as to what you wanted to know. Kaidou also tilted his head out of curiosity.

“Well… do you know if Saiki likes anyone?” 

Kaidou was even faster to jump in. 

“I can’t say for sure, as he doesn’t express… much emotion. I’m not sure.”

The small look of victory on your face gave everything you felt towards Saiki away to the two boys in front of you. Maybe you did have some chance. Kuboyasu smirked at you, promising that he and Kaidou would keep quiet about your little crush. 

Finally getting tired, and rather satisfied with what you had learned tonight, you said your goodnights to Kuboyasu and Kaidou who promptly did the same. You quietly made your way into your shared tent with Teruhashi, seeing her already fast asleep. Settling in for the night, it wasn’t long before you fell asleep too. 

The next morning you were one of the first awake. Climbing out of the tent, you were greeted by none other than Nendou and Yumehara. The two of them were busy cooking breakfast for the group, something you were extremely thankful for. 

Once everyone was awake and had eaten, you all left for a hike up the trail that was near your campsite. The walk was nice, and it was a good time being with your friends. You were lucky enough to end up walking next to Mikoto and Yumehara at some points, actually having a nice time with her. You had forgotten how well the three of you got along. Nevertheless, you still managed to avoid Saiki. 

Meanwhile, during all of this, your thoughts were becoming unbearable to Saiki. He knew why you weren’t talking to him, but it didn’t mean a little part of him didn’t miss your company. Saiki was surprised to realize he couldn’t stand knowing you thought he disliked you or was picking someone else over you. It wasn’t the case, at all. It had taken his all not to telepathically tell you you’re wrong and he wanted you to come to talk to him. He knew he had to do something about it himself.

Walking up to you, he said he knew you’d been dodging him and asked you to meet him by the lake that evening when most of the group had turned in for the night. 

Surprised by Saiki’s sudden looming presence over your shoulder, you hesitantly agreed to meet him there tonight. A part of you was excited, not knowing what caused him to suddenly ask you that. Another part of you was filled with doubt. You had no idea what he wanted you for. Was it possible he was mad at you? For a split second, you considered not going. Then the rational part of you took over, this is Saiki we’re talking about, and suddenly you were nearly certain he wouldn’t pull you aside to yell at you. You made up your mind, you were going to meet Saiki by the lake tonight. 

Once night arrived, you quietly headed out towards the nearby river. As soon as you found it, you spotted Saiki, sitting on a picnic blanket, with a basket beside him. It was quite the sight to behold, Saiki was rather pretty, seemingly shining from the moonlight that wrapped around his shape.

And so was the scenery. The lake was serene, peaceful in every sense of the word. The moon and glowing stars reflected perfectly in the still water, with nothing daring to disturb the perfect atmosphere. It was stunning, and in any case, you were mesmerized by the seemingly glowing lake in front of you. 

Silently, you sat down beside Saiki, only for him to start talking right away. 

“Y/N. Listen. I know this is going to be a lot, but there’s something I need to tell you.”

This was worrying. Was he okay? You looked at him with a worried expression painted on your face, 

“What is it, Saiki?”

He took in air, clearly nervous. This was out of character for him. 

“I’m a psychic. I have many abilities, ones I won’t get into right now as there is one I need to tell you about. I can read minds… I constantly hear thoughts telepathically, including yours.”

Oh. Oh no. This wasn’t good. So he knew? Is that what this was about? Feeling the panic rush over you, you closed your eyes and hid your face as you started tearing up. You had no idea how to react. You’d never been more certain Saiki hates you.

“I like you too.”

Your head shot up immediately. Saiki.. felt the same way? Despite everything, he didn’t dislike you? He wasn’t annoyed by you? Even though he knew what you were thinking that whole time?

“Far from it. I do like you.” Saiki said, reaching to rub your back and help calm you down. 

“I can’t believe this...” You were practically shaking from shock. You were happy, despite knowing he could read your thoughts this whole time. If it couldn’t be helped then you supposed you’d have to accept it. Though, both you and Saiki were surprised at how easily you accepted his powers. He was still Saiki, after all. Nothing had changed that, nor would it ever. 

“I should ask to be official, Y/N, will you go out with me?”

“I think you already know the answer to that. Yes, of course, I will.” You were surprised by how calm and steady your voice was.

“I apologize I never said anything sooner. I didn’t want to give myself away.”

“Oh, Saiki, I understand. You don’t need to be sorry.”

“I know it was only a few days, I missed you.”

You smiled at him, “I missed you too.”

Saiki slid over towards you, adjusting his body so you could place your head on his shoulder. Which you did, and he placed his head on yours. Opening the picnic basket that had been long forgotten, you and Saiki enjoyed a nighttime snack sitting out by the gorgeous lake. 

“So... you’re a psychic? Will you show me what you can do?”

Saiki couldn’t believe what he was about to say. Good grief, you brought out the best in him. Not that he minded. He was glad you accepted him, and he trusted you enough to keep his secret. He looked over at you and gave a small smile. 

“Gladly.”

#the disasterous life of saiki k #saiki no psi nan #saiki k x reader #saiki kusuo x reader #saiki k #saiki kusuo #my writing

[excitedlysuffering]

Perception- Itachi X Reader Part 2

Couldn’t resist Old Man Madara😂🥰 hope you like it @youcanreadit it felt kinda rushed I’m sorry ;-; (part 1 can be found in my profile masterlist!!)

“(Y/N)! It’s been so long, I’m so glad you joined us!” You yelped as Mikoto crushed you to her chest with a strength you didn’t know the petite woman possessed. “I’m glad I’m here too, I really missed you all!” It wasn’t a lie either, the Uchiha’s were very much a second family to you, one that you hadn’t seen in far too long.

“Don’t suffocate the poor girl before she can even get in the door, dear.” The gruff voice of Fugaku filled your ears, a tinge of amusement coloring his tone. Mikoto let you go with a sheepish smile, leaving room for Shisui to step towards you, a grin on his face.

“Hey, squirt, how’s college treating ya?” You grinned chatting with the older male, feeling the familiar ease slip over you. In no time, you were talking with everyone, and your worries slipped away.

“Itachi! Where have you been?! You’re late!” You winced as the door opened and closed, revealing the raven-haired man himself. Mikoto came out to greet him, her hands on her hips and a frown on her face.

“Sorry, mother. I stopped to grab some flowers and dango,” He replies, sheepishly banding the frowning woman the lilies. Mikoto’s frown was instantly replaced with a huge smile.

“Oh, my little gentleman, come here!” She practically tackled him into a bone-crushing hug and he grunted at the surprising force behind it. “You’re just in time for dinner, son, come join us,” Fugaku beckoned, a half-smile on his face.

“Hi, everyone, sorry for the interruption,” He apologized. You kept your focus on the conversation you were having with Shisui and Sasuke, figuring if you pretended he wasn’t there it’d be fine.

“So, you going to talk to Itachi~” Shisui teased. Or not, you sighed. “Hush, you idiot. Besides-“ you saw movement in the corner of your eyes and nearly jumped out of the seat when Itachi took the vacant seat next to you. The universe was out for blood today, huh…

“Long time no see, (Y/N), how are you?” You forced a polite smile onto your face. “I’ve been alright, and you?” He flashed you one of his signature closed eye grins. “Same with me, although I’ve missed seeing everyone like this… I’m glad you came, (Y/N/N).”

You cleared your throat, reminding yourself how to breathe. How dare he- “I am too, it’s been far too long.” Your eye twitched when you saw Sasuke and Shisui smirk as if they were planning something.

“So, (Y/N), found that… special someone yet?” Shisui wiggles his eyebrows and you envisioned yourself wiping them off his face. You saw Itachi tense up and a small, secretive smile spread across your lips. Maybe you wouldn’t kill Shisui just yet…

“Yes, actually… I wasn’t planning on telling anyone but yeah… we’ve been together for about two months.” You were disturbed by the way the lie effortlessly flowed through your lips and at how genuinely surprised everyone looked at the news. Wow.

“Is he, um, is he a good guy?” Itachi choked out. You furrowed your eyebrows at his reaction. “He’d better be since I haven’t heard anything about him,” Sasuke scowled.

“Yeah, yeah, he is…” All three boys opened their mouths to shoot off more questions, but a stern voice cut them off. “Oi, leave her alone, you idiots, I’m hungry and I’d like to eat before the food goes cold!” Well, at least Old Man Madara hadn’t changed.

We all sweatdropped at his ‘grown-up’ pout. “R-right,” I agreed awkwardly. “Itadakimasu!” Everyone echoed.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

Dinner, although it had started off awkwardly, proceeded to go off without a hitch. Mikoto and Fugako filled up a lot of your and Sasuke’s focus with questions and the like, while Shisui kept Itachi busy with conversation.

Madara, for the most part, silently watched and listened as he ate, but you could see a few smiles spread across his face throughout the meal.

“If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’m just going to go take my plate,” You hopped up before Mikoto could insist that someone else do it. Truthfully, you could use the break, although you were having fun, being so close to Itachi after all this time was doing strange things to your heart.

You placed your silverware into the sink and times off your plate. With a calming exhale, you turned to exit the kitchen. You let out an embarrassing screech when you ran straight into a chest.

“I-Itachi! Sorry, I didn’t see you there!” He waves your apology off. “It’s fine. Did you mean what you said… about you having a boyfriend?”

You crossed your arms at the intrusive question. “What of it? Is it that hard to believe that I found someone that genuinely likes me?” He reeled back at the loaded accusation in your tone.

“No! That’s not what I meant,” He cleared his throat, trying to gather his words. “I just… did you really move on from me? Just like that…?”

Your eyes narrowed dangerously as rage spread through your entire being. “‘Just like that’?! You think I moved on ‘just like that?!’” You barely managed to keep your voice down, in order to prevent the others from hearing.

“I‘ve loved you for years and you never once acknowledged it! Not even to reject me! At first, I thought it was because you didn’t care, but now that I realized you only cared now that I’ve found someone I know it’s because you were too much of a coward to do it!”

His eyes widened at your outburst, hurt clouding his eyes. “No, that’s not it-!” You cut off his excuses with a wave of your hand. “I’ll do it for you then. I’m over you, and I want you to leave. Me. Be.” You couldn’t help but be slightly impressed with yourself at how even your voice was.

“Please, (Y/N), don’t say that… I’ve always loved you, I swear… I was just scared to say anything, I thought a relationship would distract us from our goals…” He revealed, borderline tearfully.

You scoffed in pure disbelief. “You expect me to believe that? You know what, I’m still single, but I still won’t believe such a half-assed lie like that.” His expression screamed heartbreak, but he refused to give up.

“I know I was wrong, Kami, I do, but please give me another chance… I was so scared that I had pushed you away for so long that’d I’d lost you for good.” You turned away, biting your lip.

“You really hurt me, Itachi.” His arms hesitantly encircled you, drawing you into him. “I’m so sorry, please, can you ever forgive me?” You clutched his shirt, tears now staining it. “Maybe.”

He pressed a gentle kiss to your hair. “I’m going to make it up to you, I swear it.” You held him tighter. “Don’t hurt me again, okay?” He relaxed just slightly and he pulled you away to look you in the eye.

“I swear on everything holy I will never hurt you,” He promised solemnly. You pressed your lips to his in a fleeting kiss. Even though there was still some more explaining to do, it felt as if a crucial piece of your life had finally joined the puzzle.

“Hn. Finally. I thought the two of you were going to be mutually pining your entire lives.” Sasuke huffed. You hid your face into his brother’s chest, feeling embarrassment cloud your thoughts.

“I know right, but thanks to me you can start planning their wedding Mikoto,” Shisui bragged. Mikoto’s exclamation of pure joy rang out, further tinting your cheeks red. “Oi, brats! Stop canoodling in the kitchen and bring out the dessert!”

I groaned. “M-Madara!” Was it really too much to ask for one moment uninterrupted?! “C’mon, once we finish up here, we can go off on our own, okay?” Oh, Itachi, annoyingly perceptive as always.

Taglist~ Masterlist

@alysplxnet @shinobicas @weaponsofmasspercussion @kunoichihatake @robin-boywonder @islandbbbhere @purequeenoftheimpure @dylvaz @sugarhorizons @usuratonkachiuchiha @softieitachi

#naruto scenarios #itachi x reader #part 2 #angst to fluff #requested

[sunnyvaiprion]

Salutations and Congratulations in getting adrift Corrine (a nickname given to female Corrin) since I'm the opposite in getting Adrift Male Corrin (Cor is his nickname).. Now she is here..I wonder who little Azura will believe in. Her look up and influence from Julius since you support her with him or the Adrift Corrine who is trying make her positive person and act like a good little girl? Nowadays she is now in between them?

 Aw, hello again! Thank you, I was really glad to get her in greens, since I loathe using Armored units so I’m not especially interested in Surtr, and Gunnthra would be a dupe with no good fodder. Also, I find those nicknames adorable!! I might use them later, is that okay??

 But going back to the topic of Azura - the way you put it is very…radical. As if we have two polar opposite dragons fighting for a gifted child without any possibility of a compromise. (no lie, it might look like it)     

 Here is very important to know how I view adrift Corrin. I realize there might be different interpretations of what Adrift characters are, but I go with us summoning them right from the world of Azura’s dreams (even Mikoto, even though I really think Arete would fit there better. Although, seeing her might make Azura sad). They are their own people and their character growths and experiences are no longer strictly tied to Azura after they arrive in Zenith, but the “starting point” for them is Azura’s wishes for a (alive) caring mother and strong, doting siblings who share her secrets, even those of Valla. As such, Corrin unconditionally loves Azura and wants her to be happy above everything else.

 Sure, I’m not going to argue that Julius, in fact, is a pretty bad influence. He is going to reinforce her distrust of people (Not only that, but the castle inhabitants who are wary of Julius, which are actually the majority, would associate Azura with him, and that creates an issue on the other end as well), normalize needless violence in her eyes, so on and so forth. While with the character Corrin appears to have, she clearly leans to the nicer side of things and would want Azura to be “a better person”, if possible. That’s a good fighting ground. 

 But the thing is… aside from probable side effects which might or might not affect Azura’s life among “normal people”, Julius… doesn’t directly hurt her or make her genuinely unhappy (he messes with her often, but to a certain limit). Corrin was so used to seeing Azura being scared of the “real world” and her own future, that seeing her now, feeling safe and gaining confidence in herself and her abilities, is like a miracle already. And for that she has to thank a certian someone…or, at the very least, not think of him as a mortal enemy.  

 Corrin does not agree with Julius on lots of things. Should she be around from the very start, she’d try to guide her away from him. But at this point in time, she understands that trying to enforce her ideals on Azura and try to separate them might actually do more harm than good for the girl, and that’s something she wouldnt want even for a “noble goal”. She definitely keeps an eye on him, but unless he becomes threatening to Azura herself at some point, she would step down and let them be. Azura looks up to him and Corrin respects that. 

 Julius isnt exactly as kind and understanding in that regard, but Corrin is, in any case, Azura’s family. She speaks very highly of Corrin, and as long as “big sister” doesnt come to him with flashy accusations, and isnt trying to steal his emotional support child (she made it clear that she’s not), he wont actively seek a serious conflict with her either.

Azura spends time with both, so you could technically say she’s “in between” but still, Julius remains objectively more influential. However… Corrin is fine with that.

#answers #fire emblem heroes #Julius #Azura #Corrin #scribbles #woah sunne thats a lot of text there #sorry that's not a rant or anything I'm just bad with compact replies #I actually really like answering things you ask thank you #also yes they talk

[alicialeila]

Hii!! For the writing prompts 2.0, maybe Mikototsu with 6."You're hiding something from me" if you can!? Love your writing!! ^^

Hey!!! Thank you for the prompt! :DWould you believe I kinda had something started in my WIP folder that suited this perfectly? It’s pure fluff and I hope you like it! :)

ao3

-

Totsuka took the last batch of chocolates out of the oven and smiled at how perfectly formed they’d turned out. He was getting better at this every year. He set them down on the cooling rack before turning to the oven to set it to the required temperature for his next project. He double-checked the recipe he’d pulled up on his phone. It was a little bit more ambitious: red velvet cupcakes with specially made red frosting. They were, of course, for Anna.

It was the day before Valentine’s Day and Totsuka was, as he did every year, making chocolates for the Homra boys. Since it was Anna’s first Valentines with them, he wanted to do something special for her. She deserved to be spoiled a little bit.

As he was mixing the cupcake batter in a large bowl, he heard someone enter the kitchen and sigh. Grinning knowingly, Totsuka turned to greet Mikoto.

“Good afternoon, King!” Totsuka said brightly. Mikoto’s gaze traveled from the cooling chocolates to the mess in the sink, and then finally to Totsuka himself. He eyed Totsuka’s sleeve, and when Totsuka looked down, he saw that he’d gotten batter on his favorite sweater. “Oops,” he chuckled.

“This again?” Mikoto asked.

“Why not?" Totsuka chirped. "Valentine’s Day is a day where you’re supposed to show people you love them.” He grabbed the cupcake trays.

“Are those for Anna?” Mikoto peered into the bowl at the red batter.

“Yep! I think she’ll like them. Is she still out with Yata and Kamomoto?”

Mikoto grunted in affirmation.

“Good. I should be done by the time she gets back.”

Mikoto lingered for a moment, and Totsuka heard him chuckle softly. When Totsuka turned to look at Mikoto, he’d already stepped out of the kitchen.

Totsuka returned to his task with renewed focus, carefully pouring the batter into the cupcake trays. He hummed to himself as he worked. Totsuka liked this kind of thing; giving small gifts and treats on holidays, birthdays. Someone had asked him once if was annoying for his birthday to be on Valentine’s Day, but frankly, Totsuka didn’t really think about it much. He’d much rather focus on how fun it was to give than have any expectations about getting something instead. He’d learned that lesson as a child who had grown up poor with an unreliable father.

Once, as a kid, he’d given his father flowers that he’d picked for Valentines Day. When his father’s face had crumpled, Totsuka had hesitantly apologized, naively thinking his father was displeased. But the fierce hug he’d received, and the kiss to his hair, had reassured him otherwise. When his father had apologized for not being able to give him anything for his birthday, Totsuka had shrugged. At least his father was home, he’d thought. That night, they’d shared a few of the chocolates Totsuka had received from his classmates, and it was, overall, one of the nicer memories that Totsuka carried with him into adulthood.

With Anna’s cupcakes cooled and frosted, Totsuka hid them in a high cupboard, where Anna would definitely not find them. He gathered the chocolates into containers, and then stuffed them in his bag, so he could package them at home, away from prying eyes. Everyone was oddly quiet when Totsuka emerged from the kitchen, like he’d interrupted something, but seemed to respond normally when he said goodbye for the evening. He paid it no mind.

Totsuka enjoyed the cool, fresh air as he walked home that night. Excitement thrummed through him as he thought of the next day. He hoped Anna would be happy.

*

The next morning, Totsuka woke up earlier than usual to make sure he had enough time to package the chocolates. He’d arrive at Homra early enough to give everyone their treats before the bar opened for the evening.

He arranged the chocolates into little plastic baggies, making sure Mikoto’s was full of the dark chocolate Totsuka had specially made for him. Each bag was labeled with one of the boys’ names. It was kinda cheesy, but what was wrong with that? Smiling at his handiwork, Totsuka got himself ready for the day. It would probably be a busy night at Homra, being Valentine’s Day and all. As he was putting the treats into a box, his phone rang.

“Hello?”“Totsuka, are you still home?” Kusanagi asked. He sounded stressed.

“Yes,” he said, glancing at the time. It was still early, much earlier than he’d normally head to Homra anyways.“Okay, good. Can you run to the store for me before you come over?”

“Sure, Kusanagi-san.”Kusanagi listed off a few random items Totsuka would need to go to the market for, before hanging up abruptly. Totsuka wrote himself a list and tucked it into his pocket.

Not even an hour later, as he was tidying up his tiny kitchen, Totsuka heard a knock at his door. Swinging it open, he was surprised to find Mikoto standing there.

“Yo,” Mikoto said, a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

Totsuka blinked. “King? What are you doing here?”

Mikoto shifted awkwardly. “Thought you’d have stuff to carry.”

That, Totsuka thought, was a lie. As someone who didn’t talk much, it was easy to tell when Mikoto was lying. Totsuka laughed to cover his suspicion. “I don’t have that much to bring.”

Mikoto shrugged, and Totsuka moved aside to let him into the apartment. Mikoto looked around the small space. His eyes landed on a brightly colored painting that clashed with the other assortment of decorations Totsuka had in his place.

“Ah, it’s cool, isn’t it? I found it one night when I was walking home from Homra.”

“It was someone’s garbage?” Mikoto looked at him skeptically.

“Don’t say it like that,” Totsuka chuckled. “I think it's nice.” Totsuka grabbed his coat and scarf. “Let’s get going! We have to stop at the store for Kusanagi-san.” He smiled brightly at Mikoto.

Mikoto stared down at him for a moment. “I have to go to the bathroom,” he said abruptly, and disappeared down the hall. Totsuka waited restlessly on the couch for Mikoto to reappear a few minutes later.

“Can we go now?” Totsuka asked, a little bit teasing. Mikoto nodded, avoiding Totsuka’s curious gaze.

They walked to the market in silence. Totsuka watched Mikoto check his phone a few times and type out a quick message.

“Is that Kusanagi-san?” Totsuka asked. Mikoto grunted.

This was, Totsuka thought, highly unusual. It was rare for Mikoto to even carry a phone on him, never mind actually answer messages.

The market was busy, full of last-minute shoppers buying slightly overpriced cuts of meat and flowers. When they’d gathered everything on Kusanagi’s list, after zigzagging through the store ridiculously, Mikoto picked the longest checkout line. Totsuka tried to cover his smile, amused at Mikoto’s attempts at stalling them. He said nothing, until they were on their way back to Homra. “You’re hiding something from me,” he said lightly.

Mikoto choked on a cough, his cigarette tumbling from his open mouth. Totsuka laughed, delighted, and Mikoto glared at him in return.

“So, what is it?” he chirped. “Are we avoiding Homra? Was Kusanagi-san making you clean? Did somebody eat Anna’s cupcakes? Did you break--”

Totsuka couldn't finish his sentence, because Mikoto put his mouth in the way, pressing their lips together in a soft, somewhat off-center kiss. Totsuka’s heart stopped, and only started again when Mikoto was pulling away a few seconds later.

Totsuka’s mouth hung open, gaping, poised to say something, but nothing came out. His lips tingled.

Seemingly satisfied with short-circuiting Totsuka’s brain, Mikoto started walking again. It took a second for Totsuka’s legs to start working again so that he could trail behind Mikoto. He knew he should probably worry because Mikoto was most definitely hiding something, and there was always the possibility that he was having a very vivid hallucination, but Mikoto had kissed him, and those worries faded as he pressed fingers to his lips.

By the time he was stepping through the door at Homra, Totsuka was still preoccupied enough that it took him a moment to process what was happening.

He was greeted by a chorus. “Surprise!”

Everyone was already there, standing around, watching him, holding party poppers, party hats atop their heads. Even Fushimi was wearing a hat, though he was frowning like he was at his own execution instead of a party.

A banner hung over the bar top, and it read HAPPY BIRTHDAY TATARA in red.

“What?” he asked, dumbstruck, covered in confetti.

There was a tug on his shirt, and when he looked down, Anna was holding a party hat in her outstretched hand. “For Tatara,” she said. She offered one to Mikoto next, and with the power of her puppy dog eyes, managed to get him to wear it, too.

Kusanagi brought him a drink, and Totsuka accepted it with a smile. “You didn’t have to do this,” he said. “What about Valentine’s Day?”

“Anna said we should do both,” Kusanagi replied.

“Ah,” Totsuka hummed. “It was Anna’s idea, but I’m sure Kusanagi-san was the mastermind.”

Kusanagi chuckled, plucking a stray piece of confetti from Totsuka’s hair. “Well, I sent Mikoto because I figured he was the only one who you wouldn’t be able to get to talk. I gave him two instructions: stall you until I messaged him that it was okay, and to shut you up if you started askin’ questions.”

Totsuka choked on his drink, flushing at the memory of how exactly Mikoto had managed that.

Kusanagi gave him a thump on the back. “You okay?”“Fine!” he said too brightly. He snuck a look at where Mikoto had taken a seat, with Anna stuck to his side.

They ate way too many sweets that night, with all the chocolates and cupcakes Totsuka had made, along with the birthday cake that Kusanagi and Anna had picked out from a bakery down the street.

And later, when Mikoto gave him a real birthday kiss, Totsuka couldn’t help but think that it was the sweetest thing he’d tasted all night.

#mikototsu #k project #my fic #prompt fill #this is pure fluff #blazeturbo102

[angelrider13]

Tears and Blood Make a Peace Hard Won

Title: When Mind and Body Don’t Match Chapters: 3 / ?

Summary: Waking up in a boy’s body is not at all what she expected. Predictably, it sets the tone for her second life.

FF | AO3 | Master Fic List

Relearning how to work her body is annoying.

Crawling was fairly easy to work out, but walking is another matter entirely. She's been here for roughly two years now and the best she can do with this body's tiny legs is waddle around. Judging by the looks she gets, she supposes that she's progressing far more quickly that an actual toddler would, but it is still frustrating. She knows what she wants, how she wants to move, but her body isn't cooperating with her.

Even worse is the fact that she has to learn language all over again. Her mind is still hardwired for English and it is not something anyone here speaks. The language here is not what she is used to - the structure is wrong, the sounds are off, and all the rules are different. She dreads relearning to read and write because she's seen the written language and it is far more complicated than she knows what to do with.

Still, given her physical age and the fact that she knew nothing of the language, she supposes that she's learning as well as a toddler can.

Her new mobility is something she likes to test because being stuck in the same room for the majority of your time is not as fun when you are mentally over two decades old. So even though she knows it probably scares Mikoto out of her mind, she wanders off every chance she gets.

It probably says something about this world when no one seems to notice or care that there is an unattended toddler wobbling around. She'll take all the freedom she can get though; she just wants a change of scenery.

She hears voices and the tone is jeering, goading - not teasing, because teasing can be lighthearted and is rarely ever cruel, but this is.

Brow furrowed, she turns and spots a group of boys, all years older than her, crowded around another boy who looks to be slightly younger than them. She can't understand everything they are saying, but she catches enough to understand their meaning. She blinks, looking around for someone older, to see if they can stop it and finds no one. When the boys get a little too loud, someone on the other side of the street glances over, but that's the extent of acknowledgement they get.

Moving closer, she finally catches a look at the younger boy's face.

She feels like she's been punched in the stomach.

Uchiha Obito.

A large part of her wants to recoil in terror - she knows who this boy is, what he will become. She knows that even if she wanted to, if she were braver perhaps, that she could not do anything to save him from the mission that pushes him into the arms of the enemy. She is too weak, too young, too small and it is physically impossible for her to change that.

She wants to flee, to run away and never look back. To hide away from this the same way she's trying to hide from everything else.

But.

This Obito is a boy. Not the man who is willing to burn the world to the ground for a fantasy, but a lonely little boy. Just a child.

A child who endures sneers and name calling and cruel words from his own clan.

A child who is unfamiliar with kindness, with people seeing him.

She presses her lips together and takes a deep breath.

For now, he is just a child.

For now, he is not someone to fear.

But he is someone who needs a friend.

Squaring her shoulders, she walks over to them, slipping past the older boys unnoticed, and reaches out to take Obito's hand.

He startles, looking down at her and she almost laughs at the double take he gives her, eyes going wide when he registers just who she is.

The other boys around them fall silent and stare at her with the same expressions of bewilderment.

They know who she is.

The whole clan knows who she is.

They whisper about her in a way that makes Mikoto’s eyes go hard and Fugaku’s expression go grim.

They talk about her even when she’s right there.

She's the son of the Clan Head.

She's also apparently the youngest in clan history to activate the clan's kekkei genkai.

"Obi-nii," she says into the silence and delights in the looks that cross the older boys' faces even as the one she clings to stares at her open mouthed, "Play me. Pwa-misd."

"Itachi-kun," one of the boys starts to say.

She doesn't listen, she turns to him and glares and feels her eyes burn and all the boys around her pale and Obito's hand squeezes hers almost to the point of pain.

"No," she says, pointing at the boy, not even caring what he was going to try and say.

She heard his tone, he was talking down to her. She knows he was probably going to tell her to play with them instead or to leave Obito alone because he wasn't worth her time. She looks at each of them and memorizes their faces because even though the person who Obito will one day become frightens her, right now he's just a child. So she hates these three on principle now.

Obito stares at the child that takes his hand with something like numb shock.

Uchiha Itachi, son of the Clan Head and future prodigy, had marched right up to them, taken his hand, and called him "Obi-nii" like they've known each other for ages.

He has never met Itachi in his life.

"Itachi-kun," Takashi starts to say in that 'I'm-older-and-therefore-better-than-you' voice that makes Obito bristle automatically.

Itachi turns to look at him and his eyes go crimson, three tomoe spinning lazily, as he glares up at Takashi. Obito feels his eyes go wide and his jaw drop. He's never seen the clan's eyes so close before and certainly not on a two year old before - looks like all those whispers about the Clan Heir being born with the clan kekkei genkai fully developed hold truth after all.

"No," Itachi says firmly, pointing at Takashi in emphasis, "No like. You mean. Go 'way."

Takashi, Akio, and Daisuke stare at the toddler, pale and still and silent in the face of those red eyes - eyes none of them have for all they like to pretend.

"Go 'way," Itachi repeats when none of them move, eyes narrowing.

Spluttering, the older boys vanish and Obito stares after them in awed amusement.

"Okay?" Itachi asks, looking up at him with crimson eyes and giving his hand a little tug.

And that's when Obito realizes the entire thing was deliberate. Itachi saw what was happening - understood what was happening - and decided to stop it. That's far more than most people do and those people are adults.

"Y-yeah," he manages around the sudden lump in his throat.

This is ridiculous, he's eleven. He is not going to cry over the fact that a two year old stood up for him.

Itachi nods at him, a frown pulling at his mouth as he raises his free hand to rub his eyes.

"Itachi?" he asks and the mentally kicks himself for assuming familiarity. Though, Itachi assumed it first, so maybe it's okay?

"Burns," Itachi says, voice dangerously close to a whine.

Obito swears.

Itachi is two.

Regardless of how amazing he might be, he's still a little kid and right now, the boy's eyes are still crimson, still spinning and Itachi clearly doesn't understand.

Obito kneels down in front of him. "Itachi, your Sharingan is still active," he says, and Itachi gives him a wide eyed look of confused surprise - he hadn't even realized what he'd done, "You need to stop channeling chakra to your eyes."

At least he thinks so. Obito only has the vaguest idea of how the Sharingan works.

Itachi blinks at him, brow furrowing. "Cha'ra? The shiny s'uff?"

Huh. He'd never thought of it that way, but it's not like the kid is wrong. "Yeah," he says, "Think you can do that?"

Itachi nods and closes his eyes, a look of concentration on his face.

Obito kind of wants to smush his cheeks together, it's so cute. Then the toddler's eyes flicker open, not a trace of red in sight, and he beams.

"Good job!" he says, eliciting a shy, but pleased smile from the little boy.

"Thank you," Itachi says, enunciating each sound carefully, "Burn gone now."

Obito waves away the gratitude. "You helped me first," he says.

"Help 'chother," the boy replies seriously and Obito has to stop himself from cooing, "Play now?"

He blinks. "Wait, you were serious about that?"

Itachi nods and takes Obito's face in his tiny hands. "Obi-nii frien'."

His eyes well up before he can stop them and he waves his hands. "Ah! Sorry, sorry! I'm fine! Just something in my eyes!"

He is a shinobi, damnit! He is not going to start crying because a toddler decided to be his friend.

But Itachi just blinks at him in bewilderment before something in his expression sets and he leans in to press a kiss to Obito's forehead. Obito stills at the gesture, staring at the toddler before him as he says, very seriously. "No sad."

Obito takes a deep breath and releases it slowly, nodding as an involuntary smile pulls at his face. “Not sad, promise.”

Itachi eyes him for a moment, like he’s not really sure if he believes him, but then he nods and steps back, taking Obito’s hand and pulling him down the street.

“Where are we going?” Obito asks, amused by the boy’s determined stride.

Itachi grins at him. “Dunno. A’vnter.”

Mikoto has been looking for Itachi all afternoon.

She swears, as soon as that boy learned to walk, you couldn’t turn your back on him for three seconds or else he’d disappear.

And she knows that the Clan for the most part considers its children to be self-sufficient, toddler or otherwise, and the most they will do is keep an eye on them from a distance.

So Mikoto is surprised, and more than a little relieved, to find her son sitting on a bench outside a dango stall with a boy who has to be ten years his senior. There is a small plate with two half eaten sticks of dango between them and her son is watching the older boy attentively as he animatedly tells a story about something that sounds like a training mishap. The boy is clearly a shinobi, hitai-ate proudly displayed on his forehead. Mikoto is struggling to place his face, though the orange goggles are definitely familiar.

She watches, bemused, as Itachi goes to eat some of his snack and the boy pauses in his hand gestures, but not his story, to make sure her son can take a bite, holding the stick for him so that Itachi can get to the dango without poking himself.

It’s the first time that she’s actually seen Itachi invested in an interaction outside from herself and Fugaku.

Itachi is smiling and listening to this boy and it warms something in Mikoto’s chest.

Not enough to make her forget her worry in the first place though.

“Itachi!” she calls as she makes her way over.

The boy’s mouth snaps shut and his eyes swing around, going wide when they land on her. “Ah…Hello, Mikoto-san,” he says sheepishly before turning to her son, “Looks like your mom found you, Itachi.”

Itachi hums, eyeing her carefully and she can’t figure out why. “’lo, Kaa-cha.”

She sighs. “Itachi, you can’t just run off like that,” she scolds, “It’s dangerous to wander around alone.”

Her son frowns at her. “No ‘lone,” he says, pointing to the boy sitting next to him, “Have Obi-nii.”

Mikoto blinks as the pieces click into place.

Obito. Asami’s son. The one who lives alone. The one who most of the clan turn their noses up at because of his grades and poor chakra control and constant sunny smiles in the face of it all.

“Uh, Itachi,” Obito is saying, “I don’t think that’s what your mom means…”

Itachi doesn’t pay him any mind, staring her down with eyes too old for his face. “Obi-nii,” he repeats seriously.

Mikoto feels a smile pulling up her lips without her permission. Itachi doesn’t get attached to people, doesn’t want anything to do with them for the most part. But it seems he’s made a friend all on his own. And if that friend just so happens to be the clan pariah. Well.

“I can see that,” she says, smiling at Obito, who freezes under her attention, “Thank you for looking after him, Obito-kun.”

The boy flushes. “It’s not a problem!” he blurts, “I mean he’s a really nice kid and, uh, it was fun.”

The smile he gives her is bright and sunny, but Mikoto is a mother and before that a shinobi, and she can see the uncertainty that lingers in the boy’s eyes. She keeps her anger off her face like the professional she is, but inside, she’s seething. She wants to collectively take the Clan in hand and brow beat them into submission.

She looks at these two boys before her – two children for all that one of them is legally considered an adult because of the hitai-ate he wears proudly – and wonders what logic justifies this treatment. One revered before he can even crawl and the other an outcast long before he even entered the Academy. Accidents of birth that neither had any control over, isolated for something they did not choose and yet here they sit together, smiling.

“Well, if that’s how you feel,” she says to Obito, refusing to let her smile falter, “Perhaps you would like to babysit sometime?”

Obito stares at her in shock, but Itachi lights up like the sun. He reaches over and snags the older boy’s shirt in his tiny hand and gives it a light tug.

“Play ‘gain?” he asks when Obito turns to him.

“What?” he asks, obviously caught off guard by her question, but then he blinks and his eyes go wide and he swings around to face her again, “I mean, yes! I would like that, Mikoto-san!”

Itachi beams, looking entirely pleased with himself.

Mikoto laughs lightly. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Obito-kun,” she says, “In the meantime, we need to be heading home, Itachi.”

Itachi pouts at her, but slides off the bench regardless, wrapping himself around Obito’s legs. “Bye, Obi-nii.”

Obito grins and ruffles his hair. “See ya later, Itachi. Try not to wander off so much, okay?”

Itachi just gives a non-committal hum to that and Mikoto sighs inwardly, already resigned to future scavenger hunts for her child.

“Thank you again, Obito-kun,” she says, scooping up Itachi in one arm and setting him on her hip, turning down the street towards the house.

She feels more than sees Itachi waving over her shoulder.

Her son made a friend.

She smiles.

#naruto #naruto fic #itachi uchiha #uchiha itachi #itachi #mikoto uchiha #uchiha mikoto #mikoto #obito uchiha #obito #uchiha oibito #tears and blood make a peace hard won au #tears and blood make a peace hard won fic #my writing #elri writes

[x0401x]

K: Kingdom of Red Interview with GoRA Pink

Rairaku Rei-san, one of the members of the novelist group that handles the script of “K”, has been in charge of “K: Kingdom of Red”, the novel about the past of the Homura trio (Suou Mikoto, Totsuka Tatara and Kusanagi Izumo). This work, which had been much anticipated by the fans, expanded the worldview of the “K” universe even more by exploring a story through interchanging the light novel’s original characters, while simultaneously gathering the essence of this trio’s tale as imagined by Rairaku-san in their depictions from various forms of media up until now. It could be considered the epitome of the Red Clan and a must-read for the fans. Today, we will have Rairaku-san discuss about this publication. The subjects will vary from her impressions when writing to the contents of the light novel in which she portrayed her feelings for the trio in detail, so we believe this interview should be enjoyed by the ones interested after reading the work in question.

(Raw Version || Kingdom of Red Novel translation)

“The story of ‘Kingdom of Red’ was both about the beginning and the end of Homura.”

——This was truly a work much anticipated by the fans, but is the long period it took to be written related to the fact that there was some sort of special sentiment put into it?

Pink: I’m terribly sorry for the long wait. I thought at first that I should write about how those three met, but if it were only about their meeting, it would end up being a lighthearted story with no mentions of supernatural abilities or the Slate. Since it was going to be published by Kodansha BOX, I believed it would be better if the story were a tad more serious, so I decided to make it go up to the point where the three ultimately formed the Red Clan. The first part of the plot, in which I only wrote about the three meeting one another, felt more like a collection of short stories, but then it was decided that I should go on until the awakening of the Red King happened, so it turned out to be the most massive book I’ve ever written. Also, there was an interlude in “K SIDE:RED” about the past of the three, but it was very choppy, so I felt like I had wanted to reveal what that scene had really been by adding it to a separate story.

——The movie was released during the time you were writing the novel and the story moved forward along with the second season, but did they influence this work in any way? After all, the prologue and epilogue scenes with Kusanagi and Anna also appeared in season 2.

Pink: Indeed, the prologue and epilogue changed significantly from what was initially planned. They connect with season 2, and though “Kingdom of Red” is the story of Homura’s conception, it is also about how they rose up again after everything had been lost, so there was a sense of it being a story about both the beginning and the end as well.

——Then, shall we talk once again about the circumstances in which this time’s main characters – Suou, Kusanagi and Totsuka – were born?

Pink: Suou’s character prototype had a brighter side to him and wasn’t that much of a downer. When his comrades were doing stupid things, he would join them to his heart’s contentment and make a fuss, but in the times he was supposed to be serious, he would have a gloomy atmosphere, so he was truly the kind of multifaceted character whom no one could tell when would snap. However, when creating the story, while season 1 was still under production, Suou turned out as that character who was always angry, so we logically could not show his bright side, and we thought we should give more emphasis to his wrath and internal pressure as they increased, thus they became natural. Nevertheless, everyone from Homura messing around and having fun together was necessary no matter what, and it felt like the character we designed to become the center of that was Totsuka.

——Totsuka’s character was primarily conceived by Rairaku-san, right?

Pink: He’s a character that was dead from the start of the main story, so I was told to come up with what kind of piece he would be that would make Suou and Homura crumble at his absence and what kind of position this person, who was no longer around, used to be at, and that is how I was put in charge of him.

——Was Suou a character created to be set with Kusanagi and Totsuka?

Pink: It was decided from early stages that there would be an intel yakuza-like strategist as the Red King’s right arm. Kusanagi would become someone with charisma that would, as a planner, substantially manage “Homura” from amidst his, let’s say, foolish (laugh), guileless comrades along with Suou, who is a symbol of violence; from the beginning, I believe this position of his was not at all unclear. While Suou is a “King”, he’s not one to think about what would make the organization move forward, so Kusanagi’s existence was essential. Suou and Totsuka were then divided into two entities: one was a strong and frightening human being, and the other stood in the center of their gleeful companions; I think that Kusanagi, the one who monitored them as their planner, being added there was the origin of this trio’s conceival.

——Please tell us the impressions that you pictured the three of them with in “Kingdom of Red”.

Pink: Suou went through quite a few hardships in this novel. In the anime’s first season, there was an episode that showed his young days for a bit, but as Suou before becoming the “Red King” was not the Suou we knew, until I was able to step into the mentality of the Suou of those times and properly write about him, my work turned into a lot of digging. Since this was the part that took most time, I wrote on while often asking other GoRA members for advice. In the anime’s first season, Suou and Munakata were completely exceptional and grandiose existences, so there was some pondering on whether it was okay or not to show their humane sides. Still, we pictured the Munakata of season 2 in a human-like light, and so we wondered if it wouldn’t be all right to expose Suou too.

——Indeed, this time, you wrote about Suou with a relatively normal human side. His grades were not bad, and he was punished accordingly whenever he skipped tests (laugh).

Pink: He’s not stupid, right? The parts about him being scolded by Honami-sensei were really just Suou as a boy, but there was a point where I was on doubt on whether it was fine for him to not fully be the “cool Suou”.

Except, I somewhat think it’s because Suou has this part of him that does things right that he’s the kind of character who ends up suffering. If he had shaken everything off and broken into a run like Kagutsu Genji (the one who was the “Red King” before Suou), he might have had a pleasant life in its own sense, but there’s a side of Suou that would not do this.

——In “SIDE:RED”, you also introduced Honami-sensei as an existence that made Suou show new facets of his.

There were mostly people who were afraid of Suou in his surroundings, but she was not like that, and instead was someone fairly able to tell what kind of person other people were. The reason was that, since she was Anna’s aunt, there might have been a similar point between them in the fact they end up somewhat seeing through others. Back in “SIDE:RED”, I only wrote about Honami being Suou’s former teacher, but I’d also wanted to write here about how she was actually like this in their school days.

——Then, regarding Kusanagi, how was it?

Pink: In here, we are introducing Kusanagi’s uncle, who was the original owner of bar HOMRA, for the first time, and it was fun to write about the interactions between said uncle and Kusanagi. Although I felt the difficulties of writing about Suou’s boyhood from before he became a “King”, for Kusanagi, I already had many images of his young days, so it was easy to go along with and write it.

——In the anime, Kusanagi was written as a mature adult, so there weren’t many opportunities to see his impish side, and therefore, this was very refreshing.

Pink: Certainly, an inexperient Kusanagi felt a bit refreshing. From his uncle’s viewpoint, he was truly still a young boy, and there were enjoyable moments in writing about Kusanagi as such (laugh). Also, I think I’m glad that I was able to write again about bar HOMRA, which was a place of fond memories for Kusanagi since the past. Regarding Totsuka, it links to the scene of him in the hospital during season 1.

——The episode in which Totsuka had a one-word encounter with them long ago was also very good.

Pink: There’s the fact that he is someone with a strong influence (laugh), so he blithely comes in contact with many sorts of characters. I had wanted to write about the reason behind the story of Totsuka saying, “I’ll become the King’s underling”. Totsuka is a character with an airheaded and mysterious side, but I believed I should write this time about what lies behind that, and about the conflicts he didn’t let show much.

——Then, with what kind of image do you, Rairaku-san, write about what Kusanagi and Totsuka are to Suou?

Pink: When Suou was alone, he was really like a wild beast, but he started to hang out with Kusanagi and Totsuka and became able to have moments that he thought of as fun, which changed him little by little, so to speak. While his essence was not altered, I think the ones who were able to change Suou’s ways were Kusanagi and Totsuka. If the two weren’t there, Homura probably wouldn’t have been formed, and I feel it might have been the main factor that made Suou into the “Red King” that he is.

——What about the way that Kusanagi saw Totsuka and Suou?

Pink: Kusanagi is a person with a lot of common sense, the one who has a decent way of thinking. While Suou and Totsuka have different courses of action, they are extremely reckless, so I often imagine Kusanagi as taking the role of anchoring these two onto society. But Kusanagi himself had his own discords, like, “Is this really the best for this guy?”, and I inserted them into this work.

——Kusanagi himself also being at loss leaves an impression.

Pink: This part still feels like the “young Kusanagi”, right (laugh)? Most likely, together with the feeling of wanting to anchor them, Kusanagi had something akin to a feeling of being prepared to watch over them while letting them do as they pleased, and I believe this sense of transition is included in “Kingdom of Red”. During the intial moments of “Kingdom of Red”, Kusanagi’s face was very well-known and he had connections with several people, but before meeting Totsuka and Suou, he didn’t get himself involved too intimately with anyone. That’s why, when he was angry that the comrades of an acquaintance he hung out with were wounded, his feelings were understandable, but it seemed there wasn’t that much real emotion to the fervor of this anger, yet I feel that Kusanagi changed quite a bit on the way towards the main story.

——Then, what about what Suou and Kusanagi are to Totsuka?

Pink: For Totsuka, Suou is an incredibly special existence, and within his motivations, there’s the thought that he “wants to see where this person will go”.

Kusanagi is like a sibling to him, and I think he feels like Totsuka’s number one partner. There was also a sense similar to brotherhood back when they first met, and that they might be bad friends, but I believe those two have come to share many things once Suou became a “King”.

——When Totsuka met Suou, he had something to become attached to for the first time, right?

Pink: That’s right. I think that, from the feelings Totsuka and Suou obtained in meeting each other, a part of them went through a change. Suou and Totsuka are both free spirits, and I think their first ties of obligation were formed along with the relationship of this trio. Ties of obligation were a pain to the two of them, but they became able to know happiness and joys that they would only be able to because these ties existed, so to say. In the main story of the anime, since Totsuka was dead, we were unable to depict this trio no matter what, so I’m glad I was able to properly write about the three of them this time.

“The one named Kurayama Mitsuha made his appearance, and I described him with an image of something like Suou’s mirror, as a potential other life that Suou could have led.”

——Suou doesn’t really seek anything by his own initiative, and was always written as a person who didn’t get too attached to anything or anyone, so the scene of the time when he awakened and stretched his hand out to Kusanagi and Totsuka for a handshake without hesitation left an impression.

Pink: It’s not as if Suou had thought that deeply about it; I honestly think it was an action he took on automatic. Even you ask him, “Back then, why did you make the two of them into your clansmen again?”, I feel that he himself would probably be at loss for an answer (laugh). Upon becoming the “Red King”, the first decision of that person, who seemed like he could disappear off somewhere regardless of where he was if left on his own, was to make those two his comrades, and were it not for that action, Homura would likely not have been founded.

——Back in a previous interview, it was said that “Suou would have died even if he had not become the ‘Red King’”, which had remained in my recollections, but after reading “Kingdom of Red”, I thought, “I see”.

Pink: That’s right. Back then, I think it would have been dangerous if Suou hadn’t awakened as “King”. This time, Kurayama Mitsuha – the one in the role of bad guy – made his appearance, and I described him with an image of something like Suou’s mirror, as a potential other life that Suou could have led. I believe he’s someone who lives the way that Suou might have if he had not met Kusanagi or Totsuka and if he had come to a point where he would end up thinking that he did not care about others. He’s also a character that had a role similar to being a substitute for Kagutsu, his illusion. Kagutsu is a character that had died many years prior and doesn’t meet directly with Suou, so it’s hard to say what Suou himself thought about him, but I thought that if Kurayama were a character who carried on his back the illusion of Kagutsu, Suou could confront him.

——Was there anything you wanted to reference regarding Kagutsu?

Pink: Suou having a Damocles Down was a parallel to Kagutsu, and Kagutsu in turn becomes the main origin of it all, but I had wanted to write about their contrast; about what Suou and Kagutsu have and don’t have in common. Also, from what I heard about the plot of the novel regarding the Kagutsu incident, which Furuhashi-san is in charge of, it will provide background for this, to make clear how “it’s because this occurrence happened that the whole story exists”.

——Kagutsu’s installation was revealed as well, right?

Pink: Indeed, this time was the first that Kagutsu’s installation was written about, but Furuhashi-san had already created its concept long ago.

——Seeing the fragmentary informations here depicted, it seems Kagutsu will turn out to be a marvelous character, so I have become even more anxious for “Ground Zero”! I felt that this work in particular was able to fully demonstrate an entretainment inherent of the “K” series, but there are several characters interconnected with the story.

Pink: It’s a story about before other characters had become involved, but they all have a little bit of a connection with many points, so I was self-conscious of the fact that this would eventually become the world of “K”.

——As an addition to Totsuka’s one-word encounter mentioned earlier, the “JUNGLE” handlename “HN-san” is also introduced with a broad grin, right?

Pink: That’s right (laugh). HN will supposedly be very active in the upcoming “SIDE:GREEN”.

——I’m looking forward to it (laugh). Seeing it this way, Hisui had really been watching everything.

Pink: Hisui’s stance up until his appearance in the movie is that he had been observing and becoming interested in many things, and attempted to prod them a little, so I had wanted to display how he was the one that “had been seeing everything” since the past.

——The strain that appeared in the manga “Memory of Red” also showed up for a bit.

Pink: I wrote about this in a way that there would be no problem if no one remembered it, but I’m glad you noticed (laugh).

——Rereading what you wrote before that is related to this work, was there any work in particular that you made a common point with?

Pink: The burdens that Suou bears were included in it, so I referred to “R:B” a lot. This was also a story that overlaps with the middle of the timeline of “Lost Small World”, so I had to think about its consistency. I had wanted to use as many other characters as I could, so as the times of the stories flowed simultaneously, I thought that maybe I could have made Fushimi, Yata and Aya pass by them when chasing after the airship and running around Shizume City, but I was unable to do this as I had to timeskip that part. Also, although it is something that I wrote myself, I’ve inserted bits of the intervals of “SIDE:RED” into the story, so I reread them often. “Kingdom of Red” is a story of fairly long timespan, so I had wanted to comprise and write about many things.

——I believe that Rairaku-san in particular was put in charge of writing about the “Red Clan” in the novels, comics and short stories amongst other things, but putting all of that together in a single work makes it sort of a culminative one, right?

Pink: Indeed, it might be that this is a book in which several things I’d been writing have been bundled up together.

——Is there any work amongst the ones you’ve written up until now that you are emotionally attached to?

Pink: I had been writing “Kingdom of Red” until recently, so my emotional attachment towards it is deep. I also wrote a short story titled “Kingdom” before (included in the official guidebook “A MEMORY OF KINGS”), and it was the starting point of “Kingdom of Red”.

The story written there is briefly implied in the novel, and the story that comes immediately before and after is inserted in “Kingdom of Red”. In that sense, it might be that it’s because “Kingdom” existed that we have “Kingdom of Red”.

——It’s the story about Suou thinking of getting a haircut after awakening, right?

Pink: That’s right. It becomes Suou’s anime hairstyle (laugh).

“Writing about things like ‘delightful times that have been lost’ and ‘fun times everyone had while knowing that the end was near’ was one of my main themes regarding ‘K’.”

——The fact that Kusanagi’s words of “let’s make this a good country” were sorrowful left an impression. From this scene, the combination of happy and sad stories was rather exquisite, as if it pierced the heart, and I think this aspect of it connects with the bittersweet atmosphere of “K”, but was it remarkable to you?

Pink: Yes. Writing about things like “delightful times that have been lost” and “the fun times everyone had while knowing that the end was near” was one of my main themes regarding “K”. The main story of the anime is one in which several things had already been lost, and I was often in charge of writing about what exactly the things that have been lost were, so I think I put a lot of my power into that.

——By the way, was there any episode in this novel that you had to leave out no matter what?

Pink: This work is pretty packed, so overall, I did include in it everything I had wanted to write. I thought this might be the last time that I would dig up and write about the story of these three, so I crammed it up with all kinds of episodes, to the point I was even told by an editor, “it’s the first time that such a fervent book is being published on BOX” (laugh).

There was a total of 700 pages for the manuscript, after all. Even when I sent it to the proofreader, he was like, “but this is two volumes” (laugh).

——(Laugh) When you write your next novel, which story of what character are you interested in pursuing?

Pink: For now, we plan to turn the first season, movie and second season into novels, and while I think I’ll be put in charge of season 1, I believe I hadn’t had so many chances to get to the core of Shiro, Kuro and Neko’s emotions, so I want to try stepping into Shiro’s inner troubles. Shiro is also a person who has been losing many things, so I think it’d be good to write about the depths of that. The reason why these feelings weren’t so explored in the anime and comics is that we think it’s important to show things through the art, so I’m looking forward to showing them through other means. Many backgrounds that no one knew of back when season 1 was being aired have been piling up, and I want to take over the story that consolides them.

——I’m looking forward to it! Then, lastly, let us hear about your current feelings towards “Kingdom of Red”, now that you just finished writing it.

Pink: This ended up becoming something lengthy, but at the same time that I wrote the story about the origin of the “Red Clan”, I had wanted to write the one about its end, and now I feel I was able to accomplish this. Ever since I started working on the manga “Memory of Red”, which was serialized before the anime had aired, and “SIDE:RED”, which was published during the broadcasting, I had always been involved with “Homura”, so I do have deep emotions towards it. My heart is racing at how people will react to it, but I’ll be happy if they enjoy it.

#k project #k kingdom of red #suou mikoto #totsuka tatara #kusagani izumo #k #rairaku rei #gohands #gora #interview #my translation

[bigklingy]

In case anyone wanted to know my (brief) thoughts on Fates.

So I got a comment on a Fates video asking if I ever did a “review” of some kind. I thought I might as well copy-past my reply here. Heres my dot-point thoughts on FE Fates. Just... try to be civil. I know everything about this game tends to spark flame wars. Gameplay: -In general, MUCH better than Awakening, especially pair-up. Skills are also nice, being less luck-based and more about flat stat boosts, and personal skills should be in every future game. -Class balance is a bit better. Generals and Snipers got much-needed improvements. Only class I'd call "overpowered" is Master Ninjas. (If they didn't have Poison Strike they'd be fine, but with it they beat both frail units AND bulky ones) -Unbreakable weapons are fine, and for the most part there's still strategy in weapon choice, perhaps even more so. But there are a few problems. Higher-level weapons have drawbacks too large, and Knives are almost completely inferior to Shuriken. Map Design: -Birthright, decent. Conquest, fantastic, nearly perfect. Revelation, bad. -Dragon Veins are a nice gimmick, especially when bosses use them too. -It’s hard to describe (and not really related to map design), but the world map in Birthright and Revelation feels lifeless and boring compared to the ones in Sacred Stones, Awakening and Echoes. Difficulty: -Birthright is a bit too easy. Its Hard should have been harder. Characters range from good to game-breaking. -Conquest is a bit too extreme in its difficulty. Conquest Hard is barely different from Conquest Lunatic. If they'd toned-down Hard to be more of an in-between of Normal and Lunatic, I'd like it better. Character balance is very good overall with the possibly exception of Camilla. -Revelation is all over the place. A few isolated maps are hard, the rest are as easy as Birthright. Many characters are TERRIBLY balanced on this route though.

-I like how higher difficulties aren’t just numerical stat boosts to enemies. Adding enemies, changing equipment, changing objectives, or even changing deployment locations. Please do more of this in future games.

-Lunatic mode is way better than Awakening’s. Less cheap luck-based difficulty. Though its exclusive skills are dumb. Supports/Pairings: -Gaining classes through supports adds depth. -A+ supports are confusing and clumsy. Opposite-sex siblings should be able to A+. You should not be allowed to A+ if you get no classes out of it. (e.g. Azura and Sakura) -Children feel awkwardly shoehorned in and should have been explained better. Paralogues are nice, but none of them have any story relevance. This game either should have had a time-skip or no children at all. -While children aren't as broken as Awakening, and Offspring Seals are great, we're back to FE4 style "some pairings aren't viable at all from a gameplay standpoint". Magic-focused mothers suffer greatly from this, as there are very few magic children. This is more a personal thing, as I pair more for story than gameplay. -I feel like the "every character can marry the Avatar" system hurt some characters/plot points this time. I personally think Gunter, the Hoshidan siblings, Midori, Percy and possibly Soleil should not have been able to marry them. -Before you ask, no, I don’t think Scarlet should have been able to marry Ryoma. I actually don’t like that pairing much. I do think she shouldn’t have been able to marry the Avatar on “that route” though. -Male Avatar can't marry a Gen 1 female without erasing one child forever. -Same-sex marriage totally inferior to straight marriage from a gameplay standpoint, erasing one/two children forever. Spoilers ahead. Also, mostly negativity ahead. Story: -All three routes aren't great.

-WE DON’T EVEN HAVE A NAME FOR THE CONTINENT.

-I am in a VERY small minority that thinks Birthright is worse than Conquest. It adds a ton of random, pointless deaths just to try and give it as much tragedy as the other routes. The final stretch of chapters I found unsatisfying. Sneaking inside the enemy castle so conveniently only evil people get killed is less epic than a full-scale invasion. And it makes Birthright the objectively morally-superior route when they were supposed to be avoiding that. Corrin's characterization is the best of all three routes though. -Controversial opinion: I'm not bothered THAT much about Conquest, it might actually be my favourite of the three. (But that's not saying much) But it suffers from contrivances just to cause tragedy, and the villains often "undo" anything positive Corrin does and can't be rebelled against until it's too late. The siblings shouldn't have been kept in the dark about their father. Corrin not killing things gets hard to believe, and all the "it's not black and white" speeches fall hollow when IT ACTUALLY IS. I disagree with Nohr being 100% evil though. I think the only evil Nohrians are Hans, Iago and Garon. Chapters 21 to 24 are some of my favourite moments in any FE game, though that might only be because the map design is so good. -Revelation is weird. It's the most "complete" route with the best ending, and lets you use everyone. But the plot often hinges of characters being idiots. Corrin here is imo the worst of all three versions, coming off as really stupid at times. The main villain has no backstory if you don't buy the Hidden Truths DLC. -I think Corrin should have been blood-related to the Hoshidan siblings. They not being breaks one of the themes of the game and feels like waifu/husbando pandering. It also requires weird plot contrivances. (Both Sumeragi and Mikoto must have been cheating on/with eachother at the same time??) -Character-wise, they're... okay. I feel like less characters are exaggerated stereotypes compared to Awakening, though they're still present. (Arthur, Peri, Odin) But none of the characters truly grabbed me as amazing. -The children aren't nearly as good characters as they were in Awakening, with only one or two not boring me to death. -Hans and Iago, on all three routes, are irredeemably terrible. Generically evil for no reason. -Controversial opinion: I kind of like Garon. But sort-of ironically. I find him hilariously over-the-top and fun. And he actually has a backstory unlike Hans and Iago. -The final Rev villain is a step up from Grima, but still not that great. (And with Grima's expanded backstory in Echoes, Grima might actually be better than him now) -Mikoto is killed way too early, she barely makes an impact. I like her on Revelation though, as I consider the phantom version of her an exaggeration of her flaws, thus.... giving her some. -Corrin is the worst Avatar so far, and possibly the worst Lord in the series. A lot of their character suffers from player-pandering and the plot bending over backwards to absolve them of any direct guilt in anything. Birthright Corrin is okay though. DLC: -From what little I've played, it's not as good as Awakening's. Hidden Truths is good though. -Grinding DLC suffers heavily from the scaling. At end-game, the only people who can kill the enemies in Boo Camp... are those strong enough to not need the exp anyway. That kind of defeats the point. I like that it's not effortless, but they went a bit too far. Overall: -Conquest has some of the best gameplay in the series by far. I hope future FE games follow its example in map design. -They tried to do a better story than Awakening, but it ended up even worse. Please hire the writers of Echoes to write future FEs from now on. -I like Conquest considerably more than Awakening for its gameplay alone. Birthright is better than Awakening gameplay-wise, but I found Awakening “deeper” overall. Revelation has more characters, but it’s got some big issues.

#Fire Emblem Fates #Thoughts #Impressions #Review

[nanigma]

F!Kamui/Ryouma - Japanese supports

Hey, it’s me again with another request done. Made some incredibly minor adjustments to conform with my new theme.

C-support

Kamui: Big brother... Although I have no memories from before I lived in Nohr, you remember that time well, right?

Ryouma: You mean your childhood? Indeed, I was already somewhat grown at the time. I have plenty of stories to share.

Kamui: Then I have a favour to ask of you. I want you tell me about that time.. and how everyone fared after I was gone.

Ryouma: Kamui...

Kamui: We are supposed to be siblings, and yet we do not share any memories. It just makes me so sad... That's why I want you to tell me at least a little.. about Hinoka, Takumi, Aqua and Sakura.

Ryouma: I see... So you've been thinking about it as well.

Kamui: Eh?

Ryouma: We have both been thinking about how to connect with each other. There is no way to make up for the time we have lost, but through sharing stories with each other we will be able to deepen our bonds. For your sake, I'll tell you everything I know... because I hold you very dear, just like our other siblings do.

Kamui: Really, big brother!? Th-thank you so much!

Ryouma: There is also something I want you to have.

Kamui: Huh? What could it be?

Ryouma: I am afraid it's still a secret. Giving it to you will only mean something once we have truly come to accept each other as siblings. That's why I have decided to keep it until that day.

Kamui: … Understood. In that case, we really have to get started with the story-telling.

Ryouma: True. Sadly, there are simply too many things I need to attend to today. Once I have the time, feel free to approach me again.

Kamui: Yes. Let's do this, brother!

B-support

Kamui: Big brother! Just like you told me to last time, I came here to listen to your stories.

Ryouma: I see... Where to begin? I guess I should talk about one person at a time.. For instance, although she is a capable warrior today, Hinoka used to be quite the crybaby as a child.

Kamui: For real?

Ryouma: Yes. But she started to mature once she found something to fight for. And now she has become a splendid warrior. Meanwhile, Takumi is still struggling.

Kamui: Is that so? I thought Takumi was plenty strong already.

Ryouma: Strength isn't just a matter of physical skill. It's also emotional strength.. a strength of heart if you will. In that aspect, Takumi still has some growing to do. But I believe he will get there in time.

Kamui: I see...

Ryouma: Then there is Aqua. She finds it difficult to open up to others. Although she was raised as our sibling, I could always tell she was keeping her distance. She is kindhearted and wise for her age, but I think she needs to let herself rely on others more.

Kamui: I guess so...

Ryouma: Finally there is Sakura. She is a very gentle girl. And she is always caring for others. Still, I think she needs to come out of her shell a bit more. We care for her, just as much as she cares for us. Once she realizes that, I am sure Sakura will be able to grow stronger.

Kamui: You seem to look after everyone, big brother. You're amazing.

Ryouma: Really? Well, as the eldest son I am responsible for them, so I need to know these things. Nevertheless, even I am still immature at times.

Kamui: Is that really true? But I have so much respect for you, big brother. You are so kind, and always take care of your family.

Ryouma: .. Thank you, Kamui. You have really encouraged me. I am truly happy you were able to return to us.

Kamui: Big brother... But I still don't think I am really part of this family again.

Ryouma: Huh? Why would you think that? What's wrong?

Kamui: Even while listening to your stories, I couldn't really engage with them... It's just so frustrating.

Ryouma: I see... It should fade with time. So, I would be happy if you simply cherished our time together for now.

Kamui: Yes, thank you. Ah, it's getting late... I would like to do this again sometime.

Ryouma: Yes, alright.

A-support

Ryouma: Kamui, you seem a bit down lately... Is there anything troubling you?

Kamui: Eh? No, I am fine!

Ryouma: Still, even after all the stories I shared, you seem distant. Did I hurt your feelings in some way?

Kamui: That's not it! It's not your fault, brother. Actually, it's mine...

Ryouma: How so? Please explain yourself. You are one of my precious little sisters after all. I want to listen to what you have to say.

Kamui: …. Alright. Well, although I had a lot of fun listening to your stories, they also made me sad.

Ryouma: They made you sad?

Kamui: Learning so much about my siblings made me both happy and proud of them. But... at the same time, it reminded me of how long I was absent from their lives...

Ryouma: I see... It must truly pain you. Certainly, there is no way to change the past. But you can always change your future. If you have no memories, you can always make new ones. Because you are here now, at our side.

Kamui: Big brother... Thank you. That's right... instead of lamenting the past, I should think about my future! I feel a lot better now!

Ryouma: Is that so.. Right. Do you remember what I told you the other day? That there was something I wanted you to have?

Kamui: Yes.

Ryouma: You have now decided to create new memories with us. This.. is something we siblings decided you should have.

Kamui: This is.. a ring?

Ryouma: Yes. This ring has a protective charm on it. A long time ago, we siblings procured it and made a vow. If we ever managed to see you again... we'd give you this ring.  

Kamui: !

Ryouma: And.. you came home safely. If it's alright with you, we'd like you to accept it.

Kamui: Brother... I am so happy to have you guys as my siblings!

Ryouma: I am glad you think so. We have truly bonded as a family.

Kamui: Yes!

S-support

Kamui: Brother, can you tell me another story today?

Ryouma: Ah, it's you, Kamui. You've been asking me that a lot lately.

Kamui: Yes. Whenever I look at the ring you gave me, it makes me want to learn even more about my siblings.

Ryouma: I see...

Kamui: Is something wrong? You don't seem happy...

Ryouma: No, it's nothing...

Kamui: But.. seeing you so pained makes me worry. Is there no way I can help?

Ryouma: Knowing you are worried... I don't think I can stay silent anymore. Father... Mother... Please forgive me for this.

Kamui: Huh?

Ryouma: … Kamui. I need to apologize to you. All this time, I have been talking about us bonding as siblings... But the truth is... I am not your brother.

Kamui: Eh!? W-what do you mean!?

Ryouma: Exactly what I just said. We are not related by blood.

Kamui: That can't be true... We have the same father! Even if we have different mothers, we still share half our blood.

Ryouma: …... No, we do not. Out of all his children, I was the only one he told the truth... You are not King Sumeragi's child.

Kamui: !!

Ryouma: Queen Mikoto came to Hoshido in search of aid.. At the time, she was carrying with her an infant she had given birth to in her homeland. That infant was you, Kamui. The king... knew you were not his child. But, you were the child of the woman he loved, so he decided to raise you as his own. Surely you know... just how deep his love for you was.

Kamui: Yes. King Sumeragi... father truly loved me. Even knowing the truth, I still think of him as my father. But then.. who is my real father?

Ryouma: That I do not know. The king never told me.

Kamui: I... see.

Ryouma: I never planned on telling anyone of this. Not even our siblings... And certainly not you, Kamui.

Kamui: Then why?

Ryouma: Even knowing it might cause you heartache, I just had to tell you the truth. Because.. I want us to be more than siblings. I do not love you as a sister, but as a woman.

Kamui: Brother!

Ryouma: I couldn't lie about my feelings. There is no way I could spend my whole life lying to you... I wish to be by your side. And I don't want anyone else to have you.

Kamui: …. Then.. I should talk about my feelings on the matter.

Ryouma: Yes...

Kamui: I have come to love you... not as a brother, but as a man. Between siblings such feelings would be unforgivable. I thought I would have to hide them for the rest of my life. But, since you feel the same.. I don't think I have to anymore.

Ryouma: No, of course not!!

Kamui: I see... I am happy. Although you are not my brother anymore... you have become even more precious to me. Please stay with me... forever.

Ryouma: Yes. We will now forge new memories as lovers. And I will swear this new oath.. on this ring.  

Kamui: This is...

Ryouma: … This one is different than the one we gave you as siblings. Please accept it as a symbol of our love.

Kamui: Thank you so much. Hehe, wearing two rings seems a bit excessive.

Ryouma: It has nothing to do with excessiveness. These rings.. are symbols of the love I and your siblings hold for you.

Kamui: My siblings?

Ryouma: Yes. Once you marry me, you will be their sibling in truth.

Kamui: Ah! Hehe, you are right! Both these rings are symbols of our eternal bonds. I will treasure them for the rest of my life!

Ryouma: Having you as my wife is the greatest joy I could ask for. It might be a forbidden love, but I... will never let you go.    

--

Hey, Intsys. I thought the whole step-sibling love was a-okay with you, so why is it “forbidden love” all of a sudden? Either stand by your argument, or admit the problem. You can’t have it both ways man.

Also, it’s interesting how both Corrin’s knowledge of Ikona and Ryouma giving a second ring were cut from the localization. The first just confuses people even more. (since you’d still think they are half-siblings) The second isn’t too important, but why cut it?

And yes, just like with the otoutos, Kamui still refers to Ryouma as brother after the whole love-confession. Weird.

#nanigma translates #fe14 #fire emblem fates #ryoma #ryouma #kamui #corrin #supports

[mistleto-3]

Composure: Part 6

The tension between the two Kings finally builds to breaking point, but at first, it doesn’t seem mean the same to Mikoto as it does to Reisi.

Pairing: Mikoto/Reisi/Tatara

4,118 words.

(Sorry this is kinda late I was busy and I had writer’s block oops)

Previous part | All parts | Next part to be added

AO3

Like everyone else in Homra, Izumo was beginning to worry about his King. Mikoto had barely left his room at all for days on end, and most people hadn’t caught more than a glimpse of him in over a week. It was disconcerting to say the least. There were rumours going around that he was sick, but Izumo wasn’t totally convinced Kings could even get sick- he didn’t think a simple flu virus would be much of a match for the red aura. Still, he was concerned, and it was getting to the point where his absence around the bar was becoming quite conspicuous. So as time passed, he resolved that he ought to do something.

Armed with a bowl of the curry he’d helped Anna make earlier in the day, Izumo knocked on the door of his friend’s bedroom.

“Oi, Mikoto, ya in there?”

He hadn’t expected a reply, so he wasn’t surprised when he only received silence from within the room.

“I’m comin’ in,” Izumo warned, then gave him a few seconds before pushing open the door.

He found his friend lying on the couch in his small apartment, staring at the TV with a glassy look in his eyes, clearly not paying attention to the show that was playing. There was a sort of tension in his jaw- it was the kind of look he got on his face when he’d been in a fight and let his powers get out of hand. But there wasn’t anything Izumo knew of for him to feel guilty about- the last big scuffle Mikoto had been in was weeks ago with the Blue King, and it wasn’t like he could have accidentally hurt him; Reisi was more than strong enough to hold his own.

“You’ve been holed up in here for more than a week,” Izumo pointed out, setting the curry on the coffee table and perching on the arm of the chair. “What’s up?”

Mikoto clicked his tongue, clearly not keen on the idea of chatting about it. “Nothing.”

“You’re not sick?”

“No.”

“I’ve barely seen you in nearly a fortnight, Mikoto. Ya can’t expect me to believe it’s nothin’.”

Mikoto didn’t bother to deny that.

“…I heard through the grape vine that Awashima spotted ya goin’ into Sceptre 4’s HQ with Munakata a lil while back. She said when ya left again, you were covered in bruises, which apparently looked suspiciously like hickeys. It ain’t got anythin’ to do with that, has it?” Admittedly, Izumo hadn’t seen any signs of anything between Reisi and Mikoto, or at least anything on Mikoto’s end, but Seri apparently had some very strong suspicions, and he trusted her instincts.

Mikoto merely sighed.

“Ya can talk to me, ya know. Are ya seein’ Munakata?”

“No.”

“…Is that the problem? You wanna be seein’ Munakata but you’re not.”

Mikoto clicked his tongue, and there was a long pause before he conceded: “Sorta.”

Izumo took a moment to digest that, and he had to admit it sort of surprised him. But he realised too late he’d let his surprise show on his face, when Mikoto snapped:

“What?”

“I gotta admit, I thought the person you had feelings for was Totsuka…” Izumo admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

Mikoto clicked his tongue, then admitted: “…Yeah.” He seemed past the point of caring about what Izumo knew.

Izumo sighed, clapping his friend on the shoulder in commiseration. “Ahh, I see. That’s a rough situation to find yourself in.”

“It’s stupid.”

“What’s stupid?”

“I’m the Red King.” I shouldn’t be so affected by a stupid crush. Mikoto didn’t have to finish the sentiment for Izumo to understand the gist of what he meant.

“Ya know, Munakata’s a king too, and from what I’ve heard you’re not the only one kinda torn up by this whole situation. It sucks, but just ‘cause you’re a King doesn’t mean you’re immune to lovesickness, ya know. You’re allowed to have feelings.”

Mikoto sighed again, reaching for a crumpled pack of cigarettes from the coffee table. He seemed almost… abashed?

“I can’t believe I’m actin’ like this…” Mikoto said, finally uttering more than two words in a row as he lit his cigarette.

“Bein’ torn between two people you care about sucks. Especially when it seems like something went off between you and Reisi… I dunno the whole story but it sounds like ya had some kinda disagreement, but it’s normal to feel outta sorts after somethin’ like that.”

Mikoto exhaled a ribbon of smoke, then admitted: “I messed up. Think I hurt Munakata pretty bad.”

There it is. That explained the guilty look on Mikoto’s face earlier. Whatever he’d done, he felt awful for it, and he was likely hiding out up here to save face, so nobody else could figure out what it was that was bothering him so much.

“He’ll forgive you.”

Mikoto gave him a weak glare, as if asking how he could be so sure.

“At times like this, Totsuka’s catchphrase is important to keep in mind, don’t ya think? ‘It’ll all turn out alright’; you aren’t gonna feel like this forever. Munakata certainly ain’t gonna hold a grudge forever.”

“How do you know?” Mikoto replied flatly.

Izumo sighed. “Whatever happens, wallowin’ in your own dark mood ain’t gonna make you feel any better. Eat your food, take a shower, put some clean clothes on, maybe open a window and let some air in here. You’ll feel better.”

Mikoto let out a heavy, reluctant huff, but seemed as though he couldn’t be bothered to argue, so he sat up and reached for the bowl of curry as Izumo got up to open the curtains and the windows and tidy around a little. He stayed in the room until Mikoto had gotten into the shower to make sure he actually did it before heading back downstairs, but he’d only gotten half-way down when his phone rang. It was Tatara.

“Totsuka, what’s up?”

“Is King okay? He’s not answering his phone.”

“He’s in the shower at the minute,” Izumo said, turning and heading back up the stairs. When he got back to Mikoto’s room, he spotted his phone on the bedside table- he hadn’t heard it ringing whilst he was in his room, and surely enough, it didn’t respond when he tried to turn on the screen.

“Battery in his phone is dead, by the looks of it,” Izumo explained, plugging it into the charging cable.

“Can you tell him when he gets out of the shower to come to my apartment? I need to speak with him about something important.”

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah fine.” There was a pause. “I was attacked by a strain earlier, but I’m okay. Munakata found me before any damage could be done.”

Izumo clicked his tongue. “Ya can’t say somethin’ like that so casually. You really oughta be more careful,” he scolded.

“I know, I know, sorry. I’m okay though, really. Will you pass the message on to King?”

“Yeah, I’ll let him know to get down to your place when he gets outta the shower.”

“Thank you.”

“Be more careful,” Izumo chided again.

“Sorry! See you later.”

“See ya,” Izumo replied, then hung up.

When Mikoto came out of the bathroom, having thrown on a clean outfit, he gave Izumo a questioning look as though to ask why he was still in his bedroom.

“Totsuka called, he said he couldn’t get through to you.”

“Hm? What’d he want?” Mikoto asked, rubbing his hair dry with a towel.

“He said he wanted to talk to you, and for you to go meet him at his apartment.”

“Did he say what it was about?” Mikoto dropped the towel on his bed and ran a comb through his still somewhat damp hair.

“No. He did say he got caught up in a strain attack though.”

Mikoto’s head snapped around. “Is he okay?”

“He said he was fine.”

Mikoto clicked his tongue. “’Fine’ for Totsuka can mean anything from ‘just a scratch’ to ‘I have a bone poking through my skin,’” he grumbled.

“He didn’t sound like anything was wrong.”

Mikoto grunted suspiciously, making a grab for his jacket and throwing it on. He hadn’t bothered to dry or style his hair, nor had he put the jewellery he normally wore back on. “I’m gonna go check on him.”

“That’s probably a good call. See you later.”

Mikoto merely nodded as he pulled on his boots and headed swiftly for the door. Izumo couldn’t help but be quietly relieved he was finally leaving the building, even if it was under less-than-ideal circumstances.

Having the Blue King in his apartment was unusual to say the least for Tatara, but he supposed it was something he would have to get used to. He felt bad that the place wasn’t quite as tidy as he would have wanted, but Reisi didn’t seem to mind- he wandered around the main living area, looking at the photographs on the shelves and the bits and pieces Tatara had accumulated from his various hobbies, asking the occasional question about them. It was kind of nice having him around once Tatara got over how surreal it was- apart from anything else he was very pretty to look at.

When Mikoto finally arrived, he let himself into the apartment without knocking. He appeared slightly harried, or at least as much as he would ever show it. Tatara supposed Izumo had probably told him about the strain attack and he was worried- he’d clearly rushed to get here, as his hair was still damp and hung down over his forehead.

“Are you okay?” he asked, striding over to where Tatara sat. His gaze fixated almost instantly on the wound on Tatara’s cheek, and a crease formed between his brow.

“I’m fine. Some strain caught my scent, probably had a grudge against Homra or something. He chased me around a bit, but I’m okay. Munakata got there just in time,” Tatara explained, nodding towards his guest, who Mikoto didn’t seem to have noticed until now. Mikoto seemed vaguely surprised by his presence, but he didn’t say anything about it.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Mikoto asked.

“I didn’t see any need to worry you. I’m not badly hurt. The only other wound is a little scratch on my stomach, but it’s fine. Munakata patched it up.” He lifted his shirt (or rather, Reisi’s- he’d borrowed the clean garment as his own was still bloodstained) to show the wound.

“I can assure you he is fine. I was called out to a strain incident, and I found him before any major damage could be done. I took him back to Tsubaki-Mon for first aid and to take a statement about the incident. His injuries are minor- he should be back to normal within a few days at most,” Reisi reassured, and for the first time since he arrived, Mikoto looked at Reisi properly. He seemed taken aback at the civility of his tone, but there was an air of caution about him, as though he was wary of any grudges Reisi might hold after their last encounter- Tatara didn’t know all of the details, but it seemed their most recent meeting hadn’t gone well.

“Thanks…” Mikoto said quietly, though he still looked somewhat confused as to why Reisi was there.

Tatara and Reisi exchanged a significant look, then Tatara patted the sofa for Mikoto to sit down beside him.

“We actually wanted to talk to you about something,” Tatara began as Mikoto took a seat.

Mikoto once again watched Reisi with caution as he sat down the opposite side of him to Tatara, then returned his attention to his clansman.  

“What?” Mikoto asked.

Tatara was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out how to phrase what he wanted to say. He'd been confident of the outcome of the discussion ever since he'd had the idea to propose the arrangement, but suddenly he felt daunted. He hadn't been this nervous earlier talking to Reisi, but it was different this time. The stakes felt higher somehow.

A moment  passed, and Mikoto watched him expectantly, until Reisi cleared his throat and gave Tatara a look, as though asking if he wanted him to broach the subject instead. Tatara nodded.

“As you are aware, the predicament over the past few weeks has gotten to the point where it seems to be causing all three of us a fair amount of distress. You clearly have feelings for both Totsuka and I, and obviously the events that have come about as a result of that have… not been ideal,” Reisi began.

Mikoto remained deathly quiet, his jaw clenching as though he expected bad news.

“Obviously things cannot be allowed to continue in this fashion. But Totsuka has come up with a solution which I believe will be to the benefit of all of us.”

“Go on.” Mikoto’s eyes had narrowed, almost in suspicion- it seemed as though he couldn’t quite guess what Reisi was about to say next, so he was keeping his guard up.

“We both have feelings for you too,” Tatara cut in. “And that kind of really sucked initially- it seemed like there was no way out of this without someone getting hurt. But I thought about it a bit, especially after I went to visit Munakata a couple of weeks ago. I never imagined him and I being close; to be honest I didn't think he liked me very much.”

Reisi chuckled at that.

“But we actually got along quite well, and I found myself thinking about him a lot afterwards. As time went on I realised I was sort of sweet on him, and when I went back to the Sceptre 4 headquarters earlier today it only solidified that in my head, and it turned out Reisi feels the same way about me…” Tatara took a deep breath to steady himself- he could feel himself beginning to babble- but as he did he noticed Mikoto stiffen. Tatara felt a stab of guilt- he didn't want Mikoto to think he and Reisi had chosen each other over him.

“But I never stopped feeling the way I did about you. I've felt that way for years; I've been totally infatuated with you since we were teenagers, that isn't going to change in a week and a half...” He paused for thought once more. “I’ll cut to the chase. What I’m saying is we all seem to have feelings for each other, so why should we have to choose? Maybe we should all get together, you know, as a kind of all three of us dating sort of arrangement.”

There was a moment of quiet as Mikoto processed that in his head, and Tatara could feel his heart hammering against his ribcage.

Finally, Mikoto breathed: “…Thank fuck.”

Tatara noticed a smile to flickering across Reisi’s lips as he released the breath he didn’t seem to realise he’d been holding.

“Is that a yes?” Reisi asked.

Mikoto smirked faintly, but it barely disguised his relief. “Yeah, it is.”

The next thing Tatara knew, he’d thrown his arms around Mikoto without ever quite intending to, laughing in joyful disbelief as Mikoto hugged him back tightly. His embrace was everything Tatara always thought it would be- he was warm; his arms were strong, and the familiar scent of his cologne and cigarette smoke clung to his skin. It was a relief to finally hold him like this after all the years of daydreaming about it, and it was a relief to see him happy after he’d finally emerged from being locked away in his room. The faint smile still played across Mikoto’s lips, and in that moment, Tatara couldn't resist kissing him.

The contact was chaste and gentle, and Tatara almost didn't quite believe it was happening. Even though he'd been the one that orchestrated all of this, it still seemed surreal. He'd fantasised about kissing Mikoto for years now, and now it was actually happening, it seemed too good to be true. His lips tingled at the contact, and goosebumps prickled down his spine, not stopping when they finally broke apart. Mikoto pulled Tatara up so he was perched in his lap, still smiling at him. There was a softness in his hazel eyes that Tatara had never seen before.

Tatara couldn’t suppress the grin that spread across his lips, wide and goofy, and it didn’t fade when Reisi leaned in and turned Mikoto’s head with his fingertips to kiss him for himself. If anything, it only made him feel more content to watch them- it felt like a happy ending. After all the kisses Reisi and Mikoto had shared before- rough and heated, and then fuelled by anger, it only seemed fair that after the pain Reisi had been through, he could finally kiss the man he loved like this. Softly, their lips curved into subtle smiles against each other, eyelids fluttering closed as Mikoto slid his arm around Reisi’s shoulders and pulled him closer. Tatara imagined this was how Reisi had wanted it to be all along, and it seemed just that he should finally have this- if anyone deserved the man he loved to feel the same way, it was Reisi. And it made Tatara happy to get to share in it.

Their kiss didn’t break for a long moment, and when they finally did, Tatara didn’t miss the faint flush of pink on Reisi’s cheeks. That was another surreal thing- seeing Munakata Reisi in a state like this. He never expected the Blue King to be the sort of person who blushed, even just faintly. But he supposed if there was ever a time for it, it was now, when he’d just found himself with two new boyfriends. Tatara couldn’t help but lean across to peck him on the lips.

Reisi smiled at the kiss, then once Tatara had pulled away, he cleared his throat and turned to Mikoto. “I wish to apologise for the way I’ve behaved over the past few weeks. I was hurt, and I allowed it to make me spiteful, but I shouldn’t have.”

“’S alright,” Mikoto replied. “I was the bigger jerk.”

“I think what everyone did is understandable considering the circumstances,” Tatara chimed in gently. “But apparently communication solves everything. Who would’ve thought, hm?” he joked.

Reisi chuckled. “It seems to me we should put the mistakes of the past few weeks behind us,” he suggested.

“Good idea,” Tatara replied, and Mikoto nodded.

“How’d you even come up with this?” Mikoto asked, looking at Tatara and gesturing with a nod between the three of them.

“…Okay, if I’m being completely honest, I sort of got the idea from a very interesting sex dream.”

Both of his boyfriends snorted at the confession.

“When I went to talk to Re-.. Can I call you Reisi?”

“I don’t see why not.” Reisi replied, but there was a faint smirk on his lips, as if to say it’s not as though you weren’t moaning that name earlier.

“When I went to talk to Reisi a little while back, I was I guess contemplating the reasons you seemed to have feelings for him, and I couldn’t help but notice he’s… well, he’s really hot, to put it bluntly.”

Mikoto chuckled.

“And once you notice that sorta thing you can’t un-notice it. And I guess it sort of snuck into my subconscious somewhere… If we’re being totally honest, I’ve had a fair few sex dreams about you in my time,” Tatara admitted, looking at Mikoto. He could feel his face heating up.

“And recently, Reisi turned up in one of them, and there was a moment after the main event where you were kissing each other and, I dunno, it just sort of set a lightbulb off when I woke up. I wanted both of you, but I also wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea of you wanting each other. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea- not just the threesomes (though I’m definitely looking forward to that) but I also just like the idea of you having each other, too. You’re a good match. I was telling Reisi about it before- he’s your stopper as much as I am.”

Mikoto nodded slowly, and Tatara noticed a faint smile on Reisi’s face.

“…Speaking of sex, in the, uh, interests of full disclosure, I figure you should probably know Reisi and I sorta… well, we figured this was the kind of discussion you want to have with a clear head and we were both kind of riled up earlier…” Tatara admitted. He couldn’t resist bracing himself, half-worried Mikoto would be jealous or something at the news, and he couldn’t quite force out the details of exactly what happened.

“We had sex,” Reisi finished the sentiment for him.

Mikoto merely gave a faint smirk, addressing Tatara: “He’s good, isn’t he?”

Tatara chuckled, relieved he took it well. “Very. And I was told some very interesting things about you and a pair of handcuffs.”

Mikoto raised an eyebrow, addressing Reisi: “Gossip.”

Reisi pushed his glasses up his nose. “You should be grateful people are saying good things about you behind your back.”

Mikoto and Tatara chuckled, and Tatara was once again struck by how surreal this all seemed. His anxiety beforehand seemed silly in retrospect- knowing how Mikoto felt, he didn’t expect him to say no. But knowing it was real now was… a lot to process. Certainly, going from being single to having two boyfriends who happened to be the Red and Blue Kings was quite a change to wrap his head around, especially after the weeks of feeling hopeless and thinking there was no way out of this that didn’t leave at least one person burned.

But as weird as it felt to be sitting beside the two Kings, knowing he was theirs, and they were his, it also felt right. It was comforting to hear them return to their normal banter after the frosty silence, and to see Mikoto back to his usual casual self. He normally seemed so calm, even when he was having a tough time, so to see something visibly get under his skin the way this whole scenario had was disconcerting. Thankfully though, now it was over, the tension seemed to have fallen out of his body. He had one arm lazily slung over Reisi’s shoulders, and the other around Tatara’s waist, relaxing into the touch of his new lovers. It was a relief to see him happy.

Reisi seemed happy too- he usually kept up his professional front at almost all times, but for once he’d allowed himself to let his guard down a little, and his contentment was written all over him. He’d sunken into the warmth of Mikoto’s body, and there was a serene look in his eyes- Tatara supposed he felt the same way as he did. After all the tension and heartbreak of what had felt far longer than a mere few weeks, it was a relief to be at the finish line, things having turned out far better than anyone could have hoped for. Well, sort of a finish line, and sort of a starting line.

The casual intimacy would definitely take some time to get used to; Tatara still didn’t quite dare to believe he wasn’t dreaming. He’d fantasised about being able to do things like cuddling like this with Mikoto for… longer than he cared to admit.

It was strange though- almost the opposite was true with Reisi. He’d never even considered seeing him in this way until a short while ago, but infatuation had hit him hard, and he found himself staring at Reisi just as often as he was staring at Mikoto, admiring the different ways in which the two Kings were beautiful as he listened to them continuing their playful banter.

Everything about this scenario seemed so dreamlike, especially the way it had been so… easy. After everything, all it had taken was a short conversation, and then they’d fallen straight into being together in this way as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

It was weird.

But it was a good weird- ever since Mikoto had said yes, Tatara’s chest had been filled with a sort of warm sensation swelling against his ribcage, and he couldn’t keep a smile from creeping across his lips. He was happy to be with them, but he was almost happier to know they were happy. They deserved it, and if he could be a part of that, then all the better.

#mikoreitotsu #suoh mikoto #totsuka tatara #munakata reisi #k project #fic: composure #k fanfic

[emeraldwaves]

Title: Saruhiko and the Totally Terrible, Horrifyingly Horrible, No Good School Day     Pairing: Sarumi Rating: T Word Count:  6,342 AO3 Summary:  After getting smacked in the face by a frisbee, Saruhiko has to deal with a series of unfortunate events all day thanks to Yata Misaki.

Full Fic Under Cut, OLD POSTING FROM THE SARUMI 2016 ANTHOLOGY

Fushimi’s not-so-lovely day began with him getting smacked in the face with a hard, white, plastic frisbee. And besides the obvious annoyance he felt, along with the throbbing pain on his nose and upper lip, he was more annoyed he hadn’t seen it coming. Normally, he had sharp reflexes, but this morning, he had been distracted by the red-haired boy running down the field.

Fushimi Saruhiko had never been interested in Yata Misaki, one of the boys he had the…joy…of being in class with. Fushimi knew his name, as he did most of the people in his class, and that was about it. He had no desire to learn more. As far as he had observed, Yata was an idiot—a loud and obnoxious idiot.

And perhaps that was why Fushimi had been so captivated by him on the field that morning as he walked to class. Yata had looked so focused—his hazel gaze intent on the white disc in front of him, sweat trickling down his brow, the muscles in his legs rippling as he jumped to catch the disc. For a moment, Fushimi had forgotten to breathe, staring at the other. It was hard to believe Yata Misaki could ever look so damn…serious about something. It had been shocking, and his heart fluttered for the first time in a long time.

The grip on his schoolbag tightened as Fushimi tried to refocus his thoughts. Who cared about what made Yata Misaki look serious? It wasn’t as though the guy could make a career out of ultimate frisbee, the sport (if you wanted to call it that) was for morons and douchebags. But for some reason, Fushimi couldn’t take his eyes off of him.

He was so distracted, he didn’t have enough time to react when the frisbee flew from Yata’s hand and smacked Fushimi right in the face, between his nose and upper lip. Frozen in place, Fushimi groaned at how much his face hurt. It stung, and the hit had reverberated up into his skull. Already he could feel a bruise forming on his upper lip, and he tried desperately to figure out why he hadn’t noticed the giant flying disc coming straight for his face until it was far too late.

“SHIT!” A voice echoed in his ear as his vision began to clear, Yata Misaki’s visage appearing before him. “Oh shit!” he repeated, staring at Fushimi’s face.

“You already said that,” Fushimi snapped.

“Sorry, ugh. I’m sorry! Shit. Is your…uh…face okay? Oh shit! Your nose is bleeding!” he yelled, pointing right at Fushimi’s face.

“Just shut up,” Fushimi grumbled. Quickly, he raised a hand to his cover his nose. He leaned forward slightly and pinched the bridge of it, attempting to stop the bleeding.


“What are you doing?” Yata questioned, watching the strange way Fushimi stood.

“Trying to stop the bleeding,” he replied, his voice tight and nasal. “Do you really not know how to stop a nosebleed?”

“Uh…no?” Yata said sheepishly. “Look I’m really sorry,” he continued, rubbing his arm. “I figured for sure you’d move when the disc went flying in your direction, but you didn’t…”

“Tsk…” Fushimi clicked his tongue, not wanting to comment on that at all. He didn’t need Yata Misaki knowing he was staring at him.

“Can I at least walk you to the nurse’s office? You’re in my class, yeah? The quiet guy…Fushimi, right?” he smiled, as though he were doing Fushimi a large favor by walking him to the nurse’s room.

“I’m perfectly capable of walking myself to the nurse’s office,” Fushimi scoffed, walking past Yata.

“Hey! I’m just trying to help. I mean it’s my fault your face is swelling up—”

Still covering his face, Fushimi whipped his head around, immediately regretting it as his palm knocked against his upper lip. Wincing, he glared at Yata. “My face is swelling up?”

“W-well, um,” Yata stammered nervously. “Just a little bit…on your lip…” he said, leaning toward Fushimi again, his pointer finger trembling as he gestured towards Fushimi’s face.

Scoffing, Fushimi turned away and gripped his school bag harder as he trudged towards the school. “Fine. You can come with me. But don’t think this pardons you for hitting my face.” Stupid Yata Misaki, looking somewhat interesting while he played ultimate frisbee. It wasn’t even a real sport!

“I’m going to go walk Fushimi-san to the nurse!” Yata called out, waving to his teammates. “Heh…yeah, sorry,” he sighed, catching up to Fushimi to walk beside him. “So why were you watching us? Thinking about joining the team?”

“No.”

“We’re pretty good you know,” Yata bragged proudly. Fushimi wasn’t sure he could label their team as “good” after everything that was going on with his face and all. “We have two coaches, Kusanagi-sensei and Mikoto-san. Mikoto-san is amazing, but you know, now that I think about it, Kusanagi-sensei does most of the coaching…”

Fushimi rolled his eyes. “Are you planning on talking the whole way?” Fushimi asked, thinking this was by far the longest, most painful walk to school, and not because of the growing welt on his upper lip.

“Oh, uh…right,” he laughed awkwardly. “It probably hurts for you to talk,” he sighed. Fushimi chose to stay quiet, deciding it would be much better if Yata simply assumed he didn’t want to talk because of the pain on his lip. However with Yata now being quiet, Fushimi could’ve cut the tension in the air with a knife. Walking with Yata was frustratingly difficult, it was so clear the other boy wanted to babble on. Flicking his gaze to the side, Fushimi could see Yata biting on his lip, looking as though he were about to burst. This only made Fushimi walk faster. The quicker he was away from Misaki, the quicker he could resume the school day as he pleased.

~~

“So, tell me again what happened?” Awashima, the school nurse, asked, though Fushimi could see she was trying to hold back her chuckle.

“I hit Fushimi-kun in the face with a frisbee,” Yata muttered. His face was red, clearly embarrassed, though Fushimi wasn’t sure what he had to be embarrassed about. Fushimi was the idiot who hadn’t moved when the plastic disc had flown at his face.

“Can you move your hand for me, Fushimi-san?” she asked. “I need to take a look.” Resisting every urge to refuse, he slowly lowered his hand. Her eyes widened, and Fushimi thought she had a terrible poker face. “Ah, I see,” she said softly, swiveling her chair around to open the drawer. “Here.” She held out a small packet with over the counter painkillers. “Take two of these for now,” she smiled. “And let me get you some ice, these should help with the pain and swelling. Unfortunately that’s about all I can do,” she said.

“It’s fine,” he said, his tone clipped and harsh. “We’re already late to class anyway.” Fushimi didn’t enjoy being late to class. He much preferred to go, do his work, and sit peacefully while he waited for the rest of the class to catch up, or sit silently and take notes. He hated having the class stare at him for any period of time, and being late meant all eyes on him.

“Hmm. It looks like you’re going to have quite the large fat lip, Fushimi-san.” Awashima’s gaze was filled with pity, as she handed him the small bag of ice, and Fushimi tried not to click his tongue and forget the bag altogether. He didn’t know which was worse—holding a sack of ice on his lip, or watching it swell to the size of a baseball.

“Tsk. Great. Thanks,” he scoffed, standing up to leave the office. Awashima smiled, nodding her head to both of them as they left.

After a few moments of silence, Yata spoke. “It really doesn't look that bad.” He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“First of all, I don’t need your reassurance to make me feel better,” Fushimi snapped, “and second of all, it looks like shit, so don’t lie.”

“You don’t gotta be such an ass about it! I’ve been trying to make you feel better all morning. I feel pretty shitty about what happened,” he grunted. Fushimi rolled his eyes. He should’vefelt bad, and while Fushimi was tempted to say that, his gaze fell upon Yata's, and for a split second he felt a little guilty. Though his brow was furrowed, Yata looked concerned, his hazel eyes fixated on Fushimi's lip. It was almost endearing, how much he seemed to care for Fushimi’s well-being, and if Fushimi hadn’t hated him in the current moment, he may have found it cute.

“Let's just get to class,” he muttered, turning away from Yata, so he wouldn't see his cheeks gain a slight hint of red.

~~

When Yata and Fushimi finally made it to the science lab, they opened the door, interrupting one of Weismann-sensei's famous introductory lectures—the ones that took so long, the class wondered if they would ever actually get to doing the experiment Weismann was taking his sweet time explaining thoroughly.

“Ah! Yata-san, Fushimi-san,” he called out, moving about the room in his typical over-eager manner. “So nice of you to join us for lab today,” he grinned. “Take a seat, take a seat. You two can be partnered together for today.”

Fushimi bit his lower lip and winced, wishing he had remembered that moving his teeth to his lower lip adjusted his upper in a strange manner. Still, he wasn't pleased about the assignment. He much preferred to be paired with Akiyama—he was quiet, and generally listened to what Fushimi had to say, which meant the experiment was completed in a timely manner. Sitting down next to Yata's enthusiastic form, Fushimi had a feeling nothing good was going to come from this partnership. Plus it didn't help that Fushimi had seen Yata and his regular lab partner, Kamamoto, explode half their experiments up to the damn ceiling before.

“Now remember class, this chemical is highly flammable and very toxic!” Weismann explained. “It's important that you follow all the instructions carefully and don't mess up!” he chuckled, a smile plastered on his face. “But don't worry, I trust you all can handle this.”

Fushimi let out a sigh, lowering the ice bag to the side of the table. His face felt numb, which was better than the 'in severe pain' alternative, but still it was unpleasant.

“Alright,” Yata cheered, clenching his hands into fists. “Let's do some science!” He grabbed the safety goggles and pulled them over his eyes, slapping them onto his face. Next, he picked up the gloves and pulled them over his fingers, and he tugged the lab coat on, which was far too big for his short stature. Fushimi couldn't help but snicker at the last fact. “What?” Yata asked.

“I didn't realize how short you were until now,” he smirked.

“Shut up, asshole!” Yata yelled, his face flushed, and the whole class turned to stare at them.

“…” Fushimi stared at Yata blankly before grabbing the handout in front of them, flipping to the first page. “Right.”

“I'll...grab the chemicals from the front!” Yata called out, trying to break the tension. “Wait here.” He ran to the front of the room, grabbing the small tray of beakers and vials from the front desk, while Fushimi placed his lab coat, goggles and gloves on. Setting their tray down on the table, Yata moved the small beakers in front of the large empty one on the lab table. “I wonder what these all do…” he said, glancing over them.

Fushimi waved the paper in front of Yata's face. “This will tell us. Don't touch anything,” he snapped.

Frowning, Yata folded his arms and plopped down onto the stool. “Fine then,” he grumbled.

Sighing, Fushimi rolled his eyes, and with the amount of times he had done that today, he was sure his eyes were going to get stuck in the back of his head. “I'll read them off to you and you can pour them in, alright?” It was so much better when he was partners with Akiyama. He let Fushimi do all the work.

“Perfect. Read 'em off!” Yata smirked, giving Fushimi a thumbs up. Turning the page, Fushimi skimmed the directions, before folding his arms to sit down, letting Yata follow his instructions. Ultimately, this was better anyway, since he had to keep the ice on his face.

“Alright, take the dark brown liquid and pour it up to the two,” he explained, leaning forward to show Yata. He wasn't about to trust the red-head, and he didn't want to end up with toxic chemicals on himself.

“This one?” Yata asked, holding the flask up. Fushimi nodded. They continued along through the first page of instructions, everything going surprisingly smoothly. Fushimi was shocked Yata could handle himself well enough to not screw up.

“Next, is the blue liquid,” Fushimi explained, his blue eyes focused on the sheet in front of him.

“Blue?”

“Yes. Pour it to the six,” he explained, and glanced up just in time to watch Yata begin to pour the purple liquid into the flask.

“No! You dumbass!” Fushimi yelled, causing Yata to jerk his hand back, the purple liquid sloshing back onto Yata's jacket. “Shit! Be careful!” Fushimi snapped, not noticing the mixture bubbling up as the entire concoction rumbled, and spilled over the side, landing directly on Fushimi's pants.

“Shit!” Yata yelled, slamming the bottle down as more purple chemicals dumped out and landed on his sleeve. “Ah!” he called out. “W-Weismann-sensei!”

“Wha-AH?!” Weismann's face paled as he saw the purple liquid slowly traveling down Yata's lab coat. “Yata-san! Fushimi-san! Under the emergency shower now!” The silver-haired teacher ushered both of them under the shower in the back of the room, the class murmuring quietly among themselves.

The water sputtered and splashed on, hitting both Fushimi and Yata on the head, and, just Fushimi’s luck, it was freezing cold. Yata immediately yelped, shocked by the temperature of the water. Fushimi stood, arms folded, shivering as the water dampened his hair and skin. Yata was shivering too, using his gloved hand to wipe off the purple solution which had stained the lab coat. His red hair stuck to his forehead, and though he looked panicked, Fushimi couldn’t help but think the idiot looked kind of…cute all wet like that.

Thankfully, Weismann’s panicked voice cut through the strange thoughts creeping into Fushimi’s mind. “It didn't get on your skin, correct?” Weismann asked frantically, looking concerned. Fushimi wasn't sure why they let high school kids play with dangerous chemicals like this in the first place.

"No," Fushimi said, sticking out his leg awkwardly to get the solution off of his pants.

"You'll want to wash those pants separately one time, just to be safe," Weismann instructed, and Fushimi rolled his eyes, wondering if it would've been better had he simply stayed home today. First period wasn't even finished and already he was wishing to head back to his room, hide under his blanket, and never come out again.

~~

"It's pretty lucky we had our gym clothes to change into!" Yata smiled, swinging the plastic bag full of the outfit he had contaminated with toxic chemicals. Fushimi wasn’t sure if he’d call it lucky, seeing as they had gym everyday, and more often than not needed a change of clothes, but he was far too annoyed to argue with the idiot. It didn’t help that the two of them had made awkward eye contact while changing, causing them both to blush and turn away as fast as they could. Yata was obnoxious, but...cute.

“Sure,” he scoffed, somehow after everything that had happened, Yata remained positive and smiling. Fushimi wasn’t sure why he had thought Yata’s smile looked nice—maybe because it was almost endearing? Almost. Especially since Yata had only been the frisbee thrower, rather than receiver, in the debacle which had occurred that morning. When Yata smiled, Fushimi doubted it felt like he was going to cause permanent damage to his face.

“Look on the bright side, Weismann-sensei said it could’ve been way worse if we had gotten it on our skin,” Yata chuckled.

Fushimi raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I guess not having a chemical burn is a bright side,” he mumbled.

“Yeah! Totally!” Yata beamed. Fushimi wondered how long Yata was going to follow him around today. He’d barely ever spoken to the guy before, and now he had practically spent the entire morning with him. Fushimi had just about reached his limit—Yata was like a ray of sunshine, and Fushimi was slowly getting a nasty burn.

The next class was math, and thankfully, they were on time—Munakata-sensei wasn’t very forgiving of late students. However, Fushimi had been the teacher’s pet since the first week when he achieved perfect scores on his homework and their first pop quiz, so he assumed if he was late, Munakata probably would forgive him. Probably.

“Ah! Fushimi-kun! Did you have an accident?” Munakata asked, leaning in close towards Fushimi’s lip the second he walked into the room.

“Yes sir,” he said, leaning backwards. “But I’m fine.” Munakata was one of those teachers who had no concept of personal space, always checking on his students as close as he possibly could. Though as far as Fushimi could tell, it was simply because he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings since he was so thrilled to talk about numbers. Nerd.

Fushimi took his seat and pulled out his notebook, watching as Munakata stood, poised at the front of the room. He raised the mostly melted ice bag to his throbbing lip, wondering if he could get more medicine from Awashima soon. Had it even been long enough?

Glancing to the side, he’d never noticed Yata sat directly next to him. Probably because he focused in math class—it was an easy class, but at least it was decently interesting even if Munakata’s critical thinking problems were often wordy and convoluted.

“Today,” Munakata began, pressing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, “we will be discussing the mathematical concept of i, imaginary numbers.”

“Hah?!” Yata called out. “I is a letter, not a number, dumbass teacher,” he growled under his breath. If Fushimi had to fancy a guess, he could only assume math wasn’t exactly Yata’s strongest subject.

Munakata’s lips curled up into a devilish smile. “Oya? Are you sure about that Yata-san?” he teased. “Take out your calculator and calculate the square root of negative one,” he said, standings still at the front of the room, keeping his creepy smile plastered on his face.


“It, uh…gave me an error?” Yata replied, staring at the screen.

“Correct! That’s because the answer is…imaginary,” he said dramatically. “Heh. All of you are so quick to assume math is so difficult and boring, but the truth is…math is fun!” he grinned, posing proudly.

Yata groaned, rubbing his hands in his hair. “I can barely handle real numbers, why do we gotta add fake ones too?!” He spoke softly, mostly under his breath, and Fushimi rolled his eyes. As much fun as it was to watch Yata flounder about, all adorable and nervous, it was also painful.

Leaning over, Fushimi shook his head. “They’re not fake,” he whispered. “Look, you get an error because—“

“Are you…helping me?” Yata asked, his voice hushed, but his eyes widened, a slight blush on his cheeks when Fushimi had leaned in close to him. In fact, the blush was so prominent, Fushimi’s cheeks almost turned red as well.

“Tsk,” Fushimi clicked his tongue. “Just listen.”

“Fushimi-kun!” Munakata called out, and Fushimi slowly turned his gaze to the front of the room. “You’re normally so quiet! Do you have something you want to share with the class?”

“No sir,” Fushimi sighed, slowly moving back to sit up straight in his seat.

“Or perhaps you feel you could teach imaginary numbers better than I could? I wouldn’t be surprised,” he chuckled.

Slinking down in his seat, Fushimi folded his arms and clicked his tongue. “Do your job,” he grumbled. Idiot Munakata loved to put him on the spot whenever he could.

“Right! Continuing on then!” Fushimi turned his gaze back to his notebook, but occasionally glanced over at Yata, the idiot biting his lip in concentration. He certainly…persevered, Fushimi would give him that much. It bothered him how he felt the need to help the idiot, especially since Munakata had…vaguely scolded him in his weird Munakata way. Fushimi really had to keep his mouth shut.

~~

Thankfully, gym had gone by without a problem, but that was because Fushimi was able to sit off to the side and watch, since his lip was still swollen.

Lunch was going okay too, sitting by himself and eating what he had packed on his own helped.

“Do you always eat alone?” A familiar voice called out behind him. Fushimi didn’t need to even look up when Yata sat down across from him to know who it was.

“Yes, and I enjoy it,” he muttered, picking at the rice in front of him.

“Well not today!”

“What part of ‘I enjoy eating alone’ did you not understand? Don’t you have friends to eat with?” Fushimi scoffed, his blue gaze finally meeting Yata’s sparkling hazels.

“Yeah, of course I do! I just thought you…might enjoy the company today. Or I mean you could come sit with us,” he suggested. He looked so excited about the suggestion, it was almost difficult to say no, but Fushimi had no desire to leave his comfortable spot.

“Thanks but no thanks,” he repeated. “Run along,” he said, waving his hand.

“…I’m not a kid,” he frowned. “And I want to sit here, there’s no law that says I can’t.”

“Tsk. Fine, but don’t talk to me,” Fushimi scoffed.

And though Yata didn’t say a word, once again, Fushimi could tell he wanted to. Every time Fushimi flicked his gaze towards him, Yata’s lips were pursed into a smile, his eyes shining excitedly, though he were waiting for a conversation starter to slip from Fushimi’s swollen lips.

“So, uhm, Fushimi,” he said finally, his voice tight, as though Fushimi’s name had been waiting to explode from Yata’s lips.

“Ah?”

“Do you think uh, maybe sometime you could help me with math stuff? Y-Y’know cause you’re so good at it?” he said, his cheeks flushed. Fushimi wrapped up the rest of this lunch, tucking it into his bag. Of course Yata wanted help with school. What else would he have wanted? It wasn’t as though it actually mattered. Fushimi didn’t want to be friends with him, nor had he expected Yata to be interested in him for any other reason either.

“…Sure,” he replied quietly, standing up to head to the next class early, not listening to Yata’s annoyingly excited response. Fushimi didn’t even like Yata, so why did he feel disappointed? Why had he thought Yata would want to hang out with him?

~~

Fushimi absolutely despised his literature class for a plethora of reasons. First and foremost, he hated the subject. It wasn’t clear cut like math and science—and history, while boring, was more straight-forward than Totsuka-sensei’s literature class. For the paper assignments, he had to actually discuss and form some sort of opinion on these books he literally could’ve cared less about. And then there was Totsuka-sensei himself. The guy was a moron. Smiley and energetic about books, sometimes he sang their lessons to them, like they were a kindergarten class because he was so enthusiastic. That, and he was also the head of the after-school choir, so he felt an incessant need to sing all the damn time, even when he simply walked through the hall. Fushimi would’ve dumped a whole bottle of chemicals on himself if it meant he could skip his literature class.

“Today, we’ll be starting with a poetry reading!” After everything that had happened so far today, Fushimi knew Totsuka reading poetry would be the icing on the cake. “Poetry can bring meaning to people’s lives and enrich the soul!” Totsuka sighed happily. A piece of Fushimi’s soul was about to die and silently float out the window, of this he was convinced. “For homework, I’d like you all to find a poem that means something to you, and bring it in to share with the class,” he smiled. “It’ll be a great for you to learn about your peers and to share a part of yourself.”

Silently Fushimi wondered if he could fake being sick tomorrow. Maybe his lip would get infected and he’d have to stay home since he’d be running such a high fever.

Ever since leaving Yata at lunch a mere twenty minutes ago, Fushimi’s mood had darkened even more, if that were even possible. His upper lip was pulsing against his teeth, it hurt so damn much. Of course, he supposed this was what happened when a giant plastic disc slammed into your face at full speed. Yet, something about Yata asking for his help with math hurt more. He probably should’ve been flattered. Fushimi was the smartest one in the class, and everyone knew it, but still it disappointed him, and he really hated that. There was no reason to care about the cute, eager idiot’s opinion.

The longer he sat, the more Totsuka’s voice disappeared in his head, becoming the mumbled sound of words strung together Fushimi didn’t care about. What he did care about however, was Yata tapping his pencil against his desk in, what seemed to be, rhythm with Totsuka’s weird beat poetry. If Fushimi hadn’t hated this class, and day, already, Yata was only making it worse. Really, Fushimi shouldn’t have expected anything less at that point.

Growling, he clenched his fists against his desk, and whipped his head around to glare at Yata. “Can you not tap your pencil against the desk?” he huffed.

Yata frowned and put the pencil down. “You don’t have to be such a dick about it,” he hissed.

“Ah! Fushimi-san! Yata-san! Did you have something you wanted to discuss about the poem?” Totsuka asked. He was leaning casually against his desk, smiling happily.

“No,” Fushimi said flatly.

“Actually, I thought it had a nice beat, Totsuka-sensei,” Yata replied, clearing his throat awkwardly as he did. “I was expressing…myself, by tapping my pencil along with your reading, but Fushimi-san didn’t like that.”

“Fushimi-san! I know perhaps you wouldn’t appreciate the art of pencil tapping rhythm, however I do believe it is important that we all express ourselves in whatever way we see fit. If Yata-san feels overcome with the need to tap his pencil along with a poem, then we must allow him to express his unique creativity!” Totsuka explained, practically dancing as he did. Fushimi was certain the ‘art of pencil tapping’ was a thing Totsuka had made up on the spot.

Fushimi flared his nostrils and narrowed his eyes at the smirking red-head in front of him. Turning back around, Fushimi’s gaze fell on the clock, and he counted down the seconds until the bell rang.

~~


“William Penn once said, ‘In all debates, let truth be thy aim, not victory, or an unjust interest’, and I think it’s important we all try and remember this as we embark on this journey about justice together!” Yatogami-sensei pointed to the board, looking disturbingly proud of the quote he had taken the time to write up there. Fushimi was convinced Kuroh Yatogami had only become a history teacher to quote all his favorite historical figures.


History was the last class of the day, and Fushimi felt his heart throb with excitement and his lip throb with the most pain he had felt all day. Soon, he could crawl into his bed and forget this day had ever happened.

“This is meant to be a learning experience, so let’s try and keep the mock debate as friendly as possible, alright?” Yatogami instructed. “I’ll be splitting you up into teams. Team A will be for the concept of democracy, or electing a person to power, and Team B will be for keeping the monarchy in place, or letting the king keep his power.”

Fushimi wasn’t really one for debating, but today he felt he could’ve argued with the world, and he was extra pleased to see Yata end up on the opposite team. He was so damn frustrated by how much the boy had distracted and disturbed his normal routine.

“Alright, Team B!” Yata cheered, and some of the other students looked far less excited than he did, not surprising though. Who got excited for a fake class debate anyway?

Fushimi thought it would be easy enough to win. Yatogami hadn’t declared a pre-determined winner, but it was hard to imagine that Team B would win when the modern standard of government leaned towards a democracy. Team B would have to make an extremely compelling argument if they wanted to win.


Team A’s appointed leader, Akiyama, began their opening statement, describing all the ways democracy was useful. He spoke about checks and balances, and hearing the voice of the people, overall a very well thought out argument, though Fushimi was happy he didn’t have to speak.

However, he wasn’t surprised in the least when Yata stood up as Team B’s leader. He began to yap on about being united under one leader, and how it was more organized and easy for people to follow someone they’d trusted for generations. It was a stupid argument, and Fushimi wasn’t surprised they had picked Yata to speak for them. He was loud, so he made stupidity sound inspiring.

Fushimi rolled his eyes. “Did you come up with all that by yourself?” he grumbled, tapping his foot on the ground. Normally he never would’ve said anything, but by now he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. The words had slipped out, accidentally.

“What the hell did you say?” Yata snapped, leaning over his desk.

“I said, did you come up with that by yourself? It seems like an argument someone as dumb as you would come up with.”

“Boys,” Yatogami spoke up. “It’s only the opening statements-”

“What the hell, asshole?!” Yata yelled, ignoring their teacher. “You didn’t even say a word for your team and you just jump in criticizing me?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, it was just so stupid it slipped out.”

“Maybe I should give you a black eye to go along with your fat lip!” Yata snapped, clenching his fist.

“Boys! This is a mock debate and you’re both completely off topic.”

“Go ahead,” Fushimi snapped back, ignoring the pleas of their teacher. This was the perfect opportunity to get back at Yata, at least a little. “It’s not like you could really do anything to make this day any worse.”


“BOYS!” Yatogami slammed his hands on his desk. “That’s enough. Both of you, go stand in the hall and keep quiet! This is meant to be a learning experience, not a time for you to iron out personal problems. If you must debate personal things, do so out there, quietly. I’ll not have you interrupting my class any longer.”

Turning bright red, Yata grabbed his bag and huffed out of the room. Fushimi silently stood up and did the same, though he was happy he didn’t have to listen to a stupid debate any longer.

~~


The two of them stood in the hall in awkward silence. Of course they had gotten kicked out. And now, Fushimi would have to stand there, in pain, until this terrible day finally, finally came to an end.

He noticed Yata staring at him, his hazel eyes glancing to the side quickly, only to look away as soon as he glanced towards him. With a sigh, Yata finally spoke, “Fushimi-”

“No.”

“But-”

“Just. Stop,” Fushimi growled, his hands trembling at his side. “You have done enough today. Everything that happened, everything that has gone wrong, is all your fault!” Fushimi snapped, though his breath hitched when he saw Yata recoil like a hurt puppy.

Then, Yata frowned, looking angry, “I said I was sorry-”

“Whatever. I just want this day to be over, so I can go home and ice my stupid lip some more. If I just had kept walking instead of watching your stupid ass play frisbee, this never would’ve happened! This whole day never would’ve happened!”

Yata stared at him, blinking as his face slowly turned bright red. “Wait…w-what?! You were watching me?!” he yelled, pointing his finger at Fushimi.

“Yes. I was watching you. I was watching you because you always look like such a damn idiot in class but for a small, miniscule second you looked so engaged, and it was interesting to me!” he snarled. “And then you continued to be an idiot in science and math, but I thought for a brief moment that maybe, just maybe, you weren’t all that bad, but really you just wanted me to tutor you in math…and whatever other subject you’re probably failing!” Swallowing, he felt his chest heave as he took a large breath in. Had he really said that out loud? Looking at Yata’s face, he could only assume he had—Yata’s cheeks were so red they almost matched his hair. “You know what just…forget it, I’m going home,” Fushimi snapped, grabbing his bag to walk down the hall. So what if he got in trouble for leaving a little early, having to do detention or something would be far less difficult than having to deal with Yata for any longer, especially after his awkward confession of sorts. Fushimi’s face was the reddest it had ever been, and he certainly didn’t want Yata to see.

“Wait…! Fushimi!” he heard Yata call out from behind him, but Fushimi didn’t wait as he stormed down the hall.

~~

“Fushimi-san!” Fushimi recognized that voice. Had Yata really followed him all the way out of the school? “Fushimi-san!!” Yata called louder, and Fushimi decided it was useless to pretend to ignore him, since the tapping of Yata’s footsteps on the gravel kept growing louder and louder.

“What? Haven’t you tortured me enough for one day?” he muttered, watching Yata approach him.


Holding out his hand, Yata handed Fushimi a new packet of painkillers and ice. “Here,” he said quietly.

“You know I’m about to walk home, yeah?” Fushimi mused, taking the items from Yata’s hand anyway.

“Yeah, I just…I thought it would make the walk home a little…easier,” he mumbled, his cheeks flushing with the same red color as before. Fushimi wanted to despise Yata after everything he had done. Yet, when he said things like that, all endearing and genuine, Fushimi found he only hated the way his heart fluttered lightly in his chest.

“…Thanks,” Fushimi sighed, placing the ice pack against his sore lip. It really did help to put ice on it.

“Yeah. It’s the least I could do. I wanna make it up to you,” Yata said, rubbing his arm.

“Just forget it, I’d much prefer to just forget it,” Fushimi sighed, lowering the small bag so he could toss the two pills into his mouth, swallowing them down. He didn’t want to make any sort of deal with Yata; a deal was probably something the shorter would stupidly break.

“And you know,” Yata began. “I mean…yeah I was asking for your help with math but we could also just…you know…” he stammered, looking awkward. “Hang out,” he shrugged, tucking his hands into his pockets.  

“What makes you think I want to hang out with you?” Fushimi smirked, folding his arms as he stared at how cute the other boy looked, being so awkward like that. It was…unexpected—how hard Yata seems to be trying. Fushimi was unclear as to why Yata cared so much, and why it was actually winning him over. All day he had been driving him completely up a wall, and yet he couldn’t stop thinking about the moments when Yata smiled, or blushed, or seemed…genuinely interested in what Fushimi had to say; and it was that which made him even more angry.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I sort of destroyed your day and what not, but I’m a cool person! I’m fun to hang out with! I’m sure you’d have a great time!” he declared proudly.

Snorting, Fushimi leaned down and brushed his lips against Yata’s. It was an impulsive move and of course, he immediately regretted it, seeing as his lip was still incredibly swollen. However, even as he winced pulling back, Yata’s reaction was more than worth it. Actually, kissing him just about made the whole day better.

“Is that so Mi-sa-ki?” he mused, humming out his name with a gentle singsong. He placed the bag back on his lip.

Yata was frozen, his face heating up as he stared at Fushimi. “W-What the hell was that!! And don’t call me by my first name!” he snapped, gesturing wildly to the boy in front of him.

“You said you wanted to make it up to me,” he teased, turning around to continue walking towards his house.

“W-Well yeah! But you didn’t have to be an ass about it!” Yata growled, running to catch up with him. “You can’t just kiss someone out of the blue like that!”

“And yet, I just did,” Fushimi smirked, still walking as he let Yata continue to flail about next to him. “I suppose we could…hang out…once…or twice,” he sighed, trying not to blush when he saw how happy Yata’s face looked once Fushimi had caved. “But no more frisbee.”

“Uh…Right…” Yata chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “No more frisbee.”

As the two kept walking, Fushimi thought his day maybe hadn’t been that bad after all.

#sarumi #k project #yata misaki #fushimi saruhiko #fanfiction #anthology fic #OLD POSTING #k project fanfiction #event #sarumi 2016 anthology

[ridiasfangirlings]

Hi hi!! Could you please make K Project where nothing has chanhed but for the fact that, instead of Totsuka dying, it was Misaki who got murdered by the colorless king, and everyone's reaction to it? And oh!! Pleeeease emphasis on saruhiko's reaction, cuz im just a thirsty sarumi stan like that. I crave angst, so please, by all means, make it hurt!! I love your blog so much, thanks for keeping us K fans well fed :DDD

Fushimi's reaction just makes me think of that chapter of DOB where Akiyama tells Fushimi that a member of Homra has been murdered and you can just tell from Fushimi's expression that part of him has to be thinking what if it was Yata. If Yata was the one to die I'm curious what Homra's reaction would be actually, I don't think Mikoto would be quite as quick to just go chasing after his own death but at the same time I don't see him simply letting Colorless get away with killing one of his important clansmen. I think Yata's loss might not hit as hard as Totsuka's but it would definitely be a blow, like imagine Kusanagi and Totsuka being the ones to find him on the roof in this AU and Yata's all semi-lucid and fading, worried that he's going to die and maybe tearing up a little and weakly swearing as he says he can't die yet. Totsuka's trying to reassure him that everything will be fine but he knows that it's too late. Kusanagi leans down and puts a hand over Yata's, telling him that he's going to be okay and don't be so worried, just relax. Yata murmurs Fushimi's name and Kusanagi and Totsuka exchange glances, Kusanagi tells Yata they'll take care of him as Yata's eyes slowly close. There's a long silence and then Totsuka looks down as he murmurs 'Kusanagi-san...he's gone.' Kusanagi clenches his fist and puts a hand to his forehead, wondering quietly what they're going to do now.

The two of them return to Homra with the news, Anna of course already knew and runs to meet them with tearful eyes. Mikoto stands by the door and asks if it's true, Totsuka nods as Kusanagi walks in holding Yata's body. Mikoto walks over and rests a hand on Yata's head, his face looking untroubled but Anna grabs the edge of his shirt and looks up at him in worry. Kusanagi says they'll need to contact Yata's family too, along with the rest of Homra. I think they would call Kamamoto first and he'd definitely be upset, like he can't believe that this person who was his hero as a child has been killed. The rest of Homra are all shell-shocked by the loss of one of their own and equally determined to find out who did this and to make them pay, Mikoto hasn't said anything but Kusanagi knows that he's not going to let this slide and Kusanagi can't say he isn't concerned about that. Totsuka asks him if he's okay and Kusanagi just shakes his head, looking down at the couch where they've laid Yata down. Totsuka looks over at Kusanagi and quietly wonders who's going to tell Fushimi.

I could actually see in this AU Kusanagi going to Scepter 4 himself to tell Fushimi rather than letting Fushimi find out from Scepter 4's intel, knowing how close those two were and probably having some idea at least that Fushimi doesn't hate Yata as much as he always says he does. Awashima's surprised when Kusanagi calls her in the middle of the night saying he needs to see Fushimi, wondering if this can’t wait until morning and she's in the middle of speaking when Kusanagi just says flatly 'Yata-chan's dead.' Awashima doesn't really know much about Yata but I think she would know that Fushimi and Yata used to be close, and Kusanagi's voice is so strained that she can't say no to him. She gives him permission and then goes to wake Fushimi, who's annoyed at being dragged out of his bed for no reason. Awashima gives him a sympathetic look that he doesn't understand as she takes him to the room where Kusanagi's waiting, Fushimi clicks his tongue as he wonders why Kusanagi's here so late. Awashima closes the door to give the two of them privacy as Kusanagi asks Fushimi to sit down. This is probably already triggering some panic sensors in Fushimi's mind and he tries to cover it by pulling on the usual 'traitor' mask, wondering why he should care about anything Homra has to say and he's not interested in talking to any of them. Kusanagi interrupts him and tells him that there was a shooting tonight and Yata was involved. Fushimi's definitely getting desperate as he says he doesn't care what happens to that stubborn idiot who wouldn't die even if he was killed, and that's when Kusanagi looks him right in the face and tells him that Yata's dead.

Fushimi stares back at him and Kusanagi can almost hear the audible sound of something breaking there behind Fushimi's eyes. Kusanagi tries to be gentle about it and Fushimi sharply tells him to shut up. Kusanagi sighs and says he's sorry and Fushimi stands abruptly, saying this has nothing to do with him, why should he care if Misaki's dead. Fushimi gets this awful broken smile on his face as he says he hates that person anyway so why should he care, it's all the same to him if Yata's dead and he knew this would happen, he knew that following Suoh Mikoto was a death sentence and his voice is just getting louder and louder to the point that Awashima walks back in, concerned. Fushimi tells Kusanagi not to come here again and storms out, Awashima starts to follow him and Kusanagi says to let him be, this is probably hard for him. Fushimi goes back to his room and slams the door, standing there in front of his bed and for a moment he can almost hear Yata's voice from the bottom bunk, talking about how they can do anything if they're together and Fushimi unconsciously holds out his fist for a moment before he realizes that no one's there. He mutters that it doesn't matter, this was bound to happen anyway and it has nothing to do with him but his legs have already given out and he just lies there crumpled against the doorway, face wet and not knowing why as he desperately repeats it over and over, that this has nothing to do with him, that it would have happened if he was there or not, that Misaki can't die so easily, couldn't possibly have died so easily.

#Yata Misaki #Fushimi Saruhiko #Talking K #tw: character death #welp there goes my heart #THIS WOULD BE SO SAD #Saru's heart would break and he can't even admit it #Homra wouldn't be handling it well either I think everything would feel suddenly so quiet without Yata there #like it's as if a light's gone out #Kusanagi feeling like someone has to tell Fushimi bc let's face it everyone knows he's going to be devastated

[ridiasfangirlings]

Moana AU! Yata sets out to the sea to get grumpy demigod Fushimi to return Te Fiti's heart. Fushimi acts like he doesn't care but secretly just wants to be loved

Mikoto the lazy useless chicken is maybe my new favorite thing XD SoYata is the son of the village chief of small island tribe Homra andhe likes all the people there and everything but he also findshimself constantly looking out at the sea and wishing he could go outexploring. He feels really cooped up stuck on the island, plus he’snot really sure how good a chief he’d be anyway and he’s alwaysworrying that he’s not going to be able to measure up to thestandards of a chief. The only person who he feels kinda understandshim is official village crazy person Totsuka, who spends all his timehanging out in the shallows playing with the rays and looking outover the horizon. One day Yata gets into a fight with his mentorKusanagi and runs off, Totsuka finds him and asks if Yata wants tocome explore the cool cave Totsuka found. Yata figures why not andthe two of them head off together. While searching the cave Yatadiscovers a bunch of old boats and realizes that the people of Homrawere once voyagers how traveled the sea and had awesome adventures.Yata of course is all hyped up for this but Kusanagi reprimands himfor it because no one’s allowed to leave the island, there’s nothingbut danger out there on the ocean (which Kusanagi knows, because whenhe was young he tried to go out exploring and his best friend Mikotocame with him and drowned. In Mikoto’s honor Kusanagi has named hislaziest chicken after him).

Yata’s all depressed that he’s not allowed to go exploring the wayhis people used to when strange things start happening on the island,like all their harvested coconuts are rotten and there’s no fish,plus people have maybe started coming down with like some kind ofstrange corrupting disease. Yata’s feeling helpless because eventhough he’s supposed to be the guy who everyone looks to for helpthere’s not really anything he can do. That’s when the ill and dyingTotsuka calls Yata into his hut and gives Yata this strange glowingstone. He tells Yata that the magic glowing rock is actually theheart of the god Weismann, who created the world and then fell into along sleep on the island of Dresden. Legend says Weismann’s heart wasstolen by a demigod named Fushimi and then lost when Fushimi wasdefeated by a god of destruction called Colorless who also wanted theheart. The blight that’s affecting the island is the effects ofColorless’s rage, finally reaching their small island. Yata’s allconfused as to how Totsuka got the rock and Totsuka says he saw theocean bring it to Yata when Yata was little. Yata’s all confused andthen he remembers one day when he was little and tried to go look atthe ocean, and the water parted for him. Yata’s mom pulled him awaybefore he could wander too far but Totsuka thought the rock waspretty and kept it. He gives it to Yata and tells Yata not to worry,everything will be all right, and he believes that Yata can restorethe heart and save everyone. Yata’s worried though because by givinghim the heart Totsuka suddenly looks weaker than before and maybeTotsuka just smiles shakily and says that it’s fine, he was alwayssickly and knew he’d die young and that maybe he should have givenYata the heart earlier before things got this bad but he wanted tolive just a little longer. He’s going to be reincarnated as a raythough, so it won’t be that bad, and he tells Yata to smile.

Poor heartbroken Yata promises Totsuka that he’ll fix things and heruns out to the nearest boat, setting out to sea. He’s already out ofsight of the village when he realizes there’s a chicken asleep in thebottom of the boat and is like well, I guess it’s just you and meMikoto-san (Yata’s always been very polite to the chicken okay, he’sheard stories about the chicken’s namesake from Kusanagi and he hasRespect). Yata figures if he wants to restore the heart he needs helpand figures the best guy for the job would be that demigod who tookthe heart in the first place. There’s no story saying what happenedto Fushimi after he lost the heart though, so Yata decides he’ll justtrust his gut and the ocean to take him to the right place. He endsup washed up on an island with a skinny tattooed nerd in glassesglaring down at him and asking him if he even knows how tosail, what kind of moron goes out on the ocean without knowing how towork a boat.

Yata immediately jumps up like listen asshole I’m new at this andanyway who says you could do any better. The guy clicks his tongueand says that he could but he doesn’t have a boat, he’s been maroonedon this island for ages and he’s not interested in company. Yata’slike good because I don’t want to keep you company but that’s when henotices that one of the guy’s tattoos is moving, which is reallyweird. The guy glares down at his tattoo and tells Yata that thetattoos are of his so-called ‘exploits’ and Yata realizes that he’sstaring at demigod Fushimi. Yata asks Fushimi to help him out butFushimi’s like not my problem, he’s not interested in the troubles ofhumans because it’s not like they have any interest in him, afterall. Maybe in the stories Fushimi’s always been treated like asemi-bad guy rather than a hero, like the things he’s given tohumanity are always treated like accidents and he was actually tryingto cause trouble. Yata tells him that for once he could do somethingto help people instead of being a jerk, saying he has the heart ofWeismann and if they can restore it to where it belongs all thedarkness sweeping the land will be swept away. Fushimi looks justinterested enough to distract Yata so he can steal Yata’s boat, Yataimmediately runs after him and Fushimi tries to toss him off the boatonly for the ocean to kindly deposit Yata back on it. Yata givesFushimi this smirk like see, you can’t leave me and Fushimi rolls hiseyes because okay I can’t get rid of you but I’m still not helping.

So then the two of them have to go on an epic journey to restore theheart. In order for Fushimi to reach full power he needs his magicknives so they have to find those first and on the way Yata learnsthat Fushimi’s not really a god by birth, he was thrown into the seaby his asshole parents who didn’t want him and the goddess of the seamade him a demigod, Fushimi assumes just because even she didn’t wanthim and this way it got him out of the sea. During the quest toretrieve the knives Yata ends up helping Fushimi multiple times, likemaybe at one point Fushimi gets injured by some bad guys after theheart and the wound is poisoned so he has to ride out the fever andhe’s shocked and confused to find Yata by his side taking care of himthe whole time. Yata figures that Fushimi’s an asshole but he’s alsokinda cool. As they get closer to where Weismann is supposed to besleeping though Fushimi keeps getting more reluctant because hefucked this up once and what if he does it again. The small sparklingbespectacled man on one of his tattoos keeps giving him encouragingsign language pep talks while Yata has some long talks with chickenMikoto because he has to bare his soul to someone and thechicken’s there, okay.

They reach the island of Dresden and that’s when the two of them areattacked by Colorless. Yata tries to fight back against Colorless andis almost killed, Fushimi freaks out because maybe he didn’t evensteal the heart to begin with, it was lost during like a seaquake andFushimi tried to retrieve it to show he wasn’t useless and failed andnow here he’s going to fail again and the only person who was everprecious to him will be destroyed. He abandons Yata, claiming that hedoesn’t care about restoring the heart and probably finds somethingof Yata’s to set on fire out of spite (“There goes your oar,Misaki.” “Fuck you Saruhiko I need that to steer!”). Yata’s allheartbroken and angry but then the spirits of his ancestors andTotsuka rally around him and it gives him the courage to go tryagain, along with his trusty chicken. Fushimi sees Yata in danger andtiny tattoo Munakata just gives him this significant look, Fushimisighs and goes running to save Yata. Together they reach Dresdenisland but can’t find the sleeping Weismann. Fushimi turns to look atColorless and tells Yata to place the heart in the spot on theforehead of the fox mask that covers Colorless’s face. When Yata doesthe evil god’s body changes and he reawakens as Weismann, thankingFushimi and Yata for saving him and reversing all the blight thatcovered the land. In the end Yata drags Fushimi back to his islandwhere everyone can now join Fushimi’s tattoo in doting on him andloving him.

#sarumi #Talking K #actual Disney Princess Fushimi Saruhiko #okay it's Yata in this one though #but that's the tag for Disney crossovers so XD #I love the idea of Chicken!Mikoto #imagine him just sleeping the whole time as the boat gets tossed around everywhere #he is the chillest chicken ever #also I love Moana so much that movie was so good #so i love this AU #AND FUSHIMI WITH TATTOOS #*^* #lots and lots of tattoos and one is tiny smiling Munakata