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crystalldragon · 4 years

Text

an unknown visitor

"Genji Shimada may ignore his responsibilities to the clan by playing video games, partying and fooling around, but he also enjoys being in his family's beautiful gardens. That is, until one day, he spots an unusual visitor in said gardens.

AU in which Genji and Zenyatta meet long before they actually meet. Not as cyborg ninja and omnic monk, but as young playboy and omnic apprentice.”

5 chapters (7,626 words)

ao3 link | or read it down below ↓

—1—

Spring has arrived in Hanamura. The pastel pink cherry blossoms, for which the city is best known for, are now in full bloom. With the clear blue sky above, the sun brightens up every inch of the town. Once again, Hanamura shows why it is one of the best visited towns in the area, especially during hanami season.

Though there is another beautiful spot, located hidden at the edge of the town. Almost no one knows of it, and those who do know, do not dare to take a footstep near it. The gardens of the Shimada clan.

If an intruder does enter it, it's very likely it's an enemy of the clan, seeking to infiltrate and hurt them. But those people go missing before anyone notices them. Normally, a Shimada member would kill them, and the enemy would see this as a warning not to threaten them again.

Sometimes teenagers break into their gardens as a dare. They know the Shimada clan has a great influence in the area due to their high status and money, and thus seek to rebel by means of ransacking their property.

Whoever it is, if they don't belong to the Shimada clan, they won't be staying there for long.

―

A shadow moves swiftly through the clan's gardens, sneaking along the walls demarcating the grounds from the outside. The ninja hops through the treetops, creating a faint rustling sound. There, on the biggest tree in the garden, he sits down on one of the branches overlooking the gardens. The man takes off his hood to reveal green, spiky hair.

Usually, one would instantly recognize Genji, the youngest son of the Shimada clan, from dozens of meters away. Right now, though, this is not the case, since the young man's hair blends in perfectly with the brightly green leaves. From his bag, he takes out a bento box and picks out his favorite maki sushi, enjoying the peace and quiet of the gardens. He'd told his family more than once what a torment it is to have to watch over the clan's estate while his friends can go out and have fun. Not only that, but it's also a waste since his family could easily gain more money if they were to open the gardens for visitors in exchange for a small fee.

He wishes he could show his friends just how goddamn beautiful the place is without it being a offense against his clan. No matter how nice to look at it is, it won't get nicer as long as there's no one to share the beauty with.

His other family members aren't here very often, most times it's when they're inviting others and showing them around. The patrolling and cultivation is mostly done by servants but sometimes the clan members help out voluntarily, when there's time. Or they have to do it as punishment for mild offenses. Which happens mostly to Genji, just as today.

His eyes look around the place for anything unusual, already knowing it will look the same as always. It does. He finishes eating his little snack and considers just going out anyway when he hears a distinct rustle. Is this another foreign cat that got lost in here? he thinks. Or is it some sort of attacker hiding in the castle’s grounds again? Or just simply another prank? In any case, he's quick to investigate. Sneaking further through the treetops, he reaches the wall leading to their Zen garden. He takes one last look over the main garden from above but again, sees nothing. So, the next station is their small Zen garden, which he can't observe from the trees because the wall separating the two gardens is too high. He climbs down the wall with ease and continues into the small garden, hiding behind a huge rock near the gate.

And there he is. The intruder. He spots a tall but slim figure sitting at the koi pond. His right hand already glides to his wakizashi, ready to strike quick and soundless. But upon closer inspection, he realizes that the intruder isn’t even human. It’s an omnic. And it’s wearing… a white orange kasaya? Normally, the clan’s enemies would send human hitmen on them, and even if they did send omnics, they would never look like this one. He isn’t sure what this thing is doing here, or how he is going to approach it.

In the end, he settles for sneaking up to it, giving in to his desire to exploit the element of surprise. If he has the omnic captured, he can freely interrogate it and then, decide on his next move.

But as he sneaks his way further into the garden, the omnic suddenly speaks up.

“Greetings, my friend. Are you here to appreciate the beautiful gardens as well?”

Clearly thrown off by the question, he abandons his former plan and instead, rushes forward and stands behind the omnic. “Who are you and how did you know I was here?”

The omnic chuckles slightly and stands up, the two now face to face. “I am sorry if I disturbed you. You may call me Zenyatta. Who are you?”

The young man looked at the omnic in utter disbelief. <em>Who does this omnic think it is, just breaking into our castle and pretending nothing's happened. Does it want to die</em>?

He coughs into his fist and tries to answer so as to get more information out of the omnic. “Huh. You know that this garden is my family's property?”

Zenyatta gasps. “Oh! I did not know that. I thought I was free to take a look at this place when I saw the opened entrance.” He bows and apologizes.

Wait, the entrance was open? Who opened it? Nevermind, I’ll just escort Zenyatta back to the entrance before anyone notices.

“It’s okay,” Genji answers, trying to be as polite as possible. “I’m simply going to lead you back to the garden’s entrance, and then it’s all forgotten. My name’s Genji Shimada, by the way.”

“Thank you. I appreciate your hospitality, Mr. Shimada.”

He really is an outsider. Otherwise he would have run the second he’d heard the name Shimada, Genji thinks.

——

Somehow, the omnic came back to the garden the day after that. And the day after that. It strolled through the gardens like nothing happened. It even played with Mio, Genji's favorite cat. And they both enjoyed each other's company! Genji's disbelief was immeasurable. It's lucky he has to watch over the gardens the whole week, or else this would have ended very quickly and very badly.

“Listen,” Genji says on the last day of the week, leaning against one of the trees and watching the omnic sitting at the garden’s pond from afar. This seems to be its favorite spot so far. Genji even saw it talking to the koi. No omnic does that. Not even a human does that. The average human at least. “I don’t know why you are so stubborn and won’t listen to my advice about not coming here again. These gardens are still private property, you know. And even though I'm often around this part of the castle, there is still a chance that someone other than me will walk around here, and when they see you, then you'll probably be dead." He twirls his shuriken around his fingers, partly to scare him, partly to show off.

"I am aware, Mr. Shimada," Zenyatta answers, and the confidence in its voice throws Genji off - he marvels at all the emotions this omnic manages to get across with only his voice. "I had hoped that you would be able to protect me, should such a thing really happen."

Oh god, this omnic is really to confident for his own good, Genji thinks.

He snorts. "Hah! As much as I love to rescue damsels in distress, I would rather not like to incite a war within the clan because of you."

He'd love to tell the omnic otherwise. He'd love to see someone give this huge garden the appreciation it deserves, even if it's just an omnic. Though, if Genji were to be honest, Zenyatta being an omnic doesn't really bother him, it is of no importance. More important are his manners. It just outright ignored his advice, seemingly without further thinking about it. If omnics were disobedient, they were usually violent too. It doesn't look like this applies to Zenyatta though. Genji doesn't even know where it comes from and what its motives and interests are. Maybe it's a spy after all?

Zenyatta stands up and looks in his direction, and even though its faceplate is unmoving he can somehow see the sadness beneath. "I am sorry for causing you trouble, Mr. Shimada. I was merely so fascinated by this place... I could not help myself."

The omnic slowly walks along the stony path leading to the exit but Genji stops it short by standing in front of it with his katana drawn. He knows he's being overdramatic right now and wants to show off again more than anything else, but he just has to know what's going on with this omnic.

"I'm not letting you go without you telling me who you are."

"I already told you my name," it says, tilting its head in confusion.

"No, I mean like, where do you come from and what is your purpose."

"Ah," Zenyatta answers, and Genji sees just now how not frightened it is. Of course, omnics are not humans but they have a built-in survival instinct similar to humans. Most times when Genji draws his blade, humans and omnics alike are quick to either run away, step back or put their hands up to surrender. Zenyatta has done none of that. Genji begins more and more to think it's either a servere error made by mistake or in reality a killer machine without fear sent to destroy his clan. Before he can continue that thought, the omnic answers slowly and calmly.

"As I said, my name is Zenyatta. I chose that name myself. I do not know which omnium I came from, but I can tell you I am currently in this city with a group of omnics from the same assembly line. We currently have no other purpose than to look for a purpose."

Genji lowers his sword. He wants to believe it so badly. But how can he? Omnics are able to lie just as well as humans.

"You do not believe me," Zenyatta says as if it can read his thoughts.

"I do! But..." Genji struggles to find the right words, so he simply says: "Maybe you can understand my caution."

"I can, Mr. Shimada, and again my deepest apologies for causing you trouble," the omnic replies and bows, the first act of submissiveness he has seen from it. "Is there any way I can prove my innocence? Maybe you can pay us a visit?"

"Hmmm..." Even if this proved to be a trap, he would surely get done with it. "Okay. So, where do you live?"

"Not too far away. Just across the 7-Eleven north from here."

The young man grins. "Ah, I know where you mean." There are some ryokan down that street. It's weird to have traditional old Japanese houses on one side of the street, and loud and bright supermarkets on the other side, but that's just how things are now.

"Wonderful!" Zenyatta clasps its hands in front of its chest. "I am looking forward to your visit!" It says with warmth in its voice.

Its emotional behavior throws Genji off. "Are you fl-" He stops himself mid-sentence. Are you insane?! He's - no, it's... whatever. He's not flirting with you! This is not even human! Your charm is inappropriate! "Nevermind. I will escort you to the exit."

—2—

"You have finished your duty for this week, Genji," Sojiro announces with a sincere smile. "You are now free to do what you want. Within the acceptable limitations, of course."

"I want to guard the castle grounds for another week, father."

"What?" Sojiro is taken aback by his sons' sudden change in behavior. He was the person to be the least willing to do things for the clan. It didn't bother him much, currently things were fine as they are. Genji was still a young man and surely there were enough lessons ahead for him to be learned.

"It's just... everything is in bloom right now, and I want to admire it in peace while helping you," Genji further explains. It wasn't exactly the truth but it wasn't a complete lie either. He loved looking at the colorful trees and flowers. But there was another thing he had in mind.

"Very well, my son," Sojiro says. "Your eagerness to help is both admirable and welcome. I will not send any servants to the gardens this week."

"Thank you, father," Genji bows, hiding the big grin that has formed on his face.

—

"Hanzo, I'm gonna go to Rikimaru," Genji shouts into the corridor where their rooms are. He gets no answer but knows Hanzo is there because he's heard him rummaging around in his room. Despite their fights and his rebellious behavior, he continues to tell his brother whenever he leaves, even if he lies about where he's going. Things like this give him at least the momentary illusion that everything is as it was when they were kids. It won't be long, he knows, before he'll get into trouble with his family again and then have to do something as punishment, over and over. Is there anything I can do that's so bad they'll just kill me as punishment? he wonders but sets the thought aside and pulls on his cardigan. "Seeya!" he shouts into the seemingly endless void of his family's castle.

—

He knocks on the door to the room Zenyatta told him about, his hand still sticky from the dorayaki he bought and ate just before. If he's being honest, he doesn't even know why he's doing this. Yes, officially it's to make sure they're not a threat to his clan. But it's not like they'll let him in and say "oh, we are planning to steal from you" or something. Besides, he already knows they're no threat. He doesn't know know, but his gut feeling tells him so. Zenyatta may be a cocky ass who won't listen, but he sounded like he was being honest about himself. If he's not and Genji would find out, he'd kill two birds with one stone. If they pose a risk, Genji would simply get rid of them and earn respect from his father for helping in keeping the family safe. If they show no signs of danger, he'd just have learned something new about omnics, which doesn't happen often since he has almost no contact to omnics except from their servants. It'd be interesting to know what the average omnics are up to these days.

The door slides open and he is greeted by a familiar face.

"Greetings, Mr. Shimada," Zenyatta says, stepping aside to let him in.

Genji accepts the invitation, smiling and taking off his shoes in the genkan.

"You can call me Genji, by the way," he says as he kneels down and puts his shoes in the corner of the small room. Just as he wants to check if Zenyatta has put off his shoes as well, he remembers that he doesn't even need shoes. Still, when he looks at his feet, he sees that they're exactly designed to look like he's wearing geta, or some other kind of similar shoe. Genji is not sure if it's a coincidence to have his cables laid like that or if the manufacturers knew exactly what they were doing. It will remain a mystery.

"Oh... is that really okay, Mr. Shimada?" Zenyatta asks and again, Genji is baffled by how the omnic can make himself sound so unsure and at the same time outright ignoring what he tells him to do.

"Can you do as I say, just for one time?" He says, slightly annoyed. It's not that he's annoyed at Zenyatta per se, he's more annoyed at how his... not-omnic-like behavior confuses him. Pretty girls and boys were allowed to amaze him like that, but not an old tin can! How old is Zenyatta anyway?

"Very well... Genji," Zenyatta says before Genji can repeat that question out loud. Hearing his first name from an omnic sounds weird. It's... unusual. A bit of triumph swells in his chest for getting him to listen.

"Okay, let's check out this place of yours," he says and gets up. There's nothing to check out for him, really. He knows the houses around here, has been to all of them, as visitor, or rather as "oh-you're-the-heir-of-the-Shimada-clan-let's-show-you-this"-visitor. And it's not like he's going to search all of their belongings. He's a smart young man, not some paranoid safety-seeking creature (like some of his relatives). So, he'll just follow along and listen to what these omnics have to say.

"Greetings, everyone," Zenyatta says as they arrive in the main room. "This is Genji of the Shimada clan." He taps on his back.

Genji steps forward and bows slightly. "Hello, everyone."

"This is Mondatta," he points to the omnic sitting at the table in the center of the room. "You could say we created this little group. Those two in the corner are KN-2048 and LN-2052. They haven't decided on any names yet."

The two wave their hands in greetings but Mondatta just sits still at the table and looks at them. His reaction reminds Genji of Hanzo when he's bringing one of his friends to their home.

"You are a disgrace to our family," he'd say, even though sometimes it were people he used to hang out with as well. By now, it's no understatement to say he's lost most of his friends and instead, spends most of his time with Shimada business.

Genji just stands there for a few seconds without saying anything, trying to come off as polite as possible by smiling in Mondatta's direction. He's not very good at being polite. He's good at being <em>charming</em>, fooling around with people and getting them to do what he wants, but not good at being the appropriate kind of polite.

Mondatta says nothing, instead nodding slightly at last and Genji relaxes inwardly. He's like Hanzo after all.

"So, do you have any plans?" He asks into the round.

"So far, we are trying to gather omnics who are lost and purposeless for a peaceful cause," Zenyatta explains. "Mondatta does most of the work, we just explore and talk to interested omnics."

"I see. So, have you found any new members here?"

"There are two omnics who showed interest, though they are currently outside. Maybe they will come with us."

"Come with you? To where?"

"That is not yet certain," Mondatta chimes in their conversation, causing Genji and Zenyatta to look at him. "Our current plan is to visit a few more places of interest and then settle on a place where omnics and humans alike are welcome to visit us."

"So your mission is basically to make peace?" Genji asks him, glad to finally have heard something out of his... mouth? Voice box? Whatever.

"That is correct," the omnic says and turns his gaze away from him again and towards the book he's reading.

"Sounds fine to me." As expected, he doesn't see anything suspicious. Not that you could hide any object in a room this small anyway. "I will be on my way again, then. T'was nice meeting you guys!" He waves goodbye and turns around to go to the entrance room again.

"Bye, Genji-boy!" One of the other omnics shouts after him. Mondatta gives them a look which probably would've looked grim if he were human. He turns to Zenyatta again, who's about to go after Genji.

"Zenyatta, come and talk to me later."

"I will," he promises and leaves the room with Genji.

"You guys look normal to me," Genji says to Zenyatta as he takes on his shoes again. "I mean, normal in a good way. Anyway, when will you be leaving?"

"We do not know yet. But we will be staying for a while."

"Good," Genji stands up and faces him. "Because I'll be watching over the gardens for the next week as well. You are free to come and go as you please."

"Really?" Zenyatta gasps and Genji is not entirely sure how he can do that but doesn't question it further. "What wonderful news! I certainly will be visiting you again, Mr. S... Genji!"

The young man smiles and takes one last glance at the omnic before leaving. Did the dots on his forehead always glow so bright? Ah, well. No use in puzzling over it any longer.

"Goodbye, then, Zenyatta!"

"Goodbye Genji!" The last thing Zenyatta sees of him is his lime green hair and he thinks about how perfectly it fits into their colorful garden.

—

"Are you completely out of your mind?" Mondatta stands directly in front of him as he enters the room. Never has Zenyatta heard him use such words. He didn't even wait or tell the other two to leave. Or wait for Zenyatta to say something in reply.

"You brought Genji Shimada here? An heir of one of the most dangerous clans around? What were you thinking?"

"Mondatta..." his angry approach has taken him completely by surprise. Of course, he knew that Genji was no ordinary man. But he was just so friendly and understanding, so he thought he could...

"This could get us in real danger," Mondatta finishes and simply stays in front of him for a few more moments, hoping he'd realize what his actions meant.

"Mondatta. I am genuinely sorry. I did not mean to cause trouble." Now he feels like he's back in Genji's garden, getting scolded over there as well. It's always him. He's always out there, causing trouble. Maybe his original purpose was to be a troublemaker of some sort? Just some dumb omnic for people to let out their aggressions?

"Mondatta..." he tries again. "I know we should not approach dangerous clans like his. But he is not going to fink on us. He is not interested in bringing glory to his family."

"Ah, how do you know that?"

"He told me so."

Zenyatta didn't really know that. He just guessed. Genji has warned him about his family, rather than basking in their glory. The concern he showed for his family felt more forced than genuine. Zenyatta hoped he was right about him.

"What one says is not equal to what one thinks or does. You should be more careful," Mondatta utters a desperate sigh. "I would be more understanding if what you did promised to be valuable to our cause. But there is no use in filling in a member of the Shimada clan into our plans!"

"There is, actually," Zenyatta responds. "He was extremely friendly despite me being an omnic. He did not seem to have any prejudices. Maybe he can help us."

"So that is what you think." Mondatta goes back to the table and sits down. He looks down at his metal palms and tries to calm himsel. "Very well. I will not disturb you any longer. After all, there is nothing I can do to stop you. Just promise me you will be careful."

"I will. After all, I still have these," he opens the door to the cupboard where the futons are and takes out his newly-crafted orbs. Maybe Genji would have been more wary if he saw these, but even if he had, he probably wouldn't know they could be used as a weapon. Most omnics still use the same weapons humans do. Zenyatta didn't want to create a sense of mistrust in other people by carrying a common weapon, so he commissioned a metal worker to craft these. By using kinetic energy, getting hit with one of the orbs can hurt as much as a stab wound. Mondatta had been against it, of course. He wanted to use his words and only his words.

"Do not worry, they are for the rare situations in which we might need extra defense," Zenyatta had said. So far, they didn't need them once.

"Weapons are only useful as long as you take them with you," Mondatta says and pulls him out of his reverie. Zenyatta chuckles. He hasn't taken them with him very often and, as Mondatta said, thus they have failed their original purpose as weapons. But since he had no need to use them until now, he could overlook his flawed thinking.

Maybe he will take them with him for real this time. Not as arming though. Just so he can impress Genji.

—3—

Zenyatta arrives at the Shimada clan gardens at around noon. His orbs dangle loosely around his neck as he observes a small cascade at the edge of the gardens. He is fascinated by the symbolism of Japanese gardens. Though he still doesn't know much about it, he feels that every flower, every stone, every pond has its place and there's a reason for it to be at exactly this place.

"Hi," Genji greets him from behind, startling the omnic. "Gotcha!" This time, Zenyatta was too lost in his thoughts to pick up on him entering the garden.

He turns around and faces him. Now he has another chance to marvel at his particular hair color. He hasn't seen many people like him, especially not in Japan. Everyone seems so... formal and distant. But not Genji. Just looking at him leaves him smiling with happiness. If Zenyatta could smile, that is, then he would be grinning like an idiot.

"Hello, Genji!"

"What's up with those balls?" Is his first question and he moves closer to the omnic to inspect them. "Is this some hidden weapon you haven't told me about? Should I be scared?"

"Of course not," Zenyatta is impressed by his quick wits. Or he simply expects omnics to be armed. He'd rather believe the former. "I am not here to hurt you."

Genji laughs. "I figured that much out. I still wanna know what they are and why you brought them here." He touches one of them, turns it around in his hand and inspects the design of it, trying to figure out if there's any deeper meaning to it. The orbs aren't an extension of his body, so he gets no sensory input from them. Still, it feels unusual, since he's not used to having his orbs around, let alone someone else touching them.

"I bought them..." He's unsure if he should tell Genji the truth. Mondatta surely wouldn't. But then again, Mondatta doesn't know how smart Genji truly is. He would get behind it anyway, so there's no use in trying to deny it. "... As tools for self-defense. But right now, they're merely decoration."

"Is that so?" Genji asks, a smug grin forming on his face. "But you can fight with them?"

"I can fight with them, yes," Zenyatta has already given up on telling him lies or twisted stories. He's not good at such things anyway.

Genji lets go off the orb and it automatically floats back into the orbit around the omnics' neck. "So, wanna spar?" He asks without further thought.

The orbs stop in their movements and Zenyatta stares at him wordlessly.

"What?" He stares back at him with an innocent smile.

"I will not fight with you on your private estate," Zenyatta says with firmness in his voice. Playing around and having a little bit of fun is always okay with him, but he's not going to take this risk. Too many things could go wrong here, from one of them being hurt to something around the place being destroyed by accident. Also, Zenyatta has never fought against a living human being before. Sure, he's had training on how to use his orbs and even has managed to persuade some omnics to fight against him, but nothing more. He's not a worthy opponent.

"So, you're saying we can fight somewhere else?"

"N-no, that's-"

Genji shushes him and points to his right. "We have another ground just made for sparring, it's behind this building. Nothing wrong with going there."

This man is insufferable, Zenyatta thinks. He knows he's stretched his boundaries far too much and he's stretching it further with every second he spends with Genji. Despite this, Genji manages to stretch them even further, bringing them both in great danger. "What if someone sees us?"

"They won't. My family has a meeting. No time for sparring in that case," he answers, his head slightly bent and looking more like a pleading dog than the confident young man he is. Is he so... versatile around others, as well? Zenyatta wonders.

"Alright..." He agrees, the anticipation of trying something new with his newfound friend overpowering his fear of danger.

—

"It's like you're fighting with guns," Genji says to Zenyatta, still breathing heavily. He drops his stick and flops down on the ground.

"Are you okay, Genji?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he assures. "I just need a small break. I'm still made of flesh and bones."

Zenyatta chuckles. "I understand."

Maybe he was better than he thought or Genji was going easy on him. Sure, Genji has managed to hit him a few times but dodging his orbs seemed to be quite a challenge for him. And when the omnic charged his orbs at him, he could clearly see the fear written on his face. It was funny, he had to admit, to see the young man who's usually so cocky and sure of himself tremble from his strain and concentration. Since Zenyatta had no breath to run out of, he seemed perfectly calm in comparison.

"So, I guess that proves I can defend myself if I have to," Zenyatta says, this time the tone of arrogance coming from his voice.

"Yeah, if you managed to beat the great Genji Shimada, then that's definitely something you should write in your resume," Genji answers and laughs breathlessly. He still hasn't lost his self-confidence.

Genji stands up and wipes the dirt off his clothes. "Wanna try again?"

Zenyatta notices that the sun has already set. "I probably should go home soon. Maybe we can continue tomorrow?"

"Alright," Genji says. "But this time, no weapons allowed."

"I'm looking forward to it."

They walk back to the gardens entrance together, the warmth of the evening sun on their backs.

—4—

"You know, you do not have to stay with me here if you wish do to something else."

Genji chuckles as he watches him playing with Mio in his lap. He doesn't want to admit it, but he's a bit jealous. Both of Zenyatta's calm aura and of the cats' position.

"And who would protect you then?"

"I can protect myself, Genji, have you not seen?" There is this smugness in his voice again.

"Nah, I'm not concinced yet." Genji stretches himself and lies down flat on his back. He'd been at the gym for... maybe a bit too long and now he's paying for it with one hell of a muscle ache.

"Does this mean we should try again?" The cat purrs happily and Zenyatta is amazed at how fluffy its dark gray fur is. He hasn't had the chance to interact with many cats this up close and he's enjoying the new experience.

"I'm afraid not. At least not right now. I'm in no shape to fight."

"Do you need any help?" The omnic sets the cat down and gives it one last pat on its back. It looks at him and meows before flitting through the garden and disappearing behind one of the bushes.

"Uhhh..." Genji ponders and realizes he probably means giving him a massage, which is really the only way to help right now. He'd love to accept but massages usually don't end... well with him. "No thanks?"

"Please indulge me, Genji. There is something new I want to try out."

... Okay, now he's interested. What could that possibly be?

"Ah... alright." Not sure what to expect, he wants to sit up but Zenyatta gestures him to lay down again. He shifts a bit closer to him until he's right beside him, still sitting in a cross-legged position. One of his orbs wanders into his hands. He says nothing for a while and just stares at it. Before Genji's impatience gets the better of him and he can ask what he's up to, the orb starts glowing. Zenyatta lets it go and it floats to him, stopping above his chest. A yellow aura envelops the orb, making it look a bit like a small star. Genji is fascinated but now quite sure how this fancy display is going to help.

"Wh-" he starts but Zenyatta shushes him.

"Relax, Genji."

It almost feels like Zenyatta could be his new Yoga teacher, so he tries to think of it that way: slowing his breath down, laying his palms flat open on the ground and just closing his eyes. Slowly, he feels a pleasant kind of warmth entering his body and it feels like it's wrapping itself around his aching muscles, hugging every cell of his being until everything loosens up. He's not sure if his ears are playing tricks on him, but it sounds like the orb is making a quiet hum, similar to how a singing bowl would sound.

"That's it," Zenyatta says, his voice quiet and somehow, even more relaxing now.

The last time Genji has felt this relaxed was... never, probably. As minute by minute goes by, he slowly feels his relaxation turn into sleepiness, but he's had enough practice with staying awake to not give in to it.

In the end, he doesn't even need sleep for his body to regenerate, because the aching slowly ebbs away, wave after wave. It hasn't disappeared entirely, but in comparison to before it's close to non-existent.

"Now you have to tell me: how did you do that?" Genji asks, his eyes still closed but his mind back to where they are.

"It is... complicated," the omnic warns. Most people would not want to know it in detail or even if, they'd think of him as a crazy wizard, but he knows neither apply to Genji. "Basically, their powers come from kinetic energy and, to an extent, thoughts and emotions. The latter is what just happened. I focused my positive emotions and my will to heal into the orb. This means that it can work as a painkiller, tranquilizer or whatever drug you want it to be."

"So, you're like... a robot alchemist?" Genji asks with a grin on his face. He hasn't quite understood how exactly this almost magical weapon works, but he's fascinated, nonetheless.

Zenyatta chuckles. "You could say that."

"That's so amazing..." He has opened his eyes again to look at the omnic. Never before has he met someone so intriguing. "Why would I want to spend my time with anyone else?"

Zenyatta laughs again. It may have seemed like a joke, but he is dead serious. Everyone he's ever met before pales in comparison to Zenyatta.

——

"Hey Zenyatta," Genji says as they sit on one of the verandas on the clans' estate. From here, one has the best view over the town center. It's cramped with people, usually most of them would be natives, but this time around there are a lot more tourists. Including Zenyatta, of course.

"Hm?" The omnic turns his head to face him.

"Well... shouldn't we like... visit another place than this? There's a lot more to see in Hanamura than this."

"Why? I already have seen the best of it, right here."

"Wow," Genji was blushing now. None of his flings had been so dashingly smooth, even if they tried very hard. Flirting, from his experience, was more about making each other happy and horny with cheesy and nasty lines, instead of saying something really meaningful. Not that the two were flirting or anything. Yes, he has had sex with friends, but he would never do anything like that with an austere being like Zenyatta. On top of that, he's an omnic and he's never tried it with an omnic before. The idea sounds almost interesting, but... no. Zenyatta deserves better than his heightened sex drive.

"I am telling the truth. You and your home are exceptional." Zenyatta assures him, breaking though his stream of thoughts.

"But surely there's more out there we can explore. Together? Maybe?" Genji is almost intimidated by Zenyatta's earnest affection towards him. It’s not something he's used to, neither from his family nor from his friends.

Zenyatta lets his gaze drop, a gesture that doesn't go unnoticed by Genji.

"What's wrong?"

"I am afraid I cannot accompany you," the omnics voice has lost its former softness and now sounds sad, almost melancholic. "Mondatta has booked a flight and we will be leaving soon."

"Why? What? When?" Genji feels his head spinning. He curses himself for being so uncontrollably emotional, but he doesn't want to lose something so great as their bond, especially when he's only gained it for such a brief time.

"Tomorrow, he said. We will be leaving before noon. A lot of time has passed, so we will move to the next place."

"A lot of time?! It's been only... three weeks!" Genji says angrily.

"Four weeks, actually, but I did not visit your place until the second week of our stay. In any case, I fear this is goodbye for us."

"But... but..." Genji is at a loss of words. Not only because Zenyatta is leaving, but also because of his reaction. Usually he would remain cool and calm, even if something was taken from him. He had no emotional attachment to most people and things anyway. But with Zenyatta it's different. He has captivated him ever since he stepped into his garden, full of elegance and calmness. His humble and quiet demeanor slowly gave way to his actual, strong and poised self. Genji is sure he has more character than some humans, even though his personality was just... well, programmed or something.

"I am sorry, Genji. I just found it out today as well."

Neither of them say anything further. They just watch the people beneath them pass by. There are busy people, moving fast across the streets and relaxed people, slowly strolling along the shops. There are laughing people, kissing people, crying people, angry people, whatever emotion one would think of, one would find in midst these streets sooner or later. One could hope time passes slower for those not moving an inch. But the harsh reality is that every second passes for everyone the same, bringing Genji and Zenyatta closer to their departure.

"Zenyatta..." Genji says and he's not entirely sure what he even wants to say, he just wants to fill the void, to prevent himself from crying, to ...

He throws his arms around the omnic and takes a deep breath in, hoping to catch a unique scent he can remember. Of course, there's nothing, just the faint scent of the blooming flowers in his garden. A quiet wail leaves him, a sound so unusual from him, for no one to hear. Except maybe Zenyatta, who puts his arms around him too and strokes along his back. Many minutes pass until Genji tries to regain his composure by focusing on the only small hope left. He moves back and looks at Zenyatta's faceplate, still so freshly new, having seen no real combat so far.

"Promise me, Zenyatta..." He starts, tears still trapped in his eyes. The omnic finishes his sentence for him.

"I promise we will meet again. Someday. I promise, Genji."

Genji nods and lets himself fall into his arms again. He focuses on every sensation until his mind goes blank and he falls asleep, the sky above them already dark. Zenyatta lifts him up and brings him to what he figured is his room and tugs him in. He steals one last glance of the moonlight shining on his handsome face before he quickly leaves the estate through the gardens and with that, leaves Genji – for a long time.

—5—

He hasn't seen snow in a long time. Wherever he was with his Blackwatch teammates, there was never any snow. Just scorching heat, sifting through his armor and into his body. Or rather, what was left of it. Then again, maybe it wasn't that hot, and the pain was in reality just phantom pain. He couldn't distinguish the kinds of pain he felt anymore. It was just one big bulk of misery. He was just one big bulk of misery.

The snowflakes fall softly on his armor, creating little dark spots around. Genji looks up and tries to remember the last time he saw snow but fails to do so. Surely, it must have been before his death. That's why its memory is blurred. Just as almost everything else that happened before his death. Sure, he remembers who and where he was back in those days. He remembers his parents, his brother, his training. His room. His favorite restaurant. His favorite spot in the Shimada clan's gardens. But everything else is... wrapped in a huge fog. There were so many things he'd liked, so many things he'd wanted to see, but all of them died with him on that day.

"Ah. Why am I thinking about this again? Nothing’s there," he says to himself and walks further up the mountain. He isn't even entirely sure where he is. A few weeks ago, he just fled, and ran, and ran, and ran, until he completely lost track of time and space. Since his guts were metal tubes now, he had no problem with missing out on so many meals. But now, with the air getting colder and thinner, he feels his strength slowly but surely give out. Hopefully, I'll find a village soon, he thinks and just as he finishes thinking that sentence, he starts to make out something resembling houses in the distance. Either fata morganas are possible in mountain regions, or he's just gotten extremely lucky. In any case, he walks further to investigate, even though his legs feel leaden. Something else, like some kind of outer force, is pulling him forwards to the small village ahead.

—

As soon as he finally arrived in the settlement, he sat down in a gap between two houses, feeling his legs finally give out. He doesn't know for how long he's been sitting there, but no one took notice of him so far.

That is, until a floating omnic makes its way over to him.

"Greetings, my friend. Are you okay?" He asks.

Genji feels too weak to talk. He even feels too weak to move his head upwards to face the omnic. So, instead, he just grumbles in response.

"Can I help you? I see great tumolt in your soul."

Genji's heart beats faster at that, though he's not sure why. Maybe because someone is offering him help? That hasn't happened in years. Still, he shakes his head. What burdens him is not something that can be fixed with a warm meal and a fluffy blanket. So, no thanks.

"Are you sure? I do not want anything to happen to you."

A small orb lands beside his head and starts glowing in a light-yellow color. His head moves up to look at the omnic.

"What... the hell?" He says out loud.

"This will give you some strength for the time being," the omnic explains.

"I do not need any of your strength," Genji claims in an annoyed tone.

"You certainly do look like you need it, though. Please, let me help you."

"As if I'd want help from someone like you!" Genji reaches for his sword but is stopped by his missing energy. The weakness in his body surpasses every of his thoughts and emotions and he can do nothing but to succumb to it.

"What do you have to offer and what do I have to pay for it?" He asks. It's a phrase he's memorized by now from all of the times his missions required him to gather information.

"I offer you shelter and peace in body and mind and you have to pay nothing for it," the omnic answers, going down on his knees to watch him more closely.

How strange. No fight? Not even some bargaining? If somebody offers something, they have to want something. That's how the world works, Genji thinks.

Just trust him, a small voice in the back of his head says, one that's getting louder and louder while the others have slowly quieted down. The orb still hangs beside his head. He touches it and feels warmth, but not the hurting kind of warmth. It's a nice, familiar warmth. One he doesn't want to let go of.

"May I ask for your name?"

"I'm Genji," he tells him without hesitation, the small voice in head finally winning. "And you are...?"

"My name is Tekharta Zenyatta. I am glad we got to meet each other." He stands up again and the glowing orb sends out a small pulse of warmth which goes right through his armor and into his heart. His body still feels drained, but at least his legs don’t feel like they’re dying anymore.

"Me too," he answers and stands up as well, treading after the omnic and deeper into the mountains.

He's going to see a lot more snow from now on.

#genyatta #my writings #i actually had a lot of fun while writing this !#mine #fanfiction

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koiyyo · 4 years

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SDR2 “modern” MC server HCS!

SDR2 part of mc

-by mod irusu, mod cass, mod dragon, mod corn, mod chie and mod kiwi

hajime - bad at minecraft - accidentally punched mikan off a cliff once because he didn't know how to place a block - constantly gets bullied by chiaki - actually good at building houses - just builds and vibes - but ends up in taka’s jail a lot cause nagito blames him - locked nagito in his basement

akane - AGGRESSIVE - can and will throw hands - basically lives in teruteru’s house at this point because she keeps breaking in and stealing his shit - tries to make her own farm but keeps trampling on it and then being like “what happened to my farm :(“ - challenges everyone she sees to a pvp battle in peko’s stadium

fuyuhiko - “no i will not set my skin to boss baby you fucking cretin” - tries to start a farm, is too impatient - when he “dishonors” someone he jumps off a cliff in front of them - travels around a lot to try and find rare biomes so he can profit - ,,mostly does this so he can find a flower peko will like - too complex. sticks with poppies - gets way too angry when someone kills him. no talk he angy

sonia - built a really extra castle - has tons of guard dogs around her and the castle - sucks at minecraft but she’s doing her best - gets gundham to help her find animals - “what is a ‘creeper’?” - attempts to swear everytime she dies “goddamn it- all to hell!” - gives her pets really fancy royal names, gundham helps her with the names

kazuichi - obsessed with redstone - has a redstone security system, and helps hina out with her autofarms - literally equivalent to mumbo jumbo, probably better - tried to move in with sonia multiple times - got killed by gundham or sonia every time he tried - is the main builder of the “train” station on the server - it’s just so people can visit each other with minecarts

teruteru - makes cakes a lot - also makes dicks in front of people’s houses made out of obsidian - people buy leather off of him because he has a lot for some reason - only wears leather armor - cuz hes a heathen - ‘put’ a stripper pole in ibuki’s music venue, got adventure mode for a month and a long scolding from taka

imposter(byakuya) - literally a cryptid - nobody knows where he is - online 24/7 - probably has a secret base thats like 80 blocks underground - sometimes appears to either taunt real byakuya or vibe with him and then disappears again

mahiru - has minecraft shaders on 24/7 - even though her computers on the brink of melting - “this is so pretty!! just look at the sky and th-” “mahiru it’s a blocky video game please” - freaked out because she couldn't figure out how to remove the gui to take a pretty screenshot - lives with hiyoko and shares her stuff with her - “hiyoko please stop burning the forests-“ “NEVER!!!” - loves ocelots but they run away when she tries to take a screenshot - takes aesthetic minecraft pictures - these pictures get used without credit in clickbaity mc thumbnails

peko - constantly wields two swords at the same time, she never unequips them unless she needs to build or mine - runs assassin business with maki - people hire her as a hitman - made a pvp stadium and runs it - fuyuhiko’s bodyguard - probably has invis potions because of how stealthy she is - really scary to turn around and see her user in the distance

ibuki - collects all the music discs - forces kazuichi to make those cool redstone note block machines for her - rabid, absolutely feral - owns like 25 parrots so she can see them all dance while the music plays - made a music venue in the middle of the town, named it titty typhoon - will kill someone when no one's expecting it. do not trust her she is feral - “ARE Y’ALL READY” queue her spinning her mouse to make her character headbang

hiyoko - targets mikan - once tried to trap mikan’s base, was stopped by mahiru - makes unholy levels of tnt, and hides them under mikans base - she tried to make a cool redstone contraption to set it off but it never worked and mahiru found out and scolded her for the 10th time - it suddenly set off and exploded everything in a 1 mile radius including them - has three cockatiels and they have playdates with ibuki’s parrots - she fake cries everytime she dies - probably actual tears - enjoys burning down villages and watching the villagers burn, unfortunately celeste got stuck in the village - celeste threateningly screamed into the mic and hiyoko got so scared and left the game

mikan - cries at basically everything in pvp - audible “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH” when she dies - highkey a stalker of junko - leaves weird ass presents in junko’s house even though shes never online - gets harassed by hiyoko 24/7 - is good at making potions, makes mostly healing potions - gets harrassed to make potions of harming and poison (probably by hiyoko)

nekomaru - “good job guys!” “nekomaru we just got killed by the ender dragon please-“ - constantly says minecrap instead of minecraft - screams - probably has made it in funny stream fail videos - has intense duels with akane in peko’s pvp stadium on the daily

gundham - massive animal farm - refuses to kill any of his animals - instead of attacking, he just lets his army of wolves kill. - vegan, has a huge ass farm - sells specifically bred horses to people - will hunt u down if u kill a pet - got angry over hiyoko burning down the forests, probably hired peko as an assassin to kill hiyoko for it

nagito - constantly stuck in webs while in mineshafts - the kinda guy to mine diamonds when its above lava, manage to fall into it and die, then get a glitch that keeps his inventory after he dies?? - kinda just stares at hajime while playing and kills him while he’s not looking - names everything he has hope and if hajime changes their names, he just kills the animal - the guy who has an army of cats and yet kills them constantly. - looses all of his dogs somehow

chiaki - the unforgiving admin - “chiaki please i went afk for 2 seconds and all of my dogs died and i died too wtf help pls” - “that sucks” - has the most materials because she has the patience to grind - lives with hajime and nagito - anytime someone dies she types f - has every crafting recipe memorized - can probably read minecraft enchantment table

epic gamer moment hope u enjoy - mod lapis

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sambart93 · 5 years

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Touken Ranbu The Movie [Review]

It’s finally here! It’s finally arrived! We waited so long and it’s finally here! I’m hoping I can see it at least one more time before it stops at the cinema because it is so good!

NON-SPOILER REVIEW Overall: This was amazing! I absolutely adored and loved so many parts of this movie!! I loved the story, I loved the reinterpretation of history, I loved the twists and surprises (there are so many that you don’t expect!), I loved the action, I loved the colouring, I loved the cinematography and the camera shots, I loved seeing their pretty make up and their pretty faces on a big giant screen! They all looked amazing!! My honest to god only complaint is that (1) there is a very obvious voice dub within the first 15 minutes of the movie; (2) some of the editing and transitions between scenes were just not smooth at all. The editing was really rough compared to how amazingly produced everything else is in this movie. A few cuts really pissed me off and some transitions were so jarring. I do have one more complaint but it’s spoilery so I’ll list that below. But everything else was amazing! Cannot wait for the DVD! Rating: 8/10 if only the editing had been better.

SPOILER REVIEW

Story

We are back at Honnouji no Hen trying to stop the Jikansokougun from interfering with it. You know the story if you’ve read the history and/or watched the first stage.

Now to the spoilers...

The TouDan think they’ve finished off the Jikansokougun and go back to the Honmaru, but in fact there was still one left who grabs Oda and takes him to a safe place. When Oda wakes up he has the whole Jikansokougun army within his grasp and one of the commanders ‘Mume’ can talk to him and stays by Oda’s side. The TouDan realise what’s happened and goes back. While there Jiji actually saves and rans away with Oda. Everyone feels betrayed but they continue their mission of keeping and eye on Hideyoshi. Jiji takes Oda to Azuchi where Hideyoshi raids and tries to burn down (as per the correct history) but again the Jikansokougun interfere.

I’ll stop there so you’re not too spoiled if you did carry on to read more.

Using the star format as usual so it’s easier and quicker for me to get through reviews.

General Comments

☆ This was so BEAUTIFULLY SHOT! Some of the shots are so well done and they all looked so damn pretty! They must’ve had a very nice budget for this movie because it’s visually beautiful, the colouring used is beautiful, so many shots are just PERFECT!

☆ I loved the close ups of all the swords! Being able to see their pretty faces (which had a lot lighter make up than what they wear on stage so their natural beauty shined out more!) so close up was just wonderful ^_^

☆ Also their makeup! I absolutely adored their make up in this!! All of the swords except Nihongo have eyeliner half way across their bottom lashes (yeah this is how good the quality is and how well you can see the makeup and how goddamn observant I am xD). And they all looked SO NICE!

☆ NIHONGO’S ONSIE for uchiba/Internal Affairs is freaking ADORABLE!!!! It’s a freaking Onsie! A ONSIE! I was losing it!! And he looked so good in it too!! It was this freaking adorable great onsie!! I can’t get over this... I can’t! xD

☆ Jiji has plot armour in this movie too as expected because he’s always givemn bloody plot armour. He REALLY should’ve died in this one. Scientifically and by Touken Game standards he SHOULD have died. But alas ‘we can’t hurt the fan favourite precious Jiji’ oh fuck off, hurry up and kill him already! Fuck sake.

☆ I really liked Fuma’s Honebami. Just like the stages, we didn’t get enough time with him. We didn’t really get to know him. But I think something between His and Mitsuya’s Hone is what I expect Hone to be so I like Movie Hone. BUT, Hone should’ve died too by the way. Just from the dire situation he ends up in, he really should’ve been killed and died. It’s not like we can’t bring these swords back!

☆ I died a little when Uguisumaru said his famous line!

☆ Tomoki as Uguisumaru was perfect JUST as I had predicted! He was great! I loved the looks between Jiji and him where they completely understood each other without having to speak! I absolutely adored how soft his voice was, very nicely matching Ugui’s image.

☆ Also I did start laughing at one point when I remembered Suzuki and Tomoki had been in YowaPeda together. I just imagined Suzuki’s Arakita and Tomoki’s Makishima dressing up in their sword outfits. Them looking like TouDan but with their Peda character’s personalities just cracked me up SO MUCH!

☆ You can definitely appreciate the amount of LEG shown by Yagen and Fudou in this movie! The camera itself really loved focusing on Yagen’s legs! Many times there are obvious shots that are there JUST for his legs xD and there’s a scene at the honmaru where Fudou goes to sleep and you can see all the muscles in his legs and it’s beautiful ^_^ highly appreciated and thankful for these shots!

☆ I do like movie version of Hasebe. I liked him somewhat in this one. There wasn’t so much forehead acting from Wada in this (thank god) so I liked Hasebe this time around.

☆ And I guess movie version of Jiji wasn’t as much of a dick as he is in the stage too. I do like Jiji quite a bit in this one too, but he still got that god damn plot armour.

☆ In some shots you can see the knee support around Maki’s right leg - he was still receiving rehabilitation on his knee after his surgery when he stupidly went off to film this.

☆ I am here for the utter and complete tag team of Yagen and Manba! I absolutely adored all their scenes together! I was SO down for this pair up! They were great together!

☆ If you’ve never seen the Eiga Dorobo video, I highly recommend you see it! It’s often shown in movie theatre before the movie starts and it’s gold! (see here) so for Touken Ranbu they made special ones with the cast joining in! They even had the Jikansokougun too! So far there have only been 2 episodes out and a third one should be coming. So for the two different episodes we had the appearance of:

Eiga Dorobo 1: Uguisumaru, Fudou, Hasebe

Eiga Dorobo 2: Honebami, Nihongo, Yagen

☆ Watching the movie, I had this huge moment of ‘fuck, I love Touken Ranbu’, because there are so many versions of it and anyone can make any version they want because the creators of the game gave so much leeway as to how to interpret the swords, the personalities, how they defend history, the lore of the Jikan, there is just so much god damn potential in this series and there’s so many ways and stories you can write with these boys! I just got so happy and proud while watch the movie. We can literally make up whatever shit we want so long as history goes back to normal at the end! It’s GREAT!

☆ However, as already stated above, there were some super dodgy editing in this! I really need to find out who the editor is and send them an email because some of the editing was cringe worthy. We literally had one shot where Jiji walks out but the shot is focused on Jiji’s feet for about 5 seconds while Jiji talks. No shot of Jiji actually talking, no shot of Jiji’s face, just his FEET! HIS FEET! What the hell was that shot of Jiji’s feet at the beginning of the movie?! I’ve watched this movie TWICE and I have absolutely NO idea what the point of that shot was! That was the worst one.

☆ Other things like in the very first opening scene we are have a VERY OBVIOUS audio dub over one of the guys. Why they dubbed over the man with different lines to what his mouth creates, I don’t know why, but it does not sync up at all and it is very obvious.

☆ And the transition between scenes/days and the cut backs to older stuff in the movie was just very poorly edited too. If a scene ended, it would fade to black and for like 2 seconds there would be nothing, no music, just a black scene and then suddenly a new song would start, it felt VERY stage-y and not like a movie at all! It was cringe worthy and really wasted precious seconds we could’ve spent on the movie. Also we had some ‘flashback’ scenes and the music and sound immediately cut off from Cut 1 -> Cut 2 would be the flashback and be absolutely silent, no music -> go back to Cut 1 and suddenly the music has restarted again. I REALLY didn’t like it! It REALLY pissed me. LET ME FUCKING REEDIT THIS GOD DAMN MOVIE! The post production for most of this movie SUCKED. The editing and the sound mixing SUCKED. Ugh... that person needs firing.

☆ Also, this movie was WAY too short! We get 3 hour long stages from Marv, so why is the movie less than 2 god damn hours?! It’s barely 1 hour 45! Give me more gungi! Give me some comedy! (There is NO comedy in this besides ONE line from Hasebe!) Give me them enjoying time at the god damn honmaru!

☆ Upon looking back, I realised that they did not show one of the bigger fights at all that happens towards the end of the movie. I really wish they had shown that fight scene rather than having it happen off screen. There was so much potential and so much you could’ve done with that fight scene. You could’ve easily had swords pop up here, there, everywhere and they could’ve done it in a real stylistic way if they didn’t have the time or money to get actual actors. They could’ve just done close up shots of swords’ costumes, or their feet landing next to the Jikan, or show two swords clashing, or a danshi jumping into the fight etc. You could’ve easily ‘brought in’ many swords into that fight scene without actual hiring any actors (especially if certain actors did not have time) and it could’ve been very creative, stylistic and interesting and it would’ve been a big flail for the fans.

☆ Also MAJOR SPOILERS HERE: the ending part with the new sword? Don’t just IGNORE that for fuck sake! Give him and the audience an explanation! Let him speak! Let him have his moment as to what happened to him and where he’s been and what he went through shit! God damn don’t just NOT explain that! Don’t just have him pop up, save the day, say his name and FINISH! What the fuck.

Wow the more I think about this movie, the more dissatisfied I get... okay, last one!

☆ Also Nishii Yukito had SUCH a small role!!! I was hoping he’d have so much more screen time than what he actually got. He has about 1 minute max *so sad*

I DO pin a lot of my complaints and nitpicks on the fact I have a cinematography background; I studied film, I’ve made films, I’ve always watched BTS of making films, I love the process of film making. And I think because of that, that’s why I’m being so particular on HOW it was made and on post-production and how I would’ve made the movie. So if you’re not into the whole film making side of movies then none of these are gunna bother you. If you’re not into this stuff then I really think you’ll enjoy this movie a lot! You will definitely have a good time and be satisfied and enjoy it so much!

Okay now onto:

MAJOR SPOILER TERRITORY COMMENTS

☆ I loved this version of Saru and how he isn’t just a nice guy and isn’t just the idiot that history leads us to believe. In this he’s cold, and mean, and turned against so many people! I loved Saru suddenly going against Hasebe too! It was such a plot twist! He invited Hasebe and Nihongo into his clan but as soon as our swords let down their guard, Saru’s men attacked them and they had to run! It was such a shocking twist! And Hasebe getting shot because of this ambush too was insane!! I know it’s spoiled in the trailer but seeing it happen in that moment! I was not expecting it at all!

☆ Also I am glad I got to see Hasebe actually almost physically harming Jiji, and Manba straight up being like ‘yo I don’t trust you Mika,’ and Yagen siding with Manba! Oh my! It was such a great scene! I loved all the suspicion going on around them and them not exactly wanting to agree or listen to Jiji. Argh! SO GOOD! I was like ‘HIT HIM HASEBE! DO IT!’ and I guess this is another reason why I like Movie Hasebe much more than Stage Hasebe.

☆ Seriously! I absolutely loved the teaming up of Yagen and Manba!! And now I want them forever on my team in the game now too! xD

☆ My heart hurt a little when Oda called Jiji ‘Munechika’, I was like ‘YOU HAVE NO RIGHT CALLING HIM BY HIS GIVEN NAME!!’ because clearly Jiji deserves more respect than Oda xD but I think it’s purposely put in so we do feel this way.

☆ I absolutely loved the twist for Oda’s story: he didn’t die at Honnouji, he actually died at Azuchi Castle and only Jiji knows the true hsitory because he was the only one there at the time! Such a great twist! And how Jiji tricked Oda into going to Azuchi, making Oda think he’ll be fine there and making Oda think that they are changing history together! Such a good plot twist! I loved it!

☆ Even though I was spoiled for the new sword, it’s very heavily implied throughout the entire movie. Especially when Akechi uses him in defense again the Jikan, and suddenly the danshi’s (who is clothed in Jikan armour and wear) eyes turn bright yellow (Jikan’s eyes are all a glowing red). It’s a really good and random reveal!

☆ As Jiji tries to leave Azuchi castle, Honebami meets up with him. But fucking Oda pullings his sword on Hone and pins it at his neck! He tells Jiji to work with him or he’ll kill Hone and Jiji is like ‘I can’t help you, this is how it’s supposed to be’, just, I was like YESSSSSSSSSS!!!! But in the end Oda let’s Hone and Jiji go -__- I’m sorry but Hone SHOULD HAVE been killed there!

☆ One of my favourite lines from the movie is from Jiji (surprisingly) where he says: 守りたいことが増えばっかり。 // Things I want to protect just keep increasing. Which shows just how different of a Jiji we have in this version! He actually fucking emotionally cares in this one!

☆ The very last scene has ALL the Stage swords who have appeared in TouStage up to now were ALL at the Honmaru in this final scene. Except Daihannya & Ookanehira. Those two swords were NOT in this final scene. As for the actors; every one of the TouStage actors, except Hirose Daisuke and Kento, were as their Swords, in their costumes in this final scene. Ichigo and Tsurumaru ARE in this seen but are clearly NOT the actors. They clearly had body doubles / standins in this scene and their faces were out of focus. Also in the final ending credits, these two actors' names were not listed. I was flailing so hard!!! This was a HUGE shocker and I am so happy how many of them were able to come back for this one scene! So this is the scene where the new Saniwa is revealed and we finally got a female Saniwa!!!! I was like ‘YES JUSTICE!!!’ I spent most of the movie like ‘why the fuck is it always a Male Saniwa?!?! Why not hire someone ambiguous like Yuzuki or Toman as the Saniwa?!’. But alas we got our girl at the end!! The very very very last scene is absolutely ADORABLE! The saniwa (she’s like 3 years old) grabs onto the back of Jiji (he’s sitting down and drinking tea) and holds him for a piggyback, he smiles, picks her up and piggybacks her around the honmaru! It’s ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!! I was in absolutely tears at this scene! Ughhh someone give Suzuki babies!!! I was in a MESS of tears. And the very very very last line is him where he says ‘ Aruji.... the stuff I want to protect just keeps increasing’ arghhhh my heart!! *dead* IT’S SUCH A GOOD ENDING!!!

And that’s all! I hope you enjoyed this review and I hope you watch, buy and enjoy the movie!

As stated, I feel like a lot of my complaints come from my cinematic background so general people who just want a good movie are really going to enjoy this!! ^_^ Also if you ever see spelling mistakes, don’t ever hesitate to yell at me! xD

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synthetic-sonata · 6 years

Note

🔥 (paswg and danganronpa)

AAAAAAA!!! Anon bless your goddamn heart

UHH

Ok this might get rambly or turn into headcanons bc I love both of these

Also they may not be that unpopular I just like to ramble sometimes but Im gunna try to make it at least slightly unpopular

Also spoilers prob inbound so im just gunna

🔥🔥 Danganronpa 🔥🔥

- V3 is the only Danganronpa where I like every character. Tsumugis a bit bland but that’s how she’s supposed to be, and she isn’t necessarily a horrible character and her free time are kinda cool. Yes, I also like Miu, Gonta, Korey, Angie, and Ouma. (the characters people are generally iffy on although I know a lot of people are also iffy on tsumugi, tenko, himiko, kaede / shuichi, maki, kaito,…. basically everyone)

- The one hundred thousand debates between Kokichi don’t bother me that much (Like the mistranslation and misdrawing of the fifth trial)

- Ok do not slap me before you read all of this but Gontouma is good;; when it’s platonic.

- I don’t actually like Saiouma or Oumami. Saiouma just feels wrong somehow, and Oumami feels like its incest bc of the brother relationship HC / thing people have adopted into canon. I don’t have anything against ppl who ship them though.

- This isn’t an opinion but for some reason SDR2 just kinda skipped my watch list. I got into DR by V3, and watched THH and V3, and I’ve began to watch a series for SDR2 but dropped it. Although I’ve spoiled all of them ahead of time and know their personalities so I still know what happens.

- There isn’t a murder I neccessarily dislike

- Literally nobody calls Korekiyo Korey despite him saying it was also a good nickname but call him Kiyo instead LIKE I AT LEAST EXPECTED OUMA OR GONTA TO ONCE

————————–

🔥🔥 PaSWG 🔥🔥

( this is more rambly ig )

- This isn’t neccessarily unpopular but uhh Japanese was the inferior version and I also dislike Briefs voice in japanese

- I like the sisters equally, it’s like a dan and arin thing if you remove one of them they don’t work that well. I mean, yeah Panty can also work well with Briefs cautious and anxious nature, but Panty is mainly Stockings opposite so them constantly clashing with eachother physically and with their personalities works better imo. I relate to stocking more bc uhh I love sugar and I dislike spicy shit but I still like them equally.

- adding onto that, I like Stockings design more a bit because if Pantys hair always looked how it did in Panty + Brief it’d be the same for both,, idk i dont like how her hair looks defaultly with the fringe thing

- No matter what Brief wears or if he shows his eyes or not he’s absolutely perfect and I don’t have a preference for snazz or geek (well thats a lie i like both equally but like how weirdly exposed briefs forehead is when he uncovers his eyes sets me off a lil but i still generally like them equally)

- get ready for me to talk about brief a lot but I think he was stupidly ooc in episode 10, like god i don’t think he’d act like that at all it feels like he’d be more protective of them in a more fragile state,, i wish he was just being stupidly sarcastic but it lasts throughout the entire episode generally

- Episode 10 was kinda a bad episode in general because the art and animations were so weird lIKE DO U SEE HOW WEIRD PANTY AND STOCKING LOOK WHEN THEY TINY IM

oh yeah we also got to see briefs dick for like 3 frames in that episode so thts a thing

oh yeah this is a common comment on it but like vore. its just VORE. BRIEF CANONICALLY VORED PANTY AND STOCKING

OK LAST THING FOR E10, but uh i feel like tht episode was made because they went like “we need to foreshadow that briefs dick is a key / that hes hellsmonkey” “hmm,,,, what situation would we have to get brief into where chad penis would show,,,” “i know make him have to shit badly and throw off all of his clothes and make garter stare uncomfortably close at his peen!!” “PERFECT” I’m???#E?W!?!Q?Q?!

- brief has some of the best lines when you rewatch the show likE??? “while garter was bitching about you” “WHERE’S PANTY AND WHATEVER THE HELL HER SISTERS NAME IS” the entirety of his pep talk during the transformers episode or just him in that episode in general is golden “yes, yes it does” in response to panty asking if his acne gets set off from the sun or smth (fun fact gingers sunburn easily so panty was kinda close) and also from the same episode “that’s not helping” when panty just does the assdance i’m

OH YEAH!! Don’t forget the PaSWG extra episodes his quotes in that are also amazing like “i love her but she needs some serious therapy” “hello nurse” “are you crying tears of joy?” as zombie pantys eye bleeds mkfmvfk “THAT ISN’T THE PITCH THATS YOUR VAGINA” (thats not what he said i forgot but it was smth like tht) im cdnmc,,,

Give us more assertive / helpful / sassy / sarcastic brief I swear to god i live off of that

- brief should’ve been in more episodes or have had longer scenes in the episodes where he was just there at the start and didn’t have many lines or got kicked out in the middle and just gets shown at the end to remind you he exists

oh yeah last thing abt brief in the episode the daemons were introduced his dick got violently murdered

he got a sword stabbed in his dick (,,,or ass?), a gun pointed at his dick, and scantys sharp looking shoes basically crushing his ba ll S while he’s just whimpering in pain please help this child im

I feel like the only reason he lives through all this pain bc of his bloodmonkey stuff gives him like more resistance to pain i’d assume

- i wish we saw corset at least a bit more or got insight into him and garters relationship

- stockings whole thing at the end doesn’t bother me much bc i think they could do a lot with it, and it was originally said that they had enough material for like 6+ seasons or smth so i wonder if stocking would just die at the end of s2??? was she possesed? what happened gainax,,… i feel like if stocking didn’t come back then idk what they’d do

i also feel like panty being a demon would’ve made more sense. or a secret succubus spy or smth idk… also since stocking and panty are related does that mean they’re like half demon?? did stocking just turn too far into a fallen angel tht she got turned into a demon?? WHAT HAPPENED?

OK IM DONE I SWE

#long post #read more #danganronpa #ndrv3 #dr #paswg #mostly paswg #panty and stocking #panty and stocking with garterbelt #I'm probably going to reblog this and add headcanons bc I wanted to ramble about general ideas and hcs about both but i didn't want to make #it too unbearable #ask #answered #thank you aaaaaa

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dimensiontripperhibiki · 7 years

Text

Broken Soldier (3/4)

Here’s the next chapter of Broken Soldier. Sorry it’s a bit late but I was preoccupied with LIB. I’m focusing on this for a little while though so hopefully the next chapter will be up a lot sooner. I hope you guys like it! As usual, warnings for violence, swearing etc. Umi took note of the way Eli’s teeth were bared, her entire body engulfed in flames Umi could feel from all the way across the room. Where Eli had touched her, her skin stung with pain from burns. “Look, I’m not here to hurt anyone. I just want to make sure Honoka…”

“You!”

Of all of the people who could have found her in Maki’s office, having it be Eli was the most unfortunate possibility.

“Eli…”

With an angered yell, Eli threw herself toward Umi, tackling her to the ground.

Umi hastily shoved Eli off her and scrambled away, pushing herself to her feet. She should have expected this from the older girl. “Eli, wait. I just want to see Honoka!”

“Like hell!” Eli growled angrily. There was no way she was going to let Umi anywhere near Honoka. “You’re not going near her. I won’t let you!”

With an outraged yell Eli threw herself at Umi who hurriedly ducked out of the way, scrambling around the desk Eli had vaulted over.

“Don’t you DARE talk about her!” Eli warned furiously, barely able to stand the rage coursing through her. She drew her hand back and formed a ball of fire, flinging it at Umi. “You almost fucking KILLED HER!” Much to Umi’s relief Eli seemed so distracted by her fury that it affected her aim and the ball of fire hit the desk instead. “I didn’t TOUCH her!” “Idiot!” Eli spat, shaking with anger. “I mean what you did to her three years ago. The scar you gave her.” Umi flinched but Eli didn’t notice. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’ve taken everything from her. You really had to take Kotori too?! They were going to get MARRIED!” “I KNOW!” Umi yelled, hardly wanting to be reminded of that. She jumped to the left when Eli threw another fireball. Straightening up, she let out a breath. “Kotori took everything from me first.” Eli narrowed her eyes. “What?!” Umi reached down and slowly unsheathed her katana. “Shut up and fight me, Eli. I won’t go easy on you just because we used to be friends.” “That’s good. Because I don’t plan on letting you leave alive.” Eli focused intently on her flames, making them stronger and brighter. It didn’t seem to faze Umi though. She just stood there, her eyes narrowed and her sword pointing toward Eli. Eli gritted her teeth. There was so much she wanted to say but she couldn’t even force the words from her mouth. She wasn’t sure she could even put into words how much the mere sight of Umi disgusted her. She wanted to tell her how much she hated her, that she probably hated her even more than Honoka did but she couldn’t say that either. Deciding not to say anything she surged forward and vaulted over Maki’s burning desk. She threw herself toward Umi who hurriedly sidestepped to get out of the way. Eli had expected it though and grabbed Umi’s jacket with a burning hand, yanking her toward her. Umi thrust her elbow back, slamming it into the side of Eli’s head and causing her to stumble. She took advantage of the mishap, turning around and slashing at Eli with her katana. The blonde cried out as the blade sliced through her clothes and skin. Umi punched Eli in the face, sending her sprawling to the ground. Eli was fast, but not fast enough. When the blonde tried to get up she kicked her forcefully in the stomach, sending her back to the floor. “Stay down.” Umi growled, watching as Eli grasped her side, blood slipping through her fingers. It wasn’t too deep. Umi knew that. Even now she couldn’t bring herself to kill her friends. Even the one who clearly hated her the most. Even hurting her made her feel sick with guilt but it was something she had to do. She had to play her role convincingly. “You were stupid to think you could kill me. And you call yourself Honoka’s best friend…” She was speaking out of jealousy, she knew that but she couldn’t stop herself. It wasn’t fair that Kotori and Eli got to be so close to Honoka, that they got to live with the knowledge that Honoka always knew they loved her. “Fuck you. I am her best friend.” Eli cursed gruffly though she couldn’t bring herself to stand. She could taste blood in her mouth and her side ached. “I’ll kill you for hurting her, I swear I’ll…” Umi grabbed Eli by the hair and slammed her head against the floor, knocking her out. “I said shut up.” She allowed herself a moment to relax but tensed when she heard the door open behind her. She turned in time to see Maki do a double take at the sight of her office. “You have got to be kiddi…” The doctor trailed off as she noticed Eli on the floor. She hurriedly shut the door behind her. “Umi, what the hell did you do to her?!” “She’s fine. She attacked me, I was just defending myself.” Umi said stiffly. She watched as Maki rushed to Eli’s side, kneeling down next to her to check her pulse. “I wasn’t trying to kill her.” Maki cursed under her breath and looked up at Umi. “That might be true but if you think hurting Eli is going to get you anywhere with Honoka you’re wrong. If she was here she’d…” “Kill me. Yeah, yeah. I get it.” Umi snapped irritably. Maki narrowed her eyes. “You don’t. You haven’t been here. You don’t know what they’ve been through so don’t pretend that you know how they’ll react if the other gets hurt. Just...just go. Leave through the window. And don’t let Rin see you, she’ll probably attack you too.” Umi didn’t move. “I want to know how Honoka is first. You haven’t said anything.” “She’s stable. Just let her rest for now. I’ll update you when she wakes up.” Maki answered as she slipped her arms underneath Eli. She struggled to lift her for a moment and silently wished that someone was there to help. “Umi, before you go please extinguish the fucking fire.” “Okay.” Umi watched as Maki made her way to the door that led to the medical wing. “Maki!” She waited until the doctor paused before she spoke. “Thank you. For saving her. I-I know it doesn’t seem like it but I love her. More than anything, I just…” Maki sighed in frustration. “Then maybe I can give you some advice. If you love her so much stop hurting the people she loves. You can hurt her as much as you want and she still might forgive it but this?” She nodded down at Eli. “She won’t forgive something like this.” Umi opened her mouth to say something but Maki had already slipped out of the room, into the medical wing, pulling the door shut behind her. “Damn it!” --- Maki wasn’t sure what she was going to do about the fact that the majority of her office had been destroyed. She would have to get one of the others to help if she could. Hanayo would be more than willing, she knew, but the girl had already done enough. The same could be said for Nozomi. Deciding she didn’t want to spend time in her office she sat by Eli’s bedside, waiting for the blonde to wake up. Her wound wasn’t too bad and she’d only cracked a couple of ribs but the bruising on her forehead was enough to cause concern. She rifled through the pocket of her lab coat, emerging with only a single cigarette. “Great. Even when she’s depressed she still finds the time to hide my lighters…” She grinded her teeth together, a habit she’d gained over the years in response to the stress of her job. It was something she did a lot when she couldn’t smoke. Hanayo had mentioned that grinding her teeth was bad for her, even suggesting gum as an alternative but Maki had never paid much attention. She wished she had something to take her mind off the situation. Anything at all. “You’re gonna lose your teeth if you keep grinding them, Maki.” Eli mumbled, opening her eyes a crack. She smirked when the doctor glared at her. “Besides, I can’t sleep with all of the noise.” Maki rolled her eyes and stood up, stepping closer to the bed. “How are you feeling? Do you feel nauseous? Dizzy?” “I’m fine.” Eli lightly swatted Maki’s hand away as the doctor reached for her. “My head hurts a bit and so does my side but it’s fine. I just wish I’d…” She winced as she pushed herself into a sitting position. “She really beat the crap out of me.” Maki laughed despite herself. “You’re lucky she didn’t kill you. Did you even hit her?” Eli glared, though the expression quickly turned to confusion. “I don’t know why she didn’t…” “She said it’s because she doesn’t want to hurt Honoka.” Maki said carefully, feeling a bit guilty for how she’d treat Umi in her office. “That she loves her.” “I love her.” Eli said with an insistent shake of her head. “Nozomi loves her. Even Kotori loves her. What Umi does isn’t love. You don’t do this to someone you goddamn love. And even if she does, I love her more.” Maki bit her lip. She couldn’t say anything else. It would put Umi in danger. She settled for half-hearted teasing instead. “Don’t tell me you’re competing over who loves her more now.” “Of course not.” Eli scoffed, a small smile tugging at her lips. “I’d obviously win. Easily. Um...speaking of which, can I go and see her now? And can you not tell her about how I got these?” Maki sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. “Fine. But only because you’ll end up telling her yourself. And only under a few conditions. First, you owe me a new desk because you set fire to the one in my office. And the new one better be bigger.” She waited for a hesitant nod from Eli. “You also owe me a pack of cigarettes and you have to be my lighter for a month without complaining. Honoka keeps hiding mine…” Eli smiled warmly. “She cares about you. She just wants you to be healthy.” She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and grimaced in pain. When she stood up, the room spun and she quickly grabbed onto the edge of the bed. “Eli.” Maki warned. “Maybe I’m a little bit dizzy.” Eli conceded sheepishly. “I’m going to lie down with Honoka, okay?” “Be careful.” Maki said quietly as Eli shakily made her way across the room.

---

The first thing Honoka felt when she woke up was an intense ache in her head. It wasn’t dissimilar to the kind she felt when she woke up after drinking too much the night before but that ache was coupled by a stinging sensation, like she had an actual wound of some sort. “Hmm…” Her brow furrowed and she reached up, her hand touching her head. She was surprised to find that her fingers didn’t come into contact with her hair but rather a thick bandage that seemed to wrap it’s way around her head instead.

“Eh…?!” Her eyes snapped open in shock and she tried to shift to figure out where she was only to feel the arm around her waist tighten. She glanced to her right and found Eli lying next to her, clearly asleep. “E-Eli-senpai?” She gently shook Eli’s shoulder. “Eli-senpai.”

“Hmm?” Eli slowly stirred, disturbed from her sleep by the gentle shaking though she didn’t open her eyes right away.

Honoka took a moment to look Eli over. Her best friend wasn’t covered by any blankets and the tank top she was wearing had ridden up over her ribs so Honoka could clearly see that her stomach was wrapped with bandages. Her brow furrowing, she pushed Eli’s tank top further up so she could take a closer look.

“Honoka, stop it…” Eli mumbled, cracking an eye open to look down at Honoka. “Honoka?!” Her eyes were suddenly open wide with the realization that Honoka was awake. “Y-You’re awake!” She pushed herself into a sitting position, wincing as she accidentally pulled at her wound. Maki had stitched it up for her and bandaged her ribs so she doubted she would reopen the gash easily but she didn’t want to risk it.

“Yeah?” Honoka asked in confusion. She had no idea what was going on. She was even more confused by the way Eli’s lower lip began to tremble, her eyes shimmering with tears. “Eli-senpai?”

Eli threw her arms around Honoka’s neck, unable to contain herself. She tucked her face into the crook of Honoka’s neck and sobbed earnestly against her.

Honoka’s eyes widened in surprise but she carefully wrapped her arms around Eli in turn in an attempt to soothe her. It didn’t seem to be working as Eli continued to cry vehemently against her. The unsettling idea that something might have happened to Nozomi occurred to her and she glanced around the room, hoping to find her nearby.

“Eli-senpai.” Honoka gently pushed Eli away from her and held her at arm’s length. “What’s going on? What happened?”

“Seriously?!” Eli’s face was awash with tears as she stared back at Honoka. “You just forgot that you almost died?!”

“Eheh...is that all?” Honoka laughed nervously.

“Is that...is that all?!” Eli echoed incredulously, her voice slightly louder than it usually would have been. “Do you have any idea how much you scared me?! I thought...I thought I was going to lose you!”

Honoka winced at the sudden volume of Eli’s voice. She hadn’t expected it and it sent a shockwave of pain through her head. “I-I’m sorry…”

Eli’s eyes widened at the pained look on Honoka’s face. “No. It’s not your fault…” She bowed her head, feeling guilty for her outburst. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I was just worried.”

Honoka watched Eli quietly for a moment before she wordlessly leaned in and hugged her again. It had been insensitive of her to make light of the situation. If their situations had been reversed she knew that she would reacted the same way as Eli had.

Eli took a shaky breath though she couldn’t deny that being close to Honoka set her at ease. She closed her eyes, her hand slipping beneath Honoka’s hospital gown and tracing it’s way up her back. Her fingers mindlessly brushing over the invisible tattoo covering Honoka’s skin.

Honoka let out a sound between a sigh and a whimper at the sensation and held onto Eli tighter. “Y-Your hands are cold.” She said as way of an excuse.

“Sorry.” Eli whispered but continued to gently brush her fingers against that area. She’d always been somewhat fascinated with the slightly rougher patch of skin, ever since Honoka had revealed it to her. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Honoka.”

Honoka smiled softly at the response and pulled back to look at Eli. “I am.” She hesitantly reached up, her fingers finding her head. “I know I don’t look it right now…I can’t believe Maki-chan would cut off my hair.”

“She did it to save you. She didn’t have a choice.” Eli couldn’t help but giggle softly at the pout on Honoka’s face. “You look fine, trust me. Not having hair suits you.”

“Eli-senpai!” Honoka gave Eli an irritated shove though the touch was light. Self-consciously, she sought out a mirror of some sort though of course she didn’t manage to find one. “Does it look bad? I must look awful...”

“You look fine. You’re alive. You look more beautiful to me than ever.” Eli’s softly spoken words brought a blush to Honoka’s cheeks and she reached up, gently cupping her friend’s face in her hand. “I mean it.”

Honoka was silent as Eli’s forehead gently came to rest against her own. She knew that her best friend meant every word she was saying. She wouldn’t lie. “It’s not too bad? Everyone might think it’s weird...”

Eli gave a gentle chuckle. “Everyone who matters will just be happy that you’re okay. Maki, Kotori, Nozomi....they’ll just be glad you’re safe. Just like I am. We were all worried when you were in surgery.”

Honoka was silent for a moment, her thoughts unwittingly drifting back to Kotori. She wasn’t sure where her ex-girlfriend was. Everything that had happened with Umi came rushing back to her. Kotori seeing her in secret, Honoka having sex with her on the roof that day. She shuddered slightly and clutched Eli tighter.

“Honoka?” Eli murmured, sensing the tremble. “Are you okay? Are you cold? Should I call Maki?”

“No, I...I’m just glad you’re here.” Honoka said sincerely. “I wouldn’t want to be alone right now…”

“Idiot. You’re never alone.” Eli gently pressed her lips to Honoka’s cheek, allowing herself to linger for a moment. “Not as long as I’m alive.” Her lips drifted gently over the soft skin of Honoka’s cheek and she kissed her again, this time the corner of her lips. She followed that with a gentle kiss to Honoka’s bandaged forehead. As she moved down to press a light kiss to her nose she noticed Honoka’s eyes flutter shut. She couldn’t resist the urge to tentatively press her lips to Honoka’s, kissing her softly. Her own eyes closed at the sensation, her stomach flipping apprehensively. She had never kissed Honoka before, not while she was awake anyway. She felt Honoka laugh gently against her lips and pulled back slightly.

“What?”

“I must be dreaming still.” Honoka murmured. Eli risked a glance up and found that her friend’s eyes were still closed. “If Eli-senpai is kissing me…”

“Oh.” Eli smiled faintly and pressed her forehead against Honoka’s again, their gentle breathing mixing between them. “C-Can I kiss you again?”

Honoka hummed gently and leaned in of her own accord, somewhat clumsily pressing her lips to Eli’s. She was still under quite heavy drugs and it was affecting her perception of just how far away Eli’s lips had been from hers. She felt Eli’s hands slide down to tenderly cup her jaw to steady her and sighed softly against the kiss. So this is what it felt like to actually kiss Eli. Somehow she had thought the blonde would be rougher or more demanding but there was nothing about the kiss that was rough. On the contrary, Eli touched her like she was made of glass, like she could shatter at any moment.

Honoka couldn’t resist the urge to kiss harder, her hands gripping the hem of Eli’s tank top and pulling up slightly. “Eli-senpai…” She took the blonde’s lower lip between her own and sucked gently, earning herself a gentle whimper from her best friend. She pressed herself as close as she could to Eli, losing herself in the feeling of their lips together, of the softness of Eli’s lip between her own. “I-I want…”

“What?” Eli’s voice was just as hushed when she spoke, her hands still resting lightly on Honoka’s face. Her own cheeks were flushed as she awaited Honoka’s answer. “Tell me what you want, Honoka. I’ll do anything you ask.”

“I want you.” Honoka answered, her cheeks flushing in wake of the admission. She lowered her gaze but there was no way she could look away from Eli completely. “That’s all. I just want you. My...Eli-senpai.”

“Your Eli-senpai?” Eli whispered, a strange warm sensation forming in her chest as she fought back a smile. “So I’m yours now, huh?”

“Well I’m yours.” Honoka’s typically blunt answer had Eli blushing profusely. “Aren’t I?”

Eli opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before nodding in response. “Honoka…” She brushed her thumb gently over Honoka’s lower lip. “I love you.”

Honoka smiled fondly at the flustered blonde. “I love you too, Eli-senpai.” With a sigh, she lay back down and tugged on Eli’s hand to get her to join her. The blonde did so, willingly, though she was easily distracted and began to smatter gentle kisses over Honoka’s shoulder, baring the skin herself by tugging down the hospital gown. She mapped out Honoka’s skin, finding rougher patches awaiting her. She traced the scraped shapes of the scars gently. They were different from Honoka’s tattoo but they were still etched upon her body.

“E-Eli-senpai, wait…” Honoka placed her hands on Eli’s shoulders and gently pushed her back so they could face one another. She was met with a concerned stare and shook her head slightly. “M-My head just hurts. Maybe you could get Maki-chan?”

“Maki?” Eli’s eyes widened slightly at the request. She didn’t want to talk to the doctor but if Honoka was asking for her she had no choice but to go and get her. “I’ll be right back.” She slid off the bed and winced at the pain in her side.

Honoka’s brow furrowed in concern as her attention was drawn back to Eli’s side. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Just an agent. Don’t worry about it.” Eli hurriedly waved Honoka off, not wanting to have to explain that she had almost killed Umi. She would have, if she’d been able to. She knew that despite Honoka claiming to hate their traitorous friend she still loved her, and she would never forgive her if she did kill Umi.

Honoka watched as Eli hurried off to find Maki. Carefully, she leaned back against the pillows behind her and glanced over at the chair next to her bed. It had been used recently, she could tell. Kotori’s jacket was thrown across the arm of it. She couldn’t help but wonder how far away Kotori was right now. Turning onto her side, she leaned off the bed and reached for the jacket. It was just out of her reach and she leaned a little bit further.

“Honoka!” Maki’s voice barked suddenly, causing Honoka to freeze, half off the bed. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Uh…” Honoka felt hands push against her shoulders and a moment later she was on her back, staring up at the young doctor. Maki looked like she had just woken up, her hair sticking up in all directions. She wasn’t even dressed in her lab coat like usual, she was wearing shorts and a shirt she had obviously slept in instead. “I just wanted that…” She pointed to the jacket on the chair and Maki glanced toward it, her expression visibly softening when she noticed what it was. Sighing, she picked it up and pressed it into Honoka’s arms.

“She was here earlier, you know.” She told Honoka quietly as she leaned in to examine Honoka’s head. She shone the small torch in her hands toward Honoka’s eyes, taking note of her reactions. She kept her voice hushed, both to avoid giving Honoka even more of a headache and so Eli couldn’t hear her. “She and the pyro had been taking turns sleeping next to you.”

Honoka hugged the jacket close to her chest, catching the scent of her ex-girlfriend on it. “What about Umi? Did Kotori-chan bring her along too?”

Maki paused for a second at the harsh tone of Honoka’s voice. “Follow my finger.” She moved her finger in front of Honoka’s eyes and watched carefully as she followed it. “Good.” She lowered her hand and thought for a moment about Honoka’s question. She didn’t know if she was supposed to answer it or not. A part of her wanted Honoka to know that Umi had been there of her own volition, because she was worried, but another part of her knew that it was none of her business. “I think you’re going to be fine.”

Honoka offered a small smile in response. “Thank you, Maki-chan. For saving my life.” She paused briefly as Maki’s hand came to rest gently on her shoulder, the hint of a smile playing at the doctor’s lips. “I’m still mad at you for cutting off all of my hair though.”

Maki chuckled under her breath, her relief that Honoka was going to be okay getting the better of her. Even after the surgery had been a success she had found herself worrying that Honoka wasn’t going to wake up. “Of course you are. Don’t worry, short hair will suit you.”

Honoka grumbled under her breath and glanced past Maki at Eli who seemed to be watching the two of them carefully. She held her hand out to the blonde who made her way over as quickly as she could, taking the hand offered to her.

Maki glanced at Eli and rolled her eyes though she didn’t comment on the blonde’s thoughts. “I’ll wrap your wounds again later. I’ll be in my office, cleaning up the mess you made. Idiot…”

Honoka watched in confusion as Maki walked away. “What does she mean?” She hugged Kotori’s jacket closer to her chest, her eyes growing heavy. “What did you do?”

“Nothing, Honoka. Just get some sleep.” Eli squeezed the hand in her own and offered Honoka a small smile. “I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

Honoka moved aside, giving Eli some space to climb up onto the bed next to her. The blonde pressed close, wrapping her arm gently around her waist.

Eli pressed her cheek to Honoka’s chest and closed her eyes, listening to the steady beating of her heart. She was going to be okay. Maki had said that Honoka would be fine, she reminded herself as she focused on the warmth against her.

---

The next time Honoka woke up she didn’t find Eli lying next to her. In fact the space next to her was chillingly empty. She glanced to the chair next to her bed, her heart clenching in her chest when she found Kotori sitting there. She was leaning forward slightly, playing with the rings on her finger.

“Kotori-chan.”

Kotori looked up sharply at the sound of her name, a smile forming on her face when she found familiar blue eyes gazing back at her. “Honoka-chan!” She quickly got to her feet, her eyes sparkling with happiness. “Y-You’re awake. You’re okay. Maki-chan told me you were but I…” She hadn’t dared let herself believe it until now. “You’re okay.”

Honoka pushed herself into a sitting position, wincing as she did so. “Yeah. She said I’ll be fine now.”

Kotori nodded, feeling somewhat awkward. “Can I…?” Her words were slightly choked as she inched forward. “Can I hug you?”

The question itself stung, though it wasn’t as though Kotori had insulted her. The fact that the question had to be asked was what hurt. “Yeah. Of course.” She held her breath as she watched Kotori lean in but then familiar arms were around her and she found herself sinking into the warm embrace. Her eyes prickled slightly with tears and she pressed her face to Kotori’s shoulder, trying to stem them. It wasn’t fair, that it hurt so much to simply be parted from her ex-girlfriend. She was the one who had made the decision. It had been her choice.

All too soon, Kotori was pulling back slightly, a watery smile on her face. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Honoka-chan.” She brushed her fingers against Honoka’s cheek and watched as her best friend leaned into the touch. “I was so worried about you.” She watched in concern as Honoka bowed her head, her shoulders shaking slightly. “Honoka-chan? Why...why are you crying? Hey…” She gently took Honoka’s face in her hands, forcing their eyes to meet. “Tell me.”

Honoka shook her head tearfully, at a loss for what to say. It seemed Kotori didn’t know either as she leaned in and gently pressed her lips to Honoka’s, trying to soothe her. It only made it worse.

“Kotori-chan…” Honoka gently pushed against Kotori’s shoulder, causing her to pull away. “Stop it. I can’t do this any more. We’re not together.”

Kotori’s cheeks flushed at Honoka’s words. “I-I know but you were upset and…” She had just wanted to help. “I’m sorry. I just...I don’t want it to be like this. I just want you back. Please. I’ll never hurt you again, I swear.” She slid Honoka’s ring from her finger and held it up to her. “We promised, remember? We said we’d be together forever. Just tell me what I can do to make it better.”

Honoka stared at the ring in Kotori’s hand and hurriedly blinked back her tears. “You can’t make it better.” She reached for the ring, carefully taking it from Kotori’s light grip and turned it over in her hands. “Do you know how much it hurt when Umi betrayed me?”

“O-Of course I do.” Kotori said shakily. She didn’t like the way this was going at all. “Please, Honoka-chan. I…”

“Nobody could ever hurt me as much as you can, Kotori-chan.” Honoka took Kotori’s hand and slid the ring back onto her finger with the other. “Not Umi or Eli-senpai or anyone else. I loved you more than anyone.”

“Loved?” Kotori barely managed to choke out, her stomach twisting with nerves.

“Love.” Honoka corrected herself with a slight shake of her head. “I’ll always love you. But I can’t be with you any more. I’m sorry. I need to be with someone I can trust. I thought that was you but after what happened…”

Kotori sniffled softly as she stared down at Honoka’s ring on her finger. It had been there for the past few weeks but that wasn’t where it was supposed to be. It belonged with Honoka. “Don’t do this, Honoka. I’ll be better, I promise. I’ll stay away from Umi-chan, I’ll never speak to her again if that’s what you want. I...please, just don’t do this.”

Honoka bit down hard on her lower lip, her eyes misting with tears again when faced with Kotori’s pleading. “I want you to be happy, Kotori-chan. If Umi makes you…” Her words choked in her throat and she bowed her head slightly. She didn’t understand how that could be the case after everything Umi had done to her. The camp, everything she had gone through there. If Umi had inflicted that kind of suffering on Kotori, there was no way Honoka would be able to keep herself from doing anything. “I’ll always be your best friend. But that’s all.”

“But Honoka…”

“Please, Kotori!” Honoka’s voice was just a little bit louder but it was enough to silence Kotori completely. “I just need some space. I need to figure things out for myself.”

Kotori swallowed heavily. “O-Okay.” She murmured though she wanted nothing more than to vehemently deny Honoka’s request. “But I’m not giving up, Honoka-chan. Whenever you decide you’re ready, I’ll be waiting. I don’t want anyone but you.” She paused for a moment but when Honoka didn’t say anything further she slid from the bed. “I love you, Honoka-chan. Don’t forget that.”

Honoka clenched her jaw, hot tears filling her eyes again as she listened to Kotori walk away from her. She heard someone talking softly but she didn’t look up to see who it was, not until a hand came to rest gently upon her shoulder. She opened her eyes and found Nozomi standing there, a typically gentle smile on her face.

“Elichi wanted to visit you.” Nozomi nudged her way onto the bed next to Honoka. “You know how she loves to check up on you.”

Honoka reached up to wipe away her tears and glanced around, hoping to see Eli. “Where is she?”

“She’s on her way. Maki-chan dragged her off to change her bandages.” Nozomi answered with a knowing smile. “What? Am I not a good enough fill in? You insult me, Honoka-chan.”

“Sorry.” Honoka moved closer to Nozomi without asking and lay her head on the other girl’s chest. She sniffled softer and curled up close to the older girl, doing her utmost not to cry again.

Nozomi sighed softly and wrapped her arms around Honoka in turn. “You’re lucky it’s you or Elichi might have a problem with sharing.” She whispered to the broken time traveller. There was a beat of silence before she spoke again. “You’ll be okay, Honoka-chan. You still have me and Elichi and Maki-chan and the others. None of us will ever leave you, especially me and Elichi.”

Honoka couldn’t speak so she merely nodded, aware that Nozomi would feel the small movement.

--- A few days later.

“I figured I’d find you out here.” Kotori, who was sitting with her back against the brick wall behind her looked up to see Maki approaching her from across the yard. It wasn’t much of a yard really, just an outdoor area nobody really used because it was so run down. She hurriedly wiped away her tears. “W-What do you need?” “I heard what happened.” Maki paused in front of Kotori and slid her hands into her pockets. “Do you want to talk about it?” “It’s nothing.” Kotori said gruffly though the tears wouldn’t seem to stop coming. “I-It’s stupid. One of the cadets was...hitting on me. He seemed nice enough but all I could think was that it was so wrong. I’m engaged. And he’s like...16. I’m 20.” She laughed bitterly as tears slid down her cheeks. “But then I remembered I’m not engaged anymore. I turned invisible and ran away.” “So it’s a relationship thing.” Maki moved to sit down next to Kotori. “Shit. The only thing I’m really bad at is relationships. Performing neurosurgery, I can do but this…” Kotori sniffled softly as she turned her head to look at Maki. “You weren’t always bad at relationships, Maki-chan.” Maki wondered how it had ended up that Kotori was trying to reassure her. She wracked her mind for a way to make Kotori feel better. “You’ve...been acting really depressed lately.” “I am.” Kotori said dryly. She wrapped her arms around her knees, drawing them close to her chest. “I just want her to forgive me. I’ll do anything.” Maki briefly tucked her lower lip between her teeth. “Can I do anything to make you feel better?” “Uh…” Kotori looked Maki up and down. “Well you are the second prettiest girl in the rebels but…” “NOT LIKE THAT!” Kotori laughed though it was strained. “Sorry, I was just joking...trying to make myself feel better, I guess. I’m sorry.” “Ugh…” Maki instantly felt guilty. She should have just went along with the joke but she couldn’t really take cues like that. “Damn it. No, I-I’m sorry. K-K...Koto-nee!” She felt her cheeks tingle and warm as her face turned red. Kotori’s eyes widened at the nickname and her mind was filled with the mental image of a curious five year old looking up at her. “Ko...to...nee!” “Eh...no, it’s just Kotori.” Kotori said, puzzled by the small girl’s insistence. “Koto-nee!” Maki exclaimed, grabbing Kotori’s hand. Kotori’s mother chuckled. “I think she likes you, Kotori.” “Koto-nee, let’s play!” Before Kotori had time to argue Maki was already dragging her off. “It’s been a long time since you called me that…” “Well it’s been awhile since we talked properly.” Maki said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Besides, it made you smile so it worked. Whatever.” Kotori wiped away her tears once more, feeling a bit more steady now. “Thank you.” She hugged Maki from the side, only pulling away when she felt the girl start to fidget. “Sorry.” “It’s fine. I just don’t like people hugging me.” Maki said apologetically, looking down at the ground. “It’s...too intimate.” “Huh?” Kotori’s brow furrowed in confusion. “I’ve seen Hanayo-chan hug you.” “It’s different. She’s my assistant and my friend. We’re...always together. And I trust her.” Maki answered shakily. She didn’t really know what to say about her relationship with Hanayo. “It’s the same with Nico-chan, I guess…” “Nico-chan hugs you?” Kotori asked in surprise. “S-Sometimes.” Maki blushed, ducking her head. “We...support each other.” “So...do you like either of them?” Kotori asked curiously. It was nice to be able to take her mind off her own problems for a moment. Maki began to shake her head but stopped. “It’s complicated.” “It’s always complicated with Maki-chan…” “Maybe.” Maki conceded softly. “But I don’t mind you leaning on me if you need someone, Koto-nee. I...I miss you. I have for a while now.” “I do too.” Kotori hesitantly rested her head on Maki’s shoulder and felt shaky fingers slide into her hair. “I could always be childish with you. I could always rely on you.” Maki murmured, slowly relaxing when it became apparent Kotori wasn’t going to move. “I’m so tired of being responsible for everyone…” “Can you...call me Koto-nee more often? Just when we’re alone if you want?” Kotori suggested hopefully. “I know we don’t talk much now but we can be friends. I mean...we can be friendlier than we are now.” “Yeah.” Maki said softly, resting her head against Kotori’s. Her eyes fluttered shut of their own accord. “I would like that.” Kotori breathed a sigh of relief. “Sometimes I think we forget that you’re one of the youngest of the group. I’m sorry I’m being selfish. I know I wasn’t there for you before but I will be now. I promise. I want to be one of the people you trust enough to hug you, I want to be your friend again, Maki-chan...” “Mmm.” Maki hummed tiredly. She’d barely slept over the past five days, having felt the need to watch both Eli and Honoka. She realized something suddenly and sat up with a start. “I’m meant to be the one comforting you, not the other way round…” “It’s fine, Maki-chan. Helping you makes me feel better. At least this way I’m useful…” Kotori stood up and offered Maki her hand. “You’re tired. Let me take you to bed.” Maki hesitantly took the hand offered and let herself be pulled up from the ground. “I don’t think I’m ready for that.” Kotori laughed, genuinely this time and some of the weight on her chest lifted. TBC

#NozoEli #KotoHono #HonoEli #KotoMaki #HonoUmi #Fanfiction

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murasaki-murasame · 7 years

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Danganronpa V3 Liveblog Part 9 [Chapter 3 - Daily Life]

This time on DRV3, things get ~spooky~. Right in time for Halloween, funnily enough! Well, nearly.

Thoughts under the cut.

Well this chapter sure is weird. I wasn’t expecting such a big focus on occult stuff and religious stuff, but I guess it’s a natural turn of events. At least, the whole deal with Angie basically absorbing half of the remaining cast into her religion and then using her influence to impose strict order over everyone. I probably should have seen that coming. I’ve been creeped out for a while now, and this is the natural end result of her attitude. I really like it as a plot point. It’s kinda sad that since she died here it only really lasted for a single chapter, but still.

The heavy focus on her being more or less a cult leader who everyone outside of her group, and even at least one person in her group, wanted to take down one way or another made it fairly obvious after a while that she’d be the victim this time around. I was expecting at least one other member of her group to be dead as well, though. Mostly because the chapter three cases from the last two games both had two victims each. I guess it’s nice that they broke that pattern. I was really afraid that Tenko would get killed off, especially with how she’s gotten a good amount of focus and development recently. But she’s still alive, which I’m happy for.

And let’s be real here, it was obvious that Angie’s lab would be the crime scene as soon as the game pointed out that it has two doors with different locks on them, and that Angie likes to keep the door locked from inside while she works. That was just screaming ‘this is set-up for a locked room mystery’.

This chapter’s motive was the really bizarre thing, though. I did not see that one coming at all. The chapter title was worrying enough, but then we got to the stuff about resurrecting a dead person to bring them back into the game. That’s . . . something. I was confused for a while about how the process worked, since it was a motive for murder. Like, I guessed that maybe the ritual involved a sacrifice, but the game never really explained the actual mechanics of the ritual until near the end of this part, and it sounds like there’s no murder involved. So I guess it’s a ‘motive’ more in the sense that it’d sow disorder in the group and lead to murder that way. I think. I’m assuming that the ritual won’t work, obviously.

Seeing low-def 3D models of the dead characters was so goddamn weird and creepy. And now they’re ritualistically being hung upside down around a corpse. Yay.

Though before that, I should mention before I forget, there were also more weird hints at the overall story early in the chapter. As I kinda said last time, this chapter starts off with some sort of news story about a deadly metero shower. I’m not sure what to make of it. Was that the unprecedented crisis that Kirumi mentioned? I’m skeptical. But then again I’m kinda skeptical about every single hint at the overall story in this game because everything seems so fishy.

On that note, we also got the return of the funeral hinted at with the start of chapter two. So it seems like everyone was able to remember what seemed to be their own collective funeral. Not sure what to make of that. I can’t help but stick to my ‘this is literally purgatory’ theory, but I think that’s just what the game wants you to think. So then what’s the deal? Are the main characters in this game, like, clones or impostors or something? I have no idea. In general I can’t even begin to guess what this is leading to. I feel like the game’s just throwing out these absurdly weighty but vague ideas and making me think about these absurd ideas for where this might be going.

Like, we even had what seems to be the return of the New World Program machine from DR2, which was . . . weird as fuck. No idea what the deal with that is. And on the note of references to past games, we even had the return of the gold foil sword from DR1. That was probably closer to just being a reference though.

Oh, and on the topic of some of the more random things that happened, I still can’t work out what’s going on with the message on the tile in the garden. That’s still a mystery to me. And I don’t even know where to begin with that scene of Miu and Keebo in Miu’s lab. That sure was . . . something. I guess the game felt that it had been holding back too much on the fanservice-y CGs, lol. I wonder what the chances are that it might somehow be a pivotal scene to solving the case.

I’m also completely baffled by what’s going on with Monokuma just . . . shutting down, and Monodam taking over. The Monokubs confused me in general ever since they first showed up, but now I’m even more unsure what the heck the game is planning with them.

I did another small session of gambling and decided to get the skill that automatically reveals the first letter in the Hangman’s Gambit, and the skill that stops the reticle from moving, though I’m gonna have to wait to equip the latter one since it apparently takes up a lot of slots. I also must have forgotten to equip one of the Argument Armament skills last time since it was there for me to add to my list. I also managed to have enough friendship fragments by the end of this part to get the skill that automatically silences loud voices in Mass Panic Debates. I dunno if I’ll get the one about focusing on specific conversations.

Somehow I managed to get events in with Keebo, Maki, and Kokichi. I wanted to talk to Kaito, but in the later events he didn’t want to talk to me since he was sick. I don’t really have much to say about Keebo, other than that I’m still a bit baffled by how he’s basically just a comic relief character at this point. I mean, he looked so . . . badass and protagonist-y on the first promo poster we got. He’s even the single character shown on NIS America’s limited edition box set of the game. It’s weird. Anyway, moving on, I’m really liking Maki, but I think I’ll talk more about her in a minute. Kokichi is . . . slowly growing on me, honestly. The fact that he’s apparently a huge goddamn nerd who wanted to play Yu-Gi-Oh with Shuichi was pretty great. It’s still hard to get a read on him, though. He’s the sort of character who’s so two-faced that it’s hard to bother even trying to figure him out. But I still think there’s something worth discovering about him, so I’m prioritizing him a bit in free time events.

I almost forgot, but I wanna talk about the Shuichi-Kaito-Maki trio, and how much I love them right now. They’re so wonderful. I still have a huge soft spot for the Shuichi-Kaito dynamic. Especially after the part where Shuichi talked about how Kaito more or less completes him by balancing him out and making him feel happy and carefree in a way that he normally can’t. It’s just really heart-warming. But I also like that Kaito immediately stuck up for Maki and, like with Shuichi, forced her to get out of her shell. Shuichi and Maki really do both need someone reckless and impulsive like Kaito around to push them forward when they’d otherwise falter. Seeing Maki get bought into the training sessions was really nice. I like that she’s slowly warming up to them in her own way, and is actually taking Kaito’s words to heart.

I really like what this chapter’s been doing for Maki’s overall character development and depth. I wasn’t sure how I felt about her at first, but I really like her as a character now. The idea of her being an assassin who’s been forced to basically abandon her humanity and her personal relationships time and time again, but who also wants to live a better life and overcome the way she was raised, is really compelling to me. I also just really like her attitude, especially now that she’s not being secretive about stuff, and we know why she is the way she is. Her habit of saying ‘You wanna die?’ whenever Shuichi questions her about something is amazing and I love it. I’m also pretty glad I did her first free time event. Though, come to think of it, I’m pretty sure it was the part where she talked about the cult that had trained her, so . . . were you just unable to have free time events with her before this point? I guess that’d make sense, given her attitude before this chapter.

As for Kaito . . . I love this purple space boy with all my heart and soul, but god dammit I’m gonna get stuck in another loop of being suspicious of him. Argh. I’m just so suspicious of how he suddenly got all weird and sick a day or two before the murder, and how he spent a lot of time holed up in his room at night and thus feels like a prime suspect for the current case. It’s at least giving me horrible flashbacks to chapter three of DR2, with the despair disease or whatever they called it. Even though I know it’d be handled differently, it’d be lame if we got a repeat of the overall idea of an illness being related to the culprit deciding to murder someone. Especially with how aggressively telegraphed it was that something’s weird with him and he’s spending a lot of time alone. It almost feels like the chapter’s setting him up as being one of the immediate suspects, which I’d be glad for if it means he didn’t do it.

I think I’m at a bit of a loss as to who the other prime suspects would be, though. But that’ll presumably change once I get done with the rest of the chapter tomorrow. I just feel like there’s a lot of info I don’t have. I couldn’t even easily guess what the murder method was, based on the clip we got of her body. Probably because she kinda just showed up for a split second at the end of it. It looked like some kind of wound near her neck area. I think.

The main mystery here is obviously that it was a locked room scenario where the room was locked from the inside, but somehow the culprit got in and out while keeping the room locked from the inside after they left. Even though the last chapter literally had a character trying to tell everyone that they can use magic, this is shaping up to be way more Umineko-esque, especially with the creepy occult ritual going on. It honestly almost feels like a reference to Umineko, but locked room mysteries are a basic enough idea that it’s probably a coincidence.

I’m not entirely sure what my preliminary guess about the locked room trick is. This is a very different situation to something like Umineko, so I can’t really apply the same logic here. I guess my immediate thought would be that I’d like to check if the other door into the room is definitively locked from the inside. Just to be safe.

I also thought that Monodam stole the key away, so I’m not entirely sure how anyone locked the doors from the inside to begin with. If we at least assume that there’s only one valid key in play, and no, like, master keys floating about.

I easily lose track of the flow of time in this game, so it’s hard to remember, but I think the whole scene where Shuichi, Maki, and Tenko tried to convince Angie to stop the ritual happened after midnight, the night before they then walked in during the morning and found Angie’s dead body. So I think that’s the night that this case is revolving around. Which is part of why I’m suspecting Kaito, since I’m pretty sure that was one of the nights where he was holed up in his room, and Shuichi and Maki were doing training alone. I at least know that Kaito wasn’t with them during that whole scene, so . . . yeah.

I know that the clues mostly come during the investigation, but it really doesn’t feel like I have many clues at all to go by for this one at the moment. It at least feels like it’d be really hard to pin down anyone’s alibis since I don’t think we know about anyone having been running around during the night after the confrontation happened. I think Miu might have been working in the computer lab at that time, though, so since that’s kinda linked up to the same part of the building I guess she might play a part in verifying alibis and stuff. That’s about all I can think of, really. The only other person I can think of who might have been breaking curfew after the confrontation would have been, well, Kokichi, who I think they actually ran into shortly before the confrontation. I think everyone else was probably just in their dorms. Himiko got involved in the confrontation too, I guess, but I kinda doubt she killed Angie.

And, of course, a main issue is that aside from Kokichi knowing how to pick locks, I don’t know if anyone would have any unique ability to mess with the locks on Angie’s room. So in terms of each character’s individual ability to pull this crime off in the first place, everyone seems on almost even standing.

It’s probably pointless to predict things too much, but I guess my main three suspects would be Kaito, Tenko, and Kokichi, with Himiko and Miu at a more distant fourth and fifth place. I feel like I can trust Maki on this one, so the only other character who I have even the slightest evidence to suspect is probably Kiyo, purely because he’s gotten a fair bit of screen-time in this chapter.

I have a feeling Tenko didn’t do it, at least because I doubt she would have literally talked about wishing that Angie could die and attempting to basically arrange an assassination on her if she was going to end up killing her directly. But still, she obviously has the strongest motive to kill Angie, other than Maki I guess. And I’d really like to see where she as a character, and her dynamic with Himiko, will go in the long run now that Angie’s dead.

And on the note of motive, I would imagine that everyone on Angie’s side other than Tenko has no motive to kill her and are thus probably all innocent, while everyone on Shuichi’s side has a pretty clear motive to kill her. Which is why I’m only really suspecting people on his side, for the most part.

Also on a metagame-y note, I definitely feel more inclined to suspect a male culprit this time, after two female culprits. Which limits my options even more, though I’m not 100% sure on it.

I certainly hope this chapter plans to throw a curveball at me, and isn’t just blatantly signalling Kaito as the killer. But, I mean, that’s exactly what I said during chapter two, and look where that mind-set got me, lol.

#murasaki rambles #danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #danganronpa v3 spoilers

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