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the-judicial-assistants-notebook · 1 year

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*KICKS THE DOOR DOWN* WWWAIT FREYA I HAVE MIXED FEELINGS ON FANDOMS VIEW OF THIS SHIP I NEED TO KNOW UR OPINION. HOMUMIKU???

WKSHJSHJDBJHAHAHAH HIIIII, GRACE!!!! ❤️💕💞💝💗💖💘💓💕💞💖💞💘

Homumiko (HUGE spoilers for DGS after the bingo sheet):

I have been waiting to get into this ship properly, because I have THOUGHTS and I need to be forced to get them out coherently.

Let's get into the basic ship itself. Honestly? No comment. I think hmmk cheats a bit by relying on the literal decades people have spent shipping Holmes and Watson together, and I doubt that they would be half as popular without this history; but, as someone who has never had strong feelings about HolmesWatson either way, I don't have that bias! Even if we're just going off of DGS and looking at how they complement and trust each other, and are obviously more comfortable around one another than most other people, I don't really have a strong opinion on them. I do think they're close, but whether that bond is platonic, romantic, sexual or some mix of the two is just not something I particularly care about. You know who I do care about, though?

Susato-san.

OKAY, SIT DOWN, EVERYONE BECAUSE THE SHIP BINGO PART OF THIS IS OVER, AND NOW WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE PARTS OF HMMK I DO CARE ABOUT AND WHY THAT ACTUALLY HAS VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH THEM AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH HER.

Let's get this out of the way first. Based on my very modern sensibilities, I take a rather harsh stance on Mikotoba's parenting.

Do I think he loves his daughter? Sure. But which parts of his daughter? Because it's very easy to love a child who is always obedient, elegant and the literal embodiment of idealised Japanese womanhood without knowing or truly even looking at her. I think Susato made it easy for him to love her, because she believed she had to earn it. Her father left when she was born, consumed by grief over her mother's death -- her mother, whom she killed. I know the game tries to justify this by saying it was Jigoku who dragged him away (and I do think him leaving was good for him, because I doubt he would have been a good father even if he'd stayed due to his grief), but the point is that he still left. For six years. And when he returned, he didn't even return because of her (whether she knew that from the moment she met him or not is debatable, but I think, at least on a subconscious level, she knew. And, of course, it's also debatable whether he could have returned sooner because of his commitment as a transfer student, but the Mikotobas are a powerful family, and, if Soseki could return before his period of learning was fully up, I think he would have been able to pull strings to return home if he wanted to).

This falls under speculation, so I understand not agreeing with it, but I don't think Mikotoba ever properly spoke to Susato when she was a child, especially not about what he did in England. I believe that a part of the reason why Susato started reading the Sherlock Holmes stories to begin with was because they featured a doctor in London, like her father had been, and she wanted to feel closer to him through those stories. And it probably worked! Her father probably did start engaging with her more after after she picked them up, because it was an easy way to connect with her. That's why I believe she was so insistent on the existence of John H. Watson, as a doctor, when she met Iris and learnt the truth.

There's this distance between Susato and her father which glimpse in moments in the game, like how he remarks on her lack of composure in court (suggesting that he isn't used to seeing her yamato nadeshiko mask slip), how he less requests her trust and more orders or expects it forthright, and how he seems reluctant to face the parts of her that inconvenience him (like how he asks her to play the koto when he isn't home and how, when faced by her real anger, he looks to Holmes to explain the situation rather than actually attempt to himself).

HOWEVER, in the setting of the game (Meiji-era Japan), I will concede that Mikotoba is a fantastic father. He may not have been very present in her life growing up, but men largely weren't expected to be. Their jobs were to provide for their children, not nurture them. And Mikotoba went well beyond his duty in that regard. Add to that the fact that he had her properly educated, ensured she knew how to defend herself, and allowed her to pursue her studies overseas at a level that was on par with any man, and you can see that he's really quite a great father; which is why I don't think he sees his absence as a flaw or even notices he was absent. Susato, though, does.

Now, Susato is obviously a product of her time, too, so I believe she'd be insulted if anyone was to suggest that her father or childhood was lacking in some way. That being said, I do believe she is aware of the distance between them in a way he is not. I think her affection for him is founded on a sense of duty and filial piety rather than pure love (although, obviously, she does love him), and, as she grew older, she stopped vying for his affection; hence why she's obsessed with the Great Detective more so than anyone else when we meet her. I also think that this distance contributed to her becoming so attached to Kazuma, in spite of the fact that he kept her at arm's length, too; he may not have allowed her very close, but he was always there, and he saw her for who she truly was. When she leaves at the end of the first game, Susato is not so much anxious that her father is ill as she is shaken -- she seems more upset that she's leaving her Baker Street family rather than that her actual father might be dying, and I think that's because she knows how to live without him. This distance between them, I believe, becomes all the more apparent to her when she goes to London and sees the deep bond held between Iris and Holmes.

And, speaking of, you know who else I think is aware of the distance between them and the part he played in creating that distance? The Great Detective himself, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

See, I think Holmes has always known about Susato. I'm quite sure that, from the moment they met, he knew that Mikotoba was running away from something and that he had left an infant daughter back home. He just didn't care.

We don't know what Holmes was like when he was younger, but I believe he was a lot closer to how he appears in a lot of modern adaptations and how Watson describes him in some of the Sherlock Holmes stories: the 'cold, calculating computer' character. I don't think it's a stretch to think that Holmes viewed marriage and children as mere distractions and interferences to the mind; and Mikotoba was, presumably, his first real friend. He wasn't going to let something pesky like a baby back home detract from his friend's obviously sterling character and brain! After all, it's a lot easier to ignore this nebulous, abstract entity when you simply consider its existence, and thus its abandonment, unimportant. It's a lot easier when you don't know what it's like to be a father yourself. It's a lot easier when you don't know her.

Here's the thing: I believe Holmes's image of and relation to Mikotoba began changing from the time he started raising Iris. Suddenly, that inconsequential baby seemed to bear quite a bit of consequence, actually. But it was still all right to keep dismissing her, because maybe Mikotoba's baby wasn't special the way Iris was. Maybe she was a brat or an idiot, and really not worth much time at all! Maybe she could've lived without him and been perfectly fine, regardless...? As time went on, I believe the excuses he made for Mikotoba's decision all those years ago became increasingly flimsy, but he was still able to hold onto them because The Daughter was still an indistinct figure in his mind. She wasn't quite real.

That is, until he met her.

In the game, Holmes tends to keep a certain width between himself and Susato. He very rarely initiates conversation with her the way he does Ryuunosuke, and from a Doylist (ha) perspective, this is obviously because Ryuunosuke is... the main character. Looking at it from a narrative perspective, though, I think he was afraid of hurting more than he already has and must.

Holmes is a very resolute man. He sticks by his decisions regardless of what anyone else thinks, so I don't think he ever regretted what he did. However, I do think he felt guilty. Certainly, he didn't quite take her father away from her, but he did play a role in keeping him from her for so long. I think there was a part of him that consciously guided Mikotoba away from thinking about Japan while they lived together, because, well... he didn't want him to leave.

There's an interesting layer to the separation that Holmes creates with Susato, because, beyond the distance he maintains between her and himself, he also keeps her identity separate from her father's. Contrary to how he refers to Ryuunosuke by his last name, Holmes only ever calls Susato "Miss Susato" or "my dear (madame)", and never "Miss Mikotoba". I view this is his way of, perhaps subconsciously, dividing from that little girl he once decided did not matter. And it's interesting because, to an extent, he tries to do with her and Kazuma, too.

In the SS Burya case, despite meeting Susato first and seeing how affected she is by Kazuma's "death", Holmes largely ignores her in favour of focusing on Ryuunosuke and his bond with Kazuma. He calls Kazuma Ryuunosuke's "dear companion" and pretty much only interacts with Susato when he has little other choice... until he sees her cry.

See, I believe that when Holmes found out Susato was going to England and was about to be wrapped up in the whole messy affair, he was fully committed to Not Giving a Damn about Her. Sure, he would let her and Kazuma live with him, but by no means was he going to allow himself to grow attached to her because, again, he values his relationship and history with Mikotoba too much for it to get complicated in this way. Susato's relative composure throughout the case helps him hold on to this resolution; however, when he catches that final conversation between her and Ryuunosuke in the cabin, he is finally forced to see and acknowledge the amount of pain she is truly in. It forces him to at last face the fact that he can't avoid or fake aloofness around her any longer, because she is not some nebulous, distant entity he can continue to ignore. She is an actual girl with a fiercely strong spirit, a brilliant mind and real, human emotions. A girl whom he's hurt twice-over now and must continue hurting until all his lies finally come to light.

When he makes that decision to enter the cabin and console her the only way he knows how, he throws away any hope he had of feeling anything but apathy towards her. In truth, he probably didn't have much hope of that to begin with, because at his core, Sherlock Holmes is a good man, and he cares.

He cares for her, too, even though he may have no right to. How could he not, when she loves him so openly, trusts him so readily, saves his life? How could he not, when she comes to him in the middle of the night with a secret she can't tell anyone else because his judgement is the only one she wholly trusts and believes in? How could he not, when she refuses to accept he lied despite the living, breathing evidence he did until he admits it himself? How could he not, when after everything he has done, she still looks at him the way she always has and says that she's proud that her father is the assistant of "the Great Detective"?

How could anyone not? How could Mikotoba not... love her the second he laid eyes on her?

And of course this doesn't shatter his love for Mikotoba -- he has no right to these feelings in the first place: no matter how indignant or guilty he may feel, it doesn't change the fact that he has been lying to and manipulating her the entire time they've known one another. He can't even bring himself to tell her that he's been lying; he has to go through Ryuunosuke instead, because, even after all this time, he still can't face the woman whom he's done nothing but cause pain for from the moment she was born. When he can't even give her that ounce of respect, who is he to judge Mikotoba?

So he doesn't. Till the end of the game, he keeps Susato at a distance and pretends that everything between him and Mikotoba is as it was from the start. But, inside, I think he knows it isn't. Because I think Holmes can see that Mikotoba doesn't feel half as guilty about what they've done as he does, and that he doesn't view the fact that he left Susato 16 years ago as a real problem. And while he doesn't judge Mikotoba for that, I don't think he can look past it anymore. That final investigation and dance of deduction, to me, is less an assurance that they are still the same partners they were before, and more a final farewell to their old, uncomplicated bond -- the one that did exist before they grew to love other people and understand what love truly meant to both of them.

Going back to the ship itself, I think shipping them pre-DGS works perfectly well. They both had a huge impact on each other's life and changed one another for the better; Holmes by drawing Mikotoba out from his grief, and Mikotoba by pulling Holmes from his life of solitude and loneliness. They needed each other, but it is also because of these reasons that I think there was an issue of codependency between them, hence the semi-horrible for each other box I gave them. With Mikotoba, it's clear cut. Holmes helped him run away from his very real issues at home and allowed him to live like he was a bachelor with zero familial obligations again. With Holmes, it gets a bit more foggy, but I believe that Mikotoba basically allowed him to live believing he was the only person Holmes would ever truly connect with and properly befriend. Holmes is obviously his own person and whatnot, but I do think there was a bit of unhealthy attachment there on his end if not both.

During DGS and post-DGS is where their ship gets more complicated for me, because, while Susato is still very much there at the beginning of their relationship, her role in their lives and what they did to her becomes impossible to ignore once she and Holmes actually meet. I don't believe that they can just pick up from where they left off because there is now (imo) a fundamental disagreement in how they view their actions and how it affected her. So, even if they do go back to being lovers or whatever afterwards, I feel that there should be this chasm or weight between them that they simply don't talk about or acknowledge in any way. Because I don't think they'd discuss it. Holmes because it isn't his place, Mikotoba because he sees it as a non-issue (maybe he doesnt even notice this distance), and both because sweeping unpleasantness under the rug is so ingrained into their cultures.

My main issue with the way this ship is often portrayed post-DGS (why they got a 50-50 on the I would erase them from existence box) is that it ignores what happened with Susato. The few times I've seen the concern that she might have an issue with their relationship even brought up in hmmk works is always because they're gay. Which, like!! Fair!!! It's the 1800s, I get it, but!!!! You're ignoring the actual, very big issue for why she might be hurt and that's because DGS ends with her finding out that three of the men she's closest to have been lying and using her for their own means her entire life!!!!!!!! And she just has to take it!!!!!!!

Which brings me to the second most popular interpretation of this ship which doesn't just put Iris and Susato in a box somewhere unseen, and that's the one where all four of them are a peaceful happy family with 0 issues! And this one bothers me because it seems like it's taking what Susato said at the end of the reveal as what she 100% sincerely meant down to her core, rather than something she had to say because (1) it is her duty to honour her father no matter what, and (2) because Iris was there. When she learns the entire truth, I don't think Susato knows what she truly thinks or feels about any of it; but she sees Iris, and she sees this little girl who was abandoned through her circumstances as a baby, named after her mother, and forced to grow up much sooner than she should have been, and she sees a girl who is more her sister than anyone else. So she does what she always has and tucks away her own emotions so she might tend to someone else's. She has been the perfect daughter her whole life; she can be the perfect sister.

Even if you don't subscribe to the, admittedly, harsh view of Mikotoba's parenting that I do, I don't see how you can get away from the fact that they still lied to her for a significant portion of time. Especially from Holmes, whom she trusted and believed in more than anyone else! In the face of his shoddy deductions, she still held onto her unwavering belief that he was a genius and a good man, and then it comes out that he's just been lying to her from the first day he met her. I just can't extract the ship from their treatment of Susato, so when I say that I would erase the ship from existence, it's mainly about these two bits. As with Asoryuu, the primary reason why I don't ship them personally is because I can't do that to her.

And, obviously, it's just shipping and fun and games, and everyone should feel free to ship whoever in whatever way they want bUT IN A SPECIAL WORLD MADE PERFECTLY FOR ME. iris would be perfectly oblivious, and susato would have tossed both holmes and mikotoba into the thames and left them to figure it out. In a world that must still vaguely make sense with the canon of the game, though, then Holmes would have given Mikotoba the boot and taken the kids; because he may be a coward, but at least I can see that he knows he fucked up, and he allows Susato to set the terms of their relationship, just like he does Iris.

Anyway, I'm so sorry for how long, convoluted and only tangentially-related to the ask this is, but thank you so much for it, Grace!!!! I don't think I quite got down what I meant precisely, but it's the closest to coherency I've ever gotten so. Thank you 💖💕💗💓💕💘💕

#this one's getting TAGGED bc i spent TIME on it & bc ive been trying to articulate my thoughts on holmes & susato for ages #homumiko #susato mikotoba #dgs sherlock holmes #yujin mikotoba #dai gyakuten saiban #the great ace attorney #dgs #tgaa #honestly i feel like i still didnt quite say what i wanted to but this is the best ive got so far. i like the way their relationships are #handled and depicted in canon but the fanon ones just never sat right with me #i feel like i came across as very harsh to yuujin here wjsjdgak i think he's a good man and he did his best!! grief gets the best of us #sometimes. but i cant get over how he seems to show 0 compunction for leaving susato behind as a baby and openly saying without a hint of #'oh i was also ready to be with my daughter finally' that he was FORCED out of london. like???? ALSO the way he says he wants ryuu to go #back with him & leaves susato out to dry??? i know he says it's respecting her freedom and whatnot but doesnt that seem a LITTLE neglectful #in a way? like it can very easily be read as 'oh i dont need you with me' or 'i cant be bothered to worry about you right now' especially #when he's already abandoned her once like. !!!!! and even if you dont view it that way doesnt it seem a bit dismissive of her role in those #cases? susato was crucial to all the cases ryuunosuke won (and he would attest to that) but yuujin makes it seem like it was all ryuu and #just disregards how important susato was there and i. i dont like that.#some might say that i am unfairly biased towards holmes and that's fair. i kind of am wjsdh but the reason why i dont bash on his parenting #as much is because he never pushes iris to love or respect him as her father. he very much leaves that up to her so when iris asserts at #the end that holmes IS her father you know that there is a real sense of love between them. that's why that scene is so important and #that's what validates their father-daughter relationship #ofc u could still argue im biased bc he did leave a 10 y/o to go on a cruise for who knows how long so. yea. valid WKASGAKSH #anyway. thank you SO much and im so sorry i completely went off the rails there. i hope anyone who read everything got... something from it #💕💘💓💖💖💘💖💕❤️💝💞💗💘💞💞💕💓💞💕💖💖💖💖💖💕#sorrry again grace 😔 i hope i came a little close to giving you what you wanted #mikotoba susato #mikotoba yuujin #dgs spoilers

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deathmetalunicorn1 · 10 months

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Continuation for Sasaki in One Piece

I’m just imagining him meeting the Straw Hats (either when they are on the crew or before) and just having a blast fighting these insanely powerful people who learn as they fight just like him

It of course also get some thinking about the Straw Hat allies meeting him (Law, Kidd, Hancock, Vivi, Carrot, and Yamato) and how that would go

-When those from Valhalla contacted Kojiro, asking if he wanted to come back, after finding him, he initially refused, as he was enjoying learning all the new techniques, which made several of them, including Poseidon, roll their eyes but smile, as they knew that’s how he was.

-Besides, he wasn’t ready to leave his new friends just yet, the Straw Hats that had welcomed him so warmly.

-He got along with all of them easily, Brook he enjoyed having tea and listening to music with, as well as talking about their youth, Jinbei was a strong warrior to challenge his skills with, as was Zoro who knew Kojiro was insanely strong.

-Chopper was at ease with Kojiro, because unlike other members of the crew, Kojiro was a think first leap second, and Sanji liked Kojiro as he was a good mentor and wasn’t a picky eat by any means. Franky loved to teach Kojiro about the ship and the different mechanics around the ship, as Kojiro always enjoyed learning new things, the same went for Usopp and they would exchange stories of past adventures (with Usopp lying and Kojiro telling the truth).

-Robin and Kojiro were research buddies, as he was calm and always willing to help her where he could, and Nami like Kojiro for the same way Chopper did, he was calm and didn’t rush into things. Luffy adored Kojiro and the two were constantly sparring and having fun, Luffy looked up to him like a mentor.

-When news got out that this weird traveling swordsman was with the Straw Hats, many were surprised, but some weren’t, as Luffy always seemed to find the oddest but strongest of members.

-Law was thrown off when Kojiro ran up to him the first time they met, seeing his sword and begged Law for a match with bright sparkly eyes that reminded him of a puppy. However, he quickly learned that Kojiro was the real deal, with no Devil Fruit abilities, he was insanely strong and skilled.

-Kidd thought Kojiro was like Luffy, annoying and too damn happy all the time. He refused Kojiro’s request to spar with him, multiple times, and only agreed when Luffy started to pester him as well, just to make them leave him alone.

-The fight was intense and Kojiro proved himself worthy and it instantly led to a fight between Kidd and Luffy, after Kidd told Kojiro to leave Luffy’s crew and join his own.

-Kojiro was a harmless flirt with Vivi, when she first met him, giving her a huge grin, “They said you were a beautiful princess, but words don’t do you any justice!” but that made her smile and she felt a family sort of connection with him, like a grandfather sort of way and the two got along easily.

-Carrot was another one who instantly loved Kojiro, hugging him from behind, as he was easily able to hold her up. He had never met someone like Carrot before, an anthropomorphic rabbit before, but she was so warm and gentle and when he asked her for a fight she instantly agreed with a huge smile, mirroring his own glee.

-The fight was going good on the ship, until Nami whacked them both on the tops of their heads, leaving lumps after they had started to damage the ship.

-Hancock initially disliked Kojiro, as he was a man, not trusting him, but he surprised her by not being affected by her looks and giving Hancock her space, which she appreciated. What won her over was when she was telling him that she and Luffy were going to be married and he initially grinned, “You’re both very strong and with your beautiful looks, the two of you are going to have the perfect children together!” she instantly was surrounded by bubbles, thinking of having children with the man she loved, and to hear Kojiro’s words made her come to respect him more as a father-in-law figure.

-Yamato was instantly fast friends with Kojiro, the two exchanging blows after seeing that they were both warriors and could tell that each other was insanely strong.

-The battle lasted more than eight hours, only coming to a stop when you both collapsed in hunger and spent the evening laughing and enjoying each other’s company over a hot meal.

-Those in Valhalla couldn’t believe you had managed to make such powerful friends as well as training your own skills, they had to wonder when he was going to return home, treating him almost like a cat, and soon came the conclusion he would come home when he was ready.

#record of ragnarok #ror kojiro sasaki #one piece #luffy #boa hancock

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dimigex · 5 months

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hey just wondering if there’s a rough idea on the next instalment of healing hands 😍

Precious Anon, I was literally working on it when I got this message. I feel all the guilt that the new chapter isn't out because it's been ages. I will say that it started around a few thousand words and it's almost 14K now (oops). Since the wait has been so long, there's a sneak peak under the cut! <3 <3 <3

Ignoring the question, Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. “Tell me about the mission.”

Kakashi raised one shoulder in a shrug. “It’s an S-ranked Anbu mission. You know I can’t give you the details.”

“Well then, you also know I can’t clear him.” Sakura raised her chin to meet Kakashi’s dark, guarded gaze. As much as their friendship had developed over the past few months, he still managed to needle under her skin with little effort. Huffing out a frustrated breath, she continued. “How can you give me mission details when you send me the broken shinobi afterward, but not let me know what to expect? How does that make any sense?”

The tense silence between them stretched for a moment as Kakashi formulated his response. Then, he sighed. “We have intel that a hideout belonging to Orochimaru is showing—”

“You want to send him back to Orochimaru,” Sakura burst out, unable to contain her incredulity. “After everything he’s been through? How could you possibly think that’s a good idea?”

The lines across Kakashi’s forehead deepened, and Sakura realized that she might have revealed more about her relationship with Tenzo than she meant to. They wouldn’t have had much reason to talk about his past, especially since she had him on leave for medical reasons. But, as the Anbu medic, she had access to his file. Tenzo had admitted that much of what he’d told her was recorded inside. It wouldn’t have been unlikely that Sakura read it.

Whatever conclusion Kakashi came to about the information, he kept his opinion to himself. “An abandoned research laboratory on the outskirts of the Land of Fire has been showing activity: disappearances, strange noises, and smoke. I need someone to secure the facility.”

Refusing to be swayed, Sakura inclined her head. “And, you have dozens of Anbu who aren’t currently on leave. Send one of them.”

The idea of sending Tenzo back to one of the facilities that he’d been trapped in as a child soured Sakura’s stomach. He would understandably be on edge and if something went wrong, it would set back weeks worth of hard work. Considering his slip with alcohol the night before, and the night terrors that came with it, Sakura couldn’t risk returning him to the field, not yet. He wasn’t ready. She had to find a way to protect him without damaging his trust again.

“Sakura,” Kakashi chided, voice taking on the tone he’d used when trying to make her see reason as a genin. It hadn’t worked then either. “There are people disappearing, a couple of them were kids. If anyone knows how Orochimaru operates and how to capture him, it’s Yamato.”

The plea tugged at Sakura’s heartstrings, but Tenzo needed just as much protection as those missing children did. If something went wrong, as it so often did on missions, she wasn’t sure how he’d react. His battered body in the hospital bed after his previous two missions flashed through Sakura’s mind. But, it gave her an idea. “I’ll grant his medical clearance on one condition.”

The soft snort of disbelief from Kakashi didn’t match the ice in his gaze. “You do understand your input is a recommendation, right? I don’t have to follow your advice.”

“Yet, you keep asking for it,” Sakura countered, meeting Kakashi’s stare without flinching. There were only a few things that would make her stand up to her former sensei, and patient care was one of them.

“What is your condition?” Kakashi shifted on the couch, a clear mark of discomfort. At least he was willing to entertain the idea.

Sakura let out a measured breath to gather her courage. There was only way that she’d feel comfortable with Tenzo being back in the field. “Assign me to his team.”

“Absolutely not.” Kakashi’s answer came almost as soon as the words left Sakura’s lips. “This mission has a high probability of failure, and you are not trained to handle these types of situations.”

Whose fault is that? Sakura managed to keep the question from leaving her lips, but only barely. Anger flooded her system at the implication that she was somehow less because she hadn’t received Anbu training. She had completed S-rank missions before, and her medical ninjutsu rivaled if not surpassed Tsunade’s. “If you’re worried about failure, I’m the best option to get your team out without casualties.”

“This isn’t a game,” Kakashi growled, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “I know you’re a good medic, the best even, but Yamato’s team won’t cater to you if you can’t keep up.”

“I don’t need anyone to cater to me.” Sakura gestured at her dirty clothes with one hand as if they explained everything. “This may come as a surprise to you, but I'm in the best physical shape that I’ve ever been.”

Kakashi shook his head like the fact was of little consequence. “That may be so, but you aren’t Anbu. There won’t be an extraction team if something goes wrong.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Sakura recalled the harsh reality that she’d witnessed at the hospital and Tenzo’s apartment since returning to the village. “I’m not a scared, untrained genin any longer, Kakashi-sensei.”

The title melted the ice in Kakashi’s eyes, transforming it into something like pride. “I know, but that doesn’t make you ready for this type of situation.”

Sakura blew out a tired breath, wondering how many times she’d need to prove herself before someone believed in her. “Because you don’t think I can do it?” “Because I don’t want you to do it,” Kakashi corrected, leaning close enough for Sakura to see the pale flecks of silver in his eyes. It underscored the sincerity in his voice.

#Dimi Answers #Healing Hands #YamaSaku #Yamato #Tenzo #Tenzo/Sakura #Sakura #Dimi writes #my writing #sneak peak #wip #unbeta'd #all mistakes are my own #because I'm too tired to edit this again before posting this part

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selenestarmoon · 1 year

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The Fake Fire Lord and The Fake Shogun

I don't know if anyone noticed but Kaido's plan to leave Yamato as Shogun of Wano is the same as Ozai did when he left Azula as Fire Lord of the Fire Nation.

The difference is that Azula agrees to be the Fake Fire Lord while Yamato refuses to be the Fake Shogun and here I will explain why in more detail:

We know that Ozai decides to name Azula as Fire Lord because he knows about Azula's successes so he is entrusting Azula with the Fire Nation, while he is going to rule the whole world as the Phoenix Emperor, having more authority than Azula. Kaido, like Ozai with Azula, trusts Yamato to give him the position of Shogun and in turn, wanted to leave her as Shogun because by wanting and going to become ruler of the world, he would have more power and authority than Yamato anyway.

In Ozai's eyes, Azula is still his most capable general and his own daughter (read an extension of himself) while Kaido is confident that Yamato will follow his will and Yamato is his own daughter (and therefore an extension of himself). So, it makes sense that Ozai and Kaido to give both full powers over their previous domain, now that they can have more.

Also, this feeds the ego of Ozai and Kaido because they give Azula and Yamato more power but keep them both inferior and dependent on them, they give them titles (Fire Lord and Shogun) that mean nothing in the long run because in the end they would be under the rule and authority of Ozai and Kaido.

Azula ended up being a puppet ruler because even though she is Fire Lord, Ozai is the only one with real power for being the ruler of the world while Azula rules over one of the many territories that are under Ozai's command and thus, the Fire Lord title has no real value so Azula had no real authority over the Fire Nation and becomes just a title like any other that Ozai can easily take from her at any time. Similarly, Kaido wanted to appoint Yamato Shogun to rule Wano but any power Yamato would have would be overridden by Kaido's authority as Kaido would rule the world and Wano would only be one of many territories that would be under his command so that the Shogun title becomes empty and becomes a title that Kaido can either take away from Yamato and give to someone else or remove said title, making Yamato a puppet ruler with no real authority over Wano as Orochi.

The reason why this worked with Azula but not with Yamato is because of the treatment and upbringing that Ozai and Kaido gave their daughters which made Azula seek her father's approval while Yamato didn't. Azula was treated like a prodigy by Ozai and was always praised and told that everything she did was fine, she was used to it and Ozai only wanted her for her power and considered her his best tool

while Yamato witnessed Oden's execution and seeing his bravery came to admire Oden to such an extent of emulating him,

and wanting to be him

and Kaido disapproved of this to the point that he beat her and locked her in Onigashima with exploding handcuffs and starved her, killing anyone who gave him food.

Because of Ozai's upbringing, Azula sought his approval, hiding her feelings and vulnerability from herself and others and consequently hiding her desire to be loved and to have someone she could love and trust, resulting in her basing her relationships on in control and fear, causing others to distance themselves from her and ended up as a puppet ruler with no one to trust while Yamato, through Kaido's upbringing, distanced herself from him and managed to create genuine bonds by opening up to others, expressing what she feels and wants without fear and showing vulnerability in a way that Azula wouldn't have done, causing Yamato to choose to defend her friends and her hero's dream by rebelling against Kaido and rejecting his plan to make her his tool by naming her the puppet ruler of Wano.

It should be noted that at the time Ozai names Azula Fire Lord, Azula was very unstable due to losing her friends through her own fault and Ozai was the only thing left for her so Azula agrees to be Fire Lord when her father orders her to because she seeks Ozai's approval since she wants someone to love her and be there for her while Yamato, because of Kaido's abuse, wanted nothing to do with him but still doubted that he was able to kill her but when he saw that the handcuffs exploded it was the straw that broke the camel's back for Yamato, causing him to disown Kaido as a father, calling him only by his name and rejecting any plan that Kaido had for her such as naming her Shogun of Wano as well that Yamato is not so affected by the fact that she distances himself from her father because, in addition to having the closest thing to a good example in her life (Oden's diary), Yamato has what Azula wants: people she loves, trusts and they are there for her

and achieves this by acknowledging his feelings

and being open with her desires

while Azula continues to refuse to acknowledge hers

and as a result, she refuses to open herself up and is unable to achieve what she truly wants.

Azula is a girl whose childhood was taken away and she was forced to grow up and be an adult by her upbringing so she doesn't open up to anyone and can't relate to anyone or do the same things that girls her age do while Yamato is an adult who acts like a child because of the little contact she has had with the outside world, but when she meets people with good values and meets people who value her, support her and encourage her to express her emotions and follow her path, she is able to grow and improve.

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yanderelovlies · 1 year

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Hello!

Your writings are reaaly good! So I don't know if your requests are still open. But I would like to share this idea!

So how about yandere (platonic) dad dante with daughter reader who looks like Eva, how about this;

Dante is very protective of his daughter that let's say he doesn't let her fight demons or be a hunter. But she has vergil's powers like Mirage Blades or having a katana like Yamato. Let's say dante doesn't like it because when she used them he felt like he saw Vergil and and he forbids them.

Well, after what happened in DMC 5 and with the twins back.

One day dante, vergil, nero and dante' daughter, are surrounded by demons that leave the men lying badly injured. However, his daughter uses her powers and defeats them.Dante doesn't like it and finds out that his daughter was training all that time and Vergil (who is also a Platonic yandere) tells him that he is proud of her and offers to train her.

Thanks you!

Aaah I'm glad you like my writing. I will apologize I didn't mention looms because I try to make it as inclusive as I can. I hope that's okay!

Your mother passed during your birth due to complications leaving your father to raise you on his own. For the most part, Dante did a pretty good job at it too. There were mistakes like every other parent, but you never came into harm's reach when he was around. As you got older you noticed your father's more overly protective mannerisms. You were never allowed around anyone if he wasn't around. He didn't trust them. He never taught you how to use your more demonic power let alone fight. He didn't want you to get hurt he could protect you just fine. It was starting to feel suffocating. So when you hit your teens you began to rebel against him. It was constant fights between the two of you. It was during one of these fights that you learned that you have demonic powers similar to someone named Vergil. You had hoped such a realization would have brought you and father closer. You thought it would show him that you had what it takes to be on the field with him.

Instead, you were met with angry shouts and dismissal of the powers.

“If I ever see you use them around the house or me So help me I will ground you!”

“You can't do that!”

“Watch me!”

He later apologized

“I just want you safe…. you're all I got kiddo.”

“But who will protect you? …..What if you never come back?”

“I will always come back to you. I promise. Besides you, aunts are pretty good at keeping your dad in check.”

You pretended to comply with your father's demands, but when he was gone, and one of your aunts was watching you; you trained to hone your demonic powers along with knack with the katana. You got deeper into your training when your father disappeared. Nero claimed he would protect you as your father made him promise, but you knew Nero couldn't be there all the time. So you kept training.

You didn't understand how well your training paid off till the night of your father's return. While lounging in the room upstairs you heard a loud crash below. Terrified you grabbed your weapon, creeped out of your room, and looked over the balcony. There was a fight below. Nero, your dad, and an unknown man were fighting hoard after hoard of demons. They started strong, but as more came the more tired they became until eventually the three of them were on the floor a stab away from death.

“Father! No!” without much thought you jumped from the rail sword at the ready when you land. Summoning mirage blades while fighting was second nature to catching the attention of everyone in the room. By the time the rest of your family was able to sit upright again, you finished the last of the hoard. You sheathed your sword letting out a tired sigh. This felt way different compared to your training, but you kinda liked it!

You turned to your father with the biggest smile proud of what you had just pulled off. Only to be met with a harsh glare, and said man stomping towards you. Before you could say anything Dante snatches the sword out of your hand his stare was harsh. “ What did I tell you.” he seethed.

Your smile turned into one of shock as you opened your mouth to say something but quickly closed it. This wasn't how you thought he would react. You thought he would be proud. You thought he would finally see that you're ready! Before your dad could say anything more the man from before walks up beside him snatching the katana from him.

“They did just fine Dante… I don't see why you're so against it.” The man held the katana out to you, but before you could try to grab it Dante tried to snatch it again. The man moved it before he could sending him a harsh glare.

“They are my kid, and I don't want them to have the same lifestyle we did.”

The man rolled his eyes “So teach them how to fight. To protect themselves when you're gone.” This seemed to throw your father in frenzy, but before he could fling himself at the man Nero pulled him back glaring between the two.

It was silent for a while before the man walked closer to you handing your sword back. “Im proud of how far you've come on your own. Keep up the training. Now go back upstairs your father and I will clean up down here.” he pushed you towards the stairs before walking to Dante.

“Let's get this over with.’

#platonic yandere #platonic Dante #platonic Vergil #platonic dante and reader #platonic Vergil and reader #dmc dante #dante sparda #dmc vergil #vergil sparda

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love-for-yamato-and-sora · 1 year

Text

happy sorato day and merry christmas

the first part: https://at.tumblr.com/love-for-yamato-and-sora/in-fact-according-to-the-booklet-of-the-unsigned/81qlm4djfnre

the second part: https://at.tumblr.com/love-for-yamato-and-sora/digimon-adventure-official-novel/i5ctg94gtlny

the third part: https://at.tumblr.com/love-for-yamato-and-sora/i-will-then-post-the-official-novel-section-sora/su4ut9ay9hca

the forth part:https://at.tumblr.com/love-for-yamato-and-sora/there-are-too-many-parts-of-yamato-and-sora-in-the/y19o5zfx550w

Mimi-chan.” Sora held out her hand to help her up. But Mimi didn’t bother grabbing it. Instead, she said, “I’m not going.” The way that she said it wasn’t in her usual pleading whine, but in a gloomy, oppressed tone. It threw Sora off.

“What do you mean you’re not going, Mimi-chan…?” “We fight, and fight, and then what do we gain from it? Nothing is born out of it. All that comes out of it is sadness and hate. I don’t want to deal with that anymore. I’m not going!” Sora looked at Taichi’s face, troubled. Taichi also searched for the right words to speak to her when, “You can’t just not go,” Yamato spat harshly at Mimi. “You’re shocked by Whamon and Leomon’s deaths. I get it. But we need to fight, or someone else will get killed just like them. Do you want that blood on your hands?!” “Of course not! But I just can’t see fighting as the only answer to our problem!”

https://digitalscratch.pmsinfirm.org/8130

This episode is different from the plot of the TV series. After they defeated the Iron metalseadramon, Mimi didn’t want to fight anymore. At this time, Yamato said something “You can’t just not go,” Yamato spat harshly at Mimi.

Yamato and Mimi continued to glare at each other. Thinking that he was inadequate after all,

https://digitalscratch.pmsinfirm.org/8130#:~:text=Yamato%20and%20Mimi%20continued%20to%20glare%20at%20each%20other.%0AThinking%20that%20he%20was%20inadequate%20after%20all%2C

It was easy for them to quarrel in the front, and this passage can be said to hate each other.

He couldn’t trust Taichi with this at all! Making his own decision, Yamato said to Mimi, “If you don’t want to fight, then leave!” And he cast her out. Mimi smiled at him coldly and, without any protest, turned her back on them and walked off

https://digitalscratch.pmsinfirm.org/8130#:~:text=He%20couldn%E2%80%99t%20trust%20Taichi%20with%20this%20at%20all!%0AMaking%20his%20own%20decision%2C%20Yamato%20said%20to%20Mimi%2C%20%E2%80%9CIf%20you%20don%E2%80%99t%20want%20to%20fight%2C%20then%20leave!%E2%80%9D%0AAnd%20he%20cast%20her%20out.%0AMimi%20smiled%20at%20him%20coldly%20and%2C%20without%20any%20protest%2C%20turned%20her%20back%20on%20them%20and%20walked%20off

After that, Yamato drove away Mimi directly. Seeing this part, isn't Sorato fans a little refreshed!

She left Mimi in Jou’s care and returned to the others. There, Taichi told her what had taken place with Yamato. “I should have been more levelheaded…” Taichi cursed his own timidness. “You’re wrong. Yamato needs time to be by himself. It’ll be okay. I’m sure that he’ll come back.” Sora felt that she understood what Yamato was going through. When she had been on her own at Temp Lake, she had felt the same way.

https://digitalscratch.pmsinfirm.org/8130#:~:text=She%20left%20Mimi,the%20same%20way.

At that time Yamato left the team, Sora couldn’t comfort Mimi, Joe decided to go with Mimi and comforted Mimi, Sora came back, Taichi told Sora, Yamato’s matter, now everyone can’t understand Yamato, but Sora alone Understand him, and know he'll come back, because Sora feels the same as him.

In any case — Sora thought — Compared to the Numemon, who had banded together for a common cause, what were they doing? They were scattered. Had Yamato figured himself out by now? Was Jou still working on persuading Mimi?

https://digitalscratch.pmsinfirm.org/8146#:~:text=In%20any%20case%20%E2%80%94%20Sora%20thought%20%E2%80%94%20Compared%20to%20the%20Numemon%2C%20who%20had%20banded%20together%20for%20a%20common%20cause%2C%20what%20were%20they%20doing%3F%0AThey%20were%20scattered.%0AHad%20Yamato%20figured%20himself%20out%20by%20now%3F%20Was%20Jou%20still%20working%20on%20persuading%20Mimi%3F

This is after defeating mugun dramon, Sora had time to think about Yamato again.

There would be nothing better than if Yamato and Mimi came up with their answers on their own and returned, but if they were already on their way, then maybe she should go and get them. Just as she was about to suggest that, “Taichi-san. I want to go get my brother.” Takeru was the first to say it. “Yeah,” Taichi said, nodding. Not only did Taichi nod, but Koushiro and Hikari did as well. All of us were thinking the same thing, Sora thought. It made her a little happy.

https://digitalscratch.pmsinfirm.org/8146#:~:text=There%20would%20be,a%20little%20happy.

Sora felt very happy to see that everyone had the same thoughts as her.

Taichi looked around at their faces and then said, “Sora and Andromon, could you go with Takeru? Koushiro, Hikari, and I will go look for Mimi-chan and Jou.” “Okay,” Sora nodded. Even she agreed with this choice. When considering who would be the most suitable at persuading Yamato to return, both Taichi and Koushiro were out since they had been Yamato’s reason for leaving. Hikari wouldn’t work either. The only suitable choices would be Yamato’s own brother, Takeru, and Sora, who had an experience similar to Yamato’s at Temp Lake and understood how he felt. The reason he told Andromon to accompany them must be to even up the power gap. “Guys, let’s stay alive and meet up again! It’s a promise!” They all formed a circle and Taichi stuck his fist out in the middle. Everyone laid their hands over it. “Yeah!”

https://digitalscratch.pmsinfirm.org/8146#:~:text=Taichi%20looked%20around%20at%20their%20faces%20and%20then%20said%2C%20%E2%80%9CSora%20and%20Andromon%2C%20could%20you%20go%20with%20Takeru%3F%20Koushiro%2C%20Hikari%2C%20and%20I%20will%20go%20look%20for%20Mimi%2Dchan%20and%20Jou.%E2%80%9D

Sora heard that she could find Yamato with Takeru, she felt very happy, except Takeru is Yamato's younger brother, besides Takeru, only she can understand Yamato, because it is the same feeling, the same mother's problem, so only she can persuade Yamato.

Next is the point.

“Black gas?” Sora cocked her head in puzzlement at Andromon’s words. “Yes. I haven’t seen it for myself, but Leomon has told me about it. This must be that black gas. It is where Yamato is kept prisoner.” Sora, Takeru, and Andromon had arrived in this spot using the locator on Sora’s digivice. But black gas hung over where the blinking point was, and when Sora and Takeru tried to step into it, Andromon hurriedly stopped them. “What happens when you go inside it?” Takeru asked, looking worried. “According to Leomon, once that gas surrounded the Digimon, they began to kill one another. Perhaps it has the ability to control those with darkness in their hearts and drive them mad to their deaths.” “Then… Did that happen to my brother too?” “I do not know. Fortunately, since I’m a machine, the black gas will not be able to take control of my heart. I will go check it out, so the rest of you, stay here.” “No, I wanna go too!” Takeru cried out, but Sora stopped him. “Let’s leave this to Andromon.” Sora really wanted to go save Yamato as well. But she knew that no matter how emotionally stable a person was, there was still a danger that they would be seized by darkness. All humans were like that. But would Andromon’s words be enough to break Yamato’s heart free from the darkness—? Not even Sora was sure about that. Piyomon piped up. “It’ll be okay, Takeru. Yamato will have figured things out on his own, and he’ll be back,” she said, consoling Takeru. “After all, he has Gabumon with him.” Hearing that, Sora nodded vigorously. That’s right. When she had been stealthily avoiding everyone at Temp Lake, it had been Piyomon who had stirred Sora’s heart. That’s what partners are for. Sora’s certainty was reinvigorated. Yamato will come back. He had Gabumon with him. So, she would have faith in him and wait. After all, that’s what friends did… Sora looked up at the sky above her. She could see the land and seas of the real world. You feel the same way too, Mom, right? I’m far from your reach right now, but you’re waiting there having faith in me too, right…?

https://digitalscratch.pmsinfirm.org/8146#:~:text=%E2%80%9CBlack%20gas%3F%E2%80%9D,me%20too%2C%20right%E2%80%A6%3F

This place is different from tv version, they went to the dark cave, because the smoke can control people's emotions, so Sora didn't go in, only the androidmon went in, during this time, Sora kept thinking, is Yamato thinking about his mother, I'm leaving you now It's far away, but you're waiting for me there too, right...?

That was all Andromon said before he promptly made an about-face and walked back to where he came from. Andromon’s mechanical heart didn’t know how to express tenderness, but Yamato was exceedingly grateful for it. Behind Andromon, Yamato walked side by side with Gabumon. As the gas thinned out around them, Yamato saw the shadows of other people ahead. It was Takeru and Sora, but to Yamato, Sora looked like someone else. Mom…

https://digitalscratch.pmsinfirm.org/8146#:~:text=That%20was%20all%20Andromon%20said%20before%20he%20promptly%20made%20an%20about%2Dface%20and%20walked%20back%20to%20where%20he%20came%20from.%0AAndromon%E2%80%99s%20mechanical%20heart%20didn%E2%80%99t%20know

That's it. This part can be combined with the previous foreshadowing, that is, the things about the mothers of both parties. Yamato has never felt the love of his mother, but after that, his thoughts disappeared, but people's hearts are empty. At this time, Yamato Seeing the shadows of Sora and his mother overlapping, it has already hinted that Yamato started to pay attention to Sora at this time. Of course, he was not when Sora was his mother, but because of his mother's problem, the two were tied together like a red line. I believe that at this time Yamato began to pay attention Sora, and then the two were together in digimon adventure 02, I was so happy to see this moment!

That's about it, there are some easter eggs, and it will be updated.

#digimon adventure #yamato ishida #sora takenouchi #sorato

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aajjks · 1 month

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TC!dad!JK

that was unexpected. the last time you and jungkook kissed was a few days ago yet it feels like forever since you’ve felt his lips on yours. you two aren’t even in the emotional place to be kissing one another but does jungkook care? not at all. despite all that shit that has transpired within the past week, he’s still kissing you with so much love and desire because he’s desperate for your touch. you can tell by the way his arms wrap securely around your waist and hold you close.

it all feels so sweet. his arms around you and the kiss until he brings up jackson and whispers “Yn be aware of the gardener boy because he’s up to something”

jackson? you doubt it. he’s been so kind to you and even suggested a way for you to the drama surrounding jungkook and asami but you’re glad you trusted your gut and asked instead of leaving. “Never betray me yn” jungkook says “Because that will be the day I die”

“jungkook, don’t say that. YOU better not betray ME. if i’m stuck here like you say i am then i expect loyalty just like you do. if you don’t trust me then just let me go”

jackson can’t believe what he’s hearing right now. you made up with him? with the man that doesn’t hesitate to call you out your name and disrespect you? do it makes jackson wonder what is it about jungkook that makes you gravitate towards him despite all the things he’s done to you.

children cannot mend a damaged relationship, so it can’t because of jinseoul. you guys haven’t had sex for basically a year now and that’s probably because he can’t please you correctly.

so what is it?

“hey” calls jisung. “aren’t you supposed to be doing maintenance in the garden? quit poking your nose around and get to work”

jackson clenches his jaw before pulling away from the mahogany door and heading to the opposite side of the palace where the garden is located.

‘dammit’ he curses mentally. ‘great. i won’t be able to hear what he said but i’m sure you pissed him off’

~🫧

Of course, he’s never going to betray you and he’s not even mad that you said it because of course you should expect loyalty from your partner.

And now that you have reassured him, that you are never going to betray him, he will rather die than to ever ever cheat on you. “Yn I promise I’ll never cheat on you. I love you so much… can’t you feel my heart?” He takes your hand and places it on his chest. You can feel his heart. “this heart beats for you.” it’s so loud.

He’s all yours. He’s always going to be yours.

You definitely blush at his comment and action, and he feels himself melting. “Aw yn.” He coos, “okay well can you please scream at me, so everyone can hear that you’re angry at me?” He whispers in your ear.

Because the acting starts now. “I know you’ve always wanted to do it, so take the opportunity.” he winks at you.

____

It’s the seventh day now since he has sent the letter, and you guys have been really good at pretending to hate each other, especially you.

Everyone is so concerned about the kings and queens relationship. But More than concern? there is happiness in the palace, because the consorts and concubines still hate your guts.

And someone is also really happy.

Can you guess? Yes, it’s Jackson.. because you’re about to leave your pathetic excuse of a husband- oh, he can tell. He hears you both fighting every night. You curse at him like your life depends on it- and it’s the best thing to ever hear.

But in a way he relates to jungkook because he’s so obsessed with you- even though Jackson is sure that he loves you more than Jungkook ever could.

And he can do anything to have you- he is planning something, but how is it going to come to fruition because Jisung… is always watching him.

fortunately, for him, someone else is going to remove the obstacle in his way of having you, yes, that’s right- the Empress of Yamato is going to be here today

And as expected Jungkook is not thrilled at all. He’s sitting in his office really concerned because he has no idea what that old witch wants. You are in your bedroom with Jinseoul.

Oh, he misses you and his child so much.

Just as he’s sitting in his office, looking through the papers like always, there is a knock on his door..

“Come in.”

He hasn’t been interacting much with Asami- he is really concerned about her mother. “what is it?”

“the Empress of Yamato is here Your Majesty. Her carriage, it has been spotted near the kingdom.”

#ask: tc!jungkook #LOLLL LOOK AT JACKSON AND AYAME THINKING THAT JK N YN #ARE BOTH BAD AT PLEASING EACH OTHER BUT IF ONLY THEY KNEW ABOUT HER UPCOMING 10 PREGNANCIES AND NINE CHILDREN LMAOOO

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upon-blades-twilight · 4 months

Text

Vergil's Bio & RP Hooks

Vergil Greed Sparda

The viola who's strings strain for his faith in humanity.

Age: 43 (Dmc5), 53 (Main Arc)

Height: 6'4

Race: Half demon, half human

Relations: Older twin to Dante, Father to Nero and to a reborn V

Marital Status: Single and uninterested. He does have a deceased love interest from his past that he tried to protect.

Moral Alignment: Very grey. His outlook on others is very dim and untrusting, although he understands and wants to believe in true humanity. His empathy ends up concentrated mostly to those close to him, but it does stretch to the vulnerable. He struggles but is trying for the rest. In dire situations he will not hesitate to be greedy with his empathy. He will sacrifice others to keep his loved ones safe.

Personality: Cold yet gentle sums him up nicely. He is kind at the core, but his past trauma leaves him extremely guarded and distant most of the time. This is also the reason why his empathy is skewed; over protective of his loved ones and easy to abandon others. His upbringing also makes him an incredibly formidable foe, and his traumas can rarely render him feral.

Likes: Sparring, poetry, reading, music (plays violin, cello, and piano), Ieido, cooking, flowers (roses, forget me nots, lavender, lillies of the valley)

Dislikes: Pessimism, sleeping (usually results in nightmares if his constantly racing kind somehow manages to sleep), when he's forced to trust someone he otherwise doesn't trust, anything that could trigger haunting memories, anyone that's overly loud and rambunctious Abilities: He has much the same techniques and abilities as he does canonly in terms of battle. One key difference is his ability to manipulate space time with Yamato, which he's now much more adept at. It's not specific, but he's a lot more likely to alter his environment's tempo of time and through teleportation.

He does have great knowledge in alchemy and demonology however.

RP Hooks After Background

Background

His past is basically canon except for a few marked differences:

The Sparda family was actually a lot older where demons were much longer lived compared to humans. Their younger days were spent in the early 1800's, and still looked 18 by the time the events of Temen Ni Gru happened.

The woman that he used to be with was someone he loved very dearly, named Eloise. She was a priestess of the Church of Sparda, but she was also secretly an experimental subject from them, too.

She had a slight resemblance to the angelic-like creatures that they made. Pale, looked largely human, but had a small pair of immature angelic wings. However, she wasn't a demonic spirit trapped and enslaved inside of an armour like the rest. Instead, they tried putting the characteristics and power of their armours directly into her. While they were successfully doing so, it also caused her body to slowly degrade and begin to die.

In time, Vergil found out about her treatment and how her body started to fray at the seams. By then it was too late for any thoughts of revenge and instead went into a panicked hunt for anything to save her. She was dying and had very little time left, so it was do or die.

With everything he had researched thus far, he chose to use this knowledge to further his search for Sparda's power. This time it wasn't intended for selfish strength, but rather to use it as an ingredient for an elixir of life. This led to the events of Temen Ni Gru, and explained why he seemed very impatient and agitated through the course of DMC3.

Through all his research, he also learned about how devil powers awaken, especially Dante's in particular. At the very least Vergil knew his actions of removing the seal to the demon world would wreak havoc across the human realm. He also knew that, at the time, Dante wasn't ready for that. He wanted his recently re-found twin to live by letting him grow strong through the trials of the tower, and chose to awaken his demon powers himself by running him through with the Rebellion.

In the end, he failed to obtain that power. Dante was right in trying to stop him, as Vergil's unstable and drastic nature at the time would have ended with him losing control of his father's power. Who knows how things would've ended then.

With failure and the guaranteed death of someone very dear, he made sure Dante could escape, and chose suicide there after by throwing himself to Mundus. After all, a katana user never throws their sheath away, especially when it's incredibly important as an iaijutsu user. Unfortunately it wasn't death that would greet him when facing Mundus.

He had no idea that she became pregnant and had Nero.

~~~

When he returned, he did have his ups and downs at first. Mainly his mental state taking an extreme dive soon after the Qliphoth tree fell. There was too much going on at the time to let everything sink in yet. The torment he had endured over the years flooding back, finding out Nero is his son whom he unknowingly abandoned, facing the death of his mother Eloise, and the high levels of depression and critical levels of illness Dante had fallen to over the years. (He had mild symptoms as a child but time has caused them to grow into severe complications.)

For a while, he fell into an almost feral-like state. Dante chose to nurse him back, which he successfully did due time. From there, Vergil chose to stay with his twin. Dante needed the help due to his physical state and lack of money. Becoming his forever caregiver from then on was the least Vergil could do and as a means of redemption and to give back after everything that had happened between the two.

With the hunts for demons becoming more and more scarce, Vergil chose the route of a regular human's job to financially supply his twin. Eventually he took the alias 'Professor Jun' and became a professor at a nearby college for physics. He knew it well between his studies and due to how he used Yamato. On the side he was also a tutor for music, alchemy, and demonology.

As time went on, Vergil did often go back to the ruins of their mansion as a mix of searching what could be recovered and for nostalgia. One of these trips would be extremely fruitful with the findings of a small fortune. To be exact, it was savings and treasures he had found as a child and had stashed them in secrecy. By now these antiques were worth much more than they did back then.

Still, it was money that Dante refused to take since he felt like he didn't deserve it. No matter how much Vergil tried, his twin always refused it. The only way he could otherwise help Dante is to pay for things behind his back. Mainly his bills.

Otherwise, Vergil chose to rebuild their old home, knowing there would be plenty of the fortune still left after. He also knew the space was needed between Nero's growing family and due to having V back as a second son. He also wanted it to be prepared for Dante for whenever his health took a dive.

This is where Vergil primarily lived now. He still took care of Dante and kept a close eye on him. Yamato's teleportation became a great asset in this regard. He also still continued his teachings as a Professor.

Sadly, he couldn't be content. Not when he knew his twin's health was failing. Just as he did with Eloise, Vergil spent most of his free time studying and in search of a way to help Dante. He could only hope he wouldn't lose his mind like he did before.

By now, an entire ten years has passed since his return.

RP Hooks

Demon Hunter: Be it for hire or as a partner, Vergil is always willing to take up a job. If not for money to further help his twin's financial woes, then for the chance of a good challenge. He's ever craving for a good fight. He's still trying to understand empathy and trust, so he won't make a perfect partner.

Rival: A good rival comes naturally with his want of a good challenge. Only time will tell if a relationship with a rival will end up being a positive or negative one. As he's still learning empathy, there's a very good chance that an innocent could end up in the crossfire of his work.

Seeker of Power & Knowledge: He lusts for both very heavily. Much of his past trauma is based on his inability to protect others and his childhood self. These situations keep returning, currently in regards of his ailing younger twin. If you have the answers he's after, he will no doubt seek you out. Whether he'll take those answers by force or through naive faith in you, that's only something time will tell.

Guardian: There's always the off chance that he could be hired as a body guard. There's always a chance that something else could happen that may land him in such a role, especially if someone becomes vulnerable due to an attack or loss of family. Although empathy isn't something he has down entirely, he does have an instinct to cover the vulnerable. It's not unlikely to see him even carrying a kitten home.

Physics Professor & Tutor: Vergil's knowledge is vast thanks to several factors. It takes a certain understanding of space time to wield his shinken, Yamato, as a source of transportation. He has also gained much knowledge in demonology and alchemy in his quest to learn about his demon father and how to gain his power. Vergil also has a love for music, excelling especially in the piano, violin, and cello. There is also his prowess with fighting, especially with a sword. Anyone seeking to learn the above would do well to approach him. Or maybe you just happened to have him as a physics teacher in the college you frequent.Bookstores & Cafes: Both are places he highly enjoys for relaxing. A quiet atmosphere is a must for him to enjoy either. Sometimes he may be seen at an establishment as a part time employee if his twin's funding is feeling especially tight.

#[⚚𝔗𝔢𝔞 𝔅𝔦𝔰𝔠𝔲𝔦𝔱𝔰]#||𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝔽𝕒𝕚𝕥𝕙||

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detectiveichijouji · 6 months

Text

Case 25 - A brother’s puzzle: The last shard!!

[AO3 version]

With the warnings given by the 02 Team and Koushiro, Yamato got a little way more concerned than usual. Takeru asked everyone to not tell Yamato that he was also a victim of those bad guys before, knowing very well who his brother is capable of doing.

Would someone spill the beans and tell Yamato? Not really, at least not from the younger kids or the rest of the older six.

He knew there’s two kinds of digimon running around and brainwashing people, giving them shards of a wicked and forbidden Digimental. He knew Sora, Taichi and Joe were victims, and that almost Mimi was the next. What would happen if someone else… Someone…

“... Takeru.”

“?”

Yamato had called Takeru for a drink at a coffee shop. Patamon was with Takeru, of course. But Gabumon… Was actually at Koushiro’s server, and talking with them via Yamato’s phone.

“...” Yamato wanted to ask him about something, but he faltered.

“What is it?”

“ ‘I want you to be careful.’ is what Yamato wants to say,” Gabumon spoke via the screen.

“Don’t worry, they can’t catch me or the others” Takeru smiled, “We don’t have strong negative feelings or desires at the moment.”

“But…!!”

“I’m with Takeru and I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to him!” Patamon said with a serious yet cutesy gaze on Yamato and Gabumon.

“I’m counting on you, Patamon” Yamato then gave the digimon a pat.

“Leave it to me~”

“Did you catch that digimon who forced Sora and Piyomon to fuse-evolve?” Then he asked Takeru and Patamon. Takeru could notice that he stopped the pats on Patamon and grabbed his latte. Took a sip, and then looked again to his brother.

“Uh, no?” Patamon replied with a frown.

“But you don’t need to worry about it,” Takeru added quickly, “We will find them and retrieve the last two shards before someone else turns into a victim.”

“... How about Arsenemon? He got 10 of those. There’s nothing saying he won’t use them on you or on others.”

“Um… Arsenemon is a weird case” Patamon explained, “He has gathered ten fragments of the Digimental, but he… Didn’t use them at all.”

“Yeah,” Takeru nodded, “He told Daisuke-kun we wouldn’t believe him if he told us his true intentions with those shards.”

“I understood,” Yamato said, thoughtful.

“... Daisuke-kun wants to ask him what he plans to do with them though,” he added, trying to keep the conversation going on, “Though he has been acting strange lately.”

“Daisuke?” Yamato raised an eyebrow; he took a sip of his latte again.

“Yeah, first he was fired up about catching Arsenemon, but since he met a new student called Noel Leblanc he’s… Not much interested in it anymore.”

“Hm??” Gabumon blinked.

“Ichijouji-kun suspects Noel-kun had created Arsenemon, but Daisuke-kun gets a little defensive when we check Noel-kun’s background…”

“A human-made digimon… Like Chimeramon, or Arukenimon and Mummymon…” Yamato took another sip.

“He said he knows Catherine, the French Chosen Child who I met six years ago… But… It sounded a little off too.”

“... Stay safe then, if you think this kid is suspicious.”

Yamato finished his latte and then got up from the table. He took his phone and put it in his pocket. Then, “I have to go now. I have classes now.”

“Oh ok, so please stay alert and don’t let those digimon come after you. And don’t do something reckless.”

“Same to you.”

“...”

Daisuke was a little… strange indeed. He just felt like he had done something bad but why?

“I caught you now, and you will give me those shards!!”

“My, why don’t you ask yourself if it is a good idea keeping me captive right now, mon ami?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!!”

“Your friends are in danger, monsieur Motomiya. And I’m the only one able to save them right now.”

“...”

“Daisuke…” Lilymon had called him, “Aren’t you…”

“Ack, I don’t know! Lilymon please let him go. I got a bad feeling…”

“But…”

“Just… Trust me, okay?”

“Alright…” she had snapped her fingers and the vines and flowers magically had turned into dust, freeing Arsenemon.

“Oh? Are you really letting me go?”

“Save them. Like, now. I don’t care about that stupid shard, just save Wallace and Gummymon. Stop them before they hurt someone.”

“Alright, mon ami. I will grant you that wish.”

Arsenemon had left in a blink of the eye.

“...” Now, Daisuke was full of regrets. But… Deep down, something said it was the right choice.

“You’re too quiet,” V-mon commented.

“... Sorry, I… I was thinkin’ about…”

“Is it about Arsenemon?” the digimon said, while they headed back home, “You think Ken is right about Noel?”

“... I don’t think Ken is right, he’s just accusing Noel without proof. Like, who cares if Noel is a distant relative of some famous writer??!”

“Said writer made a character called Arsene too, it’s… suspicious, don’t you think?”

“Noel wouldn’t make something like this, he’s not a guy like… The old Ken, ya know?”

“Maybe Arsenemon is not a bad guy,” he heard someone’s voice coming from the back. He and V-mon looked back, and saw… “Ah I’m sorry I heard you by accident...”

“Since when you were behind me, Noel?” Daisuke blinked.

“I just… I just came. Sorry, I wanted to talk about something with you.”

“Something huh…” V-mon blinked.

“... About Arsenemon.”

“?!”

“So, you made him, right!?” V-mon babbled, Daisuke immediately covered the digimon’s mouth.

“H-huh??”

“Don’t mind him, he ate too much sugar today!” Daisuke babbled, “T-then… What do ya want to talk about him…?”

“I think he’s not a bad guy…” Noel began, “I mean… It’s just a gut feeling.”

“Yeah, he kinda… helped us out before and before, and he said to have a reason for catching those, something he claimed we wouldn’t believe him…”

“And why would he think you guys wouldn’t understand his reasons?”

“Beats me” he uncovered V-mon’s mouth and shrugged, “I think he’s just a weirdo.”

“A… A weirdo…?” Noel gasped.

“What, don’t ya agree?”

“Or are you implying you know something we don’t?” V-mon squinted his eyes at the French boy.

“O-oh… No, I… I never thought of him that way…” He seemed sad???

“... If you…” Daisuke started, quite hesitant, “If you were to make a digimon, like, if you could make one… You wouldn’t make one to hurt others, or… us, right?”

Noel blinked, “Uh… No? Why would I do that…? Humans shouldn’t create digimon, they shouldn’t play a god role…”

“... Ah Alright. You’re right, this would be bad.”

“But Oikawa…” V-mon frowned, “Oikawa did that… And he wasn’t bad.”

“... You’re right… But Arukenimon and Mummymon said their only purpose was to destroy the Digital World… Though… I think it was because of Vamdemon’s influence, if they…”

“A human shouldn’t mess with the power of creating digimon life” Noel sighed.

“... I think Arukenimon and Mummymon would’ve been good digimon if they had the chance…”

“?!!” Noel gasped in silence.

“The Digimon Kaiser made a legit bad digimon without a single mind, so I don't think Chimeramon would be redeemed. However…”

“You think I made Arsenemon, right…?”

“No, I…”

“It’s okay… You don’t need to defend your thesis. Actually, I--”

Daisuke’s phone rang and he gently asked Noel to wait a moment, so he took it from his pocket and answered the call. It was Koushiro.

“I’ve detected one of those fragments. I sent the details via email, please check it.”

“Oh, right! I’ll check my inbox right now, thank you!” and then he hung up, opened his email inbox and then the most recent message on it.

Noel frowned, he didn’t want to be interrupted like this… Daisuke then smiled.

“It wasn’t activated yet!!” Daisuke cheered “It’s not that far from here…!! We can catch that Impmon before they use it on someone!”

“Um, Daisuke-san I…”

“Uh, sorry Noel. Can we talk later? This is important, we might get a fragment and stop those pranks!!”

“O-ok… See you later, I suppose…” And then he watched Daisuke and V-mon leave quickly.

“...”

Noel fixed his bangs, and he glanced in the direction Daisuke and V-mon went with his green eyes.

“... Maybe I should be going too…”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah, Naito will murder me if I don’t find that fragment before those humans and their digimon--!! Where did I put it?! W-where-- HUH?!”

Impmon just found Ken with the said lost shard in hands.

“Oh, maybe I could--”

Stingmon appeared behind Impmon, and tried to catch him. Impmon screeched and left his hidden spot in panic “AAAAH W-WHAT HOW DID YOU--”

“I know you would be there,” Ken had the same Digimon Kaiser glare at the digimon.

“G-give it b-back!!”

“No, because I know you want to use it on someone else” he smiled, then he put the shard on his pocket from his coat, “Now you will show me where’s the last one, or…”

“Or what, you punk!?”

Ken snapped his fingers and Stingmon charged his spikes to execute a Spiking Finish attack.

“AAAAAAAAH!! I do-- I do tell you but please don’t hurt me!!” They replied in panic.

“Then… Where is it?”

“W-with Dracumon…!! I don’t know where he is though, don’t ask m--”

“Spiking…”

“AAAAH H-HE WENT AFTER O-ONE OF THE CH-CHOSEN CHILDREN!! PLEASE DON’T KILL MEEEE!!”

“One of us…?” Ken raised his eyebrows, this meant something was not right.

“Ken!!” Daisuke called him, meeting with the other. Just by doing this, the eyepatched Impmon managed to escape, “Huh, that Impmon--”

“Easy,” then Ken showed him the shard, “They lost the fragment and we found it first thanks to Koushiro-san’s tracker.”

“That’s Koushiro’s power for you!” V-mon grinned, “But they left…”

“Yeah, but there’s one more problem…” Stingmon said.

“What is it?”

“Dracumon has the last piece” Ken explained, “And is after one of us.”

“Man… Alright, it’s easier if we let this Dracumon spot one of us first than start looking for it.”

V-mon, Ken and Stingmon looked at Daisuke in awe.

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, that’s… better than nothing,” Ken shrugged.

“H-Hey, I’m really trying to think how we can get that piece BEFORE that thief! And before someone gets hurt too.”

“He’s still upset with those meanies for using Takeru,” V-mon explained.

“Not just Takeru… I meant everyone so far!!”

“Alright, let’s gather the others, and try to track the last one.”

Arsenemon was there, hiding… And starting to not trust those kids to solve any major problem, so he used his magic to write on thin air the list of possible victims according to what he eavesdropped from the boys.

“Hmm… One of them… This means it can be either one of the young ones, or one of the older ones.”

“Would they use someone else again?”

“Hmm… They wouldn’t target the younger ones, because they’re attacking them indirectly…”

“And mademoiselle Tachikawa has returned to her current home overseas… Hmm…”

“Ah, could it be…!!”

Yamato was going home, still worried about Takeru, and also about Sora. He was well aware Taichi and Joe were also victims, and his blood was still boiling. He was almost going after that Impmon! Almost…

Suddenly, he stops in front of a hooded person. Still wary about the events, he brings Gabumon to the scene by opening his phone and accessing Koushiro’s server. Gabumon popped out from the screen and stood in front of that human.

“I’m not an enemy,” the hooded person said. Then they showed Yamato one of those forbidden shards, “I know you can use this for good. I can offer you… Protection against that Impmon.”

“Offering me one of those like them?” Yamato flipped, and this was what the little shard needed to be activated.

“That Impmon… Attacked your brother, didn’t you know?” Then, Yamato and Gabumon saw that smile under the hood. By the shock, Yamato couldn’t move, and then the hooded human put the Digimental piece in Yamato’s hands, muttering “Make them all pay for hiding this little secret from you, and get rid of that Impmon.”

“...”

But mysteriously, Noel managed to witness the scene. And he left in a hurry.

The group was all gathering at the usual karaoke booth, checking the network and the radar program Koushiro made… When suddenly… Someone knocked on the booth’s door.

Ken opened the door, but he realized no one was there… Until something almost hit him in the face. He dodged a card which was pinned on the door by one of its edges. Ken also managed to get to see someone hiding behind the wall of the corridor section -- Was it Noel? -- he thought.

The fine pretty black card with its back filled with a golden cat paw caught Ken’s attention. He took the card from the door and closed it. He showed the new Calling Card to the others.

“W-what!? Already!?” V-mon exclaimed.

“I think I saw Noel Leblanc too,” Ken explained.

“Maybe he was told to deliver it!” Daisuke quickly tried to defend Noel, enough to make the others wince, “It doesn’t matter. What does it say?”

“It says… He’s going to retrieve the fragment from… Yamato-senpai.”

“WHAT!?” They all exclaimed.

“But why Yamato?” Takeru babbled, “Oh no… It must be that Dracumon you mentioned before…!!”

“We should not waste time,” Tailmon said with a serious glare, “Miyako, have you caught anything on the radar?”

“Ummm… I think yes, there’s something near the area of the university Yamato-senpai attends.”

Then, they left the booth, but… For some reason, Daisuke caught something suspicious and went after it. Again, V-mon was left with Ken and the others… Was Daisuke just being reckless lately?

Yamato was not found. Instead, there was this dark armored digimon -- Plutomon. The 02 Team could sense this meant Yamato and Gabumon fused into that digimon, or Yamato used the fragment in himself or in Gabumon.

“When would you tell me… That that Impmon hurt Takeru?”

They definitely heard Yamato’s voice coming from that digimon.

“Isn’t that Plutomon?” Patamon asked, “This is no good…!”

“He definitely sounds like Yamato-senpai” Miyako frowned, then looked at the group while clutching her digivice, “What should we do?”

“YAMATO!” Takeru screamed, “Please stop! I’m fine now!”

“... You lied to me.”

“... Everyone, let Hikari-chan, Miyako-san and I deal with this.”

“But why Hikari and Miya--” V-mon was about to ask, but Takeru interrupted him:

“Trust me, I know what I’m doing.” Takeru looked at them with a smile, “I will save my brother from himself.”

“If you say so…” Armadimon shrugged.

After finishing evolving, all the digimon went to their positions -- Ankylomon and Stingmon were there to shield the kids, Silphymon and HolyAngemon were on the battlefield and ready to fight. It was when they realized… V-mon came all alone.

“EH!? Where’s Daisuke!?” V-mon looked around quite panicked, “D-did we get separated!?”

HolyAngemon knew what was Takeru’s plan, so he and Silphymon attacked Plutomon immediately. Plutomon shielded and even repelled Silphymon’s Top Gun and Dual Sonic attacks. They had to find a way to approach Yamato (?) immediately!!

“Daisuke’s not here…” Miyako frowned, “This means we can’t use Paildramon to hold Plutomon and let HolyAngemon get closer…”

“No, he can evolve without Daisuke,” Ken explained, “That’s how I evolved him before, remember?”

“That’s right…” Iori nodded, “Ichijouji-san was who evolved V-mon and Wormmon into Paildramon when we had to fight Wallace-san.”

“... Can you do that?” Takeru asked out of the blue.

“You don’t want us to use Imperialdramon, right?” V-mon spoke, “Well, we can use Paildramon instead, we won’t hurt Yamato or Gabumon!!”

“Thank you, V-mon.”

Once Paildramon was in the fight, they used their cables against Plutomon the moment the opponent was simultaneously attacked by Silphymon once again. Plutomon dodged Silphymon’s Dual Sonic again, but got trapped by Paildramon’s finger-cables.

“NOW, HOLYANGEMON!” Takeru screamed.

“HOLY DISINFECTION!!”

HolyAngemon approached very quickly and used his holy aura coming from his hands and touched Plutomon’s head, and then, he removed the shard on the chest of the armor, undoing the fusion between Yamato and Gabumon, but falling unconscious. HolyAngemon and Silphymon catched them before they hit the ground and gently put them on the floor.

The digimon devolved back to their usual standard forms. The kids approached Yamato. Ken put his hand on Yamato’s wrist to check the man’s pulse.

“He’s fine, just passed out.” he looked at Takeru, “He and Gabumon might just need to rest for a while.”

“...” Takeru looked at Yamato sleeping.

“Ah! You got it…!!”

They heard Daisuke’s voice from the distance, and glanced at the other:

“Where were you, Daisuke?!” Miyako and V-mon snapped.

“Oh… I… I was after Arsenemon, he was inside the karaoke building.”

“He was there!?” The others exclaimed. Daisuke just nodded his head.

“But why was he there, dagya?”

“Beats me” he replied with a shrug, “The moment I almost caught him, he vanished in thin air like magic.”

“Hmm…” Ken mused.

“Oh, you got our 10th shard!” Daisuke looked at Takeru’s hands, “Now all we have to do is take the other ten back from Arsenemon and we will finally… What do we plan to do with them though?”

“We will find a way to seal them away from everyone else,” Ken explained.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“I thought that was obvious,” V-mon blinked, “Like, what else would we do with them? If they’re cursed and the Digimental itself has a price to pay for its power…”

“O-oh… Yeah, that was a stupid question.”

“Are you okay?” Hikari frowned, “You seem strange…”

“Haha, I’m fine no worries!” Daisuke laughed, “Then, we should send this right to Koushiro-san while we’re plannin’ how to snatch the other ten from that sneaky thief!”

“Yeah, we’re about to do that,” Patamon replied.

“Daisuke…” Ken looked at his best friend for a moment.

“Huh? What is it, Ken?”

“Nothing… Let’s go.”

With 10 fragments for each side… The Chosen Children now are about to witness something unexpected…

Something Ichijouji Ken cannot stop in time.

#young prince detective ichijouji ken #02 team digimon case files

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franeridan · 9 months

Text

rereading op and I just realized how interesting it is that despite luffy's picking his crewmates mostly on sight it's generally a pretty long journey before they actually place themselves completely and fully in his hands - if they ever do. even the ones luffy initially insists on bringing along without giving them much of a choice (nami, usopp) have at one point to turn to him and either ask for his help or for him to take them with him

(this is another post altogether but I'd also never realized how consistent op was in keeping up usopp's jokes about being the captain until the plot forced him to accept that he wasn't, and that some choices weren't his, and that either he gave it up or found another ship to sail on - and he did give it up, which is what I had never noticed specifically. I don't think he ever jokes about being the captain again, after water seven)

there's those who initially reject the offer and then have to ask luffy to take them, actually (sanji, chopper if I remember right), and those who sail with him for a while before they actually place enough of their trust in him to ask for his help (robin, sanji again - extremely interesting with sanji specifically, as he's one of luffy's right-hand men and yet takes the absolute longest to properly share himself with luffy and ask him for his help), and those who accept immediately but have to take care of things before being fully able to put themselves in luffy's hands (brook, jinbe) - and luffy always considers them crewmates from the start, but still patiently waits for them to come to him despite never actually leaving their sides whether they want it or not

(and he does accept their choice whichever it may be in the end, as shown by vivi and yamato and momo and, to a certain hilarious degree, law as well - luffy wants them to join, still actively considers them part of his crew, but accepts their will to stay once they tell him they won't go with him)

the part that I find really really interesting about this is that this pattern does not hold for zoro and franky - though I haven't reread franky's arc for long enough that I can be 100% sure, I'm fairly certain luffy insists on him joining despite franky's continuous refusal and then that's just that. he stays.

same goes for zoro, but with zoro for me it's even more incredible because, compared to how franky's journey with luffy is pretty.........smooth sailing (lol) in the sense that he's never really challenged on his choice to join, zoro is asked to prove his devotion and trust over and over and over again by the narrative - he's challenged on it dozens of times and he never falters at all. of course there's kuma and then mihawk, but also in the arc right after the one he's recruited, not even a couple days after he met luffy, he's hurt enough to need rest in the middle of a fight and he just tells luffy he's gonna take a nap, trusting luffy will take care of his life like it's just obvious. the same problems everyone else have to wrestle with when it comes to their pride and their trust, zoro just doesn't have. he just trusts luffy. he just puts himself completely in his hands. which is actually hilarious considering zoro was the one luffy was the most aggressive in recruiting, that was given zero choices on the matter at all

I don't know if it's because above everyone else luffy puts himself in zoro's hands the most, so there's a certain level of equal standing that's absent with everyone else - but zoro never tries to put himself above luffy in any way, and actually gives himself up for him with frightening ease. I wonder if it's because luffy needs someone like that, from a narrative pov - someone that can act as a pillar and a center, someone the story never challenges luffy on so that luffy can always stand on solid ground whatever's going on around him. I mean, zoro is literally in charge of making sure luffy doesn't drown after all

or maybe zoro's just too dumb and straightforward a person to get tangled up in his mind that much, also a concrete possibility (the most probable one, lbr)

(on an interesting side note, this puts zoro on the completely opposite end of the spectrum compared to sanji - he's the one that was given the less choice and accepted the most rapidly, while the story lets sanji refuse twice, once years after he joined, making his struggle to properly feel as permanent part of the crew the longest in the manga by far)

(I have a feeling this might have been done on purpose)

#musings musings #rereading has been giving me a lot to think about re the inner dynamics of the crew #and I'm barely at arlong park!#btw arlong says something about the king of the world being a fishman in this arc #did we like #ever get an answer about what he meant with that and i just forgot #or is imu actually a fishman and he just told me like that in vol eight like it was nothing #??#txt

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edenslice · 1 year

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New follower here, if u wanna, tell me about ur ocs i want to know everythin about siso and emery go wild i wanna know everything (if ur willing to tell)

EDIT JUL6 2023: these r largely outdated and/or changed !!!!

ANOOOOOON tysm for this mwah (⁠ノ⁠^⁠_⁠^⁠)⁠ノ

siso and emery are my one piece ocs !! they're mother and child basically, estranged up until wci where they reunite after 10 years of separation

siso is NOT a strawhat, just a major ally (enies lobby + marineford + punk hazard → wano)

this follows a timeline wherein yamato escapes onigashima pre-timeskip after siso washes up on onigashima one day, frees him from the exploding cuffs, and they basically explore the world together

gonna be very long so i'm putting it under the cut

emery: fishman, formerly part of whitebeard's crew before leaving (on good terms). she has complete mastery over the Voice Of All Things which pushed her to find people like her and form her own crew, the aegis pirates. they dominated the south blue, and after literally witnessing siso's birth and adopting the child, moved to paradise once roger died and the great pirate era began. personality wise, her motto is "if someone helps to you, go all out with gratitude. if someone hurts you, go all out with revenge".

siso: you know how much the sea plays a role in the narrative right? yeah. that's basically siso. he's the human embodiment of the sea. and i know how overpowered that sounds, but trust me, he's just some guy!!!! i am so serious

backstory......complicated.! wait for their wikis ^_^

trivia timeeeee (siso only, emery is still fairly new and i haven't had enough showers to think abt her character yet)

・。.・.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・

siso

is genderfluid, but only uses he/him pronouns

6'7 hunk of a bear.....he was already 5'7 at 15, had a growth spurt from 6'5 to his current height during the timeskip. he's built like a fat heavyweight guy (healthy fat, not obese or overweight). hairy all over except his face and thighs. his hands are as big as chopper's head

i KNOW that isn't very tall in the one piece universe, but keep in mind that the unaturally tall characters are usually infamous pirates/marines and he's spent (almost) all his life blending in with normal people

cringefail. can and will cry crocodile tears in front of children and scam good-natured people to get what he wants. will bring out his pathetic/lazy side so people would look down on him only to surprise them with all of his lovecraftian loser energy and laugh when everyone else thinks theyre going mad

quite literally incapable of lying—not out of guilt, but of laziness. why bother lying to someone when the depths of the ocean will swallow them whole someday and show them truths they cannot comprehend? either say the truth, keep quiet, or kill them. works like a charm!

has no sense of duty or moral obligation, much to his and everyone else's detriment. he will do and not do things based on how much fun he thinks he'll have, then complain and sulk and be generally unhelpful when wrong until he gets off the task.

odd-job man! used to be a pirate (aegis at 0-16 y/o, donquixote at 16-18 y/o) then decided to become nomadic and lay low at places where marines are prohibited (19-24 y/o) up until the year the strawhats debuted as pirates

siso's reasons for being Heroic and saving those he loves are not simply "i love you and i care about you" but more like "you're the most fun i've had in my life so who the fuck do those bitches think they are to take my happiness away from me"

has a casual manner of speaking and writing, but not so much as slang or informal. he just doesn't care all that much about honorifics and respect in formal spaces EXCEPT if he holds any personal reverence for the person he's talking to (i.e. robin)

deeply, earnestly, respects robin, even going so far as to bow, offer his seats, and say "po" and "opo" to her (filipino honorifics), even if she's just 4 years his senior. robin is like. the oden to his yamato except no kinnie stuff.....the burning of ohara and robin surviving it really moved him and made siso view her as his inspiration and light in a world so needlessly cruel

↑ also the reason why he even met the strawhats in the sea train to begin with, because he heard that robin was in danger and rushed to help

likewise—deeply, earnestly, hates zoro, but his hatred is not born from malice or ill will, but from feelings of helplessness too overwhelming to process. there stands the man who is his exact opposite, who bases his entire existence on his role as protector just to fulfill a promise to a friend long gone and to a crew too dear to lose. reckless, self-sacrificing people like him who are consumed by guilt and duty are fated to die in the most painful ways possible and siso doesn't want that, he wants zoro to live long and to fucking take care of himself, but he's helpless. he wants to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him—you'll never be the greatest because your standard of greatest is a desire too grand even for the sea to grant, i don't want to be the one that will bury you in the end, fucking listen to me—but it's no use, really. all siso can do is stand back and watch zoro slowly kill himself for the people he loves. and he hates him for that

WOAG sorry that was long . this was meant to be sillayyyy (head in hands)

has a complicated relationship with sanji. on one hand, sanji's dream in finding the all blue washed away a deep-rooted despair in him and reignited his hope in becoming whole again and finding that lost part of himself, so he has high hopes from the cook and admires him. on the other, he's just so fucking weird around him. amorous to the point of being condescending whenever siso identifies as a woman. throws his used cigarettes into the sea. fucking pathetic loser of a human man. smells like uncooked fish. has a crush on him that he tries so desperately hard to hide but fails because siso doesn't lie and he can sense when others do. again, smells like uncooked fish.

like seriously what is up w u sanji-kun........stop glaring at me ur sweating thru ur pants. i can see ur bulge. stop (siso, probably)

is in a qpr with yamato!!! i call it a qpr because although you can technically classify their relationship as romantic since they kiss/pda/make-out alot, but it's a little more queer and arospec than that. siso is very conflicted with human labels and yamato grew up loveless so they're experiencing All This for the first time

literally got each other's backs 24/7. they travel together 99% of the time by ocean current or by riding sea kings—siso is responsible in keeping yamato dry and away from the seawater, yamato is responsible for keeping siso's cringefail ass away from physical harm

they don't travel together all the time though, as in both times siso appear in enies lobby/sabaody yamato isn't with him, and yams only debuts in punk hazard after the aokiji vs doflamingo vs smoker encounter

one day sanji will be welcomed in the qpr and turn it into a polycule. idk how though. maybe when she's less emotionally constipated (takes a dramatic drag from my fake cigarette)

aaaaaand that's all for now ^_^ i don't want this 2 be too long . i'll make a separate post for sisos relationships with the other strawhats teehee

#flux ocs #oc: siso #oc: emery #infodump #long post #yamasiso #sisoanji #← ship tags don't mind me :3 #this got. really long. im not sorry but Yeesh lmao #emery will get her own trivia post someday do not worry #AUGHHHH NO ART OF THEM YET IM SORRY IVE BEEN SO BUSY #asks

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electrasev5nwrites · 10 months

Text

Ninja Daily: Vapors 71

“I began using my art for my missions and training at a young age.”

“Oh?” Aiko raised an eyebrow. ‘I don’t really see why you’re bringing this up now, though it is nice to see you confiding in me of your own volition.’

Unaware of her thoughts, Sai mildly continued, “It is best that your superiors know of your unique strengths, so that they can most wisely allocate resources. Do you not agree?”

She bit her tongue instead of replying.

That would have been an odd thing to say under normal circumstances, wavering on the line between a banality and a sign that he needed more practice initiating conversation. When he was escorting her to meet with Danzo, it took on an entirely more sinister tone. ‘Is he… warning me that I can’t hide things from Danzo?’

That was all Sai said on the matter, and she didn’t push. He’d made his point. He probably shouldn’t have done even that, if she was reading him right.

‘Though, what could he be talking about? He mentioned unique strengths, so he could be hinting that Danzo knows about my chakra chains or Hiraishin.’ Aiko kept her face blank, dully staring forward as their footsteps echoed in the tunnel. ‘It shouldn’t shock me that Danzo could know about Hiraishin, which he’s much more likely to be interested in than the chakra chains. If Mei figured out that there was truth to the rumors and eliminated Yamato as a possibility, then Danzo certainly could.’

“Danzo-sama,” they muttered in unison, Aiko hastily taking the bent-kneed position that Sai modeled.

“You two leave on a mission tomorrow evening.” Danzo’s knees creaked when he moved to sit down, air escaping from his chair with a rush of sound. “Information has turned up a possible location for one of Orochimaru’s many abandoned bases in northwest Grass. I would expect that a tracker of your supposed ability should be able to find the truth of this matter. You will lead your senior agent in securing the premises, if there is anything to be found, and retrieving any sensitive information for my perusal, especially anything regarding experimentation. The time for this mission is short, in order to ensure that your absences are not noted, so you may waste no time. You have a day at most to search the area. The other pertinent details will be released to you tomorrow. I trust that there are no questions?”

They remained silent, though Aiko’s mind was racing.

‘That’s a two day trip. He has to have known that Tsunade put me on leave. The timeline he’s given us makes it incredibly risky. If anything at all goes wrong, then I would be late getting back in the village and someone would report me missing.’

Root could only operate in one of two ways. Either the agent took on extra orders in missions legitimately assigned outside of the village where no one was observing, or the agent’s actions were hidden from the Hokage’s scrutiny. By far, the easiest way to do that was for Danzo to train his own agents and keep them off Tsunade’s radar entirely, like Sai had been in the past. If she didn’t know the soldiers existed, she wouldn’t wonder where they were if she called them in for a mission and they weren’t around.

The other option was to work around the sometimes flexible assigned breaks that shinobi were allotted. Obviously that was risky.

‘Definitely Hiraishin,’ Aiko noted grimly. ‘He’s testing me without making it obvious. Danzo wants to see if I’m loyal enough to tell him about a resource that could make this mission easier of my own volition. That’s why Sai warned me.’

“Danzo-sama,” she started quietly. When he gestured her to continue, she swallowed. “A thought occurs. I believe I am capable of transporting the two of us back into the village safely to allow extra time to complete the mission.”

“And how would you do that, child?”

‘Keep it simple. Don’t talk more than you have to. There’s no way of knowing what else he knows. Don’t offer any more information.’

“Hiraishin.”

She couldn’t see his expression through her lashes, with her head bent as it was, but Danzo seemed to have a pleased air. “Excellent initiative, agent. In that case, spend as much time in the area as possible before returning to a secure location.”

He would have reacted differently had he actually been surprised. Thank the kami for Sai giving out hints. Danzo had been testing her loyalty. But that didn’t explain everything.

‘Why would he give me a mission with just Sai? Much less one where I’m at least nominally leading.’ That night, Aiko took a walk around the village, trying to clear her head. ‘It seems serendipitous for me, especially since Sai is emotionally compromised. Really, emotionally conditioning agents the way that Danzo did was stu-’

“Ow,” she hissed, holding a hand to her throbbing head.

Strange. That headache had turned up again suddenly. Her eyes burnt a bit, but a few moments of massaging her temples mitigated the pain. “I’ve been having a lot of headaches lately,” she muttered, lacing her fingers and giving a stretch upwards to unwind some of the tension in her shoulders that was probably contributing to her recent spout of migraines. There was something odd about it, but she couldn’t quite put her fingers on it. ‘It’s probably nothing. Stress, maybe.’

Disturbed, but not quite cognizant of why, Aiko ducked into the first bookstore she wandered by and picked through the shelves for something to work on in her spare time. She hadn’t been feeling creative enough to do any writing for a few weeks, but she felt the need to do something.

‘I used to read all the time,’ she mused, running her finger over a section label and poking inside book covers. ‘Back when I was in the Academy. I think I burnt through just about everything of interest in the public library.’

To be fair, ‘of interest’ meant something very different than the types of things she wrote nowadays. Despite writing things that she found frivolous but enjoyable, her reading tastes leant toward more serious subject matter. It was hard to want to write up academic theory in a world where it was not only coming from an incomprehensibly different state of mind, but also an unwanted opposition to ideological tradition. Entertainment was much easier.

“Oh, the new one is out,” Aiko realized, blinking at the bright cardboard display. “Jiraiya is a busy man… What does that make, like twenty books?” She picked up a copy and flipped through it to be sure she wanted to read this one, ignoring the salespeople and customers who gave her dirty looks.

With that book tucked under her arm, she eventually picked out one more text and made her way to the front counter. It didn’t exactly look thrilling, but the treatise with short histories on the interactions between shinobi villages other than Konoha would probably be good background information to have if she was going to have to work with others. It wouldn’t take her long to read, in any case.

That was one thing that had always baffled her about Kakashi, actually. He was a brilliant man, but he took a ridiculously long time to make it through his Icha Icha books. She might have thought that he just happened to be a slow reader, but he could pick through a mission brief in less than a minute if he was inspired to.

‘To be fair, he might be savoring the experience of books he actually enjoys,’ she hypothesized, tossing her academic book on her bedside table and beginning to read her frivolous book while she prepared dinner one-handed.

Aiko was definitely not that type of reader. She read everything at top speed, and retained a large proportion of it. It would be a lie to say that she had perfect recall, but it was good enough for government work.

That speed was the reason that she had torn through her new Icha Icha book and placed a bookmark in page seventeen of her more serious selection before she finally turned in for the night. Restlessly, she did her best not to think about her mission or what she’d just read in an attempt to get a decent amount of sleep for once. After what must have been half an hour, Aiko eventually resorted to staring up at the ceiling and trying to think sleepy thoughts.

It must have worked, because she managed to clock a full six hours of rest before her mind was too awake to let her rest any longer, even if her body felt like 125 pounds of dead weight. The sunlight streaming in tricked her into opening her bedroom window. She immediately winced and slammed it back shut, flicking the lock.

“Nope. It’s way too fucking cold for that.”

Thus forewarned, she dug out a warmer pair of form-fitting pants and an oversized blue standard issue sweater like Kakashi’s or Yamato’s to layer over a tank top and gloves for the day.

“And now I only have… four hours to waste until practice. Great.”

It was tempting to skip practice altogether. Team seven wasn’t her team, after all. It was strange and uncomfortable to act as though it was. But she had agreed to come when it fit in her schedule. Aiko rolled her eyes at herself in the mirror while she washed her face for being such a damn chump, but obligingly planned her day around a workout with team seven.

When left to her own devices, she preferred to do her conditioning the very first thing in the morning, with fruit and water as fuel. If she needed to do more intensive training for a certain skill set or something, she would usually do so in the afternoon so that her body had recuperated enough for her to push her limits again. Team seven under Kakashi’s direction didn’t follow her (entirely sensible, she thought) patterns at all.

They did pretty much whatever occurred whenever it occurred, depending on who showed up, in what order they showed up, and how much Kakashi felt like actually teaching.

“He’s kind of a hot mess as a teacher, actually,” she realized with the air of a long-overdue comprehension.

He was a nearly-unmatched captain, a stellar commanding officer, and an incredible shinobi, but a seriously iffy teacher at times. As she locked her door, Aiko cast a guilty glance at Yamato’s door, as if to make sure that her less than entirely approving thoughts wouldn’t be overheard by her largest contender for Kakashi’s fanclub. As far as she could tell, his apartment was empty.

‘Maybe he’s out of town, or not coming to team seven’s training today. If he were, he probably wouldn’t have left the apartment yet.’

It was unnecessary and a bit silly, but she found herself going to the grocery store and stocking up on ingredients for far more bento than she could eat. The kitchen at the house was larger, so she walked there and let herself in without blinking twice. It was still her house too, in a way. She’d paid for the damn place. Miso with tofu was bubbling on the stove before she pushed open Naruto’s door and woke him by tossing a couch pillow at his head.

“Wha-”

She was already turning out of the room. “Breakfast is ready.”

That mild pronouncement was enough to get Naruto scrambling out of bed. His thudding woke Karin and Hinata… who came out of the same bedroom. Aiko gave them a speculative look, but didn’t comment. It could mean nothing, and it wasn’t her job to tease in either case.

“Are you going to sit and eat?”

Aiko shook her head at Hinata. “No, I’m not hungry at all.” The rice was done soaking, so she drained it and refilled the water before transferring it to heat and checking on what would be her filling for riceballs. A look in the cupboard was enough to have her frown, however. “What happened to all the bento containers?”

Three guilty faces stared back at her from the kitchen table, soup dripping off of Karin’s spoon as she sat frozen.

‘Why am I surprised? I probably don’t want to know.’

Her pained expression and obvious bafflement eventually spurred one of them into action. “I’ll replace them,” Naruto offered, reaching for another serving. “I can run to the store in just a minute before you’re done with that.”

“Works for me. Do you know who all is going to be at practice today? I thought it might be nicer to sit and eat outside than go out for lunch.”

“Just you, me, Bastard, n’Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto counted off through a mouthful of bread, ignoring her curious expression.

“Really? I didn’t know that.”

Her younger brother shrugged. “Bastard begged Kakashi-sensei to show him some genjutsu, and now we’re all stuck having to learn some. ‘parently Yamato and the asshole don’t have to learn genjutsu.”

Aiko blinked. ‘Oh. That actually sounds like a really good thing to me.’ Naruto didn’t sound chuffed, however, so she let it be. He knew more genjutsu than she did. Jiraiya must have actually worked with him a fair bit on the subject. ‘I’m sure that my theory is up to scratch, but not casting. I only know the one genjutsu.’

That thought was a bit depressing, so she ignored it in favor of carefully sculpting a piece of honeydew melon into a kitty face for Sasuke’s bento (she wasn’t going to make a fucking slug). Naruto got a toad, and Kakashi got a dog. She had just started Hinata’s lunch when Naruto deposited a ridiculous excess of bento boxes on the kitchen counter and pranced off to go watch cartoons. Finishing Karin’s decoration left her with a long moment where she had to think on her own. She shouldn’t make another dog. It would be lame to make two identical lunches, but what other animal was like her…

She shrugged and turned hers into a crude butterfly.

‘This is the best part of making lunch.’ With a sneaky glance to be sure no one was watching, she scooped all the little shavings of melon that were left into her mouth. Yum.

Dessert thus handled, she piled a few cherry tomatoes in along with slices of sweet potato (stealing a few of those as well) before turning to make rice balls.

Naruto was her good natured pack-mule and tossed all the boxes into his knapsack before sprinting out the door. She cringed and tried her best not to think on the way the boxes were clattering together and the tentative connection her mind was trying to make to the fate of the other bento. Sometimes it was just best not to dwell on how unintentionally destructive Naruto could be.

The wait for Kakashi was as boring as ever, from her perspective. Naruto and Sasuke really only did have eyes for each other, even if they expressed that through name calling and wrestling. It was a bond she could live without in her life and wished them all the best luck with it. She’d braided, undone, and put her hair in twintails just for something to do with her hands before Kakashi finally showed up.

‘It’s hard to go back to waiting on him when I’ve had much more timely team experiences,’ she mused, giving him a mournful stare in an attempt to make him feel guilty for his rudeness. It might have worked—he broke eye contact—but there was really no way to know with that man.

“Who wants to try learning the Hell Viewing Genjutsu first, and who would prefer its opposite?”

Sasuke gave Kakashi an indignant scoff. “The opposite? If that’s a perverted joke, I’m going to hit you through that tree.” His knuckles cracked.

In unison, Kakashi and Aiko cringed slightly away from him. Brave, foolhardy Naruto, whose skull was apparently much more resistant to Tsunade-esque beatings, just leered at him. “Maybe you wouldn’t be such a tight-ass if you got laid, eh bastard?”

“As if you would know, Naruto,” Sasuke shot back, cheeks pink.

Kakashi rolled his eye. “Hell Viewing it is. Sasuke, try to take your eyes off your beloved and pay attention, would you? You’ll have plenty of time to stare longingly at Naruto while you cast this on him.” He paused, as if considering what he’d just said. “On second thought, you’ll be working with me. I don’t trust Naruto not to thoroughly traumatize you with something learned from Jiraiya, and I don’t feel like visiting him in the hospital.”

Naruto made a face at him for that one.

The handsigns for that first genjutsu were minimal, and Aiko had no trouble with them at all. The only difficulty came in visualizing what she wanted her victim to experience. Her best chance was to use her considerable knowledge of her target to poke at a secret fear he legitimately possessed, but she was having an oddly hard time coming up with ideas. It was possible to perform this jutsu and let the victim’s mind fill in the blanks, but that left a lot up to chance at her low level of experience imposing her will on others. Without a good idea, she eventually she had to settle for the brute-force solution.

But Naruto’s turn was first. She hit her knees in the dirt, feeling wretchedly sick the instant that his chakra crawled into contact with hers, but easily identified that what she was seeing was false.

That didn’t make her feel much better about breathing in the rotten stench of Naruto’s corpse, body mangled and torn open like a peeled grape for someone to get at the biju inside. Half a ghastly grin peered out at her through the place where his cheek had used to be.

“Kai!”

Her brother eyed her curiously, mercifully whole and sweet looking. “Does that mean I did it right?”

She had to stare at him for a moment, before she realized that he didn’t know what she’d seen. He wouldn’t have created that vision for her. That had come from her subconscious mind. Her real fears. “Yeah.” Aiko cleared her throat, trying to force down the nausea in her gut and focus. “My turn, then.” A deep breath, a moment with her eyes closed to concentrate, and she flicked through just two hand signs before pushing out an undulating wave of chakra, much more subtle and insidious than Naruto’s shockwave.

It still seemed to work. He looked vaguely ill, but grit his teeth in determination and brought his hands up into a cross. “Kai!” he bellowed, snapping out fifteen times the chakra he’d need to break her illusion.

Aiko had a moment to shake her head in faint amusement at his wasteful excess before the chakra pulse hit her and washed slowly through her body with an odd clinging sensat- She heaved, putting a hand to her head in a failed attempt to block out the ringing in her ears. Her vision had gone entirely white and she couldn’t feel her limbs, so it was a bit of a surprise to find that she was on her hands and knees, staring down at the grass while her brother knelt by her side.

“Aiko? Are you okay?”

His concern brought her back to the real world enough to swallow down bile and nod. “Y-yeah.”

No. She most certainly was not okay. She was not okay at all. No matter how over-powered, that genjutsu release shouldn’t have done a damn thing to her unless she was under a genjutsu. Her release earlier hadn’t caught whatever the hell that was, so she’d been under something seriously heavy utility. It had been meant as a long-term measure… and a successful one at that. Nausea and light-headedness were textbook symptoms of genjutsu backlash from overexposure to foreign chakra in the brain. Typically, the longer the casting, the worse the symptoms.

‘Danzo. That fucking asshole Danzo. He probably put me under the first time that I met with him,’ Aiko realized with dawning horror and rapidly escalating panic, her heartbeat thudding like a rabbit’s. ‘Oh my god, he’s been in my head. How much damage did he do to me?’

With sudden and unpleasant clarity, she catalogued clues that had not been allowed to register before now. Even after she’d coded her tongue seal in to her security, the seal meant to keep out foreign chakra constructs had pained her since she set them up. She had been approving of Danzo’s agenda—more so than she had been before. Now that her head was clear, it was hard to think about the man without remembering that she had decided she hated him for cavalierly abusing those in his care and profiting off their pain. And that she thought he was a bit of a moron, constantly shooting himself in his own foot because he couldn’t commit to a logical course of action without over-steering into crazy town.

‘I… I think that it was really me thinking that Konoha needed deniable black operations, though,’ she assured herself, licking her lips nervously. ‘I’m pretty sure.’

She looked up just in time to see that her fit had apparently brought over Kakashi as well. His eye met hers.

His serious expression sent her heart dropping to her stomach. ‘He’s thinking the same thing I am, minus the focus on what a gigantic douchebag Danzo is. He would recognize those symptoms just as well as I would. Better, even. He’s bound to have seen them in person before.’

It wasn’t a situation she could explain. She didn’t want him to worry.

So Aiko pulled a sheepish smile onto her face and accepted Naruto’s hand up. “Wow, that was thorough, otouto. Try to use a little less force next time, ne? I’m a little sensitive to chakra.”

It was true, in a way, and Kakashi had expressed that he didn’t have the knack for sensing arrays that she did. With any luck, he might think that she’d just had an unusual reaction to a dispelling.

Naruto pinked a little and pulled away his hand to rub at the back of his neck. “Yeah. Sorry.”

The tall man watching them cleared his throat. “Naruto, why don’t you work with Sasuke for a while? I don’t think that a large release will bother him as much.” Kakashi was still eying her uncertainly, unconvinced but wavering.

“Sounds good.”

As the teen trotted off with a glance over his shoulder at them, the two Jounin eyed each other. Aiko intentionally didn’t fidget, meeting his gaze seriously and letting him make of that what he would. There were two acceptable outcomes of this stare-off. Either he would be convinced he had been mistaken and drop the subject, or he would realize that his guess had been dead-on but that she could not or would not tell him for some reason, having to trust that she knew what she was doing.

“Aiko.” Kakashi averted his gaze to above her shoulder, stuffing his hands in his pockets in poorly hidden discomfort. “You know you can talk to me if anything is wrong, right?”

Since he’d looked away, he missed when she pressed her lips together to keep from frowning. Somehow, she’d hoped he would know that she had her problems under control. (Okay, so missing that she’d been under a genjutsu in the first place didn’t look good, she’d admit it. But now that she knew, she could do something about it.

“Of course,” her voice answered brightly, sounding so far from her thoughts that it didn’t really register as her own.

“Right.” He sighed, apparently having convinced himself that he’d imagined the whole thing and that she was merely sensitive to chakra, but having tentatively covered his bases just in case. “Well then. Are you ready to move on to the second technique? I already showed Sasuke.”

He must have directed his Heaven viewing technique, because her mind probably wouldn’t have come up with a rapturous vision of herself reclining on a beach surrounded by fluffy puppies and cabana boys who looked suspiciously like someone she knew. “Kai,” she intoned dryly, giving him a scathing look. “Any reason you think Sasuke should focus in my fantasies?”

Kakashi shrugged, scratching at his chin. “I hear he’s dreamy,” he confided seriously. The sarcasm was palpable.

She fought not to choke. ‘Okay, he’s definitely trying to cheer me up. In his own awkward-as-all-hell way.’

It was a battle she lost, eventually cracking out into a smile. “You’re terrible, Kakashi. My turn now.” Just to be a jerk, she quickly pulled up a rather raunchy fantasy that should both make his day and ruin it entirely.

If she was right, he wouldn’t have finished the new book yet, but he should be able to recognize the two protagonists if he’d even bought it. Aiko copied a few moments of actual dialogue from the beginning of the last chapter, since he would recognize it from the back of the book—and then went in a completely different direction with it. He was familiar enough with Icha Icha that he wouldn’t find her abrupt scene change odd, even if it did have a distinct ‘exit, pursued by a bear’ feeling for her. After the bandits would come the nudity, of course. ‘I wonder how far he’ll let it play out?’ It could be hard to tell. Genjutsu could play out at speeds that didn’t correlate to real time.

Perhaps it was inappropriate, but she didn’t think it would bother him too much. If he was the type to get miffed about things like that, he probably wouldn’t be able to read porn in front of small children. It wasn’t like this was any dirtier than the actual books.

Foolishly, he seemed to let the vision run its course when he recognized it, clearly letting curiosity override his good sense. Aiko knew it had gotten to the good part when he stiffened, and then almost immediately let out a sad, keening sound. He broke the genjutsu without a word or motion, and gave her a mournful look. “Did you really just ruin the end of the book for me? Aiko, how could you?”

Aiko wavered. It was hard to say no to that pitifully sad eye and the plaintive sniff that accompanied it, so she sighed. “I was going to let you think so, but no. That’s not what happens.”

Kakashi nodded slowly. She forcibly stilled her expression to avoid amusement, but he was probably wondering if she was telling the truth or if she was just teasing again and she really had ruined the book. He didn’t seem to know if he wanted to be happy or sad. After a moment, Kakashi shifted uncomfortably. “Right. I’ve, ah. Got to go.” Before she could blink, the debris caught in his shunshin was fluttering to the ground. Her Hiraishin tag informed her that he was speeding back to his apartment. She snickered. ‘Well, that’s one way for me to escape scrutiny. I’ll remember that solution.’ Very deliberately, she avoided wondering if he was going to go finish the book or work on another problem. That way lead madness.

‘Of course, that exchange also illustrated another possible aspect of whatever genjutsu Danzo had me under,’ she thought seriously, turning to walk home. ‘It didn’t just subtly alter my perceptions of him to be more positive. Naruto’s amateur attempt caught me much more easily than Kakashi’s much more refined genjutsu, and I had no problem coming up with a more creative solution even though I couldn’t think of one to save my life earlier. He was actually making my own genjutsu skills worse, even if it was just as a side-effect. I was more susceptible, and less creative.’

The theory seemed solid, but there wasn’t a way to verify it without asking someone who might know more about Sharingan-influenced genjutsu, who also wouldn’t find it the slightest bit odd that she was asking about such a thing.

The two obvious candidates, Kakashi and Sasuke, were out of the question. If she asked either one of them, Kakashi would have no trouble making a connection between her earlier symptoms and the odd question. He was reluctant to believe that she would lie to him, not an idiot. So she swallowed her curiosity.

“Aiko? Are you taking your lunch?” Naruto was frowning when she turned around, dirt smeared on his nose for some reason. “And Kakashi left already? I guess I’ll just have to eat his too.”

“Bento?” Sasuke made an unsubtle head movement in the direction of Naruto’s bag, the only obvious hiding place. She snorted, enjoying the silly tension. It was ridiculous to see two nearly grown men ready to get in a fist fight over some simple rice balls, but also a little calming. At least she could count on those two to be constant when everything else was changing.

“You can have mine, Sasuke.” She waved over her shoulder. “I’m not that hungry.”

‘At least I know now. That genjutsu took so much chakra to dispel that it must have taxed him terribly to cast. Danzo won’t check to see if I’m still under it as long as I don’t alter my behavior. Another genjutsu won’t hold now that I know what to look for, but he might do something worse next time. I can’t let on that anything is different. That’s not much of a solution. It does make it seem like I should hurry as much as I can.’

That could be a problem. Deep-cover infiltration was meant to last a long time by definition. Tsunade would probably be shocked to know that she had even made it into Root so early, much less that she had any useful information to report. She could probably get Danzo arrested right away by tattling on his implants, but there was no way to do that without having first plausibly encountered them. It was a last resort at best. In addition to that, she didn’t have nearly enough information on Root to have made this exercise worth Tsunade’s while. (And much more importantly, worth her time. It was too late to back out, so she was going to profit from this idiocy.)

As of right now, she could lead Tsunade to two different meeting rooms and the grand interconnecting tunnel system below Konoha through three different entrances, and report on two members’ identities. It was hardly information worth reporting five months early on her six month deadline, by anyone’s standards.

‘I’ll just have to find something worth writing home about, then.’

As a member of Konoha’s security forces, she really should report the passageway that Sai led her through that dodged the gates completely and let them out past city limits. She scowled at the pitch-black forest, but didn’t say a word. There were security forces around nearby, probably within a mile. It would be idiotic to linger when illegally outside bounds. Sai obediently fell behind her when she began to run. Aiko was the one with the map, after all.

‘And that’s another thing. I find it hard to believe that Danzo is so confident in his genjutsu that he would actually put me in charge of this mission, even if I am the tracker.’

Her lips twitched into a smile as she touched down on another tree and bounced forward, Sai a breath behind. ‘To be fair, it’s probably a combination of trust in his genjutsu, his seal, and Sai. He’s entirely wrong. But it does seem much more legitimate to trust three sources of assurance. If he had done a better job with human psychology, he would have Sai in his corner for certain.’

The only thing that could really assure loyalty was that it was freely and wholly given. A seal was a nice protective touch for an agent who really did want to keep their information safe, but an unwilling pawn could always find a way. People are far too intelligent to count on a whole group of them being unable to find a method of recourse.

Sai didn’t know it, of course, but his minor rebellions like trying to keep her from angering Danzo earlier that day could be the straw that broke the camel’s back. He might even want them to be. He transparently longed for human interaction and affection, emulating and learning from anyone who would give him the time of day. The boy was very intelligent, and had been traumatized by Danzo’s ham-handed methods of building children into soldiers. Now that he was essentially a full-grown man, he was questioning those teachings.

‘The first instant it seems viable, I’ll feel him out to see what he’s actually thinking. Sai would be a hell of an ally. Really, we’re not at such a different place in life.’

He was a good comrade. Sai might actually be miffed on her behalf to find out that Danzo had put her under a harmful genjutsu, now that she thought about it. If he didn’t mind the idea of Danzo punishing her, he would have let her walk into that meeting blind. She was clever, but she wouldn’t have thought to volunteer her Hiraishin without that hint.

They traveled throughout the night, doing their best to put distance between them and Konoha. Mission adrenaline kept her from feeling the effects of her long day for quite a while, but eventually she had a call a halt, blinking the sun out of her eyes and moving to cover a yawn before the cool touch of porcelain reminded her that she was still in her ANBU uniform.

Well. Mostly in her ANBU uniform. Sai had brought a completely unpainted mask for her, along with a rather striking chin-length black wig. She’d taken the hint. ANBU butterfly wasn’t on this mission, a Root operative was.

Still, the gear was close enough to her own to feel familiar.

“Two hour rest, and then we proceed.”

The sword on her back dug into her shoulder blade when she leaned against a tree, so she crossed her legs and folded forward to rest her forehead on her knees. Frankly, it was a terrible position, and she was bound to be painfully stiff if she stayed that way. But they couldn’t fall into a deep sleep on a short break when the point was to get the minimum amount of rest in order to allow them to go on until nightfall. Sai seemed to hesitate, his sandaled feet just barely in her vision for a moment before he gracefully sat next to her, just close enough to share body heat. She unfolded enough to twist and blink up at him before remembering –‘Oh yeah, the mask. I wish I could take it off.’

In lieu of offering him a reassuring smile as she might otherwise, Aiko sat up and leaned her shoulder against his arm, tucking her head into the crook of his neck. She napped lightly in that position, ready to switch back into alertness if he so much as tensed. Sai didn’t move a muscle. Her eyes opened again of their own volition, and she had to tilt her face to check the position of the sun with the stupid mask blocking her peripheral vision.

“It’s been an hour and twenty minutes?”

Her voice was a bit raspy with sleep, but her comrade didn’t seem bothered. “Hai.”

Aiko let her head connect with the flora behind her. That meant there were forty minutes left. “You should take a nap, too. Need a pillow?”

A pale mask turned to view her, looking slightly down. “I’m afraid your shoulder is a bit low, Washboard.”

Her playful scowl was wasted on him. “Mean. Then lay down. I’ll wake you at the first sign of movement.” Perhaps it was because she was supposedly his commanding officer at the moment, but Sai took her at her word and twisted to drop his head between her knees when she straightened her legs.

She shivered involuntarily at the way his silky hair tickled her skin but held herself stiff and refused to look at him. She needed to focus on keeping watch.

‘Ow,’ Aiko grimaced, feeling tingles and prods of pain in the nerves of her legs. Said legs were completely numb by the time she gently curled her fingers around his shoulder to wake him up. It took a few pained seconds of stretching to wake her sleeping limbs enough to get to her feet, but after that she led them on another long push, this time crossing the border out of Fire Country into Grass. There was something creepy about being in a dead country.

Oh, there were people living there, to be sure. The Daimyo of Grass ruled over plenty of farmers, merchants, and samurai. But she couldn’t look around without remembering that it was now a dead zone for shinobi and shivering a little.

She must have been a civilian once, but that life had been so long ago that the idea of an entire country being wiped clean of shinobi structure was unnerving. A lot of the things that shinobi did were idiotic, but they were familiar idiocies.

They traveled in silence, and bedded under genjutsu cover when they finally made it to blissful nightfall, having crossed most of the country over the course of the day. It wasn’t a particularly comfortable camp with no fire, no fresh food to intersperse the bland protein rations, and only two people to share watch shifts. But Aiko savored every moment of the four hours that she clocked and thanked every kami that there was for having given her an opportunity to work with seals. It was hard to believe that other people really had to make the choice between carrying their heavy bedroll all day instead of other equipment and sleeping on the ground at night. Not for her, thanks.

‘Is it safe to get Mitsuo’s help looking for the entrance?’ Aiko pursed her lips in thought, inadvertently kissing her mask. ‘He would have no reason to know that this is covert work and therefore unusual, and I’m sure he doesn’t talk to Kakashi. He might talk to Pakkun, though, who definitely does talk to Kakashi. It’s unlikely, but if he heard about this Kakashi would know I wasn’t on a regular mission. He’d probably assume I was doing something sneaky for Tsunade, but it’s just best not to leave loose ends like that.

Regretfully, she dropped the fingers that had been curling into the first seal to summon her furry friend. She would just have to complete this mission the old-fashioned way.

‘But screw the old-fashioned way for everything else. I’m hiding a seal somewhere before I go. It’ll add to my map and mean I won’t have to make that awful run again on Danzo’s stupid sneaky schedule. It could be useful at some point to jump out of Konoha’s borders.’

The location that Danzo had specified was too large to search by foot, even in three days, so she unrolled the map and tried to think like a madman scientist. There were two settlements relatively close to the area she was meant to search. One was agricultural, and the other was much more likely to have medical supplies.

She ignored the areas close to the much larger town. That would be too obvious for a paranoid man like Orochimaru. Anyone looking for him would have searched out places that could supply the expensive materials for his habits. Even if he did find appeal in having a short trip to town for syringes, even a zealot would find much more frequent need for food than medical supplies. Food was much harder to import and much heavier. The rural area would also make it less likely that anyone would stumble on his business (and more likely that he could make them disappear without anyone knowing if they were so unlucky).

There was only one source of fresh water running through the area, though there were multiple lakes. A man like Orochimaru would be well-aware that running water was safer and more hygienic, so she paid most attention to those banks. He probably used the river for electricity—he would need a lot of power to maintain tanks and experiments like those she’d seen when Suigetsu lead them to a base.

The first day of searching was wasted entirely. The second day panned out, though they didn’t realize it at first. The base was disguised as a town. Well. Town was a bit of a stretch, really. A genjutsu still active after god knows how long depicted four dull-faced men and women working in a small field, nearby a smattering of small houses. It seemed utterly boring and nondescript, were it not for two things. Firstly, the hamlet was not on the map (not that it would have to be, recent and small as the development seemed). Much more important to her decision to investigate was the overwhelming tang of human chakra that hung in the air, and the fact that the place didn’t smell of humans at all even though they could be seen walking about and talking. No living being had been there in a long time.

“Creepy,” she deadpanned, waving a hand in front of a genjutsu woman who clearly didn’t register her presence.

#vapors #uzumaki aiko #electrasev5n #ninja daily #fanfiction #naruto fanfiction

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