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good-beanswrites · 2 months

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If ur still doing reqs id love older brother and little siblimg 0003!! I love es and fuuta sm, you can choose what they do but id rather it be post/no milgram!! Tysm

Ahh this was such a sweet request, thank you ✨ I had a lot of fun with it! I kept the details loose -- I don't know how t3 actually shakes out -- but Es still doesn't know much about themselves, so they end up moving in with the Kajiyamas. Enough time has passed for things to become fairly normal between the two.

“What are you doing? It’s giving me the fucking creeps.”

Fuuta made a disgusted face, but Es didn’t seem to notice. They just kept standing in the middle of the kitchen. It was 3am. They were barefoot, wearing one of Fuuta’s old pairs of pajamas. They stared at the countertop intently. They hadn’t even turned on the lights. Fuuta waved his phone flashlight around, trying to see what they were up to. It didn’t look like anything had been touched.

He took a step closer. His nerves were already on edge, coming into the kitchen to steal a late night snack and finding them standing ominously in the darkness. The little bit of light from his phone reflected in their icy gray eyes.

“Oi, Es…?”

Sleepwalking. That had to be it. Fuuta rolled his eyes, breathing a small sigh at the realization. The sound was somewhere between relief and annoyance. Es was an odd kid as it was. It had been strange getting used to them living in his house, and now he had to deal with freaky stuff like this…

Fuuta approached as quietly as possible, putting his phone down. He reached out his hand. He planned on guiding them back to bed in silence, but he must have been too harsh with his grip.

Es gasped, the dull look in their eyes turning to shock.

Fuuta immediately leapt backwards, his startled curse turning to frantic apology.

“Y-you were sleepwalking, I was trying not to wake you up but…” he trailed off, seeing Es scan the kitchen and get their bearings.

“It’s alright. I’m used to waking up in strange places, I suppose.”

Fuuta grimaced. ‘Odd kid’ was an understatement.

They didn’t seem to notice. Their expression had darkened. “I… I was dreaming. I was back there, and,” their voice shook with sudden emotion. “And we were all…” their breath caught.

“Hey, don’t go and start cryin’ on me.” They didn’t sound like they were going to cry exactly, but he couldn’t be too careful. He wouldn’t know what to do. “You’re not some baby. All of that is over now.”

Fuuta had meant it as encouragement; he knew how strong Es was. As strange as they may be, they were the toughest person Fuuta had ever met. Realizing that his words may have come out a bit harsh, he tried to speak softer. “Really, it’s all over. You can relax here.”

Es nodded, but stayed silent. The two stood in the dim glow of the flashlight.

Fuuta coughed. “Now, did you want something, or…?” He gestured to the fridge, then made his way around them. He dug around inside for a snack.

“N-no. Thank you. I’ll be heading back to bed, then. I’m sorry to have frightened you.”

“I wasn’t scared.” Fuuta said quickly. He took out something, sniffed it, and shrugged. “And anyway, it was way less terrifying than when Haruka did it.”

“Haruka sleepwalked?”

“Yeah, and when you wake a normal person up from it, they’re supposed to go into fight or flight. None of us were itching to deal with Haruka’s fight response, you know?” Fuuta took a big bite. He turned to find Es with a miserable look on their face. Through the food, he mumbled, “what?”

“I… I didn’t know that. About Haruka.”

“Okay?”

“There’s so much I didn’t know about all of you.”

“You also didn’t know jack shit about yourself, so we can call it even.” Fuuta took another bite, assuming the conversation was over.

Es wasn’t as satisfied. “I mean it,” they said, their voice still strained. “I thought I knew you, but I’ve learned so much here. There was so much I didn’t know about you. I never knew what your family was actually like, or how well-kept your room is,” they gestured to him, “or that you hardly ever sleep normally.”

Fuuta couldn’t tell if it was a criticism or not. He clicked his tongue. “Well, I never knew that strawberry milk was your favorite, but you don’t see me getting misty-eyed about it.”

Es had opened their mouth to continue, but they blinked in surprise. “How did you know I liked it?”

“Because I like it, and you keep drinking everything in the house.” He rolled his eyes.“I bought twice as much last time I went out, and you still ended up stealing it all. There’s only one little carton left…”

Es’ face slowly softened. Then, a devilish smirk crossed their lips. “You know, I thought I heard that milk is good to drink before you go to sleep…”

“Eh? Oh, hell no! That’s mine.” He went back to the fridge, rummaging around to get it.

“Says who?”

“Says me. I’m older. And I liked it first.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. And I should get it because I’m younger.”

“Now that doesn’t make sense!” Fuuta retrieved the milk. He turned the carton over in his hand. A thought crossed his mind – one he would never speak aloud to anyone, ever. He recalled his sister helping him when he was too small to reach the milk. She used to heat it up for him before bed.

He lazily tossed it across the kitchen. “Not like I care. Here, be grateful.”

Es scrambled to catch it. Once again, their expression turned emotional. “Fuuta…”

“It’s not a big deal, sheesh!” He picked his phone up from the counter, biting down on the snack he’d grabbed. “Like I said, all that is over. You just gotta be normal now. I know that’s hard for a weirdo like you –”

“Hey!”

“– but just try, okay?” He shoved Es’ shoulder as he walked. “C’mon. Pops doesn’t care when I’m up, anymore. But he’ll give a goody-two-shoes like you a lecture if he hears.”

“I’m not a goody-two-shoes.”

“Psh, you’re the worst I’ve ever seen!”

“There’s nothing wrong with being disciplined.”

“Drink your damn milk.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

#milgram #es #fuuta kajiyama #its DONE #i got so stuck trying to connect the beginning and the end -- idk why it took me so long #but im real happy with it!! like i said this was so fun - thank you :D #its so funny that fuuta is the only one es so openly teases asdfsdf they would be a menace of a little sibling #i leaned more emotional in this one because i wanted to see es cared for but yeah. theyd be a menace. 😂#but also the pair is the pinnacle of #'little sibling is Really weird and the older brother teases them for it but if anyone else teases them for it theyre Dead'#i picked strawberry because of fuutas berry cake :)#the difficulty writing fuuta is i sit there for hours and think through all of his thoughts and then cant write Any of them down because he #is way too emotionally stunted to say shit #the difficulty writing es is i sit there for hours and think through all of their thoughts and then cant write Any of them down because the #are a quiet and mysterious kid who will not say shit #and somehow i have to write a meaningful conversation at the end of the day -_-#though i will let you in on one secret fuuta line that got cut --#when es says they should get the milk because theyre young fuuta is all ready to say #'im not gonna give you special treamtment just 'cause youre a kid' and then. remembers.#💀#'be grateful' fuuta my beloved #drabbles

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feralnumberfive · 11 months

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#I would want all of them to die together but if I had to pick one it'd be Five. I just like the angst tbh lmao #plus him working this hard to save his family and the world only for him to die at the end is just *explodes* especially if they're all saf #in the end or maybe he sacrifices his life for them #tua #the umbrella academy #umbrella academy #tua s4 #poll #my poll

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vickdoom · 6 days

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matchies! It's requited now.

#sorry for being kinda disturbing i just really love my blood brushes lmao #takaya sakaki #jin shirato #persona 3 #takajin #and yes he would hate being picked up i agree #but it's really funny to me how it's canon for the manga that jin can just carry him around with zero effort #so i had to draw it one way or another #so yeah just assume it's only a pleasant imagery as in of the great enthusiasm about finally getting to see the end of the world 👍#body image cw #blood tw #sh tw

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fluffypotatey · 6 months

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I mean wukong has to know how absolutely insane macaque is about him right!??? Right?

Oh god imagine if he didnt and made a comment regarding that, and absolutely everyone just stares at him

oh you mean Sun Wukong the Monkey King? the same guy who is known to struggle with communication and confront personal and vulnerable topics? the same guy who was not aware that his bestest and closest friend blamed him for many events that transpired between them until said bestie snapped? the same monkey who is constantly criticized and berated by MK’s closest friends/family and does nothing to refute it? the same Wukong who struggles to apologize to MK because he feared that his student (more than a student now, they’re friends, they could be family—) might also lash out or not give him a second chance to make up for it? the same Wukong who, despite being an incredibly observant guy, struggles with establishing amiable bonds with others?

that Wukong?

#I’ll say at best Wukong believes that he and Mac are currently at a truce #not enemies but not friends kind of deal #they can talk but the line is stiff and solid when it comes to what they talk about #at worst: Wukong believes that Macky still is not ok with him. sure he accepted his peach popsicle but that could be because Macky was #craving a snack or didn’t pick up on what swk was doing and took at surface value #i mean what is there to even fix? they’re relationship is leagues behind the one they had millenias ago……#…..it might be too late to even consider mending a torn up bond #but he’ll still try. baby steps is all #nothing to drastic. nothing too obvious. swk might miss macky and their old friendship but that doesn’t mean macky will or want to #in the end Macky helped save the universe because of MK and is only considering to be nice beCAUSE of MK #that’s all (<-SWK’s train of thought in my mind)#lmk #shadowpeach #lmk sun wukong #lmk six eared macaque #asks #anonymous #so unwell about this #also it would be so funny if swk voiced this aloud to the group lol #imma count this as a fic prompt

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titaniumions · 3 months

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(some) r1999 charas but i assign them entities from the magnus archives

#reverse 1999 #r1999 #tma #the magnus archives #i hope someone out there Understands #ok to be honest there are a bunch of these placements that im not 100% set on #such as click #i mean he's already deceased so perhaps end came to mind for that reason #slaughter came to mind but he's only a war PHOTOGRAPHER so i can't see him being that #desolation regulus would be so funny can you imagine #the vast ones are mostly the space-themed characters #except eternity who is deep sea/ocean themed of course #also i wonder if there's better options for an an lee and horrorpedia #dark just feels like a Classic fear so i picked that out for them #also i think vertin should absolutely be an avatar #but i'm not sure of what yet #the vast? something to do with the vastness of time n whatnot #or maybe even the end? i don't know #tma entities #might as well tag some (but not all) characters #horropedia #necrologist #tooth fairy #matilda bouanich #regulus #dikke #druvis iii #pavia #balloon party #tennant

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orbdotexe · 10 days

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They were supposed to be– No. Something’s wrong.

They’re supposed to be the last hope. The Light’s last argument against the Darkness.

This isn’t supposed to be happening.

In other words, a Shin Malphur in denial over his "end to last rites and final words" drags Drifter down with him. Drifter really really doesn't want to be here nor interact with the Young Wolf, rather fresh into their exile. Shin says Win-Win, Drifter says Lose-Lose.

Important lore bits (ik its weird to have important Canon Lore to an AU but. well im not sane so): Drifter's hallucinations from the Nine, Shin's lorebook to the Young Wolf. Set a bit before Season of the Drifter.

[ao3]

“So… What’s all this about?” The Drifter eyes the Hunter across from him, leaning against the decrepit wall and shielded from the dull light overhead. The air is stale and suffocating, and his usually laid-back tone is tense. “Thought you were retiring.”

“You know what this is about,” came the response from a dead voice, though the Drifter couldn’t place if the tone was irritation or some kind of sorrow. “The Guardian. You know the one.”

He braces as he watches Shin Malphur stalk away from the wall, helmeted head still shadowed by his hood. “Still doesn’t tell me why you’re here,” the Drifter says, terse, keeping his ground as the man stares him down through the solid visor.

Maybe Shin wasn’t here on any of that business, but there was, nonetheless, an air around the man. Different from the one he was once so familiar with, but overshadowing all the same.

“Something isn’t right.” There’s a finality to the Dredgen Hunter’s voice that forces his eyes away. Even without looking, he knew Shin had not let up, and wouldn’t until he had whatever answer he wanted.

Drifter sighs, realizing where the conversation must’ve been going. “Ain’t the first to tell me that… And what do you want me to do about it? I doubt they’ll have any interest in this operation.”

From everything he’s… overheard, the Guardian had come off as impulsive to him, yes—But if Shin was right, then any assumptions made from their stunt in the Prison couldn’t be trusted. Even without those, though, they were still dangerous and unpredictable. Especially now—

“Talk to them. Tell me what you think. Disguise it as a helping hand—We both know your games; it wouldn’t be a hard sell.” Shin states, almost nonchalantly. He bristles.

“Do you know what yer asking me? If you’re wrong–”

“I’m not.” The Hunter’s certainty almost forces him to do a double take, and he clenches his jaw.

“–But if you are,” he grits out, “I’m sure you know better than me what they’re capable of. You’ve obviously been watching them, and I’ve only seen what reports I can get my hands on.” Which, in fairness, was a good amount—but there's a difference between watching a video or reading a few paragraphs, and having been there.

He wasn’t going to risk his life for a hunch, least of all one from the Man With The Golden Gun. Drifter trusted that he’d keep his word, and that the man was more than physically capable, but he knew enough unpredictable exiles already to figure it a bad idea.

“Then take some time to watch,” the Hunter insists. Drifter didn’t know what to make of his tone anymore. “You’ll see what I mean when I say there’s something wrong. I thought you’d recognize… some things.”

He opens his mouth to question what that meant, but is cut off by Shin pulling out a data tablet and holding it out to him. Drifter stares at it for a few moments, before gingerly taking it.

“What games you playing at?” He questions, suspicious, switching between eyeing the man and the video. He recognizes the armor of the Young Wolf, and their dead, exhausted movements. Still, nothing out of the usual, aside from the discarded helmet.

“I don’t play games, Hope.” He doesn’t have the chance to object to the name before Shin continues, stiff. “Look closer.”

“What, finally found something to… to…” Drifter begins to sneer, intending to mock his business partner’s caution, before he registers the Guardian’s face. Something about their expression rings a bell in his mind.

“Fear? Not quite.”

It dawns on him that the tone he couldn’t place earlier was… veiled worry, snapping his eyes up from the video.

Shin fucking Malphur, worried he was wrong about someone. That was already strange enough, but he had decided to put his faith in them, without so much as meeting them. Drifter isn’t sure if he should laugh or try to knock some sense into the man, regardless of the harm that would come to himself in doing so.

“We’ve known each for how long, without any more trust than in shared interests?” He pauses, searching Shin’s visor, speechless. The Hunter does not speak, and only gives a tilt of his head. Drifter can imagine him raising a brow at him.

“You’ve suddenly decided you could trust someone, an’ you–” Despite himself, a single, disbelieving laugh escapes him as he struggles over his words. “–You want me to… play therapist? Is that what this is?”

“It’s in your interest, too.” If Shin was bothered by his reaction, it doesn’t show, and Drifter throws his hand up at the simplicity of the statement. What the hell is this?

“If you’re right, sure! But you–”

“You saw their face. I saw the recognition cross yours.”

His jaw slams shut at the interruption and Drifter grits his teeth, before taking a breath and continuing a bit more painstakingly. “Doesn’t mean they didn’t try to kill him, just means they’ve got… other problems. I can only do so much, and only for one of those.”

“That’s enough for me,” Shin states, ever level. Insane, were Drifter asked.

“And who’s to say either of us are right?” He throws his hand out in a sweeping motion, vaguely referring to the whole of the problem. “If we’re both wrong about their state, what then?”

Shin doesn’t respond, helmet tilted towards the long-abandoned bar behind the Drifter. Even unable to see his eyes, not being pinned on the spot by that hidden glare was almost relieving—And would’ve been, if not for the reason.

Drifter can’t help the disbelieving, bordering on manic chuckle that escapes him. “You’re too set on this.”

“Meet them, at least. Tell me what you think after.”

He glares a moment before, “I’m only agreeing to this because you have a good eye. Don’t expect this to be common.”

“You’ll be making a new friend, you’ll live.”

“Better hope so,” he grumbles.

Shin only hums in response, apparently satisfied.

Prick.

#i am so unwell about the lore of this game but im also severely insane #for anyone who doesnt want to click the first link. its literally just to the last page of Letter From a Renegade - Shin's lorebook to #the Guardian/Young Wolf back in Forsaken-era - in the Ishtar Collective #which is where that ''end to last rites and final words'' comes from #I would HIGHLY recommend reading the entire lorebook tho. its so so good and also context to Shin's characterization here #The Forsaken Exile #destiny 2 #and for anyone only just seeing anything about TFE and has any interest. that ''him'' they talk about whether or not Wolf tried to kill?#thats not Uldren. thats Cayde.#who IS still alive! just... at this point in the timeline. he's not doin too great #and yeah. yeah you mightve guessed by the name. the Guardian is in exile for supposedly attempting to kill Cayde!!! yippee!#and that Drifter bit of lore at the start is relevant bc. Wolf is Very Haunted. and Drifter *knows* that look #god i love massacring lore.#oh. yeah. uhhhhh ''Hope'' was Drifter's name as a Dredgen. for anyone who didnt pick that one up--

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widevibratobitch · 2 months

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in terror, four lieutenants; in t3m, four musketeers. Conclusion?

conclusion - same as always: destiny.

but wait oh christ okay. they even kinda fit...

you've got the og trio of

Wet Pathetic Loser

Deeply Religious Guy

Fancy Lad

which ig would make dundy... d'artagnan?? no. no oh god ok. listen. d'artagnan is jopson im afraid:

1. has a deeply homoerotic father/son relationship with a suicidal alcoholic

2. is actually kinda obsessed with him tbh

3. doesn't really start out as One Of Them, has to wait quite some time to get promoted

4. big part of the fandom actually ships him with little aka our athos

it makes sense you gotta believe me it does it does

#it absolutely doesn't #idk who dundy could be tbh...#ig if you squinted reeeeeally hard you could make him into a quasi mordaunt #since little is our athos equivalent #(that should honestly be crozier but for the sake of making our three musketeers/three lieutenants parallel lets go with little)#and the way little and dundy end up... look dundy is the only surviving officer of erebus.#gore and fitzjames die because life sucks but fairholme's death is arguably crozier's fault #and since in this strange parallel world athos is apparently split into crozier and little...#and since a very popular fandom headcanon is that little is the one to ultimately kill dundy....#i have no idea where im going with this and with all my love to irving #imagining him as an aramis equivalent made me throw up in my mouth a little.#i guess aramis would have to be an insane combination of irving and hickey?? so ig he should kill uhh himself? shit omg wait #he does have a SA in the books.....#oh yeah it's all coming together #(<-lies. this makes no fucking sense)#pizza you've sent my mind into a spiral of eternal damnation im grasping at straws to make some ✨parallels✨#unfortunately im like a vampire in this case.#if you throw at me a bunch of potential parallels i cannot move a muscle until ive found counted and picked them all up #i hate it here #im not even tagging it this post is fucking shameful pathetic and desperate #and yeah hodgson is porthos im afraid deal with that #ask

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lanshappycorner · 5 months

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theres a lot of u guys on this blog im sure at least one of u guys know a thing or two about this . or at least i hope so

but this winter break or next year i'm planning on getting into ball jointed doll making (from scratch), so i was wondering if any of you guys who have experience in this have any advice for me

i want to make clothes for the dolls too so if you have experience in sewing and stuff you are very very free to offer me advice on that too 🙏

#as much as i love digital art its not very healthy to only have one hobby so id like to pick up dollmaking #it will make me touch grass im sure #when i draw the moment i get art blocked its so over for me and i also end up rushing myself when i draw too #so it would be nice to do something that might naturally take longer to do #it seems like it would be kinda expensive tho so i might have to open a kofi or smth idk 💀 we will see

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hecksupremechips · 1 year

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The 999 cast is very important to me and there’s so much good about them but I think one big thing they have is that they’re all smart and contribute to the story

#zero escape #999 #this is where the other ze casts really lack I think #like all the 999 characters are there for a reason they were hand picked by zero #and all of them were really smart and they all worked together to solve the mystery #in vlr we got characters who just willingly participated in the game for shits and giggles #even more so with ztd like they didnt even try to make the q team important #plus just like so many of the characters are wasted and pointless #quark contributed nothing. alice was needed only for a math problem. tenmyouji was just screwed over #clover is the one who really makes me mad cuz they did the aini thing where they erased her whole arc #and reduced her to a ditzy joke of a character #shes not fucking ditzy shes smart and her bond with junpei is literally why everyone survived 999!#without her your ass would be dead #makes me so mad 😤#they only added her to vlr just to get people interested in the first place since she was popular #ztd is the same like none of the new characters introduced mean anything #and all the stuff they do with the old characters is just awful none of it is good #honestly 999 is too good of a game to be attracted to the other ze games #in my mind 999 ended and everyone lived happily ever after and idk quark can magically be there somehow cuz hes a good boy

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adipostsstuff · 2 months

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My @milgram-valentines-exchange gift for @good-beans. Honestly I was worried about getting this finished on time but I actually got a couple of weeks to spare at the end of it. Once I got it to a fairly good standard I ended up putting it aside to focus on studies. While I'm not sure if it's as good as I want it to be, it's good enough. This is the first fanfic I finished and it's the first Milgram fic I've written (I have a Danganronpa fic I've uploaded but it's multi-chapter and really long, I need to get back onto that). Taking this from my notes app and reformatting it was hell, I hope I didn't miss anything. Hope you enjoy this and Happy Valentines Day! (Please ask me about the writing process please ask me about the writing process please ask me about-)

What a pain...

Yuno looks up from her navigation to check her surroundings. A client was going to take her to the bar in the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo and asked her to dress up for the day, so she is looking for a beauty parlour to help her get ready. It was a well paying client, so she couldn't refuse him, but it did bother her to have to mould herself into the desires of others. Whatever. She had chosen this work of her own accord, so she needs to just suck it up and do what she does best: lie and keep appearances.

Ah. This must be the place.

Yuno stands in front of parlour her phone sent her to. She pulls up the receipt from her booking and walks in.

"Excuse me," she says to the receptionist. "I have an appointment for 10:15."

"Alright. Can I have your name?"

"Kashiki Yuno."

The lady behind the desk checks some things on her computer before looking back up at her. "There you are. Would you like to come with me?" She takes her to one of the stations and settle her down. "Your stylist will be here shortly."

Yuno takes a minute to take in her surroundings. This place seems quite well run and professional, and the products high quality; not a bad deal for the cost.

"Ah, hello there. I haven't seen you before."

Yuno turns to her side to find the voice. Next to her, a woman with light brown hair and round face sat by the neighbouring station. She looked from be in her early twenties and she wore a warm smile that felt like the sun itself.

Yuno attempted to match her disposition with a smile of her own. "Yeah, this is my first time here. I'm Kashiki Yuno."

"Shiina Mahiru. Nice to meet you, Yuno-san. I come here all the time. Usually its just for advise from my beautician. She's like my closest friend right now. Today I'm going on a date, though, so I need to look my best. Even though my boyfriend never really pays attention to how hard I try for him. Hey, what are you here for?"

"I'm going to be going out to a fancy place tonight so I'm dressing up for the occasion." She leaves out a lot of details, having no interest in telling a stranger about her job. She didn't need anyone's judgement on it.

"Ooh, fancy. Is it for a date?"

"Hm? Something like that." Mahiru giggles in response.

"Found it! This one is sure to - ah! Were you two talking?" a woman on the other side of Mahiru, presumably her beautician, perks up.

"Ah, yes, we were just introducing ourselves. This is Yuno-san, it's her first time here," Mahiru answers. Yuno gives the woman an awkward wave. She sure loves talking, doesn't she?

"Hi. I'm Sayori, Mahiru-chan's beautician. Nice to meet you. Mahiru-chan, I found the thing. This one is sure to catch his eye," says Sayori, holding up a bottle of something Yuno can't identify.

"Ah, I wanna try," responds the brunette. Yuno turns back to her own desk, assuming the conversation to be over.

"Sorry for the wait. You must be Kashiki Yuno, correct?" A ginger woman in her early thirties walks to her side.

"Yes, that's me," Yuno replies.

"Oh, she's a good one. You're in amsafe hands with her," says Sayori.

"Thank you, Nanami-san. Ms. Kashiki, Is there a particular look you are going for?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe something a bit more refined?"

"Alright. First, I am going to wash your face and clean up your nails. Is that okay?"

"Sure. You would know best, after all.

"The woman, who Yuno assumes to be her stylist for the day, begins to apply a scrub to her face. It feels weird on her face, though her touch isn't too rough. She leaves it on and washes her hands before picking up a nail file and taking Yuno's hand in her own and getting to work on them.

"Hey, Yuno-san," Mahiru says, causing Yuno to face her slightly. "What do you normally like to do?"

"Oh, I like shopping and going out with my friends. I'm also part of the theatre club at school, so you could say that's also a hobby of mine."

"Theatre sounds pretty exciting. I've been to a few shows. It looks like a lot of fun."

"It is. At least I think so. Very different from watching." Yuno is pretty used to playing a part, but at least with theatre it was entirely for fun, with no one assuming anything about her based on her role.

"Ooh, maybe I should try it. There's a theatre group at my university. I'm in my final year at Aoyama Gakuin University studying literature. Me... I also enjoy shopping. I'm into fashion and astrology, and I like reading magazines and watching dramas. I mainly do running and film watching because those are my lover's hobbies."

"You just copy your lover's hobbies?"

"Oh yes. In order to have a good relationship with your partner, you must adapt to them. Relationships are about compromise."

"Yep, yep. As said in the Lain magazine, a good relationship relies on shared interests. It is important to take interest in the things your partner likes and abide by what they desire," says Sayori.

"Even so," says Yuno, "to change your lifestyle for their sake... you have to leave something for yourself, right?"

Mahiru says, "No need. I'm ready to give all of me for my lover, and I only ask for him to do the same. Say, have you ever been in love before?"

Yuno thinks. "There was this one boy I had a crush on in middle school, Haruto-kun. I wouldn't really say I was in love with him, though. So, no, I haven't been in love."

"A shame. Don't worry, Yuno-san, I'm sure it will happen to you eventually. Love is like a time bomb that will explode one day. You can't stop it from happening. And when it does, you will understand just how beautiful it is."

To Yuno, this all seems a bit idealised. She has been empty for so long she can't remember what it is like to form close bonds with people. Sure, she cares about her friends and family, but even they don't fully understand her, so she cannot truly feel close to them. For someone like her, does 'true love' really exist? "I hope so." Yuno trails off. "Say, Shiina-san -"

"Oh please, Mahiru is fine."

"Mahiru-san, then. What's your boyfriend like? You've been talking about him a lot."

She brightens up at this. "My boyfriend is a really kind person. He takes care of me really well. We get into arguments sometimes, but we always come out of it closer than before."

"Uh huh. What else can you tell me?"

"What else... Oh! Do you want to see a picture of him?"

Yuno didn’t miss how she dodged the question. "Sure." Mahiru pulls up her phone and opens up her photos, showing Yuno a selfie of her and her boyfriend smiling together. He looked somewhat plain, but still cute. They did look happy, so Yuno may be overthinking their relationship. It wasn't like it was any of her business anyways. "He looks alright."

"I know. But it's not just his looks that make me like him. He has a charming personality too."

"Haha, that's nice to hear."

"Miss Kashiki, can you lean forward?" her stylist asks, gesturing to the sink in front of her. She does so and her stylist washes her face before placing her back and wiping it with a small towel. She then picks up a foundation from a shelf. "This is the product I am going to use for your face," she says, applying it on. Yuno suspects this is a way of trying to advertise it to her. Once she is done she takes a contour pen and applies to to different pats of her face, blending them with a beauty blender. "This is how you look so far. How do you think?" The beautician turns her to the mirror. Her face looks natural, barely as if anything is there, but she still appears to be somewhat older and more mature.

"Looks good so far," she says.

"Alright." The lady picks up a book. "You said you wanted a refined look. Do you have an outfit prepared?"

"Hm, I think I do."

"OK. Describe it to me and I'll see if I can come up with something that matches." Yuno opens her mouth to reply, but at that moment a voice calls from behind her drawing her stylist's attention.

"Natsumi."

Yuno turns to see what she is looking at and finds a man with bright red hair wearing a union jack hoodie running up to them.

"Futa? What are you doing here?" the beautician, apparently named Natsumi, asks.

"Dad called. He wants to talk to you."

She sighs. "Now? I'm in the middle of an appointment."

"He says it's urgent."

"Fine. Hand it over," she groans, taking the phone from Futa's hand. "I'm sorry about this, ma'am. Stay here, Futa, I'll be back."

"I'm not staying in a beauty parlour. That's gross."

"Maybe you should. It might make you less misogynistic."

Futa stares at her in disgust as she walks away. Nearby, Mahiru's stylist whispers "I've never heard Kajiyama-senpai speak like that before."

"I'm not misogynistic. I just think girl talk is boring," Futa complains.

Yuno comments, "That sounds pretty misogynistic to me."

Futa glares at her. "And who are you?"

"Kashiki Yuno. Nice to meet you. You are..." Sayori called her stylist Kajiyama and, from them appearing to have the same father, they are probably siblings. "...Kajiyama Futa?"

He rolls his eyes. "Why are you acting do friendly with me? Its weird to talk that way to strangers, you know."

"All relationships start with strangers."

"What makes you think I want to be friends with you?"

"How rude," Sayori whispers.

"Just ignore him. He's being a jerk," says Mahiru. "By the way, didn't you say you were in school? Which year are you in?"

Relieved to change the subject, she replies, "In my final year."

"Oh, that means exams and applications and all of that. How's that coming along?" asks Sayori.

"It's a struggle, but I think I'm doing well. I go to cram school, so that should help."

"That's good to hear. What universities or courses are you thinking of applying to?" says Mahiru.

"I'm not sure. To be honest, I'm not if I even want to go to university."

"Oh, you absolutely should! It's a completely different experience from school. You get to meet so many new people and try new things in a new environment. You might even find your true love there. I believe it's worth it."

"It really isn't," chimes in Futa. "You barely learn anything and all the people there are so lame. There's no point, most degrees are useless anyways."

"Didn't you say you didn't want to be friends with us?" Mahiru retorts. Futa huffs, looking away.

"Why did you go then?" Yuno asks. Mahiru gives her a look but Yuno shrugs. I'm curious.

He sighs. "My dad made me. Said I would never get anywhere without one. Not that having one would get me anywhere. Besides, it was what everyone else was doing, and I didn't want to start working immediately or do a vocational course."

Yuno hums. "Honestly, the main reason why I'm not sure is because I don't know what I want to do with my future. I haven't thought that far ahead yet. I don't want to choose a path and end up regretting it."

"You're probably better off than me, in that case."

Mahiru says, "What I did is choose a subject I liked in school and look up universities that offered it. I knew I wanted to move to Tokyo because it's a busy city with lots of things to do..." she trails off. Did the city not live up to her expectations? She brightens back up. "So I looked into universities here that offered courses in literature, and I really liked Aoyama Gakuin's course because it's really varied. Of course, there's also admissions tests and tuition fees to think about: they weren't particularly a problem for me but I can imagine you different people have different needs. You just need to think about what's important to you."

"Nice going, Mahiru-chan," says Sayori. "Personally, I knew I wanted to be in the beauty industry, so I went to a junior college and took a course in it."

"That was really helpful. I might have a better idea now. To be honest, it's figuring out what I like that's the main issue. Most of my friends are going to different unis, so it's not like I can just follow them."

Mahiru says, "You are going to make new friends at uni anyway. What about theatre?"

"Well, I'm not sure if after 3 or 4 years I'll still like it, and I don't think I can change my course half way through. I'm really worried about not having good time. It may be a bit self-centered, but I hate things that are boring."

"That's understandable. If you really can't think of anything, why not take a gap year? You can try lots of different things in that time and decide what you enjoy the most that way."

"That's a good idea, actually. You're like a dependable older sister who sounds very wise."

Mahiru laughs. "Really? That makes me so happy. I'm an only child, but I've always wanted a younger sibling to fawn over. Maybe I'll have that chance when I have a child of my own."

"Hoping for the traditional lifestyle, are you?"

"Yep. Isn't that the ideal?"

"You know some people would call you old-fashioned for that?"

"Not a problem. It's my dream, after all."

"Well, I wouldn't put that much stock in it. I have a younger brother myself, and it's really not super exciting."

"Don't you get along with him?"

"I do, and I'm glad to have him, but he can be annoying at times. That's just how younger siblings are."

"More like older siblings," Futa mutters under his breath. Unfortunately for him, Yuno is close enough to hear.

"What was that?" she asks.

He begins, "My older sister loves to get on my nerves. Every chance she gets, she keeps interrupting me whenever I'm doing something and going on about how I should try harder in life and make real friends. When I was younger and she first started out on here, she would try to test her stuff on me. Do I look like I'd be into that girly shit?"

"Do you not like her very much?"

Futa pauses. "Somewhat. She did take care of me when I was younger, especially after mum left. It's just sometimes, she can get real grating. H-Hey, don't tell her I said any of that!" he nervously tacks on at the end.

Yuno giggles. "Don't worry. I won't. Say, did your parents get divorced as well? For me it was my father, instead."

"Really? Yeah, they did."

"Guess we are more similar than we thought."

"Don't even try that. We're nothing alike. Besides, you're probably more like my sister."

"Yeah, Yuno-san, don't insult yourself like that," Mahiru adds, which Futa tries to ignore. But Yuno could tell. While their outward appearances were very different, they had things in common. His apathetic attitude to life, his fickle and shallow relationships, all were things he shared with her. Yet in some ways they were different. He didn't hide the way he thought about things the way she did, yet he appeared to care more about what people think about him. In a way, they were like fire and ice.

"Sorry for the wait," Ms. Natsumi hurries to her side.

"My phone," says Futa, extending an arm.

"You're so addicted to that thing," she retorts, handing it back."I'm not addicted. It's the 21st century, everyone's on their phones these days. You're not in the 90s anymore."

"You say that as if I'm some old woman. You're only, what, 13 years younger than me."

"Exactly. Ancient. Besides, you flaunt that around all the time when it's convenient, so you have no right to get mad when I bring it up. Whatever, I'm getting out of this dumb place with all of it's dumb people." Futa turns away and walks out, not taking a second glance back.

Natsumi sighs. "That boy. I'm sorry if he disturbed you in any way. Anyway, where were we? Ah, yes, you were going to describe your preferred look. Would you please continue?" Yuno starts explaining what she's planning to wear. Mahiru watches her for a moment before turning back to her own stylist for her own job.

The rest of the session passes smoothly with little interruption, and by the end her stylist turns her to the mirror. "What do you think?"

Yuno watches herself in the mirror, hardly able to recognise herself. She has not changed much, but she gives off a subtly sophisticated aura. "It's perfect," she breathes.

"That's good. That would be time, so you are free to go. If you liked any of the products used today, you can purchase them at the counter. Have a nice day, I hope you come again."

"Thank you." She moves to leave, but gets stopped by Mahiru.

"Wow. You look great," she says.

"Thanks. You look really good too," Yuno says. And she did. She was given a more youthful appearance that really brought out her features in a very flattering manner.

"Thank you. I hope my boyfriend sees this as well."

"Did your session end just now as well?" asks Yuno, surprised she's still here. Mahiru was here before her, so surely her session would have ended earlier.

"Nope, ended a while back. I waited for you."

"Really? Why?"

"I wanted to talk to you again," she says, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Are you heading to your outing now?"

"I'm going home first to change. What about you? Are you going on your date?"

"Hehe, yep. Do you live nearby?"

"Uh huh. I'm assuming you do as well."

"Yes. Hey, do you want to exchange Lines?"

"Huh? Sure, why not?" Of all things to happen, Yuno didn't expect to make a new friend here. They exchange Line numbers and Mahiru promises to keep in touch with her before leaving. Yuno stands there for a second watching her go, before turning away herself. In a sense, Mahiru was different to Yuno as well, in a way that made her similar to Futa, though neither would admit to it. They were earnest, willing to be genuine with others and trust them with their hearts, while Yuno could only lie her way through life to be accepted. If Yuno was ice, Futa would be fire and Mahiru the sun.

She walks off; she needed to get back to work anyway. Whatever friendship Mahiru thinks will come out of this, it probably won't happen. By the end of the day, they'll forget about each other. Not like her compensated dating gives any warmth either, but it's not like she can quit it now. She goes home, gets ready, lies to her family about where she's going again and heads out to another lonely luxury date with a client who will refuse to see her as she is and spend the night with her to offer her temporary warmth that will fade just as quickly as it came, leaving her empty once again.

When she arrives home that night and is about to tuck into bed, she gets a message.

Hi Yuno. How was your day?

And, for a moment, she feels slightly warmer.

#milgramvalentines2024 #I was playing around with a few ideas but decided I liked this one the best #I am not surprised these are the people you picked #At first I wasn't sure how to make all three of them interact but I got there in the end #I know you said you could do two of but I wanted to include everyone. I like a challenge #You did give ideas but frankly I prefer coming up with my own. I find it easier #Obviously if you said do this I would have but since it wasn't like that I decided to do things my own way #I wasn't sure if I was going to make them friends at the end of it but it felt a bit sad not to. So I did :D #Unfortunately they only talk to Fuuta once. Couldn't force them into a friendship.#They hang out with each other a lot and do fun things together and eventually help each other get over their problems.#Because it's my focus and I get to make the rules #hope you like this!#milgram #yuno kashiki #mahiru shiina #fuuta kajiyama

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