#born in the same year but living under very different circumstances

[youremyheaven]

The Pisces Heart of Cinderella 👸🐭👗👠🏰

Claire Nakti had made a video about UBP's connection to Cinderella. While I wholeheartedly think its bs to reduce one entire nakshatra's legacy down to them marrying rich, I do think the connection to Cinderella was right. HOWEVER, I have a different take on it.

Cinderella is not merely a story about a poor girl who marries a Prince. Cinderella is a good person stuck in a really unfortunate circumstance. She is mistreated by her own family ("step-family" but receiving step-treatment is a common theme in the lives of many UBP folks) Despite it all, Cinderella is a hard worker, kind, gentle and imaginative. Its really hard to not give into bitterness when you're in a such a position but Cinderella? She's a sweetheart. She puts her head down and does the work without complaint. And soon enough she's rewarded for it. The Fairy Godmother is the embodiment of her good karma; what goes up has to come down and eventually your goodness and sincerity will be recognized. We have to take into consideration the time and place in which Cinderella was written, which is hundreds of years ago. Marriage was the only way out for women and in many parts of the world, it still is.

In this context, Cinderella going to the Ball was her receiving an opportunity to transform her life. We can come up with many "feminist" alternatives where Cinderella is a dressmaker or a boss babe or whatever but its pointless to apply 21st century morality to a fairy tale. Think of it as an allegory. The Prince here represents good fortune and Pisces is the final rashi/sign and represents the culmination of all good things. Cinderella has worked her whole life for this, this is her turning point. She gets to marry into royalty and live in a castle. This of course can be taken literally as we've seen many UBP women marry into wealth but it is also a metaphor; if you work hard enough (not just actual labour but also spiritual/karmic work) you will achieve breakthrough. In order to break out of cycles, we must put the work in. And Pisces/12h is all about breaking patterns and coming out of the cycle. The close association with butterflies should say enough. The butterfly endures the pain of transformation and breaks out of the cocoon in order to emerge as her true self.

Remember that Revati is the birth nakshatra of Saturn.

The themes of karma, justice and fair-play are very evident in Revati nakshatra (which is the birth of Saturn) as well as UBP (which is a Saturnian nakshatra).

These are the two naks that lie entirely within Pisces rashi so they're what I refer to when I speak of Pisces. (0-3 degrees of Purva bhadrapada will also be included)

Cinderella wasn't chosen at random. It wasn't sheer luck. She was wearing glass slippers that her Fairy Godmother gave her. Those were specifically made for her. Going with the earlier metaphor of the Fairy being the embodiment of karma, the slipper represents the rewards that Cinderella has earned. Even when she walks away from the Ball, the trace of her karmic footprint (literally lol) remains there. What is meant for you cannot miss you. And eventually, Cinderella gets her due.

Cinderella is a deeply Saturnian story and Pisces rashi itself has both Saturn & Jupiter influence, representing two sides to the same coin and the Wheel of Fortune. The sign of Pisces is ruled by Jupiter, the largest, most expansive planet associated with luck and abundance. Meanwhile, UBP nakshatra is ruled by Saturn and Revati nakshatra is the birth nakshatra of Saturn. Vedic mythology and astrology is full of paradoxes and contradictions, representing the duality yet singularity of human existence. Therefore it's only fitting that the concluding nakshatra that literally means "wealth" would be the one under which Saturn, planet of discipline, karma & limitations would be born.

One cannot exist without the other. Jupiter mahadasha is followed by Saturn mahadasha and even though Jupiter is known as the giver, Jupiter's blessings are more short term, it is Saturn that gives long lasting success and good fortune because Saturn only rewards the worthy.

The theme of going from rags to riches is present in the lives of many Pisces natives.

Another nakshatra that has similar themes is Punarvasu.

Now I'll mention some Cinderella adaptations and the actresses who played Cinderella (Claire already covered many in her video so I'll try to include less common examples)

I had to start with the OG 1950 animated Disney film. It stars Ilene Woods as Cinderella

Ilene has a very interesting chart that makes her the perfect choice for Cinderella.

She is Bharani Sun, UBP Moon, Mercury in Rohini, (exalted) Venus in Revati (atmakaraka) Mars in Punarvasu, Ketu in Vishaka and Ashlesha Rising

All of these naks connect to different aspects of the story and emphasize a lot of common themes.

Bharani, as I'd explained in my post about Venus naks is strongly associated with karma and is presided by Lord Yama, God of Death, time, karma, justice and punishment. Bharani is a very transformative nakshatra and I'll go so far as to say that being in the company of a Bharani native triggers transformation/karma in others as well.

Rohini & Mrigashira are also strongly associated with fairy tales (I'll make a separate post about them in the future) and themes of running away, seeking a new home, being a misfit/outsider in your own house etc are common Rohini themes.

Punarvasu literally means "return of the light". Jupiter can give but he also takes. All Jupiter naks have themes of both gain and loss. Especially with Punarvasu natives, I think there is often a tendency to take their initial success/prosperity for granted/take it too seriously/have their head in the clouds, so they lose it and then re-gain what they lost or even more in the future, thus making a "return to light". Rags to riches is a common theme for these natives.

Vishaka nakshatra is known for having many enemies and for having many haters. They often find themselves in an environment where they're an outcast in some way. Being misunderstood is a HUGE theme.

Ashlesha, as I'd explained in my post about the nak often manifests as dysfunctional relationship with their mother and for receiving step-daughterly treatment at home. Obviously this is a major element of Cinderella's story as well.

Lua de Cristal, the 1990 Brazilian adaptation of Cinderella stars Xuxa as Cinderella.

She has UBP sun & stellium (mercury and jupiter) Bharani Moon along with Pushya Mars & Rising

Pushya is considered the most auspicious nakshatra and known for being a "wealth giving" nakshatra but as a Saturn ruled nak, these natives often undergo a lot of trials and tribulations.

First Love (1939) is based on Cinderella and stars Deanna Durbin as the protagonist.

She has Jyeshta Sun, Anuradha Mercury & Venus with Ketu & Rising in Revati

Jyeshta is a nakshatra associated with unluckiness and poverty. It is generally considered an inauspicious nakshatra but as Claire's research has shown its the birth nakshatra of numerous billionaires, nodding to the paradoxical nature of Vedic astrology/mythology.

Any woman who plays Cinderella is going to have heavy Saturnian energy and Deanna is no different with that double Anuradha; which is also the height of Saturnian restriction.

the gender swapped 1960 adaptation titled Cinderfella stars Jerry Lewis as Fella.

He has Purvabhadrapada Sun (2 degrees Pisces), Mercury in Revati, Rahu and Rising in Punarvasu

This 2012 Russian adaptation of Cinderella stars Kristina Asmus as the titular character.

She has UBP Moon, Revati Mercury (atmakaraka) Venus in Rohini and Jupiter in Bharani

Mary Pickford starred as Cinderella in one the earliest screen adaptations in 1914.

She has Revati Sun atmakaraka, Venus in Rohini, Jupiter in UBP and Ketu in Vishaka

If the Shoe Fits (1990) stars Jennifer Grey as Cinderella. She has UBP Sun & Moon with Ketu in Purvabhadrapada (0 degree pisces)

Korean Dramas are notorious for playing with the Cinderella trope so here are a few Kdrama examples:

The Last Empress stars Jang Na-ra (UBP sun conjunct mars) as a Cinderella esque character.

Secret Garden stars Ha Ji Won who is Revati Moon, Punarvasu mercury atmakaraka, Venus in Ashlesha and Ketu in UBP

She also played a similar role in Empress Ki

My Secret Romance stars Song Ji Eun who has Bharani Sun & Mercury, Venus in UBP, Ketu in Ashlesha.

Something About 1% stars Jeon So-min who is Revati Sun

Master's Sun stars Gong Hyo Jin who is Revati Sun, Vishaka Moon

I'm Not A Robot stars Chae Soo bin who is Punarvasu Sun, Pushya Moon with Ketu in Bharani

Here's Drew Barrymore (Punarvasu Moon) in Ever After which is a Cinderella adaptation devoid of magic.

The stepmom is played by Punarvasu Sun Anjelica Huston

The "good" stepsister who is instrumental to the turning point of the plot and who ensures justice is served is played by Melanie Lynskey who is Bharani Moon with a Revati stellium

Claire recently made a video about Punarvasu where she said there is a theme of losing something, repenting and gaining it again. The contrast between opposites, light vs dark, beauty vs ugliness etc is a big theme in this nak. I think this movie does a great job of representing Punarvasu.

The good and the evil are both played by Punarvasu natives. This is crucial because Punarvasu is all about cycles. By the end of the movie we see the good person aka Cinderella rewarded for her goodness and the evil stepmother punished for her cruelty. Punarvasu means return to light and this also means nobody goes unpunished.

Its even more poignant that the person most crucial to ensuring that justice is served is played by a Bharani Moon native (Bharani IS karma itself tbh) and that she herself is neglected by her mother and treated like an outsider.

Lastly, it's interesting af to me that in almost every adaptation of this story, right from the very beginning to now, Pisces natives are cast as Cinderella along with a group of certain naks recurring again and again.

Here's Revati Moon Cardi B recreating a Cinderella inspired look for Harper's Bazaar

i hope i could add a little more nuance to the pisces connection to cinderella<33 hope you enjoyed it<33

#astro notes #sidereal astrology #vedic astro notes #astrology notes #nakshatras #astrology observations #vedic astrology #astroblr #astrology #astro observations #revati #ubp

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Referring to how Leona is an actually good leader, it's still very funny to think about how annoyed Vil must be when Epel idolized Leona while fighting for his life struggling under Vil's tutelage. Like "how could you prefer that good-for-nothing-except-his-face over ME?" kinda thing. (Yes I love all of them but I love to see them suffer more <3)

[Referencing this post!]

Leona definitely projects very different images depending on the circumstances! His club and dorm members all look up to him because, to them, he come off as a role model. He's strong, cunning, and exudes confidence. To everyone else (people he doesn't actively lead, or people he stands on par with in terms of power and influence), he's seen as lazy and rude because Leona does not care for putting on airs and finds social grace tiring to deal with.

Nowhere is this dichotomy better exemplified than in Epel's Birthday Jacket vignettes. In them, Epel, a first year and a Magift Club member, describes Leona as someone who is good at looking out for others like him. This confuses his interviewer, Floyd, who responds that it "doesn't sound like" the Sea Lion-senpai he's familiar with. Epel then confesses to not really seeing Leona much outside of club, so he doesn't actually know about what Leona is like most of the time. This just goes to show that Leona naturally shines and is at his best when he's in a scenario where he has to lead others.

Now, regarding Vil and his feelings on Leona... 🤔 It's true that Vil dislikes Leona (and, more specifically, his attitude) and may be disapproving of Epel idolizing the guy, but I get the sense that those feelings stem in part from disappointment, not just blind hatred or not liking how Leona dresses/speaks. Vil's someone who has exceedingly high standards for himself and for the people he surrounds himself with. He despises it when people don't give a task their all, or don't live up to their full potential. That is exactly the case with Leona. Vil has a VERY keen and discerning eye; I suspect that he noticed a long time ago that Leona's not putting forth all of his effort and just doing the bare minimum to scrape by, and that's what further stokes Vil's frustrations with him. An example of this is the very superficial aspect of Leona's looks. Vil admits that Leona has a handsome face, but doesn't dress the part at all. The same goes for his other traits and abilities, and even his grades (which are low due to poor attendance even though Leona himself is insanely smart). That's the thing: Leona could be great, but instead he's wasting it all and choosing to not be "his best" at all times--an ideology which exists in blatant opposition to Vil. Here we have two powerful, intelligent, talented individuals who worked hard to get to where they are now (even though they were already born into affluent families). They didn't choose to just coast by life on their family's names alone. One of them literally makes a living off of showing the world how perfect he is, and all the effort he puts in to achieving that perfection. But the other has gone the other route, not willing to put forth that effort to anything that he doesn't find useful or interesting. They've both become disillusioned with the world, which has provided them nothing in spite of all the times they tried to prove themselves. They weren't rewarded with a heroic role, nor the coveted crown., but they've got the charisma that inspires others to follow them and to show them respect. They can recognize others' strengths and are in positions where they can guide others towards those strengths. They're so alike, and I think that only feeds their dislike of one another. To Leona, Vil's a try-hard that always changes his personality to look good for the public. To Vil, Leona's callous and carelessly tossing away his own potential. It makes them a worthy rival of the other.

DBKHILdsbiDIvqfosd1436g17b Okay, I kind of strayed a bit from the initial ask, but yeah!! Vil would probably be annoyed with Epel looking up to Leona because Leona isn't at 100% all of the time (whereas Vil tries to be). The two have very different ideas of how their energy is best spent, and with Vil being Epel's dorm leader and all, he feels like it's his responsibility to lead Epel the "Pomefiore" way, not Leona's way.

#twst #twisted wonderland #Leona Kingscholar #Floyd Leech #Vil Schoenheit #Epel Felmier #disney twisted wonderland #notes from the writing raven #twst analysis #twisted wonderland analysis #twst character analysis #twisted wonderland character analysis

[ihavenothingtodo10220]

ꨄFirst and Lastꨄ

⁺˚*･༓☾ [ Jeon Jungkook x Gn!Reader fanfic ]

╰┈➤ ❝ [ The first and last times you ever saw Jeon Jungkook, the person you knew since you were thirteen, the person who loved you until he won his heart when you were seventeen. The person you cruelly broke up with when you were twenty-two. The person who never stopped loving you, no matter how much it hurt, and the person you could still never forget. ] ❞

╰┈➤ ❝ [ Note: All ages in this fic are based on Korean Age. ] ❞

⁺˚*･༓☾ [ Word Count: 1080 ]

⁺˚*･༓☾ [ Contains: Childhood Romance, First Love, Breakups via text, ghosting, slight age gap (Two years) older Y/N ]

⁺˚*･༓☾ [ Most things other than the meetings themselves are very vague, as the focus are their first and last meetings. I MAY make a follow up tackling more of the relationship. Maybe. ]

The first and last times you ever saw Jungkook were similar, so much so you could argue they were essentially the exact same. And yet...They were so, so different.

The two of you met when you got off of that plane, stepping foot into Korea for the first time in your life at only thirteen years old, because your parents decided to ship you off there to be away and live with their old friends. You were scared, and you were alone. The only solace you had was you knew the language, as your mother was born in Korea herself, but you knew nothing else about your mother's home country.

You took one shaky breath in, and another breath out, wandering through the airport in search of where you were supposed to go. You were traveling alone, which was...Scarily unsafe, actually, but your parents had never exactly been...Responsible ones.

You wandered around for a while, until your eyes finally caught sight of a sign, reading 'Welcome to Korea, Y/N!' in Korean. You liked to believe you were the only Y/N entering Korea that day, but you couldn't exactly be sure. You didn't know what the family you'd be staying with while you're in Korea until...Further notice would look like.

You stood there for a few seconds, internally debating on whether or not to go over, before they seemed to notice you and the two parents immediately started grinning, approaching you where you stood.

"Are you Y/N by any chance? Y/N L/N? Eun-Hee's daughter?" Asked the mother, to which you nodded. You gazed at her, fidgeting with your sleeve and shifting your weight from foot to foot.

"Yes, I'm Y/N...Its nice to meet you Ajumma." You greeted her with a shaky voice. You knew your Korean was good, as you were speaking it since birth alongside English, but even if it was...Tied for your first language, you still sometimes forgot things, or didn't pronounce certain words properly. And that was scary to think about to you, as you didn't want to accidentally mess up your first impression.

"You look so much like your mother when she was your age." Smiled the woman, and her husband gave you a smile that mirrored hers. They both seemed kind and so warm, in a way that made you feel slightly at ease though not nearly as much as you'd like to be.

"This is our youngest son, Jungkook. Our eldest is in classes right now." Smiled the man, gesturing to a boy around your age, maybe a little younger, who was standing behind him and looking at you like you were an alien who just descended from a space ship, but he also had this awe-struck expression. "He's about two years younger than you. Our eldest is your age."

You gazed at Jungkook, who just gazed back at you, before giving a tiny wave and a small, shy smile.

"Hello..." Said Jungkook quietly, gazing at you with big, doe-like eyes.

You looked at him for a few more seconds, before giving him a  wide grin. He was...Absolutely adorable.

"Hi."

The last time the two of you met, was under different circumstances. The two of you had been close ever since you arrived—Attached at the hip even. At some point early on, that closeness developed into a childish bout of one-sided puppy love. And then that puppy love morphed into Jungkook at the ripe age of twelve deciding that he wanted to marry you when you were both older, and voicing that opinion to you. You thought it was cute.

And then, at some point, that morphed into you starting to catch feelings as well when he was around fifteen, and subsequently dating. Your relationship...It was strong, until it wasn't. Until he was too busy to spare you any time or even a text, and you were too fed up to put up with it anymore, and you broke up with him over text.

You broke up with him when he was twenty, and you were twenty-two, five years after you started dating in the first place. It was...An insensitive breakup, you supposed. A breakup that was effectively you texting him "I'm breaking up with you" and then not quite blocking him, but muting all notifications from him and deleting all messages. Essentially cutting him out of your life for good.

You moved back to your home country shortly after, where you stayed for many more years, until you came back to Korea for a friend's wedding many years later.

You stepped foot into Korea for the second time in your life, and the first since your breakup with Jungkook. You looked around, heading through the airport to where the bridal party would be waiting. You didn't know who else would be there, only that the couple was coming to pick you up.

Eventually you caught sight of the bride within a large group of people, all of which you recognized from highschool and the years following it. You grinned, approaching them.

"Y/N!" Gasped the bride, spotting you first and pulling you into a bear hug.

"Hi unnie." You laughed, squeezing her tight. "How've you been?"

"I couldn't be better." Grinned the bride, pulling you at arms length to inspect you. "You've gotten thinner, haven't you?"

"I'm the same weight I've always been, don't worry." You scoffed, playfully rolling your eyes.

"Dont give me that sass." She said, but her tone was still so playful.

That's about when your eyes locked onto another pair from behind her. Jungkook. A man you hadn't seen since you were twenty-two, eight years ago. He was entirely avoidable in America, luckily, and you'd only had to hear his music in passing a few times in ads, but other than that he's dropped from your radar. Until right now.

Jungkook looked at you as if you were an alien who'd descended right before his eyes. Yet this time...There was no awe in those wide eyes, just hurt, as a strained grin spread across his lips.

"Hello..." Said Jungkook quietly, gazing at you with big, doe-like eyes.

You looked at him for a few more seconds, before giving him an equally strained grin. It hurt seeing him again. Even if you were the one who ended it...You never quite lost those feelings you had.

"Hi."

#jeon jungkook #jungkook #jeon jungkook imagine #jungkook fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #childhood romance #romance #puppy love #bts #bts jungkook #bts fanfic #jeon jungkook fanfic

[magnus-rhymes-with-swagness]

yeah i can’t stop thinking about the parallels between hearth and alex’s backstories… they were both born into a life that, under slightly different circumstances, would have offered them a lot of privilege. their families had a ton of money and a good social status, and hearth and alex were, in many ways, set up for success.

but there was a catalyst for each of them, something that ended up setting them up for failure instead - the way hearth’s father reacted to him being deaf and alex’s father reacted to her being trans. both of them, despite being born into a life that would have offered them plenty, ended up ostracized and shunned from their families. constantly ridiculed and criticized and blamed for something they couldn’t control and didn’t ask for, but in a better world should have been able to celebrate. hearth should have been able to celebrate his deafness and alex should have been able to celebrate her transness, but they were both robbed of that. they were robbed of their childhoods, growing up in toxic environments and spending their formative years being abused, all for some of the only people in their lives who understood them or cared about them to die.

and yet, each of them were able to cut ties and make their own way in the world. they both managed to build a better life from the ground up, bringing together a solid group of friends to spend the rest of their life (or afterlife) with. they were both taught to hate themselves, spent every day of their childhoods being mistreated by their fathers and told they were worthless, and yet in the end they both manage to undo all that and learn how to love themselves. they learn how to celebrate the very same parts of themselves that their fathers tried to stamp out, choosing instead to surround themselves by people who care about them.

additionally, they both embody the paradox of wanting to distance themselves from their parentage and yet simultaneously reclaim it. alex wants nothing to do with any of her parents, yet deliberately reclaims loki’s urnes snake symbol. hearth has no desire to be associated with his father or former life, but reclaims the rune of inheritance.

but in reclaiming their past, neither of them return to it. alex doesn't try to go back to her house after being kicked out. hearth accepts the othala rune in the end, but after his father is killed, never returns to alfheim again. they take what's theirs, leave, and never look back. so, both of their journeys ultimately involve leaving their former lives behind - giving up privilege, wealth, social status, and the acceptance of others in order to be themselves. becoming the people they want to be, rather than the people society and their fathers wanted them to be.

#anyway if you need me i'll be in the next room chewing on plywood #i never stop thinking about this #resilience and radical self-love and whatnot. identity. embracing the parts of yourself you were taught to repress etc etc #i really wish it had been explored more in canon #i have so many thoughts about hearth and othala and his father's heart & alex and her tattoo #i plan to write a separate meta about that once i'm finished rereading the books #my words #mcga #magnus chase and the gods of asgard #hearthstone #alex fierro #meta #also othala autocorrected to ithaca lmao #every time i think i'm done with this i end up adding more so i'm going to post it now lol

[mamirhodessxox]

I hate you more (Part 2)

Mafia!Cody Rhodes x Fem OC!Mafia Reader

(Sasha Francesca Ricci)

Enemies to lovers trope

Credits to @alyyaanna for helping me come up w the storyline because I had like 3 different mental breakdowns trying to figure out what to do

Storyline: Sasha was born into a world of darkness and fear, Despite the harsh circumstances she was out in she managed to drag herself into finding love at a young age especially when she least expected it but unfortunately not all love stories are fairytales, Sasha resented the man who once brought her love in her life just to leave and break her heart while having the audacity to invade her life many years once again and give her conflict of love and war on how she was to overcome the feelings she feared while trying to focus on her job with him being so close and invasive to her.

Contents: Smut in future chapters, Knife Play, Choking king, Degradation kink, Praising Kink, Alcohol, Smoking, Violence, Mentions of m1rder, drug dealing, Fluff, Angst.

🏷️ list: @alyyaanna @ginswife @coolpastelartshoe @greatkoalawizard @cokolin044 @kotoriarlert @alicerosejensen @bunnybot55 @agent-dessis-posts @adollonyourshelf @mini-rhodes @southerngirl41

{~I'm very serious with you guys interacting with my writing!!!! it would make me so happy & excited, the more comments & reposts the more inspiration i have to write :) likes and comments are strongly appreciated so please COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT COMMEENNTTT the more comments the more content <3!!!~}

Story Inspired Playlist:

Living under the same roof with someone you truly hated and had to see them every single day of your life wasn’t easy one would assume, and for Sasha it wasn’t, Seth had to convince her to Just keep herself calm & not act on any urges on killing Cody whenever she was angry.

And for a while she was doing really good, she remained tolerable & respectful but at some point she snapped, that was today, “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?” Randy heard her shout from the kitchen & made his way over there as he soon saw Cody, Athena, Seth & Sasha in the kitchen, “I can’t fucking believe NEITHER of you! This is as low as you could possibly fucking go Cody” She pointed a knife at Cody’s face which made Seth get up from the kitchen table and grab the knife “Of course You just HAVE to stick your dick into my friends don’t you?! Your that fucking desperate for pussy since I won’t give it to you that you go and fuck whoever you possibly fucking can huh?” She spat harsh words at Cody while he just stood there smirking with crossed arms “What? Someone feeling a little envious that I didn’t fuck he-“ “FUCK YOU!” She shouted and lunged at him but Randy grabbed her “Can you two just fucking NOT be civil for more than a goddamn week?!” Randy scolded while Athena quietly walked out of the kitchen after being told to leave.

Seth & Randy had walked Sasha away from the kitchen while they yelled at each other. Cody felt guilty but he was also good at putting his ego first to where he would make it seem like he wasn’t, but then when he heard a slight sob throughout the hallway and a complaint about how she just wanted to live her life without him screwing with her head he started feeling the guilt. Seth sighed hugging his sister while Randy pinching the bridge of his nose & walked off shaking his head.

“I hate him Seth! He’s ruining my life & everything in it!” He frowned rubbing her back in comfort before she got it together and shoved Seth away & stormed off outside. After she left the inside portion of the mansion Cody soon walked over to Seth trying to speak but ultimately got shut down “You need to shut your fucking mouth before I stitch it shut. I don’t care what the fuck is happening that is my goddamn sister & I will always take her side.” He poked at Cody’s chest “Your lucky I didn’t let her kill you right then and there, seriously Cody? Fucking her friends? Put your goddamn ego down for a split second & realize the more you screw up like that will never get you the chance you want with Sasha.” He scolded before shaking his head scoffing & leaving Cody alone.

Meanwhile Sasha sat at the poolside dipping her fingers in the water sniffling, she refused to cry over him, she picked at her shorts for a little bit zoning in and out of reality not even noticing Athena was approaching her “Sash-“ she shook her head in response not even looking at Athena “I don’t want to talk to you right now.” “Sasha it was a mistake. We both knew it was wrong & fucked up so we stopped, last mont-“ Sasha shook her head “I don’t want to know. I don’t care to know. Nor do I care enough to hear you and him out right now. I want my space that’s why I’m out here so give me that space. I’ll speak to you when I’m ready.” Athena frowned nodding her head before walking back to the house leaving Sasha by herself again. Cody watched from afar standing by his car, he waited for her to do something but she didn’t even look like she was breathing, she was still, He felt relief for a moment when she saw her move her arm up to wipe her face before letting out a short cry followed with a mumble & a shake on the head.

Eventually she got up and walked inside to go to her room & stay there for the remainder of the night. Usually she would be there for dinner at the table with everyone else but Cody felt bad knowing her presence was missing because of his own actions. Barbra set the table & furrowed her eyes “Where’s Sasha? She should’ve been down here by now.” Seth served the food shaking his head and while everyone sat down. “She’s not attending dinner tonight. She’s in her room.” Barbra frowned “Then I suppose I’ll bring her up some foo-“ Cody stood up for a moment grabbing The plate & bowl that was supposed to be Sashas and filled them up with the food being served “I’ll bring her the food Mrs. Ricci. You just eat.”

Barbra quirked up an eyebrow as she watched him walk off and look at everyone else “He fucked up big time didn’t he?” Seth & Randy nodded their head, Cody went upstairs & carefully opened her bedroom door seeing Sasha rolled over on bed reading. “Your mom had me bring up food since, You’re not down there.” He spoke setting the plate & bowl down on her night stand followed with utensils “Spaghetti & Salad tonight.” He named tonight’s dinner before shutting the door softly with the back of his shoe while watching Sasha sit up to eat thinking he left “Why are you still in here? Get out you did your job.” He shook his head “Cody. I’m not playing your games tonight, quite frankly I’m exhausted with them & I’m trying to be as calm as I can right now so I’m going to ask again. Get out of my room.” He shook his head again

“No. I won’t.” She frowned and sighed running her hands down her face “You just love to make my life hell don’t you, is that want you want Cody? Ruin my life? Make me miserable? Because I’m positive you already achieved that goal.” He frowned and stood next to her bed looking down at her “You really think that’s why I’m here Sash’ so I could make you miserable?” She nodded crossing her arms and leaning against her head board “You fucked one of my friends in the same roof as me so I’m assuming that’s what you want,” She croaked a bit and cleared her throat since she started to sound like she was about to cry “Sweetheart that’s not what I want, far from it.” She leaned away and shook her head “Please don’t call me that, don’t speak to me like that I know what you’re doing & I want you to stop Cody.” He tilted his head and kicked off his shoes just to climb on her bed “Cody please I’m asking you Nicely.” She whimpered out but broke her rules when he got next to her and wrapped her in his arms, For a moment she sat there & he thought he finally got to her but she ended up crying and pushing herself away “Get out! GET OUT!” He shook his head and got closer to her “Sasha I’m not leaving this room until you ope-“ “GET OUT!” She shouted again & even got out of the bed

“You already made my life a goddamn hell you don’t need to play whatever fucking manipulation tactic you are right now! So get the fuck out!” He glared and got up “I’m not fucking manipulating you! I’m trying to get through to you and make shit right!” “YOU FUCKED MY FRIEND CODY! THERE’S NO MAKING SHIT RIGHT!” He scoffed “You’re insufferable Sasha I fucked up one ti-“ she swung open the door and stormed out while he chased after her “Don’t fucking walk away from me while I talk to you!” Everyone turned their heads from the table as they heard the two screaming their heads off at each other & just continued eating while Sasha stormed out of the house as Cody yelled at her to get back inside but she refused.

Just as she walked out on him she slammed into someone else’s chest & huffed out & soon looked up to see her most confusing situation-ship at the mansion. Roman wrapped his arm around her “What’s got you all worked up gorgeous?” He questioned while she frowned and dug her head into his chest sighing while Cody stood by the door glaring him down while Roman raised a brow “You the one causing trouble on my girl?” Cody scoffed as he stared down Roman “Of course this is who she’d run off to.” Roman tilted his head before looking down at Sasha and holding her face “Is he bothering you?” Cody sighed and crossed his arms over his chest “Look just stay out of this Roman this has nothing to do with y-“ “Oh but it does, I know you’ve been bothering her recently & I simply just won’t allow that.” He placed Sasha behind him before getting in Cody’s face before snickering and shoving him & welcoming himself into the house while Sasha stood there awkwardly & tense before Cody shook his head “Roman?” Sasha mocked him in the same tone as his voice “Athena?” He furrowed his brows and hesitantly held a hand against her cheek “Sasha c’mon.” She shook her head “No. Not again, not ever.” She spoke before walking back inside and sticking to Romans side while he spoke with her mother.

Cody observed from a distance & even glared, Sasha turned her head for a split moment behind Romans shoulder making eye contact with him & frowned before he caught her attention by patting your hip “Why don’t we get you to bed huh? I’m sure you’re fucking exhausted with the month you’ve had doll.” She smiled meekly before nodding her head & taking him up to her room just as Seth walked out of it grabbing the dishes that were left behind during the fight between her & Cody. Seth nodded his head a bit at Roman before making his way down the stairs completely ignoring Cody’s presence.

For the next two weeks Cody had a difficult time focusing in his work especially when he saw the woman who was once his cling around another man that he hated for many years. He noticed things about Sasha that were completely changing for Romans benefit. Cody always knew her as a woman who was independent but when Roman came around she would try sucking up to him just for the slightest bit of affection. Later that night Cody walked into the kitchen with Sasha sitting in there alone once again organizing the pantry to keep herself from going into her room. “You seem tired.” He spoke out while she shrugged “Roman needs space s-“ “So he kicked you out of your own room?” She looked over and let out a breathy laugh nodding “It sure does seem like it huh?” Cody smiled “It sure does.” They weren’t used to this, it felt strange, getting along, “I guess my affection becomes a little too overwhelming.” Cody furrowed his brows

“He must be stupid, any man is lucky enough to get that side of you Sasha. And you’re not very affectionate either to the average citizen. he shouldn’t be taking that for granted, you had actual bags under your eyes from not sleeping souly because he kicked you out if your own room.” She sighed running her nails through her hair while observing how Cody looked, he looked like the same person she fell in love with many a years ago. “C’mon you’re sleeping with me tonight.” “Cody- no that’s Inappropriate, I ca-“ he gave her a warned look before grabbing her hand and taking her upstairs to his room. For a moment the room was silent and tense, It started bothering Cody so he had finally spoke up “I’m sorry about the whole thing with Athena. It aas fucked up, I did it to piss you off and then it started lasting for a few weeks but then I put it to an end before you found out.” Sasha’s ears practically perked up a bit “Why’d you put it to quits?” He shook his head “Just..didn’t feel like screwing someone I wasn’t connected with in any sort of way.” Bullshit. He’s in love with Sasha.

She smiled meekly and sat crisscrossed on his bed, for hours they reminisced on the past & actually got along, Cody liked the way she smiled or cackled at one of his old lame jokes he used to tell her when they were teenagers in love, the night was still so young & they laid in the bed wrapped in each other’s arms, Cody hummed as her fingers massaged his scalp His breath waving against her lips whenever he spoke, the tension re entered his room and Cody had enough of it, his lips ghosted against hers while she grazed her nails against his arm before he ripped off the band aid and pressed his lips against hers and slipped his tongue past her lips and moved with hers. She moaned softly as the pair made out for a few minutes until she grew sleepy

“I hate you.” She mumbled while he chuckled nodding, “I hate you more” Tonight was the moment he realized that whenever they said ‘I hate you’re to each other that was their own fucked up way of saying ‘I love you’ once he knew she was knocked asleep he got up and went into her bedroom to see Roman placing cameras around her room “Your fucking sick.” Cody scoffed before grabbing one of the cameras breaking them “You keep your damn mouth shut about this Or el-“ Cody cocked his head to the sighed raising a brow before ripping off Romans chain and punching him square in the jaw “Or else what huh?” He taunted before punching him again causing some of Romans face to begin bleeding which made his chain become bloody before setting it down on her desk as he kicked roman out of her bedroom & ultimately shoving him down the stairs “Get the fuck out of her house now before I kill you.” Roman scoffed as he sat on the ground of the foyer holding his jaw “This will never be over Cody.” He got up and stormed out of the Mansion while Seth came out of his room waking up due to the ruckus “the fuck..?” Cody shook his head going back into his room & lying down right against Sasha letting her rest.

Cody was a dead man. He knew his heart was deadset on Sasha but he also knew it would take an army’s worth of work just to get her to give him another chance. Even if that included getting rid of Roman.

xtripleiiix’s Masterlist

@alyyaanna

#Spotify #oh my fucking goooood #cody rhodes #cody rhodes x you #wwe imagine #cody rhodes fic #cody rhodes imagine #wwe smackdown #cody rhodes smut #wweedit #cody rhodes x oc #cody rhodes x reader #cody rhodes fanfiction #cody rhodes edit #randy orton x oc #seth rollins fanfiction #roman reigns x reader #wwe fic #wwe fanfiction #wwe cody rhodes #wwe randy orton #wwe seth rollins #wwe roman reigns #cody rhodes gif #wwe live event #wwe fanart #wwe edit #wwe gifs #wwe superstars #wwe raw

[kirkland-bros-and-more]

UK and Ireland headcanons

Ireland and England aren't brothers, not in the biological way

I have this headcanon about how the UK brothers were born and why Ireland and England aren't brothers

Due to the influence of some cultures I have the hc the Great Britain and Ireland were born and have biological parents and Northern Ireland who was born under special

circumstances

To put it short this is how I think they were born:

Ireland: Hibernia + Ancient Celt

Scotland: Britannia + Ancient Celt

Wales: Britannia + Ancient Celt

England: Britannia + Germania

Northern Ireland: He doesn't have biological parents, he was born under special conditions

Hibernia: She represented the island of Ireland before Ireland was born and he became the successor of Hibernia lands

Ancient Celt: Represented the celt people of Western Europe including Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of man

Britannia: Represented the lands of Great Britain before the Roman invasion

So the headcanon goes like this:

Ireland was born as Hibernia' successor and Ancient Celt son, then Hibernia passed away when Ireland was still looking like a very young child (1-2 years old).

Ancient Celt was with Britannia at this time but that didn't stop him to show care to his son with Hibernia so when she died, he took baby Ireland to Great Britain where Ireland will grow up and learn basic things that his father taught him, to come back to his lands (Ireland) when he is prepared, meanwhile Celt would protect the lands of Eire as well.

Celt took Ireland with him to Britannia and she took him as if it was her own child.

Then Scotland was born and Ireland, happy with the idea he was a big brother, he wanted to help "mum" Britannia with his new baby brother.

As soon as Scotland was growing up, Ireland took the big brother role so it was normal for the younger brother to call him brother, after all Ireland was living there as well and he called Britannia "mum" even though in reality she wasn't his biological mother

Britannia gave the love Ireland needed when he was a child to grow up and Britannia definitely made sure she would protect that kid with all her heart as well

Then Wales came too and again Ireland was again the big brother, young Scotland used to look up for him cause Ireland was learning a lot thanks to his parents and Alistair would go to his older brother to play, help dad with manual works or help mum with baby Wales, also Scotland would go to him when he was scared

England was born with a different father, Germania. He just tried to invade Britannia and it was too late when Celt tried to do something to protect her, England was born, Britannia told to her sons, he was just another member of the family and he needed the same care and she gave to the others but eventually and a bit after England was born, Britannia also died, leaving her sons with their father Celt.

Wales and England were too young to remember her at all, even Scotland was the one who got most affected by it was Ireland, he was the oldest, he was the first one that came to the family, Britannia gave him all the love he needed and he didn't know he had lost someone he used to call mother for the second time in his short life

Celt who was still around but knowing he didn't have too much time left, he told Ireland Britannia wasn't his real mother, that Hibernia was his biological mother but she passed away before Ireland could even know how to talk but Celts made sure Ireland could know both Hibernia and Britannia loved him so much, this is something that left Ireland shocked but he had every right to know this before his father was gone.

#hetalia #aph ireland #aph england #aph scotland #aph wales #aph northern ireland #hws england #hws scotland #hws ireland #hws wales #hws northern ireland #hetalia england #hetalia scotland #hetalia ireland #hetalia wales #hetalia northern ireland #aph uk bros #aph uk brothers #aph british isles #hetalia uk bros #hetalia uk brothers #kirkland brothers #arthur kirkland #alistair kirkland #hetalia world stars #hetalia axis powers #hetalia the beautiful world #hetalia world twinkle #hetalia headcanons #aph headcanons

[lilithbasically]

“Neighbors”

Kirishima x Reader

W.C. 2k

*MINORS DNI*

Warnings: graphic fantasies, flirting, light teasing, masturbation (m&f), peeping Tom behavior

The front porch lights are on; you'd have to thank your Aunt Jayne for coming by before you arrived. The house looks the same as it used to, thankfully. Well, for the most part anyway. The unreasonably tall concrete stairs still stand only now with a handrail. 'Fresh paint has really done the porch some good,' you think. Your gaze shifts to the old swing as you heave your suitcase and extra bags up the towering steps. "Holy shit, they actually kept you. How old is this thing now? At least 50 years...Well, let's see if you still swing crooked." Rolling your case to the side, you sit on the cold metal and push off your toes, letting the double seat rock at an awkward cross angle until it starts bumping into its own side. "Yep," you smile, "Just like I hoped."

Deciding to sleep in the master bedroom and getting your bags set up how you like only took a few minutes. You make your way to the bathroom, after making sure the front door is locked, to shower before having a few beers. Just as the last of the suds swirl down the drain, you hear a deep voice call out, "Umm...hello?" Quickly shutting off the water, you whip open the door; naked as the day you were born with only a flimsy towel for cover, and come face to chest with a very large man.

"Oh, wow!" He exclaims and takes two steps back. "I'm so sorry, Miss. I...normally wouldn't do this but I really need to know who you are?"

You scoff, "Excuse me? This is my family's house so, I feel like you should tell me who you are, first, then follow it with what you're doing in here."

'He almost seems flustered,' you think. You watch his eyes dart upward from corner to corner looking anywhere but at you; he has small crowfeet at the corner of each eye and a scar going through his right eyebrow. His long red hair is half up in a bun, some shorter pieces falling into his face. One large hand attempts to shield you from his vision while the other moves rapidly, animating his words, "Again, I'm very sorry, Miss. I'm Eijiro but everyone calls me Kiri. I live just across the street and I have a key because your grandparents gave me a copy to watch over everything when no one is here. And the only people I ever see over here are the workers and occasionally Miss Jayne. So, when I saw a different vehicle and the lights on this time of night, I thought it was strange. As the person that takes care of this place in your family's absence, I felt I should come take a look. I am so, so fucking sorry."

Kiri showed his copy of the house key with the tag brandishing your grandmother's handwriting.

"Oh, okay. Well, thank you for holding up to your word, anyway. No worries, Kiri. Nice meeting you, even if I have nothing but a towel on. Speaking of..." you nod your head to the front door.

"Right! I'll uh, see you later on probably. M'sorry it wasn't under more...regular circumstances," Kiri chuckles. "Before I go, I'm going to leave my number on the fridge, just in case. Feel free to call me any time ya need."

_____

The bare cupboards weren't offering any assistance to your rumbling stomach. That seems to be the only downside of coming here is that no one lives here anymore, so, grocery shopping is an unfortunate necessity.

Grabbing two armfuls of bags, you start to climb the annoyingly tall stairs when you catch a flash of red in the corner of your eye.

"Hey, neighbor! Lookin' like you could use some help there," Kiri smiles at you when you turn to look at him. His bright grin takes over all of his features, crinkling the corners of his ruby eyes. He grabs the remaining bags and shuts the door. His biceps strain against his t-shirt with the smallest movement and you have to wonder just how many shirts he's accidentally ripped. Your gaze is drawn to his dark-wash jeans and muscular thighs as he somehow takes the steps two at a time, and falls into stride next to you.

"Thank you, Kiri. You really don't have to but I appreciate the help anyway."

"Of course! A woman as beautiful as you shouldn't have to do things on your own," he flirts, gently bumping his elbow against your shoulder. You look at him next to you and finally acknowledge just how tall the man is. Having to stoop down to not hit his head on the six-plus foot roof, you figure he's easily six foot four, maybe six foot five.

You smile and shake your head, unlock the door, and walk straight to the kitchen to start putting things away. Kiri sets the bags on the table with a small sigh, "Welp, guess I'll be goin. Like I said, call me if you ever need or want something."

"Oh, Kiri, wait. I'm actually about to start dinner if you want to stick around. I don't know if you're a fan of potato soup but that's what's on the menu. I'll also be having a few drinks afterward if you'd like to join me."

"I'd love to but only if you finally tell me your name," he chuckles.

"Oh! Right! I'm Y/N," you offer a smile and turn to start chopping potatoes and carrots. Dinner is ready within the next hour with Kiri's help, even though you thoroughly protested. He just laughed, leaned forward to be almost eye level with you and asked, "Did you already forget what I told you on the porch?"

The flush that crept up your cheeks was obvious and he didn't hesitate to point it out, "Wow and here I thought my hair was the reddest thing in here." You quickly averted your eyes and blamed it on the heat from the stove while Kiri snickered under his breath.

Now you sit next to him on the couch, turned to face him with one leg bent under the other, each of you a drink in your hand. The alcohol helps diminish your nerves at having such a wildly attractive man in such proximity but when you're both sitting so close, staring into each other's eyes, trying to get the other to break, your mind can't help but wander to other ways he could break you.

Finally, he blinks.

"HA! I've never been beaten in a staring match, Kiri. Told you I'd win," you tease.

Your breath catches in your throat when his fingers lightly grip your jaw, tilting your head back toward him. "Is that what we were doing, darlin'? I was just admiring the view."

His thumb softly sweeps across your bottom lip as he leans forward and whispers against your lips, "You don't mind me admiring you, do you, Little One?"

Unable to respond, you shake your head. The heat swirling in his eyes makes your heart pound against your rib cage. Pulling back, his gaze drops to your lips before returning to your own. A gentle sigh leaves him as he allows his hand to fall, "I should be going, Y/N. I have an early morning but I've had more fun tonight than I have in a long time. So, thank you for that. Hopefully, I'll see you tomorrow. Make sure you lock the door behind me, alright? Have a great rest of your night, beautiful."

Kiri gives you a peck on the cheek and forehead before you both stand and walk to the door. "Goodnight, Y/N. Have sweet dreams for me, yeah?" You say your goodnight and lock the door behind him, slumping against the wall.

"What. The. Fuck. Just. Happened? Holy fucking shit." You fan your ablaze face to rid yourself of the pulsating heat that has taken residence across your cheeks. Walking to your bedroom, stripping along the way, you crawl into bed with nothing on, and lay your head down. You lie in bed for the better part of half an hour and decide the increasing heat from your cunt won't allow you to rest until it's handled. Flicking on the bedside lamp, you throw off the covers and grab your vibrator from your suitcase. Usually, you'd use lube but the wetness coating your inner thighs tells you it won't be necessary this time. A subtle buzzing fills the bedroom as you lay back against the headboard and thrust the toy inside your pussy, the top nub sits snug against your clit as you grind and roll your hips in time with the rhythm you set.

_____

Kirishima is all smiles on his walk back home just across the street. Unlocking and opening his door, he walks to his bedroom and strips down to nothing but his underwear before hopping into his own bed, laying down, and closing his eyes. His thoughts filled only of you. What seems to be just a few moments later, a small flicker of light through his eyelids prompts them to open and investigate.

His eyes adjust and when he realizes what he's seeing, his cock immediately hardens in his boxers. 'There's no way she knows,' he thinks. Surely you don't know there's one section of your blinds that are open just enough to see into from the right angle and Kiri's bedroom window, happens to be at that angle. He can see how wet you are from here; watches as it drips down the toy every time you push it inside you. Your brow scrunched, one hand switching between palming your tits and pinching your nipples while the other is diligently at work. Before he realizes what he's doing, Kiri pulls his boxers down just enough for his aching cock to spring free. The tip is flushed and red, already leaking precum. Taking his length in hand, he matches his pace to yours, stroking in time with you.

"Ahh, f-fuck..."

Did...did you just say his name? He could swear he saw your lips mouth his name. Fuck...just that thought alone has him imagining himself filling you instead of that bright pink toy. Knowing even after stretching you out with his thick fingers, he'd have to bully his cock inside you. Your pussy would stretch to accommodate his size and he would revel in it. Take his time so he could feel every throb, every squeeze, every fucking drop of your essence. Thinking of you begging him not to stop fucking you as he pulls out and dips down to lick your cunt and suck on your clit just to make it last a little longer. He opens his eyes just as your mouth drops open, your toes curl, and your thighs shake. Thick, white ropes of cum cover his fist and stomach as you get off at the same time. Kiri watches as your back arches when you remove your toy, get up to put your pajama pants back on, and slip back into bed after turning off the light. Grabbing a tissue to clean himself up, he tucks himself away and picks up his phone to text his best friend about the new girl just across the street.

#eijiro kirishima smut #kirishima eijirou x reader #kirishima smut

[connectionterminated13]

What’s some headcanon’s you have for Michael and Charlie as friends?

Both were born in the same year under very different circumstances. Michael was an accident and unwanted well Charlie was seen as a miracle. (There's only supposed to be one baby then Charlie just pops out and everyone's like yay 2 babies!)

They were 2 wild little Gremlin children together

Michael was the one that found charlie's body and the 1 that dared her to go out in the rain and run around Freddy's 3 times

When they both remat as Undead Weirdos there was like 5 minutes worth of crying

Surprisingly Charlie is better at interacting with normal people than Michael. (His go to is usually awkwardly Staring or shouting out threats about how scary he is (He needs so much therapy)

They're all the other one has both are terrified 1 day they'll wake up and the other will be dead for real and they'll be alone..

They live in a trailer together Going around in setting Freddy's on fire. Also fulfilling their childhood dream of traveling around the United States.

#fnaf #michael afton #charlie emily #fnaf inferno au

[mytalemyworld]

My Thoughts on Cheng Shaoshang & Ling Buyi (First 24 Episodes )(*contains spoiler*)

So if a Byronic hero and a female Harry Potter were a couple...

Well that seems to be a crazy fanfiction idea but this is real.

So the female lead, Cheng Shaoshang (Niaoniao), had been left behind by her parents who had to go to a military expedition, and thus she had been brought up by abusive family members. Since she had nobody but herself to depend on, she learnt only one thing. How to survive. When finally her parents came back to home after 15 years she thought her life would be different, but then her mother started giving her a hard time under the disguise of parental education and she no longer believes that there will be someone who really cares about and protects her. Her only aim is to escape her mother's clutches and strict manners and be free enough to do what she wishes. Which leads her to make very heartbreaking choices.

And the male lead, General Ling Buyi (Zhisheng), has a tragic backstory. His mother's family had been massacred because of a treacherous act in the army, his mother went insane to the point where she no longer knows her own son, his father who thought his son and his wife also died in the massacre, got married with his cousin and didn't divorce her even after he found out his son and his wife were alive. So basically he loathes his father too much that he even goes against him in front of the strangers (I must remind you this is Confucian society) and turned into a war machine even though he used to have hemaphobia when he was a kid. This tells you enough what kind of person whom he turned into. He seeks justice -but more like revenge- and tries to find the mastermind behind the massacre.

She learns how to be cunning and street smart, he learns how to be ruthless and cold as ice.

Ling Buyi fell for first and then harder. He was in this for the long haul however he lost his chance. Because he is too late to confess his feelings. Also she doesn't know him and finds fim a little scary. She clearly states that she doesn't want to live in a violent and suffocating environment, has no desire to carry more responsibilites so being a militarist's wife is not even a desirable choice. And he knows this. So that's why he is out of the picture. But is he really?

The thing is although she wants to stay away from responsibilites and harshness because of the way she was brought up, the same reason causes her to listen to the voice of conscience. She can not tolerate any injustice or bullying. Also since she has strong survival skills, she is excellent at making the right choices under fatal circumstances. She is born to lead and yet to see this simple truth.

So this is deifinitely not a smooth sailing. They are kindred spirits but she needs to realise this by herself: what she really wants, with whom she will walk on the road she chooses, who she is. As for him, he already knows what he wants but I think we’ll see how much he needs someone to fight for him as well.

I am gonna write “My Top Ten OTP Scenes” below.

10) The way he understood her plot and helped her.

They are match made in heaven.

9) Third time’s a charm! Their third meeting was one of the most memorable scenes for me!

You know he is not a gentleman when it comes to other ladies, he has like no-shit-given attitude, he doesn't follow etiquettes or some social norms, HOWEVER after she had lied in front of everyone by saying that he admired her but she never reciprocated his feelings, and came to face to face the man whom she talked about confidently a few seconds ago while trying to make a dramatic exit, the only thing he did was to smile (which is a rare sight) without correcting her lie.

He’s the heartless general to everyone else, but completely whipped and adoring around her. 

I am going weak at my knees.

8) Being confidants 

He doesn't find her annoying or see her as a person who should be disciplined, on the contrary he acts like they are peers, he entrusts her with finding a secret map, shows her respect.

Of course he teases her a lot but in the manner of a lover. Cute.

7) Cliche but who cares.

I mean I've seen worse slow burn romances than this, I have a tough skin when it comes to angst, but this doesn't change the fact that his agony goes deep.

He accepts harsh reality but never stops loving her which brings them to this point: He asks for the emperor to give her a praising (very well deserved btw) so people will show some respect to her and then reads the imperial edict at her engagement banquet. 

Peak level angst.

Well, selfless love is something like this I guess.

Later she trips and he holds her...*Katy Perry E.T.  starts playing in my mind*

Meanwhile everybody at the banquet: *le-scandale*.

Everbody just knows. Or feels something is going on.

6) The execution scene and later all the dialogues in his carriage

The man has strong spidey-senses or more like Shaoshang needs me senses maybe? 

Even if it’s a little controversial to see Lady He has enough strength to behead someone, I’ll overlook realities.

5) His going feral after finding out she got ambushed.

I will never get over this.

4) JUST ALL OF THIS

Damn. You can clearly see that they are just so compatible.

She is smart, determined and doesn’t give a shit about what is ominous or not. Even after the surrenders try to scare her she doesn’t waver. She has strong beliefs about justice. To her, justice isn’t something to be sacrificed for some traditions, you must act immediately even at the cost of breaking some taboos.

That’s why he admires her and knows he found his lifepartner.  

3) His farewell 

The whole scene is so heartbreaking but you know what hits me hard? After watching the peaceful scenery in front of him he says “I just remembered that I never earnestly listened to you playing the flute since we know each other.”. 

This is a perfect way of telling how late he is to be with her. Even though I dislike her mother, she is right about one deduction, he is always on his duty, busy going after the betrayers, solving the cunning plans made by some traitors and he missed his chance to be with her under some normal and peaceful conditions. 

When she hopefully says she can play it for him later, it's just another hit. After the mission which seems to be fatal. If they have a chance. Which he thinks they will never meet again.

2) The public love declaration

CSS: General Ling. The wife you get in the future will be a lot better than me. I am stubborn since young. I won't be educated and won't listen to you. Will you still marry someone like me? LBY: Of course. I never knew how wonderful I am to you. Similarly I am sure you don't know that in my eyes, Cheng Shaoshang is the best lady in the capital. Everyone says to marry a gentle and virtuous lady. Madam Cheng is fierce in battle and doesn't lose to men on the battlefield. But off the battlefield, you're also in love with General Cheng. It's clear to see that every couple is different and not as everyone says. Shaoshang might not be an obedient lady in everyone's eyes. But to me, she is the whole capital and the whole world's best lady. Indeed. She is pure and decisive. She dares to love and hate. She is the only one who can walk alongside me in this world. I will only marry her in my life.

I HAVE NO WORDS.

1) Her removing arrow from his chest

I think this is way too intense not because of the process, just because of his whole demeanor and starings...also man has to sort out his priorities because-

Yeah buddy you are just about to lose your arm or worse your life and your only concern is if there is someone special in her life or her hands hurt. It's just freaking too much. Maybe the first question is to make her relaxed but come on he really asks what he is curious about. The first part of her answer makes him upset even. I can’t with him.

This is the main dish then the dessert is served.

CSS: *Casually talking about the mastermind behind the ambush like a strategist* LBY: *Proud husband look* His men: *gasp*

She is like "oh god i didn't hold my tongue again and now they will think i am not normal" but she has no idea, doesn’t she?

#love like the galaxy #cdrama #leo wu #zhao lusi #thoughts

[wiiwarechronicles]

ik it's a bit of a far-fetched question since she was barely around to be a MOTHER, much less a grandma, but how would Sally get along with Yogurt and Granola?

in a hypothetical universe where she survived and her family was better off mentally a LOTTT of stuff in the parfait au wouldn’t have happened. Probably including granola in the first place. But I’m going to ignore that. Rambling with drawings under the cut!

DISCLAIMER. None of this is canon bcs sally is dead and gone 💔

If she had lived she’d have gotten along with the kids well enough! They’re part of her family obviously and sally really likes babies. she and yogurt specifically get along swimmingly. They were both wild children even if it was under different circumstances. Yogurt was left heavily traumatized from his first few years of life so it takes him a really long time to like people. Once sally got his trust she spent as much time with him as she could. He’s her favorite easily. Of course she wouldn’t say that out loud but everyone can kind of tell. Whenever she’s visiting he wants to sleep with her but it takes wayyy longer for him to like Wilbur than Sally so his grandpa has to sleep on the couch 😔

Also like I’ve mentioned before sally makes jewelry out of little shells and things!!! But unfortunately granola really hates having things around her neck and wrists so it alllllll ends up going to yogurt. Which he isn’t complaining about of course. Sometimes yogurt and her will go out to the shore and collect shells to make into jewelry. They can spend HOURS just with each other just carving little holes into things.. it distracts sally from how offended she is that granola loudly complains about having to wear anything sally has made while she’s visiting.

The one real big connection granola and sally do have is siren stuff. If sally had lived she’d have been able to teach her son the sort of communal telepathy sirens do. And other magic shit of course. So she’s also very insistent on granola learning it at the first sign granola has siren magic. It’s all very boring a tedious to granola though and she gets very frustrated at not getting the hang of it immediately and also having to keep in the same place for such a long time. It’s entertaining enough when she’s a little baby but as the years roll on and she can’t get herself to do it it just makes her bitter and angry at sally. Eventually because of her tantrums H talks fundy into not making her do it anymore since it’s obviously really upsetting granola. Which in turn makes Sally angry at fundy and it’s this whole horrible ordeal which makes sally like H even less than she already does.

Once they all calm down sally does apologize to granola. The meditation sessions are way less frequent and much shorter and SURPRISE. Granola actually does manage to get the hang of it in a lower stress situation. But ya sally still doesn’t like H for a variety of reasons. H and Fundy sort of have their own way of communicating that annoys her and she also thinks he’s not a great influence on her son and his kids. Which is probably true but tbf she and her husband didn’t do amazing either.

Despite H trying to be polite sally is always angry at her for one reason or another. ESPECIALLY while fundy was carrying. (She was sort of mad that had happened in the first place). After granola was born their relationship improved a little bit but definitely not enough for them to hold a conversation together. H is one of the very few things that set fundy and sally off . whatever. They seem to be enjoying each other somehow so she won’t push it too much. But she will still be side eyeing him every time they’re together. At least he’s funny

#this is very rambly and all over the place but I hope you enjoy it anyway #parfait au #anon #maidsmop #not putting this in my art tag cause scrolling thru it would fucking suck #maybe I’ll post these on their own in a bit

[itsuki-minamy]

"AYAKA – SIDE STORIES 01": BROTHERS

TRANSLATION: NARU-KUN

* List of Chapters

BROTHERS 01: YANAGI YUKITO & KURAMA HARUAKI

From Yukito Yanagi's experience, there were quite a few people who had the fixed idea that "raising children in an orphanage is a pitiful existence".

In particular, the older you get, the more likely this is to happen. The reason why he dare not call it prejudice is that there is sympathy and concern, and there is not much discrimination or condescending sentiments.

It's a little different if you just say it's an admission based on precise facts.

Yukito, who left the island where he was born and raised as a child and lived in an orphanage, realized early on in his life that perfect happiness is not often found in this world. At the same time, he naturally came to understand that there was no such thing as pure unhappiness.

The orphanage was a mixture of happiness and unhappiness.

Of course, the environment in which the enrolled children were born and raised is quite harsh compared to general world standards.

Father abuse. Disappearance due to financial bankruptcy of the parents. Abandonment of the mother. Accidental death of all relatives who only helped.

The children who came under such circumstances have wounds in their hearts that will never heal.

A slightly older boy at the same institution had a habit of urinating on the bed even when he became a high school student. He had an older sister who never made eye contact with him. Some of them left the institution before graduating from high school because their violent behavior towards others was notorious.

They were all carefree to a greater or lesser degree, but that does not mean that they were depressed or lamented by their misfortunes.

They were all working hard to overcome the handicap of the absence of family and live a full life according to their age.

Although commonly misunderstood, children in institutions are guaranteed a certain degree of financial freedom.

In addition to his monthly pocket money, he received a small gift at Christmas and, although it was not expensive, he was given a New Year's gift at the beginning of the year.

Also, the use of pocket money was basically voluntary for the kids, unless it was for some very odd purpose, and they were free to save it up and buy slightly expensive items like gaming hardware.

In the shared space of the institution where Yukito was, there was a fairly comprehensive collection of the latest game consoles, software, manga, etc. purchased by the children who were enrolled with his pocket money.

Yukito once invited a classmate to the institution where he lived, but the boy...

"Well, I have lots of toys to play with."

He had mixed feelings when he heard him mutter with envy.

From Yukito's point of view, more than any toy, he would be happier to go home and spend time with his family at night. He remembers feeling vague and almost frustrated, and when he consulted the most trusted Yu-nii-chan in the facility…

"But you know, Yukito."

Brother Yu twisted his body from his study desk, turned around and said in a soft voice.

"Maybe there are childlike circumstances that Yukito doesn't know about. Just because you have your own home doesn't necessarily mean it will lead to happiness."

Yu-nii-chan, who looked intellectual with his silver-rimmed glasses, was a second-year high school student. He was the facilitator for the children at the facility.

"We often tend to think that we are the only unlucky people in the world. You have to be very careful there."

It's not like he was 100% convinced by what he said, but because it was Yu-nii-chan, whom he respected, who reprimanded him, Yukito was able to accept the feelings he had at the time.

And he was shocked that Yu-nii-chan was an adult after all. When he grew up, he honestly wanted to be like Yu.

However, after that, he naturally distanced himself from that classmate. He doesn't even remember his name now.

Yukito Yanagi lifted his upper body from the bed and stretched once. He stood up, rubbed his eyes, opened the blinds and looked outside to see a cloudless blue sky.

It hasn't been that many days since he came to the Ayaka Islands, but most of the time it was clear and sunny like this. He still doesn't understand many things, but he has no doubt that this is a place where the weather is nice.

Normally, he would have been able to wake up in a good mood, but the noise in the middle of the night woke him up, so he couldn't deny that he was lacking sleep. But when he looked at the clock on the table next to his bed, it was already eight.

Unlike when he was at the facility, he didn't have a set time to wake up, but the habits he had cultivated over the years were firmly ingrained in Yukito.

Besides, he didn't want his roommate, Momoko Amamiya, to think of him as spoiled.

He doesn't care about the other roommate.

After getting dressed, when he went out into the hallway, another roommate besides Momoko Amamiya, who was the cause of Yukito's lack of sleep, was lying on his stomach.

Sagawa Jingi.

He was the one who invited Yukito to this mysterious island, and now he is Yukito's teacher. Just in case. Yukito squatted down with half-hearted eyes and silently looked up at the strange art object, which didn't even move. This teacher went out alone at night, drank a lot and then went back to drinking with his bad friends. He woke him up to the sound of them making a lot of noise.

The others seem to be on their way home at dawn.

Currently, only one person, Jingi, is lying on his back in the hallway in a strange posture with only his right hand stretched out.

(Are you breathing?)

As expected, he was a bit worried and looked at his face.

(You're not dead, are you?)

At that moment, Jingi's arm trembled. Yukito was startled, Jingi looked up slightly.

"W-Water..."

He spoke as a person lost in the desert. Yukito sighed, went to the first floor sink, filled a suitable glass with water, and headed back upstairs to Jingi.

He dared to put the glass at a distance that his hand might or might not reach. Squatting down and looking at the strange insect with observant eyes, Jingi managed to grab the glass, his fingertips trembled and his arms stretched out as hard as he could.

Purupuru.

Purupuru.

His fingers moved at different angles.

Jingi's face changed seven times with a desperate expression. Eventually, however, he wore himself out and returned to the same position.

"Gu~"

After a while, a nice snore came out of his mouth. Yukito sighed and stood up.

He thought from the bottom of his heart that he would never want to become that old.

On his way from the second floor to the first floor, he could already smell the fragrant smell that stimulated his appetite. He could also hear the sizzling sound of something getting cold.

Yukito headed for the kitchen, the source of the sound and smell. The door was open, so he looked inside.

Momoko Amamiya was cooking on a frying pan as she softly sang.

She moved her shoulders from left to right for a while, and when she finished singing...

"And in the potato~♪"

As she made the comment, she scraped up the contents of the pan with a spatula and poured it into the blue bowl.

She always seemed to be smiling happily, but she was in a particularly good mood this morning. Even when Jingi came home in the middle of the night and made a fuss, she didn't seem to wake up, so he guessed that she's the type of person who can sleep soundly once she goes to bed.

It was a bit awkward to watch in silence, so when he tried to talk to her...

"Uh..."

Momoko turned around and said:

"Oh, good morning, Yukito-kun."

She said the morning greeting. Her voice was slightly inverted. She must have been embarrassed that she sang without realizing Yukito was there, and she tilted her head awkwardly.

"Oh, good morning."

He wanted to insist that he wasn't spying on her, but he didn't have a good way to convey it.

He breakfasts at the dining room table.

All of Momoko's home-cooked meals gleamed in the soft morning light. Tofu and Iwanori seaweed (harvested on the island), miso soup, freshly cooked rice, perfectly cooked salmon fillets, and potato salad with sautéed bacon and onions (excellent!)

Not only did it look great, it tasted great, but he couldn't eat in peace.

The reason was simple. The awkward atmosphere that had been created between Momoko and Yukito had continued for a long time, and he couldn't really enjoy breakfast. Yukito was wondering how Momoko was doing, and Momoko was also curious about Yukito.

"Ah, the rice is very delicious."

Like Yukito, she thought that she was telling her true feelings, but somehow her voice sounded like she took it for granted.

Momoko too.

"Oh, thank you."

Although she looked happy, she couldn't hide the "Did I make you worry about me?" expression.

Yukito is not good at interacting with people. It is a so-called communication disorder. So it was common for institutions and schools to have this type of situation.

It was the first time Momoko and Yukito were so awkward, so he was confused. Then he suddenly realized the reason.

At the same time, he clicked his tongue in his heart.

(Because Jingi-san isn't here.)

He didn't want to admit it, but if Jingi was there, he would talk to her, including things she didn't need, so there was a side of him that had a gap.

It hasn't been that long since he came to the island, so he hasn't had many chances to come face to face with Momoko.

(What should I do?)

He thought of ten patterns of conversation clippings in his mind. As a result of the examination, four of them were caught up in the following conversation, two were excessive self-talk, the other three were somewhat inappropriate topics to talk about in the morning, and the last one was nonsense.

As a result, he chose to remain silent. Momoko, on the other hand, seemed to still be trying to make conversation with herself.

But then he said...

"Mo-, Momoko-san, I, my head, want..."

As he held out his hand in front of her, Jingi stumbled into the dining room like a zombie, plopped down on his own chair and fell forward in disappointment.

"Jingi-chan! Wait a second? Are you alright?"

Momoko ran to him and began to take care of him.

"I'm going to get you water and medicinal herbs right now, okay? Oh, I told you not to drink too much!"

It was only a little, but he could see the sense of relief that she was able to finish the exchange with Yukito.

No.

It could just be Yukito's jealousy and preconceptions.

He had just finished eating, so...

"Thanks for the food."

He curtsied politely and tried to take the plates to the kitchen. He tried to leave that place.

"Uh..."

Momoko looked at Yukito. After...

"...Yukito-kun. What do you want for lunch?"

That was what he heard.

Yukito replied.

"Anything will be fine."

He thought it was cutting speech.

He regretted his attitude towards the person he was indebted to, but Yukito had some reason to behave that way.

For some reason, Momoko always asks what he wants to eat after every meal.

At first, he was frustrated and frantically searched for the answer, but gradually it became a nuisance. Yukito is not a picky eater. None of the children in the institution complained about the food they were served.

That was why he was grateful to eat whatever Momoko cooked for him.

Being too careful is really painful.

(I wonder if I'm not good "here" too.)

Suddenly, negative emotions arose that made him sick.

At that moment, a strange gelatinous thing crossed in front of him.

Yukito was startled for a moment and then immediately realized it.

(Mitama?)

There are many strange things on the Ayakashima Islands that are not found on the mainland, and this Mitama is one of them.

The size of a fist. It's just faint, but it looks like it's glowing. Also, Yukito could hear them muttering something under their breath.

The Mitama shifted while rolling in the air. Yukito unconsciously chased after the Mitama. The Mitama finally entered the living room as he made a playful little noise.

Yukito followed slowly, making sure not to catch up with the Mitama. Before long, the Mitama crossed the room and slowly began to float towards the sky through the open window.

Yukito went to the window frame and opened it. With the clear sky in the background, the Mitama became smaller and smaller.

When he looked closely, there were many other Mitama floating and they were about to flow in the same direction.

(There is something there?)

However, he didn't have the curiosity or the perseverance to go out of his way to chase after it. He tried to leave the room, but somehow he got curious and looked towards the Buddhist altar where the portrait of his father was placed. He hesitated for a moment about what he should do, but for the moment, he nodded towards the picture of his father, who had a very bright face.

He only looked at his father's face.

He couldn't remember anything in particular.

It was the same for this family, Momoko and Jingi. Although he was a child, he should have lived with everyone for a considerable period of time, but he did not feel any special emotions.

To be more precise, he only remembers a little bit, he has a memory like that, but it doesn't connect with intense emotions.

Maybe he is a colder person than he thought.

It was the same when he saw his father's portrait placed on the Buddhist altar. Exceptionally sad and nostalgic. He couldn't help but feel that this house is where he truly belonged. He remembered feeling uncomfortable somewhere like when he was on the premises.

Even if he suddenly went to another place like when he was brought to that island, he wouldn't feel so much pain.

Yukito let out a small sigh and left the room.

He thought from the bottom of his heart that he is not good at interacting with people, but he was too easily influenced by people.

Or maybe it's because he's not good at interacting with people.

Either way, it's easy to get carried away. Yukito thought idly as he soaked in the hot water of the public bath.

It was the first time in his life that he entered a public bath in broad daylight. The exterior and interior of the building were old, but the bathroom was beautifully polished and filled with a refreshing clean feeling.

Brilliant sunlight streamed in through a large skylight, illuminating the mural of cherry blossoms.

He let out a sigh of relief. So...

"What's wrong? You're so old even though you're a kid."

Jingi Sagawa, who started to enter the bathtub with his feet up, called out to him with a smile. And when he plunged into the milky white water up to his shoulders...

"Haa, it's hot, it's hot. Hot water is good. My lifespan is really getting longer~"

He walked past him and said words that sounded like an old man.

"......"

Yukito silently stared at the person who had half-heartedly put him into that public bath. Jingi, who noticed that look, pouted his lips.

"What? It can't be helped! The best thing for a hangover is to take a bath during the day."

"Then go alone! Don't involve me."

"Okay. There's no need to worry. You don't have anything to do, right?"

Jingi calmly stirred the hot water with his hands like water on a frog's face. Yukito was confused by those words. Indeed, Yukito, who is currently on spring break, has nothing in particular to do other than the training that Jingi has imposed on him as a connection to his veins.

"What is this?"

The voice that he tried to object to was weak.

To be honest, it is undeniable that he had nothing to do. Otherwise, no matter how forcefully he was invited, he probably wouldn't have followed.

(And I'm a bit uncomfortable with Momoko-san right now.)

If possible, he wanted to avoid a situation where Jingi would go out and be alone with Momoko at home. Jingi didn't care about Yukito's condition at all.

"This place is a natural hot spring. And yet, there aren't always many customers, so I wonder if the business is doing well."

He turned his neck a little. It's true that there were no other customers at the time, Yukito thought for a while and then said:

"No, I'm not particularly familiar with that either, but it's usually the public baths that get crowded, don't you think? But, it's past noon, right?"

"Oh, no, actually. After all, I basically just come here hungover."

Jingi laughed unapologetically. Yukito made a disgusted face.

"You're a really bad adult, aren't you?"

"Don't praise me like that, don't praise me."

"I'm not praising you!"

"Hahaha." Jingi turned and laughed. Yukito sighed. If you try to reason with this person, you will run out of physical strength. It may be fair to ignore it moderately.

At the moment, he is supposed to be a teacher.

At that moment, Yukito noticed that Jingi was looking at him with a different expression than before, so he cautiously asked.

"What?"

"Well, I brought you here, but are you okay with taking a bath with people?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"No, I thought a guy like you would absolutely hate these kinds of naked places."

"...Well, not bad at all."

Yukito looked away and answered, being careful not to be self-deprecating on purpose.

"Sometimes I can't say that because I grew up in an institution."

"......"

After being silent for a while...

"Momoko-san was worried about you. During breakfast today, she thought that she said something that offended you. You were in a bad mood at the end, weren't you?"

Yukito was surprised and turned his gaze to Jingi. He said slowly:

"Something happened?"

"......"

"Tell me if you don't mind. I am your teacher after all."

With his hands wet with hot water, Jingi stroked Yukito's head. The droplets traveled down Yukito's forehead and cheeks.

Yukito was a little annoyed by his behavior that seemed to be tolerant, but in reality he wasn't very sensitive, but he didn't take his hand away.

Maybe Jingi brought him here on purpose to make time for just the two of them.

"It's not an exaggeration to say that something happened."

After making that introduction, Yukito slowly spoke about his own feelings. Jingi listened quietly as he looked up at the ceiling.

"That's why I get to eat all the delicious dishes that Momoko-san makes. Even so, every time I'm asked what I want for the menu, I'm like…"

Yukito couldn't help but stammer at that. Jingi listened silently.

"Do you want to stop being treated like a customer all the time?"

Yukito was silent for a second, then nodded slightly. After giving a big yawn...

"Yes! In fact, I felt that way too. Momoko-san worries too much, right?"

Yukito once again shook his head weakly.

"But Momoko-san also has a reason for doing that. That person, above all, I feel sorry for you."

"Eh?"

Jingi smiled at Yukito.

"Although it was my master's last will, I sent you to the mainland alone when you were a little boy, and suddenly called you back, right? It's not like I, Haru-nii, or Inou-san don't have that kind of of feeling, but Momoko-san is the kindest."

"...That's right."

"I'm sure you had a proper life there, but I thought I could have taken it away from you."

Yukito sighed deeply.

It seems there are several things he didn't understand.

(Is that why you thought that I could spend a comfortable time on this island?)

Jingi said with a sensible face.

"Well, you should tell Momoko-san how you feel right now. If you can't do that, you're still a kid, right?"

He tried to admire Jingi for the first time, but...

"Eh?"

Jingi peered into the tub.

"Ahahaha, you are definitely still a child!"

He laughed so hard that he stopped. Yukito turned bright red and twisted his body to the side.

After leaving the public bath, Jingi had washed hair and a bright face.

"Well, I'm going to play with my friends again!"

He gestured with his finger and left. Yukito let out a sigh with a slight amount of admiration mixed with the great amazement.

(That person is living like a playboy in a period drama.)

Or a college student on a long vacation.

Yukito had no choice but to go home alone. He was a little nervous about seeing Momoko alone, but maybe he should tell her how he feels as soon as possible.

He is frustrating, but his advice never fails.

Momoko was making a big mistake.

(I was at that facility...)

At that moment, Yukito realized that he was near the irrigation canal that had been attacked by the Aramitama the other day. It seems that he took a slightly wrong direction while he was walking while he was thinking. He reflexively steeled himself.

He was afraid of meeting an Aramitama again, but he was more afraid of losing control.

But, there is no perfection.

No one can protect you or stop you.

Yukito quickly got out of the irrigation canal.

Before he knew it, he was in a place he had never seen before. He seemed like he was completely lost. In front of him, dense trees grew, and the path he had been walking up until now continued there.

He didn't remember going through a forest like that, so he had to turn around. When he was about to turn back...

"That is...?"

Yukito suddenly noticed that many Mitamas were floating around him, moving towards the forest in front of him.

Each of the Mitamas fluttered, moving gently up and down, and happily flowed into the forest like children riding in a flowing pool (that's what Yukito saw).

(Maybe...)

Yukito thought. The Mitama that he saw at home this morning may have also flown in this direction. Thinking about it, he began to wonder what was in store for him. Yukito made up his mind and followed the Mitama and the others into the depths of the forest.

At first, the path was quite paved, but the undergrowth gradually increased, and before he knew it, there were no clear tracks left. It wasn't that he couldn't walk or anything, but that a narrow path that could only be described as an animal trail stretched through the trees in a zigzag pattern.

At first, Yukito advanced timidly, looking back to keep track of the way he had come, but gradually he began to take a bolder and bolder step.

In the morning, the depression that he was feeling faded away as he progressed, and instead, a faint feeling of happiness and an uplifting feeling that made him want to ignore it gradually filled his heart. At first he thought it was the cool forest air that made him feel this way, but then he realized it.

(I see. I can sense the presence of a particularly strong lifeguard here on the island.)

Yukito knew that he had special senses that normal humans don't have. The sensor detected it.

(If I remember correctly, Jingi said that the lifeline flows underground on the island and vitality comes out of it...)

In Yukito's words, how would he describe it?

The density of life is dense.

The Mitamas, who were taught to filter out of the lifeline in the same way, increased in number more and more, and were circling around Yukito like a group of fireflies.

They were all fluffy, swaying and having fun.

Yukito felt a little uneasy that he wouldn't be able to go home if he didn't come back soon.

He doesn't know why, but that forest is full of life. He could feel the same kind of presence in some shrines and trees even in the city, but the level of concentration was completely different.

In the city, it's like a powdered soup diluted dozens of times, but here it's thick and strong like porridge boiled to mush.

And he feels so comfortable in that peculiar space that he felt a little bloated. To be more precise, within that feeling of joy, there is also the anxiety of opening doors that should not open in order.

He may not really be able to come back.

(By the way...)

Yukito remembered.

At that moment, he felt that kind of excitement and fear at the same time.

That happened on a trip he took with everyone at the facility. It was summer vacation. They stayed in a national lodge in the mountains, played table tennis and bathed in hot springs. There were staff at the facility, there were children of the same generation, and there was Yu-nii-chan, whom he adored.

The event occurred on the last day. When he was playing in the water in the river bed, he got into a fight with one of the children from the institution over a trivial matter. Yukito felt that he was being mean to him, but the other person probably didn't have much malice.

It was a common fight between the children.

Emotional shocks that inevitably occur in institutions with several children. A piece of everyday life that is insignificant. The only thing that was different from the norm was...

There was an uncontrollable creepy power latent within him. Before he knew it, the river water suddenly rose up and swallowed the other boy, who was in agony unable to even scream in the water.

Yukito, who was stunned, finally realized that the abnormal phenomenon was caused by him, and in overwhelming fear, he tried to free the boy.

Luckily in the midst of the misfortune, the column of water dispersed and the boy fell helpless to the surface of the water before he lost his life. For better or worse, it was a series of events that happened because the check on power wasn't working.

After that, a nightmarish time with no sense of reality passed. Ambulance with flashing red lights.

The police rushed. Adults coming and going. Children crying.

Yukito was questioned many times by the people around him about what had happened, but he was unable to answer any of the questions.

Partly because he was still in the lower grades of elementary school, he didn't fully understand what had happened in the first place.

And before he knew it, he was back at the institution. Yukito came to his senses and first tried to apologize to the other boy. Just to be sure, he underwent a full examination at the hospital, but no significant abnormalities were found and he heard he was resting in his room.

However, he was interrupted by a boy in the middle of the hall.

It was Yu-nii-chan.

Yu-nii-chan stopped Yukito and said:

"Yukito, you should stop."

"Uh, but..."

"Even if you go, it will have the opposite effect. That child..."

Yu-nii-chan hesitated for a moment.

"Now he's scared."

After a while, Yukito realized what Yu-nii-chan didn't say.

What is the child afraid of?

None other than Yukito Yanagi himself.

"......"

Yukito realized that tears were welling up at the corners of his eyes.

"Yu-nii-chan? Are you afraid of me, Yu-nii-chan?"

Yu-nii-chan slightly averted his gaze from him and then responded with a laugh.

"Haha. Yukito is Yukito. There is nothing to fear."

Yukito bit his lip and nodded as he thought.

Yu-nii-chan is an adult.

He is so good at lying that he cares about people.

After that, Yu-nii-chan and the people from the facility treated Yukito very well, looking fair. If the frightened children acted to drive Yukito out, he even liked it.

However, Yukito had already stopped opening his heart to those around him. If he disturbed his emotions, he might hurt someone important again. If the teacher in the facility or Yu-nii-chan were to suffer damage, he could never forgive himself this time.

And what was even scarier was...

(I feel comfortable with this flow of power. If I let my guard down, I feel like I'll be swallowed as is.)

The sensation was strange to him. The Mitama around him was constantly increasing and it was already like a great current. He had the feeling that the further he went, the closer he got to a place out of this world.

Momoko made a big mistake.

(At first, I didn't have a place to live on that institution. That's why I didn't resist coming to this island at all.)

No maybe...

In the first place, his own place may not be anywhere in human society. With a strange mix of frustration and joy, Yukito advanced further into the depths of the forest.

Somewhere in his heart, he vaguely thought that he might not come back.

(If that's the case, then that's fine.)

He wasn't weird or sad or scary.

And suddenly his vision widened. There was a gap between the trees, a small open space in the woods.

Yukito stiffened his body. It was not because of the impressive vitality, nor because of the countless Mitamas that continued to circle around the place with joy.

Because there was an unexpected client. Sitting quietly on the mat in the center of the venue. As he hummed, he pulled out a bottle and a bag of candy from a bag.

"Ah?"

The person immediately noticed Yukito's appearance.

"Hello, Yukito-kun."

He waved his hand in a happy and smiling voice.

"Are you taking a walk too?"

Yukito was speechless. Intuitively, he approached the image of meeting in isolated and unexplored territory.

(Walk?)

That person is...

Kurama Haruaki, Yanagi Makoto's former disciple and Sagawa Jingi's classmate, called out to Yukito with a smile.

"You can come too. Today is really a good day for a picnic, right?"

"......"

Yukito came closer as if he was fascinated. He really felt like he had been charmed by a fox or a raccoon dog.

As Yukito sat on the edge of the rug, Kurama excitedly poured the warm liquid from the bottle into a glass.

"Take this, it's tea."

He continued speaking.

"Do you want sweets too? Do you want crispy and delicious fries?"

Yukito looked at the delicate and neat face of a woman in Kurama, and then said:

"Oh, no, thank you. I'm fine with just the tea."

He finally murmured his thanks to him and received the tea. He was completely detoxed.

He took a sip of the tea into his mouth, and when he somehow felt comfortable, he sheepishly asked a question.

"Umm, Kurama-san, what are you doing here?"

"Ah?"

Kurama, who was looking at the soft light coming through the cracks in the trees, smiled and bowed his head.

"Eh? What are you saying...? I'm taking a walk... Just like you, right?"

"Oh, yes."

Yukito nodded vaguely. Kurama nodded.

"This is a place where life flows well. I like it too, and sometimes I come here to bathe in the forest. Come to think of it, my master used to walk here a lot. Fufu, you can't fight blood. It's very good."

Kurama looked very happy.

"......"

Yukito finally understood.

At first, he thought that Kurama had gone before him for some reason to help or warn him.

But not.

(This place, which I have entered with all my might, is nothing more than an easy daily path for Kurama-san.)

Kurama's next statement made it confirmation.

"If you don't mind, can I show you the deep end?"

"......!"

Something that had been stubborn inside Yukito suddenly melted away. He let out a wry smile involuntarily. The tragic feeling that he had thought that he might not be able to come home now was ridiculous. He was sure that he must have been walking on a promenade that was the size of a hiking trail, as if it were the end of the world.

"No."

Yukito shook his head with a giggle.

"I'll stop. Today..."

"Yes?"

Kurama tilted his head curiously.

Then he spent some time with Kurama. He drank another cup of tea and took some sweets with him. At first, the vitality he felt was excessive, but as he chatted with Kurama, he changed to a moderately comfortable level.

Yukito felt his feelings calm down slowly and silently. Before long, he helped Kurama put the mat away and walked with him to the entrance of the forest.

At that moment...

"Speaking of which, what about Jingi?"

Kurama asked.

"Yes. Well, I'm fine. That person isn't a proper adult, so it's a big deal."

"Yes."

Kurama seemed worried. They reached the exit of the forest faster than he expected.

(I see... I didn't go into the forest at all.)

He thought deeply.

The sun was still high when they came out of the woods. Thereupon, Yukito parted ways with Kurama, who had other business to attend to, and headed straight home. Strangely, unlike him before entering the forest, he was able to return home without hesitation.

When he got to the door, he met Momoko who was sweeping.

"Ah, Yukito-kun."

Momoko looked at him as if she saw Yukito's expression. Yukito took a deep breath.

(Alright.)

He talked to himself and smiled.

"Momoko-san, I have a little story to tell you."

Anyway, he thought of telling her little by little what happened while he was away from that island.

Momoko relaxed her shoulders and smiled as if she had sensed something.

"Yes. Well then, why don't we have a cup of tea? There are delicious rice crackers, would you like?"

"...Yes!"

Yukito followed Momoko through the front door. He noticed that his shoulders were weaker than when he left.

BROTHERS 02: KURAMA HARUAKI & JINGI SAGAWA

An Aramitama was crying.

While spinning like a tornado, he would swing his eight arms and destroy whatever he hit.

It was like a storm of malice that cut fields, felled trees and stone walls. The constant roar of the wind sounded like a scream of agony.

Poor thing.

Kurama Haruaki feels helpless pity for the supernatural beings that wreak destruction.

A block of stone was blown by the wind from the Aramitama, brushed the hem of his hunting clothes and hit the railing behind him. Steel railings were smashed into dogleg shapes and stones were smashed to pieces. With that behind him, Kurama stepped forward.

"Oh, pathetic vitality that has become stagnant and polluted. I will exorcise your suffering."

And Kurama crossed his arms.

"Between heaven and earth, empty and endless, move and finally come out."

The Aramitama turned to him.

Red eyes glued to the raging wind widened. The vitality that floated in the surroundings moved towards Kurama as if it was drawn to him. It became the current of the atmosphere, the wind, and began to revolve around Kurama.

An Aramitama has no intelligence. However, instinctively, the Aramitama recognized Kurama's vitality as "something that makes it difficult for him to exist". Extending his eight arms, the Aramitama rushed towards Kurama with the force of a hurricane.

The golden fan was flung open.

To hide his mouth, Kurama turned his fan forward. The gold-rimmed key shone faintly in the sunlight. Kurama swung the fan from right to left, like a good dancer dancing for a moment.

The Aramitama's charge drifted far to the left.

Caught by the hand of an invisible giant, the Aramitama began to spin around Kurama as if he was being forced. He stretched out his eight arms and struggled to grab hold of Kurama's body, but was never able to escape Kurama's path.

Kurama kept dancing. He was also spinning on the spot, pulling his legs, stretching his arms, and swinging the fan constantly.

Kurama was now producing a large tornado. When he turned, the atmosphere changed, and the wind from the Aramitama turned into a tornado entangled in a tornado. The eight arms that were in front of Kurama gradually lost their strength, and began to sway as if they were responding to Kurama's fans and enjoying dancing in the wind.

"Nothing is called the beginning of heaven and earth, existence is called the mother of all things."

When Kurama chanted that spell, the entire tornado began to glow pale gold. The flowing vitality eliminated the Aramitama's stagnant vitality and he was about to eliminate it. Aramitama himself, as if pleased by this, extended his eight arms and pointed them towards the sky.

A golden glow enveloped the Aramitama.

Eight arms stretched out into the sky, the red eyes caught in the center turned into golden bubbles and melted in midair. Like a receding wind, the golden bubbles rose up in a tornado and were sucked into the heavens.

Before long, Kurama stopped dancing.

Nothing was left behind. You couldn't even feel the sway of a gentle breeze. A veil of tranquility fell everywhere.

Kurama raised his face.

His usual calm expression had returned. He closed the golden fan with a snap and returned it to his pocket.

As if on cue, a young man jumped from the railing of the embankment.

"Hey, Haru-nii. Are you done?"

Jingi waved his hand slightly with his usual sloppy face. Kurama let out a small sigh and looked up as if to reproach him for such an act of kindness.

"You're too late, Jingi. I finished everything."

"Ok, then, originally it wasn't a job two people could do."

"That's right. It's a job you should do alone."

When he said it without hesitation, Jingi was unable to answer and remained silent. Kurama slowly climbed onto the bench, one step at a time, a smile on his face.

"In the first place, you're the one who said that you wanted to appease the Mitama because you needed money, so why did I come earlier?"

"No, well, that's... a lot happened. I helped an old lady who was in trouble on the road."

"Hmm. Where is she from? I have to say hello later."

"......"

Kurama was smiling. It wasn't that he was angry. He has been seeing his brother like this for over ten years. It's not that kind of relationship that will make you angry, shocked or abandon him.

But where it must be pressed, it must be pressed.

Upon reaching the embankment, Kurama tapped him on the shoulder.

"But don't worry, Jingi. You still have work to do."

"What is it...?"

Kurama turned around. A desolate field stretches there. Fortunately, it was fallow land, so there was no crop damage.

"It must be hard for the people in this house to clean up after themselves. Please help me with that, Jingi."

"......"

Jingi made a very unpleasant face. He knows this because they have known each other for a long time. The act that this younger brother hates the most is none other than "work". In particular, he thinks that he would be better off dead than doing simple, tedious, persevering work like cleaning up afterward.

Of course, Kurama doesn't care about such things. If you want compensation, you have to work for it.

"Then please, I'll give it to you, Jingi."

"Oh, I'm coming!"

Shouting as if he had given up, Jingi went down the embankment. Kurama nodded in satisfaction when he saw her back.

++++++++++

"This is the last time!"

He threw the large stone caught in the field back into the original river bed and it collapsed on the spot.

His entire body was drenched in sweat, and while he was out of breath, Jingi wiped the sweat from his forehead. He had already taken off his jacket and was only wearing a T-shirt. He covered the areas that could be covered with the pulse patching technique, but all other areas were manual labor. His entire body creaked, telling him that he would definitely have muscle pain tomorrow.

"Haru-nii! It's over, damn it!"

Still crouched, Jingi turned his head and looked toward the bench. Under the sky that was turning redder, Kurama was sitting calmly on the edge of the bench.

"Yes. Thanks for your hard work, Jingi."

Kurama, smiling and drinking tea, looks like a jizo or something. In fact, all around him were rice, vegetables, sake and other offerings, in other words, gifts from the islanders. Kurama, who has appeased many Mitama as the priest of the Kasen Shrine, is very popular among the islanders, and even if he passes through the path, he will receive things.

Standing up and starting up the embankment, Kurama lifted the teapot next to him.

"Would you like some tea? Tomi-san in the back made it for me. I have some for you."

"No, it's okay, I'll have this drink."

Jingi took the four-sided bottle, put it directly into his mouth, and began to drink. The sweet alcohol slid down his throat and his insides heated. He let out a breath and sat down on the spot.

"Ah, I'm tired... or rather, Haru-nii, if you're just looking at me here, please help me."

Kurama smiled slightly.

"I can't do that. It's a devotional job, so I can't get my hands on it."

"If that's the case, there's no point in being here. You should have waited somewhere warmer."

"My brother is working for the first time in a long time. Isn't it your brother's duty to watch over you?"

Jingi sighed quietly. If he was someone other than Kurama, he would have simply pointed out, "You shouldn't be watching, you should be helping". But this brother says it from the bottom of his heart. Look at Jingi with the affection of the family, not with duties and responsibilities.

Precisely because he knows that, Jingi didn't raise his head to Kurama.

Kurama brought his mouth close to the teacup and then looked inside. He looks like he ran out of tea. Kurama suddenly directed his attention to the bottle Jingi was holding and handed him a cup of tea.

"One for me too."

That was fine, Kurama is fresh mouthed. Jingi smiled wryly and tipped the sake bottle.

"Okay."

Totto-totto-, the teacup was filled abundantly while making a pleasant sound. After waiting for the sake to settle down, Kurama took it to his mouth. The white throat moved up and down two or three times, and Kurama let out a satisfied sigh.

"Yes. I like it, it turns me on."

"Is that so? Are you cold?"

"Oh, of course. It's still time for hot sake to be delicious."

Suddenly, the brothers' eyes met. They didn't need words. They nodded to each other, rose to their feet at the same time, and began preparations for withdrawal.

He returned the teapot and teacup to Tomi-san in the back, and for some reason, it was decided that the reward would go to Jingi. It was rare for Jingi to do this kind of simple job, but for some reason, when she got close to Kurama, he turned like this.

"Come on."

Kurama was walking down the sidewalk with Jingi, clutching a four-sided bottle in one hand. His face was slightly drunk, and he had been repeatedly hiccuping for a while now. If other people were doing the same, they'd be sloppy drunks, but when his brother's drunk, there's a happy atmosphere.

"Hey, Haru-nii. It's dangerous, come a little closer."

"Hmm? Oh, that's right. Fufufu, thanks, Jingi."

Kurama smirked as he staggered closer to Jingi. He should have been reasonably strong against alcohol, but it might be because he drank the sake from the teacup in one go. When he was worried about whether he could reach his destination safely, Kurama suddenly took something out of his pocket.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Haru-nii, that..."

"Oh, this? Fufufu, it's alright. Chatarou and Yako chose it. Are you jealous?"

"No, it's just a cell phone, right? Everyone has one."

"Is that so, isn't it? Oh, my, this is so easy to operate!"

"That's because it's for children. It's the first time I've seen a twenty-year-old wearing something like this..."

"Well, it's better to be easy than hard, isn't it? Well, that's it... What are you trying to do?"

Kurama stopped, turned his head and began to think. After that, he suddenly turned his cell phone towards Jingi, pointed at the messaging app.

"Hey, Jingi. What's that red thing in the upper right?"

"What? It means you have unread messages. What's that?!"

"Is incredible?"

"Haru-nii, you didn't reply! Look at this, you've been receiving confirmation messages from Chatarou many times!"

"Chatarou, ah, that's right! I was thinking of telling Chatarou that his job was done! Great, do your best!"

With a bright expression on his face, Kurama patted Jingi's head. Although he was weak, he was willing to accept it.

Kurama looked at his cell phone again. He blinked several times with his eyes wet with alcohol and, for some reason, crouched down with the sake bottle at his feet.

"Well, if you want I'll show you. Click here... then..."

"......"

"Press the white area, then... "F" "O" "R" "C" "H" "A" "T" "A" "R" "O" "U"..."

"......"

"Hmm? Hey, okay? How can I make the "letters" smaller?"

"Don't worry! Lend it to me!"

Jingi grabbed Kurama's cell phone and sent a message to Chatarou at high speed. "I'm done with my work, so I'm going out for a drink. Just do it right away."

No matter how you flip it, it's a line Kurama is unlikely to say, and Chatarou will probably get confused, but that's not what Jingi knows.

"Yes, it's over! That's enough, don't use your cell phone!"

When he handed back Kurama's phone, he clapped for some reason.

"Oh, that's amazing! I'm sorry, Jingi. After all, you are a reliable little brother."

"Oh, I'm not at all happy to be praised for something like this..."

"But is it okay? Maybe it's too soon and it won't arrive properly?"

"Eh?"

Kurama crossed his arms and thought. He's always been fluffy, but now he's twice as fluffy because he's drunk.

"If you go too fast, you might make a wrong turn or get stuck somewhere. I'm starting to feel uneasy. Would that message get lost?"

"That's not going to happen, what are you saying?"

"Hmm. Just in case, let's send it by another means."

Kurama didn't seem to have heard Jingi's words at all. He put his cell phone in his pocket and took out something else in his place. It was a note on Japanese paper and a brush.

He scribbled something on a notepad and tossed it into the air. Concentrating on the fluttering notes, Kurama signaled at a speed that didn't draw attention.

"Humanity, earth and sky! Each one of us, the arts and crafts of our husbands, return to your roots!"

A localized tornado erupted, entangled the memo and propelled it into the sky. The note flew over his head like a bird into the sky at breakneck speed.

Looking at the stunned dedication, he nodded in satisfaction.

"With this, I should get to Chatarou properly. Come on, Jingi."

Looking at Kurama's back, who began to walk quickly, Jingi replied weakly.

"No, you don't need a cell phone, you..."

++++++++++

Izakaya "Usagi" has many advantages, but the biggest one is that you are free to bring your own food.

Of course, there is a fee per seat, but still, it's cheaper to bring as many snacks and sake as you want, and if you pay for the ingredients and technical fees, the owner, Azuki Mitarai, will cook you a decent dish. In Ninoshima, where there are many people engaged in agriculture and fishing, it was truly a dream shop.

That's why Kurama and Jingi visited "Usagi".

"Oh, Kurama-sensei! That's weird!"

"Sensei! Thank you very much for the other day! Thanks to you, my wife is fine!"

"Sensei! Have a drink! It's my treat!"

As soon as he entered the store, the customers welcomed Kurama at once. Kurama greeted with a smile, responded to the handshakes and gratefully accepted the alcohol and food they offered him. It was also nice not to show unnecessary restraint or concern, and it was one of Kurama's virtues.

Kurama, who was in high demand, was finally given a seat at the table in the center of the store. On the other hand, Jingi delivered the offerings received from the residents to Mitarai.

"Azuki-chan, I beg you to do this. Keep it nice."

"Okay, but I'll take the exact price. The bill won't be paid this time."

"Huh? Well, that's it, hahahaha..."

"Don't fake it by laughing."

Unlike Mitarai, who had a calm look, Jingi's gaze wavered.

Kurama thought with a drunken head. (My brother is in trouble.) Then it was his brother's turn.

"Okay, okay, I've got this place. Let's pop, pop!"

The interior of the store exploded.

"Oh, Sensei!"

"Are you sure you want me to do that...? We didn't do anything."

"But that's what Kurama-sensei said. I'm grateful here..."

Kurama tilted his head. He really didn't understand why everyone was so upset. It occurred to him that his comments were interpreted as "treat everyone".

Jingi noticed the same thing and rolled his eyes and said:

"Wait, wait, you cheeky bastards! Why would Haru-nii buy from you?"

"Of course it's fine! Everyone's portion is also my present!"

Jingi opened his mouth wide and the drunken guests cheered.

"Uooooooh, as expected of Kurama-sensei! Higher humans are different!"

"Sensei! Bring as many bottles of sake as you can! Sensei, I'll order it for you!"

"Sensei, I will follow you forever!"

"Sen-sei! Sen-sei!"

"Sen-sei! Sen-sei!"

Kurama laughed and waved to the applause that rained down. Jingi said bitterly as he sat down across from Kurama.

"Hey, Haru-nii! Are you alright?! Even the Kasen Shrine can't afford it!"

"Well, that's good. It's a celebration of devotion to work."

"No, I just happened to work today, and it's not like I'm going to get a job."

"Oooh?! Did you hear that?! Looks like Jingi is going to get a job!"

"What?! That devastating dedication!"

"Jingi's Dedication?!"

"A worthless dedication!

"Stay in line there. I'll hit you one by one!"

He got angry and kicked his seat, but the same number of sake bottles as the number of guests were pushed, and they were thrown back to their seat. The sake cups were lined up in front of Kurama, and they poured one after the other without worrying about spilling.

"Come on, Sensei! First of all, come over here!"

"Yes."

For now, Kurama held the sake cup in front of him high.

"Good luck then."

"Cheers!"

He didn't remember much after that.

He only remembered the hands of the owner who brought the food, his expression of devotion as if he had swallowed a sour bug, how he toasted each time a new customer arrived, and how many people asked him for advice, but his drunken head closed. But he couldn't quite understand, and when he repeated "I see" and "I see", the conversation somehow went smoothly.

Before long, those hours had passed, and when the only people sitting at the table were Kurama and Jingi, he suddenly said:

"How is Yukito-kun?"

"Eh?"

Jingi, who was drinking chuhai, looked at Kurama with dark eyes. Up to that point, he's been drinking gallons. "Ah...", he let out a voice that sounded just like he remembered it, and Jingi laughed out loud.

"That reminds me, I heard you met him the other day. Somewhere in the woods. I don't know what to do, but please tell me, thank you."

"Thank you? What?"

"Well? He mentioned that he was able to get home thanks to you. He got lost?"

Kurama thought with a drunken head. It is true that he met Yukito during a bath in the forest, but he didn't think he was lost. All Kurama knows is that they had tea together and had a good time chatting.

Jingi then slammed his body against the back. Suspending the handle of the cup with just his little finger and turning it (Kurama thought it was dangerous, he shouldn't do it), he said without looking at anyone.

"Well, is it okay for me to be his teacher? Isn't it better that I be Haru-nii? You have two apprentices of the same age."

It's not like he's complaining. Jingi is not that kind of person. He was just expressing a question that had just popped into his head.

Indeed, Kurama thought. Jingi isn't necessarily qualified as a hookup master. Little serious and irresponsible, living from day to day. No matter how much a person likes Jingi, he can't deny that he is given such an evaluation.

But Kurama smiled and shook his head.

"That's not true, Jingi. Luckily, you're fine as his master."

Jingi looked at Kurama. He had a look as if he was asking, "Why?"

Kurama closed his eyes thoughtfully and answered.

"Of all of us, you are more like his master than anyone. You are similar in his ugly parts, but you are also similar in his amazing parts. That is why you are perfect for Yukito-kun, my master's son."

"......"

"Aka and I probably won't be as good as you. We won't be able to open Yukito-kun's heart. That's why he's okay with you, Jingi."

Jingi gasped slightly. It must have been because his head was half asleep. Kurama didn't quite understand who he was talking about.

He just took a small breath and laughed.

"Then. Well, if Haru-nii says so, I will remain his master in silence."

"Yeah. That's fine. That's fine."

It was then that he lost consciousness for a moment.

Before he knew it, Kurama was being shaken by someone. When he opened his eyes and looked over there, he seemed to be the owner's face. With a slightly concerned look on his face, he shook Kurama's shoulder.

"Sensei, Kurama-sensei, we're closing the shop. Damn those guys, they made him drink until he was like this..."

"Oh, yes. I'm sorry, Mitarai-san. It's alright, I'll prepare..."

"Hmm? Are you going to walk along the river bank?"

For some reason, while drinking canned chuhai, Jingi, who was sitting in front of him, asked curiously. Kurama smiled wryly. Sleeping for a moment, his thoughts woke up a bit. The difference between Kurama and Jingi is that he likes sake, but not enough to drink.

"No, it's the end of the day, Jingi. Go home properly for today."

"...Yes."

Seeing his younger brother nod more obediently than usual, Kurama smirked and reached for his kariginu's chest.

He serched and serched.

He serched again.

Kurama then looked at Jingi. With a troubled smile, Jingi's expression suddenly clouded over.

"Jingi."

"What's happen?"

"Apparently, I lost my wallet. I think it was when I faced the Aramitama."

"Eh?"

The matter seemed problematic. If Jingi said the same, he'd probably be cussing, "Liar, you runaway bastard!" There was no way the famous Kurama could do such a thing. Before long, his gaze remained on Jingi's twitching face, as did Kurama.

At that moment, Kurama, with a completely innocent smile on his face, said to Jingi:

"Then please take care of me, Jingi."

"Even so, you really listen to what Sensei says, you bastard. To think that he would just go looking for his wallet."

Mitarai muttered something like that as he cleaned the shop.

To his credit, Kurama was allowed to wait inside the shop. Although it is spring, the nights are still cold. It was a political consideration that he couldn't throw at a celebrity who was still drinking sake, but Kurama didn't notice that and grabbed the cup of tea he had just drunk with both hands.

"Yes. He's a reliable little brother."

He said it sincerely and drank the tea.

BROTHERS 03: JINGI SAGAWA & AKA IBUKI

Human beings have certain qualities that they are born with, each has its own position and is designed to fit where they should.

"Mochi is a rice cake", "Society is a puzzle that compensates for unevenness", "Everyone is different, everyone is good". No matter who you ask, you'll probably come across one or two of those idioms.

Taihei Makita believes that there is some truth to this mediocre view of society.

But at the same time, there are people in this world who are truly extraordinary, people who cannot belong to the "professional", and there are tasks that only they can do. Makita also knows that such a person exists.

For example, Aka Ibuki, the head of "Ayaka Security", is one of them.

++++++++++

He still couldn't sense anything disturbing in the lights of the distant downtown area.

However, the reason why he seemed like this is because Makita has no spiritual qualities. A keen sense, due to a special practice or innate constitution, the possessor can see the flow of spiritual energy before it solidifies and manifests, what the local language calls "Ki".

How would you like this scene?

He wondered what the representative of "Ayaka Security", Aka Ibuki, sees.

Saying nothing, Ibuki took a chocolate bar from his pocket and chewed on it. It hasn't been long since he started waiting in that alley on the outskirts of town, but the garbage can next to him was already full of packing scraps.

Ibuki stuffed things into the spaces between work and daily errands. Since he was a child, he's always been a big eater, but lately he's been much hungrier than normal people.

He is not a giant like Makita. His physique wrapped in a suit is rather slender. As for where the food disappears, it probably becomes Ibuki's "abilities" and physical drive, in other words, the heat of the fight.

A strange scream was heard from the direction of the city center. A bestial roar was mixed with an unpleasant metallic sound.

"An Aramitama, it has materialized. Let's go there."

"I understand... Boss, I'm coming."

When Makita, who received the report, looked at him, Ibuki gave a slight nod and began to walk towards the light. His whole body began to feel strange. It was a high-pressure life force that glowed in the surrounding air like a mist of heat.

"Ayaka Security" is a security company whose service area is Ayaka and Ichinoshima Islands. That is their official position, but in reality they are a group of armed exorcists whose mission is to exterminate the materialized psychic disorder "Aramitama" and minimize the damage.

The distant screams began to mix with the shots, and then those driven to shoot appeared.

Hovering over a two-story building on the outskirts of the city, a huge "snake" with a thick body that looks like the trunk of a large tree, with two arms twisted like a rope. It has a mask-like head with a gigantic eye that splits vertically.

The members of "Ayaka Security" surround the squirming "snake" and chase after it. A team of about 10 people, focused on young people in their twenties. They are armed with large and small firearms such as pistols, rifles, and machine guns. It is a weapon that is sophistically approved for use under the guise of "a tool used in festivals held on the island". All bullets have undergone goryo exorcism and have a spiritual impact.

However, the anti-personnel firearms did not do much damage to the giant "snake". The "snake" rushed forward with increasing speed, as if it hated the hail bullets that were hitting its entire body. It was an impulse that tried to crush Ibuki who was standing in front of him.

Ibuki took out a large pistol from his pocket and fired casually.

The bullet landed on the "serpent's" forehead and its huge head was knocked off.

Ibuki's weapon, itself, was nothing compared to the firearms his subordinates possessed. However, the power of the bullets fired from there was incomparable. It is the difference in ability between the subordinates who use weapons imbued with the power of magic and Ibuki, who is a powerful magician.

In succession, two, three more bullets fired by Ibuki hit his torso, scraping the flesh of condensed vitality, and the "snake" soared into the sky as he raised an anguished voice, and then, eyes shining at Ibuki. He recognized Ibuki as his enemy.

A gigantic sickle head turned towards Ibuki, and his entire body was bent with terrifying power. In the next moment, it came out like a spring.

A fierce smile appeared at the corner of Ibuki's mouth. As he took a low stance and stomped his feet firmly on the ground, the vitality that enveloped his entire body began to emit a strange glow. In other words, he himself was a monster comparable to an Aramitama. The "snake" roared and jumped on another monster that appeared in front of him, opening his jaws. He was already too close for a gun. A poisonous fang like an iron spear would pierce through Ibuki's body at that moment. The pistol grip was hammered into the forehead of the "snake".

A strong blow like an iron hammer broke the mask of the "snake", the face of the exoskeleton with a single huge eye.

Ibuki uses a pistol to apply his own technique to the bullets and shoot them from a distance. If you are within range of realistic fists and legs, it is more effective to hit with meat.

Second shot, third shot and more. With each punch, Ibuki made a big swing and threw his grab, elbow, left fist, left and right knees with all his might. Furthermore, he plunged deep into the frightened

Aramitama, placed the pistol in his right hand on his chin in a boxing manner, and fired rapidly. When the magazine was empty, he dropped the pistol and hit the head and entire body of the "snake" with both fists. His rough appearance is exactly like a devil.

Makita gave instructions to the members who were chasing the "snake" and had them surround the demon and the "snake" from afar. If that happens, there is nothing they can do. Originally, the purpose of that mission was to drive the giant Aramitama away from the city and guide him to that place where his "boss" could wield all of his power.

An Aramitama up to a certain scale can be dealt with by members with the provided firearms. However, it's hard to deal with something that has grown to a monstrous size, like that, unless it's a real caster.

Although "Ayaka Security" prides itself on being Ikki Tousen, it is essentially a one-man team focused on and working to support the powerful magician Aka Ibuki. If you compare it to a Guso puzzle, Aka Ibuki is a gigantic distorted and sharp piece. He is irreplaceable.

"Oh, it's decided!"

One of the bloodthirsty members raised his voice.

A barrage of fists and feet strengthened by supernatural art finally shattered the "snake" mask. A gigantic eyeball the size of a melon, Aramitama's core was exposed and rolled out of the half-destroyed skull. If that is destroyed, the Aramitama will no longer be able to maintain his body, and it will become a stagnant life force and disperse.

But...

Another eyeball appeared behind the giant eyeball.

"There are two cores...!"

Makita and the members were amazed, and Ibuki also took a retreat stance as a precaution.

The first eyeball of the "snake" formed a new skull with a thick vitality in the air.

The torso, like the trunk of a large tree, fell apart. It was originally made of two "snakes" twisted together like a shimenawa.

(This is bad...!)

In a head-on fight, Ibuki never loses, but the separation of the Aramitama in front of him was completely unexpected.

He started a two-on-one battle against the two-headed "snake". Just as Makita feared, the two coordinated snakes played with Ibuki, who was superior in strength. As Ibuki's eyes warned against one of the "snake" heads, the other ate from the side.

A living fist struck one of his long torsos, and the other, unharmed, became entangled.

Makita ordered the members to take cover, but the firepower was insufficient, and moreover, the line of fire was limited so as not to hit Ibuki, who was fighting with the "snake". It could not be called a decent force. There was no place for ordinary people to enter the vast arena of spiritual warfare.

As the armed members struggled to get their hands on it, Ibuki was quickly outnumbered. Originally, it is a style that consumes a lot of physical strength and is not suitable for long duration battles. Even as he did that, Ibuki's attacks were muffled and his defenses were weakening. At some point, he would receive fatal damage.

Not that there was nothing they could do. It would not be impossible to forcefully intervene in this battle between the devil and the "snake" to break the deadlock. But that puts some members at risk of injury.

"You can go. I'll stay a while and become a decoy."

The member who spoke earlier, Furin, told Makita.

"There are many people who can replace us, but there is no one who can replace the boss. Make no mistake."

"No, no, you are irreplaceable human resources."

Makita smiled wryly as if to fool his inner thoughts, but he had to make a decision immediately.

Finally, the fangs of the "snake" grazed Ibuki's shoulder, it didn't seem like a fatal blow, but his stance collapsed and his next move was delayed. On the other hand, the "second snake" had already built up strength in preparation for the next blow.

"Come on!"

As Furin jumped, something flashed overhead with a sharp sound.

Next, the head of the ''snake'', which attacked Ibuki, was flipped over by a great force and fell backwards. Fine droplets smelling of alcohol fell on Furin's head.

"What is this... alcohol?"

"Alright."

A young man approached from the street. He raised one hand in a nonchalant tone and held a long can of commercially available chuhai in the other hand.

"Jingy...!"

"Hey, why are you here?"

Both Furin and the other members, looking somewhat relieved, called out to the man in the chuhai.

To Ibuki Aka's "younger disciples", Sagawa Jingi's face was familiar.

"When I was drinking in town, it seemed like there was some kind of chaos around here... so..."

As he spoke, Jingi climbed up on the wall next to him and sat cross-legged.

"Haha, I came to see you."

"Hey, if you're just kidding..."

Controlling the wind forest, Makita said:

"Please give your support to the boss."

"Well, it's alright. This brother will do his best~♪"

Jingi tipped the can over and spilled the contents on the ground in front of him.

No, the spilled liquid floated as if it had lost gravity just before hitting the ground, turning into a spongy transparent sphere. It is the effect of the moisture manipulation technique, which is Jingi's specialty.

As he did so, the two-headed "snake" regained its stance and attacked with a beast-like siren scream.

Responding to the simultaneous left and right attacks, Ibuki turned towards the head approaching from the left and punched out with his fist from the front. A blow that entered the center of the monocular, the impact shattered the "snake's" skull, and hard eyeballs protruded from the back of his head.

Another "snake" head attacked Ibuki's empty back. A fist-sized transparent mass hit the side of his head. It wasn't as fast as a bullet, and it wasn't as powerful as Ibuki's fist, but with just the right amount of power, it accurately hit the opponent's nose.

The time gained by Jingi was less than a second. That was enough for Ibuki to regain his balance.

Ibuki, who turned towards the remaining head, grabbed the center of the "snake's" head with his fist as before and pulled it out of the skull.

The life energy that made up the body of the "snake" that had lost its two cores quickly dispersed, and the yorishiro that was left in midair fell with a thud. It's probably something like the amulet you're dealing with in Ichinoshima Shrine It is a keyring with two bells attached to a small shimenawa.

"Well done, big brother. Congratulations!"

Jingi lightly clapped his hands and Ibuki loosened his grip as he undid the technique. His breathing was rough and his fatigue was dark, but his expression remained calm.

"But maybe you're trying too hard. Let's take it easy."

Jingi jumped off the wall, walked around after the fierce battle, picked up the Aramitama cores one by one from the ground, muttered something, and tossed them into empty chuhai cans. Then, for some reason, a handful of eyeballs were sucked into the small spout of the empty can. As if to check the contents, Jingi waved the can to his ear and heard the sound of small things rolling and a low moan.

"Wow, is this the same guy?"

Jingi picked up the "snake" yorishiro from his feet. A small shimenawa, wriggling like two entwined worms, jingling bells.

"Maybe it's because I used the shimenawa as a yorishiro... the veins of the two Aramitamas got entangled and their lives will be lost. Well, there's more than I can handle..."

"Jingi, I'll take care of that here."

As Ibuki extended his right hand, Jingi suddenly frowned and stared at his hand.

"No. I'll take this guy to Minoshima and make him calm down."

When Jingi mentioned the name of the place, the atmosphere of the place stiffened for a moment. The employees of "Ayaka Security" secretly looked at Ibuki's complexion.

After a short pause, Ibuki jerked his chin toward the path home.

"Do what you want."

Jingi smiled and nodded, then began to walk briskly. In contrast to Ibuki's behavior, which would intimidate even his direct subordinates, Jingi had nothing to defend. He is a unique respite from the sibling relationship.

"Well then, big brother and everyone, see you later."

Jingi slipped past the employees and walked toward the city. Just as he thought, he came running from a few steps away.

"Almost forgot! Big brother, pay for the chuhai you used in the technique just now, pay! 200 yen! 200 yen!"

"You're a child!"

Beside Furin, who reflexively retorted, Makita smiled wryly. Ibuki's expression also seemed to soften a bit.

"Makita."

Prompted by Ibuki, Makita took his wallet out.

"Here. Liquor fee plus attendance fee. Thank you very much."

"Oh, you have a million tickets! I love you, Maki-chan!"

Jingi waved the 10,000 yen bill he was holding between his fingers and literally danced away.

"Thanks big brother! Let's all play again!"

"It's not "Let's play again". We're working."

"Hahaha..."

As Jingi slipped past the employees, he stepped into the darkness, jumped, and disappeared.

"Damn... as usual, he's an iffy guy."

"He's hanging out anyway, so he should work at "Ayaka Security"."

"Ah, regardless of personality, he is reliable as a fighting force."

"What do you think? He can't be a team player, right?"

As the main members of "Ayaka Security" said, Makita warned them with a wry smile.

"Don't say that. He must have his own way of thinking."

So...

"No, that's not true, Makita-san."

"He only moves with immediate glue!"

"Haha, is that so?"

While laughing, Makita looked at Ibuki.

Ibuki stared thoughtfully into space as he rubbed his right hand, but after a while he pulled a chocolate bar from his chest and began to nibble on it.

Makita shrugged slightly and began to instruct the members to stand down.

++++++++++

Human society is a puzzle. While each other's distortions complement each other, they come together as one.

But Jingi Sagawa is not a piece by any means. Like water, like smoke, it seems to fit anywhere and doesn't fit anywhere. He slips through a small gap and drifts off again.

There are extraordinary people in this world, and there are duties that only these people can fulfill. Taihei Makita knows that such people exist.

Ibuki's "little brother", Sagawa Jingi, is probably one of those people.

Makita, who is an ordinary person, has no way of knowing what kind of duties he will carry on his shoulders.

BROTHERS 04: AKA IBUKI & YUKITO YANAGI

"The sea train is not moving?"

Yukito Yanagi stood still in the Ichinoshima Station building with a puzzled expression on his face.

"It sure is windy today."

In contrast to the puzzled Yukito, Sanji Inou nodded calmly.

"Um, when are you moving in?"

"Well, it's impossible today, isn't it?"

A reluctant driver said rudely.

Yukito became increasingly worried and looked in the direction of Yukito's current home in Ninoshima. The island's shadow isn't far away, but if it's separated by the sea, Yukito won't be able to reach it on his own.

He had heard that the sea train was easy to stop, but he didn't think that even on a sunny day, strong winds would stop it.

"What shall we do? The ship..."

"If you ask, there will be places that provide it, but you shouldn't force yourself to cross the sea on a windy day. Stay in Ichinoshima today."

Inou said that lightly. For 15-year-old Yukito, not being able to go home today was a big deal, but seeing Inou's calm smile, his shoulders relaxed as he wondered if he would be forced to find a way to get home.

Today, Yukito came to Ichinoshima at Momoko's request. It was a simple mission to deliver the botamochi made by Momoko to Inou and buy a special ham from a store in Ichinoshima. Since he came to Ayaka Island, he has always gone out with Jingi, but this morning he went out to have fun, so Yukito is alone. He felt a little uneasy, but he remembered that he had been taken there before, and he was able to get to the town hall without any problem. Inou welcomes Yukito when he visits, treats him to tea, and accompanies him to a renowned butcher shop that sells delicious ham.

He had finished his errands without a hitch and all that was left was to go home.

Yukito followed Inou out of the sea train station building.

"Well then, you should come to my house. However, I'm sorry I can't have dinner with you today because I have a dinner plan..."

"No! All I need is a place to sleep."

"But..."

It seems that Inou can't bear to let Yukito eat alone. He turned his gaze as if he was thinking, fixed his eyes on a corner of the busy Ichinoshima street and exclaimed: "Ah!"

"Aka-kun!"

As he followed Inou's gaze in shock, he saw a tall, thin young man in a suit across the street.

Aka Ibuki. The second disciple of Makoto Yanagi, Yukito's father. He currently heads "Ayaka Security", a special security company that deals with the Aramitamas on the island of Ichinoshima, while also fighting on the front lines himself.

His eyes are sharp and he wears a terrifying atmosphere that seems to be not solid. In fact, Yukito knows that he has a weapon hidden in his pocket (it's a special anti-Aramitama weapon, and although seems to have obtained permission from the city, it's still dangerous).

Yukito has a strong revulsion towards Ibuki's way of eliminating the Aramitama. In addition, there is also a feeling close to fear from having witnessed that incident.

Yukito flinched, but Inou smiled and moved closer to Ibuki. Yukito reluctantly did the same.

"Aka-kun, are you at work?"

"Yes. I'm about to head back to the office after completing my patrol."

"Are you free after this?"

"As long as no Aramitama appears, that's it for today."

Yukito had a bad feeling about the way Inou was speaking.

"Umm, Inou..."

"If you don't mind, can you have dinner with Yukito-kun today and let him stay the night? He was in trouble because the sea train stopped and he couldn't return to Ninoshima."

Yukito hugged his head.

Inou, who had been kind enough to say so, scratched his head and said, "My house is fine, but I can't bear to leave him alone late at night."

Ibuki's gaze turned to Yukito.

(Say no.), Yukito prayed in his heart. It's not that he hates Ibuki, but he's kind of scary and awkward. Even now, he remembers feeling suffocated. Ibuki was too high a hurdle for Yukito, who hadn't trained well in interpersonal relationships.

"You guys are like brothers, but you haven't been able to talk much since Yukito-kun came back, right? Because Yukito-kun is always monopolized by Jingi-kun."

Although Jingi is a troublesome guy with a high degree of uselessness, he now deeply felt how calm he was. Ibuki looked at Yukito for a few seconds with a blank expression that he didn't know what he was thinking. As soon as he said "Come on.", he turned on his heel.

Frowning, Sanji Inou looked at him with a smile on his face, as if to say that he was happy, and waved his hand saying, "See you later."

Reluctantly, Yukito followed Ibuki.

"I'm counting on you, Aka-kun.", said a relaxed voice behind him.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"I don't mind."

He was worried that he was angry at the way he was speaking, but Ibuki gave Yukito a sidelong glance and blurted out more words.

"What do you want to eat?"

"Eh?"

"In the dinner."

He seems like he really wanted them to have dinner together.

"I, anything..."

"...Right. Then I'll search the store properly."

Ibuki nodded to himself.

"I'll go back to my office. Yukito, please wait in the restaurant."

"Yes."

He once went to GOZ, a restaurant apparently owned by Ibuki. The "Ayaka Security" office seems to be in the same building where GOZ is located, so after parting ways with Ibuki once in the elevator, Yukito went to the restaurant alone.

GOZ was a store with a high threshold for Yukito, and after hesitating for a few seconds to work up the courage to open the door, he opened from the other side.

"Oh, you really are here."

A muscular brown-skinned man (he thinks his name was Makita) who showed his face from the other side of the door smiled brightly at Yukito.

"I just got a call from the boss. Aka-kun is coming, so drink some juice and wait for him."

"Thank you."

As he entered the store, the eyes of the four men and women sitting in the front boxes, dressed in outfits similar to Ibuki's and wearing red "Ayaka Security" armbands, turned to Yukito.

"Oh! That kid is Yanagi-sensei's son? It's dangerous."

A long-haired man in a threadbare suit got up from his seat and approached Yukito.

Furthermore, a beautiful woman leaned forward and tried to look at Yukito's face.

"Hey! He's cute! Is he around the same age as Ibara-chan? Ayakai!"

"Hey guys, don't do anything to surprise him."

A serious-looking young man in glasses scolded them both.

"...Sorry. Nice to meet you."

A young man with bangs long enough to hide his eyes greeted him silently.

When Yukito was puzzled, not knowing how to respond, Makita smiled brightly.

"I'm sorry, Yukito-kun. They are employees of "Ayaka Security"."

Furin was the man with long hair, Kanezaki was the beautiful woman, Mizutani was the man with glasses, and Onden was the man with long bangs.

The four of them (especially Furin and Kanezaki, who seemed to have bright personalities) seemed to want to talk to Yukito more, but the shy Yukito hesitated and went to the counter where Makita was. Makita laughed and opened a bottle of cider for Yukito. He poured cider into a glass filled with ice and there was a refreshing sound of bubbles popping.

Yukito sat down at the counter and thanked him for the glass of cider.

"Since you are the boss's younger brother, everyone is very curious about Yukito-kun."

"Brother..."

"Ah, I know. They're not related by blood. But, Yanagi-sensei's three disciples were all Yanagi-sensei's children, so it felt like they were brothers. Actually, Yukito-kun is probably an only child, but I can't help feel that he is the youngest."

None of them clicked. Ibuki and the others were like older brothers, and Yukito was thought to be the youngest, and he was the only son of a man named Makoto Yanagi.

"We're both Jingi's classmates. So when I was in elementary school, I often heard Jingi talk about Yanagi-sensei, his older brother, and his younger brother Yukito-kun. It felt like family proud."

Kanezaki smiled. Unable to imagine it, Yukito tilted his head vaguely.

"He's Yanagi-sensei's disciple and I get along with him because he's a future connection, right?"

Furin laughed. It was easy to imagine how he would get carried away, and this time Yukito nodded vaguely.

"But it's true that he loved his family, the Yanagi clan. He must be very happy that Yukito-kun has returned to the island. It seems that when he was a child, he loved them so much that he would protect their happiness. "

"Haa... I see, what is it?"

Yukito bowed his head again at Mizutani's words. He couldn't help feeling that he was getting "love" in a bad way even though he meant it with "love".

"Yes."

It was Makita who accepted the contract with a brilliant voice.

"Jingi is such a guy, but I'm very happy that Yukito-kun is back. And so is my boss."

"Ibuki-san?"

"Yes. It's hard to understand, but the boss is also happy about Yukito-kun's return. He has that kind of personality, and well... a lot has been going on, so it's hard for him to go see Yukito-kun on his own. Therefore, today, let him indulge you and eat expensive meals."

"No, not that..."

"Hahaha, it's filial piety to treat your older brother."

When Yukito was confused, the restaurant door opened.

"Ah boss! Good job!"

Looking at the person who entered, Furin straightened his posture and said that. The other three also shouted, "Thank you for your hard work!"

Expressionless, Ibuki slightly raised his hand in response and looked at the other people. He doesn't think he's angry, but his deadpan expression is intimidating.

The employees of "Ayaka Security" must have gotten used to Ibuki, so Kanezaki casually asked, "Boss, what are you going to eat with Yukito-kun?"

"...I thought of some candidates, something like "Arcane Ciel"."

A commotion broke out among the employees.

"Arcane Ciel?! That restaurant on the top floor of the most luxurious hotel in Ichinoshima?!"

"If you want to decide on a proposal, go there! Is that right?! The steak looks really delicious!"

Seeing Kanezaki and Furin raise their voices, Yukito broke out in a cold sweat and approached Ibuki.

"Ah, that's too high a threshold...!"

At Yukito's appeal, Ibuki raised his eyebrows, "I see."

"So, what about the "Grand Feast"?"

"Grand Feast?! It's totally a party place, isn't it? The giant roast turkey over there is so delicious they say you have to make a reservation two years in advance for Christmas!"

"Maybe I can get in at this time of year, but isn't it hard for two people to go together? Let's go together?!"

Mizutani calmly retorted from the side of Kanezaki and Furin, who were once again in shock, saying, "Guys, don't get in the way where the brothers come in."

Yukito's cold sweat increased and he shook his head.

"Um... if you could just ask at a store that wasn't so important!"

Makita laughed and sent a boat to help.

"Boss, you're too enthusiastic. He's only fifteen years old, so we have to make it a place where middle and high school students can eat comfortably."

Hearing Makita's words, Ibuki made a serious face.

"Is that so?"

++++++++++

The charcoal grill placed in front of Yukito made a small creak.

Ibuki grabbed the raw meat with tongs from the plate placed next to it and put it on the net. There was a nice sizzling sound and the fragrant smell of burnt sauce wafted through the air.

In the end, it turned out to be yakiniku.

It seems that everyone in "Ayaka Security" often goes to eat that "Gyouen". The security personnel were relieved to learn that they had settled into a reasonably secure restaurant, but a yakiniku restaurant was unfamiliar to them. Or better...

"It's my first time at a yakiniku restaurant."

Ibuki slightly raised an eyebrow as he remained expressionless.

"...Oh, really?"

Yukito was raised in an orphanage. He didn't have many opportunities to eat out. As he was looking curiously at the meat dripping with juices and being roasted in front of him, Ibuki yelled, "It's about time."

"Oh, yes."

When he tried to pick up the colored meat with his chopsticks and put it on the plate with the sauce, he said: "Wait!"

"That's too salty. You should dip it in lemon instead of sauce."

"Yes."

He wondered what that was next to the sauce dish, but it turned out to be a dish with lemon juice. As Ibuki instructed him to dip it in lemon and put it in his mouth, the refreshing taste of the meat spread out. It has a strange texture and is delicious.

He said, "Hey, hey.", as he felt the heat of the freshly roasted meat, and Ibuki replied, "I see."

Ibuki's expression was still deadpan with the usual sharpness, but he felt that his eyes had softened a bit. As he was looking at Ibuki's face through the smoke billowing from the charcoal stove, he told him, "The next one is cooked too."

"These are ribs. Dip them in the sauce and eat them."

"Yes!"

"The roast was also cooked. This is also a sauce."

"Thank you."

"Skirt Steak, Cooked"

"Yes, thanks."

"Rice is here too. Eat it with meat. Refills are free."

"Yes."

"Growing children should also eat vegetables. This grass is lettuce. Wrap the meat in plenty of sauce and eat it."

"Hm."

"This is a hormone. This one is also cooked."

"......"

He had run out of time to respond.

Without letting go of the tongs, Ibuki roasted the meat one after another. When Yukito's eating rate couldn't keep up and his chopsticks no longer reached the top of the net, Ibuki used his chopsticks to throw more and more ready-to-eat meat onto Yukito's plate.

The kalbi, tenderloin, flank steak, and hormones were delicious, but he felt like he was slipping away.

"Ah, umm, let me grill the meat next time. I've always had Ibuki-san take care of me, so…"

Rather than be considerate, it was an offer to at least control the pace of the cooking, but Ibuki firmly shook his head.

"No need. Yukito, focus on eating."

Ibuki still clung to the tongs, but while he took care of the meat that was always scattered in the net, he didn't neglect his own meals at all. He ate meat, rice and drank twice as fast as Yukito. Also, he called the store clerk and placed an additional order.

"Special Kalbi, Pork Tuna, Thick Sliced Beef Tongue, Bone-in Kalbi, Pot Pickled Brisket, Roasted Short Rib, Rump, Yukgejang all on two plates and one raw."

"Guh..."

Involuntarily, a frightened voice came out.

"Oh, it's too..."

"Don't stop"

"It's not that..."

"Also, rice for two."

"Uh..."

He was desperate to eat the meat offered to him one after another, and he forgot about the tension of being alone with Ibuki halfway through.

Yukito walked out of the store with a stomach that looked like it was going to burst.

"Thanks for the food..."

"Yes."

Ibuki must have eaten a lot more than Yukito, but he didn't seem to be sick to his stomach. Yukito looked at Ibuki's toned abdomen, wondering what was going on with that person's body.

"So, shall we go?"

He planned to stay at Ibuki's house today. However, Ibuki's legs headed for the building where the offices of GOZ and "Ayaka Security" were located. When he opened the door to the building, Yukito bowed his head.

"Are you going back to GOZ?"

"No, my room is next to that store."

"Eh?"

When he unintentionally let out a surprised voice, Ibuki looked at Yukito and smiled a little.

"Don't worry. I only have the bare minimum, but I don't have trouble sleeping. If you're hungry, go to GOZ and eat something."

"No, I'm not hungry anymore for today..."

It was a painful level of satiety. He even felt that he would be fine if he didn't eat anything for the whole day tomorrow.

Yukito let out his voice because Ibuki lived next door to GOZ, in other words, just below the "Ayaka Security" office, and it felt like he really only saw the house as "a place to sleep". Therefore, it was much like Ibuki to live a life dedicated solely to exterminating the Aramitama. They boarded the vintage elevator in the multi-tenant building and descended on the fifth floor. A bright voice could be heard from the other side of GOZ's door, and he could sense that the members of "Ayaka Security" or other customers were making a fuss, but Ibuki turned his back on them and opened the door at the back of the room runner.

Ibuki's room was as drab as he had said and as Yukito imagined.

The only furniture is a bed, a couch and a simple coffee table. There was not a single cooking utensil in the small kitchen. He had a feeling that this person was running a restaurant so that he could hire Makita to cook his daily meals.

"Yukito, use the bed."

"Uh, no, I'm the one staying here, so I'll be on the couch..."

"Can you put a child to sleep on the couch? Sleep in a suitable place and grow up."

Perhaps, before this person, Yukito could still be a five-year-old somewhere.

When he suddenly thought about it, well, until he was five years old he lived in the same house as this person, like a family.

After taking a shower and brushing his teeth with a toothbrush he bought, he couldn't spend any more time in the empty room (it was impossible with Ibuki's personality and Yukito's skills to enjoy chatting) and he went to bed early.

Lying on his side as if to protect his belly from his swollen meat, Yukito stared at the couch. Ibuki was lying on his back on the couch and covered himself with a blanket. His long legs dangled over the edge of the couch.

"Yukito."

Ibuki yelled with his eyes closed. Yukito flinched a bit, wondering if he had been caught spying on him.

"Yes."

"Are there any drawbacks to living in Ayakashima?"

"No. Momoko-san is kind, Inou-san cares about me, and Jingi-san is a careless and troublesome person who always drinks alcohol, but... as my teacher, he teaches me various things. I think I'm living a much more pleasant life than I thought."

Kurama's name was consciously not mentioned. Yukito, who has only been on the island a short time, doesn't really understand the enmity between Ibuki and Kurama, but he does know that there is an extraordinary animosity between them. Kurama also lived as brothers in the past, but the distance between Yukito and Ibuki wasn't close enough to ask such a thing.

"It's alright then. If Yukito is alright, I'm sure my master will be happy."

Ibuki said that quietly, lying down with his eyes closed.

It's not like Yukito's feeling of weakness and fear towards Ibuki that he felt that day when they first met disappeared.

++++++++++

For Aka Ibuki, hospitality meant feeding him.

Ibuki has never flattered others. He therefore, he does not know how to please others.

However, rice is the source of human energy and the source of the body.

For Ibuki, giving it was the best expression of goodwill and a proof of respect.

"Eat."

He decided to have breakfast at GOZ. It's not cool, but it's made by Makita, so it's nice that it's flexible.

He placed a hamburger in front of Yukito. Ibuki ordered three thick burgers with cheese and tomato sandwiched between them.

Ibuki grabbed his own slice of the burger by pressing down on the bun and squashing it up and down. When he looked to the side of him, Yukito couldn't handle the tall burger and half collapsed as he ate it with all his might. It may be that he has little experience eating not only yakiniku but also burgers.

"Makita. Two full plates of fried chicken."

When he placed an additional order, for some reason, Makita gave him a concerned smile.

"Um. Is that for the boss?"

"Since there are two plates, one plate is for Yukito."

Yukito widened his eyes and looked at Ibuki.

"Ah, Ibuki-san, I still have the roast meat left over from yesterday..."

"What are you talking about? That's not true."

While thinking that he was the one holding back in a strange way, he signaled to Makita, "Let him eat the freshly fried stuff." Makita gave a slight shrug and headed for the counter.

For some reason, Yukito let out a low voice, "Hieh..."

He knows that Yukito has a feeling of rejection because of his way of doing things that he deviates from the principle of connection.

He has no desire to be understood.

It was unfair to Yukito, but he should learn and grow from Kurama's side. Yukito is the legitimate successor of his father, his teacher.

The most Ibuki can do for Yukito is to feed him when he visits him like this.

After breakfast, he took Yukito to Ichinoshima Station with Makita.

"Come back when you feel like it."

"Yes..."

Yukito, who was wobbling with his arms covering his stomach for some reason, he was put on the sea train and fired.

As he looked at the tail of the train in the distance, when he was thinking that he could treat him well, Makita muttered to his side, "Maybe I should have given him stomach medicine..."

#ayaka #yanagi yukito #jingi sagawa #amamiya momoko #kurama haruaki #ibuki aka #inou sanji

[capseycartwright]

“i don’t do casual” -

it’s the first lie i’ve ever told you. i do - i have. i could. but not with you. that’s why i say it, the air cold and the weight of whatever this is hanging heavily between us, not quite an elephant in the room but big enough to wedge a metaphorical gap between us, an invisible line neither of us quite willing - or ready - to cross.

“you don’t do casual.” you echo my words back, as if saying them out loud makes it true, like you need to say it so you believe it, like voicing it out loud will make it so you understand it. i do - i have. i could. but not with you. that’s what i wish i could say. that’s what i wish i was brave enough to say - but instead, i lied to you.

i lied to you, and so here are some truths, as an apology you’ll probably never see.

i talk with my hands because it gives me a false sense of confidence. it’s not entirely rational but it’s always been the case: a wave, a gesture, hands to distract from the way that my face has always flushed red with anxiety, rosy cheeks hidden under a layer of makeup that has always given me the confidence to be an entirely different version of myself. no, not different, actually - just, more me than i allow myself to be, day to day.

my favourite colour is purple because everyone says it’s the colour that suits me best. my favourite colour is really pink because there’s something innocent about the memory of it, pink the constant friend of the little girl i used to be, surrounded by dolls and books, childhood steeped in genuine joy, too young to have dreams beyond bratz dolls and glittery nails.

i wonder sometimes if i am underselling myself. if years of anxiety have made it so i don’t treat myself with the value and respect i deserve and so i settle for less than - less opportunities, less excitement, less love than i deserve.

i’m not really allergic to mushrooms. i just say it so people don’t make me eat them. i used to be allergic, but i grew out of it, the same way i grew out of the person i used to be, craving a new start and an unknown adventure, itching for a life beyond the place that shaped me.

i didn’t like the person i was, and i can blame a lot of things for that, but most of all, i think i can blame the fact i stopped working on myself, comfortable in my sadness in a way that felt hard to move past, because sadness is at least familiar: an old friend, in the way it envelopes you and keeps you right where you are, in the worst moments of your life, living them over and over again until you’re too tired to do anything except accept your fate. i didn’t like the person i was and so i’m working to be a better version of her - happier, kinder, more loving, finding the girl i used to be hidden beneath all those years of rotten sadness and the way i have worn it as an armour.

i have only ever done casual, keeping the people i have dated at arms length, not because i didn’t like them, but because i didn’t believe i deserved any potential love they could give me, and so regret has been a hallmark of my love life: the what ifs and what could have beens all caused by me, all caused by the way i didn’t believe i was good enough. a boy who held classroom doors open for me with a soft smile on his face but who i never gave a real chance - and you. my best friend calls it out. “you’re not afraid he’ll say no,” she reminds me. “you’re afraid he’ll say yes.” and i am afraid that it’s a yes, a real yes, and i sort of know that it is, that it’s a maybe, at the very least, circumstances making it so that a yes is more complicated than it would be if our lives looked different to how they do -

but i don’t want our lives to look different, is the thing. i like how this story has begun - the first day we met, the way you so quickly became an integral part of my life, it’s the kind of story i have always craved: friends, first, and then more, feelings borne out of a friendship so good, how could it not become more?

i told you a lie, and so here is my greatest truth - i like you, more than i think i have ever liked anyone in my life, and admitting that is nothing short of terrifying, even if i haven’t yet admitted that to you, because admitting it means i am going to give you the power to break my heart into a thousand tiny pieces, and i might say i’m a control freak as a joke, but i know that it’s part of the truth: i have never let myself fall in love because i have never met someone who made me feel safe enough to let go of the control i hold onto with an iron tight grip. and so here is another truth: you make me feel safe. i don’t fantasise about alternative meetings, or in another lives, versions of us that live lives I would write about - i fantasise about this life, and about you, and the reality of us and all the ways i might tell you the truth -

and the truth is that i like you an awful lot. that i know all the reasons why we shouldn’t, all the reasons we agreed on a tram at five am, talking around the elephant in the room our feelings have become, and still - i want you. that i do casual - just not with you. and that i think we could be something great, if you want that too.

#anyway. everything is good #in which i ramble #my writing tag

[thekatebridgerton]

Okay but I do think that at some point Colin has had a nightmare about if Eloise had been born a man. Because, let's be honest here, if Eloise had been born an Elliot instead, Penelope 100% would have married them. Can you imagine what that would have been like?

Oh I definately think that Colin does think that 100%

Until Penelope lets it slip that if she'd really had wanted to marry a male Eloise, she would have just gone after Anthony. Because Anthony IS the male Eloise (they're both proud, domineering, have trauma associated with father death, are proud advocates of improving their love interest mental health, and always unwaveringly kind to Penelope). Which makes Colin fume and act mean to Anthony for a week.

The only difference between Anthony and Eloise, is that Eloise and Penelope are the same age. But I firmly believe that if Anthony and Penelope had been closer in age, they would definitely have been best friends.

Maybe Penelope did have a small crush on Anthony when she was a teenager, maybe she didn't, that doesn't stop Colin from thinking about it. The possibility that he may not only have to compete with Eloise for the attention of his wife, but also, that Anthony could have been considered for the position.

Cue Penelope trying to explain that if Eloise had been born male, yes, she would have been similar to Anthony, but Penelope wouldn't have fallen inlove with him, because they would have still ended up as ride or die friends. But Colin doesn't hear the last part and simply challenges Anthony to a boxing match the next time he sees him.

Peneloise shippers please dont hate me buuut...

I think there's a reason Eloise and Penelope never actually made it as far as moving in together as spinsters. And that's because they loved each other too much to put a final decision on what would be their shared future.

And I'm going by cannon here, even though I do think that even in my HC universe where both Eloise and Penelope are bisexual or Demi and open to falling inlove with the same sex, they're too much of platonic soulmates to view each other in a romantic way.

In the sense that they both knew that moving in together would be the end of the other's love life. And Eloise loved Penelope too much to do that to her, same as Penelope loved Eloise too much to make that final decision herself.

Maybe after 35 or 40, when Eloise or Penelope was certain that the other wouldn't be unhappy by moving in together to live their older years in a cottage by the sea as spinsters. They would have made that decision under different circumstances.

But I think that Penelope particularly, always thought that Eloise would eventually find someone to love romantically, because she came from a family famous for their love matches. Eloise not marrying, or not getting a love story of her own, was a very sad thought for Penelope to think about so she never broached the subject of moving in together. And although Eloise did think Penelope would follow her into spinsterhood, I think a part of her still thought she'd be depriving Penelope of a choice if she went ahead and made the decision herself.

Penelope marrying a male Eloise, wouldn't have worked out as well as you think. Because, Eloise is very domineering and direct, and Penelope has a tendency to pretend to be nice and docile, when she's actually fuming inside. Which works well for two people when you're good friends, and sucks when you're in a relationship.

Colin and Penelope work, because they're both hiding their true selves from other people and simply explode when they're together. No f given.

And while Penelope tells Eloise everything, she still holds back the worst of her temper and her LW coming and goings. Eloise on the other hand, also holds back from trying to run Penelope's life, the way she doesn't hold back with Phillip.

If they had gotten married Male Eloise and Penelope, my opinion is that it wouldn't have been a balanced relationship, the way it is as a friendship. Because Eloise would try to get the dominant position, and Penelope would hide anything that displeases El, and they would end up unhappy together. Penelope with her secrets and male Eloise with his pushiness to get honesty out of everybody. Neither would find it necessary to compromise. Both too used to being right.

While Eloise relationship with Phillip works because he welcomes Eloise well meaning intervention in his life. And Phillip's indulgent personality towards Eloise is exactly what she needs to feel grounded.

Phillip doesn't mind occasionally disappearing in the shadow of Eloise loud personality, the way Penelope definitely would if they were in a romantic relationship instead of a friendship. And Colin doesn't mind when Penelope lets out her mean girl side on him (lol he thinks its hot), the way Eloise absolutely would.

but maybe that's just my opinion. What do you think dear readers.

#polin #philoise #eloise bridgerton #colin bridgerton #to sir phillip with love #romancing mr. bridgerton #peneloise

[bonefall]

Tell me more about Fire is Tigerclawstar's son. How would Fire and Swift deal with Lynx's death? What about windclan? Would Fire help Feather and Storm escape? How would Swift react to Fire becoming Firestar? How would Bramble and Twany grow up with 2 older brothers?

You got it boss

Lynx's Death

I think it would act as a formative moment. Lynxkit wasn't born very strong, and she knew that she was only growing weaker as her brothers became bigger.

Firekit was a very attentive brother, he'd be the person to make Swift slow down when they're playing so Lynx can keep up. Swift came to terms with the idea that they wouldn't become apprentices with her early; but Fire was DEVASTATED when she died.

I think it's a moment where Tigerclaw tries to have a bonding moment with Firekit, and Fire takes away a very good lesson.

"...of course I miss her," He coos, wrapping his tail around his son, "Sometimes StarClan sends us a child who isn't meant for this world, and they need to go back. She's just gone home."

"Home is with US!" Firekit trembles and blubbers, his grief too big for his tiny body, "I did everything right, I was good, I made sure she ate, I..."

When he's too choked up to continue, Tigerclaw licks his tears away.

"We don't fight to win. We fight for honor... and you were a very honorable brother, Firekit."

"...does that m-matter?" For a brief, genuine moment, Tigerclaw really sees himself in his tiny kit. Not just what he wants from him. He can barely see Firekit's blazing fur under his tabby mane, and he's proud that he can be the father he wishes he could have had.

"It will matter to you," Nightkit and Mistkit slip away into his memory, "Some day."

WindClan

Bluestar would have WANTED to bring WindClan back, but there was no home for them to return to. They never come home.

But I think they'd pull through. SkyClan died out for some pretty extreme circumstances, I like to think WindClan would find a new place, beyond Chelford. Tallstar's last lives dedicated to finding stability away from the carnage that's about to go down in the Forest.

Would Fire help the Graykits escape?

I think he would. I can't see him letting it happen; but it is worth mentioning that Graystripe would be much older than Fire. He'd also be raised learning that Graystripe is a traitor who joined RiverClan, and I'm not sure if he'd unpack that yet.

I think Graystripe would die at this execution, possibly alongside Stonefur. But Tigerclaw does just want to get rid of Stonefur to get rid of Leopardstar's deputy; his grudge against Bluestar for exiling him never happened.

It would be possible for Fire to play politics enough to possibly change his mind.

The trial might change to Stonefur being told to kill Graystripe, and Stonefur refusing.

Swift reacting to Firestar

I don't think he'd be able to forgive him for killing their dad, but I don't think he'd be dumb enough to act on it right away. He'd plot for a very long time and possibly stage a coup of some sort.

Maybe a sort of Caesar scenario, where he gathers a bunch of Tigerstar supporters and surprises him many years later. It would make for an interesting way for Bramble or Tawny to end up on the throne.

(Throne because, post-TigerClan Victory, Tiger's gonna abolish leaders in the other Clans. We're looking at power consolidation and monarchy.)

Bramble and Tawny

To begin with, their childhoods are MEGA different because Tigerstar is a very respected figure. I can see them possibly being used as hostages at some point, by rebel forces.

Though I will say I don't see Tigerstar the same way I see Tigerheartstar, who would kill and die and kill again to save his kids. Tigerstar WANTS them back because he does care about them, but not enough to sacrifice his own ambition.

But anyway, possible plot threads aside, I think Bramble idolizes Fire, and Tawny idolizes Swift. Possibly even mentoring their little siblings.

#Tigerstar's Fire AU #Warrior Cats AU

[battybiologist]

Hi! I found your account off of a post to r/curatedtubmlr, post is here.

The comments are all talking about how the line "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" should not have been included, what are your thoughts about this?

During the first protests, it was labeled as antisemitic, which the sources for this accusation was the media and occupiers of Palestine. I personally don't believe it, Palestine deserves freedom form their oppressors.

Thanks for your time ✌️🍉

Very much understand and empathize with the Redditor that reposted my thoughts over on your server, but they probably should have thought more about their approach, in particular considering their audience.

I was vaguely aware that this phrase is seen as antisemitic, but to be fair, it sort of became white noise, like "antizionism is antisemitism". Just another tool to bludgeon us into submission. I had no idea that actual antizionists really believed that.

So let me ask this question: Why would "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" be antisemitic?

Let's get something clear: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" is almost 30 years older than Hamas. I saw a couple people saying this is a Hamas battle cry calling for Jewish blood to be shed, and I had to dispel this wildly ahistorical notion. In fact, I'd say this is one of the few truly secular ideas Hamas has right now, which is always a good thing in my book.

please bring back leftist secular decolonization rhetoric in the Arab world we really had something going on

If it's not the association, maybe it's the text? "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" is just a poetic way of saying "Free Palestine". So no.

Now, the real core argument: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" has the implication of a world where Israel doesn't exist, and that this constitutes antisemitism. And, to be fair, half of this is right.

I do not believe ethnostates should exist under any circumstances, and the only inarguable thing about the Israeli occupation is that its aim is the creation of one. The two-state solution is not a real solution, it just slows down the process of the land being ruled by one nation. I choose Palestine.

What does this mean for current Israelis if Palestine is restored from the river to the sea? Well, a lot of them might have to give up their illegal settlements. The former IDF members are going to be hated to hell and back. Everyone who built their business on cheap Palestinian labor is going to go out of business. The generational trauma is gonna take so long to heal. But there's not going to be another genocide.

What tips me from "gotta be the respectful bougnoule* so my voice can be heard" to "I don't give a shit about some fiche S**, I'm doing this" is that Zionists fucking know this! The only thing that's at stake is the concept of an ethnostate, which they equated with Jewish identity. There have been a couple attempts recently to redefine the Jewish identity around support for Israel. This is a ploy to frame the Palestinian resistance as genocidal: if the country doesn't exist, the Jewish people doesn't exist. But the Jewish people is not defined by the fever dreams of a couple of 19th century Europeans and the antisemitism of the rest of 19th century Europe. They predate these colonialist pieces of shit by a couple millenias.

This is why I think Reddit Reposter should have picked a different post. I do not share the same hatred and disgust towards liberals as my fellow commies, but they are coming at this issue from a deeply imperial core-esque angle. Living in the imperial core warps your vision of the world, since you've been swimming in propaganda all your life (I know, I went through that, nobody is born a communist). In fact, I have a post about the relationship between antisemitism and Zionism (it's not a full analysis, but I still agree with it) that would've been a much better pick

Anyway, to conclude: From the river to the sea, a Palestine full of Jewish and many other kinds of people will be free.

#from the river to the sea palestine will be free #free palestine

[vinterisen]

turgon never thought to remarry in gondolin... because he was spiritually married to aredhel.

sorry, not sorry.

(this started as a short meta-piece of my ideas that basically turned into an outline of a fanfic. so maybe i will use this as a rough draft and return to fanfic writing after all.)

very, very rough turgon/aredhel, celegorm/aredhel, celegorm/curufin idea-based drabble

honestly, there's not enough turgon/aredhel out there

i had this fic idea, that in aredhel's closeness with celegorm during the years of the trees, while also coinciding with her having the knowledge of the true nature of celegorm's relationship with curufin, she eventually feels comfortable enough to confess and divulge her feelings about turgon to celegorm. to which celegorm responds with a large, teasing grin, and full support. he even continually prods her to 'get it over with and tell him already.'

i also do envision their relationship to be rather physically intimate, as much of the fandom does (they're wrong about many things, but they're right about this one.) but, contrary to the fandom, i imagine them as supportive stand-ins for each other's true loves. curufin obviously takes a wife at sometime during the years of the trees, since celebrimbor is presumably born around this era. meanwhile, aredhel is harboring feelings for turgon.

with celegorm and curufin, i can't imagine their relationship being anything other than a push-and-pull, inflammatory codependency, wholly reflective of the source material. i imagine celegorm would have taken great issue with curufin's marriage, all the while being a giant hypocrite by being intimate with aredhel. it would be character-fitting of curufin to marry and father a child out of pure spite in witnessing the relationship between celegorm and aredhel progress, to send the message that he didn't need celegorm.

(but, undoubtedly, the seed of this idea of finding a wife and fathering a child also comes from being so close in resemblance and craft to fëanor, who also married and sired children fairly young. curufin would want to live up to fëanor's reflection in every facet, to bring honor to his namesake, even if he wasn't truly prepared for marriage or children.)

celegorm only ever viewed the relationship with aredhel, and his other flirtatious ventures with other men and women, as simple fooling around with friends. although, whether celegorm admits it or not, curufin can see the relationship with aredhel is different—closer, more emotionally involved. many arguments are had on the matter, but eventually curufin sees there is no progress to be had, and seeks to instill within celegorm the same feelings he's experiencing, as retaliation. and curufin never takes any half measures.

thus: wife and child.

aredhel is experiencing similar grief—having to silently watch as turgon courts elenwë, his intended betrothed. she sympathizes with celegorm's plight with curufin, and feels guilt in her unintentional involvement in estranging them (though celegorm quickly hushes her), but, ultimately... she is jealous. at least celegorm and curufin got to experience the joy in reciprocation, and though they may quarrel and separate, she knows they will inevitably find their way back to each other. meanwhile she's sure turgon sees her as nothing more than his whimsical, adventurous, hotheaded little sister.

beyond the trifling (yet entirely consuming) feelings, there was also a matter of law at hand. aredhel was raised under different circumstance to her fëanorian half-cousins, in the house of king finwë and queen consort indis. her grandmother was of the vanyar, kindred uniquely reverential to the valar, and highly respectable to the laws the eldar are ordained to live under while in aman. her brother was also due to marry a vanya himself. she is well aware of the offense her feelings for her full-blooded brother would cause, and her intimate relations with her half-cousin not to go unmentioned.

there were those moments, where celegorm would lightheartedly encourage aredhel to make an advance: "go on, i say. tell him! if you're none too bold yet, rest your hand upon his, and simply assess his reaction." only to be met with a glare of frustration. "i can't! our family- we're not like yours!" celegorm's brow would crease, eyes narrowing in judgmental suspicion... until aradhel stammers, looking away meekly and finishing with, "i only mean... we don't have your same freedoms."

those days, it was not rare for the night to end with aredhel curled up in celegorm's arms, suppressing quiet sobs, gripping with the futility of it all. 'how could it possibly be,' she thinks, 'that love could be so torturous and inescapable? so all-consuming?'

eventually, after many years, aredhel is proven right. with the banishment to formenos invoked upon fëanor by the valar, fëanor's sons follow ever steadfast to their father's side. the wife of curufin, however, does not. and aredhel only smiles forlornly when celegorm comes to bid his farewells before their departure. curufin is in tow, whatever resentment that had silently built between him and aredhel now nowhere to be found. a rare display of acceptance and sympathy from the younger brother— (did celegorm tell curufin of the reasoning behind their closeness? surely he wouldn't do that to her without her consent. no one must ever know.) curufin was once her friend too, before strife had torn them apart, and it felt good to shake his hand once again.

and yet... now aredhel has no one to confide in—no outlet or relief. so she must swallow her grief and longing before it consumes her. or worse, the dam breaks and the flood takes over.

but things change quickly, far quicker than ever expected, and only a few years after fëanor's banishment, aredhel finds herself crossing deadly ice on a frozen ocean, marching with the rest of her father's host. they are poorly equipped for such a swift change in course—they had expected to cross the ocean upon ships with fëanor's host, only to be suddenly betrayed and left behind. in this poor preparation, many people succumb to the elements, and among them... the wife of her brother. elenwë.

genuinely, she grieves alongside her dearest brother and young niece—the niece with the same yellow hair as elenwë. but there is another feeling in her heart. she condemns and buries it deep beneath the surface, unwilling to confront it. however, it lingers. she longs to fill the empty place in their lives—to be a mother to young idril, and a wife to beloved turgon. just how long had she dreamt of this ideal? long before idril's birth, and long before turgon and elenwë's first meeting.

the ice sheds all concept of propriety, like the bodies they bury at sea. the need to survive trumps all, and it cannot exist without comfort. they lay with their hands intertwined, and bodies pressed tightly together, sometimes idril lie between them for warmth and familial protection. this isn't how she envisioned it. there is little joy to be gleaned in this togetherness, so desperate to simply survive they are. their noses red, and their eyelashes coated in a thin layer of frost. memories aredhel will carry for a lifetime, for all the wrong reasons.

decades later, in the completed and fortified structures of gondolin, a shining reminiscence of tirion, where her brother rules as king, aredhel finally confesses. by then, what had developed between them need not be voiced, so mutually understood and reciprocal was their togetherness. a confession, it could barely be considered.

in mithrim, the closeness they shared while on the ice was replicated, unbidden and unconscious. turgon reaching his hand to aredhel's, brushing her hair from her face. at night, unbeknownst to their family and the rest of the host, they share the same tent. uneasy though it was, for they no longer had the excuse of frostbite and survival to press themselves close. idril sometimes still slept between them, just as before, and, other times, she stay in her grandfather fingolfin's tent. before she had even realized, aredhel saw her dream of love requited take root.

during mereth aderthad, aredhel regrets not reuniting with celegorm. she had only seen him in mithrim but briefly, before the host of fëanor dispersed, and celegorm and curufin went to occupy himlad. 'i wish you could see,' she muses, her fingers trailing patterns along the top of turgon's hand, 'see my bravery, tyelcormo. you would be proud.'

and perhaps that had been the first seed planted, to grow (fester), and bring about her greatest unhappiness.

while in gondolin, tucked beneath the sheets, hidden safely in the bedchambers of the king, almost 200 years spent in the bliss of the hidden valley of tumladen, aredhel's heart begins to stir in restless longing. she speaks with turgon about their fëanorian cousins who dwell in beleriand, but never divulges the nature of the intimacy between herself and celegorm. turgon's heart had turned towards hers, his own sister, though she knows not if he would still perceive offense in such a tryst with their half-cousin. he remains yet loyal to the valar, and continues to uphold their laws and cutoms in gondolin.

'hypocrite,' she thinks, when his lips press against hers, far away from prying eyes.

at first, turgon listens to her stories and retellings of the past, a wistful smile on his face, fascinated by his sister's ever-fiery and passionately energetic nature. but before long, he grows weary and suspicious, knowing too well what these repetitive imaginings may entail. he quiets her enthused ramblings about horse riding in the forests of oromë, and takes her by the hand through the king's gardens instead.

over time, their bliss soured, and so the day came when aredhel asked to depart the hidden city of godolin. turgon's ceaseless denials only reaping further discord between them—aredhel began to distance herself from him. she no longer came to his rooms, nor sat at breakfast with him and his daughter (though close she remained to idril, in separate), nor walked with him through the gardens.

he would begrudge her no longer, foreseeing only dread in either course of action, and eventually gave her his reluctant approval to take temporary leave. he grants three lords as accompanying bodyguards to his beloved sister, and instructs them to take her only to their brother fingon.

he had half a mind to execute those lords, if he were a man of lesser honor, for daring to return to his gates bereft of his sister, claiming aredhel lost to the elements of beleriand. twice, then, he envisions an execution site, when learning they had betrayed his orders and acquiesced to aredhel's new order of seeking out the sons of fëanor—celegorm and curufin.

though grief consumed him, a king he yet remain, and he kept his sorrow and wrath close to his heart. reprieve and happiness brought to him now only by his daughter, who bore the resemblance of her mother, but the mood and countenance of her aunt. his two lost loves, represented now by his only remaining nearest kin.

for almost one hundred years, turgon persisted, and gondolin continued its prosperity in splendor. until the unthinkable happened, and a lord of his council told him of the arrival of his lost sister, passing through the gates once again, a strange young man in her company. he felt as though his heart had, at once, ceased to beat.

-

in the early morning on the day the judgment of the dark elf was set to proceed, turgon was bent in pain over his beloved sister's lifeless, cold body. she had slept seemingly in peace, her handmaiden had informed him, recovering from the minor injury of the javelin, but it was an illusion, for aredhel had silently succumb to poison in the night, unbeknownst to anyone. in anguish, he kissed those pale lips farewell—a silent promise to meet again, a silent promise for revenge—uncaring, then, who witnessed his blasphemous devotion.

the execution brought no relief. an act of justice and vengeance served, but no relief—no respite from the continuous agony aredhel had left in her absence.

turgon regarded his nephew strangely, for the young man seemed reticent to show emotion. red were the whites of maeglin's eyes in his loss, and his eyelashes stuck together with long-dried tears, but no word did he say on his grief. still, turgon looked upon him with welcoming solidarity. he saw not the resemblance of eöl on the boy, however prominent it may truly be, but rather, every little piece of aredhel reflected in his pale skin and dark hair.

'in another life,' turgon smiled to himself, 'you would have been my son.' and so, as his son, turgon took maeglin into his house, and raised him to great stature among his council.

he could have never known just how faithfully alike to his dark elf father maeglin indeed was, and what would come to pass in the years that follow. the doom eöl had passed onto his son before his death.

(turgon had never known just how long aredhel had held back her pining of turgon, and just how long maeglin had for his own thoughts of idril. thus, turgon would never come to understand how incredibly alike mother and son were.)

"the eldar wed not with kin so near," turgon repeated from the laws and customs, mechanically, devoid of emotion, as a king should. his teeth clenched, his mind filled with visions of aredhel, and their love. he did this for idril, he excused himself, for idril bore maeglin no love, and it was easier to feed the boy the laws of the valar than to sit with him and explain the fallacy of keeping an unrequited love, or to help him move past these feelings. what would his people think if turgon acknowledged it, entertained it, and gave maeglin council in this matter? it was easier to outright condemn these feelings of maeglin's, and brush them aside. these sorts of unclean emotions were evidence of the doom of mandos, after all.

('hypocrite.' turgon could almost hear her voice, distant in memory, more distant still in the memory of ósanwë.)

this was for the greater good.

#silmarillion #aredhel #turgon #celegorm