#for how this moment was big. for how kuma had a memory of it even in egghead. and zoro was the only present one there (after the ursa shock

[beaulesbian]

Every once in a while I think again about the end of Thriller Bark and feel completely insane and ill about Zoro's sacrifice, FOR LUFFY, specifically (you know, the character Kuma's threat was directed at). It wasn't even that long into traveling together, a few months maybe, yet Zoro was ready to give up everything in that moment - in the chapter with Kuma appearing being titled The End of the Dream ! - to protect his crew and Luffy, so he could continue in his journey.

Since Luffy and Zoro met, they always understand how words and promises were imporant to them - with Luffy punching Helmeppo in ch. 3 for lying to Zoro. Zoro learnt how serious Luffy was about his dream, and soon he realized he backed up his words with actions as well - untiying Zoro and giving him his swords back - his biggest treasures. It meant that Zoro could be honest and honor-bound in the same way to Luffy, to gain this mutual respect and trust between them since day 1. To wield his swords to protect both Luffy and later their whole crew, and to step in a way between Luffy and danger.

He was being actually more upset that Sanji got up from the previous Kuma's attack and interrupted their fight - Zoro was trying to keep the whole crew safe by this exchange for Luffy's head - if Sanji was offering his life for Luffy half dead and without much strength left to fight for himself (he started the offering of his own life already believing he woudn't survive, with a "you should find a new cook"), then this very specific sacrifice would be meaningless to the crew (- if this arc was taking place post WCI, then it would turn out very differently, with the strength of Sanji believing in Luffy, but it wasn't his moment during this scene) - it would hurt them more than help them, because as much as Zoro was prepared to die as well, he was prepared to keep fighting until the last breath.

Zoro was thinking he might die - Kuma's words were pretty certain he WOULD die - but he still had the willingness and strength to take on the deal for Luffy, for his captain and his crew. ("if i die here, it just means I wasn't worth much to begin with" this line he says times and times again during the overall story, like in Rogue Town throwing Kitetsu and waiting if it would cut off his arm, up until standing against King in Wano "it's my power that was lacking", and all the other times he was questioning his worth - it's something he tempts the fates he doesn't believe in, to actually harm him, to take his strength away if he doesn't deserve to survive. and it's him saying he knows and accepts his own weaknesses - of not being strong enough (in comparison to Sanji in this example), and always fights through them.)

He threw away his swords, including Wado Ichimonji - literally throwing aside his and Kuina's dream, to compell Kuma into a duel (with the anime playing 'The Very Very Very Strongest' when Zoro bowed down and pleaded Kuma, offering him his head instead of Luffy's) so Kuma wouldn't go after the crew and specifically Luffy later - no matter the outcome if Zoro would surive or not.

And then, he was actually strong enough to survive taking his captain's fatigue, agony and pain! Possibly being the only one who could survive taking Luffy's pain.

Zoro could have back out when Kuma offered him the 'taste' of the pain, with the realization of the scale of the hurt with the very possibility of dying from it. But that wouldn't be Zoro now, would it? He accepted and took all of Luffy's pain so his captain wouldn't have to suffer or die, and when they found him afterwards, he still kept standing, tense with the fatigue but alive! (again, with anime adding the music of 'Luffy's Fierce Attack' to underline the importance between these two).

He was training for this since the beginning - to become stronger to shoulder the pain of his crew if necessary. (And not only that - he was preparing for that so another Kuina incident didn't have to happen). He was the first one to fight one of the Warlords before anything really began: his fight with Mihawk at Baratie really set the tone and his own goals to overcome - a glimpse to see on how much different levels the Warlords actually were in comparison to Zoro, Luffy and the others, and if they were supposed to beat them so Luffy could become the Pirate King, that always meant to be ready and to get even stronger than them.

(small spoiler for egghead, ch. 1102: seeing Kuma (a Warlord at that time) remembering this Thriller Bark event later, during Egghead arc, and thinking that even he might have passed out from the pain, makes it all the more meaningful that it was Zoro who took the pain and withstood it - establishing how high was the strength of his willpower, already before timeskip.)

There could be so many other nuances and details from these last few chapters of this arc, and even what this deal meant for the following arcs! Zoro was still in pain on Sabaody, and because of that the crew wasn't as strong as it could have been (not to say they would have a chance anyway, knowing what all was in the motion).

The next is the tragedy and beauty of LUFFY never finding out about this. Half of the crew knew: Sanji, Brook and Robin knew the details, but would never tell Luffy - and that shows their loyalty to both Luffy and Zoro (and Zoro's decision). Luffy woke up and first thing he did was to jump up and down, excited not to be weighted down by his injuries, and only seeing his swordsman being down with injuries so severe he was out more days afterwards, knowing that something else attacked them (him = Zoro), after he was passed out from the fight against Moria, brought down his mood (even if it's not much noticable, but the change into subtle worry is there in the few next chapters).

"I can't explain it either!" - meaning he was thinking about it too, possibly how weird it was for him to move normally after such long fight. We don't really ever hear/see Luffy thinking about something, except when it's mentioned how he came up with a solution or idea, telling us there's more to Luffy than just being straightforward in his goals and speech. With Luffy being sometimes very emotionally intelligent when he wants to be, he could have figured it out from all these other people in the room asking similar questions and deducing. Even Usopp was putting two and two togehter. We might never find out if Luffy actuallly knows or not. Luffy probably wouldn't ask Zoro directly, especially if Zoro wouldn't tell first and didn't want to talk about it

- because for Zoro, nothing happened! Nothing, that would compromise his and Luffy's first promise. For Zoro to become the Strongest he couldn't back down from the duel with Kuma (just like before with his duel with Mihawk at Baratie. When he's faced with something he swore to overcome, he can't back down or evade. Even back then Luffy understood that as he held back Johnny and Yosaku, but Sanji was perplexed how far Zoro (and Luffy) would go to reach their dreams). When Sanji was asking him in front of Kuma "What about your dream?" Zoro was still thinking about his dream- it was just that the context has changed, it changed into a journey. His dream is the most important thing, but it wouldn't mean much, if, when on his way to accomplish that, he would betray his other words and promises.

#I will never get over how this very important “nothing” happened! #the first draft of this was just a shitpost with one block of text. but it seems im incapable of not adding more and more on top of it #one piece #roronoa zoro #gif:op meta #monkey d luffy #monkey d. luffy #thriller bark #zolu #luzo #kuma #bartholomew kuma #mine #gif:op manga #one piece meta #gif:zolu #one piece analysis #everytime i go into the thiller bark tag and see posts blocked bc of the other ship. i take 10points of damage :// #can we talk about how this was zoro's deal for luffy? can we? i know theres posts about it. i made few too. but theres still not enough.... #for how this moment was big. for how kuma had a memory of it even in egghead. and zoro was the only present one there (after the ursa shock #insane and ill about it yeahh never gonna shut up about zolu thriller bark #luffy one piece #zoro one piece #long post

[linawritesfanficandmore]

Never Felt Such Fear Before

Summary:

Firstly we all know how they find Brook and all the thriller bark before Kuma and to be honest there wasn't much to tell so I decided to continue from Sanji and Zoro's talk with Kuma. Enjoy

Chapter Text

"Okay. I'll let you get a head! But in return, please take my life! I want this from you! My head may not be worth much right now, but this is the head of a man who will eventually become the best swordsman in the world! It should be valuable!” “You want to take that man's place and die even though you have such a big dream?” “Other than that, I don't see any other way to save my crew, no my pack. A head alpha's life is worthless if he can't protect his captain and pack leader! Luffy will be the king of pirates!

Zoro knew he was in trouble. He didn't stand a chance against this man. He was very weak. If he was convinced, the rest would be saved. Surely they would get used to his absence one day. As long as they are saved.

“Wait, you bloody scumbag!”

This sound… It can't be. No. He shouldn't be here.

“What will happen to your dream if you die? How are you going to succeed, idiot?!” "You…" “Hey, big guy!”

What was he doing? How could he still walk? With those wounds… Especially on his chest… And why wasn’t Zoro doing anything? How could he let him get in front of him?

"Hey!" “Take my life instead of this moss-headed swordsman! The Marines may not see me as a threat right now, but soon, this Black Leg Sanji will be the one who will cause the most trouble in this crew!”

Zoro should have stopped him. He was barely standing. He was shaking, but beyond all that, Zoro's heart tightened. There was no moment in his life where he was more afraid. Zoro didn't even know about such fear. He was afraid of losing him.

Sanji felt the same. It wasn't hard for him to get up when he heard Zoro speak. Fear had taken over and ruled his body. That's why he could stand in front of Kuma right now.

Would they feel this way even if it was someone else?

“Come on, do this… Take My Life instead of this man..! We both agreed to the sacrifices we had to make! Let this flower of death bloom once and for all! Hey, tell everybody. Be careful. And keep protecting them as head alpha. Don't let this happen again. I'm sorry, but it looks like you have to find yourself another cook."

He was completely ready to die. Zoro couldn't listen to him anymore. He would go crazy if he listened. With all his remaining strength, he struck the back of his sword at Sanji.

“S-scum…”

Sanji was barely standing by then. It was impossible for him to withstand this powerful blow from him. Zoro would never forget how Sanji's hand made a downward path on his arm and collapsed to the ground, but he never regretted it. He would be safe and that was enough. Just so he can be saved.

“This is my last wish!” “I would have risked my honor if I had touched the straw hat afterward.” "I owe you." "You can trust me. I will keep my promise."

So Kuma lifted Luffy and with his power, he pulled a balloon out of him.

“What I took out of her body was his pain and stress. That's the damage he accumulated in his body from all those fights. If you want to take his place, naturally you have to take all his pain as well. That's what a head alpha does, right? But since you were already on the verge of death, it would be impossible for you to survive. You will die. Please try some.”

And he couldn't help his screams like a small part of him entered his body. He fell to the ground.

"How was it?" “Just let me pick the place.”

It was enough. Everything was fine. Even if he didn't survive it, he didn't regret it. Others would be fine. Luffy, Sanji… Why did he think of Sanji's smile just now? He should have thought of Luffy. Not Sanji, but he couldn't get him out of his mind. His smile, his meals, fighting style, the way he lits his cigarette... All the memories flooded his mind one by one.

He took a deep breath. It calmed his heart. He looked behind him again. He couldn't see them. They couldn't see him either. It was a good point. He was ready now. He stepped into the balloon with sure steps.

Next

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Starting

#zosan #zosan fanfic #zoro #alpha zoro #roronoa zoro #alpha beta omega #omega sanji #omegaverse #omega luffy #one piece #one piece fanfic #One Piece Fanfiction

[finoalcielo]

KAI-CHAN RADIO ⑤

☆ JUL 21, 2021☆

KAI: They competed for the fun~! YOU: Leisure activities, huh? Summer is full of it. And so, KAI: Kai-chan Radio! YOU: will also include Haduki You! See in you a moment♪

☆ KAI-CHAN RADIO IS A CASUAL RADIO ☆

KAI: Let's talk tonight♪ About our summer vacation activities! YOU: I started off extremely excited for it, but, I don't think I'll be able to go to the August's activities. Like the Lantern Festival dance, mountains, swimming pool, or even a little trip to the sea. Is that all?

KAI: Ah? Really? YOU: I'll be at home. Helping my parents. KAI: Oh right. The temple. YOU: Yup. Obon is the busiest time of the year. So, I have to travel with my family. KAI: Ooh. YOU: I've never really had much complaints about it. KAI: Ah, I see. YOU: Yeah, since I understood it ever since I was a child.

YOU: It felt a bit nice to see my parents relying on me for some things. I went exploring deeper into the mountains with Tooru (2nd oldest brother) once. And, when we returned later than usual, Sou (oldest brother) scolded us. We mess around a lot every day. KAI: Oh, Haduki brothers. You guys haven't changed at all (www)

YOU: I only remembered when I started talking. Still, I travelled about 2, 3 times. Near Takachiho and Hokkaido. And my memories from that time is a bit weird. Like, I remember the soft serve ice cream being delicious or the sea urchins being terrible (I like it now though) (www) KAI: Memories from long ago are really like that. Food being more important than famous places!

KAI: I also remember the souvenirs I bought on the way rather than the destination. It was a metal keychain with a dragon entwined around a sword. YOU: I knew you'd speak about it (www). Wasn't it the one where it had a lot of crystals or stone stuck to it? (wwww) KAI: I still have it (ww)

YOU: You still have it?! Wow (www) KAI: I use it for my car key. YOU: Extremely distracting... (www) KAI: Ah, anyways, about my leisure activities! I went to a lot of places, but have I told you about the year when my father rented a minibus to go on a family vacation? YOU: Minibus?! KAI: We are a big family (6 siblings). YOU: Ah.

KAI: My father did his best to get a license to drive our big family. YOU: Fuduki papa is amazing. KAI: I got one too. Let's all go~? YOU: The Fuduki family is amazing. KAI: The destination was for Tokyo's Disneyland! It was for a day, but if we include the sightseeing at the town on the way back, then it was 5 days in total? It was awesome. YOU: Sounds fun!

KAI: Maybe I remember this because it was during the time I enjoyed travelling? But anyways, in about two years, the Fuduki family once again travelled in the minibus! At that time, we travelled to Shikoku. YOU: Oh~ It takes a while to reach there, right? KAI: It took us a week to reach. YOU: Lots of driving (www).

KAI: No, at that time, the truck driver's cousin or I sometimes took over driving. On those days, my father would drink beer with his morning, evening and night meals. YOU: Fuduki papa (www) I get your feelings (www) KAI: It's a memory of my summer vacation activity, which was more fun than the destination itself ♪

KAI: And so, that was the Kai-chan Radio "Summer Vacation Activities" Edition! YOU: And then is... ah, right. Want to take some messages from people? I know it's late in the night, but if anyone is awake and has some messages for us, we'll accept them! KAI: Questions, messages, anything is fine~!

It's so hot that I feel like melting... Please give me an idea to cool down! = = YOU: I know! Turn on the cooler. KAI: A pragmatic answer (www) YOU: It's not good to put up with the heat ~ KAI: That's true. YOU: Watch out for heat stroke!

Thank you for sharing your stories. If you could travel now, where would you go...? = = YOU: It's really hot, so I want to take a dive in the sea. KAI: I'll be next to him! YOU & KAI: We want to go to the sea~~~!!! HARU: Didn't you go there the other day? (laughs)

Kai-san, You-san, thank you...! The final exam is about to start, so please give me some encouragement... = = YOU: Studying this late? Woah! We'll be cheering for you to do well! KAI: I'll support you with (my heart's) pompoms~ Hooray~ Hooray~ Study well!! YOU: A fun summer is waiting for you after the test!

Kai-kun! I have a glittering bow keychain, so let's compete against each other!!? (laughs) = = KAI: A fellow friend!!! Then, I'll be the second player!! Bring it on!! YOU: Exactly how will you fight (www)

Hello! I'd like to hear about any recent small incidents that occurred around Procella members! = = YOU: Yoru's glasses got deformed by the heat (www) KAI: He accidentally left it on the bonnet of our travel bus, it got deformed slightly after about 2 hours. (www)

24 hours a day isn't enough. What do you think? = = KAI: I guess it's slightly not enough? If you sleep while thinking, "Stay tuned for Kai tomorrow!", then you'll be excited. YOU: Don't get excited before going to bed (ww)

You-kun! Please do something with Aoi-kun!!!!!!! (I'm greedy) = = YOU: I like your greediness~ Yosh, let's do it now. Aoi-chan. AOI: Eeh?! YOU: I caught the retreating Aoi-chan. AOI: I-I got caught! KAI: Now, how do you want to do this?! YOU: What should we do? Aoi-chan. AOI: EHHHH?!

→ AOI: L-L-Let's peel it off! T/N: Aoi was trying to say "Look that way" (あっち向いてホイで lit. atchi muite hoi de) but ended up saying "Let's peel it off" (あっち剥いてホイで lit. atchi muite hoi de). Both have the same pronunciation, just different meanings.

→ AOI: What a terrible typo!!!

→ AOI: I meant 'Look that way'!! YOU & KAI: (wwwww) AOI: I was really flustered and when I thought I deleted it, I actually sent it instead. I meant 'Look that way'!!!~~~~~ You!!! Kai-san, geez!!! YOU & KAI: (wwww)

#Aoi won by default.

This is for a questionnaire, but what was doing your homework like? Did you fill in what you knew on the day you got it and left the rest blank and asked a friend for help, or leave some empty in the first week and finish the rest later? = = KAI: I did half in the first week, and the remaining in the last week.

→ YOU: I want to say that I finished it early in August... but I ended up frantically doing it towards the end (www) KAI: I can imagine that ~~ While Yoru did his patiently, right? YOU: Yup. Isn't that right? YORU: Yes. Ah, I also did the Radio calisthenics properly! Radio Calisthenics = a short exercise routine broadcast daily on Japan's national radio, streamed on YouTube, followed in parks and schools every day – sometimes several times a day – by all generations of Japanese people

It's been hot lately, but please tell us if you have a story that chilled you to your bones. = = KAI: Shun turned bright red and got a fever. YOU: He got one after frantically trying to decide the thumbnail for his Hajime-san video collection. KAI: He looked really happy when I putting the cooling patch on. YOU: His fever also came down almost immediately. YOU & KAI: We ate curry together.

Hi!! Starting from today, we'll be having the 4 day holiday, so will you all be working??? Are there any jobs you have with other members of the agency??? = = KAI: Hi~! Tomorrow will be a visual shooting with the theme of intelligence♪ YOU: It's not a job, but the day after tomorrow, I'll talk with Takaaki-san and Roa-san about an independent dance lesson along with a few more people. The 4 day holiday they're talking about is Marine Day, which lasts from Jul 22 - Jul 25 in Japan.

Is it okay to eat ice-cream at this time?! = = KAI: We've already eaten it (sparkles) YOU: Recently, my favorite one is... the Shi●kuma ice cream KAI: The melon flavour! This year, for some reason, the melon flavor is in demand. YOU: You can buy it at a convenience store ~ He's referring to the Shirokuma Ice Cream which is a shaved ice dessert topped with ice cream and condensed milk.

Please tell us what you had for dinner today! = = KAI: Pork shogayaki​. I really like it. Especially when its with White Rice. YOU: I get you.

Have you been interacted with the Gravi members lately? Please tell us if there's anything interesting👓✨ = = KAI: Oh, that emoji means Haru! Haru~ HARU: I was waiting so long to be called. YOU: You appeared so quickly (www) HARU: Something interesting... Ah, let's play Look that way! YOU: Is it popular in Gravi? (ww)

#Haru won and was satisfied when he left.

I'm busy and tired lately, so please leave a good luck charm please!! I love you!!! = = KAI: I love you too!! YOU: Me too! The is the best good luck charm you can believe in! We love you, support you, so please do your best!! KAI: I wish you a happy summer!

It's summer!!!!!! Did you have anything of a summer vibe that you ate?? = = KAI: Corn!!!!! Grilled Corn!!! YOU: Recently, Procella has this trend of using the Bato Mayo Soy Sauce with various things.

Is Maze slowly molting??! = = YOU: ......Maze? Are you molting? I've never cleaned them up. MAGELLAN: Que! (I forgot) KAI: He's always like fluffy. Maybe it's because he's an Demon World Penguin? Next time, let us touch you~

Speaking of summer vacation, I remember watching movies at movie theaters or on TV when I was in elementary school! Do you have a favorite movie when you were little? = = KAI: Back to the Fu●re that was rebroadcasted on TV! I feel like that's a classic one. YOU: There's also Toto●. KAI: Ah, there's that too! The child in the middle has my colors! Kai is referring to Back to the Future and I believe You is referring to My Neighbor Totoro.

We can't drink outside, but have you been drinking at home?? = = YOU: The senior group sometimes drink on the balcony~ KAI: Only sometimes~ I don't drink a lot (laughs). And what about the middle group? YOU: We don't really drink much? Instead, we eat food.

KAI: That was all for the replies~! YOU: Thank you for your messages despite it being midnight! KAI: I was going to introduce the October's CD but it's so late now, so I'll do it tomorrow! YOU: If you're going to do it tomorrow, then just call in the people themselves. KAI: Ah, true. Anyways, this is all for today's corner!

KAI: It was Kai-chan Radio, Summer Vacation Activity Edition~! YOU: Thank you for listening to us! Ah, Kai, let's say that. KAI: That? YOU (whispers unintelligently to Kai) KAI: Uhhh.. KAI & YOU: Dream well? KAI: .... YOU: .... KAI: I'm kind of embarassed. YOU: Why? (www)

#Kai-chan Radio #Thank you

✧If you like my work, then please consider supporting me here. Thank you~!

#tsukiuta #tsukiuta twitter #fuduki kai #haduki you #kai chan radio #please this was too long #what the heck #how do they have so much energy? #they really are summer guys #LOL

[oumaheroes]

Earthbound: Matthew’s Story

Context:

Hundreds of years after the fall of Earth, mankind is slowly starting to return. Some people have a stronger urge to return than others, confused by fragments of memories from a life already lived.

Full fic can be found here.

Arthur’s story can be found here.

-----

Matthew is four. His family have got their first dog and it’s a large, fluffy creature, all flank and tail and teeth. Matthew is horrified, at first, at this large thing that has suddenly appeared in his house, and he cries and tries to get away from it when it approaches him in the living room.

‘Just come say hello,’ Daddy says, hoisting him up to sit on his knees and taking his small hand in his larger one. His father’s body curls around him and, enveloped in arms, Matthew feels safe. His daddy reaches out his hand, thus, Matthew’s hand, giant thumb in the middle of his palm so that it is pinned there, and holds it aloft in front of the creature.

A large wet nose immediately descends and Matthew squeals because it is cold and strange and scary and Daddy shushes him, bouncing him on a knee. ‘He won’t bite’, Daddy says, ‘I won’t let him hurt you. He’s just trying to say hello; doggies say hello a little differently, is all.’

He kisses Matthew’s temple and rocks him, gently. ‘Want to try again?’

He is not but he nods and says yes because he wants to be brave and strong and he trusts Daddy, he does, or he really really wants to. At his reply, Daddy holds out their hands again, in front of the thing’s mouth, and whispers soothing nothings in Matthew’s ear- he’s not paying attention, too focused on the mouth with the teeth.

The creature snuffles their hands before giving them a lick, pink rough tongue and slobber; Matthew gasps, surprised, and then laughs. Daddy chuckles, and Matthew feels the vibrations rumble through him. ‘See? I told you; he only wants to be your friend. He’s called Kumajirou.’

The name doesn’t quite stick, too long and cumbersome for Matthew’s tentative tongue and he becomes Kuma, instead. It fits.

Matthew is eleven and wishes people could be more like dogs, open and friendly and honest about all that they are. He finds people too quick, children especially: too sly and fast and always with something hidden behind their smile. He’s figured out that he isn’t really a people person, anyway- it’s not that he doesn’t like people, exactly, but he doesn’t really know how to act around them; doesn’t know what to say or how to read them properly and now the whole process of opening his mouth to speak to someone feels daunting, like standing on the roof of his house and forcing himself to step off.

Matthew likes to sit on his thoughts, chew them about in his mouth a bit and be sure of the shape they will form before he lets them go. This means that he takes too long, is silent more often than not because kids his age don’t have the patience to stop and wait for him to get himself ready, lining up his words like soldiers about to march.

He’s known as the silent one at school, blending into the environment like a piece of furniture. Whether it’s in lessons, in sports, in games, or anything in between, his classmate’s eyes glaze past him and he knows that they’ve forgotten he’s there, forgotten that he’s an option to speak to. They’re not mean to him, they just don’t think about him, anymore. Even adults are not immune, more used to handling the demands of the louder kids, dazzled by the brightness of the smarter ones, fond of the affectionate children. Matthew is only half there, he supposes, sitting in the background with a mouthful of words that won’t come out when he wants them to.

Sometimes he wonders if he’s even really there at all, because that’s what life is all about, isn’t it? Memories of things and people and places and conversations- moments you share with other people that plant you in time, leaving a mark of your life like a footprint in their existence. He feels like a ghost of a person, a shade of parts that resemble someone else and it leaves him more tongue tied than ever.

But if Kuma is there, wherever he is, it’s instantly better because Matthew can be himself, can feel something loosen inside him and let him act like a person because Kuma loves him no matter what. Dogs act the same to everyone as long as you’re good to them- love them even a little. Kuma doesn’t care if Matthew doesn’t want to talk, or doesn’t know how he properly wants to say something. Kuma doesn’t care if Matthew struggles to find his words, tripping and stumbling over them as they clog his mind, clumping awkwardly on his tongue.

Kuma will sit there, patient and still, as Matthew whispers his day into his fur, words clear and strong and unsullied by fear in a way they never are with people. He will lick him on the nose and shove his head onto his lap when Matthew has curled himself into a ball in his room, replaying his day over and over so much that his mistakes blur together like paint, colouring everything with a smear of shame.

Matthew is fourteen and he feels as though he finally understands something. It starts as a small something, creeping and pattering through him and leaving tiny tracks in his mind, but now it’s growing larger and stronger, moving within him and sending his thoughts racing.

Kuma died a few months ago. This is what started it, Matthew knows, seeing Kuma slow and slow, more so each year, before, towards the end, it took all he had left to just lift his head. Matthew had felt terrible, of course- at a loss and helpless sitting there with him, stroking Kuma’s head and whispering final goodbyes. His father had joined him on the floor, both of them cocooned by a companionable silence in a way they couldn’t be at any other time, and Matthew felt truly heard, to the bottom of everything he was, in the depths of his grief. This was a moment that needed no words, was a thing that could not be named- only felt and experienced.

His father is a research scientist at some big lab in the heart of the colony and is more used to theory and hypothetical than practical application, but he had found some e-tab journals on dogs, about how their bodies worked and how to fix them, and used his skills to pour over them with Matthew on the floor, studying the miniscule entries as much as he could to provide some help.  Matthew watched, days lit by the flash of the e-tab as story after journal after analysis was checked and rechecked by his father beside him. There was no medicine that could save Kuma, no special cure for age, but there was some information about helping it, easing it- gentling death until it was as soft as sleep and Matthew’s father tried each and every one that he found. Kuma left them with a shift and a sigh and Matthew was surprised at death’s kindness, how easy it could be.

His father, haggard, tired, and sad, had given something of himself for Kuma, and Matthew felt so proud of him, thankful for the benefit it had given his oldest friend. Kuma is gone, but Matthew thinks of that shared peaceful end, of those journals filled with age old accounts from long dead men. He realises that there must be many of these e-tab entries about so many other animals, the few that are left and the thousands that there were before and he flicks onto one, in passing, just to see.

That’s all it takes. One leads to another, which leads to another and another and another and then Matthew can’t stop himself from drinking up as many as he can sync to, allowing himself to be pulled down through trees of evolution, skipping through the classifications of mammals to haunt reptiles and glide past the wingspan of birds. There used to be so many animals, more than he can ever name, more than he can ever conceive being possible- in the seas and the skies and the land and all at once. In, out, around- a planet teeming with things besides humans, living alongside the hulking toxic growth known as mankind and breathing life into the skies.

When earth fell they were lost, all apart from the few that the survivors managed to cling to, stolen away in their bags and clutched under an arm. Small animals and creatures that could be carried and fed easily with scraps that weren’t needed by another fleeing human life, or domesticated food that was herded and pushed, clueless, into a slaughterhouse of spaceships. It is redundant, of course- a pointless skill for him to nurture but Matthew is hungry for all of it; drawn in and hooked to something beyond his control he syncs file after file, strange creatures taking shape in his mind to migrate the past into his waking day.

Matthew’s colony is one of those ones where they like to push people, like to specialise their children early and drive them to great things. They’re good at what they do, structurally organised to churn out success and Matthew see the benefit of this, finally. He hadn’t really taken part before, hadn’t really shown an interest in pushing himself into a single category, but now, all of a sudden, he wants to do what his dad does.

Well, not exactly what his dad does, numbers and figures and study of physics, but the process of it. The breaking down of information, the mythological categorising of data; the calm soothing expectation of silent contemplation. So, he picks to try to become a research scientist too, selects classes that will give him access to greater libraries and archives and locked journals for deeper study, searching for fur and teeth and claws amongst them.

Matthew is eighteen. He managed to find a uni that taught a few classes in veterinary studies, the medical beginnings for those wanting to specialise as a vet. Matthew doesn’t want to do this, exactly -he’s more interested in how animals work and what they’re like, what colours they come in and how big they are- but if he becomes a vet it will allow him to work with animals all day and this, small as it is, could be enough. He isn’t sure, really; doesn’t really know exactly what he wants other than to learn but he hopes that if he takes enough classes, he’ll eventually figure something out.

The bell rings and he stands, gathering his things and heading out of class -anatomy of canines, his favourite- and turns a corner, slinging his bag over a shoulder and aiming for the canteen where he hopes they’re serving pancakes. He keeps missing them, never making the queue in time, but today he’s hoping that maybe he can manage to push his way through. Suddenly, as he turns a corner someone bumps into him, not seeing him at all, it seems, and everything crashes to the floor, e-tab skidding away out of sight.

There’s a mumbled ‘watch it!’ from someone whom Matthew doesn’t see, just a mouthless shout from a sea of strangers, and then he’s left scrabbling on the floor, parting students like a boulder in a river. Out of the corner of his eye, he catches a glint of metallic grey and a flash of Kuma’s tail across the hallway by a wall. He sighs in relief and scoots his way over, bending to snatch his tab up before it can get trodden on and straightening to come face to face with an e-board, notice shining bright and loud.

Matthew blinks at it, then shakes his head and blinks again when the advert doesn’t change, displaying something he never thought possible. It’s Earth, there and large and green and Matthew can’t read the words properly because, out of nowhere, his eyes are filled with tears and he’s crying- great shuddering breaths that turn heads and rip his voice from out of him.

Earth. Earth, there, open. Looking for people. He’s crying, crying so hard he can’t breathe, just gasp and choke and cry and people stop to stare at him because all of a sudden he’s the centre of attention, the loudest thing there is. He can’t control himself, can’t reign it in because at the top, under a heading for ‘Looking for skills in:’ he sees-

Animal care.

He doesn’t need to think, doesn’t need to read any further, doesn’t even stop to feel shame for his outburst; class forgotten, lunch forgotten, life forgotten he sprints home, avoiding the shuttles and cars he runs as fast as his legs can carry him, pounding on the electric walkways that shoot through town and feeling himself grow lighter and lighter with each step.

His mother and father don’t want him to go, mother clinging to him with arms wrapped tight around his neck. They feel, briefly, like a noose and Matthew chokes to think of listening to them- at the thought of staying here.

He loves them, he loves them- they’re his parents and he loves them so fucking much but this is something he needs to do, has to do and as he pulls away from his mother and meets his father’s eyes he can see that his father knows this too.

‘You may not get to work with animals,’ he says seriously, ‘at least not the ones you want.’ Matthew’s mother steps back to look at his father in horror, betrayal raw on her face as she realises that his father isn’t saying no Matthew can’t go, that he must stay. She reads the acceptance there, understands the truth of it and leaves the room to compose herself, Matthew staring after her sad but determined.

Matthew nods. ‘I know.’

His father steps forwards and puts a large land on his shoulder, rooting him in this moment. ‘If you’re not happy, will you come home?’

Matthew feels his eyes begin to burn, throat tighten, and thinks of the birds he’ll see even if he works in a lab, the insects he will find and small animals he can watch from a window; life spilling over the edges to bleed into buildings. ‘I’ll be happy.’

#my writing #matthew Williams #aph canada #hws canada #hetalia #hetalia fanfiction #hetalia fanfic #APH England #hws #Oops oh no here we go #These are good little snippest if people don't fancy reading the whole thing #but sorry to anyone out there who already has! #(i love you)

[dragonoffantasyandreality]

Kamen Rider Thunderbirds Chapter 3 (Bit 5 End)

Prologue, Bit 1, Bit 2 Updated, Bit 3, Bit 4 

Finaaaly! I finished Chapter 3! :D

Big thank you for @janetm74 for the beta read, thank you @myladykayo for helping me through the story. Tagging @willow-salix, @katblu42, @gumnut-logic and @dreamycloud)

So let’s end this chapter, right? :)

-0-0-0-

“So you are saying that you’ve been attacked by some unknown monsters?” Jeff asked, his fingers gripping the paper. The bandaged up boys nodded.

“Yeah. And we believed it was a set up." Virgil pointed out.

"It seemed like deliberate sabotage by those… things, so we came in and fell into their trap." Scott theorized. He continued explaining: in fact, the way the fires started was suspicious, the flames appeared in random parts of the building, according to the recent investigations. And according to the testimonies of the rescuees who were trapped underground, the humanoid fire-monsters appeared out of nowhere and they are the ones who started the whole fires, and then… they were simply waiting. The field commander finished that the poor fellas acted as bait for the monsters to finish him and his brothers off.

"Long story short: they were after our heads apparently." Gordon concluded.

Their father had a look of extreme concern. To think those threats with impossible yet fantastic power to bring down a building were after his sons was very alarming and pose a threat to their lives and security. Here he thought that time where they had to save the world from a mind-controlling alien sphere was a close call!

"Thank heavens the Kamen Riders came and saved us!" Alan chirped, his ocean eyes sparkled like stars with memories.

"Yes. You guys are very lucky. And those rescuees as well." Agreed Jeff, "However, we don’t know if we could trust those bug-eyed warriors.”

“But dad! They saved us!” Argued the youngster, “They saved us from these creatures! I am pretty sure they are our allies! Friends even!”

"Alan! We don't even know who they are!" Pointed out Gordon.

The young blonde crossed his arms and gave the most dramatic pout. Jeff sighed, gently shaking his head with a slight sympathetic smile, “They may be on our side now, but we still don’t know what their intentions are. Especially when they got those… other-worldly powers. So take their alliance with caution.” he said sternly.

The brothers nodded in agreement, including Alan who simply cocked his head to the side. They did tell John about the whole thing, in which the middle brother had mixed feelings. Concerned, relieved and interested. But mostly worried.

After the debrief, the atmosphere was a lingering silent worry.

“Hey kiddo, don’t be upset.” Gordon smiled optimistically.

“You sure?” Huffed his youngest brother.

“Yeah. As much as I am suspicious about them, I am also curious.” his innocent smile turned into a cheeky smirk.

Alan’s grumpy face slowly transformed into that of an excited gremlin that the redhead knew and loved, “Alright! How about we go talk to Brains? See what he thinks of this rescue.”

Gordon grinned, “Right behind ya, Sprout!”

And soon enough, the terrible two vanished through the door of the lounge, their excited feet echoed through the halls.

“What do you think of the Kamen Riders, Scott?” asked Virgil, placing a gentle hand on his older brother’s shoulder. 

Scott shrugged, “I don’t know.” He was mostly worried about those monsters. Those… things. What are they after? Why do they want International Rescue dead? Of course it was only one time, but what if they do it again? He was beginning to feel dread. Being possessed by an alien was bad enough, but almost getting burned alive by monstrous animal-headed gladiators with powers to control fire was out of the question!

“You know, I do have a hunch that our bug-eyed acquaintances are on our side.” admitted Virgil, “But, I also have a feeling that we’ll meet them again, considering the circumstances.”

Scott looked back at his brother. Sky blue meets earthly brown. There was a silent conversation. An understanding. And then a nod from the eldest brother. They sat there in compassionate silence.

The quiet must’ve been killing his brother, because all of the sudden the mechanic asked, “Say, would you like to play the piano again?”

“Why’s that?” Scott raised a brow.

“My fingers are sore from fixing the Mole in a rush back there.” Virgil smiled with a little embarrassment, as he revealed his bandaged hands.

Scott gently tapped his brother’s shoulder with a chuckle. He got up from the couch and walked over to Virgil’s beloved white piano. He sat on the stool once more, opened the lid and stretched his fingers, “What should I play?” 

“Anything, I don’t mind.” His musical brother shrugged, standing beside him.

As Scott thought which song to play, his mind drifted back to the moment when he looked into the eyes of the golden Rider. It seemed to him that there was something warm behind those bug-eyes… something human. Scott wondered if there's a sensitive soul behind that mask.

Maybe it was just in his mind, maybe it was not true, but it made him relax. Pressing the keys, he began playing a familiar, jazzy beat as he remembered that moment. After a few repeats of the rhyme, he went to the main part of the song.

“Ah, my favorite! Take Five!" Jeff exclaimed, "Just like you guys.” he chuckled.

Scott smiled at his father as a response. There were some remnants of his stress, but it didn't bother him as much as he was in the morning. Jeff gave him a relieved nod before continuing doing paperwork, quietly humming and tapping his foot to the beat. Virgil smiled widely at his brother before humming as well and snapping his fingers along with the melody of the immortal piece of Paul Desmond.

Scott jumped into improvising like he was here to woo the girls at a party. As he was playing, he thought back of their victory. And his tension melted away. Outside the villa, the soothing music echoed through the beautiful nature of the island and into the night sky.

-0-0-0-

The moon shone in the night sky and the cold was a constant companion. The sounds of distant cars driving through the streets could be heard from the top of the skyscrapers. On one of them stood four figures, taking their time enjoying the view from above.

The Kamen Riders were resting after the heated fight. Gills was leaning on a wall next to the entrance, between his legs lay his loyal dog. G3-X was finishing writing a report of the fight on his custom laptop. Kuuga was laying on top of the entrance, admiring the stars. And Agito was standing near the railing, staring into the lights of the city.

"Oi, Agito!" called Kuuga all of a sudden. The golden Rider turned to his best friend.

"Nando(What is it)?" asked Agito.

"Why wouldn’t you come up here and watch the stars?” suggested the red Rider, "It's beautiful up there."

"How can you see stars from here?" objected G3-X, "Ya can't see Shiitake with all those slagging city lights!"

"They can see them through their visors," scoffed Gills, making the robocop Rider whistle a sound of realization before turning back to his computer. 

Raider looked up and tilted his head as if trying to see them, but after a few moments he gave up as he put his canine head back to the ground.

Agito had taken a moment to stare at the city, then moved towards the entrance, climbed and sat next to Kuuga.

"Not too cold buddy?” the red Rider asked, only to receive a shake of the head from his golden companion. The two took a moment to appreciate the stars in the cold night sky. Few stars faintly glowed in the dark sky.

"Man, can't believe we just met with International Rescue in person!" excitedly said Kuuga, "I gotta say, they are quite tough guys, ne? Especially Noodle, he looks quite young!"

"Noodle?" asked the golden rider in confusion.

"The blond kid! The one I saved from falling into a ravine and returned the gun to?" Kuuga sensed Agito raising an eyebrow that cannot be seen from the cover of his mask. "We should give them nicknames. To… you know, to know who's who we're talking about?" He explained, shrugging.

A sparkle of mirth could be faintly seen behind the faceted eyes of his friend, a warm smile could be felt radiating from his breath. "Sure...But why the blond kid 'Noodle'?"

"Because his blonde hair reminded me of noodles. And to be honest, 'Noodle' sounds kawaii~! Don’t you think he looks kawaii, ne?” A big grin was radiating from behind the mask of the red Rider. Agito laughed wholeheartedly. Kuuga continued, "The auburn hair guy; I think we'll call him 'Kuma'! He looks so serious, strong and tough, like a bear! Remind me of someone…"

The golden Rider laughed again as he nodded. "So um… shall we call the leader 'Sky Eyes'?"

Kuuga rubbed his silver chin for a bit, "Hmm…the one who pilots that big-hyper-speedy-rocket-jet thingy? Why's that?" he asked.

"Because… his eyes reminded me of the sky...” The red Rider saw the sparkling human eyes behind Agito’s red bug-like lens. Kuuga nodded, agreeing that the name was well suited for the blue sashed commander.

"What about the redhead guy? What should we call him?" asked G3-X as he looked up at the two Riders, seemingly curious.

"Clownfish..." Gills dropped the answer. There was an awkward pause. "He smelled fishy..." He deadpanned. Everyone laughed, acknowledging his typical 'I don't care, deal with it' attitude as they accepted his answer.

"Noodle, Kuma, Sky Eyes and Clownfish. Sounds good for our mystery gang of rescuers!" Kuuga clapped and rubbed his hands excitingly

Agito chuckled softly before looking back at the stars once more. The more he stared at the little faint glistening lights, the more the made him think of sky… sky eyes… the man whose eyes were always drawn to the sky.

He felt a warm feeling as he remembered those cobalt irises. He wondered why he felt like that. He barely knows that man, let alone the fact that International Rescue seemed to keep themselves secret. Maybe he'll never know. But one thing for sure, they'll cross paths again. Because of those things...

Those kaijins… they were new. He had never seen them before. And they are as aggressive and dangerous as disasters. Agito… Yuuki sensed that whatever they were, they seemed to be after International Rescue. But for what? And why?

The answer will remain unknown, for now...

-tbc-

#Kamen Rider Thunderbirds series #kamen rider #thunderbirds #kamen rider fanfiction #thunderbirds fanfiction #thunderbirds 1965 #kamen rider agito #kamen rider kuuga #my fanfics #yay! I finished chapter 3! :D

[medea10]

My Review of Sarazanmai

How did I get into this anime? I heard “things” about this anime. 2019 was a weird time to be alive apparently. You know, before 2020 happened! As much shit as I give 2020, at least they didn’t give us kappas eating people’s asses.

Yes, I just said “kappas eating people’s asses”.

Be afraid. Be very afraid!

Kazuki Yasaka is a young boy who must carry around a box wherever he goes and follow specific directions day-by-day. Toi Kuji is a delinquent that breaks into cars and commits other crimes throughout the city. And Enta Jinnai is a childhood friend of Kazuki…He’s there too! These three boys have been chosen by the kappa prince, Keppi to help restore the Kappa Kingdom to its former glory. Kazuki, Toi, and Enta can now transform into kappas by being eaten ass first by Keppi and then shit out. Yes, I said eaten ass first and shit out by a kappa! These boys then must eat the inner-most desires of these kappa-zombies that are causing Keppi trouble. And these inner-most desires are located…in the ass. But there are those from the Otter Empire that cause this trouble for the kappas by turning folks into kappa zombies and causing havoc in the real world.

I would not expect any less of a mind-rape anime from the great Kunihiko Ikuhara.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Even playing a kappa, Junichi Suwabe still finds a way to give me an erection.

Okay, let’s try that again and not make it sound disgusting, Medea.

Right! Let’s talk licensing. FUNimation is the licensors of this fine product. Seriously? Eating ass is fine, but you frown upon the likes of Interspecies Reviewers? Yes, there is a dub to this and believe it or not, I pretended it didn’t exist. Not because it was bad or anything! It’s just that this anime had the likes of Mamoru Miyano, Kouki Uchiyama, Rie Kugimiya, and Mr. Sex-in-a-Voice Junichi Suwabe. Let me state that my infatuation with Suwabe is like John Oliver’s infatuation with Adam Driver.

That…totally doesn’t help my case! Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Kazuki is played by Ayumu Murase (known for Minami on Yuri on Ice, Luck on Black Clover, Asuto on Inazuma Eleven: Aries, Madoka on Shounen Maid, and Shinichi on SAO)

*Toi is played by Kouki Uchiyama (known for Yurio on Yuri on Ice, Soul on Soul Eater, Rui on Demon Slayer, Ikuya on Free!, Benedict on Violet Evergarden, Midnight on Fairy Tail, Yuu on Charlotte, and Ichijou on Nisekoi)

*Enta is played by Shun Horie (known for Kazuya on Rent-A-Girlfriend)

ENGLISH CAST: *Kazuki is played by Alejandro Saab (known for Leon on Pokemon Journeys, L’Arc on Shield Hero, Kuga on Food Wars, Yamazaki on Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, and Takezou on Kono Oto Tomare)

*Toi is played by Ricco Fajardo (known for Koutaro on Zombieland Saga, Itona on Assassination Classroom, Karim on Fire Force, Natsuya on Free!, and Kyousuke on Danganronpa 3)

*Enta is played by Justin Briner (known for Deku on My Hero Academia, Yukito on Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Shou on Fire Force, Luck on Black Clover, and Ryouta on Danganronpa 3)

SHIPPING: Well…we got our BL kiss by the third episode. That’s quite early for an Ikuhara anime. Ooh boy, Enta loves him some Kazuki. He REALLY loves Kazuki! There’s a lot to be said of a boy that would sniff and fondle items owned by his lover and kiss his unconscious lover. I can understand why Enta would care for Kazuki. I mean after hearing that he’s truly his first friend after a childhood of traveling around and not making many friends, you want to feel for this kid. Key word here is “want”. But this boy goes too far sometimes and his jealousy does get the best of him to a point where I’m just saying, cut ties with the megane brat. But Enta ends up screwing things up again by taking a bullet for Kazuki and throwing all that anger out the window.

And then we have Reo and Mabu! God damn Reo! We’ve got shark teeth, an arrogant attitude, homosexuality, and the voice of Mamoru Miyano. This is just a Rin Matsuoka of a different color! If Reo and Mabu’s otter dance isn’t a dead giveaway, they totally love each other. To a point where they would sacrifice each other for the one they love.

POLE-DANCE ALERT: I don’t know why I always find random pole-dancing moments in animes so alluring. I guess I can blame the likes of Grell from Black Butler. But this moment was so random that it came right the fuck out of nowhere. Then again, this entire anime is an enigmatic brain-fart that it was only a matter of time before a kappa prince starts randomly dancing on a pole.

There we go, Medea’s love for random crap will never die!

ENDING: Throughout the series, Kazuki, Toi, and Enta were gathering these dishes in order to get a wish granted by Keppi. And each time they’ve gone up against a big bad otter, Reo and Mabu are usually the ones to bring out the kappa zombies. But everyone has a plan for using the dishes of hope for their own wishes. Enta wants to use it to stay with Kazuki so the two can remain the golden duo. Reo and Mabu want the dishes to be with each other and save one another after an incident nearly killed them. And Kazuki originally wanted to use the dishes for his baby brother’s own sake, but changes to wanting to help Toi (who ends up leaving with his older, criminal of a brother). And shit goes crazier than what I’ve just mentioned. Enta fucks up by stealing the collected dishes and really fucking up his relationship with Kazuki! Toi ends up leaving town with his criminal brother.

Reo and Mabu, the otter cops shoot Kazuki, but Enta takes the bullet and is hours away from dying. But then we learn that Reo and Mabu were actually kappas who worked under Keppi. It’s just that the otters have been manipulating these two. Mabu is just a hollow body created by the otters because of some accident that happened prior to the events in the anime. The otter gives Mabu a mechanical heart to keep him alive, but in order to stay alive, he cannot say he loves Reo. Unfortunately for these two, Mabu ends up saying he loves Reo and dies right in front of him and vanishing from his memories. Reo is then shot by Toi who comes in at the last minute.

Toi’s back. We all knew it wasn’t going to last. His older brother got shot dead the episode before. So Toi is going to use the dishes to resurrect his brother from the dead. This leaves Kazuki in shambles as he was going to use it on Enta before his body expires in like 10 seconds. In the last minute, Kazuki used the dishes on Enta and he’s going to live. End of story right? No, we still have a demented otter on the loose. And the otters have a dark Keppi that he’s been storing for just this sort of moment. And now it grabs Toi and Toi accepts. He wants to erase his existence from Enta and Kazuki’s lives. Problem is if he does that, Toi erases giving Kazuki the ankle bracelet that’s been a staple in Kazuki and Enta’s relationship when it comes to soccer. But the boys were able to connect, destroy the otters, bring the memories of Mabu and Reo back, turn Keppi into a kappa prince, and save the town from OTTER-destruction.

Yeah, if you watch this series, you’ll hear a lot of puns involving otters. I mean when you’re not smothered in sexualized otters and kappas.

The ending credits show Toi getting sent to juvie for three years. And it’s quite sad to see his dejected face while the ending song blasts. When the lyrics literally say “stand by me” it gets quite sad. Three years pass and Toi’s out of juvie. He goes to the bridge and jumps off. Keep in mind this is an Ikuhara anime, Toi’s not gonna die. Enta and Kazuki jump in and join Toi and welcome him back to society.

Good lord Ikuhara-san! I didn’t think you could out-gay an anime after the likes of Yuri Kuma Arashi. But good fuck, you found a way! This anime was…INSANITY. Pure insanity! Then again, this is the same director that did Revolutionary Girl Utena, Yuri Kuma Arashi, and Mawaru Penguindrum. Yes, connection and desires are a big take in not only Sarazanmai, but a lot of the other animes Ikuhara does. It’s just that Sarazanmai is the strangest acid-trip of them all. And that’s saying a lot because Yuri Kuma Arashi has sexy bears that say “Shaba-da-doo”. ALSO VOICED BY JUNICHI SUWABE! But people getting turned into kappas by being eaten ass first by another kappa and stealing spirits inner most desires, conveniently stored in their asses is some wonky-ass crack-fest. Recommendation wise, I would say watch some of the other animes Ikuhara has directed to get your feet wet in what you might expect in this kind of anime. After that, pop in a few Bakemonogatari episodes just for good measure. And after you do all that, take some CBD gummies and let-a-rip with Sarazanmai.

If you want to watch Sarazanmai, Crunchyroll and FUNimation have it available for streaming.

Okay, what’s next for my FUNimation list?

Okay, boobs! What are we talking here? Are these boobs flat as an ironing board or crimes against nature like in Eiken?

Oh, this can’t end well.

#sarazanmai #anime review #enta jinnai #keppi #junichi suwabe #toi kuji #kazuki yasaka #reo niiboshi #mabu akutsu

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Wano Theory - The Fall of Onigashima

Spoilers for Manga Chapters leading up to and including c997

So yeah, that happened Not content with just throwing his weight around in beating 8 Scabbards at once, Kaido decided to up his power play by LIFTING THE WHOLE DAMN ISLAND which he’s gonna then carry across this storming sea, to the Flower Capital - which is in the midst of the Fire Festival and completely unaware that this raid is taking place - which he likely will drop on top of the Flower Capital with the people below: destroying its aristocracy, a large chunk of rebels and leaving the weak and weakened at the mercy of Kaido’s (and Big Mom’s) military might.

So now we have more stakes to deal with, 2 stakes primarily:

Stake 1 - Defeat Kaido before Onigashima leaves the ocean, allowing the island to fall before it damages any populated area in Wano Stake 2 - Prevent Onigashima from falling on the Flower Capital, but at the same time defeat Kaido Obviously, neither are easy, but 2 is much more difficult than 1 to achieve, which means that Stake 2 will almost certainly come to fold, so the question is this: How does the Alliance STOP Onigashima from Falling?

No easy feat, but maybe this is a place for other Straw Hats and side characters to shine. So far I have 7 possibilities linked to who could help save Wano from ‘New Onigashima’.

Option 1 - Gods, Titans and Homies

Option 1 considers the idea of what, or better yet who, can amass to such a size to cushion Onigashima, and the first answer that comes to mind is Prometheus and Zeus. We’ve already seen Zeus and Prometheus grow to incredible sizes in Whole Cake Island and they both are able to carry Big Mom with ease, so who knows how much weight they can carry at that size. Zeus is probably the easier bet for cushioning Onigashima since Prometheus would burn everything too, allowing Zeus to be the pivotal character also allows it to go two ways, either Nami reclaims Zeus from Big Mom in some manner - which will likely lead to BM’s defeat - or Big Mom turns on Kaido and works with Nami to help. This allows Nami to show the strength of her Clima Tact, being able to strengthen Zeus beyond Big Mom’s own capabilities.

Option 2 - The Last Gift of the Minks

Currently the Minks are completely weakened by fighting Kaido, despite their Su Long form they have been left with a stalemate, however the Minks do have a disadvantage: if they turn off Su Long they are out for a considerably long time, too long to return to the fight, but if they don’t turn off Su Long they will die from exhaustion. Unfortunately I am convinced that many Minks will fight to the death, including at least one of the leaders, but there is a more valiant way they could go out, and it’s a power all minks had which is overlooked: Electro. Electro is born from every mink, the ability to produce electricity which is further empowered in Su Long, but when Carrot fought Big Mom’s fleet she was able to somewhat float off the ground, and that is what can help Onigashima float. If enough Su Long Minks surround the bottom of Onigashima, they could provide an electromagnetic field that can keep the island from even touching the surface below, pure static electricity as the Minks give every ounce of their life to save Wano.

Option 3 - Rise of the Kozuki Dragon

Momonosuke has an artificial Devil Fruit of a Dragon, one where he too is able to produce these clouds to float. The problem however, is that he doesn’t know how to use them, Momonosuke has been so busy training his human form that he’s never considered the benefits of a dragon form. Of course, this means Momonosuke cannot do this alone, but fortunately he’s got people who can help; Yamato has extensive knowledge of how the clouds work, Nami has weather magic, Shinobu’s ‘maturing’ theories could help strengthen Momo’s dragon powers or even his own age and experience and, should she turn on Kaido, Big Mom could imbue the clouds with souls to make them Homies, not only being able to funnel more power but give more sentient intent to the clouds themselves, she could even enthrall Kaido’s clouds this way.

Option 4 - Combined Might and Monsters

While we expect at the least Luffy and Zoro to have a crack at Kaido in the final fight, and hopefully more if not all the Straw Hats, there becomes a matter of what others can do to stop Onigashima from falling. We’ve seen Nami’s potential with Zeus but others can also combine in strength. First is Robin, her Gigantesco Manos or even a Spider’s Web could help resist the fall, but of course even she cannot carry that much weight. This is where Chopper’s Monster Point and Franky’s Iron Pirate can also assist with their raw strength, and this is where Usopp can also shine. Usopp’s weaponry appear to involve plants now thanks to his pop-greens, but what if he could influence existing flora? One of the main pieces of the Flower Capital is a giant tree and if he could influence that he too could be able to contribute to pinning Onigashima above him. But it can go farther, Tama’s DF allows the opening to control the entire flying squadron, anyone Tama brought with her (remember she has something brewing in 3 minutes), Drake’s Allosaurus form, Hawkins’ giant Straw Demon, Jimbei can even call the giant Koi from the waterfall (though it may serve more to drag it back), Marco’s phoenix flames may also have influence on top of Apoo’s sound manipulation, Kid’s metal, even Law’s shambles could assist - since I don’t think he could make it big enough to cover all of Onigashima. There’s also the matter of Perospero’s candy if he survives to help and anyone else not revealed to have been present in Onigashima, the possibilities are wide and combined could hold up an island. 

Option 5 - Outside Parties

By raising Onigashima from the ground, Oda wants to give us the perception that no other external forces can roll up to Onigashima and support for or against Kaido, but that could be a misdirect. Currently on the surface as far as we know, Big Mom’s remaining forces, Law’s remaining crew and any other samurai, prisoners, SMILE members Tama had taken control over and as far as we know Hiyori, Hitetsu, Onimaru and Caribou, maybe even the Mountain God(s) from the Oden flashback. But outside of who we know is in Wano could be others we didn’t expect to be there; Germa 66 for one may come to ‘repay’ Big Mom for her attempted assassination, reengaging Sanji with his estranged family - and Baeju...which holds bias in this hope - which could just send all the other North Blue boys in a frenzy. The other outside factor is the Marines, Drake may not have called for help but circumstances outside of Wano may call for it: the marines going for a Warlord we didn’t know about (We only knew about Weevil, Mihawk, Boa, Buggy and Kuma, meaning Law and Doffy’s replacements were unknown), if Fujitora also shows up then Onigashima is no problem to his Gravity DF, but it will snowball another conflict.

Option 6 - The Sky Ships

This is probably my most deep-cut part of the Onigashima theory. As much as Luffy has to defeat the Yonko, Wano will never be free unless they see it for themselves: Orochi dead, Kaido defeated, until that is something the people can even believe in, Wano can never truly escape that oppression. Which is why arriving at the Flower Capital during the Fire Festival may actually allow ‘Wano’ itself to help save the country and a key part of that is the Sky Ships. Oda made note of paying attention to it, and making sure that the Fire Festival is as big as ever because this is the 20 year prophecy, every person in the Flower Capital right now is as spirited as ever because they desperately are clinging to the idea of salvation, so what if Oda is actually giving them an opportunity? The Sky Ships alone may actually be imbued with the spirits, the will of those who died for Wano, in that way the spirits of Wano itself could prevent Wano from falling atop of them, the same way Skypeia’s golden bell was to reach Noland and Calgara. It may be simple as these mythic powers from Wano’s culture, but it could be ushered by someone else - Brook. In WCI Brook proved himself capable of suppressing souls of chess soldiers via his DF, able to harm homies via Soul Solid, so what if via his Soru Soru no Mi he would be able to temporarily raise the souls of Wano’s dead and empower them through the memory and belief of the people symbolized by the Sky Ships they would release into the sky. 

Option 7 - All of the Above Outside of Luffy suddenly awakening his DF and making the island bounce off or a surprise Katakuri appearance, there aren’t many other options outside of the six detailed. But, why settle for only one option? Each of these options are feasible together as well as apart; Nami can empower Zeus and Momo’s clouds while Usopp, Robin, Jimbei, Chopper and Franky provide weight support as the Minks surround the island and Momo’s clouds with electro and raised by Brook’s soul-powered Sky Ships. A culmination of an absolutely bonkers scenario we’ve found ourselves in which can allow every Straw Hat a vital means of contribution but also allowing Wano and its citizens to have a large part in liberating its country from Kaido, Orochi and the Isolationist Regime Wano currently has.

Whether that comes to be remains to be seen, there are many pieces moving and as with this moment itself, it can go any manner of directions, we just have to wait for Oda to weave his magic.

#one piece #one piece theory #op theory #straw hat pirates #monkey d luffy #nami #nami one piece #roronoa zoro #usopp #usopp one piece #vinsmoke sanji #nico robin #tony tony chopper #jimbei #jinbe #franky one piece #franky #brook #brook one piece #straw hat luffy #Pirate Hunter Zoro #cat burglar nami #god usopp #black leg sanji #devil child robin #cotton candy lover chopper #first son of the sea jimbei #cyborg franky #iron pirate franky #soul king brook

[yunohawkeye]

Okay so... this is not betaread. I’ve never done this before and yeah. Here’s my OC. It might be a little messy but hopefully you’ll like her :)

This is all also pretty vague because I just wrote my thoughts down, so if you have any more questions about her, my askbox is always open ^^

Name: Anika

Gender: female

Species: Dragonkin-human hybrid

Origin: hidden village on a little island

Age: 18/20 pre/post timeskip

Powers: 

dragonskin - hardening the skin with scales; similar to Armor-haki

fire dragon - vivify the dragon markings on her skin; gaining control of her dragon

haki - all forms

Physical:

Most Common Outfit: black tank top, jeans-colored hot pants, black and white sneakers and bandages covering up her whole right arm

Accessoires/Items: her Tantō

Personal:

Family: father - unknown, mother - deceased, sister - deceased

Friends: The Strawhats

Best Friend: Luffy

Love interest: None (yet) (I kinda wanna see who you ship her with)

Personality:

Likes/Dislikes:

Favorite…

Food: Bread

Flower: Dragon’s Breath

Color: Black/Red

Place: On top of a mountain/high places in general

Least Favorite:

Food: Porridge

Flower: Dandelion

Color: Grey

Place: The Dungeons

History:

(I’m gonna keep this one short, otherwise this would be a whole-ass story. If you wanna know more you can always ask me though.)

Her village was attacked by masked men at the age of 5. She saw her mother got murdered and ran away with her baby sister in her arms. One of the men stopped her but let her run, not being able to kill children.

It was winter season and the snow was knee-high for her, but she kept on going, trying to bring her sister to safety.

Days later she arrived at a marine base and asked soldiers for help. Her sister was cold. They did take her in, gave her food and warm clothes. Although her little sister was dead, not able to withstand the freezing atmosphere at that age but the soldiers told Anika they brought her sister to a doctor. Then she was taken to the captain in charge of the island who immediately noticed the tattoo on her arm.

She was told to be taken to a foster home, to be taken care of, but instead found herself in another facility and her room was a cell deep down in the dungeons.

Her race, the dragonkin, were supposed to be eradicated a long time ago, together with the history of the void century, her village has been the last remnant of it. Now, she was the only dragonkin left and the world government decided not to execute her but to experiment on her.

Until the age of 10 she was tortured every day, trying to get information out of her. How did her reaction differ to one of a normal human or fishman? How long could she survive without food or water without showing symptoms of weakness? What was the trigger to unlock their powers? All those experiments had taken a toll on her and the light in her eyes was gone. While doing them, she often hoped they would make a mistake and she’d die.

But then, one day one of the guards didn’t pay enough attention, not seeing the little 10 year old girl as threat and for a moment, she felt the spark of life again, adrenaline shooting through her veins and releasing an unconscious pulse of Emperor’s Haki. She was able to run away from the guards and the facility, some kind of power taking over her body. She doesn’t remember much from that day, it were too many impressions at once. Nothing more than shreds come to mind. She only knew that she woke up in a little fishing boat, stranded on an island. A man above her, obviously worried before she fell unconscious again.

Later on that man turned out to be Garp. He saw the markings on her arm and could piece together what happened, the scars and wounds on her skin being indicator enough. He brought her to Dadan, where she got to know Luffy and Ace. Sabo was already considered dead.

In the beginning she was very shy and jumped at every fast movement, not letting anyone touch her. Her beaten and honestly miserable appearance even struck a soft nerve in Ace. He and Luffy tried to coax her out of her shell more and more.

She started trusting them and let herself heal, even telling them her past. As they heard what happened to Anika’s sister, they both felt a connection to her. It didn’t take long until they decided they’d accept her as sister.

At the age of 17, one year before Luffy, she set to sail, but keeping her promise in mind. As soon as he’d have his first bounty she’d come to him and join his crew.

She met a lot of people, made some friends along the way but in the end kept to herself, relishing in the freedom she finally had. Not only physically but also mentally. And while she wasn’t fully healed yet, she felt free. And nothing else mattered to her at the moment.

At the age of 18 she joined the Strawhat crew while they were in Enies Lobby. At first they were a little sceptical but after they got told that Anika was Luffy’s big sister, their worries flew out the window.

As the crew was scattered around the world by Kuma, she landed on a secluded island. She roamed through the forests alone for some days, hunting and searching for berries and other food to survive. It didn’t take long for the news of Ace’s death to reach even her and she was devastated as she read it, breaking down and leaving a wake of destruction in her way.

Later on, she met an old man who seemed to live alone. This old man turned out to be another dragonkin. He said he’d teach her the hidden art of their power and sent her into the cave in the massive mountain in the middle of the island with the words: “Don’t lose.”

Anika went into the cave, swallowing hard. These cold grey walls and the echo of her footsteps brought back bad memories. Low grumbles shook her surroundings as she swallowed her fear and kept on going. The path was spiked with loose stones which would make her fall to certain death if she wasn’t careful. But she needed to do this.

She took a deep breath before continuing her steady pace, the sounds echoing from the walls sending shivers down her spine. The farther she went, the louder they got.

After some time she saw a little opening, leading to another, rather spacious part of the cave. She walked through it and was immediately met with a massive gust of wind, making her stumble backwards lightly. As she opened her eyes she couldn’t believe her eyes.

There was a massive dragon like the one depicted with the markings on her arm flying around in circles. But her moment of awe was short-lived as it prepared a dive attack.

Anika sprinted to the middle of the room, where a Tantō, a short sword, was on display. She grabbed onto the hilt but before she was able to fully unsheath it she paused, sheathed it again and turned around, the dragon coming at her at what seemed like full speed. 

Without breaking eye contact, she let the Tantō fall and just a few inches before her the dragon came to a halt, the only thing touching her the wind. She held out her hand and the dragon leaned into her touch as she started to smile. Nobody said she had to win, she was only supposed not to lose.

Without warning the dragon disintegrated before her and the ashes that remained set itself onto her markings, bringing it to life as it started to move around her arm.

After unlocking her powers she went back to the old man, only to see a pile of still glowing ashes where he once sat, next to a new pile of newspaper with the photo of Luffy on it. She buried the ashes and planted local flowers, Dragon’s Breath on the grave before starting her training.

She taught herself how to control the dragon inside her and also haki usage with the help of scrolls in a weird language she found in the old man’s hut. She didn’t know why but she was able to decipher it without problems. It also contained knowledge about her kin and what happened to them during the void century. (not the whole thing, only about her people)

Anika is still dealing with a lot of emotional baggage but gained a lot more confidence and meets up with the crew 2 years later.

#one piece #one piece oc #oc

[pandawritespoorly]

I Got You

Author’s Note:  I thought the phrase 'I got you' could made for a good hurt/comfort prompt after seeing it out of context on my phone. I eventually decided to make Ladybug a child because children are adorable, and while plenty of people write akumas making these two into children, they aren't ~angsty~ enough. Really though, this devolved into fluff.

Chapter Summary: Ladybug is turned into a child by an Akuma, and kidnapped by Mayura.

“I am the Little Princess! Big kids and adults are meanies!! Little kids will run the world!”

Chat Noir and Ladybug sigh. Hawkmoth is truly vile, but it’s always awful to see a little kid akumatized.

“I swear, when I get my hands on that man…” Ladybug growls.

Chat just snarls in agreement.

With that, they jump into action, doing their best to avoid the attacks. From observation, they know it’ll turn them into a child, and the attacks are pretty good at hitting their marks.

It would be catastrophic if either of them got hit.

Then one of them does.

Chat doesn’t even see it happen. One moment he’s focused on the akuma, coming closer to grabbing her akumatized object than they’d ever come before, the next, there’s a horrible shriek.

He backs off, turning in the direction of the sound.

His heart sinks.

A toddler sized Ladybug is trapped in Mayura’s arms. She’s kicking and screaming, crying in undeniable fear. Through her tears, she’s reaching towards him desperately.

He growls, jumping towards the building the pair are on.

Before he can land, the villainess turns and takes off, disappearing into the city, taking his partner with her. Ladybug’s cries die down and his mind runs wild with what Mayura could have done to silence her.

The akuma had taken his distraction to move on to other parts of the city, ignoring him. He didn’t really care about Little Princess at the moment, because his princess had just been kidnapped by a villain, and he’s panicking, and he can’t focus, and he can’t breathe, and he messed up, and-

Plagg’s voice in his head tells him to go home so they can talk, because Chat needs to calm down.

Right. He won’t be any help if he’s freaking out.

Heading back to the flat he shares with Marinette-

Focus.

Entering through the balcony, he shuts the door behind him. “Claws out.”

Adrien stares at Plagg helplessly.

“Kid, it’ll be okay.”

“But they’re going to take her miraculous! They’ll know who she is! This is all my fault! I should have done a better job of watching her back!”

“It’s possible, yes. It seems like they wanted to distract you more than anything though. How many times have they had the chance to take a miraculous and didn’t, because they wanted to take both at once? Even if they did, I doubt they’d recognize your Baby Bug.” Plagg grows serious, narrowing his eyes at the blonde. “Don’t you dare blame yourself for this. You were doing your job. Mayura and Hawkmoth took advantage of that, and your partner doesn’t blame you either, I’m sure.”

Adrien is still shaking, looking uncertain.

“Just go find your lady. I’m sure you’ll feel better then.” Plagg rolls his eyes, but he’s more than a little edge too.

Adrien nods, transforming. Chat Noir takes out his baton, accessing the tracker on Ladybugs’ yo-yo.

He hurries outside, back to the rooftops.

Eventually, he finds a small red and black spotted yo-yo, abandoned in the streets. He picks it up and holds it like a treasure.

His tail lashes violently behind him.

He pulls up the Ladyblog, looking for any reported sightings of Mayura.

On his map, he marks where he found the yo-yo, then adds the sparse sightings of Hakwmoth’s right hand as well.

He’s left with an area that is far, far, bigger than he’d want, but it’ll have to work for his search.

---

It’s been over an hour since Ladybug was taken, and he’s only made it through about half of the area he’s been searching. The next building up is abandoned, and should be empty.

Instead, when he draws near, he hears movement inside.

The swish of a long skirt, and the quiet whimper of a child.

He’s got them.

Chat moves so that he can see inside without giving himself away. Ladybug is sleeping uneasily, and he gets the feeling there may have been a sentimonster involved in getting her to sleep. Though, it’s gone now, likely for the sake of drawing less attention.

Mayura isn’t even watching her victim, pacing on the other side of the room, possibly talking with Hawkmoth.

As much as he wants to get revenge for what she did, she’s not his priority.

Creeping around to the window right behind Ladybug (seriously, do these guys think anything through?), he opens it silently. Reaching inside, he scoops up the small heroine and holds her securely against his chest.

Sending a glare at the villainess who isn’t even looking in this direction, he jumps away.

Ladybug needs to go home.

---

Ladybug was whimpering the whole trip back home, shaking quietly in his arms.

The farther they get from where she was held, the weaker whatever spell was on her seems to get. She’s fully conscious by the time they get back to their home, and he sets her down carefully.

She still hasn’t opened up her eyes, curled up tightly against herself. She’s visibly shaking and still whimpering.

Oh dear Kwami, what did they do to her?

He crouches next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Her eyes crack open, and grow wide in fear when she sees him. She scrambles backward, sniffling and tearing up.

“N-no. N-not ‘g-gain.”

“Ladybug?”

She holds her hands above her head in a defensive position. “Y-you n-not m-m-my kit-t-t-tty. Y-you f-fake.”

There’s a pit in his stomach. She’s terrified of him.

“I’m real, I promise,” he says gently, careful not to go any closer.

“Nuh-uh. S-said that las’ t-time, th-then you- you-” her voice cracks and she sobs lowly, trying her best to stay quiet.

He silently wills away his transformation, the green light draws her attention to him.

Seeing Adrien there, with Plagg floating nearby, she sobs again, this time in relief, “You is r-real.”

She crawls over to him, hugging him hesitantly, as though he might disappear.

In response, he picks her up entirely, holding her tightly. Littlebug cuddles closer to him.

Petting her hair, he whispers, “Shhh, shhh. It’s okay, I got you. I got you.”

Plagg sits on her head, purring loudly.

“You’re safe now, I got you. Nothing is going to happen.”

He’s not sure if she or Tikki ends the transformation, but there’s a soft pink flash, and soon he’s holding a child sized Marinette, Tikki on her shoulder.

After a few more minutes, Marinette grows tired. She blinks at him groggily.

“Do you want to take a nap?”

She shakes her head. “Scary.”

If he ever gets his hands on Mayura-

Right now is for Mari, though.

She needs him.

He tilts her head to make her look at him properly. “Hey, Baby Bug, you’re safe, it’s okay if you’re tired.”

She hugs him tighter, sniffling. “Got da’ real one now, I don’ wan’ t’ lose you aga’n…”

“I won’t leave you, I promise. You won’t lose me. Those copycats can’t beat the real thing!”

She smiles a little at that. “No leave?”

“Never. I promise.”

She accepts this with a nod, giving in to her exhaustion and slumping against him. Her drowsiness slowing her breathing and pulling her into a light doze. She’s not sleeping yet, but the fact that she’s finally letting herself rest relieves him.

He hums softly, standing to move to the couch. He pulls a soft blanket over the girl, resting against the couch while she naps.

After a moment, he hears the shutter of a camera going off, and turns to see Tikki giggling and Plagg cackling while they both take pictures on their chosens’ phones.

He glares half-heartedly, whispering, “Don’t you have anything better to do? Shouldn’t Tikki have been de-aged too?”

The Ladybug Kwami just giggles some more. “No, it didn’t affect me. The hit simply reverts the victim to a more juvenile form and state of mind. Memories remain intact, and Kwamis don’t ‘grow up’ as so many life forms here do, there’s nothing for it to have changed me to.”

“Alright. But keep quiet would you?”

“Aww, is the kitten grumpy?” Plagg teases, “Can’t swat at the Kwamis with Littlebug on you, huh?”

Adrien glowers.

---

Marinette blinks a few times, trying to figure out what’s going on. She shifts a little, eventually sitting up, tiny hands resting on whatever she’d been sleeping on.

She yawns widely, then hears a camera click. She turns, still rubbing at her eyes with one hand squinting. Red-blob and Black-blob seem to be holding phone-blobs.

The Kwamis are taking pictures then.

Okay.

She waves at them sleepily, closing her eyes for a moment, still rubbing at her face with a fist.

Tikki and Plagg seem to be enjoying themselves, at least. She leans back, realizing something is supporting her back, likely to keep her from falling.

Huh.

She turns, seeing that there’s an arm around her side, someone’s hand holding up her back. She follows the arm to a face.

She gasps delightedly.

“Kitty!!”

Adrien smiles at her. “Hi, Princess.”

She stands, trying to get at his eye level. Squishing his face with her hands, she giggles happily at the funny face. He holds onto her side gently, not wanting to test her balance.

She releases her hold, booping his nose cheerfully. “Hi!!!”

“Hi.”

“You already said that, silly!”

“Oh of course, my mistake.” He boops her nose, and she voices the motion, cheerfully announcing the ‘boop!’.

He mimes taking her nose. “Got your nose!”

She gasps, hands flying to her face. She keeps her hand over where her nose used to be, and pouts. In retaliation, she reaches out and takes his nose.

“Ha! Take that!”

“Oh no! You got me!”

She holds her hand out to him, opening it. “You can have it back. Kitty cats need their noseseses.”

“Why thank you,” he pretends to put his nose back on. “In that case, you may have your nose-es-es back as well.” He holds out his hand. She snatches her ‘nose’ back immediately, fixing it back on her face and sticking her tongue out at him.

“Now dat we bo-vf have ow-r noses, we gotta’ go get the ‘kuma!”

“You can rest for a little longer,” Adrien argues.

She shakes her head. Tikki sighs and sets the phone down, just in time for Littlenette to cry, “Tikki! Spots on pw-ease!!”

Littlebug stand before him, in a red and black spotted play dress, her arms and legs protected by black fabric, her usual mask on her face and red flats with a buckle strap on her feet.

“Kitty!” she whines, “We gotta’ gooo!!”

“Alright, alright.”

He turns to Plagg.

“Maybe you should take a tip from Pigtails, kid. What’s the magic word?”

Littlebug raises her hand eagerly, jumping slightly. “Ooh!! Ooh!! ‘Pw-ease’! It’s ‘pw-ease’!!! ‘Pw-ease’ and ‘thank you’ are the magic words!!!!”

“Thank you. Nice to see some respect around here.”

Adrien rolls his eyes. “Plagg, claws out, please.”

His partner beams at him, then she hurries out to the balcony. When she can’t reach the edge, she climbs onto a chair, then a table, then balances precariously on the edge of the railing.

Chat Noir takes that as his cue, hurrying over and sweeping her off the railing quickly and easily. He holds her against his side instead.

She pouts. “I’m a hero too!!”

“I know, but I’d like to carry you this time, okay? Teamwork.”

She ponders this, before deciding she agrees and nodding. “Kay.”

So Chat takes out his baton, using it to propel himself to the rooftops while keeping one hand around his partner. It’s only a matter of following the trail of confused children to track down the akuma.

That sentence would not make sense out of context, but this is his life.

Once they’re on the same rooftop as the victim, Littlebug squirms to be put down. He sighs, complying hesitantly.

She hurries over to Little Princess, and he just about has a heart attack.

Before he can shout to her, she’s tugging on the akuma’s skirt.

“Hey!!! Your dress is w-eally pw-etty!!”

Chat takes out his baton, swinging it out to grow in size, ready for anything it might do to her.

Instead, the girl drops her wand in surprise and smiles.

“W-eally??! Thank you!!!” She blushes a little. “Your dw-ess is w-eally p-ity too!!!”

Suddenly the heroine and akuma victim are babbling to each other about each of their outfits, compliments flying back and forth.

Chat shakes off his surprise, giving the pair a wide berth as he goes behind her to grab the forgotten wand. He snaps it, releasing the butterfly.

Ladybug stares in wonder for a moment, then points excitedly to it to the dazed little girl beside her.

“Bu-dderfw-y!!”

She takes out her child sized yo-yo, capturing and cleansing it just as easily as she always does.

“Miracu-wus W-adybug!!!”

As the beetles sweep across the city, Ladybug is reverted back to her usual height.

“Hey, Bugaboo. Nice to be back?”

“Yeah. That was… weird.”

There’s a gentle tug on her leg, and she looks down to see the little girl who had been akumatized looking up at her.

“Hi sweetheart!”

“D-do you still f-ink dat my dress is pw-itty?”

“Oh of course!! It’s very nice!” Chat watches his partner scoop up the child and holds her comfortably. “In fact, it’s even prettier since you’re wearing it! I love your hair, did you do that yourself or did someone help you?”

“I chose it, and Mommy did it.”

“Well she did a great job, and you made a wonderful choice!” The girl giggles, and Ladybug smiles with her. “What do you say, should Chat and I take you back to your Mommy?”

She nods eagerly.

---

Ladybug sighs, watching the little girl walk away with her mother. “I hate when he gets the children.”

“I know. We both do,” he puts a hand on her shoulder, squeezing her comfortingly.

Taking out her yo-yo, she looks at him curiously. “So what did I do? My memories are kind of foggy.”

“You were adorable.”

She rolls her eyes, ignoring him as she moves to the roof. He follows, keeping up teasing commentary the whole way. Landing on their balcony behind her, he adds, “Either way, Tikki and Plagg made sure there was plenty of documentation.”

“Oh they didn’t.”

“Pictures and videos.”

“It’d be too much to hope that it’d be as simple as just deleting them, huh?”

“They’re Gods, there’s no way that you’d be able to get rid of anything they wanted to keep.”

She flops on the couch. “Fair enough. Tikki, spots off.” The Ladybug Kwami giggles as she flies out into the air.

“What? No ‘please’ this time?”

“Just what did I do?”

He doesn’t bother to explain, simply releasing his Kwami. “Claws in.”

Plagg flies over to her, sitting on her head. “You were our entertainment, that’s what.”

Marinette groans, sinking into the couch further.

---

Author’s Note: Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any thoughts, theories, constructive criticism, or anything really in my ask box, in replies or through reblogs. I love seeing what you think!

#miraculous ladybug #fanfic #fluff #angst #just early on though #kidnapping #adrien agreste #chat noir #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #tikki and plagg #Child! Marinette #child akuma #scared marinette #good partners #🐼✏️

[petri808]

A Witches Heart

Bakudeku fluffy Witch/Familiar gift fic for my demon hubby @diabl0o  UwU

~ I wish I had more time and inspiration, but I hope you like it <3 ;)

For several hours something has been following him and it was getting on his nerves.  It wasn’t human, nor animal, most likely a magical creature of some sort, but what kind, and why was it following him?  “Who’s there?!”  The young wizard Izuku Midoriya calls out into the dense forest.  “I can sense your presence, so there is no point in hiding from me.”  Nothing stirs.  “Fine,” he sets his belongings down and takes a seat on a fallen log.  “I’ll just wait here.”

Whatever it was moved around, circling Midoriya but never came all the way out into the clearing.  This ‘thing’ was quiet, probably small, the wizard guessed, in order not to ruffle the leaves or brush.  In fact, it was starting to remind him of a specific type of animal. Within an hour the presence had finally stopped in front of him, but just out of view.  Oh well, when it was ready to come out it will.

Midoriya decides the day was growing late and began preparing a small campsite.  He gathers wood, kindling, grabs his flint, and starts a fire. Then he takes a kill he’d made that morning out of his rucksack, just a decent sized hare, skinning and cleaning it. The presence shifts, maybe curious as to what the wizard was doing.  That makes him grin, it was only a matter of time now.  

With the rabbit roasting over the fire, Midoriya sits back down, sipping from his waterskin flask, glancing but never staring directly at where the presence had settled.  “Are you hungry?” he talks out loud.  “I have a little to share, if you are.”  Still nothing stirs.  The offer was made, and it was up to it to make the next move. “In the morning I’ll be moving on again, my home is a few more day’s journey from here.”  It would have looked strange to be talking to air, but it was also kind of nice not to be completely alone.  These expeditions to gather supplies were necessary but very lonely without a companion. Older wizards often had vassals to do the hard work, but he was young and had yet to make his way in this world.

He tests the rabbit after 30 minutes and the flesh was firm with no more juices running from the meat.  It smelled great, a little charred at the edges, but nothing too burnt.  “Mmmm,” he holds the stick up near his nose, “sure you don’t want any?”  A slight rustle in the brush brings an uptick at the corners of Midoriya’s mouth.  He breaks a couple of legs off, which sends even more juicier scents into the air.  “Come on out, I won’t hurt ya.”

After a brief pause, the young wizard sees the bushes shake and slowly, a small canine walk’s out. Its nose is up, smelling the air, eyes look wary but curious.  Midoriya tosses a leg close to it.  “There ya go little fella,” he smiles at the animal.  While he eats the rest of the rabbit, he watches it sniffs the meat cautiously, taking a tentative bite, before it goes about devouring the leg.  “Wow,” Midoriya chuckles, “you must’a been hungry guy.”  It only takes a couple minutes before only a leg bone is left.  He tosses the second leg to the animal, but this time midway between them.  “Eat up.” Again, the creature walks over, sniffs, then gobbles up the meat.  In the meantime, Midoriya offers up one more leg and the innards to the animal while he finishes up his portion.    

“Ahh, that was good,” he pat’s his stomach and leans back against the tree trunk.  “Hopefully I keep finding easy prey like that and I won’t go hungry.”  

The dog didn’t immediately bolt back into the forest after the meal, instead sitting down a few feet away on the other side of the fire just watching the wizard.  It was hard to see the canine with only the flickering flames to illuminate it.  But what he could see was a yellow, blondish colored dog, with a medium length coat, pointy ears, and blood red eyes.  It was definitely on the smaller side, not much for a guard animal, but beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to a possible companion.  

Still, why was it giving off a magical presence, and what was such a small dog doing in the middle of a big forest anyways?  It was odd. Maybe it became lost from its original master?  Midoriya pondered such thoughts as he readied his bedroll.  “I’m going to get some sleep,” he tells the animal who hadn’t moved from its position.  “If you’re still here in the morning, you’re welcome to keep following me.”  The dog cocks it’s head as if were pondering its options.  Interesting that it seemed to understand him.  Well since it didn’t seem like the animal was any threat, with a few more pieces of wood added to the fire, Midoriya lies down and goes to sleep.

When he wakes up the next morning, the first thing he notices as soon as he opens his eyes, is that the dog had moved closer through the night and was just over an arms-length away to his side.  So, he sits up slowly not wanting to startle the animal.  “Good morning,” he smiles and yawns, “are you going to keep following me?”  Of course, the animal doesn’t respond, but simply stares.  “I should give you a name or something.”  Midoriya taps his chin, “how about fluffy?” ��The animal lowers its ears and growls low.  He chuckles, “ok not fluffy, hmm, maybe Kuma?”  The dog tips his head.  Is it thinking again, Midoriya wonders?  After a few moments without being growled at, he assumes the name is acceptable.  It didn’t quite fit right for a small dog, but it was just a name after all.  “I’ll just call you Kuma for now.”

He packs up and heads off again through the forest.  If memory served him right, there will be a river about a half days journey ahead where he can refresh his water supply and maybe catch some fish for dinner.  Kuma simply follows behind a few feet, never coming close enough to where Midoriya could touch it, but by midday it was clear the animal had no intention of wandering off again.  Well, at least he had a companion now.  Sometimes he would talk out loud as they travelled, just so there was anything but the silence of the forest surrounding him.  Kuma was quiet, never really barked or made any noises, though Midoriya knew it was somehow understanding everything he was saying to it.  

Things went on like this for the next couple of days until they needed to cross another river.  Unlike the previous one, this river was wide and faster moving, but luckily, an old wooden bridge spanned it.  Midoriya tests the first couple of boards and it seemed sturdy enough, though the spaces between the slats were a bit wide.  He turns and reaches out to Kuma, “maybe I should carry you over this.”  Kuma growls and turns his nose, then bypasses Midoriya and begins to trot across on his own. So much for that idea, Midoriya just chuckles and follows behind.

Suddenly, as they reach the midway point, the board under Kuma cracks and gives way.  Midoriya watches in horror as the dog falls, howling till it hits the water and goes under.  “Kuma!”  The drop had only been the length of two tall men, but for a small animal it must have been much more terrifying.  The witch doesn’t hesitate, placing his belongings down and diving in after his companion.  

He searches desperately, paying close attention to each time the dog’s head broke the surface of the water. Midoriya calls out to it to fight. “I’ll save you Kuma!”  Swimming with the current, the witch dodges rocks and other debris.  He was losing track of how far it was carrying him, but it didn’t matter.  With every second he was gaining.  “Gotcha!” he manages to grab the dog’s scruff and pulls it back above the surface before it went under again.  He cradles it to his chest as they are swept a little further down river.  One problem solved, the next was getting out of there.  Midoriya scans and sees a fallen tree that is laying half way into the water. Perfect!  Timing it, he grabs hold of a branch.  The force of the water funneling around the tree was strong, but he manages to haul them both onto the trunk portion.

As soon as he crawls onto solid ground.  “That… was close…” Midoriya flops onto his back, panting from both exhaustion and the adrenaline rush.  It was only at that point that something peculiar registered on the witch.  This dog was a lot heavier than it looked, a lot heavier, as in three times what he though it should be.  “Are you okay,” he asks Kuma.  The dog had crawled off, shaken out it’s fur and sat right beside him.  It tips its head and nods.  Midoriya blinks, it nodded?!  Do dogs nod?!

The witch sits up, “I’m confused on what you are Kuma.  You give off magic, you understand what I’m saying, and your weight makes no sense for a small dog.  Where did you come from?  Did you get lost or run away from a master?  Are you here to get something out of me?  I don’t mind you tagging along, but it would be really nice to know what I’m dealing with.” Kuma rolls its eyes.  “Did you just…”

“You’re nicer than my last witch master, but sometimes you talk too much.”

Midoriya’s jaw drops and he stumbles to his feet.  “Y-You can talk!”

“Yeah.”

Before the witch can do anything more, Kuma shapeshifts into a wolf, a bear, a leopard, then finally into a human, albeit a naked one, while he just gawks the whole time.  As Midoriya covers his eyes, Kuma gives a bellowing laugh, “Such a pansy of a witch!  But a brave one.  For saving my life I will tell you what you ask.  My name is Bakugou Katsuki and I am a shapeshifter.”

“H-Here,” A blushing Midoriya shrugs off his coat and holds it up.  “Please cover up.”

Again, Katsuki laughs but obliges.  “I’m just gonna shapeshift again, it’s easier to travel as an animal.”  

“That’s fine.  I-I just, i-it’s…”

“I get it.  You can open your eyes now.”

When Midoriya peaks out, Katsuki had settled in a cross-legged position.  He breathes out a sigh of relief and opens his eyes.  The shapeshifter was very handsome in his human form, but this wasn’t the time to be gushing about such things.  Wait a minute!  “If you’re a shapeshifter, why didn’t you just change into, I don’t know, a fish or something to save yourself?!”  

“Because you jumped in after me!”  Katsuki crosses his arms, “I hadn’t planned on revealing myself yet, so yeah, if you hadn’t come after me, I would have done just that.”

“Oh.”  That made some sense.  “Hey, um, we should find our way back to the bridge before someone steals my things.” He stands up, ready to trek back along the river, when Katsuki places a hand on his shoulder.  

“Look, I just wanted to say thanks for what you did.  When I saw you, I had a feeling you wouldn’t be like a lot of the witches I’ve met and I was right, you still have a heart.”

“Um, thanks…. I think.”

“What I’m trying to say is, I’d like to be your Familiar if you’ll have me.”  

The young witch has never had a Familiar of his own before.  A wide, beaming smile blooms on his face.  He hugs the man, “I’d really like that!”

“Yeah, yeah.”  Katsuki rolls his eyes, and after a second pushes Midoriya off, “I ain’t really the touchy-feely type.”

Midoriya swore the shapeshifter was blushing too but doesn’t say anything.  “S-Sure, I understand.  So, shall we get moving?  If we hurry, we can get my stuff and make camp before dark.”

Katsuki nods and shape shifts into small dragon.  “Get on, this’ll be faster.”

“Wow!”

#bakudeku #bakudeku drabble #bakugou katsuki #izuku midoriya #witch familiar au #bnha #bnha fan fic #bakugou #midoriya #bakugou x midoriya #gift fic

[cynnied-writes]

Never Truly Forgotten

○ characters: canada | ottawa

○ genre/warnings: slight angst | mostly fluff

○ tags: father-daughter relationship | pillow forts | cuddling | comforting | timbits | emotionally exhausting work | good family vibes | all things canadian

○ word count: 1.9k

→ summary: no matter how many times he was; talked over, looked through or mistaken for his brother, there was at least one person in the entire world who would always remember him.

○  note: to my homeland 🍁🍁🍁

The World Conference could have gone worse.

That’s at least what Canada was trying to convince himself of.

Look on the bright side, he thought! England kinda, sort-of noticed him this time. He should be ecstatic. A complete win for him, right? There was… one caveat, though.

The hard-nosed Brit noticed him! But, there’s a high probability that he mistook Matthew for some plucky intern. Of whom he asked to go on a coffee/tea run to the nearest cafe.

Which he did by the way.

But, cup half full, right?

Well, his coffee cup wasn’t after some other Country drank most of it. Albeit, not before declaring it to be ungodly sweet and throwing it out. Apparently, no one else can handle several shots of maple syrup in their morning coffee.

Coward.

Matthew’s head thudded against his steering wheel. He and Kuma sat in his old, pickup truck. Inhaling the leathery scent as he rested. Trying to get a head start on mentally preparing himself for tomorrow because—oh, god—he has to go back. And there was no amount of Letterkenny reruns that could soothe him after that hellscape.

What was on his to-do list for the next day, you ask?

Somehow maneuver through his current problems with China. Maybe try and get him to ease up on Hong Kong.

Sit in a meeting where America and Mexico argue non-stop for an hour.

Figure out whether England is actually leaving or not and how horrible it’s gonna be. Which it absolutely is gonna be some level of horrible.

Attend several bilateral meetings. Where the other country is almost always late. Because “I just couldn’t for the life of me remember who I was going to be meeting. Sorry about that.” It’s okay. It’s most definitely not okay.

Oh, and try and kickstart a “Committee to Save the World Order”. Where their only goal is to keep the world from going to shit. Because, apparently, everyone expects him to be the moral epicentre of their world. Even though no one remembers him long enough to not steal and throw out his goddamn coffee.

But, at least he was home now. Where he could curl up in his bed and forget about his troubles. Where stacks of pancakes are a healthy coping mechanism. Where he was safe from his peers’ collective short-term memories of his presence.

“Who are you?” A familiar voice squeaked out from the backseat.

Nevermind. Perhaps, home wasn’t so great after all.

His neighbourhood heard a soft beeping as he hit his head against his horn. Again and again. 

He should stick up for himself, right? If not with his own companion then who would he ever? Tension increased in his shoulders as his digits gripped his wheel. Mustering up any and all fury he had. Yep, he was gonna give Kuma a what for!

But, then, in a single moment, any inkling of agitation was gone in a huff. His shoulders sagged, fingers flexed, and a deep sigh escaped him.

God, he was pathetic.

He turned to see his polar bear buddy staring back at him. A dejected chuckle fell from his lips as he answered, “Who cares?”

The brisk night seeped through his suit as he stood under his porch light. Digging through his pockets for his keys before both he and Mr. Kumajiro fell asleep on the spot.

Matthew didn’t even realize something was off at first. As soon as his front door clicked open, he turned his brain off and went on autopilot. He toed off his shoes, slipped off his suit jacket and set down his briefcase before heading to the kitchen. His feet dragging as he puttered around. Making a very, very late dinner for the two of them. Seal for Kuma and shreddies for himself.

He was just about head upstairs and crash into his bed when he noticed the lights on in his living room. A soft golden glow emanating from the frosted glass on the doors. Did Maddie leave the lights on? He thought he got her out of that habit.

Guess not.

With a small sigh, he shuffled over to the room. Munching on his “dinner” cereal as he entered.

Hmm…

This isn’t how his living room usually looks.

Blankets were strung up from the ceiling. All varying colours and patterns. Most of which he remembers buying. Starred fairy lights dotted the edges of the fabric. Giving the off the soft glow from before. Along with the crackling fire not too far away. In front of which was Maddie’s laptop sitting on the coffee table. Playing what seems to be We are Stars. Canadian artists. Good choice.

“What do you think all this is, Kumalilo?” He asked even though he knew the most basic answer. There was a pillow fort in his living room. The concept hadn’t crossed his mind in decades. Hell, maybe even centuries. Forgoing his childish ways when his brother sought out independence.

But, why was there one here now?

Kuma pushed past him and made his way over to the fort’s opening. Sniffing around and pawing at the blankets until he found what he was looking for.

“I don’t know. But, I think it has something to do with her,” Kuma said before crawling into the fort. Canada followed his bear the opening.

Pulling back the sheets revealed an amazing, other world. Pillows and more blankets were strewn across the floor. Making it look like the comfiest place to rest ever. A box of forty timbits called his name. Along with the bowl of maple popcorn and bottles of Péché Mortel. Was this heaven?

And then there was the ‘her’ Kuma was talking about.

She laid in the back of the structure. Her golden locks pulled up into a messy bun. Light freckles dusted her cheeks and a pair of thick-rimmed glasses sat askew on her face. One of his favourite sweaters almost engulfed her. Not that she seemed to care. No, the engulfing was the point. Yes, Madeleine had always liked to exist in oversized clothing.

Like father, like daughter.

The chances of this being heaven just went up.

“Who are you?” Kuma asked as he poked at her cheek. His stomach sank. And the chances shot into the depth of the Marianas Trench. While his bear forgot his name on the regular, his precious girl’s name had always stuck. This wasn’t going to be a regular thing, was it?

Oh, no.

No.

NO!

He could handle people forgetting him. At this point, it was a given in any situation. No one was going to remember him. Disappointed but, not surprised. But, for someone to forget Maddie? His petit geai bleu?

The thought made him sick.

He had made sure no one ever would. Kept far from any and all Nations for the first part of her life. If they couldn’t remember him she was a non-starter. And when that got inconvenient, he sewed some version of her name into everything she wore.

Very cute, right?

Yeah, it was until she grew up and became a very, embarrassed teenager. Much less cool. By the time WW2 came and she realized she wanted to help, he gave her a cooler nickname. Blue Jay. She had loved flying planes as much as he did, it just fit.

And, for his effort, it seemed to have worked.

Until now. 

Betrayed by the bear.

Madeleine’s amethyst eyes fluttered open as Kuma booped his nose with hers. A big, sleepy smile graced her face.

“I’m Ottawa, Mr. Kumakiko,” She said, fingers running his soft fur. Kuma mumbled a soft ‘oh, right’ before snuggling into her generous pets. Her gaze then fell upon him. An even bigger smile on now, “Your back, eh? Long time no see, Papa. Sorry about not greeting you at the door. Sleep took me hostage.”

At least… she didn’t seem too affected too badly by the screw-up. He’s definitely going to have a stern conversation with his companion.

“No problem, Sugar Plum. May I come in?” He asked, forgoing his “dinner” on the table before crouching down to see them better.

Her eyes lit up and she threw her arms open. Answering, “Of course, Papa! It’s for you, after all.”

“This is quite the feat, eh,” He said as he clamoured into the fort. Crawling through the sea of blankets before settling in beside her, “Why?”

“I put two and two together,” She said, gaze focused on her fingers raking through Kuma’s fur. “Whenever you come back from World Conferences you’re always so sad. I can see how going there drains you. No one remembering you and all. So, after a long day of enduring that I wanted you to know that there will always be someone in your corner.” 

She turned to him, eyes filled with love and determination, “Me.”

“Oh,” His throat tightened as tears began to well. He was the luckiest guy in the world, wasn’t he? In a flash, he swept Ottawa into his arms, “Thank you so much, this means everything to me. I love it. All of it. Merci, merci, Madeleine.”

She gladly wrapped her arms around him as well. The familiar scent of maple and pine filling her nose.

“Oh, and something else, Papa,” What else could she possibly have done? “I also may have asked Moscow to hack into their phones. And set a bunch of reminders of their meetings with you. So, that they won’t be late.” She quickly murmured.

Canada paused his praises to cock his brow. Concerned, he asked, “Quoi?”

“Well…”

“You approved of Russia’s daughter hacking into several nation’s phones?” He said slowly. Trying to process all the implications. Even though she’s his intelligent and thoughtful girl, she’s still a teenager. “You didn’t see huge security risk there?”

“Don’t worry, I then asked Tallinn to make sure she’d never be able to do it again.” She assured, squeezing into the hug a bit more.

A sigh fell from him as he rested his cheek on the top of her head, “She better not. Or else we’re all so screwed.”

“I promise,” She said, pulling back and sticking her pinky out. He caught it with his and squeezed tight.

“It’s a promise then.”

“Now,” A yawn escaped her, “Sleep?”

“Don’t even have to ask.” He said, as his sights locked onto the box. Which was being rummaged through by a guilty looking polar bear, “Kuma, don’t eat them all!”

Kumajiro apologized, crumbs of sugar and sprinkles all over his muzzle. He brought the box over, nudging it towards them. Their laughs jingled out as the trio settled in to rest. Bundled up in blankets and cushioned by the many pillows. All curled up with each other in their own tiny cuddle pile. Listening to the all Canadian playlist she put on. Popping timbits in their mouths every so often.

Soon, sleep called for them. Eyes were getting heavy and yawns were becoming more frequent.

Sleepily, Ottawa whispered into his chest, “Je t’aime, Papa.”

“Je t’aime, Maddie,” He whispered back. Pressing a kiss onto her forehead, “Tellement, mon petit geai bleu.”

Soft snores drifted into his ears soon after. Sleep was about to whisk him away too, a thought popped into his mind. After all this, he realized,

Oh, right.

She’s the one who cares.

I hope you enjoyed this! Any kind of comment would be appreciated!

Later Days!

#aph canada #Hetalia #fanfic #Fluff #aph ottawa #Capitalia #And if you're celebrating have a great day #And to anybody who isn't #✊🏾 keep on fighting ✊🏾

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Sarazanmai Ep1: “I Want To Be Connected, But I Want To Lie”

Oh boy, are y’all ready for Ikuhara’s newest Wild Ride as we experience the joys of young boys transforming into kappas and stealing magical orbs out of people’s anuses and finding out about their deepest secrets?

Because I’m not.

I’m not ready at all.

But I’m still gonna try and be here every week writing about my thoughts on each episode because I can’t help but respect someone who goes so far and does so much, all for The Gays.

[Thoughts under the cut]

I’m kinda regretting the fact that the only Ikuhara anime I’ve watched before this is Utena, since this seems way more similar to both Penguindrum and Yuri Kuma Arashi, based on what I know about those series. I’ll get to them eventually, lol. It’ll definitely wait until after this is done, since I don’t think my mind can physically handle watching multiple Ikuhara anime at the same time.

I can really see what people who went to the pre-screening meant about how even the very first scenes seem packed with foreshadowing, and about how they were surprised that this was allowed to air on TV at all.

At first I thought that that might have just been a bit of an exaggeration, but nah not really. Ikuhara really be out here making us look at some boys-turned-kappas acting as maybe not so metaphorical anal beads to extract a magical Desire Organ [tm] out of a giant zombie’s anus. And lest we forget about whatever the fuck was going on in the scene with Keppi extracting Kazuki’s shirikodama. LEST WE FORGET.

I’m still kinda worried about whether or not Ikuhara is gonna be able to actually tell a well-paced and coherent story in just 11 episodes, but thus far the actual meat of the story in terms of the character dynamics seems relatively focused enough that it probably won’t be a bit deal. It at least looks like the series will just focus on the main trio [plus our favourite Gay Cop Dads, and also Sara], with the supporting cast being there to support the character arcs of the main trio. So hopefully Ikuhara isn’t trying to juggle too many things at once here.

I’m not even gonna try and seriously speculate at length about most of what happened in the first half of this episode since most of it seemed like stuff designed to make sense on a rewatch, but I did think almost immediately that the whole dramatic monologue about ‘not wanting to lose the connection this time’, mixed with some of the weird cuts and time skips and references to memory erasure and dreams, gave me a bit of a “time loop” vibe. Though knowing Ikuhara I doubt it’d be just as simple as “time got looped after things happened and ended up badly”.

There’s also probably gonna be a whole lot of symbolism based around kappas, and other parts of Japanese folklore/history that’ll probably go over my head, so I’ll probably just leave that to other people to talk about, lol.

Based on the promotional material I kinda pieced it together, but it looks like this is, at least at first, basically gonna play out like a monster of the week magical boy show where the main trio fight a new zombie. Which will probably be a good way to make each episode have it’s own satisfying set-up and conclusion while also setting up all sorts of other plot threads.

And on the note of the whole zombie thing, we don’t really have any idea what’s going on with them or what their goals are beyond the fact that they also have their own desires they’re trying to keep locked up, but it looks like the Gay Cop Dads are intentionally setting them off and turning them into zombies, based on the final bit of the episode. There’s not much to say about these two at the moment, but I feel like their motives and actions are gonna be a core part of whatever this series has to say about the BL genre and societal views/expectations towards gay/bi men, if it has anything to say about that at all. I also wouldn’t be too surprised if there’s some stuff about monogamy vs polyamory, given that their official joint twitter account is called keeponly1luv. And if anyone’s gonna be out there making in-character official anime character twitter accounts plot-relevant, it’s this dude.

Also, these two remind me a lot of Mikage from Utena already, so that’s cool. That whole arc was one of my favourite parts of Utena, so if we can get a whole season of not one, but two mysterious queer anime dudes provoking people’s innermost desires and conflicts for unknown reasons, then that’s even more cool.

I guess I should actually get around to talking about the main trio of the show. I suppose that’s pretty important, lol. There’s really not much to say about any of them at the moment since this episode was more about introducing the setting and style of this whole show rather than really showing off the characters, but I really like this episode’s whole central twist with Kazuki. I didn’t expect it at all, but it was really cool. I certainly wasn’t expecting his big secret to be that he secretly cross-dresses as Sara and basically roleplays as her to send texts to his little brother. I’m guessing that Kazuki for one reason or another feels unable to have a direct connection with his little brother, and so he’s doing this whole complicated daily routine of dressing up as Sara and sending texts to him because it’s the only way he can connect with him. It looks like they live together and even sleep in the same room, so if there’s any sort of distance between them it’s probably an emotional one. 

Also, on the note of Kazuki’s whole thing in this episode, I have a feeling that the subtitles using feminine pronouns for the person he’s connecting with might be inaccurate if he was actually just talking about connecting with his little brother. Who I at least think is a boy. I was actually kinda thrown off at first at the implication that Kazuki had a secret girlfriend, lmao.

There’s also not a whole lot to say about Toi and Enta thus far, but it looks like another part of the whole monster of the week formula is that after each fight, one of their secrets is gonna get telepathically broadcast to the rest of them, like what happened in this episode with Kazuki, so there’s clearly a lot to unravel with both of them as well. Going by the OP theme, it seems like there’s gonna be importance placed on Kazuki’s relationship with his little brother, Toi’s relationship with his older brother, and Enta’s relationship with Kazuki. So I can’t help but wonder if one of the ‘twists’ later on will be about the idea of Enta having a crush on Kazuki. It looks like he was packaging a present for him early in the episode which got stolen by the kappa zombie underling things, so that might come up later.

I’ve also got no real predictions about what kind of role Sara is gonna have in this, especially not after whatever the fuck happened at the end of the Gay Cop Dads spin-off manga. At the very least I think she’ll probably be kinda like the shadow girls in Utena. Ikuhara really likes having characters who exist mostly to provide cryptic running commentary on the events of the show.

Aside from everything about the story, which was the number one memorable part of the episode, I was really pleasantly surprised at how nice the animation was throughout the whole thing, especially in the whole kappa zombie fight sequence. I hope that this quality can keep up the whole way through.

Also the ED theme is fantastic and I’m glad that they were able to use the ‘anime characters in real environments’ aesthetic of the trailers in at least some part of the show itself.

Anyway that’s about it for this episode. Will I end up having too little or far too much to say about the rest of the series after this? Who knows. That’s for me to not initially know and for me to find out one way or another.

#murasaki rambles #sarazanmai #I know I'm setting myself up for failure by trying to write week by week about a goddamn Ikuhara show but here I am #if this ends up just being a documentation of my descent into insanity then that's just A-OK

[pxmun2]

@askku-chan

Hana had fallen asleep in an abandoned shack. It was nice and roomy but very dark. She  stumbled around the dark room until Hana had managed to find a what looked like a large couch to sleep on.

As morning came Hana began to slowly stir awake.

She noticed that the couch she had fallen asleep on was making small clicking and whirring noises. The sounds reminded Hana of the noises she would hear coming from her father when she would press her ear up against his chest to listen to the machinery inside her dad when she was little.

The memory almost made Hana want to lay back down and fall asleep but the thought of what was making said sound kept her up.

Sunlight beamed into the shack revealing the source.

Hana froze as the noise revealed itself to be a sleeping pacifista.

He appeared to be passed out the only sign of the human weapon being asleep was a snot bubble coming out of his nose.

Now Hana could have remained calmed but the shock of finding out she had been sleeping on top of an uncle caused Hana to scream and thus waking up the unknown pacifista.

His snot bubble burst as he woke up.

PX-??: Huh what?

The pacifista noticed the stranger. He to began yelling.

PX-??: What the? Who the heck are you?

Hana: I’m no one!

PX-??: How can you say you’re no one? You’re clearly someone since your standing right there!

Hana: I’m Hana then!

PX-??: Well Hana what the heck were you doing sleeping on me?

Hana: I thought you were a couch.

After another moment of yelling the two managed to calm down.

Hana: Um I’m sorry for falling asleep on you.

PX-??: That’s okay, no harm done. I’m actually surprised. Most people tend to either run off screaming or try to beat me up as soon as they look at me. Why aren’t you doing the same?

Hana: Um..I just.

Hana tried to think of an answer before the mystery pacifista spoke up again.

PX-??: And what’s with the ears? Are you a Kuma fan or something?

The pacifista reached out to touch an ear only to be taken aback when Hana’s ear twitched.

PX-??: What the heck? Those are real! How in the world does a human girl have bear ears?

Hana: I can explain!

Hana paused for a moment not sure if she should tell her unknown uncle that she could time travel. She worried about what implications of her uncle knowing her secret would have on the future, but Hana knew she had no one else to turn to and who better to trust then one of her uncles? 

Hana looked at the pacifista who was waiting for her response.

Hana: This is going to sound really crazy, but I’m your niece.

PX-??: Niece? Oh well I guess that explains everything. Wait what the heck? Niece? As in daughter of someone’s brother or sister?

Hana: Yes, my dad was PX-21.

The pacifista stood there in a moment of silence.

PX-??: HOLY SHIT WE CAN REPRODUCE!

The pacifista began to ramble on while yelling obscurities. It lasted for a good thirty seconds.

PX-??: I swear if I ever get the chance to meet Vegapunk I’m going to nail that weirdo to the wall and leave him there until I get all of my questions answered!

Hana watched as her uncle rubbed his temples, The pacifista let out a deep sigh.

PX-??: Next thing you know your going to tell me your a time traveler from the future.

Hana: Well actually.

The pacifista deadpanned.

PX-??: How?

Hana: I ate the time time fruit so that makes me a time girl.

PX-??: Devil fruits of course its always devil fruits.

The pacifista let out a sigh before a warm smile spread across his face.

PX-??: Anyhow I’m very happy to be meeting you niece. I’m PX-67 by the way.

Hana: Its a pleasure to meet you uncle PX-67.

PX-67 chuckled at this.

PX-67: I can’t believe I’m an uncle or I’m going to be an uncle.

Hana: Your not only my uncle but also to my 5 cousins back home.

PX-67: Wow that's incredible.

The two spent time asking questions and getting acquainted with each other.

PX-67: I became sentient after this giant branch from one of those trees at Sabaody came crashing down on my head.

Hana: Oh my didn’t that hurt?

PX-67: Sure did. The first thing that came out of my mouth as a free individual were screams of pain. I had a throbbing headache for a few days which didn’t fare well for the nearby town. 

Hana: What happened?

PX-67: The pain was so agonizing I was unable to tell friend from foe, so if anyone came to close to the cave I had made into a temporary shelter I’d end up chasing them off. Thankfully for whatever reason it was I chose not to use my lasers.

Hana: So how did you manage to survive during all of this time?

PX-67: Well one day this very tiny old woman came to the cave after hearing about a giant bear creature chasing people off the trail. I was still in pain from the headache and didn’t want to put up with her. I began charging at the lady but she had somehow managed to jump above my head and grabbed my ear before pulling me to the ground. 

Hana gasped in shock .

PX-67:Next thing I knew she shoved a herb of some sort into my mouth and not long after the pain in my head was gone. Once that was settled I soon found myself experiencing fear.

Hana: What were you afraid of?

PX-67: Everything. I had just gained my free will with no knowledge of how the world around me worked. I didn’t even know who or what I was. Luckily the little old lady took pity on me and took me in.

Hana: That was very sweet of her.

PX-67: It was. If it wasn’t for her I’d either be dead or back under the Marines control.

PX-67 looked up at the sky.

PX-67: So Hana I’m guessing that since you’re not from around here you don’t have a place to stay.

Hana: Yes. I’ve been taking shelter were ever I can.

PX-67: That’s not safe especially with a girl your age. If it is alright with that Uncle Uno of yours you can travel along with me.

Hana: You’d really let me travel with you?

PX-67: Of course! The worlds greatest uncle wouldn’t let his niece wonder this big world alone would he.

Hana giggled at this. She was happy she found someone in the past she could talk to.

#one piece #pacifista #one piece oc #bartholomew kuma

[thisisarealtagwhy]

Day Five: Epic Moments

Okay, so this is longer than the last one - it’s about 2500 words - and i was going to just post it and give y’all the link cos i wanted to do it over 3 chapters but screw it,

“Look at that symbol pirates!” Spandam cries condescendingly, pointing above the building to the flag flying in the wind.

“That mark represents the unity of over 170 nations in the four seas and the Grand Line! Do you understand how insignificant you are to stand against us?” Spandam sneers, “Do you understand how big of an organisation was after her!?”

Robin is trembling, Luffy can tell despite the gap between them.

He understands now.

He gets why she wants them to leave.

After hearing about a Buster Call…

He has no doubt that he would be in a similar state if his entire island burned down.

Having the trash pile burned down when he was younger had really stuck in his head and he used to be terrified of the fire. The feeling of helplessness being trapped by sky high orange flames, the heat too hot to breathe.

And then the pirates had come out of the fire, changed. They lost their sanity, so, he knew a little about what it was like to deal with a fear of something like that.

Then Ace had become fire and he wasn’t scared of the flames anymore, the oppressive feeling whenever he saw fire vanished.

But to have your island burned down to ground with no survivors…

It was a magnitude of grief and horror he hadn’t felt. Period.

It was the World Government that did this…

“I get it now, Robin’s enemy.” He murmurs gently, Robin and Ace aren’t all that different in that regard, he thinks. “Sogeking.”

“Hm?”

Luffy thinks that Sogeking might actually be Usopp but that’s okay, if his friend wants to help without ‘being there’ then who is he to deny Usopp the right? A captain? No, Robin was his friend so he has the right to help.

“Shoot that flag.”

His voice is steady, calm, despite the absolute rage he feels as Robin trembles, caught up in her own memories.

“Roger that.” Sogeking says. “New weapon: the great pachinko, called kabuto! Carefully observe its’ power!”

Spandam looks confused, Luffy smirks, why on earth would they care that the World Government was after Robin!? That would just increase their resolve to protect her.

They’re already wanted after all.

“Ultimate Fire Bird Star!”

The bird is more like a phoenix, Luffy thinks, and if he were in any other circumstance he would be starry eyed. But he has to be firm right now so he watches in satisfaction as the World Government flag burns freely.

Spandam’s eyes are literally popping out of his head and Robin looks like she’s about to start crying again. “No way…”

Luffy hears the din of the marines behind them crying if the pirates know the meaning of what they just did.

He snorts, of course they do, they just declared war against the World Government of course.

“Are you bastards insane!?” Spandam shrieks, looking red in the face. “Don’t you dare to even dream that you’d survive having the world as your enemy!”

“I’d be happy to live with that!” Luffy screams back, letting his rage pour into his voice.

Robin starts to cry again but Luffy knows she has made her decision.

But, she might need a gentle push in the right direction… “Robin!! I haven’t heard it from you yet!”

She looks confused. “Say you wanna live!” He cries it as loud as he can, because Robin deserves to live.

She still looks confused for a few moments and his heart breaks a little. Then she begins to cry harder and yells back “I wanna live!”

It comes out garbled from her tears but Luffy smiles because she understands.

Luffy doesn’t understand.

He was hurting so godamn much when he finally defeated Moria but now he’s right as rain.

And what’s weirder is that Zoro is down, Zoro is down and Chopper doesn’t have high hopes for the swordsman.

Luffy does, because the swordsman made a promise and he won’t break it. Zoro wouldn’t.

But it’s still weird so he asks Sanji.

“Oi~! Sanji!” He cried, flinging himself at the still healing cook.

Sanji, to his credit, only hisses a little and resumes his cooking. “What?”

“Why is Zoro so broken up?” He asks, wondering why Sanji’s body tenses up at the question.

“Nothing, nothing happened at all.” Sanji murmurs, eyes glazing over at some unseen memory, but Luffy frowns at that because Sanji is lying and Sanji almost never lies.

He might be an idiot and falls for dumb pranks but he knows when his nakama are lying to him.

Sanji knows what happened to Zoro, but for some reason he doesn’t want to tell him.

So Luffy unwraps his limbs from Sanji and races over to where Nami is drinking some liquor and making rough estimations of her money. “Ne Nami!”

“What do you want?” She asks, seemingly less-violent than other times, it must be all the treasure…

“Do you know why Zoro’s so beaten up?” His eyes seem to plead with her but she shrugs.

“Sorry Luffy, I don’t know… It would be nice to know why you’re fine but Zoro is in this state…” She murmurs and Luffy pouts.

Nami is telling the truth, he can tell.

“Okay.” He muttered dejectedly, deciding to choose Robin next, she’s smart so she’ll probably know.

“Robin!” Thankfully she isn’t far, she’s sitting closer to Zoro’s bed and quietly sipping a drink.

“Yes Luffy?” She smiles.

“Can you tell me what happened to Zoro?” He asks, noticing immediately when she seems to shut down behind her eyes.

“Fufufu, I would if I knew, sencho-san.” She laughs daintily and he frowns because,

Robin only ever calls him sencho-san if something is bothering her.

But, it seems like she won’t tell him so he sighs and flings himself to Chopper next who is still beside the man himself.

“Chopper! What’s he like?” Luffy asks seriously.

Chopper sighs. “He’s stable now but… I wasn’t sure whether he was going to make it.”

Luffy’s smile turns down and he sighs with the reindeer. “Do you know what could have caused this?”

Chopper frowns. “His wounds are really unusual for Zoro, his hands are all messed up but Zoro’s almost never screws up his knuckles. His insides look like they were stretched thin-”

Chopper breaks off and looks shocked for a moment before he starts to mouth to himself. At the end of his little mantra he pretty much shouts. “No! I don’t know what happened to Zoro! Sorry Luffy, I’ll tell you if anything changes!”

Luffy ponders over Chopper’s odd behaviour, why would the reindeer just shove him off mid-explanation?

He slouches over to where Usopp and Franky are dancing and sits near them dejectedly. “Oi! Luffy! Why you looking so down?” Usopp asks, even as he still shakes around to the music Brook is generating.

“Yeah bro, it’s so not super!” Franky cries, slamming both of his forearms together.

“Everybody that knows what happened to Zoro won’t tell me what happened to Zoro…”

Usopp jumps off the table and sits beside his pouting captain. “Have you considered that maybe Zoro wouldn’t want you to know the truth?”

“Nah, Zoro shouldn’t care.” Luffy said. “Do you know why he’s so messed up? Chopper explained everything to me but then he just stopped. Ugh, it’s so frustrating.”

Franky sits next to him as well, looking quite troubled. “Well, I speak for both of us when I say that I have no clue why Zoro is so injured. But whatever it is, I guess you could ask him when he wakes up?”

“Sure! I’ll do that, thanks Franky!” He grins and runs off, stopping beside Zoro to deposit his straw hat on his head.

“There ya go.” He says. “Take good care of this for me!!”

This is how it really goes:

“Why… must you take Luffy’s head?” He questions because, there has to be another way.

“This is already my best offer.” Kuma says and Zoro detests the way the bastard’s gaze (at least he thinks it’s his gaze) falls on Luffy.

“I see, go ahead and take his head, however, let mine substitute his!” Zoro manages between pants. “Let my life exchange for his!! I beg of you!!

“I know my head is not worth much at the moment… but eventually I will become the world’s greatest swordsman, I’d say exchanging my life for his is an equally good deal!!

Kuma looks blankly at him. “If you have such a great ambition, then by dying for him, how will you ever be satisfied?”

“Aside from that… there is no other way to save the crew!!” Zoro breathes in deeply. “If I can’t even protect my captain’s dream, then whatever ambition I have is nothing but talk! Luffy… is the man who will be King of the Pirates!”

And then from the wreckage. “Hold on a minute you idiot, what are you going to do if you die? What happened to your dream idiot?!” Sanji cries in frustration.

“Oi!”

“Oi, you big… blob. Just ignore this marimo swordsman… if you must kill somebody, then just take my life! I know the marines don’t give a damn about me… but soon enough, the man who will be feared by most marines will be me. Kuroashi no Sanji!”

Sanji is panting hard. “Come at once! Kill me! I’ve already realised that this day will come, let the flower of death bloom in me!!”

Zoro thinks that the shitty cook can’t even speaking normally without spouting poetry. “Oi… tell everyone to take care… and that you’ll have to find yourselves another chef..!”

Zoro finally slams the hilt of his sword into Sanji’s side, stupid cook. He thinks, of course it will have to be Zoro. He won’t let anyone else sacrifice themselves.

“Bas-tard.” Sanji gasps out and falls unconscious.

“I hope you will keep my promise after I die…” He addresses Kuma.

Kuma sighs. “In that case, if I still lay a hand on straw hat Luffy my honour would be at stake…”

“I would be eternally grateful.” Zoro says, he will be, if Luffy and the crew survives, then that is all that matters.

“Rest assured of what I will do now, as I will leave him unharmed, however, what you are about to experience now is, hell.”

Zoro shivers a little but stands tall.

The red ball that pools out of Luffy’s body… All of his pain and fatigue? Just how much has the idiot been storing up? Zoro ponders.

“Since you already don’t have much life left in you, taking this pain will only lead to your death.” Kuma says, Zoro stands unflinchingly, he doesn’t care, he’s made his peace with death.

Although, he does regret that he couldn’t keep his promise to Kuina, she will be disappointed in him, but that’s okay. He can live with that because, somewhere along the line, Luffy became the number one priority and he will do anything to ensure that he becomes King of the Pirates.

If that means that he won’t be around to see that happen, well, that’s okay, he knows it will happen.

“Have a try.” Kuma says, flicking a small, fist sized ball of the red ball to Zoro.

It feels like PAIN, YOU CAN’T ESCAPE IT, THE FEELING OF YOUR BODY INFLATING BUT UNABLE TO STRETCH, PAIN, LIKE YOU’RE ON FIRE BUT YOU CAN’T ESCAPE. CAN’T ESCAPE. ESCAPE!

He gasps, eyes wide and unseeing, all of that had been in Luffy..?

“Well?” Kuma asks like Zoro has decided to back out of his deal like a coward, he wants to snort derisively but instead he says.

“Let me decide on the location.” He can’t let him be the one that everyone sees when they wake up.

Zoro jumps into the bubble and feels pain.

It remakes him in the worst kinds of ways, there is nothing for what could be minutes days hours, years. But eventually it ends and he is left with not much but an everlasting pain resonating through him.

He hears the shit-cook approach and internally thanks every star that it’s not Luffy that finds him first. “You really freaked me out… Oi! Where did that shichibukai go?”

Stupid cook, can’t he tell what happened? The ground is covered in his own blood, Zoro can feel it dripping out of places he didn’t even know blood could come out of.

“Why the hell is there so much blood?” Sanji cries. “Oi… are you still alive? Where did that bastard go? What on earth happened here?”

Stupid blondey, asking so many questions, Zoro whispers out. “Nothing… nothing at all.”

He allows himself to finally fall into the darkness that has been creeping at the edge of his vision.

“One Piece…”

“Don’t you dare!” Sengoku growls futilely.

“Is real!!!” Whitebeard cries with the rest of his will power.

“Nice final words!” Blackbeard comments and Whitebeard regrets that he hadn’t killed that back-stabbing bastard.

Whitebeard finds himself looking at the sea, he sighs because this is how he dies, not from old age, or from any internal wounds.

But from his own decision.

He stands tall even in death and his cloak falls away revealing his white beard mark, untouched by the wounds from his front.

He knows that people will grieve for him, he understands that he has hurt his family by dying.

He knows that the islands he protected will fall to ruin and despair.

There are so many regrets he has but Whitebeard found his treasure.

A family.

So he wishes the straw hat brat the best of luck in his final moments and dies on his feet.

“That crazy old bastard died on his feet!”

“Pops!”

A sea of anguish rises from the allies and Whitebeard Pirates remaining. Marco cries and cries but now is really not the time to be letting out their sorrows so he screams for the remainder of the crew and allies to run.

And then they make it, Marco knows that it is only because of Akagami-yoi’s interference that they made it out alive, lest with Ace and Pop’s bodies.

Shanks says that it is because he respected Whitebeard, Marco knows that, but he also knows that Ace was partially retrieved because of some connection to Mugiwara-yoi.

He really hopes that mugiwara no Luffy made it out alive…

Luffy’s life was Ace’s final wish, they cannot tarnish that will, Luffy is technically their brother as well.

So, Marco hopes and prays and his wish is sustained a couple of weeks later when he reads the newspaper and sees mugiwara with Jinbe and Rayleigh, mourning the loss of Ace and Whitebeard.

Marco isn’t a fool, he guesses that the tattoo is a message to the brats crew. He just hopes that it means they’ll be back.

#20yearsatsea #day 5: epic moments #enies lobby #thriller bark #marineford #monkey d. luffy #roronoa zoro #sengoku #sanji #whitebeard #fanfiction #one piece

[feynavaley]

Hetalia Fanfiction – Needy Child Ch 3

Summary: “America is all grown up now, but Canada is still a child. A little, useless child who’s no longer needed nor loved by his older brother. When an accident happens, will it reinforce Canada’s belief or prove him wrong? (Pre-Revolutionary War)”

Part 3/6. The full chapter is under the cut, use your phone browser if you can’t see it from the app.

AO3 | FFN | First | Previous | Next | List

Chapter Three

America couldn’t sleep.

He tossed and turned on the bed, tangling all the sheets around his legs, and he had tried about every position he could think of, but no matter what he did he couldn’t fall asleep.

Each time he tried to close his eyes, the picture of Canada’s ghostly pale, lax features as his small body slowly drifted to the bottom of the river kept popping up in his mind, as if it had been forever impressed in the back of his eyelids.

America had never been that scared in his whole life. He had realized that something was horribly wrong as soon as he had seen how frantic Kumajiro was – it wasn’t typical of the cub to fuss over anything – and when he had been explained the situation… America didn’t think he had ever been that close to fainting. For a moment, his vision had turned grey and he had felt his legs go weak, but he had quickly recovered, given the urgency.

When America had spotted Canada’s lifeless body in the stream, it was like time had stopped. He had felt the blood pound in his ears, covering even the roaring of the water, as he had looked at the child’s waxen skin, his closed eyes, unmoving limbs, the way his strawberry blond hair framed his head like a halo, fluttering in the water.

For a moment, America had thought Canada was dead.

England had told him that nations and colonies would revive if they died in accidents like that, as far as the older nation knew (that wasn’t as much as America had used to think, he was starting to realize) they could only truly die at the hand of other nations, but he had also told him what a nightmarish experience coming back to life was, how he wouldn’t wish it to his worst enemy.

With those words in mind, America had been so relieved when he had realized that Canada was out of danger… and so utterly spent and his mind so clouded by the powerful emotions that his relief had quickly turned into anger at his little brother’s words.

America wasn’t proud of what he had done then. Yes, Canada’s actions had been stupid and careless, but the child had to be even more scared than he was, he should have comforted him and stayed by his side, and only after they were warm and dried up confronted him about the accident. Instead, America had been so overcome by a mixture of relief, concern and rage that his body had acted before he could even realize what he was doing, and he had slapped Canada’s hand. He had hurt his little brother and yelled at him.

America would be eternally gratefully at Kumajiro for showing up when he had, he didn’t know what he could have done otherwise. He had been so scared… but that wasn’t a valid excuse, and he knew it. He was almost an adult, and it was high time for him to start behaving like one.

Recognizing that and his lack of control, he had left Canada in Jane’s care, he had known the woman for a long time and she was capable and tender, but now he regretted it. He would have expected to see Canada at supper, so he could apologize to him, but Jane had told him that the child had dined earlier and was already sleeping, exhausted from the day.

America had still checked on him, but Canada had been either truly asleep or pretending to, he couldn’t tell. In truth, he wouldn’t have blamed his little brother for not wanting to talk to him, he had been awful. The guilt was eating at his mind, keeping him awake along with the memories of the nightmarish event.

Sighing, America turned on his back, staring at the ceiling. Maybe he should just give up and do some studying, he had been trying for hours and couldn’t get a single wink of sleep.

Suddenly, the boy’s ears caught a noise in the corridor – it sounded almost like muffled, hurried footsteps.

America’s body tensed and the boy found himself holding his breath, all his senses alert.

I’m just imagining things. It’s the wood creaking or something. Ghosts and monsters aren’t real.

In spite of that, America slid his right hand under the pillow and closed it around the grip of the knife he kept there. He kept telling himself that he was only imagining the noise, but the weight of the weapon in his hand made him feel safer.

A sudden pawing at the door made him jump out of his skin.

America let out a little (manly. Definitely manly, not high like a child’s) screech, jumping to his feet.

However, he had forgotten about the sheets tangled around his legs and ended up falling on the floor with a loud thump, managing just barely to catch himself from face-planting completely.

“Who’s there?!” he called out, furiously trying to wriggle out of the sheets. “If you don’t get away right now, you’re gonna be sorry!”

He probably would have sounded more threatening if his voice hadn’t been wavering.

America was expecting his enemy to growl or hiss or make some creepy sound, instead what he got was an annoyed huff.

“Open the door! I need help!” said Kumajiro’s voice.

America, who had just managed to free himself, released the knife from his hold and stilled.

“Wait, Kuma?”

What was he doing there?

“Hurry!”

The bear’s voice was laced with urgency and worry.

America swiftly got to his feet, fumbling over the nightstand to light a candle, a sudden weight in his chest. Kumajiro’s appearance could only mean one thing.

Mattie!

“What’s wrong?” he asked grimly as soon as he got out of the door, looking at the fidgety bear.

The cub didn’t bother with an answer.

“Help! Hurry!” he said again, darting through the corridor.

America immediately followed him to Canada’s room.

The door had been left ajar, letting him hear a faint sobbing inside. America’s heart plummeted.

What’s wrong, Mattie?!

The boy swiftly went to the door, tearing it open, and found himself frozen on the spot at the sight.

Canada was doubled over the edge of the bed, his small body shaking as tears streamed down his face.

Kumajiro immediately jumped on the bed and went to his side, nuzzling the child.

“Mattie!” America cried out, hurrying to set the candle on a drawer so he could give all his attention to his little brother.

Canada hardly ever cried, and when he did it was usually in a soft, almost unnoticeable way, nothing like the big, loud sobs that were bubbling up the child’s throat at that moment.

As soon as he stepped into the room, America’s nostrils were hit by a foul, decaying smell. Vomit. Was that what Canada was so upset about? America was, but hopefully, it wasn’t anything too wrong, just some food that had disagreed with him.

“Hey,” he said softly, stepping over the mess to get to Canada’s side. “What’s wrong, Mattie?”

Only then the child seemed to register his presence and lifted his head, his eyes wide and glassy.

“S—sorry,” he stammered weakly, “I didn’t mean to wake you up…”

He tried to compose himself, straightening up slightly, but kept his arms tightly wrapped around his stomach.

“Hey, it’s no bother,” America answered quickly, sitting next to the boy. “Now, why don’t you tell me what’s wrong? I can’t fix it if you don’t.”

He didn’t like what he was seeing, Canada’s skin was pasty and clammy, and the child was holding himself like he was in pain.

In spite of his obvious discomfort, Canada bit his lower lip and kept his body tense, as if afraid to show America the full extent of whatever was ailing him. His behaviour was definitely worrisome.

“I’m not feeling very well,” Canada said in the end, softly.

“Yes, I can see that,” America hummed, sweeping back the child’s sweaty hair.

His forehead was warm, but America couldn’t tell whether to a worrying extent or not. Probably not, he was more worried by his brother’s reluctance.

“B—but you don’t have to bother yourself with it!” the child added hastily, almost desperately, “I…”

America scoffed, deciding to throw any subtlety out of the window. He was too worried to bother with that, and Canada was clearly in need of help.

“Mattie, you just threw up,” he pointed out bluntly, “What should I do, leave you here to wallow in your misery?”

The child stiffened, then crumbled, tears streaming down his face.

“M—my tummy hurts real real bad…” he whimpered, curling up on himself and looking at America with wide, feverish eyes.

The older boy gently shushed him, one hand cupping the child’s face as the other went to massage his taut stomach, drawing gentle circles. Canada relaxed slightly, leaning into Kumajiro.

America bit his lower lip as he went on with his ministrations, unsure of what to do. He wasn’t new to stomach-aches, but judging from Canada’s fever it wasn’t caused by food, the child was ill. America had never been ill before, and he didn’t know how to behave.

“Any better now?” he asked after some moments.

“A bit…” the child muttered feebly, even if his features were still tight with pain.

America frowned – he was sure that Canada was lying, but he truly didn’t know how to get him to talk.

“Do you think you’re about to throw up again?” he asked softly as an idea started to take shape in his mind.

Canada shook his head.

“N—not yet…”

The ‘yet’ part made America frown and Kumajiro whimper as he pressed himself against his owner.

However, for how pale he was Canada didn’t look like he was going to throw up right then, which meant America still had some time. He didn’t want to leave Canada alone, but staying in the room would mean having to clean it – the smell of vomit was too strong to be ignored, it was starting to make America feel slightly nauseous, he couldn’t even imagine how bad it must be for Canada. Luckily, the child’s nightgown was still clean, and so were most of the blankets, which made everything easier.

America took a blanket and wrapped it around Canada’s trembling frame, earning a confused look from the child.

He smiled softly at him, petting his hair before gently lifting him in his arms. Canada tensed for a moment, his eyes wide, but soon after he relaxed in America’s arms, curling against his broad chest.

America tightened his hold around him. He had never realized how little Canada was, he could barely feel his weight… it suddenly gave him the impression of holding a frail little bird.

“It’s okay,” he cooed, pressing his lips against the child’s soft hair. “It’s going to be okay now. I’ve got you.”

Moving slowly to avoid jostling Canada, he adjusted the boy’s weight in one arm and retrieved the candle with his free hand. The child’s small arms went around his neck as he leaned his head on America’s shoulder.

“I have to clean, I got the floor all dirty,” he muttered, but there was no strength behind his words.

He looked half-asleep, his eyelids fluttering, as if he were straining himself to keep them open.

“Don’t worry about it, Jane will do it tomorrow when she comes,” America said gently, moving to the door. “Now…”

He had meant his words as a reassurance, instead Canada froze for a moment before starting to struggle weakly, trying to wriggle out of his hold.

“Mrs Jane won’t like it!” he whimpered, his eyes wide, almost panicked. “She will be so angry, she’ll scold me so much!”

The words were accompanied by a soft growl from Kumajiro.

America sighed tiredly, awkwardly rubbing the child’s back with the arm that was holding the candle. Canada was always so afraid of upsetting his caretakers… America could understand it to an extent, he didn’t like when England was angry at him, but his little brother had blown it up to a ridiculous level. And the worst was that he wasn’t just being melodramatic: from his quivering lips and tear-filled, huge eyes America could see that his little brother truly believed that Jane wasn’t going to forgive him for dirtying the floor. Which was preposterous, she might be a bit annoyed at having to clean, but it wasn’t truly Canada’s fault, why would she hold him responsible for it?

“She won’t scold you, Mattie,” he said patiently, “It’s not like you suddenly went like ‘Hey, I’m gonna hurl all over the floor so Jane will have to clean it, isn’t this a wonderful idea?!’ Jane’s not stupid, she’ll know you didn’t do it on purpose. So you don’t have to worry about it, ‘kay?”

His words fell on deaf ears. Canada kept looking around with wide eyes, his pupils almost blown. He opened his mouth to speak, but what he got out was a fit of harsh coughs.

America yelped in surprise. He didn’t waste a moment to get rid of the candle, barely registering where he put it down so he could use his free hand to pat Canada’s back.

He didn’t like how that cough sounded. It was fat and raspy, and even when it finally died down Canada seemed to have trouble drawing a full breath.

Not knowing what else to do, America resorted to rocking the small body back and forth, hoping that the soothing motion could give Canada some relief. The child slumped against his chest, boneless, his eyes half-closed and his skin waxen. America wasn’t sure, but he almost looked paler than before.

On the floor, Kumajiro circled around his feet, whimpering in concern.

America didn’t truly know what to do, he could feel a big lump filling his throat – it was wrong, Canada wasn’t supposed to be so weak and tired, so clearly in pain – but at the same time, he couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.

He drew a deep breath to regain control of himself.

“Kuma, go downstairs and fetch some water,” he said, looking down at the bear cub to make sure he was listening to him. “Then bring it to my room, we’ll be there.”

The bear gave a small nod before scurrying off, his paws almost soundless against the wood.

America quickly followed him out of the room, the precious bundle held tightly in his arms. He still didn’t know what to do, but one thing was sure: he wasn’t going to leave Canada’s side until he got better.

Thus began the longest night of America’s life.

He and Kumajiro managed to coax Canada to drink some water before settling on America’s bed, the child sandwiched between them. His body was burning with fever, yet Canada couldn’t stop shivering. He never complained about being cold, but his chattering teeth and the way he curled around any source of warmth were a clear giveaway. America just kept adding blankets over blankets, not sure of what else to do. He was smothering under the cocoon of warmth and had to strip down to his undergarments, but even with that Canada seemed to be barely able of fending off the cold.

“I’m sorry,” he still muttered feebly, “You’re too hot, aren’t you? Take off some blankets, I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry for me.”

He seemed truly panicked, his pupils were wide in his barely open eyes.

Against the child’s back, Kumajiro growled softly, shifting slightly.

America gave a click of his tongue, frowning. Where was that coming from? It was almost as if Canada was afraid of receiving attention, and it made absolutely no sense. He just couldn’t wrap his mind around how anybody might be unhappy with having all the attention on himself, even more when he was sick. America was certain that he would demand everybody’s care if he were sick, and loudly, too. And while Canada would never be as loud as he was, there was no reason he would turn down his attention. Hadn’t he been asking to play countless times?

“Stop saying this crap, Mattie,” he chided him, wrapping his arms around the smaller frame. “It’s fine. I’m not hot, I can take it if it makes you feel better, okay? And of course I worry for you. You’re my little brother.”

“But it’s my fault if I’m sick,” the boy whimpered, slurring the last words.

He looked as if he didn’t even have enough strength to talk, and that made America’s chest clench painfully, but not as bad as his words. He knew perfectly well whose fault it was for Canada’s belief.

He pressed a quick kiss to the boy’s hot forehead.

“Stop blaming yourself,” he said softly, “Yes, you did a stupid thing, but mistakes happen, okay? And you’re just a child, you’re allowed to make mistakes.”

A small noise of protest bubbled up Canada’s throat.

“But I…”

“Mattie.”

America scooted away so he could look at his little brother’s face. He cupped the small chin with a hand, brushing the warm cheek with his thumb.

“Mattie, I’m sorry I yelled at you,” he said softly, “I’m really, really sorry. I shouldn’t have, I was horrible, and I’ve never been angry at you. Well, a bit, but mostly… I was so, so scared. You… you can’t even imagine how scared I was. The water was so cold, and you weren’t moving… I thought I had lost you, Mattie. And I can’t…”

America had to stop talking to swallow around the heavy lump in his throat. Just thinking about what might have happened tightened his chest, and he could feel hot tears prickling at the corners of his eyes.

America took a deep breath and refused to let them fall. He didn’t want to scare Canada.

“I can’t lose you, Mattie,” he went on, ignoring the slight tremble of his voice. “I could never, ever deal with it. I was so scared that I couldn’t think, that’s why I yelled at you. You are… you are so much more important than an apple, Mattie… Yes, what you thought was nice, but I don’t want any apple if it means you have to do something dangerous for it. I want my little brother, not an apple. Still, I shouldn’t have yelled at you, you didn’t mean anything wrong. It’s not your fault. And even if it were, you’re still my little brother. Nothing would stop me from caring for you. It’s all right now, just rest.”

He wrapped his arms around the small frame, resting his chin on the top of the child’s head.

The small body stiffened.

“But it’s not fair…” he slurred feebly, but whatever he might have planned to add was lost in a coughing fit, and after that Canada fell silent, seemingly too spent to talk.

Not long after, the child fell into a fitful sleep, with America and Kumajiro keeping watch at his sides.

******

When morning came, America was utterly spent.

He hadn’t had a wink of sleep, Canada had woken up five times to throw up. Thankfully, with America’s help he had never missed the chamber pot, which Kumajiro had scurried off to empty and wash after each episode, but that was about where anything positive stopped.

America was beside himself with worry. Canada shouldn’t be still throwing up, there was nothing left in his stomach, but he still did, and each time had been accompanied by excruciating cramps that left the child doubled over, with his features contorted in agony and tears streaming down his ghostly pale cheeks. America massaging his stomach didn’t seem to help much.

After the third row, Canada had stopped apologizing over and over, which had left America overjoyed until he had realized that it was because the child was barely coherent and aware of his surroundings, his fever having spiked up horribly. Under Kumajiro’s suggestion, he had spent the following hours wetting the child’s forehead until the fever had abated slightly, but Canada had never fully regained consciousness.

Now, the child was slumbering, snuggled against America’s left side. He could feel on his bare skin the heat radiating from the small body, the slightly unsteady rise and fall of his chest against his ribs. Canada’s breaths sounded raspy and heavier than they should, and they were frequently interrupted by small coughing fits.

America sighed, his eyes focused on the glimpse of clear sky he could get from the window as his hand automatically rubbed his little brother’s back. He was aware that he should try to sleep a little while he could, but the worry was keeping his mind vigil and his body tensed. Part of him wished he could fall asleep as easily as Kumajiro, but he knew that his perceptions weren’t as acute as the bear’s, so he might not wake up if something changed with Canada, and leaving the child to fend for himself was the last thing he wanted.

Still, he desperately wished he could at least stop thinking, or wake up the bear to have somebody to talk to so that he could stop mulling over his little brother’s situation. The rational part of his mind, with a voice that sounded oddly like England’s, told him that there was nothing to worry about: while America himself had never been ill, he knew that nations could catch human illnesses, but they wouldn’t die for it. All he needed to do was wait, and Canada would recover on his own.

In spite of that, America wasn’t satisfied. The problem wasn’t whether Canada was going to recover or not, the problem was that he was suffering now. And America didn’t want him to suffer. Each time the child whimpered in pain, a knife sunk a little deeper into his chest, a weight plummeted in his stomach. He would give anything for Canada to stop suffering… instead, there was nothing he could do.

America wanted to tear out his hair and scream in frustration, the only thing stopping him the knowledge that hearing that would have scared Canada.

When America heard the thump of footsteps approaching his door, he was about to cry from relief.

A moment later, a hand knocked gently on the wood.

“Young master, it’s time to get up,” said Jane, “There’s breakfast waiting for you downstairs.”

“Wait!” America called her, straightening up slightly.

Some of the blankets pooled at his waist. The movement seemed to jostle Canada awake, eliciting a small groan from the child’s throat as he shifted. America felt a little guilty for waking him up, but it was important.

“Can you come in? I need some help!”

“Of course,” Mrs Jane answered immediately, the door already opening. “What is it that you n—”

The woman stopped dead, paling, her eyes widening as she took in the mess on America’s bed – more specifically, Canada’s form curled against his side.

For a moment she could only gape at the child, astonishment written in every feature of her face.

“What…” she muttered as she started regaining her bearings, her pupils still dilatated.

“Uhm, yes, this is what I was talking about,” America said quickly, running a hand through his hair. “See, Mattie was sick last night and—”

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

Mrs Jane shrill shout made America start, and jerked awake both Canada and Kumajiro. The bear immediately started growling softly, while the child whimpered, struggling to open his lidded eyes as he coughed slightly.

America immediately wrapped him in his arms, running a hand through his hair to soothe him, his eyes still trained on Jane’s face. The woman’s grey eyes were blazing with fury, her thin lips bloodless.

“I’m sorry!” America squealed, unconsciously holding Canada closer. “Did I do something wrong? Something I wasn’t supposed to do?”

His mind was racing, trying to understand which of his actions had elicited such a fury from the woman. He didn’t have the slightest idea of how to deal with an illness, after all, what if with his clumsy ministrations he had inadvertently made something worse?

Jane’s demeanour, however, softened immediately at his uneasiness.

“Oh, no, you didn’t do anything wrong, young master,” she said gently, her features relaxing as she looked at his widened eyes.

America’s heartbeat had just started slowing down when the woman’s eyebrows tightened again.

“But you,” she sneered, “You. How do you dare, after all my warnings, how could you even possibly think…”

The woman had to stop to take a breath, her hands were tightly clenched into fists, trembling slightly.

Only when Canada whimpered against his chest America realized who those words were directed to. Suddenly, the way Kumajiro had been growling beside him made a lot more sense.

“Hey, stop!” America said, sitting up fully as he protectively tightened his hold on Canada, still not understand what was going on. “Why are you scolding Mattie? He didn’t do anything wrong!”

Jane offered him a pitying look.

“Oh, young master, you’re always so kind…”

For a moment America thought that she had managed to compose herself, but when the woman spoke again her voice was colder than ice.

“But I had made myself clear with this little pest yesterday: he wasn’t to bother you. I’d never thought he could be so bold, instead here he is, sneaking into your bed, and going so far as—”

“But that’s not what happened!” America interrupted her, desperately trying to comprehend how could she possibly have misunderstood the situation. “Not at all! I—”

Canada shifted in his lap, turning to face Jane. Tears were glistening at the corners of his huge eyes, his lips were quivering.

“S—sorry…” he stammered as his eyes focused on Jane. “I—I’m very sorry, I—I didn’t mean to…”

The woman stomped a foot on the ground. She looked furious.

“Don’t apologize, you ungrateful brat! Do you really think it would change anything?! I told you—”

“Stop!”

America still didn’t have the slightest idea of what was going on, but Canada was trembling against him, panicked. Besides, whatever reason Jane might have to be angry at him, nothing justified that kind of verbal abuse. Nothing. The fact that Canada was too sweet to even think about retorting only made things worse.

“Stop. This. Right. Now,” America enunciated slowly, glaring at Jane.

The woman froze with her hands raised, taken aback. America knew that she had never seen him as anything but a cheerful child, but she couldn’t be further from the truth. She might have forgotten, but he was actually an immortal being, more powerful than she could ever imagine, and no longer a naïve child. And Canada was his little brother. It was high time for Jane to realize that.

Certain that the woman wasn’t going to disobey his command, America turned to the child in his lap. Canada was sniffling, trying to hold back the tears, his eyes huge, his body trembling.

America ran a hand through his hair before lifting the child into his arms, cradling him to his chest.

“It’s all right,” he murmured gently, kissing his forehead. “Everything is all right. You didn’t do anything wrong, I’ll sort this out. Don’t worry about anything, I’ve got you.”

The sniffles turned into muffled sobs as Canada buried his head against America’s collarbone, his tears dampening the older boy’s skin.

“Young master…”

Jane’s voice was much calmer now, but in a forced way, devoid of any emotion.

America’s attention snapped back to her, his features tightening. He suddenly realised that he didn’t even want to hear what she had to say. Canada was already sick and miserable, yet she had yelled at him without any regard to how he was feeling. She had made him cry. And that. Was. Unforgivable.

America remembered how she had looked like, a long time before, young, with her skin clear and her eyes sparkling, her mouth always ready to curl in a slight smile. Stern, but also tender and caring.

The woman in front of him was nothing but a pale ghost of the girl she had been, a twisted mockery. The once fine features were warped by rage, her tightly bound hair was streaked with grey, her skin frail, and contempt had turned her eyes dull. America could barely recognize her. She was still her, and at the same time a completely different person. The Jane he had once known would have never mistreated a child that way.

Still, the hateful creature went on talking.

“Young master, I understand why you’re upset, but he’s faking it. Can’t you see? He’s just doing all this for attention. Like yesterday. He even threw himself into a river to get your attention!”

“I didn’t,” Canada muttered feebly against his chest, still sobbing. “Please, I didn’t. I didn’t mean to, please…”

Kumajiro bared his teeth, growling.

America could feel the blood pounding in his ears, boiling with rage, in tune with his thundering heart.

Unaware of the perturbation, Jane kept spewing her poisonous words.

“He has been doing this the whole time. Yesterday he pretended he was sick, too, but he can’t be. It’s just a bit of cold water, and he’s not a real child. Unlike a human child, he won’t get sick for it. Besides, he comes from the North, doesn’t he? He should be used to the cold. Instead, he mocks the way human children suffer with this pathetic play.”

America’s eyes widened at her words, he felt his blood run cold.

“Are you saying…” he hissed, his voice trembling with rage, “Are you saying that you knew that he was sick, and you didn’t do anything?! You left him alone in his room, without even telling me, knowing that he was sick?!”

He clutched the child protectively to his chest, a hand to the back of his head so that he couldn’t turn to look at Jane.

Kumajiro growled again, but the woman ignored him.

“But he wasn’t sick, young master,” she retorted slowly, as if she were talking to a stubborn child. “He’s just pretending. Besides, he can’t get sick for so little.”

A corner of America’s mind realized that there was a kernel of truth in her words: it was highly unusual for a nation to get sick only for falling in a cold river. Besides, in spite of being only a colony, Canada belonged to the North, he shouldn’t be bothered by the cold. The fact that he was so ill was definitely worrisome, but America archived the issue for a second moment. Right then, there was something far more important he had to worry about.

“Can’t you use your eyes?” he said coldly, “He’s clearly sick, for how strange it might be. Don’t—”

“It’s not strange!” Kumajiro chimed in, startling America.

The bear’s dark eyes were blazing with fury, his teeth bared.

“Kuma, no!” Canada whimpered in a panicked way, shifting in America’s arms, but the bear ignored him.

“He’s sick because she left him in the dark room, in the cold, when he was still wet! That’s too much even for him!”

America felt like a ton of bricks had been slammed against his chest, stealing the air from his lungs. His ears were ringing, his head spinning.

For a moment, everything stood still.

Mrs Jane seemed frozen in her position, her eyes widened, her face devoid of any colour.

“You… you told me you would take care of him…” America stammered in the end, his trembling voice gaining strength with each word. “I trusted you with him! And… and… you left him all alone, without even a change of clothes, in a cold room?!”

He searched the woman’s face, hoping to find a sign that it wasn’t true, that everything was a huge misunderstanding, for it couldn’t be true, she had always been so nice, she wouldn’t have…

But Canada was crying softly against his collarbone, his body shaking, clearly scared, and Kumajiro was still growling at the woman, his black eyes gleaming fiercely with a glint of satisfaction.

It was true. Everything was true.

Jane didn’t try to defend herself, her features pale but set in determination.

“He deserved it,” she said smugly, locking eyes with America. “He deserved it because—”

But America had had enough.

“Get out,” he hissed. “Get. Out. Right. Now.”

His mind was screaming for revenge, his thundering heartbeats drowning out any rational thought. He wanted to leap at the woman and shake her like a rag doll until she apologized – until she made everything right again.

But he couldn’t.

Canada was still trembling in his arms, he needed to be comforted, and he couldn’t just hurt a woman.

Using every inch of his will, America closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Get out,” he said again, his voice forcefully calm. “I don’t want to see your face ever again. Get. Out.”

He buried his head in Canada’s hair, inhaling its flowery scent, trying to focus on the feeling of the warm weight in his arms.

He didn’t dare to raise his head until he heard quick footsteps retreating from the room, leaving the door open. He didn’t know what he would do to Jane if he saw her still in the room – and he didn’t even want to think about it.

Only after he was sure she was gone he moved, laying Canada on the pillows so he could look at him in the eyes. Kumajiro jumped back on the bed and curled around his owner, licking one of his hands.

The child was trembling, his eyes huge and desperate, fat tears were streaming down his cheeks.

America cupped his chin and gently dried them with his thumb.

“Oh, Mattie…” he whispered softly.

Millions of thoughts were swirling in his mind, he wanted answers, he still couldn’t fully understand what was going on, why, why would Jane – anybody – want to hurt Canada – his precious, sweet little brother – how could anybody ever think about harming him in any way… but he couldn’t focus on any of that.

He could feel the heat radiating from Canada’s skin, could see the way his cheeks were flushed on his otherwise milky white skin. The child was still sick and in need of cares.

But before that, he was in desperate need of comfort.

America didn’t have the slightest idea of what to do, and he was alone now.

(word count: 5,751)

Note: English isn’t my first language, I apologize for the mistakes. Feel free to correct me if you spotted anything!

#hetalia #aph canada #aph america #aph kumajiro #child canada #feyna's writing #needy child #hetalia fanfiction #completed work #canon verse #hurt/comfort #angst #family #sickfic #wc: 5k+