#i was more worried about aki and that is what the author wanted

[blueparadis]

himeno hate is justified she‘s a groomer💀

like i said, i don't like her but i don't hate her. and i'm not someone to "justify" why is she hated or why she should not be hated.all I'm saying her reactions, patterns, and behavior shock me. /gen

#this ask really confused me #📬 — mails #incognito mode #when i first read that part where she died i was so shocked #i was more worried about aki and that is what the author wanted #think about it #she is a character solely created to build aki's character #aki said “i've enough people dying infront of my eyes.” #and saves angel devil .....ohkay like there is a massive thought process behind that ufff #all i'm saying is that if i were given to write on himeno as “antihero” for my 20 marks question in exm i'd slay #but alas #phew #and i never said the hate she receives is not justified

[violettelueur]

𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒 — 𝐀𝐋𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐌

SUMMARY. being alhaitham does make locals of sumeru question your sanity but the second you feel his touch, you no longer worry about anything but him.

CHARACTER(S). alhaitham

PRONOUNS. she/her (does say 'lady')

TW/CONTEXT. use of pet names (dear, princess), small bit of sensual activities

AUTHOR NOTE. so a lot of things have happened, the new chainsaw man trailer is out and aki looks handsome as always. the genshin livestream, where so much more lore was gifted and i am excited for alhaitham and cyno's fight and the jujutsu kaisen season two visual where the SSS trio look amazing as well (suguru the love of my life looks handsome as always). also i know the ending is bad so please don’t comment on that…ʕ； •`ᴥ•´ʔ

If you were to ask someone about Alhaitham, they would look at you perplexed before giving you a harsh critique of the man.

“Alhaitham is a genius, don’t get me wrong, but he’s too robotics…”

“Be careful of Alhaitham, he is a very rational person. However, he’s not a good person to be friends with!”

“Alhaitham…I hate people who think they are better than others, just because they are part of the Akademiya.”

However, if you were to ask the residents of Sumeru about the lady who seemed to be alway by his side (more like he was by hers), there would be a sudden turn of opinions.

“Miss Y/N is a wonderful person, even though she is so busy being the manager at Puspa Cafe, she still helps alot of the students with their work!”

“The manager is a one of a kind, so patient with the elderly and quite welcoming with travelers, definitely has the hearts of the Sumeru people.”

“Y/N is a very smart person, so I don’t know why she disappeared from the Akademiya, but the fact that she is with Alhaitham is…weird…”

“I don’t think working at the cafe is efficient for you, dear.”

Looking up from his papers, Alhiatham’s eyes steadily met yours before he tiredly leaned back on the wooden chair while letting out a prolonged sigh, as if he was holding in his breath for quite some time. From what you could recall, your acting manager was quite desperate to call you for help due to the sudden high workload leading you to ask one of the students to relay a message to Alhaitham that you weren’t able to see him today…only to suddenly find him seated in the corner of the cafe once the busy hours had come to a slowdown.

“It’s fine, I was…worried when I heard you couldn’t come,” Alhaitham confessed before you pull a chair to sit next to him.

Softly smiling, you could help but coo over your lover’s worries over you before looking down at the papers that were displayed in a disordered fashion. Writings upon writings on linguistics and translations of different pieces of literature brought some memories of the time when you were at the Akademiya...but that was a story for another time. “Do you want some coffee, it seems you have been here for a while,” you asked before raising your hand to gently caress his cheek with the back of your fingers - letting a pinkish hue rise upon his cheeks if you looked closely enough.

Physical affection with Alhaitham was something that was somewhat evident in your relationship, the people of Sumeru can confirm that due to the amount of time they have seen you both out together. Yet if you had a proper conversation with your lover about this topic, you both would agree that you both weren’t the affectionate type.

Taking your hand in his, Alhaitham lightly placed a kiss on your inner palm before lingering a bit longer than needed - maybe it was because of the longer time you both were separated today, you weren’t so sure?

“I’m fine, it seems like you were quite busy…I don’t want you to tire yourself out,” Alhaitham answered before going back to his papers to continue with his project. Nevertheless, when you cast your gaze down, you noticed how his and your hand was still intertwined on the table.

“Well, I’m going to make you one anyways and I might as well bring some baklava for the both of us,” you suggested before getting up from your seat while noticing how Alhaitham’s grip tightened. Even though he didn’t say anything, you had the knowledge that he didn’t want you to go, but he needed to be taken care of after waiting for you for a few hours.

“I’ll be back in 10 minutes max, I promise I won’t be long,” you reassured the scribe before beginning to depart to prepare the snack you had planned...Yet even when you were walking away, you still couldn’t help but want to relish on his touch just a little longer. Even as you were going away, your intertwined hands were still gently held on to each other, telling each other that it wasn't time to let go yet...maybe just a little longer. However, distance had to become your enemy as it was too great for your arms to reach, leaving your hands to gradually disconnect from one another, leaving you both to miss the affection already.

The Akademiya. If you could avoid it, you simply would. However, with your history with the prestigious institute, there was simply no way you could steer clear of it anytime soon - especially when you were friends with the famous Lisa Minci, who also graduated with you in advanced studies.

Still, when Alhaitham invited you to keep him company or to help him with something…you never refused. Even if it meant you both were going to sit in silence while he worked and you read, you still accepted his offer to go to the Akademiya to keep him company.

Students will confess to you that they were surprised to see you at the institution, but they would be more confused about how Alhaitham would be there with you since they're used to seeing him work alone. Although, within the same conversation, the female students in the cafe would gush how adorable you both were (a rare compliment for the Akademiya lunatic) since they would always notice how you both hold hands on the table, making them wish they had a school romance - something you actually never really realised.

At this moment in time, you were seated opposite to your lover while looking over the books and files he had laid out for you both to study since he was having “difficulty” understanding something and needed you to guide him to the conclusion. What a liar.

Yet without hesitation, you began to notice how Alhaitham’s arm was suddenly stretched out on the table, relaxing next to yours before his index finger steadily began to ghostly trace the shape of your fingers as if he was teasing or conveying a message that only you would understand. Deciding to ignore this, you continued to scan through the papers only to pause again, once you felt something tenderly taking a hold of your fingers, only to peer up again to find the ‘lunatic’ scribe acting like he wasn’t doing something that would make you embarrassingly tremble at if you weren't seated.

“Are you testing me?” he questioned with a raised eyebrow while putting away the book he was analysing to obtain another one.

“I don’t think I could call this testing…more of…making you want more?” you replied in a questionable tone, before grabbing another sheet of paper to study.

“Oh?”

“Thank you for the flowers, you really didn’t need to,” you smiled at the handsome scribe before holding the bouquet of Sumeru roses closer to your chest, as if you were embracing the joy and fondness you were feeling from Alhaitham’s gift. Even though, Alhaitham didn’t know why you were so cheerful by the gift he had presented, he couldn’t help but get you one every time he had a stop at Port Ormos leaving the vendor to be confused since they never really understood why the rational man would spend so much on different flowers every week. One week would be the commonly known Sumeru roses and the next it would be Liyue’s speciality of Qingxins - never caring about the price.

People at Port Omros were suddenly starting to notice the admirable interaction, as they were also bewildered by how the robotic man of the Akademiya was affectionately smiling down at the charming Puspa Cafe manager. Those your relationship was well known across Sumeru, it was still a surprise to see the couple in reality making you and Alhaitham become aware of the gazes and stares that were directed toward you both.

“Let’s go,” Alhaitham stated before placing his hand upon your lower back to guide you somewhere more private, where you would be more comfortable.

However, the eyes that were upon you didn't seem to matter anymore. The feeling of sudden warmth that Alhaitham's hand brought made you forget the displeasure that you were feeling just a few seconds ago. Yet, even when you knew this was something natural he was going...there was a small part of you that thought he knew the effect of his touch had on you.

“Are you teasing me?” you asked curiously causing the scribe to pause his stride before turning his head to look at you.

“Really? Is that what you think I’m doing after giving you flowers?” Alhaitham responded before his hand began to slowly travel upwards on your back, gently tracing the shape of your spine causing a spark of electo to ignite within you as you tense at his sudden action.

“In fact...yes I do,” you answer timidly as you began to pay attention to how his hand was now sensually travelling to the back of your neck, aware of how his thumb was now caressing the side of it, near behind your ear almost making you notice how Alhaitham was now steadily and masterfully making you weak within his arms.

Lowering his head down to your level, Alhaitham couldn’t help but place a lingering kiss upon the apple of your cheek before slowly moving towards the shell of your ear to place another, leaving you to slightly feel his breath. Smirking, Alhaitham noticed how your eyes were now closed, knowing that you were feeling lightheaded from the small pleasure he was gifting you with pride swelling up in his chest.

“If I was really teasing you, wouldn’t I be doing this instead?” he whispered, while pushing your hair aside to place another kiss upon your neck causing you to moan softly as you grabbed hold of the fabric of his shirt for support.

“Don’t drop the flowers princess…”

© violettelueur 2022 - all rights are reserved to violettelueur. Do not repost, copy, change/modify, plagiarise, translate or screenshot my work : this will also include other social media/writing platforms like AO3, Wattpad, TikTok and many more.

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #genshin impact imagine #alhaitham x reader #al haitham x reader #al-haitham x reader #alhaitham imagine #al haitham imagine #al-haitham imagines #・❥・violettelueur #violettelueur

[crscntwhite]

⠀   ⠀ a. hayakawa :: -him having a plus-sized boyfriend- one shot✧

↳ pairing ✧ ➼ aki hayakawa x plus-sized m!reader

↳ summary ✧ ➼ you feel insecure about your body, but aki is there to give you comfort.

↳ word count ✧ ➼ 912 wrds

↳ content warnings ✧ ➼ (internalized) fatphobia, self-deprecating talk, fluff at the end

↳ author's note ✧ ➼ just a quick drabble i thought of yesterday. as a plus-sized transmasc, i had a lot of fun writing this. drabble might be ooc. not proof-read. requests are open.

always read the content warnings before reading. fem!readers dni.

you and aki were preparing to go on a date. you two unanimously decided to go watch a newly released movie and have a semi-nice dinner afterwards, so you wanted to dress appropriately but comfortably.

you chose an alternative-style outfit; a black and baggy long sleeve shirt with punk-rock styled pants with buckles, all accompanied with some black combat boots. you wore a few chains here and there, and you topped it all off with the earrings aki gifted you a few months into your relationship. the idea of the outfit excited you and you couldn't wait to show your wonderful boyfriend, but the second you saw yourself in the mirror, it quickly vanished and was replaced with feelings of disgust. it was not all like you expected.

you struck a few poses to try and look at yourself in different angles to see if it would change at all, but it didn't. you felt like your weight ruined the vibe you were aiming for. you sucked in your stomach, gripped at it. you hated it. you felt ugly. and worst of all, you felt completely unlovable.

"i can't let anyone see me like this..."

you sat down on your bed as tears pricked at your eyes. they started falling down your cheeks as you began to take off each piece of clothing, starting with your shoes. you sobbed quietly so aki couldn't hear. you would feel totally embarrassed if he saw you like this. as soon as you were about to strip your shirt off, there was a knock and a voice behind your bedroom door.

"(y/n)? love? are you okay? you've been in there for a long while, we're gonna be late for the movie. don't tell me you're debating on an outfit again." his tone was playful. your breath hitched and you tried to not make any noise by holding your breath. but the lack of response signaled to aki that something was actually wrong. he opened the door and saw your face red and with tear stains.

his playful attitude died as he dropped his bag and quickly approached you. he knelt down to your eye level. you couldn't look at him though. your eyes were glued to the floor. "oh darling, what's wrong? why are you crying?" aki was very soft for you, and for you only. he gently wiped away your tears with one hand and and held your hand with his other. he looked at you with worried eyes. "i- i don't know... if i want to do anything tonight... i-i'm sorry," you hiccupped. another tear fell as you slightly turned your head away. you felt ashamed. aki wiped away that one, too.

"what makes you say that?" he questioned. "did something happen?" you didn't give a verbal response, only uneven breathing. "(y/n), please talk to me... what happened?" he rubbed his thumb along your knuckles in attempt to make you more relaxed. "i just... i just feel so ugly. i look disgusting. i'm so fat, being fat is just unattractive, everyone knows that. nobody wants to be with a fat person, i just..." you trailed off and starting sobbing again. aki removed his hands from you and switched to having his arms around you. he pulled you into an embrace and hugged you tightly. he held you like that and he let you cry. he understood that you just needed to let it out before he could speak to you and rebuttal against your words.

when your body naturally calmed down, aki released himself from you and looked at you in the eyes. you still couldn't look at him. he cupped his hands around your face. "hey. love, can you please look at me?" aki whispered. you defeatedly locked eyes with his. he hated seeing your pretty eyes look anything but happy. "(y/n), i know you think you look ugly or that nobody loves you, and you should really not think like that. but i have to disagree with you. you're absolutely stunning. you're so handsome, and i love you so so much. i don't care about your weight, if anything it makes you look even more beautiful. i love you for who you are, fat or not. i'm so lucky that you're my wonderful boyfriend. i want to be with you for the rest of my life. i love you, okay?"

aki's voice was soothing, as well as his words. you sniffled and mouthed out a 'thank you' as you slightly smiled. "there's that smile i love," aki slightly teased. you chuckled out of embarrassment and replied with a drawn out 'stop.' "are you feeling any better? we still don't have to go out if you don't want to, but i really do want to spend some time together." aki kept his warm hands on your face. "yea, i feel a little better now. we can still go."

you looked at him again, this time the redness in your eyes are gone. aki couldn't help himself but lean in and give you a loving kiss on your lips. you were caught a little off guard at first, but you melted into it fairly quickly. he rubbed his thumb on your cheek. when he moved back after a few seconds, he took his hands off you and lifted you up off your bed with a hug. that you were shocked by.

"c'mon, get your shoes back on, we're gonna be late!"

#aki hayakawa x male reader #aki hayakawa x m!reader #aki hayakawa x male!reader #aki hayakawa x reader #aki hayakawa x you #hayakawa aki x male!reader #hayakawa aki x male reader #hayakawa aki x m!reader #chainsaw man #csm #aki hayakawa csm #chainsaw man x male reader #csm x male reader #fluff #gay #lgbt #drabble #one shot #plus sized #plus sized reader #sfw #requests open #aki x male reader #csm fluff #au #csm x you #csm x reader #chainsaw man x reader

[starlitcorgi]

Hi......If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

Hmmm 🤔 my favs are always changing but at the moment.

1. Gokurakugai: Alma is a precious cinnamon roll who loves his mentor Miss Tao like a sister. I really love their platonic relationship and the fact that Alma is incredibly emotionally balanced. Like he's not this typical macho guy. Probably because he's surrounded by strong female role models. It's really refreshing for Shonen and I really hope it gets an anime series because I think it has the potential to be as big as JJK and Demon Slayer.

2. Jujutsu Kaisen: I love Yuuji as a ML and I'm usually a side character gal. So it's great to actually like the lead character. I've noticed in this current generation of Manga and Anime that our Male Leads are becoming much more well rounded and likeable. I love Yuuji's strength and his resilience, he definitely deserves all the love and hugs. I also of course love Gojo and I kind of hope Mappa deviates from the manga in regards to his fate because man that hurt.

3. Demon Slayer: I read the manga start to finish and loved every minute of it. The anime series is just as good. I love all of the characters in this in their own rights. From the protagonist to the villains for me at least the author got everything right. It's Shonen at its best. To be able to make your audience love Rengoku in such a short time is an amazing feat. To care so much that you feel as devastated as Tanjiro to me the Mugen train arc is a masterclass in story telling. It's sad that the series will be coming to an end soon but I think for me this will always be in my top 5.

4. Ghost in the Shell: This is the movie that started my love of anime/manga. It's a cinematic masterpiece and everyone should watch it at least once. It was well ahead of its time and it's not surprising that it inspired the Matrix.

5. Hells Paradise: I love the manga and the anime. Gabimaru is so relatable to me, I think we share the same sarcastic and apathetic nature lol. I love it as well because it gave us one of the best disabled characters in current manga generation. Shion is an epic character for the disabled community, being partially blind myself it's nice to be represented you know? And he's not full of loathing or self pity, he embraces his blindness and uses it to his advantage. He's funny, kind, strong and handsome. He never questions Sagiri's competence, he doesn't try to send her of to the kitchen like his colleagues. He recognises her talent and encourages her to achieve her goals. In short Shion needs to be protected at all costs.

6. Chainsaw Man: when I first saw this pop up on Shonen Jump I didn't have high hopes. It seemed like a crack series but this is exactly why you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. I love this series even though it hurts me 😭. Denji is a typical hormonal teen, power is a ball of chaos and Aki is just trying to keep everything together. Plus Angel 😇 is one of my fav characters of all time maybe because he reminds me of my daughter lol.

7. Elfen Lied: this is another classic anime the violence is on par with AOT but once you get past that you have this heart wrenching story. Lucy is a monster created by her environment and the abuse she suffered. This is also one of the most beautifully animated series of all time. The art is phenomenal.

8. Solo Leveling: I fell in love with the Manwha and was so excited when it got picked up for a series. I'm loving the anime so far, though I'm two episodes behind. Due to my sight loss I have to wait for the English dub but dubs have gotten way better than when I first started watching anime in the early 2000's. I love Jinwoo's tenacity and the fact that he just cuts through the villains. He never really worries about whether that makes him a bad person. Sometimes you just want to see bad people get what's coming to them. Plus this has some of the most epic fight scenes, I can't wait to see them animated.

9. Tokyo Ghoul: I spent most of Tokyo Ghoul crying ugly tears 😭. Ken Keneki has one of the most heartbreaking storylines in all of anime. It's just painful to read/watch Gege definitely took a leaf out of the Tokyo ghoul book when writing JJK. Yet still I couldn't put it down, I'm a sucker for punishment. It's a great mix of characters as well, I love that we see goth culture mixed in there as well. You do get those Crow vibes the way it's so gothic in inspiration and the art work is stunning. I think the only illustrator that tops it is Yuta Sano.

10. Attack on Titan: AOT has been deemed controversial because of it's fascist themes. However I think it's only problematic if you think Eren is the hero in this story. I actually really can't stand Eren, it's pretty obvious that he's been radicalised by his experiences early on. The foreshadowing is strong with him you know he's not going to turn out well from the start. The real protagonists for me are Armin, Levi and Hange. Like these three are definitely trying to save their comrades and people. Whereas Mikasa is constantly having to save Eren and Eren jumps to mass genocide pretty quick. Levi almost feels like he's representing the audience with his snarky commentary. I also love Levi and Hanges platonic friendship. They really get each other and their banter is a joy to watch especially in the first season.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #demon slayer #anime and manga #manga #gokurakugai #tokyo ghoul #ghost in the shell #elfen lied #attack on titan #hells paradise #solo leveling #chainsaw man

[duelistkingdom]

are there still beautiful things?

Summary: kiryu shows up on yusei's doorstep and who he sees isn't who he expected to see. not that he's complaining. and she knows just a bit more about what he's after than he thought she ever could.

Rating: T

Ships: Kyosuke Kiryu/Aki Izayoi

Author’s note: this took some time to do. it’s fairly canon compliant, as in it doesn’t directly contradict canon. take it as a missing scene, a missing duel, what have you. also consider that kiryu/aki hits and hits pretty hard.

read on ao3 / consider supporting me on ko-fi / join my discord (18+)

Kiryu had never planned on actually going to the address that Yusei had given him. He wasn’t sure what changed; what made him decide to take the risk and go back to Neo Domino. He just figured that maybe he should at least try to see Yusei at least once, lest Yusei head back to Crashtown to pester him about “healing from trauma” and “you can’t let guilt rule you.” He considered bolting the minute he knocked on the door. Let Yusei think it was some pranksters. He wasn’t expecting the door to swing open and reveal a busty redhead. Not that he intended to notice her chest as the first thing about her - it was just an impressive chest. “Kiryu-san,” she said, bouncing on her heels. Her smile was brilliant, like a rainbow at the end of a storm. “Come on in!”

“Er, no thanks,” Kiryu started to say before her hand gripped around his wrist, far tighter than he could have imagined possible from such a slight being. It prevented him from heading back to his D-Wheel, and she dragged him in. “You’re… Izayoi, right?”

“That’s right,” she said, and Kiryu couldn't fathom how she could smile at him like this. Shouldn’t she be angry with him? His actions as a Dark Signer would have gotten her killed; would have gotten everyone she’d known killed… and yet she was still smiling at him like he’d done nothing wrong. Why? It put him on edge. “I guess Yusei must’ve told you about me, then?”

It made no sense how casual she was being. He glanced at the walls of the entryway she’d tugged him into. There was a photo of her and Yusei together at some restaurant, his arm around her shoulders in a relaxed manner, beaming at the camera. Another of a pair of twins, both of them tugging Yusei down what appeared to be a boardwalk of sorts with a ferris wheel in the distance with Izayoi laughing next to them. One of Jack with… was that Carly? Kiryu frowned, pointing towards the photo. “I recognize her.”

Izayoi looked at the photo he pointed to and nodded. “I suppose you would, wouldn’t you? Carly and Jack are dating now,” she remarked. She was still smiling. Surely it was coming, wasn’t it? At some point, she’d get angry with him for what he’d done. “It was tough for Jack when she didn’t remember his confession while she was a Dark Signer, but they worked it out.”

The casual mention of it made Kiryu’s stomach churn a little bit. Again, he wondered how she could just be so casual about this. Rage would be better. Rage he could understand. He didn’t understand her serenity. “Look, Izayoi, I’m -”

She shook her head, cutting him off with a quick, “Don’t worry about it.” His confusion must have been etched on his face, because she sighed. Her smile was gone now, and he regretted opening his mouth. No, keep smiling, he wanted to say. He wanted to cram back the words in his mouth. He glanced back at the photos on the wall, a group shot of her beaming with Crow, Jack, and Yusei sticking out like a sore thumb to him. “I.. I know what it’s like to be filled with anger. I… I wanted to hurt people because they’d hurt me. I know you did too. I’ve been there, but… it’s all gone now.”

This took him aback as he glanced back towards her, noting the framed drawing behind her that seemed to depict her and Yusei holding hands with the two twins from the photos on the wall with them. Right below it was a table covered in delivery slips, with a tacky looking paperweight on top of half of them. “But you didn’t try to bring about the end of the world, Izayoi.”

“No, but I did try to kill a lot of people,” she said, a wry smile appearing on her face. “I also tried to kill Yusei when I first met him, you know. I’m not sure if he told you that.”

This was, indeed, news to him. The way Yusei had talked about Izayoi made it seem like Izayoi had never done anything wrong in her life. He supposed that was just like Yusei, however. And then it occurred to Kiryu that perhaps the reason why Izayoi could be so at ease around him was because her perception of him was filtered through Yusei. Yusei, who never had a bad word to say about any of his friends. “He tends to leave that sort of thing out,” Kiryu finally said, followed after Izayoi as she continued further into the house. The hallway was lined with photos, and a new man was in them.

Kiryu noted the tall, blue haired man and wanted to ask Izayoi who he was before deciding it didn’t matter who he was. No, what seemed to matter more was the fact that not one of these photos hinted towards their Team Satisfaction days. This apartment was a far cry from the broken down hovels that they had used to live in. At least Yusei was doing better. He wasn’t sure why that brought him some sense of comfort. Perhaps it was merely the fact that it meant that he hadn’t held Yusei back. Yusei managed to make something of himself despite Kiryu’s shortcomings.

“Coffee?”

Izayoi’s voice broke his thoughts. She’d lead him into an open garage area. A new D-Wheel was in the garage, a red one that looked different from Yusei’s. It was the only one in the room, confirming Kiryu’s suspicions: Yusei must not be home. “No, thank you,” he said, staring directly at the new D-Wheel and trying to figure out who it could belong to. The garage also had a few action figures laying about, in addition to even more childish drawings on the table. Probably both belonged to the kids that Kiryu had seen in the photos.

And yet Izayoi already had two cups in hand, setting them on the table. “Tough, I made you some anyway,” she said, motioning for him to join her. She had a smile on her face like they were sharing a secret. Kiryu had the strangest feeling that he would keep any secret she whispered at him as long as she smiled like that. She winked at him, and Kiryu immediately took the chair opposite from him as she said, “Jack keeps this stupid expensive coffee laying around, and it annoys him when I use it. So I use it at every chance I get.”

She held a finger up to her lips, and Kiryu couldn’t help the soft smile forming on his face. The cup was warm and inviting and so Kiryu took a sip of the coffee. It was warm and soothing, like a long hug. “Who does the new D-Wheel belong to,” Kiryu finally blurted out, unable to hold the question in any longer.

To his surprise, Izayoi turned bright red, and rubbed the back of her neck. “Er, it’s mine,” she said. Kiryu didn’t take Izayoi for someone who was into riding duels, but he supposed it wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility. “I recently got my license and Yusei, Crow, and Jack surprised me with it. They built it for me, which was nice.” She moved a delivery slip aside, allowing Kiryu to get a better glance of the name of the company - Blackbird Delivery Service. “Are you still doing riding duels? Perhaps we can have one later! I need all the practice I can get for the WRGP.”

“I thought the WRGP was for teams of three,” Kiryu remarked. He would have thought that Yusei, Crow, and Jack would be on a team together. Unless… was Izayoi on a different team herself? “Yusei didn’t tell me much about what was going on here.”

Izayoi frowned at this, shaking her head. “I would think he would have, considering,” she said, getting up and retrieving something from the desk and bringing over a framed photo. She passed it to him, and Kiryu was surprised to see it was of him, with Crow, Jack, and Yusei. The good old days, the days that he’d wished he thought to savor. “He never shuts up about those days. I hope… I hope you two can properly repair things.”

“I don’t think that’s possible, Izayoi,” he said, placing the photo face down on the table. As nice as the memories were, it also reminded him of exactly how he’d screwed everything up. How he’d blamed Yusei for something he hadn’t done, how it’d nearly killed Yusei. And yet Izayoi still looked at him with such kind eyes, despite the fact it was obvious she cared deeply for Yusei. He almost wanted to hate her for it, but he had no one to blame but himself for Yusei leaving. “It ended for a reason.”

Kiryu expected Izayoi to have a counter argument, but instead she shrugged. “Everything happens for a reason,” she said, taking a long sip of her coffee. She didn’t seem to care about reassuring Kiryu that he was a good person, actually, and it made Kiryu like her just a bit more. If Izayoi had nothing but sickly sweet comments on his goodness, Kiryu might’ve just gotten angry at her. “The past is as it happened. We can only choose how we react to it, and move forward with hope. I made mistakes, you made mistakes, I’m sure even Yusei made mistakes he’d rather not admit to. But Yusei helped me to see that my past doesn’t define my future, and that the future is in our hands to shape.” She looked at Kiryu for a long time, and Kiryu felt as if those eyes were piercing into his very soul. “You also think that you don’t deserve a happy future, do you?”

His eyes went wide at the question. As much as he wanted to deny it, he found himself saying, “After everything I’ve done? No.” He flicked his hair out of his eyes, settling back on Izayoi’s D-Wheeler. Kiryu wondered if Izayoi served as a replacement for him, before deciding that was a mean line of thought. The most obvious difference was that Izayoi hadn’t actually killed anyone, as far as he could tell. “However… you’re a duelist in the WRGP? When did this happen?”

“Crow recently broke his arm,” she said simply, and Kiryu understood now. “I’m temporarily taking his place until he gets better… and thus I try to get in practice every chance I get. I need to be good enough to keep up with Jack and Yusei.”

“In that case,” Kiryu said, setting his coffee down. “Let’s duel.”

Izayoi’s eyes went wide. “Now? Really?”

“Yes,” Kiryu said, heading towards the door. “You want to keep up with Jack and Yusei. Who better to help you with that than me?”

He didn’t bother to look back to see what Izayoi was doing. If she was serious, then he’d meet her outside on their runners. If she wasn’t, then she’d still be at that table. Either way, Kiryu couldn’t stay in that garage, full of Yusei’s new life. He was unsurprised when he saw Izayoi already outside, in a new all leather outfit that Kiryu did his best to ignore. There was a look of apprehension on her face. “Yusei told me what kind of deck you use,” she blurted out, and then she looked away. “It just feels like I should at least tell you what -”

“No,” Kiryu said, cutting her off and shaking his head. “If you know something about your opponent and they don’t know something about you, that is an advantage. Don’t give it up because of misplaced honor.”

Izayoi tilted her head, looking almost like a lost puppy. He found himself torn between being angry at her for having such an adorable look and being charmed by it. He settled for ignoring her instead, settling in on his bike. Instead of pushing further, she instead asked, “Do you already know what kind of deck I use?”

“The most I know is the Signer dragon Black Rose Dragon is in your deck,” Kiryu admitted, figuring it would be pointless to hide his prior knowledge from being a Dark Signer. He kicked the kickstand, revving the engine. Behind him, he heard Izayoi do the same. “While we get to the highway, why don’t you tell me why you were picked to replace Crow on the team.”

Without the ability to see Izayoi’s voice, he was forced to rely on her tone. And worse, Izayoi’s voice directly in his ear from the comm link was doing strange things to him. “It was Yusei’s idea,” Izayoi said, and the fondness in her voice spurred a spike of jealousy that Kiryu couldn’t tell who it was for. “Er, I was second place in the Fortune Cup. Yusei thinks that if I could get that far into a tournament on my first go, I could do just fine in the WRGP.”

“But riding duels take a different skill set than a standing duel,” Kiryu remarked as Izayoi set Speed World 2. A brief glance over its effects told Kiryu this was going to be different from previous riding duels he’d been part of. Izayoi might actually have a leg up by being more familiar with its effects than he was. Heading onto the dueling lanes for a duel felt strange to Kiryu. Something that had once been out of reach to him was now utterly legal for him to do, with no fear of retaliation. He wished he could say it felt freeing but instead it felt like nothing. “Do you feel you can handle it?”

Izayoi sped past him almost recklessly, and Kiryu’s first notice was that she handled her bike the same way Yusei did. As a result, Izayoi took the first corner and the chance to go first. “I summon Evil Thorn in defense position,” Izayoi said, and Kiryu then realized what Izayoi must’ve been ready to warn him about. “I can release this monster to deal 300 points of damage to you.” Instantly, he took a hit. Not enough to make him lose control, but certainly surprising. “When I do, I can summon two Evil Thorns from my deck, but their effects are negated. I set a card, and I end my turn.”

Kiryu was surprised by the quick aggression Izayoi showed. He reassessed her, wondering just exactly how dangerous she was. A thrill ran down his spine at the mere thought of an intense battle, one where she could deal just as much damage to him as he could to her. He drew a card, and glanced at her two monsters and set card. He had no way to ditch his hand to truly make any use of what he had, so instead… “I set a monster and a card,” Kiryu said, glancing at the Speed World 2 effects. A grab bag of useful effects, but he’d need to gain speed to use any of them. “I end my turn.”

He could see Yusei’s impact on Izayoi in the way she was handling herself, but there was a stark difference. Izayoi was much more manic in her dueling and riding, almost like she was afraid. In fact, she glanced backwards at him, as if assessing him. As if assessing the danger. “My turn, I draw,” she said, and she took a moment before she finally moved. “I set a monster face down in defense and end my turn.”

Disappointing, he thought, examining the field in front of him and then the cards in his hand. If he drew a way to ditch his hand, then he could start dealing damage of his own to Izayoi. And he had an idea of just how to do it, if he could draw that key card. And the minute he drew, he knew that he had a shot at victory despite Izayoi’s unpredictability. He couldn’t be sure how Izayoi would react, and he was already at a disadvantage because Izayoi probably knew his deck as well as her own thanks to Yusei. “You hesitated in attacking my set monster,” Kiryu criticized, his eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out her motives for such a move. Three monsters on her field, and a set card and yet she did nothing. “I summon Infernity Beast,” he said. “And I attack one of your Evil Thorns!”

It did no damage, but Izayoi was clearly somewhat rattled. She glanced backwards at him, and there was a look in her eyes that let him know she didn’t have a counter. She turned away, saying, “Is that all? I expected more out of you.”

“If it’s more you’d like, Izayoi, I can gladly deliver,” Kiryu responded on gut instinct, and almost felt a spark of pride when it caused Izayoi to teeter. She was still new at driving her bike, that much was certain. Determination was good, but how far would it get her? “The real question is if you can satisfy me, Izayoi. I set two cards and end my turn.” That left him with one card in hand, and he just needed to ditch it to make full use of his deck. Izayoi would surely know this too.

“Okay then,” she said, and Kiryu noted that Izayoi seemed rattled now. “My turn, I draw!” Again, Izayoi hesitated. It was almost amusing. Part of him wondered if those powers she had were why she was holding back. Was she scared of hurting him? “I use Evil Thorn to advance summon Rose Tentacles,” she said. “And now I activate Ivy Shackles! With this, your monsters become plant type during my turn!And for each plant type monster on the field, Rose Tentacles gains an additional attack! I attack Infernity Beast! Thorn Whip!”

“I activate Depth Amulet,” Kiryu said. “By discarding a card, I can negate your attack.”

“But that only stops one attack since you only had one card left in hand,” Izayoi stated, seeming to find her confidence. “And Rose Tentacles has one more attack! Thorn Whip 2!” Not bad, he thought as his monster was destroyed. “That’s not all, Kiryu. When Rose Tentacles destroys a monster in battle, you take an additional 300 points of damage.”

Izayoi’s monster struck him, and Kiryu was amazed instantly by the sheer power. A small smirk formed on his face, and before he could help himself, he blurted out, “I see you like whips, Izayoi. I wouldn’t mind getting hit by that again.”

“You just might,” Izayoi said, though it was with a strange inflection he couldn’t quite pin down. “I end my turn!”

Kiryu drew, and he had a feeling it was going to be over. She’d done well to keep up with him, he supposed. “I use my face down to advance summon Infernity Destroyer,” he said, and with that, he had no cards left in hand. “Infernity Destroyer deals 800 points of damage whenever it destroys a monster. And it’s more than enough to take out your Rose Tentacles.”

“I activate Doppleganger,” she said, just before Rose Tentacles was destroyed. “I may take 800 points of damage, but so will you!”

Izayoi had 3100, and such a move would leave him with . “Well done, Izayoi,” he said, “However, I activate my trap card, Damage Translation. With it, I can halve effect damage thrown my way. The chain resolves.” Izayoi seemed annoyed. “I end my turn.”

She spun around, the same way Yusei might, specifically to glare at him. It struck Kiryu that Izayoi must’ve learned directly from Yusei based upon the way she was maneuvering her bike. Her dueling was different, but the handling was all Yusei. “My turn, then,” she said, spinning back to look forward. “I draw! I summon Twilight Rose Knight. Next, I use Twilight Rose Knight’s ability to special summon Dark Verger! Finally, I flip up Phoenixian Seed!” Three monsters, all adding up to level seven… a thrill ran down Kiryu’s back as he realized what was going to happen next. “A cold flame envelopes the entire world, black flower, bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear, Black Rose Dragon!”

“Black Rose Dragon,” he repeated, staring up at the Signer dragon in almost awe. Would she use its devastating board nuke? He had a way of dodging that. “I see you’re pulling all the stops, Izayoi.”

“That’s not all,” she said, pulling out a card. “I activate the Speed Spell - Rose Malice. With it, my Black Rose Dragon gains 600 attack and the ability to deal piercing damage for this turn! When it attacks a monster, it won’t be destroyed in battle but the monster permanently loses 600 attack! Black Rose Dragon, attack Kiryu’s Infernity Destroyer!”

Now there was a move he wasn’t expecting. An additional 700 points of damage his way, and his monster was now down to 1700 attack, same as his life points.  It didn’t matter, though. Because she hadn’t destroyed his monster, and that was enough if he drew it. Izayoi was almost purring as she ended her turn. Clearly, she thought she might win. “You’ve done extremely well, Izayoi,” Kiryu said as he drew his next card, and smirked. “Unfortunately, it all ends here. I summon Infernity Mirage. I can release Infernity Mirage to special summon from my graveyard two monsters. I chose Infernity Beetle and Infernity Dwarf. Now I tune Infernity Beetle and Infernity Destroyer together. The dead and the living...The moment they meet at zero, the demonic dragon will be released from the cage of eternity. Synchro Summon! Come forth, Infernity Death Dragon.”

It was now Izayoi’s turn to be impressed. “That can destroy my monster without attacking.”

“Yes, it can,” he said, surprised Yusei had mentioned that to Izayoi. “While I may take 1500 in effect damage by destroying it, so will you. And that leaves your field clear for me to attack directly for game. Would you like to call it here, or are you going to see it to the end?”

“I’ll see it to the end,” Izayoi said, sounding almost brave as her Black Rose Dragon disappeared in a burst of vibrant petals. “I’m not one to chicken out.”

“In that case,” Kiryu said, “Infernity Death Dragon, take out the rest of Izayoi’s life points!”

Izayoi came to a stop, staring at her D Wheeler. “Be brutally honest,” she said, sounding a little nervous. “I’m not cut out for the WRGP, am I?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kiryu said, yanking his helmet off. “You held your own, and if I hadn’t drawn Infernity Mirage when I had, you might’ve actually managed to win. The problem is that you start strong then start hesitating. When you hesitate, you give the opponent time to attack. You can’t give the opponent that gap. Have you ever seen Yusei hesitate?”

Izayoi glanced up from her D Wheeler, a look of surprise at the mention of Yusei’s name. “No,” she admitted. “Jack doesn’t either… nor Crow. And I suppose you didn’t either…”

“Exactly,” he said. “Let’s go again, and see if you can do any better this time.”

 With each Duel, Kiryu watched a steady improvement over Izayoi’s skill level. She was a quick learner, and when they took a break, Izayoi had invited him to a cafe across the street from where Yusei lived. She’d insisted on paying, despite his objections. It was how he was now sitting across from a table in a cafe with Izayoi smiling at him from across the table. “I’m sort of top in my class at Duel Academy,” she said, shrugging off his mention that she learned quickly. “You don’t stay on top without being able to pick up new tricks quick.”

“A student,” he remarked, an eyebrow raised. “You know, I never really went to school, and yet I still beat you. I suppose that means that fancy school of yours can’t teach you everything.”

“Instinct isn’t a skill you can teach,” Izayoi said after taking a long sip of her coffee. “Hey… How long are you going to be in town for? I’m sure Yusei would -”

“I know,” Kiryu said, cutting her off. He didn’t need to hear from Izayoi of all people that Yusei would be happy to see him again. “But I got a good look at the life he’s got now. There’s not really room for me in it.” He forced himself to make eye contact with her. “I wouldn’t want to get in your way.”

Izayoi tilted her head, before reaching out to cover his hand with hers. “You wouldn’t be getting in the way, Kiryu,” she said, and it felt like a tidal wave had crashed over him. He was sinking, and he didn’t know which was to the surface. “Seriously, Kiryu. Just stay a few days.”

Her gaze was pulling him in, and he was certain that if he allowed it, she could shatter his walls entirely. There was just something in her that seemed to know him better than he knew himself. As if she saw the potential within him, and was determined to draw it out. It seemed fanciful, however. “I have responsibilities to get back to, you know,” he said, hedging his options. While he might have won on the Riding Duels, Izayoi seemed better equipped for this. “A few days is asking for trouble.”

“Really,” she remarked, a sly smile on her face. “I thought trouble was exactly what you’re looking for.”

There was a dare in her eyes, a challenge that she was putting on the table. And well, Kiryu never backed down from a challenge. “You have a point, Izayoi,” he said, sighing. “Fine. I’ll stay. Just a few days, though.”

“Right, right,” she said, and she looked just a little too happy that he was going to stay. Just what was she playing at? Honestly, he’d like to know. And when she winked at him, he had an idea. Game on, Izayoi.

#kyosuke kiryu #aki izayoi #yugioh 5ds #yu gi oh 5ds #ygo 5ds #5ds fanfiction #rebirthshipping #rebirthshipping fanfic #myfanfic

[blackestnight]

testament

CONTAINS SPOILERS THROUGH THE END OF 6.0 MSQ.

“i hate epistolary writing,” says author, continuing to do that. or: six letters to be delivered in the event of hanami’s death.

A thick envelope, tied carefully with twine and laid neatly in the middle of a long, cluttered table. The mess has been unceremoniously shoved aside or transferred to other surfaces in a manner that suggests the owners were not involved, making the parcel the focus of whatever eye may cast about the room. Tucked under the twine is a single page with a message in thick, blocky handwriting, the hand firm enough to press indents into the paper:

NOTE TO SELF. COME HOME TO BURN THIS AND PISS ON THE ASHES.

—

The top letter, written in a deliberate hand and in careful lines. The steadiness of the ink has the air of a result of several drafts, though it becomes sloppier toward the end.

To my honored mothers:

It is the child’s duty to bury their parents, not the other way around. I am sorry for making you do it twice. If you are reading this I will not tell you not to mourn me, but please read this first.

I tried so hard to come home. Please believe that. I know I have been reckless for many years, and I know how you have both worried over me. You were right to. I do not live an easy life and I admit now I only made it harder for myself. I have done it for as long as I can remember. I can still hear Mama lecturing me about sneaking out and picking fights, or Aki telling me to keep my head down. For a long time all I wanted was to fight and to bleed and to maybe die for what I believed in: for a free Doma, where children could know the faiths of their mothers and where mothers would not have to fear their children getting under the boots of soldiers. I sought battle and blood and death and I found it, in more ways than I would be able to tell you even if I had the time. It is selfish of me but I would rather you not know some of them.

I am telling you this because I made a mistake. I do not regret the fighting or the blood or the death, but I let them rule me when I should not have. I forgot how to look past them. That has always been my weakness. I know you know this is true; if anyone in the world should know my every failing it is my mothers. I am telling you this now because you need to know: I learned. I wanted a free Doma and now she is free, but I want something even bigger now, and I keep finding more reasons to keep fighting for it. And so I will keep fighting. I have kept fighting. But it is because at the end of the fighting, I realized all I really want is to come home. So I promise I didn’t throw my life away. I wanted so badly to live. If I was reckless, it was because of love, not because of anger.

I cannot ask anything of you. It would not be right to. But please be strong. Despair is the greatest enemy we have now, and it has been mine for a long time, and I know how hard it is to fight. But you have tried to teach me to live in hope even when I could not understand it. Keep doing it.

I hope Estinien is the one to give this to you, because if he and the others made it home then I know you are safe. If Tataru Taru was the one to give you this letter then

Doesn’t matter. They made it home. I wouldn’t let them stay.

I don’t think Aki is here anymore, but if I see him I will tell him you love him.

Your daughter and humble servant,

Hagane no Hanami

—

The second letter, written on sturdy cardstock and folded neatly into thirds with a spidery sketch on the outside of the paper. Though the drawing is rough, it clearly depicts an Elpis flower.

Mune,

I tried my best with the drawing. The people here in Sharlayan call it a heartblossom. The only one I had with me died before I could press it, so if I can’t give you one myself this will have to do.

You are the light of my life. I have not said it enough. It has been an honor to see you grow into a brave, kind young man. My greatest regret is that I was not there to see more of it.

By the time I was your age I had decided I was much too old and mature for things like hugs from my mothers—not that I liked them much when I was younger either. I am glad that you do not seem to be too old yet for hugs from your auntie. If you need one, just hold this letter as tight as you can. It is the best I can do now.

You are becoming a fine healer, and I am so proud of you for choosing to care for others. You are a gift. But please remember to take care of yourself in turn, even when you do not want it. That is a lesson it took me too long to learn, but you are much smarter than I am. And remember that it is not shameful to be sad, or scared—everyone is. I am, often. This is the only healing I have learned: the treatment for fear and sadness is to share it with others so they can hold you up. Let your dad and your aunts and uncles and grandmothers take care of you even when you are upset. And if you are upset at me because I am gone—that’s okay too.

I love you and miss you every day I am gone, and know that wherever I am now I will always be proud of you, tanpopo. Be safe and live well.

Your auntie Hana

—

The third letter in the pile is written in wandering, uneven lines, as though the author allowed their thoughts to dictate their hand in real-time.

Haruki—

I haven’t been a very good role model to you, have I? You know that already though, you were there half the times that Aki yelled at me.

I don’t know how you are the way you are—childish and responsible all at once. Sometimes I look at you and wonder how you’re the same person as the baby brother who used to sneak out with me and get drunk on the riverbank. It’s a good thing, I think. Not the drinking, that wasn’t very good for me at all, but that you learned how to grow up and stay happy. You figured out how to settle down. I’m a little jealous.

I don’t remember if I ever apologized for disinheriting myself. You deserved a little warning. But we both know you’re better at being a dutiful child than I am, you always have been. Obviously. You spent all those years keeping our family together as much as you could while I was abroad being stupid. And now—I’ve probably done something even more stupid but you don’t need me to tell you that, I’m sure you’ve heard all about it by now.

I finally figured out that what I want, and the way I care for our family, isn’t the sort of life that lets me stay at home to be a dutiful caretaker, at least not yet. If you’re reading this I won’t get the chance to try. Even though it’s selfish of me to ask you to do my job for me, keep taking care of them. If anyone can do it it’s you. Maybe Itomi and Naonaka will come back with me gone—I would say not to be mad at them but you never were the sort to hold grudges. That’s what I am good at. Let them continue to be angry with me if they want to be, though, it will not hurt anything. Just as long as they are safe.

They’re in your hands now and I am sorry for it, but I know you will be fine.

—Hanami

—

A fourth letter, scrawled in unpracticed Common on a single sheet of paper.

Rielle,

You have not needed me to take care of you for a long time, but you should know by now that will not stop me and Sidguru from worrying about you. Remember that, please.

I know Sidguru will continue to watch over you for as long as he can, but if something happens, you know how to reach my nephew, yes? I know the two of you have been writing letters. Tell him that you need help and I promise my family will do everything they can for you. Maybe you do not want to be treated like a child, but it can be a very grown-up thing to know when you need help. Let that be one lesson Sidguru and I learned the hard way for you.

Whatever happens next, I want you to remember to be a child every once in a while. You grew up too fast and I am sure we did not help, asking you to watch us fumble down our own paths. You are finding yours but do not rush it. If nothing else, grow slowly out of spite.

I am proud of you every day for the choices you make to better the world around you.

And try to be gentle with Sidguru. He means well even if he is an ass about it sometimes. If he gets too bad tell him I will come back just to hit him.

Hanami

On the page’s back: a postscript, written in the same ink but a different hand.

I love you both more than you’ll ever know. Be well.

—

The fifth letter is crumpled and bears a faint stain on the back, as though it had been discarded and then retrieved.

Vrtra, you bastard, why did you jinx it. I have lived long enough to learn that the universe is a spiteful bitch, I would think that you would know better.

If I find out you have decided to sit back and brood instead of helping the others find a way to the moon I will find Midgardsormr and send him to slap you.

—

The final letter is folded into a neat square and bears neither a recipient nor a signature.

The priest made us say ‘til death do us part,’ but remember what I told you? Not even then. I said I would haunt you and I meant it, so every time you hear a strange noise or something falling over in the middle of the night I want you to smile. Maybe I will get Mandragora to help me.

Someone asked me the other day if I thought parts of our souls stayed with us in our next lives. If we remembered who we had been before, somehow, and if it changed the people we would become. Most of me hopes not. You know I hate that shit. But if we do…

See you next time.

—

The healers had finally stopped force-feeding her most of the potions and tonics that had decorated her bedside tray, so for the first time in days Hanami found herself dozing in the weak afternoon sunshine for a simple lack of anything else to do, rather than as a side effect of the pain medicines. Her visitors had wandered off—or been kicked out—which was fine; she was tired and talking hurt her ribs after a while, and there was only so much sitting in silence being pitied that she could handle. Sleep was better than boredom anyway; she wasn’t even allowed exercise yet, aside from what one of the stuffy sages had called breathing therapy, and she could only do so much sitting and thinking about her breathing before she lost it. Not, she thought wryly, that she had a whole lot to lose.

(Y’shtola had said that there was a real concern that she might have suffered brain damage from the length of time that she’d been without oxygen. Hanami had almost said she didn’t see how it was different from her normal, but it seemed to be the sort of humor best kept to herself.)

She was close enough to true sleep that when the door creaked open, it took her several seconds to decide to pay attention, by which point the booted footsteps had already stopped and something landed with an unceremonious whump on her mattress.

“The twins were making noise about cleaning your room for you,” Thancred said, “so I thought I’d do you a favor and sweep the place for anything you’d rather they not see.”

Hanami couldn't manage to be offended when he was right. She cracked her eyes open to find Thancred smirking, arms crossed, and the envelope she’d left sitting just to the right of her lap.

“My door was locked,” she said.

“So it was!” he said, and began to cast his eyes about the hospital room. “You’re welcome, by the way. And while I hate to encourage crass comedy”—which was a joke in itself, even if she couldn’t be assed to call him on it—”I would also hate to encourage reckless arson.” A few short strides took him to a shelf, and after standing on his toes to reach the back he returned, grinning, with a steel bedpan.

Despite the shooting pain in her ribs, Hanami started to cackle.

“If you intend to follow your own instructions to the letter, I want no part in it,” he said. Rather than throw it he set the pan on her side table, in easy reach of the bed.

Her arm burned with the exertion of lifting the envelope. Even with her shaking hand her instructions were easy enough to read. Maybe instructions was generous—maybe the closest thing she had to a prayer, wrapped around the confessions inside.

“Fuck you,” she said amicably. “Give me a match.”

Forget the letters. She’d have time to say it all herself.

#final fantasy xiv #oc: hanami hagane #endwalker #endwalker spoilers #6.0 spoilers #s: a minor justice #if you squint #also #thancred waters #is there #i feel like it doesn't need to be said but she's not actually going to Do The Thing. she just uses crass humor to deal with stress. #also I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT ENDWALKER AND HANAMIS CHARACTER DEVEOPMENT DURING IT #PLEASE LOOK FORWARD TO IT #writing - mine

[charmspoint]

how was it ^-^

Let's seee. It was good, perfectly enjoyable, it reads fast and i was never really bored with it. I'd give most chapters like a 7/10 and then chapters 71-82 like 8 or 9/10 and then back to like 7/10 and the ending was weird but also kinda sweet in its own way.

Now to preface anything else: This isn't my type of manga. I can easily see it being a 10/10 for someone who really likes fight scenes and death and gore and what not. I'm not really into that, I'm a character and story driven person which is why the manga as a whole scored as just goodish to me while chapters 71-82 which kinda make a lot of emotional and psychological aspects of the chapters before them come to culmination scored a lot better. You know I don't GET fights. Chainsaw man was very gory but I didn't even really register it. Like because of all the gore I feel I heard people say it has horror aspects but I never really felt scared or off put or anything. It was just kinda like 'oh a lot of people are in pieces rn, okay, that's a thing that's happening'. So yeah that's why the score is the way it is, it simply isn't a manga that focuses on things I like and that's perfectly alright. I couldn't buy into the hype like I did with jjk and I certently didn't feel 'oh this is the best thing ever' like I felt with witch hat atelier.

With all that out of the way let me talk long and hard about Denji and sexual aspects of the series in a surprisingly positive light:

I like Denji as a character. I think he's still a bit rough around the edges but he's not a character made for introspection so that's fine, you really kinda have to take what he says and how he acts and think about it because the author won't do it for you. That being said, I think Denji is probably the most compelling shonen protagonist I've read so far. Like when I read bnha or jjk I see Izuku and Yuji and I'm like 'this is a shonen protagonist'. They are a likable character but they won't be your favorite character. They are largely made for japanese high school boys to project themselves on and I'm not a japanese high school boy. That being said, Denji feels like a character of his own and not something meant to be projected on to. Honestly if anyone projected on to Denji I'd be worried about them. But that makes him probably the most compelling shonen protagonist I've ever read. You just wanna dig a shovel into his skull and go 'man kid ur fucked up'.

I know when you first read csm you were off put by Denji because it felt like a manga put a pervert character as a protag which is naturally off putting and I can 100% see that. Now be it because I was warned about it first or something else, I didn't actually find fanservice jarring at all. It kinda was integrated into the world in a way that made me think 'yeah of course it's like this'. This is a very grim and rough and drty world and things in it would be just like that. It is a story about base desires and sex is one of those. These are people who expect they will die any day now and Denji is a person who's just now getting to experience a somewhat decent standard of living. Here's a thing I noticed though: even as Denji thinks many sexual things (which, he's a teenager, that's normal) he's actually very respectful. I don't think I've ever seen him touch anyone without their permission, in fact i think things like that mostly happen to him. Like example how Power comes in just as Denji is in the middle of his 'i wanna touch some boobs' phase. You would almost expect that what happens next is we see him try to grope Power as she's sleeping or something. But no, he doesn't do a thing until she asks him to help her save her cat and he gets to touch her boobs for it. And it's like this with p much every other sexual encounter through the series. Both partners are consenting and getting something out of the whole thing. Sexual aspects are used as normal bartering chips in a world where your whole body is a bartering chip. It's normal and no one is forced into it. I've told you before that my biggest misgiving with fanservice is that it's often based on embarrassment and unwilling participation of the girls. Like fanservice isn't fanservice because you saw a boob it's fanservice because you saw a boob when you weren't supposed to, when the girl didn't want you, when she's angry or scared or embarrassed because you did. A lot of fanservice feels very much like taking something from the girl, debasing and humiliating her for the sake of watchers/readers satisfaction.

Despite all it's sexual jokes and themes and everything else Chainsaw man never once made me feel like that. It never once made me feel like the author expected me to gain sexual satisfaction out of debasement of female cast. Which is why even though boobs and naked women are literally all over the manga I didn't mind it at all. It stopped being fanservice and became just a natural part of characters lives as sexuality and sex is a natural part of real world.

Back to Denji.

So I mussed a bit about Denji and Maslow before but here it is in total

Denji is 16 years old and at the beginning of the series he's just starting to have his physiological and safety needs met. Like he doesn't live like a human being at the start of the series and Makima recruiting him is A BIG CHANGE for him. Like for a good while Denji is like 'Now I have three meals a day and a place to sleep at so I'm good with whatever'. He's given reliable sources to fulfil his needs and he's given a way to keep those sources stable. He has a job, it's not a good job but he has it. He has a place to live and a theoretical safety net. He's immortal so there's nothing to fear in the death and injury department which means the otherwise unsafe job is perfectly fine for him. Now what Denji gets stuck on through most of the series is Love and Belonging. Because you can't just give someone love like you can give them food (not that Makima doesn't try). People are more complicated. Compromises need to be made and human connections are hard to establish, especially if you are someone like Denji who has no idea how to interact with others aside from obeying orders. This is why his need for love and belonging first manifests as a sexual need (that and he's an allo teenager). Human connections are hard but sexual contact doesn't have to come tied with connections so it's easier (if unsatisfactory as Denji finds out with Power) to achieve. A lot of Denji's personal growth is tied to him finding out that this need can be fulfilled by other things alongside sex. This is why I love chapters 71-82 so much because they are really a culmination of Denji's emotional journey in that category. Along the way along with sexual love he finds romantic one. He wants to spend time with girls he likes, he wants them to like him beyond the sexual. Of course sexuality is always an aspect of it but after that scene with Power it's never the only thing. Human connection, understanding the other person, knowing them, loving them, making them happy. And it all culminates in the familial love he finds with Aki and Power, taking care of someone and being taken care of for no other reason than they are your family and you love them, you care for them, you want them to be well and happy. There's this scene with Power later on when they are taking a bath together and Denji is like 'huh we are both naked but it doesn't feel naughty at all'. He's stopped seeing Power sexually because he started to see her as his sister and it's just really nice, those few chapters we get to see them as a family are really nice.

By the end of the series Denji starts checking off the esteem box too, by people accepting him and loving him and him feeling like he wants to respond to that, but I feel like that aspect and possible self actualization will be more explored in part 2.

There you have it, my essay about why Denji is the most compelling Shonen protagonist I've ever read :)

Also I really liked the girls in this series, it really isn't afraid of letting it's female characters be weird and gross and in Makima's case just plain evil and I appreciate it for that. I just wish Quanxi got more time and things to do but she's a side character and it's not her fault she's cooler than the whole main cast (Power best girl tho).

I feel like I talked a lot already about what was my most important take away from the whole thing but yeah, in general: pretty entertaining read, would probably be a complete blast for someone who's invested in fights, a little thin on psychology and emotion for my tastes but when it delivers them it delivers them good.

Also I like how it basically ended on 'you should give people more hugs' it was cute

Additionally I think the authors idea to basically release manga in seasons like you would an anime is straight up genius I hope that more mangakas start picking this up because it allows them more rest in between big arcs.

Ok now that's it for real this time.

#megacarapa #lucy rants #csm #chainsaw man #character analysis fanservice discussion sex and sexuality dicussion this baby has it all

[themoonlovemuses]

Patching Up (Akihiko x Reader)

Summary: After an intense fight against Arcana Hermit, and dealing with Chidori on the roof, the group of heads back to the dorms to figure out what’s next. Burs someone is hiding how hurt they truly are, and you’re not about to let him suffer in silence.

Authors Note: By the way, this beautiful art was made by @noctilin. If you like it, please consider taking a look at their work and following them!

“I can’t believe I didn’t sense Chidori. It’s my only power, and yet…”

Fuuka’s sentence drifts off as she loses herself in thought. The rest of the group have gone on ahead to deal with Chidori and check on Junpei, so right now it was just you reassuring Fuuka as you both descend the stairs to join them.

“Cheer up Fuuka!” It’s probably like Ikutski said, she must have some connection with this Medea persona that blocks her from being sensed, just like you use Lucia to scan Tartarus.”

“Maybe, but still… They were on the roof and I didn’t even know! Who knows what could’ve happened to Junpei in all that time”

“None of us knew either, so don’t feel too bad about it. It just means we all have to work harder to make sure nothing like this happens again. And we can do that together!”

“You’re right… Thanks (Y/N). Now come on, the others are probably waiting for us.”

With a quick hug on the second floor, the pair of you rush down to the ground floor. And just like Fuuka guessed, everyone was sitting on the sofas and resting themselves

“Well, that could’ve gone better.” Mitsuru sighs, as she sits up more on the armchair she’s occupied, now that she sees the two of you enter the room.

“Yeah, I hope Junpei is ok, he went straight to his room after the whole thing… Not that I’m worried or anything, he always bounces back from things.” Yukari contributes, laying on one of the sofas she and Ken are sharing.

“Well, we’ll have to speak about it with him in the morning. I’m sure that he just wants to get some rest after this whole ordeal that’s happened today. In the meantime, Aigis and Ikutski are escorting her to the hospital and we can question her tomorrow as well. Akihiko, are you able to come with me to do that?”

“...What? Oh yeah, sure, no problem…” Akihiko replies from the other sofa distractedly.

Taking note of this, you glance at Akihiko from your place, leaning on the other armchair were Makoto is sitting. Outwardly, he looks like he usually does; itching for the next fight and making sure everyone’s ok. But he’s crossing his arms across his chest… and grabbing one of his sides?

“In that case, I suggest we all get some rest and prepare for tomorrow. It may not be a school day, but there’s lots to do tomorrow, and we need to plan our next move against Strega and whatever it is they plan to do. Goodnight everyone.” And having wished everyone a goodnight, she heads upstairs to her room.

Slowly, everyone says their goodnights as well, making their way upstairs to their respected rooms… except for Akihiko. As you’re about to make your way upstairs as well, you realize Akihiko is just sitting on the sofa, as if he’s waiting for everyone to go before he does. Knowing that he likes privacy, but not willing to let him suffer in silence, you wait until you can’t hear your friends anymore and head back towards him.

“Hey, are you ok? I noticed you grabbing your side while Mitsuru was talking.” You asked, trying to lower your voice as to not scare him or alert your friends. But it seems that it didn’t work, as he still jumped a little at your voice.

“Oh (Y/N)! I thought you’d gone with the others. No, I’m fine, don’t worry about it.” He replied, trying to get up off of the sofa. But as he straightened up, he winced a bit and grabbed his side again. As soon as you saw that, you were by his side, gently supporting him as he leans against the arm of the sofa.

“You’re clearly not as fine as you think you are. What’s wrong with your side?” You asked, trying not to touch his side in case it hurts.

“It’s nothing (Y/N), it’s probably just a combination of the battering the hermit gave us and the match this afterno-”

“YOU HAD A MATCH THE DAY YOU KNEW YOU WERE FIGHTING TOUGH SHADOWS!?!?” You exclaimed, sitting him down on the sofa again and rushing to the kitchen for the first aid box.

“I have to get stronger somehow! It’s good to get practice in whenever I can, especially if the shadows are getting stronger.” He sighed, exasperated at what he believes is an over-exaggeration of the situation.

“Come on Aki... You need to take care of yourself sometimes too. You can’t just worry about everyone’s health. Now let me take care of you.” You reply, almost pleading with him as you return with the first aid box and open it up.

“...Fine. But only because it’s you.” Blushing, and refusing to look you in the eye, he gingerly takes off his school vest and carefully lifts up his shirt to expose his left side.

You can see that he put in the work at training because his side is bruised to hell and back. His side is covered in blue, purple and yellow bruises from what must have been training with his coach, and you can also see where the hermit must have bashed it as well, because there are faint lines of red scratches there as well, as if his wirey arms scraped across it. You can’t believe he didn’t scream out in pain during the fight, and you almost want to argue with him more about how he needs to rest, but you know he’ll just say he needs to get stronger. So biting your lip for the moment, you get the bandages and the ointment and gently wrap up his wound, taking care not to make him wince. After you’re done patching him up, he puts down his shirt and grabs his vest, still not looking you in the eye yet.

“I know you don’t like the fuss Aki, I just don’t like it when you get hurt and focus on everyone else. You deserve to be taken care of too. You don’t always have to be the strong, unbreaking senior all the time.” You say, wrapping your arms around his neck and hugging him, which he returns almost immediately.

“I know… and I’m working on allowing others to help me when there’s a problem I can’t sort on my own,” He slowly pulls away from the hug to look at your face and smiles down at you. “I just don’t want to cause a fuss because of my injuries. I’m a boxer, I’m used to being injured at this point.”

“Then instead of thinking it as a fuss, how about we make it into a challenge then! We don’t have school tomorrow, so if you promise to rest up, and stop worrying about everyone else’s health, I’ll take you Hagakure Ramen for beef bowls. My treat!”

“...Heh, I’ll take you up on that offer. After me and Mitsuru question Chidori at the hospital, we can go.” He agrees, ruffling your hair and getting up from the sofa and heading to his room.

“Great! But you know the deal, you’ve gotta rest, so go to bed!” You exclaim, chicking a pillow at him from the sofa.

“ Hey! Same goes for you! Otherwise, you’re a hypocrite!” He laughs, catching the pillow and chucking it right back at you, noticing the tiredness in your eyes as well. And just on cue, a yawn escapes your mouth, making him laugh even more.

“C’mon, we could both do with the rest.” He finishes, pulling you up from the sofa and heading upstairs to your respective rooms with you. And with a quick hug and a kiss to the temple from Akihiko when you reach the second floor, you head to bed, thinking about everything that’s transpired today and how on earth you and your friends are going to take the next steps to beat these shadows and Strega.

#p3 akihiko #akihiko #akihiko sanada #sanada #persona akihiko #akihiko x reader #sanada x reader #akihiko sanada x reader #persona #persona 3 #persona 3 portable #x reader #Self Insert #reader #oneshot #writing

[beneaththetangles]

Reader’s Corner: Solo Leveling, Horimiya, and Love in Focus

My Best Friend’s Little Sister Has it in for Me, Vol. 1

Ten or fifteen years ago, I was involved in a roleplay writing community. For those that haven’t participated before, the idea is that an admin sets up a scenario (sometimes quite intricate) and players join as characters, taking turns posting paragraphs from their characters’ perspectives and jointly advancing the story. There’s no realistic foundation and little consistency in these roleplays, but if the writers are good, the story is a whole lot of fun. My Sister’s Best Friend Has it in for Me is a lot like those stories—there’s virtually no attempt to create a sense of realism, a story the reader can put himself into, but the tale is so entertaining that it hardly matters. It’s also a little difficult to describe, as this volume is quite ambitious, beginning as the story of a most “average” boy who feels that every girl, including the titular one, Iroha, hates him, before introducing another hater / love interest, Mashiro, who happens to be the daughter he must fake date in order to secure a job for himself and his secret game app development group. Whew, chew on all that. The shenanigans and the protagonist, Aki, are set as purely in the world of tropes as that summary is, but the swift action and frequent dialogue keep the volume extremely engaging (even if I found the fanservice and foul language a little off-putting), but there’s this, too—interludes are used effectively, revealing character insights and even turning the plot suddenly, and when combined with an unexpected reveal toward the end of the volume, emphasize how competent the author, Ghost Mikawa, is. This is a fun tale, written for fans of anime love comedies, but with surprisingly energy and just maybe some unexpected and strong intent. ~ Twwk

My Best Friend’s Little Sister Has it in for Me is published by J-Novel Club.*

Many Are Called

Recently, I was looking through the manga that I own and wanted to see if I hadn’t covered any for Reader’s Corner. To my surprise, I forgot about this manga, Many Are Called, which is based on the biblical text of Matthew 25: 1-13. I had started it a while back, so I determined to finally complete it and give my thoughts, even though it’s already been covered here. The story starts off with Christ sharing to several of his disciples the parable of the ten virgins and then the story of the king who requests guests to come to his banquet. It’s a well illustrated action-drama with the prince going out to save the princess, akin to Christ rescuing His bride from evil. As Twwk mentioned in his review, I would have liked this to be a multiple volume manga to see the characters fleshed out more and given more scenes. Still, after turning the last page, I thanked God for the read and I hope more manga like this is produced soon. I recommend getting a copy if you want something fresh and inspiring. – Samuru

Many Are Called is published by Manga Hero.

Love in Focus, Vol. 2

While I enjoyed volume one of Love in Focus for the most part, I can say that I enjoyed its sequel even more! It continues right after the declaration at the end of the previous volume and into a certain someone making their feelings known, and another experiencing new feelings. With that, I will say my favorite part was seeing the natural progression of Mako realizing she has feelings for a certain someone. I thought it was very well done; I was worried that it would be rushed, but it was far from it! I also really enjoyed getting a backstory chapter about Kei! It was eye-opening to see how he met Mako and realized when he first started loving her, as well as seeing his family dynamics. The photography aspect also continues to be a fun theme to read about, and I loved the little tip that was woven in the story. Though this series hasn’t had very strong cliff hangers, the slightly cliff hanger-y ending has me very interested in seeing what happens in the conclusion of this series! ~ Laura A. Grace

Love in Focus is published by Kodansha.

Solo Leveling, Vol. 2 (Light Novel)

A sneaky good read, Solo Leveling approaches the grimdark isekai genre (without technically being an isekai) with unexpected dramatic elements, slowly unfolding a tale that hasn’t quite revealed itself yet, but is a whole lot closer to it after volume two with the appearance of a new character who has an intimate connection to Jin Woo and a more international story than first anticipated. However, 90% of the story remains firmly set in Jin Woo’s quests and campaigns as he grows exceptionally in power while making partnerships and enemies along the way. And unlike many similar series, the protagonist himself is the most interesting character, complicated and realistic, caring and twisted. With that foundation, the addition of the interesting “game” mechanics and new skills that Jin Woo develops adds further layers to the story, which reads like a wholly original work instead of as a simple adaptation. There’s also a heavy Korean tone to the series, both in the story details (names, meals, locations) and in the it’s general approach, which varies considerably from a Japanese light novel or manga. While I can’t say I’ll finish the story—the moral quandaries of Jin Woo’s choices are both engaging and off-putting—I will say that I breezed through the 300+ page novel in just a couple of days, and am anticipating volume three as well. ~ Twwk

Solo Leveling is published by Yen Press.*

Horimiya, Vol. 1

Several seasons now removed from the stylish anime, and witnessing (and reading about) how the story was rushed through its one cour, I decided to pick up volume one of the manga on which Horimiya was adapted. And indeed, although the story about the connection that develops between the popular Hori and gloomy Miyamura (who both hide unsuspecting parts of themselves) is generally the same, as much of volume one was covered almost panel by panel in the adaptation, there are already significant differences showing—portions cut out, important characterization missed, and items placed out of order. It makes for a read that’s both familiar and new. There’s a loveliness to this story, a strong heart, and plenty of humor as well—all enough to interest me in continuing with the manga, even if I already know how it all ends. ~ Twwk

Horimiya is published by Yen Press.*

=====

Reader’s Corner is our way of embracing the wonderful world of manga, light novels, and visual novels, creative works intimately related to anime but with a magic all their own. Each week, our writers provide their thoughts on the works their reading—both those recently released as we keep you informed of newly published works and older titles that you might find as magical (or in some cases, reprehensible) as we do.

#Manga #Light Novels #Tomodachi no Imouto ga Ore ni Dake Uzai #My Best Friend’s Little Sister Has it in for Me! #Many Are Called #Renzu Sou no Sankaku #Love in Focus #Solo Leveling #Horimiya #Reader's Corner #Articles #Author: TWWK #Author: Samuru #Author: Laura A. Grace

[momowoah]

Rewatching GG 2.0!

So, my new thoughts on episode 1 (long post so adding a cut):

The starting sequence was a good way to introduce the characters. We got a glimpse of their morning routine + family for some. I had forgotten how much the adults in GG wanted Zoya and Julien to stay apart. Like, what's the problem of them going to the same school and meeting each other?

I don't really like how Gossip Girl was introduced. In the og, GG was never the reason why the students respected authority. It was the Headmistress. In the pool incident and in the Blair × Ms. Carr fight, she was the one that punished them. Besides, the grades and such were manipulated even with Gossip Girl around. I think it would be better to introduce it later in the episode, and for another reason.

Lunet is in full business mode while Max is just entertained lol

Obie and Julien actually seem into each other?

The way Audrey and Aki automatically go to Max + Aki's comment about Max's face without a Max makes me think at least the three hung out together the previous year and were closer to each other than to the rest of the group even before all the throuple stuff.

Julien is really bad at lying lol. She can't even keep a straight face.

Just realized I spent the entire scene thinking someone was missing from the group but it really was just them. Zoya does make a difference huh.

Idk why but the seven seem to be closer in this scene than on the rest of the series.

They really thought a tweet would do something lol

They're cute sisters. Why do they have to be the enemies of the series?

Julien really wanted her friends to like Zoya while they all think they have to protect JC from her because they think Zoya is a stalker

They seem so comfortable sitting around each other and just doing each their thing

Was Monet more annoyed about Zoya when she started agreeing with Obie? Lol

Keller really is obsessed with Julien huh. Watching her stories on the subway, the hallway scene, suggesting her as GG's target...

One day and the teachers think they're Gossip Girl experts... What a joke

The first Gossip Girl speech was not good. Like, the intro was og style so it was okay, but "feature your finstas, surface those subtweets"? Really?

Is it just me or are Julien and Max kind of the leaders of the group? We all know Julien is the ruling queen of Constance but Max was the one who reminded everyone of the Dumbo Hall meeting and his interactions with Julien and Lunet always give that impression.

Obie badmouthing his girlfriend to her half sister they barely knew? Trash

I just realized that the Audrey said the "hand-me-down" thing because Aki tapped a chair to call Audrey to sit and Zoya thought he was asking her

Also Aki might not say anything but he seems equally annoyed with Zoya as the rest

That scene was so uncomfortable with everyone looking at Zoya while Julien listed the rules. Maybe this reboot is better than I first thought.

I just realized Julien always ignores comments and questions she doesn't want to deal with

Interesting how Obie seemed to care about Julien and be cautious of Zoya at first but every time she mentions anything activism-related he suddenly shows interest. Did he even actually like her or did their whole relationship happen just so he could show off that he cared about it?

"Public schools pay better" "So we should get Keller fired and let her work somewhere else?"

Obie actually seems annoyed at Julien?

Audrey seemed worried when Max mentioned something was different between her and Aki and we saw at the beginning of the episode they weren't doing so well. Did she become interested in Max because she was afraid her relationship wasn't working anymore and wanted to try something else? It matches what happened so far (how Audrey seemed to regain complete interest in Aki after she slept with Max) and my theories for 1b. Also explains why it took so long for Audrey's attraction to Max stop looking like sexual attraction only. Either that or it took her that long to realize she was into Max.

"Why would you think someone deserves something more than you?"

Some Julien quotes really just show perfectly how she thinks, the writers did well

I never realized why Julien was the queen, but now I see that she does resemble Blair somehow. She thinks she deserves to be the center of attention, studies everything and everyone before allowing them to enter their life (lying about Zoya because she was afraid she wouldn't like her) and is insecure about losing what she has. She really was the right choice, and it makes her development in the next episodes far better. Meeting Zoya made her start caring more about the people around her. Such a shame it'll all go up in flames in 1b. Or not. I am watching this for the drama so

Lying really seems to be a big deal between the seven, while in the og everything they did was lie to each other.

Really love the strategically placed window lol

Badmouthing his girlfriend again? Bad, Obie!

It's kinda sad to hear O talk about how much JC has changed, idk why

I really want Julien's cover to fall and her real personality to show. I think even with her going off social media we still only got a glimpse of who she was

Whitney Peak is so pretty omg

"I should be arrested" Yes.

The Lott's house is the only that feels like a home rather than just an empty box, from their relationship to the music playing in the background and just how casual they act.

Rewatching really has helped me like Zoya and Julien more

These people don't even know what Gossip Girl is and already trust it with their lives lol

Audrey and Max act like they just began liking each other while Aki and Max act like it has been going for a while. Huh.

I just love this trio.

You can see the exact moment Audrey decides the threesome will happen lol

You know that conscience thing with an angel giving good advice while a demon gives bad advice? Monet and Luna are Julien's demon. They play into her insecurities to be able to scheme and destroy as they wish. Love them for it. Blair Waldorf would be proud.

More to Max being the second leader of the group: he seems to be close to everyone. He hangs out with Aki and Audrey, gives advice and helps Julien (as seen in ep 3) and seems to enjoy scheming with Luna and Monet (immediately up to their plan and finding it entertaining, they knew he would agree)

Max, Audrey and Aki smiling as Zoya was escorted outside...

"Why didn't you stop it when it happened?" She was literally in the middle of the show????

Random thought but is the reason why Julien brought Zoya to NY related to the phone call somehow? She said it was because their mother wanted them to know each other but why only now then?

Starting to really think Julien knows exactly what that phone call was about and it wasn't something that just happened to her

Yeah I really like Julien more now that I kinda understand how she thinks. Plus Zoya's determination to put her in her place will probably be a good part of her character development not only in 1a, but also maybe in the rest of the series. Starting to think Zoya will be the new GG.

Don't like Obie but he was right to breakup with her then.

Also I think I missed what is it that Zoya does??? I know it's some kind of art but I don't know if it's acting (since she mentioned Yale Drama) or something else. They don't really talk about it. Maybe scriptwriting considering Kate mentors her?

I think it's because they don't use the theme song anymore but I barely notice GG's lines in the reboot.

"You know you can think about him, right?" <3

Love the soundtrack

Really love how Zoya goes from dressing like Little J in the first day to impress JC and friends to dressing like herself at the end of the episode

Luna was brushing the air in the balcony scene lmaooo

Julien apologizing to Kate to prove Gossip Girl was working was kinda forced ngl

Are the profile pics of the people dming GG stock photos? Lol

They do spend a record time at school in this episode

#gossip girl hbo #gossip girl reboot #new gossip girl #gossip girl #gg

[kewltie]

"Where's no. 3?!" Katsuki demands, storming into the front office of Yavin Elementary.

"G-Ground Zero?" the receptionist squeaks, hand clutching her chest as though she's in a heartattack.

"Midoriya Hikaru," Katsuki snaps, stomping his way toward her. "Where the fuck is he?"

"I—we," she leans back in a little and breathes, "r-requested to talk Midoriya-san about Hikaru, sir," she says, attempting to regather her bearings once more.

"He's busy right now," Katsuki asserts, frowning, "so I'm here in his stead. Tell me what the problem is then."

"We would prefer to talk to a parental unit instead," she insists, steeling herself in the face of Katsuki's thinning impatient.

Katsuki glowers. "I'm his fucking guardian," he bites out. "The brat lives under my roof, shit in my toilet, chow down on my food, and hog my TV, so as far as I'm fucking concern he's as much mine as Deku’s!,” he finishes with a snarl.

"Um," she says, blinking hard.

Katsuki drags his face down his hand and sighs. "Look, you can just over your paperwork and see that I'm listed as one of the emergency contacts for him. Or,” he gives her a pointed glare, “you can talk to my fucking lawyers."

"I—I'll double check right away, sir," she says hurriedly, turning to her computer. Several minutes pass by as Katsuki waits with a growing agitation for her to confirm what he already knows. Thank fucking shit, he'd actually listened to Deku about getting listed on the kids’ emergency cards.

They're a fucking menace, so he should have known something would happen, but he'd given them at least a month, not a week into the new school year, that he would get that call. And for it to be Hikaru of all people and not his twin or eldest sister. That's the fucking shocking part.

"Zero-san?" the receptionist calls out to him. "I apologize for earlier. You're indeed correct, your name is listed as emergency contact for Hikaru," she says, picking up the office phone nearby. "I'll go ahead and call Okaye-sensei to let her know to bring Hikaru up right away."

And that take even longer several minutes, causing him to start pacing a hole in the floor with his rapidly depleting patience. Fucking hell.

He hears the click of heels and the slow familiar gait of Hikaru approaching from a distant before he even saw them. It makes him breathe a sigh of relief.

"Zero-san?" Okaye says, walking into the office with Hikaru's small hunched figure in tow. From the tilt in her voice she's as much as surprise of his appearance here as the receptionist was earlier. "I was honestly expecting Midoriya-san instead."

"He's not here right now, so you're stuck with me," Katsuki says dismissively, his only focus is the brat next to her. "No. 3?" He drops down on to the floor on one knee and opens his arms to Hikaru. "What the fuck happen to you, huh?"

Okaye frowns at his choice of language, but Hikaru quickly lights up at the sound of his voice and breaks away from her side to fall into his arms. "Kacchan," he wails, sniffing into Katsuki's shoulder.

"Hikaru got into a fight with another student from his class," she explains slowly.

Katsuki pauses, pushing him back to look at him over. He eyes Hikaru from head to toe, noticing the bruises running up both arms and the split lip on his kid. "Okay, tell me this at least: did you win and kick that other kid's ass?" he asks gravely, completely serious.

"Zero-san!" Okaye gasps in outrage.

Hikaru nods, gripping the sleeve of Katsuki's shirt in his bruised fist. Katsuki grins and reaches over to wipe away the tear tracks on Hikaru's wet cheeks. "Good, I knew you had it in you, No. 3," he says, pride thickening his voice as ruffles Hikaru's tangled mess of green hair.

"That's extremely improper," she argues. "We don't endorse that kind of behavior here."

"Yea?" he says, shooting a glare over Hikaru's shoulders toward Okaye. "Well, I didn't spent hours teaching my brat to fight back so he can let some snot nose little twat beat up him while you all watched and do absolute shit."

Okaye frowns. "Our academy does not condone bullying. We do our best to stop it before it happen."

"Then what do you call this?" Katsuki demands, carefully gripping Hikaru's shoulder and spins him around to show her the blotches of purple and blue on him. "I know No. 3. He's a good kid, he wouldn't start a fight but he'll finish them." He squeezes Hikaru's shoulder in reassurance. "You're lucky we even let him enrolled at this subpar academy, because you certainly don't know how to fucking take care of my kid properly."

Okaye goes red in the face. "That-that's such a baseless accusation! We take the utmost care of the all children at our academy, Hikaru included." She huffs, crossing her arms across her chest. "And besides Hikaru was the one who threw the first punch."

With a brow raised, Katsuki asks Hikaru, "Did you really?" Hikaru tilts his head back to look at him and nods again as he bites down on his lip. Understanding, right away, Katsuki continues to push, "What did that little shit do to you to make you wanna punch him?"

Hikaru looks down at his feet. He doesn't speak, so Katsuki waits, letting Hikaru decide when he's ready to talk or if he want to talk at all. Finally, Hikaru steps away from him, breaking contact only to turn around to face him properly with a dour expression on his face.

"H-he said I was the son of the devil," Hikaru mumbles, hands clenching by his side. "And that Papa was a bad person. A bad omega who mated with a villain and we, kids, were just as bad." Katsuki narrow his eyes as each devastating words pass Hikaru’s lips. “It made mad. I didn’t like the way he’d talked about Papa, Aki and Yuko-niichan like that,” he quietly admits.

"I hope you got more than a punch in on that kid," Katsuki says with every bit of sincerity that he can carry. "Because I would have pummeled him into the fucking ground and beat some more senses into him."

Okaye makes a noise of protest. "Zero-san, we don't—"

Katsuki's eyes flash to her with a hostile glare. "Shut your mouth, I don't want to hear any more of your bullshit excuses," he snarls. "Right now, I'm talking to my kid, so don't fucking interrupt us."

She reels back, face drawn tight in defense, but she wisely chooses to hold her tongue lest she test the infamous temper of Japan’s number one Pro-Hero Ground Zero that had landed more than one villain in the intensive care.

Katsuki turns his attention back to the more important matter at hand. Hikaru's shoulders are hunched over and his eyes are wary with hesitance. Ever since some rat ass bastard managed to leak the kids' face and names to the media, publicly linking them to the trashcan who donated the other half of their DNA, Izuku had been afraid of this moment. He didn’t want the brats to be exposed to the hostile reality of being the spawn of a villain and what the world thought about that.

Katsuki wasn't worry. Not really, he knows Yuko and Akira. They'll be fine.

It's Hikaru he is more careful about. He's too soft, too sweet, and too hurt easily for that kind of stigma he’ll have to live with when people eventually found out that his piece of trash other parent is a mastermind criminal, who'd menaced society for the last decade; the deathtoll number in hundreds, but those affected by his crimes are thousands.

Adults naturally shitty human being, but children can be way worst with their ignorance and youth. Katsuki would know, he was one himself before UA beat it out of him and made him better for it. "You want me to have a little talk with the twerp?" Katsuki muses, fingers flexing.

Teaching troublesome brats is way beneath his paygrade, but he’ll make an exception for Hikaru and only Hikaru; he can count on Hikaru’s sisters having no problem resolving their own issues. Yuko is a goddamn terror, and Akira can easily wipe the floor with kids who are even older than her.

Hikaru shakes his head. "I don't like fighting," he says quietly. "I just wanted him to stop saying mean things about Papa and my sisters." He looks earnestly at Katsuki as something akin to fear flash across his face. "Do you think Papa will be mad at me?" He wrings his hands anxiously in front of him.

Katsuki thinks of Izuku on that specific day: standing tall, shoulders straight, and with his kids huddled closely around him as he watched his alpha, husband, the father of his children, getting drag away in quirk suppression collar and cuffs. He didn't look away. Not one bit.

It took more than fucking guts to turn his back to his mate of over a decade and reported him to the authority for being a sack of villainous shit. Especially, when there were three children still under his care to think about, but he did it without a single drop of hesitation. He didn’t regret it at all.

It was stone fucking cold.

Even with all the heroes around them, even with Katsuki there, it didn't take much for Katsuki to clearly see how Izuku was easily the strongest and bravest soul there. Omega and quirkless, they were all just a footnote to Izuku's character. They did not define him. Not then, not now, and never will.

Katsuki smirks, leaning down to pinch Hikaru's cheek who puffs up his cheek indignantly. It’s cute as hell. "Disappointed sure, but mad? Nah," he says. "That would make him a fucking hypocrite otherwise. Didn't you know when he was younger Deku used to get into all sort of trouble and fight."

Hikaru's eyes widen. "He did?!"

"Yea," Katsuki's lip twitch in amusement, "you're a shit stirrer like you're good old Papa. And," he reaches for Hikaru's hand, "even if that wasn't the case, I got your back. The world could be against you and I'll still stand by your side."

Hikaru's face crunches up as though he's in pain. "K-Kaaaaaachan," he wails, but this time it's a river of happy tears as he slams his small body right up against Katsuki's legs and wraps his arm around him. "Y-You," hiccups, "mean it?"

"Yea, I wouldn't bullshit you, brat." Rolling his eyes as Hikaru happily sobs into his pant legs, Katsuki comments, "God, you're a crier just like Deku, alright.” But there's no bite to it as he pats Hikaru's back consolingly. He’s not Deku who can easily comfort the brats from nightmares and scary things that bump in the night, but if they need someone to protect them from the brutality of the world? They have Katsuki’s fists to protect them.

He casts an askance glance at Okaye. "I'll be taking him home early for the day," he tells her point blank.

Okaye actually has the audacity to look relief as though his brat was the problem in the first place. "I think that is a wise decision to make, Zero-san."

Katsuki pulls Hikaru back enough to lean down and hitches his hands underneath the boy's armpits. He lifts Hikaru up and hikes him over his hip. "Let's go get you some ice cream, but don't tell your Papa about it," he says.

Hikaru tucks a small smile in Katsuki's chest.

Just as they about to depart and Okaye is finally free of them at last, probably wishing she took a leave of absent today, they hear loud footsteps hitting the floor beyond the walls of the office. It's so loud that even Hikaru raises his head from Katsuki's chest in interest.

"Akira, you can't go in there!" someone loudly protest from outside. "Wait until Okaye-sensei is done talking and she'll call you in."

"You’ve been saying that for the last ten minutes. I'm not waiting around anymore!" a familiar voice argues back. "Let me see my brother!"

The back door to the front office is flung open to reveal a young girl who looks like an exact copy of Hikaru, except for the green insolent eyes and razor sharp tongue, and a taller tired adult trailing behind her.

Katsuki lets out a long exhale as Akira strolls in unprompted. Here is the real troublemaker. His small tyrant.

"Hikaru!" she says as soon her eyes zeroing in her brother right away, not even acknowledging Katsuki who has him in his arms. "I was so worried about you!"

"Aki," Hikaru returns excitedly back.

"Are you alright?" she coos, walking up to them. "Let me have a good look at you."

Katsuki gently lets Hikaru down and places him right in front of Akira. She immediately jumps on him as soon as his feet hit the floor, carefully looking over every cut and bruise she found on her brother, while happily ignoring Katsuki like he's just a rock on the road. He’s not even surprise at her insolent. Yuko is cooly polite, while Akira is so foul mouth and crass that sometimes he has a hard time thinking how Izuku managed to produce her, but her green eyes and hair are all Izuku’s.

Then, he remembers why she’s exactly like this.

"I'm sorry, Okaye-sensei," the woman who came with Akira says. "I tried to stop her but she was, very," she makes a pained face, "insistent."

Okaye heaves a sigh in acknowledgement. "Akira," she says warily the latest troublemaker. "Please refrain from breaking the school's property and causing a disturbance on the school grounds."

"Y'all rich as hell, so you'll be fine," she answers dismissively, not even looking back at her. Or at Katsuki either.

Here’s the thing: Midoriya Akira is self-proclaimed Ground Zero’s number one fan. She’d watched all his videos, tune into all his battles, and had all his merch. She absolutely adores him and tries her best to imitate her idol Ground Zero, but it’s a different story when Zero’s mask is removed and Katsuki is the one standing in front of her.

Okaye cuts to Katsuki with a drained expression on her face. "This child," she mumbles under her breath in pure annoyance and exhaustion, giving over to Katsuki to handle her now.

Katsuki grabs a hold of Hikaru's arm and pulls him back from Akira's attentive care. It's enough to finally catch her attention as her green eyes narrow and flashes toward him with open derision. He drags Hikaru close him as a hostage and prepares for the bloody battle ahead.

"What are you doing here, No. 2?" Katsuki demands with suspicion. "You should be in class."

"What the hell are you doing here, Kacchan? You should be out patrolling," Akira retorts back, and when he just glares at her, she scoffs before raising her bruised knuckles proudly.

"She kick started a brawl in the middle of the classroom and got the entire class involve,” the woman behind Akira answers for her, entirely too weary and vexed—which is the norm when dealing with Midoriya Akira. She’s abrasive and prickly as porcupine, but only those that are close to her does she soften up. “Several students had to be sent to the infirmary afterward.”

"I had to prove my dominance at the top of the pack," Akira announces proudly, who has none of Izuku's sweet temperament but all of his reckless diehard attitude that had sent more than one alpha packing with their tail behind their back. "Now, they won't bother Hikaru anymore."

Feeling a headache coming on, Katsuki glares at Akira. "What the hell, No. 2?" he demands. "Deku is going to flip his shit when not just one of his fucking brats got into a fight but two? And you even pick a fight with your entire class for that matter?!"

Akira pouts. “But you told me that if I want to protect my family I have to be strong, stronger than everyone else so that nobody can hurt them anymore,” she says sulkily. “I had to assert my power somehow!”

“I didn’t mean that you should start a one man war against everyone!” Katsuki snaps, exasperated. Akira got all that bravado, but none of that keen intellect of her older sister, Yuko.

Akira, whose bulldogged nature is more akin to Katsuki because blood be damned, that occasionally he forget whose daughter she actually is, but it's time like this when her eyes start to water and her lips wobble precariously, hands trembling at her side as the dam break, that he’s reminded how like Izuku she truly is.

"I-I didn't do anything wrong," she insists doggedly with eyes leaking a goddamn waterfall because she inherit Izuku's fucking cursed tears.

"Ah, fuck," Katsuki says warily. "Don't cry, No. 2."

"I'm not crying!" she yells back as another tear track rolls down her cheek.

Unlike Hikaru who openly cried like he's vomiting his emotions all over the place until he's emptied out, Akira is much more tightly wound up as though she's a densely packed ordnance that can go off at any moment and when she explode, everything give away to anger and hurt.

Katsuki sighs, dragging his hand down his face. He's trained professional who not only kick criminals' ass on regular basis but deal with plenty of crises. Hell, he'd even saved the country a few times in the past years or so but this—? Hardest fucking thing ever. Nothing can prepare him for the trial and tribulations of parenthood.

He doesn't know how Izuku does this on a regular basis especially when he's wrangling all these kids alone without any help from his dirtbag ex-husband and still managed to pull it all off like a true champion. A damn boss. Izuku can put Katsuki and his colleagues to fucking shame. Because this feel like disaster management 101 and he's failing spectacularly at it with the way the brats' teachers are looking at him like he's a giant disappointment because he's the asshole who made his kid cry in public.

"Akira," Hikaru says worriedly, stepping forward.

The line of his shoulders dips as his head bends low and Katsuki knows the sign well enough. They're twin. Creepily in sync and deeply emphatic of each other's pain. One crying kid is enough, but two? At the same time too? That’s fucking insane. He’ll leave that to Izuku.

Katsuki moves quickly to grab Hikaru by the shoulder and sets him in place. “Stay,” he orders, and without looking back, walks up to a sulking teary eyes Akira who looks like she would bite his head off if he get any closer.

"What you want," she snaps, sniffling hard.

Wordlessly, he drops down to her level. It's an even playing field here. Katsuki may know shit about kids overall but he knows his brats and Akira hates being patronize. He would know because she's like him in a lot of ways.

He extends a hand toward her; a peace offering.

She glares at the gesture like she can burn a whole in it. She doesn't move. Doesn't even respond to it, but he waits anyway. Katsuki doesn't have a lot of patience for anyone else but for Izuku and the brats, he'd learned it the hard way. In a series of trail and errors.

A minute pass by. Then two. Three. Four. Five, and then Akira's wall of defiance and anger softens just slightly enough for her to gingerly take his hand and he pulls her right into his chest, arms wrapping around her in forceful hug that leaves her no room to change her mind.

“Sorry,” he murmurs against her ear. “I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you. That was mean of me.”

She snorts. “I don’t care,” she tells him, dropping her head on to his shoulder as her hand tightens around the front of his shirt that says otherwise. “It was your ugly face that made me cried anyway.”

He doesn’t laugh, because he doesn’t want her to punch him, but it’s a near thing. Kids, they’re going to be the death of him. Thrice over.

#bakudeku #fic snippet #stepdad au #series: numbers #this is a beta version of stepdad au aka the first draft #but i discarded for the newer adaption

[askygokindredshipping]

Never say “Yes” to Ghost Hunting... Unless....

Summary: Ghost Hunting AU anyone? Judai and Johan are sensitives and realize that Yusei is partially sensitive when he momentarily spots their familiar spirits Yubel and Ruby. However, Yusei doesn’t believe in them and thinks that the two of them are out of their minds. Can looking for non-existent beings lead to something else? (No Duel Monsters in this AU. Yubel and Ruby are both human spirits that died generations ago.)

Author’s Notes: Now that I am in a place where I don’t feel completely overwhelmed by everything and can remember to actually post here, here it is! This is the story I kept promising for that mini bang I was apart of! @hyperionnebulae​ did a fantastic job of setting it up. I’ll link the full collection at the end. Also, I had an amazing artist and I’ll edit this post with their information. The piece that they did is *chef’s kiss*.  I do know that you can visit their DeviantArt page and I highly encourage you to do so! 

Anyway, enjoy!

Yusei’s face was not looking down at the screen of his laptop, but instead, he was staring at the two men sitting across from him. It was a warm, sunny evening and he had decided that he was going to do some of his work at the local coffee shop so that he could focus. Focus. What a funny word it was. That was exactly what he was not doing.

Two young men were sitting at the table next to him, chatting amicably about something he didn't quite catch. While they were both very appealing to the eyes, they didn’t interest him nearly as much as the two people sitting next to both of them. These two figures were translucent and clearly injured. He was not a doctor, that was Aki’s area of expertise, but he’d seen enough in his day to recognize deadly injuries like those. The tallest one (Yusei couldn’t quite determine which gender either of the translucent people were and decided it was probably best not to assume anything) had a scar that went down its face, nearly dividing it in two and what looked like a jewel embedded into its forehead. Their hair was a soft, metallic blue color. The other one was shorter with wide, ruby-colored eyes and lavender colored hair, a clear bloodstain blooming from their chest and out against their lovely lavender blouse. The tall one said something to the man next to it. He responded casually. Like… like there was nothing wrong!

Yusei blinked.

They were gone.

He breathed in deep and quickly turned back to his computer screen, the words suddenly not making any kind of sense as something cold shot up his spine. No. There was no way. Those things did not exist. He refused to accept what he had just seen. There had to be a logical explanation.

Didn’t there?

“Excuse me,” a voice asked him, “Are you alright?” He looked up. The two men at the table were now looking at him. The one who spoke had teal-blue colored hair and equally blue eyes; he wore a light lavender colored blouse-style shirt with a darker blue vest over the top. “You look like you’re about to be sick.”

“Or you’ve seen a ghost,” the other added. He was dressed in a dark t-shirt with a red jacket over it. His hair was a light brown and stood out in nearly every direction (not that Yusei could judge with his own black mess) and his eyes were a warm brown. He took a breath as he registered the statement. A ghost? Those things did not exist.

But….

“I’m fine,” he finally answered. He couldn’t stop himself as he blurted out, “but what happened to your two friends?” The two of them shared a look.

“It’s only been us here,” the brown haired one said.

Yusei blinked, “You mean you don’t have two friends that are dressed up for Halloween somewhere around here?”

“Oh, they just left,” the blue haired one cut in just as the brown haired one went to say something. He shot the other a look and it seemed to take a second but, eventually, he got the meaning and quickly clamped his mouth shut again.

“They couldn’t have left that quickly,” he argued. “Are you pulling some kind of prank?” They shared a look again, and Yusei started to get mildly annoyed with it. They didn’t say anything to him for some time. Finally, he closed his laptop and stood to pack his things. Clearly, this was not where he was meant to be. Before he could walk away from the table, the brown-haired guy caught his wrist gently; electricity shot up Yusei’s arm and he flinched at the sensation even though it did not hurt. It felt a bit good.

“Sorry,” he said quickly, releasing him. “It’s just… Can we walk with you for a bit? Here’s not the place to talk.” Yusei blinked. A couple of alarms went off in his mind, but he ignored them, in favor of nodding his consent, and the three of them left together.

The brown-haired guy leaned forward as they walked, “I’m Judai Yuki and this is my partner, Johan Anderson.” Johan raised a hand in greeting when Yusei looked at him.

“Yusei Fudo.”

“Nice to meet you Yusei,” Johan greeted. Judai smiled and continued introducing the two of them.

“We’re paranormal investigators; basically, we work to help people in desperate situations involving anything they can’t explain or handle.” He straightened, walking forward a little bit. Yusei couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

“Ghost? You two deal with ghosts?”

“More or less,” Johan nodded.

“You do understand ghosts aren’t real?” They shared another look.

“Yeah, that’s what a lot of people say.”

“But we happen to know differently.”

Yusei stopped and leaned his head to the side a bit, “Alright, I’ll bite. What is your proof? A grainy photo? Horribly shot night-vision scenes? A scar you got from something being magically thrown at you?” Johan snickered and Judai had to cover his mouth with his hand. After a few seconds, the two of them could not help but laugh at his response. Yusei was taken a bit off guard. “What’s so funny?”

“You were so deadpanned when you were asking,” Judai breathed.

“It was hilarious,” Johan added. Yusei found himself blushing a bit, and he turned his head away, trying to not let them see how embarrassed he was. They recovered after a few moments. “And to answer your question, nothing like that.” He pointed off over his shoulder, “Do you see them?”

Yusei looked, then shook his head. “See who?”

“Our friends from the café,” Judai clarified. Yusei looked over their shoulders again, but still only saw the street in front of them. He shook his head.

“Nobody’s there.”

“But you did see them in the café?”

“I saw something ,” Yusei pointed out. “I don’t know what it is I saw.”

“Deny it all you want Yusei,” Judai returned, “but you did ask us about it, which meant that you did see them.” He pointed between the two of them. “Johan and I are mediums. We can communicate with spirits and we’re pretty certain that you’re at least a little bit sensitive since you could see our familiars briefly. You can’t see them right now even though they are standing next to us without utilizing too much of theirs or our energy.” Judai nodded, as if his point made a whole ton of sense. “I wonder what it would take to help you see them again? What made it possible at the café?”

“Do you think the setting had something to do with it,” Johan added. “I remember reading a report that that café has natural running water under it.”

“That might have something to do with it.”

“You two are crazy,” Yusei returned. Nothing they said made any sense! Ghosts didn’t exist, but now they were claiming… all of this ? Johan smiled at him apologetically.

“It’s a lot the first time. You probably don’t believe us, but I have a suggestion.” He clapped his hands together. “Why don’t you come with us tonight? We have a job at a local place this evening. It’ll give us a chance to show you what you’re talking about and to confirm if you are sensitive or not.”

“Full offense, but I just met you.”

“I know.”

“How can I trust you?”

“You can’t.” That took him by surprise and Yusei felt staggered a bit. “But you might find it more interesting than you think. I promise.” Yusei looked between the two of them. Logically, he had no reason to trust either one of them. Something in his gut, though, told him something completely different; it was whispering that he should take the chance and see where this was going to lead. After a few seconds of the two of them staring him down, he finally sighed. He raised his hands in defeat.

“Alright. I’ll join you.”

Johan and Judai smiled at each other.

My, my, my- how the night had suddenly turned around.

*****

The house they were investigating turned out to be an older mansion on the outskirts of the city. Yusei made sure to let a couple of people know where he was going. Martha was worried, of course, but Jack and Crow got a huge trip out of the fact that he, Yusei Fudo, was going ghost hunting. Of all things in the world.

What a weird first date , they had teased.

He had left the house with red across his nose and both cheeks, but he had not given them the satisfaction of seeing it. Yusei slammed the door on his way out.

He now sat leaned up against his red motorcycle. Neither of them had arrived yet. This left him time to do a little extra research on the address on his transparent tablet. The mansion was built in the year XXXX by a rich mogul who wanted a place for his new bride to be the mistress of; however, he built over sacred ground, despite multiple warnings, and thus, “cursed” the home and his family for all eternity. They lost several children in birth and early into childhood. Eventually, the wife passed of an illness, but information on which one was scarce. Her death was the final straw for him. The mogul retired from the home and disappeared into obscurity. It was left to rot. Reports of families moving in and immediately moving out were plentiful in the first few decades after the original owner’s leaving, but quickly teetered off as rumors of a haunting became more prevalent.

He scrolled up on his tablet, murmuring. “Reports of a white lady…. Children laughing… shadow figures…. Objects being thrown. So just your run of the mill hoax?”

“Well, even if it is a hoax, it’s still our job to ease the worries of our customer.” He looked up, not necessarily startled by the sound of Johan’s voice, but a bit surprised that he hadn’t heard them approaching, especially in the large, older van they were driving. Judai was behind him, starting to mess with some equipment. Yusei closed the tablet and placed it in his pocket. “We’re glad you decided to come. What’d you find in your research?”

“Nothing out of this world,” he confirmed, arms still crossed. “Pretty standard reports. White lady, children, objects being thrown.”

Johan nodded. He turned his head a bit, as if listening to someone, and he smiled after a few seconds before saying, “That was pretty much everything we were able to find or was given to us as in our initial customer request.” He paused for a second, “I better help Judai with the equipment. As brave as he is as a ghost hunter, he’s a complete ditz when it comes to setting it up.”

“Would you like me to help? I’m fairly good with technology.”

Johan shot him a grateful smile. “You don’t have to. We’re the ones that invited you out here.”

Yusei rolled up the sleeve of his jacket. “Don’t worry about it. I might as well do something useful now since I’m probably going to mess up your results anyway.” Johan shook his head but led him over to the wired mess that had become Judai. It took them about an hour, once they had untangled him, to set up all the equipment they planned to use and since they were getting paid a hefty price, they were using everything . EVP, static night vision, Mel meters, motion detectors. You name it, they had it. The sun was starting to set when they finally started to sync up all their equipment, recording audio introductions on their three different recording devices. Johan helped Yusei into a specially made vest with several different pieces of equipment attached to it such as a night vision camera, perspective camera, and a few other useful tools like glow sticks, back-up batteries, and flashlights. Yusei felt the electricity again as his hand brushed his arm. A soft blush touched his cheeks. He did not miss the fact that Johan had one as well. Was it possible that he was feeling it too? What was even more astounding to him was that this was the second time he had felt it… with both of them.

Judai smiled brightly when they came back from the back of the van, “That vest looks good on you Yusei.”

Oof, that blush was not going away any time soon.

“Thank you,” he managed to get out without sounding like a stammering idiot.

Yusei had had feelings for people before in his life. Aki, the young lady who had become one of his greatest friends of all time, was one such example. His friend Kiryu was another. However, he had never been in this kind of situation before; his feelings for the previous two had come at different times. This was new. And a bit confusing, especially with how fast everything was moving.

“Are you feeling alright,” Judai asked. Yusei turned to face him. He was looking up at him, his brow furrowed a bit. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”

“You make it sound like I’m regretting my wedding or something.”

“Hmmm, I’m pretty sure this isn’t as stressful as a wedding.” He smirked. “But if you’re feeling scared, I recommend hanging back behind us.”

“I can’t be scared of something that doesn’t exist.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Me being scared or ghosts being real?”

“Yes.”

Yusei shook his head as he walked away, and he followed. Johan bowed mockingly as he opened the front door. Judai gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before blowing a kiss back at Yusei and disappearing into the darkness, only the light of his flashlight illuminating a soft outline of his head and left shoulder. The two of them followed.

The entryway was as bad as you could imagine. Dust clung to everything. Spider webs decorated every corner, and the stairs, and the molding, and the walls, and basically every available square inch. Old paint and wallpaper were missing in great chunks. The building material was old and decayed. An odd sensation of dread shot through Yusei the longer he looked down the hallway. There was no discernible reason for the feeling. He grabbed both Judai’s and Johan’s shoulders, preventing them from stepping any further inside.

When they turned to look at him, he raised his hands apologetically, but dropped them and breathed, “Something isn’t right.”

Judai blinked, quickly looked to his right, and briefly nodded. “What are you feeling?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that if we go any further, something bad is going to happen.”

“But we’ve already been in here multiple times,” Johan assured him. “We had to set up all the static cameras, remember?”

Yusei hesitated. That was true. They’d already been in and out, and up and down all sets of stairs, as they’d been busy setting up static night vision cameras in a couple of the hotspots, specifically where the white lady and the children were often seen and heard moving about. Nothing seemed to happen during that time, and he rationalized that they would be fine in this moment.

The feeling, on the other hand, would not leave him alone.

He started to say something again, but Judai started moving inward and Johan followed. The feeling grew worse as he raised a hand to stop them.

A white figure suddenly appeared at the end of the narrow hallway. The three of them froze, but Judai, after a few seconds, threw a hand back. What Yusei could not see was how his eyes shifted from brown to green and orange, ready for whatever was about to occur. Johan took a step back. Something creaked. The white figure raised its head and with an unearthly scream, it shot forward at them. Judai jumped back. Johan moved in front of Yusei which put the three of them into roughly the same spot on the floor. Yusei looked down immediately as the sound of breaking wood caught his attention; just before the figure could reach them, he grabbed both of them close to him.

The floor gave way, and they fell into darkness.

*****

“Yusei, Yusei, Yusei!” He blinked. Everything felt sore and painful. It took him a few moments to remember that they had fallen through the floor. He groaned. Thankfully, nothing seemed broken, but he was going to be feeling this for the next few days; Martha was probably going to order him to go to a doctor, and for once, he probably wouldn’t protest it. A soft smile crossed Johan’s face. He was momentarily confused.

“I’m dead,” he breathed, “I swear I’m seeing an angel.”

“You wish,” Johan laughed. “But Judai and I owe you quite a bit for saving our lives.”

“What happened?”

Johan crossed his arms, contemplating on how much to share. “Well, you see….” He paused and changed his question, “Did you happen to see a white figure come at us?” Yusei shook his head.

He struggled to remember. Nothing came to mind however and he shook his head. “All I saw was you and Judai get defensive.”

“Maybe that’s for the best,” he mused. Louder, he said, “Anyway, we all were standing on the same space and the floor gave way. You just barely managed to brace us against you before it happened. You took the brunt of the injury.” He pointed to some old bags of flour that were clearly busted in the fall. “You really do have to have a guardian angel at least since this is what we landed on. Judai went back upstairs to double check everything. We should really get out of here.” He stood. Johan offered out a hand, which Yusei took gratefully. Together, they made their way back up the stairs and, to his surprise, the sun was starting to rise.

How long had he been out?

Judai was at the back of the van, putting away most of their equipment. He looked up when they exited. Without hesitation, or warning, he ran for Yusei, catching him in a tight hug; Yusei flinched a bit but accepted it.

“Thank you,” Judai breathed. “We wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t for you.” After a few seconds, he released Yusei’s waist, backed away from him, and bowed. “I’m also so sorry. I should have listened to your warning. I know better than to ignore things like that.”

Yusei waved a hand. “No harm, no foul.”

“Well, a little harm,” Johan reminded him, elbowing his side. He flinched again. Johan walked over and wrapped an arm lovingly around Judai’s shoulders. “As such, breakfast is on us.”

“If you’d like,” Judai quickly added. Yusei did not miss how brightly red his expression had become and he smiled.

“Sure,” he agreed. “As long as the ghosts aren’t invited.”

“No promises,” they said together.

The three of them managed to hook their transportations together and rode back to town in the van. Yusei looked out the window. He was surprised when a weight hit his shoulder; Judai had slumped over, soundly asleep. Johan smiled apologetically.

Something swelled in his heart. He turned to look out the window once more and mused that he would not mind trying it again. Ghost hunting that is. Falling into decrepit basements he could definitely do without.

Judai shifted a bit on his shoulder and Yusei looked down at him softly.

Yeah, maybe just one more time.

*****

Thank you so much for reading!

The story on AO3

The mini bang collection

Check out LightningClawedSky on Deviantart

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#kindredshipping #yusei fudo #johan anderson #judai yuki #jesse anderson #jaden yuki #ghost hunters au #tw death #tw injuries #tw blood mention #ghosts #I said I would pilot this ship if I had to #and I completely meant it

[therainroguefanfiction]

⍚ HaikWeek!! 2020 ⍚ Day 5 (Tobio Kageyama) Pawns

📑 Table of Contents | « Previous Day

Genre: Fluff, Friendship, School, Slice of Life

Word Count: 2,564

Pairing: Reader x Kageyama

World: Haikyuu!!

Prompt: Best Character Development & Patterns/Habits  

Author’s Note: Here is the next entry for @haikyuuweek2020​~ This fic is written from the perspective of the reader but it’s written as if they were speaking so instead of saying “you believed him” it would be “I believe him”. You’ll see the reason for this at the end of the fic ;)

━━━━━━༻⍚ 🏐 HaikWeek!! 2020 🏐 ⍚༺━━━━━━

I first met Kageyama-san in elementary school. He was quite an energetic child and got along well with the other kids. He was the cool kid that everyone wanted to play with and be friends with. The other children were always vying for his attention and he was happy to share it.

Even back then, he was quite sporty, always carrying around a volleyball and drinking a milk box. That was how the other kids tried to get into his good graces, they would bring him milk boxes. Perhaps that attributed to his current height. I am not too sure about this.

In elementary school, he was on a little league volleyball team called the Little Falcons. While they never played in official tournaments, they did well and Kageyama-san was always so happy whenever he was on the court. It was if there were no darkness in his world as soon as his feet stepped onto a volleyball court.

Back then, he was a bit of a class clown. He loved to make people laugh even if it was at the expense of himself. Because of this, he often found himself in trouble with Miko-sensei. His older sister would often scold him when she came to pick him up, but he would just smile and laugh it off as if it were no big deal to him.

His grades were not all that impressive, I remember. He had to get a tutor to make sure he did not fail and I believe this was because of his intense love for volleyball. It was all he wanted to do, what his heart most desired. I believe that is what first attracted me to him.

Even at a young age, he had so much drive. He knew exactly what he wanted in life and nothing would stop him, not even terrible grades.

When he entered junior high, he was excited to join the volleyball club at Kitagawa Daiichi. He wanted to be a setter and he was already quite skilled at this position. He was a natural on the court, as if it were meant just for him. It can be hard to express in words, but I will do my best.

When Kageyama-san stepped onto the court, it was if something magical was happening. His accuracy and precision were frighteningly on point and I recall overhearing the senpai talking about how he was a prodigy. This made sense to me as someone that had grown up watching his playing the sport. He most definitely was a prodigy, but he also put in the effort.

People believed that he was born with natural talent and that is how he got so far, but I find that hard to believe. I have seen the work he put in, tirelessly practicing every moment he could. Nothing else mattered to him.

Perhaps he heard these things said behind his back.

Perhaps the way Oikawa-senpai treated him affected him more than he was willing to let on.

Perhaps he truly did just lose his way.

I can not say for sure what caused his shift in demeanor, but I can say it started halfway through our second year at Kitagawa Daiichi. His demeanor started to shift, subtly at first, but by our third year, it became glaringly obvious that he had become a different person.

He was no longer that excitable kid that just wanted to play volleyball. He became determined to stay on the court even at the cost of his friends and teammates. The other students simply could not keep up with his accuracy and insane quick attack. Not for lack of trying, they tried very hard to keep up with him, but Kageyama-san was on another level entirely.

Eventually, they stopped trying. No one wanted to play with him because it was not fun for them. It was stressful and irritating. I would often hear the cruel things they said about him behind his back but I never felt like it was my place to speak up in his place. I regret this now, but dwelling on the past garners no results.

I worried that his new attitude would further isolate him from his peers, thus ruining any chance he once had of achieving his dreams, but I was just an observer. What was I meant to do? I did the only thing I knew I could – I kept my faith that Kageyama-san would once again find his way.

At this point in time, he was walking blindly through a long, dark tunnel, searching for any source of light to save himself. While it is my belief that the first speck of light came in the form of one boy from Yukigaoka junior high, I do not believe that this was enough to break through the darkness that had settled over him.

High school was another chance for Kageyama-san. I truly did believe that but I knew that he still had a long path laid out before him before he could dispel the inky blackness that had invaded his life.

The first thing he did was join the volleyball club. This gave me hope for several reasons – the first being the fact that the speck of light from Yukigaoka junior high was attending the same school and also planned to join the team. The second reason was because of my brother’s best friend, Daichi, who happened to be the captain.

Both of these people shined so brightly, rushed forward with such a fierce determination to achieve their own dreams and break through their own limits. Meeting these two men, along with the rest of Karasuno’s volleyball team, became the catalyst for Kageyama-san.

It took several months and he relapsed into his old habits on more than one occasion, but he has changed from that isolated king back in junior high and he is now a better person because of it. Though his grades remain poor, Kageyama-san gives his all to volleyball, to the Karasuno volleyball club.

He has regained the meaning of teamwork and has once again realized that volleyball is not a sport that can be played by one’s self. This makes me happy, because it would be a shame to see so much talent wasted.

I chose Kageyama-san for this project because I have watched him grow and change all of these years and, though he hit a rough patch in junior high, he has found the light at the end of the tunnel and broken out for all of the world to see.

He is not the lonely king anymore.

Kageyama-san is now a pawn, but that is not a bad thing for he is working together with the other pawns in order to take down those that stand in the way of their dreams. These pawns are protecting the king, who represents their dreams, and the queen, who represents the Karasuno volleyball club.

You looked up from the pages in your hand, looking out at the class as they stared at you with wide eyes. Even the teacher was surprised by the subject of your presentation, who sat at the back of the room looking like a deer in headlights, his face the shade of a tomato. No one knew what to say.

Amai-sensei cleared her throat, clapping her hands. “W-Well, thank you for sharing your project with us, Y/N-san. You were very thorough!”

“Thank you, sensei,” you murmured softly, bowing to her before returning to your seat. You could feel the other student’s eyes on you as you settled down, but you paid them no mind, stuffing your paper into your notebook before returning one of the earbuds into your ear, pressing play on your phone.

The class had been given an assignment exactly one week ago and it was fairly simple – choose someone that you thought had experienced major character development and explain this development. Most of the students chose fictional characters, people from history, or even family members, but you had chosen your classmate – Kageyama Tobio.

You had never spoken to this boy but you had known him since you were both kids, living in the same neighborhood. All throughout school, you managed to find yourself at the same schools and in the same classes with him, so you had witnessed his growth first hand.

When your brother, Aki, and his best friend, Daichi, found you in the kitchen one day working on said project, they tried to convince you to write about someone else. Not only were you putting personal information about the boy’s past on display for the whole class to see, they worried how others would view you.

More specifically, they worried about Kageyama’s reaction. He was known for his angry outbursts, after all, and since you had never interacted with him, they worried about your image. You weren’t the least bit bothered by the possible consequences, though. You thought Kageyama was an interesting boy and you felt proud of his accomplishments.

He had come so far and, even though he fell down along the way, he was able to climb back up and be a better person. In your opinion, it was an incredible story and you thought this could be a way to express your feelings to him. You put your heart and soul into the project and could only hope he realized that.

Your eyes slid over to him but he was slumped over in his seat, head lowered so that his bangs formed a shadow over his face. You could see his expression, but his body was tense. Had you really crossed a line?

When the final bell rang throughout the school, you added the second earbud, turning up the volume of your music before picking up your bag and exiting the classroom.

Because of how distracted you often got, a bad habit of yours that your brother tried to break, you had been forbidden from walking home alone so you always stayed behind after school, alternating between watching your brother play baseball and watching Daichi play volleyball. Today was Daichi’s day so you headed for the gymnasium.

You were just arriving when a large hand landed on your shoulder, tugging you backward. The earphone was ripped from your ear, coming to dangle down by your waist. Your eyes widened, snapping over to the person that had grabbed you. Kageyama stood there, huffing and puffing like an angry beaver, face twisted as if he needed to use the restroom.

Aki and Daichi always were telling you that you needed to pay more attention to your surroundings. Perhaps it was time to listen to them.

You shifted your weight, waiting for him to speak. His gaze had always been intense and piercing, you knew that after years of observing him, but it was on a whole nother level when it was directed right at you.

“Why the hell did you write your paper about me?” he demanded, trying to search your blank expression for any sign that might help answer his question.

You focused your gaze on a line of ants that were slowly making their way across the pavement. Eye contact had never been something you enjoyed or were good at maintaining. “I-Is it not obvious?”

“Of course not, that’s why I’m asking!”

“Oh,” you frowned, fingers tugging at the loose thread on your bag’s strap. You had been hoping your feelings would reach him through the assignment and you felt a bit upset that you had failed to properly express yourself. Feelings were hard, after all.

Kageyama felt his eye twitch. Oh – was that really all you had to say? Why were you so nonchalant? With the monotone expression you wore, it was impossible for him to get a read on what you were feeling or thinking.

It had always been that way ever since the two of you were kids. Back then he had been intimidated by your blank face. It didn’t help that the other kids claimed that you were a witch and would curse him if he upset you. Of course, being a kid at the time, he believed this whole-heartedly and some part of that stuck with him all of these years.

“I apologize if I have upset you, Kageyama-san. That was not my intention.” The words sounded sincere but he had trouble fully believing them when you spoke in such a deadpan voice. “If it will make you feel better, I will ask sensei to give me a failing grade. Good day.”

His eye twitched, mouth falling open as you gave him a soft bow before turning back around and continuing on your way. Shaking his head, he rushed forward, using his body to block you from going forward. “That’s not – I don’t – I mean – ugh!”

Your lips tugged downward at his obvious frustration, eyes turning down toward his shoes. “My brother often tells me that I have no sense when it comes to people… he warned me that you would be upset, but I chose not to listen. Please forgive me.”

“S-Stop apologizing,” he muttered, feeling his cheeks heating up for a reason he couldn’t quite determine. He tried to hide this behind his fist as he looked off to the side, not that you had your gaze on him to begin with. “Just tell me why you wrote that about me.”

“Because… I think you’re amazing, Kageyama-san.” It was subtle, but he picked up on how your voice lightened just the tiniest bit. “I really admire you and, in a way, I was trying to show you my admiration and support.”

“W-Why didn’t you just tell me then, idiot?” He put his hand over his heart, feeling it race beneath his palm. His body was starting to lose its composure and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

“Oh,” your eyes widened a fraction, finally lifting to meet his own. You looked confused, as if that thought hadn’t occurred to you.

He wanted to facepalm so badly, but he thought you were so cute the way you were looking at him as if he had just turned the light on in a dark room. Swallowing down his nerves, he forced himself to hold your gaze. “I… thank you. What you said… I really appreciate it.”

You tilted your head. “I thought you were mad?”

Kageyama quickly shook his head. “No! I was just… confused.”

“I see,” you shifted your weight, mulling over your next words. “Would it be possible… can we be friends, Kageyama-san?”

“Yeah,” he breathed out, feeling a new round of heat rushing to his cheeks. He only hoped you didn’t notice. “I’d like that, Y/N-san.”

Faint as it was, he noticed the soft tilt of your lips as you smiled, his eyes widening like saucers. You were already a really attractive person but when you smiled, it was a whole new level of attractiveness. He was positive his heart stopped at that moment and he clutched the pole beside him, his body shaking.

Your smile instantly dropped, hand coming to rest on his shoulder. “Are you feeling sick?”

“I-I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? Your face is awfully red.”

“I said I’m f-fine! I just… need a moment.”

“Okay,” you offered him a small nod before continuing toward the gym, unaware of his eyes following you, shimmering with warmth.

━━━━━━༻⍚ 🏐 HaikWeek!! 2020 🏐 ⍚༺━━━━━━

» Next Day

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[itsuki-minamy]

“SWORD WITHOUT A SWORD”

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

It was due to the little conversation with his subordinates that Shiotsu thought that it would not be suitable for him on his birthday.

It is the birthday of Minato's twin children, Hayato and Akito.

++++++++++

Minato's children, who will be in high school this spring, said, "I want a sword for my birthday."

"Sword?"

"Yes, "because we are already adults", we want a real sword like the one you are holding."

"Is it a skill control saber?"

Shiotsu's hand touched the handle of his waist.

"This is the equipment loaned to the members of "Scepter 4" under the authority of "Blue King". Just because you have the aptitude, you can't do it alone. Even more, for children…”

Minato nodded with a soft smile.

“Instead of being a hero, he just wanted to imitate an adult. It is not an appropriate treatment.”

"Oh, I see."

Shiotsu's shoulders lost their strength

"Then, as I recall, I can give him a small sword. Boys love those things.”

Minato shook his head slowly.

"Akito said the same thing, but I stopped him. I think those things are still early for our children.”

Minato's wife, Aki Minato, who is also the mother of the twins, is a woman who is part of the "Scepter 4" task force despite being a woman, and is what people in the field say she is "the great woman of Kintama". She often disagrees with her cautious husband.

"I see. If that happens, then it is a home schooling policy.”

Shiotsu bowed.

"Sorry. I told you."

"No... "Holding a knife gives you the responsibility and awareness of an adult". I think there is a reason for such an opinion. Akio also said, "Let's go buy a big one." However, I..."

With a gentle but determined will, Minato said...

"I want them to be ready to harm others a little later."

"I see."

Shiotsu nodded his head. As a single person, he has no idea when a boy is a young minor, an adult, or a child. He is not eligible to make a decision on this matter.

In addition, he regularly trusts the moderate and common sense of the man in front of him.

"So... I'm going to give him something else, not a sword."

"A matching fountain pen."

Minato stopped working on the paperwork and turned the pen around.

"The pen is stronger than the sword." I want you to do that.”

A few days after talking about it, he realized that Habari's birthday was near.

Daily, among "Scepter 4" members, including Shiotsu, there is little awareness of "birthday". Birthdays, birthday parties, birthday celebrations... He remembered after a long time in a conversation with Minato that there were such things in the world.

We look forward to our annual birthday and celebrate with our family members. Such acts belong to a peaceful daily life far from themselves. He behaves differently with sabers and always swaps lives. And a few times a month, he retires after one of his lives suffers. There will be no "happy birthday" on those days. Everyone thinks so out of the box.

But in reality, such "daily life" may be the most important.

The reason "Scepter 4" exists is to protect the everyday life of the general public. If you fight without knowing what to protect, the beast is no better. "Scepter 4", who controls Strains' crimes with his skill, is a law dog, and even a bloodhound is not a wild dog.

Everyday life as a general citizen, life as a person. We should not separate ourselves from such things.

In particular, he wants Habari, the Blue King, to be aware of this. Therefore, it is a "birthday" and a "gift". He wishes his actions could have some influence on what "Scepter 4" is like.

So what to give? It is not wrong to imitate Minato and give him a fountain pen, but he wonders if that is more suitable for Habari.

After hesitating for a few days, she decided on a paper knife.

"Sword" and "Judgment". Knife-shaped stationery. Although Shiotsu wants Habari to keep his society in harmony by exchanging letters and documents with other "kings" without depending on it as a base, he thought it was a tool that symbolized the ideal form of a "king".

Of course, the blade must have beauty and dignity as a sword, even if it is not sharp. In addition, I engrave the "Scepter 4" badge on the handle.

Also, as a result of ordering the materials and so on, the craftsman finished the job to the limit and received it directly on the birthday in the store. It was a bad setup that Shiotsu didn't have.

To make matters worse, there were several emergency dispatches on the crucial day, and not just Shiotsu himself but every member within range who might be called. The only one who was vacant was Zenjo Gouki, who was in the middle of the shift adjustment.

Kikuyodo is a cutlery store in Minokasabashi. They mainly sell kitchen knives and scissors, but he also handles art swords and half orders to artisans.

From Tsubakimon, it takes about 40 minutes by subway and on foot. He goes home, half a day of work.

"Well, don't take a detour. When you receive it, save it, and come directly here.”

Zenjo laughed at Shiotsu, who meticulously said that.

"Haha. It is like a child's messenger.”

"Younger than you."

Shiozu replied half angry.

"If I had another messenger, I wouldn't ask you."

"It is a configuration flaw."

"Yes…"

Zenjo laughed even more at Shiotsu, who was silent when he pointed at him.

"Don't worry like that. It is easy."

"Zenjo."

Shiotsu called out to him when he was walking away.

"This is for personal use. Change your clothes."

"I get it."

"I don't know, but don't take out a saber."

"Is it that bad?"

Zenjo looked back. Hit the saber handle with his hand,

"I will carry it in secret."

"Is there a good reason? Leave it here."

At this point, Shiotsu had made some mistakes. It was not the ultimate mistake, but it was causing an unexpected situation by creating a gap between internal and external routine actions.

An hour later, Zenjo met three members of the enemy clan, the "Purgatory", on the Minogasabashi shopping street.

++++++++++

Minogasabashi is far from the territory of "Purgatory" and is not considered a vigilante area. It was a coincidence that the members of "Purgatory" were there, and that one of them met with Zenjo.

Zenjo was attacked the moment he left the "Kikuyodo" store. One of the three was a strong enemy.

The man is now lying on his back after a fight where the shelves fell and the knives scattered.

A paper knife is stuck between the eyebrows to the base of the handle. Instant death.

"What did you do, Zenjo?"

Shiotsu screams when he arrives on the scene.

"I was attacked, so I decided to defend myself."

Zenjo replied. There are some burn marks on his body, but it is a minor injury.

"We both fought bare-handed, but this one was strong."

Zenjo pointed to the fallen man.

"If I didn't kill him, I was exhausted by this man's flame."

"Ah..."

"Calm down, Shiotsu."

A long-haired man emerged from behind Shiotsu, who was cluttering up his words. The "Blue King", Habari Jin.

Habari kneels beside the body and examines his head.

Sakeku Ryusei. You are an executive in "Purgatory". What do you have on your forehead?”

Zenjo answered Habari's question.

“It is an article commissioned by Shiotsu. It was an emergency, so I used it arbitrarily.”

He uses the fingers of both hands to indicate the length of the blade,

"This is a thin knife. There is no blade.”

"Paper knife? The handle has a small "Scepter 4" emblem engraved on it.”

"That's..."

The moment Shiotsu bets on explaining the situation,

"Oh, today is my birthday."

Habari said.

"But why a paper knife? The twins' birthdays are drawing near. They are high school students and want to stretch, but Minato does not accept it. When I heard it I said, why don't you give him a knife without a blade? It appears to be Shiotsu.”

Habari looked at Shiotsu and smiled coldly.

"The pen is stronger than the sword." I didn't think it was wrong.”

"Everything is my fault."

Shiotsu said.

"It is a boring idea that jeopardizes good articles and creates the cause of a collision with "Purgatory". If they demand a price, give me.”

"No, it's funny, Shiotsu."

Zenjo said.

"I killed this boy. If you gave it to him, it would be my neck.”

"By the way, you're out of proportion to the sake phrase."

"Then instead of changing, cut out a few more people and combine the ends of the book."

"Hahaha."

"That's enough!"

Shiotsu yelled at Habari and Zenjo, who were laughing at each other with unscrupulous jokes.

"I was told that this situation could trigger a large-scale conflict between clans... No, it could trigger the escape of "Red King" Genji Kagutsu.”

"Do you believe that?"

Habari said to control the sword curtain to Shiotsu.

"Purgatory" is the city of the relic, but for the city of the relic, what meaning does this man have?"

"He's an executive! Is it possible for an antisocial group to avoid retaliation if they killed one of its members?”

"No, Kagutsu Genji is not a man who works with both types. Nor is he a man who faces the demands of his subordinates. He is a lonely and uninhabited "King". To be honest, I can't read their behavior."

"That's interesting."

Habari hit Shiotsu's shoulder and asked him to take over.

"Don't worry so much, Shiotsu. Your gift was a last-minute rescue from Zenjo's life, and it also came with the neck of the enemy executive and interesting confirmation.”

Habari put a cross in place and applied a fist to the guy.

"It's a great birthday celebration."

Rather than answer the light talk, Shiotsu instructed his subordinates and began to compile the scene. Things are already beyond individual responsibility.

With a fearless smile and looking at the gap, Habari's brain begins to spin at full speed in an attempt to understand and respond to the situation.

The bomb called Kagutsu Genji may or may not explode right now, with tens of thousands of lives.

If the balance of fate begins to tip toward the worst, the one who can stop it is the power of the "Blue King."

It is impossible that the sword that holds the hand has no blade.

"I will return to base. If there is no profit.”

Shiotsu told Zenjo, that he was trying to start running.

"Use transport vehicles. Hurry up."

#k #k project #k stories #k fan clan #habari jin #shiotsu gen #zenjo goki #SCEPTER 4

[moonxsuncelestials]

⭐⭐⭐ Yun ⭐⭐⭐ Jinhai

For each “⭐️” I get, I’ll write a headcanon about our muses.

@thelazyeditor​

Yun x Akihito

⭐ These two are just sweet and adorable, as well as kinky. Akihito has become Yun’s major priority along with their cubs, the one he always checks on whenever he wakes from a nightmare. Yun has frequent nightmares of Ming-Chi returning from Hell despite his uncle assuring him that she can’t escape. Sai Gong and Lucifer take turns in tormenting her as well as Lucifer’s siblings, such as Satan and Asmodeus.  And it takes Akihito an hour or more sometimes to help his mate go back to sleep.

(More under the Readmore)

⭐ Akihito is in Yun’s eyes, a major blessing from the moment they started to accept their feelings for the other. Yun isn’t the easiest mate to have, but he tries and lets Aki know how much he means to him. It was evident when Yun had to go off and take care of Ming-Chi once in for all; he didn’t want to leave Akihito who was going into labor. And when Yun returned, he didn’t dare leave Akihito’s side for anything-outside the bathroom of course.

⭐ These two comfort each other no matter how big or small the problem may be. Postpartum depression is a real thing and Yun does everything he can to help Aki through it. It was only thanks to Thoth that the two were able to learn how to cope with Aki’s postpartum depression and Yun’s severe PTSD. 

Jinhai x Akihito

⭐Jinhai loves Akihito, alright? The dragon loves his precious editor and often worries when he has to work so hard during the end cycles. So Jinhai always makes a quick home-cooked meal and brings it to Aki’s office with tea as well so that Aki doesn’t starve himself. And then Aki does the same whenever Jinhai has the tea shop open 24/7 for the students. 

⭐ Akihito, I feel, loves the fact that Jinhai enjoys making so many different treats and teas, always taking into consideration of someone’s food allergy and asking ahead of time with parents. He even designed an entire menu for kids with those said allergies. Akihito has become pretty much a fixture at the shop, so much so the assistants and staff can’t help but bet just when the two love birds will move in with one another. 

⭐Jinhai loves to share what he’s learned with Aki, even helping him out sometimes about certain court affairs with the authors his beloved works with. As a former concubine, he has the knowledge and experience though he is rather shy about telling Akihito about what he did with Shangti.  There are more things for Aki to learn about Jinhai, though he is aware of what happened between him and his brother, for now though, they are taking everything in stride.

[duelistkingdom]

in my stomach is butterflies, the beautiful kind

Summary: yusei's been trying to tell aki something with flowers, and she doesn't quite understand what she's been trying to say.

Rating: T

Ships: Girl!Yusei Fudo/Aki Izayoi

Author’s note: written for @5daysofygofemslash. this wound up being quite a bit longer than expected oops. i wanted to write a femslash version of yuaki for a while now and here we are! femslash yuaki. the scientists who did this were mad, mad i tell you.

read on ao3 / consider supporting me on ko-fi / join my discord (18+)

Really, what was a girl supposed to do when bouquet after bouquet showed up at her house? How does Yusei afford these, Aki thought absently as she looked over the flowers that Yusei had sent with a blush forming across her cheeks. Did Yusei know what these flowers meant? She pulled the bright yellow flower out of the massive bunch, and was still stunned by how well it paired with the deep burgundy flowers. Two colors that Aki wouldn’t think go together, yet seemed perfect in the bouquet when paired with the alstroemerias, marigolds, and snapdragons. Altogether, a bouquet suggesting an undying, protective love rooted in a deep friendship… or more, if she accounted for the bouquet that had contained red roses and honeysuckles and Queen Anne’s lace.

At this point, Yusei’s bouquets had decorated every room in her home, and her father had jokingly asked when he could expect Yusei to ask him for her hand in marriage. Now that was an embarrassing question to hear from her father. At this point, there was really only one way for Aki to find out what Yusei meant by the countless bouquets that had been sent her way. Each new bouquet made Aki all the more awkward around Yusei. Her father was laughing over the new bouquet. “I’ll make sure to pick up another vase on the way home,” Hideo said, causing Aki’s flush to deepen. “You should go by Yusei’s and thank her for the flowers.”

“Yes, papa,” Aki said, handing the bouquet off to her mother, who was careful to make sure the flowers were delicately handled. “I should probably take my homework with me as well. I’ll be back by dinner.”

Her mother and her father exchanged a glance between each other. Her mother then smiled softly at her. “No worries if you don’t make it back in time,” her mother said, handing Aki her backpack. “If you wind up deciding to have a sleepover, call us and let us know.”

The walk over to Yusei’s had felt much shorter than usual, and Aki’s heart was racing. She had a plan to confront Yusei at the game she was playing. Of course, all her plans of confrontation died the minute she actually came face to face with her. Well, face to face was not an accurate description. Yusei was talking to Bruno about something - probably related to the engine they’d been working on for the past two days. Last time Aki had been here, Yusei had been so engrossed in the project that she couldn’t bring herself to interrupt. That and well… Yusei had looked so cozy with Bruno. And Aki understood, really.

Bruno was so tall and handsome, and Aki could understand if Yusei and Bruno were… Except this time, instead of being able to slip out as if she hadn’t dropped by, Yusei actually turned her head slightly. The furrowed brow Yusei had vanished, and a wide smile appeared across her features. “Aki,” she said, warmth in the tone that filled Aki’s stomach with butterflies. “Did you get the flowers I sent you?"

Aki felt the blood rush to her cheeks and Bruno glanced between the two. “You know,” he said, tapping his chin. “I think I know what this engine needs. Tell you what, Yusei. I’ll head to the store while you and Aki catch up.” He winked at Aki, and Aki looked away from Bruno. “You two have fun!”

With that, Aki and Yusei were left alone. Which meant that Aki could finally… “I hope I got them right,” Yusei said, pulling her thick leather gloves off and setting them aside. “I wasn’t sure if…”

“So you are trying to tell me something with them,” Aki blurted out, her eyebrows stitching together. If Yusei wasn’t sure what the flowers meant, then maybe Aki had been overthinking for nothing. It could, in fact, just be a set of flowers that Yusei happened to think looked nice together. “I was going to…” She humphed, thinking over what to say next. It was risky to accuse a friend of being in love with you, after all. “Are you…”

Yusei’s stare was so intense that Aki lost her train of thought. She’d never noticed just how purple Yusei’s eyes could be under certain lights. It almost reminded her of wisteria. “Am I…” Yusei was getting closer, until she was standing right in front of her. Aki’s eyes traced out the hard biceps under Yusei’s skin, the deep tan, and… Aki glanced up too quickly away from Yusei’s chest, and now she could tell there was a sparkle in Yusei’s eyes. She didn’t need to look at her lips to know Yusei was smiling and yet she couldn’t help herself. As always, they were full, and a soft brownish pink that made Aki think of stargazer lilies. “Aki, you can ask me anything. I’ll tell you anything you want to know if I know the answer.”

Aki placed her hand over Yusei’s, trying to find the courage to simply ask the question she so desperately wanted to know the answer to. Instead, she found herself asking the easier question. “You’re trying to tell me something with the flowers,” Aki said, and her voice had dropped to a whisper, as if this was a secret to keep between just the two of them. “What is it?”

Yusei delicately placed her hand on Aki’s cheek, and Aki couldn’t help the warmth that flooded her cheeks. “Aki,” she said, and Aki enjoyed the tender way in which Yusei said her name. “Isn’t it obvious?” When Aki shook her head, Yusei sighed. “I was hoping… Ah, well.” And then Yusei’s lips were against hers, and Aki gasped in surprise. Yusei’s lips were so soft, but Aki was more surprised by the taste - like cigarettes, black coffee, wintergreen, the bubblegum flavored lip gloss Yusei had stolen from Aki long ago (she’d kept it?), and something else entirely unique to Yusei that she could not explain. When Yusei parted away too soon, there was a flush on Yusei’s cheeks that matched Aki’s. “Does that answer the question?”

“You…” Aki said, trying to gather her thoughts back together. As much as she wanted to ask Yusei to do that again, Aki was unable to bring herself to do that. “You’re avoiding the question.”

“I thought I was quite obvious in my answer,” Yusei replied, and her hand was now on the rail, pinning Aki against it. If Aki tried to back up, she’d fall over. There was a fire in Yusei’s eyes now, and she seemed desperate for Aki to understand. “What is making it hard to understand what I’m trying to tell you, Aki?” Her hand was now cupping Aki’s jaw, her thumb running along Aki’s lips. And Aki’s mind was blissfully blank. “Please, Aki. You have to already know how I… how I feel about you.”

Aki’s eyes went wide as it finally sunk in. And Aki pressed herself to Yusei, a desperate kiss with everything she wanted to say poured into it. “I preferred you saying it with a kiss, for the record,” Aki said breathlessly when they parted. “Should I tell my parents I plan on spending the night?”

#5daysofygofemslash #yuaki #faithshipping #faithshipping fanfic #myfanfic