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yandereunsolved · 2 months

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Breath of a Yandere - ,, Yandere Wild headcanons

tw(s): yandere themes, (Wild) multiple mentions of suicidal ideations/suicide & self depreciation

ꨄ︎ Yandere Wild who met you after waking up in the Shrine of Resurrection. You were a lone traveler from Lurelin Village. You traveled countless months, with many others accompanying you at various points on your journey. You had to know the truth. You had to know if it was true. The rumors about the legendary hero fueled your adventures. You feared the worst, but you found him. He didn't awake at first. You spent weeks traveling out of the Shrine only for necessities.

ꨄ︎ He heard a strange voice coming from the darkness and then saw you. You spoke to him with such a reverence that he wasn't accustomed to. He was incredibly cautious and wouldn't allow you near him. That all changed when you offered him some glazed meat. He shoved it down his throat and suddenly you were his closest companion.

ꨄ︎ Words never leave his mouth. You thought at first it was just the surprise of awakening after a hundred years, but no. He just never spoke to you. He spoke with his hands and through his body language. He taught you most of the Hylian sign language that you know. It is probably better that he doesn't speak. You would be disturbed and greatly flattered about the things he thinks about you.

ꨄ︎ He never leaves your side unless you are both put in a life ending situation. He's like a silent but loyal dog. He is always watching your movements and standing guard over you. You have to cuddle with him before he finally allows himself to succumb to sleep.

ꨄ︎ Guardians? You are staying behind. Shrines? You may stand at the entrance as long as there are no monsters around. If there are then he will kill them and then make you wait. The Divine Beasts? Okay, fine— he allows you in all the Divine Beasts except for Vah Naboris. He allows you to ride with Riju but only because she has the Thunder Helm. However, the Ganonblights? On Hylia's name, no. You go back to the entrance and wait there.

ꨄ︎ Ganon himself? You wait. After your entire journey together, he only speaks one word to you. "Wait." He presses himself against you and makes you hide behind one of the castle pillars. There are tears in his eyes and he is shaking. You are his God(dess). He has killed and sacrificed so much. You saved him. You did. He signs to you. "I face Ganon alone. I can't lose you." His hands get shaky. "I love you."

ꨄ︎ That's the first time he ever says he loves you and his yandere tendencies only get worse from there. More possessive. More obsessive. More puppy-like. He's a wolf in sheep's clothing. He always has an eye on you and doesn't allow you out of his sight. He would never hurt you, but he'll hurt others for you.

ꨄ︎ After the battle you two embrace each other and he sobs quietly into your chest. He allows you to patch his wounds. It's difficult because he's hanging off of you. Zelda is sitting near you both around the campfire. It's a little a lot awkward because she's seen his entire journey. She has seen his feelings for you blossom. A part of her hurts because she won't have her Link back, but was he ever hers? It was just his duty.

ꨄ︎ His memories may have come back but he only has one person in his heart. That person is you. Zelda wants him to come back as a knight. He signs no. He has to stay near you. He will die without you.

ꨄ︎ He thinks the sweetest and most depraved things in his mind. He is constantly praising you within his mind. He wishes he could speak those words but he can't. So he signs them. He shows them through acts of service. His mind is just a constant track about you. Partially this is because of his knight training. He was trained to protect and serve. He was trained to help the princess. His mind still sometimes slips back into that. It's just you, you, you, danger?, you, you, you.

ꨄ︎ On that note, his trauma is constantly fueling his tendencies and how he sees you as his god(dess). He was a child knight, blames himself for failing to protect everyone before Calamity Ganon gave over, and woke up with zero memories and a mission to save all of Hyrule. You were the first person he met. You were and still are his guide to this world. Sure, you aren't fated to be with him. Sure, it could have been just a mistake— but you are the first person that ever got him. You didn't push him to speak. You took your time in learning how to communicate with him. You respected him not just as the hero but a person.

ꨄ︎ He takes interest in whatever you are interested in. He will go so far as trying to replicate what you are doing. He isn't great at art but he'll do his best to draw what you are doing. He shows it you like an excited little kid. He does little poems as well. They are all about his adoration to you and how much he wants to spend time with you. Sometimes they have some blood splatters on them. Don't think about it too hard.

ꨄ︎ He his naturally cautious when all of these goods things become interrupted with the introduction of The Chain. He is like a frightened animal with his hackles up. He has his mastersword pointed to the strange group. They introduce themselves and he relaxes a little. He stays by your side the entire time and makes sure everyone knows that you are taken by him.

ꨄ︎ It's really, really, really hard for him when you say you want to travel with The Chain. His thought process is like this: heartbreak. My God(dess) wants to be around other Links? Why do they want to put themselves in danger? Why? Why? I have to protect them. I have to. I need them near me. Why do they want to travel? Will they still cook for me and me only...? Or will I have to share? You want to travel to different Hyrules and fight monsters with them? You want to see their Hyrules? What if my Hyrule isn't good enough for you?

ꨄ︎ As much as he hates it— he'd do anything for you. He sets some ground rules though. No letting the others get too close. Stay by his side. Tell him everything. And do not, ever, put yourself in harms way. That has been his number one rule since day one. No getting yourself hurt. That scares him the most. He could live without you, but you are alive. He'd barely be alive but he could live. If you died? He'd kill himself and die right next to you. So when you get a scratch he wants, needs, aches to kill the thing that gave you that scratch.

ꨄ︎ You both begin traveling with The Chain and it goes better then expected. Wild is still the same Wild. He may even be getting a little better. The Chain is a bunch of hims. Wild is doing better in a way. He's gotten close to everyone and now knows some of their secrets. He's quiet and he listens. They are unassuming of him. Even the more cautious ones such as Hyrule, Legend, and Time bring their guard down a little. He rarely communicates with them but you know he is acutely listening. He only really signs to you.

ꨄ︎ So, it's perfect. There are a bunch of hims that stay away from you and protect you. He is getting them to trust him. You are safer than you have ever been. Safe. So safe. And if he needs to kill them for you? He's already got the information on them.

ꨄ︎ Wild always buys you things from the villages you all go to. He runs up to you and shoves them into your hands happily. It's one of the few times you see a smile on his usually stoic face. He absolutely adores buying you matching fits. He's practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. He loves matching with you. He even gets you a sword that mimics the mastersword in style. He teaches you how to wield it and everything.

ꨄ︎ He sabotages the others in The Chain if they try to spend time with you. He'll tell you things about them, dark things that he's learned. He'll write them out to you and slip them into your back pocket, your satchel, your bed roll. He'll make them look stupid in front of you. He might accidentally trip them or outbest them in sparring. He makes sure you see the worst of them and the best of him. He doesn't need words to steal your heart all for himself.

ꨄ︎ He always wakes up early and watches you sleep. He tries to resist your warmth to not fall asleep but it's too much. So he wakes up in the morning before you. He watches silently, unblinkingly. He thinks you look so adorable, so pretty, so handsome. You are even more angelic when you are awake. Your smile could even make Ganon fall to his knees.

ꨄ︎ He either makes breakfast for you or with you. He sits guard while you bathe in the river. He wants to take a peek but he doesn't! He's a loyal man. He's tempted. Very tempted though. He loves watching you do your skincare and getting ready though. His eyes rarely leave you while in eyesight.

ꨄ︎ His habits reach their most overbearing after Sage joins The Chain. His life was going so perfect with you. You got protection and he got you all to himself. Now, there's this new version of him. He is acting so... clingy towards you. He just seems so attached to you. Wild begins to get shooed away when Sage is near. You are all about being near Sage. Saving Sage.

ꨄ︎ He refuses to leave your side, even for a moment. He distances himself from the rest of The Chain. He begins to not eat. He begins to not sleep. He gets very nervous and becomes a wreck. He thinks if he does this to himself you'll love him. You loved him when he was like this before. Is this what you want? Do you want someone that needs you? He needs you more than anyone else. He doesn't see any reason to live anymore without you.

ꨄ︎ Like always, you save him. You save him from that dark place and refuse to leave his side. He cuddles into you and refuses to let you go. You feel guilty and you are worried sick about him. Wild almost died and he refuses to tell you why. You were sparring with Sage and suddenly you heard a sword slash in the woods. Wild stabbed himself in the heart with a sword... If it wasn't for Hyrule he'd be dead.

ꨄ︎ You sobbed for hours over his body and you refused to leave. You still do. You are beginning to succumb to his neediness and overprotective ways. Just like Wild wanted. He just needs to be wanted by you. He just needs your love. He just needs one person who will love him above all else.

ꨄ︎ Wild has you, but at Sage's expense. He's extremely irritated that this little boyfriend of yours is taking you away from him. A few of the other Links have mixed, upset, and possessive feelings as well. However, we'll discuss that another time.

tag list; lmk if you want to be tagged: @screaming-until-god-hears-me

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thedivineart · 1 year

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Confirmation Signs To Determine Your Future Spouse

ꕀ ׅ࣪ ꒰ ✮ ꒱ links : navigation. send love.

pacs. paid services.

one

wishing well, a fountain, throwing coin and wishing in fountain, unexpected meeting, receiving the most special gift from someone, a lost purse/wallet, climbing alone in mountain to reduce stress/ hangout, being alone without feeling lonely, a dog coming towards you, small home in forest, cross roads, being happy in other people relationship, going to building/institutions to fix legal documents, a friends to lovers trope, visioning your past life, a gallantry from someone, aiming financial achievement, lucky money wins, a nest eggs, flames, mutual feelings with someone, being flirt, co-worker, a new friend, ships, a little home/cottage, new house/places, moving to a new place, soulmate connection, meeting perfect person/ ideal lover, seeing lots of abiding love, wedding, wedding rings, hurt/painful feeling, hospital/doctor, unrequited love

⋆ feel free to ask question you didn't understand in this reading

‹𝟹 leave like or re-blog when you love it !

two

changing location whether it is for work or residency, when you heal from the past, starting a new, stork, a invitation for a event, gifts ( receive or give ), helpful advice from someone, receiving lots of good news, a clock/time, your hate and fear towards someone, a handshake, a journey ( travel ), birds, sharing ( partnership), food, restaurant/ fast-food places, notice of correspondence from important bills, writer/ journalist, financial loans/help, being at your lowest point such as feeling trapped/tired/staying at home/unhealthy situation, a friend betrayal, older than you, foreign, lawyer/authority, being attack, an enemy, invitation in weddings or engagements, church, cemetery, thinking negative/ having negative thoughts, a large body of water such as beaches, pools, fountains etc, night, cold weather/winter, locks, fishes, physical union with someone, a mending of broken friendship/ex love, party, clubs

⋆ feel free to ask questions you didn't understand in this reading

‹𝟹 leave like or re-blog when you love it !

three

younger, foreign / leader, bad girl & boy image/personality, unexpected kiss, feeling lonely, a new lover/person, family oriented, lady and moody, soulmates connection, unexpected friendship with someone, horse/sagittarius, a good news coming, an artist/poet, student of arts, athletic body or an athlete, lack of focus in commitment, receive or give gifts, fountains, generous, wears uniform that symbolize their position at work, a friend, co-worker, a peer, taking time to heal the wounds of the past, in park, in forest, walking around and meeting someone new, having time alone, wandering in woods, in the big trees, travel, achievement, lucky breaks, successful moving up ( at work or something), the space, distance, someone is far away, delay, receiving love letters and bouquet of flowers, country side, simple life, money surrounds them, professional person, workaholic and less focus on love, a bank; good at handling finances, provides good advice in finance, a happy family, fire/burning, summer, evening, warm weather country, good judgement, social

⋆ feel free to ask questions you didn't understand in this reading

‹𝟹 leave like 🙵 re-blog when you love it !

four

authority, can be foreign, arrogant, weddings, older, negative emotions, large body of water such as beaches, pool, fountains, lake, pond etc, night, cold weather/winter, a dog, a friend, a church, a purse, money, financially stable/ wealthy, office, jewelry box, a social butterfly, enjoy clubs and socializing, likes to be busy and active, wine, travel, trips via water, clouds, heavy rains, good partner, sensual, good at financial advice, an expensive wedding of a friend, children, financially secure, fixing cars, lily, workaholic, trying their best at difficult situation, lion, a Leo sign, quite, electric, jealous and possessive, like to give great advice, streets of gold

⋆ feel free to ask questions you didn't understand in this reading

‹𝟹 leave like 🙵 re-blog when you love it !

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wannaeatramyeon · 9 months

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The Way of the Househusband: Lookism and HTF hc

You, the working spouse. Them, trying to be the best malewife.

(Making up for my Eli crap).

Throws money at the problem

Look. They did not work their lil bussy off to build up an empire then to spend it all day looking after the household. You will be employing help around the house, that is non-negotiable.

Expect a half burnt, hand made lunch most days though. It's the thought that counts, you tell yourself as you swallow down a lump of charcoal.

+ Eugene

+ Goo Kim

This idiot. Tries his best until he gets bored. And he gets bored very easily.

Half mopped kitchen, half made bed. Everything he does is done well until he just. Nah. Cannot be bothered anymore.

Good job you have a routine cleaning service and whatever other help you need as he takes instead the title of trophy husband.

Greets you coming home like an overexcited puppy. Lord bless him with some other social groups and hobbies so he doesn't rely completely on you for all his interaction needs.

+ Samuel Seo

If our Sammy isn't in therapy already, then get him in. Starve if you have to, just get him on his journey.

There is no way this man would be happy just being a househusband with his inferiority complex, slight delusions of grandeur and ambition.

When he eventually comes to terms with it, will always have little side projects going on to keep his inferiority/superiority at bay.

Likely one of those bastards that power trips from heading up some sort of Househusband/housewife social group, PTA, or on the board of a charity (he's in it for the power, not the cause) in his spare time.

Natural born homemaker

Natural may be a stretch for some of these boys.

Whether by choice or as a victim of circumstance, they have had to pick up very quickly how to be completely self sufficient. So stepping into house husband role? Easy!

+ Jace Park, Warren Chae, Jibeom Kwak, Daniel Park, Hudson Ahn, Baek Seongjun

+ Eli Jang

Oh my god. There is nothing that he loves more than being a househusband.

Never in his wildest dreams thought he would end up in this position.

Creating a loving home for you and Yenna, being the caretaker and provider. By far the best and most favourite role he has undertaken.

Joins in on the gossip at the school gates, with the other parents fawning over him. Melting hearts when Yenna toddles out and gives her dad a smooch.

Makes the absolute bento lunch bar none. Wakes up at the crack of dawn, practically leaping out of bed to make something delicious, healthy and cute for you and Yenna.

+ Johan Seong

Clueless vibes but that is absolutely wrong.

With his mother and leaving home from a young age, he has absolutely had to be self-sufficient.

In addition to taking care of two dogs too, this guy knows how to run a household and how to run it with 100% efficiency.

Knows the best time to visit the market for the freshest meat and veg to cook dinner. Also will visit 10+ stores to make sure he gets the best deal for his money. It's a matter of pride.

+ Ji Yeonwoo

Never had to really lift a finger around the home, instead dedicating all his time to studying. Vibes that his father also thinks housework is woman's work.

But not this guy! Whatever you need, he will make sure he fulfils it to the best of his abilities.

Study scheduling skills carry over to running the household. Runs an extremely tight ship, and meticulously plans everything. You want a doctor appointment? Dentist? Plumber. He is ON it.

In between sessions of Kyokushin Karate training of course.

+ Han Wangguk

Um hello? Does this even need explaining? It just fits.

Forced into being the carer and head of the household from a young age after his home life completely went to shit. Looked after Gyeoul to the best of his ability until he couldn't. Tried to be the best big bro/father figure since his stint in juvie.

Absolutely perfect as a househusband. Nothing to fault.

Will spoil you too. Small gifts he has come across that reminds him of you - a snack you like from the store, booking movie tickets for a lil date night together, a book he thinks you'd be interested in.

Perfection.

Clueless idiot tries their best

It's a 50/50 chance whether you will have a home and a husband to return to at the end of a day. It's also a 50/50 chance whether your home made lunch will give you food poisoning.

Sure, it's gotten better the longer they've been at it, but you're still wary. Especially since they have also gotten better at hiding any messes they cause too.

You can never stay mad though, especially when they get so cute when they're frustrated at having failed you as a househusband. Which is complete nonsense, by the way.

+ Vin Jin, Jihan Kwak, Jay Hong

+ Vasco Tabasco

How can this category exist without our resident cinnamon roll?

Fortunately for him, Jace has added himself onto Vasco's speed dial. Unfortunately for Jace, he gets 20+ calls and frantic messages a day asking how to get things done.

Nonsense includes asking how to revert the clothes after accidentally dying them pink. Can he put out a frying pan oil fire with water. How burnt can something be before someone will likely get food poisoning.

It gets better over time. Lucky for you and lucky for Jace.

COMPLETE househusband Tatsu vibes. Everyone is terrified of Vasco, intimidated by his thuggish looks and tattoos. (Until they find out he is the biggest sweetheart and himbo ever.)

+ Ryuhei Kuroda

Relishes being a househusband! Like a silly little roleplay and doesn't get tired of it. After, all it took him so long to find someone that keeps the interest of Ryuhei and lil Ryuhei.

A shameless flirt with the ajummas and all the other housewives. Getting the best gossip, the best offers and deals, best tips.

Unfortunately, his attention span is short. Listens with good intentions, then starts daydreaming about when you get home and how he will ravish you.

In the end, he falls short in some aspects of being a househusband, but will make it up to you in the bedroom.

Bulldozes their way forward until they are Househusband Extraordinaire

You cannot fault them for their effort.

Initially a struggle at first for them to come to terms with being a househusband. Look at this list for crying out loud. Consisting of killers and fighters and crime bosses.

But if they commit, they're going to give it all. Their tenacity means they will absolutely get things done. Every time they fail, they will keep trying over and over again. Whether that's to make you happy or for their own pride, they will keep going until it is perfected.

+ Xiaolong, Zack Lee, Xiaolong, Sinu Han, Seong Taehoon, Kim Munseong

+ Gun Park

There is nothing Gun Park cannot do if he sets his mind to it. That includes whatever the hell is his life right now.

Which he doesn't mind, per se. It's just... unexpected.

And he never thought there would ever be anything in his life that matches the thrill of fighting to the death.

But getting the pick of fresh fruit and veg when he's first at the farmer's market? Beating some old ajumma (almost literally) to grab the best head of lettuce? Unveiling your dinner like he used to with his masterpiece?

Ok. It's not bad. He'll still sneak off to beat up minors when he has spare time though.

+ DG/James Lee

Drops the K-pop persona pretty damn quick, reverting back to James Lee.

Because can you imagine how little he would be able to get done if people saw DG around trying to run errands?

But honestly. Look at him. This man, like Gun, does not have a domestic bone in his body.

He's not a genius for nothing though.

Dishwasher? Washing machine? Tumble dryer? How to iron in the most efficient way? He will work it out, don't worry.

+ Jake Kim

Anything, anything to make you happy.

As the Big Deal no.1, worrying about the street running smoothly is only his problem in so far as the protecting, the fighting, the money.

Clothes used to just turn up washed and ironed. Would live on a diet of ramen or just eating at one of the restaurants.

Jake is not initially cut out for being a househusband... But he learns quickly.

Eagerly gets to any household chores and errands with gusto. Sometimes even recruiting the Big Deal boys to help out when things get a little too hectic and out of hand.

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guacamoleroll · 4 months

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𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖊𝖈𝖍𝖔 𝖔𝖋 𝖘𝖞𝖓𝖈𝖍𝖗𝖔𝖓𝖎𝖈 𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖘 「𝔣𝔶𝔬𝔡𝔬𝔯 𝔡𝔬𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔢𝔳𝔰𝔨𝔶」 ༉‧₊˚

content. f!reader. implied breaking-and-entering, fireworks, metaphors about stars, soft!fyodor, he's secretly down-bad, he's also incredibly possessive. descriptions of moscow (red square, st. basil's cathedral), mentions of eastern european food (pirozhki), references to greek mythology (perseus and andromeda), jokes about greek incest. not proofread. 2.2k+ words.

author's note. starting the last of my fics for the year with the first bungou stray dogs character i've ever written for. thank you for such a lovely year! ࿐ ♡ ˚ .

would you like to see more? join the taglist or comment under this post!

synopsis. within the last minutes of the year, sitting underneath the stars, two lovers discuss the stories mapped within constellations. in themselves, they find that some tales are timeless.

"It's so lovely at this time of night."

You couldn't contain your astonishment as flurries coasted to the earth in silent swells, dusting the city in a sheen of sparkling white. With an outstretched hand, you gathered flakes into your palm, admiring them before they melted with the heat of your skin. The riverside stilled as you coasted along the sidewalk, frozen in thickening ice as parents ushered their children away from its tempting surface. Tourists clustered under trees, shivering in their thin hats and coats as they underestimated the spite of Russia's wind. But despite the chill, there was an unmistakable gaiety in the air, smiles strewn on glassy faces as they awaited the new year.

You tailed behind Fyodor as he sauntered forward with broad steps, unable to catch your breath as the basket of freshly baked pirozhki settled heavily in your stomach. Your eyelids threatened to close as exhaustion crept into the corners of your vision; journeying between museums, promenading through parks, and scowering various foods had taken a toll on your energy.

You groaned. "Do we have to go tonight?"

He merely chuckled, the velvety bass of his voice tracing goosebumps down your spine, easily distracting you from the fact that he hadn't answered your question. Your field of vision spiraled into a haze, thoughts shot far in the distance despite the frost attempting to rouse you, left unaware as an assured hand ushered you inside a concealed entrance to the luminous structure slumbering outside of Moscow's main square. You walked forward into the endless darkness, only to bump into something sturdy. Your fingers carded through the puffed fur of Fyodor's coat, tugging on its ends.

"Fyodor?"

With a click, the room was brought to life. The high-vaulted ceiling outstretched to reach the heavens above, walls embellished with intricate frescoes of ancient Abrahamic tales. Flares of resplendent color danced across the floor as moonlight met glass, casting waves of softened light upon your skin. A labyrinth of winding corridors hid in the shadows, prompting any curious wanderer into a trove of antediluvian alcoves and chapels.

Your jaw dropped, gawking at every deliberate component. "What is this place?"

"It was a cathedral erected in honor of Tsar Ivan the IV." His gloved hand puckered altar cloth between his gracile fingers, tracing the embroidery as his mind drifted elsewhere.

You hummed, racking your brain as it itched in anamnesis. "Wasn't that the terrible one?"

He was silent as he released the fabric from his fingers, but the self-satisfied smirk told you everything you needed to know. "Indeed. This place once brimmed with life, hosting religious gatherings and services for the denizens of this city." His boots snicked against the tile, the noise reverberating as it spun towards the ceiling. "It has been left as a relic of time."

You ever-so-delicately brushed your hand against one of the columns, not wishing to disturb the peace of stillness and rest that blanketed the cathedral.

"How marvelous."

Your attention went astray as Fyodor tinkered at a lock, the hinges of a thin door ricketing with unsettling squeaks as he stood aside, uncloaking a never-ending staircase to the unknown.

"After you."

Your muscles cramped with every step, dread buried deep in your gut as your vision remained impaired, the flashlight beam smattering inconclusive rays of light as it aimed at your back. It was almost like the architects had attempted to reach the clouds, their grandiose endeavor churning a flare in your back as you slumped against the wall, your lungs burning with every passing moment. Your spirit was invigorated at the sight of a door through the dime ire of light, basking in your relief as you stepped out the door, the crisp breeze of winter striking your skin as—!

"W-Woah!"

Your feet teetered over the ridge of the roof; only your ankles remained flimsily rooted onto solid paneling as your arms swung out to balance yourself. Fortunately for you, an arm wrapped around your waist, drawing you back against Fyodor's chest. A quick peek upward towards his impish expression revealed everything you needed to know.

"You must be careful, любимая."

Your breath was shuddery, inwardly wavering on whether to punch him or kiss him, the indecisiveness reigning victorious as you pointedly ignored the mellifluous lilt of his tone, hands binding to his arm as your gaze locked onto the ground several hundred feet below.

"Good lord, we're high," you muttered between pants.

His arms braced you further against his chest, leaning away from the perilous drop. "You're trembling." The tension in your grip eased at the sensation of a gentle kiss against the crown of your head. "You know I'd never let you fall, hm?"

"Right." You released the amalgam of tense breath that clawed at your throat, able to balance on your own two feet as you settled your view to the skies.

Your feet shuffled across the panels as you slogged onto a wider expanse of the roof, slumping against a wall as the tension evaporated out through your fingers, the nightmare of plummeting from the roof erased from your mind. However, you swallowed a yelp as the flashlight flickered off, leaving the both of you enshrouded in complete darkness—at least for a brief moment.

Clouds stacked in bunched within the stratosphere, mirroring fragments of light that bounced from below in a nebulose aurora. But despite the wonderment of their decadence, they lost their luster once the stars peaked through their fogged edges, the finite speckles scattered like freckles across the canvas of the heavens. They felt close enough to touch if only you reached out toward them, daring to do so. Your fingers trailed maps of these celestial bodies, finding a sense of peace in their familiar patterns.

"Are you familiar with Ovid's Metamorphoses?" Your voice pierced through the silence.

"I can't say I am."

You withheld the impulse to laugh—he had the entire compendium of books in his personal library. It would be a surprise if he hadn't at least skimmed them, but you decided to humor him this once, scooching closer to point towards a specific cluster of stars.

"Those are the constellations of Perseus, the son of Zeus, and Princess Andromeda, the daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia."

You took his silence as an encouragement to continue. "Perseus found Andromeda chained to a rock as a sacrifice to the sea monster, Cetus, by her parents in order to save her home." Your fingers drew out the character within the stars, a grin upturned on your lips as you envisioned the archaic tale in your mind. "It was told that he found her so beautiful that he slayed the monster, rescuing her before fighting against her uncle for her hand-in-marriage."

"Her uncle?" Fyodor mused.

Your nose scrunched in a grimace. "There's a lot of that in those stories, I'm afraid."

"The couple went on to live happily ever after—an extremely rare ending to most ancient stories."

"There is a simple explanation for that," he replied.

You snickered, already aware that your open-ended commentary would eventually lead to some thoughts from the infamously brilliant man.

His eyes rolled in return at your amusement, disregarding the tightness of his chest. "We hold onto ancient tragedies because they are a reflection of life. Nothing in our world is as simple as a happy ending." A vacant look ruled over his features, a familiar expression that often shielded his thoughts within the dark, contemplative hours of the night. "Most aspired heroes never reach their potential due to their blind devotion to selfish aspirations and goals."

"You're right," you sighed, hands balled against the corner of his cape in an attempt to thaw your frozen fingers. You wanted to say more, but it felt like your mouth was cotton-filled. So, instead, you returned your eyes to the sky.

"Sometimes, I wish I was a constellation." He looked at you. "Even with its flaws, this world is undoubtedly beautiful from above. I like to think the stars admire us just as much as we do them."

And he didn't say anything more; he didn't need to. Instead, he reigned you onto his lap, his coat shrouding your shoulders as he shared its warmth. You leaned into his embrace, basking in the flutter inside your chest.

"You're awfully cold, милая," he grumbled, his fingers mapping your frigid palms.

"Our roles are reversed now," you quipped. "I hope you think about this the next time you decide to stun me with your hands in the morning."

"I'm afraid I might forget," he whistled.

"You little—"

But you found your voice hidden underneath layers of crackling. You ogled as fireworks wiggled their way into the night sky, shimmering onto the city square, the towers of the Kremlin becomen heavenly statues as their structures temporarily glistened. Without a second thought, you grabbed onto his hands, giving them a squeeze with each pop. You were so attentive to the collections of radiant sparks that you didn't notice the eyes boring into your skin; Fyodor's gaze averted from the fireworks to contemplate the interlacement of your fingers.

He surmised you were to be his future the moment you had locked eyes for the first time—his destined, pre-ordained other half as he journeyed to actualize God's promised land. It wasn't a surprise that someone was fated to remain in his keep—another loyal follower, too intertwined in their own aspirations to connect to his cause without deliberate guidance.

But not you.

You may not have supported his cause with the devotion of his witless flock, but you understood it better than anyone. And most importantly, you understood him. You peered through his intricate plans and performative malice, reading into his cause as you unraveled his intentions. It had been an enticing cat-and-mouse game, the both of you constantly entangled in a mental match, intellect and morals clashing. He knew you were his perfect match from your analytic dexterity, but he had no idea that you would pull at the strings cast around his heart, ones he believed had been severed long ago.

His heart had never belonged to anyone or anything—his mind and will were forever devoted to his cause, but his heart hadn't beat since before he could even remember. The sudden constriction of his chest was so foreign.

You must've been quite the powerful woman to kickstart the heart of a demon, excavating a trove of humanity he had buried within himself with a simple glance of your eyes—and all without knowing, your gentle expression puncturing through his abstruse masquerades, somehow able to see everything except the turmoil that you left in the wake of your very touch.

He found himself less and less concerned about the echoed beat of his heart within the emptiness of his chest, too captivated by your smile as you beheld the heavens with a benevolent expression, savoring the burning red and gold sparks despite their dullness in comparison to you. In spite of himself, your everlasting happiness had become an intrinsic component in his plans.

You were made to remain at his side—not as a brainless devotee, but as his equal and often opposite. The world, so rotten yet somehow divine through your benevolent gaze, may try to pull you away, but he'd have no issue burning cities to their ashen roots if anyone dared attempt to pry you from his hold.

His lithe fingers outlined the constellations of every freckle and beauty mark, star patterns copied onto your skin as his touch drifted your attention from the flashes and flickers to him, your inquisitive eyes scanning his face as he remained unmoved.

"Федя?"

He shuddered with unparalleled delight at the euphonious sound of his mother language slipping like honey from your tongue, foreign to your lips yet dulcet all the same. Your bonniness beaconed him forward, a heat flowering in his once cavernous chest as he captured your lips, which were as soft as the powdered snow that glinted on your skin. His heavy breath tickled your nose, which crinkled in tandem with your eyes as you drew him in for another. Words became meaningless, his skin seared like static as your arms drew him closer, skin scorched from the cold of your hands against the nape of his neck.

He tucked your hair behind your ear, ensuring that your empyreal features weren't veiled further as flakes of snow flurried once more, your parted lips and shallow breath leaving him in a helpless state of complete limerence. He stirred as his hand brushed against your pulse, your own heart racing concertly with his.

You parted in bittersweet bliss, yearning imbued in your bones as your hands drifted towards one another to intertwine. His forehead rested against yours, your shared breath permeating in spirals within the open air as he peered into your hazy, glossed-over eyes.

His hand cupped your cheek, the frame to a divine masterpiece. "Ты согреваешь мою душу, мое нежное солнышко. Твоя красота вне всякого сравнения; твой разум безупречен." He had never looked at anyone like this before, his ire thawed by the brilliance of your tender gaze as if he had melted. "Я бесконечно благодарен, что Бог привел тебя ко мне."

And you laughed. "You know I don't understand anything you're saying, right?"

He kissed your forehead, concealing his smile as his lips pressed against your skin. "You will one day, солнышко. You will."

любимая = darling милая = dear федя = fedya ты согреваешь мою душу, мое нежное солнышко. твоя красота вне всякого сравнения; твой разум безупречен = you warm my soul, my gentle sun. your beauty is beyond comparison; your mind is beyond flaw. я бесконечно благодарен, что бог привел тебя ко мне = i am eternally grateful that god brought you to me. солнышко = sunshine

ᴛᴀɢʟɪꜱᴛ: @imhandicapableofmath @lovedazai @hauntedsol @ruru-kiss @ishqani @zyilas @lovesick-fairy @fedyascoffin @squigglewigglewoo @kelperspelt @miloofc @thesilvernight0wl @s1eepybunny @dazaisms @deepseafragments @justanotherjester @kotysluny @aureatchi

#muse's anthology ‧₊˚ ⋅#starring: fyodor .��࿐#f!reader #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #bsd #bungo stray dogs x reader #bungou stray dogs x reader #bsd x reader #fyodor bsd #fyodor dostoevsky #fyodor x reader #fyodor dostoevsky x reader

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aeferfckr · 11 months

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stress reliever

"if you ever need a stress reliever, i'm here." he wonders just how willing you are to live up to your words.

content warnings. smut read at ur own risk. gender neutral reader. asshole aether agenda (delulu). overworked!aether. petnames (slut, pretty, whore). degradation. rough sex. (kinda) aftercare (717 wrds.)

"traveler! help me deliver this package!"

"hey, traveler! wipe out this camp for me!"

"traveler! i lost my keys!"

"traveler!" this, "traveler!" that, "traveler!" "traveler!" "traveler!" he was sick of it.

the last thing aether expected was becoming everyone's little service dog while making his way through teyvat.

sure, sometimes it paid off. the connections he's made have definitely been used in multiple scenarios, but nothing could really prepare him for the workload dropped on him.

he always accepted their requests with a smile, and a quick 'i'll see it done!' but what about when he needed something?

trying to find his sister was the main mission for his journey. he asked for help but all he got was missing person posters placed in peculliar places (its the thought that counts, amber...).

when he found out the reason for his sister's disappearance, the reason for why she woke up before him, he shut down.

maybe by fate he ran into you that night, his body falls at ease in the couch as he sits beside you, while his fists ball up at the comment you made the other day

"if you ever need a stress reliever, i'm here."

his vision darkens, he wonders just how willing you are to live up to your words.

:::

the mouth that curves into the sweetest smile while helping others spew degrading words with ease — slut, bitch, whore, and the like.

his pace as relentless as his words, his dick piercing you with such ease as the sounds of skin making contact fill the room.

he had you face down ass up, holding you down by the neck as he recently attacks your hole. your screams muffled by the silk flower sheets as aether growls into your ear.

"you fucking slut. you like to be pounded like this, huh?"

he’s met with muffled grunts and whines as he laughs deeply

“hmm? pretty little thing to cockdrunk to respond? i know how to make this slutty little hole of yours shout my name”

and that he did.

he adjusts his hold on your nape, moving it under your chin to hoist you up to him. he presses his chest against your back as you hold onto his thighs for dear life, screaming while choking from the merciless grip on your throat.

“you like that, whore?” he whispers to you, using his free hand to tweak your budding nipple “like being fucked dumb on my cock?”

you nod with scrunched up eyes your mouth agape and a small trail of drool coming from your mouth. aether laughs again as he kisses your cheek then attacks your neck, blooming dark spots along your neck and collarbone with his teeth.

“ae– hmmgf– aether!” you manage to moan out, “g-gonna cum!”

edge after edge and you still declare when your orgasm is approaching? god…

“you’re pathetic.” he spits, tightening the grip on your jugular as he quickens his unbelievably fast advamces. “cum for me, slut.”

your voice hits an all time high as your orgasm crashes over you, (more like shocks your core and rocks your entire world) the position that you were in made sure that aether’s dick kisses your cervix deliciously.

you crash back onto the sheets as aether hurriedly rubs his cock, spurts of white decorating your back and ass as he growls praise’s through clenched teeth.

:::

"oh my gods. i am so sorry"

maybe you were too into it to remember your fairly busy schedule the next day. you had to call in sick at the very last minute as aether's stress has rendered you weak in the knees. no literally, it hurt to walk.

aether isn't fairing any better as he profusedly apologized for going too hard.

"i can do what you were gonna do today! i don't mind!" he offers with exaggerated expressions, his arms flailing around as his face scrunches up with anxiety.

you cup his face to calm him down,

"aether, the only thing you can do for me right now is to stay with me until noon." you yawn, "the both of us needs the rest, okay?"

his thoughts slow down as his heart aret speeds up, looking at your dazed smile and the tears that are created along your eye when you yawned,

"okay."

#₍ᐢ. .ᐢ₎ works #genshin impact #genshin #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #genshin impact smut #genshin smut #aether genshin impact #aether #aether x reader #aether x you #aether x y/n #aether fluff #aether smut

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yamayuandadu · 9 months

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The real life inspirations behind new characters in Touhou 19 (Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost) While I haven’t been posting much about Touhou as of late, I felt obliged to put together the customary post about the inspirations behind the new characters. The new game genuinely renewed my interest. In contrast with similar write-ups pertaining to previous games the research is not entirely mine - some of the sections are a result of cooperation between me and @just9art. Without further ado, let’s delve into the secrets of the new cast. Find out if Biten is the first “Wukong impersonator” ever, when a tanuki is actually a badger, and why Hisami both is and isn’t an oni. Naturally, the post is full of spoilers. Also, fair warning, it's long.

1. Biten Son - sarugami + Sun Wukong

Sarugami means “monkey kami”, the monkey in mention being the Japanese macaque.To my best knowledge, the term is actually not used commonly in English - the results on jstor and De Gruyter are in the low single digits, Brill outright has nothing to offer. Translations are much more common.

Sarugami are particularly strongly associated with Mount Hiei. You might have heard of it because of its association with Matarajin, though in this case he’s not exactly relevant. Instead, it is believed the monkeys act as messengers of Sanno (the “mountain king”), Sekizan Myojin and Juzenji. Sanno himself could take the form of a monkey according to medieval texts, while Juzenji can be accompanied by a deity depicted as a man with a monkey’s head, Daigyoji, known from the Hie mandala. Sarutahiko is also associated with monkeys based on the similarity between his name and the word saru. Bernard Faure notes that despite the clearly positive portrayal of monkeys as semi-divine beings in service of these deities, their perception in folklore and mythology can nonetheless be considered ambivalent, because they could be viewed as aggressive. There are even examples of sarugami being portrayed as monstrous antagonists to be defeated by a hero. The best known tale of this variety is known simply as Sarugami taiji. It is preserved in the Konjaku monogatari. Here the sarugami is a fearsome monster who terrorizes a village and demands the offering of one young woman each year.

In contrast with the sarugami, I do not think Sun Wukong, one of the protagonists of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, needs much of an introduction. We reached the point where even in the west he is recognizable enough to warrant toys based on him (there’s a Lego Wukong on my desk right now). Biten's design has many callbacks to traditional portrayals of Wukong, including the staff (which in the novel is a pillar stolen from the undersea palace of a dragon emperor) and a very distinctive diadem (in the novel making it possible to pressure the unruly Wukong into obeying the monk he is meant to protect). As a curiosity it’s worth noting that “fake Wukong” is not a brand new idea - in the novel itself, one of the enemies of the heroes, Six-Eared Macaque, actually impersonates him for a time. Wukong is effectively himself a “divine monkey”, seeing as despite his origin as a literary character he actually came to be worshiped as a deity in mainland China, Taiwan and various areas with a large Chinese diaspora. The topic of Wukong worship itself came to be an inspiration for literature, starting with the excellent The Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal by Pu Songling, a writer active during the reign of the Qing dynasty, in the early eighteenth century.

2. Enoko Mitsugashira - “immortal yamainu” + Cerberus

Enoko gets the least coverage here, because there really isn’t much to say. Yamainu, “mountain dog”, isn’t really a supernatural creature, it’s an old term for either the extinct Japanese wolf, a type of feral dog, or a hybrid between these. It can also be used as a synonym of okuri-inu, a youkai wolf believed to accompany travelers at night.

There’s actually a distinctly Journey to the West-esque component to Enoko’s backstory, but I have no clue if this is intentional. In the aforementioned novel, many of the antagonists, who are generally demonic animals, are motivated by the desire to devour the flesh of the protagonist, the Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang, because it is said to grant immortality. Granted, given the obscurity of the figure Zanmu is based on - more on that later - perhaps this is an allusion to something else we have yet to uncover. Cerberus, being probably one of the most famous mythical monsters in the world, does not really need to be discussed here. The illustration is included mostly because I like Edmund Dulac and any opportunity is suitable for sharing his illustrations. I do not think it needs to be pointed out that Enoko's bear trap weapons are meant to evoke Cerberus' extra heads.

3. Chiyari Tenkajin - tenkaijin (+ mujina) + chupacabra

While my favorite animal youkai not yet featured in Touhou is easily the kawauso (otter), I was very pleased to learn we sort of got a mujina since I wanted to cover this topic since forever, but never got much of a chance. Technically Chiyari is actually meant to be a tenkaijin, which is not a mujina but a slightly different youkai (a will-o-wisp or St. Elmo’s fire-like creature, specifically) who in the single tale dealing with it takes the form of a mujina after dying, but as there is not much to say about it beyond that you will get a crash course in mujina folklore instead.

Today the word mujina is pretty firmly a synonym of anaguma - in other words, the Japanese badger. The animal does not substantially differ from other badgers, so I do not think much needs to be said about its ecology. However, historically the term could be used to refer to the tanuki regionally, or interchangeably to both animals, so in some cases if insufficient detail is provided it is hard to tell which one is meant. This ambiguity extends to the folklore surrounding them, and generally if you know what to expect from tanuki tales, which I’m sure most people reading this do, you will instantly recognize many of the plot elements typical for mujina ones. In other words, it is yet another yokai which typically takes the role of a shapeshifting trickster. Some supernatural phenomena could be basically interchangeably attributed to mujina, tanuki, kitsune or kawauso. Mujina are commonly described taking the form of Buddhist monks, which is one of the many similarities between them and tanuki.

The most famous depiction of a shapeshifting mujina comes from Toriyama Sekien’s Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki (The Illustrated One Hundred Demons from the Present and the Past). The accompanying text compares the creature to the supernatural versions of kitsune and tanuki, and states that the artist relied on a tale according to which a mujina was able to successfully impersonate a Buddhist monk until accidentally revealing its tail.

What makes the mujina special is that it is actually the oldest recorded example of a youkai of this sort. A mujina tale already appears in the early Japanese chronicle Nihon Shoki, dated to 627. It reports an incident of a mujina transforming into a human and singing somewhere in the Michinoku Province. I feel like this alone is a good example of why you should be wary of people who seek to present Nihon Shoki or Kojiki as historical truth. Western audiences as far as I know were first introduced to mujina by Lafcadio Hearn. To my best knowledge, the fabulous shapeshifting badgers however failed to gain the popcultural recognition enjoyed by tanuki and kitsune. They did appear in Shigeru Mizuki's stories every now and then, and I found a mascot character based on them, but overall there isn't all that much beyond that.

Naturally, there isn't much mujina in Chiyari's design, and she instead most likely owes her distinctly spiky appearance to the other inspiration behind her character, the chupacabra. Mujina are not really portrayed as bloodthirsty, but the poorly documented tenkajin apparently is, which is presumably why ZUN decided to connect Chiyari with the chupacabra, the best known modern blood-drinking creature, who first appeared in tall tales from 1995 and subsequently took popculture by storm after spreading from Puerto Rico to mainland USA and Mexico. I am not a chupacabra aficionado so I have little to offer here, sadly.

4. Hisami Yomotsu - yomotsu-shikome

Judging from what I’ve seen on social media and on pixiv, Hisami is shaping up to be one of the most popular new characters (she’s my fave too). In sharp contrast with that, her basis is pretty obscure. So obscure that there isn’t even any historical art to showcase, as far as I can tell (note that this blog claims night parade scrolls might have something to offer, though - I was unable to verify this claim for now, sadly). As we learn from her bio, she is supposed to be a yomotsu-shikome. They’re called the “hags of Yomi” of Yomi in Donald L. Philippi’s Kojiki translation. The term shikome can be literally translated as “ugly woman”. Nothing about them really implies femme fatale leanings we are evidently seeing in Touhou but I’m not going to complain about that. Yomotsu-shikome appear only in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, and in both of these early chronicles they are portrayed as servants of Izanami after she died and came to reside in Yomi, the land of the dead. Nihon Shoki states there are only eight of them. The distinct grape vine motif present on Hisami’s clothes seems like an obvious reference to Izanagi’s escape from Yomi following his meeting with Izanami, portrayed in the myth recorded in both of these sources. When the yomotsu-shikome started to pursue him, he threw a vine he used to hold his hair at them. The plant instantly bore fruit, which the entities started to eat. They later resumed the chase, but were once again held back, this time by a bamboo shot. According to the Nihon Shoki, they eventually give up after he creates a river from his piss (sic) to keep them away.

Yomotsu-shikome are sometimes compared to oni by modern researchers. Noriko T. Reider in her monograph about oni argues that alongside hashihime and yamanba (pictured above) they can be effectively grouped with them. Another researcher, Michael D. Foster, is more cautious, and states that despite clear similarities it’s best to avoid conflating oni-like female demons with female oni proper, especially since the latter have a distinct iconography and a distinct set of traits. Norinaga Motoori, the founder of kokugaku or “national learning”, a nationalist intellectual movement in Edo and Meiji period Japan, claimed that oni were based on yomotsu-shikome, which is a pretty dubious claim. It is ultimately not certain when the term oni started to be used, but it is safe to say it has continental origin. And, of course, oni permeate Japanese culture in a way yomotsu-shikome do not.

5. Zanmu Nippaku - Zanmu

This was the toughest mystery to solve, and I am fully indebted to 9 here, since they figured it out, I am merely depending on what they directed me to. Research is still ongoing, and it feels like we just started to untangle this mystery, so you can safely expect further updates. Zanmu appears to be based on the Buddhist monk… well, Zanmu. You can learn a bit about him here or on Japanese wikipedia; it seems there are quite literally 0 sources pertaining to him in English, and even in Japanese there is actually very little. Their names are not written the same, ZUN swapped the sign for “dream” from the original name for one which can be read as “nothingness”. If the unsourced quote on wikipedia is genuine, the reason might be tied to the personal views of the irl Zanmu. What little we’ve been able to gather about him is that he was active in the Sengoku period, and apparently was regarded as unorthodox and eccentric. This lines up with Zanmu’s omake bio pretty well. Seems the real Zanmu was also unusually long lived, and was able to recall events from distant past in great detail, though obviously the figure of 139 years attributed to him in a few places online has to be an exaggeration.

Yet more puzzling is the reference to Zanmu’s familiarity with Ikkyo you might spot in the linked article. Whether the famous Ikkyo who you may know from the tale of Jigoku Dayu is meant is difficult to determine. The chronology does not really add up; on the other hand the logic behind associating one eccentric semi-legendary monk with another in later legends isn’t particularly convoluted. As 9 pointed out to me, if ZUN was aware of this link, and the same Ikkyo really was meant, it is not impossible the connection between Zanmu and Hisami is meant to in some way mirror that between Ikkyo and Jigoku Dayu. As you can easily notice, it’s pretty clear the historical Zanmu was male. It does not seem his Touhou counterpart is, obviously. I would say we should wait for more info until declaring that we have a second Miko situation on our hands, with a male historical figure directly reimagined as a female character without any indication we are dealing with a relative rather than the real deal. There’s still relatively little info to go by so I would remain cautious (though naturally this is not meant to discourage you from having headcanons).

Neither me nor 9 were able to find any connection between the historical Zanmu and oni… so far, at least. Therefore, what motivated ZUN to make Zanmu an oni remains to be discovered. As a final curiosity, on a semi-related note it might be worth pointing out that while not as common as their male peers, female oni are not a modern invention, and already appear in setsuwa from the 13th century. A particularly common motif are tales describing a woman turning into oni due to jealousy or anger. Further reading:

Jason Colavito, The Secret Prehistory of El Chupacabra (2011)

Bernard Faure, Gods of Medieval Japan vol. 1-3 (2015-2022)

Michael Daniel Foster, The Book of Yokai. Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore (2015)

John Knight, Waiting for Wolves in Japan. An Anthropological Study of People-wildlife Relations (2003)

Noriko T. Reider, Japanese Demon Lore (2010)

#touhou #touhou spoilers #unfinished dream of all living ghost #udoalg #touhou 19

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heyiwrotesomethings · 8 months

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Dog Days

Shinobu Kochou x She/Her Reader

A/N: Request for @ross-ayase Thank you for your patience! It’s longer than I wanted it to be, but I also feel like it goes too fast over some parts. I hope you still enjoy it. There also may be more errors than usual because I’m too tired to edit right now, but I promise I’ll give it a closer look at a later date. Word Count: 6,523

Shinobu took one look at who had arrived before her to the Master’s mansion and suppressed the urge to groan as she gracefully knelt upon the vacant cushion beside her.

“Kochou!” The Hashira beside her grinned, “I was hoping you would be literally anyone else!”

“Likewise.” Shinobu replied, facing forward, same smile as always adorning her face.

The rivalry between Shinobu and (Y/n) had started all the way back when they were first training to become demon slayers. Something that still hasn’t changed at all even after all of these years later, finding themselves both at the highest rank a slayer could be bestowed with. At least the days when they used to brawl at the drop of a hat were over. Shinobu claimed she was much too mature to stoop to that level, (Y/n)’s level, anymore. Although she was usually the one to start any physical altercations in the past… but make no mistake, though their quarrels were less explosive, the way they spoke to each other could be like a fist fight all on its own.

Although they seemed to speak to each other in pleasant tones, if someone took the time to actually listen to what they were saying, they would turn tail and run as fast as they could to not get caught in the crossfire.

There was no time for them to really dig into each other this morning, as Kagaya arrived on Amane’s arm not long after Shinobu’s arrival and as much as the pair loved to bicker and attempt to one-up each other, they would never dare do so in front of the Master.

“(Y/n), Shinobu, thank you both for joining me this morning.” The Master spoke warmly, once his wife eased him down.

“Good morning, Oyakata-sama. We’re happy to be of service.” (Y/n) and Shinobu spoke in near perfect unison, both subtly glaring at the other as they bowed reverently.

The Master chuckled quietly. “You two are almost always in sync after being friends for so long. That is why I know you two will be perfect for this mission.”

Shinobu’s smile tightened and (Y/n)’s eye twitched slightly.

“This mission will be a very… odd one to say the least, but as long as you watch out for each other, I don’t think it will be a particularly difficult assignment, but I believe the fine tuned skills of a couple Hashira will sort out the trouble our lower ranks have been having in this area. I am asking you, (Y/n), Shinobu, to investigate the sudden disappearances of our slayers and destroy whatever demon or demons are responsible.”

***

“Are we there yet?” (Y/n) asked with a smirk, walking beside Shinobu down the rugged road.

“You know that we are not.” Shinobu sighed, doing her best to let the words drip off of her like water off a duck’s back. “Now if you could refrain from asking for the twelfth time in half an hour, it would be much appreciated. As far as I’m concerned the mission had already begun, so can you take this seriously please?”

An amused scoff left (Y/n)’s lips. “My name is Shinobu~ I’m a proper young lady now~ blah blah blah.” She poked Shinobu’s back with each consecutive ‘blah’.

“And my name is (Y/n), an insufferable girl who has failed at showing decorum since the day she was born~” Shinobu mimicked back, smacking (Y/n)’s hand away from her with a karate-chop-esque strike.

“I’m just poking fun at you, lighten up.” (Y/n) rubbed her hand. “You poke at Tomioka all the time.”

“That’s different.”

“Is it? What, you have a crush on him or something?”

Shinobu side-eyed (Y/n) before facing the road in front of them again, still walking ever closer to their destination. (Y/n) frowned at Shinobu’s silence and looked away, fists clenched. They were quiet the rest of the journey until they made it to the village.

“They have a lot of stray dogs around here…” (Y/n) commented as they entered the village.

“I was trying to ignore that fact, but yes, it is an unusual amount for a village this size.” Shinobu said, pulling her hand away from a dog who ventured close enough to sniff at her.

“Still don’t like cute, furry animals?” (Y/n) snickered, offering her own hand for the friendly stray to sniff before lightly scratching behind his ears.

“Don’t touch strange dogs, (Y/n), honestly…” Shinobu scoffed lightly, “you don’t know where its been. It could have fleas, mange, rabies… I said, stop that.” Shinobu pulled (Y/n) away from the dog by the back of the collar of her uniform and continued to walk through the village. “We have a mission to complete and I’m not wasting what little supplies I brought to patch up a dog bite.”

“Come on, he’s friendly! You’re as much of a killjoy as ever, you know that?”

“Excuse me, have you noticed anything odd about your village in the past few weeks?” Shinobu was already moving along with the mission, asking villagers about the goings on.

The influx of stray dogs was indeed a phenomenon that had only occurred within the last two weeks. Along with this, a dozen villagers had gone missing alongside the slayers who had been sent to the village before them, usually gone without a trace. There had been a few instances where they had found clothes identifiable as belonging to missing persons, but that was the only lead they had.

“So there’s definitely a demon around here who’s turning people into dogs, right?” (Y/n) said once they stopped at a little roadside vendor for an early dinner.

“We don’t know that.” Shinobu replied, after sipping her tea. “Don’t jump to conclusions.”

“Hey, didn’t you get saddled with helping a bunch of spider people get back to normal? It’s totally feasible! You just don’t want to agree with me because you’re stubborn.”

“It’s too early in the investigation to be certain. Even if there is a demon blood art that can turn people into dogs, we shouldn’t approach thinking we know the whole situation. We don’t even know how many demons were dealing with yet, if we find one, whose to say it’ll have the power you are expecting it to have?”

(Y/n) stuck her tongue out and Shinobu and then groaned, she leaned back, bracing herself with her hands curling around the back edge of the bench she and Shinobu shared. “Okay, smarty pants.”

Shinobu subtly rolled her eyes and took another sip of her tea and it was quite for a few minutes as they watched the sun slowly sink beneath the horizon, painting the sky in vibrant orange and pink. Shinobu felt eyes on her and caught (Y/n)’s eye before she could completely turn her attention elsewhere.

“Yes?” Shinobu rose an eyebrow, finding the odd expression on (Y/n)’s face curious. She had never quite seen anything like that look before. Granted, she hadn’t seen (Y/n) in a couple months, which could feel like a lifetime in the quick-paced lives of demon slayers, Hashira being the busiest of all. Shinobu would not admit it, but there were often times she wondered how (Y/n) was doing, wondered if she should send a letter, but she never knew what to write, so she didn’t.

(Y/n) almost looked like she was gearing up to say something, but then seemed to change her mind at the last second, shaking her head.

“It’s nothing.” She finally shrugged.

“It doesn’t seem that way.” Shinobu scrutinized (Y/n)’s posture and expression in an attempt to decide what may have been going through her mind. “Usually you have no problem speaking your mind. A rather annoying habit of yours, actually.”

“Hypocrite.” (Y/n)’s lips turned upward in a small, almost nervous smile as she watched the sun sink below the distant mountains. “But maybe I’ll tell you after the mission.”

Shinobu kept her eyes to the side of (Y/n)’s head a few beats longer before facing forward again.

“I’ll hold you to it.”

***

They disposed of quite a few demons that night and the added challenge of it being a new moon left the forest extremely dark. Fortunately, that did little to hamper the progress the two Hashira were making, but as dawn approached and the longer reprieves between battles, they began to let their guard down.

“I believe we may be done here.” Shinobu said after taking another lap around the woods that surrounded the village and finding nothing.

“There’s no way.” (Y/n) shook her head. “None of those demons were particularly challenging. I don’t see why so many demon slayers and villagers would have disappeared. We still haven’t found one with a dog-related demon art yet either…”

Shinobu shook her head, “Will you let that theory go already?”

“Nope! I know I’m on to something. I can feel it in my bones.”

“You’ve come to me with broken bones on enough occasions that I doubt that ‘feeling in your bones’ is reliable.”

“Come on, just one more lap, please? Humor me just this once.”

Shinobu bit the inside of her cheek, then sighed quietly. “Fine, one more lap, but only because you said please and I’ve never heard you ask so politely.”

(Y/n) stuck her tongue out at Shinobu again and then started jogging around the path once more. Shinobu shook her head, but followed (Y/n) anyway. They maybe made it about three-fourths through the wide ring they were traveling when (Y/n) stopped so suddenly, Shinobu almost bumped into her.

“Did you hear that?” She whispered, looking at Shinobu over her shoulder.

Before Shinobu could answer, a whining sound sounded from somewhere off of the path and (Y/n) leapt over some brambles to go investigate.

“(Y/n), don’t rush in without a plan.” Shinobu warned, leaping after her with her sword drawn.

“Oh, poor guy…”

“What? What is… it.” Shinobu trailed off when she caught up to see what (Y/n) was crouching over.

Yet another stray, caught up in some brambles. It’s whining and struggling only seeming to make itself more tangled.

“Awww, hang on buddy. I’ll get you out of there.” (Y/n) soothed, getting right in the brambles with the trapped dog.

“(Y/n), be careful.” Shinobu warned, feeling more on edge when she saw the dog growl and snap at (Y/n)’s hands.

“It’s fine. She’s just a little scared.”

It took a little work, but (Y/n) managed to free the dog from the brambles, getting a little scratched up herself in the process.

“Shinobu, will you check her out? Make sure she’s okay?”

“I’m not a veterinarian.”

“Oh come on, how different is it really?”

“Quite. Different.”

“Shinobu.” (Y/n) glared at her.

“Fine, fine.”

But before Shinobu could join (Y/n) beside the dog, it suddenly bolted, tail between its legs.

“Well, it must be perfectly fine to be able to run off like that.” Shinobu said, brushing off her hands on her pants even though she had not gotten the chance to touch the dog.

“Maybe physically fine, but that dog seemed terrified.” (Y/n) stood up and brushed herself off, looking deeper into the forest. “I’m gonna go further, see if I find something.”

She hopped over the bramble bushes and jogged deeper into the forest. Shinobu suppressed the urge to groan and followed her.

“Shinobu, look at this.” (Y/n) was crouched to the ground, a hakamashita and complementary hakama draped over her arms. “It’s like what they said in the village, random clothes in the woods. I wonder if these were left here recently.”

“They don’t appear to have been worn down by the elements. I would wager they haven’t been left for very long at all.” Shinobu deduced.

“You’re correct. I can assure you that bundle is quite fresh.”

(Y/n) and Shinobu whipped their heads around, finding a bright beam of red light being directed at the both of them.

“You’ll both make such cute little doggies~”

“Shinobu, move!”

Before Shinobu could react, (Y/n) was already pushing her out of the way, taking the full blast of the beam and collapsing onto the forest floor in front of her. Shinobu got up quickly, narrowly avoiding another beam.

“(Y/n)?” Shinobu cursed under her breath, her fellow Hashira was still laid out on the ground, writing in pain. She couldn’t afford to check on (Y/n)‘s condition at the moment, she needed to take down this demon first and she would be sure to make them suffer just as much as (Y/n) appeared to be.

“Ah! You’re a fast one, aren’t you? And such a scary look in your eyes!” The demon dodged each of Shinobu’s strikes, his tail wagging excitedly, annoyingly, Shinobu would add. “I’m doing you a favor, you’ll be so much happier, so carefree! You should feel honored that I want to give you a more simple life. I devour the humans I find unworthy. You look like you’d make a good dog person.”

“I’m more of a fish person, actually.” Shinobu tried to stab the demon again, but he dodged, back flipping away. “I can’t stand fur.”

“That so? A pity. But don’t you worry, you’ll forget all about your depressing human existence by the full moon and you’ll forget all about your silly little peculiarities.”

Shinobu dodged several more beams, trying to counter when she could, but it was fairly even on both sides. However, Shinobu did have one weapon that never failed her, the sun. If she could stall long enough, keep the demon within this clearing, he would burn to ash and scatter on the wind. Then she could focus on the dozens of people who had been transformed, she could make sure (Y/n) was going to be okay. She better be okay, because Shinobu had quite a few things to say to her after making such a self-sacrificing decision.

Dawn was quickly approaching after they already spent most of the night making rounds. Instead of taking a purely offensive approach, Shinobu began to defend the treeline to make sure the demon couldn’t slip away. The demon seemed to understand her plan and smiled wickedly.

“I’d keep my eye on your partner over there if I were you. The transformation process tends to leave people rather defenseless.”

Shinobu’s head snapped back towards (Y/n) on pure reflex and her grip on her nichirin blade tightened. Another demon was creeping towards the hunched bundle (Y/n) had become, hoping for an easy meal in the last moments before sunrise. Shinobu didn’t have to think twice before rushing in.

“I knew you’d make the right choice!” The dog-tailed demon laughed, springing into the dark woods and quickly out of sight as Shinobu’s blade found home in the much weaker demon’s chest.

The weaker demon spluttered, then stilled, the first beams of sunlight burning the body into nothing while Shinobu fell to her knees beside the lump of cloth that was once her rival, the person who pushed her away and spared her from having to share the same fate. The person who she still had so much left to compete over with, to argue with, to pop in on unexpectedly to torment when they were apart for too long, to tease, to talk, to eventually confess—

Shinobu shook her head and placed her hand on the center of the lump beneath the layers of haori and uniform.

“(Y/n)?” She cautiously called.

The lump beneath her palm stirred, and she pulled back, watching the bundle of fabric rise wiggle, a low growl came from the bundle as what was left beneath it struggled to free itself. Shinobu reached out again to help and another growl sounded as her hands came in contact.

“Calm down, I’m helping.” Shinobu assured, pulling the layers away, until the mid-sized Kishu dog could shake the rest off herself.

‘Oh gods…’ (Y/n) spun around on wobbly, unfamiliar paws, trying to get her bearings, trying not to panic at the new state of her body.

“Are you sincerely chasing your tail right now?” Shinobu asked, making (Y/n) turn to face her with a sharp bark of warning that if translated correctly would probably be the equivalent of ‘shut up’. “Can you still understand me?“

‘Do you really have to ask?’ An almost disbelieving snort left (Y/n)’s muzzle, the intelligent look in her eye being enough to answer Shinobu’s query.

“Okay, at least you have that much going for you. It’s unfortunate, I finally don’t have to listen to the nonsense you’re always spouting, but now I’m stuck with a fluffy-tailed mongrel.”

‘Hey!’ Another indignant bark and a little stomp of (Y/n)’s front paws was the best rebuttal she could give at the moment and Shinobu smirked despite the state of affairs they hand landed themselves in.

“Didn’t quite catch that, apologies.” A growl was the reply this time, and Shinobu chuckled. “Actually, this could be pretty fun. It’s too bad I have a responsibility to at least try to restore you to your former self. It wouldn’t do to have a Hashira who hasn’t the thumbs necessary to wield their sword.”

‘Oh, yeah? I’ll make you eat those words, just you wait!‘ (Y/n) huffed again and dug her snoot beneath her clothes and rustled around a bit, emerging once more with the hilt of her blade clasped firmly between her teeth. ‘Checkmate!’

“Put that down before you hurt yourself.” Shinobu reached out to take the sword, but (Y/n) was not making it easy for her, dragging the blade around Shinobu in several tight circles. “Drop it, mutt.” She ordered, smiling tightly.

‘As if I’d start taking orders from you.’ If dogs could roll their eyes, (Y/n) would have found a way, but a huff of air left her muzzle before she started to trot off towards the village, hilt still in her jaws. ‘This is kinda heavy though, actually…’

“Where do you think you’re going, the mansion is that way.” Shinobu tilted her head in the opposite direction as she gathered the rest of (Y/n)’s belongings.

‘I’m not the only dog-person here that needs a safe place to sleep.’

(Y/n) looked over her shoulder briefly before continuing to trot over to the village, sword dragging against the ground. If her swordsmith could see what she was doing, they’d probably have a heart attack. Shinobu released a long exhale from her nose then followed after her.

It soon became clear to Shinobu what (Y/n) was thinking about when she went back into the village. Slowly, she amassed a small fleet of stray dogs. Shinobu surmised through observation that these dogs must have been human once as well, as (Y/n) seemed to converse with them. Those that were pure stray dogs would, well, act like dogs. Those that seemed to have been human followed (Y/n) throughout the village and helped her locate more unfortunate souls.

Finally, (Y/n) trotted back up to Shinobu with the pack and looked up at her expectantly. Shinobu would have liked to wait on rounding up the civilian and slayer victims until after she had the cure prepared, but it would seem (Y/n) was expecting her to house all of these humans turned canine. She knew it was the right thing to do, some of them had been condemned to the outdoors since the moon had been waning. That didn’t stop Shinobu from dreading this sudden influx of furry patients, however.

“All right,” Shinobu sighed, “Let’s go…” she turned to start walking back home, but she heard (Y/n) grunt beside her, now struggling to continue dragging her sword around. Shinobu smirked. “Done being unreasonable?”

‘Oh, shut it.’ (Y/n) dropped the sword at Shinobu’s feet with a huff and Shinobu knelt down to pick it up, realizing too late how slimy the hilt was. Her whole body shivered with disgust and (Y/n) barked a laugh before scampering forward to take the lead.

“Someone is going to be sleeping in the garden shed tonight.” Shinobu smiled threateningly, wiping her hand off on (Y/n)’s haori still bundled within her arms.

***

Shinobu didn’t really make (Y/n) sleep in the shed, in fact, they ended up spending countless hours together in the lab. Shinobu had not expected finding a cure to be so difficult. She expected to have to adjust the formula she came up with for the slayers on Natagumo Mountain, but no matter how many time she recalculated, the drug just would not take effect.

As they days stretched on, she only got more anxious, though she did her best not to let it show. If what the demon said was true, they were running out of time before the transformation was permanent. Some of the victims who had been transformed earlier in the month sometimes got confused, more canine than human in behavior. Looking up at the night sky, a waxing gibbous hung high over Shinobu’s head, mocking her. In less than a week, the full moon would arrive, and the human minds trapped within their canine vessels would be lost.

There were very few things that made Shinobu angrier than a problem that she could not solve on her own. Medicine, science, that was her bread and butter. She knew logically that she wasn’t infallible, she couldn’t solve every problem, but that didn’t make it any less aggravating.

She dropped her head in her hands and rubbed her temples, then pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes. She had come out onto the engawa after another failed attempt to reverse the demon art’s effects on (Y/n) after hours of work. Now that she was outside, the moon only reminded her of how little time remained. She could just about scream.

But then a wet snoot swiped against her ear, making her cringe and bat away her visitor.

“(Y/n), that’s foul.” Shinobu glared at the Hashira turned hound now sitting beside her.

‘If you really want to be justifiably horrified, I could have licked you instead.’ (Y/n) chuffed at Shinobu’s displeasure then looked at her expectantly. Shinobu felt something uncomfortably heavy in her chest whilst looking at her.

“I suppose this is your way of telling me my break is over?” She tried to sound annoyed, but her tone sounded more pathetic to her own ears.

(Y/n) snorted and shook her head. ‘I hate that boring-ass lab’.

“Well, I must get back to the drawing board anyway.” Shinobu stood and turned to walk back inside, but a tugging on her haori made her pause. She turned around to reprimand (Y/n) but she had already leapt off of the engawa, circling a patch of dirt as if wanting Shinobu to come closer. Shinobu decided to humor her and hopped down to the ground herself, watching (Y/n) pick up a stick between her teeth.

“You don’t want me to throw that for you, do you?” Shinobu asked, half-joking, half worried that (Y/n) was starting to lose herself as well, but thankfully (Y/n) gave her an incredulous glare before proceeding to use the stick to sloppily draw in the dirt.

Shinobu scrutinized the crudely drawn blob, trying her best to decipher its meaning. “(Y/n), when you retire, art may not be a good hobby for you.”

‘You try drawing without hands!’ (Y/n) growled and stomped her paw against the dirt and then tried to make her doodle look more clear and somehow, Shinobu thought it was reminiscent of a certain demon that she very much wanted to pump full of poison.

“The dog demon? What about him?”

‘We go find him and fuck him up!’ (Y/n) mimicked searching and sniffing around, sneaking up on her messy drawing and then pouncing and digging at it with a growl until there was nothing left. She then looked up at Shinobu expectantly.

“You want to destroy him. As do I, but he could be anywhere by now. I can’t imagine he stuck around the village after all of that.” Shinobu knelt down in front of (Y/n). “You don’t need to worry, I’m not going to rest until I have the proper formula. You will be human again, I promise.”

‘Come on, Kochou. This is our best shot. You must know that by now.’ (Y/n) whined and shook her head. She pounced on the disturbed dirt again, looking up at Shinobu with a fire of determination in her eyes.

“We’re running out of time…” Shinobu tried her best to keep her voice even. “We can’t go out on some wild goose chase. Reworking the formula is the only thing we can do.”

A sharp bark left (Y/n), startling Shinobu, ‘We can do this! Since when have you ever been known to shy away when things get tough?’ She pounced on the dirt again and then sprinted to the mansion fence before turning back to Shinobu and barking again. ‘Let’s go, Kochou! I’d leave you behind, but in this state, I could really use the backup.’

Shinobu’s hands tightened into fists beneath the sleeves of her haori. “Stubborn fool.” She mumbled under her breath. She briefly looked behind her in the direction of the the lab, an uncertain feeling burying itself in her brain in a place where she just couldn’t shake it loose. Then she looked back to (Y/n), fur almost glowing under the moon. Even in this form, Shinobu could see the same steadfast determination that she had for every obstacle in front of her.

Shinobu felt a pulse of annoyance and anger. (Y/n) was the one who was about to lose everything, and here she was stalling and feeling sorry for herself. (Y/n) deserved to make the final call and Shinobu would do all she could to help her. And in the end, if it came to it, Shinobu would take care of that damn dog until her last breath. She would give her the best life a mutt could ever hope for. But now was not the time to start planning for that future outcome. She’d much rather have (Y/n) telling her stupid jokes, maybe finally work up the courage to hold her hand, grin when (Y/n) would get flustered by the sudden action and tease her relentlessly over getting so nervous from a simple hand hold. That’s what Shinobu wanted, and she’d be damned if she let that opportunity slip away from her for the last time.

“Alright then,” Shinobu took a calming breath, fingers grazing over the hilt of her blade, “We have less than a week to find him. Let’s hope that nose of yours can sniff out that vermin quickly.”

‘That’s what I’m talking about!’ (Y/n) barked excitedly, running circles around Shinobu once she had opened the gate. ‘Let’s get the bastard!’

***

They began in the village where everything went wrong and from there, (Y/n) picked up a scent. It was faint, but it was a start. For days (Y/n) and Shinobu were on the road, following the scent. Resting was a little tricky, Wisteria Houses weren’t always available and regular civilian lodging usually didn’t allow animals and (Y/n) was too big to smuggle in, so they would find places to sleep outside during the day. Sometimes Shinobu would fall asleep with her head on (Y/n)’s side, waking up disoriented and grossed out by the fur clinging to her clothes and hair while (Y/n) made the closest noise she could to a snicker and wagged her tail.

Shinobu would glare at her and chuck the nearest stick she could find into the woods, smirking when (Y/n) couldn’t help but go get it and bring it back to her with a strange mix between resentment and hopefulness that Shinobu would throw it again. After a couple more tosses, Shinobu would finally relent, satisfied that she had gotten her revenge.

They would then continue on, the scent getting stronger the further they traveled until finally on the last day, (Y/n) found herself surrounded by the scent. The demon’s new stomping grounds.

‘This is it!’ She barked and bounced back and forth, alerting Shinobu with her little dance.

“Is this it?” Shinobu felt hope rise within her as she took in the sea beyond the cliff they had found themselves near. Somewhere within this jagged landscape, the demon was laying low until sunset. Tonight, on the last possible night, Shinobu would end that demon and hear (Y/n)’s voice once more, to see her smile. Everything will be back to the way it was supposed to be.

Easier said than done.

When night fell, the demon wasn’t hard to find, they just needed to follow the scent and the trail of clumsy-looking dogs left in his wake. He wasn’t the same, however. After their last encounter about fifteen days ago, he had been devouring more humans than he had been transforming. He had anticipated the occurrence of this reunion and did his best to prepare for this moment. It was only by the carelessness of one of his demon companions that he managed to escape dawn’s first light.

“We meet again!” He said with a false chipper tone, scratching behind the ears of a dog struggling and whining against his hold. “Have you come to join your friend so you can be carefree and frolic together for the rest of your days?”

“No, not quite.” Shinobu smiled tightly, her thumb slowly dragging the first inch of her blade out of its sheath.

The demon frowned, his tail unmoving, “I didn’t think so. So unfortunate that you would rather fight against pure happiness!” He released the dog, who promptly scrambled away and aimed a beam of swirling red power at Shinobu.

Shinobu dodged the beam easily, fully prepared for the demon’s speed this time around. (Y/n) barked, sprinting through the woods to try to keep up with the battle, even though Shinobu had told her to stay back before the battle had even begun. As if (Y/n) was going to leave her without support, even if she was in the form of a dog.

The battle went on most of the night, slowly chipping away at Shinobu’s stamina and both her and the demon’s patience.

“Why won’t you just hold still!” He growled. “It’ll only take a minute! You’ll be so much happier! Would you really rather die? Leave your friend to wander through this world alone?”

“The only one who is going to die tonight, is you.” Shinobu swore, her sword clanking and scraping against the demon’s claws, trying to nick his skin just even once.

There was an orange glow bleeding into the horizon, dawn was approaching, highlighting the churning ocean below. Shinobu was not going to let him get away this time. She couldn’t. Even when she found herself dangerously close to the cliff’s edge, she did not waiver. Not even when her wrists had been trapped in the demon’s hands after a failed strike, even when the demon grinned wickedly at her, pushing her towards the edge of the cliff, the fire in her eyes did not leave her.

Guessing the demon’s intent, she dropped her sword and and grabbed the demon’s clothes. If she was going over the edge, so was he. The sun would rise as they fell, the demon would turn to dust before they hit the water. What happened after… well, as long as (Y/n) and the others were back to normal, then Shinobu thought the sacrifice would be worth it.

‘I don’t think so!’ With a mighty growl, (Y/n) launched into the fray, clamping sharp teeth into the back of the demon’s calf, ripping and tearing at the muscle, making the demon shout and push Shinobu to the ground to attempt to rip (Y/n) away from his leg, he kicked and shoved and punched, but (Y/n) kept a firm grip on the demon, until the cliff’s edge crumbled away beneath them.

“No!” Shinobu reached over the ledge in an attempt to grab (Y/n), but it was already too late, she watched in horror as the demon burned to ash and scattered in the wind, while (Y/n) disappeared in the surf.

(Y/n) kept her eyes to the sky as long as she could, watching Shinobu become nothing more than a blot of color on the cliff high above. A whine clawed out of her throat. Was this really it? ‘I should have told her how I really felt.’

Everything went black before she even hit the water.

Shinobu scaled down the cliff as fast as she could, not ready to accept the reality of what she saw. (Y/n) was too stubborn, too annoyingly resilient. There was no way she was going to lose her. Not when she had so much she wanted to tell her.

“(Y/n)!” She yelled over the sound of waves crashing over the rocky shore. “(Y/n), where are you?”

Finally, something caught her eye in the surf, a bundle of fur floating up and down in the waves. Shinobu quickly waded out to her knees, stumbling on the slippery rocks beneath her feet. She wrapped her arms around the motionless lump and dragged it back to shore, collapsing right on the edge where the waves would still lap at her feet as she laid on the sandy rocks, her face buried in the wet, matted fur of one of the most special people in her life.

“Why did you have to do that, you idiot?” Shinobu hissed, breaths coming quick and shallow. “You told me once that I’d never be able to be rid of you. You swore…”

Shinobu’s eyes stung with sea salt and tears, shutting them tightly as she hugged (Y/n) closer. “There’s so much I didn’t get to tell you, so much I wanted to hear from you,” Her voice cracked, “Something was wrong, why didn’t you just tell me what was on your mind that day? Why didn’t I pry further? You promised you’d tell me, so keep your damn promise and wake up!”

As she weeped, she failed to notice the fur melt away from between her clenched fists, how the body expanded and morphed beneath her tear-stained face. Only after the body beneath her blinked awake and rose a hand to clutch Shinobu’s haori, did her eyes open, harboring a manic look within.

(Y/n) managed a tired grin though she looked like she nearly drowned. With as much strength as she could muster, she brought her hand to Shinobu’s cheek, clumsily brushing her chilled and clammy fingers against the tear-stained skin.

“H-hey…” Her vocal chords didn’t feel exactly right yet, but it was music to Shinobu’s ears. She brought her own hand up, keeping (Y/n)’s hand pressed to her cheek.

“You…” a watery chuckle escaped her lips, “you damn fool, why did you do that?”

“What?” (Y/n) spoke hoarsely, “And let you have all the glory? I don’t think so. I always feel like I’m trying to catch up to you as it stands. Any opportunity I can find to show you I’m just as good as you is one I can’t pass up on.”

“And what an ineffective way to show it. You could have not been less graceful if you tried.”

“Hey!” (Y/n) coughed and Shinobu quickly helped her sit up, wrapping her shivering body in her haori and pulling (Y/n)’s head to her chest, and hugging her close in an attempt to give her some warmth.

“Don’t get so excited, you’re in bad shape. In fact, just focus on breathing, alright? That’s all I want from you right now.”

“But there’s something I gotta say first.”

“It can wait.”

“It’s been held off long enough.” She insisted. “I made a promise and I don’t want to wait another minute to tell you so…” She swallowed thickly and cleared her throat, “All the years we spent brawling, competing, goading… I wouldn’t trade any of that for anything. You’re presence has always been my safety blanket, my constant. You’re the most important person in my life and I love you.” (Y/n) sighed, the tail-end of the breath coming out as a chuckle. “Can’t believe how easy that was to finally say—“

Shinobu squeezed (Y/n)’s cheeks between the fingers of one hand with such force that (Y/n) could feel Shinobu’s fingers against her teeth, the muscle and skin of her cheeks being the thin barrier between them. Suddenly her back was against the rocky sand again, Shinobu hovering over her almost menacingly.

“Oh you love me, do you Miss Gallantry? What a relief to hear, truly.” And truthfully, Shinobu was relieved, elated even, but the aura she was emitting shook (Y/n) to her very core. “The one to save me not once, but twice is also the first to say ‘I love you’? Are you trying to outdo me, (Y/n)?”

“I-it’s not a competition!” (Y/n) sputtered, unable to look away from Shinobu’s intense stare as the grip on her face persisted.

“Everything has always been a competition of sorts between us, (Y/n),” Shinobu’s face drew closer, “and I’m not going to let you leave me behind. My comeback starts now.”

Shinobu’s lips met hers in a searing, salty kiss, and a rather thorough one at that. When she pulled away, they were both breathing heavily.

“I love you more.” Shinobu smugly declared. “Even though you currently smell like wet dog.”

“I do not!”

“Oh, you definitely do. It’s rather disturbing. I hope it’s not permanent.”

“You don’t exactly smell like flowers right now either!” (Y/n) pouted, wrapping her arms around Shinobu so she could bring her closer and rub her wet, tangled hair against Shinobu’s clothes, making Shinobu gasp and try to push her away.

They bickered, bantered, laughed and kissed, laying side by side on the ocean shore as the sun creeped further into the sky, bathing them in a warm glow. After a few days rest at the nearest Wisteria House, the pair finally returned to the Butterfly Mansion, finding all manner of gifts left at the mansion gate.

As Aoi would later explain, they were gifts of gratitude from the villagers once affected by the troublesome spell. The girls were surprised to learn that the two Hashira were finally together. Not so much surprised by the fact that they enjoyed each other’s company that much, but surprised that they finally admitted it out loud to each other.

But what maybe surprised the Butterfly Mansion residents more than the admission of love was how the competitions never subsided. It became a lot more lively around the mansion, especially if Tanjirou and the gang were hanging around. Seeing the genuine smile light up Shinobu’s face whenever (Y/n) was with her was contagious.

“Here girl, we’re going to be late. I’m not going to let you sabotage my perfect date.” Shinobu whistled, patting her thighs as (Y/n) slipped on her shoes.

“Don’t talk to me like a dog!” She couldn’t stop the smirk that worked its way into her lips as she joined Shinobu at her side. “Besides, why would I stall? It’s going to be impossible for you to one up the last outing I planned.”

Shinobu lightly ran her fingers down the side of (Y/n)’s face, smiling when she caught wind of a couple butterflies fluttering in (Y/n)’s stomach at the gentle touch. “I wouldn’t count me out just yet.”

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