#so many were Kazuki focused

[lilyginnyblackv2]

The Buddy Daddies Episode 12 Title Screen is Interesting! - SPOILERS!!!

Here is the title screen for Episode 12:

This title screen uses the same exact font as the series title and it also uses the text color to represent the characters like the title colors do:

In the Buddy Daddies title, the red is to represent Kazuki and the blue to represent Rei. In the other episode titles, we see that pink is used to represent Miri, and obviously in the Episode 12 title “daughter” is Miri and daddies represents Kazuki and Rei as a unit. Right, they are both her papas. 

The way the title has shifted from Buddy Daddies, where the focus was on Kazuki and Rei separately growing and learning and becoming more and more like a family, the title Daughter Daddies has two words that are family based and indicates that they are “real” family now. They aren’t just two “buddies” co-parenting a girl, they are two daddies raising a daughter.

Now, I don’t want to get my hopes up for a second season. But it is very interesting how Episode 12′s title screen and text looks so vastly different from the others:

The only one that comes somewhat close to resembling the series title is the Episode title for the 8.5 Intermission (Recap) episode: Cherry-Pick. But, It uses the episode title font, instead of the series title font. 

Now, the use of the title font for Episode 12 could just be because it is the final episode and to show the transition that Kazuki and Rei have gone through. But, what if it is also indicating a possible second season, one that would be titled “Daughter Daddies” instead of “Buddy Daddies,” because in a second season they wouldn’t be “Buddies” anymore, they would be “Daddies,” together?

I swear, if that does end up being the case, I will scream! lol I don’t want to get my hopes up too much though! 

#Buddy Daddies #Kazurei #BD #Kazuki Kurusu #Rei Suwa #Miri Unasaka #BD spoilers #Buddy Daddies spoilers #meta post #speculation #thought post #long post #image heavy post #also... #going by the episode title colors #so many were Kazuki focused #wow #I never really realized that!

[kudouusagi]

Buddy Daddies Drama 4

*Puts down box*

Kazuki: Okay! Now all of our stuff has been moved into our place. Ah, thank Kyuu-chan. On top of finding us a place, we even asked you to help us move.

Kyuutarou: Well, I'm too involved to stop now. So? How do you feel about the place?

Miri: It's smaller than our old place, isn't it, Rei-papa?

Rei: Yeah... and the TV has gotten smaller too...

Miri: So our mori kart cars have gotten smaller too!

Kazuki: Hey, don't be playing games when you should be unpacking. Besides, I think this is the perfect size for 3 people to live cozily. 

Kyuutarou: You're living quite a bit further away than you were at your old place, but the further you are the more difficult it will be for the eyes of the organization to spot you.

Kazuki: Yeah... Well, from what Rei says it doesn't seem like his father is straining his eyes looking for us either.

Kyuutarou: Even if that's the case, there's no mistaking that you sullied the name of the Suwa family. Try to lay low until the heat dies down.

Kazuki: Got it.

Kyuutarou: So? What are you planning on doing from now on?

Kakuzi: Hmm... for now we're going to live off our savings and get Miri into a new preschool... and then after that we'll look for jobs I guess.

Kyuutarou: I see. Do your best for Miri-chan too.

Kazuki: Yeah. Thanks for everything.

Kyuutarou: If you ever need anything, feel free to contact me.

Miri: Kyuu-chan, bye bye!

Kyuutarou: *Laughs and leaves*

Kazuki: Okay! Miri, Rei! Time to get excited for our new life! Let's hurry and put things away and have some move in soba!

Miri/Rei: Yeah!

****************

Kazuki: This one.... mmm.... the pay is too low... This one isn't bad but the hours aren't great... Hm? Drug trials? Hmmm! So in just two weeks I can make that much by just taking medicine and sleeping? It's not bad but...

Rei: Kazuki, have you found a job?

Kazuki: Rei, if I said I was going away for work for two weeks... what would you do?

Rei: Huh? Meaning you wouldn't be here at all for two weeks?

Kazuki: Yeah. You'd need to wake Miri up, feed her breakfast, change her, take her to preschool, come back home, clean, do laundry, make food, go pick her up, give her a bath, feed her dinner, play with her, read her a book, get her ready for tomorrow, wake her up the next day, for 14 days. All by yourself. 

Rei: N-Nope. Not yet.

Kazuki: I figured. So nothing away from home for now. But our savings is going to run out soon so we seriously have to start working soon or we'll be in trouble. And you can't even move one of your arms...

Rei: I thought there would be many jobs I could do with only one arm... but it's surprisingly hard.

Kazuki: In your case it's not just your arm, you're also unsociable. Your interview the other day was awful, wasn't it?

****************

Interviewer: Do you have any special skills, Suwa-san?

Rei: Special skills...? I'm familiar with handling guns. Including disassembly. I won't let anything I target get away.

Interviewer: Y-You mean... airguns, right?

****************

Rei: I didn't have anything else to say.

Kazuki: Well, since you've been a NEET for so long I figured having you suddenly return to society would be a high hurdle. We're about to run out of our savings. We seriously have to work or it will be bad. But there's something that would be even worse than that. 

Rei: Something worse than that?

Kazuki: If I'm the only one working then you'd have to do all the housework yourself. You've recently learned how to hang clothes up to dry but for everything else you suck. You're completely useless! At this rate this room is sure to become a pigsty. And it'll be bad for raising Miri! So now we're going to hold "Rei's special training week focusing on housework!"

Rei: Special training?

Kazuki: I've been going easy on you because I thought you couldn't move your right arm but now I'm going to become a monster! A cooking, laundry, and housework monster! 

Rei: I really can't move my right arm though...

Kazuki: Shut up! Despite that you've gotten even better at mori kart than before, haven't you!? Miri told me! She said you set a new record the other day!

Rei: I was so happy I did a victory pose without even thinking about it.

Kazuki: And so! We're going to use that effort on housework! Who are the ones taking care of Miri?

Rei: You and... me.

Kazuki: And what else is there to taking care of her besides playing with her...?

Rei: Taking her to school and back, housework, laundry...

Kazuki: That's right! So now we're going to do special training and drill you until you're able to do all of those things on your own!

Rei: Geh...

Miri: Papas! What are you doing?

Rei: Miri...

Kazuki: Mm! I'm going to be giving Rei special training now!

Miri: Special training?

Kazuki: Umm... it means he's going to try hard to become able to do things he can't do right now.

Miri: I understand! He's doing a training journey! I saw it on TV!

Kazuki: Oh, you're amazing Miri! That's right! A training journey!

Rei: I didn't say I was going to-

Miri: So, Rei-papa is doing a training journey?! That's so cool!

Rei: I'll do it.

Kazuki: Okay, then starting today until you become a functioning adult I'll be your boss. What do you say?

Rei: Yes. Boss.

Miri: Yes, boss!

Kazuki: Mmm! You both gave good responses. Let's start!

**************

Kazuki: This is how Rei's training began.

Kazuki: Okay, everything about cleaning is important. Let's start with vacuuming. 

Kazuki: Don't skip the corners! Your target likes to lurk in the corners!

Rei: The corners!

Kazuki: In places with running water you're in a constant battle with water droplets! You must have an iron determination to never allow limescale!

Rei: O-Okay!

Kazuki: Miri's room is the most important location! You have to make sure to diligently vacuum and use the lint roller to protect against dust allergies!

Rei: I'm... tired...

Kazuki: We're not done yet! Next is laundry! 

Kazuki: You need to memorize the differences between pods and regular detergent and learn how to use laundry nets! There's things to wash every single day!

Rei: There's too many things to remember!

Kazuki: Learn how to separate the garbage and when the garbage truck comes! And on top of that check which stores have the cheapest bags that won't break!

Rei: *Panting*

Kazuki: It's important to learn how to write in the preschool correspondence notebook, but your most important mission is learning to exchange messages with the mom friends! The smooth exchange of information is essential to surviving in the world of child raising!

Rei: I-... *falls down on ground* I can't do it anymore... This is way more physically and mentally exhausting than fighting... I've never experienced training like this before... 

Kazuki: Stand up, Rei! You've still got to wash the rice.

Rei: I'm at my limit. I want to eat chips, hide in my room, and play games.

Kazuki: Ah... oh no... he has dead eyes. Hey, Rei! Keep going! Miri's watching

Miri: Rei-papa's training journey is so cool!

Rei: I'm going... to wash... the rice!

Kazuki: Oh! There's a light in his eyes! Miri, keep on cheering him on like that.

Miri: Okay! Rei-papa! Do your best! Do your best!

Rei: What is this power rising within me? I can do it! I can do it!

Miri: Rei-papa stood up!

Kazuki: Yes! That's it Miri! That was even more effective than I expected! Okay! 

*******************

Kazuki: Rei's special training continued even while I was at work.

Rei: Hmm... cleaning takes a while with only one arm... I'll put the last glass here...

*Glass shatters*

Miri: Rei-papa!

Rei: Miri! Don't come over here! 

Miri: *Whines*

Rei: I dropped a glass so it's dangerous.

*Rei attempts to pick up glass*

Rei: I can get the big pieces... but the smaller ones... I guess a broom and dustpan?

*Gets out broom and dustpan and starts sweeping*

Rei: I can't hold both of them with one arm... I guess I'll just have to wait till Kazuki comes home?

Miri: Rei-papa!

Rei: Miri, it's dangerous so don't get-... 

*Miri holds the dustpan*

Rei: You...

Miri: I'll hold the dustpan, okay?

Rei: Oh... thank you, Miri.

Miri: *giggles*

*Sweeping*

Rei: Okay. Perfect.

Miri: Perfect! Papa! High five!

Rei: Yeah!

Miri: YAY!

*High fives*

Rei: *Laughs*

*******************

Kazuki: We're now going to hold your final test! The challenge is to make my special french toast all by yourself!

*Rei cooking*

Rei: Now!

*Flips toast*

Kazuki: His flipping timing is perfect!

Miri: Perfect!

Rei: Done.

Kazuki: Itadakimasu

Miri: Itadakimasu!

*Everyone eating*

Rei: How is it?

Kazuki: It's good. It's seriously good! This is so good you could serve it in a restaurant!

Rei: *Laughs excitedly*

Miri: Rei-papa's french toast is good!

Rei: Miri!

Kazuki: And it's not just his french toast! He's able to clean and do laundry perfectly too! I think it will be fine leaving the house to him now.

Rei: No, not yet.

Kazuki: Huh? No, you don't need to be that worri-

Rei: I feel like I haven't selected the best bread for french toast yet.

Kazuki: Huh?

Rei: I realized when I was practicing, different breads have different textures. Rather than the one from the grocery store, the one from the bakery in town is more suited for absorbing moisture.

Kazuki: No... you don't have to be that picky...

Rei: And the eggs. Today I just used 10 that were on sale, but I wonder what would happen if I used more expensive eggs? Also depending on the way you mix it the texture changes. But that's obvious isn't it? If there's different amounts of air.

Kazuki: Hey... Rei...?

Rei: I also want to test the coffee that goes with it. I want to use a coffee grinder with a proper pour over and make the best cup of coffee!

Kazuki: Wait, wait, wait!

Rei: Actually I already ordered a coffee making set online.  

Kazuki: Hey!

Rei: It seems like it's here.

Kazuki: Huh.....? What's going on?

Miri: Rei-papa looks like he's having fun!

Kazuki: Hey, Miri. Go tell Rei-papa to cool it.

Miri: Huh? But...

Rei: Okay.

Miri: I'll help!

Kazuki: Hey, hey. Don't bother Rei-papa...

Rei: Thanks.

Kazuki: Huh?

Rei: I'll open the big boxes and you can open the small ones. We'll split the work between us.

Miri: Okay!

Miri: I opened it! Yay!

Rei: Yay!

*Rei and Miri high five*

Kazuki: You're doing high fives? You've gotten so close...

Rei: Miri, you can open that one too.

Miri: Okay!

Kazuki: *Laughs* I can leave the house in peace like this.

Miri: I opened it!

Rei: I opened this one too. You did well, Miri. 

Miri: *Giggles*

Kazuki: I can do it in peace.... but... it feels weird... like I'm going to lose my place.

Miri: Hey, papa! I want to play Mori Kart!

Rei: After we finished putting away these boxes, okay?

Miri: Okay!

Kazuki: Miri, would you like to play with me? Mori kart?

Rei: Kazuki?

Kazuki: I'll play with Miri!

Miri: With Kazuki-papa?

Kazuki: That's right!

Miri: Hmm... I don't want to!

Kazuki: Huh? But you said you wanted to play...

Miri: You're bad at games so it'd be boring!

Kazuki: EH!?

Miri: I prefer Rei-papa!

Rei: Hmm! So she says!

Kazuki: *Screams* At this rate I'll lose my parental respect...

Kazuki: Rei!

Rei: Hm?

Kazuki: Please! Give me special training! I want to be good at games!

Rei: But aren't you going to work?

Kazuki: I'll work too! So let me game! I'll keep my respect as a parent through games!

Rei: Okay. But games aren't that easy. Sometimes they're even harder than being an assassin.

Kazuki: Huh? Really?

Rei: You look down on games. If you're serious I won't go easy on you.

Kazuki: Eh? Okay! I'll beat your record!

Rei: Okay. Then I'll train you. You should say "Okay, boss" to me.

Kazuki: Eh? ...Okay... boss...

**************

Kazuki: And so then my days of special training, so tough I could vomit blood, along with working began...

Kazuki: At night I'm working at a construction site, a bartender, and a cleaner and during the day it's mori kart! I'll fly through both of these tasks with ease!

Rei: You pressed the brake too late!

Kazuki: Damn it! One more time! Ugh...

Rei: Don't just drive around randomly. Remember the course and the shortcuts.

Kazuki: Guh! 

*crash*

Kazuki: Ehh?!

Rei: You used your item too late.

Man: Hey, newbie! That's some messy-...!

Kazuki: *Shouting*

Man: He's fired up...

*Crash*

Kazuki: Ah...

Rei: That was a close race. It's proof you don't have the specs of each kart memorized. I told you that the day before yesterday too.

Kazuki: *Growls*

Woman: Kahlua milk please

Kazuki: Okay, Okay, Okay! Here you go!

Woman: Wah...? ...Thanks...

*crash*

Rei: You needed to take the shortcut there and use your item.

Kazuki: Oh.

Rei: By the way, I told you that last week. Remember it!

Kazuki: *Sobs*

*Scrubbing*

Kazuki: *Panting and shouting* 

Woman: Hold the mop right! You're not cleaning at all!

Kazuki *Sobbing and shouting*

Rei: Why are you breaking like that at the last cur-... 

Kazuki: *Snoring*

Rei: Hey!

Kazuki: Ah! I'm not sleeping. I'm not sleeping.

Rei: That's enough for today.

Kazuki: Don't be ridiculous! We've barely done anything today!

Rei: This isn't a game you can win while sleep-driving. Don't underestimate it.

**************

Miri: I'm home!

Rei: I'm home.

Miri: Hmm... Kazuki-papa isn't home today, either...

Rei: Well, he has work

Miri: Oh... work... it can't be helped!

Rei: Miri...

**********

Rei: Welcome home

Kazuki: *groans*

Rei: Hey!

Kazuki: Huh? Oh sorry... training right? Training...

Rei: We're not doing that today.

Kazuki: Why?

Rei: Go look in a mirror. Your face looks awful.

Kazuki: *Laughs* This isn't anything...

Rei: During the day you're training for mori kart, and at night you're doing night shifts. When are you sleeping? 

Kazuki: This... isn't-....

*Passes out*

Rei: Kazuki!

*Rei runs*

*Ambulance sirens*

***********

Kazuki: Where am I?

Rei: The hospital.

Kazuki: Ah! Rei!

Rei: You overworked yourself. They said after that IV is finished you can go home. 

Kazuki: Oh I see... passed out. I'm sorry.

Rei: I'm not the one you should apologize to. Say it to Miri.

Miri: *Snoring*

Rei: Even though I said you'd be fine she wouldn't leave your bedside and fell asleep while holding your arm.

Kazuki: *Laughs* So that's why my right arm feels heavy...

Miri: *groans* Papa...

Kazuki: I'm so pathetic... now that I think about it I was so focused on the game I didn't talk to Miri much... I'm really doing everything backwards.

Rei: It's okay even if you can't game.

Kazuki: Hm?

Rei: I'm gonna go home now. I need to clean. I'll leave Miri to you. 

Miri: *wakes up* Hm?

Kazuki: Miri, are you awake?

Miri: Kazuki-papa? Eh? Ah! Are you better now?!

Kazuki: *Laughs* Yeah! Completely! Seeing your face gives me 100 times more energy! Thank you.

Miri: *Giggles* Yeah!

Kazuki: I'll make you anything you want today as a thank you! What would you like?

Miri: Hmm... French toast!

Kazuki: Okay got it! ...is what I want to say but... Rei's is better than mine so you should get him to make it.

Miri: No. Today I want yours, Kazuki-papa!

Kazuki: Huh?

Miri: Rei-papa's french toast and your french toast are both the best in the world!

Kazuki: Ah... I see

***************

Everyone: Itadakimasu!

*Everyone eats*

Rei: Your french toast and mine really do taste a little different.

Kazuki: Hm? Well, the recipe was the same... but differences in cooking styles might make some difference in taste.

Rei: You learn a lot when you make it yourself. How hard it is...

Miri: Both of them are good!

Rei: and the happiness it gives.

Kazuki: I realized something too.

Rei: What?

Kazuki: When I'm doing night shifts, I can't spend time eating with you and Miri like this.

Ri: Ahh...

Kazuki: I'm going to stop taking night shifts. Nothing is more important than time with family! ...but we still have to think of what to do for a job. How do you even choose a job?

Rei: We don't even really have the option of being choosy.

Kazuki: Right...?

Rei: What about a house cleaning service?

Kazuki: Well it's not like we couldn't but.... Hmm... What about doing background checks?

Rei: I don't really want to leave the house. It would decrease my time with Miri.

Kazuki: Man, you... *sighs* What should we do?

Miri: *Happily eating*

Kazuki: Seeing her smiling face makes our troubles seem like nothing.

Rei: Miri, is it good?

Miri: Yeah!

Kazuki: We have enough for seconds! Do you want some?

Miri: I want it! But...

Rei: But?

Miri: I want to eat with everyone!

Kazuki: Everyone?

Miri: Yeah! Like Anna-chan, Kotori-chan, Hinata-chan, Taiga-kun and my friends at my new preschool! Everyone! I'm sure they'd all think it was good and be happy!

Rei: I see... then how about we make a whole bunch next time and invite everyone?

Miri: YAY!

Rei: If we invite the mom friends then it should make exchanging information smooth, right, Kazuki?

Kazuki: Everyone? Everyone! That's it!

Rei: What?

Kazuki: We should open a restaurant! Like Kyuu-chan! I can cook! And if it's french toast then you can make it perfectly. Besides, we've already got all the best equipment for coffee!

Rei: Hmmm... if the restaurant and our house are in the same place then we can always be with Miri.

Kazuki: What do you think, Rei?

Rei: It's not bad.

Kazuki: Okay! Then it's decided! Miri, we're opening a restaurant!

Miri: We're playing restaurant?

Kazuki: Not playing! A real one!

Miri: Rei-papa is unsociable so we can't!

Rei: Wha! Miri... where did you learn that?

Miri: Kazuki-papa says it! Unsociable!

Kazuki: W-well... we can do something about it with special training!

Rei: Ehh? Special training again?

Kazuki: Yeah, on days when you don't have housework.

Miri: It's okay, Rei-papa! I'll cheer you on lots!

Rei: Yeah... then I can probably do it.

Kazuki: Okay! So then where should we start? Should we start with a name?

Rei: No, shouldn't we find a location for it first?

Miri: I think there should be pictures on the wall at the restaurant! Should I draw some?

Kazuki: Yeah, please, Master Artist Miri! Ahh... Do we need to go to some government office to get permits?

Rei: Government offices again? I hate them.

Miri: It's okay! You just tell them to do as you say!

Kazuki: That's right! It will work out!

***************

Kazuki: Th-Thank you for waiting.

Rei: Here's your french toast and coffee... sir.

Kazuki: Eat up, Kyuu-chan!

Kyuutarou: Ita-

Kazuki: How is it?

Rei: Is it good?

Kyuutarou: I haven't eaten yet.

Kazuki: Ahh, right! Sorry.

Kyuutarou: Itadakimasu

Rei: It makes me nervous to have someone other than Kazuki and Miri eat it.

Kazuki: Well, he is a pro... and I don't think we'll be open long if we can't get approval from our peers... So how is it Kyuu-chan!?

Kyuutarou: Well... first of all, Kazuki. 

Kazuki: Yes!?

Kyuutarou: Your face is stiff and creepy. Stop fake smiling at the customers to try to flatter them.

Kazuki: Eh!?

Kyuutarou: Rei! 

Rei: Yes?

Kyuutarou: You're too blank faced. And you need to look the customers in the eye.

Rei: Okay...

Kazuki: So... how does it taste?

Kyuutarou: I think it's alright.

Kazuki/Rei: Oh!

Kyuutarou: So this is your answer?

Kazuki: Yeah! I don't know how long we can keep doing it... but this is a place for our family.

Rei: I'll do my best at work and spending time with Miri.

Kyuutarou: Yeah! Do your best at making your own family.

Kazuki: Oh! There's a customer! Rei!

Rei: Yeah.

Kazuki: Hello!

Rei: Welcome to Diner Nest!

#buddy daddies #drama cd #my translation #SoundCloud

[kemistre]

εïз┊𝐎𝐍𝐄 — codename: fox

synopsis. in order to retrieve evidence against the mafia, he finds himself in a populated office building

— content warnings. violence, descriptions of blood, mafia themes, knives, (if there's anymore please lmk!!) — word count. 1,876

εïз┊author's note. wow this is crazy, i'm actually writing! i haven't in a while so bear with me if it's awful! there are definitely some typos and whatnot in here but i hope you enjoy nonetheless!! here's the masterlist for this series too! <3

"kazuki please hear me out!" he placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder as they entered the elevator, music playing softly in the background. a ding ringed throughout the box as the door closed.

"absolutely not shinya, i can't listen to another conspiracy theory today," kazuki sighed as he ran his hands through his soft, brown hair. "you've already told me ten this week alone." he shoved his best friend to the side, grinning and rolling his eyes.

"it's not just another theory, i have solid proof!" shinya smirked, placing proud hands on his hips before stepping in front of his friend. "you'll wanna hear about this one, i swear!"

shinya had always been interested in theories about anything and everything, it was what he lived for. he loved researching to see if the theories he'd seen were really true. so far, none of the theories he'd looked into were true, but this one, this one was real.

kazuki raised a brow. "oh yeah? that's a first for you." he always complained to shinya about the theories he'd gush about, but he never meant it. he adored seeing shinya so excited, it gave him life, something to look forward to everyday.

they made a promise years ago, that no matter what, they would always be together. so, the pair decided to get the same job in the same office building. it was a well established building, many different kinds of people worked there. But nevertheless, the two always enjoyed every coworker they'd had.

"just listen, okay?" kazuki leaned against the elevator wall, watching as shinya fumbled to get his phone out of his pant pockets. he admired shinya for being so clumsy even at work when they had to act perfect and professional, going as far as to wear full suits to work. "so, you heard about the massacre that happened last night, right?"

kazuki's smiled faded, the atmosphere in the elevator getting heavier than he'd like. "yeah, the news said there were a ton of people dead." his brows furrowed, crossing his arms in confusion. "good thing that king wasn't there, that would've been horrible if he died."

"2,500 casualties, no survivors, but just before the king arrived," shinya scrolled on his phone, seemingly reading from an article. "the police couldn't figure out who did it despite the first death being approximately one hour before they arrived."

"they were all diplomats, weren't they?"

"yeah," shinya was so focused, his eyes glued to the device he had in his grasp. "here, take a look at this." he handed his phone to kazuki before taking a step beside him. it was a video. kazuki tapped his finger on the screen, making the video start.

the screen showed five different men, each different heights behind what he assumed was the building where the diplomats were killed. kazuki's eyes widened as he realized who the shortest man was. the chief of the police department. he began talking first.

"please, i'm begging you kita-" his voice cracked as he pleaded. the silver haired man in the video grabbed the chief's arm, twisting it harshly and making him fall to his knees. he whispered something the video couldn't capture. "sir! sir! i'm so sorry!"

"good boy, now which one of your heathens knows about us?" the silver haired man's voice was deep, menacing, filled with malice as he spoke. it made kazuki's stomach turn just by watching a video. the man grabbed the chief by his hair, pulling him back. "answer me."

"kaito, akimatsu, minato..." the chief was so quick to give the names of his comrades, the man letting go of his hair and throwing his head forward, making the chief leave his head hanging.

"twins," the man hissed. "kill 'em."

"yes boss!" two of the men behind the silver haired man spoke, playfulness in there voice before they ran into the building once more.

the silver haired man walked towards the last man standing, once again whispering something the video couldn't pick up as the last man grabbed the police chief by the collar, beginning to drag him away. "yessir."

"what?! we had an agreement! i tell no one about the mafia's whereabouts and you let me live! please!" the chief cried, being slightly choked as he was being pulled away.

"well, how did your men figure us out then?" the silver haired man's eyes seemed to glow a bright yellow in the darkness, shining and boring into the police chief. he cried, whining, begging and pleading to survive, all the while the silver haired man, the leader, smirked. "aran, make him writhe in agony."

the video cut out after those last words. kazuki felt his hand tremble as the phone shook in his grasp. "shinya, these people...are the mafia..?"

"yeah, just hearing the screams of that guy make me sick no matter how many times i watch it." shinya sighed, taking a step back, giving his friend room to breath. "but, i do know that this is true, it's not just a theory this time."

"shinya." kazuki's voice was deep, serious. "did you record this?" shinya grinned, nodding his head before hearing a thud on the ground as kazuki grabbed his shoulders. "you need to stop this!" his voice raised, his eyes wide with a mixture of worry and anger. "stop doing dangerous things, you're going to get yourself killed."

"i can't stop, this is what i live for kazuki. i can't just stop now! i would happily die if it meant those bullies get justice." kazuki scoffed, shoving shinya against the wall before turning towards the front of the elevator.

"you're such an idiot, shinya." he shoved him hands into his pockets, his mind fuzzy with frustration. he couldn't stop himself from speaking. "what about me? if you die, i have nothing." there was no response, only the painfully joyful elevator music filling his ears.

he sighed. "okay i'm sorry, no need for the silent tr- shinya?" he turned, his face filling with confusion as he glanced around. he was alone, shinya was gone? he looked up in his panic, not being able to register the large hole in the corner of the elevator.

kazuki's forehead wrinkled, his eyes becoming watery as his face lost all the color he'd had mere seconds ago. with a large thud, shinya's bloodied body fell from the hole in the elevator. splashes of warm, red liquid appeared before kazuki's very eyes.

his scream was raw, painful as veins appeared on his tense neck. sweat dripped down his forehead as he fell to the ground, crawling over to shinya. his eyes were lifeless, staring into kazuki with no remorse. "shin.." the elevator ding mimicked his cries as the door split in two.

kazuki held his cold, dead friend in his arms as he felt a pit in his stomach, anxiety creeping into his blood. his mouth hung open at the sight of the first floor of his office building.

crimson red was all he could see.

he stood, gently setting shinya down as he stumbled towards the scene. "no..." he couldn't help but stare at all the innocent and lifeless faces he recognized in the sea of bodies. "how did this happen..?" he whispered, unable to speak any louder.

his question was answered by a sharp pain in his abdomen. the sharp point of the knife stuck out of him, letting his fingers dance around the blade as another wave of immense pain washed over him, his scream echoed throughout the building, the bodies absorbing his sound.

his body gave in to the strained muscles that were keeping him up. he fell flat, giving the knife room to move by itself. his blood intertwined with the puddle of blood from his best friend as the knife ripped him open little by little. a stream of red flowed from his lips as the only thing he could think about was shinya.

he felt the rumble of a footstep near his head, making him turn to see the cause. a man. a hooded man wearing the color of death, step out of the elevator. "you..." his hoarse voice made the figure turn. "the mafia...right?" the hooded figure did not reply, instead he leaned down taking shinya's unlocked phone that kazuki had dropped what seemed like hours ago.

kazuki laughed, a crooked smile on his lips as the blood continued to spill from him. "the mafia killed us.." he coughed. "i guess we'll stay together forever now...shin."

the hooded figure watched the video of the mafia briefly before pocketing the device. he let out a sign as he turned fully glaring down at the manic character before him. "goin' up." his voice was hoarse, but deep. it would make anyone tremble before him just like the man in the video.

kazuki used the last of his strength to pull himself slightly out of the elevator and stare up at the man as he heard the click of a button. his jagged smile quickly turned into a horrified frown as the elevator doors began to close with a loud ding.

"no..." he whispered.

"no.." the doors were getting closer.

"NO!" he shrieked.

the doors were on either side of his body, determined to close and get the man to his destination. his screams were filled with agony of his bones began to bend and break, shattering anything in its path. the hooded man watched, his foxlike eyes boring into the man being broken before him.

he cleared his throat as he turned on his heel, stepping over the dozens of bloodied bodies on his way to the front door. he placed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, steadily turning the corner before the crowds could appear.

a sigh fell from his lips as his hood fell from the wind, revealing his black hair in a messy bun on the back of his head, his baby hairs swayed as they tickled his forehead. with a few swift movements, he tore off the large, baggy hoodie, revealing a black suit that fit him almost too perfectly.

he rolled his shoulders back, flexing his sore muscles as he reached into his pocket. as he did, he threw his blood spattered clothes behind him and into the air, pulling the lighter he’d taken from one of the men in the elevator from his pocket. with a quick flick of his wrist, the flame of the lighter caught his clothes, lighting them ablaze. 

the flame caught the side of the office building, setting it ablaze as he walked down the civilian ridden path. shouts and cries were all he could hear as the building collapsed, sirens nearing their destination from blocks away.

it wasn’t long before he arrived at the place he’d been looking for. he stopped, opening the glass door to the red telephone booth that sat on one of the back alleys. he grabbed the phone, his slender fingers tapping at the numbers as he dialed the contact he’d been given. he held the phone to his ear as it rang, soon to be picked up on the other end.

"codename: fox."

"nicely done fox, we're sending a car to your coordinates."

taglist :: @rukia-uchiha-98 @snowggvk @saiewithakatana @sunarots @sapphicshav @memosa @alienvarmint @kitsunekanojo (these were from a while ago, if you want to be removed just get in touch w/ me <3)

#[εïз] — fluffy time #suna rintarou #suna rintaro x reader #suna rintarou x reader #suna x reader #suna au #suna rintarou angst #suna rintarō #suna rintaro haikyuu #suna haikyuu #suna angst #suna x y/n #suna x you #haikyuu fanfic #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu!! x reader #haikyuu au #haikyuu #haikyu x reader

[skeletonpunching]

Buddy Daddies interview with Toyonaga Toshiyuki and Uchiyama Koki

Interview with Toyonaga Toshiyuki and Uchiyama Koki (voice actors for Kurusu Kazuki and Suwa Rei) Interviewer: As we look back on "Buddy Daddies" up to this point - first of all, how do you feel about the early plot developments?

Toyonaga: The very beginning of episode 1 was an incredibly hard-boiled action scene, and then episode 2 was a total about-face - from that point on, it became more of a sitcom. I think that tonal shift was very intriguing, and everyone in the audience might have wondered, "Just where will things go from here?"

Uchiyama: It all started with a scene of assassins carrying out a mission, and the "assassins" premise itself was a very anime-typical hook in the first place. It seemed likely that there would be all sorts of drama, and so I expected a large proportion of the anime to be dedicated to that. But just like Toyonaga-san said, as the story progressed, the sitcom elements were unexpectedly pronounced; that left a strong impression on me as well.

Interviewer: Since then, Kurusu Kazuki, Suwa Rei, and Unasaka Miri have fully become a "family" - in review, are there any episodes that left a particular impression on you?

Toyonaga: Well, it's a fact that Kazuki and Rei are assassins, and they really did kill Miri's father...

Uchiyama: That was quite a grim start to the story, wasn't it.

Toyonaga: It sure was. And so the two of them find themselves obligated to look after this child, and they grapple with the conflicted feelings of "surely we can't actually bring her up, can we?" That's the first half of the series. Kazuki gets proactive about the parenting thing from pretty early on, but Rei's values and mindset change bit by bit over time... The part around episodes 8 and 9, when he reaches the point of thinking "it would be nice if life could go on like this", was very memorable. 

Uchiyama: Episodes 8 and 9 left a real impression on me too. Episode 8 focuses on Rei's biological family, and it depicts a tragic battle with a character who seemed closely connected with Rei in the past. So going from that to the events of sports day in episode 9 is a major shift for him. At first, Rei wasn't especially keen on parenting or living together with a child, but now he's shouting at the top of his lungs in order to cheer for Miri. I found that scene incredibly dramatic. In the recording sessions for the early episodes, I was often directed to perform Rei with more "restraint", so it came as a real shock to raise my voice during sports day and shout "Go for it!" But looking back upon the story as a whole, I've tried to portray his gradual transformation over time; that was the moment it really hit me.

Interviewer: What do you think of Kazuki and Rei's buddy relationship?

Uchiyama: The "buddy concept" is fundamental to the series, but since Miri has been part of the mix right from the start, I have a stronger impression of them as a "trio", when it comes down to it. In a manner of speaking, I think this is a story about the buddies being wrapped around Miri's finger.

Toyonaga: Kazuki and Rei each have their own dark pasts and traumatic burdens, but they've never experienced what regular children go through while growing up and as teens. Of course, the setup of these two falling under the sway of the innocent Miri might be kind of disorienting, but it sure is ripe for drama. There were just so many points where I thought, "Right, of course that's how it'd go!" In that sense, I think the balance of the three-person dynamic is absolutely perfect. And as for my approach as an actor - I give a pretty aggressive performance, so sometimes I'm really riding roughshod over Ucchi (Uchiyama)... Rei is a character who has to be defined in direct opposition to Kazuki, so I'm always like, "Ucchi, I'm so sorry." (laughs)

Uchiyama: No, no, not at all! (laughs) If anything, I really enjoy those plot developments of Rei getting pushed around. The story is richly varied, and every episode has a major shift in tone, so even we actors have a lot of fun during the recording sessions. Speaking from the audience perspective, I think this series was designed to keep the viewers hooked to the very end.

Interviewer: The ins and outs of parenting are very realistically depicted. Which of those scenes left the strongest impression on you?

Toyonaga: Out of everything till now? It's got to be the episode where they send her to daycare.  

Uchiyama: The rules and minutiae of what you have to bring to daycare really are so detailed.

Toyonaga: There's a whole list.

Uchiyama: And you need to put the name on every single thing. It was fun seeing Kazuki getting so worked up over that.

Toyonaga: I bet all the fathers and mothers of the world who've been through the same thing looked at Kazuki and Rei and went, "Right, right! It's tough, isn't it!" It's like Kazuki and Rei are receiving messages from all these viewers, and that leads to a reversal of the original setup. That's the point where I really sensed how far we'd come from episode 1's plot, and how unexpected this gap was. And this is a minor thing, but: Rei sleeping in the bathroom. It felt like a fantasy element in the middle of all this realism - that's the kind of deft balance only an anime can pull off.

Interviewer: Throughout all these interviews, we've heard from members of the staff that Toyonaga-san's performance of Kazuki and Uchiyama-san's performance of Rei "feel like the script was written for them". How do you feel about these comments?

Toyonaga: We were selected through auditions, but if that's how they feel after taking a chance on us, then I'm truly honoured as an actor. Everyone on the production team, starting with Director Asai, has given us a lot of leeway with the performances, and I think that's a huge part of it as well. Even if we take an odd or unexpected approach to the material, they allow it, and they have the capacity to chew it over and examine it closely. That's part of what brings all this together.

Uchiyama: When it comes to an original series, the cast is always wondering how the series will turn out. I suppose those on the staff side don't wonder quite as much as us, but I'm sure there are also things they don't know until they actually get going. For adaptations, the creators often turn to the source material for answers, but in an original series, the image of the characters is truly solidified by listening to the actual voices during the recording sessions. I think that's the true charm of an original series.

Toyonaga: When I think about it, it's a real privilege as an actor - receiving the outline of a character and getting to flesh that out through trial and error. By adding my personal touches to a character, I can put my own spin on things, and that's a lot of fun - but at the same time, it gives me a responsibility. There are things I have to be careful with. I need to present my own take on a character, while making sure that the emotional development and payoff fit perfectly.

Uchiyama: I've worked with Director Asai multiple times, and I know that I can safely leave the directorial decisions to him. I have faith that as long as we do our best during recording, he'll elevate our work to a whole new level with his wonderful images. I feel no misgivings at all. And so, as a viewer, I myself look forward eagerly to every completed episode.

Interviewer: "Buddy Daddies" is entering the final stages of the plot at last. What highlights does it hold?

Toyonaga: In episode 7, we see Karin - the younger sister of Kazuki's late wife. And Rei's father shows up in episode 8...

Uchiyama: You get to see their respective pasts.

Toyonaga: And after that, in episode 9, their feelings towards Miri gradually merge into one. But it's not just those "emotions" - there are also certain things which mustn't be forgotten... And from episode 10 onwards, those things truly take shape. What will they actually do with Miri? Can the trio's relationship really go on like this? And Ogino Ryo - an assassin who frequents Kyu-chan's (Kugi Kyutaro's) shop - gets involved. In this world of assassins, what will become of a girl like Miri, who lives a cheerful and hearty life despite her forlorn circumstances? That's what the story will address at last.

Interviewer: Just how will all the pieces that have been laid out so far be brought together...

Toyonaga: When you're wondering what will really happen with Miri, you should remember there's still someone who's related to her by blood... I think that relationship is going to play a key role.

Uchiyama: In a sense, there are some rather serious plot developments towards the end. I'm very curious how audiences will react at that point. I think those hard-boiled story elements are depicted in a style that's very characteristically "Buddy Daddies". I feel like those same plot points might be approached quite differently, in another series with a different atmosphere.

Interviewer: I hear the last episode has a plot point that was somewhat unexpected for both of you...?

Uchiyama: I was wondering how this story would be concluded, but I truly didn't have the slightest clue until I read the script for the finale.

Toyonaga: But the fact that Director Asai chose to end the story this way - naturally, it makes you reflect upon what he was trying to convey through this series.

Uchiyama: Personally, it came as quite a surprise.

Toyonaga: As far as the ending is concerned, I'm curious what all the viewers will make of it. For example, there are bound to be the realist types who make comments like "here's how things would go in real life", even for an anime. When it comes to those people, what I want to say isn't "fact is stranger than fiction", but rather, "Actually, isn't this surprisingly realistic?" That's the question I'll put to them. I think the ending makes you consider whether you can accept something like this.

Uchiyama: Considering the story as a whole, if you take out Kazuki, Rei, and Miri's backstories and relationship as a "pseudo-family", I think you'd be left with a very dark atmosphere. It was a new experience for me to witness how this could be depicted in an original series, through the lens of anime, and how it could be shown from this particular angle.

Toyonaga: I think you'll find yourself surprised, in some form or other. Last of all, I hope you'll enjoy each and every episode till the very end.

#buddy daddies #buddy daddies interview #toyonaga toshiyuki #uchiyama kouki

[cielrouge]

Blue Lock AnimeNYC 23' Panel Highlights (Friday)

I only went to the Friday panel and not the Sunday one so my highlights will reflect accordingly lol. In attendance for the panel was Isagi's Japanese VA (Ura Kazuki) and anime series producer (Arisawa Ryoya). We technically weren't allowed to take any photos or video recordings when the panel started, but I managed to get one shot towards the beginning with Ura and Arisawa, and then at the end with the Blue Lock: Episode Nagi screenshot lol.

Based on a previous fan survey on which S1 episode was the favorite, they aired a screening of episode 17, "Hetakuso/Donkey" first, and then went into the Q&A portion.

Since it was Ura's first time in New York City, when asked about what he wanted to eat the most, he claimed it was steak since that's what his other VA senpais told him to eat. He also remarked on the huge size of New York City bagels compared to Japan, and joked that he was "still full from his bagel breakfast."  

When Ura was asked about episode 17, he said he practiced the "hetakuso" line delivery many times so he was glad to see it finally pay off. He also did the delivery line live for the audience lol.

When asked about what he likes about Blue Lock S1, Ura noted he enjoys the unpredictability of the series (like in episode 17) where for the characters, you "never know who's going to win. Just when you think winning is impossible, you can win at the last second." Arisawa also noted that he liked how Blue Lock is a show where it focuses on "not being positive, just for the sake of being positive, but the characters learning from their failures, so they can grow."

When asked about any fun VA recording stories, Ura said that closer to the last episode, there was a scene with Rin (Uchiyama Koki) where he felt so "focused on beating Rin that he accidentally read Rin's line by mistake." No one apparently noticed at the time and only after Ura finished recording, so the VA staff told him "that was very egoist of you" lolol.

When Ura was asked about getting the role of Isagi and how it's differed from his other VA roles, he remarked because this was a character that "required the skills I didn't have personally at the time," every week before recording, Ura felt like "I had to go beyond my voice acting skills and learn to catch up, otherwise Isagi would leave me behind." Ura also credited his senior VAs in the series, and felt like he learned a lot from them when recording, and described the process as "very hard, but fun."

When Ura was asked about if there were any difficult scenes to voice act, Ura said it was the 'hetakuso/donkey' line delivery since "it involved a new side of Isagi that you hadn't seen before." So, he and the VA directors debated how much coldness he wanted to inflect in his voice in showing off this new side of Isagi. The VA director also told Ura in terms of general direction for this scene, he said to go for the 'soccer anime demon lord' approach where he told Ura to pretend that Isagi was a demon lord and deliver the 'hetakuso/donkey' line accordingly in that fashion lol.

Arisawa also noted that this was the first time he's personally worked on a manga-to-anime series adaptation since he'd only worked on original anime series like Princess Principal before this, so he personally called up Kodansha for the adaptation rights since he wanted to work on a 'world hit series' and after reading the manga, felt like Blue Lock had the potential for this.

There were video messages from Ash Da Hero (who sung the second OP, 'Judgement') along with Nakamura Shugo (Gagamaru Gin's VA) who sung the first ED, 'Winner' where Nakamura lamented not being there with Ura. So, after the video message, Ura joked that "he'd bring Shugo along in his suitcase next year."

The panel ended with a never-before-seen photo still of Isagi from the upcoming Blue Lock: Episode Nagi film (set to release on April 19th, 2024) where Arisawa remarked that "Isagi looks like the last boss for Nagi."

#blue lock #animenyc #animenyc 23' #anime nyc #ura kazuki #arisawa ryoya #can't believe i've fallen back into the soccer anime hole again after going to this panel rofl #love when a dormant hyperfixation reactivates #also ura is A CUTIEEE!!! #you could tell how excited he was there to be there since it was his first time in NYC :')))

[zhimaqiu]

“Silent nights”

→ If you prefer reading on Ao3 ←

Word count: 2050

Time: Immediately post episode 10 - Lost at Sea (don't read if you haven't watched it yet)

Note: (This work is open for your interpretation. You can see what happened between the characters as platonic, romantic, whatever comes to your mind.)

Silence is the most meaningful of sounds. Some could argue it’s nothing more than absence of them, but many of us won’t be able to truly experience the state of pure silence. Most of the time, it’s just the lack of a ruling sound, a pause that brings up what was hidden so far: a heartbeat, ticking of a clock, an air vent pushing filtered air inside, even blood pumping in the fingertips and tickles of thoughts. Silent nights were the ones that gave birth to all of mankind’s stories. They let the insecurities and dreams run havoc. It’s a godly experience to be comfortable with it, but to achieve it, the person yearning for it must be at peace. And it’s hard to be at peace when the newly found happiness has been ripped from your fingertips. 

   “Put on your hood or you’ll get a sore throat.”

   Kazuki looked up at Rei as they walked to their car, alone. He touched his cold neck and pulled up the red collar. His face changed colour to blue as the lights of the ferris wheel switched again.

  “It hurts a bit already,” he answered, smiling faintly. “Probably would be best for me to not speak for a while.”

   Rei didn’t open his mouth when he made an agreeing sound.

   The night brought cold wind with it and hid the sky's beauty in dark clouds. It was still early, but all the families in the park started heading home. Children’s laughter could be heard from every direction, even after they stopped at far end of the parking lot. The truth was, only the two of them could hear that particular sound so clearly.

   Kazuki leant on the car’s roof and sighed deeply. Miri’s seat glimpsed to him, empty. His heart shrank and pulled all the veins together with it. As blood left the furthest parts of his body, tears and wind’s cold replaced it. He curled himself on the roof and wept, but just a little.

   “I’ll drive,” said Rei, waiting beside him. His face was pale, stern. Just like a year ago.

   “Yeah.” Kazuki straightened and threw the bag, that he had on his shoulder, to the back of the car, avoiding looking at the child-seat. “I could probably get us killed. And we still have things to do.”

   The cheerfulness in his voice was unsettling. Rei ignored that and got in the car without a thought. He focused on adjusting the seat, mirror and studied the transmission for a second. It was the second time he ever decided to take the wheel of that vehicle.

  On the way to the apartment, Rei asked Kazuki to take a sore-throat medicine he’d put in the storage. He was surprised that Rei put something based on personal observation in there, but Suwa just shrugged and focused on the unusually empty road. It made him drowsy. A few times he wanted to turn on the radio, but each time something held him back. Maybe he didn’t want to make connotations to the current feelings. The silence and driving were torturous enough. Music makes suffering even worse once everything you hear seem to match the torments inside. He clenched his jaw and frowning, tried his best to not fall asleep.

   Even though he agreed that Kazuki shouldn’t talk, he glanced to the side. He was fast asleep, head resting on the taut seatbelt. A couple of blond strands got trapped underneath it. Rei lifted his right hand to wake him up, worried he could choke on the medicine, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he gently freed the strands then looked ahead. Just in time to hit the brakes as a pheasant ran across the road. Its green feathers, glistening in the car lights disappeared in the bushes as quickly as they appeared. Rei loosened the tight grip on the wheel and looked back at Kazuki, who somehow was still asleep. A small sigh of relief left his lips.

   The rest of the journey back was uneventful. Rei stopped the car, then leant forward and rested his head on the wheel, starring into an undefined spot that happened to be around Kazuki’s sleeping face. He wasn’t old, but the day of pretending drained the resilience from his skin around his eyes completely. The previous night also couldn’t be called a restful one.

   “Silent night, eh, Miri?” Rei spoke to himself. He trembled a bit when Kazuki made a wet sound with his lips and opened sticky eyes. They locked stares for a moment.

   “Oh, we’re home...” Kazuki tried to look lively as he reached back for the bag. “Aw, the pastille glued itself to my cheek. It’s numb.”

* * *

   They left the lights off. The only source of light in the living room was a digital clock's screen, announcing eight in the evening, and red indicator lights on the TV and console. Rei almost immediately grabbed a stool and reached for a package of smokes, stored on the highest shelf in a kitchen cabinet. He thought he could now lit one inside, but a sting in his chest whispering that he wants to go back to how things were, like Miri never existed, forced his legs to the balcony. Kazuki followed him, and to his surprise, he reached for a smoke, a can of beer in his hand.

   “Did you check the expiration date? It’s been months since we bought the last batch.”

   “Like hell I care,” Kazuki murmured and drank a quarter in one go. “Tastes as shitty as I remember.”

   Rei reached for the can and took a sip, looking far away. The city lights drowned in his eyes. The liquid tickled his tongue and made him wince. He avoided alcohol, but this one was especially bad.

   “It might be spoiled.” Without looking, he spilled the beer and threw the can. He missed the trash bin down below only by a few inches.

   “Aw man, that was the last one...”

  They stood in silence. The city shone with various of colours, but few reached them. Red, pink and blue flower petals, which lights had to surmount, created all sorts of fantastic shapes on their faces. Every now and then they got distorted by ember ends of cigarettes. It didn’t stay this way for long, because a strong wind set off the both of them.

   “Oh, come on, do I really can’t enjoy anything anymore?!” Kazuki lamented, trying to lit the cigarette again, but as he was saying that, it fell out of his mouth. “I’m just going to sleep. Goodnight, Rei.”

   He did a sharp turn on the heel and disappeared into the apartment. To protect from the wind, Rei squatted and hid behind the wall of flowers, the smoke back on inside his hand.

   Kazuki could barely see anything inside. In front of him was just a wall of darkness with two red eyes glancing at him. He kicked a toy on the way to the kitchen. Again, his heart shrunk and he had to close his eyes, pretending he didn't know whose toy that was.

   One night, Miri came to him and cried there’s a monster lurking at her from across the sofa. That was the night he decided to prepare a bedroom for her, despite a correct assumption of what the said monster was and he made sure to explain it to Miri. She didn’t understand the logic behind it, but if there was some explanation, no matter how unbelievable, it was enough if papa Kazuki was the one telling her that.

   He laid down on the sofa and covered himself with a blanket that smelled like a mix of Rei and Miri. Eating meals together, brushing teeth together, shopping together, day-care rides. It all appeared in his head. Miri’s smile made him smile, but it felt more like stretching skin against its natural shape. The ceiling fan above moved slowly, screeching from time to time. Every detail of the living room became clear and so each of sounds; some buzzing, ticking, even liquid moving in the fridge. He threw the blanket over his head, but now the smells were stronger and that disturbed him even more.

   He felt a gust of wind on his uncovered ankles. A light click followed it when Rei slid the glass door shut. They rested next to each other; Kazuki lying on the sofa, Rei sitting on the floor next to him.

   “It hurt so badly, you know.” Rei looked at Kazuki, who revealed his face from under the blanket and rose on his elbows. The skin under his eyes was red. “When Miri ran past me. I know it’s her mother and all, but... I guess I valued myself too highly.”

   Rei looked away again. A fair amount of time passed before he finally spoke in response.

   “I felt that once too. After we came back home on the zoo day.”

   It was an unspoken rule between them to not ask questions regarding each others’ feelings or the past. Even if one would ask about something, the other wouldn’t tell, but they knew each other well, because they always waited for the other to elaborate if they decided to speak. Kazuki waited.

   “Miri was happy to see you,” Rei continued after a small pause. “But for the first time I felt abandoned.”

   “I’m sorry,” Kazuki said quietly.

   Rei's shoulder and Kazuki’s thigh were almost touching, but the distance between the two still looked like a chasm to  the both of them.

   “I know you needed that.” Rei clenched his jaw and firsts, keeping his head low. His hair hid his face. “I also know that what I felt back then doesn’t compare to what you did so recently.”

   Kazuki lowered himself onto the floor to face him. Something was burning in his chest. He tilted his head to look at Rei’s face from a lower angle and see it more clearly.

   “Pain is pain.” He smiled. “No matter how deeply we’re cut, we thrive to eliminate it.”

   Rei was sitting in the butterfly position with his hands on his feet. To this moment, he’s been starring blankly at them, but he lifted his gaze to see Kazuki’s reddish eyes right in front of him; so big, so gentle, glittering faintly like pools of warm cheery juice with cinnamon. Traces of salty tears framing his swollen face couldn’t distort his beauty. He was beautiful. So beautiful staying true to himself and Rei before him, who couldn’t achieve even the first one. He looked away. His heart needed a moment to calm down.

   “I won’t blame you for your feelings even if I’m hurting at the same time.”

   Kazuki tried to reassure him, but Rei was far away in his mind. If thoughts could be smelled, Rei’s would be like hot copper  powder on the edge of burning. Tears started to gather in Kazuki’s eyes again. He inhaled air, trying to get rid of the cold feeling deep down his throat.

“I don’t want to lose you.”

   Whoever said that, Kazuki hugged Rei tightly. He gasped feeling his warmth around him. Something burst. Both of their shirts became wet. It took Rei a moment to realize what was going on, but he held Kazuki tightly and hid his face in the crook of his neck. He heard him speaking something. Important words, but nothing could say more than their actions. They curled up to the sofa, Kazuki closer to the back support and Rei exposing his own to the rest of the room, holding each other closely. Kazuki kept caressing Rei’s hair. It was far from gentle, but Rei didn’t comply. He didn’t speak at all.

Whatever it was, he just wanted to be close. There was no need to overthink it.

   Their breathing gradually became slower, Kazuki’s strokes softer, Rei’s hands, held between his and Kazuki’s chests, warmer. They tangled their legs together and threw the blanket over them. Only then Kazuki noticed the silence disappeared. Air coming in and out of Rei’s lungs occupied the space. He wrapped his arms around him the same way he used to do that to Miri. Whatever the future was, at least Rei was here. For the time being, as Rei was yet to tell him.

#buddy daddies #buddy daddies fanfic #kazurei #kazuki x rei #kurusu kazuki #suwa rei #buddy daddies episode 10 #buddy daddies rei #buddy daddies kazuki #buddy daddies fic

[seekers-who-are-lovers]

Note: An emotional episode 3 of “Buddy Daddies” came out last night. So yes, here I am again trying this out based on a head canon I have. Thank you @flashfictionfridayofficial for this prompt: Fine by me.

Fandom: Buddy Daddies

Relationship: Kazuki Kurusu & Rei Suwa, Kazuki Kurusu/OC female

Rating: Teen up

Words: 756

Kazuki was too wild to feel shame. Rei posited. His friend didn’t have any qualms hopping into bed with potential female targets as easy as 1-2-3 to obtain information. As it turned out Rei dared not to imagine it at all.

“Someone has to do it. Besides, it is only part of the job. It is called acting. Two birds in one stone,” Kazuki once said. “What? Wouldn’t you?” He heard Rei scoff in disbelief. There were still so many things he didn’t know about his friend.

“I am not that desperate. Also you are one of the worse actors I’ve ever known,” Rei quipped.

The dark-haired man couldn’t imagine having sex with a person he barely knew. Let alone when there was no previous connection at all. If he were honest with himself, the conversation irritated him. His friend irritated him. With this stance. With this predicament he brought with him in. One way or another, one had to do it. And the only one who was willing to do it was Kazuki. He remained stoic for the rest of the day focusing on his video game. Like he always had been. His left fingers quickly interchanged when touching the Nintendo buttons as his right hand wiggled the joystick. Cigarette smoke permeated the luxurious living room. Kazuki sighed. He didn’t exchange a single word with his friend on that day anymore.

When Kazuki left the loft at eight in the evening, Rei immediately zipped up his blue jacket, put his pair of sturdy black leather Italian shoes on and closed the door. No need to ride on his motorcycle. Stealthily, he trailed behind Kazuki and the woman, who were walking along the Sumida River promenade hand in hand. The contact person, an assistant manager of the department whose boss they were targeting, had a Sehnsucht on a romantic escapade. Rei hated to admit it but he couldn’t blame the woman. She was a bit older than his friend. It was first and foremost Kazuki’s charm that draw Rei to him. He was a Sonny boy. His manners were impeccable for an assassin. His love for domestic life belied his true nature: ruthless and a stickler for meticulous planning and strategies when contracting a deadly assignment. Apart from that his above-average hand-to-hand combat was commendable. If he was determined, he could easily shoot the target earning them the wound of a lifetime or a hole six feet underground.

Rei saw them stop in front of the Italian BBQ restaurant Land_a very close to the park facing the river. The formidable Tokyo Skytree can be seen from where Rei was standing. He could see the earnest face of his friend as if he was enjoying wooing the woman whose name Rei never bothered to remember. They were at the terrace choosing a table away from the rest of the customers. He could see them cajole, play footsies with each other. Kazuki felt at home with the woman as if he’d known her for years. He was touching her luxuriant long black hair, sniffing the strands like a Victorian gentleman. The woman couldn’t stop smiling.

———

A few hours ago.

“Your dinner is inside the fridge. Remember to warm it up in the microwave. Best to add some water to make the meat more tender.” Kazuki felt like he was speaking to a wall. Rei was so closed off he almost lost his patience. There were days he didn’t see the point of cooking good food and cleaning the loft when he felt under appreciated. So better to leave him alone. Closing the doors, he shouted to no one in particular.

“Don’t wait up!” Tonight was the night.

———

Rei couldn’t take it anymore. He walked back toward the old district of Asakusa choosing the narrow backstreets to avoid the crowd.

If Kazuki would see him right now he’d probably laugh at his face. He was deep in thought when he heard mournful cries from a cat attempting to escape its tattered huge box that disturbed his rumination. He came nearer and the calico kitten caught his eye.

Abandoned animals. How many were there hovering around in the metropolis Tokyo? Unknown, uncared for. The creature was docile despite being born on the street. He didn’t have a shopping bag with him so he placed the animal inside his jacket. It did not struggle and quickly found a home inside it. It was a beautiful creature. The fur was smooth if not a bit dusty. He could clean it up, remove the crusty buildup around its eyes, make the cat new. He felt his heart beat faster. He wanted to care for this cat. He wanted to care period. Whatever this setup with Kazuki was, it was fine by him. He traced the steps back home.

#buddy daddies #buddy daddies head canon #kazuki kurusu #rei suwa #pre-miri unasaka #flash fiction friday #flash fiction #my fan fic stuff #my fic post #flashfictionfridayofficial #fff186 #buddy daddies fan fiction

[physicalturian]

[18+] Deranged Love - Hanma Shuji x F!Reader - Part 3

[Probably contains spoilers from the anime and the manga] [She/Her pronouns used for the reader, no physical description; Everyone is +18]

Words : 9069

Archive of our own

Warnings : Explicit! / Blood / Injuries / Guns / Bruises / Blood / Graphic depiction of violence / Killing / Gun play

- - Part 1 - Part 2

I had Hanma’s briefcase on my desk, and its content was all I could expect from a man like him. What was more surprising was the effort put into concealing it; there was some sort of foam that had the shape of the gun in the bigger compartment in which the weapon was neatly placed. That I had seen from my first glance, but as I opened it only enough to see the inside, I noticed some white papers in the pocket of the case. Opening it a bit wider, I grabbed them and took a good look at it. Of course, it was not going to be anything minor, what did I expect? Train tickets? Accounts statements? There was no need for him to have those here, plus I was convinced he did not feel the need to leave a city that he had control over. He was probably comfortable enough as it was, getting all that he wanted with one snap of his fingers.

Making sure no one was looking, I opened the folder and closed it just as fast, my eyes pinned to my screen in shock. So that’s what he had in mind, blackmailing. There were two files on my desk, one with my boss’ name on it, his picture clipped to the front, while the second one had Eisuke’s name on it, displayed exactly like the other file. What I had seen was more than enough to shame Kazuki Hideki, my boss, and I felt somewhat ashamed of myself upon having seen the pictures of him with a man other than his husband. I should not have seen it, it had happened in the night’s discretion with only the moon as their witness… but while the moon did not talk, photos did. They had been caught and I was almost sure they did not know it, that was Hanma’s leverage.

It made one wonder what he had on Eisuke…

My fingers drummed over the file, curiosity piqued and morale hesitant. What weighed more on the scale? Integrity or my hunger for knowledge? I did not wonder long, I already despised the man as it was. If there was something incriminating in those pages, enough to prove he was a bastard, I wanted to see it. Pursing my lips deep in thought, I considered my options and as I was about to open his file, a hand clasped on my shoulder startled me. As I turned around, my mind hoped for it to be Hanma and a certain disappointment filled my being when I saw my Junior Rai Nayoko. She had joined earlier this year and needed some guidance when unsure of what to do, I was more than willing to help her anytime seeing how determined she was. At first she had been shy in her demeanor, always glancing at me many times before standing up suddenly and rushing to my side, apologizing for disturbing me.

With time she was more excited, even more so seeing I was never really bothered if it meant helping her get the hang of the tasks. But right now… my mind was somewhere else; I was anything but focused on doing some consulting or coaching and yet I smiled. “Junior, what can I do to help?” I asked as I crossed my legs and made sure to slide the files under the briefcase before turning around and facing her. Her eyes still glanced behind me as she clasped her hands behind her back and grinned, “Would you like some help on your new dossiers? I can see you brought it in that fancy briefcase, it must be quite important. I would love an opportunity to work on something other than-“ shaking my hands in front of me, I joined in by shaking my head and chuckling nervously. “It’s not, I-“ What excuse could I give? If I told her I got the wrong suitcase, I was sure she’d still be curious to see what’s inside. If I say it’s not important, she’ll think it’s odd that I am being so suspicious. But I couldn’t just straight up lie to her, seeing how elated she was.

I played a risky card.

“Well, it’s actually not my stuff. I must have messed my stuff with someone and took a random person’s briefcase-“ I leaned in as if to tell her a secret and continued with my playful tone, “There is actually a gun in this,” I pointed at the briefcase over my shoulder, “and a lot of blackmail material.” I then leaned back on my chair and shrugged, “Nothing really interesting.” I finished with a wink. Her face was shocked and for a moment I thought I had fucked up, if she were to call security I surely would be done for, but when she leaned back and burst out laughing, I chuckled a bit too loudly along with her. “Very well! If you need help I will be available Ma’am!” She said with a smile then turned around.

Watching her walk away, I felt my soul leave my body and sighed in relief. My chair now turned again towards the screen, I shoved the files in the briefcase and stood up quickly. I could not keep this briefcase; it was too risky. As I walked out of my office, I made sure to nod at Rai then lifted the case, “I’ll be sure to come back, I need to drop this to the-“ my tongue caught in my throat upon making up this lie as I went, “Finance department, I did all I had to do now it’s their turn.” I laughed politely as she mirrored me and gave me a thumbs up.

Instead of going to the finance department, I went to the restroom and locked myself in to have a proper look at everything. Shaking my head, I still could not believe the contents of the bag, but even upon being in disbelief I opened it again, my hand moving on its own as if it had gone there many times already to grab the two files. Putting the briefcase on the floor, I closed it and reviewed the papers, making sure to look at every detail. Starting with Eisuke's file, I slowly opened it and saw dark pictures. It was dark—a car stopped in the middle of the road, someone on the floor. Checking the other pictures, I saw him getting back in the car, the look on his face was guilty, he was glancing back at the body. The following pictures were blurry ones of his car driving away. The last one was a zoomed-in picture of the dead woman, her face bloodied, eyes devoid of life. Seeing it, I closed the file, feeling sick from the sight, but I wondered if he had been caught. Had he perhaps paid the police to hide everything, did the family find closure?

Peeking at it again, I saw a hand-written note ‘hit and run, still on the run’ then a list of people’s names, along with the victim’s.

What was their leverage here? To have him cave in to whatever their demands were by telling him they knew about that awful, shitty thing he had done. Sighing in frustration, I shoved the files back in the briefcase and glanced at the gun—he might think I took it on purpose, he might get mad. I can’t give it back to him, can I? Reluctantly, I reached for it and pried my hand away from it rapidly when I heard the door open suddenly. My entire body stilled, all my senses were on high alert as I waited for the footsteps to stop in the next stall, which they didn’t. Instead, they stopped right in front of mine.

Three firm knocks on the wooden door followed, I didn’t move. Three more. Without a sound, I grabbed the gun and placed it in the back of my pants, my belt holding it in place as my blazer covered it fully, undetectable. With just as much care as I had put in until now, I closed the briefcase and gripped the handle as I stood up. Deep inside, I was hoping the person would leave, hoping that the other stalls were taken and they were in a hurry, but I felt a bad omen, the person behind wasn’t good—“Ma’am! Are you in there? A tall handsome man who says is a new shareholder would like a tour of the firm, he doesn’t seem like the type to like waiting—did you drop everything at the finance department? Are you feeling alright-“ Unlocking the door, I got out with an apologetic look, one to hide the fact that my face was blanching and I was convinced she was a murderous maniac. “I’m sorry, I needed some quiet to have a private call!” I lied, showing my phone which had lit up a few times in the lapse of the few seconds I had shown it.

“Very well! I’ll leave you be then, enjoy the tour—I’ll be working on the Watanabe dossier in the meantime.” She nodded and hurried out of the bathroom. Her heels hitting the ground sounded so loud, but I knew it was because I was on edge, I was trying to be hyper aware of everything around me because I had done something I shouldn’t have. Eavesdropping was one thing the man hated, what would he do if he was convinced I looked through the files? He would not be wrong, but the consequences would be awful for me.

Shaking myself back to reality, I placed the briefcase down, clasped my hands on my cheeks and took hold of the case again, “Give it to him, tell him goodbye, leave. Three steps. Easy.” Nodding with conviction, I left the bathroom without looking back and was quickly met with the man in question, leaning against the wall, one foot on it as his arms were crossed over his chest. “There she goes.” He said almost bored with only his condescending smile betraying his true emotion. His eyes drifted to my hips, then took a proper look at my stance before settling on the briefcase, all in a few blinks of an eye. With one gesture of his head, he said, “Let’s go somewhere more private.” As he started walking, I grabbed his arm and stopped him, “Just take it and leave, I haven’t-“ Looked inside, I wanted to continue, hoping he’d believe me. But he cut me off, “But you did.” With that he grabbed my wrist and led me to a blind spot in the corridor, a dead end. As soon as he reached it, he slammed me to the wall and let one hand slide to the briefcase while the other held my shoulder, his arm pressing against my chest to hold me still.

“A curious rat, aren’t we? Tell me, what did you think of it? Are you going to try to stop me?” He drawled, his lips a few breaths away from my face. Keeping my eyes on his, I drifted off topic to avoid answering his question, “Glasses do not make you anonymous. It hardly suits you-“ His laugh interrupted him as he rested his forehead against the wall, next to my face. I caught a whiff of his strong cologne, truly something a business worker would wear. I could hardly tell if it was distinguished or awful. “Use your brain a sec, yeah? I’d say these,” He lifted one hand, not the one from the suitcase, showing me the back of it, “Are anything but lowkey, I don’t fucking care about being recognized.” He started, his eyes switching to something serious instead of the scaring playfulness they’d usually adorn, “It’s those motherfuckers who don’t want to be seen hanging around with people like us-“ After that, his tone dropped, fakely reassuring as he pressed his finger to my mouth, “So don’t fear, no…” He tutted me like a child, then tried to pry my mouth open with his index but was met with my clenched jaw and his finger only brushed my teeth. Ticked off, he let go of my hand and gripped my jaw to force my mouth open so he could press his finger on my tongue, “If you don’t like the glasses, I’ll take them off when I fuck you. Deal?”

I bit him. I bit his finger—and even as I did so, I know I held back. It showed when he did not bleed and instead pulled his finger out with a frown that disappeared as fast as it arrived, “Now, rat. What does your moral compass tell you to do? Unless you got rid of it? That’d be a shame, but truly a good show of character!” Shoving the briefcase in his hands, I glanced at it before looking back at him. “It’s all there-“ “It’s not, you’re lying.” He said simply as he put down the case. His hands clasped around my wrists delicately, so delicately that it made me feel uneasy. Looking at them, he chuckled, “I wonder…” He trailed off before grabbing both my wrists in one hand, holding them over his left shoulder as his now free hand moved to my waist and slid under my suit jacket. I tried to arch my back away from his touch to avoid his hands from touching the gun, but I heard it. I heard his hand wrap around the handle, a short breathy laugh escaping his lips right next to my ear, “What did you plan to do with that, doll?”

“Not letting you keep it.” I grunted, trying to free myself from his grip. “Is that so? Why’s that?” He breathed down my neck, making me tense up. My body stilled even more when I felt the barrel of the gun press against my stomach, “I don’t get it, really. Why would you wanna keep a gun away from me?” He continued, his voice mocking and oozing audacity. I wanted to headbutt him, but I knew it’ll leave some damage on me too, so I had to remain calm. So, I closed my eyes to try as hard I could to calm my fast-racing heart. “Just, keep the gun. Keep everything, I don’t care, it’s not my business. Can you just... tell me if the family knows the girl’s dead?”

A confused sound escaped his lips as he rose a brow inquisitively, “You read the files, don’t play dumb. Hit and run, he never got caught. That’s strong blackmail, that’s why we’re using it.” He explained as a matter of fact. The pressure from the gun on my stomach decreased, but I suddenly felt my wrists being moved as the black and blond-haired man brought them to his face. He brushed his nose against one of them then grinned down at me, “Tell me you’re against this, oh-so-vile and fucked up thing I’m doing.” He played with tones, some words being said theatrically, clearly not caring one bit about what I was saying. His morals were fucked, why would he give any thought to considering his actions longer than necessary? Blackmail got him where he was, why stop now?

Without an answer from me, he dragged his tongue on my wrist, his toothy grin never leaving his face, “Not peeping a squeak, rat? I’m a sick bastard who’s using people’s mistakes against them-“ “He killed someone, call it reckoning, karma or—or consequences, I don’t care. Don’t involve me in this, that’s all I’m asking.” I told him rapidly, my eyes turned away from him. With his lack of reply, I thought I had said something wrong, but instead the man was smiling proudly at me. “Fuck, see! That’s where you are already, great progress. Here,” I felt him let go of my wrist then forcefully turn me so that I was pressed against the wall, my back facing him. Before I could even complain, he lifted my blazer, and I felt the gun graze my lower back. I gasped in fear and closed my eyes until I felt his fingers pull the hem of my pants just enough to slide the gun in, making it stay put. Once it was done, he let go of my clothes and slapped my ass before grabbing the briefcase. I turned around, frustrated; at the same time he spoke, “Keep the gun, you’ll need it later. It was gonna be yours, now there’s your fingerprints all over it anyway.” He shrugged and stood right in front of me, ready to go.

Glaring at him, I brushed the non-existent dust from my outfit and straightened my back. “I don’t want it, I’ve never used a gun in my life, I never planned on using one and I never will-“ “Shut. Up, already.” He punctuated his words all throughout his long sigh, his head tilted back in boredom. Lifting it back to look at me, he added, “What you wanna do, or don’t wanna do, I don’t care. When I tell you to do something, you do it. It’s only fair that I’m letting my assets have something to protect themselves, so you keep the fucking gun and you follow me. Clear?” This was not the crazy man I had seen at the warehouse, it was not the oddly flirty one, but it was not the business man either. It was a man part of a somber corporation that did not have time to waste, he needed to get shit done and quickly. No attitude could be given at this instant. So, I clenched my jaw and gritted through my teeth, “Sure thing, lieutenant.” For a second I thought he’d take me down, a flash of anger crossed his face but did not stay long. That haughty smile was back as he approached me and slung his arm around my shoulders, “Now, doll. Calling me sir was a lot hotter, you should go back to that.” He laughed loudly, making me think it was good he could make himself laugh because I was on the verge of peeing myself in fear.

Not responding, he stopped talking, but kept his arm around my shoulders as he guided me to where he wanted. When he stopped in front of Eisuke’s office, I threw him a fearful glance and tried to push him away, but he kept me close as he unlocked the door with the electronic keycard, opening it wide. His entrance was impudent, cocky, loud, but he did not care. His arm reached out far as the door slammed shut behind us once he had kicked it, so that’s when he let go of me.

The sight greeting me was my superior, Eisuke, tied with zip ties to the beautiful ebony chair, which must have cost quite a fortune. His mouth was gagged by his own tie; they had completely removed it from his collar and balled it up before shoving it in his mouth. His hair, full of sweat already from the little time separating our last encounter, was sticking to his forehead. His white shirt was slowly joining the state of his hair by sticking to some parts of his chest, blood droplets adorning it. His face was covered in cuts and bruises, the tie also had some blood on it. I could see the fear and confusion in his eyes, but I was sure the confusion was mirrored in my gaze. Fear, while very present, had yet to be justified; something in my chest told me I was the one in power here, that I was not going to be beaten up like Eisuke had been.

“Brought her for the fun!” Hanma said loudly. Looking to where he had set his eyes, I saw the pink-haired man from the train sitting on the desk with a huge grin on his lips. Some blood was splattered on his cheek, but it did not wipe the smile off his face, not at all. Lucky for him, his grey suit was intact. He was the opposite of Hanma. While Hanma’s shirt was white, the pink-haired man’s was black and his tie was white while Hanma’s was black. The suits contrasted one another entirely. The biggest contrast, though, was how well-kept they were while a man was bleeding on a chair in front of them—how carefree they were in this situation. If not carefree, overconfident. But was it overconfidence or were they in the right to bask in such sentiments? They had control, they had the power, they were safe…

“Took you long enough, did you fuck or something?” The pink-haired man—I was now struck with the remembrance his name was Sanzu—asked off-handedly, perhaps not even interested in what Hanma had done. “Had my fun for sure, but she’s still here, isn’t she fun?” Hanma replied, pushing me forward with force, almost making me tumble. I balanced myself fast enough, but did not move from where my feet had led me after the push; my eyes did follow Hanma as he joined Sanzu on the desk and lit a cigarette. “Hideshi, my guy, ya know her, yeah? You’re in that state cuz she kept the good stuff, you know, blackmail and shit.” When Eisuke did not reply, Hanma kicked the chair that had been moved in front of the desk, at least a few steps from it, to have Eisuke give some sort of response. The latter nodded fervently, sobs escaping his mouth even through the cloth of his tie. “She’s your-“ the man with the glasses paused, placing the heel of his hand that was holding the cigarette against his forehead as he chuckled. “Your—shit, fuck I forgot.” After a few moments he snapped his fingers from his free hand then looked up, grinning, “Your reckoning, that’s it!”

Seeing Eisuke’s face lit up in confusion, I could only mimic it when I looked at Hanma with furrowed brows. “What do you mean? You could have come to get that briefcase! I said don’t get me involved-'' Sanzu was the one to speak up as he got off the desk and approached me with a patronizing grin, “You thought this was a pick and choose kind of situation?” he shook his head. All my eyes could do was to look at the scars at the corners of his mouth, even if I tried to pry my gaze from it. It made me wonder how he got them, but I did not wonder for long since the man brought the focus back to his words by saying my name loudly, “You should be glad you’re participating already! It’s an opportunity to prove yourself to the king.” Humming, thinking his words were exactly what I needed to hear, he grabbed my hand and made it face palm up, “So here’s what you’re gonna do, woman.” One of his hands moved to the inside of his vest from where he pulled out a cylindrical thing. “You’re gonna shoot him.”

My eyes shot up to his, then Hanma’s—I’d beat myself up later for glancing at him, as if asking for permission, as if asking him to save me from this. He only grinned and huffed out the smoke, one slender hand holding the desk while the other held the cigarette with some elegance as he leaned back lazily. How can something so vile be qualified as elegant? I’d wonder later. But it was not the moment. A second after he had told me to shoot Eisuke, I dropped the weapon to the ground and asked “Why?!” Hanma told me to pick the thing up at the same time when Sanzu replied, “To see what it does-“ Crouching to grab the item, I barked back, “He’ll bleed out! That’s what will happen! I can’t aim for shit, I don’t want to, you should just kill him or-“

Hanma’s voice echoed as he got off the desk and slowly walked up to us, “Kill him? You’re suggesting we kill him? You don’t even know why we’re doing this, bit soon don’t you think?” He was fucking around with me. The smile on his face was proof of it. I don’t know why I had said we—they should kill him. Had I taken pity on his state? Did I want to end his suffering fast? Or was I just avoiding the responsibility of shooting someone? “I didn’t-“

I was getting angrier every time he’d finish my sentence instead of letting me do it. “Mean it? You did, come on, doll.” One large step and he was by my side. His hand moved behind my back, I did not move as his fingers grazed my back slowly, on purpose, almost sensually, only to reach the gun that he pulled out and placed in my hand forcefully, wrapping my fingers on the handle. “You got the silencer; you got the gun.” He started, then stepped back, “Use that little rat brain of yours, and you can do crime without getting caught-“ He interrupted himself and nodded, “Yes, even in an office full of innocent people! How thrilling is that, hm?” Facing him in awe, I was gripping the two items in my hand tight, I could feel that my entire body was freezing, but my hands were starting to sweat, I was cornered.

Stammering, I tried to come up with the proper words to defend myself, to get out of this situation, but it only annoyed Sanzu. Just like Hanma, his personality seemed to do a 180° really quickly. I had guessed it when I felt him grab my hair and pull me towards him, his palm on the nape of my neck as he tilted my head back, fingers threaded through my hair. “You’re chickening out, here, that’ll help.” With that he shoved a pill on my tongue—at first, I tasted the metallic taste of blood on his fingers, then I closed my mouth and pulled out of his hold to spit the pill on the ground. “Don’t fucking drug me! Don’t-“ I lifted the gun and pointed it at him, I was not thinking, I acted because he had caught me off guard, I did not want to shoot. But his stupid smile when I did that irked me, all of them looked at me in disbelief. Not a look of surprise, but one that said they knew I was not going to shoot, and I had messed up by aiming it at him.

The pink-haired man did not move, instead he stuck his tongue out and placed a small medicine tablet on his tongue, but it was no medicine. I was very aware of that. He did not talk, just stood right in front of me, unbothered. I was startled when I felt two hands on my shoulders then felt something brush against my cheek; when I tried to elbow whoever did that, I was stopped and the hand that grabbed my elbow slowly moved to the hand that held the silencer. “Half-way there already, knew you were a quick learner doll.” Hanma breathed right next to me, his cheek against mine. Humming, he let his other hand drag to the one holding the gun and he brought the two of them close, “Stop it, let go! Don’t. Don’t—just don’t.” It did not make sense; I don’t know what I was trying to say. My mind was foggy, adrenaline being the condensation that made it all blurry. My entire body was aware of Hanma’s against it, his hands against mine, his skin touching my face, the unnecessary gentleness in his touch and actions as he guided me. When I tried to lower the weapon, he tutted me and helped me keep it up. “Don’t back down now, that’s not fun.” He said breathlessly as he tapped his finger on my left hand.

“This goes at the end of the gun.” He said in a teacher-like manner. It did not suit him at all, if anything it made him look even more crazy. This man was anything but caring, this situation did not call for such gentle demeanor, yet here he was, smiling proudly as he showed me the gun. I was holding my breath, all too focused on his one that was hitting my collarbone from the angle he was in. Looking down at my hands, I followed his instructions with slightly shaky hands. My eyes kept glancing over at Sanzu who had long since crouched in front of us and was staring at the man they had beaten up; he did not feel threatened one bit by my presence and the gun I had pointed at him. “I don’t want to do this.” I whispered. What was I thinking? That he’d be kind and tell me to stop? That’d never happen, I barely knew the man, but I understood how his mind worked, somehow, sometimes…

His hands tightened around mine for a moment then clasped around my shoulders suddenly as he leaned over, “Of course! We’ll stop!” He exclaimed with a chuckle that froze my entire being when his fingers dug into my shoulders, once more his actions did not match his words. “We’ll stop once you’ve shot him. So, put the gun together and shoot him.” Hanma glanced at Sanzu and quirked a brow, “It takes what? Less than a minute?” the pink-haired man nodded and stood up stretching. “Unless you don’t have the guts to do it, like your girl here.” He said, clasping his hand around the gun once I had put the silencer on. He tried to take the gun from me, but I resisted. Why? I don’t know, but I did. It put a smile on the man’s face as he quickly let go and brought his hands up in a defensive manner, “Like a watchdog! Go ahead, then.” With his hands on my shoulders, Hanma turned me around while Sanzu stood right next to me, giggling like a maniac.

Hanma’s cold hands moved to where my neck and collarbone met, he made sure to slide them under my collar as he gave me a squeeze. I felt chills run down my spine. “You’re doing so well, see—you can change your mind easily with the right incentive-“ “There is no incentive, what do you want from him? I need—I need something, anything!” The tallest crazy man shaped my face with his hands, his chest still against my back, “Trying to justify your actions? Can’t we just do it for fun?” “Hanma, please, I can’t-'' His hands wrapped around my throat delicately, a long sigh escaping his lips as he rested his chin on my head. With a low hum, I felt him chuckle, the air from his nostrils moving some of my hair on my forehead. “We need him out of the chairmen, he’s useless. Paid his way in, so how smart is he really? At best he can bore people into feeling the need to buy some shares to make him shut the fuck up.” It was all said in a serious, if not bored, tone. My body was tense since he had wrapped his hands around my neck, I could feel the slight pressure every time I’d swallow my saliva.

“Not enough.” I uttered in something close to determination. The gun in my hand felt heavy, I was not even sure how I was still holding it—holding was too tame of a word, I was clenching my hands around it, trying the best I could to keep it stable. “He’s not as malleable as you are, look at him-“ Two fingers pressed on each side of my jaw, he made me look at the man properly, “’Looks like a weasel, a man that would crumble under pressure. He already shared so much with us. We don’t need a man like that, he’s been depleted of any worth he had.” He continued, but it was not enough for me. I was not moving, if anything my determination was faltering. I felt like shit, scum, like I was dirty, and I hadn’t done anything yet. “Hurry up already!” Sanzu groaned as he threw his head back—he was back to leaning on the desk and was bored out of his mind.

If that hadn’t startled me, Hanma’s voice next to my ear did, “He killed that poor girl, we can’t let him get away with it, can we?” “I don’t kill, you said shoot him. I’ll do that then I’m free to go, right?”

A sound of surprise escaped his lips as he let go of me and looked at me in awe, “All you needed was that? An eye for an eye and whatnot, that was all?” Meeting Eisuke’s eyes, I faltered once again. But nodded. They said to shoot him, not to kill him, right? I did not have the guts to kill, nor the skills, I had never used a gun before—the most harmful thing I ever did was when I was a kid and accidentally hit my neighbor’s head when he had come to help me plant flowers with my mother. With a shovel. A shovel was not a weapon. A gun was—and I had one in my hands. It was not a situation in which the damage could be fixed with some ointment. It would take stitches, somehow they’d have to have him brought out of here and get him somewhere without anyone seeing the blood… It was doable, this was just a shake down. A violent one- “I can go after this, promise me.” I blurted.

Stepping closer to Eisuke, Hanma walked around him and placed both his hands on the chairman’s shoulders, squeezing them threateningly. “Of course, I promise. We wouldn’t want you to break down just yet. So, get over yourself and shoot.”

I glanced at the man in the black suit, his eyes dead set on mine, a glimmer of delight brightened his face and it looked almost nice. Something he was not. Stress rose, I lowered the gun to the man tied up to the chair, “Mmmhm, one step closer, now the finger.” I heard Hanma coo his instructions, the grin on his face was very present, just like last night as his finger moved in the air, mimicking a trigger and him pushing it. The business man habits had long since been discarded and his manic self was the one I was facing. His chuckle reached my ears, I glanced at him and frowned only to have him bark a laugh, “Do it! Go ahead! Step closer if you need it-” “I don’t need it.” I scoffed.

He did not care much, what a surprise. I saw him open his jacket and reach inside of it to pull out his gun and place it against Eisuke’s temple, “Like that you can’t miss, you even get to redecorate his lame office.” He was almost bored, but that expression left his face when Eisuke started sobbing as he gesticulated the best he could on his chair. Sanzu was grumbling to himself on the side, but I ignored him. My index finger moved on the trigger, barely pressing it, slowly I pushed it- “Finally!” Sanzu exclaimed, stopping me in my actions.

“As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death~” Music started playing from the speakers in the corner of the office, I looked around and glanced over at Sanzu who was grinning proudly, perhaps sadistically too as he pointed from me to Eisuke, “Go ‘head!” He ordered.

Closing my eyes, I pressed the trigger—at the same time,Hanma called my name for me to open my eyes. I had aimed at his leg, that was my goal, but the recoil of the gun made the aim awful; squinting my eyes, I saw the blood that started staining his shirt right over his rib. Panic took over and I dropped the gun. My gaze flickered between the two laughing men, the one with his phone lifted in the air as he sang along, smiling in satisfaction and the one who was walking up to me while clapping with a content smile on his face. I could barely look at him, my eyes could not focus on a straight point, the blood, the gun, my hands shaking, the shoes approaching, the open suit—the arrogant smile. That last one was the one that grounded me for more than a few seconds when I felt a seething rage built up in my chest from the sight.

He bent over to grab the gun from the ground then straightened up and handed it to me, “Well done! Looks like it could even be your first kill-'' In my distress, I cut him off with a rant, “It’s done! Now call an ambulance, or your medics or whatever you call your little gang members-“ The loud bang of a gunshot followed. My first instinct was to look at the gun Hanma had handed me, thinking he had shot me with it, but when I saw and felt I was fine, I looked up at the bastard and saw his smirk. Lifting his hands, the gun was hooked by the trigger guard on his thumb, his hands splayed high to show he didn’t do anything. My eyes widened in realization; I was quick to push him aside to see what Sanzu had done. I could not be more grateful when I felt Hanma’s arms slide under mine from behind to hold me back with his hands clasped together behind my head. “What the fuck did you do!!” I screamed at first, trying to run to the now limp body, but Hanma was strong and kept me on the spot. Nausea followed soon after and I had to look away, my insides feeling weak from the stress that had left my body. One of Hanma’s hands clasped itself on my mouth as he whispered threateningly, “I just praised you for the good work, don’t be a loud bitch now, yeah?”

Instead of fighting against his hold, I just stopped moving and tried to think of anything else but the man that had just been shot dead in front of me. It was different than last night, I knew this man, I had worked with him and I had shot him. Sure, I did not give him the coup de grâce but I had partaken in it, that made the matter worse. With a strict voice, Hanma told Sanzu to cut the music off and gestured to the phone on the desk. The pink-haired nodded and cut the zip ties off the body on the chair before pushing it to the ground and pulling the chair to the desk to sit on it gracefully. “You’re gonna use a nice, sweet, stupid voice and tell the receptionist Eisuke is busy and you’re the one taking good care of him today, understood?” He asked under his breath whether I’d scream again if he removed his hand from my mouth, I shook my head in response. Humming in satisfaction, he let go of me and held me balanced until I could balance myself.

Clearing my throat, I dragged myself to the desk and picked up the phone, my hands clammy and cold at the same time. After a few deep breaths, I waited for the music to fully stop and both men to stop talking before pressing the number for the receptionist. I heard it beep a few times before the person at the desk picked up and happily greeted me. I was quick to talk over them in a fake-enthusiastic tone, “Hi! Just wanted to say Eisuke’s gonna be a bit busy today and maybe tomorrow—depends on how well I take care of him, cancel his meetings-“

The receptionist interrupted with a serious tone, “Could I speak to him? Why isn’t he the one telling me this?” Throwing a panicked look at Hanma, he shrugged and mouthed with a smirk ‘improvise’. All I could do was roll my eyes, my tone was kept slightly higher than usual as I replied, “Well, he’s a bit—tied up right now” I said in a playful tone, images of Eisuke tied on the chair flashing in my head, “If you know what I mean! You know men, ready to do the craziest things at the craziest time, but he pays me well so that’s cool-“ I spoke as fast as possible, making the person feel like I was about to rant for a while and clearly it worked since the receptionist on the other end of the phone was flustered as they quickly told me they’d cancel the meetings and they’d make sure no one interrupts us. Thanking them wholeheartedly, I slammed the phone down to hang up, my expression turned from politely talking on the phone to dead inside. I felt it as my smile fell. “I am leaving now.” Was all I said before walking away from the desk. The annoyance I had felt over this entire situation made me do something I was sure I’d regret, yet I had done it.

As I walked past Hanma, I bumped his shoulder with mine and muttered, “Filthy bastard.” Almost instantly, his big hand clasped on my shoulder to stop me; I turned around suddenly with furrowed brows and was glad Sanzu was busy on the phone, it meant I could have a private conversation with Hanma. “You look mad, doll. Looks like you took it quite at heart here-“ “You fucking shot him!” He grinned at my outburst, “So did you.” Then he added that he hadn’t been the one to do it.

I forced his hand off my shoulder and pushed him with all my force, he only stepped back a little but did not seem bothered by my actions. “You said I should shoot him!! Not kill him!” “And you didn’t kill him, Sanzu did.” About to scream at him once more, I kept my mouth shut after hearing his words. Why was I getting so worked up? What did I expect? Did I expect him to let him walk away after doing all of this to him? Did I expect them to possess any ounce of mercy in them? What was mercy if not a tendril of empathy, something none of them had. “Bit too mad, I didn’t kill someone you loved, did I? So why are you so fucking mad?” He huffed, pushing his jacket back a bit to shove his hands in his pockets to stand tall.

“I’m mad because it was my boss!” “Nah, you don’t care ‘bout him—didn’t.” He quickly mumbled an apology, albeit one that was mocking the man dead on the floor. I racked my brain for something, anything that made sense to justify my anger.

“You said to shoot him!”

“And you did that, we already said that didn’t we?” He asked in fake confusion.

“Then I could walk away!” I added with fervor.

“Which you did. Never said he was.”

“I thought-'' Running my hands over my face, I was getting even more worked up by this fast-paced exchange. Hanma delicately grabbed my hands and put them away from my face, “You thought what? I’d be a nice guy because I didn’t fuck you on the balcony?” My face flushed for some reason, the words flooded from my mouth before I could even think them through, “I trusted you.” We were both fast to realize the words I had uttered. I regretted them instantly and pried my hands from his, pushing him away as I stepped back. Hanma matched my actions but stepped forward, grinning maniacally. Shaking my head, I justified myself, “I don’t, I didn’t, never plan to. I meant I thought you had-“ “Sympathy?” He inquired, the tip of his fingers placed under my chin to lift it, “Pity?” He leaned over; his face so close to mine I could feel his breath on my lips. “Generosity?” He huffed a laugh, “I am generous, oh yes. I love to give,” with one swift movement, his lips were by my ear, and he whispered, “But if you ever feel generous too, I can never refuse a gift.”

Why did my breath hitch? I moved my hand to push him away, but my fingers curled around the hem of his tight vest. That moment was short, it barely lasted a few seconds, but I realized the wrongness of my action quickly and shoved him from me. His laugh echoed as he balanced himself again, he did not follow me when I walked to the door. “I need to keep this job, don’t get caught... don’t let my fingerprints-'' Looking around to find my gun—the gun I had been given, I corrected myself, not liking what I had thought. Once I saw it in the front of Hanma’s pants, I walked up to him and grabbed it quickly before walking away, he laughed once more, whistling in a way that resembled a catcall and amazement. “Already liking your new toy? Keep it at all times close by, you never know when you’ll need it now that you killed someone.” He winked. His eyes were not leaving mine and he was not moving, but the look he was giving me was carnal. I did not know whether he wanted to put a bullet in my brain or fuck me against the wall. Logic told me the former, but how long could I cling to logic with those people who seemed dead set on defying it simply by acting to their heart’s content?

Flipping him off, the last words I spoke to him were, “I’m not a killer, I have empathy, fuck both of you.” With that I slammed the door shut and the next things all happened in a blur. My brain was flooded by all sorts of chemicals, adrenaline was the main one, I was clumsy from all the energy it had given me, or at least it had woken me up for sure. It felt like I had a fever, I was feeling weird all over but I could not ignore how alive I felt too, it scared me. Opting to take the stairs to not be too alone with my thoughts in the elevator, I reached my floor and walked past my junior whose head rose upon seeing me. I could hear her call out for me, but all I wanted was to take my bag and leave, take a day off, I needed it—a poke on my forearm. I turned around rapidly and saw Rai with her sweet smile, “How was it!”

Nausea hit me, how was the visit with the murderous man? The tall handsome one, as she’d described it. What could I say but, “The usual questions about the firm. Little anecdotes about the coffee machine, small talks really.” It was anything but that. It broke all the codes of small talks, of usual, it was hectic, awful, illegal and while you forgot small talk, this was something I could never ever forget. “He looks very hot! Did you see those tattoos? Did you get his number?” ��I did’ was the answer to both her questions, I however wished I could say I didn’t. I wish I had not met him last night, wish I was still in my silly little routine away from this chaos. But I said, “One can dream, I am sure he is taken.” A polite chuckle. I grabbed my bag and nodded at her, “If you’ll excuse me, I need a day off. I feel quite nauseous, probably from something I ate last night.” The fucking concrete? That sure was something I ate many times from all the times he threw me on it.

“Of course, of course! Take care, I will see you tomorrow.” She smiled. I mirrored, even if inside all I wanted was to go home, pass out and forget about all of this. But I knew deep down that nothing would return to normal and also wondered when would they find out about Eisuke… Tomorrow? In 3 days? A week? Many questions crossed my mind as I walked out of my office. When I crossed the glass door at the entrance, I looked back at the building and up at Eisuke’s office. The curtains were wide open, and the two men were standing by the glass frame, a glass in hand I believe? It made me sick to see how little concerned they were of the situation. Shaking my head, I turned around and walked to the subway, my phone vibrating in my pocket startling me in the process.

Looking at the message, I huffed a laugh that turned into a worried one, regretting laughing at it. It read,

H. : Feel free to join us for a drink, it’s a real party. I can see you looking.

Perhaps I had laughed at how inappropriate it was, after all a body was laying at their feet in that very room. I thought it preferable not to answer him right away and put my phone away until I reached my house; this time, there was no pink-haired man with me on the subway but even so, I felt like I was being watched, it was impossible to think it stupid since I had been followed already once. Not one possibility felt more strange than the other, and there were no incidents at all until I reached my house.

No one was there, of course... but when I tried to unlock my door, my key did not fit. Taking a moment, I tried again, making sure it was the right direction for the key. Nothing worked. I ran my hand down half of my face and smiled in frustration, “It’s not him, I must have taken the wrong key. It’s not-'' Shoving my keys in my bag, I grabbed my phone and pressed Hanma’s contact to call him, “Who am I kidding, of course it’s him.” I laughed, tired and frustrated as the phone rang.

The man picked up in no time, smugness rolling off his tongue, “What is it, doll? Is it a confession-call to tell me how much you love bad boys-“ “My lock, my keys do not fit.” I stated as a matter of fact. He knew what I was talking about, but I heard him move before hearing the smile on his lips, “Is that some sort of fancy way to say your fingers don’t fit your pussy? If that’s the case, I’ll gladly help-“ “You changed my locks! I know you did, you’re crazy enough to do that. You just had to fix what you had broken! So why did you-“

“It’s an upgrade. I fixed what I broke, didn’t I?” He asked rhetorically before adding in a darker tone, “I love breaking things, get used to it. Odds are I’ll break you soon enough, but we know how malleable you are, so I’ll build you right back up—we’ll just add a pinchof crazy, for entertainment’s sake, yeah?” I would not break, at least I did not want to, but who was I to be so sure about something such as mental strength? He seemed well-versed in breaking people’s minds, a skill one should fear about him, other than his mental instability. “The key, where is it?” I asked, ignoring his promise.

Hanma hummed, I heard a jingle of keys on his side of the line. “Well, I do have my own key here, yours should be in an envelope in your mailbox. Can’t wait for those late-night visits!” “Good, fuck you. Have a good day.” I spat before hanging up and getting everything where he had said it was and entering the door. With one quick swoop around my house, I made sure nothing was out of place and that no one was inside, before locking everything and moving to my balcony to have some fresh air. I had thrown my bag on the couch on my way out and took a large intake of air once on the balcony.

With my elbows now resting on the railing, my eyes locked on my hands while I rubbed them together from how cold it was, still in the morning. Too much had happened in too little time, I barely had time to take anything in. I did not know what was the next thing they’ll ask of me, nor when. Hanma kept threatening he’d break me, but I was still standing for now, yet I still felt like something bad was about to happen. My chest was heavy, like I was drowning. All these actions I was about to commit in the name of an organization I did not know, how far will they push me? It had started off too strong. I now feared what I was capable of under their pressure. I feared I would follow his orders, no matter what they were and even if I justified my actions, I would not notice how deep in I’d be until it’s too late.

I knew something was going on, like droplets falling from the ceiling. I put a bucket underneath, I try to justify everything, to tell myself it’ll be alright, that I won’t break… But soon enough the bucket will overflow and I’ll be in too deep, I’ll be part of them forever. I don’t want that, do I? Don’t ‘do I?’ yourself, you don’t want that! I reprimanded myself before sighing. “This won’t do, what am I supposed to do?” Looking off to the side, I saw the cigarette crushed in my flower pot, a reminder of last night. A flash of his slender hands around the filthy cigarette as he looked at me with that arrogant, confident look. Another dry scoff escaped my lips as I pushed myself from the railing and mumbled, “Guess I’ll buy an ashtray, maybe a knife too.”

“Good idea! It’ll be better for your plants, really.” Someone’s voice echoed inside my house as I stepped back in. “Now the knife’s bit a stupid since you got a gun.”

“Who the fuck are you!?”

[Part 4]

#tokyo revengers #hanma x reader #hanma #hanma shuji #hanma shuji x reader #tokyo revengers x reader #deranged love #writer #writings #fanfic #physicalturian #ao3 #ao3 writer #ao3 physicalturian #tokyorev #tokyorev x reader

[suzuran777]

CHiRAL MOBiLE: False Alkanet and World's end Nightmare.

Recently I’ve been really interested in two Nitro+Chiral works many people might not be too familiar with, Itsuwari no Alkanet (False Alkanet) and World’s end Nightmare! They were released exclusively for CHiRAL MOBiLE, a subscription based app that could only be accessed by those who owned a Japanese cellphone. The app launched in 2010, but ended its service only two years later in 2012. Members paid a monthly fee of 300 yen to use the app, which gave them access to wallpapers, new illustrations and these two (visual) novels. 

Itsuwari no Alkanet

The first game Nitro+Chiral released on this app is Itsuwari no Alkanet, also known as ''False Alkanet''. The common route was released in June 2010 and every following month a new character's route was added to the game. The original opening movie of this game can still be found on Nico Nico. Itsuwari no Alkanet also got its own drama CD and the plot seems to be based on the events that happen in the novel.

Synopsis Kei Takatori stood in Marunouchi, Tokyo. Glittering buildings, paved roads, completely different than what he was used to. A father who suddenly re-appeared after a long absence, a talented brother, a free-spirited uncle, and a serious butler.

The story takes place in the Taisho period, during the political crisis which would become the end of Japan’s oligarchy, causing the rise of democracy. The Takatori family’s sucessor is the aspiring Pianist Yuto, whose skills keep improving along with his plans to study abroad. Everything looks favorable, but things are about to get complicated...

Characters (from left to right)

Kei Takatori The protagonist of this story. Yuto's half brother. Has one-sided romantic feelings for Yuto, which he doesn't know what to do about.

Yuto Takatori The half-brother of Kei Takatori. He wear glasses and looks very smart. An excellent pianist who wants to be taken seriously.

Sakae Tachibana The man who tricked the Takatori household chief so he could take over their business, yet somehow not a bad guy. Easy-going and elusive. His next target seems to be Kurae.

Kazuki Kurae Butler of the Takatori family. He takes care of the mansion and the two sons of the Takatori family. He cares a lot about them. Him and Tachibana are on bad terms.

All three characters mentioned above had their own routes. Unfortunately even after looking at several Japanese blogs for a couple of hours, I have not been able to find super many details about the story of every route. The drama CD is still available on multiple Japanese second-hand websites, so I might purchase it one day and listen to it. I also found some art the artist tweeted a long time ago, which you can see below!

World's end Nightmare In December 2010 Nitro+Chiral added another title to their CHiRAL MOBiLE library. A visual novel written by Toriko Nanashino and illustrated by Mimori Sinov. Serialization began in December and the series ended with a total of 30 episodes. The genre is noir fantasy and the story focuses on a man called ‘’It’’.

Synopsis ''A poor soul who doesn't know love. I will give you another chance.'' The protagonist wakes up in a strange world, guided by an unknown voice. A square blue sky, a thorny garden and a towering castle in a deep forest. A fairy tale-like world, clearly different from reality. He is aware that he died before coming here, however, he is unsure who brought him to this world after he died. People who are brought to this world are forced to participate in a compulsory game, in which everyone has to prove what true love is. If you lose this game, your soul will be turned into "furniture". A beautiful boy, a red shadow, a white shadow, and a masked man all participate in this game. 

Characters (from left to right)

It "...I'm not good at that kind of love, I don't understand the meaning." The main character of this game. He died and came to this world, also called "the end". In order to escape this place, he will have to challenge the Faceless. He can't seem to recall why he died and is not very interested in others. 

Faceless "I want you to prove true love " The god who created “the end”, also called the king and judge. He is the greatest being that exists in "the end". He forces It to participate in the game. Although he is a god, he has no dignity and sometimes gets ridiculed by other inhabitants. Cheerful and friendly, but also selfish. He is very unpredictable and emotional.

Siegfried "... The more time you spend here, the better you will understand each other." The oldest inhabitant of "the end". Characterized by a melancholic appearance. His motto is "If you spend time together, it will lead to love." Intelligent, rational and calm. His human emotions have vanished a long time ago, but he is still kind to others.

Ky "Generally, love doesn't have to be a romance'' Beautiful enough to often be mistaken for a girl, but he has a sharp tongue. He is not interested in romance and grew bored of this world because he has lived there for a very long time. Outspoken, confident and sometimes naughty. He pays attention to people he likes and easily speaks his mind.

Barron "If you do it, you might start feeling emotions right?"  A forceful woman-loving older man. One of the "players" of the game. "Love doesn't need time" is his motto. Although he looks the oldest, he is the newest inhabitant of “the end”. Rough, crude and forceful, but he always follows the rules.

Finding information about World’s end Nightmare was somehow even more difficult than Itsuwari no Alkanet, but it seems like it had 30 chapters and only one route. I also found some artwork the official artist drew to celebrate its first anniversary.

You might recognize the art of both of these games if you purchased the third volume of the Nitro+Chiral 10 Years Archive, which was released in 2016. It also features some illustrations of the other Nitro+Chiral games which used to be content only members of the app could see.

I was personally not able to play any of these games because I unfortunately didn't own a Japanese phone in 2010-2012, but there are still some Japanese blogs which talk about these games. You can still find older information about them in BL game magazine Cool-B as well, so luckily not all information about these games has been lost forever.

Some of the Japanese sources I used can be found here: Ｘ　Ｘ　Ｘ

#nitro+chiral #false alkanet #world's end nightmare #nitrochiral #chiralmobile #blinfo #nitroplus

[atopearth]

Collar X Malice Part 2 - Okazaki Kei Route

I wonder how Okazaki's route will go, since instead of focusing on a case, Ichika  wants to broadly focus on her reason for being a police officer, namely to protect people. Anyway, other than it being sad to see Mineo rather cold after his super cute and sweet route, I also find it saddening that we have to start all over again with Kazuki and their strained relationship😭 Anyway, Yoshinari is a pretty funny guy, he's like Mineo, capable but silly lol. I guess it's convenient that Okazaki will wake up when he hears a gun taken out of its holster lol. But yeah, it was obvious that Okazaki knew who Ichika was, there's no way they could have hidden that. Anyway, Okazaki saving her from a bunch of guys and then holding her hand was cute. I think he's right that even if it feels weird at first, to feel someone's warmth when you're scared really helps to kinda calm you down. Well, okay, Ichika is pretty ridiculous. Lol, like I can forgive her for trying to rush into a raging fire to help someone the first time but for her to try a second time?? I'm glad Okazaki shouted at her because that was beyond reckless. She has no protection, no plan, no idea of anything and she wants to save someone that's at the centre of a blazing fire? Even if she's panicking, that's pretty crazy. Not to mention that this was a park, she really should have focused on helping people around her who could be injured or feeling sick from the smoke etc. Anyway, Okazaki helped her come to her senses so she really should thank him for saving her life tbh. I know Ichika is inexperienced but I feel like this incident made it seem like what she lacks is common sense instead, but I'll give her the benefit of doubt since someone was burning to death in front of her, and that's difficult to accept and endure knowing there's nothing she can do.

I honestly feel terrible for Sugawara. I can't imagine how frightening it must be for her to be stalked for such a long period of time with no one to help her, and then having the guy wanting to kill her and himself, that's pretty crazy and I feel so sorry for her. I can see why she would trust anyone who saved her from this situation when the police obviously didn't. Omggg, there were two stalkers?! I can't imagine her frustration and fear to be relieved from one stalker (since they got arrested) and then end up being stalked again, like seriously that's absolutely crazy and I don't think any person could handle that. Okazaki pulling his gun out against Ichika (after finding out about her collar) was pretty dramatic. Seems like the memory erasing thing happens to everyone who gets captured? Anyway, I honestly felt so bad for Sugawara when she felt that being imprisoned as a criminal was better than going home and getting stalked again, it's just so saddening.. I think it was really cool and strong of Ichika to tell Okazaki to shoot her if he ever believes that she is causing things to go wrong in the investigations, it's like she's leaving her life in his hands knowing that he will make the "correct" decision. I've always admired Ichika's determination. I do feel bad for Okazaki though. Reporting Ichika to his superiors or not is a difficult decision, especially considering how seriously he takes his job. I think Ichika's thoughts really hit the nail on the head on why I just don't feel on board with her and Okazaki together. Like yeah, they're cute but I agree with her that it doesn't feel like Ichika exists in the depths of his heart, rather he is looking for something from or inside her hoping that she has it because of the "kind" person she is, and yeah apparently he's found it and wants to protect her and believe her, but I just can't help but feel that he's not really looking at her for her?

Okazaki's texts are so cute with the emojis lmao. It's also sweet how they share tidbits of their everyday life with each other. HAHAHA, I nearly died from laughter when Okazaki talked about how his robot vacuum "ran away" and never came home because he left his front door open😂😂 Okazaki buying Ichika flowers first thing in the morning to try and cheer her up from her lack of progress with the recent X-Day case was so sweet. Anyway, I have to agree with Mochida, it's really frustrating to be practically the complaint hotline department for the X-Day incidents but know nothing of the progress or results to properly reassure the public. Like literally, all they do is try and soothe people and their anger but have nothing to really inform them about, it's like they made this department just to have some people take the brunt of the complaints so others can work "easier". 

I didn't think that the rough looking guy that's a part of Adonis was actually a policeman before! Doesn't help that he looks pretty different from his photo that's at least 5 years ago... I feel like that's so saddening though, like one superior ruined so many young cops lives. Honestly, hearing that one of them has been in a mental asylum for years, and the other one left the country and never came back really kinda shows how traumatised they were by whatever happened with that "bad" cop guy that died. I feel so terrible for Sanjou and all those rookie cops Todoroki crushed mentally and physically with abuse. They all desired to be a policeman to protect people and all had dreams they wanted to fulfill, and they all endured because they believed in their justice and protection, but in the end the only thing they got was injustice and hatred from the people they tried to protect because of Todoroki's mistakes. Honestly, no matter how meaningful my job is, I don't think I could endure all that, so I'm not surprised Sanjou has resorted to becoming who he is. Sure, he's going against his principles back in the day by hurting people, but even though a part of him is still there, at the same time, he's definitely tired of everything. The thought of the moment he finally broke really tore me because thinking about all he endured is painful. On the other hand, it's interesting he thinks that Adonis can replace the police itself since really Adonis in other routes and kinda here is wrought with problems and people who are reckless and don't really have a clear goal aside from revenge. Unlike him, most of the people besides the leaders don't care about making society "better" because they're focused on their own pain and justice for themselves. Not that they're wrong to do that since Adonis chose them for that reason, but it's also because of that that Adonis is a mess that won't be a rebirth of a proper version of the "police".

I don't know if any sane person would really chase after Sanjou when Ichika's recklessness got Okazaki injured, and she's definitely useless in a battle without him, not to mention tending to his wounds are probably more important right now lol. I mean, it's not like I don't understand Takaeda's position and the need to quell the anger of the public with how incapable the police have been in stopping the X-Day crimes etc, but can't he at least be a bit more subtle with how dodgy he wants to be? Lol. Who parades around telling moralistic police officers like Morioka and Minegishi to just arrest all the suspects and not care about concrete evidence or solid alibis??? Like yes, these actions will totally make the public think you're great the moment anyone complains and this comes to light lol, like seriously. It's such a silly short term fix to the problem that I have no idea how he even thought it would be a good idea. Honestly, I would be pretty mad if I was Ichika and Okazaki said he wanted to die protecting her since he's looking for a meaningful way to die. Like excuse me?? I knew the whole protecting thing wasn't really about her even though he liked her to an extent, but I would be so annoyed if someone was "using" me like that. Sure, she needs someone to protect her and it's perfect since he doesn't really care about his life, but it's frustrating to think that in the end, how much does he really care since it's like he was just looking for someone that's kinda nice but at high risk of dying? Loll. It's like she as an individual was never really in the picture for him. I know he doesn't mean it maliciously but yeah... Something nice to see in this route is Kazuki reaching out and caring for Ichika himself because he was worried about her getting hurt, it was cute how he told her to take a day off because she's an underling anyway so it doesn't matter if she goes to work or not🤣 It was also nice to see them properly communicate by themselves, however I do think that the only reason this is happening so smoothly is because they want to get this part out of the way loll.

Anyway, Okazaki's inability to understand Ichika kinda pisses me off but Ichika isn't really communicating when he doesn't understand, so they're both wrong lol. However, I hate it when people apologise without understanding why they're wrong, like it's cool to apologise for hurting the other person, but it's not cool when you're going to insist on what the other person is mad about, so really, you might as well not apologise and instead try to communicate about the problem instead. Also, I feel sorry for Sasazuka and them, they're trying to solve the X-Day cases and here are Ichika and Okazaki having a lovers quarrel, I'm honestly glad they told them to get out and come back later because they're definitely useless to the investigations right now. I also don't really care for how Okazaki suddenly "realised" he likes Ichika and just straight out publicly confessed to her, because I personally don't feel it lol but other than that, I'm not fond of love confessions like these lol. I think what annoys me the most is Okazaki's flippant attitude as if nothing is wrong and it's not a big problem? Like he's handling it in his own way and I'm sure he's serious about it but the way he does it just pisses me off. I liked the way he was in the beginning but I guess when it comes to conflicts, his attitude is one of the worst to handle. Yoshinari is such a sweet guy, I don't know why but I feel like he's dodgy loll. Anyway though, sorry if I'm wrong, Yoshinari!

Anyway, hearing Okazaki's story really helped me understand him a bit better. Personally, the bit where he said rather than guilt for causing his colleague's death, he was more scared of dying the same way as his colleague in such a "meaningless" death kinda clicked with me. Maybe it sounds really derogatory and negative to myself, but for a long time, I've felt something similar to Okazaki in a sense, like I wouldn't actively look for danger like him, but if I were in a life threatening situation with my family or friends, I would hope that I'm the one who would die protecting them rather than the other way around. It's just, when you feel like your life is meaningless but others' lives have "value", it's hard to not think that you would want them to be the one to survive rather than yourself. So honestly, it's kinda funny to relate to Okazaki a bit even though he's been such a frustrating character to me lol. At least now I can see why he's so persistent on finding a meaningful way to die, because I think he's right, if I was going to die some way or another, I would want to die saving someone important to me. It was really cute how Ichika kept trying to show him that if he died, he wouldn't be able to eat such delicious food or watch the next part of a movie next year. It really makes me think hmmm, I'd really like to see the end of One Piece so that can keep me going lol. Something I find interesting in the materials/notes is that the Adonis who attacked the Prime Minister Okazaki was protecting two years ago was the original Adonis. The Adonis in the present are apparently viewed as a dummy group of that one🤔 I feel like that's a pretty important detail for the future, like is this Adonis just inspired by them or is it the real Adonis~ Anyway, I think what I found most chilling about Okazaki's story was when Tsukishima kept saying it was Okazaki's fault things went wrong as he was dying from being squashed by the rubble that should have squashed Okazaki. He probably meant it in some other way since he obviously regarded Okazaki as important enough to save him but hearing that as someone loses their life is definitely something difficult to handle, like these are their last words and they're telling me it's my fault so they're definitely right kinda sentiment.

Honestly, I've been rather meh about this whole route, especially with Okazaki's attitude etc, but after he so honestly confessed his feelings to her when they were watching the horror movie, I couldn't help but melt to his words. He was so sincere and honest about how he enjoyed those little moments such as the silly texts with her that I couldn't help but feel touched. He's a frustrating guy but I really do like him. Even though I could understand Ichika for trying to protect Okazaki by going to Adonis, it also made me really annoyed because she was doing exactly what she got so annoyed about Okazaki doing, which is not caring for his own life, so her not caring for her own life when she promised him that they would find a way to live together made me mad. I'm glad Okazaki got mad at her, but I'm also sad that he felt hurt over it. Especially when he already told her that if she died, he'd probably just die too. I mean, there was no way Okazaki wouldn't notice how weird she was anyway lol. 

I guess I have to agree with Okazaki's statement though, everyone has something that they want to protect, and whatever it is that protects their precious something, that is what their justice is. In the end, what we deem as justice is what we believe can protect the things important to us such as other people, our friends etc, and that is also why even if our views of justice can be "similar", what it means to each person will be different, which also means that if we lose what we desire to protect, then our justice becomes meaningless. Anyway, I really like Sanjou. I like how he does what he wants and I guess to an extent, I can understand his sentiments of not caring about this world and dying. Honestly, Sanjou breaks my heart. When Okazaki told Sanjou to leave with him (as Sanjou bombed the place and decided to die with the collapse) and he said Okazaki changed, it felt like Sanjou was really happy for him because they both connected and understood how it felt to want to die. I found it most saddening that Sanjou understood Okazaki's sentiments that yeah maybe he could eventually find something in the future worth living for, but the problem was that he didn't have enough hope to keep living in this crappy world searching for it, and I think that really made me want to cry. It's just so sad that he didn't have someone like Ichika telling him how much they wanted him to live🥺 I wonder why the Prime Minister's son is a part of Adonis🤔

I really thought I missed the trigger mode when Ichika seemed like she was dying lolll, TIL that you can check the backlog to see if the trigger mode was a success or fail so that makes things easier haha. I honestly think it would have been so tragic if Ichika died saving Okazaki though, I can't imagine having to shoulder the burden of two people you care about dying to save you and in hopes of you having a good life. Lmao when Ichika finally woke up in the hospital and asked Okazaki if he was angry at her and he sent her an angry face emoji😂 I nearly cried when Okazaki let out all his emotions over hating himself for not being able to protect Ichika properly, but I'm glad that he was so frank about all his feelings to her, it's really great how well he communicates with her now. It was nice to hear him think about wanting to be a grandma and grandpa together with her. The tragic love end was a bit disappointing though, I think it would have been better to see Okazaki have to kinda live a life fulfilling what Ichika wanted rather than kinda succumbing to death because he couldn't find a reason to live anymore, like it's understandable because he's said that he'd want to die if she died but yeah..

Overall, even though I quite liked Okazaki's character, I don't think I can really say the same for his route. I guess I just found 80% of it pretty boring tbh lol, like the messages and interactions between Ichika and Okazaki were nice in their own way, but at the same time, because Okazaki was "using" her as a way to die a meaningful death, I couldn't feel the "love" he had for her imo. What he saw wasn't really her but what she could offer him, and that's pretty prevalent and obvious when you read the bad endings. However, I did really enjoy the last like 10-20% of the route, probably when they finally communicated and got to understand each other lol. It was nice to see Okazaki so honest and sincere after being able to wholeheartedly believe in a future where they both live, so I liked that. For me, the highlight was definitely Sanjou though, I think his story and character really got to me, and I'm super sad we couldn't save him (or romance him) because I think I ended up liking him more than Okazaki lmao. I still like Okazaki though, but the route was definitely lacking for me, it honestly took me a while to get through because of that lol. In that sense, I guess it made Ichika and Okazaki not feel like that great of a match for me, even though they were pretty cute.

#collar x malice

[lilyginnyblackv2]

Buddy Daddies - Episode 7 - Thought Post - Side Rei

Oh, Rei...OTL

This episode was an eye opener for him. But, I also think it did a good job of highlighting how this isn’t just Rei “being lazy” and not contributing enough, but also about Rei just not knowing how to do these things. 

When he opens the fridge, he doesn’t even know which stuff in there is the food. And this is because of his upbringing, not necessarily because he was rich, but because he was brought up to kill and that was it. Skills pertaining to his ability to kill were the only thing his father and family focused on, so that was all he learned. 

If you don’t teach a child how to do something (whether physically or emotionally), how can we expect them to know how to do it as an adult? That’s the issue facing Rei here. That’s not to say that he is completely blameless here or that he hasn’t put in any effort. He has, but a lot of the things he does right tend to be more accidental and where he is largely putting in some effort (like playing games with her) is a bit misguided. Making sure she stays protected from people who can harm her is an area he has gotten extremely good at though.

But, let’s look at some of the things that I think Rei accidentally gets right with Miri. By being, on a life skills and emotional development level, in a similar place as Miri, he ends up accidentally being really good at allowing Miri to guide him at times. For example, in this week’s episode we have this moment:

Rei is in front of her closet, looks at her, and askes, “What do you need to take?” He’s asking about her things for daycare. Miri is then able to point to the sheet of paper that tells him everything he needs (a little checklist). This is a good thing to do with children around Miri’s age from time to time, since it can not only work as a good confidence booster for them, but also let the parent or teacher know that the child understands aspects of their daily routine.

Of course, it isn’t good for a parent or teacher to rely on this. Why? Because the child is still a child and still learning and will sometimes make mistakes, like Miri does when she says to Rei, “Don’t I have daycare today?” And then this mistake is what ultimately leads to Miri developing a cold and fever later on in the episode, because she wasn’t wearing proper clothes and Rei was riding too fast, thus making it even colder and wetter.

But, we’ll get back to that in a bit.

The rest of this I will put under a Read More due to length.

We also see that Rei views Miri on pretty equal footing in many ways. Here are two examples of this: 

The first is when Miri asks to play Morio Kart with Rei and he tells her “no,” because she gets upset when she loses. This indicates that he doesn’t go easy on her, which is a good thing. Allowing children to lose at games is a good thing. The not so good thing though, is that she gets upset when she loses and Rei doesn’t help her through that (because he, himself, doesn’t know how to handle emotions like that). So, instead, he basically just parent-locks the game away from her. That doesn’t help her learn, that just ends up punishing her, in a way, for not being able to understand how to express her upset. Of course, that isn’t Rei’s intentions.

The second example of this is the scene when Miri and Rei are eating the dinner Kazuki made:

He doesn’t force her to eat the food (and neither does Kazuki in the end, actually), but he also goes down to her level in not showing proper acknowledgement of the hard work Kazuki put into making the meal. We saw this earlier in the episode too:

After a meal they have earlier in the episode, Miri says a proper “Thanks for the food,” in Japanese ごちそうさまでした (gouchisousamadeshita). The subs have Rei say, “Same.” And that is an excellent translation (really, kudos to the sub and dub translators for Buddy Daddies, because the translations have been so good in general!). Basically, Rei just ends up parroting off of Miri in this scene by saying the tail end of the full, proper saying. He just says でした (deshita). 

Up until this week’s episode, Rei was able to skate by on not having these skills, because Kazuki would just do all this stuff for him, and there were no real consequences or level of accountability for his actions. The closest was Episode 5, but that ended up working out okay.

In this week’s episode, Miri does end up being all right, but she isn’t completely safe from harm. Because of Rei’s lack of life skills, Miri ends up getting very sick. This ends up scaring Rei shitless.

The scene of him going around, opening all the draws and seeing absolutely nothing he could use to help Miri. The closest thing being medicine that are for adults only (another great detail that highlight how both Kazuki and Rei are still learning how to make their household accommodating for a child). Is a great way to show just how panicked and worried he was, since I’m sure everyone has had a similar experience to this one, when looking for something very important you need - and just not finding it.

Eventually, Rei realizes he needs to take her to a doctor and that he needs to seek outside help right away to make sure she gets better. And that is a great thing about this week’s episode. Kazuki and Rei’s storylines are kept separate for the most part, because the episode highlights how getting help outside of your partner is necessary sometimes (and is far healthier). Before, they were being co-dependent and that was taking a toll on them (Rei with a lack of skills, and Kazuki with being able to keep locking away his emotions and not allowing himsef to move on because he could focus all his time and energy on caring for Miri and Rei). 

In the end, they both find the right person in their extended family and community to help them in just the right way that they need. Kyutaro for Rei (not Kazuki he wasn’t the right fit), and Karin for Kazuki.

Before Rei brings Miri to Kyutaro though, he has the realization of:

“I can’t do anything.”

And that is very, very important. This was his wake-up call that he if he wants to make sure no harm comes to Miri, then he needs to step up his game and put effort into learning these skills. Because yes, he is an adult who wasn’t taught these things, but he is also an adult who is responsible for a child - a whole other life. And I think that finally sunk in for Rei this episode.

When Kazuki gets home he sees that the apartment is a mess and at first thinks that it is just because Rei and Miri are both not good at household chores, so that is just the expected outcome. But then he sees this in Miri’s room:

Miri sleeping in her bed with Rei sleeping right beside her, his hand covering hers. She has a wet washcloth on her forehead, a glass of water on the bedside table, an opened medicine packet from the pharmacist, and a thermometer is sitting in arms reach. Everything that should be there, is, and Rei made sure Miri took the medicine and got the sleep that she needed. 

In the end, he was able to make sure Miri got everything she needed in this situation. He took care of her. 

Finally, the episode ends with Rei (with what seemed to be implied the help of Miri) making Kazuki French toast.

It isn’t the best. It’s burnt and seems like it may have been oversaturated as well, so it likely doesn’t taste the best either. But Rei and Miri tried. They put love and effort into that. And Rei looks very nervous and eager at the same time. He wants to know how he did:

His shoulders are tense, his eyebrows furrowed, and he leans forward. This is a great step in the right direction and reminds me of how people often say that children want to be helpful. Rei’s never really been given the chance to be helpful before now, but not that he has that experience, it seems like he wants to try and actually be helpful. 

So let’s hope that we see him doing just that! I want future episodes to carry this character growth over, just like they’ve carried plot points over before (such as their issue with going over their budget in Episode 4 leading to money issues in Episode 5). I have trust in the writers and directors that they will though. Otherwise, it would make this episode a moot one. Here’s to Rei Papa continuing to learn and grow and do his best! <3

#Rei Suwa #Kazuki Kurusu #Miri Unasaka #Kyutaro Kugi #Buddy Daddies #BD spoilers #long post #image heavy post #meta post

[femme-malewife]

Can’t an Idol Fall in Love? (Sara) Honeyworks Novel Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I’m not a professional translator, please bare that in mind as you read through it all

Masterlist here

Ever since the music festival, Dolce had done a wide variety of different detailed activities that even Uru could barely keep up. They were no longer just doing mini-lives at bookstores and commercial facilities, but now also local events in the metropolitan area. They were actively showing off their performances.

Uru was surprised one day when her father brought back a memo for a business trip to a local rural area.

According to him, Fuuma was arranging a website to show off their activities. On it, you could see the introduction of the members and the dates and times of upcoming events, as well as songs and dances.

There was also a guide to the video sharing service site they were using.

Apparently, each member distributed things separately.

“I didn’t know there was someone in that famous idol group who likes this place, Uru.” Her grandfather said while polishing a cup at the Mimi counter.

Uru raised her face from her chocolate drink she had at the cafe area. She was supposed to help today, but she’d been seated as a customer.

“Yeah. I mean, he hasn’t really complained about it.”

Her grandfather was talking about Sara. The reason why she hadn’t mentioned his parents names in Dolce activities was because Sara didn’t want her to. Of course, Sara’s already appeared on TV as a child actor, so a lot of people already knew who he was.

(Sara-kun, there seems to be a lot going on with your parents...)

How long ago was it that she saw Sara throwing his phone away?

The screen on the phone had an incoming call, with the name flashing Mother on it. Sara had grown up with excessive expectations as a child celebrity and suffered with his own identity.

Seeing him like that made her heart squeeze.

Uru turned to the newspaper on the counter. Along with it, this morning’s advertisement was also folded and placed. On the front image of it had a supermarket in a nearby neighborhood, and had some pudding on it as the main product.

“Won’t you eat pudding with me?” Was the caption under the image, with Toujo Sara on the cover.

After the summer festival, Sara changed his way of doing things and showed off his parents big names to everyone, and it was starting to be exposed.

(I think it’s a great achievement for Dolce to start being more well known to the older generations)

And along with Sara, who started to advertise on TV, the other four members were putting in their own effort as well. They were the talk of the internet quite often.

Maybe it was because of the images of Fuuma that were leaked, or the videos of Kippei’s street dancing, but either way, Dolce was getting a lot of attention on SNS and was gaining more followers everyday.

It also helped that their website had various guides to video sharing sites.

(Among them, Mameido-kun and Nemuri-kun’s dance lessons for elementary and junior high school students is really interesting...)

Girisha and Kippei taught dance as a type of physical education class for school. A free video called “Dolce Dance Club” was increasing the amount of views.

With the combination of the dance moves with their opposite personalities, it was easy to understand that the two laughing boys were good at what they did. It was always well received, with comments like “it’s so easy to use!”

(And Fuuma-kun and Haiga-kun are focusing on their songs)

Fuuma always handed out advertisements, while he and Kazuki uploaded many songs to the video site.

People who watched Sara on TV, students who checked out the videos for lesson preparations on their phones in their spare time, people who listened to their songs...

The fan base was steadily expanding.

On Uru’s phone, Dolce was on her screen.

The office had officially recorded the stage of that unforgettable summer music festival. It was Dolce’s most viewed video.

“Because it was the best...”

It was regrettable that Uru knew how bare it was.

Of course, more than that, she knew everyone in Dolce thought it was more painful and regrettable.

“But...no one is broken.”

Their regret turned into determination. Uru believed they were going to keep moving forward through it all.

“Uru, did you say something?”

“No, nothing. I’m going home. See you.” Uru handed him her empty cup.

“You should have some cake too.”

“It’s fine, I have to go study now! Oh, everyone please take your time and enjoy yourselves!” Uru said to the store full of regulars.

“It’s amazing she can study with such a bright face.” Uru heard someone say.

(Yes, it’s amazing because I have Dolce!)

She loved Dolce. She loved their singing and dancing- and Fuuma too. She also admired them for pushing for their dreams without giving up.

Uru herself also chased her own dreams.

Thanks to Operation Dolce the Carrot, Uru’s performance in her studies were increasing. Because of this, Uru may be able to aim for an even higher high school. One with a confectionery club. Some higher high schools had clubs where you can learn specialized confectionery techniques.

It was a good way in being on her way to becoming a chocolatier.

(I’m still doing my best. Everyone in Dolce is doing their best, so I can do more!)

She knew she could do it.

(I love them, they’re the strongest!)

💞

“Well, looks like you’re doing fine.”

When Uru got back to the apartment, Sara had just exited the Dolce room.

“Yep! Thanks to Dolce.” Uru answered him with a smile.

“What, is there something on my face?”

“Hmm. I just feel like after all this time, you look different in real life.”

“...Ah, you mean my appearance on TV?”

“I think you look a little more beautiful on TV, but then the real life you’re...uh, well, kind of lazy? You look really sluggish.”

“I just make more facial expressions outside my personal life.”

“Oh, like that product ad? It looked so professional. The advertisement for the pudding was so brilliant! I was surprised at your smile.”

“Right.”

He had a proud smile on his face that she had never seen on him on TV.

Thinking about it, it’d been a long time since the two had really spoken, and that was when she could see his face the most. Sara had been very busy ever since the festival ended.

“Um...”

Uru felt like there was a lot to talk about. There were many things she wanted to hear.

But it didn’t work out.

“Hey, Sara, get in the car already!”

From outside, the person calling out to Sara was their manager.

“...Alright, I’m off.”

“Yep. I’ll keep supporting you.” Uru smiled and waved at him, seeing Sara off. She watched Sara’s back as he walked away. But for some reason, she felt really lonely. Her mouth opened to try to call out.

(But what would I say..?)

She didn’t know.

Words weren’t coming out.

But...

Sara’s legs stopped in front of the elevator. He turned around before Uru could call out to him.

“Thank you.”

“...Eh?”

“For before, with that insane chocolate theory. It was surprisingly touching.”

Oh, now she remembered.

Don’t expect things to come out great just because the ingredients are great. She told Sara that once.

“To be honest, I didn’t really understand it at first, but now it feels like I got it.”

“Oh...I wish I had...”

“No matter how delicious the chocolate is, it doesn’t make sense if you don’t eat it. I’m going to eat it. To get to know Dolce, I decided I need to make the most of my parents fame.”

(I see...so that’s why he started appearing on entertainment TV for Dolce...)

The elevator arrived on their floor.

“Are you coming? To the Higashi-Meihan.” Sara asked as he got inside the elevator before the doors shut.

“Of course!”

The Higashi-Meihan was a tour for Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. Performing at the live tour at those three locations was called the Higashi-Meihan Tour.

Dolce was going to be performing as though to make up for the summer music festival.

Uru sent a V sign with her fingers with the meaning that she was going to be buying a ticket.

“I’ll be waiting.”

And with that, the elevator doors closed.

_

The heat of summer passed, the leaves of the roadside trees changed color, and Uru didn’t have the chance to talk to Sara.

Eventually, the there were dead trees around, and the lead-colored winter came.

_

The Following February

The Dolce Higashi-Meihan Live Tour headed towards it’s fial day of the Tokyo performance in an explosive success. The day was very cold, and the line of people continued on from the opening into the snow.

Uru felt overwhelmed by the length of the line. The scale was definitely different from the live shows so far.

She knew the maximum number of seats in the venue, but upon seeing it, she was still surprised.

(This really is a tremendous breakthrough..!)

All the seats were inside. Everyone held penlights in their right and left hands as they waited for the opening.

The lights turned off in the venue and the crowd shifted.

A countdown was projected onto the screen.

And finally, it began!

A vivid laser light burst, and five people wearing wolf motif costumes popped out from it. The cheers grew loud.

The song Irodore was the opening song.

Fuuma, Sara, Kazuki, Girisha, Kippei.

Even though it was February, they were sweating while running around the stage, singing and dancing with all their might. Uru could tell they were all enjoying themselves with their whole being. And above all, they were doing their best to entertain the audience first.

The power of the song fit the fan head on.

Soap bubbles and jet smoke colored the song.

The flashy stage exploded with colors one after another.

The spectators also got excited, being pulled into the world of Dolce, filled with five people.

At the end of Baby, Baby, Fuuma sang with all of his heart. Kazuki leaned over and covered his voice with his own singing, with tears in his eyes.

“Thank you very much for coming today!”

“We’re still not done, though!”

“We’ll go even further!”

“Please follow us!”

“We won’t lose!”

The five members looked at each other and nodded, pressing their shoulders together.

“Let’s go together! Beyond this dream-!”

The sound of a canon concluded the dreamlike time. At the same time, all the hardships and regrets were pushed out of Uru’s chest.

Her eyes started getting very hot, and tears were overflowing one after another and didn’t stop.

It was an amazing stage.

It was a heartfelt performance with lots of emotions.

(Dolce has changed..!)

Uru always chased Fuuma as the main character during live shows, because Fuuma was admirable. She was always moved by him. Because Fuuma was shining.

But today was different.

Each member showed their individuality and shined dazzlingly. She was fascinated by everyone, and each one of them attracted Uru’s gaze.

Dolce’s charm had increased many times and each color exhibited each individual.

Dolce was still moving forward. More and more, far higher than before, beyond their dreams!

And next week, Uru was going to challenge high school entrance exams with the power they filled her up with today.

💞

After putting on matching t-shirts, everyone jumped onto the stage in response to the encore. Cheers like waves swallowed Sara and the others.

The audience was pitch black, but the sight of the countless colorful penlights shined like the starry sky.

When they sang to their fans with their whole body, the cheers of all the fans came back. It resonated, and it felt like the fans and Dolce were united.

This was his first time.

Even when he appeared in a popular drama as a child actor, he had the famous producer provide him with original music.

When he released a solo CD as Toujo Sara and had his own concert.

He never felt such excitement from his body.

He also thought it was hard to leave the stage like this. He wanted to sing more there. He also wanted to dance more there.

(This new me was born in Dolce-)

It didn’t matter if he had a big name father or mother, or what his parents abilities were. His urge to sing and dance was Toujo Sara’s. His own.

(You were right, Uru)

Uru was in the middle of the audience.

He wasn’t sure how he found Uru in the dark seats. However, a mysterious force sucked his gaze in.

She was staring at Sara from there.

Her eyes were glittering at him, like the time they had with Fuuma at the audition.

#ouji uru #toujo sara #dolce #honeyworks #lisians translations

[danganronpa-21]

KKB Drabble - Starlight

‘Tis late in the night, but you know what? It is @capnii ’s birthday today! As such is the case, I wanted to make a little present for them. This time around, I decided to do a little drabble focused on their fankids! So here it is :0 Hopefully I did the characters justice!

No warnings to issue this time around. It’s a total fluff piece. Only thing that I ask is that you go wish Morg a happy birthday. Thank you!

________________________________________________________________

“Are you guys coming or what?” 

For words not meant tauntingly, it was difficult for Natsumi to not feel just a little mocked. Sure, Mei didn’t truly mean anything by it, but considering she was a bit more spry than the rest of them, she couldn’t help but purse her lips together. It wasn’t often that the four of them had to hike together anywhere, much less in the dark. Given that Mei was the most athletic of them, and additionally perhaps the one with the best night eyes apart from Kazuki, she didn’t think it was fair that she got the opportunity to tease them about being slow. How could that possibly be fair, Natsumi thought with a pout.  

“No worries, Asahina-san! We’re on our way!” Jun’ichi chirped happily, his voice distinctly not out of breath. Quietly, she couldn’t help but wonder if all of his years as a pop idol had made his lungs super powerful or something. She’d most certainly be lying if she said that she didn’t secretly hope she would someday have that level of strength. To have lungs so powerful that she would barely get winded when hiking up a blustery hill, even when flakes of snow were blowing into her face… that would be the dream. Right now, though, it was one that was rather far out of her grasp. The heaving of her chest proved as much as she glanced helplessly over at Kazuki, who seemed to be faring only a little better than she was. At least that much could sneak a grin across her face. 

Well, that, and the promise of a beautiful sight at the end of this long hike. Mei claimed it was among the most beautiful she’d ever seen, bar none. She’d been going on and on about having to bring them there with her for months, and it was only now that they’d managed to coordinate their schedules to make it happen. There had been a few hurdles for them to jump over to get there — convincing their parents to let them go out during the late hours of the night being one of them — but in the end, they managed to come out of it alright in the end… even if they did have to lie to her father about having a “study slumber party”. Pff. Like that was a thing. In a way though, she supposed that this little hint of teenage rebellion made the night feel all the more fun. Even if she would have to try and keep up the lie with her father, these sorts of memories were the kind she knew she would hold onto for the rest of her life. She couldn’t help wanting to drink it all in. 

Any other time, one might have been at least a little resentful of being made to trudge through a huge forest in the middle of February, but tonight she fully intended to relish it. It was true that the harsh wind and heavy hike were sucking much of the air from her lungs, but that was a struggle more easily overcome than one might think. She couldn’t deny herself the pleasure of watching all of the tall, naked trees, their branches swaying ever so slightly in the gusts that came and went. The air seemed to whistle softly as it swooped between them, reminding the world that even among its invisibility, it was still there. Every once in a while she could catch a furry creature scuttling up the trunks of those trees, the twitching noses of little squirrels poking out from the hiding spots that they were finding off of the snowy forest floor. Their tiny feet would certainly sense the cold much more than hers would, given that she had the advantage of warm winter boots crunching the winter’s dust beneath her feet. Thankfully though, the snow was pretty soft, falling gently from the sky until it eventually met its end on the ground — unless, of course, it didn’t. Glancing over at Kazuki and Jun’ichi, the two of them seemed to be getting a formidable amount of snow on their heads and shoulders. With Kazuki’s mess of brown hair and Jun’ichi’s striking blue, it came as no surprise that the flakes stood out on the two of them as well as they did. She wondered if they even noticed how impossibly perfect they looked, laughing and joking as the snow fell around them. 

“Alright, alright. I have another joke for you,” Jun’ichi said, still trying to recover from laughing at the last one he’d told, “What did the blanket say as it fell off the bed?”

Kazuki’s violet eyes made a full and exaggerated rotation, but a careless grin rested on his face to remind the other how much fun he was secretly having. The sight of it made Natsumi herself snicker; of course he wouldn’t try to play into Jun’ichi and his terrible jokes too much. Then he’d tell them all night, and who knows if they would get to enjoy Mei’s magnificent view? 

“We don’t know, Maizono-san. What did the blanket say as it fell off the bed?” Mei asked, glancing over her shoulder to look at him. “Did it say that you’re taking up our valuable hiking time to tell corny jokes?” 

Jun’ichi shot a pair of finger guns her way, sending both Mei and Kazuki into a spiral of amused eye rolls that time around. Natsumi wondered if she should perhaps start keeping track of how many times he got that out of them. She was almost certain that Jun’ichi would get quite the kick out of it. “That it did not, but I appreciate your participation!” 

Kazuki folded his arms across his chest, quirking a brow as he prepared himself for the answer he was pretending he didn’t want. “Then enlighten us, Maizono-san. What did it say?”

“What did the blanket say when it fell off the bed?” He began again, throwing in the cheesiest arm swing possible. ““Oh sheet!””

A cacophony of groans and sharp exhaling through the nose filled the night the moment the words left the ex-idol’s mouth, sending him into a fit of excessively pleased giggles. Why and how he developed such a talent for cheesy jokes, they didn’t know, but as much as they groaned now… she knew they would never want it to stop. 

Jun’ichi and the others, they would be what made this night so special to Natsumi. The view would be one thing, but the time she spent with the others would be so much more. She didn’t like to think about it too much lest she make herself sad, but one day, they might not have the time to do stuff like that anymore. The older they all grew, the closer they got to going their separate ways. While she did have other people she liked, none of them could be as special to her as these three. If she had it her way, she’d have liked to spend her whole life with them, watching them grow into the beautiful people she thought they could be. Singing alongside Jun’ichi on stage, watching Mei become the best veterinarian anyone had ever seen, and cheering Kazuki on as he became the world class detective everyone knew she was meant to be… Even if they were apart, she knew in her heart she could do all of that stuff in spirit, but being together in person was something more valuable than she could convey. If one day she had to let them go, then she wanted to have the happiest memories of them that she could possibly get. Tonight was something she wanted to be a part of that collection. 

“You think we have time for one more joke before we get there, Asahina-san?” 

Still trying to act as if he wasn’t grinning, Kazuki shook his head. “For everyone’s sake, Mei, please say no.” 

“Say yes!” Jun’ichi practically bounced up and down as they walked, like a cross between a skip and a full on hop. “C’mon, say yes! I’ve got a really good one!”

“I say we give him this last one and then no more,” Natsumi suggested, looking back and forth between her friends in hopes that they wouldn’t chide her for egging him on, “I think we’ll all go insane if it’s any more than this last one.”

Putting her hands on her hips, Mei let out a semi-amused, semi-exasperated sigh. “Fine. Just this one last joke. But then we should be there, so get it out while you can.”

Jun’ichi let out a whoop so loud that Natsumi cringed. The cry made her think about all of the people who lived near the forest, trying to sleep in their houses... and being woken up these rowdy teenagers plodding through the forest. For their sake, she prayed that they were heavy sleepers. Nobody needed to be woken up by shouting if at all possible.

“Alright, alright, okay…” He had to pause to get his bearings between his little fits of giggles. Potentially her favourite part of his jokes were the fact that he killed himself with them. This was definitely how she wanted to remember Jun’ichi in the future: laughing himself to tears over his own terrible humour. “Asahina-san, you have cats. You should know the answer to this one. How does your feline shop?”

Mei sighed yet again, her gaze focused on the road ahead as she led them forward. If they truly were as close as she said, then most of her focus would need to go towards navigating for them. She wouldn’t be surprised if the redhead was only half-listening. “I don’t know, Maizono-san. How do cats shop?”

Jun’ichi bit his lip in excitement for but a second, his fists curled tight as he fought to avoid bursting into hysterics. Out of the corner of her eye Natsumi could see Kazuki turning to exchange a glance with her, which she happily returned with raised eyebrows. They were both somehow dreading and anxiously awaiting the inevitable end of the jest.

“By reading a catalogue!” He finally burst out, sure to perform jazz hands as he burst into yet another fit of sniggering. 

“Oh that is just… awful,” Mei laughed, still not daring to look back at him, “How do you come with these things?”

“Just a natural talent, I guess,” He shrugged, offering a wink in spite of the fact that her back was turned to him, “Girls love guys with great senses of humour!” 

Though she knew it wasn’t for her, Natsumi took the opportunity to wink back at him anyway. “That we do! Someday, I hope I meet a guy like that… The kind who can make me laugh until I cry tears of joy!” She said dreamily, thinking about how romantic it would be to have someone like that. Her mind drifted almost instantly to Kazuki. Though the boy was not much of a jokester, he had other ways of making her laugh. He was super fun to tease, and god did he love to make memories. Just thinking about all of those times together flooded her with smiles, and she wished that he would keep at it as they journeyed farther. Into life? Into the forest? Either was fine with her. Being with him would be nice no matter where or how it was. Being with all of them, really, was the best.

“Whether or not your sense of humour can be called great is arguable, but I digress.” Mei looked back at them once again, a cheeky sparkle shining in her eyes. “Your supposedly superior humour paved our path to our destination. Take a look around, guys.”

Arms outstretched, Mei led them into the clearing, waiting patiently for each of them to consume the sight with hungry eyes. They followed excitedly behind, each of them moving their heads in different directions to get an eyeful of what she’d promised. The clearing they’d stepped into was small; small enough to be comfortable and intimate. Perfect for a soothing night of bonding among friends. It was its own gap in a smattering of strong trees that Natsumi thought must have been there for ages. They were so big, seemingly bigger than most of the others in the forest, boasting large trunks and elegant branches. She could only imagine what they would look like in the springtime, all bathed in rich green leaves. For now though, those branches held tightly to the same fallen snow that dusted the shoulders and hair of her and her friends. To the clearing’s edge there was a creek, with chilly waters trickling against well-placed rocks, creating the most gentle forest sound. It wasn’t quite cold enough for the water to freeze, but even if it had been, Natsumi felt sure it would be just as beautiful. Somehow, somehow… it wasn’t even the most breathtaking part. That award would go to the sky. The expanse of inky blackness stretched as far as the eye could see between the trees, and the whole blanket flecked with the brightest white stars. The only interruption to this was the full, creamy moon, shining down on them and illuminating them… like a spotlight on them in the midst of it all. They, too, got to be a part of the beauty.

“Oh wow, Mei…” It was Kazuki’s voice that snapped her out of her trance, his own awe bringing her back to the world, even if only partially. “It’s everything you said.”

“It really is,” Jun’ichi replied, his head tilted towards the stars just as Natsumi’s own was, “Unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” 

“Me, too.”

Though she is not looking at her, the joy in Mei’s voice was unmistakable. In the simplest way of wording it, she could hear her smile. “As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to share it with you guys.” 

Makes sense, Natsumi thought fondly. When I saw it, I thought of all of you, too.

[x0401x]

Asahi Shinbun Interview with Akane Kazuki

“Original animes are now showing their true value.” - On the feelings that director Akane Kazuki has put into his latest work, “Hoshiai no Sora”.

One challenging TV animation began airing in October 2019. The title of the series is “Hoshiai no Sora”.

In the past, many TV animes were original works, but as of late, animes often have a source material. It can be said that the ratio of “anime adaptations” of source materials is between over 60% and over 80%. “Hoshiai no Sora” is an original anime, which is rare nowadays.

Akane Kazuki-san, the director, original creator and screenwriter, had made three original animes until now. Yet all of them were sci-fi and fantasy, their stories unfolding through “unrealistic” themes. However, unlike Director Akane’s works up to this point, “Hoshiai no Sora” is a “realistic” story that has the youth of middle school boys as its theme.

Why did he decide to make one more original anime, with a theme that he had never written about before? The motive was hidden in the roots of Director Akane’s entry in the anime industry.

Raw || Index

Coming in contact with the possibility of an original anime through “Gundam”

One of the reasons why Director Akane decides to aim for the anime industry was that he “felt the potential of anime”. At the time, many directors, such as Miyazaki Hayao and Tomino Yoshiyuki, were creating original works that did not have a source material and enlivening the anime industry. Director Akane was greatly influenced by them.

“When I was a child, after watching Steven Spielberg’s ‘Encounter with the Unknown’ and George Lucas’s ‘Star Wars’, I began looking up to international live action movies. There were many works amongst the live action movies from overseas that were exciting, fun and insane to watch, and I could feel an essence of entertainment from them. On the other hand, several of the Japanese live action movies were focused on realistic artistry and not very entertaining.”

“Then, I watched the works of Miyazaki-san and Tomino-san and they had me going, ‘This is entertainment! Japan can also make entertainment-type works!’. At the same time, I felt that we could be entering an anime era from that point onward.”

After graduating from university, Director Akane joined Sunrise. Under Director Tomino Yoshiyuki, father of the “Kidou Senshi Gundam” series and one of the people who motivated Director Akane to aim for the anime industry, he was in charge of the production progress of original robot anime works.

Starting with the Gundam series, Director Tomino created countless original animes. Director Akane was charmed by the way that Director Tomino made his series.

“In Tomino-san’s settings, I already required to insert my own ideas. With Tomino-san’s plots as base, the writers would make the scenarios, and the responsibility for their content fell upon the storyboard writers, but if we made storyboards that were exactly like the screenplay, Tomino-san would get angry. ‘Put more ideas into it,’ he would say. ‘I’m already giving so many ideas, so why won’t you guys give some too?!’ (laughs). For original animes, in order to make the series interesting, we had the duty of sprinkling and hammering our ideas into it while having constant questions about it. Witnessing this at twenty years of age, I came in contact with the enjoyment of making original animes.”

From this experience, Director Akane started to think that making original animes was something natural for animation directors.

The decline of original animes | The sense of two impeding crises that he had been observing

Having left Sunrise and turned into a freelancer, Director Akane birthed original animes one after another. He worked as the director, original creator and series composer of “Geneshaft” (2001), “Heat Guy J” (2002) and “Noein: Mou Hitori no Kiki e” (2005). However, along with the passage of time, the difficulties of creating an original anime increased. This was because the fact that the public became able to purchase anime films (VHS and DVD) gave rise to a climate of concern for the film sales in the industry as a whole.

“Original animes take a great deal of workload and costs for the production and advertisement. Still, you have to release them in order to know if they will be a success. On one hand, animes that have a popular source material such as mangas, light novels and games have their stories and characters ready, and you know they will sell to a certain extent even if there is not much propaganda for them.”

And so, the number of projects for original animes saw a steady decrease. Currently, most of the animes being broadcasted are series that have source materials. In these circumstances, Director Akane claims that he can sense two impeding crisis.

“The first is: I feel that the viewers have begun to grow tired of anime. When they have a source material, people can get excited over the developments even without watching it in earnest. I wonder if they are becoming unable to watch anime seriously. If I had to say it, anime is turning into a sashimi accompaniment nowadays. Social medias are the sashimi and anime is the grated radish. People watch anime in order to talk about it in social medias. Anime is becoming a tool for communication. For us, the creators, this is destructive.

The second is the decline of the anime industry. That is because the people who have the know-how for making original animes are disappearing. Many of today’s young animators enter this industry after watching animes that have source materials. The number of people who aimed for this industry out of wanting to create original animes has truly decreased. It is exactly because things are this way now that we need original animes.”

Breaking the patterns of traditional animation and opening up a new path

“Hoshiai no Sora” is the original anime that Director Akane took roughly fourteen years to make after “Noein: Mou Hitori no Kimi e”. With the sense of impeding crisis as his trigger, the thought that “we must advance with new ramifications and possibilities of animation” sprouted within Director Akane himself.

“When I thought about what young people use their money for these days, I concluded that they use it for ‘experiences’. That they might be paying to experience things they would not be able taste anywhere else, such as live concerts and events. When I pondered what could be the equivalent to a live concert in terms of anime, I figured that original animes feel like lives. Original animes, I thought, can create experiences that you can only have a taste of through them, since nobody has seen them before, so there is excitement when they are watched for the first time upon being broadcasted, and all sorts of emotions stir up because you cannot predict the future developments.”

In order to have the viewers feel that “experience”, what he was particularly conscious of was the “story”. Until now, he had been the creator, director and series composer of his original animes, but this time, he was the creator, director and screenwriter. Moreover, the setting this time was not a fanciful world of sci-fi or fantasy, but instead is a “realistic” story that depicts the youth of students. As “unrealistic” stories about the isekai theme have been increasing in number in the past years, Director Akane has put into it his intentions of being able to further amplify the feeling of a live concert through a realistic story.

“In ‘Hoshiai no Sora’, the story is portrayed through breaking the barriers of conventional anime. Several of the animes being aired nowadays have the role of ‘a place to escape to’. Many series depict impossible things in hilarious and crazy ways, forgetting about common life. That is by no means bad, but I believe anime should also have other functions. I aimed for a story that would not be simply funny, comfortable to watch or emotional, but that would throw themes at the viewers and make them ponder on ‘What do you think of this phenomenon?’ with me. I want to reflect the conflicts and troubles shouldered by the people who are living in the present, as well as the current era, through anime. Additionally, I want to show a new path not just for the audience but also for the people currently involved with anime production, that ‘this way of making anime also exists’.”

“Hoshiai no Sora” portrays children of the current times

And so, on October 2019, “Hoshiai no Sora” aired at last. Starting with its project, this work took a period of about three years to be made. In regards to its production, Director Akane states that he interviewed young people who are from the same generation and environment as the featured characters.

“This time, when I received the story, I reminisced to my childhood first-thing. The child characters who appear in anime look like they are having fun and are portrayed as though they symbolize nostalgia, but is it really like that in real life? When I looked back into my childhood, there was a lot of constraint, irritation towards myself and others, those kinds of things. So above all, I wanted to depict this properly. But this time, even though I could write as much as I felt like about my own childhood frustrations, I wanted to write about the frustrations of present-time children. The environment that children are put in nowadays is becoming much more complicated than in the era I was raised. I wanted to write about the children who live in it through anime.”

“That is why I did interviews first of all. In those interviews, I found that, along with the evolution of the times, children felt things that adults are incapable of feeling. Nevertheless, when adults do not understand this, I noticed that they often disavow young kids without listening to them. I thought that, if I also portrayed this part of it, the younglings might watch the anime seriously as if it were them.”

What livens up this crafted story is the “art style”, which gives off a soft impression. It is said that the adoption of anime-like cutesy illustrations in contrast with the realistic story was the producer’s suggestion. Since people cannot tell what kind of story an original anime with no source material will be until they watch it, he made use of the idea that they would be drawn into the anime by its art and gradually get pulled into the story. Introducing people to a realistic story through an unrealistic element - one could take this as a form of expression that can be achieved exactly because it is an anime.

In 2005’s “Noein: Mou Hitori no Kimi e”, “new” techniques were adopted, such as the CGI outlines and the fact that the animation style changed on every episode, which was rare for the animes of the time. Just like that, Director Akane always shows us viewers a new “something”. This deepened the expectations that “Hoshiai no Sora” would also surely show us something novel.

“When watching the series, one might at first have the impression that it is about the activities of a middle school boys’ soft tennis club, a sports thing. However, it is a drama that depicts not just this, but also the frustrations and troubles that middle schoolers shoulder these days, including the adults who cause them. It reflects the nature of the current times and presents questions, as we have tried all kinds of devices to make people think, regardless of whether they are young children or adults. It is different from the patterns of anime that people have being seeing until now, so there might be viewers who were at loss. I think they could not have imagined how the story would turn out (laughs). With this included, I want everyone to have fun watching it.”

#hoshiai no sora #hns #stars align #fyeahsportsanime #sportsanimedaily #hoshisora #katsuragi maki #shinjou touma #akane kazuki #anime #interview #my translation

[sunarintoes]

Synopsis: Yn Ln is an environmentalist - Miyagi University’s very own campus ‘Green Thumb.’ One day Hinata Shōyō who happens to be a close friend of Yn invites here to come to one of his races. The only problem is that this race of his, is illegal. Read the journey of Yn who has been sucked into the world of illegal street racing with the one goal: to create an eco-friendly race car.

WC: 1.6K

Masterlist

0.1 - The Block

It has been a full week since you first watched an illegal car race, a week since you became a part of that crew... a week since you joined the beginning of a revolution. Shōyō promised to pick you up once again at 10:00pm. This time you wore slightly different clothes, they were in your comfort zone and they worked in the racing scene.

A few curt knocks come from behind your door and once you open it you are met with a smiling Shōyō and Sugawara. ‘Ready for your first official night in the Karasuno crew?’ Asks Sugawara, you nod eagerly as you follow them out the door and towards the car.

‘This is my humble car, hope it’s not too underwhelming compared to all the race cars.’ Sugawara’s car is not humble in any way, shape or form. It is a dark as night Mazda RX7.

‘This is your car? Shōyō used it to pick me up last week.’

Shōyō let out a small giggle, ‘about that… I wanted to surprise you so picking you up in my GTR would kinda ruin it.’

‘Aren't these cars expensive? For crying out loud! How’d you get them from illegal street racing?’

‘Well for one, we get heaps of money doing it. People really like bidding and gambling. Two, what you saw last week was not exactly street racing, it was drag. The real competitions are done on the street.’

You don’t reply, instead opting to give a sound of understanding. The car ride is quiet and serene, no noise besides the hum of the car engine and the quiet beats of the low-fi music playing. It is now 11:00 pm and it looks as if the whole world were dead. Sugawara’s RX7 is the only thing that seemingly moves in the dimly lit streets of Miyagi. The moon is bright tonight, almost full. Sometimes all it takes is something small and insignificant to remind you of how magical and ethereal the world really is. You wonder why the boys are so quiet, last time Shōyō chatted your ear off. Maybe there is going to be some tough competition this time round, but it’s only a practice race, right? Maybe you are overthinking things. They probably are just appreciating the night sky or the empty roads which allowed Sugawara to speed ever so slightly.

✄.

As soon as you arrive you notice the venue has a lot more people than last time - racers and spectators alike. ‘Last Wednesday was Karasuno only for no particular reason. Seijoh, Dateko and Shiratorizawa all had a day each as well. It was kinda random. But this week we’re all here.’

‘Including the small fry who don’t really stand a chance, you’ll learn the rules soon enough,’ Sugawara smiles and gives a thumbs up, you reciprocate the action and then the three of you walk to the Karasuno garage.

To say it was lively was an understatement. ‘What’s all this fuss for?’

‘He’s back! The Grand King of Racing is back!’ Shouts a bald guy - one of the ones you have yet to meet. At the mention of this so-called ‘Grand King’, Shōyō visibly straightens up. Is he really that good?

‘Umm, sorry to interrupt but who is this Grand King figure?’

‘Oh! Yn you’re here, good. I’ve had Yachi create an info booklet on everything you need to know. You can read that while we’re prepping for tonight’s race,’ says Daichi.

‘Oh thank you! Good luck everyone, uh I’ll be cheering you on!’ Yachi hands you the booklet and a chorus of thank you’s follow as Sugawara and you were ushered out of the garage.

✄.

Once you and Sugawara take your seats - at the very front bleachers, you decide you would read up on the booklet another day. You instead want to use this time to become more acquainted with Sugawara. ‘So you’re pretty close with all of them at Karasuno, why aren’t you a racer? Or at least something to do with it?’

‘Well for starters Daichi and I grew up together, we’ve been best friends forever. I went to high school with Hinata, Kageyama, Asahi, Tanaka and Noya. Then there’s Yachi, Shimizu, Tsukkishima, Yamaguchi, Ennoshita, Kinnoshita and Narita. They came later on. They’re all great guys and girls. I have a lot of stories with all of them,’ he pauses and lets out a low hum. ‘I was never cut out for racing. I work to look after the Karasuno finances though.’

Just as you were about to reply, the screams of girls fill your eardrums. Why are they so loud? ‘Those are Oikawa’s fans. He might as well be a real celebrity.’ You let out a small laugh at the unamused tone his words held.

‘You’re not a fan huh?’

‘No, I can’t stand that guy! He’s amazing! But we have great players too y’know?’

Oikawa’s car is beautiful, a shining white Chevy Corvette with pale turquoise leaf art. Although it is slightly obnoxious. After all, who races illegally with a white car let alone one with a paint job that glows in the headlights of other cars? In your eyes only an idiot would. Still, you couldn’t help but wonder what this Oikawa looks like. He’s supposed to be God-like right? Otherwise why else would he have so many admirers?

The siren that declares that ‘all cars must get into position’ breaks you out of your thoughts. There are nine cars, two you can recognise from Karasuno.

‘In tonight’s line up we have Captain Daichi and Tanaka from Karasuno! Captain Oikawa and Iwaizumi from Seijoh! Captain Futakuchi and Aone from Dateko! Hayato from Tokonami! Captain Yoshiki from Ohgiminami! And Kazuki from Tsubakihara!’ The area that was dead silent through the announcement suddenly erupted in cheers from spectators. They all moulded together into loud screams, all but one that is. The only clear word - or should you say name - that came over the top of everything else was none other than Oikawa. Everything else was lost in a sea of screams

Tonight’s flag girl walks to the middle of the track and the crowd’s rowdiness only increases. She waves her flag on the way to the lookout and after climbing up she grabs a hold of the megaphone and shouts ‘On your marks… get set.. go!!’ And down went her flag. Without missing a beat all cars zoomed away.

Sure enough, Oikawa is better than the rest. Easily taking the lead and being able to maintain a good speed. The other driver from Seijoh - Iwaizumi you think his name is, is close behind Oikawa. Now you understand why the top four were called the top four. They are exactly that. The other three drivers stand no chance in a race against them. It is cruel, really.

After coming back from dreamland you see Tanaka stuck behind Aone. It looks as if he purposefully moved in front of Tanaka, blocking him from being able to accelerate past and get in the lead. Futakuchi on the other hand was beginning to close in on Iwaizumi with Daichi close behind him.

‘Dateko specialise in blocking, their strategies typically consist of a blocker and a runner. A blocker is what Aone is doing, keeping a steady pace still in the front lines but preventing the opposition from getting in front. For Tanaka to have to deal with that means he’ll be under a lot of pressure and potential guilt. A runner is basically a driver going as fast as they can to the finish line and not having to deal with as many opponents because their teammate, the blocker, has them all held up.’

‘Is Dateko the only team that uses this technique?’

‘No, but they're the only ones to have mastered it. The technique itself is called the Block and Run. A runner has to be a pro at quick turns and have incredibly fast reflexes. They’re like a cheetah in a sense. A blocker has to be strong and tactical, think of them like some sort of gorilla maybe? Put the two together and you get an unlikely but strong team.’

‘I’m sorry I still don't really understand, how does one get stuck behind a block?’

‘Well part of the runner’s job is to lure the competition, often riling them up before or in game so that they’re getting chased or competed with. This means that the opponents eyes and mind are more focused on the runner than anything else, allowing the blocker to overtake and begin blocking. Once the driver realises they are being blocked, they panic a little and don’t notice the runner speeding off into the distance.’

You silently stare in awe. The race is almost over but you can’t help but respect the drivers. A tactic like that would have taken months, if not - years to perfect. You look over to Sugawara, ‘Why is Oikawa the Grand King?’

‘Because he’s good at what he does. An all rounder, he acts as both a mechanic and a driver. It’s hard to believe he's no genius, just a regular, hard worker.’

‘Is that why everyone was freaking out over Oikawa coming back?’

‘No. He hasn’t raced in about a month - well not that I know of. Good to see he’s as good as ever… I guess.’ You chuckle at Sugawara’s deflated tone.

‘And we have a winner! Captain Oikawa, the Grand King!’ The crowd goes wild as he celebrates in a victory lap.

After all the cars finish, they line up once more at the start line and step out of their vehicles. That is when you see him and you can't say you blame him for being as popular as he is. Oikawa is beautiful, ethereal even. His presence holds such poise and elegance even as he is covered in sweat and clad in racer gear, helmet resting under his arm. Seeing this, seeing him, you could only imagine how wonderful his personality could be. Did he like reading? Did he like tea or coffee? How did he like his eggs in the morning?

Taglist: @dadchi-oya

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#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #haikyu!! #adkor #various x reader #various!haikyuu x reader #Written AU #written series #fluff #angst

[the-a-j-universe]

Alright, cool. I finally have a guaranteed length of time that should be long enough to go through all of these, so let’s do this. I know the plan was to have me address each ask one at a time but that didn’t work out lol so I’m just doing it all at once. I’m also turning it into a post so anyone who wants to can follow along with my journey.

I’m also gonna copy/paste the text of the other asks instead of screen capping them because copy/pasting is faster lol.

I’m gonna put a pic of each one here, give my thoughts, maybe a goofy rating (I dunno), and then pick my favorite. Just so y’all know.

* Tanawy's entry n.1 in the Dragon Quest monster showcase: the all-time classic Slime. When asked to design the Slime like the standard goop monster they usually were, Toriyama said "no" and a legend was born, now cute slimes are more popular than the disgusting goop depiction. Its cousins and variants are numerous and some are very different from one another so as a bonus here the criminally underutilized Mottle Slime and its evolution the Mottle King Slime.

See, I don’t even need to look this one up. Here it is:

But let’s be real, you guys didn’t need to see an image of this dude either. I love this thing. I never went through a period where I thought of the grosser oldschool slimes. This thing has always been what’s come to my mind when I here the word in an RPG context. Which, considering my zero experience with DQ, really speaks to this thing’s popularity. I am actually going to remove this one from consideration, though, for that reason. I just have too much of a bias towards it. I know it too well, and all variations seem to be equally great. It’s a 10/10, though. Truly iconic.

Get the rest after the cut!

* Tanawy's entry n.2: Originally a boss monster, here is the Golem. While not the sharpest tool in the shed, these brick-made guys can be quite loyal, with a child-like personality, downright adorable (I will never forget you Goldirox) but their strenght in battle must not be underestimated. And since St. Valentinus is around the corner here a Chocolate Golem variant as a gift. Friendship chocolate mind you, from a dude to another 😄

I like this guy. He reminds me of a couple oldschool Yugioh cards. They’re all bad cards, but I’m nostalgic for them so that help’s this guy’s chances. I don’t know that I buy him as a threatening boss, though. He seems more like he’d be your big stone pal.

The chocolate variant is absolutely adorable.

8.5/10 overall for both.

* Tanawy's entry n.3: Here are two members of the Machine Family, first the Killing Machine. These relentless hunters are merciless and they are constantly upgrading, so models with different modifications are plenty. They even come with garden sprinkles. Then there is the Mecha-mynah, who puts a different spin on the mechanical Cuckoo-bird motif. Careful these guys have razor-sharp wings and they selfdestruct when cornered.

Alright, not so much for the second one, but the Killing Machine also reminds me of, like, a half dozen Yugioh monsters. Did Kazuki Takahashi just like ripping this franchise off or something? Either way, these are both good designs, but they don’t really work for me that much. They’re a little...plain? I guess? I guess I like my machine creatures rougher and with more detail. 7/10.

* Tanawy's entry n.4: Next are my deepest fears (exaggeration) if they were real; the Waspion, half wasp half scorpion, and the Claw Hammer, Half hammerhead shark half metal scolopendra, all nightmare. Continuing with the caravan of creepiness, here is the Bona Constrictor, just get it away from me. This next one, when i saw it for the first time i yelled "WTF is That?!" here is the Ulcer, a walking awful pile of rotting flesh.

I am NOT a fan of the Ulcer. That thing’s ugly, and not even in a fun way. 0/10.

I like these other guys, though:

The Waspion is literally just Gligar from Pokemon, but aside from that I like animal/creature mash-ups. And the Claw Hammer is a pretty unique one. 9/10 for the whole lot.

* Tanawy's entry n.5: Beef or chicken? Why choose when you can have both? Here is a heavyweight of the Bird Family the taurine Bullfinch. But dont forget your vegetables, or else they might turn into these Plant family monsters, the eggplant Woebergine, the bellpeppers Capsichum and the cucumber Cruelcumber. Also, meet the Peahooter, these guys pelts their targets with arrows taking advantage of their higher ground.

Okay, we’ve got another mash-up creature here in the form of the Bullfinch, but I’m not feeling this one as much. It’s worth, like, a 6.5/10, maybe. The Woebergine and the Peahooter are both pretty interesting. The Peahooter is kinda cute in a weird way and the Woebergine is delightfully derpy. They both deserve approaching an 8/10. I’m not really feeling the Capsichum at all though. They get a 5 or a 6/10.

* Tanawy's entry n.6: Who doesn't like a good dog? Well maybe not these guys from the Beast family: the Chainine who will ensnare their preys with their collars, the Putrefido, who is no longer alive, the Abracadabrador, who will eat your bones, the Crocodog, a levitating (yes this thing floats in the air) dog-crocodile hybrid and finally the Jackal Ripper (long lost relative of Wolverine or just imitator? More at 11 on the news)

Hey now. That’s not really fair to the other entries. Every one of these dudes:

Is a very GOOD BOI. I think I like the Abracadabrador the least. He’s a little too un-dog-like compared to the others. 6.5/10. The Chainine and the Putrfido are both the perfect blend of cute and weird. I like them a lot. They get 7.5/10. Jackal Ripper is a badass 8/10. He’d be cooler if he was wearing jeans. I LOVE the Crocodog, though. 10/10. Perfect. He just looks like a friend, but he also looks like he could kill my enemies. Which is what I like in a monster.

* Tanawy's entry n.7: Here is a taste of Japan with the Boppin’ badger, the most Tanuki-like monster you will ever meet; Then these guys don't need consent to give everyone within their reach a smooch, here is the Lips. Also, beware of these horses of the underworld, the Equinox where they probably hangout with these other lovely fellows, the Hellspawn. Speaking of which here is the demon Teeny Sanguini. Cute eh? Not when it evolves in the Bloody Manguini. Thankfully not everyone of them does that.

Okay, you can’t fool me. That first one is just a regular animal.

Jokes aside, though, I’m not really feeling this bunch unfortunately. The Hellspawn just reminds me too much of mutant can Steven, the Lips is a little boring, and the Equinox, while I like the wordplay in its name, and while it’s cool in principal, is too busy. I’m just not feeling the designs of these guys overall. 4 or 5/10 for the whole lot. Though the Teeny Sanguini is closer to a 5 than a 4.

* Tanawy's entry n.8: There are two species of monsters, the Pips and their cousins the Conks, who constatly imitate the classic classes of the humans, like warriors or priests, but this time the little rascals have gone a little farther and here they are copying the DQ8 4 main heroes in the Trodainian Conklave, the DQ4 heroes in the Zenithian Conklave, the hero of DQ1 and the 3 heroes of DQ2 in the Alefgardian Conklave and the hero of DQ3 with 3 other companions in the Aliahanian Conklave. Cute.

Okay, I love the idea of these things. They’re cute, they fit right in with the general aesthetic of the franchise, and they have a ton of personality. I’m not gonna post pics of all of them because there’re so many, but they deserve ~9/10 collectively. They’re very good.

* Tanawy's entry n.9: Not enough dragons? So here's three: what do you get mixing a T-rex, a dragon and a vicious axeman? An Hacksaurus that's what! Then the Drakulard. Don't be fooled by their mole these portly fellows mean business. Another chubby dragon, the Jargon: dragonic masters of the clay containers, these guys URNed their right to use jar puns and they will make sure you remenber it, even if they have to crack your pot.

Okay now these are more what I was thinking when I heard the title Dragon Quest.

I like the Hacksaurus the best outta them. He just looks nice. They’re all good, though. They fit the art style perfectly, and resemble each other just enough that you buy them all being related creatures. 8/10 overall, though the Hacksaurus is a little above the others, with the Jargon being a barely at the bottom of the barrel. Or the jar I guess.

* Tanawy's entry n.10: The only story entry in this showcase, because just look at him, it's the only DQ big baddie (at least in english) to actually call themselves "the Demon Lord" It's Orgodemir, specifically it's true form which is the first photo you find in the gallery at almost end-page. Let me just tell you this, Orgodemir is a d*ck of the highest level. The brain it's actually an eyelid for a giant eye by the way. Happy Nightmares.

HAHAHAHA. I know there are other forms for this guy, and this is probably not the reaction that anyone who played the game would have, but I just can’t take this guy seriously. He looks like Edward Cullen with bat wings. HAHAHA. 8/10 ‘cause it made me laugh.

* Tanawy's entry n.11: And lastly, in a category i like to call "I can't belive these are real", its the Funky Ferret; yes he and his cousins do exactly what the image shows. And the almost copyright-infinging Owlbear, yes they did not even try to distance themself from D&D with this one (ok they have a variant but is not saying much). There were others in the last category, but since they REALLY did not age gracefully to the modern standards of "acceptable" i prefered not show them.

I love Owlbears, they’re just such iconic fantasy monsters at this point, so he gets a solid 8/10 rating by default. It’s a pretty original take, too, focusing on the cuteness potential of the creature over the badass potential. I like that.

The Funky Ferret, though...

With a name like that this guy coulda been so cool. But he’s just a pretty generic design blended with a fart joke. What a bummer. 3/10.

And there we have it. Probably not exactly what you were thinking but I hope you like it. I don’t hate any of these guys. Some are more boring than others, but there’s something neat about each of them. I like the ones that take badass ideas and make them cute while remaining intimidating best out of all of them, and I think the Crocodog does this best with the Hacksaurus as the runner up. Crocodog is definitely my favorite of these, though. He gets the Best Good Boi award of Bestness.

Orgodemir gets an award, too, though, the “made AJ spit out his rum and Coke laughing” award. It’s not the most coveted, but it’s something.

I know this is a long one, and y’all may not want to reblog, but what do any of my followers think of these funky dudes? Leave a comment on this post or reblog with your answer in the tags!

#long post #my dumb thoughts #dragon quest #monster showcase #trademark