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medea10 · 3 years

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My Review of Konosuba

(Short for: KonoSuba - God's Blessing on This Wonderful World)

How did I get into this anime? As you all know, I’m being an absolute lazy-ass when it comes to Isekai animes and have only gotten into the recent hits as of 2019. I already finished the suffer edition and the struggle edition. Let’s check out the light-hearted, wonk-fest! But before that…

Let’s go back to the mid-1990s and rewatch the first episode of Yu Yu Hakusho. We all remember Yusuke Urameshi sacrificing his life in order to save a child about to be hit by a truck followed by being told that the child would have survived regardless if Yusuke interfered or not. So dude just wasted his fucking life for nothing! Let’s amp this trope up to 483 with the way our main lead in Konosuba dies. Kazuma Satou was on his way back home from purchasing a video game when he noticed a girl about to be hit by a car. He pushes her out of the way and yada, yada, yada he’s dead!

He is now in a limbo setting, standing before a goddess named Aqua who tells Kazuma that his death was absolutely meaningless. Not only would the girl have survived, it wasn’t even a car, it was a slow-moving tractor. And Kazuma didn’t get hit by the tractor, he suffered a heart attack due to shock, followed by pissing his pants, followed by doctors, family, and relations laughing at Kazuma’s humiliating experience. And then he dies!

Aqua tells Kazuma that he has two options. He can either go to Heaven or be transported to a fantasy world (much like a game) and try to defeat a demon king. Choosing the fantasy world, Kazuma is given the opportunity to take an item with him on his travels. Now at this point, Kazuma has been annoyed by this goddess’s attitude towards him and decides to be a dick. So Kazuma chooses Aqua to be with him on his journey. Sucks for Kazuma however, because Aqua is useless! And unlike the video games Kazuma’s used to, he and Aqua must do manual labor and pay off expenses in the first town. So they might be there for a while.

Kazuma ends up with two more members in his crew including a witch named Megumin that uses explosive magic and a masochistic crusader named Lalatina Dustiness Ford (or Darkness for short). But don’t get too excited! Megumin’s magic can only be used once a day, wiping away her energy. And while Darkness has a mean sword, she misses every time with it. So yeah, this is a rag-tag team of useless dopes. Let’s watch the wacky misadventures of Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness as they go on missions, drink until they puke, explode castles, and steal underwear.

Yes, Kazuma occasionally does this.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Crunchyroll has been able to bless the masses with an English dub. Can’t let FUNimation have all the Isekai hits. So far it’s been alright and I’m hearing more Erica Mendez and Cristina Vee. All good things here! Plus it gives me a chance to hear the voices of Kazuma, whom up to this point I have minimal time listening to either person who plays him. And annoying as Aqua may be, Faye Mata does a really good job with that range Sora Amamiya set in the original. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Kazuma is played by Jun Fukushima (known for Naruko on Yowamushi Pedal and Makoto on Fruits Basket 2019)

*Aqua is played by Sora Amamiya (known for Touka on Tokyo Ghoul, Chizuru on Rent A Girlfriend, Miia on Monster Musume, Yachiyo on Magia Record, Akame on Akame ga Kill, and Elizabeth on Seven Deadly Sins)

*Megumin is played by Rie Takahashi (known for Emilia on Re:Zero)

*Darkness is played by Ai Kayano (known for Alice on SAO: Alicization, Menma on Anohana, Nana on Golden Time, Ryouko on Food Wars, Itsuwa on Index, Yukika on My Love Story, and Mayaka on Hyouka)

ENGLISH CAST: *Kazuma is played by Arnie Pantoja (known for Watchdog-Man on One Punch Man and Kanbarry on Re:Zero)

*Aqua is played by Faye Mata (known for Rin on Love Live, Aluminum Siren on Sailor Moon Stars, Yukako on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Pt. 4, Frederica on Re:Zero, and a bitch on Shield Hero)

*Megumin is played by Erica Mendez (known for Ryuko on Kill la Kill, Haruka/Sailor Uranus on Sailor Moon S [redub], Raphtalia on Shield Hero, Retsuko on Aggretsuko, Nico on Love Live, and Emma on The Promised Neverland)

*Darkness is played by Cristina Vee (known for Homura on Madoka Magica, Rei/Sailor Mars on Sailor Moon, Mio on K-ON, Sakura on Fate/Stay Night UBW, Kotori on Love Live, and Kanaria on Rozen Maiden: Traumend)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Darkness is best girl, don’t at me!

SHIPPING (sorta): Can we just all agree that Darkness is just a sober version of Cheryl from Archer?

Whoever ends up with her will end up choking her either because she tells you to or she annoys you with her masochistic nature! I seriously do not know how you want me to turn this shipping discussion into anything other than a comment about a bitch getting choked.

ENDING TO SEASON ONE: Kazuma has been able to get a little good luck in his other world as he was finally able to move out of the stables and into a house with the rest of his crew. Although, it didn’t come easy! Then again, what has in this series? In the final episode of the first season, all of the adventures of the town were called to take on a scary foe. Up to this point, we’ve seen these guys take out mutant cabbages and an idiot dullahan. Today we’ve got…

A giant, mechanical spider!

Why do the stupidest stories always rely on a giant, mechanical spider? Kazuma and the rest were able to stop the spider from moving. However, this monstrosity is set to explode and the impact could take out the entire town. Darkness wants to repay the town for all it has done for her and her family. The adventurer men want to repay the town because of all the succubus taverns they love. And Kazuma just wants to continue his journey so he can take out the demon king. Now, because Megumin already used her explosion magic for the day, she’s down for the count. But she was able to do it a second time thanks to Kazuma transferring some magic from Aqua through his spell and with a little help from Wiz. The day is saved, Kazuma and his crew got a hefty reward, and then Kazuma is immediately charged with treason for sending the evidence to a higher up and it exploded.

Believe it or not, but a lot of these quests end with a giant middle finger to them. Almost like Curb Your Enthusiasm!

EPISODE 11: The special episode that followed came with some more misfortune for Kazuma. A trip to Wiz’s shop ends with a choker around Kazuma’s neck that’s going to strangle him in three days if his wish doesn’t come true. So to figure out what Kazuma’s wish is, Kazuma has all of these girls fulfill his greatest desires in the hopes of one of these humiliating tasks will release Kazuma from the choker.

As you can guess, because this is an OVA, it will be filled to the brim with degeneracy compared to the television series. Fuck yeah it was! Kazuma used this opportunity to use Wiz’s tits as comfy pillows, have Megumin play “Strip Rock/Paper/Scissors” with Yunyun, have Aqua fetch him food, and watch Darkness jiggle her breasts. Even when he thought he was at death’s door, he uses this special time to tell each girl with him at this dramatic moment that they are nothing more than tits and ass. All except for Aqua! No love for her. Not even a pity erection! So when the spell on the choker was released due to a simple wish, Kazuma was then killed by Aqua and quite possibly everyone else and Kazuma was sent back to the goddess chamber as he learned a powerful lesson.

Don’t ever do that again!

Damn…Kazuma died 3 times so far in 11 episodes. Subaru got you beat by a country mile. He’s probably looking at you like, “You damn, lucky dumbass. I got frozen, shanked, stabbed, sliced, maced, and eaten by bunnies”.

SEASON TWO: As I mentioned at the end of season one, Kazuma is charged with treason and usually that comes with a death sentence. Unfortunately for Kazuma, his unintentional crime was against this big, fat, smelly noble who has many higher-ups wrapped around his finger. The townspeople can’t really help him out otherwise they’d risk being charged as well. And you have a prosecutor wanting Kazuma’s head on a pike not only for the major charge, but for being a pervert. The writing is on the wall, Kazuma is screwed. However, thanks to Darkness (and her family lineage) she was able to take one for the team by saving Kazuma (for now) and have that big, fat, smelly noble do God knows what to her. Also, the kingdom repossessed a lot of things from Kazuma’s crew.

So they’re worse than “square one” at this point. They’re at “square -57” with how much debt they’ve all accumulated.

ENDING TO SEASON TWO: Things are starting to look up for Kazuma and his crew. They were able to abolish their debt, got the treason charges lifted, and they were able to gain back some respect around the village. So what better way to celebrate then to go on a bit of vacation. The gang decided to head off to another town for some rest and relaxation. Unfortunately, the town they spent their time off at is full of religious wackos. And what I mean by religious wackos, I mean WORSE than Jehova Witnesses, Evangelical Christians, and the Heaven’s Gate cult all rolled into one.

…Okay, I’m obviously embellishing here. I just really fucking hate all of those ones I just mentioned. This cult is so fucking annoying! At every turn they’re trying to convert Kazuma, Megumin, and Darkness into their fold.

Oh wait, it gets better! This cult worships the goddess Aqua! And of course our favorite idiot Aqua was using this to her advantage. That is until a priest didn’t believe her, starting a chain reaction with the townsidiots all leading up to them chasing Kazuma and crew out with pitchforks and fire. Apparently, Aqua did a big no-no by purifying the hot spring water and now it’s just regular water.

Unfortunately at that same time, a general to the dark lord was in area poisoning all of the water in this town. Yeah, this guy is serious trouble since he’s on a higher level than Wiz (back when she was working under the demon king). But he’s a slime and works with poison. In this world, Kazuma doesn’t stand a chance. Surprisingly, this battle went well (albeit Kazuma dying inside the slime), but we got to see Aqua at her baddest of ass. Now you’d think the town would be grateful to Kazuma and his team for ridding them of a demon king general. Hahaha, never trust religious nutjobs! They still found fault with Aqua purifying their hot springs and they were thrown out.

In the 11th episode (or second side-story), Kazuma thought he was meeting a new fan in town. So he regales her with tales of his expoditions to woo her. Turns out the girl is a new member of the local tavern and one of her jobs is to listen to useless adventurers to boost their morale. And this girl was totally not digging Kazuma. I think this hurt Kazuma more than all the times he’s died in this series.

MOVIE: We head off to the land where Megumin and Yunyun were born and raised. While there was some miscommunication into if the town and their families were in trouble to begin with, trouble sure found Kazuma and the gang once they arrived. Another general of the demon king ends up causing quite a stir in the town. Sylvia was extra hard to take down in this story. Just when you thought she was dead, she returns from death’s door and brings the poison slime from season two and the dullahan from season one to wreck havoc all across the land. Luckily, Kazuma, his crew, Wiz, Yunyun, and the rest of the townspeople were able to put an end to Sylvia and her cohorts.

But man, Kazuma got some really shitty deals in this movie. His trashy and perverted reputation isn’t any better. Megumin’s father wanted to kill him. Megumin’s mother locked Kazuma and Megumin in a room together in hopes of doing the nasty, was messed with by a chimera of two genders, and was killed in a gruesome way that even the angels had to throw up when they saw the state of Kazuma.

On a positive note, Megumin seemed to have grown a little with this adventure as she was even thinking of putting her explosive magic on hold and give a whirl at other options. But she still gave a giant explosion that’s worth 120 points.

Konosuba was amusing. Definitely worth a few chuckles! I know it won’t be for everyone as comedy in anime can often be hit-or-miss. But the combination of characters with many quirks, the animation, the setting, the tasks, and misunderstandings, you’ve got yourself an anime version of Curb Your Enthusiasm. So…yeah, not for everyone, hit-or-miss! But in the big five isekai animes, this one is a little more light compared to some of the others. Overlord can get quite gory. Shield Hero will anger any sane person to a point of madness. And Re:Zero is just a misery blanket! Konosuba is that light-hearted comedy where sometimes the main protagonist dies horrificly in battle, but will return like Kenny from South Park. So if Shield Hero and Re:Zero depress you, maybe you might need a break with the silly, zany antics of Kazuma’s crew in Konosuba.

Results may vary on your views of Aqua.

If you would like to watch Konosuba, the entire series is available on Crunchyroll. That’s the first season, second season, both OVA’s, and the movie in several different languages!

Okay, let’s pick our next Netflix, Crunchyroll, or Amazon exclusive!

Alright! An anime like Black Lagoon if it involved gay boys! Banana Fish time.

#anime review #konosuba #darkness #aqua #megumin #kazuma satou #lalatina dustiness ford #yunyun #wiz

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della-lunaa · 4 years

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I was tagged by the sweetest @hannie-dul-set thank you so much, I absolutely love doing these 💛✨

rules: answer 21 questions and tag 21 people you want to know better!

—

nickname: Lena is my nickname, but not everyone uses it, so people just call me by my name (Jelena) sjshsh

zodiac sign: leo ♌

height: 1.64 (which is like 5'3?? 5'4?? I think??)

hogwarts house: I was a Gryffindor last time I checked but I also was a Ravenclaw...cue IDENTITY CRISIS

last thing I googled: linguistic modality (I had a presentation on this and I was double checking smt hhh)

fave musicians: Blossoms, EXO, Seventeen, Lolo Zouaï etc etc

song stuck in my head: Niki, 88rising - indigo

following: 39

followers: 84 (I don't even know where did everyone come from but wow am I grateful, thank you 💛)

do you get asks?: Not really tbh, I'm just an aes blog! (I'm ruining it rn by doing this, I'm sorry everyone but I HAD TO 😔) if anyone would ever like to talk, pls feel free to do so! You're welcome here ✨💛

amount of sleep: like...6 hours during weekdays but like 7-8 on weekends I'd say!

what are you wearing?: my PJs cause I'm about to put on a facemask and get my beauty sleep 😌

dream job: Ok so listen I have 4, I'd like to be a kindergarten teacher (kids are the cutest pls), a florist, a barista (coffee and flowers??? I don't even drink coffee but like imagine making someone's day with a nice cup of coffee or tea or arranging flowers for their loved ones and making them happy 😔😔) and lastly I always wanted to be a theatre actress (acting was my first love and getting a reaction out of people and just being on stage... euphoric)

dream trip: e v e r y w h e r e (but tbh Japan was always like one of the main places I wanted to visit ✨)

instrument: sadly no, I do wanna ask my mom to teach me how to play the piano next year though!

languages: Serbian, English, a bit of Greek and currently learning Korean 🌠

random fact: I'm ambidextrous!

10 fave songs: dancing (mellow fellow), heavy california (casio), indigo (niki, 88rising), she's dreaming (exo), second life (seventeen), lucky (seventeen), little bit of lovin (roy woods), moi (lolo zouaï), neon (yukika), charlemagne (blossoms) over the moon (the marías) 🌙

my aesthetic: orange sunsets, cherries, moongazing, laughing so hard that tears form in your eyes, eating fruit at the beach, glittery eyeshadow ✨

i'm tagging: whoever wants to do it 💛✨🌙

#HI IM SO SORRY I RUINED MY AES WITH THIS #But i love these and i havent done one in so long pls #ill get back to my aes quality content after this djdjdh #text

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seungcheolrk · 5 years

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UPDATE: FEBRUARY 2019 !

LAST UPDATE JANUARY 2019

* CONVEX —

after discussion as a unit, seungcheol becomes rap unit leader on february 7th following rome’s ( @rkromeo ) leave. this is private information for the majority of the month; only sphere staff and convex members know.

on february 23rd, convex held their first vlive! it’s a little more formal than seungcheol would have liked, but he enjoys each of the segments and challenges more than he expected to. his reactions to everyone’s special talents are genuine, too, because even if it’s not the first time he’s seen them, it’s also not the hundredth. they haven’t quite worn out putting jihoon ( @jacerk ) in a box just yet ( and he hopes they never do ).

he also talks a lot more than he expects to, even if it still isn’t too much!

it’s also the first time he’s publicly referred to as rap unit leader and it’s kind of overwhelming and he’s terrified about it all. hence, he’s been avoiding social media since to avoid seeing any comments about it — positive or negative.

he also introduces the title of convex’s maestro for himself based on his love of learning and playing various instruments, classical music and movie scores.

for his own special talent, he performed part of the harmonica solo from isn’t she lovely by stevie wonder. it’s a song he performed for one of his first ever evaluations, so it’s dear to him even if no one else really knows its significance.

with the rap unit, he performs things these days from smtm6, covering young b’s rap and dean’s vocal parts.

he enjoys both, but his solo more only because he’s still not used to being three rather than four. performing alone is kind of lonely now, but performing with an empty space, despite not being literal, is painful.

convex also receive their comeback song and line distribution and seungcheol’s really happy with his own lines, though starting the song in any way stresses him out initially. he’s coming to terms with it a little more now, but he’s sure that’ll all come back when they record it and/or start learning the choreography.

he also really likes the concept; it’s basically all the vibes he liked about mansae’s concept but more refreshing and summer-y ( even if it’s not quite summer yet ).

his focus in training in february has been leadership ( ach leadership, pts rapping, charisma ) ★

* RELATIONSHIPS —

the article about rome dropped early in the month, so he finally had the long conversation with his parents about it and how he felt that he’d been wanting to. he didn’t, however, tell them about potentially becoming leader, though they assumed it was a possibility and encouraged him to do whatever felt right.

he told them he’d decided to go for it the day before the vlive, in another call about his nerves for their first broadcast ( and making sure they remember to watch and give them lots of hearts ). they support him wholeheartedly! they genuinely believe he has the potential to be a great leader and hope it’ll help him grow in confidence, since they know that’s still something he lacks in certain situations.

he obviously didn’t mention anything about a comeback, but they learnt a long time ago not to ask.

thanks to their leadership discussion, he feels closer than ever to rap unit. he opened up more than he intended to ( and faster than he thought he could ) but he doesn’t regret it — it’s helped him feel a whole lot more comfortable and that’s super important if he wants to be a good leader!

he’s also really soft that the rest of the group showed him lots of love when they broke the news... he absolutely cried. like a baby.

seeking advice about being a leader from kibum ( @kibumrk ) also helped him a lot; he just feels so Supported this month, he’s going to start crying again...

* PERSONAL —

he’s doing a lot better this month; taking up the leader position has made him feel a little less like a wanderer in the group. he feels a little selfish about it, but it has given him a sense of purpose that is a lot more recognisable to him. he struggled before, even with his position of main rapper and generous amount of lines in mansae, to feel like he really added anything to the group. now his roles are written in big bold letters, it’s harder for his brain to trick him into ignoring them and thinking he doesn’t bring anything of worth.

but really, he’s doing a lot better!

working perhaps a little too hard on learning what he needs to as a leader, in his workshops and late at night in bed on his phone with a notebook for notes, but he just thinks of it as the dedication he needs to be a good leader. he’ll relate anything back to his new role at this point, honestly.

( that being said, he is really quiet about it outwardly. even if it’s on his mind almost 24/7, he never brings it up to anyone or even talks about his workshops with any of the other members. he’s just quietly obsessing. what’s new! )

* OBSESSIONS —

music neon by yukika

score theme ( from ‘jurassic park’ live at walt disney concert hall, los angeles / 2019 ) by john williams, los angeles philharmonic & gustavo dudamel

misc pointlessly doodling star wars symbols on scrap paper

* IMPORTANT DATES —

6th — first meeting as 12 ; vlive revealed to members, yien assigned as temporary leader of rap unit.

7th — becomes rap unit leader ; discussed between rap unit, then later told the group as a whole.

10th — rome’s departure made public ; article goes up officially announcing rome’s departure after rumours spread.

16th — comeback song revealed ; hear ‘very nice’ for the first time and begin learning line distribution.

16th — vlive announced ; public learn about vlive taking place next week.

23rd — the big day ; convex’s first ever vlive broadcasts smoothly and successfully.

#cheol;update #( won's updates are like Evals Were Fun Also I Love Mingyu )#( and then cheol's are like Something Happened Every Ten Minutes This Month Help Me )#( aka i've probably missed something so i'll add stuff later if anything pops up! )

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girlgrouptrash101 · 6 years

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Groups/Artists I Write For

Here is a masterlist for every group I currently take requests for.

More groups will be added upon request, so don’t hesitate to ask for a group/artist who isn’t on here, just give me time to learn more about them.

Last Updated: 12 / 12 / 23

(This list is updated every time I add a new group/artist that I will write for)

I do Reactions, Scenarios, Headcanons, Fake Snaps, Fake Texts, Fake Instagrams & Moodboards for everyone listed below.

-Masterlist-

Groups:

9 Muses

Aespa

Apink

Billlie

Blackpink

CLC

Cosmic Girls/WJSN

Dia

Dreamcatcher

Everglow

EXID

Fromis_9

F(x)

GFriend

(G)I-DLE

Girl’s Generation/SNSD

Gugudan

GWSN

i.o.i (Members who have already debuted with another group will be categorised under their new group in the masterlist)

ITZY

IVE

IZ*ONE (Members who have already debuted with another group will be categorised under their new group in the masterlist) i miss them so bad bye

KissofLife

Kepler

Khan

Lesserafim

Loona

Mamamoo

Momoland

Newjeans

Pristin

Red Velvet

Sistar

StayC

Twice

Viviz

Weekly

Weki Meki

Solo Artists:

Bibi

Chungha

Heize

Hyuna

Jessi

Lee Hi

Sunmi

Somi

Suzy

Yukika

& any other artists from groups above who’ve gone solo etc.

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stellargate · 7 years

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OBLIGATION SEIKAISURU KADO RANT

Ohhhhh boyyyyy, I didn't know an anime series could do such a big 180 on my opinion of it but Seikaisuru Kado enters the hall of fame for being the biggest mind fuck in terms of I didn't want this nor expect it. Let's start off with the most significant issue. Yukika. Now I've heard that the author for this anime actually wrote it from the end to the start and it really shows but not in a good way. Yukika was inadequately justified, I have to admit that whole scheme at the end was perfect in shock value, i didn't see it coming at all, but the actual scheme itself and its content? No thanks!! I really could have loved Yukika as a plot device if they made Shindo and Tsukai's relationship flow better, to me it felt as if they weren't interested in each other until the date happened which is a short period of time to decide that you love each other and should have a baby. Also if they really wanted to have Yukika be the answer, we really didn't need the whole 'negotiation plays a major role in this anime' expectation that the show forced onto us. Kado could have been a seinen-action anime without episode 0 which set up this idea for us, and the ending could have fit better. Yes I'm still bitter about expecting Tsukai to have an actual role outside of magical girl baby producer love interest. And on Hanamori. Boy this anime treated him so badly that I wish I could take him away and raise him myself. Kado gave us a gay character who was the closest friend of the man he was in love with and they decide to use his love for raising the mans daughter??? The fuck? Hanamori was such a good character but in the end he was reduced to ineffective justification for Yukika. I'm livid.* Zashunina's development as a character was something I actually liked about this anime, it was gradual and natural, and in the end proved very effective. Although I'm kind of annoyed with making him become a villain, this show advertised a grey way of thinking but in the end set it up as Zashunina bad and Tsukai good. Following up on this, the show totally loss me on its agenda, in the end the moral was pretty bland with good vs bad instead of actual exploration of society's reaction to advanced growth and foreign entities. Overall, a 6/10 for me, Kado had an extensively interesting idea and premise but it's execution was poor (probably due to there not being enough time to explore the ideas thoroughly) and it changed genres three quarters of the way through. Watch it for the experience of feeling utterly fucked but not for the overall content of it.** *Hanamoris situation reminds me of pearl from su but the way that su explored pearls character and her envy greatly reigns over kado's mere utilisation of Hanamori **Weird opinion but I ended up liking the scientist girl, initially I thought of her as being annoying and fanservice but her character and reaction to the anisotropic was pretty fucking good. I liked how in the end it was implied she travelled to their dimension.

#seikaisuru kado #kado #kado the right answer #long post

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kaedekayano · 7 years

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omg can i get some sweet, sweet yukikae with 55 for the ask thing?? thank u sm in advance, ly ange

omg writing this fic was a #blessing tbh (a Struggle but a blessing), ily bef

55: “Our first date is a picnic on a beach under the stars? Have you swallowed a romance novel? Do I need to call a doctor?”

The blanket, a pleasant checkered pattern of mint green and white, is spread out on the sand. The candles are lit one by one, glowing a soft shade of orange. The waves slosh against the shore, white foam bubbling up before it recedes into the depths of the ocean.

“Our first date is a picnic on a beach under the stars? Have you swallowed a romance novel? Do I need to call a doctor?”

Sweat starts beading on Kayano’s forehead before Yukiko even finishes talking. “Wait, do you not like it? If you don’t, we can do something else. I have—”

Yukiko laughs, putting a hand on her arm. “I’m kidding, Kaede. I don’t just like it, I love it.”

“Oh. Of course.” Kayano relaxes, blushing. “It’s just that I don’t really have experience with this, you know, except that this is how it appears in movies.”

“Well, real life isn’t like the movies,” Yukiko says with a shrug. “It’s amazing that you worked so hard on planning this, though. I appreciate it.”

“I — thanks.” Kayano’s blush only grows.

Yukiko pats the picnic blanket. “Well, what are you waiting for? Come on, sit down. I want to see what you packed.”

Kayano sits down across from her, her heart accelerating in anticipation, as Yukiko opens the basket. “It’s nothing special.”

“I doubt that,” the other girl says with a laugh. Their knees press against each other’s. Kayano is twenty-two and only just finished up yesterday on a kissing scene that required four reshoots, but she’s sure Yukiko can hear her heart thumping in her chest. “It smells amazing. Oh, wow, did you make this food yourself?”

“Yeah. I bake when I’m stressed. You know that.”

“Give yourself a little more credit,” Yukiko says, pulling out a small stack of paper plates and two pairs of chopsticks. “This is really great. Scatter some cherry blossoms on the sand, and you’d be good to go.”

“Thanks,” Kayano says again. Calm down, Kaede. The last date she was on — although, as she told Nagisa, it wasn’t really a date — didn’t make her half this nervous. Note to self: bring cherry blossoms on next date.

As they dig into the food, Kayano monitors Yukiko’s reaction to every bite she takes. Is she pleased, or repulsed? Does she chew on every mouthful, savouring the taste, or scrunch up her face before swallowing it as quickly as she can? Is it too salty, too sweet, too spicy?

Kayano doesn’t realise she’s been staring into Yukiko’s eyes until the other girl meets her gaze.

“Why don’t you try some of this,” Yukiko says, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she points out one of the dishes.

“Oh, yeah, of course. Okay.” Kayano scoops up some of it without even checking what it is, stuffing it into her mouth.

They talk a little bit more after that. After several months of job hunting, Yukiko has been accepted for a position at a nursing home. It’s a relief to gain a degree of financial independence from her father, she says. Kayano is almost done with the current film she’s working which, the plot of which she explains to Yukiko.

“Ooh, sounds like you get to kiss a lot of cute boys,” Yukiko says with a laugh.

“Yeah, but none of them were any good,” Kayano replies.

“Oh, come on. I don’t believe that. There are some actors in your films who I’d be happy to smooch.”

Kissing on set is a duty for Kayano. Her first kiss as an actress was only a year after graduating from middle school, and the boy was as new to it as she was. It was slimy and gross and she ended up tilting her head so that her hair could hide how annoying an ordeal it was from the camera.

“Not really,” she says with a little laugh, though her gaze, unsurprisingly, drops to Yukiko’s lips. Maybe it’s a little strange to talk about that on first dates, although Yukiko doesn’t seem to mind. “Boys aren’t that good at kissing in general. So when are you going to start working at the home?”

“Next week. I’m very excited. I’ve already made friends with a few of the staff there, and the old folks are incredibly sweet. The pay is decent, too. With the savings I collected from my part-time jobs during college, I could be moving out soon.”

“That’s great! If you want, I could help you decorate your place.” Kayano’s lived by herself since she was fourteen; her apartment is entirely her own, and she likes it that way.

“I can’t make any guarantees that it’ll be soon.” Yukiko frowns at her chopsticks. “But if it is, of course I’ll let you know. We can go furniture shopping together.”

“That would be nice,” Kayano says with a nod. She grins at the other woman. “So any idea where you want to live? There are plenty of open spots at a neighbourhood about a ten-minute drive from me.”

“No way. The area you live in is too rich for me.”

“It’s not! Itona seems perpetually unimpressed whenever he’s there.”

“Like Itona is impressed by anything?“

“He’s not that rude, Yukiko, he’s really very nice once you get to know him and you’ve fed him enough pastries.”

“I’ll take your word on that,” the other woman says, laughing again. She pauses and glances up at the sky, the stars glimmering in the night like tiny diamonds. “It really is sweet of you to take me to the beach, you know. The light pollution in the city is too much. It’s never dark anymore.”

“I know. And it’s never quiet, either.” Kayano may have been a city dweller all her life, but quiet is nice sometimes too.

“It’s just us and the waves.” Yukiko smiles fondly as she looks out at the water, its surface shimmering with moonlight. “I wish I brought my swimsuit. It looks so nice.”

“It’s pretty cold right now.”

“Yeah. We should come back in the summer.”

“Oh, that would be amazing. I’d love that.” Kayano notices Yukiko’s empty plate. “Are you done?”

“What? No! We haven’t started dessert yet, and I know you must’ve baked a lot of sweets. You did say you’re a stress baker, and it would be a waste not to eat them.” Yukiko opens the basket and takes out a plastic box. “This looks so good. What is it?”

“Mini apple pies. I haven’t made it that many times, though.”

“Don’t worry, I’m a perfectly willing taste tester.” She pries off the lid and picks up on the pies, taking a bite. A smile spreads across her face.

“Well, what do you think?”

Yukiko devours the pie in three more bites. There are crumbs on her lips. It’s distracting. Kayano is torn between hating how distracting it is and staring at how the moonlight makes her dark hair gleam. “I love it. You’re not going to judge me if I eat more than my share, right?”

“Don’t be silly. Of course not. We’ve been friends for eight years.”

Yukiko’s smile widens as she picks up another pie. Kayano’s just relieved she likes them; she spent three days wondering what foods she hasn’t already baked to share with Yukiko, and therefore wouldn’t be unoriginal. Eight years is a lot of different baked goods, after all.

Once they’re done, they roll up the blanket and take a walk along the beach.

“This wasn’t like the movies, yeah,” Yukiko says, grinning as she leans over to wipe a bit of food off Kayano’s mouth. “It was better.”

“I think so, too,” Kayano says, enjoying Yukiko’s touch a little too much. To her surprise, Yukiko grabs her hand and continues walking, their fingers entwined. It feels nice — warm, in the chilly sea breeze, and comforting.

Kayano was sixteen when she dumped all her ideas about being a hopeless romantic and finding an idyllic fairytale ending. It hadn’t helped her cope with her sister’s death like she wanted to, didn’t make her any less alone. She doesn’t believe in things like perfect matches or soulmates or love being anything less than commitment and work and concentrated effort, but being with Yukiko — it feels right.

“Now I feel kind of bad,” the other woman says, stopping to pick up a seashell with her free hand. “How am I going to make our next date even better? You set the bar so high!”

“Sorry,” Kayano says, grinning.

“You’re not sorry at all!”

“Sorry for not being sorry.”

Yukiko tries to suppress her laughter, but it doesn’t work. She gazes fondly at Kayano, her eyes bright under the starry sky. “How about you apologise to me by making the third one even better?”

“Now that’s just not playing fair,” Kayano complains. “I put so much effort into this one, I don’t know if I could top it.”

“More sweets,” Yukiko suggests.

Kayano tilts her head, considering this, and nods. “More sweets.”

#yukikae #ac #fic #wassailtofivehundred #kanzaki #kayano

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