#*sigh* i really need to remember the duo names for this fandom i swear

[mint-is-here]

went bakc to finally watching lmk s4

have just watched ep 4 and am in the middle of ep 5 so heres my thoughts until now

ahem-

FREE NOODLES MOMENTTTTSSS

ITS NOT CANNON BUT MORE MOMENTSS WITH THEMM

my friend is going to be happy when we finally go watch s4 together she shipped tang and pigsy so yay

also pigsy got powersss i guessss

sort offf

alos pigsy being sorry not for trying to cook tang, but trying to cook tang badly

like if he was going ot cook tang at least do it well

anyway ep 5

PIGSY IS MK'S DAD THAT CANNON NOWWWW

HE DENIES IT BUT HE ISSS

also they finally realized the thing that i've been thinking of for months

that mk is the only one that isnt a decendent or reecarntion of the jttw cast

im happyyy

ALSO AO LIEEEE

FINALLY I GET TO SEE YOU GUYY I LOVE YOUU

i have read some fics with hi(theres this one shot where macaque helps him recover from the whole samdhi fire deal and its just so sweet)m and i had fallen in love with his design the moment i saw it so finally seeing him makes me happy:)

the way i screamed when he showed up

like ive only seen him aying "oh hey another person who got caught by the yellow robed demon(idk how to spell his chinese name)" and i'm just. so hyped

also wtf is going on with mk and the rock deal??? i am confused

like is he an actual stone monkey??? ive seen a LOT of stuff about his monkey form but i'm not sure what it is exaclty

anyway i'm going ot finish ep now:)))))

[love-fireflysong]

Day 23: Camp

Fandom: Tales of Phantasia Character(s): Chester Burklight, Arche Klein, Mint Adenade, Cress Albane, Claus F. Lester, Suzu Fujibayashi Words: 2527 Rating: General Author’s Notes: Oh shit, that’s right. We finally dealing with the whole cast this time, and since the prompt is Camp, I think you know what to expect...

“So, whose turn is it to cook this time?”

Claus looked up from the book he was reading, and rubbed his fingers along the brim of his hat as he thought out loud. “Hmmm. Well, Mint cooked last night, I made some curry the night before, and Suzu did something before that, can’t remember what though. So it’s down to either Cress, Arche, or Chester.”

Arche’s head popped up from where she was digging around in her bag and opened her mouth, but Chester butt in before she could say anything. “I am not letting you cook anything. I will cook both tonight and tomorrow if it comes to it.”

“You say that as though your cooking is any better than mine!”

“It’s leagues better than anything you’ve ever done, and you know it!”

Before their argument could get anymore off the rails and attract some of the local beasts to their campsite, Cress interrupted. “I’ll cook tonight, if it’s fine with everyone.”

Everyone else murmured their agreements and nodded their heads, except for Arche who batted her eyes in Cress’s direction. “Oh, that’s so nice of you, Cress—”

“Laying it on a bit thick don’t you think?” Chester grumbled under his breath. 

“—you’re so much more of a gentleman than somebody I won’t name.”

“Oh, and who exactly is that supposed to be?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Why don’t you go ahead and guess, or are you too stupid to figure it out?”

Cress turned away from his best friend and the half-elf witch, ignoring their usual bantering and fighting, to look at Mint helping Suzu to start a fire. He smiled softly in her direction. “What ingredients do we still have on hand?” 

Mint paused her assistance with the young ninja to stand up and dig through the pouch of cooking supplied she always carried. “Well, we are beginning to run short on a few things. We used the last of the bread and eggs when we stopped for lunch after fighting that pack of Timber Wolves earlier in the day.”

Claus took her place next to Suzu, and helped to try and start the fire going. “Probably be a good idea to stock up again soon. Thankfully, Alvanista's only another day or so away, so we can at least fill back up on bread and eggs. We’re gonna be out of luck for if we want any quality seafood or fruit though.”

Cress thought for a bit. “We got the stuff for beef stew?”

Mint shook her head sadly. “Sorry Cress, but we ran out of potatoes a couple of days back when Claus made curry.”

“You made the curry too hot, Claus.” Suzu interjected casually. “You used way too many spices, so you should be more careful with that.”

He sighed. “It wasn’t that hot Suzu, everyone else was fine. Though I will try to lower the amount that I use for you.”

Suzu nodded, seemingly happy at the compromise and returned back to the fire.

“We still have some spices though, right?” Cress waited for Mint’s nod of approval and continued. “Well, what about spaghetti then?”

The cleric narrowed her eyes in concentration as she continued to dig around in the bag, before looking at him with clear victory in her eyes. “We still have a couple of tomatoes left, though this will definitely finish those off.”

Cress let out a sigh of relief and looked down at the still empty fire pit that Mint and Suzu had made. Squaring his shoulders, he turned back to Arche and Chester who had now started pulling at the others hair, while still calling the other names.

“She-demon!”

“Shifty eyes!”

“You’re so annoying you know that?!”

“Hey!” The two of them paused in their banter to look over at Cress, though they never actually let go of the other’s hair. “You think you can give us a hand with this fire, Arche?”

Chester just stared at him agog. “Are you nuts dude? She’ll burn the entire forest down if we’re not careful!”

Arche harrumphed as she let go of Chester, nearly shoving him backwards as she turned back to the fire. “I’ll show you...” she started to whisper words of arcane power under her breath as Cress, Mint, Suzu, and Claus all backed away from the the make-shift firepit. With a quick movement of her hands, the spell finished with a small, bright red spark cupped between her open palms. With a cry of  "Fireball!" she let the spark go and it expanded into a small, blazing ball of fire that collided into the dry twigs and leaves, and set it ablaze instantly. Victorious, she turned back to Chester, hands proudly resting on her hips. “Well? Got nothing to say with that smart mouth now?”

Chester snorted and rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You got lucky. Could have burned us all to a crisp if you weren’t careful.”

“Excuse you, I am always careful with my spells. I never miss my targets!”

“Really? So you were meaning to miss those Killer Bee’s and bean me in the back of the head with that Storm earlier?”

“Like I said, I never miss.”

“Why you—”

“They act like children sometimes, I swear.” Cress turned back to look at Claus shake his head in an odd mixture of exasperation and fondness. “Can’t take them anywhere together.”

Mint smiled and shrugged. “I don’t know, I think it’s sweet. I mean they never seem more alive or happy as when they’re teasing each other.”

Cress snorted and stuck his thumb over his shoulder at Arche and Chester who had begun to childishly pinch each other on their arms. “You call that happy? Or alive? I’m surprised that they haven’t tried to kill each other yet, honestly.”

Suzu shook her head in agreement. “I will never understand their relationship. I don’t understand why two people who are clearly very fond of each other would say such mean things.”

“You’ll understand one day, Suzu. Some people just show their affections differently that’s all.”

“Oh, you mean like you and Mirald, Claus?” Mint said innocently. Her smile only became more angelic when he pulled his hat further down to hide his red face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Mint.”

Suzu just watched all of this nonplussed. “I don’t think I want to understand.”

Cress sighed in agreement, clapping his hand onto her shoulder as he began to collect the ingredients needed for spaghetti. “Neither do I Suzu, neither do I.” 

Seeing that Mint was busy with helping chop up some of the veggies for the sauce and Claus had returned back to his book, rubbing at one of the many, many rings on his fingers, and not having the energy to interrupt whatever it was that Chester and Arche were doing for a third time, he turned back to Suzu. “I think I remember seeing a creek or river or something a little further back, do you mind going to fill this pot up with water for me?”

Suzu leveled him with a serious look, nodded once, and in a swirl of leaves vanished from sight with the pot in her hands. With that done, he went to sit down beside Mint and joined her in cutting up veggies and peeling the tomatoes for the sauce. The soft, appreciative smile she gave him as he did so sent his stomach doing pleasant little flips. Arche and Chester could keep whatever it was they had going on, he thought that this was much nicer.

Speaking of, Cress turned his attention to the bickering duo when he started to stir the pot of peeled and crushed tomatoes and spices when he realized how quiet it had suddenly gotten. Only to see that they had stopped their arguing at some point, and were now going through their own packs. Chester stopped his rummaging and turned to his quiver.

“Hey, Cress? Do you remember how many arrows I started with today?”

Before Cress could respond that he wasn’t sure, Arche already had, not looking up from her own pack as she continued her own digging. “Thirty-two,” she replied matter-of-factly. “There are a few sticks over that way that you might be able to use to make some new arrows. I managed to save a couple of feathers from the various Chirpees and Scavengers we killed earlier that you can use for fletching, too.”

“Sweet, thanks Arche.” Chester turned his head to talk to her over his shoulder. “If you’re looking for that new spell book you found near Suzu’s village, you gave it to Mint to hold onto last night. It should be in her bag.”

“Oh right! I totally forgot!”

Cress just looked at Mint and Claus bemused, but both only shrugged at him as they continued their own duties for the night, but not before Mint handed Arche the Fire Storm spell book she had been looking for. Soon enough, Suzu returned with the pot full of water, and Cress placed it off to the side while she used her skill to once again vanish, this time appearing at the top of a tree. There she opened the scroll that they had bought off of the kunochi at the summit of Lone Valley.

The rest of the time passed in relative peace as Cress continued to make supper while Mint assisted him. Claus mumbled under his breath as he continued to twist at his rings and add new sections to his book while Suzu never moved from her spot in the tree above them. Chester sat on a nearby log as he slowly and methodically carved and fletched new arrows, and Arche sat behind him, leaning onto the log and resting her head on his back as she frantically flipped through pages of her spell book. All in all, it was as peaceful an evening as Cress could have hoped for. 

Finally though, the sauce finished and he was pleased to announce as such. “Alright guys, looks like it’s about done!”

“Finally,” Arche whined as she tucked her book under arm, accepting Chester’s hand to help her up. “Thought I was gonna die of starvation over here.”

Chester nodded solemnly. “It’s true. I could hear her stomach the entire I was making arrows. It was very distracting, almost stabbed myself with my knife a couple of times it was so loud.”

Once Mint handed Arche her bowl and fork, she didn’t hesitate to jab her fork into Chester’s side. “It’s not nice to take about a lady’s stomach like that.”

“What lady? The only lady I see here is Mint, and I’ve never once talked about her stomach.”

Claus groaned in exasperation. “Can we please have a meal in peace for once? You two can continue your flirting after we finish eating.”

Instead of appearing embarrassed though, Chester only laughed. “Who’d flirt with her? I’m not interested in shrill, annoying, pink, brats.”

Arche only nodded in agreement. “Exactly. My type is tall, dark, and handsome. Not blue, loud-mouthed, and hot-headed.”

“Who're you calling loud-mouthed?”

“Well, who were you calling annoying?”

Mint giggled quietly behind her hand as Cress gave out a serving of sauce to Suzu. Who looked askance at her bowl, and then at Cress. “You didn’t put in too many spices did you?”

He shook his head fondly and patted her on her own head. “No, I made sure to go light on them this time. You should be fine.”

“Good. Thank you.”

After getting his own bowl filled, Claus lifted the brim of his hat to take a look at the now very dark sky. “We should probably figure out our watch order while we eat. It’s getting late and we should all be heading to sleep pretty soon. I’ll take first watch though, I want to get some more writing done before I hit the hay.”

“I can take the final watch,” Suzu offered. She noticed Mint make a face of concern but raised her hand. “It’s fine. I’m used to early mornings anyhow. It’s when I do my training.”  She stuck a forkful of spaghetti into her mouth and made a satisfactory nod at the taste.

“Oh,” Mint said instead. “If you’re sure, Suzu... I can do third then.” She turned to Cress before he could say a word, giving him an uncharacteristically stern look. “You made supper tonight, Cress, not me. I only helped to cut some veggies so that doesn’t count. Which means you’re exempt from watch duty. It’s your own rule after all.” Cress shrunk back a little at that. She wasn’t wrong, she was just using the rule he had made for her when she had had to cook every night against him.

“Oh! I’ll take sch-econd vatch zen!” Arche butt in with an excited grin, mouth full of spaghetti that she frantically swallowed down. “Maybe I can finish reading my spell book tonight and have a new spell to try out in the morning.”

“Welp, guess it looks like I’m on second watch with you then.” Chester sighed like he was being put-upon to do this. “Someone’s gotta babysit you after all. Make sure you don’t get lost when you go out for a midnight flight or something.”

“I think if anyone here needs babysitting its you, but suit yourself.”

Cress, Mint, and Claus all shared a look of puzzlement. This was unusual, the two of them rarely agreed to take watch together, and if this was the only the first time it would be one thing. But it wasn’t. This was almost the fourth time in a row that they offered to do so. Something was up, and Cress wasn’t sure he wanted to know what.

With a confused shrug, Claus stuck a forkful of spaghetti and sauce in his mouth and made a face. “Are you sure you put enough spices in, Cress? This is kinda bland.”

Mint sighed as she handed the spice bag to Claus. “It’s harder then you think to make meals that both you and Suzu will eat, you know.”

“Yeah,” Chester butt in as he elbowed Arche with a snicker. “Why can’t you be like this one? She’ll eat anything as long as it’s vaguely edible.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you ever insult your own cooking like that, Chester.” Cress fired back casually from next to Mint as he picked at his bowl. “Not usually your style.”

Chester just stared dumbfounded at Cress while Arche nearly fell off the log she was sitting on she was laughing so hard. Even Claus snorted into his spaghetti and Mint hid a smile behind her fork as she took a bite. Suzu seemed to be the only one unaffected, but Cress could make out the amusement in her eyes and the slight upturn of her smile.

“Cress, dude. What the hell, man?”

Cress just shrugged with a grin on his face as he took his own bite of supper tonight. Sure, camping was chaotic whenever they had to do it, but it was definitely his favourite part of them travelling together. 

[flydotnet]

Blood, Sweat and Tears - Chapter 1

(how did I not post this to Tumblr earlier)

Summary: It was a warm day of summer, with a bright blue sky, cloudless, sun shining brightly. But, as far as he was concerned, it could had been hailing clouds and cold outside, because that weather definitely didn’t fit the mood he was in. It was meant to be a fun day between brothers, yet there he was, crying his heart out, sirens drowning his hearing, muffling it to the point he couldn’t hear his own sorrow running down his cheeks.

Fandom: I7 Relationships: Izumi brothers (entirely platonic in-case you wondered if incest was a thing in my writing)

Chapter: 1/? (on going) - A Warm Summer Day

Warnings: Contains depictions of gunshot wounds, even if not as graphic. Proceed with caution. Reader discretion is advised.

Notes: I hope you like brotherly angst. This fanfiction is a breathe of fresh air, and I hope you'll like it! I don't guarantee it'll last very long, but I'm having a lot of fun writing it! There'll also be no ship in this, so everyone can enjoy some deep friendship and BROTP feels. I also don't think there's any spoiler? At least for now. Watch me get everyone OOC without meaning too though Also I suck at action scenes and bullet physics so bear with me please.

AO3 version available here.

(seriously i’m sorry for this)

It was a warm day of summer, with a bright blue sky, cloudless, sun shining brightly.

But as far as he was concerned, it could had been hailing clouds and cold outside, because that weather definitely didn’t fit the mood he was in.

After looking through the window for a few minutes, he walked back into the maze of white corridors, swearing quietly to himself, and for once, praying everything would be all right, when nothing was right and when he was crossing the despair horizon.

It was a warm day of summer, with a bright blue sky, cloudless, sun shining brightly.

And since it was so good outside, and that it was everyone’s day off, Mitsuki decided it would be a good occasion to spend the day with his little brother. It had been a while since they even had the opportunity to do so. He loved being an idol, but he had to admit it was a very busy lifestyle.

Not to toot his own horn, but Mitsuki was pretty proud of having had that idea in the first place. The day was going just amazingly: the weather showed no sign of deteriorating, nobody had spotted them in the streets (as much as he loved their fans, he wanted to be his brother and just his brother for a day) and he managed to get a few laughs from the usually stiff Iori.

Someday, he would have to train him or something not to be so stiff and be more open and expressing. One day, that would get him into troubles, a lot of troubles would he say so himself. For the time being, it was just the time to enjoy themselves like they couldn’t had done so in ages.

They were discussing some I7-related things in a calm and desert street when Iori suddenly stopped in his tracks. Surprised, his older sibling did too, only to notice right after this there was a guy shooting at something at a few meters away from them. Like that. In the middle of a street, in public, shooting something hidden in a probably shady alley. Needless to say, he wasn’t reassured, but he wouldn’t let himself get scared.

“Let’s turn back, Iori,” he whispered, already backing a foot down to rapidly run away from the situation.

It was already too late. The guy had turned back, facing them and staring right at the younger brother. It was time to run away, as fast as they could, and lose the guy in the middle of the city. Grabbing Iori’s wrist, he rushed back, thinking about where they could go to escape from him. There was no way he was trusting a guy who somehow had a gun on him. A fucking gun of everything!

Adrenaline rushed right when he needed it the most. Quick glances behind him revealed the guy was keeping up with them just as well, if not better, but wasn’t shooting. He was probably unable to shoot them while running, that was a plus already. Still, they had to lose him if they wanted to spend the rest of the day peacefully and not in a morgue or something in the like.

There was no way either of them was getting buried anytime soon.

“Where are we going…?” his brother rasped between two breaths, blindly following him.

And, well, Mitsuki didn’t have any idea of where they were going. He hadn’t even thought about it, actually, in the rush of things.

“Huh… You have any idea, Iori…?”

The latter took a somewhat pensive stance as they were still running for their lives, turning sharply in a rather dark alley.

“I don’t think we can actually outrun him, brother… Maybe… We should go to the wooden cottage where you used to bring me… And call for help there…”

“You’re probably right on the outrunning him thing… Let’s do that…!”

The wooden cottage was a place they hadn’t been here in literally years. It was a panoramic spot they used to go to when they were children, and even if he never got to know the real name of the place, Mitsuki was grateful for two things: for his little brother to have such quick thinking, and for him to remember by heart the way there. Clearly, they didn’t form an informal duo for nothing.

There, they would just have to climb a staircase they knew too well, get a shelter inside the wooden cottage and wait for help to arrive. It would give any of them the time to call the police or any local authority figure.

They were halfway there, and the guy still hadn’t lost their track. Adrenaline was running off and, honestly, they were both breathless. He could only hope their enemy was as breathless as they were, if not even more. They couldn’t keep running if they were exhausted anyway, so praying with all his soul they wouldn’t be killed during a moment of vulnerability, he made the both of them walk as long as they were partially hidden by the darkness of one narrow, almost impossible to find street.

Walking with almost-empty lungs was painful, sure, but it was survival. There was no way they were dying today. He’d never allow that to happen, not when he could something about both his brother and him. As the older sibling, it was simply his duty to protect his younger sibling. And he would do so, just at the cost of no one’s life.

Once out of the dark alley, Mitsuki was relieved to notice the armed guy wasn’t behind them anymore. They had outrun him, right? Finally, he sighed in relief.

“We finally… escaped from him…” he told his brother, still out of breath.

Iori’s face wasn’t as bright as his. It looked more perplexed.

“I think we should still… reach the cottage and advise there… Who knows, he may just be waiting for us in the alley…”

Mitsuki gulped. He wasn’t wrong. In fact, he was sharply right.

“Let’s… Let’s do that…”

They resumed getting to their promised land, this time around walking. It was silent at first: mostly because they were both still trying to catch their breath and preserve their energy, but it also allowed for them to spot any suspicious sound. Of course, Mitsuki was easily scared by the situation: any cracking leaf, any noise could be a sign of the gun-wielding man about to shoot them in the head, yet there was nothing.

Nothing about that guy was near them. He didn’t know if he should had been afraid or relieved, but either way, there was still anxiety taking over all of his brain. He knew doing something irrational would be a disaster, especially if he slipped up, so he tried to push his impulsiveness on the side. He had to be patient and vigilant to escape danger.

After a while, they just resumed speaking. First about the mess they were in, because that was all his brain could process for a time, but it branched out from there after a while. While a part of him was still acutely aware of their surroundings, glancing back a few times every couple minute, another was infinitely soother than it could had been before and so by a landslide. It seemed like everything would be all right.

They peacefully arrived at the panoramic spot, and Mitsuki couldn’t help but feel a rush of nostalgy going through his blood. It really had been ages since they had last been there. Not a decade, but still a long time ago. They were both so much younger, when he had last seen the spot. Actually, it had changed a bit since then: the cottage had been replaced by a hut who lacked a front façade. It was easier to see the landscape, he figured.

The place was, aside from that, identical to the one from his memories: a peaceful piece of grass and stone, with the wooden hut on top of a small hill, connected to the ground level by old stones which looked like they hadn’t changed in centuries. It was quiet, with only the sound of the peaceful wind in the few trees surrounding them around the two.

They had almost reached the top of the covered-in-moss stone staircase when they heard rushing footsteps. In a reflex, fully knowing it was the guy again, Mitsuki blocked the way in the best of his abilities. A few pieces of wood here and there, some rocks, really anything. They were in a hurry, so he didn’t have much time to think, except to block the small gate that closed or opened the way to the stairs and, as such, the hut. Once he had made sure (or at least, was sure enough) it was blocked, he ran to Iori, who was already at the stop of the stairs.

Even on the way to the top, Mitsuki got out his phone and dialled the emergency number. There was no way their potential killer wouldn’t shoot on sight as soon as he had reached them. His “lock” wouldn’t last that long. And, most of all: a gun didn’t need to get past a gate to shoot them, especially if there was no real façade to protect them. They were in danger, and he was certain it just hadn’t kicked them in hard enough yet.

A quick glance to the ground floor told him the guy was already in position to shoot. A bullet flew right past him, just inches close to damaging at least his clothes, if not his skin. He was a lousy shooter, but a shooter nonetheless.

“Big brother,” Iori suddenly told him as he looked below them, “please continue telling them about us and our situation, and don’t focus on him. I’ll take care of it.”

Mitsuki was, honestly, not sure this was such a good idea, even coming from his brother.

“You’re sure about that? I have eyes too, you know, I can use them!”

“Please do as I say!” sputtered the younger boy almost in an impulse, stress getting to him too it seemed.

“O-okay, as you say…”

The older sibling put the phone next to his ear again, carefully listening to the other side of the line as he gave their location and tried to detail the scene. He couldn’t look too much at it, in case it upset an already anxious Iori, but he did notice no bullet had flown past him for a while. The shooter really was a bad one, huh.

At one point, there was less light than previously. If he had to guess, it was Iori walking here and there, predicting where the next shot would be. The noise of bullets was more or less quiet, and he could be certain some of them only encountered the wall. Even if he was finished explaining everything, they had told him not to hang up, so the phone stayed on and on-dial.

“I’m finished! Everything’s fine?”

Mitsuki saw red splatters on the stone floor of the hut where Iori was when he was calling.

And, well, Iori wasn’t there with the splatters.

Some of them had been smeared towards the back of the hut, as if someone had stepped in them then made their way back to the wall. It was when he noticed the guy was shooting anymore. Perhaps he had run out of bullets.

His eyes followed the train, while he was hoping it wasn’t what it was, from the depths of his heart. He did, so bad. They lead to the wall, to the back. That was when his previously numbed hearing unveiled itself, and he heard one terrifying sound he didn’t think he would hear in his life: the heavy, panicked breathing of someone dear to him, perhaps the dearest.

In a bolt, not ready to face what was awaiting him, Mitsuki looked at the back wall anyway. And instantly regretted trusting Iori.

The smeared blood lead to his own brother, sweating heavily, his skin three shades paler than it ordinarily was. His breathing had become panting, heavy yet fragile, trembling with every breathe-in and breathe-out. As if someone had stolen his air. There were tears forming in the corners of his eyes, ready to fall, something a pair of them had already done before Mitsuki looked at the scene.

His left lower abdomen was soaked in blood, a hand pressed against it, the other taking support on the wall, just like his back and back of his head.

Mitsuki just ran to his brother, almost throwing his phone on the floor if it meant reaching him sooner, instead putting it inside his pocket. Not a care in the world if it was still dialling or not. It wasn’t his concern. Not now. Iori raised his head when he saw him approaching. A pained, if not sorrowful, look appeared on his face between two beads of sweat and a half-closed eye.

“Bro… Brother…” he muttered, barely looking up. Despite being taller than his sibling, he lost his height as soon as he glided along the wall.

Something had stolen Mitsuki’s voice. He wanted to scream, scream at the guy, scream at himself, scream at Iori. Yet, he couldn’t even speak. He was terrified and upset, just waiting for someone to save them when they couldn’t do it themselves, and mostly, horrified by what had happened behind his back.

Instead, he just kneeled down to his brother and cried. He had always been a cry-baby, but there was no way he could retain his tears in this predicament. He was outraged, yet he couldn’t find in himself the capacity to scream. All he could do was cry and whisper. Whisper to someone fucking dying in front of him!

“Why… why did you do this, Iori…?” was all that escaped his mouth.

Iori didn’t respond, at first. Whether it was because he didn’t know how, because he was considering all the possible options and their outcomes, or because he was losing consciousness, Mitsuki didn’t know. All he knew, was that he wanted an answer, anything! He needed to hear him more than anything else and more than anytime yet!

“I took care of it…”

Well, that was all he was going to get, right? Iori was in no shape to talk about deep things and self-sacrifices at the moment. Even if it was what he had just pulled out even if it was a garbage idea with garbage consequences, because of course it would, he was the worst of them when it came to dealing with pressure and confrontation!

“I thought we had been clear on something, Iori… I was supposed to protect you, because I’m your big brother. Not the opposite way around!”

“He was going to… shoot you in the head…”

The cold tone of this sentence made Mitsuki realize there was a second bullet wound, on Iori’s shoulder. Or, approximately, the height of his brother’s head.

“You… you’re right…” came out of his mouth in a horrified tone. Because that what he was. Horrified.

He really would had died on the spot, had Iori not taken the bullet for him, knowing it wasn’t immediately lethal to him.

Unable to retain whimpers any longer, Mitsuki just clutched his brother next to him, pulling him into the tightest embrace.

“Please…. Please don’t die on me…!”

“You’re going to… have blood on you… big brother…”

“Who cares about that! You’re dying, Iori!!”

He wasn’t controlling his words anymore.

“You’d have died, though… if I hadn’t done that…”

Iori’s faint voice and weak tone just tucked heartstring after heartstring.

“I know! I know that, Iori! That’s why I can’t blame you!! That’s why I can’t have you dying on me!!”

It was a warm day of summer, with a bright blue sky, cloudless, sun shining brightly.

It was meant to be a fun day between brothers, yet there he was, crying his heart out, clutching onto his sibling for the latter’s life, sirens drowning his hearing, muffling it to the point he couldn’t hear his own sorrow running down his cheeks.