#Amane walks on eggshells around him

[octoooo]

Ubuyashiki Family (Magical Slayers ✨)

It’s mostly Kagaya but I mention Amane too.

Ok long story short Kagaya is mansplain manipulate manslaughter. I made him similar to Kyubey from Magica Madoka. In the sense he has good intentions, but very underhanded ways of getting people to join the Corps.

He is Entirely fed up with the (lack of) progress of the Corps. He wouldn’t call all the efforts pointless, however losing several dozen (or hundred?) Hashira and hardly killing any Upper Moons (and no signs of Muzan since Yoriichi’s era) is very much a Net Loss.

He’s tired and ready to end this war by any means necessary, even if it means forcing people into becoming slayers. (The fact this man has foresight just makes his goal a little easier and a little scarier.)

I can make an excellent example of the lengths he’s willing to go with the Tokito twins.

Kagaya did not take kindly when Amane reported that Yuichiro shut down the offer every time. He is not above lighting a fire under them to get them moving, and by fire I mean a demon sent to their house as an “incentive” to join. By showing them what they’re at risk of if they don’t join first.

We all know how it happens in canon: Yuichiro repeatedly denies Amane, weeks later the demon attacks, suddenly Amane returns days(?) later and Muichiro decides “why not” to join the Corps.

This lines up perfectly for my au :D

After the repeated rejections, Kagaya pulls some strings to stage a demon attack. It’s not really staged/fake since the demon does try to take out the twins, but it was planned by Kagaya. As an extra part of the plan, there was supposed to be another slayer to deal with that demon to ensure the twins survived. They’d be scarred, but alive and (hopefully) open to becoming Slayers.

Things didn't go as planned and the assigned Slayer doesn’t make it on time, leaving Muichiro to take things in his own hands after Yuichiro gets attacked. Yuichiro only loses a chunk of his arm, it’s still a lot but not half his arm like canon. He’s able to wrap the wound (and pass out) while Muichiro deals with the demon all night.

Kagaya and Amane actually visit them around noon the next day and happen upon them barely alive. Yuichiro is worse off than his brother and praying for Muichiro to live. Kagaya tells the boys they don’t need the aid of the gods who struck them, he himself will help, and in return they’ll do something (become slayers) for him.

(Kagaya was relieved when this worked. He may be cruel enough to do it but he doesn’t want to kill them. They wouldn’t be useful to him if that happened)

This also means Yuichiro lives.

The bright side is he doesn’t do this with every slayer I guess? He does have an interesting habit of showing up soon after demon attacks to offer the survivor a new life within the Corps. In their freshly traumatized minds all they see is a hand reaching out to help, and not knowing any better they accept.

This is a good time to mention, he is still cursed so he eventually has Amane visit the possible-slayers in his stead, bring them to the estate should they agree to join and uhhh..

Rip their soul out of their body, infuse it into a special brooch, give it back to them & point them in the direction of a cultivator.

anyway don’t worry about that part. Kagaya certainly doesn’t, and he tells the newly-made Magical Slayer not to worry either.

Who cares if you’re basically a zombie now? If your body is injured it’s fine, it’ll just take extra time and magic to regenerate. (Like,,some hours with lots of focus. Maybe just an hour or so for Hashira. Their healing abilities may be good, but they’re not ‘instant regeneration’ good like the 12 kizuki)

He actually doesn’t even tell them they’ve become a zombie. Normally the head of the Corps is supposed to lay down everything that becoming a slayer means, and then the person can make the choice to join or not. Obviously learning you’ll become a zombie is a bit of a turn-off, so Kagaya has just stopped telling his slayers the awful details.

Why do that when it’ll scare them off? It’s more beneficial for him to not say anything and keep them in the dark.

Also I’d like to mention, In canon Kagaya gives respect and gets it in return.

Here though? The Hashiras respect for him is built from fear. Everyone else is able to see, “ohh there’s something wrong with this guy. Better not piss him off.” And try their damn best not to.

Except Sanemi at his first Pillar meeting. 🪦

[edogawa-division]

The Shino Children (2/2)

Kids time! This was supposed to be a Mother’s Day post but yeah life y’know, anyways please enjoy as this is basically part 2 and a continuation of the wedding event between Malphas and A.D.A. that happened back in February.

Kasumi Shino

Toddler | Child | Teenager/Adult

A.I. Form | Butterflybot Form

Name: Kasumi Shino (思望佳純)

Aliases:

Kasu-nee

Nee-chan

Kasumi-chan

Belphegor - Malphas

Melinoë - A.D.A

“The Second Coming of The Bogeyman of The Internet”

Gender: Female

Age: 5 (Physically)

Birthday: March 30th

Hair Color: Black with Dark Violet ombre

Eye Color: Dark Violet

Family:

Malphas / Masuzō Shinomiya - Father

A.D.A. / Ageha Shinozaki - Mother

Miki Shino - Older Sister

Heizou Shino - Younger Brother

Anjin Shino - Cousin Younger Brother

Aamon / Aiko Shinomiya - Paternal Aunt

A.R.K. / Aruto Shinozaki - Maternal Uncle

Seir / Seizou Shinomiya - Paternal Uncle

A.M.U. / Amane Shinozaki - Maternal Aunt

Sumire Shinomiya - Paternal Grandmother

Kaoru Shinozaki - Maternal Grandmother

The second-born daughter and child of Masuzō “Malphas” Shinomiya and Ageha “A.D.A.” Shinozaki. Unlike the rest of her siblings, Kasumi was planned with Malphas and A.D.A. thinking that since Miki was an easy baby, surely a second should be easy, too, right? Wrong. Literally from the moment she was conceived, Kasumi has been a she-demon. A.D.A’s pregnancy with Kasumi was easily the most difficult. Nearly revealing Malphas’ and A.D.A.’s relationship, too.  A.D.A.’s personality took a complete 180 with everyone around her walking on eggshells during her pregnancy. Once A.R.K. said she was eating a lot and A.D.A. took it as a fat joke and nearly gutted him for it. Malpas himself couldn't leave the house for one second without A.D.A. nearly taking off his clothes right then and there because someone looked at him. Plus, unlike her other pregnancies, where A.D.A. craved simple things like screws and gasoline when she was pregnant with Kasumi, she craved A.I. data and even hunted down weaker A.Is to cannibalize them. 

Both Malphas and A.D.A. wanted to honor their creators in some way as such Kasumi’s name is actually a combination of Kaoru’s and Sumire’s names. Even if they haven’t told their creators anything at all about their relationship or their children for obvious reasons. 

Kasumi is a Shinomiya to her core, looking like a female version of her father, and acts so much like Sumire it’s not even funny. If it weren’t for the fact they were there for her traumatizing birth, the others would wonder how Kasumi came from someone like A.D.A. But looking back at how A.D.A was like while pregnant it’s obvious Kasumi had a strong influence on her mother. Even now, Kasumi absolutely loves going out, causing chaos and anarchy. More often than not, it’s her fault that she and her siblings are in trouble, leading them all to be scolded by their mother. 

You’d be hard-pressed to find any bit of her mother’s appearance or personality in Kasumi given how much of a daddy’s girl she is.  However, the one thing Kasumi inherited from A.D.A. is her butterfly traits, much to everyone's surprise. A.D.A. herself was glad that at least one of her children was a butterfly while Kasumi was in complete dismay over it. She wanted to be a spider-like her Papa and the rest of her siblings, not some cutesy little butterfly. 

Much like the rest of her family, Kasumi dresses like a goth, particularly the punk goth subset. Girlie lives for black and purple clothing and refuses to wear any other color. A.D.A. tried multiple times when Kasumi was younger to put her in pink and frilly outfits, but Kasumi hated it. She would often scream her head off until they took the pink abomination off her much to A.D.A.’s dismay. 

Despite her anarchist nature, Kasumi loves her family very much, and like the rest of her family is curious about her grandmothers. So curious in fact that Kasumi has tried multiple times to sneak out to meet them, giving her parents heart attacks every time.

Thoughts About Malphas: “Papa! He soo cool! Papa always tells me cops are bastards and that I shouldn’t trust them! Mama always scolds him when he says that.” 

Thoughts About A.D.A.: “Mama! I love her a lot, even if she grounds me every time I do something wrong. I’m just having fun, Mama! It’s boring staying in the house all day long!” 

Thoughts About Miki: “Miki-nee is my big sis! I love her lots too but she always tries to be responsible but once I managed to leave the house to the real world with her. Mama and Papa grounded us for a long time for doing that.” 

Thoughts About Heizou: “Hei-chan is my little brother! He’s still pretty small, so Mama says we have to wait till he gets bigger to play with Miki-nee and me. Waiting is so boring tho Hei-chan get bigger now!” 

Thoughts About Anjin: “Jin-chan! He’s my new baby brother! He’s so cute! I like his eyes they’re like a kitty’s! I just know he’s going to be so much fun when he gets bigger! I can feel it!” 

Thoughts About Aiko: “Auntie Aiko is great! She always brings us stuff whenever she visits! I wanna ask her to bring me with her when she goes out but I just know she’s gonna say no like Mama and Papa!” 

Thoughts About A.R.K.: “Uncle ARK! He's really cool! He often takes us out to do the fun things Mama won’t let us do! Like once he had to watch all of us and we ended up being chased by a bunch of cars with red and blue lights.” 

Thoughts About Seizou: “Sei-nii! Mama and Papa say he’s my uncle like Uncle ARK, but he’s not much older than Miki-nee, so it’s weird to call him Uncle. I like it when he comes over tho!” 

Thoughts About A.M.U.: “AMU-nee is really nice, she’s my auntie too, but I like calling her big sis more. She's always with Sei-nii. I hope Jin-chan and I are like that when we’re bigger!” 

Thoughts About Sumire: “Grandma is so cool! Papa talks about her a lot and I really wanna meet her! I wanna be just like her when I grow up! Papa says she's trying to change the world and it sounds like fun!” 

Thoughts About Kaoru: “I haven’t met Grandmama either, but she seems really cool too! Mama tells us a bunch of stories from when she was younger, and they’re so funny!”  

Anjin Shino

Toddler | Child | Teenager/Adult

A.I. Form | Spiderbot Form

Name: Anjin Shino (思望安人)

Aliases:

Jin-chan 

Anjin-kun

Leviathan - Malphas

Hermes - A.D.A

Gender: Male

Age: 1 (Physically)

Birthday: June 12th

Hair Color: Dark Blue

Eye Color: Sharp Gray

Family:

Malphas / Masuzō Shinomiya - Adoptive Father

A.D.A. / Ageha Shinozaki - Biological Aunt/Adoptive Mother

Miki Shino - Cousin Older Sister

Kasumi Shino - Cousin Older Sister

Heizou Shino - Cousin Older Brother

Aamon / Aiko Shinomiya - Adoptive Paternal Aunt

A.R.K. / Aruto Shinozaki - Biological Father Maternal Uncle

Seir / Seizou Shinomiya - Adoptive Paternal Uncle

A.M.U. / Amane Shinozaki - Paternal Maternal Aunt

Sumire Shinomiya - Adoptive Paternal Grandmother

Kaoru Shinozaki - Paternal Maternal Grandmother

The fourth child and second born “son” of Masuzō “Malphas” Shinomiya and Ageha “A.D.A.” Shinozaki. In reality, he is the biological son of Aruto “A.R.K.” Shinozaki and was born from one of his former relationships. Left by his biological mother at A.R.K’s doorstep, the man panicked, and he knew he wouldn’t be a good father, A.R.K. called A.D.A. over asking his twin to adopt his child. A.D.A quickly agreed and quickly brought her newest son to meet his family. 

Unsurprisingly, Anjin looks like a carbon copy of his biological father maternal uncle. Anjin himself is under the impression that he heavily takes after his mother and takes pride in the fact that he looks the most like A.D.A. out of all his siblings. However, something unique to Anjin is his eyes which look almost cat-like with their slit pupil. One of the few traits that he inherited from his biological mother.  He's extremely curious about where he got this from as neither of his parents has it, and whenever he asks, they seem to clam up and avoid the topic. 

Anjin, much like Kasumi, is a huge troublemaker and is often her partner in crime. Kasumi used to hog Anjin to herself while he was a baby waiting for the day he was old enough to cause trouble with her. The two of them are thick as thieves with Anjin often following along with his older sister’s plans. As the two of them got older it wasn’t uncommon for something to explode while they were around. 

Similar to his older brother Heizou, Anjin is a mama’s boy spending much of his time as a baby clinging on to A.D.A. although he wasn’t as bad as his older brother, much to his parents’ relief. Malphas could actually calm him down and hold Anjin for a while before he started crying for A.D.A. A.R.K was just glad he didn’t have to put on a wig or make his voice sound like his twin anymore. 

Anjin’s biological mother was a tiger-like A.I. and has a few cat traits besides his cat-like eyes. When he was younger, his siblings figured out he would chase laser pointers and would use this against him, often letting him crash into walls. He’s also weak to catnip, only learning this after his siblings wanted to see if it affected him, which it did as he was so zoned out for hours. Anjin vomited afterward, and his parents had to nurse him back to health while his siblings got grounded. 

Like most of his family, Anjin wears mostly black, though he dresses more on the punk side than goth. Much like the rest of his siblings A.D.A. used to dress him in cute outfits in bright colors, but Anjin never liked wearing them, and once he was old enough to dress himself, Anjin switched to wearing black like most of his family once again to A.D.A.’s despair at losing another child to the dark side. 

Anjin dearly loves his family, especially his parents, for taking him in as he doesn’t know where he’d be without them. Like the rest of his siblings, Anjin is very curious about his grandmothers and wonders if they're as cool as all the stories he’s heard about them.

Thoughts About Malphas: “This is my Papa, he’s super cool! I like it when he shows me how to tear people apart. Mama doesn’t like it when he does that tho and says I’m too young for that.” 

Thoughts About A.D.A.: “Mama! I think she’s really pretty! So I’m glad that I look the most like her out of all my siblings. I have her dark blue hair and her pretty gray eyes!” 

Thoughts About Miki: “Miki-nee is the oldest out of us so she says I have to listen to her as the baby. So Miki-nee keeps trying to dress me up in these cutesy outfits. Bleh! I wanna wear what Papa wears. It looks way more cooler!”

Thoughts About Kasumi: “Kasu-nee! She’s my favorite sibling to play with! Even if we get in trouble with Mama a lot for breaking things. We’re planning to sneak into the real world! Shhhh! It’s a secret!”

Thoughts About Heizou: “Nii-chan is pretty alright even if he keeps trying to get us to stop having fun. He says we’re gonna get in trouble if we do what we wanna do. Boooo! We just wanna have fun Nii-chan!”

Thoughts About Aiko: “Auntie Aiko is really nice! I like it when she visits because she always brings us stuff. Plus she tells us all sorts of stories about what the real world is like! I wanna see it so bad!” 

Thoughts About A.R.K.: “Uncle ARK! He’s so cool! People say I look a lot like him too which makes sense since he’s mama’s twin but he seems to get nervous whenever someone brings up that fact.” 

Thoughts About Seizou: “Sei-nii is pretty cool even if he doesn’t speak a lot. I like playing video games against him even if he keeps beating me. That’s fine tho! I’ll beat him one day!” 

Thoughts About A.M.U.: “AMU-nee is really nice, I like it when she messes with my hair but she keeps calling me kitty tho. I’m not a kitty I’m a spider. Just like Papa, Miki-nee, Nii-chan, and Uncle ARK!”

Thoughts About Sumire: “Kasu-nee seems to like Grandma a lot. I like her too! She seems really cool so I wanna meet her one day. I wanna ask her to show me how to blow stuff up!” 

Thoughts About Kaoru: “Grandmama has to be really cool! She built Mama, Uncle ARK, and AMU-nee and they tell me all sorts of stories about her. Mama says just don’t take after her sleeping schedule. It’s horrible apparently.”

[evergreen-dryad]

day 2 - soulmate

only death will do us part (2319 words)

They told him his soulmate must be dead.

All his life, the circlet of script around his left wrist had always been greyed out. Illegible. You had to squint in order to see it twining around the green-blue of his veins, and even then it might have been mistaken for scar tissue if it hadn’t been for how circular the soulmark was. How regular, the shape of the words were. Little rounded hiragana with a fat ‘ko’.

Amane had studied it as intensely as he had ever studied anything in his life, which was really only the moon rock, any astronomy books he could get from the library, and the newspaper for news of advances on space travel, so he could say for certainty he thought he knew what it said.

    「Hanako-kun!? Are you hurt!? That looks painful...」

Strange, and a little sad, that his soulmate would recognise him for someone else. But that’d make them easier to identify, hopefully?

If they were ever coming. People whispered around him when they saw the little silvery words wrapped around his knobby wrist. Faded words, a gone soulmate. How unlucky...

Another impossible thing to believe in then. He wanted to go to the moon, he wanted to be part of the Space Race, if Japan could join in too... he wanted his parents and Tsukasa back.

They weren't really here right now. They haven't been the same in a very long time. 

Tsukasa always seemed oddly triumphant whenever his eyes laid on Amane's soulmark. His eyes would curve just so, and for a moment Amane could believe he was the cat that had tasted cream. 

(Tsukasa had no mark of his own. People whispered that that meant he was fated to die, unbelonging. 

Unlucky boys, they whisper.

And Tsukasa—

—always gave that queer, cheery laugh, that said That's exactly what I want.) 

Hey, have you heard? Those twin boys... are marked by misfortune. They say the dead do not have soulmarks.

But then came along Tsuchigomori-sensei, with careful dark eyes that did not immediately dismiss him, or cringe away from where he silently sat in the corner, mooning over his newspaper clippings that he meticulously glued in his notebook, or gazing emptily outside to the sky.

Only he said consideringly, one day after class, after a gaggle of schoolgirls exchanging gossip and tattletale had fled the class in giggles, on realisation the tall teacher was still in the classroom.

"Or, your soulmate hasn't been born yet."

The words hit him like a stone. 

"Oh." He felt his breath drop out of him, as if gravity had changed his orbit.

Yet, cool relief swept over him also. Dead, or unborn: they're just not here yet. Their soul is still out there. 

But what if he isn't here by the time they come? 

He got up shakily from his desk, and uttered a quiet goodbye to his teacher before he left.

Tsuchigomori watched him with forlorn eyes. From the book he had read last night, Yugi Amane would have to grow to be 64 before he would meet his soulmate.

Those would be lonely years for him, but hey, the least he could do would be to commiserate with him over a drink or two.

Those of the Far Shore indeed do not have soulmarks.

_

When he met her, he was too caught up trying to remember to breathe right.

Don't cry. Don't let him see he's gotten to you more than this. Don't let anyone hear—

It was useless. Tears still pooled in his eyelids, blood still rose to the surface no matter how much he licked it away, willing the wounds to close. At least the blood would congeal soon. 

The reopened scabs kept weeping, while the orange of evening sunshine drifted in together with the tinny music of the evening broadcast, and the desperate sawing of cicadas.

He hadn't heard the door open. But then suddenly she was there like a ball of energy, dressed in the zaniest clothes he'd ever seen, yelling something about the evening announcement. He can't remember. Trying to remember is like viewing the image through oily water. 

(Even blurrier is the memory of when he fell for a pretty, kind older girl at a festival.

But—

—it couldn't have been her.)

She stopped, and turned to look at him, mouth open. He must have banged the bookcase beside him, he realised dimly.

And then she was over him, asking the words he had long memorised by heart.

Frozen to the spot, he couldn't breathe again.

Kind red eyes stared into his. They widened and began to settle into that expression he didn't know what to do with.

"Were you crying...?" The question broke through him like cold water.

She couldn't, shouldn't see him like this.

He ran. Scrambling out the door, she heard her yell "Wait!"

She had... fat ankles. Cute legs.

Heart in his throat, he sprinted out into the corridor. Don'tbebehindmedon'tbe-

She had nice hands. Nice, gentle hands in those fancy black gloves.

He ran and ran. The moon was already out in the swirling pinks and yellows of the sky.

runrunrun 

Did she have a soulmark too?

His heart rabbiting in his chest, the only sound he could hear for a long time, the deep throbbing next to his ears.

I didn't say anything to her. Except 'goodbye'.

His legs whirred to a stop. Head bowed, he trembled under a lamppost.

He didn't know what to do. His hand slipped into his pocket hesitatingly. Shouldn't he just go back home and forget about all this?

(But what if she's still there?)

It was only then he realised he had lost his key. His copy of the house key. 

"Oh no," he said softly to himself. The light of the lamppost flickered to life above him.

The moon was a pale thumbprint in the violet sky when he turned back.

But she wasn't there. Neither was the key. Both lost to the darkness.

A hiccup caught in his throat, as he felt himself crying again. 

(Were they both ghosts?)

_

They told her her soulmate must be dead. 

(Or, you are dying soon, they don't tell her.) 

All her life, she had waited for the prince of her dreams, the love of her life to show up. Maybe they'd ride in on a white horse, she'd giggle as she daydreamed, watching the fluffy white clouds pass over the blue sky, or in a black limousine, she smiled prettily as she walked on pavements and crossed the road, hoping, hoping. The words of the soulmark though... left little to be desired.

     「Yeeeeeeeees~ Over here.」

What kind of words were those?? Hmph, they came off a bit creepy. Why couldn't these words be something like, You're beautiful, m'lady, or I've fallen for you at first sight? Or even let me help you or good day. 

She sighed as she traced the silvery rope of letters over her right wrist. The 'a's stretched and wriggled like snaky beads. Honestly...

It didn't matter as long as she could meet them soon. She always smiled to herself then, determined.

Yashiro Nene was optimistic.

This she would tell herself everyday.

Yashiro Nene ... was also easily tempted. Aaaaah, when a handsome guy swept by or even looked her way...

She was lost. 

But! How was she to know otherwise, she told herself. From her soulmark it was obvious she'd have to approach or talk to them first, before they said the fateful words.

But she didn't feel ready talking to pretty boys unless she was also, either super pretty or feminine enough to pass.

She picked flowers, she picked stitches, she peeled and stirred and picked out bits of eggshell. All for her love to come true.

(Unsaid, was the what if the old superstition was right.)

So, in the meantime, she pined after boys she never really talked to, while waiting for the one to sweep her off her feet. Or in her case, beckon her over with a stretched-out word that might be a cat's yawn.

It was Aoi that talked to her in high-school. Kind Aoi that took a look at her and smiled brightly, and asked her if she liked flowers. While other girls might have laughed or fallen silent at her soulmark, Aoi 'ooh'd at it.

"It's so delicate," she said. "It's almost like a silver bracelet, I like it!" And then she'd showed Nene hers easily and eagerly, and they'd both speculated and giggled over their soulmarks for the better half of the gardening club session.

And then Aoi told her the tale of Hanako-san of the girls' toilets.

It captured Nene's heart at once. Why not, it coaxed to her. And before she knew it, she was creeping up the old wooden stairs to the third floor, and turning the old-style stained-glass door open.

Red doors stared back at her. Which one? One, two, three...

Braving herself to stand in front of the third door, she swallowed in the dusty silence and willed herself to knock. 

"Hanako-san, Hanako-san..." Her voice creaked out of her, hovering before her. Sunlight underscored the dust motes drifting in the air. "Are you there?"

A beat. Two. And then the stall door in front of her creaked ominously, exactly like from a horror movie, and a voice called eerily in reply. 

Nene hunched her shoulders, clutching her hands. She was ready to run if a monster came crawling out.

The door swung open, but there was only the toilet gaping mournfully in the dark. She let out her breath, sighing in relief. Just her imagination, huh...

"Over here." There was a husky voice beside her ear. Ahandonhershoulder—

She screamed and turned to shove the stranger, but flailed when they shot through someone's chest. Someone's chest. Ohmygodshewasgoingtodie...

Their laughter resounded above her head. She peeked out of the ball she had curled in. Huh...

"Are you alright?" A smiling boy's face entered her line of sight. She tried to gather her faculties, now that the shock had worn off. Something had struck out to her, what was it-

"Ah!" She sat up, eyes wide. "It's you!" The boy — the ghost — looked at her in confusion. "It's you?!" She realised with a start. "Oh, oh no..." Her voice faltered. "The rumours are true then. You're a ghost, right?"

"I am." He looked at her, puzzled.  "Do I still need to introduce myself as 7th of the school mysteries? Because that's what I am, nice to meet you." He smiled.

"I…" Her mouth worked, speechless. Where were the words for this? Where were all the times she'd practiced what'd she'd say if, when, she'd found them? "Hi." She put on a brave smile. "I'm Yashiro Nene, and - I'm your soulmate, and I'm so, so glad I've finally met you." Her eyes filled with tears.

It was true. She was glad, even though he was dead. He was dead, wasn't he? It was a miracle they could meet.

Amber stared into ruby eyes for a breath's space. He stared at her as if she was the ghost. 

"You...?" He looked really taken aback. His face was pale. "You are...?" 

Be still my heart. Yashiro Nene prayed to herself. "Yeah," she said lamely, as she held out her wrist for him to see. His first words carved into silver links on her skin. Be still, don't be nervous, it's okay, it's going to be okay right? Tears rose unbidden to her eyes.

She was always really afraid they might not accept her. He kept staring at her as if he was in a trance.

The ghost finally moved with a start. His hand came up to her cheek. "I'm sorry," he said hoarsely. "I didn't mean to make you cry. I-" He dipped his forehead against hers as his arms curled around her back protectively. "I always thought you were dead." His voice cracked. She could sense the truth of it.

"Me too," she let herself admit, a tear running down her cheek. "I was always really afraid."

He held her tighter. He didn't feel like anything more than the temperature of the air itself, but she could feel his touch on her. There was a chillness where his face was buried into her shoulder, so she raised her hands to cradle his head softly.

"I'm really glad you finally found me," he said, after a moment.

"Mm," she agreed, cracking a smile. "Hey, what should I call you? I can't just keep calling you ghost in my head." She giggled.

He hesitated. "...I'm used to Hanako after so long," he said carefully. "But you can - call me Amane." He looked at her, oddly searching. "Yugi Amane was my name."

"Okay, Amane-kun it is then!" She said breathily, a giggle bubbling out of her. She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the mixture of emotions boiling within her after the adrenaline and the tears had worn off.

He took her hand in his, turning her wrist this way and that. A finger traced the letters over her pulse point. He looked so pensive. "...Do you still have yours?"

"Ah." He caught himself. "I'm not sure," he faltered. 

"It's okay," she told him, holding his hands before he could let go. "We have time." She smiled at him, full of hope.

He flushed, shaken. Appeared to pull himself together. "Actually." He grinned coyly, taking a step into her space. She took a step back, surprised by this change of pace. "We should make up for lost time, don't you agree?" He purred as he sidled closer to her, curling a lock of her hair around his finger.

"Ehhh?" She squeaked. "I mean- yes?" She was about to swoon! His breath hit her red cheeks. They must be red, she felt hot. Very hot and bothered.

Yellow eyes closed in on her, and she closed her eyes.

.

Be still my tongue, he thought to himself with dread, as he stared down at the scar where the soulmark used to be. She can't know she's dying soon.

He'll hold her hands, hold her in his arms, steal sweet kisses as much as he can before—

—he has to let go.

//note: if you’re confused about Nene’s soulmark it’s because it’s Haaaaaaaai, kocchi dayo. I chose to translate it more literally here.

edit 22/2/2020: rewrote where Nene knocked, forgot it's 3rd door. From left or right? Who knows, assume there’s 5 doors and it’s always at the centre.