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eirikaanemo · 3 years

Note

Venti's crush is a sister in the Church of Favonius. That's the entire prompt. Okay, she may have overheard Venti when he asked for the Holy Lyre and maaaaybe she gave it to him (in the name of freedom!), but she probably wouldn't be a sister after that.

Venti x GN!Reader

1.7k Words

Warnings: Eviction? Kinda?

Notes: So, halfway through I remembered "Sister" is a gendered term, so I switched it to "Disciple". Hopefully that still works!

Part 2: His Fight

His Lyre

He first caught your attention while he was doing a street performance. You were walking down the street, minding your own business, when you heard a melody so beautiful that you swore it had to be Barbatos himself. Following your curiosity, you found him performing a ballad for a group of children. His clear tenor painted looks of wonder on their faces as he regaled them with tales of Vanessa and the revolution of freedom.

You couldn’t help but stop to watch as well. He had captivated you as much as he had the children and you didn’t regret a thing. After Vanessa’s tale he sang of the fall of the storm god, the rise of Barbatos, the shaping of the lands, and the rise of Mondstadt. Every song seemed almost more amazing than the last.

It was getting close to evening by the time you were able to free yourself from his spell. Or rather, he stopped casting it. His last few notes rang out and faded into the darkness. You almost didn’t dare to breathe in fear of breaking the serene silence that overtook the scene. Then his eyes opened.

This was your first real chance to get a good look at them as he was usually facing just slightly away from you. Everyone else had gone home, so as he scanned the area, his eyes fell on you. And suddenly all you could see was his eyes. They’re beautiful, you thought to yourself, a hint of blush warming your cheeks.

His braids swayed a bit as he tilted his head curiously and a smile flashed across his lips. “It’s not often I see a Disciple here, tell me, did you like what there was to hear?”

“I did,” you confirmed. “I’m very impressed! It was almost like I was listening to Barbatos himself!”

He looked stunned for a moment, then an odd look crossed his face before he quickly covered it up with a broad smile. “Thanks! I appreciate the sentiment! That’s really quite the compliment.”

You were able to spend the next little while chatting before you had to go, but similar scenes occurred fairly often as time went on. About the tenth time or so he decided that you were friends, which you had no objection to. Though there was always a small twinge in your heart whenever he called you that for some reason.

Along with becoming friends, you started to notice some things. His songs are… very detailed in a way that makes them line up with records that rarely see the light of day. While you do your best to share Barbatos’ gospel of freedom with everyone, some records are just too fragile to be available to the general public. So the Disciples, like you, memorize them and tell them to the worshipers who come to the Cathedral.

However, either on purpose or by accident, most of the time Disciples will mix up little details or paraphrase things or skip over sections in a way that can confuse the story some. But Venti’s songs match every detail shown in the records, and more. You had checked multiple times and it always came out the same way. He was one hundred percent correct, in every song he played.

Then there was his hair. You’d never seen anyone with their hair being tinted at the ends like that. And you couldn’t find the hair dye he used either. And oh boy had you looked. You wanted teal in your hair too dang it! And when you finally asked him where he got it he laughed and said it was natural. How is that fair?

And then there are the times where he just didn’t act quite human. Like forgetting to eat all day without realizing it. Or referring to other people as “humans”, as if he, himself, isn’t human. Or how he only ever wears one outfit. Or the way anemo energy seems to flow through him instead of around him. You wouldn’t even have noticed that last one if it wasn’t for the fact that you are hypersensitive to it due to how you use your anemo vision. From all of that, and more, you can just tell that something isn’t quite what it seems about him.

So when you’re cleaning the cathedral in the back and hear him out himself as Barbatos to Sister Gotelinde something just clicked. Oh, of course he was Barbatos. What else could he possibly be? Too much added up for it to not make sense! Unfortunately by the time you were done reeling from shock Sister Gotelinde had sent him right out the door.

You had caught enough of the conversation, though, that you knew that Venti- no, Barbatos had need of his lyre. So you came up with a plan. This was going to get you in so, so much trouble. But this is what needed to be done. You need to get him his lyre.

It was surprisingly easy to swipe the lyre from its pedestal and avoid the other inhabitants of the Cathedral by taking back passageways. You had almost made it out, you were so close when you suddenly ran into someone.

Holding a hand to the point of impact starting to swell on your forehead, you squint over towards the other group. When your brain registers that you just ran into Venti you gasp and scramble to your feet, still holding the holy lyre to your chest. “Oh my goodness, I’m so, so sorry Venti,” you apologize. “Or, uh, would you prefer I call you Barbatos?”

Your friend blinks once, then twice, dumbstruck by the situation. “Venti is fine,” he scrambles to assure you after a few moments. “How did you know?”

“You weren’t exactly the quietest when speaking with Sister Gotelinde, Venti. And I was cleaning just out of sight. It made a lot more sense than some other explanations for your weird behavior that I’d come up with.” You admit sheepishly. “And I believe this is yours.”

His face lit up as you held the holy lyre out towards him. “The Lyre de Himmel! Thank you so much! See that, Traveler? We didn’t even have to steal it! I promise to do my best to take care of it.” You quirk an eyebrow as the Traveler finishes shaking off the effects of running into you.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that, and you better.” you tell him pointedly, causing him to giggle nervously. “Besides, the two of you need to go! I… didn’t exactly tell anyone about this. Good luck with Dvalin, Venti, Traveler. May Barbatos be with you!” You called out the last part out of habit.

Moments later you felt a hand clap onto your shoulder. “Dear,” Sister Gotelinde drawled slightly. “Please tell me you didn’t hand our sacred treasure over to that alcoholic bard.” You’re silent for a moment before years of being at the Cathedral won over your common sense. “You know I can’t do that, Sister.”

She sighs from her position behind you and her hand tightens on your shoulder. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how much trouble you’re in, especially if it doesn’t come back in one piece.” You gulp.

“Yes, Sister Gotelinde.” You murmur.

“Good, now get back to cleaning.” She instructs you curtly.

Nodding, you turn and walk past her towards where you were cleaning. She continued on, likely going to report the situation to Sister Barbara. You really hope that Venti keeps his promise.

While you try your best to put the situation out of your mind, your thoughts keep drifting back to it the whole next day. The nightmare you’d had that night hadn’t helped either. It had been a morbid scene, a broken lyre on the ground with an equally broken Venti as a triumphant Stormterror screeched over their still forms. You’d woken up sweaty.

Logically you knew that Barbatos- no, Venti wouldn’t fall to Stormterror. But the scene still wouldn’t go away. And neither did the awkward feeling that accompanied your usual duties as a disciple. Some of your regular duties were suddenly almost… laughable? You now knew that Barbatos didn’t care about a good chunk of what you did in the Cathedral that some considered absolutely essential.

Your attitude didn’t help your position though, not with everyone now knowing what you did and watching you closely. The day is long and you feel trapped every second of it. Then Venti returns victorious with a broken lyre and everything crumbles around you. You’re kicked out, banned for life, right after him, with a suitcase of your stuff chucked out after you. Even though he ‘fixed it’.

Part of you wants to just lay there and regret your life choices; but you can’t help but smile when Venti reaches a hand out to lift you up, laughing about the irony of the situation. A small smile manages to reach your face as Jean starts chuckling too.

“Don’t worry too much, I know you’ve done a great good for Mondstadt.” She reassures you. “I know you have a vision, an anemo vision at that.” She gives Venti a pointed look. “How would you like to become a knight?”

Your smile grows into something a little more natural. “I’d like that, thank you Jean.”

“It’s no problem, really the least I could do. I’m sorry it had to end like this. Now, come to my office when you have a moment so we can formalize it. But for now I need to go and formally close the Stormterror case.” With a sigh she walked past you towards the knights headquarters and the inevitable paperwork which awaits her.

“I’m sorry that you got kicked out,” Venti apologizes once Jean’s out of sight. “All you did was help and you got in trouble for it.”

“It’s alright, Venti,” you try to claim. “It was kind of awkward knowing that you are Barbatos anyway.”

“Still,” he pressed. “You put everything on the line for me and I really appreciate it. I’m really sorry I didn’t follow through. I’ll have to make it up to you. And I know just where to start.”

His kiss to your cheek was quick but sent a warmth blooming across your face, contrasting with the coolness of his lips.

“Of course,” you mumble, embarrassed. “It was your lyre anyway.”

“It was,” he agreed. “But you believed me. And that really does mean a lot to me. Thank you, really.”

#eirika writes #venti #genshin venti #venti x reader #genshin impact x reader

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xoxopandapanda · 3 years

Text

InuKag Week 2021: Day 1

@inukag-week

Day 1: Battle Couple

It was a long and difficult day to say the least. The baby wouldn’t go down for anything, quickly becoming irate and angry at any attempt his parents made to help him settle down. Inuyasha’s shoulders and arms were of no comfort, and he didn’t want to nurse from Kagome. He cried and cried.

Soon his parents cried with him.

Inuyasha held it together for a while, taking the babe from Kagome when she started to choke up at his rejection of her breast. “Here,” his voice was soft, barely audible over the screaming child in Kagome’s arms. “Give him to me. You get some shut eye while we go out for a walk.”

Kagome had shaken her head at first but didn’t stop Inuyasha when he lifted the bundle out of her arms and tucked it into the crook of his neck. “I’m serious,” he told his wife sternly, “get some rest.”

Kagome felt the burn of tears down her face and saw through the waterworks Inuyasha’s shoulders fall slightly. But he turned on his heel and quickly left the hut they occupied, true to his word of taking the baby out for a walk. Kagome dropped her head into her hands, not bothering to even tidy or cover herself up before falling over to cry.

She felt like such a failure, of a mother and wife.

Kagome had gone nearly two days without a few hours rest, and exhaustion quickly crept on her. She was too tired and far too upset herself to remember that Inuyasha needed far less rest than her and could handle a fussy baby for a while. Once she was rested, she would probably blame baby brain for forgetting such a vital part of her husband’s characteristics, but that was for a rested Kagome to worry about.

Sleep came to her quickly, albeit restless sleep. She kept waking and searching for the other occupants of her home, before remembering they were out on a walk. She moved in and out of awareness, not having slept alone in what felt like eons, but realistically was only two years. Her bed felt cold and the room too quiet without her boys in it.

Sunlight finally peaked through the crevices of the walls. Inuyasha had promised her that he would fill in the gaps that the aging wood had created. But that was before the early labor and dramatic entrance of their first-born son just a few short months ago. Kagome half thought to remind him of the task, but then thought she couldn’t risk his attention been separated from her and the baby.

She wasn’t ready to be solely responsible yet.

Sure, reasonably she knew she could do it. It would probably just take him a few hours to gather the straw and mud to bulk up the walls, and with his speed and strength the longest part of it would be waiting for it to dry before adding more. He could help her out during those times, but the thought of even a moment where he wasn’t beside her with his full attention on their baby was too much to imagine.

Kagome started to choke up realizing she had left him to her own worst fear last night – solo parenting.

She rubbed her eyes, and the voice in the back of her head told her “Inuyasha is his father. He is just as capable of taking care of him for a few hours, if not more so.”

She threw that thought to the wind and continued to berate herself for leaving him alone with a very upset and very inconsolable baby for an entire night.

Kagome forced herself to sit up, stiff from having slept in the position she fell over in, rearranging her clothes. She winced at the soreness of her breasts and was sure to loosely cover herself.

“He should be hungry,” she said aloud to no one in particular. ‘Hopefully’ went unspoken.

As she dusted herself off and walked to the bucket of water in the corner to get a drink, Inuyasha’s head ducked in the room, eyes scanning for her.

When he saw her, he gave her a sheepish look. Kagome panicked for a moment – did he leave the baby with Sango and Miroku? What would they think of them as parents if they just dropped the kid off when he got fussy?

Her thoughts were interrupted when he stepped into the room, a whimpering lump on his chest alerting her to the baby’s presence.

Later she would realize her panicked thoughts were more of a manifestation of her own desire to ask her friends for help but wouldn’t out of an irrational fear of judgement. That was another thing she was going to have to work out.

“Sorry to wake you, but he’s suckling on me.”

Kagome blinked, her brain still foggy and slow. Oh. Inuyasha meant the baby was hungry.

She went to grab the baby from her husband, but then thought better of it. Wouldn’t be good to drop the kid in her exhaustion trying to get herself sorted to feed him.

She put down the ladle she was drinking from and sat back down on their futon, crumpled and unmade from the events of the night before. The smell of it made her speak. “We got to air this out today.”

“Once he’s fed, I’ll bring it out.” Inuyasha stepped up into the main room and crouched beside his wife, waiting for her to be ready for the baby – who was still whimpering, but had at least dried himself out of tears.

Kagome adjusted her clothes before holding her arms out for her son – her perfect, fussy, big, loud, demanding son. He quickly latched and took off suckling, eager to fill his stomach and rehydrate after the waterworks of the last few hours.

Kagome felt Inuyasha settled behind her, his arms coming around to hold up their son with her, so her arms didn’t have to hold up the weight. Sighing loudly, she leaned back into him, her head resting against his shoulder and his chin nuzzling into her opposite shoulder. Kagome closed her eyes and started to drift of.

Okay, maybe she did drift off.

Next thing she knew Inuyasha had switched their baby on her breasts and was rubbing his wet nose into her cheek. “Hey,” his voice in her ear was a nice change from the screaming of the night before, “I need you to lay down. I’ve got to burp the brat.”

Kagome nodded, slumping over on his arm, until he removed it and let her flop onto the futon. She could hear the shuffling of his feet walking and bouncing the baby up and down to help him release excess gas. The wet blech told her that more than likely the fire rat robe was going to need to be washed.

Groggily she called out, “He did drink pretty dang fast.”

“Yeah,” came the reply, “let’s just hope he kept enough down to keep him calm for a little bit.”

“Maybe he’ll go into a food coma, and we can rest to.”

Inuyasha snorted. “If there’s a god out there, then let’s pray it happens.”

Kagome knew she should help her husband. He was probably having to juggle a baby while getting out of his clothes and then having to clean both of them up. She knew she should just get up and even if it was to wipe off their son, at least do something. But she couldn’t even manage to open her eyes to watch what she was sure was quite the scene playing out in her house.

She could say she was surprised when she was lifted up and put onto some blankets, but she wouldn’t because she didn’t have it in her to even register what was going on. Managing just a little bit of strength, Kagome saw her son on his back next to her, his chest going up and down and a very light snore coming from his mouth that also caused his ears to twitch in rhythm. He was naked which Kagome knew was probably a bad idea but couldn’t even find it in her to care.

If he soiled the blankets, he soiled the blankets. They washed.

Besides, it wasn’t like she was exactly clean herself.

Rolling to her side, she gently tucked an arm under her head and the other coming down softly to rest on his chest. The movement of his breath quickly lulled his mother into a far more peaceful rest than before.

The sun had well slid its way across the sky by the time Kagome woke up. Inuyasha was sitting in the genkan, a shallow dish of water before him and the boy in his lap. The baby seemed very fascinated by the light dancing across the surface and was enchanted by the experience.

Kagome could tell that her husband was just as enchanted by watching their son experience the world for the first time.

“Some partner I am.” Her voice was rough and gravely from dehydration. Inuyasha’s ears moved before his head. He looked over his shoulder at her, bemusement in his eyes.

“Didn’t know I married a bear demon.”

Kagome rolled her eyes at his quip. Gods help her if her son developed his father’s sense of humor. “I’m sorry for leaving you to all the work. I’m not a very good wife, am I?”

Inuyasha’s eyes narrowed, whether in confusion or annoyance, she couldn’t tell. She was too far gone in her emotions to care. “What kind of mother am I, even? I just leave my boy alone and don’t comfort him?”

Inuyasha cut her off before she could continue down her path of self-deprecation. “No one could comfort him last night. Miroku told me that babies get that way sometimes, so we’ve just got to stick together and make sure he knows we’ll be there for him.”

Ah. He had gone to see Miroku and Sango last night. Kagome felt a sting of bitterness in her chest, worrying about judgement for no reason.

“But,” Inuyasha looked back at his son, stroking the top of his head and lifting his fine sliver baby hair, “we aren’t going to win the battle unless we rely on each other and have each other’s backs.”

Kagome nearly stopped him, wanting to know what battle before she realized Miroku had probably use an analogy to get through to his half-demon friend.

Inuyasha continued. “You had my back with Naraku, and when I got injured. I had your back when you had to fight off Hobo and the entrance examples. It’s no different now.”

Kagome opened her mouth to correct him like she had thousands of times before about Hojo’s name, but her heart had other plans. “You’re right,” she spoke softly, her eyes beginning to close again now that she was comforted. “We’ve got each other’s backs. Thanks for having mine last night.”

If she had kept her eyes open for a few more moments she would have seen the color light up across her husband’s face before he turned to look back down at their boy, who was now touching the water to refract light differently, although he didn’t understand the science of his actions.

If she had stayed awake for a second longer, she would have heard her husband say, “I’ll always have your back.”

#inukag #inukag week #inukag fanfiction #inukag fic #inukag ficlet #inukag week 2021 #panda writes #inuyasha #inuyashaxkagome #inuyasha x kagome #inuyasha fanfiction #I haven't watched the new season so I do what I want and what I want is a baby with Inuyasha's ears.#Day 1: Battle Couple

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hankwritten · 3 years

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And She Dresses Like a Scoundrel

Engineer/Spy, 2k

Part of the DontNeedADiscord Pride Week, Day 4: Fashion

“Thank you, Engineer,” I said gratefully, accepting back the once again functional disguise kit.

“No problem, partner,” he replied, gracious as ever. “Must have been a hard three days without it.”

“Indeed.” I sighed, recalling how many sentries had gotten the better of me with a grimace. “To think, less than a year ago I was relying entirely on my own skills of camouflage to create my disguise. I would even do it for fun! But here I am, ten months working for BLU and I’ve become completely dependent on their technology.” Another sigh, this time more beleaguered. “Truly, I have let myself slip.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, Spy,” he said, consoling.

I raised my hand. “No need to be patronizing, my friend. I know the writing on the wall.” I waved, preparing to exit his workshop. “Thank you again for the repair, Engineer.”

But as I was halfway to the door, Engie blurted, “why don’t you?”

“Come again?” I asked, turning around.

“Why don’t you make your own disguises anymore?” he repeated, seemingly genuinely confused.

“As I said, I haven’t needed to,” I shrugged. “And thus, my skills have lapsed.”

“But if it was for fun, why’d you stop?”

At that I paused. It had been fun, one of my greatest prides was coming up with a new face and a new identity to fit any particular occasion. There was no greater joy than reintroducing yourself to someone under a new guise and seeing them have no idea.

“…I’m not sure,” I said honestly. “Probably because, despite my enjoyment, I associated the activity exclusively with work.”

That satisfied his curiosity, though it did make him rather dour. “Makes sense.” He thought for a moment. “But you could always pick it back up again?”

“I’d be horridly out of practice,” I waved off.

“So? We all gotta start somewhere.”

I tilted my head. “Why does this interest you so?”

He pushed up his goggles, chewing on some thought until it left a peculiar look about his face. “Just seems a shame,” he said eventually, “All that talent going to waste. You seem mighty busy all the time, never see you do anything just because you enjoy it.”

I pressed my lips together. There was a certain truth to that, and I wondered internally if I was being resistant for no reason. “...Hm. I... suppose you are right. Even if I do have access to a near flawless disguise kit, there’s no reason to set it aside entirely.”

“There you go! You sound gung-ho already.”

I didn’t, but he was familiar with my habit of faint praise to cover up genuine enthusiasm. “I appreciate the suggestion,” I told him honestly. “…Maybe when you see me next, you won’t even know it is I.”

Engie grinned, and it was charming how vicious he looked when he was trying to be encouraging. “Looking forward to it.”

Of my old wigs, only the black one with its loose curls had managed to survive its year in storage. Even still, there was frizz on a good portion of it, and after a half hour of teasing I gave up and began tearing apart the rest of my wardrobe for something to lesson its imperfections. What I found was a scarf, red and silken, and decided it would have to do.

A full-length buttoned coat, and pair of striped legs. Yes, these would be serviceable.

But first, makeup . I remembered that much at least, though I failed to recall the first rule of application: always begin with the eyes. The result was that I was left with a perfect pair of heart lips and a disgusting smudge across my sockets, the latter of which I had no interest in starting over on. Instead, I retrieved a pair of sunglasses from my trunk. I deserved to cut a few corners after so long, and anyone who said differently could try their makeup after a year without practice and see if they could do better.

When I was done, a perfectly lovely woman stared back at me. The stare turned into a frown. A perfectly lovely woman a year out of fashion. What was I wearing? Leggings? Good god, those were on the way out last fall.

I began to examine myself in the mirror, cursing myself for ever becoming so woefully outdated. I’d had my finger in the crease of Dapper Cadaver without pause for the past hundred issues, but I hadn’t even bothered to pick up a single magazine on women’s fashion? Disgraceful. Something would have to be done about this.

By the time I made it down to breakfast, someone had already made the first pot of the morning. I filled a mug and sat down.

Medic didn’t so much as blink. He lifted his eyes, greeting, “Guten Morgen, Herr Spy,” and returned to his medical notes. By the spots of blood, they were likely fresh.

Soldier was another story. “By God! You finally did it, Nurse,” he said, gripping the back of Medic’s chair and shaking him slightly. “You turned Spy into a woman!”

“I did not,” Medic said, peeling one of Soldier’s hands off his shoulder. He then considered for a moment, and addressed me, “unless this is your way of making a statement?”

“Non,” I shook my head. “Not entirely, at least. Soldier is right, but this is not permanent: I simply wished to get back into a more…flexible mode of presentation.” I paused for a second. “What did he mean by ‘finally’?”

“Are you implying I have been working secretly in my lab for the past two years on some sort of sex-change ray that would be sure to result in wacky hijinxs should it ever be completed?” Medic sipped his coffee. “Because I’m not and that is ridiculous.”

“…I see.”

If Soldier’s reaction was passionate, Engineer’s was somehow even more so. Before he even fully entered the kitchen, he stopped dead, his eyes locked on me. A few times he tried to speak, failed, and settled for scratching the back of his neck.

“Seems like you took my advice on the whole disguise work,” he said eventually. Now he had trouble looking at me altogether, a deep blush forming along his cheeks.

“I did,” I smirked, amused at his state. “Though unfortunately I’ve found my current wardrobe is not what I’d like it to be. I was hoping to use today’s ceasefire to do some shopping.”

“You want some company?” he asked, then immediately got flustered again. “Just uh…cause I know you don’t like taking your car though all the dust ‘less you absolutely have to, and nearest city with a shopping mall is pretty far…”

“Ah, so you are offering to drive,” I mused. “And here I thought you believed I suddenly needed assistance carrying my bags.”

Medic snorted, though when Engie shot him a glare he showed no indication he’d even been listening.

“…I can give you a lift, sure,” the Engineer affirmed slowly, still frowning offendedly in Medic’s direction.

“That is unacceptable!” Soldier chimed, brining his fist down on the table and making the silverware tinkle. “You two are not yet married! You think you can just go on a trip into town while unchaperoned? It is indecent!”

Engie sputtered, losing the bit of coffee he’d had the misfortune of drinking. “Soldier! What hell are you talking about?” he sputtered. “That ain’t- it’s still just Spy.”

“Exactly,” Soldier agreed. “That is why the two of you cannot be left alone together. Do not worry! I volunteer to accompany you on this shopping trip.”

Medic was laughing, having a much more difficult time hiding it now.

I grinned placidly. “You heard the man, Engineer,” I said. “It would go against decency to be about without a chaperone.”

“Fine,” he said, pulling his helmet further over his eyes. “Guess I’ll make the truck up for three.”

As much as I wanted to see if he would pop like a balloon if any more blood went to his face, I decided he’d had enough for the morning. I kept our conversation within acceptable subjects on the way up, and refrained from commenting on his new collection of odd mannerisms. It was quite adorable actually, especially when Soldier would lean out of the back seat every now and then to remind him ‘no funny business’.

When arriving at the glorious superplex that was the Santa Fe outdoor mall, the first thing on my agenda was a new jacket. The one extracted from the bowels of my old wardrobe was such a drab mauve, and with some help from the assistant at Loveman’s, I was able to find a few acceptable pantsuits. One could only expect “acceptable” when shopping chic in a department store—and a department store in America no less—but hopefully the rivers of fashion had trickled down enough that I wouldn’t embarrass myself too badly. The white plaid one was even quite fetching.

Next were hats.

“Engineer! Spy!” Soldier arrested our attention with. “I have located something I would like to purchase.”

He was wearing a newsboy hat over the top of his helmet.

“You needn’t ask us for permission,” I told him. “You have your own funds.”

He straightened like he honestly hadn’t thought of that. “Okay!” Then he was off again, sorting through the seemingly never-ending headwear.

“Some chaperone,” Engie remarked as he disappeared.

“I’m sure we can be trusted alone for but a few minutes,” I said, turning with a blue cloche hat in place. “What do you think of this one?”

“As pretty as the last. I mean-” He coughed. “Looks just fine.”

I smiled. “Here I thought you’d had enough teasing, but it seems you’re doing all the work for me.”

“Dang it Spy, I just meant-” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You know what, let’s just head to the jewelry.”

I shook my head. “Unfortunately jewelry is too much of a hazard. Rings and bracelets make removing gloves difficult, and necklaces are extremely useful for strangling your target from behind.”

“Terrifying that you put it like that, but remember you ain’t doing this for the job,” he prompted. “This is you getting a chance to try something different. D’ya want to wear a necklace?”

As he said it, he moved closer to the jewelry counter. I followed him, peering through the glass at all the trinkets I usually dismissed when assembling a woman’s portfolio. They were lovely…

“Mademoiselle,” I called to the woman behind the counter. “Might I be able to try this on?”

Engie whistled. “Nice choice.”

“I happen to have exquisite taste in jewelry,” I told him, gazing at my reflection in the glass as it wore the blue teardrop pendant I had picked out. “Both when selecting for a lover, or for myself.”

The attendant gave me an odd look, but it was worth it to see Engineer chuckle in a way that no longer uncomfortable.

“I have located another!” Soldier informed us as we took our bag. This time he was wearing a Viking helmet. From where he had obtained it, I had no idea.

“Then finish up paying,” Engie said. “We’re heading out soon.”

“Not so fast, Engineer,” I stopped him as he’d taken a step toward the door. “We still have not gotten anything for you.”

“Me?” he balked, craning his neck around like he was suddenly intimidated by the voluptuous mannequins surrounding us. “I don’t need nothin’…”

“And why not?” I asked. “We have dedicated the whole morning to me, and Soldier is finding ways to entertain himself, why shouldn’t you acquire something nice?”

“I…”

“Please, my friend,” I said. “My treat.”

“…Alright,” he sighed. “Sorry Sol, looks like-”

Soldier had acquired a bowler hat, which he wore on top of his Viking helm.

“-Well okay then.”

The Engineer provided an interesting challenge. The first thing I noticed was that everything in his size was far too long for him, and it made me question how he’d even found fitting clothes in the first place when everything in the store simply wanted to fall off him in tubes. He explained that he usually had to hem up his pants after buying them. I thought that was adorable, to which he muttered a string of ‘aw shucks’.

In a montage where Engie grew more flustered by the minute, I managed to get him into a delightful pair of corduroy pants with a mustard button down, an orange sweater with matching slacks, and a simple floral print button down that might go under his overalls. However, my absolute favorite was-

“Well now you’re just being rude,” he said, holding up the jacket.

“Howdy partner,” I mimicked. “Why don’t we just give up?”

“I don’t sound like that,” he complained. “And I definitely don’t wear things like this.”

The cowboy leathers were the sort of pink you saw from a mile away, genuine cow hide wasted on the monstrosity in his hands. There were more tassels than a man could ever want, and they went wonderfully with the white chaps and matching white Stetson.

“This is an eyesore,” he said.

“So are your regular clothes,” I reflected. “Please, I only ask that you try them on.”

He grumbled, and stepped into the changing room. That was good. I’d hate to have to bring out the, ‘for me?’.

“It’s certainly…something,” I said six minutes later.

“A trainwreck,” Engie said.

“You’re smiling,” I pointed out.

He grinned a little wider. He turned in a circle, the hundreds of tassels swishing around him, and then for good measure did a little two-step. I couldn’t help but chuckle with a hand over my mouth.

A shopper with a mustache passed by and gave us a strange look, and for some reason I started laughing harder.

“What’s got you so tickled?” Engie inquired.

“Nothing,” I waved off with a smile. “I was just thinking: after the thirty-five times the two of use have appeared in public together, this the first that you’re the queer one.”

He paused for a moment, looking down at himself. “Heh, I guess so.” Then he started to laugh. “…So. You been counting the number of times we’ve gone out together?”

“Is it so odd that I enjoy your company?

“No but…” he studied me for a moment. “Would you like to do this again some time? Assuming we can ditch the chaperone.”

“Mr. Conagher, how scandalous!” I said with mock horror. “I thought you’d never ask.”

He gave me one of those charming smiles again, and my heart fluttered ever so slightly.

Soldier greeted us on the way out, hat boxes stacked so high we couldn’t see his face anymore. “Operation successful! Move out troops!”

“Soldier,” Engie asked as he began securing boxes in the back of his pickup so there wouldn’t be a colossal hat pileup on the highway, “how long until you stop following my ‘n Spy around?”

“I do not know. Spy! How long are you going to be a women?”

I adjusted my new hat in the side mirror. “Until I feel otherwise.”

“Well then there you go!” Soldier declared. “It is perfectly acceptable for two unmarried men to be alone together, so you may resume making moon eyes at each other then.”

That, for once, got us both to flush.

#dnadprideweek2021 #engiespy #tf2 fanfiction

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homefryboy · 4 years

Text

Important-ass announcement

Ok so a LOT’S been going on and basically I’ve been trying to break it to my parents that I can’t go thru with this law school shit; this spring semester’s gotta be my last, and I’ve gotta pursue an art career if I’m to stay sane and non-miserable...Without getting into the situation too much, I recently told my mom and she’s in “I support u no matter what but not rlly :)))” mode and I haven’t told my dad but whenever I do—the later, the better—he will be pissed. But there might be a way for me to save my ass! With MONEY! So y’all can help out by

-telling me anyone/anywhere u can think of that’d be a good place for me to apply for any job u think would benefit from my art. I ain’t relying on y’all, I’ve been applying to logo design, card design, drawing greeting cards, character design, cover designs, comics, etc. jobs online left and right, but I rlly need every chance I can get. One-time projects are good but smth long-term w/ a salary involved would be even better. Lemme know if u have ideas where I could look or smth. Just want more outside opinions is all, bc I don’t think a lot of ppl are looking to philosophy majors for artwork but idk. I did get hired to do art for a children’s book series, but the benefits of that remain to be seen

-checking out whatever kofi or “commission” thing or patreon or whatever I’ll try to get going asap. Of course I’ll look into it myself but lemme know which u think would be best. (whenever I do I’ll prolly even make an announcement on my old blog...!) I have an upwork account, but that tax withdrawal crap is driving me NUTS. Gotta start out p cheap bc I mean I draw everything on paper and edit w/ my shitty outdated phone so how much can I rlly charge ppl...? idk abt getting more advanced art programs yet, that’ll have to wait. Just think, if my art actually used L A Y E R S. But one step at a time ig.

-yes, I will work for minimum wage. Maybe even free if it’ll look good enough on my resumé. Yes, I will suck dick. If I sound desperate it’s because I kinda aaam

This isn’t so much of a “UGH PLEASE HIRE ME” post as it is a “please support me however u can post”. Send kind words, suggestions, advice, anything y’all could do would at least give me strength to try harder, and persevere in this dang world. I feel like I owe a lot to you, you rlly are a big source of willpower for me. So thanks guys. Hopefully I’ll be making some moolah soon.

#psa #boys art #me #held onto this bc I didn’t wanna look...whiny...#but I just want money for my art I c a n ‘ t

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writer-k-pop · 4 years

Text

Stuck Together

내 곁에 있어주면 내가 가장 좋은 레스토랑에 꼭 방문하도록 할게. Stay by me and I’ll make sure you visit the best restaurants.

Description: [Request: When you have the time, could you please write a Jun x Reader fluff piece where the reader is a Chinese idol in Blackpink and after a series of running into each other and their members playing Cupid, they bound over finding really good Chinese restaurants in Korea and help each other with homesickness? Also, could she be a 98 liner and friends with The8 (one of the matchmaker masterminds)? Thank you xx] Just as the request says though I added Lisa as a mastermind because I for some reason thought I read Lisa’s name in the request too lol. Warnings: Swearing Genre: Fluff, Idol!Jun x Idol!Reader Word Count: 3.4k

Seventeen Masterlist | Masterlists

"Don't forget to get extra napkins!" Lisa's text said.

"We have enough napkins here!" Rose replied within a few seconds.

"You never know when we might need them in the car!" Lisa sent back with two "humph" emojis.

I chuckled while typing my response, "I'll get extra napkins." I took my eyes off of my phone and I saw the Chinese restaurant just up the street where our take out order is (hopefully) ready.

Lisa had convinced us that it had really good Chinese food and seeing as I was really craving for it, I couldn't exactly say no. Well, I could've but then my craving wouldn't have been fulfilled. Then as the youngest of us five, I was pressured into picking the order up. Though as I left, I noticed Lisa and Rose giggling to each other but they were staring at Lisa's phone so I suspected it was something funny on there.

The lights from inside the restaurant made the windows glow with a warm yellow haze and as I opened the door, the scents took me to another planet. There weren't any customers inside, which I'm always grateful for, and the sounds of clanking pans and rushing fires welcomed me with a sense of home.

I walked to the cash register off to the side and greeted the employee with a smile.

"Hello, how can I help you?" They asked with a smile.

"Hi, I have an order to pick up." I informed them.

The employee nodded, "What's the name?"

"(y/n)." I told her.

They typed my name into the computer and searched for my order. "It's not quite ready yet, I apologize about that. It should be just a few more minutes though." They informed me with a truly apologetic look.

I shook my head, "Not a problem. I can wait." I reassured them and took a seat at an empty table.

"Not ready yet, but they said only a few more minutes." I sent a text to our group chat.

"Kk." Lisa replied simply.

"Be careful on your way home!" Jisoo sent with a thumbs up emoji.

"I will." I replied to her and set my phone down in my lap.

Looking around the shop, it was clean and not too clutter. It was decorated with lots of brown shelves and brown tables and chairs but the items and paintings helped liven up the place with their rainbow of colors.

An employee in the kitchen brought a large bag out onto the counter and I began to ready myself to lug the big bag home. But before I could get too far, he brought out another... and another... and another...

My jaw almost dropped to the floor when I realized how many take out orders they must've had.

"I hope that's not all for one person." I thought to myself, playing with the edge of my shirt cause there wasn't much else to do.

I moved from my shirt to inspecting my nails, trying to decide what colors the stylists might do for our next comeback which we were just starting to talk about. In the middle of a debate between deep reds or bright whites, the door opened with a ding and two males walked in laughing.

"Oh." The nearly silent sound escaped my mouth as my head tilted to the side in recognition of the two males: The8 and Jun from Seventeen. I seemed to be running into them a lot lately. We ran into each other during like every music show of our last comeback plus the once while they were walking out of one radio room and we were headed towards another.

Either from my staring or my mere presence in the restaurant, they turned and looked at me.

The8 and I instantly greeted each other with warm smiles. Though we never get much time to see each other besides the run ins, The8 and I are pretty good friends and I often call him when my homesickness hits hard.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" The8 asked, walking closer to me.

"Picking up some food." I answered, "Lisa said this place was to die for."

"I said the same thing!" The8 exclaimed.

"You never said it was to die for." Jun shoved The8 shoulder with a chuckle.

I raised a suspicious eyebrow at The8 but he quickly diverted.

"I'll go see if it's ready." He quickly walked away, leaving me and Jun.

"How have you been?" I asked, hoping to start a conversation.

Jun nodded, "Good, surprising really good. What about you?"

"Good, also." I answered, still trying to dredge out of this awkward stage.

"Hey, congrats on the 18th win." Jun told me with sincerity.

"Thank you. It's crazy we've been on the charts that long." I shook my head in disbelief.

"It's really impressive. Some day we'll beat you though." Jun joked. "Just you wait."

I smiled, taking his joke, "I will. I can't wait for it."

Before Jun could answer, The8 called out to him at the same time that an employee called out my name for my order. So, naturally, we walked up together.

"Why do we order so much food?" Jun exclaimed at The8 who's got a bag in each hand.

"Those four bags were for Seventeen." I thought, "That makes sense."

"It's what we get when the ENTIRE dorm wants Chinese food for dinner." The8 deadpanned with a slight 'never again' tone.

The employee handed me a bag almost as full as one of Jun's and the heat rolled off in waves.

When I turned back around, Jun was sliding the second bag off of the counter and The8 was nowhere in sight.

"Did you get ditched?" I asked, looking around the restaurant to make sure I'm not blindly missing The8.

"He went to the car first." Jun answered and we started to walk towards the door.

"Have a good one!" The employee at the register called out to us as we reached the door.

"Thank you." I called back, opening and then holding the door open for Jun.

"Thanks." He muttered as he passed me into the open, slightly less warm outside air. A few feet away, a van sat with its engine running and back door open. Probably Jun's ride. "Well..." Jun trailed off a little awkwardly.

I raised my bag of food slightly, "I should probably get going. You know, before the food gets cold."

"Yeah, yeah, me too." Jun quickly replied, flustered. "I, I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see you 'round, Jun." I smiled at him before turning down the street in the opposite direction.

15 minutes later and I made it into the house with the food all in tact.

"You didn't tell us you were on your way home." Jisoo commented while setting utensils down on the table as I set the bag down.

"Sorry, I ran into Jun and The8 from Seventeen again." I informed her with a slightly incredulous look.

"Really?" Rose walked in with Lisa and Jennie behind her.

I pulled out the containers, "Yeah, they were trying out the same place. The8 apparently found it."

"So, you talked to them?" Lisa asked giddily.

"Sit down and eat." Jisoo instructed us cause apparently none of us had sat yet.

Once the food was passed around, the conversation continued.

"So, did you?" Lisa repeated her question from before.

"Did I what?" I asked, forgetting her original question.

"Talk to them." Lisa finished, still giddy about something.

I nodded and scooped some food into my mouth and immediately am taken back to when my mom would cook this for me. "A little. Their order was ready before ours was but we walked out at the same time." I informed her.

"What did you talk about?" LIsa kept firing off questions.

"Why do you want to know?" I questioned back, confused at her sudden interest in all of this.

Lisa shrugged, "I'm nosy."

"No, you're usually not." Jennie countered her statement.

Lisa stuck out her tongue at Jennie.

I widen my eyes at her playfulness but ultimately decided to answer her. "We didn't talk about much. They congratulated us on our latest win." I shrugged, "And that was it."

"That's it?" Lisa asked, bewildered. "That- Dang it! It-"

Rose quickly covered Lisa's mouth and whispered something urgently into her ear before she calmed down.

"How does it taste, (y/n)?" Jisoo asked, taking attention away from the two 97 liners. "Does it kill your craving?"

I nodded happily. "Most definitely. It's probably one of the better ones I've had in Korea."

"I'm glad." Jisoo smiled happily.

"Told you it was to die for." Lisa smirked at me and we resumed our dinner.

--------------------- A few months later ----------------------------------

"This has to work this time, right?" I heard Lisa whisper to someone as I walked into the dressing room.

I looked around her and the phone pressed to her ear informed me that she was in fact not talking to herself. She spotted me out of the corner of her eye and quickly said goodbye and hung up the phone.

"Hey." She smiled sweetly.

"Hey?" I replied quizzically, "What has to work?" I blurted out the question.

"Oh, that was nothing." Lisa shook her head, "Hey, can you go give these to the director?" She handed me a stack of paper.

"What are they?" I questioned, "And why me?"

Lisa shrugged, "The staff just said to go and give it to him. And you because you're our lovely maknae."

I took them from her hands.

"And I have to get my hair done." Lisa added, nodding towards one the stylist waiting next to an empty chair.

I securely tucked the papers under my arm, "And where is the director?"

Lisa sat in the chair and the stylist turned her so she was looking at me in the reflection of the mirror.

"Probably in his office." Lisa replied, "You go down the hallway and it should be the last door on the left."

I nodded and mentally ran through the directions again. "Alright, I'll be back." I told them and walked out of the room again.

Looking down the hall, I took a deep breath and made my way down the seemingly never ending hallway. Eventually I made it to the end and found the last door on the left.

There was no sign around the door but I guessed that I was in the right spot. After opening the door and turning on the light, I quickly realized that this was in fact NOT the director's office.

The small room's walls were lined with metal shelving, each filled with cardboard boxes. I scanned over the boxes and read the labels: lighting, backdrops, camera. This was a storage room. Rose led me to a storage room.

Mentally, my brain stopped working for a solid minute while taking in this information. Just as I recovered from my lag, the storage room door opened and I prepared myself for a tsunami of embarrassment.

"Hello-Oh." Jun's voice abruptly stopped.

Slightly relieved that he was the one to show up and not someone else, I turned towards him. He was also holding a pile of papers and looked very confused at the contents of the room.

"Were you also told this was the director's office?" I questioned, holding up my stack of papers.

Jun sighed when he realized the both of us were played. "Yupp." He popped the end 'p'. "The8 told me. You?"

I ran a hand through my hair, "Lisa."

We were both pretty oblivious to the bigger picture but maybe that was for the better.

"Maybe it's like a prank. I bet you there are cameras in here somewhere." Jun walked into the room and let the door shut behind him while searching the shelves for cameras.

"I don't think there are any cameras, Jun." I giggled at his failed attempts to look on the top shelf.

He stopped jumping but also stopped his search, "I bet you there is a hidden camera in here somewhere."

"If you find it, do let me know." I chuckled at his determination, "Let's get out of here before we're late."

Jun nodded, "Yeah, let's go."

We turned towards the door but when I reached out for the door handle, I'm met with air. Zip. Nada. Nothing.

No door handle.

"Jun." I stared at the space where a door handle should’ve been.

"There's no door handle." Jun whispered in just as much shock as me. "Oh we're fucked."

"And trapped." I added, taking a step back.

"Do you have your cellphone?" Jun glanced at me.

"You don't?" I exclaimed in more shock that a male idol such as himself wouldn't have his phone on him 24/7.

"The8 practically shoved me out the door. I didn't have time to grab it." Jun grumbled, "It's his fault I'm stuck in a room and phone-less."

"I just thought it would be glued to your persons." I shrugged and pulled my phone out of my pocket. "Let me call Jisoo."

"You- damn you let me almost freak out for nothing." Jun pouted.

I smiled sweetly at him and dialed Jisoo's number.

Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring... voicemail.

"She didn't pick up." I frowned then I tried Jennie's number.

Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring... voicemail.

Now, I kind of started to panic a little. No one was picking up their phones.

"Try Rose?" Jun offered a suggestion which I promptly followed.

Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring... voicemail.

"Fuck." I cursed and dialed the Lisa's number.

Ring, ring, ring, ring, ri-

"Hey! How's it going? Did you deliver the papers?" Lisa cheerfully answered the phone.

"Ha. Ha." I said with sarcasm dripping like honey, "You know damn well that this room was not the director's office."

"Oh, don't worry." Lisa reassured me, "There should be someone on his way to keep you company."

"Lisa..." I grabbed her attention.

"Yeah?" She asked, curiosity in her voice.

"He's here already." I informed her.

"Oh that's great! You two ha-"

"This storage room door doesn't haVE A DOOR HANDLE ON THE INSIDE!" I raised my voice in frustration.

"Oh..." Lisa trailed off. "Uhm, we'll be right there."

I hung up without answering. "My members are coming to save us." I informed Jun, who had resumed searching for a hidden camera.

"Good, good." He commented while I leaned back against a shelf. "Question." He suddenly said.

"Answer?" I replied back, unsure if it was the correct way.

"What did you think of that Chinese restaurant?" Jun asked, leaning against the shelf opposite of me.

I tilted my head confusion, "Which Chinese restaurant?"

"The one where we ran into each other?" Jun explained with a similar amount of confusion at my inability to remember.

"Oh! That place." I remembered that funny run in, "It was actually surprising good. Usually Lisa doesn't have the best taste in Chinese food but she did good that time."

Jun nodded, "Yeah, it definitely was better than I expected. It kind of tasted like my mom's but it wasn't spicy enough."

"Oh my god, I totally agree." I said happily, loving the fact that someone also enjoyed the extremely spicy things in life. "It almost tasted like how my mom cooks for my dad who can barely handle any spice."

Jun snapped his fingers excitedly, "Have you tried the place across town? Near the shopping mall?" He asked.

I shook my head, "No, I haven't, it is good?"

"Dude, so good. And it's spicy and delicious and mmm." Jun hummed happily recalling the tastes.

My mouth started to water at the sheer thought of that spice level.

"It reminds me so much of home." Jun said with a tinge of sadness in his voice.

"I usually crave it when I miss home." I told him, understanding his loneliness to the full extent. "It's never as good as I want it to be but it's still a nice blanket to wrap around myself." I lowered my gaze to the floor, suddenly missing my family so much that my heart started to have a slight ache.

"Do you have many Chinese friends?" Jun wondered, the care in his voice pulled my gaze back up to him. "It helped me to have people to talk about home with."

"Besides The8, not many, but we don't really have time to socialize much." I told him honestly.

"Well, why don't you join The8 and I's little Chinese chat." Jun offered with a small smile. "I could add you and I could show you the places that I think have the best Chinese food." He quickly added on.

I smiled at his sweet offer, "That would be really cool."

"I mean you'd be the only girl so I understand if your answer is no and- oh, you want to." Jun corrected himself halfway then breathed out a sigh of relief. "I'll add you..." He paused, patting his pockets in search of his phone, "When I get my phone back." Jun gave me a sheepish smile.

"That might help." I chuckled at his attempt to be smooth. "Why don't you give me your number since I have my phone here and we can save a step." I suggested and I watched as Jun lightly facepalmed himself.

"That is a smart idea." He laughed at himself and I opened up a new contact page.

Jun quickly put in his information and then proceeded to take a selfie to set at his photo.

"You don't have to." I told him as the flash illuminated him along with some of the boxes behind him.

"It's fine." Jun said, eyes busy aligning the photo to his liking, "Plus I wanted to make sure you wouldn't forget my face."

"I wouldn't." I defended myself.

"Uh huh, sure." Jun jokingly said, "The same way you remembered the Chinese restaurant."

"Do you know how many Chinese restaurants I go to a week?" I questioned him.

"Not as many as I have, obviously" Jun raised his eyebrows in amusement and handed me back my phone. "But don't worry, stick by me and I'll make sure you visit the best and stay away from the ... more questionable ones." He smirked.

"My own personal tour guide." I pocketed my phone and smiled smugly.

"I- I am not a tour guide." Jun was taken aback by my comment which made me laugh. "I ain't nobody's tour guide."

"But you said you'd take me to the best places. Sounds like a tour guide to me." I said with innocence.

Before Jun could say anything, voices got closer to the door.

"Are you sure?" One The8 sounding male asked.

"You sent her into a room without a door handle!" A female, most definitely Lisa, nearly shrieked.

"How is that- You told her to go there." The8 stuttered. Jun and I shared a confused look then stared back at the door.

"You were the one who suggested it!" Lisa retorted.

The door swung open and The8 held the outer door handle while Lisa stood glaring at him for a second before turning to us. The air around us buzzed with a slight awkwardness that none of us knew quite how to break.

"Hi." Jun waved at the two newcomers, "Get locked here often?"

"You guys were-" The8 stopped mid-sentence as he reached for the inner door handle but didn't find it. "You were locked in."

"I told you." Lisa grumbled and smacked The8's shoulder.

"You guys planned this?" I questioned with suspicion.

Now it was The8 and Lisa's turn to share a look, this time one of 'oh shit'.

"You two sent us in here. You two locked us in this storage room while telling us it was the director's office." Jun assumed, taking in their silence.

Their continued silence only solidified their answer.

"And," Lisa dragged out the word, "We're about to be late! Let's go." She rushed in and started shoving me out of the room. The8 followed suit with Jun.

As Lisa continued to rush me down the hall, I took a quick look back at my locked-in-a-storage-room buddy who didn't seem to be paying any attention to a word The8 was saying.

"I'll text you!" I called out to him, giving him a last wave.

Jun smiled widely and waved back.

"You got his number?" Lisa wondered once I turned and began to walk at her pace.

I nodded, "Yeah, I mean what else were we supposed to while locked in a storage room together?" I paused to take in what I had just said, "Don't answer that."

"Wasn't going to." LIsa said then a smile began to grow on her face. "It worked." She whispered happily but I still heard her.

'Lisa, you are so dead.' I thought to myself as we made it to our dressing room where the stylist was not very happy I was walking in so late.

But hey, I got a cute guy's number so it wasn't all terrible.

#seventeen #seventeen imagine #jun imagine #seventeen jun imagine #moon junhui imagine #moon junhui #seventeen jun

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imgoingtocrash · 3 years

Photo

Made of Iron, Born of Fire: The Fanmix

by @imgoingtocrash

Listen on Spotify and 8tracks

Read the series on Ao3

AKA: A labor of love for @savvysass’s birthday!!!!

What can I say that hasn’t already been said because we’re both incredibly sappy people in our Author’s Notes? Writing this series with you has brought me so much joy in the last two years, and I never could have hit over 100k words without you. Here’s to whatever we write next in the series...and all of the WIPs we’re working on right now...and only god knows what’s next for us personally and professionally...and most importantly, to you on your Birthday. Thank you for being such a good friend, in both fandom and outside of it. I’m so, so thankful to know you and love you. 🥰

Director’s Cut Below, because we all know I love talking about this series, and yes, that does extend to why I picked these songs. (And also maybe because these song choices only make sense in my brain and hopefully Savannah’s?? Who knows! Feel free to ask questions if you want but let’s be honest this series and fanmix are most importantly for us, because we love the series so dang much.)

My Wildest Dreams by Ron Pope

I spoke in riddles and in rhymes, but my time with you has taught me to simplify, you’re not quite what I pictured you would be, you’re better than my wildest dreams.

We’ve talked about this one before, and I’LL TALK ABOUT IT AGAIN!!!! Ron Pope is so good imo, and this song wowowow the father-child feels, but especially with Tony and newborn Peter a la A Foreign Feeling and A First Time For Everything.

Big & Scared by Raleigh Ritchie

I want to be better for you, let me do that now, you’re my favorite human, so you should be prepared, I’ll help you get through it, when you’re big and scared

We’ve mentioned Tony’s thoughts about legacy multiple times by now, and I think this song really represents Tony looking forward to the person Peter could be become and that “breaking the cycle” mentality of supporting Peter even when he’s not a perfect father.

Legacy of Sadness by Ron Pope

irrational as it may seem I guess I’m sorry, even though I know that none of it’s my fault, it is easier for me to count my blessings, than to cry for every single thing we’ve lost

I have 0 shame putting these two songs by Ron Pope almost back to back because they’re the opening and closing of an album dedicated to his child like...it’s so perfect for Tony and this theme of reflection on who he is and who Peter will become/is becoming and all that entails.

this is me trying by Taylor Swift

They told me all of my cages were mental, so I got wasted like all my potential, and my words shoot to kill when I'm mad, I have a lot of regrets about that

I wrote something...very sad but also soft recently??? and this is for That it’s about pre-CW Pepperony being separated and the road to them trying to come back together including Tony working on himself and I love it!!! It hurts really good!!! This whole song is perfect for it and I can’t wait until people get to read it.

Be Good When I’m Gone by Four Year Strong

I'm sorry I can't stop to listen, but I've got so much to do and I've got some place to be, the house looks like the aftermath of a hurricane, I hope it stays that way

Tony being a busy parent but doing his best to make time for Peter in his life and making that time count has been something super important to illustrate to us, especially the transition from being a CEO to being a superhero and how that changes how Peter sees Tony’s absence over time.

I Won’t Back Down by Johnnyswim, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, and Penny and Sparrow

Tony puts on the original version by Tom Petty in Home Is Where The Heart Is, but I think this cover has a very slow, emotional undertone that’s really great too. The interludes, if you didn’t catch it, have all been featured in a fic previously.

Let It Matter by Johnnyswim

So if it matters let it matter, if your heart's breaking let it ache, catch those pieces as they scatter, know your hurt is not in vain

Pepper in Never Tell Me The Odds ALL DAYYYYY. She’s the emotional rock of that fic (and of our Ironfam TBH) and it’s all because she allows herself to feel her feelings and encourages the Stark boys to do so as well.

Simmer - Acoustic by Hayley Williams

And if my child, needed protection, from a fucker like that man, I’d sooner gut him, cause nothing cuts like a mother

Post-Home Is Where The Heart Is...y’all know Pepper’s not that mad about what happened to Obie. Also just Pepper when someone hurts her family?? I always write it as her sort of putting all of her emotion into something she can control and doing it well, so, this song is all about that.

Tightrope by Nia Hendricks

one step after another, keep holding on to each other, don’t look back, move on and let go, that’s how you walk on a tightrope

Pepperony trying to navigate their relationship and the insanity of superhero stuff and also co-parenting. It’s all excellent, I love them so much, I enjoy writing it so much!!!!

Dancing With Your Ghost by Sasha Sloan

Never got the chance, to say a last goodbye, I gotta move on, but it hurts to try, how do I love, how do I love again?

This song is tilted towards romance, but if you’ll remember, we’re a Pro-Tony Survives Endgame AU series, so it’s not about THAT...but well...Infinity War sure will hit something fierce for certain non-romantic relationships in this series, huh?

The Bones by Maren Morris

Call it dumb luck, but baby, you and I, can't even mess it up, although we both try, no, it don't always go the way we planned it, but the wolves came and went and we're still standing

Post-Endgame Ironfam!!! Tony and Pepper married with their kids, their family and HAPPY...THIS IS WHY WE DO ALL OF THE ANGST...FOR A FAMILY...WE LOVE THEM

Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas

Considered Pepper and Peter’s ‘song’, as it’s referenced multiple times in the series, and was one of the bigger solidifying moments of their mother-son relationship as a whole.

Mundane by Hardcastle

And I’ve been sinking into silence, dwelling on my thoughts, and in these months, I haven’t felt that most conversations have left me anything but blue

Peter’s selective mutism was something very special to us when we originally had the idea, and making sure we talk about it and utilize it in the right way is something we’re still working on, particularly with the Therapy Fic we’re brainstorming atm.

survivin’ (One Eyed Jack’s Session) by Bastille

What can I say? I'm survivin', crawling out these sheets to see another day, what can I say? I'm survivin', and I'm gonna be fine, I'm gonna be fine, I think I'll be fine

Spoiler Alert: Peter’s not fine, like, a decent amount of the time. But he’s sure trying, and we love him for that.

Jacob from the Bible by Jake Wesley Rogers

Mama, don't worry, it took me years, to say I'm sorry, to see your tears, Mama, forgive me, I grew up too fast, but it's not on you, it's in the past

Mostly part of Peter growing up to become a hero and realizing what his parents--particularly Pepper--have gone through for him to become the person he is today, but that sometimes he still doesn’t feel like he’s making them proud enough.

Compassion Is a German Word by To Kill A King

Don't be so arrogant, you ain't no different to anyone I've met, we're all the heroes in our own film, or maybe the villain in someone else's

Spider-Man being an excellent superhero boi!!! Being kind and good!!! We love it!! Also, I put a TKAK song on...a LOT of my playlists, because I think they’re great.

brutal by Olivia Rodrigo

And I'm so sick of seventeen, where's my fucking teenage dream?, if someone tells me one more time, "Enjoy your youth", I'm gonna cry

I mean...this song is such a Teenage Mood...I had to do it...

In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning by Frank Sinatra

So, I had this cute little scene in my head that went with this song for SO LONG but there wasn’t really anything for it to fit into so...yeah that’s part 2 of Savannah’s Birthday Gift, a little soft Baby Peter drabble. Fluffy Goop from top to bottom. That can be read here.

Home by Phillip Phillips

Just know you're not alone, 'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home

...I know it’s not original, okay? It’s found family, it’s great, I don’t care!

Comes and Goes (In Waves) by Greg Laswell

And this part was for her, and this part was for her, this part was for her, does she remember?

This song is good family angst in general BUT these specific lyrics made me think of Mary and that they never forget her in their lives despite the other stuff going on (because we refuse to let them).

I Have Made Mistakes by The Oh Hellos

I have made mistakes, I continue to make them, the promises I've made, I continue to break them, and all the doubts I've faced, I continue to face them, but nothing is a waste if you learn from it

No one in the Ironfam is perfect, but they all do their best to try and grow even when they’re scared they’ll never be able to. The ups and downs are all par for the course of this series to us.

Easy Days - Demo by Bastille

Cause I don’t wanna fall back again, back into the easy days, everything was so simple then, little fires burned away

Strife is a part of life, and the family in this fic growing through their loss and struggles and moving ahead as a unit to get to a better place is super central to making the fic what it is...but it’s easy for them to remember the old days before being superheroes and wishing it was simple again.

North by Sleeping At Last

Let the years we’re here be kind, be kind, let our hearts like doors open wide, open wide, settle our bones like wood over time, over time, give us bread, give us salt, give us wine

The way Tony went from feeling so alone to having an entire built family that’s so full of love and everything he never dreamed of...*screams into my pillow* I love this series so much thank you and good night!!!

#made of iron born of fire #irondad #ironfam #fanmix #savvysass #this series just makes me burst with content i can't describe it #also doing the graphics was a fun experiment!!!#mine #mine: marvel

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concealeddarkness13 · 3 years

Text

WHG 15 Imposter Syndrome Part 8

This is during the first day of the simulation! Tagging: @sparkles-and-hens, @knmartinshouldbewriting (also, thanks for RJ!), @maple-writes, @pen-of-roses (also, thanks for Reine), @thoughts-of-nora (also thanks for Syl!), and @ratracechronicler!

Before I stepped onto the podium that would raise me into the arena, I held tightly to the collapsible hat Shine had given me. It had my necklace in there too, so my most valued possessions would be going with me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This was where it would all come together.

Churi probably suspected my secret, now. And this would probably be the last exposition dump I’d have to give. Captain Reeves found me as a baby on a small lifeboat at sea, and I had the necklace with me. She didn’t really understand or care why until I started showing magic at five years old. I was able to use the magic that the Shades gave to people, but I had been born with it, and my magic was weaker than the magic of the people who had been given it. I could glow, but I couldn’t float, and I could crystallize liquids around me, but in a much smaller radius.

Captain Reeves contacted Cahira for information, and Cahira did some digging before she figured out that I had been born of one of the people who had been given the magic. She had been able to hide her pregnancy until she had me, and then the Shades figured out and tasked the Peacekeepers with getting rid of me. The necklace I had had with me was probably a crystallized heart my mother had given me. Her name was Doria Shasten, and Captain Reeves had pointed her out to me, so I knew what she looked like. I had given up ever meeting her, though, because I would never get close enough without the Shades discovering me.

And since Churi probably suspected my secret, I definitely couldn’t show my magic unless it was an emergency and I would die if I didn’t. I would keep water with me once I found it so I would have a backup if needed. This would be difficult, but if I could get out without using my magic, that would be better.

The door to the podium opened, and I sucked in a breath and pocketed my token. It was time. I would get as many tributes out as possible, or I would die trying.

The podium rose into an arena that looked alien. It was a forest, and there were trees with either gold or silver leaves, vines that were visibly growing, and flowers that interchanged between being a flower and fire or ice every few minutes. Who in the world could think this stuff up?

I barely even registered the countdown until it ended and the other tributes around me either ran toward the cornucopia or away from it. I had half a mind to run away until I saw some tributes squabbling over supplies, and one of them was Syl.

And the other one, Sean Beckett, had a knife. Shit. I sprinted toward them, accidentally scaring another tribute as I ran past them, and just as Sean moved to stab with his knife, I tackled Syl to the ground.

Sean frowned at us and ran off, still clutching Syl’s supplies, and when I turned to them, my blood ran cold. Blood stained their clothes, and I looked all over to find the wound.

I relaxed when my eyes landed on their right arm, where a nice, deep gash was. Right over their tracker…

I jumped as three cannon shots went off, and then I looked back at them with a smile, tearing my sleeve so I could make a makeshift bandage. “Sorry about that. I wanted to make sure Sean didn’t make a lethal stab.”

“Thanks. Didn’t want to be taken out at the first part of the Games.”

I laughed to cover up my slight panic. “That would have sucked!” I leaned over to examine the wound. It wasn’t too deep, but there was something shiny in there. I held up the torn makeshift bandage. “May I check out that wound?”

They moved their arm closer, wincing slightly. “I would say it’s not that bad, but I don’t think you’d believe me.” They chuckled.

“At least it’s not in a vital area.” I looked it over and gently poked at the wound until I found the shiny something. The tracker. “Brace yourself.” I pulled it out and grinned. It was destroyed, which was probably the reason that the cannon went off. I held it up to them. “Lucky break, right? They don’t know you’re still alive. One of those cannons was probably for you.”

“It’s like I faked my own death.” They grinned back. “They don’t know I’m alive…so now what?”

“You can stick with me. I’m planning on meeting with Reine soon, since she also has a plan to escape. The Gamemakers won’t be able to bother you because they don’t know you’re alive, and I’ll try to destroy as many cameras as possible so they can’t see that you’re still alive.” I wrapped up their wound. “I’m not the most knowledgeable about wound care, but the most important thing is to stop the bleeding.”

“Alright.” Syl hummed. “Too bad for them, I’m ambidextrous. Disabling my right arm doesn’t change anything.” They grinned.

We started walking, and I looked over at them. I didn’t know much about them, except that they wanted to screw with the Capitol. “So, what did you do before you were forced into becoming a tribute?”

“Oh, you know. The normal stuff. Learned how to sail and fish and whatnot.” They waved their hand dismissively. “What about you?”

I smiled. “Pirate.” I held up a finger before they could say anything as something glinted in the sun on a flower. I jogged over, snatched the camera, and smashed it against the tree. Wow. The bark was really strong. Could be used as a weapon. I shook my head. “They’re not even trying.” I turned back to them. “So, how did you like the sea? Catch any good fish?”

That just made them annoyed. Why? “Do we have to go through the small talk? I always find it annoying, to be honest.” Suuuure. They glanced around, quickly crushing another camera. “Do you know of any other tributes that are going to help? Other than the ones you’ve already told me about, obviously.”

“RJ, from District 5. Hopefully, Atwater and Volt from District 11. That’s all I know of for now, but I’m hoping for more.” I eyed Syl. Maybe prod a little more? “We’ll have to figure out how to signal Reine, and I saw her grab some fishing bait. Maybe we need to catch a fish, and we’ll find her?” I was totally not being serious, but Syl didn’t have to know that.

They smiled, gaze passing over me before looking ahead. “I think I’ve heard their names before. They have decent-to-good training scores.”

That had been too obvious. They hadn’t taken the bait, so I made a face at them behind their back. “Yeah. They should hopefully hold their own before we find them. I think Reine went that way, so we could try to find her?” I pointed to the left.

They paused, glancing to the left as well and tensing, as if they were listening and watching for something. They nodded after a bit. “Alright. Let’s go.”

After a while of walking, we both froze at the sound of a fight. We just exchanged a glance, and we split up to check to see where that was coming from.

And after just a few minutes of looking, I found RJ sprawled on the ground, bleeding from a wound on her right arm. Dang. Almost exactly like the one on Syl’s. But it was bleeding worse. I cursed under my breath and ran over, tearing off more fabric from my other sleeve. “Shit! Don’t you die on me!”

“I’m fine,” she whispered. She didn’t sound fine. “But I could use that escape about now.” She tried to move, but winced. “I think I broke a rib.”

Shit. I didn’t know anything about ribs. I delicately took the broken tracker out of RJ’s arm and started wrapping the wound. “Sorry, I don’t know anything about broken ribs. And that escape won’t be happening right away. We need to meet up with Reine, who’s also working on the escape, and as soon as we can, we’ll get as many tributes out as we can. I’m sorry.”

She didn’t sound happy about that. “How long are we talking here?”

Well, crap. I didn’t even know. “Not more than a few days.” Hopefully. “The plan needs to be finalized, and we need to find the tributes we contacted.” I bit my lip as I offered a hand to help RJ up.

She took my hand and tried to stand on her own, but she winced and sat back down. “Okay. Fine. But you will be able to get a message out, right? Eventually?”

I nodded and helped RJ stand and walk. We needed to find Syl so we could find Reine. “Reine is supposed to have people sending her messages about the plan, and my crew will be sending me daily parachutes about their progress as well. I should know when they’re ready.”

“Could you send something to my sister? If I don’t – I want her to know I tried. Tried to change things.”

I grimaced. That was what she had meant. “I don’t have two-way contact with my crew, but Reine probably does with her crew. When we find her, we can talk about it.” I paused. I was screwing everything up. The first two I had found and recruited had gotten hurt, which would make it harder for the escape. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to keep you from getting hurt.”

“I’m the one that scared that tribute. I wasn’t going for the kill – I just thought – I was hungry. And scared. So, so scared. I think I killed someone earlier.”

I nodded. “It’s these Games. They screw with your mind. But I’ll make sure you get out. I promise it.”

She chuckled. “Promises don’t last in the games. You can try your best, but if something happens – don’t blame yourself. Blame them. The Capitol, the Gamemakers, every asshole who makes this happen. It’s their fault, and theirs alone.”

Easier said than done. I was already beating myself up for not helping more. I just made a face and didn’t say anything. Anyway, we had found Syl, and now we needed to find Reine.

We walked for a little while longer, avoiding the fire and ice flowers. But we finally found her. She had been searching for something, or someone.

I couldn’t stop the smile that slipped on my lips as I walked up to Reine. “I had enough time to recruit two people while I searched for you!”

She was breathing heavily as she smiled back. “Sorry, I overheard a group wanting to ‘hunt’ others, and, well, was doing my best to throw them off anyone’s paths.” She grimaced. “Not sure if it was enough, though, I heard the cannons.”

I grinned. She was awesome! “Thanks! Two of the cannons are my tributes because their trackers were destroyed. Seems that’s an effective way to make the Capitol think we’ve died.”

She touched the spot where her own tracker was and looked around. “That’s useful information. Good job. Still, can’t have a large group of us suddenly dropping dead, that might raise suspicions.”

She probably would have figured that out herself soon enough. “We can do a few each day. It won’t look so suspicious.” I paused. RJ wanted to get a message to her sister. “Are you able to get in touch with your escape crew?”

She nodded. “I can leave a message for Allie and,” she winced. “Abyss I hope it doesn’t come to that, but yes. Unless the Capitol has someone very old or very curious I suppose, they won’t be able to understand. No parachutes will mean we’re still good to go, otherwise…well I’ll see what’s sent. You?”

“They’re supposed to send me a parachute with a vague message, which will tell me that everything’s going smoothly. Is there any way you can get a message out for one of RJ’s family?”

“Depends on what’s being said but, shouldn’t be too much of a problem.” She leaned against a tree, still breathing heavily and muttering to herself. “We’ll need to knock out a few of the cameras ourselves though, but leave a few more obvious ones for messages and the show. Some of the places are easy enough to make accidental I’ve seen. And still need a weak spot, but I think if we get closer to the edge…this’ll work.”

Shit. I wasn’t able to plan nearly as well as Reine. She was thinking of everything. I wrung my hands. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Recruit, cameras, and stay alive are the most important.” She hesitated before holding out her hand. “Here, let me show you a symbol. Write this in view of a camera and one of mine will know something’s happening, or you need help in some form. Or at the very least, I will hopefully find it and know. It’ll work the other way around too.” She wrote it out in the palm of my hand, and I made sure to memorize it. Hopefully, I wouldn’t need it.

I nodded. “Recruiting, I can do. And it’s pretty fun to smash cameras. I don’t know if I can guarantee staying alive, though.” I winked to make light of the statement, even as Churi flashed in my mind.

She smiled. “I know, it’s been so long since I’ve had people actually trying to kill me that I almost forgot the rush from it. I’d say I’d try it more often, but somehow that doesn’t seem right. We’ll get through this, Pirate. Speaking of, I might just have to see your ship and crew, it’s been far too long for me.”

I smiled. A tempting offer. “You’re welcome any time. Thank you.”

I took a shuddering breath after I took a step back to let the others talk to Reine. If something happened, it wouldn’t be because of her. She knew what she was doing. So, I couldn’t mess it up either.

#writeblr hunger games #writeblr

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the-tummy-closet · 4 years

Text

Yuck my Yum

“And that adjourns the locomotive enthusiast’s 34th annual chapter meeting, we will hopefully see you all next Wednesday.” A man with buck teeth and long red hair smiled at a crowd of train loving college students.

“Maybe next time one of you’ll bring a friend too, possibly even a girl?” The boys looked around at each other.

The leader pointed at a curly headed guy in the back. “Except you Richard, don’t you bring anyone. We all remember last time.” The boys nodded in agreement and Richard covered his face.

“Rosie said he was sorry and that you actually aren’t all complete nerds who will never get dates.”

The leader shook his head, “Too little too late. Oh also Richard you’re on fridge duty today.”

Everyone started to leave and Richard crossed his arms. “Dang it, I hate cleaning the fridge.”

Richard sat next to a small old fridge in the back that looked like it hadn’t been touched in years. He put on a gas mask and headphones and starts scrubbing it down. He didn’t notice when a goth in a crop top snuck up behind him and poked his head.

“Ahhhhhh!” Richard threw a sponge at Rosie and it slid off his face.

“What the heck, Dick?” Rosie wiped the soap off his forehead.

Richard shook his head and continued to clean the fridge. “What do you want Rosie?”

Rosie stepped back, offended. “Oh sorry, I just wanted to see my old pal and roommate after work. Didn’t know I needed a reason. Guess you’re too busy cleaning that time capsule.”

Richard whipped around. “You’re not allowed in the confines of the train society sanctum, we made it a rule. And me being on fridge duty is your fault! Everyone here hates me since you busted through calling people nerds!”

Rosie laughed. “You can’t call it train society sanctum and expect not to be called nerds. And I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you, I’ll help.”

Rosie gently nudged Richard away from the fridge and started poking around inside.

Richard gagged, “Ugh, gross dude how can you stick your head in there without a mask or nothing?”

Rosie shrugged. “I’ve smelt worse.” He pulled out a small donut. “Hey, donuts my fave. Anyone call dibs on this bad boy?”

Richard’s eyes got teary as Rosie held it towards his face. “No dude. That thing’s nasty.”

Rosie frowned. “Hey man, don’t yuck my yum.” Rosie sniffed it and started eating it.

Richard grabbed Rosie’s shoulders. “What the hell’s wrong with you man?! That’s been in there for like months, maybe even years.”

Rosie continued chewing and swallowed. “It’s not that bad. Anyways you did a good job, look’s clean to me.”

Richard stood up. “Well..thanks for helping, I guess. I’m gonna go to class now. You just got off work, are you gonna be in the room?”

Rosie nodded. “Yeah I’ll probably take a nap.”

Richard smiled. “Okay bro, bring my bag back to the room would ya?” He handed Rosie his bag. “Once my class is over I’ll probably come back and study.”

Rosie slung Richard’s bag over his shoulders. “I’ll be sleeping.”

Richard booped Rosie on the nose. “Oh and you should probably get out of here before any of the locomotive boys see you. We have a special whistle now and Tom threatened to bring his girlfriend to resolve any situation. She’s got a black belt.”

Rosie patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll be heading out.”

Richard smiled at him and left. Rosie started to follow after him when a loud, ominous gurgle came from his stomach. Rosie frowned. “Oh dang.”

Once his class ended, Richard turned his key into his room and headed inside. He noticed Rosie curled up in a fetal position on the opposite bed, clutching his stomach.

Richard sat down at the desk and took out a notebook. He spun around in his chair. “Rosie are you sleeping?”

Rosie buried his face into the pillow. “No I’m dying. Oh god I feel even sicker than when you rubbed that old man piss on yourself in the woods and made me smell it to make sure it was ‘strong enough’ to prevent bears.’ Why’d you force me to clean the fridge?”

Richard stomped next to Rosie’s bed. “Okay number one that was not old man piss that was bear repellent! Number two.. I didn’t make you clean the fridge. I told you I was on fridge duty because of your irresponsible actions and then you ate a 72 year old donut out of the fridge.”

Rosie sighed. “Well it’s your fault anyways.” A loud angry growl came out of his stomach and he started coughing.

Richard rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed next to Rosie. “How can I get you to stop distracting me from studying?”

Rosie looked over at him. “Just hold me for a little bit, Richard please. It’ll make me feel better.”

Richard looked down at Rosie. His eyes were teary and he had dried barf on the sides of his mouth. His stomach was bloated and poked out under his shirt. Yet there was something endearing about him still.

Richard laid down next Rosie and wrapped his arms around him. “Fine, whatever.” Rosie smiled deliriously and leaned his head up next to Richard’s.

Richard rested his chin on his shoulder and thought. “He’s not usually this affectionate so I guess I should enjoy it.”

Rosie’s stomach grumbled agitatedly and Richard placed his hand on it gently and began rubbing it, feeling the vibrations under his fingertips.

Rosie’s breathing was ragged and his warm, soft ,voice made goosebumps on Richard’s neck.

“Oh thank you Richard that feels so much better.”

Richard didn’t let Rosie see his smile and looked up. “Yeah, well just stop doing dumb things okay?”

Rosie had already fallen asleep but his stomach made a small little burble in response.

Richard kissed Rosie on the cheek and continued rubbing his friend’s stomach until he himself fell asleep.

#WildGoose #profanity #tummy noises #nausea #belly rubs #food poisoning #toilet humor #vomit mention #Richard and Rosie

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i-am-totally-a-human-being · 3 years

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hey hey! im sorry you’re not feeling the best right now but is it ok if i request shuichi and his s/o going on a carnival date maybe? OOH and maybe his s/o plays a ton of the games to win shuichi the prizes? aah thank you in advance! i hope your taking good care of yourself >.<

Me likey! I’ll gladly do this request!

Good news guys, I’m feeling much much better. Things are looking up and hopefully won’t go downhill for a very very long time. Thank you all so much!

Carnival date with Shuichi Saihara

Summary: the request, I did a fem!reader for this cause I’m a girl and felt like writing a bit more close to home if that’s ok, if you really want gender neutral then I can reupload it with changed pronouns

Triggers: none I think

Writing style and genre: fluffy oneshot!

Y/N= your name

N/N= nickname

F/C= favorite color

You know the drill, it’s under the cut!

“Hey, Shu! You can come on in I’m just finishing up a bit!” You picked up your phone as you ran around your room, trying to gather the last few things you needed before going on your date with your boyfriend.

“Alright, Y/N. Is your door unlocked?”

“Yes but you also have a key, dork.”

“Right. Sorry. Be right in!” You hung up and chucked your phone onto you bed once more as you rushed around, hoping to be ready by the time he entered your room.

“Come on... come on.... where did I put-“

“Your bag in handing on your door.”

“WHAT THE- oh,” you breathed, covering your heart, “dang it Shuichi... you scared me!”

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” he laughed, grabbing you bag and walking over to you, “I didn’t mean to.”

“Well yeah I figured,” you smiled and took it from him, wrapping it around you, “how on earth do you manage to move around so quietly?”

“Dunno, I just do I guess. You ready to go? You look great, by the way.” He looked you up and down, admiring your pastel F/C dress and how it perfectly fit you.

“Aww, thanks! Give me just one second,” you ran to you bed and grabbed your phone, shoving it into your bag and slipping on your shoes, “ok! Let’s go!”

He nodded and led you out to his car, opening the passenger seat for you before getting into the drivers. Shuichi started the car and pulled into the road, heading to the local carnival that was in your city for a few weeks.

He wasn’t a fan of traveling carnivals, mainly because the rides seemed super sketchy. But you begged and begged to go with him, and he couldn’t say no to his girlfriend, so he caved bought you day pass tickets. He was excited, because he always loved dates with you, he just wasn’t too excited for the rides you no doubt would ask to go on with him.

As long as it didn’t go upside down, he’d be fine.

When you finally got to the carnival he gave the front desk the tickets, and you both got wristbands that said you could go on any ride as many times as you wanted, since that came with the tickets he bought.

“Shu, come on!! I wanna go ride rides first!!” You eagerly pulled him towards the first coaster you saw, as he expected you’d do. What he didn’t expect was that the first ride had two loops, one right after the other.

“Y-Y/N... I don’t like going upside down.... it makes me sick, remember?” He felt bad reminding you because of how excited you looked, but he knew he wouldn’t last on that ride and he didn’t want to ruin the date right off the bat.

“Oh, I’m not making you ride it, silly! I want you to try and get a picture of me upside down!!”

“Oh... I can do that, y-yeah!!” He took your bag (and your glasses if you wear them so they wouldn’t fall off on the ride) and watched you get into the line. When he saw your ride going around, he did his best to take the picture to get it upside down. It’s up to you to decide if it was good or not.

“Did you have fun?” He asked as you came back and handed you your bag(once again and glasses if you have them).

“Yeah! It’s a shame you get sick, I would have seriously enjoyed doing it with you! But the girl I had to sit with was super nice and we talked a lot in the line so it’s fine!”

You avoided rides that went upside down after that, really wanting to go with him on most of the ones you did. Shuichi was never a fan of roller coasters, but he was a fan of seeing your excited face every time the ride had a drop.

Eventually you both got tired from the rides, walking around and looking at the other festivities. While Shuichi was buying you both caramel apples, you noticed a claw machine.

It was an infamous game that stole your money, yes, but you had money on you and the prizes in there were so. Cute. Especially one, that really caught your eye.

A big detective pikachu plush.

One look at it and you knew you HAD to get it for your boyfriend. He was a detective in training, after all.

Since it wasn’t too far away from where Shuichi was getting you snacks, you decided it would be safe to go without telling him where. He’d see you after looking around for a second.

You got to the machine and pulled out your wallet. One use of the claw was 50 cents(I’m sorry if you don’t live in America you can translate how much 50 cents is in your currency), and you had $10. You went to a coin machine nearby and traded in your dollar bills for coins. You had 20 chances to get the pikachu, and you were determined.

As expected, the game was extremely hard and definitely probably rigged. But you had your mind set on that plushie and you wouldn’t stop until you got it.

While you didn’t get the pikachu right away, you got a LOT of other prizes. The line Shuichi was in was decently long, so it wasn’t a surprise that it took him a little bit to get back to you. Luckily for you, because you wanted to surprise him.

You got the pikachu on your 19th try, a sigh of relief washing over you. You were left with only 50 cents, a detective pikachu plush, a small rubber duck that was dressed like a clown, a small bag of bubblegum balls, a Paw Patrol lunch box that you were totally giving him as a joke, and a foam pair of dice you’d probably give to Kokichi. You shoved the smaller items into your bag, triumphantly carrying the decently sized pikachu to your boyfriend who had just finished buying your treats. He gave you a questioning look, jumping as you held it out to him.

“Um... N/N? Where’d you get that?”

“In the claw machine!”

“The claw machine? You actually got something out of it?”

“I got a lot of things, this is just the thing that I actually wanted!”

“You wanted a detective pikachu plush...?”

“Yes!! For you!” You dragged him to a bench to sit down, taking the apples from him and giving him the plush in return.

“Wait, you got this for me,” he paused, looking at you with a deadpan expression, “this is because I’m a detective, isn’t it.”

“.....maybe.... but I also got you these!!” You handed him the other prizes from your bag, making him blush.

“Y-Y/N! You didn’t have to-“

“I wanted to! This is also for you because I know you forget to eat at work sometimes.” You handed him the children’s lunch box with a childish grin on your face, making him frown.

“I hate you.”

“No, you love me.”

“....yeah, I do...”

He was slightly embarrassed, having to carry around a pikachu plush everywhere after that, but he did enjoy it. After he dropped you off back home and kissed you goodbye, he went to his own home and set up the plush on his bed.

Placing the rubber duck beside his computer, he popped one of the gums into his mouth and looked at the lunchbox one more time. It was ridiculous. An item for children. But you gave it to him. Albeit, as a joke, but you still gave it to him. And he treasured anything you gave him.

He picked up the duck and set the lunchbox in its place, now setting the duck on top of that. Maybe he’d keep the lunchbox around a bit. To remind him of the amazing date you both had had that night.

I hope I did good, Anon! Luv u bb

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk,

—🐝

#danganronpa #danganronpa x reader #x reader #danganronpa killing harmony #drv3 killing harmony #killing harmony #shuichi x reader #shuichi saihara oneshot #killing harmony shuichi #shuichi saihara x reader #shuichi saihara

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iwillbeinmynest · 4 years

Text

Redcove Harvest - Bucky x Reader(f) Chapter 4

Authors Notes: Sorry for the delay y'all, I’m running behind on this series so my updates are not as consistent but I’m trying! I’ll be a bit MIA for the next few weeks so hopefully y'all don’t forget about me..

AU: Farmhand!AU and SIngleMom!Reader

Word Count: 1.3k

Notes/Warnings: (Notes are for the whole series) FLUFF, mentions of a past toxic relationship, a wild storm at the end, drama and a break-up, mentions of drinking, kids being adorable and ridiculous, kissing, romance and a tiny bit of angst if you look hard but nothing more than that of a Hallmark movie.

Masterlist Series Masterlist

Lunch was mostly quiet but there was some small talk. Eventually, Bucky took their plates and washed them.

“Well,” He started as he placed his plate on the drying rack. “Rain has stopped. I figure I’ll get back to the mowing.”

“Actually,” Y/N checked her phone. “I just got a message from the gravel company that they’re on their way.”

“Oh, alright. Did you get the bobcat already?”

She nodded. “It should be here around the same time.”

“Perfect. I bet you’ll be glad to have a gravel driveway.” He smiled at her.

“Anything is better than the swamp it turns into after a heavy rain.”

He chuckled. “I’ll grab the truck and start filling in the pot holes until all that gets here.”

“Okay, perfect. I’ll be here.” She said as she headed for the stairs. “I’ll be able to help for a while but then I have to go get the girls from school.”

Bucky knew that. Somewhat ashamedly, he’d been keeping track of her schedule. On weekdays, she took the girls to school and then ran errands and picked up coffee. Most times she was back before Bucky got there. Then, she’d spend time on the animals and the garden that way she was done before the midday heat. After that, she took an early lunch around eleven followed by about an hour of sitting on the porch reading. Then she’d do house work until she had to pick up the girls at three.

Bucky’s schedule had never been consistent. Where he was originally scheduled to work from 8-3, he now showed up around eight and then left when the day's tasks were done. A few times that meant working until the sun went down.

He found he preferred working late. He liked being able to see the kids and watch Y/N mother them. He admired her for her strength and endurance when it came to Gracie and Lex. Sometimes they invited him in for dinner and he was happy to oblige.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like living with Steve, it’s just that he was really starting to like Y/N.

He got in his truck and did as he said he would, headed down the driveway. He rode down the worn path that led to the back of the property and shoveled a few dozen pounds of dirt into the bed. He drove to the barn to grab the tools he needed and then drove down the drive until he came to the first big pothole.

He worked for another hour filling in holes and driving to the next one. Just as he finished the last one at the front of the driveway, he heard the familiar rumble of a work truck. Sure enough, when he looked down the paved road he saw the gravel truck headed his way. He waited until the driver pulled to a stop next to him and then told him to dump the rocks in small piles across the driveway. Bucky told him that he could turn the truck around up at the house and dump the pile as he left.

The driver told Bucky that the next truck was behind him about thirty minutes so they better hurry.

Bucky hopped in his truck and hurried up to the house to get the bobcat. When he got to the house, Y/N was coming out the front door.

“Trucks here!” Bucky shouted out his window as he threw the truck in park. He hopped out and smiled at her.

“Perfect,” She smiled back. “My friend with the bobcat is on his way. He said he’s five minutes away.”

“Nice.” Bucky could feel his smile getting wider as she walked closer to him.

She got a few feet away and stopped. She put one hand on her hip and one over her brows to block the sun. “Dang,” She said as she saw the gravel truck. “I didn’t think it would be that big.”

“Yeah,” Bucky laughed and shifted his weight to follow her gaze, “And there’s two of them.”

“Yikes, I didn’t think this through. This is gonna take a few days.”

Bucky shook his head. “Nah, I’ll work on it tonight and then finish tomorrow.”

“You’re gonna need help.”

Bucky looked at her but she was still looking at the truck which was now maneuvering a three point turn to head back down the drive.

“After I get the girls I’ll come out and help more.”

He inhaled to say she didn’t have to but then she waved at someone. He looked down the drive and there was the guy with the bobcat.

“That’s Rhodey. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

Bucky followed her down to Rhodey. She gave him a big hug after he stepped out of his dust covered truck. The bobcat sat on a trailer at the back.

“Hey!” She smiled at him when he let go, “Thank you so much for letting me borrow this. And for dropping it off.”

“Of course,” He grinned. “Anything you need, sweetheart.”

Rhodey looked over at Bucky, who nodded.

“Oh, sorry,” Y/N said. “Rhodey, this is Bucky. Bucky, Rhodey.”

Bucky extended a hand and Rhodey took it and shook firmly.

“James.” Rhodey corrected.

“Nice to meet you, James.” Bucky nodded again.

“Bucky is helping me out for a couple of months until I get the property back in order.”

“That’s really great.” Rhodey crossed his arms and widened his stance. “And graveling the drive is gonna be real nice.”

“I hope so,” Y/N looked back up the drive at the gravel truck. “I sure couldn’t afford to pave the whole thing. Hopefully the rain won’t wash it away.”

“If we pack it in enough it should be fine.” Bucky reminded her.

“Well,” Rhodey began to fish something out of his pocket. He pulled out a small set of keys and gave them to Bucky. “Here are the keys. You know how to drive it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright then, I’ll untie it for you.”

Rhodey took the tow straps off the bobcat and Bucky backed it off the trailer. Y/N said bye to Rhodey then, hopped onto the side of the bobcat and rode with Bucky up to the gravel truck.

Bucky began spreading out the gravel and Y/N grabbed the tamper and began compacting the gravel into place. They worked at that pace for about an hour until Y/N waved at Bucky and signaled that it was time for her to go.

Y/n headed up to her old Ford and Bucky found himself watching a little too long as she walked away. He kept waiting for her to drive past him, he was looking forward to it, but after a few minutes, he still hadn’t seen her.

He looked up the drive to see Y/N’s truck with the hood up.

Bucky cursed and turned off the bobcat. He hopped out and jogged up to her.

As he got closer he heard Y/N swear really loud.

“You okay?” He called.

“Yeah.” She said shortly.

“You sure?” he rounded the front of the truck to see Y/N near tears.

“Yeah,” She pulled her phone out, “I’m just going to have to call the school and tell them I’m going to be late.

“N- wait. What’s wrong with it?” He asked about the truck.

“It’s a hunk of junk.” She said with a sour look on her face. “It won’t turn over.”

“Well, why don’t I drive you to get them and we can work on it later?”

Y/N looked up at him slightly stunned. “You’d do that?”

He softened his expression, it wasn’t hard to do when he was looking at her. “Of course.”

She sighed in relief. “Thank you, seriously, I owe you one.” And she hurried to get Lex’s booster seat from the back seat.

* * * * * * *

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Redcove Tags:

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#Bucky x reader #reader x bucky #Redcove Harvest #farmhand! Bucky #bucky fluff #bucky barnes #bucky fic #bucky series #mcu #iwillbeinmynest #james barnes #james buchanan barnes

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fantranslatorbychoice · 4 years

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Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi Volume 6 Chapter 2- The Village Hidden in Hyakumemomiji** Part 1

T/N: OK Kakuriyo Fam-fans, how are you all doing? Did the last chapter surprise you? Anyways, I wasn't surprised, Odanna-sama always takes Aoi out on a food trip date (dang it, when's my turn lololol even I am tired of eating just white rice at times T_T) so yeah, I guess autumn fruits sound good.

Anways, I sorta started doing a speed run of this chapter because I got too-excited with the date, and I tried letting out this translation as fast as I can, and hopefully by the end of the chapter you'll see why I wanted to speed run this mofo lololol

As always, I mostly didn’t translate a lot of the names of the ayakashi/youkai, as well as the proper nouns because uhm... They’re basically nouns. It’s like how some translated manga are done. Plus it irks me sometimes when everything just gets transliterated, it kills off the vibe. But that’s just me. Links to references at the end of the post.

Also if you like this translation, you can share the link, reblog, but for pete’s sake DO NOT REPOST ELSEWHERE. I worked hard to finish this thing, it’s not like I just Google-translated this whole sh**..

If you need refreshers on what happened, @kakuriyo-translations already had the previous translations. I’ll place a tiny index in this post somewhere, to make that easy. I’m just contributing to this fandom. Also, as previously mentioned in my other post, the 2 seasons of the anime cover volumes 1-5, so if you need a review just rewatch them all. Volume 6 starts here.

P27 "A date with Odanna-sama, huh..." Yesterday's rice cooking events felt like a daze, and I felt that fairly it hasn't sunk in yet, and waking up early just made me realize it. The lovely chirping of the little birds just annoyingly grated my ears. The distinct skin-chilling coldness of autumn is also piercing my body. Incidentally, I'm also a bit nervous. "It's.... It's not a big deal, it's not unusual that I'm going on a date with Odanna-sama. Yeah." We went to Youto and ate offal hotpot, we ate chicken tempura in Gintengai, and in the port of the Southern lands we ate donburi with pickled toppings... No matter how many times Odanna-sama and I went out, why am I nervous after all this time? This is weird. Could it be that I'm going down with an illness? Firstly, I opened the shutters of the veranda, to breathe in the early morning air... "Aoi! Let's go now!" P28 "What the.. It's early! Odanna-sama you're early!" The busy bee that uneasily goes here and there and everywhere and has no free time Odanna-sama has already come here. It seemed that he cut across the inner garden towards the veranda. If so, he must have beavered to get here with incredible flexibility. But I'm still wearing my pajamas! "Speaking of, Odanna-sama.. Are you going out looking like that?" Odanna-sama changed his appearance into a younger one, like what he looked liked before, as a fish monger, and his kimono wasn't spectacular, he just looked like a commoner. "That was fast. The face I usually have in Tenjin-ya is too recognizable. What's more, Aoi is the only one that found me out, now this date isn't fun anymore." "I... I'm sure..." Although, if it's through this appearance I felt a bit nervous too. At any rate, this handsome Odanna-sama may be handsome, but the nobleman aura isn't here. Even Orio-ya's Young Mistress Nene only said that he looked reliable-ish. "But Odanna-sama, in spite of this, even this is way too early for Ayakashi! I haven't even prepared anything yet." "I'll wait for you here while you get ready." "You're not busy? Odanna-sama has some free time?" P29 "It's because it's been a very long time since I had a whole day free. Even though Byakuya has been nagging me to get some break already, I just feel that I mustn't. I may have worked too much during the matter with Orio-ya. That dude Raijuu. It seemed that he used some people from the capitol. One way or another, it smells like that all over." "Smells like that.. All over?" What does that mean? The matter in Orio-ya, the circumstance that accompanied the Southern lands, the ceremony that no one spoke of and secretly kept in the back-burner. The sea that lies in between Tokoyo and Kakuriyo wherein every 100 years an Ayakashi called Umibouzu arrives, a peculiar Ayakashi that is received and welcomed. In that ceremony, Raijuu made a disturbance and I got hindered, but borrowing everyone's strength and cooking the Sea Jewel Appetizers while bearing all that, we were able to entertain and serve the Umibouzu. I know that Odanna-sama worked hard for me, but there were many things that I don't know, could there be more things hidden? That Raijuu, I wonder if he's doing anything else right now? "Hey, Aoi, don't go absent-mindedly prepare when getting ready. Would you want to go out in your sleepwear?" When he said that, him egging me on, I went inside the room to prep up... "No, but what should I wear?" In front of me is the kimono that Odanna-sama gave me, but it's too elegant and it won't fit fruit picking. P30 There's also the blue kimono that I used back in Orio-ya, but it's too summery. "Hm?" I opened the wooden cabinet, and I became aware that there was a kimono that I haven't seen before. It was solidly very autumn, a deep red kimono, and a soft mustard yellow obi. It was laid on top of it. It looks of good quality, but it looks light and simple to wear, it's going to be easy to move in it. "Please use this on your date with Odanna-sama. Matsu, Take, Ume." The letter on it... It's the three Nopperabou sisters usual business! "I'm thankful but.. why is there a feeling of eagerness?" I closed the sliding doors of the veranda and changed clothes. From beyond the sliding doors's side, I could hear Odanna-sama chatting with the palm-top Kappa Chibi, who just came back from taking a morning bath. "Ah.. Ogre-shaaan is heeeere" "Isn't taking a bath in autumn chilly, Chibi?" "Ish not really that coooold. In Utsushiyo, the raging wavesh were mush coldeeeer. Ish eashier in heeere." "Aren't you strong... That can only be expected from Aoi's disciple..." "Yeahhh but my beak ishhh chattering... Ish very very coooold..." P31 "Come here. The ogre-fire will warm you up." It seemed that the seemingly calm and composed but eventually got cold Chibi was warmed up by Odanna-sama's ogre-fire. Somewhat somehow, after changing clothes I attached the flower bud kanzashi in my hair. "The petals have opened up considerably now..." I talked to the petals. Gah, I don't know if talking to the petals is a good thing... My impatience doesn't wane, with regards to the flower has blooming. I wanted to see the flowers open up into a round wheel, but the petals will scatter if it does. "Aoi-shaaaan! I am hungryyyy..." Chibi flungs the sliding door open and enters the room. And speaking of, I haven't made breakfast yet. "Say, Odanna-sama, you want to eat breakfast? We have a lot of cold rice left, we can make some onigiri. We can eat while we're walking." "Aoi's hand-rolled meals? Yes, that sounds good." I have just finished changing clothes, but I already wore my apron and went to the kitchen and made onigiri. I mixed the plum and Hijiki seaweed into the onigiri, and packed a lot of the salmon flakes into the onigiri wrapped in nori. There were also eggs left, so I made them into rolled omelette. P32 There's no dashi, no onions, just plain omelette. I added salt and sugar, and some mayonnaise as a faint flavoring. I cut cucumbers and pickled daikon and skewered them with toothpicks, and added these to the sides. The simple onigiri bento box is now done. I wanted to make some with more variety, but I can't make Odanna-sama wait. Today we're going with "simple is best." I stuffed everything in a box, wrapped it in cloth and brought it out with me. "I'm sorry Odanna-sama. Did you wait long?" Odanna-sama was lying down in the veranda and smoking his pipe, while listening to Chibi's stories about playing in the pond. It was about a crawfish, then about a pond skater. Whatever it was about, it's fine. "Nooo, it's not bad to wait for the new wife as she readies herself. Teehee." "Then what are you so happy about?" Odanna-sama stood up, said "Alright, let's go!" and held out his hand. I bewilderedly took his hand, and got supported as I wore my geta sandals. Along with the kimono I'm still not used to, I felt anxious of tumbling down. "Ahhh... Aoi-shaaan and Ogre-shaaaan, where are you goiiiiing? Take me along tooooo." "Well, that sounded miserly..." Even though he was always playing alone, Chibi always wants to be taken along. P33 "When you want to come with, you can come, Chibi. You'll be eating your favorite grapes." "Grapeshhh..." Chibi jumped from the veranda and onto my back. I realized that he was climbing my back as he went "Heave, ho, heave ho." "Say, Odanna-sama, are we going in the airship again?" "Ah, yes. But this time, we're not boarding one with the Tenjin-ya's crest because we'll be hiding, so we'll use the smaller ships. This time the fruit orchard Hyakumeyama, which lies in the connecting lands of the north and northeast will be our destination. The place has farms and is quiet, and you can go pick and harvest fruits at ease and in all diligence." In a bit as we went off, Odanna-sama brought me to the place where the ship was set in anchor. In that place, the Young Master Ginji-san and the Chief Accountant Byakuya-san were there, and it seems that they were going to see us off. Byakuya is a Hakutaku Ayakashi, and is Tenjin-ya's REAL Second Leader. On one hand where he's holding a fan, looked like he was tapping it on the other hand, and he seems to be in a bad mood. "Odanna-sama, don't go too far for your rest and relaxation at nightfall, it's quite perilous. That dummy Raijuu seems to be somehow releasing his stench from the capitol. Do you understand?" "Byakuya, don't be nervous. I know and I'm already serious about it." "If so, then that's nice. You too, Aoi-kun." P34 "Y.. Yes!" I unconsciously replied to Byakuya when he called my name, and it flew out of my head. "Yugao's income this month is very good, and for that I salute you. Nonetheless, you must not lose focus, try to learn to understand that when you go out, then come back here. Keep in mind that, and while at it, don't trouble Odanna-sama." "Y.. Yes!" I unconsciously bowed. It's better to listen to Byakuya-san's words. "Hey hey Byakuya. It's a rare rest and relaxation day. Don't make Aoi think about work." "Oh, don't worry Odanna-sama. I was just telling her what I intend to do." "Oh, I see." Odanna-sama looked at the clear autumn sky. "Aoi-san, be careful outside, whatever you will be doing. Odanna-sama, leave Tenjin-ya's care to me in your stead." Ginji-san was grinning and side-smiling. He seems to be his usual and formal self. "Ginji, please take care of business. Byakuya, if there's anything contact me." "Yes, I know, Odanna-sama." P35 Ginji-san and Byakuya-san, the two higher-ups in the management team bowed their heads deeply, and as we boarded the airships they sent us off. As the airship was rising into the clear sky, we bathed in the afternoon sunlight on the ship's wooden deck. The sunlight was warm, despite the cold breeze. It was a really good atmosphere. "Ahhh. Odanna-sama, the weather's good. It's great that it's clear." "Yes. That said, let's eat breakfast, Aoi." "That was hasty, Odanna-sama..." Sitting on the ship's deck's benches, we immediately opened the onigiri bento boxes. While in that great mood, the arranged onigiri tastes good. This was yesterday's scattered rice, and yet adding salt in this onigiri changed its taste. More than anything, eating this outside was a good idea. "The omelette is also good. It's simple, but it suits the onigiri." "You think so? A lot of various things are always added and used, but this time I only added a few seasonings. Because the cassowary's egg is wonderful, the onigiri which has a lot of stuff is already good. But because I added mayonnaise to the egg as a subtle flavor, just adding salt makes it mellow, doesn't it?" I was talking about a lot of things, and Odanna-sama was just enjoying his food and smiling. "Teehee. Surely it's because it's hand made by Aoi. It's warm and feels like home." That Odanna-sama that day, he was very friendly and easy to talk to. P36 That person's impression has definitely changed. No, he did not change, he was probably like that as an ogre since the very beginning. I only noticed that he was such, whenever we met, and talked about heavy things. "But really, I thought that it was better if I made more in variety..." Also, instantly,because the opportunities are rare, I thought that if I'm going to do it, I should concentrate on making various bento kinds. Basically, for Odanna-sama I haven't made any food by hand. No, when it comes to those times, I have made more for the other employees than for Odanna-sama. "Don't worry about it. Just do what you usually cook. In those times, aren't the food that you didn't think about much also taste good? It's because in 10 minutes, they’re already delicious." "The food that I.. didn't think much about?" Probably because lately, the food and drinks that I served were continuously served everyday. Before coming to Kakuriyo, Grandpa and I only cooked for ourselves, home-cooked meals. When I came here, it changed because I served food for the Ayakashi. Even though I felt nervous here and there, my skills improved as I kept doing it, and in that time I was able to learn how to cook freely. Because of that, I was able to feed myself and my family.. "Aoi-shaaan, cucumber..." "Oh, sorry Chibi, here you go.." P37 I handed him over the sliced cucumber and pickles stuck on the toothpicks. Then Chibi held those in both hands, and like in a daze started munching and crunching on them. Even though I was nervous early in the morning, I felt comfortable and carefree right now. The evidences are because of me bringing the onigiri and the bento boxes without thinking much.

"Welcome, Tenjin-ya's Odanna-sama. Yugao's Aoi-dono." The smiling face of the owner who greeted us at the entrance of the fruit orchard looks familiar. Once, previously, we met at Gintengai... Could it be.. It's Rokusuke-san, the Rokurokubi. Even in Yugao, we use the fruits from Rokusuke-san's business Mizumakinouen. "Hello, Rokusuke-san." "Aoi-dono, thank you very much for always patronizing our Mizumakinouen's fruits." "Rokusuke-dono, thank you for taking care of us. I am just a commoner today, because we are doing these in secret. You don't have to be so humble." "I understand, Odanna-sama. Today we're only open for half a day, so I think there will be less visitors. Uhm.. Oh, you can see the momiji autumn leaves on the side of the mountain over there." Rokusuke-san stretched his neck towards the mountain to check, and as he moved towards a tree trunk he showed to us the place. P38 "Alright then, please come this way." We finally went inside the fruit orchard. The first portion of the fruit orchard that we went into, was the grape vineyard. "Woooow!" A canopy above our heads hanging like ivy, these drooping, purple grapes look like drops of water seemingly about to burst. They look so fresh, the colors make them look like jewels. The viney canopy allows the autumn sunlight to pierce through, and the gentle air space is filled with a mysterious life force. "This is awesome, Odanna-sama! The grapes are just so impecable!" "The size of each of these grapes are Kakuriyo's biggest and sweetest, the variety is called Daishisui. Lately, Rokusuke-san says that this seedless variety has been selling very well in the market." "For sure.. In Utsushiyo too, I've seen some seedless grapes, I wonder if the skin in these ones are edible too." "The skin isn't edible. But they're easy to peel. Let's go pick some." "Really, they look like Concord grapes, I was thinking of making some grape tarts, I wonder if they're suitable..." The grapes with seeds are really good when used, but how can these seedless grapes be said to be easier to eat, as well as easier to be used for cooking?** T/N. Yeah, I mean, the seedy ones get easier made into jams due to having more pectin, so I agree with you Aoi, I don't know any other use for seedless grapes other than turning them into raisins. The seedy grapes are, in my opinion tastier, juicer, and have more uses. But that's just my opinion lol P39 The grape's main tree is not that tall, and I could easily have fun gathering them. The farm's assistants gave me scissors, and I started to trim the bunches off the trees. These were profoundly heavy, and I was having so much fun gathering them. Store-bought grapes had nothing on these ones. After picking a lot of grapes, I couldn't resist eating one. I was shocked. "Uwahhh! It's very sweet! Odanna-sama, the grapes are very sweet, they're so delicious!" "You tried them right away?" Immediately after I ate one, the fruit's peel was a tad hard-textured, but the grape just burst in my mouth and the juice's rich taste surprised me, it wasn't that sour but the sweetness levels were high. These grapes were picked at ambient temperature, but the taste and texture were still straight up enjoyable. This is a really good product. "Aoi-shaaaan, I want to slurp some grapesh tooooo." "OK, I'll get it." Chibi got hold of a bunch of grapes and hung on one. He went with a grape, and deftly using his beak started peeling off one portion of it, before slurping up and sucking on the juice and munching on it. Chibi holding onto a grape is somehow cute. P40 "Next up are apples. We're going to go buy some to bring home as give-aways for everyone back in Tenjin-ya." "Apples, huh. There are many preservation methods for them, they store up for long time, and many varieties of recipes can be made with them. I want to buy lots for myself too." Hauling the baskets that Rokusuke-san entrusted to us, we went further away to pick some apples. The apple orchards were further inside the premises, away from the grape orchards. The trees were a bit taller than Odanna-sama. All around the trees’ silhouettes, these bore a lot of fruits. "Uwah, they're really very red!" Those apples look so lovely and so tasty. The red color was so deep, and I love the smooth, round shape. Those hanging on the tree look so gorgeous, but I couldn't help but be very interested as to how these will taste. I trimmed one off with scissors, scrubbed the freshy-picked apple's skin and wiped it, and bit into it with haste. While chewing it, the juice's sweetness and sourness spread across my mouth as well as it's strong fragrance. The fruit was crisp and made crunching sounds, as the liquid lightly pulls away. Truly, this were what's called apples. "Are they sweet, Aoi?" "Yes! The insides are sweet, there's hints of sourness, but the flavor is very deep. For sure, this are of Mizumakinouen's best quality. Oh, Odanna-sama, those apples look like they're of a different variety, let's go there, let's go over there!" P41 "Calm down, Aoi..." Odanna-sama accompanied me going here and there. There were so many varieties of apples in the orchard, each one's taste and sweetness were a bit different, and we ended up trying everything. "Hey look, Odanna-sama. Up there on the mountain a bit, there are also more apple trees!" I discovered that on that different place, the were other growing apple trees. Just about all of the trees in the orchard were basically grown in a detached and open portion of a plateau, but when the adjoined mountain is climbed up a little, trees with seemingly fresh apples can be seen. The pink mixed with the saturated red color makes those apples shine brightly. "That's a variety of mountain apples." "Is that different from normal apples?" "Mountain apples are a bit more sour, and the fruits are hard. Up until now, those fruits are entirely inedible, but just sometime ago, Mizumakinouen has started to sell liquor made out of mountain apples. It's still an unknown product but previously, Rokusuke-san brought a bottle to Tenjin-ya, and we tasted some out yesterday. Ginji and I tried it out as we welcomed some guests." "Speaking of that, both of you were tipsy yesterday..." P42 "It's not exactly that much, but it's easy to get drunk." "Whh-at?" Mountain apple liquor. I'm interested but... I have not so good memories about liquors. Sometime ago, I had a very bad experience with the Tengu's secret sake. That has traumatized me until now, and I have never drank and liquor from then on. "Ahaha, your face stiffened. For sure, after drinking that liquor and getting drunk, you'll feel it for two days after drinking, and the next day when you wake up your mood will be better.. On the night before this rest day I drank just one cup, and I felt like my health got better. Mizumakinouen's brand-new product is something that you'll buy again and again." "Odanna-sama, you don't just merely "drink and try it out." "Ginji also likes it, I'll buy some for him as a souvenir." Just saying that, Odanna-sama just floods with elegance. I went up to where the mountain apples were, just to check. The fruits were larger than I thought. I tried biting on it, it was more sour than sweet, and the flesh was harder. "This isn't just for liquors, this can also be used for jams too." When this is boiled down with sugar, the sourness won't easily disappear, and that's a good thing. Even though the small basket on my back was already full, I tossed the mountain apples into the large basket on Odanna-sama's back. P43 Nevertheless... "Odanna-sama, the commoner's look you have now, you really come off as a plebeian. You really look good with that apple basket, you know." "You're starting to tell me that about me looking like a commoner, Aoi?" Even though I said, that, Odanna-sama seems to be ecstatic. "Let's leave this orchard in a bit. Our baskets are already full." "Ehhh? Let's stay for ten more minutes..." In a corner of the fruit orchard, it seems like there's a small hut that has a fire and is making some jam, and Odanna-sama and I started heading over there. Inside Odanna-sama's basket, in front of me, Chibi was scampering about and I could see Chibi playing with some apples. While inside the large pile of apples, he seems to be playing inside a maze. "Chibi, don't play with the apples too much." "OK, I geeet it. I'm a very shmart Ayakashiiiiii, I won't treat theeeshe appleshhh harshhhlyyyy." However, while Chibi was squirming about, an apple rolled and fell off the basket. "Awww, I made one faaallll ouuuuuut." Chibi popped his face out of the basket, and seemingly unashamed of his wreckless behavior stared at the falling apple, while I chased the apple in a panic. P44 That red apple, I was going to use that for jam. I don't want to waste even one! "What the..." The apple instantly vanished. I didn't notice that there was a large hole hidden by the grass, in front of the place where the apple rolled off to. My geta got stuck and snagged back by a tree root, and I fell head-first into the hole were the apple fell off before! "Gyaaaaahhhhhh---" "Aoi?!!" The apples on my back all rolled down and got scattered. This emergency seemed comical but without a doubt is devastating. Everywhere I bumped into hurts. "Aoi-- Aoi--!" "Ohhhh daaarn, thisshh ishhh baaaaad..." As Odanna-sama was calling my name out, it started to sound farther and farther away because of Chibi's insensitive words. Roll.. Roll.. All of the apples loaded in my back started rolling out easily like a conveyor belt as I looked on. P45 "Owwww" On the place where I landed, I was surrounded by a precipice inside the mountain, and all around was a wide place that was full of fluffy fallen leaves. The top of the hole was high, and above the gaps in between the trees, I could only see a bit of the sky. I went and looked around my surroundings, but I couldn't find the hole that I fell from. "Ohh, a red dragonfly!" But in that place, in all of that stillness, there were momiji, fallen autumn leaves. There was a small spring, where the fallen leaves were floating and coloring the water with. Countless red dragonflies were darting over the spring. Red, orange, brown, yellow. Heavily piled and packed and stacked on top of one another in many layers, the fallen leaves superbly look like a carpet. It looked somewhat like a lovely, autumn forest. Looking at these momiji, I consciously remembered an old memory related to grandpa. "Wai.... Odanna-sama... Odanna-sama, ODANNA-SAMA!!!" This is not a time to be a dummy. I loudly called for Odanna-sama, but my voice only echoes and rebounds back into the precipice's walls. It seemed that Odanna-sama is already far away. "Don't tell me.. I've gotten lost in the fruit orchard..." No matter how frequently I got lost in Kakuriyo, I always didn't feel like I was in distress, didn't I...? P46 "Gah, I shouldn't think too much of this..." For the time being, I'll just wait for help to arrive, while I pick up all of the scattered apples around me. All of the apples were fine. Even if some got bruised, there's no problem with eating them. But then that time, I felt like there were scratching sounds behind me, and I was shocked when I turned my head around. "Wh... Who are you?" From inside the forest, with masks that were as red as apples, and bodies each covered in a straw raincoat, a crowd appeared. They surrounded me, and it seemed like they're coming in from everywhere. "It's a human... A human girl.." Whispering in hushed voices, they signalled each other through the eye holes in their masks. Because the wall of the precipice was behind me, I couldn't move at all. "Wh..What is this.. Wait a minute..." The dubious beings started moving smoothly towards me. Could it be that, they're going to feed on me? But within the populace wearing a straw raincoat, a strange branch was pulled out, and they lighted it up, and towards me wafted a smoke that smelled bittersweet, it was an unfamiliar smell. P47 In a moment before I realized it, I have lost consciousness.

I had a dream. It was an old memory, with momiji and apples. In reality, back then I went with grandpa once, to his old residence. I was still an lementary school student then, and for sure it was autumn. I was sure that grandpa visited the Buddhist altar of his deceased mother, we went to this large residence in the outskirts of Tokyo, and I accompanied him. It has been a long time since he visited their family home, and he probably felt a lot of nostalgia. That home reminded me particularly of autumn season, and it seemed that grandpa had so much deep-seated emotions. "Ah, I see.. When autumn comes, this home seemingly turns into an AKIAKANE." "Grandpa, what's an akiakane?" "That's a red dragonfly, Aoi." It seemed like grandpa cut himself off from whoever was living in that home. He particularly didn't mention the place he came from, and it seems that through this I couldn't get to know him better. After a very long time, for such a reason he had no choice but to meet with his mother. P48 However, if I was going to meet my great-grandma, I couldn't instantly do it when she was still alive. Even when that person died, grandpa didn't come to her funeral, and even after that he couldn't bring it upon himself to visit even secretly. The house that we went to was the first and last time that I did, but to be honest, from how I remembered it, it was a really large residence.** Grandpa was such a monk... "I apologize, I had no way to find out, you were already at the verge of death. As expected, the role of head of the household was difficult..." "Nay, mother's death.. Seemed to be from my curse. I am truly sorry about that. You were killed by someone who didn't want to die... A strong person..." "Being someone like the lady of the house, even at your time of death, Shirou made you worry. Let us hurry now to her Buddhist shrine**." A man in the prime of his life, grandpa brought himself into the house's inner room, and in front of us we saw an imposing Buddhist shrine. A curse...? Grandpa's words were spoken in a low and hushed voice, and that time I thought that what I was continuously listening to was mysterious. But then I remembered something, it seemed that there was a deep meaning to it. T/N: At this point, it's easy to see why Shirou was living as a reckless man, he was probably raised in a stiff household, mostly because he was a member of the main family, with his mother as the house head. So he had to conduct his manners most of the time, probably. He loosened up when he got a chance to get away from the house. He was also probably bailed out a lot, which is why he at times becomes happy-go-lucky, or leaves others to clean up his messes. Think of a chaebol's son (son of a rich person lol) being bailed out a lot, and ends up not being able to clean up his messes. Buddhist shrines are tiny cabinet-like altars that contain the photo of the deceased, and they're usually opened up on death anniversaries or new years or whenever there's a day of the dead celebration something, like hungry ghost fest or something. Offerings can be placed in front of the cabinet, along with candles and incense sticks. Again, as this implies that Shirou came from a prominent family, his mother's shrine altar is probably huge AF. P49 "Aoi, come meet your great-grandmother. Mother, this is my granddaughter, Aoi." In front of the large Buddhist shrine, I was introduced to the dead. So many apples with a lovely color were offered, and as a child that left a strong impression on me. The incense stick's fragrance, within the swaying smoke rising up... The red color that was projected looked lovely. I didn't understand how to pay respects to someone that I didn't know. But the blurred vision of grandpa's side profile, up until now I didn't see it, it was a person who was suffering in loneliness... I could only remember it now. "Aoi, wait here for a bit..." After that, grandpa talked to two of his male relatives, and on the tatami floor of the residence, I waited for him. There was a garden connected to the veranda, and red dragonflies were flying in and out, dartingly through the window. I wondered why I was there alone...As I was sitting on the veranda, looking at the evening sky's madder red color, I started to ponder. Everywhere I go my heart always feels wrenched as I always felt that I was an outsider, but staying here in this residence, it didn't feel bad. It's easy for this old house to draw in Ayakashi, but I couldn't feel anything evil. Being guarded somehow, I could remember that place had a sense of calm and peace. P50 I didn't think that there would be anyone visiting or encroaching the confines of that place. "Are you.. A human?" Suddenly, there was someone at the gate. Before I realized it, a young boy was standing beside me. The boy seemed to have orange hair**, I thought that he was a humanoid Ayakashi, and my body stiffened. He's not a human-ish Ayakashi... At best, he is a lower-grade elementary school student. A child. But as I stared at the child in front of me, looking deeper at his essence, his eyes were not those of a child's. "I'm... A human too." I answered with a low voice, and as that child's face remained the same, he nodded over a serving tray that he was carrying. Sliced apples were arranged on a glass plate, and there was a glass of milk on the tray too. "Mommy told me to bring these to you." I humbly took these, and the kid frettedly ran away as if he was escaping. At that moment, he really did acted somewhat like a child. While running, what seemed like a mother's scolding voice called out "Akane, stop running!" T/N: It's not an ayakashi, it's zappy boi Zenitsu wahahaha I have zero regrets and yeah I know Zappy boi had brown hair before getting struck by lightning. But seriously, it seemed that based on the stuff here, Shirou's family can see Ayakashi, as Zappy boi Akane and Aoi can see them, like he did. Honestly, the color-name puns are just too much lololol P51 That kid, his name was Akane. It was the sky's color, and was the name of the red dragonflies. The skin of the sliced apples were made into bunnies** and they looked cute, and I could feel the love of the mother living in that house. Could the child also have eaten this everyday, I wonder. Using the fork beside the apples, I stuck this on the apples and ate them from behind. "Oh, they're sweet." Also, they were cold. These were cooled inside the refrigerator, and the coldness felt good on my throat. Somehow, while drinking the milk and eating the apples, it became a memory I longed for. A child. Yes, a child who had no idea how autumn feels like. I couldn't have it anymore. But whenever I see apples and momiji, I remember that meeting that only happened once.

Boom, boom..... When I woke up, within that pitch blackness was an old banquet hall inside a grotto. T/N: Bunny apples are fun to make and fun to eat, try them out. I think I saw some in Kaicho wa Maid-sama once, but that was ages ago lol P52 A large alter was built, a while ago, in front of me. All around it were countless food offerings. Countless candle flames were lit, flowers and fruits and a pig's head**, deer horns and other stuff were arranged there as offerings too. "Wh... What is this?" In front of me, the drummers were also dancing, they seem to be holding and continuing a ceremony, and these were the mysterious Ayakashi with monkey masks. "Miko-sama" "You have awakened." They were all whispering in a low voice. Miko-sama? "Uhm... Are you.. worshipping me?" Having no idea what was happening, I asked them in a courageous voice. But the gathered Ayakashi that were wearing a straw raincoat and monkey masks, why did they all went "yes, milady, yes milady" and turned around? "Human girl, you are the Kaku-zaru** village's priestess." "You shall save us from calamity..." These Ayakashi called Kaku-zaru, for a while have been worshipping me. I don't feel anymore danger, but this situation has gone nuts. T/N: They got hold of Inosuke's boar head lolol I still have zero regrets Nihongo fun fact, when forming compound words, the first syllable of the second word gets a tenten, which looks like a quotation mark. For example, the word HIDARIGAWA (left side) is made up of 2 words: hidari=left, and kawa=side, and because the syllable KA becomes GA when you add a tenten, KAWA becomes GAWA. Another example, the word for three thousand, SANZEN, is made up of san=three and sen=thousand, but because SA becomes ZA when you add a tenten, SEN becomes ZEN. Which is why I made it KAKUZARU here, there's no furigana in the text so I just assumed that this rule works. I could have just made it into Kakuriyo Monkey but then where's the fun in that lol. I'll probably put shit like this here, so that by the end of however much chapters my body can upload here, we've all learned some tiny Nihongo bits. I'ma gonna drag you all with me bwahahahahaahaa! P53 "Uhm.. I came from a fruit orchard along a mountain. I would want to go back now..." The monkey masks suddenly stared up. The masks had a strong impact on me, and I unconsciously gulped. This has a different atmosphere, compared to when I'm with the usual Ayakashi I have met. In a way, this unexplored region seemed to house a tribe. "You're a Miko." "No, I'm not a Miko, because I'm just a human." I flatly refused them, but they started to gather as they were whispering. "Miko-sama, with our offerings, we are requesting of you. This is our sacrifice..." "Uhm.. Sacrifice?" After saying that, is seemed that they didn't listen. Nevertheless, when they pulled out a rope I was shocked, they were pulling along a handsome, black-haired guy with a long piece of rope... "What the... They tied up Odanna-sama like a slave!" In front of me, surely without a doubt, they have brought along Tenjin-ya's Odanna-sama, the younger version. That appearance doesn't give off his aura of being Tenjin-ya's master, after all, they don't know who it was. B-b-b-b-but, isn't that disrespectful? If the people in Tenjin-ya saw this they'll bring upon a wrath of a sea of fire! P54 Speaking of Odanna-sama, he was restlessly looking around, and once when he found me on the bluish altar, he smiled at me childishly. As expected from someone so composed. It's better to be cheerful. "Miko-sama, we found this person loitering around outside the village." "Please have your way with this sacrifice. We can boil, then roast, then eat him." No no no, a human girl can't eat Ayakashi! "Then quickly untie him! That person is a distinctly emiment man!" "Yes, milady--" While the Kaku-zaru were being told what to do, they unfastened Odanna-sama's ropes. "Hmmmmph. Could it be that when you saw me tied up, you were surprised?" "You don't have a face that looked surprised. Might you have been enjoying yourself? Speaking of, how did you got captured so easily?" "I was looking for you, and I ended up in the Kaku-zaru's village. I thought it was easier to get caught as an adult in order to get in. As a result, I got here. When I met you here, everything went OK." "So it's OK to meet Odanna-sama here.." When the Kaku-zaru saw Odanna-sama and I, they started to talk in hushed voices. They were an eerie bunch. Why on earth did they bring me here, what do they plan to do? "Oh dear..." P55 Odanna-sama hit his hand on his waist, and it transformed as he dispelled it. Normally, people would be surprised and exclaim "It's Tenjin-ya's master!", but, here, the Kaku-zaru only shook their heads questioningly. What the.. They only kept silent and didn't say anything, so Odanna-sama only cleared his throat with an "ahem". "Aoi, this place is the heart of Hyakumeyama. I knew that inside this mountain, there is a hidden village of the Kaku-zaru, but this is the first time I've taken a visit. At any rate, the Kaku-zaru's village is in the territory of the Northern Lands." "Whaaaa-t. So.. We're already in the Northern Lands?" "Now that you mentioned it, yes. But the North-eastern lands were supposed to have a boundary..." Upon hearing loud drumming sounds again, Odanna-sama stared at the ceremony that the Kaku-zaru were performing in front of the large altar. "These Kaku-zaru were from an old era, wherein they were taken here by a Miko, a human priestess, which is now forbidden. Each time a human girl comes here, she becomes a replacement for the Miko, and she becomes worshipped by them." "So in this case, I was kidnapped to become worshipped here?" "But, well, this curiosity is rather odd. No matter how many human girls they worship, if it's against their will, being taken here feels like a punishment. But for this, I wonder what their probable reasons were for moving and leaving the village..." At the same time, the drumming sounds suddenly stopped. The door of the old tomb opened, and an old Kaku-zaru came in. P56 "The respectable elder... Has come!" That person has the longest straw raincoat in the bunch, and somewhat wears a necklace made out of bones, as well as having a mask of an old sleepy monkey. While walking with a cane, he was supported by a Kaku-zaru who was near the offerings, and sat in front of the altar where I was. "Miko-sama, we are the humble descendants in this village. For today, we beseech you." Everyone went "Yes, milady--", and bowed deeply once again. What the heck is going on.. "Uhm.. Respectable elder? What is all this For a while now, you've been saying stuff about worshipping, why on earth is that?" "Brigands from the far north has come to our village, and has looted and plundered." "Bandits?" Odanna-sama and I looked at each other's faces. He suddenly seemed to remember something instantly, and he placed his hand on his chin as he narrowed his eyes. "Bandits came from the far north.. Could it be that, they're the Ozuma gang?" "Odanna-sama, you know of them?" "Yes. They came from the Great Glacial Mountain Range of the Far North, and I've heard stories that in nearly every mountain here and there they were wreaking havoc and violence. But unexpectedly, you're asking for help from the North-eastern lands connected to the mountain of Hyakumeyama?" Aa a Hachiyo of the North-eastern lands, might he have not noticed of their situation? His facial expression suddenly became grave. P57 "Say, what on earth did the bandits do to this village?" After I tried asking, each of the Kaku-zaru started groaning in low voices. It was a bone-chilling sound and it pierced through my body. "We already have become the Ozuma-gang's minions." "Hm, in what way?" "The Ozuma-gang are bandits composed of about 20 individuals that move around. Each one has a jurisdiction over one mountain, as well as a minion that goes in each of the mountains, and like the other mountains we have become under one group that only keeps on increasing." The respectable elder has started to retell the story emotionally. "The day when those brigands came to this village,they broke through everything and pillaged, they violently wounded our villagers. We have no means or ways to retaliate so we just surrendered, and we became under the control of those thugs. After that, those brigands started to enter this village's stronghold, and every night they celebrated in our banquet hall. They just ate all of the village's food in reckless abandon, drank our liquor dry, and became even more violent when drunk. Half of the food we were saving in this village has already been eaten. At this rate we will not even last until winter." "Oh, I see. To summarize, you have been deeply troubled by it." Because of that, they have explained why they have abducted me, and why they were asking help from the gods. "Miko-sama. Please, we beg of you, save us---" The other Kaku-zaru who were also bowing down and worshipping me, also beseeched and prayed. Even though they show signs of just imitating what they think what a god must do, the surrounding atmosphere of desperation made me want to help them, but regarding that, I am just a normal human girl who has no means to easily resolve the issue. P58 "Respectable elder, have you gotten in touch with the Hachiyo of the North?" From here, Odanna-sama asked the question with a commanding voice. The respectable elder raised his face, stared unblinkingly at Odanna-sama's majestic pose. "Oh my.. You, are you not Tenjin-ya's Master?" "Indeed, I am. Finally, you have taken notice of me." "This is a bit too bad, isn't it, Odanna-sama?" After having his fun hiding, then finally being found out, Odanna-sama's face got a bit bored and sullen. But the respectable elder took off his mask, and bowed his head deeply. His monkey face seemed to have remained the same, but there were deeply-etched wrinkles on it, which definitely showed his very old age. The other Kaku-zaru didn't seem to be fazed with Odanna-sama. This was as otherworldy, remotely and as detached to the outside world as it can get. "Please give us your permission, Odanna-sama!" "Oh, do not worry, it's fine. However, the North's Hachiyo.. Can he not do it?" "Yes. We have not received any help from the North's Hachiyo. That is out of the question right now, as the Hachiyo has turned a blind eye on the arrival and movements of the brigands." P59 "I knew it..." "What, how can you say that, Odanna-sama?" I couldn't follow how the conversations flowed. During such times, when called for, a Hachiyo doesn't comply with the wishes of the people of the land? It seems to be like that here, in the Northern Lands. While placing his hand on his jaw, Odanna-sama explained to me the situation. "Apparently, the Northern Lands have a problem in their hands. The other name for this land is called "The Land of Glaciers", and is Kakuriyo's largest land area, and in this land there is a historical giant ice castle. But because the nature of this place is harshly cold, it is undoubtedly the most difficult to live alongside that harshness. The current Hachiyo holds a strong influence as a distinguished Ayakashi, and has been able to create stability within the boundaries of the Northern Lands.. But after countless years, that Hachiyo has succumbed to an illness." Really-- Prior to this, the Southern lands were deeply concerned with handling a unique problem, but even here in the Northern lands they also had problems. "Well,now that the entirety of the land is in chaos, from now on we must strike back at the bandits that have been having their ways in expanding their territories in the mountains here and there. But the Ozuma-gang.. They're an especially powerful bunch. Nonetheless, since I came from the North-eastern Lands which I have control over, I think we can apply some mugwort and moxybust them out." Odanna-sama said all of those standing tall and with a suave look. As if holding on to those words, the Kaku-zaru's elder who was previously losing hope suddenly, and with fire opened his eyes. "We cannot call upon the North's Hachiyo anymore. But can we impose upon the master of Tenjin-ya, along with the Miko-sama? P60 Please, for the sake of our village, make those bandits leave us!" "Ohh. But you kidnapped my new wife who fell inside a hole, isn't that request a bit selfish? And what's more, you also restrained my hands." It's not like that, that was pretty much my own fault, and it's why Odanna-sama's behavior was incomprehensible. "It's a rare chance that we got to enjoy apple-picking, but you have interrupted our date, Aoi and I. If Aoi hated me because of what I did, what then? Hm?" "Odanna-sama, right now you're being too selfish and holding grudges. Moreover, at this point I can't hate you..." "Really, Aoi? If that's the case, do you like me?" "Nah, I don't know." I replied a considerably appropriate answer to Odanna-sama, who was brimming with expectations. With such a frank answer, Odanna-sama felt dejected and with a disheartened look hunched his back and sat alongside the already sitting Kaku-zaru. Well, that was indeed depressing... "Well then, where is the Ozuma-gang right now?" Odanna-sama continued the conversation with a blank face. "They were in a nearby mountain territory yesterday, and tonight they announced that they will be coming here, to eat and feast in the banquet hall." P61 I caught a glimpse of Odanna-sama agreeing and nodding. "Aoi, what do you think we must do?" "Ehh? Me?" Him seeking for my opinion was very unusual. I thought for a bit, and answered in all honesty. "These people, I think it's a pity that the food they have now won't last until after winter.." "Hahaha, as expected of you, you were worried more about their food. Even though my companion was kidnapped to be worshipped, you were still the same, your nature of involving yourself with Ayakashi and their food still came out." "Even if I fell and rolled down a hole and everywhere hurts, I don't think I'm in any other kind of danger." "What the.. You got hurt?! Let me look at you to see if you got bruised--" "Odanna-sama, this isn't the time to talk like that--" This time my words were taken as a harsh reply by Odanna-sama, and despite the conversation getting derailed due to inappropriateness, I returned it to its original traction. Seeing the situation as such, the Kaku-zaru seemed to be perplexed. "Ahem, Well, I am also a Hachiryo. This may be the Northern Lands' problem, but I wouldn't know if the bandits may have brazenly invaded the North-eastern Lands. As such, repelling them from here is my job. I have a deep consideration of Aoi's heart, but I can lend you my hand." P62 "Ohhhhhh.." Hearing Odanna-sama's words, everyone seemed to have more hope, and they raised their voices with relief. "A normal ogre would always back out and retreat, but now you have become Kakuriyo's dark hero!" "My soon-to-be wife wouldn't like that." "You've said that already, why are saying that again?" "There are two chairs for two people on that altar, it somehow vaguely seems to be for a king and queen." "Well, that seems to be a fun situation, isn't it Odanna-sama?" Odanna-sama's reception may have been weird and without familiarity, but I think they were sincere. But... "Alright then. Since you said so, Aoi go back to Tenjin-ya." "Whaaat?" All of a sudden, Odanna-sama commanded me to return! Even though he said "I have consideration for Aoi”! "Wh-- Why? I wanted to help in any way too--" "That's out of the question. Those bandits are armed, and a despicable bunch. Having a human girl's body, you'll be in danger, and that is terrifying--" "So that being the case, Odanna-sama is not in danger?" "What's that? Are you.. Worrying for me?" P63 As Odanna-sama was peeking at my face, his face immediately showed a naughty smile. "I'm an ogre. I am different from the weak Aoi. This time your cooking skills can't resolve it." "Th... That I can understand.." Surely, I wonder if I can't get any stronger. Until now it was different, and I wondered if there's a possibility that I can fight with arms? But.. "But, I was thinking of helping up with the cooking back at the banquet hall..." "Again, when it comes to that you're still planning to cook..." Odanna-sama looked at me with a puzzled look, and I prepared myself. "But.. Ah, I see, there's more, if we add sleeping drugs to their food, when they get sleepy won't it be easier to beat them?" "What?" Hearing a mediocre yet dangerous suggestion, Odanna-sama got startled. Even the Kaku-zaru got shocked and couldn't move. As expected, the tactic was such a cliche. 'What the.. What is this atmosphere? I know it's too common. It's a joke." "No, it was so you, Aoi. I guess, you being Shirou's granddaughter, you thought of that." "You guess?" P64 "No, Aoi you had suffered and fought in so many battlefields that you have become resourcefull all around, that's a housewife!" "What the.. You don't have to follow me around against your own will, Odanna-sama--" I realized that this was much like Grandpa's style, and I saw that I have come so far. "However, this isn't exactly classical, so I don't think that it's diabolical. Yes. The mountain apples that we picked, and when we use the Hyakumeyama momiji branch, we can probably make it good." Despite my cliched suggestion, Odanna-sama seemed to have openly agreed to it. He tapped on my shoulder with his hand, and his face turned into an evil ogre. "Aoi, you can definitely depend on your special skills."

End of Chapter 2, Volume 6. Previous - Chapter 1 Next - Chapter 3

Volume 1 Translations by Kakuriyo-translations

Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

I translated Volume 1 Chapter 5 here

References:

Wonderful site for the youkai references

Other stuff I used to do this: Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (you can buy here, I’m not sponsored btw). I was about to buy the older edition but then the newer one came out 2013 so I bought that instead. Worth buying since I was able to find nearly all of the words I needed just by stroke pattern alone.

Merriam-Webster's Japanese-English Dictionary (the red-covered 1996 version is apparently out of print right now). This is what I have been using for a very long time, I bought it when I was still a fetus (yes I am old so what lol), and after so many years, when compared to newer editions, I still prefer this one since its entirety is Japanese-English, the English to Japanese gloss are just 16 pages tops, so you get more Japanese words for your buck. But that’s just my opinion, maybe other people prefer the Jap-En x En-Jap IDEK.

Basic online dictionary, Jisho. Knowledge of verb conjugations and other words are necessary since not all have entries.

If you can read Japanese, you can buy the whole set in Amazon Japan, they’re shipping worldwide now, I think.

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