#but then Sora the dragon got a different name and Sora the person made sure everyone knew who she was and I was just. HELL YEAH.

[penofwildfire]

I've said it before but Sora's arc was so important to me as a queer person who's parents have never been accepting and most likely never will be. Cole's true potential arc episode was great as a general queer coming out allegory but I can't really see myself in it because he has that love and acceptance from his father that I've never had. Sora's parents being the way they are, asking her to come back, to be their daughter, calling her by her deadname, and then her asserting herself as SORA. And that being the catalyst for her true potential. That full acceptance of herself, regardless of what her parents want. Embracing her found family who actually care about who she really is. That spoke to me. That hit hard.

[howaboutalittlehelpneos]

What are everyone’s teams in your Pokemon au? Do you have a plot set out or is it a more causal au?

Oooooh this is a fun one

You'd better fucking BELIEVE we have a plot set up, I have poured so much effort into the Pokemon au

Okay, so: when it comes to teams, I decided that everyone should have at least one legendary Pokemon in their party as a way to be faithful to the ace monster concept, but it wasn’t until much later into the au that I realized I’d failed to do that with Sora’s team, which led to a very fun plot point involving his secret 7th Pokemon he keeps in his box

Teams under the cut because it’s gonna be a long one, boys

Yuya has: Groudon, Sandshrew, Popplio, Hippopotas, Aipom, and Ekans

In his box, he’s got Phanphy, Charmander, Politoad, Ducklett, Liepard, Skorupi, and Lycanroc (Midnight form)

I wanted him to have as many Pokemon as he could that reminded me of the monsters in his deck, and since Yuya is a coordinator in this au instead of a regular trainer, it just felt right that he’d have a lot of different partners he could swap out for various contests

Also I’m mad that there isn’t a legendary dragon that looks like Odd Eyes, so I had to give Yuya Groudon instead, making him the only Yu boy in this au to not have a legendary dragon type Pokemon

Yuto has: Eternatus, Bisharp, Aegislash, Aggron, Lucario, and Shadow Rider Calyrex

Okay listen, I know I was supposed to only give everyone One legendary Pokemon, but with Calyrex I feel justified because it looks So Much like it could be one of Yuto’s Phantom Knights, I mean

Just look at it

Yuto gets to have two legendaries to make up for Arc-V killing him off so early into the show

Aside from this guy, the rest of Yuto’s team just felt like it should be comprised of steel types ow the edge so that’s what I gave him. His Pokemon are as edgy as he tries to appear to be and that is enough to amuse me.

There also weren’t exactly many good Pokemon equivalents of his archetype, so I made do with what I had.

Yugo has: Latios, Scizor, Claydol, Porygon 2, Ponyta (Shiny), and Sudowoodo

Yugo was honestly so hard to come up with a team for because all his Speedroid cards are just like... toys and stuff for the most part, so I agonized over what I should pick for him for a Long time. In the end, I feel like I got close enough to his general aesthetic with the Pokemon I picked.

(His Ponyta is there because of Speedroid Horse Stilts, and while it is a shiny, the dumbass has no idea about it, and thinks he just happened to get a special blue horse that was born a little differently- he never claimed to be smart.)

He also deadass thought Sudowoodo was a grass type for the longest time. Rin had to be the one to tell him it wasn’t. 

“Yugo. Sudowoodo? It sounds like pseudo? As in fake wood?”

“Ohhhhh is that what its name means? Wow Rin you’re so smart.”

No Yugo you’re just exceptionally stupid.

Yuri has: Naganadel, Seviper, Victreebel, Toxicroak, Vileplume, and Roserade

For the most toxic of battlers, I felt it only necessary to give Yuri an all poison type team. I included an even mix of plants in there to tie into his Predaplant deck, Seviper for the snake eye vibes, and Toxicroak... just feels right, you know. I couldn’t find any other poison plant themed Pokemon that seemed like they’d fit his vibe, so he gets a poison frog instead.

Yuzu has: Meloetta, Sylveon, Meowstic (Female), Gardevoir, Florges, and Jigglypuff

I tried to stick with Pokemon that had very feminine vibes for Yuzu, since her deck is comprised of pretty singing ladies, so Meloetta and Jigglypuff in particular feel very fitting in that regard.

Serena has: Cresselia, Delcatty, Glameow, Lopunny, Persian, and Pyroar (Female)

The moon vibes with Cresselia felt perfect for Serena, and as for the rest of her team, all cats and a bunny to pay homage to her Lunalight deck ^^

Rin has: Celesteela, Mismagius, Hatterene, Glaceon, Froslass, and Chimecho

Her team vibes with the witch part of her Wind Witch deck, at least for Mismagius and Hatterene. Glaceon, Froslass, and Chimecho are there due to the etymology of her name, where possible meanings of it include “cold” and “bell”, which I thought was pretty cool, no pun intended.

Ruri has: Galarian Articuno, Pidgeot, Noctowl, Chatot, Altaria, and Unfezant (Male)

Some softer birds for the soft bird girl, for the most part. I liked the thought of her team being all birds like her Lyriluscs, and just... yeah. They’re all very friendly birds that Ruri’s bonded pretty closely with. Also I made sure she had Galarian Articuno for no reason other than it is purple like her, and I think that’s all the reason I need.

Gong has: Kartana, Machoke, Samurott, Golisopod, Hariyama, and Conkeldurr

Gong was really easy to assign a team to- just had to find as many samurai themed Pokemon as possible, and fill in the rest with really strong fighting types, like Machoke, Hariyama, and Conkeldurr.

Shingo has: Type: Null, Dusclops, Misdreavus, Spiritomb, Decidueye, and Cramorant

With Shingo, I tried to go for Pokemon that had the same vibes as some of his Abyss Actors, and I think Dusclops is the best example of this. Tbh I am very proud of giving him a Type: Null because Type: Null is an amalgamation of other Pokemon, something that was created in a lab to be a fighting machine. There’s nothing natural about Type: Null, and it’s kind of terrifying to Yuya specifically, who’s always viewed Pokemon as creatures to befriend. This experiment created purely to kill... unnerves him, and serves as a very good foil to his beliefs when it comes to Pokemon.

And they were narrative foils

Oh my god they were narrative foils

On a sillier note, I chose Cramorant purely because of this quote from its bulbapedia page: “Cramorant are also rather unintelligent as they can't remember which Pokémon they fight in mid battle, but never forget Trainers that they trust. However, they try to attack their Trainers if they steal food from them.”

I just thought the idea of Shingo having this dumb bird that occasionally pecks at him over food would be funny tbh, gotta dunk on the rival at least a little bit.

Sora has: Banette, Vanillish, Swirlix, Stufful, Litleo, and Buneary

In his box, he has a Guzzlord

I feel like Sora’s team is very straightforward, as it’s a mix of sweets themed Pokemon, and Pokemon that represent monsters in his deck- Stufful for Flufflal Bear, Litleo for Fluffal Leo, and Buneary for Fluffal Rabbit. Guzzlord... is relevant later on in the plot after shit goes down, that’s all I’ll say for now.

Masumi has: Diancie, Sableye, Corsola, Aurorus, Tyranitar, and Lycanroc (Dusk form)

Gem Knight girl deserved to have a bunch of good rock type Pokemon, and Diancie is like. The best possible legendary I could have given someone like her lol, the crystal aesthetic is just perfect for her. Not much to say here honestly, I just really vibed with these specific rock types and thought they’d make a good team for her.

Yaiba has: Zeraora, Kecleon, Pangoro, Scyther, Purugly, and Stantler

So I actually threw this list together just now because I realized Masumi was the only member of her trio to have a full team, and that just wasn’t right. I tried to base this team off the XX-Sabers as well I could, but it was a little hard with how many humanoid cards Yaiba has. With his legendary, I actually chose it based off this monster right here! 

I think they’ve got similar enough vibes aesthetically for Zeraora to fit him. Scyther is based on Emmersblade, Kecleon on Ragigura, Stantler on Garsem, Purugly on Gardestrike, and Pangoro... Honestly, it just makes me think of Yaiba himself when I look at him. I think they’d get along well.

Hokuto has: Deoxys, Espeon, Grumpig, Starmie, Lunatone, and Malamar

Psychic type Pokemon just sort of felt right for him to have, considering that his deck is based on constellations and has an overall space theme to it. Not sure why that translates over to psychic in my brain, but you know what, it looks right, I love this team for him, and I’m not gonna question it.

I especially think Deoxys makes a good legendary for him considering it is literally a space alien, and Hokuto’s whole thing is space, so yeah, he gets to have the space alien.

Shun has: Galarian Moltres, Skarmory, Fearow, Dodrio, Staraptor, and Talonflame

Pretty straightforward team I feel- it’s all birds of prey for the Raid Raptor boy, and I just thought the Galarian version of Moltres was neat. Makes me think of his Blaze Falcon since they’re both black and red.

Dennis has: Hoopa, Mr. Mime, Delphox, Zoroark, Alakazam, and Hawlucha

Hoopa seemed like a very good legendary for Dennis to have, given his deck archetype and all, he just kind of looks like a little circus dude. Its unbound form makes me think about the swap Dennis has when it gets revealed that he’s actually been a double agent the whole time, and the play gloves finally come off.

The rest of his team... I feel like they speak for themselves. I tried to give him Pokemon that matched up with his deck archetype, so there’s Delphox to rep the fire themed monsters, Mr. Mime because it just fits Dennis’ general personality- and I love the thought of those two being friends and just copying each other’s theatric poses. Chaotic dynamic duo.

(Also: Zoroark's ability letting it disguise itself as another Pokemon is just another parallel to Dennis pretending to be one of the good guys at first, and I love it)

Shinji has: Buzzwole, Beedrill, Vespiquen, Ribombee, Kricketune, and Leavanny

I tried to give the bee man all the bees I could, but there are only so many bee Pokemon out there 😔 I knew the rest of his team had to be insect types to make up for it, so I picked Kricketune because he is just... a friend... a musical buddy who definitely gets along well with the kids. Leavanny is just a bug mom who also helps patch up the kids’ clothing when they get tears in them, which I just love the idea of. Sweet bug mom whose dex entry talks about how they sew for other Pokemon looks after her trainer’s kids when she’s not battling.

Buzzwole: witness the fitness

Throwback to the Smash Bros mains lmao 

Crow has: Murkrow, Braviary, Starly, Swellow, Pikipek, and Corviknight

Bunch of birds for my Blackwing user... This team was partially picked out by June, and it was mostly meant for the Other Pokemon au, but I don’t really see a reason to change his team here. Crow is the one person without a legendary on his team, which makes me sad, but there really isn’t a legendary bird out there that fits his vibes, so as much as I wanna give him a legendary, he will have to make do without one. Sorry Crow.

Hoo... that’s finally all the teams down. Now I can talk about the plot! So, as I briefly mentioned in a previous post (I think), this particular au is inspired by Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum! It’s the era where contests really became a big thing, which is perfect for a lot of these characters because it’s easy to translate dueltaining over to coordinating in this world. Much like in canon, Yuya aspires to be as great a coordinator as his dad was, and strives to entertain people the way Yusho could. He’s not much for battling, and far prefers getting to show off his Pokemon’s talents in contests than anything. 

Academia is going to play the role of Team Galactic in this au, which is incredibly fitting with their mission in canon: to remake the universe in their leader’s image. In this case, with Leo Akaba taking on the role of Cyrus, his intent is, presumably, to either destroy the universe that took his daughter from him, or create a new one where she can live once again, no matter the cost.

Sora being a key member in Team Galactic is a very big part of the plot in this au: his mission was to capture one of the lake legendaries, Uxie, since Leo needed all three of them for his plan to remake the universe, but things don’t exactly go well for him, and he ends up losing his battle against Uxie, resulting in all of his memories being locked away, and essentially making him a blank slate.

Side note: the Galactic grunt haircut reminds me a lot of Sora, I mean just look at it

Practically same bangs as him, just add an upturned ponytail and you’ve got my son.

This post is getting very long... but I will add one last plot related thing to it before I go: Uxie can erase memories, Mesprit can erase emotions, and Azelf can erase willpower. All three of these lake legendaries play a very important role in the plot, due to being the keys to Leo Akaba’s plans to remake the universe. Sora was touched by Uxie, effectively doing away with all memory he has of being in Team Galactic. Yuya ends up touched by Mesprit in an attempt to save them, and subsequently loses his emotions as a result. Riley?

Riley had been affected by all three of them before the plot began, which is why she is the way she’d been in Arc-V: Emotionless, unable to remember anything about her past except for those brief, fleeting flashes of memory when put into certain situations she’d experienced before, and without any will of her own. She’s so dependent on her older brother because she quite literally has no clue what to do with herself without being told to, and needs orders to function.

Hoo, if you’ve made it all the way to the end of the post, congratulations! I think this is the longest one I’ve made... ever lmao. I hope you guys found it enjoyable! If anyone wants to know more about certain aspects of this au, feel free to ask! I look forward to talking about it more c:

[snowflake-of-destruction]

125 pls💜

Cleaning out old asks afternoon? Cleaning out old asks afternoon. 

125. You’re the one who left it laying around. Grass is Greener. Sora and Riku.

"You're looking through my phone?" Sora was framed in the doorway, striking even in sweatpants with bunched legs that said they were too long, though they tightened over his hips and a faded shirt with a cartoon dragon on it, hair held back by a blue headband that Riku was fairly, though not entirely, certain had been left at the house by a guest a few weeks ago, large green bowl cradled in his arms. Sora had frozen mid-stir, forgetting what he'd been coming in from the kitchen to ask Riku when he'd caught his husband intently scrolling through something on his phone, Riku's own Otter encased cell lying forgotten on the coffee table.

Riku didn't look guilty in the slightest when he glanced up and made no move to set the item in question down or offer it to its owner. "You’re the one who left it laying around. It kept buzzing, so I got curious. Your passcode is the same as your pin. Every pin you've ever set." Riku left it unvoiced that Sora should never again tease him for the time he'd made his email password "E-mailpassword!" when he was almost as bad. "I was going to make sure it wasn't an emergency, and maybe answer whoever it was that you were cooking and would call or text them back later. "

"I guess that makes sense," Sora hemmed, dismayed suspicion that had scrunched his face slowly smoothing out. He had nothing to hide, and few thoughts or conversations that he didn't relate to Riku, period. If anything, Riku sometimes had to cut his sharing off, and remind him that, while he loved to hear about Sora's day, he wasn't required to recount every second they were apart. He didn't even care about privacy. The only reason to be uncomfortable about Riku looking at his phone was the implication that Riku didn't trust him. If Riku was just concerned that he was missing an important phone call, and then maybe got distracted, then that seemed alright. "Who was it?"

"Kairi." Riku frowned over the name and Sora felt a prickle of concern again. "She hung up when she heard my voice. I wonder if she recognized it," he mumbled the last half to himself.

"You know Kairi?" Surprise and curiosity mixed. "You didn't tell me before that you know Kairi!" Sora could only see the fun of the coincidence. It was a shame he hadn't known before though; he'd have used the leverage of Riku and Kairi being friendly to help convince her to consider staying with them during her separation from her husband instead of with her brother.

"I wasn't sure myself until now," Riku set the phone down and rubbed his forehead. Reasonably, he should have known. Sora had mentioned the name of the student in his yoga class he was seeing more than once, mentioned her crumbling marriage too, and Kairi wasn’t the most common name. He’d just been in denial until he saw it laid out.  He let out a puff of breath much like a sigh and raked the same hand through his hair. "She's a patient of mine. She and her husband. I recognized her in her contact picture.

"Oh! Awesome! I should have thought to ask who they were seeing when she told me Vanitas convinced her to give counseling a shot--though I also think I had something to do with that. She was ready to serve him divorce papers before I talked her out of it," Sora babbled happily. He seemed to remember suddenly that he was holding a bowl and held the spoon out to Riku. "Taste the marinade before I put the fish in it? It's honey orange garlic ginger."

Riku shook his head, and not just because the sauce sounded like at least one flavor too many, especially concentrated and raw. "You can't date my patients."

"No, you can't date your patients," Sora stressed, mildly put out about Riku's refusal to play taste tester. "It's not an ethics violation for me, or even a moral one. We were pretty upfront with each other, and I really want Kairi to work through things with Vanitas, no matter what it might mean for me and her."

"My patients are married, sweetheart," Riku pointed out like he wasn't even listening , fond but exasperated to the point of exhaustion.

"So are you and I. Don't you think I take our marriage vows seriously?"

Riku patted the couch cushion next to him. "I know you do. I hope you know I do too. I wasn't finished. The great majority don't have marriages like ours."

Sora glanced into his bowl, mourning his sauce for a moment, before setting it on the coffee table and sitting beside his husband. "They're not happy, and they're not communicating. That's why they come to you."

"They're not any degree of open..."

"...Or honest."

"You know what type of open I'm talking about. Generally, I deal with couples whose marriages are very different from ours...with people in them who are very different from us too. And even those that aren't, need to be concentrating on the relationship between spouses."

"I know that, but Kairi..." Sora started.

Riku held up a hand to halt him. "I'd prefer to assess Kairi for myself in sessions." He preferred to leave it in session too, though he couldn’t help mentally updating the file in his head. There was no way he’d hurt Sora by mentioning it, but he was pretty sure he knew exactly why Kairi had latched onto him if Vanitas wasn’t showing her the attention and affection she needed. They looked strikingly similar. And, oh God, he was just remembering Sora told him his new girlfriend also had a girlfriend of her own. That was more knowledge he didn’t want to have when it only complicated issues if he couldn’t bring it up in session, considering the source of the knowledge and how he should recuse himself, even when it very much needed to be a topic of discussion.

Sora made a disgruntled noise in his throat, but only fumed for a second before shifting to a more thoughtful pout. "Have I come up at all? Not by name, I know, or you wouldn't have been surprised I knew her, but, in general?"

"An affair?" Riku tilted his head so his glasses slid a fraction down his nose and looked at his husband over the frames. It was a low trick. He knew what effect that gesture had on Sora.

"Don't make it sound tawdry."

"It is for her," Riku pressed gently.

"I know her better," Sora still felt inclined to argue.

"You're right," Riku backed off suspiciously easily. "You absolutely do. But I know you best of all, and I know you wouldn't want to be involved with someone who was being dishonest...which I can tell you she is...with her husband and with you."

Riku was right. He was always right. Sora had given Kairi an ultimatum, but he never reached the stage where he followed through with his vow that he wouldn't keep seeing her if she did not tell her husband about him. Kairi and Vanitas had separated and Sora had fooled himself into thinking it wasn't as important then. He'd renewed his insistence when reconciliation had been put on the table, but then he'd agreed it might not be the first thing to bring up when she saw Vanitas.

"I'll talk to her," Sora offered.

"I'm going to ask you to break it off."

Riku seemed to be holding his breath, and noticing it knocked the breath out of Sora's chest too. Was he not sure if Sora would agree? How could he ever doubt?

"Absolutely!" If Riku was no longer comfortable there was no question. "Do you want me to do it now?"

Riku exhaled a long, slow stream and the relief in his face as he combed a hand through his hair again almost broke Sora's heart all over. "No, no need. You want help with dinner?"

"Nah, I got it." Sora started to stand and reach for his bowl. "Do you want to invite Namine over? It's been a long week. I don't mind calling in the backup to help you relax. We can double-team it."

Riku shook his head. "You're all I need."

"That's very sweet, but, oh love of my life, that's inaccurate. No person can be all things to another, and trying to force one person to be all things at all times for you is a surefire way to sow strife and dissatisfaction."

"Now, you sound like the therapist."

"Would you like me to be? Your glasses, a tie, a notepad and nothing else while I make you lie down on the couch and tell me all your fantasies?"

"Fish first."

[alphaofdarkness]

I wish to know more of your awesome OCs!! So, 19, 22(or maybe as an alternative if they don't, something you mischaracterize on some of them by mistake? Odd, but I sometimes mess up my own ocs XD), 23, 24, 26, and 32 for the OC questions!!

Oh! You beautiful person you! 💖🥺 Of course I shall tell you more about my many, many ocs! Hopefully I can fulfill! 🥰🤗

More undercut because this turned out to be very long ~ 😅

19.  Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why).

Aw, honestly all my OC’s mean so much to me! It is hard to play favorites sometimes lol. Though, if I had to choose, I’m going with two of them!

Samantha, or Sam, is definitely my baby and has definitely developed so much from her original self. Nonetheless, still the same shy, curious girl who has a big role to uphold as chosen Beta to her Alpha. Plus, being a Legendary Wolf Warrior of Light, even more so! Still, despite many the many hardships and obstacles she has faced, she is still hopeful and a total sweetheart. She just wants a settled life and live her with her closest pack mates. 

I have definitely put her though the ringer a lot, emotionally and even explored just several internal things with her. I know Danielle is meant to be me in a sense, but personality and emotional wise, I am more like this lovely Angel. Best girl and everyone loves her!

Second is definitely Danielle (my BsD self insert). Personally, because I have started to embrace her and give her more of my personality and who I really am. Still keeping her as her own person with her struggles, in some aspects, but giving her more of me as well. She has definitely allowed me to have some more self love for myself. Even if it is come and go on most days. She has just grown to be more of a gradual part of me in the recent years since I got into Bsd. I truly love her as she gives me a reason to embrace the parts of me I never would have considered so much or even just not like about me.

Self shipping has definitely also helped, I just love Dany very much and hold her close, please she may be stubborn but she is hella fragile ;;;w;;;

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?

Hm, I wouldn't say anyone has mischaracterized my characters so much that I know of, maybe my parents whenever there is a moment they see my Oc’s and just make a judgement on them on the spot lol.

I suppose me mischaracterizing my OCs would probably be the Seven Deadly Soul Sins? Maybe ^^, These seven, practically, ghost entities of the Seven Deadly Sins are meant to be perceived as the worst possible people/wolves. Their existence is the reason people do bad things and are the negative contrast to the Legendary Wolf Warriors. 

Take an old, unfinished draw of all 7 of them together~

I know what they are, how they behave, what their very existence and presence entails. However, I have come to the bad tendency of redemption in my line of story telling, I often find myself back and forth whether there is any redeemable qualities that should be given to them considering their very existence and such. Envy, or Evelyn, is one that I can definitely see having something on that accord, but she is still at her core bad. 

I don't know if I am saying this correctly or even answering the question well lol. But yeah, I say my Deadly Sin OC’s often can be mischaracterized in a way. I can definitely picture them being top favs if my story was an actual thing. I support the fans in all they come lol ^^

 23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?

I can't think of one I changed too much out of concern for what they are like that I can remember to be quite honest ^^, 

I guess maybe Wisler? I know when I first came up with the start up concept of the LWW, I never intended for him to be a previous Warrior. It was always meant to be Dany’s Aunt who possessed it and Wisler was just a precautious elder wolf who needed to teach her to better her powers, less she gives it up like his daughter had. 

Of course, the whole concept and idea, just gives way for him to have been a possible warrior in the past. If anything I just the developed the idea more and made it more of a tragedy for Wisler. Normally, the concept of being a LWW is meant to be a blessing, a gift bestowed by a greater power, but to him, after giving up his power and remaining upon the world, he just sees it as a curse. Pride only solidified that into his mind. Nonetheless, he becomes a mentor to the other warriors to better themselves and keep them from giving up their power.

Second, was more of a momentary interest in the Chronicles of Narnia and being ever so salty about Susan being left behind, while her family died and went to Narnia ;;;w;;; 

Silly thing really, but literally chose, out of all the warriors, Lidia to be the one to be left alive, from whatever scenario I had at the time, because she refused her soul gift of the LWW’s. It was a momentary silly concept, I don't know why I would chose her for this scenario at all, she doesn’t deserve that ;;w;;

If anything, the ones that I can picture are Yamato and Danielle, just because of their mental state and emotional turmoil under such a heavy weight of loss. It was a silly concept I had thought of once, and just cry little at the thought ;;w;; 

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

Heck, I would love to meet all of them... and heavy apologize for all the hell I've put them all through ;;;w;;;

But Jason~ most definitely...Not cause I self ship myself with him or anything but UwU,,, He is a sweetheart and a beautiful boi ~ I want to love him and give him a soft life pls.

26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will? 

Ahh,,, All of them, in a way? ^^; my middle self was something else entirely~

I think design wise, most if not all my warriors, are still the same. Maybe just a few new upgrades in their fur shade, colored eyes, and maybe their human designs too. Most definitely will change more in the future, just for the sake of bettering myself to draw people.

Old, high school art~ Cringe 

Any new design change is purely out of being in a more better mindset of design and just development of what make them unique. I have definitely changed all of their Soul Markings, I have changed Lidia’s name from Leafia recently, Taka’s formerly sky blue eyes to more of a pale green, Sora’s former tail scar to the claw ones on her shoulder, etc.

Origin, personality and relation wise on the other hand, GRADUAL SHIFT! Some points:

Sora, Yamato, and Takaru are heavily inspired by the Digimon Adventure kids of the same name, I kept their surnames of the ones from the series for a long time into at most Junior Year of High School. Til I learned, if I want to make them my own, I have to change this entirely!

So Sora, Yamato, and Takaru are definitely different entirely from their original selves, personality and kind of design wise.

Sam was kind of meant to be like Kari from Digimon in a way, but heavily refused to name her that or make her in similarity of the character.

Another Oc of mine named Jacob Wolfe was originally going to be the Warrior of Earth before I came up with Lidia.

There was originally meant to be just 5 Warriors, Lidia and Jason not yet part of it and, surprisingly, neither was Danielle.

Jason was originally named Damien and was kind of, for a while, Danielle’s twin sibling... Changed that drastically and entirely after renaming him to Jason.

Originally, had some other mythical beasts living amongst them in the Forest of Dreams, like dragons and gryphons for a while.

Originally, played with the idea of the warriors coming back to life if they didn't give up their powers, but... after much though it just became more of a “too cheesy of choice?” Especially for an ending thing before the next generation kids come in, it was just not an option after a while.

These are just some that I can think of at the top of my head at least, I am sure there is much more scrap things in my mind lol.

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why? 

...God I don't want any of them to fecking die grueso-(I should shut my mouth actually),,, even though I will admit I did internally put my warriors into a shitty thought-out idea of them in a Final Destination scenario...

Ahh, may Yamato in a way as that stoic, hardened protagonist with the will too try and survive, Wrath is his counter self sin, I find that fitting in a way. Same with Jason, just because of his slight nativity to being a warrior and how he left his former abusive living from his alpha and stepfather. Oddly enough, maybe Sam? Just because of her ability to see the worst things to happen in the future, but I am not sure lol.

Am thinking of the new Resident Evil game I see floating around with some gamer youtubers and I can see Yamato and/or Jason in the position and setting.

—✨——✨——✨—

I truly enjoyed all these questions! It gave me time to think and reflect on my ocs! I do hope you enjoy some old, blurred and unfinished art from ya wolf girl~ I truly appreciate this and gives me the feels of validation! ;;;w;;;

[kingdomofallthehearts]

The New Girl in Town

SoKai Week 2020 - Day 2 - First Meeting

Synopsis: The teacher introduced a new girl and for some reason Sora can’t help but notice her.

Featuring: Sora, Kairi, Riku, Selphie, Wakka, Tidus

Prompt for the Day: First Meeting / Unseen Adventures

“Alright children, I’d like you all to give a warm welcome to our newest friend.”

Standing beside the teacher was a petite girl wearing a white dress with big purple flowers along the trim. She had shoulder length hair the color of fresh raspberries and her eyes were bluer than the sea surrounding the islands.

“Her name is Kairi. She’ll be staying with us for a while, so be nice.”

Before Sora even had a chance to introduce himself, a bubbly brunette in a pair of yellow overalls and a white t-shirt ran over to greet the new kid.

“Hi Kairi! My name is Selphie. Let’s get along!”

“That’s Selfie for you,” a voice said from behind, disrupting Sora’s thoughts. “—Woah, Riku! You snuck up on me!” “Did not. I was here the whole time. You were just too busy staring at the new girl to notice, which is very rude by the way.” “—I…I wasn’t staring! I was just… listening to the teacher! Yeah, that’s it!” “Whatever you say.” The young boy with silver locks gave a knowing smirk, but he opted to drop the argument. After all, he was a year older than Sora. He had to be the bigger person. The more mature of the two, which annoyed Sora to no end. Usually, he’d push back against Riku’s apathy, but a fit of giggles from the two girls distracted Sora from any feelings of irritation.

“Hey Riku, do you think that’s the girl living at the mayor’s house?” Riku made mention of such a girl earlier when the two were playing at the secret place. In fact, they planned on visiting later that day, but once they arrived at the mayor’s house there was a maze of long legs blocking them from reaching the front door. They opted to try again on a day that was less crowded, but never got around to it.

“It has to be. It’s not like we get many visitors. And what are the chances of two girls our age moving here at the same time?” He was right. That’s Riku for you. He always had an answer to everything, even when speaking to the adults! Sora was proud to have him as a best friend.

Another fit of giggles erupted from the two girls. What are they laughing about? Sora didn’t understand girls at all. Selphie was the only girl around Sora’s age, but she never wanted to do anything fun! She wasn’t interested in racing to the shack or swimming in the water or playing with swords. All she wanted to do was talk and build sandcastles. Boring. Yet Sora couldn’t peel his eyes away from the girl with bright red hair. Kairi, was it? There was something different about her.

______________________________________________________________

After pre-k, the children made a habit of rowing to the play islands. When they were younger, they could only go to the island when their parents were available. But with Riku and Wakka being the oldest of the group, they convinced the parents to trust them. Well, Riku did most of the convincing, but it worked nonetheless.

Sora and Riku just finished an incredibly heated race and needed to take a breather. As they were catching their breath, a pair of sandals approached them.

“Hi there!” “—H…hiya.” The new girl?!? What is she doing here? “Hello. It’s nice to meet you,” Riku cut in, “I’m Riku and this shorty is my best friend Sora.” “Hey, my mom said if I drink a whole lot of milk, I’ll be taller than everyone! I bet I’ll even be taller than those trees!” “That’s impossible.” “No it’s not!” “Yes it is.” “No—“ Suddenly a burst of the joyful laughter Sora heard before erupted from the new girl. It sounded like… well Sora didn’t know what it sounded like. He just knew that hearty giggle made him feel all tingly… in a good way! Riku must have felt something too, because that infectious laughter had the both of them smiling ear to ear. “My name is—“ “Kairi, right? We heard the teacher introduce you earlier.” So Riku WAS paying attention. And he had the nerve to poke fun of me for watching her interact with Selphie. “—Wait a second, weren’t you hanging out with Selphie?” “Yup. She introduced me to Tidus and Wakka, but then they started arguing, so I decided to see what you two were up to.” And lo and behold, Sora and Riku could make out an angry Selphie frantically shaking her finger at an equally angry Wakka and a defeated looking Tidus. “So, what are you up to?” “We just finished a really intense race! You should’ve seen my victory!” “Don’t you mean my victory?” “No way! I totally got here first.” “No you didn’t.” “Did so!” “Did not.” “Did—“ Suddenly Sora could feel those unfamiliar blue eyes watching him. He didn’t feel like arguing anymore. “I… It doesn’t matter,” Sora conceded to Riku’s shock. That was usually his job. “Kairi’s here now, so let’s ask what she wants to do,” Sora said as he turned to face her with a wide grin. “What… what I want to do?” “Sure! Let’s play together!” “Hmm…” Kairi carefully considered their options. The boys looked pretty tired from their race, so that was out of the question. And nobody brought a swimsuit, so they couldn’t go swimming. What to do? What to do? Her bright blue eyes grew even bigger as inspiration struck. “How about we build a sandcastle?” she asked with confidence. “That��s a great idea Kairi,” Riku concurred. Sora, however, immediately regretted asking Kairi for her input. “Ye—yeah,” he managed to choke out. Sandcastles. How fun.

______________________________________________________________

The three sat on the wet sand ready to get their hands dirty, when they were startled by loud shouts coming from the opposite end of the island. Whatever argument Selphie and Wakka have gotten into has clearly escalated. And poor Tidus was caught in the middle of it.

“You guys can get started without me. I better see what’s going on.” That’s Riku for you. Always the responsible one. But in this case, Sora wanted to go instead. Anything was better than building sandcastles. However, Riku was already halfway across the island before Sora could protest.

Kairi picked up a nearby bucket and started filling it with sand. She never made a sandcastle before, but she knew what castles looked like! Or at least, she had an idea of what castles looked like. Kairi wondered what it would be like to live in a castle, but quickly pushed the thought out of her mind when it was time to flip over the bucket. She slowly lifted the compacted pail and… “Perfect!” she thought. She lifted her head to see if Sora was admiring her work, but found him pushing around sand with a stick looking unsure of what to do.

Oh no. He doesn’t look like he’s having fun. Was this a bad idea? Kairi was starting to doubt her decision until she spotted a shovel next to her foot.

“Here.” Kairi handed the plastic yellow shovel to Sora. “You can dig the moat.” “The moat…” Sora repeated, “what’s a moat?” “It’s a giant hole filled with water that goes around the castle.”
 “Why would you want a giant hole filled with water around a castle?” “To protect the princess! You fill the hole with piranhas and sharks and uh… jellyfish so bad guys can’t capture the princess!” “Castles have piranhas and sharks and jellyfish!?!?” Sora was starting to think maybe sandcastles weren’t as boring as he once believed. “Of course! They also have traps that are meant to capture any enemies who dare to enter. And if a bad guy somehow gets passed the moat and the traps, he would have to fight against a lot of strong knights.” “Woah! Knights! What are we waiting for? We have to help them!” Sora jammed the shovel into the sand as fast as possible to create a moat as deep as the ocean. “Do you like knights, Sora?” “Obviously! Knights are the coolest. They wear shiny armor and use weapons that can take down dragons and are the strongest people in the world!” “Hehe, if you like knights so much Sora, you should be one!” “Re—really?” Sora wasn’t sure why, but he suddenly felt embarrassed. “Th-then if I’m a knight, you have to be the princess.” “Oh—okay.” Kairi was suddenly feeling hot. Must be the island weather. She wasn’t quite used to the heat. “Alright!” Sora’s previous embarrassment was replaced with a newfound enthusiasm. “Don’t worry Kairi, I’ll be the toughest knight around. Nobody will be able to defeat me, not even Riku! I’ll protect you from all the bad guys.” “Then, I’ll protect you too!” Sora’s enthusiasm was rubbing off on the redhead. “What? Princesses don’t protect knights.”
 “Why not?” “I’m—I’m not sure.” “Then I’ll be the first.” She beamed at Sora and he smiled back just as wide. If Kairi has the power to make building sandcastles fun, who knows what else she can do? I should ask her to play tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the day after that! We can run and swim and build sandcastles and… who knows? Maybe I can even show her the secret place.

Sora looked up and watched Kairi concentrate on stuffing her bucket to the brim with sand. Almost on cue, she raised her head to make eye contact and let out that whimsical giggle Sora couldn’t get enough of. He definitely wanted to show her the secret place.

As the day turned to dusk, Sora and Kairi worked tirelessly to build an incredible sandcastle. They wanted it to be perfect. After all, they had a promise to keep. It would only be later in life that the two would learn a knight and a princess don’t need a castle to protect each other.

______________________________________________________________

Notes: Behold! Prompt #2! Featuring an original story this time :D But in all seriousness, thank you for the likes and reblogs on my last post (and the tags... I’ve enjoyed reading them :p) I do have something in the works for tomorrow’s prompt so hopefully I’ll finish in time, but who knows. Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying sokai week as much as I am!

[hearts-lover]

Never Forget about Canons (KH Discussion)

Disclaimer: The first thing that I wanna say, even though that I am a Sokai fan, I do not hates Soriku fans, I do not dislike anyone who supports the pairing, and if you like this ship, then go for it, don’t let anyone else tells you otherwise. That being said, in this discussion I’ll be speaking the truth and nothing but truth, and I know that the truth can be an issue on the shipping fanbase, so if you can’t handle the truth, then Tumblr is not for you. Also, this post will be a reply of a fan of KH and a fan of Soriku, now I won’t be posting a link to the original post or mention the one who made it because I don’t want anyone to attack them. And if the user who made the post read this post, lemme just say that I do not hates you for shipping soriku, I’m making this post because you posted some.... weird discussion that I would like to discuss. I also need to say that this post is my opinion, and my thoughts, so you have the right to ignore it if you want too. Or don’t, you know this is a free website. I also need to mention that I know that there is some Soriku fan that doesn’t think the same way as the user I will respond and that Awesome! This is just going to the people who think similar to the user. But no hates though! With that over with, lemme give you a long story short; I was surfing the Tag Kingdom hearts 3 and found a post regarding Soriku, and even though I don’t ship them, I do like reading people finding more ideas and headcanon about them. But the one that I’ll be talking about is a bit...Biased. one thing before I get started, I need to mention that the original post has like 3 short paragraph, and I will be talking about one paragraph at the time, so this is my time doing this, so bare with me. with that out of the way, let's do this;

oof, what a great start. Alright, first thing first, the paopu fruit; Now the user stated that Kairi didn’t eat the Paopu fruit when she and Sora shared the fruit, everyone has seen that happen, and say that Kairi wanted Sora to keep following her, but doesn’t want him to be together forever with her. Now, this is a weird thing, while that it is true that Kairi did not eat her paopu fruit, that I know for sure;

But, isn’t it a bit weird that before that, Kairi made sure to give Sora the paopu fruit?

that’s like saying that I asked someone to marry me, but have like 3-4 girls warp around my arm, it just seems kinda pointless. Plus, even if both Kairi and Sora didn’t eat their fruit, we already know their answer before Kh3, Before Kh2, and maybe even before Chain of memories. In Kh1, after Riku explains the Lore of the fruit, he asks Sora for a race, at first it was a race of who ship names they gonna use, but Riku change the bet into “whoever wins get to share the fruit with Kairi” where the day before the race, he explains that whoever shares the fruit will be intertwined forever. And even if Sora wins or lose, if Sora goes to find the last mushroom (which is it in Secret cave), what was the first thing that Sora did?

He literally sat down and draw him giving Kairi a Star And at the end of KH1 when Kairi went to the secret cave to see all of the past drawings, she found what Sora had added, and what did she did in return?

Not only the fact that Kairi sat down and gave her answer to Sora, but she gave him a bigger star too. Plus, are we gonna ignore the fact that despite Kairi didn’t eat her fruit, Sora actually DID take a bite? meaning that he wants her and him to be together? Moving that aside, The user also stated that the reason why Kairi didn’t bite her fruit because she doesn’t want to be intertwined with Sora, where if that the case, why did she give Sora the fruit regardless? To find out if Sora still willingly want to be together with her? and even if Kairi and Sora never did that scene, you have to realize that both of them realize that they want to share the fruit when they added them feeding stars to each other. And even if that isn’t the case;

Maybe she, I don’t know, STOP acting like she like sora if that the case? The user then says that Kairi wants to be Sora guidance and have a theory that Kairi is a Chirithy (aw shit, here we go again) Okay, first thing first, we need to what is a Chirithy What we know so far, we know that Chirithy is a death eater, and thus its should have a dream eater symbol on its back;

we also know if we listen to the Masters of Master;

meaning if the player died, their Chirithy died, and if the player became nothing but darkness, same goes with their Chirithy. And thanks to Kingdom hearts DDD, we also know that when Riku became the first Dream eater, the Dream eater symbol will appear behind his back, regardless if he has clothes or not;

So, let’s take a look of Kairi; Does she have any Dream eater symbol behind her back?

Nope When Sora disappear, did Kairi also disappear?

Nope. Did Kairi turn into a nightmare when Sora turns into a heartless?

Of course not, and even if Sora didn’t turn into a Heartless when Kairi didn’t have her heart, the darkness couldn’t take her body because she is the princess of heart. Meaning that it literally impossible for Kairi to be a Chirithy. Also, Chirithy is a Spirits too, while we know that Kairi is human because I don’t think Spirits even have a heart. One paragraph down, 2 more to go;

oh great this one. okay, so many fans realize that the whole “Protect those whose matter” was the Promise that Riku made when he first met Terra in the event of Birth by sleep;

Now despite the fact that Riku is like 5 years old in this scene, noticed how he said: “Friends” and the fact that the end had the “s” meaning that Riku wants to protect other people than just Sora. Plus the way Riku expressed himself about Kairi in KH1;

Even though that Riku was most likely being controlled by the darkness, When Asnem took over Riku body, a few of Riku light was able to hold Ansem long enough for Kairi, Donald and Goofy to run away, its prove that Riku still have his light, despite being consumed by the darkness, he should be aware what he been saying to Sora before he begins to control darkness on his own. And I’m sorry if I act rude when I say this, but who cares about that quote? I can literally use that quote and use that to anyone else beside Riku? As if this is the only thing that can help support Soriku For example; Remember in KH1, Maleficent told sora that because he got new friends, he doesn’t care about Riku or Kairi, and in Neverland when Maleficent give Riku the power to control the darkness, Riku didn’t use it to create new friend, instead, he creates his own Sora;

After that scene, we get to see Dark-Sora in action, but before we get to fight him as a boss, whenever you face other heartless and leave him alone, Dark-Sora seem... silly, Dancing in the middle of battle, Laugh when you get hurt, I don’t think that he even hurt you until you face him as a boss. I think because of that, Riku wants Sora to be silly, basically, act like a joker while a Real hero (aka him) to save Kairi, but when thing get serious, he then summons dark-Sora to finally hurt Sora, but the fact that he creates his own sora and made it act like how he thinks about Sora is supposed to act, A fool. Even before the final battle, when Riku reach near to Kingdom hearts and ended up talking to Mickey, when he asks mickey where is sora and Kairi, mickey just told him to listen to his heart, and who was the first one he finds?

Yup, Sora, and even KH1 isn’t the only one that has Soriku moments Remember in the event of Days, when Riku fought Roxas, he didn’t have enough power to knock out Roxas, so he chooses to use Ansem SOD power, not only to stun Roxas, but also to bring back Sora despite he may always look like Ansem for the rest of his life, but he risk it for the sake of Sora. and, my favorite one is in KH2 when you have 2nd visits to the Land of Dragons After you finished facing a horde of heartless and a black hooded person, that person ran away, and what did Sora say after that?

and since Sora and Riku have been sparring since they were a kid, meaning that Sora knows what Riku fight styles. Meaning that there is more than one scene of Soriku than just one quote that only been used 1-2 times in 3 different KH titles. Plus, why Riku's “protect those who matter” is only about Sora only? Terra, not only the one who gives Riku that Strength to protect his friend, but also the reason why he kept the promise. and even if that isn’t a case, remember, Mickey was able to save Riku in the event of Re:Chain of memories, but also in Days and in KH2 since Mickey has been lying to the Organization and to Sora just to keep Riku safe, and if it wasn’t for Kairi when Sora finally found her again, she would never help Sora realize that Ansem is actually Riku, thus trying to keep sora and Riku together (whatever its mean together as a friend or as a lover) So no, one quote that doesn’t just involve to Sora shouldn’t help your evidence that Soriku is canon. Alright, just one more;

You do realize that this is Nomura we talking about? The same Nomura who made Sora and Kairi draw themselves feeding each other a star where the star represents the paopu fruit The same Nomura who despite Kairi may or may not bitten her fruit, he made sure that Sora bit his. The same Nomura who made Riku say this about Sora and Kairi in the event of 358/2 days;

The same Nomura who set up The Kingdom hearts Orchestra as its play “don’t think twice” (click here if you wanna see) and about 1 min and 30 sec into it, its shows solely based on Sora and Kairi, from KH1, where Sora went to find Kairi and release her heart to wake her up, and then Kairi bring Sora back, KH2 where Sora and Kairi find each other after not seeing each other for a year, The end when Sora and Riku return to destiny island, all to way to kh3 when they share the fruit. You can’t rely on Nomura on making sure he’ll make Soriku canon if he put this so much effort on making sora and Kairi together. Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t ship soriku, you can ship them and just ignore the canon, and I get it, but what I don’t get is why people are making theories about Kairi being a Chirithy, and just try to make her irrelevant just so their ship can be canon, and even if that not the case, and excuse my matter, but who the hell care what is Kairi at this point. Remember, Kairi is a princess, and as similar as the princess, like Alice, Snow White, Jasmine, Belle, Cinderella, and Aurora. And I hate to admit this, but Nomura is just following the rule of a Princess being a damsel in Distress, similar as Disney did, he tries to make his own “Knight saving the princess” trope between Sora and Kairi, and he been doing this for YEARS. And you trying to tell me that you believe that Nomura willingly drop all of the Sokai moments and then ADMITTING that they don’t want to separate again, and I apologize for my rudeness, but Nomura, also made Sora say this;

I’m sorry to say this, but I think you put too much faith a Nomura, and I also think you’re overthinking these scene too. Its doesn’t matter if Kairi didn’t bite the paopu, Kairi already gives her answer at the end of KH1, that released back in 2002, That 17 YEARS AGO! 17 years of doing this and now he’ll change it into Soriku? After all of that? After the fact that Sora wanted tot to save Kairi alone? That he basically sacrifices himself for the sake of Kairi again?    I mean I am seriously sorry if I’m acting like a piece of shit, but the fact that KH1 was released back on 2002 and have been remastered on the KH 1.5 that was released 2013, and its was remastered AGAIN for the ps4 and a mixture between 1.5 and 2.5 and that was released on 2017, this user has PLENTY of replay of Kingdom hearts 1, to get the picture. I mean, ship Soriku with all with your heart, fuck the Canon. But don’t try to twist the canon, just so your ship can be canon, cause that just Disrespectful for Nomura, and his story. I think that we should just be grateful for Nomura for letting goes through the adventure of Kingdom hearts and helps us how important Friends without KH can be very powerful, almost a bit meta in some way. But If I’m being personally honest about this whole thing, is that it's wrong, so wrong. But just because it's wrong, it doesn’t mean that the user, nor any Soriku should stop shipping what they like. We just have to respect Nomura chooses, just like how we accept people that have a different ship favorite. So please, people who share the same idea as this user, think reasonable, and just have fun, but don’t try to twist Nomura story, because I’m sure you don’t like it if someone does the same to you. and I know I say sorry like 3-4 times, but I apologize if I acted very rude, I was planning to be honest, being rude was not my intention. But I hope I get my point across. But of course, these are my thoughts/opinions.

[talinexa]

I’ll Always Protect You - One-Shot

(Takes place during KH1 for the most part. Minor spoilers for the beginning of KH3?)

Riku collapsed on the floor of the Hollow Bastion castle, panting.

“It was reckless to bring them both without a vessel,” Maleficent said.

Riku scoffed. “Just... try to... stop me...” he said through his panting. “I’m going... to keep them both... safe...”

Maleficent didn’t sound convinced when she said, “Very well.” She swept off.

*****

I woke up with a headache. “Wha...?” I mumbled.

“You’re awake!” a familiar voice exclaimed. The voice was loud. I winced away from it. “Oh. Sorry.”

“R... Riku?”

“Yeah. it’s me.”

“What’s... what’s going on? What happened? I just remember... a... pirate ship? And...” I sat up so fast my head spun. “Sora! He’s alive! What happened?!”

“Whoa there. Calm down,” Riku said, gently pushing me until I was lying down again. “You’re safe. You’re alive. You’re okay. Just get some rest, ‘kay? You’ll feel better.”

“Is Sora here?”

“Sora... replaced us. We got separated and... Sora doesn’t care about us anymore.”

“That’s not true!” I protested, trying to sit up again but Riku was holding me down. “Sora would never replace us! It’s not like a person can’t have more than three friends!”

“I’ll tell you more about it when you’re well again, okay? Get some rest.”

“But... Riku...”

I could have sworn I saw shadows emanating from his skin. It was probably just the half-light of whatever room I was in. “I’ll explain everything later. Get some sleep.” He put his gloved hand on the top of my head and left the room I was in. I stared after him ‘til the door shut.

“Riku...” I whispered.

The headache made my vision swim and fade until I was unconscious again.

*****

“Your friend Kairi is one of the seven maidens of purest heart,” Maleficent said, “however the other young lady... there is nothing remarkable about her.”

“Maybe not to you,” Riku returned sharply. “But I know her better than you do.”

“Pray tell,” Maleficent invited.

Riku straightened up to his full height---which wasn’t terribly impressive---and looked her right in the eye. “She’s unconditional. She loved me and Sora equally despite how different we are. She’s protective of her friends and fiercely loyal. Maybe her heart isn’t pure light like Kairi’s, but she’s powerful in her own way.”

“Ah... I see. You care for her,” Maleficent said.

“Of course I do.” Riku’s tone was mildly confused, like Maleficent had stated the most obvious thing in the world.

“Love is weakness, my boy,” Maleficent said. “It leaves you open to pain.”

“Wait. You think I’m in love with her? You’ve got it all wrong.”

“I don’t think so. Not with the way you speak of her.” With that, Maleficent swept out of the room, leaving Riku alone with Kairi. Kairi was still missing her heart and unresponsive. Riku sighed and checked to make sure she hadn’t gained any bruises or cuts from her time on the Jolly Roger. She seemed to be okay.

After quickly making sure she was alright, Riku sat back in his chair and stared at the wall. Maybe... Maleficent wasn’t wrong... he’d never... really thought of it... that way...

*****

I sat up and grunted in pain. My headache had faded to a dull throb so it didn’t hurt to sit up.

“Hey,” a voice said.

“Riku! How did you---what’s going---where are we?” I finally settled on. I had too many questions. Riku reached out and set his hand on top of mine, giving me a small smile.

“Don’t hurt yourself, ‘kay?” he asked. “We’re in a castle in a place called Hollow Bastion. The Islands.... they’re gone. They got swallowed up by the darkness. When they did... you, me, Sora, and Kairi were on the play island. There was an explosion. You took a big hit. I managed to catch you but... we got separated. I’ve searched quite a few worlds for you and Kairi.”

“What about Sora?”

“Well, like I said earlier, he replaced us. He found new powers and new friends. He doesn’t care about us anymore.”

“But---Sora wouldn’t do that! You know him just as well as I do. If not better! He’s our brother, Riku! He wouldn’t replace us!”

“I could show you but... you’re too weak right now. You need to rest and recover. And, to be honest... I am too. Bringing you and Kairi here almost killed me.”

“Riku...” I set my free hand on top of where his was still on my other hand.

He shook his hand. “I’d do it a hundred more times and survive if it meant keeping you and Kairi safe. Remember that. I’ll always protect you. ‘Kay?”

I nodded. “Okay. But... Riku... Sora wouldn’t...”

“You’ll see. He’s on his way here. And you’ll see just how he left us both behind. And Kairi.” He got to his feet. “Get some rest. I’ll be back later to check on you.” He slid his hand out from between mine and brushed some of my hair out of my face.

I couldn’t believe what he said about Sora but... maybe he was telling the truth. Either way, I was in too much pain to parse through everything right now. I looked down at my body. There was a bandage wrapped around my left arm and I could feel another one pasted to the right side of my back. I wondered how my hair had fallen from its braid. Probably the explosion?

But did I trust Riku to tell me the truth right now? There was something... off about him.

Remember that I’ll always protect you, he’d said.

That much was true. He always had. One time Wakka was picking on me because I flubbed a “super easy” move in blitzball since I wasn’t particularly sporty and Riku tore Wakka apart for it. I trusted that he’d always fight to keep his friends safe. But about Sora...? Sora wouldn’t replace us...

I flopped back on the bed and closed my eyes.

“Oh Riku... what happened to you...” I whispered.

“I think you’ll find that boy’s feelings for you are deeper than you initially assumed, young lady,” a woman’s voice said. I jumped.

“Who are you?!” I demanded.

The woman had greenish skin and tall twisted horns. Her face was pointy and her eyes were piercing and dark. “My name is Maleficent. Riku has become like a son to me. But clearly he cares for you deeply. Even deeper than he does for your other friend. Kairi, her name was?”

“You’re wrong,” I said. “Riku loves all of his friends the same. He’s just loyal that way.”

Maleficent started laughing---it was a dark cackle. “Oh, dear child, your naïveté is simply adorable. To be so blind to that boy’s feelings for you that you actually believe your denial of them is charming.”

I clenched my jaw. “Riku’s not in love with me,” I said. “Our relationship has never been like that.”

The door banged open. “Leave her alone, Maleficent!” Riku spat, pushing around the woman to put himself between me and her. He lashed his right arm, shadows whirling around his hand to manifest some sort of sword shaped like a dragon’s wing.

Maleficent cackled again and vanished in a burst of green fire. “You see, young lady, how much he cares!” she called as she vanished. Riku let the blade dissolve into darkness once again and turned to look at me.

“Are you alright?” Riku demanded, grabbing at my hands.

“Fine,” I replied.

“Good. She’s just trying to get under your skin. To manipulate you. She tried to do the same with me.”

And she’s succeeded, I thought. If he believed that Sora had replaced us, his friends, that meant someone else was getting in his head. But the intense look in his teal eyes dissuaded me from saying that aloud.

“’Kay,” I said.

“C’mon. Sora’s almost here. I’ll take you to the Keyhole Chamber. Sora will meet us there and you’ll see that I’m right.” He offered me his hand. “Kairi’s already there. But she’s unresponsive. Just watch.” I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. I wobbled a little. Something was wrong in my knee. It hurt to put my weight on. I tried not to limp, but I couldn’t help it.

Riku sighed and bent down. He scooped up my knees and carried me through the big empty castle.

“Riku?” I asked, snuggling into his chest.

“Yeah?”

“How come the islands were swallowed by darkness?”

“The darkness has been swallowing all the worlds. Our islands were just one of the many.”

I sniffed. “I hope everyone’s alright,” I said.

“Me too,” Riku said. “We were fortunate that we got off them before they were taken.”

“Yeah...” I muttered.

He tightened his grip on me. “Hey, in case anything bad happens, just know that you, Kairi, and Sora mean everything to me, ‘kay?”

“‘Kay.” I nodded.

“And I’m gonna keep you safe.”

“I know you will. You always have.”

*****

“LOOK OUT!” Riku exclaimed, tackling me out of the way of the Demon Tower as he, Mickey, and I traversed the Realm of Darkness looking for Master Aqua. We skidded through the sand on the beach.

“Thanks,” I said, panting.

He smirked and nodded. “I’ll always protect you,” he said. “And don’t you forget it. Now c’mon.”

“Hey Riku? Remember Hollow Bastion?” I asked as we pushed ourselves to our feet. He helped me up.

“Yeah.” He sounded ashamed.

“You’ve come a really long way. And I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks.”

“But... there’s somethin’ I’ve been meaning to ask. About Maleficent.”

He sighed. “Go ahead.”

“Was she telling the truth when she said your feelings for me were deeper than I thought?”

“Do we have to talk about this now?” Riku demanded as the Tower came back for us. We whipped our Keyblades out and got ready to attack.

“If we don’t, we may never get another chance!”

“Yes! Okay?! She was telling the truth! I’ve been in love with you since we were fourteen!” he shouted as the Tower lashed at him. I slashed at it, doing very little damage. I almost dropped my Keyblade when I processed what he was saying since I was so startled.

I fought my way around the Demon Tower to get back next to him where he’d jumped away to get out of the path of the spinning Heartless. “Really?” I asked loudly.

“Can we talk about this later?!” Riku demanded.

“Sorry! It’s just---I didn’t think...”

“I love you, and I’ll always do my best to protect you, okay?”

I nodded. “Okay. Now let’s take these suckers out.”

“You had me at ‘okay,’” he joked.

“Hey Riku?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m in love with you too.”

“Good incentive for us both to survive this, huh?”

I bounced my eyebrows. “Definitely.”

Riku chuckled. “First one to fifty gets to decide on the first date.”

“You’re on,” I said.

[darkzeruda1214]

The Destiny Trio as Pokemon Trainers??

Oh… whoa,

Sorry. That was one of the most random questions I’ve ever gotten. But at the same time really interesting. I do like Pokemon, I grew up watching the show when I was younger. And still a fan of the show and games today.

Now I won’t deny that your question left me thinking. What kind of Pokemon would the Kingdom Hearts characters would have. I’m not 100 percent sure what Pokemon team the characters would have. But I’ll give it my best shot

Now I will have to modify your question and might split it into three parts (for the three trios) if I ever get back to going on it. Not sure if I’d be able to write it for organization XIII (Or the Disney characters... I’m sorry, but Disney and FF characters will have to strictly stay out of this one). 

I don’t think all the KH character would all get a full team, but I’ll try to think more into it.

However, I do believe that they would all get at least 3 Pokemon with them. (But again I do have a hypothetical team for all the trios) But for now I will only focus on the Destiny Trio and a brief explanation as to why I gave these Pokemon to them alone.

I did make a couple of ground rules before I started, one being, that neither of the characters would share the same Pokemon, regardless if one is evolved and the other is still in the first stage or so.

So let’s say I gave Sora a Gardevoir and Riku a Gallade. Since they are both from the same Pokemon line, regardless of different evolutions and are of different genders, they would counteract with each other (and while it would make sense, make the challenge way too easy). So I would cancel that.  

Also, like I said I gave myself a challenge, so there are no starters. And absolutely. No. Legendaries.

*But since region starters are a primary Pokemon that every trainer has to get at first, I decided to add a “hypothetical case” if I were to give them a starter. (And as an added bonus, each starter has to be a different type, so if I give character B a fire type, character A and C must be EITHER water or grass). Just an extra challenge for me.

Also, one Eeveelution since Eevee has the ability to change it’s type when it evolves. And I think everyone has a special type of personality that would fit them well with a certain element.

Also I’m strictly sticking with Gens 1-7, since Pokemon Sword and Shield hasn’t been released when I wrote this.

With that said were we go with the Destiny!

...

Sora

Starting with the one and only protagonist in the majority of the titles, I think it’s only natural I only start with our little cinnamon bun. His type of Pokemon team was a little tricky to come up with considering his easy going personality. But I think I managed to get a stable kind of team. I don’t think realistically he would be very balanced out in types, but since I based the type of Pokemon they get from personality his a little balanced here.

So the main three Pokemon he could possibly have would be:

Eevee

Klefki

Litleo

Okay. Okay. I know I said Eevee was a hypothetical case for everyone, but I’m gonna have the bend the rule slightly once because of the reason behind it. Now as far as why I gave him these three is simple. As for Eevee’s case, since the beginning of the game Sora has been rather classified as this “normal boy.” As stated by Xehanort, mentioned in KH1 and even by Nomura himself. He was just a normal boy so people would be able to relate to him.

So Naturally Eevee stuck with me (not because his hair and Eevee look pretty similar in a sense) but also because Eevee is known as the evolution Pokemon. And as you all know, Eevee can evolve into any Pokemon type (currently only 9 types at the moment when I wrote this analysis). And Sora has shown time and time again to shape his own destiny by his own hand and choices. Despite being that “dull, ordinary boy.” So to me Eevee was the best option.

Again, I know I wasn’t going to add Eevee other than a Hypothetical Pokemon, but I think Sora earned the spot to be the exception because of what kind of character he’s portrayed as.

Now as for Klefki, the answer is obvious. Sora’s the first character to show that he has a Keyblade when the games first came to existence. And while Klefki isn’t exactly one of the most strongest Pokemon it is a good support Pokemon. And to me that really “speaks Sora” because of “his friends are his power” and how much he supports his own friends.

So maybe not a powerhouse, it still speak reflects Sora’s character.

Litleo has a few reasons why he’s on Sora’s team, and namely because of a certain Pride Lands exploration. But also just in general because I’ve always seen Sora having fire as favorite magic spell. So naturally fire would be a good Pokemon type for him. (Also it doesn’t help that in monster’s inc he’s a cat-based monster and the Simba summon is fire based, so...)

Now as for the rest of his team in this hypothetical case scenario:

Lucario (He’s a fighting steal type, which also reflects on Sora’s character and Keyblade)

Pidgeot (His name means sky in Japanese, it would be criminal for not for me to give him a flying type. But also I think Sora would like to have a Pokemon to fly once in a while and I think Pidgeot fit’s the glove)

Lapras (A certain Atlantica incident inspired this one. But also Lapras is shown to be large enough to carry it’s trainer across water. And in a sense that would also be Sora since he doesn’t have trouble to carry extra weight to help his friends) Also Lapras is adorable and so is Sora.

(The starter I think he would more likely get would be Charizard) (And he already has normal Eevee, so…)  

…

Riku

This one was a bit of challenge for me to figure out, but in the end I managed to get something in. I’m not 100 percent happy with this team, so if you might think that there are other Pokemon who fits him better, I understand why, but this is what I got.

The main three he would call upon the most would be:  

Zoroark

Lycanroc (dusk form)

Aegislash

These three Pokemon spoke a small little story to me when I put them in that specific order.

Zoroark was the first Pokemon that came to mind when I thought about Riku’s team. The majority of the time we see Riku’s he’s struggling or is using darkness to help him win his fights or get an advantage. So there’s no way I wouldn’t give him a dark type I think Zoroark made the most sense. Not because it’s solely a dark type, but also because it’s an illusion fox.

And while not cannon to the game (at least to my knowledge) the anime has shown that Zoroark has the ability to transform into people. And to other Pokemon. And that’s what happened to Riku, whether he wanted to or not, when he used the powers of darkness Riku turned into Ansem seeker of Darkness. And to me that spoke a nice Pokemon for Riku to have on his team.  

Now as for Lycanroc (more specifically dusk form), Riku also came off to me as this “lone wolf” kind of character. And yeah sure there is Mightyena, and let’s not forget Lycanroc’s midnight form. I felt that while Riku did have darkness, it’s not too much to the point his entire team would be all dark types. And so we get to dusk form, for one the reason I gave him Lycanroc is because it’s a rock type which coincides with his name. Because Riku means land.

And while I do like the midday form, since it looks more a like a wolf, the Midnight form suited his style more. But at the same time, I didn’t want his team to solely reliant at the night. And so we have his dusk form. And Dusk Lycanroc speaks a lot of Riku’s transition from the darkness to the light. Because he chose neither light nor dark. But the road to dawn. Which to me felt like a mixture of both. (Heck his Keyblade is called “Way to Dawn” which has a combination of both light and darkness) And closest we got to in between was Dusk form. So I think it worked the best.

(Also Riku spent a good amount of time in Twilight Town, so…)

When it came to Aegislash, I will admit that it could be either one of the evolutions. But knowing Riku he would want to max out his entire team to reflect his strength. So the conclusion why I came to Aegislash is to continue the story, when he first started out as darkness, he soon came to the light but was still influenced by his past. So when he finally overcame that he started to fight against it and for what is right. And to me, I think the best way to demonstrate that was Aegislash because it’s a sword. And normally when I think of a fighter of good, I normally (stereotypically) think of a knight in shining armor. And the Pokemon that fit the category the best was Aegislash. And to me it finishes the story of Riku’s arc in Kingdom Hearts (or in this case, in the AU Pokemon)  

For the rest of his team, well might not be the best choice I figured it could be like this:

Gyarados (Gyarados is a Pokemon of both intimidation and hard work, in order to get Gyarados, either you have to beat it, or struggle to evolve a Magikarp. And Riku fit’s that bill pretty good IMO. Also Riku can be intimating if he wanted to).

Garchomp (This is mostly because I feel like Riku would have a dragon type, I know Salamence might be a choice. But I think Garchomp eased into the role mostly because of it’s design as well as being a ground type, again fitting to Riku’s name)

Sawk (Okay… I’m not going to lie, I’m not 100 percent sure about Sawk. There are other Pokemon that fit’s the fighter type better. And since Riku is a fighter, I wanted to give Riku a fighting type. In the end I just chose Sawk because of it’s color design, because Riku wear predominantly blue in KH3)

(The starter I think he would most likely get is Greninja) (Eevee would no doubt be Umbreon)

…

Kairi

Kairi was sorta like Riku, a little difficult to decide, as many of the Pokemon I thought would be nice also seemed… too redundant. I tried to limit the amount of Fairy types since that’s the closest we’ll get to a light type in Pokemon. But since Kairi is a princess of Heart naturally she would have more light compared to others.  (I wouldn’t be surprised if she had an all out Fairy team, but again I needed to give her something a little more realistic).  

So in the end I thought her main three would be:

Floette

Milotic

Meowstic  

The reason I didn’t go for Florges is mainly because I think Kairi would care little to evolve her Pokemon for power. I can see her be a bit of a strategist and Floette could provide a good amount of advantages. Also biggest reason I gave Floette, because one: Fairy type. And two, it’s a flower which goes pretty well with her Keyblade.

Milotic was sorta an easy pick because of Kairi’s name meaning ocean. And Milotic is a really pretty Pokemon. I can easily imagine Kairi wanting to join showcases or Pokemon Contests. And just in general it could also represent Kairi and the sign of strength. Despite not looking much, she can grow into something much more than just something simple and dull. (Though… it’s debatable after what happened in kh3... But that’s not the point right now!)    

As for Meowstic, it doesn’t really matter what gender Kairi would get, because I sincerely doubt she would care about that. But I think the female version would be more likely on her team, knowing how it’s typically girls with girls sort of deal. But beyond that, the reason I gave her Meowsitc has to be because it’s a psychic type. For as much as I can tell Kairi has been surrounded in and has magic, and the closest we’ll get to a magic type is psychic type. And while I know there are other Psychics that fill the role. I think Meowstic isn’t too much of a bad choice. That and it’s a cat, and there is a theory that Kairi is a chirithy just like Riku is a dream eater for Sora. So, I use that to help choose her Pokemon.

I think Kairi would definitely have the least amount of Pokemon compared to everyone else. But hypothetically for a full team, I thought this would work:

Ninetales (Alola version) (during my gameplay I noticed that Kairi used a lot of ice spells, so I figured that might be her favorite element in magic. That and Ninetales is really pretty in design and I figured it would be a nice addition on Kairi’s team).

Emolga (The biggest reason? Emolga is freaken adorable, and I know Kairi would have other cute Pokemon, that and it doesn’t evolve, which… sorta fit’s Kairi… but also I think Kairi would be interesting to see Kairi have an electric type that isn‘t Pikachu) that and I think someone else would more likely have Pikachu on their team 

Arcanine (I’m sorry, but no one can tell me otherwise that Kairi would not have a fire type. Despite her nature she has shown to be feisty and can get riled up. And honestly I wanted to give Kairi a Pokemon that does look pretty strong since the rest of her team has an appearance of fragility ~even though the Pokemon themselves aren’t~ I wanted to give her something that would show her fighting spirit too)

(The starter I think she would most likely get is Chikorita, unlike the others I don‘t think she would evolves hers. At least not beyond Bayleef, I feel like Chikorita would be comfortable being in it‘s first stage).

*The other starter that I feel would suit her as well is Fennekin. But her Keyblade is mostly flowers so I felt the grass type held a little more influence in what starter she would get

(I’d be an idiot to not give her a Sylveon)

...

And that’s pretty much it, I actually had a lot of fun writing this, and honestly I think I might do the others to. Also, please consider that this was done for fun and not meant to be taken seriously. I understand that others will have different views and opinions. And that’s totally fine, I see no harm in it at all. In fact I���m really curious,

What Pokemon teams do you think these character would have? I’d love to see what you all have in mind

That’s all for now, thanks for reading

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Something I wrote for SoKai Week, that I don’t think I ever actually posted here. Shoutouts to the awesome @bluerosesburnblue for betaing it for me.

When Sora and Kairi reunite again in KHIV, the first thing they do is go on a date to see the floating lanterns.

Sora stood under the lanterns in Corona, not quite knowing what to think. He was finally meeting with Kairi again after a year—and in doing so on this dream date that was everything he'd ever hoped it would be—but now that Sora was waiting for her to show up, he was beginning to fear… how was he ever going to make this everything it was destined to be? Everything he needed it to be for her?

“Sora!” Kairi exclaimed—much like she had as a young girl when he’d first fallen in love with her— “…You’re sure lost in thought during what’s supposed to be a happy occasion! C’mon! Let’s get rid of those feelings!”

She was certainly right…. And if Kairi had given Sora a moment to get himself together instead of diving right into the heart of the issue, he might have been able to please her more… but she hadn’t.

But Since Sora was someone who had learned to not take things for granted, he decided to let his apprehensiveness—and Kairi discovering he was apprehensive—go.

If it was for Kairi, Sora would do anything. Especially since his heart still felt like his days with her were numbered. Not exactly a sobering thought.

…But if there was anything that now got Sora to where Kairi already was, it was her look! Kairi’s hair was longer again—even lengthier than it had been in the first year she’d waited for him—which was kind of surprising, because Sora had thought for sure that she’d keep it short…

Sora had even thought he preferred it that way… but since some of their best memories were of when she had lengthy tresses, Sora found himself falling more and more in love with this look. Maybe it was for the best.

Kairi’s outfit, however, was a lot like what she’d worn in their time together before Destiny Islands fell: a white tank top—or was tube top more correct here?—and a brown skort!

It made Sora happy to see the brown… Because even though Sora knew Kairi could sometimes get out of the pink that she now adored, she’d always stay close to it: and this was almost touching the salmon or rose color that she loved.

But it was also close to the violet from back in the day: the near violet he’d seen of her heart for the world to see, when Xehanort had- when Xehanort had struck her down.

And as painful as it was for Sora to see that shade again, it also reminded him of a time before they had left home and become world-traveling heroes.

…But now he was here with her once again.

That truth had really hit him just then—when it had seemed to Kairi from the get-go on this night—and as it did, it was all Sora could do to not throw himself at her feet and apologize for not taking the moment seriously enough.

But Kairi just chuckled when he seemed about to fret, and pointed with her hand to where they could go get food during the festival.

And it seemed to Sora that Kairi definitely had the right idea about this, when she grabbed onto his arm and pulled him along with her. He nearly tripped, with how flustered he was.

And it didn’t escape Sora’s notice that she made certain that their sides were flush against each other as they walked.

…It felt good. And how Sora missed the years with Kairi he could have had like this, if things had been different.

Since the booth for food was stationed right in front of the ocean, it meant that Sora and Kairi’s toes had to rest in the surf on this dark, beautiful night as they waited in line.

As the waves rushed up against his feet, it reminded Sora not only of memories of their time together on Destiny Islands…

But how they’d been waiting for each other like this before.

Sora was certain Kairi must have had her shoes buried in the sea many a time as she’d counted the days. And Sora had done the same when he’d first recalled her at Castle Oblivion’s version of Destiny Islands, and when he had hoped for a miracle at the Dark Margin… and even in some more moments since then.

And having had this sudden epiphany, Sora had to tell it to Kairi.

He twisted in her arms, and then maneuvered them so he was holding Kairi and had his chin on her head. “So, what do you think? The sea and sky have finally found a way to be together? …And sorry for being cold before, Kairi. My heart’s just… a mess after everything that’s happened. But I love you. And I’m so glad you’re here.”

This seemed to appease Kairi. And she bonked Sora on the head with a fan he assumed she must have gotten from Rapunzel when she first got here. Then she spoke softly with a tinge of seriousness. “Just take me to see the lights, like you once dreamed about… And we can talk about engagements after that.”

Sora smirked: oh, how he got where Kairi was going with that. He would’ve been a fool not to.

Kairi was actually pretty casual, Sora knew, and despite the fact that her father was mayor of Destiny Islands… she hated attending big parties. So she really did mean some normal engagements they could attend together.

But to Sora? It seemed she was also hinting that he should propose to her, or that maybe she would to him! And maybe- maybe he would, if he could get over his qualms now. Sora certainly thought it was time, and he wanted to be with Kairi.

So just gently pressing at Kairi’s back, to hint to her that she should be walking forward, Sora led her towards the dock that would take them to the boats.

This was no big deal at all, because it was the kind of thing they’d done on their Island time after time.

But what did take Sora aback, was when Kairi put the fan in her pocket: it gave Sora a strange vision in his head, of Kairi even whipping it out from there—fast—and using it to fight, the way Mulan once had.

She had certainly become a warrior princess alright, and certainly could do that if she wanted to. It just made him adore her all the more.

…Which was probably why he pulled her onto his lap before he could think better of it, and kissed her like he’d been dreaming of doing for years now. Until it bruised Kairi’s lips and probably his own, but he was too full of endorphins to be able to tell.

But even while they were behaving this way—and making up for lost time—they remembered that there were other boats nearby, too, so made sure to not get too crazy.

More than anything, Sora ran his hands through Kairi’s hair as she laid atop his chest and he lazily locked his lips with hers.

And Kairi? She kept her hands above Sora’s heart—that he thought probably spoke well of all she was feeling and thinking—and once while they were still making out, she nudged her cheek against his lovingly.

Finally, Sora pulled away, not wanting all of their precious time together to be ruled by their hormones. But he made sure to keep Kairi’s face cradled between his hands, and his forehead against hers when he did.

“Kairi, I know every hot-blooded male around would be glad to get kissy with their partner more than anything… But I’m not them. And more than anything, I just want to spend time with you… Kairi, I’ve missed you so much.”

The last time Sora had seen Kairi… well, she’d been more demure than he’d ever seen her before. So, with that, Sora half-expected her to be blushing up a storm here. Again.

But instead, she chuckled rather loudly and embarrassingly—like she’d been known to do on the paopu tree—and then she lost her balance, and fell so that her face was on his lap.

And just like that, she was humiliated.

Sora was quick to try and reassure her—maybe she felt awful about this, since she was supposed to be so much more graceful now that she was a Keyblade wielder? And Sora tried to tell Kairi that wasn’t the case, since he himself could still be quite klutzy—but Kairi interrupted him before he could.

“We’re supposed to be having a cute date—I’m supposed to be enjoying the show!—and here I am falling. Just what kind of person am I?”

And now that Kairi mentioned it, Sora finally took note of all the lights above him and could see that it was a much more impressive show than it had been the previous year.

This time, the lanterns were more than just gold: there were a lot of pinks and purples in there, to hint at Rapunzel’s love for the dress she’d worn all throughout her first adventure. Or so Sora guessed.

And since those were also Kairi’s colors, Sora didn’t doubt she was getting much delight out of seeing them all play out in front of her now.

This was a view that, until a few years ago, neither of them could have ever even dreamed was possible since the Destiny Islands were still pretty rural in a lot of ways.

Also, there were fireworks—Sora thought that was the name he’d heard for them in The Land of Dragons?—gracefully waving through the air, so that they missed the lanterns but painted the stars in fluorescence.

And with the navy-blue sky backdrop, that was much like a dark canvas and everything else beside it the paints… Sora didn’t think he’d seen a more gorgeous sight in his life. Not even the Final World compared anymore.

“In your defense,” Sora laughed, looking down at Kairi and continuing their conversation about her clumsy maneuver from a moment ago. “That firecracker almost did hit our boat, and jostled you!”

And after Kairi had peered into his eyes to see if he meant it, Sora grabbed ahold of her hands and helped her get back into her seat.

“That’s true. And since it somehow did even worse than knocking me over—it made me bored with the show, too! I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on myself, when the firecracker is the real culprit here...”

…Well, this turn of events was a bit shocking, and Sora supposed the he should’ve been surprised, but in all honesty Kairi’s lack of interest made too much sense to him. After all, he had lost interest in boating many times himself, when he’d capsize a dingy at home.

And truth be told, the show was winding down now anyway as Rapunzel’s parents motioned for everyone to come back to shore and to meet the princess.

Not needing to be told twice, Sora began rowing them in.

…Or at least he would have, if Kairi didn’t take the oars from him and hit him slightly on his noggin: hinting that she didn’t want to be coddled and wanted to do this for them both. And so she did.

Satisfied that with how hard he’d worked to get back to Kairi, he hadn’t had to do any more work at the moment, Sora helped Kairi to her feet when he eventually got onto the docks first. And then they began walking back towards the city hand-in-hand.

On the way there, Kairi picked up some seashells in the way that Xion had done the last time Sora had seen her. It made Sora grin:Kairi deserved to feel what he, Xion, Riku, and everyone else had felt on their own journeys. It was why he hadn’t protested when he’d learned she was training with Merlin.

“I’m thinking of trying to find a teacher here, who can give me something of this world,” Kairi said out of the blue, enough so that Sora somewhat squeezed her arm in worry.

But then, he thought she must have followed where his thoughts had taken him, thinking of all of the adventures they’d had to go on on the worlds… So, this type of conversation did make sense, then.

And Sora thought he could already guess where she was headed with it, as memories of keychains he’d gotten on the various planets began playing in his head.

“When you and Riku went out and did things, you always learned something from the world you were in and it bettered you in your fighting. I don’t see why it can’t be the same for me.”

Sora was about to say that this was a good idea, and that if Kairi was really sold on this, she should also try and learn a fighting technique from someone before they just handed her a keychain. Sora’s best memory to go along with this was when he’d fought Sephiroth—and then watched Cloud do the same, and even Tifa—and Tifa had given him Fenrir afterwards…

But Sora bit his tongue, when he suddenly got the sense that if Kairi were to take his advice here… she’d probably learn something from Eugene.

And Sora had nothing against Eugene—quite the opposite, really—but there was just something about the idea of him being around Kairi that strangely irked Sora. He thought he must have been jealous….

And then he found himself realizing how Kairi might have been the same, if she’d seen him and Rapunzel before.

It wasn’t like Kairi and Sora had been dating then—they’d thought they were just friends—and Sora had only been friendly with Rapunzel… but still. The part of Sora that didn’t want to beat around the bush with Kairi any longer thought that maybe he owed her an apology about a few things.

So to maybe make up for things a bit, he decided to try and strike something in her arts and crafts side--since he’d always been amazed by her creativity… a creativity that had carried on into Naminé and Xion.

“You’re good at making things yourself, Kairi. And your girl friends have only strengthened that skill in you, as you’ve all worked on your own art... You ever think about making your own keychains?”

And Sora made sure to stop where they were walking, and to pull Kairi in for a quick kiss after he’d posed the question. Because Kairi, after all, was looking for the strength others could give her. But Sora had often thought she didn’t see her own ability enough.

Kairi blushed beet red at this—as she would; and as Sora was pretty sure he himself was doing… public displays of affection, and all.

And yet Sora had found he couldn’t keep himself from kissing her at all. She just… she just needed to know how much she meant to him, and much more.

Though Sora made sure to keep it chaste—something Kairi seemed to appreciate, even if she was the one trying to kiss him longer when he backed up—but when a ton of people erupted into applause around them, their self-conscious feelings disappeared.

With a quick sleight of hand, Sora pulled out Kairi’s fan from her pocket—she must have really loved this thing—and put a ring he’d synthesized with help from the Moogles in it, before he slipped it back.

Kairi had earlier talked about engagements, after all.

Thankfully, Kairi didn’t notice. Instead, she seemed more focused on the fact that Sora’s hands were still on the lower part of her back. Oops.

“Why’d you do that, Sora?” Kairi demanded playfully, hand on her hips as she saucily demanded an answer from him.

And he knew what she must have been imagining with this question: all the times he’d seemed nervous about, or with, her in the past… but those days were over and done with now.

“Because you doubt yourself so much, Kairi. I needed you to see that there’s so much of worth in you.”

Young Kairi would have probably snarked at Sora for this.

The Kairi falling in love for the first time, who had saved him from death, would have flushed at his sudden forwardness.

But this Kairi—who was sure of herself, in some respects, and their role in each other’s lives—jumped onto Sora for a piggyback ride, and whispered into his ear: “Really? Do you think that, even when I’m making life hard for you like this?”

“Exactly. This moment is so light and playful… and that’s what I need in my life… and probably why you’re my Light.”

They were getting to the part of the ocean right outside Corona, and Kairi got off of him, pulled him aside, and questioned: "Sora… I fell into your trap from earlier. Why are you focusing on the big things—or at least I assumeyou’re focusing on that—when we should be focusing on each other?”

Sora grinned at that, because she was right. So right. They’d come full-circle, but in other ways done a one-eighty. Sora pulled Kairi into his arms again, and simply held her as Rapunzel came walking their way.

Yeah… as happy as they were now, they still had some kinks to work out: such as how this new relationship with them would work… or when was an appropriate time to think of all the bad that had happened, and to maybe worry about the future, and when wasn’t… But Sora knew as he doodled a ring on the palm of Kairi’s hand—in a way that was very much her and that would hopefully get her to finally notice the gift he’d given her in her cherished fan when they were ready—that this was a good place to start.

[blueeyeswhitegarden]

Yuya and Reiji for the meme!

This is going to be pretty long, so I’ll put my answers under the cut.

Yuya:

Why I like them/why I don’t like them: Of course, I love Yuya. There are so many reasons why I like him. He’s just so likable, relatable and sympathetic. He genuinely wants to make everyone around him happy even when he’s dealing with so much sadness and pain himself. I love that he wears his heart on his sleeve, which makes it easier to emphasize with him. Even though he deals with emotional issues like self-doubt and self-confidence throughout the series, I love that being emotional himself was never treated as a flaw exactly. Even near the end of the series, Yuya would still break out into tears, but he wasn’t looked down for it. That is so refreshing, especially for a lead male character.

He struggles through his emotional problems throughout the series, but he doesn’t give up on his goals in spite of those issues. That makes him inspiring in a way. Wanting to end the Dimensional War works so well with his goal of becoming a great Entertainment Duelist like his father, as well as the tone of the series in general. I love that he is able to reach out to people more with his dueling once he develops his own kind of dueling. Instead of trying to be someone he isn’t, being himself made Yuya closer to his goal, which was a nice touch considering his self-confidence issues. His development is fantastic and he is still my favorite character in the franchise.

What I like about their appearance: I think that the red, green and orange color scheme works really well for his design. Plus, I still love how fans see his hair as a tomato and a Christmas tree. It’s a cute fun little joke.

Do I prefer their dub names or their original name?: Yuya has the same name in both versions, but I do prefer how the Japanese version pronounces his last name. Maybe I was just too used it after watching the Japanese version for nearly two years before the dub even came out, but Sa-ka-KEY sounds like a much more natural way to say Sakaki to me than Sa-KA-key does.

OTP: I love his relationship with Yuzu. They’re such good and caring friends, which makes it easier to believe that they’d develop romantic feelings for each other. I especially appreciate that you can read their relationship as platonic or romantic, but either way, they clearly love each other.

NOTP: I’m not really a fan of any of the pairings between the Yuya counterparts, mainly because the idea of being romantically interested in someone who has the same face always sounded weird to me. I probably dislike his pairing with Yuri the most given how he treated Yuya in the series.

OT3: While I don’t like the pairings romantically, I think that the relationships between Yuya, Yuzu, Sora, as well as with Gongenzaka, are really good. They all have good friendships with each other.

Favorite card they use: I love so many of Yuya’s Performapals, but Discover Hippo and Silver Claw would be some of my favorites. They’re cute and perfect sized monsters for Yuya to ride on. Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon is also great and is a pretty cool ace monster. Smile World is really good too. It represents Yuya’s ideals on dueling, as well as perfectly captures his goals. He wants to make everyone, including his enemies, smile with his dueling.

Favorite moment they were in: There are a lot of great moments for Yuya, but one of my favorite ones were his last turn against Jack. Seeing Yuya being able to reach out to the whole City with his dueling was so heartwarming and wonderful. Whenever I think back to that moment, to that duel and to Jack holding Yuya’s arm up to celebrate his victory, I still get immensely happy. It’s one of those moments that remind me just how much I love both Yuya and Arc V itself.

Least favorite moment: I’m not sure if this counts, but it was probably when it was revealed that Zarc had taken over Yuya completely after Yuri was defeated. It was a good shocking twist for the match and it made sense, but I was also really sad that Yuya wasn’t able to fight off Zarc’s influence even after struggling so much.

Would I fuck, marry or kill them?: I love Yuya, but I’m also over twice his age, so I wouldn’t be into those first two options and I obviously wouldn’t want to kill him. I would want to give him a big hug and have a duel with him instead.

Reiji:

Why I like them/why I don’t like him?: I like Reiji. I still remember thinking he was going to be another Kaiba clone based on his character information, but he turned out to be a much different and refreshing take on a main rival. He was still Yuya’s main rival, but they were more polar opposites. Yuya is more emotional and prone to act out of anger, while Reiji is more calm, collected and calculated. He rarely acts without having a plan in motion and only takes action himself when he deems necessary. That made their rivalry pretty different and refreshing, especially when Yuya wasn’t focused on defeating Reiji. Plus, I like how Yuya and Reiji slowly develop a nice friendship over the course of the series.

Being more morally gray also helped to make him more interesting. In retrospect, I do think I was a bit hard on him, mainly during season two. I never hated him or thought he was evil like a lot of fans did, but a combination of misreading his behavior/actions and being surrounded by a lot of negativity towards him made me upset at him for awhile. After getting away from that negative environment and looking back at what he did, I think too many people, myself included, read his calm demeanor as being too cold or a sign that he didn’t care about people around him. Even now when rewatching the series, I’ll often think to myself that Reiji didn’t deserve the hate he got and feel kind of bad about how his character was received.

What I like about their appearance: Reiji’s scarf is still so ridiculous that it turns around to become awesome again. I love it and the jokes about it make it even better. His plain blue shirt really works for his design too.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?: I prefer Reiji over Delcan. I’m just more used to Reiji and I think it fits him more than Delcan does. It isn’t one of the worst dub names, but it is pretty strange. It is a shame that they didn’t choose Reggie instead. Maybe they didn’t want to do that because of Shark’s dub name, but Reggie would have been a much more fitting choice than Delcan.

OTP: I don’t have too many pairings for Reiji, but I kind of liked the pairing between him and Serena. I thought that meeting three years prior to the start of the series gave them some potential for an interesting relationship. I kind of like his relationship with Yuya. I don’t see it as romantic, mainly due to how I can’t see Yuya developing romantic feelings for anyone besides Yuzu, but I like it as a platonic pairing if that makes any sense.

NOTP: I’m not sure if there is a Reiji pairing that bothers me that much. Maybe the closest would be his pairing with Shun, but even then, I’m more indifferent towards it than anything else.

OT3: I think I have a three character pairing involving Reiji that I like either.

Favorite card they use: Unlike most rivals, Reiji usually use different monsters as opposed to having a more traditional ace monster. I thought that the three new D/D/D monsters he used during his third duel with Yuya were pretty cool and intimidating. I also liked his use of Contract cards in general. He always had a plan in mind when using them, which fits with his personality quite nicely.

Favorite moment they were in: One of my favorite moments for Reiji was when he was struggling against Leo during his tag duel with Yuya. Reiji had spent years preparing to stop his father and the show had shown just how powerful he is multiple times. But he still couldn’t defeat his father, even with Yuya’s help. Leo even called him out on his poor strategy and Reiji was clearly shaken up over being put into a tight spot. Since Reiji is so calm and collected most of the time, seeing him actually struggling against another opponent and being more clearly emotional made the moment stand out.

It’s also why I was glad that they didn’t have Reiji lose to hype up another secondary villain before this point. If he had lost to Roger or Yuri before, it would have weakened the emotional impact of this moment since we would have already seen Reiji lose before. It helped to make Leo more threatening and the fact that Reiji couldn’t defeat him even after planning for this confrontation for years gave the moment some good emotional weight behind it. Plus, the tag duel had some nice moments for Yuya and Reiji’s friendship so that was nice.

Least favorite moment: I’d probably go with Reiji making sure that the LDS trio’s memories were altered. It did show Reiji’s morally gray mindset, which does help to make him more interesting, but I also think that was the starting point of people thinking that Reiji was secretly evil. Plus, it wasn’t the best way to effectively write the LDS trio out of the plot. People might have thought Reiji was really evil regardless of how they handled the LDS trio, but handling that in a different manner that still showed that Reiji is morally gray might have helped.

Would I fuck, marry or kill them?: Reiji is cool, but I’m still over ten years older than him, so I wouldn’t be interested in the first two options. I certainly wouldn’t want to kill Reiji. I like the idea of telling him to relax and have some fun after the events of the series since he would definitely need that.

Thank you for asking. ^_^

[recentanimenews]

Fire Up The Anime Adaptation Speculation With Ranking Of Year's Hottest Light Novels

Every year since 2004's '05 guide, Takarajimasha publishes Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! (This Light Novel is Amazing!), an overview of what's new and hot in Cool Japan's illustrated prose. With descriptions of what's on the shelves, it offers top lists of the fan favorites, as selected by online polls. These lists always invite anime adaptation speculation. Sure to fuel this, last year, Re:Zero was topped by The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done!/Ryuuou no Oshigoto!, which is just about to get an anime adaptation.

  There is a look at what made the list for the 2018 guide. See what made the list...

  Bunko Collab Votes Top 10 -via industry votes 1. The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done! 2. 86 3. Infinite Dendrogram 4. Moon, Laika and Vampire Princess 5. Sword Art Online 6. Bokutachi no Remake/Remake our Life 7. Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun 8. Gamers! 9. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? 10. A Sister's All You Need

  Bunko Top 10 - via fan votes 1. Sword Art Online 2. The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done! 3. Konosuba 4. Seirei Gensouki - Konna Sekai de Deaeta Kimi ni 5. Re Zero 6. Classroom of the Elite 7. No Game No Life 8. Seishun Buta Yarou 9. The Irregular at Magic High School 10. A Certain Magical Index

  Tankoubon Top 10 1. Honzuki no Gekokujou 2. I'm A Spider, So What? 3. Saga of Tanya the Evil 4. Overlord 5. Monogatari 6. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 7. Mushoku Tensei 8. Yokohama Station Fable 9. Majo no Tabitabi 10.If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord

  Tankoubon "Ordinary" Top 10: 1. Honzuki no Gekokujou 2. Overlord 3. Saga of Tanya The Evil 4. Slime 5. Monogatari 6. Mushoku Tensei 7. Kumo 8. Maou no Machizukuri 9. Majo no Tabitabi 10. In a Different World with a Smartphone

  Female top 10

1 Misaka Mikoto 664 points / 240 votes 2 Main (Rozenmain, Honzuki) 288 points / 103 votes 3 Yuuki Asuna 253 points / 144 votes 4 Sakurajima Mai 5 Katou Megumi 6 Yukinoshita Yukino 7 Yuigahama Yui 8 Rem 9 Isshiki Iroha 10 Othinus

  Male top 10

1 Kirito 612 points/254 votes 2 Hikigaya Hachiman 551 points/232 votes 3 Kamijou Touma 496 points/191 votes 4 Shiba Tatsuya 440 points/ 201 votes 5 Accelerator 407 points/ 164 votes 6 Sora 224 points 7 Natsuki Subaru 216 points 8 Ferdinand 208 points 9 Satou Kazumi 200 points 10 Ayanokoji Kiyotaka (196 points)

  Characters top 10

1 Misaka Mikoto 664 points / 240 votes 2 Kirito 612 points/254 votes 3 Hikigaya Hachiman 551 points/232 votes 4 Kamijou Touma 496 points/191 votes 5 Shiba Tatsuya 440 points/ 201 votes 6 Accelerator 407 points/ 164 votes 7 Maine (Rozenmain, Honzuki) 288 points / 103 votes 8 Yuuki Asuna 253 points / 144 votes 9 Sora 224 points 10 Natsuki Subaru 216 points

  Illustrator top 10

1 Haimura Kiyotaka 575 points / 224 votes 2 abec 492 points / 211 votes 3 Mishima Kurone 411 points /195 votes 4 ponkan8 410 points /183 votes 5 Mizoguchi Keiji 6 Kantoku 7 Misaki Kurehito 297 points /137 votes 8 Shirabii

Notable series

Seirei Gensouki - 13

Re Zero - 16

Goblin Slayer - 36

Classroom of the Elite - 19

No Game No Life- 23 Index - 26

Seishun Buta - 20

Irregular At Magic High School - 18

         The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done! is being adapted into a winter 2018 anime. It's offered in English by BookWalker, who describes it

The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done! is a story about a teenage boy named Yaichi Kuzuryu who happens to be the strongest shogi player in history, holding the top title of "Ryuo"(Dragon King). One fateful day, shogi-loving elementary student, Ai Hinatsuru, appears before him claiming that he promised to be her master. But was such a promise really ever made? Thus began their master and disciple relationship!

Originally published by SB Creative, The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done! took the number one spot on the "Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi" 2017 light novel rankings. SB Creative also announced earlier this month that the animated series will air in January 2018.

      86 by Shirabi and Asato is described

    For a long time this country was attacked by its neighbor, the Empire, which created a series of unmanned military vehicles called the Legion. In response to the threat, the Republic successfully completes the development of similar technology and reflects the enemy's attack, having managed to do without casualties. But this is... the official version. In fact, there were victims. Outside of 85 districts of the Republic there was actually another one. "The non-existent 86th district." It was there that day and night continued the battles in which young men and women from the detachment known as Eighty-Six participated—they fought in drones... Sheen directs the actions of young suicide bombers while on the battlefield. Lena is a "curator" who commands a detachment from a remote rear with the help of special communication. The farewell story of the severe and sad struggle of these two begins!

  Infinite Dendrogram by is offered in English by J-Novel Club

In the year 2043, Infinite Dendrogram, the world's first successful full-dive VRMMO was released. In addition to its ability to perfectly simulate the five senses, along with its many other amazing features, the game promised to offer players a world full of infinite possibilities. Nearly two years later, soon-to-be college freshman, Reiji Mukudori, is finally able to buy a copy of the game and start playing. With some help from his experienced older brother, Shu, and his partner Embryo, Reiji embarks on an adventure into the world of Infinite Dendrogram. Just what will he discover and encounter in this game world known for its incredible realism and infinite possibilities?

  Seishun Buta Yarou by Pet Girl of Sakurasou authors Hajime Kamoshjida and Keijo Mizoguchi is described 

"Hey, shall we kiss?" She who was teasing me with these seductive words temporarily disappeared before my eyes. 

There could not be a bunny girl inhabiting a library. Azusagawa Sakuta faced a scene that toppled common sense—he encountered a bunny girl, and she is nowhere a normal bunny girl. She is Sakurajima Mai senpai, a student studying at the same school as Sakuta and a retired yet renowned actress. It was said that starting from a few days ago, those around her could no longer see her anymore, and she came to the library just to confirm this. Is this related to the hit topic on the internet, the unimaginable phenomenon known as "the puberty syndrome"? Sakuta, wanting to know the reasons behind and get closer to Mai, decided to solve the puzzle. However, the situation then developed in an unexpected way?

In the city surrounded by the skies and the seas, the romance story of I and she began. The brand new romantic comedy presented by the Sakurasou combo.

  Remake our Life - Let's time-travel to 10 years ago and renjoy creative and sweet youthfyk days

  Jaku Chara Tomozaki-kun by Yuuki Yaku and Fly is described

This is a walkthrough of life (a shitty videogame)! Life is a bad video game. This cliche phrase is, sadly, a reality. However, life doesn’t have simple, easy rules. What it does have is irrationality and inequality. The strong say that they have a lot of freedom, but the weak have no choice but to live an overwhelmingly disadvantaged lifestyle. Therefore, it’s a shit game. There’s no mistake because I, the best gamer in Japan, declare it to be shit. —However, that person, who is on the same level as me, goes around saying “Life is a great game.” The school’s perfect, strong-willed heroine, Hinami Aoi. Furthermore, “I’ll teach you the rules of life (game)”? … Normally, I wouldn’t believe in those words. However, Hinami Aoi is a character that doesn’t even fit in a normal frame at all! 

    Seirei Gensouki - Konna Sekai de Deaeta Kimi ni by Yuri Kitayama and Riv is described

Amakawa Haruto is a young man who died before reuniting with his childhood friend who disappeared five years ago. Rio is a boy living in the slums who wants revenge for his mother who was murdered in front of him when he was five years old. Earth and another world. Two people with completely different backgrounds and values. For some reason, the memories and personality of Haruto who should've died is resurrected in Rio's body. As the two are confused over their memories and personalities fusing together, Rio (Haruto) decide to live in this new world. Along with Haruto's memories, Rio awakens an unknown "special power," and it seems that if he uses it well, he can live a better life. But before that, Rio encountered a kidnapping that turns out to be two princesses of the Bertram Kingdom that he lives in. After saving the princesses, Rio is given a scholarship to the Royal Academy, a school for the rich and powerful. Being a poor orphan in a school of nobles turns out to be an extremely detestable place to be.

     Honzuki no Gekokujou by Miya Kazuki and Suzuka is described

Reino, a book-loving college student who just got her librarian certification, was just hired to be a librarian at a large university library. Just before graduating and entering the job of her dreams, she was killed by a massive earthquake crushing her underneath a pile of her own books.  Wishing for reincarnation in order to read evermore, she got reincarnated to a world with a low literacy rate and very few books, limited only to the nobility. As she reincarnated as the daughter of a lowly soldier, no matter how much she wants to read there there are no books within her reach.  If there are no books then what do you do? Why, you make them yourself, of course! Her goal is to become the librarian of her own library! In order to live a life surrounded by books, she starts by making books.

  I'm A Spider, So What? by Okina Baba and Tsukasa Kiryuu is licensed by Yen Press

I used to be a normal high school girl but in the blink of an eye, I woke up in a place I've never seen before and-and I was reborn as a spider?! How could something that's nothing more than a tiny spider (that's me) possibly survive in literally the worst dungeon ever? Are there no rules? There should be some rules! Who the hell is responsible for this? SHOW YOUR FACE!

  That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime by Fuse is licensed by Yen Press

Living alone and never having had a girlfriend, 37-year-old Satoru Mikami is dissatisfied with how his life has turned out. But after dying at the hands of a robber, he awakens to a fresh start in a new world...as a slime monster.

    Mushoku Tensei by Rifujin na Magonote and Shirotaka is described

A 34-year-old NEET otaku, chased out from his house by his family, found that his life is reaching a dead end. He then recalled that his life could actually have been much better if he had made better choices in the past.  Just when he was at the point of regret, he saw a truck moving at fast speed, and three high schoolers in its path. Mustering all the strength he had, he tried to save them and ended getting run over by the truck, quickly ending his life.  The next time he opened his eyes, he is reincarnated to a world of sword and magic as Rudeus Greyrat. Born to a new world, a new life, Rudeus decided that, "This time, I'll really live my life to the fullest with no regret!" Thus starts the journey of a man yearning to restart his life.

   Majo no Tabitabi by Jougi Shiraishi and Azuru is described 

In a certain place, there was a traveler witch. Her name was Elaina. Being a traveler, she came across many people and countries while continuing her long, long journey. A country that only accepted magicians, a muscle loving giant, a youth wanting to return the lover from the grasp of death, a Princess left alone in the ruined country, and the story of witch herself up until now and from now on. While meeting unbelievably odd people and experiencing beautiful moments of some, now, even now, the witch keeps spinning the tale of meeting and parting. “Please don’t mind it. After all, I’m a traveler. I must hurry.” The Witch.――Yes, me.

  If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord by CHIROLU and Kei Truffle is licensed by J-Novel Club

Dale is a cool, composed, and highly skilled adventurer who’s made quite a name for himself despite his youth. One day on a job deep in the forest, he comes across a little devil girl who’s almost wasted away. Unable to just leave her there to die, Dale takes her home and becomes her adoptive father. Devil or not, Latina is beyond adorable, and the adventurer soon finds himself head over heels with being a parent. But why was she out in the forest to begin with, and why does she carry the mark of a criminal?

    via  tptrishula

  ------ Follow on Twitter at @aicnanime

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[real-life-pine-tree]

Rehabilitation: A New Flower Blooms (7/?)

Side effects may include a loss of self-identity and individuality, frequent nightmares, questioning your own existence, severe mental trauma, constant panic attacks, spontaneous crying at random moments, and a strong desire to stay with loved ones at all cost. Co-written with @violetganache42​​​​. Takes place between Chapters 6 and 7 of Arc-V Aftermath.

While that was going on, loud dragon roars could be heard from the Obelisk Blue dorm at Duel Academy. Why was that? Because Yuri set up his alarm clock so he would wake up to the sound of Starving Venom's roars every morning.

The cabbage-haired counterpart politely turned off his alarm and stretched. "Good morning Dennis," he said after yawning.

"Good morning Yu-" Dennis started to say, then he looked at his roommate and smirked.

"What are you so happy about?" Yuri asked.

"It's your hair," Dennis answered. "It looks a lot like Yuya's hair."

"Don't be ridiculous," Yuri said as he got up and walked over to the dorm bathroom. "My hair looks nothing like-"

He cut his sentence short when he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. His dual-colored purple and pink hair stuck out in downward-pointing spikes all around his head with the exception of two short spikes pointing upwards. His bed head did look awfully similar to his Pendulum counterpart's hairstyle.

Dennis let out a small laugh. "Very funny, McField," Yuri dryly said as he left the bathroom.

"But it kind of is," Dennis pointed out as he also got out of bed to get dressed. "You're the complete opposite of Yuya, yet your messy hair looks just like his."

Yuri walked over to a potted plant near a windowsill. "Just be glad you're one of my closest allies," he said, opening a nearby ant farm and using tweezers to take out a few ants and put them on a Petri dish.

"Otherwise you would have carded me at this point?" Dennis jokingly asked, recalling one of their usual jokes.

"Don't be absurd," Yuri said. He proceeded to use the tweezers to place the ants in the mouths of his Venus flytrap (which he nicknamed 'Goddess'). "After everything we went through, that joke of ours is no longer funny."

Dennis wasn't sure what Yuri meant by that; was it because carding people is now considered illegal and Leo had his students stop using that tactic altogether? Either that or Yuri's revival in Yuya's body had him have a change of heart and doesn't want to anyone to mention carding at all. Or maybe…was it because he saw his best friend card himself?

Dennis was silent for a few minutes as Yuri watered his plant. "Is it because-"

"Dennis McField, I swear, don't you ever pull a stunt like that again," Yuri interrupted, his voice cracking in sorrow. "When I found out what you did, I was so upset. It was against Leo's orders to show no weakness, but I didn't care." He started shaking as he placed his watering can next to Goddess. "Yet that sign of weakness is what caused Zarc to fully corrupt me."

Dennis felt a pit of sadness in his heart. "You really see me as a friend?" he asked.

"I wasn't sure at first," Yuri admitted, walking over to the dorm's closet and taking out his uniform. "But after I got my body back, I realized something."

"What's that?" Dennis asked.

"You're more than a friend," the Predaplant user confessed, looking at his roommate. "If I wasn't attracted to girls, I would have asked you out on a date by now."

Dennis let out a small chuckle. "Funny," he said. "That's exactly how I feel about you."

Yuri's eyes grew wide as tears slightly started to form. Dennis actually looks up to him as more than a friend? Well, he and Celina rarely saw each other since Leo kept them separated, leading to the Obelisk Dueltainer to fill in the gap; as a result, they have been inseparable ever since.

"You...really feel that way about me?" Yuri asked.

"Of course," Dennis answered, having finished putting on his uniform. "Ever since Leo put us in the same Obelisk Force branch, there was something about you that drew me towards you. Maybe it was your dueling style or even your personality, but I certainly felt a connection between us. That was why I wanted to be your second-in-command when you were promoted. Because while you never saw me as a friend at first, I could tell that you deeply care about me."

Yuri smiled softly. "Thank you, Dennis," he said. "I'm glad someone still cares about me."

"What about Sora?" Dennis asked.

Yuri headed back to the bathroom and picked up a dark green comb that was soaked in a cup of water. "He is a recent friend," he explained, using the damp comb to comb his hair into place. "I have known you for a good number of years."

He never forgot the day he met his first ever friend at Duel Academy. Throughout his childhood, he grew up without any friends because of his skills. He was incredibly talented and enjoyed defeating his opponents, making him virtually unbeatable; however, all the students feared him to the point where they stepped aside where they saw him walking by. Due to his rather impressive strength, no one dared to approach him, leaving him without any friends. He didn't mind though…at least, from the outside. Deep inside, he really wanted company and share his strength with someone in duels, but with everyone not even going near him, it only made his insecurities and nervousness worse. In fact, the only one that accompanied him was his own shadow.

So when Yuri met Leo, things changed. He finally had someone he could look up to. And a few weeks later, he was placed in Obelisk Force, where the biggest change of his life occurred.

"Yuri, this is Obelisk Force Branch 3A-2," Leo informed. "From now on, these soldiers are your comrades."

To Yuri's surprise, a boy his age with curly red hair rushed over to him. "Nice to meet you, Yuri," he happily said, shaking his hand. "My name is Dennis McField. Let's be partners from now on."

"P-Partners?" Yuri asked, surprised by Dennis' boldness.

"Yeah," Dennis said. "The Professor has talked about how strong you are, so I want to be seen as your equal."

Yuri couldn't find the right words to describe how he felt, but his face said it all, from his eyebrows raised up in surprise by what he heard to his slightly ajar mouth. Dennis was the second student who wasn't afraid of him and truly accepted him at Duel Academy; Celina did get to meet him a while ago, but Leo keeping the two generally distant prevented her from expressing her opinions on his strength face to face. In other words, Yuri's first encounter with his new partner made him finally feel welcomed at this school.

Yuri smiled softly at Dennis. "Thank you," he said, knowing this was the beginning of a wonderful partnership.

Back in the present day, Yuri had just finished combing his hair into place, looking exactly like his usual hairstyle than Yuya's, and was about to get dressed into his usual uniform. "I never forgot that day," he said as he took off his sleepwear shirt and tossed it into a nearby hamper.

"Neither did I," Dennis agreed, spraying some cologne on his wrists. "And we have been inseparable ever since."

"By the way, I noticed Goddess has sprouted some new bulbs," Yuri said, changing topics. "Have you been taking care of her in my absence?"

"Of course," Dennis answered. "I even looked over the care guide you wrote for her so I never forgot any important steps."

"I see," Yuri said. "So did anything important happen while I was away?"

"Not much," Dennis replied. "Another student gala is coming up. Sora already asked out that Blair girl from Slifer Red, and I already agreed for us to go on a double date with the Tyler sisters."

"The Tyler sisters?" Yuri repeated.

"Is there something wrong with them?" Dennis asked.

"There is," Yuri admitted, having finished putting on his uniform and giving his hair one last check. "I was hoping to ask Miss Celina out."

Celina? Why her? Isn't he aware that they have a rivalry with each other ever since Zuzu was revived? So naturally, the Performage user had to ask.

"Why Celina?" Dennis asked. "Aren't you two rivals?"

"Of course we are," Yuri answered. "Need I remind you that Duel Academy galas have sparring duels as a side activity?"

"Oh right," Dennis said. "We haven't had a gala in such a long time that I forgot about that part."

Duel Academy galas are similar to regular galas, but they have their own alterations. Every year, the students dress up formally in dresses and suits, regardless of what their rankings were; Slifer Red, Ra Yellow, and Obelisk Blue students were required to wear regal clothing whenever they attend this annual event. In the ballroom, a long, fancy table is set up not too far from the entrance and a variety of exquisite foods and drinks are aligned on it for the attendees to sample or have. One of the corners of the room has an orchestra playing music in front of a dance floor for any couples to waltz to the rhythm. What makes Duel Academy galas different than most galas is everyone who took part in them were permitted to duel in the gymnasium.

"Precisely," Yuri said. He left the bathroom as he spoke. "And I wish to duel Miss Celina during the next gala."

"Are you sure?" Dennis asked. "I-"

"Of course I'm sure, my dearest friend," Yuri said. "And since we are now both in proper attire for today, shall we start things off at the survival arena for morning practice?"

"Actually, Leo dismantled it," Dennis explained.

Yuri was surprised to hear that. "What about the dueling obstacle course?"

"It was also dismantled," Dennis repeated.

Yuri was silent for a few seconds. "...Then the underwater breathing dorm-"

"Also dismantled," Dennis explained. "And before you say anything else, I'm afraid to report that ever since Zuzu was revived, Leo got rid of all of the training areas."

Yuri shot his eyes wide open and had his mouth opened a little and his bushy eyebrows curved in a similar manner to what he did when he thought Yugo was making fun of him on what happened to Zuzu back in the Synchro Dimension. This time, however, he was more heartbroken by what he heard. With all training areas dismantled, what will the students do instead of train?

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Yuri asked.

"Leo is trying to make Duel Academy more like a normal boarding school," Dennis explained. "So in place of the training areas, he established extracurricular activities and clubs. I, myself, joined the drama club."

"But... But I spent my whole life training to be a soldier," Yuri said. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Join the gardening club?" Dennis suggested.

That intrigued Yuri's interests. "Gardening club?" he repeated.

"Yeah," Dennis answered. "You can even show off Goddess."

A small grin appeared on Yuri's face. "Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to show off her new bulbs..." he decided.

Taking the garden pot that had Goddess in it off the windowsill, Yuri and Dennis left their dorm room and exited through the male Obelisk Blue dormitory doors. Having a variety of clubs being hosted in the rooms that once had training areas admittedly seemed like a good idea; after spending over a decade being trained to carry out the Arc Project and Revival Zero, it felt nice to have the students finally express their different interests. It would also give them opportunities to meet the other students and make new friends. In Yuri's case, joining the gardening club would be a perfect chance to show off his pet Venus flytrap to a certain someone, especially since the plant's bulbs have appeared.

Inside the Academy, Dennis led the way because he knew which room the gardening club was being held. As Yuri followed him down the halls, a familiar figure was pacing herself in the opposite direction of where they were heading. He recognized the indigo hair and orange handkerchief anywhere: it was Celina and she was back at Duel Academy! It was quite surprising to see her here of all places.

"Miss Celina!" Yuri exclaimed, sounding a little too happy. "What brings you here?"

"Don't get too comfortable," Celina said, holding some papers. "I'm not staying here for long."

"What?" Yuri asked. "Why-"

"I tried to tell you about this," Dennis interrupted. "Look at what she's holding."

Yuri looked at the papers. "Transfer files?"

"Yep," Celina said. "Starting today, I'm transferring to Paradise Prep."

Just like that, Yuri felt his heart shatter, but it was more like it broke in half. Celina transferring to Paradise Prep? Why would she do that? He had plans to go out with her to the upcoming gala and now they're being thrown right out the window. Deep inside where his shattered heart was, he could feel a burning sensation within him starting to surface, almost as if he needed to be with her. No, it felt more like he has to be with her. Noticing how heartbroken his friend was, Dennis took Goddess as a way to make sure the former doesn't accidentally drop her out of his hands.

"But Miss Celina, you cannot leave!" Yuri begged, sounding a bit frantic. "I was hoping you would attend the next gala with me!"

"Look, as much as I would like to improve Duel Academy, I need to take a break from this school," Celina explained. "I want to have a normal education-"

"BUT YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!" Yuri yelled out, his eyes glowing purple much like when he Awakened.

The sudden outburst shocked Celina and Dennis, nearly dropping her transfer files and gripping the pot tighter respectively. Was this another side effect of Yuri retaining his original body again?

Fortunately a single glance at his plant made Yuri snap out of it, causing his eyes to stop glowing. "Dennis, be careful," he said. "Goddess doesn't like it when someone grips her pot too tightly."

"Sorry Yuri," Dennis said. "You kind of...went dragon."

"Did I?" Yuri asked.

"Look, I have no idea what's going on," Celina said. "But if you really want me to attend the school gala, I'll go."

Yuri let out a delighted chuckle. "Why, thank you," he said. "I promise it will be an evening you will never forget."

Shortly after that ordeal, the Obelisk duo arrived at the gardening club, which used to be a room where stealth training was held. They remembered how there were special computers on the upper floor that were implemented with Solid Vision with mass, creating simulated scenarios of different difficulty levels to help the students practice what they know about stealth. Now everything has been reconstructed to make it look more like a shrine room with two tables set up parallel from each other with flower arranged on them and the right side of the room having a scroll hanged up, which contained a picture of a small bird sitting on a tree branch.

In front of the young teenage boys was a girl around the same age as them, sitting on her knees and trimming a small flower tree. She has long, straight, black hair tied into a short ponytail with a purple ribbon and icy blue eyes which appeared to be glazed. She wears a transparent light blue veil on top of her head, a pair of antennae that resembled flower pistils located in between her front bangs and above her short, thick yet feminine, black eyebrows, and a burgundy kimono with a pink and light yellow floral pattern on the sleeves and bottom along with a cream sash with a scarlet ribbon tied on it, white socks, and a pair of tan flat sandals.

The girl's name was Lotus Hanazoe who specializes in ikebana, a Japanese art of flower arrangement. She was originally from the XYZ Dimension, but after the Interdimensional War had ended, she began attending Duel Academy; it marked a huge milestone in the school's history since it primarily consists of people from the Fusion Dimension, but seeing an XYZ resident taking part in the school after the events of what happened felt like a subtle sign of forgiveness to Leo. Of course, Duel Academy has a policy that students transferring from their old schools must start out in Slifer Red, so she was no exception.

"And it seems we have visitors joining us today," Lotus said, speaking to the attending students. "If I'm not mistaken, you're Dennis McField and Yuri from the now-disbanded Obelisk Force."

"Correct," Yuri said. "And allow me to introduce you to my plant." He held up Goddess. "Behold, the world's most perfect Venus flytrap!"

The students were a bit surprised. "A Venus...flytrap?" Lotus repeated. "That seems a bit...off."

"Oh, you have nothing to fear," Yuri proudly said. "Ever since the Professor gave me Goddess as a gift, I have made sure she was properly taken care of. She has a strict diet of ants and water once every two weeks with the occasional fly as a treat on special days. And look, she has sprouted new bulbs!"

The students weren't sure how to react to this; even after the War had ended and Zarc split back into his reincarnations again, they never forgot that he was the same kid who was so powerful at Duel Monsters that he made himself infamously feared around the Academy. He's a nearly invincible Duelist with very few friends and the students still couldn't believe that he ended up having a higher status than Obelisk Force because of it.

Yuri quickly noticed the students' feared expressions. "I see..." he said, sounding a bit heartbroken. "I can tell when I'm not needed." He headed for the door. "I shall leave you to your club-"

"Hold on," Lotus said. "Am I detecting genuine guilt in your voice?"

Yuri didn't respond. "I can tell that you feel genuinely upset for what happened to everyone in the four dimensions," Lotus continued. "And while your plant doesn't appear to fit in among the greenery that the other students have, I suppose we could give you and your Venus flytrap a chance."

"Really?" Yuri asked.

"Lotus, are you sure?" a Ra Yellow girl asked.

"Of course, I'm sure," Lotus answered. "Yuri of the former Obelisk Force rank, while I heard about your vicious dueling methods, I also heard about how much you care for plants."

"Well I do," Yuri said, proudly showing off Goddess once more. "Goddess is my pride and joy. I even created a small contraption to help feed her once every two weeks when I'm absent."

"I see," Lotus said, showing interest. "Do tell."

As Yuri explained everything about Goddess, Dennis notified him that he'll be heading over to the drama club in the meantime. So with his friend busy with his club, Yuri was enjoying the atmosphere of the gardening club. But a few minutes later, he recognized a familiar face.

"Missy?" Yuri asked. "Is that you?"

A red-haired girl wearing an Obelisk Blue uniform smiled and saluted Yuri. "Nice to see you again, head commander," she said.

"You two know each other?" Lotus asked.

"Of course," Missy answered. "We were in the same Obelisk Force branch."

Yuri definitely remembered meeting Missy Kochou shortly after he met Dennis. She had always treated him with respect during their training and throughout the War, so seeing her again was a pleasant surprise; he was also amazed that she still respects him even after Obelisk Force disbanded.

"We bonded over sparring sessions," Yuri said. "The Professor always paired us up due to similar dueling levels."

"I see," Lotus said. "Then how about showing us a little sparring session?"

"I don't know," Missy said. "Yuri has probably gone soft because of that Yuya kid."

"I beg your pardon?" Yuri asked, sounding mock-offended.

"You heard me," Missy replied, holding up her Duel Disk. "So are you still the same powerhouse I always knew, or did spending a good number of weeks with that flashy tomato showman make you vulnerable?"

Yuri chuckled. "If it's a show you want, then it's a show you shall have!"

A few minutes later, the entire gardening club sat in the schoolyard to watch Missy and Yuri duel each other. The two activated their Duel Disks, added five cards to their hands, and shouted, "Let's duel!" If Yuri remembered correctly, Missy's strategy revolves around summoning her Insect Princess and using the Field Spell card Insect Garden to control the opponent's weaker Insect-Type monsters and forcing them to attack with the Equip Spell Insect Pheromone. He may have the advantage because his Predaplant archetype consists of Plant-Type monsters.

"Ladies first," Yuri said.

"Oh, you're too kind," Missy said with a smirk. "But you'll see that I have changed my strategy since we last met." She drew a card. "I play the Spell card Insect Barrier! Then I'll set a monster on the field, followed by a face-down card. Your turn."

"Very well," Yuri said as he drew a card. "I'll start things off with the lovely Predaplant Spinodionaea!"

Missy let out a laugh. "That's the best you can do?" she asked. "That measly weed is only useful when I have a face up monster."

"Oh, I'm not done," Yuri continued. "I activate the Continuous Spell Predaponics, allowing me to special summon Moray Nepenthes."

Missy wasn't scared at all. "Well it's too bad they can't attack," she said.

"Whatever do you mean?" Yuri asked.

"Because of my face down: the Trap card DNA Surgery!" Missy answered.

"What?!" Yuri exclaimed.

"It's simple," Missy said. "As long as this card is on my field, your precious plants are forced to transform into insects."

There goes his advantage; Yuri never expected Missy to play DNA Surgery because he was hoping her strategy would be ineffective. Now, it was him that needs to figure out how to get out of this situation as he witnessed Spinodionaea and Moray Nepenthes transform into Insect-Types while retaining their plant-like features. Not even Starving Venom could attack.

"You... You tricked me!" Yuri exclaimed, horrified to see his plants stripped of their 'beauty'.

"Of course I did," Missy said as she drew a card. "So with my field being completely untouchable, I'll flip summon Parasite Paracide and leave you with a little parting gift in your deck."

"Parting gift?" Yuri repeated. "What are you-"

Before he could finish, Parasite Paracide materialized onto the duel field and dashed right towards his deck, landing face up on top of it and causing it to shuffle afterwards. This was the first part of its effect because if he draws this card, it is automatically special summoned onto his side of the field in face-up defense mode and is inflicted 1000 damage. To make matters worse, all monsters the opponent controls become Insect-Type. It's no wonder why it was called Parasite Paracide: it was capable of finding a host to live on and spread its disease to the host's monsters, resulting in them becoming Insect-Types themselves.

"But that's not all," Missy continued. "Next I summon Pinch Hopper. And since it's an Insect monster, I can play the Spell card Worm Bait to get more bugs. But they aren't worried. As long as my Insect Barrier is active, they won't have to worry about getting destroyed."

Yuri was in a huge pickle now. Missy had Pinch Hopper and two Insect Tokens on the field, which can't be destroyed thanks to Insect Barrier. He always knew she was a strong student with her Insect deck, but he didn’t expect something like this to happen to him. Staring at the Insect-Type Spiniodaea and Moray Nepenthes, he wondered if his counter strategy would still work. His eyes shifted towards his deck and grew a bit concerned about the risk of drawing Parasite Paracide and losing 1000 LP…until he realized his counter strategy could still be used thanks to a new card he recently got.

Taking a deep breath, Yuri drew a card from his deck...and smirked. "What got you so happy?" Missy asked.

"Oh, nothing," Yuri casually answered. "I'll just summon Predaplant Squid Drosera in defense mode, switch my other two Predaplants to defense mode as well, and set a card face down before concluding my turn."

Missy just stood there confused on what Yuri even did. Why spend a turn switching his monsters to defense position and playing a face-down? Wasn’t he aware that part of her strategy involves her having his monsters being forced to attack? It didn’t matter to her anyways.

"No matter," Missy said as she drew a card. "With my monsters left intact, I'll use Polymerization to fuse Pinch Hopper with the second Parasite Paracide in my hand. Come on out, Insect Princess!"

Originially just a regular effect monster, Leo upgraded her to a Fusion monster to further help Missy’s status as a Fusion user, but her stats still remained the same: Level 6, WIND Attribute, Insect-Type, 1900 ATK, and 1200 DEF. Even her effects hasn’t changed; all Insect-Type monsters are switched to attack position when she’s face up on the field and she increases her ATK by 500 whenever she destroys an Insect-Type monster in battle.

"So now that my lovely Insect Princess has arrived, all of your Predaplants are forced to switch to attack mode," Missy said. "And I think I'll start my assault with the weakest one. Insect Princess, attack Squid Drosera!"

Unfortunately for her, Yuri smirked right as she initiated her Battle Phase because he knew she would pull something like that. "Why, thank you," Yuri said.

"For what?" Missy asked.

"Because now that Squid Drosera is heading for the Graveyard, each of your special summoned monsters receive Predator Counters latched onto them," Yuri answered. "And there's not a thing you can do to stop my lovely plant's ability!"

"I'm not scared," Missy said as three Predator Counters materialized onto the field and clamped to Insect Princess and the two Worm Tokens. "You can't still attack."

"Oh really?" Yuri asked. He drew a card, resulting in a wicked grin appearing on his face. "Well I beg to differ because I activate the Trap card Dragon Tribe!"

"What?!" Missy asked.

"Yes, that's right," Yuri said. "My time with Yuya never made me weak. It only made me stronger. And on the turn that I activate Dragon Tribe, all of my monsters become Dragon-Type until the end of my turn, so now your Insect Barrier is ineffective!"

Missy was left flabbergasted as Dragon Tribe transformed the Insect-Type Predaplants into Dragon-Type monsters while still having their plant-like features from before. Yuri had a satisfied look on his face as he saw his precious Predaplants undergo such a magnificent transformation.

"It's not the same as their original beauty, but I suppose it will do," Yuri said. "But I'm not done. With the power of Polymerization, I fuse Spiniodaea and Nepenthes in order to bring out the most toxic monster ever seen!" His wicked grin widened as his eyes became more dragon-like. "You'll never look at greenery the same way again! I Fusion Summon the vicious, voracious, and venomous Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!"

The dragon's head stretched out and opened up the mouth, revealing thin traces of saliva in between his upper and lower jaws. His tail extended in place as an “eyelid” shot open to reveal a dark yellow-green orb covered in what also looked like saliva. He raised his entire body up with glowing toxic green eyes before letting out his signature roar, resulting in his orb-esque scales on his body and joints of his claws to glow red and yellow. He then locked himself into attack position upon completing Yuri’s Fusion Summon.

Missy stood there completely shocked by what had just happened. Floating in front of her and the insect monsters was none other than Yuri’s powerful ace monster that secured him a huge number of victories with his duels throughout his entire life.

"But wait, there's more," Yuri continued. "By sending my second Squid Drosera from my hand to the Graveyard, my treasured dragon has to attack every monster that has a Predator Counter."

Missy realized what that meant. "All of my monsters have Predator Counters..." she stated.

"Precisely," Yuri said. "But don't act too upset. You should be honored. Starving Venom hasn't had a delicious meal in weeks, so he feels rather peckish."

"So your dueling style hasn't changed at all," Missy said.

"Indeed," Yuri said. "Now Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, it's feeding time! Finish this duel once and for all!"

Starving Venom’s wings opened up to reveal four saliva-covered mouths, in which two of them stretched out to consume and destroy the two Worm Tokens, dealing a total of 5600 damage. It was followed with Starving Venom extending out his wings, shooting out purple and magenta lightning bolts and an aquamarine blast at Insect Princess, resulting in an additional 900 damage. With a total of 6500 damage, Missy’s Life Points depleted down to 0, securing Yuri a win for the first time since his loss to Yuya.

"I do believe that is a victory for myself," Yuri said, giving Missy a two-fingered pointing gesture. He stopped upon realizing what he was doing, wondering why he would do such a gesture.

Missy approached Yuri. "Not bad, high commander," she said. "You're still as vicious as the day we met."

Lotus, along with the rest of the gardening club, was shocked. "Wow..." she said. "That was...incredible."

"We have to let him join," Missy told Lotus. "Sure Yuri has rather violent dueling methods, but he has a huge soft spot for plants."

"Well alright," Lotus said. "Yuri of Obelisk Force, welcome to Duel Academy's gardening club."

Yuri widened his eyes and raised his short, bushy eyebrows right as Lotus finished her statement because he was wondering to himself if he heard what he thought he heard her say. Fortunately, that quickly turned into proud acceptance as he thanked her for letting him join. To him, his life-long desire of other students accepting him into the Academy and making him feel welcome was finally starting to come true.

[p-artsypants]

My Kingdom For a Heart- (5) Dance of the Daring

FF.net | AO3

Three guest rooms were made up, one for each teen. Sora reclined in his bed, sleep a million miles away. To him, everything that had happened today was just a drop in the trauma bucket.

He wasn’t expecting to stay the night. So, he didn’t bring his pajamas. He almost feared sleeping without them. Yen Sid had promised they’d help with his nightmares, and they had. Now when the heartless appeared in his dreams, he wasn’t afraid.

Rather, now he had other things to worry about. The nightmares of fighting had covered up other dreams he should have been having instead. Conversations with people he hadn’t met, feelings of things that never happened…he knew some of them were Roxas’ memories. But some of the others…he wasn’t sure. Either way, sleep was not enjoyable to him anymore.

Especially when he was alone.

Quietly, Sora stole from his bed and crept to the door. He didn’t bother to look at his clock, he knew it was some ungodly hour in the morning. He crept into the hall.

The castle was silent and still.

He glanced over to Riku’s room, knowing that his friend was probably in a hard sleep. Riku wasn’t the type to rest during the day. And with all the running in the woods he did, doubtless he was exhausted.

Instead, Sora snuck across the hall into Kairi’s room. She laid in the middle of the queen-sized mattress, dressed in a silk nightgown. The servants had taken good care of her, he supposed.

“Hey Kai? Are you asleep?”

Her eyes opened slightly and glanced his way.

“Sorry if I woke you up, I couldn’t sleep.” He crawled onto the mattress and laid down next to her. “It’s weird, I…I kind of get anxious when I’m not with you. Like…we’ve been separated on and off for two years now…and now that you’re with me…I’m terrified to leave you alone. Especially like this.”

He laid on his back, looking up at the bed canopy. “It’s stupid. You’re a princess and you’ve gotten to sleep in two castles now. And I’m not counting the dungeon in The Castle That Never Was either. And now…we’re going to go to all these different worlds, and I’ve decided to bring you along, because I hope that you’ll get to experience it…but without your heart, you’ll never…”

He went silent and turned back over to face her. “Do you remember when we were kids, and the very last time we played Princess and the Dragon?” He smirked. “You were the Princess and Riku and I fought over who got to be the dragon, but he ended up winning. So I became the knight. He placed you ‘under a spell’ of eternal slumber and said that it could only be lifted if I beat the dragon.”

He reached over and fingered her bangs. “And so I fought Riku again, and this time I took it really personal. Then he told me I could only wake up the princess with a kiss. And you actually pretended to still be under that spell. So I kissed you, and it was awkward for everyone.”

His voice was barely a whisper as he leaned in a little closer to her. “So in a way, you’re the sleeping Princess again, and I’m your knight.”

Kairi sighed audibly. A pleasant sound.

“But…the dragon is a little tougher now…and a kiss isn’t going to wake you up.” He glanced down to her lips and felt his stomach clench. “At least…I doubt it could be that simple. But I also don’t want to try that yet…since…well…”

He fell silent, not really knowing what else to say.

“I feel bad, Kai. We were separated for two years…not even able to speak to each other, and now we’re together and you can’t speak…” he frowned. “All of my friends are important to me. No matter how they change. Like Riku, he’s…a lot different now. It’s sad, really. But you and I…”

He met her glassy eyes and stared a little deeper into them. “Things will never be the same between us again, will they?”

Her eyes fell shut softly.

“I guess not.” He looked away to the window. The moon was bright, it’s light piercing the thin curtains. Sometimes, if he stared long enough, the moon took on a heart shape, and terrified him. But for now, it remained a circle.

“Things won’t ever be the same. Not for anyone.” Then he smiled, and looked back down to Kairi. “But you know, I’m okay with that. It keeps things interesting.”

With a tender kiss to her cheek, Sora settled down beside her and found dreamless sleep.

—

He had never been to a ball before. A dance, yes, when he was back at the islands. But never an elaborate, glamorous ball. Sora did his best to tame his hair, and polish up in the former daunting west wing. He wore a borrowed suit from the castle, and if he was honest with himself, felt a little silly. It was almost the opposite of what he had been wearing, since the pants were tight and the shirt was long and loose. High socks adorned his now monstrous calves.

“Ugh, my toes are so cramped in these shoes.” He muttered to Riku.

“That’s because you’ve never worn anything smaller than size 50.” He snarked back.  

"Big talk from someone who has the same shoe size as Goofy."

"Hey, I only wore those to make you feel better about your ugly hobbit toes!" Riku protested.

"Boys boys!" Cogsworth pleaded. It seemed like the 'honored guest' title had worn down quickly. "Of course we are very excited to have you two and your lady friend as guests, but I urge you greatly to be on your best behavior.”

“Why? It’s just a ball with the servants. Everyone already knows how goofy we are.”

“I’m afraid it’s more then just a quaint get together. One part of the curse was that the castle became unfathomably dismissible by it former occupants. Tonight you shall be presented to them along with the Master."

"Huh?"

"Adam's family is coming back and it will be the first time he's seen them since before the curse."

"Oh..." the boys spoke together.

"The queen passed away in childbirth. His father, struck with grief, travelled all around the world to forget her. All his life, he’s been trying to forget his son. And because of the curse, he nearly did. On birthdays the castle would receive a simple page boy who would open the front door and throw a letter inside, stating that the Lords of the castle hoped he was well and would be able to visit next year. The castle’s status was checked up on by his Uncle, Lord Gilbert…who was grossly negligent in that regard. We have received word that these two men, along with a hand full of other nobles, will be present tonight for the Master’s 21st birthday. So please, I beg you, be courteous."

Sora smiled, “No worries, Cogsworth! I've been around loads of royals. We can handle it."

Riku smirked, “Yeah, remember that one time the Emperor of China called me rude?"

"I mean...you didn't even introduce yourself."

"Introductions!" The majordomo exclaimed. "I forgot to write your introductions!"

"Can't we just introduce ourselves? That's a lot more friendly."

"Friendly? We want the proper etiquette! Most of these people won't even want to be friendly!" He dug through his pockets and found some notecards. "Here, write down your full names and titles and give them to the doorman before entering the Entrance Hall. Make sure you write one for the Mistress Kairi as well.”

"Titles?"

"Oh you know, The Duchess of Cambridge, The Duke of Wellington, Regent Prince Adam de Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry?" He giggled. "That last one was a test, that’s the Master's title."

"No wonder he went by 'Beast’,” muttered Riku.

"But we don't have titles like that!"

"Well, then make something up! You're both proud world savers and warriors! Travelers extraordinaire! We are trying to impress! How you are perceived will reflect upon Master Adam!“

“Impress, huh?” Sora smirked a horrible little smirk. “Okay. I can do this."

“Why oh why do I have the feeling I'm going to regret this?"

Sora put his hands on the man’s shoulders and steered him toward the door. “You just go on ahead and worry about the rest of the house. You have our word that we’ll be on our best behavior and we’ll write some very nice and impressive titles.”  

“Oh all right…” Cogsworth relented. “There is a lot of stuff to tend to…just make sure you get those titles approved by someone in the house!”

“Of course!”

And with that, he was out the door.

“Here,” Riku handed him his notecard. “You can write mine, Eager McBeaver.”

Sora’s fiendish grin curled slightly. “Excellent.”

A moment later, Prince Adam paused timidly in the doorway. “Can I come in?”

“Sure,” Riku welcomed, leaning against the wall. “You all ready?”

“As much as I can be,” He admitted. “I’m not sure what I’m going to say to my father. I…don’t even really know him.”

Riku sighed, speaking to the floor. “I…think I kind of know what you mean. I haven’t been home in nearly two years. Before I left, I wasn’t really on good terms with my parents. We fought often, and I got in a lot of trouble. But I just kept pushing them away. There was nothing I would rather do than cast them off completely so I could be free to explore the outside world…but when I got out here, I realized how dark and lonely it can get. I miss them so much now and regret ever fighting with them.” He pushed off from the wall and clasped the man’s shoulder. “I think the best thing you can do is just tell him you love him and you want to get to know him.”

Adam nodded once, sagely. “I think I’ll do just that.” Then he turned and looked at Sora who was furiously writing something down on a notecard. He’d scratch a line, cross it out, tap the pencil to his chin and then write something else.

“What are you doing?”

“Writing our titles,” He answered simply. “Can you approve this?”

Adam took the notecard and gave it a withering glance. “I don’t know…I’m still practicing my reading. It’s not stellar.”

“Even better!”

The Prince read all the words he could. “It’s pretty long. But from what I can tell, it’s good.”

“Excellent.”

“What did you put for me?” Riku reached for the cards, but Sora snatched them away.

“You’ll just have to find out when you get introduced.”

A throat cleared at the door. “Your Majesty, your guests have arrived.”

—

In the Entrance Hall, Sora, Riku, Adam stood at the top of the stairs, just out of site from the crowd below. Riku peered around the corner to report. “I see the servants, and there’s a lot of other people here too.”

“Probably their families,” noted Adam.

“It looks like they’re starting the introductions.”

Sure enough, the doorman spoke loud and clear. “Introducing The Duchess of Cambridge, Marina de Coup Pans de Lyon.”

There was a short applause before the next guest was introduced.

“Alright, so apparently, once all the visitors are introduced, then they will introduce you three and then me. I think they will announce Kairi first.”

“Where is she?” Asked Sora, eager to see his friend all gussied up.

“She’s in the parlor, Mrs. Potts will wheel her out when she’s introduced.”

The guests kept pouring in.

“When do we start walking? When they say our name?”

“As soon as they start saying your title, go ahead and start walking down.”

Riku added from his vantage point, “wow, that’s a bit more than a handful.”

“How many?”

“A few…”

“How many is a few?”

“A couple…”

“Give me a ballpark figure.”

He sighed, “like thirty.”

“I knew this was going to happen,” Adam lamented, head in his hands. “I really don’t want to go out there.”

“Hey, it’s okay. We’re here, if you need anything, we’ll back you up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah!”

Riku grinned, “I am wonderfully capable of throwing punch on someone and making it look like an accident.”

“So you did do that on purpose!” Sora whisper shouted.

“Tidus had it coming!”  

Lumiere’s voice cut through the conversation. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to introduce our guests of honor. The household extends our welcome to these three young warriors visiting from a far off world. Without their help, the castle would not have returned to the glory it once held.”

“Debatable,” Riku muttered.

“The Princess of light, Kairi Shimomura, daughter of Ansem the Wise, the Sage King of Radiant Garden.”

There was a humble applause as Kairi was presented on the floor.

“What does she look like?” Sora urged, trying to see over Riku’s head.

“You’ll see her in a minute! Calm down!”

“Get ready!” Adam scolded.

“The Former Prince of Darkness, Riku Nomura, Pupil to King Mickey Mouse of Disney castle, wielder of the Keyblade.”

Riku made his descent down the stairs as people applauded. Despite the opening, the name was pretty good.

“And of course,” Lumiere cleared his throat, like he wanted this to be perfect. “The Champion of the Gods, Hero of Olympus, Lieutenant of the Chinese Army, First Mate of Captain Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl," Sora strolled down the stairs, a glow with pride.

Riku stood at the bottom, rolling his eyes and huffing.

"Advisor to Aladdin; Sultan of Agrabah, Consort of King Simba of Pride Rock, Escort of Princesses, Slayer of Dragons and Monsters, Pupil to Master Yen Sid, Knight of His Majesty King Mickey Mouse of Disney Castle, Captain of the Starship Highwind, Master of the Seven Elements and Master Keyblade wielder, Sora Hikari of Destiny Islands.”

The servants went ecstatic. Cheers like none other rocked the castle as Sora cockily strolled down the stairs. The new guests just stared in shock, and a bit in awe.

"How's that for a title?" He snickered.

"Cogsworth is going to kill you."

"And now, if you please, a round of applause for your honorable and humble host, Regent Prince Adam de Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry..." applause started as Adam nervously descended the stairs. He waited on the ballroom landing.

"And his beautiful lady," Lumiere smiled as he looked up to the East wing. "Belle."

No title, no family name, just her first name, because that was enough for Adam, so it was enough for everyone else. The servants cheered and sang as the master and mistress of the castle met on the landing, smiling brightly at each other, seemingly lost in their own world.

“Thank you everyone, for attending this wonderful celebration,” Lumiere beamed. “Please, be our guest!”

Hired hands, not previously attending the castle opened the doors to the ballroom. Maestro struck up the band and the party commenced.

Now that he had a moment, Sora crouched a bit and took in Kairi’s absolute beauty. She wore a deep blue dress with silver trimmings and bows and ruffles. Her hair was curled and pinned daintily. Sora blushed as he smiled tenderly at her. “Wow Kai! You look like a Princess!”

“Should she not?” A woman’s voice cut through the moment.

Both Sora and Riku turned to greet a sour looking woman in clothes of grandeur and splendor, pinks and reds of all different shades and hues. All layered together in one big flowery mess. “I thought I’d make my acquaintance to such an esteemed Princess of such an exotic title…but if she isn’t actually a princess…”

Sora rubbed the back of his head. “Gee uh, ma’am. I only meant that she actually looked like a princess. Where we are from, we don’t wear clothing this rich and fine. And girls don’t wear dresses this poofy.”

The noblewoman narrowed her eyes slightly. “I see. I am Madam Vivian Antoinette, Duchess of Corsica. Prince Adam is my nephew.” She held her hand out delicately.

Sora took it and shook it with warmth. “Nice to meet you! I’m Sora! This is Riku and this is Kairi.”

She smirked, withdrawing her hand. “That’s how you introduce yourselves? How…civilian.”

Riku mentally tagged in to this boxing fight of wits. “Our culture is much different then you’re used to, and we apologize. We experience so many different types of cultures in our travels, we find it best to keep it simple.”

“I see,” The woman stated, placated.

Sora took note of the guests making their way into the ballroom. “Well, we should join them. Ready Kai?” He stooped and scooped her up. Automatically, her hands draped around his shoulders.

Aunt Vivian sneered at the sight. “Is it also…proper to hold a lady like that in public where you’re from? Are you married?”

“They might as well be,” Riku quipped.

Sora blushed. “Ah, no we—we aren’t. But uh, as you can see by her chair. Kairi is unable to walk on her own.”

“Is she also unable to speak of her own accord? It seems odd that a servant would be answering for her.”  

Sora’s eyes widened, not sure how to respond to such a rude response in a way that wouldn’t embarrass Cogsworth or Adam. He simply looked to Riku. Sometimes he had better tact.

This moment was not one of those moments.

“Look lady, Sora and I are decorated warriors and master swordsmen, and we deserve way more respect than you’re giving us now. I would have thought you’d be a little bit more polite in front of Princess Kairi, Duchess. And no, she can’t speak either. Very rude of you to point that out.”

The woman laughed a haughty little laugh and unfurled her fan. “I merely wanted to see what types of people you were, since you seem to be well acquainted with my dear sweet nephew.”

Riku folded up Kairi’s chair while Sora started up the stairs. “I hate to be the barer of bad news, but you make a poor first impression.”  

—

Meanwhile, Adam and Belle were approached by two older men. He knew them, but he wasn’t prepared for how much older they appeared.  

“Father, Uncle,” Adam greeted calmly and genuinely.

His father, King Reginald, smiled and shook his head with a look of disbelief. “You look so much like your mother.”

Adam looked away shyly, unsure of how to respond. He still wasn’t used to looking like a human in the first place.

“So, please tell us about this lovely lady.” His uncle changed the subject.

“Oh! This is Belle, she’s my uh…we are…”

“Adam has been courting me.” She curtsied politely.

The duke and king shared a knowing glance. “She’s very lovely,” Reginald praised. “How were you acquainted? As far as I know, you were never the social type, Adam.”

“Uh…well, she was my guest.”

“Adam was very kind to let me stay here while my father was away. You see, my father is a world famous inventor and he is well travelled to show his inventions to scholars.”

The king nodded with enthusiasm, “sounds like a very smart man!”

“And Belle is very educated as well,” Adam added. “She’s read over half the books in the library since she started staying here.”

“Charming, beautiful, and smart! My boy you’ve seem to found the perfect woman!”

Adam beamed.

“But if she is so well learned,” his uncle interjected, “why did she not take care of the house hold or go with him? I’m just curious.”

Adam swallowed. He was never very good at lying. Especially when he could just drop, ‘because I said so!’ and people would listen to him.

“Well, your excellency, I was being relentlessly pursued by a hunter who wanted my hand in marriage. And sought out your lovely castle as a sanctuary for a just a little time.”

“A hunter?”

“Yes, a man that was unafraid to kill any animal just for praise. He kept them all as trophies. He didn’t know how to read and he spent all his free time drinking beer.”

Adam scowled, hating the man even more.

The duke laughed, “sounds like an utter buffoon! You did well to seek out help.”

“So when’s the wedding?” The King asked.

At that, both Adam and Belle blushed heavily. “Well, the courting is only a recent development…” Adam cleared his throat. “That is, I do love Belle, and I would love to marry her, but I need a little time to get used to the idea.”

“Belle! There you are!” A man hustled into the group. “I saw you go into the ballroom and then I got lost in the crowd—this castle is so big, I still can’t—Oh dear, am I interrupting something? I’m terribly sorry.” Maurice looked up at the gentlemen gathered.

The king barked out a laugh and held out his hand. “It’s quite alright, monsieur…?”

He shook it warmly. “Maurice, just Maurice. I’m Belle’s father. And you are?”

The man laughed. “King Reginald VII, at your service.”

“K-K-K-King!?” Maurice fell down to his face on the floor. “Your Highness! I’m so so sorry, I should have…I’ve never seen you in person, and I wasn’t expecting…”

“Sir, please rise. Since it seems like we’re going to be in laws in the future, there’s no need to be so formal.”

“In laws!? You’re Adam’s—“

“He’s my son, yes,” The king smiled.

Maurice stood on shaky legs, staring between the group. “Oh what have you gotten me into, my dear?”

“Oh darling!” A shrill voice beckoned. The duke turned to greet his wife, Aunt Vivian.

“There you are Viv, where did you waltz off to?”

“I went to speak to the honored guests, the two young men and the princess. Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

“Oh yes, of course you remember Adam, and this is his Beau, Belle. And her father, Maurice.”

“Ah, yes.” The woman smirked, “The girl without a title or even a surname.” She snapped her fan.

“Vivian,” her husband scolded.

Aunt Vivian gave her a cold stare. “So how did you end up here? I’m sure it’s a…riveting story.”

“Oh it is!” Maurice responded. “You see, it was a dark and stormy night—!”

Belle put a loving hand on her father’s shoulder. “Now dad, I’m sure Adam wants to get caught up with his family. We can tell them the story later, alright?” And she steered him toward the snack table.

“But Belle, don’t you think that’s important for them to know?”

“They don’t know about the curse,” She explained. “Cogsworth told me that his family just felt compelled to stay away. I do think they need to know about the curse but…not right now. Not tonight.”

Maurice nodded. “I understand, and I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to apologize for Papa.” She kissed the top of his head.

“If you don’t mind,” he began, his eyes searching the room, “I’m going to see if Mrs. Potts would like a dance.”

Belle giggled as he headed out into the fray. She proceeded into the room as guests and servants alike greeted her. Then, off in a corner, she saw the boy from Hollow Bastion sitting in a wheelchair, looking at a strange rectangular device.

She approached him quietly. “Now, I could have sworn you were the friend that could walk.”

Riku startled up from his seat. “Oh no, that’s not me…um, I’m just taking pictures.” He held out his phone so that she could see the images of the dancers taking the floor. One such image was of Sora waltzing with Kairi in his arms. Belle looked to the floor and saw him. He looked much more elegant in the photo. But he was happy, as Kairi had her arms draped around his shoulders and rested her head against his chest.

“Are you jealous?” Belle asked, a little bluntly.

Riku huffed. “You know, if you had asked me a year ago, I would have said yes without a doubt. But now I’m just sad.”

Belle turned her sympathetic gaze to Sora. “He seems to care a lot about her.”

“He loves her. He cares about everyone he meets, but he loves her. Did you know he took out his own heart for her? And because of her, he regained himself from a heartless.”

“I remember.” She smiled softly. “I remember waking up to Donald screaming for him. I remember mass panic as everyone left the great hall. But where were you?”  

Riku looked down in shame. “That was after I lost my body to the darkness. Ansem had taken control of my body and there was nothing I could do to stop it.”

Belle looked back at him. “Now everything makes sense.”

“How so?”

She smiled at him. “Several times in his travels, Sora visited our castle. He was looking for you each time. I could only wonder why. But now I know that the you I met back then wasn’t actually you.”

“In a way, it still was.” He sighed. “Before this whole thing started, when the three of us still lived on the island, I confessed to Kairi that I had a crush on her. She was really nice about it, but she told me that her heart belonged to someone else. I asked if it was Sora and she said it was. From that day on, I did everything I could to prove that I was better than him. I even teased him in front of her. In the end, when it mattered, I took a short cut to try to save her, and ended up bringing ruin to myself.” He crossed his arms, “when I kidnapped you, I had a major attitude problem. Since then, I’ve been severely humbled…and I’m sorry for what I did. It must have been traumatic.”

“Scary, yes.” She affirmed. “But I wasn’t harmed, and adventure never hurt anyone.”

He grinned. “In fact, I think it helps.”

Belle raised her hand out to him, “I would like to have a word with Sora, do you think you could help me out there?”

He bowed, “of course, m’lady.”

Riku and Belle danced out to the couple lost in their own little world. She tapped gently on his shoulder. “Excuse me sir, may I have this dance?”

Sora looked between her and Riku and nodded. Kairi raised her arms out so Riku could take her.

“Just so you know, I have two left feet.”

“That’s alright.” Belle grinned.

They awkwardly danced in the crowd of servants. “You’re so stiff,” She chuckled.

“I’m just not used to dancing!”

“Well, at least you aren’t looking at your feet. It took Adam a long time to figure that out.”

“To be fair, we aren’t really dancing…just swaying in a circle.”

“I don’t mind.”

“So…what’s the Beast—er, Adam up to?”

“He’s talking to his family in the grand hall. I don’t think his Aunt likes me.”

“Oh you mean—,” He pitched his voice high and made it overly proper. “Aunt Vivian?”

“You met her?”

“I was roasted by her. Riku and Kairi too! Some people are just awful.”

“I’ve dealt with worse,” Belle assured. “But, I’ve been meaning to ask you, I just haven’t been able to since you got here…what is wrong with Kairi? If I recall, she didn’t have any problems before.”

Sora looked away in sadness. “Well, you remember Xaldin, right?”

Her nose flared. “Did that awful man do this?”

“Not quite. He was a part of a group of Nobodies called Organization XIII. Their leader ripped Kairi’s heart out and shattered it. Riku and I are trying to find a way to restore it, since Kingdom Hearts is unstable without it.”

“Oh goodness! Is there anything we can do to help?”

“Actually…” He moved his hand to his pocket. As he did, there was a loud knocking at the door.

A hush fell over all the servants as they stopped dancing. Even the band stopped playing music. The guests looked around confused as nearly everyone looked to the door.

The knocks repeated.

Lumiere hurried from the ballroom and down the steps to get the door, but Adam was already heading towards it. As Belle and Sora reached the bottom of the steps, they heard Aunt Vivian scoff. “Answering the door himself? That’s a servant’s job!”

Adam adjusted his coat and opened the door with a welcoming air.

Lumiere paled next to Belle. “It’s her.”

An ugly old woman stood at the door, her knotted hands clutched a rotting cane. Her blind eye staring right into Adam’s soul. Though she never said so, he believed that she would return one day to test him.

Persistent rain pelted down on the stairs behind the woman. He couldn’t recall if it had been doing so when the guests arrived not long ago.

“Good evening, madam,” he greeted, a nod of his head.

“Please,” she begged. “Spare an poor old woman from the cold? I have but a rose to offer in return.”

“That’s very kind of you, please come in.” With a sweep of his arm, he gestured inside. “We are in the middle of a celebration, please enjoy the music.”

“That’s alright, what I’d really love is a warm bed for the night.”

Cogworth hurried up to Adam in a hushed panic. “All the rooms are full, and I know that our…distinguished guests would be…put out if your offered their room away.”

“Then the parlor,” Adam decided. “We’ll have a nice fire in the parlor and you can sit in my chair.”

Everything finally clicked in Sora’s mind and he joined the conversation. “Bea—er Adam, me, Riku, and Kairi have to get going tonight, so if you want to offer one of our rooms, that’s fine.”

“Ah! Thank you! There we go, a nice warm room for you ma’am!” He called back to the assembled crowd. “Is Mrs. Potts here?”

The housekeeper hurried down the steps to the Master. “Yes sir, I’m here sir.”

“I’m so sorry to ask this of you on your day off, but could you personally attend to our guest?”

“Of course, Master.” She curtsied.

“I’ve had just about enough of this!” Aunt Vivian exclaimed. “Treating this woman—this peasant with so much curtesy! It’s…well, it’s disgraceful.”

Adam cleared his throat. “Aunt Vivian, you don’t understand.”

“Oh I understand plenty! While we were gone, you resorted to rubbing shoulders with dirty commoners! You bring shame upon this family!”

The beggar woman looked at Adam, and smiled slightly. “Are you going to let her boss you around in your own castle?”

“You! You do not speak unless spoken too!” Vivian snapped. “Adam! This is a complete and utter embarrassment. If you will not do something about this, then I will.”

“Vivian, this is my castle now, and whoever needs refuge will get it. You must understand—“

But the woman was so lost in anger that she would not listen to him. “Guards! Anyone! Get this woman out of here!”

The old beggar woman narrowed her eyes. “Do not be deceived by my appearance. Things are not always as they seem.”

The resounding slap sent the crowd into silence. A maid sobbed.

“Get out.” Vivian snarled.

Instantly, the room was overtaken by a bright light. The old woman rose into the air and showed her true, beautiful form. Vivian fell to her knees in fear.

“Anger and hate will get you nowhere.” She proclaimed, raising her hands. “This is what happens when you let it fester!”

Prince Adam seized up instantly, pink magic surrounding him.

“Oh no!” Belle cried. “Please don’t!” She looked to Sora. “Please do something!”

Adam’s body was engulfed in light, as beams burst forth from his fingertips.

Sora drew his keyblade, but stood still, unsure of the right course of action.

“Steady your hand Keyblade wielder, I am not your enemy,” The enchantress claimed.

A horrendous roar shook the castle and the once handsome Prince was reduced to a Beast once more. He turned, snarling at his family.

The king took a step toward him, holding out his hand. “Adam…”

The enchantress lowered herself to their level and placed a hand on the Beast’s arm. “This is the product of your cruel, sad, sickening and hateful hearts. I once thought he was a spoiled, selfish, and wicked child. I now realize that he was merely a victim himself, of gross negligence and poor role models. These last ten years, he will never get back, and it’s all your fault.” She addressed the King, the Duke, and the Duchess.

The King was the first to act, in a way that no one would have ever expected. He ran to Adam and threw his arms around his son and wept. “Adam! My sweet little Adam! How cruel and foolish I’ve been!”

“Father?” The beast hated the gruff noise that was his voice.

The king looked up to him. “By god, you still have her eyes.” He clenched his eyes shut, pained. “Every time I looked at you, it hurt so bad. You took my wife away, but are the only thing I have left of her. And I chose to push you away and ruin your life. I know I can never make it up to you, but I will do everything I can to make up for it. I’m so sorry, could you ever forgive me?”

The beast hugged him back. “All I wanted was for you to love me.”

“Oh Adam, I did. I loved you so much…but I didn’t know how to show it. Anything would have been better than what I did. We’ll start a new, is that alright?”

“Yes…that sounds perfect.”

The duke approached him guiltily. “I don’t think I was much better. Your father asked me to watch over you, and I did a poor job. I have no excuse.”

The Beast clapped his shoulder, causing him to stumble. “You tried. And that’s okay. It didn’t help that I was awful to you.”

“I’ve long forgiven you for anything you did, my boy.” The duke assured.

The enchantress looked at the assembled and smiled. “Forgiveness is the mightiest sword. And with it, your hearts can be purified.” Then she turned her eyes upon the duchess. “But some hearts are so consumed by darkness, that they cannot be redeemed.” She raised her hand and a pink light surrounded Vivian, who still sat frozen on the ground. “You who have mocked and scorned others, who has pointed fingers and carelessly flung insults. You will have silence for the rest of your days. Nevermore will you sing your praises or defend your actions, and no one will stand up in your place. For you have damned yourself to a life of scorn and hatred as you have delivered it. There will be no redemption for you, for you have not learned this lesson yet.” And with that Vivian’s voice turned to dust.

“Vivian!” The Duke cried, running to her.

The Duchess finally snapped out of her trance and hurled every insult and swear she could think of. But it all remained unheard. Then, she hugged herself and cried.

Finally, the Beast spoke. “What must I do to turn back into a human?”

The enchantress graced him with a smile. “Through Belle’s love, and your love for her, your curse has been lifted forever. This form is for you to use as needed. I sense great danger in the future, and thought it might be of use to you.”

The Beast closed his eyes, and went still. Slowly, his form melted back into a human, as if there was never any change. Belle threw her arms around him in relief.

“You passed my test, young prince. And now my presence is no longer needed.”

“Wait!” Sora called.

She met his plea.

“Please, Kairi lost her heart.” He gestured over to the girl, still in Riku’s arms. “I hoped that you would know a way to regain it?”

The enchantress floated closer, examining him. “There is no magic in this world or any other that can regain a princess’s lost heart.”

Sora felt his stomach sink into his shoes.

“However, the item in your pocket holds the key.”

He pulled out the heart shard. “This?”

“Yes, follow your heart and it will lead to hers.” And with that, she finally disappeared.    

Once the staff realized that they weren’t going to be cursed again, the celebration continued.

Adam and Belle joined Sora, Riku, and Kairi.

“So that’s what you’re looking for?” Belle glanced at the crystal.

“Yeah, it’s a heart shard of a past Princess of Light.”

“Well, there’s going to be a lot of changes happening in the castle in the coming month. We will keep an eye out for one,” Adam assured.

Sora nodded, “I appreciate it. Stay safe you guys, I didn’t really like the warning the enchantress gave.”

“I’m not too sure about that either,” Belle confessed.

“Only a fool would try to harm anyone in my castle.”

“Your Beast is showing.” Riku smirked.

Sora clapped his hands, “Well, we have to get going. It is a long flight back to Hollow Bastion. But first, I’m going to get more of those little wienies for the road!”

[skittymon]

Light

@clockworkspider told me to give Asuka a worthy death after Parasite Monster SO HERE WE ARE.

Some slight differences from clock’s work. Going off my version of this au where Serena got captured by Yuto, and Yuri and Sora are the ones to go to standard. 

Fusion xyz swap au

Asuka goes on an important mission and in the end she’s happy.

When Asuka accepts to do the solo mission Edo and many of the resistance members are surprised to say the least.

 “Don’t act like that.” Asuka frowns at them, “I’ve taught almost everybody in this room I can take care of myself!”

Grace shakes her head, “We know that Teacher! It’s just that….” she trails off.

“We’ve already lost so many,” Gloria finishes for her sister, her eyes filled with sadness and her squeezed fist filled with anger. 

We can’t lose you too…. goes unspoken but its message hangs in the air. Asuka can’t deny the fact that of late they’ve lost many comrades. Serena who disappeared mysteriously in the battlefield, still unknown whether or not she was turned into a card. Dennis who somehow managed to gain the trust of the Number Hunters and who now has to card his fellow fusioners to keep said trust. Yuri and Sora who are following the lead on Akaba Leo’s son, Reiji, in the Standard dimension. And countless other students of her’s who she can’t help feel like she let down.

Asuka let’s out a deep breath, to be honest she’s afraid of being carded but the fear of letting down her students is much greater so, “Don’t worry you two, I’ll be just fine. We all know there’s no soldier in the Number Hunters that can defeat me.”

Gloria let’s out a light chuckle, “Of course Teacher.”

Asuka nods and proceeds to leave the resistance base, but then she feels a hand on her shoulder and Edo is looking at her dead in the eyes, “Be careful.”

“I will.”

She runs as fast as her worn out body should, but - she takes a second to turn her head and there are at least eleven Hunters behind her - she can’t stop now. Her mission is a success and she peers down at her duel disk to see how much longer it will take for her message to be delivered to the resistance. 

35% complete… Asuka reads as she jumps off the building, leaving the several Number Hunters behind her. Asuka then takes a moment to catch her breath and she goes to her duel disk’s menu and before she can click Fusion Dimension she hears: 

“The resistance’s commander?”

Asuka turns to see a Number Hunter approaching her and she activates her duel disk. “This must be my lucky day. You gotta be worth fifty points at least!”

Upon closer inspection Asuka recognizes the Number Hunter before her. He’s the one who has one of the highest scores out of all the Numbers, he’s the who gave Sora nightmares for weeks.

Falcon Master

With a smile that causes Asuka to shiver the Falcon Master states, “Let’s see if you’re as good as they say Commander.”

Asuka narrows her eyes, “I can say the same to you Falcon Master.”

There’s no soldier in the Number Hunters that can defeat me.

42% complete… 

“Wanna give up now, Falcon Master?” Asuka asks as the Number Hunter slowly rises from ground. The Falcon Master only has 500 life points left while she has only has lost 800 so far.

The Number Hunter lets out a laugh, “I can see why you’re the commander, you’re good. But I can’t lose now, not when if I card you I’ll finally be above Kaito in points.”

Asuka grits her teeth and she honestly hates this kid. 

“Late arrival penalty. 2000 points.” Asuka hears her duel disk say. Both her and the Falcon Master look over and there is a duelist walking up beside Falcon Master. Asuka knows that duelist’s face all to well and she’s starting to think this is not her day…..

Onionhead

“Need some help Shun?” Onionhead asks Falcon Master, almost laughing. “Doesn’t look like things are going your way.”

“Shut up Kaito,” Falcon Master growls at Onionhead. “You already joined the duel so my opinion doesn’t matter now does it?”

Onionhead lets out a heartfelt laugh, “You’re right, but c’mon the Professor would be upset if we let the Commander get away!” He helps Falcon Master up and the two smile at Asuka. “My turn, I draw.”

There’s no soldier in the Number Hunters that can defeat me.

65% complete….

Asuka feels like she can barely breath anymore. Her life points are now at a mere 1600 but she has managed to eliminate Falcon Master from the battle and Onionhead’s life points are now at 700. 

Onionhead is shaking from anger and with the glare he’s giving her, Asuka actually feels like the prey the Number Hunter’s refer to them as. “To think I would be pushed into a corner by fusion scum.”

Asuka laughs, “I can say the same about you Numbers. But you must have realized by now that you’re not winning this duel.”

“Late arrival penalty. 2000 points.”

“Not if I can do anything about it.”

And suddenly swooping down is another duelist, another Number Hunter, but Asuka does not recognize this one. Logically her brain tells her that it’s most likely an ordinary Number Hunter but the way he holds himself says otherwise. The mysterious duelist turns to her and:

“Yuri?”

He’s wearing an outfit that Yuri would never wear and he’s a Number Hunter but his face…..All she can see is Yuri. Maybe it’s the stress from this goddamn war or maybe she’s exhausted from this duel but words begin to slip out of her mouth, “What are you doing Yuri?”

The boy just walks toward Onionhead.

She knows it’s not Yuri, it can’t be. But she can���t stop herself. “Why are you helping them? After everything they did…”

“They took Dennis…”

The boy grabs a card from his deck.

“They’ve scarred Sora…”

He places all his cards face down.

“They carded Serena….”

His eyes widened for a moment before he says, “I end my turn.”

There’s no soldier in the Number Hunters that can defeat me.

88% complete….

“……I end my turn.” Asuka says nearly emotionless. She can’t do this anymore, not when she’s facing this boy who looks like one of her beloved students.

“My turn,” Not-Yuri states as he grabs a card from his deck. He summons a dragon that’s almost like Yuri’s (the irony of its name does not escape Asuka) and he activates his monster’s ability - doubling it’s attack points while cutting her monster’s in half - and Asuka knows this is the end.

“….You mentioned the name Serena. Are you referring to the one with blue hair and wears a bracelet?” He asks her.

Asuka feels her blood boil and she yells, “Are you the one that carded her?!”

“I took her yes,” Not-Yuri responds, “but she was not carded. She’s currently at Heartland Tower under the Professor’s protection.”

Suddenly all her anger vanishes and Asuka almost feels numb - not numb, relieved, a feeling she hasn’t felt in a long time - and she finally looks at the boy’s eyes, “Why would you tell me that?”

“Because it would be wrong if in the end you didn’t know the truth.” He answers with such earnestly that is catches Asuka off guard. She realizes then that she’s not facing a soldier but a young boy.

“Treason Discharge!”  

And like that Asuka’s life points fall to zero. She should feel disappointed or afraid but there’s another feeling inside of her that’s blocking out every negative emotion.

Hope.

Her head feels clear for the first time in weeks and she can think is:

Dennis is learning the Number Hunter’s secrets for us.

Sora and Yuri are going to find Akaba Leo’s son.

Serena would never let anyone keep her locked up for long.

Gloria and Grace are almost done clearing all the docks from the Hunters.

100% complete. Message sent.

Her role as teacher has come to the end. She’s done her job and has given her students all the knowledge and skill to succeed and win this war.

Maybe it’s the light of the Number Hunter’s duel disk shining at her, but the future sure looks bright.

Kaito picks up the card of the resistance’s Commander since Yuto left to get Shun medical help. He looks at the card with slight confusion and amusement, “Well this is a first.”

The Commander, with her eyes closed, is smiling peacefully.

Kaito hears footsteps and he turns to see two females with tears falling down their faces press on their duel disk and return to their own dimension. He should chase them, but the Commander is enough for today.

“Commander Edo, we just received a transmission from Commander Asuka!”

 Edo smiles, “She completed the mission just fine then, great! Please bring up the information she gather right away please.”

“Yes, Commander Edo!”

Arc-Area Project

Man I feel like I kinda made clock’s work sadder cause now Edo thinks Asuka is alive but nope haha.

So Asuka’s solo mission was to go to xyz dimension, hack their computer and see what they are doing or why they are attacking fusion. It was a solo cause having more than one person would attract attention which wouldn’t be good. Gloria and Grace eventually decide to go help their teacher but they were too late opps. I was going to add more with them but it’s really late (early?) so I just wanted to finish this quick.

Asuka deserved better than what she got in the anime but I kinda get it cause they’re pressed for time, and needed to show Yuri is ~invincible~ but like they could have at least made her lose to his real deck…