#good things lay in wait 4 ohara :

[bluestation]

i found you in the future

[ranissupercool]

Fic Where Mari is Problematic Ch. 4 (Final)

Fandom: Love Live! Sunshine!! Characters: Matsuura Kanan, Takami Chika, Sakurauchi Riko, Ohara Mari Relationships: ChikaRiko, KanaMari Rating: Teen and up Word Count: 1,816 Summary: Mari kisses Riko and stuff. No one is happy with this.

this whole fic is a cheesefest i'm so sorry

Read on Ao3!

It was a couple of days after Mari had… made a regrettable decision in randomly kissing Riko, one could say.

“Ka-naaan! Stop ignoring me!”

“I’m not ignoring you, Mari. I said I’m busy.”

Things weren’t exactly going great with Kanan.

Riko had, surprisingly, not been very upset with her-- nor had Chika. They both seemed a lot more occupied with each other, the two having apparently started dating after the whole ordeal. While that had been Mari’s goal from the beginning, it most certainly didn’t have the effect she’d hoped on Kanan.

Yeah, she wasn’t going to be asking Mari out anytime soon.

“You’re totally ignoring me! You have been for the past two days!”

“I’ve been busy for the past two days.”

“Come on! I didn’t bring it up during class or practice because I knew you’d get upset, but this is obviously about the thing with Riko-chi, isn’t it?”

Kanan side-eyed Mari. She’d been following Kanan persistently ever since idol practice had ended, although that wasn’t really anything new given that they often went home on the same bus… despite Mari’s parents constantly telling her they’d “prefer” for her to go by car instead.

“What, you mean you kissing her? How is that any of my business?”

“Well, I dunno! Maybe you might possibly… I don’t know… like me or something?”

Kanan stopped and turned to Mari. She really didn’t like the look Kanan was giving her. It was just a cold frown and slightly furrowed brow; Kanan’s “I’m upset so don’t talk to me” expression.

It was usually just used in regards to Mari, who didn’t much like Kanan’s approach of not talking about problems and refusing to even try resolving them. So it wasn’t that effective on her, but god did it hurt to see.

“Don’t you think that’s a little self-centered to assume?”

“But you’re not denying it.”

“Look, I need to help Chika study today. Can we do this later?”

Mari pouted, resisting the urge to stomp her foot on the floor like a child throwing a tantrum. Kanan was hardly taking her seriously to begin with; she never would if Mari did that . “This is more important!”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, Kanan. If I left it up to you to decide when we talk things out, it’d never happen. That’s why we spent two years apart!”

“Mari, that was because I was--”

“Yes, I know you were looking out for me-- because you know so much better for me than I do! You’re not my mother , Kanan.”

“H-- Hey, will you quit yelling? You’re attracting attention…”

“I didn’t even want to go study abroad. You knew that-- Dia knew that--”

Kanan took Mari’s hand and, without warning, pulled her along to somewhere else, away from all of the other students staring at them in the hallway.

Mari continued without care to this or to their surroundings, “If you’re going to be mad at me, just say it! You’re never honest with me, and it’s, like, really starting to tick me off!”

She was taken into an empty classroom, and Kanan shut the door behind them. “Mari.”

“ What .”

Kanan sighed, running a hand through her hair and somewhat messing up her ponytail. Mari kept quiet, if only because she wanted to know whether or not Kanan was actually going to have the conversation with her that they needed to have. “Where do I start…?”

As much as Mari was tempted to say, “With your love confession to me; duh!” she refrained.

“Mari, I’m sorry.”

...Eh? An apology wasn’t quite what she expected, if she was being honest. Completely called for, she thought, but-- “Sorry for what?”

“For… well, for one, the whole… studying abroad thing. I didn’t notice it at first because of the way you acted, but you really seemed to hate being out there.”

“Oh… I didn’t think we’d be bringing this up again,” Mari had to comment, given that Kanan had seemed content to forget about it after they’d made up and rejoined Aqours.

“You’re the one who brought it up first.”

“Hm. Well, it’s not like I hated studying abroad. It wasn’t much fun, and I was pretty depresso , but that was because I had to leave you and Dia and my favorite school and town in the whole wide world to do it.”

“No one was forcing you…”

“You sure about that? You two clearly wanted me to go, and that’s pretty much the whole reason you decided to stop being idols, right?”

“Well… I-I’m sorry, like I said. I really didn’t know you cared as much as you did about Aqours at the time. Especially since I pushed you into joining at first.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad that you understand now… although I appreciate that you finally apologized. Took you long enough~” Mari giggled. “Although that’s not really the main issue at hand right now, is it?”

“...Yeah, I guess it isn’t.”

Silence overtook them for a good moment, Kanan seeming quite unsure as to what to say. Mari was beginning to think she might have to steer the conversation herself, but just as she was about to speak up, Kanan did instead.

“Why did you kiss Riko?��

“Oh, that? Ummm, thing is, I… did it on impulse!”

“What…?”

Mari chuckled awkwardly. “Well, when I saw you and Chika-chi looking all flirty and lovey-dovey, I can’t lie; I got mega jealous and, like… did the first thing I could think to do, which I guess was try to make you jealous back? Tee hee oopsie… I totally regretted it as soon as I did it, though!”

“O-Oh. Well. Talk about honest…”

“Unlike a certain someone~”

Kanan rolled her eyes, but her expression was becoming a lot softer than it had been previously. “I guess I can see how what Chika and I were doing could look bad. I was just helping her think of how to ask Riko out… although it seems like they figured that out for themselves.”

“Hmhm, so Riko-chi told me~”

“Anyways… Uh… You said you were jealous? How… so, exactly? Did you--”

“Ah ah, Kanan, this isn’t a one-way trade of information. If you want me to answer that, you have to answer one of my questions~”

Kanan grimaced a bit, but she reluctantly nodded in compliance. “Fine, I guess that’s fair. What question?

“So, about you getting all mad and ignoring me. Were you jealous~?”

“N-- ...Maybe. I mean… yeah, I guess. Probably.”

Huh. Kanan seemed pretty uncertain, didn’t she? “Mmmm… Close enough. Your turn to ask something, then.”

“...Were you just jealous I was flirting with someone, or… jealous I was flirting with someone?”

Mari tilted her head. “ Que? ”

“I-I mean, like, was it just because, like, your friends were flirting and you don’t have anyone to do that with, or because uh, it was me specifically and you wanted to be flirted with by, uh, me…?”

“Kanan, you seem flustered.”

“I’m-- I’m not! I’m just wondering.”

“Hmm… I thought it was obvious, to be honest… but since you really don’t seem to know, I’ll tell you. I tooo-tally want my BFF Kanan to flirt with me lots and pin me against the wall~!”

“M-Mari!”

“Hehe~ My turn! Do you want to flirt with me lots and pin me against the wall?”

“No way! I mean-- Ugh… I don’t know!”

Hmm. Mari wasn’t completely sure whether this was getting anywhere or not, but Kanan at least seemed to be answering honestly… “You don’t know?”

“I know it probably sounds stupid, but… I don’t know what I want? I get a lot of… weird feelings with you. Especially when you get all affectionate… Whenever I think of something like flirting with you or dating you…” With a growing blush on her face, Kanan averted her eyes. “I don’t really get them.”

...How on Earth could Kanan be so cute and yet so frustratingly dense at the same time?

“You’ve thought about dating me?”

“Ch-- Chika’s the one who brought it up.”

“Hmm. Sounds like a crush,” Mari replied bluntly.

“That’s-- I don’t… I mean, it’s… not impossible,” Kanan awkwardly admits, “but I don’t know if liking someone usually makes a person feel like throwing up when they’re around them.”

“There is a reason they call it ‘lovesickness’.”

“But-- But we’re best friends.”

Mari rolled her eyes. “So are Chika and You-- the only difference is that You’s crush isn’t requited.”

“...Wait, You has a crush on Chika?”

“Oh my god, just kiss me you big dense idiot.”

“H-Huh? Wait, hold o--” Unsurprisingly, Mari didn’t listen and pulled Kanan into a kiss anyways. And, seeing that Kanan stopped trying to pull away pretty quickly, she held the kiss.

It lasted a lot longer than the one with Riko. Mari, then, was the one to break it off as well.

“So, can I possibly make my feelings any more clear?”

Kanan quietly shook her head.

“Still feel like throwing up?”

“Uh… it… lessened. When you kissed me.”

Mari grinned. “Think doing it more will make it totally go away?”

“You’re acting pretty nonchalant about stealing my first kiss…”

She did already steal one person’s first, so why not another? Of course, she didn’t say that out loud. Mari wasn’t tone-deaf. “I figured it’d help you figure out your feelings is all."

Kanan frowned, placing a finger uncertainly over her own lips. “So you like me?”

“Duh. I wanted you to be the one to say it first, but since you’re a biiig ol’ dummy and couldn’t even tell how you felt…”

“Mm…” Kanan pondered this, crossing her arms. “...Guess I wouldn’t mind spending the rest of my life with you…” It was said in a quiet mumble that Mari could hardly hear. Was Kanan talking to herself?

“Huh?”

“Nothing. I think this whole thing did give me a better idea of how I feel about you, though. That’s what you’ve been wanting to hear, right?”

“Oho? You’ve got that right; lay it on me, babe!”

“Babe? At least wait until we’re dating to call me that…”

“Kanaaan, come ooonnnn, will you just--” A pause. “Wait, until we’re--?”

Kanan chuckled. “Yes, Mari, I like you. And yes, I will go out with you.”

“Wai-- Wha-- K-Kanan, no fair!” Mari pouted, but that just made Kanan laugh even more. “Don’t you laugh at me! You’re the one who couldn’t even tell you had a crush on me ‘till I kissed you!”

“And you refused to tell me your feelings until you knew mine. I think that makes us both laughable messes.”

“Oh, shush, you.”

“Make me.”

Kanan grinned at the appearance of a rare blush on Mari’s cheeks. She wasn’t quite so smug when Mari affectionately jumped her afterwards, but she certainly wasn’t unsatisfied.

Elsewhere, Chika wondered why Kanan was running nearly an hour late to their study session.

[recentanimenews]

Come Sail Away: Five Reasons to Watch ISLAND

  Frontwing's new series ISLAND is whisking viewers away to a setting far from the Japanese mainland, where romance and time travel and legends are the order of the day. The series is based on a visual novel, but you don't need any previous experience to enjoy the story of Setsuna's mission on Urashima Island.

  Still haven't experienced the new series yet? We have a few good reasons why we love it -- and why we think you will, too.

  1. The Pedigree

  Even if you haven't heard of ISLAND by name, you'll likely recognize its origins if you're an anime or visual novel fan. The original VN is the product of Frontwing, a computer game company founded in 2000. Frontwing has released multiple games under many different studio names, but there's one series in particular that should ring a bell: Grisaia.

Yep, ISLAND and the Grisaia series share a studio! And while they may not have a lot in common plot-wise, knowing its origins will give you an idea of what you can expect story-wise. Although we're pretty sure things aren't going to get quite as dark as they do in the world of Grisaia...

2. A Time-Traveling Hero... Maybe?

  The hero of our story is Setsuna, an amnesiac who washes up on the beaches of Urashima Island. All he knows is his name, and that he has traveled through time to save the world. And... that's about it. He's pretty chill for knowing only one or two things about himself, especially considering one of those things is highly implausible.

  But the longer things go on, and the more we learn, the more the whole "time traveler" thing seems like it could be true. From strange glitches in characters' vision to the story of the three families of Urashima Island, things seem to be stacking up to prove that Setsuna really is who he says he is.

  Will that be the case? We can't wait to find out!

    3. Three Great Heroines

We could probably finish out the list by listing each of the girls as their own reason to watch, but we won't do that to you. That said, we love them all for their own reasons.

    Rinne Ohara (CV: Yukari Tamura) is the de facto lead girl, the resident of a frankly enormous house and a believer in the titular island's legends. (More on that in a bit; that's worth its own section!) She's got no problem believing Setsuna's story, because she has a story and some wild memories of her own. We've still yet to figure out what they mean, but her story definitely has us wondering.

    Karen Kurutsu (CV: Kana Asumi) is our resident twin-tailed tsundere who seems to want nothing more than to get off the island. How smitten with Setsuna she is seems to vary, but recent episode developments make it clear that she's at least somewhat interested. We know little of her family life, except that it isn't the best. And she's taken up a part-time job as a maid at the Ohara household.

    And then there's Sara Garando (CV: Hibiku Yamamura), who's a real piece of work. She's the island's miko, and highly knowledgable about the area's darker aspects. She's also out to kill Setsuna. Fortunately, her tactics tend to consist mainly of laying ineffectual "honey traps" and failing to stab him with a pocket knife.

  The three heroines are the daughters of the island's three great families, all of which play a role in a legend that may or may not have its basis in reality.

  4. Dark Legends and Mysterious Plagues

  Why is Urashima Island cut off from mainland Japan? What is the mysterious "soot blight syndrome" that makes sunlight toxic to some of the island's residents? And why do Setsuna and our three heroines just happen to match so perfectly with the main players from the island's ancient legend?

  That's what we're here to find out.

  Even with its cute and funny moments, ISLAND has an undercurrent of dark mystery. Just how much of the supposed paranormal background of the island is accurate remains to be seen, but there are a few coincidences that seem to be leading us down a very odd path. Time travel? Reincarnation? Something else entirely?

  Not to mention that, on Urashima Island, mainland Japan seems distant, almost mythical. Will we find out why before the show ends?

    5. The Music!

    If you enjoy Yukari Tamura's singing, you've come to the right show. Rinne sings to Setsuna throughout the series -- a beautiful song titled "Lasting Memories." You'll also get to hear Tamura performing the show's OP every week, of course!

    There's a lot to love about ISLAND, from the mystery to the characters to the beautiful setting. What's your favorite thing about the show so far? Let us know in the comments!

  Watch ISLAND on Crunchyroll!

-----

  Kara Dennison is responsible for multiple webcomics, and is half the creative team behind the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. She blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos. Her latest book, Black Archive #21 – Heaven Sent, is currently available from Obverse Books.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com