#hika speaks

[seobseobs]

“nightwalking with taehyun” WHAT AB ME . HUH 💥🤬 i thought i was the one holding ur hand not bitchless tyun (it's ironic bc people now want him to apologise bc he has bitches but let's pretend he doesn't for a second .. okay? okay.)

my love . my bro . my babe . my dude .

i said night walking , where did you even get the idea of me holding tyunnie's hands?!&^# 😞💔 im sad you dont believe in our relationship right now.. 🤕

im literally holding your hand at this moment??? 😠😒🤨🤨

[mucking-faori]

HAHAHAHA FUCK YOU DAVID SEYMOUR

Transcript under the cut:

A leader of Ngāti Rēhia said in a Facebook post this week that he would gladly strip ACT leader David Seymour of his iwi title if he wanted to “carry on with the race card”.

Mana Epiha, the poster, has been a member of te taumata (the leaders’ post) of Ngāti Rēhia, their decision-making and representative body, since he was a child.

Epiha is a 10th-generation direct descendant of the hapū's ancestor, Rēhia.

“Don’t ever claim that you are Ngāti Rēhia if you want to tutū with the Treaty,” Epiha’s post read.

Seymour explained to media recently that his great-great-great grandmother was Maraea Te Inutoto, a high-status member of Ngāti Rēhia.

In response to Epiha’s post, Seymour told Stuff that people have a right to their opinion but it was wrong to think that any one person could speak for the entire iwi.

“I am also part-Scottish. I have never heard any Scottish person say that if I don’t agree with them, they will take away my Scottishness. If you stop and think for a moment, what this person is saying is every bit as ridiculous as that.

“This country deserves a say on what the Treaty means. It’s everybody’s country and everybody should have a say in how its constitutional arrangements evolve and develop.”

Seymour said that debate was a positive thing and a “healthier outcome than the division that is being caused by co-governance.

“ACT has consistently said the Treaty is a taonga and that its principles provide the basis for a modern liberal democracy – the Government is sovereign, its job is to protect property rights, and we all have equal rights and duties.”

Epiha said Seymour’s response was narcissistic and ignorant.

“Traditionally, one or two people would speak for the iwi. For Ngāti Rēhia, those are members of te taumata [the leaders’ post].

“After weighing up the opinions of every whānau, te taumata makes the final decision, and it only needs to be said once.

“Scottish lore and tradition, although I respect them, has no place and no comparison here on these lands. Indigeneity here in Aotearoa is when the community you claim as your own also claims you back.”

Epiha said co-governance is the closest Māori have ever been to equity and equality.

“With 183 years of topping the stats for the most incarcerated, abused, unhealthy, and impoverished, we, as Māori, have finally started taking positive steps forward, only for Mr Seymour and his government to bring it into question again.

“Those ancient signatures on that Treaty document are taonga, and they are tapu. It would be foolish to meddle with such power. The world we live in isn’t just physical; the spiritual world runs part and parcel every single day.

“[Our] ancestors were the movers and shakers of the 1800s,” said Ephia, citing Hongi Hika, Turikatuku and Princess Matire Toha.

“These are the greats of all greats and ignorant little David thinks he can claim he is one of us and then tutū with the founding Treaty document that our great ancestors put in place, so we can prosper.”

Epiha said Seymour was missing a whole world of power and beauty.

“I just hope he finds himself at some stage in his life,” he said.

“I invite ACT to prove to Māori and Pākehā exactly how much of a taonga the Treaty is.

[mitamicah]

Gig repport: Allas Sea Pool, Helsinki July 5 2024

Here follows my experiences with Käärijä at Allas Sea Pool, Helsinki on July 5 2024.

Having a bit longer to the venue than with Backas two days prior I went out around 7 and met up with @jaarijani and @pianist-chan at the queue. I was genuinely surprised to learn how many people had made personalized bracelets for me including @n3ongold3n that made ‘greatful’ and ‘the bojan’ (hopefully I remember right :'3) plus Anna (a finnish fan that doesn’t have tumblr) that had made a bracelet saying sunflower ‘auringonkukka’ inspired by the original version of Cha Cha Cha and because I “shine like a sunflower”. I sticked one of my Allas stickers on the bridge next to the venue and later learned that @omppupiiras had put cornpea Kä next to it, although sadly I’ve been told that cornpea Käärijä is gone now. It was also so cool seeing my own art being printed as stickers by @krishoney <333

@hika-chachachan joined our group going to breakfast and we got to play some Uno at the café. (We later learned that had we stayed at the venue we’d seen Häärijä do random stuff behind the gate).

Back in the queue I started regretting having left my sign at home (I had made a sign asking Jere to write ‘Are You’ for a tattoo to match the one I have from Bojan, but I’d left the sign in Denmark since I’d experienced it gave me nothing but trouble when brought it to Böle). Then I noticed some empty pizza boxes so I asked the kääryle next to them if I could borrow the lid and they were more than happy to give it to me when I told them the occasion. Not long after having made my spontaneous new sign was finished, me and @teal-skull went to get some food from the market in front of Allas, where I again got reindeer this time in form of a hotdog (I was too curious).

Jesse had been very active around the queue jumping back and forth over the fence and just before 5 I noticed him standing a bit behind doing his job. I tried to sneakily gift him one of my last stickers yet the moment I had decided to try a security person called for us to form the line so instead of being subtle I ended up skipping to Jesse, giving him a smile and a nod and skipping back in line without another word.

We (me, Skull and Cass) ended up getting second row just in the middle of the stage. Waiting for the concert to start Cass commented that she heard Trafik! Everywhere so we went to Joost’s tiktok where he is known to randomly share his music sometimes out of the blue and a snippet of the song had been released to IG music. That together with Joker Out randomly confirming that Šta Bih Ja (a song we’ve waited and craved since march) would be released next week – made us over the moon excited.

Jessica was right behind us so given I had a bit better of a spot I offered to film Huhhahhei for her with her GoPro. Not far after Käärijä was done performing that song he started “Are You”ing the crowd so I immediately threw my sign in the air an he noticed and jokingly said he’d write it on my ass later. The set today was also amazing, yet it was hard to compete with Backas for me. I must admit that getting Fantastista (a song I never believed I’d be lucky to hear live) was a treat tho.

After the gig I decided to make it my goal to bring my tattoo journey to a homerun looking for Jesse or Häärijä to get my autograph book to Jere (since he had technically been promising me the tattoo now). Yet both times I was able to spot Jesse I wasn’t fast enough – one of those times I had to choose between being rude to @icbimakb that went to talk and to offer stickers or let Jesse go and I chose the latter. At the merch table I was very alert and obviously nervous which Anna (the person that gave me the sunflower bracelet) noticed. They offered to talk with security since they had experience in the tv industry so they knew how to handle security – also they could speak Finnish much better than I can. I gave Anna my book, pen and sign right before the other security started to rush us out, so for a moment I feared I’d lost my book (that already held Bojan’s Are You and cute Backas messages inside) for good. Right before we were tossed out, Anna came back with a signed book, and the people next to me thought I was going to faint (I went into semi shock). Having to calm down me and Anna said goodbye to the others and placed ourselves in front of the fence outside Allas so we were accidentally present when Jere, Häärijä, Jesse and the bodyguard came out waving goodbye at the crowd (my voice was so destroyed all I could do was cheer at him with a sound that wasn’t unlike the chicken at the end of Kot Kot). Anna and I then went together to the central station just talking (amongst other things we agreed to meet up Tuesday since Anna had a Cha Cha Cha beer can she wanted to gift me).

Trinkets from Allas v

My quickly made sign + Jere's handwriting

Official Häärijä shirt

Auringokukka bracelet from Anna (not on tumblr)

Bojere card from Elmi (not on tumblr)

Dalton sticker (not sure who so please let me know if it was you :'D)

Sticker collection from @icbimakb <3

Barry, Koppi Tulles, Rock Rock and Paidaton Riehuja bracelets (not sure who so please let me know if it was you :'D)

Piña Colada and Glöggi bracelets from @hika-chachachan

Toiset Samanleiset sticker from lov.illust (not sure about your tumblr url if you have one)

Hojan, Häärijä and Bojere bracelets (not sure who so please let me know if it was you :'D)

Pokemon card (not sure who so please let me know if it was you :'D)

Kris, Bojan (both my art - printed with permission) and Joker Out sticker by @krishoney

Are You and Are We bracelets from @carpblu

Greatful and The Bojan bracelets from @n3ongold3n (again let me know if this is wrong :'D)

[moon-struck-net]

Yahoo Japan/Josei Jishin Interview July 4th 2023

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/1d9cf92309815982cc6fa71684362c64fc9763ea

Up until now, the impression I had of age 50 was "the end of your life". I was conscious of Oda Nobunaga's saying that "life has 50 years". But now I understand that "life has 50 years" doesn't mean you can only live for 50 years, it’s about how much can you get done before you're 50. You can't go back to being in your 30s or 40s. I came to feel that what's most important in life is how much you were able to run at full speed up to that point. 

Previously I had been wondering internally how much I could get done by age 30, and I thought that it would be downhill from there and end at 50. So honestly what I'm thinking now is "Somehow I'm still alive," and "I've made it this far," that kind of thing. 

GACKT had his 50th birthday on July 4th. The release of the long-awaited movie that he is starring in- "Fly Me To The Saitama: From Lake Biwa With Love" has been announced for November 23rd. GACKT had previously kept his age secret from the public, and first announced it in 2009 along with the production of the play Nemuri Kyoshiro Burai Hikae, which he was starring in. We asked his honest thoughts. 

The question of whether to announce my age or not wasn’t really on my mind. But at the time, I wondered if it might be time to say it. My fans didn't know either.

The producer I had back then happened to suggest that I tell people my age, so I said "Ok". It wasn't something I particularly wanted to hide. So then I think there were a lot of people who thought "Wait, he's younger than me? He acted like he was older (laughs)."

[Translator’s note: GACKT is talking about how in Japanese culture, younger people usually defer to people older than them, but GACKT was behaving as though he were the one with more seniority]

There was only one reason that I concealed my age. When I was 20 and I moved to Tokyo and started doing music, everyone around me was senior to me. So if I said how old I was I'd immediately be treated as a junior and they'd walk all over me. The roles of senpai (senior) and kouhai (junior) are just decided by age, right? If I said my age, people older than me disrespected me, so I never told anyone my age, outside of my band members at the time. So I made up that I was 448 years old.

If someone was like "You're definitely younger than me. If you're going to have a disrespectful attitude toward me, then I'll crush you," I'd be like "You wanna go then?" Back when I was in a band it was like that all the time.

Most years, GACKT celebrates his birthday with a private party

On July 4th I usually have a concert or a birthday event, and when that's all over and I'm tired out I have a private party. 300 to 400 people attend, so I prepare a large amount of alcohol. In the beginning it was wine, but for the last 12-13 years it's been tequila. Even if each person speaks for one minute, if 400 people are there it takes 400 minutes, 7 hours. It's tough to keep drinking wine for that long, right?

So I thought I'd make it a "tequila survival challenge" party for everyone to participate in. I contact people and tell them that only those who are always in a state of readiness should come. I make them sign a contract at the door too. Saying no matter what happens here it's their own responsibility.

When my birthday party begins, my friends come on stage and immediately drink 10 shots of tequila, so it's tough (laughs). So everyone rapidly fades. At the end only about 30 people remain. At the end everyone staggers home.

I'm all alone when everyone leaves. But I'm totally hyped up and can't sleep, so from morning I start texting everyone. Of course no one replies. When it gets to the afternoon, finally people gradually start to reply "Are you okay?" I reply "I've been texting people all morning. I'm lonely."

At those times I think, "Maybe this is what the battlefield is like." They say people who survived the war and came home, go back to the battlefield. They can't psychologically accept everyday life and feel a sense of emptiness. No one wants to drink any more, and it's not that I want to drink either, but I understand the feeling of wanting to return to an extreme situation. Though people will probably call me strange for thinking things like that (laughs)"

But, when I went on hiatus due to my health issues, I became unable to handle alcohol. I couldn’t drink 5 or 6 bottles of tequila like I used to. On my previous birthday, I only drank about 3.

At the end of last year, in an interview with this magazine, GACKT spoke of writing a will during his one year hiatus. It seems that ahead of turning 50 he had an opportunity to think about his end-of-life plans.

I wrote about 20 wills. Saying things like, "Divide my fortune like this, sell my cars". I wrote about leaving my pet dogs in the care of my sister and my staff, that kind of thing.

I've also told my sister about my burial. I said, "Scatter my ashes in the sea in Okinawa." I don't need a grave. I've never wanted one. I don't want people to visit my grave. It's enough if people will look at the sea and clasp their hands in prayer. I thought about this when buying graves for relatives and things like that. I don't want to be in a grave.

Every year I go back to Okinawa and clean my family's tomb. That's become my role now. I bring at least 20 to 30 staff and clean the graves.

I've been helping clean the graves since my late 20s, but everyone else in my family got old and couldn't do it any more.

Okinawan tombs are big in the first place. Ours is in the mountains, and was rebuilt because it was old, but it's still the size of this studio (where today's photo was taken).

It used to be bigger. I remember when I was 6. We'd go through the sugar cane fields in a car, and then walk the paths between the fields into the mountains, so it was a hard time even getting there. Moss and weeds would grow on the big tomb, and we had to clean off all the dirt too. We tried to go at times when habu (Okinawan pit vipers) wouldn’t come out.

There was an altar as well as the tomb, and the altar and the tomb are in different parts of Okinawa. My ancestors originated in the southern part of Okinawa. So the tomb is in the south, and because my great grandfather founded a town up north, the altar is in the north. So it's not possible to clean the tomb and the altar on a day trip. At the very beginning I went in a group of 6 people, but we couldn't finish and it took two and a half days just to clean the tomb.

I don't want the generation after me to have to do unpleasant things like that. If people have to keep organizing things every year after I die, that will be tough on them, right?

So scatter my ashes. I'll be happy if people come to the sea and I can say "I'm here". And if eventually people stop coming, it won't cause trouble for anyone.

[ctrl-alt-deleting-yr-face]

fuck it

i’m not scared

going through the entire oc ask game list for fun and answering them for hikari

i wanna post more about her but i get nervous!! but i’m still gonna do it anyways!!

be prepared, it’s a long one ^^

Note: As i was writing this i realized it got too long. So uh. I’ll be making a part 2. ^^

Edit: part 2 is up!

“Associated color?” Blue and white. Hikari is mainly associated with those two colors. Purple and yellow are also in there, but blue and white definitely make up the main palette ^^

“Favorite music genre?” Definitely indie rock, especially surf rock. Drawings Of Nothing by Archer Oh would probably be her favorite song, since it’s like. THE Hikari song in my brain

“Choice of weapon?” Hikari doesn’t really like to fight when it’s unnecessary. But she doesn’t use a weapon! She uses her magic to make big ol claws on her hands! She likes it since it feels natural. It’s an extension of her body, and she can get as up close and personal as she wants without really dealing with consequences, so she doesn’t mind!

“Are they crafty?” Vaguely? Not very much, though. She probably would if she spent more time alone, but since she’s always used to having others around, she doesn’t really get the chance to be super crafty.

“Usual wardrobe, practical or aesthetic focused?” Typically Hika would probably just wear her usual outfit or knight uniform, but if not she’d probably lean towards aesthetics. That’s not to say she doesn’t have cozy clothes! Sometimes she has a hard day and she just wants to curl up in the biggest, fluffiest sweater ever. ^^

“Hair?” VERY long and sleek blue hair. Usually she wears it tied in twintails, high twintails in her Xrd design and low twintails in her Strive design. It’s only really worn down when Nekomata takes over

“Favorite animal?” Now, you’d guess cat. After all, they’re not only a big part of her (locked away) past, but she also has cat ears and a tail! However, you must remember. She doesn’t give a fuck about herself. The only person she really does? Romeo. Her favorite animals are sheep.

“Nickname?” Not a real one, no. The most she has is Delilah calling her “big sis” at times and Romeo calling her an “insufferable cat”

“Favorite/least favorite food?” Dragonfruit is absolutely her favorite. She LOVES dragonfruit. As for least favorite.. Probably mutton, rock candy, or anything extremely bitter.

“Jewelry?” Not a ton? Unless you count her brooch and shackles on her strive design, which are made of a silvery metal, not really.

“How much are they like you?” Well, we’re both autistic, queer, love music, and vaguely depressed. So I’d probably get along pretty well with her.

“How long have they been around? Birthday?” Hikari is a very interesting case, to say the least. To start with the easy part, Hikari’s birthday is October 30th. I don’t remember why i decided that, it certainly wasn’t the day i made her, i think it just felt right. But as for how long she’s been alive… It’s complicated. Both physically and mentally, Hikari is in her late teens. 17-19 range. However, technically… She’s probably like in her 30s. This is because she died during the crusades as a teenager and she was brought back to life by the magical foci who fell in love with her and fused with her, turning her into an immortal yokai herself. She was actually alive in Baiken’s colony when it was around! I was thinking the attack that destroyed the colony and took Baiken’s arm and eye was the same one that killed Hikari at the time.

“How many languages can they speak?” 2! Hikari is fluent in both Japanese and English! She thinks it’s funny to annoy Romeo in Japanese since he can’t properly respond to it

“Good with numbers?” Vaguely? Her knowledge goes to like maybe beginning of algebra 1 and that’s it. She learned a lot from Romeo.

“What’s their family like?” Before their deaths, Hikari lived a quaint life in one of the Japanese colonies with her dad, older brother, and very abusive mom. They were all rather loving and didn’t mind Hikari’s differences and behavioral struggles (aside from the mom). After they all died, Hikari was revived, and her memories were erased, there was a long period of time where Hikari only had Bedman. He was all she knew. After his death, she was struck with deep grief. Grief that began to heal after she managed to meet Delilah. She sees Delilah, the bedframe, and Baiken to be the closest she has to having Romeo back at the current moment. She currently lives with them when she’s not working at the castle, and of course, Romeo joins their little household once he’s revived.

“Any pets?” Nope! She loves animals but never really had the chance to care for any pets.

“How did they spend their free time as a child?” Hikari loved nature before her death. Especially the forest and water. Whether it be running through the grass while calling out to singing birds, splashing in creeks with her brother, or accompanying her dad on fishing trips, she always wanted to be outside.

[iruludavare]

"Yo, 'Rena! Long time no see, champ! Um...uh...how to ask this?"

Barry's crackling voice falls silent over the phone. A small miracle. Whatever this is...he's nervous?

"Look. Um. This is gonna sound weird coming from me, okay? But you'd better not laugh or I'm seriously gonna fine you ten thousand million dollars...!" Another pause. "Uhm. I want to learn how to dance. Like, classily. Y'know? And you obviously rule at it, so..."

"Look, I'm not asking for any fancy tech or anything! I just...I read online that it's a cool skill to have?" (One can almost see Barry blushing through the phone, hear the steam erupting from his ears.) "And...and if it ever comes up, notthatitwould, but I wanna impress Hika with some hidden ability. Y'know? Or is that dumb? It's dumb, right? You're too busy to teach me, right...?"

          "Wait a second— wait a second. It's not a dumb idea at all,"

     It is a thin sliver of a second she latches onto to speak up— the moment that Barry so much as sounds like he is about to pause to take a breath between a marathon of words and over-explaining. There is never a dull moment with him, not even when he is not physically present. And perhaps that shows in her interruption, where even in the absence of a camera does a bright smile cling to the heroine's words. A warm tone, if not one so gradually building up to a provoking lilt.

     Whatever could have brought on this request? And not just that, but his utterly unstable tone?

          "I think it's sweet, wanting to impress Hikari with dancing. I'd be more than happy to make time to teach you. Or if not me, then one of my friends could, since what I do is... very specialised."

     Although, she muses in the depths of her mind, the image of attempting to get her energetic and impatient friend over the box of pointe shoes would be something of a spectacle. Definitely something that would make Hikari's features break into a grin.

          "...Out of curiosity, though... Barry, my good friend... Why do you want to impress her with a 'hidden skill' all of a sudden, hm...?"

[detectiveichijouji]

Case 34 - The Heroic Kaiser?

[AO3 version]

The Space Trio had handed a data file to the 02 Group, in the aftermath of their fight against one old Soleil and Lune’s acquaintance named Kayono:

“This student’s title is ‘The Kaiser’, and he’s some sort of ace in his field.”

Ken remembered those words, and the next ones:

“His grades are above the school’s expectations, some sort of genius kid. And knowing Ichijouji Ken-kun here used to be called the ‘Genius Boy’ in the past…”

 He looked at the file again, now hearing Daisuke’s voice in his head:

“They could be the one targeting Ken, right?”

Just like Youta and Mizuki have the titles Soleil and Lune at Dai-Take-Hika’s school… Ken hadn’t time enough to check if anyone else at his own school would have something similar to those. But Noel might be right, someone from his school is targeting him, and playing with innocent lives… Trying to catch his attention, like a legit criminal from one of those detective stories.

“It can be just a coincidence,” he frowned, “This person looks like Taichi-san in terms of appearance though…”

“Tsukiyono-kun! Can you help with my homework…?”

Ken didn’t know this person, but it was indeed from his class. But how could he never have seen that student before? The answer is…

“Ah, sure sure! Show me where’s the problem.”

… That this kid was actually a transferred student.

“...”

All flags pointed at this kid. He suddenly got popular, beloved by everyone enough to use that suspicious title-nickname for 3 weeks?!

Suspicious…

Ken watched the boy from his desk: Light brown fluffy hair but its “spiky” edges were cut, green eyes, a scar in the left ear…

“He can’t be… can he…?” Wormmon whispered to Ken. But soon or later he would know, Miyako is investigating that boy in her free time.

Then he got up from his desk, right after the ‘Kaiser’ finished helping the other student and left. Ken followed him to the hallways, with Wormmon on his back.

“Um, excuse us, Kaiser-sama--”

The boy stopped, and then witnessed Ken just staring at Wormmon’s head which was resting on his shoulder, as if he had just slipped a BIG secret by sheer accident.

“Huh?”

“Don’t mind him…” Ken laughed nervously, covering Wormmon’s mouth immediately, “You’re… Tsukiyono Seishiro, by the way?”

“Yes, and you are…?”

“Ichijouji Ken, we’re classmates,” he uncovered Wormmon’s mouth, “And this is Wormmon.”

“N-Nice to meet you!” Wormmon babbled, awkwardly.

“Ah, I see… You’re the national celebrity, the ‘Genius Boy’ from the news?”

“I’m not a celebrity anymore, but yes” Ken nodded, calmly.

“True, your reign as Japan’s genius prodigy has ended shortly, right?” Seishiro smiled, it didn’t seem fake though? “But what would you want from me?”

So far Ken did not find anything that could lead this transferred student to be the wannabe Digimon Kaiser.

“Have you heard the news?” Ken started playing dumb, speaking politely and relaxed, “There’s strange jewelry and ceramic pieces being distributed by people turning them into unstable digimon.”

He knew that if Seishiro was indeed the one targeting him and his friend, some awkward reaction would be spotted by them.

“Ah, yes. Those cases are happening around Tokyo, right?”

“Exactly,” Ken said as Wormmon silently nodded his head.

“Huh… It’s a bit  suspicious of you asking me about that, are you involved in those cases?”

Ken’s heart skipped a beat. If he answered that, he would reveal he was the original Digimon Kaiser a long time ago. But there’s no way he could inform that he’s being framed for those crimes without--

“Tsukiyono-san, he’s the young prince detective who’s helping the police with those cases.”

Seishiro, Ken and Wormmon looked at the boy behind Seishiro, who was…

 “So obviously he would be involved in some way.”

Nokita Yuu?! -- Ken said to himself, mentally.

“Oh? So you’re playing the role of a detective?” Seishiro smiled again at Ken, “Interesting…”

Huh… That sounds strange…

“Ichijouji-kun is a Chosen Child, didn’t you know?” Nokita gestured to Wormmon, “He and his friends are the only ones who can solve those cases unlike us.”

“You’re not partnered with a digimon?” Wormmon asked, blinking.

“No, I don’t…” Seishiro shook his head, gently.

“So, our only duty here is to hand those shards to Ichijouji-kun” Nokita said with a light punch on Seishiro’s arm, “Tsukiyono-san, don’t forget that.”

Nokita kept walking, and once he was far enough from the other two, he dropped that smile.

…

“You went straight to ask the school’s ‘Kaiser’ if he’s involved in those digimon cases? Pathetic.”

The 02 Group gathered at Ken’s house after class… Except for Daisuke, sadly.

“So, what’s the news, dagya?” 

“We talked with the Kaiser person from Ken-chan’s school,” Wormmon responded.

“Yes, he’s a transferred student,” Ken added, “Tsukiyono Seishiro. He’s from my classroom.”

“Hmm…” Tailmon mused.

“I’ve researched for that name,” Miyako said next, showing them her laptop screen, “And apparently he is part of a manga and anime online forum.”

The screen showed one of the posts in a thread.

“We weren’t that sure if it was the same person at first, because he uses an alias called ‘Seishiro513’ but…”

“It’s not a random number, right?” Hikari said.

“ ‘513’ is in Gorowase , correct?” Iori asked, “And this means…”

“... ‘Ka-i-za’ which is ‘Kaiser’,” Ken answered, “So this is our suspect indeed.”

“What else do we know about this person?” Takeru looked at Miyako.

“He usually writes long reviews on manga, anime and games. But recently… He replied to a topic about the digimon incidents,” Hawkmon explained.

“Huh?” Patamon blinked.

“Suspicious…” Wormmon commented, while everyone else was reading the topic.

Their eyes widened when they read…

[I have one of those shards. Let me know if you have any questions.]

“W-what?!” Hikari gasped, “What did he mean by that?!”

“How old is this message, Miyako-san?” Iori asked with a serious tone, and then everyone started looking for the timestamps on the page.

“It was a day ago.”  

“Maybe we should contact Tsukiyono again,” Ken said, but suddenly…Ken’s phone rang.

“Who’s calling now, dagya?” Armadimon blinked. The group stood in silence as Ken answered the call.

They all thought it was Daisuke or Noel, but…

“Hello, Smooth young detective.”

“It’s you again…” Ken bit his lips, “What do you want?”

“I’d like to inform you that I will drop a fragment next to my new victim. Can you find it before it activates?”

“... Fine. Anything else?”

“Nothing else for now. But I will contact you again once I get more games for you.”

And then, the mysterious voice (? The Kaiser-wannabe?) hung up.

“Who was, Ken-chan?” Wormmon asked.

“We got a fair warning about the next victim.”

“Noel, ya know I don’t feel fine working with your other two friends because they don’t give a…”

“Yes, I know” Noel signed, “But I can’t turn my back on you and your friends either.”

“You said you had something to tell us,” V-mon interrupted, “then go ahead. Spill the beans. Start talking.”

Noel scratched his head, awkwardly. His absence from the previous battles involving the shards were because he was busy with other stuff, disguised in the crowd.

“I think you need to open your eyes and be more careful about your surroundings.”

“Huh?” Daisuke raised an eyebrow, “Whaddya mean, Noel?”

“I couldn’t tell Soleil-san and Lune-san before, but…”

“...?”

Noel looked straight into Daisuke’s eyes, his hair flowing in the wind and his green eyes being visible.

Miyako used the radar to spot the faux shard, but Ken decided to leave it to her and Hikari to secure it before things went south. Takeru, Iori and him settled for going after Tsukiyono Seishiro instead, having all the evidence against their suspect.

They kept in touch via their earpiece communicators, borrowed from Koushiro once again.

The file given by Soleil and Lune had the address of Seishiro’s residence, and this was their first step there. The Tsukiyono family had another child, an older sister named Miyuki, who they met leaving the house.

She had the same face as her brother, and spiky blonde hair, yellow gold eyes. The boys asked for her brother, and she pointed with her thumb to the apartment’s interior. Ken asked if they could see him, and she allowed them to get in.

They stood in front of the boy’s room, the door locked. Takeru knocked on.

“Tsukiyono-kun? Are you there?”

No answer.

Miyako and Hikari used the shard radar to guide them to another area. There was no other fragment detected at the moment, and they thought they were lucky. Nefertimon and Aquilamon landed on a school’s yard in Shinjuku, and then started to check for the fragment.

“It must be somewhere in this area…” Miyako said, checking her laptop while Hawkmon and Tailmon alongside Hikari inspected the area.

“Ah? What is that shiny object over there, at the top of the building?”

“Could it be…?!”

There was a crow touching that suspicious object though…?

It was when…

“They all were caught in a trap, ” Noel sighed, as if he was already beaten by his adversaries.

“A trap?” Daisuke gasped, “And you hid this from everyone?!” he babbled.

“No, I didn’t…!! Actually, I know who the faux Digimon Kaiser is, and he’s too close to Ichijouji-san. Approaching him from time to time, because… he knows Ichijouji Ken’s past pretty well.”

“A friend, you mean?” V-mon asked.

“...”

“Ok, so… Ken’s closest friends are us… So you mean, one of us is lying? ” Daisuke frowned.

“I’m not sure about this, mon ami. You and the others wouldn’t do that. But did you know… That Ichijouji-san had another friend besides you all?”

“Another friend?” V-mon and Daisuke repeated in unisson.

“This friend…”

A few minutes later, the door opened. Seishiro was surprised to see them though.

“Ichijouji-kun?” the boy said, “What are you doing here?”

“We know what you’re doing (dagya)!!” the digimon said together. Seishiro blinked.

“What did I do??” he replied, with a pout, “Oh you meant that right? Sorry, but--”

“Wormmon, now!” Patamon ordered, and then the green digimon used his sticky net to capture Seishiro.

“Hey!! What are you DOING!?” the boy complained, and Armadimon tucked Seishiro in the corner of his room, “Ichijouji! What the heck are you doing?! Is this a prank?!”

“... The digimon went too overboard with this,” Iori said with a monotone voice. Takeru and Ken facepalmed at this as well.

“Huh?!” Seishiro raised an eyebrow, but was still angry for whatever those doofus were doing and would do next.

“I’m sorry,” Ken, Iori and Takeru apologized with a bow.

“???”

“Where’s the fake shard, Tsukiyono-san?” Iori asked, calmly.

“Shard??”

“Yes, the one you mentioned on this forum thread here,” then Takeru showed him the mobile version of the webpage on his phone.

“??! Ichijouji-kun…”

Seishiro grimaced, panicked.

“I didn’t post that…! I haven't gone to that forum since I started High School!”

“Then what didja mean before?” Armadimon asked, “About a ‘that’ thing, dagya?”

“I meant the test answers from past years. I collect them to study and share them with an online study group, but… But lately everyone is using them to cheat and not to study properly!! So I’m refusing to share them openly now.”

“Oh, that…” Patamon blinked twice.

“He’s really a good person,” Wormmon commented.

“I have none of those shards…!”

The trio then freed Seishiro from the sticky silk, while Ken just tried contacting Miyako and Hikari, But…

… A light consumed the school’s roof and then a digimon appeared instead.

“D-Did the crow turn into a digimon!?” Miyako was dumbfounded by that scene.

“It was indeed a shard,” Hawkmon commented.

“C-can those affect even animals?!” Hikari looked concerned, something felt terrible… It gave her goosebumps, she looked at Tailmon, then turned to Miyako and Hawkmon, “What digimon is that?”

“It seems to be a griffon…?” Miyako adjusted her glasses.

“Hmm, a griffon…” Hawkmon mused, then Tailmon answered quickly:

“ Griffomon ! We will need to use Valkyrimon’s power right now!”

“Right!”/”Okay!”/”Understood!”

Hawkmon evolved into Aquilamon. Then, the digivices’ colors changed, becoming a matched pair and then released lights which formed the Jogress Holy Ring for its execution -- Aquilamon and Tailmon turned into light beams and waltzed in a helix shape. Once the lights hit the Jogress Ring, Silphymon emerged from its top.

Silphymon, ultimate-evolve!! Valkyrimon!

A beam of light surrounded Silphymon and then other two lights in red and pink danced in the shape of a helix as the digimon jumped into the red Jogress ring. From there, Valkyrimon came out of it, bathed by the glorious moonlight from the battlefield. 

Wielding their sword, Valkyrimon dashed thru the air and went into Griffomon’s direction.

While the jogress digimon fought the unstable enemy, Miyako was contacting Ken at the same time.

“Ken-kun, are you there?”

“MIyako-san, Tsukiyono Seishiro is innocent.”

“Huh?” Hikari was also on the same line, “What do you mean?”

“Someone hacked his account and pretended to be him,” Iori replied next, nonchalantly.

“Have you found the shard?” and Takeru asked immediately.

“Yes, we did,” Hikari answered, “But…”

“A crow found it first and evolved with it,” Miyako explained hesitantly.

“W-what? A crow?!” the boys exclaimed.

“D-don’t worry about us!” Hikari added quickly, “We’re fine!”

“This friend… Is someone Ichijouji Ken does not remember at all.”

Daisuke and V-mon blinked, “But how…?!”

“Wait… Ken said, a long time ago, that his memories were fuzzy and blurred after a certain… thing…”

“You mean the--” V-mon was about to slip it out something, but Daisuke interrupted him,

“Yeah yeah that thing, but you don’t need to say it!”

“... I’m sorry, but investigating stuff led me to discover what you’re hiding from everyone, Motomiya-san.”

“W-what do ya mean?!”

“Ichijouji-san was the original Digimon Kaiser, wasn’t he?”

Daisuke gulped.

“He’s the main reason for this whole game, right?” Noel said with a serious voice, “Isn’t he?”

“Don’t tell those two, Ken had done bad things, but he’s still paying for those crimes” Daisuke begged, but with a firm tone, “Can I trust you, Noel? Ken doesn’t need more people coming after him!”

“... I won’t let Soleil-san and Lune-san touch him, I promise. Your friends are my friends too.”

“But ain’t them your friends too?” V-mon asked, confused.

“We’re… Just teammates. And besides they’re exploiting me for their own business, but I'm doing the same in return.”

“You all are using each other…?” Daisuke asked then, frowning once again, “But--”

“I don’t mind, this is how a phantom thief works. Doing the sketchy job, after all I’m a criminal in your world, correct?” he said nonchalantly, and smiled.

“But…” V-mon was saying something until Daisuke abruptly interrupted him:

“Ok, fine. But who’s this old friend Ken had and cannot remember him at all?”

“Back to the main topic, oui . It's a boy around his age, he was a Chosen Child way before Ichijouji-san apparently? But why does no one know, or rather remember him…?”

“Wait, what… Do you mean…”

“Oui, exactement” Noel nodded his head, “This person’s existence was completely erased from this world.”

Valkyrimon managed to slash Griffomon with their sword, using the same technique executed on Kayono previously. The faux shard was destroyed in the process, and then Valkyrimon’s holy power resurrected the crow.

“Phew, we won…” the girls said in relief.

“But it was kind of random, wasn't it?” Miyako tilted her head, “Leaving the shard around and letting a crow evolve with it…”

“Yes,” Valkyrimon (Aquilamon side) nodded in agreement.

“Maybe we should meet with the boys for now,” Hikari suggested, “No one got hurt this time.”

“Does anyone know where Daisuke went though?” In different places and at the same time, Ken and Miyako asked their respective groups, “I hope he’s not getting into more trouble.”

They decided to call it a day and returned to their respective homes.

“E-erased?!” Daisuke and V-mon’s eyes widened.

“But how do you know that, Noel?!” V-mon babbled.

“I connected the dots, that’s simple. I’m not only a phantom thief, I’m a magician and illusionist. And besides I wasn’t here when this happened. I was in Witchelny.”

“But why are you telling those to me and not Ken?!” Daisuke squinted his eyes, “This person is trying to target him, not me!”

“Because you might be the key to beat the imposteur I suppose.”

“Me…?”

“Oh I should go now, pardon. We will keep in touch. Au revoir, Motomiya-san~”

“W-wait--!!”

Daisuke and V-mon tried to catch Noel, but he snapped his fingers and magically teleported them back to their home. Daisuke’s hands were trembling, he then looked at V-mon, who was also trying to process what they just heard from Noel minutes ago.

The faux Kaiser is… someone who does not exist anymore??

[capucapo]

Brothers' Battle part 3/4

(( rp log continued from here !!! directly copied from Discord w minor editing for typos and formatting. Less card games this installment, I promise.

Seto Kaiba @blueeyesking , me as Noa, Mokuba, and the Yugis. Wyatt @seashaper , Hika @nameless-brand , and Pyre @redeyesandchilifries ))

Joey

Joey panics as his group falls, seemingly from one world into another. His cry is cut short, at least, as he lands right on his backside. A brief second later, he's hit in the face with the full metal weight of Tristan's metal monkey body.

"AAARGH!!" he shouts, yanking the robot by the tail. "You little traitor! I knew tha-"

"Is that Kaiba!?" Tristan's tinny voice calls out, distracting Joey. "And Mokuba! And… who's that?"

"Did… Did I hear what green head said right? 'Kill him?' 'Baby brother?' What is goin' ON?"

yugi!

Yugi pulls himself away from watching the battle below as their other friends join the audience upon their own, new towers. "joey!!!" he calls, spotting the particular blond.

The Other Yugi doesn't speak, but he does make eye contact with his friend from across the divide.

"this noa guy brainwashed mokuba into believing that he's his real brother somehow…!!" Yugi tries to explain, but shouting from their tower makes it difficult to say too much. "whoever wins this takes kaiba corporation. and whoever loses…." He trails off, a sorrowful expression crossing his face as his gaze falls back to the Duel below.

Rook

Madison Rook catches themselves gracefully in a crouch, their sword in hand before the sorcerer is even done scanning the scene. The Yugis catch their eye and they begin to release a relieved breath that's stopped in its tracks when they see Mokuba, and his opponent. No..this is deeply wrong. As their pulse quickens, their gaze darts to Noa, and Rook growls deep in their throat, human-appearing but still fiendish in nature.

"You! I'm going to tear you to pieces," they snarl loudly in the 'god's' direction, "Let my apprentice go now and I might let you die beforehand!"

mokuba

He almost can't believe it as both monsters disappear. Surely that face down card will turn over, will somehow raise the White Dragon once again. This is Seto Kaiba, the greatest Duelist in the world after all--

But it doesnt.

Seto's turn ends before Mokuba can remember to activate Return of the Red Eyes. He just draws for his turn instead. Black Metal Dragon.

Right.

Okay.

His eyes flicker to that face down card again, then back up at Seto. Into those deep blue eyes that no one else can seem to read. And for some reason, he can feel it in his gut.

He's going to win.

So why does it make him feel sick?

Mokuba activates Return of the Red Eyes and brings back his Black Dragon. Rising again, unlike its blue-eyed brother. It lost the battle, but not the war. It'll come back, because it's not a loser.

my brother is NOT a loser

That face down card. Fine. He activates Black Metal Dragon's effect, equipping it to his Black Dragon and raising its attack by 600. Now if that card is Mirror Force, at least he can put a Red Eyes in his hand with its second ability.

He just needs to attack.

He just needs to attack.

Mokuba is shaken from his intense stare by the sudden and unceremonious arrival of the other unfortunate inmates trapped in this virtual prison.

Apprentice?

Mokuba's never seen that person before in his life. He thinks maybe he's seen a tiefling that resembled them once, somewhere far, far away. Maybe in a video game, or a fantasy book…

He doesn't read fantasy books.

His head pulses and Mokuba quickly looks to Noa, standing on his own tower. Clapping with delight, but his cold eyes send a chill down the little brother's spine. Mokuba's never found himself on the receiving end of that bloodthirsty glare before.

[ "What are you waiting for, my Baby Brother?" Noa asks, his gentle voice chipped with malice. "Kill him already!" ]

Levant

The teleportation naturally disorients Levant as most instantly-displacing things do. On an ice floe one moment and stuck in freefall the next. Instinct keeps her from landing on her neck as she brings her knees in to right herself and sticks the landing with a roll onto the ground and a brandish of her bat.

Nothing came though, mostly cause the asshole with the omnipresent voice wanted witnesses rather than bringing everyone to a more appropriate battlefield. She witnesses two dragons, one light and the other dark, wipe each other in a climactic clash - and in the wisps of the destruction could she see the two duelists fighting against each other. One of them she knows from Tunglr - Mokuba - and the other… well, Captain Asshole announced his name. It doesn't take a genius to realize that this was Mokuba's very precious brother.

And that something must be very wrong for the two brothers to be playing Cursed Card Game while being precariously close to the edges of their tower.

She doesn't understand this game. She's avoided it like the plague because it's clearly reality-warping in some way - but now, avoiding it was to her detriment, given the looks on other people's faces frozen in understanding what she doesn't. The pang of annoyance goes through her as she realized that all she did with this card game was "cover her ears and hope it didn't come to her world" - instead of understanding it like she should've done.

Her thoughts are interrupted by Madison Rook's moment of rage and the sudden hesitation in Mokuba as he turned back towards the one who was in charge of this world.

She calculates what she wants to say. It's clear Mokuba is not in his right mind, but there's something there. And it looked like Rook had hit that something with their words - Mokuba's starting to doubt, which means the more time they give that doubt to fester, the better things should become. She's never met Mokuba in person - and they certainly weren't close enough as an "apprenticeship", but if there was something they did share, it was probably…

Being very bad friends to each other.

"Hey, capucapo!" Levant said her palms fanned around her mouth like a megaphone.

"Who's 'annoying blue and demanding' over there?," Lev rudely points at Captain Asshole, "Did you finally get a replacement for your older brother?"

"You should really consider a refund. I mean, unless megalomaniacs are your thing," she adds with a skeptical gaze.

"But even then, you could totally do better!" Lev continued, "The whole brotherly love "murder the hypotenuse" and getting you to do it is honestly like the 2nd out of the top 3 most pathetic things I've seen in two lives."

She turns to Captain Asshole to address him directly, "The 1st is gathering everyone around to watch your grand triumph against someone you couldn't take on yourself. How pathetic are you? I mean seriously, what's next, some grand sob story you wanna unveil?"

Ahh…ran out of things to say to stall. Okay. Just channel her inner Sato.

"Is it because your nose looks like it directly leaks snot into your mouth while you're sleeping?"

Whatever.

Joey

"Yugi!!" Joey responds before he even turns to look, and when he does? "WHOA, YUGI TOO?" The corner of his mouth pulls up - that's exciting! But Duke slaps him back to reality.

"They're gonna kill each other!?"

"Kaiba couldn't! Not after he fought so hard to save him at Duelist Kingdom, there's just no way!" Tristan says.

But Joey can't think about Duelist Kingdom. All he can think about is a voice in his mind urging him, controlling him, and then waking up on the pier in the middle of a duel to the death he didn't want. Of seeing Yugi battered and exhausted face down on the dock. Funny, then, that Mokuba seems to be fighting this off better than he had. Or maybe this green haired kid wasn't as good at puppeting him, not having the Millennium Rod.

Speaking of that green haired guy.

"SHUT THE HELL UP, DON'T TALK TO HIM LIKE THAT!! YOU CALL YOURSELF A BIG BROTHER!?" he roars. "Mokuba!! Remember Battle City! Remember how Espa Roba and his brothers treated each other! Remember what happened wit' me an' Yugi! And remember who was all there with you!"

Mokuba

Mokuba grits his teeth as he tries again to focus. Narrows his eyes at his opponent across the rooftop. Tries to block out the sound of everyone on the towers and their shouting. The sound of his noisy, conflicting thoughts.

But that girl is too much to ignore. His eyes flicker up to her, beside Rook and Téa Mazaki. Who is that, anyway? The face doesn't ring any bells, but those incessant insults make it hard to concentrate. He raises a hand to his aching head with a quiet growl.

"stay out of this, Lev…. you don't--!! you don't know what you're talking about!!" He doesn't know how he knows that name. But he knows that there's no one else who verbally abuses him so affectionately… Well maybe Lark, but--

Mokuba's head pulses again.

NOA

[ Noa turns his violent stare in Lev's direction, glaring daggers from his own Tower with a look that hardly screams amusement. Then his expression breaks, a wicked smile crossing his pale lips as he laughs

"No, no. You see, you couldn't be more wrong, Levant Este. I didn't put Mokuba up to anything! In fact, this battle was entirely his idea. Isn't that right, my Baby Brother?"

Mokuba doesn't respond.

Noa frowns again.

"Such petulant and childish insults. My Baby Brother doesn't need to associate with such poorly behaved, foul-mouthed children. When this Duel is through, I'll deal with you next. For now. Why don't you just sit down and shut up."

Noa gives a flick of his wrist and an elegant white dining chair appears behind Levant. It scoots itself forward, hitting her right in the back of the knees. ]

Seto Kaiba

Seto calmly looks over the gathered onlookers- Mokuba and Yugi's friends- as they try to figure out the situation, stalling his demise. Some man, and a girl he doesn't recognize, though the name Lev strikes recognition from somewhere online (minecraft?). He doesn't know why the man calls Mokuba his 'apprentice', as if that wasn't more than mutual fantasy roleplaying, online, but it does seem to strike a chord in his little brother, as do the girl's jeers. It dampens the acceptance of the end that had settled in Seto's chest.

"Unfortunately for you, Noa, Mokuba is a poorly-behaved, foul-mouthed child. He loves Capumon, dragons, and magic; you can't force him to deny his true self forever. Mokuba's freedom of expression and impudence toward most authority could never stay contained in the polite little blue box you've tucked them into."

He crosses his arms, now the one smirking.

"Meh heh. If you were truly Mokuba's older brother, you would know that you can't tame his passion for what, and who, he loves. Bringing his friends here was a fatal mistake."

Hika

It's official. They are the worst group of friends and siblings a person could ask for. From reasonably murderous angry Madison Rook, to her and her bad friend tendencies, to Seto Kaiba and his backhanded compliments. She still couldn't help but grin, even as the chair bonked her in the back of the knees and forced her to sit.

Note to self. This whole "screw reality" thing doesn't actually ping her danger perception - either that or it was simply a gesture to entirely humiliate. If the former is true, it is going to be very annoying for her when this asshole's house of cards comes crashing down.

She doesn't bother replying to Noa, instead dismissively standing up off the chair and brushing off her skirt and jeans.

There's not really much she can say that will be more effective than the words of Mokuba's actual beloved brother anyway.

Rook

Their rage face is intensifying, with passion, rather than frustration as Lev lays down the burn. Rook's about to build off her assessment of how pathetic Noa is when the chair appears and they look over to see their tower buddy rudely demeaned. They glare back at Noa with a wrinkled expression of judging disgust.

They have so many dark threats, clever insults, but they have to pick 1. "You're in no place to call anyone else childish, you pretentious brat. And no, you won't. First thing after this you're dealing with me."

The spellsword brandishes their weapon, the jagged crystal tip glowing with power that holds weight even here. But the brat's too far away, and Mokuba might lash out at Rook if they attack too early.

"Fuck you, and fuck your pathetic attempts at playing god."

Adjusting their stance as Lev stands, Rook turns to the chair, braces their leg on the side, and kicks it hard off the tower, sending it spiraling into the void. They don't watch it fall, maintaining eye contact with Noa the whole time.

Mokuba

Mokuba's head hurts so bad he can hardly stand it. His stomach aches.

He can't think. His head swims with contradicting thoughts, feelings.

Levant is his friend.

Rook is his friend.

Joey is his friend… Isn't he? And Téa, and Tristan too.

But Yugi… Yugi hurt him… He remembers the darkness inside that Capsule….

Yugi saved him, too.

As Seto calls him a poorly-behaved and foul-mouthed child, he wants to argue back. He wants to laugh.

Why does he want to laugh?

Nervously, he reaches for his favorite fidget toy. But nothing hangs around his neck, his fingers finding only his sweater vest.

He can't breathe. He feels like he'll be sick if he does.

[ "Attack him already!!!" Noa's voice comes through clear over the tempest of thoughts and emotions that cloud Mokuba's judgement. ]

He stares at his opponent across the rooftop. At the face down card in his spell/trap zone. Up at Noa. Over at the tower where Lev and Rook stand. At the Black Dragon at his own command.

He doesn't even like this fucking game--

"I…." After what feels like an eternity, Mokuba finally finds his voice.

"I end my turn without attacking."

[hikarikamei]

Chapter 1 - The Last Meal

I let out a sigh and looked out into the city from inside of my parent’s apartment, preparing myself to accept the endowment my parents bestowed to me as their first born. Within P0LAR1S, the biggest company Goetia LTD has advertised that if families with children volunteer to help join the fight with the ongoing demon infection happening around the city, they would take care of all living expenses. After so many years, the volunteering has now become a “blessing” for the first born to join and help their family from future financial troubles. All at the low cost of their life being owned by Goetia.

Letting out a yawn as I stretched, I went to get myself ready. I was told that we had no specific uniform as long as the clothes we wore made us comfortable enough to fight in. Once my family told me that, I knew exactly what I would want to do. Slipping on my long sleeve black bodysuit, I pulled my joggers that were able to tear away from different parts of the bottoms with one side black one side blue. I customized my look with my signature color, grabbing my bright neon blue jacket and wrapped it around my waist, clicking black and white belts into place to hang on my left. “Can’t forget this” I think to myself as I grab my blue short sleeve I slip over my right shoulder and buckle around the left side of my chest. I then walk out to the living room to place my platform shoes near the couch, unbuckled for easier access.

As the clock arms weigh down on me with every second passing, I focus on the sounds of the stove and the sizzle of bacon my mother is cooking. It may as well be my last meal with what happens to recruits, cadets, and the likes when joining Goetia LTD. My parents were ecstatic when I, the first child, had told them I would be volunteering for Goetia’s Demon Protection program. I didn’t pack much as they didn’t want us to bring too many “distractions” when we got to the property.

“My shining Hikari, today is your big day! I’m sure you can see just how proud we are about this important decision.”

Mother’s words were genuine and yet, I felt miles away too far to grasp onto reality just yet. “Yeah, that’s nice.” I replied through my teeth, attempting a smile.

My brother Hiroto, who’s tall stature hunched down to clean the dishes chimed in, “It’s really nice knowing that Hika is pretty much going to die so that our lives are free from struggle.”

“Hiro! That is uncalled for! Apologize to your sister. She volunteered to keep not only the city safe, but her home.” My mother scolded Hiroto, while Hina, the youngest of siblings, had been quietly setting the table throughout the conversation. She didn’t really speak up on conversations that brought up Goetia and their ways of protecting the city. I rolled my eyes and tried to drown out the bickering between my brother and mother, grabbing a few of the silverware sets from my sister.

“You know, I am really happy that I can keep you and our family safe.” I whispered to Hina, tucking her royal blue hair behind her ear. She turned to me and smiled so brightly, her name could rename the very orb in the sky she was named after. “I’ll be trying my hardest to be the best of the best! Not just to show off either. I’ll have to stay alive so I can see you at your graduation.” I exchanged laughter with my sister as she pushed my shoulder. Our playful banter relaxed the mood as we took our seats at the dining table. We were almost a complete family, but that was the least of my concern.

I started to dig into my protein filled breakfast, a great first meal to start the day and yet I tried to drag it out as long as possible. “So, am I dragging myself to Goetia LTD alone?” The thought rolled off my tongue before I processed it. “Oh– I mean… Am I going to be accompanied by one of you or perhaps the best case scenario… have all of you join me before I leave?” I spoke through my food, swallowing the awkwardness with each bite.

“I wish I could, but your father…” Mother had looked down at her eggs, putting her fork down. “Let’s wish you well here after breakfast, alright?”

Looking over to my siblings who both sat silently, they finished their breakfast with ease. Then, Hiroto stood up to start getting more dishes off of the dining table to keep himself busy. “Is it that no one can or no one wants to?” I said after finishing the last of my meal right before it was grabbed. “I understand that it might be eating at you that I have to ‘volunteer’ so that you all are safe from harm, but I am not going to fail.” I huffed and stood up from the table, punching my brother’s arm which made him stumble a bit with the plates. “I’ve been training up until this moment that there is no way I won’t pass their recruitment test with flying colors.”

“But what if–” My mother stammered before I walked over to her chair and bent down to my knees.

“Nothing is going to happen to me that won’t make me a stronger person. I want you, father, Hiroto, and Hina to live in peace and to know that I am the one fighting for that. Okay?” Suddenly I was pulled into one of the tightest hugs I’ve felt, and then another body had been on me, and another. It was silent for a moment, only the soft hiccups of my family could be heard. I felt like I was being embraced by the light during a summer’s day. Oh, how I wish I could stay within the warmth of the hug.

We let go of one another when we heard three knocks on our apartment door. “That must be him.” Hiroto turned to our mother before she nodded, permitting him to unlock and open the door.

“Must be who?” I asked, not expecting other visitors today. As the door opened, I stood up and went to my brother to see who this mysterious person was, but then my eyes caught a glimpse of something sharp heading straight to my brother’s neck.

I flung myself to tackle Hiroto down, narrowly missing the knife this stranger had drawn. Just as quickly the man came straight for me. Pushing myself off my brother I jumped to the side away from the stranger’s knife, before taking a hold of his arm and trying to do a wrist lock. He was quick, slipping out of my grip before flying his leg straight into the right side of my hip. I stumbled back a bit and growled. There is no way I’m letting some guy come into our home and ruin the one chance I have to keep my family safe.

I ran toward the man and just as he flew his knife at me, I lifted my leg up before flinging my heel straight down on the hilt. Now squatting, I grabbed the weapon and slid over to the stranger with the knife now pointing straight to his crotch. “How about you tell me why the hell you’re barging in here if you care about keeping all of your parts.”

That’s when I noticed, he also had another knife, the tip pointed straight at my right eye. He kept his eyes on me, branding a black face mask to cover any emotion that his eyes would not show. It seemed that he had no intention of killing me, yet I could tell that if he truly wanted to cut me out of this world he would have done so the moment my brother opened the door.

“Hello, Kamei family. My name is Luz, on behalf of Goetia LTD I am here to retrieve Ms. Hikari Kamei for her enlistment.”

[yukii0nna]

In time .....

St. Chester hospital.

Sabine= Xia:35

Marinette :5

Judai:5

Sabine: Doctor, is he going to make it?

The doctor looked sympathetic but resided

Doctor: We're sorry Ma'am, your husband is not going to make it. We tried but it was too late....

Tears started to stream down her face.

Sabine: Please!!!! You need to do something, anything!!! We can't lose him..... We just can't....

The Doctor turned away.

Doctor: He only has a short amount of time left to live. I suggest you get your children if you have any to say goodbye. It will be the last time they see their father.

He leaves her alone

She goes into the room.He looked like he was in death's door and he was. His skin was pale. He was covered in bandages. He was smiling but it was tired. He looked so tired.

She sat next to him

Sabine: Hika, please stay with us . We need you!! This can't be -

He put a hand on her face

Hikaru: Xia, please calm down. Look please bring the kids tomorrow. I don't have a lot of time left .

Sabine: Please,we can think of something!! You have that big brain of your. I have my -

Hikaru: Xia, please. I'll be fine no matter what.... Just.... Have faith in me

Sabine: *sighs*Okay I'll try

Hikaru: Thanks honey. *kisses her cheek* Please Xia,could you just bring the kids here. It's been a bit since I saw them

She nods

*Later*

Marinette: I can't wait to see daddy again!!!

Judai: Me too, maybe he's even getting better!!

Sabine: Alright settle down now, this is a hospital after all.....

Judai: Okay!!!

Sabine smiles

Doctor: Um... Mrs Cheng,may I speak to you alone?

Sabine: Of course,Sir

She follows him

The children are outside the office

Sabine: What's wrong ?

Doctor: Your husband passed away while you were gone. I'm sorry for your loss. I'll give some time to process this.

She stares at space . Unable to process she just cries

@shiningharmony @kousaka-ayumu @marrondrawsalot @jasontoddssuper @insomniac-jay @achy-boo@zexal-club @danika-redgrave124@abyssthing198 @sayuricorner

[quettasecond]

✨ spare hika fact?

she always had a bit of a strange manner of speaking in her earlier incarnations, its just now it changed + i got a better idea of it

[quillisadoll]

you know, I don't really want to start a fight or anything, so I'll say this in the nicest way possible: if you hate Hikakao, then just ignore it. No need to vent out. After all, at the end of the day, Hika and Kao are only nonfictional characters, and ships aren't real. Just because someone happens to ship them together, incest or not, it's not real. And in the case of the two, you can't blame anyone who ships them, given the fan service they get (and don't you dare pull the card that the only fanservice was the host club act). Think about the audience OHSHC was created for. Some people love the ship. Myself included. Personally speaking, even if I hate ships like KyoKao and Hikaharu (I brotp those two ships), I don't hate on it publicly. Just like you shouldn't. At the end of the day, OHSHC is a beautiful series, and there's versatility for many ships, and we should mind our own businesses. Just because you hate the ship doesn't mean you have to force your ideals on others. Thanks.

[hitachiincest]

Thank you for your response <3

I also imagine them as switches, though I do lean to Kaohika more… it’s just that, when you see fanfictions and fanarts of them, in my case I was almost horrified— at the way people take the uke thing way too far (it’s just an act, and like you mentioned, even if Kao likes to be doted on, he doesn’t have to be ukefied to be like that) and the way he’s feminized just make me want to show that he can also take the lead/be in charge (even if mostly in private) like in ep. 15 ;; They also confirmed it themselves in the first volume, that while it seems that Hika takes the lead, it’s the more mature Kao that drives the action/is the same (depends on the translation), and it may sound personal, but I hate it when he’s made all feminine— like with his Cinderella metaphor (and Hika and Kao always cross dress together), or the fact he ACTS as the uke, and that was only by chance— because when they initially joined the host club, Kao accidentally burnt his finger for real, and Hika was holding him, genuinely concerned— and then they realized that the girls love it so that’s how the act started in the first place.

oh, yea i remember back when id read a bunch of fics of them after my anime rewatch a few yrs back i was like oh thats.. hm,, ;;; cuz id found a few where kaoru was a bit Too uwu uke iirc tho quite a few of them were p old & from when that was the Norm so i just accepted that some fics were products of the times &/or written by younger fans, as lets face it ouran was & still probably is 1 of the entry level animes. i actually dont consume all that much content of them tho (i only read fics Occasionally [this goes for all fandoms] & theres not much art for them in the eng sphere & i dont follow/kno any jp ouran accs on twitter or use pixiv) so that combined w my bad memory of what i Hav seen means im a bit Unknowing of most fanon for them.. lmao... i figured most of the stuff like that was mostly left behind as of a few yrs ago but perhaps not..?

I can't speak much for the feminizing thing bc I can't recall too many fanworks ive read where that was an issue iirc? tho tbf I can't remember much of what I've read at all bc tht was Yrs ago rip sry ;; I Do think they should be portrayed crossdressing Together more often! it'd be cute; let hikaru be in a cute dress too (I may be biased on everything tho I'm a femboy liker thru & thru lol so I'm like more boys in dresses?? Epic im in lol) softer=fem clothes? False- in this house it doesn't matter the boy type; Get In The Dress lol.

but yeah that doesn't mean he's constantly like that... a princess roleplay or 2 or letting hikaru take care of him, maybe, not unlike ppl w rp aspects to their relationships (like how brats aren't brats Always! time & place, etc etc. someone choosing to be bratty in private doesnt mean theyre gonna act like that 24/7) but it's a little sad if people reduce him to his act all the time...

I don't think I mind ppl playing w the princess thing tho considering it Is a part of his chara, but the whole thing was supposed to focus more on the magic of an illusion shattering eventually & losing what he has not quite a princess & prince... ;; but he Was almost/p much comparing himself to a princess' story & when the magic breaks & he's metaphorically left in his simple flats & princeless instead of the lavish life he had at "the ball" [cinderella metaphor. there is no ball, im aware] so it can't be helped if ppl like the princess association i guess.. give ppl an inch & theyll go a mile, & all that. & honestly w hikaru "saving" [ep 15]/"finding" [ep 21] kaoru twice in canon, it doesn't surprise me if they imagine hikaru as his prince & kaoru the princess since while the metaphor was more abt the whole host club not jus hikaru, hikaru was also a big part of it, as the eps focusing on it display his longing looks at his brother & such, w a fesr of losing Him the most. so long as ppl don't Reduce him to his feminine metaphor 100%, i guess. tis only a small part after all, not a loadbearing one. the angst is more the important bit lmao give him a masc cinderella outfit, even. (altho... the allure of a bishie in a dress... Very Enticing to most I'm afraid)

him always having to be the uke role thing in their host act is kind of out of the fans control bc that's canon... if he's content w his act of being that way, then power to him I guess! he himself might also like that in public he's all uwu kyaaa hikaru <3 while at home it's Hikaru who's nuzzling into his throat. a smug sort of feeling, ya know? that only he gets to see hikaru like that, not everyone else.

WAIT actually as I was typing this I remembered some scene from thee movie shoot ep [ep 4, apparently] where they mentioned 1 of them being the receiver or w/e (bc sports) & it was apparently hikaru annoyedly asking why kaorus the seme in the script w their changed charas (hikaru being all "KAORUU OAO" & kaoru gently reassuring him, which is like their actual dynamic instead) w kaoru replying in a similar manner going "yeah >:T"

which implies either he Likes/is fine w his uke role or at least doesn't think the fangirls would like them switching up & wants the status quo to stay the same just in case. I think if he did mind he wouldntve said anything? or even suggested to hikaru that switching up provides something fresh & "it's still doki doki twincest, hikaru~ these girls have a refined taste; they might just take a liking to gap moe ^^"

but those r the 2 charas theyve allowed to be chosen for themselves, in a way, & theyre like yea this is alright. rhey prov have an "if it aint broke dont fix it" mentality & since the girls expect the typical, they see nonreason to deviate. the twins are capable of speaking out- theyd prob speak up if they minded. also, kaoru might kno that hikaru might not want to be seen as vulnerable [ep 16 comes to mind tho that had more to do w circumstances going on at the time] so kaoru takes that upon himself & bears that burden upon his perceived character [as in the way one is seen, not his host club persona] so hikaru won't mind as much? idk im going off on a tangent I feel but I think the thing w "kaoru Having to be the public uke" isn't all that bad since he himself seems fine w playing around w that character. maybe one day they'll switch it up for fun. (not Literally, as technically they could have hikaru play as kaoru but it would still be seen as "kaoru", but I mean For Reals have hikaru as the uke)

in conclusion... to the fandom: pls accept soft dom kaoru into ur hearts & rewatch the twins' eps w fresh eyes I guess. love, @/hitachiincest & @/zyrellla (ghsnkmj lolol)

[sapphircd]

࣪𓏲ּ  ֶָ  𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑠𝒕𝒗  ⁝         shay mitchell,  32,  cis-female,  she/her.    announcing  the  arrival  of  ADHIKA  of  house  DAGAREON,  the  PRINCESS  of  ESSOS  .  whispers  among  the  court  name  them  to  be  both  DEFERENTIAL  and  EQUIVOCAL  in  disposition,  and  those  closest  to  them  speak  to  their  interests  in  reading.  if  we  bards  could  compose  a  song  for  them,  it  might  tell  stories  of  tourmaline stones in her hair to shine as bright as the sun, a diary in hand containing secrets of a princess & skin of satin yet mind forged cold lava creating crystals on the ground.  the  seven  whisper  to  their  most  devout  queen  as  she  sleeps,  making  her  question  where  their  loyalties  truly  lie.  are  they  right  to  whisper?  for  their  loyalties  truly  lie  with   THE  EMPEROR  OF  ESSOS

"all my love and patience"

full name : adhika dagareon. nickname : adi & hika. title : princess of essos. year of birth : year 816 aec. current age : thirty-two. sexual orientation : demisexual. religion : the lord of light. pronouns : she / her. languages : high valyrian, the common tongue. allegiance : emperor of essos.

faceclaim:  shay mitchell ethnicity:  filippino.  hair:  black  eyes:  amethyst.  height:  1.69 cm.  build:  slender.  scent:  lavender.  dominant  hand:  right.  allergies:  none.  scars:  none.  distinguishing  features:  graceful demeanor. clothing  style:  royal garments from pentos. label:   prodigy   mbti: ENFJ.   enneagram:   ENFJ type three.   element:   water.   star   sign:  virgo.   temperament:   yes.   character   inspirations:  rhaenyra targaryen, sansa stark .   deadly   sin:  giving up everything for her father.   heavenly   virtue:  sees reason even in despair.   godly   parent:   hera. hobbies:  widdling, reading.   personal goals: finding happiness and revenge.  would they choose family or power?  no.

father : illyrio dagareon. mother : serala drahar. brothers : kusa dagareon. dantae dagareon sisters : catraena dagareon, mayari dagareon.

"made it all painless"

as  the  daughter  of  the  emperor  of  essos  adhika  grew  up  with  a  diamond  spoon.  she  was  the  first  but  not  the  last  of  jewels  to  be  born  into  the  royal  line  of  dagareon,  but  she  set  the  standard,  she  was  the  blueprint  to  her  sisters  and  the  stepping  stone  of  what  a  princess  of  essos  should  be  in  this  time  and  age.  a  lot  of  pressure  was  put  upon  too  young  shoulders  and  eyes  filled  with  wonder,  but  determination  showed  back.  adhika  was  everything  her  father  had  wished  for,  diligent,  appropriate,  and  pride  in  showing  the  world.  however,  what  was  hidden  beneath  was  unknown  to  most.  the  princess  kept  a  secret  within  her.  secrets  of  the  heart  and  mind  and  was  rarely  open  to  any.  even  to  this  day,  she  can  be  found  reading  history,  languages,  and  knowledge  which  no  princess  should  need  ⸻  but  there  is  no  limit  to  those  who  follow  duty.  adhika  is  no  knight,  yet  she  follows  orders  diligently  and  proudly.  she  has  always  been  easy  to  guide  by  her  father's  hand  and  it  is  out  of  love  for  him  and  her  family  that  she  will  do  whatever  she  needs  for  their  satisfaction  and  justification.  so  when  love  arrives,  she  lets  it  go,  lets  it  carry  itself  along  the  wind,  and  be  locked  inside  the  heart  which  is  slowly  turning  to  stone.  she's  given  a  betrhoed  by  her  father,  none  other  than  the  heir  to  the  dragon  throne  in  westeros,  and  with  a  gentle  nod  and  a  clutched  hand  she  gives  up  her  last  remaining  piece  of  freedom  for  her  family,  for  her  people,  for  her  father.  she's  to  marry  an  unknown  man  with  a  rumored  past  she  does  not  wish  to  listen  to.  her  heart  is  not  in  the  marriage,  but  she's  strong-minded,  a  powerhouse  that  will  not  fall  to  dragonfire.  princess  of  essos  and  future  queen  of  westeros.  the  titles  sound  unfamiliar,  but  duty  has  always  been  her  number  one,  and  she  will  follow  it  ⸻  until  duty  is  no  longer  needed. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS

confidants from westeros: companions adhika has gotten since arriving in westeros. they are her closest westerosi friends and even if she doesn't trust them all completely, she finds their company comforting in trying times. (0/3)

tba.

[sleeping-in-stars]

I don't have people I can run to like you do- I don't have a hika or jupi or whoever you feel good just venting to

You think I do and they probably would let me but /i/ in my mind don't feel people are safe to express myself to and im scared of what they'll say when I do speak about myself

But with you I always think, oh let me try, and then it backfires because you can't understand me and I wish I could just never speak

I need to learn to shut up I need to learn to just stay quiet I promise I won't bother you anymore with my mind ill keep it quiet I promise everyone loves silly me ill keep that up I swear I will

[capucapo]

Brothers' Battle part 1/4

[ continued from here, directly copied from Discord w minor editing for typos and formatting. yes, we played out an entire Duel. it's going to be a little bit of a read but I'm really, REALLY proud of this group effort to rewrite the VR World arc and there's so much good Character behind the card games.

Seto Kaiba @blueeyesking, me as Noa, Mokuba, and the Yugis. Wyatt @seashaper, Hika @nameless-brand, and Pyre @redeyesandchilifries coming in later

Names with my posts don't always line up bc sometimes I just switch POVs too many times in one reply, but will be color blocked with purple for the Yugis, magenta for Mokuba, and black italic (like this!) for Noa ]

Seto Kaiba

Seto's grin immediately falls away, replaced with a slightly agape shock. Concern tugs at the muscles in his face, twitching into another barely-recognizable microexpression- but Mokuba should be able to read Seto's face like a book, and that book reads,

"MOKUBA!"

He's alive! He's not hurt, and doesn't seem to be at all restrained… but his clothes are very… muted. Maybe it's just the virtual world's expression of him.

Mokuba

Mokuba's reaction hardly looks relieved to see the eldest Kaiba. The Imposter. His brows knit tight, his jaw set.

[ High above, an alarm rings out through Noa's control room. The largest, central screen changes perspective, zooming in on a young man with dark, braided hair. If he had veins, his blood would have turned to ice inside them.

No. No no no.

Why was Mokuba putting himself in danger? ]

On the street below, Mokuba takes a defiant step towards the imposter.

"gee, and I thought losers were supposed to give up and die," Mokuba's tone is venomous.*

yugi!

Yugi feels his heart sink as he utters the teenager's name in concern. His Other Self balls a fist, swallows the lump that forms in his throat as he spares a glace toward Kaiba.

The world seems to stand still.

Seto Kaiba

Seto's heart sinks, too, but it was already so deep it didn't have far to fall.

He… he couldn't be serious. He couldn't have said that, right? This must be another nightmare, only shared. Surely. Seto stops directing his Blue-Eyes, and it begins biting and slashing and firing beams at the insects on its own.

"That was what Gouzaburo believed."

Mokuba

Mokuba's glare doesn't falter.

"so then how many times do you have to lose before you listen???? just leave me and my Big Brother ALONE already!!!"

[ As he snaps at this Imposter, his so called Brother appears. A young man somewhere between the brothers in age, with an uncanny likeness to the elder. He wears a pleasant smile, but his eyes are cold and sharp as an icicle. He places a hand upon Mokuba's shoulder, and the way that the younger boy leans familiarly into the touch turns both Yugi's stomachs in unison. ]

"mokuba--" Yugi starts to step forward, only to be blocked by his Other's arm. Not yet, he feels inside his heart.

Seto Kaiba

"Your big brother… I don't even know who this clown is."

Seto covers his despair in biting wit, crossing his arms and straightening into a properly haughty posture. His eyes catch Noa's, and narrow.

"Whoever this kid is, he's not your brother, Mokuba. I am. And I'll do whatever it takes to bring you back."

Mokuba

The look on Mokuba's face is heartbreaking enough for Yugi. He gives a concerned look in Kaiba's direction.

["Give it up, Seto," Noa finally speaks, his gentle, song-songly voice uncomfortably calm. "Mokuba remembers the way that you hurt him, you hit him and then set your monsters lose upon him-- Isn't that right my Baby Brother?"]

"that's right. I'm not going ANYWHERE with you!!! my REAL brother and I are going to take Kaiba Corp back and remind the world what WINNING looks like!!"

Mokuba raises his left arm, a DuelDisk materializing in a wave of glowing cyan pixels. Noa's hand tenses on his shoulder.

["Mokuba. This isn't safe, you need to let me--" ]

"no. no, he HURT me. I need to do this, Big Brother. I've been waiting my whole LIFE to do this." Mokuba's words drip with poisonous resentment.

Seto Kaiba

Seto's eyes don't widen. Of course. This person has poisoned Mokuba against him with yet more realistic bending of the truth. Just like in his own nightmare, something terrible was done to Mokuba by some program wearing his face…

However, he wasn't expecting Mokuba to try and Duel him. Seto glances at the Yugis, then steps forward, removing the cards inside his DuelDisk and shuffling them. The Blue-Eyes nearby dematerializes as it is removed from the field.

"If that's what you want, Mokuba… I accept your challenge."

He looks to the stranger.

"The only danger here is the delusion you have, about taking my brother and the company I sacrificed my life for. We have suffered enough of Gouzaburo's lingering grudges!"

Seto flares a hand out dramatically, causing his coat to flap and emphasize the motion.

Mokuba

"WHAT brother??" Mokuba snaps. "'cuz MY only brother is Noa, and you stole that company from US. and once I beat you at your precious favorite game, I'm taking back what's ours," Mokuba snaps at the Imposter.

Yugi looks nervous, chewing on his bottom lip as he anxiously watches this confrontation between brothers. When Seto accepts the challenge, he gasps, takes a step toward the taller man again.

"kaiba, i don't have a good feeling about this--"

"shut UP, yugi. enough of your stupid friendship speeches, this is a family conversation!" Mokuba snaps. Then he turns to look up at the young man beside him, his expression and tone softening as he does. "you can do something about that, right Big Brother?"

[ Noa gives a dark grin in response, his cold, blue eyes locking onto the object of his animosity. "Of course I can, my Baby Brother. How about we take this battle somewhere just a bit more.. fitting," Noa hums.

Slowly he raises one hand in a grand gesture, and as he does, the streets of Domino City seem to crumble and fall away. The ground around their feet begins to rise high, high up into the blue sky, until the parties finds themselves on three separate rooftops. The brothers standing opposite each other on a long walkway, the Yugis and Noa occupying two smaller, round turrets, separated from the main platform by an endless chasm. ]

Yugi's heart skips a beat. His Other Self feels his stomach drop.

The details are different, but they recognize this playing field. The parapets at either end of the rooftop.

They both already know these stakes before Noa has to explain.

Seto Kaiba

Seto's heart pounds in his chest, the alarm he feels impossible to hide. His stance widens to steady himself as the terrain changes- into an all too familiar arrangement. They… they can't be serious. This is where Yugi learned their family's harshest lesson: to lose is to die. But he talked Seto off of the edge by conceding to his unfair ultimatum.

Seto's heart pounds in his ears.

"He's lying to you, Mokuba!" his tone is slightly more desperate. "You and I stole the company from Gouzaburo- and this boy has never been in our lives! I promised you we would- we would make theme parks, and entertain and support kids everywhere, so that they didn't have to suffer like we did!"

Regardless of his attempts at reasoning with Mokuba, Seto readies his Duel Disk.

Mokuba

Mokuba's never been here before. He's never seen this arena, never before heard the chilling ultimatum. But he doesn't need to. He already knows everything he needs to, as decided by Big Brother Noa.

"you're the one who's lying!! you really think anyone believes that?? YOU ?? caring about anyone but yourself???" Mokuba snaps as he draws his first five cards. "you threw away everything that made KaibaCorp what it was just to humiliate and MOCK our father's legacy!!! I'm going first!!"

[ "Let me remind you of the rules here, Seto," Noa purrs from the sidelines, his voice as deceptively gentle as ever. "You'll each take a step backwards for every 100 points of damage that you take. When your lifepoints run out, so does the rootftop you stand upon. Of course, these monsters aren't some cheap trick of light, like you're used to. The force of your attacks may be enough to bring this Duel to a conclusion before they even hit zero." ]

Mokuba stands confidently, a violent storm in his eyes as he finally looks down at the cards he's drawn. He can't help but smirk-- it's a perfect opening hand.

He sets the board wirh two face down cards, one monster, one a spell or trap, and ends his turn.

Seto Kaiba

The glare Seto levels at Noa may as well have the same level of threat as a gun barrel. But after a moment, he's more focused on the game at hand, brutal stakes clawing at his back.

In his first hand are Cyber Jar, Spirit Ryu, Burst Breath, Shrink, and Ring of Defense. He sets one and plays the monster in Defense Mode.

"The Kaiba Corporation, as a military entity, was a monstrous tool of destruction that gave the highest bidder the necessary firepower to massacre anyone in their way. Is that a legacy to be proud of, Mokuba? Or was it always our dream to save the world by making it a better place? To pursue our passion for children's card games? Open your eyes! Our adoptive father beat me every day, to teach me this world is cruel and unforgiving to the weak, and the world of business is worse. But we outplayed him at his own game, and with him gone, KaibaCorp has been flourishing as an entertainment technology company. You can't tell me you'd be happier facilitating the death of millions for money, just because it was what some old fool wanted you to do with his resources!"

Mokuba

[ Noa's own blue eyes meet Seto's threatening glare, but the smile on his lips shows only amusement as the fight begins in earnest ]

Mokuba draws a card to begin his turn. Effect Veiler.

"Kaiba Corporation was the epitome of power and strength. do you even hear yourself???? when the next great war starts, how many people are you going to save with children's card games???" Mokuba argues spitefully.

He takes only a second to look over the cards in his hand. His opening draw was good-- improbably so. Controlled as all things in this domain by Noa's divine will. That would be the only help offered to the youngest Kaiba, justified, in Noa's opinion, by the teenager's lack of experience as a Duelist. Not that he needed to justify something that no one, not even Mokuba, would know.

Mokuba plays Mystical Space Typhoon, targeting Seto's only set card for destruction. He then flips face up the monster he'd set on his first turn, revealing a weak and harmless Red Eyes Baby Dragon, now standing in attack mode. Plays another spell from his hand, Red Eyes Insight, sending one monster from his deck straight to the graveyard in order to add another spell to his hand. It isn't time for that yet, though. Instead, he activates his set trap card, allowing him to bring the Red Eys Archfiend of Lightning he'd sent to the graveyard immediately to the field. In exchange for his turn's normal summon, he activates the archfiend's effect, destroying the weak monster Seto had chosen to defend himself.

"you didn't outplay anyone. you cheated, and you stole away my Big Brother's rightful place at the head of our company!!!! don't act like you're above us, seto. how many deaths have YOU caused in your selfish rise to power, anyway??? what makes you any DIFFERENT ?? just because you like playing stupid little games for stupid little kids? it's time to grow UP already," he snaps, before ordering his baby dragon to attack directly.

Seto Kaiba

Seto's set card turned out to be the trap card Burst Breath! It disintegrates as Seto discards it, cussing quietly to himself. He knows Mokuba, having Red Eyes Baby Dragon on the field, will want it attacked so that it can activate its effect. He doesn't know all of Mokuba's deck, though, and the archfiend catches Seto off-guard, obliterating his Spirit Ryu and leaving him open to the Baby Dragon's direct attack. Its fireball pushes him back the required twelve steps, closer and closer to the edge…

"But we did outplay him, Mokuba! My plan hinged on you- I believed in you to make it work! This guy didn't exist-- we were Gouzaburo's only sons! He's using you!"

The taller brother calls over to Mokuba, even as he draws and glances at his remaining options. His drawn card is Pot of Greed-excellent. He casts Pot of Greed and draws his two cards, fishing for options to take out Mokuba's monsters without hurting him too badly. Even if he can deck his brother out without pushing him to the edge, will this bloodthirsty "Noa" still enforce the loss penalty…?

Vorse Raider, Heavy Storm, Thunder Dragon. Not terrible… Seto discards Thunder Dragon in order to draw his other two copies from his deck. Unfortunately, they both take one tribute to summon, themselves…

He summons the Vorse Raider in Attack Position. Then, he casts Heavy Storm, destroying Mokuba's trap card- and finally casts Shrink, targeting Mokuba's Archfiend, then begins his Battle Phase so that his Vorse Raider can attack the weakened Archfiend.

"My passion for card games isn't unique, no. But given our past, and my treatment by our adoptive father, I know how people shouldn't be treated. KaibaCorp under him would certainly have encouraged the next great war to have started already, in order to secure their bottom-line! Those resources could be better spent making people happy!"

Mokuba

Mokuba seems completely unfazed as he watches Seto move backwards, closer to the edge of the rooftop. He does spare a glance in Noa's direction, seeking quick and silent validation that he's making his Big Brother proud with that opening combo.

"you think you know everything, don't you seto??? well news flash, WE were LUCKY to get to call ourselves Gouzaburo's sons!!!!!!! and you were ungrateful for that!!! but my Big Brother Noa was Gouzaburo's only REAL son, and he was kind enough to treat me like his own brother anyway!!!!! what did YOU do??? you hit me and you pushed me away!!! you tortured me when I lost to yugi!!!!! Noa would NEVER hurt me like that!!"

Mokuba frows as his continuous trap is destroyed more quickly than expected. Somewhere there's another one of those in his deck, but he's more disappointed that his lack of any monsters in his graveyard prevent him from activating the card's second effect on destruction. Before he can be too sad by that, though, his archfiend shrinks before his eyes, its attack halving as well.

The attack that destroys his archfiend makes the teenager hiss in pain. He's not a Duelist, he's not used to even the force of solid vision. Let alone these virtual monsters with their very real pain. But he takes his required six and a half steps back with a smirk on his face."

"how would YOU know how people should be treated??? you treat everyone on earth like they're below you. tell me again, seto!! how did you get those precious blue eyes cards again???"

He draws his card for his next turn, and his smirk falters. Brows knit as his lips press into a thin line. Enemy Controller. It's not a bad pull. But he recognizes this card, and not from setting up his deck or practice plays. It's one of his opponent's. He sets it face down immediately.

He eyes the field a moment, then delares his battle phase without summoning another monster. Instead, he orders his Baby Dragon to attack the much stronger Vorse Raider without hesitation. The tiny dragon is, expectedly, destroyed immediately, and Mokuba grits his teeth, takes his 7 steps back. But his grin returns-- in fact he's almost giddy.

As the Baby goes to the graveyard, it's replaced by another, stronger dragon. And with Mokuba's battle phase still active, he orders the Red Eyes Black Dragon to attack, destroying Seto's vorse raider and 500 of his life points

"you know, Seto!!!!! if I reallyyyyy begged him to, my Big Brother might let you live!!! you'd have to give up Kaiba Corp though, oh, and your body too…. but you could live forever here in this world instead!! you just have to give up now….. last chance! I end my turn."