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cryoculus · 2 years

Text

— guard dog 13 ⟢

pairing: thoma x assassin!reader

summary: paying the blood price for your sins is something you once thought of as futile. but as long as you're with the kamisato clan, you're certain that you'll be able to afford the world's forgiveness someday.

word count: 9.8k words

notable characters: thoma, kamisato ayaka, kamisato ayato, sayu, kujou sara

tags: found family, enemies to lovers, slow burn, angst, smut

warnings: graphic sexual content (minors dni), semi-public sex

notes: this is the end of it! thank you so much for following this series so patiently! i hope you enjoyed reading this just as much as i enjoyed writing it ^^

header art cr: cuppydraws on twt

masterlist

Fortunately, no one had been suffering severe conditions when you and Thoma finally arrived back home. The worst symptom that manifested across the people in the estate was Ayato’s prior show of coughing up blood in front of you the other day. Now, everyone was relatively fine. Nervous for the fate of the Yashiro Commission, but otherwise fine.

You were quick to round up Hina’s help to administer the available doses of the cure to those that needed it first—Ayaka and Ayato, the elderly retainers, and those with existing medical conditions. The other attendants volunteered to brew the next batch of Sango broth following Doctor Naoko’s instructions in his journal and Thoma gladly busied himself by helping out as well—speeding up the boiling process with his Vision and all.

Contrary to your prior assumptions, your abysmal supply of pearls was surprisingly enough to cover all the retainers and attendants in the estate, along with your esteemed visitors.

Given that he was unconscious for the majority of the day, you had to administer Kujou Masahito’s dose intravenously. It’s a good thing Hina had some sterile syringes stashed away in the estate’s first aid kit. When he finally came to, Sara, who was still stuck here as well, gave him a thorough questioning.

However, instead of the merciless man who’d issued your orders to kill Ayaka, you were met with a soldier blinking up at his current audience in confusion.

Turns out, the man was merely another pawn in this convoluted war of ideals. Their father, Kujou Takayuki was the sole mastermind behind the Tatarigami experiments. Masahito explained, in great detail, that their father had been playing his cards quite suspiciously over the past few months.

“I suspected he was onto something, but he wouldn’t tell me what,” he sighed. “I didn’t know why he wanted us to build a base on Yashiori Island, and I was in no place to refuse. The next thing I knew, I felt like I was in a dream all this time. I was awake, but my decisions weren’t my own. I suppose it’s the same for all the men he’d forced me to bring.”

Ayato gaped at him. “So you’re telling me that the guys who attacked us the other day walked from Yashiori to here?”

“I’m sorry, Lord Ayato. My memory is still quite fuzzy, but that might be the case.”

Huh. That explained why your back-up from burning the tengu feather took so long. Once that was made clear, you decided to come clean to Kujou Sara about the contingency plan Masahito presented to you when he was being mind-controlled.

“No wonder I felt a bit off-kilter that day,” she sighed, massaging her temples. “It’s alright. Once we’re all cleared of the infection, Lord Ayato and I will raise this issue directly to the Raiden Shogun herself. Our father’s actions are putting the people in peril.”

“...Did you just say you’re going to work with us on this?” the Yashiro Commissioner asked incredulously.

“I’m not as disagreeable as you think I am,” Sara huffed. “I’ve had my own...reservations about our father’s methods when it comes to war tactics. But this is something that would be a crime to overlook. It’s our word against his.”

To her brother’s side, Ayaka spoke out. “Is it safe to assume that Kujou Takayuki has been colluding with the Kanjou Commission? I think part of the reason they refuse to have the Vision Hunt repealed is because they’re profiting off this war more than we thought…”

Masahito nodded somberly. “It’s true that father has been quite…taken with the wealth he’s made from the war effort. That’s why no matter how many times the Yashiro Commission attempts to raise the concern to Her Excellency, they’re quick to shoot down your attempts despite being the commission closest to the Raiden Shogun.”

“So they’ve been taking advantage of it this whole time…” Sara muttered.

…God. This was way too much information for you to take. Why were you even part of this audience in the first place? You were just one of the many casualties that got caught up in a noble’s greedy endeavors.

Thankfully, it was sorted out faster than you’d anticipated.

You were back to checking up on every member of the house with Hina in no time. Despite having little medical experience of your own, everyone was surprisingly cooperative when you checked their vitals and asked how each one was faring. But you didn’t have the time to appreciate the fact that everything had seemingly returned to normal with how your fellow retainers treated you because of the amount of patients you had to monitor.

In the process, you got to speak to the retainers more than usual. Especially Hina, since the estate’s resident healer was pretty much your partner-in-crime for this entire operation. She was kind and patient enough to manage everyone’s medical reports alongside you. And she even filled you in on some random bits of trivia for every person you treated.

“Hirano used to be a player from an underground fighting ring,” Hina whispered. “He doesn’t know who his parents are, and the Commissioner suspected he was a victim of child trafficking.”

“That’s awful,” you told her, face scrunching up. “...You told me back then not everyone is as noble as they seemed.”

She nodded. “Yup. Ayame was a notorious pickpocket at Ritou Harbor. Old man Yuuji used to be a slave trader. There’s lots more that everyone in here got in trouble for in their dark days, but Lady Ayaka and the Commissioner gave them a second chance at life. Now here we are.”

You nodded solemnly, a smile finding its way to your lips. “What about you? What did you do for a living before coming here?”

Hina hesitated for a moment but eventually laughed. “I used to manufacture dangerous drugs and poisons for the underground. You know that powdered crystal marrow you used on Ayame? My old master was the one who came up with the formula for it.”

“What?! Huh, small world.”

“By the way, the Commissioner told me that a doctor that’s familiar with the effects of the Tatarigami will arrive in a day or two,” Hina told you once the two of you finally caught a break by the gardens. “He’ll be a great help, I’m sure. And we’ll get to treat the soldiers that have been infected, too.”

You nodded in understanding as you leaned against the fences overlooking the ocean, sighing. “Do you have any news about those guys? Last I heard, Lord Ayato had them shipped off to some containment facility underneath Inazuma City.”

She hummed. “While you and Master Thoma were away, the Commissioner has been sending messenger crows all over the country almost tirelessly. He’s been laying the groundwork all this time. If Lady Ayaka hadn’t scolded him for overworking himself despite the fact that he’s more susceptible to the curse than most, he might still be at it until now.”

“That’s Lord Ayato for you…”

The next day, when the doctor that Ayato had rang up had arrived, you were the first to brief him about the situation—the state of the estate’s denizens, the timeframe of the curse’s onset, and the experimental cure you’ve administered.

“I’m no professional, so I’m not sure if it’s safe for them to go out like usual even if they seem relatively okay now.” You sighed, scratching the back of your head awkwardly. “That’s why I was wondering if you knew any better way to—”

“Tell me…do you know someone called Suzuki Naoko?” he interrupted, looking up from the journal containing Doctor Naoko’s research notes.

You blinked in surprise. “Y-Yes. That notebook belongs to him. The cure we made was also based on his findings when he stayed in Yashiori Island.”

He laughed softly, nodding in earnest. “I see. He and I used to be colleagues at the Sumeru Academia. We both chose the so-called Tatarigami curse as our respective thesis topics, but we’ve had conflicting ideas as to how it can be cured. I think it’s obvious which one of us turned out to be right after all.”

Your jaw nearly dropped. You knew Doctor Naoko was a bit too intelligent for your everyday medical professional, but to think he went to Sumeru Academia, of all places?

The doctor that Ayato had invited eventually introduced himself as Haruno Shinya, and once Doctor Shinya was done with his own routine check-up of everyone in the estate, he gave you the green light to produce more of that Sango broth you cooked up with Doctor Naoko’s recipe.

“It’s a bit odd, though,” he said. “One of the reasons I was against using Sango pearls as a Tatarigami combatant is because of how long it takes for it to work. The pearl itself has special properties, yes. But you have to wield a certain flame to truly access its full potency. Boiling it over regular flames isn't enough.”

The gears slowly clicked into place as you processed his words.

It took months for you to get over the illness because Doctor Naoko had only experimented with ordinary fire when he boiled the pearls. But now, with the use of Thoma’s fervent Pyro Vision, the effect was near instantaneous.

“To think Naoko died trying to save people with his hypothetical cure. What a hero,” Doctor Shinya chuckled, adding a couple of annotations of his own to Doctor Naoko’s notes. “I’ve been observing Tatarigami patients for a chunk of my career, and I’m positive that everyone in this estate is cured. But you mentioned another set of patients in the capital…?”

“Yes. The Commissioner gave strict orders to his men to keep the soldiers isolated from everyone else. But we haven’t been able to procure more Sango pearls to manufacture enough doses to cover them…”

He nodded as he shut Doctor Naoko’s journal, handing it back to you as he patted your shoulder. “You’ve done plenty already, kid. You’re the one who’s been spearheading this whole operation, aren’t you?”

“I… Yeah. I guess you can say that.”

“I expect no less from Naoko’s apprentice,” Doctor Shinya praised. “Leave the patients at the capital to me. I’m actually a native of Watatsumi myself, so I’ll be able to get my hands on all the pearls you’re going to need. However, I have one last question.”

You raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Did you do anything special with the experimental procedure?” he asked, one brow raised. “Sango broth isn’t supposed to be this potent, but here we are, with dozens of recovered patients in no less than a few days.”

While Doctor Shinya elaborated on his inquiry, your eyes managed to catch Thoma across the courtyard, speaking animatedly to one of the elderly retainers. Your heart warmed. It’s been a while since you’ve spoken to him. Your hands have been tied with fussing over the patients that you hadn’t exactly found the time to approach him again. Then, your gaze slowly roved over to the red orb gleaming at his side.

“Yeah,” you replied—a knowing smile spreading on your face. “All you need is a bunch of Sango pearls and…someone with a Pyro Vision.”

The following days in the estate have mellowed down as everyone quickly recovered. Migraines were gone, spontaneous bleeding episodes resolved, and you’re elated to find out that only a few retainers had suffered the onset of nightmares. They've begun sleeping more peacefully these days, too.

However, the situation of the power balance in the Tri-Commission only got more and more hectic thereafter.

While you were busy taking care of the patients with Hina, Ayaka and Ayato, together with the Kujou siblings, testified against the Kanjou and Tenryou Commissions’ blatant mismanagement of the war. They were going to try and repeal the Vision Hunt Decree with Kujou Sara’s support as agreed upon as well. Because of this, neither of the two Kamisato heads had been home for nearly two weeks, and the only way you could keep tabs on what was happening was through Thoma himself.

The chief retainer was granted the privilege to attend briefings with the Raiden Shogun but wasn’t required to remain at the Tenshukaku for longer than necessary. It was for that reason that everyday, Thoma went back to the estate to report the situation to everyone before returning to the capital before morning.

You didn’t even have the time for a quick chat with him either. Whenever Thoma was in the estate, he’d update all of you about the state of affairs in the pavilion before promptly passing out in his bedroom. Not a single soul dared to disturb him from those few hours of rest.

It was really kind of him to go through all the trouble, you thought. Everyone in the Yashiro Commission didn’t seem to make too much of a fuss about the whole fiasco. But you guessed it was because of Thoma’s constant reassurance that both retainers and attendants managed to fall back into their old routines without hesitation.

Today was the last day of routine check-ups that Doctor Shinya had advised you to conduct, and you’re glad to know that everyone was pretty much in the clear now. But as the people around you continued going about with life as usual, you found yourself gaining more free time than you knew what to do with.

Technically, you’re no longer a retainer of the Kamisato house, and neither Ayaka nor the Commissioner officially invited you back into their ranks. But with how much they’ve got on their plates, it was normal for you to be a sitting duck now that everyone in the estate was cured.

Being completely aware of that did nothing to quell the agitation, though.

You couldn’t bring yourself to seek some semblance of comfort from Thoma either. You knew he was just as busy as the Kamisato siblings. But another reason why you’re a bit hesitant to approach him alone was because…you’re unsure of what you actually were to the guy.

After that eventful trip to Yashiori Island, you’d be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t think about the way he’d kissed you that day. Of course, you’d snap out of it once you caught yourself daydreaming, but…

What else were you supposed to think about?

Despite having complete freedom to do whatever you wanted, you weren’t the type to go around kissing other people for the hell of it. You could barely stand the idea of receiving affection until recently. So when the man who claimed the rights to your first kiss suddenly became too busy to sit down with you and talk about it properly, you supposed you’re entitled to some degree of senseless overthinking.

One day, Hina came up to you at lunch.

“Doctor Shinya reached out to Madarame this morning,” she told you. “He said he wants you to meet him at the capital.”

For some odd reason, the news filled you with an inexplicable sense of relief. Given that this was the last day your semi-nonexistent medical expertise was needed, you feared that you'd be the only one not doing anything around the estate. And since your status as a retainer was still in question, Madarame decided not to issue any housework for you to do.

“You’ve done plenty for us, Miss Kira. You deserve to rest, too,” he said. You wanted to tell him that keeping your hands busy also kept thoughts of Thoma far away, but you didn’t exactly know how to break it to him at the time.

Now though, you’ve found a much-needed distraction.

“Miss Kira.”

You’re in the middle of a conversation with Hirano, who offered you a ride to the capital on his horse, when Ayame approached you in the courtyard. She met your gaze with a hint of hesitation, like she was embarrassed. But you didn’t let yourself scrutinize her more than you should.

“Miss Ayame,” you greeted in return. “Is anything the matter?”

Ayame opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, and sighed. “I… Can I speak with you for a moment?”

“Sure,” you agreed with a smile, turning to Hirano. “I’ll meet you outside after. Thanks again.”

The guard nodded earnestly. “Anytime! This is the least I can do for you, after all.”

Huh? The least he could do…? But weren’t you the one who’s indebted to them for trying to kill one of their leaders? Alas, you couldn’t spare it another thought when you followed Ayame to a less crowded corner in the gardens. She was awfully quick to get to the point.

“I was wrong about you.”

You watched in silence as Ayame traced idle shapes in the sand with the rake in her grasp. “What do you mean?”

“I thought you were going to take advantage of milady’s trust,” she murmured. “For a while, I even blamed you for the Tenryou Commission’s attack on the estate, too.”

A soft breeze wafted through the courtyard, making you sigh. “You’re completely right about that. It was because of me that the mansion got sacked by those soldiers.”

“But you didn’t leave us for dead,” Ayame argued, turning to face you with an insistent look. “You even went to that…that cursed island just to give us a cure you made yourself. Us, the same people who tried to shun you out of the estate.”

You waved a hand dismissively. “I’m only trying to undo the damage I’ve done. That doesn’t make me any less of the cold-blooded killer you know I am.”

“Real cold-blooded killers won’t try to ‘undo the damage they’ve done’, though.”

Her response was almost petrifying in how sincere it came forth. You stared at Ayame with equal parts confusion and disbelief as you knit your brows together.

“Miss Ayame… What are you trying to say?”

She huffed. “Well, it’s obvious that Lady Ayaka’s kindness has gotten through so there’s no point in antagonizing you. That’s why, I… I wanted to apologize. For the way I acted around you these past few weeks.”

One second passed, then two, before you ended up burying your face in your hands.

“Miss Kira?” Ayame asked, puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

Archons. She was so sincere with her apology, and you had the gall to overlook the one thing that made her so hostile with you in the first place.

Slowly, your hands dropped to your sides as you shot her a somber look.

“I still haven’t apologized for drugging you that night.”

Ayame’s lips parted with confusion before she slipped back that mask of hostility that’s grown so familiar to you now. “It took you this long to realize that?! Gods, I knew I shouldn’t have apologized first!”

“Miss Kira!” You suddenly heard Hirano shout from the entrance. “Your ride’s ready! Let me know when we’re leaving!”

Not wanting to receive the brunt of Ayame’s wrath, you ended your exchange with a quick bow. “Apology accepted, Miss Ayame! But I have another pressing matter to attend to, so let’s save the teary make-up embrace for later, yeah?”

“You sneaky little—!”

Without waiting for her to finish, you bolted towards the doorway.

“What?” You scowled. “You sent them all home?”

Doctor Shinya chuckled from where he’s seated beside you at Shimura’s—one of Inazuma City’s up-and-coming outdoor restaurants. When you and Hirano arrived at the entrance to the capital, the doctor was already there, waiting for you. Doctor Shinya even offered to treat you to a late lunch despite the fact that you’ve already eaten.

And now he was telling you about how he’d discharged the Tenryou soldiers to their respective homes today.

“It was just as you’ve said, performing the procedure with the aid of a Pyro Vision increased the broth’s potency tenfold!” Doctor Shinya gushed with a mouthful of tempura. “It was a good thing Mister Naganohara’s daughter was more than willing to cooperate. Oh, and that boy from the Kamisato clan also dropped by from time to time as well. What was his name again? Thoma?”

You were surprised to find out that Doctor Shinya asked for Yoimiya’s help in the matter, but you supposed he couldn’t just ignore that pro-tip you gave him beforehand. But finding out about these detours that Thoma made on top of everything else he was dealing with made you shake your head. He was just the same as the Kamisato siblings—putting their duties first before anything else.

“I’m glad to know the soldiers have all recovered then,” you sighed, sipping the tea you’d ordered. “But what are we going to do with the Tenryou Commission? Didn’t you get any backlash for just ordering those guys to go home or something?”

“Oh? You haven’t heard?” Doctor Shinya blinked, setting down his bowl and chopsticks. “Apparently, the Raiden Shogun has made a definitive ruling for the case filed against the heads of the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions. They were stripped of their titles this morning, and Kujou Sara was elected as the new head of the Kujou clan. She’s the one who insisted they get some much-needed rest.”

Well. This was definitely news to you.

“I-I see…” you replied dryly. “Um, wait. So what’s going to happen now? Is the war over? Are they putting a stop to the Vision Hunt Decree?”

“The answer to all of that is...yes. Lord Ayato is actually overseeing the return of the confiscated Visions as we speak.” Doctor Shinya smiled, gesturing a set distance away from behind him.You squinted your eyes as you tried to follow his lead until you finally saw it.

Right where the statue of the Electro Archon stood, you saw a flank of scaffolding set-up in front of the stone visage of the Raiden Shogun. It was hard to tell because you were too far away, but you were pretty sure that the men engrossed with it were taking out the colorful orbs once embedded within. Suddenly, you remembered something Thoma said in passing during that one festival on Amakane Island.

Gods, I wish those two would catch a break soon.

You couldn’t even suppress the grin that made it on your face—not minding that Doctor Shinya could see you smiling like an idiot.

They did it. Ayaka and Ayato managed to turn the tides of the war after all.

“Well, that said,” Doctor Shinya spoke again, interrupting your thoughts. “I only called you out here to update you about what’s happening. These past two weeks haven’t been easy on any of us, after all.”

You nodded with a dreary laugh. “I never thought I’d be taking care of so many people after I…”

For a second, you panicked. Right. You hadn’t told Doctor Shinya about the years you spent as an underground assassin. And it’s not like you could break it to him easily when he seemed to take your contributions with high regard. Great, now you were ashamed of your own tragic past. Was this what they called character development?

But from the way his eyes softened, something told you he already knew.

“So, Doctor Shinya…” You decided to shift the topic. “What are your plans after this?”

“I’ll actually be accompanying Lord Ayato for the reparation procedures,” he told you. “Her Excellency put him in charge of maintaining public relations with the people of Watatsumi Island, and he invited me in hopes of gaining their goodwill.”

“Oh, right. You said you were a native, right?”

Doctor Shinya nodded. “Yes. And…we’ll also be doing a thorough inspection on Yashiori Island. The Tatarigami typically takes years to fully set in the human body, but we suspected that Kujou Takayuki must have done something nefarious to get his hands on such a powerful manifestation of the curse.”

You nodded. “Yeah. I’ve never heard of being able to mind-control others with it…”

“Exactly,” the doctor agreed. “Which reminds me. Would you like to come along when we head to Yashiori for the routine inspections? Lord Ayato informed me that Her Excellency said something about a possibility of the wards being disturbed—causing the rampant spread of the Tatarigami.”

“...Wards?”

He nodded once more. “When the Raiden Shogun slaid the Orobashi hundreds of years ago, the manifestation of its hatred came in the form of the Tatarigami. To keep it from spreading to the nearby islands, Her Excellency put up protective wards all over Yashiori. But…we can speak of it in more detail if you decide to accept my invitation. I’m sure Lord Ayato will be glad to have you on-board.”

Your shoulders slumped at the news. So it wasn’t over just yet after all, huh…

“You know, there’s an onsen somewhere down the road,” Doctor Naoko mentioned, jabbing a thumb behind his shoulder. “Now that I think about it, you look like you could use some rest.”

You shook your head almost too quickly. “Not at all! I’ve actually been feeling…antsy because I had nothing else to do. So please, do take me with you on your trip. I’ll be happy to show you around the island if need be.”

To your disappointment, it seemed like Doctor Shinya was not having it.

“You’ve worked hard enough, kid,” he chuckled, reaching out to ruffle your hair in that same, infuriating way Doctor Naoko used to do with you. “Now go treat yourself to an afternoon at the bathhouse. We aren’t leaving for another two weeks, so you better make use of the time to relax.”

You wanted to protest—to let him know that you weren’t the only one worked down to the bone by everything that’s happening. Ayaka and Ayato were using all their capabilities to restore peace and order. Doctor Shinya took care of an entire battalion of soldiers by himself. Kujou Sara was busy fixing everything her father had inevitably messed up, and…

Thoma. He was probably out there doing errands in-between for everyone else. Because that’s just who he is as a person—a housekeeper in every sense of the word, even if his duties went beyond the corners of the estate.

But in spite of it all, the buzzing need for a few moments of peace tickled the back of your head. You sighed, succumbing to your not-so subtle desire for a break.

“So just how good is this bathhouse we’re talking about…?”

You stood in front of the doorway to the hot springs with a sigh.

The owner said the bathhouse was reserved for the day by none other than the Kamisato clan, and was about to turn you away. But, in a moment of desperation, you mentioned you were one of the clan’s retainers.

“Hmm… Oh, here you are on the guestlist,” he remarked as he went through his clipboard. “My apologies, Miss Kira. I’ll be preparing your things in a while. Someone already went ahead of you, by the way!”

And now here you are.

The glass on the sliding doorway had fogged over from the steam inside, so you couldn’t really see who you were going to share the hot spring with. And given that this was the mixed bath, there might be men from the estate inside. You weren’t really opposed to being in the company of the opposite sex but…from what you remembered, no one had really left the mansion today aside from yourself.

So who was the person lounging inside the onsen, then?

It couldn’t be Ayato. He was preoccupied with retrieving Visions from the Shogun’s statue. And you couldn’t exactly picture Ayaka just waltzing into a public bath like this either.

“Only one way to find out, I guess…” you muttered.

The interior wasn’t as extravagant as you initially expected. Just a large, closed room with vents in the ceiling to let the steam billow outside. In the middle, the floor was seemingly paved to imitate a naturally occurring hot spring—decorated with ornamental rocks and fake moss. There was a section in the far end where you figured the showers were, if the bamboo shutters were anything to go by.

You glanced over to the hot spring in the middle, squinting through the steam rising from the water. Just as you were told, someone else was already occupying the onsen, but their back was turned to you and they had a towel wrapped around their head and a smaller one draped across their face. It made the person’s identity quite hard to decipher through the steam.

Knowing it’ll be futile to scrutinize from a distance, you decided to take off your robe, folding it by the shelf near the entrance, before finally taking a well-deserved dip.

The stranger(?) didn’t even stir even when the water rippled all around you. You’d decided to occupy the same side of the hot spring out of curiosity, and when you could take a closer look, this person was, in fact, a man.

Or they could be a flat-chested woman. Don’t be so quick to judge!

You shook your head, letting the heat of the water seep into your skin. The effect was near-instantaneous. You found yourself sinking lower into the bath as you pressed your back against the edge. A pleased sigh escaped your lips and you were mindful enough to wrap your hair in a towel to keep the strands from getting wet.

You stayed like that for a few minutes—happily letting the hot water work its magic on your fatigued body as you stared at the ceiling. But the more time passed, the more you found yourself growing concerned for the man just a few feet away. He hadn’t stirred since you got here, and you worried he might have passed out.

And won’t putting a towel on your face in an onsen suffocate you or something?

Hesitantly, you weaved through the hot water with your arms crossed—conscious of the fact that your breasts were on full display. But the moment you reached out in an attempt to remove the towel from his face…

You yelped loudly—the sound echoing throughout the room when you suddenly found yourself with your arms twisted behind you as the man forced your face against the wet rock. What the fuck? How did he—

“...Miss Kira?”

Oh my fucking Archons.

Of course it was Thoma who put you in an instant headlock.

The two of you merely stared at each other in stunned silence. The towel on his face had dropped to the water and was drifting uselessly across the surface, and the one he’d tied around his head began to come loose as well—letting his long, damp hair cascade down his shoulders.

His very naked shoulders, attached to a very naked body he used to press you down in one of the most compromising positions imaginable. Huh. This reminded you of the first night he cornered you in the Kamisato estate’s kitchen…

“I’m so sorry,” he muttered sheepishly, making a show of turning around as if he was trying to give you some privacy. “I thought you were some asshole that’s trying to kill me or something.”

“I can see that,” you scoffed, sinking back into the water with your face redder than his uniform. “Glad to see you’re alive and didn’t die from steam suffocation, though.”

Once you were settled, Thoma decided to scooch a few feet away before lowering himself into the bath once again.

You did not stare at his ass while his back was turned to you. You didn’t!!!!

“So…” you began, still feeling all sorts of awkward. “What brings you here?”

Thoma cleared his throat, and you watched the bob of his neck as he swallowed. “Um. I might’ve been complaining about wanting to go to the onsen for days now, and Lord Ayato made the proper arrangements just to shut me up.”

“And he honored your wishes just like that?” you snorted. “If I hadn’t known any better, I would’ve thought you were the princess of the house.”

The chief retainer shot you a narrow-eyed stare. “I could ask the same for you. Did you just happen to go into the same bathhouse as me at the same time I decided to as well?”

“Maybe it’s fate,” you shrugged, recalling the same train of conversation occurring between the both of you in the past. But when you began to consider his question a bit more seriously…

You know, there’s an onsen somewhere down the road.

The bathhouse has been reserved by the Kamisato clan for the day, my apologies.

Lord Ayato made the proper arrangements just to shut me up.

You blinked. That shouldn’t be possible, right? This was all a coincidence. Surely Ayato and Doctor Shinya wouldn’t deliberately set the two of you up like this, right?

“How are you?”

A jolt ran across your shoulders when Thoma spoke out of the blue again—his voice nearly echoing in the empty room. You stared at him incredulously before forcing yourself to peel your eyes away from the droplets of water that ran tantalizingly across his pectorals.

“I-I’m good,” you replied. “There isn’t much to do back at home anymore so I was just feeling a little antsy. Doctor Shinya told me to relax for a change.” For some reason, Thoma laughed the moment you finished speaking, and your eyes narrowed into slits.

“Sorry, sorry. I was just a bit…happy.”

“With what?”

“You called the estate home.”

“Oh.”

Man, you’ve gotten so soft, it’s embarrassing.

“How about you?” you murmured in return. “You’ve been so busy, I could hardly talk to you.”

Thoma raised an eyebrow, mouth quirked into a lopsided smile. “Did you miss me?”

“So what if I did? Stupid guard dog…”

You startled again when the water rippled all around you once more. Thoma rose out of the bath just enough to make his way to you. And when he leaned down to meet your gaze head-on, you swallowed thickly—face burning hotter than the room itself.

“I think I liked it better when you called me pretty boy.” He pouted.

You groaned, pushing him away, but Thoma refused to budge. “That was one time.”

“Once is enough to have me thinking about it for weeks.” The laugh that left his lips had a familiar sultriness to it that made your thighs clench. Thoma’s wet hand was on your face again, cupping your cheek as the other peeled away the towel in your hair.

“I missed you, too,” he murmured, thumb gently teasing the swell of your lip. His green eyes looked so pretty up close. “So much that I had to hop into a bathhouse just to keep my mind off of it.”

You huffed. “Then why didn’t you just go back? Doctor Shinya said everything was already sorted out with the Shogun.”

“Well, yeah. But I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to hold back if I saw you again.”

“Huh?”

You barely had time to process it when Thoma captured your lips with his own—the hand not holding your face immediately resting on your hip. But you didn’t even have any fight left in you when you were so quick to melt into his kiss. You sighed, and Thoma used the opportunity to slither his tongue inside your mouth.

He lifted you onto the edge of the bath, wet bodies sliding past each other as he slotted himself between your legs. Though his lower half was still submerged in the water, the feel of his toned stomach made you more flustered than it should. But Thoma wasn’t exactly giving you a lot of leeway to think.

The chief retainer wrapped your legs around his waist, pulling you closer as he kissed you fervently. You mewled into his mouth as your hands wandered to his hair. You tugged on the strands in a way you remembered he liked, and you couldn’t help the heat that stirred in your stomach at the sound he just made.

“Thoma,” you sighed when he pulled away, lips trailing a fiery path down the column of your neck. “Are we really going to do this? Here?”

For some reason, he tensed. Thoma peeled himself away slightly, eyeing the way you’re presented bare for him to see. You might have blanched and covered yourself if it had been anyone else, but…

“Sorry,” he muttered again, leaning forward to rest your foreheads together as his hands gripped your thighs. “It’s just like I said. I can’t seem to restrain myself when it comes to you… But if you want me to behave, I’ll gladly do so.”

“...Like a dog?”

“You don’t have to put it like that!”

For the first time in a while, you managed a lighthearted laugh, shifting your head a little so you could nuzzle the crook of his neck. You couldn’t find traces of Thoma’s scent given that the steam was making your head swim a little. But the reassuring heat of his body was enough to make you feel safe, in spite of his seemingly ravenous appetite for you.

“I’ll let you do anything you want if you answer my question,” you told him, biting your lip.

He craned his head. “What is it?”

“...How do you feel about me, exactly?”

You instinctively recoiled, fingers tightening around his arms as you braced yourself for an inevitable rejection. You didn’t really have an idea why you expected the worst right off the bat, but… Surely Thoma wouldn’t—

“How I feel about you?” he repeated, chest reverberating with each word.

Thoma forcibly pulled you away from his torso, making you meet his beautiful emerald eyes. The smile he flashed you the next second was so real, you could cry.

“I like you. Can’t you tell?”

Just like that, the disbelief came crashing down on you all over again.

Did people really just admit their feelings like that? Straight to the point, without any hint of hesitation? You had no clues as to how potential couples went about the ‘confession’ stage, but…wasn’t Thoma being a bit too honest? You thought all the best romances started with some degree of denial and pining from both parties.

“I’m…not used to this kind of thing, okay?” you replied, suddenly feeling even more embarrassed. “If it’s normal for you to just admit to someone that you like them, then—”

“You’re the first person I’ve ever liked enough to confess to, though.”

You could have sworn that steam billowed not just from the water but also out of your ears. This was not real. No one could be this fucking honest with himself. You refused to believe it.

…But then again, Thoma had proved himself to be different from every other person you’ve ever met. He had the patience of a saint, a capacity for banter that could keep up with your own, and a deep-rooted understanding that not everyone could afford to spare for people like you.

Whenever you looked at him, he always reminded you of the sun with not a single cloud obscuring his intentions and you started to see why.

(Overlooking the fact that he lied about Ayaka’s plans. You can forgive him for that. Kind of.)

“I don’t deserve you,” you told him with a groan. “Why do you even like me?”

Something shifted in the hot air, and suddenly Thoma’s easygoing smile dropped. He spoke your real name like a prayer in the thick steam, and you could feel your head buzz from the whiplash of it all. When his mouth descended onto yours once again, he lacked the ferocity he’d exhibited in both times you’ve ever kissed him. Thoma merely pecked your lips with the softest of touches before pulling away to meet your eyes.

“You deserve me and more,” he murmured. “And I’ll give you all of that if you’re willing to have me.”

Your first instinct was to argue, but the heat between your legs has festered enough. Instead of debating about what you did and didn’t deserve, you closed your eyes and finally let yourself fall off the edge.

Thoma’s hands were inescapable when you finally gave him a little nudge—that final confirmation. He swallowed up all the sounds you made as he lifted himself out of the water, fingers already making quick work between the growing heat in your thighs. The evidence of your arousal was hard to hide—especially when he’s sliding those thick digits against your glistening seam so tantalizingly, you almost forgot you were in a public bath.

“Thoma,” you mewled. “W-What if…someone comes in?”

You gasped when he eased one finger inside you, wrapping one arm around your waist as he watched your expressions with a sultry smile. “As much as I’d hate to share this view with someone else…” He leaned closer to your ear, and you instinctively clenched your walls around him. “Something tells me the idea of getting caught excites you.”

“Quit projecting! You’re such a weirdo.” The words were meant to hit like an insult, but you ended up moaning them instead as Thoma slipped in a second finger. “F-Fucking pervert…”

“Hmm? Would you like me to stop then?”

You mourned the loss of the friction when his hand became stock still inside you. A throaty groan scratched against your throat as you threw out a fist—hitting his lean chest in the process.

“...No.”

He chuckled, low and dangerous as he let you sink down to the hot spring—flipping you around so your ass was in full display. His fingers never left, though, and the moment he had you bent over the edge of the pool, Thoma resumed his sinful ministrations.

You could barely contain your moans when he pressed his chest against your back, spreading your thighs wider as he fingered you loose. His tongue slithered across the shell of your ear, and he even nibbled on your lobe as he worked you between your legs. You sighed—completely embarrassed by how slick and easy the slide of his fingers had become.

But before you could make another sound, Thoma prodded your mouth with the fingers of his free hand.

“If you don’t want to get caught,” he whispered huskily. “You need to be quiet.”

You would’ve been mortified by how easily you opened your mouth for him had it been any other scenario. But you were so unbelievably aroused by his voice, his heat, and the feel of his strong body caging you underneath his, that your otherwise snarky defenses had been tossed aside. You didn’t want anything else—didn’t need anything else.

All that mattered right now was Thoma.

It didn’t take long for you to notice his hard length rubbing against your ass while he made a mess with your mouth and cunt with his fingers. You couldn’t even fathom the dexterity his multitasking should have required, but you figured that when it came to doing several things at once, he was the man for the job.

You moaned when he curled his fingers inside you, thighs quivering as he continued thrusting in and out. You couldn’t tell if the clouds of vapor emerging with each bated breath was from the steam or not, but when Thoma took his fingers out from both your mouth and cunt, you couldn’t help the whine that got caught in the back of your throat.

“So needy.” A soft chuckle resounded from behind you and your eyes widened when you felt him slide his cock against your slick folds.

“T-Thoma…”

“Tell me you deserve me,” he murmured into your ear, pressing your thighs together as he rocked his length into the space between your legs.

“What are you—”

“Tell me or I won’t fuck you the way you want me to.”

…Gods, he was so hot when he bossed you around.

Each time his hips pressed forward, you could feel the head of his cock catching on your clit. You nearly sobbed, forcing your palms onto the slippery rocks as you desperately attempted to meet his thrusts. But Thoma wasn’t letting you get what you wanted so easily.

“I’m waiting.”

Fuck it. Who needs dignity anyway?

“I deserve it,” you moaned. “I deserve you. I deserve your cock. I deserve to get rammed into the next life, just— please!”

Your vision nearly went dark when he finally pressed himself against your entrance—filling you to the brim with the heat of his length. The burn of his passage was conspicuous but bearable. Although, when he finally sheathed himself to the hilt, Thoma let out another infuriatingly sexy laugh as he pressed a kiss against your neck.

“Tell me you like me, too.”

This fucking guy…

“I like you,” you mumbled, feeling your heart stutter with every word. “I like you so much I can’t imagine going back to a life without you anymore.”

All of a sudden, the possessive grip he had on your hips faltered, making you turn around to sneak a glance. Thoma stared at you with wide, green eyes—flushing so badly even the tips of his ears were red.

In the end, his embarrassment melted with a sigh.

“You know just exactly how to rile me up, don’t you?”

You were about to dish out some crude reply, but Thoma effectively shut you up with a sharp thrust.

He took you against the edge of the hot spring, pawing at every inch of skin his hands could reach. Your stomach, your breasts, your thighs—if he’d taken you somewhere else, you were sure he’d spend hours worshipping your body alone.

Maybe taking a guard dog as a lover wasn’t so bad after all.

“So…good,” you drawled, barely having enough strength to prop yourself upright. Thoma muttered something under his breath before angling his cock a bit differently, hitting a spot inside you that made you melt underneath his touch.

For a moment, he let himself slip out of your cunt—an action met with another whine in protest. But Thoma was quick to flip you over again, making your back dig into the pool’s edge. And when your gazes met, you were completely unprepared for the unadulterated want in his eyes.

“I can’t wait—” he hissed, spreading your thighs wide enough to accommodate him, “—to take you in my bedroom. I’ll love you until morning, I swear it.”

And you believed him. Every single word. Because Thoma was as honest as a man could be, and you wondered if you could learn to be the same way once you’ve been by his side long enough.

You’ve never felt like this before. So whole. So special. So adored. He made it clear with each thrust exactly how much you meant to him, and you’d be a fool to turn away now. With a sigh, you laced your fingers around Thoma’s neck—eyes glazed over with a desire of your own.

“Kiss me,” you whispered.

He was sweating all over, lips bitten red with your earlier activities. But Thoma seemed all too willing to heed your every wish as he lowered himself. You leaned upward to meet him halfway—pressing your breasts against his chest as the cadence of his thrusts slowed into a crawl. Thoma canted his hips deep enough to have you moaning into his mouth, and suddenly, you wouldn’t trade any of this, wouldn’t trade any of him for the world.

If this is love, you thought airily as you lost yourself in the sensation.

I want all of it.

A few days later, you and Thoma had gone back to work.

You’d been out all morning, busy with returning confiscated Visions to their rightful owners—something you were more than enthusiastic to get done. After all, it was a job entrusted to the both of you by Ayaka herself.

As a retainer of the Kamisato house, your Lady’s orders were of utmost importance.

However, as the two of you walked back into the estate, your quiet banter with your new lover was momentarily interrupted. In the center of the pavilion, you spotted Ayaka in her lonesome, but you could very much make out the curious eyes of the other retainers encroaching from the sidelines. You couldn’t blame them for their curiosity.

The Shirasagi Himegimi’s fan dance was always a spectacle to behold.

You hung back by the entrance as you bore witness to the sight you’d been dying to see since you’d laid your eyes on her. Ayaka was as graceful as the winds of a winter morning, with every move serving to mesmerize any lucky onlooker. She swayed to the beat of the song in her head, flicking her fan with a show of snowflakes every now and again. And when the breathtaking performance came to a close, she glanced your way with a sweet smile.

“Welcome home,” she greeted kindly. “How was your trip?”

“Tiring,” Thoma yawned as the two of you met her at the center. “But everyone’s happy now I guess. Isn’t that right, Miss Kira?”

You nodded. “But it wouldn’t have been possible without you, milady.”

Ayaka chuckled, taking your hands in hers. “Brother and I only laid the groundwork. Everyone else in the Yashiro Commission did their parts as well. This is a team effort, you know?”

If the you from three months ago saw you right now, you knew she would’ve been mortified. Clutching the hands of the same woman you’d been sworn to kill, what a joke. But then again…maybe your past self wouldn’t have minded the idea of being doted on if it was by the princess herself.

The day you could finally speak to her again, you practically fell to your knees—face splotchy with tears as you spat out every apology you could think of. You were aware of how pathetic you were being. Your crimes had been duly pardoned by Inazuman law, and even if you still harbored some degree of guilt, you swore that you’d right your wrongs in any way or form. And that’s what you were doing now, as an official Kamisato retainer.

But Ayaka, in all her merciful glory, asked you to stand and put your chin up.

“There’s no need for tears, Miss Kira.” She smiled. “To me, you never really left. You just had to find yourself. And we’d always been willing to welcome you home once you did.”

And now here you were.

“Oh, you two! You’re back!”

The sound of the Commissioner’s voice snapped you out of your momentary reminiscing. Ayato emerged from the mansion with a familiar figure curled in his arms, and another familiar figure tailing him from behind.

“Yo, newbie!” Yoimiya greeted with a smile. “So you’re the one who made all those nifty cures, huh? Glad to have supported your cause!”

Blinking up from underneath her hood, Sayu seemingly nuzzled herself further into Ayato’s chest. “So noisy…”

“Aw, Sayu! Don’t go sleeping now! We’re still going to test the fireworks I brought!”

“Are you making preparations for the lunar festival later?” Thoma asked. “We kind of delayed that for a while, huh?”

Ayato nodded with a sigh. “All the more reason to put our backs into it. We’re heading over to Amakane Island to sample Yoimiya’s new inventions. She wanted to make sure there’s no need for fine-tuning. Do you two want to come with?”

“Isn’t it a bit early for testing out fireworks though?” Ayaka wondered, gazing out at the afternoon sky. “But I suppose we could take advantage of the time we have. You and Miss Kira are leaving tomorrow, yes?”

“Unfortunately,” the Commissioner sighed before turning to you and Thoma. “Well, what do you say?”

Before you could even open your mouth, Thoma was already slinging an arm around your shoulder—grinning at Ayato with a confident air.

“We’d love to!”

“So why are you still calling me Kira again? Everyone’s starting to forget I actually have a real name because of you...”

You posed the question to Thoma when you two found a comfortable spot on the cliff, just underneath the cherry blossoms as you watched Yoimiya and the Kamisato siblings set up the fireworks by the beach.

Thoma shrugged, resting his chin on your shoulder as he hugged you from behind. “I kind of got used to it.”

“Liar.”

“What? I’m not lying.”

You snorted, turning to face him with a smirk—the fox mask on your head lightly bumping against his. “It’s not the whole truth either, though,” you said, leaning closer to nuzzle your nose with his. “Come on. I’m leaving tomorrow without any idea when I’ll be back. I won’t get the chance to ask you again for a good while.”

He whined. “Can I really not come along? I’ve been to Yashiori, too, you know… I’m pretty tough.”

“So you’re just going to leave milady alone like that?”

“...How about we all just go on an indefinite field trip to the Orobashi’s graveyard, and Madarame can be the pseudo-Yashiro Commissioner for a while,” Thoma suggested. “I think it would be a win-win for all parties involved.”

“I don’t think milady will last long living in the wild,” you admitted, and Thoma surrendered with a sigh. “But fine. If you don’t want to tell me, I won’t force you.”

For what it’s worth, the thought of leaving Thoma to help investigate the wards on Yashiori left a bitter taste in your mouth, too. It’s only been a few days since the two of you made it official, and now you’re going to have to leave him for a while. But there were things that had to be done, and as a Kamisato retainer, you’re obligated to see them through until the end.

Sometime later, Yoimiya shouted from below to keep your eyes peeled. You and Thoma had been assigned as the official judges for her newest craft, and you were more than happy to humor the lively fireworks-maker. It also gave you an excuse to sit between Thoma’s legs as you watched.

However, as the special fireworks shot up to the sky, you felt Thoma’s breath against your ear.

“It’s because I want to be the only one who calls you by your real name,” he whispered. “Is that so possessive of me?”

Whether the redness of your face was a reflection from the fireworks or plain embarrassment, no one would ever be able to tell.

Yoimiya’s invention was something else—fireworks that changed color right before the sparks shimmered into oblivion. Fiery red morphing into electric blue. Bright gold into luscious green. You watched each one rise into the sky with a dazzled look, chest twisting at the idea that it might take you a while to witness another fireworks show again.

You were completely unaware of the bright emerald eyes that watched you the whole time.

When all the preparations on the island were set, and you’d given Yoimiya your stamp of approval, the visitors had started pouring in. It’s as if Inazuma hadn’t been on the brink of an internal collapse because of the Kanjou and Tenryou Commission’s misdeeds. Everyone who walked beneath the torii gates had smiles splitting their faces as they sampled festival food, tied their wishing charms, and tried their hand at the game booths.

That night, Thoma finally met his match in the form of a rather competitive Kujou Sara—who made a surprising entrance with Masahito despite how busy things were on their end. She ended up beating Thoma’s goldfish-catching record without a sweat, earning herself a new and improved Mister Danuki plush of her own.

Even the kids from Konda Village made it, immediately running towards yours and Ayaka’s direction before they inevitably dragged the two of you all over the place. The princess must have sensed the unease in your posture as Futaba and Takeru told you about how their fathers used to bring them here all the time, too.

There’s a time for you to tell them. Just not now, her eyes seemed to say.

Ayaka had to peel away from your little group to perform her fan-dance to the crowd, enrapturing every single person in attendance without fail. From behind, you could hear Kujou Sara speaking to Ayato about how the princess can finally enjoy a festival like a normal girl. The Commissioner couldn’t help but sigh in agreement.

By the time Yoimiya’s fireworks show was underway, you were already exhausted.

Instead of taking your usual spot by the cliffs, you decided to hang around by the entrance with Thoma, where there were less people crowding the space. This gave you the leeway to breathe, resting your head on his shoulder as you fought your brain’s desire to just go to sleep.

“We can head back now if you want,” he offered, stroking your hair.

“Mmm…” you groaned. “But Yoimiya’s fireworks.”

The chief retainer smiled. “And you’ve already done her a favor by judging her handiwork. You deserve a good night’s rest before you leave, you know?”

Well, it didn’t take much convincing for you to agree, so to speak.

Thoma’s mattress was soft as you landed on the surface, not bothering to change out of your kimono. Your lover let out a soft laugh while he stripped himself of his uniform before joining you on his bed. The dip of the bed under his weight made you crack one eye open, and you could see him holding a familiar toy in front of you.

“Don’t forget to pack Mister Danuki before you leave,” he reminded, setting the plush on top of his nightstand.

“I won’t,” you murmured. “I’ll miss you too much if I do…”

Thoma sighed as he pulled the sheets over your bodies. “You always know what to say, huh?”

You let out a satisfied noise when you felt him nestle you in his strong arms. Turning around, you rested your head against his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart.

“You’re not going to try anything tonight?” you asked curiously.

“As much as I want to have passionate, unforgettable goodbye sex,” Thoma started with a laugh, pressing his lips against your forehead, “I am completely serious about you getting a good night’s rest, Miss Kira. Now go to bed before I change my mind.”

Though your eyelids were heavy with fatigue, you still managed a soft, almost mischievous laugh. Thoma, of course, didn’t miss the playful lilt in your tone, and immediately groaned when you climbed on top of his lap.

You stared at him from your vantage point, watching the way his ears turned red under your scrutiny. This was the man who made the gears on your stale, unsalvageable life finally turn. If it weren’t for him, you never would’ve changed. If it weren’t for him, you never would have formulated a cure that’s effective enough to save those you cared about.

If it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t be as happy as you were now.

“I love you,” you told him, fingers toying with the pendant around his throat. “Thoma of the Kamisato House, I love you.”

Thoma smiled, soft and sincere and everything you’ve ever loved. When his hand reached up to caress your cheek, you’re not strong enough to resist his touch.

“I love you, too.”

This was your place in the world. Even if you had to leave for a while, you’ll always come back to him.

Without worry. Without fail.

<- previous | next ->

#genshin impact #genshin #genshin smut #genshin fanfic #thoma smut #thoma fanfic #genshin fanfiction #genshin scenarios #genshin headcanons #genshin thoma #genshin x reader #thoma x reader #cryoculus #guard dog

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justagingerwithredhair · 1 year

Text

I have made a fascinating discovery!

I was flipping through my encyclopedia of spirits and came across a Polynesian God named "Ku"

Yep. Ku.

Needless to say, I read the entry, and I think it's plausible that Octopath Traveler II took some inspiration from this diety! I'll attach a photo copy of the text and a transcription below.

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The first page reads as follows...

Also known as: Tu

Origin: Polynesia

Ku is a warrior spirit; Lord of War as well as a spirit of abundance of the sea. The essence of male generative power; he is the spirit of testosterone. In Hawaiian cosmology, Ku is the essence of masculinity, as Hina epitomizes feminine energy. Ku is among the four major Hawaiian deities alongside Kane, Kanaloa and Lono but was mainly venerated, at least in his warrior form, by the elite. Formal ceremonies were reserved for the nobility and priesthood and were performed under severe taboos. The practice of human sacrifice seems to have been introduced to Hawaii largely by Ku's priesthood. King Kamehameha worshiped Ku as Lord of War in his eventually successful efforts to unite the Hawaiian Islands under his rule.

Ku has many paths and aspects ranging from brutal and bloodthirsty to nurturing and kind. He is the patron of ear, fishing, forests and certain types of agriculture and sorcery.

Ku's name means "to strike" or "to stand." He is a versatile, many faceted spirit with concerns other than war. He was also the patron of Hawaii's master canoe builders and wood—

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The second page reads as follows...

workers, considered a sacred occupation. Ku dwells in deep places: the depths of the forest and the sea.

Manifestations: Ku can manifest in any form he likes; he is a master shape-shifter. However, common forms include man, caterpillar, and cucumber

Iconography: Fierce carved wood tiki statues

Botanicals: Breadfruit; coconut; cucumber: 'Ohi'a lehua tree (Metrosideros collina; M. macropus): images of Ku were traditionally carved from this wood

Color: Red

Direction: East

Sacred animal: Pig; eel

Bird: Hawk

Planet: The rising sun

Time: The first, second and third days of each month

See also: Akua; Haumea, Hina; Kanaloa, Kane; Kihawahine; Kukauakahi; Ku'ulaki; Lono

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It's almost impossible not to see the parallels here! This book is called Encyclopedia of Spirits: the ultimate guide to the magic of fairies, genies, demons, ghosts, gods & goddesses by Judika Illes for those who are curious! ^^

#octopath traveler 2 #octopath traveler ii #hikari ku #polynesian #polynesian mythology #ginger's scholarly pursuits

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ice-devourer · 9 months

Text

so sources first,,,this is based on @hina-has-no-life ’s mori & regret analysis and @daz4i ’s dazai backstory theory, additionally the structure of this very short blurb is very similar to yiyun li’s ‘where reasons end’

PS. THIS IS NOT MORI X DAZAI OKAY THIS IS ANOTHER MANIFESTATION OF MORIS REGRET 🔪

SYNOPSIS — mori thought he had loosened the teeth of choosing to fail a boy he wanted to save. but as camus wrote, “the heart has its own memory, and i have forgotten nothing.” so in this little story, he dreams. he dreams what his heart cannot forget.

im actually quite scared to post this but my bones tell me i must T — T

[START]

Yellow light bathes our scene, our dream.

The air is visible for a moment as the dust glitters on Dazai’s skin, on the backseat, on Mori’s eyes in the car mirror, all illuminated by the decaying light.

The light in slices, as if sliced by a knife—a knife. Neither wants to be the knife. To slice through the beating heart on a white platter, we don’t need questions—but who is the heart? Who is the platter? No, what matters is the knife, because what matters is the harm we can do to the people we love.

“What were you trying to achieve, taking me in that day?”

“I don't often drag out teenagers from rivers, so I can't exactly tell you my pattern of thought or what came to mind,” he says, “I acted before I knew what I was doing.”

“There has to be something, did you think you were saving me?”

“I didn't think I was saving you, not then and not now. However, Dazai-kun, know this,” he glances at the mirror, their eyes meeting in a common place, “know that I want to. Not instantly, not at the very moment we met, not a time i could recount but something began at some point and, I wanted to save you and that has never stopped being the truth.”

“Should i forgive you then, because you tried to be good and you tried your best? You want a gold star sticker to come with that, a pat on the back? What did you want because none of this fucking matters to me, what did matter was what you’ve taken.”

“Ah, did I ever think about mattering?” a moonlight-mild smile creeps up on Mori’s lips, eyes back on the endless tunnel and its knives of light, “Perhaps once, I did, whether I had the right or not but not anymore. I want to save you, even if it will never matter to you. even if you hate me. I don’t ask for your faith. I’m not asking you to trust that I can give you what you're looking for—Just let me.”

What his heart cannot forget cracks through his voice in little, imperceptible shards.

“Just let me fail you, let me fail you again.”

“You know that will never happen, because you fucked up and you fucked up well—you did what they've done too, the people you tried to save me from, you just did it better than they ever could and you know what?” white canines slowly catch light in the rear view mirror, ominously, like a curse, “I hope it fucking eats you alive.”

“If there is a God, Dazai-kun, he listens to you.” The corners of his lips damp and laughing, softly, Mori directly faces the boy in the backseat, a boy who is not there, “Isn't this perfect proof?“

#IM SACRED TO POST FOR SOME REASON BUT WHATEVER #how do you say fuck it we ball in a tiny shivering i jured wet animal way #thats me

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unhelpfulfemme · 1 year

Text

@goofygooberton tagged me in a thing where I was supposed to list five of my comfort characters and then tag five other people like two months ago, but I was on vacation at the time and the post ended up unfinished and lost in my drafts.

So I am doing it now, here it goes, Tumblr user togrutahhh's five comfort characters (aka a collection of cunning bastards who seem composed on the surface but are secretly Fucked Up but are also kind to children and poor people):

Hina Kudo from Mr. Sunshine aka my pfp: Hina Kudo is actually Korean, but she has a Japanese name because she's the mysterious widow of a rich Japanese man twice her age. She used his inheritance to open up a fancy hotel in Seoul and uses the money and influence gained through that alongside her intelligence and cunning to get what she wants, and what she wants is Mysterious unless you've seen the show to the end. Does she work for the Japanese? For the Koreans? For the Americans? For herself? Nobody knows and everyone hates her for it. She is a Bad Bitch, always cool, poised, and playfully seductive, but she also has a back full of hideous scars and is a proficient swordswoman, hinting at a less genteel past. She seems haughty, but is also wonderfully compassionate towards lower class people and viciously defends her staff from unwanted sexual advances. The men she wants never pick her because they think she's fake and manipulative. (Fun fact: this actress and her mannerisms in this particular role is how I headcanon Alys Vorpatril to look like, with Henry Golding as Ivan)

Grand Admiral Thrawn from Star Wars: I love the Chaotic Strategic Mastermind Who Inspires Loyalty In His Men archetype, but what I love about Thrawn is that, unlike the more overtly theatrical and extroverted specimens like Miles Vorkosigan or Eugenides or Inda Algara-Vayir, he is also very introverted and autistic and seems incapable of connecting to people outside of the structured military environment he's in, which adds an additional twist and makes him deliciously interpersonally vulnerable to me. In the right hands he's also an excellent treatise of when doing evil for the greater good is justified and when it's not, and a cool exploration of someone just abandoning his humanity and his personal needs in order to always do the Rational Thing. Reading Zahn's new canon books about him often feels like watching your kind, hypercompetent, slightly awkward boyfriend who's great with children make the worst possible choices and fail you again and again and again. I also like thinking about him in terms of... information processing? Like no matter how logical you are, your conclusions are only as good as your info and what info you take into consideration will be determined by your own prejudices and assumptions and social position. Honorable mention to his boyfriend aide Eli Vanto and also everyone in the Ascendancy Trilogy - I could make a top ten comfort characters list out of them alone.

Laurent of Vere from Captive Prince: NEW BLORBO!! <3 Another Strategic Mastermind Who Inspires Loyalty in His Men + Interpersonal Vulnerability combo, but this time extra bitchy and needlessly vicious and also in a piece of media that explores his interpersonal baggage with great nuance and respect. He is severely traumatized but the narrative never takes away his agency and always portrays his boundaries as really important and I wrote a whole ass essay about how lovely that is that you can look up on my blog if you want. He comes off as stone cold but seems to have an innate desire to be sweet and submissive that he's too scared to let out. He also has a delightfully intricate mind that manifests in a myriad of plot twists and schemes - those books are literally more filled with unexpected plot twists than the Queen's Thief books, and that's an accomplishment to say the least. Every time you think you've got him pegged down he reveals new layers to his thinking and personality and it's such a delight, but you also see how that same intricate mind stymies him and makes him awkward when he tries to open up to someone (and what's extra charming is that you can see that he's trying so damned hard in places).

Lisbeth Salander from The Millennium Trilogy: The ultimate Bad Bitch. She's punk. She's a genius with a photographic memory but is so distrustful and anti-social and scarred by her severely traumatic upbringing that she pretends to be mentally handicapped so that people would leave her alone. She kills her rapist. She sets her abusive father on fire as a preteen. He comes for her as an adult to get revenge and buries her alive and she digs herself out Kill Bill-style, and whenever I feel in an impossible situation I think of the description of how she feels her fingers being scraped to a pulp as she digs but refuses to give up and that inspires me. She falls in love with an upper middle class leftist journalist twice her age who is poly, which she isn't stable enough psychologically to deal with, so she ghosts him and then spends a lot of time dwelling on how isolated from Normal Society she feels and how it always feels like she's a shitty stray out in the cold and rain watching happy people sit together in warm houses through the window.

Joe Macmillan from Halt and Catch Fire: He's a Don Draper-esque slick salesman kind of charismatic guy, except you can immediately tell that it's a facade and his charismatic shtick often comes off as fake, plastic, over the top or even kinda pathetic. He does the Joker thing where he makes up a different story about how he got his scars based on what will best get him what he wants. He's the best bisexual rep I've ever seen and while his queerness is not a central plot point in the show, he gets an entire subplot about being a queer man during the 1980s AIDS crisis and how this impacts his career as an antivirus software "developer", and we also get hints about how having to perform manhood as a teen is what set the stage for his fake-ass melodramatic bargain bin Patrick Bateman personality. He eventually matures and learns that manipulating people can lead to some really nasty consequences and becomes a more genuine and grounded person. He still loses everything. He comes off as a heartbreaker but actually he just keeps getting dumped by everyone because nobody trusts him as far as they can throw him even when he genuinely cares and continues to suffer over the breakup for years afterwards. He's the ultimate boy who cried wolf. Truly the most pathetic meow meow of all time. He's played by Lee Pace, so he's really hot. Actually everyone on this list is really hot and can cut glass with their cheekbones.

Honorable mention to Eugenides from Queen's Thief, who sadly got replaced by Laurent at the last minute. Also honorable mention to a dozen Star Wars characters who got kicked out by Thrawn, including but not limited to my boy Luthen Rael, the entire Skywalker family, Darth Maul, Aleksandr Kallus, and Hera Syndulla.

Five people I'm tagging: @highladyluck @kokoshnjak @thesunlikehoney @capablecapybara @kissingdeadgirls at random from my notifs and anyone else who wants to participate :)) also you don't really have to write a paragraph for each one I'm just annoying and like overthinking things <3

#this was so hard I could have made a top ten list with Star Wars characters only #and another top ten list with just chaotic guile heroes #grand admiral thrawn #lisbeth salander #laurent of vere #hina kudo #yang hwa #joe macmillan

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hinamie · 5 months

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Hina!!! Happy birthday!! I hope blessings drop around you like blossoms! Thanks to the universe for creating your sweet heart! And thanks to you for sharing it with us!

THANK U SO MUCH i will manifest the blessings i wish to see drop around me

#birthday 2024 #answered #sukunasteeth #hina.scribble

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strawberryclementine · 2 years

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The thing that makes Bad Toman Takemichi so interesting for me is that he's the long-awaited product of the previously selfish and immoral Takemichi we see at the start of the series. And surprisingly, we only ever see Takemichi's bad qualities manifested in this way once in the whole series.

In one of the first scenes of the series we have Takemichi dragging his keys along a stranger's car. He's upset at his own life to the point that he takes it out on others (strangers) in a cowardly and unproductive way. This is the author telling us that the main character is not perfect and will probably improve himself in the series. Not too deep into the story, we see Takemichi once again lacking basic respect for others when he time leaps to himself about to cheat on Hina with Emma. These two moments really stuck out to me as "Past Takemichi cannot be trusted" signals, which I had always thought would develop into a more concrete hero vs. self arc than what we ever actually end up getting.

The Takemichi at the start of the series is bitter and cowardly for keying a stranger's car, and we see that he already lacked a certain respect for others since he was willing to cheat at 14. He's not perfect.

Personally, I was waiting for Takemichi to continue pursuing his goal of leading Toman (remember when he said he'd do that?) until he reached a future where he was the Toman boss or something close, only to find that Hina was still dead because his old self remained selfish and corrupt. I figured that after defeating the obstacles of Kisaki and Mikey he'd have to face his own failings in the most literal sense, by surpassing or defeating his past self in some way and becoming more "good".

At the very least, I was expecting something similar to that premise, and that's what we got in the Bad Toman timeline. At long last, we got to see a future where Takemichi was far removed from his initial job in retail, where his negative qualities were cultivated and he became a cold and selfish gangster. This to me was greatly foreshadowed and solid evidence of the idea that Past Takemichi does not experience the "memories" and "character development" that Future Takemichi creates as if they are his own. I imagine that he remembers these events like one remembers reading a book, because it doesn't seem right that he'd feel the exact same way as a version of himself that knows so many futures. Maybe he even regrets some of the things that Future Takemichi did and wonders why he didn't act differently! After all, he lacks the knowledge of the future and desperate desire to improve himself that Future Takemichi has.

In the Bad Toman timeline, Past Takemichi was not changed enough by the Meobius and Valhalla Arcs to remove himself from Toman or to be as close to Chifuyu as he used to be. Simply put, he's not the Future Takemichi that is our protagonist. By this point, Future Takemichi has changed a great deal, but Past Takemichi is still uncaring and selfish. Due to Future Takemichi's intervention, he was able to be a member of Toman and stay in Toman, but he's not necessarily "good" or "improved" in the way that Future Takemichi is.

So when we progress into other arcs and the "bad" in Takemichi (or his "opposing side") stopped being explored, I was shocked. Don't get me wrong, I really like Takemichi's internal battle throughout the series in wondering if he's good enough to save Hina and if he's truly a hero and "why did I one day decide I was weak?" (not to mention the loneliness panel), and I really appreciate and enjoy his character, but I feel like the reader was being guided to an even more literal hero vs. self arc that we never fully got to see.

I just can't help but wonder why Past Takemichi doesn't stay in Toman in the Black Dragons timelines. Did Kisaki have Takemichi removed from Toman in those timelines? If so, why was Takemichi never removed in the "So Long, My Hero" Bad Toman timeline that we see in season 1? Did Takemichi willingly leave Toman in the Black Dragons? Why would he have the change of heart? At what point did Future Takemichi's actions manifest into the Past Takemichi being a "better" person? Because Past Takemichi used to be okay with cheating but after a while we even get a timeline where Past Takemichi and Hina stay together for 12 whole years (the one with Pah-chin's wedding).

I feel like Bad Toman Takemichi wasn't acknowledged enough; we were never asked to reflect on why Takemichi would grow up to be a cold and selfish delinquent in one of the timelines even though it's an extremely interesting reference point for all his subsequent development as a character.

#takemichi hanagaki #Tokyo Revengers #Tokyo Revengers headcanons #I feverishly wrote this really late last night because the bad Toman brainrot is simply terminal at this point so #Someone send help idk #If anyone has ideas or whatever about this timeline I'd like to hear them ✌️#bad toman brainrot #🍓🍊 tr ramblings

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historyhermann · 1 year

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Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Season 2 Review

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear is an anime which combines the fantasy comedy, isekai, and iyashikei genres. It is based on an ongoing 19-volume Japanese light novel series written by Kumanano and illustrated by 029. This series is produced by Japanese animation studio EMT Squared. Hisashi Ishii and Yuu Nobuta are series directors. This review will have spoilers.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the thirty-sixth article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on June 23, 2023.

The show's first season introduces Yuna (voiced by Maki Kawase), a bored teenager reincarnated in a fantasy world. The higher power (voiced by Shizuka Itou) gifts her an all-powerful, but comical, bear suit. She tries to adapt to her new life and finds it more fulfilling than anything she had on Earth. In the process, she becomes close to Fina (voiced by Azumi Waki), a 10-year-old girl and Crimonia town resident. Fina soon becomes her work partner and her sister. She is drawn to another ten-year-old named Noire "Noa" Foschurose (voiced by Rina Hidaka), who founds a fan club for the bears that Yuna uses to defeat monsters (Kumakyū and Kumayuru). The younger sister of Fina, Shuri (voiced by Miyu Tomita), and granddaughter of Gran Farrengram, Misana "Misa" Farrengram (voiced by Satomi Amano) also become her friends. Along the way, Yuna meets nobles, maids, fellow adventurers, and princesses.

Although the series is an isekai, it is more like I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, than any other series out there. Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear is arguably an iyashikei, a Japanese slice-of-life work which portrays characters in calm environments. Such works have less focus on the plot or characters, but more on an immersive setting and worldbuilding. It is unlike other anime in the same genre, as few are fantasy comedies, and none, that I'm aware of, are isekai.

This makes Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear unique. There's no focus on romance, music, camping, or mystery, as other iyashikei have done. Instead, Yuna is only trying to enjoy her life, with the help of her friends, and her bears Kumakyū and Kumayuru. Thanks to her bear powers she can even create structures, like houses to live in. The series has strong yuri subtext primarily manifested in the close relationship between Yuna and Fina. Also, female characters far outnumber male ones.

The laid-back tone of the series offsets other more drama-filled anime, such as The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Ippon Again!, Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible, and The Dangers in My Heart. The same can be said of Western animation such as Villainous, RWBY, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and Velma.

The second season of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, also known as Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch, is much more than that. It continues the plotlines from the first season. In the first episode of this season, there are flashbacks to remind the audience what happened. Yuna has become a bit of a celebrity and is called "Bear sis". While she isn't used to this, she doesn't shirk away from helping others. She even drives away orcs from a honey tree, so that she can have honey on her pancakes at a local cafe.

Yuna is often pulled into the world of nobles. Her fan club includes princesses Flora (voiced by Hina Kino), Noa, and Misa. Even the local feudal lord of Crimonia, Cliff Foschurose (voiced by Kōji Yusa), owes her favors. As such, she agrees to make picture books for those in the castle, but not anyone outside of it. This contrasts with the goal of Myne, in Ascendance of a Bookworm, who wants to provide books to the masses. At one point, Yuna caves to pressure and reluctantly agrees to a task given to her by noble Eleanora Foschurose (voiced by Yuiko Tatsumi): guarding students of the royal academy for firsthand training.

The latter duty, predictably, annoys Yuna, as she is comfortable with her simple life in Crimonia. The arc with the students, compromising the second and third episodes, lampoons incorrect judgment of others. Two students, Cattleya and Marix, voiced by Misuzu Yamada and Misato Matsuoka respectfully, think that Yuna is a spoiled and rich lady, and not even an adventurer. In contrast, Yuna finds it exhausting to be around people her age.

As often happens, Yuna easily defeats the beast, known as a black tiger, and takes the pelt for herself, thanks to her bear equipment. The lesson is that no one should judge someone else based on their looks. Such an empowering statement rings true when watched today or any time in the future.

While some children in Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear work, these children are enthusiastic about their work. In the fourth episode, Sherry (voiced by Kozue Yūki) makes a cushion for Yuna and aprons for those at the Bear-themed diner. She later becomes an apprentice at a tailor's shop. Since Sherry is enjoying her work as an apprentice, for which she is probably paid, I'm entirely convinced it is child labor.

Child labor is often defined as any work which deprives children of their childhood, interferes with school attendance. It can also be any work which is harmful mentally, physically, morally, or socially. I'm not sure if Sherry's work is affecting her personal development or health. Her duties are akin to assisting a family business. Arguably, her work is contributing to her development as a child and providing experience and skills. It may even be preparing her to become a productive person later in her life, as an adult. Furthermore, she is not enslaved nor engaged in illicit activities.

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Sometimes, the isekai nature of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear is stronger than at other times. In the fifth episode of this season, Yuna learns that Fina can't cut through the skin of a black tiger with her current knife, and is determined to get a mithril knife. However, to do that, she has to fight golems in a cave, which are blocking access to the resource. While she collaborates with other adventurers, she ends up clearing the cave and getting what she is after by herself. She even receives a finds a substance named Bearmonite. She later believes that the God of the world set up the whole situation so she could get a reward. At another point, she even admits that the mithril knives remind of her previous life as a shut-in gamer.

As for Fina, her fear of nobles may be symbolic of her desire to be at Yuna's side no matter what. For example, she is terrified of people trying to make her wear expensive clothes. She is afraid if the clothes are ripped, she will be chastised. Adding to this, she worries about accidentally offending the King. As it turns out, the nobles don't mind her. They ease her nervousness. Even the King thinks that Yuna is annoyed with him! He believes that Fina is more well-mannered than Yuna. When she ends up spilling orange juice on her clothes, her worry fades away. It turns out that those at the castle are just as messy as her.

Otherwise, food and eating are another key part of the Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear story. This is exemplified by Yuna winning over the mother of Fina. The latter is annoyed that Yuna wants to give Fina an expensive mithril knife. Yuna makes her strawberry shortcake, which she calls "devil's dessert". In another episode, Yuna works with Nerin (voiced by Saki Ichimura) and others to bake the same dessert. She gives the same dessert to those within the castle. In the same episode, a maid named Lala helps her and Fina brew tea together, and the royal chef, Zeref (voiced by Taichi Takeda), thanks Yuna for previous recipes.

This plotline reminded me of the slice-of-life comedy drama, Antique Bakery, the only cooking anime I've watched, and the centrality of food in the Laid-Back Camp, an adventure iyashikei, and in series such as Is the Order a Rabbit?, Tokyo Mew Mew (and the sequel), and Sweetness & Lightning. I also immediately thought of the third ending sequence of Cardcaptor Sakura, set to the song Fruits Candy by Megumi Kojima. The sequence depicts protagonists Sakura Kinomoto, Tomoyo Daidouji, and Kero as baking (and decorating) a cake together. In fact, it is my favorite ending sequence of that magical girl anime.

Another important theme is the message that overwork is not a positive. In the ninth episode of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, characters discourage Sherry from tiring herself out. This is like I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, mentioned earlier in this article, which is strongly against overwork. In this series, Yuna likes her easy life, and doesn't do more work than she has to. She likely encourages others to do the same.

The last few episodes, comprising the final series arc, are more dramatic. Fina, Yuna, Cliff, and Noa all go to the castle where Misa and the rest of the Farrengram family are living. There is conflict with nobles, including the Salbard family, who control half of Sheelin. The Farrengram family control the other half. The Salbard family want to take over the entire city for themselves. Thanks to her friendship with the nobles in Crimonia, Yuna easily navigates through this class conflict. She even brings in the royal chef of Zelef to ensure that the birthday celebration of Misa goes as planned.

In this arc, one of the worst characters, Gajurud (voiced by Yasuhiro Mamiya), is introduced. He is arrogant, brash, and likes to get his way. He falls right into a trap, since Zelef promises to report the insults that Gajurud hurled at him, and the food, back to the King. Gajurud's lackeys even abandon him and claim their taste was off because of colds. His awful son, Juliane (voiced by Yōko Fujita), declares he will strike back. It appears, at first, that this attack will occur when Yuna is wearing a dress, for the first time. She is only wearing some of her bear gear, making her a bit more vulnerable.

The final episode of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear dashes the latter possibility. Yuna, wearing her bear suit, races to save Misa. The latter was kidnapped by the arrogant son of Gajurud, Juliane, with the help of the bodyguard, Brad. This all makes for an enjoyable action sequence. Yuna busts into the Salbard family mansion, beats up two nobles (Juliane and Gajurud), and clocks the bodyguard, after he underestimates her. As often happens in this series, characters underestimate how powerful Yuna is. They believe they can commit heinous acts because they see her as a kid in a bear suit.

This perception is incorrect. Yuna fights to protect her friends and those she cares about. She has a license to do this, to an extent, thanks to support from friendly nobles. In fact, Eleanora helps in this case, by arresting Gajurud and Juliane, with the help of royal guards. The mansion is then searched to retroactively uncover evidence to justify their arrest. This is an intense use of royal power, but is justified by the fact that they kidnapped Misa, and three other children from around the city.

Yuna cares about other people. In the final episode, she hugs and comforts Misa. Understandably, Misa is terrified after she was brazenly kidnapped. Yuna also reunites Misa with Fina and Noa, following her rescue. These actions make Cliff, and the Farrengram family, eternally grateful. Misa, Noa, and Fina even start to believe that Yuna is a goddess. She accepts this, to an extent, even when she is called the goddess of bears.

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The final episode of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear ends nicely and ties up loose ends. However, retributive justice is shown uncritically. Gajurud and his son, Juliane, are imprisoned. They are given the death penalty after a "mountain of evidence" results in their convictions. Brad is imprisoned, exiled, and stripped of his title. Furthermore, the Salbard family property is confiscated, and the economy recovers. Adding to this, Misa's father becomes sole leader of Sheelin. All of this makes sense, considering the crimes of Gajurud, Juliane, and Brad.

In a large part, this reinforces retributive justice paradigms. The punishment of the nobles is imposed, without possibility of remorse. The state unilaterally declares what is, and isn't, a crime. In some ways, Yuna is in league with the criminal system of this medieval world. There is the presumed widespread belief that those accused of crimes cannot be rehabilitated.

The series doesn't turn these paradigms on their head like Villainous. The ending could have depicted restorative justice as being applied to the villains. Unfortunately, the writers didn't want to go that route. This isn't a shock, considering there are few examples of this in fiction, other than depictions in documentaries, podcasts, or films such as Red Dust. Furthermore, there is still continued debate over this approach to crime.

On the other hand, Yuna's violence is primarily defensive and meant to protect her friends. She doesn't go on rampages against any villains, but chooses when and where she acts violently. She lashes out at Gajurud, Juliane, Brad, and their guards. Understandably, she is furious they kidnapped one of her friends and hurt her friends in the process. No one can fault her for that.

Apart from what I've mentioned previously about this series, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear shines through is in its voiced acting. Maki Kawase, Azumi Waki, and Rina Hidaka, who voice three of the protagonists, are known for their voice work in Tamayomi, Kandagawa Jet Girls, A Centaur's Life, Michiko & Hatchin, YuruYuri, and Ms. Vampire Who Lives in My Neighborhood.

More prominently, Kawase voiced Shima Iwashita in Bocchi the Rock!. Waki previously voiced Flatorte in I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, Tsukimi Teruya in The Aquatope on White Sand, and Takumi in Do It Yourself!! Hidaka lent her voice as Kobachi Osaragi in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War?, Ren Yamai in Komi Can't Communicate, and Himi Akane in Princess Connect! Re:Dive, to name a few.

Voice actors, such as Miyu Tomita, Satomi Amano, Hina Kino, Kōji Yusa, Yuiko Tatsumi, Misuzu Yamada, Misato Matsuoka, Kozue Yūki, Saki Ichimura, Taichi Takeda, Shizuka Itou, Yasuhiro Mamiya, and Yōko Fujita, make the series stronger. Some appeared in series like Otherside Picnic, Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department, or Too Cute Crisis, or lent their voices to characters in Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure, Princess Principal, Management of a Novice Alchemist, and Bodacious Space Pirates.

The studio EMT Squared, which produced the series, is known for four series directed by Hisashi Ishii, and another he did with Yuu Nobota: I'm Quitting Heroing. The show's composer, Shigeo Komori, is known as a writer, lyricist, video game director, and producer. Series writer Takashi Aoshima has worked on series such as Love Lab, Love Tyrant, Karin, and Petite Princess Yucie.

The present series ends with a scene in which Fina and Yuna declare "we're home" and smile. The pages of a book close, showing that this book/series has ended, that this chapter is over. If a third season of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear were produced, it would continue the story of Fina, Yuna, and their friends, reopening the book for all.

The first and second season of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear are currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu.

#kuma kuma kuma bear #yuri #pop culture #lgbtq #reviews #isekai #iyashikei #i've been killing slimes for 300 years and maxed out my level #ascendance of a bookworm #child labor #villainous #retributive justice #restorative justice #Youtube

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karamell-sweetz · 1 year

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today's wonsho channel. my thoughts as we go. nobody asked but let's do it

ohhhhhhh the proseka next submissions are so cuteeeeeeeee!!!! right up my alley, when they come to en server i will spam the heck out of them in co-op lobbies waaah

OMG OMG OMG O MG DGGFDKDFJJJN is that a rabbit top hat!!!!!! aaaafhshdfgsfahsg minori you look so cute!!!! this is so cool actually!!!! cute outfit!! (my dreams of a card suit-themed set are temporarily curbed)

boys outfit..... WOAH. rui sweetie you look like a ghost. i think that might have been the point but like... it's cute!!!! i like it on him. also love the artstyle and colouring its so soft :) omedetou 634-san!!!

AYO AYO THE OUTFIT RUNNER UPS THO. the one by 417-san is SO COOL???????? and the butterfly one too!!!!! waaaa........ AND THE BOYS RUNNER-UPS TOO??? the one on the right looks like mysta rias??? snort (they look rlly good tho ughh the sheer amount of artistic talent in this community makes it so hard to choose a fave!!!)

vocaseka ranking... woah woah WOAH THIS FIRST ONE EXCUSE ME????????????????? ohhhhh the tuning on this is. WOAAAH yes rin growl into my ears omg. OMG!! THE ART ON THIS ONE IS ALSO SO GOOD HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. and the pv looks like a fever dream. in a good way. what do you MEAN this is marasy. MARASY. LIKE. 88* MARASY. ohhhhhh the range of this man. is the tuning bibi-san again. holy shit that's why its so good. i love bibi's tuning. otsu marasy and bibi!

next one. oh its so cutee!! awwwwwwww look at those characters tho!! has a very denpa feel!! they look like little hamster aliens!! which vocaloid is this btw... namiguru-san! never heard of them until today, i'll go check it out after the stream >< they have a really fun and cute sound!!! zunda zunda

hooooooh boi proseka news lezgo. oh crap yeah ena's birthday's in like. five days. and saki's and tsukasa's next month....... i can't prepare things that fast lmaoooooo. golden week login campaign for jp! (too bad i don't play jp huh.)

WAIT WHAT EVILLIOUS PART TWO????????????? IT'S A RERUN OF THE GACHA LET'S GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SEGA I HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE WHEN IT COMES BACK TO GLOBAL YEAAAAAH!!!!!!

YES YES YES CONCHITA IN THE GAME!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!! its the best of all the evillious songs imo (it's also the only other one i've heard besides daughter and servant of evil. and enbizaka tailor). and the sleeping princess one too (oh nevermind this one SMACKS.)!! AND ENBIZAKA!!!!!! lets go. AND GALLERIAN'S SONG!!!!!!! yeaaaaaahhhhhh!!! i guess sega heard us when we said we wanted more hehehe. enjoy the beatmaps jp players!! <3

unrelated but i love hina kino's hairclips >< they're cute on herrrrr

BE THE MUSIC VSINGER VERSION YAAAAY!! (i am the only person who has not heard be the music) kinoshita you are an absolute chad of the vocaloid scene thank you for the food!! oh yeaaah its coming to streaming services too!! ty for the food sega....

hehe stopify

CONNECT LIVE LEONI!! THAT'S HAPPENING SOON!! someone record the best bits pls. also the merch looks so cute!! and this is probably expected but the logo for it is so clean and nice omg... god i love graphic design.

3DMV brushups yay!! this will be hell for the people playing on low storage haha... hang in there guys... actually i don't know what they're saying here haha it might not be an update to the graphics after all... ehhh i'll find out later. anyway have fun with that!

ooooooh adeliae's song is in the game!! it sounds really cute! kind of leoni-esque!!!

YAY MORE ORANGESTAR!!!!!!! 3dmv too!! and with meiko!!! orangestar never misses :) and also the 3dmvs just keep getting better with every new one so im excited to see what they do for this one ><

sharing the world in jp :) have fun jp bros <3

sagashi ni yuko setsuna STOP STOP STOP ITS SHANTI. full vbs. FULL. VBS!!!!!!!!!! omg omg omg i was literally listening to this like. five days ago wtf. manifestation works!!

hhh. hhhhhhhhhh. next..... commissions............... my favourite..... part................

niigo!! cats!!!!! TSUMIKI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaa is this mafuyu's event?????? oh its sounding so good already aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!! (tsumiki left a rlly long comment tho lmao) also does this confirm niigo catpeople. whatever the case SQUEALING SQUEALING WAILING SCREAMING

oh no i just finished my bubble tea. we're not even at the goods section yet oh no. my hands are......... shaking............................. idk whyyy......

oh god who's the next commission. hh. hhhhhhhh.

wxs. sea. coral. its nene. no no please no. ITS NENENENNENENENEN. KOYORI??????? OF HITORINBO ENVY FAME. omg. omg omg omg.... ohhhhhhh it sounds so sweet and nice............ im gonna cry when this comes out won't i. wansho fans please cry with me :,) this will be a banger and if any of you say otherwise i will cry. god its so warm and fuzzy. AND THIS IS JUST THE PREVIEW. i need to go outside.(anyway sega please give them a NICE. NICE. NICE FLUFFY EVENT WHERE WE CAN STOP THINKING ABOUT THE GROUP SPLITTING UP IN THE FUTURE. PLEASE I CAN'T TAKE ANY MORE OF THIS)

hh showtime ruler comes out on wednesday... LOOK AT THE LEONI ART!!!!!! love that for them <3

oooo second live on bluray!! that'll be fun

ok i'm gonna stop talking now but just know that may is about to screw us all over.

#project sekai #karamell yells #i can see the cards for the next wxs event already. there's fish and coral. it's sea themed and you cannot argue with me #although nobody really saw the hidden circus gacha coming from the song teaser so.... argue your case if you have one

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terrannus · 2 years

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Rewatched Weathering with You with some friends and dangggg what a film, really solidified it is my favourite movie.

There's so so much this film does right but I think as much as anything it's just a joy to watch, just the right amount of heartbreak, romance, comedy and such a lovable cast of characters.

Still, I do enjoy overthinking things so here are some ~themes~ that stood out to me.

Climate Change

For a film so explicitly inspired by climate change , the lack of any direct mention of it is almost eerie, especially given how present the literal changing of the climate is to the story. In fact, it turns out this was a conscious by Shinkai and the team: partly to give the audience a softer, less preachy message, but also because the film is more interested with how young people fit into climate change than with the environment itself.

In fact, instead of dire messages about how we need to save the planet, what we get are reminders that the climate has never been ordered for human needs. Shinkai comments that this refrain is partly inspired by his culture: that living in a nation that often has to deal with natural disasters breeds a sense of inevitability as both humility and self-defense.

While I think some could see that as a shirking of responsibilities* I think it is also just a humanising element. As the characters in WWY make explicit, our job as humans isn't to bring some kind of 'order' to there's never been any such thing and to frame ourselves as either the creators or inheritors of such a thing is just our ego. Much like any animal, our only 'job' is to build the best life we can for ourselves and our loved ones.

Discussions about climate change are often (rightfully) about its disproportionate impact on the poor. This discussion is often framed in terms of geography as developing nations least responsible for climate change are the ones which will face the worst consequences of this. But Shinkai is more interested in how this manifests among generations; young people have similarly not had the choice about the carbon emissions of the world they were born into, but are still expected to pay the consequences.

Privilege

Unlike many anime, Weathering with You doesn't shy away from depictions of financial difficulties. Hodaka spends a great deal of the movie fretting over how he's going to feed himself; Hina lies about her age to get a job at McDonalds; Natsumi is desperate for any job that will take her.

Young people, especially those who can't rely on their parents, are hugely economically disadvantaged and so WWY wants to show us that it's deeply unfair that they make the sacrifices older generations didn't. This is made ridiculously explicit as the main characters literally end up making their living by causing the climate to change. While we might think they should do otherwise, we also can't expect them to do otherwise.

Family

Beyond the obvious 'found family' trope, WWY has a lot to say about society's expectation of parents compared to what's actually good for kids. We see that despite not meeting society's definition Kei and Hina are great guardians for their kids who want to stay with them.

We never do find out why Hodaka runs away from WWY and Hina is never presented as traumatised by her parents' death. While these have clearly impacted the characters, the film is more interested in how we're defined by the families we choose than by the ones we're born into.

The hotel scene is probably my favourite scene from any piece of media. It's just a nice little but also such a deeply moving portrayal of how all we really need in life is people we love and who love you back. As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about prosperity, income distribution and just generally making sure that people have enough stuff, Hodaka's prayer really struck a chord with me. Here's a kid who has nothing and all he wants is to hold on to what little he has. He doesn't need someone like me making sure that he's got a good job and a retirement plan, he just needs to be allowed to be in love and to fight for what he believes in.

It's also a scene of some kids in way over their heads and I'm sure when I'm older and more cynical I'll be screaming at them to just pack it in, do the responsible thing and go back to school. But it sells how hard it is to find a place we belong, and why we want to hold onto it so hard when we find one.

I think if there's one main lesson in Weathering with You for me (right now) it's this: None of us get to choose the world we're born into, let's at least give young people the choice to make the same mistakes we did.

Animation

Not that I tend to hang out in a lot of animation communities but I'm always surprised I don't see this film mentioned alongside the all-time greats of animation because it's just on another level. The fireworks scene alone is worth the cost of admission and there's even a couple of great action scenes. Far from what you'd normally expect from a Shinkai movie but he still pulls it off better than most action directors.

Anyway, definitely one I'm going to keep coming back to. 💙

#weathering with you #tenki no ko #animation #anime #movies

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catgirl-catboy · 1 year

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Sakuraoi?? Is?? healthy?? Girl literally get killed her entire class because of Sakura's death? How the fuck is that a healthy behaviour?

Yeah. I wish more of the fandom talks about Hina's desire for a boyfriend, while also very comphet, is a manifestation of her refusal to be alone. I wouldn't say she's an extremely extroverted person, but she's not comfortable being alone with her thoughts and the killing game exploits that.

I know radfem rhetoric is everywhere these days but there is not a single healthy WLW ship in the Danganronpa franchise. Sonaki comes the closest, but Chiaki isn't real in Dr2 and will say and do anything to redeem Sonia. Not out of a place of malice, but because she's programmed to do so.

#ask tag

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happyendingsong · 19 days

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5star thots <3

i had sooo much fun with the quarter final night, every match was banger after banger after banger and the crowd was eating it up and i was so excited with the final four.

and unfortunately the finals didn't live up to it for me ! mayu vs maika felt like it ended just as it was getting going which was a bummer, and saya vs hanan was hard to really get into because obviously saya would be going over and we had just seen this match a few days ago.

i wish there was one more big match on the card and not just filling time with anna jay and xena, hashtag hater hashtag the hater's temperment.

the god's eye vs neo genesis match was fun (love the spot of all five members of neo genesis in like a starburst formation crashing into their opp sat at the ring post, so cute). i love getting to build neo genesis's identity as a unit, but i was a little disappointed with this being the next beat in syuri's story after such an on-the-warpath 5star. the promo package for the goddess league used a clip of syuri and saki teaming together and if we get them as a tag team all will be forgiven. <3

hanan looking on during rina and hina's match was sooooo :( <33333

looooved the natsupoi/thekla moments during the cosmic angels vs h.a.t.e. match, woof. a lot of what thekla is doing doesnt fully work for me (like part of her h.a.t.e. manifesto calling out girls holding starbucks coffee cups. boo corny stupid boring fart sfx toilet swirl sfx. call the audience perverts again.) but with everything with natsupoi she brings SUCH great character work.

looove the energy ruaka and yuna are bringing too and i loved yuna getting her licks in! i feel like there's such a disparity between the cosmic angels that means tam/natsupoi/saori (the cule) and the cosmic angels that means all the others, like it's hard imagining them all standing in the same room and having a conversation, let alone being in the same faction and working towards the same goals. (which speaks to what theyre doing with tam being a shit leader, like it does seem like a conscious choice but i wish it manifested in some more friction or smth.) it was v sweet getting some interactions between yuna and poi and saori here at least!

i was really looking forward to the tora vs tam match, especially after the tag team match on the quarterfinal night where tam clocks that tora's knee is also in bits. the second she started targeting the knee, tora just fell apart and tam mocks her for it after, very smugly "we're not so different huh." and tora lashes back like "do not fucking compare us, you havent been through a fraction of what ive endured, ill show you when i finally rip your leg off this weekend" etc.

i loooove that angle. tam wrote that thread about how this 5star was about overcoming the fear she's had with wrestling since coming back from injury at the start of the year. having her knee brutalised again and again and getting these losses made her face that fear head on, and she's finally ready to hit play since time stopped with her match with tora last year.

and it's clear that tora is SO consumed by that fear, like that acl injury took a year and some change off her career and every time she gets an inch she loses all momentum. she's trying to consume tam with it too, she wants to inflict the worse thing that ever happened to her onto tam because she needs to leave her broken. tora offers her the title match not to have a match but to land the finishing blow and kill her herself. idk it's fascinating!! girl the neuroses the paranoia the projecting!!

and we'll see how all this plays out obviously, maybe they're cooking, but i really wanted tora to go over here u_u. i really want tora to be a credible threat and i think there are so many directions to go with this big bad leader of hate compelled by this really deep seated fear and bitterness. i really wanted to give that more time to grow and fester and spill its way into every fracture of the roster so that it'd be way more satisying when love/frindship/whatever eventually wins out.

i wanted tam to get swallowed up by this manifestation of her fear, by someone who was swallowed up themselves. if we're doing tam at rock bottom, lets fucking do tam at rock bottom like ! like having her lose here and have her scratch and claw to earn another title shot at the end of the year or whatever wouldve been so satisfying.

i was really really into the match until the interference stuff. and i loooove shitheel interfernce stuff but h.a.t.e. are always booked to be such fucking morons, this is so humiliatinggggg...... like tora getting the steel chair and hitting tam in the head, HELLO? this whole thing started with her chairing tam's knee, the whole point of this match is meant to be tora getting tam in a confined space to finally saw off the piece of thread holding her ligaments together. why isn't she using the first instance of the ref getting distracted to drop any pretence of this being a sports match to put tam in a saw trap. what's happening.

and oh my god im so sick of h.a.t.e. being used as these bumbling fools what the fuck are we doing...... literally lining up to trip over their own banana peels one by one. like the spot of konami accidentally spraying tora in the face and flailing her arms, then ruaka accidentally crashing into tora and flailing her arms too, MORTIFYING. i wanna be on board with h.a.t.e. sooooo badddddd there's so much fun to be had there but this is such a fucking farce like. can tam even be proud of a win here, like it's such a lose lose for everyone involved. poor tora, jesus christ.

i was pretty sour going into maika vs saya as a result and it took me a while to get into it, but they did kill it and they ended the night on a high note for me! loooooved the spot of maika holding onto saya's wrist and not letting her go as she hits her with the lariat again and again, and then saya doing the same with her kicks. wah.

saya's acting at the end was crazyyyyy, the crybaby heel shit is really really fab as a nod to the "i wanted to see you cry" thing. soppingest wettest meow meow fr.

love u maika <3333333 so glad she got her win here, i was really on edge after tam's win that they'd be going with saya instead but i think maika is still the right call. tam had been saying before maika lost the belt, smth like "bc i had to drop the belt due to injury, maika never got to experience taking the belt out of someone's grasp, someone who poured everything they are into that belt. ill show her what it's like from the other side when i take this belt from her." so there's obviously a lot of ground to build this feud on and they're gonna kill it etc

this is a chapter they never got to have the first time, and im glad they're getting to have it now, but i REALLY wish we were getting it months from now. it's such a shame to treat tora as a footnote in all of this when there's soooo much to be tapped from that. she had a long fucking reign in her! what's the point in pretending h.a.t.e. are this big threat putting the entire company on notice, the successors/dismantlers of both queen's quest and oedo tai, if they're so easily thwarted and forgotten. they're bumbling!!!!!

and with maika and tam, they've already set that match to be a couple weeks from now BOOOOOOOO. why are they so eager to burn through everything so quickly, chew your fucking food!!!!! like there's such an easy and fun plot beat to have in everyone who beat tam in the 5star rocking up to the ring like hello where are our title shots. and tam wanting this gauntlet challenge over a few months overcoming all these past losses from this year, like tam eats that shit up!!!! and then have her vs maika at queendom at the end of the year so there's actual momentum and intrigue in it.

idk this breakneck pace they're doing with everything makes it hard to get my teeth into anything, like it's hard to feel like the investment is gonna be worth the payoff. which sucks that im feeling like this after ive been so into the rest of the 5star! like having tam completely and immediately wipe out was so exciting, and i love how open the field felt for everyone.

it's a shame to end the 5star on a sour note, and maybe it'll be clear in a few months that this was all part of a bigger better plan. one can hope

but jesus christ they need to book h.a.t.e. better. babygirl tora you will always be famous.

#stardom #o #omedia #owrestling

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xasha777 · 6 months

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In the not-too-distant future, humanity had surpassed the constraints of traditional space travel, transcending into an era where consciousness itself could traverse the cosmos. Dr. Hina Leilani, a brilliant neuroscientist from the Hawaiian Islands, spearheaded the project known as "The Aether Mind."

The Aether Mind was a colossal, cerebral construct located on the peak of Mauna Kea, a monument to the collective knowledge and exploration aspirations of all humankind. This construct could map an individual's consciousness onto the very fabric of space-time, allowing them to project their essence across the universe, experiencing worlds far beyond the reach of physical ships.

Dr. Leilani's vision was to infuse the Aether Mind with the spirit of Aloha, the breath of life and the harmony with the universe. She chose the symbol of the Hawaiian Islands, embedded into the brain's very geography, as a reminder of Earth's beauty and the importance of maintaining a connection with one's home, no matter how far one journeyed.

The first consciousness chosen to journey through the Aether Mind belonged to Leilani herself. As her mind embraced the Aether stream, she became one with the cosmos. Planets and stars whirled past her, time bending around her will. In this new dimension, she was a cosmic voyager, her thoughts touching upon the surfaces of alien worlds, her essence dancing with nebulas, her dreams weaving through the fabric of reality itself.

But it was in the midst of her journey that she encountered a sentient nebula, a cosmic entity of pure energy and thought. This being, which called itself Na'auao, the Bringer of Knowledge, communicated with Leilani, imparting wisdom of the universe's creation and the interconnectedness of all existence.

Na'auao revealed to Leilani that humanity was not alone in its quest for knowledge. Countless civilizations had come before, each contributing to a universal tapestry of understanding. In honor of this shared quest, Na'auao had safeguarded a sanctuary, a planet where the minds of the universe's greatest thinkers could manifest physically, transcending the limits of biology and technology.

Na'auao guided Leilani's consciousness to this sanctuary, where she found a landscape akin to the islands of her birth, yet ethereal and shifting with thought. Here, minds from across the cosmos convened in a symposium of stars, sharing insights that spanned from the creation of atoms to the poetry of galaxies.

Emboldened by the knowledge that the cosmos was a shared home, a repository of wisdom vast and ancient, Dr. Leilani returned to her physical form, her mission clear. The Aether Mind would not just be a tool for exploration but a bridge for universal understanding.

Under the watchful eyes of the twin suns of Earth and Na'auao, the Hawaiian Islands became not just a paradise on Earth but a beacon in the stars, welcoming all who sought knowledge and promising that no matter how far one roamed, the spirit of Aloha would forever unite the minds of the cosmos.

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ipsen · 1 year

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Blank Canvas Chapter 9

Read on AO3. middle schoolers are evil dude but they're just kids remember that Summary: Tatara’s play rolls around, and the weekend at the resort begins. Word Count: 4414 Chapter 10 Chapter 8 Master Post

It was the night of Tatara’s play.

Its name was Iron Tongues, and the poster was of the main protagonist, Xin, with his eyes out of frame, only showing his lips stitched closed. The red mask hanging from his neck was reminiscent of a dragon’s maw. Idly, Kaneki wondered if Iron referred to the fresh taste of blood.

He stood before the poster, shifting uncomfortably with his luggage at his side. Not only that, Touka suggested (forced) him to wear a black suit to the performance to ‘make an impression’. He had to admit, though; the blazer was very comfortable.

When Touka broke out the gel, he panicked, but thankfully, it was swiftly passed to the much more capable Hina instead. His fluffy hair, which usually hung around his eyes in gentle curls, was slicked back straight for the night. It was a bit uncomfortable, but he liked not having to brush aside the strands that itched his forehead.

It was also a comfort that he wasn't the only one dressed up; it seemed Chì Shé premieres were important events. People in suits and dresses and makeup and all sorts of other things denoting fancy and formality passed him for the theater, chattering excitedly about what was to come.

There were couples too. Their arms were linked, and they leaned close to each other for confidential conversation. An intimate affair, replicated over and over in this crowded space. Kaneki would typically pay it no mind; he strived to be glad that that sort of happiness existed for others. Plus, he hadn’t even considered dating again since Rize. It wasn’t like anyone would actually look at him anyway, so why try?

And yet, as another pair passed him, he wondered what it would be like having something, to whisper and be whispered back to. Then he imagined what a head of fern hair leaning on his shoulder might feel like as they exchanged theories about what was to come.

As if to brush off the idea itself, he swept said shoulder and sighed. What was he thinking? He had to stay professional. Acting on these… petty feelings, was asking to get fired and cast out from the only passion he could manifest in his sorry excuse for existence. To want for anything more, to dream that things could be better, was to be selfish and greedy and terrible.

He would simply bear it. As… As usual.

At that, the Touka in his mind slapped him upside the head. “This is your big chance!” she seemed to be saying (well, screaming— Kaneki tended to respond better to screaming). “You can get her alone and get an answer and move on if she says no!”

More like when she said no, but he understood the picture. Clear skies were better than foggy ones when you wanted to see the stars. But even disregarding the embarrassment he’d have to suffer to obtain such an answer, there was another thing to think about. Something much more tangible and real than… this.

Said something was tucked away in the depths of his suitcase: another manila folder, this one four times thinner than Donato’s, but four times more important. It contained everything Chie could dig up on Noroi Takatsuki— family members, close contacts, even job history.

Or so she claimed.

Kaneki didn’t know because he hadn’t opened it yet, and that was because with the folder came one of Chie’s warnings— one that had echoed in his head for the past few days:

“Are you willing to uproot your own life to learn more about hers?”

It was weirdly dramatic at best, and unbearably haunting at worst.

The crowd moved around him as he pondered the latter: someone close to him was lying, and reading the file would tell him who. Chie was asking if he could bear knowing.

He crossed Touka, Hide, and Hina off the list. It wasn’t them; it couldn’t be them. The 8th ward murder was thirteen years ago, and all of them were children with no motive and no means to travel to the site.

Which left the adults in his life, whose pasts were as murky as the ocean depths: Kaya, Enji, and—

“Sasaki? Sasaki, that you?”

Kaneki turned to the source, and he saw Big Bin, dressed in— shorts and a T-shirt? What?— pushing his way through the crowd, and behind him was another man resembling him and a seemingly apathetic teenage girl.

“Big Bin!” Kaneki said, forced to smile and table his thoughts.

The other man that looked like Big Bin had combed black hair and wore sunglasses similar to him. He was wearing a dress shirt and slacks, at least. “So you’re Sen’s artist, huh?” he said, shaking Kaneki’s hand. “I’m Middle Bin, and this is our sister, Lit—”

“Yumitsu,” the girl interrupted and waved. “Pleasure.”

Kaneki greeted both of them. “So you’ll all be at the resort tonight, then?”

“That’s right!” Middle Bin grinned. “Multiple rooms to explore, a few hot springs, a straight shot to the beach, and a small library!”

A small library? Kaneki already knew where he was going to be most of the time. A beach was out of the question (nevermind how Hide had snuck him a pair of swim trunks behind his back), and hot springs, while relaxing at times, would only ruin the books. So he’d have no choice but to sequester himself away in a dry room.

Plus, perhaps someone else would be there too.

“I think I see them,” Yumitsu said, pointing into the crowd then waving. “Miza! Sen!!”

Speaking of… Kaneki turned again, and eventually, he spotted a man carrying a toddler and a very short, very pregnant woman.

However, any and all thoughts of greeting either of them evacuated his brain when he saw Takatsuki.

Wow.

A strapless sweetheart dress that stopped above her ankles hugged her torso and fanned out at her waist. Separate lantern sleeves draped her arms, secured at her bicep and wrist. In a rare display of formality, her chaotic hair, typically a wild hurricane or maybe an untamed beast, was now calmed and placated, fully combed and braided. The braid itself hung over her exposed shoulder, and he promised himself— really promised— he was just admiring the handiwork and not wondering about the feeling of his lips to her neck please, please, please shut up.

(That said, a part of him was disappointed. Proper styles— caged styles— didn’t suit her.)

“Ugh, there you are!” she said, relieved. “Tatara— shortsighted bastard— said to keep an eye out for you, but I’m short and he’s tall, so—!”

She stopped and noticed Kaneki for the first time. He waved awkwardly, hoping he looked passable. “H-Hey.”

It almost seemed like she didn’t hear him, but she shook herself out of whatever trance she was in and raised a stiff hand in greeting. “Hey…”

She was staring at him. Hard. To the point he became self-conscious. Was there something on his face? That seemed to be a running theme, but there must have been this time. She always stared for a reason, like with everything else she did.

Big Bin and the others seemed to glance over and then start a more hushed conversation, but neither Kaneki nor Takatsuki noticed.

“U-Uh, Takatsuki—” Kaneki began, praying his brain would cooperate with him just this once and compliment the most beautiful person in the world to her face.

“You did your hair!” she blurted out, setting the bar and inadvertently saving him the trouble.

“O-Oh!” He touched it subconsciously. “Actually, um, a friend did it. I’m not— I don’t actually know how to—”

“Impressive.” She reached out and picked some lint off his shoulder. See? Purpose. “You… look good!” She seemed to be struggling for words. Her, the author. “It… suits you.”

The joke eased the tension, and he smiled. “You’re certainly dressed for the occasion yourself.”

She beamed when he reciprocated, and wasn’t about to be outdone. “Well, I think—”

“So you’re Sen’s artist, then?!” The man with the toddler barged into the conversation, reminding Kaneki that reality did, in fact, exist and he was not just with the woman of his dreams as they threw stupid puns at each other. “Cool! Name’s—”

“Naki!” The pregnant woman, who he assumed was Miza, elbowed him in the side, laughing but clearly scowling.

“Ow! Hey, baby on board here!!” Naki protested, adjusting the kid in his arms.

“I-I’m so sorry about him; he lacks… awareness.” She glanced at Takatsuki, then at Kaneki. “But I guess now’s my chance! Hi! I’m Miza, and this is my husband, Naki, and our son, Shiori.”

“H-Hi…” Kaneki shook her hand. “Um, I’m… Haise Sasaki.”

He might as well keep it up. It would be weird changing his (perceived) name on them now, especially since Takatsuki apparently talked about him. He wondered what she told them. Hopefully nothing bad.

“Yo!” Naki grinned toothily, once again bringing him back to the conversation at hand. “I’d high-five you, but I got a lil’ monster in my arms.”

To make the point clear, the toddler, Shiori, made a roaring sound as loud as a kid could, laughing afterward. Kaneki had to admit, it was kinda cute, even if some people gave them judgmental looks.

“That your luggage?” Naki pointed at the suitcase by Kaneki. “Me ‘n Big Bin ain’t the type to sit about in a stuffy theater for four hours—”

“You’re missing out!” Middle Bin interjected, but it was ignored.

“— so we’re makin’ ourselves useful by gettin’ the resort shit—” Miza elbowed Naki again, and she gestured with her eyes at Shiori— “stuff— whoops— all sorted out.”

Kaneki inhaled sharply, but realized it was stupid to do that. They wouldn’t be looking for a file pertaining to Takatsuki’s possible father/close family member. Would they? No, no, they couldn’t know, and that’d also be a total invasion of privacy. And if he refused, it’d be suspicious.

He touched his chin with a smile. “Thank you. I’ll leave it to you, then.”

Takatsuki studied him for a moment, but said nothing. Big Bin, sighing, took his cue and came over to grab Kaneki’s luggage.

“Well, I guess we’re off, then,” he said. “You all have fun, okay?”

“We will,” Yumitsu said. “See you at the resort.”

“Say buh-bye, Shiori!” Naki said, and Shiori grinned.

“Bye, Mama! Bye, Sen!!!!” he yelled, waving hard as Naki carried him away.

“Bye, Shiori!” Takatsuki waved back, entertaining him. She then looked back at Miza. “Oh, speaking of the play, we need our tickets.”

“Right, right!” Miza reached into her bag, rummaging around before taking out a handful of paper strips. “Here are yours and Sasaki’s, Sen.”

“Thank you very—” Takatsuki paused, however, when she read the two strips. Miza simply grinned before passing the rest out.

Kaneki’s brow furrowed, but he reached for the slip. “I guess—”

Before he could take it from her, she yanked it away. “Hey, Miza, I think you got the wrong one!”

“No, this is mine!” Middle Bin waved his ticket in the air, chuckling. Yumitsu gave a thumbs up to indicate the same.

Kaneki didn’t think he’d ever seen Takatsuki look so… betrayed before. “U-Um, did you want me to—” he began.

She wordlessly slapped his ticket against his chest, and he held it out to read. One ticket to Iron Tongues in seat E14. Not a bad position, if he was recalling the layout correctly. However, there was nowhere to put a name, which confused him. Takatsuki didn’t make mistakes like that, so why…

“Shall we, then?” Miza gestured to the theater. “The crowd’s only gonna get worse, so we should get moving now.”

Kaneki stepped forward. “Will you need any help getting in? You seem a bit—”

“Oh, this?” She gestured to her swollen belly. “Twins. Go figure! And I’ll be fine; you and Sen can go ahead.”

Middle Bin and Yumitsu grabbed either one of her hands. “We’ll help her,” Yumitsu said. “Sound good?”

Takatsuki rolled her lower lip between her teeth. There seemed to be an internal struggle Kaneki couldn’t see. “Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yes,” Miza insisted. “You two kids have fun!”

“Yumitsu’s seventeen.”

She gasped. “And I’m thirty-two! Wow! Now go.”

There was a silent staring contest between the two, but Kaneki didn’t sense tension, just— a challenge? Weird encouragement? Maybe even embarrassment? What was going on?

Takatsuki clicked her tongue. “Come on, Haise,” she grumbled.

Kaneki, after waving to the others, got his ticket scanned and followed her in, trying to stay close as the crowd coalesced around them. This must have been a highly anticipated play, he thought; it was strange how despite that, without Tatara, he would have remained wholly ignorant to its existence. Meanwhile, so many others cleared their schedules in anticipation. It went to show just how large the world could be, he supposed.

Takatsuki almost ran into a small group walking toward the stairs, but in a rush of sheer stupidity, he grabbed her shoulders and held her back. When he felt her tense up, he immediately let go.

“I-I’m so sorry!” he apologized. “I just thought that—”

“No, no! It’s— fine,” she said, hiding her face from him. “Actually—” another invisible struggle— “Here, gimme your arm.”

His eyes widened, but in the chaos of publicity, he thoughtlessly obeyed. She looped her arm around his and led him toward their destination.

“There; easier to stick together,” she hastily explained, still refusing to look at him. “That’s all.”

“R-Right.” Yes, that was all.

Together, they made their way into the theater proper, and Kaneki saw the stage, which was framed with depictions of red and blue flames that clashed in the background. He felt his stomach leap. His mind conjured possible scenes for the play: Xin and the supporting cast, the antagonists they would be against, and the strange world of Iron Tongues that was similar yet different from the real one. It was exciting.

The numbers on row E counted down from where they entered, and he let Takatsuki go in first. That was when he properly got a glance at the open back on her dress, exposed since her hair was out of the way. His eyes shamelessly devoured the shape of her shoulder blades and the shadows denoting her spine, memorizing it to draw later. He did pack a handful of the sketchbooks she’d gifted him— No, no, stop. Shut up.

She sat down in her seat with a sigh. He glanced at the number: E13.

Ah.

Shuffling awkwardly, he took his own seat, keeping his elbows tucked so as to not intrude on either her or the person next to him. In contrast, she leaned over and invaded his space to speak. Not that he minded:

“What’s your take on the premise?”

He reciprocated her motion like a magnet, and gave it some thought. He could always talk stories with her. It was easy. “I wonder if revenge will break Xin or make him stronger. The nature of his foe will also determine what it is he’s heading toward.”

“We’re of the same mind, then.” She grinned, the lights of the theater passing over her glasses. “Maybe we can steal something for our story too.”

Our story. It was literally true, but his heart fluttered all the same. He responded with a smile.

The lights darkened, people clapped, and after some announcements from the director, the play began.

Kaneki tried to focus, but every now and then, against his better judgment, he would steal a glance at Takatsuki, only to see her eyes glued to the stage. She was beautiful, he thought, but he knew if he said it aloud, she wouldn’t believe him.

That was the thing about her; she didn’t like compliments directed toward her. A part of him was glad to understand that, but another part was ashamed. It was a tendency born of self-hatred, he knew, but overcoming it was another story. Maybe she hated herself too, and there was both comfort and horror to be found if it was true, because she brought so much to the table.

He wanted to tell her that she was wrong, that she shouldn’t be hated, but to do so would be hypocritical, and it was frightening to think of that as so. Because to love Takatsuki was to not only open Noroi’s file, it was to love himself as well.

Could he do that…?

A particularly loud scene came on as Xin and his faction led the charge against the group led by Hohjin, the murderer of Xin’s brother and sister. Kaneki watched both leaders proclaim the anguish born of their shared event— Xin for the loss of his family, and Hohjin for the guilt of continuing a cycle too big for him to tackle. Neither side was wrong, but to fight each other… didn’t feel right either.

Kaneki felt a similar conflict within him. The greedy side of him against the sorrowful side of him, neither wholly good nor evil. The former wanted him to open the file and embrace his feelings for Takatsuki and risk anything, while the other wanted to lock them away and continue the happiness he’d already gained.

Which did he choose: speculative selfishness, or stagnant sadness? Both were a necessary component to living, but for this, one of them had to give to let the other guide.

He looked at Takatsuki again, and she was still watching the play, unaware of anything else.

He just didn’t know what to do.

———

Big Bin and Naki were waiting out back with a large van for everyone to sit in. Miza was in the passenger’s seat with a slumbering Shiori, Naki was the driver, and everyone else crammed into the back. Middle Bin and Yumitsu insisted on sitting with their brother while Kaneki and Takatsuki were on the other side.

“You guys look a little uncomfy,” Kaneki noticed. “Are you sure you don’t—”

“No, no! All good here,” Big Bin insisted, grinning. “We’re used to it; growing up, we all shared a bed.”

“We had to figure out a whole system so that we didn’t kick each other in our sleep,” Middle Bin added fondly. “Yumitsu would still kick me onto the floor, though.”

Yumitsu was pink in the face, but she rolled her eyes anyway. “Because of your dirty feet in my face.”

Middle Bin laughed, and Kaneki smiled. The discussion eventually turned to the play.

“The climax was a bit dissatisfying,” Yumitsu admitted, arms folded.

In the end, Xin and Hohjin died at the hands of Raki, a third party stuck in the middle of their conflict, meaning neither Xin nor Hohjin got what they wanted.

“I-I kinda liked that. Like being dissatisfied was the point,” Kaneki ventured. “We’re given time to get attached to Xin and Hohjin both, and like them, we’re dissatisfied and upset by the outcome of their paths of destruction. It’s a pseudo-personal experience of the fruitlessness of revenge.”

He couldn’t let his own internal conflict end the same way. He wouldn’t do that.

“Fruitlessness? I wouldn’t say that.” Next to him, Takatsuki’s eyes glinted. “Raki, who knows both of them, acts as the literal manifestation of their destructive behavior. It’s not that revenge is bad, it’s that revenge should be focused.”

“Ooh, that’s good,” Middle Bin agreed.

“‘Fear is like fire,’” Kaneki quoted, understanding her angle. “Or something like that?”

“Not ‘something’— exactly like that.” Takatsuki grinned.

“That explains why I felt so sad,” Miza said, stroking Shiori’s head. “Like if Xin or Hohjin had simply talked to each other, or maybe talked to those around them, then something would be left behind. Instead—”

“There’s nothing,” Yumitsu finished. “Yes… It’s sad.”

Their discussion continued until there was a knock on the back door of the van. When Big Bin pushed it open—

“Hello,” greeted Tatara, still wearing his mask.

“Yo, Tatara!” Middle Bin waved. “Great work, man! Lighting was awesome as always!”

“Mm.” He stepped into the van to take a seat.

Kaneki, to make space, separated himself from Takatsuki, and she gave him a brief glance before Tatara filled both their visions.

“I can’t take any credit, unfortunately,” Tatara said. “Ayato did most of the work this time.”

Oh, was Ayato— Wait a second. Ayato.

Kaneki’s eyes darted back out the van to see Ayato Kirishima standing at the entrance.

“Aya—?!” Kaneki stood up in a rush and bumped his head. “Argh… A-Ayato?”

“Huh? What the fu— Kaneki?!” Ayato shouted at nearly the same time. “The hell are you doing here?!”

“Language!” Miza called, even though Shiori was fast asleep.

“Sorry!” He tried again, steepling his fingers over his face then pointing them at Kaneki. “Kaneki, what are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing!” Kaneki replied. “I didn’t know you worked for Chì Shé!”

“Well, you never asked!” Ayato fired back, as if it was Kaneki’s fault. “And, like— Ugh, whatever, we can talk about this later. Why’re you—”

“You know Ayato?” Tatara interjected, looking at Kaneki.

Kaneki flinched. “U-Uh, yeah! Yeah, his sister’s one of my best friends, and— Well, he helped me a lot when I struggled with lighting early on…”

“I see.”

“He works with me,” Takatsuki explained to Ayato, sticking her hand out. “We got invited to the resort together by your boss!”

“So you’re that, uh—” Ayato snapped his fingers to fill the air— “Takatsuki, right?” He looked to Kaneki for confirmation. “The one Hina likes?”

Kaneki nodded, and Takatsuki tilted her head. “You know a reader?”

“Yeah, something like that…” Ayato scratched his head, his cheeks an undeniable shade of red. “I guess… Could I, uh—”

“An autograph for your friend?” She smiled. “When we get to the resort, sure. I’ll need a book, though.”

“I’ve… got one…” Ayato was mumbling now as he climbed into the car.

Kaneki realized there wasn’t anywhere for Ayato to sit, though, but before he could literally take the fall and sit on the floor, Takatsuki beat him to it. She plopped down in the spot behind the driver’s seat, taking up a surprising amount of space for such a small body.

“Here, take my spot, Haise,” she said, pointing to it. “I like harder seats anyway; those cushy ones in the theater were killing me.”

Kaneki frowned, but he didn’t see her changing her mind. “Thank you…”

“Y’all ready?” Naki called.

Everyone confirmed, and they were off.

—

Kaneki’s first thought about the resort was how hellish it would be to clean, because it was big.

It was nestled in the side of a mountain, with a clear road down to the nearby private beach. He spotted a small zen garden in the back shaded by the trees on the edge of the forest.

There were two buildings, each following traditional architecture to give that homey feeling. A thick waft of steam rose from the smaller building, denoting it as the one for the hot springs. The larger one stood at two stories tall, complete with a small patio that likely overlooked the ocean.

“We’ll draw sticks to decide which rooms!” Miza announced once everyone had their luggage. “But Naki and I are taking the master bedroom. Objections?”

There were none.

“‘Kay!” Naki held a cup with, well, sticks in it. “There’re two more doubles and three singles in the big buildin’ over there! Big Bin n’ I colored the ends of each stick, and then Shiori colored the right rooms!”

Kaneki saw Takatsuki squint in suspicion at the cup, then her gaze roamed across her friends. “I’ll go first, then,” she said.

Miza’s eyes widened. “Uh, actually, Sen, why not—”

“Sure thing, Sen!” Naki thrust the cup toward her, grinning. “Take your pick!”

“N-Naki, uh—!” Miza suddenly seemed to panic for some reason.

“What’s wrong, Miza?” Takatsuki frowned innocently, which she never did. “Afraid I’ll pick the wrong one?”

“I don’t see the problem, Miza,” Tatara said. “It’s random, isn’t it?”

Kaneki glanced sideways at Ayato, who shrugged indifferently. Good; he wasn’t alone in being confused.

“Tatara’s right,” Takatsuki continued. “Me going first is no different from anyone else going first.”

“I-I just mean, why not let Big Bin go first?” Miza defended herself. “He helped Naki with the resort and stuff, so he can get a room first! And then, I don’t know, he can, um, pass it around!”

Big Bin gave a thumbs up. “I like the sound of that.”

Takatsuki raised a brow, but relented with a sigh. “Alright, fine…”

Naki handed Big Bin the cup, and Big Bin drew a stick before handing it to Middle Bin next to him. Middle Bin drew, then passed it to Yumitsu, who drew and passed it to… Ayato, skipping Kaneki.

“Why’d you do that?” Takatsuki asked.

Yumitsu didn’t miss a beat. “What, I can’t pick Ayato now?”

“I-I’m not offended!” Kaneki interjected before more fighting could break out. “I can go last.”

“Haise—!”

“It’s fine, really!” He laughed. “I don’t mind at all.”

Ayato just shrugged and drew his stick. He muttered something under his breath before handing it over to Tatara.

When it went into Tatara’s hands, he stopped for a second and looked at Miza, who nervously smiled back. He scanned the Bins, who seemed indifferent, then settled on Kaneki, wearing the same expression Kaneki always saw on him: a weird glare, like he was looking at vermin.

… Okay, maybe Kaneki was being a little too mean to himself. He took a breath to reel it in.

Tatara drew, and handed the cup to Takatsuki. She made a huffing noise and stuck it out to Kaneki.

“You first,” she said.

“Takatsuki, it really isn’t—”

“You. First.”

Tatara turned his attention to her then, his gaze softening slightly. Meanwhile, Kaneki yielded and picked a stick.

“I’d like to redraw,” Tatara said suddenly.

Miza blinked. “Uh, but there’s only—” She cleared her throat. “Yeah, go on.”

Tatara traded sticks with the one left in the cup, and Takatsuki took that one and gave the cup back to Naki.

“Alright, everyone!!” Naki seemed completely oblivious to any tension based on his grin. “Show us your colors!!”

Ayato, Yumitsu, and Middle Bin got the singles, while Big Bin and Tatara got a double. As for the second double, Kaneki glanced down in abject horror at his color, then across the group at Takatsuki. She was glaring at Miza.

He was rooming with her.

#blank canvas #today's cameo: baby kirishima #you know who it is #a pinch of ayahina for the folks at home

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