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minastras · 7 months

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we fell apart when the sky was orange (and now every sunset reminds me of you) // beomgyu

Two long years after he broke your heart, Choi Beomgyu remains your first and only love. Unfortunately he’s now also your colleague, and you’re not sure if you ever really got over him.

at a glance: gender neutral reader, exes to lovers, office au, angst, fluff, ft. enhypen’s heeseung, itzy’s ryujin, and p1harmony’s keeho

words: 6.5k

warnings: swearing

notes: happy valentine's day!! i'm like an hour late but shh hope u enjoy <3

——————————

Your one-and-a-half year long relationship with Choi Beomgyu, the first serious relationship either of you had ever had, ended abruptly during a lovely evening in the East Coast Gardens. You’d gone there together with some of your friends for a picnic and to watch the sunset, celebrating finishing your second year of university.

At some point, you and Beomgyu left the rest of the group to take a walk along the beach. The sky was tinted that showstopping blend of pink and orange only seen at dawn and dusk, and he was holding your hand.

“We have to break up,” he blurted out, letting go.

When you two walked together, it was typical for neither of you to speak for long stretches of time. You weren’t exactly sure what you expected him to break the silence with, but it surely wasn’t that.

“What?”

“We have to break up,” he repeated, barely even looking you in the eye. His voice was flat, but his jaw was so tight he was slurring all of his words. “It’s, uh, it’s been real.”

The glow of the sunset, as breathtaking as it was, faded into the background for you. “It’s been real?” you echoed in disbelief, your mind still lagging ten paces behind your mouth. “Gyu, you can’t be serious. What happened?”

He took a step back from you. “Nothing happened. We just aren’t right for each other.”

“But- but we’re in love,” you protested, hating how childish you sounded. Maybe you were. Maybe it was your juvenile foolishness that had convinced you he meant it when he said ‘I love you too’, as if the ‘too’ tacked on at the end wasn’t a clear enough sign he just said it to agree with you.

You couldn’t remember what happened after that — what he’d said in response, if anything, whether you’d stormed off first or if he’d left you there in the sand, if you had cried. All you remembered was the heartwrenching drive home, shoved in the backseat next to a friend you’d long since lost touch with, periodically tipping your head back so your tears wouldn’t spill over.

——————————

Two years later, everything worked out in the end. You’d like to think so, at least, because you and your best friend Ryujin had just graduated from university at the top of your cohort. With your grades, you both easily secured jobs at the biggest accounting firm in the country as recruits in their prestigious Graduate Talent Programme. It was your first day on the job, and you were about to meet the other GTs.

“No way,” Ryujin muttered.

“What?” you asked, but as the question was leaving your mouth you saw what she was pointing at. Or, more accurately, who.

Beomgyu saw you at almost the exact same moment you did. He locked eyes with you too quickly for you to have pretended not to see him, so you stood rooted in place as he made his way over to you. The expression on his face was unreadable.

“Hey, Y/N,” he greeted. You couldn’t recall the last time you heard your name come out of his mouth. Even though the office was stuffed with people more important than you two, people you should’ve been introducing yourself to, you saw and heard and felt no one but him.

“Hi, Beomgyu,” you returned, his name heavy on your tongue.

He rocked back on the heels of his black dress shoes — so opposite to the sneakers he used to wear everyday back when you dated, the white ones you had given him for his birthday four years ago and he refused to replace despite them just about falling apart — and put his hands in his pockets.

“Fancy seeing you here,” he said. You sensed a degree of wariness creeping into his tone now. He looked exactly the same, barring his slightly shorter hair with his icy grey highlights taken out.

“Yeah, what are the odds?” you asked, making casual conversation as if you couldn’t hear that same wariness in your own words.

He wore a crisp white button down, starched impeccably into perfect plains that wrapped around his broad torso, a thin black tie, and black slacks. He’d clearly gotten better at tying ties. You remembered struggling through the How to Tie a Windsor Knot WikiHow article with him before one of his job interviews, both of you flailing around helplessly for nearly an hour before you succeeded.

He nodded to someone standing behind you, prompting you to turn around. “Nice you’ve got Ryujin with you. Heeseung got in too, if you remember him.”

You did. When you and Beomgyu were still together he often told you about Heeseung, an old friend from high school he gamed with online. You wondered what he had told Heeseung about your breakup.

Thankfully, someone else called for everyone’s attention right then, and you booked it to the other corner of the room.

“Good morning everyone! I’d like to introduce our brand new GTP recruits. GTs, if you would please come to the front.”

You and the four other GTs awkwardly shuffled forward, and you ended up standing right beside Beomgyu. The universe hated you; that was the only explanation. Ryujin was too busy stifling her laughter to feel sorry for you.

“Joining our auditing team are Shin Ryujin, Lee Heeseung, and Yoon Keeho. Joining our advisory team are Y/N and Choi Beomgyu. Please give them all a warm welcome!”

The rest of the office clapped politely while your world crumbled around you (fine, you were being hyperbolic). Of all the people on the planet you could’ve been paired with, it just had to be him.

He still smelt the same, wearing the same cologne he’d worn when you were together. The same cologne which clung to your bedsheets for weeks after you broke up.

You closed your eyes for a split second, looking down so no one would notice, and took a deep breath. Then, you raised your head again, turned to Beomgyu, and held out your hand.

“I look forward to working with you,” you said with a polite smile.

He raised an eyebrow but shook your hand anyway.

——————————

Your new team lead whisked you and Beomgyu around from office to office, throwing more information at you than any normal person would be able to process, giving you no room to breathe — let alone talk to the man who’d broken your heart two years ago and was apparently not over you, either.

Clearly, not talking to him didn’t mean you weren’t thinking about him.

Perhaps he was thinking about you too, because you’d catch him watching you out of the corner of your eye when he thought you were distracted. But your interactions with each other were limited to curt, perfunctory statements and uncomfortable glances.

After clock-off, your new colleague Keeho suggested all the GTs go out for drinks. He claimed it was so you’d get to know each other better, but it was clear he just wanted drama. You were at the bar ordering another mocktail when Beomgyu pulled out the barstool next to yours.

“Make that two, please,” he told the bartender, sitting down. Neither of you said a word. You snuck a glance at him to find him already looking at you, so you turned away and stared straight ahead.

Were you over him?

Truthfully, you weren’t sure. You couldn’t tell the difference between being hung up on an ex and grieving someone who’d been such a pivotal part of your life. Maybe it was the whole ‘you never really get over your first love’ thing other people talked about.

He cleared his throat. “Hey.”

You winced, bracing yourself for awkwardness. “Hey.”

“So, uh, you look-” he hesitated, cutting himself off, “How’ve you been?”

“Good… good. You?” You were starting to regret ordering a non-alcoholic drink, because he was just as pretty as you remembered and it was doing your head in.

Ryujin always said you needed to date again, that you’d never move on unless you put yourself back out there. To your credit, you did try. But you ran all your attempts at dating into the ground with all the same flaws of yours that had ended things between you and Beomgyu two years ago.

“Good…” He paused again, and then straightened his back and put his hands on the bar counter, open and declarative. “Can we not do this? Can we just start over?” he asked.

“Start over?” you echoed.

“What happened between us happened so long ago. We don’t need to dredge all that back up again,” he said.

The bartender returned with your identical drinks and, before you could say anything, Beomgyu handed over his credit card. He waved away your surprised gratitude, raised his glass, and held the other one out to you.

Maybe to another person, someone who knew him less well than you did, he’d seem cool and confident. But you could see a tentativeness in his eyes, a slight shake that told you he was worried you wouldn’t respond well, that you wouldn’t take the olive branch in his hand.

You let out a small laugh, the group chat revelation from this morning still rattling about in your head, and tapped the rim of your glass against his.

“Sure, Gyu. Let’s start over.”

——————————

You and Ryujin spent the entire night and most of the next morning’s commute to the office debating what ‘start over’ meant. She thought it meant going back to the courtship stage (whatever that was), and you thought it meant erasing yours and Beomgyu’s history entirely and beginning anew. As strangers.

“But he isn’t over you!” she protested, drawing ire from the elderly couple sitting in front of you on the train.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” you mumbled. “Nothing’s going to happen between us. We literally didn’t say a word to each other yesterday at work.”

Ryujin shook her head. “You’re wrong. There’s something there. I don’t know what, but there’s something.”

Nearly a whole week passed before you began to admit she was right, when even you could no longer bury your head in the sand and pretend you didn’t see it. You kept telling yourself you were content with carrying on your ostrich roleplay for as long as humanly possible, but it was starting to grate on you.

Every year, the GTP recruits were expected to put together a proposal paper and presentation on what they felt the company could improve. The deadline was in two months — how were any of you supposed to be familiar enough with the company by then to make policy recommendations?

“Our team lead keeps saying the company needs ‘fresh eyes’,” Keeho said during your first meeting for the project a week later, already careening off topic. “She stares right into my soul whenever she says ‘fresh eyes’. It’s fucking creepy.”

“It is creepy,” Heeseung agreed, twirling his pen between his fingers.

“Do we all have our notes ready?” Ryujin asked, wrangling the meeting back on track.

Beomgyu helpfully gathered up each of your notes and passed the stack over to you. You were friendly now after that night at the bar, but there was so much tension between you two that even your team lead pointed it out.

“You’re in charge of this, right?” Beomgyu asked. You had volunteered to do the boring work of collating all of your ideas and suggestions into a draft skeleton outline for the proposal paper.

“I’ll help you,” Keeho offered, smiling at you from across the table. “I’m happy to do the auditing parts.”

Beomgyu folded his arms and leant back in his chair. “They can manage.”

You had to stop going giddy every time you saw him in a shirt and tie.

“Actually, help would be useful,” you said to Keeho, ignoring Beomgyu not because you were annoyed, but because you didn’t know what to make of his interjection. Unbeknownst to you, Beomgyu scowled.

——————————

You and Keeho had arranged to work on the report after lunch that day. Beomgyu wasn’t keeping tabs on you or anything, he just made sure to remind you that you had a 3pm advisory meeting with him the same afternoon. Yes, that was the only reason he cared about what you did with your time.

And the only reason he was hovering around by Keeho’s office cubicle was to make sure you weren’t late for the meeting. Not because you were there. Not because you were with Keeho. Not because you and Keeho kept laughing and playfully pushing each other. What could possibly be that funny, anyway?

“Can I help you?” Keeho asked Beomgyu, finally noticing his presence.

Beomgyu ignored him and looked straight at you, tapping his watch. “Let’s go. It’s 2.50.”

“Ah, already?” you mumbled, mostly to yourself, gathering your things up from Keeho’s desk. “Sorry, Keeho. I’ll finish it tonight.”

Keeho smirked as his gaze shifted from you to Beomgyu and then back to you, before he let out a quiet laugh. “Don’t worry about it; I’ll take it from here.”

“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver!” You scrambled to your feet to follow Beomgyu to the lift lobby.

The meeting room was just three floors above you, and as soon as Beomgyu led you into the lifts he braced for you to ask him why he was in such a rush. It only took a minute to get there. But you didn’t; maybe you would have a couple of years ago.

——————————

Beomgyu waited until you and him were alone in the office — an hour or so after the end of the work day — when he just couldn’t take it anymore.

“There’s so much weird sexual tension between you and Keeho,” he said, trying and failing to sound casual. To both his amazement and relief, you didn’t seem to notice.

Your lips twitched, like you were about to reveal something but quickly decided against it. Beomgyu remembered when he was able to read you like an open book, but those days were now long gone and he couldn’t tell what you were thinking anymore.

“He’s hot. And tall. And he seems nice,” Beomgyu continued, unsure what he was trying to accomplish.

“I don’t really date anymore,” you blurted out, seeming to regret saying that almost immediately.

“Why not?”

You shrugged, now regaining your composure. “I… I don’t think I’d be a good partner. For anyone.”

It was Beomgyu’s turn to falter. He watched you carefully as the realisation started to sink in. The walls of the now quiet office felt like they were closing in on him. You’d blamed yourself for the breakup. He’d made you think you were too broken for love.

“Oh, god, did I do that to you?” he asked, so quiet it was nearly a whisper.

“…It was a long time ago,” you replied after what seemed like forever, a non-answer if ever there was one, glancing up from the desk and flashing him a tight-lipped smile. It didn’t even get anywhere near your eyes. “We don’t have to get into it. I’m sorry I brought it up. Like you said, we should just start over.”

He swallowed his pride and shook his head firmly. “No, I was wrong. We should talk about it. I don’t want to leave things unsaid.”

The version of him that had broken up with you would never have said that. That version of him refused to even admit when he had a headache. That version of him dumped you because he couldn’t handle you ‘always needing to talk about feelings.’ It was hard for him to stomach that fact, even all these years later.

“I don’t know- I had so many issues and I expected you to be my answer to all of them. I just figured that if even a guy like you couldn’t stand me, I was beyond redemption,” you shrugged.

Once, during a particularly hectic exam season back in university, you had completely shut yourself off from him, all your friends, even Ryujin. You didn’t talk to anyone for a week. You didn’t leave your room. You didn’t answer any of his texts or calls. He knew your parents were fighting and your rent had gone up past what you could afford and you were struggling to pass your classes. There was nothing more he wanted than to drive over to your place and hold you, to tell you everything was going to be fine, but you refused to let him.

“Do you still think that?” he asked, his throat feeling exceptionally tight.

“Maybe. I’m not sure,” you admitted.

Even back then he knew why you refused, although he wasn’t ready to admit it at the time. Whenever you did try to open up to him he would shut down, so eventually you stopped trying.

Your phone alarm went off before he could think of a response, a generic default ringtone. It used to be a recording of him quacking like a duck, because for some reason you found that hilarious and he liked doing it to cheer you up.

“I should go. My train’s coming,” you told him.

He blinked, blindsided. “Oh- okay.”

You packed your bag and stood up, walking to the lift lobby and pressing the button. Then, in a fraction of a second, you dropped the facade.

“Don’t take what I said too seriously, Gyu,” you assured him. “I’m alright now. I’m in a good place.”

He stared at your eyes, trying to decipher them, but you seemed to be telling the truth. After a second or two, he pulled his shoulders back and nodded. There was still a weight on his chest.

“I’m glad to hear it,” he smiled.

The lift doors behind you opened, and you smiled back. The weight lifted.

“See you tomorrow, Gyu.”

——————————

The GTs were meeting before the work day officially started to discuss the progress you and Keeho had made yesterday. You and Ryujin got on the train an hour earlier than usual.

“Are you gonna say yes?” she asked, after you told her Keeho had asked you out on a date yesterday. She had a slice of buttered toast in her mouth in flagrant disregard of the ‘no eating’ sign right behind her.

“I don’t know,” you groaned, dragging out your last word like a whiny child. You only acted like this in front of Ryujin. “I should, right? He’s nice.”

“I don’t think you should date people on the basis of niceness. I think you should date them based on whether you actually like them,” she said, never being one to sugarcoat the truth for you, before her eyes widened in realisation. “Don’t tell me it’s because of Beomgyu.”

“It’s not,” you said, and she gave you a knowing look. “Well, it’s not not. What if I’m broken?”

Your conversation with Beomgyu hadn’t left your head since yesterday. You were still bewildered that he’d insisted on talking to you about your breakup; it was so unlike him. Or at least the version of him you remembered.

“I don’t understand how you can take him breaking up with you the way he did as an indictment on you and not him,” Ryujin said. “He always acted like you were some big emotional burden when most of the time you were just a bit sad and needed a hug. And he couldn’t even handle that.”

——————————

Beomgyu, Heeseung, and Keeho were all already in the meeting room when you and Ryujin showed up, even though you were five minutes early yourselves.

“Keeho brought doughnuts,” Heeseung announced instead of saying ‘good morning’, pointing to the box on the table. Ryujin grinned and skipped over to the box to grab one.

“Y/N, do you want Oreo or cinnamon?” Keeho asked, checking to see which flavours were left.

Beomgyu looked up from his phone and said nonchalantly, “Y/N doesn’t like eating in the morning.” The statement was addressed to Keeho, but he looked right at you as he said it.

You stared back at him. He remembered, but of course he did, because you used to watch him eat breakfast while only nursing a giant thermos of coffee every morning. He always nagged you about not skipping ‘the most important meal of the day’, and you always insisted that that was a myth. (For the record, you were right.)

“Uh- yeah. I’m good, thanks,” you stammered after far too long a pause.

Keeho cocked an eyebrow, looking between you and Beomgyu like he had yesterday with a slight smile on his face, before taking the last cinnamon doughnut for himself.

Five minutes before nine, you wrapped up your meeting. Beomgyu and Keeho offered to stay and reset the meeting room while the rest of you hurried to your desks, until you realised you’d left your phone behind and circled back to get it. Right as you reached for the door handle, you heard something that made you freeze.

“Y/N told me you asked them out.” Beomgyu’s voice was barely muffled by the closed door.

Peeking through the tiny window of the door, you saw Keeho shrug. “I did. But I’m not holding my breath.”

“Why? They think you’re hot,” Beomgyu said.

You were so going to kill him. That little-

Keeho laughed and shook his head. “Nah, I’m doomed by the narrative.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Beomgyu asked. That was the man you recognised, defensive and immediately assuming intent to offend. You heard them walking towards the door and scrambled to hide behind the wall around the corner, holding your breath.

“Relax, man,” Keeho chuckled, opening the door. The two men walked right past you, not noticing you. “I’m just saying you should go for it.”

Beomgyu frowned. “What?”

“Yeah. No regrets, right?”

——————————

Beomgyu was acting differently with you now. He was smiling more, joking around more. You were trying not to think about it too much — you didn’t know what it meant, and, more worryingly, you didn’t know what you wanted it to mean.

You two stayed late one Friday night to work on a presentation deck, being the only people left in the office by 8pm. You ordered kimbap and fried chicken and ate dinner together at his cubicle, balancing paper plates on your knees while he typed and you peered over his shoulder.

“This feels familiar,” Beomgyu mused, turning around to look at you. You must’ve looked like a deer in the headlights to him, because you instantly forgot whatever you were about to say when he smiled at you.

In university you had spent many a night in his apartment sitting beside him at his desk, watching him game with Heeseung (whom you only knew at that point as a disembodied voice that lived in Beomgyu’s headset). You were usually snacking on something and you’d feed him whatever it was while he was playing.

“So, did you say yes to Keeho?” Beomgyu asked, sounding flippant, but you could tell he’d been waiting for the right time to ask you that for a while.

“No, he- that’s weird,” you frowned, after you pushed the ground floor button and it failed to light up. Then, the entire lift rattled. “That’s weirder.”

He reached over your shoulder to push the button again, his hair brushing against the back of your neck. Once more, it didn’t light up. But you were worrying about other things, namely how broad his button up made his shoulders look and how good he smelt.

“Answer my question,” he pressed, all while repeatedly poking the button like an impatient toddler.

You would’ve laughed, if not for how close he was standing to you making it impossible for you to think straight. “We decided against it- are we actually stuck in here?”

It was silent for a few seconds as you looked at each other, confused. And then he began to panic.

“No, we can’t be,” he insisted, jabbing his finger at the lift button over and over so hard you thought he’d break his knuckle. His eyes were wide and his breathing was shallow and fast.

“Gyu-”

He cut you off with a loud wail and slapped his hands onto his head, throwing his back against the wall behind him and sliding down it dramatically. You bit back a laugh, the feeling of his body right by yours a second ago now a distant memory.

“We’re trapped! We’re gonna die!” he shrieked, his voice amplified by the tightness of the space you were in. The lift rattled once more.

You stifled a laugh. “Dude, chill.”

It had been nearly four years since your first date, but you still remembered it vividly. He’d brought you to a night carnival, and one of the first attractions on the itinerary was the haunted house. He confessed to you months after you started dating that it was all part of his grand plan to make you fall in love with him: that you would get scared and cling onto his bicep and he’d heroically protect you.

The actual experience went like this. You and him made it about a fifth of the way through the haunted house — with you taking the lead and him screaming bloody murder the entire time — before he tapped out and you turned back. Upon shamefully emerging from the haunted house’s entrance like a couple of quitter chickens, he sank to the floor with his head in his hands, exactly as he was right now. Of course now he was in a button up, tie, slacks, and dress shoes rather than a university sweatshirt and jeans, but the pose was nearly identical.

“I’m too young to die! But I’m too old to get on the news for dying young!” he babbled. Maybe he was delirious from the stress of the job. Ignoring the meltdown unfolding by your feet, you dialled the emergency number above the lift door and gave the man on the other end of the line your lift’s reference number.

“The maintenance guy will be here in a few minutes,” you relayed, hanging up the phone.

He took his head out of his hands and stopped screaming. “Oh. I might have overreacted.”

You laughed, joining him on the floor on the opposite side of the lift. “You think?”

It was silent for a while, save for a few odd creaks from the lift here and there. He had his legs stretched out in front of him and they looked about a billion miles long. You couldn’t really look at him too much without your heart feeling weird.

“Hey,” he started, kicking your shoe to get your attention. “What happened with Keeho?”

He was still on that.

“Nothing. We decided it wasn’t a good idea,” you answered, pausing for a moment to mull over whether you should admit to the conversation you had eavesdropped on last week. You choose to keep your mouth shut.

Beomgyu stayed silent for so long that you got over your refusal to make eye contact and looked up to see if something was wrong. He was frowning. The lift was so small and quiet you swore you could hear your own heartbeat echoing off the walls.

“It wasn’t your fault, you know? Us. How we ended,” he said, chewing nervously on his bottom lip. “I was always shutting you down when you needed to be comforted. I even said you had too many issues.”

You winced at his last sentence, words that still stung nearly three years after he’d first uttered them to you. He must have seen it on your face, because he closed his eyes and looked away.

“Maybe we both met the right person at the wrong time,” you offered, trailing off as he silently got up from his spot opposite you and sat down next to you instead. If he moved even a millimetre closer, his shoulder would’ve touched yours. You held your breath and turned to him, your face so close to his that you could count his eyelashes.

“Yeah, maybe.” He held your gaze, unwavering.

The lift rattled even louder this time, but although you jumped he didn’t even flinch. Instead, his eyes drifted down to your lips. You used to rest your head on his shoulder when you two sat next to each other like this, whether it was on his sofa or at a restaurant. It was your ‘thing’.

He leaned in, and you found yourself drawn towards him. There was something magnetic about him that seemed to pull you forward, a compulsion of sorts. He used to taste like the pomegranate lip balm you kept in your pocket that he constantly nicked because he was too lazy to buy his own. You wondered if he’d bought one for himself after you split up. His nose brushed against yours and your eyes fluttered shut.

BANG!

You jumped apart, exchanging alarmed glances at the deafening metallic clang of the lift door.

“Maintenance! You guys okay in there?”

Beomgyu recovered from the shock before you did and sputtered out an, “All good!” But he was looking only at you. Beside him you were frozen, certain you could still feel the warmth of his breath on your face.

“Stand back from the doors!” the maintenance man continued.

You scrambled to your feet first, straightening your jacket and grabbing your bag. Your face felt like it was on fire. After (in your estimation) about a billion hours, the lift doors finally parted to reveal a beaming maintenance man.

“Thank you so much, sir. Have a good night,” you rushed out, mumbling a goodbye to Beomgyu without turning to look at him. He didn’t get a chance to return the pleasantry before you were gone.

——————————

Neither of you spoke of the lift incident after that night. You acted like nothing had ever happened, and Beomgyu seemed more than happy to go along with your charade.

Your team lead had invited you both to tag along to a meeting with another company’s headquarters; neither of you had any direct involvement in the project, but he’d asked you to prepare a short presentation on your suggestions for the project anyway. It would be a good experience for you, hence why you agreed to it, but now you were starting to question your judgement.

“Are you nervous?” Beomgyu asked you under his breath as you walked down the corridor side by side to the conference room.

“Is it obvious?” you asked. Your thumb drive loaded with presentation slides was burning a hole in your pocket. Your palms were sweating, but you didn’t want to say that out loud. He’d just start rapping Eminem’s Lose Yourself at you and ruin your focus.

Truth be told, you didn’t really know why he was here — he wasn’t giving a presentation and had nothing to do with the project.

“It’s obvious to me,” he answered.

If you read into that even a little, you inferred he meant that he knew you better than other people did, that he saw more of you than they did. If you read into your own relief when he told you this morning he was coming for the meeting, you inferred having him with you made you feel more secure.

You needed to stop reading into things.

But how could you, when he checked where the air conditioning vents in the meeting room were the second he walked in so he could get you both seats far away from them, knowing you got cold easily? And how could you, when he swapped your chair with his own on instinct to give you the one without any broken wheels?

After the meeting ended, you took the train back home with him. It was a two hour ride.

“You did great,” he praised, leading the way to an empty train carriage. As he walked, he slipped his fingers under his navy blue tie, loosening the knot and popping open the top button of his shirt. You tried not to stare.

“Thanks.” You sat down in the window seat, and he took the one beside you. His shoulder touched yours. Were train seats always this narrow?

There was a part of you that wished Ryujin were here to knock some sense into you and/or crush your delusions before they became too well fleshed out, but she was starting to warm to Beomgyu more and more these days. She was even encouraging you to talk to him. Ryujin? Encouraging you to talk to Beomgyu? Maybe you’d fallen into the matrix.

——————————

“I’m on my way home. How was work?”

You hadn’t dreamt about Beomgyu in a long time, but your dreamscape’s recreation of his voice still remained accurate. Warm and melodic, with a smooth lilt that made anything he said sound poetic.

“It was alright. Are you with Y/N?”

Heeseung’s voice. Hm. Dreaming about Heeseung was weird, but not entirely out of the question. You’d gotten to know him pretty well-

“Shh, man. They’re sleeping right beside me.”

At that, you finally woke up. Your head was resting on Beomgyu’s shoulder instead of the window pane, somehow having found its way to him while you were asleep. Perhaps he’d shifted you there himself, like he used to do whenever you dozed off on the wall of yours and his favourite study booth in the back of the university library.

He didn’t notice you were awake. You kept your eyes shut and remained perfectly still.

“Have you guys talked?” Heeseung asked on the other end of the phone.

“No. What am I supposed to say? Sorry I almost kissed you, I think I’m still in love with you?” Beomgyu said quietly.

“Yeah. Literally.”

“I can’t do that, man.”

“Why not? The universe gave you a second chance. No regrets, right?”

Beomgyu was silent for a few seconds.

“Yeah, I’ll see you at home.”

He hung up without giving Heeseung a chance to reply, and you felt him shifting around as he slipped his phone into his pocket.

Still. Not that he fell in love with you again, but that he never stopped. He was still in love with you.

His hair brushed the side of your face when he turned to you and called your name softly.

“Y/N, wake up.”

You’d never been a particularly good actor, but you pretended to wake up as best as you could and hoped he didn’t see through you.

“Look,” he said quietly, even though there was no one else around, pointing out the window.

The sun was just beginning to set, glowing a brilliant warm orange and glazing the clouds around it in red and yellow. Pink streaks spanned across the sky and through the window into the train carriage.

“It’s beautiful,” you whispered.

When you turned back around, Beomgyu was watching you instead of the sunset. He looked away immediately, clearing his throat and shifting around in his seat. You wondered if he was thinking of the same thing you were.

“Sorry I woke you. I didn’t want you to miss the sunset,” he mumbled. His hands sat folded awkwardly in his lap like he didn’t know what to do with them.

Still. Still?

You could count on one hand the number of times in your life you’d been well and truly speechless; this was one of them.

He seemed to mistake your silence for something else — you didn’t know what — because he turned away and dropped his gaze apologetically.

“Hey, about the other day,” he said, trailing off, “I’m sorry I made things weird.”

You weren’t going to lose him again. You’d had enough heartbreak.

“You didn’t,” you rushed out, placing your hand over his. The movement was sudden and uncoordinated, an impulsive lunge forward rather than a measured and gentle reach. “I wish I hadn’t run away like that.”

Beomgyu’s eyes were wide, his lips parted slightly in shock. You didn’t know if your words or your actions had caused that.

“Really?” His voice was all breath and no depth.

The melting light of the sunset behind you poured into the train carriage through the window, lying across his face in ribbons of gold that made his skin glow. The hue was almost indescribable, the type of colour only found during sunsets, and the colour you associated only with Choi Beomgyu.

His fingers curled up to lace themselves with yours, and you felt a coldness on your skin that gave you a jolt. It was a ring. Plain, thin, silver.

You bought him matching rings for your six month anniversary, thick patterned silver ones with intricate carvings and twisted rope trimmings. They were cheap costume jewellery — you lost your job around then and that was all you could afford — and they stained your fingers green after a few days.

You gave up and wore your ring on a chain around your neck instead, but he wore his on his index finger every day, all the way to the end. You used to call him 1% Shrek.

He squeezed your hand.

Now or never.

“I don’t want to… I don’t think I can pretend I’m not in love with you anymore,” you admitted, your heart battering against your rib cage like it was trying to burst out of your chest.

Beomgyu’s grip on your hand tightened. “Me neither,” he whispered.

You looked at him, at the softness in his brown eyes and the gentle slope of his nose. He had made all the first moves in the past. He asked you out on the first date, he initiated your first kiss, he introduced you to his friends and family first. You were done with waiting for him to lead the way.

“Can I kiss you?” you asked.

All his nerves appeared to melt away. He grinned cockily, the exact same grin he donned right before he was about to do something annoying.

“Kissing on public transport is so passé,” he said with a dramatic sigh, even though you were the only people on the train. “We aren’t horny students anymore, we’re grown adults with serious jobs-”

“There’s a juice box sticking out of your bag,” you pointed out, suppressing a laugh.

He moved towards you, his free hand coming up to rest on your cheek. Like your muscles had held onto the memory of his touch all these years, you leant into the familiar warmth of his palm.

“You make a compelling argument,” he muttered, before bringing his lips to yours.

Peppermint. He used peppermint lip balm now.

When was the last time you’d kissed? You couldn’t remember. But you remembered how it felt — the way his lips slotted perfectly between yours, his curve of his hand on your face, the angle of his shoulder exactly where you always held onto him.

When you separated, he pressed a final quick kiss to the corner of your mouth. That was his trademark; he never kissed you without doing that.

“I can’t believe you came back to me,” he said. The diffuse amber of the sunset glazed over his face, making his eyes sparkle. Something about the way he looked at you slowed your heart rate, made you feel sedated.

You ran your thumb over the ring on his index finger, now warmed from the heat of your locked hands.

“Always.”

——————————

thanks for reading!

-minastras <3

#tomorrow x together #txt #choi beomgyu #txt beomgyu #txt x reader #beomgyu x reader #beomgyu angst #beomgyu fluff #beomgyu au

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leahnardo-da-veggie · 3 months

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Convenience Store Vampire, part 10 — Epilogue

Part 1, Part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9

Dusk settled on Luxatia like a comfortable cloak. I reclined on my chair, closing my eyes.

It had been a long, long day. Mrs Vaceni was deeply suspicious about my assurances that nothing had gone awry, despite me desperately trying to convince her that she had dreamed our conversation on the phone. She had almost resorted to checking the security cameras, when I made a desperate bid for safety and locked my gaze with hers.

Now, if you know anything about vampires, you'll know we can mind control humans. And that was exactly what I did, before I deleted the security tapes. (I know, it was exactly what would get me in trouble with the exorcists, but what else was I supposed to do? She would report me for hiding Mizu in an instant!)

Now, however, it was finally over. I let out a sigh of relief.

That was when Mrs Carter came tottering in. “Good,” she said, when she saw me. “You're still here. Remember when I told you about my littlest? Well, she made a surprise visit, and I decided to let her meet you!”

I straightened up automatically, my hands fixing my shirt. It was not formal, or flattering, by any means, but I suppose it was perfunctory. “That sounds lovely,” I told her.

“Great! Vicky, come and meet Davey,” Mrs Carter said. She ushered a woman, tall, tan and athletic, in. "Vicky here's an exorcist, but don't let that fool you! She's a sweet little moonmallow, just like you."

I choked on my own breath as Lieutenant Viccenia Carter, the same woman who pointed that damn gun at me, walked into my store. She recognised me at the same time I did her, and my stomach dropped. From her look of horror, she felt the same way.

Mrs Carter, seeing our faces, said, with innocent cheer, “So, you two know each other? How lovely!”

“Yeah, we do,” Lieutenant Carter said, her voice oddly calm. “Listen-”

“I do not want to listen!” I slammed my hands against the counter. “Get out of my shop, please!” Oh, dear gods, what had I done to deserve this? Of all people, why did the trigger happy psycho cop have to show up just as my shift was ending?!

“I need to apologise,” Lieutenant Carter explained. “You saved Mizu's ass just now.”

I froze. “I do not know what you are talking about,” I replied, most unconvincingly.

Lieutenant Carter pursed her lips. “You pulled a ghost out of my colleague's corpse just now, and you used that psychotic little spirit to hide his scent from us. I have to admit, it worked. I'm surprised a failure of a vampire like you could think it up.”

I glared at her. “If it had worked, you would not be here right now. So, what do you want?”

“I don't want anything, Dave, except to apologise. You did good protecting Mizu, and… It's against policy, but I'd like to thank you somehow. For protecting my friend from my stupidity. If you'd like to go for a meal sometime…” She trailed off, as though having just realised how ridiculous she sounded, asking the man she just tried to kill out on a date.

I sighed. “Sure. Why the hell not?” After all, it was not as if my day could get any weirder, right?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Well, that's done! Hope y'all enjoyed it :) I'll probably do a high fantasy next, so for those of you who are on the CSV only taglist, I'll only tag you if you ask me to.

Taglist:

@coffeeangelinabox, @dorky-pals, @calliecwrites, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @shukei-jiwa

@thewingedbaron, @pluppsauthor, @cowboybrunch, @wylloblr, @possiblyeldritch @ramwritblr, @urnumber1star, @fortunatetragedy, @bigwipscholar, @ratedn

@vampirelover890, @possiblylisle, @illarian-rambling, @the-ellia-west

@finicky-felix, @evilgabe29, @glitched-dawn, @rivenantiqnerd, @dragonhoardesfandoms

@drchenquill, @everythingismadeofchaos, @owldwagitoutofyou, @dimitrakies, @beloveddawn-blog

@riveriafalll, @the-golden-comet, @rascaronii

CSV: @wifeblade, @trippingpossum (Anyone else who wants to get added can tell me in the comments, pm me, or send me an ask about it!)

#writing #writeblr #my writing #writerscommunity #creative writing #short story #fantasy #spilled ink #writing community

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siflshonen · 1 year

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Todoroki: The Mountain, the Hawk, and the Haunted House Part 1

Link to the Todoroki family presentation: Part 1 | Part 2

Link to the Bakugo presentation 2.0: Part 1 | Part 2 | 1.0: Part 1 | Part 2

Link to the Kirishima presentation 1.0 | 2.0

Link to the Todoroki presentation

Link to the Deku presentation

Link to the Uraraka-Bakugo-Toga presentation

Link to the Shigaraki-All for One presentation

Link to the Spinner-Shigaraki-Bakugo-Deku presentation

Link to the BNHA presentations masterpost

In the online fandom system, domestic abuse offenses are considered especially heinous. In the My Hero Academia fandom, the dedicated fans who create the discourse around these fictitious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the So (you think these) Victims (are the most special characters) Unit, or SVU.

These aren’t their stories.

Whenever a work from one culture or language is brought to another (or even if the work stays in the same culture but transitions from page to screen), the translators, localizers, and creative team handling it can only do so much to help the new audience understand what the original work communicates through subtext or cultural associations by deciding how much of the work to leave out or change. In other words, the team must choose how to fail.

In the case of the Todoroki family, I feel there is much lost in translation. Or, at least, there is much lost if the reader doesn’t share the work’s original cultural background. I’m going to try to make my point with a poem.

Four children are mine

And I love my four children:

An arrow to ward away the darkness

aimed for the light of the dawn;

The winter, who brings the night again, beautiful and longer;

Next the summer,

who returns the sun at its zenith;

And small is the leader with clear sky and dusk rain in his eyes.

Four children are mine

And with four comes death

The arrow flies too high from the bow

The arrow flies but falls to darkness

From a shrine in the mountain, he aims for me.

My son haunts the mountain near the peak

I fear the mountain I cannot climb

I fear the arrow meant for me.

Winter settles quietly

Summer turns away from me

The leader makes a mirror of my heart

I tell my son I love him

And I look in the mirror yet I cannot face it but to watch it crack

My son is my spitting image

I tell my son I love him

I tell my son

Without looking into his eyes,

I tell my son I love him

As the arrow flies.

This poem is about Enji Todoroki and his children - the four he actually fathered and the one for whom he unknowingly acted as a surrogate. The poem vaguely alludes to the meanings of the children’s names with one notable change - for Shoto Todoroki, instead of calling him “charred frozen” - which is basically how his first name is written - I called him “leader”.

When written with different characters in Japanese, “Sho” can mean “leader.” So, while “leader” isn’t the true meaning of Shoto’s name, I decided that it was thematically fitting to use since he’s also the “hero of his family” and leads the way for them to continue into the future. In changing the meaning of Shoto’s name, I chose how to fail. Yes, it’s imperfect, but by putting in the work, I can at least show you how I arrived at the destination to help you better understand what you are reading. Much of what I’m about to write about falls into this category - it’s not exactly the perfect explanation or whole, unaltered, canon truth, but is supplementary information to help you come to your own conclusions.

Anyway, now that I’ve told you the poem is about Enji and his children, it probably comes off a little differently, huh? That’s the power of writing allegories and using recurring motifs. If you have not figured it out already, you’ll learn soon enough what words symbolize each child.

Now, let’s break down this already broken family. There are so many damn Todorokis that I’m going to do something very, very rude and call them each by their first name for the sake of clarity (and also because, frankly, it’s a more honest representation of how I actually feel about these characters.)

What is the Todoroki Family?

The challenges facing the Todoroki family - such as the pressures Enji feels, the disappointment and internal crisis Toya inherits, the social and marital prison in which Rei finds herself trapped, the nature of the public’s feelings of betrayal at the reveal of Enji’s family dysfunction, the social snafus and ugly family dynamics in which Natsuo and Fuyumi are often caught - are distinctly shaped by the series’ Japanese society. There’s a special je ne sais quoi quality to their family drama that feels authentic even to me, and I’m a foreigner to these cultural tropes. It’s a little disturbing.

But, besides a fictional family, what are the Todorokis? What purpose do they serve in the story? What is their purpose within the narrative, and what is the purpose of the narrative in which they exist?

Well, on the one hand, the Todoroki household can function as an allegory for traditional Japanese families, society, and power structures (we could use the word “patriarchy”) crumbling under the pressures of modernity and a changing world, which is similar to how the Shimura household functions in Shigaraki’s backstory, or even the story of All Might’s retirement. On the other hand, they are a case study of a deeply flawed family that, if the magic-powers quirk element was not present, could exist in the real world.

They make for good drama. But every member of the household serves a purpose in the narrative, in the family, and in the meta. Usually, these three things work together for a greater purpose.

What is Enji Todoroki?

I didn’t say, “Who is Enji Todoroki?”. I said, “What is Enji Todoroki?”

If you said, “an asshole and shit father,” well, yeah, you’re sure on to something! But it’s not helpful to disengage with a major character in a work if you want to understand what the hell they’re doing in the narrative. I’m not telling anyone to like Enji, or any Todoroki, but I am asking that you entertain the concepts behind them with an open mind, if not an open heart.

What is Enji Todoroki? Much of this should be obvious in any language, but I’m still going to break it down.

The manga tells us pretty blatantly that he is a man from an older generation struggling to remain relevant in a new and changing world. He is ambitious, prideful, hardworking, hypocritical, and wholly dedicated to his job. He’s the patriarch in a household structure that is no longer relevant and coming apart at the seams. But most of all, Enji is afraid that nothing he does will ever be enough.

What is Enji Todoroki? Enji is someone who tries his hardest at anything he does even when it sends him to ruin.

Enji and Effort; Enji and Enjo

In my Bakugo and Deku presentations, I mention that the concept of talent as a fixed quality is predominantly accepted in the west while a common eastern perspective posits that talent is something developed over time. The distinctly Japanese Enji and his personal conflict over the existence of the “natural born”, western-coded All Might thrusts these implied concepts of talent from subtext (not that they were particularly hard to identify throughout the manga) into blatant text. And I’m not just talking about the moment where Enji thinks to himself, “I have always envied natural-born superheroes.”

The written characters for Enji’s given name means effort. The name also sounds like another word for “fuckin’ honkin’ bigass fire”, Enjo, but for our discussion, Enji means effort. Endeavor, his self-chosen hero name, also implies the application of effort.

Everything about this man is defined by his efforts, even when they are in vain. Everything.

He pours his effort into becoming Japan’s greatest Hero. He pours his efforts into escaping the fate of his father. He pours his efforts into making the most terrible domestic choices possible to try to be enough for his family. He pours his efforts into atoning for his transgressions against his family, and then again for those against society. And it is not enough. He knows it is not enough, it never will be enough. Not one thing he has ever done in his life has been enough for him, enough for his family, enough for society. It is never enough. This is his burden.

You don’t have to feel bad for him about it, mind you. I’m just telling you that it is, functionally, his core struggle.

Enji poured every bit of himself into looking away from his son Toya and into running away from him. It’s going to take every bit of effort within himself to stand his ground and face his son again, and even then, he is still going to need help. Perhaps that’s pathetic, but even Enji knew he was only going to be a professional Hero, never a superhero.

Enji is a man who believes, who is basically required to believe, who likely cannot continue to exist if he does not believe, that his value and justification for being is defined by his ability to pull himself up by his bootstraps, or to just keep struggling in the endeavor.

He pours his effort into everything he does and curses his own weaknesses. Even struggling takes effort.

Japan's Burning Soul: Notes on National Pride and Flame Quirks

In my Kirishima presentation, I talk extensively about kouha and their manly aesthetic as it applies to symbols of Japan. What the presentation doesn’t talk about are flame motifs.

In Japan, flames are seen as purifying. They are also seen as manly, and not just in the way Kirishima defines it. There’s several phrases in Japan that talk about stuff like “a burning soul” or even “Japan’s burning soul” or the “blazing spirit” of a Japanese youth. Well, I think these are just about as tacky as they sound but in the same kind of boyish, tacky-cool way most shonen anime can be.

I’m talking about the flame motif on festival jackets. I’m talking about every time Galo from Promare talks about his “flaming firefighter soul”. To some extent, I’m talking about the flames on the Hokage jacket in Naruto (Minato’s and Naruto’s jackets get the flames as a nod to their shared mentor Jiraiya, who is a whole-ass conversation about masculinity in culture, theater, and mythology in and of himself.) These examples are indicative of each of these characters’ pride in their masculinity and in their nationality. Enji’s flame quirk and his constant use of flames as a brand are no exception to this trend.

Some minor characters, and later Dabi, allude to the fact that flame-based quirks are somewhat common in MHA. I’m not completely certain if the prevalence of flame quirks is also meant to indicate that these quirk holders share the same sort of “flaming spirit”, background, national pride, or even miscellaneous political views, but somehow I get the feeling that it does.

These people are, on some level, connected in that they possess the flaming soul of (masculine, old, patriarchal) Japan. The existence of Pro Hero Endeavor is a representation of the traditional, conservative Japan’s soul. All Might may wear red, white, and blue (and yellow like a yellow-haired westerner) to represent a certain set of foreign ideals, but Enji wears the red and the blue with distinctly Japanese pride.

The Colors of a Nation

Red and white, the colors of the Japanese flag, have strong cultural connotations through Japanese architecture, festivals, and shinto practices. (Please keep in mind that colors can mean a lot of things in every culture depending on context, and in Japan, different shades of the same colors can also hold distinct meanings. For example, certain shades of blue are often worn by villains in theater, but blue is not always “evil” or “villainous” by default.) But the color that I personally associate with Japan is blue - specifically, anything dyed with the aizome technique.

Aizome clothing, or clothing dyed with indigo, transitioned from being a nobility-only thing to one of the few colors that commoners could wear starting in the early 1600s - because by then, bright colors were exclusive to the nobility. The indigo dye is also popular for its antibacterial, insect repellent, and flame retardant properties. Firefighters wore it. Samurai wore it under their armor. So it’s not surprising to me that Endeavor’s Hero costume, and that of his son, would use fabric in a particular hue of dark blue.

Also? If you wanted to know? Aizome is used to dye Japanese blue jeans today. Hey, Best Jeanist!

Anyway, Enji is dressed in the color of the common Japanese man, the firefighter, the samurai, the noble laborer or honorable servant - but definitely not of high nobility.

We don’t know a ton about Enji’s background in detail, we know he wasn’t born ungodly rich. We know his father died. We know he went to UA. He made money from his Hero career, and married into a pedigree. Yes, he chose Rei because she had an ice quirk, but got the bonus of clout and old world connections.

So, uh, yes, the marriage of Enji and Rei was one of new money and big ambition married to old nobility and traditional values, and that’s true even when taking the kids out of the equation. But more on Rei and the marriage later.

Unpacking Enji's Envy of All Might

The majority of Japan’s political scene is conservative. (Look at the ideology column in that table, NOT just the name of the party. If you’re a westerner, I realize that identifying which ones are conservative is going to be particularly difficult to do given their translated names.) The Jiminto, or Liberal Democratic Party (again, look at the ideology column, NOT JUST THE NAME OF THE PARTY. Remember that “liberal” and “democratic” can hold different connotations in different countries!) was founded in 1955 and, despite having a nebulous identity beyond being “kinda to the right”, continues to hold a significant majority. Over the years, the party has commonly been seen as reliable, stable, and able to get the job done. Well, except for during those periods of time when the scandals came out.

This is not unlike how the public of MHA saw Endeavor. Well, until the scandals came out.

Now, I do not think it is correct to say that Enji = the Jiminto and leave it at that. (I would, however, call him a personification of Japan’s modern patriarchy, or at least something pretty damn close.) His dogged, openly vocalized grudge against All Might is more extreme than what the majority of the Jiminto might openly express, especially considering their consensus of policy regarding the US. I only want to give some context to the longer-standing political scene of Japan as it affects the modern day.

See, while Japan and the US have had an enduring relationship and are, uh, well, allies now, the older generations of Japan, particularly in rural areas, still hold deep grudges against the States and are bitterly, bitterly angry at the cultural imperialism and the military takeover and the government policy changes and the economic changes and the, well, the everything. Actually, the mutual cycle of envy between the Japanese and US citizens detailed in that Times article is important to remember from both perspectives. There’s old bias against each country lingering in both directions, and, while not a direct reference to how it remains in the Japanese population, understanding how it affected the creation of Japanese internment camps in the US is very illuminating in understanding the public US sentiment about the Japanese before WWII then after it.

When Enji, (or Endeavor), discusses his inferiority complex, he gives away the game and makes the subtext of the rampant western envy present in many of the characters in the work burst out into just plain text.

While Toshinori Yagi is a Japanese man, the power he inherited, or what Enji (and the world) wrongly believed was “natural-born talent” (a western concept), blatantly signals “western power” through his costume and art style (US comics!) and he represents the “band-aid” of temporary western military and socio-political power imposed upon Japan.

The US is considered a superpower, after all.

That said, I do feel that giving the western-appearance clout (and magic quirk) to the Japanese Yagi aptly communicates that there is nothing naturally special about the US or its citizens, or really anyone who has power. All of that misunderstood “special glow” or “flawless perfection” or “incontestable strength” are just appearances, presentation, circumstances, and luck - nothing more and nothing less. Yagi (who is, again, Japanese, so this is a Japanese man displaying the incredible aptitude for superheroism, to Enji’s surprise and probable chagrin) may have had a knack for using the quirk and therefore was the greatest at winning and saving, but he also destroyed himself trying to be the perfectly westernized superhero.

Also, by comparing the obviously westernized Katsuki Bakugo and pridefully Japanese Enji Todoroki, Horikoshi makes his point that a shithead is a shithead regardless of nationality, background, or philosophy.

At the same time, both characters have the ability to change.

Speaking as someone from the US, I’m conflicted, humbled, creeped out, and very emotional over the fact that Horikoshi has chosen to have a complicated, sometimes critical (early Bakugo’s westernisms are not flattering, and the westernized persona of All Might is an unsustainable, unrealistic, unfair thing that destroyed the man maintaining it), but overall kind, laudable, and compassionate portrayal of characters that stand in for the west.

I’ve heard Horikoshi has been criticized as a “freeaboo” for the open admiration of the west inherent in My Hero Academia. I’ll admit, I think he might be a little bit of one, but I’d be the cat calling the monkey a long-tailed bastard if I didn’t also admit that I’m a bit of a weeaboo. We can be mutually embarrassed about how much we like each other despite everything, I guess.

But back to Enji and Yagi. Enji bitching about All Might and expressing disgust over his “American” presentation and perceived advantage is, um. Well, I could call it an example of him making excuses because Yagi is actually Japanese, but it is true Yagi gained experiences and some training advantages in the US that Enji did not have. And, like, Yagi also got a magic quirk (from another Japanese person.) That’s something.

But I digress. The irony and realities of Enji’s envy and self-deprecation could be debated all day, but it doesn’t lessen the stink of hostility and western envy wafting off of it.

The Significance of Mountains in Japan

You know about Fuji-san, or Mt. Fuji, the largest and most iconic mountain of Japan? Awesome, because it’s Japan’s most famous cultural site and a great case study for how the Japanese view mountains as sacred. People hike Mt. Fuji and other sacred mountains for secular reasons, too, sure, but many do so as a spiritual pilgrimage. It’s a mixed bag, sort of like how, in the west, everyone is impacted by and understands Christmas despite how it’s primarily only modern Christians that have religious traditions regarding it.

Sekoto Peak, the in-story location where Enji sometimes trains and Toya burns himself, doesn’t actually exist and therefore has no real-life associated myths, but Enji’s choice to train on it indicates much about his discipline. It also provides a quiet association between honing his abilities to their pinnacle and his connecting to the understood sacred power of the mountain. There’s a mystical element to it.

Most, if not all, Japanese mountains are considered sacred in some sense no matter how tall or pretty they are. This is just understood. Many mountains are the sites of one or more Buddhist or Shinto temples.

Ah, and since many mountains are volcanoes, it shouldn’t be terribly surprising to think of them as residences for fire elementals or other kami and spirit figures. Or even demons.

Enji’s view of All Might as standing on the peak of an even higher mountain, or even perhaps BEING a mountain himself that Enji is unable to climb or conquer, is analogous to him realizing he is one insignificant human man in the face of a force of nature. All Might is not unlike a kami (god - though please remember there is a difference in attitude between those that worship and honor a god versus those that worship capital-G God) to Enji in this sense, but it is perhaps more correct to say that Enji sees All Might as someone who was able to make the pilgrimage to the highest peak and reach enlightenment, thereby becoming divine, while Enji himself is incapable (and therefore unworthy. Because he’s not working hard enough, obviously! Or at least, that’s what Enji thinks.)

If you’re a reader in the Christian-based-background west, you’re likely thinking this is like saying Enji sees himself as a filthy, nasty sinner who is going to hell forever. This isn’t NOT sorta kinda partially in the neighborhood, but that would be a much more punitive, permanent, and fixed view than a Buddhist or east Asian perspective. It’s also missing the point. Readers can want whatever they want, but they shouldn’t necessarily expect this story to absolutely intend to make Enji burn in hell forever through outside forces (because he definitely is doing it to himself, at least currently in this lifetime. Burn, asshole.)

Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths

Rather than a Judeo-Christian sensibility, Enji’s story (and Deku’s, and Bakugo’s, and Rei’s, and Shoto’s, and Uraraka’s, and Toga’s, and Shigaraki’s, and…) more closely resembles Buddhist philosophy and the journey of someone coming to understand the four noble truths - and it ties into Enji’s own discovery and understanding of these truths, which is a journey basically every damn character in this series is going through - if not for their own sakes, then for the sake of learning it on behalf of someone else. That link has a detailed writeup, but here’s the brief:

The First Noble Truth (dukkha) - everyone suffers, and suffering is part of the world. Enji knows this one intimately.

The Second Noble Truth (samudaya) - something causes suffering to happen. In Buddhism, most things that cause suffering are related to having desires for material things or status. Enji learns that he and his desires are the major source for his own suffering and for that of his family.

The Third Noble Truth (nirodha) - knowing that suffering can end. Like, in the abstract. This is acknowledging there is a way it can happen even if one doesn’t know what it is yet.

The Fourth Noble Truth (magga) - knowing there is a way to end suffering. This one is about an action plan. Enji’s action plan is to give his family a new home to live in that does not include him. Later, he realizes he must apologize to the public and continue to do the only damn thing he can to contribute meaningfully towards ending their suffering: keep being a pro Hero even if he can’t be a superhero.

Does knowing or doing any of this purify him? Well, sort of, through the fire ‘n flame of the grueling ordeal of fighting All for One notwithstanding whether or not the public and (some of) his kids still hate him afterwards, but nah, not really.

In some ways, this is a nice quality that My Hero Academia has - that characters still want things, are allowed to want things, and their desires are treated as natural. Sometimes heroic, even! The characters’ ensuing suffering is also a natural and realistic consequence, but that’s a-ok - everyone will still plug along and do their best to try and reach a collective enlightenment. A constant state of enlightened perfection is not attainable nor sustainable for the mortal, which is why the concept of enlightenment through an ongoing cycle of rebirth exists rather than in the form of an immediate reward, but that doesn’t mean we should stop in the endeavor of striving for it.

So that’s what Enji Todoroki is: an illustration of how action through atonement is always better than sending someone or pushing someone to send themselves to hell forever, thereby never allowing them the opportunity to escape the wheel of life.

What is Rei Todoroki?

Rei is a daughter of prestige and her family’s last hope to stay relevant. She’s a woman raised in and trapped by the obligations, power, money, and structure of an old society that is doing everything it can to keep from crumbling.

But she’s also complicit in helping to uphold it. Rei is definitely a victim, but she’s also definitely a perpetrator. ‘Cause that’s how it works - people under the thumb of one kind of authority or abuse often perpetuate it and continue the cycle.

Rei’s given name means, as written, cold. It’s simple, but fitting. She is often emotionally unavailable and unable to connect with Enji and her children (especially Toya, but that’s a two-way street.). It’s one of the contributing factors to why she didn’t “see” her son.

Yuki-Onna and Yamato Nadeshiko

A yuki-onna, or snow woman, is a figure from folklore. They are described as beautiful women who appear on cold and snowy nights. The Wikipedia page I linked gives a good picture of the wide variety of yuki-onna stories out there and of the nature of this figure for your reference. But Rei, while a more human character, definitely suggests a yuki-onna. I think the stories that associate the yuki-onna with children, specifically the one where she asks strangers to hold a child (and survive holding it, in which case she generously awards the holder) or associate her with mountains, are the most interesting for this discussion considering the other mythological and cultural associations present in the Todoroki family.

Rei is also a sort of yamato nadeshiko figure, or an idealized Japanese woman. TVtropes did my work for me on this one:

“Being a yamato nadeshiko revolved around the Confucian concepts of Feudal Loyalty and Filial Piety, which…meant acting for the benefit of one's family and obeying and assisting authority figures…Virtues include(d) loyalty, domestic ability, wisdom, maturity, and humility.”

A nadeshiko is, in English, a dianthus. I know it by the colloquial name Sweet William.

The white-edged flowers kinda looks like Fuyumi’s hair, no?

However, Rei is a yamato nadeshiko with a twist! Rei’s character starts out as a doormat, totally broke and unable to handle life in the Todoroki house, and then later finds the resolve and underlying “iron will” to face Enji, the family, and her mistakes again. Women aren’t naturally “perfect” in any sense of the word, ever, and they definitely don’t naturally (or even unnaturally, even through dogged effort) fit the mold of the yamato nadeshiko (at least, not every waking second of their lives.) But they can grow stronger over time, just like everyone else can. Rei becomes more like a “true” yamato nadeshiko after she stops trying so hard to be one for the sake of upholding her marriage and socially-acceptable appearances and instead approaches the situation from a place of collected, experienced resolve.

Yamato, as all these sources’ll tell ya, is an old term for Japan. “Yamato” is the name of the clan that set up the first (and only) Japanese dynasty as well as the name for the actual seat of government they created (and yeah, the Yamato seat was located on a mountain.) Today, “Yamato” is also the ethnic majority of modern Japan. Wikipedia has the most succinct brief on how Japan, despite its efforts to brand itself as one homogenized and harmonious Yamato people, definitely ain’t one.

Likewise, the yamato nadeshiko was a propaganda tool to encourage women to behave “correctly” and paint the picture of a desirable Japanese woman. The unreasonable expectation of women to reach the standard of the idealized yamato nadeshiko was, and is, total bullshit.

Miai and Traditional Marriages

It’s old-fashioned, but not scandalous or inherently skeezy that Enji and Rei had an arranged marriage. Miai, or matchmaking meetings, are still a thing today in the real world and would likely continue to be a thing in the analogous-to-the-real-world’s-present future setting MHA presents, especially for someone like pro Hero Enji. He didn’t have the time or interest to date around, and he needed a marriage of business and mutual interest rather than love (and I don’t just mean “marriage of business” for the purpose of producing designer kids, though that is absolutely what he did and everyone involved even knew it.) Rei’s family are also exactly the kind of family that would desire miai to arrange the most mutually beneficial marriage possible - regardless of Enji’s involvement.

In the grand scheme of history, marriages for love being the accepted norm is exceptionally modern, and while love marriages are increasingly common in many places including Japan, they certainly are not “traditional”. Here’s a blog about Japanese marriages written in 2002 that may contain some interesting tidbits bridging the new and old traditions. Here’s a brief history of marriage in Japan.

Also, Enji and Rei were married young. Overall, the Japanese, especially women, are expected to marry young, though the mean age for women at their time of marriage has increased as time has passed. There still exists, especially for Japanese women, an expectation to marry younger, or at least marry while “in their prime”. If you watch anime, you likely already know what a “Christmas cake” is in modern slang. (That article does a fantastic job of illustrating western envy and postwar Japanese cultural shifts using the adoption of the Christmas cake as a case study.) If you don’t know, a Christmas cake is a slang term for an unmarried woman over 25. Because apparently, a day over 25 means she is past her prime for marriage and has “expired”.

Marriage fulfills certain social obligations even among middle- and lower-class Japanese citizens, but while Rei would not be alone in feeling the pressure to get married for the sake of her family, she would feel it the most acutely because of her status.

Appearances and Divorce in Japanese Society

Rei could divorce Enji, it’s true, if she had his agreement to do so or if she had sufficient evidence to prove it in a Japanese court. Which, good luck. Because while we know Enji was brutal and abusive in training, which parent actually burned Shoto and left a lasting scar? That’s right. Rei did.

So Rei’s divorce likely would have totally fucked her and the children over. For one, she’d be stripped of the Todoroki family name and likely any Todoroki assets, and since she’d be breaking the deal made between Enji and her family, her own family likely would not take her back!

Divorces are becoming more common in modern Japan, but it’s important to remember that the stinging double-standard of “divorce is okay, except if it’s ONE OF US” that the upper classes (or just the exceptionally proud or wealthy) impose on themselves is brutal. If the public knew Rei had divorced and were given no context - which they wouldn’t get because shaming one’s (ex-)husband and family by sharing those details publicly would be considered crass and unthinkable - the public would likely rip her and the children apart even if they ripped Enji apart, too.

Remember: keeping up appearances is everything in Japanese society.

Rei living outside the house in a facility for her mental health is already shameful and potentially scandalous enough, and it wouldn’t do her any favors in court regarding custody of the children, anyway. Instead, she chooses the limbo of remaining married, but separated.

The Rindo Flower

Yes, I have read meta about Rei’s favorite flower being a rindo flower. I’ve seen it in this post from @foundouthatdabiistouyatodoroki and on Reddit, as well as just, like, around the fandom. I agree that the flower’s presence is often a stand-in for Toya, but I also think it stands in for the ghost of Enji’s, well, not exactly love, but his affection and promise to Rei made via their marriage.

Remembering that Rei likes a flower and showing that he remembers is kind of, like, the bare minimum, but it’s somethin’, I guess.

The rindo, most likely the Japanese gentian in English, is, well, a gentian.

The flower’s color suggests the indigo of the aizome dye, a traditional Japanese color, and its meanings include compassion for sorrow, justice, and… victory. When held upside down like Rei presents it during the hospital scene, it implies loss. (The gladiolus, which the article mentions as another flower of victory, is named because the leaves and shape so resemble a sword. Well, to the Romans, the word for “sword”, and was also a euphemism for a dick. Gladiators, or “sword-ers”, were talked about in terms of their masculinity, victories, and how many other things they penetrated with their “swords”. Real classy. Source? All my history classes.)

Considering Rei’s status as a sort of “blue blood”, I think it’s interesting to note that gentians are the flowers that appear on the Minamoto crest (though the crest most likely uses the less-specific-than-the-rindo balloon flower from the same genus.) I don’t know if associating Rei (and her kids) directly with one of Japan’s major noble clans (and the same one that the Tale of Genji centers around) was Horikoshi’s primary intention, but I think the connection is still worth talking about.

As that Wikipedia article can tell you, the Minamoto name was once given to imperial family members who could not inherit the throne through the family line. It’s fitting for Toya, considering how his father decided he couldn’t be a Hero that surpasses All Might despite being the firstborn son who was created for that explicit purpose.

Let’s talk about that, actually.

What is Toya Todoroki | Dabi?

What is Toya? He’s the first son of a wealthy family with noble blood in him who was utterly crushed by the thought of failing to uphold the social obligations into which he was born.

Personally, I consider Toya to be the most fragile major character in the entire series, contested for the spot only by his own father, Shigaraki, and possibly early series Bakugo.

Toya, or more precisely Dabi, is Enji (and Rei) Todoroki’s very own monster. Instead of a “perfect creation” like intended, he became, well, whatever you want to call Dabi.

But let’s talk about Toya first.

The Role of Firstborn Sons in Japan

Firstborn sons are fucking important in Japan and in many other eastern cultures. Generally, they are obligated to inherit just about damn near everything and, in return, are tasked with basically all the responsibilities of honoring their parents. A Japanese family isn’t just a series of blood ties, but an institution. This system, called ie, has its own legal rules. Under the ie system, the firstborn son and his wife (who is likely doing most of the caretaking) live with the parents to continue the household. The other kids are expected to marry out or go start their own families.

Of course, not every single family follows these rules, but the social norms and pressures to uphold them exist. This academic paper written in 2007 analyzes why certain children in the birth order may live with (or near) their parents and explores several factors that impact this decision within families (usually related to whether or not the parents are providing childcare for the grandchildren.) Here’s a fun quote from page 3:

“...the first-born child generally lives with or closer to his/her parents than the second-born child, a result which is consistent with both our theoretical model and Japanese social norms. Second, there is one exception. If a first-born child is a female and she has at least one younger brother, then she locates farther away from her parents than her younger brother even though she is a first-born child.”

More on that “second” part in regards to Fuyumi later.

But, like with most cultures, the more traditional (and established and wealthy) a family is, the heavier the predetermined responsibilities of each household member weighs on them. And Enji Todoroki’s family is high-profile. So, you can imagine that the pressure placed on Toya is immense.

The pressure placed on firstborn son Tensei Iida was immense, too, but their family dynamic was totally different. The Iida family was, like, healthy and functional. Wild.

Moving on. So Toya was not only youthfully excited to impress his father and support his family as the firstborn son, but he was also, in a certain sense, socially conditioned to want to do so.

To me, this is where things get interesting. Toya’s struggle is not against his parents for crushing his dreams of a life beyond what they and their society’s established roles provide him. Instead, it is the opposite. Toya’s parents are ready to shake up the established family formula and free Toya from many of the obligations of firstborn son duties. Toya is not ready for any of that newfangled modern sensibilities nonsense. According to tradition, Toya’s role and life should be set and secure.

When Rei asks Toya if he even wants to be a Hero, she inadvertently makes him grapple with the possibility that carrying on the family business (or at least carrying on the to-be tradition of becoming the Flame Hero and surpassing All Might per his father’s wishes) is not a given. Other choices exist. Rei’s question, while well-meaning, creates a fissure in Toya’s faith in the patriarchal system from which he developed his entire identity.

If Toya, the first son, can’t use his flames, isn’t a Hero, doesn’t inherit, and won’t continue to live with the family, who is he? If he doesn’t fulfill that role and those obligations, is he worth anything to anyone, even himself?

Conventional wisdom says no. He would be a disgrace and a failure even without Enji’s dumbass “create a genetically ideal child to use the ultimate flame quirk to surpass All Might” scheme in the mix. For Toya, it was never about surpassing All Might, not really. It was about fulfilling his household role and showing his father that he was worthy of being in the family.

When Shoto was born, Toya saw that door slam shut. After that, his inability to embrace another way of life leads to his undoing. But he is also, you know. 13.

Toya, through no fault of his own, cannot handle his father’s flames - not his flames of sheer power, not of mindless effort, not of personal fear, not of burning western envy, not of national pride, not of anything. But Enji burdened Toya with them anyway.

Arrows, Hamaya, and All Might

The characters in Toya’s given name mean “lamp (or, like, a light)” and “arrow”. @skyflyinginaction and their mutuals have an early discussion about his name and its possible meanings as well as a discussion about symbolism here that’s fun to read, and I’m always happy to not have to do any more work - er, happy to give credit where it is due for research and thoughts. But I do have more to add.

Arrows and archery have particular connotations in Japan. The ones I most commonly think about are hamaya, or evil-warding arrows, used ceremonially. Hamaya can be purchased at temples to be displayed in the home as luck-bringing or evil-warding items. Of course, the bow is also a significant evil-warding symbol, and the bow and arrow are often meant to appear together as a set of evil-warding objects, but yanno. Whatever works.

Anyway, around the New Year, archery contests and traditions abound as a way to predict the coming year’s fortune or ward off evil. This blog entry details one day of tradition in Ibaraki as well as the associations with masculinity and, erm, promoting fertility.

There’s one more tradition I learned orally, so I can’t source it, though the purpose for it was different than the one I just linked. In the one I was told, the head priest opens the yabusame (horseback archery) ceremony by firing an arrow through the temple gates and off the side of the mountain to slay an invisible demon. The firing coincides with the sun’s placement and becomes, much like Toya’s name suggests, an arrow of light.

In any case, arrows are associated with luck, sons, and warding off evil. I get the sense that the “arrow” in Toya’s name brings all of these cultural associations into play. More specifically, I get the sense that Toya was meant to be the “arrow of leading light” meant to slay the “evil” of the west, All Might, and purify that uppermost and unreachable peak where All Might stands in Enji’s mind. Don’t quote that, though.

‘Course, the “guiding light” or “purifying light” implied by Toya’s name eventually becomes perverted from its original purpose.

Toya’s Cremation

According to the manchild himself, Toya died not when he burned the shit out of himself on Sekoto Peak, but when he thought his family had replaced him. That’s when he says Dabi was born.

The word Dabi means cremation. Heh. The enthusiastic @foundoutthatdabiistouyatodoroki posted about why and how it may be written as something indirect instead of something more direct for the sake of Japanese sensibilities.

I’d also like to point out that Toya’s body was not properly, ritually buried or cremated in any sense or tradition. This is important, since the failure to do so often prevents the spirit from passing on to the afterlife!

Arguably, Toya cremated himself, but not all the way and not in the way that aligns with the intentions and purpose of a kotsuage, or funerary cremation ritual. Also, his family did not pick out his bones - the authorities did when they found a piece of his jaw. That linked article talks more about the significance of the tradition, but put simply: the family didn’t properly mourn Toya, and in doing so, they did not free themselves emotionally of his specter. They also didn’t free Toya from his attachments to them.

This life-to-death stuff is a two-way street, and Toya’s soul was left hanging onto a burned, rotting corpse by the thread of his own grudge. He’s a modern horror story.

Dabi’s Horror Inspirations

That’s right, Dabi fans! It’s time to talk about the well-known Frankenstein allusions present in the character - though I’m pretty sure Horikoshi pulled from the 1931 film and not the book. Whatever.

As Toya, Enji’s creation was an ice quirk + a fire quirk instead of a (cold) corpse + a reintroduced (hot) spark of life (and later, half of his “father” Victor Frankenstein’s own brain) like Frankenstein’s monster. Frankenstein’s monster’s weakness, at least in the movie, is fire. In the book, fire is still present and double-edged.

As Dabi, Enji’s creation is a reanimated corpse (wow!) + a twisted sense of self created from Enji’s own will (wow!) who seeks revenge on his creator and family for his loneliness and creation. His weakness is, uh, yeah, it’s still fire.

While Enji is not the one who recreated and revived Toya as Dabi, it is Toya’s grudge (and desire to see and be seen by his father) that keeps him alive. In fact, Dabi is a really cool twist on a yurei or perhaps an ikiryo since he is technically still alive. Still, Dabi most closely seems to follow the patterns of an onryo, which is a more specific form of yurei. These spirits, and the story of one in particular, are the inspiration behind the Japanese Ju-on: The Grudge movies (and then their US-made counterpart.) Here’s a bit from the onryo entry from yokai.com not ‘cause it’s the most academic, but the most succinct:

“Their motive is always the same—vengeance. Onryō are easily powerful enough to kill anyone. However, they prefer letting the object of their hatred live a long life of torment and suffering, watching loved ones die in their stead. Onryō inflict a terrible curse on the people or places that they haunt. This curse can be transmitted to others like a contagious disease, creating a circle of death and destruction far more devastating than any ordinary ghost.”

You may decide that the entry for the gyoro or another yurei suits Dabi better, but surely you see the point that he’s playing the role of some kind of ghost. His eerie blue flame suggests onibi, or resentful spirits taking the form of blue flame. Wikipedia also does me a big favor by mentioning the overlap between onibi and European will o’ wisps, which usually lead people astray towards goals they can’t reach!

It really would have been better for everyone if Toya hadn’t pursued the incredibly hot blue flame, huh? Instead, he just burned out fast. Kinda dissappointing and anticlimactic - like a dragon’s head on a snake’s body.

Yeah, that’s right - Dabi seems to have renamed himself “dissappointment”. Heh. Tweens and teens really are the funniest people on the planet.

The First Son Passed Over for a Second Time

But perhaps the funniest and most horrible detail of the whole manga is the implication that All for One and the doctor took one look at Dabi’s shambling corpse escaping from the nursery and went, “Yeah, let that one go. He’s a little too pathetic to be the next vessel or organ for infinite hatred to fuel our big schemes.” Like, absolutely nobody (except the very family he thought replaced him, and boy, are they a shitshow), not even the villains that seek out pathetic people in order to use them, wanted Dabi.

Dabi is, in many ways, Doctor Garaki’s “First Son” vessel experiment for All for One, and he was passed over in favor of Shigaraki in much the way Toya’s father passed him over for Shoto due to how unsuitable a vessel he is.

When Dabi faces Geten, the ice-quirk user whom ReDestro treats almost like his own successor, who believes that a powerful quirk (and strong sense of individuality with a need to express it) is the only thing that makes someone worthy of living, who exists as his weird mirror with a more weaponized and powerful form of Rei’s ice quirk, I wonder if he thought god was laughing at him. I know his face and skin began splitting apart as if to show his true identity (a dead kid upset at his family) and show a waver in his resolve to stay alive to accomplish his goal, but I’d love to know if he has any ideology outside of his grudge towards his father and family.

If Hawks told Dabi to his stapled face his real reasons for helping Endeavor, what would Dabi say? Heh heh heh. Dabi learned not to trust Rei, Fuyumi, or his own brother Natsuo, so I’m not terribly surprised he never trusted Keigo in the first place.

Keigo, who never thought to watch Dabi. Keigo, who had to ask who Dabi is. Keigo, who also didn’t see him.

Keigo, who wants to take Toya’s place.

But let’s talk about Toya’s other siblings... in part 2!

#todoroki family #bnha meta #bnha manga spoilers #dabi #toya todoroki #enji todoroki #endeavor #shoto todoroki #shoto #rei todoroki #fuyumi todoroki #natsuo todoroki #hawks #keigo takami #todoroki presentation

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duchess7878 · 10 months

Text

a part 2 has been requested for my cowboy!Johnny fic! I hope you like it :)

a/n: I love doing these requests, they give me inspiration to write because it makes me happy that y'all can get something from it <3

warning(s): rough sex, dub-con, kidnapping, degradation, slapping, knife-play, blood-play, choking, kicking, manipulating

part 2/2 of cowboy!Johnny short story (unless more is requested and the same goes for all of my stories, if you want more let me know <3)

18+ MDNI

My hand trembled as I read the note. He isn't really coming back is he? I stood for a moment as I tried to consider my options, but my mind was so clouded with fear I could barely conjure a coherent thought. If he came back, does that mean he would take me back to his gang? What would happen to me then? My eyes welled with tears as my heart clenched and my breathe I became heavy. The saloon was bustling as I quickly left the room and walked down the stairs of the saloon, almost tripping over my skirt. I left the saloon and stepped out onto the muddy road.

I didn't bother looking for a carriage because of what happened with the last one. So I began walking down the road and out of town, wanting to leave the area before Slaughter came back. The longing feeling I had when I woke this morning is now long gone, my mind made up that I didn't want this. He was a murderer, and a sadistic one at that.

The road was quiet and tense. I couldn't stop turning my head, just waiting for Slaughter to come out of nowhere and haul me off again. Anyone who knew anything knew that Johnny Slaughter of the Slaughter gang had the most uncanny ability to track in the world. The only thing that you had against it is to keep moving and that's exactly what I was doing. I didn't care where I ended up, just as long as he doesn't find me again. Who knows what he'll do if he comes back and realizes I didn't listen to him.

Johnny could feel the vein in his head throb upon returning to the Newt saloon and you were nowhere to be found. He had quickly searched the rest of the town and had turned up nothing. His instructions seemed so simple and clear, a child could understand. Now why did you have to up and run away? He laughed out loud to try and mask his irritation so the situation wouldn't bother him more than it already has. Johnny began to walk back to the room he had rented the night before knowing that he could pick up your trail there.

"Hey! You have ta-" The bartenders words were cut short as Johnny shot him a menacing look.

"Shut yer mouth. He said, not stopping and turning his head back towards the stairs.

Johnny wasn't going to let anyone or anything get in the way of his prized possession. It had been a while since he has been irked this badly and he would make sure you were punished for that. Upon reaching the room, your scent immediately filled his nostrils. It must be your favorite scent if you used it again this morning. He didn't want to go off of scent alone, as there were many smells in the wilderness and yours can get mixed up in them easily.

Johnny didn't need to search long before he found a solid footprint to utilize in his tracking. Your prints were so clear to him they almost glowed and he couldn’t be happier to be led to his treasure. He stood up straight and began following the prints out of the saloon, down the road, and out of town.

“I’m gonna find you. I will, I promise!” He said, whistling for his horse to come over.

I was growing tired from how long I had been walking. The sun now was setting, signaling I had been going from dawn ‘til dusk. I was sure I had put enough distance between Slaughter and I to take at least a small break, my feet and back were aching horribly. I turned off of the road and walked a little ways beyond the tree line, having a small plan that I would run deeper into the woods in the event that Slaughter did happen to find me. I decided to sit and rest along a tree, the bark digging uncomfortably into my back but it’s much preferred to being on my feet for a moment longer. I wasn’t even able to take in a deep breathe before I heard a twig snap and I was immediately tense again. I whipped my head around looking for anything that could’ve made that sound and I took in a huge sigh of relief upon seeing a doe in the distance. I started to relax and closed my eyes for just a moment.

“I wouldn’t get too comfortable just yet sweetheart.” A voice rang out right next to my ear.

I yelped and shot away from the voice, looking up to confirm my worst fear. How could he have already found me? I put so much distance between us.

“In yer fear, you seem to have forgotten somethin’ darlin’; I have a horse. It’s funny how being so afraid can make somethin’ so simple slip a persons mind.” A malicious smirk formed on his face.

I didn’t bother letting him continue what he was going to say, I turned and ran. My feet were pounding, but that didn’t compare to my heart at the moment. I couldn’t think of anything else but getting away from him, I was scared for my life. I didn’t want to be hurt or killed, I don’t want to be eaten either if the rumors of the gang are true. My footsteps were heavy as I ran through the thick foliage, the branches whipping me and breaking skin all over the surface of my arms and shins. My dress was getting torn with each second I ran through the woods.

“This is pointless ya know. Quit fightin’.” I heard his voice call from behind before I felt something squeeze around my midsection, clotheslining me and sending me flying backwards onto the ground. The wind was knocked out of me and my mouth fell open, desperate to take in a breathe. I heard the ground crunching beneath his boots as he walked up beside me. I looked up at him and he snarled down at me, his fury evident on his features.

Without a word, he kicked his foot hard into my ribs, reeling back and kicking harshly once again. I screamed out in pain, trying to move my arm to block the spot he was hurting but to no avail, the rope around me keeping me in place.

“I asked you to do one thing doll, it wasn’t that difficult was it? Or are you too stupid to understand simple instruction?” He asked. I wasn’t able to respond immediately due to the immense pressure on my chest from the kicking and the fall, I still could barely breathe at the moment.

“You must be since you won’t answer. Since yer so desperate to breathe, let me help you with that.” He snickered and lifted his foot, pressing it harshly on my neck. I went to throw my hands up to lessen the pressure, but ended up pulling my shoulders, quickly reminded that I was bound and completely at his mercy.

“Please..” I choked out, barely comprehensible.

“Please what darlin’?” He asked mockingly, pressing slightly harder.

“Stop, please!” I shrieked out with every bit I had, tearing my throat in the process from the force I needed to implement to produce a loud sound.

“Will you listen if I tell you to stay put in the future?” He questioned, very lightly lessening the pressure on my throat. I nodded vigorously.

“Forgive me, but I just don’t believe ya darlin’.” He sighed.

“Trust me, I want to. You hurt me back there, more than I’m hurting you now.” He took his foot off of my throat.

I was finally able to take in a breath, but a new pain immediately shot through me. Like I suspected, my throat is torn to all hell. I watched as he walked from my head down to feet, looking me dead in the eyes before lifting his boot again and slamming it down onto my ankle. A loud crunch echoed through the trees. I threw my head back and screamed despite my throat being torn. The pain was intense and I sobbed following the scream, not expecting the sudden bludgeon. Heavy, hot tears followed the sobs and that earned a coo from Johnny.

“Aw, did that hurt doll? Maybe you’ll remember this next time you don’t listen to me. This should also prevent you from tryin’ to leave again for a while and just to warn you, I will do this a many times as I need if you make me.” He threatened.

“I’m sorry Johnny, please stop this.” I cried.

“You ain’t sorry, not yet.” He growled, fastening the rope he’s been holding and started dragging me towards a nearby tree. Once there, he stood me up against it and used his lasso to tie me against the tree. My ankle ached horribly in this position, but I knew it would do me no good to tell him that.

I heard a familiar metallic sound as he pulled his knife from his sheathe and stalked up to me. He stepped up until we were chest to chest, he was craning his neck to look down at me and I could feel his warm breath on the top of my head. I refused to look up at him, but that didn’t sit long. He pressed the point of his knife to the bottom of my jaw, penetrating the skin as he forced me to look up at him. I felt the blood run down my neck as I looked into his dark eyes, now filled with lust alongside the rage.

“There ya go.” He praises, removing the knife from my neck and running the tip along his tongue. He groaned as the blood touched his taste buds, it being the most delicious thing he’s tasted in a while.

He then lifted his knife to the side of my neck and made a small cut, latching his lips onto it. He sucked the wound harshly and the blood along with it, but it wasn’t enough for him. Biting the wound, the blood was forced to flow more as he sucked every drop, a guttural groan sounding out when the coppery taste flooded his senses. Now afraid that he may actually eat a chunk of flesh from my neck, I began wiggling in the restraints, scrunching my neck to try and restrict his access. It worked, but he was not happy with it.

A heavy snarl formed on his lips as he lifted his hand, slapping me hard across the face. Before I could even react to the pain, another slap came to my other cheek and a small cut formed above my cheekbone, it bled heavily. A small cry came past my lips as the pain burned throughout my entire body.

“You better not stop me again, or you’ll regret it.” He growled harshly, grabbing my jaw and forcing me to look at him.

“Come on doll, can you be a good girl for the bad man? I promise to not hurt you again.” He asked mockingly, getting in my face and licking the blood from it with the tip of his tongue.

“Yes, I will.” I said quietly, choking down sobs.

“You will what? And speak up darlin’, I want to hear you loud and clear.” He said in a slow and mocking tone.

“I’ll be a good girl.” I cried louder, my voice breaking heavily from the abuse it suffered earlier.

“That’s better.” He praised. He took as step back from me and reached up to my chest, bunching it up as he did my undies last night and ripping it open, exposing my chest to the cold air of the night. My buds hardening immediately and he groaned lightly under his breath. Without letting go of his knife, he began unbuckling his belt with his off hand. He pulled it swiftly from his the loops in his jeans and flicked the end of the strap up into his hand along with the buckle so he had a small whip of sorts. My eyes widened, quickly understanding what it was for.

I watched his hand intently and he reached the belt up to my breast and lightly ran it over the mound before flicking it up and bringing it down on top of my tit, the whip sound bouncing between the trees. I felt my chest bounce at the smack and he looked extremely satisfied with his performance. Without another word, he began his work. He whipped his belt onto each breast, back and forth, about 15 smacks on each. When he was finished, my entire chest had gone numb and I couldn’t feel anything above my stomach. My face and chest both out of commission from his torture.

“I don’t think I can wait for that pussy anymore doll.” He said, reaching to his jeans and stroking himself through the thick fabric, his head slowly lolling back as he pleasured himself.

“Then get it over with.” I spat.

“Ah ah ah, you said you were gonna be a good girl for me.” He said, not bothering lifting his head to look at me.

“Please.” I said softly.

“That’s my girl.” He said, shoving his pants down to his knees and taking a couple of steps forward, stopping once our chests were pressed together. He reached down between us, lifted my legs up around his hips and took his cock into his hand. He began pressing his head into my folds, biting his lip in focus once the contact was made. I couldn’t help but blush at the clear desire on his face, and I wondered if looked like this with other women he fucked.

He was slow this time as he pushed his way in, much unlike last night.

“Are you still mad at me?” I asked, unable to understand his behavior.

“Oh darlin’, I can’t stay mad at you. I think you’ve got me wrapped around your little finger.” He whispered towards the end, bottoming out as he finished his sentence. He completely stilled as he made eye contact with me.

“How’s about you come live with me? You’ll be fed, protected, and fucked real good. How’s that sound doll? You just have to keep being my good girl.” He asked.

Knowing that my chances alone were dwindling with every passing day, I considered the opportunity. I wouldn’t have to worry about a place to stay or something to eat, on top of that I won’t have to constantly look over my shoulder everywhere I go. I nodded, understanding that it was my best option.

“Atta girl.” He said, pulling his hips back and thrusting harshly back into me. I let out a yelp at the sudden change, again, in behavior. He began to pound into me ruthlessly, our hips slapping together loudly, the sound making me more wet by the second.

“Damn, you feel so good.” He said, gripping my thighs and pulling me closer to him, my breasts pressing hard against his chest. He pulled back for a moment a ripped his shirt over his head, tossing it to the ground next to him.

“Wanna feel you.” He muttered, quickly pressing our chests back together as he pressed his lips to mine gently. His harsh thrusts didn’t let up and whimpers fell from my throat as the pleasure rose from his touch.

“Yeah, tell me how good I make you feel.” He growled, his lips not leaving mine.

“So good Johnny, better than I’ve ever felt.” I moaned against his plush lips, not wanting this to end.

“Damn right.” He said, hips thrusts becoming erratic as he threw his head back, groaning loudly.

“Gonna cum in you doll.” He moaned, locking his hips to mine as he came.

Breathing heavily, he kept himself inside me as he came back down to earth, titling his head forward and making eye contact. He leaned forward and pressed his head to mine, kissing me lightly on the lips one more time.

“I’m definitely keeping you. You’re stuck with me doll.”

Part 1 :)

#johnny slaughter #johnny slaughter x reader #johnny tcm #tcm #texas chainsaw game #texas chainsaw massacre #tcm game #18+ mdni #mdni #smut

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gryffindorkxdraws · 7 months

Note

Hello, thank you for drawing jackunzel <3

I've got a question: do you have any jackunzel fanfic recommendations?

I'd love to read more about Jack and Rapunzel together <3 I trust your taste 👀😄

Oh and in what app/program did you edit your recent jackunzel videos? They are fun to watch, haha

I wish you great day/night 💕

hi anon!! hehe you're welcome 💙 i'm always game to draw my OTP 💙 for my jackunzel videos, i use capcut! its free to download. and i'm gonna be honest, i haven't read fics in a while 🫠 but i was able to gather a few for you!! hopefully, you'll enjoy them 😭💙

firstly, here are the oneshots

The Sun & Moon Children (oneshot): When the daughter of the sun fell in love with the son of the moon, the earth watched in anticipation for what would undoubtedly be a tragedy.

READ HERE: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9616560/1/The-Sun-Moon-Children

2. Murals of Winter (oneshot): After all, she is a girl locked in a tower with hair more than twice the length of her room. Why wouldn’t there be a boy who wears winter on his sleeves and stirs up snowstorms in her heart?

READ HERE: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20289766

3. January Wedding (oneshot): Jack Frost and Rapunzel Corona get married in January. Or, The story of how Rapunzel Corona became Rapunzel Frost.

READ HERE: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22325986

4. We're Not Good, We're Super (oneshot) (this is my work!): Jack likes to think of himself as the one guy who might just uncover who exactly Spider-Woman is. What he fails to realize is that she might just be closer to him than he thinks.

READ HERE: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41070603

5. This Night Is Sparkling, Don't You Let It Go (oneshot) (this is also my work hehe): Rapunzel feels distant. Like she’s there, but at the same time she’s not. Something about having a disconnection with herself in the party. That is until her eyes landed on him. or an AU where they decide to see where the night would take them

READ HERE: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46529908

6. Jackunzel Coming Of Age Prompt (oneshot)

READ HERE: https://www.tumblr.com/hiccanna-tidbits/735307559599292416/okay-can-i-look-now-not-yet-the-kitchen-is?source=share

7. Are We Out Of The Woods? (oneshot): Ever the dutiful daughter, Rapunzel agrees to make a delivery to someone her parents owe an old favor. But she knows she must beware, for many dangerous creatures roam the heart of the forest. Perhaps even the ones that once claimed her best friend.

READ HERE: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42718821

8. Bloody Valentine (oneshot + extra chapter): Superhero AU It's easy to become cynical when you see the darkest side of humanity every night. It's easy to lose sight of what truly matters, and let it go in a moment of fear. For Jack, the hard part is either coming to grips with the fact he let Rapunzel go, or figuring out a way to get her back.

READ HERE: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5220320/chapters/12037064

now these below are a series if ever you're up for longer stories

9. An Essay of Love (series): Jackson Overland moves to a new city and gets the job of teaching history to a bunch of annoying teens every day. The one thing keeping him from handing in his two-week notice as soon as he arrives is the sunshiney, optimistic art teacher who unlocks not only his classroom but his heart.

READ HERE: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25597147/chapters/62125681

10. Dusk Till Dawn (series): Jackson Overland travels far and wide to find the lost people of Corona to seek vengeance for his fallen home, Luna. Fiercely driven by the memories of his family, he meets a mysterious feral young woman named Rapunzel Flores. Two opposites, forge an unlikely alliance that is destined to change the course of the future.

READ HERE: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25257757/chapters/61231741

11. Among The Stars (series): SCI-FI AU The crew of the Night Fury - Hiccup Haddock (captain), Merida Haddock (first mate), and Jack Frost (Pilot) - have a habit of getting into trouble. Accidentally rescuing Princess Rapunzel of the planet Corona puts them in more trouble than they can deal with... unless Jack can admit he was wrong.

READ HERE: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5149355/chapters/11854694

#jackunzel #rotbtd #answered

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sobeautifullyobsessed · 11 months

Text

I'm watching The Two Towers while I scroll, and all the romantic & angsty Arwen scenes (especially the ones that seem as dreams) have me in a soft, longing, romantic mood. So, here's some romantic Stephen Strange from an old WIP. Mayhap someone out in tumblrland might find it pleasing. From chapter fifteen of...

Of Magic, Miracles, and Moonlight...

...wherein Stephen goes to sleep longing for his woman, detained for now far across the galaxy ~ and her own longing for him is enough for them to meet somewhere in a dream...

(contains some mature content, although not explicit)

Finally, Stephen slept; he’d gone nearly seventy-two hours without a wink of sleep, so that his head had barely touched the pillow, and he was out like a light, falling swiftly and deeply, exactly as the needs of his body dictated. Likely he dreamed throughout those many hours--as the dusk outside the New York Sanctum changed first to the deep dark of the night, and then to rosy dawn, and finally to mid-day--but he did not remember them upon waking. Only one stayed with him, and he wasn’t even certain it was a true dream--for when he awoke from it, it had seemed so vital, so true to life (and to his heart’s desires) that he wished it was reality.

In this dream—or vision…or perhaps it was a sending from the mind and heart of his woman, who remained upon her impossibly distant world—he stood in the midst of the grove of keyanna trees which she had shown him before he took his leave of her. Their fragrance was as lovely as he had remembered, surrounding him as the gentlest of breezes whispered against his upturned face and through the errant locks of hair that hung perpetually upon his brow. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, filling his lungs with the trees perfume, and feeling the warmth of an alien sun kiss his face. It was good, so very good; a pause from his responsibilities and cares, a welcome respite from the burdens that he bore—not that he ever complained aloud, but some days…well, some days he wished for just a few hours without the worry that came along with being a Sanctum Master, and the constant knowing of the countless threats that existed to humanity, in all its blissful ignorance.

How relaxed he felt, how at peace, thinking this was as close to a vacation that he’d likely get in a very, very long time. He wasn’t even wearing his usual tunic and breeches; just the same sort of casual attire he adopted on the nights when he and Teyla stole what time they could with one another, away from the confines of compound and sanctum. It occurred to him that the moment lacked only one thing—the most important thing—the one thing that was the most crucial of all to his happiness.

As if summoned by that thought alone, Teyla called out his name; Stephen smiled, hearing her as much in his mind and heart as with his ears--as he so often did these days. He opened his eyes to look for her, and saw her approaching from a distance, with a dreamlike grace that made his knees weak. The bright sunlight streamed through the flower-laden branches, painting her skin with a soft, healthy glow; the wind stirred the trees gently, wafting the pale lavender petals around her, leaving some to be caught in her unbound hair. Stephen covered his heart with his right hand; it felt so full of love and joy at the vision of his sweet woman that it seemed like it might burst, if he allowed it to.

Clad in a pale blue shift that was gathered beneath her breasts and fell in soft ripples mid-calf, Teyla walked barefoot through the drifts of fallen keyanna blossoms. Her eyes were set upon him, and she was smiling a beckoning smile, pure with her love for him, as she held out her arms to motion him closer. “Stephen… Beloved,” she called to him, like a perfect piece of music meant for his ears alone, and as an irresistible whisper in his mind. “This is the place, my Beloved; the place where I would lay with thee, beneath the bright sun, beneath the sister-moons and diamond-stars.” Stephen swallowed hard, awe-struck, love-struck, feeling her quiet beauty in his blood, recognizing his weakness for her, and happy that of all the souls in the cosmos, she was the one that had claimed his heart. “This, Stephen; this is the place where I would gladly give myself to thee.”

His dream-self recognized with a soft pang of regret that she had meant it to be the place, and thus was surely no small part of the reason that Teyla had brought him to the grove, so vividly awash in Nonya’s beneficent light. Once there, she had revealed that she’d dreamed of them together in this place; dreams in which they lay together skin-on-skin. And swept up in that longing, she had then shown him her desire.

As he pondered the meaning of his vision—astounded at how real it felt--Teyla closed the distance between them easily, and stood before him, soft and sweet and oh so willing. Why, Stephen could taste her willingness on the very breeze that caressed his skin, feel it in the way the sunlight danced through the keyanna leaves, hear it in the rapid beating of his heart. She smiled serenely, and with perfect understanding of everything he was feeling—including his suspicion that something, or someone, might prevent her from returning to Earth—she whispered his name as she draped her arms around his neck. “Dismiss that fear, Beloved, for I will return to thee—no force in the universe can keep me from your side for long.” Teyla rose up on her toes—as she so often needed to do when she faced him in the flesh--to reach his lips and kiss him tenderly.

“Of course; how could I think otherwise?” he answered, relief flooding his veins--finding her dream-form substantial enough to embrace; not the mist of some sweet reverie, but the real woman whom he ached for with every breath he drew. “Am I dreaming this, or are we somehow here together?”

“We are together, my love, in a realm somewhere between dreams and waking.” How wise she was, how patient and loving; his Teyla, his beloved one, and in that moment he knew he’d be willing to sell his soul to have her be his forever. “Oh, my love, my Stephen—know you not that I already am?” Her smile dazzled him, as he accepted the knowledge from her mind to his, that come what may, her heart had chosen him, had committed to him eternally as was the ancient way of her people; only later, as he considered his dream-vision upon waking, did he realize that Teyla’s mother had bonded in the same way with Walter Charles--which had to account for much of the beauty in his creations featuring her.

“Yes. My sweet Teyla,” he smiled, drawing her against him, patient enough for the future that awaited them together. He let his face hover over hers, drinking in the purity of the love and trust reflected in her eyes, and letting it fill him to the brim, refreshing him as no twelve-hour sleep ever could. He took her offered lips with his, slowly and softly to begin with, tasting all that she promised, her devotion, her desire. Tasting all that she offered him; a lifetime spent at his side as lover and helpmate; as his ‘better half’ in the parlance of Earth. Stephen had never desired such a profound connection to another soul in his old life—but now, it seemed essential not only to his existence, but to the accomplishment of his mystical purpose.

When he broke from their kiss, Teyla sighed against his lips, then buried her face against his neck, breathing him in, humming contentedly. “What comes next, honey?” Stephen stroked her hair, soothing himself as much as he did her, “How long do you think it will take until can rejoin me on Earth?”

She sighed hard this time, delivering regretful news, “I cannot say with certainty, Beloved. To fulfill my obligation, and for the sake of my people, it may be several days.” Teyla hesitated briefly, before quietly admitting that Moraine might present a further obstacle to her departure from Hadeeth. “She will use every entreaty at her disposal to keep me close—but I will show her, Stephen—I will show her that I know my own mind and heart, and that I will not be dissuaded from the course I have chosen.” She spoke gently, but with full conviction against his ear, “The course that you and I have chosen together.”

Despite her avowal, Stephen wanted to hold onto her tighter than ever—but strangely, he began to feel their embrace weakening. Teyla answered before he could ask. “I will be called to Council chambers shortly. I regret I must turn my focus from thee now.” She backed out of his arms just enough to face him squarely, “And you, my love, must rest yourself, return to your world, and focus on the duties that await you.” She kissed him once more, and faced him with a knowing smile, before brushing her fingertips from the edge of his hairline to between his eyebrows, tracing a wee circle there. His sight began to dim, as true sleep overtook him, and as he exhaled his exhaustion, he fell away from her arms.

Upon awakening—and after mulling over his dream-vision, wishing with heartfelt immediacy to find his way back to the keyanna grove--Stephen’s first impulse was to check the Sanctum library for any texts that might explain his extraordinary experience. It had been far too real to be the mere fantasy of a man missing his lover, every sensory detail vivid enough that it seemed he could still taste Teyla’s kisses on his tongue and feel her tender caress against his cheek, while he swore that his room retained traces of scent from the keyanna trees. But as ever, his needs and wants were secondary to his duties, forcing him to set that quest aside until far later in the day.

Instead, he made his first order of business sending messages along to Wong and Master Salma, explaining Teyla’s absence from Kamar-Taj, and that he could not give them a timeframe for how long she might be detained upon Hadeeth. Though she had assured him in his dream that she would return, Stephen was left to wait—just as they were--with no clear idea of when to expect her.

His daily duties kept Stephen busy for a good part of the afternoon and early evening, so that he didn’t see himself clear to visit the library until after wolfing down a late supper. Fortunately, his gift of eidetic memory was crucial to his research, and in less than a couple of hours, he thought he had answers enough to understand what he’d experienced.

Lucid dreaming. That seemed to be the closest explanation for what had happened. Certainly Teyla had initiated it, across the immeasurable distances between them, enabled by her empathic gifts to reach out to him in spirit as he never could have imagined possible. In his studies since his first day at Kamar-Taj, and through a multitude of experiences since becoming a Master, Stephen had learned how powerful pure thought could be, capable of bridging time and vast distances beyond even the speed of light. But he had never imagined it affecting him so personally, so intimately. And now that he knew it was possible, he hoped he might reach out to Teyla in return.

Each night that followed, he settled into bed, relaxed enough from meditation to practice the techniques he had studied, his mind and heart focused on reaching her, spirit to spirit. But each night, to his disappointment, sleep took him before he even came close to succeeding.

By the fourth morning, Stephen’s exasperation with such failures—coupled with frustration that their separation seemed to be stretching on indefinitely—left him irritable, to carry out his responsibilities perfunctorily, while being uncharacteristically curt with those around him. Watching over the multiverse from his privileged vantage point of the Window of the World, he was tempted for the first time to use that auspicious tool for his own benefit, to hone in on Hadeeth and discover how Teyla was faring, and if indeed there was any hope she’d be free to return to Earth soon. Wisely, Stephen denied himself that urge, knowing that the use of magic for such a selfish purpose would ultimately rebound bitterly upon the user, and sometimes even exact unanticipated collateral damage.

On day five, his concern for her welfare far surpassed his need to have her at his side, as he imagined Moraine holding her daughter hostage of sorts, believing she was doing a mother’s service to a misguided child’s heart. Intellectually he knew it couldn’t be so, but the tender heart Teyla had awakened within him worried all the same. Even knowing that he might cause damage to Earth’s alliance with Hadeeth by acting rashly, Stephen had to tap into a lifetime habit of discipline—the selfsame that had forged his brilliant path to medical supremacy--to resist conjuring a portal directly to the People’s Citadel, or to the homey little cottage which Teyla called home. This fifth day, as he went about a Master’s tasks and continued his perpetual watch for threats against humanity--all while waiting for the night to come again--felt like the longest in his memory.

Exhausted in spirit and low on optimism Stephen took to his bed, thoughts of Teyla fixed in his mind’s eye, sending everything he felt for her out into the universe. Not trying to force his way to achieve his aim, and expecting nothing from the universe in return. And perhaps that was the simple, missing element needed to span the realities that lay between them.

His dream-self opened his eyes, and she was finally there before him, making his doubts and concerns evaporate like thin wisps of mist by day’s new light. They stood in a moonlit meadow, surrounded by Teyla’s talat akeylum, countless fragrant blossoms fully opened and nodding almost imperceptibly in the light breeze. The night was deep around them, filled with the lulling nighttime sounds of whatever small Hadeethan creatures and insects called the meadow home. The three moons rode high and brightly in the sky, one full, one half, and one a silvery crescent, their combined light painting the scene with lovely clarity—though that loveliness paled for him, as his eyes drank in the bewitching sight of his woman, the most exquisite blossom of them all. His Teyla.

For a moment, Stephen forgot how to breathe, overcome with awe, his heart beating like a trip-hammer in his chest. Even clad in the simple homespun robe she had worn at their first meeting, her hair piled up in a loose bun once again, Teyla stole his ability to reason. “Oh god,” he whispered, memorizing the details of her face as though he’d hadn’t already committed them to memory dozens of time; he breathed hard to keep his voice from breaking with emotion, “I miss you so much, honey…it feels like years since I’ve touched you…held you. Why haven’t you returned to me?”

She smiled and gave a little sigh before she answered. “My love--though I tarry here, all my soul is bent upon returning to your side. To your arms.” She stepped into him, and though Stephen knew they met in a realm of dreams, of spirit, the sweet, familiar scent of her hair and skin filled each breath he drew, putting to shame the fragrance of the moon blossoms around them. He wanted to taste her scent on his tongue, wear it on his skin, embed it in his very cells. “Stephen…Beloved…our time draws near, and I swear that your patience with me will find true fruition.” She lowered her lashes as she moved in to brush her lips on his, laying both hands against his chest.

How blessedly real it felt—and how he ached for more! He took her face in his hands, kissing her soundly, sinking into the dream as deeply as he could. The silk of her tongue against his, the little sounds she made in reply to his bold advances, the press of her body against him blessedly, sinfully real.

Soon enough, he had loosed the knot on the neck of her robe and tucked his fingers beneath the material to slide it from her shoulders. Teyla lowered her arms and shimmied the cloth away, leaving her robe to hang loose around her waist, laying her torso bare to him. Stephen nearly growled, grown desperate with hunger, grown rougher than he meant to be, raining fierce kisses on her dainty neck and slim shoulders, relishing her surprised gasps and how readily she yielded herself to his raw need.

He planted one hand against the small of her back, trapping Teyla against him, while she wove her fingers in his hair, purring deep in her throat when he cupped her breast in his free hand. He was certain the fury of his kisses had to be bruising her tender flesh, but she offered no complaint; she began to kiss his neck instead, her lips ever soft but insistent. She drifted one hand down to slide beneath the sleeve of his tee shirt, massaging his flesh firmly and surprising him when she murmured against his hair, “Please, Stephen…let me feel your skin against mine…I need to feel you…I need… you…”

He released her for only as long as it took to pull his shirt over his head, greedy to have her softness against him at last, no longer questioning how she could feel so real in his arms, nor how this dream, not-a-dream, surpassed any erotic dream he had ever had.

He pulled her to him, losing himself in the heated press of her naked flesh against his, in the divine sensation of her flawless little breasts rubbing against his chest, her tightened nipples evidencing her desire for him. Teyla moaned and let her head fall back as Stephen laid open mouthed kisses upon her throat, tasting the salt of her skin upon his tongue. She shuddered his name, sliding her arms beneath his to grip his shoulders, becoming her softest self, softly pliant as he lowered her onto a bed of moon blossoms.

He paused, hovering over her, mesmerized by her half-lidded eyes, her sweet parted lips, the quickened pant of her breath, nearly convinced that he had somehow transported bodily to her, and that Teyla lay beneath him at last, and for real. “I would I were, Beloved,” she told him, her smile bittersweet and piercing his heart, “I would couple with thee now, have you sate yourself inside of me…” Stephen took her welcoming mouth with his, a frisson of lust hastening through his blood when she slowly traced her tongue along the inner edge of his lips. The small part of his brain that remained rational, that knew this encounter was closer to dream than truth, was clouded by his desperate desire to know Teyla in every possible way.

“So beautiful, so perfect,” he panted as he kissed a path down her neck to her sternum, while she arched into his hands, whimpering softly at the greedy insistence of his grasp, and crying out when he circled her areola with the tip of his tongue, then tickled the stiff bud of her nipple before drawing it into his mouth. Teyla laid one palm on his cheek, and anchored her other hand in his hair, encouraging his play to continue.

He felt her beneath him as fully substantial; she moved against him as he touched her, arched into his caresses as lovers do, and he wondered how far they might actually go in this dream-like state—and if it was fair to Teyla to do so. She was touching him now as she never had before, sweeping her hands across his bare skin, sparking every nerve of his body with the ache to sink himself inside her. Stephen groaned hard, impatiently grinding his hips into hers, the thin material of his pajama bottoms unable to conceal his lust. Frustrated as much by the layers of cloth between them as by the knowledge of the actual physical distance separating them, he exclaimed shamelessly, “I want you…all of you…so badly, baby,” then licked his lips, craving her every flavor.

“I know, my love,” she assured him, “Even in my sleep, I have felt you wanting me, as far away as you are—and as I have longed for thee as well.”

Wanting her to comprehend the depth of his hunger, of his keen thirst for her, he raised his head enough to look into her eyes. “Teyla, my darling…my dear one...this is so much more than physical.” He read eager, equal desire in her soft, dark eyes. “I need you, honey. I need your presence. Need you at my side, filling my days with your patience and kindness…filling my heart with…with the wonder of your love.”

She nodded in quiet understanding, drawing his face close, and kissing him tenderly, “Even so, Stephen; you have become the cool shadow wherein I find my soul’s ease.” She murmured against his lips, “I shall have no peace of mind, no rest until I am with thee again.”

She drew his tongue into her mouth, giving such patient, gentle suction that the sensation surged through his solar plexus, his loins, his throbbing erection. Stephen grunted into her mouth, concentrating on stilling himself, fighting the urge to come—knowing that Teyla, in her innocence, was likely unaware of the power she held over him.

He rolled to her side, pulling her along with him, allowing some small space between them as they lay face to face, space enough for him to catch his breath and to restore his reason. Teyla blinked open her eyes, the trust there unwavering, silently signaling she would follow his lead wherever he wished. Stephen kissed her brow, as she snuggled against him, the raging of his blood receding a bit as he traced small, soothing circles along her cheek and the side of her neck. When he had calmed a bit more, he trusted himself to speak. “When, honey?” He sounded exhausted to his own ears, worn and ready for the oblivion of sleep. “When will you return to me, Teyla? Give me some hope I can hold you…and love you…for real, sometime soon.”

She was silent a moment, considering the most honest way to answer him. “No more than two days, Beloved. I have submitted to the repeated questioning of the Council, and they have gleaned all they can from my vision.” She did not mention that Moraine had applied what pressure she could to keep her on Hadeeth, but Stephen felt the truth from her nevertheless. “I am certain there is no more that I can do to provide for the safety of my people.” She moved in to kiss his jaw, unable to resist that smallest affection, while pressing one warm, soft hand against his chest. “I shall leave it to their wisdom, and follow my heart back to its home.” Her voice quavered, and Stephen knew that she was staving off tears for his sake. Teyla slid her hand to rest over his heart, adding softly, “Here, my love, is my heart’s true home. I will not be fully myself until you hold me in your strong, loving arms.”

He threaded his fingers in her hair, kissing her brow, feeling himself start to fade from her side, “I don’t want to leave you yet,” he whispered, “I’d just be happy to sleep here with you in my arms.”

“I know,” she sniffled, moving her hand into his hair as well, preparing to kiss him farewell, “But you are weary, Stephen, and cannot hold this form much longer. I have not the strength to hold you here myself, though I would if I could—believe me, love, I would!” Her kiss was pure and powerful, and sent visions into his mind of all the sweetness that they would share once she returned to Earth.

A few stolen minutes more was all they had, and Stephen—his blood fully cooled--held her chastely, exchanging quiet kisses and reassurances of what the near future held for them. Though he could feel himself withdrawing slowly from their shared dream as a sort of numbness overtook him, Stephen was surprised that Teyla faded away completely before he did—perhaps because the brunt of sustaining their connection had fallen upon her, and drained her more vitally. But she managed in those final moments, to charge him with preparing a special place for them, a bower that might suit a hungry suitor and his willing, waiting lover. Still caught halfway between the dream-world, and his own reality, Stephen rolled onto his back, watching wisps of clouds pass across the full moon, breathing deep the sweetness of the talat akeylum—and as sleep finally stole him completely back to his body on Earth, he began to imagine what sort of place might be worthy of the sweet gift that was Teyla’s promise to him.

Feedback/Reblogs are incredibly meaningful. Please support content creators by doing us the honor. Thank you!

@mousedetective

Not tagging anyone else today - simply offering this to anyone longing for taste of Romance.

buy me a coffee?☕

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seenoversundown · 1 year

Text

This is my first attempt at writing so 😅 I hope you enjoy it

There's no trigger warnings for this - pure fluff!

Word Count: 1k?

Your Bones - Chelsea Cutler “I love you down to your bones Naked and afraid, they tell me that’s when you know, I feel you takin’ me home, Dusk until the dawn, you’re where I wanna go”

Daniel’s house is where you always felt the most at home, even more so when you just got to spend the day with him uninterrupted. Slowly approaching the first anniversary of dating, you were spending more and more time there. The two of you were inseparable at this point, spending countless nights together before needing to go back to your own apartment.

Today felt different though and you don’t know if you just got a good night's sleep or if something is in the air. You spent the afternoon cuddled into his arm on the couch, just enjoying some time together since the weather ruined your original plans.

The skies are gray and the rain hasn’t stopped since you opened your eyes. Making the best of it by lighting some candles and putting on movies, you aren’t going to complain in the slightest.

“Y/N, have I ever told you how much I love the rain?” he mumbles into the top of your head, placing a small kiss there at the end of his question. You simply nod ‘yes’ in response, because he tells you everytime it rains that he loves it ‘because it’s soothing’, which makes you giggle to yourself as you think of it.

“You know what I love even more though-” he speaks, causing your eyes to go wide and your heartbeat to pick up. You hadn’t said ‘I love you’ to each other yet even though you had been together for a while and now the possibility of it happening in this moment, instantly caused you to panic. Not that you didn’t love him or that you thought he didn’t feel the same, but it’s a big moment for a couple usually and you were unprepared for it to happen in this moment. “Thunderstorms,” he spits out. “The thunder sounds similar to some of my drums”

Sitting up to look at him, you pull his face in with both hands to plant a quick kiss to the bridge of his nose causing him to close his eyes with a soft smile.

“You’re the cutest human I’ve ever met” you whisper to him. Turning your head to look out the window again, you see the sky light up quickly. Waiting for the rumble to follow closely behind, you realize that maybe today IS the day to tell him. Looking at the rain falling knowing that this is his favorite type of weather, especially as his smile grows when the thunder hits, you know exactly what you’re going to do.

Standing up from the couch, you reach your hands out to him.

“What are we doing, sweetheart?” He questions you as he stands up, following behind you with your hands clasped together as you lead him to the front door. Opening the door quickly, revealing the gloomy scenery in all its glory, you pull him outside into the driveway.

“You said you love the rain, so I thought we should enjoy it the right way” you tell him through soft laughs, as you feel the rain hitting your skin. His smile could light up a room and the look in his eyes was enough of a reward, you didn’t even need him to speak anything else.

Immediately spinning you out and pulling you back in, he holds one of your hands out, wrapping his other arm around your waist. Both of you are just giggling as the rain soaks through your clothes, slow dancing to the sound of the storm in his driveway is something you never thought of doing but now, you couldn’t imagine spending today doing anything else. You rest your head against his shoulder, soaking in this feeling that’s become so overwhelming. You feel your own heart swell, slowly picking up speed until you feel like it’s going to pound its way out of your chest. You press your hand against him, noticing he must be feeling the same thing because you can feel every little beat.

“Hold on,” you tell him, breaking away from him quickly. You run inside to grab your keys, quickly making your way back to your car. You turn it on and plug your phone in, frantically scrolling through your music until you have a second of clarity. You open the album, choosing the song calmly because you know at this moment, this is what needs to happen. Turning the volume up, you walk back over to him, he's watching you like you created the moon and stars.

“I want you to listen to this one,” you tell him while wrapping your arms around him again. The cool feeling of his damp shirt against the side of your face as you rest against him while the song plays.

‘I love you down to your bones’

Grabbing your hand, he presses a light kiss to the back of it and on your knuckles before he begins to sway again, this time lining up with the beat of the music. Occasionally spinning you away from him, only to pull you back in.

‘Naked and afraid, they tell me that’s when you know’

He dips you, holding you in this position for an extra beat just to admire you.

“You’re so beautiful” he whispers, so he can still hear the song. Pulling you back up to him he lets go of your hand, but weaves it into your hair pulling you close. Leaning you against his chest he continues to rock back and forth. You feel your stomach tighten at this gesture.

‘I feel you takin’ me home,

Dusk until the dawn, you’re where I wanna go’

Knowing the song’s almost over, you know this is your chance. You slide your hands up, until they’re rested at the base of his neck, locking your fingers together. Staring into his eyes, everything feels calm- everything feels right.

“You know I mean it though, right?” you quietly come out with it. His eyes sparkle darting between yours, glancing at your lips. He leans down pressing his lips against yours and you swear you can feel them shaking, he rests his hands on either side of your face holding your jaw as he deepens the kiss. The rain drops making their way down your cheeks and the thunder rumbling, you feel him start to smile into you.

“I love you too, baby.”

Masterlist | Taglist

#greta van fluff #greta van fic #greta van fleet #seenoversunqueue #gvf #danny gvf #danny wagner #daniel wagner #danny x reader #one shot #gvf one shot

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merymoonbeam · 2 years

Text

Acosf Chapter 52 - Lightsinger Theory

In this post I’m gonna connect the wording of chapter 52 to Azriel’s bonus chapter and connection of sirens to chapter 52

Before we start the post these are the posts I will connect to as we go...

Lightsinger part1 , part2 by @silverlinedeyes

Glowed quietly

Cauldron’s song and Gwyn’s singing

Chapter 52 Acosf

A bell rang seven times somewhere nearby, echoing through the stones, through Nesta’s feet. Each peal was a summons, a call to focus. Everyone rose at the seventh peal. Nesta gazed at the sea of pale robes and blue stones as the entire room seemed to suck in a breath.

Azriel's Bonus Chapter

Instead, he found himself at the library beneath the House of Wind, standing before Clotho as the clock chimed seven in the evening.

In Acosf chapter 52 there is a bell that rings seven times and from Gwyn we know that they hold services at dawn and dusk.

Gwyn huffed a soft laugh. “In part. We honor the Mother, and the Cauldron, and the Forces That Be. We have a service at dawn and at dusk, and on every holy day.”

so it is interesting that when they held the service Nesta heard a bell ring seven times and Azriel arrived at the library when clocked chimed seven in the evening.

Chapter 52 Acosf

Not from any instruments, but from all around. As if they were one voice, the priestesses began to sing, a wave of sparkling sound. Nesta could only gape at the lovely melody, the voices from the front of the cavern leading it, lifting higher than the others. Gwyn sang, chin high, a faint glow seeming to radiate from her.

Azriel's Bonus Chapter

Something sparked in Azriel's chest, but he only nodded his thanks and left. He could picture it, though, as he ascended the stairs back to the House proper. How Gwyn's teal eyes might light upon seeing the necklace. For whatever reason... he could see it. But Azriel tucked away the thought, consciously erasing the slight smile it brought to his face. Buried the image down deep, where it glowed quietly. A thing of secret, lovely beauty.

In this part what took me back because as you can see...the same words are used? when you look at the context it feels different but when it comes to how the Azriel's bonus chapter was build upon silent music and singing and all...this gave me a pause. I wonder if there is more to it.

Azriel's bonus chapter

He could picture it, though, as he ascended the stairs back to the House proper. How Gwyn's teal eyes might light upon seeing the necklace. For whatever reason... he could see it.

Chapter 52 acosf

She’d never heard such music. Like a spell, a dream given form. The entire room sang, each voice resonating through the stone

as you can see Nesta says that music is like a "spell, a dream given form" like how Azriel could picture Gwyn's eyes lighting up.

Gwyn’s voice rose again, holding such a high note it was like a ray of pure light, piercing and summoning. Two other voices rolled in to join, pulsing around that repeated high note, the harp still strumming, voices whispering and flowing, lulling Nesta down, down, down into a pure, ancient place where no outside world existed, no time, nothing but the music in her bones, the stones at her feet, her side, overhead. The music took form behind Nesta’s eyes as the priestesses sang lyrics in languages so old, no one voiced them anymore. She saw what the song spoke of: mossy earth and golden sun, clear rivers and the deep shadows of an ancient forest.

Again in here the music "took form behind Nesta's eyes" and she "saw what the song spoke of" like Azriel picturing Gwyn's eyes.

Another thing is that those orange highlighted parts.

Summoning literally means "call an image to mind" as @silverlinedeyes pointed in her lightsinger part one post I'd linked above and it is exactly what Azriel saw in his bonus chapter.

But Azriel tucked away the thought, consciously erasing the slight smile it brought to his face. Buried the image down deep, where it glowed quietly. A thing of secret, lovely beauty.

and I made a post about how glowing "quietly" feels odd and added the link above as well.

Lulling is similar to settle as you can see in the screenshot.

and in Azriel's chapter we literally have that.

Gwyn smiled broadly. "Thank you." Azriel dipped his head in a sketch of a bow, something restless settling in him. Even his shadows had calmed. As if content to lounge on his shoulders and watch.

I made a post about how this settling could be connected to another "settling" scene with Nesta but it is not in chapter 52 so I'm not including that in this post.

Chapter 52 Acosf

This one was a lilting chant, the words tumbling over each other like water dancing down a mountainside, and Nesta’s foot tapped on the ground in time to the beat. Nesta could have sworn that beneath the hem of Gwyn’s robe, the priestess’s foot was doing the same. The words and the countermelodies danced around and around, until the walls hummed with the music, until the stone seemed to be singing it back.

Azriel's bonus chapter

Azriel entered the warmth of the stairwell, and as he descended, he could have sworn a faint, beautiful singing followed him. Could have sworn his shadows sang in answer.

both scene have gwyn in it...both scene have singing in it...both scene have "could have sworn"...both scene has singing back to it. It is a bit weird?

Now onto the siren connection.

we will go part by part in here as well.

While I was looking up sirens etymology parts stood out to me.

The etymology of the name is contested. Robert S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin.[4] Others connect the name to σειρά (seirá, "rope, cord") and εἴρω (eírō, "to tie, join, fasten"), resulting in the meaning "binder, entangler",[5][better source needed] i.e. one who binds or entangles through magic song. This could be connected to the famous scene of Odysseus being bound to the mast of his ship, in order to resist their song.

and in Chapter 52 of Acosf we have this

It was like a braid, the song—a plait of seven voices, weaving in and out, individual strands that together formed a pattern. Halfway through it, a drum appeared in the hand of the singer on the far left. A harp began strumming in the hands of one on the far right. A lute sounded from the center. She’d never heard such music. Like a spell, a dream given form. The entire room sang, each voice resonating through the stone.

sirens are described as "binder, entangler" and the music in acosf described as individual strands that together formed a pattern. and sirens bind or entagnle through magic song and Nesta explains the music as "like a spell, dream given form"

Another thing is that Sirens are described as birds.

The sirens of Greek mythology first appeared in Homer's Odyssey, where Homer did not provide any physical descriptions, and their visual appearance was left to the readers' imagination. It was Apollonius of Rhodes in Argonautica (3rd century BC) who described the sirens in writing as part woman and part bird By the 7th century BC, sirens were regularly depicted in art as human-headed birds.

and in Chapter 52 Gwyn's voice is described as a bird.

Gwyn’s voice soared like a bird through the cavern as she started the third song with a solo, and Nesta closed her eyes, leaning into the music, shutting out one sense in order to luxuriate in the sound of her friend. Something beckoned in Gwyn’s song, in a way the others’ hadn’t. Like Gwyn was calling only to her, her voice full of sunshine and joy and unshakable determination. Nesta had never heard a voice like Gwyn’s—by turns trained and wild, as if there was so much sound fighting to break free of Gwyn that she couldn’t quite contain it all. As if the sound needed to be loose in the world.

and the orange part is interesting because Nesta singles out Gwyn's voice from others. As if her singing is different then other. I touched upon this in my Cauldron's song and Gwyn's singing post. In that post Cauldron's luring song parallels to Gwyn's singing as described in that scene.

As you can see Nesta describes Gwyn's beckoning song as "in a way others' hadn't" and "like Gwyn was calling only to her" and with Cauldron's luring it presented itself as Graysen to Elain...beckoned her and told her he'd come for her.

Also beckoning is literally means "lure,charm, entice.."

Lasty we have this about sirens

The early Christian euhemerist interpretation of mythologized human beings received a long-lasting boost from the Etymologiae by Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636): They [the Greeks] imagine that "there were three sirens, part virgins, part birds," with wings and claws. "One of them sang, another played the flute, the third the lyre. They drew sailors, decoyed by song, to shipwreck. According to the truth, however, they were prostitutes who led travelers down to poverty and were said to impose shipwreck on them." They had wings and claws because Love flies and wounds. They are said to have stayed in the waves because a wave created Venus.

one sang...one played the flute...the third the lyre

we are gonna look at the paragraph before the bird connection also I'm adding that paragraph as well.

They finished, and started another song—led into it by a rolling drumbeat, then a single voice. Then the harp joined, a second voice with it. Then the lute, along with a third. The three sang around and into each other, another braid of voices and melodies. They reached the second verse, and the other four joined in, the room with them. Gwyn’s voice soared like a bird through the cavern as she started the third song with a solo, and Nesta closed her eyes, leaning into the music, shutting out one sense in order to luxuriate in the sound of her friend. Something beckoned in Gwyn’s song, in a way the others’ hadn’t. Like Gwyn was calling only to her, her voice full of sunshine and joy and unshakable determination. Nesta had never heard a voice like Gwyn’s—by turns trained and wild, as if there was so much sound fighting to break free of Gwyn that she couldn’t quite contain it all. As if the sound needed to be loose in the world.

a single voice...harp joined...then the lute...

like the three sirens I added above.

one sang...one played the flute...the third the lyre

And again the music is describe as a "braid" like the first point how the sirens were described as ""binder, entangler", and they bind or entangle through magic song. and right after it Gwyn's voice describes as a bird which is what sirens are described as.

so that's about it.

Special thanks to @offtorivendell . Thanks for always listening my rambling thoughts about these theories and helping me.

#acosf #lightsinger theory #Chapter 52 #Azriel bonus chapter

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feliniakattus · 4 months

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it is time to post aro mowana fic.

link here, full text under the cut.

Whimbrel licks Mowana across the back of her head, and Mowana stumbles as she turns to face her mama.

‘Mowana, you were playing so nicely with Clover just then.’ Whimbrel purrs. ‘Do you like him?’

Mowana tilts her head so far she almost falls over.

‘I don’t know, Mama.’

‘When you’re older, will we be hearing the pitter-patter of paws?’

Mowana shakes her head and shifts on her paws. ‘I don’t wanna partner, Mama. I’m never gonna join with anyone.’

Whimbrel exchanges a glance with Pytilia that brims with mirth. Her tail curls over her back as she purrs a reply.

‘We all say that, darling. I remember Mabuya saying exactly that and look at her now. Once you hit your 3’s… We’ll certainly see how it goes. It’s just our nature, sweetie.’

Mowana shuffles from paw to paw for a moment longer, until Pytilia purrs.

‘Off you go.’

She is a lot more conscious of how she plays after that.

Mowana stares out into the black. The stars are like pinpricks of white light, and the moons shine down like bright eyes. The wind breezes past her face, pulling her mantle back and out of her eyes. She leans into it, closing her eyes slightly.

She hears grass crunching and spins around, fur bushed.

Clover.

He grins sheepishly, with that way he has that she could tell other kattii might find attractive, and so she tells herself she does too. His brown pelt blends in almost perfectly with the night-dimmed grass. He steps through it with the ease of someone in his element.

She tells herself she likes him for it.

‘Just wanted to see what you were up to,’ he says. His tail curls over his back. ‘No reason to pounce at me.’

‘Sorry. I’m not doing much,’ Mowana says, and shifts over so he can sit next to her. She feels the warmth of his flank at her side. He runs his muzzle over her ear, and Mowana tells herself that a proper molly would lean into his touch, so she does, ignoring the wave of … of something that makes her shiver. ‘Just looking at the moons.’

‘Mm.’ He smooths his tongue down the back of her head and between her shoulders. She twitches. It doesn’t feel exciting. It just feels flat.

She can tell he’s enjoying it, from the way he pulls back and smiles with his top teeth showing, his body wriggling with affection, and she smiles back but she knows it isn’t the same. But this is what everyone wants from her. It will make her parents happy and surely they know what’s best for her? She’s just a late bloomer, and that’s why she’s never felt anything for Clover.

But she is three, and surely this is just what love is like. She loves love, loves the idea of someone being devoted to her more than anything, loves the idea of quiet afternoons in the same nest, not even needing to speak. She loves the idea of being wanted by someone more than anything else.

But she doesn’t love this she has to love this. Clover leans against her side with a chuff. Mowana leans into him and he pulls her to the ground and she lies with her back to his belly. His legs drape over her sides, a cage of bone and ticked brown fur and suddenly she needs to leave.

Mowana tries to wriggle free but he rests his head on her shoulder and pins her in place. She closes her eyes. He loves you, she tells herself. You love him. This is what you should be doing. This is what everyone does.

What you’re feeling is love.

Pytilia slips away before dawn. Mowana stays at the side of the body until the sun rises. She rests her head on her parent’s side. She cleans away the blood, a task that had seemed impossible at dusk, but was painfully easy now. The last ebbs of Pytilia’s heart are dripping away from her side, but she was already long gone.

Whimbrel stands at her side. She is painfully still.

When Mowana draws away, agony in her eyes, Whimbrel breaks. She clutches at Pytilia’s body, wailing her grief. Her claws unsheathe almost despite herself, and Mowana watches her mother draw red lines down the body’s shoulders, clutching her close.

She is a horrible daughter, because her first thought is would anyone do that for me, and her second is I wouldn’t do that for anyone.

Whimbrel has to be prised away from the body. Fur and gore cling to her claws. She stands by her daughter’s side for the funeral. She takes Pytilia’s blade from the body’s pouch when the time comes. She recites the prayers in a quiet, hoarse voice. Mowana stays by her side. She follows the hymns and tries not to flinch when the Cleric, only a year younger than her, takes the body.

At last, Whimbrel speaks, at the sunset of the following day. Silhouetted in gold and red, she raises her long muzzle to the sky.

‘Pytilia wanted so badly to see you joined.’ Her voice is shaky.

Mowana dips her head. She tries not to make a noise as her mother continues.

‘That meant more to her than anything else.’ She whirls on her daughter, fur unkempt, and Mowana tries not to flinch. ‘You have to – you have to – Her last wish was to see you joined with someone.’

Mowana nods. She feels the pit in her belly yawn wide, but forces it closed.

‘I will, Mama.’

Whimbrel purrs. She draws Mowana close, folding her into her chest, and Mowana tries hard not to feel caged.

‘You’re a good daughter, sweetheart.’

‘You know you’re supposed to feel something, right?’ Lantana asks. Her voice is gentle. ‘It’s not supposed to just be mild discomfort.’

Mowana digs her claws into the grass. ‘I–’

The pit in her belly, the empty feeling yawns up beneath her. There is a cold, bottomless fear there. This isn’t how she’s supposed to be.

‘But – I love Clover.’ A feeble excuse. The whole Coalition knows that isn’t true.

Lantana tips her head. ‘Do you?’

Mowana doesn’t answer. She gets up and paces, trying to ignore the dawning terror. She can’t be a- … that would mean being alone. That would mean betraying everything her parents wanted for her.

Who would want her if she was?

Mowana has never been good at making friends.

If she accepts this, isn’t she dooming herself to a life lived on the edges of the Coalition? She might as well appoint herself the new Cleric. That would cause less hassle. And she would never have to think about the empty hole that opened in the pit of her belly, heavy and resting on her ribs, beating with her heart.

She turns away from Lantana.

‘What about my cubs?’

Whimbrel makes it to Mowana’s joining, but she never gets to see her grandcubs.

Two of them. An entirely black tom, almost bluish, and a little blue tabby, fur soft and ticked. They roll and bob against each other as she holds them in her paws and they squeak and snuffle like little mice. Mowana buries her muzzle in their squirmy bodies and relishes the soft thin scent of them, like milk and wind.

If being with Clover feels ever so slightly wrong, like she wasn’t made to do such a thing, then holding her firstborns is so, so right.

Clover is stretched out asleep, his body a comforting warmth against her back. While she was giving birth he curled up in a corner of the base and slept, but they won’t tell her that until later. He’d sniffed at them obligingly when he came in, and then he curled into her nest and slept.

‘We need to name them,’ she says, but it echoes in an empty den. Plover and Coucal took Acacia out earlier, and there are only cooling nests. And Clover’s gentle breaths. Well. She can certainly forgive him for being tired. And the cubs are so little it won’t matter if they get names now or later. She tucks her head back into their squirmy bodies, and goes to sleep.

Nothing is ever so right as when they have young cubs.

Nothing is ever so wrong as when Mamba dies.

He was only two. He was so young it makes her sick to think of it. Her belly churns and despite herself she thinks of Whimbrel.

She must play her mother’s part, and so she stands stock-still at his funeral.

She cannot bear to give him his final rites to free his soul from his body and when the Cleric comes to fetch his body she holds him as furiously as Whimbrel held Pytilia. He was already stiff and cold and when Clover took her by the middle to peel her away he felt the same.

Things had never been the same after that.

Calpe dies two years later, and Mowana pushes down her doubts about herself and whatever she feels for Clover and forces herself to act as his dutiful partner.

Four years and three cubs later and it still isn’t right.

Her son comes to her. He stumbles as he turns to face her. She licks the top of his head, and he leans into her side.

‘Jackal, did you need something?’ Mowana purrs.

He tilts his head, shuffles his paws. Mowana waits.

‘Mama, I … I don’t want a partner. I’m not going to join with anyone.’

Mowana looks at him. Whimbrel’s words rise in her mind. She opens her mouth to say I thought the same thing and now look at me, and then shuts it again. That isn’t what he needs. That isn’t what she needed.

She opens her arms to him and her grown son melts into them. He is older than Calpe was when he died.

‘Oh, baby,’ she says. ‘There’s nothing wrong with that. You… You can do whatever you want.’

He nestles his face into her chest. Mowana holds him close. He is warm and soft. He is nothing like Calpe, and he is going to outlive her. They all will.

Mowana’s gaze alights on Clover.

Realisation alights in her chest. And with it, the pit in her belly melts away. She tugs her boy closer. She’s done with him.

#xenofiction #original work #worldbuilding #fantasy world #fantasy writing #xenomoggy #xenomog #felinia: shorts #felinia: mowana #felinia: bonus art

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lavenoon · 2 years

Text

AU AU AU random tidbits

Some bastard Dawn, sweet Moon interactions, and general characterization thoughts. Also the realization that the reverse AU is just the pining AU

Y/N thinking they're the suave one with Moon and taking him out on a date to some climbing park, and it's the first time he slips up - and Y/N just ends up both in awe and flustered when he's suddenly just that tad more conversational, and smooth about it. Thought they could show off, and he just keeps up so easily, and then they get giddy - they don't get this with Dawn since they barely parkour nowadays for work, but here's someone who can just keep up with them and actually make it a challenge - they don't even realize how strange it is that Moon is that good, or suddenly acts out of character, because their cover slips, too (and Moon of course also doesn't realize - the familiarity of the situation combined with the familiarity of the person, and they overlap and cover any inconsistencies. Like they just go. I know this person. I know parkour. Means I know all of this, and it's normal! While they completely miss the fact that it isn't supposed to be normal)

re: Dawn calls Robin "little thief" - it's exacerbated by the fact that they may pickpocket a lot while undercover, being the one to sneakily grab wallets or phones or whatever for the info. Night shift/ canon Robin doesn't interact with people much, any time Dusk and them run into someone, it's basically unwanted trouble. But Day shift Robin has to really mingle, and steal right from under people's noses. They are good at it, but they don't quite enjoy the inflection with which Dawn says it. He definitely gets a little line about them stealing his metaphorical heart post-reveal.

Reverse Y/N doesn't wear the mask usually during missions - that's just a tad too obvious for undercover work

Sun and Moon don't realize in this case because there's even more of a mental distance between the guarded but hotheaded rival and the open and earnest neighbor - and still no memory comparisons. Again much luck, but it wouldn't be interesting if they weren't idiots this time around

Prompted by @lulu-lullabies: Robin calls Dawn "Sunshine", with SO much passive aggression in there, but the sweetest smile. It's their favorite nickname, ESPECIALLY when faking a relationship for a cover because he really cant do anything then

Rando, delighted: "Oh, like the song! You are my Sunshine! How sweet"

Robin, choking on blood: "Yeah that exactly"

Undercover Dawn also lays on thick in response. Sweetheart darling my love (if he's feeling particularly daring) and enjoys the bittersweetness of Robin looking like they bit a lemon and trying to cover it. He's a bastard he gets to pine and think its unrequited

Whenever they do end up blushing however, it gives him hope - which is part of the reason why he does aim to fluster them so much <3

Sad thought of rival Dawn learning quickly that he has to mask his concern somehow and trick Robin into self care because they're unreasonably suspicious of anything genuine from his side

Not AU AU AU specific, these boys are still caretakers at the core. They have their jobs and are good at that, but with Y/N they just. They care, so they have the urge to take care. In all iterations - we've seen it in canon Moon, fretting after they got hurt, same as reverse Dawn - the gift baskets are genuine, and they each throw in a little taunt as a cover because they can't have their little rival catch on.

Sun and reverse Moon have it easier (though Moon makes it harder on himself), because they're the friendly neighbor, and neighbors care about each other, right? That's - that's normal. They're all stupid and Y/N doesn't know it's out of the norm because they're just as weird about it (after all, they're the landlord desperately trying to befriend their tenant). So as neighbors Sun and Moon get to talk, and reassure, and care (and provide) in all the ways that are out of reach for their respective reversed versions, and Y/N, used to living alone and being socially isolated due to their job, doesn't realize that's not quite how it usually works. It works for them <3

Now forget everything I just wrote for a bit to enjoy the next bit of Dawn being a scary bastard:

Hilarious as outsider but probably somewhat terrifying for Robin in the moment (and also SO telling on myself here): pretty early in the rivalry, after a solo mission that required parkour, they encounter Dawn, and think "hey, I have a height advantage for once" and just. Think they're so funny for taunting him from like a couple yards above him. Not too far - they don't need to yell, don't make a scene. Dawn isn't amused at all. But he just grins, and squints in that way that should (and in the future will) tell Robin that they fucked up, and just takes a pair of gloves out of his pocket. They kind of snort about that, get halfway into another jab, but then oh no what is he doing

Because loafers and suit be damned, he doesn't have to climb very high, and Robin is just so startled they barely start to scramble away before he grabs them by the ankle and pulls them back, closer to the edge. Neither of them is dangling anywhere of course, but whatever ledge they're on offers enough space for him to just loom over them as they're flat on their back, looking like a deer in the headlights, with his legs just tightly flanking them, not quite pinning but close enough, and both hands on either side of their head. The most wicked grin as he switches to the sharp teeth, and while Robin really doesn't dare look away from his face, they can hear the soft scraping of his fingers on the concrete

"Well, would you look at that - I've caught a little thief. Anything to say for yourself?"

Robin kind of chuckles, but they're shaken up and it carries in their tone

"I thought you'd recite my Miranda rights."

He just leans closer, and they click their mouth shut with a click. It's still bright out, but he's big enough and close enough to keep them in his shadow

"If we were law enforcement, sweetheart, perhaps I would have. Don't think you have the high ground - I'll catch you, wherever you are."

And just like that, like nothing happened, he leans back again, gets up, steps away, and jumps back down to the ground.

Robin isn't quite so daring yet - crawls kinda closer to the edge to look at him, but definitely stays out of reach for now. He catches them staring, and smiles up at them, teeth back to normal and for everyone just looking on completely polite

"Next time you try something like this, you'll be the one to pay for the dry cleaning. Looking forward to tomorrow's mission."

And then he forever regrets it because from then on Robin is (un)reasonably wary of him. Fucked around and found out, both of them

st. stargazing date with reverse Moon.

Driving out of the city to see some actual stars, sharing a blanket even tho he doesn't need it, because it's comfortable and neither mention it, anyway - Y/N excitedly taking his hand and pointing with the other as they recognize the big dipper or something, and he softly starts telling them about the night sky, about which constellations are visible when, and how it's supposed to look, and maybe, in a moment when they're distracted, he tacks on the mutter that he'd like to take them some day, see the real stars

Everyone say thank you Lulu (again) for making this better: They get the classic "accidentally gets close enough (theoretically) for a kiss" but Moon's a shy idiot and Y/N is an oblivious idiot and.

He's in nightvision mode, and Y/N pauses for a moment, then cups his face - just a little awkward, maybe, but they make do and just absolutely destroy him by saying "Your eyes are kind of the color of an aurora borealis. Wanna go compare one day?"

They just laugh softly and let go after a moment, and he has no idea if they meant it, but stars how he hopes (and dreads) that they did

#post let luce #fnaf sb #fnaf sb au #accidentally undercover #AU AU AU #need to post this now bc otherwise I'll just forever add to it #and I need it for context for my ramble #back from work and immediately unhinged hi whats up <3 #that one Dawn scenario. don't psychoanalyze that even if it's really easy. please. /j /lh #ANYWAYS YEA this au and variations continues being catered to me #which makes sense given that. it's mine.#hope u enjoy it too lmao

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slothquisitor · 1 month

Text

Invisible String: Chapter One

A Baldur's Gate III Modern AU.

Chapter Summary: Brand new to Baldur's Gate, without friends or family but with a dream job as an archivist at Baldur's Gate University (that barely pays anything), Liv is introduced by a friend of a friend to Astarion whose social media career seems to be stalling and is therefore willing to rent out his spare bedroom to her.

The roommates mostly avoid one another, and in a burst of loneliness, Liv joins the new app everyone in Baldur's Gate is talking about: The Weave. Who knows, maybe she really will meet someone and fall in love...

Read on AO3.

___________________________________________________________

The music is no longer blaring and the lights are no longer strobing, but they might as well be for the way they continue to echo through Astarion’s mind. He sits at the cleanest of the empty tables in the Elfsong and nurses an end of shift drink. It feels nice to have a solid span of five minutes without anyone needing a damn thing from him, so he finally decides to check his notifications on his smartphone.

He doesn’t get far.

“Fangs!” Karlach yells as she approaches. How the red-skinned tiefling manages to have this much energy after working a full shift should almost certainly be studied. “Third time working this week. Everything alright?”

He glances quickly at the notifications waiting for him, but he sets his phone down with a sigh and puts on the same smile he’s worn most of the evening. “But of course, why wouldn’t it be?”

Karlach sets down her own glass of cider and angles her broad body sideways into the booth he’s claimed. Their fellow employees are beginning to clean up the ravages of the evening in the old bar turned club. With the overhead lights on and the music no longer shaking the space, the room looks rather ordinary and a little dingy. He hates it here.

Karlach doesn’t. She works here full-time, happy to be a bouncer or the life of the party at the bar, she’s equally at home doing either. He only picks up the odd night or two on the weekends when money is tight. He works hospitality for the VIP guests, smiling and pretending he doesn’t hate their guts. But lately, money has been tighter than usual. So to the Elfsong he trudges.

“Just don’t usually see you working here so much. Not unless you need a new computer or camera or something.”

He sighs. “If you must know, Chirper is taking a much larger cut from creator funds than ever. So…despite my content doing just as well as it has in the past…there’s less cash flow.”

Karlach nods and takes a deep drink. “You know, I told you to get a smaller apartment so that you wouldn’t be in this position.”

He had purchased his very fabulous, very spacious apartment with the first of his suddenly insane income when he’d started going viral for his roastings of men with terrible fashion sense on Chirper. Now he has a whole consulting business remotely helping men dress less terribly, but the bulk of his income still comes from his merciless Chirper threads making fun of men in power with terrible sense of style. He loves that apartment for all it represents: freedom, security, and ownership. Those things just don’t come very cheap these days and neither does his mortgage.

“I’ve got it handled, Karlach.”

“You hate spending your nights here,” she replies.

And she isn’t entirely wrong. Karlach loves the press of people, the attention, but she doesn’t have to take shit from anyone and people still love her. He spends his evenings here smiling and mediating and generally hating himself from dusk until the bar closes a few hours before dawn. It’s his choice to be here, but sometimes when a certain song comes on or he catches just a whiff of the right mix of booze and perfume he’s trapped all over again in a very different club. He doesn’t exactly have a lot of other marketable skills though, so the pay here is good when needs it.

“It’s fine, really.”

“Have you ever considered getting a roommate?”

He tilts his head at her in disdain. “A roommate, really? That’s your solution?”

“Oh come on, it’s not the worst solution. Consistent income every month would give you more freedom, you’d spend fewer nights here.”

“I just need to figure out how to make the side things more profitable. Or get more sponsorships or whatever. It’s just that so many of them want me to wear their clothes and have personal content. Which doesn’t really work for me,” he says.

Karlach is one of the few people in the city that knows exactly what he is. Who knows what he was before all this and still doesn’t shrink away, doesn’t seem to mind at all. He’s grateful, of course, even if he still can’t quite fathom what she’s getting out of the arrangement.

“They still wanting you to show your face?” she asks.

Objectively, he has a very good face. He’d love to show it off on social media, but a truly charming byproduct of his condition is his inability to do that. Oh, he’s tried all sorts of things, but the outcome is always the same: a blurred smudge where his face should be.

He nods. “I keep telling them that my anonymity is part of my charm, but everyone wants ‘get ready with mes’ and peeks into the ‘real life’ behind the influencer. I miss when the internet preferred everyone at arm’s length.”

“I don’t,” Karlach scoffs. “Look, I only bring up the roommate thing because my friend Gale told me to keep a lookout for a friend of his who needs a place and you have an entire extra room and bathroom you don’t use.”

That is not true, he uses the closet in that bedroom regularly. “Gale who works at the library?” Astarion tries to remember. Karlach has lots of friends, and it would probably be good of him to pay more attention when she talks about them.

“Yeah. Guess she’s a new archivist or something. If she’s anything like Gale, she’d be steady and dependable. And unlikely to be prone to throwing large parties.”

There’s a slew of reasons why getting a roommate is a terrible idea, but on the other hand…it would be nice to have money coming in through no labor of his own. “I’ll think about it.”

“Well, let me know, and I’ll pass your info along.”

His phone buzzes on the table; he sips at his drink rather than turning it over to see exactly what it is.

Karlach glances at it meaningfully. “Is it the Weave?”

He shrugs and grins. “Probably.”

“I still don’t understand how you manage to get so many matches on there. I’ve matched with exactly two people in the last month, the first one ghosted me and the second was great until they started asking for feet pics.”

“Mystra favors me, what can I say?”

“I’m not sure how an AI algorithm for love matching is favoring you over me. You’re not even looking for anything serious. How many people have you met up with from it? I’m betting six or seven.”

His smile turns feline. “Darling, wouldn’t you like to know?”

He hasn’t actually met up with anyone from the app at all. He likes the anonymity, of chatting with someone without having to worry about being himself. He likes having someone’s undivided attention, especially when he can control exactly when he gets it. He enjoys having someone to constantly talk to, to ask about his day, the possibility of building something. But there’s always a point that he cuts it off. It’s easier, cleaner that way. Besides, he rather prefers to be the one to cut things off before it can get too far or too insistent about meeting in person.

He knows that makes him broken. And he’d rather not admit that to anyone, so letting them believe the lie is far, far easier.

Karlach sighs. “Maybe I need to go try out some new coffee shops or something. Then maybe Mystra will match me with some new people.”

The whole draw of the app is that it tracks your location and finds others in your life who also use the app, and then matches you with them, anonymously of course. There’s something romantic about the idea that maybe you’ve already met the person you’re conversing with through the app. But all you get is their screen name and pronouns. The rest of it is up to you.

“Trying to game it? Let me see your profile, maybe I can help.”

Karlach hands over her phone, and the first thing he looks at is her username: HotCliveMama34. “Well there’s your problem,” he says as he hands the phone back.

“What?”

“You’re matching with people who think you’re a mother!”

Karlach looks offended. “I am a mother.”

“Your dog doesn’t count…besides are you sure he’s a dog? He looked more like a bear in the last picture you posted.”

“Clive is my child. My favorite, best, most wonderful child. If someone can’t handle me at my Mama K, they don’t deserve me otherwise.”

Astarion shrugs. “Fair enough.” He envies her confidence that who she is should be enough for anyone. That it’s someone else’s problem and not hers if they don’t love her just the way she is.

“I should go, it’s getting late,” he says, draining his glass and standing up.

She offers him a wave and a smile. “Later, Fangs.”

As he walks away he checks his notifications at last.

KissMeQuick: I haven’t ever told anyone this before, but it’s really easy talking to you.

RomanceJunkie: hey hope work is good, wyd after?

Mystra, new match alert: HeartacheHero.

Every last one is a Weave notification, nothing real at all.

***

Most people have a compulsion towards preservation. It’s why they keep report cards with high grades and hang up their children’s art on fridges. They’re constantly keeping or looking for mementos, magnets from every place they’ve traveled or pictures snapped in front of buildings and structures. Liv Vires has always been interested in what people keep and what they don’t and how to ensure knowledge isn’t lost. But for someone whose entire career is focused on preservation, she has managed to cut herself loose from almost every vestige of her old life in the span of one short month.

She has to race to keep up with Lae’zel as she strides with a singular purpose through the university campus and toward the large, domed library building. Students and the handful of seemingly ever-present tourists instinctively shift to make way for her, and Liv simply follows in her wake. Baldur’s Gate University sprawls in the oldest part of the city, with hundreds of years of history contained in its old stone architecture. It's not just a place of learning; it is also a pilgrimage of sorts.

This job is still new enough that every morning Liv cannot help but gaze up at the collection of spires and towers that make up the inner campus of BGU, still a little in awe that this is where she gets to work each day. Liv had left Cormyr in a hurry, in the type of impulsivity borne of nothing but desperation. Her relationship with her family had always been strained, but then the Laughably-Awful-That-We’re-Not-Thinking-About had happened and broken everything irrevocably. And honestly? It had been a relief in some ways to finally have a legitimate reason for cutting off her family completely. But it didn’t leave her feeling any less unmoored. And suddenly, Cormyr had felt too damn small. Her family knew too much of her life, her friends. She’d needed a change so radical, so all-encompassing that it wouldn't leave any space for her family. And so far, she hasn’t once looked back.

Liv feels lucky for the new job, the new city, the new life. But it is still somewhat overwhelming. When she finally catches up with Lae’zel, she gestures to the bookstore on the corner, the one with the coffee shop on the second floor. “I was going to go grab some coffee, you want something?”

Lae’zel looks rather annoyed, but Liv can’t tell if it’s at the question or if that’s just how Lae’zel generally is. Lae’zel has been generous enough to let her stay at her small, rather spartan apartment, and Liv is just trying to not be too much of an inconvenience until she finds her own place. “Tchk, I do not need coffee, but go if you must.”

“See you in a few,” Liv replies, hurrying away. She still hasn’t quite figured out Lae’zel’s moods or tone or what any of it means. She hates her reliance on other people right now, and all the ways that Lae’zel doesn’t quite allow her to pay her back. She had jumped on a train and left Cormyr like a thief in the night with nothing but the job offer in hand. She was grateful for Gale, who had remembered her from their shared undergrad in Waterdeep, and had recommended her for the archivist position and then promptly promised to help her with the move to a new, unfamiliar city.

It wasn’t that she hated her librarian job at Cormyr’s public library, but she’s an archive conservator. Archivists and librarians are not the same thing, and while they’re both small, interconnected worlds. Liv was sort of tired of wearing a bunch of different hats. This job not only got her away from her family but is exactly the type of work she’d always dreamed of. It would be perfect if she could just find a fucking apartment of her own though…or a roommate where she doesn’t have to sleep on the couch.

She’s been frequenting this particular coffee shop within this bookstore enough in the last two weeks that the baristas recognize her, and it’s nice to start feeling like she’s becoming part of a place. She grabs her coffee and heads into the library, flashing her work badge to get around the tourists eagerly vying for a view of the old convocation house and its fancy ceilings. She makes her way up the long, steep staircase in the old building before finally arriving on the floor of the archives, where she follows the snaking path of books to her small cubicle.

These days most of the archival work happens digitally, so they all have their own desks and only work with the rare books in specialized ‘clean rooms’. She’d be more annoyed, but it means that she gets to bring in her coffee.

“Ah, good morning,” Gale greets her, leaning on the corner part of her cubicle wall. He dresses the exact same way he did nearly ten years ago all thick sweaters and sports coats. He wears the years well though, the only hint of passing time is his longer hair with peeks of gray at the temple and a slight crinkling around his eyes.

“Morning,” she smiles. “How are you?” She finds it hard to believe that she’d once thought him arrogant during their studies in Waterdeep. It’s only been a few weeks since they reconnected, but Gale has turned out to be her most steadfast friend through the upheaval of her life.

“I’m doing wonderfully, and I have some rather good news for you.”

“I love good news in the morning.”

“A friend of mine knows someone in need of a roommate,” Gale grins.

“Thank the gods,” she says, and then promptly lowers her voice. “I think Lae’zel is getting very annoyed having me around.”

“It’s a small space, it’s to be expected,” Gale says with a bit of a wince. Gale had also offered to allow her to stay with him, but she has a mild allergy to cats. The allergy doesn’t stop her from spending a few hours in his place, properly medicated of course, but it would be impossible to live there for any length of time.

“Who is this friend?”

“It’s a friend of a friend, but Karlach wouldn’t send me his information unless she believed it would work out. His name is Astarion. I’ll text you his info. I’ve never met him, but Karlach says he’s some sort of fashion consultant, and sometimes works hospitality at a nightclub?”

“In my price range?” Liv asks. That’s been the biggest hurdle of this whole move. Archivists are highly specialized so naturally they make hardly any money. Unfortunately, finding a place that’s affordable and isn’t student housing has been an absolute nightmare. And while she could live next to a bunch of rowdy undergrads, she’d really love to not do that in her thirties.

“Yes, and much nicer than any of the places you’ve been looking at. Karlach says it has its own room and bathroom.”

“Damn. I’d live with almost anyone if it means that kind of privacy. I’ll shoot him a text. Thank you.”

Gale shrugs. “What am I here for? Oh, did you see that we got that Karsus manuscript yesterday evening? I’ve been dying to get my hands on it. Want to help me with the page scanning?”

“Hell yeah. I’ve got some requisition requests to respond to first, and I’m hoping I’ve got a lead on an earlier copy of the Baldur’s Gate charter. So give me an hour?”

“It’s a plan.” As he walks away, he texts her Astarion Ancunin’s contact information and she promptly sits and spends far too long crafting an introductory text.

Liv: Hi there this is Liv Vires, Gale Dekarios gave me your contact information. I hear you’re looking for a roommate?

She rereads the text at least three times after sending it, hoping that it sounds friendly enough before giving up on staring at it in hopes of a reply. There is no immediate reply anyway, but then ten minutes later her phone buzzes.

Astarion: Hello. That depends entirely on how ugly the furniture is that you propose to bring in.

Oh good, he’s got a sense of humor. What a relief. She stares at his reply while she thinks through her response.

Liv: In that case, I’ve got great news: I don’t have any furniture at the moment. I suppose we could negotiate your input on future purchases. Otherwise, I’ll just promise to do my best not to clash with the curtains.

Astarion: If we keep my input on the table, then I suppose I do have a room available. I assume you’d like some pictures of the place?

Liv: We can certainly negotiate. And sure, I’d love to see the place.

A few moments later she receives several pictures of a very nice apartment. It’s a hells of an upgrade compared to the rundown and downright falling apart places she’s been looking at. Something tells her that this is too good to be true, but the more she looks at the immaculately clean kitchen, the living room with large windows, and the empty and waiting bedroom it becomes very hard to care. But she can’t shake a sinking feeling in her stomach: there’s no way she can afford this.

Liv: Your place looks amazing, but I’m worried that our friends may have misunderstood what I can actually afford. I can’t go over two grand.

Astarion: That’s what I was told. This is a little bit different since I own the apartment, your contribution helps me afford my mortgage in the capitalistic hellscape we inhabit.

That actually makes a lot more sense, and she immediately relaxes. She looks back through the pictures again, trying to get a better sense of it. The bedroom is already semi-furnished with a bed and nightstand and the closet looks rather large. The Liv she was before, the one who hadn’t left Cormyr or her family would be more meticulous about this whole thing. She would ask more questions and track down backup options for her backup options. But it was impulse that got her to Baldur’s Gate, and it’s worked out so far. So, she’s determined not to overthink this one too much either. Besides, the more she texts with Astarion, the better she feels about the whole thing.

***

Two days after making initial contact, swapping social information, and ironing out a rental agreement he shamelessly stole from the internet, Astarion’s new roommate arrives at his door. This whole thing has only been a mild inconvenience so far, so he’s hopeful it will actually work out for the best. The most annoying part was that he had been using the closet in what will now be her bedroom as his second closet, so finding space for those clothes in his own room had required a fair bit of creativity. Otherwise, she seems exceedingly normal, nice, and boring as all hells. Karlach says that’s a good thing.

He’s spent the past two days stalking Liv’s social media in an effort to figure out who she actually is. He hasn’t learned much. Her most recent post is from almost two years ago posing at the beach with a woman he can only assume is her sister since they share the same dark hair and green eyes. Otherwise, she’s proven to be an enigma.

But Liv hasn’t arrived alone. When he opens the door he is greeted by her and a small, terrifying githyanki woman dressed in a smart pantsuit and holding a box. “Oh, hello there,” he says, stepping aside at the door.

“Nice to actually meet you,” Liv says brightly. “This is my friend Lae’zel, she came along to help me with my things.” If he’s not what she expected from their brief text exchanges, there’s not a hint of it in her expression.

“I’m here to ensure you pass the vibe check,” Lae’zel says without a hint of a smile and strides inside.

Liv for her part turns a rather shocking shade of pink. She’s also dressed as formally as Lae’zel, wearing a deep purple blazer that’s tailored so well he doesn’t even have a critique of it. Perhaps they’ve both come to move her in straight from work.

“Vibe check?” He raises a brow in her direction.

She attempts a smile that’s more of a grimace. “Well, I am moving in with a person I’ve only just met, so I guess you can’t be too careful.”

He laughs. “Don’t worry, I already hid the bodies and had the carpets cleaned of all the blood of my enemies.”

“How thoughtful.”

She’s only carrying one large suitcase and a backpack. Lae’zel had a bag in addition to the box she carried, but still, it’s a rather sparse amount of stuff for moving. “Where are the rest of your things?”

Liv gives him a confused look. “This is all I’ve got. I told you I didn’t have any furniture.”

Sure, but still. She had said she’d moved here recently, somewhat in a hurry to accept a new job. He just didn’t realize exactly what that might mean. He follows her as she steps into the apartment properly. “This is the kitchen, obviously.”

Lae’zel stands in the living room, eyes sweeping over the large windows covered by thick enchanted curtains. Enough to let the light in, but also offering protection from the sun for him.

“Are these enchanted?” Lae’zel asks bluntly.

“Of course, my furniture is expensive, and I won’t have it damaged by the sun’s rays. The curtains are set to open at night, part of the enchantment.” The lie is somewhat less believable than he’d like since he’d bought the apartment fully furnished and hasn’t bothered to change a thing about the generic decor. Including the couches that though nice, are not exactly the pinnacle of luxury.

Liv and Lae’zel exchange a disbelieving glance. He’d decided rather abruptly that he was not sharing the fact he is a vampire with Liv. Karlach had encouraged him to be honest, but no matter how much Karlach trusts Gale, Liv is a stranger.

“That seems excessive,” Lae’zel replies.

Liv jumps in looking somewhat awkwardly between him and her friend. “Well, best to protect your investment. I guess that means eating on the couch is out?”

He stares at her for a moment before he finally catches her meaning. “Oh, yes. Obviously.” He steps around them both. “Your room is this way.”

The apartment is rather open concept. The living room and kitchen are connected, the two bedrooms sit opposite each other flanking the kitchen area. Her room is the smaller of the two, but not by much. It’s sparsely furnished, the same as it was when he moved in. A bed and a dresser with a nightstand and nothing else.

Liv surveys the room, the emptiness of it. He’s not sure what she’s seeing, but she smiles. “It’s perfect.”

She seems like someone who smiles a lot and who has a perpetually sunny disposition. He finds it annoying, but he really doesn’t want to find someone else now that he’s gone through all the work of getting her here. “It’s an empty room, but it’s yours. Assuming I pass the vibe check, of course.”

Lae’zel glares at him, he thinks. It might just be the way she looks at everyone. Hard to tell. “It’s questionable at best.”

“A glowing review!”

Liv seems to be stifling a laugh as she steps between them. “I think we’re good, assuming I have also passed the vibe check?”

He’s surprised by the question, by the deference to him. As if his comfort also mattered. “Of course.” He holds out the key. “I’ve got a work call, so I’ll get out of your way.” He has nothing of the sort, but he’s done standing here awkwardly with these two.

“I’ll see you later,” she says with a grin, hand closing around the key. He pulls away immediately, avoiding touching her.

It’s an effort to keep smiling. “It’ll be unavoidable now, darling.” And then he strides away to the relative safety of his room.

#astarion #astarion x tav #tavstarion #bg3 fanfiction #modern au #astarion x liv #invisible string #is the title a taylor swift reference #maybe #slothquistiorwrites #did i make a fake app landing page for this #also maybe #unhinged behavior honestly #i'm having a great time

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autoplaysdigimon · 9 months

Note

thinking about that one video (Pokémon Fan Plays A Digimon Game And Hated It) about that girl who somehow beat Dawn without learning how to dedigivolve or scan new Digimon. She beat the game with an Apollomon, a MetalSeadramon, a Megidramon, and no idea what was happening or how to play at all

Jaiden Animations! I LOVE her videos! I saw someone posting to an ace blog I follow going "DID YOU SEE JAIDEN IS ONE OF US" like. minutes after she posted that coming out video so I've been watching hers ever since haha.

Anyway, yeah! I saw that video and it was SPOT ON in like almost every way, like in the background there were people mourning ReArise and all (I was like "THAT'S ME") but I did wince a little at the top screen island being empty... girl no

But, like, if someone came up to me and asked "Hey, I hear you like Digimon, I'm looking to get into it, which game should I start with?" I... don't know what I would say. Probably ask what kind of genre they liked, since they cover such a wide range. But yeah,

Digimon World 1 is a game I'd suggest to someone if I could guide them through it directly because it's so weird and difficult (in the same way that a petulant child can be difficult)

DW2 I think I played in a really weird and roundabout way anyway so I don't know if I'd rec that but it's not really bad per se

DW3 my complaints are EXACTLY what she brought up (no fast travel and LOTS of backtracking)

DW4 I haven't actually played all that much so all I can say is "idk it seems okay"

Rumble Arena 1 and 2 are pretty good if you like fighting games and they've got some cool mechanics but there's not much substance to them

Digimon World DS, Dawn and Dusk are pretty neat but they can be pretty finicky to deal with (and I share her pain at the absolute maze nature of the damn maps) but by god the sprite work is gorgeous

Cyber Sleuth is WHERE IT'S AT so I guess I'd suggest that one? I figured out that the continuous missions from the board are random and not essential several weeks into it so idk maybe don't do that over and over? I haven't played Hacker's Memory yet but I'm gonna!

Battle Spirit = no

Digimon Racing = I would play this game if you paid me for it but otherwise I ALREADY DID MY TIME.

Obviously Digimon World Re:Digitize and Next 0rder have the same gameplay problems as Digimon World 1, mayyyybe I'd suggest Next 0rder for the perfect blend of weird and interesting gameplay and modern gameplay experience? If it's not your thing to play, it's not your thing, tbh. (It very much is MY thing, though haha)

I think I posted a comment on the video when I watched it, but I guess my suggestion for which game to play first is... don't? Watch the anime first?? idk man it's better to go in for the love of the creatures bc I will probably suffer through a terrible game if they gove me a Veemon to make up for it but if you don't have that sort of attachment then it's hard to make it feel worth it!!

ALSO ALSO.

I saw which Digimon was used as the wild encounter, and.

Leave him alone :(

#also I started playing Pokemon Colosseum again literally a day before she uploaded the XD video so #idk we might be the same person shh #lol I wish

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nanaosaki3940 · 2 years

Text

Because Family Matters [Tokyo Revengers]

|| Tokyo Revengers ||

(Almost follows the canon storyline of TR & is up-to-date with the manga.)

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Angst.

Pairing (platonic): Ran Haitani X sister! OC X Rindo Haitani

Pairing (romantic): Keisuke Baji X OC

Note: A snippet from my original Tokyo Revengers fanfic "A Condition Called Love". I know this is an xOC fic but you can read it as self-insert if you want.

TR masterlist

Nana's POV (30th November 2005)

“Now Valhalla is linked with Toman and fucking Hanma's joined the gang..." I muttered, letting out a heavy sigh in frustration.

Right now, Keisuke and I were sitting by the Musashi shrine while having our very own little picnic with peyoung yakisoba noodles. After the whole meeting that went down back on 15th November, where Keisuke was appointed as my new personal assistant and bodyguard, he and I had been hanging out and spending a lot of time together lately. Although it wasn't anything different from what we always used to do before. Also on top of that, it was a good thing that we were together and I had no complaints about it. I mean in this way, I was able to look after Keisuke from dawn to dusk while making sure that either Kisaki or Hanma didn't come and cause harm to him.

"After everything we tried to do…” Keisuke growled out, slamming his fist against the dirt ground. "It's not going well. Kisaki is going to take over Toman at this point. After the last ceremony, I tried telling Mikey again, but Kisaki somehow still managed to do this... If we don’t do something soon, there's gonna be real trouble."

Keisuke then laid his head against my shoulder as he relaxed under the rays of the afternoon sun.

“Damn that Kisaki...” he muttered out and all I could do was just pat his back and make sure he didn't get too angry.

"We did pick out some evidence about Kisaki from the outside, but pulling Osanai into this mess won't be the right thing to do..." I added.

"I know right? Also, the sneaky bastard hides his tracks too well. It's crazy.” Keisuke stated while I let out another sigh and stretched out my arms causing Keisuke's head to fall gently onto my lap.

Instead of grunting about the sudden change of position, Keisuke just exhaled out a breath of satisfaction and closed his eyes.

“Are things going okay with you and the others?” I asked while I began to softly run my hand through his long, luscious raven locks.

"Just normal stuff…" Keisuke trailed off before opening his eyes again, his gaze staring off at the horizon. "Everything's gone back to normal, so I’m glad that nothing has changed because of the fight. I wonder though, what's going to happen next?”

I was about to say something back when suddenly my cell phone started to ring. I pulled out the device to see who it was. It was Hinata.

"Hello, Hinata?" I answered the call.

“Nana-chan! Takemichi-kun is in trouble! What do I do?!” Hinata cried out from the other side of the call.

"Huh? Takemichi's in trouble?” I asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion while Keisuke sat up properly and leaned closer to my phone. “Hinata, what's going on exactly? Where are you?”

"We... I don't know where we are, but we met some new friends… Shiba-kun and Yuzuha-chan-"

Wait... Hakkai and Yuzuha...? The Shiba siblings? What's going on?

"...the Black Dragons!! Takemichi-kun is getting beat up by Taiju-kun!"

"Wait, you guys are with Hakkai and Yuzuha?" I asked and Keisuke furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"We were hanging out with Shiba-kun, and Yuzuha-chan, and then we encountered the Black Dragons gang and they said we're on their turf. Takemichi-kun is getting hurt! He's going to die!”

"The Black Dragons's turf?" I asked before looking back at Keisuke. "Keisuke, do you know where their turf is?"

"It's the same area where Hakkai lives..." Keisuke replied before pulling out his own cell phone with a scowling face. "Did Hinata say ‘Black Dragons’? What did Takemitchy get himself into this time? Geez… Let me call Mikey and inform him about this real quick."

"…T-Taiju-kun just let Takemichi-kun go. Nana-chan, I’ll call you back!”

And with that Hinata hung up the call.

"She said Taiju let Takemichi go. Now they're taking him back home." I informed and Keisuke nodded his head at him in response.

"Okay, let's go, Nana."

Later that evening Keisuke and I went over to the Hanagaki residence to visit Takemichi and when we reached there we found Chifuyu and Takemichi's old friends in his bedroom chilling around with Takemichi still laying on the bed, sleeping, all bruised up.

"He looks awful..." I commented in concern as my eyes softened at the sight of Takemichi.

"Tell me about it..." Yamagishi stated before he and his other three friends went back to play cards on the floor.

"What happened, Chifuyu?" Keisuke asked as he took a seat on a chair beside the said boy while I sat on the end of the bed where Takemichi was sleeping.

"This afternoon Takemichi and Hina went out for a bowling date and met the Shiba siblings there. The Shiba siblings then invited them over to their place but weren't aware that Taiju came back home just at that time, and the rest you know what happened..." Chifuyu informed while holding a manga in his hand that he was reading earlier.

Then just at that moment, I noticed Takemichi waking up from his sleep before he sat up on his bed and by the looks of it, it seemed like he didn't notice any one of us present in his bedroom. He looked like he was in a deep trance and was mumbling to himself.

"I’m the only one who can do this… can't depend on anyone else… gotta do it alone…" he went on.

Seeing this I reached my hand out at him and flicked hard his forehead, waking him up from his trance.

"Ouch!" Takemichi groaned, rubbing his forehead where I hit him.

"Takemichi, wake up..." I called.

"What are you mumbling about?" Akkun asked, furrowing his eyebrows a bit.

"Creepy-mitchy!" Yamagishi commented with a scowling face while Makoto and Takuya stared at the yellow-haired boy with a deadpanned look.

"Huh? N-Nana-chan... You guys… what are you doing at my place?!" Takemichi gasped out in surprise.

"We came to check on you, what else?!" Yamagishi snapped back.

"You're captain, man. Grow some self-awareness." Makoto added.

"If you keep being reckless, we won’t be able to keep the 1st Division together." Takuya pointed out.

"Huh? what do you mean we…? What?! Did you guys join Toman?!" Takemichi asked and this made me give him a confused look.

What the hell is he even talking about...? Does he not remember anything he's been doing these days...?

"Huh? Yeah, we did." Takuya replied.

"You invited them in yourself, didn’t you?" Chifuyu finally spoke up.

"Oi, Shitty-mitchy, are you trying to ruin my legacy as the former 1st Division Captain or something?" Keisuke asked with a scowling face and in a menacing tone, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's been only two weeks, and there you go, getting your ass kicked by that fucking Taiju Shiba. I didn't make you my successor so that you can get our ass kicked by other bastards every time. Grow some pride and self-respect in yourself, dammit. Learn how to fight back and if you can't do that, at least learn how to defend yourself."

"B-Baji-kun... Chifuyu..." Takemichi stuttered out, finally noticing their presence before suddenly small tears started to form in his eyes.

"Hm…? What's with the pause?" Chifuyu asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you okay, Takemichi?" I asked in concern but Takemichi shook his head at us.

"It’s… it's nothing…" he trailed off before looking back at Keisuke. "Sorry, Baji-kun for being reckless. I'll be careful next time, I promise."

"It can't be helped I guess..." Keisuke sighed before running his hand through his hair. "I can't completely blame you for this though..."

"Still to think the Black Dragons would shatter the balance…" Akkun chimed in.

"Yeah. Things are gonna get rough." Yamagishi added.

"The higher-ups are gonna get involved for sure." Makoto pointed out.

"Takemichi is a captain in Toman now, a gang that grew to over 450 members after absorbing Valhalla. Him getting beaten up by the Black Dragons is more than enough to start a conflict." Takuya stated in a concerned tone.

"If we get into a fight with the Black Dragons, it’s not gonna be like anything we have dealt with before. These are the guys known for their active fighting faction, the killer squad. The Black Dragons have been the top delinquent gang in the Kanto region for generations. And the 10th Black Dragons are the most maniacal and evil one they have ever had." Keisuke informed, leaning back on his chair.

"The most maniacal…"

"And evil…"

"That’s because of one reason alone. Their absolute ruler, Taiju Shiba. Toman and the Black Dragons have an unbreakable connection. Because the Black Dragons are the reason Toman was created at all. Two years ago, Kazutora clashed with the 9th Generation Black Dragons and Keisuke brought up the idea of forming Toman so we could help him. Then we fought the Black Dragons. We crushed the Black Dragons and Toman became a well-known gang overnight." I added.

"Damn Toman!" Akkun cheered.

"Then this next fight will be easy peasy!!" Yamagishi added with a grin.

"It’s not gonna be easy! Toman beat the 9th Black Dragons at that time which was led by Shion Madarame, one of the members of the S62 Generation. The Black Dragons should have faded out after we defeated them but the guy who revived them was Taiju Shiba. The Black Dragons changed under Taiju. He got their uniforms totally redone… Trained the members to act like an army and made them an impressive-looking gang." I stated.

"He’s one awesome guy!" Yagamichi gasped.

"But those new uniforms… Wouldn’t making those for every member caused a shit ton of money?" Makoto asked.

"Yeah, it would. Where would he get that kind of cash…?" Takuya asked.

"He’s not that much older than us right?" Akkun asked.

"Yeah, just two years older than us. And a year older than Baji-san and Nana-san." Chifuyu replied.

"Unlike other delinquents, Taiju sells his violence. Taiju is not your typical bruiser. He's got ties to the wealthy and makes money in exchange for his military force." Keisuke stated in a serious tone.

"So that means he fights for money?" Yamagishi asked in concern, getting all scared now.

"Scary. Must be one fucked up kid." Makoto commented.

"It’s like he’s from another world!" Takuya added.

"Anyway, the current Black Dragons are totally different from the 9th generation. If Toman fights them now…" Keisuke trailed off.

"There’s gonna be casualties…" Akkun concluded with a concerned look on his face.

Then suddenly Takemichi hopped out of his bed and stood on the ground.

"You guys don’t have to fight!" he stated in a firm tone and furrowed eyebrows while we all gave him a confused look.

"Huh?" we all asked.

"This is between me and the Black Dragons. It’s got nothing to do with toman. I’ll settle this on my own…" he went on.

"Wait, what?!"

"The hell are you saying?"

"On your own?"

While Takemichi's friends went on asking him questions out of pure shock and concern, Keisuke and I looked over at each other and shared a knowing look.

"Takemitchy..." Keisuke called out before standing up from his seat. "Come with us real quick. You too, Chifuyu."

In response, Takemichi gave us a confused look but didn't say anything back. The four of us then left the Hanagaki household and drove away from the area by riding our motorbikes. I was riding with Keisuke on his Goki while Takemichi was with Chifuyu on the latter's motorbike. A while later, we reached a different neighborhood and parked our rides in the parking lot beside a ramen shop.

"I'm starving right now, so let's get some peyoung yakisoba..." Keisuke stated as we all hopped down from the bikes.

"Baji-kun, I get it..." Takemichi stated out with a furrowing face, looking down at the ground while clenching his fists. "You're gonna tell me not to take on all this by myself, right? I know you wanna say my friends are here for me!! But…!"

"I didn’t bring you out here to say that, you moron." Keisuke scoffed and smacked Takemichi on the back of the head before the latter gave him a confused look. "I didn’t leave Toman to you because I wanted to stress you out. So cheer the fuck up, Shitty-mitchy!"

"Just have fun while you're at it, Takemichi..." I added with a warm smile. "Don't worry too much."

"Besides, you've me now as your partner, so cheer up!" Chifuyu grinned widely at his new friend.

"Baji-kun, Nana-chan, Chifuyu…" Takemichi trailed off in surprise with tears rolling down his cheeks. "I... I've something to tell you guys..."

"Huh? What is it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I-I came from the future…" he stated and the whole place went completely silent after hearing his words.

Wait, what...?! What does he mean by 'came from the future'...? What is he talking about?

"Huh? What the hell do you mean? Came from the future?" Keisuke asked with furrowed eyebrows while we all looked at Takemichi in utter confusion.

At that moment, Takemichi began to panic but somehow, someway he was able to speak up and started to tell us the entire truth.

Apparently, the Takemichi standing right before us was a 26-year-old Takemichi who came from the future, back from 2017. One day after coming back from his work, someone deliberately pushed him into the train tracks and before he knew it, he was sent back 12 years into the past, back in his 2nd year of middle school days. Then he met Naoto (Hinata's younger brother) and shook his hand and was again sent back into the future. Takemichi later met up with the adult Naoto and together they started working together to save Hinata's life because according to Takemichi, 12 years into the future, Toman would become a huge but dangerous organization, committing all sorts of crimes from murder and fraud to prostitution and drugs and the list goes on and on. And the future Toman happened to be the one to kill Hinata in the first place. That's why to save Hinata's life, Takemichi was going back and forth between the past and the future to make changes in both timelines. It started from saving Draken's life and trying to stop the conflict between Toman and Moebius to saving Keisuke's life and stopping Manjiro from killing Kazutora during the battle of Bloody Halloween. Somehow Takemichi was able to complete all of his mission, but still, each and every time he failed to save Hinata and the rest of us simply because of Kisaki, as the adult Kisaki from the future was the one who kept on killing us each and every time.

"And that’s everything I have done…" Takemichi trailed off.

"So we are gonna get killed by Kisaki? We are gonna die…" I spoke up again, deep in thought.

Now it all makes sense... the time when Takemichi tried to stop us from fighting Moebius...

The time when he was getting desperate in saving Ken-chan's life...

The time when he requested Keisuke not to die and stay alive...

Takemichi always knew what was going to happen... He always knew...

"Just kidding! I was just joking around! Haha!" Takemichi began to chuckle out sheepishly, trying to ease the tension in the air.

"Somehow we always knew…" Keisuke trailed off, causing Takemichi to give him a confused look.

"Thinking about it, there’s a lot that’s off about you. Also, there have been times when you have looked different. From our conflict with Moebius to our battle with Valhalla in Bloody Halloween... I noticed how desperate you looked each and every time. Whether it was about saving Ken-chan's life or saving Keisuke's life or stopping Manjiro from killing Kazutora, you always looked desperate... The first time I suspected you was when you tried to stop us from fighting Moebius because you knew Ken-chan might get killed. The second time I suspected you was when you requested Keisuke to stay safe and not die before the battle of Bloody Halloween. It was as if you always knew something's gonna happen, something bad's gonna happen..." I added.

"Well… I mean that’s…" Takemichi trailed off, looking away from us.

"Before the fight with Valhalla, you told me, 'please don’t die, or else Nana-chan and Mikey-kun will be sad'…" Keisuke pointed out.

"Yeah, even I heard that too… I wasn’t standing close enough, so I didn’t hear what you were talking about in detail. But I definitely heard that." Chifuyu chimed in.

"You knew I was gonna die. That's why you were so desperate." Keisuke concluded.

"Yeah, I knew and that’s why I tried to stop it. Even though Nana-chan got stabbed instead of Baji-kun in the end." Takemichi muttered in a sorrowful tone.

"But hey, I lived, right? I didn’t die. So, don't worry about it anymore." I stated with a smile.

"You're pretty incredible, Takemitchy." Chifuyu commented and Takemichi looked at him in surprise. "You have been fighting all alone, right? With nobody praising you or anything."

"Be proud of yourself, Takemitchy. The results don't matter." Keisuke stated in a firm tone, literally ordering the boy to cheer up.

"Nobody’s watching but you stood and fought without running. We respect you, Takemichi." I added while gently ruffling his hair in an affectionate manner.

"You guys really believe me? And all the stuff I say that sounds like total bullshit?" Takemichi asked in surprise with teary eyes.

"Of course we do, dumbass! We’re friends now, aren’t we?" Keisuke scoffed before smacking Takemichi on the head again. "As much as it sounds or looks crazy from our point of view, we still believe you after everything you've done for us."

And this brought tears to Takemichi's eyes again out of sheer joy and relief.

"Damn it!! Quit making me cry, Baji-kun!!" He cried again and I giggled at him in amusement.

"Haha! You’ve got giant tear glands!" Chifuyu teased him.

"Shut up! You’re making fun of me?!" Takemichi scoffed at his partner.

"Man, I’m starving!" Keisuke spoke up loud as he and I started to walk away.

"Don’t ignore me, Baji-kun!"

Later the four of us went into the ramen shop and sat together at a table to discuss future plans like what to do next about Kisaki or the Black Dragons.

"Kisaki is really gonna kill us, huh? That future is really pissing me off right now." Keisuke snarled out under his breath as he grabbed his chopsticks so tightly that they might break in half at any second now.

"So Kisaki really is Baji-san and Nana-san's enemy all along…" Chifuyu added.

"Yeah, no doubt about it. Heard that straight from Kisaki himself in the future." Takemichi confirmed.

"I’ll fucking kill him!" Keisuke snapped and I immediately grabbed him by the arm to calm him down.

"Calm down, Keisuke..." I spoke up in a soft tone before the said boy cooled down a bit upon hearing my voice. "As the 3rd division captain, Kisaki has 100 men under his command. There’s also the newly established 6th division formed out of former Valhalla members. Plus compared to them, Takamichi and Chifuyu just became the new leaders of the 1st Division while you became my newly appointed assistant and bodyguard. None of us are real functional yet..."

"That’s a real big difference…" Takemichi agreed, nodding his head.

"But even though I’m really pumped!" Chifuyu stated with a big smirk while Takemichi gave him a confused look. "We are gonna make the 1st Division into an unbeatable team, Takemichi! Just like how it was when Baji-san was still the 1st Division captain. You’re starting from nothing, but I know you can pull it off! We’ll curb stomp the Black Dragons, Kisaki, I don’t care who! I got your back to the very end! That's my answer to you for telling us everything!"

"Chifuyu…" Takemichi trailed off in surprise, completely moved by Chifuyu's speech.

"Let’s make this work!" Chifuyu added with a grin, making Takemichi grin back at him.

"Yeah, alright! Let's do this, partner!" Takemichi responded back before the two blonde boys started to make plans about how they could stop Hakkai Shiba (the 2nd Division Vice Captain) from leaving Toman.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Keisuke asked, deadpanning at those two boys while listening in to their ridiculous plans. "Having Chifuyu by my side for more than a year made me realize what a big dumbass he really is. Takemichi's also not too far behind in that category by the way. They might get their asses kicked if they keep up like this..."

"I think it's okay... Just let them be. You're neither a part of the 1st Division nor you're Chifuyu's boss anymore, so let them work together and figure things out on their own." I responded back with a shrug and in response, Keisuke gave me a skeptical look, narrowing his sharp eyes at me.

"You're having fun with this, aren't you?" he asked and my lips curled up into a small mischievous smirk.

"You know me so well, Kei-chan.~" I cooed causing Keisuke to simply roll his eyes at him before he let out a small chuckle in amusement and went back to his yakisoba noodles again.

Four days later (4th December 2005) at Toman's secret base

Four days had passed since Takemichi revealed his true identity and his secrets to us about him being a time traveler and everything. I was happy that he shared his secret with us because now in that way we would be able to work together and try to change both the present and the future for betterment starting from kicking out Kisaki and Hanma from Toman.

"I'm happy that Takemichi told us everything, don't you think so too, Keisuke?" I asked the said boy in a soft tone as we were making our way towards Toman's secret base, making sure that no one could hear us.

"Yeah. Now we know who our real enemy is and what we need to do to stop this shit from happening." Keisuke hummed in agreement.

"But at that same time, it's kinda sad to know what our future's gonna be... What will happen to me and you, what will happen to Ken-chan and Chifuyu... How Manjiro will turn into an evil man all because of Kisaki... It's really frustrating, you know. All of us are working so hard for this gang, all just for it to become a criminal organization 12 years later into the future." I mumbled, letting out a heavy sigh before Keisuke wrapped an arm around me from the back and started to rub my arm in a comforting manner.

"We'll save Toman, Nana. I promise." Keisuke stated in a determined tone and my lips curled up into a soft smile. "Now that Takemitchy told us everything, with his help, we'll work together and try to change both the past and the future. As long as I'm alive, I'll make sure nothing goes bad this time around."

Of course, you'll make sure of that... You're Keisuke Baji after all...

Soon after we reached our meeting spot (an abandoned building) and came face to face with the people we were already familiar with - Manjiro, Draken, Mitusya, Chifuyu, Smiley, Mucho, Kisaki, and Hanma.

"Baji-san, Nana-san, good afternoon." Chifuyu greeted with us a smile while Keisuke simply nodded his head at him in response, a way of showing that he acknowledged his former partner's greeting and also greeted him back.

"Hi, Chifuyu." I also greeted him back with a smile before looking over at the others. "Looks like we all are here, huh?"

"Hello, Nana-chan~" Hanma cooed at me with a shit-eating grin on his face, causing an irk mark-shaped vein to pop up on the side of my forehead in annoyance.

"Hanma… You look really happy today.” I pointed out, trying my best to keep myself calm and collected and not to jump on him and start beating him up into a pulp.

“Of course! This is my very first official meeting as a member of Toman.” Hanma replied, giving me a knowing smirk. “Looking forward to working with you, Hidenka.~”

Oh, I’m so ready to kick you out of the gang! Just you wait, Hanma!

You too, Kisaki! Your doomsday is coming real soon, you bastards!!

“Yeah, the feeling’s mutual...” I responded back, giving him a fake smile while Keisuke rolled his eyes at us.

“Seriously, when will you two ever gonna stop?” Keisuke mumbled to himself.

“Hey, it’s not my fault that he’s annoying!” I hissed at Keisuke in a whispered tone.

"I had no idea Hakkai was the little bro of the Black Dragons's leader." Smiley suddenly spoke up loud and I turned my attention over to him.

"You knew right, Mitsuya?" Mucho asked but the said boy remained quiet.

"The Black Dragons? What a hassle." Hanma commented with a smirk, finding the situation we were in amusing.

"There’s no avoiding it though..." Kisaki added in a monotone voice, looking all serious and shit.

"We got all the admins here?" Draken asked, looking around as he noticed everyone was present in the meeting.

Draken then looked back at Manjiro, giving him the sign that he should call the other two people who were waiting outside.

"Enter!" Manjiro called out and upon hearing his call Hakkai and Takemichi walked into the room.

Hakkai Shiba was a teenager of above-average height with royal blue hair styled in a crew cut. A swirl design was shaved on the left side of his head, extending to the back of his head. His eyes were an indigo color and had a noticeable scar on the left side of his lip while he also wore a concentric teardrop earring on his left ear. Hakkai was a timid but friendly guy. He was nothing like his older brother Taiju who was disciplined and bloodlusted. He was also very caring and compassionate towards almost everyone including his sister Yuzuha and his friends and was quite old-fashioned when it came to his mannerisms and honor. In short, Hakkai was a nice and pleasant guy to have around and I really liked him as my teammate.

"Okay. Everyone’s here." Draken started talking again in a serious tone. "As we all know, four days ago… Takemitchy was beaten by the head of the Black Dragons. He committed violence on Takemitchy, knowing he’s our 1st Division captain. Which means that this is a declaration of war by the Black Dragons."

"Cheeky mother fuckers. Let's stomp their asses." Smiley stated, his voice laced with rage.

"We already crushed the Black Dragons once. It will be easy, right?" Mucho asked.

"We beat the 9th generation before which was led by Shion Madarame. But the 10th generation is totally different. This time around, we're dealing with Taiju Shiba and we all know what type of person he is. We've to be really careful about this." I stated.

"You’re missing the point, Nana-chan! It wasn’t Takemichi's fault that he didn’t know where the Black Dragon’s turf was." Smiley stated before looking back at Hakkai with a menacing aura. "So why the hell did you take him there, Hakkai?"

"Hey, Hakkai…" Mucho called out in a deadly tone before walking up to the said boy with an intimidating aura. "Are you acting as a spy for the Black Dragons?! You son of a bitch!!"

"You're the boss’s little bro, aren’t you?" Smiley asked.

"Tried to hide that from us, huh?!" Mucho added.

"W-Wait… just a minute." Takemichi stuttered out, trying to intervene. "Hakkai didn’t mean to-"

"Shut the hell up!" Mucho scolded Takemichi and the latter went immediately quiet.

"Mucho, Smiley, just because we're in a delinquent gang doesn't mean you'll talk to your people or anyone else in general like this. Stop trying to intimidate Hakkai and Takemichi. Don't use those profanities ever again in front of me. Try to be more respectful towards others. And if you think these rules and regulations aren't suitable for you and are too much to handle, then you're most welcome to leave the gang. No one's gonna stop you two." I scolded them back in a cold tone, giving them a death stare.

And immediately the whole room went dead silent and no one spoke a word after I paused. I then let out a small sigh before I looked over at Hakkai again.

"Hakkai, it's okay. Don't be scared." I stated, now in a soft tone, giving him a warm smile. "We're your friends, right? We'll help you. So tell us what's the matter."

Seeing me approaching him so warmly and gently, Hakkai found the encouragement to finally speak up.

"I won’t make any excuses..." Hakkai stated as he stood in front of Manjiro face to face. "Hate me, beat me, do whatever you want. As his little brother, I’m prepared for the consequences. So, leader! I, Hakkai Shiba, Tokyo Manji Gang's 2nd Division Vice Captain, request permission to leave Toman!"

"Is that okay with you…?" Manjiro asked in a low tone, giving chance to the others to speak up with their opinions.

"Stop right there! I object!" Takemichi spoke up loud before walking over to the commander. "Mikey-kun… Take a moment to calm down and consider!"

And right on cue, Takemichi pulled out a packet of dorayaki from out of nowhere and held it in front of Manjiro.

"With a tasty snack! Here you go!" he added and Keisuke immediately facepalmed at the scene.

"It's that fucking Chifuyu's idea. I'm sure of it. He thinks bribing Mikey some dorayaki would make him change his opinion or shit." Keisuke muttered to me in frustration while I tried my best not to laugh out loud at the scene in front of me.

"Don’t want it..." Manjiro stated, tossing the dorayaki to the side before giving the new 1st Division captain a glare. "Don't interrupt."

"You think this is funny, jackass?!" Draken yelled out at Takemichi and the latter yelped out in fright.

Takemichi even tried to use the 2nd plan and pulled out a notepad that was given by Chifuyu where the latter wrote down the points in order - "Courage, Stand up tall, Keep eye contact, Speak loud and clear".

"After serving under my command for more than a year, this is what that idiot learned? I feel so ashamed right now." Keisuke deadpanned, referring to his former Vice Captain as we noticed a panicking, distressed Takemichi looking over at a calm, collected Chifuyu in concern who was giving his new Captain a thumbs up. "Once this meeting ends, I'm seriously gonna hit that fucking moron over the head with my Goki."

"What’s your decision, Mikey?" Draken asked and we returned our attention back to the commander.

"I will leave it up to Mitsuya since he's the 2nd Division Captain..." Manjiro responded back and everyone's attention shifted towards Mitsuya who was calmly walking over to Hakkai.

"Sorry, Taka-chan. I have already made up my mind." Hakkai muttered in a sorrowful tone, looking down in shame.

"Don’t look so sad, Hakkai. I understand." Mitsuya stated in a calming tone.

"Taka-chan..." Hakkai gasped out in shock before bowing his head at Mitsuya. "It was a pleasure working with you!!"

"Huh? What are you saying?" Mitsuya asked with a smile, leaving Hakkai all confused. "I didn’t say you could leave. Let me talk to you Taiju."

"What?!" Takemichi gasped.

"Taka-chan..." Hakkai trailed off in shock and confusion, not knowing what to say anymore.

"Takashi..." I called out and Mitsuya looked over at me. "Let me and Keisuke come with you as well."

"But, Nana-" Mitsuya was about to say something but I immediately interrupted him.

"Takashi, this is Taiju we're talking about. We don't know what he might do to you guys. If Keisuke and I tag along, there's a chance things might not get too troublesome for you. And just in case, if Taiju starts throwing hands, Keisuke will be there to stop him and take him down." I suggested and hearing my reasoning, Mitsuya's face softened a bit.

"Okay..." he replied and nodded his head. "Let's go then..."

After the meeting came to an end, Mitsuya, Hakkai, Keisuke, and I all left together to meet up with Taiju at the Black Dragons headquarters.

"Taka-chan, maybe it’s not a good idea to meet with Taiju after all. Nothing you can say will get a good result out of him. He’s a piece of shit." Hakkai stated, trying to reason with Mitsuya.

"Would you stop? You always try to handle everything yourself." Mitsuya responded back before Hakkai looked over at me and Keisuke.

"Nana-chan, Baji-kun, it's okay if you guys don't come along. I don't wanna trouble you guys by including you in my family drama..." he added.

"Shut up, Hakkai. We're doing this to make sure that bastard of your brother doesn't cause any problem to Toman. Besides, that fucker's the one who made your family drama our business, not us." Keisuke stated in a serious tone while I looked back over my shoulder to see two familiar people following our trail.

"By the way… Why are these two tagging along?" I asked, pointing at Takemichi and Chifuyu.

"What? I was there when it happened." Takemichi stated.

"I’m keeping an eye on him. He's a moron, you see." Chifuyu added, pointing at Takemichi.

"Hey! Who are you calling a moron?!" Takemichi snapped at his partner. "I haven’t forgotten about your shitty plans!!"

"Isn’t this a good result, though?" Chifuyu chuckled out in amusement.

"And what are you laughing about, huh Chifuyu? What's with all those shitty plans from earlier, huh? Are you trying to ruin the legacy of my 1st Division or something?! Just fucking wait, you dumbass. After our meeting with Taiju ends, I'm seriously gonna run my Goki over your head!" Keisuke snapped at his former partner in a menacing tone while cracking his knuckles, causing Chifuyu to visibly flinch and hide behind Takemichi for protection.

"B-Baji-san, please don't!" Chifuyu cried out in fear, clinging onto Takemichi with dear life.

"Oi, don't use me as a shield to get yourself away from Baji-kun's punch!" Takemichi scolded the clingy boy.

"These three... so chaotic..." Mitsuya commented while staring at Keisuke, Chifuyu, and Takemichi in amusement.

"I know right!" I giggled in agreement.

It wasn't long before we all arrived at the base of Black Dragons where right in front of us sat the all-so-mighty and most feared Taiju Shiba on a couch with his legs up on the coffee table in front of our faces. Mitsuya and I sat on the other couch in his opposite direction while Keisuke, Chifuyu, Takemichi, and Hakkai stood right behind us in a row. And behind Taiju's couch stood his most trusted men - Seishu Inui and Hajime Kokonoi.

Taiju was a very tall and muscular man who could easily tower over others. His hair was blue and white and was kept long and tied up. He always wore a custom Black Dragon uniform, completely different from the other members of his gang, where the uniform jacket was longer and red in color instead. He always kept his uniform jacket open, showing his chest off like a whore (that's my personal opinion). He had tribal tattoos styled in a series of swirls on the left side of his neck down to his chest and cursive tattoos below that. There was also a giant cross tattoo on his back. Taiju always sported a crazed grin and exhibited all sorts of unusual expressions like for example, his one eye opening wider than the other and his forehead vein popping out when he was fighting or when he got excited.

Taiju was brutal, and abusive but also religious (I mean like how...?). He enjoyed tormenting his opponents and had little care for others' well-being, even his own siblings. He trained the 10th Generation Black Dragon Gang, completely reforming it to act like an army. Taiju was very abusive towards his siblings, going so far as to beat them over insignificant things. He was a prideful individual, believing in the supremacy of his fighting abilities and in the strength of his gang. Despite his appearance and abusive personality, Taiju was a very religious Christian, always going to church alone to pray on Christmas annually.

I didn't know much about Kokonoi other than the fact that he was Inui's childhood best friend, but I knew Inui from all the way back when Shinichiro was still alive. Years ago, back when he was in elementary school, Shinichiro took Inui in. The latter witnessed first-handedly how pure and humble-natured Shinichiro was and how he used to interact with other gangs and everyone else. This made Inui become Shinichiro's fan and afterward he wished to join the Black Dragons. But by the time he was able to join, the Black Dragons was taken over by the 8th Generation leader Izana Kurokawa and Inui became his right-hand man. During that time, the gang committed many crimes and landed many of them in juvie including Inui himself. As far as I knew, Inui later started to despise Izana for ruining the dynamic of the gang that Shinichiro created years back. His goal was to revive the Black Dragons once again, so alongside Kokonoi, they began to serve the current 10th Generation Black Dragons which was now led by Taiju.

"It’s nice to meet you, Taiju-kun." Mitsuya greeted him nicely with a smile on his face while Taiju stared down all of us with a bored look, his feet still up on the table.

"You’re that Mitsuya fucker who’s been manipulating my little bro!" Taiju pointed out with a scoff.

"That’s quite the accusation." Mitsuya let out an amused chuckle, causing Taiju's eyebrows to furrow even deeper.

"I’ll kill your ass." Taiju growled at him.

After that, for a moment there was this silence that filled the room and this caused me to let out a small groan in frustration and impatience.

"Can we just start the discussion already, please?" I spoke up in annoyance, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back on the couch while everyone else looked over at me. "I need to go home and finish my homework. Then I also have to watch the latest episode of this anime show I love. I've priorities you know. So let's hurry up and finish this."

"Tsk, still a brat I see. Haven't changed much, huh Osaki?" Taiju clicked his tongue in annoyance, scowling at me.

"Like you're one to talk, Shiba." I scoffed back at him, now crossing my legs like the girlboss I was. "And what's up with those legs on the table? Put them down, you ill-mannered man."

"I'm seriously gonna kill you one day, Osaki!"

"Yeah, heard that million times before. So what? As you can see, I'm still alive. You weren't able to put a scratch on me yet. This just only proves how weak you are in comparison to me."

"YOU SMUG BITCH!!"

"Okay, stop!" Mitsuya shouted out in concern, trying to calm the situation down. "Please, stop. Let's not fight, okay?"

"Tsk, fine!" Taiju groaned out before looking back at Mitsuya. "So? What did you wanna tell me? Better keep it short."

"I’ll give Hakkai to the Black Dragons. I’m not gonna see him again." Mitsuya stated in a serious yet calm tone while we gave him a confused yet shocked look.

"What?! You can’t be serious, Mitsuya-kun!" Takemichi immediately spoke up.

Takashi, what the hell do you think you're doing?!

"Haha! Now that’s funny." Taiju laughed out in a mocking tone. "Didn't you come here to stop that from happening?!"

"In exchange, set Yuzuha free." Mitsuya added.

Yuzuha...? Did something happen to her...?

"Taka-chan, why are you…?" Hakkai trailed off in confusion.

"Taiju-kun, you're having Yuzuha do something, aren't you?" Mitsuya asked, furrowing his eyebrows even more. "Hakkai has been protecting Yuzuha this whole time. From your domestic violence."

"What a fucking joke!" Taiju laughed again and this caused me to even him a look of annoyance.

"What?" Takemichi asked in confusion.

"Oh, I see now. So, Hakkai's not leaving Toman because he’s scared of you and he's doing it to protect Yuzuha..." I trailed off in realization before giving Taiju a disgusted look. "Not only you're weak, but you're also an abuser, committing domestic violence. You're too disgraceful to even act like a prideful man."

And right on cue, in flash, Taiju jumped off his seat and was about to land a strong punch on me, but luckily Keisuke stepped in and blocked the blow with ease without even flinching a bit.

"Nana-chan!! Baji-kun!!" the other gasped in shock.

"Lay one finger on my boss and see what happens to your sorry ass." Keisuke snarled out in a menacing tone as he stood protectively in front of me, throwing millions of daggers at Taiju through his death glare.

"You're the former 1st Division Captain, right? Keisuke Baji! Hah, not bad!" Taiju grinned down at Keisuke like the madman he was.

"I’ll say it again!" Mitsuya spoke up again while I gently pushed Keisuke away from Taiju. "I will give Hakkai to the Black Dragons. So let Yuzuha go. If you accept these terms, Toman will leave the Black Dragons alone."

"And if I refuse?" Taiju asked, narrowing his eyes at Mitsuya, giving him a skeptical look.

"Then it’s all-out war, Shiba." I added with a frowning face, standing up from my seat.

There was this pause for a moment again where both the parties were staring down at each other before a wide grin formed on Taiju's face and he spoke up again.

"Alright. We got a truce!" Taiju agreed as he shook hands with Mitsuya. "Though I don't commit any domestic violence, I’ll keep my word. I won’t ever hit Yuzuha again."

"Better keep your words, Shiba." I warned him and with that, the meeting came to an end.

"So in the end, Hakkai ended up going to the Black Dragons." Chifuyu stated in a whispered tone after we came out of the base of Black Dragons.

"Yeah. But I learned one thing. Hakkai will definitely kill Taiju for Yuzuha’s sake." Takemichi added in a worried tone.

"Let's see what we can do about it..." I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment while Keisuke walked over and gently pulled me to his side so that I could lean onto him and rest my head on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Mitsuya and Hakkai were standing a few feet away from us so they couldn't hear what we were talking about.

"Taka-chan, thank you. I…" Hakkai stuttered out.

"Hakkai, no matter how hard things get..." Mitsuya spoke up with a smile, cutting off Hakkai. "Only use your strength to protect. Don’t hate the situation you are born into."

In response, Hakkai only stood there and simply stared at Mitsuya in surprise, but the look in his tearful eyes told me that he was grateful for what Mitsuya had done for him. A while later, Keisuke, Chifuyu, Takemichi, and I made our way to a neighborhood park to discuss our next plan.

"I’m thinking of returning back to the future." Takemichi stated in a serious tone.

"Why? Hakkai joined the Black Dragons. You haven’t achieved anything." Keisuke scoffed, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"To protect Yuzuha-chan from Taiju's violence, Hakkai's gonna kill Taiju." Takemichi pointed out.

"Yeah. That’s what we have guessed." Chifuyu agreed.

"But since Mitsuya-kun freed Yuzuha-chan from Taiju. Hakkai no longer has a reason to kill him. Shouldn’t that change the future?" Takemichi asked.

"Yeah maybe. But what if nothing’s changed?" Chifuyu questioned back.

"Then I’ll come back here…"

"How are you supposed to shake Naoto's hand if you’re in jail?" Keisuke asked.

"Keisuke's right. If we go to the future now, you might not be able to come back. It’s too risky." I chimed in. "Besides Mitsuya's the one who freed Yuzuha, not you. If you haven't changed anything, then the future won't change either, will it?"

"Good point…" Takemichi trailed off in agreement.

"You’re such an idiot, Shitty-mitchy! Are you really 26 years old inside?" Keisuke scoffed before smacking the said boy on the head again.

"Ouch! Sorry, Baji-kun..." Takemichi responded back sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head. "I’m so ashamed. Would have been the end if I had gone back to the future."

"Guys! I finally found you!"

Suddenly a familiar voice spoke up and we all turned around to look over and see who it was - it was Hakkai jogging up to us at the park.

"What's the matter, Hakkai?" I asked.

"I wanna talk to guys about something..." Hakkai replied and I nodded my head at him, telling him to go on. "Can you guys tell Taka-chan that I said thanks?"

"Yeah sure. But why?" Takemichi asked in confusion and that's when Hakkai started to tell his story.

"My home life is complicated. We don’t have a mom in our family and since we were little our dad has hardly ever been at home. So the one in charge is Taiju, the oldest sibling. He has been a king since he was a kid. Though he was bigger and just plain stronger than the other kids… More than anything, he’s great at capturing people’s hearts. All of Taiju's followers love him. Taiju is an expert at using violence. He doesn't pull any punches. If he beats someone, he does it thoroughly. Even to his own siblings. I thought that love was supposed to be painful… because that’s how I was raised. That was normal for me."

Then a smile broke into Hakkai's face.

"Taka-chan turned my entire world upside down. It was a real shock. Even though he could have been playing, he had to look after those two little kids. His home life looked really hard. But he smiled about it. When I ate the food Taka-chan made, I don’t really know why, but it made me cry like a baby. I was like, the miso soup is so salty!... Then he told me something… Use violence to protect..."

The smile on Hakkai's face suddenly dropped and his facial expression went completely neutral.

"Back then I swore to protect my family. Since then I have been taking Yuzuha's beating for her. I protected her this whole time. But he… broke his promise. He hit Yuzuha, just like always..."

"That dirty bastard!" Takemichi commented in fury.

"What a total asshole!" Chifuyu added, radiating the same energy.

"You see? He thinks nothing of the agreement he made with Taka-chan. He will never let Yuzuha go free!" Hakkai went on.

"That’s awful… then how can we help Yuzuha-chan?" Takemichi asked in concern.

"I’m embarrassed to admit it… but even now, just standing before Taiju makes me shake." Hakkai confessed. "I can’t do a damn thing. Only if Taiju wasn't around… that’s why I decided... That’s why I quit Toman. I didn’t want to give Toman a bad name… To protect my family, I’m gonna use violence. I’m gonna kill Taiju."

"What?!" Takemichi asked and everyone's eyes went wide open in shock including mine as well.

"Don’t worry about me anymore. I’m prepared to get arrested too. So don't worry about me anymore." Hakkai smiled back in reassurance with an aura of melancholy surrounding him.

"Why are you telling us this?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows a bit.

"Putting my determination into words I guess… If I don’t, then I’ll get too scared. I’m weak like that. Nana-chan, Baji-kun, it was great working with you both. And Takemitchy, we didn’t know each other for long, but it was fun." Hakkai stated and as he was about to turn around and leave, I called out to him.

"Hakkai... I'm gonna give you some advice, so listen to me real careful..." I started, causing everyone to look at me with full attention. "The father's family, the Osaki... is a very old, powerful, influential, and wealthy family that values tradition and status. You can say, the Osaki family resembles the old-times Japanese clan, and to be honest, they don't fit into today’s modern customs. There are over 200 living members of the family, with about 150 living outside the main estate, at branch households, and around 50 living inside the main estate. In short, our family is over 500 years old. They're very traditional and conservative, and most of the finances, conflicts, and such are taken care of by the head of the family and those close to them. My father's family values tradition, wealth, and status over morals and ethics. They didn't take me in after my parents' death because of a specific reason... Only Manjiro's older brother Shinichiro and their grandpa were aware of this and no one else... You see, I have these two cousins and their mother was my Dad's older sister, meaning these cousins of mine are directly related to me by blood. They're also a part of this delinquent world and as people, they're really dangerous. At the age of 12 and 13, they went to juvie because they killed the Vice Commander of a particular gang..."

"Wait, really?!" Takemichi and Chifuyu gasped out in unison in shock.

"Nana, is this true?" Keisuke asked softly in concern and I nodded my head at him.

"Only Shin-chan and Grandpa Sano knew about this fact... Sorry, I kept this hidden from you and the others because I didn't like talking about it..." I stated before looking back at Hakkai with a warm, gentle smile. "You see Hakkai, the Osaki family rejected me because they thought that I would turn out to be just like my cousins, a dangerous delinquent, a murderer. After all, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. And since then I made it my mission to prove to the Osaki family that I'm nothing like my cousins, that I'm way better than them. The same goes for you too, Hakkai. Don't be like your brother. Don't turn out to be an abuser just like him. You're way better than this. You're way better than your brother, remember that..."

Although Hakkai did listen to my advice carefully, I wasn't sure if he would take it into consideration or not.

"Guys… this really pisses me off somehow..." Takemichi spoke up as soon as Hakkai left. "He’s so cornered by his brother that he thinks he has to kill him, you know? We can’t let Taiju Shiba get away with this! This is what’s gonna happen! We’re going to crush the Black Dragons!"

"You’re an idiot, you know that? Isn’t it better to think of a way to stop Hakkai from killing Taiju?" Chifuyu asked.

"If we beat the Black Dragons, the future will change for sure!" Takemichi argued back while I sighed heavily and patted him on his shoulder.

"Let's not get hasty, alright? First, let's go and talk to Ken-chan about this." I suggested as I noticed Keisuke going through his cell phone. "Remember, we're in a gang and there are some protocols we need to follow and maintain."

"Nana's right..." Keisuke added in a serious tone before putting his phone back into his pocket. "I texted Draken just now. He said he can meet up with us tomorrow at Danny's..."

"Cool, then we'll meet up with him tomorrow." I agreed and Keisuke nodded his head at me.

5th December 2005

"Ah? Then you want to fight the Black Dragons?" Draken asked the 1st Division admins while idly leaning back on his seat.

Right now, some of the Toman members (Draken, Keisuke, Takemichi, Chifuyu, Smiley, Mucho, Kisaki, and Hanma) and I were dining at Danny's for lunch while discussing what to do next regarding Taiju Shiba and the Black Dragons. Keisuke was the one who requested Draken for this urgent meeting to be held here today so that Takemichi and Chifuyu could talk things out with the Vice-Commander.

"Yes!" Takemichi replied back with enthusiasm and determination.

"Quit fucking with us, jackass. I have said I'll kill you a million times already!" Smiley intervened in a threatening voice but with a smiling face.

"If you actually kill people every time you say so, you end the world, you moron..." Mucho stated in a monotone voice and deadpanned face.

"I'll kill you, Takemitchyi! Ah! See, I say it again!" Smiley scoffed yet was still smiling before looking back at Takemichi again. "Anyway, we reject the decision to crush the Black Dragons to stop Hakkai from killing Taiju!"

"Hella dull!" Hanma sang out with his annoying chuckle beside a brooding Kisaki.

As much as I hated Kisaki and Hanma to the bone and didn't want them to join the meeting, I had no other choice but to helplessly watch Draken calling them over here today for the gathering because even after everything, at the end of the day they were still one of the higher-ups of Toman now.

"Whaddya think, Draken?" Smiley asked, causing everyone to look over at the Vice-Commander.

"Hmm. Rejected!" Draken stated in a firm tone and looked back at the 1st Division captain with a frowning face. "Takemitchy, I know you probably have your own considerations backing this up. But do you really wanna ruin the peace pact Mitsuya worked for? Doing this would ruin his reputation. This discussion is over."

"Well damn, Ken-chan, you rejected Takemichi just as fast as you reject Emma. No wonder your situation's so miserable..." I commented with amusement and in response, Draken kicked me on the legs from the under the table we were sitting at.

"No more funny words from you, woman." the tall blonde beanpole threatened me in a menacing tone but I wasn't fazed a bit.

"Sure, this might ruin Takashi's reputation but also at the same time this is Taiju Shiba we are talking about and that bastard can't be trusted. We did all this shit just to protect Hakkai and Yuzuha but do you really think Taiju's gonna keep the promise? Ken-chan, take some time and think about it for once... If Hakkai commits that grave mistake, the poor boy's gonna end up in prison very soon. And it's not like he's doing this just to entertain himself or anything. He's doing this because he's compelled in doing so. He really has no other choice left if he wants to keep Yuzuha away from that fucking tyrant of a bastard Taiju..." I added before letting out a sigh.

"That's their problem, Nana. We shouldn't get mixed in this." Draken argued back.

"But Hakkai's our friend and a former teammate." I countered back with a scowl.

"If we try to intervene, there's gonna be a war, Nana and you know it. Fighting Taiju Shiba means blood's gonna be pouring down like rainfall. That guy's a menace and he runs his gang like an army, so we need to be careful on this one, you said it yourself, remember?" Draken stated and that's when I didn't respond back because what he said was completely accurate.

Sure I wanted to help out Hakkai but risking my other teammates' lives when Taiju Shiba was in the question...?

"Dammit, so many complications!" I groaned out in frustration and gently slammed my forehead on the table. "This is the worst birthday ever."

"Huh? Today's your birthday, Nana-chan?" Takemichi asked in surprise and I slightly nodded my head in response before a gleeful smile formed on Takemichi's face. "Happy birthday, Nana-chan!"

I turned my head to the side which was still resting on the table and looked over at his form.

"Thanks, Takemichi..." I responded back with a small smile.

"It's never gonna be your worst birthday when I'm still around." Keisuke finally chimed in with a scoff as he stood up from his seat, making his way over to my seat.

"I'm not celebrating shit in a critical situation like this, Keisuke." I scoffed back before the said boy gently grabbed my arm and pulled me up from my seat. "H-Hey, what are you-"

"I'm taking you out right now. I promised you that, remember? Let's go." Keisuke stated and before I could even do anything about it, the long-haired ravenette dragged me along with him and pulled me out of the restaurant.

"But, Keisuke!" I whined out with a pout as we walked over to his motorbike Goki at the parking lot.

"No buts, Nana." he cut off my whining.

"But at least tell me where are we going? We can't go anywhere further or out of Tokyo." I stated with a heavy sigh.

"I'm aware of that, dumbass. I wanted to take you to the Tokyo Disney Sea at Urayasu, Chiba but canceled that plan at the last minute. We can't go that far when the stakes are high..." he replied, slightly shaking his head.

"It's that new theme park founded back four years ago, like 2001 right?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"Yeah... I'll take you there next time, I promise. Right now, we're going shopping..." he stated, causing me to give him a confused look.

"You know I hate shopping, Keisuke." I pointed out with a deadpan face.

"We're not gonna shop for clothes and makeup. I'm taking you to the Animate shop at Akihabara. You wanted to buy some new manga and anime merchandise, yeah?" Keisuke asked, and hearing his words made me gasp out in shock while it brought the light of happiness to my brownish-amber eyes before I snapped out of my shocked state and jumped into his arms, hugging him all tight, literally startling him to death.

Animate is by far one of the largest, most popular anime and manga chain stores in Japan. It has hundreds of anime and manga goods ranging from manga and figures to posters, stationery goods, and much more. Located at Akihabara in Tokyo, the home of anime and otaku culture, this branch is filled with seven floors dedicated to all things anime. No matter the level of anime fans, Animate's extensive collection of figures, cosplay goods, and collectibles are sure to captivate and intrigue guests of all ages. If one's looking for the latest releases or just wants to find merchandise for their favorite anime character, chances are they'll find them in this large anime shopping mall. The first Animate store was opened in 1983 in Ikebukuro, Tokyo which is also known as a town of subculture hobbies just like Akihabara. Each floor is subdivided to help guests navigate, split from CD & DVD sections, manga sections, video games, character goods, cosplay accessories, etc. There's even a floor dedicated to holding events where anime creators and voice actors come out for meet-and-greet events. Animate is one of the most popular stores to visit for all things anime and manga, making it a must while in Akihabara. Animate is so popular that it currently has about 120 shops all over Japan. There is no prefecture in Japan without an Animate shop.

He actually remembered that I wanted to go and buy some new manga...?! Keisuke's so sweet!!

Although he's always been sweet towards me no matter what... Keisuke's the best!!

"You know me so well, Kei-chan! I love you!" I squealed out in joy.

"Hey! W-What are you-" Keisuke began to stutter out with a deep blushing face but was immediately cut off when I placed a soft kiss on his cheeks. "D-Don't kiss me in public like this!"

"Oh, so you want me to kiss you behind closed doors?" I teased him with a mischievous smirk.

"W-What?! I never said that!" he argued back with a frowning face, his cheeks still hot and red.

"Seems like it to me.~" I cooed at him.

"Tsk... Careful, you damn woman. You're playing with fire right now." Keisuke warned me with a sharp look but I brushed him off with my giggles and teasings.

Let's just say that in the midst of all these troubles and chaos, my 15th birthday didn't go all that bad because later in the evening after finishing shopping, Keisuke took me to the Sanrio Cafe at Ikebukuro for dinner where I was able to take a cute picture of him (much of his own annoyance and embarrassment) and saved that photo as wallpaper in my cell phone (without him knowing of course).

3rd Person's POV (Meanwhile on the other side)

"Ruin Mitsuya's reputation, huh..." Chifuyu trailed off and looked back at Takemichi when everyone from Toman had left the restaurant except for those two. "Yeah, it would. There is no good way to do this, Takemitchy."

"Chifuyu, in that case... the two of us have to solve this, then!" Takemichi stated in a serious tone.

"Let me join in." A familiar masculine voice suddenly spoke up from behind them, causing them to look over to the side and see Kisaki standing there with hands in his pocket, holding a serious look on his face.

"Huh?! Kisaki?!" Takemichi gasped out in surprise.

I thought he left with the others...

"Wanna work together with me?" Kisaki proposed and this made the 1st Division admins give him a confused look. "I want to stop Hakkai too."

And this statement made Chifuyu grow even more annoyed than he was before.

"Think I can't see through your bullshit?!!" Chifuyu hissed at him like a feral, angry cat before stomping his way over to the glasses boy. "Why the fuck would we ever wanna work with you?!"

"You got a better idea?" Kisaki scoffed back. "As long as the truce Mitsuya made with the Black Dragons is active, the other Toman admins won't lay a finger on them. That said, there is no way The two of you alone can take on the Black Dragons. Mikey is weak right now. Seeing how the Black Dragons are gaining power, I want to crush them right here and now."

And right on cue, Chifuyu immediately pulled out a blade from his pocket and held it right against Kisaki's throat with a deep scowling face.

"It's not Mikey! It's Mikey-kun!! Got that?!" Chifuyu snarled out through his gritted teeth. "Even if you are a captain, we are still the same age. So don't act like you're better than me!!"

"Chifuyu-" Takemichi who was watching the whole scene from the sideline was about to call out his partner when suddenly out of nowhere Hanma stepped in and held a knife against Takemichi's throat from the back.

"Hey now. You should know that infighting is strictly off-limits.~" Hanma sang out with a smirk.

"Hanma!" Takemichi gasped out while Chifuyu gave him a worried look, also noticing how the other people in the restaurant were staring at them in sheer fright and terror.

"Break that taboo and I'll have to go a little crazy, ya fucks!~" Hanma added and his words made Chifuyu step back from Kisaki much of his annoyance.

"Tsk! What good would it do us to join forces with you...?" Chifuyu asked Kisaki.

"There's a mole within the Black Dragons..." Kisaki stated before he began to walk towards the entrance of the restaurant. "I hate wasting time. Come with me!"

It wasn't long before Kisaki brought them to a karaoke bar in another area where they met up with one of Taiju Shiba's men and according to Kisaki, that man was a mole.

"Make sure nobody knows about this. Because if this gets out, I'm as good as dead." the man stated in a serious tone.

"Don't worry. Nobody here's gonna rat you out." Kisaki reassured him. "So do you know?"

"Yeah. You wanna know the boss's movements?" the man asked.

"Taiju's movements?" Chifuyu asked in confusion.

"Yeah. If you wanna beat the Black Dragons, we need info on Taiju. What he does on a typical day, where he is, what he's doing, and at what time. That way, we'll have a general idea of what we're dealing with. Knowing your enemy makes them easy to defeat, right?" Kisaki stated while Takemichi stared at the boy in amazement, realizing how smart he was.

"Oh, I see..." Takemichi trailed off.

"I'm one of the boss's assistants, so I'm familiar with most of that..." the man spoke up again. "First of all, the boss-"

And just at that moment, the door of the karaoke booth that they were in suddenly swung wide open, revealing the people standing at the doorway - it was the Elite Guard Captain of the Black Dragons Hajime Kokonoi along with some of his underlings.

"Huh?!" Takemichi gasped in shock.

"What's going on?! Smells like a rat in here!" Kokonoi stated with a wide smirk.

"Koko-kun..." the mole trailed off, his eyes widening open in complete fear and shock.

"Tsk!" Kisaki clicked his tongue in annoyance as he furrowed his eyebrows at Kokonoi.

"The hell? We're already busted?" Chifuyu asked with a frowning face.

"Aw, man." Hanma sang out in amusement while Kokonoi leaned back against the wall beside the door and stared down at the mole with a monotone look on his face.

"Our last rat had it real bad, you know... Couldn't take the heat, so I think he killed himself...?" Kokonoi stated.

"Y-You got it all wrong, K-Koko-kun! I was just-" the mole began to stutter out in panic and nervousness but was immediately cut off by Kokonoi himself as the latter leaned down his tall, lanky body to come face to face closer to the mole.

"It's torture for you!!" Kokonoi mocked him while sticking out his tongue before looking back at his underlings with a deadpan serious face. "Get this shit-stain outta here."

"Yes sir!" they responded back before dragging the mole away from the booth despite the mole crying and begging for forgiveness.

"Now then... How to deal with the rest of you?" Kokonoi asked, turning his attention back to the Toman members.

"We are not here to fight..." Kisaki stated as he walked up to him while Kokonoi's gaze trailed over to the envelope full of money on the table that Kisaki was about to give to the mole.

"100,000 yen..." Kokonoi stated in a serious tone and the others gave him a confused look. "For 100,000 yen, I'll tell you bastards what you wanna know."

Upon hearing his words, Kisaki handed him the envelope without any hesitation.

"I want to know when Taiju is alone..." Kisaki stated.

"The boss is never alone." Kokonoi scoffed as he shoved the envelope into his pockets. "He's always got five soldiers with him. Except for one day."

"And when's that?" Kisaki questioned him again.

"Christmas Day. Despite appearances, the boss is a rather zealous Christian. Every year, on Christmas night, he goes to church to give worship. Always by himself." Kokonoi replied before raising an eyebrow at Kisaki. "Is that all?"

"Yeah. That's enough." Kisaki replied and this made Kokonoi let out a chuckle in amusement.

"The boss is strong even when he's alone. Think the four of you can win?" Kokonoi asked with a smirk as he was about to walk away through the door. "I can't wait for Christmas!"

"Why are you betraying Taiju-kun?" Takemichi suddenly spoke up in a confused tone which made Kokonoi stop walking at the doorway and look at the 1st Division Captain over his shoulders.

"I just like strong guys. That's all. If you wanna know more..." Kokonoi trailed off before a wide devious smirk formed on his face. "That will be another 100,000 yen."

And with that, the Elite Guard Captain of the Black Dragons walked away from the spot leaving the Toman boys all alone in that room.

"Guess the Black Dragons aren't a monolith..." Chifuyu commented.

"Takemitchy, I didn't wanna know when Taiju would be alone just so we could attack him..." Kisaki stated and Takemichi gave him a confused look. "You said Hakkai was gonna kill Taiju, didn't you? When do you think he would do that?"

"Uh... oh! On Christmas night! When Taiju is alone!" Takemichi gasped out in realization.

"This way, you can stop Hakkai, right?" Kisaki questioned back.

"Kisaki... that's why you went to all this trouble?" Takemichi asked while giving him a skeptical look.

"What's wrong with going to the trouble to help a teammate? The four of us will stop Hakkai. And defeat Taiju! Christmas night is when we will have our decisive battle in secret." Kisaki stated in a determined tone before his facial expression went soft for a bit. "There's something I have been thinking about. Mikey's not gonna last much longer."

"What?!" Takemichi asked, frowning at him.

"He acts like it doesn't bother him... but whatever happened to Baji and Nana back in the battle of Bloody Halloween is dragging him down..." Kisaki added and hearing his words started to boil Chifuyu's blood from the inside in sheer rage.

"But you are the one who tried to kill-!" Chifuyu snapped through his gritted teeth but Takemichi cut him off mid-sentence.

"Chifuyu!" Takemichi fired back in a scolding tone.

"Anyway..." Kisaki spoke up again with a sigh, completely ignoring Chifuyu's sudden outburst. "Toman is gonna dissolve at this rate. So we have got to support Mikey."

"We don't have to join up with you to do that!!" Chifuyu fired out again before looking over at his partner. "Right, Takemitchy?"

But Takemichi didn't respond back and trailed off in deep thought, contemplating what he should and shouldn't do because after all, the man who was asking to team up with him was the killer who had murdered Hinata, Akkun, Nana, Baji, and Chifuyu in cold-blood 12 years later into the future.

"We are going to operate without anyone else in Toman knowing. No using any men from the 3rd or 6th divisions either. So that's why we need you guys. Takemitchy, I hate to waste time. I want an answer from you by tomorrow!" Kisaki stated in a serious tone before he and Hanma walked out of the karaoke bar as well.

Later that evening, Chifuyu and Takemichi were walking down the busy street of Shibuya, full of people on the road, while they kept on discussing what they should do regarding Kisaki's proposal.

"I'm against this. We don't have to join forces with Kisaki, Takemitchy! Just the two of us can do this!" Chifuyu argued.

"Can we?" Takemichi asked in a low tone, looking down at the ground.

"He's the guy who got Baji-san, Nana-san, and Hinata Tachibana murdered!!" Chifuyu snapped while grabbing his partner by his shoulders. "Don't you know that?!"

"Yes, I know!!" Takemichi countered back as he looked back at Chifuyu with teary eyes and clenched fists while gritting his teeth in frustration. "But what else are we supposed to do?! Kill Kisaki?! We can't do that! What we really gotta do is get Kisaki the hell out of Toman!! And we gotta stop Hakkai from killing Taiju!! I don't want to join forces with that bastard Kisaki either!! But if we do, we might learn something about him! We could find out how to get him kicked out of the gang!"

Hearing his response, Chifuyu gave him a surprised look.

"I don't wanna see a bad future for us if we are again! I will work with Kisaki if I have to!" Takemichi added in a determined tone with a frowning face, tears still swelling in his eyes. "So please, Chifuyu! Help me do this!"

The way Takemichi looked at him with those determined yet teary eyes, Chifuyu wasn't able to refuse the request of his new partner because after all, Chifuyu did promise the new 1st Division Captain his utmost faith and support till the very end. That means there was no backing away.

"Ah, geez... Fine! I'll help, but this time, we'll keep Baji-san and Nana-san out of this shit, okay? Kisaki's involved and I don't want him to get near Baji-san and Nana-san..." Chifuyu groaned out and his response brought a wide, relieved smile to Takemichi's face, causing Chifuyu to roll his eyes at him. "Got no luck with the ladies this Christmas again!"

"Thanks, Chifuyu!" Takemichi chirped out.

"You're lucky you got a girlfriend, you know that? What's so fun about meeting up with dudes to beat up some other dude at Christmas...?" Chifuyu deadpanned at him.

A few hours later, on that same evening, Takemichi and Chifuyu met up with Kisaki and Hanma again on the Rainbow bridge at Minato City.

"That didn't take long. Got an answer for me?" Kisaki asked with his hands in his pocket while Hanma stood right behind him with a mischievous smirk.

"We will work together with you till Christmas is over!" Takemichi stated in a firm tone and this brought a smirk to Kisaki's face.

"A wise judgment. That really helps me out!" Kisaki responded back with a chuckle.

"We just wanna protect Hakkai. So we are not gonna be all friendly with you guys!" Chifuyu chimed in with a scoff which amused Kisaki even more before the two groups started to voice their mutual dislike towards each other.

"This is one crooked team..." Kisaki commented with a small sigh yet still smirking to himself as he leaned his back on the railing of the bridge.

"Our goal is the only thing we got in common..." Takemichi grumbled out in defeat from beside him, leaning on the railing as well.

"I can't fucking stand you two." Chifuyu scoffed again with a frowning face as he put his arms on the railing while resting his chin on the palm of his right hand.

"What's our team name gonna be?" Hanma asked in an amused tone from beside Chifuyu, not giving much of a damn about their current situation like always. "C4U? The Hanmas? How 'bout Team Kill-'Em-All?"

Nana's POV (8th December 2005)

"Do you think there's another way to stop Hakkai and demolish the Black Dragons?" I asked Keisuke in concern while the two of us were walking side by side down the busy streets of Shibuya ever so casually with a sea of busy people surrounding us. "We need to figure something out before any disaster happens..."

"I know that too, Nana..." Keisuke responded back with a heavy sigh before running a hand through his long, luscious raven locks, looking as worried as I was.

It had been three days since we met up with Draken and the others at Danny's. The Vice-Commander had strictly forbidden us not to interfere with what Mitsuya worked hard for leading us to this situation at the moment. Draken was right with his opinion, but if what Takemichi said about the future of Toman where the gang got corrupted because of Kisaki and many other shits was true then we also need to find a way to stop Hakkai from falling into the darkness. Hakkai was a pure, timid soul. I knew him as someone who would never harm a fly unless it was necessary like to protect Toman and his beloved ones. But now witnessing the mess of a relationship between the Shiba siblings first-handedly, I couldn't help but get even more worried and scared about the future that awaited us.

"You know, I was thinking of buying some new reading glasses the other day..." Keisuke stated and his words pulled me out of my trance.

"Oh really? I think you should." I hummed in agreement, slightly nodding my head at him. "You look quite stupid in those glasses of yours."

Ah, those comical, thick reading glasses of Keisuke Baji. They were an antique piece of their own. So antique that they should be put up in the museum. I also believed Keisuke's glasses to have a personality of their own. I mean they could change his whole demeanor in a matter of seconds whenever he put those glasses on, turning from a violent beast to a polite, studious cat. It was hilarious, really.

"Huh?! Stupid?! But I was told that I look smart wearing them." Keisuke grumbled out with a frowning face.

"Who said you look intellectual?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Mikey." He responded back and this caused me to give him a weird look.

"You seriously believed Manjiro's words?" I deadpanned at him.

Keisuke was about to say something back to me when all of a sudden we noticed a group of gigantic, muscular men walking towards us - one in a red uniform of a specific gang while the others were in white and we immediately recognized who they were - It was Taiju Shiba and his underlings. I sometimes wondered how Taiju walked around in the streets of Japan with those vibrant blue hair and that scary face while wearing that blood, red uniform. To me, in my eyes, he looked like a walking-talking red flag. I was still amused by the fact that nobody still reported to the police about him yet because they found his uniform offensive.

"Shiba...? What the fuck is he doing here?" Keisuke whispered into my ears while I simply shrugged in response.

"Well if it isn't Nana Osaki and her trusted man Keisuke Baji..." Taiju spoke up in a firm tone, narrowing his eyes at us after he walked over and started to tower over us with his mountain-like body.

"Taiju Shiba..." I spoke up with a neutral face, acknowledging his presence. "Not very good to see you again..."

"Again with those fucking jabs..." Taiju groaned out with a heavy sigh.

"So how's it going with your little brother now?" I asked, giving the tyrant of a man a skeptical look.

"Why am I gonna tell you that? That Mitsuya fucker called a truce, didn't he? And Toman already gave up Hakkai to the Black Dragons, so you don't have to fucking worry about him or anything else..." Taiju scoffed at me and this caused me to scoff back at him.

"I don't wanna intervene too, but I'm worried about Hakkai and Yuzuha. Are you treating them right?" I asked and Taiju narrowed his sharp eyes on my form.

"Mind your own business, woman." Taiju threatened me while Keisuke immediately stepped up to my protection.

"Back off, bastard..." Keisuke growled out at Taiju like a hunting dog.

"Keisuke, calm down..." I stated in a soft tone, putting a hand on his shoulder before looking back at Taiju again. "Listen, Taiju... Just because you're Hakkai and Yuzuha's family doesn't mean you can do whatever you want with them. And also blood relationship doesn't mean you'll have a close bond with them. Hakkai and Yuzuha are their own people. They'll never turn out to be like you."

"Is that the same philosophy you apply in your own life as well, Osaki?" Taiju asked in a mocking tone and I furrowed my eyebrows at him in annoyance. "Is that what you thought before distancing yourself from your cousins?"

"You know who my cousins are...?" I asked in surprise.

"Of course, I know them... What do you think of me, huh?" Taiju scoffed at me again. "But coming back to the question, it seems like not many people know about your family, especially about your cousins. Are you trying to hide the fact from the world? Are you scared of something?"

"I'm not hiding anything nor I'm scared. I just don't like talking about it." I countered back, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Is that so? Then you shouldn't be worried about people knowing about your family and relatives, right? After all, people will come to know the truth sooner or later." Taiju pointed out with a devious smirk, causing me to give him another annoyed look. "What? I'm just spitting out facts, that's all. Don't you think it's high time to come out clean and reveal the truth, Osaki?"

I hate to admit it but Taiju's right.

My friends deserve to know the truth.

How long am I gonna keep them in the dark?

Taking Taiju's words into serious consideration, I decided to step up and face my demons ahead. Because Taiju's words made me realize that if I had to become someone strong to set an example for Hakkai and Yuzuha, I had to come face to face with both my past and my present.

12th December 2005 at Roppongi (Time - 7:45 PM)

"Nana-chin, where are we going?" Manjiro asked from my side in confusion as we hopped out of the train after reaching Roppongi.

And when I said we, I meant me and my friends which included Manjiro, Keisuke, Draken, Mitsuya, Chifuyu, Takemichi, Emma, Hinata, and the Kawata twins. After Taiju had taunted me the other day, stubbornness got the best of me and before I knew it, I brought all my trusted people here today to introduce them to my family without thinking straight. But there was no turning back. It was now or never. I had to do what I should've done it a long time ago.

"Somewhere important..." I replied as I started to walk down the streets with my friends following me from behind.

"Thanks for the vague answer, Ms. Advisor-san." Draken deadpanned at me and I let out a heavy sigh in response.

"I wanna introduce my cousins to you guys today..." I muttered, causing everyone except for Keisuke to look at me in surprise.

"Your cousins?" Mitsuya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nana-chin, what's going on?" Manjiro asked me in concern and in response, I simply shook my head at them.

"Nothing. Let's just go." I stated before leading them the way.

"Nana, are you sure about this?" Keisuke whispered into my ears, also giving me a concerned look.

Even though Keisuke still didn't know who my cousins were, he could tell that they were famous yet dangerous people just from the look on my face or from my words.

"Yeah, I'm sure, Keisuke. Don't worry." I replied to him with a reassuring smile.

"I never heard you talking about any of your relatives before, Nana." Emma pointed out, looking at me all puzzled.

"What? Really?" Hinata asked in confusion before looking back at me.

"You see, my cousins... they're also delinquents just like us..." I started to tell the tales. "The father's family, the Osaki... is a very old, powerful, influential, and wealthy family aged over 500 years old that values tradition and status. You can say, the Osaki family resembles the old-times Japanese clan, and to be honest, they don't fit into today’s modern customs. There are over 200 living members of the family, with about 150 living outside the main estate, at branch households, and around 50 living inside the main estate. They're very traditional and conservative, and most of the finances, conflicts, and such are taken care of by the head of the family and those close to them. My father's family values tradition, wealth, and status over morals and ethics. Only Shin-chan and Gramps were the ones who knew why the Osaki family rejected me after my parents' death... You see, the mother of my cousins, meaning my aunt was my Dad's older sister which also means that these cousins of mine are directly related to me by blood. As people, they're really dangerous. At the age of 12 and 13, they went to juvie because they killed the Vice-Commander of a particular gang..."

"Huh? What? Really?" Angry asked in surprise while the rest kept on looking at me with intrigue yet confusion.

I nodded my head in response and soon after that, we stepped into the territory of an abandoned building, leaving my friends even more surprised and confused. Manjiro and a few others kept on asking me in concern about the current situation we were in, but I kept on reassuring them that everything was going to be okay. The building we stepped in wasn't just some old random building. It was supposed to be a shopping mall but was abandoned almost at the end when the building was done completely, leaving the mall not able to even open or run its business in the first place.

"Doesn't it sound like we heard the story somewhere before, Angry?" the older Kawata twin asked his brother in a whispered tone.

"I was thinking the same thing too, Smiley." the younger twin whispered back.

We then made our way to the garage where we came face to face with two particular men; a buff, scary guy and a man in a black suit. I introduced myself to them and they immediately recognized who I was, giving me and my friends permission to pass by and enter the underground area.

"Oi, Nana, what's this place anyway?" Draken asked, looking around the place with a frowning face as we walked through a narrow hallway and reached the underground space.

The whole underground area looked circular in shape where there were these bleacher-like seating areas arranged around in a circular manner for the spectators while down the staircases was a round area used as a boxing ring. The entire place, smelling like booze, cigar, sweat, and blood, was now filled with loud, rowdy male people of different ages all cheering and shouting at the fight that was going on in the boxing ring at that moment.

"Oh, this? This is a fight club." I replied back nonchalantly.

"A fight club?! Is it even okay for Hina and Emma-chan to be here?!" Takemichi asked in concern, his eyes widened open.

"Hm, yeah. As long as I'm standing and alive, nothing's gonna happen to you guys. Besides, people here know that I'm my cousins' little sister, so in some way, I hold power and position in this place." I smiled in a reassuring manner at everyone.

"How do you know about this fight club, Nana-chin?" Manjiro asked as he gave me a skeptical look.

"Shin-chan once brought me here along with my cousins a long time ago..." I replied with a smile while leading them to the empty seats at the very back where we could watch the fights without any issue while keeping ourselves distant away from those rowdy spectators.

"Shinichiro-Nii...?" Manjiro trailed off in confusion and I nodded my head in response.

"This fight club is hugely famous in Roppongi and it gets even more crowded before Christmas and New Year as if this is its own festival. People from different gangs, big or small, come here to watch the fights on regular basis and most of the time, the great fighters here end up getting recruited by those gangs in order to join them as their members..." I informed before suddenly I noticed someone familiar in the crowd.

At the place where we found empty seats for ourselves, just beside that, I noticed a familiar gang seating and watching the fights intensely. I also noticed the gang leader was there with his not-so-happy-looking younger siblings beside him.

Oh, so they're here as well... This is gonna be interesting...

"The Shiba siblings and the Black Dragons... What a coincidence!" I greeted them warmly and this caused the Black Dragons to notice our presence.

"Nana-chan?!"

"Nana?"

Both Hakkai and Yuzuha gasped out in surprise when I approached them but in return, I simply smiled at them warmly and reassuringly. I then noticed both Kokonoi and Inui were there as well, standing close beside the younger Shiba brother.

"The Black Dragons..." Takemichi trailed off while my friends stared at our enemy team with suspicion and curiosity, getting ready for any dangerous situation to be thrown at them.

"Just relax guys. Both Toman and the Black Dragons are off-duty today. We're safe." I reassured my friends again.

"Nana Osaki... and Toman..." Taiju stated with a frowning face, acknowledging our presence. "What the fuck are you even doing here?"

"Came here to watch the fights just like you, what else?" I scoffed at him. "Man, you sure are stupid."

"I'm gonna kill your ass one day, Osaki." Taiju threatened me in a dark tone like he always did.

"I'd like to see you try, Shiba." I mocked him back with a devious smirk before taking my seat with my friends (between Keisuke and Manjiro) beside the Black Dragons's territory. "Anyway, I gave thought about your words that day and finally decided to bring my friends with me here to introduce them to my cousins."

"Oh?" Taiju asked as he raised an eyebrow, looking back at me, intrigued.

"By the way, what are you doing here?" I questioned back.

"Business... I came here to recruit some new people for my gang." the older Shiba replied with all pride.

"And you call 'recruiting gang members' business...?" I deadpanned at him.

Something's really wrong with this dude, I'm telling y'all...

"We've our own fucking ways of leading our own gangs, Osaki." Taiju scoffed in response. "Our rules, our beliefs, our purpose, our agendas; everything's different. We're not the same people."

"And so are your siblings..." I stated in a soft yet firm tone with my eyes locked on the fighting ring while the others shifted their attention towards me. "Hakkai and Yuzuha are different from you too. They're not the same as you are, especially Hakkai."

And this made Hakkai simply stare at me in surprise with widened eyes and his mouth gasped a little open.

"Guys, listen..." I addressed my friends and they all looked back at me with curiosity. "You already know the reason why I brought you all here today... I'm gonna tell a story, so listen carefully... My Dad's older sister, Kiyoko Osaki once fell in love with this dangerous man many years ago. I never met the man but from what I heard, that guy was associated with the mafias back from Yokohama... My Dad and my paternal grandparents, they all were against their relationship for obvious reasons. But my aunt didn't listen to them. She ran away from home while she was still in high school. Aunt Kiyoko and that man later got married. She was barely 18 at that time. And as I told you guys earlier, the Osaki family is highly traditional and prestigious. Because of her actions, the Osaki family banished my aunt from the family estate. But that didn't bother her. All she wanted was to live with her husband and be loved by him till her death, that's all. Later she gave birth to their first child, a boy, on May 26, 1987. And a year later, she gave birth to another boy on October 20, 1988. Life was going quite well for her and her family when all of a sudden, one day a news came to her that her husband, meaning my uncle was been killed by his fellow people. He was betrayed and backstabbed. And those same people who backstabbed him tried to go after my aunt and her kids as well. But fortunately for them, before anything bad could happen, my aunt fled away from Yokohama with her kids and came back to Tokyo... She then later found a place to stay here in Roppongi and lived there with her kids peacefully for another few more years. Later on 12th July 1995, my aunt died in a car accident. It was suspected that the accident was planned and was done by the same mafia group who killed my uncle. My cousins became orphans at the age of 8 and 7. After the death of my aunt, the Osaki family immediately rejected them because of what their mother did years ago. Also, they've always been considered trouble kids at a very young age. Not that because they're bad or anything. They have a good heart but they're also very violent and find joy in fights..."

After that long speech, I took a brief pause to catch some breath, and right at that time, two familiar individuals walked into the fighting arena.

"The Haitani brothers...?" Mitsuya spoke up, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. "They're participants here today?"

I noticed the brothers walking into the fighting ring in their casual, normal clothes while wearing a bored, monotone look on their faces.

"This one strong guy and his gang challenged the Haitani brothers to a fight, so here they are..." Kokonoi stated nonchalantly with a shrug.

"Nine tall, buff guys VS two lanky-build boys?! That's insane!" Takemichi gasped in shock when the other opponents walked in.

"They gotta be really strong then!" Hinata chimed in.

And it wasn't long before the fight started between the Haitani brother and the other team and the whole arena began to cheer and shout in excitement.

"My father wanted to take in my cousins and raise them as his own children, but they refused his proposal and went on to their own way at that tender age of 8 and 7." I started talking again and my friends shifted their attention back to me. "They began to grow up together and live on their own while they continued fighting random punks and gangs on the streets, and getting associated with more violence and crimes. They became the strongest fighters in Roppongi and started to rule the area... They were like celebrities... In the year 2000, when they were only 13 and 12 years old, the captain and vice-captain of Roppongi Kyougoku aka Max Maniacs which was the largest gang in Tokyo at that time decided to pick a one-on-one fight with my cousins, and the event was entitled as 'Roppongi Battle of the Ashes'..."

"Roppongi Battle of the Ashes...? Wait a minute... I think I've heard of this before..." Smiley stated. "Are your cousins really that famous, Nana?"

"Yeah, they are..." I responded back with a heavy sigh while watching Ran and Rindo took down their opponents one after another with ease. "They went to jail after the fight because of murdering the vice-captain of that gang during the brawl. In jail, they met some more violent guys like them and formed a team of their own called the S62 Generation - the generation of brutality. You guys remember Shion Madarame, the former 9th Generation Captain of the Black Dragons, the one we fought right after we created Toman...? Remember how I knew a lot about him from back then... Yeah, he was a part of that S62 Generation as well. Madarame was my cousins' friend..."

As soon as I stopped talking for a moment, we all noticed the Haitani brothers had almost taken down all their opponents and one who was still left and standing was that big guy - the one who challenged them in the fight - the final boss.

"That guy looks really big and strong... Sure the brothers can handle him?" Emma asked, looking at the fight with a skeptical gaze.

"Looks impossible to me..." Smiley stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, it looks like it..." Angry chimed in.

"Don't worry... They'll be able to take him down." I spoke up again with a small smile on my face. "Both Ran and Rindo love fighting together as a duo. And above all, those two are really strong. Although Ran used to fight with fists when he was younger, he frequently started to resort to underhanded tactics in battle by way of his baton or any weapon that can cause injury and guarantee his win. He has never been known to have fought fairly and justifies this furtive approach as a means of bagging victory against much stronger opponents. Rindo on the other hand has always been quite an expert at wrestling. His signature fighting tactic is locking the joints of his opponents and breaking their limbs and on occasion, using his fists."

And I was right on point. Although Ran didn't use his baton on the final big guy like he was doing earlier, he was still strong enough to just fight with his fists and kicks alone. After Rindo locked down the joints of the opponent using his own limbs, Ran dashed forward and started to beat that guy in the face with his bare fist until the opponent was severely injured (all bloodied and bruised, extremely gruesome) and passed out. And the fight finally came to an end, resulting in the Haitani brothers being the victor of the match.

"Oh my God! That was terrifying!" Emma and Hinata both squealed out in shock and terror.

"Holy shit! They actually won!" Chifuyu gasped out, his eyes widened open in bewilderment while the whole arena erupted with cheers for the Haitani brothers.

"They're strong for sure..." Keisuke commented patiently from beside me.

"That's the power of the Haitani brothers, I guess..." Draken hummed and nodded his head while Mitsuya and Takemichi simply stared at the fighting ring in awe.

"Nana-chin, how did you know they're gonna apply those moves to fight that big guy?" Manjiro asked, from my other side, giving me a confused yet skeptical look.

"You idiots still don't get it yet!" Taiju suddenly started to laugh out loud in absolute hilarity, catching our attention again. "Her cousins, the ones she's been fucking blabbering about this entire time... are none other than the Haitani brothers themselves..."

There was this moment of silence among my friends and the Black Dragons as they all (except Taiju) stared at me in shock and bewilderment after those words came out of Taiju Shiba's mouth - "Her cousins, the one she's been blabbering about this entire time... are none other than the Haitani brothers themselves..."

"Nana-chin... Please tell me this is a joke..." Manjiro finally spoke up, the first one to break the silence.

In response, I let out a sigh and shook my head.

"I'm not lying to you guys nor I'm gonna run away from the truth this time..." I responded back with my eyes still locked on the forms of the Haitani brothers who were casually walking away from the fighting ring. "This is the truth, the ultimate fact. Ran and Rindo Haitani are my cousins. Their mom and my Dad are actual siblings, meaning those two and I share the same flesh and blood... They're my family, my brothers..."

"This is insane!" Angry commented, still in shock.

"I know right..." Smiley added, nodding his head.

"Why didn't you ever say anything to us regarding this, Nana...?" Keisuke asked in a soft tone from my side before reaching out and gently grabbing my hand in his larger one.

"I'm sorry for never saying anything about this to you guys up until now. I just didn't like talking about it, you know..." I replied as I intertwined my fingers with Keisuke's. "Only Shin-chan and Gramps knew about this because they were the oldest ones in the Sano family. They've always known everything from the very beginning. Don't get me wrong. It's not like I hate Ran and Rindo or anything. They never caused any harm to me. I actually like them... You see the thing is, after my parents' death, the reason why the Osaki family rejected me and didn't take me in was that they were scared of me. They were scared that maybe one day I'll turn out to be like the Haitani brothers; violent and murderous. Maybe I'll cause a ton of problems for them. Maybe I'll turn out to be a disgraceful person and will ruin the name and reputation of the Osaki family... Maybe this, maybe that... All just stupid assumptions with no reality or truth behind them. They didn't even bother to give me a chance to see and understand the type of person I am. From the get-go, they believed that I'd be of no use to them simply because I'm blood-related to Ran and Rindo. They said - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree - the Haitani brothers and I, we're the same. So to prove them wrong, I created a huge distance between me and the brothers. Distancing myself from my cousins was a way to prove to the Osaki family that I'm not like them, I'm far way better than them as a person, that I'm not violent and murderous, that I don't find joy and happiness in fighting random punks on the streets. To prove myself worthy, I became more attentive to school and started to get the highest scores on every test and exam. I engaged myself in sports and other extracurricular activities and even got myself a part-time job just so I could prove to the Osaki family that I'm strong, smart, responsible, and reliable. I'm nothing like my cousins, the Haitani brothers..."

"So, you were fighting all this time, Nana-chan...? Just so you can prove your worth to your family...?" Hinata asked me in a sympathetic tone and this caused me to let out another heavy sigh.

"Yeah... that's true. I've been fighting this whole time..." I stated, trailing off for a bit, getting myself lost in thoughts. "But now, I don't know anymore... I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know why I'm even doing this. For who? For what? They rejected Ran and Rindo because Aunt Kiyoko ran away from home and got married to a mafioso. They rejected me because I'm directly blood-related to Ran and Rindo. So, what's the point anyway? Now that I think about it, the Haitani brothers and I, we're actually the same. After becoming orphans, both the brothers and I got rejected by our family for some petty excuses. I bet the Osakis didn't even want us in the first place and just came up with those excuses to banish us from the family estate. For all of these, now I don't feel like fighting anymore. I don't feel like proving my worth to that fucking family. I distanced myself from my brothers and for who? For that family who abandons their own clan members and rejects little orphans of their own clan soon after their parents die? All those hard work... Was any of my efforts worth it? Now you all know - This is the dark side of the Osaki clan. They're maybe wealthy and prestigious, they're maybe powerful and traditional, but deep down they're absolute shit and merciless."

After that, I paused for a moment and turned my head around to look over at the younger Shiba siblings.

"Hakkai, Yuzuha... Listen to me very carefully...." I stated, gaining their attention before I looked away from them and glanced back at the fighting ring again. "I know what it feels like to have shitty family members. I know what it feels like to lose both of your parents and become an orphan. I know, I understand, even though our family situations are completely different. Sure unlike yours, my brothers never abused me, but because of their acts and behavior, I had to suffer as well. It sucks, I know. But also at the same time, it wasn't completely their fault for how they turned out to be like what they're now. I understand their situation, I understand where they're coming from. Back then when I was younger, I actually never hated my brothers, but then at the same time, I also didn't love them or see them as my family. But in the past few years, it slowly started to change for me. I became more mature and understanding. I started to grow and love my brothers. I don't know if they love me back or not, but I don't think about it too much and it doesn't bother me at all. Ran and Rindo are my family. That's the fact and I accepted it a long time ago. It's the truth that I can't change or deny. So I finally stopped myself from running away from the truth and reality. But just because they're my family doesn't mean they and I are the same people. We're completely different from each other. Every moment I try my best to become someone better than those two. That doesn't mean I hate them. I love them but I won't be like them... And the same goes for both of you as well..."

I again turned back to face the younger Shiba siblings and flashed out a warm smile towards them.

"You guys can love or hate Taiju whatever you want, that's on you to decide. But never turn out to be like him. You guys are your own people. You've your own identity and individuality. You guys can differentiate what's right and wrong. Just because you're blood-related to him doesn't mean you're bounded to be like him or obey him like slaves for the rest of your life. Be the better person. Become someone different. Become someone other than Taiju Shiba." I added and hearing this the oldest Shiba scoffed at me with displeasure.

"Don't fucking try to brainwash my siblings right in front of me, Osaki." he threatened me in a dark tone but I remained completely unfazed.

"I'm not brainwashing them. I'm just simply giving them life lessons." I responded back nonchalantly with a shrug before standing up from my seat. "Okay, that's it. Let's take our leave for today, Toman."

"Huh? This early?" Takemichi asked in confusion.

"The Haitani brothers just won this fight. Are they not gonna participate in another around?" Chifuyu asked and I chuckled at him in response.

"Nah. Ran and Rindo are maybe strong but they're too lazy to participate in around of a fight, especially Ran. Besides, this fight club is kinda boring for them. They're more of a type to love fighting in open spaces like streets and such. So come on, let's go now. I wanna say 'hello' to them before they leave..." I stated before looking back at the Black Dragons one last time. "We'll take our leave now. It was nice seeing you all today."

And with that, my friends and I walked out from the spot and came out of the building.

I hope my words reached you, Hakkai... You're way better than your brother...

So don't go off and end up murdering him... Whatever the situation might be, just don't give up hope so easily...

"Nana..." a familiar masculine voice spoke up softly from my side which belonged to Mitsuya. "Did you do all of this for Hakkai and Yuzuha...?"

His words brought a small smile to my face.

"Yeah, you can say that..." I replied with a shrug.

"But why...? It was quite clear that you didn't want anyone to know about your relationship with the Haitani brothers. Then why did you do this?" he questioned again, furrowing his eyebrows at me.

"Sure at first I didn't want anyone to find out the truth, but then again I can't hide it from everyone forever, especially from you guys. I wanted you guys to know the truth. That's the choice I made before coming here." I stated in a genuine tone and upon hearing my response, his facial expression softened a bit.

"You know two years back when I was 13, I took Luna and Mana to the Azabu Festival where I noticed everyone was stepping aside and making way for a bunch of rowdy-looking guys... and leading the pack was "Roppongi's Charisma", the Haitani brothers. That time, I looked up to those guys, you know? They're the type of delinquents who are urban and stylish." Mitsuya recalled back the memory with a soft chuckle and this made me let out a small snort followed by a burst of soft laughter.

"Wait, so you're telling me you used to be a fan of my lousy cousins?" I asked in disbelief while still giggling. "That's hilarious!"

But Mitsuya didn't say anything back and simply just chuckled along with me. As soon as we stepped out of the building, we noticed a group of delinquents standing outside in a circular manner and I immediately realized what was happening there.

"Ran! Rindo!" I called out loud, causing everyone to turn their attention toward me and from the middle of that circle, the familiar Haitani brothers peeked over and looked in my direction, shocked and confused.

"Huh? Nana?" Rindo asked in confusion, raising an eyebrow while my friends and I were making our way toward them.

"Look who's here!" Ran chuckled out loud in amusement as he stepped out of the circle. "Didn't expect you to come. Oh, you even brought your little friends with you as well!"

"I wanted to introduce you guys to them..." I responded back and my brothers gave me a confused look for a moment. "I've decided to come clean and tell them all the truth."

"Wait, so... you mean...?" Rindo trailed off while Ran gestured to the other delinquents to go away from the spot.

"Guys, this is Ran and Rindo Haitani. My cousins." I stated to my friends before looking back at my brothers. "Ran, Rindo, these are my friends from Toman as you already know - Manjiro Sano, Keisuke Baji, Ken Ryuguji, Takashi Mitsuya, Chifuyu Matsuno, Emma Sano, Takemichi Hanagaki, Hinata Tachibana, Nahoya Kawata, and Souya Kawata..."

I noticed some of my friends muttered out a small, casual 'hello' while the others simply nodded their heads at my cousins as a gesture of greeting them. But the one thing that was common about them was that they all looked really intrigued yet surprised when they stared at my cousins.

Looks like they're handling the truth about my cousins quite well than I expected...

"So you really..." Rindo trailed off again, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Wah! Nana revealed the truth to the world! That means from now we can openly call her our little sister! Imouto-chan!" Ran cried out happily and as he was about to jump on me to pull me in a hug, I quickly kicked him away from me.

"Seriously! Stay away from me, you siscon!" I hissed at the older Haitani.

"Hahahaha! Nana called you siscon!" Rindo started to laugh now while wiping his tears away. "That's hilarious! You're disgusting, bro!"

"Shut up! I'm not a siscon!" Ran snapped, trying to defend himself but I completely ignored him and decided to change the topic of the conversation.

"Anyway, I heard about today's competition at the fight club, so I decided to bring my friends here today. The fight was really amazing. You guys did a great job like always." I complimented them with a smile.

"Y-Yeah, it was terrifying but still awesome!" Hinata added excitedly yet nervously from beside a concerned-looking Takemichi.

"Oh, I see we have got a new little fan now.~" Ran cooed at Hinata and this made me twitch my eyebrows in annoyance.

"Try to flirt with any of my girlfriends and I'll cut your dick off, Ran." I threatened him in a dark tone and to which he held his hands up in a defensive manner.

"I won't do anything, I swear. You know how sweet and innocent I am." Ran stated in an amused tone.

"That's a load of crap you just spilled out there, Ran." I scoffed at him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Still can't believe Nana's related to the Haitani brothers..." Draken spoke up from the side, looking back and forth between me and my cousins as I continued to bicker and banter with Ran and Rindo.

"Also she hid this from us for so long now..." Smiley added.

"Well, she did say that she didn't like talking about it." Angry chimed in.

"Yeah, but also... if you look at them, you won't find any similarity in physical appearance between Nana and her brothers though." Keisuke pointed out, furrowing his eyebrows a bit.

"Sure, Nana doesn't resemble the Haitani brothers when it comes to physical appearances, but their personality though... Nana can be playful and teasing whenever she wants to be just like Ran-kun while she can also be angry and cocky just like Rindo-kun. Now that I think about it, she shares the same personality and attitude as the Haitani brothers. " Emma stated as she stared at me and my brothers with observant eyes.

"Yeah, I can see the similarities now..." Manjiro added with a small head nod, agreeing with his sister.

"Okay, let's go somewhere to eat guys! Ran and Rindo are gonna pay for us!" I announced all of a sudden.

"Huh?! What do you mean 'Ran and Rindo are gonna pay for us'...?" Rindo asked in annoyance, frowning down at me.

"Now, now, don't be so stingy. I'm your little imouto-chan, right?" I asked with a smirk.

"Don't fucking call yourself 'imouto-chan'. Thanks to Ran, that word sounds really creepy in my ears now." Rindo scoffed with a disgusted face.

"Hey!" Ran snapped at his brother with a scowling face again but we ignored him as always.

"You guys live in a fucking 2BHK apartment in Roppongi! And you can't take your sister and her friends to a fucking dinner for just this one night?" I then started to argue with my cousins. "You guys are such sour losers, really!"

"Fine, no need to throw tantrums, you shrimp!" Rindo groaned out in displeasure, running a hand through his colorful hair.

"Bastard, I just turned 15 and I'm still growing. Don't call me shrimp!" I hissed out before kicking Rindo in the legs.

"Ouch! That hurts, you damn yakuza!" Rindo hissed back at me.

"They really are cousins, no doubt about it..." Takemichi muttered while Chifuyu nodded his head in agreement.

"So what do you guys wanna eat?" Ran asked as he looked back at my friends with a smile on his face and hands in his pockets. "How about we all go and grab some steak at Empire Steak House, Hotel Candeo?"

But my friends started to list off the names of the foods they preferred to eat tonight.

"Sushi."

"Fast food."

"Yakisoba."

"Katsudon."

"Italian."

"Chinese."

"Indian."

"Anything sweet."

"Steak it is then!" Ran sang out loud, completely dismissing their opinions before he started to walk away from there, ignoring the stares he was getting from my friends.

That asshole... He's never gonna change for sure...

"He never listens, does he?" Mitsuya deadpanned.

"Nope." Rindo and I responded back in unison, deadpanning as well.

After that, we all went over to the Empire Steak House where all of my friends sat together at one big table while my cousins and I sat at a small table for three beside them. The Empire Steak House was an American restaurant (initially established in New York City) that newly opened a branch here in Roppongi, Tokyo not so long ago and so I wasn't able to visit this place and try their food up until today, all thanks to my cousins. While my friends were busy with their food and chatting at their table, I took some time of my own to chat with my brothers and spend some quality time with them.

"We seriously didn't expect you to be here, Nana. It was quite a shock really." Ran stated with a smile before taking a small sip from his alcoholic drink.

"Why? Is it wrong of me for wanting to spend some time with my cousins?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not like every day you show your affection towards us. Usually, you avoid us like plagues..." Rindo scoffed while giving me a skeptical look. "What's with the sudden change of heart anyway?"

Yeap, they got me. As expected from Ran and Rindo Haitani.

Rindo's question made me close my eyes momentarily and let out a heavy sigh before I leaned back on my seat, relaxing myself a bit more.

"I just thought that before getting involved in other people's family matters, I should try to fix my own issues first..." I responded back in a soft tone with my gaze locked down on my food while I played with the fork in my hands and my brothers continued to stare at me intently, carefully listening to my every word. "I wanna fix everything from the scratch. Doesn't matter if it takes forever. I'm willing to change. The thing is I never hated you guys but I also had to suffer because of you two. Back then I just lost my parents and my clan kicked me out of the estate because I was directly related to you two. It wasn't easy for me. And that's why..."

I let another sigh and set down the fork on my plate.

"I decided that it's high time to change my view and opinions. And also tell the truth to my friends. Back then I used to care about what the Osaki family would think or tell but now things have changed for me. I don't care about that family anymore. That family discarded me a long time ago anyway, so there's no reason for me to chase after them. And as for my relationship with you guys... I wanna work this out. I wanna develop this sibling bond between me and you guys that we never had before. Also, I apologize for never trying to understand you two better and always avoiding you." I added and upon hearing this Ran flashed out a genuinely warm smile.

"Good to know that you never hated us. It concerned us sometimes, you know... about your feelings and opinions towards us..." Ran stated with a chuckle and my eyes widened a bit.

"You cared about my feelings and opinions? I thought you guys didn't like me that much." I muttered in surprise yet confusion.

They cared...? Ran and Rindo cared...? Since when...?

"We're maybe assholes, but we have a heart, Nana." Rindo chimed in, now in a softer tone before letting out a sigh. "Maybe we can't express our feelings and concern like the typical good big bros, but we still do care. We always did. Our situation and timing were shit and everything got even more complicated. And that's why we weren't able to do anything for you."

So Ran and Rindo always cared about me...?

That's insane. I never saw that coming. It's shocking.

And that simple thought brought a small smile to my face again as I stared at my brothers with adoration.

"Only if we could go back in time and change our fates..." Ran trailed off absentmindedly with a distant look in his eyes.

"We can still change that right now... All three of us still have time to grow and change." I stated with a smile, causing those two to return the simple gesture to me as well.

If I start taking baby steps from this day onwards, maybe one day my cousins and I would be able to see eye to eye...

"Hey, what's that you two are drinking?" I asked, pointing at their drinks.

"Alcohol." Rindo replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I know that too, genius." I scoffed, rolling my eyes at him. "I'm asking what's that drink called?"

"It's called Mulled Wine." Ran responded with an amused smile, causing me to give their drinks another curious look.

"Sounds fancy. Hey, can I drink a bit-"

"No."

"You're no fun, Rindo."

For more Tokyo Revengers snippets, check out these links -

Link 1 (romance with Shinichiro Sano, Keisuke Baji and Manjiro Sano)

Link 2 (OC's backstory)

Link 3 (romance with Keisuke Baji)

If you wanna check out the entire fanfic, then go to -

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