#i saw harumi and yelped a bit

[raposarealm]

Oh!! A new model! Usually a new unique model indicates another potential magical girl added to the roster, like what we saw with Mitsune or even Kagome before her. It’s exciting to see some new cast, especially if this indicates either a potential Arc 3 being set in the present, or a replacement for an Arc 3, or even a supplement to it! (Remember that the instances we’ve seen of characters with new unique models becoming magical girls usually ended up being a major part of the main story!)

Shioya Harumi, eh? She seems like a very polite yet skiddish kiddo so far. In the previous lines, she panicked when Mito got to her while introducing everyone. So far, we’ve seen a couple of normal (generic) NPCs, a fifth grade boy NPC, Natsuki, Mitama, Kanagi, Mito, who’s been introducing everyone, and the person introduced before Harumi here...

HUH??????? A DUDE WITH A FACE?????

My god, that’s the third unique male model we’ve seen, after Tonker’s dad and Tasuke. Huh, speaking of which, those latter two did end up becoming very important in late Arc 2, and they were both family members of main character magical girls...

Oh, he has a name too!!! “Izumi Sougetsu”...

WAITWAITWAIT IT’S NAGITAN’S BROTHER!!! Holy shite, we finally have a name for him! Wow, he’s got the exact opposite appearance to Nagitan, looks like he stuck his finger in an electrical socket. What a mood, mate. 

He mentions here that he’s a 3rd year middle schooler at Daito Academy, which is odd, I seem to remember Nagitan’s brother being older than her? 

I gotta go read through some parts of Chapter 10 again, but I could’ve sworn he was one of the ones who helped to snap Mitama and Nagitan out of their depresso funk, which, if I’m right there, means he’s already story relevant!! 

Oh, also, looks like Sougetsu here has his own set of emotes, too. I wasn’t able to catch it well in the screenshot, but he starts showing up in event episode 2, so there should be plenty of scenes with him during the event.

[thecringemachine]

I can't wait to see your new Lloyd tickle story I'm very excited !

Ha ha! You're adorable.

Ok, here you go. It's a bit short, but I hope you enjoy it.

Summary: plants got some smarts.

ENJOY!

Harumi pulled at Lloyd’s hand, urging him to go faster. He stumbled, chuckling at Harumi’s enthusiasm.

“Harumi! Slow DA-OWN!” Lloyd exclaimed as he stumbled again. They were now deep in Primevil’s Eye, for old time’s sake. Harumi finally slowed down, but didn’t let go of Lloyd’s hand. He noticed this and found himself blushing.

They were soon walking side-by-side, still holding hands. They kept glancing at each other, and, every now and then, they would lock eyes and instantly look away, blushing.

So glad Kai isn’t here. Lloyd thought. Then I’d never hear the e- Lloyd was snapped out of his thoughts by a tug on his arm. Harumi was looking around.

“Does this place look familiar to you?” She asked. Lloyd looked around and realized she was right.

“Yeah it does.” He replied. He felt a sense of distrust about the place, and searched his memory for why, but couldn’t find the answer. Unfortunately he soon did, and all too late.

The vines came fast, and this time they got both him and Harumi. They yelped as the vines wrapped around their limbs. He looked over and only saw Harumi struggling in her own set of vines before he felt the all too familiar sensation shoot from his stomach.

He let out a squeak, followed by adorable giggles. Harumi felt the vines explore her neck and she managed to keep her laughter at bay, but not for long. The vines found her hips, and she screeched as they began tickling them mercilessly. Lloyd was too caught up in his laughter to notice. It was almost like the vines remembered him as they instantly found their way under his gi. He squealed and giggled hysterically.

The vines definitely seemed to remember Harumi, and how she had cut their favorite tickle toy down. They were now tickling her sides, neck and stomach, quickly finding out that she wasn’t ticklish anywhere else. Her laughter was high, and she cackled at the intense sensations.

The vines continued tickling for a while, as if saying No one can save you this time. 

“Dohon’t count uhuhus ohohout this tihihime.” Lloyd managed to say through his giggles. He suddenly felt stupid. I’m talking to plants. But they seemed to understand, because more slipped under his shirt. He squealed and his giggles got louder. He knew they needed to stop the vines and get back home, but he found that he was enjoying this.

“Whahahat cahan you do? Wehehe’re stuhuhuck!” Harumi cackled. They both were running out of breath. Lloyd did his best to focus and felt green power licking at his hand. It wasn’t very strong, but when he shot it at the vines, they let him go.

He did the same to Harumi, and they both fell to the ground. Lloyd looked up and was relieved to see that he hadn’t hurt any of the vines. Wait, why would I care? They’re just plants. But for some reason he did.

Once they had both caught their breath, Harumi jumped on Lloyd unexpectedly and started poking his sides, like she had done when they were walking through Primevil’s Eye the first time.

“Haruhuhuhmi! Stahahahap!” Lloyd giggled. He squeaked in surprise as the vines that had been tickling them came down and wrapped around his arms, leaving his torso free for Harumi.

“Guess plants are smarter than people think. These ones definitely are.” Harumi said, before scrabbling her fingers over Lloyd’s tummy. He squeaked again and dissolved into giggles.

“Yohohou’re rihihight!” Lloyd laughed out. “Sohoho ihif yohohou stohop then they WIHIHILL! NOHOHO!” Lloyd squealed as Harumi shaped her hand into a claw and buzzed it into his stomach. He tried to squirm away, but the vines reacted, tightening their grip on his arms.

“HARUMIHIHI! STAHAP PLEHEHEHEASE!” Lloyd shouted. Harumi chuckled and let up, and as she did, the vines let go. Lloyd curled in on himself, panting. Harumi stood up.

“Mehean.” Lloyd panted. Harumi smirked as she watched the vines come down again. Lloyd felt them wrap around his arms and he shouted in surprise. But the vines picked him up onto his feet and let go. He just stood there in shock.

“I guess they are smart.” He said. He locked eyes with Harumi, and they smiled at each other. Then Lloyd felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up to see two vines shaped in a heart. He glared playfully at them.

“Oh, be quiet.” He said before he and Harumi walked out of Primevil’s Eye.

[so-sures-blog]

Traitor Lloyrumi AU

Here is something to shed some light on the situation: Ninjago City was taken over. It was overrun by someone called the Quiet One, also known as Harumi. But she didn’t single-handedly take over Ninjago City. No, she had the help of someone else. Someone named Lloyd Garmadon. 

Tags: Toxic Relationships (it’s Harumi), Self Harm, Harm

Chapter inspired by Act Natural, by the-modern-typewriter on Patreon

Lloyd’s new purpose in life was to be entertaining. 

He was locked away in Harumi’s penthouse while she went to work . He was just supposed to be there — warming her bed, waiting for her to get home, cooking her meals, ect. 

It was like a sick version of playing house, with Lloyd as the lovesick husband waiting for his dear wife to get home. 

Lloyd would have preferred torture to this. He supposes this is why Harumi chose this to begin with. 

Here is something to shed some light on the situation: Ninjago City was taken over. It was overrun by someone called the Quiet One, also known as Harumi. But she didn’t single-handedly take over Ninjago City. No, she had the help of someone else. Someone named Lloyd Garmadon. 

Lloyd was a civilian in Ninjago City, but he was friends with the Ninja, the protectors of this city. They had raised him when they found him on the street, and had loved him as one of their own. He wasn’t an Elemental Master like them, so as soon as he was old enough he went on to lead a civilian life — go to school, get a job, ect. 

That was until Harumi came into his life. Looking back, Lloyd should have known that having such obvious connections to the Ninja would lead to trouble. Draw in the wrong types of people. 

The Quiet One was a dangerous figurehead in Ninjago City. They had a name, but Lloyd was finally able to put a face to it one dark night when Harumi slid into his life with dangerous eyes and silky threats. 

She used his fear. She made him her pawn, and used him to betray his family. With inside information from Lloyd, Harumi was able to hit them, hit the city, where it hurts. 

Because of Lloyd, Ninjago City was sent crumbling to its knees and the Ninja were left reeling. Nobody knew if they were dead or alive or if they had found refuge in another city. 

And Lloyd?

Harumi picked him up in the middle of the night, praised him, and then stole him away.

Harumi was away now, dealing with running her new city. Lloyd got out of the shower, steam curling the air as he dried himself on his towel and put on his clothes when — 

Hands seized him from behind, clamping over his mouth before he could yelp and slammed him to a wall.

“Easy, Lloyd. We’re here to rescue you. Easy.”

Lloyd froze. Blinking, stunned, Lloyd whipped around and faced one of the brothers’ he betrayed. 

Kai . 

He looked older than he did when he last saw him. Wearier, more tired, and he had a new scar under his eye that wasn't there before. Lloyd swallowed the lump in his throat. 

He did that. 

It was his fault that Kai was so worn, so battle-torn and rough. Lloyd had betrayed Kai and his family because he was too afraid, too cowardly. 

“What are you doing here?” Lloyd asked. It suddenly occurred to him that Harumi would be back soon, and if she saw Kai standing in their bedroom she would kill him. A sharp spike of fear shot through him. 

“Rescuing you,” Kai said. “You’re our friend, remember? We’re family.”

Another spike shot through him, but it wasn’t fear. It was pain, lancing through his entire being and stealing his breath away. 

“But I betrayed you,” Lloyd hissed. A sudden bout of anger hit him. Why was Kai risking his stupid life for a traitor like him? Lloyd had single-handedly destroyed the city that he and his friends so dearly loved just because he was afraid of dying at the hands of Harumi. Why didn’t Kai get it that he should hate him, that he didn’t deserve to be saved?

Something in Kai’s face shifted, pulling back a little bit to stare at Lloyd’s face. His eyes were soft as he reached forward and put his hand on Lloyd’s face, daringly. The only times Harumi did that was to see his reactions, to bask in every flavor of emotion flickering across his face. 

“We don’t blame you, Lloyd,” he said. 

His heart stopped. “What?” 

Kai put both hands to his face, staring Lloyd straight in the eyes so he could understand. “We don’t blame you. None of us do. You aren’t made to fight monsters like us, Lloyd, you aren’t trained like we are. You weren’t prepared when Harumi came after you, and that’s on us ; we’re your family, and we should have known that relations to us would have consequences. We — you shouldn't have gone through that alone.”

Lloyd blinked rapidly, tears stinging his angry eyes and falling unhindered. 

That had to be the kindest thing anyone had said to him in the months of Harumi’s care. All of Harumi’s kindness and honeyed words had an edge, but Lloyd could deal with that. This kind of kindness — Kai’s kindness — only made him feel unworthy of the sweetness after everything he’s done.

He flung himself at Kai, burying himself in the comforting embrace he had missed. “ I’m sorry,” he sobbed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what to do — she said she'd kill me all if I didn’t tell her — she said you died — ”

Kai soothed him, rubbing his back like he did when Lloyd was a kid and pulled away. “I know, it’s okay,” he said. “C’mon, we have to go before Harumi gets back. The others are waiting for you.” 

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Lloyd nodded, locking his emotions behind a steel wall. 

Then he followed Kai. 

***

When Kai and Lloyd made their way to the warehouse where everyone was camping out, the first thing he saw was his family. 

Nya, Zane, Jay, Cole, and PIXAL were standing in the dreary surroundings like beams of strength, all dressed in their Ninja gear. 

The minute Lloyd stepped into view, Nya put away her weapon and flung herself into his arms, burying her head into the crook of his neck. She didn’t say anything, but Lloyd could feel her trembling as she squeezed him so tight he hurt. 

Lloyd didn’t do anything but close his eyes and squeeze her back, but he still felt the sharp pain lace his heart as Nya pulled away and wiped her wet eyes. After pulling away Jay took her place, then Zane, then PIXAL, then Cole. 

After his family drew away did Lloyd wipe his tears, feeling more emotion than he had the past few months. 

“I’m sorry,” Lloyd mumbled out. It seemed like he would never be able to say those words enough and not stop the wave of guilt. 

Cole shook his head. “It’s not your fault Lloyd. Not entirely. We should have noticed. You were forced into this. You didn’t have a choice.” 

Lloyd swallowed the bile in his throat. He did have a choice though. He could have chosen to be more brave. He could have chosen to say no to Harumi’s lethal eyes. He could have — he could have — 

He must have seen the millions of thoughts dashing across his expression, because Cole shook his head, eased his grip off his shoulder.

“There’s no time to explain everything,” Cole said. “We don’t have long before The Quiet One gets back.”

Lloyd’s stomach twisted with unease; palms clammy with sweat at the thought. He couldn’t be sure, but he couldn’t help but think that things were going all too smoothly. Harumi was a cold leader, and a calculating strategist. She controlled the city, had eyes everywhere. 

“We had to make sure you were safe,” Jay said, hollow. “You were in the city, and we heard that she took you. We had to find a way into the city. So we studied her. Her strengths. Her weaknesses. And … that was you. Harumi — the Quiet One — she’s … obsessed with you.”

Lloyd swallowed, shifting his feet. He … didn’t know what to think with that. Sure, she was … she was … Harumi, but Lloyd didn’t really think she cared about him that much. There was some level of strong feeling, but Lloyd always thought that was just her being cruel. It didn’t mean anything, not really.

She had always coveted him, desired him for sure, but never as an equal, as an actual person. Harumi doted on him in the way one might treat a beloved pet or a favourite tool. 

Harumi pressed feathery kisses on him, ran lingering fingers over his body, and had always breathed that they were kindred spirits in his ear, but that wasn’t love . 

Right? 

PIXAL spoke up, snapping him from his thoughts. “You are the only thing, beyond her own power, that she seems to care about. That makes you the perfect bait. It might be our only chance to —”

The words cut out with a gasp. PIXAL’s green eyes flashed in the darkness and it took Lloyd a second too late to see what she saw. 

A knife was thrown, deadly and precise as it plunged in Jay’s shoulder. Jay screamed and went down, the sound chilling Lloyd to the bones as blood poured out the wound, turning the cement slippery and red. His blue gi stained dark as it seeped through the fabric. The knife thrown had pinned Jay’s shoulder straight to the ground.

“JAY!” Nya screamed and went to his side, breathing unsteadily as the blood pooled around her. 

“To what? Kill me?” Harumi’s echoey voice rang through the silence. 

She slithered from the shadows, one of her knives spinning in her hand with the utmost grace. Her white hair was the brightest thing in the warehouse, and the warpaint smeared under her eyes was the same shade of Jay’s blood. 

But she was different. Her face was twisted with rage, eyes blazing, looking nothing like the cool and calculating calm that Lloyd had grown used to seeing. Harumi was something wild and savage coiled up in a human shape.

She stalked forward like a wrathful shadow, bent on the destruction and blood of his friends. Her hands were trembling, shaking with fury, and she looked almost feral with the need to kill.

“Hardly. Not when you think it is possible to get away with taking what’s mine.”

Cold plunged through Lloyd. He was on their feet in an instant, heart lurching as he moved between his captor and his friends, arms wide.

Her eyes flicked to him. “And now,” Harumi said, “once again all of your friends will die. Slowly. Painfully. Because of you .”

Lloyd cringed. His breathing turned shallow. He became acutely aware of his friends behind him, desperate. Of Jay bleeding out, shaking. Of all the open spaces where Harumi’s men could take them out.

She lunged forward with bloody intent, knives swinging, but Lloyd moved quicker.

He snatched the blade hanging from Kai’s belt and pressed the sharp edge into his own throat. 

“STOP!”

Harumi froze.

Lloyd took the moment to survey his surroundings: half of his friends had drawn their weapons and the other half were crouching by Jay. He was bleeding, but the knife lodged in seemed to stop it from spilling all out. It was nowhere fatal, thank God — Harumi wanted them to suffer, to have their hearts carved out and leave their corpses soaked in blood. 

Lloyd has never felt so terrified in his life. Not when Harumi first rolled up to him in a limo with her sharp smile. Not when the reality of what he’s done for her came crashing down with the screams of his friends. Not in the moments where there was the quiet before the chaos; when Harumi would wind her arm around his neck, whisper that he was hers, and kiss him senseless. 

But amidst the terror, there was resolve. Lloyd had done a lot of bad things, but maybe this could make up for it. His fear was what led Harumi to manipulate him, his own cowardice leading to the demise of the city and his family. 

Lloyd wouldn’t stand aside and let the same thing happen this time. 

“Let them go,” Lloyd said. Harumi had never told him that she loved him, and he had always thought that her wayward affectionate behavior was just to be cruel, but… “Let them go right now , or I’ll slit my throat.”

But he had to try something.

Harumi’s fingers flexed, ready to pounce, but didn’t move. Her eyes were laser-focused on the dagger by his throat. Her men burst from the darkness, but she held up a hand, stopping them. 

“You wouldn’t,” Harumi hissed. She was furious, but if Lloyd didn’t know any better, he would say she looked almost desperate. Lloyd shifted the blade, and he swore he saw fear in her eyes. 

She lowered her voice, making it silky and velvety. Trying to conceal her obvious desperation. “You wouldn’t do it,” she continued softly. “After everything you’ve done? All that you did to save your own skin? You value your life too much to — ”

The knife sunk into Lloyd’s skin, and blood dripped down the stinging wound.

The silence following that seemed like the loudest thing in the warehouse. Harumi shut up, hands lowering. Her and Lloyd never took their eyes off each other, not trusting each other to not do anything. 

“Go,” Lloyd said. He didn’t allow his voice to shake. “Get out of here. Now.”

For a moment, nobody moved. Cole and Nya were crouched next to Jay, frozen. Zane, PIXAL, and Kai were stuck too, staring at Lloyd and Harumi. The Quiet One radiated more fury than Lloyd had ever seen. His fingers ached with how tightly he was gripping the dagger, but he didn’t dare loosen his grip. 

The silence smothered the building, the anticipation suffocating. They were all waiting for Harumi to let loose, to snap and order the guards to kill them all. 

 But she didn’t move. 

Harumi stood still, breathing deeply as her eyes fixed on Lloyd and his dagger. Nothing else really existed at all between them. Harumi wanted Lloyd alive. Lloyd wanted his friends to survive. Harumi wanted them dead and Lloyd would kill himself if she was the cause of their last breath being drawn. 

That left the two of them at a stalemate, at an equilibrium. A new battlefield stretched across the space between them. 

Finally, Lloyd heard the sounds of Nya and Cole hoisting Jay up and dragging him away. PIXAL went after them to scout and protect, but not before looking back with a regretful gaze. 

It hurt Lloyd more than he thought that he wasn’t able to get a final look at his family. This could be the last time ever he was going to see them, but Lloyd didn’t dare look away from Harumi, ready to slice his neck open if she so much as twitched. 

“Lloyd,” Kai sounded pained. Lloyd wanted to close his eyes. Of course, Kai wasn’t one to leave his family. He was willing to die for them. It was probably killing him that he would have to leave him. 

“It’s okay, Kai,” Lloyd said. “Go.” 

The lie burned his tongue and made his stomach roll. There was silence, then the shuffling of feet as Zane dragged Kai out the building to escape. 

Lloyd didn’t move the knife away from his neck. Harumi didn’t move any closer.  The two didn’t take their eyes off each other. 

Time dragged on, the minutes dripping by and the hours dangling between them.

Eventually, confirmation came that the Ninja had left the city limits. Proof came in the form of pictures.

Lloyd closed his eyes. 

Harumi was on him in an instant. Lloyd let her knock the blade aside, and felt the familiar indent of her fingers on his throat. She drove him back into the wall, eyes wild. 

Too many emotions were flickering by too fast: rage and fear and hate and something else. Something powerless. And it made Lloyd feel powerful. Smug, even, because never in his life had he seen Harumi lose so much control. Never seen her show so much as she wanted to show. 

And now Lloyd knew what his greatest weapon was: himself. 

“What are you going to do now?” Lloyd shoved her back, grinning a crazed thing. “Kill me?”

Harumi’s fists clenched, but she didn’t lunge at him again. She looked like she wanted to tear him limb from limb; she looked ready to shred the world and torch its ashes. Harumi lurked close — not as close as she usually was, but closer than an average person would. “Death is not nearly enough punishment for thinking you can walk away from me. You care for them? You’ll spend the rest of your life listening to them scream.”

“You know, it’s funny,” Lloyd began. “You always threaten everyone else. Never me. It’s almost like you don’t really want to hurt me.”

“You are absurd,” Harumi spat. “You really think I’d let you do away with yourself? That pleasure is reserved for me alone. I will kill you for what you’ve done today.”

“No you won’t,” he smiled. It was a cruel thing, but Lloyd didn’t care. After so long of feeling powerless, having power over someone like Harumi was addictive. “No you won’t. You know why?” 

Lloyd takes a step closer, and cups her face. Harumi’s eyes are blown wide as he gently tucks a lock of white hair behind her ear and leans down to whisper in it. 

“ Because you love me.” 

Harumi jerks, slamming her hands against his chest and reeling back. Too many emotions are flying across her face. Too many words were clogging her mouth, choking her. 

It suddenly occurred to Lloyd that their roles were switched; that Harumi was acting like Lloyd and Lloyd was acting like Harumi. Something in Lloyd twisted, but he didn’t care. 

Harumi was right when she called them kindred spirits. They were. And after so long, Lloyd wanted to make Harumi squirm, he wanted her to feel uncomfortable, exposed. Revealed. 

It was wrong, and sick, and some may even call it — him — evil, but Lloyd didn’t care. He was doing this for his family, his friends. Before he was too scared, but he wasn’t anymore. He was doing what Harumi had done to him — using the knifed tongue, and using it where it hurt. 

“It hurts, doesn’t it?” Lloyd said. His voice had changed, growing lower. He didn’t know if the tone was mocking or genuinely soft. “I’m not yours , Harumi. Pawn I may be to you, but I was always theirs . I was the Ninja's first.”

Harumi’s voice shook, but was no less deadly. “Just because I won’t kill you doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you. It doesn’t mean I can’t make you wish you were dead.”

Lloyd laughed. “You think I don’t wish that? I do, with every second I spend with you, my monster.”

Harumi stopped breathing. Words seemed to leave her in an instant. She stared up at him with wide eyes, a hand to her chest. 

She didn’t look hurt, exactly.

For a long minute, they just stared at each other.

“We really do deserve each other, don’t we?” Harumi finally whispered. Her voice was tentative. She looked — sounded — so young. For the first time, Lloyd realized that they must be the same age. 

“You have no idea how cruel you are when you want to be. One of these days we might just kill each other.”

Lloyd’s heart seemed to break. 

“You first, Harumi.”

She closed her eyes at that, and Lloyd felt himself sagging. 

What had the two of them become? 

Lloyd opened his eyes and saw Harumi take his hand, locking their fingers together. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s head back.” 

Lloyd let her walk him back, into the car, until they reached Harumi’s penthouse, his prison. 

Was he seriously going to just walk back in there?

Lloyd came to a stop outside, still linked to Harumi’s hand. He stared up at the tower, then looked down at the girl, who was watching him. 

Then he kissed her. 

It was a sweet kiss, one that mimicked a lover kissing their beloved, and Harumi’s breath seized. She put her arms around his neck, drawing him close as he put one arm around her waist, tangling another in her hair. 

Lloyd wonders when he got so cruel.

As he kissed Harumi, Lloyd knew three things: 

The Ninja had escaped. They were free to try again, and everyone would know they had successfully infiltrated Ninjago City and survived. The people of the city would doubt.

Harumi was in love with him. Or at the very least, she cared about him. What she felt for him was mad, obsessive, toxic, crazy … love. It was wrong, but so were they. Lloyd and Harumi were kindred spirits, two sides of the same coin. They deserved each other. Harumi was in love with Lloyd, and she wasn’t about to let him go. 

Lloyd had and was more than he ever could have imagined.