#like. i think hak being the sword is one of if not the most popular theories and i can see it bc well. look at the guy

[neixins]

the sword and shield part of the prophecy is soooo vague that i’ll rotate every possible theory inside my silly little head and then go “or it could be smth else”. absolute net zero conclusions reached but i had fun.

[ehyde]

Cold Memories (ghost!Suwon + modern reincarnation fic)

The previous post was getting long & I’ve started posting on AO3 now, so here’s a new post to keep everything organized.

Summary: Yona and Hak have been reincarnated as Rina and Jin, two normal high school students in modern-day Kouka. But when Rina is on a class trip to Hiryuu Castle, she meets a ghost who seems to recognize her. Being haunted by her own personal ghost can be annoying, but Suwon is friendly, cheerful, helpful...and nothing like the ancient king in her history books. What connection does he have to Rina and Jin--and what secrets is he keeping?

read from the beginning on ao3 | first three chapters on tumblr

Chapter four (in which even a friendly ghost can be quite spooky) under the cut.

School is as awkward as Rina expected, from the moment her ghostly companion sits next to her in an empty seat only for a classmate to sit right on top of him, to his murmurs of that’s not right during history, to his continuous whispered requests to explain the book that they’re discussing in lit class.

“I’ll explain the whole story later!” she finally tells him. “Can’t you see I really can’t talk right now?” When the whole class turns to stare at her, she realizes just how explosive her reply was...and that Suwon wasn't the only one who just asked her a question. So did the teacher.

So that's detention. And the school day isn't half over. She ignores Suwon the rest of the morning.

At lunchtime, Jin finds her, and he chats with Suwon--she’s forced to listen as Suwon explains what happened, as Jin laughs to hear the story. “Aw, poor Rina,” he teases. “You've never been a delinquent before. I'll wait for you,” he promises. “We can still walk home together.” It almost could have been sweet, if he didn’t go on to explain the novel to Suwon in full detail.

“I am sorry,” Suwon assures her. “What will your punishment entail?”

Rina sighs. “It won’t be that bad. I think they’ll just have us clean the school grounds. I’ll miss the martial arts club, though,” she adds, then immediately regrets saying it as Suwon’s eyes light up.

“You study martial arts?”

“Just...for fun. You--you probably know how to fight with a sword for real, in a war, right? This is just a sport.”

“But that's good! I wouldn't want you to see a war.”

“Knowing how to use a sword wouldn't do much good as far as that's concerned, anyway.”

“Oh? I can hardly believe that your modern era has done away with war.”

“No…just found more effective weapons.”

“Ah.” He nods in satisfaction. “To go along with your phones and airplanes.” They'd seen a plane in the sky while walking to school, and Suwon had been fascinated. To immediately recognize their use in warfare...but he'd been a king, after all. “Is Hak in this ‘martial arts club’ as well?”

Rina is startled. “Who?” Then, “oh--you mean Jin?” Suwon had admitted straightaway that Jin, like Rina, looked like someone he’d known, but this was the first time he’d named him.

“Yes...ah, sorry. Jin. Does he train with a spear?”

“M-hm,” Rina answers. Did this ‘Hak’ fight with a spear as well? “Fuuga has a long tradition of spear-fighting, so it’s popular in the club.” Suwon nods, no doubt more familiar with that tradition than Rina is herself.

Cleaning up trash around the school wouldn’t be a problem, except that Rina is assigned to work with two older boys who she knows are troublemakers. They know who she is, too--one of them used to follow her around, making comments about her hair--and this time, Jin isn’t around. “So, too good to talk to us, but not too good for detention!” Rina doesn’t reply. There’s nothing to gain here. “What was it for? Talking back to a teacher, I suppose.” At that, Rina flushes bright red, because of course he’s right.

“Be careful,” Suwon warns her. “These two give off a bad feeling.”

“They’re just teasing,” Rina mutters. “I can put up with it for a few hours.” They eventually wander off, leaving Rina to work on her own, but honestly, that’s preferable. It’s when they find her again--late in the day, when most of the teachers have left, and on the outer edge of the school grounds, that she feels that nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach, too.

“Hey there, little girl. Want to get in some real trouble?”

“No, thank you,” Rina says firmly.

And then before she knows what’s happening, the taller of the two grabs her shoulder. Suwon moves to push him away but of course he passes straight through him, and his look of frustrated rage is a sight to behold.

“We’ll have some fun,” says the older boy--his carefree smile says he already knows he’s going to have his way--and Rina twists out of his grip, reaching down to grab a fallen branch from the ground.

“Yona. The best thing to do right now is to run away.” Suwon is desperately calm, but now Rina is mad.

“They’ll just go after someone else!”

“Oh... you think you can use a sword, don't you?” Rina doesn't, she knows she can't, but what else can she do?”

“Step left.” Rina follows Suwon's direction without thinking, narrowly evading the boy's grasp. She lifts her makeshift weapon to defend against his next attempt, and it works--it’s not fencing, but it feels natural--until the other boy she’d forgotten was there pulls her down from behind.

Then she stands up. She’s not thinking about it but it isn’t until she spins back and knocks the second boy off his feet that she realizes she’s not moving at all. Suwon is--the ghostly outline of his arms with their long draping sleeves set over hers, moving with her, for her, and instead of the stick in her hands she sees an ornate, ancient sword. Rina stiffens when she realizes what’s happening--but Suwon keeps moving for her, one more blow striking at the first boy, and then--then he’s just holding her hand, pulling her away.

“Yona,” he says. “Yona, I—”

“You possessed me. You--you really possessed me!” But if he hadn’t, then who knew what those guys would have done to her?

“I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know I could!”

“Don’t ever do that again. But...thank you.” He stops. Stares at her. “You’re calling me Yona again. Was Yona someone you wanted to protect?”

Suwon looks upwards at the sky. “I...once cared for her very much, yes.”

“Was...was she someone you failed to protect?” He looks away and doesn't reply, and that tells Rina all she needs to know.