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konfuchsius · 5 months

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"You have to be more careful, Heiji!" Kazuha admonished her best friend. Every time he turned up at her door in order to be treated by her, she was frightened. It was lucky that she had been able to persuade him to come to her in the first place. To put it nicely, Heiji's talent simply didn't lie in applying bandages or other similar procedures. And the fact that he had to practise this on himself didn't make it any better. Without her help, his parents would probably have found out about his many injuries long ago and put a stop to his detective work. Kazuha was beginning to wonder whether that wouldn't have been better. She was very worried about him and lately the scratches and bruises which she had to cover up with make-up were piling up.

Heiji loved his work, but his health should clearly come first. She just hadn't said anything more forceful yet because the injuries were limited to a few scrapes and bruises. But today was different and she shuddered at the sight of his bloody arm.

"Fell into a pile of broken glass when I was wrestling with a perpetrator," he had mumbled as an explanation and looked away from her. A clear sign that this was not true, or at least not the whole story.

Kazuha immediately stopped rummaging through the first aid kit - which she had bought especially for Heiji; her parents would have noticed the many missing items sooner or later - and fixed him with her gaze. "I don't care how you got these wounds - not really - but the point is that this has to stop, Heiji!" Her eyes searched his, but they didn't find them. "Your body is just a collection of scars. Don't you realise that it's destroying you?" It still amazed her to this day how he had managed to keep the whole thing a secret from her for so long. He had never let on that he was in pain, but he had to be. The patches of unhealthy colour on his skin spoke volumes. It had been only by chance that she had discovered them when she held Heiji by the arm and he then winced slightly. She had then pushed up his sleeve and confronted him. Yet again, he denied his situation.

"I'm fine," he said, finally looking up, but his eyes were strangely dull.

"You might be, but your body isn't!"

"It's been through worse."

"'Perhaps, but how many times more' Heiji?" Her voice softened towards the end. "Everyone has their limits and you'll soon reach yours. Although they're usually only minor injuries, there are a lot of them ... Take better care of yourself, will you? ..." She looked down at her hands, which were slowly resuming their work. Heiji remained silent and she did not press him to answer. He had to think about it and conclude for himself that it wasn't good for him. She couldn't order him to do it, she had no right to, nor would it do any good. "It will sting a bit ..." she finally said and pressed cotton wool soaked in alcohol onto one of the fresh cuts on his arm. He endured it without any emotion.

At school, Heiji behaved as usual, joked around and never, ever stopped smiling. At first, even the injuries he sustained lessened and Kazuha thought that everything would go well in the end. He certainly tried harder to avoid slipping into the most dangerous cases unprepared and to proceed more conscientiously. At least that's what she thought. Until she received a phone call one Sunday.

" Um ... Kazuha ... I need your help ..." his voice rang through the receiver and it didn't sound at all as if everything was all right. He was breathing heavily and every now and then he was shaken by a half-stifled cough.

"Heiji! What the hell happened?" Kazuha pressed the phone tighter to her ear as if it would get her a quicker answer.

"Later... please just come quickly."

"You're home?" she asked, her heart pounding. She was already at the front door and had her key in her hand.

"Yes ..." Even that short word ended in a croak. What had happened to him? He hadn't hurt himself - he wouldn't do that, would he?

"Heiji‼ I'll be right with you," she announced her arrival at the Hattoris' house. His parents didn't seem to be there, otherwise he would certainly have called them first. When Kazuha received no reply, she quickened her pace again and skipped several steps on the way up. What she saw when she pushed open the door to his room took her breath away.

Heiji was leaning against the wall at the back and covered in bruises. The skin on his arms had been scraped off in places, as if he had fought someone. And he was holding his leg.

"I think it's sprained," he said as she approached him and rubbed his ankle with his right hand.

Kazuha looked at him in disbelief. "Who was that Heiji?"

"I tripped ... I should probably clean up after all." He put on a smile as if he had just fallen down and would get up again in a moment. As if he wasn't lying in front of her, pressed against the wall in pain. She couldn't understand why he was doing this. At the moment, nothing else entered her brain except that he was injured and needed help. There was no room for further thought.

"We should call an ambulance," she heard herself say quietly.

Heiji laughed lightly in the background, but it seemed false. "That's rubbish. I just need to rest a bit and then I'll be fine."

Kazuha slowly lifted her gaze from his leg to his head and paused at his eyes. "That's not funny, Heiji. Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm worried about you! I bet your parents would be too if they saw you like that!" Heiji had opened his mouth slightly to say something back, but after her last words, it instantly closed and his gaze slid to the side. Somehow he suddenly seemed ... colder.

Kazuha had a terrible hunch.

"Please just bring me the first-aid kit," he said in a tone that made it clear he didn't want to talk about it any further. She briefly considered whether she should persuade him to do so, but then she lowered her hands and nodded silently. First, they should deal with his wounds. Everything else would come later.

If she knew how she could help him better, she would. But even she could only apply the most necessary first aid measures and a doctor could certainly have done more. But Heiji refused to call one.

"The bruises will probably heal, but if your foot is really sprained, then it needs to be splinted! If you don't want to go to hospital, then you should at least see a doctor." The whole time she was trying to talk some sense into him, but he remained incredibly stubborn. "Please."

Heiji twisted his mouth to the side and then rubbed his left arm. "Maybe I was exaggerating. I just need to put my leg up a little and then it'll be fine tomorrow."

"Don't talk bollocks, Heiji. You can hardly move without making a face!" Kazuha gave him an angry glare. Didn't he understand that he wasn't doing himself any favours?

"What am I supposed to do?" Heiji returned her look. "They're hardly going to believe that I tripped."

"And I don't believe you either!" Her hands clenched into fists as she continued to speak. "Nobody looks like that just because they tripped. So tell me, ... was it your father? " It sounded like the only logical explanation to her; after all, nobody had broken into the house. And you couldn't inflict injuries like that on yourself. A part of her did not want to believe this, but the more she thought about it, the more clear it became. Heizo had already beaten his son once when they had all been there ... only to end up using him as bait for this gang of criminals. So was this idea really so far-fetched? Had all the previous scratches and marks also been caused by him and not by Heiji's 'excursions', as he had claimed?

She lowered her gaze as she waited for him to give her an answer. It took a little while, but then she heard the word that made regret and anger rise in her with equal measure.

"Yes."

How could he do this to him? "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked in a half-strangled voice.

"Because it's not important."

"'Not important'?" Kazuha stared at him, stunned. "How can it be unimportant?!!!"

Heiji looked to the side and then tried to pull himself up on his bed. "Oh never mind, forget it..." His attempt failed when he tried to put weight on his injured foot. Kazuha held him just in time before he fell to the floor again.

"I definitely won't," she made clear. "You can't let this happen to you!"

"And what would be the alternative?" Heiji had caught himself halfway stable on one leg and was now leaning against the radiator behind him. "You know how successful my father is. And no matter what else you can say about him... he catches the culprits." After these words, he looked at Kazuha expectantly, as if she needed to understand what this had to do with anything. But she didn't, so he took a deep breath and continued. "Without him, many murderers would still be at loose. And if I only have to endure a few bruises to keep it that way ... it doesn't matter."

Kazuha had taken another step back from Heiji after supporting him. Now she looked at him, the many bruises and marks, the scratch on his cheek and finally his ankle, which was slowly starting to thicken. That's why he put up with all this?

"Heiji ... this is madness. There are other policemen who do their job well and besides, it doesn't have to mean-"

"That he's going to prison?" Heiji's voice sounded sarcastic. "Maybe not, but he'll definitely lose his position. If not his entire job. And I can't afford that ..."

"That's nonsense and you know it." Kazuha looked at him with pity. Surely what he had said migth be a reason to him - that is just the way he is - and it was also his father. Nevertheless .... She couldn’t believe Heiji would ever put up with such an injustice.

"How is'- what-" Kazuha simply didn't know how to ask him such a question and so she restarted several times before she got it out. "Why is he doing this anyway?" It wasn't a particularly clever question - why would anyone do something like that? - but there had to be a reason for it.

She could see from Heiji's face that he didn't want to talk about it any further and that it was difficult for him, but this time she wasn't going to give in. Not after she knew what was behind it. It had been bad enough when she had thought that the injuries were the only thing he was keeping secret from all of them. But now it looked like much more ... That had to destroy one's insides. His laughter, his good mood, had it all just been an act?

"We just have our differences sometimes..." Heiji said after what felt like an eternity. " And if that involves cases ..."

"That has to stop, Heiji." She placed her hand gently on his. It was supposed to be reassuring, because right now he just looked like he could use it. "Look at you for once. He can't do that to you."

"There's no other way," Heiji said dryly and removed his hand from hers. " I just mustn't provoke him like that and then-"

"Stop it! Just stop it, Heiji." Slowly, Kazuha realised what all this really meant. The shock had held back her emotions, but now tears were slowly forming in the corners of her eyes. Seeing him like this... The wounds she had constantly bandaged on him. His pain-wracked face when he once again stood at her door covered in bruises. It was all his father's fault and Heiji was still defending him. She didn't know how she would react if her father hit her - she couldn't imagine that either - but it was clear: "Nothing you say could ever justify this. Not even criminals who would otherwise be at large!"

Funfact: Blue stains is the literal translation of the german word for bruise.

#vision and dreams still takes some time so here is an old snippet #hurt heiji #heiji hattori #dcmk #snippet #detco #detective conan #it doesn't really have an end #whump kind of?

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desafinado · 2 years

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requests guidelines ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝

hello! so… you’d like to leave a request? here are some things to keep in mind

disclaimer !! at any point, i have the right to refuse your request if it makes me uncomfortable, i feel that i cannot execute it or it is simply something that doesn't align with my writing.

types of written works you may request:

ficlets: unless otherwise specified, it’ll be under 1000 words! could increase if i feel strongly about the scenario/prompt

headcanons (hcs): headcanons yeah its self explanatory lol; in bullet form

hcs + ficlets: compilation of the above mentioned

continuation: you may ask for follow up of previous ficlets (or even oneshots that i may write) or request the same hcs/ficlets for different characters

if you do not specify, i will choose what i see fits the request!!

do’s & don’ts

do !!

send in any genshin characters, male or female!! you may even send characters from tears of themis, since i love them too… but please keep the amt of characters to four and below

feel free to send moodboards, a short drabble or even song recs you think would help set the mood!! these are not necessary, but would be appreciated ^^

inform me if there is any specific things you'd like me to avoid using for your request such as certain pet names and/or gendered descriptors… i usually see most as gender neutral (ex. pretty, handsome, babygirl, etc.), you may not feel the same, so do inform me!!

expect me to take creative liberties, esp if you leave some gaps (ex. whether or not it's a happy ending, overall mood)

do note that my specialty is fluff, but i’d also like to explore angst ^^ (and maybe even some slightest bit suggestive stuff, but not fully nsfw)

do also note i only write character x readers (gn!reader unless specified... if i do write something specific, it would most likely be afab!reader)

expect me to fulfil your request within a week or two, unless of course, something comes up, i will be sure to update

take up an emoji or a moniker if you plan to use anon often! just be sure to say so, so that i may take note of it

tell me if i was able to complete your request satisfactorily ^^

don't !!

don’t send characters that have not yet appeared in the story… specifically leaked characters! i won’t be able to say much about them, so… harbingers and others who have appeared on official videos and such are fine

don’t send characters that are very much physically portrayed as children (ex. klee, nahida, diona, etc.)

don’t expect me to write anything too nsfw… i mean very much support, but i cannot write anything very… i am neither knowledgeable nor confident enough to write such detailed works

don’t nag me about your request… i do this for fun :’) and well, my own enjoyment. i’ve stated multiple times that i get really busy with uni, so please have some understanding.

characters i write for:

albedo, alhaitham, ayato, childe, diluc, kaeya, kazuha, thoma, xiao, zhongli

ei, beidou, dehya, ganyu, lisa, lumine, keqing, yae, yoimiya

in my profile you will find a “currently working on: [--]” section, this informs you how many requests i currently have. if it arises that i have too much or other complications in my life pop up, i will add “requests: closed” to my pinned; please DO NOT send requests during this time, as i will not accommodate them. "requests: on hold" implies that i am currently working on a event or something long/big; you may submit, but do not expect me to accomplish them quickly.

lastly, feel free to send me messages on my main (@knanamii) or more asks if they have to do with specifying your requests or if you’d just like to discuss whatever ^^

#genshin impact #requests open #please read lol #fluff #tears of themis #x reader #imagines

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idontknowanametouse · 7 months

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Genshin cringe headcanons part 3: Mondstadt teens

This post reclaims the term “cringe”. If you use it as an insult or is triggered by it, please, DNI

Name: Barbara Pegg

Gender: trans girl, she/idol

Picture of Character:

Appearance: ethnically german, white, fat, has long blond hair in two ponytails, blue eyes, is short

Age: 17

Sexuality: asexual lesbian

Personality: caring, hard worker, charismatic through a mask, optimistic, insecure, thinks way too low about herself

Area of greatest ability: music

Likes: singing, praying, gazing at nature, taking care of others, sunflowers, seeing people happy, fish

Dislikes: bitter food, being unable to help, being way too tired

Fears/triggers: being compared to her sister, divorces, spooky stories

Kin: water, painting, slime, sky, flowers, fluffy, cute stuff, idol stuff.

Family: Jean (biological older sister) Lisa (sister in law) Rosaria (found family older sister)

Relationship status: single

Friends: Albedo, Bennett, Fischl, Mika, Sucrose, Venti, Mona, Amber, Diluc, Kaeya, Xinyan, Yun Jin

Disabilities: autistic, has schizophrenia, gets medicines with Albedo

Belief: believes Barbatos in a way that resembles catholic beliefs

Name: Bennett

Gender: transmasc demiboy, he/they

Picture of character:

Appearance: ethnically german, white, tan skinned, has freckles, many scars through his body, very clear and almost white hair, green eyes, below the knee amputation on right leg

Age: 15

Sexuality: asexual biromantic polyamorous

Personality: optimistic, passionate, very inventive, resillient, extrovert, insecure, has low self-esteem

Area of greatest ability: travelling and mechanics

Likes: adventuring, being around his friends, cabbages, meat, when people smile

Dislikes: spicy food, being avoided, not finding anything in an adventure, their bad luck

Fears/triggers: being abandoned, the day his bad luck takes over

Kin: adventure, fire, eggs, red, orange.

Family: adventurers guild (adoptive family) Diona, Diluc, Kaeya (found family siblings)

Relationship status: dating Razor and Fischl

Friends: Albedo, Barbara, Mika, Noelle, Sucrose, Rosaria, Jean, Amber, Klee, Lisa.

Disabilities: autistic, partially deafblind (both on the left side), ADHD, dyspraxia, has a service dog called Roca that helps him on day-to-day tasks and when they gets hurt.

Belief: is agnostic towards Barbatos, but was raised in a way that resembles jewish beliefs and still practices it

Name: Fischl von Luftschloss Narfdort

Gender: transfem, she/raven/violet/prinzessin/crow.

Picture of character:

Appearance: ethnically german, white, blond hair in two tails, green eyes, pear-like body.

Age: 15

Sexuality: polyamorous omnisexual

Personality: formal, weird, curious, insecure, goth, extrovert when with close people.

Area of greatest ability: acting, writing

Likes: prinzessin der verurteilung, having friends, crows, reading, night

Dislikes: not being recognized as Fischl, wine smell, being ignored

Fears/triggers: being alone, being called crazy, being called prinzessins deadname

Kin: prinzessin der verurteilung, purple, crows, princess, darkness, roleplay games, bats, spiders.

Family: Mona (biological cousin)

Relationship status: dating Bennett and Razor

Friends: Albedo, Barbara, Kazuha, Xinyan, Diluc, Jean, Kaeya, Lisa, Mika, Noelle, Rosaria, Sucrose.

Disabilities: autistic, psychosis, hurt her eye during an episode and uses an eyepatch, Oz is her service animal and helps her to cope with daily life, has medicine made by Albedo

Belief: has a wild range of beliefs that embraces all of Teyvat’s deities/divine beings, considers violetself as pagan.

Name: Noelle

Gender: trans girl, she/they.

Picture of character:

Appearance: short, ethnically german, white, very muscled, has brown hair dyed lilac, brown eyes.

Age: 14

Sexuality: asexual lesbian

Personality: polite, ethical, helpful, stubborn, independent, insecure, calm, kind.

Area of greatest ability: helping.

Likes: taking care of others, training, routine, wine smell, roses, salad, being comprehended by people her age

Dislikes: having unfinished tasks, resting, failing, banquets, rain

Fears/triggers: not doing enough to be considered worth loving, never accomplishing her dreams

Kin: cottagecore, pancakes, pastel colors, red, golden.

Family: knights of Favonius (found family)

Relationship status: single, has a crush on Lumine and Barbara

Friends: Barbara, Bennett, Diluc, Diona, Fischl, Mona, Rosaria, Venti, Zhongli, Itto, Gorou

Disabilities: autistic, OCD, arthritis, sometimes uses crutches to get around fast and not hurt her legs

Belief: believes Barbatos but does not does any practices, sometimes goes to church just to see Barbara

Name: Razor

Gender: transmasc nonbinary agender wolfgender, Wolf/it/he/they

Pictures of character:

Appearance: ethnically romani, dark skin, short, very muscled, long grey hair, lots of scars through its body, brown eyes.

Age: 15

Sexuality: asexual panromantic polyamorous

Personality: honest, very direct, does not understand jokes, lies or sarcasm, loyal, protective, kind, playful, blunt.

Area of greatest ability: the forest

Likes: meat, its friends, stars, wolfs lupical, the forest, running, potatoes

Dislikes: loud noises, being defenseless, bathing, speaking verbally, veggies

Fears/triggers: being weak, Abyss Mages, not protecting who he loves

Kin: Wolf, sky, moon, night, stars, blades, nature, electricity.

Family: lupical (adoptive family) Lisa (found family aunt) Rosaria (found family older sister)

Relationship status: dating Bennett and Fischl

Friends: Albedo, Amber, Barbara, Diluc, Kaeya, Klee, Mika, Noelle, Sucrose, Venti.

Disabilities: autistic and semi-verbal, ADD, pathelar condhromalacia

Belief: believes in the spirits of Teyvat’s nature, can be considered pagan

Name: Sucrose

Gender: transfem demigirl, she/they

Pictures of Character:

Appearance: ethnically german, white, fat, freckles, blond hair dyed light green, brown eyes, glasses, burn scars and Chemical scars

Age: 15

Sexuality: aroace

Personality: insecure, timid, reclusive, curious, compassive, bonds easily over her favorite topics

Area of greatest ability: alchemy

Likes: organization, bones, mist flower corolla, sweets, talking about alchemy

Dislikes: being interrupted, being around strangers, mushrooms

Fears/triggers: being yelled at, breaking social rules without knowing, losing their friends

Kin: fluff, mint, butterflies, glitter

Family: Albedo, Klee, Noelle, Collei (found family siblings)

Relationship status: single

Friends: Diona, Heizou, Amber, Barbara, Bennett, Fischl, Mika, Razor, Venti

Disabilities: autistic, anxiety disorder, selectively mute, sometimes may write down in order to communicate

Belief: is an atheist

Name: Albedo

Gender: nonbinary transmasc, he/they

Pictures of Character:

Appearance: very thin, ethnically norse, white, very pale, braided blond hair, blue eyes, eyebags

Age: chronologically 300, physically and psychologically 17 (they have a complicated relationship with their own age, he likes a lot hangin with the teen because he feels like he is his true self and not attached to any of his past with Rhinnedotir, while feeling older and the same age as them at the same time)

Sexuality: gay-oriented aroace

Personality: blunt, reclusive, curious, artistic, introverted, very caring even though they doesn’t seem to.

Area of greatest ability: alchemy, art

Likes: drawing, investigating the world, experimenting, spiders, trees, being alone, desserts

Dislikes: social interactions, meat, not having enough time, being yelled at

Fears/triggers: Rhinnedotir, losing control over himself

Kin: garden, science, art, books, flowers.

Family: Alice (adoptive mom) Klee (adoptive lil sister) Kaeya, Diluc, Qiqi, Diona, Hu Tao, Zhongli, Childe, Sucrose (found family siblings)

Relationship status: single

Friends: Amber, Xingqiu, Yun Jin, Itto, Barbara, Bennett, Eula, Fischl, Jean, Mika, Mona, Noelle, Razor, Venti

Disabilities: autistic, low blood pressure, chronic fatigue, insomnia

Belief: is an atheist

Name: Mika

Gender: transmasc, any pronouns except for she/her

Pictures of Character:

Appearance: ethnically german, white, pale, very small, blue eyes, fluffy blond hair

Age: 14

Sexuality: questioning, on the aspec

Personality: timid, introvert, observing, more mature than he should be for his age, responsible, kind.

Area of greatest ability: cartography

Likes: maps, drawing, reading, camping, travels, meat

Dislikes: talking to strangers, alcohol, surprises

Fears/triggers: loud noises, children (except for Klee), hilichurls, Abyss Mages

Kins: does not has kin, but supports his friends who do.

Family: Huffman (biological older brother) Eula (found family older sister)

Relationship status: single

Friends: Albedo, Barbara, Bennett, Fischl, Jean, Kaeya, Klee, Noelle, Collei, Razor, Sucrose

Disabilities: autistic, social anxiety, chronic pain, uses a crutch to walk

Belief: believes Barbatos in a way that resembles jewish beliefs

All pictures are made with this picrew: https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/1931531

#genshin headcanons #genshin impact #cringe culture is dead #be cringe be free #mogai headcanon #disability headcanon #queer headcanon #barbara pegg #bennett #fischl von luftschloss narfidort #noelle #razor #sucrose #albedo #mika schmidt

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ikaroux · 3 years

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Hello ! I saw ur requests are open so if you don't mind may I request first time with soft dom venti, diluc and kazuha(seperate) ? Take ur time and thank you in advance !

Synopsis: He was so sweet, so thoughtful for your first time. A pure moment of love and tenderness.

Style: Cute, fluff, f!reader, sexual content.

Alert: NSFW (18+) I remind minors to avoid reading this kind of content.

Characters: Diluc, Venti, Kazuha.

Note: For this request, I only made the requested characters to advance my tumblr requests. I might do the others later (except maybe Zhongli who already has his first time in the 3rd part of his fic).

Erg, I thought I'd make something short... I got carried away with Diluc. I hate myself :,)

Masterlist

Diluc hides his desires deep inside.

How many times has he thought of you in a more... sexual way? He was so ashamed of himself... He loves you deeply and he felt incredibly disrespectful and dirty every time he imagined you naked in his arms.

When Diluc is with you, you discover a more passionate and ardent man. When he kisses you, his kisses will gradually become deeper and more sensual. His hands will roam over you, being careful to avoid touching the parts of your body that he considers intimate.

If you moan into his kiss, Diluc will immediately pull away from your lips, cheeks red and eyes full of lust. He wouldn't dare look at you for a while.

However, it won't take him long to give in to his desires...

Diluc had invited you to his home for dinner. He had prepared everything: the table, which he had decorated with a beautiful bouquet of roses, and the meal, and he had even asked his employees to take the night off. He had no ulterior motive, he just wanted to make the most of your presence before taking you home.

The dinner was pleasant, and Diluc listened attentively to the story of your day. Whenever he could, he would take your hand in his, resting it comfortably on the table, his thumb tenderly caressing your skin. Sometimes he would bring your hand to his lips for a tender kiss.

Once the meal was over, you obviously helped him clear the plates and cutlery to start cleaning them. It was a moment of pure complicity and laughter between you two. To tease him, you would spray him with water from the tap while laughing and he would return the favor by spraying you in turn. You both fell back into childhood as he tried to catch up with you by walking around the kitchen table behind which you had taken refuge. Caught up in the mood of the moment, you jumped into his arms, encircling his neck in a crazy embrace in the hope of stopping his movements. At first surprised by your gesture, he had gradually let himself be taken in the heat of your body. You looked lovingly into each other's eyes, Diluc thought you were so beautiful, he couldn't help but smile when he was with you.

"You are so beautiful my love..."

"Diluc..."

Moved by his words, you couldn't help but blush. Diluc held you tightly in his arms, encircling your waist to hold you against him. You took advantage of his support to grasp his face between your hands and gently pull him into a deep, gentle kiss. Things started slowly, your lips dancing sensually together before Diluc finally asked for more. His tongue licked your bottom lip, silently begging to let him into you. It wrapped around yours as your breaths quickened dangerously. Your hands were lost in his hair as his explored your back. The passion between you was dizzying, he lost himself completely in you. Unconsciously, he had grabbed you by the thighs to wrap them around his waist, causing you to moan in an incredibly erotic way. Upon hearing your voice, Diluc stopped whatever he was doing to look you straight in the eye, the shock of his actions evident on his face.

"I... I'm sorry, I didn't bring you here for this." - Diluc let go of your thighs to rest on the floor, but they tightened around him. - "(y/n)?"

"Diluc, stop pining for me... I want you... please don't make me wait any longer!"

Something breaks inside him when he hears you begging him. You had just opened a door for him, one that allowed him to express his desires and needs. Diluc threw aside all his fears and all his shame. He wanted you, he coveted you with such ardor, there were no chains holding him back now that you were allowing him to touch you. He was going to make you his.

He would pick up exactly where he left off, hastily grabbing your thighs to bring you closer to the bulge in his pants. His lips would claim yours again as he pressed you against the kitchen wall. His hips would begin a slow, languid movement against your heat.

Diluc doesn't want to rush things, he wants your first time with him to be unforgettable, so he would prefer the comfort of a bed to feel you better...

Diluc slowly broke away from your kiss. His fiery eyes watched you intently. Again, he let go of your thighs to rest you on the floor.

"Diluc?"

"Not here... in my room." - He seemed to be struggling to breathe. His forehead hung on yours as he waited patiently for your answer. His hands on your cheeks were pleasantly warm, he was so beautiful in that state of need. You slowly nodded, allowing him to lead you where he wanted you. Diluc kissed you one last time fervently before grabbing your hand and leading you with a quick step to the upper floor.

Once in his room, Diluc again invaded your lips with a fierce passion. Slowly, he pulled you back towards the bed, shedding his coat, tie and gloves with each step he took without releasing your lips. As soon as you reached the border between you and the mattress, his arms wrapped around your waist to keep you from falling in. Your lips loosened, allowing you to catch your breath for a short while. He found you so beautiful, so attractive in your disheveled state. Gently, his hands began to play with the hem of your dress, carefully lifting it until it slid over your head. His cheeks turned the same shade as his hair at the sight of your partially naked body.

"By the archons, (y/n) you look beautiful." - Without having time to answer him, Diluc lifted you in his arms to lay you on the bed. Now, above you, he stared at you feverishly. His fingers roamed over your skin minutely, "it's so soft," he thought.

"Di-Diluc, your clothes..."

You too wanted to discover it fully. Diluc then grabbed your hand to place it on his chest, inviting you by this gesture to unbutton his shirt yourself.

Diluc's body is littered with scars. Behind each mark is a story, they fascinate you... You run your fingertips over them. Diluc is hypnotized by your movements, which give him the shivers.

He lets you tenderly discover his body just as he discovers yours with passion.

Diluc is very delicate and patient. His hands caress your now naked body with undisguised emotion.

It's his first time, just like you. He doesn't know exactly what to do, although he has a vague idea. He will let himself be carried away by the current...

His mouth explored your body, kissing every inch of your skin. When he met your breasts, his fingers took the initiative to caress them before tasting them. His thumbs slowly rolled the tips of your nipples, hardening your nipples further, and when they were perky enough against his fingers, his lips took over. A grunt escaped his lips as your hand tangled in his hair that you had untied earlier.

The moans you were making, your hand clinging to his hair, your sweet skin, everything was driving him absolutely crazy with desire... Curiosity pushed him to let go of your chest to go lower, he wanted to discover this place that made him fantasize so much.

His hands spread your thighs a little wider so that his fingers could have full access to your wet slit. Diluc could hardly breathe, he wanted so much to be inside you, to be one with you, but he didn't want to rush you or hurt you.

His index finger rubbed your already swollen clitoris, triggering a few moans of pleasure from you. You squirmed under him, bewitched by the voluptuousness that his caresses provoked in you. Faced with your reactions, Diluc decided to concentrate on your sensitive nerve, hoping to hear a little more of your moans. You were repeating his name over and over and he wondered how you would react if he penetrated you with one of his fingers.

He didn't bother to question you. His middle finger, already coated with your arousal, slowly slipped between your folds. You were so tight around his finger, he didn't know how he would handle it when he made you completely his... His free hand continued to massage your clit while the other began a slow back and forth movement inside you.

"Di-Diluc! Aah... I- that's good..." - It didn't take much more than that for him to start picking up the pace of his hand. His index finger soon joined his middle finger to give you the maximum pleasure possible. At this point, you were repeating his name over and over again, until you lost the use of speech. Diluc, in a sudden impulse, withdrew his thumb from your clitoris and replaced it with his mouth, sucking greedily on the source of your pleasure. His hand clutched your hip after positioning your leg over his shoulder. Your walls tightened around his fingers, heat building up inside you, he felt you were close. He increased the pace of his hand swing. When your orgasm hit you hard, Diluc began to slow down the rhythm of his mouth and fingers, he wanted to accompany you to the end.

You were completely out of breath and trembling, and Diluc was hot, terribly hot. His sex was incredibly tense and seeing you under him, legs spread and so vulnerable, made his member tremble. He positioned himself above you, his eyes plunged into yours.

Before he penetrates you, he makes sure you are ready for him. He would have no problem making the foreplay last a little longer, he loved it.

As soon as you tell him you want him inside you, Diluc's breathing quickens. Before he does anything, he puts on a condom. Diluc is not against starting a family with you, he even liked the idea. But he still wanted you all to himself...

Diluc settled between your thighs, the tip of his member spreading your folds slightly. He slowly began to slide into you, hissing through his teeth and closing his eyes at the sensation of your walls wrapping mercilessly around him. One of his hands gripped your hip while the other intertwined with your fingers, the sensation was so euphoric that he had to stop for a moment to avoid cumming immediately. Your complaints of pain were a real torment to him, he couldn't stand to hurt you and he hoped he could quickly ease your suffering once he reached the bottom. Once he had sunk to the guard, Diluc would tenderly take you in his arms. Your arms would wrap back around his shoulders, your face buried in his neck as a few tears of pain flowed from your eyes.

"I'm sorry my love, it's okay."

Diluc's soft words of comfort soothed you as much as his kisses on your temple. His comforting warmth soon made you forget the pain, and when you had stopped shaking, you slowly pulled away from him to kiss his face. Diluc's patience was extraordinary. He didn't move until you gave him the green light, and he focused his attention on your lips. His kiss was slow and languid, he savored the softness of your lips, the feel of your heart beating rapidly against his chest, the sweet smell you gave off, the sound of your moans. His heart clenched in his chest, he was deeply moved by the bond between you. You parted first from his lips...

"I'm fine Diluc, y-you can move."

"Are you sure?"

Your legs had wrapped around his hips.

"Please... I need more!"

Diluc wasn't going to upset you. He straightened up on his forearms and began a slow back and forth motion. Each time he pulled back and then thrust into you again, a grunt of pleasure escaped his throat. He couldn't help it, your walls were trapping him perfectly. However, what he wanted to hear was your moans of pleasure, and to do this, he unconsciously plunged onto your shoulder to bite your delicate skin, giving you unsuspected pleasure. One of his hands went to grab your waist, the force he put in his grip made his knuckles white. The speed of his hips increased, Diluc was abandoning himself little by little in his desires. You found yourself with more and more bite marks and suction marks on your chest, shoulders and neck. Your walls were gradually tightening around him, your moans were getting louder and your breathing was getting faster. He was gradually increasing the pounding rhythm of his loins. He gradually became more rigorous in his penetration, forgetting to even hold back his own moans. Your hand again found refuge in his hair as your orgasm overtook you. You didn't know if Diluc felt it because he didn't release the rhythm of his hips. He continued until you were once again in a knot. You couldn't take it anymore, tears of pleasure running down your cheeks. Diluc knelt before you, his hands on either side of your hips. The strength he put into his strokes increased your pleasure. His back and arms were littered with uncontrolled scratches.

You came for the third time that night. Diluc felt your walls spasm and tried to follow you with some slow but deeper and harder pounding. When his own orgasm took possession of him, he let himself go on top of you. Finally, he crawled into your arms, trying to catch his breath in your embrace. With his eyes closed, he lazily kissed your jaw until he calmed down...

When he realizes the bites and hickeys he left you, Diluc will be very upset. Reassure him, just tell him you enjoyed it and he'll relax right away.

He'll take care of you by cleaning up your sweat and the little trickle of blood that came out of you. If you are not too exhausted, he would even be happy to take a bath with you. He will then massage your belly and thighs and finish with the most pleasant part, cuddling. He would rock you with words full of love and tenderness.

He would keep you in his arms all night, waiting for you to fall asleep before allowing himself to join you in dreamland.

He becomes completely addicted to you. Chances are he'll take another turn the next morning. From that night on, you will often sleep together...

Venti is quite curious about this.

He has never had an intimate relationship with anyone else. It is not surprising that he asks for information in books or with some friends (Lisa and Kaeya will be able to give him advice on the subject...)

Venti has never felt desire for anyone. But since he met you, he has experienced everything about love... He has a growing need to make you his own and will not hesitate to tell you about it.

You were sitting on one of the benches in the Mondstadt gardens. You were calmly reading a book in the shade of a tree while waiting for your boyfriend who had given you an appointment when he met you on the street this morning. Once you arrived, Venti quickly spotted you and decided to approach you with a quiet step. By surprise, he gently took the book out of your hands to put it at your side, he then framed your form between his arms. He placed his knee between your legs to get a little closer to you.

"Ve-Venti?"

"You know (y/n), lately I've been feeling the need to touch you. I always want more, always more..."

Your cheeks flushed violently, his pupils dilated with desire were locked on you. One of his hands left the back of the bench to rest on your warm cheek.

"I-I'm not sure I understand Venti..."

His eyebrows furrowed and his cheeks puffed out like a hamster's. Venti was decidedly so adorable...

"I'm talking to you about sex!"

You quickly covered his mouth with your hand, looking left and right to make sure no one had heard him. When you noticed a couple staring at you, laughing, you grabbed your book and Venti's hand to take him to a quieter place. Machinically, you led him to your house...

"Venti! You can't yell that kind of thing in front of everyone. It was very embarrassing..."

His teasing laughter disarmed you. You screamed in surprise when you felt him shove you against the wall near you.

"But you want it too, don't you? Otherwise you wouldn't have taken me to your place."

You didn't know if it was possible to be even redder than you already were. However, Venti may have been teasing, but his hand on your hips held you gently while the one in your hair twitched pleasantly. You grabbed his cloak between your fingers, squeezing it gently as he leaned in to kiss you. He was really sweet and caring.

"I-Idiot... I brought you here because it's the only quiet place I could think of..."

His nose was glued to yours and his laughter made him shake against you. Your arms wrapped around his shoulders as your lips claimed his again. Venti lifted you in his arms and took you to your room. You were pleasantly surprised at the strength he hid in his arms, you never thought a boy of his size would be able to lift you. But he was Barbatos after all, no wonder he had the strength of a god hidden in him. He gently placed you on the bed.

Venti would never force you to do anything with him. He would wait for your verbal consent before continuing.

He would be really gentle with you, practicing the advice that Kaeya and Lisa had provided him.

His caresses are thoughtful and tasty. He doesn't undress you right away, preferring to enjoy every moment with you.

When he starts to undress you, he will do it slowly, enjoying every sound, every caress you offer him in return.

You were completely naked under him, your cheeks flushed and your eyes dilated with desire. You were so beautiful and your confidence in him shook his heart. He thought you were so wonderful, so exceptional. You had accepted everything from him, his status as an archon, his qualities as well as his defects. You were his lover, his muse, he loved you deeply and would make sure you knew it.

His hands delicately massaged your breasts, delighting in their texture and suppleness. When your nipples hardened against his fingers, he kissed each one in turn before sucking one greedily. His loose strands rippled across your skin. Venti made you see the stars, but it wasn't enough, you wanted more control. Without giving him time to understand, you flipped him onto his back, immediately straddling his hips. Bent over him, you kissed him sensually. You rubbed your sex against his, enjoying the moans that came from his throat. His hands clasped either side of your thighs.

"I love you Venti." - His eyes widened and his cheeks took on a darker hue.

"I love you too (y/n)."

You kissed him again, this time more tenderly. You parted gently from his lips to move down his jaw to his neck, nibbling gently on his skin. You continued your way to his chest, then his navel, until finally reaching his taut member. Venti didn't dare look at you and placed his arm over his eyes. He had never felt so shy and speechless, but when you took his sex in your hands, an unexpected moan came from his lips. Venti's curiosity overrode his embarrassment and he slowly straightened to watch you wave your hand along his member. He was fascinated by your movements, you were doing everything to remain delicate and avoid hurting him. When your mouth encompassed the tip of his sex, licking and sucking gently, Venti couldn't keep his hand from diving into your hair. You looked him in the eye for any discomfort, but when he pushed the back of your head down onto his penis, you followed his lead...

Venti will let you lead the dance with pleasure. Seeing you with his member in your mouth was an unforgettable experience.

He won't force you to keep it in your throat when he comes. If you agree, he'll obviously be happy, but if you prefer to have him release outside your mouth, he won't mind. Either way, you'll leave him in a disheveled and stunned state. He never thought he'd feel such pleasure.

Venti had collapsed on the bed, you were watching him tenderly catch his breath. Sitting on his hips, you waited patiently for him to recover by kissing his chest. In turn, Venti flipped you onto your back. His hands found your femininity, a teasing smile on his lips as he noted your state of arousal. He took his member between his hands and settled between your thighs, slowly beginning to penetrate you.

The pain would not be very intense, he would still let you adjust to the intrusion before moving.

Being connected to you in this way made his heart beat fast. He could feel your warmth, the beating of your walls. He felt... complete at last.

"(y/n)... (y/n)... (y/n)... !"

With each sway of his hips, he repeated your name. The sweetness in his voice made you want to cry with happiness. A shiver went through your body when you saw his expression. He looked so different from the Venti you knew, his eyes reflected the millennia he had lived alone. He looked older, more divine. The child seemed to disappear to make way for the man he had always been in your eyes: Barbatos. You knew that originally Barbatos was just a wind spirit, but now he was the man you loved, who made you see the stars with every stroke of his back. His eyes and the tips of his locks glowed with a slight emerald sheen as he let himself be absorbed in the pleasure of your body. His forehead pressed against yours as he quickened the rhythm of his hips. You moaned in perfect sync. V felt your walls tighten around him, and he increased the pace a little more until the knot in your belly broke. You called out his name, spluttering between Venti's and Barbatos', which made him smile against your neck. Soon his own pleasure overwhelmed him, the pace of his hips only ceasing when he had nothing left to give. Venti remained in your arms for a moment before straightening up to look at you, a warm smile on his lips.

Venti is very tactile, so it's not surprising that he'll kiss you over and over again after you're done having sex.

Follow-up is pretty instinctive with him. He'll naturally go get you cleaned up in your bathroom after he gets dressed. If you're hungry or thirsty, he'll of course get you whatever you need.

He will cuddle you as long as you allow him to.

Kazuha is such an adorable and sweet boy.

The first time he will think about you sexually will be during one of his trips on the Crux fleet. He will become so red and confused, but also terribly frustrated. The more he thinks about it, the stronger the idea of making you his.

He imagines every night the softness and taste of your skin. The tone of your voice as he undulates against you. The folds of your back with each of your movements... And he felt so bad after imagining all his things.

Maybe he should talk about his desires for you once he got home...

Kazuha had to return to Liyue today before lunchtime. You were going to prepare some grilled fish for him to celebrate his return. You were in the kitchen cooking the side dishes when the young ronin's arms wrapped around your waist. His footsteps had been so quiet, it was no wonder you flinched when he took you in his arms. The young man had lazily rested his head on your shoulder as he watched what you were up to. You naturally reached up to stroke his hair, a tender smile on your face. Kazuha leaned lovingly on your hand, his eyes now fixed on you.

"I missed you Kazu." - He didn't answer you. Instead, he preferred to tenderly kiss your neck. - "I hope you're hungry. I was going to make you - AAH!"

Without giving you time to finish your sentence, Kazuha lifted you into his arms. He silently dragged you into the bedroom before gently laying you on the bed. He trapped you in his arms, his eyes clouded with desire.

"I haven't stopped thinking about you. All the time, every moment. You were constantly in my thoughts! " - He frowned, his eyes closed and his jaw clenched, he continued. - "(y/n), I don't know if this is right or wrong, but... My fantasies have gotten the better of me. Tell me to stop. Tell me I'm dirty and disgusting. Tell me anything! Otherwise I might-"

You had raised your hand to place it on his cheek. Your shoot was making circular motions on his cheekbone in an attempt to soothe him.

"Kazuha, it's normal to feel this way. Mo me too, sometimes I imagine us having... Sexual relations together."

His eyes widened as he listened carefully to what you had to say. There was a heavy silence between the two of you. Did you shock him? Perhaps he expected you to stop him? A movement caught your attention, that of his hand sliding the ribbon that held his hair up. His hair cascaded down his shoulders and the hand that had been tending to it came to grip your jaw.

"I love you (y/n). I love you so much. I missed you terribly too." - And he kissed you passionately. His tongue forced its way into your lips, tangling and dancing with yours, you couldn't stop your moans from escaping your throat. You could hardly breathe, your lungs ached, but you had missed Kazuha's presence so much during his last days, you did not want him to stop. Your trembling hand untied the scarf that covered your lover's neck. When he felt the tremors of your hands, he stopped all his actions to stare at you with a worried eye.

"Will you stop (y/n)?" - You shook your head sharply.

"Especially not! Please continue."

Kazuha laughed softly as he brought his face close to your neck. His lips tasted your skin, it was sweet, just as he had imagined. His hands gradually pulled your clothes apart so that he could finally see you fully.

"You are so beautiful..." - He mumbled more to himself before occupying his mouth again with your uncovered chest.

Kazuha takes his time. He wants to get to know every part of your body. He will remember the location of your tender spots, freckles and scars.

He'll help you take off his clothes before letting your hands and lips touch him. He loves to feel the love you have for him through your touch.

Like Diluc, he has no experience with sex. Therefore, he will let his instincts guide his actions.

Kazuha is not the silent type. He won't hesitate to whisper sweet nothings to you or to let you hear his moans.

Your lover was lying beside you, his hands exploring your body with desire. His goal had finally reached his fingertips. He felt your clitoris twitch under his touch and wondered how you would react if he teased it a little more. As he began a slow rotation around your sensitive nerve, your hand clutched at the sheets of your bed. Your flushed cheeks and moans made you so delicious to him, he couldn't take his eyes off your face. His lips kissed yours as his fingers moved lower, rubbing your wet slit noticeably. His dilated pupils continued to stare at you as one of his fingers slipped between your wet walls. Your gasps made him lose his mind and as soon as you got used to the invasion of his finger, he added a second one to increase your pleasure.

Seeing you fall into the haze of pleasure made him dizzy. He was the one who made you feel so good, so warm under his touch.

He would close his eyes when he felt your walls tighten around his fingers. It's an intoxicating sensation. He will continue to torment you just to feel it again.

You'll have to beg him to stop so he can stop making you cum with his hand. At least you were now sufficiently prepared for what was to come.

Kazuha rolled on top of you, placing your thighs around his hips for a better angle of penetration.

"(y/n), tell me when you're ready. This might be painful..."

"I'm ready Kazu..."

He didn't wait any longer. He had grabbed his outstretched member in his hand before he began to stroke it and spread your natural lubricant on it. With one last look, he began to slowly spread your walls with the tip of his sex. Kazuha's body nestled against you to offer both moral and physical support against his painful intrusion. He felt the bite of your scratches on his back, but he did not complain.

He tightened his arms around you before quickly apologizing in your ear. You had then felt a sharp pain seize you, Kazuha had given you a slightly harder push to sink into you completely. He hoped that this way you would not have to suffer too long from the tearing of your walls. He did not move, waiting patiently for your body to relax. As he waited, he cuddled you tenderly. His hands rubbed your back and his lips kissed everything they could reach on your face and neck. When he felt your body relax, he looked into yours in silent questioning. You slowly nodded. You were ready.

Kazuha rolled you both onto your backs until you found yourself straddling him. At first a little confused, you watched him position himself so that he was sitting across from you, his back supported by the back of the bed. His hands languidly caressed your waist before moving down to your buttocks, which he rigorously grabbed. At this point, you were completely red with embarrassment. Shyly, you began to undulate your hips, moving up and down on his manhood erotically. You couldn't take your eyes off each other, you were hypnotized by each other. From time to time, Kazuha would run his hands up your back, looking for the folds that formed with each of your movements before coming to lose himself higher, in your hair to attract you in a torrid kiss. You moaned louder and louder with the growing pleasure, and when Kazuha's hands grabbed your hips to help you in your movements, your moans turned into screams. Completely submissive to your desires, your head leaned back and your back arched, allowing Kazuha to penetrate you more deeply. His moans were themselves getting louder and louder, his hands on your hips were lowering you faster and harder onto his member. He couldn't resist the call of your exposed skin, which he bit down roughly on your neck. He could feel the heat building up deep inside you, your womanhood growing tighter around him. He couldn't take it anymore, and when your orgasm gripped you, he immediately followed behind, pulling out of you to cum on your thighs.

In each other's arms, Kazuha was slowly caressing your back, waiting for you to catch your breath. His lips were softly kissing your shoulders and jaw. He had a soft smile on his face that never left him. He was so happy...

Kazuha would run you a hot bath to ease your pain and relax your muscles. He would take care of washing you himself. He would cover your face with loving kisses. He's so gentle in the follow-up. He would cuddle you until the water gets warm.

When you are both dressed, Kazuha will ask you to wait for him comfortably in the bed. He will prepare your meal with the fish you bought earlier today. He will cook a soup and a side dish for both of you before taking it all back to bed.

He would spend the rest of the day listening to you talk about your week or telling you about his. You would both lie comfortably in a mutual embrace, savoring each other's presence. His loving gaze never left you, not even for a moment...

Me, after I finish writing... Peace to my soul.

2K notes · View notes

monocaelia · 3 years

Text

the kisses they give

sometimes a kiss is all you need to know that they love you.

feat. childe, diluc, kaeya, kazuha, and xiao

genre : headcanons. fluff. slight angst for xiao.

note : a pick-me-up cause these past few weeks have not been nice to me TT i hope everyone's weeks have been good though! lots of love <3

❀ childe

to childe, giving affection is like breathing. he loves showering those he holds close to his heart with love or gifts or whatever he deems necessary to show that they mean the world to him. and kissing is no exception.

considering cheek kissing is a common greeting in sneznhaya (russia) and he grew up in a family where he was heavily doted on and spoiled by his elder siblings and parents, childe has absolutely no problem kissing the people he loves as a greeting or as his form of affection.

which is why cheek kissing or showering your face in kisses is the harbinger's go-to when it comes to loving you.

childe's kisses are filled with love and pure affection reserved for you, as if you needed him or anyone to tell you that directly. you would be able to tell from the way his slightly chapped lips peck the skin all around your face and from the way his eyes of ocean blue nearly twinkle when they focus on you.

due to his duties of working with the fatui and being stationed anywhere in teyvat, childe hardly gets any time to spend with you. so he treasures the moments shared with you during his time off.

the door to your home would slam open with a loud thunk and his hurried footsteps would get closer and closer to you before you're swept into his arms, your laughter intermingling with his as the ginger spins you around the room. it's not long before the spinning stops and your vision is obscured by orange tufts as the cheeky sneznhayan plants kisses all over your face.

no amount of protests will stop him until he's gotten his fair share of loving from you. and even if you do manage to wiggle your way out of his arms, childe would see that as a competition to see who was quicker; you getting away or the harbinger and his hungry lips. [spoiler alert: it's him and his hungry lips, to no one's surprise]

mornings on his days off aren't any better. usually they start off quiet with the golden morning rays seeping through the curtains of your shared room and the faint chirps of the morning doves outside.

but it always ends up in a fit of giggles and smooches when the sneznhayan is in need of your attention once more and decides to kiss you awake. despite your light protests for the man trapping you in his arms so he can kiss you again and again, it's not like you ever want him to stop kissing you.

each kiss that finds its way onto your face [and occasionally your lips] is proof that childe, your sweet ajax, is absolutely enamored with you and you wouldn't have it any other way.

❀ diluc

despite how diluc is around his brother, the young master of dawn winery is not one to shield his heart from those close to him. diluc is just not as affectionate as others are in a relationship, so don't expect him to shower you in kisses when he gets home or scream at the top of his lungs how much he loves you, though it would be a funny sight to see.

instead, he shows his love through his actions. shielding you from the rain with his coat, bringing you closer to him when you both have something to do in dragonspine so you won't get cold, ensuring that you get enough sleep while he stays up to keep watch of the team. it's subtle, but enough to tell you he cares.

kisses on your knuckles are what diluc would give you due to the polite and gentle nature of the kisses.

diluc would kiss your knuckles as a polite greeting, as he was raised to have respectful manners. when he first did it to you, you were quite flustered at seeing the vigilante bow before you and gently plant his lips on the curves of your knuckles.

however, now he gives them to you in more intimate situations. like after you've cleaned him up after a rather rough evening patrolling the grounds of mondstadt. diluc had come home to you in a disheveled state; ponytail messed up, dirt coating his clothing and face, porcelain skin covered in scrapes and bruises. luckily, nothing horrible on the surface.

you're shocked at the state he's in and quickly clean him up. you don't say a word to him however, in fear that he already had gone through enough and you scolding him would just add more to the weight on his shoulders. your fingers brush against diluc's skin and he leans towards your touch, the gentle and caring nature tending to his heart.

he kisses your knuckles, lips warm and soft, as a thank you for taking care of him and as a silent way of showing you how much you mean to him. you're the only one he trusts to see him this injured and the only one he's comfortable enough to let his walls come crumbling down.

diluc kisses your knuckles as a gentle reminder that he is devoted to you and only you. he finds you one night standing alone on his balcony, eyes glued to the vast orchards of grapes that surrounded the winery. it's hard to hide what you're thinking of from the attentive eyes of the vigilante beside you.

when you tell him your concerns that he should marry someone with more influence than you, diluc's brows furrow and his frown deepens. you are the one he loves, and he could care less about the winery or his business. he hesitates when you shy away from his touch, but you quickly find his hand again to hold.

the thick wall that shields diluc's heart crumbles when he's around you, and nothing proves his loyalty and true feelings more than his gentle kisses along your knuckles.

❀ kaeya

a playful and cheeky person, kaeya is someone who makes you want more and more of him. from his mischievous smile to the way your name melts off of his tongue. you can't help but miss his presence when he leaves for a mission and misses a night at the bar with you.

it's hard to miss the smirk that grows on kaeya's face when he catches word of you ever missing him. and it's even more difficult to avoid him as the calvary captain needs to tease you about it and shows up at your work or at your door to bring up the news to you, much to your dismay.

kaeya gives you brief, yet enticing kisses at the corner of your mouth to not only tease you with the idea of wanting more from him, but also because he absolutely loves to fluster you.

the calvary captain kisses you goodbye one night while dropping you off at home after a night drinking at angel's share. you weren't expecting it at all, but maybe you should have once you saw the playful glint in your companion's eye and the cheeky grin growing wider each second you stepped closer and closer to your door.

it's a quick kiss, short yet long enough to feel how soft kaeya's lips were against your skin and how good he smelled from the brief proximity. dazed, you can only stare at the captain with your jaw slack as he chuckled and closed your mouth for you so you wouldn't "catch flies."

kaeya's kisses are even more dangerous when he has an excuse to kiss you. while catching lunch at angel's share one afternoon, his eye catches a piece of your sandwich at the corner of your mouth while you're telling him a wild story about how the traveller killed all of timmie's pigeons one day as a bet.

you don't even have time to react as kaeya's cold hand grabs a hold of your chin and presses his lips against the corner of your mouth, successfully grabbing the grain from your face. the familiar scent of his fruity cologne fills your senses and it takes everything in you to not pull the calvary captain in.

there's a knowing smile on his face when he pulls away and sees your expression. his tongue pokes out from his lips as he licks it clean, smile growing when your eyes flit down to watch his movements.

it's hard to judge kaeya's true intentions when his kisses are so brief and you barely miss them, but everyone around the two of you can see the way the captain's gaze always lingers on you when you're storming away from his teasing lips.

❀ kazuha

polite and yet, always the romantic, kazuha isn't a stranger to showing or receiving affection. although he's reserved and grew up surrounded by nobility, affection is nothing the inazuman traveller strays far from.

fleeting and soft touches are what kazuha is fond of, his fingers always brushing against yours when you walk beside him or linking your pinkies together when you sleep after you've had a nightmare.

inner wrist kisses are ideal for someone like kazuha to give; intimate yet delicate, private enough where only you can see and feel the love he gives you through the simple kiss.

kazuha kisses you on the wrist in the intimate moments shared with one another on the crux. it's always when the two of you are alone and admiring the night sky and the sound of the waves gently brushing up against the side of the boat. the rest of the crew is either sleeping or drinking with the captain on the other side of the boat.

you brush his bangs aside, fingers lingering on the side of his face as you admire the beauty that the inazuman traveller holds.

he always catches you off guard by complimenting you in the most poetic ways. "the stars pale in comparison to you, my love." or "every time i look at you, my heart flutters as if carried by the sea breeze. you alone make the stars dance as if they are rejoicing that you were born into this world, the most beautiful and the pride of the universe."

his laughter floats in the air, as if twinkling like wind chimes dancing in the wind, seeing your flustered reaction to his words and he presses a quick kiss to the inner wrist of the hand that remained by his face. truly, you are the most mesmerizing being to ever grace teyvat.

kazuha's kisses are gentle against the skin of your wrist when he wakes to sound of your gentle humming. he had fallen asleep while resting with you underneath the shade of a thundersakura tree, though it's hard to blame him when your fingers are delicately brushing through his white strands of hair.

his heart swells seeing you so at ease beside him, with your ethereal smile and the way the sun seeping through the branches of the tree illuminated you like the god you were. celestia above must be so jealous of your divinity, but they could never have you so long as he was here to love you.

kazuha wishes there were more words to describe how much he loves you, but no words could ever describe how enamored he feels when you simply gaze his way. so kazuha kisses one of your wrists in hopes of showing you the devotion he has for you.

❀ xiao

xiao isn't one for affection. he doesn't seem the appeal to it: how mortals like the enjoy the feeling of another's hand in theirs or how they find peace with the feeling of another pair of lips on their own confused the poor adeptus.

not like he found any need for it anyways. being affectionate to the one you love was a mortal tradition and what did xiao know about being a mortal. more so, did he even deserve to be loved the way mortals loved one another?

xiao finds it terrifying to love you, a mortal that could easily succumb to the aftermath of his karmic debt. this debt was his own burden to carry and you don't deserve to love a corrupted being like him, someone who only brings despair and destruction to anyone who crosses his path, innocent or not.

forehead kisses are the only kisses xiao allows himself to give you.

they're intimate enough to communicate his feelings for you without saying a word, yet simple enough so that he doesn't overwhelm himself with your presence.

they're to bid you farewell before he leaves for one of his missions as the sole adeptus of liyue. xiao does not know how long he'll be gone, or even if he'd return to your warm embrace. and so, his featherlight kisses are pressed to your forehead before he disappears without a trace, leaving you to worry about his safety on the deck of the wangshu inn.

xiao gives you forehead kisses as an apology for being the one you love. anyone else could have given you a better love than he ever could, could even promise you a future together and grow old with you.

you deserve someone who could openly love you and show you off to those around them, someone who didn't have a high chance of never coming home. all the adeptus has done for you was give you the crystalflies whose light reminded him so much of the stars that inhabited your eyes and the slightly crinkled qingxin flower he picked up on the way back to you.

xiao wonders why you're so happy when he brings you those small gifts when someone else could be giving you gifts of a grander scale.

and yet he's also thankful for you for finding love in someone like him, for showing him the gentleness and compassion the adeptus seldom received in his lifetime. the pain surrounding his heart ebbs away every time you smile at him, like the warm spring sun melting away the frigid winter ice.

one day, xiao would be brave enough to kiss you the way you kiss him, to indulge in all of the different ways he could properly show you just how much you meant to him. but for now, his lips against your forehead is enough.

#genshin #genshin impact #childe x reader #childe headcanons #kaeya x reader #kaeya headcanons #diluc x reader #diluc headcanons #xiao x reader #xiao headcanons #tartaglia x reader #tartaglia headcanons #genshin headcanons #genshin impact headcanons #didi writes #kazuha x reader #kazuha headcanons

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evercelle · 3 years

Note

What are your feelings towards 2.1 genshin? You mentioned having a lot of lukewarm ones in some tags :O

hm... short version: i feel mhy had a list of cool moments/story beats they wanted to hit in 2.1 archon quest, and rushed through cramming all of those into a single update at the cost of literally any good writing/character development/pacing.

long version: i'll cut this to avoid too many spoilers for folks/contain my complaining under a cut:

EVER'S LIST OF GRIEVANCES, 2.1 EDITION:

1) the pacing is super whacked out. i get that mhy wants to make each region wrap in 3 chapters (consistent with mondstadt and liyue), but the pacing for Inazuma as a whole was incredibly rushed at the end. the first 2 chapters did a great job of setting up the context for the vision hunt decree, introducing the toll it takes on Inazuma's citizens/visitors to the nation, and the introducing the resistance as well. the world quests available with 2.0 also went to great lengths to develop the theme of how the war & civil unrest created problems caused both by the shogunate and the resistance. then, in the climactic ending... it went almost entirely unaddressed? after the decree is repealed, vision holders are given their visions back and state they completely recovered their memories, but neither the main storyline nor raiden's quest address the rest of the human cost (lost time, lost lives, displaced populations). it feels like everything wrapped up too neatly.

2) there's a serious gap between raiden's ideals and the way her actions are written. raiden suffered great loss (her twin, her friends, even her subjects) throughout her reign, which is a reasonable (if whacked out) logic to base her pursuit of eternity upon. what i wanted to see (and mhy did not deliver) was the depth of her conviction that caused her to enforce something as drastic as the vision hunt decree. the fact that she flatly stated she was fully aware of its human cost even in the plane of euthymia substantiates how deeply she believed in her ideals... only for it to be effectively overturned by (1) conversation with yae/traveler? all the emotion in raiden's character trailer never makes a single appearance in the main line game (other than the animated sequence in which you’re very quickly told, not otherwise shown by raiden’s dialogue or choices, what she suffered), which is absolutely boggling.

3) no accountability for raiden's action = shallow character development: to that end, the lack of depth in her individual character quest is also disappointing... i get that she's the eternal god-ruler of inazuma which would present a very different public reaction than, say, a president doing the same thing, but the fact that the human cost of the decree isn't addressed at ALL is ridiculous. her character quest being... a shopping trip... lacks the development that other archons (venti, zhongli) had in their respective quests. i think raiden truly wants to protect her living subjects through her pursuit of eternity, yet the inner conflict between "a god's devotion to their subjects vs. an immortal struggling to grasp mortal experiences" was only vaguely implied instead of actively explored.

4) key NPCs were severely underutilized: acts 1+2 of the inazuma arc set up the resistance as key figures, only for them to do... absolutely nothing in act 3. kokomi is billed as a genius strategist. the notion that she'll accept unknown donations of supplies from an unidentifiable benefactor, no questions asked, is INSANE. frankly, i would've found the plot much more interesting if the resistance was actively colluding with the fatui to destabilize the shogunate, but no... the resistance's presence in act 3 is solely to introduce the delusions/tie the fatui back into the plot/create the emotional attachment to teppei to galvanize the traveler into confronting raiden again. the part with teppei was fine and in fact one of the highlights in the patch to me (legitimately!! heartbroken!! AT HIS LAST LINE ABOUT THE UNIFORMS!!!), but kokomi and gorou were such a non-presence... sigh. i acknowledge my pipe dream about kokomi doing sus shit with the fatui was wishful thinking, but mhy's decision to essentially lay the blame for everything on the established villains the fatui in order effectively absolve raiden of any emotional culpability/make her redeemable so players will like & roll for her is WEAK.

5) the pacing, again... (head in hands) i feel like all of the problems i complained about could have been addressed if mhy just let their story content breath a little more. i know game developers have schedules they need to stick to, but considering the complexity they introduced into inazuma and different factions present, trying to tie up all the loose strings in a single patch was a fool's errand... though it's possible that some of these things may be addressed in 2.2.

on one hand, genshin is a game designed to be played in short bursts, so it's not surprising to me that the narrative choices they make tends towards "tell, don't show" and lots of background reading (a LOT of character stories/depth/lore is only available in item descriptions), but it's still rather disappointing when you compare it to what it could be...

at the end of it, the cutscenes were beautifully animated and there were a few parts i did enjoy (sara had a nice spotlight, i stan for teppei, SCARAMOUCHE, and kazuha's moment was incredibly moving), but on the whole 2.1 felt very rushed, and the writing for raiden shogun is so all over the place it's really put a damper on my personal enjoyment for inazuma ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#ASK EVER #did you want me to write an essay about my beef with 2.1? no? oops sorry

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subbe93 · 2 years

Text

The Light in my Nightmares, T, chapter 12

Ran had met Vineyard and learned a little more about that mysterious case that had taken so much from Shinichi. But can she help him with that information or not? And more importantly, where is Shinichi?

A/N: Gosh, this is already chapter 12!! I feel like it's not so long since I started to publish this, but when I checked the day, I was kind of surprised because it was the end of January :'D Time has gone so fast... Or maybe this only shows that again, I have grown fond of the story and I'm not ready to end it? x'D Oh well, I hope you have enjoyed the journey at this point, and are going to enjoy upcoming chapters while we still can :D

Prologue ~ Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 ~ Chapter 5 ~ Chapter 6 ~ Chapter 7 ~ Chapter 8 ~ Chapter 9 ~ Chapter 10 ~ Chapter 11

Chapter 12

~ Shinichi ~

It was a late night, and Shinichi was walking on the streets of Haido. He knew he should go home, and he had kind of tried to do it a few hours already, but instead of taking a short way, he had taken detours and just looked around. The idea of being alone in that big house didn't feel very pleasant. Even the idea of it made him lonely and sad. Empty.

So instead of going home, he had just avoided it. But then again, where else he would go?

Well, Kazuha had told him to visit whenever he felt like it, but the thought of being a burden to her when she already got a baby to take care of, made him stay in Tokyo. And even if she had forgiven him, he… Well, maybe he had partly forgiven himself, but not entirely. He knew that he should make peace with himself before he could go meet them and… talk about him. Shinichi knew that he owed that much to Kazuha and he knew that she would like to talk about him. Maybe they both needed it. But… not before he would be ready.

And God only knew where Haibara would be. And like he would need that sarcastic woman in his life, blaming him…

She wouldn’t do that, and he knew it. She had done so much to help him with the Organisation, and luckily, she had survived. At least someone.

And in the end, living alone wasn’t any different than before. It wouldn’t be the first time, and he had done it well back then! And he had been all alone in the Safe Haven Center, so what was the difference? There was none! Except the room would be a house and he should do housework and all, but it would only distract him, took him away from dark thoughts and nightmares...

He should go back. Try to live alone again. How else he would learn to live there if he wouldn’t stay there?

Yet, he stopped again, this time looking at the grocery store's window and all the ads that told what they got on sale this week. He was awfully aware that he wasn't really interested, he was just buying more time to himself. And he almost wanted to laugh out at how pitiful he was. This was the endless circle that went through in his mind, thinking how he should go back home, how it would be no different than before, and yet he took all those detours and stopped from time to time to look at some shop windows like he was interested in them. It wouldn't help anything at all.

And even though he knew all the answers to how to handle his loss, his loneliness, the truth was that he had another reason to be here. Another reason to wander around Haido.

He missed her.

Shinichi didn't want to go back home because even if that house held so many memories of his parents, his friends, about a better life he once had, now it also included memories of Ran. Memories of their conversations, memories of what they had done together, memories of her walking around, talking to him, smiling...

New, beautiful, and yet painful memories to handle. A reminder of his new failure.

And there was another reason. The reason he knew somewhere deep down, but he still tried his hardest to deny it, lie to himself.

The truth was that he knew that Ran was living somewhere here. And... he kind of wished to see even a glimpse of her.

There would be easy ways to ask her address, but he didn't want to do it. Because if he would go to her home, he was scared of what would wait for him. Maybe she wouldn't be home? Or maybe Araide would be there.

So instead he... maybe had wished that she would just walk around and...

He felt even more pitiful.

He regretted taking Ran as his personal assistant. It wasn’t like she hadn’t helped him, but he never thought that she would spend so much time in his house, that he would get used to her presence. That he would like it. And how in the world he had gotten that stupid thought that she would like to stay?

You didn’t learn anything, did you?

He shook his head a little. It would be better if he would forget her as soon as possible.

Yep, that would be best. So, turn now and go home.

Yeah, he would…

He heard sirens singing, coming closer. He turned to look where the voices came from. Ambulances and fire engines drove at a high speed on the road, right past him. He let his gaze follow them as far as he could, and when vehicles disappeared behind the buildings, he raised his gaze and saw an orange glow in the dark sky. And very dark smoke.

A fire?

He heard people around him starting to talk, probably wondering what was happening. He glanced at them before raising his attention back to the orange sky and that thick dark smoke…

He felt how breathing started to be harder. For a moment, he stood a few blocks away from his home street, looking at the red sky, and dark smoke, running towards it, hoping that he was wrong but…

He closed his eyes and lowered his head, ripping himself away from that memory. He frowned and breathed, calming himself down. No, this was different. He wasn’t even close to Beika, his house wasn’t in that way. There was nothing to worry about. Probably someone had forgotten something like the oven on, and that’s it. There would be nothing suspicious, and probably everyone was safe.

No need for me, he told himself even though part of him was curious and he wanted to go to help those people. But help was almost there. He turned away and put his hands into his pockets. He should go back home, he needed to get away from this before…

“Bless God, you answered! Are you okay?”

Shinichi stopped and turned a little bit to see who spoke. There was a man who stood a few feet away from him, leaning on the shop's wall, and on the ground were two plastic bags. He was staring at the flaming sky. Shinichi glanced at it too. Maybe he lived there? In the end, the shop was pretty close, so...

“Thank God”, the man breathed out and slid to the ground, sounding relieved. “I was so worried… Is it bad?” He didn't say anything for a while. “That bad? God… Is everyone else save?”

Shinichi glanced again at the burning sky. He felt bad, but he should really be going. He wasn’t a firefighter, he was a detective. And since there was no reason to doubt that it would be a crime, he wouldn't help anyone. He would be only in a way…

“What, that nurse-neighbor hasn’t found?”

Shinichi froze and turned to look at the man.

“Are you sure? I mean… she hasn’t been much at home during these... what? Five months? No, I saw her on another day by a chance and she told me that she has a client who needs her help…”

A nurse who has a client who needs her attention? During these five months...

Shinichi felt how something tightened on his chest.

Ran…

No way, he told himself. Okay, it had been almost five months that she had been his assistant, and she had spent most of her days at his place, even though she shouldn't have. But let's face the fact, even though he knew that she was living in some apartment building in Haido, there were so many other apartment buildings. And there were so many woman nurses too, so many clients who need much attention during the day, and the time... it was rounded, so it could be also over, and... and... it could be anyone...

Yet, he couldn’t ease his mind. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure where in the Haido Ran lived. Well, maybe somewhere close... if he remembered correctly. But he could be wrong, right? He just remembered that she lived in an apartment building and somewhere in this part of Tokyo. Nothing too precisely. So, there was no way that Ran would live here…

His breathing became denser.

But Ran wasn’t with him today, because… because of him. He told her to take a day off… But she could be with Araide too…

“What?! Are you sure she was home?”

Shinichi looked at the man.

Of course, Ran was home… Because she got a day off… because of him…

No...

Shinichi bent and leaned on his knees, closing his eyes, trying to concentrate and calm down. Deep breaths.

You said it yourself, right? Tokyo is full of nurses. It could be anyone. And he still wasn’t sure, maybe… she could live anywhere in here. And there was a chance that she was with Araide. So, there was nothing to worry about…

Professor Agasa’s home blowing up in front of him, flames taking him with them… His father, collapsing on the ground, trying to reach him with his last strength… His mother, shouting at his name before falling to the ground… Hattori, opening that door… All those other people…

Shinichi opened his eyes, gasping for air. No, he can’t lose anyone anymore…

“E-excuse me”, he breathed out and walked towards the man. The man on the ground raised his eyes at him. “I… I’m sorry to be blunt, but… who is this nurse-neighbor you’re talking about?” He tried to calm his panting. “I… her name didn’t happen to be Mouri Ran, right?”

The man looked at him from head to toes and back. He looked confused and… worried. “How… how did you know? Are you… friend of her?”

Shinichi felt how the world around him turned around. No, it couldn’t be… this must be a mistake… Must be…

“You…” He took a break, trying to calm himself. Don’t panic, Kudo, you’re not helping anyone if you’re freaking out now. “You said that… she… wasn’t… found?”

Gosh, it was hard to say out loud.

“That’s what my wife said”, the man answered, and Shinichi felt how breathing started to be so much harder. “They haven’t found her…”

“Are you sure she was home?” Shinichi asked desperately. If she just wasn’t… Maybe there is a chance…

“Well, they believed that she was because my wife said that there was a light in her window…”

No, no, no….

The world around him collapsed. What were the chances… Why… How…

Before he had thought about it, he started to run. He ran towards the flaming building, he needed to get there… Maybe the wife was wrong, maybe they hadn’t just seen her among the other people or… or…

Call her!

Shinichi took his phone out and slowed his move to walking. Yeah, he could call her. That way he could confirm that she was safe, and he didn’t need to worry…

Both of his hands were shaking when he tried to search Ran’s number. For a moment he hesitated before pushing the green button.

There’s nothing to worry about…

“The person you're trying to reach isn't available. Try again later.”

The breathing started to be harder. He lowered the phone and looked at it. The call was already over. He touched the call button again.

"The person you're..."

“Shinichi, come to see me! I have a new invention which should help you with the organization…”

No answer. He pressed the button again and increased his walking speed.

“Promise me… Promise me to take care of them.”

He didn't get through but he tried again.

“Remember, you’re… lov… ed…”

“Please… Answer me, Ran…”

“Shin-chan!”

“The person you're trying to reach isn't available. Try again later.”

Breath… Breath!

He got there – in front of the building that was covered with dancing flames. Firefighters were already trying to pull out the fire and paramedics were checking injured people. So many noises. There were so many people, standing confusing, looking around…

She can be there… somewhere… must be!

He went among the people, walking around, searching, but it was worthless. He asked, but no one couldn't give him the answer he wanted to hear. They were only sure that there was a light in her window, which meant that she would have been home.

“She must be here”, Shinichi said stubbornly and desperately to one of the firefighters who seemed to be one who had been in the flaming building to make sure that everyone was safe. “Listen, she…”

“Mister, please”, the firefighter said and looked at him. “We have looked around as much as we could, but when we came, her apartment was already in ablaze and...”

“What?!” Shinichi interrupted her. “It started from… her… apartment?”

“It’s too early to say where it started and how”, the firefighter answered. “But since this Mouri-san’s apartment was ablaze when we came and those closest ones around it, we believe it started somewhere around there. And…" She kept a little break, glancing fast at the building. "Well, I’m sorry to say this, but if she really was there, we didn’t have a chance to find any sign of her…”

It was like a rock had dropped on his heart, sinking it as deep as possible, and keeping it there.

No, not Ran…

But why? If it started there, why… how didn’t she get out in time? How…

He turned to look at the building.

Explosion, taking everything with it. He ran towards it, looking at his neighbor's house burning, the professor’s last words ringing in his ears…

“Shinichi, come to see me! I have a new invention which should help you with the organization…”

The bleeding body he tried to drag out, safe, let someone help him, heal him…

“Promise me… Promise me to take care of them.”

His father on the ground, looking at him, grabbing his wrist…

“Remember, you’re… lov… ed…”

His mother, running toward him…

“Shin-chan!”

He remembered her, standing in his room doorway. Those beautiful eyes looking at him, full of worry, sorrow… Those delicate lips, turning on a smile which wasn’t as convincing and beautiful as many other times… Gesture as she didn’t want to turn and leave, but since he didn’t give her other options…

“Promise to call if you need anything”, she had told him with a forced smile. “Anything.”

It was his fault. It was his fault! Why had he needed to be like that? Why he couldn’t have told her? Maybe… maybe it would have broken him more, to hear straight from her that she had already someone else, but at least… at least she would be alive, well, and... and...

She can still be there… Maybe… If he would...

“Ran”, Shinichi whispered and took steps towards the apartment building. She would be there, he could… he needs to! At least try… Because if she is gone, he...

“Mister, what are you doing…”

Someone grabbed his hand, but he waved it away. “She has to be there!” he shouted to her before turning again towards the building. “I’m going to find her!”

“Mister, don’t… Hey, stop him!”

He took a few steps closer to the building, but there were already some people grabbing him, stopping him to go forward. He tried to push forward, fighting against them, but those people were stronger.

“Stop!” someone told him, trying to calm him. “You’re not going to do anything else than kill yourself.”

"As I care", he answered. “But if she is still there, I need to…”

“If she is there, she is gone already!”

“You don’t understand”, he shouted, trying to still get himself free. “I… I can’t…”

I can’t lose her! I can’t…

Hadn’t he lost enough already?

“Hey, just calm down, okay?" someone else said. "I... I know she must be important to you, but we have already done everything we can, and... she’s gone. I’m… I’m sorry.”

The reasonable side of him knew it. But the other part…

“You’re wrong”, he denied and looked at those burning flames. Maybe he was a fool, but if there was a chance… Even a little chance, he would take it. Rather him than she… She has so much to live for, she could give so much to everyone. He?

He didn’t have much anymore.

There would be a way. There has to be! He could get into her apartment and make sure if she was there or not! Firefighters just haven’t found it, but he… he could! He would be fast, he…

He really, really can’t lose her. He couldn’t take it… He wouldn’t survive…

“Let me go!” He tried to get himself free again, but it was worthless, they kept him there, away from those flames. Away from that building, away from… her. He closed his eyes, being able to see her smiling face, those orchid-colored, soft eyes... Why her? Why from all people, why her? “Ran… RAN!”

“Shinichi?”

Shinichi opened his eyes. For a moment, he was sure that he was imagining that voice saying his name, and yet, when he looked towards the voice, he saw her. Standing there, looking at him worried, confused… Yet, the little smile came to her lips when their eyes met.

Shinichi couldn’t believe it, and yet…

“Ran”, he breathed out. It wasn’t his hallucination, right? Right?! He moved forward her, and this time, firefighters let him go. He stood in front of her, raising his hand on her cheeks, looking at her…

She was real. He could feel her. Breathing… Alive…

There was no sign that she would have been in the burning building. She was clean, maybe a little sweaty, but there was no soot. She looked like someone who had been at home, washed her face, and had been ready to go to sleep. She had just a big dark hoodie on her – looked like one of his –, like she had left with a hurry… but… if she wasn’t here, then…

“Where were you?” Shinichi whispered, still staring at her like not believing that she was real, even though he felt her under his hands, with his fingertips… “I… I searched you and… you… I…”

“I was at your place”, Ran answered softly. “I…” She looked away for a moment, like hesitating. “I was… waiting for you to come back.”

“But I… I called you”, he said. “Why didn’t you answer?”

“I didn’t have power on my phone”, she explained, looking a little embarrassed. “I… put it on a charge, but… I think I forgot to turn it on. And…” She kept a little pause. “I heard from the news that my home was burning, so I left in a hurry and… I think I forgot my phone.”

He stared at her orchid eyes, trying to still calm himself, trying still to understand… Slowly he let his hands drop from her cheeks to her lower back, making her come closer, and lowered his head to lean it against her shoulder, hiding his face against her neck, breathing her scent. He tightened his grip around her, like proving to himself that she was real, she was here…

“I… I thought I lost you.”

Only the thought… But she was here, alive, in his arms. Proof that she was alive. Not hallucination. Not... something he wouldn't get back...

“I’m sorry I made you worried”, he heard her saying. He felt how her hand touched his back while another petted his hair gently. “I’m really sorry… But we are here now, together. There is nothing to worry about. Everything is fine.” Then she let out a laugh. “Like you can get rid of me that easily.”

He let out a weak laugh, yet he didn’t move. He stayed, just enjoying her closeness, her warmth… Her fingers playing with his hair, the other stroking his back soothingly… He breathed her scent, trying to calm himself down.

He felt like an idiot. If he would have just been calm, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. If he would have been calm enough, there probably would have been a way to get in touch with her or do some reasoning about her location. But no, instead he had been in a panic, scared of losing her, his only…

But she was here now, and everything was fine. There was nothing to worry about. And the first thing he should do, he should make things right. Took those words back, be honest with her. It would hurt, but he didn’t need any more regrets. At least not now. And this? This mistake almost cost him her life. If she hadn’t been in his place, she… she…

But… But if she had been there…

He raised himself. “Ran…”

“RAN! RAAAN!!”

He looked in direction of those shouts. There were three people, two women, and a man. They were looking around, shouting… Until a light-brown, short-haired woman saw them. “Ran!” she screamed tears in her eyes, and a smile slowly raised on her lips. It took others’ attention, and the short-haired woman started to run toward them.

“Sonoko”, Ran said, and took only a few steps away from Shinichi’s arms, before the woman was hanging on her neck, crying.

“I was so worried about you”, he heard the woman – Sonoko? - crying.

“Raaan!”

Shinichi raised his gaze and saw how two other people came closer. Sonoko moved away and let the dark-haired man hug Ran tightly, crying also something about how worried they had been. Shinichi took a few steps backward. Then came another woman, who looked worriedly at Ran before taking her part in the hug.

“Thank God, you’re safe, Ran”, the woman said. “We were so worried when we heard from the news that the apartment building where you were living, was burning…”

“And we couldn’t get in touch with you”, Sonoko said, wiping her eyes. “Why didn’t you answer the phone?!”

“I’m sorry, Sonoko”, Ran answered. “Sorry to worry you, mom and dad, but…”

Mom and dad…

Shinichi felt something penetrating inside him. He watched how the younger woman was nagging something even though she was still wiping tears from her eyes. Her parents kept their daughter tightly in their arms, relieved to know that their worry had been unnecessary. He watched them and smiled a little to see a happy family, together again...

He missed them. He missed his mother's kisses, he missed his father ruffling his hair, their hugs. He missed the professor’s worried nagging about how he should be more careful and Heiji’s teasing after a tight situation...

This isn’t about you.

He turned away, looking at the building that firefighters tried still to turn off. He looked at the part where one of them had shown earlier to be Ran's apartment and the start of the fire. Well, it wasn’t clear that it had been started precisely from Ran's apartment, but since firefighters hadn't had a way to get there when they had come, starting place wouldn't be far.

But he couldn’t understand… If Ran wasn’t at home… She said that she had been in his place, waiting for him. Why though? He had said that she should take a day off, and even though he had known that she would still come and he had made sure that he wasn’t at home, even sending her that message to tell her that he was too busy, he had thought that she would go back home, or... somewhere else. But instead, she had stayed. Waited for him… But…

He shook his head. That was the mystery he could solve later. But now, there was something more important and weirder thing to solve.

From all the people he had asked and heard out, he knew that they had seen the light in Ran’s window. Some said that they had seen Ran moving in the courtyard earlier. Well, she had probably visited at home, it would explain. But if there were lights on the whole evening…

Well, she could have forgotten them. Maybe she left and forget to turn them off. Maybe she was too deep into her thoughts. But if that burn started from her apartment, how did that happen? He didn’t believe that only leaving lights on would have torched the whole apartment into flames. These days, it wasn’t possible.

But since everyone had enough time to get outside in safe, it meant that it had spread slowly. So it wasn’t…

He shook his head. What was he even thinking? Explosion? That someone would have done it, trying to kill someone? Well, some criminals tried to get away from someone making their homes burning, but if Ran wasn’t there, why would anyone do something like that? And who in the world would have something against Ran? She was nice and kind, he couldn’t think of any reason why anyone would want to hurt her.

And it could be that maybe she was at home, did something to eat and… maybe forget her oven on? Or… or… something. And who even said that it started from Ran’s apartment? Even if it was close to the starting place, it didn't mean that it would have started from there.

Shinichi sighed. He was thinking about this too much. Not everything needed to be a crime. This could be only an accident. Things like these happen. And they would hear about it when firefighters would tame those flames and there would be a good chance to examine where it began.

Yeah, he should stop thinking this too much.

He looked around him before turning to go back to Ran and her family, but then he stopped. Even if it was warm this close to the burning building, he felt how the air around him chilled. He turned back, to see if he had just imagined it...

There, among the people, stood a light-skinned woman, in black clothes. She stood there, looking at the flames without any particular facial expression. Long, dark brown hair was moving with a little wind, and she raised her hand, moving hair away from her face…

And she met his eyes.

He couldn’t breathe. His lungs were too tight. And he couldn’t move. He couldn’t rip off his eyes or got a word out of him.

He just stared at those dark brown eyes, which widened a little as she had been surprised, but then… On those bright red lips came a sweet, dangerous smile. And they moved, barely, but enough that he could read from them.

“Long time no see, Shinichi.”

No.

He reminded himself of breathing, yet he couldn’t take his eyes away from her. This must be his hallucination or something… whatever! She wasn’t real, she wasn’t alive. He saw how the building had collapsed on her, and they couldn’t have found anything from her. He wasn’t sure what, but something had triggered his memory of her, and… and… she couldn’t…

“Shinichi?”

It took him off. Shinichi turned to look at Ran, who stood behind him, looking at him with a worried smile. “Shinichi, are you okay?”

He stared at Ran for a moment before he turned back to see her, but she wasn’t there anymore.

Rini was gone.

He raised his hand on his forehead, rubbing it. She was his hallucination, right? She wasn’t real. She couldn’t be…

And yet, he got an uneasy feeling…

“Shinichi?”

He felt a hand on his back, rubbing it gently. Shinichi turned to look at Ran, who still looked worried. “Is something wrong?”

“I…” He hesitated. “I think I saw someone, but… it was probably my imagination.”

It made Ran look more worried. He saw how she looked beside him, to see where he had been looking, before looking back at him. “Are you…”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about me”, he interrupted her. “There are more important things than me, like…” He glanced at the burning building. “You just lost your home.” Then Shinichi met her gaze again. “Are you… Where are you going to stay?”

Ran stared at him for a moment. Then she looked like she had realized something, and she looked away from him. “Well, I haven’t thought of that”, she answered slowly. “I… Well, maybe I can sleep on my parent’s couch a night or two…”

“Or you can stay at my place.”

She looked at him and he regretted his suggestion. Why couldn’t he even think anything properly? Gosh, even though her parents wouldn’t have enough space for their daughter, she could always go to Araide’s place. It wouldn't be approved by him to suggest something like that!

“I… I mean that… that… You have done so much for me”, he hurried to explain himself. “And… since I have bedrooms, there is enough space for you, if… you… just… like to…”

Ran just stared at him, and he was ready to move his gaze away, apologize, ask her to forget it, but then she laughed. “Well, it would be nice”, she answered. “Truth to be told, I would love to sleep on the bed, and… I… kind of have some of my stuff at your place already.”

Shinichi frowned. “What?” he asked confused. “Why?” He didn’t remember that she would have said to stay at his place before, and…

She shrugged. “Well, I… was worried, so… I decided to stay at your place until you would come back, and I prepared to stay there at night if needed.” She smiled sweetly at him, and for a moment, he forgot everything else. “The reason why I visited my home earlier was that I came to take some of my stuff.”

“Oh”, he answered. He opened his mouth to ask his next question, but she already grabbed his arm.

“Let’s meet my parents and Sonoko before we leave”, she said, but before Shinichi had time to take even a step to follow her, she already stopped and turned back to him. And this time, she was blushing, having a little embarrassed expression. “Oh, and… please, don’t mind my father or… Sonoko.”

“What?” Shinichi asked. “Why?”

She looked away. “I… Think they believe that you’re… my… boyfriend.”

“What?!”

“I told them that you’re my friend – and a client too, but…” She let out an awkward laugh. “Well, when Sonoko gets some idea, she usually is stuck with it, and she… kind of… can't ever keep her mouth shut, so…” She shrugged, making Shinichi only more confused. But if Ran was already with Araide... “And my father is just like… fathers are, I think”, she explained. “Just overprotective, stubborn, and since, thanks to Sonoko, he now has the same idea as Sonoko, he… probably is going to be hard to you.”

Slowly Shinichi ripped his eyes away from Ran to look at her friend and parents. That young woman – Sonoko, was looking at them without even trying to hide it. She was smiling like a maniac like she had seen something very interesting, something she wanted to investigate at any costs. The man – Ran’s father, on the other hand, was staring – no, glaring at him. Well, it didn’t feel so threatening, maybe more like amusing, but Shinichi decided that he should make sure that he wouldn't say everything that comes to his mind - at least not at the first meeting.

But Ran’s mother on the other hand… Shinichi felt shivering ran over his spine when that woman turned to look at him. She stood very highly, without a smile, very serious expression on her face. Her glance was pretty sharp, and it made Shinichi feel like she could spear him with it, almost making him want to turn around and leave them behind. He was pretty sure that that woman would stomp him on the ground without problem if he would say something stupid...

Gosh, if they thought that he was trying to destroy Ran's and Araide's relationship...

“Are… you sure it’s a good idea?” he asked and looked at Ran.

“It is”, she promised and smiled. “And… I would like you to meet them. In the end, my parents, they…” She looked down hesitating a little. “They… were friends of your parents.”

Oh…

“They… were?” Shinichi asked and glanced again at her parents. Her mother had turned to speak something with the others.

“Well, at least at school when they were younger”, Ran answered and raised her gaze to meet his again. “And… I… Thought that… since we are… friends and you don’t have many people in your life, so… maybe I can share.”

Share?

“You could take part in our family dinners if you want to, and Sonoko... Well, she is one of her kind, but she is a really nice and heartfelt woman deep down. So if you want, she and her boyfriend probably would welcome you if you want to spend some time with us sometimes." Ran smiled carefully. "You… don't have to be alone.”

Shinichi stared at those orchid eyes which were full of happiness, hope, and excitement. Then he looked at Ran’s parents and her friend, and for a moment, he felt excitement. Well, they would never replace what he had lost, but… The thought of sharing the food with someone else or spending time with other people... Being part of something after ten months...

But what if they don’t like you?

He lowered his head.

“There is nothing lovable in you…”

“I… I don’t know”, he said finally. “Maybe…”

“Just meet them”, Ran interrupted him, before he get it out. Shinichi raised his eyes to her. “Just… If you don’t like them, it’s fine. You don’t have to, okay.” Yet, she smiled. “But meet them with me. At least this one time. Please?”

“But if they don’t… like me?” He asked. Hah, like he ever had cared what other people think about him.

Well, it was before he lost everything.

Ran let out a laugh. “They will like you”, she assured him. Shinichi saw how she glanced at them before turning back to him. “Well, yeah, I know that dad can have you on his sight right now”, she looked away and blushed. “And… Sonoko probably is going to harass you because… you know… But…” She looked at him again. “Just… don’t care about it. Just be yourself and I know they’re going to like you.”

“Be yourself”, Shinichi repeated. Then he smiled. “Oh, you mean being complicated and irritating, right?”

She smiled and rolled her eyes. “Don’t forget that stubborn on that list”, she told him sarcastically.

“Well”, he said. “You are who you hang out with.”

Ran let out a heavy sigh. “I almost want to be angry with you”, she told him while shaking her head.

Shinichi shrugged. Then he felt how she grabbed his hand to hers, making his heart almost explode out from his chest. “Okay, let’s go to meet them before we leave”, she said with a smile and turned. Shinichi didn't really have any other choice than follow her.

Then he stopped, letting his hand slide away from hers, and turned to look behind him.

He looked around, still searching for her appearance. To see if she was still there, if... But as much as he looked, he couldn’t see her. There was no sign that she would have even been here…

It was only your imagination, okay?

Yeah. It must have.

He turned and went after Ran, who had turned to wait for him.

Chapter 13

#ShinRan #The Light in my Nightmares #PTSD!Shinichi #Detective Conan #Darkfic #Hurt/Comfort #Romance #Fanfiction #Shinichi Kudo #Ran Mouri #Chapter 12

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kalopsia-stars · 2 years

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okay, to many of you, getting Fischl may not be a big deal. For me? HUGE DEAL.

ever since I started playing, I have not once gotten a single female electro character. Lisa is an exception on the note that she is given for free. Other than her, the only electro characters I have are my Traveler and Razor.

Long story short, I have been cursed to always want electro women but never get them. Beidou constantly ignores me, Keqing has never appeared (not asking for her now though, I am pulling for my boy kazuha), Kujou Sara never showed up, Raiden Shogun may hate me, Kuki has avoided me, and Yae Miko may not even want to as so much have anything to do with me. I. AM. CURSED. and then just as I was thinking about how getting Fischl's new outfit would be a waste as I thought I would never get her so long as I BREATHED, SHE APPEARS.

prinzessin you are going to be spoiled by me so much.

#kalopsia stuff #genshin impact #fischl #OH MY GODD #I AM HOPING SHE HAS BROKEN MY CURSE

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symphonic-scream · 3 years

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Let me tell y'all a story, of a traveling swordsman

(sorry it's more Miraculous Genshin au)

The bards tell tales of the mysterious swordsman, rumoured to be on the run from their homeland of Inazuma (the region based on Japan). Some say they slaughtered a whole town, on the run to avoid facing the consequences for their crimes. Other say they challenged the Electro Archon and lived to tell the tale

Reality is never as exuberant as the songs of a bored bard.

It all started when Inazuma's Archon started the Vision Hunt. Confiscating visions from their owners, the easy way or the hard way. A young swordsman, the heir to a long line of the finest swordsmen in Teyvat, owner of a shiny Pyro vision, refuses to give in. They fled their hometown in the dead of night, relying on their skills to keep their head

Getting out of the closed nation is near impossible. The swordsman has heard the campfire stories of a ghost barge, it's monstrous crew willing to smuggle escapees out, only they are never heard from again. Having made it as far as they have, the risk is better than turning back and admitting defeat

The tales of the ship are scarily accurate, in some ways. The flagship Liberty looks aged, like it's weathered a hundred storms in a night. It's crew, a small selection of sailors, their teeth are sharp like fangs, skin hard and nearly scaled, eyes not exactly human. Their captain, the Ghost Pirate of the Seas, is the worst of all

The cursed ship's crew is kind, despite their appearance, willing to smuggle anyone across the sea for any price. Their route is careful, tried, perfected to avoid authorities on the way to Liyue (based on China)

They don't make it to the main harbour, instead setting anchor near the ghost mining town. The ghost captain pulls the swordsman said before they depart, passing them a dark cloak. "Take care of yourself," she insists, the vision at her hip shining purple under the moonlight, "live freely, for me. That's all I can ask of you. Live well, for yourself. Hopefully we'll meet again."

From there, the swordsman travelled between the neighbouring nations of Liyue and Mondstadt, searching for any who could measure up to their skill with a blade. Never leaving a name or any proper trace, only stories that grow wilder as the days pass

Hearing news of a traveler who saved Mondstadt from a dragon, the swordsman finally makes their way into the city of freedom. People stare as they walk through the streets, hood pulled low, a small flash of red flickering under their cloak

They walk into the Harmony tavern, the whole bar falling silent as the swordsman walks up to counter. The owner, looking every part a pirate with her eyepatch and big aura, blinks down at the mysterious stranger. "Can I help you?"

"Perhaps you can." The swordsman glares at the staring locals, who nervously return to their drinks. The stranger turns back to the bartender, leaning over the counter a little. "I need to know where the traveler is."

One copper eye narrows, a hand reaching for the claymore under the bar. "And who is looking for him, exactly?"

"I haven't used my name in a while." The stranger pulls their hood down, revealing short, dark hair, nearly navy in the low light. Their eyes, deep brown, are framed by a mess of freckles, a small scar on their cheek. "Kagami. Tsurugi Kagami, I wish to challenge him to a duel."

The stories spun of that night oversell it, exaggerated once they left the lips of the Harmony's signature bard, Luka. No one outside of the trio know what happened when the bar closed, only that the swordsman remained long past the doors were locked

Some say there was a fight, though none can agree on who won. Others claim one of the siblings seduced the mysterious stranger. Not a far throw, considering the reputation the two have garnered

In actuality, as soon as the last drunkard left, the swordsman tilted her head. "Something about the two of you is, familiar."

"Oh yeah?" Luka leans back against the bar, sharing a look with his younger sister. "Do you have bards and pirated back in Inazuma?"

Kagami shakes her head, fingering the clasp of her borrowed cloak. "We do, but that's not what I meant. It's your eyes, and that eyepatch of your sisters. Her demeanor, as well. It's familiar. I've met someone like you before."

The siblings share a look. With a shaking voice Juleka stares into the swordsman's eyes desperately. "Tell us more."

I love Kagami. I also love Kaedehara Kazuha. So yeah I based Kagami's part in this au slightly on him I adore his story I couldn't not use it. Also you can't tell me Kagami wouldn't be a Pyro sword user, there's no way.

Also, anyone recognize who the Ghost Captain may be? :)

#ml genshin au #kagami tsurugi #juleka couffaine #luka couffaine #anarka couffaine #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous au #ml

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aracaeli · 4 years

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The Sign of Three

NOTE: Merry Christmas @elfchensdcartblog from your DCMK secret santa!! I’m sorry for posting it at the last minute possible, I should probably have said Happy New Year instead. Here is my humble gift to you. Also, I’m sorry for not writing it with the accent. Regular english still gives me trouble and I’m not sure I’m capable of writing it right. Big thanks to @dcmksecretsanta for hosting he event.

I’m really rusty, but actually making this gift is more fun than I imagined. I forgot how soothing writing can be. Please forgive any mistake I made, happy reading! ^^

----The Sign of Three----

“You know, this is a very bad idea.” Heiji said to Kazuha for the sixth time that day. He’s practically sulking by now. On default, Heiji is not a big fan of malls. Much less going to a mall two days before Christmas. Suffice to say, the place was packed. People are everywhere. There’s people who are getting their christmas shopping late, young couples celebrating christmas together, or just some rando who had the bright idea to come to the mall near christmas. The mall even blasted out “We Wish You a Merry Christmas'' in every speaker on loop. Heiji swears if he finds the person responsible for that song that guy will have to answer to him.

Kazuha however is chipper as ever. She ignored his comment and instead was busy looking at toy displays in front of her while whistling along on the christmas song. Heiji wouldn’t even be here if Kazuha had not dragged him out. Heck, he wouldn’t even leave the house if it weren’t for her. His plan is to stay at home and do some reading, maybe go out for a bit to get food, but that’s it.

Kazuha apparently had other plans for him. She insisted on making him come with her to her class christmas event today and accompany her to do last minute shopping for the kids. Apparently the school wanted the students to celebrate Christmas by making a christmas event where the kids can play and exchange gifts. Only, the actual event is two days early from christmas because the kids will be celebrating with their own family on the actual christmas.

The idea is stupid. Heiji said as much.

He gets smacked in the head for that. Heiji had tried to lie his way out, but Kazuha immediately saw through him.

And that’s another weird thing about Kazuha lately. They had been married a while, but Heiji was sure that her changes only occurred recently.

Lately, she seems to become more observant. She often notices small things that she didn't notice before. Normally if someone moved her pen when she was away, she wouldn’t notice, but now she was able to tell the exact distance of the pen’s displacement.

Another weirdness is, she woke up by the slightest noise. Before when Heiji had to stay late because of work, he was able to get to their bed without waking her. Now Kazuha is awake when he cracks the door open. If Heiji made a noise, she was able to tell exactly what was causing the noise, even if she was two rooms away. Heiji didn’t know what was the cause, it’s not like it’s the first time he saw that kind of ability. He had good ears, so does his father. What’s weird is that Kazuha suddenly developed one, too.

Maybe it was contagious?

Heiji shakes his head, chasing the ridiculous thoughts away. Despite Kazuha being weirdly observant, Heiji managed to secure an awesome gift for her, in his humble opinion. The subject of his musings is still shopping happily, uncharacteristically unaware of his thoughts.

Kazuha is still looking at the display. But now she has already moved to the far end of the store. She picks up the toys one by one and assesses them carefully, as if it was important evidence on a crime scene. After a while, she held up a toy truck in front of him.

“Do you think Mikoto-kun would like this one?” Kazuha asked, holding a red toy car that resembles a fire truck.

Mikoto is one of Kazuha's students in elementary school, who Heiji really doesn’t like. Mikoto, like most the boys in her class, had a crush on Kazuha-sensei and wanted to marry her when they grow up. Nevermind that Heiji visited the class and told them that Kazuha was already married to him.

In response to that information, Mikoto--who had the smuggest face for someone barely older than a toddler-- just looked at him from top to bottom, face clearly displaying unimpressed. “Oh well, we’ll see about that.”

The audacity.

Not caring what the brat would get for Christmas, Heiji answered shortly, “He’s a kid, that’s a toy. The math suggests that he would be thrilled.”

He thought she would get annoyed with him, but his wife just shrugged and went back to shopping. In the end, she made a decision and took the toy to the counter to pay for it and told him to wait for her. Heiji watched her with a suspicious gaze, wondering if what meets the eye is really the truth.

Heiji thinks it’s weird that Kazuha invited him to the event. While it’s not the first time he has come to her class and participated, it was always such a disaster. Considering what happened when he was present, he should be banned.

In his defense, it was the brat’s fault. Everytime Heiji comes to pick Kazuha up, he will ‘accidentally’ step on his foot. Kazuha makes Mikoto apologize to him of course, but the boy apologizes with a sleazy grin not fit for a child. One time, when he visited Kazuha during class, the brat ‘accidentally’ poured paint all over his shirt. Heiji tried to get back at the kid, but as if sensing his petty intention, Mikoto immediately cried.

Worse, Kazuha never sided with him. She came and comforted the kid while Heiji had to watch the kid buried his face in Kazuha’s chest while giving him the smuggest smile known to humankind. He had to bite back a curse.

Another incident that popped in his mind is when Heiji cursed in her class, in front of the children. It was actually quite comical, the children had simultaneously stopped what they were doing and looked at him in shellshock, Heiji stood awkwardly for a minute. He was about to make a run for it. When one of the kids decided that what he had done was unacceptable on so many levels and tattled on him to Kazuha.

Kazuha had put him on time-out as if he was five despite his protest to her.

“I can’t play favour, Heiji. It’s not a good example for the kids” Kazuha said sternly while putting her hands at her hips. Long story short, he lost the debate.

He had to sit in the hallway to think about what he did while the other children peeked at him curiously from the window.

One kid even booed at him.

Yeah, it was not his proudest moment.

While he was reminiscing, Kazuha came back from the cashier, carrying one more bag in her hand. She didn’t have any trouble carrying it, but he decided to perform his duty as a good husband and took the bag from her hand. Beside, this way her hand would be free for him to hold.

Chiding himself for being sappy, Heiji linked their fingers together in a loose grip, suppressing the blush that always comes despite already being married to her. But Kazuha was having none of it today as she tightened her hand.

Kazuha leaned closer on him. Their arms linked together and her nose almost brushed his shoulder.

“Let’s go upstairs.” Kazuha said, leading the way. As they walked side by side, she broke the silence.

“Did you finish your christmas shopping?” Kazuha asked. The mall was crowded and loud, so Heiji really had to pay attention to hear her.

“I did. Finished it weeks ago.”

“Including my gift?”

“Yes.”

“Is it a living thing?”

“No.”

“Is it a nonliving thing?”

“We’re not playing 20 questions!”

Kazuha pouted. She bit the inside of her cheeks and turned her face away from him. Giving Heiji her side-view. And suddenly he finds himself resisting the irrational urge to kiss that protruding lips in public. Fortunately, unlike with the case of Fairy’s lips, he still had common sense left.

“I think I know what you get me.” Kazuha said suddenly.

Heiji gave his wife a skeptical stare, surely she was just bluffing, afterall he went through a painstaking measure to make it a surprise. He even draws a murderboard, which he hides in Kudo’s house, much to the latter dismay.

“No you don’t.” Heiji sneered.

“Hmm let’s see now,” Kazuha put her hand to her chin, mimicking his favorite pose when solving a case, complete with a smile, which may appear innocent at first but completely devious.

“I know that you suck at handcraft. And I don’t see you working at anything, so it can’t be handmade. You said it was a non-living thing, so it can’t be a pet. Judging by how quick you are in answering my question earlier and the fact we have a joint account, it’s unlikely to be a trip or a dinner.”

Heiji started to sweat. Is this what the suspect always felt whenever he made a show of his deductions? Still, Kazuha is not done yet.

“The fact that you finished weeks ago means you had planned it for awhile. You’ve gone to Tokyo for a suspicious amount of time, it can be unrelated to gift-buying, but my instinct said it was very related. But it’s weird that you go so far just to shop, there’s plenty of places here where you can hide your gift. That suggests the involvement of an outside party. Probably a delivery. Which means…”

Kazuha added a dramatic pause.

“....it was custom-made.”

Damn. What’s gotten into her?

Still, Kazuha went for the kill, “The fact that you’re giving it to me, big chance it was a jewelry. Probably a necklace. Since you had no sense when it comes to women’s fashion, the one you custom it’s not probably the design. If my deduction is correct, that necklace would have my initial.”

Heiji completely avoided looking at her. Somehow his pride is trampled over her deductions. He had plans after all. The only solace he had was Kazuha doing all of that is kinda hot. So he let it pass.

“Am I right?”

Heiji shrugged. “I don’t know, you had to wait.”

Kazuha gives a little happy jump, almost knocking a lady that was passing by them.

“I can’t wait for a necklace with a ‘K’ pendant to come.”

Heiji nodded along with her statement. The pendant that he ordered is actually spelled ‘K.H’, since Kazuha had officially become a Hattori now. He decided to let her little mistake in detail be left uncorrected and changed the subject.

“Can we go now? I think this place is getting more packed.” Heiji said, and true to his word, someone bumped into him. Said person didn’t even apologize and just walked.

“Hold on, I still need to buy one more for Chika-chan.”

“Huh? I thought it was a secret santa.”

“It is, but I’m buying a present for all of my students in the class.”

Heiji frowned. “Why? Isn’t that a bit much even for you? You’ll see them again next year.”

He felt her getting tense. She was looking straight ahead but he can tell that she was carefully masking her face as casual indifference.

Shrugging her shoulder, Kazuha answered, “I just want to make this year memorable.”

Heiji observed her face carefully for any clue, but sensing his curiosity, Kazuha looked back at him and feigned a smile. Deciding to not pursue it further, he noted this exchange and kept it in Kazuha’s folder, a place in his mind palace where he keeps anything related to Kazuha that he finds odd or weird. That folder had recently become thicker and thicker.

“Let’s go up one more floor, I think I see a store selling hair accessories.” Kazuha said quickly as she pulled him along by his hand to the elevator direction. Heiji followed along.

She accidentally stumbled on her steps. Delaying them for a few seconds. In consequence of that, they missed the elevator. As the door closed with a resounding ding sound. It was like a butterfly effect, the world just decide what he needs today is a murder.

If only they got on that elevator, they would have missed the shrill scream of a person discovering a dead body.

But unfortunately they did.

Knowing that scream everywhere, Heiji felt his detective sense alert in an instant. But before running off to the source of the commotion, he looked at Kazuha first, wordlessly asking for her permission.

Kazuha sighed, smiling softly, “Go”.

Heiji gave her a cheeky grin. He handed her the shopping bags to her. Since both his hands are free, he had the chance to strike a cool pose before running off by gripping the edge of his hat and pulling the cap to the front.

“I’ll be back.”

------------------------------------------------------------

In the span of time for one call to the police, five interrogations, and one person broke down crying later, Heiji managed to gather the suspects in the back of the store. The body is found in a clothing changing room. A man in his late thirties, wearing casual jeans and polo shirt. The corpse had been found laying on his back, half his body leaned on the mirror. Eyes wide and mouth wide open. Although there is no blood.

The store owner had been very helpful in aiding his investigations. She closed the crime perimeter and helped gather witnesses. Even though she initially insisted that the man just had a heart attack, until Heiji pointed out the signs that he clearly is poisoned.

Heiji was busy doing his usual detective work that he didn’t really notice that Kazuha hadn't shown up even after thirty minutes had passed since they heard the scream.

Heiji was about to search for her, already worried that something happened to his wife. But as he was about to walk away from the crime scene, Kazuha catches up with him, completely unaware of his worry. She even brought a drink in hand and casually sip the cold liquid from the straw while looking around the crime scene curiously.

“Solved it yet?” She asked. Slurping the boba tea.

Heiji was momentarily distracted by the movement of her lips. Shaking the unwanted thoughts away, he looked back at the corpse.

“Not yet. So far, here’s the situation. Someone is found dead in the changing room of this store.” Heiji gestured towards the corpse.

“No blood.” Kazuha remarked.

Heiji nodded. He feels weirdly proud that she participated in the case. He resisted the urge to pat her head, “Exactly. Death by poison.”

“Cyanide?”

“No, arsenic.”

“Who do you think did it?”

“Well, I figured out the trick, But I’m still not sure who did it.”

Kazuha nodded solemnly. Still slurping her drink. Her gaze turned towards the three people standing behind the store owner who were looking at them the whole time. The three men are the main suspects for the case. Heiji told them to stand far enough so they can’t overhear his conversation. Heiji was sure the culprit was between the man with glasses and the tall one. Although he had no evidence or any defining clue.

“The guy with the glasses seems suspicious.” Kazuha said. Leaning close to whisper in his ears. He instinctively take a step back. Typical of Kazuha to annoy him with her stupid breath and her slurping when he was in the middle of a case.

Heiji snatched the drink from her hand.

“How is he suspicious?” He asked, only half-interested in her answer.

“Look at the inside of his wrist.” Kazuha said confidently at first, but she suddenly turned hesitant and quickly shrugged “But, I don’t know though, you’re the Detective.”

Reluctantly, Heiji followed Kazuha's advice and focused on the man in glasses hands.

Wait….that mark…

“I know who the killer is.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

An hour and half later, they finally manage to get out of the mall. Heiji was sure that they were already late to the event. Thankfully, there was no traffic on the way, so they made it to the school ground less than ten minute later. The event hasn't started yet. Most of the kids were still playing around, although Kazuha’s coworkers had pulled out various games and an assortment of christmas themed sweets out.

When Heiji and Kazuha enter the classroom. The children cheered. Immediately, she was surrounded by her students. They formed a circle around her and tried to get her attention. Looking at the spectacle before him, Heiji can’t help but note that Kazuha is really good with kids.

Heiji put their bag on the gifts table. He searched for an empty chair to sit on. Heiji found one in the back of the room. He sits down on one of the chairs beside the low round table. Heiji was so focused that he didn’t notice someone approaching him.

“So you came.”

Heiji turned to the source of the voice. But he didn’t see anyone.

“Down here”

He looked down and his stare met with Mikoto’s gaze.

“Hey”

Mikoto only grunted. The kid pulled the chair across him and sat down. He slouched on the chair while looking around the room with bored eyes. Heiji noticed that his eyes landed on a little girl with a pigtail who was excitedly chatting with Kazuha. He looked back at the kid and the girl.

Heiji was a very observant Detective. The best in Japan. Despite what neechan said. That’s why the blush on Mikoto’s face didn’t go unnoticed by Heiji. He gave a small sigh. Kids these days, so easy to move on from one crush to another.

“Do you like that girl?” Heiji asked. One eyebrow raised suggestively. He deliberately didn’t gesture on the little girl across the room.

Mikoto looked scandalized, suddenly sitting straight with face flushed red. “What! No! Who likes Chika!?”

Heiji grinned. “I didn’t say anything about Chika-chan.”

Mikoto was about to defend himself. But no words come out. All of his face was flaming red to the tip of his ear. The blush even went up to his ears. In the end, he settled to look away instead. Sulking.

“So…” Heiji began, finding the opportunity to tease the kid highly amusing. “Do you think Chika-chan cute? What’s her deal?’

Mikoto crossed his hand in front of his chest, “She’s not cute! She’s stupid!” he stated, too loud and too defensive to be true. Some of the kids and one teacher had looked their way due to commotion.

“Hey, stupid is a bad word.” Heiji chided.

Mikoto was about to protest. But somehow decided against it and mumbled a low “Sorry.”

Seeing the kid actually reminded him a lot of someone. Although Heiji can’t quite recall who. “Here’s an advice, if you like her, don’t pull her pigtails.”

Mikoto, once again, flushed red. As if he was just caugh red-handed. “I don’t need your advice, I bet you also pulled Kazuha-sensei’s ponytail.”

Heiji laughed. It’s actually happened. The scene of their younger years flashed before his eyes. Kazuha used to have pigtails too when she was young and the sight of her hair swinging around as she walked always seems cute and endearing to him. Although back then he had no idea what the feeling blossomed in his chest was.

Young Heiji never made the connection between the flutter of his heart and Kazuha’s presence. Once Heiji even thought he had heart problems. His mother laughed when he brought his concerns to her. Shizuka had said that he was healthy as a clamp and had nothing to worry about. To his embarrassment, it took him ten more years to finally understand he was in love with Kazuha.

“What are you boys talking about?”

Both of them turned around simultaneously, only to find Kazuha standing behind.

“Nothing,” Mikoto said. Kazuha looked at the two of them suspiciously. “Mikoto-kun, you should join the others. The game is about to start.”

Mikoto sends Heiji a distress signal to help him get away. But Heiji feels no remorse as he shrugged his shoulders in total betrayal.

“Mikoto-kun.” Kazuha said again, voice more stern. In the end, Mikoto sighed and walked away from the couple. Joining the merry and fun of his friends in the center of the room.

Kazuha sat on the empty chair that Mikoto left, staring at the crowd in a somewhat somber gaze, “He reminds me a lot of you.”

Heiji immediately defended himself, “What! I am nothing like that brat.”

“You two seemed to get along, though” Kazuha said.

“No, we’re not. He hates my gut. Apparently he used to have a crush on you.” Heiji added, “And just so you know, those little accidents that he did, are not an ‘accident’.”

Kazuha laughed. “I know. I just wanna show how ridiculous you are, getting jealous of kids.” Heiji opened his mouth, but she cut him off, “Don’t even try to deny it.”

Heiji blew a harsh breath. Looking around at the happy kids around him, the christmas decoration is exquisite, and the cookies smelled delicious, even from when he was sitting.

“Why do you insist I come anyway?” Heiji asked. Although he probably knows the answer. With how observant Kazuha is lately, maybe she noticed that he’s not having such a great time at work.

But his wife is always able to surprise him. “I’m pregnant.”

Heiji gaped at her as the world turned into a standstill. Voices become mute and he swears the earth stop spinning.

Kazuha...is pregnant…

Kazuha is pregnant.

He heard the words clearly. But the meaning didn’t actually register in his head. Kazuha is pregnant? With his child….

There’s another human being that he will be responsible to. Someone who looks like him. Or maybe Kazuha. Maybe a well-behaved kid like Chika-chan or a brat like Mikoto.

What would he do if his kid makes bad choices? Or become too reckless like him?

He could feel his panic rapidly growing by the second. The thought of bringing a human life in this world is downright overwhelming. Kazuha might be good with kids, but he is not. What would he do with one? That’s easy, he should feed it. Oh God, what did you feed a kid? What does a kid even eat??

As if sensing his rapidly growing panic, Kazuha called his name. “Heiji,”

When there was no response, Kazuha grabbed his hand that was laying on the table. The contact startled him. His eyes turned to her.

“We’re gonna be fine, Heiji.” Kazuha added, “Beside, I’ve been thinking about it, and I think I want to focus on raising our family.”

Suddenly, it made sense. Why she wants to make this year christmas with her class so memorable. The way she is acting so weird recently. There’s only one thing he can’t figure out, thought….

“I don’t get why you suddenly become so observant, is that another side effect of pregnancy?”

Kazuha stared at him in bewilderment, “What are you talking about?”

“You! You were suddenly very observant. Like a detect--” Heiji stopped mid-sentence, he abruptly stood up from the chair, knocking it backwards. As if he just received the meaning of the universe, he exclaimed:

“Oh God, our child is gonna be a detective!!”

A/N: And thus, Heisuke is doomed since he was a literal fetus to be a detective by his father.

There’s a local belief in my area that when a mother is pregnant, how she behaves is influenced by the child’s personality. So if a woman often gets angry during pregnancy, that means the child is temperamental, so on. Halfway writing this, I realized that it might be too weird and specific, so I ended up rewriting it into a more general trope. Although dumbass me misread the fact that Kazuha is elementary teacher-to-be, not elementary teacher. Still, I hope you accept this as a humble sort-of-headcanon to your Heisuke AU.

I actually really like the concept of the AU, I had to refrain myself from liking and reblogging all the posts because then you would have easily figured out that I’m your Secret Santa (lol). Can’t wait to see your next works. Good luck and Merry Christmas! ^^

#dcmksecretsanta #my fic #I think the last time I write anything is BNHA secret santa three years ago #this is surprisingly fun #imagining Heiji in ridiculuous situation is my jam #I will never live down the fairy's lips case #that was exhausting

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kyogre-blue · 3 years

Text

tbh I think it would have been better if Inazuma Act 1 and Act 2 were in separate versions. As it stands, it’s pretty natural to try and get through the entire story first, consecutively, and this raises some issues. Like, getting locked out of the entire shogun’s castle because you’re a wanted criminal (getting those chests while not getting flagged down by a guard is... annoying). Or the extremely weird tone changes of going immediately from Act 1, to Ayaka’s and Yoimiya’s stories, to Act 2.

If Act 2 was slated for ver2.1, there wouldn’t be a need to make their character quests mandatory, since people would naturally play them while waiting for the next update. Plus, the long real world gap would help with the pacing.

I do think there were several reasons why Mihoyo did it like this, ymmv about how relevant they are:

Act 2 is super short. I don’t necessarily think it’s shorter than chapter 1 act 4 (Dainsleif and sibling) or chapter 2 prelude (Kazuha), but it’s something to consider.

Liyue was released in this fashion, Acts 1 and 2 being released in 1.0 and Act 3 being released in 1.1. But since that the game launch, I don’t think it’s such an important precedent.

We’re going to run into the anniversary shortly, and Mihoyo wants to do a big thing for it. Specifically, it’ll be on the back end of ver2.1. Breaking up Inazuma main story to be on both sides of the anniversary might be something Mihoyo wanted to avoid. Although, I don’t have too much sympathy, since this is just the result of them delaying so much. They really should have thought of that before taking almost a full year to release chapter 2 of their game.

#playing genshin

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sternentinte · 5 years

Text

Emogust 2019 - 22.08.|First Time

„What are you going to do now?”, Haibara asks.

They are at the police station again. The news hasn’t broken yet, but the Black Organisation is down. The coup worked. They did it. Well, the last part was mostly the doing of Hattori and his colleagues, and the FBI, but Shinichi knows they all mostly count it as his success. They are probably right in that, but he doesn’t feel like bragging about it, not like he did when he was still a teenager.

“Well”, Shinichi says, “there’s probably gonna be a press conference soon and we’re gonna have to tell the whole story.”

He looks at her and wonders if that is what she is worried about. “You’re still okay with what we agreed on, right?”

Haibara meets his eyes. “You know I’m sure about that.”, she says quietly, “I’ve always wanted it to be that way, you know that.” She makes a short break. “As long as you are willing to lie about that.”

Shinichi sighs. “We talked about that. It’s for the best. I’m not gonna tell.”

“I know.”, she says. “But you don’t want to lie anymore.”

She’s right. She knows him too well. But this is a whole different story.

“I’ve got all the important parts down. You are Ai Haibara, a child that was pulled into the Black Organisation against her will because of her parents. Her parents are dead so she was raised in the Organisation. However, she decided to flee with me and helped bring down the Organisation ultimately. There’s no lie in that.”

“I guess not.”, Haibara says.

Shinichi reaches down to ruffle her hair. He loves that he can do that now—he’s been permanently big for about a week now and he absolutely loves it.

She gives him a death glare and it melts the soft worry of her face. Shinichi is glad.

“You’re avoiding my question.”, Haibara says and gets her hair out of his reach.

Shinichi frowns in confusion. “What question?”

“What are you going to do now?”, she repeats, her eyebrows furrowing in impatience, or maybe just annoyance.

Shinichi blinks. “I just told you, there’s gonna be a press conference, and then the trials I guess…”

“Not that stuff.” She makes a dismissive gesture with her hand. “I mean what are you going to do, now that you’re free and all?”

Shinichi stares at her. “I- I don’t know.”

The question follows him around. It’s not surprising—really it’s all there is to ask, now that all is said and done, even if the reporters might have a slightly different idea.

It’s not that he hasn’t thought about it at all—but not in terms that seem real. It has always been some kind of parallel ubiverse, where he can be normal again and slip back in his old life—finish high school with Ran and Sonoko, maybe go to college, and then? He’s always wanted to open his own agency, but now, everything just wasn’t as easy.

Ran and Sonoko had long since finished high school, and if he had wanted to go to college he would be almost finished by now. He didn’t even have a high school degree! But even apart from that—returning to his old life was clearly impossible when everyone else had moved on from it. All of his old classmates had long since moved on and where building their own lives, Ran included. And besides, the more he thought about it, the more he realised he barely had had any connection to them anyway. Sure, he had been friendly with some of them, but he had barely had any friends per se. When he had first disappeared, Ran was the only one that had cared enough to make a fuss about it, her and maybe Sonoko. It was kind of frightening to realise that he had had more friends when he was Conan than when he was himself.

His thoughts swerve to Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko. They seemed to still be on the detective train when he saw them the other day. He admits to himself he is a little bit proud. They are smart kids and they could be good someday. He’s almost a little sad he doesn’t have a legitimate reason to go talk to them—maybe Haibara will be able to reconnect to them, then he could at least hear about what they are up to. The thought saddens him, but he doesn’t quite know why.

Aside from Ran and Sonoko his only other close friend had been Hattori. Shinichi is glad to have him back, glad to know he has someone to have his back again, but Hattori has his own life, too. He’s with Kazuha, and he has his work, and on Saturdays he volunteers to teach little kids Kendo when he’s not too busy. It sounds like a good life. It takes Shinichi a few minutes to realise he’s jealous.

The press conference doesn’t exactly shake his thoughts because after trying to squeeze pages worth of terrible memories out of his brain (Shinichi tries to gloss over the worst parts—there’s some of his pain he needs to keep private) the question is there again.

“What are your personal plans for your future?”

Shinichi tries to stall for time. “Well, I’ve always been a detective.”, he says, because it’s true, and even after everything that’s happened, he doesn’t want to give up on that. Apparently, there is still a little idealist somewhere inside of him, longing to bring justice to people’s unjust deaths. “And when I started this case, I didn’t ever think it would take that long. I didn’t realise how big this was until I was in the middle of it and then I didn’t have a way out. So when I first started out with it I just assumed I would slip back into my old life. Going to school, being a teen detective… Obviously it doesn’t quite work out that way, so frankly I’m not sure yet. I don’t even have a high school diploma, I’m far behind other people my age, so I guess I’ll be trying to catch up.”

“Was it terrible?”, he asks Haibara after. She’s sitting outside the conference room, but she’s watched the whole thing. As a child, she doesn’t have to answer any questions herself.

“I thought you did well at the part where they tried to insinuate you abducted me from the professor’s house.”

“That’s not what they said.”

“They kind of did.”

Shinichi doesn’t try to contradict her any further. “What did you think about the part about my future plans?”

She gives him a look. “That’s the part you’re worried about? They asked you all kinds of questions about deeply traumatizing stuff!”

She’s worried about me, Shinichi realises. The sentiment warms his heart.

“I know, but I expected that. I had a strategy.”

“If you must know, it sounded a bit awkward, but mostly reasonable.”

Shinichi makes a non-committal sound. Even if she’s right, it doesn’t bring him any closer to answers.

“So…”, she says, “are you gonna make any life-changing calls?”

Shinichi squints at her, suspiciously.

“You know to tell some people you’re back before they hear it from the press, now that you’re officially allowed to?”

“I guess I should do that…”

“Yes you should”, Haibara says, “Besides, we kind of need a place to live. The FBI probably isn’t gonna kick you out right away, but at some point.”

“I have a house.”, Shinichi says, then he reconsiders. “Well, my parents have a house. I hope they still have it. They could have sold it.”

Haibara looks at him like that’s not quite the thing she was referring to, but eventually she just nods.

“Then you better find that out.”

They call Professor Agasa first. Shinichi still feels guilty for the way he and Haibara left the Professor all those years ago, even though it was for his own safety. They don’t need to worry about the number—Shinichi’s had it memorised ever since he was a little boy.

They put the phone on speaker. The professor answers on the fifth ring.

Shinichi feels his hands shaking, but his voice is surprisingly firm.

“Hi professor”, he says, “It’s Shinichi.”

“Shinichi?”, the professor asks, “I hope you’re not trying your hand at practical jokes again, Ayumi-kun, those aren’t things to joke about-“

“It’s us”, Haibara interrupts.

“Ai-kun?”

“Yes”, she says, “I am Ai Haibara,”, she lowers her voice, “also known as Shiho Miyano, or Sherry. Shinichi and I managed to bring the Black Organisation down.”

“Also, there is a mole on your butt.”, Shinichi says.

Haibara throws him a weird look.

“Shinichi! It really is you! I had my hopes but-“ The professor’s voice breaks and something in Shinichi’s chest does as well.

“Yes.”, Shinichi says. “We’re coming home, professor. We’ve done it. It’s finally over.”

It feels more real telling him than all the reporters.

Haibara looks at her watch.

“If you turn on the TV right about now, you should be able to get all the details.”, Haibara says. Her voice sounds strangely choked. Shinichi looks at her. Of course this is affecting her. The professor was the one that took her in when she didn’t have anybody. He had believed her, even before Shinichi did.

Haibara gives him her ‘Stop staring you creep’-look, but it’s not very malicious.

“Professor?”, Shinichi asks, “Can I- I mean is my- is my house still waiting for me?”

“Yes, yes!”, the professor hurries to answer, “Ran-kun has made sure someone was there to clean it—your parents didn’t quite want to give it up, I might have told them not to, but yes, it’s still there, and in good condition.”

“That’s good.”, Shinichi says. Suddenly he can’t wait to go. Go home. “C’mon Haibara, let’s go- we’ll come, alright?”

“Of course, Shinichi, Ai-kun, I’m so happy-“

“Me too”, Shinichi says. It’s true, He’s starting to feel it.

“Oh but Shinichi? Make sure to call your father. He’s been giving himself a hard time…”

Shinichi feels guilty thinking about his parents. He’s barely thought about them at all. But now, he just wants to get home.

“I will.”, he promises before saying good-bye. No, not good-bye. See you soon. Much different.

“Let’s go.”, he says to Haibara. “I’ll call my parents on the way.”

Things don’t turn out to be as easy. As soon as they try to leave the station, childhood services stop them. Apparently, they’ve been looking for Haibara all over the place.

Shinichi shots her a sideward glance. Of course, rationally, he is not a suitable care-giver for a twelve-year-old girl, no matter how much time they’ve spent on the run together. But at the same time, he can’t imagine being separated from her now—they’re family. They’ve been through so much.

Before he can even try to start to think of something to convince them, Haibara starts crying terribly. She hides herself behind him and clutches to his arm like it’s her lifeline while sobbing into his shirt hysterically.

Shinichi can tell her real crying and her fake crying apart pretty easily, but apparently the social worker can’t, so he does his best to play his part and try and comfort her. It’s like a weird game of good cop, bad cop.

In the end, they agree to let Haibara go home with him—but only as a temporary solution, until something else is figured out. And they are going to be checked on.

Shinichi’s fine with the checking. As for the temporary bit—they’re gonna work it out.

They even get a ride home, Megure puts a young officer up to the task. He’s only a couple years older than Shinichi, and he’s never met him before. Of course not. How would he?

Shinichi actually has to look up his parents’ phone number. He finds one on his father’s page—it’s for business contacts and connects him to the secretary, but Shinichi can convince her to interrupt his fathers frantic writing session, that is, without a doubt, a last minute effort to please his publishers.

It’s good to hear that some things haven’t changed.

The phone call itself is weird. It’s all emotional and stilted and his parents seem to blame themselves for so many things, which is just plain weird to Shinichi—he made his own decisions taking on that case. Hasn’t it always been this way? It feels weird to be confronted with their guilt now.

In any case, they promise to jump on the next flight. Shinichi doesn’t really know how to react to that, but at least he has about twenty-four hours time to figure that out. It takes some time to get to Tokyo from Los Angeles, no matter how many strings you pull.

The professor waits for them in the house. Shinichi is so happy to see him, even more than he knew talking on the phone and for a while, they just sit together and explain. The professor leaves them to settle in, eventually, and they start to take in the house properly.

It’s in a good state, like the professor said, well-kept, but clearly empty, and it has been for a while. Shinichi can barely detect any traces of the time when Shuichi Akai used to live hear disguised as Subaru Okiya, but the marks of his own time are just to clear. It’s not like he just left—his math homework isn’t still lying on his desk or anything, but there are just so many memories flooding his mind it’s almost unbearable.

Haibara strolls around more curious than anything. She’s been in here before, but she never lived here, so it must be different for her. She can still sense his discomfort, but she doesn’t say anything. They are good at leaving room for each other’s pain. Not in a bad way, it’s more like he feels he’s still allowed to feel it. She understands, at least a little bit. And in any case, her company helps ease his discomfort anyway. No matter how long this house has been his home, for the past four years, his home was Haibara.

They spent the afternoon bringing the little amount of things they own from the FBI apartment to the house. It’s not a lot, mostly Haibara’s lab utensils and the cat tree for a cat they no longer have, but it’s something to do. Eventually, they put sheets on in Shinichi’s room and the guest room and go to sleep. Tomorrow’s gonna be a new day. The first new day of their lives.

They first look at the media again the nest day at breakfast. The professor had the foresight to bring some food over for them, since their fridge is completely empty.

“Looks like everything’s going over pretty well.”, Haibara says, which is good coming from a chronical pessimist like her.

“No signs of anyone connecting you to Sherry?”

“No, but that can still happen.” Haibara clicks on another news side.

“Well, then we’ll deal with it when it comes to that.”, the professor says.

Just as he’s finished the sentence, Shinichi’s home phone starts ringing.

Three pairs of eyes stare at the receiver.

“I didn’t think that was still connected.”, Shinichi says.

“Your parents must have kept paying the bill.”, the professor muses.

Haibara just grabs the phone and picks it up.

“At the Kudou residence?”, she says, sounding much older than twelve.

Her eyebrows raise as she listens to whatever the command is, then she covers the mouthpiece with her palm.

“They are asking you for another interview.”

Shinichi frowns. “Didn’t I say everything there is to know at the press conference?”

“It’s a magazine called Red Hearts. Apparently, they want to ask their own questions.”

“That’s a weird name. Is it a true crime magazine or something?”

Haibara looks at him. “I’m pretty sure they mostly do celebrity gossip.”

Oh.

“Oh.”

Haibara gives him another look, then she pulls her hand off the mouthpiece again.

“I’m sorry, but Kudou-san isn’t available for interviews at the moment.”

And with that, she hangs up.

“Thanks.”, Shinichi says, but before he can say anymore, his phone rings again.

“You might want to unplug that”, the professor suggests.

After breakfast, Hattori calls. The call actually comes through, because unlike what feels like a million gossip magazines, Hattori calls his cell phone.

“Have you heard about Neechan?”, Hattori asks without a greeting. “I was so busy wrapping everything up, I only got Kazuha’s text this morning…”

“Ran?”, Shinichi asks, and feels fear growing in him, “What about her?”

“Reporters cornered her about your being back at her concert last night. I don’t think she’d seen the news yet, and she just collapsed.”

Shinichi feels his heart speed up.

“Is she alright?”

“She’s at the hospital now, but she’ll be fine. I think it’s some kind of stress-shock thing.”

“I see.”

Shinichi curses himself internally.

“Do you think I can-?”

He doesn’t need to finish his question.

“Only family’s allowed to visit right now. Everything else is too much stress.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Do you want me to come over?”, Hattori asks, carefully. He’s offering his comfort.

“No, that’s alright, you have your job to do.”

“If you’re sure.”

“Yes.”

Shinichi relays what happened to Haibara and the professor in short sentences.

“I should have called her right away.”

“You should have.”, Haibara says.

Shinichi sighs. He knows that’s who she meant the previous day at the police station, but to be honest, he doesn’t know what he could have said to Ran at all.

He had left her without an explanation, so shortly after they’d gotten together, and now she has her own life. She’s so successful (not that Shinichi’s surprised about that, she’s brilliant) and happy, probably. Coming back to that now doesn’t feel right. He doesn’t have a right to interfere with it.

“I didn’t want to mess her life up all over again.”, he says.

The other two just stare at him.

“Oh Shinichi”, the professor says, “that was gonna happen anyway, no matter what you did.”

His parents arrive in the early afternoon. It’s even weirder than the phone call, all messy and emotional.

They keep hugging him and promising to do better, to take care of everything and Shinichi isn’t quite sure what that even means. He’s glad to see them, but they’re just- so much and he isn’t sure what to do with all that affection.

And there is something else about them, the way they look at him.

Haibara of course doesn’t notice it anymore, having been there through all of it, and the professor has overlooked it quite easily. Other people have looked, of course, but it hadn’t mattered as much—they didn’t know him.

But with his parents, Shinichi could see their disgust at his mangled body, and their terror at the weakness in his legs and his occasional painful huffs. All the pills and the tests had taken a toll on him. Shinichi’s entire being freezes at the thought of those labs—but he’s come to be used to the side effects, or at least he can ignore them. Seeing other people’s reactions makes it worse.

Still, his parents offer their help readily, even desperately, and they get directed on dealing with the media—as in, actually dealing with it, beyond unplugging the telephone.

In the meantime, Shinichi tries to leave a message for Ran. He owes her something, an explanation at least, even if he wants so much more. He knows she still has the same phone number and he knows that by heart, so he calls her. She doesn’t pick up. She probably doesn’t even have her phone, a source of stress, and she’s in the hospital to avoid that. Shinichi still leaves a message, then he sets out to find another way.

He ends up finding a number for the band’s management on the internet.

He isn’t really surprised when Sonoko picks up.

She lets of her business greeting.

“Sonoko, it’s Shinichi.”

The other line is silent.

“Listen, I know I treated Ran terribly, ghosting her for all these years, but-“ He breaks. He can’t make excuses for himself. He knows why he did what he did, but it doesn’t make it a better thing to do.

“Anyway, I owe her an explanation at least, if she wants it. Please tell her that when she’s better.”

“I’ve seen the news.”, Sonoko says, and Shinichi understands that she understands, at least at some level.

“Yes.” He doesn’t know what to say to that.

“I’ll tell her as soon as she can have visitors.”

“Thank you.”, Shinichi breathes, the relief lightening his chest immensely.

“You better behave like a decent human.”, Sonoko says, and the tension is falling from her voice.

“Of course”, Shinichi says.

“I’m glad you’re still alive, jerk.”

With that, she hangs up.

Shinichi doesn’t hear from Sonoko or Ran for the next couple of days. His parents dodge questions about her for him and sick the police on reporters tenting in front of the house.

Hattori comes by, as well as social workers to check up on Haibara.

The professor and his parents join forces with her to get them both to therapy, and Shinichi can’t find a reason to argue.

Someone starts an online petition for him to get a high school diploma in recognition for his service to public security, which of course, makes no sense whatsoever, since those things are completely unconnected.

He actually gets a tentative offer to work for the Public Security Bureau from Hattori’s boss as soon as he’s recovered, but Shinichi declines. If he can help it, he will never hunt an evil organisation again.

“I’ll stick with the regular murders.”, he says, which earns him a horrified look by his mother.

“I’ve always been a detective”, he tells her, later, “I couldn’t stop if I wanted to.”

She smiles and reaches to straighten his hair.

“I know, Shin-chan. Can you just try and never get in danger again?”

“I’ll try.”

Truthfully, he’s almost surprised he hasn’t run into a dead body yet. They still follow him around, even after all these years.

If he was in any way superstitious he might think the thought jinxed him, because the very next day, after therapy, he and Haibara try to do something normal for once and get hot chocolate (he’s not allowed to have coffee anymore, it makes the shivering worse) a guest drops dead in the café.

Shinichi solves the case and Megure comes to talk to him afterwards.

“My superiors and I had an idea, concerning your situation right now…”

Shinichi asks to think it over.

When Ran calls, he doesn’t expect it. He honestly didn’t expect her to call him herself at all—he had been prepared for a message from Sonoko, or Hattori, maybe.

He’s actually expecting to hear back from Haibara when he needs to pick her up. She went over to the professor’s house to be reintroduced to the remaining Detective Boys and Shinichi is almost as anxious about it as she is.

He’s basically just staring at the clock waiting for her call. The circus has died down a little, and now Shinichi finds himself with more time at his hands then he knows what to do with. Most of it is occupied by therapy and doctor’s appointments to help with his arguably bad physical condition, but there still is too much calm to take in.

He doesn’t even look at the caller ID when he picks up.

“Do you need me-?”, he starts, assuming it’s Haibara.

“Shinichi.”, she interrupts him and suddenly his mouth is all dry.

“Oh, I thought you were Haibara.”, he says, a little nonsensically. “I was supposed to pick her up.”

He doesn’t really know why he explains himself.

“Ai-chan.”, Ran says, “I heard she was with you. I’m glad. We all thought she was dead.”

Too, is what she doesn’t say.

Haibara’s name sounds weird in her voice. Shinichi hasn’t heard it said like that in so long. He wonders if Ran finds it strange that he calls her by her first name.

“She’s a good kid.”, he finds himself saying.

“I know.”, Ran says. He almost forgot she knew Haibara, too.

“Listen, Ran”, he says, determined, not so sure what for.

“I did some things to you that aren’t excusable and nothing I can say can make them undone.”, the sentence comes out too fast, to rapid. He wills himself to slow down. “But I did have my reasons. If you want to know them, you have a right to.” He stutters. “I guess what I’m saying is, I owe you an explanation. Only if you want it, of course.”

Ran sighs through the line. There is something else. Shinichi thinks she might be crying, but he can’t be sure.

“Are you okay?”, he asks hesitantly.

“I’m- this is just a lot.”, she says.

“I understand completely.”, Shinichi says, but he is still disappointed. He wants to see her so bad.

“No, wait, I still want to talk to you.” She hesitates and Shinichi’s hear soars. “Can you meet me tomorrow?”

Shinichi doesn’t tell anyone about the meeting beforehand. He probably should, but he just can’t bring himself to. Every time he tries to bring up the topic, something stops him. And then it’s time to go.

So when he sits down at the small bar Ran picked out, nobody knows what he is doing. It’s a strange bar. He seems to be the only customer, but he’s also here quite early in the day, not really the best business time for bars.

There are billiard tables in one corner. Shinichi wonders if Ran plays. The old man behind the counter takes his order and Shinichi flips over the card looking for non-alcoholic options (alcohol also doesn’t mix well with his body), landing at chocolate ice cream. Well, why not.

Ran arrives only a few minutes after him.

They stare at each other for a second.

“It’s private here.”, Ran says, obviously feeling the need to explain the strange meeting place, “no paparazzies, no dead bodies. Hopefully.”

Shinichi smiles a little, eyeing the old man. “I really do hope so.”

They sit down.

“How are you doing?”, Ran asks, like they are just casual acquaintances catching up. Her eyes slide over his mangled body.

Shinichi shrugs. “I’m getting better. Lots of physical therapy, and other therapy and special diets.” His hands tighten. “I’m probably going to get a cane.”

“I see.”, Ran says.

Shinichi meets her gaze. “Did you-?”

“I read the articles.”, she shivers, “About the experiments and-“

Shinichi can’t help but shiver as well. He averts his gaze.

“I’m sorry you had to read that.”

She shakes her head. “No, I’m glad. There is only one truth, right? Even when it hurts me.”

Shinichi has to look at her again.

“I’m sorry.”, he whispers, Even though he had sworn not to say those words. He doesn’t have a right to ask for her forgiveness. He doesn’t deserve it. But he wants it, so much.

“Tell me what happened.”, she says, her voice quiet.

Shinichi tells her.

He talks about it all. How it started, Conan, how he realised he had to disappear, all the times they almost got him and how they finally did. His escape. Haibara, and even her cat. She doesn’t interrupt him, not even once. He talks for hours. When he is finished, she is silent.

“I’m sorry”, he says again, and mentally scolds himself.

“No”, Ran says, “it’s just- I understand.”

He stares at her.

“I understand what you did and why. I know you. You had to do it. But I would have understood back then, too. You could have told me right away, when you told the professor. Or in Kyoto, or any of the other times. In London. I would have understood.”

“I-“ Shinichi doesn’t know what to say.

“I could have helped you—there are so many things in that story, if I’d known, it would have been so much easier—why didn’t you just tell me?”

His throat is dry, he’s not sure if it’s because of all the talking he did, or some other reason.

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”, he says, eventually.

Ran doesn’t cry. She doesn’t yell either. It scares him a little. He wants her emotions so he can deal with them, but she’s so calm.

“You just hurt me more, can’t you see that? I always knew you weren’t telling me everything and then you just disappeared, I worried so much, I cried all the time.”

“I know, I- it was wrong of me.”

She nods and looks at the floor.

Shinichi wants to see in her eyes and make it all right, no matter how.

I love you, he thinks and maybe it’s even more true than ever before.

He doesn’t. He has no right to say it, even less so, than ‘I’m sorry’.

“Ran”, he says, desperately, “do you want to never see me again? Because I would understand and I would, just tell me-“

She looks up and this time her eyes are full of tears.

“Of course not, you idiot.”

He feels his eyes fill with tears as well. It’s stupid—this is a good thing and he’s never been a crier, but he can’t hold them back.

She surges forward and hugs him so tightly he almost can’t breathe, but in that moment, he doesn’t want to. He just wants to be held by her forever.

“You’ve been my best friend for almost all my life”, she says against him, “I thought you were dead and I never got over it. I’m so glad you’re still alive!”

The tears come harder.

“I don’t deserve that”, he whispers in her hair, “not from you.”

“Oh Shinichi”, she says, “you are so much better than you know. You did so much good and even if you hurt me, you deserve all the things in the world for that.”

——-

Unedited, I’m sorry for typos and terrible writing but this is eleven pages long and I really need to go to bed.

@mintchocolateleaves, @sup-poki

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