#ronin had it DOWN

[iooiu]

Hahaha ngl me hearty-- but seeing uncle Jello eating the onigiri Portal Chaos Ronin gave him in the latest propaganda had me smiling <33 Rooting for ya omigosh!! :0 (also these design sneak peeks are banger and I have just started catching up to the story itself!) Hahaha ngl me hearty-- but seeing uncle Jello eating the onigiri Portal Chaos Ronin gave him in the latest propaganda had me smiling <33 Rooting for ya omigosh!! :0 (also thesedesign sneak peeks are banger and I have just started catching up to the story itself!)

ofccc that pizza onigiri is literally the ONLY THING keeping him from leaving LMAO. i think once ronin got out of his glue trap (laughed myself to death with ur post btw) their interaction would go smth like this

[turrondeluxe]

Was it love at first sight for Mikey and the tots? Did it take Mikey some time to warm up to them? Super cute AU!!

It was kind of hectic when Mikey saw the tots for the first time ever, while also being emotionally stunted, so the warming up is kind of a slow but surely process!

[humberg]

Cigarettes and alcohol.

[cronchlord]

Doing my scorcherly duties (Protecting my Northstar from a Ronin)

[doodledex-project]

Doodledex - #503-A Hisuian Samurott

Oshawott wound up being the Water-type starter for Legends: Arceus, and this is a choice that definitely makes a lot of sense! Despite being the starter of a region based on New York City (and the surrounding area), Samurott is pretty darn Japanese... I mean, "samurai" is literally in its English name! (Of course, this was done on purpose as part of Gen 5's starter theming showing off the diversity of the region, but still.)

Of course, there's no good way to make a Hisuian Samurott more historically Japanese as a result... so it winds up living up more to its Japanese name (Daikenki, which is either "great sword demon" or "great devilish swordsman" depending on how you read it) and has the Dark type added to it! This means that Samurott from Hisui are a lot less bound to honor than Unovan ones, and will often resort to dirty tricks and surprise attacks to win battles! (And this isn't exactly fun to be on the receiving end of... a Hisuian Samurott's attacks are compared to the ceaseless crashing of waves!)

[superwavesmasher]

Cye saving Ryo's dumb butt.

Mister I'm fire but going to jump in water.

[todayisafridaynight]

Firstly, thanks so much for your patience with my ramblings haha, it's always an absolute pleasure to read your responses even if I get more unhinged with each one of mine! Of course, I'll continue to do my best with the wiki! (Actually, I think it's because of you that I noticed Daigo's age(s) were a year off haha, so thank you for that as well.)

I think you hit the nail on the head, and I adore how his relationships were executed in Y7 as well! I was initially a little bit apprehensive when trailers for 7 were coming out since RGGJo (and Mine, of course) were my favorite antagonists, and Jo is by far the character who's changed the most between games, but I can safely say both… Joes… are right up there for me.

I think a strong early subversion/conversion/something is that RGGJo really does just go and shoot up a rival office for attacking Arakawa (even though Arakawa was fine?). With Y7Jo, even though he's covering for Masato, the fact that's still the story Ichi gets told and he doesn't question it sort of speaks to Y7Jo having a similarly "protective" streak even if it's not actually what happened in that instance. That's also demonstrated in The Eye Scene as you mention later.

Like, I think that story is fairly clearly something he and Arakawa discussed. Masato got in contact with Jo first, and the mess Ichi tries to clear up when he comes in the morning after is indicative of a very long, stressful conversation between two people. Given Masato absolutely should not be smoking, process of elimination would suggest it's Jo. And it's a story they would've aimed to make as believable as possible, so the fact it is believable (Ichi being a bit gullible notwithstanding) says something to me.

For two characters who hardly even speak to each other onscreen (criminal btw), there's a lot to dig into when it comes to Arakawa and Sawashiro's relationship. That aside, I'm super excited to see you analyse Jo's psyche, and I can't wait to read it! I've been reading Japanese psychology texts myself and noticing a number of concepts that apply to Mine, but may apply to the Arakawas as well. There's a great deal I want to share once I get my thoughts in order.

I totally agree Mine's influence on RGGJo was the strongest of the three! I mean, y'know, that's why I acquired brainworms for RGGJo/Mine specifically. (Still 1000% going to commission you by the way when I've got my refs together + am not in danger of being unable to afford Gaiden and 8 lol). Sort of like with Masato and Daigo, I think characters who are clearly based on each other work quite well together even if it's seen as crack. You can come up with pretty compelling ideas trying to rationalize those similarities from a Watsonian perspective.

The devotion is absolutely the strongest point (having the exact same relationship tag for Arakawa and Daigo respectively + similar wording for it in the 15th anniversary book is a nice touch), but for me it's also what's done with it in terms of presentation. For both Mine and RGGJo you're supposed to believe they're actively working against Daigo and Arakawa's interests for most of the story.

And they probably kind of are, but they're convinced the pros outweigh the cons (as with the resort gambit, which you're remembering correctly!) Though it may not have the same effect nowadays for various reasons (spoilers, plot points becoming predictable on account of other games, etc), the devotion was originally supposed to be a twist.

There are other things, of course; they're both the "treasurers" of their respective organizations, they're both third-in-command of the Tojo and Omi, they're both talented people who possess overwhelming strength and influence and are regarded as geniuses (despite scenes to the contrary). If I wanted to reach design-wise, they've got mirrored ahoges, and Mine's "Legend" costume is probably based on characters like RGGJo and Nishiki. Their first cards were even officially stated to have synergy on account of their very similar skillset.

You end up noticing a lot of things like that if you're clinically insane like I am, but the one thing that's really stuck with me is that the render used for RGGJo's office is specifically a new render the Hakuho Clan office. It's missing the stuff that's supposed to be missing, the stuff Kanda broke, but only that. Mine's art collection, which is very personal to him as is also revealed in RGGO, is preserved in full.

There are a number of newly-rendered locations in RGGO and they could've just done that, or they could've picked any location that's not (imo) one of the most iconic, but I don't know why they didn't. And I don't know whether it was just convenience, whether it's simply meant to be reflective of them having similar tastes without being the same office, or whether it's just honest to God the same office. I mean, it's not like there's any reason to acknowledge it in-game.

But I think, in a weird way, that this is one of the things that carried over to Y7Jo alongside the devotion and The Eye Scene. A lot of people don't notice because there's so much going on in Y7's finale, but the Arakawa Family office the finale takes place in is specifically Y7Jo's office. And if you examine the Hakuho Clan office and the Arakawa Family office as spaces Mine and Y7Jo have created for themselves, there are very few aesthetic similarities other than being pretty tasteful two-storey offices, but both are, in their own ways, designed for companionship.

There is the obvious fully-stocked bar and main seating area in both, but that's sort of whatever, that's entertainment and hospitality. What really catches my eye, at least on the first floor, is that every piece of gym equipment in Mine's office comes in pairs; similarly, there's the pair of armchairs that are just by themselves behind Y7Jo's desk.

The second floor of Mine's office basically consists of only a TV, a table, and a set of couches, but I think the second floor of of 7Jo's is the more telling of the two. You walk upstairs from this very snazzy, richly decorated first floor (btw, like Mine's gym equipment and art, I would like to think the fact it's decked from top to bottom with books isn't just for show) to a second floor that consists of… absolutely nothing.

Nothing except another pair of armchairs, echoing those on the first floor, facing out into this gorgeous (RGGJou would--and has--said "romantic") view of Kamurocho. Maybe it's just to have this dramatic, spacious arena for the very last fight, but I just think that visual is potentially such a strong bit of storytelling via set dressing.

I also think with RGGJo being split into Y7Jo and Masato, some of the Mine influence kind of ended up with Masato too, specifically as Aoki. At least insofar as all the catastrophizing about not truly being cared-for despite evidence to the contrary, and I kind of felt like the moment where he shoots at and narrowly misses Ichi's head, then throws his gun away for a good ol' fistfight was Something.

Completely agree on your assessment of the link to Nishiki as well! There's the surface level design similarities with young RGGJo back when he had long hair and accessorized less, but yeah, no notes. I definitely think Y7Arakawa's line applies perfectly to the dynamic they were going for, too.

I thought the implication was that Masato wouldn't have survived at all in RGGO on account of Arakawa being unable to open the locker, but it's super interesting to think about how things might've turned out otherwise! A Masato who's Just A Guy and treated sort of like RGGO Mitsu's offscreen wife and kid is such a concept.

I really do hope there's a continuation to the story; as it stands, it literally ends with Jo in a coma lol. But I'm grateful RGGO is still accessible and actively updated, in comparison to the previous mobile titles, which also had original stories that are all gone now.

Jo was actually in a very recent event, even. The event spent its whole runtime talking about how cats are sensitive to smell, and evidently, according to the ending, Jo is incredibly sensitive to smell himself. I'm not sure which Jo it was even supposed to be since he was offscreen, but uh, catboy confirmed? Nyawashiro…? It's fun trivia.

Mentioning Arakawa's "sons" line in such close proximity to talking about Tsutsumi reminds me! There was this Y7 interview with all three actors (that has since been privated and that I kick myself every day for archiving) where Nakai and Tsutsumi were talking about how they usually play father and son.

So there's this very, very long history of them co-starring (as I'm sure you're aware lol), like from way back when Tsutsumi's voice was actually higher. And I think the casting choices absolutely are informed by the history and context there, both as individuals and as co-stars, both in terms of filmography as you say and not.

One particular anecdote that just Gets Me is that this was Tsutsumi's first time voice-acting, and he honestly wasn't even sure he'd take the role, but he accepted once he heard Nakai was on board. And he went on to actually enjoy it so much he read the rest of the (gargantuan) script, far beyond his own dialogue, and ended up forgetting the lines to the play he was doing at the time.

He also went on to voice-act a second time in The Deer King, where he plays… another iintimidating man with a violent reputation and a "soft"/deeper side (who is of course a reluctant father), actually. I actually have seen most of his other roles, and Jo really is almost one-of-a-kind. Though it's hard to find any one character he's "like," I can absolutely see what you mean with regard to Oda Nobunaga and Kanda.

I think that actually really works with regard to audiences having an idea of what to expect from his character and to an extent from Y7 if you look Jo as more of a culmination of Tsutsumi's career up to that point. In addition to what you've mentioned already, I also detect a lot of Koda (Good Luck!!) and Ogata (SP)'s themes with regret and making amends and vengeance in particular.

There's a little bit of Appare (Kagerou Touge) and Shibata (Keiho) too, I think, in terms of presenting yourself as worse than you actually are. And I think Tsutsumi's own struggles with mental health lend a lot of gravitas to characters like Ishigami (Suspect X) and Jo, who you can't really argue Isn't Depressed, especially at present.

And of course, y'know, he's played yakuza (to great effect), he's played dads (to great effect; btw, I would say the worst fathers/father figures he's played are probably in Fable II and My Blood & Bones in a Flowing Galaxy, Jo somehow doesn't even compare lol). Also, pretty much every Tsutsumi character either ends up dead or in jail, being a villain in an RGG game notwithstanding. There are often very strong critiques of police and politics present in his work as well, Y7 being no exception.

It's similar with Nakai, maybe to an even greater extent than with Tsutsumi, since Y7 borrows more heavily from his works and his personal life aligns surprisingly well with Arakawa's. They're both actors who are sons of actors, lost their fathers at a young age, were raised by abusive mothers, and ended up with a sort of unlikely father figure in adulthood. So I think it's sweet that Nakai ended up enjoying Arakawa as much as Tsutsumi did Jo. It's kind of funny being more or less typecast as a dad without actually having any children (unlike Tsutsumi), though.

I touched on it a tiny bit before but that's a really insightful take on RGGJo's splintering, as well! And you're most welcome. I've always found it fascinating just how closely their backgrounds tie in to who they end up being. I completely agree having his dad around did a lot for Arakawa in terms of having the confidence to stick to his guns.

But yeah, you know, it's just tragic. I think it's also one of the less talked-about ways abuse can perpetuate itself. Because Jo treating Ichi the way his father may have treated him is sort of the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the topic, but Jo's learned avoidance also goes on to make Arakawa a scapegoat for Aoki's abuse.

I'm always a fan of your takes and insights, so I don't mind the wait: thank you so much for writing as much as you have, it's really wonderful being able to discuss Jo and RGGO v. Y7 as a whole! (I have to be embarrassed about the Daigo's-Age bit though: I'm glad I was able to help point it out, but I remember being so sassy and rude in the post where I mentioned it 😭)

It's great that despite their differences, both Jo's are still incredibly enjoyable; the roles each Jo fulfills, although different, are still executed in ways that keep the character in a close beat with each other, but of course effectively fill out their new purposes in new interesting ways!

As a bit of an aside, I've always been curious and nosy about the full details about New Years Day, 2001 and what happened after that. Anything I can say about the night tiptoes more into theory territory than anything solid, but if we're to go off the notion Masato really did head straight home afterwards, then it is fair to assume Jo had to have met with Arakawa that same night not long after the call in order for Arakawa to be ready to talk to Ichi the same morning (it must have been the biggest shock afterwards for Masato to hear he's gotta run to America if the three of them didn't talk about it together- which I'm assuming is what happened since, as you said, Masato shouldn't be anywhere near cigarettes, and the ash tray is definitely indicative of a stressful discussion). BUT Jo's preexisting devotion to Arakawa (plus the nod to/rework of RGGJo actually attacking a rival gang) nonetheless definitely helped in making their story digestible to the people they had to tell.

The fact Jo and Arakawa interact so little on screen really is unfortunate, even if it's understandable as to why. At the very least, I'm grateful there's so many bits of context clues through the game/s that can at least offer a peak into their dynamic! Segwaying away from that though, I can't lie I was already thinking of some bullet points regarding Jo's brain as I was falling asleep, so it's definitely something I want to put to paper when I get to: I'm glad to hear I have your interest on it when I write it! In that same vein, I'd be more than happy as well to hear about these notes you've seen that can apply not only to Mine, but to the Arakawa family. As you note later on, Mine and Aoki share similar philosophies, so I'd love to see your full take on that if you get to it!

About Mine though, it was really hard for me not to joke about the two being similar whenever the chance arose: I mean, two men who lose their fathers (admittedly, Jo chose to leave his dad but Dad Lost is still a bullet point on the venn diagram... that now I actually feel like taking the time to make later...) turn out to become their respective clan's most trusted asset (and handler of assets) who are volatile when it comes to the ones they care about (I don't have to clarify Mine, but as for Jo, aside from The Eye Scene and even the book wording, he definitely overreacts to Ichi having Masato's money. Of course, part of his anger could be due to his belief in the honor of being a yakuza, but I wouldn't say it's a reach to also assume that the idea of Ichi pestering Masato- if not assuming the worst for whatever reason from Ichiban of all people- might have irked him) and ironically act out in ways that would go against what the ones they care about want (more so strictly about RGGJo, of course)- it's hard not to see the notes borrowed from Mine to make Jo. In that, I do really enjoy their devotions being twists; even if that twist might not work nowadays as efficiently, I'll still enjoy it for what it's able to provide and how it can deepen a character.

To continue on to visual similarities, I actually did notice RGGJo's office being the same as Mine's (I stopped reading for a bit just to make a mini thread about it on my private Twitter)! Whether it was intentional or a simple reuse of assets, it's a great nod to Mine's influence on his character.

As for Y7Jo's office in comparison to Mine's- if I may accidentally go on a bit of an analytical rant- it's a little funny how different they are despite being tangential in wanting a space for companionship (like you mentioned for Jo's case, it might have been for dramatic purposes, but it wouldn't hurt to try and examine the room at face value for a second).

Mine's office is comparatively brighter and more apparently inviting, and it's not just due to the nighttime setting of Jo's office as his office's walls are painted black- but at the same time, the contrast almost feels intentional. Mine's apartment, even if spacious, has the social pieces close to each other, especially in relation to his personal desk. On the flip side, Jo's desk is considerably isolated away from the grand table in the side of the room. In these differences, I think it does lead to a great representation of their relationships with people and what they wanted out of life: with Mine, despite wanting people to be close to him and in his proximity, he's ultimately alone and by himself. On the contrary, Jo appears satisfied with- at least- only having Masato in his life, the second chair undoubtedly being honorary to Arakawa in a similar vein. He isn't too concerned with getting close to anyone else, thus no need for his table set to be so nearby. I could just be talking about nothing though- yet I think these differences is a great way to show how despite inspiration from Mine, they divide off into different characters still (honestly I might steal from this ask and make a separate post about this because now I've gotten myself invested in set design- it can go in the same post as my venn diagram I guess lmao).

Nevertheless, RGGJo and Mine borrowing from each other design wise is also another fun bit- it's as if Yokoyama's grabbing people by the shoulders and practically begging us to realize Jo's influenced by him (don't worry Mr. Yokoyama, I see you). Ergo, Y7Jo and Masato being split from RGGJo is such an interesting take of the two characters: it not only helps highlight Jo's traits it really also heightens Mine's extended influence on Masato (their inability to shoot people standing still is probably going to be a new favorite comparison I hadn't noticed before LMAO).

Moving on though, that lost interview with Nakai and Tsutsumi's going to haunt me now: I'd love to be able to see it, I love actor interviews, especially when the actors featured are already so familiar with each other! It's so sweet how connected the two are- it's what makes it a little more unfortunate that we didn't get to see Jo and Arakawa on screen together more. On that note though, I actually had a similar conclusion that Jo was a solid representation of Tsutsumi's career thus far: his ability to play deep and sentimental characters that have a rough exterior while also possessing some action to the role that he initially sought after in his career really encapsulates his ability as an actor! All in all, I'm glad that Nakai and Tsutsumi were able to have strong connections to their characters in Y7- and I can't really argue against Nakai's dad-typecast: there's just something about him that screams 'father' to me even if, ironically as you said, he isn't a father to any kids.

[ghastbutlikegay]

Omg you talked about 2012 TMNT and I suddenly remembered how much of that show I watched when I was younger,,, oh the nostalgia. I don't remember all too much from it now but I remember loving it. I've never watched rottmnt but like. I probably should if it's as good as everyone has been saying it is

honestly i only watched a little bit of 2012 as a kid, i was never super into that style/genre of cartoon so i only watched it if it happened to come on hjsdghj

rottmnt is SO good. it's very very different to 2012 in a lot of ways, but the art and the writing and the voice acting are all sososo good. the characterization for all the turtles is super different as well so if youre used to a snarky Raph and a. well. a Rob Paulsen Donnie. you might not vibe with Rise at first

but thats one of the things i really love about the entire franchise, each version keeps the core concept (four mutant turtles raised by a rat are trained to be ninjas) and most of the characters the same while also all being really unique and having different takes on all the characters. i enjoy this aspect of the franchise to the point that im making my own fan reboots and everything hjksdhg

the main reason i initially watched Rise was because i heard Donnie was really good autistic rep and i have to agree, ive never connected with a character this much before hgjsdhg hes also a really good example of low empathy imo, and i very much feel like my own experience with low empathy is being represented here

the art is something i see people complain about a lot when theyre coming from a background of watching 2012 or 2003, and i definitely felt like the art was kinda weird at first, but it's also so fun and striking and as you get used to it and start picking up on little details it gets better and better

a lot of classic TMNT villains dont make appearances in Rise, and the ones who do are WAY different to the older versions, but they also have a whole ton of new villains who are super cool and compelling as well (Draxum and Big Mama my beloved <3)

the movie can technically be watched as a standalone but i highly recommend saving it til youve watched both seasons because HOLY FUCKING SHIT. THE EMOTIONS. the scene that always makes me cry probably wouldnt hit me the way it does if i didnt have all the background of the seasons

notes on where to watch though: netflix has season 1 and the movie, but i dont actually know how to legally watch season 2, and the site i used for it unfortunately shut down so i can provide links :(

oh god this got really long can you tell tmnt has entered special interest territory for me

[robocops-a-christ-allegory]

Im fuckgin think ing about

[earl-of-221b]

I can’t explain what blue eye samurai makes me feel…….its a typical revenge story, a man sets out on his hero’s journey to kill the four men who have wronged him. A lone ronin, wide brimmed hat and sword in hand, roaming Edo Japan on his vendetta. But he’s not a man. He’s a woman. And how has he been wronged? What’s she getting revenge on?

On the fact that she exists. She wants revenge on the four white men that could possibly have conceived her. Who got her Japanese mother pregnant with a blue-eyed child. And not just any blue-eyed child, but a girl child. How is she possibly supposed to live in the world like that? For the wrong of being conceived, for the wrong of being born, for the wrong of being birthed into a world that will never love or accept her, she will kill her father.

I don’t know what level of convoluted self hate that is. Is she a child of rape? Or a child of a whore? Halfway through I realise what she told herself at the start couldn’t possibly be true - it’s not really for her mother. Her mother wasn’t the root of her vendetta, she wasn’t really doing it for her. When she leaves that farm and leaves the chance to live a simple, legitimate life as a woman, she goes right back to hunting down the men. Those men personally wronged her.

And then there’s so much to be discussed surrounding the way she grew up, because as a boy child and a man she can afford so much more than life has dealt her. Her swordfather who took her in out of the love and care in his heart had no shame in teaching a mixed man his art. The face of a ‘demon’ is fine. But not the identity of a woman. Shh. Don’t say it. Don’t confess. He knows and doesn’t want to hear it.

And because she’s lived that way her entire life for safety and security, she’s so completely alienated from being a woman, perhaps she really is he. But not really by choice. Or is it? The thing she does best is the art of killing, the art of men. Gender is a prison and gender is a performance and she has to choose which to perform. The times cannot reconcile hatred and violence with a woman. So she lives as a man.

So she can get revenge on her father, for revenge on herself.

[anteomnia]

just endlessly thinking about blue eye samurai.

thinking about how akemi, taigen, and mizu are if a coin had three sides or maybe just the two and mizu is the bridge of metal between them.

akemi being the ideal image for women, for the life they endure. she was simultaneously a princess, a prostitute, and a prisoner. her entire life was men making decisions for her, even the ones that had good intentions, and she believed her deepest desire was freedom. it still is, but she has been revealed to this heinous predicament of her gender, and she’s realized that to reach true freedom as a woman is to be the bird in the cage, to play nice and to earn the love of a man until he buys her a bigger cage and a bigger cage until he trusts her not to fly away. and it'll never be true freedom, but it will come with power. it'll come with the freedom of only one master rather than many.

taigen being the ideal image of a man. not all powerful, but not weak. he had a taste of what it'd be to succeed, and when it was taken from him, that easy success, he mistook it for his honor. he hunted mizu down to kill him, and instead he saved him. he saved him and saved him and he came closer to killing mizu when they were on the cliff's edge, and just when he gets to the point where he may actually fight mizu, he's tortured for information on him. he is tortured. Literally tortured within an inch of his life, enduring such a heinous violence, and he refuses to break. this man was a fight, was the torturer, and the victim of his torturing could've been his salvation from pain but he refused. mizu gave back taigen's honor but not by fighting him.

akemi wanted freedom and learned she would need power to have it.

taigen wanted power and learned that the violence that came with it was infinite and dishonorable.

and then there's mizu. mizu who wants revenge, wants acceptance. arguably the same things as them both. mizu wants acceptance, the freedom of living and the freedom to love and be loved. mizu wants revenge, which follows after violence and power, to get said acceptance. she thinks she must do both, have both, to live peacefully, and she's blatant about how she will not live without either.

she's given acceptance with the blacksmith, her "mother," her husband, but she sees the flecks of avoidance in it.

the blacksmith will not hear of her true gender. her "mother" will not acknowledge the crime of her birth. her husband can't find tolerance for the violence within her, the man of her.

and so she has to balance the woman and man of her, the ronin and the bride. taigen and akemi. and it's meeting mizu that they start to unravel their own identities.

mizu, who is both, and akemi and taigen who thought themselves one but turned out to be neither.

god.

[imaginedanvrs]

impractical caller

masterlist

ronin!kate x reader

word count: 7k

warnings: marvel canon injuries, blood loss, alcohol consumption, break ins, guns, (empty) death threats, power imbalance, clothed/unclothed sex, fingering, oral, praise, strap on mention

You yawned as you trudged through your dim apartment with your arms full of your latest grocery shop you had forced yourself to pick up just after your shift. It had been one of the most hectic nights you had experienced ever since moving to the city, something you were quickly learning you needed to adjust to because your shifts were far more intense than they were when you lived in a rural town and it didn’t help that it happened to be a friday night. You wanted nothing more than to change into your pjs and fall asleep to whatever animated show appeared on your laptop first. 

  Once you finished putting your groceries away, you made your way to your bathroom but froze when you spotted the splatter of blood in the doorway. You took a tentative step back and noticed that drops of blood led, or came from, the door to your apartment that you had failed to notice in your overworked state. You put your brain into gear as your mind raced at the literal countless possibilities of what could be behind your bathroom door. Why the hell did you move to the city? 

  “If you're that unobservant I’m not sure I want your help,” a voice called from the other side of the door. You pushed it open slightly, enough to see a covered figure slumped against your bathtub in a mess of blood. Your first aid kit was by their side and had clearly been torn into and disregarded by the stranger who you suddenly recognised. 

  “You’re the ronin,” you stated, unsure whether to call the police or ambulance first. 

  “Yep,” the voice grunted as they gripped their side. You couldn’t see any injuries through the thick suit but you could gather that that was where the most pressing one was situated. “And you’re a paramedic,” they stated. “Do your job,” they ordered, their grey eyes locking on yours with a silent threat. 

  “You need an ambulance,” you told them, taking a cautious step back but halting immediately when the masked stranger pulled a handgun out from behind their back and pointed it straight at you. 

  “No ambulance,” they spat. 

  “Okay,” you swallowed as you raised your hands and gradually moved to kneel down next to them in the cramped bathroom. They watched your every move as you opened your bathroom cabinet and grabbed everything you needed. In your experience, you had witnessed enough home accidents that you were prepared for any kind of injury you could endure in your flat, luckily for the stranger. “I need to see it,” you told them as you held up the sterilising wipes. They nodded, pulling at the gap in their suit to display the deep incision in their side. 

  Though you had many questions about the injury before you, you didn’t dare ask them as you worked silently in cleaning the area. “You need to take the suit off, I can’t see what I’m doing,” you told them honestly. 

  “No,” they countered immediately. You paused for a second when you heard the feminine undertone in their voice peek through, apparently in too much pain to continue to try and disguise it. 

  “But I need-” you didn’t finish your request because she cocked her gun as she continued to keep it in line with you. Your heart thrummed in your chest, never having been so close to an actual gun before. You eyed the weapon as you brought several fresh wipes up the slash and ran them gently over the top, producing a sharp hiss from the stranger. “Sorry,” you muttered without any actual sympathy. She glared at you and used her free hand to pull at her suit from the neck, dragging it down until it pooled at her waist and gave you full access to the slash you now realised to be far bigger than you had anticipated and bleeding heavily. You cursed, pressing your nearest towel to the gash with a calculated amount of pressure. 

  “Can you hold it?” You asked. Her head tilted to the side as she assessed you, most likely sure that you were trying to trick her. “I need to prepare the stitches,” you told her seriously, recognising that the vigilante’s life was very much in your hands. She agreed and held the rough fabric with her free hand as she watched you swiftly sterilise and prep the equipment needed with a practised efficiency that pushed your fight or flight to the back of your mind so you could focus on the task at hand. 

  “How long ago did this happen?” You questioned as you brought the needle up to her exposed flesh. You needed to keep her talking but the information was crucial as well, even if you were limited as to what you could do with it on your own. 

  “An hour,” she guessed, grunting when you began to push the needle in. “Fuckers,” she cursed. 

  “More than one?” You enquired as you worked steadily. 

  “That’s the norm,” she told you openly, perhaps feeling the need to distract herself. “They just don’t usually manage to hit me back,” she chuckled through the pain. 

  “So I’ve heard,” you muttered, feeling the woman shoot you a look that you didn’t acknowledge. “Why did you come to me?” You continued. 

  “You were…closest,” she told you, her breathing growing heavier by the second. You were half way through and she was still losing too much blood. 

  “Yeah? You know where all the paramedics live?” You half joked. 

  “Only the pretty ones,” she couldn’t help but quip. You glanced up, noticing the sparks of mischief that were struggling to get through the fog of pain. You didn’t entertain her remark, even if you were fully aware of how her abs were tensing as you stitched her up. 

  “No one knows who you are, why didn’t you just take the suit off and call for an ambulance?” You questioned as you started to finish up. 

  “And pay thousands for something I can get you to do for free?” She struggled to laugh again. 

  “It’s not the same,” you were quick to interject. “I’ve stopped the bleeding but I have no idea what kind of damage you’ve sustained,” you pointed out in hopes that the stranger would understand how limited you were as to what you could do for her. 

  “Figure it out,” she countered as though it was that simple, pushing the gun further towards you. 

  “If you kill me you’ll probably die too,” you told her. “And I thought you only went after the bad guys,” you challenged, letting your adrenaline talk for you. 

  “I go after people who cause me problems,” she replied, returning your challenging gaze with more intensity. You were the first to avert your eyes. “I’ll sleep on your couch,” she announced. 

  “Not in those bloody clothes,” you objected. “You can wear some of mine,” you told her adamantly. She stared back at you as you got up off of the bloody floor that you knew you were going to need to clean as soon as she was out of the bathroom. “You can keep the mask on,” you told her as you left, rolling your eyes to yourself. 

  You brought back some grey sweatpants and navy blue sweatshirt, assuming it would be best to give the stranger the darkest shirt you had in case she stained it. “Let me help,” you offered when she grimaced at the stretch of lifting the shirt up. 

  “No,” she objected at once. You huffed at her stubbornness, hoping that you weren’t going to have to have her as a houseguest for too long. 

  “If you pull your stitches out I’m not putting them back in,” you told her as you shut the door to give her some privacy. That was a lie, you would put them back in, but you wouldn’t be happy about it. 

  You walked to your kitchen with a shaky exhale, feeling your adrenaline wear off by the minute but also finding yourself becoming less unnerved by the ronin. You didn’t believe she was going to hurt you and you could see her threats were entirely empty, but you did want to help her. It was inconvenient to say the least to have someone of her character laying in your bathroom and her demeanour was beginning to get on your nerves, but your blind (and probably reckless) need to help her was the exact reason you became a paramedic. The only thing you needed to consider was whether or not to call an ambulance once she no doubt passed out on your sofa. You predicted it wouldn’t take long in her condition. 

  You brought a pan of water to the boil and added enough pasta for two with the intention of trying to encourage your guest to eat but you paused when you heard a dull thud from the bathroom. You left the pasta to cook as you knocked on the door and called out. “Everything okay in there?” You asked. You didn’t get a response for a few seconds. 

  “No,” she admitted. You opened the door to her gripping onto your bathtub with a frustrated might as she attempted to haul herself to her feet. You quickly got to her side and put your hand around her waist to help her to her feet with some difficulty. She didn’t thank you once she was standing but continued to use your assistance to go the short distance to your sofa where she ungracefully collapsed down with a groan. You took in her outfit with some amusement, wondering if she felt as ridiculous as she looked to be wearing the ronin hood and balaclava with your clothes. She glared at you when you caught her eye and you knew she could tell what your opinion on her attire was. 

  “You gonna sleep in that?” You asked with a small smile. 

  “I don’t think you’re one to judge fashion choices,” she quipped irritably. You looked down at your outfit with a frown. What the hell?

  “I just got off a twelve hour shift,” you exclaimed. “It’s this or have everyone on the subway ask me to look at their foot funguses,” you told her defensively, remembering the day you had forgotten to bring a change of clothes and went home in your uniform. 

  “Fungi,” she corrected. You chewed the inside of your cheek as you went back to the kitchen to prepare a few more ingredients in silence, glaring at the stranger every so often but also checking that she was still conscious…or even alive. 

  Once everything was left to simmer, you returned to the bathroom to begrudgingly clear up only to notice that the handgun was laying abandoned on the floor. You wondered if the ronin realised, assuming she wouldn’t have pointed it out or asked you to retrieve it for her under the assumption that you would refuse or even use it against her but you didn’t entertain the idea for a second, instead moving it to the side with your foot as you began to clean the floor and reorganise your cabinet. 

  The stranger was watching you when you stepped out of the bathroom, gun in hand. She stared at you warily, eyes darting down to her weapon and shifting when you started in her direction slowly. “To be honest with you,” you started as you glanced down at the gun. “It’s probably smarter if you keep ahold of this,” you told her, holding the barrel as you extended the weapon towards her that she swiftly grabbed ahold of. Following the possibility that anyone had followed her to your apartment, it was easy to conclude she would be far more useful with the weapon. “Please don’t make me regret that,” you winced at her abruptness. 

  To your surprise, she emptied the ammo out of the handgun into her lap and placed them all on the table next to her along with the gun. “Thanks,” you muttered. “You should eat,” you told her as you went to dish up your own plate. She didn’t reply so you put the rest of the meal onto another plate and handed it to her with cutlery and didn’t leave much room for her to protest. “I’d rather not have you die in my flat, my landlord already hates me,” you told her as you sat down on the chair opposite the tv and switched it on. 

  “Why?” She asked out of sheer curiosity. 

  “He hates everyone,” you shrugged, glancing over at the stranger and noticing she was making no move to start eating. “If you take the mask off I promise not to look,” you assured with complete honesty, even if you were curious as to what kind of face lay underneath. She looked back at you for a few moments before pulling the mask and hood off in front of you. 

  You blinked, now that was not what you were expecting. The raven haired woman stared back at you blankly until a small smirk flickered across her lips upon the recognition that you were accidentally checking her out. Despite being ghostly pale from the blood loss and looking entirely dishevelled, you couldn’t deny that the woman sitting in your living room was hot. Your eyes flickered to hers and you quickly looked away when you saw her smirk and forced your attention onto the tv that was playing one of the Transformers films. You didn’t turn it off, instead beginning to eat and seeing the ronin do the same out of the corner of your eye.

  You sat in silence until you both finished your meal, content on letting the overly animated action scenes fill the room. You could feel the raven haired woman’s gaze settling on you from time to time and you tried not to acknowledge it but it proved difficult once you had seen her green eyes more clearly. “Thank you,” she said once she finished. 

  “No problem,” you muttered as you took both your plates into the kitchen and began washing up. “I noticed you helped yourself to some painkillers,” you called from the sink. 

  “They didn’t do shit,” the woman grumbled. “I need something stronger,” she told you.

  “You’ll need a prescription for that,” you said, already knowing what she was getting at. 

  “Can’t you get me some?” She questioned as she peered at you. 

  “No, and you’re not the first to ask me that,” you told her. “If you want something stronger you’ll have to go to-”

  “Yeah, yeah I get it thanks,” she waved. You smiled to yourself as you watched her grumble, finding it kind of unfair that she was able to look that attractive when she was bleeding out and pissed off. 

  “What’s your name?” You asked when the ads began to play on the tv. The woman turned to you with a raised brow. 

  “You really think I’d tell you that?” She questioned.

  “I generally like to know the names of the people who sleep over,” you said. She began to smirk again and shifted herself slightly so that she had a better view of you from her spot on the sofa. 

  “And do you get a lot of people sleeping over?” She enquired with an interested grin. 

  “Not when there’s someone bleeding out on my sofa. Tends to put them off,” you teased right back, earning a more genuine smile from her. “Come on, I’m not gonna tell anyone. Who would even believe me? Which is what you must have been thinking when you took the mask off,” you pushed, strolling back into the living room where you settled on the arm of the sofa. “I’m y/n,” you greeted. 

  “I know,” she said simply as she repositioned again with a firm hand to her stomach. 

  “Well now it really is only fair that I know your name,” you pointed out. She hummed, looking you up and down as though she was trying to decide if she could truly trust you or not. She already did - to an extent. She knew she could trust you to save her life and she knew she could trust you to provide refuge for a couple days, she just wasn’t sure if she was willing to extend it any further until she caught sight of her gun still placed next to her. 

  “Kate,” she said simply. 

  Kate, that suited her, you thought. 

  “Nice to meet you, Kate,” you offered. 

  “Really?” 

  “Well, no to be honest, I planned on having a quiet night but I guess the company could be worse,” you replied transparently though the smile teasing your lips simply made Kate hum in understanding. 

  “I’ll be out of your hair soon,” she told you sincerely. 

  “It’s alright…honestly,” you assured, not wanting her to push herself too suddenly and ending up causing more damage. She nodded and you noticed the exhaustion suddenly hit Kate full on as she settled herself into the sofa. You grabbed her a water bottle, more painkillers and a couple blankets from your room and by the time you returned to her she was out cold. You walked towards her tentatively and placed two fingers to her wrist as you watched the steady rise and fall of her chest. Surprisingly, her pulse was steady so you turned the main light off and put on a nearby lamp so that you would be able to come and check on her throughout the night. 

  As you lay in your bed that night, you heavily contemplated making a call to your fellow first responders. Although Kate’s condition was stable each time you checked on her and she had seemed to be coping surprisingly well with it when she was awake, you couldn't say for sure that she would stay that way. More so, if she didn’t make it through the night, that would be on you for not getting her the help she needed. Yet remembering how adamant she had been about you not calling anyone, you complied with her wish and instead checked on her periodically until the morning came. 

  “You’re awake,” you stated when you ventured into the main space to find Kate sat up. 

  “Did you come in here last night?” She questioned with a slight frown. 

  “A couple times,” you admitted. “To check on you,” you added. You felt Kate’s gaze on you as you poured some water into the kettle. “Coffee?”

  “No thanks,” she replied, apparently not wanting to enquire further about your visits. You let the appliance boil as you turned back to her and chewed the inside of your cheek, trying to see if her shirt was soaked through across her torso. 

  “I should check that,” you told her. 

  “Hurts like a bitch,” she muttered as she lifted her sweatshirt up for you to assess. 

  During the night it had crossed your mind that Kate might have some kind of advanced healing, but as you examined her wound you noticed that she definitely didn’t have such abilities and had to make do with a normal healing factor. The slash had weeped slightly around the edges but it also wasn’t looking any worse which was the best realistic result you could have hoped for. 

  “Just needs a bit of cleaning,” you informed her. 

  “I’ll do it, just leave the stuff with me,” she said without looking at you. 

  “Sure,” you nodded and brought the cleaning wipes to her. You tried to be subtle as you watched Kate while you made yourself a drink, stopping yourself from jumping in everytime she winced from the contact she inflicted. You guessed she had woken up to a bruised pride and decided it would be best to leave her to it for a while as you jumped in the shower and got ready for the day. 

  When you came back out, Kate was asleep again. She was far more peaceful when she slept, even if it was her body’s way of providing her brief relief from her injuries. Very brief. She awoke when you picked up your keys from the kitchen island, meeting your sheepish smile. “I have a few errands to run and I should pick up some things for you,” you told her. “Do you want anything?” She shook her head. “Try and get some rest,” you prompted because it seemed as though she was reluctant to. 

  You closed the apartment door and lingered for a moment in the hallway as you considered whether or not you should really be leaving Kate alone. But it wasn’t something you could put off. You needed more supplies for her. With that in mind, you set off, leaving Kate to entertain herself inside your apartment for the next hour. 

  Though you came back to the tv playing, you were convinced Kate spent the entire time sleeping by the way the blankets were wrapped around her. She inevitably startled awake when the door opened but you had been able to catch a glimpse at the image of her with the blankets pulled up to her chin. “Good nap?” You couldn’t help but comment despite her irritable mood before you left. She didn’t respond so you pulled some fresh wipes and pain relief out your bag, Kate’s eyes widening at the later.

  “Are these stronger?” She asked as she examined the pack. 

  “Supposedly, they’re a new brand,” you explained, which seemed to be enough for Kate because she downed the maximum dosage at once. “And I got you some soup,” you added. 

  “Thanks grandma,” Kate chuckled. 

  “Or I can just have it myself,” you pointed out with a huff. 

  “You wouldn’t,” Kate tested.

  “No, and you’re lucky for that.” The raven haired woman hummed with a smile as you warmed up the meal dutifully. 

  The rest of the day went by with relative ease because Kate spent the majority of it sleeping. It seemed she needed it though every time she woke up she denied it with a swift disregard that always made you roll your eyes. You supposed someone so used to having the physical highground had a hard time admitting she had human weaknesses because she could never afford to show them, making you wonder what Kate’s life was like beyond her vigilante pastime. Did she work? Did she have a family? Friends? You knew that she wasn’t going to give you an answer to those questions but you still couldn’t help but ponder them when you caught a glance of her flicking through the tv channels. 

  “You’re very indecisive,” you said when you glanced up from your phone to see Kate still flicking through ten minutes later. 

  “When did tv get so bad?” She grumbled. 

  “You don’t watch it much?” You pried.

  “I never have the time,” she told you absently before tossing the remote back to you to pick something out. 

  “Too many criminals to kill?” You continued. 

  “This is New York,” she shrugged. 

  “But that’s like, not all you do, right?” You pushed gently, waiting for the raven haired woman to pull a wall up at a moment’s notice. 

  “Of course not,” she said instead. 

  “So what do you do? Apart from crash on stranger’s sofas?” You smiled. 

  “Things I need to get back to,” she answered. 

  Damn. 

  “Can I check it?” You asked when you noticed Kate shift uncomfortably. She didn’t hesitate to nod, lifting her shirt up before you were even standing. You crouched down in front of the sofa and inspected the wound under Kate’s gaze. “How’s the pain?” 

  “Bearable,” she muttered as she watched you examine her. “Do you treat a lot of people with injuries like this?” She asked seemingly at random. 

  “It’s not as common as people think, but I’ve dealt with my fair share,” you explained. “In my old job a lot of the calls we got were false alarms,” you recalled. “I kinda miss that.”

  “So why are you here?” 

  “I wanted a new challenge I suppose,” you told her.

  “I get that,” Kate agreed. 

  “Evidently,” you quipped as you pulled her shirt back down, the tips of your fingers grazing her toned stomach as they went. “Is that what you have to get back too as well?”

  “Yep,” she huffed, switching her attention back to the tv as you willed yourself not to think about how her abs had flexed under your touch and how her other muscles would feel under your fingertips. 

  “Me too, I’ll be up at six tomorrow morning for work and I won’t be back until nine,” you told her as you sat back down. “You gonna be okay?” You asked as casually as you could, having learnt that Kate didn’t respond well to sympathy. 

  “I’ll be waiting patiently to hear about all the other people who have been stabbed that you heal,” she replied simply, placing a hand over her bandage. You hummed in amusement. 

  “I’ll make sure to get some good stories,” you quipped.

  “Then you should probably go to bed,” Kate responded as she glanced at the clock on the wall. 

  “Are you trying to get rid of me in my own home, Kate?” You smiled and your guest tried to conceal her own grin at your comment. 

  “Perhaps,” was all she said as she pretended to be interested in the tv. 

  “Don’t worry, I can take a hint,” you insisted, standing up from your armchair. “Just shout if you need me, okay?” Kate nodded unconvincingly but given her current state you knew you were going to end up checking on her at least a couple times anyway. 

  “Thank you,” she muttered once your back was to her. It carried a sincerity you hadn’t heard from Kate before and shocked you momentarily. 

  “No problem,” you shrugged, not sure what else to say so you carried on through the small apartment to your bedroom. 

*

You stared down at the note with an etch of confusion that you knew you knew you shouldn’t really have felt. From what you had learnt about the vigilante, this hardly seemed out of character. Kate was gone and the only trace she had left that she had ever stayed on your sofa was the note on your coffee table where her gun had been. You had anticipated that when she eventually left you wouldn’t get a goodbye, but you hadn’t expected it to be so soon. Sure, she was stable and yes she was a less than convenient house guest, but you were undeniably concerned for the vigilante.

  Thanks for patching me up, doc. See you around ;) -K

  You wondered if she really did have the intention to come and see you again but quickly dismissed that thought, knowing that if Kate did come back to your apartment, it would be with another injury for you to deal with and not just for the pleasure of your company. You were entirely right. It was almost two months later when you found Kate in your apartment again. 

  “I thought you said you had other paramedics to bother,” you huffed as you shut your apartment door and threw your bag to the side, missing your coat rack by a metre. 

 “Are you drunk?” Kate interrogated with a frown as she watched you make your unsteady way towards her. 

  “It’s friday night,” you shrugged. “I do have a life you know,” you mumbled as you knelt before where Kate was sitting on your sofa to see the wound of her calf she had exposed. Gunshot wound. 

  “Miraculously. How did you not freeze to death in that getup?” She quipped as she took in your band tee and ripped jeans. 

  “After everything I do for you, you always have something to say about my clothes,” you grumbled. Kate smirked as she watched you sort through everything she had raided your bathroom of, half considering leaving to find a paramedic that was sober. “You don’t need stitches this time,” you commented so Kate decided to stay and entertain herself. “And you’re lucky I didn’t bring that girl home,” you continued as you began to clean her calf. 

  “Oh yeah?” Kate pushed with interest. 

  “Oh yeah, there could be someone else on this sofa right now,” you said somewhat proudly. 

  “Then how come there’s not?” She asked as she watched you work, thinking to herself that she could grow used to the sight of you kneeling in front of her. 

  “My friend got wasted so I wanted to make sure she got home okay,” you recalled. “So now I won’t be getting laid tonight.” Kate hummed. 

  “Ask nicely and we’ll see,” the raven haired woman shrugged. You scoffed as you finished up, ignoring the unfairly attractive smirk playing on Kate’s lips. 

  “You’re funny,” you disregarded as you felt your blood rush to your cheeks. 

  When you emerged from the bathroom to put everything back where Kate had grabbed it from, you noticed her lacing her boots back on, apparently ready to leave. “There’s no need to stay the night this time,” she shrugged. That was true and she was the single most irritating guest you had ever had, but you had somewhat wished she would stick around a bit longer. Kate was annoying as hell, but also had her moments of being amusing to be around. Not to mention she was certainly easy on the eyes and you wouldn’t object to seeing a glimpse of her muscles again. You definitely just needed to get laid. 

  “Do you want me to turn around so you can sneak out again?” You quipped. 

  “I thought I’d be generous and let you watch me go,” she replied with a wink as stood. 

  “Generous would be wearing a tighter fitting outfit,” you fired back just as easily before turning back to your room. “Until next time, Kate,” you waved over your shoulder, missing how her eyes watched your figure go. 

*

The next time you saw Kate, it wasn’t in your apartment, it was while you were working. It certainly wasn’t a situationship you had ever visualised playing out and if you had it would have been through a nightmare instead of one of the occasional daydreams you had of her. 

  “Fuck, maybe if we just offer this guy to them they’ll go,” your coworker called out from the opposite side of the room where he hid behind an upturned sofa. 

  “Absolutely not,” you snapped as you continued to attempt to stop the bleeding of the man lying unconscious by you. 

  “L/n, this guy might be just as bad as them. It’s him or us,” your coworker continued until another rain of bullets fired across the apartment. It wouldn’t be long before they finally broke into the house and realistically, you predicated it would happen before the cops showed up. You cursed to yourself, weighing the options that you should never have had to. “I didn’t sign up for this,” he continued to groan.

  More demands came from outside the house in a language you couldn’t identify or hope to understand. You didn’t have much more time to ponder it though, because the door burst open and three men charged inside. You squeezed your eyes shut at the sight of the heavy guns just a couple feet from you, waiting for the inevitable. However, instead of feeling the bullets tear through your body, you heard the yelling turn into distressed cries and the striking sound of a blade piercing the air then flesh. 

  You peered up, relieved at the sight of Kate, or the ronin, cutting the intruders down with impressive ease and precision. Her skills were enchanting to witness, even if they did cause a bloody end to those she fought but you had little sympathy for them. In a matter of moments, the intruders lay dead at Kate’s feet just as the sirens came into proximity. Kate glanced back at you briefly, reading the thank you from your lips, before leaving with swift haste. 

*

“You’re welcome,” Kate said as you stepped through your main door. You barely glanced in the direction of where she stood in the kitchen, helping herself to the beer from your fridge. 

  “That was crazy,” you sighed as you sauntered to the kitchen and took the beer out of Kate’s hands to take a swig. 

  “Hey, I earned that,” she told you so you placed it back in her hands. “And now we’re even. You saved my life and I saved yours.” She told you matter of factly. 

  “I also dealt with your leg,” you pointed out as you grabbed one of the microwaveable meals you kept for the days like that where you couldn’t be bothered to cook. “And bought extra supplies for you, let you stay the night, eat my food and drink,” you continued as you punched in the numbers and let the appliance start cooking. 

  “Want me to buy you flowers?” Kate asked with a raised brow as she leant back on the counter. You rolled your eyes with a poorly concealed smile. 

  “I want to destress after that shit show,” you said simply. 

  “I could help with that,” she suggested lowly, taking a step towards you with that mischievous look in her eye. 

  “Yeah? You wanna go run me a bath?” You questioned as you watched Kate draw closer. 

  “I had the bedroom in mind,” she said far too slyly as she stepped into your space and placed a hand on the counter behind you to trap you in place. 

  “You seem comfortable here,” you whispered. No need to shout when your lips were an inch away from hers. 

  “So do you,” she bit back, adamant on having the last word as she cupped your chin and closed the gap between you. 

  She tasted of the beer she had stolen but also something that was uniquely and indescribably Kate. You didn’t know her very well. You didn’t know her body, her scent or her taste, but at that moment of contact you swore you would learn every inch of her and judging by the way her free hand gripped your waist, Kate felt that same need. 

  “You want this?” She asked between breathless kisses. You merely moaned in approval when she slipped her tongue between your lips and gripped onto her collar to immerse yourself deeper. 

  “Fuck me,” you told her as you took the hand on your waist and guided it to the waistband of your trousers. She watched you with darkened eyes as you pushed her hand past the fabric to feel the thin cloth between her skin and yours. Kate groaned lowly as she met the damp material, pushing you further into the kitchen counter as you withdrew your hand to let her do as she pleased. 

“Eyes on me, pretty girl,” the vigilante demanded as she teased your covered lips. “You’re so wet. You know, if you wanted me to fuck you this bad, all you had to do was ask,” she smirked, You had just enough defiance left in you to retort but never got the chance because Kate slipped two fingers inside yu without another word, admiring the shock and lust in your locked eyes as she did so. 

  “Kate,” you whined as she wasted no time in pumping her digits steadily into you. 

  “You feel so good wrapped around me,” she told you with a smirk that only made you wetter. She didn’t miss your body’s response, feeling you clench as she fingered you faster and delved into your depths deep enough to make your head spin. She was working your body with an eager haste as she watched carefully for what made you react in the ways she searched for. 

  “So responsive,” she muttered to herself more than you. You didn’t respond, too focused on how perfectly her fingers fit inside you and how she was suddenly able to find that hidden gem that made you cry out. 

  “Don’t stop,” you pleaded, clinging to Kate tighter as she happily complied. 

  “Open up a bit more, baby,” Kate coached. You did and the wet sounds from between your legs were amplified next to your moans. “So good,” the older woman praised as she began to toy with your neglected clit. You bucked into her hand at the contact, unable to stop yourself until Kate placed you firmly back down with a strong hold. The simple display of power was easy to submit to. 

  “M’gonna cum,” you told the archer as you constricted on her digits you wanted to keep inside. Unfortunately, Kate had other ideas and withdrew her fingers from your soaked cunt as abruptly as she had begun. 

  “Bedroom,” she simply ordered before you could object and delivered a firm smack to your ass as you stumbled through the apartment  and landed on your bed when Kate pushed your back. 

  “You’ve got too many clothes on,” she said with an etch of frustration as you turned onto your back. 

  “So have you,” you countered as you gazed at the dark leather suit. She did look hot in it, but you wanted to see all of her. Kate smiled in response as though you had made an endearing request and pulled your trousers and underwear off. She positioned you up the bed comfortably as she began to plant wet kisses across your legs, biting on the sensitive skin of your thighs with a grin. 

  Just as she neared where you needed her the most, she hauled you up and immediately strippedyou of your shirt and bra. In all honesty, you weren’t sure how to get Kate’s suit off and it didn’t seem like she was about to share. Instead, as she left light bruises in the valley between your breasts, you reached under her suit to scratch at her abs. They flexed under your touch and Kate made a noise deep in her throat. Your eyes were entrapped in her own as she made her way back down your body and settled between your legs, still fully clothed while you lay naked and desperate beneath her. 

  Tangling your fingers through her dark locks, you gazed down at the beautiful vigilante as she kissed your pussy, eager and open mouthed. “You taste so good, sweetheart,” she told you, flattening her tongue to truly savour the wetness she had caused. She moaned with you, sending sweet vibrations through every buzzing nerve in your system as she sought to make you come undone with her mouth. The sight alone of her face buried between your legs and peering up at you was enough to drive you wild. 

  Kate was arrogant about it, smirking against you as you called her name like a prayer, more than ready to tease you about it the next time you met. 

  She was insatiable in the way she fucked you, barely giving herself a chance to breathe as if your taste was more important. When she did pause briefly, it was to spit directly on your pussy as she watched you, like she wanted to add to the mess you had become. 

  “Good fucking girl,” Kate hummed and slipped her tongue inside you. “You look so precious when you squirm,” she commented as she noted your desperation as you became increasingly submerged in the pleasure. Kate gripped your thighs as she buried her tongue deep in your cunt, flexing the muscle as best she could to explore you. 

  You throbbed in Kate’s mouth, all too immersed in what she was doing to your body and the way she coached you to your climax again, this time with a more generous intent. “Cum for me, baby,” she ordered. You didn’t need more encouragement than that and yet Kate’s moans grew louder with your own as you came. 

  “Kate,” you whined as your entire body pulsed and shuddered.

  “I know,” she replied as she let you ride out your orgasm with her tongue cleaning you up until you became too sensitive and pushed Kate away weakly.

  With your eyes shut with exhaustion, you missed Kate working to pull down her suit trousers until she was making her way back towards you. “I’m gonna ride your face,” she told you matter of factly when you noticed her glistening cunt. You didn’t object and gripped what was uncovered of her thighs to bring her down to your awaiting mouth. She tasted heavenly. You barely noticed the rough material of her suit against your neck as you sucked on her throbbing clit. She was quieter than you, most likely wanting to keep her composure, but her arousal was clear with how she was practically dripping down your chin. 

  “That’s it,” she told you when she began to grind against your tongue and gave little consideration for your ability to breathe. Kate was so immersed in her pleasure that it felt as though she was merely using your body for that sole purpose and the thought drove you to suck on her harsher, needing Kate to get that relief from you. 

  The raven haired woman gripped onto the headboard like a lifeline as her hips moved wildly against your tongue, uttering the occasional breathy praise and flushing at the sight of your eagerness. “So willing to please, aren’t you?” She asked as if you could respond coherently. 

  You ignored the distant ache in your jaw when Kate’s moans became more erratic and doubled your efforts to provide her with the same bliss she had given you. “Yes, don’t stop,” she called out several times as she grinded against your face as though it was one of her own personal toys, cumming with a hitch to her breath and a sharp cry. The sight was one that would keep you up at night for the foreseeable future, envisaging the moment you made the vigilante fall apart. 

  Kate took her time riding out her high and peered down at you with an excited grin. “I wish I had my strap,” she muttered as moved to straddle your waist and run her hands down your torso before flipping you over. 

  You were about to tell her about what you had hidden in your closet when she offered something better. “But seeing how much you’ve been drooling over my abs,” she started with a well placed cockiness, “you can ride them instead,” Kate instructed as she pulled the suit up enough to expose her lower stomach and pulled you flush against her.

[mt-oe]

I love ur workkkk 🥺🥺 … my heart melted

Can I request a mizu x reader in which reader was upset with mizu , and mizu trying to make reader feel happy with her ( I know I worded it poorly 😭😔. English is not my first language 😔). this can be sfw or nsfw. u write the spiciest nsfw stuff 😉

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Hey dear!

Thank you so much for requesting! I'm so sorry if this was WAY overdue. I'll try to make up for it by writing as best as I can <3

Also, please don't think too much about how you worded it. Trying to communicate your ideas, regardless of how you worded it, is already enough.

On an unrelated note, I am temporarily closing my inbox so I can catch up on requests. I wouldn't want to rush since that might compromise the quality of the fics. I deeply appreciate the messages and comments and would really like to answer them but I'm still too shy ;; I promise I'm really trying. Please don't get mad or disappointed in me. Thank you for understanding!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy! Mwa mwa :*

warning/s: not proofread, she/her for mizu, implied afab reader

Mizu has done a lot of things before. Her sword has known the blood of many, cut through numerous organs, and had seen death like it was the next door neighbor. The fights she had fought were more ferocious than what most warriors could stomach. With a will of steel and the mind of a tactician, a capable swordsman she truly was. But...

How the hell was she going to get through this one?

Cerulean orbs narrowed as she watched you, or more precisely, your back. Her gaze roaming from the tips of your hair to the way your back slumped. Your huffs and whispered grumbles were the only sound that could be heard from the room.

She could feel her palms sweating and her fingers running cold. Not a single coherent thought formed in her brain from how unnerving the situation was. For the first time in her life, she was faced with an opponent she did not know how to defeat.

And this opponent was strong. Not even the swing of her sword or the strength of her hands could quell the wrath and sheer rage of this enemy. Mizu knew she had to plan her next move well or this could cost her everything.

And this opponent...was her wife's anger.

Yes, the ronin who quite literally bit someone's nose, survived a fall from several stories high, burned down Edo, was utterly helpless under her lover's wrath.

"I said I was sorry. What else do I have to do?" she asked, placing a hand on your shoulder, trying to pull you to face her. A groan of frustration boiled at her throat as you shrugged her hand off harshly. "I said I was sorry. What else do I have to do?" you mocked her, imitating her low voice before sticking your tongue. "Go figure it out yourself! Hmph!"

This was so stupid, she thought. But despite the words in her head, she was utterly lost.

All this drama just because she missed a kabuki show that you wanted to watch?

Sure, you had told her ahead of time. Sure, you already planned it out. Sure, you were already at the venue. But it was just a goddamn stage play, what were you so upset about? There would be another show next week with the same story anyway, and if you were so excited to watch, you could have watched it without her.

So what was the big deal about it?

She rolled her eyes before standing up, looking at you in resignation. "Fine, sulk," she grumbled in response, to which you stuck your tongue out. She rolled her eyes once again before strapping her sword to her waist. "Talk when you're no longer acting like a brat." And with those words, she left, slamming the door and causing it to bounce open slightly.

Upon hearing her footsteps fading, you immediately let out a loud sigh. You turned to look at the spot where your lover had previously sat on with a sense of hurt. "But I wanted to go on a date..." you whispered to yourself, throat tightening.

This was one of those moments where you really just had to say, 'it is what it is', and pretend to not get hurt.

You knew Mizu wasn't the most romantic person on the planet. Hell, it was even a surprise that she asked you out. However, there were times when you wished you could open her head and shove some cheesy romance novels, because how the fuck did she not get that you were asking her out on a date?

Urgh.

"What am I even expecting?" you asked yourself out loud, bringing the tickets you had bought for both of you. Tickets that were wasted just because she thought training and buying supplies were more important than spending 4 hours watching a play in a theater with her wife. "Maybe next time I'll just watch her train."

You love her. Of course you did. And you knew she loves you too, but sometimes her inability to understand or express romance made you question it.

Slowly and painfully, you tore up the tickets and fed it to the candle flame, watching as it turned to ashes. Welp. There goes your idea of a romantic evening. "And I planned it for so long too," you sighed as you brought your knees to your chest.

Unbeknown to you, your wife had secretly sneaked back, sitting beside the small door crack she had intentionally made earlier. A small frown on her face as she realized how much she fucked up.

You were right.

You did plan it for a long time. She could see your eyes widen every time the two of you passed by the theatre whenever you went out for supplies, filled with excitement that she couldn't understand then. And you already told her early, so it wasn't like it was out of the schedule or out of the way. Most of all, you were already at the venue.

You were waiting for this for such a long time.

You were waiting for her for such a long time.

And she wasted your efforts. She somehow thought that what you were so eager for was something she could trade for a few hours of extra training.

Guilt welled up in her as she continued to listen to your sighs, peeking inside the room every now and then to make sure you were okay. Her heart clenched in an odd, unfamiliar, yet extremely uncomfortable way at the sight of your frown.

Damnit. Mizu knew she messed up big time. However, even if she felt absolutely terrible, she also knew she couldn't just come back in and reveal that she had just watched you go through five stages of grief in less than an hour or else you'd feel like you forced her to apologize. But how could she make up for this?

As she was deep in thought, thinking of ways on how she could apologize, she suddenly heard the soft padding sound of your feet on the tatami mat as you stood up. "I guess I'll take a nap. Maybe I'll feel better when I wake up," she heard you sigh for the umpteenth time.

Her eyes watched you stretch before pulling the futon out of the closet and set it up. Your hands carefully undid the pins stuck to your hair before laying down, pulling the covers over you, the frown you wore never dissipating.

She could feel her conscience weighing down on her, telling her what a dense idiot she was. The feeling hitting her like a ton of bricks as she watched you slowly fall asleep with a heavy heart.

No, she wasn't going to let your day go on like this. If she fucked up, she's fixing it up.

Slowly and carefully, she got up and sneaked away, leaving the inn and going to the market. No matter how unexperienced or how unknowledgeable she was with how to comfort a person, Mizu was going to try her best.

-

Hours passed and the short nap you had planned turned into one of the longest one you've had yet. It wasn't a pleasant one, but it wasn't the worst either. Your eyes slowly fluttered open before squinting at the faint glow of the candle. The world felt slightly heavy and tilted as your head spu—wait? The candle?

"Oh shit," you whispered, shooting up and looking around in panic, head still spinning from grogginess. Oh no, you forgot to blow out the candle before your nap and accidentally kept it burning. Mizu was going to pissed at you, especially since it was the last one.

But wait—

Shouldn't it have burnt out already?

You brought the back of your hand to your eyes, rubbing away the sleep and grogginess to have a better look around. However, upon looking up, surprise took over your senses.

The room was...decorated?

Or at least there was an attempt.

At a distance from the foot of your futon sat your lover with a wooden crate in front of her. A bit of relief washed over your body as you realized that she had taken care of the candle for you, but still, you were heavily confused. "Mizu...what's going on?" you asked, yawning a bit.

She looked at you with the same emotionless stare she had before sighing. Her hands slowly turned the crate around so the opening was facing you. It was decorated too, and even if it was poorly recreated, you could recognize the setting. It was very similar to the kabuki theater you wanted to go to.

From her back, she brought out two dolls. One wearing a kimono in a color similar to what you were wearing, and one male doll that looked like a samurai. A heavy exhale could be heard coming from her as the embarrassment started kicking in. Was she really going to do this? Yes, yes she was.

Clearing her throat, she moved the dolls to the makeshift stage as she began her narration. "Once upon a time, in a small village, stayed a ronin and her wife." She glances momentarily at you before looking down again, a faint dust of blush on her cheeks. "Her very beautiful wife," she clarified.

Your eyes widened with a mix of delight and surprise. The grogginess from your sleep wore off at the sweetness of your lover's effort. You couldn't believe it. It was a stage play. A stage play about the two of you.

Her hands moved the dolls on stage, making them hold hands as she narrated the events in the story. "But one day, the ronin, being very foolish, decided to go up in the mountains and train instead of accompanying her wife," she said, dolls moving to match her words.

"And her wife..." she continued, moving your doll to look like it was sulking, "...got very upset." Blue eyes looked at you once again to check if you were still watching. You could tell that she was being very sincere about this.

"Not knowing what to do, the ronin went out to think and realized that she was indeed wrong and had been inconsiderate, that her wife was really just trying to bond and spend time in merriment."

She slowly set the dolls down and readjusted, sitting up straight before bowing her head slightly. "And so, the ronin apologized," she said with all seriousness. "I'm sorry, love. I knew you wanted to go out for so long. I should have appreciated your efforts more. I have no excuses."

Silence embraced the room after, completely amplifying the pounding of her heart as she awaited your response. Jitters ran through her body from nervousness. Mizu didn't dare look up, not until you gave her a response.

Seconds felt like minutes as she waited. An unexplainable kind of anxiety holding over her. What if you didn't like the little show she put? What if she just made your anger worse? Her thoughts were scattering by the millisecond. She wanted nothing more than for you to forgive her.

Her heart stopped as she saw your hands reach for the dolls, looking over them before making your doll face her doll.

"And the wife accepted the apology," you giggled, bending your dolls head slightly so it would kiss the representing her. Before she could speak, she felt your lips on her cheek. The sweet sound of your laughter soon followed, making her blush.

You lifted the dolls up to eye level and looked at them fondly. "You really went out and beyond, didn't you?" you laughed, wiggling them around in some form of cuteness aggression. She lifted her head and smiled softly. "I didn't know what to do," she admitted, finding your fondness for the dolls adorable. "And I really wanted to go back to my wife."

"You could have just said sorry, dummy. But.." your voice trailed off, eyes looking back at your wife's, leaning closer to her. "This made me unbelievably happy," you admitted. "Thank you, love."

Your wife's smile widened as you leaned in and kissed her softly. Her hands instinctively pulling you closer. Love and affection radiated from her as both of you pulled away, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. Her breath hitched as you opened your mouth, anticipation building up regarding what you were going to say.

"But next time you do that, you're sleeping without a futon."

"Yes ma'am"

[that-basic-simp]

The Ronin and The Bride

Mizu x Fem!Reader CW: N/A WC: 2.6k+ Uses mostly he/him pronouns for Mizu until towards the end.

"You're a lot younger than I expected you to be," I said as I was standing in front of my soon to be husband.

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not."

"Take it as you will," I said, turning away from him.

My mother arranged this marriage as she was starting to get older and prone to more accidents if she wasn't taken care of. I think it was an excuse to get some money after my father passed away. And I couldn't really bring in money no matter how many jobs I took on. And my mother was always selling her body to any man she would to get money. It was never enough and so deciding to marry me off to someone was the best option.

"Let's get this over with," I sighed.

Once everything was said and done, my mother was milling about the small house my husband owns. It wasn't the best for us, but it held the three of us and that was all that mattered. There was a small little farm in the back where we could grow our own vegetables. There were even some cattle in the back as well. So there really wasn't much for us to worry about when it came to food, as there was plenty already harvested and ready to be prepared.

"What's your name?" I turned to the man.

"Mizu," he said, removing his Kasa from his head. "Yours?"

"Y/N," I said.

"Nice to meet you."

"What did you do before getting married?"

"I killed people," was all he said and bluntly.

"Like a samurai? A lord's swordsman?"

"No. I don't really know what to call it."

"A ronin, maybe?"

"That might work."

"Are you still killing people?"

"I," Mizu let out a sigh. "I tried to. But it seems people find me and want to kill me for what I've done."

"And what have you done?"

"Kill people."

"Right," I said. "They want to get revenge on the person who killed someone they knew."

"I was out for revenge," Mizu said.

"You were?" I asked.

"Yes."

"What for?"

Mizu stood up and opened the door, walking out. I let out a sigh as my mother shook her head at me. I stood up and went after Mizu, but he was nowhere to be found. Not even where the tools were to shear the sheep and tend to the livestock. I turned and headed back inside, preparing dinner for us.

When the sun was slowly falling down into the horizon, the door opened up and Mizu walked in. Sweat was running down his forehead and there was something odd about him. He wasn't very masculine for a man. He looked kind of slender, but not very muscular at all. Well, I shouldn't say muscular. I should say, he's not very broad. And there isn't really any facial hair on him. I shouldn't judge. My father had a clean face and whenever his mustache or beard grew in, he'd shave it almost immediately. He didn't care for that kind of look.

I guess I shouldn't really say that Mizu isn't like other men. Maybe that's a good thing. He let out a sigh as he sat down, finding that there were bowls of noddles prepared for him. It wasn't much, but it was what I could do with what he had already here.

Dinner was silent. My mother tried to make conversation with Mizu, but he gave off the impression that he didn't want to talk. Always looking away from her, pretending like he didn't hear, or shrugged his shoulders. There was also another odd thing about him. His glasses. He always wore them, yet again, I've only seen him a couple of times throughout the day. What were they hiding if he was in fact hiding something?

After dinner was finished and cleaned up, my mother went into a different room while Mizu and I were in the same room. He was washing up while I had just finished. It was odd, laying on a mat that wasn't my own. Or I should say, it wasn't in my own house. I didn't feel like I belonged here and that this marriage was going to go anywhere. It felt like Mizu already had a life planned out for himself and now that he has to take care of not only a wife, but his wife's mother, it felt like we were impeding on his life.

Once the door slid open, I looked up and found Mizu's hair to be long and down, past his shoulders. Strange. I know some men have long hair, but I wasn't expecting it to be that long. And silky too, with how the light of the candle reflected off of it. It reminded me of water, like his name. How reflective and wavy it was. And his skin looked soft and gentle, not hard and rough. There was something Mizu wasn't telling me.

"Mizu?" I asked.

"Oh shit," he gasped, jumping slightly.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I thought you were asleep."

"I can't."

"It'll take some time to get used to."

"How come you don't really talk to us? To me?"

"I wouldn't blame anything on yourself," Mizu said, getting ready for bed. "I am not really the best person to converse with. I was alone for the majority of my life aside from my adoptive father."

"Who was he?"

"Master Eiji. A sword maker near Kohama village. I grew up there."

"I see."

"Where did you grow up?"

"Kyoto."

"How was it there?"

"It was crowded. Dirty, too."

He snickered, "I thought the same thing."

"When did you go to Kyoto?"

"I had to find the Shindo-dojo and speak to the master there."

"I do remember hearing something of a samurai coming into the dojo and making quite the spectacle."

"That was me. Even though I am not a samurai. I never was."

"Why do you say that?"

"Samurai fight with honor. I had no honor back then. I still don't."

"All the more on why you fit with the ronin," I smiled softly at him.

He nodded before laying down on the mat and blowing out the candle. I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep, but the curiosity behind Mizu's past kept me up.

The weeks went on and they soon turned into months, and Mizu still didn't really open up to me. He asked me a lot of questions, but whenever I would ask him anything of his past, he'd either leave or evade the question. It infuriated me, but one question bothered me.

"Mizu?" I asked as I was helping him with the harvest for this month.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Why did you allow me to marry you?"

He turned his head, finding my curious gaze at him.

"If I am going to be honest, it was the money."

"The money?"

"Yes. Call it selfish, but--"

I cut him off, slapping him in the face. He stumbled backwards slightly, holding his cheek as it was burning red.

"It is selfish!" I sneered at him. "You live out here by yourself, unbothered by people, and yet you buy me like I am being sold to one of those flesh traders. Or even into prostitution."

He was silent now, looking away from me.

"Do you even know how it feels? To be bought and sold just like that? For money being the only driving force to marry someone? You wouldn't know because you're a man! You don't have to worry about those things at all!"

There was something that changed behind those eyes. They always seemed cold and dull, but as soon as I said that, something snapped within Mizu. His eyes widened slightly, before narrowing as he slowly turned his head to face me. There was a raging storm within those eyes and even though I couldn't see his true eye color, I knew they were burning within. He stood up, straightening himself, even though he was a few inches taller than me.

"What do you know about me?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Nothing! I know nothing about you!"

"Exactly. And we're going to keep it that way."

"I don't even know why I accepted to marry you."

"I accepted. That was all that mattered."

"I should have talked my mother out of it."

"Did your mother have any other people in mind?"

"A few. They would pay more than what we offered you."

"And why did you choose me?"

"I guess it was because you lived out here and not in a city or someplace large like Edo."

"So you came out here for solace?"

"More so for my mother."

"You could have had anything you wanted, but settled to eat trash," Mizu said.

"It wasn't my fault that my mother insisted on me marrying you! Of all people, you! I could be in Edo right now," I said.

"And what? Married to the shogun's son? Basically being a baby factory for them?"

"It'll be better than living out here with nothing around other than a small village nearby to trade things for."

Mizu glared at me, "You chose this life. Not me."

He stalked off, heading inside the house. The door slammed and I winced slightly, letting out a sigh as I knew I had to face my mother once I entered the house. And face my mother I did. She went on to berate me, saying that is not how a wife should talk to her husband. She went into her room and I was left alone. I let out a sigh before getting dinner ready. Once it was, Mizu did not arrive to eat.

"Go find him," my mother said.

"Fine," I said and stood up, heading into our room.

Sliding the door open, Mizu was sitting in the corner.

"Dinner's ready if you want any," I said.

"Y/N, wait."

I stopped, not turning to face him.

"What?"

"Can you look at me?"

I turned and found his glasses were taken off. Slowly lifting his head, he opened them. My eyes widened slightly, finding the most beautiful shade of blue staring back at me.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"I accept your apology. But why now? Why show me your eye color?"

"It's one way I know I can trust you. How you react is everything to me."

"Why?"

"I was ridiculed, bullied, and looked down upon for my eye color."

"What's so bad about having blue eyes?"

"First off, I have blue eyes in Japan. It's not normal."

"So your father was one of those white men?"

"Yes. How do you know about that?"

"My father was killed by one of those white men. He heard word that a white man was going to be heading to Edo to kill the shogun. He went to warn the shogun and he died there. He was face to face with that white man and he shot him down like he was nothing. That white man fought with no honor. But with pure intent of wanting all the power in the world."

"I-I was there."

"You were?"

"Yes," Mizu said. "I was there in Edo when that white man killed the shogun."

"Did you kill him?"

"N-No," Mizu turned away. "I-I went to London to find the other two. Once we got there, he ran. I knew nothing on London and decided to return back to Japan."

"So you were on a quest for revenge."

"I was. I never got to complete it."

"Do you want to?"

"Yes."

I nodded my head, "I see. And your eyes, they're very beautiful."

A small smile crawled on his face. That was the only time I have ever seen him smile since I was here.

"And I wouldn't be insecure about your eyes."

"What about your mother?"

"Around her, hide them. But around me, there is no need for you to hide who you are," I said, about to step out of the room. "I'll be beside you no matter what."

Within a few weeks, Mizu was starting to open up more. He was letting me help more around the small farm we had. Such as shearing the sheep, feeding the livestock, and he even took me into the woods to where this peach tree was. They were low enough to where Mizu could reach up with ease and grab one for me. We would spend hours there, just talking more and more about anything and everything. It made me smile to know that Mizu was warming up to the idea of married life.

"Y/N, we need to talk," Mizu said one night.

I was slicing carrots when he said that, almost making me cut my finger off. I had nicked the skin and Mizu rushed over, grabbing some bandages he kept nearby in case this happened.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah. I am. W-What did you want to talk about? I-Is it something that I did?"

"No, no, no," he shook his head, wrapping my finger up. "I-I've just been hiding something from you."

"It's only been half a year since we've been married. And now you're telling me this?"

"Yes. Because you deserve to know the truth."

"Truth? About what?"

"Your mother is not here, is she?"

"No. She went to the village to see if she can get anything for dinner tonight."

"Ok."

"Why?"

"I-It's better that I show you."

He reached up and removed his ponytail, letting his long hair fall down to around chest level. After that, he grabbed his haori and pulled it back, revealing a binding around his chest.

"I'm not a man."

"A woman," I said.

Mizu nodded, "Yes."

"And this changes how?"

She blinked a few times, "Y-You're taking this surprisingly well."

"I told you before, Mizu. There is no need for you to hide who you are around me."

Some tears formed in her eyes as she reached over, pulling me into a tight hug. Pushing her away, she looked confused at me.

"I-I am just shocked you hugged me."

"I-Is that ok? T-To hug you?"

I smiled, "Of course. Just warn me next time."

She chuckled, pulling me into a hug. I hugged her tightly, finally knowing the true Mizu.

"Thank you, Mizu."

"I didn't do anything."

"For showing me who you are."

She smiled, nuzzling the side of her face against mine.

"You're welcome."

My heart beat fast and hard against my chest. I wasn't liking the whole marrying someone I never met before idea, but with Mizu, I am glad my mother picked her from the other men.

"Oh shit!" I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away.

"What? What's wrong?"

"My mother cannot know about this," I said.

"Shit! Right. W-What would she do?"

"For starters, probably have you killed. Either by her hands or by someone else's. But I think by now that you'd kill them before they even drew your blood."

"That's true."

"Or worse," I let out a heavy breath. "She'd make me leave you for another man."

"You say that like a bad thing."

"And you say that like you want it to happen," I said, a little offended.

"I-I didn't mean it like that, Y/N. I-It would be a bad thing for you. But also for me."

"W-What are you saying?"

"I-I've come to enjoy your company. Mostly yours since I have not acquainted well with your mother, but you," she found my eyes, a look of awe in them. "You're someone I want to have in my life. Someone I should have had in my life."

"Why someone like me?"

"You accepted me no matter what. You didn't judge about my eyes and you didn't judge about me revealing the truth. If I would have been found out anywhere else and with anyone else, I'd be rejected. You welcomed me even though we started off rough. Y-You've shown me what unconditional love is. And I couldn't be more grateful for that," she smiled softly at me.

I reached over and grabbed her hand, "Man or woman, Mizu, it doesn't bother me. I will still love you for who you are."

"L-Love me?" some blush crawled onto her cheeks.

My eyes widened, recognizing what I just said. Some blush came onto my cheeks as well.

"S-Shit," I whispered.

She chuckled, her smile growing wider, "So is that a confident response?"

I let out a sigh and placed my hands on her cheeks, pulling her towards me. My lips met hers lightly and her arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me into her. She pulled back after a few seconds, taking in a deep breath.

"I'll take that as a yes?" Mizu asked.

"Yes, Mizu. I love you."

"I-I love you, too."

[hauntingsofhouses]

I just keep obsessing over how Mizu is so many things. She truly is water, so deep and unfathomable and complex, ever-changing, ever-adapting, fluid and mysterious, she fits into every shape you pour her into, she is gentle yet vicious, soft-hearted yet callous, stoic and quiet yet still sarcastic and playful.

She is Japanese and white and both and neither, she is woman and man and both and neither, she is human and demon, she is ronin and bride and Onryo and phoenix.

She is also a sword; Mizu and her sword are one.

"The sword is the soul of the samurai."

"I am... made of mixed metal. No amount of hammering can remove my impurity."

"What is a sword? [...] It is a line. On one side of the line is life. The other, death. The edge we forge cuts the line between life and death."

Mizu's soul is thus represented by her blade, but Mizu is also

the metal: beautiful, strong, sharp, and precise, but ultimately neutral, neither good nor evil, as metal can be used to craft both weapons of death, or knives for cooking and nourishment;

the maker: artistic and passionate, the maker creates;

and the one to wield it: deadly and swift, the swordsman destroys.

In the first episode, we don't even see her blade for much of it, only mentions of it, as she doesn't even deign to fight someone like Hachiman the Flesh-Trader in Ringo's noodle shop.

Most people don't even deserve to see her blade. And who is the first person in the show whom the sword is even shown to? Well...

Taigen: "Are you afraid to fight with steel?" Mizu: "Thank you. No one has yet deserved my blade."

And then, more crucially, who does she actually allow to wield her blade? The first person she spars with? It is none other than Mikio, her husband.

She literally passes him her sword, letting him wield it for the rest of their fight, taking his naginata in exchange. Not purely a crossing of blades, but an exchange of it. Mizu is literally baring her soul to him and putting it in his hands.

In the whole show, the only other time we actually see someone besides Mizu holding her sword is after Mizu kills the Four Fangs and passes out from her wounds. Ringo picks the unconscious Mizu up, and in the process, her sword slips from her hand.

And then, resisting his selfish quest to reclaim his honour, Taigen tells Ringo a safe place for Mizu to recover and follows them both there, but not before he takes Mizu's sword, and also Chiaki's broken blade.

It is brief, but he does hold it, and the shot focusing on his hand picking it up places further emphasis on this fact.

Now, about the broken blade, @saessenach told me something very interesting, which is that when Mizu had helped craft this sword, it was made for the man she believed Chiaki was. And who exactly is that again? Let's go over the cover story he related to Master Eiji:

"I am not a swordsman. I bind books. I was taught my trade by... my father. He was killed by a drunk ronin, who cut my father down for splashing him with his cart. This ronin is a drunk, but he is skilled as I am not. He will kill me. I know this. But with a sword from you, Master, I can take his life as he takes mine. And die avenged."

So, as @saessenach so aptly put it, the broken blade "was made for a man who wanted to regain his honour from a stronger swordsman. He doesn't expect to survive the duel, but would just like to die with honour."

And doesn't that sound familiar? Like Taigen, a man who would also like to regain his honour by duelling a swordsman stronger than himself? Taigen, who had also come from nothing, who was raised not to be a samurai, but a humble fisherman, by his father who is now dead?

So of course that's why, when Taigen wields that broken blade, despite not even knowing the story behind it, Ringo unwittingly glimpses it anyway, and says this:

"Master Eiji's broken blade is a good fit for him."

Mizu just shrugs and frowns, refusing to accept it, because the sword isn't just bearing Master Eiji's signature, but also hers. A part of her is in this sword, just as a part of her is in all the blades she makes (though none of them are her soul, which is represented only by her meteorite sword).

But then later, after fighting together and barely making it out from the chasm of arrows alive, after seeing each other's skills, only then does she admit to Taigen:

"The broken blade fits well in your hand."

Which is why she (after knocking Taigen out and leaving him lying in the snow LMAO) leaves him with the broken blade, and again comments on how it "so well fits his hand."

Also, on the topic of the broken blade, why did it break again? Well, Mizu is one of the sword's makers, signing her name on it, thus putting a little of her soul into it as I already mentioned. According to Master Eiji, this process of the soul entering the sword occurs during the yaki-ire:

"The yaki-ire is when metal is reborn, and the soul enters the sword. All must be pure for the sword to be pure. The metal, the maker, the one to wield it."

As this process unfolds, this conversation happens:

Eiji: "Mizu. Is your mind clear?" Mizu: "It is." Eiji: "Mizu. Is your soul at rest?" Mizu: "It is."

However, after Master Eiji presents Mizu with the finished sword, it breaks, much to Mizu's disheartenment.

Chiaki: [About the blade being broken] "How could this happen?" Eiji: [...] "An unexpected element entered the blade." [...] Mizu: "The fault is mine. The element is me."

Mizu is right; she is "the unexpected element" that broke the blade, but not because of her race, nor her gender, but because her mind is not clear, and her soul is not at rest.

Why? Because the yaki-ire takes place right after she binds for the first time; she is in pain both physically and mentally, ashamed of who and what she is, hiding her true self, trying to smother an inherent part of her identity.

Then, about Bloodsoaked Chiaki wielding a sword which is broken, Master Eiji says this,

"A soul like that is drowned in blood. There is no stopping them. They will always find their broken blade."

This parallels Mizu breaking her blade after her rampage through the nine levels of Shindo and Fowler's fortress, after she gets literally soaked in blood.

After storming the fortress, her blade, too, is broken, and she is unable to melt it down and repair it.

Master Eiji: "Your sword broke because the blend was wrong." Mizu: "It was perfect." Master Eiji: "It was too pure. Your metal wants to be blended with new steel."

The sword, as, Mizu's soul, houses all the rage that has festered over the years. The purity of its meteorite steel represents her single-minded, hate-driven goal for vengeance.

On that note, it's interesting to remember that the meteor fell in front of Mizu during her confrontation with Taigen and his gang of bullies. That encounter was the beginning of her rage, the moment she stopped running and hiding, and instead fought back, clawing and throwing herself at the people who mistreated her. The meteorite thus represents her anger, her fighting spirit, her resistance.

Over time, she crafts her sword--her soul--purely out of this anger, and sets off on her revenge quest.

Of course, she then meets her mother, gets married to Mikio, and after their betrayals, Mizu once again resumes her quest.

But after her journey seeking Fowler, after meeting Ringo and Taigen and Akemi, Mizu's soul no longer feels singularly bound to her hate. She's made friends, she's starting to let people in, but she still suppresses those feelings, still insisting that she is just an Onryo, that she has no room for love or friendship or weakness, despite the fact that those are things her soul craves and needs deep down. She needs gentleness and respite, she needs to allow herself to be vulnerable and allow herself to love again, because she's not a demon--or at least not completely.

"There may be a demon in you..."

When Master Eiji says this to Mizu, he's not insulting her; by demon here, what he is referencing is the part of Mizu that is capable of great wrath and violence. Just like a demon is.

"...But there is more."

Mizu is still a human being. And she should let herself be one, should allow herself to feel more than just rage, but also joy, grief, love, and even pain.

"If you do not invite the whole, the demon takes two chairs."

So that's when she finally allows herself to start "allowing the whole"; she stands in front of the fire completely naked, no longer suppressing her true self, and melts the metal of those she collected, which are, in order,

the broken blade that now represents Taigen;

Akemi's knife;

Ringo's bell;

and Master Eiji's tongs.

These are people whom she cares about, who compel her to open herself up and see beyond her hate, who make her feel like she is capable of being more than just a demon.

By blending their steel into her future sword, she is accepting them, and the lessons and values they had taught her along the way, into her soul.

But as it stands now, Mizu does not have that sword. Not yet, for it's yet to be forged, as she gives the blended metal to Master Eiji.

Mizu: "If I succeed [to kill Fowler] and am still alive, I will return. And you can determine if I am worthy of a sword of this metal, made by your hand."

Which is why, in the finale, Mizu only fights with a random assortment of weapons she picks up (a sword, a naginata, a gun--but never shoots it--and the dagger Fowler stabs her with).

And then of course, Fowler drops the big reveals about Skeffington and Routeley; about her birth mother having been killed by one of the white men; about her Mama actually being a maid who was paid to keep her hidden.

With all this, there is so much she's still yet to know about who she is, who her parents are, and her identity is left hanging. So she leaves Japan not only to kill the remaining white men, but also to discover more about herself and her heritage--her white half. And this also mirrors the way she looks at the very end:

her hair grown out, her bangs identical to how she looked as a child; no longer wearing a scarf around her neck, no longer covering a part of herself.

Thus, Mizu will eventually receive her new sword that matches the new state of her soul, made of steel that "could kill a god."

But for now, she needs to understand who she really is, to discover the full breadth and complexities of the metal that made her, and the hidden depths within herself. In doing so, she must also learn to accept her anger as a tool, but cannot let it control her lest she become a demon; thus, she must allow herself to love as much as she hates, and most of all, simply let herself be.

Only then, can she claim her sword--her soul.

[luvendiary]

HII ITS THE NOD LOVER🫶🫶 CAN YOU DO A NOD X READER WHERE THE READER IS CHOSEN AS QUEEN AFTER THE POD BLOOMS AND ITS JUST FLUFF BC NODS GF IS NOW QUEEN<3

a/n: hello! long time no see. i´m in college now! life´s been crazy latelly, but i tried to clear my mind from the stress of it by writing for a while. i had such a hard time with this request. i have a draft of it that might never see the light that i worked on for months. eventually i just decided to start from scratch and wrote this in three hours. hope you enjoy!

Queen Of The Pod

Your muscles were aching and begging at you to give them a break. But you couldn't, not yet. You groaned as you tried to crawl back with whatever energy remained in your body. 

Your leafman uniform was plagued with burn marks from Mandrake´s rot. Some of it had managed to singe your body, but it had been stopped from doing any major damage by your protective pieces.

You lifted your head up just to see Ronin struggling on the floor, being held down by Mandrake´s staff. 

“Don´t touch him, you decaying shit!” you groaned out as you reached for your blade -or attempted to.

“Lie down princess”, Mandrake said, barely sparing a glance at your weak figure. “I'll be with you in a second”. 

He then refocused his attention on the General and with an evil grin pushed the rot towards his face.

Ronin´s eyes went wide as he attempted to put as much distance as he could between him and the black gooey substance. You knew he wouldn't be able to hold for much longer. His face was covered in bruises, and he had been through hell and back just to be able to protect the pod.

At the very last moment, Mandrake rerouted his staff, and brought it down on Ronin´s chest, burning deeply into his chestplate. As the General winced, he took advantage of his weak position and pinned him down to the floor with his foot.

“What is that saying you leafmen have?” Mandrake mused as he nonchalantly threw his staff over his shoulder. “Lots of leaves…something, something. Very inspiring”. He then raised the staff over his head, and his smirk turned into a look of rage and anger. “But in the end, every leaf falls and  dies alone…”

Ronin´s eyes went wide as the staff came down towards his face with sudden speed. However the blow never landed, and when he opened his eyes two blades were protecting his face from being completely consumed by the rot.

“No one is alone”, Nod said as he pushed the staff away from Ronin.

As if on cue, an army of leafmen dropped from the sky in perfect formation. You came to the sudden realization that moonlight was now filtering through the chamber, meaning that the pod would be able to bloom after all.

“Not even him”, you added as you pointed your blade menacingly towards Mandrake. 

The arrival of your boyfriend had been timed perfectly. You had the urge to jump into his arms and make sure he was alright, but you limited yourself to a discreet smile.

‘I'm glad you´re okay’.

Mandrake seemed to come to the same conclusion as you had. The leafmen´s presence meant that they were not occupied with his soldiers; the darkness was not a threat anymore. Frantically he tried to break through the soldiers and get back to the pod, however you and Nod intertwined your blades once again, blocking his way to the center of the chamber.

Mandrake let out a growl of frustration as he pushed and fought harder, but the blooming pod seemed to give you newly renewed energy. You felt Tara with you. It was because of her that you were doing this, you would make her proud. 

With your fuelled energy, you both thrusted your blades forward at the same time that the pod bursted with energy, throwing Mandrake backwards. You hurriedly ran towards the entryway ready to fight him in case he wasn't ready to give up yet, however his drowning screams caught your attention as he was swallowed into the trunk of a tree by his own rot.

You allowed yourself to sigh out in relief, exhaustion washing over your body once again. You saw Nod already helping Ronin up from the floor, and offering him his shoulder as support. 

“You alright old man?” you asked as you sheath your sword. 

“I´m fine. A little bruised is all”, he replied. “How's your leg doing? He burned you pretty badly”. 

Nod approached you, after making sure Ronin was in fact okay, and made you place your arm around his shoulder as he held you securely by your waist. 

The sudden weight of the situation dawned on you. It was over. He was gone, and so was she. You missed her. From the moment Tara died, you had not been able to process her death but rather had been focused on fixing the disaster it had caused. Now that you weren't on this quest anymore, her absence was palpable.

“I wish she could be here”, you blurted out. You felt Nod hold on tighter to your waist as he rubbed comforting circles with his thumb on it. 

“She is,” Ronin said breathlessly, as his gaze landed upon the blooming pod. Now that the battle was over, the people of Moonhaven had come out of their hiding places and were staring in awe at the light emanating from the pod. 

The light particles hovered over the flower before gently flying out. They traveled along the chamber, as if greeting everyone there. As if Tara was happy to see them safe. It slowed down as they reached your small group, stopping ever so slightly in front of Ronin and shimmering a little bit brighter, before making its way over to you and Nod. You expected the same greeting as Ronin had had. A final goodbye from your sister. However, the light did not leave your side, and instead it started to shine brighter and bigger. 

Nod carefully  removed his arm from around your waist, and gave you your space.

The light suddenly took the shape of Tara. You tried your best to remember your training and straightened up with your arms by your side. However, you couldn´t stop the few tears that had formed in your eyes from escaping.

“You did alright kid,” she said with the kindest of smiles. “You're in great hands”.

She glanced back at Ronin, prompting the General to smile.

“There's that smile…” Tara said as she returned her loving gaze back to you. “Take care of them for me”.

“I can´t. I´m not fit for being a queen”, you whispered as your voice broke slightly. “It should be you. You should be here…with me”.

Tara held on to your shaking hands, “I'll alway be with you”.  With a final smile, she placed a tender kiss on your forehead. A bright light suddenly surrounded you and before you knew it, Tara was gone. Well, not really. That deep sadness you had been holding on to was gone. You could feel her. She lived within you. And you would make her proud, her legacy would live on through you.

A soft calling of your name broke you out of your trance. Your head snapped towards your awestruck boyfriend who was looking at you as if you were a star. You came to the sudden realization that the pain in your leg was gone, and as you glanced down to check on your wound you were surprised to see your runiform replaced with a stunning green and white dress. The queen's dress.

“You look stunning…” he breathed out. A smile crept onto his face as he approached you and wrapped his arms around you. You buried your head in the crook of his neck and let out a small laugh as he lifted you up from the ground and spun you. 

“Nod!” you laughed out. “Put me down”. 

“As you wish, your majesty”, he said as he set you down once again and playfully bowed. 

The people cheered, in celebration of their new queen. To which you offered them graceful smiles.

“You know what this means…” Ronin said as he stood next to you, his helmet held firmly on his right arm.

“What?¨ you asked.

“Nod better shape up”. 

You laughed at that, and glanced back at your boyfriend who was staring at you with a lovesick smile.

“I guess he does”.