#ryuu is the one (1) pure and good boy so all i can really do is just

[tenacquity]

his voice is too cute sometimes i just

[snowe-zolynn-rogers]

Pairings: Past Aizawa/Mandalay, Pre-Bakugou/Kirishima

Word Count: 2,006 Words

Summary: The Sports Festival, part 2.

Warnings: Fighting Mention, Cursing, Fire Mention, Bullying Mention, Trauma Mention, Injury Mention, Teen Pregnancy Mention, Pregnancy Mention, Partial Nudity Mention, Death Mention, let me know if I should tag anything else.

Usernames: Existence Is A Prison   Aizawa: feral cat dad, Aoyama: gay salt, Hagakure: ranch flavored jello, Tokoyami: foil-mecha, Shinsou: farmer toshi, Kuroiro: life is a nightmare, Shiozaki: saviour, Tsunotori: schrodinger better run, Honenuki: pure, Monoma: nat20, Yamada: President Megaphone, Bakugou: deku-deck-you

Notes: Bakugou doesn't get chained down because fuck that part of the canon. The League will just go after him because he's powerful.

Aizawa, We Agreed No More Cats: Chapter 9

11:50 AM

Existence Is A Prison

gay salt: Yaoyorozu is amazing.

ranch flavored jello: She can bench press me anytime.

gay salt: To be fair, you'd let any strong lesbian bench press you.

ranch flavored jello: You're not wrong but you don't have to say it.

life is a nightmare: She did really well, I'm glad she's advancing despite that Tsubasa guy cutting her up with his glass.

deku deck-you: I think that guy might be related to one of my old friends before UA.

foil-mecha: What happened that you aren't friends anymore

deku deck-you: Tsubasa Ryuu? He got kidnapped or something during a break and I never saw him again. My other two friends? They were fake. They ditched me after the Sludge Villain incident.

nat20: I'll kick their asses for you.

deku deck-you: I wouldn't stop you from burning Aldera Middle School to the ground. For Deku's sake, mostly, but also because I hated those teachers.

feral cat dad: What happened at Aldera Middle School?

deku deck-you: Well, you probably know from Deku by now that I wasn't always easy on him or even this easy to get along with. From the time Deku was misdiagnosed as quirkless, I bullied him. Let's be honest, my reasoning wasn't important because I made his life a living hell just because mine was a living hell at home.

deku deck-you: We talked about everything the day after I moved into the dorms, so don't worry, there's no hard feelings and we're working through all the shit I did to him.

deku deck-you: But, anyway, the teachers at Aldera tried to fail Deku constantly because of his 'quirklessness' but I'd vouch his grades for him once I realized they were trying to flunk him out of the school. And, after the Sludge Villain happened, they began doing the same thing to me because they thought I was influenced by a villain even though I'd told them so many times that I was basically a hostage.

feral cat dad: Looks like I'm opening a formal complaint against Aldera Middle School after the Sports Festival.

deku deck-you: Don't, me and Deku just want to leave Aldera behind us.

feral cat dad: Fine.

feral cat dad: Oh, they had a draw while we were texting. Jeez, that was fast.

deku deck-you: Don't you dare underestimate Kirishima.

ranch flavored jello: Someone has a crush.

deku deck-you: Don't you dare speak of this. I'll launch Deku at you.

ranch flavored jello: Jeez, fine. Feral Deku scares me.

deku deck-you: Good. I gotta go.

12:20 PM

Existence Is A Prison

farmer toshi: Wow, Kats. You did great.

deku deck-you: Can't talk right now. She's in pain and won't let go of me.

deku deck-you is now offline

feral cat dad: Fuck, she overstressed herself.

farmer toshi: I want so badly to check on her but I need to fight Tokoyami now.

1:15 PM

Existence Is A Prison

farmer toshi: Katsuki, you're coming back soon, right? I mean, your match is next after Todoroki and Yaoyorozu.

deku deck-you is online

deku deck-you: I'm back, who's won?

farmer toshi: Kirishima won against Tetsutetsu in their rematch, I won against Fumi, Midoriya won against Toru, Kiyo won against Shizuka, Kaminari just won against Fujioka.

deku deck-you: Okay, good.

ranch flavored jello: I'm down by the entrance to the field. What's wrong with Yaoyorozu?

ranch flavored jello has started a video chat

[Yaoyorozu is shown fumbling around a bit in the ring and Todoroki is in a fighting stance, but drops it when she's facing the wrong way]

Yaoyorozu, why are you stumbling? -Unknown

Shut up and fight me, Todoroki! -Unknown

Something's wrong with you, I won't compete if you're hurt. -Unknown

Just fight me! -Unknown

[Yaoyorozu is shown collapsing and Midnight goes to check on her.]

Yaoyorozu cannot compete due to a previous injury, this match goes to Todoroki! -Unknown

ranch flavored jello has ended the group chat

gay salt: Mon dieu. Is she alright?

ranch flavored jello: She's muttering about her eyes.

ranch flavored jello: Oh god, there's glass in her eyes.

feral cat dad: Get up here, Toru. Now, you don't have to see that.

ranch flavored jello: I won't leave her alone without anyone she knows. I won't. She can't see, Dad.

feral cat dad: Okay, keep her company. But please be aware, they're probably going to do surgery to try to save her vision.

ranch flavored jello: It must have happened when she made that smoke bomb and Tsubasa couldn't see her.

feral cat dad: They're already having Katsuki against Kirishima to ease the tension in the stadium. Clearly, Katsuki's winning already.

2:00 PM

Existence Is A Prison

feral cat dad: Yeah, Katsuki won. So did Shinsou against Midoriya, Kiyo won against Kaminari, and Katsuki won against Todoroki.

ranch flavored jello: At least there's some good news.

deku deck-you: What good news? Icyhot wouldn't fight me with his fire and we spent like ten minutes yelling about trauma before the fucker got blown back so hard when his fire hit my explosion that he's now got a concussion.

feral cat dad: I understand you're angry, but you didn't do anything wrong, Katsuki.

deku deck-you: I know, I just feel bad. Now two of the people I've fought today are out of commission temporarily and I feel responsible.

feral cat dad: I know, and I also know they'll both forgive you. You went off with Uraraka for almost a hour and you didn't mean to injure Todoroki.

2:20 PM

Existence Is A Prison

feral cat dad: I'm so proud of all three of you.

farmer toshi: Katsuki, you're helping put my shoulder into place as a punishment for pulling it out. Recovery Girl already said it was fine.

deku deck-you: A punishment I'll accept fully for doing it in the first place. After I'm done visiting Pink Cheeks again.

deku deck-you is now offline

feral cat dad: My chaotic sons.

ranch flavored jello: Alright, I'm back. Momo can't leave the hospital tonight and she's been instructed to have Recovery Girl heal her in two days.

feral cat dad: There's my daughter. It's a good thing you kids are off for two days after today because you need time to heal after all that.

feral cat dad: Nezu's already insisted Yaoyorozu stay in the dorms because he doesn't want her too far from campus and her parents live in Tokyo prefecture and he feels it's too far for an injures student to travel.

feral cat dad: Tokage is already getting spoken to by Nezu, so she'll likely be added to this chat soon enough. Toru, can you turn on Yaoyorozu's screen reader for her so I can add her to this chat.

ranch flavored jello: Done!

feral cat dad has added Yaoyorozu

Yaoyorozu: Hello everyone!

foil-mecha: Hi, Momo!

Yaoyorozu: Hello! I'm going to take a nap, the surgery was very taxing so I'm quite tired. I'll message you all later when I wake up.

ranch flavored jello: I'll stay with her, don't worry!

Yaoyorozu is now offline

feral cat dad: You haven't changed her username yet, Hitoshi.

farmer toshi: I figure she probably doesn't know our usernames yet so I'll do it later after we tell her ours.

deku deck-you is now online

deku deck-you: Nezu's with Uraraka so I can't visit her right now.

farmer toshi: Is she okay?

deku deck-you: I don't know if I'm allowed to say. Honestly, if it were me and someone told other people I didn't know well without me knowing, I'd call it an invasion of privacy.

feral cat dad: Nezu said Uraraka should be fine. There's no need to worry about her, Recovery Girl is nothing if not adamant on the care of her patients.

deku deck-you: Alright, I'm allowed in now that she's asking for me.

deku deck-you is now offline

life is a nightmare: I wonder how badly hurt she is to want Katsuki there for comfort.

3:00 PM

Existence Is A Prison

gay salt: screenshotofurarakaslatestinstagramphoto.jpg

ochako&baby.jpg

Liked by blastyboykats and 57 others

uraravity Welcome to the world baby boy, despite being unexpected.

View all 15 comments

minabeana Oh my gosh, that baby is so cute. I love him already.

winniepie He's so cute.

kiripima Aw, welcome to the world, little guy.

sparklegirl He's cute, Ocha, mon ami!

michipeachy 🥰🥰🥰

farmer toshi: Does Uraraka have a baby sibling?

foil-mecha: Last I heard she was an only sibling.

nat20: Maybe her mom had the baby today?

feral cat dad: Alright, Uraraka is good now, not that I need to tell you since Aoyama apparently stalks people's accounts on everything.

gay salt: Hey, she gave me her account name willingly! I have all the other girl's accounts.

feral cat dad: Anyway. Tokage's also done talking to Nezu. Here's the girls of the hour.

feral cat dad has added Uraraka and Tokage

Uraraka: Hi, guys.

gay salt: Ocha, are you okay?

Uraraka: Oh yeah, Nezu said me and my baby can stay at the dorms.

gay salt: Quoi? Your baby?

Uraraka: Yeah, didn't Katsuki or Aizawa tell you all? That's why I'm moving into the dorms. I went after my match in the Sports Festival with Katsuki and they had to end up doing an emergency C-Section because they weren't finding a heartbeat. Thankfully, my idiot daughter is fine, just chaotic.

gay salt: What's her name?

Uraraka: Uraraka Emiyo.

gay salt: I will spoil her.

foil-mecha: How cute is she?

Uraraka: katsukicryingholdingemiyo.jpg

foil-mecha: Truly a glorious child. I assure you, us 1a students will assist you in your raising of dear Emiyo as best we can.

ranch flavored jello: I'm not good with baby-babies but I'll try.

Yaoyorozu is now online

Yaoyorozu: I'll help as well, once I'm able to.

Uraraka: It's okay if you don't want to, Momo.

Yaoyorozu: I don't believe you were there for it but, in the second rounds, I had to forfeit the match to Todoroki because, in the first round, Tsubasa Yuudai accidentally got glass in my eyes. My win in the first round was a fluke and I was running only off instinct when I got him out of bounds but, since taking the glass out can't fix the amount of nerve damage, I'll likely be blind for the foreseeable future.

Uraraka: Oh gods, Momo, I'd come give you a hug but I can't move around much yet.

Yaoyorozu: It's fine, Uraraka. It was an accident after all, he didn't mean to do that but the smoke bomb I made obscured his vision.

life is a nightmare: If either of you need anything, just text us, someone will get it to you.

Yaoyorozu: Thank you, but I have Toru for now!

Uraraka: Thanks. I'm good, I've got a Katsuki.

nat20: You say that like you've roped him in or something.

Uraraka: Well he's been proclaiming that he's Emiyo's uncle for the whole thirty minutes she's been in this world.

schrodinger better run: To be fair, is he not her uncle by now?

Uraraka: He is. He's the first besides my parents and me to hold her. He's definitely her uncle.

pure: Has he even put her down yet?

Uraraka: katsukiasleepwithemmiyoinhisarms.jpg

Uraraka: No, he hasn't. My mom's about to pick her up though. She's worried she'll fall and I have to feed her and all so he'll be temporarily losing holding rights anyway since I have to make him leave to feed her.

gay salt: He's sleeping, Ocha. Plus, I thought you knew he was 💅

Uraraka: He's gay?

gay salt: No, he's trans, Ocha, us girls had a whole meeting on including our ftm classmates on girl days if they're comfortable with it and you forgot?

Uraraka: Oh yeah, in that case I'm whipping out the titty so my mom can show my how to feed a baby.

Uraraka is now offline

feral cat dad: You kids are going to give me a heart attack one day and I'll put all your names on my tombstone as a reason I died.

@everythingisstardust 

[therainroguefanfiction]

🔥 ℝise Ⱥbove I̾t ◈ Chapter 035 [Consequences]

📑 Table of Contents | ◂Backward

Word Count: 2,869

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

〈“Will I catch my breath before I meet my end? Wish I could say I played a fair game, but I’ve been cheating death. Because the sun brings light to mistakes of yesterday.” Mosaic, “Hollow”〉

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

“Honestly, what were you thinking, Winchester?” Midnight put her hand on her hip, looking at me expectantly. Principal Nezu was standing beside her, his paws behind his back and a cheerful look on his face.

I grunted, not even bothering to respond as I looked away, my arms crossed over my chest. I mean, I could tell them that I was legit contemplating shoving a chimichanga up his ass, but something tells that wouldn’t help my case here.

She sighed deeply at the lack of response, turning her gaze to the small rat beside her. “What should we do with her?”

“Well, she did attack another student outside of the event,” Nezu said cheerfully as he turned his beady eyes to me. “Do you deny this accusation?”

“No. Would it help if I said he deserved it?”

“It won’t help at all!” He smiled, before looking back up at Midnight. I bet he gets a lot of neckaches looking up at everyone. “Winchester should certainly be punished for her misconduct. However, I feel as though removing her entirely from the sports festival is a bit over the top. She worked quite hard to get as far as she did, after all. Do you agree, Midnight?”

She nodded. “In that case, you will forfeit your next match and accept fourth place. You should be thankful that you aren’t being removed from the sports festival entirely!”

I held back a groan. Man, Katsuki’s gonna be so~ fucking pissed.

“You’re also going to apologize to Monoma,” she continued. “Is that clear?”

“Yeah, whateva,” I muttered.

“You can be such a pain, Jen,” she sighed, running a hand through her hair. “We better get the next match started before they start to riot again. Go back to the seating area and stay out of trouble!”

“It’s not my fault trouble is attracted to me, Midnight. I mean, look at me, I’m sexy as fuck!”

She deadpanned.

“What, you don’t agree?”

“Go, Jen.”

“Che,” I did as she ordered, heading straight for 1-A’s seating area. From the direction I was walking, I would have to pass by class B before reaching my own. I hesitated for a moment, having an internal debate with myself before finally taking the steps down. Monoma was sitting in the first row. Half of class B glared at me, while the other half just gave me a confused look. I stopped in front of the blonde. Recovery Girl had clearly fixed his nose, but there was a white strip of bandage over the bridge.

I took a deep breath. This kinda hurts my fucking pride, but… fuck it. “I’m sorry for punching you. No matter what you said to me, I should’ve had more control over myself. Sorry, Monoma.”

His eyes widened, cheeks dusting with color as his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. Kendo, sitting behind him, smacked the back of his head and he cleared his throat, shifting in his seat. “Y-Yeah… me too.”

Ryuu smiled proudly at me, his fingers brushing mine as I passed. It was his way of saying that there were no hard feelings between us, and I really appreciated the sentiment.

I returned to my class, stifling a yawn. The class noticed me and their chatter died down. I tried to ignore all the eyes on me as I sat between Bakugo and Sparky.

“What happened?” Sparky asked, softly.

I shrugged, sharing a look with Bakugo. It was obvious that the two boys had told the others about what they saw. “I had to apologize to ’em.”

“That’s it?” He breathed out, giving me a grin. “We were worried!”

“You better not be lying,” Bakugo’s eyes narrowed at me and I chuckled, ruffling his ash blonde hair.

“No lie, bro.”

“It’s the second match of the third round! These two heroes in training have both been front runners in the sports festival! It’s Midoriya!! Versus! Todoroki!! But which of these rivals will advance to the next round?! BEGIN!”

Before Mic’s voice could even fade, both boys sprung into action. Todoroki launched an ice barrage at Zuku, who used a small smash with his finger to break it apart before it could reach him, sending a strong gust of wind across the stadium. The only thing that kept Todoroki in bounds was the chunk of ice he created behind him.

“Wo~w! Midoriya managed to break Todoroki’s insane opening move!”

They did this dance again. And again.

“He countered it again!”

My eyes narrowed as I watched them. The battle’s only just begun and he’s already broken three of his fingers on his right hand. For fuck’s sake, kid. Ain’t there another way to use that insane power of yours? Like I get it, it’s the superior quirk, but still…

“Oh crap!” Kirishima came running up. “I’m missing it!”

“Hey, nice job making it to the third round, Kirishima,” Sparky commented.

“Thanks, man! Looks like I take down Bakugo next!”

“I’ll kill you.”

“Heh, yeah, sure. In your dreams.” Kiri grinned brightly, hands on his hips. “No, but seriously. It’s crazy how both you and Todoroki have moves that blast the whole stadium. Must be pretty nice!”

My eyes narrowed at him. There’s that lack of self-confidence again…

“Plus, you don’t have to pause between attacks,” Sero added with a jealous look in his eyes.

“It’s not as easy as you think, ya morons,” Bakugo responded. “If you overuse your muscles, you risk tearing them apart. If you sprint too much, you run out of breath.” He paused, looking down at his hand. “Quirks are physical abilities, too. They can get worn out, you can’t just use them non-stop.”

“It makes sense when you put it that way,” Kiri admitted. “I wonder if that’s how Midoriya thinks he’s gonna beat Todoroki.”

“Todoroki withstood Midoriya’s power and is now rushing his classmate!”

Midoriya tried to avoid the ice, but it grabbed a hold of his foot and his fist clenched, power rising drastically. I shifted in my seat, a drop of sweat rolling down my cheek. Bakugo sent me a look but said nothing, his eyes snapping back to the match. Zuku broke his arm defending against the ice. Fuck, kid, do you even have a plan?

“Woah! Todoroki continues his overwhelming attacks! Could this be his finishing move?!”

Ice shot toward Zuku at an alarming speed and he released another smash to counter it. Todoroki was barely able to stop himself from being thrown out of bounds that time.

“You’re trembling… Todoroki,” Zuku’s voice reached out to us. “It’s easy to forget that quirks are physical abilities and that means… there’s a limit to the cold your body can take, right?! I get it. Usually, you’d make up for the drop in temperature by using the heat from your left side, but you refuse to do that now. Listen… we’re all giving it our all… to try and win… to make our dreams a reality… to become number one! You think you can win with half your strength?! Look at me, Todoroki! You haven’t managed to put a single scratch on me yet! So come at me with all you’ve got!!”

What the fuck is he thinking? While it’s true that Todoroki’s ice hasn’t hurt him, he’s already broken four fingers on his right hand and his left arm. He’s quickly running out of options. Is he trying to bluff? No, that’s not it. My brow furrowed. Wait a minute… I shot out of my seat, eyes widening. “Don’t fucking tell me…”

“What’s wrong, Winchester?” Kirishima leaned forward, his hand on my back and voice full of concern.

Izuku, you… you’re trying to save him, aren’t you? You’re risking the finals, your body, everything to pull him out from the darkness he’s lost within. I can’t believe this.

“Midoriya… what are you trying to do here?” Todoroki demanded, his voice growing angry. “You want my fire?! What, did my monster of a dad bribe you or something?!” He rushed at Zuku. “Now I’m mad!!”

Zuku’s slammed his fist into Todoroki’s stomach.

“A solid punch! That’s the kind of action that I like to see!”

You’re literally tearing your body apart, Izuku! Is it worth it? My hands clenched tightly, nails digging into my palms. There’s no way in hell Gran can heal all of those injuries at once, but you know that already don’t you? You don’t care…

Izuku used his cheek to pull back his thumb, releasing another smash.

“Why are you putting yourself through this?” Todoroki demanded.

“I wanna live up to people’s expectations! I wanna be able to smile… while doing something good for them! I wanna be a pro! Whatever it takes to be a hero!” Izuku cried, headbutting Todoroki in the chest. “That’s why I’ll give it my all… just like… you should be! There’s no way I can know what you’ve gone through, or why you’re even here. Your life has been so much different then mine, but right now… stop screwing around! If you want to reject your father, fine, but you don’t have the right to be number one if you’re not going to use your full power!”

I stepped forward, my hands clutching the railing. I can feel… so much raw emotion coming from those two boys. Sadness, pain, frustration. I swallowed hard, my heart clenching within my chest.

“Winchester, are you okay? You’re shaking…”

No… no, I’m not okay… because neither of them are.

“Shut. Up.” Ice was spreading rapidly across his right side.

“That’s why I’m going to win this!! I’ll surpass you!” Izuku punched him in the stomach again, sending him flying back into the air.

Todoroki was silent for a moment, clearly lost in thought before shaking his head. “I will reject you… I refuse to use my left side…”

“It’s yours!!” Izuku cried. “Your quirk, not his!!”

Todoroki’s power shot through the rood as flames erupted from his left side, blazing like an untamed wildfire, fueled by pure, raw emotion.

My hands clenched tighter around the metal. Those flames… they’re so goddamn beautiful, so powerful. I… I want to fight him. I want to feel those flames for myself, I want to see how my flames stack up against his. Can my body withstand them? Goddamn it!

Arms wrapped protectively around my waist, but their words were muffled, distant. My mind could only focus on the sheer amount of power and emotion that was crushing the air.

“Yes, Shoto!! Have you finally accepted your purpose?!” Endeavor stalked down the stairs, a smug look on his face as he approached the railing. “That’s it, very good! This the dawn of a new era for us! With my blood in your veins, you’ll surpass me! You will live up to the reason I created you!!”

My eyes snapped to him, glowing red as my blood boiled within my veins. I’m already in trouble with the staff, I should fucking punching that bastard in the balls so he can’t have any more fucking kids. I should punch him in his smug fucking face, too. Maybe it’ll make him attractive if I rearrange those ugly ass features of his!

“Endeavor suddenly shouts words of… en… couragement? What a doting father…”

My eyes snapped back to the arena as a wave of power shot through the air. Fucking hell, that power is… incredible. Todoroki covered the arena with ice, which Izuku dodged, flying toward him. In an instant, Todoroki switched to his flames, melting the ice he had created. Five thick cement slabs shot up from the ground between them, lessening the impact of each of their attacks, but the raw power from both sides shattered the cement easily, exploding them into bits. A fierce wind pushed against the stands. I braced myself, feeling the arms around me tighten and several voices crying out in surprise.

The intense pressure slowly started to fade and I felt like I could breathe again.

“What happened just now? What the heck is up with your students?” Mic cried.

“The air around the ring had been thoroughly cooled down and then rapidly expanded when heated up.”

“Wait, that’s what caused the explosion?! How hot did that fire get?! Jeez, I can’t see a thing! Is the match still going on or what, huh?”

The smoke finally started to clear. Zuku’s body was flush against the wall, smoking. His body shifted before falling to the ground, unconscious.

“There…” Midnight’s voice was shaking. “Midoriya is… out of bounds! Todoroki wins! He advances to the fourth round!”

I took a shaky breath. “Let go of me.” I shoved the person away, seeing a flash of red as I took off toward the nurse’s office, ignoring the calls of my name.

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

“The bones in your right arm were shattered. I’m afraid it’ll never be the same as it was before.” Gran explained sadly as she stood beside the best. Izuku was covered in bandages, his arms wrapped thicker than Aizawa’s. “I need to remove the bone fragment or they’ll get stuck in your joints. I’ll heal you afterward.” She sighed deeply before turning to Toshi, who was standing beside me. “You lit a fire under this child and pushed him too hard. Look at what he’s done to make you proud. I don’t like it one bit.”

I scratched my cheek. “Come on, Gran, that’s not fair… I mean, he did push him, that’s true, but… Toshi ain’t completely to blame. I know Zuku wanted to make him proud and help Todoroki, but he should have had the sense to stop before it got too far.”

Toshi rested his hand on my shoulder.

Gran shook her head in disappointment. “You’re going too far, you hear? You and the boy. Don’t praise him for what he’s done today.”

“Midoriya!” The door slammed open, nearly making Toshi jump out of his skin as Iida, Ochaco, Tsu, and Mineta appeared in the doorway, all looking worried.

“You scared the crap out of me,” Toshi muttered, holding his hand over his heart.

“Getting jumpy in your old age?” I snickered, raising a brow. He shot me a look, pinching my hand.

“Are you okay?” Ochaco asked before she noticed Toshi. “Oh, it’s nice to meet you, sir.”

“Oh, uh, yeah.”

Real smooth, Tosh. Real smooth.

“He’s in no state for visitors,” Gran said firmly.

“Hey, guys…” Zuku said with a soft, low voice. “Shouldn’t you be watching the matches?”

“The stage was far too damaged,” Iida explained. “They’re taking a quick break to repair it now.”

“That match was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life, Midoriya.” Mineta’s small body shook as he spoke. “What pro’s gonna want a sidekick that hurts himself?”

My eyes snapped to him and I was about to punch him in the head when Tsu slapped him with her tongue. “You’re just rubbing salt in his wounds. Probably not a good time.”

I sent her a smile, which she returned.

“Hey, I was just speaking the truth.”

“You’re much too noisy!” Gran scolded, ushering them toward the door. “I know you’re worried, but I’ve got to focus on surgery now.”

“Surgery?!” They chorused in shock.

“Go on, get out of here!” She kept pushing.

“But -”

“Surgery is a big deal, isn’t it?”

“Will his wounds be healed?”

“Don’t worry, just leave me to it.” She assured them.

“Ribbit…”

That… was the saddest fucking ribbit I’ve ever heard in my entire fucking life. I fought the urge to rush over and pull Tsu into a bone-crushing hug.

“With all due respect, ma’am, shouldn’t Winchester be forced to leave, as well?”

My eyes narrowed at Iida. Got his ass beat and he still doesn’t know when to fucking call it quits. Annoying fuck.

“I need to check on her injuries from earlier, now go on.” She finally got them out the door, closing it behind them.

“I’m sorry…” Zuku spoke up, his voice soft and defeated. I rested my hand on his uninjured leg, rubbing gentle circles on his outer thigh to help calm him. “I couldn’t do what you asked of me. If I had shut up… not said anything… I might’ve been able to beat him… but I…”

“You got Todoroki to realize something very important about himself,” Toshi responded.

“I guess so. In his first match, he looked so sad. I was trying to figure out why, when I should’ve been focused. I made a bigger mistake, though. Whenever we were fighting, I was just so… so frustrated. I couldn’t see the bigger picture or what it would take to win. I’m sorry…”

“It’s true that the match didn’t go how we wanted it to, and realizing where you went wrong won’t change that… but, listen. Meddling where you don’t technically have to is the essence of being a hero.”

I squeezed his thigh, giving him a smile when his eyes met mine. “Toshi’s right, you know. Helping Todoroki was more important to you than winning the match. If you ask me, you’re already a damn good hero.”

He made a strangled noise, trying to hold back tears as his hair fell over his eyes.

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

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[idolish7rabbitchats]

Yotsuba Tamaki: Wonderful Octave Rabbit Chat Part 2

Tsumugi: Everyone, thank you for gathering even though you’re busy! I will gather requests for Tamaki-san’s “RADIO STATION “Twelve Hits!”” in this group chat.

T: To manage the chat and check the contents, us managers will also participate.  Please take care of it!

10000: From me too, please take care of Tamaki-kun’s requests.

4: Please!!!

4: [Bowing Kinako Stamp]

100: Tamaki’s lucky~!! Ban-san really felt like MEZZO’’s manager just now!!! (_ノД<)/・゜

4: Well yeah. Cuz he’s our manager.

4: [Sunglasses Pudding Stamp]

5: Ta-Tamaki-kun! You already talking to them too casually... Even though we practiced earlier....

100: Jealouuuuuuuuuuuuus. ・゜・。(x ω x)・゜・。

1000: Momo, Okarin’s crying.

Okazaki: Maybe I should grow out my hair too...

Anesagi: You’d go that far?!

100: Waaah! Okarin I love you! Okarin’s the best manager! ( *´艸｀)

1000: Lol. If Okarin’s grows it out too we’ll become the 3 long-haired brothers huh. ^ ^

10000: What is that uncool name

4: Then I’ll grow it out too! 

1: Yotsuba-san, why are you competing with them…?

8: Shall the three of us try growing it out too?

9: Please don’t compete too Gaku. Also stop involving us.

10: Long hair huh… Would it suit me?

9: Ryuu, we’re not doing it.

7: Tamaki, it seems it would suit you! Nagi too, I want to try seeing you with long hair!

6: Even if I grow my hair, I couldn’t hide my beauty.

3: Long hair Nagi would flip his hair every time, I don’t want that...

2: Like a golden retriever. 

Anesagi: Probably wouldn’t be bad.

10000: I don’t have any characteristic other than long hair…?

Okazaki: S-Sorry! Because Oogami-san’s hair is smooth, so.

T: Um, I’m curious about everyone’s hairstyle too but, would it be alright for me to ask for Tamaki-san’s requests?

T: It will start from youngest, so we’ll start from Tamaki-san!  Please take care of it!

4: Ye! I hesitated a lot tho, but I’ll choose this!

4:  “Talk about the most interesting thing to happen recently”

4: is what it is!

7: Heeh! It might be a little unexpected?!

2: You didn’t go with eating as much pudding as you want huh.

4: That, I thought about it soooooo hard till the last minute but, if I’m eating pudding, you can’t see right?

4: So I went with something that would be fun to hear.

3: Great, Tamaki!! You thought about the audience huh!

4: You can praise me more.

5: You are wonderful, Tamaki-kun. I’m deeply impressed...

5: Specially for your birthday, you can eat a lot of Osama Pudding.

4: [Confetti Pudding Stamp]

4: Seriously?! Stingy So-chan being generous huh

4: I’ll talk about something that everyone on the radio will love. Like, about green algae.

1: Green algae…?

6: I wonder what is the subject about green algae that everyone will love... I’m curious. ;-P

T: Tamaki-san, thank you for the wonderful request the listeners can enjoy!

T: So then, Next is Iori-san please!

1: From me, “I want you to introduce the inside of your bag.”

1: Seems like not only our fans, but lots of people are curious about idol’s stuff. For the time my request gets chosen, please refrain from adding in something weird.

4: What’s something weird?

1: You had once kept expired bread in your bag!

4: Eeh. If I organized my bag for radio, it would sound fake.

1: Why would idols have to introduce expired bread?!

4: Lol

1: It’s not funny. (Mad) (Mad)

4: But, Iorin thought about a lot of things huh. Thx.

1: Not really… It’s for all the listeners.

3: Iori, you’re not honest at all!

4: What? Tsundere?

7: I knew that he was writing a bunch of ideas in his notebook!

1: Wait, Nanase-san?!

8: That’s nice. Aren’t high school boys youthful huh?

4: [Smiling Kinako Stamp]

1: We’re members in the same group so naturally! Please be careful to not find snack crumbs huh. (Mad)

4: Leave it to me.

T: That was a heartwarming episode! Next is Nanase-san please. 

7: Yes! From me is “Osama Pudding Russian Roulette”!

4: Osama Pudding?!

4: [Confetti Pudding Stamp]

4: [Confetti Pudding Stamp]

4: [Confetti Pudding Stamp]

7: is what I was thinking but you said earlier that people can’t see you eating huh.

4: It’s fine. Because I’ll explain that it’s super delicious with words.

1000: You can tell us your reaction with voices. Seems fun.

10: Right! If I imagine Tamaki-kun eating pudding happily, I can be happy here too! But you might pick the bad one too.

4: So that I deeeefinitely don’t pick the wrong one, Rikkun and Ryuu-aniki pray for me. 

7: Okay! Hope you don’t pick the bad one!

10: Don’t pick the bad one!

9: You’re praying now?

7: Eheheh! I really like Tamaki’s variety reactions. Being surprised, being happy -- your reactions are honest and fun!

4: I also like Rikkun’s reactions.

7: [Sparkling Kinako Stamp]

T: Riku-san, thank you for this fun request!

T: So then, how about Kujou-san next?

9: My request is “Please say the line that makes fans’ hearts pound”.

9: Yotsuba Tamaki is chosen as a desirable man. Maybe the fans will be happy.

100: Kyaaah! I would feel naughty if I heard that…! ( *´艸｀)

4: Heart pounding huuh

4: What should it be? Something like, “I’ll give you pudding so c’mere”?

5: Tamaki-kun, that’s just a dangerous person.

8: “Let’s eat some good soba. Follow me.” Isn’t that how he should say it?

2: You, is that serious...?

4: Using food is not good? Someone please show me an example

9: I made the request so somebody else.

100: Then, Yuki! Please make everyone’s heart pound~!

1000: Me? Okay.

Anesagi: Can respond to a hard request, as expected of Re:vale...

1000: I’ll give you pudding so, come here. 

4: So it is that!!!!

5: I-If Yuki-san says it, I start to feel like that’s the best answer...

10000: Please wake up, Sougo-kun.

Okazaki: Please, Sougo-kun.

4: Is there anyone whose heart doesn’t pound with that?

3: Hmmm… Saying “C’mere” sounds manly so it might be nice! It’s a little different from the usual Tamaki.

6: There was a character similar to that in the game I was playing earlier.

2: Tama being manly huh. Please be pure forever...

4: Yama-san, you sound old.

T: The staff and I will also think about what line would make them happy! Kujou-san, thank you for the request!

T: Next is Nagi-san please!

6: OK! From me, “What is inside the box?!” :-)

3: A reaction-type like Riku’s huh!

6: Even for the radio, it’ll surely become a fun corner. I feel like I can here Tamaki’s voice going “Waaah!” and “Gyaaaah!” already.

4: S-Something painful is a no...

6: Fufu. Please look forward to finding out what’s inside on that day. Tsumugi, let’s have a meeting later.

T: Got it!

3: Nagi, don’t put in anything weird?

6: OH! Weird as in what?

4: Scary and painful are totally bad! Prohibited from the agency!

5: If you take away scary and painful things, choosing is hard huh… How about surprising things?

4: No of No!!!

T: Nagi-san, thank you for the request. To make sure it’s nothing Tamaki-san would dislike, we would choose it carefully!

T: Next is Sougo-san please!

5: Okay. From me it’s, “Tamaki-kun introducing his recommended activity.”

5: Tamaki-kun is good at using his free time well and coming up with new activities. I think it would be interesting for the listeners to be able to know that too.

100: Eeeh! That’s super good! I would hear MEZZO”s inside story too huh☆

4: I was praised by So-chan!

10000: Aaah, I think I get it. Recently, he doesn’t take naps much.

8: Heeh. He was sleeping when I saw him before, but it seems like he’s started to change huh.

10: I want to know the activity too! Something that seems like us three as TRIGGER could do.

4: Okay! I’ll think of something that would be interesting if TRIGGER did it.

1000: And something two people can do.

4: A waiting list was made!

9: Wait, Ryuu. What is something that we could seemingly play?

10: Because we are living together as three, it would be fun if there are activities we can enjoy even if we don’t have video games!

8: I won’t lose, Tenn, Ryuu!

9: Why are you assuming it has to be win or lose?

100: Momo-chan is already knocked out by Yuki’s handsomeness...!

T: I’m curious about playing too!

*T: Please let me hear what you until now play as a reference!

4: An easy one is gesture shiritori! It’s quite hyped up

4: There’s a lot so I’ll teach everyone next time!

T: Sougo-san, thank you for the wonderful request! I’m looking forward to being able to hear what kind of play it will be! Next, how about a request from Mitsuki-san?

3: Got it!

3: Is what I thought but, let me request a break! I want to dry the laundry!

1: I’ll help, Nii-san.

6: Me too!

3: THANK YOU, Iori, Nagi!

Okazaki: The log became long too so let’s have a break.

T: Right, let’s take a break for 30 minutes! I’ll contact everyone later!

V2:

T: I’m curious about playing too!

T: Is there a game where Tamaki-san and Sougo-san compete?

4: Battle-kind huh. I’ll say this just between us but, So-chan is really strong at thumb wrestling...

4: There’s a lot so I’ll teach everyone next time!

V3:

T: I’m curious about playing too!

T: Please have something that 7 people could play!

4: When there are many people, we could do more things! Manager should join too.

4: There’s a lot so I’ll teach everyone next time!

[zukadiary]

Hoshigumi Small Theaters ~ Spring 2019

I am five entire shows behind on reviews and I hate it!!

But I finally make it to Kansai!! I conveniently managed to see these guys on back to back days upstairs and downstairs in the same building. If nothing else I think I am 500% more educated on Hoshigumi after this trip.

Man from Algiers / Estrellas 2.0

Man from Algiers ticks all the National Tour buttons—old, done many times, ambiguous time period (useful for traveling costume recycling, i.e. why not just use the rainbow sports jackets we need for Estrellas anyway!)—and while I’m not surprised that Coto can make just about anything good, I was a bit surprised at how much I enjoyed the show itself (this was the first time I’d seen it at all, which was a blessing as the surprise ending was my favorite part). 

I can definitely envision it in all its original 70s glory, and it made me wonder if they really just wanted to exploit a West Side Story aesthetic’s swoon-inducing abilities and came up with the plot later; the opening looks and choreography were awfully familiar. Am I saying it didn’t work?

No I am not saying that.

(And the resulting prologue number was really cool).

The story, while dated, was simple and easy to follow, and does a great job of making sure you understand each character’s motivation with minimal info (difficult AND clutch for one-acts). There’s a good summary on the wiki, I’m including spoilers not mentioned there.

Team National Tour is definitely the lighter side of the troupe split, especially with regard to upperclassmen, but I thought Algiers was a good fit for this particular arrangement of members, and everyone really nailed their characters. Most notable: 

Julien is a despicable person, and it’s a testament to Coto’s pure heart and brimming talent that she made him a totally valid protagonist, complete with moments that made my heart lurch a little (when his old friends are bullying him in his cute little chauffeur outfit; how quickly he abandons everything to stand by Sabine when everything goes to hell at the end). 

It was very weird first not to see Aichan in Ocean’s and then to see her hanging out with a percentage of Hoshigumi, but this cast needed her. Her Jacques (albeit very reminiscent of her Bernardo) was a good balance for Coto; they both played unsavory people, but Aichan playing bad has kind of a darker streak that suits the more evil friend well, whereas Coto playing bad still has an undercurrent of goodness that gets you fully on board with his journey to reform.

Otoha Minori as Sabine was a good choice not only for her abs in the gold night club bikini dress, but for her maturity, which lended sincerity to Sabine’s fantasy-level selflessness in her concern for Julien and her desire to watch over him. When she shoots Jacques in her dressing room to get him out of the way so he can’t interfere with Julien’s new life, I was so impressed that it read as an act of sacrifice (however excessive and stupid) purely out of love and desire to see Julien continue to grow and succeed, instead of “look at what I did for you, come back to me!”

Asamizu Ryou played Bollinger, the dude who takes Julien in and grooms him for upper-crust success, opposite not just Coto (her senpai) but Shirotae Natsu (her mega-senpai), and she did it with a surprising amount of gravitas. She’s got that face which definitely helps, but she was a little scary and exuded a lot of authority. Shirotae Natsu was hilarious as the extraordinarily airheaded wife, and her interjections may have even been singlehandedly responsible for keeping the pacing of the show brisk and entertaining. 

Sakuraba Mai played the Bollingers’ daughter Elizabeth. She was detestable, but in the way that indicates a great acting job. She’s at that awkward spot where it looks like she’s getting almost heroine weight roles in small theaters and disappearing in grand theaters. I hope they keep pushing her because she’s very strong.

Number one heartbreaker Kozakura Honoka (voice of an angel!) played blind Annabel, daughter of Kumichou/a very influential duchess. She mostly stays inside alone, and then Julien woos her with the intention of climbing the social/political ladder (while developing feelings for Elizabeth and also really never getting over Sabine). Annabel overhears Julien confessing his feelings to Elizabeth and asks her attendant Andre (Kiwami Shin, in love with Annabel) to let her kill herself. Honoka apparently put an immense amount of time and research into acting blind and it showed. 

Fellow American Sayaka Rin had probably the most lines she’s had yet, in a role formerly held by both Takashio Tomoe and Hyuuga Kaoru <3 

My personal MVPs of this show were Shidou Ryuu and Kiwami Shin, Shidou not even for doing anything particularly spectacular, but just just for having grown so much since I first became aware of her existence via the Koumori shinko 3+ years ago. She’s always going to be on the cute side rather than the devastating side IMO, but she’s developed enough confidence and control in her acting that she’s become a really lovable best friend/brother type; her character’s relationship with Julien and secret-but-obvious admiration of his far superior coolness was really adorable. Andre (Shin) isn’t a super juicy role until the very end, but the way Shin did Andre’s quiet breakdown when Annabel was explaining she didn’t want to live anymore, and then her poise when Andre came out of nowhere and shot Julien just as he and Sabine were trying to run away from shooting Jacques (?!??!) was like, my jaw actually dropped. Granted she’s still super young, but Shin isn’t someone who has thus far impressed me proportionately to the amount they’re pushing her, so this mini breakout was nice to see. 

Estrellas (a revue that I loved!), like all tour revues with less than half the cast and no staircase, felt quite small, at least from the B-seki side box. But in the smallness, normally unseen people get to shine, and there were moments that had me bouncing in my chair. Amato Kanon is going to grow up dangerous (if Tennis Daughter doesn’t just consume all the otokoyaku below 98th); in the opening with everyone else beaming she was smoldering. Aichan and Anru took Kai’s medley (with different songs) and made it a very cute douki thing. Sazanami Reira needs to dance closer to the front more often. Ruri Hanaka (who, bless her heart, cannot sing, at least not like a musumeyaku) somehow snagged Airi’s part in Tonight is What it Means to be Young, and despite the singing, absolutely killed it; that girl can DANCE and she’s got sass and arm muscles for days and a look in her eye like she’ll superglue you to your makeup table if you cross her. 

And boy, Coto looks good in that top position. The talent is really stupid, but on top of that she has such warmth. I’m really excited for her Hoshigumi.

Kamatari

Kamatari accomplished a feat, because admittedly I went in having already biased myself against it; I thought Beni and Airi getting a weird nihonmono for their last small theater was dumb and just about as NOT THEM as you can get.

But I take it back! It was lovely!

For starters it was visually stunning, which feels like the thing you say when you’re trying to convince yourself that you liked a nihonmono you didn’t actually understand a word of... but in this case, it really was just a bonus. The story (summary here) is not actually all that complicated, and the dialogue was even on the friendly side for nihonmono—no weird dialects (beyond what it always takes to decipher Beni), no 12th level keigo. 

Act 1 introduces Kamatari (Beni) and Soga no Iruka (Hanagata Hikaru) meeting as youths in school and developing a friendship, and then takes us, as far as I can tell, fairly historically accurately through the events leading up to and including the Isshi Incident. Act 2 was a little harder for me to follow; but it seems to be just a progression of Kamatari’s struggles living under the new post-incident emperor Naka no Oe (Seocchi), with whom he’d conspired to eliminate Soga no Iruka, and the former empress/Naka no Oe’s mother (Kuracchi), who wants to see Kamatari suffer, because she both loved Iruka and couldn’t side against her son. 

Most of the roles were pretty small so there are fewer standouts, but here they are:

This was the third in a progression of Hoshi shows I saw live (the other two being Another World and Elbe) that really helped cement my respect for Beni and Airi’s brand of chemistry. At the beginning of her top run, I was skeptical about Beni’s ability to generate romantic chemistry with anyone at all (Scarlet Pimpernel didn’t really help me with that, and I haven’t seen anything between that and Another World). They definitely don’t have sizzling hot chemistry, and they don’t have that cute newlywed chemistry either, but I noticed watching Kamatari that in the last few Hoshi things I’ve seen, I’ve found it very easy to believe how deeply Beni loves Airi in whatever world they’re portraying. They have like, comfortable old married couple chemistry (yes, even when they’re playing love at first sight). Their moments in Kamatari were very tender, but in a wholesome “aw, she cooked for him” kind of way. Yoshiko (Airi) also had a lovely part at the end, where the two of them are old, and Kamatari’s health is failing, and they go back to the spot where they met, and she says their life wasn’t always easy, and they suffered, and they struggled, but in the end she can honestly say she had fun, and she’s truly happy. I teared up! It was sweet and meta! That alone convinced me it wasn’t a bad last small theater for them.

Hanagata Hikaru was SO much the star of Act 1 that it had me wondering if this was gonna turn out to be HER taidan present (but then she died and didn’t appear in Act 2 at all). I can’t complain because she kicked ass. I feel like I said this exact thing re: Another World, but Mitsuru is normally about as vanilla as it gets for me, but she blew me away. The pompous genius school kid to the idealistic young man to the uncertainty that comes with the reality of seizing power to the change to tyranny mixed with love for the empress and complicated feelings for his childhood friend all flowed seamlessly.

Not that I’ve watched a ton of Hoshi recently, but this was the best role Tenju Mitsuki has gotten in GOD I can’t even remember how long. Esaka is in service of the (state? empire?) as a historical record keeper, and serves kind of as a narrator as well (along with Itsuki Chihiro). I don’t even know how to describe how she characterized him... he’s odd? Maybe a little off? Regardless, she was brilliant. Watch it.

Arisa Hitomi has that empress energy for sure. I read up on the history of the events afterwards, and the explanation of why she had to give up the throne after witnessing such violence (the idea back then that an empress couldn’t be sullied by such things), and that made the sensitivity with which Kuracchi portrayed her feel even more poignant the more I sat with it afterwards.

This was the first show where to me Seocchi felt like she belonged up there with Beni and Mitsuru. She definitely put some weight behind Naka no Oe and was very princely. NOW I wanna see her tackle a more interesting/challenging (and tbh more Hoshigumi) role from up in this spot. 

All in all now I’m a little sad I won’t be around for God of Stars.

[owlsshadows]

Weeks (ObiZen)

(part 1) (part 2)

Read on AO3

part 3 (last one)

The door is left open for Obi to enter; he closes it behind him carefully – their words are not for the ears of the castle to hear.

The study is filled with light, the afternoon sun filtering through tall windows. Zen faces the garden, showing his back at Obi. With his hands on his hips and back straightened, he looks grand, strong and determined – but his shoulders are a touch too stiff, his breathing is forcibly slow; he looks small and smells of fear at the same time.

“Zen,” Obi calls out to him. “You called for me.”

“I told you before, didn’t I? I have something to speak about with you,” the prince glances back, head tilted in a way his face is almost hostile. “Though I thought you would bring it up first.”

“I’m listening.”

“I heard Garrack is planning to send Ryuu and you to Lyrias,” Zen starts. “It’s not like it would be your first trip to an unknown place, but well… this time, it’s for two years. A little different from last time.”

A smile fights its way onto Obi’s lips. Zen lifts his eyes on him, cold blue meeting golden-green. If eyes could speak, his would scream of need.

“Obi,” he says, “do you want Shirayuki to accompany you to Lyrias?”

“But she is not a scolar.”

“She has shown a fair knowledge on poisons already. My brother made her a knight.”

“If that’s what you wish… is what I would like to say, however I must request to postpone my mission.”

“To postpone it. I see,” Zen nods knowingly, only to freak out a split second later. “Wait, to postpone?!”

Obi almost finds it adorable, how pure he can get – how his face becomes like an open book with honest confusion painted all over it; how his eyes sparkle and a shadow of pink appears beneath his ears.

“Obi, you…” Zen starts, but his words get stuck in his throat as Obi lets his own feelings show.

He is fond of this prince; the one who tilts his head to the side, contemplating, before stepping closer to him.

“I get it. But only until our inspection ends,” Zen says, and he tries his best to be intimidating – only to fail spectacularly, Obi towering above him with half a head.

“Understood.” The pharmacist tries hard not to smile, as he speaks. “This time you are going out to the sea, right?”

“Yes. And you’ll come along. We leave in an hour.”

 *

 Meeting Kazuki and Itoya in the harbor is not something Obi could foresee; not something he readied himself for. Tanbarun is not part of the fondest of his memories – not when Shirayuki got so injured, not when her scars will forever remind her of the pirates.

It does not help much that looking at Kazuki’s face Obi is reminded of the talk between Shirayuki and her father – how she said she has found a place where she belongs – his heart beats haphazardly in his chest as he casts his best smile on his face to greet them.

“I never thought we’d meet here,” says the boy.

“It’s been a while,” joins in Itoya.

“Have you eaten yet?” Obi asks, when their small talk seems to be turning in the direction of Shirayuki.

“Not yet. It’s still early for noon after all.”

“How would you like to hang out with me? A little while is fine!” Obi chuckles, turning to Mitsuhide. “Is it okay if I go have some food with them?”

“That’s fine. But be sure to return on time, alright?”

There is only a hint of worry in his voice; a soft trembling at the end of his last vowel, a small request, maybe even a warning hidden behind a casually phrased question. Obi looks him in the eye, and he is thankful that he can read Mitsuhide’s face like a book.

“Got it,” he says reassuringly. Mitsuhide raises a brow slowly, intrigued. There are so many questions in his eyes, a small fear nesting itself in the corner of his lips. He grimaces, an almost smile spreading across his face.

“If you do, then go. Enjoy yourselves.”

“We will,” Obi nods.

He is not going to flee.

But Mitsuhide is not wrong either. Because he wanted, oh how he wanted, so many times. He wanted to be free – something he could never be. Once a king’s bastard will forever be a king’s bastard. It has been his lifelong cross to carry. It is not something he could shake off, not by running away at least.

And honestly, when he thinks about it, he has never felt more free than since he joined Zen’s group.

If only he could answer the prince’s feelings in kind.

 *

 He seems much more confident when he returns, his back straight, his steps long and languid – like a man who has finally made a decision. Zen knows he should be all but happy about it; yet he cannot help himself, and greets Obi with the biggest of his smiles.

“You made it just in time.”

“Zen! Good morning.”

“I’ve been up for a while, you know,” he says, rubbing his eyes.

Obi laughs at him. He ridicules him for his blatant lie, with a voice sweet to his ears like honey.

“Zen,” he says once he composes himself. “I’d like to have a word with you tonight. Is that good?”

His golden-green eyes are filled with determination. His thin eyebrows run into a troubled angle, a wrinkle appears across his tiny pointy nose. His lips are pressed to a line, thin and pale – so kissable.

Zen remembers the surprising softness of those lips, the press of that nose against his face, the scent of the man who will never be his. He spends the day mostly alone on the bridge of the ship, reminiscing of all the chances he took and all those he missed.

As the skies turn to a shade of midnight blue, and the moon rises from the horizon, Zen knows it is the end.

He decides to greet it with a smile.

“It may be the first time you called me out,” he says he walks up to Obi, now leaning on the railings of the boat.

“It has to be at least the second,” Obi argues. Zen does not respond to that, rather he asks:

“You want to end the postponement, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“You made up your mind?”

“Actually,” Obi replies, his eyes wandering off to the starry skies, “I’ve made my decision long ago. I just… needed time.”

“Time to collect your thoughts?”

“My courage.”

For a moment they stare at each other. The moonlight pales Obi, casting silver over his thick black strands, making his eyes look colder, darker. He is only an arm’s length away. Just within reach to pull him into a hug, to hold him, to plant a kiss over his chapped lips…

The panic that floods Zen is overwhelming. He loses his sense of smell entirely, he can barely hear, but his own drumming heart.

“Then, before that,” he starts abruptly, earning a look of surprise from Obi, “There’s something I’d like to ask you first.”

The pharmacist nods, urging him to go on. He finds he has problems with breathing, legs unsteady under him.

“Obi, you… you like me, right?” Zen wonders how he manages to talk in an even tone, when all functions in his brain are jumbled, and he could not tell his hands apart from his ears anymore.

“Yes.”

“What an immediate reply… well, then what about– Shirayuki?”

Obi’s eyes widen, then he looks away sharply.

“Yes,” he says after a moment of pause. “I like her. But I’m sure you’ve already figured it out.”

“I had my… suspicions,” Zen admits. “That’s why, I felt unfair sending her with you without asking you first.”

“How honest you are.”

“I’m almost decent, am I not?” Zen asks, a short smile escaping his lips. “Though really, I couldn’t tell if you were going to give me an answer or not.”

“For me,” Obi starts, “if I were to say nothing and spend two years with her while you stay in the castle… if I had even the slightest intention to pursue her and not telling you, it would’ve become a secret. And keeping a secret from you, a secret of the heart… I would have felt terrible.”

“Was that why you wanted to postpone it?”

“I wanted to tell you how I feel,” Obi nods. “I was hesitant. It takes quite a lot of courage for someone like me to be honest about my feelings. I wanted to know your reaction beforehand. Not that I have high hopes for my feelings to be reciprocated. I just wanted to know… whether I’m allowed to love.”

Zen drags his eyes away. He wonders how he manages to stand, even though he feels as if he has been torn apart from the insides. The look which he casts over the dark waters could almost be described as one of annoyance – except his frustration is all directed at himself, to the sliver of hope still burning deep within his chest, despite all the rejections he has received.

“Don’t worry,” he says, and his voice is calm, so threateningly calm he himself is afraid. “I have no intentions to tie you down.” Except he had – all those dreams about locking Obi away from the world, to keep him all to himself, to quench his thirst and drown in him prove him otherwise.

“Zen…”

“Obi,” he cuts the pharmacist off. His tear glands sting, his nose clogs, yet his voice still comes out, almost as if he was composed. “From now on, I want you to start your mission with Shirayuki by your side. I know you well, how hot headed and stubborn you can be. I know that she is even worse. I know that if I have to part with you… I will only be able to relax if I know you have her by your side. I know she can look out for you.”

“If this is what you wish,” Obi says. This may be the first time he bows his head to him.

Zen’s heart breaks with a soft pang.

“Obi,” he calls, turning back to him one last time with the eyes of a lover, to drink it all in – his figure in the moonlight, his mysterious, slanted green eyes, his mischievous, unbelievable smile.

He knows he should not ask – but every inch of his body aches to know.

“Why do you like Shirayuki?”

“Hmm, maybe it’s how she takes on an entire pirate crew alone to save a boy who kidnapped her.”

“I see. You two are really similar, huh?

“Well, I’ve never really counted the reasons,” Obi replies. “Anyways, Kiki and Mitsuhide must be waiting. Shall we go?”

The smile on his face as he walks ahead is one Zen could never read.

“You really are an unusual guy,” he utters under his breath.

“Oh no,” Obi chirps back. “I’m nothing compared to you.”

Zen feels lucky Obi did not trouble to turn around again. His tears are for the stars to see, but not him.

 ***

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Girls’ Last Tour 1 - 2 | Juuni Taisen 4 - 5 | Ancient Magus’ Bride 2 - 3 | Idolish7 1 - 2

The only one I’ve properly kept up with out of my 5 shows this season is Juuni Taisen, so I’m going to roll out the tag for that show first. Also, the Idolish7 first two episodes became free recently so I cover them here too.

Girls’ Last Tour 1

Pipes…grunge…hey, doesn’t this look familiar? *glares at Princess Principal*

I’ve only seen one episode of Made in Abyss but I get a bad feeling about these character designs…

I’m worried about this falling into the Yuri Divide. Sure,the fandom can do what it wants, but please don’t ship the lolis.

Oh right. Wind, meaning there’s an opening somewhere.

That dramatic eye opening made the outside world seem like an anticlimax. C’mon, show. You can do better than that.

I feel like Chito says “shut up” a lot, even though she’s only said it twice. I get how she’s kind of relatable, but this show’s not on the level of MMO Junkie or even Juuni Taisen. It’s just kinda…average.

Did Tangled ever teach you how to use a pan, Yuu?

Everything’s kinda WWI-esque. It’s kinda unsettling for a person who’s never properly seen war.

Even in this snowy world, you could still learn to hunt and cook, right?

If you kill your friend in a post-apocalyptic world, you’ll be lonely by war. Don’t kill each other, kiddos. Lives are precious.

This is serious, kiddos! C’mon!

Eating snow is meant to quench your thirst, but it’s not any good for hunger. Apparently.

Well, I’m quite lukewarm on this. I’ve already found my seasonal hits and I study globalisation, so it’s no surprise I find this stuff a lot like my weekly content. Nonetheless, whoever decided to put Classicaloid behind a paywall’s gonna have to pay (pun not intended)!

Girls’ Last Tour 2

I half expect a “hey you!” joke but they don’t work in Japanese…

What are the wiggly things on the ground next to Chi and Yuu in the OP??? Leeches???

Oh geez. Now they even draw cleavage on the lolis. Meaning these guys are just drawn young. That’s both a good and a bad thing.

Those letters seem to be…no language in particular.

Book burning. What a thing to throw in.

Oh. The blocky writing is actually hiragana or katakana. You just need to look at it closely.

I think that was meant to be comedy…but it was so cruel. Poor book.

I think what they’re saying is “don’t burn history”, but I think we learnt that a long time ago when the Chinese burnt books.

Maybe if these gals had Bear Grylls they’d survive a bit longer…?

Lemme guess: either Yuu burnt them all, destroyed them all or read them all.

The original joke was gomen wa, where ne is similar to wa. At least, I think it’s a wa. It could be a re.

The red circle said Yuu wrote the me wrong, so it’s actually probably gonun ne.

Well, someone funded a sakuga ending. Like the one from ACCA with dancing Lotta.

Juuni Taisen 4

I find it heavily symbolic that Nezumi likes eating eggs. Eggs represents chickens…and conundrums…

Ooh…bam. Nisio Isin’s going the Middle Eastern proxy route.

Hmm. Interesting, it’s basically Bystander Effect: the War.

The anime’s currently ahead of the manga, so I got slightly startled by Boar’s appearance. However, I’ve read some spoilers elsewhere, so I knew she was going to be in Monkey’s story somewhere else. I just didn’t think it was this soon.

Recycled footage…bad show! Bad!

LOL, CGI tank. Sorry for ruining the mood, but that stood out a bit too much for my liking.

“…participation is mandatory…” – Huh. I never saw that detail coming.

“Ow. I thought you were against violence.” – (LOL.) Yeah, but apathy isn’t good when something’s coming to get you in the sewers, so I’m with Monkey on this.

Wa-wait! Y’mean, Rabbit can use Chicken to use Eye of the Cormorant…so Monkey will die this ep??? [Monkey dying]’s exactly what I’ve been fearing for the duration of this episode. Update: If you want the spoiler version from the end of the ep…she didn’t die.

Notice Monkey uses moves that use the strength of her opponent against her. It’s a very pacifist touch, so to speak.

There are a series of images that flash by before the casual clothes part of the ED. If you observe them closely, you’ll see a lot of them involve the number 12. (Example: the cubes have lines on them that read “12”.)

LOL, I think I only just now spotted the bodyguard behind Boar. He’s hard to spot behind all the splatter.

Home boy and his T-bars make me laugh every time. Then of course, there’s Mr Floofy Jacket.

Oh, it’s Duodecuple who’s doing these next ep previews. I couldn’t figure out who it was last time I tried.

Juuni Taisen 5

Genius, with a capital letter? They keep calling him the Genius of Slaughter in his backstory, so I guess that’s where it’s from.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing is the same in Japanese as it is English, so at least the pun is there.

LOL, this episode is pretty much all “stuff goes kaboom!”, and that’s pretty much the way of the Sheep. Haha.

Of mice and men, eh??? (I read enough spoilers to know who the victor is…but I don’t know how they win.)

Whoa, yeah, baby! Bring that action! (That happens to be exactly the way I imagine my own action stories – from the front seat, so to speak.)

The snake’s winking! So cute! I want me some plushies like those!

Old-Timer. Haha, great pun on so many, many levels.

Ancient Magus’ Bride 2

I started doing a productivity blog and got caught up in it so much, I neglected anime! Imagine that – me, neglecting anime!

Oh, there’s a little “open” sign near the door.

It’s anime Hogwarts! Only the train is more colorful…LOL. (Actually, Little Witch Academia is anime Hogwarts, so scratch that.)

Ooh, Elias has a good taste in faces. Not that I’m complaining or anything. (Looks like En-chan, to boot.)

Elias is like the NEET genius of the magic world here. It’s kinda funny.

What’s a Gem’s Bee? (No spoilers, I’m not a manga reader!)

Angelica’s like her (Chise’s) mother, LOL. Seeing Elias properly emote is hilarious, hilarious! (Why I procrastinated on this show? Because it’s a slow mover that should be appreciated in its own time, but I’m not good with binging so…that’s why I’m only watching it now.)

Oh! No wonder Angelica seems like a mother. She is a mother.

Ooh! Ice flowers. Pretty. I’ve already gotten way too many screenshots for my own good out of this show…As a writer, I feel like I could never make a story like this.This is a story best fostered under someone else’s hand.

Poppies, eh? To me, poppies symbolise war and sticking out, but that’s just a product of where I was born. In the case of war, poppies represent the blood of the fallen and those who rise above that.

Speaking of stories I couldn’t write, I’m currently bringing Next to Me to a close. I feel like that’s my best match to AMB, which is why my thoughts dwell on stories so much right now. Next to Me is one of those stories where the world matters just as much as the character building, if not more, which is why the understated majesty of AMB is a good match.

Seeing a blonde Englishman use –kun like a Japanese is a bit disorienting.

Simon really treats Chise like a child, eh?

The “open” sign now says “close”. What is this house, an apothecary?

The CGI door was a bit weird…

Whoa! That was a bit of a fast approach into the dragon scene, but apparently the dragon part of AMB was really hyped…

Ancient Magus’ Bride 3

How does skelly-man see like that?

The dragons look like…Pokémon! (That was my first thought, LOL.)

This blonde is Lindel from the promo material I’ve read. He looks like zaShunina (Kado), so it’s best to be wary of him.

Ooh, now there’s an application of shadows I’d never be able to think of!

Holy flame spirits, Batman! Elias has a tongue! (I got spoilered on that by ANN, but it’s crazy seeing it in context.)

Ancient mages shouldn’t be hot like zaShunina! Where are the real old fogeys like Kiku(hiko, SGRS)?

Uncle Nevin! I found it extremely charming this uil has a name beyond “Uil”.

Can these dragons read minds? Or is it just the power of Dragon Knowledge (TM)?

When they say “Anime saved my life”, I guess they never meant it this literally…or at least, Chise never meant it this literally.

That dragon has way too many eyes!!! Yipes.

Huh. I haven’t felt this feeling since SGRS. The feeling of a masterpiece on my eyeballs.

羽鳥チセ <- That’s how you write Chise’s name, so they did another “Western creature uses Japanese knowledge” thing…

D’aww. That was beautiful! No wonder people like it, now I like it too. Nothing short of majestic, guys, nothing short of majestic.

Hey, the guy who voiced Nevin is called Ryuuzaburo. Ryuu means dragon in this case. (Meta pun!)

Idolish 7 1

Crunchyroll really tried to hype this thing up! Wow. So, here I am at what could pretty much be called a premiere event of the simulcast commentary. Enjoy, friends.

By the way, I’ve tried a bit of the Idolish 7 game (but since it was on BlueStacks, I couldn’t do the “rhythm” part of the rhythm game very well and subsequently couldn’t get too far) and of course, there’s a vested interest through Shirai, Masuda and Nishiyama. Update: There’s no Nishiyama in sight. Sorry, guys.

Oh wow. This is exactly as I remember it in the game, right down to the word!

Yay! I was looking forward to seeing the basketball scene adapted, since it’s possibly the only scene I got to experience in the game in its (Japanese) entirety. Bring the dang game to the Western world, Bandai!

Riku is such a pure cinnamon bun when he gets the basketball back.

LOL, Nagi is such a flirt, kyaa~ (semi-sarcastic).

I don’t remember them dropping Trigger’s name so early…geesh, my memory must be sketchier than I thought it was.

Just as a reference, Iori (black) is 17 while Riku (red) is 18.

Ooh, I just spotted a Trigger ad on one building during that cut.

Ooh, good sense of drama these guys have got going.

Idolish 7 2

Expressiveness for a grump like Yamato, LOL.  

LOL, there’s a shark in the back…

Iori has a cat shirt, hahaha.

Cool and sharp…stationery? Like a compass?

Iori’s so sarcastic, I can’t tell f he’s ever being serious or not.

I don’t know who’s my favourite so far out of these i7 boys. Probably the one similar to my husbando, Tamaki.

Ahh, gotta love me a good, honest hardworking anime gal. You don’t see them very often, y’know. It’s refreshing.

That was a great Iori impression Mitsuki did, even visually (note: I didn’t listen to Mitsuki do the impression, I only read the subs…hence my comment). Troyca really captured the style of the game, to boot, which is another cherry on the cake.

Notice Iori stands in front of the D.C. (da capo) and leaves to reveal it.

I researched who Riku’s brother is while I was watching ep 1 and…(spoilers for the uninitiated!) the brother is Tenn of Trigger!

There was a soba ad in the back in one lingering shot…

Hey, I get the feeling there’s CGI involved in this dance segment, but it’s…hardly detectable! Amazing! These guys seem to have gone a long way since the horribly animated Monster Generation MV.

Notice they (Troyca) only use CGI in (mostly) shots which don’t involve closeups.

Of course Nagi winks in the middle of his performance…

Whoo, yeah. That was a bold move by Crunchyroll, and of course that would grab me more than just leaking the first ep. I wonder if any critics covered this on their blogs…? Or would it not matter, since critics wouldn’t cover this “uncritical slop” anyway? Nonetheless, I covered it, and that’s what matters! (Update: Yeah, all the critics – Frog-kun, Lauren in Space, Mage in a Barrel etc. - passed on it. As expected of those critics…)