#she really IS joyful huh XD

[factual-fantasy]

Seeing my old Welcome Home AU stuff inspired me to come back and draw Julie! Out of all the backstories my AU gives the cast, I always liked Julie's the most. :}

As ya'll can see I experimented with her design a bit more and made her look more monstrous. A tail here, some spots over there.. Some animal-like feet and pointy ears.. nothing that would make her look too crazy though. Its the first pass but I think it looks nice! I might just keep her this way :}}

[teamsarawatshusband]

Word Of Honor - 1st watch insta thoughts - Episode 7

Here's my name overview, in case you're new to this: Zhou Zi Shu = Baby Zi Shu/ Zhou Xu lord guy/alcoholic tanned tragic hero lord guy; Wen Ke Xing = Smirky Xing/Smirky fan guy/Kissy Xing Gu Xiang = Purple Girl/my Purple Love/my Purple Queen Smirklord is my personal ship name for Zhou Zi Shu and Wen Ke Xing.

Also, here are the previous episodes.

Before we get started, just FYI, I went back to have a look at the red masked ghost guys gang scene with nuts guy in episode 1, and it’s finally confirmed that it's 100% Kissy Xing, because, now that i've been hearing his laughter for some eps, I can't not recognize it. Actually, he’s not just part of the ghost gang, he’s their boss. :O

Okay, so that is settled.

Let’s move on to episode 7:

Luo Mansion. What is that? Where is that? Who are these people? There's one with a joker grin, and several with weirdly upturned eyebrows and darkened lips. Are they from the ghost gang?

And why is everything red, is this a wedding?

There's a white haired woman with long golden fingernails and she's referred to as tragicomic ghost.

Oh it IS a wedding. Something tells me this might not be a voluntary one... Maybe it's the amount of gagged people in cages who don't look joyful.

Is the gagged guy who's gonna get married unconscious magenta leader guy from when that other ghost lady dropped her face?

He's getting married to a memorial tablet? What?

Ah, back to more familiar people in familiar circumstances. Baby Zi Shu is drinking alcohol. Now this I recognize.

But he can't get more because somebody bought all the remaining bottles. Should I say that this has Kissy Xing written all over it?

Ooooh, the kid is there!!! With a-hole-uncle Shen and uncle Zhao. And the kid notices Baby Zi Shu right away, and thinks it's his master. He's better at recognizing people than I am, but he's mislead by Baby Zi Shu's lack of tan and scar. That's a shame. But he clearly misses his daaaaads! Awwwww.

Side note: I cannot stress enough how much I need to focus on not misspelling Baby Zi Shu’s name. I’ve typed Zi Shi, Zu Shi, Zu Shu, Zhu Si, Zhi Shu already... and now I almost typed “Baby Sushi”, because my brain is WEIRD. In case it happens in the future and I miss it, you have been warned. Maybe I should just go with Baby Sushi, because that one would be easiest to remember. I should also change my tumblr handle to “face-blind-and-name-stupid”.

Meh, back to the ghost gang wedding ceremony.

Whoever speaks dies. That would have been a good rule to know in advance, I guess.

So what's this list of the unfaithful? Is it like Santa's naughty and nice list?

Everybody who is unfaithful gets killed by white haired gold finger girl. Got it. Everybody who speaks gets killed too. This seems like such a shady set of rules, I bet more people get killed just for fun.

Ooooh, it's celebrity death match. But with friends of the groom.

I feel like this guy who says that the ghost folks never break a promise, while being a jerk, might be telling the truth.

:O WTH? Did a-hole-uncle Shen just seriously call our kid useless??? He just assumes that our kid is a liar??? The audacity!!! I feel so outraged on the entire fandom’s behalf.

Huh, the kid is eavesdropping on all of it. I feel so bad for him to having to hear this, but at the same time, I feel so proud of his spying nature. He's already picked up some of his adopted dads' talents.

Back to the wedding deathmatch. A red wedding indeed. Everybody's dead.

Two guys talking at Youyang sect, alright, whoever that is, I forgot. But, they have nice dragon decor. Ah the younger guy is the leader of Window of Heaven while the older guy with the mustache is the 5 lakes final boss. Top boss, I mean. I might be playing too many computer games, sorry. Anyway, so Youyang is 5 lakes, also confirmed by the pleated skirt soldiers around. K, k.

So, pretty heaven's window leader guy wants to get the scoop on the glazed armor situation.

Whoa, did mustache final boss guy just really say glazed armor is just a rumor? Does he think people are stupid? Even I know that it's not. Tsk. He makes Window of Heaven sound like a super power spy agency.

Everybody is after our poor kid. Ooooooooh, Baby Sushi is following the uncles plus kid through the bamboo woods. Nice. He won't let the kid get harmed, I'm sure.

There's a girl kid who looks kind of like TopTap (if you're familiar with Thai TV shows).

She seems nice, but... looks like they're just trying to get our kid out of the way to discuss stuff. Pfff, they always complain about him not knowing stuff, but how is he supposed to when he's constantly left out?

"The martial arts world won't be peaceful anymore" LOL, whut? It hasn't been peaceful from the start of the series. What is 5 lakes final boss guy even trying to say?

:O what? Baby Sushi wants to genuinely leave the kid there and thinks he's safe there?

Oh, he's onto the spy situation and Window of Heaven being involved. Cool, cool.

Aaaaand spontaneously kills a spy guy, k.

Wheeeeeeee Kissy Xing is back. Has also been following around. Nice nice.

Ah, the dead guy was from the scorpion gang. And both Baby Sushi and Kissy Xing know. Oh, so Window of Heaven is an assassin organization. Alright, the more you know. Okay!

He's so daring, talking about how everybody is after the glazed armor while wearing a piece of it openly over his clothes. And he keeps hinting at how much he knows about Baby Sushi but never outright says it.

It's always the same with those two. Kissy Xing points out how good a person he is and then flirts with Baby Sushi who then gives him the cold shoulder.

LOL, I love how the subtitles really translate EVERYTHING. A random note of Tofu Pudding, not plot relevant at all, but BAM in your FACE!

(joking aside: I am so grateful for all the subs and translations. Whoever is doing this stuff, you guys will always be my heroes. <3 )

Oh, somebody looked at them, and Baby Sushi recognized him? And Kissy Xing is like a marching band, stomping onto the scene, parading around with banners that say "Look at this glazed armor!" lol.

Ooooooh, Kissy Xing is in cahoots with the merchant lady. He's planned something. This is exciting. Seems like he's trying to set all parties up against each other: 5 lakes, scorpions, window of heaven and whoever else wants to participate.

Okay, so he let that spy guy steal his piece of glass on purpose, right? And it must be one of the fakes, I assume.

Oh, the heroes conference... I remember the name, but what was that again? Was it a 5 lakes thing? Anyway, Baby Sushi and Kissy Xing are gonna be there on uncle Zhao's invitation, alright.

See, when Kissy Xing calls the kid dumb, it kinda doesn't feel offensive to me. I don't know. It just doesn't. It's like somebody affectionately calling their pet dumb or something.

Waaah, there's another beautiful tree. Please don't burn it down this time.

There's some morse code thing going on with lots of people that I don't know. Everybody's drumming on stuff and passing along messages.

:O my Purple Queen. The love of my life. There she is. ahhhhhhhh. <3

She's also drumming on stuff, but I'm not sure it's code with her, might also just be frustration, lol.

There's a bunch of drunk guys and they're requesting the traditional DJ guy to put on some song that probably has explicit content or something, because he doesn't wanna play it.

:O they snatched his daughter from DJ guy! Right under the eyes of my Purple Queen. Ooooh, she's gonna clean up that place, lol.

Yup.

Yeah you show them! Heh.

Oh, she's got herself a fanboy. Who is he?

She still keeps drumming away on the dishes with her chopsticks. Hmm, maybe it is a code after all.

LOL, they're having this awkward conversation about double standards for guys and girls, and my Purple Queen is not having it. She is the best.

Not gonna lie, every time the series cuts back to smirklord, I get all excited.

Ok, Baby Sushi places some... nut or whatever on his chopsticks obviously some code, Kissy Xing watches and looks confused. Oh, and he almost gave away that he doesn't understand the code.

LOL, what is happening? Kissy Xing looks so pissed at my Purple Queen making friends with her fanboy.

Seriously, does he have some sort of beef with fanboy guy? LOL, won't even let the poor guy finish his meal. A+ in cockblocking.

Awwwww, and my Queen still gets it. Pinpointing smirklord in one sentence. Baby Sushi brings out Kissy Xing's humanity. And now he looks sad. It must be true.

Ahaha, "I will pay. A Xu, where is your wallet?" Comedic genius.

Oh, what a clever way to bring the subject to the "thief" guy. Man, Kissy Xing is GOOOOOOD at this. And Baby Sushi is so amused that he admits to knowing thief guy too.

My queen doesn't recognize Baby Sushi. Whaaaaat? I would have expected her to feel the sparks. Oh, wait, no, she does get it. Hehe. And Kissy Xing instantly has to praise his crush's appearance and beauty. Everything's alright again in the world.

LOL, the way she goes right in to touch him. No inhibition. No etiquette. And Baby Sushi is so surprised that he lets her, lol.

Ahaha, Kissy Xing has to stop her from touching his baby. Awww

XD, I can't deal with this. He even flat out asks why he's not allowed to touch.

And Baby Sushi replies with a compliment to my Queen and a rebuff for Kissy Xing. It's funny, but I do feel a little bad for Kissy Xing. He did not deserve that.

LOL, waiter guy wins quote of the day, "Can you all pay first? Then you can touch whomever you want, however you want." This episode is gold, man. Also, I'm all for the touching. Yes, touch each other. Go go.

Heh, nice. Baby Sushi threatens that the money is a loan and he'll expect interest. And Kissy Xing does not seem sad about owing him at all but goes and buys even more food. After all, owing Baby Sushi gives him reason to stay in touch, doesn't it?

Aww, why do they always end on smirklord scenes? I want more. :(

Okay, this was a really nice episode. I can't wait to continue.

What I learned: The ghost gang enjoys torturing people. Kissy Xing is definitely nuts guy (well not learned from this episode, but I still learned it). I need the kid to return to his dads because I miss their interaction, as does he. There's a famous  thief wandering around and he stole Kissy Xing's fake Glazed Armor. The Heroes Conference is coming up.

Goals for future epsidoes: still to figure out how Kissy Xing and Baby Sushi know each other, understand the purpose and connections of the ghost gang and why Kissy Xing is part of them. Also, just generally, get to watch more smirklord interactions. ;)

[kitkatwinchester]

Top 5 Villains (+1)

Thanks for the tag, @meilas​!  This one was honestly really hard, ‘cause I have a lot of favorite villains. 

1. Lucifer (Supernatural)

If you weren’t expecting number one to be Supernatural-related, then you clearly don’t know me.  I love almost every single iteration of Lucifer out there, but the SPN version has a special place in my heart. He’s been played by a lot of different actors in the show over the years, but the best portrayal, in my opinion, will always be Mark Pellegrino (though Misha Collins is a close second). He nails the charm, adorableness, and absolute terror every single time, and I love it.  Lucifer will always be one villain that I certainly love to hate and hate to love (but I will never forgive him for hurting my baby boy the way he did...even if he was really cool and funny while doing it. XD). 

2. Loki (Avengers)

If you weren’t expecting the MCU to be second, then you really don’t know me. XD  I am 100% not the only one that says this, but I’ll say it anyways: when people ask who the best villain in the MCU is, the only acceptable answer is Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. Sorry not sorry.  I mean, he’s got the charm, the looks, the smarts, and the troubled backstory that really just makes you inevitably feel bad for him in the end, no matter how many horrible things he does. How could you not love him?  Plus, Tom Hiddleston is hecka hot. XD <3 

3. Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (X-Men)

Technically, I was an X-Men fan long before I was an MCU fan, courtesy of my mother. I grew up watching the X-Men cartoon, and as I got older, I was eventually able to watch the original movies. Once the new iteration came out, I lapped those up like nobody’s business.  No matter what iteration we’re talking, Magneto will always be an incredible villain, with an incredibly sad story. I mean, if we’re talking deep-seated trauma, nobody really beats Magneto. I honestly even hate calling Magneto a villain, because he’s really just so troubled and hurt that, honestly, can you blame him? For everything he’s been through, and all the ways that people have hurt him, I can’t say I’m mad at him for lashing out every once in a while.  Plus, I mean, he’s crazy powerful and awesome. So there’s that. XD  Also, Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen both portray him beautifully, and no, I cannot pick a favorite, so here are two gifs. 

4. Draco Malfoy

Even with all of the JKR terrible-ness, I’m always going to have a love and appreciation for what she created--even if I don’t like her.  That said, I honestly wasn’t sure if Draco really counted as a villain. I mean, obviously, the main antagonist is Voldermort, and most of the time, Draco doesn’t actually do that much in the way of hurting Harry and his friends, all things considered. But, since he is an antagonist in a lot of ways, I’m putting him on here.  The thing that differs about Draco is that he isn’t actually some really powerful villain that terrifies me and makes me fear for the lives of our heroes, ‘cause he’s actually kind of a wimp. But, when you have that much deep-seated trauma from your Dark Eater parents, who wouldn’t be? I’ve always really loved the complexities of Draco’s story; ultimately, he’s just another kid at Hogwarts, scared for his life and feeling like the only way to protect himself is to hurt others. He’s learning just like everyone else.  And, I mean, he saves Harry’s life several times, so...there’s that.  Also, Tom Felton. <3 (Wow, I really like people with the name Tom, huh? Tom Holland, Tom Hiddleston, Tom Felton, Tom Hanks, Tom Hardy...anyways.) 

5. Hannibal Lector

Okay, this one is breaking pattern, because he is not one that I love to hate, hate to love, nor is he one I feel bad for.  But gosh darnat, he is a dang good villain--and absolutely terrifying. There are a ton of iterations of Hannibal Lector out there--tv shows, movies, and otherwise--but my favorite iteration will always be Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs. Between his smarts, his slyness, and his absolutely huge creep factor, Anthony Hopkins creates such an incredible villain that just makes that movie what it is.  So yeah. I had to put Hannibal Lector on this list. *shudders* 

Bonus: Audrey II

Okay, so, to be honest, after my top three, I didn’t really know WHAT to put, so I turned to my mother for help, and she jokingly suggested Audrey II because we recently watched “Little Shop of Horrors”. So I took her 100% seriously and am adding it as my bonus. Because, let’s be honest, how could you not love Audrey II? I mean, he’s a mean green mother from outer space, and he’s bad. *makes myself giggle*  In any case, this movie is hilarious and awesome, and Audrey II is even more hilarious and awesome. Plus, you can’t deny that Levi Stubbs’ incredible voice work makes his songs some of the best ones in the movie.  Oh, and by the way, in doing this post, I have learned that there is a Director’s Cut ending to this movie where Audrey II actually WINS, eating both Audrey AND Seymore and taking over the world. So...there’s your fun fact of the day. XD 

I’m tagging @baloobird​, @crowleyellestair​, @annieshurley​, @jen27ny​, @joyful-soul-collector​, @jelly-pies​, @ninjazzz3​, @jinxquickfoot​, and @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover​. 

[decadentboat]

MitsuCho Week Day 7: Meeting each other families

“What are you doing?”

While he sat on one of the street benches, Mitsuki was looking at something that Chouchou couldn’t identify at first.

“Things.”

“Things…” with irritation she repeated in her head. It wasn’t obviously just “things,” more like a pile of cards that he was collecting. Those stupid cards…

“So you are into those too, huh?”

Mitsuki turned over to meet Chouchou after he heard how despective she sounded when she referred to his brand new hobby. With a smile, he said…

“It’s fun, to be honest.”

Then he turned again to arrange the few cards he had over the bench.

Chouchou rested her hand on her chubby waist and let a tired sigh escape her lips. Should she? It’s not like she could ask Sarada about this and being very honest, she would rather not either Shikadai or Inojin. Mitsuki spoke before she could say it.

“The Kaminarimon company really has everything calculated. I’ve bought ten packs of these but they all are regular cards.”

“And which one are you looking for?”

Surprised by her question, Mitsuki turned again to meet Chouchou, who instantly looked away with a faint blush on her pissed off face. He asked…

“Do you collect these?”

“NO!”

Mitsuki smiled half closing his eyes in confusion.

“I don’t collect these lame things, OK?! I-I’m just looking for a card and that’s it!”

“Ah,” he thought.

“So you are like me.”

“…What?”

“I am collecting just my family.”

Chouchou blinked. Over the bench, there were two cards for both the weird man with pointy teeth and the tall orange-haired man she met while looking for Sarada’s dad and her own. There was also a card for a red-headed woman with glasses. Were all of these people related to Mitsuki? They didn’t even look alike.

“Uhm… Are you adopted?”

Mitsuki chuckled, that was typical of Chouchou.

“No, they are like my uncles and aunt.”

“So you must be looking for your mom or dad, right?”

“…Sort of.”

“My parent,” Mitsuki thought. Back then, Sarada had the luck to get an Orochimaru card, but she gave it to Boruto and Mitsuki would hate to mess with his friend’s collection. If anything this was something he got into a couple of days when he learned Suigetsu, Jugo and Karin had a card too. He heard Chouchou confess…

“I-I’m looking for my mom. I heard she got a card recently.”

“Mrs. Akimichi?”

“Yes, Karui Akimichi, but I think her card has the Kumogakure’s symbol.”

He hadn’t seen any Kumo card in the pile he collected. He tried to remember how Chouchou’s mom looked like. A very hazy image formed in his mind, one where Mrs. Akimichi looked like a taller version of Chouchou.

“I still have a couple of packs to go through, if I get the card you want, I will give it to you.”

Chouchou had hopeful eyes.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

He took one pack out of his sleeve and carefully ripped the side, but then he was interrupted by Chouchou who quickly sat in front of him.

“Wait… You don’t want anything in return?”

Mitsuki blinked.

“No.”

“Not… Even a date?”

She was looking at him like it was the most natural outcome of such action.

“It is time for you to go to a doctor, Chouchou.”

Chouchou rolled her eyes.

“Well then…”

She took out of her shirt several unopened packs. Mitsuki was speechless.

“If we find the card you are looking for here, then you can have it. No matter how rare it is.”

A bright smile appeared on Mitsuki’s face.

“Hahaha, fine. Thank you.”

They adventured into opening all those packs. They shared both wonder and disappointment on every card they flip over. Perhaps this could have been done sooner, but none of them had any hurry. Enjoying the thrill of finding what they desired was too fun to race through it.

“Ah… AH!! AHHHHHHHHH!”

“Chouchou, breath in. Is it the card?”

“I thought I wouldn’t ever find the pair…”

Trembling, she took a card case out of her shirt. Inside, a card of Akimichi Choji, Chouchou’s father. Then she carefully with almost tears forming in her eyes, placed her mom’s card on the back of the case.

“Yaay!! Lucky ♪”

She jumped out of the bench and gave some joyful jumps all over the place, she even dropped the cards she got on her lap.

“…”

The very moment Mitsuki thought Chouchou’s reaction was very cute, he looked away pretending to be arranging the cards he had on the bench.

“Thank you, Mitsuki!”

He smiled not meeting her.

“I’m glad for you.”

When her happiness rush went off, Chouchou realized Mitsuki didn’t find his parents’ cards yet. And they had gone through all the packages already…

“Oh…! Uhm… Maybe if I get some more packs…”

“It’s OK, really. I can try tomorrow again.”

Mitsuki began to collect all the huge pile of cards he had in a hasted motion. Chouchou suddenly felt… bad. She wanted to do something for him too. That’s when the realization hit her.

“…Wait! I still have some here.”

She took a small file out of her shirt. Inside she had a bunch of cards arranged by village and rareness.

“For someone who isn’t collecting, this is a well-organized file.”

“Ugh, I’m not collecting! I thought it would be a shame if they bend or something…”

Mitsuki smiled. He couldn’t figure if Chouchou was a very simple girl or a very complicated one. He grabbed the file with care and placed in his lap, flipping the pockets slowly.

“Ah.”

“…Ah?”

A small shine appeared on Mitsuki’s eyes. He didn’t remember the card to be that… Pretty. Orochimaru’s card had a holographic finish and gold foil accents, but the prettiness was beyond on how the card looked like. It was more because it had become an object he truly wanted.

“This is the card.”

Mitsuki’s pale finger pointed out one of the three dupes of Orochimaru’s card Chouchou owned. She gasped too hard when she recognized the figure.

“M-Mitsuki? You can’t be… Isn’t this…?”

“Orochimaru is my parent, yes. Do you know…”

Slow and robotic, Chouchou looked into Mitsuki’s eyes for probably a couple of minutes.“Where?” she kept thinking trying to find something of that weird… person on Mitsuki. She could only find the paleness of their skin and those sharp golden eyes similar.

“Err… So this person is your… Uhm… Like… You know!”

Mitsuki smiled widely.

“I don’t know but I’m fine with it.”

“Oh…”

Chouchou shook her head and took the card out of the file and handled it to Mitsuki.

“Here, you can have it as I promised.”

“Thank you, this was very fun.”

“Now our collections are complete!”

Chouchou semi hugged her desired cards smiling warmly at them. Mitsuki watched with a smile as well, then looking at his own collection with a soothing feeling on his chest. Despite that, he added.

“I would need one more though.”

“Hmm, more family members?”

“Yes, my brother Log is missing, though I don’t think he got a card.”

“Brother?” Chouchou wondered. How in the world a Mitsuki’s brother would look like considering how his family was? A very hazy image formed in her mind, one where this Log person looked like a taller version of Mitsuki…

I was going to draw all of this but you don’t know how burned I am by now XD

This is a scenario where “Meeting the Akimichi family” comic never happened. Mitsuki never met Chouchou’s family and Chouchou doesn’t know Mitsuki is Oro’s son.

Hope you liked it! This and everything from the Mitsucho week. Wew, I had totes fun :A: I think the date is very cute, it’s like between both Mitsuki and Chouchou’s BD(Which is tomorrow!!! Don’t forget)

[coneygoil]

The Home We Built Together, part 25

Two young Vikings. An arranged marriage. Hiccup always wanted to win the girl of his dreams, but not like this. Now he and Astrid must learn to live together and maybe one day, learn to love…

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9| Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24

Writer’s note:  This chapter gave me such fits! I'm still not satisfied with some of it. I already have the next chapter planned out, and just want to move on. I've worked on it so much I'm tired XD Hope yall enjoy it!

Special thanks to my reader tags! All of yall’s lovely comments get me through the roughest patches of writing! <3 

He’d promised to her a talk. He had yet to fulfill that promise.

It wasn’t a pleasant subject, and Hiccup wished it could be wiped from both their memories. He couldn’t forget, and he doubted Astrid would as well. He knew she wouldn’t. He’d catch the side glares she shot his way. The evidence of a beginning maelstrom flashed behind her eyes at his procrastination.

His timidness had returned. The embarrassment of the awkward experience played out in his head stilling his hand every time he wished to reach for her. Did she think less of him for not being able to pleasure her in that way? Hiccup stressed over the assumed answer. They’d come miles and boundaries far from their wedding night when Astrid chose to slice a dagger’s blade across her ankle than consummate their marriage. But now, he’d taken a giant step backwards in just one misbegotten moment.

On the third evening since the incident, they were headed to the cove to take Toothless flying. Astrid had jogged ahead leaving Hiccup to meander along the trail alone. He couldn’t wait to get in the air. To soar through clouds and reach for the sun and forget the weight that had dragged on his shoulders for the last few days.

His boots had barely hit the grassy cove floor when Hiccup found himself dangling above said floor.

“Toothless!” Hiccup yelped. The Night Fury carried him deeper into the cove. “What’s gotten into you, bud?”

Up ahead Hiccup spotted Astrid. Her arms folded over her chest and her steely gaze narrowed upon him. Uh oh. He was in trouble.

“Thank you, Toothless,” Astrid said, and gave a gestured command.

Toothless unceremoniously dropped him in front of his wife. Hiccup’s legs didn’t catch, and he landed on his bottom. He shot a sharp glance over his shoulder at his dragon, who was looking quite amused.

“Traitorous reptile,” he grumbled, getting to his feet and face to face with his wife. “Astrid, what’s this about?”

“I know you didn’t wet your pants.”

“Oh. You figured it out, huh?” All the exasperation deflated out of him. He turned to hide the burn on his face and threw his arms up then slapped them down to his sides. “But why wouldn’t you? You’re Astrid!”

He didn’t catch the slight falter of Astrid’s features before she fortified herself again.

“Some husband I am. I can’t hold it in long enough to pleasure my wife.” The words sounded strange on his tongue, even after the last few months of marriage. Sometimes it was hard to conceive that he was still a boy in a very grown up world, playing a very grown up part.

Astrid dropped her arms, softening the glower she’d been projecting on him. “Hiccup, don’t beat yourself up over it. Just because it happened this time, doesn’t mean it will next time.” She sighed. “It’s kind of my fault anyway. I caught you off guard and forced you into it.”

He didn’t want her to take the blame. Astrid’s strength was immeasurable, but as the leader of their household, Hiccup felt he needed to take responsibility. “No, Astrid. It’s not your fault. You wanted what any wife would want, and I was the one who ruined it.”

Images of her dressed in the transparent gown flooded his mind’s eyes. The perfect picture of beauty. “You were beautiful in that gown. gods, you were stunning! I still think I’m in some crazy dream that you of all people want me and would allow me to touch you. And—”

“Hiccup?”

“Hmm?”

“I get it, babe.”

“Sorry.” He’d gush over her a thousand years if he was granted that much time. “I want you, Astrid. I really, really want you. But when it happens, I want it to happen naturally. The two of us, in the moment…”

“I understand. I want it to happen that way too. I got a little carried away.” Her palm left scorch marks through his shirt where she rested it on his chest. “I guess we have some ways to go. That means more of this.” She dipped in for a firm kiss that lingered upon his lips. A promise of things hoped for, of moments yet to come that would lead them to the passion they both longed to experience one day.

Hiccup found his fingers inching around her waist and wondered how he didn’t notice he had reached for her. This was what he was speaking of. The naturalness of gravitating to one another. The little gestures of intimacy that would occur without thought.

It was in that moment, Astrid being a breath away and her palm searing into his chest, that the love for her welled up inside him. They’d come so far, opened themselves to learning about each other and from each other.

“Astrid, are you happy? With what we are? With what we have?” Hiccup had wondered upon these questions for weeks and the courage was finally there to accept whatever answer was given.

The corners of her mouth lifted into a soft return. An elegant eyebrow arced into her bangs. “This isn’t where I pictured myself. In a marriage faker than Gobbler’s leg. With someone I tried to not give a second’s thought about most of my life.”

Hiccup’s expectancy began to crumble with every word, but that wasn’t the end of her answer.

She gave him a shake then cupped his cheeks. “You surprised me, Hiccup. I wouldn’t trade what we have for any other life. At times, it’s scary and unpredictable, but I’ve never been this happy in my life. You did that.”

Hiccup was suddenly caught in a memory. I did this – he’d murmured as he gazed at Toothless’ bound and mangled body not that long ago. The accusation toward himself had filled him with crushing guilt. But this new, hopeful statement – you did that – caused a flood of joy to well up inside him.

He’d done something right. He’d brought happiness to the girl his heart flipped over the moon for.

Hiccup leaned forward, focused on those oh-so-tempting lips, but was left with an empty space filled with laughter. He flicked a glare Astrid’s way. A smile spread across her face as she rung with laughter once more.

“You’ll have to catch me for another one,” she playfully taunted.

As she awaited the chase, time slowed to nearly a standstill. Hiccup wanted to record every tiny detail. The joyful smile unmarred by hardship and war. The blue sparkle in the eyes that gleam only for me. Nothing could spoil this snippet of life Hiccup vowed to record in his memory forever.

And then, he launched after her. Around the cove they dashed, dodging rocks and slipping on mossy patches. Astrid was fast and her endurance could not be matched. Hiccup grazed her twice, almost trapping her in the corners of the cove. Astrid eluded him both times. Hopping up on a rock, she planted her fist onto her hips triumphantly.

Hiccup had a plan. The silent communication him and Toothless had practiced was paying off. Astrid cried in surprise as she was lifted in the air, dangling from the Night Fury’s mouth. She kicked out at Hiccup as he approached.

“Not fair, Hiccup!”

“Payback for earlier.”

Astrid’s fists clinched, but she relented, “Fine.”

He nodded his head for Toothless to let her down. Astrid’s nose wrinkled at the dragon slobber on her neck and swiped what she could away. Hiccup wasn’t giving up until he’d collected the spoils from the chase. He stepped up to her expectantly, eyebrows raised. A little growl escaped Astrid’s throat, but she leaned in to press her lips to his. Her hand snaked behind his neck, teasing his hairline as she also teased his bottom lip with the tip of her tongue. Hiccup was so focused on his prize that he didn’t noticed the cold, slimy wetness of Toothless’ slobber on the back of his neck until Astrid pulled away, grinning like a dragon sitting atop its hoard.

“Consolation prize.”

Her laughter echoed through the cove.

***

He couldn’t get that image out of his head. The love that swelled in him at that moment as Astrid bounced off, her smiling shining back at him like the golden rays of sun. He had to capture it.

Hiccup’s charcoal worked along the brown parchment, scratching out thick lines, forming life. He retraced the memory from earlier that day. The way her hair fluttered around her face. The quirk of her mouth. He wished he could capture the playful gleam in her eyes. Hiccup sat back in his chair, satisfied for the most part with his finished piece.

A soft weight rested on his shoulders. “What? No stick figure this time?”

Hiccup shakes his head. “You deserve to be more than a stick figure. I’m the real-life stick figure.”

Astrid leaned over his shoulder, skimming a fingertip along the empty space of parchment so not to smudge the charcoal. A thoughtful quirk of her lips played on her face. She straightened, and Hiccup was caught off guard as the chair he currently resided in was yanked backwards, the legs scraping along wooden planks.

He watched Astrid curiously as she stepped around the chair. His eyebrows jumped into his bangs at her plopping down in his lap. Her right arm slithered around his neck and draped over his shoulder. Her other arm ran along his collarbones, connecting with its match.

The nightgown that was currently covering her was her usual fare, not the sensual number that she adorned a few evenings prior. This gown is safe, not accentuating her youthful curves…among other things. The softness of her liberated breast press to his side, the sensation cozy instead of lust inspiring. Hiccup is thankful for that. Not every little touch should ignite flames. He must learn to handle the flames before he catches on fire again.

Hiccup wound his arm along her waist, another place on her that wasn’t awkward anymore. But his other hand hung down toward the floor, unsure of where to settle. Astrid couldn’t make all the decisions for them. He had to trust in her honesty and patience with their relationship. If he did something wrong or disappointing, she’d tell him.

Hesitantly, he lifted his dangling arm. Like a benevolent breath before a prayer, Hiccup rested a hand upon her knee. Testing the waters, he grazed his knuckles along her lower thigh, leaving a thick invisible line in his wake.

He crept ever-so-close to the pinnacle of her leg. This was uncharted territory, a place on Astrid’s body he’d never traversed. Her thigh is muscular, as expected, and tight as he gave her a gentle squeeze through the gown’s material. Astrid’s fingers twirl at the ends of his hair, distracting him from his explorations.

How did his life become a fantasy that played out while he had stirred in bed at midnight? How did a 15-year-old disaster become blessed with such luck? A twinge of fear struck Hiccup’s core suddenly. Him and Astrid were risking everything for their new cause.

His chest rose and fell in deep breathes. What if their plan to train dragons failed? What if Berk didn’t listen? What if Toothless was discovered and lost forever? There’d be horrible, heartbreaking consequences, not only for the dragons but for him and Astrid and the home they had built together.

“Hiccup,” he heard Astrid call from what felt like a distance. Warmth cupped his cheek. “Hiccup?”

“Hm?” Hiccup turned within the wall of her palm. How could the hands of a fierce shieldmaiden be this gentle…this loving? Not much different than a dragon, he supposed.

Astrid gave a tiny, strained chuckle. “You look like you were lost at sea.”

He met her gaze. The lantern was running low, casting long shadows in the room. “I’m fine.”

Astrid shifts a little in his lap, and Hiccup is thankful she’s much lighter without her daily gear. She peppered a few kisses along his cheekbone, the contact seeping through his skin and relaxing his distracted mind.

Hugging her close, Hiccup shut his eyes and tried to record every tiny detail of her against him. Tonight, he would live for this. Any worries of tomorrow would have to wait.

tags: @martabm90​ @chiefhiccstrid @drchee5e @celtictreemuffin @hey-its-laura-again @celtictreemuffin 

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ @sasuhinamonth || SasuHina Month 2019 || Day Sixteen: Bridesmaids ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Haruno Sakura ] [ SasuHina, NejiTen, NaruSaku, alcohol ] [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ] [ AO3 Link ]

After a while...she starts to hear the infamous phrase. “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride”. At first, Hinata doesn’t pay the jab much mind. She doesn’t really care what anyone else thinks. She’s going through life at her own pace! Just because her friends are marrying young doesn’t mean she needs to. She just...hasn’t found mister right yet. Or...possibly missus. She’s not overly picky in that regard, but...well, something’s always told her it would be a guy.

And...for a while, she thought she’d found him. But crushes in high school - especially ones never acted upon - don’t exactly equate to true love.

...especially when your best friend ends up dating them instead.

So far, though, she’s enjoyed every wedding she’s gotten to be part of. There was her cousin’s wedding, which honestly she thinks might be her favorite so far. Seeing Neji all spiffy (which, to be fair, he usually looks anyway), seeing his bride Tenten all dolled up...it was such a treat. Especially when Neji almost broke down, overwhelmed with happiness.

...it gave her hope she might have that someday.

Next to tie the knot was someone she knew mostly in passing, but still managed to get pulled on board: Temari had been from a rival school, but managed to snag one of her classmates, Shikamaru. Their wedding had been a bit less formal, and maybe a bit more fun. But admittedly Hinata hadn’t been as invested.

Then it was Ino’s turn. Talk about a showstopper. It had been big, loud, and flashy: just like Ino. Not that Hinata expected anything less. But boy had her feet been glad to get her shoes off at the end of that night.

And now...well...the one that part of her has still managed to dread.

“All right everyone, last run through! Then we can break for the night and get something to eat!”

All the bridesmaids and groomsmen laugh as Sakura gives the announcement. It’s been a long evening of practice for the ceremony tomorrow, and they’re all ready to call it a night. Holding her little practice bundle of flowers, Hinata stands with the other girls and watches as they go through all the motions one last time. And as Naruto and Sakura practice their vows once again, she tries to ignore the heaviness in her chest.

You had your chance, Hinata...and you blew it. Put all that behind you and be happy for them.

On the outside, at least, she’s all smiles. Maybe even a little teary eyed. Because that small part of her aside, she really is so happy for the pair of them. They make each other happy...and that’s what counts. Maybe a piece of her will always cling to her little crush, but that will never outweigh seeing her friends together and so joyful.

“Okay, that’s a wrap! Who’s hungry?”

While most holler in agreement, Hinata hands back her bouquet. “I think I’m gonna call it a night a little early.”

“Aww, really?”

“Yeah,” she assures the bride with a smile. “I had a long day before p-practice, so...I’d better get some sleep.”

“Well be sure to eat something too!” Sakura calls, her inner nurse showing through as Hinata leaves.

The Hyūga gives a weary wave over her shoulder. In truth...she really is tired, but...maybe not just from a long day.

Tomorrow, she knows, will be even longer.

After some fitful sleep, she drags herself out of her hotel room and down to the room set aside for everyone to get ready. The bridesmaids’ dresses are a soft pink, and Hinata can’t help but find them just a little cringey. But then again, they’re all supposed to pale in comparison to the bride.

And Sakura does look beautiful. Her gown clings to everything, down to her hips before flaring in a full skirt: white with uncounted sequins to catch the light.

Soon enough...it’s time. And thanks to the hours of practice the night before...it goes off without a hitch. By the end, Hinata wipes tears from her eyes as the pair run back down the aisle, followed by the crowds as they move to the reception hall.

And then, the real party begins.

After cake, dancing starts, and music drowns out all but the most determined conversations. For a while, Hinata sticks by the other bridesmaids, but eventually she needs a drink. Indulging in a pina colada, she lingers at the makeshift bar and sips it slowly.

“Bloody Mary, please.”

Glancing over, Hinata recognizes Sasuke Uchiha: a fellow classmate, and Naruto’s best man. Like her, he seems a bit...exhausted. Accepting his drink, he doesn’t sip it like she does hers.

“...that bad, huh?”

He looks to her at her comment. “...I hate weddings.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Especially this one.” Another gulp. “What about you?”

“I like weddings, personally.”

“No, I mean this one specifically. Aren’t you pissed?”

“W-what?!”

He gestures. “You had the hots for Naruto in high school, right?”

“That was high school.”

“...uh huh,” he replies, taking another swig.

Hinata pouts. “...I’m happy for them.”

“Yeah, well, me too. Maybe now Sakura will stop leaving me voicemails.”

...that makes her still. “...she…?”

“That was high school too,” is all he offers in reply. Another gulp.

“...I see.”

“What about you? You ever gonna do this?”

“...maybe someday. I just...haven’t found the right person yet.”

“Better hurry up, right? You’re the last one of the group still unhitched, right?”

“It’s not a race,” she sniffs.

“...guess you’re right.”

“What about you? Eager to get ‘hitched’?”

“If it happens, it happens. But I’m not about to stress over it. I’d rather find love before deciding I want to get married, y’know?”

That earns a small laugh. “That’s...probably a good way to go about it, yeah.”

For a moment, Sasuke seems to consider her, watching her sip her drink. “...you wanna dance?”

“...with you?”

“I asked, didn’t I?” He opens his arms in a gesture. “We’re the two left behinders, right? Only makes sense.”

After a pause, she laughs again. “...all right, sure.” Taking one last swig of her drink, she follows to the dance floor, pausing as the current song ends, and is replaced by something a lot...slower.

Rather than hesitate, Sasuke scoops her up, ignoring her eep of surprise. Placing their hands, he starts sweeping her around, and...Hinata can’t help but be surprised by how good he is at this.

“So, Hinata...will I be invited to your wedding?”

She snorts. “...well, will I be invited to yours?”

“I s’pose so. We’ll see how things pan out, eh?” He gives her a drip, grinning. Seems that Bloody Mary wasn’t his first… “You might end up there for another reason altogether, eh?”

“...meaning?” she asks as he pulls her back up.

“Meaning...whatever you think it means.”

Her expression turns suspicious. “...well, like you say...I guess it depends how things work out.”

“Well then...I look forward to it.”

                                                         .oOo.

     ...this feels slightly familiar, like maybe I wrote something like it, but uh...2/3rds of a way through a year through of daily drabbles will make you a little unsure what you have and haven't done xD      But here we have the ever-classic wedding trope. Specifically two people meeting at a wedding. And you KNOW the next one will be Sasuke and Hinata's...and then she can drag all the other brides to be HER bridesmaids x3      Aaanyway, I've got more writing to do, so! That's all for now - thanks for reading n_n

[a-collection-of-villainous-aus]

Pirate au part 5 pt2

(link to first part of pt5)

Alright, alright back from the flash back

"Yes but if I am honest, I thought it was a fabrication to deal with the life they forced upon you... however it does explain your need of aquatic plush toys in your quarters."

Hat replied leaning back in his chair, legs outstretched and chin on chest with arms folded.

"Tha' an I jus' like 'em, also sir..."

"Hmm?"

The old demon responded not looking up as a glass appeared aswell as a bottle of wine, pouring by itself before reaching out a hand for it, claws tapping lightly on the glass.

Didn't matter what time of day it was if he wanted a drink he was going to have one.

He was still bitter that Demencia and Acylius were probably talking up a storm and completely ignoring him.

How flipping wonderful for them.

(Awww someone's a grumpy old man XD)

"I were told yer handled yer... Ahem noodles other night."

505 continued, rubbing the back of his neck and looking off to the side, though it was hard not to smile as the Captain let out another indignant huff.

"Excuse you, they are most certainly not noodles, I can make them any size I want!"

He was clearly exasperated by his cooks response, rising to his feet and pacing only for it to hit Black Hat that if 505 knee that means.... ¬w¬ Acylius was awake, that made the pirate King smile, good so he'd heard him, perhaps the merman was intrigued and-

"Really wow...honest jus' be thinkin' with the size o' this 'ere ship was compensating for sumthin."

Fives returned casually and snorted as Black Hat gasped dramatically, hand on chest.

"I am affronted in Spanish you would think such a thing!"

"Pfffft sir yer got a merman who's affronted in a whole lot o' Spanish by ere thin yer done."

That made our Old bastard pause as he looked incredulously at his employee

"Oh like what?"

"Dining withou' even offerin' ter share fer one."

Hat immediately started fidgeting as well as his mind going blank, what was he supposed to do, confess the merman made him lose all reason and he'd been so busy on trying to be impressive to Acylius he'd actually forgotten the merman’s basic needs.

The king couldn't exactly disagree considering be happily ate anything the man put infront of him, scrubbing his hands down his face and groaning

"I have not even asked if Flug has a food he favors most, no wonder he shuns my presence."

"Sir, do calm yer self, trust me, merman ain't hatin' on ya, or he wud 'ave jumped out, merfolk sooner die than stay trapped against their will, part of him wants ter stay."

Now that made the old demon perk up, honestly if anyone other than Fives or Demencia and Acylius talked to him this way, when the blasted merman would finally converse with him that was, he'd have tossed anyone else overboard cut open to draw in sharks and watched as they were mauled.

Ahhh mauling, what a lovely thing.

Maybe he'd do that later anyway, he felt in the mood for a killing, it would be easy enough to find some reason to off one of his own men, no one dared to argue with Pirate King Black Hat lest they be next on his list.

"So what else do you know about deep sea merfolk? I know about Thaddeus's world and of his Edward practically having one as a pet, but they never gave me the detailsr and I did not care to ask at the time, I think they might have even escaped."

Returning to his seat, there was only the sound of the sea and Fives food sizzling or boiling subtly, calming in its own way, his cook had returned to the stove working on Black Hat's meal and the slops the rest of the crew had...excluding the cook himself and Dem...he would not have his best workers fed so poorly.

"King I'm surprised yer dun know more about his kind , I be bettin he has some pet yer ripped him away from..."

Looking over his shoulder he saw Black Hat starting to fidget as he realised that he'd probably caused Acylius more distress without meaning to.

"He dun seem ter 'ave a partner, food offerin' are like socializations...sum cases even get yer matin if they reaaaally like the food and the one offerin'"

Inside Black Hat's mind was a smaller version of himself frantically scrawling all this down while listening calmly, if Acylius did have a pet he was going to bloody well hunt for it and start courting the stubborn fish correctly.

----

In the Captain's quarters Acylius was floating in his tank there was not much he could really do in empty waters.

Tail swaying gently up and down, listening to Demencia's stories about Black Hat and the adventures they'd had.

His fins drooping slightly, so that was a yes, they were a sort of thing, where did that leave him, was he once again some beings pet?

That left him wondering if he was expected to worship within this prison and please his new master...at least if someone explained to him what his fate was to be, his could accept it all the quicker, it was the anticipation making it nearly unbearable.

Maybe if he behaved he could even bargain favors of his body for Black Hat to bring him his beloved Mew Mew loaf...but what if the Pirate king devoured her if he did not behave.

Thaddeus absolutely would have had he had Mew Mew as his companion then.

Looking up at Demencia, she noticed the vulnerability through the cut out holes in the tied bag on his head, she was staring back curiously wondering what was going through his mind.

Acylius had to agree she was really fascinating herself...if Black Hat and Demencia had room for him...it would still be better than his last arrangement.

He'd never met someone quite so excitable as her, she had such a lust for madness it was incredible.

"Hmm would you like to join me in my fish bowl?"

Flug offered, swimming up to the surface, holding a hand out for her, long fingers, fins fanning, delicate veils lined with fragile thin bone adorning his forearms, glistening in the sunlight.

Watching them sway, her urge to touch them rising, she'd never seen a mer being up close until Acylius so of course the lizard woman was fascinated, reaching out hesitantly and pausing, giving him a questioning look as she was unsure if that would upset him.

"Yes you can touch them, but in the tank please, so I can keep them wet, they tend to tear like tissue paper when dry."

Flug chuckled, reaching now with both hands he lifted her into his water home.

Most of course would have have asked why any mer person would want a land walker in their domain and with good reason, there were many cautionary tales of sailors being drowned by merfolk.

Demencia of course being Demencia XD was like Hell yeah and made a joyful surprised sound at how easily Flug lifted her, once in the waters she let out a sigh, they were so cool and refreshing, absolutely wonderful.

"Now that you are in, may I make one more request, may I kiss you?"

His deep and gentle voice with its own alluring inviting timber had her growing a little flustered, she'd lying if she did not agree that it made his request all tempting. .

"Whoa there fish man, at least buy me dinner first."

She teased playfully and gently nudged him.

Acylius was smiling under his mask and shook his head

"What would you like Miss, I have thin air and water...but all joking aside Demencia, it is so I can make you breathe underwater."

"Ohhhh right, makes sense, well then, pucker up fish boy!"

"Only if you close your eyes, I do not want to put you off."

"Please nothing would put me off, you could be a face of tentacles and I'd still smooch ya!"

Flug snorted, indeed she was entertaining. "

"Alright, do not say, that I did not warn you."

Lifting the lower half of his bag, smiling to the fullest extent his lips would allow, the corners of them disappearing under his mask, mouth full of sharp teeth, in awe she stared at their shimmering beauty, all of them like daggers made of pearl, mouth going dry and silently cursing, damn, fangs...her weakness.

The kiss was brief, an opening of mouths, exchange of fluids before being pulled down into the water.

Wow...in here she saw what he saw, the captains quarters looked distant, as if they were peering into a small rectangular window, on the other side of the was the vastness of the ocean, all types of plant life and fish, so on so forth, reaching out to try and touch his world her hand met only more glass.

"Ah ah no touching or it breaks my illusion, it is too tiring to make solid ones at all times but these ones help me from going mad in my solitude in this fish bowl."

Flug was quiet, thinking on how to respond to that

"If you come from Pearl City, you are considered perfect, their colours are more pastel and you are free but with a king...it is full of wonder and lights..."

Sighing he looked out into the vastness of his illusion, it changed to show the city, glowing and splendid

A silhouette of a show over it of he, Thaddeus and Edward.

" Upon my first viewing I thought it beautiful, but that light for me soon diminished as I was kept by its King, like a pet...I do not hate this Land King though who has me now...he seems surprisingly awkward...endearing really..."

"Ohhhh you like him!"

"Shush or I will not continue....my deep sea kind are dwindling in numbers and because of our rarity if captured we can be used as a power play a sign of well to do...deep sea merfolk are wild and free, come and go as we please unless we have a reason to stay that is... "

He raised a brow, sensing Demencia had more to say gently prodded her

" What is it? "

"You want to stay for the Captain huh, that will make him happy he's been a grumpy old sod because he thinks you hate him."

"I would have jumped out the bloody tank by now if I did...anyway my kind is more willing to help anyone and everyone, Pearl City folk only help their own."

Acylius shook his head, smiling to himself, his cheeks were thankfully hidden by his mask because he was blushing and he knew it.

" Screw those pearl mersnobs, you're already more amazing than them...hmm your fins are really nice I was expecting them to feel slimy like actual fish."

Flug stifled a laugh at her attitude toward Pearl Merfolks, that certainly lifted his mood at how unimpressed she was by them, his fins suddenly flared out, the spines on bis back raising defensively as he held her closer before putting her behind him and poised to strike at the nothingness in Black Hat's Cabin, a swirling portal of purple light tore through the air and his first words in response

"You will not have her creature!"

Acylius's claws extended however no one stepped out only a voice was heard

"Awwww cute you were socialising, guessing Black Hat hasn't been looking after you, Demmy Where's Blackie?"

Demencia had been caught completely off guard at Flug's willingness to protect her, taking a moment to come back down to Earth and answer the voice that she knew well

" He's in the Galley Ferral! "

" Thanks hun! "

With that the portal disappeared.

"Full of surprises aren't ya!"

Demmy was clearly excited by his display, like an eager child to see more, that had been pretty awesome for her to see that and see his usually white and deep blue tail instantly go black with bright blue rings on in warning against predators.

" You know them...that thing?"

"Ohhh yes, brief encounters here and there, in another dimension she's Black Hats daughter and your step daughter...though that Flug is really quite different from you, small world after all huh."

"Yes indeed."

He replied, though he still fixed on the space where the portal had been.

It was nice to know in another dimension he and Black Hat had a family... Maybe one day they... No that was thinking waaaaay too far ahead.

[bookmawkish]

I’m Not Getting Him, You’re Getting Him (Heckyl in the MCU)

a random piece of random for the lovely @worldoftherandom and no I don’t know where this came from, nor do I particularly care because it amuses me to write this rubbish XD

It is required listening while reading this fic. 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4G6QDNC4jPs

All the Heckyl in the MCU stuff

“We were having dinner.”

“Yes. You said that ten minutes ago.”

“And it’s still true.”

Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff hurry along the sidewalk, doing (for those who don’t know them) a very believable impression of a perfectly normal couple trying to get home or into a taxi and out of the rain as quickly as possible. It is February, and the chill has been hanging over New York for weeks: the sort of cold that gets into the bones and leaves a person miserable.

Clint is doing a good job of being miserable, cold or not, and perhaps this time with good reason.

“This is exactly why I don’t bring my phone with me when I’m trying to relax. I take a couple of hours off, get dressed up, go out -”

“Is there something you know about Director Fury that suggests he is in any way bothered about your personal life?”

Clint gives this due consideration.

“I don’t want him to even think about my personal life,” he says, swerving to avoid a deluge of drips from an oversaturated restaurant awning, and peering down the next intersection. “Is it this one? 57th and Third?”

Natasha consults her own phone, and the co-ordinates sent to her. She nods. They pick up the pace.

It’s a little after eleven in the nightclub district, and while the restaurants may be starting to wind down, the dance clubs and the bars are just starting to get into full swing. As the Black Widow and Hawkeye head down the side street indicated by Fury’s note, they have to sidestep increasing numbers of people spilling out from any number of bright doorways: the thump of heavy bass can be not only heard, but felt underfoot. Clint pauses, rests his hand briefly on the wall underneath a virulent neon sign, and stares up, his face harshly lit in the green glare. Natasha reads it aloud: The High Voltage Room.

They’ve arrived.

There is a huge line of clubbers waiting to get in, much longer than at any of the other clubs. Word seems to be getting around, because more and more excited people seem to be flocking over as Clint and Natasha turn down the back access alley and start their assault from the rear.

“I’m not getting him,” Clint says, as Natasha gives him a quick boost up onto the back wall that seals the club’s kitchen and dumpsters off from the public alley. “You’re getting him. I‘ll provide backup. Or possibly just laugh from the sidelines.”

“You really don’t like him, do you?”

Clint disappears over and Natasha follows, landing silently. They find the door to the kitchens unlocked. Lucky.

“I don’t have to like him. It’s not in my contract.”

“You got a contract? Huh.”

Inside, the bass is not so much a sound now as it is a physical thing. It vibrates through the walls, the floor, every cell in the human body. Natasha frowns slightly as she navigates through the staff sections, dodging fry cooks and haggard-looking bar staff heading out for a smoke break. Be covert, Fury’s message had insisted. Don’t cause any more trouble than he already has. They are, of course, not seen, and being heard in this cacophony would be practically impossible. Then Natasha pushes a swing door, the noise intensifies to almost unbearable levels, rig lights swing to glare and flash into their faces, and they’re out into the main club.

According to the excited chatter of the cheerful clubbers that press in on all sides, it’s Classic Dance Night. As if Clint couldn’t have guessed. Not that classic club dance hits are his thing. Not at all. And he’ll tell you so quite emphatically if you ask. The place is packed to what seems like almost illegal capacity: it’s barely possible to move in the crush of bodies. Hot skin, sticky floor, sweat and overexcitement. And yet people are still coming in. There’s a general thrill of overwhelming anticipation across the crowd, and Clint rolls his eyes in exasperation that this is somehow his life. He’s picked up on the telltale overarching scent of ozone and heavy cinnamon smoke that’s lacing the whole room. And Natasha wonders why he doesn’t like him.

It’s Clint that spots him in the end - and he taps Natasha’s arm, pointing deliberately, before leaning in to her ear and shouting:

“Get him before he does it again. Then we can -”

His last two words fall, suddenly too loud, into an abrupt lull in the music.

“ - go home!”

There’s a brief, blessed moment of silence. Then the crowd roars, releasing their pent-up anticipation, as the intro to the next song begins.

 I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me

I still feel your touch in my dreams

 There’s a very small, almost perfectly circular clearing opening up in the very centre of the dance floor. Probably no more than a metre or so across. And in the very centre of that circle, there indeed is Heckyl, the Cause Of Nick Fury’s Ire, the Unwitting Ruination Of Dinner Dates, and apparently New York Clubland’s Most Wanted On A Rainy Friday Night.

He’s wearing a shriekingly neon blue singlet that is startlingly tight, and what Clint suspects are Loki’s leather trousers, plus - are those Nike Air Mags? Clint smells Tony all over this. Nobody sane can afford those. Plus, annoyingly, Heckyl is somehow making the whole ridiculous ensemble look good. He has his eyes closed, body hitching to the intro, sweat sheening his exposed skin, his expression beatific. God, Clint hopes he isn’t high. The idea of Heckyl on MDMA is just too horrific to contemplate. He gives Natasha an unsubtle shove in the back, and she glares at him, gesturing in front of her. The crush of the crowd has reached almost immovable levels. She can’t get through without stabbing someone, and judging by the look on her face she’s seriously considering it.

 Forgive me my weakness but I don’t know why

Without you it’s hard to survive

 Heckyl flings out an arm, and the crowd bellows again in renewed excitement. He flings out the other, and Clint groans inwardly as blue light begins to curl and pool in the alien’s palms. He knows this track and he’s pretty sure this is Heckyl’s regular performance piece, because, yeah, as soon as the main song refrain powers on in, here it comes -

 ‘Cause every time we touch I get this feeling

And every time we kiss I swear I could fly

 Heckyl’s eyes snap open, glowing blue-white from within. His whole body wreathes in lightning, snapping and flickering over every inch of him, gathering and intensifying in his out-thrown palms until it seems to get too much for him to control: it overloads and arcs out in long, crackling lines across the crowd, who are screaming and dancing and crushing in even more. Clint’s hair stands on end as the spreading tendrils of Heckyl’s power burns over him, his entire body tingling with mild electric shock, then it’s gone, conducting out into more people and the floor and the ceiling.

The lighting rig is shocked into overdrive, the lights suddenly much brighter, flashing faster. Bulbs pop in twenty places. The giant disco ball, rotating in illuminated glory high above, takes the brunt of it all and explodes into gleaming, electrified dust, showering the crowd in mercifully harmless glimmering sequined plastic pieces. The crowd, if it’s possible, goes even more crazy, dancing harder and faster and pressing in closer against Heckyl until he’s almost lost to sight in the swarm.

Natasha elbows Clint and leans in.

“I’m not getting him,” she shouts. “You get him.”

Clint, watching the undulating, joyful crowd in a kind of awe, shakes his head solemnly.

“Man’s got his Cascada on,” he says. “You don’t interrupt a man mid-Cascada.”

[guidingthulite]

A, B!!!, J, L, N, P, Q, R, S, T, Z!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLS TELL oof i love ur writing!!

OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN THANKS EMY!!!

aaaaa you love my writing? i’m so happy to hear that

A: Your current OTP.

HAMAHAYA. HAMAHAYA BIG TIME. And also lowkey Ishimondo but HamaHaya is my main one!!! I love them so much and I have so many headcanons and stories for them!!! That’s kinda why I want to put them on poly relationships? Like I want these relationships to be explored but I can’t take them away from each other

B: A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind.

I haven’t considered Yuuichi ² (and i refuse to call it any other way) but man did you change my mind. Did you.

Also there was this one time I just liked MasaHika as a BROTP but then @producktions and my brother came and… I surrendered :’D

J: Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr.

Oh, Voltron definitely! I saw all this fanart, and fics and stuff and all I knew it was filed under ‘gays in space’, but then @justanothermatsugirl and @srta-double invited me to watch and… Porntron came to be. And Porntron is the best thing. Ever.

L: Your favorite fanartist/author gives you one request, what do you ask for?

It depends? I usually try to make both of us happy when it comes to requests, for example, if that person likes, say, HamaHaya but I feel like I want HamaKura I will ask them for HamaHaya anyways because 1. HAMAHAYA and 2. Maybe they will put more feel into the art!!! And what is most important of art is the feelings that it is put into it! Best art is the art you can tell the author put all their heart on~!

but if i could choose anything, give me the hamahayakuraminamana, you cowards

N: Your favorite fandom (for the people; not the thing you fangirl over).

Um… Is it normal I want to say the MOTHER fandom on 2014? Especifically on DA. It was like a tiny family… Everyone knew each other. Everyone was nice with each other. It was so nice. But now everyone parted ways and I have no idea where everyone is. Most left DA (and so did I) and I can’t help but wonder where they are. But my current fandom is really nice too… It’s like a family, too… Sometimes.

P: Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

Lately I’ve been thinking about a Go Ares AU a lot and hamano goes to tengawara for obvious reasons but that’s kinda boring so I gotta think about something more interesting >:3c

Kind of a joke AU, but still:

Have you guys ever heard about ~LA FERIA~? It’s like this weird Spanish thing we have. Everyone dances and sings these lame guitar songs which are mostly like aAAAAaAAAaaaYYYYYYYY @loreprotectionsquad can confirm BUT! that’s not the interesting thing! The interesting thing about Feria is that we basically get a mini amusement park on our town, just because! 

So my brother and I thought about some Go kids there and it just…

Hamano gets Kurama a giant Snake plush and he tries to ride on a… Ride with it and it almost slips out but he clings to it and manages to save it. Hamano thinks it’s adorable. Kurama swears he’ll kill him if he tells someone. Hamano promised Hayami he’d get a plushie for him too, but he is unable (because you can only win one plush per day) so Hayami gets a dolphin plush for him. Imagine Hayami walking around with two overly joyful boyfriends clinging to their giant plushies. Goals.

Kirino and Shindou ride on the ferris wheel which they don’t set up anymore, but still. and Ibuki tries to climb it but fails (?

Shinsuke rides on some dinosaur themed train, and there’s clowns with balloons and stuff you can snatch from them. He gets a plastic axe. Which are super hard to get i need to tell you the story of how i got one when i was like 8. it was so stupid it’s funny He somehow convinces Tsurugi to ride too, while Tenma and Aoi look at them. They have become the ultime balloon snatchers. No one can stop them. Aoi and Tenma are so proud.

Taiyou comes, sees Tenma and waves at him, approaching him. Then all of the sudden, Fuyuka comes rushing after him, and tells Tenma that ‘Taiyou should be in right now, sorry for the inconvenience’ and picks him by the stomach (you know… like a kitten, with her arm around his torso? you get me, right?) while Taiyou tries to escape, but fails.

Kariya and Hikaru try to hide from Hiroto and Midorikawa, who have come with them, but Kariya wants some time alone, while they want to take pics of everything they do, basically.

Something about Yukimura and Fubuki was mentioned, along with Kishibe and Aphrodi, but I don’t remember ;v; Also, Amagi going with Mahoro and Yukie, and all of the third years (Minamisawa as well, for some reason) going together too.

My brother kinda dislikes Galaxy (except Tetsukado, Kusaka and Konoha) so I’ll do their stuff myself.

Minaho and Manabe compete to see who will get more plushies. They only get one keychain working together. They give it to the first team member that they see because they don’t know who should keep it.

But that was after the previously mentioned day, so the Second Year Trio got them plushies instead (they got the hang of one game and they WILL make the most of it. And, they have to help a boyfriend out, right?

So they spend the rest of the festivity together. And they have fun and stuff.

There’s one ride with horses. Konoha spends 98/100 there. Otherwise, she wouldn’t come. It’s so noisy, and crowded…

Kusaka comes and goes to check on her. He can’t ride on most… Rides (this is redundant) anyways. He’s too tall.

Tetsukado and Hamano competed to see who was better at Duck-Fishing. Let’s just say that Shinsuke and Hamano’s boyfriends came home with lots of plushes and prices…

Sakura aced all the games. How did she manage, no one knows (she was, in fact, the first one Minaho and Manabe offered the keychain to. But she rejected it and got two super sparkly keychains for them instead. Minaho and Manabe offered it anyways in exchange but she said that it was nothing and that they should keep the one they got.

Matatagi showed his brothers the place and rode on some rides (seriously how is this so redundant). Eventually they joined the Plushie Fest. Matatagi’s brothers cheered. He, not so much, not when he had to carry around giant plushies for the rest of the day, as his brothers were too busy exploring around.

I think that’s all??? Am I forgetting someone? except zanakurou but i don’t know what to do with him. he dances sevillanas. i don’t know. sorry darling

Oh, yeah, and there’s also this AU my brother and I made in which Kurama is a time traveler and quite literally Hamano and Hayami’s son (he has a big sister named Estrella but that’s for another time) and he has come because their parents were too slow too realize they had feelings for each other and he fears for his existence and his sister’s (???

Q: A ship you’ve abandoned and why.

Can you believe I used to ship Min/////a/kura? But, to be honest, I didn’t know what that was. I just found some comic of them and I thought it was cute. Then I got more into InaEle, and well…

I’m saying that one because I can’t think of anything else XD

R: A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships.

The Kurama multiship fest, which I will proceed to explain, even though the first one is sorta popular, but still:

Hamano and Hayami, because I saw HamaKura and I thought it was really cute! (when i got used to kurama, at first i didn’t like him but i found hamahayakura and i went ‘eeeeeeeehhh’ but you already know that story) then I thought of HamaHaya + HamaKura and Hayami just got into the package for some reason XD

Hikaru, because I was salty I didn’t ship him with Minamisawa and I wanted to ship him with someone but I didn’t know who, then he had a little scene with Hikaru on the games (when they go look for Shinsuke or something) and a lightbulb light up on my head

Tenma because, honestly, how can you have someone you ship with everyone but not Tenma? Plus it’s cute. 

Tsurugi because I saw somebody posting drawings of them and I went ‘hey they cute’ and that’s all. also the fandom team might or might not had something to do with it

Kariya because they had this scene when they went to China on CS that i don’t even remember but what i do remember is my brother asking me why i wasn’t saying anything about the ship, and i went ‘well, i don’t, BUUUUUUUUUT’ and so it started.

Minaho because, and listen well because this one is weird, I was in class, and I was bored, and I decided to make quadrants for some InaEle characters, I started by Minaho and went ‘huh so, Moirail, Manabe, Matesprit, Manabe, Kismesis, Manab-wait’ so I decided to crack it up a bit and now it was ‘Moirail, Hamano, Matesprit, Manabe’ but I wanted to give him a Kismesis (that could’ve been perfectly Matatagi, but I didn’t think of that because I’m dumb) (also read: a love rivalry more or less) so I gave him Kurama. THEN I played BigBang and they had a small interaction and since back then I couldn’t even read Hiragana I don’t know what they said but Kurama made a sad face afterwards so I take it as I was right

Fei because Kurama learns Bouncer Rabbit on Galaxy (actually the two-people version. He does it with Hamano because I’m obvious) and also Fei stole his number, now Kurama has to steal something back (???

Taiyou because on my CS game Kurama, Taiyou and Hikaru always do hissatsus together on the random thing (that makes also Sakura and Matatagi do Butterfly Dream together all the time for some reason. Which is funny because I lowkey shipped it before starting Galaxy) so I got used to seeing them together.

Ibuki because my brother always calls them losers (he’s a bit mean sometimes, but I love him ;v;) so I started relating them n stuff.

Hakuryuu because my brother and I have this thing called the ‘Spammer Club’ which is for characters that say other character’s name a lot. We have Hakuryuu (who we jokingly call churugispammer) Miyasaka, Ibuki, Hakuryuu and Kurama got in too for some reason. So yeah. It happened. N stuff.

Also I brotp him with Kinako, but I brotp Kinako with everyone.

S: What’s a headcanon you have?

Hmm… I headcanon that out of the Second Year Trio, only Hamano has siblings (2 sisters, him being the middle sib- and no that’s not me self projecting ok) 

Hayami has mentioned more than once on the games that he wants to be a scientist, and I headcanon that it’s because his mother is! Which also means she’s super busy most of the time. So Hayami is quite dependent, but he can’t cook for his life. Hamano is surprisingly okay at cooking, and he’s learning to bake.

Also, Hayami really likes penguins for some reason.

T: What are your favorite male/male ships or female/female ships?

Ack, that’s a hard one ;v;

- Male/Male - (to keep things fresh from 3 diff fandoms each)

Hamano/Hayami (Inazuma Eleven)

Ishimaru/Oowada (Danganronpa)

Killua/Gon (HxH) 

Shu/Valt (Beyblade Burst)

Hau/Gladion (Pokémon)

- Female/Female -

Diana/Akko (Little Witch Academia) (i gotta continue it sob aaa)

Ootani/Anna (Inazuma Eleven)

Moon/Lillie (Pokémon)

Z: What’s a ship that you want to ship publicly, but everyone on tumblr hates it so you keep your mouth shut about it?

Ahahah, what are you talking about [hides my polyship mess under a rug] it is not much that they hate it, just that no one is interested XD

[oumiyuki]

The Daily Life of Loving a Really Cute but Dense Vampire Ch11

Chapter 11 – Great Nico-ni tries her hardest

May you enjoy~ XD

Kotori was walking to school as per normal. The sun has only begun peeking out from the East, and the pathway had little people. So, the walk to school was a slow, peaceful one.

A head of orange bobbed a few metres in front of Kotori, and a smile naturally grew on Kotori’s face.

“Honoka-chan!”

Kotori was met with a smile. “Oh~ Kotori-chan! Good morning!” Honoka stopped for Kotori to catch up to her before they continued walking together.

Honoka looked over to see Kotori still smiling even though five minutes has passed since they started walking together.

“Kotori-chan, you seem happy?”

“Mm?” Kotori looked over to see the ginger’s cheerful face. “Mmph! Getting to walk to school with Honoka-chan…It’s like a dream come true…” Kotori nodded with a giggle.

Honoka smiled broadly. “Then I’ll make your dreams come true every morning from now on!”

“Eh?” Kotori’s heart skipped a beat at Honoka’s wink.

“Let’s walk to school together starting today, Kotori-chan!”

“Mmph!” Kotori gave another happy nod as the two head off to school.    

Kotori almost walked into a wall as she daydreamed about being able to walk to school with her most favourite person.

“Ah…” Kotori smiled sweetly at the thought of the sweet ginger taking the initiative to ask for her company every morning.

I don’t think Honoka-chan will even think of that though…

Kotori started her walk to school again.

Ah, since we walk around the same path to get to school…There might be a chance that I may bump into Honoka-chan while walking to school?

Kotori smiled broadly at the idea of turning a corner to see her sunshine. She also deliberately slowed her pace in case the person she wanted to meet was behind her. Kotori kept a look out for a bubbly orange-brown haired girl that might walk, run or skip by, but alas, she reaches school with no such girl in sight.

I wonder if Honoka-chan is in class already…Or still at home? Maybe we just missed each other by a bit…

Kotori let out a soft sigh before shaking her head.

Mm, mm. Honoka-chan wouldn’t be so negative! I’m going to get to see Honoka-chan later anyways! And…sit beside her… Hehe~

Kotori giggled softly with a hand covering her mouth, before looking around to make sure no one saw her, she did not want to be a topic for the school after all. Getting a title like “The girl who giggles to herself” would make her so uncool that she won’t be allowed to date Honoka, was what ran through Kotori’s mind before she walked normally to class.

 In the classroom before Kotori arrives, the diligent Class President and Vice Class President were already there.

“Elichi, how was your weekend?” The purple haired Vice President made her way down the steps slowly to the blonde who could not help but gawk for a moment before collecting her thoughts to answer the question.

“Ah…It was productive and…interesting.” Eli remembered her time with Kotori and Rin on Saturday and then with her sister, Honoka and Honoka’s sister on Sunday; they were both interesting and different for the Class President who usually has things planned out. And those two meetings were certainly unplanned. “I met Kotori and Rin on Saturday, and Honoka the next day.”

Oh? Elichi met with Honoka-chan this weekend~

Nozomi mentally noted a point about the gingerhead who might be a vampire.

“Hm~ Got all your homework done?” Nozomi smiled teasingly.

“Yes, I started on Friday and finished the rest on Saturday, since I’ll be occupied on Sunday.” Eli did not catch the tease.

“Oh~” Nozomi let the miss slide. “Did something special happen on Sunday?”

“Yes…My little sister came from Russia to live with me.” Eli had a gentle smile and loving gaze into the distance which made Nozomi smile wider, feeling Eli’s genuine love for her younger sister.

Looks like I just found out who is Elichi’s love of her life~

“That’s sweet~ How much younger is she from you?”

“Just one year, actually.” Eli grinned wider before realizing that she might be getting carried away with her joyful emotions, so she cleared her throat. “How about you, Nozomi? How was your weekend?”

“Mm~ Finished my homework, then hung out with Nicocchi and Hanayo-chan~”

“Hm…I would say I feel slightly sad that I wasn’t invited. But since I was busy myself, I won’t.” Eli had a playful smile, while Nozomi eye’s widened for a second before smiling.

I think I like the flirty Elichi quite a lot~ Hehe~

“Then how about we hang out some time soon? Like a date~” Nozomi winked, Eli had red paint her cheeks the moment she heard Nozomi liken their hanging out to a date.

Aw~ Elichi is blushing~

Eli kept silent, averting her gaze away from the grinning purplenette. “Am I being rejected?” Nozomi feigned a sad tone.

“N-No. That’s not it. I…I’d be glad to…hang out with you, Nozomi…” The red on Eli’s face persisted as she danced around the ‘date’, trying her best to not focus too much on the word or idea.

Nozomi smiled wider. “I look forward to it then~”

A date with Elichi~ And maybe finding out about Honoka-chan from someone else’s eyes~

 Defenceless.

Honoka woke with a start as she felt something hit her stomach.

“Oof! Wha- Wha..?” Honoka sat up like the rising dead, rubbing her sleepy eyes that still wanted to remain closed.

Who even wakes like that? It’s kind of cute though. A- Ahem!

“Good morning, Honoka.” A calm voice greeted the gingerhead.

Honoka yawned aloud and stretched as if she was alone in the room, or at least she did not care that she had a spectator to watch her uncouth behaviour and also giving a peek of her bare stomach when she did such a huge stretch.

Honoka, you should cover your mouth when you- H-H-Honoka?! H-Honoka’s…b-b-bare skin…It looks so…s-soft…

The spectator felt her cheeks heat up before quickly averting her gaze to the side, held back her hand to herself and choked on the inside.

“Mm…” Honoka lowered her arms to rest it on the object that hit her awake – a school bag. “Is it Friday already?” Honoka looked over to the person responsible for calling her over to the waking world at whatever the time was now; time isn’t something Honoka like to keep track of; not unless it’s time for food, play, sleep or the end of mathematics lessons.

Honoka is kind of calm when she has just awoken.

“No, it’s Monday.” The blush subsided as the spectator looked at Honoka sternly.

“Only Monday..?” Honoka flopped back down onto her bed. “Wake me when it’s Friday- Wah!”

Don’t even think about going back to sleep, Honoka!

The bag fell off the bed and the ginger’s eyes shot open as she was forcefully pulled into a sitting position with her legs outside the warmth of her blanket.

“Uu…Umi-chan…”

Thankfully she’s wearing pants… What am I even thinking? Of course, Honoka would be wearing pants, Umi!

“School. Now.” Umi pointed with her thumb towards the door.

Honoka pouted before sighing. “Do I have to..?” Honoka whined as she got off her bed lazily.

“Yes. Now get to it.”

Hurry up and get ready for school… Honoka when she just wakes up is kind of adorable… Stop with those impure thoughts, Umi!

Honoka trudged to her closet to take some fresh clothes but stopped since she needs to change into her school uniform not casual ones. She then continued her walk to the bathroom.

After some time that Honoka has left her room, Umi suddenly stood up from the bed she had tidied.

“H-Honoka didn’t take any change of clothing, which means…” Umi felt the heat from before returning as images of Honoka changing in this very room that she was in right now appeared in her mind. “Even if this is your room-”

“I’m back-” Honoka was attacked by her blanket as Umi wrapped the innocent ginger with it. “U-Umi-chan?! What are you doing?”

E-E-Even if you c-can dash back to and fro the toilet really q-quickly d-d-doesn’t mean you can go running around n-n-n-nude..!

“I’m covering you so that you d-don’t appear s-s-so sh-shameless…” Umi held the blanket up as she stared at the ground.

“I don’t look shameless…” Honoka stared at Umi who refused to make eye contact with her. “I’m not naked, you know?” Umi turned to face Honoka slowly. “But I still need help with my sunscreen-” Umi grabbed Honoka to her bed and disappeared outside Honoka’s room.

W-What was I even thinking? Sonoda Umi! Of course Honoka wouldn’t do that! I-I can’t face her now…

Umi buried her flushed face in her hands.

Applying No-Burn on Honoka’s…bare back…

Umi leaned against the wall for a moment before mentally slapping herself.

I’ll get Yukiho to help Honoka…

 Honoka blinked twice and sat at her bed obediently for a time. “…Can I go back to sleep?”

Honoka stared at her pillow that seemed to be calling her, but before Honoka could lose to the allure of lying down to sleep again, her room door opened once more.

“Umi-chan-” Honoka looked up to see that the person who has entered was not a blue head. “Yukiho?”

“Umi-chan asked me to help you with your sunscreen.” Yukiho smiled with a bottle of No-Burn in hand.

“Umi-chan chickened out, huh?” Honoka unwrapped herself out of the blankets.

Yukiho chuckled. “You probably did something to scare her, Onee-chan.”

“No I didn’t!” Honoka protested as she took her shirt off and Yukiho poured some sunscreen on her free palm.

“I heard Umi-chan calling you shameless.” Yukiho smirked as she helped her sister with her back, and Honoka rubbed the sunscreen on the rest of her skin.

“Umi-chan is always overreacting… I sometimes don’t get what she finds shameless…” Honoka frowned in thought, while her younger sister chuckled.

 Done with applying No-Burn and changing into her school uniform, Honoka went downstairs to begin going to school with her blue haired childhood friend.

The childhood friend in wait glanced up to see Honoka approaching, a smile grew at her lips.

“Ready?”

“Ever ready!” Honoka bounced beside Umi whose smile grew wider.

“Honoka can’t be ‘ever ready’.” Umi opened the door to exit.

“I totally can…” Honoka pouted as she followed behind.

“We’re going off now, Honoka-mama.” Umi called to Honoka-mama inside the shop.

“See you, mum~” Honoka turned to wave at her mum.

“Take care, Umi-chan, Honoka!” Honoka’s mum stopped what she was doing to wave goodbye to both daughters with a broad smile of her own.

After walking for barely thirty steps, Honoka turned to Umi with a really broad smile that Umi could only expect trouble from the ginger’s mouth.

“What is it?” Umi sighed.

“Wanna dash?” Honoka’s eyes sparked with excitement, while Umi shook her head.

“No, how many times must I tell you that it will crease your uniform, plus.” Umi added as she took in the indignant pout from the ginger beside her. “It’s really early right now, dashing to school means being there really early. Do you really want that?”

Honoka’s eyes widened considerably before she shook her head and visibly deflated as she was upset about being unable to dash, but she did not want to end up in school super early too. “No…”

Umi smiled as she won this round in making the overly energetic ginger not run off, and walk with her to school instead.

Honoka really should get a watch or check the time, because it actually wasn’t very early. Umi chose to wake Honoka who loved to sleep in, at a timing that would be just nice for them to brisk walk at a quickened pace that humans won’t question and Honoka won’t notice for them to get to school and still have ten minutes of preparation time in class.

 The moment they reached the lockers and switched their outdoor shoes for their indoor ones, Honoka skipped beside the archer.

“Race you to class, Umi-chan!”

“Race- Wait, Honoka!” Umi blinked and in that time Honoka sped off for their classroom. Umi sighed. “Why are you so energetic in that…way?”

Umi felt like with all that wasted energy Honoka has, she might as well join a club or do something productive, but instead, her ginger friend only use it for running around, causing trouble and then sleeping in.

Honoka’s one track mind got her to the classroom soon enough as she did not even look back to see if her blue haired childhood friend even bothered to race with her. The door was opened for some reason so she ran in shouting, “Goal~!”

Ah, Honoka-chan is here. Her bright smile is so sweet today too… Just seeing it puts a smile on my face~

Kotori’s day brightened the moment she laid eyes on her crush while their classmates were almost accustomed to the boisterous gingerhead’s exclamations, so few were startled. Honoka’s sight rested on the Class President who had her back towards the entrance as she was busy at the teacher’s desk.

“Eli-chan~!” Honoka glomps the unexpecting Class President from behind.

“H-Honoka?” Eli managed to support the both of them so that they don’t end up on the floor.

“Good morning~” Honoka greeted energetically and loudly which made Eli want to smile and frown at the same time; the cheerfulness was welcoming but the loudness was not.

“Good morning, Honoka…” Eli placed Honoka an arm’s length away from her with a small smile which could not match Honoka’s gigantic one.

Eh? What is this?

Kotori who was already seated could not bring herself to smile at the lovely ginger’s energy when she is directing so much physical affection to someone that wasn’t her.

When did Honoka-chan and Eli-chan get so close?

Kotori watched with a slight frown as Honoka tried to pull the reluctant blonde closer.

Is…Is Eli-chan a love rival for Honoka-chan too?

“Honoka…I’ve still got work to do, so…” Eli smiled gently at the bouncing ginger she held an arm’s length away.

“Aw~ Alright. Let’s play again soon, Eli-chan~” Honoka nodded with a bounce.

“Alright.” Honoka smiled broader as she skipped to her seat.

Honoka-chan and Eli-chan played together..?

Kotori couldn’t keep her eyes away from the smiling gingerhead who plopped beside her as they were seating partners.

Honoka didn’t waste another minute as she dropped her bag at the side of her seat and turned to face the staring ash-grey. “Good morning, Kotori-chan~!” Honoka beamed.

“G-Good morning, Honoka-chan��” Kotori’s jealous feelings went poof like smoke as Honoka’s bright smile filled her with happiness and her lips naturally pulled up into a smile too.

Honoka-chan’s good morning…

Honoka smiled at Kotori for a good minute while the ash-grey haired girl returned the smile and enjoyed the attention.

“Honoka-chan…”

“Hm?” Honoka tilted her head slightly to the side.

“Um…” Kotori lowered her head. “You seem really close with Eli-chan..?” Kotori couldn’t help but give in to her curiosity as the thought of when did Honoka get much closer to Eli nagged at the back of her mind.

“Closer?”

Was I any different?

“Mm-hm…Y-You were hugging her?” Kotori shrunk into herself as she remembered the gingerhead’s display of closeness to the Class President earlier.

Oh~ I think I was giving Eli-chan a good morning hug?

“Oh, we met and chat on Sunday before I-”

Ah, almost said when I met Kotori-chan! But that was during my bat form so…Ehehe…Lucky save~

Kotori looked at Honoka confused at the sudden cut off. “Honoka-chan?”

“Ah, um, that’s just a good morning hug. Do you want a good morning hug too?” Honoka recovered with a grin, not noticing that Kotori’s cheeks got slightly redder when she offered the fashion enthusiast a morning hug.

“C-C-Can I really..?” Kotori stuttered in a soft voice and her hands fidgeted in front of her.

“Sure, that-” Honoka stopped mid-sentence again as her gaze fell onto Kotori’s front, namely her chest which reminded her of their rainy encounter.

H-Hug…With Kotori-chan means…

Honoka went bright red in the next second which worried Kotori.

“Honoka-chan? Are you okay-” Kotori was interrupted by two strong hands that placed itself firmly on Kotori’s shoulder. “Honoka-chan?” Kotori squeaked.

I-I’ve got to teach Kotori-chan to be more careful on rainy days! And to look out for when her clothes get w-wet…

Honoka shook the image of Kotori’s drenched dress away. “K-Kotori-chan.” Honoka spoke in a serious voice that made Kotori give Honoka another 100% of her attention.

“Y-Yes?” Golden orbs met blue ones.

“Kotori-chan do you know the powers of rain and water?”

Rain and water is not one to be belittled, Kotori-chan! They already got you good yesterday!

Kotori blinked, stared back at the ginger’s utterly serious expression, and blinked again. “Um…Rain and water give life to living things..?” Kotori tried.

“That’s not it!” Honoka tightened her grip on Kotori’s shoulder and pulled her closer in her frustration. “Rain and water has the power to make your clothes see-through!”

Your white and pink- I mean…Ahh!

Honoka screamed internally to erase the forming image.

“E-Eh?” Kotori’s mind struggled to keep up with her crush’s sudden seriousness to outburst, random question and then an unexpected answer to the random question. Kotori was also very conscious about the bodily contact and closeness she is currently under thanks to Honoka herself. “S-See-through..?”

That’s right, Kotori-chan! Can you see where I’m coming from?

Honoka nodded solemnly, made the mistake of looking down which made her blush as the close up view of the ash-grey haired’s well-endowed chest rushed her simple brain. “Ah- Um.” Honoka squeezed her eyes shut.

Kotori moved a hand to her chin. “I-I think I understand what you’re trying to say, Honoka-chan…”

“You do?” Honoka opened her eyes and smiled hopefully at Kotori’s face.

Kotori nodded. “Mm-hm. You’re trying to tell me to be careful not to spill any form of water on books and paper right? It’ll be troublesome to wait for it to dry, and the other side of the page would be visible too…” Kotori had a small smile, thinking she got Honoka’s intent.

Honoka stared at Kotori without saying a word.

Kotori-chan doesn’t get it…If it comes to this, I have to show her!

Honoka took Kotori’s hand and pulled Kotori out of her seat to lead her to a place with water for demonstration.

“H-Honoka-chan? Where are we going? Homeroom is going to begin-”

“It’ll only be a short while.” Honoka’s one-track mind took control as she resolved to make the clueless ash-grey haired girl understand the importance of being careful around water.

 Now in the bathroom, Honoka rushed up to the sink and collected two hands full of water and splashed it on herself.

“H-Honoka-chan?!” Kotori gasped and rushed over to Honoka, her handkerchief out of her pocket already.

Eh?! Why did Honoka-chan splashed water on herself?

“Kotori-chan!” Honoka grabbed both wrists of the surprised ash-grey haired to stop her from trying to dry her. “This is the power of water! It makes your clothes see-through. See?”

S-See?

Honoka puffed out her chest for Kotori to see the water that have seeped through her white uniform and plastered itself to her skin, also revealing hints of the silhouette of a bra for the blushing Kotori to see, and possibly burn into her mind.

H-H-Honoka-chan is..! H-Her bra…is…is white…It’s so fitting for someone as innocent and cute as Honoka-chan, but… Honoka-chan’s…

“H-H-Honoka-chan?” Kotori stammered while her eyes were glued to Honoka’s somewhat exposed front.

“Do you understand the terrors of water now, Kotori-chan? You should be careful-”

Kotori spread her handkerchief across Honoka’s chest and pulled her hands away before quickly turning away from the ginger that was oblivious of the effects the ginger’s actions has.

As much as I want to stare at Honoka-chan all day…Or just a second more… I shouldn’t let Honoka-chan keep herself wet and exposed…

“D-Dry yourself with that, H-Honoka-chan…I-I can see your…b-bra…”

Honoka blinked. “Okay..?” She dabbed Kotori’s handkerchief to her wet uniform for a while. “So you understand, Kotori-chan?”

Mmph…It has the power to get us closer…

Kotori turned back slowly and nodded. “Mmph, I understand the powers of water now, Honoka-chan…”  

Honoka smiled broadly, glad that her lesson got through to Kotori.

The ash-grey on the other hand was red to her ears as she took in the sight of Honoka’s wet front again, the drying was not working out the way she wanted.

“Um.” Kotori took off her blazer and made Honoka wear it. “W-Wear this to cover yourself until you dry, Honoka-chan…”

“Oh, it’s still not dry, huh?” Honoka laughed sheepishly before donning the blazer. “Thank you, Kotori-chan.”

“I-It’s nothing…”

Honoka-chan is wearing my blazer…

“Shall we head back to class?” Honoka folded Kotori’s handkerchief and returned it.

“M-Mmph…” Kotori kept her handkerchief and started for the exit.

I wonder why Honoka-chan wanted to tell me about the…powers of water…

Kotori smiled shyly.

I’m glad that it was with me though…I wouldn’t want Honoka-chan showing herself to someone else…

Kotori looked over to the ginger who was back to being carefree as she admired Kotori’s blazer on herself.

“Hehe~ It feels funny to wear someone else’s blazer~ But I didn’t bring mine today, so we can’t exchange blazers~” Honoka giggled.

Just looking at you wear my blazer is enough, Honoka-chan! Though…If I can wear yours while you wear mine, would be kind of romantic too~

 When Honoka and Kotori returned to the classroom, almond, violet and ruby eyes were focused on them.

Strong almond-yellow belonged to the blue haired archer, and striking violet belonged to the crimson haired doctor. The two of them was wondering where Honoka had taken their ash-grey haired classmate to, instead of them, and returning with the ash-grey’s blazer on her too. “What happened?” ran through their minds as they remain seated.

Ruby eyes that appeared fierce at the moment was scrutinizing the gingerhead, wondering when she could shine some truth onto the ginger; is she vampire or not.

Hm. The homeroom teacher doesn’t seem to be arriving any time soon.

Nico glanced to the door before resting her eyes on the ginger that was turning to speak to Kotori again.

I swear, the fact that Honoka’s stalker can sit right beside her in class is just unfair to all those other stalkers that have to put in an effort to peek through windows or hide behind bushes!

Nico wasn’t upset because the ash-grey haired classmate was making it hard for her to stalk and test the gingerhead, no. She also wasn’t feeling injustice for Honoka’s other stalkers, Nico does not know of their existence yet. Nico was simply upset because she realized that her tests have proved that she actually believes that Honoka is vampire.

This must be Nozomi’s spiritual powers messing with my head.

Nico grimaced as she expertly crushes a ball of paper; her ammo is loaded.

Well, it’s now or never. The Great Nico-ni shall now commence “Expose the Vampire Case 5: Honoka-idiot (human stalker still around)” She should be able to see the paper ball flying over since she’s facing Minami and then she’ll catch it, like Koizumi. And wa-la! She’s vampire!

Nico stood up, because she got so into the role, she felt the need to stand in a throwing position and pull back her hand for greater effect.

The idol’s actions were not going unnoticed as the redhead behind her raised both eyebrows at her ridiculously exaggerated pose. The redhead also figured that Nico seemed to be targeting the gingerhead for some reason she has yet to find out, so she decided to step in.

“Take this!” Nico swung her arm, but was unable to watch the results of her paper ball as she pulled a redhead to her side of the table.

Maki’s “What are you doing?” was cut short at ‘What’ as she lost her balance thanks to the phenomenal strength the smaller twin tailed girl just exerted in a simple hand throw.

…

Nico sweatdropped as she turned her head, an incredibly forced smile on her face, as she watched the redhead she just reeled in change from wide eyed to displeased in a matter of seconds.

Why did she grab onto my hand?

“M-Maki-chan?” Nico started with her idol voice though it came off shaky.

Damn! Why did I stutter? Stuttering makes me sound guilty!

“Why did you throw the paper ball at Honoka?” Maki didn’t like wasting time or beating around the bush, so she just asked the question on her mind.

“E-Eh? Nico wasn’t trying to throw a paper ball at Honoka~” Nico averted her gaze.

The Great Nico-ni does not need to try. The Great Nico-ni gets things done!

“Huh…” Maki narrowed her eyes which made Nico gulped.

Why isn’t Maki-chan letting go of my hand? It’s seriously stressing me out here. Ever heard of personal space?

“Hey, could you return Nico’s hand-”

Maki smiled a very eerie smile. “Your hand is very strong.”

Damn, there was that too! Is Maki-chan light or am I just that strong? Pft, of course it’s the Great Nico-ni who is strong. But that strength just brought me trouble. Ugh.

“N-Nico isn’t very strong…” Nico internally slapped herself for a stuttering and barely passable acting.

“Really?” Maki strengthened her grip on the class idol’s hand, and released the strength in her legs to test if Nico can keep her up with one wrist.

Nico managed to keep Maki up for a good second before her eyes bulged when she realized what Maki was doing, so she quickly put her other hand behind the redhead’s back in pretence to hold her up.

What the hell are you doing, Maki-chan?! If I didn’t had super strength you’d drop to the floor! If I was someone else, you’d be their next live target!

Nico forced another smile. “M-Maki-chan…Did Maki-chan not eat breakfast today..? To suddenly be unable to stand…on her two legs…That really surprised Nico…”

“It seems like you’re plenty strong.” Maki felt that she experimented on the class idol enough, so she let go of the black haired girl’s wrist and took a step back.

The Great Nico-ni isn’t going to get found out by a mere human! And a disinterested in the world human that somehow got granted the great looks too!

“N-Nico is an idol, so…Idols have rigorous training to train up our strength and stamina!” Nico felt like a good few years of her life was being shaved off thanks to the redhead’s incessant suspicion on her. The smirk on the redhead’s face somehow irked her too.

“Sure, I believe you.” Maki rolled her eyes at Nico’s idol front before returning to her seat.  

Ugh…I’m not discovered right?

Nico slumped back into her seat, exhausted. She looked over to the gingerhead who was resting her head on the table.

I didn’t take her down with a paper ball right? Well, if Honoka really got knocked unconscious in class, Minami or Sonoda would be making a fuss, not sit around like nothing happened.

Nico closed her eyes and dropped her head to meet the table too.

Expose the Vampire Case 5…failed… Got to… Get to the next plan!

Nico slammed both fists on the table in determination, but held her head with both hands after, as her head felt the table’s vibration when she banged her fist on the table.

Ouch…

 What really happened when Nico’s paper ball flew out of her hands; Honoka did see the paper ball flying over, but she just turned to see the projectile hit her on the forehead and she clasped both hands to her head.

“Ah! I-It’s a head shot…!”

Honoka-chan?! Where did the paper ball come from?

“H-Honoka-chan?” Kotori was surprised that a paper ball flew over suddenly. Plus it hit the ginger in the head. “Are you okay?”

“K-Kotori-chan…” Honoka held onto her head as she leaned closer to the concerned ash-grey. “I-I don’t think I have much longer…” Honoka pretended to be severely injured.

Ah, Honoka-chan is so close…And is cute when she’s pretending to die.

“Eh? H-Honoka-chan… S-Should we go to the nurse’s office to check on your injury?” Kotori knew it could not be that serious, but could not help but play along with the ginger’s antics.

“B-Before that…I just want to let you know that…”

“Let me know that?” Kotori looked over with her large golden eyes.

Will Honoka-chan pretend that we are lovers, and she’s an injured soldier that just returned from a war that has yet to end, and then…say that she just wants to let me know that she loves me..!

Kotori’s imagination was skyrocketing but before it became full-blown, the main actress spoke up again.

“I would love to have strawberry jam bread once more…before I go…” Honoka slumped to the back of the seat, pretending to have lost conscious.

Ah…Honoka-chan is thinking about food, huh?

The paper ball of course, did not even leave a scratch on Honoka’s forehead, so there wasn’t a need to go to the nurse’s office.

 Classes began, came and went. And now, it was time for lunch.

The one who strikes first, wins!

Nico cheated, or she was well-prepared; the Great Nico-ni, Class idol and part-time detective shot to her feet the moment the teacher uttered “Class end”. And before anyone could react, she bounded her way to Honoka’s table.

“Honoka.” Nico had a hand on the table and another on the seat, garnering all of the gingerhead’s attention when she turned to look at who called her.

“Oh, Nico-chan! What’s up?” Honoka smiled a large, warm smile to the angry looking Nico.

Not ‘”What’s up”, but “Where to”, Honoka.

Nico grinned. “Do you mind coming with me for a bit?”

Has long as she did not make any prior appointments, she’s mine.

Honoka tilted her head to the side. “Mm, sure.”

Winner!

Nico beamed. “Great! Let’s-”

Before Nico could get Honoka out of the classroom, someone interrupted; she knew things can’t just go her way.

“Hold on. What do you want with, Honoka?”

Nico turned around to see Sonoda Umi who has stood up, asking with a no-joke expression and tone. And to her left, a step above was a redhead who was radiating an unhappy aura with her arms crossed.

Am I in her way or does she want Honoka too? And Sonoda seriously might be Honoka’s chaperone with the way she’s almost always beside Honoka like this. Well, I better play safe here. Don’t want to get Sonoda and Maki on my tail.

“Nico just wanted to get to know her classmates better~ So Nico would like to hang out with Honoka a bit more for lunch~” Nico did her signature pose with a near perfect smile.

“Honoka-”

Umi was cut off when Honoka spoke up. “Yay, Nico-chan wants to hang out with me!” Honoka laughed happily. “Does Umi-chan want to hang out with Nico-chan too?”

It’s amazing how clueless to the animosity Honoka is. But good job, lighten the mood, Honoka!

Umi frowned at Honoka’s carefree attitude. It’s understandable that Honoka won’t go around doubting her classmate, but Umi has reasons for her suspicions on Nico. “No, I don’t.”

“Then there’s no need to inter- I mean stop us from hanging out, nico~”  

How hard is it to have this dumb idiot here for a moment alone?!

Nico was getting annoyed.

“If Umi doesn’t have a need, I do.” Four pair of eyes looked over to Maki.

“Maki-chan wants to have lunch with Nico-chan?” Honoka guessed, again totally off the mark.

“No. I want to have lunch with you.” Maki wondered how she was able to be so honest, but forgave herself since it’s for the better in this situation.

Great. Now the classy redhead wants to have lunch with the idiot!

“Aw~ I’d love to, but I already promised Nico-chan. Want to eat with us instead?”

What? No. You don’t go inviting other people to our alone time, Honoka!

Maki opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted.

“No. I’d like to have you alone, so.” Nico didn’t want to dance around a redhead who was glaring daggers at her,  and a blue haired archer that looked ready to pull her bow out (not that she’s afraid of some arrows), thus she did the next logical thing, get out of the situation literally. “We’re going now.”

Nico grabbed both of Honoka’s hands in hers to pull the gingerhead out of class and the situation itself. She should have done it earlier to avoid Honoka asking others to eat together with them; they weren’t even going to eat.

I should have done this earlier.

When Nico took Honoka’s hands into hers, Maki, Umi and Kotori flinched and frowned as they wanted to be the one to hold Honoka’s hand. Umi scolded herself for thinking that, Maki told herself it’s not like she really wanted to hold Honoka’s hand, while Kotori had half a mind to follow along regardless, but stopped herself to respect Honoka’s and Nico’s decisions.

Right, there was still Hoshizora to worry about.

Nico gave a quick glance back towards the purple haired girl who was observing them with a grin, she signalled to Nozomi with a glare to keep watch on Hanayo and Rin to see if they can find out more about the Asking-for-trouble banner, aptly named by Nico herself. Nozomi just grinned wider and turned her attention to the brunette and orange haired girl in front of her.

“Let’s go get ramen, Kayochin!” The orange haired girl turned to her childhood friend excitedly.

“Um, Rin-chan.” This time, Hanayo wasn’t trying to avoid ramen, but instead want to gather information about Rin’s banner creation.

“Hm?” Rin calmed down a little to listen.

“How…How goes your banner?” Hanayo was thinking of ways to ask in a roundabout manner, but finally decided she might as well just cut to the chase for this matter.

“Banner, nya?” Rin cocked her head to the side, not yet registering what does banners have to do with her. “Oh! The bat-banner?”

Hanayo nodded with a small smile at her friend’s enthusiasm.

“Mm…” Rin crossed her arm while furrowing her brows.

“W-What’s wrong?” Hanayo felt concern for her cheerful friend’s frustrated expression.

“Rin can’t decide which colour to use, nya…”

Hanayo could not help but smile slightly, relieved that Rin has yet to progress much on her banner. Nozomi who was listening into their conversation grinned, assuming the same thing as Hanayo.

“I- I see…Good luck, Rin-chan…”

“Thank you, Kayochin Rin will do her best!” Rin went back to being jolly thanks to Hanayo’s support.

“Ah…Mmph…” Hanayo nodded.

Umi walked out of the classroom without saying anything, she had full intentions to follow the class idol whose actions she queried, and her childhood friend that is oblivious to her situation, whatever the situation is.

Maki considered returning to her seat to sulk, as she lost her appetite when Honoka got dragged off elsewhere, but she wasn’t given that chance when her nurse in training disciple spoke to her.

“M-Maki-chan?”

Maki uncrossed her arms and rested her left hand on her hip. “What?”

“Um…Are you free to teach me more about medicine today..?” Kotori was intimidated by Maki’s cool attitude, and disinterested eyes.

Maki shrugged. “How about your lunch?”

“I-I’ll finish it quickly.” Kotori answered quickly with a smile, relieved that she was not turned down.

“Alright then.” Maki walked over to Kotori and sat beside her; initial reason was to wait for the ash-grey girl to finish her lunch, but when she remembered it was Honoka’s seat, she rest her chin on her hand and looked away from Kotori as there was a slight blush appearing on her cheeks.

Kotori was slightly surprised that the redhead came over to sit, she also wanted to ask if Maki wanted to eat, but decided against it; the redhead seems to know what she’s doing all the time, questioning her might come off as rude.

 Outside the classroom, Nico was still holding onto Honoka’s hand as she led the ginger to where she regarded as a private space for talking; the same corridor she officially made friends with Hanayo when she exposed the brunette’s identity.

Following behind them, the talented blue haired archer was clenching and unclenching her fist to calm herself down.

When is Yazawa-san going to let go of Honoka’s hand? It’s getting kind of annoying. Maybe I should step in to separate those hands…

Umi clenched and unclenched her hands once more before letting out a long breath, all to calm herself and avoid making a move she might regret. Her father taught her to be more decisive, yes. But he also taught her to not be too hasty in making important decisions; especially when violence is involved.

“Alright.” Nico turned around to face Honoka who was smiling.

Honoka’s weirdly obedient… Who would just follow a stranger to wherever they want?

Nico stared at the smiling ginger, the smile being very contagious as Nico’s lips edged upwards too. However, when she noticed that she was still holding hands with Honoka, a blush formed on her cheek for some reason as she let go.

What the heck! Why am I getting embarrassed?!

“You could have asked for your hand back if you didn’t like it, you know?” Nico shot the ginger an accusatory glare.

Umi standing further away in the shadows was glaring back at Nico.

And you could let go of Honoka’s hand the moment you left the classroom.

Honoka just cocked her head to the side, confused. “Hm? I didn’t dislike it.”

Dislike it, Honoka! I mean…Can you be silent for a moment, brain? I’m trying to find out if Yazawa-san is up to something. Not...get jealous… I’m not jealous!

Umi was having an internal conflict with herself.

“Dislike it.” Nico commanded with deadpan eyes.

Seriously! Be more conscious about this sort of lovey-dovey actions!

“Eh~ But I really don’t mind.” Honoka smiled broadly. “Holding hands is a sign of how close we are!”

For couples, maybe.

“Cos’ we’re friends!” Honoka made a gut pose, and was smiling so eagerly that Nico couldn’t retaliate with a snide comment.

Does she have a grade-schooler brain or something?

Nico sighs.

Vampire. Honoka. A vampire…

“Is everything okay, Nico-chan?” Honoka’s concerned tone brought Nico’s attention back to her.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

Let’s begin “Expose the Vampire Case 6: Honoka-idiot (Alone, finally)”.

“So…You mind answering whatever I ask you?” Nico put up a huge grin to be less intimidating.

“Sure! We’re going to get to know each other more, right?” Honoka giggled happily.

“Y-Yeah…” Nico found herself smiling naturally again. “What’s your favourite food?”

“Bread!” Honoka did not even have to think for this question; if she did, she might consider saying blood, so luckily for her, she did not think.

Well, Honoka did mention that she loves bread during introductions…

“With what topping?”

“Strawberry jam! It’s just so sweet and delicious~ I can’t really explain it…I think you should try some. I’ll bring some for you next time!” Honoka’s eyes was shining, Nico found it rather blinding to look at Honoka’s pure form of excitement for the jam, so she put both hands out to say no.

Honoka was eating that and feeding it to Minami too. In fact, I already knew this. I should ask something else… Though I was hoping to hear her say blood instead… Why wouldn’t a vampire who loves bread, not put blood all over her favourite food right? I mean, Hanayo does it…

“T-That’s not necessary…” Nico couldn’t take bread very well. “Why did you mention blood during your introduction on the first day of school?”  Nico narrowed her eyes in anticipation.

“Because I was told that blood type O is quite rare, making it important! And I love it!” Maki taught Honoka about how blood type O has fewer donations than the others since O type is few among the population, and she also told the gingerhead to use this as a reason for whenever blood is mentioned to Honoka; it most probably can get Honoka out of accidentally exposing herself.

“How fast can you run?” Nico decided to step away from blood and try on other aspects of vampires.

Just tell me that you can lap the school in few seconds-

“Eh..? I’m not really good with math…” Honoka lifted her right hand to her lips as she tried to remember the mathematical formula for speed.

“Do you think you can-” Nico was going to ask if Honoka can purchase her favourite bread and return here in a minute, but the gingerhead had a question of her own.

“Is Nico-chan asking about my physical capability so that you know what kind of training we can begin with?” Honoka looked up excitedly.

Umi who has been keeping her brain in check, and listening in to the two’s question and answer session, perked up when she heard ‘training’.

What’s this training about..?

“T-Training..?” Nico’s pace was broken as she fell onto Honoka’s track.

“Mm-hm! As basketball idols!” Honoka nodded.

Basketball idols?

Umi’s eyebrows furrowed together. She already did not bother with idols with how flashy they dressed, hearing of basketball idols just sounded even more ridiculous to her.

“No. Not basketball idols!” Nico really did not want to be known as a basketball idol, so she had to clear the misunderstanding with Honoka before she spreads the wrong word.

“Um…As idols?” Honoka hoped she did not anger the class idol unintentionally.

“I- …Yeah, yeah. I’m asking you these questions to see if you’re fit to be an idol worthy of the Great Nico-ni’s training!” Nico placed both hands on her hips proudly.

Umi suddenly felt like she lost all interest in the conversation.

Since when was Honoka interested in being an idol..? I’m pretty sure she’s more interested in battle mangas… Anyway, if this was all about playing idol together, I guess I didn’t have to worry so much…

Umi made her judgement; Nico and Honoka ran on weird wavelengths. And it most probably isn’t harmful to each other, so she can relax. Umi exited the shadows to spend the rest of lunch break doing something else.

 Nico was now back in her seat and staring at the gingerhead again; Honoka rested her head on her arm lazily as she had no one to talk to since Kotori has yet to return from the nurse’s office.

… How did lunchbreak just went by like this?! Honoka side-tracked so much that I ended up explaining about idols to her and what training she could do! I did not manage to get concrete answers! Ugh… Honoka…

Nico slumped her entire body across her table, both mentally and physically exhausted from following Honoka’s pace. The Great Nico-ni’s detective work has yet to end. She absentmindedly crushed paper and rolled it to the side.

The classroom door opened and the ash-grey haired girl who still has yet to get her blazer back entered. She walked up to her seat from the resting ginger’s side, but stopped as she wasn’t sure of how to get in.

Honoka-chan is resting…Maybe I should go from the other side..?

Honoka sat up straight suddenly and turned to look at Kotori.

Ah, Honoka-chan woke up.

Kotori blinked in surprise before smiling sweetly. Honoka broke into a broad smile.

“Kotori-chan! Welcome back~” The ginger who regained her energy hopped out of her seat for Kotori to go in.

“Thank you, Honoka-chan…” Kotori felt her heart thumping faster from Honoka’s broad, broad smile, plus her heart can’t keep calm every time the gingerhead that she is head over heels for calls her name.

Honoka-chan…I just love it when you say my name…

Kotori took note of where she placed her pencil case which marked where she should sit so that she is closer to the gingerhead who sat back beside her.

“Kotori-chan, where did you go to eat today?” Honoka made small talk with a bright smile.

“I ate in class today, actually…” Kotori returned the smile, though slightly smaller.

I’d only go somewhere else if with you, Honoka-chan…

“Oh~” Honoka blinked once, wondering what the next question should be. “So you were in the bathroom?”

Kotori shook her head. “No, I was at the nurse’s office with Maki-chan-”

“Eh?! Did something happen?” Honoka shuffled closer concernedly.

Honoka-chan moved closer to me..! And Honoka-chan’s worried expression…It’s a different kind of cute…

Kotori blushed slightly and shook her head. “No…I’m studying first aid with Maki-chan’s help, so…” Kotori gave a small and shy smile, she did not really consider telling Honoka about her medicinal studies since she has yet to know enough to be confident in sharing about it.

Honoka visibly relaxed as her smile returned. “Hm~ Kotori-chan is learning healing powers, huh~ That’s cool!”

“I’ve only just started though…” Kotori lowered her head shyly.

“It all begins with a start!” Honoka beamed proudly at Kotori. “Once you become even better at healing, I’ll have two healers! Hehe~” Honoka chuckled joyfully. “Ah, that’s if Kotori-chan wants to be mine healer too though…” Honoka changed from proud jolly to modest and shy.

H-Honoka-chan… Of course, I’d want to be your healer! I don’t think I’m good enough though…

Ping! Ping! Ping!

Sounds of metal clashing reverberated in the air as sword blows were exchanged.

“This is the end for you, Swordswoman Kousaka!” A painful stab that grazed the swordswoman sides sounded as she staggered backwards.

“Ugh, no it isn’t! I’m not going down without a fight!”

“Swordswoman Honoka-chan!” Golden orbs that tried to blink away the forming tears cried the name of her warrior.

“Don’t worry, Healer Kotori-chan. Just concentrate on healing me. And I won’t die.” The Swordswoman Kousaka Honoka turned her head to give her healer an encouraging smile.  

Healer Kotori rubbed the tears away from her eyes with the sleeves of her robe before giving a firm nod to her partner in battle. “Heal!” A green light appeared around her warrior, healing the injuries as best she can; it wasn’t much, but it lifted some of the pain Swordswoman Honoka felt.

“Thank you, Healer Kotori-chan!” Swordswoman Honoka readied her next fighting stance. “Meet your end! Evil Swordsman!”

“Gaahh!!” The Evil Swordsman suffered some hits as he was unable to parry all of Swordswoman Honoka’s strikes, slashes and lunges.

“Swordswoman Honoka-chan…” Healer Kotori whispered the name of her warrior, worry-laden as she did her best to cast another heal.

“You can’t defeat me! Swordswoman Kousaka!!” The Evil Swordsman’s dark aura doubled and before Swordswoman Honoka could react, she was slashed five times and when she parried the sixth strike, the force blew her backwards all the way to where Healer Kotori was.

“Ughh!” Swordswoman Honoka groaned in pain.

“Swordswoman Honoka!” The tears welled up in Healer Kotori’s golden orbs once again as she knelt beside her warrior and hovered her staff over the injured spots, hoping that if she healed from a closer range it might be stronger.

“Healer…K-Kotori-chan…” Swordswoman Honoka cupped the crying Healer’s face gently with her shaky hands. “Don’t cry…” She caught a falling tear and wiped off the rest that threatened to follow. “I will protect you through it all…”

Healer Kotori shook her head vigorously. “It’s my fault! Because I’m not strong enough-” A finger placed softly on her lips stopped the Healer from more self-blame. She looked into ocean blue eyes that still reflected strength, determination and love despite the injuries the owner has suffered. “Swordswoman Honoka-chan…”

“Believe in me, and I will be able to protect you, Healer Kotori-chan.” Swordswoman Honoka mustered a wide smile for her healer.

“Mmph! I believe in you, Swordswoman Honoka-chan!” Healer Kotori exclaimed, as she held the hand of her warrior’s and green light shined all around the two.

Swordswoman Honoka got to her feet, gave a final squeeze to Healer Kotori’s gentle hand, before she directed her determined eyes at the enemy.

“Evil Swordsman! Here! I! Come!! Raaarggh!!” Swordswoman Honoka let out a battle cry before all the concentrated energy she channelled to her feet propelled her forward at lightning speed and she pierced the heart of the Evil Swordsman with her blade.

“Kotori-chan? Would you want to be my healer?” Honoka was trying to get the ash-grey hair’s attention.

“Eh? Um, I- I’d love to, Swordswoman Honoka-chan!” Kotori affected by her daydream addressed Honoka as swordswoman, while sounding very determined too.

Honoka took an extra second to take in the change before she smiled broadly and chuckled. “I’m more of a fist person, but I think swords are cool too~ Hehe~”

Honoka-chan as a sword wielder or simply fighting with your bare fists is equally cool~

Nico above has crushed a whole bunch of papers and seeing the carefree ginger and ash-grey classmates chatting and laughing away got her slightly irritated.

I’m putting in so much effort to find out if you’re vampire and all you do is flirt and make things hard for me!

Nico’s train of thought was entirely irrational as the exhaustion crippled her capability to cool down. Nico sneaked a glance behind her to see that the redhead was not back yet.

No one to stop me now!

Nico grabbed the crushed paper balls and rained it down on Honoka.

With that speed, if you’re a vampire, you can catch all of it! Or at least half.

Nico crossed her arms and watched, though the results was never what she expects it to be when it came to the gingerhead. The paper balls all hit or fell around Honoka.

“Woah!” Honoka picked up a few paper balls and stared at it in fascination.

Why do I even bother? That dumb-idiot is probably thinking around the lines of magic paper balls…

“Honoka-chan, are you alright?” Kotori picked up some of the paper balls that landed on the floor too.

“I’m okay!” Honoka chuckled. “Watch this, Kotori-chan!”

Kotori looked over to see the gingerhead juggling about ten paper balls. Kotori giggled as she watched Honoka increased the amount of paper balls she was juggling, not noticing that Honoka was adding each paper ball at a phenomenal speed. Nico too failed to notice as she got irritated that her paper ball test led to helping Honoka impress Kotori more than necessary.

Honoka-chan is so good at juggling~

Honoka laughed happily which made her miss throw a paper ball in her juggling, which then led to the other paper balls to stop being juggled properly and all landed on Honoka’s head one after the other.

“Wah! Ah! Haha~” Honoka laughed even more as each paper ball hit her on the head.

Kotori could not help but laugh again, even more than before.

Honoka-chan…She’s so funny and adorable…

Honoka felt a great sense of accomplishment that she can make Kotori smile and laugh so much just from her juggling skit, so she smiled much, much broader than usual.

 The rest of the school day rolled by relatively normally, and now it was after school. Honoka dropped her head onto the table with a soft complain.

“Uu…It’s after school…”

Finally it’s afterschool…

Kotori smiled at the ginger before packing her bag. “Honoka-chan…”

“Mm?” Honoka shifted her head to look at her seat mate.

Oh, Kotori-chan is ready to head home already… hehe~ Kotori-chan sure packs fast. She’s as efficient as Umi-chan and Maki-chan!

“Um…W-Would you like to go home together?” Kotori stuttered the question, the ginger usually invite her to walk home, but there are times when someone gets to her first, and Kotori would just feel like she’d be intruding if she walked with them; even if they are walking the same way.

Go home together, huh~ I’d love to, but today I’m not going home! Well, not yet anyways~

“Mm…” Honoka sat up while she thought of her reply, but while she was thinking, someone came to approach her.

“Honoka, there isn’t archery club today, so I could walk you back.” Umi with her school bag in hand, stood by Honoka’s table.

Umi-chan too?

“Eh? Um, I-”

Honoka could not finish her reply as a third person approached Honoka.

“Honoka.” The redhead glance to her blue haired childhood friend for a moment before returning her gaze to the gingerhead. “Want to walk home together?”

Maki-chan too? Today’s walk home would have been so much fun! Ah, but I can’t. I promised myself that I’ll visit Rin-chan today!

“I’d really love to, but…” Honoka wore a nervous smile, she did not like to cause unhappiness to others, and she somehow felt that saying no to walking home with the three of them would make them kind of upset.

“Did you get detention?” Umi questioned.

“Wha-? No? I- I did not get detention, Umi-chan!” Honoka frantically denied the possibility; she does not remember getting a detention yet for high school. “I just have something on, so I can’t walk home with you all…” Honoka turned in her seat to make eye contact with Maki, Umi and Kotori to show her sincerity.

I really, really, really would love to walk home with you three! But not today!

“Sorry, Kotori-chan.” Honoka apologized, while Kotori waved both hands in front of her.

“I-It’s nothing to apologize about, Honoka-chan…It’s okay. T-There’s always next time…” Kotori’s heart was doing skips again as she met Honoka’s filled with sincerity and apologetic blue eyes.

Kotori-chan is so nice~

“Mmph! There’s always next time!” Honoka turned around. “Umi-chan, sorry I can’t go home with you today even though you’re finally free…” Honoka gave the same apologetic look to Umi.

Umi had a lopsided smile. “It’s okay. As Mina- Kotori has mentioned, there’s always another time.”

“Umi-chan…” Honoka felt touched at Umi’s understanding.

Umi-chan is so understanding, hehe~

“Maki-chan, I’m sorry I can’t walk home with you today.” Once again, Honoka changed to her apologetic look to the redhead.

Maki crossed her arms and averted her gaze. “I-It’s not like I’m agreeing with Kotori on purpose…But as she said. There’s always another time. So…D-Don’t misunderstand, okay?” Maki looked at Honoka with a huff.

W-What’s there to misunderstand..?

“O-Okay..?” Honoka agreed to whatever she’s supposed to not misunderstand with a warm smile.

Umi, Maki and Kotori remained at their positions for another minute or so, not knowing when would be a good time to go.

“I-I guess I’ll go now… See you, Honoka…” Maki began.

“See you, Maki-chan!” Honoka had just finished packing her bag.

The three of them continued standing around despite Maki already saying she’ll go; the three of them were waiting for Honoka to go first for one reason or another.

Hm…I shall follow Rin-chan to her house today and have a chat with her~

After Rin has walked quite a distance down the corridor, Honoka stands up to follow.

The remaining three stood in silent for a moment after Honoka left, before each taking their leave.

 Honoka was doing a fine job of following Rin and Hanayo as they walked home together, but the gingerhead didn’t see a need to distant herself from her two friends. She might as well walk together with them, before pretending to go further down the path.

Rin-chan and Hanayo-chan sure are close~

“Rin-chan, Hanayo-chan~” Honoka waved at the two who looked behind them, she jogged over to Rin and Hanayo. “Do you mind if I walk with you?”

“There’s no problem, nya~” Rin answered excitedly.

“I-I-I’d love to…walk with…H-Honoka-chan too…” Hanayo was so nervous she started stuttering as she squeaked.

I’d love to walk together too~ That’s why I called out to you after all~

Rin laughed. “Kayo-chin! You don’t have to be so formal or afraid!” Rin patted the brunette’s back excitedly.

Hehe~ Rin-chan sure knows how to calm Hanayo-chan down~

“Kayo-chin does not have to be so nervous~ Let’s walk together, nya!”

“Y-Yes…Rin-chan…” Hanayo was still relatively jittery.

“Hey, hey, Rin-chan.” Honoka walked beside Rin.

“Nyat is it, Honoka-chan?” Rin turned her attention to the ginger.

“I heard you want to meet the bat you chatted with again?” Honoka grinned widely at the thought of visiting right after their walk home.

“Yes, nya! Rin wants to chat with the cute little bat again~” Rin did a happy bounce.

“I want to chat more with you too~” Honoka giggled.

“Nya?” Rin and Hanayo looked over to Honoka confused as to why Honoka would say that.

Honoka blinked and returned the stare.

Did I say something wrong?

“U-Um…” Hanayo spoke up quietly.

“There’s no need to raise your hand to speak, Hanayo-chan.” Honoka sent the timid brunette a huge and reassuring smile.

“M-Mmph…” Hanayo nodded then looked over to Rin. “R-Rin-chan. Don’t you think meeting a bat is kind of…dangerous?”

“Dangerous?” Rin didn’t see the dangers in chatting with an adorable bat that seems to understand human language. “Rin don’t think so.”

I love how Rin-chan is so trusting. Of course, I’m totally trustworthy too!

Honoka smiled wider at her self-praise.

“Well…bats could…bite?” Hanayo knew it as a fact that bats normal or abnormal can and will bite.

Don’t worry, Hanayo-chan. I won’t bite Rin-chan.

“If the bat is hungry Rin can share with it my ramen, nya!” Rin put her hands out like she was holding a bowl of ramen.

“Rin-chan…” Hanayo does not believe that she can persuade Rin to change her mind about meeting bats.

“I don’t know if I’ll like eating ramen…” Honoka spoke her mind as she thought about slurping down some noodles; she tried dry noodles before and it did not end up in her digestive system happily.

“Eh? But ramen is sooo delicious, nya!” Rin was inspired to spread the love for ramen to her energetic friend. “Honoka-chan has to try it!”

Honoka laughed. “Mm…I’ll think about it.”

“You must!” Rin looked over determinedly.

I should not have said that out loud… But Rin-chan really loves ramen. I think she eats ramen for every lunch break. Well, I’m not one to talk since all I can eat is bread and blood.

“Ah, our houses are this way…” Hanayo spoke up again when they neared their apartment.

“Oh~” Honoka looked up at the high rise building.

So this is how Hanayo-chan and Rin-chan’s houses look like in the day time.

“Honoka-chan’s house is further down..?” Hanayo asked.

“Eh? Ah…” Honoka looked from Hanayo to Rin who was waiting for an answer. “M-Mmph…I need to walk further down from here.” Honoka pointed to the front.

My house certainly isn’t here…

Honoka laughed nervously.

“See you tomorrow, Honoka-chan, Rin-chan.” Hanayo gave each of her friend a small wave before heading home.

“See you tomorrow, Hanayo-chan!” Honoka returned a huge wave.

“See you, Kayo-chin!” Rin did the same as Honoka before spinning around. “See you, Honoka-chan~”

“See you soon, Rin-chan!” Honoka grinned, while Rin skipped off.

Very soon indeed~

 While Honoka, Rin and Hanayo were walking home together for the first time, Nozomi finished with her duties went back to class to grab her bag.

“Waiting for me, Nicocchi?” Nozomi joked immediately upon entering.

Nico just returned the spiritual vampire a deadpan stare.

“No luck today?” Nozomi smiled understandingly, she can tell that Honoka is quite the enigma to crack; especially if you tackle it the roundabout way like Nico is doing.

Nico sighed heavily. “Honoka…”

Nozomi was understanding of Nico’s situation, but she could not let the opportunity to tease that Nico herself opened slip by.

“Nicocchi misses Honoka-chan so badly already~? Well, this is one of the symptoms of young love, I suppose~”

Nico slammed her hands on the table and glared at Nozomi. “Why don’t you try testing Honoka instead? It’s tough to even get her alone!” Nico grimaced, she was upset enough that her plans weren’t working out, getting teased was just adding to her anger.

Nozomi smiled. “Honoka-chan is a very popular girl after all.”

Nozomi used her gentle tone which helped Nico calm down considerably, as she crossed her arms. “Talk about popular…Even Maki-chan…”

Nico trailed off while furrowing her eyebrows.

“Did something happen with Maki-chan?” Nozomi smirked as a chance for teasing called her. “Perhaps Nicocchi is jealous of Honoka-chan~”

“W-Why would I be jealous of the dumb idiot?” Nico frowned, not even sure why she stuttered, and during her shouting, she did not notice the classroom door opened.

“Well~ Honoka-chan gets most of the girls attention, right? Even Maki-chan’s. So you’re jealous that Maki-chan isn’t looking your way~”

“And why would I, the Great Nico-ni, universe’s cutest idol, want Maki-chan to be looking my way?!” Nico glowered.

“Yazawa-san is in love with Nishikino-san?” The person who just walked in quickly clasped a hand to her mouth for her insensitive commenting.

Nico jerked her head over to the source with wide eyes, internally sighing in relief that she did not add on the title of smartest vampire.

“A-Ayase?!”

“Oh, done with talking to the teacher, Elichi?” Nozomi grinned, she knew Eli entered the classroom, and decided that it would be more fun to tease Nico this way.

“I’m sorry for listening in. It wasn’t on purpose.” Eli bowed in apology. “I won’t tell anyone about your feelings for Nishikino-san, Yazawa-san.”

“Wha-?! I’m not in love with Maki-chan!” Nico could not believe her ears.

“Nicocchi is still confused as to whether she likes Maki-chan or Honoka-chan more~” Nozomi feigned an upset look as though she felt for Nico’s plight.

“Nozomi!”

“Honoka too?” Eli believed whatever Nozomi said and her eyes widened in surprise.

“Wha-? N-No! Don’t believe whatever this woman says!” Nico gestures exasperatedly at the purplenette who was trying to control her laughter.

“I…” Eli lowered her head to hide her blush. When Nico lay out the fact that she believes whatever Nozomi says, it makes her wonder why she believes everything too, though it does not make her feel foolish, in fact it makes her want to smile.

Nico groaned at the two’s reaction. “I’m leaving.”

Nozomi spoke in between giggles. “See you tomorrow, Nicocchi.”

“Um, see you tomorrow, Yazawa-san.” Eli bowed again.

Nico huffed and closed the doors.

 After Rin and Hanayo walked into their high rise building respectively, Honoka rushed to a corner and transformed.

“Hehe~ Time to do some friend visiting~” Honoka-bat pumped a wing in the air before flying after Rin; losing sight of her cat-like friend now would defeat the purpose of walking with them in the first place.

Rin made it easier for Honoka as she was humming “nya” as she skipped home. The lift door opened, and Honoka-bat swiftly flew in and remained above Rin’s head so as to only say hi when she has entered Rin’s house.

Rin-chan lives on the 9th floor, huh…That’s kind of high~

“Rin’s back, nya!” Rin greeted as she entered her house.

Honoka-bat skilfully flew in and hid behind a cat ornament when Rin’s mum came over to greet her daughter.

Once Rin’s mum walked away and Rin started for her room, Honoka-bat hopped out from behind the cat, climbed it, and jumped off the shelf to begin her bat flight.

Rin-chan’s house is filled with cats~ No wonder she goes nya~ hehe~

Honoka-bat saw Rin closing the door to her room and panicked.

“Wha! Wait, wait up, Rin-chan!” Honoka-bat called and quickened her flying and somehow managed to slip inside before the door closed.

“Nya?” Rin turned around to look at her door as she thought she heard something.

Honoka-bat used more speed than necessary to make it into the room, so she smacked right into the other end’s wall and landed onto the floor.

“O-Ouch… It’s not really pain, but…” Honoka-bat shook her head and pushed herself off the floor.

Rin placed her bag away and stretched. “Nyaa~” She has yet to notice the bat in her room, and she ran over to her table to grab her banner in the making.

“Is that the banner to invite me over, Rin-chan?” Honoka-bat giggled, but was drowned out by the sounds of the banner being spread across the floor.

“What colour should I use for this side of the banner, nya…” Rin held up an orange marker and a green marker.

“I think orange is nice~” Honoka-bat hopped over to the banner and stood where the drawing of a bat was.

Rin’s mouth dropped agape as she stared at Honoka-bat.

“Hello, Rin-chan~ We meet again!” Honoka-bat had apparently forgotten all that Umi chided her about, as she waved to Rin.

“A-Are you the bat that…Rin met before..?” Rin bend closer to Honoka-bat.

“Yup!” Honoka-bat saluted as an affirmation.

Rin’s eyes were sparkling. “R-Rin has yet to finish the banner for you…and…and you’re already here..! Rin is happy!” Rin laughed and jumped onto her feet before doing a happy run around her room going “nya” and “yay”.

Honoka-bat chuckled and flew along with Rin. “I’m as happy to meet you again in my bat form, Rin-chan~ It’s kind of fun flying~”

“How did you know Rin wanted to see you again…Bat-chan?” Rin stopped running and was hopping on the spot.

“Kotori-chan let me know~ hehe~” Honoka-bat remained in air in front of the starry eyed cat-girl.

“Um…” Rin was so excited, she forgot all that she wanted to chat with Honoka-bat.

“Let’s-” Honoka-bat was interrupted by a shout asking Rin to stop making such loud noises, and Honoka-bat fell onto the floor.

“R-Rin’s sorry, mum!” Rin stopped jumping and bend over to the bat on the floor that was seemed to be laughing.

“Ahaha…I seem to fall a lot in this room.” Honoka rested on the floor where she fell.

“Are you okay…Bat-chan?”

“I’m totally okay, Rin-chan. Hey, wanna finish your banner together?” Honoka-bat asked and realized Rin might not understand what she’s saying, so she got to her feet and half hopped, half flew over to the banner on the floor.

“Bat-chan?” Rin followed the bat.

“Let’s finish the banner together! That’ll be super fun, right?” Honoka-bat pointed at the banner and then raised both wings in a hoorah pose.

Rin beamed and nodded vigorously. “Let’s colour the banner, nya~” Rin rushed over and picked up some of her coloured markers and pens to spread it on the floor. “Which colour do you think Rin should use, nya?”

Honoka-bat pretended to scan the array of colouring materials with one wing to her mouth.

I kind of already know I want orange, so~

“This one!” Honoka-bat tried to pick up the marker with her wing, and frowned. “Whoops, can’t grab it properly.” Honoka-bat hopped onto the orange marker to lift it with her feet. “This one!”

Rin stared in awe as Honoka-bat lifted the orange marker up into the air. “Rin is…amazed, nya…”

Honoka-bat giggled and dropped the orange marker into Rin’s waiting hands. “Let’s colour!”

Honoka-bat flew back to the area which needed colouring to urge Rin to begin.

“Yes, nya!” Rin uncapped the marker and started filling the white with orange.

At various areas, Rin tried getting Honoka-bat to join in the colouring. Honoka-bat gladly complied as though she couldn’t colour properly with her wing or feet. Rin then suggested that they hold the marker together; in which Rin did most of the colouring, while Honoka-bat hopped along with the marker, letting Rin know where she missed a spot.

Honoka-bat and Rin laughed heartily when they had completed the banner.

“Nya~ Rin had lots of fun today with Bat-chan~” Rin turned to look at Honoka-bat.

“So did I~” Honoka-bat gave her toothy smile to Rin. “I wish I could tell you I’m Honoka though~ But Umi-chan would get so angry…” Honoka laughed nervously and stopped.

Umi-chan will be so angry… Ah! I totally forgot that I’m not supposed to do all this humanly actions!

Honoka-bat stared at her own laidback posture on the ground, similar to Rin’s.

Rin felt Honoka-bat’s sudden unease. “Is everything okay, nya?”

“Ah…It’s okay…” Honoka-bat gave a small smile. “Has long as Umi-chan doesn’t find out!”

Rin smiled. “Want to eat ramen, Bat-chan?” Rin’s eyes shined excitedly.

“Ah…I actually have to go already, Rin-chan…” Honoka-bat looked out the window to see that the sun is about to set.

Rin was still looking at Honoka-bat expectantly, so Honoka-bat flew over to the window and pointed.

“Oh…Do you have to go already, Bat-chan?” Rin felt a bit lonely already.

Honoka-bat smiled and waved. “I might visit again~”

“Let’s play together soon!” Rin smiled, deciding that showing positivity is better than being sad; the bat went off last time, but returned too.

“Hehe~ Yup! See you, Rin-chan!” Honoka-bat waved once more and flew out.

“Bye bye, Bat-chan~!” Rin waved and shouted even though Honoka-bat was no longer in sight.

Author Notes

How was this chapter? XD I made sure it was longer too~ As apologies for sharing later than usual!

I got carried away with Kotori’s fantasy of Swordswoman Honoka and Healer Kotori too~ XP Hehe~ It was kind of fun.

Leave a comment if you like~ ^^

[almost-random-stuff]

“Il Volo” on Radio RTL102.5, on February 15th, 2017

Translation of the interview to Il volo, on Radio RTL102.5, on February 15th, 2017

With Federico Vespa and Federica Gentile. The program name is Protagonisti, which means Protagonists.

 I want to say some things first:

1-Federico Vespa is son of Bruno Vespa, the presenter that often hosted the boys on his TV program even before Sanremo, when they when mostly unknown in Italy;

2-Vespa is the surname, but in Italian it means “wasp”, but it’s also the name of a famous Italian brand of scooter.

3-…just so you know Gentile means kind. So the presenters name sounds for us like Federico Wasp and Federica Kind. (LOL)  She, Federica, is really a joyful person, I can’t write “laugh” every row but more or less you should imagine it.

4-If Piero seems a little sleepy here you should have seen him that morning, on Radio2 Social Club XD

5-they talk a little about Sanremo and I want to point out that Gian guessed the podium, writing on his twitter “not necessarily in this order: Ermal Meta –who came 3th- Fiorella Mannoia –who came 2th- and Francesco Gabbani –who came 1th” so he obviously likes all the three of them. He even post a good luck post for Alessio Bernabei, Bianca Atzei, and Ermal Meta, before the show.

6-Ignazio is a Big Sweet Grumpy Bear and I love him just the way he is XD

So, there are two microphone in studio, one for the two presenter, the other for the three boys.

 FG: And “Protagonisti” start now, 9 minutes after 19:00  Generally we are in two, but today we are more… Here is Vespino [literally “Little Wasp”]

FV: Hi, Federica Gentile, but mostly-

FG: Hi to Il Volo!

GG: Ciao al volo. [it’s a joke: in Italy we use “al volo” to say that something is done fast. “ciao al volo” means more or less “fast greeting” but literally is “hi at flight”]

FG: Ciao al volo.…ok… Done.

FV: Hi youth

FG: so how are you, guys?

GG: good thanks

Silence

FG: Ignazio, Piero how are you?

IB: good

PB:…

GG: always travelling-

FG: always on flight (=in Volo)

GG: exactly, always on flight

FV: you (three) live on airplane

GG: a little.

PB: (say something but doesn’t speak on the microphone, I couldn’t hear him)

GG: yea, you can do a lot of jokes… “The flight of the Wasp” [there is a musical piece called more or less “Il volo del calabrone” which means “The flight of the Hornet”]

FG: we have a lot of time to pass together so you (audience)  can asks questions or just write us on (contact) and meanwhile we are going to talk about this album that start as a live performance, than it become a CD, and now will be back at live performance, in a tour that is going to be hard

IB: there are s lot of date

FG: We are going to see them and we’ll listen to a lot of music

FV: yes and I think we should start with “Grande Amore”

FG: three years ago-

GG: Two. 2015

FG: yes, this year is the 3th Sanremo presented by Carlo Conti and you were in the first, winning it.

FV: yesterday it was two years

FG: that’s true. Grande Amore by Il Volo

Song

 FG: it was two years ago, but three Sanremo ago, because there have been other two winner since then.

GG: Gli Stadio and Gabbani

FG: Do you watch it, this year?

GG: yes, we …we…we…we…we

PB: we….we..we…we..we

GG: I’m sorry, I’m blabbing!

PB: buy a vowel [we had this TV program in which you had to guess some words and you could “buy” the letters]

GG: personally, I cheered  a lot for Ermal Meta [3th place]

FG: He was so good!

Meanwhile you see Ignazio doing something on the screens in front of them

GG: he is a friend and he’s so great!

FG: he is a great

IB: How can I watch the messages here?

GG: you have to touch this blue button here.

FG: there you go, he know it.

IB: ah! this blue one?

GG: it’s touch

IB: ok, stop it, there is the mouse too.

FG: So… Una Notte Magica!

Silenzio

GG: yes.

FG: then let’s start from the beginning. It’s been 26 years since that night, the Night of the Three Tenors concert. It was 25 years when you did the concert so it’s 26 now.

PB: Notte Magica it’s a tribute to our great idols. We decide to go on with this project just after the OK from the Three Tenors, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Josè Carreras. Now I explain how.

FG: of course.

PB: Placido Domingo was on stage with us and escorted us in this wonderful adventure conducting the orchestra and singing a song together- FG: he is with you in the CD PB: Yes. From Josè Carreras we received his “Good luck”. And above all there is the support of the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation, thanks to Nicoletta Mantovani [Luciano's widow] FG: then you had the consent of all three, and obviously you launched into the adventure IB (not into the microphone): there is someone that wants help to study Philosophy FG: What? What do they write? IB (into the microphone): There is this one who wants a help to study Philosophy ...since Piero has the philosophical mood, with this glasses. PB: Only the eyeglass FG: the rest is not philosophical? PB: Huh .... FG: Ignazio, then you can give her a help! IG: Me? Me and Philosophy (sign with his hand as if to say “that’s bullshit”) FG: Out of three there is no one a little philosopher? GG: Piero’s brother is the intellectual. Great scholar and a great mind. We sent each other some messages, because it was my birthday and he wish me- FG: Auguri! GG: Thank you. 22 years! ...And I took advantage of it a little, I asked him tips. I bought the books: two by Schopenhauer ...he told me... It’s not what you would call a light reading... rightly so. But I want to start! I am also reading a book by a French writer, a psychologist, is titled "Too smart to be happy" FG: ooh! What a title! GG: yes. FG: This is a title that opens up a world GG: opens a world, that's right. IB: I'm on the simple side. I go on the thriller. Michael Connelly whole my life. FG: Beautiful! We are talking about the readings! Piero? PB: Two days ago, Ignazio was also reading Mickey Mouse. FG: from Mickey Mouse to Michael Connelly. It's good. IB: When  we are around we have a this rivalry. Because… what do we do? We read books on planes, and we compete to see who finishes first. FG: what if someone is reading a book of 20 pages?!

IB: No, no, because they're all like 400, 500 pages. For example, The Girl on the Train [by Paula Hawkins], Gianluca had read it and then made me get passionate about it. I read it in two days. FG: Two days really? GG: It is true! We were in Mexico. Two days, think about it! FG: Gianluca how much time did you take instead? GG: It took me some more. IB: Just because if not [was fast], he would tell me the ending! Laugh FV: I am embarrassed that the only time- FG: that you read a book? PV: no no! The only time I read fast it took 10-12 days to finish the book. They take two days. FG: Because they have time while moving. GG: oh yes. During flights! Twelve hours of flight: you can sleep, or watch a movie or read. For us it is easier. FG: So for the next tour we can do an exchange: I'll take Bruno (Bruno Vespa) and send Vespino with you, maybe it will be the time that he read. FV: You know that they told me an amazing thing… That when they went to America with my father, he, my father, at 7 am went running in Central Park. If I had to go running in Central Park at 7am they had to call the coroner. PB: There are some stories to tell about your father. But a big advice he gave us was "Guys read the newspaper every day" FG: and did you? PB: I like to read the newspaper in the morning- IB: to me, it brings sadness. FG: the news? PB: I am obsessed with the news- IB: But I think she has something to say..? (she Federica, had to send a song) GG: But excuse me a moment, it is a normal thing to read the newspaper… It is, Isn’t it? FG: I would say so! When we come back we are going to start from the newspaper, from the news, from Vespa-dad’s advice, but now let’s listen to “Nessun dorma” GG: I recommend it especially if you are driving [it’s a joke: “nessun dorma” it’s an order that means “nobody sleep”] FG laughs. Nessun dorma

Back again. The boys changed places. Piero in the middle. FG: “Nessun dorma” live, from the album Notte Magica, with Placido Domingo. It’s platino, isn’t it? PB: no- Ignazio looks puzzled at Piero, like to say “what are you saying?” GG: yes, it’s platinum PB: Platino Domingo [Placido – Platino…. Piero’s joke] FG: laughs GG: That's unusual. After three months, platinum, an Opera album- [I think he meant a CD with Opera aria] PB: It is not an Opera album, it's a classical album with traditional songs... yes it still has three opera arias. GG: and in any case a classic CD. FG: and that get first place in the classic billboard chart, it is not small stuff. PV: But may I ask when did you understand that you could do something no one else had done yet?

PB: Never.

laughs. FV: Seriously! To bring a musical genre, at this age is a genre so difficult to do, at this level… PB: -start a letter but Ignazio stops him IB: (to Piero) I'll let you speak later. (to everyone) A bit we were chosen by this music. Because we started listening to it since little, and then, singing together, we saw that we all have three a voices that tends toward the tenor [Poor Gianluca! He doesn’t have a tenor voice], or better that tends toward the classical… so why don’t we do a tribute to the greatest? And, as Piero said, thanks to the contribution of Pavarotti Foundation and Placido Domingo, we did this project to remember those who have been... FV: Masters IB: Masters in music and even in life. FV: Let’s say they always had it in them.

[sorry, have to point out that that morning, on Radio2 Social Club, Gianluca, instead, said that he doesn’t feel comfortable at all when they call him “tenor” or even “baritone”, cause he just feel like a “singer”] FG: We want to say that behind all this there is always Michele Torpedine. IB: eh yes! PB: The idea was his. FG: We salute him! PB: Ciao Michael FG: Hello Michael! IB: in America they call him Michel Torpedine (read with English pronunciation, that sounds to us like Torpedain) FG: Here, on the messages, I see a lot of people that write “I come to this concert” “I to that other”, a lot of people saying that they will be in London! IB: Do you know that there will be a great friend of ours in London? FG: Do we say who is he? IB: riddle! Let’s do a riddle. FG: I’m saying that he has several children: seven children! PB: He is tall but, at the same time, short [sorry, it was “basso” and in Italian has a double meaning: “deep” like deep voice, but also “short”. Don’t know how translate it.] IB: He has a beard, quite long- PB: has no hair. IB: has no hair! PV: Hi’s nicknamed “the White Berry White” PB (imitating the deep voice): Ladies and gentlemen, Mario Biondi.

cheers PB: We will sing on May 23th at the Royal in London FG: You have important locations... let's start with the international ones. GG (pulls out the list on the phone): we will start- PB: You can’t say all the dates! GG: I’m not going to tell them all. We will begin –[he does a short list] FG: and now Pubblicità! [reclame]

reclame

back again. They changed the place again: Ignazio and Piero are near each other and Gian is more or less behind them in the middle. FG: It’s 19:34, the guys are still here... they [the audience] are asking for dates. The date zero is? PB: For the Italian tour the date-zero is in Roccaraso FG: in Abruzzo... eh Gianluca, are you happy? GG: yes. It was right. Giving support to our land, in this case mine, in this bad time... And we would also like to organize something, an event, to give a more targeted support... the project is still in an early stages but we are doing everything we can do to be able to help people in the center-Italy FG: Rightly so. Roccaraso on May 3th! PB: We have to say that Italy is giving us great satisfaction… FG: You have doubled Roma! Two in Rome, on May 12th and 13th! In which one are we going to go? [RTL102.5 is partner of the tour] Both?! PB: joking- The 15th FG: laugh- We will take brooms and get busy [to clean after the two concerts] FV: you fell in love with Taormina! Because you’ll do three concerts in Taormina! PB: eh... three and half- IB: three! FG: Ooooh! Il Volo: Nooo... IB: Let’s say three! PB: they were two, then three, now... IB: Now let’s stay on three. PV: One of them must have the woman in Taormina, that’s must be the reason. FG: For now June 1th, 3th, 4th... for now. IB: We are trying to do a concert for Piero’s relatives, which are many. PB: And one for Ignazio’s relatives. FG: Many here [on message] are saying “See you in Taormina”, so it's going like hot cakes! GG: Yes, it is going very well. PB: It will be a tour a little heavy. We will travel daily between Italy and Europe- FG: lots of books to read! PB: -but we are ready, we get some rest in January and February. FG: because before that you were travelling

GG: (excited) But think that this year we will go to places where we have never been!! Such as Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria... so not only France, Spain and England- FV: But guys excuse me,  not to fall into banality, but how do you live the family? IB: We can see our family when we want to see it. It is worse for those who are forced to seek work abroad and must be gone 3-4-5-6-7 months, or one year or two years. Away from family... that's a situation… FG: Do you know many like it? IB: Yes. GG: This is a country which, unfortunately, forced to leave the young minds [we know for sure that two of Gian’s friend are working abroad, one in USA and one in Dubai], this is a sad truth. PB: I must say that I was surprised, it made me emotional, on this Sanremo festival, the interpretation by Ermal-Metal- GG: softly laughing  Ermal-Meta, no Metal PB: -when he sang “Amara terra mia” [which means “My bitter land”, on the evening dedicated to cover] FG: It was very good! PB: He has left us all... IB: speechless. FG: It is a song that today takes on yet another meaning. PB: We are living it. FV: Do you think he should had won? surprised silence PB: no, no. FG: (to FV) leave the victories out of it! GG: no, no, but I say: he's my favorite! FG: and this can be said! GG: I say it! Ermal is... sure also Fiorella Mannoia, her song was beautiful- IB: and Gabbani instead, no? GG: no, no! I'm not saying this! Gabbani is innovative, fun, absolutely revolutionary: he deserved it! Absolutely! It’s just that everyone has his preferences, his tastes. FG: and do you know which international artist came back these days... you find it written there... First we said [about Mario Biondi] he has a lot of children, instead he has a lot of machines… Chorus: Jamiroquai! FG: Do you know him? [IDK who are they talking about… maybe Jay Kay?] IB: No, not him. GG: (joking) Sure, we sang Granada with him. song by Jamiroquai and news on traffics

 Back again. In studio there are only Gianluca and Federica FG: Here we are, back with Il Volo, with Gianluca... you do not care about traffics, because you have not the driving license. GG: no I have not take my license, I'm ashamed because I’m 22..and this is something that can’t be heard! [it’a a way of saying that “to horrible to be heard”] FG: Well for each his times! You make someone drive you around in the meantime? GG: That… yes… I have many drivers [his parents and friend LOL] FG: laugh- but now: Reclame!

GG: Reclame!

Reclame

 Back again. They are all back. Gianluca in the middle, Piero and Ignazio at his sides FG: welcome back! It’s 19:52 and the boy’s are reading yours messages [she give the contacts]. FV: Boys, recently you have been involved in controversies related to social, we don’t want remember... but before you [“tu” like one of them, idk who] told me that social  should be used differently. That you find out that, unfortunately, there is so many haters in socials, instead they should have a different function... somehow this is what upsets you more.. PB: Right now we are experiencing a very special time, because there are many haters on social. They were born to keep in touch with relatives and friends not seen for a lifetime, but now they have changed a bit. But I do not take it bad when they write badly to me on social, because I think it's all fake- FG: the nice stuff and the ugly one? PB: no, no: the insult. Because if when you accuse me or offend me, if when we meet in private you tell me what you think then you are coherent and so I believe in what you're telling me. If not... In fact I do not waste time reading the negative comments. FV: But you said that sometimes the person who insults you on social then, on the street, do selfies with you- PB: Yes! They write “I hate you!” or “You must do this, not do this” “you suck!” and then at the airport they asks a selfie with you. FG: (sarcastic) how nice. GG: Social are  also made of this. FG: Here,  instead they claim you, take notes, from Puglia…. They are asking you to come in Puglia- GG: on vacation. laugh PB: no, maybe a concert- IB: If I get there I want the Taralli (food from Puglia) FG: Good! You are right! PB: Ignazio, you are on diet! IB: dietary taralli then, please.... vegans. FG: sounds amazing. Then they are calling you from Belgium and… wait that I read - IB: Poland! FG: Poland! GG: ah! I heard Bologna [Poland in Italian is Polonia, which sounds a little like Bologna] IB: Poland! FG: What can you do with Poland? GG: We’ll go there… at the end of June I think. FG: oh so, they are coming, you see! Now, boys, before you said something about Dad Bruno [Bruno Vespa, dad of Federico Vespa, the presenter] FV: and you have to talk about it! FG: here we have the Vespino, but with Vespone you went far away [-ino is used to say “little” –one is used to say “big”] IB: Do you know that I am a lover of Vespa? [Vespa the famous Italian brand of scooter] FV: seriously? IB: I like them a lot! I have a 50special and 125 PX FV: ah you are talking about  those vintage ones. They are cool. PB: (to Ignazio) the questions was another… GG: it was a nice experience. FV: Where do you brought my father the evening? GG: We have been these 2-3 days in New York to record this special, which was aired after Sanremo... we met Woody Allen... We had dinner at Le Cirque in New York with him, with Bruno, your father… FV: Has he brought you to enjoy wine? GG: For sure.

IB: we also have this in common GG: eh,  we can be proud of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo- IB: Maria! Each time he advertise Abruzzo! GG: Sorry, I love my land. FG: That’s perfect, then, we just talked about wine, and so... Libiamo…i calici [from Traviata, it means more or less “let’s drink our glasses”] GG: perfect. FG: it is. A toast! Go with Traviata song

 Back again FG: while the disc was on they sing it for us a little! IB: only sung FG: only sung… if you want we can even dance it. Ignazio facepalm FG: quit –laugh- Okay now let's go with the news, but stay tuned because until the beginning of the game they will be here with us! [there was a football match after this] IB: ah! Because tonight... Can I talk now? GG: there is no time. FG: After! IB: After. FG: stay tuned! News

Back in the studio there are only the conductors and Ignazio. FG: Ignatius, was singing the jingle[the jingle of Radio RTL102.5] FV: has remained only him the other two- IB: eliminated. FV: we bet them [idk how translate it: “ce li siamo giocati” it’s a way of saying that you lost them on a bet like you lost money]... come here, come here, come in, if you want! (to someone outside the study that you can’t see… for now) FG: They boys of Il Volo today at RTL102.5 (contacts) now complete again!

Gianluca and Piero enter FG: but now we must start “Canzone per te”, but do not worry, cause  we’ll start the talk just after that. song

FV: I was talking and I was wondering, how great are the musical limits of this country? Because this group has been known first abroad and then in Italy. Instead of starting from Italy, they ended up in Italy. IB: Always better late than never! GG: but it’s an understandable thing. Ours was a success [he said “success” making quotation-marks with his fingers, a way for saying that the word is maybe not the most correct] made after a children's program, it was not even been released a single. We start, as many can remembered, with “’O sole mio”, so it was a more classic things more…. also funny because we were little, a bit clumsy a little funny- PB: No, we were three losers! Laughs FV: But they are an example of young minds that go away, that we talked before- FG: but then they come back! FV: then they come back! Came back as winners. GG: We wanted to... Let’s say that after Sanremo a lot has changed, because we wanted, above all, a new song… Grande amore. (joking) Cause if we go on with the cover they’ll come to an end.

Ignazio looks like he want to say something but stops

GG: So it’s normal that we have to expand our repertoire also with our songs, unreleased, and we are working on a new album- FG: Ooooh! attention! When will it get out? 2018? PB: when it's ready. GG: we are always working. IB: however it must be said that the notes are always just seven.

PB: I wanted to tell to Federico, not because you are here in front of us, that before Sanremo the person who helped us, and contributed to our success in Italy, was your father, Bruno. Bruno Vespa believed in us at the beginning, when we did concerts only in America and South America, and nothing in Italy. After the four hosted we did in “Porta a Porta” (Bruno Vespa’s TV program) we started with a small Italian tour… in Taormina and then 5-6 dates. FV: He really fell in love. PB: eh, in fact in New York, with Bruno, we made so many things… FV: ah! FG: Helicopter! FV: Helicopter? FG: (to FV) Don’t you know? (to the boys) Tell him then! PB: Don’t you know about your father? FV: He never tell me details IB: He has contacted a policeman there, that was a helicopter driver, and made us go around a zone of Manahattan - FG: no fly zone IB: -where commercial helicopters can’t go. PB: (joking) But can we say it? It was legal? IB: Of course! We had permits and everything in order! FG: In fact, there is also some video. IB: It was beautiful and exciting. We flew above Ground Zero, where there were the Twin Towers…. the pools- GG: (low voice) Don’t call them the pools... FG: Anyway Dad Vespa is funny, isn’t he? PB: He is GG: and he is from Abruzzo!

FV: and yes, even he is very attached to his land. But he often told me how in love with these guys he was. Because they make a music that he likes very much. PB: And also, your father, when you talk about Opera, is to attention! FG: he is a buongustaio [“someone with good taste” but in refer to food]. Let's go with “Granada”? Who  presents it? PB: Ladies... no, in Italian: signore- GG: or in Spanish IB: but we have 20 seconds! FG: bravo! look there! PB: from our new album, a tribute to the three tenors- FG: of which you can see the cover (she shows it) PB: a tribute to the three tenors Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo e Josè Carreras.... Uhm... in ten seconds- Laughs IB: (sarcastic) You can work on radio. FG: (sarcastic) true, isn’t? PB: you’ll start listening to Granada.... Granada

Back Again! FG: Nobody sing the last acute? PB: you FG: ooooOOOOOO! IB (reads a message): “Hello guys I'll see you in Rome, Verona and Naples”. Have you done a subscription? FG: Who have bought more than one ticket? PB: there are some fans who have taken all tickets! FG: then remember (other dates) FV (read): “Ignazio, you're beautiful”, tells you Roberta PB: Roberta is a half an hour that is writing you FV: greets her! IB: hello Robertina! GG: (joking) Roberta, change your glasses! IB: …idiot. (he get grumpy! little Grumpy funny Bear!) FV: Since the 80-70 percent of the messages are from females… How are you with women? Do you have fun, do you have stable relationships? All: Ehm, eh? (Like pretending to not understand) FG: laugh FV: oh well he (pointing Ignazio), I know is half married PB: (sarcastic) eh, married and with daughters and grandchildren. IB: (grumpy) I have a child: I have a dog! FV: nice! What breed?

IB: Is a black cocker spaniel FG: cute! PB: (sarcastic) I so love that dog IB: He is allergic to dogs and can’t see it. I'll show you a video! GG: (a little out from the microphone) Do you know what's the beautiful thing about a friendship- FG: Turn the microphone otherwise we can’t hear you GG: With dear friends, when- Ignazio comes close to the conductors with the phone FG: What a cutie... maybe they can see it with cameras… GG: Can you take it with the cameras? Ignazio looks around like "where?" GG: and those in the car, they can’t watch Ignazio’s beautiful dog…. Well imagine it, it’s a black cocker… FG to GG: We were talking about the nice things with friendships GG: That between friends when one... for example, before I was joking but Ignazio- Ignazio get closer again to Federica with the phone GG: (perplex) Ignazio what are you doing now? IB: Go on speaking, you are talking for yourself! GG: ok, let’s talk about something else. FG: no, no! GG: no, no! It’s ok! FG: Today is the day of singles GG: ah, yes, San Faustino. IB: (looking at Piero) Piero ... FG: Who celebrates it? The conductors and Piero raise their hands FG: Ooh! Only Piero raised his hand…(look at Gian) GG: these are private things... I don’t want... it's not the right time… FG: laughs FV: Even he doesn’t know! One of those situations where even you don’t know where you are. IB: Can I come near you with the microphone? They are selfish. He moves but actually,  Federico Vespa has to step back from the microphone. FG: Come here, you. …Gianluca, what were we saying before we  interrupted you with pictures of Ignazio’s dog? GG: That the beauty side in a friendship is that you can get along with everything, you never take anything as an offense. Cause you know that in a friendship stuff are means are jokes! And we are been together since eight years- PB: and he is saying it now! FG: and it’s recorded! Do you know (to Gian) that you are recorded? GG: eh, because sometimes people feel offended easily here... FG: Ooh, and who is that feels offended most easily? GG: Ignazio. That's why I said it. Ignazio is like this.. FG: (to Ignazio) You are like that? IB: (grumpy) ... no... GG: uh, uh. Ignazio is touchy. FG: he’s grunting a little PB: cause he’s angry [I think he feels offended for Gian’s joke, but Little bear how can you believe that he was serious? He write row after row in that autobiographic book about how he noticed you from the start and how amazing you are…. Can’t you see you are beautiful?] IB: Is that I let it pass 1 time, 2 times, 3 times, then stop. FG: ha, and with a Sicilian accent! But who is the one who makes more jokes? Silence Pero and Gian are looking at Ignazio FG: always him! IB: You look, the situation here is... we are a bit strange  the three of us. Because there are the three of us, with Barbara, our tour manager- PB: Road manager IB: -road manager, and in practice we are always around alone, so we have to entertain each other in some way, we make jokes at each other. PB: many

FG: Like what? The last one you made. IB and PB: ehhh. Boh! PB: Who remembers it? A little while ago… boh FG: Tonight then PB: I have one ready for tonight! FV: I think he is it! [that makes more jokes, I suppose] IB: in any case I wanted to say one thing. I’m a great sportsman. I love all sports... I’m Juventino, hate me, but that’s what I am. But I sympathize for many teams- GG: Napoli! IB: -not in campionato!! but tonight, in the champion league, W Napoli! Because Italian teams must go on in champions league, and not just in campionato. GG: It’s nice to be great fans but even better is to have a great sporting attitude! This is the most important thing. And (getting angry)  don’t fight for the football teams! What’s the use of it?! FV: Oh, yes, that’s really true. FG: Bravo. GG: What’s the use of it?! At Pescara something ugly happened to Sebastiani, president of Pescara Calcio [someone burned his car in the garden]… This things make me so angry! FG: Rightly so, and you are right to say it. GG: There are suffering people, who die, and then you burn the cars. Really… FV: and in Foggia someone fired a shot... we have mental illnesses! GG: It must be mental illness. PB: I am sure that the problem in Italy would end if it would suspend- [IDK how to translate this: there is a horrible grammatical error here. He said “si risolverebbe se si sospenderebbe” instead of “si risolverebbe se si sospendesse” the tense should be congiuntivo but he got it wrong] GG: sospendesse! sospendesse! Sos-pen-des-se! Laughs [he is doing a little imitation here, of an Italian critic... read below] PB: -if you suspend the championship for two months. This could resolve some things in Italy. GG: You do as Bernabei... at Sanremo he said “se vorrei” [another grammatical error. Don’t get angry, Bernabei’s fans, Gian has often show his support to Bernabi, even Piero didn’t get angry) FG: it’s the emotion GG: it’s the emotion. He don’t do many mistakes. Even because his brother made certain lessons to him! IB: Sgarbi, I give you the opportunity to scold him! , I tell you that you can do it here [Sgarbi is the critic who heavily and unjustifiably offended the guys on the web, with foul language and fake news, and behind who, sadly, went a lot of people, raising a fuss out of proportion. One of his habits, for which he is famous, is to repeat the same word over and over again –even 13 times on repeat] Laughs FG: Poor Piero! We break the discussion with reclame, so in the meantime we can study a bit! And we’ll continue to chat with Il Volo, waiting for the game tonight Real Madrid-Naples! Reclame

 Back again. In studio disappeared Piero, Ignazio has moved back near Gianluca. FG: It’s almost closed this appointment because soon we will give the line to the game... but there it comes Piero with a basket, a composition of red roses and other flowers ...? PB: I received this… FG: Just now, at the RTL venue. PB: Yes. (he take out the note and read it out loud) “Roses and tulips, flowers so different linked by the same simple and intense meaning. I will not tell you who I am, because if you ever want to know it you  just have to ask. I would just like to know that these flowers haven’t traveled for nothing, perhaps through social" (Piero raises the flowers to the camera). I'm showing it to you through RTL… Thanks, I do not know who you are... GG: Maybe it's also a beautiful girl, and then you are set PB: that’s all you think about. Laughs GG: I? No! You! For you! I was talking for you. PB: (watching the camera) I send you a kiss wherever and whoever you are. FG: Is even more beautiful that they are anonymous GG: yes. PB: ....interesting FG: It leave you with the doubt “Who sent them?” GG: exactly

IB: It can be love at first blunder [it’s a joke take from a title of a movie: “amore a prima svista” instead of “a prima vista”, because “a prima vista” means “a first sight” and “svista” means “blunder”] FG: If I get a bunch of anonymous flower- FV: I would be quite curious FG: -until I could reveal the sender. Soon we’ll have to say goodbye, should we remember the date of the tour? PB: and that RTL will accompany us throughout the tour FG: (again: dates) IB: and then there will be more surprises about which we will keep you updated. PB: follow us on social and we will keep you updated. FG: also those of RTL partner of your tour and so, we will follow you closely. And then there will be the new album… PB: and when it will be ready you will be the first to know it. FG: Can we greet an exceptional fan? GG: Greet our biggest fans, who is active on social like a fifteen years old... it is grandma Maura! A round of applause for grandma Maura! FV: great woman. FG: applause for grandma Maura who will come to see you around the Italy. Piero goes away and everyone looks towards the door FV: she embodies youthfulness! Enter Grandma Maura accompanied by Piero GG: Here she is! GM: Hello, hello! FG: grandma Maura, 86 years! PB: (joking) president ad honorem of our fan club GG: (embracing the lady) Do you wants to say something? GM: You are  making sure that half the world hate me! I can think of just that… I greet all my friends, and I say that tonight I was lucky. FG: Bye to grandma Maura! GM: (sends a kiss) Bye IB: (shouting) BECAUSE I’M ME, AND YOU- Laughter, with the grandma making a shushing-sign [In reference of the fact that the lady said that she was lucky to meet them: Sgarbi is also famous for this mantra of his “I’m me, and you are just shit!” used to say that he can do everything and other can’t. Literally is “tu non sei un cazzo” more or less “you are not even a dick”]. Grandma Maura gets out. FG: She knows everything! She knows everything about Il Volo! PB: (impressed) she made three floors without lift FG: She is great! PV: She is also opening a door that weighs ten kilos.

FG: And she was telling us that she bought the ticket for the date of Verona in July of last year! IB: She was also telling us that she got her driving license in 1955 (looks at Gianluca) Laughter, also of Gian IB: For Gianluca 55 are the years that must pass before he take the license. FG: Thanks guys! Thanks Piero, Ignazio, Gianluca, we will meet again on stages, around the world, and here when you want to! on RTL 102.5 IB: Thanks we look forward to meet you on tour. Some Goodbye and some W Naples (which lost the match!)

 And this is it guys! Sorry for my mistakes.

You can find the video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCPTiQiG2NE

There is also a video on instagram made by Piero, on instastory, in which you can see Ignazio asking to Grandma Maura if Gianluca would ever get a driving license, and she said to Gian “I’ve a Grandson of your age and even he doesn’t have it… I think you to are the only ones” LOL!!

Also…someone please make our Grumpy Sweet Bear realize that Gian is just one of the great lot that get big heart-eyes for him.