#since they met yamamoto is more interested in him than tsuna

[averageobserver]

When the ship is practically canon but they're still not by the end of the story

[ciaossu-imagines]

Prompt number 13 for khr yamamoto & haru pls? I think they’d get on well!

Of course, anon dear! I completely agree that Yamamoto and Haru would definitely have an interesting and fun friendship! Thank you for the request and I hope you’ll enjoy!

Can we have some more platonic ship prompts?? Things like:

Who’s the sassy one in this friendship?

Yamamoto is pretty chill and relaxed, so it’s definitely Haru, since she’s more than willing to sass or be upfront about her feelings on things and is more easily worked up.

Which one likes to embarrass the other in public?

I don’t think that either of them purposefully tries to embarrass the other. And it’s actually a really good thing that Yamamoto doesn’t get embarrassed easily because some of Haru’s antics could be seen as embarrassing, because she doesn’t tone down her personality just because the two of them are in public together.

Which one refuses to stop getting dressed up for Halloween no matter how old they get?

Haru makes Halloween costumes until she’s eighty and she will dress up in them and she wants everyone to dress up with her. She’s definitely made a Halloween costume for Yamamoto, who is really grateful to her for thinking of him and would wear it because, hey, this is his friend and they obviously put in a lot of work to make this for him.

Who sings along with the radio unabashedly?

I honestly can see both of them doing this together. Haru drops by TakeSushi to lend Yamamoto a textbook because he’d mentioned in the last study session he had at Tsuna’s that he didn’t understand something, and she thinks this book will help. And she ends up sticking around and helping him with some of the chores while chattering away and the radio is on in the background and a song comes on that they both like and they both mindlessly hum or sing along to it, quietly at first but by the end they’re harmonizing and rocking out to it together.

Which one picks out the movies for marathons?

I honestly think that they wouldn’t really watch movies together. Yamamoto doesn’t watch a lot of television or movies, really, and it often only happens when everyone is out together as a group. Yamamoto doesn’t really offer an opinion on what to watch since he’s pretty okay with whatever everyone else wants to see but Haru is going to be more vocal about what she wants to watch.

Do they like to cuddle? (in a platonic way of course)

I do see Haru and Yamamoto as both very physically affectionate people and do think this friendship has a lot of platonic physical affection, like he’ll ruffle her hair or she’ll give him the occasional hug or high-five but overall, I don’t think they outright cuddle each other.

Which one drags the other one shopping?

This is Haru. She really enjoys shopping and if she met Yamamoto while she’s out on her shopping trip, she’ll always ask if he wants to come shopping with her because it’s nice to have his company along and, unless he has something planned, he’s normally pretty good about agreeing to it and will end up carrying a lot of her bags as he walks her home (and then stops at Tsuna’s house on the way back to his place).

Which one is more adventurous?

I think the two of them get along pretty well together because they’re both really up for a lot of different things. Neither Yamamoto nor Haru are the type of people to be like ‘well, that is new and because it’s new to me, it obviously is going to be boring or scary, so I don’t want to do it’. They’re both eager to try new things, though Haru is more easily scared of anything she thinks could be dangerous.

What do they love to do together on a rainy day?

While rhythmic gymnastics is always going to be her sport, I do think Haru likes baseball. She has a team she roots for and does follow the national play-offs and such and, while she’s not great at it, she’ll be eager to try playing if it’s just her and her friends and not a game that matters. I could see her and Takeshi hitting the batting cages, with Takeshi helping kind of coach her on how to get better…like, Haru, please stop closing your eyes whenever the ball is coming at you because you’ll never hit it like that.

Which one loves to curl up with a good book?

This one is definitely Haru! Despite her loud personality, she really, really takes her studies seriously and I could definitely see her curled up in the bleachers of one of Yamamoto’s baseball practices with the others, reading a textbook and waiting for him to be done.

Which one always forces the other to do bad karaoke with them?

I honestly feel this would be Haru. She really enjoys karaoke and it’s something her, Bianchi, and Kyoko do a lot. I think she’d probably suggest it to Yamamoto as a fun group activity for all their mutual friends and he’s down for anything that seems fun, so he helps her organize it.

Which one loves to gossip?

I think both of them do it, honestly, but never maliciously. Neither of them are at all okay with mean-spirited gossip but they’ll find themselves talking about their mutual friends a lot and ‘Tsuna-san came with me to buy cake the other day and he did the cutest thing’ and ‘so me, Tsuna, and Gokudera were at the park the other day and this insane thing happened’ kind of gossip is more the kind that I think happens between them a lot.

Which one likes to try new foods?

I think that, unless it’s cake, Haru doesn’t try a whole lot of new foods, while Takeshi, growing up in a restaurant, has a really healthy respect for food and is eager to try anything he can.

Which one likes to travel?

This one would be Yamamoto because I really don’t headcanon Haru as someone who really ever wants to leave Namimori, except for her honeymoon. She likes her hometown, and she wants to settle in there and live a happy life.

Which one prefers to explore closer to home?

Answered this one above, but it’s definitely Haru!

[rebornthestage]

[2021.08.22] Kitamura Kento (Hibari) 17LIVE livestream

(I live translated his stream, so there may be details I'm missing/misheard.)

Starting remarks:

He wants to play Hibari more

He usually has great memories of the plays he's worked on, but not quite for this one; It doesn't feel like it ended yet.

He feels like they can do the play again, do the future arc again

His little bro is a big fan of Amano's works, especially KHR, so he's very familiar with this series

His brother is babysitting in the US, so he sends him clips of the play lol

It's only been half a year since he started Twitter and he appreciates all the support (likes, RTs, replies)

His faves are Dino and Primo in the manga. He loves their visuals. He thinks they look cool.

He actually wants to play as Primo lmao

Was excited when he heard James was playing Dino; he's worked with him in at least 3 plays (?, Hakuouki SSL, Hataraki Saibou); Met the first time in a while thanks to this stage

Q&A Section:

Q: Why do you have so many Hibird photos in your makeup area?

A: They're from Yamamoto Ryosuke! Ryosuke receives a Hibird photo from the production team every performance, so he gives them all to Kento since he's Hibari after all. He has around 8 of them. Sometimes Ryosuke forgets to give it to him and he feels unnecessarily disappointed lmao

Q: Thoughts on receiving Hibari's role A: First he wondered a lot about how he'd portray Hibari's fighting style, and tried to portray his cloud-like, untouchable feeling. Kento was set on fighting with "pauses" and "urgency" for Hibari. Hibari's the fastest in thinking and acting, like that time when everyone was panicking about Byakuran's attack, while Hibari immediately left to check on Namimori since that's where the attack landed.

Hibari can also be misleading. When the Real 6 Funeral wreaths landed at Namimori, he was first to speak. However, just when you think he was going to propose a plan, he just states that one of them landed in Namimori, which makes you wonder just how much he loves the place haha.

That unexpectedness makes him interesting to the viewers. He tends to speak, pause in the middle, and then change his tone/aura when he continues his sentence.

Q: Thoughts on Hibari before and after playing him A: He talked about this in his blog post. After playing him, he thinks of other people more than you'd expect. He acts to protect Namimori, and as a result, saves people.

Q: Have you planned the curtain call interactions with Ryohei and Lambo beforehand? A: Nope. That was all thanks to Kimeru adlibbing, and Kento has no idea when Ryohei will jump in lol.

On a tangent, but he very much admires Kimeru for perfectly playing his role. He has already perfected the role even when they just started rehearsing. He has the formula for Lambo down pat. This makes it easy for someone to copy and stand in for him during rehearsals.

Q: Can you share more info on the action parts? A: Every week he gets the stunts instructor to teach him something new, then he practices it on his own for the rest of the week.

Apparently, he practiced while facing a tree at the park, haha. A lot of people commented, saying they want to be the tree. He was like, "No way lol". There were so many people wanting to become trees that he said they were going to turn into a forest lol.

He then talks in detail about how to do a roundhouse kick properly lmao. The left leg/standing leg is important apparently lmao. He repeats this sentence a couple of times and demonstrates it with his fingers.

Sometimes he got tired after doing it so many times. However, when he started doing 1 hour stretches everyday, it became a lot easier.

Does aftercare? (Is that the right term to use here? haha) after practice because it's a lot of strain on his left leg and arm.

Q: What are your similarities with Hibari? A: He likes to do things on his own. Hyperfocused on what he likes. Is stubborn.

He likes to have a lot of preparation before taking something on...

He'll leave when he feels like leaving, lol

Q: Thoughts on Tsuna and Hibari's relationship, and your relationship with Takenaka Ryohei A: Tsuna is an important person in Present and Future Hibari's life.

Takenaka Ryohei is amazing. He has a different reaction to Present Hibari and TYL Hibari and he can really see and feel it... Ryohei's act really contributes to Kento's own acting. It's because Ryohei reacted that way that Hibari seems even more fearsome.

Ryohei can portray Tsuna's fear of TYL!Hibari, but then also show a different reaction when he stops Present!Hibari during Choice.

Usually, it should be the protagonist who would do something proactively while everyone else reacts. As the protagonist, but it's hard to give large reactions. However, in KHR, it's often Tsuna who reacts. It's because Tsuna reacts in a certain way that you can figure out what type of person the other character is. Ryohei is amazing for being able to do that role.

Q: Was it you playing as Alaude's silhouette? A: Yes. Yamamoto also played as Ugetsu.

Random tidbit: At the part where Deisy gets caught with the huge handcuffs, they didn't have those huge handcuffs until they were at the venue lol. So they've been practicing without it until then.

That's why his actions during that scene slowly started to change, since he began to have ideas on what else he could do at that scene.

Q: Thoughts on the Hibari switch scene A: He asked viewers when they realized it wasn't Kento as Hibari onstage? On their first watch? During the stream?

Daiki tried really hard to copy Kento's Hibari, like his walk so people wouldn't catch on. Was really happy when it was decided Daiki was the one who'll be his body double. He actually thought it would be an ensemble doing it, until 2 weeks (?) into rehearsals

Q: Happenings onstage? A: He doesn't really want to talk about it... However, after he turned 25, he's become more open to his mistakes so he can talk about this now haha.

When wearing suits, he wants to look suave and used to wearing them. Having the box in his pants pocket ruins the silhouette of the suit, and so would placing it in his chest pocket, even though the latter seems cool. He talked with the costume designers to add some sort of leather pouch (?) at his waist.

However, after putting the box in and out of the pouch so many times, the leather pouch worse out and became looser. In one performance, the box dropped to the floor sometime without his notice. ("Roll rolled." LOL)

During his fight with Genkishi, he stuck his hand in the pouch while talking and realized it wasn't there. He was like, Oh Shit, lmao. Then clumsily tried to hide the fact that he has no box by taking out his hand and only showing the back of it to the audience, lmao.

He watched a clip of that performance afterwards and learned that the box fell while he did a roundhouse kick.

Also, during the fight with Deisy, he can't see anything. The lights were so bright. When he twirls the handcuffs, it has to face a certain side so that the cuff would close, but sometimes it ends up facing the wrong side, so he has to twirl it back. However, it's hard to figure out if it's facing the right side or not because of the light, so he accidentally dropped the handcuffs once.

(There were actually a few fan reports saying that Kento seemed to drop his props often lol)

Q: Thoughts on Hibari unbuttoning his suit before fighting A: When raising your arm while wearing suits, the middle part scrunches open and he doesn't like that. He wants Hibari to look flawless, so he tried to make it part of the act to unbutton the suit.

He doesn't do this for the part where he trains Tsuna, since he doesn't want to make it like Hibari's doing it for appearances. He tries to make it seem like it's an act Hibari does when he expects a good fight.

Q: Any special training? A: He has a lower center of gravity because he played ice hockey seriously for 9 years. He's jealous of actors who took karate and dance since they are useful skills as an actor. He believes that playing ice hockey and balancing on ice skates really contributed to doing action scenes.

Q: Do you do any weight/muscle training? A: He used to go to the gym, but stopped because of covid. He apparently started classic ballet recently. He likes gaining strength without getting too bulked up. Before he hated wearing tight clothes, but now he has embraced it lmao

Q: Any KHR weapons he would like to try? A: He likes Japanese swords, so he likes Yamamoto's sword style.

When Chrome was handed the Devil Lens, he wondered how one would fight with it? How do you make it look like you use it often? Do you twirl it like a pen?

He's seen James' whip skills live during Secret Bullet and was very impressed that James was able to use them to the fullest. It's a weapon you can more easily hurt yourself with after all.

During rehearsals, there wasn't a center door to come out from, so he had to wait at the sides while Dino and Deisy were fighting. Hibari often comes out from the center door, so he calls Hibari a "Center Door Guy", lol.

Q: Judging from how fast you changed into the yukata during curtain call, are you the type of person who changes clothes fast? A: He has to change from suit to yukata in 1 minute and 30 seconds and be careful not to make Hibari look sloppy, so he was really worried about it... That's why you'd see him touching his collar from time to time.

Final Words

He asks fans to answer the Reborn! The Stage questionnaire and request for a rerun of the Future arc stage plays. They were able to change the future in Future arc, so he believes we can change the future in real life as well. A rerun isn't impossible in his opinion.

He'd love to livestream again sometime with others, like Daiki-kun (Glo Xinia/Dino), and Daiki-kun, and Daiki-kun.😂

[exolovelovelove]

Chapter 4 - Raining Sky

Takeshi’s fears were confirmed.

Tsuna confessed to Kyoko.

To Kyoko and not him.

Who was he kidding? Himself?

Yeah, maybe.

One of his fears is never being good enough.

He curses himself for being a people pleaser, back then as Angelica and now as Takeshi.

He shouldn’t have had hope that Tsuna might fall for him.

He’s there when Tsuna ripped off Mochida-senpai’s hair.

Hair is not the only thing that got ripped off.

He felt it in his heart too.

But still, he did not leave Tsuna’s side.

He still lend his jacket and jogging pants to Tsuna after the fight. They still walked home as if everything’s okay.

Everything’s okay.

Except for Takeshi’s heart.

It hurts that while Tsuna is dying he thinks of Kyoko. Not of him, nor his family.

But Kyoko. Kyoko, Kyoko, Kyoko.

He decided, just because Tsuna liked Kyoko more than him he wouldn’t give up. Kyoko is now a rival and when there is a competition Takeshi always does his best. He would make Tsuna fall for him. He wouldn’t fall off a building for this.

Takeshi took a deep breath before threatening the seniors who dared to cut in Nami Middle before they got blown off by Gokudera. They scampered off and Takeshi lost his smile, he just gestured for Tsuna and Gokudera to go with him to their classroom. Gokudera tsked as Tsuna’s Hyper Intuition goes haywire.

“Ciaossu! I’m Reborn, the Vongola Family Hitman and tutor of Sawada Tsunayoshi.”

Takeshi stiffened before he turned around and kneeled to be near Reborn’s level and gave a soft smile.

“I know, well I apologize. It must’ve been really hard to be a hitman at such a young age.”

“Not really. You’re going to join the Vongola Family too.”

“He-Hey! Reborn!”

“Come on, he’s only a kid. Didn’t we do it when we were young too? Pretending to be cops and heroes Tsu-kun?”

Takeshi picked up Reborn before standing up and carefully put him on his shoulder.

“The 10th head of the family is Tsuna.”

“Oh, now that is a good choice of person. In all my years since Tsu-kun and I have been friends, he never let me down. I’m sure he would never let down his family too though sometimes Tsu-kun can be lazy but only when he’s relaxing. Who’s not lazy when they’re relaxing?” Takeshi chattered all the way to class.

The teacher started to scold them but one sharp glint of Yamamoto’s eye coupled with his smile made the teacher shut up.

Reborn had sat at his shoulder at class and he doesn’t mind. Reborn feels comforting, like a heavy hand on his shoulder.

After school, the four of them walked home together. Reborn still on Takeshi’s shoulders as the three chat. It’s more on Gokudera interrogating Takeshi and Takeshi answering as he puts an arm around Tsuna just to tease Gokudera some more.

When they reached Tsuna’s house, Tsuna invited the both of them in. Gokudera immediately accepts but Takeshi, for the first time, declined.

“I’m sorry Tsuna but I needed to go to the store for something then go home. I have something important to do, maybe next time? Hm?”

“Oh, um okay Take-kun.”

“I’ll make it up to you tomorrow, I promise!”

At home, Yamamoto made a game plan. Operation: Make Tsuna Fall for Me.

Tsuna always forgets his lunches, either always cook his lunches for him or buy him food from the canteen.

Confess to him. Even if it is going to be awkward for a while.

If he doesn’t reject me, I will court him. Lunches every day.

Invite him to hang out at my baseball games, the arcade, batting cages, the beach, the mall, the park, to the theme park, to the movies, and to the aquarium every weekend if possible.

Every week knit him something or sew him “new” clothes as gifts.

Spend as much alone time with Tsuna.

Always have the first aid within my reach for Tsuna.

Be tactile in skinship with Tsuna.

Compliment Tsuna at least 2 times a day to boost his self-confidence.

Takeshi’s quite happy helping Sawada Nana bake a cake and prepare afternoon tea but he’s surprised when Reborn went home with Sasagawa Kyoko in tow. Reborn explained that he left his wallet and Kyoko helped pay for his espresso, she’s here because Reborn insisted he repay her.

Takeshi leaves the kitchen to join Kyoko and Tsuna. He also brought some tea for them. They made small talk and Nana came in to drop the cakes. She made a comment about Kyoko dating her No-Good Son and Takeshi’s smile turned a little sharper. He hates it whenever Nana does that.

When Nana left Reborn suggested they play Russian Roulette. Takeshi happily volunteered to go first.

Then he was hit with the Dying Will Bullet.

He regretted.

He regretted a lot of things.

But most of all.

He regretted not being brave enough to tell Tsu-kun how he really felt.

When he entered the Dying Will Mode, his clothes ripped off his body and he’s deathly calm and quiet. Serene even.

“Take-kun?!” Tsuna exclaimed as he covered Kyoko’s eyes.

“Tsuna, will you please go out with me? I want to court you because I’ve been in love with you for a long time. I guess it started when we were kids, I fell for your smile and your laugh. Your personality and you’re honest being you, despite the bullies whenever I can’t protect you, you managed to remain kind and alive. You’re such a strong person Tsu-kun and I want to be with you from then, to now and to the future. So please, will you be my boyfriend?”

After his speech he’s been hit with the Reverse 1 ton hammer, Kyoko squealed as Tsuna also fainted. He’s knocked out for the whole night.

He doesn’t know how but he woke up in his room and he has a really weird dream where he confessed to Tsuna in front of his rival and Reborn. At school, Gokudera went back to Italy and Takeshi’s ecstatic that he has Tsuna for himself for a few days even if Tsuna is uncharacteristically quiet throughout the entire day. Tsuna’s so distracted he doesn’t even mind cleaning after P.E. after his and Takeshi’s team lost, Takeshi helps him quietly as he hums under his breath.

“Yo Tsu-kun!”

“Wha- Take-kun?!”

“Ahahaha! You’re just so deep in thought, sorry if I startled you but I was thinking of quitting the baseball.”

“Hie! Why so sudden?!”

“Calm down Tsu-kun, it’s just that I’m losing interest. That and the senpais... Forget it.”

“What about them? You know you can tell me anything.”

“They, uhm, they think I’m good at baseball yes but whenever I turn my back there are comments I don’t want you to hear and I’m just really losing interest. Really.”

“Take-kun, are you being bullied?”

“Verbally yes, and it’s affecting me. I hope it shouldn’t but I just want to stop being a people pleaser. I want to enjoy my teenage life without the fake backstabs and if it means cutting off a few toxic people then so be it. Besides, baseball is getting in the way of my other past time but I still love it.”

“Oh... I didn’t know.”

“That’s the price of being popular I guess, and it’s annoying to me. I didn’t even asked for it.”

Silence reigned for a while as they finish up cleaning.

“By the way Tsu-kun, can we have lunch at the roof top tomorrow? And don’t bother with lunch because I can bring one for you.”

“O-okay Take-kun.”

At lunch, Takeshi hurried to the spot where the Takeshi in the manga stood. He figured he’ll look just how high that Takeshi fell from, he shivered when he noticed the height and he promptly backed away. He’s afraid of falling and heights even if he’s an adrenaline junkie thank you very much.

He found a shady spot and set his and Tsuna’s lunches. When Tsuna arrived he enthusiastically waved him over. They had a great lunch, talking and laughing together.

When they cleaned up and ready to go, Takeshi absentmindedly leaned on the rickety fence and started his speech.

“Ano, Tsu-kun, will you please go out with me? I want to court you because I’ve been in love with you for a long time. I guess it started when we were kids, I fell for your smile and your laugh. Your personality and you’re honest being you, despite the bullies whenever I can’t protect you, you managed to remain kind and alive. You’re such a strong person Tsu-kun and I want to be with you from then, to now and to the future. So please, will you be my boyfriend?”

“Yes!”

“Oh my gosh, you said yes!” Takeshi went to Tsuna but his collar got snagged by the fence and when he stumbled back the fence broke. He screamed Tsuna’s name with tears in his eyes as he falls and the next thing he know Tsuna jumped after him.

He doesn’t want to die and he hopes Tsuna will catch him. He also hates free-falling.

Dying Will Tsuna caught him bridal style. He exhaled and he loves being caught in a free-fall.

They reached the ground safely and Takeshi’s crying due to relief and shock.

He almost got himself killed.

He wrapped his arms around Tsuna’s neck and kissed him.

Tsuna kissed him back.

Despite the bell ringing and the students’ chattering, they kissed and Takeshi had never felt more alive.

Tsuna and Takeshi being boyfriends spread like wildfire and soon their families and Gokudera got a hold of it.

Yukino and Tsuyoshi are ecstatic as well as Nana. Kinzuke only gave a nod while Kyoya smirked at Takeshi (unknown to all but Reborn, Kyoya had been taking pictures of the date and the fall then the kiss and then Tsuna fainting as Takeshi panics). Gokudera had been livid until Takeshi proves his worth to the Tenth.

So that’s how they’re here, Takeshi protecting Tsuna as he laugh and dodge missiles, bullets and dynamites to enter the Family.

He passed with flying colors and Gokudera reluctantly accepts him.

They had met Lambo when they were on a study date. Lambo had tried to kill Reborn and used the bazooka on himself. When TYL!Lambo tried to kill Reborn Takeshi stepped in and thankfully TYL!Lambo backed down.

“Only for you Take-nii. It’s good to see you young again.”

“And it’s good to see you mature Lambo. You look good!”

Then five minutes were up and he went up in pink smoke.

[mafiabosstsuna]

Could we get a scenario with Yamamoto and his soulmate? Could we get him meeting his waitress soulmate and how that goes down and how he woos her? Please and thank you!

COMPLETE

Admin Adelheid

Takeshi looked up to stare at the droplets of rain that hadstarted to fall on the world and closed his eyes to it, surrendering himselfwith a relieved expression on his face.

He felt grateful to the downpour which had started tocleanse him of the blood still staining his clothes, his skin and his sword. Athis feet were the bodies of the men who met their ends with his blade. When heopened his eyes he watched the rain water flush their blood away from thepavement and into the sewers.

The crisis was over. His job was done. There was no reasonto linger here any longer.

The Rain Guardian sheathed his sword and wrapped it;carefully putting it in the wooden tube used to keep away a man’s bokken. As hedid so he noticed the blood covering the meat of his left palm and turned ittowards the rain in order to wash the filth away. And once the blood wascleaned off a name remained etched like a scar across his skin.

Soulmate…

It seemed like a childish thought; a relic of a dream thatmay never come true in this lifetime but… looking at it made him feel just alittle bit innocent again.

Satisfied he walked away from the gory sight of severedlimbs and dead bodies with hunched shoulders underneath a blue black long coattrying to stave away the cold night. His name scarred hand hidden carefully inhis pocket.

With this, Tsuna should have one less thing to worry about.With this, Hayato would have one less thing to nag about. With this, the Familywould stay safe just a little while longer. The cold and nightmares that willfollow him after this night will be worth it just by thinking of all the goodhis actions tonight will bring. Even if the memory still seeped coldly into hisvery bones.

“Thank you very much, please come again!”

Takeshi suddenly found his feet stopping as a door wasopened beside him and a blast of warmth against his skin made his eyes go wide.

A couple joked with each other as they closed the doorbehind them and walked passed him, huddled in their raincoats laughing.

Takeshi stood on the paved sidewalk like a frozen statue,not moving an inch. Even after the door closed and the light from the smalldiner hid behind it he could still feel the warmth it had emitted. Nostalgiamade him turn and face the restaurant and stare at the wooden doors.Wistfulness made his feet move and enter it. The feeling was much too hard toresist.

The scent of coffee and fresh baked bread assaulted hissenses the moment he stepped inside and immediately he felt his whole beingbeginning to thaw in the warmth the entire place emitted. With a little twistin his gut he was reminded of his father’s sushi shop back home. The scentswere different but… it felt the same.

It felt like home.

And in the center of the empty café was you. Eyes closed,chin resting on the top of your mop and singing softly the song being played onthe old fashioned phonograph that was probably a part of the café’s prop (insert: City of Wind from TsubasaReservoir Chronicles), looking like you were dreaming…

And as Takeshi stared at you he couldn’t help but want to followyou into that dream.

Even when the song finished and you opened your eyes with asmall smile on your face he couldn’t move away from where he was standing untilyou noticed him there.

“Oh! I’m sorry! I forgot to put up the Closed sign!” yougasped, your hand covering your mouth in mortification.

Your reaction shook Takeshi out of his stupor making himrevert to the age old habit of scratching his hand on the back of his head.“Ah, really? Sorry I’ll just go th―”

“No, wait!” she called out softly as Takeshi turned back tosee you smile. “Please, sit down. I’ll consider you the last guest for thenight.”

Takeshi blinked and took a seat in a corner booth as hewatched you put up the ‘Closed’ sign. “Is there anything in particular you’dlike to drink?”

“Uhhh…” what was he supposed to say? He wasn’t exactly asfond of coffee as say Tsuna, Hayato or Reborn. Like Hibari he had never reallygrown fond of the bitter brew his Italian cohorts were so in love with. “I’lltake anything you’ve got left, I guess.”

“Eh?” you looked at his wet clothes and hair and saw theexpression in his eyes and something clicked inside you. Like a long forgottenmemory. “Gimme a minute.”

When you left his sight Takeshi allowed his eyes to roam thelittle café.

It wasn’t really anything special. It was just like anyother café he had gone into. But there was something about the polished woodenchairs and tables and the flowers crawling around outside the windows that madeeverything seem so natural. Adding the fact that the lights had been dimmedbecause of closing time and the soft, candlelight quality of them gave theentire place the appearance of an amber dream. So unpretentious. So relaxing…The music from the phonograph in the background invited everyone to lower downtheir guard and relax. It made him frown a little as he watched the small potof small flowers on his table; his hitman senses busily taking in the entiretyof the store, automatically seeking out threats and ways of escape.

So he was more than a little surprised when a hand set downa large, steaming cup in front of him.

Blinking, Takeshi looked up with wide eyes. No one had beenable to sneak up on him like that in years.Not even Chrome or Mukuro. Hisstartled gaze met your eyes. And for some reason… a burst of color explodedfrom your smile and infected his whole world.

“Please enjoy.”

Takeshi blinked, unable to understand what it was that washappening. It took a while before he could form any words at all. “I… uh… Howmuch―?”

“It’s on the house; just this one time.” you replied as you smiledbrightly. “You look like you needed it.”

Takeshi stared, his brain― jaded and riddled in paranoiafrom living the life of a hitman― seemingly stranded in another world at whatjust happened.

Absentmindedly he reached for the steaming cup you had lefthim with and took a sip. He was so startled he almost dropped the cup.

It was warmed milk sweetened with a little honey…

He fought tears in his eyes as he sipped the drink past thesudden lump in his throat as memories of youth and innocence ran amuck in hismind. The warmth of it seeping into his chest and making his heart feel asthough it was thawing from the prison of ice he had forced it in all these longyears to survive in the Mafia.

It made him feel like he can be human again…

“Do you like it?” you asked, a little worried. “You didn’tlook like you were the type to like coffee that much.”

Takeshi could only reply with a smile. “Thank you.”

He glanced at your name tag but was disappointed. The nameon it was different from the one written on his palm. For some reason thethought crushed him. As though all his childhood dreams had been dashed in thatone split second. It left him bitterly disappointed.

You left and started to mop the floor again, humming thesame song he had caught you singing the moment he came through the door. Hiseyes never left you as he finished his cup, all his senses tuned to everythingabout you for some reason. By the time he had finished his milk he felt all thedirt and filth that had left him feeling so cold just a few moments ago slip away from him like a discarded coat. For some insane reason, it made him feel innocent again. And he owed it all to you. Beforehe left he set down a sizeable tip underneath the cup and left the café sosilently you didn’t even see him go.

Sadly he thought he would never come back again. There was no real reason for him to do so…

But he couldn’t bring himself to forget you and that song you’vebeen singing though he avoided your café for a long time since then. The factthat he couldn’t forget your face or your voice made him angry and frustrated beyond belief. Thoughts of you followed him even in his wakinghours. He could even hear that song you’ve been singing over and over in hishead as he fought his battles. It was as though by hearing the melody he couldjoin you in that mysterious dream you were smiling about the day he saw you. It left him with a longing to be a part of that city made of wind floating beyond time…

The thought of obsessing about such details over a person hewas not even meant to be with terrified, angered and intrigued him. So much sothat he couldn’t concentrate on anything else. It had gotten so bad he gothimself wounded on a mission. It was then that he finally gave up and decidedto see you again.

You whom he wanted even though he did not bear your name on his skin…

He came to the coffee shop at the exact time he had thefirst time he came there. Opening the door and the feeling of warmth had the same effect on him as the first time he had stepped foot inside the shop. The smile that lit up your face at the sight of himmade his heart stutter. And then his feelings made him wonder whyhe was doing this to himself.

“Hi! I’ve been wondering where you’ve been.” You greeted himwith such joy his chest again ached with regret.

Why…? Why do you have adifferent name? Did God make a mistake? Why can’t it be you…?

“Sorry, I’ve been busy.” was all he could reply with a smileas he made his way over towards the seat he had claimed that first night.“You’re on the closing shift again?”

“Well…” you blushed a bit and winced. “I asked to be in thisshift. I seem to meet all sorts of interesting people at this hour.”

Whoa wait. Was she talking about another man? Who is it?! He felt a void growing inside him at the thought as well as envy. It didn’t seem fair that you would have such feelings for someone else when you’ve driven him half mad with only memories of you.

“For example the other night?” you continued on obliviously.“The singer who sang that song I’ve been playing the night we met came in. Iasked her for her autograph and a photo. It’s on my Instagram! Can you believeit?”

“Oh…��� he replied almost faintly. “So… it’s not another guy?”

“Eh? What other guy?” you cocked your head to the side inconfusion before brightening again. “Can you wait a bit? I’ll get you yourusual.”

Takeshi had to laugh with relief. What in the world was he thinking? What in the world was hegetting jealous for? He hardly even knew you. You weren’t even his intendedone.

He had no right to you…

When you came back with his cup of milk Takeshi started tolook up to thank you once more but stopped short when he caught a glimpse of your name tag again.

The name on it was different.

Takeshi forgot himself so badly that his hand grasped yourarm before he could even think about it. His eyes lost all softness replacedwith such sharpness it reminded you of a blade.

“Uh? What? What is it?” was all you could stutter.

“Your name…” he started breathlessly as he continued tostare at your name tag. “What happened to your name?!”

“Oh this?” you asked as you blinked in confusion. “My friendwho works the dayshift played a prank on me that day and took my name tag so Ihad no choice but to wear hers. My boss and our regulars kept having fun andcalled me by her name all day long,it was humiliating.”

The realization melted the shock off Takeshi’s face littleby little it almost looked as though his face were melting before it broke offinto a laugh that came from the bottom of his heart. He surprised you furtherby gathering you up in his arms tightly.

“A name…” he pleaded in your ear as the hand that held the same word as your present name tag grasped you tighter against him. “Tell me you have my name on you…”

Your heart jumped in your chest as realization set in. Youhad suspected it from the start but you denied it, thinking it was onlya coincidence. But now… You pulled away just enough to show him his nameengraved on the meat of your left palm and held onto his own left hand.

Takeshi had never known such peace could ever exist in hislifetime…

“I was afraid…” you whispered brokenly againsthis lips when he finally kissed you. “I was so afraid it wasn’t going to be you…”

[i-w-p-chan]

Red Crystal, Part 3

Previous

.

Filling out the forms was less-terrifying and much easier than he expected, thankfully, which gave him enough time to browse some of the books in the rooms before he went to sleep.

It was strange for him, though, that he was interested in learning what the books had to offer. A part of him could remember that he was never one for learning from books, but that same part felt like there was something important he needed to do, and to do it, he needed to learn from these books.

He pulled a book off the shelves and opened it to read from the first page. It was full of technical explanations and his eyes glazed over two paragraphs in.

He returned the book and tried another and another. Four more books were taken and returned due to the same reason.

He found what he was looking for in the fifth book. He put it on the couch and went through the others looking for similar books, books to help him actually practice with his Spirit Core.

After some time and a good amount of books found, there was a knock from behind one of the walls, "Hey, Enma! It's time for dinner! You better come out now! You already spent a lot of time in there, you can return here tomorrow."

Enma blinked and looked from the books to the wall and back again, before he sighed and went to the entrance; he probably shouldn't be pissing off whichever Priest calling for him. Besides, he needed to go find Tsu and talk to them about trying out a practical learning approach.

.

Two days came and went with no sign of Tsu. Asking the other Priests gave him nothing useful aside from knowing that Tsu was unexpectedly busy and couldn't come to the Temple for a few days.

And so, Enma spent the time either practicing meditation like the books suggested or talking with Skull who came by daily.

On the third day, he decided to go and turn in the forms, if Tsu wouldn't be returning anytime soon, then Enma needed to get his work done without Tsu around; Tsu was going to have to adjust to the possible new schedule.

He fiddled with the hem of his shirt as he gave Haru the forms, worrying that he passed the deadline for turning the papers in.

Haru smiled at him reassuringly, "You came back just in time, today was the last day."

Her eyes flitted behind him and she blinked, "Tsuna! I almost didn't see you there behind Enma!"

Enma blinked and turned around to see who was standing behind him without his notice.

He was met with pupil-less, amber eyes and a messy, brown hair done in a braid that was left to drape over one shoulder.

Tsuna's eyes drilled into his.

"Oh, Tsuna! This is Enma! He was just turning in his application forms!"

Tsuna reached a hand towards her and she handed the forms over, he clutched them in his hand, all the while maintaining eye-contact with Enma.

"You're hired."

"Eh?" Haru cocked her head to the side in confusion, Enma unconsciously mirrored her. Tsuna didn't even spare the forms any glance, how could he decide whether Enma was a decent applicant or not?

"I'm Tsunayoshi of the Vongola, the current head of the group," Tsunayoshi spoke, voice emotionless, the spark in his eyes sending a foreboding chill down Enma's spine, "Pack up, we're leaving in half an hour." After he said his piece, Tsunayoshi turned on his heel and left the building.

Enma turned to look at Haru, who looked as confused as he was.

Haru recovered quickly, though, and returned to smiling at him, "You heard him. You've been hired. It's best if you go back to the Temple now and pack up whatever you have for a trip. The boss will pick you up from there."

"How sure are you that he will?" Enma asked, voice faint.

"He didn't tell you where to meet him, did he?"

"No."

"There you go. Now go, you have a job to prepare for."

Enma speed walked to the entrance, breaking out into a jog once he left the building. He was distracted all the way to the Temple, wondering what type of job he could possibly be hired for on the spot. Did Tsunayoshi even check to see the content of his application forms? What if he did after he left and decided that maybe Enma wasn't suitable for it after all? Or maybe it was generic and anyone could do it?

Enma sighed, even when he thought things would get somewhat clearer, he was proven wrong. At least he only had a couple sets of clothes aside from what he was wearing at the moment, so he didn't have to worry about over-packing.

.

Tsunayoshi came to get him in thirty minutes, just like he said.

He stalked towards him where he was sitting in the Temple's main hall and dragged him outside, then over to the stairs to the side, up the stairs until the balcony made out of the Temple's roof, and the highest point on the land. The Vongola's ship was floating up in the air already with the gangplank pulled down.

Tsunayoshi walked up the gangplank and Enma scrambled behind him. The moment the two were inside, the ship started moving and Enma gathered enough courage to ask, "What is it that you took me on for?"

Tsunayoshi gave him an inscrutable look and Enma was stricken; there was something way too familiar about Tsunayoshi's eyes, Tsunayoshi's voice and Tsunayoshi's mess of hair.

He opened his mouth, about to ask Tsunayoshi if the two ever met before, when Tsunayoshi cut him off with a careless hand wave towards the rest of the corridor they were in, "Today is just a scout mission, to give you the chance to interact first-hand with what we want you to work with. Until we arrive, make yourself comfortable, go explore the ship or something. I'll be on the deck in case you needed anything."

"Have we met before?" Interrupted before or not, the desire to know was too strong to keep a tight lid on the question and it tumbled past his lips.

Tsunayoshi gave him yet another inscrutable look as he took a couple of steps forward and right into Enma's space. Raising his head, he looked Enma in the eye and whispered, "Have we?"

Enma's throat suddenly felt tight, and his eyes blurred with slight tears as he was struck with the spontaneous urge to cry and hug Tsunayoshi for all he was worth and not let him go.

"Are you two done yet?" Lambo's bored drawl cut into the tense atmosphere like a sword; Tsunayoshi retreated and walked away passing by Lambo on his way while Enma took a deep breath and braced himself against the nearest wall.

"That looked pretty intense."

Enma blinked out of his stupor and focused on Lambo, "Huh? Oh. Yeah, I… don't know what happened. I just asked him if we met before- he looked very familiar and-" And what? What more was Enma supposed to say when even he didn't know what he was exactly feeling at the moment aside from a great sense of relief that threatened to knock him over. Relief and happiness and giddiness and yearning and eagerness, eagerness to what he didn't know but he wanted, oh he wanted-

"Hey!" Fingers snapped in his vision, jolting him out of his musings, "You spaced out for a moment there."

Enma refocused on Lambo, who gestured to him to stand up (when did he sit down? He didn't remember) and pulled him along down the hallway, "We should probably get you to put your things in one of the rooms before we take you to meet the rest."

.

It didn't take long to introduce Enma to the others on board; some of them he met before, like Chrome, Yamamoto and Ryohei. There was the teen who took Enma to the Vongola offices a few days back, who was introduced as Gokudera. And there were others he hadn't met, like Chrome's brother, Mukuro, Ryohei's sister, Kyoko, and Hibari, never mind Tsunayoshi.

Their destination was the island Enma woke up on days ago.

(Enma had to blink at that thought; had it been only few days since then? It felt longer than that to him.)

The ship stopped at the edge of the island and dropped down the gangplank.

Yamamoto must have seen Enma's curious look and responded, "We're not going in with the ship because we'd rather keep it on standby in case of sudden emergencies in the main land that may require help from us."

Enma nodded in understanding as he followed after Yamamoto down the gangplank.

The group consisting of Tsunayoshi, Hibari, Kyoko, Yamamoto and Enma trekked through the forest to the small shoreline near the river, crossing it to start climbing the mountain on the other side. Enma was surprised to see a pathway well-hidden between the rocks jutting out of the mountain. Tsunayoshi led them through it with ease.

The moment they reached the top point and started to descend, Enma was stricken with a sudden sense of fear that almost froze him in place. The group momentarily stopped, and Enma wondered if they wanted to take break.

They didn't; in fact, Enma saw that they only stopped for mere moments, enough for Tsunayoshi to take out a vial from one of his pockets and knock back half of its content. The group, and Enma didn't even notice them tense up, relaxed only after Tsunayoshi drank from whatever it was the vial contained. Enma wondered if it was a medicine that Tsunayoshi needed.

As the group moved again, Enma noticed the formation changing; previously, Tsunayoshi was at the front, followed by Yamamoto, then Enma himself, then Kyoko then Hibari (Enma belatedly realized that they were keeping him in the middle), now, Tsunayoshi hung back until he was walking next to Enma and Kyoko moved forward to walk behind Yamamoto, keeping Hibari at the rear.

The moment the group made it out of the pathway cleverly hidden in the mountains, the town that lay beyond the mountain range came into view.

Enma's heartbeat sped up until he could feel his heart violently slam against his ribcage and the blood pressure pound in his ears.

The buildings seemed to have suffered heavy damage some time back but they looked like someone put in the effort to rebuild them.

Then Enma saw the pedestals.

Rows upon rows of protected pedestals, each cushioned and bearing crystals in many colors, intact, broken, beat up or simply shattered, leaving shards to rest on the cushion, all lined up in rows that looked more like grave markers than a jewelry display.

And the wave of emotions and memories that Enma didn't know he was holding back crashed on top of him, pulling him under, choking him with inconsolable grief, suffocating him with images of blood and sounds of screams and smoke and calls for help-

In the distance beyond the buildings where the Walls circled around, stood a huge pair of doors, open wide.

A sense of visceral fear lanced through him, knocking the breath from his lungs and forcing him into his knees.

He was grabbed by a hand; he only saw a flash of concerned amber ey- orange? Was that Tsu? What was Tsu doing here? He thought deliriously as a soothing voice reached his ear, barely heard over the roar of memories and pain and-

Something was brought to his lips, and then he felt a hot liquid slide down his throat; the burn brought a sudden, very brief moment of clarity.

In that moment, he knew, without a shadow of doubt, that this town was his hometown. This is where he came from; this is where he used to live before it was attacked. The doors, he must close them. The town was gone everyone was gone he was all alone.

Fatigue swept through him and his vision turned to black as he faded away from consciousness.

.

When he woke up, he was feeling groggy, throat dry and limbs as heavy as lead.

"You're awake." Enma heard Yamamoto say before he saw Yamamoto come into view, leaning over him with concern lining his face, "You haven't been out of it for long, we moved you back to the ship and now we're on our way to continue the patrol and drop you off at the Temple."

"Wh-what happened?" Enma asked, voice hoarse.

"You received quite a shock when we reached the town. Thankfully, Tsuna brought enough from his special medicine for the two of you," Yamamoto explained as he gave Enma a glass of water.

"Special medicine? Shock?" Enma asked after he gulped down the offered water.

"Yeah." Yamamoto scratched the back of his neck, "The town gives Tsuna flashes as bad as the one you had back in there, and since we come and go there quite a lot, we ended up coming up with a recipe that will keep Tsuna alert, he drinks it before we head in. The vial he had on him? That would be his special medicine.

"He had no idea how you would react to the town yourself, so he kept half of what he had on him for you in case of emergency."

Enma blinked, "He… he did?" Enma blushed in embarrassment and ducked his head, then he whipped his head up as a though occurred to him, "Wait! How much of the medicine did he need? I remember he only drank half of the vial. Did he need the other half?"

"Well…" Yamamoto trailed off, "Kinda? It's not life or death if that's what's worrying you."

"But there are side-effects?"

"Well, yeah. The medicine helps him handle the emotional upheaval from the flashes."

Enma moved to stand up and go look for Tsunayoshi; Yamamoto hovered over him, making sure he'd be there to catch Enma if his legs failed him, "And what is going to happen to him since he didn't take the full vial?"

"Ah." Yamamoto's smile had a strange lilt to it, "His feelings go haywire. He needs half the regular dose, a full vial, to stave off the initial onslaught of the flashes. He can deal without the other half, so it's okay."

"No, it's not okay." His feelings went haywire? That didn't sound like fun to Enma who spent the last few days having mood swings.

Yamamoto looked amused, and Enma snapped slightly, "Why didn't he have more on him then?"

"It takes a lot of time to prepare the medicine. And given that we've been going to the town more frequently lately, we could only make time to make one dose between visits. Ah, there we are."

Enma noticed that Yamamoto had guided him towards the deck.

Out on the deck, the atmosphere was light with amusement and faint chuckles. Enma did not understand what they were all being so cheerful about.

Then a blur jumped at him, arms wrapped tightly around his neck and pupil-less amber eyes blinked innocently at him.

Tsunayoshi grinned at him, "Enma! Enma! You're awake!"

Enma gave Yamamoto a shocked look; Yamamoto merely sent him an amused grin, eyes twinkling as if to say 'yeah, that happens'.

"Hey, Enma," Tsunayoshi mock-whispered, "How are you? You aren't still sleeping, right? Right? I don't want you to go sleep and stay asleep for so long again, okay?"

"O… kay?"

Tsunayoshi nodded vigorously, "Yeah, I don't want you to go red crystal on me again, you got it?"

Enma almost choked in shock.

"Hey! Heyhey! Did you hear me? No crystal-ing on me! Understand?"

"Yeah, sure, I understand," Enma said distractedly as his brain whirred with half-remembered memories about crystals.

"Good." Tsunayoshi nodded, then he pulled Enma down while pushing himself up and sloppily pressed his lips against Enma's, who completely froze in place.

"Very good!" Tsunayoshi disentangled from him and skipped over to Kyoko and nuzzled her cheeks, "Kyokooooo! You have pretty eyes, can we cuddle?"

"Sure thing, Tsuna." Kyoko smiled brightly.

Her smile didn't falter, even though it did soften into a tender smile, when Tsunayoshi went and tightly hugged a blushing Gokudera before plopping himself to lay down with his head on Hibari's lap, face pressed into Hibari's stomach, before starting to hum.

Hibari's hand went to Tsunayoshi's hair, but Hibari wasn't looking at him; he was looking straight at Enma with an inscrutable look.

Enma didn't pay the look a lot of attention as he was busy clamping down a hand on his mouth and asking Yamamoto, "What… what was that?"

"Ah, don't worry, he does that."

Kyoko beckoned Enma towards her and patted the seat next to her, "Sit down, Enma, we still have some time left until we arrive at the land, so it's better if you just relax for the time being."

Enma sat down next to her, marveling at the quiet atmosphere; he'd honestly expected them to be rowdier than this, he'd overheard some stories about their rambunctious attitude from people in Vongola City and at the Temple and thought he'd be seeing it first hand, apparently not. Not that he was complaining, he had enough excitement to last him a week.

Casting another look around the deck, he realized why they were all quiet: Tsunayoshi's body was moving with the quiet, steady breathing of a sleeping person. At some point, Mukuro had thrown a blanket over Tsunayoshi while Ryohei and Chrome had moved to sit on either side of him and Hibari like silent sentinels.

It appeared that he wasn't the only person who had enough excitement for the day.

.

End part 3

Next

[micronecro]

hey if you're not too busy I was wondering if u had any idea why khr is such a popular fandom??? it isn't that structurally sound and theres a lot of plot holes???? and the anime happened 10 years ago with no movement since????? i mean i adore the series but i only got into it because of the relatively large fandom and i'm sort of confused as to what attracts all these people to it. do you have any ideas what makes khr so popular and long-lasting in fandom?

There’s a few really specific answers at play, here.

First of all; Amano’s writing style is really, really absurd and unpredictable. If you think of really out-there shounen series, like, uhhhh, Helk? You read Helk, and it’s different, but once you get to the angel raids, you essentially know exactly what this writing style is doing. You go, “oh, yeah, I’ve seen this before”. Power of friendship rallying, everyone has to come to an understanding but the threat won’t stop escalating, everyone gets a het ship, tons of twists you don’t expect but also don’t have any sort of impact anyway, lackadaisy pacing as we head towards the climax that undermines what’s left of the shitty twists, etc etc etc

When Amano gets going, though, you aren’t going to go “oh, yeah, I’ve seen this storytelling style before”. You go “...................huh?” 

Probably the best example of this is like, every resolution of an arc she’s ever done ever? Mukuro's arc being this underwhelming take-turns battle arc culminating in Tsuna getting fucking superpowers and Mukuro stabbing out his own eye with his fingers to summon snakes and ALSO he possesses all of Tsuna’s friends and THEN mysterious cloaked bandage gentlemen appear to take everyone to prison.

EVERYTHING about the final fight is interesting. It’s like an exact inversion of One Piece. There’s no big power moment, no grand buildup, just predictable boring shounen crap and then “...........................huh?”. It never drags, never outstays its welcome, just pops in, gives you a kiss, and leaves your expectations thoroughly jostled. 

The Future arc is the extreme end of this principle, where everything is boring as SHIT and about as average shounen as you could get. It’s like Amano read D.Gray-man and went “I want to do this, but really bad”. And then halfway through she suddenly starts easing in her clusterfuck of cool shounen ideas, and you’re left with nothing but the need to go “fuck it, okay, I’m down”. 

 SECOND of all, Amano uses the same principle as Season 1&2 BBC Sherlock; explain nothing, expand on the most interesting possible aspect, look cool doing it. It’s all flash and glamour, and there’s CLEARLY some sort of structure behind these shallow facsimiles of charactes and worldbuilding, but you never get to see it. Amano just slapped you on the back and went “yeah, no, go nuts. Write whatever you want. Sky’s the limit.”  You can just fuck about and the possibility of you being objectively wrong is startlingly close to zero. This is the main contributor to the longevity; because it went on for so long, expressed so much, yet explored so little, it has absurd lasting power on a thoughtpiece engine.

LASTLY AND MOST IMPORTANT: The characters. Amano sets up a framework, loads tons and tons of quirks onto them, winds them up, and watches them go. Every single major character has a second layer to them, but they all start out as easy-to-understand cutouts that you can really get comfortable with before their secondary layer is actually explored. Like, Hibari? He comes off as a powerful, authoritative smirking bastard who values his school more than the safety of his peers when he first shows up, but by the time he’s part of the main cast he’s a selfish, short-tempered petulant teenager easily threatened by things he cannot crush, but constantly validated by his ability to crush things that serve a challenge. He likes tiny animals and hamburger steak. Amano never draws attention to this, he kind of just exists in that space. Gokudera’s obsession with cryptids never comes into play as an actual joke until he thinks he’s actually met one, and his dumb teenager secret code isn’t important until the Future arc.

The most important aspect of all that is these quirks and facets of their personalities make sense. Gokudera seems EXACTLY the type of person to write secret codes and be obsessed with cryptids and alt culture; he’s a tryhard who feels like he has to over-perform to belong anywhere. Yamamoto is the PERFECT weird, kinda murder-y assassin type; he does that absurd baseball shit, constantly exhibits extreme thinking, and he consistently fails to have an emotional reaction to things that get everyone else in the sweats. I think the only arresting emotions Yamamoto is willing to have are “oh, shit” and “cold, blinding rage”. 

This kind of character writing is HUGELY appealing to teens, and is just generally....really good overall anime character writing? I think it might be why no one ever gave a shit about Ryouhei until the future arc where he was competent and hot; Ryouhei had no real facets beyond “reliable, excitable”. The Future arc had him calm down until you could see all his more complex traits, like “socially aggressive” (this one especially was misunderstood to be “I LOVE MY SPORT” before the future arc), “paternal”, and “good at handling social conflicts”. Ryouhei is shaped like a friend. A friend who refuses to let you deny his friendship. We’re in this together. Get back here I said WE’RE IN THIS TO

And, of course, all the characters react to each other in different ways and put different levels of focus on different character traits; Gokudera focuses on Yamamoto’s lack of ability to grasp grave situations, while Reborn focuses on that weird murder shit. Haru focuses on Bianchi’s reliability and amiability towards emotionally sensitive people, while Yamamoto focuses on her hostility and threatening disposition (probably because she visibly doesn’t like him, but you get what I mean).

So basically...

Weird-ass non-standard plot progression that denies convention: The Hook

An inability to build on overstuffed world: Staying Power

Easy-to-comprehend characters that have multiple facets played against in a variety of ways: Maintained positive interest

You might notice Amano’s second series, elDLIVE, is significantly less good; this is mostly because it presents either an interesting character with a simple facet (Chuuta is afraid of being a burden and screwing up when people are depending on him, is a homemaker) or a boring character with an interesting facet and then refuses to establish quirks or engaging character details. Veronika was kinda neat at introduction; she plays fair and doesn’t value pride over being fair to others, but that literally never comes into play again or reflects in her later personality. Chuuta? Just kinda automatically learns how to not be a burden when he finds out (Spoiler) his friends aren’t dead, and it never really comes up again. He just has a regular old ambition now. All the characters are reacted to in roughly the same way, with no real bias beyond “unpleasant trait bothers me” and “pleasant trait engages me”. The aliens are pretty much the same; we get ZERO signs of a culture or political climate until Brick goes to the space council with the doctor. 

I still like elDLIVE, because it’s poorly-explored unpredictable popcorn storytelling where all the twists carry themselves well and the latest arc is actually pretty good, but KHR is better, even though there’s so much more to hate about it.

[rebornthestage]

Hayashida Kohei x Takasaki Shungo: New “Varia Quality” created from a literary adaptation; Vivid contrast between motion and stillness

[This is a translation of Xanxus & Squalo’s actors’ interview for Secret Bullet. They haven’t received the script at this point, so they mostly talk about their personal thoughts and views on the characters and the cast based on the VS Varia arc and the novel. Link to the original article can be found in the Content Source.]

A new “Varia quality” born from the novel

First off, how did you feel when your heard that “X-Fiamma” would be adapted into a stage play, and that Varia would be the main characters”? Takasaki Shungo (Squalo): I was in disbelief. Like, “Can we really have an RTS without Tsuna (Sawada Tsunayoshi)..” That’s why while I was happy (about the new play), I also wondered if it really was okay to do it. (laughs) Hayashida Kohei (Xanxus): I was like, “It’s headed in this direction, huh”. Storywise, I had assumed they would go with the Future arc next. Takasaki: For us though, it was very convenient timing since it’s right after we did the 2-part VS Varia arc. Hayashida: That’s true. We could do it again with the same cast. Takasaki: While we do feel some pressure at getting to do the prequel after we all had just finished fighting, we’re also happy about it.

This time, the play is adapted from the novel and not the manga. What did you think about the novel after reading it? Hayashida: It was interesting. Varia in the novel has a little different feel from the one in the Ring Battles. Perhaps it’s because the novel “X-Fiamma” was written after the manga’s Varia arc, but it had something that isn’t exactly “perfection”. Rather, it had a very clear idea of who the characters are. It was very fascinating.  Takasaki: My impression is that it vividly showed parts that weren’t shown in the manga but readers were curious about. Reading the novel was very worthwhile to us because it clearly depicted the parts we were curious about and were unsure about when we played them in the previous plays. When I first read it, I felt that Xanxus was really cool-headed. Hayashida: Exactly! He felt really mature. I’m sure it’s thanks to it being written after the manga. Takasaki: We could feel his maturity thanks to it being in literary form.  Hayashida: I realized that this was how Varia usually was. The Ring Battles was an irregular incident after all. It felt really refreshing when you realize that this is how the Varia is as an assassination squad.

What differences will we see between Varia in this play and Varia up until now? Takasaki: Personally, I’ll be trying to show Squalo as a commanding officer. In the Ring Battles, Varia was focused on Xanxus and operated with him as the head. In upcoming play however, the two of them are in different locations. Squalo is the one leading on the field while Xanxus is the one giving them directions.       Squalo has not really been portrayed as a proper acting commanding officer in the stage plays up until now, so I hope people will see the upcoming play and think, “So this is how Squalo pulls a team together.”  Hayashida: Meanwhile, you’ll see that Xanxus doesn’t immediately jump into the fray. (laughs) Takasaki: True. (laughs) He’s surprisingly nice. Hayashida: I don’t know if I would describe him as nice (laughs), but it was really refreshing to see him backing Ottavio into a corner using logic, and it made me feel once again that Xanxus really is smart. It was also refreshing to see Squalo and the others prattling away as they go about their tasks. Takasaki: The play is based on textual material so we have to imagine the scene ourselves, you know? So we read the novel while imagining the characters we play much more than we did in the plays based on the manga. Like, “That guy would probably move like this.” Hayashida: I agree. Since it’s adapted from the novel, this time we have a little bit more leeway on how we portray the characters.

Speaking of leeways, what differences arose in adapting a manga and adapting a novel from your experience? Takasaki: RTS has quite a lot of respect to the source material, and is determined to reenact everything faithfully to the source material.      For example, some parts were produced with the manga’s depiction used as a reference for stunts or techniques. As we have no pictures as a basis this time, it does feel a little like we are coming up with them ourselves. Hayashida: Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted to say. Takasaki: Then let’s just say Kohei-san said it. (laughs)

What’s the link between Xanxus and Squalo?

Xanxus has scenes with Ottavio (played by Yamamoto Shouma), who appears for the first time on stage, doesn’t he. Hayashida: There’s mind games at play. Readers of the novel should know how it ends, but I hope to make it so that they would be on the edge of their seats even while knowing the ending.      While our scenes have a more suspenseful mystery type of “stillness” with mind games unfolding, Squalo and the others have more “motion” with the action-packed missions. Hence once we manage to nail that contrast of motion and stillness, I think the end result would look artfully done.        Since the majority of the Ring Battles stage plays were fight scenes, this time I too look forward to the scenes with mind games.       However, there aren’t any scenes where I’ll be with the other members in the novel, so I’m a little sad… We’ve always been together up until now. (laughs)      Still, we haven’t received the screenplay yet, so I’m looking forward to seeing how the stage play will deal with certain parts of the novel. Takasaki: Ottavio… How will he be portrayed?  Hayashida: Right? I haven’t met Ottavio (played by Yamamoto Shouma) yet and it’s our first time working together, so I look forward to seeing how we will craft the play.

What about the role you’re playing catches your attention? Takasaki: “Voooi”, I guess.. No, I’m joking. (laughs) Although Squalo acts unrestrained, I believe there’s also a part of him that thinks it through calmly in his head. Still, his ability to straightforwardly express his feelings really makes him stand out in my opinion.      Normally, our lives don’t always go as we want, does it. But he has lived his life as he liked to carry out the mission he wants to do, and that draws me in. Hayashida: Even though there are aspects of Xanxus that are unreadable and can’t be fully understood, I like that side of him which makes you suspect that he does have special feelings towards Squalo, the Vongola Nono and the Varia. He seems like he’d let out a laugh when he’s actually sad.      Also, I usually waver a lot, so I like the unwavering side of him.

How have you portrayed Xanxus and Squalo’s relationship in the past 2 plays? Hayashida: It feels like Xanxus really, really dislikes him but still loves him. Xanxus came from the slums, didn’t he? But in the mafia, Squalo is an elite who is even said to be the next Varia Boss, so there’s a part of him that’s envious of that. Although Xanxus isn’t bullied at every turn for his origins, he is painfully aware of that fact.      But in the end, Squalo is the one who acknowledges him and supports him the most, and I believe Xanxus himself sees that.      That’s why even though Xanxus may view Squalo as a dumbass, I think part of him also feels saved by Squalo’s presence. I tried to portray their relationship with the idea that his cold attitude is probably his way of expressing his affection.  Takasaki: The character Squalo has always believed that strength is everything, and I came up with my own theory to how he ended up with this belief.      When you see people having something you yourself are lacking, don’t they seem brilliant in your eyes? I think what Squalo harbors for Xanxus is something close to that. They have been in Varia together for a very long time and Squalo even knows Xanxus’ past and the secret to his strength. He probably admires people who have qualities he lacks.      Also, I think Squalo feels a little special to be the only who has been confided with his past.

A goldmine of contrasts? Introduction to the rest of the Varia cast

Now I’ll ask questions unrelated to your roles. What do you admire about each other as an actor? Hayashida: I’ve worked with Shungo once before RTS. Initially, I thought he seemed really serious, but he’s actually surprisingly easygoing. He always has a distinctive kind of adaptability that I really like. Takasaki: Thank you. (laughs) my impression of Kohei-san has always been the same since the start. He’s an acting nut in a good way.      You can feel it in your bones that he really likes acting. It’s exciting, performing with him. I really respect him for thinking about acting around the clock. He’s a very good senior as an actor. Hayashida: Thank you~

By the way, are there things about the other person that changed your initial impression of him or you thought was surprising?  Hayashida: As we worked together, he became more relaxed and it’s really nice. He’d soothe your nerves now and again. Takasaki: Kohei-san, are people usually intimidated by you when they first meet you?  Hayashida: Meeting new people makes me tense. Takasaki: So you were nervous. (laughs)

Based on your interactions backstage and on SNS, the Varia cast seem to be a close-knit group. Can you introduce each of the cast in a few words? Start with Takagi Katsuya, who plays as Lussuria. Hayashida: (Lussuria’s actor Takagi) Katsuya-san has my full trust, truly. Takasaki: He’s a really good older brother to us and brings everyone together. He’s really nice.  Hayashida: He’s so nice that it’s a little scary.  After all, sometimes he’s being nice but his eyes look murderous at a glance. (laughs)  Takasaki: He’s also well-versed in a lot of things, so he’s a stimulating person to converse with. Additionally, sometimes he’s become so into his role that it’s like he really is Lussuria in real life. It's scary. (laughs)   Hayashida: That’s true. Every now and then he naturally does things that are quite like Lussuria. (laughs)

Next, can you tell us about Levi A. Than’s actor, Yamaki Takanori? Hayashida: He's also an interesting one. While he is knowledgeable and has a talkative side, he also has a sensitive, airheaded side to him. He’s the kind of guy that’s quick on the uptake. Takasaki: Yes, he also seems sensitive to me. We’re the same age so we talk often, he really felt like someone with an airheaded and mischievous side while also possessing a serious side. Hayashida: Sometimes he has a peculiar way of thinking, but then he also acts recklessly at times. (laughs) He has quite a mysterious vibe.

How about Belphegor’s actor, Oomi Shoichiro-san? Hayashida: Omi-chan… I want to say he’s funny, but he’ll be ecstatic when he hears about it, so I don’t want to actually say so. (laughs)  Takasaki: They filmed the backstage footage for the previous play, and that kid is a genius. He puts on an amazing act for the camera. It’s really funny. Ah, I ended up saying he’s funny. (laughs) Hayashida: It was inevitable. He really is funny after all. Takasaki: He’s super stoic when it comes to acting though. Hayashida: He has a very high sense of professionalism. He’s hardcore like that. That’s why I believe Oomi is actually really manly. That side of him is very charming. But behind the scenes he’s always trying to make us laugh. Takasaki: I totally get what you mean when you said he was manly. He’s very stubborn on certain things when it comes to acting. But normally he’s really good at picking up on the mood, so I’m really glad he’s in Varia. Hayashida: When you’re troubled, all you have to do is talk about Oomi. He’ll react with “Not again!!” in a really shrill voice, and then you’ll end up fooling around with him before you know it. (laughs)

And how about Mammon’s actress Kai Chihiro-san, the sole woman in the Varia cast? Takasaki: We’re so close-knit with Kaichi that I feel like she could be in the same dressing room as us. She’ll definitely protest vehemently though. (laughs) She seems whimsical but she actually has a lot of thoughts in mind.  Hayashida: And I think she may be the one who loves Varia the most. Takasaki: She’s the kind of person who gets attached to people. I think her ability to treat others with respect really stands out.

Lastly, how about Mosca’s actor Kudo Shoma-san? Hayashida: He’s very grounded, and feels as though he has a brazen side to him. He’s also got a strong sense of responsibility. Takasaki: He’s a suit actor, so he’s very well-versed and is meticulous when it comes to performing. Mosca has no lines, but he has great presence because he is being played by Shoma-san.      While he is brazen as a pro, he actually has a delicate and adorable side to him once he’s not playing his role anymore. That contrast really gets me. Hayashida: Mosca was first played by Yokochin-san (Yokota Ryo), so Shoma inherited this role from his senior. He carried a great sense of professionalism in fulfilling his responsibilities. He could tell how meticulous he was from how he figured out what Mosca’s initial movements should be like.

In this play, Higuchi Yuta joined the cast as another actor for Belphegor. Takasaki: I’ve worked with him before, and he can handle anything that’s thrown to him so he’s very dependable. Hayashida: This is the first time we have a double casting, so we too are looking forward to it. Takasaki: Yuta will probably take a totally different approach from Omi-chan, so I think he’ll give us a fresh take on the role.

So both their performances are a must-see!  Takasaki: (The 2 Belphegors) will without a doubt affect our acting too, in my opinion. I recommend watching both versions.

Since “Secret Bullet” is the title, what is your “trump card”? Hayashida: I adopted a kitten recently, and it’s so cute that it makes me care less about anything else. (laughs) That’s why I consider it a secret bullet. Takasaki: Wow, nice one! For me… I started cooking more recently and often use honey as a secret ingredient. I think honey really can be used anywhere. That’s why it’s a secret bullet… (laughs)

Lastly, is there anything else you would like to say about the play, and any messages for the fans? Hayashida: First off, as a Varia member, I truly appreciate all the support that’s been given to the 2 “VS Varia arc” plays.      I will do my utmost best for this upcoming play to be a step in the right direction for the next one. The 2 stories may be unrelated, but we have a friendly rivalry going on. Given what’s currently happening in the world right now, we hope… no, we’ll definitely give an entertaining performance! By all means, please do look forward to it! Takasaki: There’s a big difference this time. Maru-san (Maruo Maruichirou) is not the director this time but Yoriko Jun-san since the play was based on the novel. Hence I think we’ll be able to depict the play in a totally different way from the previous plays. Of course there are still aspects of it that will remind you that this is still Reborn The Stage, but do look forward to a fresh take on some things. Given what’s currently happening in the world right now, it once again makes us very thankful that we were allowed to do a play. With all that into consideration, we hope you provide you all with some entertainment.   

[mafiabosstsuna]

OMG I LOVE YOUR BLOG SO MUCH!! Can I have yandere triangle between Tsuna/x/Byakuran and Hibari/x/Yamamoto?

Tsuna/reader/Byakuran‌• Byakuran will get to you first. He’s met you in some of his other timelines, but you had never been together, always a necessary casualty in the war. He was happy to find you did not remember him; he had worried you’d keep the memories from the bad timeline, but you hadn’t been important enough, apparently. He had been easily able to find you, and quickly integrated himself into your everyday life.‌• One thing that wasn’t the same was the fact that in this timeline, your family had ties to the mafia. So suddenly one day you took a job as a secretary for Tsuna himself. Your family had pushed you to do so; they were apparently very loyal to the Vongola and you not taking any active part in the Famiglia would give them a bad name. And you really weren’t opposed to it, you had been expecting this for quite a while.‌• Tsuna had immediately taken a liking to you, and had decided that he was going to make you his own. He was very overly friendly, finding as many silly excuses as he could to keep you in his office. He was always finding something else that he needed you to help him with. Any day now, he’d think to himself, he was going to pounce. Almost, not quite yet. ‌• But Byakuran was definitely not going to let that happen. He’d had his people following you for a few days now, and he knew he had to step in. So when you got home you found he was already there. Before you could even ask how the heck he got in he was telling you that you were coming with him. He loved you dearly and you were going to be with him. He would keep you safe and you’d have everything you’d ever need, and you weren’t going to be going back to the Vongola. If you hesitate for even a second he will tell you, his smile never leaving his face, that he will take you by force if he needs to.‌• So he takes you back to his own home, and if you embrace it he will be very pleased and give you more or less your freedom in his house, though he does keep hidden cameras around just to make sure you don’t try to leave or double cross him. If you try to resist, he will keep you locked in his room at all times. You’ll have everything you could ever want, except for your freedom. ‌• Unbeknownst to you, Tsuna has asked Byakuran to release you. Well, perhaps not ask. He’s ordered Byakuran to release you. Telling him that this doesn’t have to turn ugly, and that it would just be easiest for everyone if he complied. Byakuran will refuse, and claim you’re here of your own accord. If you have accepted him, he will even make you tell Tsuna yourself over the video chat they’re using (making sure to be holding you incredibly tight around your waist, just to show off the fact that you’re his.) If you have tried to escape, though, he will not do that and just tell Tsuna that he’ll have to take his word on it because you were busy. ‌• Whatever happens, Tsuna is already planning to break in and get you back. His guardians help, of course, and it practically becomes a war in Byakuran’s mansion. Byakuran keeps you close to him and pretty much just trusts in the Wreaths to be able to fight them off. But Tsuna’s sneaky and was able to get past everyone in the commotion and make it to the two of you. ‌• Tsuna will repeat what he’d said before, pretty much. Something along the lines of ‘let’s not make this any harder than it has to be, hand them over.’‌• To which Byakuran just goes ‘No.’‌• And then it comes down to you. If you decide you want to leave with Tsuna you surprise Byakuran by smashing a vase over his head. You don’t really hurt him, but it does surprise him enough for you to run to safety behind Tsuna. Tsuna will laugh and tell you to stand back while he kicks this guy’s ass.‌• If you choose Byakuran you surprise both of them by finding the gun he thought he kept well hidden in the room and while they’re fighting laying down covering fire for him. You knew you’d never actually land a hit, not with Tsuna’s speed or his hyper-intuition, but it stalls the fight out long enough that back up comes, and being outnumbered and knowing his Guardians have failed, forces Tsuna to retreat. ‌• Whoever keeps you, there’s tension between the two Famiglias pretty much until you die, honestly. The other had never truly given up and they end up coming to blows pretty often. The only way it all stops is exactly that, either you die or one of them does. It ends up being you; you get caught in the middle of one of their fights, hit by a stray bullet piercing you right in the heart.

Hibari/reader/Yamamoto‌• Yamamoto will be very touchy and obvious about his feelings for you. If you seem uncomfortable or try to push him away he will pretend he does not notice, and he certainly won’t stop. He’ll be all smiles around you all the time, taking note of your hobbies and the food you like and using it to his advantage. He’ll make sure to talk to you often about the things you’re doing and will often offer to cook you your favorite foods. If you say to him, right to his face, you aren’t interested in him and he should tone it back, that smile you’ve practically never seen him without will disappear. He’ll get this steely look in his eyes and his voice will drop, making it clear that you’re in danger, and he’ll say “You’re not thinking clearly, ________-chan. I’ve always been very nice to you, haven’t I?”‌• Hibari will be aware of Yamamoto’s feelings for you way before Yamamoto realizes Hibari’s own. So he knows that he has to play this carefully, and that he has the upper hand. You might not realize his feelings right away either, because Hibari will not act much differently towards you. You don’t notice at first, but Hibari will find as many ways to accidentally run into you as possible, and even if you guys are doing nothing but sitting in silence together, he is spending that time with you. He’ll also start planning ahead. Every time he knows that Yamamoto doesn’t have any work he will make sure to find you and steal you away before he can. He will do everything to make sure you see Yamamoto as little as possible. ‌• Yamamoto will start to catch on, though. He’ll start setting traps for Hibari whenever he can. Stuff like when you’re with him, doing something to mess with Namimori so he’ll have to leave you to deal with it. Cause Yamamoto knows Hibari will drop whatever he’s doing and go right to work. That’s when he’ll swoop in and take you away. ‌• If you choose Yamamoto, Hibari will seemingly back off. He really wants to just go and bite him to death, but they’re both Tsuna’s guardians, and they really can’t be seen fighting, it’d look bad for the Vongola. So Hibari will make sure that everything that can go wrong, does. Yamamoto will suddenly be found doing a lot more work which keeps him away for longer and longer periods of time. And Hibari will then trick Yamamoto into thinking you’re cheating on him, that you can’t stand being alone for so long. He’ll do really weird but little things so you don’t notice but he knows Yamamoto will, like arranging it so you’re out with friends or working on the days he knows Yamamoto’s coming home, or leaving around a bottle of over the counter medicine that you never really use but might’ve been in the house when he left but he can’t remember. Maybe a pair of your underwear left in a sort of hidden spot, like between the dresser and the wall, like they’d been thrown off in a hurry and forgotten about. ‌• And when Yamamoto starts accusing you of things he can swoop in before he gets violent with you and make you remember that he’s better for you and you should love him instead. ‌• If you pick Hibari, Yamamoto will do sort of the same thing, but not. Being with Hibari would already mean you’re by yourself quite a bit, since he is more of a quiet person and pretty busy with work normally. So he’d just take that up a notch. You’d find yourself alone more and more until you feel like you’re barely seeing him at all. He comes to bed after you’re already asleep and is gone before you wake. And Yamamoto is there giving you the affection you’ve been needing. And constantly talking shit about Hibari, that it’s not fitting for a guy to neglect his girlfriend so much. And that that would never happen with him.‌• Whether you remain loyal or end up switching sides, eventually the one you didn’t pick would take it out on you. Because they really aren’t allowed to take it out on each other. And they see each other too much. And that tension would just rise way too high. Hibari would avoid you nearly completely, and when he did see you he’d treat you like nothing but a trophy wife, not smart enough or strong enough for him to even give you the time of day. And Yamamoto would border into the sexual harassment area, taking any opportunity to touch you. Like placing his hands on your shoulder, caressing your cheek, hugging you often and for very long, and “accidentally” brushing against your ass or breasts in passing. And sometimes when Hibari wasn’t around he’d lean in and whisper to you about all the things he’d do to you if he could, and how much you’d  have loved it.