#wanted to draw sakura as a mermaid again

[lilover131]

Chapter 66 Analysis

We’re finally back!! Whoooo!!!!

I was seriously pumped for this chapter after such a long wait, and I can rest easy knowing that CLAMP has more or less stated they plan on taking no more breaks until the series is done. That means things should ramp up very quickly in the future, but this month’s chapter certainly seems to set up the atmosphere!

I’m copying Cinzia’s gif of the month thing, but I couldn’t resist posting this gif to highlight my favorite part of the chapter. Haha! Without further ado, let’s get started!

The cover page this month is gorgeous as usual, but I absolutely loooooooooooove the mermaid vibe we’ve got going on here. The way CLAMP draws water, fabric, and crystals are always just so mesmerizing to me, and seeing them all so beautifully done in one place makes for a STUNNING piece! Sakura looks so pretty here, and it really sets the mood for all the pretty things we’ll see in the chapter as she continues to explore Clockland.

 Sakura and ‘Syaoran’ (IMPOSTER!) are continuing their flight on the Shade card dragon, and Sakura addresses him as “Mr. Cat” again, indicating once again that she is not currently self aware. Because we know clearly that this is not Syaoran, I will refer to him as Mr. Cat from now on until it is officially revealed who this imposter is (though I believe it is Kaito as he is chaos incarnate and so very much like a cat. Haha!).

 Mr. Cat doesn’t much respond to Sakura and seems very much down to business, pointing to the castle in which they are approaching. And can I just say….wow. CLAMP has outdone themselves with this castle design. It has so many layers to it with the clock, roses, thorns, gears, etc. It’s just overall very pleasing to look at and full of symbolism too. The crystal mountains supporting the floating castle very much reminds me of Magic Knight Rayearth, and I believe CLAMP drew some inspiration from their old classic when they designed this.

 Sakura comments herself on specific aspects of the castle, such as the iron and stone walls but the ground beneath it being crystal. She asks why that is, which seems to imply CLAMP has made this design choice for a very specific reason. I am incredibly curious to see where they are going with that, but Mr. Cat’s serious face and lack of response leads me to believe even more that this information will be important later.

 They finally land on the chessboard like floor leading to the entrance of the castle. And the page of Sakura and Mr. Cat exchanging glances is somewhat unnerving to me. Sakura looks quite pensive and uncertain whereas Mr. Cat’s expression is quite cold and very unlike Syaoran (honestly it reminded me of clone Syaoran from Tsubasa and gave me minor PTSD. Hahahahaha). Instead of answering any of Sakura’s question, he welcomes her formally to Clockland and states the Red Queen is awaiting her.

The scene changes very surprisingly to Yelan (Queen!!) back in Hong Kong. She is naturally standing under the famous Li Clan gazebo, and a light rises from the water. It is Eriol’s image appearing in the ball of light (whooo! I missed his mischievous face!). Eriol remarks that it was Yelan’s doing that Sakura and Syaoran were unable to touch each other, and I had to say that I would never in a million years have guessed that it was her!! I’m seriously so stunned. She explains to Eriol that she felt it was necessary to help Syaoran tell the real Sakura apart from a fake one. Now, I understand her reasoning here in wanting to help him better trust his senses rather than his eyes. Syaoran is naturally talented and has been praised for his fine tuned senses, but of course he can get distracted when it comes to Sakura.

 That being said….

 Like I’m having a hard time grappling with this, and here’s why. Take a look at these panels from the first chapter in which the spell sprung (lol, spell sprung). He is in genuine pain, and there is fucking smoke coming off his hand. This shit was strong enough to singe his flesh.

And let’s not forget that this started all the way back in Chapter 37!!! That was 29 chapters ago!!!! So my question to Yelan is was that actually necessary and why did it go on for so long? Was she only capable of doing the spell at that time before being effectively cut off? Did she want Syaoran to get used to it before this moment? I have so many questions!! And we can’t forget how this spell seemed so serious of an attack against Syaoran specifically that many, including myself, were convinced that the Squid Caln did this or at least someone with a serious hatred of Syaoran, only for us to find out it was just his mom. Lmao.

 However, you truly know how fucked up it is when Eriol is coming out and saying “Was that necessary?”. Eriol, who has literally messed with Syaoran’s soul (read my post on the explanation of the tree scene if you’re wondering why I said this. Hahaha) and also used him to attack Sakura. Eriol, who constantly messed with him emotionally by saying cryptic things and once blotted out the moon and sun, sending Syaoran into a deep slumber he was not guaranteed to wake up from. ERIOL THINKS THIS WAS EXCESSIVE!

 He goes on to say that Yelan is as strict as the rumors say, and she gracefully hides her face with her fan, likely taking insult to that statement before thinking to herself ‘Strict? This is gentle…’.

 WOW. JUST WOW. Now all I can literally think of is that Syaoran’s training sessions with her probably just consisted of him getting his ass beat constantly. Haha!

 Lord, no wonder he reacts the way he does around her!! Hilariously in @meimi-haneoka​ ‘s translation review, she mentions that Eriol actually uses the word ‘Spartan’ in regards to her strictness, and I am fucking dying at how hilarious that is.

Despite this, I still love Yelan and know that she dearly loves her son. She wants him to be the best he can be (although through some quite harsh methods), but it seems that it is mostly due to the importance of what he will gain from this. He is being raised to take on the responsibility of protecting the entire clan, and that’s no small task. Additionally, I think that she would not have done a spell like this if she didn’t feel that the outcome far outweighed the damage he might receive. Perhaps whatever would happen to him if he slipped up would be far worse, and this was a desperate attempt to help him see through things. I refuse to believe that she did this purely to torture her son and had very good reasons for doing this, as she was once so protective of him that she cut his hair herself when he was young to prevent assassinations. The fact that she has such intense energy behind such a calm, beautiful face is honestly what makes her so charming as a character, and I have many headcanons about her that I want to share in more detail at some point. Her placing the fan in front of her face I feel is a way for her to hide an expression she didn’t want Eriol to see, always keeping her true self hidden from sight.

 The English translation on the next page is a bit off and Cinzia fortunately clears things up for us. What Yelan and Eriol are actually saying here is that the Mirror card was likely able to be stolen by Kaito from Syaoran because the card was in a weakened state. This was likely due to all of Mirror’s power not being passed successfully over to Syaoran when he executed the spell. Rather than being upset with Kaito about stealing the card, Yelan instead places blame on Syaoran for using the spell to take Sakura’s cards in the first place. This may seem harsh (are we really surprised at this point?), but she honestly is right and makes a good point. It seems that not just Eriol but his own mother were against him taking the Sakura cards onto himself, and now Syaoran is paying the price for it. Perhaps that is another reason to explain why she chose the spell she did, a slight punishment for his recklessness.

 Eriol questions why Kaito always seems to be one step ahead of them, and Yelan mentions that she does not believe he is able to see the future. That certainly beckons the question of how he knows how to react every time, but Kaho (who looks absolutely beautiful in this chapter) brings up the idea that he perhaps is turning back time every single time something doesn’t go right. That means he is likely turning back time way more than we initially thought, and I honestly believe it. After all, in the anime we saw him turn back time just because he slipped up and said a detail about Fujitaka to Akiho that could have easily been explained away. It doesn’t take much of a mistake at all for him to take it back, which also really puts a lot of weight on whatever it is he is trying to accomplish. What he wants is so important to him that he literally won’t allow even the smallest of slip ups to stop it. As we know already, doing this takes a toll on his life force, and Yelan questions what it is he wants that would be worth such a heavy price. No one has an answer unfortunately, so Eriol states that all they can do now is put their faith in Sakura and Syaoran. Can I say real quick how hilarious I find it that he refers to them as “the children” when he still looks like a child himself? Lmao. It’s hard for me to take that moment seriously!

 Sakura and Mr. Cat arrive at the fated fountain (I just knew it would appear here!!). This fountain and rose garden looks exactly the same as the one where Kaito met Lillie and where he also met Akiho. They are greeted by Yukito (aka the Promise card). He explains that time flows differently here, and when Sakura asks who controls how the time flows, he does not answer (I bet it’s Kaittoooooo). She also remarks about how the roses are white when she would have assumed them to be red. This is a curious detail indeed, and it leads me to believe a bit more that maybe this is Kaito’s dream world and not Akiho’s. Sakura states that she has a feeling this place is very important to someone and means the world, and Mr. Cat has a serious face when she says that, almost as if she has caught some detail he wanted to conceal. This makes me a bit more convinced that this imposter Syaoran is actually Kaito, and he quickly changes the subject, telling Sakura that they must make haste (hey, another Kaito trait! Quickly changing the subject to avoid uncomfortable conversations!).

 As they walk towards the castle entrance, Yukito says with a quite ominous expression ‘Don’t forget..the promise you made’. There is something very intense feeling about this statement, and I don’t actually feel like it’s directed towards Sakura? I can’t actually think at all of any promise Sakura has made to anyone (Yukito made one to Sakura, but that’s all I can think of!). I can’t help but have this eerie feeling that Yukito is actually talking to Mr. Cat, who I still believe to be Kaito. Perhaps Kaito is being reminded of a promise he made long ago and is basically in a subtle way being told “don’t you mess this up now”. I could be way off base with this one, but I just have this feeling it wasn’t directed at Sakura.

 Yukito vanishes under the fabric of the Lucid card, Mr. Cat once again reels her in, trying to guide her away from the distractions and where he wants to take her. Sakura asks about the personality of the Red Queen, which he refuses to answer, likely because it is awkward to try and explain his way around how similar Akiho actually is to Sakura.

 The large doors open, and they enter a room filled with water. There are two dock-like ledges on either side of the huge room with Touya on one side and Fujitaka on the other, and once again CLAMP is showing the duality here with what I assume is red and white. This imagery still very much gives me the vibe that a choice is about to be made, and the choice that Sakura makes will impact this world and what it effectively turns into. I feel we are drawing extremely close now to the fated decision, and it is here that Akiho introduces herself as the Red Queen. This time she does not hesitate to say it, unlike how she was in the real world as normal Akiho, and I think this speaks volumes. Before, it might have felt strange for Akiho, but now she is truly the Red Queen, so when she says her name, she says it without any hesitation.

 The chapter ends there, but I am very excited to see what happens. I think the next chapter is where the stakes will finally be laid out for us, and I am dying to know what mind fuckery CLAMP has in store for us. Bring it on!!

[elizabeatrice]

Episode 12 - The Little Mermaid

Let’s Talk About JSHK Anime #3

Warning: Manga spoilers for The Little Mermaid arc, The Clock Keeper arc, and chapter 64!!! (just a bit, skip point no. 5, 6, and 10 if you don’t want to get spoiled) Also … this ended up way longer than I intended.

Well that was one heck of a feels trip. It’s probably my new favorite episode, just because everyone is here being wholesome lmao.

This is mostly hananene meta I ain’t even gonna lie.

Before we begin, shout out to Black Canyon, our newest anime cutie pie. Just look at him, folks. Just chilling with his sunflower seed.

He has no idea the kind of life his owner leads.

I said before that the best part of episode 12 is how it made Daydream worse, so now I’m gonna ramble about it.

“Maybe different species can’t understand each other after all.”

“Maybe it would be better if I were an apparition too.”

This is my favorite part of the episode. And no, not in the sense that I want Nene to die just so that she and Hanako can be together. But because of how Lerche actually explored deeper what was said only once in the manga.

Well, both in the manga and anime Nene ended up accepting the mermaid’s blood because of her desire to be popular, but the anime decided to revisit what she said earlier in the episode.

Not only did that make her decision kinda less selfish, it’s also just … sad. Thinking that your friend, someone you really cared about, doesn’t trust you enough to tell you things about themselves, to the point where you’re willing to go to such lengths as turning into an apparition just to understand them.

And if you think about it, isn’t this part of her true wish? To have her feelings be reciprocated? Man I just realized that as I wrote this and I am mindblown.

She thought she finally got her wish with Hanako. I mean, he said it himself in the first ep (”You wanted someone, anyone, to return your feelings, right? And as far as you’re concerned, sharing a bond with someone is the same thing, right?”). So it must’ve hit her really hard when she thought he didn’t trust her. Especially with all the wrong ideas the fishes were feeding her mind.

Then we got this little flashback. At first I was like, “Girl, you really be thinking that he doesn’t care about you while recalling the moment he apologized to you and hugged you? Are you insane?”

But after some thinking of my own, it occurred to me. Maybe she was too used to having her feelings not reciprocated, she couldn’t believe it when someone finally did. Not to mention Hanako did kinda trick her with his fake confession a while back (heh, he’s not the only one with trust issues, eh?). And that just made the entire thing even sadder.

So when Nene said, “But I thought, if I were an apparition like you, I could get closer to you. Then, maybe I’d be able to understand you, Hanako-kun. Although I know I probably don’t mean anything to you.”

That was a harsh wake up call for Hanako.

(Btw even more full circle, Hanako brought up Nene’s wish to become human again in the first episode. Nice.)

So. We got one daikon girl who’s afraid of not having her feelings reciprocated, and one ghost boy who’s afraid that daikon girl wouldn’t be his friend anymore if she knew about his past.

While in actuality, said daikon girl already decided she wanted to and would be his friend no matter what, and ghost boy had grown to care about her more than he thought he would.

He heard what she said to Tsuchigomori. He knew all about regret, too.  I mean, honestly, I think if she had said no, he’d let her walk away right then and there, no questions asked. But she didn’t.

Nene’s wish finally came true here. And the best part? It wasn’t the work of magic or curses. Just Hanako finally shoving his fear aside, offering himself as he was, and letting her decide.

And she still chose to be with him.

Heh. Lemme just. Sob for a bit.

Is my hananene trash brain reading too much into this? Idk. Maybe.

So props to the production team for managing to add even more weight to this arc. Which, they had to, since it’s the season finale and all. But I love what they did!

Onto my commentaries!

1. The KouNene

Good shit. She was worried about him but he didn’t want her to worry so he just smiled it off? These two are precious. Thought they were gonna interact. Sadly not. Buuuut! (see point 12)

2. Hanako’s classroom visit

He. Is. So. Adorable. Someone please take his babey license away he’s too dangerous.

Hanako’s classroom visit is like my absolute favorite clingy Hanako moment, so I’m really happy I get to see it this season. Ugh. My kokoro. Hugging her from behind, that semi confession vibe … Smooth mf.

The Mokke brushing Nene’s hair!!! The radish hairdo tho lmao.

On a sidenote, as a history nerd I appreciate that they’re actually putting lessons in the background. And the teacher talked about Apollo 11 again??? While my boy was in the room? That ish both hurt and pleased me.

3. The Clock Keeper rumor drop

Heeeeeehhhhh? What’s thiiiiiissss?

4. This freaking thing

*flips table* Darn production team been knew I’m hananene trash how dare they do this to me.

And lookie here there’s Kodama chilling.

5. Fishies! (!!!manga spoiler for The Little Mermaid arc!!!)

Pufferfish didn’t die. Well, good for him. Also I can’t believe they just call the other fish ‘yeah yeah’ lmao what the freak. Has it always been like that in the manga?

6. AOI AND AKANE (!!!spoilers for chapter 64!!!)

I swear I did not intend this numbering coincidence.

*claps* Boi. Nene asking Aoi about cutting ties with someone she’s interested in? And then Akane just swooped in and say he’d rather cut his head off than cut ties with Aoi? What about getting impaled, huh, boy? Would that do?

The not-so-subtle call out to these two pairs’ parallel? BOI.

7. Nene and Yako

These two just chilling together having girl talk, and Yako let Nene pet her? That’s some adorable shit right there. Admit it Yako you like her.

Yako also be really hitting home with what she said. It was extra heavy coming from her, considering what happened to her and Misaki. Boiiiiii.

8. Tsuchigomori

Oh my God, his laughter. Just … oh my God.

Tsuchigomori in dad mode is always one of the highlights of the episode/chapter.

By the way, in this scene according to the sub, Nene asked Tsuchigomori who Tsukasa is. But she knew who he is already. Is it possible that the sub misinterpreted it? ‘Cause I think what she actually meant was, “What happened to him and Tsukasa-kun in the past?”

If someone who speaks Japanese could share their wisdom, please do!

9. The 5 pm bell and twilight

Look how pretty they are!!!

Lo and behold, another important hananene interaction while the 5 pm bell plays in the background. Also, twilight? Y’all giving me Kimi no Na wa flashbacks.

“Twilight, when it’s neither day or night. When the world blurs and one might encounter something not human.”

Huh … kinda fits the ‘boundary’ concept but it still hurt.

Anyway they still had Hanako tell her what she already knew. And I did say in my ‘Walking Blind’ post that it’d be redundant. But since the episode kinda emphasized Nene’s desire to understand Hanako, having him actually tell her himself, even though she already knew it, was a big deal. It’s not about what she knows, it’s about him opening up to her. So I’m super cool with it.

10. The Broadcasting Club (!!!spoilers for The Clock Keeper arc!!!)

I love how Natsuhiko and Sakura are actually decent people. When he told Mitsuba that he was free to choose to stay with them or not? That’s solid, man. Though, of course, Tsukasa might not be as kind.

Speaking of, I know it couldn’t be anything else, but I’m still not sure if Tsukasa’s drawing was confirmation for season 2. Don’t wanna get my hopes up. Imma just enjoy what I currently have.

Kinda curious, though. Because Clock Keeper wasn’t Tsukasa’s doing. Maybe he was the one who released Mirai? But tbh I’d prefer if it wasn’t so. Because having more cases of supernaturals going loco without it being one of Tsukasa’s games is interesting, and kinda underlines the need of The Seven Wonders to keep supernaturals in check.

11. Kodama just chilling

12. The Adventures of Minamoto and the Summer Vegetables

You go, Kou! I’m rooting for you oh my God you’re so precious.

And look at that ikemen smile! Him supporting Kou is just top notch sweet y’all I can’t-

Ngl this was the biggest surprise of the episode. Teru finding out that summer vegetables = Nene? Broooooo. Interesting. I don’t think this little addition warrants any changes to their future interaction, so it should be safe. Clever replacement, too, those veggies.

It’s so sweet that Nene delivered those veggies to Kou! Just imagine the Minamoto family having veggies for dinner. Awww.

(Also, Nene wrote her name in hiragana instead of kanji. Is that a reference to how bad Kou is with kanji? Lol, so sweet)

13. The Coda!!!

Look at him. Just look at him. Look how lovesick he is y’all I can’t-

THEY’RE SO ADORABLE.

All in all, I love this episode. Sorry for how long this post is. I’m just dealing with so many feels right now. Gaaahhhhh.

[youuuimeanmee]

Two in One

My Tsukasa Theory-2

Aside from the famous theory that Tsukasa is Hanako’s yorishiro (which I agree on), I can’t help but have my own what-if scenario;that Amane and Tsukasa are one supernatural being, “Hanako-san.”

The reason? One, because Tsukasa and Amane’s objective is in line with Hanako-san from the rumour.

Two, because of Sakura’s odd remark.

“Is yours like that too?

It’s clear that she’s talking about Tsukasa, and the one she curious about is Amane.

Except Tsukasa never claims to be "Hanako-san” because that’s the name people in near shore would call their being, when he handles far shore. Plus he never wants to be a part of Seven Mysteries to begin with - he wants to destroy it instead.

Anyhow, continuing with my take. Amane and Tsukasa are one supernatural being but their power are split unevenly, with Tsukasa holding 75% of it while Amane has 25%. That’s why Tsukasa’s power is unmatched even in No. 3’s territory, when Amane needs his cloak first to draw his full power. I have two speculations about why their power is like that:

It has something to do with their nature when they’re alive; Tsukasa used to be the energetic brother and Amane used to be more reserved.

There’s someone who did that, which I’ll explain later.

Despite what I said about they’re both being Hanako-san, I find it strange that some well-known supernaturals like the Mermaid’s advisor and No. 3 aren’t even aware of Tsukasa’s existence.

It’s really weird, considering:

Hanako has been doing his job for 45 years and Tsukasa is only absent for 20 years (assuming he didn’t lie/forget), so he should’ve been around for 25 years

Supernaturals are supposed to have long lifespan so their memory should be good. Well 45 years is fairly recent so I’ll give it a pass if they aren’t up-to-date with recent news, which bring us to point #3

There’s no way supernaturals would forget about Tsukasa if he behave like he is right now.

On related note, I found Tsukasa’s bio from the Ghost Hotel’s Cafe. His role is a ghost. Although it's not canon, it’s interesting how it raises the same question as the canon Tsukasa:

Not everyone is aware of his existence. Why?

Even Hanako was terribly horrified with the way he treats Mitsuba.

He’s acting as if it was the first time he saw Tsukasa’s extreme antics? From Hanako's outrage expression, it's like knew he's insane but he didn't expect him to be this insane.

With those points, it looks like Tsukasa used to be at least docile enough for not causing major troubles in far shore. But we know he's not the type who likes to sit around and do nothing.

It’s all seem strange,

it’s as if…

His existence was never meant to be.

So my take is, what if

They used to literally become one?

Here is my speculation about it, so please take it with a grain of salt.

The day when they become Hanako-san, their body fused into one. It would explain why almost everyone doesn’t know Tsukasa’s existence when he only feels separated from Amane for 20 years. It would also give a whole different meaning about this cover,

Because it’d imply that Amane literally can’t escape from Tsukasa’s influence, given that he resided in his body. Maybe it spark an incident 20 years ago that causing Tsukasa to be separated from Amane. Whoever separate them split their power unevenly in order to bring balance between near shore and far shore; because too much power in near shore can cause humans some problems. Ever since then, Tsukasa is sealed or locked in somewhere unknown.

Speaking of being sealed, here is Hanako from the Ghost Hotel’s Cafe. 

Maybe it’s the place where Tsukasa is sealed? Lol jk but again, I just find it interesting.

Anyway back to my theory. After Tsukasa is sealed, I have a speculation about how Hanako is faring. Remember when Amane used to be a reserved, timid guy? With Tsukasa gone, Hanako continued adopting his brother’s act sub/consciously. For example like how he can get pretty childish sometimes, and how he’d give other supernatural a death threat if they don’t do what he says.

Well maybe I’m thinking too much into it. It’s possible that Hanako’s behavior is similar with Tsukasa given that they’re twins, but his behavior here makes me reconsider other possibility that maybe Hanako did try to act like his brother.

Now from Tsukasa’s side; because Tsukasa has been separated from Amane, maybe he thought it’s a golden opportunity because now he has an autonomy to move on his own, free from his brother’s influence. And he can still give his “love” to Amane at the same time. He decided follow his brother’s footstep to become a supernatural who grants wishes from far shore because it’s fun. He’s been with his brother for a while so he knows how things worked. With the help of Sakura’s strong wish, he was able to break free from his seal. Then he bound her to become his assistant to help him to reach Amane.

And the rest is history - Tsukasa distrups the peace in far shore because it’s fun and he loves to provoke his brother by doing it. Maybe he actually wants a serious duel with him because no matter how much he provoke him, he never retaliates. Well by the time Amane got serious he got killed so.. Maybe now that they’re dead it’s a good opportunity to repeat it all over again.

TL;DR Tsukasa is like an unwanted child a byproduct of Hanako. He’s not meant to be exist, he’s not someone who can grant wishes but since he’s born again into this world, he might as well uses his power to make his time here worthwhile.

I can't explain Tsukasa's black seal with this theory though, ahaha. I want to believe that he is Hanako's yorishiro so I have a mixed feeling about this. Please tell me what you think!

[plunnies-n-shit]

Wave (Crash/Break)

Naruto -- Mermaid/Return of Uzushio AU

Naruto might have Minato’s coloring, but he’s always been Kushina’s son.

OR

The wave hits Sakura and Sasuke first, and Naruto doesn’t think. 

Air-Bubble Jutsu was one of the first things that Sarutobi-jiji taught him, but Naruto lets the water hit him. It’s terrifying, at first, the way it crashes over his head and drags him beneath the surface. For just a moment, Naruto wars himself, stuck between the want to draw a breath and the fear of giving himself over to the water. But Sakura and Sasuke don’t have the advantage he does here-- the water doesn’t care for them, doesn’t love them, and if Naruto doesn’t do this then they might get hurt.

The air exits his chest in a cascade of bubbles, and when he breathes in again it isn’t through his nose or mouth. 

The water wraps him, lifts him, because it cares for him. It loves him, sings of greetings and homecomings. Naruto forces himself to ignore the song, letting his tail push him through the water where he can feel the disturbance that is Sakura. She must have hit her head-- there’s a little blood in the water that smells like her, and Naruto wrinkles his nose as he wraps an arm around her waist and turns towards where he can feel Sasuke still flailing. 

Everything disturbed by Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza’s fighting is rushing back now, and Naruto pushes himself a little faster, because if they get washed back into the river then even Naruto is going to have trouble pulling both of his teammates back to the shore. 

“Come home,” the water sings, as Naruto catches Sasuke just before the idiot gets brained by a passing log. He turns and braces himself, muscles bunching as the trailing edge of the water rapidly approaches, readying himself to launch himself and his team out before they can get dragged away again.

“Let them go and come home,” the water pleads, and Naruto almost, almost listens. 

His tail snaps once, hard, and he is shooting out of the water, body curling so Sasuke and Sakura will land on him instead of the muddy ground. They’re a heavy weight, and the impact aches, but worse in the way that Naruto’s gills flare and burn against open air. Shit, he forgot how much he hates that. He can’t help the panic that rises in his chest, because he’s stranded out of the water, and he can’t draw a full breath, he can’t breathe--

“Dobe!” Sasuke barks, and Naruto’s gills snap shut, lungs expanding painfully as he gasps. 

The first thing he does is vomit out what’s left of the river water in his body, along with everything else in his stomach and lungs. Distantly, he can hear Sakura doing the same. It’s the worst part of the transition, in Naruto’s opinion-- the retreating webbing between his hands isn’t so bad, and shedding his tail doesn’t feel much different from rubbing off a sunburn, but emptying the water feels a little bit like being hollowed out with a rusty spoon. 

“Kakashi?” Naruto wheezes, because-- it was either Kakashi-sensei or Sasuke and Sakura, and it was a hard choice, but Naruto knows that Kakashi would have been very disappointed if Naruto didn’t pick his teammates over his teacher. 

Not, Naruto thinks sadly, that they’re going to be his teammates for much longer.

Sasuke huffs in disbelief. “That’s what you’re worried about? Seriously? Naruto, you’re--”

There’s a sound like ripping wet cloth, and Naruto can’t suppress the full-body shiver that wracks him as his tail finally splits. He should go ahead and wiggle his legs free, now that he has legs again, but he’s just. So tired, and everything is wet and heavy, and really he’d be perfectly content to fall asleep right here. He can’t. Fall asleep right here. But he really wants to. 

“Check on--” Naruto gasps, because suddenly everything inside his chest is heavy too, and that shortness of breath is back, and even though he has his eyes squeezed shut he feels all dizzy and nauseous. “Check… on…”

“She’s fine, kid,” a deep, familiar voice says-- all roughed up from breathing in water, probably, the idiot, and all Naruto feels is--

relief.

[gqanime]

So I've got the drawings for the mythical creature AU! ( based on @edgy-senju siren Au.) From the first game we have...

Werewolf toko! She turns in to syo when a wolf.

This is syo.

Dragon born celeste! This is actually the second design of her! ( her drills are horns.)

Gorgon Junko! ( yes she cut her snake bangs off.)

And Mukuro! Same as junko cus sister's. I might want to change her design a bit.

Centaur Sakura! This was my mom's Idea along with the other centaur.

Ok

The second game

Centaur Nekumaru! Again my mom's Idea.

Mermaid Sonia! I love her design a lot!

Fawn Ibuki ! If you don't know what a fawn is its a half goat half human and yes she dyed her fur.

So I need Ideas for mythological creatures for these characters

Mikan

Leon

Kyoko

If you have ideas please let me know!

Kazuichi

Mahiru

[riyelaalelita]

Well, so here I am ready to write down some random ffbe merman!au because I kept thinking about this for the last few days XD (this all was inspired by merman Welly of @tuensartpages, that drawing is really cute!) OK, so in this universe Lasswell is the Prince of Hess (a kingdom on land) while Rain is Prince of Aldore (kingdom under the sea). And Rain spends most of his time sneaking out of the castle, wandering around in the sea and slacking off. One day Lasswell sees Rain relaxing on a reef near the shore and falls for him at first sight. He could easily go talk to him, right? Nope, he just admires him while hiding and thinking about how to approach him. In the end, he decides to look for someone able to turn him into a merman. So he finds two potion makers (that I imagine being Citra and Sakura, don't ask why) that give him a potion that does just that...with some side effect because it's still an experiment: the effect lasts just 7 days and Lasswell loses his voice (yea, kind of the little mermaid, but reversed) Still, Lasswell meets Rain and somehow makes him understand that he's human, Rain thinks he became a merman because of a curse and sets off to find someone to break it for him, obviously carrying Lasswell with him, and grows closer and closer to him. Lasswell has the time of his life going around with his crush and doesn't notice that 7 days have passed and nearly drowns. Fortunately Rain brings him on the surface on time. Then Lasswell, human again and with his voice back, explains everything and confesses, and Rain says that's OK, he likes him too. And here end my ramblings...for now because I have actually thought about some other things but didn't want to make this too long XD Anyways, hope you enjoyed this ^-^

[solitaire-dreams]

Reverse AU. This one was fun, partially because the ideas for role swaps I had seen before were so creative. However, since I would be writing rather than drawing, that presents a decent obstacle. While it is easy for people to have distinct designs for Yashiro in this prompt, it would be harder to have a distinct written work since most people would likely write about their first meeting. That's why the first priority I set for myself was finding another event to write about; and I ended up settling on the tea party chapters—later shortened to just The Tea Party Part 2. It had; good ship bait moments, a chance for normal Amane to show his skills, ask what would Tsukasa's role in this AU be like, touch upon both Mystery!Yashiro and 1960s!Yashiro, and this chapter had an overall sense of importance and finality which would lend itself well to the scenario.

However, the thing you will probably be questioning more is the inspiration behind “Yao-san” as Amane called her. Since I wanted to show Yashiro as both a mystery and a human, I wanted to maintain a similar pattern of names with mystery and human Yashiro. I felt like mermaid inspiration was a given for her mystery persona—and would be just really fun to create. In researching mermaids in Japanese mythology, I came across the folk story of Yao Bikuni. Wikipedia actually has a pretty decent summary here, but to shorten it even more; the story tells of a fisherman who catches a strange looking fish. He cooks it up to share, but one of the guests notices it has a human face and the fish was actually a ningyo, whose flesh was said to grant people immortality. All the guests agreed to hide their shares and throw them away later, but one drunk dude wasn't conscious enough to do even that, and ends up feeding it to his daughter. Luckily, things seem to be fine until she marries, where the girl suddenly stops aging. This led her to husband dying long before her, and then later remarrying; a cycle which continued until she became a Buddhist priestess and later ended her own life at 800 years.

This story connects decently well to Yashiro, eight, love, eating a part of a mermaid; to the point I wonder if the author was actually referencing this in her design.

Regardless, I certainly reference it in my own. Here's a brief summary of Yao Bikuki-sama of Kamome Academy: “The seventh of the Seven Mysteries, Yao-Bikuni-sama. In life, she was a third-year girl who turned to a ghost in order to find love. She was given a matchmaking charm in the form of a mermaid scale, but the spirit was careless and left some mermaid flesh on the piece she consumed; making her immortal. Eventually she killed herself, but her spirit lives on. If you can summon her, she will give you a matchmaking charm made out of her mermaid scales—without any flesh, that will tie both who eat with a strong bond. To summon her, you must head to the cafeteria in the old school building and leave a glass of sake on the table closest to the window.”

I have more to her backstory, but just in case I decide to touch on this AU again, I'll leave it for now. A few closing notes:

-Instead of a kitchen knife she wields a parasol as a weapon. I originally got this idea from a Mystery!Yashiro art I couldn't relocate. (If any one knows who drew that, please feel free to tell me ^-^). I thought this suited Yao-san well as: parasols/umbrellas are used to block water, it has a vintage look, it considered as less deadly than a knife, and we need to normalize umbrellas as badass weapons.

-When Amane meets her, he calls her Yao-sama, but switches to Yao-san as it sounds like they are closer (and not like a relationship between master and servant).

-Since Amane's and Yashiro's roles have switched so have Tsukasa's and Sakura's. Tsukasa is the assistant to Sakura, bound by some promise relating to love. Natsuhiko still follows Ghost!Sakura as he thinks she's drop-dead gorgeous and is a bit envious that Tsukasa was picked as her “true” assistant. The rest of the details are as hazy as they are in canon.

-Yao's design is vague because I haven't really finalized one yet. Except for the parasol. #normalizeumbrellaweaponry

[heartsofthewisps]

Characters:

Carson Von Somethin

Yes, that IS his last name. Residing in the busy city of Auriga, Carson is a music connoisseur while his views and takes on the world are rather cynical, ever since the tragic death of his parents whom he lost in a brutal car accident when he was only four years old. The leader of the wisps, unfortunately for him. The main man!!

Margie Spellwinder

Margie is from a long, esteemed line of proud witches. She is to inherit the great Spellwinder name!..... That is, if she can even be a proper witch to begin with. Although very gifted with magic, she doesn’t know exactly how to wield it. Margie hails from southern Astraeya, her abode not far from the Witch’s Hamlet. She often fizzles simple ember spells or ends up blowing up her household with potion brews. Either way, she’s determined, and isn’t about to give up! But she could take a break from the constant malfunctions. Constantly anxious, and has a deeper past than first anticipated.

Hitoshi Spirit

Ironic as it is, Hitoshi Spirit is a samurai who has traded in his soul for incredible strength and stamina during a tolling war that took place in Hiragashi, a coastal town in Eastern Astraeya. Now he remains a husk of a man. Still, he is able to feel and experience emotions despite having traded away his spirit. But he is often cold and heartless, not feeling pity for cowards who beg for pity. And somehow, he ended up in a group with a pessimistic music maker, a failing witch, and a bossy, immature guardian spirit. Enjoys the simple things in life, like fishing and painting.

Willow Wispy

Willow is a guardian spirit that, as her name suggests, can control fire and ashes. However being such a small, insignificant spirit, she believes she’s a long-forgotten goddess who has magnificent power (which is proved time and time again to be false by her team). She showed up beside Carson one day, promising to protect him through his compelling journey. Though he pushed her away a lot, being the independent person he is. Has a lot more to her than meets the eye.

Akio Hinode

Appearing to be an ordinary man at first, it is later revealed that he is actually the last remaining kitsune to live. He hails from the small Kitsune Village hidden deep within the Woods of the Lynx. Due to his species being doomed, he has grown bitter and cold from the world, especially towards humans since they are the very things that killed his people. To make their lives as miserable as possible, he pulls pranks and tricks, lies and steals, anything to inconvenience them as much as possible. Be wary - his bright and cheery persona is only a mask for a darker and cold man.

Ichika Gakusha

An avid historian that hyper-studies any subject that catches her eye, to ignore the depression of her family neglecting her for her entire life. Her current obsession is the kitsune people and their past culture, trying to recover and learn about them ever since they went extinct. Little does she know that there IS one living kitsune, who happens to be afraid of her possibly exposing his existence to hunters. Incredibly intelligent, but oblivious to what’s in front of her.

Julian Lores Draconia

Kindhearted prince and sole heir to the throne of Draconia, the kingdom ruled by dragonblood. Despite loving his father for treating him kind all his life, he knows that he’s been slipping away bit by bit, and that one day, he will become a threat to the people of Astraeya. With this knowledge, he defects from the kingdom for a time and joins the main group to restore peace to the world. Due to the draconic blood flowing through his veins, he slowly transforms into a dragon, and cannot revert back to his human self unless using a scale tonic or a magic spell. Has a bit of a crush on Margie.

Faenar Mysticus

For thousands of years, elves, fairies, and fae alike have been known to reject any species that were not their own, having strict rules on what can and cannot be done, and overall are unfriendly, unkind beings. Not Faenar. Absolutely not Faenar. He is the nicest, kindest, most gentle elf in the entire world, and comes from the Treetop Sanctuary, a large settlement of elves in the Woods of the Lynx. Taking Margie in when she was small and frail, he deemed himself her older brother and pretty much everyone else as his little siblings. His mother, an elvish council member, desperately wants him to stop dragging her through this trouble, but has honestly given up at this point.

Dreezna Elfenstof

Dreezna is one of the fairies that reside in the mystical Verdwaald forest, home to the fairies of Astraeya. The queen of fairies, Titania, knew what must be done, and had sent Dreezna away to find the Wisps (the main group), knowing she is among the souls. Despite her pessimistic personality at first glance, she is a person of pure heart, as a healer in Astraeya cannot be one unless their heart is kind and pure. Pines over Viviane hard.

Viviane Samaka

A mermaid from the underwater kingdom of Lu’Lu’, who advocates for the truce between land dwellers and sea creatures, she has a bright outlook for the future, and is unknowingly one of the Wisps. Like other mermaids, she has the sacred ability to entrance a person with her singing voice, though she must be careful not to hypnotize one of her one friends. Pines over Dreezna hard.

Mo

Mo (short for Mother Life) is the long-since-forgotten goddess of Astraeya, the creator of the entire world. Don’t be fooled by her young, childlike appearance - she is wise when it counts. Though she provided everything for the people, they still disliked her, angry that she didn’t accommodate their every need (though they weren’t exactly aware their caring goddess is a literal child). She one day mysteriously disappeared after the Gigas Disaster, which crumbled Astraeya’s old society. Whether she’s dead or ran off, nobody in the world knows.

Nightmare

A literal blob of evil black goo, Nightmare is the cause of the Gigas Disaster and the main antagonist of the story. He was born of the hatred and malice of the eight lesser elemental gods’s war. Though I may draw him with a form, the truth is he has no real form, and can only can have one by inhabiting a vessel, a person chosen among his followers. Hasn’t been seen physically for thousands of years, as he disappeared when Mo did, but threatens to return to end Astraeya once and for all.

Slug Prophet

Yes. You heard that right. Slug. Prophet. Born around the the same time Mo created Astraeya, they are a sea slug gained sentience, and gifted with the power of foresight. Mo often came to them in the past for advice and help, but has long since lost relevance and now hangs out in a damp, musty cove by the ocean, eating plankton-algae soup and doing....whatever they do in their free time. Primordial being, on the same level as Mo herself.

Sakura

A totally uninteresting and non-relevant elf lady from the forest, a total nerd and dweeb. She uses magic I guess, but honestly what’s the point, because she is just there. Mostly for background. Created To The Wisps as a fun little comic project on the side but it accidentally became real and she’s powerless to stop it. If you see her, ignore her, she will eventually go away.

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: Kawaii Box May 19

Before I begin I have an announcement: later/tomorrow I plan to post a sort of... glossaryish post that will be about ALL the boxes I subscribe to :D Because earlier today it occurred to me, I never really talk about the brands themselves anymore unless they have some update or if I complain in my reviews. I thought this type of post would be nice for anyone who just wanted to learn more about a specific box to see if they would be interested in it. I will also be including my own opinions on the box as a whole, pros and cons, how the box has changed, etc.

So if you like things like that, then make sure you come back soon!

Until then, we’re gonna focus on this:

Word of the month: Tanjyoubi - Birthday

Disney Princess Dress-Up Puffy Stickers

Our first item is a set of Disney Princess Ariel/Little Mermaid stickers. Covered to the brim with stickers, this sheet has multiple outfits, accessories/props, and deco bits to have fun with the sticker doll and then-some!

Besides Ariel, there are other Disney Princess and I’ve even seen they added a really cute Minnie mouse one on Blippo.com. Those in this set each cost $3.90.

I was really torn between all 3 dresses, the turquoise one was a classic for Ariel, and I love how the pink one reminded me of Aurora, but I actually settled for the purple one because I though it looked really pretty on her. Then I chose the shell purse and matching decoration/accessory and a light pink sash to add more to her dress, what do you think?

While on the subject, which dress would you have chose for her? Or would you have given her a different colored dress entirely?

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

It’s really simple, but it’s also pretty fun and cute, I love dress-up stickers because of how creative you can be. I mentioned this before but I really want to start a scrapbook or photobook and fill it entirely with dress-ups~

The stickers puffiness is nice and soft, and I like how these don’t feel finished. So I could go back to it a few days later and swap out her purse and hair piece to make her classier with a sun hat. Or I could give her the turquoise dress if I wanted. 

Sanrio Ziptop Bag Set

Next up is this pack of adorable Pompompurin zipper bags. You get 6 in total, including 3 Small 70mm x100mm, and 3 Medium 160mm x 190mm. Each set offers different designs, and besides Pompompurin (who I couldn’t find on blippo btw) there was also the other basic characters like my Melody, Gudetama, Little Twin Star. Each set costs $5.90.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I think these are really cute, and practical :D according to the back of the package you could put all sorts of things in these, and I like that both sets are zip-locks. These would be a perfect gift for any Pompompurin fan.

Kawaii Dreams File

This is the monthly Exclusive item, a file folder featuring a variety of kawaii designs and items you can find on the Kawaii Box box and booklet, with the inside panel being white and pink to match the box’s color scheme. It’s kinda small-medium, about the size of the booklet that comes in each box, and it’s a little flimsy, but for most part it feels durable and sturdy.

You can buy this off of Blippo for $2.90.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥  

I usually don’t look forward to getting these files in the boxes because as cute as they are, they’re always big and bent. This one fits in the box with no problem, so I feel like even though you would need to fold certain things into it, it’s more practical. I also like how despite how colorful and busy it looks, it doesn’t feel too-busy.

Soft Jell Rainbow Gel Pen Set

I loved gel pens growing up x3 my friends and I loved to draw on our things and each other during class (but only when we weren’t actually doing anything important <3< I wasn’t a model student but I didn’t get into trouble either), and I remember just admiring the massive rainbow collection my friend had; she must have had at least 100!

My collection was much smaller and modest though, I only had a few glittery metallic ones and a couple multicolored pastels. So for someone who used to love these, getting a whole pretty set like this just made my day~

It’s also pretty rare for us to get a whole set of anything in the boxes. If you’ve seen my prior reviews (or check out the items on blippo) its usually just one separate of your choosing. This set costs $6.90.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The colors are vibrant and really pretty, as you can see I did decorate the box with them which in hindsight might not have been the best thing to do, but they still worked once the ink got flowing. They’re juicy and are capable of long lines, writing, dots, coloring.

My only complaint is that both blues (or I suppose you could say one is indigo? Turquoise?) look almost exactly alike. It’s the same in the actual pens, but there’s still a noticeable difference until you go to use them both, so I wish they would have darkened or lightened one of them to make the difference more noticeable.

Cute Animal Friend Masking Tape & Nekoni Cherry Blossoms Badge

For our next items, I got bunnies for both ♥

 First is an adorable pastel bunny washi tape that consists of a kawaii bunny doing some silly actions. I would have taken out a piece to show the design, but when I unraveled a long, long amount of it I saw no end to the pattern >3< like it kept going, there was no repeat bunnies. Each bunny was cuter, or sillier than the last.

There are several varieties you could get, and you can guy them in sets of 4 for $5.90 on Blippo.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Well besides being very cute and silly to look at, I like how this doesn’t seem to be repetitive like most tapes. I’m sure it starts repeating somewhere but for now, I just think it would be cute to use them individually as little emoji icons, like for notes or letters or something.

-----

From the brand Nekoni are these adorable pastel badges with cherry blossom designs, ranging from animals, a human girl, scenery, and adorable foods. Each badge costs $1.90.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

It’s very cute, but there isn’t really much I can say about a badge other than the fact it seems to be fine quality. There was no problems with it or anything to complain about.

Cute Stationery Buddy

This probably would have been better suited for a school theme- but you also use stuff like this to decorate :P so, our next item is an adorable, soft but firm plush themed after various stationery items. There are 7 in total, each with a ball chain and costing $4.90.

I really hope I’m not the only person, but when I saw this (and even now) I think of a snail; it’s a roll of tape! I was so surprised initially but now that I’ve had it for a while I’ve been seeing it more.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Again, I find myself with little to say. It’s really cute though, and the quality is nice, there’s no obvious flaws or issues.

Yogurt Jelly Hair Clip Set

In comparison to stationery, we always get sets of hair clips so I’m happy about that :3 I love their kawaii hair clips and accessories, they’re usually always one of my most favorite items~

Anyway, this set is themed after yogurt jelly and features a small translucent clip attached to a clear, colorful, glittery yogurt jelly attached to it, each with labels, a colorful lid, and a tiny lotte written in the corner. These come in several cute color schemes, each set costs $2.90.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

As I’ve been saying this entire review, these are very cute. They’re also well made, in that the pieces don’t feel loose or flimsy, which has been in a problem with one or two past-sets I’ve gotten, but you can easily fix that with some good glue. I was also very happy to get a very pink set, but you couldn’t go wrong with any of them in my opinion!

DIY Fruity Doodle Pen & Flower Candy

Our last item is this cute little fruity doodle set. Technically I don’t consider this to be a DIY considering you’re just spreading gel on the gummies, but it’s very cute and I really wanted to try it. I started seeing it like a year or two ago?

It’s available on Blippo for $3.50.

As you can see, I got tons of yellow gummies, along with a single pink, and two blues. The gel is supposed to be sour, but it’s actually very light- it reminds me a lot of strawberry jello/gelatin. The gummies are individually flavored, and this is what I thought:

Yellow - might be apricot? It tastes a lot like the apricot jelly filling in the mochi I buy from the mall.

Blue - my favorite, tastes like blue raspberry.

Pink - no flavor I could pick up, just sweetness.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

As I said, I’m not sure this is entirely a DIY so I didn’t make a separate post on it. All you do is apply the jelly, which I thought actually tasted the best out of everything in the set, but it was very tasty and cute overall, I just wish the colors/flavors of the flowers were more varied.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content -  5 out of 5: I’m not sure they were all my absolute favorite or anything, but I did genuinely like everything we got this month. I found no quality issues or problems, plenty of variety in both the types of items, and for each item. A very practical and fun box. Some items were fairly pricey though, and I’m not sure if I agreed with some of those. Also, we got one item less than usual, which I assume has something to do with the price?

Theme -  ????? out of 5: I found this Happy Birthday theme to be extremely open and up for interpretation, so I had I’m not sure how I feel about how they did on it. On one hand I could say “yes, these are items you could use for gifts or decoration for a birthday“, but on another I’d say “sakura badges and yogurt hair clips don’t make me think of a birthday.”

Total Rank: 8.5 out of 10 Cuties. I liked the items, and I can see why they chose the theme they did, but because of how open it is, I’m not sure how my feelings are towards it. The items worked great and I would recommend mostly all of them. I’m not sure this is my favorite box though...

(I’m sorry but I ended up skipping the last part of this review, I was fine this entire time but towards the end things got really busy in the house and I’m not feeling well at the time. I would have went to lay down but my laptop has been weird lately and I didn’t want to risk losing the work T^T sorry if you were looking forward to that part.)

[neraawritesxx]

You told me I was allowed however many I want so InoSaku (can be friendship if you want) mermaid AU pls!

That’s right wifey, you can have as many as you want xD  I hope you enjoy!

word count: 827this fic is unbeta’d

Sakura gazes at her distorted reflection on the water’s surface, nose crinkling in distaste.

“Ino,” She whines, high-pitched and needy. “I know you’re down there, you sneaky mermaid. I want to show you something. Come up already!”

Her summons is met with a bout of silence that causes Sakura to frown.

Leaning further over the edge of the dock, Sakura reaches down to glide the fingers of her right hand across the surface of the water.

“Such a shame that Ino didn’t show up today,” She states to the rippling water. “The item I brought with me today is really cool and super shiny.”

As soon as the words are out of Sakura’s mouth, a hand escapes from the depths, wrapping itself around her wrist. With a sharp tug, Sakura’s world shifts on its axis, and she only has time to release a gurgled yelp before she is swallowed up by sea water.

When Sakura breaks the surface a moment later, hair matted to her skull, she sputters, “You damn sea witch.”

“Such horrible name-calling,” A soft voice chides with no real ire. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

Green eyes narrow from behind the fringe of wet, pink hair and with a swipe of her hand, Sakura’s obstructed vision clears for a moment, only to be filled with Ino’s smugly smirking face.

“I’ve never been in the water in front of you before. What would you have done if I couldn’t swim?” Sakura pointedly inquires, beginning the trek back towards the floating pier. “I bet you wouldn’t be so arrogant then.”

Ino rolls her eyes, keeping pace with her easily, the fins on her tail brushing against Sakura’s shins as they swim. “Gosh, do all humans nag as much as you do? Or are you a special case? And what kind of fisherman can’t swim?”

Sakura chooses to overlook the blonde’s questions, focusing instead on lifting herself up and onto the wooden dock. She makes it about halfway before her grip falters and she ungracefully crashes back into the water.

When floats back to the surface a second later, Sakura tries to ignore the heat that rises in her cheeks as a result of Ino’s giggles.

“Here, let me help you,” Ino states, pressing herself against Sakura’s back and placing her hands on the smaller woman’s hips. “Pull yourself up again. I’ll lift at the same time.”

Sakura’s heart gives a small, traitorous thump in her chest, and she swallows thickly to try and quell the sudden bout of embarrassment that overtakes her.

Without another word, Sakura tries to haul herself back up onto the dock, and this time, with Ino’s assistance, she is able to make it.

 While Sakura takes the time to situate herself, taming her wildly unkempt hair and draining the excess moisture from her clothing, Ino climbs up onto the pier beside her.

Sakura is momentarily distracted from her tasks by the picture the mermaid presents. She not sure how Ino holds up against other creatures in her species, but by human beauty standards, she is breathtaking.

The length of her platinum blonde hair was endless, never a strand out of place despite her time below the water’s surface. Her complexion was impeccable, and the way the sun glints off the myriad of purple scales that make up her tail is almost alluringly teasing.

Looking at her now, Sakura can’t help but send silent thanks to whatever god conjured up the storm which caused Ino to become tangled in her fishing net.

“Well, Sakura,” Ino remarks, drawing Sakura’s attention. There’s a broad smile on the mermaid lips, wide and earnest. “What did you bring for me today?”

Sakura couldn’t help but grin at her eagerness. “Well,” She starts, digging into her shorts’ pocket.

It takes a moment longer than Sakura would like to extract the object from its damp denim confines, but Ino doesn’t seem bothered. The blonde’s face is a mixture of wonder and excitement, and it is so childishly adorable that Sakura can’t help but to laugh outright.

“It’s called a compact mirror,” She explains, holding out the sterling silver disk out in Ino’s direction. “It’s used to look at your reflection. We humans use them because it’s small enough to take with you whenever you’re on the go.”

Ino snatches the looking glass out of Sakura’s grasp with unhinged haste. She studies the object from varying angles, opening and closing it over and over again. The mermaid is practically vibrating with delight as she holds the mirror up to the sun, allowing the beams to reflect off its surface.

“You’re right Sakura!” Ino exclaims. “It is shiny.”

Sakura props her elbow on her knee, chin resting in the palm of her hand. A wave of contentment washes over her as she observes the way Ino continues to play with the mirror, marveling at the reflection staring back at her.

“I’m glad you like it,” Sakura hums, appeased.

 Send me a pairing and a prompt! [x]

[zenonaa]

💖 please like/reblog or leave kudos if you can! 💖

Pairings: TogaFuka (Byakuya Togami x Touko Fukawa), Kenichiro/SakurAoi (Kenichiro x Sakura Oogami x Aoi Asahina), SonDam (Sonia Nevermind x Gundam Tanaka) Chapter: 22/23 Word Count: 11037 Comments: it’s a long chapter, but i didn’t want to split it. the next chapter should be shorter.

AO3

***

As the wagon followed after the centaurs, dragging its wheels, it heaved over the occasional bump, and when it did, the knot in the pit of Touko’s stomach bounced as high as the back of her throat before slamming down. Sonia would be the second witch that had Touko met, with the first being her mentor. Her mentor never spoke about any witches that she might have known in her past, changing the subject whenever Touko encroached on the matter. Passing mentions to the existence of other witches could be gleaned from her mentor’s entries in her encyclopedia, but not names, not individuals.

Touko huddled up tighter, clinging to her spell book.

The wagon stopped. Without anyone announcing it, Touko knew this meant they arrived at their destination.

Even so, Leon said, “As promised, Sonia-san’s cottage.”

Everyone roused and shifted, but Touko sprung up first and darted to the back of the wagon, nearly tripping over Mondo. In her stomach, the knot, the taut, rubber band sensation, snapped, slackening into a flutter that flew up to her heart.

Kenichiro lowered the ramp and let them out. Touko’s footsteps spluttered then stuttered then stopped, and she tipped her head back and absorbed the appearance of the cottage as a whole, with its dark stone walls and streaked slate roofs appropriate for a witch from a gothic fairytale. The largest section of the building had a gable roof, but the tower attached to it was capped with a cone. It existed in a clearing, though trees resumed quite close to the home from both sides, and it seemed that there was some space behind the building before there were more trees.

She dropped her gaze to an arched window on the ground floor, framed by white and glowing orange within, and felt like she had made eye contact with the cottage. Seeing as the inside was lit up, whoever lived there must have been awake.

Kazuichi clopped up the dirt path leading to the front door, curled the fingers on one hand around a bronze knocker and struck it an excessive number of thirteen times against the wood. After the final thunk, he released the knocker and backed away.

Thirty seconds later, the door cracked ajar, and Kazuichi placed a hand on his hip and thrust out his chest.

A low voice, rumbling without shouting, rolled out from the entrance of the cottage. “What business do you have with us?”

Touko craned her neck, trying to see who was talking. Ahead of her, Kazuichi’s shoulders sagged. His arm fell down only to swoop upward within seconds, ending in a raised fist.

“What are you doing here?” demanded Kazuichi.

The door opened some more and half of a grey, masculine face peeped out. Over the left eye was a scar, shaped like a lightning bolt.

“This is my abode,” said the grey-faced man. “I have dwelled in this habitat for years, as you should know by now. Did you lose track? Are you aware that if you run out of fingers on one hand, you can use the other to count higher numbers?”

Kazuichi stomped a front hoof and brought his fist further forward.

“Oi, I don’t need that kind of attitude from a two-legs like you,” he spat. “Where’s Sonia-san? Where are you hiding her?”

“I have neither the time nor the desire to witness your comedy routine, and neither does my Dark Queen,” said the grey-faced man, and he started to close the door.

“H-Hey, wait!” Leon burst forward. The grey-faced man hesitated, observing Leon with a pale grey eye. Touko couldn’t see the other. “Not so fast. We have some people here to see Sonia-san.”

Seconds plodded by and the grey-faced man had neither shut nor opened the door. Kiyotaka marched forward.

“Leon-kun is correct,” Kiyotaka assured the grey-faced man, and he crossed into Touko’s line of sight so the grey-faced man was no longer visible from where Touko stood. Facing forward still, he gestured behind himself. “They are friends of a human acquainted with Sonia-san, and they have proven themselves worthy of being in her presence.”

The grey-faced man tormented them with another pause before pulling the door open.

“My She-Cat,” the grey-faced man turned his back on the outsiders, “you have guests.”

“S-She-Cat?” repeated Touko with wide eyes.

If someone called Touko that name, she would have hissed and curled her fingers. Byakuya might have been able to get away with it, and if he did say it, she could have played along, maybe by drawing whiskers on her cheeks. She held her hands together, spell book in her arms and pressed against her chest, her trembling not just due to the cold and nerves now, and she would have explored this scenario in her imagination had she not been distracted by someone coming out of the cottage.

“Sonia-san!” Kazuichi declared, brightening up.

A woman appeared in the doorway and greeted them with a warm smile that provided them with temporary relief from the chill of the night. Her flowing cotton nightdress couldn’t have supplied her with much warmth, and hugging herself, she confirmed Touko’s hunch. While the foreboding cottage, with more chimneys seeping smoke than surely necessary, could easily be conceived to belong to a witch, and it matched Gundam’s aura, whose dark hair, shaped like a cliff, had grey cloud streaks in it, this woman’s appearance was more like that of a princess in the fairytales that Touko once read. Even in this foreign land, she seemed foreign, head narrow, cheeks not very prominent, blonde hair almost white and nose slender and straight.

Then again, those storybooks had been bias against witches among other groups, so Touko tried not to put stock in their portrayals.

“Sonia-san,” said Kenichiro as he walked over.

The woman, who must have been Sonia, raised her head at the sound of his voice. Kenichiro stopped in front of her and bent over in a long, deep bow.

Leon wolf whistled.

“Yo, Sonia-san,” said Kazuichi, ogling her with Leon. “Looking good, as usual! Did you do something new with your hair?”

Kiyotaka, Mondo and Touko threw them dirty looks that they ignored. Sonia touched her hair and Kenichiro straightened up.

“I do not think so. I’m sure that I have worn this bow before,” she said, with a gentle lilt like windchimes. The bow in question was green, studded with sequins. She lowered her hand and tilted her head to one side, focusing on Kenichiro. “Kenichiro-kun, forgive me, but I was not expecting you. Is something the matter?”

His brow furrowed.

“I’m sorry if I’m intruding, but some good friends of mine wanted to see if you could help them,” explained Kenichiro.

“Are they sick?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“It’s for a transformation spell,” he said.

Sonia’s features hardened. “A transformation spell? I will require more detail.”

Kenichiro looked over his shoulder at where the others were, and his eyes landed on Touko in particular. He didn’t turn back, like he expected something from Touko first, so she shuffled forward. Sonia’s attention flitted to Touko instead.

“W-We need a spell that can turn a mermaid into a human,” Touko said, shifting her feet about. She grasped her skirt with one hand, unable to do so with both as one had to hold her spell book, and she maintained eye contact, no matter how much she wanted to avert her eyes from Sonia’s unyielding pair. “You need to teach me... so I can do it for my boyfriend...”

At the end of her last comment, though her posture didn’t relax, Touko gave a small grin.

“Are you a witch, then?” asked Sonia sharply, with the pad of her right’s index finger pressed against one corner of her lips.

“Yes. I’m a witch,” said Touko, starting to sober.

In contrast, a smile blew up Sonia’s face. She clapped her hands together and squeezed them, slippered heels bouncing against the ground. “Oh, goodness! Are you for real?”

Touko’s remnant of a smile went stiff in surprise.

“Of course I am,” said Touko, crossing her arms over her chest and her spell book, and by the time she finished saying that, her smile had slipped off.

Sonia charged forward and before Touko’s flight or fight instincts could kick in, she grabbed both of Touko’s hands in hers. Touko’s legs buckled as she tried to keep her arms close to her so her book wouldn’t fall.

“A fellow witch? This is hella rad!” Sonia proclaimed, and she shook Touko’s hands enthusiastically. “It has been a long time since I was in the company of a witch. Please, come in! We have much to share.”

She beckoned them to follow her in, and while most of the group lurched forward, Touko remained rooted to the spot. Makoto spotted this, and then turned to Sonia.

“What about Togami-kun?” asked Makoto. “Shall we bring him in?”

“Who? Is he the mermaid?” Sonia let a beat of silence pass. “Ah, I suppose we could do that. I don’t know what water container he has been travelling around in, but I have a lake behind my house that he may wish to relax in. Gundam, dear, would you please fetch me a dressing gown? Maybe we should talk outside for a bit first.”

“Not for too long though,” said Yasuhiro, and he blew onto his hands.

The grey-faced man nodded and headed back inside, pulling up a purple scarf so it covered his mouth. As soon as he vanished from sight, Sonia dragged Touko around to the back of the cottage, while everyone else outside of the wagon was allowed to walk unaided. They crossed through a narrow passageway between the cottage and some trees, with Kenichiro reaching there last and leading the wagon through it behind everyone else.

There was a decent sized patch of land without trees behind the cottage, part of which was taken up by a lake bigger than the pool in Kenichiro’s garden. In another section was a stable, and before Kenichiro took the horses there, he stopped off near the lake and set down the ramp. Mondo and Yasuhiro carried out each mermaid, lowering them into the lake one at a time. Sakura swished her tail and Byakuya submerged himself, popping up just as Sonia began to talk.

Gundam returned and Sonia put on a pink dressing gown.

“So!” Sonia clasped her hands in front of her, standing opposite Touko. “Some standard questions, if you will. What is the most advanced magic that you’ve done, please?”

“I’ve levitated things,” said Touko, wincing at how Sonia only reacted to that with a blink. “And I’ve looked through solid matter.”

“And she drew things with light without a potion,” Yasuhiro said, lifting a finger. Touko hunched her shoulders and scowled, but she didn’t deny it.

Sonia’s lashes fluttered and she raised a hand to her mouth. “Did you just say without a potion? What about a phrase? Did you use a phrase?”

“Without a phrase too,” added Yasuhiro, before Touko had chance to. He mimed a pair of glasses with his hands and put them on. “I saw it with my own eyes.”

Touko fidgeted, keeping her shoulders up.

“Is this true?” asked Sonia.

“Yes,” Touko confirmed to her. “I created visuals for a story I was telling on the boat here. And I’ve suspended people and objects in midair unaided. I wanted to ask about that, actually...”

Now Sonia didn’t even blink, but not because she was unimpressed.

“And you meant those things to happen?” Sonia probed, her gaze almost intense enough to burn holes through Touko.

“Yes,” said Touko, and she hesitated, chewing on her lip for a few moments, but realising she was doing it, she stopped. “W-Well, sort of...”

“Incredible!” Sonia gushed, shimmying her shoulders. She stamped her foot and bent her body forward slightly. Even though Sonia wouldn’t have bumped her head against her, Touko receded a little. “You must demonstrate! Please levitate something.”

Touko cringed.

“I don’t have a one hundred per cent success rate,” Touko admitted, but her doubt did nothing to sway Sonia, who didn’t straighten, leaning toward Touko eagerly with wide eyes and a smile curled tightly at the ends.

If only to stay on the good side of Sonia, whose help was very much needed still, Touko put down her spell book and focused on it. She tried to imagine it floating. She tried to imagine invisible hands pulling it upward. She tried to imagine it bursting into the air, but despite her efforts, nothing happened. She just frustrated herself, which resulted in creating a buzz in her head.

Sonia’s shoulders slumped. Touko’s heart jolted.

“I have done it before,” Touko blurted.

“Fukawa has,” said Byakuya, and Yasuhiro nodded. Everyone else in their group tensed their features.

“I believe you,” Sonia assured them, and then she sighed, nonetheless disappointed. “Perhaps you are too tired. No matter. You can try again tomorrow,” she injected strength into her smile, “after you have had some sleep.”

“So it is possible?” asked Touko. Her knees knocked together. “To... turn a mermaid into a human...? You haven’t said ‘no’ yet, so I assume...”

She trailed off.

Sonia gave Touko a curious look. “I apologise if this comes across as rude...”

Touko braced herself, though she couldn’t control her shivers.

“... but have you been in much contact with other witches?” finished Sonia.

That wasn’t as bad as Touko expected. She let herself relax.

“I had a mentor, but she died almost two years ago,” said Touko, rubbing her hands together. “Otherwise, I haven’t been in contact with any witches.”

“I thought so. I only asked because there seem to be some gaps in your knowledge,” explained Sonia. She inclined her head to one side. “In theory, when it comes to magic, any outcome is possible though not necessarily easy in certain cases. A misconception is that a potion and words are required for all spells for all witches - this is false.”

Touko stared down at her book.

“I suspected there was more to it,” admitted Touko. She held onto her elbows and continued to peer downward. “When I was younger, I cast magic without words or a potion, unpredictable though it was. More recently, there was the levitation and light...”

Sonia emitted a hum. Touko looked up.

“Children lack certain inhibitions and as gifted ones mature, they usually lose the ability to cast magic on a whim. There are ingredients with magical properties which enhance your capabilities or help unlock the magic within you, and they help direct your magic so it comes out right,” said Sonia. “But depending on how powerful a witch you are, you could create a spell without those things, and if what you say is true, that you can cast magic intentionally without them, you have the potential to achieve what many witches fail to do before they wither away in death.”

She gave a pause but no one talked, listening. Listening.

So she spoke some more.

“The potions and especially the words also help focus your mind and give you the correct image and thoughts needed to channel your magic with the desired effect.” Sonia steepled her hands. “It’s actually rather psychological. If you are very well disciplined with a clear goal in mind, you don’t need to verbalise anything or even use a potion, but only a powerful witch can do that.”

Touko’s eyes flickered, but no cracks appeared on Sonia’s face. “You’re... serious?”

“Yup,” replied Sonia. Her shoulders quivered. “It’s something I’ve been trying to master, but I haven’t been able to turn over so much as a leaf without the use of a word and a potion. But I know a lot about different spells, so I’m sure we will be able to come up with a spell together tomorrow.”

“I created a spell to protect everyone from the song of a siren,” Touko recalled, brain whirring and teeth chattering. “I created the recipe for the potion, and came up with the word to activate it...”

Though ‘it’ wasn’t the potion. Now she knew ‘it’ was herself.

“If you can rationalise to yourself and have confidence in it, for a witch such as yourself, the spell should work,” said Sonia, and Touko remembered how everyone had assured her that her potion would work, how her thought process on what ingredients to use had seemed reasonable to them; how it made sense, and how they said they believed in her, trusted her, had confidence in her.

They helped make her spell work.

Sonia patted herself on the mouth and yawned.

“I won’t keep you up for any longer now. I’m quite tired myself, and I can see you all shivering. Let us sleep,” said Sonia, butting into Touko’s thoughts. “Please come inside. I have enough beds for everyone.”

She turned to face the lake.

“We will see you in the morning,” she promised, and she curtseyed. “Good night, mermaids.”

“What?” Byakuya jerked his head, body upright. He folded his arms over his chest. “You’re not just going to leave us outside, are you? Where anyone could creep up on us and kidnap us?”

Leon rolled his eyes and said, “That’s not going to happen.”

“Leon-kun is right,” said Sonia. “The land around my cottage has been charmed with a protection spell which only lets me, my husband and the centaurs be able to enter this zone without an amulet.”

Aoi quirked her brow. “But we don’t have an amulet,” said Aoi.

“You don’t, but your horses do,” said Sonia, and at the same time, everyone looked over at the horses that had pulled the wagon so far on this long journey, that wore necklaces made of red string and dark blue jewels. “Everything near and around the amulets, such as your wagon, is able to pass through a barrier that I have created. Ah, but you won’t be able to leave without an amulet or one of my spells either... If you try, you will wander through the woods until you retrace your steps and arrive back here. It’s like a little pocket universe.”

Byakuya sniffed but seeing as he then disappeared under the water, he seemed satisfied, and so the mermaids stayed outside while the others followed Sonia through the back door of the cottage.

Kazuichi tried to troop in after them but the grey-faced man, walking ahead of him, shot a glare over his shoulder and closed the door in Kazuichi’s face, leaving all of the centaurs outside.

The interior of the house was not a surprise after seeing the outside of the house, keeping to a gothic theme, and was also very ornate. Gundam stocked the fireplace with firewood, and once it was burning, Makoto and Yasuhiro shamelessly crowded around it.

“Leave some heat waves for us!” Aoi chided. Makoto backed up a bit and rubbed the back of his neck, while Yasuhiro continued heating up the front of his body. Kyouko bent down a bit by a table to examine an green orb mounted on a bronze rod, which was resting on the table. Mondo brooded in the corner, side by side with Gundam, who hid his mouth behind the folds of his scarf.

Though the room wasn’t untidy as such, it was full of things such as pots, bookcases and cabinets containing jars as well as in one instance what appeared to be a skull.

Touko transferred her gaze to the baskets hanging from the ceiling. There were leather sofas in the room, but Touko didn’t know whether they could sit on them, and something about them made her reluctant to try, an aura of some kind, so she shuffled her feet on the spot, taking everything in.

“Would you like a hot drink before you sleep?” asked Sonia.

A few people who weren’t Touko chorused yes, though she did have some tea, and later, one-by-one, they fell asleep in the guest rooms, the guys in one and the women in another.

Eventually, the only person awake in the women’s room was Touko, who as tired as she was, couldn’t fall asleep, so she waited quietly for Aoi and Kyouko to fall asleep beside her in the double bed that they were sharing. Hearing them both breathe steadily, she reached over to the bedside table, where Kameko was in a cage, emitting a soft clicking noise. She got Kameko out, trying her best to open the cage without making it squeak, then she rose off the bed and slunk out, grabbing a blanket on the way and bringing a lantern with her.

Her eyes ached but thoughts bounced around in her head, flies in a small container, occasionally ricocheting off a wall, and Touko hoped that in the cool, night air, they would be attracted to the lights in nature and escape, disappearing into the unseeable and leaving her to sleep.

That, and she wanted to spend some private time with Byakuya.

Stars splattered the sky in familiar constellations. Wearing the blanket like a cape and with Kameko sitting on her shoulder, Touko left through the back door of the cottage and scurried over toward the lake, feeling cold grass underfoot. Byakuya was partway through swimming a lap while Sakura relaxed silently at the opposite end to where Touko was headed, possibly out of earshot. Sakura spotted her, but she didn’t acknowledge Touko beyond a glance and a nod, and Touko looked away after.

In doing so, Touko caught sight of three silhouettes. Her heart skipped as she faltered. They must have been the centaurs, and they stood still some way away, unmoving, and they didn’t say anything even though she felt sure they would have been able to see her lantern’s glow. She chanced a few more steps and still got no reaction.

“They’re asleep,” came Sakura’s voice, quiet but still causing Touko to jump a little.

“Standing up?” asked Touko, laying her eyes on Sakura, who nodded.

“Indeed,” was Sakura’s reply.

“Okay.” Touko sat down at the edge of the lake and crossed her legs. “Good.”

Byakuya swerved and swam toward Touko with remarkable speed, barely splashing. When he reached Touko, he folded his arms in front of him and placed them on the bit of ground next to her.

Despite all the swimming that he did, he wasn’t panting or threatening to collapse in on himself, like Touko would be, and when he spoke, he didn’t sound out of breath.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” he asked with a stern look.

His sharp blue eyes sent a jolt through her.

“I’ll be fine!” she squeaked, and her movement caused Kameko to hiss. She waved both of her hands, and then she slouched and pressed the tips of her index fingers together, a smile quivering her lips. “B-But... thank you for your concern.”

“You need rest if you want to perform to the best of your abilities,” he clarified. He blinked. Silence scraped its footsteps through seconds. Then he looked down and added, “And... for your health, too.”

She touched a hand over her heart and spoke quickly. “I tried to go to sleep, but I don’t think I’m tired enough yet, so I came out here for a bit.”

Byakuya continued staring down, in thought about something that his creased brow gave no hints to. Touko studied his face, awash in the lantern’s light, and bit her lip, but it was too late to pin her smile down. It had faded too much and just would have torn her cheeks if she tried to keep it there.

“Is the water okay?” she asked.

“Yes, actually,” he replied. He took one arm off the edge of the lake, twisted his body toward her and combed the fingers on one hand through the water. “In fact, I haven’t felt this energised for a while... or ever. This water is incredibly refreshing. Oogami claims to feel no different than before, but I think there are some magical properties in this lake. See for yourself.”

Touko was already barefoot, so she dunked a foot in right away. The shock of the lake’s low temperature tumbled through her in a shudder, and her foot shot up. Kameko bristled and Touko scooted back. Her blanket fell off her shoulders but she didn’t put it back on, choosing to sit on it instead. When she had become still, Kameko started to crawl down her arm, and Touko watched Kameko’s trek quietly. Byakuya noticed Kameko and observed Kameko as well, frowning.

When Kameko reached Touko’s wrist, she offered Kameko her finger, and Kameko nuzzled the tip, though to anyone else, it would just have looked like Kameko bumped into Touko’s finger by accident.

“How is Kameko doing?” asked Byakuya.

“She’s doing well,” said Touko.

“She?” Byakuya cocked his head to one side. “I thought Kameko used ‘he’ pronouns.”

His heavy words came so lightly from his mouth. They dropped through Touko, thumping against the pit of her stomach.

“He does. She did,” said Touko, and when she breathed in, then out, the weight in her stomach didn’t dissipate but just flopped over onto its other side. “I mean... this time, Kameko is a girl.”

Byakuya adjusted his position only slightly. Why, perhaps to see her better, or to get more comfortable, but the subtle change in shadow across his face seemed to coincide with realisation striking.

“How long do stink bugs live for?” Byakuya asked.

She turned her eyes to Kameko.

“Less than a year,” she admitted.

They stewed in nature’s noises, in the lake’s gurgling and in shrill, vibrating birdsong.

“You spend roughly a third of your life sleeping,” said Byakuya. “And you have such short lifespans too.”

Touko wiggled uncomfortably and placed a hand over her heart.

“That just means that you have to be more thoughtful with the time you have,” she told him.

“When I’m a human, I will have to sleep too,” he said. She raised her head. He dragged his fingers through the water and lifted his hand close to his face, where the light could frame him. “I will not live as long as a mermaid should, but you’re right. I will make do with the time I have... I can consider it a challenge.”

Byakuya heaved himself out of the lake and rolled onto his back, lying on the grass with his hands behind his head. Touko blushed and tucked her legs into her chest.

“We can sleep together,” she said, somewhat to him, mostly to herself. “We can share a bed...”

Something tugged on one of her braids. Touko twitched and whipped her head around. The end of her braid was woven between Byakuya’s fingers. Her face grew hotter and when he tugged again, she leaned into the movement, slow enough to not disturb Kameko, and ended up lying next to him. She pulled on her blanket and set it down over them.

Their eyes met and he opened his mouth. Her breathing hitched. There was a flicker in his face and with a faint grimace, he shut his mouth and cast his eyes out to the sky, hooking his gaze around a twinkle.

“Byakuya-sama?” she asked in a breathless rush.

“The moon is beautiful tonight,” he said.

Some words didn’t come as easily as they did to people like Touko and Aoi. She took her glasses off.

“It is,” she said, and Kameko flew away.

Touko opened her eyes, the crust of morning on her face. Slightly sore and not totally processing where she was yet, she sat up, rubbed her eyes and then put her glasses on, skin tingling where the air nipped at her.

“What are you doing here?” barked a voice behind her.

She shrieked and lurched forward, tumbling into the lake, and the swimming lessons with Aoi were given another opportunity to prove they had been worth it, as Touko managed to keep herself afloat, even if her splashing and flailing wasn’t at all dignified. Byakuya and Sakura swam over to Touko, and one of them returned her glasses to her, which had fallen off. Her glasses needed a wipe before she wore them, so she did that quickly, and with the two mermaids supporting her and preventing her from sinking, she was able to see who had startled her.

The culprit was Kiyotaka, who approached the edge of the lake, wisely leaving enough space that she couldn’t grab his leg while she was still in the water and drag him in with her.

“W-Were you spying on me?” Touko spluttered. “W-Waiting... Waiting to make a move?”

Touko gasped for air. Byakuya and Sakura helped her climb out of the lake, pushing while she scrambled, and as soon as she felt solid ground beneath her hands and knees, she crawled forward.

Kiyotaka took a few paces back, eyeing her cautiously.

“A move?” repeated Kiyotaka, squinting.

She elevated herself into a kneeling position, glowered and pointed at him, dripping wet. “A lewd move!” she told him shrilly, finger shaking.

His head jerked back and he slapped a hand over his heart, eyes wide.

“No! Never!” he insisted. “I wouldn’t do anything like that. I was merely curious why you were outside!”

If that was the case, he had chosen the wrong tone of voice. Touko squeezed the bottom of her skirt to get some of the liquid out, rather than trudge water into Sonia’s cottage. With how much she was seething, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if her body temperature didn’t evaporate some of it away.

“You better be telling the truth,” said Mondo.

She hadn’t realised he was here too and turned around. Nearby, Mondo was lounging with his back propped up against a chicken coop. His helmet was next to him, upside down and having its insides pecked at by two chickens, presumably stocked with feed. He peered over in their direction. Specifically, at Kiyotaka.

“Because,” Mondo flicked his head back, impressive teeth on display, “you’ve been hanging around here for at least an hour.”

Kiyotaka huffed out a snort and set a row of knuckles either side of his waist, chest pushed out.

“And what does that say about you?” Kiyotaka retorted. “You were here when I arrived.”

“I don’t gotta worry about myself. I know my own morals.” Mondo cracked his knuckles. “But I don’t know yours. If you lay a finger on that girl, I’m gonna yank your tongue so hard that the rest of your organs come out with it.”

There were good intentions behind what he said, at least.

“I may not be a human, but I’m not inhuman!” Kiyotaka said, aghast. “And I certainly don’t resort to threats and violence so easily. That’s the sort of character capable of heinous acts. How do we know that you’re not trying to trick us?”

“We have known Oowada for some time now,” said Sakura all of a sudden. All eyes swivelled toward her. She had her arms folded over her chest. “Oowada is a dear friend of ours and can be trusted.”

She smiled at Mondo, who scratched at the back of his head.

“T-Thanks,” said Mondo.

Kiyotaka looked equally flustered.

“R-Right,” he said. He cast his gaze downward temporarily, and when he lifted his head, he didn’t have the same fire in his eyes as before. “I apologise, everyone.”

Touko scowled and let go of her skirt, which had become wrinkled. “W-Whatever... One of us would break your hands anyway, or something else you could use as a weapon... I better not get sick because I’m wearing cold and damp clothes...”

“Your friendship is admirable,” Kiyotaka commented. He smiled, but his eyes seemed hollow, a duller red. “I noticed your harmony while we composed the music for Fukawa-kun’s song. It must be nice to be a part of a close knit group.”

Byakuya quirked his brow.

“What about those other two?” he asked.

“Kazuichi-kun and Leon-kun?” said Kiyotaka. He pressed his knuckles against his chin. “I don’t get along with them like they get along with each other... When we’re working, and we try to have conversations, they peter out in a few minutes, while those two can exchange words back and forth with rapid-fire.”

Mondo huffed. “Sounds to me like you’re just a stick in the mud and no fun.”

Kiyotaka flinched, like he had just been slapped, and when he recovered, he tilted forward and stabbed the air with his index finger, pointing at Mondo.

“It’s not that I’m ‘no fun’, it’s that I am the reason that things get done! I’m not a layabout, like certain deadbeats around here,” said Kiyotaka, and Mondo lurched to his feet.

“You wanna narrow that down? Give a name or two?” Mondo punched the palm of his hand, and very soon, the two non-humans found themselves nose-to-nose. “If we were harmony, you were a wrong chord, yappin’ orders all the time and acting like you were better than us.”

Touko wasn’t involved but the prospect of any fight nearby made her shudder, and it wasn’t just because it was cold. Fighting was contagious and could spread fast. It was like a tornado that ripped up anything and anyone in its path of destruction. It was like a drunk man who would grapple whoever entered his hazy red vision, so long as they had beady eyes, even if they were only four years old.

“Please control yourselves,” said Sakura, her gravelly voice barely audible above the pounding between Touko’s ears. The quality of her words seemed to bury the noise though, and Touko, less trapped, less consumed by the noise, remembered how to breathe. “We are friends, not foes, and to fight over such petty matters is both unproductive and immature. Have neither of you got any willpower?”

Unless she leaped out from the water, Sakura wouldn’t have been able to interfere with their face-off, but Kiyotaka backed down, gritting his teeth.

“Don’t worry. I have plenty of will power,” said Kiyotaka. “Unlike some people!”

Mondo growled and their gaze snuffed out. Kiyotaka marched off while Mondo picked up his helmet and went off in search of more bird feed.

Touko let out a sigh of relief.

“That was certainly something,” said Byakuya. “Oi, Fukawa.”

She yelped. “Y-Yes?”

“You need to stop wearing cold and damp clothes,” he said. “You’ll get sick.”

“Right! I’ll... be on it right away!” promised Touko, and eager to please, she hurried over to the cottage.

Ideally, Touko would have snuck back in and got changed into some dry clothes without bumping into anyone, and she did try that, tiptoeing down the hallway, but Sonia was already up by then, humming in the kitchen, and hearing Touko’s footsteps, Sonia stepped out in front of Touko.

“Fukawa-san!” chirped Sonia. Her hands clapped. “I thought you might have been Chihiro-san, but you are just as delightful to meet. Good morning.”

She looked Touko up and down, and then she placed a hand over her mouth.

“Oh, goodness! You’re hella wet,” remarked Sonia. “Judging by your state, you must have been having a good time with your boyfriend.”

Touko’s face set aflame.

“W-What we get up to is none of your business!” she snapped. Sonia froze. Remembering who she was talking to, Touko straightened and coughed lightly. Her voice turned deadpan. “I mean, I was... until Kiyotaka startled me into the lake.”

“Kiyotaka-kun is a funny guy, isn’t he? But his heart is in the right place. Stubbornly so, you could say,” said Sonia, and Touko thought she might have known what Sonia meant. “He doesn’t have many friends, poor thing. Now...”

She pointed at Touko, whose heart jolted.

“... Do you want a change of clothes or would you rather cast a drying spell on yourself?” asked Sonia.

That was an option.

“I’ll do a spell,” said Touko.

“Excellent,” said Sonia, beaming. “What would you like for breakfast? I’ve prepared a few things already, but if you have something in particular in mind, I’d be happy to whip it up. Cooking is hella boss.”

Sonia grasped one of her biceps and flexed it. Touko swallowed.

“I don’t usually have breakfast,” she said. Before her voyage on the ship, she often skipped out on breakfast, starting her first meal with lunch, and during the year after her mentor died but before she met Byakuya, what she did have could barely have been called a lunch. In order to satisfy Byakuya, she had strived to improve the quality of their lunches, whether she bought them or made them herself, at first to content him but then to please him.

“Breakfast, they say, is the most important meal of the day,” said Sonia without revealing who ‘they’ was. “After you’ve dried yourself, we’ll get started on it together.”

By the time breakfast was ready and Touko had put on fresh clothes, her previous outfit dirtied with flour and various sticky substances, almost everyone was awake. Outside lacked the overwhelming smells of Sonia’s living room, and Touko sat quietly while Kyouko left briefly to fetch Aoi. After they returned, they all ate breakfast on a blue woolen blanket. Even Mondo joined them, though he didn’t engage in any conversations.

“Finally!” Yasuhiro did his best not to cry. “Hot, tasty food... Flavourful food...”

At first, Byakuya stayed in the water and to show off, he had demanded they throw fruit in a high arc for him to catch in midair, when he leaped up from the lake, but he had to stop and eat like the others after Aoi, Mondo and Leon got bored of tossing food. Leon turned out to be able to hurl the fruits with a pitch so fast that even if Byakuya could have intercepted them, the fruit could have believably gone through his hand, but Byakuya gladly accepted the challenge nonetheless.

“C’mon, Togami-chi, if anyone should be doing that, it’s Asahina-chi,” said Yasuhiro. He wiped his hand against his mouth, smearing raspberry jam.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you this lively before,” remarked Kyouko, rubbing her chin, though she then touched her hair instead. “But I don’t think it’s a bad thing, even if it’s quite unusual.”

“I’m telling you, it’s the water,” said Byakuya as he crawled over and settled down next to Touko.

Sonia cut herself a slice from the pancake on her plate.

“There’s nothing special about the water in the lake, but perhaps being in freshwater for a change has something to do with it,” said Sonia. “Your line may have originally been from freshwater and adapted to salt water, but being in freshwater would be like leaving a hot and humid room and entering a cool and dry room where you can finally breathe clearly and relax.”

“Perhaps....” Byakuya mused, not seeming very convinced.

“Hey, Togami-kun, you should try one of the pancakes,” said Kenichiro.

“Pancakes?” Byakuya repeated. Touko let him try a piece of hers. He chewed slowly. She squirted some lemon juice onto another piece for him.

“These pancakes are really good,” said Makoto through a mouthful of pancakes.

“Sonia-san always makes the best stuff,” boasted Kazuichi as he grabbed a handful of raspberries. He shoved them into his mouth.

“I try my best,” said Sonia, sat opposite Touko. She sipped from her cup and said, “Duplisere.”

The food on the blanket began to multiply. Yasuhiro’s and Makoto’s faces lit up as they helped themselves to more.

“Are you full already?” Sakura asked Aoi, who had using a fork to toy with a strawberry on her plate. “That’s your first helping. Have you lost your appetite? My girl, this isn’t like you at all.”

Aoi shrugged. Even her ponytail was limp. “I guess I’m still getting over the ride here. Or maybe there are some things about me you just don’t know...”

Sakura blinked.

“It is a long journey,” said Kenichiro, and Aoi ate the rest of the strawberry in one go. She chewed it thoroughly while Sakura watched with a frown.

Sonia dabbed a napkin against her lips and set it down on her empty plate.

“Shall we get started soon?” Sonia asked Touko, who after being spoken to, dropped her spoon. Touko hadn’t eaten much, her insides squirming too much for a lot of food to have got in.

“We’re doing the spell on him now?” asked Touko, eyes growing wide.

“No, no! We still need to come up with a suitable spell, and we’ll have to practice,” Sonia replied. “Transformation of living creatures is tremendously hard. Please eat. You’ll need your energy.”

Touko wiggled uncomfortably. Next to her, Byakuya picked up Touko’s spoon and scooped up some egg for her to eat. Her cheeks warmed as she accepted it into her mouth. Thick, white and slightly salty... were the eggs.

Several people gave Touko a weird look, including Sonia, who then swept her gaze around the circle.

“I’d like to get started as early as possible,” she said. “If you have any objections, I would like to hear them.”

Touko swallowed.

“That’s fine with me,” she told Sonia, dribbling a bit. She wiped her drool off her face with the back of her hand. “But what I want to know is what we’ll be doing, exactly.”

“Oh. Well.” Sonia smiled. “First, we will have to create a suitable spell, using our knowledge and my books for reference. We’ll formulate a potion comprising of ingredients that make sense and give the right boosts, and a phrase that will act as the trigger.”

Her smile widened as she laced her fingers together.

“Once we’ve done that, we can practice,” said Sonia.

Touko looked at Byakuya. Her hair was in braids, so she she didn’t have a lot available to tug on, but she found enough in front of her left ear to pull.

Kyouko furrowed her brow and said Touko’s thoughts. “By practice, you don’t mean on Togami-kun, do you?”

“W-What if I turn him into a slug?” asked Touko in a strangled tone.

Byakuya, about to offer more egg to Touko, stopped and widened his eyes.

Sonia laughed politely.

“Please do not worry,” said Sonia. “First, we will practice on small objects. Then, we shall move up until you are ready for Togami-kun. We’ll do it then, and only then. A friend of mine is a shapeshifter, able to create any form, so you will be able to practice with them just before you cast it on Togami-kun.”

Touko brought a thumb to her mouth and mumbled, “Won’t I turn them into a human if we do that?”

“Oh, no, but it’s good that you picked that up.” Sonia brushed some hair off her face, tucking it behind her ear. “You won’t be able to overwrite their shapeshifting magic, and with a minor adjustment, we can make it temporary anyway. We will be using my friend in case the spell you cast comes out unstable. For example, you might cast a spell that on a normal being would make them perish before you can fix them. While my friend can reform, a normal human cannot. But I must warn you now...”

Sonia reached over and rested her hand onto Touko’s lap. Their eyes met and Sonia’s washed out olive eyes sent a shiver through Touko.

“You must be in absolute control of your emotions and thoughts when you see the shapeshifter,” said Sonia, with no grins or giggling or gleam in her eyes. “Those who go to the shapeshifter often lose themselves. Should your mind wander, should your heart seep, you may find the shapeshifter takes on a form of something, or someone else.”

The hand that Sonia had on Touko tightened. Unease stirred within Touko’s gut, and the egg did not sit well.

“How long will this take?” asked Touko quietly.

“I don’t know,” replied Sonia. She took her hand off Touko and sat back. “But you must master the spell before you try it on your boyfriend. For right now, we shall spend the morning compiling ingredients together. I have a few phoenix feathers which are for rebirth, and we can research what else would make the spell stronger and permanent.”

“How can we help?” asked Makoto. Sonia tapped herself on the chin.

“We will need some ingredients, most likely,” she said. “We’re running low on firewood too, and Gundam could do with some help tending to our livestock.”

Gundam was wearing the same purple scarf as the night before, along with a black coat, boots and gloves, all with too many buckles, and reminded Touko of an executioner. He inclined his head forward for a moment in acknowledgement.

Sonia stood up.

“Kiyotaka-kun can help Gundam with the animals.” She pointed at whoever she talked about, finger wagging as her target changed. “We have a lot of animals here and in the woods. Kazuichi-kun, Leon-kun,” they straightened as they were picked out,” I want you to get me some enchanted water from Sayaka-san, as well as some flowers. I’ll write a list for you.”

“You can count on us, Sonia-san!” Kazuichi said, while Leon pulled a face at the idea of working.

Sonia turned her smile to the others, no longer pointing but holding her hands together.

“You are my treasured guests, so I couldn’t ask you to help with any chores, so please feel free to entertain yourself as you like.” Her face became serious. “I only advise that you don’t go through my things... you may end up hurting yourself, or worse.”

Yasuhiro jiggled his foot, Makoto raked fingers through his hair, Kyouko folded her arms over her chest and Aoi nodded, her gaze aimed just below Sonia’s shoulders. Sakura and Byakuya seemed unaffected, and as for Mondo, he put down half an apple and sat up straighter.

“I’ll help with the animals,” said Mondo, moving one hand around aimlessly. “You said you had a lot of animals, so you could do with my help, and I’m gonna prove to that ass,” he jerked his thumb toward Kiyotaka, “that I have willpower.”

Kiyotaka pursed his lips, but Gundam adjusted his scarf and said, “Very well. As long as you are not a nuisance and don’t disturb this place’s fauna and flora.”

Once everyone had filled themselves with food, and even Yasuhiro was patting his stomach, the group split up. Sonia strode toward the cottage and Touko got up to follow her, but she had only contributed one pace before she was called to.

“Fukawa, get me a book, please,” Byakuya said.

Touko spun around, hands clutched together.

“O-Of course!” she said, rosy-cheeked. “What book would you like?”

He cupped his chin and narrowed his eyes in thought.

“Fetch me the astronomy book, if that’s not too much trouble,” he decided.

The book was in the wagon so she retrieved it from there and gave it to him. She watched him set it down in front of him and turn to the first page, and she would have stayed there longer if Sonia hadn’t returned and grabbed Touko by the hand. Taken by surprise, Touko, didn’t object or fuss at the sudden physical contact, and she let herself be led into the cottage.

They entered the living room, where baskets of various plants hung from the ceiling, and china jugs and vases sat atop every flat, wooden surface, such as above the many bookcases and cabinets. Touko sniffed, trying to place the scent. There were a lot of different plants that combined into a unique woody fragrance, with rosemary as one of the more potent elements and mint being a strong contender. If she breathed in too deeply, she suspected she might sneeze, so she made a conscious effort to breathe through her mouth more.

“First, we’ll need to research ingredients,” said Sonia. She plucked a book off a shelf and plopped down on an armchair with it. “I’m thinking eggs and caterpillars...”

Touko yelped. Sonia’s countenance didn’t change, so Touko steadied herself and held up a fist.

“Caterpillars?” she sneered. “Do I look like I just started school? I’m not going to eat bugs.”

Sonia tilted her head to one side. “Not even for Togami-kun?”

Her mouth opened only for Touko to close it shortly after.

So maybe Touko was going to eat bugs.

An hour later, with help from Touko’s spellbook and a several tatty books belonging to Sonia, they compiled a list of ingredients.

“We should be able to make a basic transformation spell,” announced Sonia.

Touko, sat in an armchair nearby, looked up from her book.

“Let us make a prototype potion,” said Sonia. She rose and retrieved a small cauldron from one of the cabinets, and she put it down on a clear spot on a cluttered table. During their research, she had written down a number of ingredients, and she held it up to read. “Let’s see. Caterpillars...”

Sonia caught sight of Touko’s face.

“It will only be a gulp,” Sonia told her.

“I’ll just not think too much about it while I drink it,” mumbled Touko.

“Oh, no, Fukawa-san. You will have to be very aware of the ingredients and their significance,” said Sonia. “It won’t work otherwise.”

Touko bit the inside of her cheeks and watched Sonia stride over to a cupboard and crouch down so she could rummage through the objects on one of the lower shelves. Glass clinked.

Soon, Touko relaxed her jaw and said, “I have a question.”

Sonia extracted a jar of brown caterpillars from the cupboard and hummed in acknowledgement.

“Who taught you so much about magic?” asked Touko.

The question made Sonia freeze for a moment, but she thawed out within seconds and stood up, keeping her back to Touko.

“Do you know a country called Novoselic?” said Sonia in a distant tone.

“No.”

“It is small and in another continent.” There was a pause, then Sonia added casually, “I was its princess.”

“A p-pr-?” Touko started, and Sonia stared at Touko from over her shoulder.

Touko shrunk back a bit at Sonia’s blank expression, the smile on Sonia’s face adding no more emotion to it than if it hadn’t been there.

“Was?” said Touko, and she gulped. “Even if I believed that... what do you mean by ‘was’?”

“You know of the prosecution of witches?” said Sonia, putting forth what was barely a question. She faced Touko properly. “My kingdom was no better. My family wished to protect our people, so for generations, we hunted down witches and publicly executed them. Unbeknownst to my family, when I was a young girl, I managed to do unexplainable things, like teleport onto tall buildings and phase through solid matter. I sought answers from my library and suspected that I was a witch. Disguising myself as a runaway, I discovered a group of witches, and they confirmed that I was indeed a witch. The first in my family...”

Sonia laughed, but it lacked warmth. Touko’s eyes flickered while Sonia’s gaze never strayed.

“Did your family find out?” asked Touko.

“I spent a lot of my spare time with these women, learning their, our history. They came from different countries, but I had grown up speaking several languages, so I could talk to them. According to Sayaka-san, these woods here are magic, and they translate what we say into the same language unless we deliberately say a word from another. It might be because witches used to gather here and needed a way to communicate, and so they cast this charm, or it might be the woods are sentient and charming us so it and its inhabitants can talk to us...”

Touko remained quiet so Sonia could continue uninterrupted.

“Anyway, the witches who took me under their wing became a second family of sorts, trying to teach me all they knew.” Sonia couldn’t fake a smile now. “One day, the inn that they used as a hideout was ambushed, but the witches managed to push me into a hidden room before anyone else saw me. I stayed there not until the screams stopped, but until I smelled smoke. I fled past bodies of my soldiers and my fellow witches, returned to my castle to pack some things and abdicated, leaving a note to explain that I wished to see the world and would return when I was ready. I travelled, met a few witches here and there, and for the last few years, I have lived here with my husband, after meeting him at a market. Sometimes, I leave this place to go to markets or on call as a natural doctor, as I advertise myself, which is also how I met Kenichiro-kun, though he saw through my facade when the centaurs turned up here unannounced. As for Novoselic, I’ve not been back since I first left.”

The air felt heavy and the silence felt too loud. Faint shouting could be heard outside, but it had nothing to do with them.

“Do you have family?” asked Sonia.

“I did, one time,” said Touko. “Two mothers and a father.”

“Did they die?”

“No. I don’t know.”

Hopefully they did.

“What about siblings?” asked Sonia.

Touko squared her shoulders. “None that survived childbirth.”

Sonia gripped her hands together tightly in front of her and shuffled her feet, standing rigidly afterwards.

“Fukawa-san, when we go to the shapeshifter tomorrow, I must warn you. You may see things from your past, from your nightmares, from both... You may re-experience certain events,” said Sonia, locking Touko in a stare that Touko felt queasy being in. “Whatever your mind runs wild with will be reflected back at you. To perform the spell you wish to, you must have utmost focus and resolve, but if you succeed, you will be able to perform the spell on your beloved. Are you sure that you are capable?”

Heart racing so fast it almost became a single prolonged hum, Touko nodded.

“If you want, I can cast the spell on him, but I am not as powerful as you,” said Sonia, disappointed but not bitter.

“No, I’m going to do it,” said Touko, and she pushed up her glasses. “I will.”

The ends of Sonia’s curled to create a limp smile, as ghostly as her eyes. She clapped her hands, and Touko straightened to attention.

“For the rest of the day, we are going to practice transforming objects,” said Sonia. “Have you done that before, Fukawa-san?”

Touko blinked and after a delay, her lips twisted in thought.

“I don’t think so?” said Touko, which as the person most likely to know, and perhaps the only person who would know, couldn’t have been encouraging.

Sonia shrugged.

“Oh, well. That’s why it’s practice,” said Sonia.

The potion didn’t take long to concoct. Touko stood back and let Sonia get on with this part by herself, as Touko didn’t know where Sonia kept anything. Like with Touko and her books, to an outsider, the room seemed cluttered and impossible to sort easily through, but Sonia had no trouble finding what she wanted.

When the potion was ready, Sonia passed a vial of it to Touko.

“This will allow you to cast a simple transformation spell on objects. It’s weaker than the one we’ll need for Togami-kun, but it will suffice,” said Sonia. In the vial was a clear liquid. “To activate it, you should say ‘gjenfødelse’, which is the word we will use for the spell on Togami-kun.’”

Before Touko tried to say the word aloud, she went over it in her head, and when the word became a mantra in full swing, she spoke.

“Yen... third... less... sah,” drawled Touko. “Gjenfødelse...”

Sonia only cringed slightly. She placed a fork on the table, positioning it in front of Touko, and stepped aside.

“Now, drink the potion, please,” said Sonia.

Touko raised the vial to her mouth and splattered a few droplets onto her tongue. Her tongue tickled where the potion made contact, feeling as though the outer layer was dissolving, but it didn’t hurt.

“Gjenfødelse,” said Touko.

The edges of Touko’s vision blurred into a white that trembled like the sail of a ship on a windy day.

“We’ll aim to transform the fork into a knife. That should be fairly simple,” said Sonia. She hesitated. “I apologise if I sound patronising but...”

By saying that, Sonia had doomed herself to a self-fulfilling prophesy.

“... to use the spell, you simply focus on the object and imagine a knife,” Sonia finished.

Touko gave a twitch of a nod and concentrated on the fork. Heat pooled behind her eyes and within seconds, the fork began to glow white. It didn’t appear to be solid anymore, but it wasn’t a liquid or a gas either. In this state, the fork was pure energy that wobbled, though its size and shape stayed roughly the same as the fork’s. She visualised a knife and the fork replicated the shape, its prongs merging together.

“Now relax,” said Sonia.

A sigh crashed out from Touko’s mouth as she let the image in her mind disappear. The white light vanished and in its place was a knife.

“Bravo! Bravo! Uber-cool!” Sonia bounced from foot to foot and punched the air, dangerously close to patronising. “Let’s keep the wheel rolling! I will have you change a coin into a button next. You will be ready to face the shapeshifter in no time!”

The rest of the morning kept up the pattern of transforming one thing into another, with the final spell changing a ladybird into a stink bug. By then, Touko had given herself a headache, and Sonia had left her and her new friend, the stink bug, to rest on an armchair while she prepared lunch. Touko shut her eyes, occasionally peeking at the stink bug on the arm of the chair, but she didn’t sleep. When her eyes remained closed for too long, a shadowy figure loomed out of the shadows in her mind, and she would have to open her eyes to let in light, reality, to vanquish the figment of her imagination.

That was all it was. A figment of her imagination. And as long as she didn’t let her mind wander, she told herself, she had nothing to worry about when it came to the shapeshifter.

As with breakfast, they ate it outside, and as with breakfast again, Touko didn’t eat much, forcing herself when Byakuya decided to feed her, presenting a sandwich to her lips. The only people absent were Kiyotaka and Mondo, who Gundam claimed to have challenged each other to a fruit-picking contest.

“Are you okay, Fukawa-chan?” asked Makoto, noting Touko’s slow chewing and drooping shoulders.

Byakuya wavered and moved the sandwich back a bit.

“What is it?” asked Byakuya.

Touko’s throat felt like it had puckered shut.

“I’m tired,” she worked out of herself.

“Yes, I imagine so. We’ve been working hard on our spells,” said Sonia, waving a fork that she was using to eat salad with. “It’s very important that Fukawa-san has mastered it when she casts it on Togami-kun. There is no room for error.”

Everyone exchanged looks that answered no one’s questions.

Yasuhiro vocalised the drop in Touko’s stomach.

“What happens if she hasn’t?” he asked.

Sonia put down her fork, opened her satchel and retrieved the vial that Touko had drank from earlier. She sipped from it and picked up a teacup, holding it in her palm.

“Gjenfødelse,” she said.

The teacup turned into the same white light that Touko had seen throughout the course of her training that morning, and like back then, it began to change shape. While it was still changing, Sonia shut her eyes, and the form of the teacup became more erratic. Protrusions pushed out before retracting at a rapid pace, and it reminded Touko of someone trapped in a sack, pummeling at their prison but failing to break through.

When the last mental strands connecting Sonia to the teacup severed, with the cup no longer being acted on by Sonia, it solidified into china but it wasn’t the same shape as before. Its floral pattern had become twisted, distorted, and its shape was similar to that of a water lily, only with lumpy, mangled petals of different sizes.

“At best, a mistake will leave deformities, imperfections, but those can crack,” said Sonia softly. “At worst...”

She peered at the disfigured object in her hand. It glowed white again, and it struggled again, and then, all of a sudden, it disintegrated, and Sonia cradled grey powder in her hand. Her eyelids lowered and she blew at it, and it exploded into a cloud that thinned until it disappeared entirely, like it had been an illusion conjured by a siren’s song all along.

Somehow, Touko managed to fall asleep that night, but it was still dark outside when she woke up. A candle on the bedside table closest to Touko helped light up her surroundings, not by a great deal, but enough that the room couldn’t deceive her into thinking the silhouettes of everyday objects were monsters.

Her breathing rasped as she tried to keep quiet. She put her glasses on and turned her head away from the candle.

Kyouko had her back to her.

Feeling less alone, Touko attempted to fall back to sleep, but after half an hour of restless tossing and turning, she gave up and slipped out of bed, deciding to go downstairs and pour herself a glass of water to soothe her throat. Afterwards, she could even visit Byakuya, and then retire into the bedroom. Touko rose slowly, trying not to disturb the other two, and when she was on her feet, she checked on them, and that was when she realised that Aoi wasn’t there.

The only place that Touko could imagine Aoi being was outside with Sakura. Still, she thought little of it and claimed the candle for herself, She crept down the stairs and headed over to the kitchen, stopping in the doorway.

Aoi was slouched over a counter, her back toward Touko, gasping into what sounded like her hands.

Sonia kept several bottles of clean water in the kitchen in one of the cupboards. Touko steeled herself and walked on her toes to where she remembered them to be. Once there, she put her candle down on a counter. The thud, though hushed, nearly ripped Aoi out of her skin. She whirled around, clutching her chest, and stared at Touko.

“Fukawa-chan, you startled me,” croaked Aoi, and she rubbed her knuckles across her eyes. “I thought you were asleep.”

Touko’s eyes flickered.

“Were you crying?” she asked sharply.

A pause betrayed Aoi. “No. I was just...”

“You’re not being noble by lying,” said Touko. “Just spit it out. What’s the matter?”

Aoi narrowed her eyes in preparation for a glare, but the fire in her eyes didn’t burn. It melted.

“Do you think I’m a bad person?” asked Aoi.

Touko’s face hardened in confusion. “What?”

“A bad person.” Aoi stretched out her neck and balled her hands into fists, but the bigger she tried to make herself seem, the more likely it became that she would collapse in on herself. “You can be honest.”

“W-Why are you asking this all of a sudden?” asked Touko, shifting a foot back. She hovered a thumb close to her mouth. “Did you do something despicable? Is that it? Am I your confessional?”

“No! I mean...”

Aoi dragged a foot forward, expression pained.

“... It’s just... that spell that will change a mermaid into a human... it’s not just Togami who can use it, right?”

Touko tensed. “You’re thinking of your girlfriend, aren’t you?”

“The morning we left to go see Sonia-chan, you were acting funny so before I showered, I went to follow you... to see how you were...” Aoi’s body shook. “And I overheard you, Togami and Sakura-chan talking, and... and Togami asked Sakura-chan if she was going to become a human or stay a mermaid!”

Despite Aoi’s increasing volume, no one burst in to see what was happening. Not yet, at least. Touko looked around, twitching.

“You nosy-!” started Touko, but catching sight of Aoi’s scrunched face, she bit her lip and pushed down her anger. “If you heard that, then you should also know that your dear Oogami didn’t say she was going to use it.”

“But she didn’t say she wasn’t!” Aoi flung out her arms either side of her. Her words started to trip over themselves, but she managed to stay coherent. “Maybe... Maybe she’ll decide to stay with Kenichiro, and I can’t stop her, and I’ll return to the sea and not be able to see her again for ages and ages. And selkies live for a long time, while humans... humans...”

Everything after that fizzed on her tongue. Aoi burst into tears.

“H-Hey,” said Touko, which did nothing to soothe Aoi, so Touko walked over, unnoticed by Aoi, and awkwardly rested her hand on her shoulder. She felt Aoi tense, but Aoi didn’t shake her off, so Touko kept her hand there. “Shouldn’t you be telling Oogami this instead of me?”

“I can’t,” said Aoi, trembling violently.

“Why not?”

Aoi shook her head.

“Because she might say she will use the spell? And you dread hearing that answer?” asked Touko, and Aoi nodded, clenching her jaw to try to prevent her sobs from coming out, but that just made her tremors worse.

Touko gripped Aoi’s shoulder tighter.

“If you want to torture yourself, go ahead... I’m no stranger to machochism,” said Touko. “B-But if you don’t like that, you should just get it out of the way. Even if it hurts. You can’t start healing before you’re hurt.”

Without warning, Aoi pounced on Touko, consuming her in a tight embrace and letting herself cry and heave freely into her friend. Meanwhile, Touko choked, arms hanging out ungainly.

“It’s...!” Touko hesitated. She had wanted to say that it would be okay, but she didn’t know if it would be, or if anything would be after this, not for sure, but not knowing was part of being alive, so she relaxed into the hug, and they stayed like that for some time.

[vesperlionheart]

Pompeii 23

@thefreckledone 

There was no way she couldn’t feel the magic of the marks on his neck. There was energy there, crackling and alive. Veins of black were growing out of the puncture wounds and spreading away from the site like spider webs. Sakura watched it move and the rate at which it spread was frightening.

She turned her watch over, feeling the tic of every second and measured the spread. She put her brain to work and did the math faster than she ever had in internship. She didn’t know how to counter to toxins but if Chiyo took more than 530 seconds the black lines would be at Haku’s heart. Would she make it in time? How many minutes…?

She had to buy him time, she had to slow down the spread or halt it until Chiyo showed up. What was driving the venom was more than just natural flow. Haku was a merkin, one of the mermaid creatures, his blood didn’t filter so fast. This spread was driven by the curse.

Sakura reached for the magic at his neck, sensing it like a cloud of gas almost. She touched the bite and it was like falling, going into the curse. She stumbled, grappling for purchase in the darkness before it bled away and she was back in the room again. The room was the same but the color was faded to the point of barely being even there and darkness still ate at the edges of her vision.

Sakura saw Zabuza frozen in his seat and then there was Shizune moving in slow motion to where the older man was non responsive. She was moving so slow, like she was caught in a time stream twice removed from hers. Shizune hadn’t see Sakura yet, but Sakura wondered what the woman would have seen if she turned and looked.

Sakura looked back to Haku and saw the darkness around his body. There was a black coil there, wound loosely around his body. It was growing around him, swelling and twisting to wrap itself more securely around Haku’s form. Sakura watched it move, becoming thicker and longer.

It moved like a snake.

“Just like the bite marks,” she gasped.

In a rush she reached for the black coil, pulling it away from Haku’s body. When she freed one coil another took its place. When she loosened one area a different area grew that much tighter. Sakura buried her hands in the mess, looking for the head. It came out hissing.

With a snarl the head reached for her wrist, fangs coming down and bouncing off her skin like it had tried to pierce steel. It writhed, sending a shiver all the way down its body. Pain made it shriek and Sakura noticed Shizune turning towards them in slow motion like she was caught underwater.

Sakura took the chance to grab its neck, feeling her body on fire with some energy that didn’t come from her but clung to her regardless. It tasted of the magic that kept her house safe from trespassers. She grappled with the curse, pulling it up and off of Haku. Someone was calling her name from far off.

The curse was furious with her, trying to snap at her hand and arms again, only to be held back and pressed under her arms. Its tail wrapped around Sakura’s torso and she felt it squeeze, but something kept her safe. It couldn’t hurt her, it couldn’t curse her without a bite. It was useless pulled off Haku and that’s where Sakura planned to keep it until Chiyo could make it there.

Sakura stepped back with the curse, struggling to hold onto it with her own strength. It was strong and angry. It wanted Haku, it wanted to hurt her, it wanted to destroy and be free but Sakura wasn’t about to let that happen.  She twisted, falling down to her knees in the corner and then fell onto her side. She hissed in stress as she maneuvered the snake head to her side and pressed it into the floor, bearing down on it with the intention of cutting off its air supply. She didn’t know if a curse needed air, but if it had been a real snake that’s what she would have done.

It was screaming loudly and Sakura didn’t know if anyone else could see it, but the tail was swelling around her, wrapping her torso and neck. She felt it wrap around her mouth to try the same thing and she bit it hard. It writhed that much more, freeing most of her only to go back to her neck in an attempt to strangle her. Somehow the magic around her kept her breathing, but this curse wasn’t weakening either.  She’d hold it at bay, but she had no idea what to do with it elsewise.

‘Let go, little girl!’

Sakura didn’t know where the voice came from, because it didn’t seem to come from the curse snake, but she heard it clear enough all on her own.

Sakura felt her arms burn. She wouldn’t last forever but she would be damned if she didn’t last as long as she could.

‘You are not a concern of mine, do not make yourself my enemy, little speck. Let go!’

“As if!” Sakura snarled, bearing down on the snake head with all her strength. She was screaming in her head and feeling the pop and rip of muscle. The fibrous tissue in her body was fraying from the strain. This was going to hurt in the morning.

“Banish!”

The word was booming and Sakura felt a wave of golden energy roll over her and send her tumbling against the back wall. She hit it with a bang but the curse in her arms wasn’t so lucky. It caught the gold magic and burned upon contact, turning red with fire and then gray with ash. It shrieked one last time and then it was no more.

The world rushed back into color and started to move again.

Everything hurt, but Chiyo was in the room along with Shizune and…Tsunade? The room was full of women and the blond one that hated her was walking over. Oh, but Chiyo was doing something to Haku and Shizune was helping. Haku would be fine at this rate. The curse was gone, burned away. The toxins in his body would be countered with the old woman’s knowledge.

Sakura didn’t have to worry anymore.

She tried to move and mentally winced at the strain. It would be worse tomorrow after a rest, but she could feel it now after the wind down of her struggle. That had been a lot for her.

“That was stupid of you. What did you think you were going to do when you’ve no healing magic of your own to boast of?” Tsunade huffed, standing in front of Sakura and crossing her arms. “Not even my apprentice witch could have dispelled such a strong curse on their own.”

“Haku,” Sakura said, rising to her feet. It hurt, but she grabbed the wall for support.

Behind Tsunade Sakura could see that Kankuro and his almost-grandmother were in the room, administering something to Haku while Shizune monitored the boy’s vitals. Zabuza was standing in the doorway, watching what happened to the kid he was in charge of.

From where she stood Sakura could see the dark stains that stood out like black veins beneath Haku’s skin. They hadn’t advanced any further from where they had been when Sakura pulled the curse off of him over five minutes ago. It wasn’t going to reach his heart and the antivenom was in his blood now. She had bought him the time he needed, that was all that mattered.

Tsunade stepped to the side, drawing up even with Sakura. Her arms were still crossed and her expression sour, but she wasn’t glaring at her anymore. Instead, Tsunade’s attention was on Shizune who worked to keep Haku in comfort.

“She’s doing a great job, you don’t have to worry,” Sakura sighed, leaning back against the wall. She could feel there were cracks in it. The wood moved under her shoulder and she winced at the thought of having to repair it. She had hit the wall hard.

Tsunade huffed under her breath. “Of course she is. She’s never done a terrible job in her life. If she believed that much she’d be running you around like a errand girl.”

“If you think that’s all she does here you’re a bit off the mark. Shizune isn’t my errand girl, she’s my treasured senior and partner at the practice. I wouldn’t be doing half as well if it were not for her. I don’t doubt her value at all.  She’s far more than an errand girl.”

Tsunade’s stance almost relaxed, but then tensed again at the last second. “Well, you should get used to doing all that on your own because this isn’t a forever gig for her. In another decade or two she’ll come back to me. You’re not so special.”

“No, I’m not. And I think in twenty years I’ll be well on my way.”

With her words spoken, Sakura pushed off the wall and approached the group around Haku’s table. Kankuro saw her approach and stepped to the side to draw up alongside her. He offered her a small smile.

“How is he doing?” Sakura asked, stepping closer to see for herself.

She reached for her stethoscope on the nearby table. She checked his breathing with her wristwatch, peeked at both eyes to check the pupil dilation, and looked at the black veins again. He was stable, that much she could tell. She theorized the antivenom would take a little while to work. For now, he was sleeping soundly.

“He’ll be fine,” Chiyo cackled. “The hard part is done. Venom is wine best cleaned with wine. There will be no lasting damage done to the boy because of that. His curse was the real danger, and now that it’s gone you can all breathe.”

Shizune looked up at Sakura and smiled. “Thank you.” Her eyes lifted to Tsunade. “Both of you. It was a team effort.”

Tsunade glanced sideways at Sakura before dropping her hands to her sides and nodding. “I’m done here then. Call me if you need anything else, Shizune.”

With one final glance backwards at Sakura, the blond woman turned and left the way she came, through the door into the lobby. Sakura heard the footsteps and then the hiss of magic before silence ebbed back into the shared space.

“How did you get the curse off of him?” Chiyo asked, pinching Sakura’s elbow.

Sakura hissed, hating how much her arm hurt from the strain she put it through earlier. Chiyo smirked like she had found out the younger girl. Sakura wanted to glare, but found she couldn’t when she looked at the crafty old woman.

“What are you talking about?”

“The curse, girlie! How did you get the curse off the brat?”

Sakura rubbed the sore spot on her elbow. “I just pulled it off. Why?” She looked up at those around the room, seeing them all have eyes on her.

It was Kankuro who explained. “You’re not supposed to be able to do that. Or, you could, I mean, it’s possible, but it’s like pulling apart acid or something. Touching a curse should burn.”

“It looked like a snake.”

Chiyo cackled but the sound wasn’t full of mirth like others had been. Her laugh was tight. “Because he’s a snake himself. Of course his curses would look like him. All spellwork looks like the person who casts it. You did well to pull it off the kid while you did. I suspect I might not have made it in time otherwise. He had already been pretty far gone when they brought him in, it seemed.”

“He’ll be okay?”

The room turned to see Zabuza standing a foot away from them, hovering in his own body like a ghost. His eyes didn’t really see them, they were just open and there. But at the mention of Haku’s condition Sakura saw a spark of something. It motivated her to put on a big smile and step forward.

“Of course he’s going to be alright. There’s a counter to the venom in his body now and the curse has been removed and destroyed thanks to Tsunade. Haku’s recovering now, but he’s out of the woods. You did the right thing by sending him here. We’ll keep him overnight for observations, but I think he’ll be able to go home soon.”

“Could I stay here then?” Zabuza asked, looking at Haku and then at Sakura. “I don’t think it’s wise anyone be left on their own, especially ones who have made enemies of that damn snake. Tsunade will be fine with her whole damn coven, but…”

Sakura heard him swallow. “Damn, we really stepped in it this time. Haku shouldn’t have been the target. He was pissed with us.”

While she didn’t understand everything said, Sakura understood where Zabuza was coming from. She heard the anger in his voice and felt his self blame. She reached out, crossing the room to touch his arm until he looked down at her.

“You’re not to blame. This was a terrible situation and we worked together to solve it. Don’t think this is anyone’s fault. I’ll set up a cot for you down here and we’ll let you stay. I’m in the apartment upstairs and the clinic is pretty secure, you’ll find. Haku will be safe with us tonight.”

His expression warmed for her. “Thanks.”

Sakura nodded and went out of the room to grab the other cot and roll it in. She grunted in embarrassment when she found it heavy to push with her less than useful arms. Everything hurt and it was hard to grab and apply pressure to anything she did. She had ripped something in her arms during that fight. How embarrassing.

It was at times like these she felt the weight of her otherness. She wasn’t strong compared to ancient gods and kitsune boys. She damaged easily and healed less so. It didn’t matter that storm gods and tengu alike needed help on occasion, like most all residents of Pompeii. It didn’t matter that Valkyrie and mountain demons sought out her aid. Sakura was the doctor and in her mind that meant she was supposed to be above needing help. She was the one who helped. But here she was, useless again.

Somewhere in the back of her head she felt Inner starting to pull herself together.

‘What the hell had I been thinking?’ Sakura thought to herself, remembering how she grappled with the curse in the heat of the moment.

She had just been thinking about saving Haku. She hadn’t planned what to do with the curse once she had it. If Tsunade hadn’t shown up when she did, what would have happened to her?

“Hey?” Sakura looked up, eyes wide. Zabuza was in the doorway, looking worried. “You okay in here?”

Sakura blinked and swallowed, thankful for her calm composure in spite of her turbulent thoughts. “Yeah, I’m just having a little trouble moving the cot. I forgot to turn the brakes off.” She laughed to cover up the lightness of her tone.

Zabuza nodded, stepping in to reach for the opposite end of the cot and tug at it. “Don’t worry. You’re probably tired, right?” He glared when she started to shake her head and deny him. “Don’t tell me you’re not. I don’t know what else you did today, and I’m not sure what happened back there in that room with Haku, but you look tired. Let me at least take care of this.” His tone softened. “You’ve done so much-more than enough as our doctor. I could never thank you enough.”

“I didn’t do that much. I was the least useful person there,” Sakura laughed.

“I don’t think so. You’re all important, and it’s like you said…” Zabuza pushed the cot out and paused at the threshold. “You worked together. Haku wouldn’t be alive without Chiyo, yeah, and he might not be alive without Tsunade, yeah, but don’t forget you. He wouldn’t have made it if you didn’t save him that time like Chiyo said you did.”

Sakura rolled her shoulders in an off kilter shrug. “It was no big deal. I just wanted to help.”

Zabuza almost looked like the words were bitter to hear, but his expression cleared up right away, making it hard to tell what he was thinking. “Yeah, that’s you through and through. Of course you would say something like that.”

When Sakura awoke the next morning she wanted to scream into her pillow. It hurt to move.

It was only through pure willpower she managed to pull herself off the couch, (she had missed the bed again), and into some new clothes. The best she could manage was a long sleeve dress with deep, reinforced pockets and her only pair of boots.

It was a good effort on her part, she thought to herself as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. If she bothered to tend to her hair and apply some jewelry she might even look date worthy. Funny how the most comfortable clothes could sometimes be so practical.

Sakura came downstairs, tried to make herself some coffee in the break room, but gave up part way through when her arms hurt too much. She let her hands settle in her pockets and hang out there. If she was lucky she wouldn’t have to use them too much. She guessed she’d be sore for another day, two at the most, before she would be back to her old self.

“You up?” Shizune asked, stepping in and frowning. “It’s early for you.”

“My coffee maker isn’t as nice as the one down here,” Sakura admitted with a pout. “But I think I’ve changed my mind about coffee. How are Haku and Zabuza?”

“Still here, still asleep, and still nothing you need to worry about. They’re both fine. In an hour or two they’ll be awake and we can discharge them. Haku even has color back in his pretty pink cheeks!”

Sakura snickered. “Don’t let him hear you say that. I think he still has his pride.”

Shizune’s eyes were dangerous and sharp when she grinned. “Not after this episode. If he doesn’t bow and kiss the ground you walk on he’ll never be able to call himself a Mizu boy. He owes his life to three women.”

Sakura felt her faked smile falter. “I didn’t do that much.” 

She was supposed to be the town doctor, she was the one they went to first for help, but in the end she hadn’t been enough or even halfway decent enough to save a single person.

“Don’t think like that. You don’t know what you did. What I saw yesterday when they brought him in was enough to scare any immortal, but you’re so much younger than I and yet you didn’t hesitate. You thought of Haku first and I never saw you afraid.”

“Yeah, just stupid. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

The older woman reached for Sakura’s shoulders and held them. “You did the right thing, you were brave, and I’m proud of you.”

It was enough to finally make her grin. “Thanks.”

Shizune’s smile was warm as she moved her hands down Sakura’s arms to hold the doctor’s elbows in a motherly embrace, but Sakura flinched at the contact and Shizune froze. Eyes suddenly narrowed Shizune prodded at Sakura’s arms and it was after only seconds of investigation that Shizune demanded a honest analysis of Sakura’s condition.

Coming clean resulted in Sakura being relieved of her duties for the day after she checked Haku and Zabuza out. She was prescribed muscle relaxers and instructed to sleep off the strain. When Sakura protested, saying she could still move and work, Shizune refused to hear it and pulled rank.

Sakura was the doctor, but Shizune knew what was best.

So that’s how Sakura ended up back in bed, curled up around one of the library books.

Outside her window, raven and crow sat perched, looking in and watching even more keenly than before.  

[daydreambts]

Seokjin felt elated at your confession and that at least you didn’t outright reject his advance but he knew there was little chance of him having your affection the way he wanted, unless he gained your trust back. Smiling softly at you he got up, “Well Lunch hasn’t been this eventful since high school” he said lightheartedly.

He stopped short of a step in front of you, not wanting to evade your personal space again, “We have another meeting the coming Monday, that’s just you and me however, I’ll message over the details to you soon”, he said slipping back into his usual demeanor of practiced calm even if inside him felt like a chaotic parade.

Before letting you leave making a quick decision he softy grabbed your wrist, drawing your attention back on him, “I’m not ignoring what you told me, I know you need time and I have a lot of making up to do. Even if this doesn’t end in the fairytale I want it to be, I’m going to try my hardest for us to at least be friends. I know it’s a lot to ask but let me prove that to you, but if anything makes you uncomfortable I’ll stop immediately.” He said in a much softer tone, squeezing your hand softly before letting it go.

•━»•»🌸«•«━━━━━━━━•••

I gazed up at Seokjin when he took my hand, listening to his words. "Okay…" I was full of doubts, of course, but it didn't make me happy to always be so cautious. Maybe, I could take the chance. "I have to go now--Misa, she has her fitting, you know... She and Yoongi got engaged and are already planning the wedding," I said, referring to my best friend, who happened to be engaged to his best friend. Still flustered by the turn of events, I hurried away, not even stopping to take the flowers I wanted.

At the bridal shop, I sat sipping wine while watching Misa try on dresses. "I think that mermaid cut gown looks best on you," I murmured. "Thank you... you seem distracted though, is there anything wrong, Sakura?" she asked. "Nothing, it's just... Seokjin..." I sighed. "What?!" she cried. "Is he making work difficult for you? The nerve of him!" Misa looked ready to fight him, so I quickly had to clarify and tell her what happened. "I guess... It's just strange to have this happen now." I mused.

[mtalfonso318]

Mermay day 16 This time I dra a big different consent with the flower (I will try it again) . . . If anyone want to put a name for the little girls here! Please let a comment. . . . #mermaid #magic #flower #littlegirl #love #couple #mermay #mermay2018 #mermaidhair #ocean #love #draw #drawing #digitalart #art #desing #illustration #illustratorsoninstagram #love #cute #paris #freelance #artistsoninstagram #flower #sakura #mermaidproblems #love

[recentanimenews]

The Manga Revue, 4/16/18

Today’s super-sized Manga Revue comes to you courtesy of Patriot’s Day, my second favorite Massachusetts-only holiday. (The first is Evacuation Day, a thinly-disguised attempt to give Boston’s civil servants permission to skip work on St. Pattie’s.) In addition to a bumper crop of links, I have two reviews for you: volume four of D&D cooking extravaganza Delicious in Dungeon, and volumes three and four of everyone’s favorite backwoods culinary adventure Golden Kamuy. Looking back on food manga’s early history in the US, who could have predicted that readers would be feasting on such a wide array of titles in 2018, from Sweetness and Lightning and What Did You Eat Yesterday? to Giant Spider & Me: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale, Food Wars!! Shokugeki no Soma, and Toriko. Maybe the North American market is finally ready for an Iron Wok Jan renaissance…

Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 4 Story and Art by Ryoko Kui Translated by Taylor Engel Yen Press, 192 pp. Rated T, for Teens (13+)

If the first volume of Delicious in Dungeon was about assembling a posse, and the second and third about turning monsters into meals, then the fourth is about friendship — specifically, the strong emotional bond between Laois, Marcille, and Falin — and revenge, as the gang finally comes face-to-face with the Red Dragon. The showdown takes place inside a walled city whose narrow, maze-like streets give them a strategic advantage over their Godzilla-sized foe. And as exciting as the fight is, the real payoff is what follows, as Laois and Marcille discover that bringing Falin back from the dead isn’t a simple proposition. It’s in these moments that Ryoko Kui proves a more deft storyteller than we initially realized, effortlessly shifting gears from comedy to drama without mawkishness or cheap jokes. Instead, we’re allowed to contemplate the real horror of being eaten alive — as Falin was — and the real possibility of a character dying for good.

If I’ve made volume four sound like a bummer, rest assured it isn’t. Seshi gets his turn in the spotlight with a lethal display of culinary bravado, while the rest of the gang endures its share of fumbles and miscommunications on the way to catching their dragon adversary. Though I suspect the next volume of Delicious in Dungeon may revert to its monster-of-the-week formula, that’s OK, since Kui has left the door open for more moments of earnest reflection. Recommended.

Golden Kamuy, Vols. 3-4 Story and Art by Satoru Noda Translated by Eiji Yasuda VIZ Media Rated M, for Mature (18+)

The strengths and weaknesses of Golden Kamuy are neatly encapsulated in a conversation that happens midway through volume four. Asirpa coaxes Sugimoto to try fox meat, to which he responds, “You know, I’m not out here to try all the delicacies in Hokkaido.” In this exchange, author Satoru Noda tacitly admits that Golden Kamuy is more compelling as a study of Ainu culture than a bloody frontier adventure, a supposition borne out by the series’ frequent and fascinating detours into the food, medicine, and mythology of the Ainu; I’ve learned more about bear-hunting techniques from the last two volumes than I did in forty-five years of walking the Earth.

Golden Kamuy is on weaker footing when introducing new characters and subplots. None of the other gold-seekers are fleshed out as carefully as Asirpa and Sugimoto, reducing them to mere obstacles despite Noda’s efforts to give each villain a unique motivation for wanting the treasure. The newest baddie — Kazuo Hemni — exemplifies this problem to a tee: though he’s been given a particularly grisly backstory to explain his murderous proclivities, he’s such a textbook sociopath that he barely rises above the preternaturally-calm-and-savage type. His main function seems to be ramping up the body count, rather than complicating Asirpa and Sugimoto’s quest in a meaningful way.

The art, too, sometimes has a perfunctory quality; in several scenes, Noda’s use of a Photoshopped background doesn’t mesh well with the hand-drawn elements, resulting in an image that inadvertently calls attention to its artificiality. Noda’s use of perspective, too, is sometimes a distraction. He has difficult drawing bodies to scale, especially when he’s depicting Asirpa and her family, some of whom look more like Smurfs than people in their head-to-body ratio.

Still, the camaraderie between Asirpa and Sugimoto, and the well-staged action scenes more than compensate for the occasional roughness of the execution or flatness of the characterization. Golden Kamuy continues to entertain, horrify, and educate in equal measure — something I can’t say for any other manly-man manga that’s currently being published in English. Recommended.

Must-Read Reviews

Sean Gaffney offers a thoughtful appraisal of My Boy, pronouncing it “a good, meaningful work, told with a deft hand,” while Chris Galaver declares Seiichi Hayashi’s Red-Colored Elegy a classic. Over at NerdSpan, Keith Hendricks checks in with Delicious in Dungeon and One-Punch Man.

New and Noteworthy

Again!!, Vol. 1 (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)

Again!!, Vol. 1 (Michelle Smith, Soliloquy in Blue)

Again!!, Vol. 1 (Ross Liversidge, UK Anime Network)

The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Vols. 1-8 (Michelle Smith, Soliloquy in Blue)

Children of the Whales, Vol. 1 (Faith Orcino, Anime Ushi)

CITY, Vol. 1 (Ian Wolf, Anime UK News)

CITY, Vol. 1 (Martha Cornog, Library Journal)

CITY, Vol. 1 (Ross Liversidge, UK Anime Network)

Cutie Honey a Go Go! (Evan Bourgault, Boston Bastard Brigade)

Cutie Honey a Go Go! (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Devilman Grimoire, Vol. 1 (Robert McCarthy, Otaku USA)

Fire Punch, Vol. 1 (Theron Martin, Anime News Network)

Goblin Slayer, Vol. 1 (Bill Curtis, Yatta Tachi)

Goldfisch, Vol. 1 (Kathleen Townsend, Looking Glass Reads)

Kenka Bancho Otome: Love’s Battle Royale, Vol. 1 (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)

Kenka Bancho Otome: Love’s Battle Royale, Vol. 1 (Katherine Dacey, The Manga Critic)

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 1 (Rebecca Silverman, Anime News Network)

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 1 (J. Caleb Mozzocco, Good Comics for Kids)

Mermaid Boys, Vol. 1 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Monster Tamer Girls, Vol. 1 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Monster Tamer Girls, Vol. 1 (Justin, The OASG)

Moteki: Love Strikes!, Vol. 1 (Mehsi, Twirling Book Princess)

Moteki: Love Strikes!, Vol. 1 (Sally, Sally After Words)

Moteki: Love Strikes!, Vol. 1 (Michelle Smith, Soliloquy in Blue)

My Boy, Vol. 1 (Eric Cline, AiPT!)

Nameless Asterism, Vol. 1 (Erica Friedman, Okazu)

Real Life, Vol. 1 (Carlos Frigo, The Fandom Post)

RWBY (Jason Bradley Thompson, Otaku USA)

Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 1 (Sakura Eries, The Fandom Post)

Slumbering Beauty, Vol. 1 (Faith Orcino, Anime Ushi)

A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School, Vol. 1 (Melina Dargis, The Fandom Post)

Though You May Burn to Ash, Vol. 1 (Justin, The OASG)

Tokyo Ghoul:re, Vols. 1-4 (Dustin Cabeal, Comic Bastards)

Waiting for Spring, Vols. 1-4 (Krystallina, Daiyamanga)

The Young Master’s Revenge, Vol. 1 (Leroy Douresseaux, Comic Book Bin)

The Young Master’s Revenge, Vol. 1 (Anna N., The Manga Report)

your name, Vol. 1 (Brittany Vincent, Otaku USA)

Ongoing Series

Anonymous Noise, Vol. 6 (Gabe Peralta, The Fandom Post)

Assassination Classroom, Vol. 21 (Eric Cline, AiPT!)

Battle Angel Alita: Deluxe Edition, Vol. 3 (David Brooke, AiPT!)

Case Closed, Vol. 66 (Sally, Sally After Words)

Dimension W, Vol. 8 (Melina Dargis, The Fandom Post)

Dragon Ball Super #33 (Siddharth Gupta, All-Comic)*

Dragon Ball Super #34 (Siddharth Gupta, All-Comic)*

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 6 (Aaron, Manga Energy)

Elegant Yokai Apartment Life, Vol. 4 (Eric Cline, AiPT!)*

Golden Kamuy, Vols. 3-4 (Dustin Cabeal, Comic Bastards)

Good Night Punpun, Vol. 7 (Dustin Cabeal, Comic Bastards)

I Hear the Sunspot: Theory of Happiness (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)

The Isolator, Vol. 3 (Alisha Taran, Reality’s A Bore)

Kiss Him, Not Me!, Vol. 13 (Johanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading)

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Omnibus, Vol. 2 (Kathleen Townsend, Looking Glass Reads)

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 13 (Dennis Amith, J-Ent! Online)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt, Vols. 5-6 (Dustin Cabeal, Comic Bastards)

My Hero Academia, Vol. 12 (Trevor Richardson, AiPT!)

My Monster Secret, Vol. 10 (Aaron, Manga Energy)

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 2 (Helen, The OASG)

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 3 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Sweet Blue Flowers, Vol. 2 (Melina Dargis, The Fandom Post)

Sweet Blue Flowers, Vol. 3 (Erica Friedman, Okazu)

Sweetness & Lightning, Vol. 8 (Johanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading)

Takane & Hana, Vol. 2 (Johanna Draper Carlson, Comics Worth Reading)

Takane & Hana, Vol. 2 (Anna N., The Manga Report)

A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School, Vol. 2 (Alisha Taran, Reality’s A Bore)

Tokyo Ghoul:re, Vol. 3 (Leroy Douresseaux, Comic Book Bin)

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 5 (Aaron, Manga Energy)

W.I.T.C.H., Vol. 4 (Kate O’Neil, The Fandom Post)

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 11 (Sean Gaffney, A Case Suitable for Treatment)

your name, Vol. 3 (Helen, The OASG)

your name, Vol. 3 (Alisha Taran, Reality’s A Bore)

From the Vault

Butterflies, Flowers (Megan R., The Manga Test Drive)

Kabuki: Flower (Megan R., The Manga Test Drive)

Master Keaton, Vol. 12 (Dustin Cabeal, Comic Bastards)

Pink (Trevor Richardson, AiPT!)

Swan, Vol. 1 (SKJAM, SKJAM! Reviews)

Tokyo Ghoul, Vol. 1 (Trevor Richardson, AiPT!)

Voice Over! Seiyuu Academy, Vol. 2 (SKJAM, SKJAM! Reviews)

* Denotes a digital-first or digital-only release

By: Katherine Dacey

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: Kawaii Box Oct 19

I have complex feelings today, on one hand I’m excited because the brand new Cooking Mama will be arriving. On the other, my mom had to go to the hospital again and I’m worried about her.

So basically... you could say I chose to do this now to bide time. Besides playing Animal Crossing and some heavy duty Spring cleaning.

Word of the month: Majyo/Majo- Witch

Event of the Month (besides Halloween): Taiku no Hi/Health and Sports Day. Which takes place October 14, the day before my birthday x3

“Everything you need to be a kawaii standout at a spooky party!“

Unicorn Cosmetics Bag

Our first item is this exclusive to Kawaii Box (or you can check their online shop Blippo.com) cosmetic bag, featuring the pastel color variant of the Kawaii Box print and a big, cute unicorn! It has a nice pink zipper on top and leather strap for easier carrying, and the inside has bright pink crinkly fabric lining; it feels like the fabric you use to avoid water damage.

The bag is of a decent size, so it would be perfect for carrying around some necessities to the store, in another bag or pack, or even if you just want to use it to help organize something in the home.

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I’m always looking for these in the boxes, because I tend to accumulate stuff from all of them and rather than keep every box I get, I can use these for the similar or smaller items I don’t have another place to put. Overall it’s very nicely made, and I really like it, I’m glad to see a variety of brand exclusive items in the box.

Koala’s March & Umaibo (not pictured)

I think we’ve all seen Koala’s March by now, right? I won’t be getting too into topic about these, but basically if you’re unfamiliar with them, they are little koala-shaped biscuits/cookies with Koala drawn on them and a thick, chocolate filling. They’re very yummy, and over the years there has even been a few different flavors, like strawberry. They each also come with a little Koala drawing you can collect on the top and bottom flaps. Koala’s March is also known for its benefits to the real Koala of the world :3 and it’s one of those few Japanese snacks you can easily find outside of Asian territories.

For Halloween, we have the basic chocolate. But these ones feature adorable Halloween-themed designs. You can also cut around the bottom to use it as a cup for holding things.

I had every intention of taking pictures of the various biscuits/cookies, but they were kind of smashed up and broken apart. Sometimes snacks just can’t handle travel very well, but I would highly recommend trying these if you never did. They’re very yummy.

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I’m sorry guys, but the umaibo that came with this months box was annihilated when I got to it. It would have been a messy picture and I didn’t think it was worth including. I don’t have much to say on it because I’ve reviewed several of the same Umaibo and this one was no different, because... it was...

CORN POTTAGE

If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll know that its my MOST FAVORITE UMAIBO EVER. If you haven’t then now you do :P it’s so delicious~

Hattifattener Plushie

This silly looking creature is from the series Moomin, and it has come to celebrate Halloween with you. This is a 100% polyester made plush thickly filled with cotton. The hands are made from very soft fabric, and it has a long silver ball-chain.

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As simple as this is, I couldn’t think of something more ideal for Halloween than a ghost-like being such as this. I don’t really know anything about the Hattifattener, but it’s pretty cute looking. It’s very soft and plush, and while it has little detail, they are very clean and neat.

Halloween Party Stickers

Whether you’re attending or throwing a Halloween Party, journaling, drawing a picture for the month, or just collecting stickers. These ones are the perfect little touch of spooky cute ♥

For this box, we could get a couple variations of sticker sheets; like cute animals dressed up, ghosts, or this mix of Halloween spirits and icons like I got; such as Jack-o-Lanterns, bats, and some Japanese spirits like the Kappa, the umbrella ghost or long necked lady; there’s even a few Non-Halloween creatures, like a mermaid and genie. The stickers are also puffy, giving them that 3D-ish look.

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I love holiday-themed stickers x3 they’re always really fun to look back. As much as I don’t like repetitive designs on sticker sheets though, I’m not that bothered by it on this one because the repetitive ones are recolored or a bit different in style, rather than being the exact same printing repeat.

Ghost Heart Pin

Kawaii Box not only gave us one exclusive item, but two this month :D This is a cute accessory you could wear on person or attach it to a purse or something else if you really wanted to. I’m not sure if you can tell in this pic, but the pin is actually pretty big, about the size of my fist. It also seems to be of really good quality, and has a nice, solid response when you tap or hit it.

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I really got into collecting pins the past few years, so I’m excited to add another one to my collection.

Cat Teru Teru Bozu Pen

Teru Teru Bozu are ghostly looking objects one can make in order to keep away bad, rainy weather. So for this month, we have a kitty one who has come to make sure Halloween is at its best this year; unless you’re like me and keep it in the box, because it was pretty chilly and rainy this year.

The pen is an extremely basic clear tube with a black ink fine-tip. The kitty TTB can be sat aside, or you can put it on the pen butt so that it can keep you company while you write.

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As cute as the kitty is, I find the rest of the pen to be extremely repressed/plain/boring. But it works perfectly well, so it’s not like I wont use it, it’s just not in my top 10 list.

Shine Rainbow Bookmark

Our next item is this really pretty bookmark ♥ by Tree In Art, these came in various designs and colors and feature shiny, colorful flakes in various shapes; such as a star-themed one shown in the booklet, or this one that I got, featuring unicorns, sakura flower, flowers/snowflakes, and dots. There is also a small silk ribbon tied through the top for an additional touch.

I never heard of the brand TIA until I started seeing it in this box, and since then I have come to really like it! They have a variety of items as I’m learning, in all sorts of designs, such as casual fat kitties and narwhals, floral, and magical elements like mermaids and unicorns. 

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I also really like reading, and for the past few years I’ve been obsessed with this yarn bookworm I got from a craft store, but its eyes have gone missing and I’m kinda tired of it, so this will be a lovely change of pace~

Glitter Star Hair Clip

I was the most excited about this item, so I’m very happy I can finally begin wearing it! These came in a few variations, each consisting of a clip covered in shiny deco flakes, and adorned by a large clear star filled with shiny star flakes and some others; such as the metallic shells mine has ♥

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I’m completely in love with this~ It’s so pretty, and it’s not too decorative that it might look strange to wear, it’s just enough. The quality of the clip is also really good, and I love hearing the flakes inside shake around as I move my head or tap it.

It also really goes with my nails right now :3 its a win-win.

Colorful Scratch Notepad

This is our last item of the month, a fun little scratchpad. If you never seen these before, they are basically colorful, smooth pieces of paper or card stock covered in black material that you “scratch“ off to reveal your image in the color of the sheet.

This specific set comes with multiple pieces of rainbow, along with one gold sheet, and one silver.

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These are a really fun way to pass time if you like to draw or doodle. It’s also very relaxing, and this specific set is a dream because of how soft and easy it is to draw on the black stuff- the only downside is that because it’s not the usual smooth, gummy-ish paint-like substance that is really easy to remove, this one kinda smears like pencil would, so you might need to clean your hands after using it. I also wish we got an even amount of each color sheet.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content - 5 out of 5. I love everything, it’s so much fun! A couple of them might have been basic or plain looking, but they work fine/have good quality.

Theme - 4.5 out of 5. They were really close to getting a perfect score this time, but I felt like a couple of items didn’t really fit the spirit of the Halloween theme.

Total Rank: 9 out of 10 Cuties. I really liked this box, it especially excelled in comparison to the past few boxes this month and I enjoyed it. I’m in love with quite a few of the items, and I can’t wait to use them in full now!

♥Cutie Scale ♥

1. Star Clip - I’m going to wear this a lot :D I love it love it love it!

2. Bookmark - It’s so shiny and pretty to look at~ I adore it~

3. Unicorn Cosmetics Bag - I probably would have picked this as my top favorite item, if not for the fact I liked 2 more way more.

4. Ghost Pin - It’s pastel color scheme and heart shape are kawaii x3

5. Scratch Notepad - It’s very fun, I really like these. I actually own a couple of them, but none with pretty metallic sheets.

6. Halloween Stickers - They’re cute, even moreso than the ghost stickers we got last year~

7. Cat Teru Teru Bozu Pen - it’s cute, but also on the plain side. I really like the super-decorative pens more. 

8. Hattifattener Plush - It’s plain looking but still kinda cute.

9. Umaibo - This almost felt painful to do because its so delicious, but with how messed up it was out of the package -edible or not- I didn’t feel like it earned a goo score.

10. Koala’s March - As yummy and cute as they are, once they’re gone they are gone you know?