#why is a manga that’s not even done yet pissing you off so much

[bakugoushotwife]

in my opinion, gojo’s storyline has been handled so so poorly i can’t help but think it’s intentional. it is not bad writing to kill a character—even a beloved character. i know most people will dismiss my criticisms because gojo is so beloved to me and so many others. i’ve said before that i don’t mind if he died. does it hurt? of course, and i would still cry and be sad about it. but there is a beautiful way to do it. with respect and honor for his legacy—for what he has done for your manga, the characters in it, and audiences worldwide. but no…gege chose the path of horror and disrespect. at certain points i’d say to myself, well. this is a dark manga. but essentially gojo is the only character that receives this treatment. since the beginning—since suguru left him, he’s been wondering if he mattered because he was a person, or if he only mattered because he was powerful and useable. we certainly fucking answered that question. he is a weapon and nobody ever cared about him at all!!!

and we knew he was being used—he knew he was being used, but he is selfless. so he did it for his kids. for megumi and yuuji and yuuta—he wanted them to be safe. in these flashbacks it’s exceedingly clear that he knew he would die. again—that’s not my issue. gojo dying to sukuna makes plenty of sense and it would hurt to leave it there. but to give us an afterlife scene where he’s presented a choice—north and south—that concept lead nowhere, that’s truly fucked up. to leave all the subtle clues and hints for no reason but to keep people reading and theorizing his return is fucked up. to continue to use his imagery to promote your manga when you know he’s not even honored in your manga is fucked up. we don’t get a funeral or a grave for him. no one’s spoken about him in chapters despite him fighting for hours against sukuna and damaging him so much that yuuji could win, nothing. yuuta wearing him like a costume and no one is horrified about it. i thought his students WERE different. they weren’t jujutsu society yet. that’s why gojo was their teacher—shaping them into better human beings. how am i supposed to trust in their future when it seems they’re just as cold and heartless as everyone before them? no one has honored gojo in any way since the moment he died. and they’ve forgotten about him. he spent his entire life fighting and no one can even say thank you. gege intentionally used gojo to promote the end of his manga because he knows that gojo fans make up at least half of his fanbase so had we stopped reading when he died, he would have lost a lot of traction. he baited us intentionally, cruelly, and something that transcends storytelling. i’ve truly never seen a mangaka have this sort of vitriol for one of their characters and the people that love him.

we spent the entire last chapter talking about some random fucking mission when we have several unanswered questions and concerns. i thought gege said he wanted this ending to be shocking and something you didn’t see in shonen? tying everything up neatly where no one has any trauma or grief for what they’ve experienced, everyone comes back to life except the one character you hate specifically and choso, defying your own power structures and having everyone laughing into the sunset is exactly how shonen ends so what in the fuck is he talking about??

let me disclaim, this is not megumi hate at all. i love him very much and i am so happy he’s back with the group but like. he shouldn’t be able to even walk. he tanked unlimited void for over 6 minutes whenever that length caused irreversible damage to sukuna himself. not to mention the countless black flashes. so what the fuck? he doesn’t mention gojo at all?? the first time he laughs in this manga is after he reads a note written by his dead fucking caretaker about his dead fucking father? like i don’t believe. random open ended kenjaku/suguru mention just to piss me off, an absolutely no mention of gojos sacrifice or how they’ll miss him. i’m sick to my stomach. gege defiled his memory both in the story and outside of it. wow.

P.S. SUKUNA CARED MORE ABOUT GOJO THAN ANYONE ELSE (SUGURU IS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS I MEAN HIS STUDENTS AND SOCIETY)

[bicheetopuff]

Y’all are getting annoying with all of this hate. This chapter didn’t go the way you wanted it to so you start calling hori a terrible writer? You start saying it’s disgraceful? Are you for real?

Why’re we acting like the story is over? Was there a “the end” somewhere that I missed? Was there a conformation that Shigaraki was completely dead that I also missed? You guys are right that there are some things that didn’t make sense and that it felt a little rushed and how Nanas connection with Shigaraki was off screened but, we still have chances to see all of that.

The thing with Nana might come up with All Might and Gran Torino incase y’all forgot that he’s apart of that whole thing. There could a flashback for Tomura Shigaraki: Rising. Shigaraki could manifest overhaul and put himself back together.

Here’s the thing though, Deku was never motivated to save Shigaraki, he wanted to save the crying child inside of him. AFO was rewinding his age every time he died for like 30 fucking chapters, are you really convinced that he didn’t make sure Shigaraki, his vessel/escape goat, didn’t have the same quirk just incase? Wouldn’t it come full circle for Shigaraki to come out of this as young Tenko? Wouldn’t that even make MORE sense than Deku trying to save someone that’s already too far gone physically? Shigaraki was literally falling apart, wtf was Deku gonna do? Glue him back together? Stop punching him while he was still possessed and trying to kill him and others?

Why is this fandom always mad when Deku does anything? Some people are saying he didn’t have any emotional investment in Shigaraki and that he didn’t show emotion when he died but, we haven’t even gotten the chance to see his reaction yet. The last page he’s super far away and facing away from the camera, how tf do you know he’s not upset? How do you know he’s not looking at Tenko right now?

All of this to say, can y’all just be patient for once? Wait a few chapters before you start literally wishing death on Hori for writing something that didn’t please you in a shonen manga. At this point, some of you need to just drop the series if it’s gonna get under your skin this much. I’m really tired of defending this fandom and being associated with it when y’all are being this outrageous. Some of you need to start thinking and reflecting after you read rather than just go straight to your keyboard and start throwing metaphorical rocks into Horikoshis metaphorically online window.

[gojuo]

omg im that person who sent you an ask like months ago about how I was catelyn and Robb trash before I became aegon and alicent trash. You've been one of the few hotd blogs I can stand because woahh why is this fandom so pleased with mediocre nonsensical work???

Reading your thoughts on each episode was healing because it was like FINALLY, AN INTELLECTUAL, and even though I never fully read the books (yet), the show pissed me off so much (and I have a twin bro who loves it *sigh*)

Anyway, I just discovered that you used to be an aot fan because I stumbled upon an old gifset you made, and YOU'RE AN EREN FAN TOO? Like being a fan of Eren post finale is so bad because all the content creators and meta writers just do not understand my boy. So, this just me fangerling over this lol.

Lastly.....I had a couple friends who only watched the show, but haven't read the manga practically beg me to give jujutsu kaisen a chance. Seeing your blog posts have made me hesitate. Would you recommend? T-T

thank you, and im sleep deprived, so that might explain the atrocious grammar.

OH AND, THAT GRRM BLOG POST. I AM SO GLAD HE SAID SOMETHING. Everyone calling him whiny or unprofessional can stfu. It's his work. His art. I'm glad there are those defending him. Because the nonsense being pulled isn't acceptable.

Omg thank you for the compliments that's literally soooo sweet I really don't think my takes are all that so your words are very flattering, thank you very much 😭🫂 and omg yes I know you sent me an ask and I'm soo sorry I haven't responded yet 😭 I get a lot of asks my inbox is always full plus I'm a workaholic who does a lot of overwork that's why I'm barely online/on hiatus in the first place so asks get buried all the time and I tend to ignore my inbox because I get so overwhelmed it's literally a never-ending cycle I just can't get out of 😭😭 I'll try to answer this weekend but no promises 😓

Oh man don't remind me of those AOT days.... You couldn't even say you understood why Eren did what he did or why there were flaws with Armin's group et al or why there was a point to the Yeagerists without getting hounded ... but to be fair I do think Isayama sorta failed in conveying his messages and themes properly but oh well ... It's done and gone I AM FREE and I will never discuss AOT ever again lmao

About JJK...... man.... it hurts.... It was so good...... until it wasn't 😭 Listen it starts out as a 6 or 7 out of 10 until it grows into a pure 10 out of 10 score for the Hidden Inventory & Shibuya Incident arcs ... and then it falls down a steep cliff right into a, in my generous opinion, 2 out of 10 score 😖 Post-Shibuya is so bad I can't even explain it bc it hurts too much to think about... I used to love this series so much and it turned into... this... It's heartbreaking. I only recommend JJK to you if you're aware that it's not that good and it's mostly carried by its battles rather than its plot or characters. And tbh the community is fun. I've had the time of my life when JJK was at its peak in summer '23 and even if the manga is ending in a few weeks, the anime is still ongoing for a few years at least, so there's that too if you care about that ❤

[katasstrophy]

this is my official public statement that i will never, not even on my deathbed, nor a hundred thousand bajillion years later when i’ll merely be a squiggly skeleton in my cozy little coffin, or for that matter under any other circumstance, really, will I EVER forgive mr best football player in japan, boy prodigy Itoshi FUCKING Sae for what he did and/or said to Rin in chapter 148.

that being said, bllk manga spoilers under the cut !

Just,,, just fucking LOOK at these panels

it’s already very much apparent from his posture and gritted teeth that Rin is devastated by the outcome against the U-20 team. Okay, devastated might be a strong word here but he’s definitely unhappy about it—and Blue Lock won. Rin won—or, well, in his eyes, did he?

the first thing that’s reflected in Rin’s eyes is Aiku’s handshake with Isagi after the game ended with Isagi’s winning goal. By congratulating him and admitting their loss, Aiku is acknowledging Isagi—his talent as well as the threat he poses. Which is all fine and dandy, go off Isagi good for you buddy honestly BUT!! Rin has done the exact same thing in the first half. He was the first Blue Locker who could stand toe to toe with Aiku, outsmart him, and score a goal against him—an important one, too! Yet he’s not even getting half the recognition Isagi is.

And the sad part about it is that it makes perfect sense. Of fucking course Aiku’s not gonna saunter over to shake Rin’s hand while the game is still undecided—he full on believed his team was going to emerge victorious, why go on congratulating losers? (I know Rin wouldn’t have accepted Aiku’s handshake anyway lmao that fucking gremlin but that’s NOT THE POINT HERE!!!)

The point is what comes after.

Rin’s not one to go fishing for praise. He was Blue Lock’s first ranked player after the 3rd selection; he’s very much aware of his own abilities. And he has been acknowledged multiple times before by others, which he proceeded to completely brush off because, wait for it, he thinks they’re not on par with his level. Why would he need acknowledgement from lukewarm players?

Rin thinks NO ONE’s better than him at football, EXCEPT for his older brother, Sae.

Which is what makes Sae saying Isagi’s the first good striker he’s seen Japan produce—the striker who will forever change the Japanese football scene—even more heartbreaking.

Like I can’t take this pls do you SEE his face ??

This is right before Sae HIGH KEY implies that he’s finally about to acknowledge his little brother’s talents. There’s so much hope in Rin’s expression he almost looks like a kid again. There’s an honest to god little blush on his cheeks. There are fucking SPARKLES (!!!) in his eyes like EXCUUUSSEEE MEEE

even though there’s a shit ton of resentment between them, Rin really just wants to be good enough to play football with his bro again. He wants Sae to be like “yupp my bad you are a good striker”

god i cannot wait to find out what happened to sae in spain to make him such a piss baby

BUT INSTEAD we get Sae acknowledging Isagi—which fine, whatever, it’s a trend in the Blue Lock universe who am i to judge EXCEPT !!!! The whole ass reason Isagi could “incorporate luck into his play” is because he full on believed with his chest that Rin would steal the ball from Sae. WHICH HE DAMN WELL FUCKING DID

Sae sure as hell thought that was NOT gonna happen. Not even a possibility in his careful little calculations. I mean come on—

The man was too stunned to speak !!! Bitch got his ass thoroughly kicked !!!

Basically:

Couldn’t have said it better myself king

and yet. AND YET

like literally what was the reason. Why go on and declare that you acknowledge Isagi, but not Rin? I know there was a fat chance of it happening anyway—but then why not just stay silent? Sae is also pretty much aware of his brother’s abilities (besides that surprise one-up). He knows Rin’s smart enough to eventually figure out what his flow state reveals about himself—reveal what he’s missing. So why? Why declare it to Rin’s face?

Why do this to him?

At this point, there’s no more room in Rin for devastation and feeling like a disappointment. That’s all he’s been feeling for the past years. He’s done. All that’s left after this is bone deep hatred.

Unless I’m colossally missing smth, or this action will be redeemed in the next 200 chapters, Sae’s just cruel here. The only outcome I can discern from this is that now Rin’s and Isagi’s rivalry isn’t one-sided, but I genuinely fucking believe that would have been achieved regardless of Sae’s bullshittery.

SO IN CONCLUSION:

thank you for coming to my ted talk.

also @ugh-tsumu i hope you don’t mind i used your itoshi rin supremacy meme. it is spectacular <3 the other one is made by me lmaooo ART i tell you

[pwnyta]

Now that im done with my GI dailies...

ROUND 2 of the BNHA award show starts!

The award for QUICKEST YET BADDEST ENTRANCE AND EXIT goes to...

Star!

Damn she was a bad bitch....

------

Award for I DONT BELIEVE THAT MAN HAS EVER BEEN TO MEDICAL SCHOOL goes to....

ITS A TIE!!!

JEANIST AND WHATS-HIS-FACE!

Ok they can preform open heart surgery? Sure...

-----

Award for BIGGEST ASSPULL goes to...

ANOTHER TIE AND WELCOME BACK

BEST JEANIST & SERIOUSLY I CANT REMEMBER HIS NAME FOR THE LIFE OF ME

AND!!! ERI!!!

Damn this was dumb as hell....

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Award for MOST DISAPPOINTING COME BACK goes to...

MIRIO!

...off-screen.... girl... Mirio I love you so much theres no way you should be this lame...

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Award for SERIOUSLY WHY THE FUCK WAS THIS GUY ADDED? IT HAD LIKE NO SATISFYING PART IN THE STORY.... goes to....

KUROGIRI!

Kurogiri you were so intriguing before Hori made you a zombie of Aizawas friend he just randomly added...

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The award for MAKING ME THINK OF THE WEATHER EPISODE FROM UNHHHHH goes to....

...??? HER!!!!

HELLLOOOO WERE HAVING WEATHER~~~~

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Award for MOST WASTED STORY POTENTIAL IN MAYBE ALL OF MANGA HISTORY goes to....

Mutant bigotry!!!

Really Hori your bringing this up now? To try and make Spinners random character turn understandable? Weve had mutant characters the ENTIRE GOD DAMN TIME HORI!!! PRO HEROES! STUDENTS! RANDOM BG CHARACTERS! YOURE BRINGING THIS UP NOW!? TOKOYAMI ALMOST KILLED SOME OF HIS CLASSMATES!!!! YOU THINK BIGOTS WOULDNT HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT IT!? WHAT A TOOTHLESS TONE-DEAF RACISM ALLEGORY!! HOLY SHIT HORI IM SO PISSED ABOUT THIS YOU CANT EVEN IMAGINE.

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Award for MOST DRAWN OUT NOT-DEAD REVEAL goes to...

BAKUGO

I mean obviously.... You know letting him actually have some smooth character development woulda been too hard for Hori...

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Award for HOLY SHIT THE 'CEST SHIPPERS ARE GONNA LOVE THIS SHIT goes to....

ITS A TIE!!!! TWINSIES!!!

Endeavor/Dabi

AND!!!

THE SHIGARAKIS!

...Yall can get mad at me for this one... You know I aint wrong...

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Award for MOST UNHINGED YET SELFLESS ROMANTIC SACRIFICE goes to....

STAIN!!!!

Seriously Im in tears... how did this happen...

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Award for THE MOST POINTLESS FACE HEAL FACE TURN IN HISTORY goes to....

....HER!

??? Seriously you got pissed about killing villains so you started killing heroes even a teenage boy? Thats so fucking stupid girl....fuckin WHAT?

-----

Award for I DONT CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS YOURE AN UNDERRATED TOP TIER G AND YOU DESERVE AN AWARD goes to...

MT LADY!!!

DAMN SHES FUCKING COOL! NEVER DISAPPOINTS IN A FIGHT!

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Award for SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! SHUT UP!!! THIS ISNT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE Y- goes to...

ENDEAVOR!!

SHUT YOUR BITCH ASS UP ENDEAVOR!!!

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Award for THEY NEEDED TO TAKE YOU OUT EARLIER ON SO YOU COULDNT CLAP THE BADDIES CHEEKS AND ITS SO OBVIOUS WHY DID HORI MAKE YOU SO STRONG FOR NO REASON TOKOYAMI???? goes to....

TOKOYAMI!!!

HOLY SHIT TOKOYAMI!

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Award for I HATE THAT THEYRE MAKING ME DEFEND YOU... goes to...

HAWKS!!!

Hawks gave Twice plenty of chances to stop fucking killing people so he could be taken in alive! WHY DO I HAVE TO DEFEND THIS BLACKHOLE OF WASTED FUCKIN TIME HORI WTF....???

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Award for MOST WEIRDLY TOUCHING DEDICATION goes to...

All Mights CANT STOP TWINKLING attack!

The way I cried a little... my little tchotchke.... Him changing his attacks from states to his students was already so good but damn... :') Aoyama deserved this.

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Award for MOST TRAGICALLY SUBMISSIVE BABYGIRL goes to...

ALL MIGHT!!!

I mean we knew from the jump but.... DAMN Toshi.

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Award for MOST HATED GOOD SHIP goes to...

KIRISHIDO!!!

Seriously FUCK those KRBK fans! Im so glad you got bested by the BKDKs you rancid fucks.... This ship was always superior!!!

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Award for LOVING SHOTO THE MOST goes to....

Certainly not his fucking family....

IIDA!!!!

So this is love... mmm mmm mmm mmm~ So this is... love?

----

Award for SICKEST VILLAIN DESIGN goes to...

Kunieda(I guess?)

Seriously this guy is so fucking cool looking. Clears literally every single villain design. Its not even close.

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The award for MOST HORNGRY goes too....

AFO

Seriously AFO... if you werent so obsessed with Toshi you probably woulda won its literally so fucking funny.... Elevated the nosebleed trope to literally spurting blood from the forehead veins from how aggressively horknee you are. LMAO. AND YET somehow this is not the weirdest boner you have for another man.

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Award for THE MOST CONSISTENTLY GOOD CHARACTER IN BNHA goes to...

ALL MIGHT. Obviously.

IDK if Hori loves you or hates you by how he writes you Toshi but damn you wear this consistency so fuckin well not even Hori could fuck you up!

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Award for MOST REALISTICALLY AGED BY THE STRESS OF THIS BATTLE goes to...

Naomasa!!

.... LMAO... Damn. Stress so intense it made you turn into a distinctly designed character.. The magic of facial hair and eyebags...

---

The award for REALLY BITCH!? YOU HAVE A PERFECT COUNTER FOR STAINS QUIRK BUT NOT ONE TO AGE YOURSELF TO COUNTER YOUR DEAGING?! THATS FUCKIN CONVENIENT HORIKOSHI goes to...

AFO!!! For BLOODLET!

The only blemish on the otherwise sickest side battle in this whole arc TBH..

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Thats the end of part 2 of BNHA AWARDS!!! Some serious upsets this round! Damn!

[otakween]

Digimon Tamers - Volume 4

The beginning of this volume flat out spoils things by putting characters that haven't been introduced yet on the character page. (MarineAngemon, the Juri clone, the D-Reaper queen...) Maybe that's a common practice with shounen manga...but it shouldn't be. Like, what's the point?

Ch. 22

Lopmon and Terriermon interacting will never get old. Love how they lift their ears with curiosity when they first see each other.

I think I prefer experiencing the ~sad~ part of Tamers better in manga form. I remember it being quite drawn out in the anime and I rather just blitz through it at this point. I think the whole Leomon death storyline just annoys me because they barely developed his character and then the writing expects me to be devastated. Juri was more developed, sure, but we barely got any insight into her relationship with Leomon so her deep, dark depression doesn't feel super warranted either.

Ch. 23

I think this chapter was pretty well done. They're giving an epic battle it's time instead of zooming past it.

It bugs me that there isn't a specific name for digimon/human digivolutions. In this translation they called it a "true mega form." On the wiki it's called both an ultimate and a matrix digivolution. IDK why it doesn't count as a jogress. I guess there's like...two different things: the way you digivolve (matrix) and the digivolution level (ultimate)? If it's confusing for me, I can only imagine it'd be confusing for a kid.

It's a bit weird for an English translation, but I like that Guilmon says "MMA!" a lot. I can totally hear him making that noise with his OG voice. Creative onomatopoeia.

Ch. 24

Grrr Jian said "crumbcakes," so done with this stupid translation

This chapter was hella short, not much to say about it.

Ch. 25

Okay, now they're calling it a "biomerge digivolution." I guess the localizers also thought "this needs a cool name!"

Casual 90s/early 2000s sexism sprinkled throughout this translation. Takato says he "screams like a little girl" in a previous chapter and in this one he says "easy to forget Renamon and Rika are girls when they're always kicking butt!" Eye roll...

SaintGalgomon looked super badass but for some reason when Sakuyamon appeared they chose to dedicate two closeup panels to her chest and high heels? Sus...

Ch. 26

Juri's face didn't look as sinister here as it did in the anime (when it's revealed she's possessed). I guess that's probably a good thing. More subtle.

I don't remember the sovereign digimon giving Culumon a "you're a real boy now" speech in the anime. That was sweet.

They cut the part where Beelzebumon gets zapped by a bunch a digimon. In this he just collapses after the battle with Dukemon, which I think I prefer. (But why'd he say he'd be "bunny chow?" He wasn't even fighting Terriermon...)

Ch. 27

The grotesque, over-the-top facial expressions the artist keeps drawing for Hirokazu piss me off. They're just so ugly.

Ugh...they really had to ruin a serious moment (Guilmon getting the ark to stop) with a poop joke. This manhua does NOT treat its audience with respect.

Hmm they completely cut out Juri's family. So much for developing her character I guess.

They kind of forgot to imply that the ark is sentient. I mean they showed it stopping on its own, but in the anime they really hammered it home by having Guilmon have a conversation with it and showing it's HAL-like eye. That was one of my fave parts so I'm sad lol

Ch. 28

Okay, this is starting to feel totally different from the anime, they skipped like 5 episodes worth of content. Also, IDK if the scanlation I'm reading is missing some pages because the ending with Dukemon being beat up was completely nonsensical (it cut from Beelzebumon being hit to a panel with Dukemon outta nowhere?) I'll give it the benefit of the doubt that there are missing pages...

The scene where Beelzebumon uses Leomon's attack to save Juri played out differently here. She doesn't seem particularly perturbed by it and Beelzebumon can't save her because he gets attacked, not because Juri recoils for too long.

Ch. 29/30

Lol they completely cut out Justimon. Makes Ryo's role even more pointless! Ryo doesn't even reappear at all...

This manhua series was crap to begin with but they really screwed the pooch with this ending. SOOO rushed. Grani appeared outta nowhere with zero introduction. Like they just went immediately to Grani's sacrifice. I still don't know if I'm missing pages or if the writing is just that garbage. Oh well! I tried.

[tamelee]

Why do you think Naruto is no longer wearing his hitai-ate in Boruto?

Short answer: to show off his sexy receding hairline. 

Really long heavily SNS-based answer:

Here we get the first glimpse of its meaning.

But in general it is described as something to be an honorable and important part of a village’s tradition. Not wearing it could be seen as disrespectful some say yet it isn’t really necessary. Akatsuki members still wear theirs but their villages’s symbols are scratched out. A statement. Although this is different for Pain and Konan. 

So, what does this mean for Naruto? 

A lot. 

Look, you may say I’m overthinking it but I honestly believe that Naruto not wearing his Hitai-ate now is a statement in itself. If you consider everything else as well. Chapter 700 was written with so much haste and it was lathered in defeat. Nothing about it said “satisfaction” or “happy Shonen ending” the way it was supposed to be. 

Naruto hated the people from his village (naturally), but that had changed-yes? 

In the end he was loved and acknowledged by many.. (Yet in Gaiden he tells Sarada that former Hokage have said that they see the village as family not necessarily talking about himself. Which is... funny.)

But apart from the feelings he held for Sasuke which he talked about later in the story, Iruka was the first person to voice out what he truly thought about Naruto. He was acknowledged as not “a demon fox” but as himself. “Uzumaki Naruto!!”. 

((Naruto to Sasuke:))

And it is through that acknowledgement and through that bond that kid Naruto receives that Hitai-ate:

Naruto ends up hugging Iruka after that. 

It’s no secret that he’s very proud of it too. As he should. It is mentioned again when he comes back to the village after the Tsunade Arc. 

And after talking with Iruka for a while again:

It highlights the importance it holds for Naruto as a chapter later he says this to Sasuke: 

He’s telling him to put on the Hitai-ate because:

Sasuke refuses. I always wondered and haven’t really seen people talk about it but it seems like Naruto and Sasuke hold a slightly different meaning towards this. Or the same but it means more to Naruto than Sasuke. Obviously Naruto wants Sasuke to wear his Hitai-ate to fight on equal grounds as Konoha Ninja. However Sasuke here is being cocky and says Naruto is below him when it comes to strength. But he’s also frustrated, traumatized and pissed off. Naruto is only egging him on by calling him “Sasuke-chan” and getting cocky himself.

The symbol isn’t just about strength. Naruto wants Sasuke to acknowledge him even though Sasuke already has before by saying he wanted to fight him.

Naruto in the raw Manga has “shivering feelings of excitement”, sfx’s that are apparently used in Hentai.. (Hey, that’s what I read. Go complain to Kishimoto.) And instead they fight both verbally and physically without understanding the other. Both of them are so frustrated and hurt that if Kakashi didn’t interfere, we would’ve had a very short story. It isn’t the fight they wanted. 

Nor was their next fight. 

But in VotE1, Sasuke calls Naruto his closest friend and they both acknowledge how strong their bond is. Which is why Sasuke needs to cut Naruto off and can’t in the end. It is also the fight where they slowly start to understand a little more about each other. Sasuke putting on the Hitai-ate I think wasn’t just because he acknowledged Naruto’s strength. He could’ve done that earlier in the fight but he didn’t. It was obvious Sasuke lied about that. (Manga composition rule.. shadows and all.) Naruto not being able to scratch his forehead was just a poor excuse and a brilliant segue towards anti-Konoha symbolism. Could it be that Kishimoto is a great writer? Well, yes!

He put it on after Naruto said: 

And after he thought of them smiling at each other when they were kids. (Edit: uh, younger. The lake scene.)

He awakened his third Tomoe then. 

And it’s also really interesting that when Naruto went to face Sasuke much later he was calm. They exchanged fists and went to their own little space unreachable to others:

When Naruto went to tell him how glad he was to have met Sasuke, to not become a victim but also have his resolve set to not ever give up on him- he wasn’t wearing his Hitai-ate.. why? 

Because Naruto didn’t go ranting to Sasuke as a villager of Konoha. And I think this detail is what makes this scene even more special. Konoha was set on “getting rid of rogue Shinobi Sasuke” and Naruto wasn’t having it. He wasn’t going to stand before him wearing his Hitai-ate proudly when that symbol now feels too heavy. Naruto was the only one to not give up on Sasuke while everyone else including his “team-mates” were ready to kill him. Literally standing next to him, weapons ready.

Instead Naruto asks Sasuke if he saw what was inside his heart and continues to ramble on a little embarrassed.. touching his forehead as if to hint something to the reader. 

“Heheheh.. if we really do take this all the way to the end, and we both die.. we won’t be Uchiha, Jinchuuriki’s or anything.” 

Just Naruto and Sasuke. No burdens or responsibilities and if that means dying, being together with Sasuke in another world/afterlife then he’d be okay with that. Do you understand the severity of that?!! Sasuke himself acknowledges Naruto’s confession as caring asking him why he does so much but still feels like he needs to reject what he stands for. Which is a lot. 

In the Manga during VotE2, Naruto’s Hitai-ate falls off right after Naruto and Sasuke are unable to make the “seal of reconciliation” as kids in a memory. 

In the end they lay side by side both not wearing the Hitai-ate but on the reconciliation seal with a heart-shaped pool of blood between them.  

I could go on and on about this last conversation they have, but the point about this is that it all came full-circle and it makes sense. The Hitai-ate is an important detail and Naruto isn’t wearing it randomly. Kishimoto in the end didn’t just let it fall off his head randomly either because he timed it perfectly with the reconciliation-seal memories. Starting VotE2 with the Hitai-ate and ending on “equal grounds” without it is intentional. Remember Naruto’s words?  

“Heheheh.. if we really do take this all the way to the end, and we both die.. we won’t be Uchiha, Jinchuuriki’s or anything.” 

Naruto there thought he was in heaven when he looked at his side and saw Sasuke.. and he was fine with that. Burdens and responsibilities are tied to Konoha and so is the Hitai-ate. 

Former Hokage like Hashimada and Minato were wearing theirs. 

And if the thing means so much to Naruto, which it does, then why the hell did this happen in Chapter 700?:

I did the work, you come with your own conclusions for this one. Because at first I was really mad and have been for a long time.. but on the other hand.. doesn’t it kind of make sense? Naruto chose to get a prosthetic but refuses to wear his Hitai-ate, something he used to wear proudly. It could be connected to VotE2 like Sasuke refusing to get a prosthetic. It could be less connected to Konoha and more to Sasuke don’t you think? 

Which in turn, makes Chapter 700 all the more sad... 

They didn't die, they carry the weight of the world and ended up not how they wanted to despite the "co-operation" they planned for. Meaning there are still many burdens.

And before anyone else says it: In ‘Boruto’ when Naruto removed Boruto’s Hitai-ate when he cheated during the Chunin Exams it was because “he wasn’t qualified to be a Ninja”. 

Boruto was disqualified and it’s an entirely different situation. 

Naruto not wearing his Hitai-ate as Hokage is deliberate and not a design choice. 

[boinin]

Blue Lock Manga

Scanlation of Chapter 220, "See-Saw Game", just dropped! Chow time!

Thoughts under the cut. There will be two weeks between this release and Chapter 221, which will release in Japan on 7 June I believe.

Previous chapter analyses

I love this goofball. Can't start without saying that.

Anyway, what a chapter. It's very action orientated, and that speaks for itself: holy fuck Kaiser. But as usual, I have brain worms, so I'll share as is routine.

In one chapter, Kaiser collectively reminded the fandom why he's NG11, why he's been manmarked by another NG11 since the beginning of the match, and of the gap between him and the other players. No sweat for the 👑 Also, clear Predator Eyes in action, right? 🐱

It's an excellent play. He scored in spite of being pressed by two defenders, through the legs of another and past the goalkeeper. It got so close to Aiku, man must have feared for his future baby-making capacity 💀

Isagi's good. Kaiser is on his own level.

It's spelt out in the chapter: in the face of opposition from Aiku, Isagi did the rational thing and passed, forsaking a score on his own terms. In much worse circumstances, Kaiser believed in the impossible and scored. This is the fundamental difference in their ego and approach to football. I hope they revisit this theme in the next chapter.

It's going to be titled "Take Me" 👀 I'm dying to know who that refers to, especially if it ends up being shipbait. Ness? Isagi? Hiori? Who knows?

A shout out to our newly minted redhead. He gets clowned on, but I liked seeing him swap to a defensive role. Noodle legs, go! 🍜 It shows how well Ubers, and in particular the former U20s team members, can reforge themselves around new strategies and playstyles.

Also, Aiku is one of those captains with a coaching/affirmative leadership style. He endorses Sendou here, and Niko in the chapter before. Can't help but simp for the guy, even if he's a scumbag in how he treats women. 🐍

I don't have much more to add! Art-wise, it was glorious: Kaiser's goal is rendered vibrantly, from multiple perspectives. As usual, the reader gets a great sense of where everyone is, and their reaction. To the end, Ubers put up a good fight, and as mesmerised as you are by Kaiser, I really enjoy that the artist knows where the other players are in the context of the goal. Great spacial awareness, Nomura-sensei!

My favourite panel outside of His Excellency's is the one where half of Isagi's face is dissolving into puzzle pieces. It's more grotesque than it usually is, maybe showing how pissed off yet amazed he is by Kaiser. I love that Isagi hates him, but doesn't deny his talent. The best sports anime protagonist *pats head*

Random thoughts corner: Yukimiya didn't get much to do, but Lorenzo abandoning his mark is an indicator that he posed a significant threat to the goal. I'm kind of hoping he gets the next BM goal (if BM indeed win). I say him over Kunigami, because Kunigami HAS to get a goal against PXG (else we riot).

Speaking of, Kunigami is specifically mentioned to have vacated the goal area by Isagi. Wonder why? He's a goal poacher, so you'd think he'd be around somewhere... I'm kinda hoping he calls out Isagi for that ball steal last chapter, although that's my bias showing haha. In chp 219, Isagi's rationale for stealing was that Kunigami didn't have the capacity to evade the defenders. But Kunigami's levelled up his dribbling and speed since the Manshine match... I imagine he's nurturing some resentment in that little emo brain of his. Remember, he and Isagi are rivals to unseat Kaiser and become BM's lead striker in the NEL.

...just give us some Kunigami development. PLEASE.

Ness has done absolutely nothing but whinge since chapter 218. Kaiser just proved he doesn't need assists to score... in light of Ness's derailment, is it time for a substitute? manifesting that hiori sub c'mon

Last one: how many Ubers broke ranks this play? Sendou's a forward that ended up tackling Kaiser in the centre back lines. Lorenzo left his mark too. Now, arguably it was his only choice, in light of Yukimiya being unmarked and a valid threat to the goal, while Kaiser remained deep in defender territory, but nevertheless... will we see any remorse from Ubers? Any comment from the GOAT coach himself, Snuffy?

Two weeks until we find out 🥹

Prediction tracker

(alternatively: how wrong can one nerd be week to week?)

Last week, I predicted: Isagi will try to beat Aiku one-on-one, or maybe use Yukimiya as a decoy to do so. This is based on the recurring references to winning one-on-one duels being the key to beating Ubers. Also, Isagi’s got a hang up about passing near the goal, which he’s got to overcome at some point.

What I’m (and mostly everyone else) certain of is, Isagi’s not scoring the next goal. There wasn’t a peep out of Kaiser this chapter… maybe he’ll spring a surprise Kaiser Impact on Ubers while they’re busy fending off Isagi?

Actuality: Isagi passed, Yukimiya gets blocked by Lorenzo. Isagi himself was the decoy, and Kaiser manages to execute a brutal goal.

I got some of it! /copium Kaiser scoring was a foregone conclusion though, so not throwing everything away to go into fortune telling just yet.

Three more chapters for Hiori get subbed in. Otherwise, one of my hats is in danger... 🐑

Chapter 221 will be both teams reckoning with this goal. We'll likely get input from both Ubers and BM, and some sort of change in dynamic--be it a substitution or the coaches opting to play (reeeally doubt this will happen though, unless they get a nudge from Ego). In particular, I'm eager to see how Lorenzo and Hiori process this. Also, someone's going to yell at Isagi. Kunigami or Raichi are my guess.

[transhawks]

hello, boyfriends anon here

dunno if you know, but in the MHUI game some characters when on opposite sides give you a brief taunt dialogue - including hawks and dabi. now, they don't say anything in particular, i just wanted to share because they sound like they're flirting if you use shipping googles, it's funny.

yet another twitter link because i can't send images on anon 🚶 https://twitter.com/dailytoukei/status/1611462214325510149?t=quFRFf0U0dp5-1nBeB4gPQ&s=19

also when they are on the same side they say something like "i'll be in touch/i'll contact you" [dabi] and "why can't we get along?" [hawks] but im not sure because i can no longer find the translation 😥

side note, i think you can find other innocuous comparison between the two on op's account

Okay, by the way, this is how you can tell I was in the hotwings trenches for a long time - I remember when toukei was coined. In fact, I'm pretty sure I was there for that convo in CTABB. Fuck, so much time passed.

Okay done being old! Let's talk about Ultra Impact. Not canon, but boy does it give.

You think this is anything???

Let's talk about the Hawks Infiltration Story in the Ultra Impact Game. Here's a video but I'll show screenshots.

So Hawks goes to visit the PLF during his infiltration. He decides to hang out with Twice who wants his help, and they get lost and find Geten and Dabi arguing. See Dabi wants to skiv off of a meeting with the VIOLET regiment and his co-captain, Geten, is annoyed. So when he sees Twice, Dabi asks for a clone so he can have them go to the meeting. Now, uhh, Twice does this before anyone smart enough speaks up about this being a dumb fucking idea. The clone, of course, doesn't want to do that so they have to fight it. Except Dabi still doesn't want to go to the meeting so:

You see that smirk Keigo has on? He's a smug little shit, and this is why:

Yeah. He told Twice to go and get VIOLET so he could essentially force Dabi to go to the meeting.

LOOK AT HOW SATISFIED HE IS. HIS SMUG SMILE. HE'S SO DAMN PLEASED WITH HIMSELF.

I think he just likes getting one over Dabi, he doesn't have this dynamic with anyone else.

See? He's thrilled. Dabi's pissed off. But don't worry, he gets even!

This is gay, by the way. Like... When this happened at the end, I screamed. I couldn't believe it?

See Hawks got hurt doing something for the PLF, returns, and people are congratulating him. And Dabi, seeing him injured, decides to give him pats on the back. "Pats" - pretty sure he's clapping him really hard to make it hurt.

"This is my way of sayin' good work."

By the way, manga-wise, while Dabi definitely gets completely manic around heroes and has different personalities around them versus villains, he doesn't do this sort of thing with anyone else. He randomly put his arm around Hawks that one time and I've never seen him touch the League so casually outside of a high-five. It's just...Keigo. Because he likes making him uncomfortable. He uses his touch and presence as a threat.

Anyway this was the gayest thing ever.

BONUS:

[longhands-the-second]

Trimax vol. 3 notes

UGH UGH UGH

This cover is so sexy. The colors make my brain go brrr

I read and typed this the night before, oops. I needed something to make me less bored and sad and by god I got it. (<- has so much homework he doesn’t even want to look at it)

1- Based on what i’ve seen of future installments there’s a trend in the particular kind of body horror nightow likes to draw huh

The color of blood? Literally blood? I wasn’t sure if he was actually crying blood in the previous volume or not or if the tears were just darker bc art shit. I think his vibes are like that of a bird of prey. If that’s what we’re getting at here? (At least this version of him is. Stampede is a different beast. Somehow both cuttlefish and like, crow? I’m still yelling about the stampede finale-)

Does having high bullshit tolerance make you less human somehow…? What’s the logic here?

Is wolfwood saying that to him directly? Fucked up if so. He does NOT need more piled on him right now

2- im just flashing back to 98 wolfwood saying he’s never fired a gun before-

Does gray have the same sort of top that Vash had? The almost-tubing on the sides? Or is that just a favorite design thing?

That was pretty much all just fight scene huh.

3- EW EW EW

god, it’s only just now hitting that these are the faces of people he knew. People he cared about. Christ.

:( i want to get off of mr bones wild ride

I’m not like. Gagging or anything i just hate it.

The thing about Vash being quiet angry is that it’s almost got this elegance to it. Like his mind has left his body and he’s just running on his experience and skill now. He’s pissed and he’s dissociating. I feel like the whole room gets icy when he’s like that, even if you’re outside in the suns.

NO OH NO GOD-

FUCK I KNEW THAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN AND I STILL WASNT READY

4- does. Does he know him???

Oh hell.

He set off the sprinklers???

WET HAIR VASH

5- brad is much more of a character than i was expecting.

God i can just hear wolfwood in that moment

Well. Yikes.

HAHAHSJSJJS milly jumpscare

6- what the fuck that piano is so cool

Seeing vash with both arms feels illegal somehow

Or no, does it have some kind of cover on it? Or is that what it looks like below those gloves?

He is SOOOO not okay right now

Woah damn is that what luida looks like here?

Im sure he’s just beyond relieved to see people lived.

Oh wow. Im… proud of him for admitting it? Something like that? God he looks so tired

“Woah vash you’re fucking ancient aren’t you???”

7- he is a solid 70% leg. Good for him.

He looks so normal it’s very strange.

True immortality???? Maybe that’s why knives is baby smooth every time we’ve seen him. (Ick.) (there’s some part of me that wants so badly to like knives on the grounds that I understand where he’s coming from but he’s literally the fucking worst.)

There goes his arm. Again. Why is it always that one?

He genuinely reads like a different person with his hair down. Maybe that’s just me.

Did. Did nightow give mike mignola a copy of trigun. Better yet did he read it? We’re asking the real questions here.

(I made a poll for Vash’s vibes and the results are mostly exactly what I expected? Will post my findings. Manga Vash has the most variety so far.)

((Will I be able to do anything cool for Vash’s birthday? Who knows. Crossing my fingers I can hold it together that long, I am SO done with my summer classes and I wanna go home.))

(((I have had the worst stampede brainrot recently. It’s the purple color scheme and the flowers and the everything at the end. It fuckin EATS. I want to hold him gently.)))

[soul-dwelling]

Do you ever feel like shonen manga just doesnt appeal to you anymore? To me, it seems I have finally outgrown it mostly, even the ones I still like for nostalgia I take in more unique directions in my own stories

I've been trying to get more into certain Shonen Jump chapters each week--and some are a hard sit.

For ones I really like that didn't last as long as I would like, and that did something to modify the genre / demographics (Magu-chan is cute; Candy Flurry was fun, had a girl lead, was dessert-based powers, even if the plot wasn't anything groundbreaking), there are ones that drag.

(And, spoilers as of today, Tuesday, November 22, 2022, for My Hero Academia's chapter coming out on Sunday, because GOOD GOD, THAT CHAPTER SUCKS, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT? Like, sorry, but this manga, its plot, and its "surprises" are such bullshit and exhausting. I'm not even complaining about the mutant plot: I can point out so much that doesn't work, but I can appreciate the intention--but I am also a cishet white man who is so not being critical enough of this manga and its mutant plot given my privilege. Honestly, MHA at least tried to discuss disabilities and has at least acknowledged them [even as I think there are still flaws in the marketing--given what is coming up in the anime, I am curious whether the marketing is going to stick with pre-war Aizawa, Mirko, etc, or actually show them with their disabilities in future marketing / merchandise]. But I can't look at the mutant plot with regard to prejudice and bigotry and not find that plot lacking and flawed--and while I think it is fixable, I don't think I'm the person, in my position, to yet suggest enough fixes. God, this manga needs a hiatus and another review by editors. Sometimes, when we are in a world of fascists, we want to see a fascist lose, not constantly doing "BWA HA HA, you did not anticipate I would do this next!" If I wanted poorly thought out JoJo villain shit, I'd...not want that, because it's poorly thought out JoJo villain shit.)

Some of this I'm sure is with age--not because age brings wisdom, knowledge, or taste (it doesn't, not necessarily), but because you get exhausted seeing the same thing over and over again without something more surprising and creative. (Not to ignore the value of nostalgia letting you enjoy things over and over again to calm yourself--we'll get to that in a moment).

But then again, there are current manga for younger readers that I still get joy from reading, even at my age: Blue Box is engaging; Akane-banashi is educational; I'm not excited for the Undead Unluck anime due to the studio behind it, but I love how this supposed final arc to the manga is paying off so much setup; PPPPPP has surprising art.

Spy x Family...Maybe I'm being hipster about this, but as much as I enjoyed the manga, there does feel like a point where it got less enjoyable (Twilight's back story being introduced so abruptly after that weird choice to have Anya get in trouble due to a new character). The current manga has some surprises (Damian's mother, the current plot). But the anime? This is my fault: if I came in the anime first, it looks great; if I come into the manga first, it doesn't capture the energy and movement as I imagined it would--so, again, my fault. I've fallen off of some episodes. I mean, Nightfall is coming, and she's a lot of fun, and the story arc there has so many gags and so many moments of excellent animation...but if the animation isn't pretty enough (more on that below), why do I want to sit through the same story again?

There are definitely long-running manga that I'm more excited to see payoff and how they end (One Piece [more on that in another reply], Blue Exorcist...just being done with MHA because, again, good God, that twist and this chapter are fucking enraging and are going to piss me off all week...), but at least I'm still interested in how they end (minus MHA...seriously, that twist is pissing me off--I just want that manga to end, right now). And there are some that are shorter manga but now starting to wrap up (Servamp), and given the twists in them (you know, _good_ twists, not whatever the hell MHA just did), I'm excited to see how they wrap up.

But sometimes you want something for a slightly older audience, or something that is more challenging plotwise and characterization-wise. Bungo Stray Dogs is about the only seinen I can stomach reading right now--because it's the closest to shonen that I can think of (motley crew, broad personalities, fighting, high emotional stakes, dynamic character interactions, an entire world and history to explore not just in the main manga but in the anime, in light novels, in films).

I have more to say about nostalgia another time. But notice that nostalgia kick coming in again in anime and manga production since about 2018 up to today.

Sorry to be petty, given my lack of knowledge of series lore, but from what I've tried to watch of it, who was asking for a more faithful Urusei Yatsura anime except people who are nostalgic? It seems more, "People know Inuyasha and Ranma, let's do this now," and I try to watch and think, "No."

Why are people still invested in a Soul Eater reboot--when we know how Chapter 113 and the prequel twist crap are going to turn out when adapted?

"But I want to see pretty animation!" So do I--in a good story. If the only excuse is "to make it more pretty," I'm not here for it. That's like doing a remaster of a video game without fixing the gameplay problems.

That's not to say the role of nostalgia in driving more animation and more manga is all bad, though. I'm happy for people getting more Fruits Basket content--because the entire manga never got adapted, so, yes, go off, make that series again. I'm happy for people who like Trigun and Blood Blockade Battlefront getting new anime: I enjoyed both series, I want a more faithful Trigun anime...even as I am not into the new visual choice (the new Vash design looks so much better in 2D than 3D).

So, it's not that nostalgia is bad--it can be good to give people the story _again_ when they are older and can appreciate it in new ways. I do think there are audiences that get more out of Fruits Basket now than when they saw the first anime.

(And as I suggested above: nostalgia can calm us down--rewatching and re-engaging with something familiar makes it predictable, so you're not panicking over plot twists that seem chaotic and poorly thought, maybe because you aren't giving the story time to let those details unfold and show there was logic to the writing...or maybe because it is chaotic and poorly thought.)

But for every Fruits Basket, there is yet another Dragon Ball that, sure, fine, but I'm not sure is going to give you something new characterization-wise when it's still about power-ups, new designs, and new characters, rather than digging more into the ramifications of what Goku has done (I think Super did a great job actually reflecting on what Goku and others got wrong in the past--and need to stop doing).

So, to actually answer/respond to your question/comments:

It's not that shonen doesn't appeal to me anymore--but as a trend right now, it seems like the same as in any year: good stuff cancelled way too soon, some new exciting stuff that replenishes my enjoyment, and some stuff that really needs to end already.

I don't think I've outgrown it. Shonen keeps being though of as for young boys, when we have seen enough in readership that it is for more than just young people and more than just any one gender.

And yes, I definitely get more enjoyment writing fanfic ideas from these manga, or imagining how you could revise the stories (because, again, MHA needs a rewrite), or to fill in back stories (Mephisto in Blue Exorcist could get three or more other manga series, given how long he has been around).

[vtori73]

Alright so... I HATE IT when people keep using the same damn argument of why western comics don't do as well as manga WHEN WHAT THEY ARE SPECIFICALLY TALKING ABOUT IS MAINSTREAM SUPERHERO COMICS!!!

It REALLY pisses me off because it seems like people seem to think these are the ONLY comics that exist except for manga which is SO ANNOYING AND IGNORANT!!! Please STOP only caring about mainstream media and get outside your fucking bubble and ACTUALLY give western comics a try because SO many are good and dont do reboot shit like superhero comics do.

And yeah those comics don't do as well as manga either and people will inevitably ask why that is (if they aren't ALL the way up manga/anime's ass) and honestly... I have a small theory on that. I don't believe it is THE main or only reason but it does play a part and that is the fetishization of Asian culture. We, the west, have done it forever and I believe some of it continues with how a lot of anime fans only really ever read manga or watch anime but NEVER bother with anything else comic or animation wise because if you like these forms of media you wouldn't limit yourself to just 1 countries yet many of these people do! Or aka, the weebs, and I say this because I've seen how these people are and how they act and such. They put manga/anime into this box high on a pedestal that NOTHING is able to even come close to touching which... is an insane thing to say of a specific depiction of an art form, PLENTY of non-japanese comics are amazing works of storytelling and art and there is PLENTY of stinkers within manga/anime.

I think one factor also is that these people can project onto it much easier than they can other stuff. By this I SPECIFICALLY mean the political ideas, opinions, issues etc can be easier for outsider audiences to ignore/not notice because it isn't apparent to them on a simple watch through because not everything can or is translated perfectly and that sometimes things can't always be translated because some things would need much more context that just isn't going to be depicted or explained within a single volume or episode of an anime or manga for various reasons but the main one probably being it just impractical and would require a lot more resources and take away from people enjoyment (not to mention even if it were a lot of people show they lack analytical skills with things that are from their same language or even culture).

Sometimes things are explained but usually with things that are easy to do with a few sentences. But sometimes even when ideas and opinions of a manga/anime has are much more obvious these types of people will tend to ignore them and claim that this stuff is all just apolitical and has no deeper meaning (unless it's sharing opinions they hold). Even progressive people run into this problem BUT not exactly in the same way as the above. For people who are progressive I see more so DENIAL of anime/manga they like exhibiting x,y,z and that it can't be because of x,y,z (one example being people will deny a specific popular anime has colorism or anti black issues).

Again, I don't believe it is the FULL picture of why anime/manga is growing in the west BUT I do very much wish some people would be honest and admit that some of the reasons why this stuff has taken off so much is possibly/probably because of fetishization of Japanese people and their culture (similar effect with kpop).

As for other reasons... I'm going to make a few guesses and say the specific way in which capitalism works for these diff countries mixed with the above issues, mixed with fandom AND the fact that manga/anime actually caters to various ages. I can't explain more than that because these are just my guesses but what I can say (briefly) is that unlike other countries Japan does seem to put some value into animation (mainly because it makes them extreme profit) and manga unlike other countries. Most marketing for cartoons is normally limited to ads and for comics is basically almost nonexistent. Our culture and our sort of capitalism doesn't value animation like it does in Japan. It is hard for me to get into because I'm not too knowledgeable on this stuff and it's getting late but basically the US (for example) doesn't see value in animation because it costs a lot more to make versus using real life people and actors and etc.

They don't want to spend a lot of money on something they don't have to and here, our culture LOVES actors for their acting but ESPECIALLY their looks and so that leaves animation a bit in the dust because people WANT to see big name actors. That doesn't stop these corporations from stapling on these big name actors in hopes to entice everyday people but ends up failing because these actors don't know that voice acting has it own set of skills same with these people who are put in charge of animation projects & crews (recent & big example: ATSV). Our culture puts more value and praise onto shows and movies that are live action, it's also where corporations are more easily able to exploit people meaning more profit for them (smaller actors, behind the scene crew members, etc). Hell, that's why Disney moved away from 2d animation because 2d animators are unionized so aren't as easy to exploit.

Anyway yeah... I'm tired and can't really think of anything else to add so, bye! Lol.

[pastxlscorp]

Bully! Mitsuya Fanfic (pt.3)

Chapter III: Abidance

✿ Word Count: 3.2k

✿ Pairing: Takashi Mitsuya x reader

✿ Topics covered: (Eventual) Enemies to lovers trope, Hakkai POV, Y/N POV, Mitsuya POV, tsundere-Mitsuya, bully! Mitsuya, fem. reader, minor manga spoilers, slight angst

Awakening from his slumber, he found that the woman was no longer taking up space in his bed. He heaved a sigh of relief, only to, unfortunately, see a message from an unknown number on his phone saying “Text me when you’re free ;)” Ignoring the text, he found he had a message from Hakkai and remembered that he had abandoned him to sleep with that damn woman. However, Hakkai didn’t confront him about it, but instead acted as if nothing happened.

🗨️ Hakkai: Is the party still on for today? (Sent 2:00am)

🗨️ Mitsuya: Yeah, sorry about yesterday. I wasn’t feeling my best, I should have let you know. (Sent 10:00am)

🗨️ Hakkai: No hard feelings. Ya feeling better now Taka-chan? (Sent 10:01am)

🗨️ Mitsuya: Not really, but it’ll pass. What’d you end up doing yesterday after I left? (Sent 10:02am)

Picking up on the subtle curiosity of Mitsuya’s text, it became clear to Hakkai that he did see him with you. As much as he admired Mitsuya, the anger building inside of him got the best of him. Therefore, in response, he chose a reply that he knew would get Mitsuya boiling.

🗨️ Hakkai: Caught Y/N outside of your class, had a wonderful lunch with her! She’s so nice, Taka-chan! Why are ya so mean to her? (Sent 10:04am)

Vigorous fingers typed in reply.

🗨️ Mitsuya: Why the fuck were you hanging around that slut? She’s just gonna try and get in your pants. What did she say to you? (Sent 10:04am)

🗨️ Mitsuya: Hakkai? Hello? (Sent 10:05am)

🗨️ Hakkai: Sorry Taka-chan, I’m back. She didn’t say nuthin bad, actually she was so sweet. She saw I was alone and we both had some tea together back at her place. Ended up sleeping over, I’m still here actually! (Sent 10:05am)

🗨️ Mitsuya: BACK AT HER PLACE? I told you, she’s just trying to get in your pants and you let her win! I can’t believe you let a whore like her win you over, Hakkai! Where the fuck is your brain? She probably was enjoying every minute of your sorry ass. (Sent 10:05am)

🗨️ Hakkai: Who said we slept together, Taka? (Sent 10:05am)

Silence enveloped the room.

🗨️ Mitsuya: Sorry… I just assumed that’s what you meant by sleeping over. (Sent 10:07am)

🗨️ Hakkai: Awh, it’s okie Taka, I know you were only looking out for me. (Sent 10:07am)

Absolutely, looking out for Hakkai. That’s what this was, that’s what he was doing. There couldn’t have been any other reason why he was so upset at the thought of you sleeping together. He was just being a good friend.

-----

┃ “Y/N!” the hoarse voice spoke to you, feeling the smooth cloth of his jacket pressed against your face as you bumped into him.

You looked up only to recognize Hakkai, kind thoughts flooding your mind, diminishing your anger stemming from your interaction with Mitsuya moments before. He grinned at you giddily, eyes relaxing any sort of tension left in your body. You slowly began to forget why you were mad and allowed yourself to indulge in his presence.

┃ “Good afternoon Hakkai! Waiting for Mitsuya?”

┃ “Mhm, you takin’ Designer 101 too, right?”

┃ “Yup! How come you aren’t taking it? You’re very fashionable, y’know?”

┃ “You’re too kind,” He giggled, his grin beginning to somehow grow wider on his cheeks as he raised his hand to pat your head.

┃ “I’m serious! Why don’t you join the class? It’s not too late, the second semester is about to start!” You eagerly pushed on, rejoicing in the positive energy he emitted.

┃ “ ‘m not really into making clothes, just showing them off...” He let out a hefty chuckle before getting cut off by you.

┃ “You don’t have to be good at making them! Some students choose to learn how to stylize different clothing and patterns, it’s all about the latest trends.”

┃ “Really?” He went silent for a few moments, smile morphing into a straight line as he contemplated your words carefully. Not to fret, as his smile quickly returned as he said: “Well then, might have to ask Taka-chan to help me sign up!”

You both shared a laugh and began to discuss the enrollment process in order for Hakkai to join the class-- if he were to drop another class, what class would he drop, or would he simply add it to his current schedule? While your conversation was nothing more than an innocent developing friendship, unbeknownst to you, Mitsuya had witnessed it all and declared it once more another betrayal. You were such a slut, flirting with anyone and everyone. Irrationality began to consume him-- instead of seeing your interaction with Hakkai for what it truly was, a genuine developing friendship, his brain refused to comprehend your behavior with other men. He never got to the level of comfortability you had with Takemichi, and he had lost the sense of ease you had with him to Hakkai and god, god did it piss him off. Unfortunately for that kohai, she was just another doll for him to play with just until he could get your attention again. Even a single drop of your attention, your attachment, it was enough to drive him for weeks just to be able to be near you again. Your kind words squeezing his heart tighter and tighter the more you spoke, your laughter ringing in his ears at a corny joke he told you during club meetings, it enveloped him into infatuation which later developed into a larger feeling. Such a large feeling over the progressing months that when he began bullying you, when your lack of presence and absences during meetings began to grow, an emptiness began to root in his heart, waiting for you to touch it once more and let it grow.

He could go on and on listing things about you-- the way he loved your sense of fashion, the way he loved your sense of humor, your compassion to helping others, your intellect that allowed you to read everyone like a book, everyone except him. Why couldn’t you see that he didn’t hate you? Oh, but that jealousy, the first time he’d admit that it was jealousy, it gripped him so tightly around his neck that it felt suffocating. Every shove, every clasp of your hand, your wrist, your chain, your chain, it made his heart shutter seeing that dead watery look in your eye, but your attention was like a drug that he just had to keep getting more of. It would never be enough to satisfy him, not until he could call you his and you would call him yours. He pitied using them, he really did, but he needed someone to satiate his needs. He was a womanizer, after all-- if one left he would just charm another into his bed. They all had high respect for Mitsuya, his intellect, his charm, his skill, and his kindness. Yet no matter how hard he tried, all those women, they were never you and they could never try and be you. He found that he no longer sought sex for his own pleasure anymore, but for your own, pretending so desperately that the one trembling out of pleasure beneath him was you. Imagining, no, fantasizing that he was making you happy and leaving you satisfied.

Upon seeing your interaction, he quickly left with his kohai for their own exchange, leaving Hakkai unfortunately confused as he waved you goodbye, patiently waiting for his friend to meet him. You were still on campus because you had taken additional extracurricular activities to build up your transcript to make up for your absences in Mitsuya’s Home-economics club. At first, you attempted to make it through the club meetings but he made every single one as unbearable as possible. The second semester, could it come any sooner? Hakkai, too focused on organizing his schedule with you previously, had failed to notice Mitsuya leaving with a woman. He waited, he waited, and he waited, coming to a good hour until he realized Mitsuya wouldn’t have left him waiting for this long without a heads up. He looked at his phone, expecting some sort of contact-- a phone call, a message, anything. All that awaited him was several unread messages from group chats and friends, none of them from Taka-chan. He sighed, placing his phone away just as he noticed your presence once more, planting a fake smile on his face to disguise his obvious disappointment. Unfortunately for him, his smile only instantly alerted you something was wrong.

┃ “Hakkai? Why are you still here, weren’t you supposed to be meeting Mitsuya?”

┃ His phony smile stood in place as tears began to fill his eyes. He croaked: “T-taka-chan left me. Do you think he’s mad at me for sumthin’, Y/N? I don’t ‘member doin’ anything.”

You instantly rushed over to comfort him, witnessing what appeared to be an intimidating giant become undone into a fragile teddy bear at the thought he had upset his best friend. Your disdain only kept growing for Mitsuya, first it was his lack of maturity during class, and now he had abandoned his best friend for whatever reason it was. Hakkai was a sweetheart, you couldn’t imagine what he may have done to upset someone. Therefore, you came to the conclusion Mitsuya had thrown a tantrum of sorts and took it out on him. It irked you, however, Mitsuya always remained respectful and loving to his best friend in addition to Yasuda-san, so you couldn’t help but raise your brow wondering what got him so upset for him to entirely ditch his friend. Pushing those thoughts aside, you placed all of your focus on bringing a smile back to Hakkai’s face, gently rubbing his back and placing your forehead against his temple as he crouched over in defeat. You desperately attempted to think of anything to cheer him up.

┃ “Ah, how about some tea?”

┃ “...Tea?”

┃ “Listen, I have absolutely no idea what you like and I want to calm you down so-”

┃ “Tea sounds good.” He said softly, a small smile returning to his face.

You escorted Hakkai comfortably back to your dorm, located on the east wing of the campus. Women and men could go to each other’s dorms, they just had gender-separated wings because it was just easier to contain the chaos if everyone was allowed to sleep with their girlfriend or boyfriend. The boys had their dormitory on the west side, thus you noticeably got some glances as you strolled with Hakkai. Mitsuya was always surrounded by Hakkai and Yasuda-san, so obviously most of your classmates were shocked to see you hanging out with his right-hand man. Were you both sleeping together? Ooh what a scandal (not). Although you didn’t mind the glanes too much, Hakkai on the other hand made sure to shoot down them all with a nasty side glare, quickly causing them to turn their cheek. It was a cute sight after all, seeing how you subconsciously had reached for his hand and began to rub gentle circles on it in order to ease him, which succeeded in doing so. Once you arrived at your dorm, you opened the door and gave him a show of jazz hands as you toured him around your dorm. Your dorm wasn’t the largest compared to his and Mitsuya’s dorm, which made him realize the privilege of not having a financially aided dorm. Your queen bed comfortably rested on the right side of the room, covered with a curtain and fairy lights on the wall behind it. Your desk was not too far away, maybe a good 15 feet across your bed, not too messy but not too neat. It was obvious you were working on something, as there were papers still out and scattered but the rest of the desk had the pens, pencils, and stapled papers sorted in a clean pile. Your pinboard was half-covered with your calendar, cluttered with small sticker reminders while the other half was your schedule, nicely decorated with washi tape sticking it to the board. Next to your bed was a wooden closet and you led him into the cramped kitchen that made him gasp, seeing how you make such a tight space so comfortable and presentable. You had a small glass coffee table in the middle, a small fridge cramped in the kitchen underneath a cupboard and next to a cabinet holding the sink on top. Next to that was a stove with a microwave on top, both color-coordinated black, contrasting the white of the room. You guided him over to the table and motioned for him to sit and he obediently did. Walking over to the countertop holding an old-school kettle, you used it to strain and brew the tea. Gleefully, you dropped a few ice cubes in his glass and carefully poured his tea and then your own, sitting across from him at the table. He took a sip of the tea you had placed in front of him, smiling not at the delightful taste but the awaiting face you had fixated, putting your hands under your chin waiting for a response.

┃ “This tea is delightful, thank you Y/N.” He said warmly and you basked in his praise.

┃ “Ah, sorry if I made you uncomfortable with the staring. I don’t… really get visitors. It’s nice to have someone over.” You replied, your face beginning to glow a light pink as your lips formed into a slight frown, embarrassed to admit how you had no friends.

┃ “Mm, I should be the one thankin’ you,” The softness in his voice made your crouched posture fix itself as you looked up to him. “You made me sum tea, opened me to your home, all ‘cuz I was sad and overthinkin’. You ain’t hafta do that, but you did anyway. I appreciate ya!” His iconic grin was now back where it belonged as his eyes glazed over you in pure adoration. You smiled in return, both returning to take a sip of your tea.

Hours passed and he was still at your house, you both gossiping and talking like old friends. You discussed your classmates, praising them and disapproving of the behavior of others. He began to confide in you about what he witnessed during his time as the second-division’s vice captain. You eagerly listened to him as he described to you his tales with his brother and his amazing sister Yuzuha, anything and everything was up for debate. At least, almost everything. Despite being the main reason he was so upset, you and Hakkai had not discussed Mitsuya’s treatment of you. He was mentioned in a few gang stories, but it seemed as if Hakkai was opting out of speaking about him out of respect for you. However, his head began to slump, implying he was tired. You grabbed your phone, which had been placed upside down on the coffee table, and looked at the time and saw it was well past midnight. You leaned over to rub Hakkai’s shoulder and you gasped when his head turned back upright, alert as if he just remembered something. Drunk on drowsiness, he began to speak:

┃ “Mmh, y’know Mitsuya used to talk about you a lot. Always went on about this pretty girl who was awfully sweet, really smart…” He trailed off, fighting off the sleep that clung desperately to his eyelids. “He never gave me a name but after club meetings when I woulds wait for him, he would tell me about his conversations. I always saw him looking at ya. What did ya do to make him so pissed off?” Although he had no malicious-intent in his questioning, it was enough to cause goosebumps all over your body.

┃ “I didn’t do anything, ‘kai. Really, nothing different happened that day. All of the sudden, the next day during his club he humiliated me in front of everyone and then made me stay after hours to yell at me even more.” You went silent for a moment, before your curiosity got the best of you and you questioned: “He used to talk about me? Are you sure?”

┃ Ignoring your question, he replied to your initial response. “You didn’t do anythin’ different at all that day?”

┃ You contemplated his question carefully, before realizing the one event that was an outlier to the rest. “I was waiting for my friend outside campus gates that day. He offered to wait with me but I insisted he didn’t, mainly because my friend had said Mitsuya wasn’t very fond of him so it was better if he didn’t see him.”

┃ “Who’s the friend?”

┃ “Hanagaki Takemichi.”

┃ The tired man in front of you took a full minute to process your sentence before bursting out and crying of laughter a few moments later. You looked at him, pure confusion coating your body as he continued to sob. Finally, after a few minutes, he wiped his eyes and sat back up, gleaming at you. “Well that’s your problem, Mitsuya fucking hates Takemichy. Probably spied on ya because he was worried, saw Takemichy, and boom-- he got jealous AHAHA!” He went back to crying of laughter, leaving you a few moments to yourself to process his words.

It was embarrassing to admit how Hakkai was half-asleep in front of you and somehow managed to put together your puzzle of confusion together months after said incident had happened, in under 20 minutes. However, you couldn’t find yourself disagreeing with his theory. Suddenly, Hakkai stopped laughing and looked up at you, all serious.

┃ “Now wait… that’s not funny! He’s been pushing ya around all the time just cuz he’s jealous of you being with other guys?! That’s fucked up! ‘M gonna beat his ass, Y/N! Just for you!”

You now began laughing, taking Hakkai’s hand in yours over the glass countertop and tapping it gently.

┃ “That won’t be necessary, ‘kai. How about we come up with a solution?”

┃ “My solution is beating his a-”

┃ “A non-physical solution.”

┃ He went silent for a few moments, looking away from you to the window to think. You could tell he thought of something when a smirk began to plaster itself on his face. “How about we test our theory?”

┃ “Elaborate.”

┃ “If that pain in my ass is done with whatever it is he’s doing, there was supposta be a party tomorrow. Not at our dorm, but our friend’s. You might have heard of him, Manjiro Sano?”

You responded with silence.

┃ “Mikey. The Invincible Mikey.”

┃ “Not ringing any bells.”

┃ “Brother of Emma Sano. Brother of Izana.”

┃ “Emma Sano is so nice!”

┃ “Captain of the Tokyo Manji Gang, Y/N.”

┃ “Oh.”

┃ “Point is, he’s having a party tomorrow. We could get some revenge, I bring you as my date~”

┃ “Won’t that make him angri-

┃ “That’s what revenge is.”

┃ “Why don’t I just talk with him?”

┃ “Has he tried talking to you?”

┃ “...no.”

┃ “I rest my case.”

Silence enveloped the room once more. It wasn’t an awkward silence, no, it was quite a comfortable silence actually as he patiently awaited your response and allowed you to process and think.

┃ “When is the party exactly?”

✿ tags: @haiq-trash @blackmysticalsimp @the2ndl @bren-heron @delicatejudgecopcowboy @skiwalkers

✿ a.n. // First of all, thank you so much for 102 followers <3 I appreciate the support being given to me! I would like to address one thing, however, please don't rush me to write! I've gotten very kind messages of support but others have been demanding more of me and it's important to remember that I have classes, chores, a social life, and many other things happening. I love writing but rushing me makes it unenjoyable and it won't be my best work. My goal for this ongoing fanfic is to post weekly. Just a little ted-talk there, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter though! I had such a fun time writing it :)

[darkdevasofdestruction]

A Thousand Year Love ~ Ryomen Sukuna x Kitsune!Reader

Okay, I wrote the Reader's name as "Kitsune", but that's mostly because I envisioned a nine tailed fox without an actual name, that everyone would just call her "Fox" as if she wasn't anyone worth naming, despite her rank.

This is a little fic which explored Sukuna's supposed backstory, 1000 years prior to he action of Jujutsu Kaisen - Idk if it's accurate, I didn't yet read the manga, I still have 6 more episodes from the anime, but I had this idea and I couldn't stop myself from writing about it.

Most of it builds up the bond that very slowly grows between Sukuna and Kitsune, then snaps during a scene somewhere around episode 4 of the anime, when Sukuna takes over Yuji's body, and Yuji can't switch for a while, but with enough altercations that it's not exactly the same as in the said episode.

Hope you enjoy this <3

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"What are we doing here...?" Kitsune asked her parents in a voice that was barely audible as she looked left and right at the huge estate's gardens.

Estate? Rather said, palace, since this place was grandiose - Most likely, even more so than the Emperor's own Palace, the girl thought to herself. Everywhere she looked, cherry, plum and pear trees were in blossom, even though it wasn't their time. Statues and little shrines, along with various small pools with flowers, lanterns and lotuses were scattered as much as her vision would allow her to see. Looking up at the estate, she realised just how small she was in comparison to the intimidating and imposing energies radiating all over the place.

"You are going to meet someone very important, dear." her mother spoke, yet her voice wasn't as gentle as usual, rather, it sounded stiff, on the edge...Almost afraid, maybe? It was foreign for young Kitsune, as she has been confined in her little palace her whole life under the pretext of keeping her safe. But it did exactly the opposite, she believed, considering she itched to explore and go on adventures with each second passing. "Who is it?" she asked as soon as they stepped inside the palace...But it was so dark, save for the red, malicious light from the lanterns and candles lit in just the perfect places so it would guide them to the room they had to go to. "...You will find out soon." her father snapped at her, and she could only frown, her fluffy ears flicking as her tails wrapped protectively around herself. She knew something was wrong, and she had half a mind to believe she was brought there as a sacrifice for some War Deity that would allegedly save them from this era of war...Or something along the lines.

After a longer walk than expected, they found themselves in front of two large, red doors, and without any kind of reticence, Kitsune effortlessly slammed the doors open and saw a dimly lit room with a few stairs and a throne where a man with short, kinda spiky pink hair, garbed in a loose, white kimono was smugly sprawled over that royally embellished chair, while tons of gorgeous women dressed in the most luxurious kimonos, their hair done up with intricate headpieces and flowers that would put any living being to shame...

But what is this about? Kitsune was more confused than anything, and she could only step inside the room, slowly and carefully, before turning to look at her parents, who had a pitiful look in their eyes.

"What is going on?" Kitsune demanded an answer, her voice agitated, her body ready to go into a fight or flight mode, her eyes darting rapidly between her parents and the man on the throne whose name she wasn't interested in finding out. "Well, darling...You see...You had to find you a husband. You are old enough to be married, and you can't stay with us forever. You need to have a family and children. You are the princess of the Fox clan, there is nobody more beautiful than you -..." her mother tried to reason, but the young girl wasn't stupid. She understood what was going on. "No. No. If you want to speak - Then speak the truth. Don't lie to me. This guy is strong, isn't he? Some kind of demonic thing that everyone is afraid off. You are giving me away to this guy...To be his...Thousandth concubine in his harem or something, just because you're too weak to take care of our kin. That's the truth, isn't it? Go on, admit it. Stop trying to sugar coat the situation." her nine tails opened from around her in a large, undulating fan, making her aggression obvious, as fire began to immolate the tips of her fur. "SHUT UP, IMPERTINENT, UNRULY CHILD!" her mother slapped her face, not wanting their benefactor to hear his future concubine speaking so foul of him. "You are a woman, and the princess, nonetheless, and your role is to continue our kin and obey your family and husband. Do not speak unless you are allowed to!" but before her mother could grab her face, Kitsune's tail slapped her hand away, and she stepped back. "I am nobody's toy. I will not obey anyone's orders. Not yours, and not his. I will not be just another concubine for some disgusting, good for nothing lecher with no redeeming quality." the girl snarled at them, ready to make her escape out of there, if needed. "If your sister was alive, she would have sacrificed herself for the greater good of this family! You are nothing more than a selfish brat!" it was her father's time to accuse her, which made her ears perk up, while her tails completely deflated. "Yes, of course, how could I forget. It was me who should have died, not my perfect elder sister. Sorry, but you should curse the Gods, not me for that. But, since it seems that my life is meaningless to you, then I will make you a favour! I will end it myself! I'm sure you'll be happy without me, won't you? Ahh...But how will you save our war-ridden? Too bad I won't be alive to witness your demise, huh?" with a dark chuckle, Kitsune's hand went inside her kimono, taking the small kodachi sword and unsheathing it, hearing only the gasps and shrieks of fright from the harem girls. Kitsune could only guess that these girls were all high-born and unfamiliar to the horrible things happening outside of these walls. "What the hell are you doing, you idiotic child?! Cease this madness at once!" her mother shrieked at her, lounging towards her, trying to stop herself from impaling that blade through her body, and yet...

The second the girl launched her hand down to stab herself...She got stopped. The whole place became instantly silent, save for the sound of a blade bouncing down as it fell on the wooden floor. "Enough." a dark, annoyed voice resounded through the place as Kitsune's wrists were grasped by the man's...Front hands? While her body was immobilized in an embrace by his other two arms. "I was promised a beautiful princess as a concubine, and you failed to do as you promised. Leave, before I get bored and kill you." he threatened the two adult fox people who scurried away in a hurry, leaving behind their only daughter without a second thought. "You, however...Will remain here." he chuckled in her ear, but Kitsune wasn't one to be messed with. Her answer came in the form of lighting up her tails on fire an wrapping them around the man, who hissed and unhanded her, allowing her enough time to go into a corner and get in a fleeing stance. "Why did you stop me? I have no intention of being one of your whores. You should have let me end it right there." she scoffed at the man, who dismissed the bottom pair of arms and laughed. It was almost a psychopathic laugh, she thought, and it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up - Unsure if it was from fright or disgust. "You amuse me, little vixen. Very much, you amuse me. Having a little fox wag her tails around this place, all fired up, would give some sense of fun, wouldn't you say?" his voice was grating her, and she only wanted to sock him in the jaw. "Keep on dreaming. I'm not your toy, and I'm not here for anyone's entertainment. You have enough girls in this place to amuse you. I'll be going now, and even if you chain me, you can't stop me from achieving my freedom." Kitsune growled at him, slamming open the sliding door that would lead into the balcony, from where she could jump the hell away from there. "You proved you value your life even less than your parents do, so chaining you would do nothing. I have never seen a woman as fiery as you. All the ones I have are the same. Meek, soft...Afraid. Boring. They all like the same things, and hate the same things." he groaned pitifully, evidently bored out of his mind. "They hate you, don't they? You want women, but you don't bother treating them right. Can you get even more typically terrible? Pitiful and disgusting, that's what you are. You just want to break people for your entertainment. You are nothing more than a selfish megalomaniac. No wonder you are in need of entertaining, you are thoroughly boring." Kitsune's degrading words, however, didn't seem to phase the man at all - In fact - It made him laugh. Never, in this life, has he heard anything this degrading before - Everyone tried their best to appeal to his benevolent and merciful side - To at least spare their lives. He was stronger than anyone alive, so nobody dared speak up in front of him. It was obvious she had no idea who he was - All the better - He thought. "Ryomen Sukuna, missy, but you can call me your Emperor." that confident laugh was enough to drive Kitsune up the wall with anger as she stomped to his side and actually punched his jaw. It was annoying - The height difference - As he towered over her entirely, but at least she managed to reach where needed, little miss firecracker. "Piss off." the fox girl growled in anger at him...And yet...He only...Laughed. And he cupped her face, getting his own so close to hers that they could feel each other's breaths. "You. Are. Mine." his grin was so wide and sociopathic that he might as well have had his face split in two. "I will never be yours. I will never be anyone's. I'm not an object. I will not obey anyone. The second you leave me out of your sight, I will flee, and you will never see me again. And if I can't, I will find a way to kill myself. I have nothing to live for, but everything to die for." Kitsune bared her elongated canines at him, and gosh, was she enticing. "And if I get rid of the harem?" he asked, not bothering with everything she talked before. "You'll be a heartless jerk who'll destroy

the lives of so many women." she refuted just as quickly. "And if I don't fuck anyone but you?" he threw that, wanting to fluster her, but the fire in her eyes only ignited even higher. "As usual, you can only think with the wrong head, can't you? There's nothing to you but your stupid little prick. How pathetic. And you call yourself a man. Go die in the war or something." she grabbed him by the loose neck line of his kimono, only to hear him laughing condescendingly. "But darling, that just couldn't possibly happen. I am simply too strong to get killed. Everybody fears my power, why else do you think your parents were so willing to give you away? They were weak, just like you said, and every weakling needs the help of Ryomen Sukuna, Japan's own God of War." this statement made the girl's gorgeous eyes widen in shock...Only to start laughing, almost hysterically. "Oh, bow down to the self proclaimed God of War! Can you believe that! Your majesty, tone down your arrogance, it's gonna get yourself killed! I knew it, you're absolutely useless! All you can do is bark, no bite, little puppy! The only thing intimidating about you is your height, other than that, you are just a generic man who thinks he's all to powerful. How ridiculous." the fox girl couldn't stop her degrading laughing, which confused the man for a while, only to smirk and pick her up bridal style, carrying her out of that room, not letting her get out of his grasp, no matter how much she tried to wiggle or burn him. "I won't let you go until you acknowledge my infinite strength, cute, little fox. But don't think that just because I favour you, I will let you get away with all the shit you called me." his voice sounded darker, more ominously, but it didn't seem to intimidate the girl. "Not in a million years. Not even in your sweetest dreams. You're pathetic and I'll never acknowledge you as anything else but a disgusting, lecherous pig!" she yelled at his face, to which he responded by letting her roughly fall on a soft futon, then crouching by her side and gripping her face just as her mother did before. "Say that again when you'll end up screaming my name as if your life depends on it." he laughed at her before leaving her new room, which she won't leave for a while.

This annoying girl, Sukuna was intrigued by her, but at the same time, he was very tempted into strangling her or snapping her neck - Despite all that fire she lets out, he was curious if she'd end up groveling in self-pity, begging him for mercy, going back on her previous misguided and foolish courage. Wasn't it bad enough that she had no idea who HE was? He also had to endure such disrespect - And even worse - Enjoy it? That little fox bitch was ready to commit seppuku in front of everyone just to prove a point, what the hell else could be more entertaining? All the women he's had were given away by their families as tributes, and none said a word. He was a jerk to them, he fucked them, he mistreated them - Sukuna didn't give a fuck about any woman, man, child, animal...Or any living being in the world, except for himself. All were beneath him - Unworthy, weak, frail -...

And yet, they still lie to his face, trembling as they say all the fake, sweet nothings - "I love you, My Lord" the women would say, their voice shaky, jumping in fright as he'd touch them. He was a rough man, he never knew gentleness, nor mercy, no love - Through all the words spewed by the firey woman, the part where she declared he had no idea how to treat women properly - Yes, it was true, but did he care? Of course not.

Humans were all puppets with whom he could play as much as he wanted - All instruments for his entertaining in this terribly boring world, he would manipulate everyone like dolls on his strings, and when they've exhausted their means of entertaining him, the string will be cut, and the puppets will fall in an abyss of infernal fire.

For the first two weeks, Sukuna and Kitsune were literally acting like a cat chasing a mouse - And each time, the cat would surprise the mouse just as she was about to survive - He was giving her hope of success, only to pick her up by one of her many tails, or embrace her from behind, pick her up, trip her, show up from behind a tree, play with her hair as he came up from a tree behind her, and sometimes, even going as far as to mock her by pointing her the way out of the place.

But very soon, she gave up, and decided to starve herself to death by not leaving her assigned room, ignoring him entirely whenever she'd get visited by him - But that ended in the worst way possible - With her fainting and unable to wake up, and Sukuna freaking out because he didn't want his little toy to die before she got boring.

He laid next to her on the futon, holding her in his eyes, brushing her hair out of her face, playing with her vivid red hair - She truly looked like a fox in Sukuna's eyes, and he almost felt his heart warm up as he felt up the soft fur on her tails, waiting for his cursed energy to heal her up. After some time, he noticed the little red ball of fur getting smaller and smaller as she cuddled into his chest, resembling a defenseless kit searching for warmth, love and safety from its mother. She was so much smaller than him - So frail, so thin, so soft...So cute? - What was it that he was feeling? Calmness? Protectiveness?

He was furious at her for neglecting her health just so she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of toying with her - But that was also endearing, in its own, messed up way? She would go to such dramatic extremes to prove him wrong...It seemed that no matter what she did, it would still make him enjoy her company.

Whenever he'd fuck one of his harem girls, he wouldn't stay over, not even for a kiss - Hell, he didn't even know most of their names - Why should he? They were all the same to him - But he felt such a strong sense of protectiveness over he - He didn't want to strangle her to death anymore - Maybe just a bit of fun, some teasing, some startling - His hand around her supple neck as she looks up at him with her sparkling eyes, calling out his name - Sukuna, Sukuna - Pleading softly, but desperately to him for her sweet release - Sukuna, Sukuna - And he will be merciful, for once, and give her what she wants.

Just as he was caught in his own, sick fantasy, he felt the girl move and grumble, turning on her back, her small hands flying to rub her eyes awake - And he rolled over her, a playful, teasing smirk on his face as he waited for her to realise the position they were in - And yet, she was still out of it, for her eyes were half-lidded and gleaming, she was still weak from her lack of self-care, and she could only look up at him, dazed..."Sukuna...?" she mumbled in a whispery tone - What is she doing to him?! How dare she entice him so much? He wasn't supposed to be attracted to her in any way, so why...?!

"Relax, sweet-cheeks. I'm here." he spoke in a low voice, not wanting to alert her...Wait, what - "...Thanks." muttering that, she let out a soft sigh as she closed her eyes again, the corners of her mouth slightly turned upright as she allowed herself to fall back asleep and rest, not caring too much that she felt a slight pressure on both of her hands, in the form of the demon man pressing his own hands to hers, intertwining their fingers together as he towered over her, watching her chest rise and fall rhythmically as she breathed, her kissable, pink lips just a tiny bit parted. He couldn't stop himself - She was too irresistible, and he was much too insatiable - And he leaned down, pressing his own lips over hers - Gently - Very gently in fact, almost as if afraid of breaking a porcelain doll, as if afraid to crush a snowdrop he just picked from a glade, one just just barely managed to get out from under the remaining, melting snow of early spring. "You'll be the death of me, cutie." he found himself saying as he licked his lips, taking in the sweetness of the kiss.

Since then on, despite not being exactly friendly with the man, the fox girl didn't hate him that much anymore. It even got well enough for them to eat in the same room, or play shogi - The girl beating him at it more often than not, which left mixed feelings in his heart - And then he showed her the musical instruments that the concubines would sometimes use whenever he'd want a banquet and more sinful indulgences. He didn't ask her to play for him, though. He realised that the more he tried to push the girl, the less likely she'll actually do anything he wants.

Even more, the more time they spent together, the more his concubines would get neglected - So much that he was completely drawn to this fox girl and all the other women were completely wiped from his head. - And he started gifting her a bunch of beautiful kimonos, only to find them in front of his room's door, rejected. She didn't want anything from him, nor did she want his favour, so she continued wearing her simple clothes.

Until...

Until one night - It was a special night, really - For the moon was full, and big, and gleaming with such a beautiful silver light that neither of them saw in the many years they've been alive. And Kitsune dressed in one of her festival yukatas and went to the lotus pond, surrounded by a few wisteria trees, as the mirror of the water reflected the celestial orb like sparkling zircons. The fox gingerly jumped in the middle of the sheen, walking on it like a spirit, only her feminine silhouette being seen, as her long hair was gently blown by the warm spring wind and her tails were dancing around her in perfect sync. As her feet moved to the sound of the melody she played on a vertical flute she was given by the owner of the place, Sukuna found himself unable to move from his place on the palace balcony, his sight fixated on the woman's form as she alternated playing the instrument and dancing with ribbon-fans.

Her moves were fluid and mystifying like those of a priestess leading a will'o'wisp to rest into kakuriyo, the land of the dead - what was he supposed to do now? He was confused and mesmerised. He's seen his fair share of beautiful women playing instruments and dancing for him - Hundreds of them, in fact - But none could match the effect this nine tailed fox girl had on him.

This continued days on end, but he never admitted to her that he was stalking her every night, nor that he was completely enchanted and under her spell, at the point of no return.

"I'm going to war tomorrow." he told her one evening as he poured himself some sake. "...Good for you. Finally, more entertaining for the most powerful man on Earth...Or something. Bring me a souvenir when you return, I guess." the girl merely shrugged her shoulders as she took the tea pot and poured herself some tea, not bothering with any reaction. "You're not worried for me, are you? What if I die tomorrow? Will you weep for me?" he leaned forward, taking her chin between his fingers. " 'Course not. You're the one who keeps boasting about how you're the most powerful man on Earth and The God of War or something. Besides - If you die, I will just steal all your money and get the hell out of this place, so I can finally see the world through my very eyes, not through inked letters on paper. I want to be free and fly. Life here is boring. I've had enough years of being home stuck, don't you think?" she snapped at him as she snatched the now empty sake up and poured herself some alcohol. "And what if I promise to take you out to see the world when I return?" he smirked at her, watching her ears perk up a bit at the proposition. "...I don't believe you." she looked away before she could reveal any real emotion in her eyes. "I promise. But you also have to promise to relax around me. You're always on the edge, even if you've been here for a whole year. I saw you play in the winter, jump to collect autumn leaves taken by the wind, pick up fruit after climbing up the trees, and make flower crowns in spring. I saw you get buried completely in snow, only one of your tails being seen, I saw you make fruit wine in autumn, send paper lanterns into the sky and bathe in the lotus ponds. We're not strangers anymore, and I've never hurt you even once. So, do we have a deal?" his hunter-like eyes carefully watched her every reaction, noticing how her bottom lip quivered ever so slightly, before biting into it softly - She was nervous, that much was obvious - And Sukuna was now a pro at reading her behaviour. "...I'll try. But if you go back on your promise...I promise you, you won't wake up the next morning." she scoffed, threatening him, but it only ended up making him laugh. "The little kitten has claws, how adorable. That's fair, I'll let you have that." the man chuckled at her, petting her hair just between her ears, making her close her eyes and blush just a tiny bit. He was finally able to reach her - Not by much, but even this much was enough for him...For now.

For a whole month, Kitsune was all alone in the palace - Or so she felt, despite the numerous harem girls and the servants - All who had to obey her every order - But she refused any of that. If she wanted to eat, she would make food for herself. If she wanted to drink, she'd get some herself. If she wanted to bathe, she would prepare the bath herself - Just as she's always done. However, all this time, she was never in need of company. She couldn't handle people, nor their fakeness and many other useless emotions that would only make them vulnerable and susceptible of being used and taken for granted.

She's been through that numerous times while living with her family, and she wasn't about to let that happen again.

Thankfully, Kitsune never felt lonely, nor bored - However, she realised that she actually enjoyed Sukuna's annoying presence, and somehow, she found herself awaiting his coming back sooner.

"Master came back, vacation's over. Take care, everyone...I heard he's been injured. Can you believe it? Never thought demons can bleed." the many rumours circulated around the palace, but the fox girl only snapped at the gossipers, glaring at them to shut up. But she didn't go to greet him, like everyone else did. Instead, she waited until night to go to his room, and she found him on the ground, calmly drinking some sake.

"Ah, look at this, a little fox found its way in my humble abode. What ever could you be doing here, I wonder?" he chuckled teasingly, as she only looked down at him, giving him a slight head tilt, yet no expression on her blank face. "Are you wounded?" she muttered in a low voice, almost half-wanting not to have been heard...But she was. "Ha! So you heard those rumours too, haven't you? How ridiculous! Me? Ryomen Sukuna, the God of War, getting injured? Preposterous!" his bark-like laugh echoed through the place, but it didn't move the girl in any way. Instead, slowly crouched next to him, snatching down the already loose kimono top from his torso, letting it fall down to his chest, as her delicate fingers traced his chest, arm and back, analysing each and every fresh wound and scar alike. "I thought you could heal. Cursed energy magic or something. What you did to me when I passed out. Stupid liar. All you know how to do is to boast to everyone, but you can't even admit that you are still capable of making mistakes sometimes." her voice was obviously pissed off, but not enough to sock him in the jaw again. "Anti-regeneration magic. I didn't know something like that existed. Gimme a break." he scoffed, looking away in mild embarrassment. "Lucky you. Now don't move, or you'll really piss me off." she sneered at him as she made blue fire light up her palms and focused on healing him. It was then that she realised how good it felt to feel someone's bare skin, to feel his muscles, sore from fighting so much. He was finally beginning to look more like a man - A warrior - Not like some obnoxious, bratty, entitled casa nova. "I didn't know you could heal people. It tickles." he smirked slightly, turning his head to watch her focused face. "You don't know many things about me, Sukuna. Don't even bother trying, you'll never be able to, anyway." she scowled at him, but this time, it wasn't as aggressive as usual. "I've always loved a challenge, sugar." he chuckled boastfully, only for her to frown and look at him. "Is that all I am for you? A challenge?" she asked in a softer voice, sounding almost disappointed. "Not anymore. You've always been an enigma for me. You were fun, that's why I kept you around. If you weren't, I'd have killed you. I have no regrets about killing anyone, reason or not. But you got under my skin. I don't want to unveil the enigma behind you anymore. I just want to know you." carefully, his hands found their way on her hips, just before pulling her on his lap, only for her to stiffen up completely, her hands quickly taken off of his skin, as she quickly snapped her head away from him, her face covered by the long hair that resembled the blood he spilled on the battlefield. "Aww, are you shy, cutie~?" his seductive voice was back again, one of his hands reaching up to cup her face - But she couldn't bring herself to speak - Instead, she just gulped and jumped away from him, taking a few deep breaths before getting out of the room, and climbing up to the roof, hugging her legs to her chest, leaning her chin on her knees, her bottom lip bitten into to the point of drawing blood.

What the hell was she thinking, letting herself getting touched like that? By someone like Sukuna, nonetheless, who, if given the chance, would have his way with her, then toss her aside like he did with all the other women in his enormous harem. Her heart was beating so hard, so fast against her chest. It was a foreign feeling that scared her so much that for a long while, she couldn't help but avoid him once again, going out of her way to only leave her room when she was sure he wasn't there. It didn't always work out as she wished, but she still tried nonetheless, as succeeded for most of the time.

"Are you scared of me?" Sukuna asked the girl one night, when he found her softly shedding tears up on the roof. "...No." she offered a monotone answer. "Then why are you avoiding me again? Do you hate me?" he asked again, only for her to hang her head and hug herself. "I realised that I shouldn't be alive. All my life I've known only two emotions - Hatred and Rage - All of them masked by a facade of complete neutrality, passiveness and uncaring. But, now...I can feel my heart beating. And it hurts. I was so ready to throw away my life, and I knew I would have no regrets. I lived for nothing. I have no memories of anything good happening in my life. I thought that...I thought that maybe...I would be able to feel, staying here, with you. I wanted to feel something good, for once. What was that called...Happiness? Love? I wanted to feel those too. I guess it's too much to ask from this cruel life. The second you touched me, I started panicking and I got scared. I was afraid. Not of you, but of the idea of possibly getting hurt. I don't know how to feel, and I don't think I'll ever be able to be a proper being...But maybe...Someday...I will be able to look up at the same sky, at this very same moon, and the very same stars...And smile...And my chest won't be hurting anymore. And I won't be afraid anymore. Maybe, in the next life...Or the one after that...I will be lucky. Maybe times will change, and people won't be so cruel anymore. I'm sorry, Sukuna. I didn't end up being who and what you thought I'd be. I will forever be a disappointment to everyone I meet." she wasn't sure if her words were directed to anyone at all, or if she just found the courage to speak for the first time in her life - To acknowledge the existence of feelings altogether - But Sukuna understood her. Except for the thrill of the kill and fleeting quenched lust, he didn't feel any relief. Just like her, anger and hatred, for the entirety of his life. How different and similar the two of them really were, he realised, as he went to hug her from behind, resting his chin on top of her head. "You have never disappointed me, Kitsune. You cannot disappoint me. I understand what you're feeling. It's a cruel world, and we are much crueler to everyone around us, including ourselves. If you ever think you have it in your heart to accept me, I will be waiting. Forever, if needed. And if not, I will be awaiting in the next life. Or in the next one. I won't give up on you." and saying that, he planted a kiss on her temple before leaving her alone to watch the same silver moon they've been looking up at for so long. "...Thank you." she spoke to herself after who knows how long.

And she smiled.

Every day passing, she would look at the pink haired warrior, and every day, she'd want to throw herself in his arms, but every time, she'd start shaking, and she'd turn around and leave the place. This whole ordeal continued for well over three months, until one day, the palace was attacked with burning arrows, and the whole place was lit aflame.

In the mayhem in cause, the fox girl made sure to gather all the civilians in the huge estate and lead them to safety, and by the time she was done, she rushed to search for Sukuna, the person the enemies wanted to bring down, once and for all. However, by the time she found him, the whole place was ablaze, the once blooming garden was now turned into ashes, and the Demon God of War was heavily bleeding, slouched and leaning his back against a wall.

Opposite of him, many meters away, a menacing looking enemy who had spears in his hands was ready to throw them at him...And Sukuna merely smirked, defeated, and closed his eyes, awaiting for the impact of his ultimate death.

"Sukuna...Keep your eyes closed." Kitsune's low, shaking voice called out to him, but instead of doing as he was told, his eyes snapped open, only to widen in terror seeing the girl he grew to love, impaled by numerous spears, acting as a shield for him. "K...Kitsu...Ne...?!" he managed to usher after getting over his shock. "I told you...To keep you eyes closed...Idiot." she shook her head as she curled her fingers on the wall, taking a few deep breaths, despite her legs shaking. "Idiot. Idiot. You are such an idiot." "No...You...You were supposed to run away...I told you to run away...I told you...To...Live..." his voice was desperate, trembling, not believing what he was seeing before his very eyes. "Not without you...We were supposed to...Go...together...And be happy...And look at the moon...And stars...Together..." but as she said that, she heard the air getting split by yet another set of spears that go through her tails and torso, making her lose strength and fall over the man she was shielding. With her last strength, she punched back the spears out of her body and crawled on his lap, cradling his body, wrapping it up protectively with her tails, holding tightly onto him. "I never learnt how to fight...I never had anything to protect...Until I found you. I have no regrets dying, if you live. Close your eyes, Sukuna. I...I love you." and just before all strength left her body, she cupped his face and stole a weak kiss.

She was happy. She finally found her courage to act as she wished - With her heart, not with her fears. She was finally able to expel all the bad things possessing her. She died, and yet, she was finally smiling. She regretted nothing.

She was really happy.

"...Look there, Kitsune. Look at the moon. And the stars. And we are together. In this life. And the next one...And the one after...I will find you. And I will protect you. Don't be afraid anymore...Nothing will hurt you again. Until then...Sleep well, my Princess...Wait for me...Very soon."

---------

"Don't worry, Yuji! We will find all the victims of this place and rescue them! You'll see!" the cheerful nine-tailed girl wagged her fluff left and right as she dragged her best friend to the ominous place, as their other two team mates followed soon after, both having different reactions, as usual.

As her shikigami fox and Megumi's white wolf were assigned to make sure no cursed spirit would sneak up on them, they tried to make heads or tails of the distorted reality inside the place - They knew they may be dealing with a Special-Grade monster, but to have power of such magnitude seemed...Unreal...And unsettling.

"Guys, calm down. This is the Innate Domain...Cursed energy made this foul play...But I've never seen anything like...This. We have to move fast, and not split up, or we'll get picked one by one." Kitsune gritted her teeth, feeling the fur on her tails stand up. "Where's the door?!" Megumi yelled, turning around, only for everyone to gasp, realising the way they got through completely disappeared. "Th-The door's gone?!" Yuji blinked, incredulous at what he was witnessing. "How?! We just came in through here, didn't we?!" Nobara freaked out, only to make a short, brain dead dance with Yuji. "Calm down. The dog remembers the scent of the entrance." saying that, the two fawned over the two canines as they let them lead the way, only to find three mangled corpses, one of them having a name tag - It was the name of the child of the desperate woman outside of the place, pleading to the police to rescue him.

However, a fight erupted between the two boys who couldn't decide whether they should run away or rescue the corpses, as closure for the woman outside, at least, and while Nobara yelled at them, trying to make them stop...She...Disappeared?! Through a makeshift hole in the floor that wasn't there before.

"B-But...Megumi's demon dog and my fox should have been able to sense the curse...!" Kitsune then quickly turned around, only to gasp, noticing the bloody corpses of the said shikigami protruding from the walls. "NO! CYNDER!" she whimpered, hating to see her lovely companion in such a state. "ITADORI! KITSUNE! WE HAVE TO RUN! WE'LL LOOK FOR KUJISAKI AND -" but before he could finish speaking, Kitsune's whimper, that grew louder, along with the presence of the demon she was pointing at, staring straight at her...Made both boys stop in their tracks, wide eyed and shocked...And very much afraid.

The trio was sweating bullets, trying to move, trying to get the hell away from there - But Yuji moved first, taking out his knife, slashing at the Special-Grade....Only for his hand to go flying far away...From the impact.

"Megumi, run away! Go find Nobara, I'll stay here and create a diversion! Give us a signal when you're out of here! Yuji can get Sukuna and save us!" the fox girl yelled at her brunet friend desperately as she pushed him away, but a mouth on Yuji's cheek, speaking very derogatory, pointed out he doesn't give a fuck about Yuji's body, and that he won't die, even if his vessel does. "Nope~! Even if parts of me inside you die, I've still got 18 other fragments of my soul! Still, irritatingly enough, I don't have control of this body, so go away and switch, if you want! But once you do...I'll kill that brat before the cursed spirit can! Then, I'll go for that woman. She's a lively one. I'll have fuck with her. And then...I'll claim this cute fox girl that you care so much for!" Sukuna kept talking, and it was creating a state of panic in Yuji's heart. "Don't listen to him, Yuji! I know you won't let him take over you completely! You can't hurt us!" Kitsune yelled at her friend, trying to snap him out of the trance Sukuna put him in. "No, no, no, darling, you're wrong. If he's too focused on me, his friends WILL die~!" the demon kept laughing at his vessel, until the Special Grade unleashed a full blast of pure, cursed energy. "Yuji, look out!" she jumped at him, getting him out of the blast's range. "Stop listening to him, and take care of yourself! This isn't Jujutsu, this is pure cursed energy! We have to buy Megumi and Nobara enough time to get the hell out of here! Look at this jerk, he's having fun. I'm sure we can figure something out." the fox girl gritted her teeth in anger, but before either of them could try to attack or dodge - In the blink of an eye, really - She felt herself getting picked up and slammed on the wall before her by yet another blast of cursed energy - Followed by another, that flew her on the bridge in the next room, rendering her barely conscious. "KITSUNE! KITSUNEEEE!" she heard her pink haired friend's desperate wail as he tried to shake her awake. "...Sukuna...?" she asked, her shaking hands trying to rub away the tiredness from her eyes, as she looked up at him with gleaming, half-lidded eyes.

Before he could answer, shocked that she would call him by his demon's name, and even more, his own demon shocked, hearing her say something like that, she managed to cling onto the boy enough to get herself back on her feet, turning towards the attacker, her big, fluffy tails opening like a protective fan for the boy, as she created a blast of blue spirit fire to try to counter the cursed energy blast from the enemy. It made her growl from the pain, but her mind was blank - She had no regrets - No matter what life she was living, she will only get stronger and stronger, until she succeeds and protects the ones dear to her.

But not in this lifetime.

She wasn't strong enough yet. She was nowhere near her mentor, Satoru, in power. She had no way to compete with him, nor could she protect her friends when needed.

How pathethic.

It was her last thought before the cursed energy took over her, burning away some of her skin and creating even more damage after getting slammed and breaking yet another wall. With the last bit of consciousness she was able to hold onto, she saw her pink haired friend still alive and well - By some standards, at least - And she could merely smile and fight back the darkness threatening to take over.

But...Something happened, for the boy now seemed fearless - And he even taunted with the special-grade...And then he healed his own arm, before going to her, looking down at her, shaking his head. The markings on his face...This wasn't Yuji. This was...

"Idiot." a much darker, more masculine voice came from the body of the teenage vessel as he crouched down to the girl. "You never change, no matter what life you reincarnate into, do you? But that's the charm about you, stupid fox. You never really lose your memories of the past, do you?" he gently caressed her face, feeling his heart beating a bit faster as he noticed she was smiling and leaning into his touch. "You said you'll find me...So what is there to fear?" she mused weakly, before she got picked up bridal style, allowing her to cuddle into his chest, finally allowed to rest at ease. "Let's teach this weakling a lesson and get the hell out of here. The moon is up." Sukuna chuckled as he walked up to the demon, effortlessly punching in the head, slamming it into the bridge, only to smash his foot into its head, breaking the bridge altogether. As they fell, the monster grabbed his leg, but the fox-fire burn on his hand was enough to get his to shriek in pain and let go, as Sukuna jumped on one of the falling rubbles, taunting and laughing condescendingly, as he ripped apart the monster limb from limb before impaling it into a wall, as soon as they reached the watery ground. "Honestly, I'm jealous. I could never get to your power with jujutsu alone. Satoru said this thing is 80% born talent. How disheartening." she grumbled, feeling better already. "There's nothing cursed in your heart, sugar. Let the killing to me. I promised I'll protect you, I'm not going back on my word. I'm not going to see you die again." he threw her up a bit to get a better hold on her. "Hang onto me, foxy. Let's show this sucker how we do things." seeing his infamous smirk on his face, she threw her arms around his neck, holding on tightly, seeing as he did a hand seal, calling out his Malevolent Shrine...And they were back home, dressed the same as they were so long ago...A thousand years ago...And the monster got split in 5 slices, before Sukuna dug out another one of his soul-fingers, and he started grinning even laughing even darker, realising that Yuji couldn't switch bodies again, which made villain jump out of the facility, right on top of it. "I guess...No matter what life we live, the sky is going to be forever beautiful." Kitsune sighed as soon as he let her down, but she didn't let go of him. Not this time. Fears won't take over her life anymore. "And yours is even more eternal than the moon's or the stars." he cupped her face, taking in her beauty for the first time in over a thousand years. "It's been to long. I made you wait far too long. I hope you didn't miss me too much." one of his hands found its fingers raking through her hair, and she closed her eyes a bit, taking in the warm, loving feeling that completely took over her. "I'll forgive you. You did take your bloody time...But at least you're here now. And you're not going anywhere. I won't let you." her hands slid down to the neck of his blouse, pulling him to her level, which only made him smirk smugly. "Good. That was my intention." his charming, dark voice spoke, making her heart beating faster, and feeling the hair on the back of her neck and the fluff on her tails stand up from excitement. "Won't it be weird? Being Yuji's body...?" she asked shyly, as he only chuckled, pulling the same Malevolent Shrine trick, so they finally looked as they did when they first met. "Better, sweet cheeks?" he pulled her flushed to his body, as she got on her tippy toes to get closer to his face. "Spectacular."

As the fox girl couldn't stop touching his face, raking her fingers through his hair, feeling his body closer to hers as her whole body felt hotter than ever before - It was just a kiss - His lips so sweet against her own, his arms, so strong, holding her, feeling her, loving her.

It was only them, under the gentle light of the silver moon, guarding them, as the stars softly twinkled, embellishing gold into the dark sky - Just like this love light up the darkness in their hearts.

Her tails wrapped around him instinctively, as they pulled apart, and looked each other in the eyes for the first time since they've known each other. Her eyes were sparkling with happiness, her lips were curled into a kitten-like smile, and she was glowing - It made Sukuna's heart have a pleasant arrhythmia as he saw in front of his very eyes a sight that he's been dreaming about for over a millennium - The woman that captured his heart - Happy, in his own arms, safe, and very kissable.

This feeling and image were worth waiting a thousand years.

[teklarn]

𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓶𝔂 𝓫𝓸𝔂𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭 - 𝓴. 𝓫𝓪𝓴𝓾𝓰𝓸𝓾

character(s): katuski bakugou x gn!reader 

a/n : y’all this was gonna be for kirishima bc i love possessive kiri but like it works so well with bakugou. first part will be from third pov, following parts will be from second pov (reblogs are greatly appreciated !! <3)

summary: bakugou x gn!reader. they have feelings for one another but have no idea how to express them, however y/n has someone pining for their attention. 

genre: uhh idk a lil bit teeny-weeny dash of angst i guess 

warnings: mild cursing, possessive bakugou, mutual pining, jealousy, aged-up to third year, possessive y/n, love triangle (square?), implied manga spoilers but not directly stated, tiny bitta tokage slander (sorry lol), slow burn romance (like SLOWWW SLOW BURN), lowkey enemies to lovers, like a lotta tension between bakugou and y/n 

word count: 3k

UNEDITED w/ minimal or no typos. i shoved it into grammarly’s ass and prayed for the best okay 

here’s pt 2 loves <3

- - - 

y/n was used to picking and their skin, irritated at the girls fawning over bakugou. they were always on the sidelines, watching from afar, jealousy warping their heart. could these stupid girls not see that bakugou didn’t even care for their attention? 

this time it was setsuna tokage who was begging for his eyes on her. y/n assumed it started in their first year when they’d been put against one another when the classes still had a clashing rivalry. (they still did, much more tame now, however.) 

she leaned forwards, tugging on his short sleeve. bakugou’s uniform jacket was slung over one shoulder. he’d lost a lot of his angry demeanor from when he was younger, however it was easy to tell when he was pissed. it was inevitable he wasn’t going to lose his temper entirely. 

it was easy to ignore the girls—most of the time, at least. what was ticking y/n off the most was the fact that bakugou didn’t seem pissed at all. his face was neutral, almost like the perfect mirror of todoroki on a daily basis. his eyes were not fired up in his usual ‘get the hell off of me’ manner. he was relaxed. 

it didn’t seem like he reciprocated tokage’s feelings, however he wasn’t doing anything to get her off him and it was pissing y/n off to no end. 

her sensuous lips were pushed into a slight pucker as she spoke, arching her back in a manner that made it appear much more provocative than she probably intended. 

bakugou stood there, eyes flicking from her grasp on his sleeve and back up to her eyes. he didn’t say anything, didn’t move, only kept looking her up and down. not in a romantic way, of course. right? 

y/n scoffed at themselves. they swallowed the lump in their throat, shoving down the pinging envy in their chest with it. why wasn’t he reacting? 

heat rushed to y/n’s cheeks. why do i care? 

tokage was nearing his face. she didn’t have any intent to press her lips to his, which y/n was more than glad for. 

y/n had come to the conclusion they had feelings for the explosive boy weeks ago. perhaps they always had, but now that they were fully conscious of them... gosh, it was frustrating. 

“you’re staring again.” 

y/n turned to see kirishima, the only other person who knew about their feelings for bakugou. he’d lost the twinkle in his eyes after first year. he’d picked up a dominating sneer and a withering glare reserved for anyone who desired to cross his friends. everyone at UA had after what went down. it was a shock most of them survived anything. 

“so?” y/n snapped, shoving their hands away and kicking a pebble before them. kirishima and y/n continued their walk through the courtyard. 

“so it makes you look creepy.” 

“no, it doesn’t. he didn’t even notice me.” 

kirishima snapped his fingers. “partially my point here. that’s bakugou katsuki, you really think he’s going to notice you?” 

“excuse me?” 

kirishima pursed his lips, twiddling his thumbs. “i didn’t mean it like that, y/n. it’s just...well, he has so much to work for.” 

y/n raised a brow, questioning his nervous antics. 

he continued. “bakugou works hard. probably the hardest worker in UA aside from midoriya. and it’s bakugou. he doesn’t really see a point in relationships. you know that.” 

“it’s not like i’m looking for anything with him, though. gosh, kirishima, you’re acting like this is some school girl crush.” 

he tilted his head, giving y/n a look that screamed, are you really sure it’s not though? 

y/n huffed out a breath, crossing their arms. they’d already vomited up their feelings, why all of a sudden call it a crush? sure, it was a tiny crush that was no larger than the brain of a dinosaur. 

“i can swear that it isn’t, kirishima. you’re looking too deep into things,” y/n defended once again. 

the red-head held his hands up in surrender, sucking his lips in to avoid another snarky comment slipping out. 

the two looked up at the towering building that had been home to them for the past three years: Heights Alliance. 

during their second year, the teachers had settled with having the dorms set up in a way that allowed the students’ rooms to be set up in a gender-neutral fashion. they’d been able to select new dorms beside whomever they wished. rooming next to kirishima was a blast, but the only person bakugou wanted to room next to was him. 

mina had moved in next to you, and kaminari to her right, and sero right across from y/n. 

y/n had no issue being squished between a group notorious for their goofiness and ability to never take anything seriously, however (especially on weekends) they were exceptionally loud to the point they were sure China could hear the blaring music. 

friday was finally going to be over in a few hours. y/n felt a giddiness well up inside them, anticipating the weekend. it’d been a rough few days, for everyone, not just them. 

class 1A had been bombarded with assignments and pop quizzes. y/n was lucky they finished it all in class. some of the homework was finished when they’d sacrificed their precious free time to get it done, but in the end, it was worth it all. 

y/n let their bag sag down their arms as they entered Heights Alliance. 

- 

bakugou had just been asked out on a date. for the third time. first time, he’d denied. second time, he had to shove tokage off him. third time, he’d calmly accepted her offer, and she’d skipped away with more than a smile. 

she’d squeezed his bicep, gave him a wink and an unnecessary peck on the cheek that bakugou had wiped off the moment she turned her back. he was now in his bathroom and, despite her not wearing any lipstick, he was scrubbing his cheek raw so that the skin was a blotchy red. 

the date was tonight, and he found himself wanting to go, and questioning why he accepted in the first place. 

bakugou forgot about tokage the second he won that match his first year and tossed her in the cage. he only noticed her when she and her group of friends giggled and passed by. (it was mostly her chortling, but whatever.) 

he continued rubbing his cheek aggressively with a scratchy towel. he was repulsed by how he had stood there without bothering to snap at her to leave him alone for the third time. 

instead, bakugou’s mind had buffered, and if he was in a video game, he had surely glitched. he should probably just tell tokage he didn’t want to go anymore. in fact, he never wanted to go in the first place and wants to jump out his window and escape. 

it was almost comedic. the thought of him going out on a date? goodness, he wanted to throw up. 

as he continued scrubbing the cloth along his cheek, bakugou found himself more than grateful for how much his quirk made him sweat. if it wasn’t for the nitroglycerin-like substance he produced, his skin would be scratched and dried up. 

a knock sounded at his door. silence came, until the knock found its way to his ears. a set of three knocks, then five, then it was a needy banging. 

whoever was on the other side heard his audible groan and shuffling feet dragging across the floor, because they knocked a lot harder. 

he swung the door open, hinges crying out. 

bakugou’s upper lip curled in disgust. tokage twirled her hair around a finger, eyelashes sticking together with mascara. “katsuki,’ she greeted. 

his eyes narrowed on her. “don’t call me that.” 

“what should I be calling you, then? baby? or honey?” 

oh yes, bakugou wanted to vomit. what even was her name again? whatever, it didn’t matter. “lizard teeth, listen. i-” 

“lizard teeth? why would you address me like that?” 

“because i don’t know your damn name, alright? i don’t-” 

“tokage. need me to spell it out for you?” 

“no. shut up. i need to-” 

“you should remember it, because i was one of the few who got in through recommendations, remember?” 

“and yet here you are in class 1B. can you shut the hell up now?” 

“well, you’re just being shitty.” 

“why are you here, tokage.” more of a demand than a question, as bakugou’s questions always came across if he ever bothered to ask them. 

“because, for our date tonight, I need to pick up some things and I really hope you’re up for coming with me.” 

“no.” 

“please?” 

“no. stop pushing. and I don’t want to-” 

“come on, grouchy.” tokage activated her quirk, one scale slipping into his dorm and pushing him towards her. she gripped the collar of his shirt and grinned. “come with me for a short bit, and I’ll count that as our date, m’kay?” 

bakugou opened his mouth once more to protest, but tokage silenced him by pressing one slender finger to his lips. 

“I’m fully aware you don’t want to go on this date with me.” 

he relaxed, shoulders slumping. if bakugou was younger, if he was even just a little bit more stubborn as he had been before, perhaps he’d be out of this mess already, or never in it in the first place. 

tokage let her hand fall back to her side—both of them. the scale returned to her lower calf; the jet-black leggings she wore now had a perfect hole in them.

“do you think i’m dense, bakugou?” 

“then why ask me out?” bakugou felt himself leaning back. 

“because if i can get under the skin of that stupid little...what do you like to call them? stupid little extras? yeah, that stupid extra who can’t stop fluttering googly-eyes at you every minute, then i’ll be perfectly content.” 

“who the hell are you talking about?” 

“alright, so you are oblivious.” tokage took a step back and crossed her arms. “are you both unaware of how you’ve both been pining for each other’s attention? y/n, that classmate of yours.” 

“...y/n?” 

“do you know their name or do i have to describe in excruciating detail what they look like?” 

“no, no i know who you’re talking about. but you’ve got to be shitting me, alright? there’s nothing there.” 

“i’m from 1B, and if there’s something going on in 1A, monoma is going to tell us.” 

“shithead, get out of my face.” 

“you still have to go out with me.” 

“why the f-” 

“because, bakugou. if you don’t, i’ll be sure to make sure y/n knows about your feelings, whether they’re real or not.” 

“why would they care? more importantly, why would you care?” 

- 

y/n kicked their feet up and down, a lollipop in their left hand, phone in their other. kirishima was in his bathroom while y/n was playing a game on their phone. they’d stashed away a bunch of candy back in their dorm and had snatched a handful for the two of them to share while hanging out in kirishima’s. 

he was currently combing a hand through his hair, and then proceeded to rummage through his cabinets. 

kirishima emerged with his lips puckered. “want to come to the  drug mart with me?” he stuck a thumb to his door. 

“what for?” y/n didn’t take a glance away from their phone. 

“this.” he chuckled softly. when y/n looked up, kirishima had two fingers parting his hair. the roots were a jet black, just growing long enough to become the slightest bit visible. 

“you’re going to fry your hair.” they were already shoving their phone away and tossing their sucker into the trash bin. 

“it’s a monthly tradition to do this, y/n. it would be fried by now if i was bad at it,” he joked, tapping his roots once more. 

y/n laughed alongside him as they exited the room. 

-

it was late, and the lights made everything feel like it was set in a world of backrooms. when the rest of the world is sleeping, it is more than quiet, and nothing feels real―possibly in the best ways. 

kirishima scratched at his chin, staring intensely at the hair-dye boxes lined neatly on the shelf before them. 

y/n tapped their foot, not out of impatience, but because of the creep staring at them through the aisle. yes, through. 

between the boxes of hair dye and scattered makeup products, the beady eyes of setsuna tokage could be seen. she smirked when she tugged her hostage closer. 

bakugou’s height had shot up to around six feet in the past two years, so all that was visible was his chest and the black sweatshirt loosely hanging off it, however his grumbling and stream of colorful language was unmistakable. it was him. 

“you okay?” 

y/n’s head snapped to their friend. “what?” 

“you seem on edge. is something wrong?” 

“nothing. nothing is wrong.” 

“you sure? if you need to talk, i’m here.” 

“yeah, yeah, i’m okay. don’t worry.” 

“alright.” kirishima held up a box, wiggling it in one hand. “got it.” he gave y/n a toothy grin. 

“good.” y/n snatched his arm up and dragged him along. 

“woah,” kirishima released a breathy chuckle, tugging his arm back. “what’s got you in a hurry?” 

“nothing,” y/n said, shrugging. “just wanna get home.” 

gosh, kirishima knew them too well. his eyes squinted just a bit, and there was that playful grin lingering on his lips, just ghosting over his face, barely visible to anyone who didn’t know him. instead of pointing out the obvious, which was standing just a few aisles behind, kirishima decided to play around. “goodness, honey, the kids are going to be fine back home.” 

heat raced to y/n’s face. “what?” 

kirishima winked. “it’s nice that you care about them, but care about me a little, would’ya? i miss you, too,” he said a tad louder. 

this caught bakugou’s attention. his eyes clashed with y/n’s, and he didn’t look away until y/n did. even a few seconds after, y/n still felt the blaring heat of his gaze upon them.

kirishima slung an arm around his friend, enjoying their flustered image. of course, he would never even think about pushing boundaries. the thought never crossed his mind, but he knew they’d let him know if they were uncomfortable. 

when y/n looked back as kirishima led them away, bakugou’s jaw was clenched, and his eyes were alight with jealousy. 

of course, y/n didn’t notice the emotion flaring. 

tokage smirked, clutching his loose sleeve. 

y/n looked back to their friend, and kirishima flashed them another knowing smile. bakugou was getting antsy with his best friends’ hands all over y/n. well, not all over, but a tap on the shoulder was enough. 

despite the way kirishima’s face dropped, y/n swiped his arm away and wandered over to tokage a bit more angrily than intended. they glanced up to bakugou, who was reaching up to retrieve something for tokage. 

“what brings you guys here? didn’t expect to see you.” inside, y/n was screaming. gosh, their heart was angry. 

“just running errands together.” 

bakugou? going for errands? with tokage? 

“cool, cool,” y/n said, nodding. “i was doing the same with kirishima.” they paused, awkward silence filling the space. 

impatient as ever, bakugou tossed the item into tokage’s basket and clicked his tongue. 

y/n didn’t know why. why were they being so stubborn? despite their protesting thoughts and their entire body screaming to hold back, y/n wrapped their fingers around bakugou’s wrist. 

“actually, bakugou, i have something to ask you. i need your opinion on it. you’re smart, right?” y/n’s voice lifted at the end. although they couldn’t see the, what the hell are you doing face kirishima was making behind them as subtly as possible, they could definitely feel the glare burning into their back. 

“tch, of course i’m smart, shithead.” 

“good.” 

“we’re actually kind of in a rush,” tokage spat out, snappier than usual. 

“do you think i fight okay? i need someone  with a perspective like yours to know if i do.” 

“what kind of question is that, dumbass? i don’t care if you can fight well or not, just so long as i can beat the shit outta ya.” 

tokage let out a low growl. 

y/n smirked, hand still around bakugou’s wrist. “i’d like to know if i can beat you, then, so you can tell me if i’m good or not.” 

ohgoshohgoshohgosh where was this coming from? 

bakugou squinted. he leaned in closer, like he didn’t hear them. “speak up.” 

y/n knew he heard them correctly, but he got awfully close. 

feeling a little sneaky themselves, y/n ghosted their fingers over his strong jaw, tilting his head closer so they could speak clearly into his ear. “let’s train together,” y/n said, staring tokage dead in the eyes. 

it was a stupid rivalry, really. they’d both been accepted through recommendations. they’d been friends all throughout middle school, and yet when y/n made it into 1A, tokage felt it a necessity to excel at everything and rub it in their face. no way was y/n letting them get away with this. 

“i want to see how strong i am.” y/n let their voice drop just a bit. “you’re strong, right?” 

“are you taunting me?” bakugou said, voice nearly a whisper. he still hadn’t moved from leaning down and hadn’t bothered to move y/n’s fingertips from his jaw. 

“absolutely not.” y/n sent a small grin in the direction of their rival. “let’s just see who can beat who. we’ve never been against one another like this.” 

tokage huffed, tugging bakugou back. his eyes were softened when they met y/n’s, and there was simmering, small grin on his face. 

tokage, however, looked less intrigued. “he’s not your boyfriend.” 

y/n shrugged, already backing away. they spread their arms in a mockery of surrender. “he’s not yours, either.” 

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Yuu can do it!

What if all three Yuus (from the novel, manga, and game) were sent to the same world?

Part 11

(Link to previous)

So! Good news and bad news.

The good news is that they made it out of the area alive!

The bad news is that running away is definitely cursed. They hadn’t even fully left the cave before Deuce skidded to a stop.

Whatever had been thundering after them had long-since abandoned the chase, the only indication that it had ever existed was the faint scraping of something metallic getting dragged along the floor deep within the mines… so they were less reluctant than one might assume to turn around and make sure Deuce was okay.

And, really, they didn’t know. Deuce was staring back into the mine, a thoughtful expression screwing up his face. It looked painful.

Ace set all of his weight against his pickaxe, Kuroki leaned against Enma (who was far more comfortable). Ace, at least, had an excuse, his leg was all messed up from the chandelier. Kuroki was just… tired.

So, he was both relieved and very much anxious about Deuce stopping. He squinted over at him. “Um… are you okay?”

“That thing mentioned something about stones.”

“Was that what it was saying?” Ito mused, mostly unconcerned as they toed at a rock by their foot for something to do. “Wild.”

“You couldn’t tell?” Ace asked, eyebrows furrowing.

“The voice was hard to make out, I had trouble translating,” Ito shrugged absently.

Enma snickered. “Then why were you running?”

“I trust Kuroki to know when to run.” They said, then frowned and corrected themself: “Kuroki-san.”

Kuroki didn’t know whether to be offended at the implication that he was a coward (fair, but rude) or pleased that they trusted his judgment even marginally.

He didn’t have time to decide. Deuce knocked his fist against his palm and oh god, no, Deuce has an idea, they need to run (again) he isn’t ready –.

“We have to go back.”

Noooooooo.

Enma, however reluctantly, nodded his agreement. “It’s way too early to give up, we haven’t even seen the thing.”

Noooooooooooooo.

“I would prefer it stay that way,” Grim pitched in, and Kuroki thought that was the most sense the monster had made since he had met him.

“... besides, the school is the only place we have, we have to at least try.”

NoooOOOO – ah, wait, crap, true.

Ace, who almost definitely had a place to stay that wasn’t NRC, was unimpressed by this particular argument. “You do realize that thing is totally going to kill us, right?”

“I would rather die than be expelled!” Deuce snapped.

Ito grimaced. “Okay, Hermione, relax. No one needs to die. We just need to come up with a plan.”

Kuroki wanted to question what the weird name (or word? They had just confirmed that they weren’t speaking their first language, so maybe it was just something they had mistranslated) they had just said was, but decided it probably wasn’t the time.

Deuce nodded. “You heard that thing’s footsteps, right? It sounded pretty slow –.”

“Okay, no, Spade-san, you’ve lost your plan-making privileges. Your last plans…” Enma started ticking off on his fingers. “Nearly got Ace killed by a cauldron, broke a billion-thaumark chandelier, and then you suggested that we break into a house.”

“Exactly. So, why are you listening to him when he says that we should go back and get the stone?” Ace said, pointing at Deuce.

(Deuce smacked his hand down. Ace put it right back up.)

Enma ignored him: “The only person here who hasn’t done anything stupid yet is me.”

Wow, Enma was really good at pissing off everyone at once.

Ito and Ace frowned at each other. “What did Ace and I do?”

“Played a game or rock-paper-scissors that nearly got us killed.”

“Oh yeah,” Ito said.

“That’s fair,” agreed Ace, looking put out.

Grim raised a paw. “What did I do?”

“What didn’t you do?” Deuce retorted, which, really, said a lot about Grim’s habits. He had known Grim for the shortest amount of time and even he knew that the monster was trouble.

This didn't stop Kuroki from sending him a glare and picking up Grim so he could hug him tightly – like a stuffed animal… or a particularly durable baby. “Shut up. He’s perfect.”

“Yeah, I’m perfect,” agreed Grim, turning his head to stick out a tongue at the people that had dared to even imply otherwise.

“And, before you ask, that is why you aren’t included in the ‘makes good decisions club’,” Enma told Kuroki, motioning vaguely to Grim.

“You called the ghosts ‘cool’,” said Kuroki hotly, his ears burning red. “You’re just as bad as the rest of us!”

Ito sighed and stepped in, holding their hands up. Maybe it was meant to be placating, maybe it was in case anyone tried to lunge at each other to fight, Kuroki didn’t really know.

“Okay, well, we can fight later. If we are going to try and get the stone then we should get going now.”

Ace frowned. “You want to go in there? I thought you had sense.”

“Literally do not care either way,” they said, rolling their eyes. “Don’t drag me into this.”

It turns out that Ito was right to put their hands up, because Deuce walked up to the nearest wall and punched it as hard as he could. Kuroki winced when the cave rumbled a little, a few loose gems falling from the ceiling and clinking across the ground.

“We can’t just quit when there might be a stone right around the corner!”

Enma eyed Deuce warily, obviously thrown by his sudden outburst, but nodded his agreement nonetheless. “There’s six of us and it seems like only one of them, we might have a chance if we play our cards right.”

Ace scowled. “There’s no way I can work with our reckless Mr. Serious here.”

“Like I want to work with you, either!” Deuce retorted. He needed to work on his comebacks, it seemed.

Ito raised their hands in a kind of ‘God, please help me reason with these idiots’. “Well, fine, we can just get expelled, then.”

“We are not giving up this early,” Enma groaned. “We haven’t even tried.”

Grim bared his fangs. “I’m sorry I don’t have a death wish like you do.”

“EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP,” Kuroki yelled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Every head jerked in his direction. Kuroki wasn’t allowed to be loud, being quiet was his thing.

“Trappola-san, I don’t like it either, but they’re right. We should regroup, put our heads together, and then try. If it goes wrong, we can always leave, yeah?”

Enma grinned and opened his mouth to say something.

“But,” Kuroki said, rounding on Enma and finding a little amusement when his mouth snapped closed immediately. “We will leave if stuff goes south. Does everyone understand me?”

Everyone nodded when he looked at each of them in turn. Some were more reluctant than others to agree but, eventually, they did agree.

His shoulders relaxed a little. “Great. So, let's go check it out. Maybe it won’t be so bad.”

~

Hello, hi, Kuroki wanted to take back anything he had ever said.

Regarding the thing in the mines, yes, but also just in general. This one bad decision reflected very poorly on every other decision that he had ever made.

Because the thing, whatever it was, was terrifying. It was large enough that, even in the cave system that had ceilings stretching at least three meters high, it had to crouch to avoid scraping its glass(?) head on the stone above it. And speaking of ‘scraping’, the scraping noise they had heard earlier came from the giant pickaxe it wielded – the ends of the pickaxe were dulled thanks to the years the monster had spent allowing it to drag along the floors, but this didn’t soothe Kuroki’s anxiety in the slightest.

Most notable, however, was the giant lantern it held in an iron-grip. The lantern glowed a multitude of colors thanks to the many magestones contained within it, lighting up the creature to allow them to see it in all of its ‘glory’.

The group of six watched on in horror as the creature walked up to the nearest gem with slow, lumbering steps, the black ooze in its clear head sloshing and starting to congeal until it formed a question mark.

It briefly set down its lamp to poke the stone, leaning close, and then seemed to dismiss it. The ooze settled back down and it started over to the next one to repeat the process.

It seemed to be humming to itself.

Kuroki thought he might have recognized the tune from somewhere, but he didn’t know where. His mind was too scattered to make much sense of anything other than the fact that the creature was big and scary and it was holding the thing they needed to avoid expulsion.

The group silently walked back up the mine to find a safe place where they could talk without worrying about meeting a very sudden, very unfortunate end.

But no one seemed all that intent on talking at that exact moment. Even Grim hung limp and silent in Kuroki’s arms.

And then, slowly, Ace slumped against a nearby wall and tried for a casual shrug. “... so… expulsion?”

~~~

(Link to next)