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#wish i could switch to japanese tho
rouge-the-bat · 2 years
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The only thing in this world worth having rn is Hiei's gender and aethetic. Tell me if I'm wrong.
PERSONALLY im more for having kuramas gender and aesthetic but hieis is top tier as well ♡♡♡ hes EXTREMELY kissable. my little agender goth love (๑>ω<)
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* Swedish Culture *
As my exchange semester is coming to an end, I want to share with you what learned about Sweden the last 6 months
Trains drive on the left side of the tracks. On dagen H, everyone switched from driving on the left side to the right side, except for trains. Swedes will look at you funny for bringing that up.
On every product there is a detailed description of how each part of the product should be recycled. We need to do that everywhere.
Fika <33333333
There are no rules for biking here. It is chaos. As a Dutch person I'm very confused
Love to the academic quarter that allows me to be 15 minutes late to every lecture
I think Gävlebocken is a tradition we need to keep. Especially the burning part of it.
Why does everything close so early during the weekends??? What am I supposed to do??
Ikea has my heart. And a lot of my money.
Sun setting at 14.30 makes me want to eat dinner so early already
Also, the cold makes my hair literally so static? Does anyone know what to do about it?
I can never live without kanelbullar again
The amount of lactosefree options there are everywhere! Love it!
Swedes will be sitting outside of a café even when it is -2 degrees. I have the utmost respect for them.
Why do you close everything for the winter? What am I supposed to do now??
The Ikea stereotype is no joke. Everything I own is from Ikea. Everything my friends own is from Ikea.
I miss cheap alcohol :(
Where are there random loose chairs and tables in your trains? Where do they come from? Why are they there?
Affordable housing <333
Little kids in their little snowsuits with their little snowboots are the cutest thing ever
In small towns, you can find like 7 different Japanese restaurants. Nothing else tho.
Kötbullar are so cheap. I love them. I buy them all the time.
I need to know, why are you so obsessed with Thailand as a country?? I need answers.
I'm not made to withstand -15 degrees. No Swede bats an eye.
Also, choirs are a very big thing??? I wish I could sing well.
Did I already mention kanelbullar? <33333
People ask you if you've already been to the ABBA museum. You have not. You are also not planning on going. Still, people ask you.
The Vasa Museum is a very controversial topic.
The red barns you see everywhere are painted with animal blood. You like to point that out to everyone who comes to visit you.
You have not seen the sun in days. You live on vitamin D-supplements and nothing else
Icehockey looks 75% of the time like very aggressive flirting. You know, like the kdramas
You are sitting in the bus quietly. There are people checking the tickets. You have a ticket. Suddenly, there are 4 people standing over you checking your ticket. There's only 5 people in the bus.
16.00 is rush hour. That is very early.
People will not move out of the way for you. Not in the supermarket, not on the train or on the pavement. There have been many times I have had to walk on the road because people will not move for you.
What is lingonberry and why do you put it in everything?
Why do your parties start and end so early?? Why is 4.00 considered "late"?
Just like the Vasa museum, Gamla Uppsala is a very controversial topic.
Tiny rocks are strewn over the street to combat the ice and snow. They get stuck in your shoes. There is a tiny rock collection on the floor of the hallway now.
It is -20 degrees Celsius outside. You see a dude wearing kaki shorts.
Tomten has my heart. He is so tiny.
Student discounts <3333
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phasecode · 9 days
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✧ ⸻ welcome to infinite entertainment! it's NA 'AXEL' YUCHAN, who is the MAIN DANCER of INDIGO. i’ve heard whispers that the 24 year old is pretty INDUSTRIOUS but lowkey CAPRICIOUS. also, doesn’t he remind you of CHOI YEONJUN?
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good evening everyone! u can call me klee and i'm excited to write with you all! i go by they/them and i'm currently residing in the eastern timezone. i didn't have anything ready because applying was just something i did on impulse so please bear with me as i try to get everything done by friday ( wishful thinking ). i'd like to introduce you to a revamped child of mine named AXEL, the main dancer of indigo and infinite entertainment's resident Just Some Guy™. underneath the cutoff you'll gain access to more information about yuchan as well as some plot ideas that are bouncing around in my head! please like this post if you're interested in plotting and thank you in advance if you decide to read my intro!
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✧ ⸻ i. 𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑲𝑺 .
profile, connections, wanted relationships.
✧ ⸻ ii. 𝑫𝑬𝑻𝑨𝑰𝑳𝑺 .
full name :: axel yuchan na
korean name :: 나유찬
nickname :: known professionally as axel, his english name, but he doesn't mind being called whatever
date of birth :: march 29, 1999
zodiac :: aries sun, cancer moon, scorpio rising
place of birth :: toronto, canada
gender :: cis male, uses he / him pronouns
orientation :: pansexual, demiromantic
height :: 183 cm, 6ft
languages :: english ( native ), korean ( native ), japanese ( conversational )
vocal inspiration :: a.c.e's kim byeongkwan
✧ ⸻ iii. 𝑺𝑼𝑴𝑴𝑨𝑹𝑰𝒁𝑬𝑫 𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑹𝒀 .
began dancing at the age of five, taking ballet classes at canada's national ballet school because his mom wanted all of her children to become professional ballet dancers like her. his dad was on the fence about it, not necessarily opposing the idea of him and his two sisters doing it but more open to supporting them if they decided they wanted to do something else in the future. his mom was less thrilled by the possibility but would eventually come around when all three of them chose to pursue different paths later in life.
one day when he was eleven he attended one of the open hip hop classes his older sister was taking, and immediately liked it better. the music was the main reason he wanted to continue taking classes but when he initially started, he felt challenged and ya boi likes a challenge. he still attended the ballet school, dedicated to becoming a professional ballet dancer like his mom wanted him to, but he knew deep down his interests were shifting and his older sister knew it too.
when he found out that new star entertainment wanted him to audition in person all the way in seoul, once the confusion subsided as to how they even knew about him ( his sister submitted an online audition in his stead ), he was more excited to audition than nervous despite not knowing much about the industry. he didn't know what he was getting into, but the idea of not becoming a ballet dancer was exciting — doors he didn't know existed were opening for him.
axel is nothing if not a hard worker. he is someone who doesn't like to disappoint, and especially since his parents had allowed him to completely switch gears and become a trainee with an undetermined future ( they didn't tell him that tho. they just let him think there was no way he wouldn't debut ).
he received a lot of criticism as a rookie for not being able to sing live very well. he put more power and energy into the choreography and didn't think he needed to be the greatest singer since the other members were hard-carrying. he did what he could to improve after ( what he considers to be ) the disaster of his debut, he attended more singing lessons and visited the practice rooms almost every single day to practice his live singing while dancing.
has been caught in several different dating rumors over the eight years he's spent as an idol. only one relationship was real ( they broke up almost immediately after ) but the others were either with his close friend or someone he didn't know that fans? connected out of pure coincidence.
he began an acting career three years ago, appearing in minor roles and supporting roles. he began taking acting lessons at the insistence of his company, wanting him to try something new and expand his skillset. although he knows he's not the best idol-actor the industry has to offer, he hopes that he could land a lead role in the near future to really test his abilities.
✧ ⸻ iv. 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑫𝑪𝑨𝑵𝑶𝑵𝑺 .
HUGE fan of star wars. he collects a lot of merch and ( unfortunately ) can talk for hours about anything related to it. he's too interested in the lore and has definitely talked about it on a livestream for hours. he used to receive a lot of star wars related gifts from fans prior to no longer accepting gifts from them, and he keeps it all either at his grandparents' house in seoul, or in his childhood bedroom in toronto. ( woozi talking for 6 hours about anime is literally axel talking about star wars )
also he's just a huge movie bro in general ?? he LOVES movies and sometimes it feels like he has seen every movie in existence. ( for legal reasons i'm joking but he does definitely have an extensive knowledge. ) he constantly invites friends out to see movies or goes by himself ... there's really no movie he wouldn't watch. his favorite movies include jurassic park, the host, spirited away, a silent voice, arrival, in the mood for love, and a more recent addition is godzilla minus one.
a little bit too active on his social media accounts. he's the most active on tiktok and instagram, and constantly overshares like he's on his private accounts and talking to his closest friends. he had always been social and active on indigo's official sns accounts, and it seemingly got worse when indigo as a group were allowed to have their own personal accounts. he's the type of idol who is never beating the 'in a parasocial relationship w fans' allegations.
he is known for being apparently passive about the criticisms that come his way every now and then, and he wants to believe that he isn't bothered at all by hate when in reality it eats away at him in an unhealthy way. during his rookie years where he spent his free time working hard on improving his skills, he had gotten sick more often than not by overworking his 17yo body more than it could handle. sometimes he falls back into his bad habits when he really lets himself be bothered, but he's also gotten better at pulling himself out of that state ( also the other members help out a lot too ).
he became a first-time cat dad in 2021 when he adopted his daughter as a kitten. her name is sun and she is a russian blue that he fostered for a while to trial animal therapy, but she ended up being a foster failure and he adopted her after a month. he is known for donating to local animal rescue centers and hopes to adopt a rescued feline in the near future.
axel can be best described as ... warm. warm in the sense that as a person, he feels like someone you've been friends with for years even if you've only known him for a month. he's typically easy-going and more-often-than-not a Yes Man. but he's also warm in the sense that he's a simmering pot that's one second away from reaching its boiling point should something stress him out. he wants to believe he's nonconfrontational but the truth is that he feels the need to fight should he feel wronged.
he's close with both of his sisters, and the three of them working in the entertainment industry has only made them closer. sometimes he appears on his younger sister's youtube videos or tiktoks when they're in seoul or if he's in los angeles. he sees them in-person at least four times a year, but they constantly facetime and do so once a week. he's also close with his parents, and much closer to his lax father despite being nearly a carbon copy of his mom in terms of personality.
he grew up in wealth, his dad being a defense attorney and his mom being an ex-professional ballet dancer turned ballet teacher in toronto's most prestigious ballet school. it's safe to say that he spends more than he should on a monthly basis buying things he doesn't necessarily need. while he doesn't go announcing his wealth to the world or even tries to show off in front of peers, he shows it silently in the way he constantly offers to pay for everything when out with friends or in the way he constantly buys gifts and lil trinkets for friends when he finds something that reminds him of them.
✧ ⸻ v. 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑵𝑬𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵 𝑰𝑫𝑬𝑨𝑺 .
the besties!! it would be so cute to have a cute lil squad similar to the 97 line. i feel like having a good group of genuine friends is very much needed so just know this is the most wanted thing!!
a co-host during his time as a mc?? could be a more recent gig for them or something from a couple years ago, it could be fun doing a thread of them working together behind the scenes.
"exes" ?? the individuals he was caught in a dating rumor with ... they could've been close friends that grew apart after the rumor appeared in articles, they could still be super close regardless of the past, they could've been strangers who either became close or stayed strangers ... possibilities r endless.
sibling-like relationships ... i love found family tropes, and please know any friend of axel's is just treated like family when they meet his parents and sisters.
ex-friends!! i kinda lowkey love the drama and i feel like despite axel's craving for peace in his daily life some things are just unavoidable. i think it would be interesting if they were forced to work together again and see if they could become friends again or just continue to drift further away from each other.
maybe like actual exes? axel is absolutely a hopeless romantic and wants to go all in when it comes to relationships, but i feel like him being someone who is so hyper-focused on his job as well ... i feel like both these things can cause problems but u can hear me out on that later.
having a backbone builder / positive influence is someone i think that axel really needs in life, someone who could remind him that life is too short to spend most of it hating himself or criticizing himself ... i feel like he just needs an angel on his shoulder tbh.
i'm open for anything so if none of these fit your vibe dw friend we'll think of smth!!
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ambersky0319 · 10 months
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Alright I need to destress AND kickstart my memory of nnt so! Gonna do a rewatch and write out some thoughts (inspired by @spacehostilityy and their rewatch posts, go check 'em out! 💜)
Gonna be using the tag #amber rewatches nnt btw ^^
Also might talk about Eternal a bit idk yet but keep in mind the rewatch is also to help me write that 😅 also also doing each post by episode because I ramble far too much at every little thing.
Enjoy the rambles!
Masterpost
Episode 1
Honest to god forgot about those flying sting ray things, and especially forgot they're one of the first things we see in the show!
The art? For the opening sequence?? Is so cool????
Like those things that can shapeshift in the forest Diane hides in are in there? And MAYBE Gerheade? Idk about her but one of the fairies look a LOT like her/has a dress very similar to the one we see her wear AND she's bigger than the other fairies
And are there any demons with feathered wings besides the blue bird like things? Because if not there's an armored character with wings like the goddesses (who only have 1 pair of wings in the art) on the DEMON side. Probably just digging into this too deep, but it'd be REALLY cool if that was foreshadowing Estarossa/Mael
I really wish Elizabeth had muscles and wasn't CONSTANTLY portrayed as being physically pretty weak (at least that's how it comes across to me - in fights she's constantly told to run/is never given any chance TO fight physically). Because she literally can't be?
Like Elizabeth has been walking REAL FAR in that armor and it is DEFINITELY not light. Do you know the strength she'd have to have to move that? She also slumps in it and her footsteps are slow/small so it IS weighing her down but the fact that she can move in it as far as she has - and probably up and down hills too without falling - is impressive
Anyway reminder to myself to show Elizabeth being physically strong in my fics from now on. This is canon now and no one can fight me.
Also the shot of Elizabeth on the hill in the armor with the sun glaring through?? It's such a gorgeous shot??????
Meliodas may be a shit cook but damn is he a pretty good server
Like mans got the entire tavern full and he's serving it basically alone cause Hawk cleans the scraps doesn't serve people booze and every customer is pretty happy and having fun (until they have the food lol)
I FORGOT HAWKS TAG SAID STAR BOAR AAAAASJDJFJDHF
Wonder at which point in time the whole telling your children "if you keep misbehaving one of the seven deadly sins will come for you in armor that's rusty from blood" because it HAD to be in the past 10 years, right? Unless people were saying that while they were still respected holy knights in which case,,,, ooof
But I'd assume a little after Zaratras was first killed
But also I wouldn't put it past this dude maybe coming up with it to scare his children lol he seems like a tired dad type
And here comes all the parts I hate
The groping and sexualization
Elizabeth is like. Fucking 16. And Meliodas DEFINITELY knows that. And just. Ugh
I do like Elizabeth in this color tho- the dark blue really suits her! It's why her uniform post-Meliodas' death is my favorite of all her outfits
How many talking pigs are there in Britannia??? Because Hawk's from purgatory and I figured THAT was why he could talk
And many other people get super confused/shocked by Hawk talking so it can't be common
When Elizabeth said with the most dejected face "no" after he asked if her father got her a talking pig Meliodas looked momentarily like "that bitch."
Let's be real he would've totally gotten her a talking pig somehow
Then he instant switches the conversation to try making her feel better 💜💜💜💜
I'm sorry, the order of WHAT?
"the Order of the Beard of the Mountain Cat"
Is this a translation error? Because if not... I have found my new favorite order and I am no longer worried about naming things in my own stories with ridiculous things
(also btw I watch in Japanese with English subs)
Wonder how the Boar Hat got so popular in this town in a matter of days. Like the booze is good sure but how tf did people find that out and who was the first person courageous enough to go poking around
Yknow. I'm surprised they didn't believe Hawk was the rust knight. I mean, the people who reported it had to be drunk right? Who's to say they weren't so drunk they mistook a pig in armor as the rust knight?
Damn Elizabeth is pretty agile! She's running across roots and jumping over things pretty efficiently!
Like as clumsy as she is, she still got some skills that they NEVER UTILIZE!
Also YOU CAN SEE THE FRAME MELIODAS GRABS HER AND JUMPS WITH HER I- HOW DID I NEVER CATCH THAT???!!
THAT SONG IN THE BG UUGGHHGHGHG
THIS ONE. I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH. MY HEART.
I forget if we go over how Hawk and Meliodas met/how far we go into their backstory
Like is he in on Meliodas being a Sin/previous Holy Knight or does he really just not know? (because there's no way Meliodas isn't at least a little wary of Holy Knights himself, hiding for 10 years no matter how in plain sight he is)
I mean. Elizabeth. Sweetheart. Your dad IS laid up in bed sick. It just so happens that the holy knights ALSO arrested the rest of your family and refuse to get your dad help (I think? Cause Merlin has to magically treat the king for his illness later and I assume the holy knights would be wary of letting a doctor treat him. Maybe Vivian was treating him?)
Unless Elizabeth didn't know her father was sick. In which case. Oooooooof. What a reunion later if that's true
Meliodas 🤝 Zuko : "That's rough buddy"
I forget what crime Merlin committed, because Elizabeth says the Sins are "composed of seven terrible criminals" unless she's not actually a criminal when they formed at least
Ahhh that's right, Elizabeth probably wouldn't remember the sins well because they had to leave when she was 6-
Although I wonder if Meliodas also tried to make himself scarce around her once she got to the age where she would retain memories better to avoid the curse activating somehow? Because I have a shit memory but most people do tend to remember things, even vaguely, from the ages 3-6 (my friends and I all have our earliest memory around 2-3)
Meliodas stiff as a board falling when Twigo attacked lmao-
It does make me happy to see some knights in Britannia, even if they're not Holy Knights, try to confront Holy Knights. Sure they backtrack but like, who wouldn't in the face of that power?
Twigo got awesome eyesight to see Elizabeth's earring from that far, nevermind it's DESIGN. Like damn I got 20/20 vision but I doubt I'd ever SPOT that
I was gonna say how tf did Allioni realize it was Meliodas/how would he see Meliodas' tattoo but going back his shirt was already ripped in that general area so! Continuity win!
He be shitting his pants too lol man was holding the most dangerous Sin up and yelling in his face, and he's SEEN what the sins can do
Wonder if he retired after this. I wouldn't blame him
PERFECT TIME KICKING IN WOOOOOOO
Also Twigo recognizes his face? And says "how can you look exactly the same as you did that day" Was he the old guard that showed Allioni the Sins' carnage? Or was he a Holy Knight that survived that attack?
I guess he also could've just been an apprentice Holy Knight too that recognized him but asking that question to me hints that Twigo tried fighting the Sins with everyone else
Netsujou no Spectrum is such a great song too. The NNT soundtrack is amazing
Is the tavern a recent development for Meliodas??? What was he up to before getting the tavern but after going into hiding?
This also brings up how I really don't remember what time in his backstory he meets Hawk. I just remember they met in jail
This town is in the boonies Twigo how long do you expect this trio to wait until you can not only get a message to the capital, but receive reinforcements??
Mama Hawk best murderer
Oh nvm she missed :/
"Was our meeting chance or Providence?" man I wish I could say for sure it was chance and she got damn lucky (it'd be cool imo to explore how things would've gone if she'd found one of the others first) but. With the curse and all... There's a VERY good chance it was Providence
"I hope it's a real one this time" - Gilthunder
Okay so... When does he get in contact with King then? I'm pretty sure we SEE them interact around Ban escaping Baste but like. Gilthunder would have to know that's where King was before that. When do the Holy Knights find and make a deal with King?
And that's my thoughts going through Episode One!
Don't know how often I'm gonna do these, maybe after Wednesday I'll do a lot more? Idk we'll see
If you made it this far, you're awesome! Lmk who your favorite character is and I'll do a quick drawing of them for you if you want 💜
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kirbyskisses · 10 months
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Know that u are completely valid in your disliking of mister EREH jeager <3
I personally do like him, but ofc he is not for errybody uwu.
You do bring up really good points tho of what his path could parallel or represent and I appreciate the depth of your criticism concerning his character. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I am kissing u and cuddling u as always :3 🫂💋💋💋.
he’s a little too fascist e-boy coded and loved by too many actual online white supremacists/toxic boyfriends for me to have any like for him.
which is actually hilarious because I have been in the fandom since day one, chapter 1 of the manga dropping in english, and i remember when the majority of people fucking hated eren. like it was mikasa or levi supremacy and people just did not like him. it was only after the switch of him becoming an actual murderous fascist that he skyrocketed into being the favorite character - i was absolutely the reverse. i loved him back then actually.
and i want to be clear, i don’t dislike eren for being violent or toxic. my favorite scene of the show is still him killing mikasa’s kidnappers as a kid.
my problem is that the show and fandom never punishes him for becoming an actual child killing, gaslighting, genocidal fascist, and always frames him as the hero and somebody to be marveled at still even until the very very last chapter. the author having… let’s call them complicated views on japanese imperialism, didn’t help either.
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this guy is fine. this guy disgusts me.
honestly levi, jean (who i didn’t like from start, not because he’s bad, he’s just boring), pieck (best girl) and hange were the only people to make it through that show without leaving a bad taste in my mouth with the way their characters went.
that’s not to say that every person whose favorite character is eren is some fascist emo tiktoker. in fact, the people i see writing about him the most are super leftist black women like my moots who just think he’s really hot.
wish i could enjoy that too, because they are all absolutely lovely people and amazing writers but i just can’t stand him.
but no. i hate him.
sorry for ranting, baby, kissing, and cuddling you as always too!!!🥺💕💕💕
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OHMKYGOSH YES i j read ur sashisu ramble… and i love love love hearing ab other people’s hyperfixations so don’t worry :33
mainly the fact that none of them could be open or vulnerable with each other …. to be honest i havent looked at sashisu very closely before but this hit me bc. I FEEL LIKE I RELATE SM :; like. i have a best friend who i’ve known since i was a baby but we’ve never ever had a serious conversation once… maybe this is unrelated but that is so tragic because to me friendships really struggle to be strong and stable against one another if you can’t ever show the side of you that’s struggling … being vulnerable w one another is key to bonding :’3
i have some thoughts about them— mainly shoko…. to me it kinda seems like she kept them at an arms length away this entire time on purpose and she still does…. maybe i’m spitballing idk i’m just basing it off the fact that satoru and suguru called her shoko but she still referred to them by surname even ‘til where we currently r in the manga (which. i will also ignore but i cant lie the memes were so funny…) but my thinking is that she did so because. even though we never really saw her much i think that’s it since she was a reversed ct user n probably didn’t have much experience fighting… maybe. hear me out just MAYBE she knew what might become of satoru and suguru since they were so enveloped in fighting and being the strongest, and both of them were so headstrong and arrogant for lack of a better term that she might’ve just… tried to keep herself from getting attached n being hurt even more than she already might’ve been simultaneously 😞😞
that still just makes me so so sad though….. they always looked so happy when they were together… maybe if they could’ve gotten suguru to talk and really listened to him for once…. alas ;; gege is an evil thing
U GET IT RIKO…
i feel exactly the same, i have two childhood friends who im very close to but none of us have ever been the type to really be vulnerable like that w each other and !! i absolutely think that strong connections need that, u need to be able to show even ur weaker side… n i guess the tragedy of suguru’s character is that he never felt comfortable showing his ”weak self” to shoko and satoru. T_T he will always make me cry like no other ….
BUT YES SHOKO !!! ur so valid riko. i love this woman so much n i think shes so interesting to talk abt !! ive been thinking abt the name thing too, i feel like its very telling of the sashisu dynamic; the fact that satoru and suguru ONLY (and i mean only) ever referred to each other w their given names, even after suguru’s defection… and how shoko refers to them as ”gojo” and ”geto” even though gojo still calls her shoko…,
i think its super interesting !! i rly rly wish i was able to read the og japanese manga, bc i feel like so many little language details like that get lost in translation (esp since the official jjk translation is kinda bad lol)… i wish we knew if shoko called them by their given names in high school, i want to think so but we just dont know </3
(i could be wrong but there was a translation on a recent chapter i read where shoko switched between ”satoru” and ”gojo”…… obv i dunno how accurate it is but i think itd be cool if we saw her start calling him satoru :’3 im delusional i still think my baby’s coming back)
but !! regardless i def think ur onto smth. i 100% see her as the type to get very detached to the ppl around her. thats why she seems so unbothered !! even tho she obv cares very much…. i think she loved both of them but she wasnt able to broach that gap between them, and after suguru’s defection i absolutely think she repressed herself even more…..
but its obvious that she still cares for them. like how she started smoking again after gojo got sealed / she found out abt kenjaku using geto’s body :((….
and yes i rly do think sugu couldve been saved if they had managed to open up like that <///3 thats what fanfic is for ig :’3… sob…..
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noraviolence · 3 years
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nier replicant has such silly voice acting i love jrpgs
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crackinwise · 3 years
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Hii! Do you have any fem/genderbend ishimondo headcanons! Love your work sm 💖
Thank you! <3
I've never been too good with fem genderbends because on the surface I'd rather the personalities stay the exact same to show gender doesn't dictate that. It's a pet peeve of mine when characters are suddenly a delicate feminine flower either due to misogyny in genderbends or even due to weird homophobia about positions in the bedroom. But I do recognize many little things would have to change in regards to how the characters are then socialized as female, how they grew up, what was expected of them, what values they took in. I worry about tackling that because I read slash for escape from life, and I also worry about projecting too much onto them.
I did try for you tho. It got a bit long.
For instance, Mondo believed in masculinity stereotypes so much that not living up to them made him overcompensate with rage and self-hatred. If Mondo was born a woman instead, would she believe in feminine stereotypes and be horribly unhappy trying to fit into them? If only Mondo's gender was changed and not anything else, I can't imagine Daiya would push fem!Mondo to be a woman who "knows her place". All Mondo's rules and respect for women come from Daiya and their mother, so this route is unlikely. At most, Daiya would be overprotective and discourage fem!Mondo from joining the gang or being there for fights. This Mondo's self-worth and sense of strength--both inner and outer--might fall even lower than in canon.
So would fem!Mondo end up bitter and hateful of feminine stereotypes (inner misogyny) and overcompensate by trying to be as macho as possible to fit in with her brother/guy gang members? This one is painful because so many young women go through that phase to try and escape being seen as "lesser" in society instead of realizing nothing individually changes that. Instead of being a bit patronizingly respectful of women, this Mondo would be angry with any who don't fight for themselves or don't act like her. She'd have a very misplaced assumption that women are responsible for the attitudes against them, because it's easier to believe it's that simple a change of personal choice rather than needing to dismantle an entire world structure.
My wish that I'd end up projecting onto fem!Mondo would be that this gender switch actually makes her happier. She'd see the toxic masculinity from an outside perspective and realize it's bs, and she'd see the women bosozoku being their truest selves while flicking off society, holding their own, and loving it. She'd still be crude and violent and blame herself for Daiya, but there wouldn't be the deep wound in her psyche or the teen testosterone ramping it up. Beside having fun being herself, her side mission in life is to fight beside women for other women who can't.
Kiyotaka might get it worse here. In canon, he's much more balanced in regards to loving all things masculine while not letting the stereotypes affect his emotions or love, but flipping that to a woman's life would derail a lot. Fem!Taka's grandfather likely wouldn't have pushed or influenced her to follow him into politics due to her gender. He might have pushed her into duties a rich, corrupt, older generational skeeze sees as more fitting. She'd still be obsessed with morals and rules, but now there's the dark edge to it that gets socialized onto girls.
Would fem!Taka be allowed to be loud and authoritative? But society's rules say that's a bad thing for women. How can she restore her family's honor and marry to decrease their debt if she's not the ideal traditional Japanese woman? So would she try and keep failing, hating herself for it? It's not that she doesn't excel in studies and tasks and manners; it's just that she's loud, proud, opinionated, corrects men left and right if they're wrong, and has a bit of a temper. She's Taka, after all. Not being as proud as canon!Taka is at being herself is heartbreaking. The request canon!Taka made to be punished for failure takes a disturbing twist if it's fem!Taka.
To wish-project onto fem!Taka like I want, I'd use the same formula as with fem!Mondo. Taka is smart and observant. She'd try to fit into perfection like her family/society wants, but quickly realize there's other ways to prove herself. No past woman made the world better by sitting down and shutting up. Her goals for politics might develop to prove even more than the worth of the Ishimaru name. She might even try military service to get honors in the armed forced and aim for General (only 6% of Japan's military was female in 2018), but that might clash too much with her sense of morals. She could join the police like her father and seek to help people, but again she might see too much that'd grate against her morals with no way to change things from her position (Tokyo police was 10.2% women as of 2020, and none are higher than 4th ranked position).
So let's keep politics, and/or activism. Fem!Taka would be a fierce feminist. Marching, organizing, protesting, drafting laws, and petitioning equal opportunities for women. Who cares what society thinks is right for a woman to do when The Moral Compass knows what's actually right? And ya know who would love that? Fem!Mondo. Yeah, the lectures about no violence to achieve women's liberation isn't something Mondo is gonna adhere to (good for her), but Taka would be just as smitten and forgiving after the initial arguments. Multiple arguments. Never-ending.
Together, they just might create the change they're looking for. Queens. But, again, that's with my projections.
Without that, left in the Danganronpa-verse, they'd likely be more unhappy, unhealthy, and just as doomed. They'd still get together in the sauna or baths, work through their misconceptions and declare themselves sisters. Fem!Mondo's catalyst might be finding Chihiro's lie, thinking living as a small/weak woman is a better option, and Mondo misjudges her own strength in her instinctual blow.
Fem!Taka still defends Mondo, and still gets her heart ripped in half. Would the others (save for Hiro, who's a gem) be more inclined to help a traumatized Taka as a woman? I mean, statistically they might be even less interested by seeing her as an overdramatic or hysterical girl. So Taka would still end up coping badly, and still run into a sure opportunity to die. At least Hina might care more about fem!Taka's death than fricken Hifumi tho.
Meanwhile, every single artist's interpretations of fem Taka and Mondo designs? Flawless.
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shintorikhazumi · 3 years
Text
“CABBAGE”
A/N: First, I wanna apologize to the Diakko day mods that reviewed a completely different fic for me that was supposed to be my entry, but then... boom new diakko day entry. I’m sorry ;-;, I just couldn’t figure out a flow that would still have what I had in mind. Uwu, sorry for using up your precious time.
Soulmate, non-magic? AU. Cliche stuff, common trope. STILL. I’m using it. Fun fact, I slaved away for this for two/three days hoho~ peak procrastination, don’t encourage it. Also on ao3, but I have a habit of posting full chaps on tumblr. Teehee. This is... long... (could have been a crazy multi-chap, ey?) but I guess that’s what you get for trying to fit a full story with an AU setting that needs to be established. Sorry if it feels slow with regards to reaching DiAkko, but don’t worry, from when they come along til the end, you’ll have loads of them. Sorry for the pacing tho :((( I also apologize in advance if there are some OOC bits that y’all might not like. Not too confident in it, but hope you all like it. I DID NOT BETA READ THIS ANYMORE BECAUSE I’M TIRED OF THE LENGTH OF IT LMAO. Anywho...
Happy DiAkko day! Enjoy?
~Shintori Khazumi
It was a normal thing, really. She had grown up with a thin chain slung around her neck, attached to another tiny metal thingy resting against the skin of her collarbone. On cold days, she would keep it in her pocket because god knows how weirdly tingly and-or painful that felt on bare skin. Sure she could have chosen to just wear it so that others could see it- actually, wasn’t she going against society’s rules when she hid it? She was, wasn’t she. Heck, it surprised her now that she’s realized it. Why hasn’t she been arrested yet? This is a crime isn’t it? Her mom, her dad, would they get to say their farewells once she got incarcerated-
“I can see it on your face, that you’re thinking about something totally stupid again.”
“Shut up, Sucy.”
“Just saying.” Sucy shrugs, going back to working on their chemistry lab activity. “I mean, I kinda just want you to focus on what we’re doing. Unless you want me to slip in some stuff in your project there.” She grinned in that evil little way the brunette had come to know her for.
“If I know you, which I do, you’ve probably already done that.”
“Akko! I can’t believe you’d accuse me of something like hurting my friends.” Sucy really couldn’t sell the ‘feigning shock’ act as her monotone words did little to convey emotion, and that forced gasp was probably just everyone else’s normal manner of breathing. Which was scary, now that she thought about it. Did that mean Sucy’s normal breathing was even less obvious? Oh god, now that Akko thinks about it, she would sometimes joke in her head about how she often wondered whether or not Sucy was actually dead during sleepovers.
‘I mean, come on! She sleeps like a corpse in a coffin! And she always looks so pale-’
“I knew you were thinking about something stupid again.” Once more, her thoughts were brought to a halt by that lazed, snarky voice that could only belong to her best friend who shared her mutual desire to strangle one another.
“I was just wondering if you were undead or something.”
“Screw you.”
“Wish I’d find someone to do that...” Akko muttered under her breath, to which Sucy sighed. She had heard it, and immediately knew what the Japanese was about to get hung up on. Again. Like she always did.
A hand reaching over to pat her back in consolation, but Akko felt a little worse, feeling that small, hard material lightly tapping the area along with the rest of Sucy’s hand. Sucy chuckled, sympathetically. “I know you’re constantly in a state of heat, Akko-” Or not.
“I am not, you bitch!”
Sucy could stand to ignore that. “-But really. Are you really that obsessed with finding your soulmate? We’re all young and all that jazz that those old hags keep yapping about. You have a lot of time, you know?” She smiled a sincere smile this time, trying her best to comfort her friend. “And besides, even though it’s something written on official print that most people find their soulmates at sixteen, most isn’t all.”
Akko felt a little better. Sucy could be an asshole, but as a best friend, she really knew what to say to Akko sometimes.  
“-That’s basic English that even you can understand.”
She takes it back. She takes some of her heartfelt gratitude back. “I hate you.”
“Aww, I abhor you with all of my non-existent heart as well.” Sucy smirked, swatting Akko’s attacking hand away. “Muah~” She threw in a wink for good measure.
“Ughh, oh gosh... Professor Croix!” Akko bemoaned to their supervising teacher. “Can I please use the emergency shower? And eyewash. I think Miss Manbavaran got her unholy sappiness spilled all over me.”
Croix sighed, rubbing the spot between her eyes with her thumb and index finger. Not this again. “Can’t you two ever pipe down in my class?” She sighed. “PLEASE?!”
“Nope.” -Was the deadpanned response.
“I now see why you guys are friends.” Croix groaned, walking over to their table. “You little shits just won’t give me a break. And yet, you’re so behaved with Chariot.”
“Hey! Sensei, cursing your students is bad!” Akko scolded, before adding, “Besides, this and that are separate matters. Prof Chariot is just sweet and so nice, you can’t bear the weight of guilt of hurting her. Right?” Akko turned to Sucy who just nodded.
“Shut it, Kagari. That is not a valid rea- wait... maybe it is.”
“See?”
Her head was starting to hurt. Just why had she decided to be a teacher in place of any other job involving chemistry? Really, there were so many other things she could have done!
Just as she was about to return the verbal jabs, a gentler voice inserted itself into their conversation. “Umm... guys, professor, the other students are being distracted by your... um... exchange.”
Three pairs of eyes blinked, before two widened in apologetic shock, while the other seemed to gleam in pleasure. “Sorry, Lotte.”
“Sucy, please try to look even the slightest bit sorry.”
And disappointment replaced them right away.
“Tsk.”
“Sucy... we will be having a talk back in our room.” Akko heard that audible gulp, reaching for her friend’s hand under the table, squeezing support.
“Don’t die.” She whispered.
“You too, Akko.”
“Noooo! How? I don’t even live with you two!”
Lotte was about to respond that Akko always stayed over, anyway, but the frantic screams of their teacher took the words far away from her mind.
“Akko! Akko! Your solution is bubbling! Wait, that’s not supposed to do that-” Croix’s concern was justified as in a matter of a split second, everyone in their immediate circle was covered in some bright pink substance. “SHOWER, EMERGENCY SHOWER-”
“W-we won’t all fit, Professor!” Lotte had begun tearing up, wondering if she was about to die from whatever toxic chemical their beloved dunce must have mixed in. Maybe if she prayed to something somewhere out there, the spirits of nature would take hers and maybe she could live as some kind of forest sprite in some alternate magical world, and crap, she was becoming delusional.
“Hoho~ What a nice outcome~.”
“Manbavaran!”
“Relaaaax, I switched out all of Akko’s components for some of my stuff. It was a precaution.” She smiled, unbelievably innocent-looking. “...and maybe added a little surprise.”
“Su.CY!” Akko lunged forward before being stopped mid-air, caught by the collar.
“Akko. Sucy. I’ll see you in the office later.”
“...your office?” They seemed amazingly unfazed. They’d probably been so used to being there that they must see it as a lounge of sorts. But no, Croix wasn’t going to be defeated by teenage rascals that were the cause of her hair prematurely turning white. No.
“Nope.”
“Th-then, Finneran’s?” They weren’t completely scared of the aforementioned teacher. She just gave them such an earful, sometimes they’d joke to Lotte about needing hearing aids at some point.
“No.” Croix’s smile grew despicably wide and dark. “Holbrooke’s.”
Lotte sighed in sympathy. Well, she’d expected this development sooner or later. “I’ll wait for you by the usual bench.”
//-//-//-//-//
A week of suspension. One week off school, no school or class-related updates allowed from classmates, and only check-ins and work drops from teachers. That was... surprisingly light after all the trouble they’d accumulated over the past first month of the semester. Or maybe it was because it was just the start of the school year that the headmistress really wanted as little to go wrong as possible. Preferably nothing would go wrong. Or it could also be the fact that they were in their senior year, and the teachers really wanted all their students to graduate.
But you could never tell with a group as rowdy as the ‘witches’ of Luna Nova International Institute. They were rightly labeled as such with the cursed terrors they had inflicted, every incident they’ d caused all over the school premises and beyond.
If it wasn’t Akko and Sucy, it was Jasminka somehow being able to sneak in and out of the classroom and buy out the entire snack section of the cafeteria, and making it back to class without anyone noticing. With her size, it was some kind of scary magic trick. If it wasn’t that either, then it was Constanze constantly installing who-know’s-what in the schools’ computers. It it wasn’t her, then it was Amanda and Hannah pulling at hairs, or cutting at each other’s necks, then the next thing you know they’re either making out in public, or making out in public... with Barbara. There was also Lotte when she was in her wild states of fangirling after a new Night Fall release. People tended to keep a safe distance from her during those times. (She’d once shaken a girl unconscious out of her sheer excitement at the mention of, ‘Oh, I read the latest release too’.)
Never a dull day with them.
Scarily so.
Holbrooke had smiled at them kindly as always, but there was just a little something else behind it that felt like Akko and Sucy were about to die on the spot.
“Please. I beg of you. Your first two years, we tried to overlook all your mischief as it did not pose any threat to the masses, only towards you and your friend group... well... physical harm or threat, at least. I don’t know how many people are psychologically scarred because of you.” She had said that, but they didn’t know if it was a joke, a serious statement, or both.
After being given twenty blank pages to write their usual apologies on- they shared a laugh, thinking back on when Amanda got fifty-, the pair made their merry way to the bench just by the school gate where Lotte sat, chatting alongside and excited Barbara, a Hannah with a fond smile directed at her life-time partner, and Amanda who was carrying both their bags for them, waving goodbye to Constanze and Jasminka who looked like they were just leaving.
“Aww, didn’t get to catch my little friend.” Akko pouted, wanting to hug Conz as she always did. She was so cute. And soft. Like a plush. Always calming Akko down.
“She’s gonna shoot one of her tiny lazers at you again. Those actually burn.” Amanda reminded, laughing as she remembered what Lotte told her about why they were late. “And I heard you two got some quality time with the big woman upstairs?” Her grin widened. “How many?”
“Twenty.” They responded in synch, hands aching from the memory.
“Heh... not bad. Doesn’t beat my record though.” She cackled, slinging an arm over Hannah’s shoulder, Akko not missing the glint on her left ring finger. How nice.
“Don’t egg them on, idiot.” Hannah sighed, peeling the limb off her. “And you all got nothing on these two.” She pointed a thumb to the still excitedly conversing pair. “They wrote a fucking novel for their apology. Literally. But the teachers were so tired of reading that they weren’t made to write apology notes anymore.”
“Hey! Cleaning the bathrooms aren’t the best either!” Barbara, now done with her talk with Lotte, turned to pinch the ginger’s arm.
“I mean, we all have cleaned them at some point.”
“True, true.” The group nodded in consensus.
“...”
“This is not a very good fact.” Barbara pointed out, and they all laughed, the ones seated slowly getting up, everyone ready to go home.
As they exited the gate, they all waved their goodbyes, Akko and her two best friends heading one way, and Amanda and her girls the other. Just as the sun was setting at that hour in the afternoon, red eyes caught the reflected glimmer of light against the three bands on each girl’s ring finger. Those same eyes traveled to similar hoops donned by the pair walking quietly in front of her, hands brushing by one another.
Really. She was happy all her friends had found their destined ones. Some partners may look to be as mismatched as Sucy and Lotte, and some cases were as rare as the three-way between the snarky British girls and their American idiot, but... the system had worked some magic in perfectly matching people, it seemed. They all seemed happy with who they had.
Akko didn’t know if this was some kind of spiritual occurrence like fate or the likes, or if this was just one ginormous scientific experiment on billions of guinea pigs across the globe, but... Akko wanted in on it too.
Placing a hand over where her heart was, she felt for the metal against her chest, clutching it through her uniform blouse.
Just when would her “soulmate” come?
//-//-//-//-//
Their first stop, as per usual, was the small apartment complex that Lotte and Sucy lived in. When their parents had discovered that these children had found the one meant for them, they were more than willing to help the girls move in together, and get used to a life-long companionship. They trusted them as they were both capable and level-headed, and Akko was so happy that her friends were happy. She always was.
Lotte invited her in. As always. And Akko should’ve accepted like she always did as well, but somehow, today... she just didn’t feel like it. So she made a random excuse, something believable enough, like how her parents had asked her to make dinner because they’d be home late, and the Fin just had to let her go, even if she felt something was off, and that the brunette might just be lying.
There had been a time when Lotte and Sucy had just gotten together that Akko seemed to distance herself from her best friends. They soon found out it was out of her concern that she might be intruding on their relationship, or bothering them, taking away from the time the pair could spend alone together as a couple. Obviously, they had never seen Akko as a nuisance, and were saddened she would think of such things.
With a talk, reassurances, and clarifications in place, their bond as friends became ever stronger, and more trusting.
But Akko still wanted to be considerate. Out of love.
...and maybe a little envy that made her want to distance herself from the sight of people with fulfilled partnerships.
Maybe she was just a sore, lonely loser who couldn’t truly be happy for her friends.
Who knows.
After jogging the rest of the way home, a simple five-minute distance away from the apartments, she reached that familiar wooden gate, the name plate “Kagari” shiny and clean, like her mother liked it. Pushing the swinging portion open, she walked up the driveway, smiling at her share little garden with her Mama. Looks like the vegetables were growing up healthy. Maybe she could try some new dishes out and have her friends give her feedback. The usual agenda.
“I’m home!” She called out in the foyer, shoes slipping off and set neatly to the side. A habit strongly instilled in her since childhood. “Mama?” The scents of vegetables and meat, and was that... cookies! Her mom was baking cookies! “Mama!”
Padding down the hall and entering the open living room, she found her father splayed out, snoring on the couch with a newspaper covering his face. Giggling to herself, she continued her way into the kitchen, spotting the one she’d been looking for, ear buds in and swaying to some music only she could hear. Akko smiled. Her mom was so youthful, she was such a girl. With her bright pink apron and bunny slippers, and impeccable manners and home skills.
“Ma~ma!” She called, hugging her mother’s waist from behind.
The older woman yelped, spatula flying into the air, but with Akko smoothly catching it and licking off some of the sauce on it. She tried not to look into those disproving eyes, and simply released her mother and went to wash the utensil.
“Akko...”
“I said I was home! You didn’t hear me, mama. This is revenge.” She grinned cheekily, her mother sighing before a fond smile played on her lips.
“Fine, fine. But just this once, okay?”
“Hai~” Akko gave a mock salute, enjoying this moment with her mother as the her co-brunette rolled her eyes fondly. Akko walked up to her, kissed her cheek, and attempted to “appease” her mother by offering her exemplary culinary services- or so her dad had once claimed. “Let me help you out?”
Unable to keep up the annoyed act longer, her mother slipped into giggles, turning to gather her daughter into her arms and pepper kisses all over her hair. “Thank you, baby. Please chop me up some of the veggies in the bag by the sink.”
“Roger!”
And they shared another laugh at the voice coming from the other room, screaming a sleepy, “WHO’S ROGER?! ANOTHER BOY-”
The usual always felt so good.
//-//-//-//-//
Dinner had been fairly uneventful. Her cousin- the relation fairly distant- who currently lived with them wasn’t home still, just like always. She knew he was always busy at school, and with the little business her father had him manage, so that was a normal thing as well. She had ended up just confessing to her parents what she’d done in school this time, in hopes that her being honest instead of them finding out via a phone call from school first would ease the inevitable punishment awaiting her.
It... kind of helped. Kind of.
Her father had laughed so hard, clearly amused at her and Sucy’s antics. Her mother sighed deeply, not knowing if she should even still be disappointed anymore. Akko and school accidents and incidents weren’t uncommon at all, after all. It wasn’t a surprise. Really, the biggest school-related surprise they’d gotten was the fact that Akko wanted to take a science-related course instead of an arts one. They knew it had always been her dream to be a performer. So why was she taking that when Luna Nova offered the Arts as well. It was something they would forever wonder about.
Akko was usually so open and honest with them in just about everything, but this was one thing she would never clear up with them. And they could never understand why. There was definitely a deep reason behind it. But why did she have the need to keep it to herself? They worried, but they also believed in her, that she would tell them if she needed to. She was that kind of child.
They hoped.
Kissing her parents good night, She walked away from the kitchen banter of who should wash the dishes between the two adults, and trudged up the wooden stairs to her room. Akko had offered, but they said she should just rest up. She looked like she had a long day. Besides, she had a week to help out at home. Akko shivered at the thought of being worked like a mule. That was a joke of course, but her mama could be so Spartan sometimes.
Her door clicked close, and she immediately found herself face-first in the soft covers of the lower bunk of her bed, lights of the room still down. Originally, the Kagari’s had been expecting twins because of how large Akko’s mother’s stomach had been. Apparently, they were simply blessed with a very healthy baby. (She was a fair bit taller than her mother, and had a good height for a Japanese woman). As Akko grew up, however, she insisted to keep the bunk as it seemed like it could be useful to turn into her own little fort. Plus, sleepovers wouldn’t be much of a problem in terms of space.
Flipping onto her back, she stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars pasted onto the top of her ceiling. It was fairly high up, with this side of the house being designed a little differently, the roof of Akko’s room forming a dome. This was at her request as a child after attending one of Professor Chariot’s public lectures on stars as a child. Akko had since then been hooked to them, the fading glow of the stickers allowing her sights of the constellations she’d painstakingly formed, sticking each point one by one with the help of her dad and a ladder.
She had been saving up lately to buy one of those small, portable planetarium projectors. She didn’t want to outright ask her parents for one, and she had taken a few secret part-time jobs to make up for the amount she needed. Little by little, she was getting close to her goal. She’d have one someday. One day.
Her eyes felt heavy all of a sudden, an arm moving to rest over them as her breathing slowed, thoughts drifting to stars and constellations, and myths, and tales, and fate, and...
Her world shut down.
//-//-//-//-//
“Atsuko. Atsuko, get up. Akko. Wake up, bloody hell, you sleep like a log!”
“Mmrrnghmm... eh?” Blinking her eyes open, she spotted a young man, brown hair just like hers, dressed in a cardigan and slacks, looking ready to go out on some date, or the like, or maybe he had more business as usual. “Andrew.”
“Akko.” He responded dryly. “It’s eight in the morning. I know it’s the weekend, but really, sleeping in isn’t a good habit.”
Rolling over to shield her eyes from the intrusive sunlight and man, she waved him away sloppily, ready to get back to rest, body feeling heavy for some reason.
“Akko!”
“You really do take my mom’s place when she isn’t around, Andrew.” Akko complained, sitting up, if only to get Andrew to pipe down. “Alright, I get it.” She rubbed the sleep away from her eyes, stretching her body out and taking in a breath of fresh air. “But if you’re here, I’m figuring my parents are out?”
She received a nod, followed by an explanation. “They said they had a picnic date planned for the whole day.”
Akko pouted. “Aww, and they didn’t think to take me along? How mean~”
“They tried to wake you up, believe me.” Andrew scoffed. “You could sleep through world war two without problem, however.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Get out, please.”
“Later.”
“I’m asking nicely.” Akko whined, slipping out of her bed, realizing she hadn’t changed out of her uniform last night.
“After I tell you about our plans for today.”
A well-shaped brow raised in suspicion at the words. “Our plans?” Akko voiced. “What do you mean. ‘our plans’? I don’t have any plans of spending time with you today, as far as my knowledge tells me.”
“Not that you have mu-” Andrew was about to throw in the usual insulting jab, playful banter, but refrained. He did actually need Akko to go with him.
“Hmm?” The lack of a biting response didn’t sit quite well with Akko. Something was up with her cousin, and she was sure that she was about to find out just what.
There was an awkward pause in the air before the older boy cleared his throat; maybe he should begin with getting on her good side. “L-lovely weather we’re having today.”
“Just tell me what you want from me and leave.”
“We’re going to the mall, please help me.”
“Why?”
“...”
“Why?” Akko pressed. If Andrew wasn’t going to give her a good enough explanation, she wasn’t going to move a single inch.
“...It’s Denise’s birthday soon.” He confessed, and Akko actually backed off.
“Oh.” She immediately understood what Andrew wanted without him having to expound on his earlier statement. Really, he could be such an adorable dork sometimes, especially when it came to Denise.
Denise was Andrew’s set partner. She was a kind person, gentle, lady-like, intelligent, mild-mannered, but strong-willed. She was great. Too good for Andrew, Akko would tease at times. But really, they made such a good match. She liked Denise; she was sweet to Akko, exchanged treats with her, as well as tutored her from time to time, being in the same school and all. She also kept Andrew busy and out of Akko’s hair, so she was perfect! So if not for Andrew’s sake, Akko should at least do something nice for her friend.
“Give me half an hour. I’ll be ready by then.”
Andrew breathed a sigh of relief, offering Akko a grateful smile. “Thank you. I’ll see myself out then.”
“Finally!”
With a childish sticking of the tongue out at each other, a habitual thing they had formed, Andrew had closed the door to Akko’s bedroom, not forgetting to lock it behind him for privacy’s sake. Akko was thankful.
Instead of getting up, however, and preparing for the day with Andrew out of the room, Akko lay back down on the soft mattress, eyes trained to the top of the room again. As she saw her little clusters of stars and constellations, red ribbons connecting points one to the other, always to be linked even if they were far apart, never to be broken, her regular intrusive thoughts had begun making their way to the forefront of her mind again.
Fated people... soulmates, huh. Weren’t those terms just glorified ways of saying everyone was in some kind of arranged marriage they could never get out of? Wouldn’t there be at least one person averse to all this? Maybe? But why... did all the people she’s known, who’ve met their match-why did they all seem content?
Feeling for that familiar metal piece under her clothing, she pulled it out by the chain, observing it as it glinted against the morning light. Her finger traced over the engraving on the outside, admiring the workmanship, but frowning at the words.
She thought back on it all. How all this destined person stuff all started out, as the history books told them. Before the records of History ever existed, they said that the leaders of the ancient world had gathered together, seeing the ‘sorrow of the world’, and came to a decision of what to to do to make the world better in that regard. They decided that ‘LOVE’ was the answer, as cheesy as it sounded. And so a system was put into place that would overcome barriers and seas, both literal and figurative, of difference, and bring to mankind the meaning of true joy- Akko always found it incredibly sappy and cringey when it was laid out like that.
Like any system, there were the finer details that made it all work one way or the other. It is said that people are born issued with a ring to be worn on their person on all times. It was a mystery as well, how one could never seem to outgrow the ring. Like it was made to grow alongside you. It was made out of metal, however, and it made things all the more perplexing. Who knows what magic goes on behind all of this? No one knows who makes the rings, or who created this system; nor does anyone know who assigns partners to each other. All they’ve known are the facts that the rings were created, containing words that served to be a hint to who your soulmate is supposedly. When you meet that person, you’d just know. The words, they’d just make sense. It didn’t matter if it never did all your life. One day, everything would just click, apparently. That was how the words were chosen, they said. Then these rings would be distributed to countries and the government would be responsible in ensuring that they got to their rightful owners.
Honestly, this whole thing sounded like some deep cult-ish shit, and Akko was quite shocked that she- along with possibly millions, or billions- had never questioned it before. After all, it was the usual; as always, the norm. It could be something of a mysterious world movement that no one knew of, but with it simply claiming to have the goal of ‘bringing happiness to all citizens’, people hardly seemed to mind where it took them.
Akko remembered the first time she ever found it weird. She was in the fourth grade, and that day, they had learned the importance of the words on the rings. ‘Hints to finding your one, true love, their teacher had claimed, trying to rouse excitement from the students at the prospect of soulmates.
And while every other little girl squealed in joy and giddiness upon reading the words written on their rings, Akko had a look of distaste on her face at the sight of her words, immediately hiding the item from possibly prying eyes of her classmates who had already began to compare words with others.
She hated it. She had then ran home to tell her mother about it.
“Mooommm! Mom!”
“Akko? What’s wrong? You’re all sweaty and you still have your outdoor boots on-”
“Why does my word suck so much?”
“Huh?” The woman was lost for words, confounded by a simple question.
“Why does it suck so much? My word!  I mean...” Holding her ring out for her Mama to see, Akko continued on her rant. “What the heck does cabbage even mean?! IS HE A FARMER?! DOES MY SOULMATE LIKE CABBAGE THAT MUCH?!”
“Ah... well...”
“Why couldn’t it be something cool like yours and dads. ‘Eyes like rubies’, and ‘Rider from the north’ just sounds so badass and romantic! And then there’s me with CABBAGE.  Sure, the ring is pretty and all, but... WHAT IS CABBAGE?!”
“I... don’t know, sweetheart.”
Akko had felt so frustrated with her word, that she wanted to cry. “My soulmate sucks!”
Thinking back on those times, she sure was such a child. It wasn’t her soulmate’s fault that the government or whatever authority or higher power decided to describe him or her that way. If anything, her partner is a victim of slander. Even Sucy had it better with the description. Akko chuckled mirthlessly. What are those people thinking. Ah, her head was starting to hurt from overthinking all this.
“’Bring happiness to all citizens’, my ass. With a hint as weird and cryptic as this, how am I supposed to be ‘happy’ like everyone else?” Akko sighed once more, unclasping the chain from behind her neck, and taking her ring off, hanging it over her eyes, watching it dangle in the air, the elegant cursive of ‘cabbage’ pissing her off a little more than it should.
Along with the ring came a handbook of sorts. Akko’s sat atop her bedside drawer. In it were more rules, guidelines, and information to be taken note of, but they could only be read at certain ages, sections sealed off by some kind of technology that only unlocked come one’s birthday. An example of a rule was related to how to wear the ring. It didn’t seem to be a heavily imposed rule as Akko had done away with it all her life. It was that rings should be worn on your right ring finger so long as you hadn’t found your assigned partner, moving it to your left once you have. Akko had been ashamed of her word and had always carried it around her neck, hidden underneath her clothes. Her mother had scolded her for it in the past, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to get teased by the other children for having such a strange hint. She had believed that it would give her a hard time.
And it still did. With it being so vague and odd, there was no way this hint made much sense to her, at all. Would she ever find the person her whole being was linked to for a lifetime?
Besides the rules came soulmate-related explanation for the rings and words. An instance of this would be that the meaning behind the words would only be revealed to them once they entered fourth grade. She never understood the significance of that. Why couldn’t one just read through everything and understand it all at once? Well, not that it mattered. She would soon be turning eighteen, and opening a section that made her feel just the slightest bit bitter.
[What to do if you haven’t found your soulmate yet.]
Sucy may have told her that each person had their own time, and that she was still young, and had plenty of years to go searching. But when everyone else around you had already found theirs by the “normal” designated time, you’d start to feel quite isolated and lonely, right? She was already different from the rest with the weird-ass word she was stuck with, and now she wasn’t even close to being on the right track to finding the person it was pointing to.
It was frustrating.
Three knocks and a voice followed suit. “Akko? Are you ready? It’s been about twenty-five minutes, but I didn’t hear any noise coming from your room. Are you actually okay?”
Right. Andrew.
“I’m fine! Sorry, I got lost in thought. Be right out! Maybe in fifteen! My bad, really.”
“It’s fine, I’m the one requesting a favor, after all!” Andrew responded through the wood, and Akko felt his presence leave her immediate area.
Hopping off her bed and grabbing her towel, she made her way to the bathroom. Maybe a cold shower would help her stop thinking about all of this for a few. She really should stop questioning the whole system of practically the whole world. It wasn’t good for her sanity.
Turning on the shower and soaking herself, her assumption of her endangered mental health was confirmed.
“AH, I FORGOT TO STRIP!”
//-//-//-//-//
“You sure took your sweet time getting ready.” Andrew commented, locking the door behind them and tossing the keys into his pocket as they got to walking. Opening the gate for Akko with a bow, they shared a laugh, going on their merry way down the street.
As often as they got on one another’s nerves, they undeniably enjoyed each other’s company. It was nice. Akko liked it to an extent. The conversation was fun, the exchanges never dull, it was time spent well. What she didn’t like about hanging around with Andrew were all the stares and glares she got from people around. Much like now.
It would’ve been great if it ended with just observation, but there was always that one brave (or maybe stupid) soul who would come up to the pair to ask if they were an item. The brunette pair would then proceed to do their usual schtick of jumping a meter away from each other, and pretending to gag whilst glaring.
“NO WAY. WITH HER/HIM?!”
And despite the denial, instead of feeling joy at the availability of Andrew- Akko assumed it was him that people always wanted to confirm about anyway- there was no delight, only some form of fear. The creeped-out kind maybe?
Continuing their walk, Akko slapped Andrew’s shoulder, hard. The boy looked like he could bite her.
“Ugh... it’s already such a pain in school when we have joint functions and people mistake us for a couple. I was hoping it was obvious we were related.”
Andrew scoffed at the statement. “I’m sorry, but I’m actually quite pleased I don’t look to be related to your ugly face.”
He deserved the stronger smack, Akko would say.
“AKKO! That hurt!”
“You know what else hurts? The fact that people can’t seem to get it in their heads that not every guy and girl walking next to each other are partners. Damn, and I used to think it was a good thing that I could use you to get out of awkward confession situations.” Sometimes people did that, despite the entire ‘destined partner’ situation. “Weird times.”
“You actually get confessed to? Hahaha, why? Guys must need glasses.”
The tall lad flinched at the held up fist. “I’m kidding. You’re actually growing up to be quite pretty Akko.”
Eyes wide one second, then smiling sweetly the next, a chill ran up Andrew’s spine at Akko’s reaction... that suddenly morphed into disgust, a hand pinching his side. “Ew, I kinda liked you better when you weren’t so gross and cheesy.”
“Ah- h-hurts, that, Akko, that stings, ouch! Let go! I was trying to be nice!” Andrew retaliated with his own pinch to Akko’s slightly rounded cheeks. “Let go!”
“You lwet gfho!” They released their holds at the same time, rubbing the sore spots on their bodies. “Why were you suddenly being all weird?”
“...ate...etter...man...”
“What was that?” Akko couldn’t understand any of Andrew’s incoherent mumbling.
“...My soulmate told me I should really try to be a better gentleman... to you...”
“Haha, she’s right about that! You’re such a dick!”
“Oi!”
Before Andrew could physically get back at her, Akko made a dash to the mall entrance across the street right as the street light turned green for pedestrians. “Loser has to buy the other ice-cream!”
“That’s cheating!”
“Maybe!”
//-//-//-//-//
“See? You’re all out of energy now because of how rowdy you were earlier today.” Andrew scolded, hands on his hips, a paper bag with the chosen gift in it, slung around one wrist.
“Y’think so? This is usually... hah... nothing... to me.” Akko panted, plopping down on one metal chair by the ice-cream bar. “Weird.”
Andrew sighed, deciding to cater to Akko’s needs since she was nice enough to help him out today. “I’ll get you a water. What flavor of ice-cream would you like?”
“Matcha-Vanilla~” Akko drawled, now slumped against the table, liking the cool surface against her somehow, heated cheek. “Go forth, my peasant!”
“Noted, your eminence.”
“Mm, mm!” Akko nodded in approval, arms going under her head to cushion it. Her eyes were getting heavy. Did all that walking around really make her that tired? Her head was starting to hurt, and her body still felt heavy. Just what-
//-//-//-//-//
“Akko. Akko! Atsuko!”
‘...Andrew?’
“Tsk. Should I call an ambulance?”
‘Andrew...’
“Excuse me, are you in need of any assistance for your friend? My family owns a hospital nearby and we could take her there.”
Akko felt Andrew’s hand supporting her suddenly tense. “Geh- Cavendish...”
“My, Sir Hanbridge. Date?”
“Cousin.”
“Hmm...”
Oh? Someone... A lady? What a nice voice. Somehow it was comforting to Akko. It felt warm, it felt kind, it felt gentle. For a voice to feel something rather than sound like something, Akko must really be out of it.
Hands.
Careful, tender.
“A-An... wha-”
“Akko! Don’t talk. Just rest.”
“Akko, huh. Is that her name? Miss Akko?”
“mmrm?”
“You’ll be alright.”
That voice. Akko wanted to believe it. Who...
Soft. Soft. Akko was leaning against something soft.
“You’’ll be alright.” Was said again.
“Akko, you’ll be alright.” Ah, Andrew. But somehow, Akko would rather hear those words from the other person currently holding her in her arms. She felt bad. Not just in the sick kind of way. What was she supposed to do again? Oh right, she was helping Andrew. Where was she? Was she causing trouble? Ah, what if she was bothering this sweet-smelling, comfortable-feeling, gentle-sounding lady.
‘Hey... you...’ Hmm, her voice wasn’t quite working like it should. Maybe she should try to express herself again. Clearing her terribly scratchy and dry throat, she managed to croak out a single word.
“So...rry...”
“It’s alright.”
//-//-//-//-//
White ceiling, the absence of sticker-stars. Dim lighting, the low thrum of the air conditioner unit, and the occasional sound of something dripping. The scent of antiseptic.
Her right hand felt uncomfortable, like something was stuck in it. She lifted it up, seeing a slim tube running out of some secure, clear tape.
“You’re in the hospital, idiot.”
“Never a quiet moment with you, Andrew.”
A sigh. “I was worried.”
“...Mm. I’m sorry...”
“You didn’t tell me you were feeling unwell.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Don’t lie.”
“Couldn’t tell.”
“Akko!”
“Say, Andrew. Who was with you earlier?”
“Don’t change the subject, Akko- huh?” Reprimanding words died on the boy’s lips as the question sunk in. “Ahhh.” Recollections of earlier events came in. “The daughter of the owner of this place.” He threw in a few other details he thought Akko would want to know. “High-class lady. This place does too.” He decided to humor her queries, knowing she didn’t want to argue with Andrew anymore. He didn’t either, not when she was like this. A time and place for everything.
“Hmm...” Akko hummed, sitting upright and looking out the window. Andrew panicked, stepping forward, but Akko shooed her cousin away. “She sounded nice.” Akko commented. “Was she pretty?” Somehow her mind wanted to know. Her heart was clenching in some unknown need to know more about a voice she barely registered, a touch she fleetingly felt.
“You could say that. I guess to most, she’d be considered gorgeous?” Andrew mused. “Weird hair though.” Was added as an afterthought.
“Heh...”
“Curious?” He didn’t say it in a teasing town, only genuinely inquisitive at Akko’s not-so-subtle expression of interest in someone she barely even met.
“No? Not really.” She responded, everything becoming still. “Can I go home?”
“Once your tests come in.”
“How long have I been here?”
“Overnight.”
“Mama and dad?”
“Dropped by while you were asleep. Uncle was sobbing buckets, but Auntie dragged him out because they both had work. They paid off the bill and said they’ll see you when we all get home.”
Akko sighed, dropping back against her pillows. “I can’t believe I’ve caused so much trouble in a span of, what, three days?” Covering her face with one of the pillows, she screamed lightly into it, the muffled sound concerning Andrew. “I have to apologize a lot to them. Have to make it up to them... I even had them spend a lot of money on -ow! Andrew!”
Retracting the hand he used to chop her head, Andrew huffed. “Stop that. Your parents love you, you’re not a bother. Shut it. If you really want to make it up to them, get some rest right now as we wait, and get better soon. I suggest you make some dinner if you’re well enough.” He knew she often had insecurities, and tried her best not to bother people so much. He’d observed it from her relationship with her two best friends. She really was just a ball of energy that she couldn’t help but cause scenes, though. People hardly minded, anyway. If only she realized.
“Duly noted.”
Andrew nodded, walking over to the bed and sitting at the edge, whipping his head about to glare at the  owner of the leg that had just attempted to kick him off.
“You’re making the foam awkwardly sink. It’s uncomfortable. You’re inconveniencing the patient’s recovery.” Akko grinned, trying to get rid of the stuffy atmosphere that had settled by stirring up another banter session.
“Could you settle down for once?”
“I mean, I could.”
“Unbelievable.” He chuckled. “Fine, fine, I’ll give you your space. I’m going to the store. Want anything?” He offered, since the ice-cream he initially was supposed to treat her to as thanks was long since forgone on some cemented floor, probably already cleaned up by the workers of the shop.
“Orange juice.”
“Coffee? Understood.”
“Ass.”
“The good ass genes run in our family.”
“Oh my gosh, you did not just say that.” Akko guffawed, waving her hands, eyes sparkling with pride at the crude joke of her prim and proper, perfect-gentleman cousin.
“I did not just say that.” Andrew smirked. “Now rest before your fever comes back from all that tension you release. Good thing you’re off school for a while.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“I’ll be back in fifteen.”
“Hai~”
“Don’t disappear.”
“...”
“AKKO!”
“I won’t, I won’t!” She giggled, dropping the tease. “Now scram!”
“I swear to god...”
And with that, she was alone again.
Great. More time alone with her thoughts. And what better way to occupy that blank space that was her mind then to fill it with all her doubts, insecurities, and questionings.
One particular question stood out at that moment.
“Who... was the owner of that voice...” Along with that single question came a wave of interconnected ones that Akko could not understand. Why was there this sudden desire to just... know.
What did she look like? How tall was she? Was she fair-skinned? Tanned? Long hair? Short hair? Curled or not? How old was she? Were they the same age? Was she an older lady? Was she maybe in the same grade? From the haze that was her memories, it seemed Andrew knew her? An acquaintance? Why couldn’t he give Akko more details besides insulting that woman’s hair? Where was she from? She had an accent. British? Scottish? Did she live around these parts? Why...
Why was Akko so curious?
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Andrew, you know you can just, like... come in, right? You know I can’t even get up to open the door for yoouuu...huuu...” With the door swinging open to reveal the person on the otherside, Akko could only hope that she did not appear to be the stupid-looking gay dance she most probably was. “-...huuu...who...?”
‘Beautiful.’
“I apologize for the intrusion, but I just wanted to check on you. Oh, you may not even know me, I’m sorry. I should probably introduce myself, isn’t that right? Oh blood hell, Andrew, telling me to check on someone I barely know because you want to go off somewhere...” Akko heard her mutter that last bit under her breath before watching this gorgeous lady seemingly recover her senses. “-Ah, apologies, um... sorry! Wow, I suppose I’m saying that too much, aren’t I? We didn’t exactly ‘meet’ earlier, but... I don’t know, I was probably meddling in issues not concerning me, but... I couldn’t help but want to help you out. It was an automatic reaction as someone who has wanted to be a healthcare professional all my life, and I was so used to it, and then it just so happened to be Andrew and... well, you and- and I-” Fair skin, lithe, fairly tall frame, a melodic voice, gorgeous blue eyes hidden by long lashes and ...strange hair, due to an immediate bow upon spotting the confused gaze of the patient; this person was...
“You’re rambling, miss.”
Said Miss bristled, expression flustered and eyes darting about in her embarrassment. “S-sorry.”
Akko panicked at the saddened apology. She just made a pretty girl sad! “N-no! I-” Their eyes met and then it was one of the most magical and equally painful moments of Akko’s life, she concluded. “Hi.”
“Hello.” The girl nodded back in acknowledgement.
“Akko.” She blurted out. Then just like that she witnessed a world wonder contained in such a small room, in just one girl. There was just something in the way her eyes lit up that pleased Akko very much. It was as though she was the catalyst for such a breath-taking phenomena. Blue stars, passionately burning, brightly so, like her favorite celestial bodies. “...Rigel...” She murmured.
“Huh?”
“Oh? Huh? Eh, um...” Arms flapping about, she tried to graps control of the conversation, not knowing where it was going anymore. “Uh, my... name! My name is Akko! Ahaha, sorry ‘bout that.” --She scratched the back of her head sheepishly with the hand not attached to the IV tube.
“Miss Akko... Rigel?” She tilted her head, and by gods that was the cutest thing Akko had ever seen in her life. But Wait-
“Oh! No, nono... no hahaha.” She laughed, waving her hands in front of her, realizing that what she said had been mistaken as her name.
“I... My name is Kagari Atsuko, but you can call me Akko.” She clumsily reintroduced herself.
“And Rigel...?”
‘Is a blue star that is put to shame when in comparison to your ethereal ocean eyes-’
“Oh, it’s just... just a star I like, hahaha...ha..ha.” She needed to save this dying interaction, fast. She didn’t want this goddess of a lady to walk away just yet. Who was she? Why was Akko panicking so badly? Why was her heart running miles per second? Where did these confusing feelings stirring from her chest come from? Could this just be... Was this girl... Was she... could she be who Akko thought she was? She didn’t even know her name yet, but the way she made her feel, it was like some universal, natural phenomena that could only make sense in the context of... that. Who was she? Who was she? Who-
“Diana.”
Diana, apparently.
“Diana.” She tested, the name unfamiliar, but incredibly welcome and sliding off her tongue so naturally, and with ease. Like she was meant to know such a name all her life. “Nice to meet you.”
She patted herself on the back for a good greeting, with good manners, even happier when she received a soft smile in return.
“The pleasure is all mine.”
“No, no, the pleasure is mine, I mean... pleasure, I’m... feels good to meet you, I mean, because you saved me and all, from what I can understand, so pleasure, good feels- no- what am i saying?! I’m sorry, Diana, er miss? Diana? Miss Diana?”
“Diana is fine.”
Diana was indeed SO fine.
“Th-thank you for being so beautiful.”
“What?”
“Tha-thanks for saving me, I mean, helping Andrew out in saving me, but that means you saved me too, so I just thought I should properly thank you and all that and express gratitude because that’s the right thing to do, amiright? And of course I’m right so thank you, Diana, thanks for everything, and the hospital and the room and all, oh but you don’t own it, but your family does, so does that mean you own it-”
“Akko.”
“Yes?!”
“You’re rambling, Akko.”
Akko was a burning hot mess of foolishness, but if it prompted such heavenly giggles from such an angel- no a goddess, alongside her name that sounded divine coming from soft pink lips- that she was absolutely not staring at- then she hardly minded at all.
And then there was silence.
“So...”
“So...”
Diana awkwardly shuffled on her spot, the tip of her shoe tapping against the floor impatiently, hand fiddling with a button on her shirt. It took so much willpower for Akko not to direct her eyes there.
“I guess I’ll get going.”
“A-already?”
“Eh?”
“Eh?”
“Ah... I mean... if you have... stuff to do, I guess... I... shouldn’t be stopping you or anything of the sort, right?”
Akko didn’t like that frown, however miniscule it was, on Diana’s face.
“I... I’m a little busy, I apologize.” She spoke softly. Akko’s heart clenched, and she cursed her insensitive ways. “But... I can come back tomorrow? If you’d like?” -And it leaped up in joy just as quick. More time! More Diana! More getting to know her!
“Y-Yes! Of course! I’ll wait here for you! Pinky swear! I- woah...” The world was suddenly spinning, and Akko had to lean back for a moment, vision swimming in color.
“Akko!”
Said girl was beginning to get addicted to the feeling of Diana’s presence by her side. That was not necessarily a good or bad thing. She couldn’t get attached to her, not when she knew nothing about her. She couldn’t... be acknowledging these feelings blossoming out of nowhere without confirmation of whether or not this person was meant to be hers, and she was meant to be with as well. But she was addicting, Diana. A strong drug. Just one whiff and she was high on her existence.
“Geez, you should be resting. I’m sorry for bothering you, and keeping you up this long.”
Akko heard none of those words. Akko was curious. So Akko just had to check. Hands weakly grasping Diana’s cooler ones, fingers roamed, feeling around until they touched even colder metal... on Diana’s... left... hand.
“Akko?” The concern was palpable in her voice, Akko’s senses blurring the world out as her hands dropped to her side.
Frustrating.
She somehow hoped what she’d been experiencing these past few minutes were the signs of her finding her soulmate, but it seemed as though she may have been wrong. Maybe it was simply infatuation, or a shameless lust overtaking her in her weakened state.
It shouldn’t be this frustrating.
It shouldn’t be this painful.
She shouldn’t have been so impatient and jumped to subconscious conclusions.
Diana had already found her soulmate. Just like everyone else.
Everyone but Akko.
//-//-//-//-//
When she came to, it was dark. She felt much better than she had yesterday, and earlier on today. Turning to her right, she saw Andrew seated on a chair, back facing her as he was conversing with someone.
“I wonder what got into that girl? Her new friend seemed worried.” That voice...
‘Mama.’
“You mean Diana?”
Akko flinched at the name.
“Is that her name? My, she was so cute. If you weren’t already matched to someone, Andrew, I think you’d look good together.” Akko felt a twinge in her chest, only slightly soothed by the sound of Andrew choking on something, his drink maybe. Tea? Coffee?
“I’d rather not be involved with her like that.” Andrew responded after composing himself.
“Eehh-”
Akko couldn’t listen any longer. The pain of everything was just starting to come back. She just wanted to get away. Away from this place that kept reminding her of her chance encounter. She just wanted to go home. She just wanted to hug her mama.
“Ma...ma...” Her voice warbled. “Mama...” She tried, louder. Somehow her voice was so weak, the thought of it not being able to reach the person she trusted the most in the world, hurt. “Ma... ma... mama! Mamaaa...” Slowly, she regained her voice, cracked and unsteady. And finally she was heard. “Mama!”
“Akko!” Before Akko could even blink again, the woman was at her side, a hand brushing bangs away to clear her warm forehead, a refreshing kiss planted there. “Akko, my baby.”
“M-mama... Mamaaa...” She moaned out, engulfing the woman in her tight hold, sinking into a familiar scent. “Mama...”
“Yes, Yes. I’m here. I’m here, Akko.” She cooed, hands combing through chocoloate-colored tresses.
“Mama.”
“Yes?”
“I wanna go home.”
“Eh? But you aren’t okay yet-”
“Please. Let me go home...”
She felt her mother pull back. She couldn’t face the eyes seeking hers. “Akko? What’s wrong, sweetheart? You’re not feeling well, and yet you want to go home before you get better. Is something the matter?” Akko couldn’t lie to those.
But she could try.
“I just think I’ll be able to rest better at home. My... my fever isn’t that bad.”
“But you were just crying out for me...”
“I was just... feeling lonely. Please, Mama. Let’s go home.” She couldn’t say it was because she didn’t want to meet a certain lady, weird blonde hair and enchanting blue stars never leaving her memory. “Please...” Because more than the pain inflicted by her sickness, she couldn’t stand the squeezing of her heart, its labored pounding more burdensome than the throbbing in her head. “Please, mama.”
“Akko...”
“Don’t be such a selfish brat.”Andrew scolded, eyes burning into the Akko’s skin. “Didn’t you just say you didn’t want to cause anyone trouble?”
Akko deflated in her mother’s embrace, and the elder boy sighed. He really hated seriously hurting Akko, especially emotionally. “But... We can leave first thing in the morning tomorrow, if you prove to be alright.” He turned the other way, hiding his expression from the girl. “So just get better.”
“Andrew...”
“Get better soon.”
//-//-//-//-//
It was against institutional rules to be running about in the building at any given time. Crowded or cleared, the halls were not made for such dangerous sport. Workers constantly made their way through these corridors; some pushing wide carts carrying planned food and beverage for every patient in the hospital; some nurses walked along with important, and sometimes painstakingly prepared medicine and treatments for patients that Diana threatened to compromise should she bump into them. In other areas she could risk bumping into one of the sanitary maintenance people, infectious waste at the risk of being spilled all over.
And Diana grew aware of all these things, surrounded by them from a tender age. Yet at this moment, she was in complete disregard for them, her footsteps rushed and padding softly against a marbled floor. Her eyes scanned every plaque above each door she passed, counting off the numbers, and reading the letters, her trip on autopilot.
One more corner, just the end of that corner. If she rounded that, then walked past three more rooms- She was feeling a regretful that she couldn’t come by earlier, the colors of the afternoon sky telling her just how close she was cutting it to the end of visiting hours. Curse all the school-transfer procedures she had to sit through. They didn’t need to take that long, did they? But she had made a promise of sorts. She had promised her new... friend, Akko that she’d come by and see her. She must not keep her waiting. She didn’t quite understand what it was that made her so happy about the prospect that the other girl actually wanted to see her- Diana assumed as such with how she was acting yesterday. Really... it was amazing.
Diana herself couldn’t deny that she saw something different in Akko, a substance far beyond what others could offer her that suddenly shifted the usual motions of her world upon meeting this girl. All her life, so many people came along trying to woo her, claiming that she was the one defined by their flimsy phrases that never moved her heart. ‘Beautiful lass’, ‘doctor’s daughter’, titles among other things. She had even found out a few faked rings that had been promptly reported to authorities for the grave sin committed. Thus, Diana could trust no words written on silly little rings; only the one written on her own, worn about her left ring finger.
She hadn’t found her soulmate, no. And maybe this was against the universal rules of whatever matchmaking system had engulfed society, but Diana did not want to be caught in a trap of a forever she could not escape unless she was absolutely sure that this was it. Maybe it would be unfair to her soulmate; maybe it would throw them off; maybe they wouldn’t realize right away; but if there was one thing Diana believed in that was rooted in this entire system, it was that if you met the one meant for you, you would know.
Her mother told her so. And Diana trusted her mother’s words above all other words.
One more door, one more plaque. Diana readied a hand to knock against closed-...open? The door was... open. Did Akko have visiting doctors? They sometimes left doors open for quick checks to save time during rounds. But no, that did not seem to be the case. She was surprised to see one of the cleaning personnel of the hospital folding up the sheets of the bed, passing it to his companion before they changed the covers.
Approaching an elderly male of the pair currently clearing the room out of any trash possibly left behind, Diana respectfully inquired, “Um sir? Where is the occupant of this room?”.
“Hmm? Ah! Young Miss, what are you doing here? Oh, were you perhaps the friend of the little girl staying here recently?”
“You... could say that.” Diana muttered, unsure.
“Oh, then she must have just forgotten to tell, you ey? Already left, y’see. The little miss, along with her mother and some fine lookin’ gentleman. Do you think that could be ‘er soulmate? Ah~ young, concerned love.”
Diana tasted an inexplicable bitterness in her mouth, heart squeezing. “Y-young man?”
“Mm-mm! Handsome fella, looked kinda familiar, but maybe I’m just getting it on in years.”
That... couldn’t be, right? While Diana wasn’t one to be guided purely by feeling, priding in her rationality, she just knew that that couldn’t be. After all... Akko was the only one she’d ever felt this strongly for in the lifetime she’s lived so far. She’d swear on her family’s motto of ‘affection’ that she’d only offer her fullest romances to the one the universe had destined for her, corny as that may sound.
She just knew it. She just knew it was Akko.
So who-
Andrew.
She suddenly chuckled. Of course. Who else could that young chap accompanying Akko be? He was the one who came with Diana to the hospital, he was the one who had told her go take that first visit. So of course, logically, without a doubt, the man that Akko should have been with was Andrew. Of course.
And there was nothing to worry about, soulmate-wise. Diana knew Andrew already had someone. She’d met up with them constantly at banquets. There was no obstacle, no other person for Akko. Right?
Akko... Akko who wasn’t here. In this room. Gloom encompassed her heart as she stared at the room dimming bit-by-bit as the staff turned off the lights. They told her that they should get leaving, and Diana nodded, informing them she’d just do one last look over the room for any possible missed items, then she’d lock the room herself, to which the workers reluctantly agreed, unable to go against the owner’s daughter. Well, she was known to be a good kid, so nothing should be wrong with that.
Diana, now left alone, remained stood by the doorway that served as the only light source to the room for a few more seconds. It wasn’t like constantly looking into it would magically make the one she was seeking appear, huh? With a deep exhale, she closed the door behind her, frown tugging at the edges of her mouth.
“You said you’d wait for me.”
//-//-//-//-//
Scritch. Scratch. A line, then two. A squiggle, a letter. A bubble from brew-
...huh?
“Aren’t you supposed to be helping me with my homework?” Akko frowns at her companion currently mixing questionable substances on her floor-table in her room. “That is why you’re here, right?”
“Course not. What fun would that be?”
“Should’ve known better than to invite you over.” Akko muttered under her breath, getting back to the unending pile of chemistry homework she was sure Croix assigned to them out of spite. “And how did you finish this all, anyway?”
“I’m smart like that.”
“You’re mean like that. Why can’t you help me out at least?”
“I believe that learning for yourself is the best teacher.” Sucy replied, emotionless as always.
“No you don’t.”
“True.”
“Hah...” Akko gave up. Forget getting help from Sucy. That wasn’t a possible feat, now that she thought about it clearly. The girl was just bored out of her mind so she easily agreed to come over. Akko was sure of it. Without Lotte in the house, and on their fifth and final schoolday away, Sucy- who had slowly gotten used to the concept of companionship- must have just wanted someone around, regardless of whether there was flowing conversation or not.
“Akko?” Andrew’s voice came from behind the door. Finally! A distraction! Wait, wasn’t Akko avoiding Andrew lately? Why was she avoiding him lately? “Akko?”
“Come in!”
“...huh? You’re actually letting me in?” The muffled voice asked, door now ajar. “Hey Akko, so... about what I’ve been telling you all week...” He began, looking nervous, and Akko had to wonder why. “So my friend, Diana, she-”
Ah. Right.
That’s why.
Quick on her feet, Akko gunned for the door, pushing it forcefully, and locking Andrew out, the boy’s yells the only things making it through the barrier.
“Akko! Akko! OH, COME ON! We’ve been at this the whole week!”
“And I told you this whole week, I don’t wanna hear it!!!” Akko hollered back.
“But WHY?!” Andrew’s exasperation oozed out of his voice. “Just give me a reason! Give her a reason! From what I’ve heard, you seemed to have hit it off pretty well?”
“Says who?” Akko asked.
“Diana!” Andrew didn’t like yelling, but Akko was being so hard-headed after he mentioned his blonde acquaintance. “Just what happened between you two?”
“Nothing! Nothing happened!!!”
“Then why does she keep bugging me about you, and why are you avoiding her like the plague?!”
...Why was Akko avoiding Diana? Was there any reason to? They’d met just the other day, had the most awkward conversation in her life to date, and then Akko felt something. Something she shouldn’t have, and let her hopes up, only to drop them lower than where they already were; and none of that was Diana’s fault. If anything, Diana could have proven to be another great friend she’d make along the way in life, y’know?
Akko didn’t know. She didn’t know what was going on; within herself, within her mind and her heart, in that one moment frozen in time between her and Diana, in a silent hospital room.
“I don’t know, Andrew. I don’t.”
Sucy’s potion stopped brewing.
//-//-//-//-//
“MY MADLADS! I MISSED YOU UGLY FACES!”
“Ugh, Amanda.”
“Oi!”
Akko grinned, messing up Amanda’s fiery mane in comfort from being rejected by Sucy. “Missed you too, Amanda.” A high-five rang out through the school lobby, the two energetic troublemakers missing that burning feeling on their palms.
“But man, you guys sure missed a lot. Who knew a week without y’all could turn the school upside-down.” Amanda whistled, their small group of eight finally assembling complete as Jasminka and Constanze walked up.
The small girl gave Akko this look that she completely understood, giving the girl a big thumbs up, and receiving a smile and nod. Jasna held out a lollipop which Akko gratefully accepted, and they all made their way to the corridors.
Suddenly registering what Amanda said a few moments ago, Akko’s interest was piqued. “What did you mean by turning the school upside-down?” She wondered just how much a school could change for her who was out for a week.
“Oh, well, maybe I was exaggerating a tiny bit.” Amanda chuckled, scratching her cheek. ���Just that, some new girl came along and now everyone is all head over heels for her somehow.” Amanda fake-cried, sniffling up some. “She even stole my babes! Along with all my popularity!!!”
That earned her two smacks to the head from two certain British girls. “We already told you, she was our childhood friend! Of course we’re inclined to keep her company and show her around!” They defended, scoffing. “Besides, you didn’t mind ogling her at all the other day, huh? You should feel grateful we let you in our dorm the other day.”
“B-babies...”
“Oof. You brought that on yourself, hot stuff.” Sucy grinned, wickedly. “But now I’m curious. If she could even catch Amanda’s eyes then...”
“Total hottie.” Jasminka commented through a mouthful of chips. “Everyone can vouch for that.”
“Woah, even Jas...” Akko laughed lightly. “Alrighty, let’s meet this new kid in town then! Where is she and what’s her name?” Just as they were about to pass the headmistress’ office and head for their homeroom, a hand tugged at the brunette’s collar, along with Sucy’s.
“Wait a second, you two. You’re supposed to report to Professor Holbrooke first, right?” Lotte, ever the dutiful friend, reminded.
“Ah dang, right.” Akko scratched her cheek, throwing Sucy a beckoning glance. “Guess it’s better to just get it over with.” She shrugged.
“Whatever.”
“See you all in class!” Akko waved goodbye, smiling as Lotte left a peck on her pale friend’s cheek, enjoying her rarely flustered state. Her heart warmed when Lotte gave her one two, patting the blonde’s hair fondly. “Thanks, Lotte.”
“Anytime.”
With their friends out of sight, they faced the suddenly intimidating doors.
“Now or never.”
//-//-//-//-//
“I’m glad we got excuse slips for being tardy to class. I do not want more yelling. Though I guess Prof Chariot wouldn’t do that, huh.”
“What did you say? I think I’ve gone deaf.” Sucy complained, rubbing her pained ears. “Finneran yaps like a bitch.”
“OI! Don’t let her hear you say that!”
“Don’t worry, I’m not up for more ‘counseling and healthy reminders’.” Sucy mockingly mimicked the strict teacher. “Christ, that woman must be senile.”
“Shhh, we’re almost at the classroom.” Akko hushed her bestfriend, door coming into view. She could hear a Professor Chariots distinct voice posing a question to the class, and there was a quiet that Akko knew was due to no one knowing the answer, not very uncommon.
But then there was one. A voice very uncommon, but somehow familiar, attracting, pulling her in. With her curiosity getting the better of her, Akko slid the door open, planning to softly sneak into class, forgetting that the room’s backdoor had a tendency to-
SCRREEEEECCHHHH
...that.
“H-hi? S-sorry we’re late?” Akko tried, dozens of eyes now resting on them, most surprised. But one pair stood out the most. ‘She looks good in our uniform.’ Akko’s jaw hung slack, a fight or flight response hesitantly building up within her. Her legs tensed, ready to bolt or stay rooted depending on the next move the one she was staring at made. “...Rigel...”
“...Akko.”
Then a hand reached out, and she was gone. Like the wind.
//-//-//-//-//
It had been a difficult week. Amanda was definitely right when she said things had been turned upside-down. Akko felt like she was too. So Hannah and Barbara’s childhood, hottie, transfer student, best friend just so happened to be Diana. Diana, Akko met her in the hospital and became enraptured with, Diana.
This posed a problem, along with unbearable tension within their group. Akko would always want to run away, and Diana would always seek after her. After awhile, the blonde grew weary, and just distanced herself, her childhood bestfriends obviously sticking by her side. Amanda had girlfriends to attend to. And Constanze and Jas usually followed Amanda. So now, it was just Sucy, Lotte, and little ol’ Akko. Like old times.
“Akko, just why are you avoiding Miss Cavendish? How do you know her?” Lotte asked on their way home. “Please? Tell us? I can’t stand to not spend time with the other girls anymore just because you two are at unknown odds. You’re a kind person, Akko. And Miss Cavendish is as well, from how I’ve gotten to know her lately.”
“Lotte, you... you wouldn’t get it.” Akko sighed. She was tired of entertaining Diana-related questions. All the ‘why don’t you two get along’ interrogations wearing her down thin: with Andrew at home, and Hannah and Barbara indirectly hounding her in school at every chance they’d get, trying to fish out for an answer that Diana couldn’t give to them herself, apparently. Not that Akko blamed her. She must just be as confused as everyone else with regards to Akko’s averse reactions.
“M-maybe I could try?” Akko missed the shift in the Fin’s tone, irritation over the week threatening to make her lose self-control and lash out. But no, she couldn’t do that. Not too sweet Lotte. She still had her senses intact.
“No, I’m sure you wouldn’t.” She firmly stated through gritted teeth, not looking at Lotte as she replied, so unlike her.
“I-I-”
“Akko, Lotte just wants to understand you.” Sucy stepped in, feeling that change in the air that she didn’t quite fancy. “Why can’t you just tell us? I know I may not act like it a lot, but aren’t we your best friends?” Akko held back a hiss behind pearly whites. She didn’t want to be a bad person. She had to be considerate of people’s feelings. Like always. Everyone was just curious. They were all just confused... but then Sucy had to just say, “Don’t you trust us?”
And Akko couldn’t hear that.
“I trust you! I do!” She whipped her head about, pointing a finger to them one-by one. “But you guys, you wouldn’t get it because you have your soulmate by your side constantly, okay?!”
“Akko...” Lotte’s eyes widened.
“I... I’ve been waiting a lot, and I know you said I’m being impatient. It doesn’t have to be now.” Akko huffed. “But do you know how it feels to look at all of you, all happy with someone who can love you completely? Understand you completely? I don’t have that! Not yet! And sure, somewhere down the future road, I might.... and it’s stupid of me, but I’m a lot more jealous and selfish than I look, okay? Everyone has nice words, and has met the person those words described perfectly, at the designated time, normally, as the book says.”
“Akko, the book doesn’t completely control everything-”
“And here I am, always subconsciously looking around, because maybe my person is out there too, y’know? But how the heck do I know?” A hand reached for the chain on her neck, ripping it out of her shirt so hard, it broke, the ring flying onto the ground. “Stupid! Stupid chain! Stupid Ring! Stupid words! Akko marched the few steps to the item, bending and snatching it off the ground, hand going in too hard, too fast that she scraped her knuckles badly in the process, the area quickly leaking red. “Sh- damn it, stupid- gaahhh!”
“A-Akko.”
Lotte stepped back, retracting the hand that had been reaching out for the heated Japanese girl, stomping at the ground. This... wasn’t an Akko she knew. How many years of pent up frustration was going into this session?
“You guys,” Her eyes were scary, sharp and menacing. Sucy jumped in front of Lotte at the sight of Akko’s bloodied knuckles coming their way at eye-level. But then it stopped. “You haven’t seen it, right? My words.”
They couldn’t even react.
“Cabbage.” Akko spat. “Goddamn cabbage. How am I supposed to know what that fucking means. How are you guys supposed to understand when... I can’t either... these words... myself... why I’m so impatient... what I’m feeling... Why... I thought it could’ve been Diana, but...”
“...but what, Akko?” Lotte hated how scared she sounded, seeing Akko flinch, knowing her friend noticed her fear. She knew how afraid of hurting her friends Akko was. This was all just a shock. That’s all. “What’s... what’s with Diana, Akko? Diana and you?” She posed the earlier question for the last time. Was Akko hinting at what she thought it was?
“She wears it on her left.”
//-//-//-//-//
Orange juice didn’t taste as good when you drank it alone on the stairwell leading to the roof. It would have been better had she been able to stand under the cloudy mid-day sun, the refreshing breeze taking her mind off things. But then it just had to rain, hard, and that ruined all her plans of clearing her mind via the healing powers of nature. Maybe she shouldn’t have told Sucy and Lotte to stay away and give her space. Having no one to talk to really sucked. More so than the strange word on her stupid government-issued ring.
“Ahhh, should I just go and apologize to everyone?” She muttered, squeezing the juicebox she thought she’d emptied, but did not know had bits of liquid left. The purely concentrated citrus then spilled onto her exposed, skinned knuckles, making her hiss in pain. “Tsk, stupid. Grrr!”
“Ah-!”
“Ah?” The yelp caught her attention. She was alone in this place, right? “Hello?”
No response.
“Anyone there?” The only ones replying to her were the winds that howled behind the metal door that led to open roof. Those sounds were starting to sound like how she’d imagined ghosts would in the dead of night. “Helloooo~”
Still nothing.
“Maybe it was just my imagination?”
“STAY AWAY!”
Okay, that was NOT her imagination. That was a girl. Looking around for some kind of weapon, Akko readied herself to beat up whatever girl-harassing creep she’d find once she rounded the bend in the stairwell. Holding up a sturdy wooden broom, she tiptoed down, steps making no sound.
On three, she’d jump and smack the living shit out of whoever was there. One... two...
“Akko, please save me!”
And she slipped and fell in her surprise; her back was going to hurt like hell over the next few days. Alas! She must stay vigil! Save whoever this damsel in distress was- Diana... It was Diana. Diana Cavendish, as she’d learned the girl’s name, and a few other trivial details about her, over the course of their time not together. (Akko also denies any and all claims that state that she spent a lofty amount of time observing the taller girl. She didn’t know things like how she was Scottish, or how she loved horses and anything that looked like a unicorn, and that she was intelligent, and smelled like vanilla and mint.)
“I’ll save you?” She managed in her ruffled state. Before she could process anything more, the girl had clung to her, both now laying on the floor; one in an utter state of bewilderment, and the other... dealing with whatever it was she got going on before Akko had found her. “Umm... Diana?” She tried, forgetting her phobia of the girl over the past few days, and rubbing her back gently to gain her attention. She was shaking like the leaves outside in the storm. Just what had happened. “Diana? What’s wrong? What am I saving you from?”
There were no signs of any bad guys, as far as Akko could see. She was grateful for that. She wasn’t sure she could defend them in this position.
“Miss Cavendish? Heir to a billion-dollar hospital? What’s up?” She was trying to be nonchalant in an attempt to possibly calm the girl, and it worked somewhat, allowing her to see that beautiful face, tear-stained and all. “H-Hi.” How lame.
“Akko... the... there... it...”
“Hmm?” She lent an open ear, looking around, still not seeing any signs of danger. Then a well-manicured finger came up and pointed to one of the panels of the hallway’s windows. Akko squinted, not seeing anything. Had Diana seen some kind of floating ghost outside? Or was she seeing it inside, and Akko didn’t have the sixth sense for it? Did Diana have some kind of sixth sense? “What exactly...”
“B...”
“Buh..?”
“Bee.” She squeaked.
Akko gawked.
“Bee.”
“B-bee.”
“Bee?”
“Bee!”
“B-”
“Akko, please just get it away! I’m scared!”
“Y-yes, ma’am!” She scrambled to her feet, but not without gently seating Diana up, even if it was on the dirty corridor floor. Opening the window and grimacing as strong winds blew droplets of water into her face, Akko shooed the poor insect into nature’s claws of death. “Sorry, buddy. Princess doesn’t seem to like you.” Blowing it a kiss, she shut the window, wiping her face on the sleeve of her jacket.
Now... to face a larger problem... or not face it. Maybe Akko should get running again.
She should.
“Well, this was nice and all that, but I guess I should get- ouch!” Diana had caught her hand in alarm, accidentally pressing against her open, yet-to-heal wounds.
“M-my apologies!”
“It’s f-fine. It’s okay, please let... let go.” Akko didn’t like the way her heartrate spiked in Diana’s presence. It grew even more erratic, wildly jumping every which way in her chest as her hand was held more gently, blue eyes scrutinizing the reddened skin, the heiress didn’t seem to have any plans of releasing her. “Diana?”
“May I... May I treat you? That blue sparkle was redirected from her knuckles to her own dark reds. They were so hopeful and compelling that Akko, despite thinking that avoiding Diana would kill whatever held-back, buds of feelings she hoped to dash, just couldn’t help but consent, cursing the way her chest lightened, heart soaring.
She was absolutely doomed.
//-//-//-//-//
It was a quiet affair.
Torturous. No one said a word. To be fair, they’ve only had two somewhat proper conversations so far, so not knowing how to break the ice shouldn’t be that odd.
But it was, and Akko couldn’t take it. Diana had just finished cleaning Akko’s wounds under the sink in the infirmary, and was now dabbing them gently with antiseptic. She was so careful, touches feather-like soft. Akko barely felt anything, much less pain. So maybe she could start with talking about that. Maybe.
“You... You’re hands are real nice.”
“H-huh?”And down fell the cottonball she’d been holding.
“I-I mean... you’re really good at this. Tender and all that. You’d... make a good doctor.” Akko commented off the top of her head, running out of things to say, as she always did when faced with one Diana Cavendish. “A pretty doctor. Patients would... probably feel healed just from your... face. Or something.” Smooth, Akko. Smooth. Could Diana, like... at least help her out a little by responding? “Please say something.” Akko begged in a whisper.
“O-oh, I... thank you, Akko. Thank you for the compliment. I...” Momentarily lifting her eyes and meeting Akko’s gaze, the blonde averted hers, a thin touch of red spreading up to her ears, not unnoticed by the injured Japanese. “I appreciate your words.”
Akko hummed, not trusting her mouth to communicate properly anymore.
“I think you’re... face is a healing balm as well.”
Akko felt herself blush as well, head tilting up so she could face the ceiling. It was one of the most brainless compliments she’d ever heard in her life, and she knew she just said something along those lines as well. And yet it made her heart flutter like nothing else had before.
“Don’t mention it and... thanks.”
//-//-//-//-//
You never know when an event becomes a catalyst for reality to undergo great changes. Their little bandaging session had returned the next day. Akko was quite clumsy with these types of things. Each time she’d gotten hurt in an accident, she’d always ask Lotte to do it... but today... all their friends, and even the classmates they’d unintentionally dragged into their awkward little world, were staring in awe as Kagari Atsuko stood in front of Diana Cavendish’s desk, inviting her out to the infirmary.
“I-I’m just having her help me with my bandages! Don’t get the wrong idea!” Akko yelled as she guided Diana out, unknowingly holding her hand all the while. No one commented on it. Not even Barbara and Lotte who were exchanging curious little smiles. Something was changing. And it was a good change.
Reaching the infirmary, Akko headed straight for the sink, rinsing her knuckles under clean water while Diana gathered what she needed. Once done, they met by some chairs placed about the room and took a seat, the blonde girl looking over Akko’s hand.
“Come tomorrow, you might not need to bandage it anymore. Just apply some ointment. I think the nurse can recommend something.” Diana stated, looking up to smile at Akko who flushed at the attention.
“O-okay. I got it.”
“Great.” She then got to work, applying what needed to applied, and wrapping the clean white bandage after. Diana did this in her usual silence, focused. Sort of. There was one thing that had been nagging her for quite some time now, ever since she got to take a better look at Akko, now that they attended the same school. It was a  unnerving, however. It hadn’t been long at all since they... ‘got along’, and Diana didn’t want to present something that might cause them to drift apart again. But it was eating at her, the need to know about it. It would determine how she’d interact with Akko from now on. It would show her what kind of relationship she was allowed to pursue. She needed a confirmation. She braced herself. Trying shouldn’t hurt. She could change the subject after testing the waters.
“Akko.”
“Hmm?” Was the casual-sounding hum.
‘She’s calm. Calmer around me.’ That little detail made Diana happy. So happy. This was progress. “May I ask a question?”
There was a pause, and Diana considered backing out. It appeared as though Akko was thinking about it deeply. Before Diana could take it back, Akko responded, “Sure. Ask away.”, and the heiress breathed a relieved sigh. “What did you wanna know?”
“Well, um... I just happened to notice that... you don’t...” Diana was really hoping this wasn’t a sensitive subject. She’d finally managed to close the gap between her and Akko. Sure it was by unconventional, and very strange means- unintentional, above all. She had just been worried about the girl upon seeing that her friend group was all gathered in the classroom except her. So Diana had gone searching, and was planning to offer to stay away from her friends for Akko’s sake. She was glad that things turned out the way it did, though.
“Diana?”
“Um... Akko.” She finished her job, smiling at the neat covering on her.. friend’s... hand. (They were friends now, right? At the very least...)
“Yes?” Akko seemed to notice the hesitation, and her instincts guided her to take hold of Diana’s trembling hands, encouraging her to continue.
Well this was new, Diana thought. Now or never, she supposes. A deep breath, and the floodgates opened.
“I just wondered... why... don’t you have a ring? Did you somehow lose it? Is that possible? But how? Wouldn’t you get in trouble with... everyone, I guess? Have you found your soulmate or not? If yes then I should probably just say goodbye here and, oh but not in the way you think, you might not get what I mean, but I still want to be friends-”
“Diana.”
“Yes?”
Akko’s cheeks puffed up, trying to hold it in, but ultimately failing as she burst into giggles, instinctively tucking a stray strand of hair behind Diana’s ear as she leaned forward to bump their foreheads together.
Ah, screw fate and it’s ways. Screw Diana’s soulmate that existed somewhere out there. In this one moment, she just felt so at peace, and in place, she’d deal with all the raging storms in her mind later. For now, it was just the two of them, hanging out in an infirmary, the smell of antiseptic on them, stupid words be damned.
“You’re rambling.”
//-//-//-//-//
It had been a few weeks- maybe just shy of two months- of friendship (?) with Diana, and Akko had never felt more alive in all her years. They had even spent her birthday together! Well, everyone else was there to, but... Anyway. The afternoon the question had been dropped, she had ended up explaining to the Scot her story with the ring, leaving out the detail of what it had written on it. That was a little too embarrassing for her to share yet. Baby steps.
She’d never dare ask about Diana’s ring, and she appreciated that the girl never brought up any soulmate talk that involved herself. Akko felt that it helped her cope with this one-sided love a little longer. She would no longer deny this attraction. She was so undeniably into Diana, it was crazy. She didn’t understand how teenage hormones and falling in love worked, but somehow she just knew. She felt a little apologetic to her soulmate, no longer feeling the need to search for him and her, the section of, [What to do if you haven’t found your soulmate yet.] remaining untouched. But well... things happen sometimes.
And sometimes, you become so much of a fool that you invite the girl you are in love with, who already has a soulmate, to your house, to your room, just so she can be the first to see that portable planetarium projector you were finally able to get your hands on for an affordable deal. You wouldn’t even cry at losing months worth of saved allowance and work wages. It was all worth it, to see her entire being practically glowing in awestruck wonder as you lay on your backs on the cushioned floor, having the chance to flaunt years of star study to your crush. The impressed gazed directed at you felt so good. You could get used to this. Especially when the visage of wonder glimmering in the dear girl’s eyes was outright precious.
A Diana in awe was cute.
So much so that Akko was in awe.
“Hey Diana...”
“Hmm?”
“Do you believe in magic?”
What a strange thing to ask in that moment. That’s what Diana thought. Akko thought the same. Just what had gotten over her. Yet she still wondered, thoughts flying far off into space, just as they always did when she gazed upon the stars in the night sky- or her ceiling’s artificial one.
‘What are you saying, Akko?” Diana chuckled, right hand reaching out to grasp Akko’s, fingers lacing together. She felt her heart flip as it was squeezed tight, unaware of the inner turmoil Akko was enduring at the lack of presence of a ring on that hand. Their eyes remained trained to the glowing heavenly bodies above, stories of the past, of fate, and the like, written all over.
“Do you believe in other worlds, Diana?”
“Well, many studies propose that they indeed exist.” Diana responded.
“What about alternate universes? A completely different you out there, living a different life.”
Diana turned her head to face Akko, the brunette still facing upwards, eyes glistening with unshed tears, barely noticeable in the dim lighting; but Diana always noticed. Because it was Akko.
“Don’t you think that somewhere out there... there could be another version of us; maybe a clumsy me, and a fantastic you, saving the world with strange words not understood by the rest of the world?”
“Maybe...” Diana breathed out in a whisper, oxygen effectively stolen by the tear that slipped down shapely cheeks. The moment felt so fragile, she was afraid if she made a move, it would shatter into a million pieces, never to see the light of day.
And god forbid it happen. Diana wanted to boast this tender feeling out under the brightness of the sun, for the world to witness.
“Why do you ask?”
She listened in agony at the choked intake of air, followed by the frailest of whispers. “Because maybe... the impossible for the Kagari Atsuko here... is possible for the Akko there.”
The heiress pondered those phrases a moment. “...Impossible, like?” Diana replied in equally hushed tones, something hopeful in her pitch.
‘Like you being meant for me, and I for you.’
But Akko couldn’t just say that.
“As impossible as using magic here, maybe?” Akko laughed in a normal, in-house voice, volume not too loud, but no longer a whisper. She should just bury her illegal thoughts deep down.
“I guess so.” She deflated. What had she desired to hear anyway? “Magic does seem like an unattainable power, some unimaginable, impossible concept.” Maybe she should get ready to leave soon. There was something heavy weighing in the atmosphere and in her heart, and she did not wish for a memory as sweet as this to turn sour due to her mood.
“You think so?” Akko’s steadying voice kept her rooted in place. “What if it isn’t so impossible after all?”
“How so?”
“Well, don’t they say that when people put their minds to it, when they truly desire and wish for it with all their hearts... like how the song goes, y’know? ‘When you wish upon a star your dreams come true’, or something.”
“Like the law of attraction and manifestation?” Diana supplied. “If you think positive things, positive things will come to you. Your reality becomes better. Like that?”
“Hmmm...” Akko tapped against the back of Diana’s hand, still entwined with hers, with her index thoughtfully. “Yes, but no. Kinda, but not really...? I don’t know how to describe what I’m thinking at the moment based on existing principles. Not too good at remembering. Heck, is there a quote that already exists?”
“Why not make your own, then?” Diana proposed.
“Heh... good idea. Let me think.”
“Take your time.” Diana enjoyed the little sounds Akko made as she thought.
“Oh! I got it!”
“Hoh? And what would those words of wisdom be, Miss Kagari?”
“Ready the papers, Miss Cavendish. We’re about to make the headlines with this!” They both giggled at their antics. “Drum roll, please! Dugudugudugudugudugu....dan!”
Diana nuzzled into Akko’s shoulder, enjoying all these little sound effects, the brunette’s voice calming her gradually, lulling her to sleep.
“Just what are these magnificent words, dear Akko?” Diana was far too drowsy to notice the splash of color painted across her companions face, the shyness melting into tenderness as she felt her warmth shift closer.
“A believing heart is your magic.”
And sleep was nearly robbed of her, eyes widening in the dark, unseen by Akko as the thumb on Diana’s free hand now brushed over the engravings on her ring. It was for sure now.
“You really are... the one.”
//-//-//-//-//
Something was off about Diana today. Was it her hair? No, impeccably styled as always, that couldn’t be it. Was it her makeup for today? No, it wasn’t that either. It was still that natural looking glow that brought out her innate beauty in all the best ways possible.  Akko continued to check off boxes on her mental list, trying to figure out just what it was that was bothering her about Diana’s appearance today. Was it her clothes? But that was the uniform they wore daily! Did she... get any new jewelry? Hmm, she didn’t seem the type to wear any at school.
Then...
Was it the ring that painfully reminded Akko that the person she might be in love with was already meant for someone else? No, that couldn’t be it either. Last Akko checked, the ring was snugly fitted, definitely on... huh? The ring was... gone? No? Akko scanned Diana’s smooth looking left hand. No it wasn’t there. Not on the left, and her eyes couldn’t help but guide her hopeful soul to... ah. It really wasn’t on the left, but on the right.
Huh? That wasn’t right.
This confused Akko. Enough to make her approach Diana’s seat during lunch, tapping her attention away from her conversation with Lotte and Barbara.
“H-hey Diana, I have a question... “
“Yes?” Said girl gave Akko her full attention. There was something different about the way she smiled at Akko today as well, it seemed. Odd. Nice. But odd.
“So like... uh... W-Why is your... your ri-” Akko could feel droplets of sweat forming on her brow, threatening to trickled down the side of her face if she so much as twitched.
“Ri?”
“Why’s your ri- r....r-r- Right ear larger than your left?!”
Dainty hands shot up to cover her ears, blushing shocked and mortified. “WHAT?!”
Whoops, Akko messed up. “HAHA AHA.. KIDDING! Nah, I was messing with you!” The brunette forcibly laughed, patting Diana’s back in uneasy comfort.
“Akko, that wasn’t very nice.” Lotte scolded, and the said girl nodded, sighing.
“I know. Sorry guys.” She apologized properly, looking to Diana in particular. She received a gracious smile and a pat on the cheek, the skin underneath the ringed-hand warming speedily.
“It’s alright.”
That kindness allowed her to gather bits of courage to finally state her inquiry. Diana would answer her just fine, right? Akko had to when asked about the whereabouts of her ring. It was fair trade?
“I was just wondering, because I recalled you wearing your ring on your left hand until recently. But now it’s on your right. I guess you could say I was just curious?”
“Eh?”
“Is that so, Diana?” Hannah questioned, eyes wide. “But why would you move it in reverse? Now that you’ve actually found- mrrrpmmphhh.”
Akko shot a puzzled glance at Hannah and Barbara, the latter clasping a hand over the ginger’s mouth.
“N-nothing. You didn’t hear anything.” She covered. “You heard nothing, are we clear?” She threatened, and Akko actually shivered.
“Holy crap, your women can get so scary, Amanda.” She mentioned to the redhead seated in front of the other girls.
She heard her release a heavy sigh before getting up from her seat and turning to face the group. “It’s because you two are such a pain, that’s why. Just get it over with, Cavendish! What’s holding you back? It’s as simple as this, see? When you have a dense mofo like Akko, you just gotta give her a little push. A literal one.” And that was the only warning they got before Diana felt soft, slightly chapped lips barely missing her own, brushing against the corner of her mouth.
Akko removed herself so fast, they all worried she’d get whiplash. “S-s-s-s-s-sorry! Sorry Diana, I didn’t- it was... AMANDA!”
“I was helping.”
“You little...”
“Rather than giving me your attention, shouldn’t you talk it over with miss salad head over there?”
Akko blinked, the cogs in her mind slowly spinning, then clicked. “Did you just... insult... ah, screw you!” Akko yelled, blush burning so hot, it was hard to keep her eyes open.
Heeding Amanda’s advice nonetheless, she turned to an equally red Diana, unable to meet her eyes. Akko didn’t think her face could get any hotter than it felt right now, but at the sight of Diana’s tongue quickly swiping across her lips, Akko’s face might as well be venus.
She should at least try to say something, right? Something comforting... or witty... or clever.
“Sorry...” That would work.
“It’s alright.”
//-//-//-//-//
She stared at her invitation. Wow. Did Andrew really take her to shop for Denise’s birthday gift months before it happened? The neat script spelling out, ‘You are cordially invited’ underneath the older woman’s name with the date of the ball kind of set her nerves on fire.
She was not one for formal events. But then Denise had been nice enough to hand it in person, looking like she’d be willing to beg for Akko to come. Andrew stood behind her menacingly, a pressuring force looming in the room.
But really, how was she supposed to do this? Sure she had experience with the arts and dancing. She had wanted to be a performer at some point in her life before deciding on her current course, keeping the arts as a hobby. That covered her bases in terms of the ballroom dancing part. But as for etiquette and all that jazz, Akko had no clue. She was just a normal girl, living a normal life, having met amazing people, and... the love of her life.
She groaned in remembrance, pulling out a slip of paper, an extra entrance voucher. ‘Bring a plus one’, Denise had said. Well... that wouldn’t be a problem, Akko supposed. Maybe... She could always ask Diana.
The thought of the girl set flurries of butterflies wild in her stomach, face warming up along with her heart. She fiddled with the band situated around her left ring finger. She was still getting used to it, the metal feeling awkward in that spot. That’s just what she gets for never wearing it all these years. Kind of a nuisance, if she were being honest; but... at the same time... it was a reminder that...
[“So you’re... my soulmate...”
“Looks like it.”
“Did you... know about it?” She watched fluffy hair bounce along with the bobbing of a shy girl’s head. “How long...?”
“I had a feeling right from when we met... then confirmed it after you first showed me your planetarium.”
“...that’s a few weeks back.”
“You’re just so slow.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright. It really is now.”]
“AAAAHHHH!!” Akko hollered, ridding herself of the embarrassed tension in her body. “Hnnnggghhh...” Holding in all her squeals, she flew onto her bed, hugging a pillow tight and rolling about. Maybe she should call Diana right now, if only to hear her voice. Oh, and she should just pop the question while she’s at it, the invitation.
A few rings, one, two, three fo-
[“Hello?”]
“Did you know I love your voice? It was the first thing I fell in love with, ever since you saved me from the clutches of death.” She couldn’t hold back the adoration she felt for the Englishwoman any longer.
[“Oh my god, Akko. Did you really just call me so you could be such a sap?”]  Her giggle was always the best, Akko reveled.
“No~, or kind of yes, but not entirely.”
[“Is that so?”] Diana teased through the line.
“Don’t believe me?”
[“Of course I do! After all... it’s my magic.”]
“Who’s the sap now.”
[“I learned only from the best.”]
“Amanda?”
[“YOU, you idiot!”] Akko laughed at the reaction, squealing inwardly in delight. Diana’s laughter alongside hers died down, the phone going silent for a bit. And then, [“You’re the best.”].
Akko just couldn’t handle it.
“I love you.”
[“I love you too, sweetheart.”]
“I love you, I love you, I love you.”
[“I love you more.”]
“I love you! I love you! I love you!”
[“I love you more than anything in this world.”]
Akko was not crying.
“I love you... be my plus one?”
[“...”]
[“Always.”]
//-//-//-//-//
“My baby... so grown up now and looking all gorgeous.” Mrs. Kagari wiped a tear from her eye, admiring her daughter in a russet-toned gown, sleeveless, with a low dip in the back, fitting, and at the same time, flowing off her frame and onto the floor. It was simple, yet elegant. It matched well with Akko’s hair; usual bangs side-swept, signature ponytail gone, her long brown hair slightly curled and hanging off on one shoulder, exposing the other. All this topped with a little make-up, and even Andrew commended this picture of Akko that could pass as part of high society.
“Shall we?” He held out an arm for her to take, door open with a car waiting right outside. Akko’s father sobbed loudly, holding onto his wife for dear life.
“M-Mama! MY BABY! MY BABY IS BEING TAKEN AWAY BY SOME RICH YOUNG BRAT WHO JUST LOOKS GOOD, AND IS A LITTLE SMART, AND OWNS A HOSPITAL.”
“Well, don’t those sound like amazing specs.” Akko’s mama laughed, consoling the poor man. “You sound like a father sending his daughter off to meet her groom.”
“I AM.”
“But Diana-chan is so cute, though?”
“Man or woman, whoever takes my baby away from me and ends up hurting her... they will never see the light of the afterlife.”
Diana felt a chill run up her spine as she waited in the car.
“Oh, hush you. You’re overreacting.”
“AM I?!”
“Byebye, papa. I’ll be home soon. Love you~ Love you more, Mama!”
“Ah- bye, my darling daughter, my baby, my sun, light of my world, my angel!”
“You can stop embarrassing her now, darling.”
//-//-//-//-//
“Akko, don’t be so stiff.” Diana whispered into the girl’s ear, a hand caressing the small of her back to ease away the nerves. “You’ll be fine. Just think of it as any old party.”
“E-e-e-easy for you t-to say. You g-grew up with th-this.” Akko retorted, a hand with some champagne shakily approaching her lips.
“Really, you’re too high-strung.” The blonde sighed, pointing to Akko’s best friends. “Look at Lotte and Sucy, they look normal.”
Akko glared at her best friends who seemed to be enjoying themselves without a worry in the world. Oh, golly, what a treat. Maybe she shouldn’t have offered their extra tickets to them so she wouldn’t feel as bitter.
“Hey.” A flick was sent to her forehead. “No mean thoughts.”
“I wasn’t-”
“Di.A. NAAAA~” Here came a wild Denise, flying through the air to hug an alarmed Diana, barely catching her. It would appear as thought they were good friends, and Denise, not knowing anything about the relationship between her two dear bosom buddies, had sent them each an invitation with the hopes of bringing a plus one to introduce to her (so she could tease them about it), all the while, being kept in the dark that their plus one just so happened to be each other.
Which also explained the extra tickets that had gone to Lotte and Sucy. Akko was afraid it would be rude to just hand them away, but Diana reassured her it would be just fine. They both knew how kind-hearted and open-minded Denise was anyway.
“M-miss Walsh... please let me breathe.”
“Diana~ It’s Denise!”
“D-Denise... please... my airways...”
With greetings out of the way (Akko being squeezed to death as well, to be fair), the announcement were made, and the party commenced, music playing as the floor opened for the dances.
...
Akko swore she was a good dancer. Really! She was the ace of their studio. She could dance almost anything after learning it over the course of a few weeks at most, and so few days at the very least. So she couldn’t understand just how she’d suddenly acquired two left feet, constantly, and clumsily stepping on poor Diana’s feet.
One step. “Sorry.”
“It’s alright.”
Another miss. “Sorry.”
“It’s alright.”
“S-sorry!”
“...”
“Oh my gosh, I really am sorry!”
“I-it’s quite alright...”
“...”
“Wanna get some fresh air?”
“Pleasured.”
//-//-//-//-//
The Walsh’s family gardens were certainly award winning, Akko admired. As someone with a hobby in that field, this was a dream come true, to see such stellar workmanship. With flowers o’er the earth, and stars up above, the moon reflecting ripples into a still, small lake just a few yards down, it was the picture of beauty.
Yet nothing could compare to Diana by her side. Akko admired the way the woman’s gown clung to her curves in all the right places, how midnight blue reminded her of the skies they were under, and the dear stars in the heiress eyes sparkled ever brighter. How the earrings that dangled sparkling silver matched Akko’s own, only in gold, how her hair was fixed to the side as well, a portion of her bangs tucked neatly behind her ear, held back by a pin Akko had gotten her recently.
Akko was transfixed, as though she were under a witch’s spell. A very gorgeous, kind-hearted, hardworking, and sincere witch. A woman she loved with every fiber of her being, with the entirety of her heart.
She watched the moonlight caress ivory skin, glistening under its kind rays. Akko wanted to do so as well. Touch it, and know she was real and not just a figment of her imagination.
“I love you.” She murmured, reaching forward, arms wrapped around a slim waist, lips pressing against a bare shoulder. “I love you.”
Diana hummed, hands resting over Akko’s latched on to her abdomen. “Dance with me, Love.” She beckoned, leading them to sway under the night sky, the crickets and the breeze playing them a song of romance solely for their rapture.
The moon as their only witness, they vowed silent words, moving along the area, spinning, swaying, dancing, laughing, smiling, crying.
Akko never felt as lucky as she did in this moment. She was beyond fortunate. This moment she’d never forget, a memory never to be destroyed all her life, reminding her that she was blessed.
Blessed, and still a little foolish.
“I still don’t get it, you know. Why ‘cabbage’?”
Diana laughed into the tranquil night. Slapping Akko’s bare arm in fondness. “Did you really just ask that? Now of all times? With a romantic mood set up like this?” She shook her head in disbelief. “You are amazing, Kagari Atsuko. I love you to death, really I do... but are you seriously still hung over that?” She inquired, spinning her fated partner about, bringing her back in close. “Does it have to make sense? Isn’t it enough to know that you’re meant to be mine, and I’m forever yours?”
Akko returned that tender smile, leaning up to place a kiss against Diana’s throat. “Well, yeah, I guess; but... like... doesn’t that defeat the rings’ purpose, then?”
“Does it matter?”
“...It doesn’t. Not anymore. Not when you’re by my side, because that’s all that matters.”
“Great answer.”
“Diana?”
“Hmmm? What is it now?” Diana asked, amused that the peaceful mood didn’t look like it would settle back down anytime soon.
“For ruining the moment.... sorry.” All Akko’s laughing refuted that statement. Diana knew they both didn’t regret it one bit. Not at all. So with a smile only meant for her world nestled in her arms, leaning down and closing the gap bit-by-bit, what else could Diana reply with except,
“...It’s alright.”
And they saw stars.
//-//-//-//-//
This... was an unexpected development.
“...Wanna come over?”
“I’d love to.”
Cold, soaked and dropped off by the Cavendish’s service car, they made their way up the drive way, Akko fumbling for her house keys in the wee hours of the morning.
“Sorry, I really didn’t expect it to rain when I invited you out.”
“It’s fine, it wasn’t something within our control at all. The night looked perfectly clear, too.”
Flipping on the lights by the threshold, Akko guided Diana in, drenched shoes flying off, but immediately retrieved and set to the side to drip properly. They’d have to clean and dry those tomorrow better, but for now, a bath of warmth was in order.
Akko had insisted Diana take one first, but ever the gentlewoman, Diana did not move an inch until she was absolutely certain Akko would be alright. Her strongest argument stood to be, “Just who was it that I had to take to the hospital upon our first encounter.”, and Akko could only pout, begrudgingly accepting her defeat and warming herself a bath, but not without leaving Diana a towel and a temporary change of clothes so she wouldn’t get chills.
As Akko tagged Diana with a kiss to the lips, switching places after drawing the girl a fresh warm bath, she made her way to the kitchen, deciding to make them some vegetable soup to warm them up from the inside. Would Diana like that too?
Choosing and gathering her ingredients, she began prepping, chopping up everything as her water in the pot was brought to a boil.
It didn’t take her long at all to finish. By the time the food was ready, Diana was back downstairs, clad in one of Akko’s oversized shirts and pajama bottoms. It did strange things to Akko’s dear heart. On Diana’s part, just the sight of her future wife (she was a woman with a vision for tomorrow) preparing her a meal, fresh from a bath, in their own little world... How could she not fall deeper in love? So in love that she could just kiss her!
And she did just that.
Walking up to the shorter girl, Diana coaxed her into warm arms, a hand making its way into brunette strands, entangling them around her fingers, ring shining amidst them. This was bliss. This was everything to her.
This was everything to Akko. Everything she’d hoped for and wanted, and even more.
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
Soft. A little salty, maybe the soup’s seasoning. Warm and gentle, yet pressured and emotional. Tenderly passionate, and passionately tender, their lips danced a song that they’d forever remember.
And as they sat down to eat, seated in front of each other, they motioned for cheers with their chopsticks, a leafy green clipped between one pair.
And that’s when Akko realized that it all made perfect sense.
The rings weren’t wrong, and the words would always be right.
“Ah...
Cabbage.”
~end.
A/N: Can you believe it? All that, just so I could say in the end, “Cabbage”. Honestly, Akko is so slow. Somehow I’m not quite satisfied with this, and maybe I should’ve gone with a different approach or piece, or simply edited my original plan to fit safely within the guidelines, but... Idk. Maybe I’m as much of a fool as Akko, that way. Was it worth the thousands of bothersome words to read? Haha. Feedback is appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoyed.
~Shintori Khazumi
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Diabolik Lovers GRAND EDITION for Switch ;; More, Blood ー Yuma Ecstasy [02]
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ー The scene starts in the hallway
Yui: ( ...Yuma-kun didn’t show up for dinner. )
( He might be able to survive just fine even without food since he’s a Vampire, but... )
( The four of us always sit down to eat together, so I’m worried... )
( Besides, Yuma-kun even said he enjoyed eating himself. )
Haah...
( I wonder why he’s so irritated? )
( If only I knew the reason behind it... )
ー She spots Yuma
Yui: Ah, Yuma-kun!
Yuma: ...Che.
ー He walks away
Yui: Eh?
( Why did that make him walk away in the opposite direction!? )
W-Wait, Yuma-kun!
ー Yui chases after him
Yui: Listen to me for a second...!
Yuma: What do ya want...?
Yui: Uhm...
Selection
→ Why are you upset?
Yui: Why are you so upset?
Yuma: Ah? Upset? Me?
Yui: Y-Yeah...I mean, you’ve been on edge this whole time...
Yuma: What makes ya think ya know me?
Yui: Eh? U-Uhm...
→ Let’s have dinner together (❁)
Yui: Uhm, let’s enjoy dinner together.
Yuma: Hah?
Yui: I know you don’t have to eat but...
Still, I want to eat together with you so...
You even said yourself that you like eating before, didn’t you?
Yuma: ...Tsk.
Yuma: ...You’re so damn annoyin’...
Why do ya keep followin’ me ‘round.
Yui: Eh? I-I mean, I...
Yuma: I get pissed off watchin’ ya! If ya get that, scram!
*SHATTER*
Yui: Kyaah!
...Ow!
Yuma: !?
Yui: ( Ah, I’m bleeding... )
( I got cut by one of the broken glass shards. )
Yuma: ...
Yui: ( However, Yuma-kun really must not want to talk to me to go as far as to break the hallway’s window... )
( Yet, I tried to force him to speak with me... )
Uhm, Yuma-kun. I’m sorry for pushing you.
Yuma: Hah? You...
Yui: I’ll try and remember not to talk to you so...
Yuma: ...
ー He picks her up
*Ruste*
Yui: Kyah!
Yuma: ...
Yui: ( Eh? Isn’t this? No way, he’s carrying me in his arms...!? (1) )
( W-Why? He always just throws me over his shoulder. )
Uhm, Yuma-kun...?
Yuma: Shut up.
Yui: ...
( I wonder what suddenly got into him? )
( He was so enraged earlier, but right now, he seems somewhat frantic... )
ー The scene shifts to Yuma’s room
*Rustle*
Yui: Wah...!
Eh? Why are we on your bed...?
Yuma: ...Whatever, just keep quiet.
Yui: !
( He’s licking my arm...!? )
Yuma: ...Nn...
Yui: Hyah, it tickles...!
Yuma: Don’t move...Nn...
Phew...
Yui: ...
( But it tickles when he licks my fingertips...! )
Yuma: Nn...Che, didn’t ya hear me...?
Yui: I-It’s easy for you to say...
( It just tickles... )
Yuma: Nn...Hah...
Yui: Yuma-kun, why do you keep on focusing on the wound...?
Yuma: Ah...? ‘Cause it’d be a waste of blood, duh? ...Nn.
Yui: ( Could this be his way of treating my injuries...? )
Yuma: Geez, what a pain...Humans really break over the slightest thing...Nn...
Yui: ...
( Yuma-kun’s licking me extremely gently as if he’s tending to the wound... )
( Why is he being so kind to me...? )
Yuma: ...Ah? What? Starin’ at me like that.
Yui: Eh...?
N-No, it’s nothing...
Yuma: Ya sure look happy tho.
Were ya that happy to have me lick ya?
Yui: !
Yuma: Hehehe...Bull’s eye? You’re red all the way to yer ears.
Yui: Eh? Uhm...
( I can’t deny I was happy though... )
( But that’s only because he was tending to my wounds... )
Yuma: I don’t mind doin’ more if that’s what ya wish?
Yui: Eh?
*Rustle*
Yui: Ah...!
( His fangs are against my ear... )
ー Yuma bites her
Yuma: ...Haah...Nn...I knew it, suckin’ yer blood is way more delicious than just lickin’...
Come on...Ya wanted this, didn’t ya...? Nn...
Yui: Ah...
( I didn’t...but... )
Yuma: Haah...Nn...
Yui: ( I wonder why....? I feel like Yuma-kun’s being more gentle than usual today... )
( I wonder if he regrets...hurting me earlier... )
ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー 
Translation notes
(1) The Japanese dialogue refers to お姫さか抱っこ or ‘ohimesama dakko’ which literally means ‘carrying someone like a princess’. It’s similar to the ‘bridal carry’ in English. 
→  LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!
<- [ Ecstasy 01 ] [ Ecstasy 03 ] ->
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jesstielle · 3 years
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okay i have Feelings about NEO: TWEWY and nobody to shout them at because literally nobody else I know plays it which is truly a crime; the original twewy remains one of my favourite games to this day.  but anyway.  massive NEO TWEWY spoilers inbound:
First of all it truly is a miracle that this game even exists.  I never once actually believed we’d get a sequel.  Let alone one this good!! It is really, really good!!!
Things I Enjoyed:
- The gameplay.  Whoo boy.  Up to about 4 team members, anyway.  It’s fast paced, button mashing satisfaction, that manages to keep elements from the original game while still being fresh and fun, if not entirely chaotic, which is why after 4 characters, it was a bit like, ‘okay, chill, let us switch out or something’ lmao
- The new characters.  Although I feel like we leave the game not knowing as much about them as I would like, the new team are really great, and Nagi in particular really shone in terms of character grown.  Rindo.. I feel like I know as little about him now as I did at the start :|a Maybe I just missed something.
I honestly found the teams and their leaders kinda forgettable >>;; Although the heel-face turn on Motoi was pretty great.  I needed more from Kanon to feel anything when she, yknow.
The new reapers were... a mixed bunch. Shoka was fantastic, Susukichi was... a bit much in English, great in Japanese, Tsugumi was great but didn’t get enough screen time (unless she gets more post game, I dunno yet) Shiba annoyed the fuck outta me, Kaie was alright.. the others... meh.  They don’t hold up to Kariya and Uzuki. And obviously Kubo sucks ass pfft
- The reappearing characters.  of course i loved them.  i got a hit of serotonin every time one appeared on my screen. neku my son. josh  the reapers.  i was never a huge minamimoto stan lmao but he was fun. even curry don. but some were DIRELY underutilised which i WILL COME BACK TO
- THE MUSIC.  twewy cannot fail on its music, it’s amazing, it’s glorious, it’s multi faceted, it goes hard. and adding in Beat’s psyche, a rhythm mini game acting as the fast walk button???? yes. yes yes yes yes.  yessssssss. 
- The graphics.  Mostly.  Everything looked beautiful, and HD, and the character designs were great - not toooooooooo Nomura but Nomura enough, yknow? And the occasional chibi faces were great lol.  The chaotic battles sometimes caused lag which... I mean, they coulda given us the option to turn off some of the animations or damage graphics lmao but hey.  the forced perspective on shibuya was a bit off occasionally but it was how the original game did it and it’s all for the ~aesthetic~ so hey.  And it was great seeing some of the original locations looking so much more fleshed out
- The Localisation.  Personally, I think the translators struck a perfect balance that made the kids seem like they’d fit right into today’s culture.  It wasn’t forced, it wasn’t ‘look at us we are Teenagers’, it was right on the mark.  And it was really, really interesting hearing just how different the Japanese VA lines were compared to the English translations.  They really went all out and it paid off, imo.
Dislikes: (i haven’t read the secret reports yet tho)
- UNDERUTILISATION OF THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS - now, look, okay, I’m biased.  I admit it.  I’m a Josh and Neku stan lmao, so I was looking forward to seeing them the whole game.  And as it went on and on and I realised I wouldn’t be until much later, it bummed me out.  The bait n’ switch with Beat was funny at first, and I enjoyed it a lot, until I realised that yeah, that’s what they’re going with.  Beat’s probably my least favourite partner from the original (sorry) but even disregarding that, it annoys me that they gave him like 10,000x more screen time than even Neku. 
Not to mention Shiki and Joshua!  Josh in particular I could write a whole essay on how pissed I am.  The lost potential.  Nobody mentioning him, ever, once.  Until he just sorta shows up and says a few things.  It makes NO SENSE, he’s the fucking composer, Neku and Beat worked with him, why aren’t they questioning his whereabouts when Shibuya’s turning to shit??????’  I just?????? I had low hopes for Josh content tbf but I am still disappointed :( And naught but one singular Hanekoma mention, as well.  Sigh.
Shiki, it’s a shame she doesn’t appear more, she certainly could have - I can think of like 5 ways off the top of my head - having her as a partner would have also been extremely good.
Neku at least we got..... half a week with. and as a PC.  And like, I know it’s not supposed to be about them, but throw us a bit more than cheap fanservice, yknow. And Kariya and Uzuki were great too.
- why, oh why, was every single team lackey male????  they couldn’t be arsed to make female designs????? it baffled me.
- SO. MUCH. SHIBUYA. TRAVERSING.  I don’t remember if it was that bad in the original?! But oh my god lol.  I think a lot of it was padding.  Sure felt like it.  Paired with the slightly hand hold-y mission progression cutscenes, they coulda cut a bunch of those out.
Other Stuff:
- The voice acting - fantastic in Japanese, okay in English, except for the returning characters?? didn’t sound great??? in english??? I was hyped to turn English back on for Beat but.... nah. Nahhh.  Nagi’s English VA was absolutely the best imo.
- They nailed the feel of the old game without totally copying it - the food, clothes, general aesthetic, music.  That said, it still felt a little too tied to the original.  Ironic considering the rant above I know lmao but... yeah.  The player psyches were a nice touch but I feel like it needed something to set it apart a lil more from its predecessor. 
- I didn’t realise A New Day existed until literally today and I wish I had seen it before I played Neo.  Now I know who Coco is lmao.  And Shinjuku’s erasure was part of that too! arghhhh. Nomura stop burying plot points in other things.  I’m a DS OG dont do this to me
- Rindo’s time travel power was cool but jumping back to the same point like 3 or 4 times in some cases got old
- You could really feel the KH3 energy of ‘play 30 hours until something or someone pivotal finally appears’ lol.  Nomuraaaaa. 
... anyway.
TL;DR good game, needed more Josh, also needs more fans please
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irrelevantdev · 4 years
Text
That Was A Mistake Part 1
“That Was A Mistake”//Reader(volleyball player) x Haikyuu boys)
Ok so this was heavily inspired by @bbteahoe so check her “Text! Accidentally being added into Karasuno’s VB groupchat”  story out!! This was also inspired by the calls I was meant to do in my Spanish class but never did because my teacher got fired before we could ever do it.... Anyway enjoy!! :)
Explanation of the story: You meet a energetic redhead that accidentally adds you to his volleyball group chat
side notes: c/n means country name & l/n means last name 
“Okay, class,” your Japanese teacher made his way to the front of the classroom, “I have a special announcement.” He waited a moment for suspense, but it’s not any of the students in your class cared, and you for sure didn’t. “Today is finally the day we’re going to talk to students in Japan!” Your teacher was waaaaay too excited for a 7:00 am class. “So I’m quickly going to explain before we start. You will be paired up with a student. Each week you will switch between talking English and talking Japanese. This week, we’ll be talking in Japanese.” 
He walked around, giving you each a slip of paper with your call id and password on it. “When you’re ready, join the call.”
You plugged in your earbuds into the laptop and signed into the call. You were surprisingly greeted by a smiling, red head. “Nice to meet you! I’m Hinata Shoyo!”
“Likewise, I’m *first and last name*. You both exchanged some basic information about yourselves like your highschool and age. Surprisingly you were both the same age, 15. You also told him how you preferred to be called your first name compared to your family’s name. 
You were infatuated with this bundle of joy. Even though you were just introducing yourselves, he somehow made the conversion just a million times better. “So, what are your hobbies?” You asked, wanting to know more about this kid.
“I play volleyball!” He said.
“Really? I do too!” You replied exasperated.
“I’m a middle blocker, what about you?” His eyes seemed to light up when we started talking about volleyball.
“I’m a libero!” You replied, excited to have someone to fangirl over the sport with. 
You both used your remaining 30 minutes to talk about your team members, the teams you had to play against, and embarrassing stories about your time as volleyball players. He even told you about the small giant, and how seeing him inspired him to play volleyball. Your teacher gave you a warning saying you only have five minutes left and you should be ending the call soon. 
“You know, you’re really good a Japanese for being a first year student.” Hinata pointed out. 
“Oh, I’ve actually been taking Japanese since I was 10, but since I changed school districts this year,  I have to take first year Japanese.” You were annoyed by the fact your credit from your past school district wouldn’t transfer over, but at least this class was an easy A. 
“Wow! This is my first year taking english, so when we talk next time, I might not make much sense.” He frowned.
“Don’t worry about it!” You reassured him.
“Can I have your number? Talking to you was really fun” You were shocked that he would ask, but still proceeded to give him your number. You both said you goodbyes and you sat through your remaining 30 minutes of class. 
When you were on your way to your next class, you decided to check your phone and you noticed you got a notification form an unknown number.
Maybe//Shoyo Hinata: Hi y/n! It’s Hinata!
You added him as a contact named: Hyper Ginger
Y/n: Hi there!!
Right after you replied you quickly put your phone back in your bag and rushed over to your next class.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally, school finished and you took your phone out. When you opened it you saw…. 54 unread messages?
Hyper Ginger: I added Yachi to the gc
Maybe//Daichi Sawamura: Welcome Yachi
Maybe//Daichi Sawamura: I’m Daichi
Maybe//Kōshi Sugawara: Hi Yachi!! I’m Suga :)
Maybe//Asahi Azumane: hi yachi! this is Asahi!
Maybe//Yū Nishinoya: YES MAYBE KIYOKO WILL REPLY
Maybe//Ryūnosuke Tanaka: SHE MIGHT STOP LEAVING THIS GC ON READ
Maybe//Kōshi Sugawara: Guys say hi 
Maybe//Kōshi Sugawara: Don’t be rude
Maybe//Yū Nishinoya: Sorry, Hey Yachi wassgood?
Maybe//Ryūnosuke Tanaka: Wassup Yachi
You have never seen such big simps in your life. There were more texts of a bunch of people saying welcome to someone named… Yachi? Well all you knew was that you are not her. 
y/n: Uhm… I’m y/n not Yachi
y/n: you might have added me in here by accident
Hyper Ginger: NO WAIT I ADDED U INSTEAD OF YACHI BY ACCIDENT
Hyper Ginger: *instead
Hyper Ginger: but anyway, guys this is the girl I met that I was telling you about 
Maybe//Kei Tsukishima: like how your mom had you by accident
Hyper Ginger: yoU DON’T HAVE TO BE SO MEAN YOU KNOW <//3
Maybe//Kōshi Sugawara: Don’t be mean tsukki
Maybe//Yū Nishinoya: SHE’S THE LIBERO YOU MET??!!
Hyper Ginger: Yup
Maybe//Yū Nishinoya: I’m Karasuno’s libero
y/n: wait really?? That’s so cool 
Maybe//Ryūnosuke Tanaka: NOYA LOOK AT HER PROFILE PICTURE
Maybe//Ryūnosuke Tanaka: SHE’S HOT
Maybe//Yū Nishinoya: SHE’S HOT AND SHE’S A LIBERO
Maybe//Yū Nishinoya: 
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Noya.exe has crashed. Please restart and try again
Maybe//Daichi Sawamura : TANAKA, NOYA you don’t just say that about random people you don’t know
Maybe//Daichi Sawamura : I apologize on his behalf
y/n: ahhhhh bro don’t worry about
Y’n: it’s kinda nice if you think about it that way…….
Tanka: AND SHE DIDN’T COMPLETELY IGNORE WHAT I SAID
Nishinoya: bro i think u found ur soulmate 
You added all of them as contacts because seeing that “Maybe” in front of their names annoyed the hell out of you.
Daichi: Well I’m Daichi
Daichi: Karasano’s captain
Sugawara: I’m Suga I’m our setter
Sugawara: I’m normally benched tho (=_=)
Asahi: uhm.. I’m Asahi our ace
y/n: waIT Asahi that's so cool bro
Asahi: tehe thanks🥺
Kageyama: I’m our starting setter
Yamaguchi: I’m a pinch server
y/n: I was a pinch server last year!!
Y/n: also Hinata told me all about you guys during our call!!
Kageyama: y r u libero now then?
y/n: both of our libero positions were already taken by older members last year :( 
y/n: And I was able to do a jump float server, so I was a pinch server
y/n: But now one of the libero’s graduated so I’m our starting one!! :D
Yamaguchi: I do jump floats too!!
Tanaka: I’m a middle blocker incase u were wondering
y/n: i wasn’t wondering -_-
y/n: But Yamaguchi it was like we were meant to meet
Tsukki: Damn Tanaka, rip
Ennoshita: L
Yamaguchi: :D
Nishinoya: HAHAHAH BRO TANAKA
Tanaka: i will be passing away for personal reasons
y/n: anywayyy… kageyama it was kinda obvious u were a setter :3
Kageyama: how?
y/n: the way you text is toOOOO serious and like boring and most setters r like that
y/n: I mean that in a nice way
y/n: Suga your the only acception
Hyper Ginger: you're not wrong!!
Hyper Ginger: Kags is always mean and serious :D
Kageyama: Shut up dumbass
Hyper Ginger: See :P
Hayper Ginger: If you think Kageyama is serious you should meet Oikawa and Akaashi
Hyper Ginger:
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y/n: ok but drop both of their instas rn👀
Suga: oOOOOooooOo looks like y/n got a crushhh
y/n: shut upp idek them and i prefer yall anyway :))
Daichi: do you guys want to make a different gc with Yachi 
Daichi: cause i actually like talking to y/n
y/n: nooo!! It’s fine I’ll leave if yall want
Sugawara: No, it's fine!! We actually like talking to you 
Tanaka: Ya you make this gc better queen 
Nishinoya: Queen, please don’t leave <//3
Hyper Ginger: Ya y/n stay!!!
y/n: i got to go to volleyball practice now >.<
y/n: so I’ll talk to yall laTER 
*everyone*: Byee y/n!
You head run over towards your locker room, trying to get changed in time before you're late to racticly. Needless to say that was the most...interesting… conversation you’ve ever had. Tanaka and Nishinoya were hilarious even though you know they were being pretty serious. 
..Next
Side Note: This is my first fanfic so thanks for reading it!! There's gonna be more parts coming out soon. Also, imma be trying out to be a libero so wish me luck yall! Thanks for reading!!!
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Hi again people who follow me!
I’m bored and I’ve decided to make fun facts about our DID system and the four known alters!
So before I start- Lilith has a bit of a show today, but the body was too tired for her to start anything. Like I feel asleep as soon as I got to class. The reason I know this is because of my outfit and she decided to put on lip gloss (which I never wear personally). She’s not conscious currently, none of the other three are, and I’ll get to that later!
Oh! And just so you know, this is Lennox.
👋
Let’s start with Levin!
Levin is the alter that co-cons often or will switch with me
He knows a lot about our system, but is very secretive about it so~
He is the only male alter in the system that I know of
He also goes by Levi and Lev
He likes more soft songs and songs with a good message
His favorite color is forest green
He’s the only alter that Lilith does not take her anger out on
He’s an introvert with really bad social anxiety
He hates sexual songs (so of course being me, I put two of the worst sexual songs I know in his playlist, he doesn’t know)
He has insomnia and ptsd
He’s extremely competitive when it comes to card games
He likes educating people on animals and wants to do gigs, like birthday parties and events, to teach people about reptiles and birds specifically
His favorite subject is English
He is white with blue eyes and dark brown hair. He’s thin, well more twig like, but whatever. He’s around 5’8 (two inches taller than the body)
His clothes style is baggy shirts with either baggy sweatpants or leggings. He wear plain colors, like pale blues, grays, and black. He, surprisingly, likes boots, even heeled boots
His favorite anime is... probably Durarara x2 any season
He has no sexual desires, but romantic likes girls
He’s 18
He’s very comfortable singing, he loves it. That a major way he expresses himself
His favorite song is... I think LA Devotee by P!ATD (idk why but that what he likes)
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^^ What he likes to wear ^^
Next on our list is
The demon queen herself, LILITH
She is named after Adam’s first wife, the demon queen, Lilith (yes she liked to go church, but we stopped going)
She is a bisexual
She’s ageless (she has no age, or if she does she hasn’t told anyone)
She’s an absolute bitch and she knows it.
She has violent mood swings and anger issues (respectfully so)
She is also an introvert, but not because of anxiety, no it’s because she wants to strangle every single person that looks at her weird
She hates Little with the burning passion
She gets repressed the most because no one wants to be expelled from school
She likes cooking
She hates cleaning because of her ocd
She wants to pursue a culinary job
Her favorite subject is science
She rarely fronts and when she does it’s quick or someone is co-con with her (ex. What happened with aleia-clownery)
Lennox(me) has to clean up her messes as always.
Her favorite anime is... The Promised Neverland (she likes Ray a lot)
She likes aggressive songs, or songs that swear a lot
Lilith has wavy black hair with blue highlights. Her eyes are a brownish red color. She’s short, like 5’2, and likes to wear heels because of it. She’s black as well
Her favorite color is dark royal blue
Her style of clothes is black shirts with skulls on them and tight, but comfortable, pants. She also likes a certain denim dress I have
She likes drawing and doodling ways to kill people and I have to say she’s pretty good
Her favorite song is Sarcasm by Get Scared (very fitting for her)
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^^ What she wishes she can wear ^^
Next is Little!
She likes to bake
She enjoys going to restaurants, specifically Asian style ones
She’s loves animals and wants to work with them so bad.
She’s an extrovert with ADHD
Little is Hispanic and on the chunky side. She has a caramel skin tone. She can understand it way better than me (Lennox) and she wants to learn Japanese and French (I’m interested in Japanese so we’re probably going to learn it)
Her favorite subject was College Writing Prep and before that was Language Arts, but the writing part of it. She really likes writing
Her favorite color is... honestly black. She likes that it matches with everything and likes the science of black too
Her favorite anime is Ouran High School Host Club (I hate it with the burning passion) her second choice is Black Butler (any season) which we allow her to watch
She likes baking and cooking, tho she prefers baking, she likes the way it calms her, I guess
Her favorite song is Voices in My Head (she listens to a lot of nightcore so I don’t the artist)
I’m not saying much else about her (I don’t want creeps harassing her)
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^^ What she prefers to wear ^^
Last, and certainly least, Lennox (aka me!)-
My favorite anime is Kakegurui or... BNA... or BNHA... or Hitorjime My Hero (My Very Own Hero)... or maybe Given? Idk I like a lot of anime...
The first anime I’ve ever watched was Wolf’s Rain. I was seven I think, but it was on YouTube so I didn’t get to watch the whole thing. I recently found it, but I’m afraid to watch it lmao
I like the colors teal and turquoise, as well as blood red and jet black
I like anything P!ATD, Halsey, Imagine Dragons, Fall Out Boys, Set It Off, Alec Benjamin, OneRepublic, and Nico Collins and AJR(granted so does everyone else but 🤷)
My favorite songs are Control by Halsey and Lonely Dance by Set It Off and Don’t Threaten Me With a Good Time by P!ATD and River by Ed Sheeran and Eminem and Not Afraid by Eminem and I’m Ready by AJR and Karma by AJR... I can go on for hours, but I’mma stop here
I’m Non-binary and the only gender nonconforming alter. I’m also pansexual
I hate being touched, I hate talking to people that act ignorant, and I hate this body I’m in
I look like the body so no description for you 😝
I have anxiety and depression. Everything else I’ve been diagnosed with can really be related to DID
I’m a neutral party in everything, so when I say I don’t know, I don’t care, whatever, or not my business, I’m literally saying I have no standing or opinion in this
I like cooking, baking, organizing (not cleaning), writing, reading, doodling, and doing self introduced projects for fun
I like plaid clothing, hoodies, and pride shirts. I like sweatpants and sneakers. I also like things on my neck... it keeps me ground I guess
(Oh my god I’m writing this with Ella, right? I told her to stop clawing at the furniture, right? All of a sudden her focus is on the ground and I wiggles my toes, testing if she was looking at my feet, and I started moving them around. I told her, ‘stop looking at my feet.’ This cat, this puta, liked me in the eyes before looking back down and got in position to lunge at my feet. My heart stopped and I pulled my feet onto the couch. And she was going to do it because the moment I moved my feet, she jumped from the top of the couch she’s on... she scares me sometimes 😣)
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^^ What I would wear if Lev was a little shit and let me wear pride stuff and jewelry ^^
Now-
Onto how our system works!
Levin and I co-con often. If I’m not in control, then he is
On instances where I get angry, Lilith takes control
Little co-cons with me more than everyone else because she enjoys annoying me
Lilith and Little are both so stubborn and hardheaded, it’s unbelievable. On the other hand, Levs and I are open minded and calm. So we often clash on what we should do as a collective
Lilith is a Christian, Levi and I are atheists, and Little is a Seventh Day Adventist (the religion I grew up with). However Lev and I hold more say, so we don’t go to church
I guess you could say there’s a hierarchy in the system. I have the most important say, then Lev, then Little, and lastly Lilith
Levin and I enjoy co-conning with each other only, anyone else gives us headaches
Everyone loves Nico Collins, Alec Benjamin, Set It Off, and AJR the most
Everyone’s favorite albums are Death of a Bachelor (p!atd), Cinematics (set it off), and American Beauty/American Psycho (fall out boys)
Everyone loves sushi and sushi rolls (California and Philadelphia rolls are the best)
We all really want to try takoyaki and pork Katsudon. When we do try them, I’ll probably make a post about it
We all love Ella and we all want to start a rehabilitation center of all animals and a pet cafe
We love reptiles, like all reptiles, venomous snakes included
I think there are more alters that just aren’t as prominent as the other three, Levin would know but he doesn’t like to discuss our system often
We really want to buy these specific no pierce cuff earrings
Edit: this total slipped my mind- when I’m on my red week (you know what I’m talking about) the others let me deal with it on my own, especially Little and Lev (Lev hates that week and recedes completely)
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That’s all I’m willing to share about us (or that I remember)
My part was short because you guys talk to me all the time
Sincerely,
Lennox... with a sprinkle of Levin
I’m tagging some people because why not-
@one-pissed-off-child @liveto-100 @madame-ree @martinidrinkingmartin @anon-nom-nom95 @queenzie-xo @scalybunnypapi69 @gogetyoselfsomesoup (still bitter) @cristinaweeb @aleiakit @aleia-clownery (I’m still so sorry about what happened) @studiesboie @bloomyboithatemoji @pumpkineiji @penelopebakugouburrito1
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yaboylevi · 3 years
Note
About your snk meta writers question: they sadly dropped snk the past month over the disappointment with the current arc, but I think tumblr user ghostmartyr had great chapters' analysis every month (theyre still up tho) I liked them bc even when Eren wasn't one of their faves, they always showed more understanding towards him than your typical Eren Ebil!1/ErenGOAT and on the late chapters they were critical with Eren's writing, not Eren the person.
Ahhh thanks! I used to read their meta a long time ago, but at one point they switched indeed to Eren Stupid & Ebol rants with a very big dose of Zeke Stupid & Ebol, I remember. They didn’t sound like analysis of what was shown based on what we knew of the character, anymore, at least to me. They sounded like veeery long and twisted “he’s a dumbass and evil” vent posts and my eyes hurt trying to go through the few first paragraphs, I could never finish the entirety of it in the end. So I stopped.
I’m sad to hear they gave up on the manga, but I fully support the decision. I’m not a Historia fan myself but I’m still supremely irked by her writing and final arc to the point that I started disliking her where I liked her before, so I can only imagine how they must have felt about the whole ordeal. I’ll look into the posts criticizing the writing because I feel like that’s where the main problem lays, but very few people acknowledge that. Everyone seems to think Isayama is perfect and cannot make any mistake, and criticizing him is not really accepted in the fandom (much more than in other fandoms I’ve consumed content of, I feel).
I wish I could share with you guys what I mean with “chapter analysis that isn’t filled with bias and hate”, because I actually follow a Japanese Youtuber who does this kind of things quite well, but I feel a lack of it in the western fandom, aside from a couple of people I still follow and read and enjoy engaging with. Maybe it’s because of a cultural difference, where in the west what (most times) matters most is getting a reaction from your readers so you need to write in a way that is filled with emotionally charged words, and I feel like those who were kinda popular and didn’t do this all just gave up on writing about the series a long time ago. I also know that some just came to despise the story or writing so much that they started veering towards emotional vent territory, and it’s tiring meta to me nowadays. Though I totally feel them 😂
Sooo yeah, now I only read posts that can enrich my understanding of the story, I’ve got no time for rants and stuff (unless it’s from mutuals, I support you guys 😘). I’ll take a look at what you mentioned, thanks!
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otakween · 3 years
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07 Ghost Children
So I originally thought this was some kind of sequel to 07 Ghost (kind of like how the Fruits Basket sequel manga focuses on everyone’s kids) but apparently it’s a side story collection that was released before the final volume of 07 Ghost even came out. I think I actually prefer this. Stories about kids are usually pretty disappointing lol. I really dislike how Frau’s nose is drawn on this cover...
Speedster
-First of all, I really appreciate that this manga has furigana. I don’t really understand how they determine which manga gets furigana and which doesn’t. Isn’t this considered a josei series?
-Yaaay more of baby Frau. Is that why this is called “Children”? Cuz it’s focused on childhood? I love character-centric storytelling so any kind of backstory development is a win in my book.
-I guess child labor laws don’t exist in this fantasy world (well, slavery is legal so...) 
-The name Gido makes me uncomfortable because it sounds like the Italian slur “guido.” Also I think Gido looks a liiitle too similar to Frau for them not to be related 
-Magdalene is HOT! Also, I like the name Magdalene. I guess you couldn’t name your kid that because of the biblical implications though...
-I always find it weird when they have a child character mourn one parent but don’t mention the other at all. Like we get a sense that Frau lost his father fairly recently but he apparently either never knew or didn’t care about his mom. I want the full scoop! 
Summer Memories
-To summarize this chapter: all of the bishops are perverts except pure-boy Labrador 
Platonic Cafe
-I feel like I’ve heard the word “Platonic” thrown around randomly in anime a bunch. I guess Japanese people think it sounds cool (or did they title it that to be all “no homo”?) 
-This story was adorable. Didn’t expect to get a Kuroyuri backstory. I feel like they low-key suggested they’re a girl because they were wearing a dress in the flashback? But at the same time they said something about not wanting Haruse to think they were a girl so -shrug-
Begleiter
-I seriously misread “begleiter” every time it shows up. I read it like “Beg-uh-leh-tear” for some reason 
-This chapter seems as though it was done by a different artist. Ayanami’s hair is looking flat af :/ 
-I think it’s just the fluffy coats, but Suzu and Yuki always remind me of these twins from Dogs Bullets and Carnage:
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-The Japanese in this is too tricky for me so I switched to this translated version midway: https://07-ghost-children.tumblr.com/
-Honestly, although Japan loves these “jerk with a heart of gold” character types I don’t like the implication that Ayanami is a good boss deep down. Working for him seems stressful ad and no one should have to put up with that 
-Okay, I also don’t like the implication that in order to earn Ayanami’s respect you have to be willing to die for him. This is a toxic work environment >:( 
-I kinda felt like Hyuuga was a little ooc in this chapter, especially when he flipped out over the prisoner escaping. I feel like it would normally take more than that for him to crack...
Always Together
-Another lil omake section. I guess snow makes Teito sad so they try to cheer him up by celebrating all the happy things about snow lol 
Aspiration
-Yaaay some Konatsu backstory. I’ve always liked him. I just find him the most relatable I guess lol 
-I never really noticed Konatsu wasn’t a warsfeil...was that ever brought up? XD;
-Man, if I had a nickel for every anime character that said “Your sword is an extension of you!”...
-It’s kinda funny how Hyuuga’s popping up in all these backstories as a cheerleader of all the younger characters. I feel like he’s pretty versatile. I can see why he’s the subject of a lot of fanfic lol (I’ve never liked his design tho)
Dream Pot
-Wait...where have I seen this bubble wrap joke before? Did they make the same joke in the main series? -deja vu- (It’s either that or I saw it in fanart somewhere lol)
-Bwahaha “my children are dying.” It took me way too long to get that joke (Konatsu spilled hot coffee on Hyuuga’s lap) 
-Apparently money in the 07 universe is called “yuus.” According to the 07 Ghost wiki 1 yuu = 2 yen
One Day I Saw the Sky
-Damn, Mikage is so ride or die. I’m glad we get to see more backstory to justify Teito angsting over him the entire series lol
-Kinda weird to think they have movies in this universe. Then again, I guess the race Mikage and Frau participated in was televised. It just feels weird in a fantasy setting
-Teito totally should have died with all those boulders on top of him. Reminded me of Obito from Naruto 
-I didn’t really realize Teito was doing his slave duties while in school? I thought that all ended before he enrolled?
-Teito’s emo slave child backstory seemed a little over-the-top grimdark. Hard for me to take seriously 
Godfather 
-Awww, I like these little brief looks at quieter moments between the characters. The bonding in this chapter between Teito and Frau felt really genuine (I wish I could hear the Raggs language...)
Aw, that was overall a nice little side volume :’) I wish more mangaka took the time to explore these smaller moments without always worrying about moving the plot forward. Anything that gives an extra bit of character development is also great in my book. I kinda wish I read it mid-series instead of at the end (because the series actually references it) but oh well. Onto the doujinshi!
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