#yacchan knows the references

[magicaldogtoto]

Parallel Worlds Record Chapter Twenty: You're Nothing Like Me!

Rating: Teen

Genre: Magical Girl, Fantasy, Angst, Drama, Crossover

Word Count: Approx. 7,000 words

Summary: Mifuyu tries to understand what motivates Ichizo. Meanwhile, her presence in Mitakihara does not go unnoticed.

Author’s Note: If the title sounds familiar to you, yes, it is a reference to that one episode of the Magia Record anime. Some dialogue about the Law of Cycles here is lifted from the original Madoka dub.

Thanks again to @celesticnova and @evatriceakiyama for beta-reading for me, as always!

[MIFUYU]

Mifuyu stared down at Ichizo. “You… What do you and Campanella want with Yacchan?!”

“I’ll tell you…” Ichizo said, rushing at Mifuyu, batons out, “... After I’ve dragged both of you back to her!”

Mifuyu jumped away, avoiding the strike from both batons just in time. She immediately threw her chakram at Ichizo, willing it to home in on her location. The circular weapon barely struck the other girl, forcing her to fall back for a moment.

Mifuyu took the opportunity to help Yachiyo up. “Yacchan, are you okay…?”

Yachiyo held onto her hand. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “What does she want me for…?”

Mifuyu frowned. “I don’t know, but it can’t be good. Can you fight?”

Yachiyo nodded. “I can manage it.”

Ichizo recovered, standing upright across the street. “I didn’t want to fight you, but if that’s what I have to do…” Her cape/wings flared out, as if trying to be threatening. Mifuyu thought she could sense some hesitation in Ichizo’s voice, even as her batons started to glow a purple aura.

“Mifuyu…” Yachiyo said quietly.

Mifuyu braced herself. “Be ready.”

Ichizo twirled her batons in her hands, before bringing them together and slamming them down on the ground. A purple shockwave tore through the ground, headed towards them.

“Jump!” Mifuyu grabbed Yachiyo’s hand and leaped out of the way, the shockwave colliding with the building behind them, causing a small explosion.

The two landed amongst the cracked cement.

“This girl,” Yachiyo said, catching her breath, “did you ever meet her in your world?”

Mifuyu shook her head. “I didn’t… I’ve never seen her before…”

Ichizo seemed to pick up on their conversation. Mifuyu noticed her frown grow.

Mifuyu turned back to Ichizo. “Why are you working with Campanella? What’s in it for you?!”

Ichizo glared at them. Before she could answer, a loud scream tore through the night. Tsuruno immediately landed in front of Mifuyu and Yachiyo, sending fire from her fans. Ichizo leaped out of the way, before charging at the three girls.

Yachiyo summoned some of her halberds and tossed them at Ichizo, doing her best to slow her down.

“There’s only one of her,” Yachiyo said, still throwing her halberds, “and three of us. We can take her!”

Mifuyu nodded. “Just like old times.”

Yachiyo’s eyes seemed to light up at that. “Yeah… old times…”

Mifuyu smiled at her. Tsuruno readied her fans.

“What’s our plan, Mifuyu?” Tsuruno asked.

Mifuyu summoned her chakram again. “We take her all at once.”

The three of them leapt at Ichizo. Yachiyo summoned her halberds, while Mifuyu threw her chakram and Tsuruno blasted flames out of her fans. Ichizo for her part did her best against the three Magical Girls, sending waves of energy with her batons as much as she could.

Mifuyu didn’t relent in her attacks, doing her best to overpower Ichizo along with the other two girls. She couldn’t help but notice, however, that Ichizo’s movements were clumsier. Mifuyu recalled her first years as a Magical Girl, how she struggled to keep up in fighting. It was one thing to go from being the daughter of a rich family who didn’t have to get her hands dirty, to suddenly fighting for her life with magical powers. Ichizo was clearly new to being a Magical Girl, probably having only contracted with her world’s Kyubey not too long ago. To go from just finding out about Witches, to serving some kind of world-destroying entity–Mifuyu was bewildered at the thought of someone going through such rapid changes.

This Yacchan probably also doesn’t even have as much experience as the one I know, she mused. What with not knowing about Witches and having to shoulder the burden of knowing what a Magical Girl’s fate was.

One thing was certain, though: Ichizo was new enough that three veteran Magical Girls should be able to overpower her. Even with whatever new powers she had, it only took one surprise to catch her off guard…

Ichizo wound up for another attack. “Oh no, you don’t,” Mifuyu said, throwing her chakram at her and knocking both weapons out of the other girl’s hands. They went flying to the side, disappearing into wisps of darkness.

Ichizo grimaced, turning just in time for Yachiyo to hold a halberd to her neck.

“You’re outnumbered,” Yachiyo said, a night breeze blowing through her short, blue strands of hair, a dramatic pose.

Tsuruno smiled smugly at Ichizo. “That’ll teach you to try to pick a fight with the Mightiest Magical Girl… and her friends!”

“Who are you?” Mifuyu asked. “Who… or what… are you and Campanella working for? How many more of you are there?” Mifuyu stepped closer and lowered her voice. “... Why do you want a home? Is the thing you two are working for the one who destroyed your original world?”

Ichizo glared at her. “You wouldn’t understand.” Dozens of red eyes glared out from the darkness behind her. They all blinked into existence, two at a time.

Mifuyu’s skin crawled. “Are those…?”

As if to answer her, one Desolator leaped down from the shadows, baring its teeth at her.

“Is that… Kyubey?” Tsuruno asked, still holding her fans.

The Desolator leaped at the trio. Mifuyu immediately swung her chakram at it, slicing its head off. The ink-black body flopped onto the ground, the head rolling a bit away.

“It’s not Kyubey,” Mifuyu said, gripping her weapon. “It’s a Desolator!”

Some more leaped at Yachiyo. Instinctively, she stabbed them. “A what?!”

Mifuyu swung at a few more that ran at her. “They’re like Kyubey, but evil! We have to take them all out!”

“If you say so!” Tsuruno leaped at a group of Desolators, burning them as much as she could.

Mifuyu and Yachiyo did their best to fight back the ongoing horde. One by one, each Magical Girl destroyed a handful of Desolators at the time.

Mifuyu spotted Ichizo and charged at her, slicing through every Desolator that crossed her path. She pounced on the girl, her chakram and Ichizo’s batons clashing.

Mifuyu pressed her way forward, Ichizo blocking with as much strength as she could. There was visible strain in the younger girl’s face, and she dug her heels into the ground. They were still partially bare, and covered by a thin fabric, and Mifuyu couldn’t help but think about how fighting barefoot like this would have hurt someone who wasn’t a Magical Girl.

She glared at Ichizo. “Why are you working with Campanella?! Do you want that… thing… She's working with to threaten more worlds?!”

Ichizo held her ground. “She… She needs to feed on more worlds. It’s the only way she can fulfill what she promised all of us!”

Mifuyu gripped her weapon. “What did she promise you?!”

Ichizo had a jealous gleam in her dark eyes. “... Paradise.”

Mifuyu pushed forward. “‘Paradise…’” What did she mean by that?

Tsuruno suddenly screamed. “Mifuyu! What’s going on?!”

Mifuyu glanced to her side. The Desolators had begun to pile on each other, as they did before. A sweat broke out in Mifuyu.

“Look out!” she cried. “They’re combining!”

Soon the ground shook as the Mega-Desolator stomped its trunk-sized foot down. The girls lost their balance, stumbling. Ichizo took the opportunity to leap away, landing a safe distance from the fight.

Mifuyu wanted to scream in frustration. But she glanced back at the Mega-Desolator, which was advancing towards her friends. Ichizo would have to wait for now…

Taking her chakram back in her hand, Mifuyu ran at the Mega-Desolator. She did her best to hack at it, throwing her chakram at it with all her might. The circular blade whirled around the Desolator, slashing at it at all angles. The creature was stunned, but not enough to stop it from pursuing her and her friends as soon as it recovered.

Meanwhile, Yachiyo summoned more halberds and threw them at the beast. Tsuruno for her part ignited her fans and lunged at it, immolating the Desolator in orange flame. When the attacks ended and the fire cleared, the Desolator was still standing.

“My weapons didn’t even dent it!” Yachiyo cried out, suddenly yelping as a Desolator pounced on her. It grabbed her in its front paws like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn. She was immobile, and unable to summon her weapon again to strike.

“Yacchan!” Mifuyu cried out.

“Master, hold on!” Tsuruno leaped again at the Desolator, only for it to turn and swat her away with its big tail. The Mightiest Magical Girl went flying once again, crashing into the building nearby.

“Tsuruno!” Mifuyu faced the huge, red-eyed monstrosity. If only that Homura with the Beret were here! She could take out the Desolator with those weapons of hers!

There was a way for her to take the Desolator out, Mifuyu realized. The same way she destroyed that Uwasa not so long ago. If she used her illusions again, she could use the energy to take the monster down.

But doing that nearly killed her. Campanella’s words echoed in her mind: “Are you willing to do that again and see if you can cheat death a second time?”

Mifuyu’s face turned pale. She never imagined that she’d be able to live with Yachiyo again, or become her girlfriend. Not after everything she did… but here she was. She had everything that she never thought she’d get. Everything she thought she never deserved. Not after what she had done. Was she willing to risk losing it?

The Desolator lunged at her, causing Mifuyu to lose her thoughts and dodge out of the way as much as she could. She stumbled, falling onto her side, her chakram falling out of her glove hand.

Mifuyu propped herself on one elbow, turning just in time to see the Desolator looming over her. She felt very, very small.

Before anything else could happen, there was a booming sound, and an explosion formed a huge, fiery gash on the Desolator’s side, causing it to cry out.

“What?” Mifuyu looked around. Did Homura show up to save them?

The next words to echo out of the night gave an answer. “Tiro… Finale!”

A huge fireball of a blast tore through the Mega-Desolator, causing it to let out a howl that felt like it could shatter glass. A huge gash appeared on its side, bigger than anything either of Mifuyu, Yachiyo, or Tsuruno’s weapons could cause.

The Mega-Desolator began to fall apart, the individual pieces burning up in the magical flame. Mifuyu looked up, and saw a familiar figure holding a massive gun, floating in midair.

Ichizo for her part looked on in disbelief as the figure in the air slowly alighted on the ground, far more graceful than a normal human falling from that height would have. The massive gun faded in a flash of light.

“Well, I thought I’d seen everything fighting Wraiths for this long,” the Magical Girl–for that was what she was, after all–said. “But this… this is a new development.”

“You…” Ichizo said after picking her jaw up from the floor. “You’re…”

Before she could say anything else, a second, red figure leaped down from a nearby building, brandishing a halberd like Yachiyo’s, but duller in color and design.

“This is MItakihara Magical Girl territory,” the second girl said. “You have no business moving in and sending weird monsters to attack the place!”

The first Magical Girl turned to Mifuyu. She offered a hand to her.

“I hope you’re not hurt too badly,” she said, smiling. Her face was framed by blonde hair tied into two drill-like curls. She looked like a fanciful version of an American gunner, or something of the sort. Her white blouse was accompanied by a dark corset and brown miniskirt, and she wore cowboy boots along with black stockings on her legs. Her Soul Gem shined a bright yellow on the brown cap on her head.

Mifuyu immediately recognized her. “Mami… Tomoe…”

Nearby, the second Magical Girl (Kyouko Sakura, Mifuyu realized) pointed her weapon accusingly at Ichizo. “Alright, what city are you from? Talk!”

Ichizo glared at Kyouko, then at Mami, and then Mifuyu and the others. There was recognition in her eyes when she looked at Mami and Kyouko, before she immediately bolted.

“Wait!” Mifuyu ran forward, only to see Ichizo jump into an opening in the fabric of space that immediately closed up as soon as she jumped in. Mifuyu’s pace slowed, until she just stood where Ichizo had been before.

Ichizo, Mifuyu thought to herself. What are you and Campanella fighting for?

Yachiyo and Tsuruno were speaking to Mami and Kyouko when Mifuyu walked back to them.

“Okay,” Kyouko began, “what was that thing? Who was that girl? Where are you from?!”

“Kamihama City,” Mifuyu said as she walked behind them. “We’re looking for Homura Akemi.”

Mami and Kyouko turned to her. Mami spoke up first. “You… know Homura Akemi?”

Mifuyu shrugged. “Sort of. I do… but not here. It’s a bit of a mess.”

“No kidding.” Kyouko surveyed the damage caused by Ichizo and the Desolators. The street was torn up, and there was rubble everywhere. Black goops and torn-off pieces of Desolators littered the ground. “What was up with that girl and that giant Kyubey?”

Mami held her arm out. “Apologies for Kyouko. But we really are in the dark for what’s going on here. We’d like to know more about it.”

Mifuyu looked at them. Would they even believe her?

She sighed. “That girl… and me… we’re not from this world.”

Mami and Kyouko looked at her. Kyouko frowned. “You’re kidding.”

“It’s true!” Yachiyo stepped forward. “Mifuyu… She died in this world a little over a year ago. She shouldn’t be alive here, but she is.”

Mami scratched under her cap. “That is possible… but there are also other Magical Girls who can change shape to resemble others.”

“That other girl jumped into a portal!” Tsuruno chimed in. “She probably went back to her world!”

“Or just teleported away,” Mami countered.

A familiar, chipper voice broke in. “It’s true, Mifuyu Azusa is from another world.”

All paused, turning to see Kyubey walk out of the shadows and into the lamp light. Its red eyes looked up at them.

“How do you know, Kyubey?” Kyouko asked.

Kyubey’s fluffy, white tail wagged left, then right. “We have means to detect energy signatures from living beings. The energy this Mifuyu–and that girl you just saw–are giving off are not of this world.”

“That girl, is she… is she from my world? Mifuyu asked.

Kyubey closed its eyes and shook its head. “No, her energy signature is too different. I can’t tell you anything else about it, but I do know that you and that girl are not from the same world.”

Mami approached Kyubey. “Who was that girl, Kyubey? Have you seen her before?”

Kyubey turned to her. “I haven’t. There aren’t any records of a Magical Girl like her in this world.”

“Maybe she isn’t a Magical Girl here…?” Mifuyu asked.

Kyubey shook its head again. “No, then we’d at least know who she is. We don’t have any recollection of a girl like that existing at any point in this world.”

“Then she’s a real anomaly…” Yachiyo said quietly.

Mifuyu’s eyes wandered to Kyubey. The white-furred creature wandered on its small paws towards the remains of one of the Desolators Mifuyu had beheaded. It stared curiously at the headless body, lying on its side on the street like it was roadkill. Kyubey leaned down and sniffed the thing, before suddenly taking a bite out of it.

Mifuyu felt her stomach churn. “Kyubey… what are you doing?!”

Kyubey seemed to chew the piece of Desolator in its mouth thoughtfully, before spitting it back out. “It’s completely inedible,” it said, with only a slight hint of disgust in its voice. “There’s too many negative emotions flooding inside it. Even after death, they still linger.” He turned to the other bodies lying around. “I must study this more closely… excuse me.” He hopped off and started observing the remains around them.

The other girls watched Kyubey for a moment, before turning back to each other.

“So… what do you need Homura Akemi for?” Kyouko asked.

“I think she might know how to help me leave this world, and maybe even explain what’s going on with that girl,” Mifuyu said. “Do you two know where Homura Akemi is?”

Mami and Kyouko turned to each other. Mifuyu suspected they were speaking telepathically, as all Magical Girls had the ability to.

Eventually, Mami turned to her. “Even if we believed you–and if Kyubey supports your story, then I think I do–we can’t really help you there.”

Mifuyu frowned. “Why not?”

“Because Homura isn’t in Mitakihara right now.”

*** For a girl who lived without her parents, Mami’s apartment was surprisingly well-furbished. Indeed, Mifuyu thought it looked almost as welcoming as Mikazuki. It even had a stairway leading to a second floor.

After passing Grief Cubes around, Mami brought out a cake that she had made earlier and set it down on a coffee table by some large windows overlooking the city. “I think now would be a good time to have some cake, don’t you think?”

Mifuyu couldn’t help but agree, she did need something to calm her nerves after everything that was going on. She took a silver fork and quietly popped a piece into her mouth, savoring the cake’s sweetness.

Next to her, Kyouko munched on a piece of cake that she was holding with her bare hands. Mifuyu stared at her. “Shouldn’t you use a fork for that?”

Kyouko gulped down a piece of cake and turned to Mifuyu. “Shouldn’t you mind your own business?”

Mifuyu flinched. “S-sorry.”

On Mifuyu’s opposite end, Yachiyo and Tsuruno ate their cakes. Yachiyo was as prim and proper as a model would be, while Tsuruno herself wolfed down her cake similarly to Kyouko, albeit with a fork still in use.

Mami approached the table and seated herself beside the rest. “I’ve made your beds. After a good night’s sleep, we can go about finding Homura.”

“Hopefully she’s home by tomorrow,” Kyouko said, sucking icing off of her fingers.

“Does she go out of Mitakihara often?” Yachiyo asked.

“She comes and goes as she pleases,” Mami said. “Especially recently.”

“Where does she go?” Mifuyu asked.

Mami shrugged. “I wish I could say. Homura has… never been very open about things.”

Never been very open about things? Mifuyu leaned forward. “What about Madoka?”

At the mention of Madoka, Kyouko and Mami paused. Mami squinted at her.

“What do you know about Madoka?” she asked.

Tsuruno and Yachiyo were now paying attention to Mifuyu, too. Mifuyu could feel their scrutiny on her.

“Um…” Mifuyu began, “In my world, Homura is friends with a girl named Madoka Kaname. The two of them are inseparable. But Kyubey mentioned to me that Madoka never existed in this world.”

Mami stroked her chin. “We heard Homura mention a girl named Madoka once… while we were fighting the Wraiths one night.”

Kyouko clenched her fist. “I remember that night,” she said through grit teeth.

“Really?” Mifuyu leaned closer. “What did she say about her?”

“... Just her name, but she seemed sad when she said it,” Mami said, taking a sip from her teacup.

Mifuyu looked at her half-eaten cake. Madoka didn’t exist in this world… but Homura still knew about her. What was going on here?

“So,” Yachiyo said, “have you two and Akemi been fighting together for a while now?”

“We have,” Mami said. “The three of us team up now and then to fight off the Wraiths. I’m the most senior of the group.”

“Must be great,” Tsuruno said, “being a team of three and fighting together…”

Mifuyu noticed Yachiyo flinch out of the corner of her eye. For her part, a sad look had crossed Mami’s face.

“We weren’t always just three,” she said quietly. Kyouko for her part seemed even more miserable, though she didn’t say much.

“You… you were?” Tsuruno asked, quietly.

“We were four not too long ago,” Kyouko said. “It was me, Mami, Homura, and… Sayaka.”

Sayaka… Mifuyu recognized that name. That was one of Madoka’s friends back in her world. She remembered her being a Magical Girl with a real sense of justice.

“Oh…” Tsuruno seemed to regret her words. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“You couldn’t have,” Mami said. “We haven’t met until today.”

“The Law of Cycles took her,” Kyouko said, looking at her empty plate. “Damn Sayaka… she didn’t have to go out like that. Especially because of some boy who didn’t even feel the same way about her…!” She clenched her fist under the transparent glass table. “We were just starting to become friends, too…”

“It’s the fate of all Magical Girls,” Mami said calmly. Even she didn’t seem too thrilled at the memory. “It’s something we all learn when we get our powers. We’re supposed to bring hope, but once it turns into despair, we have no choice but to disappear… forever. The Law of Cycles says it has to be this way.”

“Where does the Law of Cycles take you…?” Mifuyu asked.

Kyouko looked aside, at the glass window overlooking Mitakihara. “If you asked me that a few years ago, I probably would have said Heaven.” She scowled. “I don’t really know anymore, though.”

“No one knows for sure,” Yachiyo said. “But I heard some rumors around Kamihama that the Law of Cycles takes Magical Girls away to this wonderful paradise, where they no longer have to fight to survive.”

“They say it’s a perfect world,” Tsuruno added. “I heard some Magical Girls who eat at Banbanzai say the same thing…”

“I’ve also heard some believe it takes you nowhere,” Yachiyo added. “Or rather, you exist everywhere and nowhere at the same time. There are a lot of rumors. Even Kyubey doesn’t know.”

“Paradise… a perfect world…” Mifuyu repeated the words. She was never a religious sort of person–indeed, when she found out about Magical Girls and Witches, and the connection between the two, she figured there was no way a just god could allow something like that to persist. But the idea of Magical Girls being taken away by some cosmic force after fighting for so long… Well, that appealed to Mifuyu a lot more than simply running out of magic, dying in battle, or becoming a Witch when despair had overridden your emotions.

And that suddenly caused her to be filled with envy. In a multiverse containing countless worlds, why were some worlds full of Magical Girls who suffered until they were no longer human, while others were rewarded by being taken away by a mysterious power? Then again, what little–and it was very, very little–she knew about world religions suggested that they never really took alternate universes into account for their doctrines. Still, why didn’t the Law of Cycles come to her world? Why couldn’t her and her friends be spared from becoming Witches?

Maybe this Law of Cycles isn’t as benevolent as everyone makes it out to be, Mifuyu thought to herself. Absent-mindedly, her face had formed into a scowl. Ichizo had also mentioned something about Paradise… was that the same Paradise that other Magical Girls believed the Law of Cycles took them to? Were they one and the same? The more she tried to process it, the more her mind felt like it was getting all tangled up.

“Mifuyu, is everything alright?” Yachiyo asked.

Mifuyu suddenly snapped back to the present, scowl fading. “Oh, sorry. Just thinking about all of this.”

“In any case, I’m curious about your world, Azusa-san,” Mami said. “Is it true that your world is different from ours?”

Mifuyu nodded. “There are Magical Girls, but they don’t fight Wraiths. They fight Witches. And we don’t have a Law of Cycles, either. At least, no one’s mentioned it before.”

“My dad once preached about witches,” Kyouko said. “The Bible says you’re not supposed to let them live. Maybe if I were fighting actual Witches, he would have appreciated my wish a bit more.”

“Where do Witches come from, Azusa-san?” Mami asked.

Mifuyu tensed up a bit. “It’s… it’s something Kyubey never really told us about when we contracted with him. But if Magical Girls spread hope to the world, Witches do the opposite. They spread misery and despair wherever they go.”

Mami sipped some more of her tea. “If that’s the case, then it’s a good thing your world has Magical Girls to fight them off. I’m sure the Mami Tomoe of your world would also do whatever she could to get rid of Witches.”

She smiled at Mifuyu. Mifuyu decided not to divulge the fact that the Mami Tomoe of her world had not taken the news of where Witches come from well.

“Anywhere, we should all turn in soon.” Mami picked up her empty plates and cup. “It’s a school night, and we also need to be alert for when we go meet Homura.”

“Will she really be back by tomorrow?” Yachiyo asked.

“I’m mostly certain that she would be,” Mami said. “In any case, we’ll have to catch her bright and early. Good night, everyone.”

That sounded like a good idea, and soon the table was cleared and everyone was saying goodnight to each other. Mami headed up to her bedroom, while Kyouko found a spare room to sleep in.

Tsuruno had gone up to the room Mami had prepared for the three Kamihama girls, leaving Yachiyo and Mifuyu walking up alone in the stairway. Halfway through, Yachiyo–who was in front of Mifuyu–stopped.

“Yacchan…?” Mifuyu asked.

Yachiyo turned to face her. “What’s going on with you, Mifuyu?”

Mifuyu blinked. “What?” she asked flatly.

“You’re not the same Mifuyu I was friends with, but you’re a lot like her. And I can tell when something’s bothering you.” Yachiyo stepped down closer to Mifuyu, holding onto the railing. She looked intensely into Mifuyu’s eyes.

Mifuyu found herself intimidated as much as lost in Yachiyo’s blue eyes. Not your Yacchan, she reminded herself. “What… what are you talking about?”

Yachiyo didn’t falter. “When Mami was talking about the Law of Cycles, it looked like something was on your mind.” Her expression softened. “It’s not my place, but if anything’s bothering you, you can tell me. I’ll do what I can to help you.”

“Yacchan…” Mifuyu felt like there was a dam in her soul ready to burst. How she wished she could tell Yachiyo what she knew. What it was like in her world. But doing so would only hurt her more than help her. And she was starting to suspect that Kyubey had ulterior motives for wanting to know about Witches. She recalled the white-furred bastard complaining about how the Wraiths weren’t giving them as much energy at the rate they wished.

Yachiyo leaned closer, until her face was close to Mifuyu’s. “Mifuyu…” she said softly.

Mifuyu felt her cheeks heat up. “It’s.. it’s nothing, really. Let’s just go to bed, okay?”

Yachiyo seemed a little disappointed, but nodded. “Okay, then.”

They didn’t say anything as they headed to the room. With minimal words, they prepared for bed, Yachiyo and Mifuyu joining an already snoring Tsuruno on either side of the bed.

Soon only Mifuyu was awake, staring at the dark ceiling. What dreams would she have this time? As much as she wanted to resist, her eyelids soon felt heavy, and she drifted off…

***

It was a familiar dream for Mifuyu: lying in bed, surrounded by beautiful girls on all sides. There was one major difference, though–Yachiyo wasn’t among them.

What’s going on now? Mifuyu thought to herself. She recalled the last weird dream she had–the other her in her dream had agreed to a full-body massage from that maid with green eyes. How much time has passed since then…?

“Feeling comfortable?”

That maid with green eyes–Meela, Mifuyu remembered–was reclining to her side, a bowl of grapes in her hand. She was wearing an outfit that looked like something Mifuyu would have seen in an ancient history book–something from the Hellenic Period, or thereabouts. It was a white dress with a surprisingly low neckline… if it could be said to have a neckline at all. The outfit’s top half seemed little more than a bikini top that covered Meela’s breasts, but still left a lot of cleavage visible. The rest of her body was in a long, white fabric, which became translucent just below the waist, giving Mifuyu a good look at her pale legs. On her arms were detachable, white sleeves.

As Mifuyu observed this, the other Mifuyu’s voice spoke. “I am, thanks.”

Meela smiled at her. She plucked a grape from its stem and held it over the other Mifuyu’s mouth. “Here, have some more.”

The other Mifuyu didn’t resist as Meela popped the small grape into her mouth. For a moment, Mifuyu thought she could taste it.

After swallowing the delicious fruit, the other Mifuyu spoke again. “You’re being awfully… Nice to me. All of you are.”

The two girls were in a different room than the one that Mifuyu had seen the other her and Meela in before. This room had a large bed, big enough to fit a dozen people if it was desired. Above it was a large canopy, and silk curtains on the sides that had been drawn back. A little further away was a window whose own curtains had been drawn closed, but from which Mifuyu could surmise that it was already evening, due to the lack of sunlight.

The other Mifuyu changed positions, and Mifuyu could see that she wore a similar outfit to Meela’s. She found herself blushing just a bit when she saw what a generous view the other Mifuyu’s outfit gave of her own chest. It was then that she also made note of the other girls lying in bed around the other Mifuyu, all in similar attire. The bed itself looked like it had been used recently, the bedsheets and blankets disheveled.

A few of the girls were occupying themselves by embracing each other and making out, the sounds of light giggling reaching Mifuyu’s… ears? She seemed to be somehow occupying the same space as the other her, if not literally, so it must have been something like that.

“We just wanted you to feel comfortable while you’re here,” Meela said, taking one grape for herself. “A pretty girl like you would fit in around the palace.”

“Really?” Mifuyu thought she could sense hesitation in the other Mifuyu’s voice. “But I’m a Magical Girl… I need to be alert for any Witches that might appear.”

“Being a Magical Girl sounds like a stressful job,” one other girl–with long, blonde hair tied into a braid–said, yawning. “I can’t imagine what a lifetime of fighting Witches must be like.” As she spoke, another girl scooted closer to her, wrapping an arm around the blonde girl and nuzzling her shoulder. The blonde girl grinned at hat, seemingly forgetting about Mifuyu in the process.

“Besides,” Meela said, offering the other Mifuyu another grape, “there are other Magical Girls around here, and around Oz. They can take care of any Witches while you relax.”

“I know that,” the other Mifuyu said, “but I still need to be careful in order to get more G–ah!” The other Mifuyu found her words interrupted by an involuntary gasp. She turned her head, and Mifuyu caught a glimpse of another girl trailing soft kisses over Mifuyu’s shoulder and collar.

“Relax,” Meela said softly, running a hand through the other Mifuyu’s long, white hair. “Even you deserve a break now and then…”

For a moment, the other Mifuyu said nothing as Meela leaned down, her lips meeting the other Mifuyu’s and silencing any other words the girl might have had to say. The sounds of their kissing filled the air, and seemed to encourage the other girls around them. Soon everyone was making out, or gravitating towards Mifuyu, running a hand along her arm or finding a spot of bare skin along her arms, legs, or collar to cover with their soft lips. The other Mifuyu for her part seemed to just take it all in, Mifuyu figuring that the other her’s mind was full of nothing but impulsive responses to the stimuli around her.

As she watched on, Mifuyu thought about Yachiyo, and how she wouldn’t mind having her girlfriend on her at this moment. The fact that she was dreaming this and not really feeling much of what the other her was feeling only served to frustrate her just a bit more.

Soon Meela broke the kiss and gazed into the other Mifuyu’s eyes. There was something in the look she was giving the other Mifuyu. Mifuyu herself recognized that look–it was the same one Yachiyo gave her that one afternoon not too long ago, when the two of them were the only ones in MIkazuki Villa. The look one’s partner gives when taking them all in, knowing now that they knew things about the other person that even a close platonic friend would never truly know.

Did the other Mifuyu feel the same way about this strange, green-eyed girl that Mifuyu could only see in these weird dreams?

“You’re a beautiful girl, Mifuyu,” Meela said breathlessly. “I want you to feel good… we all do.”

The other girls in the bed murmured in agreement. Mifuyu had a feeling the other her’s face was very red by now.

“P-please…” the other Mifuyu said shakily, lustfully. “Keep making me feel good...”

Meela grinned. “Of course…” She leaned in and started planting kisses on the other Mifuyu’s neck, causing the latter to gasp some more in anticipation. Soon Meela was on top of her, holding onto the other Mifuyu’s shoulders while the surrounding girls looked on or began making out with each other once more.

As Meela continued on, the other Mifuyu kept on sighing in bliss. Meela hiked up the other Mifuyu’s dress, exposing her long, pale leg, and began to kiss her on her thigh.

That seemed to send a jolt through the other Mifuyu, and a word gasped out of her mouth: “Yacchan…!”

Mifuyu herself winced at that. She’d read one too many romance novels where things were about to get intimate, only to be ruined when one person said the wrong name at the wrong time.

Meela for her part had paused, still grasping onto the other Mifuyu’s leg. The other girls who weren’t too caught up in their own making out paused, startled.

The other Mifuyu’s words came out shakily. “S-sorry…” she said, shame in her voice. “I guess… I’m still thinking about her.”

Meela for her part seemed a tad disappointed. She shrugged. “Hey, I get it. It’s not like this really meant anything… right?”

The other Mifuyu seemed to still have a hard time making up words. “I… I guess.”

Just as there was a sudden knock on the door.

The girls in the bed all groaned, hating the idea of an interruption at this moment. Mifuyu herself found herself wondering who it was.

Meela had an annoyed look on her face. She sat up and composed herself, before getting out of the bed and walking over to the door. A familiar, dark-haired figure stepped inside.

“So, this is where you are.”

The other Mifuyu seemed to tense up just a bit. “A-Amare…” she said.

Amare stood at the foot of the bed, hands on her hips. “Yachiyo was wondering where you were. I offered to help find you… I was assuming the worst, but it looks like you’ve been enjoying the pleasures of the palace.”

Some of the other girls seemed to glare at Amare, while others tensed up.

“This is a private party,” the blonde girl from earlier said, scorn on her face. “Don’t you have a village to terrorize with your magical powers or something?”

Amare shot a dark look back at her, only for the other Mifuyu to speak up. “No wait… I… I actually wanted to talk to you.”

Amare seemed taken aback by that. “... Really?”

“Really?” the other girls repeated, incredulity in their voice.

The other Mifuyu sat up in bed. “Yes… can we talk? Please?”

Amare looked at her. “... Fine. I’ll be outside.”

She turned and left, closing the door. In minutes, Mifuyu had composed herself and put on a long robe that covered her up more. She stepped outside, closing the door on Meela and the other girls.

Amare was leaning against the opposite wall. “I already saw what you looked like under that.”

The other Mifuyu didn’t seem amused. “I know that.”

Amare stood straight up. “So, what did you want to tell me that was so important?”

Mifuyu could sense some boiling hostility in Amare’s dark eyes.

The other Mifuyu took a moment to gather her words. “I… I just wanted to apologize for calling you weak earlier. Back when Yacchan disappeared from Kamihama the other day. I… I shouldn’t have said that.”

Amare stared at her. Her expression was unreadable, but it didn’t seem very accepting. As if sensing the tension coming from her, the other Mifuyu looked down the hallway.

“This is a wonderful palace you got here,” she said after a few seconds. “I never would have dreamed that a place like this existed in this world. I can’t believe you were quick to leave it all behind…”

“Is that all?” Amare said, cutting in. “Did you just want to say you were sorry?”

The other Mifuyu turned back to her. “No, not really. I… I heard about what happened to you. During the war.”

Amare tensed up. “You did, did you…?”

The other Mifuyu nodded. “Meela told me about it earlier. She told me the whole story… about your contract… about joining the insurrectionists… everything.”

Amare clenched her fist, but said nothing.

The other Mifuyu went on. “I can’t even begin to imagine how it felt, going through what you did. You really suffered during that war, didn’t you?”

“....” Still no response from Amare. Instead, the other girl simply glowered at her.

Other Mifuyu continued. “It’s just that… I wanted to say… I get it.”

That seemed to catch Amare’s attention. “... What?”

Mifuyu watched on as her other self stepped closer to Amare. “Yes,” the other Mifuyu said. “It made me realize–we aren’t that different from each other. You and me, we’ve both been scared, and both done things that we regret. Me joining the Magius… you joining the insurrectionists in this country… we’ve both made huge mistakes and tried to move on from them.”

Mifuyu looked at Amare as her other self spoke. Was it true? Were they really that similar?

Amare had gone quiet, hands balled into fists. She just eyed Mifuyu.

The other Mifuyu stepped even closer. She was at arm’s length now. “Amare…?”

The hallway was so quiet, the sound of Amare’s fist connecting with Mifuyu’s cheek was louder than it should have been.

The other Mifuyu yelped as she fell to the floor. She pressed her hand to her cheek. Mifuyu herself was bewildered by what she had seen.

“Don’t pity me,” Amare growled as she glared down at her. “I’m nothing like you!”

The other Mifuyu just looked up at her in shock. Mifuyu wanted to scream, to do something to protect her other self.

“What’s going on here?”

That voice… Mifuyu paused. Could it be…?

Yachiyo was now with them. The two other girls turned to her. Mifuyu found herself lost in Yachiyo’s blue eyes. How she had missed them dearly… Unlike the other Mifuyu and the girls she had been with, Yachiyo was wearing a green halterneck and matching green dress pants and sandals. She looked like she had just stepped out of the shower not too long ago.

Amare’s angry expression gave way to one of fear and worry. “Yachiyo…” she said.

Yachiyo knelt down, offering to help the other Mifuyu back up. The other Mifuyu simply turned away, helping herself up.

Yachiyo seemed hurt by that. She turned to Amare.. “Amare, what’s gotten into you?” Her tone was stern, like whenever she tried to tell Felicia to eat her veggies. Even her expression was one of reprimand.

“I… It’s not what it looks like…” Amare’s attitude had done a complete one-eighty. Instead of the upset, aloof girl from earlier, she was now a scared, frightened figure.

“It’s okay, Yacchan,” the other Mifuyu said. “I said something I shouldn’t have. I was just being an idiot…” She looked at Amare, but said nothing.

“Mifuyu?” Meela peeked out from the door. “Is everything okay…?”

The other Mifuyu turned to her. “Everything’s fine,” she said.

“Mifuyu…” Yachiyo began. She looked back at Amare.

Amare suddenly seemed interested in the floor. “I… I’m sorry…

“Good.” Yachiyo cleared her throat and turned back to Mifuyu. “If that’s all settled, I just wanted to tell you that I’ll be gone for a bit. I’m heading out with some other girls. We’re going to look for an ingredient to help Glinda with a magic spell.”

That caught the other Mifuyu’s attention. “Magic… spell?”

Yachiyo nodded. “Glinda says it’ll help me find out what happened to the Yachiyo of this world. And then maybe I can start really making a plan to get back to my world… to my… Mifuyu.”

“... Right.” There was a grim tone to the other Mifuyu’s voice. Mifuyu, for her part, focused on Yachiyo’s words.

Back to her own world… her own Mifuyu…? Mifuyu gasped. Could that be…?

“I see,” the other Mifuyu said. “Good luck, then.. Yacchan. I hope you find what you need.”

Yachiyo nodded. “Thanks.” She turned towards the opposite direction. “See you.”

Soon it was just the other Mifuyu and Amare in the hallway.

The other Mifuyu turned to Amare. “You’re not going…?”

Amare crossed her arms and looked aside. “No,” she said glumly. “Yachiyo said she’d be fine with the girls she picked to go with her.”

“I see.”

For a while, neither girl spoke. Amare sighed.

“I’m going. Later.”

Now the other Mifuyu was all alone in the hallway. Looking around, she turned and went back inside the room to join Meela and the other girls. Seemed she could use something to distract her from what had transpired.

*** Mifuyu opened her eyes and looked up at the dark ceiling. Next to her, Tsuruno snored loudly while Yachiyo herself quietly tossed in bed.

Mifuyu couldn’t stop thinking about the dream she just had. She recalled what the other Mifuyu had said in her last dream… about having a dream about a different Mifuyu. Mifuyu was almost certain that she had been talking about her.

Then that meant that… that Yachiyo she just saw.

“It’s her,” Mifuyu whispered in the dark. “It has to be… Yacchan…!”

She’d found her!

[princesandromeda]

Predator

(//I've had ideas for nagirin fanfics and guess what, motivation too. I'm still so f*cking happy about basketball okay? I should probably warn that this contains nagirei too, though. And lots of angst orz It starts in chapter 5 of ES)

—

When Rei had come to him asking for help in his swimming technique, Rin's first thought was that it might have had something to do with how the relay played out. He could understand it, though, and even if swimming with his childhood friends had been the best therapy from his Australia breakdown, he couldn’t shake the guilt afterwards when he saw Speedo Glasses' longing gaze at how happy the were as a team.

So yeah, he accepted the deal out of respect and gratitude.

.

He hadn’t really expected to receive homemade cookies, or praise, or casual gossip about how his friends are managing while he's not there, and even if the point of view is not the same and maybe not as accurate as her sister's, who's known Nagisa, Haru and Makoto and since they were children, Rin still tries to let Rei know how thankful he is for that.

Rei smiles somewhat sheepishly and tells him that 'it’s the least he can do for someone as kind as Rin-san.'

.

Somehow, after one of the trainings, Rei mentions the Iwatobi guys falling into the conclusion that he was dating his track ex-captain, and you don’t happen to have any idea as to how they arrived to that particular conclusion, would you?

Rin laughs along, mentioning that it was probably her sister that brought up the idea and the rest went along with it.

And somehow, they end up talking about their love lives or lack thereof, what with Rin being so focused on going pro at swimming and having no time for relationships, and with Rei thinking that 'a person in love is something absolutely not beautiful!'.

And it is not awkward at all the fact that Rin mentions having a small crush on Nagisa when they were children, that somehow, slowly but steadily, evolved into this unrequited love kinda thing. But even if Nagisa's eyes were filled with awe in his childish naïvete, if word of his thoughts got around the small guy, they'd be filled with pity.

"Rin-san should hear the way Nagisa-kun talks about him!" Rei interjects, proclaiming lots of knowledge regarding his friend's feelings, "sometimes, when he tells me about how you were at children, and the things you used to do, I get the feeling that I was only recruited to replace you." He tries not to squint his eyes as he places his googles out of his head and the world swirls into slight blur. "Does Rin-san know the story of my recruitment?"

The redhead could only nod. "Yeah."

(He had heard it. It had been Nagisa chasing Makoto and Haru to Iwatobi to form a swim club.

It had been Nagisa chasing memories at the swimming club who stumbled upon Rin, who greeted him so cheerfully and devoid of angriness towards his lack of letters.

It had been Nagisa chasing Rei to join the swimming club, because he could soar the sky so beautifully, and he could maybe soar the water just so.

It had also been Nagisa who chased Rin to let him into the relay.

It had been Nagisa chasing all the time; and Rin wanted to laugh at the irony. If he was a shark —according to a code Nagisa invented to reffer to his friends—, wouldn’t it just make more sense if he, as a predator, had been the one doing the chasing?)

"But don’t sell yourself short, he probably only sees me as the big brother, since I was the one to tutor him and stuff." He scratches his neck awkwardly, and tries to ignore the slight sting in his chest at the recognition of this fact. "On the other hand, he's totally smittem by you, and it’s painfully obvious from miles away that the feeling's mutual. The boy's got his way to have people wrapped around his little finger..."

Rei can’t help but nod, and Rin tries not to be surprised when, before he goes back to Australia, they announce they’re dating.

He also tries not to show his hurt, but he guesses it’s still pretty evident from the pityful looks he gets from everyone but Nagisa.

Maybe he's just not cut out for chasing penguins, he shrugs off the thought with the custom "so glad for you" speech and goes back to normal the date printed on his ticket.

(When he arrived at Samezuka for the last time, he allowed himself to feel hollow, and to feel dampness engulf his whole face, as well as small sobs to escape his chest, all because of the small voice in the back of his mind;

'Rin-chan's always been a crybaby, after all!')

[reis-and-yays]

Amaryllises For Two

Hanahaki AU

Tsukishima Kei x Kageyama Tobio

2.3K words

Part 2: here

Summary:

Lungs stop breathing as you hit the ground, and a flower pops out of your mouth. You’d rather risk death than confess to him. What could this be, other than mere pride?

--- In which Volleyball Freaks Kageyama Tobio and Tsukishima Kei are struck down with a disease of unrequited love. For each other. The main problem? They would never admit it, taking the phrase "I would rather die than do so" literally.

Ticking time-bombs of a disease, useless pride and pure stupidity simply spells a whole mess.

Chapter 1:  Can Sunflowers Be Red?

To say Kageyama Tobio was a talented player would be an understatement. A brilliant setter, he was crucial in many of Karasuno’s victories. Which is why it was strange.

It was strange that the usually brilliant setter was making blatant rookie mistakes and fumbling his way through routine practices.

This gave the captain, Sawamura Daichi, a massive headache. If it was just Kageyama messing up, there wouldn't be too much of a problem, the ever-reliable setter Sugawara Koushi would make up for it. But it was not just one of his regulars suddenly acting like they barely touched a volleyball, it was two.

Tsukishima Kei was a shoe-in as a regular on the team due to this staggering height of 190cm. He wasn’t put on the team just for being a relative giant though, he was a skilled up-and-coming blocker. But here he was, jumping a second too late or almost stumbling over after leaping up several times now.

But if anyone were to ask them if there was anything wrong at all, both would deny it vehemently. Such an example happened earlier with a curious Hinata Shouyou, after failing to hit an admittedly poorly set ball, came running up to Kageyama who was panting heavily.

“Kageyama! What’s wrong?!”, he yelled at the setter who was now crouching down. Normally he would take this failure as a chance to push in some snide remark that would remind you of Tsukishima but the look on Kageyama’s face drained the color off Hinata’s face.

“Kagaeyama, are you dying?!”

But before Hinata could fuss over him more, Kageyama shoved him aside with all the strength he could muster and muttered out a “Mind your own business, dumbass” before shuffling away.

On the other side of the court, a similar incident was happening with a worried and indignant Yamaguchi Tadashii fussing over Tsukishima.  

“Tsukki! Stop telling me to shut up! You need to go to the infirmary!”

But all of Yamaguchi’s nagging fell on deaf ears, Tsukishima was determined to get his best friend (though he would never admit he thought of him that way) off his back. The last thing he needed was Yamaguchi worrying over him. Yamaguchi wasn’t scared of Tsukishima like how Hinata was of Kageyama, so he stayed right behind Tsukishima even with him pushing him stubbornly away.

Tsukishima could feel it rising up, the soft petals pushing up against his throat, struggling to break free from him. He used up all his might to push it back down but he knew he couldn’t hold it down much longer, so when he laid his eyes on the cheery first-year manager of his team, his tired brain sparked a brilliant idea.

He turned back at his nagger of a friend and could hardly contain his smirk, which was truthfully a half-wince thanks to the pain. “Yachi is looking for you.” he said, knowing Yamaguchi will bite the bait. And bite he did, hard.

“Y-Y-Yacchan?!”, he sputtered out and instinctively turned to look at the girl who gave a brilliant smile back. That lapse of attention was enough for Tsukishima to give him the slip. You can always count on crushes to make people into bigger fools, he thought smugly to himself, but as the glow of self-satisfaction from tricking his friend faded, there was nothing to distract himself from the pain growing in his chest.

In an alleyway between the school gym and another building, a bright red flower popped out. One, two, they kept blooming into the beautiful flowers they were, as they fell from the haggard boy’s mouth and onto the ground. His glasses had dropped to the ground from the violent motions of his cough, the brilliant red of the flowers blurred together from the view of his imperfect vision. He looked like he had coughed up a puddle of blood rather than a mess of flowers. But what these deadly plumage signified was exactly the same as blood; his impending death.

Hanahaki, even the thought of the name of the disease had left a sour taste in Tsukishima’s mouth. He’d rather get a heart disease or whatever is killing most of the population now, rather than this humiliation of a disease. Crushes make people into bigger fools indeed, if Yamaguchi was a fool then he must be a total dumbass. He felt the ground for his glasses, groping petals along the way. Each touch with the petals, made him grimace, it made him face the reality of his disease. After a few moments, he completed his little hunt and restored his sight. He got more than a shock right after that though, what he assumed to be mere petals, were full-bloomed flowers, Amaryllises, he recognized. The common knowledge was that full-bloomed flowers didn’t have much time left, and neither did he.

This hallowing realization has him stumbling out of the alleyway, lost deep in his own mind. Trapped in a nightmare of his own thoughts, he hadn’t realized he had bumped into someone else till he actually hit the ground. In typical Tsukki fashion, he was about to cuss that clumsy bastard out, that was until he realized who that bastard was.

Kageyama.

Now he wanted to cuss him out even more. He expected the usual combative Kageyama, but all he got from him after he had rubbed his head was a “Look where you’re going, dumbass.” before he weakly got up and walked away. Tsukishima was irritated. He was the last person he wanted to see, well, who wanted to see the source of all their problems anyway? His attention was shifted away when he saw a red petal where Kageyama had landed and hoped desperately that the setter hadn’t spotted it.

After all, there were no red flowers in school, other than ones coming out of a love-sick boy.

Unbeknownst to him, there was another source of all the flowers.

Kageyama cursed under his breath. He had no idea what to feel. In the first few weeks of his suffering, he was sure that he was coughing up lumps of conjugated blood. He hadn’t suspected they were flowers at all, though they were soft to touch and pleasant to smell. But not like Kageyama was the brightest when it came to things outside of his expertise. Hanahaki, it was the first he ever heard of it. It didn’t have anything to do with volleyball after all. All he could do was stare at his doctor, dumb-founded when the news was broken to him. A disease of unrequited love? What is love anyway? And the biggest question he thought to himself, who exactly did he love?

So he went, to unburden all these questions on to his ever-reliable senior, Sugawara.

Sugawara was a little startled at first when his junior abruptly pulled him to a corner and expected a volleyball related question. Hence he had an utter look of bewilderment when he heard,

“What is love?” coming from his junior who had a completely genuine and serious face on him.

“Is this a reference to that old meme?” was what Sugawara reflexively said in return. Kageyama tilted his head, he didn’t understand what he meant but decided he should provide some form of context.

Throughout Kageyama’s explanation, Sugawara made a range of expression that went from shock to mild delight to sadness, all mirroring what he felt. He never expected his straight-minded volleyball freak of a junior would fall in love, not at this stage in his life at least. He was amused that even Kageyama could get into the springtime of his youth and he was certainly sad at the prospect of him losing his life. Finally, he expressed understanding, it would explain how he much he had to sub for Kageyama lately even if he was slightly slyly happy about the extra court time. His mind wandered off a bit to his other junior who also has been underperforming lately but forced his thoughts back to first deal with one in front of him.

As much as he greatly wanted to help Kageyama, how could he give advice on his unrequited love when the boy himself had no clue. He shrugged to himself, the only way was to wing it then. “Well,” he dragged out that word as he put a hand on his chin to demonstrate that he's thinking, “love is a complicated feeling but usually, it's the person you can’t take your eyes off, the one who you think is like your ray of sunshine, someone who you want to be yours.”

Kageyama nodded after each point, with an absolute look of sincerity in taking all the advice in.

Wanting to lighten the mood for a bit, and maybe even just to fool around; Sugawara, with a gleam in his eye, said with a slightly cocky grin, “I mean I would know, I’m quite the casanova y’know?” and in return, Kageyama’s eyes lit up like he hit the jackpot. To think his senior was even more reliable in these matters than he thought. Sugawara gulped, he could tell from that glint that Kageyama bought it all but he didn’t want to suddenly take it back and dash his hopes like that, despite his only experience being that one time in elementary school where he held a girl’s hand on a field trip. When the teachers told them to. Well its probably harmless to let him believe this, right?

Kageyama, taking all of Sugawara’s advice to heart, walked back into the gymnasium, ready for more practice, and more importantly, observation. He willed his breathless body into action. As he struggled to keep up during practice, his mind was also in overdrive as to who met all the mentioned points.

As Kageyama was doing his little investigation, Tsukishima couldn't help his eyes from wandering to the aforementioned setter. He cursed at himself from doing that time and again, while forcing himself to focus on the other practice team on the opposing side, he was the blocker after all. But like a train wreck, he couldn't tear his eyes away, and each glance at the sight of him sent a twang of pain through his chest, as if the flowers were struggling to burst out again. Even as much as he was observing Kageyama, his lagged body could not move out of the way in time when Kageyama came tumbling down on him after a misstep.

Their chests pressed together and their legs entangled; Kageyama was, in summary, wholly on top of Tsukishima, where the latter was struggling with utmost effort to not show that he was fully enjoying the contact. His ears red, he tried to sputter out a usual sassy remark but all that came out was a rather weak “dumbass”, complete with an arm trying to desperately hide his face.  “That’s a classic Tsundere pose.” thought Yamaguchi who witnessed the entire thing up to this moment. He paused for a few moments as if taking this new bit of information in. After which, he looked as if he had a lightbulb flash moment, he had Tsukki figured out. Now he just has to help him.

Back to the center of the mess, Kageyama shot back a rather defiant, “No, you’re the dumbass!”, even though he knew full well he was the one at fault. But Tsukishima just brought out this side of him more than anyone else did. Tsukishima just made irritates him and makes him mad, which must also be why his whole face feels hot, he reasoned. Before he could get more heated, Hinata interrupted him with questions filled with concern. From Kageyama’s view, looking up to Hinata, from the ground, the light from the ceiling of the gymnasium made his orange hair looked as if it was glowing.

Kageyama squinted. It set some gears turning in his head before he annoyedly swatted Hinata away who in return yelled that ‘Kageyama was acting like he’s king again!” and started swatting back.

This then set of Tsukishima who begrudgingly felt jealousy towards their interaction. Luckily the situation was quickly diffused;  “Alright, alright, no arguments”, Daichi chided them with an exasperated expression while picking them both up by the arms. Dealing with not one, but two regulars acting like newborn fawns was stressing him out. “I want to pull you both out-”, but before Daichi could even complete his sentence, Kageyama began to protest but the captain raised a hand to stop his oncoming tirade. “But I know you both want to practice but the moment another accident occurs, practice is over for the both of you, got it?” He ended with a ‘smile’ that sent shivers up their spines. The captain can always be counted on to set his kids straight.

During the rest of the practice, Kageyama tried to pierce the remaining ‘clues’ together. He was doing way more thinking about something non-volleyball related than he usually does. He had no idea if he was drenched in cold sweat from all this thinking or from his stamina rapidly draining. It was most definitely the latter but to Kageyama, the first was a likely option. Feeling as if he was an ace detective, he mentally linked back to the points Sugawara imparted on him to what he observed.

He noticed his eyes always going to a certain someone he wanted to toss to and he wanted that someone to be ‘his’ weapon. It made sense, he always tracked him with his eyes and wanted him to be his in a way, that person even glowed like sunshine (though that was more due to his hair colour than anything). Kageyama felt like a detective who cracked a mystery, he stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth forming the shape of an ‘O’. One of the sides of his fist hits the other hand’s palm, signaling that he got it. He had his deduction.

Hinata is the cause. Hinata is his love.

[yaribuleader]

i’m just gonna ramble some thoughts bc i can’t find the way to put them coherently in a hc post.

there is obviously something off about akemi and itome’s relationship. you could tell from the early chapters when itome reacted a certain way when akemi found out he’d only had sex with him the month as of compared to doing it with others for the numbers. keep this in your mind as i continue on with other observations.

next, when asked why he doesn’t break up with akemi by someone itome had sex with, itome shows a not-so-gentle side to him, squeezing the person’s head obviously causing them pain. you can tell itome is determined to stay with akemi even if their arrangement is strange.

as well, we know akemi had a relationship with the previous leader of the yaribu from the flashback shown from shikatani’s side. and itome was quite different, almost loner-esque giving off a not-so-kind vibe as well.

now, remember what i’ve said. there’s obviously something strange between akemi and itome. itome was the one who came up with the arrangement for akemi and him to have sex with other people while being a couple. it leads me to believe their relationship must have started up from a proposition made by itome upon joining the yaribu. itome doesn’t seem to be fond of sleeping with other people aside from akemi but does it out of obligation. we don’t know what akemi’s main thought process is of all of this, but he seems to be thinking everything is fine in their relationship even if it’s a strange idea. we can’t put all the fault onto akemi though because, again, this arrangement was made by itome in the first place. the two seem to have some different thoughts but one thing is certain is they do have feelings for one another. i’m unsure how strong each feeling is, but when you look at itome’s character song it is in reference to his love for akemi and akemi seems to be in blissful ignorance over the whole thing.

i can only hope in future chapters we learn about the premise of their relationship and we get some clues as of to why they are the way they are. in the end we don’t even know akemi’s point of view. he seems to be one of the more detached characters in this series so far. we have glimpses of itome, tamura, shikatani, toono, kashima, yacchan, jimmy, and even a lil bit of yuri thanks to the doujin one-shot of tamura and yuri when they first met and the further chapters thanks to jimmy.

i really look forward to learning more about akemi so here’s hoping things get shown to us in one of the newer chapters whenever tanaka-sensei decides to post. as for this post, this is all i have to say. thank you for reading my rambled thoughts and speculations.

[nyaroo]

         “  please !!  i don’t know how to get rid of them !  “  he’s referring to his unwanted villagers .  “  yacchan ,  both you AND kenma told me get this game , and he’s too stingy to tell me how to remove these hideous things . . . please , how do i make this monkey leave my island . “ this is why he asked her to visit this weekend .

@villagerbee​

[bsinoranges]

L U H (OH NO)

I was tagged by @haruhi02​ . You can’t call it suffering unless I’m in pain.

Top 3 favourite characters: Yachi Hitoka, Yamaguchi Tadashi, DaiSuga (because they’re one and the same)

Favourite team: I’m guilty of being Karasuno trash. I should try expanding horizons more tbh.

OTP(s): YamaYachi, KuroYachi, DaiSuga, DaiYui, IwaOi, KageHina

Favourite brOTPs/friendship groups: Hrmm. 

OT3/4/5s: TsukkiYamaYachi, KageHinaYachi.

Favourite manager: Yacchan. No contest.

Favourite adult character: Tsukishima Akiteru. Poor puppy is lost.

Favourite captain: It’s a battle between Kuroo and Daichi. Don’t make me pick.

Favourite setter: Hrm. No.

Favourite libero: I’m very fond of Watari.

Favourite wing spiker: No? Erm. Daichi.

Favourite middle blocker: Middle Blocker, middle blocker, which middle blocker? Salty Tsukishima please. 

Favourite hairstyle: Kageyama or Akaashi. Hrm. Akashi.

Favourite uniform (school uniform or team jersey): I like Nekoma’s jersey, the one were it’s all white with red accents

Character you think you’re most like: I can relate to both the Karasuno managers. Except I’m Yachi in the inside and sort of Kiyoko on the outside -- except I’m not as pretty.

Character you would marry: A select few. I’d marry all of my favorite characters. Also Saeko as well, because seriously.

Character you want to be best friends with: all of them.

Character(s) you think deserved more screentime/more appearances in the manga (explanation is optional): Kinoshita is getting some more screentime. But I also want to see more Ennoshita. Throw in some Saeko goodness as well please.

Character(s) you think deserve(s) more love from the fandom: Hm. I need people to love Yamaguchi in more than a he’s precious way. Does that count?

Character(s) you would probably defend w/ ur life: Just refer to my favorite characters list. But just to let you know, I’m also probably the one making their lives sad. ALSO YUI MICHIMIYA NEEDS MORE LOVE. I LOVE THAT GIRL.

If you had to pick, would you rather– Be Karasuno’s manager or Nekoma’s manager: Karasuno? Yay for blazer uniforms!!

Sit next to Kenma OR Akaashi in class: Kenma. Because he probs wouldn’t mind if I slept.

Be Seijoh’s manager OR Fukurodani’s manager: Seijoh. That way I get to look at Iw- I get to be in Miyagi.

Get to ruffle Kuroo’s hair OR Terushima’s hair: Kuroo’s. For science.

Be victim to BoKuro’s memeing OR MatsuHana’s memeing OR TanaNoya’s memeing: This is hard. BoKuro. It was a coin toss.

Tie Kunimi’s hair up (2 ponytails) OR throw glitter in Kindaichi’s hair: Let’s catch ourselves a shiny Kindaichi.

Work at Shimada Mart OR Sakanoshita Store: Shimada, because it looks chill. (eyy)

See Kindaichi OR Bokuto OR Tendou with their hair down: Bokuto.

Share a dorm with Ushijima OR Semi: Semi.

Spend a day with Misaki Hana OR Shirofuku Yukie: Shirofuku!

Work on a project with Kyoutani, Yahaba and Watari OR Aone, Futakuchi and Moniwa: the former seems fun. At least Watari is there to share the pain.

Get sassed by Futakuchi OR Tsukishima: Tsukishima? Because at least he has glasses. I can always just go gomen tsukki and see if I can get away from both of them alive.

Spend a day with Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Hanamaki & Matsukawa OR spend a day with Kuroo, Bokuto, Akaashi & Kenma: The former. Reason shall not be disclosed.

Wear an alien-patterned zip-up hoodie over a shirt that says “I WANT TO BELIEVE” OR wear a dinosaur-patterned zip-up hoodie over a shirt that says “Saltasaurus”: obviously the pun one.

Tagging: Erm, who do I tag? Gdi. @lethesomething @leeva-z-kai (because you haven’t dun it anyway) hrm. @smeboo1004 even tho you’ve probably left. ahah