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rei-murasaki-the-anime-lover · 1 month

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favourite anime and anime characters part 1

- favorite animes and anime characters

2.5 Dimensional Seduction-Ririsa Amano

2.43

7 Seeds- Natsu Iwashimizu

7th Time Loop- Rishe Irmgard Weltzner

07-Ghost

11Eyes-Yuka Minase, Kakeru Satsuki

16bit Sensation-Konoha Akisato

18if

22/7-Sakura Fujima

30-sai No Hoken Taiiku-Natsu Andou

86-Vladilena Milize

91 Days

100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams- The Heroine

.Hack- Tabby[.Hack//Roots]

A Certain Magical Index/Scientific Railgun- Index, Mikoto Misaka

A Channel-Tooru Ichii

A Condition Called Love-Hotaru Hinase

A Couple of Cuckoos-Hiro Segawa

A Dark Rabbut Has Seven Lives-Saitohimea/Himea Saito

A Destructive God Sits Next to Me- Kotoko Sumiso

A Galaxy Next Door-Shiori Goshiki

A Girl & Her Guard Dog- Isaku Senagaki

A Good Librarian Like A Good Shepard-Tsugumi Shirasaki

A Herbavorous Dragon of 5000 Years Get Unfairly Villainized-Reiko

A Journey Through Another World

A Little Snow Fairy Sugar-Greta

A Place Further Than The Universe-Shirase Kobuchizawa

A Playthrough of a Certain Dude’s VRMMO Life-Fairy Queen

A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special-Romantica Eru

A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics-Sara Da Odin

A Sign of Affection-Yuki Itose

A Sister’s All You Need- Nayuta Kani

A Town Where You Live-Asuka Mishima

Absolute Duo-Julie Sigtuna

ACCA-Lotta Otus

Accel World- Kuroyukihime

Acchi Kocchi-Tsumiki Miniwa

Ace Attorney-Mayoi Ayasato/Maya Fey

Ace Of Diamond

Acendance of a Bookworm

Action Heroine Cheer Fruits-Ann Akagi

Active Raid-Asami Kazari

Actors

Adachi and Shimamura-Sakura Adachi, Hougetsu Shimamura

Aesthetica Of A Rogue Hero-Miu "Myuu" Ousawa

African Office Worker

Afterlost- Yuki

After School Dice Club-Aya Takayashiki

Agatha Christie’s Great Detectives Poirot and Marple

Age 12

Ah My Buddha-Chitose Nanbu

Ah Harimanada

Ah My Goddess-Belldandy

Aharen-san wa Hakarenai- Reina Aharen

Ahiru no Sora-Noa Nanao

Aho Girl-Yoshiko Hanabatake

Aguu- Ai

Ai Mai Mi

Ai Yori Aoshi-Mayu Miyuki

Aikatsu- Mizuki Kanzaki, Sumire Hikami Koharu Nanakura(Aikatsu Stars), Mio Minato(Aikatsu Friends)

A.I.C.O- Aiko Tachibana

Air-Kanna

Air Gear

Air Master-Mina Nakanotani

Ajin-Izumi Shimomura

Aishiteruze Baby

Aiura

Akame Ga Kill- Sheele

Akaneiro Ni Somaru Saka-Minato Nagase

Akashic Records of a Bastard Magic Instructor-Rumia Tingel

Akatsuki No Yona-Yona

Akazukin Chacha

AKB0048-Nagisa Motomiya

Akebi’s Salior Uniform-Komichi Akebi

Akiba Maid War-Nagomi Wahira

Akiba’s Trip The Animation-Arisa Ahokainen

Akikan- Najimi Tenkuji

Akkun to Kanojo

Akudama Drive-Ordinary Person/Swindler

Akuma-kun

Alderamin On The Sky-Haroma Becker

Aldnoah.Zero-Asseylum Vers Allusia

All Out-Umeno Hoakari

All Saints Street

Alice and Zouroku

Alice Gear Aegis-Yotsuyu Hirasaka

Alice to Alice

Allison And Lillia-Lillia

Altair

Am I Actually the Strongest-Flay

Amaim Warrior at the Borderline- Shion Shishibe

Amai Choubatsu

Amagi Brilliant Park- Isuzu Sento

Amanchu-Hikari ‘Pikari” Kohinata

Amatsuki-Kuchiha

Ambition Of Oda Nobuna- Oda Nobuna

Amnesia- Shujinko

And Yet The Town Moves-Hotori Arashiyama

And You Thought There Is Never A Girl Online?-Ako

Angel’s 3Piece-Jun Goto

Angel Beats- Kanade Tachibana

Angel Hearts

Angel of Death – Rachel “Ray” Gardmner

Angelic Layer-Misaki Suzuhara

Ange Vierge-Almaria

Angolmois

Ani Ni Tsukeru Kusuri Wa Nai

Ani Tore

Anima Yell- Kohane Hatoya

Animegatari

Anne Happy-Anne “Hanako” Hanakoizumu

Ano Hana- Meiko"Menma"Honma

Anonymous Noise-Nino Arisugawa

Another- Mei Misaki

Anti Magic Academy-Usagi Saionji

Antique Bakery

Anyamaru Tantei Kiruminzoo- Kanon Hatori

Aoashi-Hana Ichijou

Aoi Hana- Fumi Manjoume

Ao Haru Ride-Futaba Yoshioka

AoharuxMachinegun

Ao Oni

Ao no Orchestra-Ritsuko Akine

Ao-chan Can’t Study- Ao Horie

Appleseed

Aquarion- Zessica Wong(AE), Kokone Kikogami(AL)

Aokana-Asuka Kurashina

AppareRanman-Sofia Taylor

Arakawa Under The Bridge-Maria

Arata:The Legend-Kotoha

Arc The Lad-Lieza

Are You Lost- Mutsu Amatani

Argento Soma

Argevollen-Jamie Hazaford

Aria- Akari Mizunashi

Aria The Scarlet Ammo- Kinji Toyama, Aria Kanzaki

Arifureta-Yue

Arknights

Armed Girl’s Machiavellism-Rin Onigawara

Armor Shop for Ladies & Gentlemen

Armored Trooper VOTOMS

ARP Backstage Pass

Arpeggio Of Blue Steel- Iona

Arte-Arte Spalleti

As Miss Beelzebub Likes- Beelzebub

As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World

Asagami SS- Rihoko Sakurai

Asatir

Ashita no Nadja-Nadja Applefield

Ask Dr.Rin

Asobi Asobase- Kasumi Nomura

Assassins Pride-Melida Angel

Assassination Classroom-Kaede Kayano/Akari Yukimura

Assault Lily- Riri Hitosuyanagi

Astra Lost in Space-Aries Spring

Astarotte No Omocha

Asterisk War-Kirin Toudou

Asteroid in Love- Mai Inose

Astro Boy

Astro Note-Mira Gotokuji

Asura Cryin-Misao Minakami

Atelier Escha And Logy- Escha Malier

Atelier Ryza- Reisalin “Ryza” Stout

Atom-Ran Ochanomizu

Attack On Titan- Mikasa Ackerman

Atri-Atri

Aura Battler Dunbine

Ayaka-Ibara Ichijou

Ayakashi Triangle-Suzu Kanade, Matsuri Kazamaki(female)

Azumanga Daioh- Tomo Takino, Chiyo Mihama, Yukari Tanizaki

Azur Lane- Laffey

B The Beginning- Lily Hoshina

BProject-Tsubasa Sumisora

Baby Steps- Natsu Takasaki

Babylon

Baccano- Isaac Dian, Mirla, Harvent, Firo Prochainezo

Back Arrow-Atlee Ariel

Back Street Girls

Backflip-Asawo Kurikoma

Baka and Test- Mizuki Himaji,Minami Shimada,Hideyoshi Kinoshita,Yuji Sakamoto

Baki The Grappler

Bakuman-Miho Azuki

Bakumatsu- Hyou and Kasumi

Bakumatsu Bad Boys-Akira

Bakumatsu Rock

Bakuon-Chisame Nakano

Bamboo Blade- Kirino Chiba, Temaki Kawazoe

Bananya

Banana Fish

Bang Brave Bang Bravern-Lulu

BanG Dream-Kasumi Toyama

Banished from the Hero’s Part-Rit

Bannou Bunka Neko Musume DASH

Barakamon-Miyoko Kinjou[Handa-kun]

Bartender

Basilisk-Oboro

Basquash

Bastard-Tia Noto Yoko

Battle Programmer Shirase

Battery

Battle Athletes-Kanata Akehoshi(Victory Restart)

Battle Game in 5 Seconds-Rin Tatara

Battle Girls: Time Paradox

Battle Girl High School

B Daman

Beast Tamer-Kanade

Beastars

Beatless-Lacia

Beck-Maho Minami

Beelzebub- Tatsumi Oga, Hilda

Beet the Vandel Buster-Poala

BEM-Bela

Ben-To-Sen Yarizui

Berserk-Shierke

Berserk of Gluttony-Myne

Best Stuadent Council-Rino Rando

Betrayal Knows My Name-Zess/Luka Crosszeria

Beautiful Bones-Sakurako Kujou

Bermuda Triangle

Between The Sky and Sea- Haru Soramachi

Beyblade-Multi Nanairo(Beyblade X)

Beyond The Boundary- Mirai Kuriyama

Bibliophile Princess-Elianna Berstein

Big Order

Big Windup

BikkuriMen

Binbou Shimai Monogatari- Kyou Yamada

Birdie Wing-Eve

Birdy The Mighty Decode- BIrdy

Black Blood Brothers, Jiro Mochizuki, Mimiko Katsuragi

Black Bullet- Rentaro Satomi, Tina Sprout

Black Butler- Sebastian Michaelis

Black Cat- Train Heartnet,Eve

Black Clover- Noelle Silva

Black Lagoon- Revy

Black Rock Shooter

Black Summoner-Efil

Blade

Bladedance Of Elementalers-Claire Rouge

Blade And Soul-Alka

Blade Runner Black Lotus

Blade Of The Immortal- Rin Asano

Blassreiter- Joseph Jobson

Blast Of Tempest-Hakaze Kusaribe

Blazblue Alter Memory

Bleach- Ichigo Kurosaki, Renji Abarai

Blend S-Maika Sakuranomiya

Blood- Saya Otonashi [Blood+],Haji[Blood+], Saya Kisaragi[Blood-C]

Blood Blockade Battlefront-Chain Sumeragi

Blood Lad- Fuyumi Yanagi

Bloodivores-Anji

Bloom into You

Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan-Dokuro Mitsukai

Blue Archive-Shiroko Sunaookami

Blue Dragon-Bouquet

Blue Drop-Michiko Kozuki

Blue Exorcist-, Shiemi Moriyama

Blue Gender-Marlene Angel

Blue Lock

Blue Period-Maki Kuwana

Blue Reflection Ray-Hiori Hirahara

Blue Seed- Momiji Fujimiya

BNA-Michiru Kagemori

Boarding School Juliet- Juliet Persia

Bobobo bo Bo Bobo- Beauty

Bocchi The Rock-Hitori Gotou

Bofuri- Maple/Kaede Honjou

Bodacious Space Pirate- Marika Kato, Kane Mcdougal

Bokurano

Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi

Bomberman Jetters-Shout

Boogiepop Phantom

Book Of Bantorra

Bottle Fairy- Kururu

Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki-Aoi Hinami, Minami Nanami

Boys Be

Boys Over Flowers

Brave 10-Isanami

Brave Exkaizer

Brigadoon

Brothers Conflict-Ema Asahina

Brynhildr In The Darkness-Neko Kuroha

B’t X

Btooom!- Himiko

Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040-Priss S. Asagiri

Bubuki Buranki-Kogane Asabuki

Bucchigiri

Buddy Complex-Mayuka Nasu

Buddy Daddies

Build Divide-Hiyori Tori

Bullbuster-Arumi Nikaidou

Bungou Stray Dogs-Kyouka Izumi

Bungou to Alchemist

Burn-up Excess-Rio Kinezono

Burning Kabaddi

Burst Angel-Jo

Buso Renkin

Buso Shinki-Ann

Butareba-Jess

Butlers

By the Grace of the Gods-Eliaria

Bye Bye Earth

C-C:The Money and Soul of Possibility- Mshyu,

C3-Fear Cubrick

Caligula

Call of the Night-Nazuna Nanakusa

Cagaster of an Insect Cage-Illie

Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill

Campione-Yuri Mariya

Canaan- Maria Oosawa

Cannon Busters

Canvas- Elis Housen

Carnival Phantasm

Carole & Tuesday- Tuesday Simmons

Captain Earth-Hana Mutou

Captain Tsubasa

Cardcaptor Sakura-Sakura Kinomoto

Cardfight Vanguard-Megumi Ookura(Overdress)

Casshern Sins

Castle Town Dandelion-Akane Sakurada

Cat Planet Cuties- Eris

Cautious Hero-Ristarte

Celestial Method

Cells At Work- AE3803, U1196(Cells At Work Code Black)

Centaur’s Life-Nozomi Gokuraku

Cerberus-Saraato

Ceres Celestial Legend

Cestvs

Chaika The Coffin Princess- Chaika Trabant

Chain Chronicle-Phoena

Chained Soldier- Nei Ookawamura

Chainsaw Man-Kobeni Higashiyama

Charlotte-Nao Tomori

Chaos Dragon-Eiha

Chaos:Head- Rimi Sakihata, Serika Onoe[Chaos;Child]

Cheating Craft-Ou Koui

Cheer Boys

Chi’s Sweet Home

Chihayafuru-Kanade Oe

Children of the Whale-Lykos

Chillin in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers

Chillin in My 30s After Getting Fired from the Demon King’s Army-Marika

Chio’s School Road-Chio Miyamo

Chiruran

Chitose Get You

Chivalry Of A Failed Knight-Stella Vermillion

Chobits- Chii

Chokotto Sister-Choko

Chou Shounen Tanteidan

Choyoyu- Lyule

Chrome Shelled Regios- Layfon Wolfstein Alself, Nina Antalk

Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World-Telestia Terra Esfort, Silk von Santana

Chronicles Of The Going Home Club- Natsuki Ando

Chrono Crusade- Rosette Christopher

Chronos Ruler- Mna Putin

Chu-Bra-Haruka Shiraishi

Circlet Princess

Citrus-Yuzu Aihara

City Hunter

Clockwork Planet-RyuZU

Clamp School Detectives

Clannad- Nagisa Furukawa

Classicaloid- Baranowska

Classroom Crisis-Mizuki Sera

Classroom of the Elite-Airi Sakura

Claymore- Clare

Clean Freak Aoyama-kun- Moka Gotou

Clione no Akari

Cobra

Code:Breaker- Sakura Sakurakoji, Rei Ogami

Code Geass-Lalouch Lamperouge/Vi Britannia,C.C,

Code E- Chinami Ebihara

Code:Realize-Cardia Beckford

Comet Lucifer-Felia

Combatants Wil Be Dispatched- Alice Kisaragi

Comic Girls –Kaoruko “Kaos” Moeta

Comic Party-Yuu Inagawa

Conception

Concrete Revolutio-Kikko Hoshino

Convenience Store Boyfriends- Mami Mihashi

Cooking Master Boy

Cop Craft- Tilarna Exedillica

Coppelion-Aoi Fukasaku

Corrector Yui

Corpse Princess- Makina Hoshimura

Cowboy Bebop- Spike Spiegel, Faye Valentine

Coyote Ragtime Show

Crane Game Girls

Cromatie High Shool

Cross Ange- Angelise Ikaruga"Ange" Misurugi

Cross Game

Cue-Maika Takatori

Cuticle Detective Inaba-Noah

Cutie Honey Universe- Honey Kisaragi

Cyber Team in Akihabara

Cyberpunk Edgerunners-Rebecca

DDDD

D Cide Traumerei-Eri Ibusaki

D4DJ- Rinku Aimoto

D-Frag- Roka Shibasaki

D.Grey-Man- Yu Kanda, Lenalee Lee

D.N.Angel-Risa Harada

Da Capo-Sakura Yoshino,Yume Asakura[Da Capo 2],Charles Yoshino[Da Capo 3]

Daily Lives Of High School Boys

Dai Shogun-Chiharu

Daimidaler-Soriko Majikina

Dagashi Kashi- Hotaru Shidare

Dahlia in Bloom-Dahlia Rossetti

DamexPrince - Ani Inako

Dance With Devils-Ritsuka Tachibana

Dance with the Dragons

Dance Dance Danseur

Dance In The Vampire Bund- Mina Tepes

Danchigai

Danganronpa-Kyouko Kirigiri, Chiaki Nanami

Daphne In The Brilliant Blue-Shizuka Hayama

Dark Gathering-Yayoi Hozuki

Darker Than Black - Hei

Darling in the Franxx-Zero Two

Darwin’s Game-Shuka Karino

Date A Live- Toka Yatogami

Days- Chikako Ubukata

Day Break Illusion

Days with My Stepsister

Dazzle-Rahzel Anadis

Deadman Wonderland- Shiro

Dead Mount Death Play-Misaki Sakimiya

Deaimon-Itsuka Yukihira

DearS-Ren

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody-Tama

Death Note- Light Yagami, Misa Amane

Death Parade-Nona

Deca Dence-Natsume

Deep Insanity-Sumire Motiki

Delicious in Dungeon-Marcille Donato

Delico’s Nursery

Deltora Quest

Delusional Monthly Magazine

Demon King Daimaou-Keena Soga

Demon Lord Retry- Aku

Demonbane- Al Azif

Dennou Coil

Denkigai No Honya-san- Sensei

Denpa Onna To Seishun Otoko- Erio Towa

Desert Punk, Junko Asagiri, Kanta Mizuno/Desert Punk, Kosuna

Devil May Cry- Dante,Lady,Trish

Devil Lady-Kazumi Takiura

Devidol

Devilman- Miki Makimura

Devils’ Line- Tsukasa Taira

Detective Academy Q

Detective Conan

Devil Surviver 2 The Animation- Io Nitta

Diabolik Lovers

Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater-Hinata Tsurugi

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life-Adele von Ascham/Mile

Di Gi Charat-Dejiko

Dies Irae- Kasumi Ayase

Digimon- Yoshino Fujieda(Digimon Savers), Nene Amano(Digimon Xros Wars), Eri Karan(Digimon Universe),Ruli Tsukiyono(Digimon Ghost Game)

Dimension High School

Dimension W-Mira Yurizaki

Disastrous Life Of Saki K-Kokomi Teruhashi

Disgaea- Laharl, Etna ,Flonne

Dive

Divine Gate-Midori

DNA2

Do It Yourself-Juliet Queen Elizabeth VIII/Jobko

Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks-Mamako Oosuki

Doamaigar D

Doctor Elise-Elise de Clorance

Dog and Scissors- Kirihime Natsuno

Dog Days-Millhiore Firianno Biscotti

Dog Signal

Doki Doki School Hours

Domestic Girlfriend-Rui Tachibana

Don’t Hurt Me My Healer-Carla

Don’t Toy with Me Miss Nagatoro- Hayase Nagatoro

Doraemon

Doreiku

Dorohedoro-Ebisu

Dororo

Dororon Enma-kun- Yukiko-hime

Double Decker Doug & Kirill

Double J

Doujin Work-Tsuyuri

Dr.Ramune-Ayame

Dr.Slump-Arale Norimaki

Dr.Stone-Kohaku

Dragonaut-Sieglinde Baumgard

Dragonar Academy-Eco

Dragon Ball

Dragon Crisis-Rose

Dragon Drive

Dragon Goes House Hunting-Nell

Dragon Quest- Maam(DQ:TAoD)

Dragon Raja

Dream Eater Merry- Merry Nightmare

Drifters-Olminu

Drifting Dragons-Vanabelle

Dropkick My Devil- Yurine Hanazono

Dropout Idol Fruit Tart-Nina Maehara

Drugstore in Another World- Noella

Dungeon People

Durarara- Shizuo Heiwajima, Anri Sonohara

Dusk Maiden Of Amnesia- Yuko Kanoe

Dynamic Chord

Ebiten-Rikei Hiromatsu

Eden’s Bowy

Edens Zero-Rebecca Bluegarden

Ef-Chihiro Shindou

El Cazador De La Bruja-Ellis

El Hazard

Elegant Youkai Apartment Life-Akine Kuga/Mayuko Suzuki

Elfen Lied-Nyu/Lucy

elDLIVE-Mizuru Sonokata

Elemental Gelade-Ren,Cisqua

Emma- Emma

Endo and Kobayashi Live!-Lieselotte Riefenstahl

Endro-Mao

Endride-Alicia

Engage Kiss-Kisara

Engage Plant Kiss Dum

Engaged To The Unidentified-Kobeni Yonomori

Enmusubi no Youko-chan- Tosan Suusu

Ensemble Stars-Anzu

Ergo Proxy

Eromanga Sensei-Megumi Jinno, Elf Yamada, Muramasa Senju

Estab Life-Equa

Eternal Boys

Etotama-Nya-tan

Eureka Seven

Evil or Live

Excel Saga-Excel

Extreme Hearts-Saki Kodaka

Eyeshield 21

F Zero

Fafner In The Azure

Failure Frame

Fairy Gone

Fairy Ranmaru

Fairy Tail-Erza Scarlet

Farming Life in Another World-Rurushi Ru

Familiar Of Zero-Louise Francoise Le Blanc De Valliere

Fanfare of Adolescence

Fantastic Children

Fantastic Detective Labyrinth-Hatsumi Mieno/Souka

Fantasista Doll-Akari

Fantasia Sango-Xiao Ling

Farewell My Dear Cramer-Midori Soshizaki

Fate-Saber[stay night], Illyasviel

Von Eizbern[Fate/Kaleid], Jack The Ripper[Fate/Apocypha], Nero Claudius[Fate/Extra Last Encore], Gray[Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II], Ana/Medusa[FGO Babylonia]

Fena-Fena Houtman

Fight Ippatsu Juuden-chan-Plug Cryostat

Fighting Beauty Wulon- Mao Ran

Final Approach-Akane Mizuhara

Final Fantasy:Unlimited

Fire Force- Tamaki Kotatsu

Firefighter Daigo-Yuki Nakamura

First Love Monster-Kaho Nikaidou

Fist Of The Blue Sky

Flame Of Recca

Flip Flappers-Papika

Flowers Of Evil

Flower Witch Mary Bell

Fluffy Paradise-Kanadia Osphe

Flying Witch-Makoto Kowata

Fooly Cooly

Forest Fairy Five

Fortune Arterial-Haruna Yuuki

Fractale -Nessa

Frame Arms Girl-Ao Gennai

Free- Gou Matsuoka

Freezing- Satellizer El Bridget

Frieren-Frieren

From The New World

Fruits Basket- Tohru Honda

Fugou Keiji

Fumikiri Jikan

Full Dive

Full Metal Alchemist-Sheska

Full Metal Panic- Kaname Chidori

Full Moon wo Sagashite-Mitsuki Kouyama

Fushigi Yuugi

Futakoi

Fuuka-Fuuka Akitsuki

Fuuto PI-Akiko Narumi

Futsal Boys

G On Riders- Yayoi Hoshikawa

Gabriel Dropout-Raphial Ainsworth Shiraha

Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san

Gakuen Alice

Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight-Manami Amamiya

GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class-Kisaragi Yamaguchi

Ga-Rei:Zero

Gagantia On The Verdurous Planet

Gal & Dino-Kaede

Galaxy Angels

Gamers-Chiaki Hoshinomori

Ganbare Goemon

Gangsta

Gantz-Kei Kishimoto

Gargoyle of Yoshinaga House-Futaba Yoshinaga

Garo The Animation

Gatchaman Crowds-Hajime Ichinose

Gate-Rory Mercury

Gate Keepers

Gegege no Kitarou- Neko Musume

Gekidol-Seira Morino

Genki Bakuhatsu Ganbaruger

Genshiken-Kanako Ohno

Getbackers- Natsumi Mizuki

Getsumento Heiki Mina-Nakoru Hazemi

Getter Robo

Ghost Hunt- Mai Taniyama, Kazuya Shibuya

Ghost In A Shell

Ghost Sweep Mikami

Giant Beats of Ars-Kuumi

Giant Killing

Gibiate- Kathleen Fukuda

Gift-Riko Fukamine

Gingitsune-Makoto Saeki

Gintama- Sarutobi Ayame

Girly Air Force- Gripen

Girls Band Cry-Nina Iseri

Girls Beyond The Wasteland-Yuuka Kobayakawa

Girls Bravo- Miharu Sena Kanaka

Girl Friend Beta- Kokomi Shiina

Girls’ Frontline- M4 SOPMOD II

Girls Last Tour-Yuuri

Girls Und Panzer-Miho Nishizumi

Girlish Number-Chitose Karasuma

Girlfriend Girlfriend-Nagisa Minase

GJ Club

Glasslip- Touko Fukami

Gleipnir-Elena Aoki

Go Go Loser Ranger

Goblin Slayer- Priestess

God Eater-Alisa Ilinichina Amiella

Gods’ Game We Play-Leoleshea

Godzilla Singular Point-Mei Kamino

Godannar- Anna Saruwatari

Gokujo

Gokujou Mecha Mote Iinchou

Gokusen

Golden Kamuy-Asirpa

Golden Time- Chinami Oka

Golgo 13, Duke Togo/Golgo 13

Gonna Be The Twintail-Twoerle

Good Luck Girl- Ichiko Sakura

Good Night World-Pico

Goshusho-sama Ninomiya-kun- Mayu Tsukimura

Gosick- Victorique De Blois

Goumet Girl Graffiti-Ryou Machiko

Granbelm- Mangetsu Kohinata

Granblue Fantasy-Lyria

Grand Blue- Chisa Kotegawa

Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again-Ine Saitou

Great Pretender

Great Teacher Onizuka-Tomoko Nomura

Green Green-Midori Chitose

Grenadier-Rushuna Tendo

Grendizer

Grimgar Of Fantasy And Ash-Shihoru

Grimoire of Zero-Zero

Grimms Notes- Reina

Grisaia-Amane Suou

Ground Defense Force Mao-chan

Guin Saga-Rinda Farseer

Gugure Kokkuri-san

Guilty Crown- Inori Yuzuriha,Shu Ouma, Gai Tsutsugami

Gungrave

Gunjou no Magmel- Zero

Gunparade

Gunslinger Girl-Henrietta

Gunslinger Stratos The Animation-Kyouka Katagiri

Gun Frontier

Gun Girls

Gun X Sword

Gushing over Magical Girls-Utena Hiiragi/Magia Baiser

Gurazeni

Gurren Lagann- Yoko Littner, Nia Tepplin, Viral

Guyver The Bioboosted Armor

H2O-Otoha

Hachigatsu no Cinderella Nine- Akane Ukita

Hackadoll The Animation

Haganai- Sena Kashiwazaki

Haibane Renmei

Haikyuu- Kiyoko Shimizu

Hajime no Ippo

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

Hakkenden

Hakumei to Mikochi -Mikochi

Hakuoki- Chizuru Yukimura

Hakushaku To Yousei-Lydia Carlton

Hakyuu Houshin Engi

Hamatora-Hajime

Hamefura-Catarina Claes, Mary Hunt, Sophia Ascart and Maia Campbell

Hand Shakers-Koyori Akutagawa

Handyman Saitou in Another World-Lafanpan

Hanamaru Kindergarden-Nanako Yamamoto

Hanasakeru Seishounen- Kajika Louisa Kugami Burnsworth

Hanasaku Iroha-Ohana Matsumae

Hanaukyo Maid Team

Hanayamata-Naru Sekiya

Hanebado

Hand Maid May-May

Happy Lesson-Minazuki Rokumatsuri

Happy Sugar Life- Satou Matsuzaka

Harem in the Labyrynth of Another World-Roxanne

Haruchika-Chika Homura

Harukana Receive

Hataraki Man- Hiroko Matsukata

Hataraku Onii-san

Hatena Illusion- Yumemi Hoshisato

Hatsukoi Limited-Ayumi Arihara

Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto

Hayate No Gotoku/Hayate the Combat Butler-Hayate Aayasaki, Nagi Sanzenin,Maria

He Is My Master-Izumi Sawatari

Healer Girl-Kana Fuji

Heaven’s Design Team-Meido

Heaven's Lost Property- Ikaros, Nymph, Astraea

Heaven's Memo Pad-Alice/Yuuko Shionji

Heavenly Delusion-Kiruko

Heavy Object-Milinda Brantini

Helck-Vermillio

Hell Girl- Ren Ichimoku, Ai Enma

Hell’s Paradise-Yuzuriha

Hell Teacher Nube- Miki Hosokawa

Hellsing- Alucard, Seras Victoria

Hensuki- Yuika Koga

Hentai Prince And The Stony Cat- Tsukiko Tsutsukakushi

Hen Semi-Nanako Matsutaka

Hero Classroom-Arnest Flaming

Hero Mask

Hero Tales-Laila Seiren

Heroic Age

Heroines Run the Show-Hiyori Suzumi

Heroic Legend Of Arslan-Alfreed

Heroman-Lina Davis

Hetalia- Japan

Hidamari Sketch-Yoshinoya

Higehiro- Sayu Ogiwara

High Card

High Rise Invasion-Yuri Honjo

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ploffskinpluffskin · 2 years

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Title: The Ruins Rating: PG-13ish Warnings: god Implicit and explicit character death(s), unhappy ending, Natori spends the entire fic grieving and/or trapped in a bleak situation orz, probably manipulation and gaslighting, some short-lived violence and blood at the end, being at the mercy of someone who thinks they love you......... 6^6;; Characters: Natori, mostly (sorry). An OC by the name of Caishen. Other characters like the Cat King, Natoru, Lune, and Yuki are mentioned or make brief appearances but it’s mostly comprised of interactions between Natori and various OCs rip. This has become pretty much an exercise in ‘I wonder how much suffering I can dump on my favorite character’ Summary: How many strings does one good deed pull? For the Cat Kingdom and its residents, the absence of one impulsive act of goodwill possesses farther reaching consequences than anyone could have expected.

Notes: So this idea originally came about from just kind of a small part of @catsafarithewriter‘s Disappearance of Haru Yoshioka which mentioned briefly that without Haru's rescue of Lune, the king died without an heir, and the Cat Kingdom descended into chaos. Me, being lightly obsessed with the Cat Kingdom and also being an absolute sucker for bleak situations, saw My Favorite Character Natori to the side, thought about how losing not only Lune and the Cat King, but also the entire kingdom's peace and prosperity, would just utterly destroy him and quietly wondered if in this kind of situation he would be one of the first casualties or if for some reason someone might want to keep him alive for ‘useful knowledge’ and voila. You have this pit of despair. I did ask catsafari if it was alright to take inspiration in the way I did, just for the record `~`;

I wasn’t certain for a while whether I would eventually publish this one or not, not only because the idea came from someone else’s fic, but also because it’s. well. very dark compared to what I normally write, and I feel I’ve long since sorta pigeonholed myself into being the Cute one who writes just lighthearted subjects, and even when I do venture into darker, sadder topics, it’s usually still with an overarching sense of idealism to it— that things will be alright Eventually. This… is not that

because of that, i have decided ultimately to just post it here on this private-ish side blog. also be aware this sucker is Long As Hell and unfinished, but i’ve added notes for the missing parts

+++

The kingdom feels Lune's loss keenly, but perhaps none so noticeably as the king himself— he becomes quiet, listless. He vanishes from the kingdom's affairs, and no prodding to the contrary is enough to galvanize him back into his old life; too much pressing, in fact, and Natori learns rather harshly that he will retaliate, and violently so if he feels it necessary. But his anger remains the mercurial spark it always was— it burns itself out in seconds and then disappears as if it had only been imagined.

By the time he begins to spend long hours shut resolutely in solitude, Natori simply lets him be outside of the occasional admonition to eat or drink, the aching tenderness of his arm an effective reminder. He takes only cautious and dutiful steps in private to keep his old companion looking at least a little presentable, if he cannot nudge him into eating.

Grief is an unpredictable animal, he reasons desperately to himself sometimes. If it's more time the king needs before he can return, then he can certainly have it. Natori can endure and hold fort in the meantime. Anything, he thinks, if it means he will recover eventually.

But not everyone feels that same gentle, forlorn patience. He catches rumors sometimes, whispers which were not intended to reach him— stirrings of resentful unrest, nonchalantly-spoken rambles about aspirations of luxury and authority, and improbable jests to test the waters (waters which are looking quite captivatingly viable by the day). They can not be stifled; at best, Natori can only hope the king returns to his position before they can root themselves too firmly.

It's one particularly warm day when Natori feels he hits the ledge of what had been perhaps naive hopefulness, when it's shown to him in stark, vivid relief just how bleak the situation has become, and that frail hope is laid to rest with all the quiet resignation of the waning moon.

It had begun so conventionally, so innocuously.

He’d led the king to a chair in his bedroom, and Claudius had followed him dutifully, in much the same unthinking, silent way an obedient and browbeaten child might.

Once, Natori recalls wishing the king might mellow some in his old age, and now he can’t help but to look upon that wish as if it had itself brought them to this state of affairs. He would give anything, now, he thinks sometimes, for the king to toss some unfortunate entertainer out a window or make some no doubt inane proclamation about Casual Fridays because he’d heard some passing mention of the same thing in the human world.

His poorly-named conversations with the king during their time together always meander, necessarily superficial and perfunctory, as Natori mentions old favorite subjects and sidles past memories of the ash-colored kitten they all so dearly miss.

Today, however, he can not seem to stop himself.

“It’s almost his birthday.”

Even saying it aloud is like a lightning rod right to his heart, but he can not help but to continue. “Do… Do you remember, sire..? That one birthday? H-He must have been only four or so at the time. You had gotten him an aquarium, but he was too young— he didn’t understand. I still remember him, even now, looking back and forth between it and you, admiring it as he tapped his little paws together—” Here he cuts himself off with a painful gulping breath. He can not go any further. If he does, he’ll break down; he’ll scream. Instead, with a steadying breath, he rubs at his face and changes topics in desperation.

Yet his newest topic ends up being of little more comfort.

"There's been some rumblings, sire," Natori says as he shakily continues to comb through the occasional mat. The king is silent still, languid. When Natori continues, his voice trembles as well despite his best efforts, prey to the helpless frustration churning away in his chest, the fresh grief which was just upturned, "They're saying there are changes coming, and I— I think they may be right to believe so. Some of our residents are growing restless, and wish to take matters into their own hands, sire. They see opportunity, understand."

Natori hesitates there, breaths shallow, thinking distantly of the too close, trailing looks he's glimpsed when their owners think he's not paying attention. Something rises in his chest then, whether it is that apprehension, or perhaps his agitated strain finally getting the better of him, and for the second time that day, he cannot help the words which next erupt from him.

"I'm— I'm frightened, sire. Please— I-I’m so afraid. This has stretched on for so long, I suppose it's little wonder they might begin to feel so bold. I-I know you don't wish to— it's... I understand perhaps it's still so soon, but... there remains still the question of succession. I cannot make that decision myself, sire, not if we can expect it to be upheld. I— we need you to come back. Please..."

The metal comb in his paws seems suddenly quite foreign and heavy, and so he sets it down on the side table and rubs hastily at his eyes with shaking paws. From there, he wanders around to the king's front, kneels before him in a beseeching way he's certain he hasn't before. Muted shame at his own weakness is evident on the proverbial horizon, but for now the trepidation he's spent too long repressing is in firm control.

"...please, Claudius," he echoes, a mournful plea which is near whispered.

Yet the king seems unmoved, taciturn, staring down at him in blank but resolute detachment.

He should have known better, Natori thinks to himself mournfully as hot tears gather in his eyes against his will— banking on his physical frailty when it comes to Claudius has never worked. The king forgets far too easily, even when emotion isn’t clouding his judgment. Never before now has Natori had the despondent thought that perhaps the king simply doesn’t care to remember.

“...answer me.” Natori is surprised by the harsh stillness of his voice. “Say something, sire.”

Claudius remains silent. That earlier frustrated emotion which had risen in his chest and churned returns, but this time it utterly boils over, just as he’d feared. From far away, Natori watches himself reach for the king with trembling, clumsy paws, gripping at his lethargic companion’s fur and all but frantically shaking him as he cries aloud, his voice broken, gasping.

“Do you understand that we will collapse without you, sire?! The castle, the kingdom, all of us who— wh-who care for you—! Th-They’re going to seize the throne and drag it all out from under you, and I daresay it’s a matter of mere days before they do..! Do something— say something..!”

It’s at the king’s continuing, obstinate silence that Natori utters an exasperated sob, gradually becoming aware of his lapse in self-restraint and the callous words he’d spoken.

Overwhelmed by both guilt and dying, worried anger, he pushes away and hides his face in the fabric of his oversized sleeves, working futilely to get himself back under control. He’s only distracted from his stubborn tears by a very soft touch to his shoulder, feather-light and hesitant, and when he looks up to find the source (vaguely expecting to see Lune’s winsome, sympathetic smile, because he supposes his mind hasn’t been cruel enough to him already), it’s to find himself face-to-face with the king.

The ghost of his earlier forlorn hope flutters weakly… but is ultimately stamped out.

Claudius stares at him blankly for a fleeting moment, and then wordlessly moves to lay his head against the space between Natori’s neck and his shoulder, and although he does rest his paw on his advisor’s as if in reassurance, it's limply, without interest. His apathy is clear.

Natori feels quite cold; some deeply betrayed part of him wishes to pull away, but the looming separation he can now so clearly see on the near horizon keeps him where he is. He will soon stand alone. He already does. His explosive emotion from just moments ago seems now like some hazy, hard-to-comprehend dream. Perhaps because of that, he bows his head so his face may also be hidden against Claudius' shoulder, and draws him close to him for the first time.

It proves also to be the last. When the king is gone, Natori waits, and he doesn't wait for long.

They storm the castle’s rooms, and weary from grief and loss and too much time spent cultivating what has ultimately proven to be fruitless, he offers no resistance when they do.

+++

It is nearing winter, he thinks, in the human world. The sun shines warmly still in the Cat Kingdom, however, and by some equally-aching miracle, Natori remains as well. He counts down his days in silence until he loses track, and then he waits in stillness for the day when his apparent usefulness is extinguished.

It is nearing winter when he snaps out of a thick fugue to find himself alive. The air feels cold. Stale. Empty. His paws, where they've settled limply in his lap and across the chair's arms, are shaking ever so slightly in his sleeves. He is crumpled in a chair, and from the stiffness in his back, he has been there quite some time.

There are voices outside.

No— there is someone across from him, murmuring contentedly in the gloom.

Natori gradually recognizes him as Caishen, the Siamese cat's identity coming back to him in scattered pieces and indistinct interactions. An ambitious noble, unfittingly mild-mannered and retiring for his lofty, covetous goals. They'd spoken on many occasions before this, with a telling increase in frequency the longer the king's absence had persisted. He was well-spoken, persuasive, Natori had often thought to himself… and always a little too close for comfort, in a way Natori had felt reluctant to put a word to. He had often breathed a private sigh of relief once he was out of the other cat’s presence, and that he appears now to be saddled with his company without any obvious escape inspires quite little optimism in him.

Today, Caishen seems to have brought a spotted hairbrush with him, which he is now using to gently brush through the thin fur on what Natori slowly registers as his own leg.

He's speaking.

"...ould have you reinstated— no, raised above even your old position. Not one courtier would dare speak against you nor my decision for fear of incurring my ire, not were I in charge. A familiar, comfortable little nook for you, don't you think..?"

Here he notices Natori’s gaze on him and his movements, more clear-eyed attention than the grey cat has ever given him before today. When he continues, it's with a noticeably more roused tone. He looks up to Natori with the stifled, knowing excitement of a child on the morning of his birthday.

"Yes. I remember you back then. You worked hard, didn't you? And yet it was so, so often thrown away. Left by the wayside. I remember you then— there was a haggardness to you then that I don't see anymore. You're free. You’re free because I released you."

Natori's eyes feel warm. His throat aches.

"But to retain that freedom, that's the impasse we've arrived at. All you need do is speak to me. Tell me what you know, and give me something compelling. I'll continue to guarantee your safety, as I've been doing, you know, no small feat considering your close ties to the last king, you must understand— and your reputation, of course. You will live comfortably, and finely, and be properly appreciated for all you've done bes—"

"...curled demurely in the palm of your hand," Natori wearily interrupts him, and he's surprised by the sound of his own voice— soft, hoarse from disuse. Unfamiliar, now.

Caishen shares his gaze just long enough for his expectant expression to darken into a scowl, after which he looks away with a disappointed tsk. He stands and starts for the door in an insulted huff, and before he leaves, turns to face his captive companion again with what seems to be a final word of warning.

"You've been more trouble than you're worth, Natori. And that's not going to change. But I want you to remember that I offered you an out."

You offered me a worthless shroud to hide the dehisced wound.

Yet, as the trackless days wear on and his implied execution never comes to pass, it becomes quite clear to him that Caishen has something more particular in mind for him, and it must extend beyond whatever inane secrets he believes he might glean from the ex-advisor. Natori isn't certain how much more time he spends lost in that dazed dream, nor how many more times the noble visits him in that time span. One particularly lucid day sees him recalling his time caring for dear ailing Claudius with a faraway stab of grief, musing on his continued survival, and coming quite abruptly to a conclusion which should already have been obvious— he is valuable.

And once that realization takes root, it’s not long at all before he understands his dilemma; he thinks back to the other cat’s gentleness, his insistent tenderness, in his mind’s eye, the sharpest it's been in quite some time. What questionable acts have taken place while he’s been metaphorically away? No more.

Somewhere, also, the bare, surface fact that he might indeed be manipulated into betraying that which remains still precious to him should he not gather his wits reignites a powerful resentment he'd not been entirely aware of harboring before now.

From there, Natori waves a proverbial farewell to the comforting fugue. He takes a deep breath, wades into the muck which has accumulated about him in his stupor, and begins walking resignedly forward.

+++

When next Caishen sees fit to visit him, he finds Natori seated bonelessly in the ragged, once-elegant chair he's been provided, staring up at the ceiling with an odd amount of intensity, rumination— attention which very quickly moves to center on him when he enters the room. Were it not for the cold hostility lining that focus, he might find the grey cat's unusual lucidity favorable.

Ever the optimist, he approaches Natori and kneels before him, pats his leg as if nothing is out of the ordinary (noting the apparent irritated twitch in Natori's expression as he does), and airily remarks, "Someone looks quite hale and hearty today."

Then, conversationally, peering up at Natori as if they are only two old friends meeting up after a long separation,"Has your stay been comfortable? Have they treated you nicely?"

Natori narrows his eyes at him. Caishen certainly knows the answers to those questions already (as well as the fact that Natori himself doesn't), so he doesn't bother providing his own, instead moving his gaze pointedly away.

"Is there anything I can get you?"

An offer which the both of them know cannot be genuine; again Natori remains silent and pays him little mind. It's there that Caishen sighs with affected exasperation in response, as if he is the long-suffering parent doing their best to cajole an uncooperative child into sharing a toy or finishing off a detested vegetable. He pushes himself up to a standing position, now staring down at his companion with a bemused smile.

"You're finally lucid enough for proper conversation, and you still choose the path of petulant reticence. You can't ignore me forever, now."

Natori scowls lightly despite himself.

A tsk. "I'm not so bad, you know. And I only have your best interests at heart. Which is more than I could say for yourself, if this pathological stubbornness you've been so committed to is anything to judge by."

"...I'm not going to give you what you want." It's quiet, but spoken with the weary resolution of the steadfast bastion Natori feels he's been reduced to. Just as obstinately, he also doesn't raise his eyes to meet his companion's, still gazing into the shrouded corner to his right.

"You don't even know what I want, dear," Caishen responds gently, unfazed, and right then and there Natori is abruptly aware of how much he detests the softness with which this cat is intent on treating him. Having pulled the same tricks and tactics countless times in his lifetime as advisor to a temperamental king, he's not at all fooled nor made docile by them, and the very idea this condescending noble might assume otherwise irks him.

Perhaps because of this, his tone is quite biting and icy when he replies in kind, and he makes no effort to temper or retract his words. He finally locks eyes with the other cat, too, just to sharpen his point, to leave no room for doubts. "You could desire your own undoing, Caishen, and I still wouldn't give it to you."

There's little change in Caishen's outward demeanor— only a tightening in his jaw, the barest glimpse of teeth, and a coldness to rival Natori's own.

"Well," he finally says, brisk and chagrined. "We'll see what you end up giving to me."

Natori flashes him a brittle, wan smile, but in the end he chooses not to offer his own dispute. He is not an aggressive creature, but he most certainly can be a mercilessly stubborn one, and the other cat will learn that even more emphatically in due time.

Caishen does not call him ‘dear’ again.

+++

He has no evident place in the kingdom, not anymore. He supposes it's little surprise. Outside of a select few who know otherwise, most he imagines are likely to assume he'd met a grim fate at the hands of zealous nobles. Yet to have subtly vanished in such a way leaves him uncertain how to feel overall.

Strange, too, to have gone from near sole executive to secluded ghost story in only a matter of hours. He wakes occasionally with a start, certain with the persistent haze of the dream world that he has abandoned an important task, that he has left the king, or Lune, or sometimes even his sisters too long without guidance, and always he will come to in this unadorned room alone. He aches terribly sometimes. He presses his paws firmly against his eyes sometimes, so that he doesn’t stare too deeply into that yawning despair.

The bedroom he's been confined to is small, similar to the one he'd called his own throughout his residence here. He thinks it must have once belonged to a handful of servants before all this. It would have been decorated and enveloped in various personal effects then, awash in countless minuscule signs of life and history and love. Now it is bare, dark, and crumbling, home only to an old chair and a thin bed.

Natori spends most of his time pacing wearily from one end of the room to the other, lingering occasionally before the boarded window to peek out at the kingdom he will most likely never see unobscured by those shutters again. But that also aches relentlessly, so he begins avoiding the window. The gaps are too small to see much of anything anyway; even the sunlight seems to find it difficult to penetrate them.

Staunchly avoided also are thoughts of family; he hopes they are safe, that they will forgive him for his most likely fatal obstinance, and then quite mechanically moves on.

And Caishen continues to visit him. He talks to Natori, tells him stories of questionable veracity about the state of the kingdom, its victories and its beauties, how dreadfully hard he is working against those other nefarious, power-hungry nobles to get his own way (a goal which is exceedingly benevolent, of course). He seems to find particular amusement in combing through Natori’s fur as he speaks, and the once advisor puts together quite swiftly that his own feelings on the matter are of meager significance. If Natori is standing when he arrives, he will insistently entreat him to sit, to rest, and if still he stonily refuses, Caishen will none-too-gently wrest him there himself with that ever-present grim tolerance of a put-upon parent tending to his unruly toddler.

Natori will stare up at the darkened ceiling, numb but for the roiling sense of resentment and revulsion, and silently pick apart Caishen’s words in the same manner as a seasoned critic. He will unwillingly remember his own stint as faithful attendant for Claudius as he’d declined, and feel as if the hot contempt it sparks within him might burn him down from the inside out. He had looked after the previous king out of earnest devotion, out of love, much as it aches to admit it. He’d wanted nothing more than for the king’s recovery, and he had wept quite sincerely in his own time when the fact that that recovery never would come about finally became unequivocally evident. That Caishen might believe his own intentions are in any way comparable leaves a sharply bitter taste in his mouth.

It's one such trying day when the Siamese cat brings to him an ostensible gift— a richly-colored maroon changshan, not entirely unlike the one Natori is presently clad in. When it catches the meager sunlight, he glimpses the looping pattern which sprawls idly across the glossy silk. There are floral designs stitched onto the sleeves' black trims. He has hazy memories of once wearing something similar for another of Lune's birthday celebrations (albeit markedly more worn), and the memory, muddled as it is, still scalds him like a hot iron, and he flinches away on instinct.

Without lifting his gaze from the fabric, mildly he asks, "Does my appearance perturb you..? Too starkly haggard for your taste, perhaps?" When he does finally look to Caishen, it's with a hooded, austere gaze. Something about that word picks futilely at an indistinct memory from their early days together; somewhere Natori knows using it in such a way will irk his companion. "You seem to be laboring still under the delusion that I'm only a wayward guest."

The smile Caishen gives him is urbane enough, but frustrated, irritated, and Natori realizes he finds some passive-aggressive pleasure in prompting that reaction from one he despises so immensely.

"It has nothing to do with me," the other cat eventually responds, laying the material across Natori's seated form as if to assure himself it will be the right size. Natori raises no efforts to help him, gaze wandering instead to the window again, where his eyes eventually droop shut. "It's for your own sake. Think of it as... mm, a very small piece of dignity given back to you."

Then, as he lifts one of Natori's limp arms to gauge how long the sleeves of the changshan will be on him, he adds, "I can't imagine you would be all that enthused by the prospect of attending the upcoming coronation in this old thing." A disdainful pluck at the high collar of his current threadbare attire.

Natori feels as though he's been dropped into a vat of ice water, and the jolt this news has given him quite clearly doesn't pass Caishen by, if his crooked, knowing smile is anything to go by. He glances from his work to Natori’s face with a cursory interest, before he straightens to inspect the changshan’s overall length.

"Yes. A sovereign has been decided upon. You will never guess who it is."

Exactly how long has he been confined to this room? Natori wonders dizzily to himself in a feverish frenzy. It frustrates and alarms him even more than he could have imagined to be unable to differentiate what time has passed, his memory still stubbornly, permanently, shrouded in a fog he can not hope to ever penetrate.

Yet despite his fractured, hazy recollections of his past… while, he's very close to certain it's not been nearly long enough for Caishen to have secured his position so firmly.

Somewhere distant, there begins a panicking dread, frantically picking through the conversations he does recall, fearing he may have cracked after all, yet he thankfully comes up empty-handed.

What underhanded, unscrupulous manipulations must Caishen have undertaken in his pursuit, to have risen so rapidly to triumph over the others?

How long has he been confined..?

“...already..?”

“Already, you ask? It’s not been a mere eyeblink, now. Let’s not go minimizing my hard work.”

The fatigue he's been staving off now for some trackless eternity finally overwhelms him; Natori is certain he must look much like a tired, wilting plant— the lame beast which has finally found itself facing down the barrel that will end its torment— and can not find the drive to work to obscure it.

"...then what do you still need me for..?" It's fainter than he'd expected, mournful and weary.

Caishen, by contrast, only gives a pensive hum, having moved on to measuring the body of the new robe across Natori's thin frame (thinner now than Caishen remembers it being; silently he makes a note to inquire about his little jewel’s meal allowances when next he speaks with the chef). "No one has ever said anything about need, Natori. You’re here because I want you here, and my mind has yet to change on that front— despite your best efforts, of course."

As much as he wants to plead for that finishing gunshot he'd been so certain was right on the horizon, or argue that Caishen has indeed implied his necessity to his goals many times, Natori falls silent and turns his head away in defeat.

+++

Despite Natori's vain attempts to otherwise remain cognizant of his surroundings, the coronation passes in rather disjointed chunks of hazy time; he is moved from place to place seemingly without logic, in erratic ways he can not altogether grasp. He recalls being led to a cushioned seat decorated with a veil and an opaque strip of red fabric spilling over its edges, and that the proceedings had seemed unbearably long, and then suddenly comes to some time later sitting slouched languidly in a different chair some short distance from Caishen. The Siamese is chatting amiably with another handful of nobles like himself, but Natori glimpses flashes of bitterness and umbrage among them all, a second-long lapse in a smile here, a surreptitious flex of the claws there. It’s telling, particularly when those gestures of suspicion and disdain dwell on him.

To himself he thinks that Caishen’s succession is not nearly as ironclad as he would prefer Natori to believe, and again his own suspicions regarding the speed at which it was obtained resurface. As well, and of perhaps more pressing significance, his own continuing survival appears to be a matter of contention.

He remembers Caishen's original 'offer', that proclamation that he would so gallantly protect Natori from the wrath of the other nobles if he would only cooperate, and wonders if the Siamese is primed to follow through on that promise.

Someone sneezes beside him.

There's a guard there, he notices belatedly. When Natori twists in startled alarm to survey him, he recognizes the cat's face with another twitch. Vino, if he recalls correctly. He'd been a young cat the last time Natori had seen him, new to the kingdom and his position among the guards, eager but markedly careless. On more than one occasion, Natori had thoughtlessly reached for his arm (or his tail, in one notable instance) in the hopes of stopping him in his tracks as he’d set off for a confrontation for which he had little hope of emerging victorious.

At the time, Natori had found the parallel in their respective impulsive behaviors rather amusing, if a little revealing.

Now, however, those memories of kinder, brighter days which come to him unbidden, unwelcome, with the distinct lingering contentment of tranquil dreams, bring also a potent sorrow to the surface, and for a fleeting few instants, he is certain he’s drowning above water.

“Um— h… hey, are you doing okay..?” Uneasy words accompanied by a tentative, feather-light touch to the side of his face, and Natori feels as though he crashes headfirst back into the present. Vino had settled in the chair beside him at some point, and now sits staring at him as if terrified he’d broken him. When he sees the awareness filter back into Natori’s expression, he removes his paw and sets it in his lap.

Here Natori is suddenly uncomfortably aware of both his swimming vision and the wet fur about his eyes, and he hastily rubs at his face once it registers just what had transpired in his split-second collapse.

“Sorry,” Vino says awkwardly in the meantime with a shrug and a long sniff, rubbing at his grey nose casually. “Didn’t mean to scare you like that. If I’d known you were dozing, I would have taken more care to smother it. I mean, you know, for all the good it’d done.”

“...no,” Natori finally manages, muted and hoarse. “No, you’re fine.”

Then, after a good stretch of silence between them, Natori slowly becomes aware of the fact Vino seems to wish to tell him something, uncertain gaze moving back and forth between the mingling courtiers out in front of them and Natori at his right. Eventually, once Natori turns his own half-lidded gaze to him and stares impassively without blinking, Vino clears his throat and comes clean, so to speak.

“I— um, I didn’t know you were still— er, around, you know? Not until tonight, when that guy asked me to look after you.”

Sitting straightly is proving to be quite tiring; Natori’s posture slackens, and he moves his despondent gaze from Vino to the ceiling.

“I won’t hold it against you,” he murmurs. “Doubtless you’re far from the only one.”

There Natori frowns, however, even as his attention remains fixed on some indeterminate spot above him. “...Did you say he asked you to look after me..?”

“Huh? Oh— yeah, he did. His words, exactly, not mine.”

To that, Natori doesn’t respond, but it’s no great feat of brainpower for him to glean that Vino’s presence is not for mere companionship, nor is it intended as a safeguard to foil any escape attempts— no. His current companion has been tasked with shadowing his unsteady steps as protection against the other nobles, and something about that knowledge leaves Natori quite agitated, in a way he can’t quite comprehend.

“...You know, also,” Vino begins unexpectedly, startling his ‘charge’ yet again, “I’m, uh, guessing since most of us didn’t know you were still around, you’re probably not all that up-to-date on everyone else’s situations, huh..?”

It takes Natori a minute to catch on, but once he does, all of his attention is on Vino.

“Who..?” He all but croaks.

Vino seems surprised by Natori’s keen interest, blinking once with his ears pinned back, but he recovers soon enough, looking to the side with a cough.

“Uh— well, Natoru, for one, I guess? Not that I know her exact condition and whereabouts, but… I can make an educated guess, you know?”

“How is she? She’s safe..?”

Vino nods at him, just once, with a blink. “I think so. I last saw her disappearing through the tower’s portal. As far as I know, she’s still out and about in the human world. I dunno what she’s doing there, though. Probably enjoying the street food or something.”

Natori feels his drained expression shakily quirk up into a smile at that familiar sentiment, an instinct he hasn’t felt in what suddenly seems like decades. Something about the idea of Natoru so characteristically chasing after the human’s street food heartens him, even as tears cloud his eyesight again.

“A-And my sisters..? Their families? Have you seen them? Are they well?” He hears himself asking, as well, though even as he says it, the amount of optimism he feels over receiving a conclusive answer dims.

As expected, here Vino shrinks, ears flattening only slightly. “Oh— sorry, sir, I don’t know that. I wasn’t even aware you had sisters before now.”

The potent mixture of yawning disappointment and regret which opens up at this admission almost winds him, but Natori manages a sigh instead, closing his eyes with a nod and a twitching smile which is threatening to shift to a tearful grimace.

“No, I understand. Not… not many I worked with then knew about them, I believe.” A helpless laugh, one he must cut off prematurely lest it dissolve into a sob.

“Vino.”

Natori jumps quite dramatically, but Vino only turns his attention out to the newcomer to their ongoing conversation with the same informal, unconcerned energy of a teenager. It’s Caishen, and he’s gazing upon the two of them with a not altogether kind look. Vino seems to realize belatedly that he is perhaps inappropriately sitting beside his charge as if the two are nothing more than a pair of old wives trading gossip, and he is quick to stand… though his posture remains rather slouched.

“Quite dutiful of you to keep Natori company, as I asked you to. Your service is no longer necessary, however. I will accompany him the rest of the night. So you are dismissed.”

Vino straightens with a brisk nod. “You got it, sir. Let me know if you need me again.”

“I will.”

It’s there he leaves the two of them, glancing back only once before wandering out the banquet hall’s door and into the hallway. Caishen waves to him, a motion that almost seems to double as a gesture shooing him away, and then, after contemplating Natori for a long moment, sits in the now vacated chair beside him with the decorum of the sovereign he’s been allowed to believe he is. From there, it’s a long stretch of silence, Caishen gazing out at the few remaining stragglers, and Natori doing much the same, but with a blankness which makes it clear he’s not entirely present.

“What charming conversation did the two of you have, to have elicited such a smile from you?” Caishen eventually asks, and although his words are pleasant enough, the cool stiffness of his tone is unmistakable.

Natori, sensing all too familiar warning signals and thinking distantly of young Vino becoming a far-too-artless target of the other cat’s ire, responds offhandedly… but carefully. “It was too short to be a conversation. He told me a joke.”

“Oh? It must have been quite a joke, then. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you smile, and I’ve known you quite some time, haven’t I?”

“It was a very good joke,” Natori says, clipped, gaze dropping so typically to the floor, as if the ongoing exchange is tiring him. “It was one I’ve never heard before.”

“Is that so.” Caishen is losing his patience. The mask of affability is showing some cracks. “Am I to be let in on this secret, or shall I simply have to languish forever with the unsolved mystery of some humble guard’s marvelously clever wit?”

“...The man who created the umbrella was originally going to name it simply the ‘brella.’ But he hesitated.”

It’s clear to Natori that Caishen is not impressed by his last-second substitution, though one corner of his dark muzzle remains curved in evident amusement (or exasperation, perhaps). He stands quite abruptly, pulling Natori up into a similar standing position by the paws, and then tugs him into a brisk walk beside him toward the same exit Vino had just disappeared through. Natori stumbles some, resorting to clinging to his companion’s arm with a sharp stab of fleeting hatred. Caishen most certainly would have known this pace would be difficult for him to maintain, particularly given the floor-length robe the cat has seen fit to dress him in. Distantly, Natori realizes he couldn’t have fled from the scene even if he wanted to, not with his legs so bound.

“I had no idea that your sense of humor was so vapid, Natori. Seems a shame to me.”

“If I didn’t know better, I might believe you were feeling some measure of jealousy,” Natori eventually remarks as they move into the hall. Nonchalantly, flatly, he also adds, “I imagine it must sting a great deal, after all, to have never brought a smile to one you proclaim to hold so dearly.”

Caishen’s grip on his arm tightens noticeably, to a painful degree (Natori can’t help but to gasp feebly, on old instinct he doesn’t wish to reveal the roots of); the corresponding smile the noble intends as genuine shows far too many teeth to successfully conceal his fury. His voice, as well, resonates taut and cold.

“Shall I tell you an amusing joke of my own, then..?”

“You may try.”

“My joke is about a child,” Caishen continues glibly. “This child accompanied by a man deep within the unforgiving woods. Certainly, not an ideal situation for this child, don’t you think? Well, he doesn’t think so, either. And the woods are so terribly dark. He complains to his escort, then, perhaps in the misguided belief to do so might inspire some mercy within him. Isn’t that charming? How silly of him. ‘This is a forbidding place,’ he says, ‘and it scares me, sir.’ Do you know what the man said back to him, then, Natori..?”

“No.”

“Why, as most likely expected, he admonished his young companion, as this eerie scenario wouldn’t have been necessary had the child simply done as he was told. And then he says ‘Besides, how do you think I feel? I shall have to walk back through here alone.’”

In the silence which settles after the conclusion of this ‘joke’, Natori eventually mumbles, “So much for your unconditional love.”

“Unconditional love is a fallacy, Natori,” Caishen responds smoothly. “And I have never promised it to you.”

To that, Natori has no response; his gaze moves again to the floor, to his concealed feet buried within the folds of this ridiculous outfit.

“No doubt you’ve deluded yourself into believing that slavish devotion you once heaped upon our last king was, in fact, a kind of unconditional love, but we both know now that simply isn’t true… don’t we?” Caishen goes on with too much relish for Natori’s liking.

It feels now as if it’s been quite some time since he had been removed from his position of tacit authority, that senseless stretch of time when he had spent his days numb and detached, oblivious to the chaos he’d eventually awoken to. Between Caishen’s needling words and his continuing touch, the way he squeezes Natori’s paw as if he is offering support through an interminable, onerous trial, Natori is beset suddenly by the powerful urge to succumb to that unfeeling languor again and this time never resurface.

"...he wasn't the only one I was devoted to," Natori murmurs, subdued, regretting the words the very second they leave his tongue. He turns his head away.

At this, Caishen stops, looks him over with a searching, almost pitying, curiosity.

“Is that so..? Why, pray tell, what other no-doubt undeserving soul found themselves the recipient of your boundless obedience?”

“Do what you do best and jump to your own witless conclusions,” Natori says lowly, already curling in on himself in an effort to emotionally exit the conversation.

Caishen again grips his arm too tight, this time yanking him closer to him as they come upon the door to an outside balcony.

“Another secret, I see. Well, I’ll be acquainted with them all someday. In fact, I have quite the secret for you now, Natori, dear.”

The pet name still rankles, even after all this time.

[ i can’t for the life of me remember where this was going to go rip i think i might have had some vague idea of caishen showing natori like vino’s execution or something but it seemed too dark and mean-spirited lmao and then i had nothing to replace it with and i was too burnt out to figure out how to rework it orz ]

[ there’s also some connecting stuff through here about natori being moved to a different room and Stuff Like That, but the main thing is that somehow he comes face to face with yuki, who he recognizes bc this fic was meant to go the ‘lune and yuki’ were childhood friends route :v ]

It’s another familiar face, although this one elicits perhaps a touch more pain than the last— too intimately connected to young Lune for Natori to remain comfortably detached from the loss as he has been for so long.

As well, Yuki’s appearance tells him that whatever the life she’s been leading in the time since the kingdom’s collapse, it’s been an invariably arduous experience, and he finds himself distantly pained looking upon her. From the subdued pity he sees reflected back at him in her own expression, however, he can only assume he must look rather careworn, as well. (And what an odd thought that is. How long has it been since he had access to a mirror..? Suddenly, he’s aware that he scarcely remembers his own face.)

It’s only the distant crash of something and some clamorous voices which shakes them out of their shared stupor— Natori peers down the hallway to the source of the noise briefly, gesturing for Yuki to enter the room behind him. She wastes no time in doing so, and he hastily closes the door behind her.

When he turns, he notices first that she is gazing hungrily upon the plate of fish he’d been too heartsick to eat, the one which is still sitting forlornly abandoned on the lavish bed. Gesturing with old, stilted manners to it, Natori stammers, “Please— take as much as you want—”

Yuki doesn’t hesitate.

It’s as Natori anxiously watches her wolf down his untouched breakfast, settling in his usual seat as he does, that he eventually and hesitantly speaks up. “...Is it… quite harsh outside..? I, ah, assume it’s where you’ve come from.”

Yuki nods, though her attention doesn’t waver from the food. She speaks still with the same soft, sweet voice, even when it’s around a mouthful of cold fish, breathless and brisk.

“It’s hard. There’s not much food, and everyone is always hungry. And sometimes… sometimes people do wicked things to get it.”

“Ah. I was afraid of that.”

“..and you..?” Here Natori sees the faintest glimmer of suspicion in her eyes as she looks up from the plate, and he can not find even a bare speck of insult within himself for it. He looks to his folded paws.

“...I’ve been, ah, made into something of a special interest, it seems. Someone has argued against my inclusion into the ranks of the deceased in the hopes of—” He hesitates only briefly. “—the hopes of uncovering whatever absurd secrets about our last king he’s certain I’m holding on to.”

“Are there any..?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Natori replies, in a firm tone which is perhaps the closest he’s come to his old formality in quite some time. “The answer remains the same regardless.”

Yuki doesn’t respond, and the conversation fades.

[ something more was meant to happen through here-- i really wanted to write the two of them reminiscing or cheering each other a Tiny Amount or something but i’ve just run out of steam lies down they make plans to sort of meet again whenever yuki can manage it and discuss secret signs, etc, as natori is happy to provide her with some food, at least, and she can give him info on what’s going on Outside. but she never does return

instead here we have the beginning of the end ]

He thinks his heart is starting to beat harder every day. Sorrow and worry weigh heavily on him; old grief sits undigested deep within him somewhere, and he’s certain with each day that passes it sinks further, reaches with sharp, inky little tendrils and plants itself deeper. The nebulous comfort of his once fugue calls to him now with more determination than ever.

Caishen still comes to tell him stories, but Natori finds himself unable to focus on them as he once did. He thinks, if nothing else, that if he doesn’t speak or speaks only very little, then he can not betray what he loves, not even when he drifts against his will.

He thinks often of kinder days, sweeter days— sneaking away at odd intervals to steal naps in the sun, when the eternal noontime of the kingdom felt less like an unending eternity and more like a brimming, warm drink. He will reminisce on birthday celebrations, and impulsive outings to Little Sister Lake, and quiet work in the study, even as each one distantly wounds him. He claws at them in the way a drowning man might desperately cling to some floating, flimsy wreckage.

“I have something for you, dear,” Caishen says today, in an almost lilting tone. Natori can not say how long they’ve shared the room, and he makes no move to flinch away when the other cat kneels before him with what seems to be a bundle of objects clutched closely to himself.

“I’ve been saving these for some time now,“ the other cat continues, and it’s there Natori notices something inexplicably strange in his voice and manner, the near lilting aside. He is… excited. Had he the energy to be wary, Natori might have braced himself.

It’s another gift, but this one expresses quite a different message than the silky qipao Caishen had originally bestowed upon him. Natori’s indolent gaze moves over the cluster of items the Siamese holds out before him (a gathering of peonies and a poppy-like bloom Natori doesn’t recognize lying upon a crystalline platter, surrounded by a handful of scattered pomegranate arils, an ornately-decorated red veil with a pearly sheen, a wine bottle wrapped too loosely in twine and ribbon), and a sickened dread in the pit of his stomach grows infinitely more pressing with each one that’s identified, until he is shaking.

Yet it’s only the look he spies upon Caishen’s face, the unmistakable glow of anticipation and unhinged eagerness in his expression, and the burgeoning realization then that there’s any optimism that he might accept this proposition, which proves to be the hardest to swallow.

Natori straightens in his seat without realizing it, reaching first for the platter with a mechanical manner that his companion misses— not only does Caishen’s expression perk noticeably, but he sets the wine to the side and gently tosses the veil over Natori’s head, smoothing it into place with shaky, fumbling paws so that it frames the once advisor’s face. The look in his eyes seems glazed, far away, as he works, and when he speaks, that same dazed excitement permeates his tone as well.

“I knew it would happen this way, dear— I knew I was charming you, slowly but surely. I knew— oh, I knew if I only kept at it, then I could win you over. You would admit your feelings. You would yield to me.”

Natori looks from the plate of seeds and the bouquet in his lap to Caishen, studying his face with a numbness he knows must make him look quite cold, forbidding.

“I would yield to you.”

Natori’s eyes narrow, and he pulls himself up to sit even straighter yet, but those are the only warnings Caishen gets. With a sudden invigorating sense of insult Natori won’t, can’t, ignore, he raises the platter in his paws, nearly to Caishen’s own eye level, and then simply lets go of it. The shattering crash of it hitting the ground and splintering into pieces strikes Natori as a deafening boom.

It seems to take Caishen an aggravatingly long time to register just what has happened, what message Natori intends to send, but it’s unmistakable once it does— his hopeful, manic expression crumbles, darkens, and he twitches away as if he’s been struck in the face with an exposed wire. The ugly scowl he’s left with is quite a far cry from his giddy excitement from just seconds earlier.

“You— you’re such a— you’re so infuriatingly, needlessly stubborn, Natori..!” His name hissed like a dirty word, practically mangled with enough contempt to show just what he thinks of the old cat. “I was charming you—! I’ve gotten through to you! I’m certain I have!!”

“Who could be charmed by a snake?” Natori isn’t altogether sure where his sudden sharp tongue is coming from, but he does little to rein it in.

“This is why you’re here,” Caishen continues then in a low snarl, towering over Natori’s seated form after kicking the remains of the platter away; he rests his paws against the arms of Natori’s chair, settling his weight into the menacing position in a manner noticeably reminiscent of the predator they both are, forcing Natori to lean against the back again lest they be nose to nose. “You were always so devoted, so concerned with him that you ignored and belittled every other opportunity to find love for yourself. And look where it’s gotten you. Old, bitter, and all alone. And he didn’t even feel the same, did he? The prince entertains one little fatal dance with a human’s truck, and he fades away and leaves you here because you weren’t enough.”

Natori can scarcely breathe. This is too much, the one transgression he can not bring himself to abide nor forgive.

It isn’t enough to present him with an offering of items so cloaked in covetous symbolism yet twisted beyond their original sentiments, sentiments he had once quite admired, and behind which lies binding obligation. And it isn’t enough for the other to assume he might feel some ridiculous resentment over Claudius valuing him less than his own son. No, Caishen must also dig his intrusive little fingers into past wounds, pull out staples and unravel stitches until he can study the raw gore within, and then chide his victim for screaming. Between this jab and his vicious reminder of Lune's fate, Natori finally feels his fortitude dissolve. Finally, the tears come.

"...Yes, I loved him," he says, and he's surprised by the great tremble in his words, though in hindsight he supposes he shouldn’t be. "I loved him uncontrollably! I spent the greater part of my life by his side, and he will never know just how dearly I cared for him. Neither of them will." He doesn't remember when he'd covered his face, but although it does well to obscure his tears, it isn't so efficient at masking shuddering breaths. He can't recall the last time he was this distraught, the last time he'd lost his composure to such a profound degree; his voice sounds like that of a stranger's in his ears.

"There is nothing you can offer me that will ever overcome that monstrous wound— no wealth, no privilege, not another, and most certainly not you—" Practically spat out like poison, and he hopes beyond hope that it burns Caishen like the vindictive acid it is. "And the sooner you come to terms with it, the sooner we can end this ludicrous charade—!"

In the silence which settles after his second outburst in the span of a few minutes, as he tries in vain to regain his composure, Natori feels acutely that his value lies shattered across the metaphorical floor like the splinters of the crystal platter beneath their feet. This is it, he can feel it. This is when he finally meets his end.

There is something quite gaunt, wounded, perhaps, in Caishen's face. A bubbling rage behind his usual cool anger; something finally breaking loose. He's still and cold for only a fraught moment. When he crosses the distance between them in seconds, Natori is unsurprised, yet still had made no attempt to evade him. He's never been a fighter, always more content to talk or flee, and he stands little chance of victory against a younger, fitter cat, no matter how few years truly separate them. Caishen easily shoves him to the ground with a hissing snarl, all bared teeth and injured, furious pride, and when he speaks, it's with the unhinged ferocity of an animal denied its true nature for too long.

"Then I would make you..! I would make you! I would bind you to my side with shackles if I had to, and you would come to love me..!"

Natori had been listlessly resigned to his final fate, looking upon Caishen with a tearful but wearied gaze, until he'd uttered that foolishness. Until he’d become quite explicitly aware of their arrangement, the way he is pinned to the ground like a lifeless specimen soon to be dissected. Rage, the likes of which he hasn't felt in recent or distant memory, which overshadows even both his outbursts from just moments earlier, and an overwhelming sense of revulsion flood his senses in an instant. From seemingly far away he watches himself rear his paw back, claws unsheathed, and strike Caishen's face with a viscerally satisfying impact. He digs his claws in until they catch in whatever flesh he can find, until it takes all his withered strength to drag them through.

Caishen yowls in startled pain, jerking backwards and falling clumsily to the side. Natori clambers out from under him, scrambling for the door with the desperate blindness of an injured hare.

He doesn't make it far.

Caishen catches him by the ankle and sends him crashing to the floor again, and when Natori rolls over in a panicked effort to kick him off, he only scarcely glimpses the glinting of something in the other cat’s paw before pain erupts along his side— twice, then three, four, times— exploding across his ribs and sternum in a fiery wave. It’s enough to sap his breath away, leave him shaken enough that Caishen effortlessly subdues him again; holds him down, blade raised in the air for another plunge.

He should have known better, Natori despairs to himself distantly through the haze of pain— nobles, even in the idyllic Cat Kingdom, were by and large quite dangerous folk. His lashing out had been based in impulse and unthinking fury, but he should still have known the reprisal would come swiftly and without mercy.

It’s instinct, more than anything, which has his paws weakly scrabbling across the floor at his sides and above his head, and it’s instinct again, after he slices one of his paw pads open on an errant fragment of broken glass, which has him gripping its jagged edges in his bloodied paw.

Caishen notices it too late.

Impulse and instinct are what got him into this mess to begin with, yet they seem fair-enough guardians, as they’re also what get him out— with strength he can’t quite fathom, Natori drives his makeshift blade into the vulnerable flesh and muscle of the other cat’s neck.

The noise Caishen gives this time is… odd, strangled. He cuts himself off as he stumbles back, one paw reaching dazedly for his neck, grazing against the jutting glass there. Eventually, he hits the wall, and collapses there, still tapping hesitantly, gingerly, at the protrusion which will with any luck spell his end. Natori pushes himself away, huddled panting by the door he’d initially run for, weak now that the immediate threat seems to be extinguished.

Caishen looks confused, pitiful, from his crumpled spot against the wall; he stares out at Natori with the doleful incomprehension of a dying animal, and traitorously the grey cat thinks to himself that were their circumstances different, he might indeed feel some measure of absurd sympathy for the other in this moment.

“I only wanted you…” The words are gurgled and hard to understand, halting, and the sentiment sounds patently unfinished, but Caishen ultimately trails off and leaves it that way.

“ …If you come for me, I will kill you,” Natori rasps. It’s an empty threat, and both of them know it. Still, heaving himself up onto unsteady paws, he wrenches open the door and flees without a look back.

He has no destination in mind; the castle hallways he initially staggers through are starkly empty and devoid of life and activity, and in the part of his mind not overrun by pain and overwrought instinct, he realizes something about that is quite troubling, eerie. When he does finally hear voices, panicked and unable to focus, he climbs through a nearby window and leaps (falls?) to the ground. It’s certainly no elegant landing— he lands heavily on all fours, and they give out beneath him, resulting in him pitching forward into an ungainly sprawl. It’s only his continuing, nebulous fear which ultimately spurs him on, hauling himself back up and tottering on his way.

From there, he runs only until he stumbles one too many times, until he is too weak and dizzy even to crawl, and he at last collapses into a dense patch of cattails and wildflowers, where he lies for an insensible stretch of time. Natori has never been a terribly sturdy creature, less so now while steadily dwindling from the combined strain of his long confinement and his wounds.

How long has he been confined to the castle? He still can not say. As he struggles to roll over, panting from the effort he’s so inadvisably expended in his flight from his prison, he wonders if the kingdom has at all changed— if he will turn his face to the sky to find it bleak, ashen. Unnaturally overcast, just to make it quite clear everything is wrong.

Yet when he lies finally on his back, he's greeted with the pale baby blue it's always been, cradled on all sides by gentle, evergreen hills and grasses, the snow globe effect he'd once found to be quite charming, bucolic. Sunlight streams through densely-crowned branches above him, dotting his surroundings and his own blood-stained frame in speckled patches. He cannot decide whether the familiar scenery is comforting, reassuring even, or simply an extra twist of the knife.

Out a little ways beyond him, he hears the telltale crash of gentle waves on the shore of Little Sister Lake, and the wind rustling the long grass which obscures his leaden form. To himself, hazily, he remembers his forlorn assumption from long ago that he would never again see the kingdom unencumbered by shutters, and is abruptly afflicted with an exquisite despair, one which is tempered rather oddly with some edge of heartbroken gratefulness. A cruel kindness to allow him a glimpse of that which he's long cherished only as he lies dying within it… but a kindness nonetheless.

Somewhere, he wonders if he may ask for one more of those backhanded kindnesses— that his grief and hardship fade into obscurity, never to be uncovered by family nor friend, that they may be allowed to believe he had met his ultimate end quickly, painlessly, and be at peace. No one need grieve wretchedly for him the way he had for little Lune. No one need know how gracelessly protracted it all was.

He'd remained dutiful and devoted to the end. Watching the blurred, wavering sky gradually fade from his sight, Natori supposes he can't have hoped for any more than that.

#typewriter ghost #the ruins #ufjfdka this is my 420th post here w at

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bokutosworld · 4 years

Text

then and now | kuroo t.

pairing: kuroo tetsurō x f!reader word count: 1863 words, fluff! mutual pining! warning: manga spoilers, with mention of kuroo’s timeskip occupation summary: always the bridesmaid, never the bride. you thought your time would never come until someone from your past comes along and brings up something you’ve long forgotten. OR where you and kuroo make a silly marriage pact and he shows up after years apart to make it come true.

He chuckled, now comfortably holding your one hand and hiding it in his pocket to keep it warm. “Here I was wondering if you were waiting for me.

Because I was.”

The church bell tolls, white doves are released, and joyful cheer and applause erupts from the crowd as the newlywed couple steps out from the cathedral. The now husband-and-wife gaze at each other full of love, and it is a sight guaranteed to make one envious and long for that same kind of affection.

But to you, it’s a scene that you’ve seen so many times that it already feels like a short film played on repeat. For the past year, you’ve lost count of how many weddings you’ve attended – whether as a guest or part of the bride’s entourage – that you’ve acquainted yourself with the workings of the event.

Heck, you’ve even memorized the readings of the priest that if they ever need a replacement, you can be the stand-in and officiate the program.

However, this wedding was different. Your best friend of more than fifteen years is the one who walked down the aisle, and you’re more emotional than you expected you’d be. Earlier in the morning, she woke you up, feeling sentimental, and demanded a pep talk. It was laughable because, more than her, you thought it was you who needed that assurance as you sent off your childhood friend to a new journey in her life.

The whole ordeal felt surreal and somehow, a tad more personal, because it wasn’t just any bride – this was the same girl you grew up with, the one you’ve seen in diapers, the one who held your hand in the playground, the person who you always ran to for boy troubles. Watching her exchange vows and rings felt like a coming to life of a scrapbook page, a long-awaited dream that you’ve talked about together in sleepovers where none of you really slept.

It made you wonder if you will ever march down the same aisle towards the waiting arms of your beloved.

---

“What a wedding, huh?”

The hotel reception was no different to the ceremony that took place prior. This time again, you wore the bride’s maid-in-honor hat and only after making sure that everything – that included the food, drinks, and entertainment – were in place did you take your place on the table and chatted with your old friends from high school.

The conversation started off with comments on how grand, intimate, and special the ceremony was. They talked about how it was wedding season, counting just how many of their schoolmates have already been wed. And before you knew it, eyes were on you and you had an inkling of what would follow.

“So,” Yoshioka, your former student council president, turned towards you. “You’re the only bachelorette left in our batch. We’re just curious.”

You laughed awkwardly, “No, please don’t expect a wedding invitation from me anytime soon. I’m still happily single.” The smile you wore felt strained, but whether the other girls recognized it or not, they chose to not comment further.

“Besides, it’s a great source of joy for me just being able to see you guys get married.” Noticing that the lights have begun to dim and focused on the spot on the stage, you clapped your hands, “Now, let’s just enjoy Yukie’s wedding, alright! Look, they’re coming out.”

As soon as the couple walked to the floor for their first dance, you heaved a sigh of relief and slumped in your cushioned chair. They moved gracefully as one across the dance floor, seemingly lost in their own world as they gazed deeply in each other’s eyes and swayed to the tune of the love song.

You thought back to the conversation earlier and weirdly, you felt a pang inside. Truth is, in every wedding you’ve attended, you can’t help but feel wishful. You consider yourself successful in almost every aspect of your life but sometimes, it can feel dejecting when you return home to an empty apartment at the end of a tough workday.

A part of you craved to make that little girl’s dream come true of wearing the wedding dress that you’ve designed, staying up all night for a bridal shower, and walking down the aisle to where your lover was waiting.

When the couple’s first dance ended, the host entered the stage and the program officially began. You could only hope that hours would pass faster.

---

Two hours into the reception and you can already feel the shots kicking in your system.

It wasn’t a really good idea downing five straight shots of tequila. At first, you thought it would quell your nerves, make you let loose and be the funnier version of yourself as you stepped to the podium to deliver your congratulatory speech to the couple.

In retrospect, it looks like the drink did its job as you managed to emit laughter and emotional tears from the crowd as you reminisced on your relationship with the bride, recounting the story of how she fell deeply in love and decided that he was the one.

But now, hunched in your seat with head on your hands, you were seemingly tipsy and all you could think about was escaping outside for some fresh air.

So, you did. When the groom’s best man took the stage, you saw this as an opportunity to quietly slip to the balcony.

Shutting the door behind you with a quiet thud, you eyed the empty balcony and sat towards the nearest bench. The surface was a bit cold as the city was now ushering the season of fall, signaling the arrival of long nights and chilly evenings. You shivered slightly and tucked your coat closer to your body as you stare at the darkness.

You don’t know how long you’ve been outside until you heard the door open and in came a tall, attractive, and oddly familiar man. His face held a warm smile as you noticed that his gaze was directed towards you.

“Long day?”

And it was only until he stepped closer and stood in front of you, the moonlight illuminating his face and accentuating his features, that you realized who he was.

“Tetsurō?!”

When was the last time you saw the Kuroo Tetsurō? You racked your brain for your last encounter with him and your memories point to your high school graduation. All of a sudden, you felt small and your surroundings became hot as you stood in front of him. Your former childhood neighbor. Former best friend. Former crush.

Not that he had any idea about that last item.

“I thought I saw you earlier before the reception started,” he made himself comfortable on the bench, patting the space beside him to urge you to sit as well. “But it’s been so long since I last saw you so of course I thought I was hallucinating. Then you gave a speech on stage – which by the way, I thought was awesome, you’re still as witty as you were before – and my suspicions were confirmed.”

You were breathless. Speechless. What were the odds that your reunion with him would be at a wedding?

“Did Yukie send you the wedding invitation?”

His laugh echoed in the darkness of the night, “Yeah, she did. It was nice to see familiar faces again.” He stared back at you, “I missed everyone.” I missed you, he wanted to say.

You hummed in agreement and without realizing, the two of you engaged in a comfortable conversation with Kuroo leading just as he always did. Being charming just as he always was. Telling you stories from the part of the past that you didn’t know. Catching you up with his present where he now works in the sports promotion division of Japan Volleyball Association.

A small part of you was relieved to know that Kuroo was doing well and successful just as you always hoped he would be. Years of no contact with the boy that stole your heart from day one certainly left you lonely. You wouldn’t say it out loud but he was part of the equation of why you still haven’t tied the knot. It was silly but you always thought that no one could measure up to him.

Absentmindedly, you started fiddling with your fingers, a habit you’ve formed when you were feeling cold, and Kuroo noticed. And just as he always did back then, he enveloped your hands with his and brought them to his lips to blow warm air on them.

“That better?”

Your heart threatened to flutter, “Yeah, thanks.”

After a long while of silence, Kuroo spoke. “I see there’s still no ring on your fourth finger.” He was now nonchalantly stroking your hands, letting his fingers slip in yours.

You coughed nervously, averting your eyes from his deep ones. “Well, I haven’t really found anyone.”

He chuckled, now comfortably holding your one hand and hiding it in his pocket to keep it warm. “Here I was wondering if you were waiting for me.

Because I was.” Oh no, be still my heart, you thought.

Kuroo went on, “Remember that silly pact we made on the night before graduation?”

Your mind takes you back on that evening when you and Kuroo were sitting on the rooftop, away from the noisy crowds and drunk soon-to-be college students. This was your thing, enjoying the calmness and admiring the stars spread out in the night sky.

That evening, you and Kuroo talked about the uncertain future that lied ahead. That evening, you bared your soul to him, letting him in on your worries and you fell apart in his comforting presence. He, as always, acted as your anchor, assuring you that he would always be your biggest supporter and that he’d always cheer on you even from afar.

That evening, with the two of you drunk on the excitement and the many possibilities for the new chapter of life, he brought up a proposal.

“I have a crazy idea.” Kuroo linked his pinkie finger with yours. “If we’re still single and not yet married by the age of 35, I’ll find you and we’ll get married.”

Swept away in the moment and the thrill of the idea, you agreed and sealed the proposal with a harmless kiss.

“You still remember that?” You questioned, not expecting him to actually remember that silly pact. Not expecting him to be holding on to that agreement.

“Sometimes, I wonder where we could be now if I just manned up and asked you out that night instead of pulling that act.” He holds your gaze, careful as he brings a hand to cup your cheek. “I’ve liked you for the longest time. And if you’re still available, if you’ll still have me, I am yours.”

“But we’re not yet 35, Kuroo,” you teased. He chuckled and playfully shoved you before bringing you in an embrace.

“I’ve decided years ago. You’re the only one for me,” he pulls away. “I’m sorry it took me a long time.”

And that night, it wasn’t only your best friend that went home feeling the happiest girl in the world.

Because there was Kuroo who was ready to make up for lost time and give you a reason to look forward to your trips back home.

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu imagines #kuroo x reader #haikyuucreations #haikyuu fluff #kuroo fluff #kuroo scenarios #kuroo imagines #kuroo tetsuro x you #haikyuu kuroo #haikyuu one shot #kuroo tetsuro fluff #haikyuu drabbles #haikyuu x you

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littlemisswolfie · 3 years

Text

nothing is so loveless as the break of day

AO3

Cold dawn A waning moon With no companion— Since our parting, nothing is so loveless As the break of day.

—Mibu no Tadamine

Haiji wakes up on his first morning in his new apartment and decides it’s too quiet.

Getting a team of almost complete rookies to the Hakone Ekiden in less than a year is an accomplishment. It’s noteworthy. While Haiji hadn’t been thinking of his future prospects in his last year of college (he just wanted to run), the fact is, what he did should have been impossible, as Kakeru said. Over and over and over.

This, as it turns out, makes him very employable, and somewhere in between his emergency surgery and his final exams and his packing, he gets a job offer to be an assistant coach for a corporate team. He doesn’t really have anything else going for him, so he takes it, and he, Yuki, and King all graduate from Kansei to the cheers of their teammates.

Haiji’s heart is heavy as he steps out of Aotake for the last time as a resident. He knows the team is in good hands, with Kakeru being unanimously voted to succeed him in captainship and several incoming freshman eager to be part of the team that seeded in their first year at Hakone, but it’s bittersweet. He got one year. One year. One year out of four.

“Call me if you need anything,” he tells Kakeru.

Kakeru doesn’t call.

“Hey, Kiyose-san!”

Haiji startles, looking up from his training journal to face one of the runners he’s been charged with inducting to the world of professional running. Tamura Shou, his mind supplies. He’s a bit older than Haiji, with dark hair and brown eyes. “Tamura-san,” he greets, closing his notebook to hide his notes. He knows from experience (from Kakeru) that runners seeing their own stats isn’t always the best idea. “Did you need anything?” The group Haiji is in charge of is taking a break right now so another group can run time trials, so he doesn’t see the harm in a little bit of conversation.

“Well,” Tamura says, looking a little sheepish all of a sudden, “Yoshioka and I have a bet running, and I wanted to ask you straight out, so, do you have a girlfriend, or something?”

(“By the way… Kakeru, do you have a girlfriend?”)

“What.”

Tamura flushes. “F-forget it!” He blusters off to a cluster of other runners.

Haiji blinks, a little stunned. What would have made him think Haiji had a girlfriend?

Cooking for one is hard. Haiji always makes too much.

He still talks to Yuki and King, sometimes. Yuki’s trailblazing his way through both the legal track and several women’s beds and is always eager to talk about each conquest. Haiji enjoys his career talk and tolerates his womanizing talk. King finally found work as a guidance counselor at a nearby middle school, and he’s the faculty supervisor for their men’s track and field team. Haiji never lets him forget how reluctant he was to start running in the first place.

The three of them meet up for drinks every once in a while. Haiji considers proposing inviting the older members of their old track team, but decides against it. Seeing them feels sad, like trying to relive that last glorious year of college would be betraying his friends.

“Haiji, King,” Yuki slurs one night after a few too many drinks, “you need to get girlfriends already.”

King blushes. “Shut it! I’m busy enough as it is without a woman getting in my way!”

Haiji sighs. First Tamura-san, and now this. What is it with the world prying into his romantic life? “I’m content,” he tells Yuki. “I already got everything I could ever want. What else can I ask for?”

He almost goes to a track meet to see if Kansei is there. He decides against it.

His team goes away for a training camp. Haiji can get around pretty well with his crutches by now, so he goes with them.

Okinawa is beautiful in the summer. Haiji leans out the window of the van his group takes and watches the passerby, the teenagers on their skateboards and the families walking together. He remembers how much the twins wanted to come here last summer. (He wonders where Kansei went this year, if they went anywhere at all.)

Watching the runners run is always hard. He wants to run with them, feel the wind in his hair, use his muscles that have become lax in the months since Hakone, hear his heart thunder in his ears. Wants to see if that white line that was always under Kakeru’s feet is anywhere else.

(He doubts it.)

He helps cook the meals for the team, like he used to for Kansei, but it feels wrong to cook with someone other than Kakeru next to him. He’d only had company in the kitchen for a year, but he grew used to it, and cooking without Kakeru is foreign.

He wonders if Kakeru cooks with anyone new at Aotake. He wonders why the thought makes his stomach twist up in knots.

He doesn’t visit his parents very often. What would they even have to talk about, other than running?

He’s off his crutches by then, but he still doesn’t get to go watch the Ekiden in person. Training starts that day, after all, and he’s too new to be able to beg off to watch his former team compete in a relay race. Instead, he watches the highlights when he gets back to his lonely apartment both nights.

Not everyone from last year is running the race. Prince, Jota, and Nico-chan-senpai all act as supports rather than runners, but they’re wearing their track suits, so Haiji knows they’re still on the team. He’s surprised at Nico-chan-senpai not running. It’s his last year.

The team is strong, much stronger than when Haiji was captain. He knows that’s because of their success last year. If they hadn’t made it to the Ekiden already, their team would be pretty much unknown. But the sight of all these strong runners working together with his friends makes something ugly bubble up in Haiji’s chest. He wants to be there with them. He wants to be running that race.

Kakeru beats the section nine record again. Haiji watches him hand the sash off to the last runner, some first-year, and remembers when that was him.

Kansei finishes eighth.

Kakeru doesn’t call him.

After their graduation, Shindo and Nico-chan-senpai join their nights out. Shindo’s working as a business analyst for the corporation sponsoring Haiji’s team, so they see each other more frequently than the others already, and Nico-chan-senpai is still doing his freelance programming.

“Whoa,” Yuki says the first time they meet up, “you cut your hair!” His fingers brush Nico-chan-senpai’s newly-short hair almost reverently. “You almost look like a functional person!”

“Thanks, I really missed this,” Nico-chan-senpai snarks, but his eyes are unbearably soft.

The conversational inevitably turns to Kansei. “It’s so strange,” Shindo muses one night, before he gets too drunk. “I got so used to it just being the ten of us that working with all those new people was weird.”

“They just kept hangin’ around Aotake, too,” Nico-chan-senpai grumbles. “As if the twins weren’t loud enough already.”

Shindo groans. “And they’re even worse now that Hana-chan’s at Kansei. They have some sort of pact to not pursue her until they graduate, but they’re so moony. Musa and I were never like that.”

What?

Haiji’s glad he’s not the only one confused by this statement. A quick glance around their table tells him the rest of his former teammates look just as shocked. Well, except for Nico-chan-senpai, who just nods in agreement, like this is a reasonable thing for Shindo to be saying. “Uh, Shindo?” he says. “What are you talking about?”

Shindo looks at them like they’re all stupid. “Uh, me and Musa? We’ve been dating since last year’s Ekiden?”

“HAH?!” Yuki slams his hands on the table, jostling everyone’s beer.

“Wasn’t it obvious?” Shido’s neck is red, now, and not thanks to the alcohol for once. “It’s not like we were trying to hide it or anything!”

“I-I thought you were straight, though!” King says, flushing red under his tanned skin. “You had a girlfriend!”

“Bisexuality exists, you know,” Nico-chan-senpai drawls. Haiji doesn’t miss how his eyes flicker over to Yuki as he says this, or how Yuki stares straight at Shindo, ears red. Huh.

“Kakeru misses you,” Shindo says to him after the others leave for the night (or early morning, whichever is more accurate). “You should give him a call, sometime.”

“He could also call me,” Haiji points out.

What good could I ever do to him? he wonders silently. I can’t even run anymore.

The revelation of Shindo and Musa’s relationship is one Haiji can’t help but dwell on. Looking back on it, he realizes the signs were there. They were always close, after all, and Musa ended up dragging a drunk Shindo back to his room on more than one occasion. It was weird to see one of them without the other close behind.

So, he thinks, maybe this was inevitable.

He imagines their relationship, sometimes, when he’s alone, lying in bed in his too-empty apartment. They’re probably easy. Comfortable. They don’t have to fill a silence. They’re content to just be with each other.

He wonders if Kakeru has anyone like that.

He hopes not. Does that make him a bad person?

Now that he knows about Shindo and Musa, Haiji can’t help but wonder if any of his other former teammates are like them, so he does what he does best: he watches.

It only takes a few more guys’ nights out to notice how Nico-chan-senpai keeps looking at Yuki. He only does it when he thinks no one is looking, but his eyes are soft, affectionate, loving in a way that makes Haiji ache. Has anyone ever looked at him like that? Like he hung the stars in the sky? Like he’s the answer to everything?

“Why haven’t you said anything?” he asks Nico-chan-senpai when Yuki heads back to the bar to hit on a girl. Shindo and King are talking loudly to each other about their respective jobs, both already three sheets to the wind, so Haiji’s not concerned with either of them overhearing.

Nico-chan-senpai doesn’t pretend to not know what he’s talking about. “I’m content with how things are,” he says, looking wistful. “I’d rather have his friendship and pine than risk losing him over a confession.”

Haiji nods, even if he doesn’t really understand. Then, a little quieter, he asks, “How many of the original team do you think are…?”

“Queer?” Nico-chan-senpai supplies. Haij flushes. “Well, Shindo and Musa for sure, and me, obviously. I have my suspicions about Kakeru, but I’m not sure.”

Haiji feels his world stutter to a stop. Kakeru?

He can’t stop imagining it, now. Has Kakeru ever kissed another boy? Did he sneak around with his classmates in high school? Is Kakeru with a boy right now, in his room at Aotake?

Haiji hates the thought.

He pulls up his phone browser and types in “what does it mean if i get mad at the thought of my friend with a guy” and deletes it. He already knows the answer.

He throws himself into his coaching to try and distract himself from his new intrusive thought. His runners aren’t thrilled with his newfound enthusiasm, but it gets results, so none of them can really be mad about it.

“What, did you get dumped, or something?” Tamura jokes.

“Five more laps!” Haiji tells him with a cheerful smile.

When Hakone rolls around this year, Haiji watches the replay of Kakeru beating his own record once again, and Kasei takes fourth place. After, Haiji pulls up Kakeru’s contact information and stares at the call button for a good minute.

He decides not to call.

The first time Musa and Prince join them after their graduation, Shindo downs five beers in ten minutes and spends the rest of the night in Musa’s lap. Musa (who has a goatee, now, and it suits him pretty well) manages a surprisingly normal conversation around his clingy boyfriend, and that’s how Haiji learns he’s staying in Tokyo for grad school.

“Visas are complicated,” he says. “Until the laws change and Takashi and I can get married, the only way I can stay here for now is as a student.”

Musa calls Shindo by his first name. Haiji’s not sure what to make of that.

Prince got a job as a shonen manga editor. “I’m not going to be working on any major projects for a while,” he grumbles. “What’s the point of editing manga if you don’t get to touch the big ones?”

“Hey,” Haiji soothes, “at least you get to work with manga! And who knows, maybe you’ll be tasked with a sleeper hit!”

“That’s what my girlfriend keeps telling me,” Prince groans.

Yuki almost drops his glass. “Girlfriend?”

King whirls around and grabs Prince by the collar. “I can’t believe you got a girlfriend before me!”

Nico-chan-senpai makes a considering noise. “That’s three of us with actual partners, huh? Shindo and Musa, and Prince.”

Musa laughs. “Four, soon, if the twins have their way!”

“I thought they were waiting until they graduated to ask Hana-chan out,” Haiji says.

“No, no, they are. They’re trying to set Kakeru up with a guy they met at this year’s Ekiden.”

Haiji’s blood roars in his ears.

“Oh, that guy from Rikudo?” Prince asks. “What was his name? Miyamura?”

“Miyamoto,” Musa corrects. “Miyamoto Jurou. They went against each other in Section 9. Jota saw him checking Kakeru out and decided they should get together.”

“I swear to god,” Yuki grits out, “if Kakeru loses his virginity before I get a steady girlfriend, I’m going to murder someone.”

So will Haiji, he thinks.

Nico-chan-senpai pulls him aside as everyone else leaves the bar. “I saw that look earlier,” he says. “What’s got you so upset about Kakeru?”

Haiji really doesn’t want to talk about this, so he says, “I’ll tell you if you promise to ask Yuki out by our next guys’ night.”

And so the subject is dropped.

He goes home that night and looks up Miyamoto Jurou. He’s a third year at Rikudo, studying literature, and he’s tall and good looking, and he gave Kakeru a run for his money at this year’s Ekiden.

And he can run.

In what feels like a breach of their semi-distanced guys’ nights, Haiji finds himself at Shindo and Musa’s tiny apartment a few weeks later for a housewarming party.

It’s been Shindo’s apartment for a year now, but with Musa moving in, it feels kind of like a home. The decor is a healthy mix of Shindo’s country sensibilities and Musa’s colorful Tanzanian culture, and the two young men seem so at ease in this space they’ve made with each other that Haiji kind of wants to cry.

More than anything (okay, maybe not more than running) he misses this. He misses living with someone else. He misses the noise and the companionship. Every morning, he wakes up to his empty apartment and he feels lonely.

He’s so caught up in this feeling that he misses Kakeru, Jota, Joji, and Hana-chan arriving until he hears something hit the floor. His head whips around and he sees Kakeru standing in the doorway, mouth slightly open in shock and a convenience store bag filled with what looks like plastic bottles of green tea at his feet. Haiji feels his heart stop.

Because Kakeru is gorgeous. He’s always been good looking, Haiji knows, but that was a lot easier to deal with when he saw Kakeru on a daily basis. Now, it’s been a little over two years since the last time he saw him, and he’s wholly unprepared.

But everyone is looking at him, now, and he knows Kakeru kind of hates being the center of attention and that’s what’s going to happen if he keeps staring at him like an idiot, so he forces his face into a smile and waves. “Hi, Kakeru. Long time, no see.”

Things are more than a little tense, even if everyone pretends the atmosphere is normal. No matter where Haiji goes in the tiny apartment, he can feel Kakeru’s eyes on him, burning a hole in his skin.

He tries to make the most of the party. He catches up with the twins and Hana-chan, who have all fallen into leadership roles as the years went on with ease. Now that Hana-chan is a Kansei student herself, she can help them full-time, which has, apparently, been very helpful. “Plus,” Joji whispers to him, already drunk, “having a cute manager is a huge morale boost!”

Jota and Joji are sort of like sub-captains, from what Haiji gathers. Kakeru is the main authority on all things running, but Jota and Joji, who specialize in sprinting and long-distance running respectively, have been overseeing those aspects of the team’s practice. “We have almost twenty guys now,” Jota says, “so it’s hard for Kakeru to give them all one-on-one attention, so Joji and I focus on the broader things while he nitpicks.”

“That’s a great idea,” Haiji praises, and he can’t help the smile that overtakes his mouth when he sees how Jota preens. This feels right, advising his former teammates like this. It’s different from the feeling he gets coaching the corporate team, because that’s a team, but this is Haiji’s family.

He wishes he could turn back time. He wishes he could live in that final, wonderful year of college for the rest of his life.

He wishes he could run again.

He can’t avoid Kakeru forever. Nico-chan-senpai makes sure of that, because when he escapes to the balcony for a breath of the cool night air, he hears Nico-chan-senpai say, loudly, “Oh, Haiji? Yeah, he just went out those doors! You should go check on him.”

Is this revenge? Haiji wonders. Is this him paying me back for trying to make him make a move on Yuki? It must be.

He doesn’t look up when he hears the sliding door open and then close again, or when he feels Kakeru walking up next to him to lean on the rail. “You never called,” he says, staring at the city streets below, still alive even in the dark.

Kakeru sighs. “I figured you would be too busy, with your rehab and your new team and all.”

“I’m never too busy for you.”

“Yeah, you say that, but you would do something stupid, like sleep less, to make time to talk to me.” Haiji finally looks over at him, his profile glowing a little from the light inside, and, god, he’s so beautiful. “You can’t do that to yourself again, Haiji-san. It was scary enough the first time, and we were still living at Aotake, then. If you collapsed again, I might not even find out.”

“Alright, point taken.” Despite the earlier awkwardness, this feels natural. It feels like quiet nights in the Aotake kitchen, listening to Kakeru clumsily chop carrots while the prepared dinner together. It feels like home, almost. “You’re doing a great job, Kakeru. I watched the last two Ekiden highlights, since I couldn’t go watch in person. You’ve become a great leader.”

Kakeru flashes him one of his genuine, tiny smiles. “I learned from the best.”

It’s easier, after that.

Everyone comes to the Aotake demolition party to say goodbye to the building that used to be home, and they split up to help Kakeru and the twins move into their new apartments, and things feel normal, for once.

Kakeru’s new apartment is tiny, but Kakeru, by his own admission, probably won’t spend too much time here in the next year before he graduates, so he’s not too bothered by it. Between his classes, training, and the part time job he’s picked up in the shopping district, he has a busy fourth year ahead of him.

“Years ago,” he tells Haiji when he sees him to the door when his taxi arrives, “you said you wanted to know what running was. Do you remember that?”

“Of course,” Haiji says.

“Come watch Hakone this year. I’ll tell you when it’s over.”

Haiji could say no. Should say no. He has his own team to think about now. But when Kakeru looks at him like that, Haiji would say yes to just about anything.

The next year passes in a blur. Haiji works harder than he ever has before, like he’s making up for having to take the first few practices of the new year off months in advance. The guys’ nights happen with a little less frequency (or, at least, Haiji attends less of them than he used to), but they’re fun when they do happen.

“I finally have a girlfriend!” King says one night, triumphant, and the table explodes into raucous cheers and applause. “Her name’s Noriko, and she’s the second year social studies teacher at my school, and damn, is she cute!” He whips his phone out of his pocket to show them a photo of a woman who is, indeed, damn cute.

“Ugh,” Yuki groans. “Life isn’t fair. How did you get a girlfriend before me?”

“Being a whore might be a factor, there,” Shindo slurs.

Yuki growls when the rest of their friends laugh. “But really, who’s next?” He spins to glare at Nico-chan-senpai, who’s hiding his grin into his beer glass. “Are you gonna pop up with some girlfriend next? Huh?”

“Nah, I’m too old for that shit,” Nico-chan-senpai says, waving the comment off with his usual affable air. “I’ll just be the cool, childless uncle who spoils all your kids rotten.”

“So, that just leaves Kakeru,” Prince muses. “Has anyone heard anything else about that Miyamoto guy the twins were trying to set him up with?”

The mention almost makes Haiji’s blood boil, but before he can rile himself up too much, Musa shakes his head. “Hana-chan told me that he asked Kakeru out, but he turned him down. Apparently, he already has someone he likes.”

Around Haiji, his friends start debating who, exactly, Kakeru likes.

Haiji has an idea, though.

Before he knows it, the Hakone Ekiden has arrived. Haiji arrives at the finish line for the first day before the race starts, a livestream already bookmarked on his phone, and he finds the rest of the original Kansei team there, as well. “Hey!” Yuki says, slapping him on the back. “You made it this year!”

“Well, it is the last time any of the original team will be racing,” Haiji says. “What’s everyone running this year?”

Musa looks at his phone. “Jota is Section 1, Joji is Section 2, and Kakeru is Section 10.”

Haiji blinks. “Not Section 9? Why’d he change up sections?”

“If I had to guess,” Nico-chan-senpai says, “he wants to cross the finish line in his last Ekiden.”

Haiji thinks back to his first and last Ekiden and nods. “That makes sense.”

Kansei ends the first day at fourth place, which is very promising for the return leg. Their fastest runner is at the very end, after all, and Haiji knows damn well how many runners Kakeru can pass if he’s serious about it.

Haiji stares at his phone in his hotel room that night and thinks about calling Kakeru. He knows he shouldn’t. Kakeru needs his sleep if he’s running the last section of the race tomorrow. But then he remembers their conversation on Shindo and Musa’s apartment, and he hits the call button.

Kakeru picks up very quickly. “Hey,” he says, voice soft. “Did you watch today?”

“Yes. Your team is really good. You’ve got a chance of winning tomorrow.”

“Don’t say that, you’ll jinx it.”

Haiji laughs. “Since when are you superstitious?”

“It’s my last chance, Haiji-san. I want to go out with a bang.”

“You’ll do great.”

“Will you be waiting for me at the finish line?”

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

Haiji is a nervous wreck for most of the next day. He remembers this anxious feeling from when he was running the Ekiden, but now it’s combined with a feeling of helplessness. There’s nothing he can do but watch, and he hates it. He wants to be running alongside Kakeru, working with him, helping him cross the finish line.

But he can’t.

So he watches.

Kansei keeps doing well. They’re a far cry from the haphazard team Haiji put together all those years ago. These men are trained runners, athletes who have spent their lives preparing for this moment. There are no Princes, no Nico-chan-senpais, no Kings.

They are a group of Kakerus.

Where am I? he wonders as he watches them run. Did Kakeru find someone to take my place? Was there room for someone like me in the team he’s made?

The Kansei runner who runs Section 9 doesn’t beat Kakeru’s record from last year. Haiji can’t help but feel incredibly smug about it.

Haiji limps his way to the finish line as soon as he sees the sash get passed to Kakeru, who’s in first place. First place! “Go on ahead of me,” he tells the others, who try to slow down for him. His knee is on fire, but he’s going to see this through. “I’ll just slow you down.”

“What the hell kinda talk is that?” Nico-chan-senpai asks.

Prince nods and puts a hand on his shoulder. “You and Kakeru didn’t leave us behind, no matter how slow we were. The least we could do is return the favor.”

“We’re the Kansei Ten,” says Jota, since he and Joji joined the rest of their former teammates after their sections. “We finish this the way we started it: together.”

“‘Kansei Ten?’ What kinda name is that?” Yuki scoffs.

Haiji’s heart feels full, and he and his friends, his family, walk to the finish line together.

When they see Kakeru coming around the bend, everyone starts yelling. Haiji can’t help but think about that second track meet, where only half of the guys ran, and how the spectators just went buck wild. This is the same thing, except there are nine people cheering and one person running.

Well, more than nine people cheering. The rest of the current Kansei team has joined them at this point, so their shouting is deafening. Haiji knows there are several cameras trained on them, but he can’t bring himself to care. All he has eyes for is Kakeru, running towards him. Was this how Kakeru felt, all those years ago, when he was in Haiji’s place and Haiji was in his?

There’s my dream, he thinks again. It’s taken form and it’s running.

Kakeru has always been his dream, even if he went over twenty years without knowing it. And now that he knows it, he can’t escape it.

“Kakeru!” he yells, cupping his hands around his mouth to make himself louder. “Last spurt!”

His friends laugh at the phrase and join in in sync, but he’s not paying attention. All he sees is Kakeru, speeding up, making a beeline to him. He knows, logically, that of course Kakeru has gotten faster over the years, because that’s how progress works, but Haiji swears on everything good in this world that he’s never run as fast as he is now.

When Kakeru crosses the finish line (in first place!), Haiji rips the blanket out of the twins’ hands and throws it over Kakeru himself. “You did it!” he gasps, and he’s positive Kakeru can’t hear him over the cheers of the rest of the former and current Kansei team members, but he says it again. “You did it, Kakeru!”

It seems like everyone is trying to touch Kakeru. There are hands on his arms, on the blanket, on his back, in his hair, but Haiji refuses to be dislodged. He has an arm locked around Kakeru’s shoulders and he’s not letting go. Not for anything.

Haiji sees the reporters hovering outside their circle of celebration. He should let Kakeru go talk to them, should let this incredible man get interviewed for the nation to see, but he’s selfish, so he still doesn’t let go.

“And there we have it! Kansei University has won the Hakone Ekiden, led by captain Kurahara Kakeru! There, we can see Kurahara-senshu’s teammates congratulating him, along with the original Kansei University Hakone team. In the center of the celebrations is former captain and current works team coach Kiyose Haiji-senshu. Some of you will remember that Kiyose-senshu had to quit running after his first and last Ekiden four years ago…”

“Kurahara-senshu! How does it feel to have won the Hakone Ekiden?”

“It feels amazing, but, at the end of the day, the times don’t really matter. I got to run with and against extremely talented runners, and that is what I’m most grateful for.”

“Do you plan to continue running when you graduate from university?”

“I’ve had some scouting offers from works teams, but I haven’t committed to anything yet.”

“What do you have to say to young athletes?”

“I want to say that running isn’t about who’s fast and who’s slow. It’s about strength, and everyone has the strength to start. And, no matter what, you’re always running with someone.”

“Thank you for your time, Kurahara-senshu. And, again, congratulations!”

The team and their supporters retreat to a nearby bar to celebrate. Haiji still refuses to leave Kakeru’s side, finding excuses to touch him as often as he can. He’s probably being too obvious, but, then again, next to Shindo and Musa, he’d be surprised if anyone noticed.

King’s and Prince’s girlfriends meet up with them at the bar, too, so everyone gets to meet them. King seems a little suspicious of Yuki when they walk through the door, but he’s a perfect gentleman about the whole thing. “They’re great guys,” he says to Noriko-san and Chihaya-san, Prince’s girlfriend. “I’m proud to call them my friends.”

Everyone stops dead at the surprisingly earnest expression from Yuki, and Nico-chan-senpai pulls him into a noogie, saying, “Damn it, Yuki, why’d you gotta get all sentimental?” and then everyone laughs.

As the night winds on, Haiji finally has had enough, and he tugs on Kakeru’s elbow to pull him away from the noise of the celebrations. They wind up outside the bar, leaning against the building, arms just barely brushing. Haiji knows his knee is going to hate him tomorrow, but for now, he’s just focusing on Kakeru. “You said you’d tell me what running is,” he says, trying for conversational and probably failing.

“It’s you,” says Kakeru, characteristically to the point. “You’ve always been the answer.”

Haiji just stares for a moment. Then, for lack of a better reaction, he tilts his head back and he laughs.

Kakeru, of course, flushes bright red. “W-what?”

“Oh, no, not you,” Haiji says, having doubled over. “I’m not making fun of you, I swear.”

“Sure seems like you are,” Kakeru grumbles.

“I swear,” Haiji repeats. He straightens up, because he knows he has to be serious about this. “It’s just, I thought something similar about you.”

The younger man perks up. “Really?”

Haiji nods. “When I saw you running, that first night, I thought, ‘That’s it. That’s my dream.’” He laughs again, this time, soft. “We’ve both been idiots, haven’t we?”

“I think so,” Kakeru says. He’s breathless, like he just finished running, and Haiji can’t help how he delights in being able to affect him like this. He reaches a hand out, just this side of shy, and tangles his fingers with Haiji’s.

“Hey, Kakeru?”

“Yes?”

“Can I kiss you?”

Kakeru pulls his face down in response.

The first meeting of their lips feels like coming home.

“You know,” Kakeru mumbles against his lips when they draw back just enough to breathe, “my lease is up in a month.”

“Move in with me.”

“Yeah.”

And then they kiss again.

“Oh, fuck you guys!” Yuki yells when he pokes his head out the door a few minutes later to see them still kissing.

A month later, Haiji wakes up in his apartment, Kakeru snoring softly into his ear and his leg thrown across his hips, and decides, maybe, it’s not too quiet, after all.

#run with the wind #kaze ga tsuyoku fuiteiru #kazetsuyo #kakehai #ao3fic #kurahara kakeru #kiyose haiji #my writing #my post #mine

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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FEATURE: Meet the Stars of Princess Connect Re:Dive

Going into Princess Connect! Re:Dive, I knew little about it other than the fact that it was an adaptation of a mobile game. That didn’t bode well; my experiences with video game adaptations have been less than positive.

Imagine my surprise, then, when it turned out to be hilarious. When a pair of ridiculous-looking wolves started dragging off our protagonist, I completely lost it. I found myself constantly laughing at the KONOSUBA-esque humor — it was only much later that I’d learn that Princess Connect and KONOSUBA shared the same director. It was also well-animated and delivered some impressive-looking action scenes and spell effects.

At the end of the day, however, this is a comedy anime through and through. And comedy anime live and die on the basis of their voice acting. Unsurprising, then, that Princess Connect features an all-star voice cast, with the actors from the mobile game reprising their roles in the anime. Let’s take a look at some of the talented voice actors that bring the characters of Princess Connect, both the game and the anime, to life.

Pecorine (M·A·O)

Mao Ichimichi, also known as M·A·O, is probably better known for her non-anime roles — she started off her career in tokusatsu (live-action often with heavy special effects), most notably playing Luka Millfy in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. She later ventured into anime voice acting. She voices the cheerful and energetic (and perpetually hungry) Pecorine in Princess Connect. She has also voiced Iris in Fire Force, Luluco in Space Patrol Luluco, Hondomachi in ID:Invaded, Vorona in Durarara, Bela in Bem, and Remi Ayasaki in the currently-airing Horimiya.

Kokkoro (Miku Ito)

This isn’t the first time Miku Ito has played a character named Kokoro, having played the character of the same name in the BanG Dream! franchise. Her most well-known role is probably that of her own namesake: Miku from The Quintessential Quintuplets. Her other roles include Shimamura from Adachi and Shimamura, Ann Akagi from Action Heroine Cheer Fruits (in which she starred alongside fellow Princess Connect actor M·A·O), and Nana Mifune in Gleipnir.

Karyl (Rika Tachibana)

Rika Tachibana has an extensive voice acting career in video games, featuring in such titles as Granblue Fantasy, Magia Record, The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls, Street Fighter V, and of course Princess Connect, where she plays Karyl. Tachibana’s anime voice acting roles include Sae Kobayakawa from The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls, Reiko from Shomin Sample, Naruse from The Island of Giant Insects — in which she starred alongside ... you guessed it ... M·A·O — and African Wild Dog from Kemono Friends.

Yuuki (Atsushi Abe)

Our main protagonist Yuuki may not say much, but Atsushi Abe manages to make whatever little he says absolutely hilarious. Abe garnered widespread recognition for his role as Touma Kamijou in A Certain Magical Index and its spinoffs. His other roles include Moritaka Mashiro in Bakuman, Koichi Sakakibara in Another, Takashi in B Gata H Kei, Akiyuki in Xam’d: Lost Memories, Soya in Planet With, Inojin Yamanaka in Boruto, and Sougo in IDOLISH7.

Kaiser Insight (Shouta Aoi)

It is not uncommon for female voice actors to voice male roles, especially younger characters. But male voice actors voicing female roles? Extremely rare. Shouta Aoi’s unique, “angelic” voice allows him to do so, with him voicing main Princess Connect villain Kaiser Insight. Aoi is better known as a singer, but he made his voice acting breakthrough as Ai Mikaze in Uta no Prince-sama. Since then, he has voiced Hideaki Tojo in Ace of the Diamond, Licht in The Royal Tutor, and will voice Subaru in the upcoming adaptation of Tokyo Babylon.

Maho (Maaya Uchida)

Maho is considered by the other Princess Connect characters to be slightly delusional, so of course she is voiced by Maaya Uchida, best-known as the voice of out-of-touch characters like Rikka from Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions and Ranko Kanzaki from The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls. Her non-delusional roles include Yoshioka from Blue Spring Ride, Norman from The Promised Neverland, Yuki Yoshino from Food Wars, and Catarina Claes from My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom.

Miyako (Sora Amamiya)

I mentioned earlier how Princess Connect feels incredibly KONOSUBA-esque, both in its setting and its sense of humor. Makes perfect sense, then, for it to feature the voice of Sora Amamiya, known for voicing “useless” goddess Aqua from KONOSUBA. Amamiya’s other notable roles include Elizabeth from The Seven Deadly Sins, Touka from Tokyo Ghoul, Akame from Akame ga Kill, Kaori from One Week Friends, Isla from Plastic Memories, and Asseylum from Aldnoah.Zero.

Hiyori (Nao Toyama)

Nao Toyama played her first major role as Kanon Nakagawa in The World God Only Knows, which kickstarted her music career. Many people also know her as Yui Yuigahama in My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, or Chitoge Kirisaki in Nisekoi. However, the role for which I personally recognise her the most is as the quiet Rin Shima in Laid-Back Camp. Other major roles include Karen in KINMOZA!, Ruka in Rent-a-Girlfriend, and Nozomi in Sound! Euphonium.

Suzume (Aoi Yuki)

Aoi Yuki has been earning plaudits this season for her energetic portrayal of the titular spider in So I’m a Spider, So What? Yuki has had many significant voice roles over the years, including Madoka from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Tanya in Saga of Tanya the Evil, Froppy in My Hero Academia, Tamaki in Fire Force, Diane in The Seven Deadly Sins, and Mami in Rent-a-Girlfriend.

Rei (Saori Hayami)

Saori Hayami is one of the most in-demand voice actors of recent times. She is known for portraying Yukino Yukinoshita in My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, and received considerable praise for her performance as Shoko Nishimiya in A Silent Voice. Her other notable roles include Shirayuki in Snow White with the Red Hair, Shinobu in Demon Slayer, Tsuruko in AnoHana: The Flower We Saw That Day, Yumeko Jabami in Kakegurui, and Himawari in Boruto.

Jun (Ayako Kawasumi)

Jun is a classic knight in metal armor. And who better to voice a knight than Ayako Kawasumi, best known as the voice of Saber in various installments of the Fate franchise. Kawasumi is also a talented pianist, which explains her role as Nodame in Nodame Cantabile. Some of her other major roles include Fuu in Samurai Champloo, Erina Pendleton in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Alice in Pandora Hearts, Melfina in Outlaw Star, Natsuki in Initial D, and Lafiel in Crest of the Stars.

Io (Shizuka Ito)

Shizuka Ito won a “Best Actress in Supporting Roles” award at the 10th Seiyuu Awards for her performances as Meiko Shiraki in Prison School and Sailor Venus in Sailor Moon Crystal. Some of her other major performances are as Himawari in xxxHolic, Ran in Texhnolyze, Kaori Kanzaki in A Certain Magical Index, Boota and Darry in Gurren Lagann, Yayoi in Psycho-Pass, Rei Hasekura in Maria Watches Over Us, and Hinagiku in Hayate the Combat Butler.

Yui (Risa Taneda)

Risa Taneda is undoubtedly best known for her roles as Erina Nakiri in Food Wars and Kaori Miyazono in Your Lie in April. But to me, she will always be Saki from Shin Sekai Yori, where she delivered an excellent performance spanning many ages, and performed the first ending song too. Taneda’s other significant roles include Rize in Is the Order a Rabbit?, Mirai in Beyond the Boundary, Yukina in Strike the Blood, Ai Mizuno in Zombie Land Saga, Xenovia in High School DxD, and Yukari in YUYUSHIKI.

Labyrista (Miyuki Sawashiro)

Miyuki Sawashiro is one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. She first came to prominence as the voice of Puchiko in Di Gi Charat; she famously reprised the role in the English dub of Leave it to Piyoko, becoming the first anime voice actor to voice the same character in both sub and dub. A few of Sawashiro’s other major roles include Kurapika in Hunter x Hunter, Celty Sturluson in Durarara, Bishamon in Noragami, Fujiko Mine in recent installments of Lupin the Third, and Kanbaru in the Monogatari series.

Aoi (Kana Hanazawa)

Kana Hanazawa needs no introduction, being one of the most popular voice actors of our times. She rose to popularity as Nadeko in Bakemonogatari and its sequels, performing the iconic opening song “Renai Circulation.” Some of her other anime roles include Akane from Psycho-Pass, Mayuri from Steins;Gate, Angel from Angel Beats, Kosaki Onodera from Nisekoi, Hinata Kawamoto from March Comes in Like a Lion, Kuroneko from Oreimo, and Ichika from The Quintessential Quintuplets.

Who is your favorite Princess Connect voice actor? Let us know in the comments!

By: Manas B. Sharma

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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catsafarithewriter · 4 years

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The Disappearance of Haru Yoshioka (Part 3)

Part: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [fini]

“Lune was in the Human World.”

Toto looks up at Baron’s sudden announcement. The cat Creation has gleamed little sleep in the passing weeks - not that Creations need much, but the consequences are beginning to catch up with him. Baron’s movements have slowed, the light in his eyes dimmed, but he has succeeded in brushing off all Toto’s remarks, if not his worry.

“What was that?”

“Lune was in the Human World at exactly the same time in my timeline,” Baron reiterates. He has taken to referring to ‘his’ timeline and ‘this’ timeline, desperately clinging onto the truths that only he remembers. “He must have been in order to get hit by the same truck.” He scrabbles through his notes. His once orderly system has been shredded to pieces, dominated by the absent Haru, but eventually he finds what he is looking for. “The only reason Lune was out in the Human World at that exact place and time was because he was picking up fish crackers for Yuki.”

“The Cat Queen from yer world?” Muta asks, trying to keep track of this alternative timeline that Baron is so insistent on. “You mean that Yuki?”

“Yes. Haru saved Yuki’s life when they were both young - I had forgotten because it was in the original case file notes which I don’t have, but Yuki would have died without Haru’s help.”

“So if Lune was fetching something for this Yuki...” Muta says.

“Then Haru exists. We just need to find her.”

“Existed,” Toto later amends. “It means Haru existed.”

Baron doesn’t look up from the portal preparations. His movements are still slowed - he has yet to sleep - but now there is a purpose to his actions. He is focused, directed like an arrow with no way to go but forward. Wherever forward may lead.

“Baron,” Toto prompts, “I said--”

“I know what it means,” Baron growls. “Do you think I haven’t considered it?”

“I think that you’re running straight into the Cat Kingdom on the off-chance of finding this alleged ‘Yuki’ in hopes she will know where this ‘Haru’ is,” Toto says. He hops down to the cobbled ground, moving between Baron and the archway. “Baron, please listen to me. I’m only saying this because I care about you and I cannot watch you throw yourself into unreasonable danger.”

“You wouldn’t call it unreasonable if you remembered Haru.”

Toto’s gaze narrows. “No,” he replies. “I probably wouldn’t. But I don’t. So you’ll have to excuse me if I care more about my oldest friend than this mythical human I have no recollection of.”

“What do you think, Toto?” Baron snaps. “Do you think I made her up? Do you think I imagined her?”

“I think you believe she’s real,” Toto says, “but we’ve all seen the effects of memory magic. Who’s to say this isn’t a trick? Or a side effect from some rogue spell we’ve encountered on a case? All I’m asking is that you consider all possibilities before running headfirst into a war-torn world.”

Baron finishes the portal preparations, and a blue curtain fills the archway. “You’ll be too conspicuous in the Cat Kingdom, so just Muta and I will go. You’ll need to watch this side of the portal and make sure nothing untoward finds its way into the Sanctuary.”

Toto’s expression tightens, but he nods. “Come back safe, Baron.”

The eternal noon sunshine still shines over the Cat Kingdom, but it is a very different world from the quiet cattail meadows Baron remembers. Without an heir in line, the throne has been thrown up for the first cat to claim it, and there are many felines willing to fight for that prize.

Baron moves through the abandoned palace, pausing only in the ballroom where the stained glass dome has been shattered and now lies in painted teardrops across the floor. Muta gives him a strange look as he lingers by a table filled with a forgotten feast, gloved hands trailing along the frayed cloth.

But there is no Yuki to be found here, and so they widen their search.

He finds her.

Yuki.

Eventually.

Their search is slow, hampered by the civil war that scars the kingdom, and it is a month - maybe? time is so fickle in the sun-soaked world - before their questions finally bring them to a small white cat.

She doesn’t have the red ribbon that Baron remembers - was it red? maybe it was pink - and her fur is dull from the life she has led. At first she has nothing to say to the strange ginger tabby with his gloved hands and huge companion, but when Haru’s name crosses Baron’s lips, she hesitates.

“I haven’t heard that name in a long time,” she says. “Not since I was a kitten.”

“Is she still alive?” Baron presses.

“Maybe,” Yuki answers. “I used to keep an eye on her, but I lost track of her when...” and she gestures loosely to the world about her. “I think she moved away from her childhood home about six years back. Why? Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know,” he says, “but I intend to find out.”

The moon has waxed and waned a full cycle by the time Baron and Muta reappear through the portal. Baron looks like he has continued to forgo sleep during their excursion, but there is an electric energy to his movements. The first true smile in months breaks across his face, and Toto sees that the corners of his mouth are becoming wooden from his sleepless days.

“She’s alive,” he whispers, and his legs give way.

Toto thinks much in the ensuing week.

Finally Baron has reached a point where even he cannot argue against his fatigue and, even if he did, he does not have the strength to fight against Toto’s ordered bed rest. But Toto knows that when Baron awakens, he will be just as driven - if not more so - in his quest.

Toto has known Baron for the majority of the cat Creation’s life, and yet this new fervour unnerves him. He has seen Baron in many moods, has seen him drive himself to distraction, but never like this. Never to the point of destruction.

And he will.

Toto sees that now. He had feared as much during his month guarding the portal, knowing that Baron would not return until he found an answer one way or another, but a small, practical part of him wishes the answer had been different.

He does not wish ill on this Haru, whoever she may be. But he does not know her. She may be real, she may not, but his responsibilities are to those he does know. To those who are real, who are here and now, and who he is watching tear themselves apart right before him.

He sleeps an uneasy slumber, knowing the days ahead will be fraught.

Hope burns brightly in Baron when he awakes, but Toto is all too aware that fire and wood have never matched in wood’s favour.

“She’s alive - or she was six years ago,” Baron rambles at his desk, pulling notes and files together with a frenzied speed, as if all too afraid Haru will slip from him a second time. “Which is imperative, because that’s after Lune died. Whatever changed, it occurred while Haruhi was still accounted for.”

“Haru,” Toto says.

“What?”

“You said Haruhi. While Haruhi was still accounted for.”

“Did I?”

“You meant Haru, right?”

"I... yes. I think so.”

Part: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [fini]

#the cat returns #the disappearance of haru yoshioka #cat writes

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nyxravessnow · 5 years

Photo

And for the last batch of actors. The ones I saw the least of as I did not see their routes. Not for lack of trying ;-; (I failed at ticket lottery twice)

Clear - Yamagata Yuki

Wow. Just wow.

I now 100% believe it is possible to be adorable while wearing a gas mask. He doesn’t take it off in any other route so I have only seen his face in pictures.

I really didn’t see that much of him but he’s still my favourite actor from the show. He nailed the cuteness of Clear and brought him to life in a way slightly different to everyone else but I can’t explain it. He conveyed so much emotion in just his voice and body movement. I was sat in 2nd row when I went to Koujaku and he jumps of stage and runs backstage in front of the audience and he passed very close to me and it was so so adorable.

I would honestly pay for the dvd if it was nothing but this guy saying Clear’s lines for 2 hours. His voice was perfect and I think he might be even cuter than in game.

Ren - Yamazaki Shougo

Shougo was really good. He actually does the voice for Ryuuhou as well for definite and Toue (I think). His voice was very different for the three that I saw, Sei, Ren and Ryuuhou, and it was easy to differentiate between them.

He was very good at the rhyme fights and I thought it was a nice touch to have him always in the corner doing Ren’s lines or narrating the second act as Sei. It did make me think of Ren less as a dog and more as a person which I liked. His voice was very low and he nailed the emotionless emotion that Ren has. Where he is in a robot so he can’t differentiate his voice but he cares for Aoba and constantly checks he’s okay

I thought he was excellent and I wish I could have seen the Ren route live.

Sei - Yamazaki Shougo

As Sei he had a higher somewhat sultry voice. He actually got to sit down in the background and sat like the twink that Sei is. I haven’t seen the Ren route so I have not seen much of him as Sei but the little I have seen I really enjoyed

Mink - Yamaki Takanori

Uhh...I really have no idea what to say. He felt like Mink?

If it’s not his route he really barely does anything so I think I have heard him talk for a total of 2 minutes. He just kinda walks around stage looking tall and badass.

My top three actors in the stage, in terms of acting:

1. Yamagata Yuki

2. Nagata Seiichiro

3. Iwaki Naoya

My top three actors in the stage, in terms of how much I enjoyed watching them:

1. Yamagata Yuki

2. Tomizono Rikiya

3. Yoshioka Yu

If you can please buy the stream of Dramatical murder and give them some support as it was a fantastic show and you will not regret it

#dmmd stage play #dramatical murder #clear #yamagata yuki #ren #sei #Yamazaki Shogo #mink #yamaki takanori

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tcrmommabear · 5 years

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Merry Christmas Mommacomms!

Yours, @mommacomms, was very interesting to write. I went into it with a few ideas, and then immediately threw them all out the window for Haru... Well, I won’t spoil it.

I think I’m funny, Cat thinks I’m funny, so I’m going to the grave laughing. I really hope you enjoy this, and if its too ridiculous, you have full permission to roast me. But enjoy this first!!

But really, what IS with those cats conspiring in the corner?

“Okay,” Haru declared, bag dropping beside the door, “I’ll bite. What’s with the cats conspiring in the corner?”

The room went quiet upon her entrance, all eyes turning to look at her. She caught sight of Baron and watched his expression change from discomfort to almost a pure grimace. Ouch. Whatever was going on could not be good. And it most certainly wasn’t good for her if Baron looked at her that way.

“Miss Haru,” he began, but a cat’s hand stopped him, pressing against Baron’s chest as he made to move towards her.

“We are here on behalf of the Cat Kingdom,” the one holding Baron back responded, nodding towards the other two cats standing with them. All different patterns and eye colors, and all sharply dressed. Holding adorable, cat-sized briefcases.

“I’m being sued, aren’t I?” Haru joked, glancing between them all. Muta choked on air.

“You’re being sued by the Cat Kingdom,” the leader confirmed.

All pretenses of humor and ambivalent feelings dropped from Haru. Her joke was a reality, and her reality was a joke. Taking it well for someone being sued by cats.

“Of which,” Baron finally interjected, pushing past the cat lawyer blocking, “is a ridiculous thing to do. You have no reason to do this, especially to the victim on the King’s crimes.”

“I don’t want to fight you there, Sir Baron, but these are hard times, and these issues must be resolved to move forward,” one of the other cat lawyers responded. Baron glared at the three, standing in front of Haru with his arm extended out from his side. Shielding her like he’d done a million times befor.

“These matters are ridiculous and hold no water here in the Human realm,” Toto replied, hopping around on the railing of his perch.

The argument looked to be brewing again, which Haru realized was what she had walked into, though at a more level manner. She stepped forward and placed a hand on Baron’s shoulder, stopping everyone in their tracks as she took the limelight.

“Can someone please explain what exactly I am being sued over?” she begged.

The three cats shared a look, setting down their briefcases and opening in tandem. Each had their own packet of parchment, written in cats’ hieroglyphic language, and Haru did not feel good about the length of them all.

“First, destruction of property. This comes on behalf of the citizens on the Cat Kingdom, spearheaded by-”

“But the damages weren’t my fault!” Haru exclaimed. She glanced among the group, aware of all eyes on her. And no one backing her claim.

“Those charges are mostly upon me, Miss Haru,” Baron told her, having the decency to look sheepish, “but the Cat Kingdom has labeled you as an accomplice, and the influence. So they’re using me to blame you.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

Muta took that moment to chime in, thumping a hand on Haru’s back.

“That’s the Cat Kingdom. Just wait, kiddo, it gets worse.”

As Haru groaned, the second took their chance.

“Second, endangerment of person. This one is on behalf of the nobility in attendance to your engagement ball, spearheaded by the performer Lazlo, and his assistant, Juniper, funded and provided with eyewitness accounts and evidence by Ser Jonath-”

“The cat who laughed at the performers,” Haru realized numbly, distantly remembering his family being introduced to her before the festivities began. That’d been her one moment of calm, when they took Muta away to place by her seat, out of sight.

“Another ridiculous reason to blame Haru,” Baron spat, but she couldn’t really hold any of that same venom.

“Why aren’t these charges being placed against the King, instead?” Toto insisted, when Haru looked a little too faint. The third, and final, cat took this time to step forward.

“Which leads us directly into the third charge. This is less of a “oh I’m mad” type of deal, and more like a crime against the kingdom.”

Haru began shaking, glancing between the other three Bureau members. Their expressions weren’t happy either, but something in them told her she wasn’t going to be executed. Or tarred and furred.

But she was definitely in a world of trouble.

“What do you…?”

“Yoshioka Haru, otherwise known as Miss Haru, you are being charged with abandonment of royal duties.”

***

Haru liked to think she took the news rather well. She could have fainted! She could have decked the lawyer (Marcus, she later learned) with a nasty right! She could have pulled one of Baron’s emergency dramatic exit, otherwise known as a smoke bomb, to let herself escape.

Nope, Haru was reasonable, responsible, the cool head of the Cat Bureau. The brains, if you will.

They only had the one to share among them, but looks like it wasn’t her turn today.

Which is how she found herself storming the castle of the Cat Kingdom.

In all fairness, Lune was very informative and forthcoming. She just had a hard time letting him go from being pinned against the wall. He took it in stride, and Yuki only looked slightly annoyed. When the lawyers and Bureau managed to catch up, they found Haru sitting with a blanket and hot chocolate, the royal couple attempting to be soothing.

“Miss Haru?” Baron asked, creeping into her sight.

“Alright, it comes down to this,” she paused, gesturing at the chairs, “wait, sit down first.”

The Bureau took seats, no questions asked.

“First, did any of you know about that last one?” she asked.

“Not at all, Haru,” Toto replied, nodding a head at the lawyers who hovered in the background. “You interrupted as they got to that part.”

“Alright, that makes me feel better.”

“What’s to be done, Miss Haru?” Baron encouraged, hoping to get the train back on track.

“Right, sorry. So, destruction and endangerment, they want me to pay fees for it. However, since the King’s retirement, I was the temporary Queen, even though they hadn’t chosen me yet. So, the fees technically fell to the Royal family. Which is me. Which is what I abandoned despite not knowing I would become royalty. So, neglecting the Kingdom.”

“That’s… Absurd,” Toto whispered.

“That’s Cat Kingdom,” Haru and Muta intoned, sharing a brief laugh.

“So the fees fall on me as a person. Not as the Queen. If I become Queen, well, apparently there’s a “Royalty Damage” budget for stuff like this.”

There was a laugh from Lune.

“If you ever wondered why our guard was incompetant, that’s where their training funds went to.”

“I just thought that was Cats in general,” Toto mumbled.

“But if I become Queen,” Haru declared loudly, “I can’t leave. Not until Lune is married. But I also stand imprisonment if I don’t become Queen. Which means I can’t leave. So, lose-lose all around!”

“Is there anything we can do about this?” Baron asked, turning to face Lune. The Prince sighed, rubbing at his chin. He wasn’t happy with the answer he could give them.

“One thing, at least. Haru is interim because I fill the role of handler. Find a different interim leader, Haru could leave. The charges could completely voided by the leader, and we’re all a little happier at the end of the day. Except…”

“Except?” Baron pushed.

“Except… The only other option is…”

“His mother,” Yuki told them, stepping forward to place a hand on his shoulder.

“You have a mother?” Haru blurted. “Wait, I meant, you have a living mother still married to your father?”

“Yes and no. She can’t become the real Queen again, but she can make a good substitute.”

“Okay,” Haru said.

“Chicky? I don’t like that look in your eye,” Muta warned, sitting up straighter as Haru seemed to be tracing out a plan in the air.

“My mother disappeared years ago,” his warning was watery, but Lune did well to hide it.

“She also ran away with someone, didn’t she?” Yuki asked.

“That’s fine, that’s just two people we need to find,” Haru nodded to herself, standing up and beginning to leave the room.

“Haru?” Baron called after, grabbing her hand to stop her.

“What? So we’ve gotta find two runaways who could also possibly be dead. How hard can it be?”

***

She gave a little shake, her tail flicking as she shuddered through the chills.

“Darling?” her companion asked, gloved hand reaching out to touch her paw. She smiled, waving a hand to dismiss her worries.

“Just a draft, honey, I just felt cold for a second.”

“Alright,” she said, eyebrow raised. “Whatever you say, Sephie.”

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chez-pezeater · 6 years

Text

TCR Birthday Bash 2018

Day 3: Role Reversal

‘Well this was certainly different,’ Baron thought to himself, feeling sweat dripping down towards his collar while trying to keep a pleasant expression on his face.

Now normally whenever on a case, Baron Humbert von Gikkingen (Baron to his friends) would be the one swooping in with a dramatic flair and saving the helpless damsel in distress. This time however the glass slipper (A/N: lol, Sunday’s prompt) was on the other foot. For once HE was the damsel in distress.

The Bureau got a case in trying to help an exiled princess regain her stolen throne. Needless to say they were successful... until it was time for the coronation.

Apparently Princess Blanche (A/N: Shout out to YarningChick!) had decided that Baron would be the perfect Prince Consort for her as he had saved not only the princess herself but her entire kingdom from her power hungry stepmother. Even though Baron was A) Not human and most importantly B) Spoken for.

Princess Blanche in typical (*cough*snobbish*cough*) royal fashion just said that there was nothing he would want that she could not provide and thus was obviously a much better match between her wealth and prestige. Baron tried to be a gentleman about it and let her down gently both in public and private but to no avail. Toto left a few days ago to get help (from where Baron wasn’t sure but at this point he wasn’t picky) but at least Muta was still around (though mostly for the free food as “Friend of the Groom”, thanks Muta) so Baron wasn’t completely alone.

Baron was brought out of his thought by the cheering in the throne room, Princess Blanche was now Queen. He politely clapped but that was as far as he was willing to go at this point. Pr- Queen Blanche rose from her throne and held up a hand.

“My people, it is so good to stand before you once again. And now I have an announcement. As we all know, this kingdom hasn’t had a king since the passing of my father so many years ago. It is now my great pleasure to announce to you all, your future King Consort and Champion of our beloved kingdom, Baron Humbert von Gikkingen!”

Baron stiffened in righteous fury. (Spoiled, manipulative, rotten, little-) Baron cut those thoughts short as well wishers, courtiers, and guards banded together to bring (read: shove) him closer to their Queen. As he was pushed onto the dais next to Her Highness, Baron’s thoughts went out to his beloved. How he wished he had let her know where he was going before taking this case. He hoped she would one day forgive him for this.

Blanche smiled proudly at Baron. Everything was going the way it should be. Her wicked stepmother was gone, her kingdom was safe, her friends were with her and now she had a handsome savior who would become her husband. All was right in her world. (Or so she thought.)

“Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, please kneel so we may say our marriage vows and rule this kingdom together,” Blanche (kindly) commanded, readying her skirts to do the same. Baron’s already strained temper frayed.

“For the last time Your Majesty! I am not free to wed! I am spoken for and very much in love with the one waiting back home for me!” Baron yelled, loud enough that his voiced echoed throughout the Great Hall and into the castle beyond the doors.

“I would certainly hope so,” a playful feminine voice called out. The entire hall turned to look at who would dare to disrupt such a sacred ceremony. Baron’s heart beat fast full of love, awe, and wonder as he saw his knight in shining armor.

It was Haru.

She really was wearing a shining armor breastplate, with an acceptable sized sword hanging from her waist. Her hair was flowing freely until the nape of her neck so as to not pull around her ears. Her tail flowing proudly behind her like a banner of freedom. And with her was King Lune with his queen Yuki and a battalion of guards from the Cat Kingdom. Haru was still marching, full of confidence, down the center isle towards the dais.

“Especially since you married me, my love,” Haru continued with a playful smile.

“What?!” Blanche screeched furiously.

Baron breathed a sigh of relief before running up to Haru, sweeping her into his arms and delivering a very passionate kiss upon her lips.

“I demand an explaination!” Blanche hollered, stomping her foot like a petulant child.

Baron slowly stopped the twirling lip lock to finally respond to Her Spoiled Highness.

“Your Majesty may I please present Baroness Haru von Gikkingen-Yoshioka, my wife.”

#tcr #the cat returns #fanfic #tcr birthday bash 2018 #tcr birthday bash #no Baron didn't kiss Blanche #Baron smacked her back #just like in YarningChick's story To Know Oneself #chezpez writes #the cat returns fanfics

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sakurasakiyama · 7 years

Note

Hi! Can you please tell me how many musical Dance with Devils have and its order of watching? I tried searching the net but was futile. Thank you very much^^.

Hi! So far there are 3 Dance with Devils Musicals. 2 are already on DVD and the 3rd one is not on stage until March next year. I will tell you the names of the Musicals in order along with their main poster and cast for each one.

Musical Dance with Devils

This is the first Musical that ran in March 2016. This is loosely based off the anime but the storyline is a little bit different since there are some original characters and the ending had one main ending that is close to the anime. The main female character is non-exsistent in the musical, the director wanted the cast to make the audience feel like they are Ristuka and the cast had to talk to them, and there was a dancer on stage specifically casted and dressed as Ritsuka when she was needed on stage (but Ritsuka is played by a male as it’s an all male cast). The songs are really catchy and fun and it includes lines and some of the songs from the anime! Including the opening and ending theme!

CAST

Kaminaga Keisuke as Kaginuki Rem

Hiramaki Jin as Tachibana Lindo

Sakiyama Tsubasa as Sogami Urie

Yoshioka Yuu as Nanashiro Mage

Yasukawa Junpei as Natsumezaka Shiki

Naito Taiki as Roen

Ise Daiki as Jek

Norizuki Kohei as Noel (Original Character)

Kimura Subaru & Izaki Ryuujiro as Holland (Double Cast & Original Character)

Iruma Rui as Shida (?) (1st Year Trio/Original Character)

Maniwa Ryosuke as Kazura (1st Year Trio/Original Character)

Isaka Ikumi as Warabi (1st Year Trio/Original Character)

Miura Hiroki as Tachibana Ritsuka

You can even see the announcement video on YouTube, and you can find some of the cast comments from the cast also.

youtube

Musical Dance with Devils ~D.C~ (Da Cappo)

This is the second Musical of the series. This is a reprise of the first musical that ran in December 2016. But there are some cast changes, new songs that are from the anime (plus all the other songs from the first musical), costume changes and there are 2 different endings! The first ending is Dear My Devil Rem, which is the exact same ending and storyline in the first musical. The second one is Dear My Exorcist Lindo, which is what was recorded for the live viewing and is on the DVD. Again, Ritsuka is non-existent in this musical like in the first. The songs are somewhat the same but you will see that there is a new song for Holland and the previous song that was sung by Holland is taken by someone else (I don’t want to reveal too much!). So the storyline is still the same as the first musical and for Dear My Devil Rem, but for Dear My Exorcist Lindo, the beginning and ending is different.

CAST

Kaminaga Keisuke as Kaginuki Rem

Hagio Keishi as Tachibana Lindo

Kimisato Yuki as Sogami Urie

Yoshioka Yuu as Nanashiro Mage

Yasukawa Junpei as Natsumezaka Shiki

Naito Taiki as Roen

Tanaka Ryosei as Jek

Norizuki Kohei as Noel (Original Character)

Yamada James Takeshi as Holland (Original Character)

KobayashiTatsuyukias Shida (1st Year Trio/Original Character)

Fukushima Kaita as Kazura (1st Year Trio/Original Character)

Hayato (WEBER) as Warabi (1st Year Trio/Original Character)

Nakamura Keijun as Tachibaba Ritsuka

You can see the announcement video on YouTube as well as the cast comments from the new cast members who are taking over from the previous cast.

youtube

Musical Dance with Devils ~Fermata~

This is the 3rd Musical in the series. The Musical will be running in March 2018 and there is a new cast and new characters also! And we still have some of them reprising their roles for a 3rd time and a 2nd time for Jek’s role & 2 from the 1st Year Trio. There will also be 2 endings again Elegante and Calma. But from what I can tell from the info they haven’t said what the endings will be. So we will have to wait and see what they are.

CAST

Kaminaga Keisuke as Kaginuki Rem

Takano Akira as Tachibana Lindo

Yamazaki Shougo as Sogami Urie

Yoshioka Yuu as Nanashiro Mage

Yasukawa Junpei as Natsumezaka Shiki

Naito Taiki as Roen

Tanaka Ryousei as Jek

Kobayashi Tatsuyuki as Shida (1st Year Trio/Original Character)

Fukushima Kaita as Kazura (1st Year Trio/Original Character)

Maui as Warabi (1st Year Trio/Original Character)

Washio Noboru as Vif (Original Character)

Kimata Hiroyuki as Gran (Original Character)

Fukui Daisuke as Elle (Original Character)

Kitagawa Naoya as Marius (From the Dance with Devils Anime Movie ~Fortuna~ that was released in Japan Cinemas on November 4th 2017)

Kimotsuki Rui as Tachibana Ritsuka

That’s all of the musicals so far in order so I hope this help you anon! :D

#Musical Dance with Devils #Dance with Devils #Dance with Devils ~D.C~#Dance with Devils ~Fermata~#Main Visuals & Cast Info

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ploffskinpluffskin · 3 years

Text

WIPs

ones with plans to be finished and posted someday :v

A Condensed History of Natori's Career in the Kingdom of Cats | 5 chapters

Natori is the young, bright, and optimistic advisor to the aging king of Cat Kingdom, and only too happy to sing the ruler's praises and complete any task he gives him, menial or onerous. So when the king decides to retire early and 'transfers' Natori to his newly-ascended son instead, Natori is bound and determined to see it through. The new king, however, seems just as determined to drive him off. 3/5 chapters uploaded

A Very Small Wish | 7 chapters

A pleading request from a parent whose daughter has been cursed by a resentful witch is nothing truly out of the ordinary for the Cat Bureau— in fact, it might be so common so as to be routine— so why does something feel inherently off about this particular one? 4/7 chapters uploaded

we think so then and we thought so still | One-shot/sequel

Various sources tell him it’s been a month since he was rescued from the depths of the apparently real Sugoroku space. In that time, he has done nothing but grow more and more confused.

The Willow Bud Processional | One-shot

The Cat King discovers that in all his time in court, Natori has never learned to dance, and heroically takes up the position of dance instructor for himself. It’s about damn time he got to feel like the smart one.

prompts that are like. just ones i write at when im feeling down and may never actually be Finished

The Good End

It's the end of the adventure, everything worked out, and Haru gratefully goes home, back to her normal life, with some newly-discovered confidence, and goes to sleep. Then she wakes up the next day to find cattails taking over her yard, Hiromi calling about a surplus of lacrosse sticks, and mice in her locker. Not again! ...but why is everything just subtly different this time?

The God of Love

Down on her luck in the love life department and nursing a long-lived but hopeless crush on a fellow classmate, Haru Yoshioka finally takes matters into her own hands, praying to a rumored love deity which has been climbing about the school’s grapevine for the past few months. But when her lovelorn request is answered, said deity is not quite what she expected.

In Another Few Hours I'll Be Dead

After one too many thoughtless, cutting comments, the Unthinkable happens— Natori puts his foot (er, paw?) down and then promptly disappears for the day. Finding himself totally without his advisor's company for the first time in... well, ever, the Cat King is determined to prove both his independence and his competence. Besides, Natori will come around eventually, right?

I'll Wait

Natori has not felt at home in the human world for a very long time, and therefore sees little reason to visit outside of what duty asks of him. But all it takes is one chance encounter for that mindset to change.

Scalliwag

The story’s been moved just a little to the left while we were away. The Cat Kingdom is an oblivious place, but that doesn’t mean a band of potential thieves are going to take any chances. Their plan is flawless! ...ly vague. Regardless, they do know one thing, and that’s— first on the list? Distract the loyal cat with one of the kingdom’s two spare brain cells. And what’s a better distraction than romance?

Incidentally, the thieves’ Holder Of The Singular Brain Cell would like it to be known that he did not endorse this plan.

Listen, Big Boy

the organized crime AU where Yuki is the daughter of a mob boss and Lune unwittingly ends up on the guy’s hit list for unclear reasons (definitely related to Yuki). also features the Bureau and Haru coming in to try to clear Lune’s name with as little fanfare as possible

Voracity

When the normally idyllic and sleepy Cat Kingdom is subjected to a number of strange sightings and near attacks, Baron and Muta of the Cat Bureau are invited in to investigate the subject at the top of the Cat Kingdom’s list of suspects— a human teenager who has somehow stumbled into the place. But when her name is cleared with little fanfare, the real mystery begins.

#WIPs #just bc i like having things in one place and it's been feeling a little too messy for my liking hhh

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adalhied-prime · 7 years

Text

Starlight - TCR Secret Santa for @misku-nimfa

@misku-nimfa, I was your Secret Santa this year, and I chose your prompt “Starlight.” I saw you like Star Wars, so I hope you enjoy this. Merry Christmas!

“The stars are beautiful tonight,” Haru said, gazing up at the deep blue expanse overhead. Millions of stars shone out of the dark, filling the sky with just enough light to see, even without the little light set up nearby. Sitting out here, her knees pulled up so she could wrap her arms around them made her feel so insignificant.

“Yes, they are, aren't they,” her companion said, and she turned to look at him. Baron von Gikkingen was laying back on the ground, his jedi cloak laid out under the two of them like a blanket. For a bodyguard, he looked quite relaxed, but she knew any danger would have him leaping to her defense.

This of course turned her thoughts to why he was with her in the first place. Haru and her sister Persephone were the Senators for Naboo, and had been working against a legislation that would heavily militarize the Republic. Someone very much wanted it to pass, and seemed to have figured the best way to stop opposition was to cut off the head of it. There been a series of attacks had nearly killed her and her sister, and for their safety, the Jedi Council had sent them Baron and his sister Louise and practically ordered them to leave Coruscant until the day of the vote. Currently, Haru and Baron were on her homeworld of Naboo, and their hiding had been more like a vacation. Persephone and Louise, last they'd known, were on Alderaan, enjoying the hospitality of King Lune and his consort Yuki.

Baron picked up on the turn her mood had taken and sat up. “Are you alright?” he asked, sitting up and looking at her intensely.

Haru felt her cheeks flush under his gaze, and half-cursed herself for it. She’d always been attracted to Cathar (something Persephone would have teased her about if she didn’t feel the same) and the fact that Baron cut a fine figure was not helping her. She smoothed out the skirt of her midnight blue dress and said, “I’m fine, I’m just… Thinking about what Louise and Persephone are doing right now.”

Baron closed his eyes and Haru could faintly tell he was reaching into his and Louise’s bond. “They’re asleep now, though they seem to have had some excitement earlier today.”

Haru smiled. “That sounds like Persephone.”

“And Louise. But I guess you could say it runs in the family.” Baron had a small grin on his face.

Haru paused a moment, then asked, “I thought the Jedi always discouraged attachment. Why do they let you and Louise work together?”

Baron opened his eyes and stared up at the stars for a moment. “Well, Louise and I aren't the average Jedi.” He sat up, crossing his legs like he was going to meditate. “Louise and I were seven when we were found by Master Corvo, and already had our attachment to each other. It’s what After a few failed attempts to break our connection, the mind healers finally told the Council that to do so would greatly damage our minds and connection to the Force.” He shrugged, shifting closer to her as he did so. “So the Council made sure we had conservative masters to remind us of the dangers of being too attached, and after we proved that we wouldn't compromise our missions purely for the other’s sake, they let off on us.”

“So, you don't hold the same adherence to the Code that they try to impress on you?” She asked, then flushed and looked down, lacing her fingers together. Much too forward, Haru, you know better than that.

“No, I suppose you could say I don’t.” Baron reached a hand over and drew one of her hands away. “Louise and I have found that we seem to do better ignoring the no attachments part of the code.” He laced her fingers between his own, and drew her hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to the back of it. “And I must say I have grown quite attached to you, Senator Yoshioka.

Haru gasped softly, her blush intensifying as she looked up. “I’ve asked you to call me Haru, Baron,” she reminded him with a boldness that she wasn’t sure where it came from.

“Of course. My apologies. Is there anyway I could make it up to you?” His green eyes held an intensity that drew her in as if he had used a force pull, and she could not resist any more.

She leaned in and kissed him, her eyes shut while her free hand came to rest on his shoulder. He reached up and cupped her chin to hold her close. It was a little awkward, his face being so different than any man’s she’d kissed before, and she almost wanted to laugh as his fur tickled her face. But the passion, the care behind the kiss, for how chaste it was, left her breathless.

After what felt like an eternity and much too soon, he pulled away, and her eyes fluttered open to see him watching her with a mix of smug happiness and slight concern.

“I hope I did not pressure you,” he said softly. “I’ve been thinking of doing that for several days now.”

“I’ve felt the same way,” Haru told him. “Please, kiss me again.”

Baron smiled, and leaned in for another kiss. Tomorrow, they’d sit and discuss and figure out where to go from this point on in their relationship. A day after, Baron would have a vision of Louise in danger, and a few hours later, a message confirming it would come to them, with orders to stay put. The day after that, Haru and Baron would be fighting their way out of a pirates’ den, back to back with Louise and Persephone, and with a good four dozen almost- and former slaves following behind. But for now, they just sat there, sharing kisses until they became almost too tired to return to the house, then they stood and walked back under the starlight.

#misku-nimfa #tcr secret santa #(( master corvo is toto in case that wasn't clear ))#(( and yes it's the attack of the clones plot without the sith ))#(( but it works so well ))#(( oh also haru baron persephone and louise might go on to take down slavery in the galaxy next ))#(( so there's room for sequels ))#my fics #Merry Christmas!#merry christmas!#ro likes the cat returns #ro likes studio ghibli

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recentanimenews · 7 years

Text

Manga Giveaway: A Cache of Kodansha Comics Winner

And the winner of the manga giveaway for a cache of Kodansha Comics is… Dawn!

As the winner, Dawn (whose terrific Anime Nostalgia Podcast also happens to be hosting a giveaway right now) will be receiving the first volumes of Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju by Haruko Kumota, Kigurumi Guardians by Lily Hoshino, Land of the Lustrous by Haruko Ichikawa, and Love & Lies by Musawo, all of which debuted in English from Kodansha Comics this past year. In addition to its print releases, Kodansha Comics has also had a particularly good showing in 2017 digitally. And so for this giveaway, I asked participants to tell me a little about their own reading habits and preferences when it comes to print versus digital manga. The responses were really great, so be sure to check out the giveaway comments!

Kodansha Comics’ 2017 Print Manga Debuts Aho-Girl by Hiroyuki Appleseed Alpha by Iou Kuroda Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Kishiro Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card by CLAMP Clockwork Planet by Kuro Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju by Haruko Kumota Fairy Tail: Rhodonite by Kyouta Shibano Fairy Tail: S by Hiro Mashima Frau Faust by Kore Yamazaki Ichi-F: A Worker’s Graphic Memoir of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant by Kazuto Tatsuta Kigurumi Guardians by Lily Hoshino Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight by Rin Mikimoto Land of the Lustrous by Haruko Ichikawa Love and Lies by Musawo Neo Parasyte M by Various That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime written by Fuse and illustrated by Taiki Kawakami To Your Eternity by Yoshitoki Oima Toppu GP by Kosuke Fujishima Waiting for Spring by Anashin Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty by Megumi Morino

Kodansha Comics’ 2017 Digital Debuts Ace of the Diamond by Yuji Terajima All-Out by Shiori Amase] All-Rounder Meguru by Hiroki Endo Altair: A Record of Battles by Kotono Kato Aoba-kun’s Confessions by Ema Toyama Ayanashi by Yukihiro Kajimoto Beauty Bunny by Mari Yoshino Black Panther and Sweet by Pedoro Toriumi Blame! Academy and So On by Tsutomu Nihei Chihayafuru by Yuki Suetsugu Cosplay Animal by Watari Sakou Days by Tsuyoshi Yasuda Deathtopia by Yoshinobu Yamada Domestic Girlfriend by Kei Sasuga Drifting Dragons by Taku Kuwabara Drowning Love by George Asakura Elegant Yokai Apartment Life written by Hinowa Kouzuki, illustrated by Waka Miyama The Full-Time Wife Escapist by Tsunami Umino Giant Killing written by Masaya Tsunamoto, illustrated by Tsujitomo Grand Blue Dreaming written by Kenji Inoue, illustrated by Kimitake Yoshioka GTO: Paradise Lost by Toru Fujisawa Hotaru’s Way by Satoru Hiura House of the Sun by Taamo Hozuki’s Coolheadedness by Natsumi Eguchi I Want to Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die by Umi Shiina I’m in Love and It’s the End of the World by Taamo Kasane by Daruma Matsuura Kokkoku: Moment by Moment by Seita Horio Koundori: Dr. Stork by You Suzunoki Love’s Reach by Rin Mikimoto Lovesick Ellie by Fujimomo Magical Sempai by Azu Museum by Ryousuke Tomoe My Brother the Shut In by Kinoko Higurashi Our Precious Conversations by Robico Peach Heaven by Mari Yoshino PTSD Radio by Masaaki Nakayama Rave Master by Hiro Mashima Real Girl by Mao Nanami Shojo Fight! by Yoko Nihonbashi A Springtime with Ninjas by Narumi Hasegaki Tokyo Tarareba Girls by Akiko Higashimura Tsuredure Children by Toshiya Wakabayashi Until Your Bones Rot by Yae Utsumi Wave, Listen to Me! by Hiroaki Samura

Assuming that I didn’t miss any (I’m sure I have and some of the digital titles probably haven’t even been revealed yet), Kodansha Comics had twenty print debuts last year (most if not all of which are also available digitally) and forty-five digital debuts (a few of which will eventually be released in print, too). By the end of the year, Kodansha Comics will have debuted more than sixty-five new titles in addition to its other continuing series! It’s great to see how much is being published in English these days in print and digitally, and not just by Kodansha Comics. Thank you to everyone who shared your reading preferences with me! Both digital and print manga have their pros and cons, so I found all of your responses very interesting. I hope to see you again at the end of December for one last giveaway here at Experiments in Manga!

By: Ash Brown

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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catsafarithewriter · 4 years

Note

“Aww, I always knew you could be a romantic! How are you hide this from me!” I imagine Louise saying this to baron when setting up a date with Haru for the first time or Louise saying this to Persephone on their first date. Either one basically. Also love your The Bureau Series so amazing!!!!😍😍😍👍👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👍👍👍

A/N: Thank you! This went through several variations and AUs, before I settled on just a generic ficlet, inspired by the date scene out of Thor: The Dark World.

(Human Baron is - as usual - based on @letterstoathens‘ design, because I love floofy Baron! His fashion choices come from the manga, although the polka dot tie turns up in both the manga and WotH.)

There was a strange human standing in the Bureau, and Louise could already tell this flying visit was going to evolve into chaos.

She could usually handle chaos. Chaos was the natural state of the universe, after all, especially after she had dropped by, but, even so… Her brother carried a certain kind of chaos that was usually compounded by his own tendencies to overthink and then overreact. If he was lucky, in that order.

As the Bureau doors swung shut behind Louise, the man looked up and she saw bright green - familiar - eyes.

“Humbert?”

He fumbled with the hideous bow tie he was knotting, and jumped like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Louise?”

Maybe she should have visited before now.

She marched over to the desk he was standing before, and pointedly looked her brother up and down with a raised eyebrow. “What is this?” she asked. “What is going on?Why are you…” she gestured to him in general, “human?”

Humbert hesitated. “Would you believe me if I said this was a mid-life crisis?”

“We’re immortal, Humbert. We don’t have a mid-life to have a crisis over.” She gave him another sweeping look. “At least, you were immortal…”

“It’s a temporary shape-shifting spell, Louise. Just enough for a couple of hours, nothing more dramatic than that.”

“Sure, but why do you even need to be human, unless…” She trailed off, and for the first time, looked beyond his immediate humanness. He wasn’t wearing his usual grey suit, instead opting for a sleeker, more understated black suit, offset by a yellow waistcoat and that awful polka dot bow tie. He had forgone fighting with it, and was now attempting to rein in the new challenge of hair - curly, ginger hair that didn’t behave anything like fur, much to his dismay. His movement was precise and curt, but Louise had known her brother long enough to recognise the undercurrent ebb of nerves. “Are you going on a date?” she demanded.

His hair slipped loose from his grip, and he scowled at her. “How did you even–”

“You are! Oh, this is adorable!”

“Louise–” He cut off as Louise abruptly squeezed his face between her hands.

“You’re in love?With a human? Tell me all about them!Where did you meet them?What are they like? Do they know you’re a Creation?Why didn’t you tell me about this before–?”

Humbert swiped her away, and consciously tucked back the hair that had fallen over his eyes. “I don’t have time for this–”

“What you don’t have time for is for me to not fix up your appearance. I mean, really, when was the last time you went out socially into the Human World? Never mind, that top hat says it all. You want my advice–”

“No.”

“–lose the top hat. And the cane. It’s not 1885 anymore, so unless you’re meeting this human at a renaissance fair, you need to look like you’ve at least heard of the 21st Century.”

Humbert watched, visibly nonplussed, as Louise vanished into the back room and started rootling through his wardrobe.

“So,” she called, “are you going to tell me about this person or not?” She poked her head back out when he didn’t immediately respond. “Oh, don’t sulk. This is exciting! The last time you dated someone, it was called courting and it required a chaperone.”

Humbert glowered, but relented. “Her name is Haru, and we met on a case.”

Louise’s head appeared at the door again. “A client? You’re dating a client?”

“Ex-client,” Humbert stressed. “And, technically, we’re not dating.”

“But you want to.”

“Would you let me finish?”

“Sorry.”

Humbert took a steadying breath, and Louise mentally upped the nervous level she had originally pegged her brother at. “It was… years ago. At least a decade. She rescued a cat who turned out to be the prince of the Cat Kingdom, and had to come to us for help when the Cat Kingdom took it upon themselves to thank her.”

“It doesn’t sound that bad.”

“They kidnapped her and tried to marry her off to the royal family.”

“Oh.”

“Needless to say, we managed to bring those plans to a halt, and only broke one tower in the process–”

“Wait. Wait, Haru? Haru Yoshioka? The human who saved King Lune and Queen Yuki?”

Humbert blinked. “You’re familiar with her?”

“I…” and Louise did her best not to give a telling blush, “may have had some dealings with the Cat Kingdom in my travels. News of King Claudius abdicating in favour of his son was kind of a big thing.”

Humbert considered this. And then, to Louise’s relief, nodded at the sense she was making. “Regardless, we brought her home safe, and we thought that was that…”

“Until?”

“Until recently when we met her again during a case.” His eyes softened at the memory, and it took all of Louise’s self-control not to coo. “I had almost forgotten her, certainly didn’t recognise her until she dropped her name, and even then I couldn’t recall her case immediately.”

Louise snorted. “That bodes well.”

“It was years ago,” Humbert retorted, heat rising to his face. “We’ve had many cases since then, and I had expected her to forget me in kind. Most humans do when they return back to their normal lives. I certainly had not expected to find her exorcising a haunted office!”

“Okay, it’s official; she’s way too cool for you.”

“Yes, well,” Baron continued, not entirely denying her claim, “it seemed the natural course of action to work together - it turns out that after her brush with the supernatural, she can’t unsee it, and so she’s been working as a… I believe the term she used was ‘monster-hunter’ in the years since - and–”

“And you fell in love with her.”

“I wish to get to know her better,” Humbert hotly amended. “I do not know her well enough to claim my feelings to be anywhere in the realm of love, but–”

“Yes, yes, yes, but that doesn’t explain all this,” and Louise motioned to his human form once again. “If she knows you’re a Creation, why not just invite her to another world and have tea there? Why go to all this…” and she gestured to his hair, “trouble?”

“She doesn’t know I’m a Creation.”

“But you said–”

“The case required a human form, and so I took on this disguise.” He had the decency to look very sheepish. “When I met Haru, I didn’t recognise her and so I gave her my cover story.”

“And now you have a date with her and you’re too embarrassed to tell her the truth.”

“I will tell her the truth,” Humbert retorted. “It’s just…” And he mumbled something.

“What was that?” Louise asked.

“It’s just, she still remembers our first encounter.”

“And?”

He mumbled again.

“Humbert, really, speak up. You were created eloquently, don’t pretend otherwise. What happened on your first meeting?”

“She confessed she had… feelings for me. A schoolgirl’s crush.”

“So you turned her down.”

“Obviously.”

“And now she’s a monster-hunter, ass-kicking badass, and completely out of your league–”

“Thanks, Louise.”

“–you’ve ironically developed a crush on her.”

“I told you that I merely wish to get to know her better…” He hesitated and then, after a dubious pause, added, “The issue lies in that I do not wish to… worry her with reminding her of our last conversation.” He shook his head. “Anyway, I imagine she has long since outgrown that schoolgirl crush, so there’s no need to remind her of it.”

“Hm,” Louise responded noncommittally. “Yeah, okay, but before you head off to sweep this Haru off her feet, you’re going to need to swap that bow tie.”

“What’s wrong with my tie–”

“Have you looked in the mirror?”

“It’s fine–”

“It has polka dots,” Louise retorted. She threw a plain blue tie at him. “Wear that instead.”

“Louise–”

“I mean, if we had the time, I’d suggest maybe something a little less formal for a first date, but I’ll settle with the removal of that abomination. Where are you meeting anyway? A restaurant? Movie? Wait, I’ve got it - are you going on a joint case together? You know, they say situations of dire peril are meant to bring people closer.” She cooed, “Aww, I always knew you could be a romantic! How dare you hide this from me!”

Humbert raised an eyebrow, but did exchange bow ties. “We’re just meeting at a cafe.” And then, when he saw Louise’s gleeful expression dissolve into disappointment, added, “Ordinary, human date, remember?” He finished tying his bow tie with a flourish. “Tonight, it’s just two humans having a perfectly ordinary afternoon.”

Louise had got a point, Baron couldn’t help but think as he watched Haru absorb herself in the menu. He hadn’t really spent that much time out in the Human World, and he certainly couldn’t consider himself an expert in the realm of modern dating. Not even a little bit.

Still. He was fairly certain that it didn’t take this long to choose a cake.

He should say something. Start a conversation. Get to know her, as he had told Louise. But the manners that his artisan had built into him rebelled against the idea of interrupting someone when they were deep in thought - and Haru was deep in thought, regardless of whether the menu was the cause or not - and so he found his tongue tied.

He wrote ‘hello’ on a napkin and slid it onto Haru’s side of the table.

He felt her gaze guiltily move from the menu and onto him.

“Hello,” he greeted cheerfully. He offered a reassuring smile across the cafe table.

Haru sheepishly returned it. “Hi.”

Throwing all caution to the wind, he jumped in. “So what’s the story with you?”

“Story?” She laughed and shrugged quickly. “Why does there have to be a story? There’s no story.”

“You’ve spent the first ten minutes of our date hiding behind a menu that has three cake choices,” he told her gently. “It’s either brownie, lemon drizzle cake, or carrot cake.” He grinned. “And you’re a self-described monster-hunter. Now, I think there’s a story, and given how you are suddenly indecisive over cake, when you were perfectly capable of facing down an oni two days back, I think this has less to do with the food choices, and more to do with the date situation.”

She stared at him for a long moment, and he abruptly wondered whether he had already messed this date up. Then she laughed and batted a hand before her face to hide the already-rising blush. “Okay, you got me. Darn it, and I thought I was being so subtle.”

“So there is a story?”

“There’s a guy,” she said. “Past tense,” she was quick to add. “A guy that I knew… years ago, who I had the biggest crush on.” She reddened. “He, uh, made it quite clear that it was a one-way thing though, and we lost touch with one another after that. But, um…” and here, she deliberately avoided Baron’s gaze, “you… kind of remind me of him?”

She waited for him to say something, evidently mortified by her own admission.

Baron had to resist the urge to laugh.

“I remind you of an old crush?” he asked instead.

“Just a… just a little bit. You know,” and she motioned weakly to his face, “the eyes, your accent, the outfit…”

“Was he also English?”

She scrunched up her nose. “I mean… I guess? The accent was, anyway.”

“Then that explains it. In England, you’re only allowed to wear such dapper suits if you have the accent to match.”

She laughed then. The anxiety drained from her, and the blush adorning her cheeks went from embarrassment to amusement. She leant in with a conspiring glint. “What if you’re caught faking the accent?”

“That’s what the Tower of London is for.”

She laughed again, and Baron found himself beginning to relax. This really wasn’t so difficult. Maybe he needn’t have worried after all. Yes. This was all under control. He could do this.

A shadow appeared over them, and his brain kicked onto automatic. “Sorry, we haven’t made a choice yet, but if you could bring over a jug of water, that would be grand.”

“Water? On a date? How exciting.”

Baron looked up and saw that the shadow was not that of a waiter, but of a young woman, short, with her brown hair cut into a neat bob. Definitely not staff.

Haru sighed. “Sorry, this is Hiromi, my future ex-friend. Hiromi, this is my date, who I told you about.” Haru shot a meaningful look at the newcomer, who completely sidestepped it.

“Sweet. He’s cute.”

“Hiromi.”

“Anyway, I’m just dropping by,” Hiromi continued. She grabbed a nearby chair and hauled it over. “Are you going to eat those biscuits? No? Cool.”

“Hiromi, what are you doing here?”

Haru’s friend set to picking out the on-the-house biscuits, snapping them in half and nibbling along the edges. “Okay, so, I drop by your house, fully expecting you to be cleaning off the goo off whatever monster-of-the-week you stopped this time, but you’re not. You’re wearing lady clothes and jewellery, and you’ve actually showered with proper scented shower gel, not that nasty goo-be-gone gel that gets out bloodstains–”

“Is there a point to all this,” Haru asked desperately, “because there really needs to be a point to all this.”

“Right, okay.” Hiromi finished her biscuit and brushed the crumbs off the table. “Well, then I remembered that you said you were meeting up with that dude you met when stopping the office oni–”

Baron had to resist the urge to remind her that he was right there.

“–which is just as well, because you remember that programme you made to alert you if there were any sudden blips of that weird strong toy magic?” Hiromi thrust a phone across at Haru. “Well, you might want to take a look.”

“It’s not toy magic,” Haru could be heard to mumble, but her fingers twitched as she read the screen’s data. She looked sharply - hopefully - up at Hiromi, and then her gaze slid guiltily back to Baron. The shrug she gave aimed for nonchalance and missed. “I’m sure it’s just… a blip. Make a note of the location, and I’ll check it out later. It’s probably nothing.”

“It doesn’t look like nothing,” Hiromi said. “It kinda looks like the readings you went cuckoo over last winter. You know, with the talking tin soldier?”

Baron suddenly recalled hearing about a fellow Creation - a toy soldier - in the next town over, and suspicions began to crawl into his bones over the exact nature of Haru’s search. He flexed his human hands and wondered whether the transformation magic might have triggered the blip.

“Oh yeah,” Hiromi said to Baron, “Haru told me that you know all about the magic and monsters and everything. All supernatural creatures give off a distinct type of magic signature, and Haru has this interest in these living toys–”

“They’re Creations,” Haru amended, “and he’s really not interested–”

“I’m interested,” Baron said.

“–and I’m not interested,” Haru continued. “Time for you to go now.”

Hiromi paused, and glanced between the two of them. She raised an eyebrow and rose back to her feet. “O-kay. Well, enjoy the date!”

There was a long, dubious pause in the silence that followed.

“She seems… nice,” Baron eventually ventured.

“She needs manners,” Haru said. “I’m so sorry–”

“Don’t be. Actually, she reminds me a lot of my sister. All energy and good intentions wrapped up in a chaotic bundle.”

Haru snorted and flipped open the menu again. “That’s Hiromi, all right.”

Baron smiled and followed suit. He glanced over the options, as if he hadn’t chosen a good fifteen minutes ago.When an acceptable minute had passed, he said, “I think I’m going to go with the carrot cake.”

“Carrot cake,” Haru echoed. “Yeah, carrot cake sounds good.” Baron watched her as her eyes glazed over the page. “Carrot cake. Carrot cake, carrot cake, carrot cake…” The words continued to trip over her tongue, barely conscious of the shape of them. “Carrot cake…”

Baron smiled and folded his menu. “Haru?”

“Hm?”

“Maybe you should stop saying ‘carrot cake’ and go after your friend.”

“Oh, no, I couldn’t just leave–”

“It’s fine. I can just stay here and say carrot cake alone.” He offered her a good-natured smile. “Go on. It’s obviously important to you.”

Haru’s guilty expression sank into relief. “Thank you.” She had already half-risen to her feet before she visibly remembered her manners. She spun back to him. “This has been… so much fun, we should… definitely do this again.” She grinned apologetically and ran off after Hiromi.

Baron waited until they were out of sight before jumping to his feet and shooting in the opposite direction. He tripped over a trash bag obscuring the alleyway, his gaze so intent on the skies. “Toto? Toto!”

Toto landed on a bin skip, appraising Baron’s ruffled appearance with a critical eye. “That date was short.”

“Haru is… Haru is… she’s…” He motioned for Toto to wait for him to regain his breath and senses. He broke out into a grin. “She’s looking for me.”

“Looking for you?”

“She’s following spikes of Creation magic, and she’s picked up the shape-shifting spell I used to become human, and...” He trailed off as his train of logic hit a brick wall.

Toto, as usual, filled in the dots as quickly - or if not quicker - than Baron. “The spell which you used halfway across the city,” he said, “while you are here. Human.”

“Yes.”

Toto sighed. “I’ll find her and stall her until you can get back.” Toto gave an amused grin. “Hopefully the human disguise will have worn off before then, otherwise you’re going to have a lot of questions to answer before you even start.”

Baron grinned back. “I’ll improvise.”

“Oh good.”

#the cat returns #cat writes #the cat queues #tcr ficlet #I mostly just liked the idea of baron being blown off on a date because haru is chasing after creation him #like the stupid complications of it is so baron #also that date scene from thor the dark world #is honestly the best thing about that movie #honestly i have no idea if this is hat you anted #or hat vibe it gives #but it as fun #also my 'w' isn't orking properly #take pity on my tags

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