kyoko-matsuda - Tumblr blog

[kyoko-matsuda]

Kyoko had been pleasantly surprised when Caleb reached out, agreeing to meet for a coffee to chat. She had an idea of what it could be about, but wasn’t phased. She had seen the alternative future which involved Caleb, and presumed if he has as well, the sudden invite for a drink likely was because of it.

“I didn’t keep you waiting long I hope?” She slid into the seat across from him, noting his body language curiously. Her tone softened some as she added, “Everything okay?”

present | kyoko & caleb

for: @kyoko-matsuda location: a cafe in garond

It took a week after Caleb found out about his alternate future self when he finally reached out to Kyoko. They had developed a relationship in that timeline, one that did not end well given how the world came to an end while it was still in its early stages. But from what Caleb remembered of the experience and of Kyoko herself, he knew in the present day that the witch’s divination abilities probably meant that she had seen her version of the timeline too and the wolf did not want to leave her hanging without addressing it.

He asked her to meet at a cafe in Garond, somewhere near the Hereafter for a coffee so that he could get confirmation on whether she did divine the future or not and if so, if they needed to address it. To say that Caleb was nervous was an understatement and he was sat in his chair fiddling with a spoon when he finally saw Kyoko enter.

“Over here, Kyoko!” the werewolf raised a hand to wave her over to their table.

[kyoko-matsuda]

caleb-lycaon​:

“Even when you go a bit too far?” Caleb asked as he shot her a knowing grin. They had done so a number of times and they either ended in Kyoko becoming handsy enough that they’d fall into bed together or she would just fall asleep. There had even been times when it happened in quick enough succession to leave Caleb hanging.

“I enjoy it though. You’re always cute when you drink.” It was a side to Kyoko that really endeared Caleb to her the first time they went drinking together after a difficult day and he had continued to fall for her ever since.

"One of these days--" Kyoko cut herself off, ready to tease Caleb with the threat of magically enhancing his own drink. Remembering the fate that likely awaited them left her stumbling over her words, knowing they likely would never get the chance. She sighed. "One of these days," she repeated softly. "Come on.. I'm tired. Let's go have that drink and call it a day, okay?"

[kyoko-matsuda]

kyoko-matsuda​:

“Even if you can look at it differently now, I know it still didn’t make it any easier for you at the time… But thank you,” Kyoko responded rather apologetically. “I promise to keep you in the loop in the future. Always.”

He nodded, looking a mix of serious and hopeful at the same time, unsure she would keep that promise based on a past of fleeing but wanting to believe that she wouldn’t be gone in a moment. He smiled, a shaky, fragile thing, and then he seemed all at once to realize just what she’d interrupted, and his eyes widened. “My friends. I, uh, should get back to them.” He’d only abruptly vanished and had been gone for probably far too long. “I’ll… see you soon, Mom. I love you.”

[kyoko-matsuda]

caleb-lycaon​:

“Isn’t that something you really like about me?” Caleb grinned widely again and his tail would have been wagging if he were transformed. “I’ll remember. If not tonight then I will tomorrow morning. I’m still happy to drink you under the table though…” The werewolf was blessed with a metabolic rate that processed alcohol at a much faster rate than witches. That and Caleb took pride in pacing himself when it came to drinking, having not given himself a hangover or anything even near to that in a long time.

“There’s a lot I really like about you,” Kyoko reassured with a matching, amused smile. “You and I both know how you drinking me under the table ends though, so I still win,” she added, only somewhat joking.

[kyoko-matsuda]

Karen Fukuhara

[kyoko-matsuda]

caleb-lycaon​:

“Of course. Anything you want. Why not more than one?” the werewolf grinned, happy to provide for whatever Kyoko needed. 

“Can you not even give me a hint?” Caleb asked. He had always been one who saw nothing wrong with the pursuit of knowledge even if the knowledge would prove to be detrimental to everyone involved.

“You’re insanely nosey,” Kyoko answered back, lips curling into a faint pout. “Tell you what… Feel free to ask me again after a few drinks— if you remember, that is,” the witch suggested, already thinking of numerous ways she might distract the other until it was off his mind.

[kyoko-matsuda]

eremington​:

“To break it, Rei need to lend me his magic. I suppose because it would indicate that he’s looking to reconcile, or at least try.” It was part of the reason why he couldn’t be purely mad at Eiji. He wanted to get their family back, and there was no way Elijah could begrudge him for that. “Matthew said he did it to ‘take me down a peg’ so I’m not certain what or if Eiji paid him to do it.” That was something he should have pressed on, but hadn’t had the presence of mind to do.

Kyoko couldn’t help but laugh at the reveal of how the curse would break. She knew Rei would eventually return, but had a feeling it would be with mixed emotions when they did. Especially upon finding out what his father required of him. “You know, Elijah.. You’d think after all of these years you’d be more careful about the enemies you make.”

[kyoko-matsuda]

caleb-lycaon​:

“Hmm…” Caleb hummed and hugged her tighter. It was not often he heard of something to dire coming from Kyoko and all he wanted to do was reassure her even when he felt so helpless given what was going on around them.

“Hey, the future is never set in stone, right? We’ll figure something out. I couldn’t ask for anyone better to figure it out with. And even if we don’t, we’ll make do…” He leaned in to press his lips to her temple.

"You always were an adorable sap," Kyoko commented softly, unable to help a brief, teasing smile. She tried her best to buy into his reassurance, not having the heart to be honest with him in this instance. Sometimes knowing too much about your fate only soured things... And the last thing Kyoko wanted was for her time with Caleb to have yet another stressor impacting it.  She turned to look at Caleb, continuing on, "Can we make do with a stiff drink tonight perhaps?"

[kyoko-matsuda]

caleb-lycaon​:

“Of course…” Caleb promised. It was not often that he saw Kyoko look so worried and that could only mean that what potential she saw scared her. 

“Is there anything else? You can tell me. We promised that you wouldn’t have to shoulder such burdens on your own…” he turned what he hoped was a reassuring smile on her, his hand rubbing her shoulder gently.

"Yeah well... We promised a lot, didn't we?" Kyoko gave a wry grin, chuckling softly. "I don't think a lot of those promises will matter much in the coming days, unfortunately." She sighed. "I just don't feel good about this, Caleb... I don't think this ends well."

[kyoko-matsuda]

caleb-lycaon​:

premonition | caleb and kyoko

"Is that how it works? This means I’ll have to do it more to make sure there are no secrets between us” Caleb teased, loving the way Kyoko reacted to him when he did and he tried doing it whenever she left herself open.

“I know. But it’s still good to know. So that we can plan for any eventuality, y'know?” Caleb smiled. It was a bit like chess in a way. If one knew all the potential moves that could happen, one could plan for countermeasures to resist them. “Is it that bad that you don’t want to tell me?”

Kyoko sighed softly, wondering how many more opportunities like the one now would even exist if her visions came to pass. She avoided making eye contact and instead leaned into his frame, nodding. “I don’t know the outcome of our specific mission, but I don’t think the device is going to be there… Promise me we will leave at the first sign of trouble, okay?”

[kyoko-matsuda]

eremington​:

“When you put it that way, asking him really does sound like a stupid idea.” He admitted with a chuckle. She was right of course, but Elio was the deity he’d known the longest at the time and the only one he’d thought to ask. “I suppose I’ll just have to keep working on it.” He looked over at Kyoko and couldn’t help a small smile. “It’s good to get get to talk to you again though. Even if it is this serious.“

“You know there use to be a time you liked having serious conversation with me,” Kyoko teased lightly, looking somewhat pleased. She could remember their early days, as much as it pained her. Their devotions to their crafts had been something they had bonded over, like two mad scientists determined to make names for themselves. The pleased look quickly disappeared though and she glanced down after an awkward beat at an antique watch she wore on her wrist. “I should probably get going. It’s getting late.”

[kyoko-matsuda]

eremington​:

He couldn’t help a small self-deprecating laugh at her comment. Still, he didn’t know if there was a non-horrible way to say this.

And here was the part where he would sound completely insane. “Matthew told me. He also let me see his memory of Eiji asking him to cast the curse, and it was real.” There was always something off about altered or implanted memories that made them easy to recognize once you knew what real memories felt like. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to Eiji about this yet. I know Matthew’s the last person I should believe, but if he just wanted to cause problems between us, I doubt he would implicate himself.”

“You’re really bad at sticking to one topic at a time,” Kyoko retorted with mild annoyance. “So the demon elder Matthew Alexander cursed you? At the request of our son?” A curse from a demon wouldn’t be easy to crack, and the severity of the curse made far more sense now knowing just who had caused it. “Did he at least tell you how to break the curse then? Or what in hell Eiji did for him in order for him to agree to do it?”

[kyoko-matsuda]

theleastfavoriteson​:

“I know,” he said, shrugging slightly. “Looking back… I see it.” He saw it back then, too, but had wanted to ignore it, just like he tried to ignore how unhappy Elijah’s coldness had made him. “I understand.”

And he did. He was twenty-eight and still trying to find an identity that wasn’t connected to his father. Was barely succeeding, except for the small group of human friends inside. “No matter what you decide to do, you’ll keep in touch, right? From now on?”

“Even if you can look at it differently now, I know it still didn’t make it any easier for you at the time... But thank you,” Kyoko responded rather apologetically. “I promise to keep you in the loop in the future. Always.”

[kyoko-matsuda]

eremington​:

“You were one of the people I thought had reason to resent me enough to do it.” He shrugged. “I’m not sure what it was meant as.” It was easy to follow her train of thought, and it was somewhere he tended to stay away from. “So far it hasn’t impaired me. If that day comes, there are others who can step into my place on the council, and we’ll deal with the coven’s leadership. At the moment, Elio knows. He won’t solve this for me, but I trust him to make the right decisions for the community.”

“I do,” Kyoko agreed. “It doesn’t mean it’s okay though. Anger doesn’t justify the curse you’re dealing with.” She smirked adding, “Won’t solve it for you, hm? Isn’t he associated with suffering or something? Did you honestly thing someone who encourages people to deal with their own shit would actually make an exception for you?”

[kyoko-matsuda]

caleb-lycaon​:

premonition | caleb and kyoko

“There’s something about this mission that seems… final. For lack of a better word,” Caleb replied as his gaze stayed far away for a moment before he drew it back to the witch standing next to him. He reached out to place his arm around her shoulders to draw her close. 

As a werewolf, magic was not something that came naturally to him given how he was more connected with the physical world around him, but he had made it a point to be particularly observant after the news of this world-ending machine was leaked and had seen how the demons and deities had become especially antsy and, dare he say, terrified of late.

“Have you seen anything that we should know about?” Caleb knew of Kyoko’s divination abilities and she had explained them to him ad nauseam many times over the years, but he still wanted to know of any and all potential outcomes and if Kyoko could be sparing him any details.

"I hate when you do that," Kyoko scowled softly, leaning into the touch despite her words. "You know I can't lie when you've got an arm around me," she added, jokingly continuing, "At least not easily." 

 Kyoko sighed, nodding ever so slightly against Caleb's frame. "I have... But visions of the future aren't always of ours, which is important to remember." Directly telling Caleb what she saw wasn't something she particularly wanted to do, but she also could understand his curiosity.

[kyoko-matsuda]

“If you say so,” Kyoko retorted with a sigh before digging into her own meal, not at all surprised to find Caleb had done a near perfect job with her portion.

barbecue | kyoko & caleb

kyoko-matsuda​:

Kyoko tensed, panicked when Caleb���s words clicked and she realized what was starting to happen. “Caleb!” Her voice squeaked as she quickly mimicked the wolf’s actions, removing the meat. “Oh see now you’re going to regret your agreement,” she added with some embarrassment. “I told you I wasn’t some amazing cook.”

Caleb could not help laughing at Kyoko’s panicked and embarrassed reaction and reached out to gently pat her arm reassuringly. It was such a joy to witness in contrast to her usual demeanour. “It’s just burnt meat. A little carbon never hurt a werewolf’s stomach before,” he grinned and started digging in to the pile of food before him.

[kyoko-matsuda]

premonition | caleb and kyoko

For: @caleb-lycaon

Where: Private location just outside of the supe “safe” zones. 

When: Present day; Just after plans were finalized to hunt for the world ending weapon. Kyoko had been having the dreams for a while now, each night they got worse.. More vivid. Death. It was inevitable, and she saw various faces, familiar and unfamiliar regularly. Sometimes the faces changed, other times they were consistent. The witch knew the future wasn’t always written in stone. She knew just because she foresaw something didn’t mean it would happen. She had been forcing the visions with magic, the moment the rumors started of the weapon that could reach the other realms. 

When the community decided to form teams-- to hunt for the device in hopes of preventing even more chaos.. death, she knew the visions she saw were liking drawing to a near. She wasn’t surprised that Elijah or Caleb had volunteered, but she still couldn’t help the feeling of dread knowing two individuals she cared about were taking on highly dangerous tasks. 

She had almost insisted on going with Elijah until she had heard Caleb was going as well, figuring Caleb might find more use for a witch having his back than Elijah. Or at least, that was what she explained to Caleb. The last thing she was going to tell him was that he was in her visions. 

Kyoko let her gaze linger on Caleb as he glanced away for a moment, realizing they may not have many more opportunities to chat before the plan was set into place. “Penny for your thoughts?”