#((I just started thinking about how lonely Haru's house must feel

[beauthief]

"I really love my home, the land it's on is lovely and the greenhouse is coming along very nicely. I just wish the house itself wasn't so big. It's lonely living there without anyone else."

[skzhocomments]

Broken hearts can heal - Choi Minho SHINee Fanfic - Chapter VIII - Are you moving on?

Story masterlist - please consult it for the summary of the story, trigger warnings etc.

Wattpad link

AO3 link

Chapter VII / Chapter IX (coming soon)

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Chapter VIII - Are you moving on?

word count: 1.9k words

Minho opened the apartment's door holding a big McDonald's takeout bag. He didn't really like eating it. If he's going to have unhealthy food, he'd much rather make some ramen noodles. But still, you mentioned in passing that you've been craving some, so he thought why not bring it since he's going out anyway?

The lights were turned off, but a distant TV sound could be heard coming from the living room.

You were sleeping soundly on the sofa, and Haru was awake, but making no noise, just stirring a bit, probably soon falling back asleep.

"Hello, baby." He approached the crib and watched Haru fondly, but decided against picking him up. Instead, he came next to you and sat down on the floor, looking at your sleeping face.

You looked peaceful compared to the last time he woke you up, when you were a crying mess and clearly agitated. He didn't ask what you were dreaming about, but he had a guess.

Your hand was placed close to your head, and he didn't know what came over him, but he placed his on yours, and was surprised to feel you squeeze his palm softly.

How hard was it for you? Were you missing being touched? Being held?

Was that why you always responded positively whenever he initiated any sort of contact between you two? Be it a hug, a gentle caress, or simple hand holding in the early hours of the morning when Haru wouldn't go back to sleep.

If you did, why did you never tell him? Why did you never come first to him?

Did you think you would make him uncomfortable?

You were getting cozy in the apartment, that much was clear. The first few days it was like you were walking on shattered glass, you didn't want to disturb him, you didn't make much noise, it didn't even feel like you were there most of the time.

He wasn't sure if you viewed the place as 'home', but he was sure that giving you enough time, you would warm up to this house, to him.

You started stirring a bit in your sleep, and when you woke up, seeing Minho's asleep face right next to yours made your heart skip a beat.

You were definitely not catching any feelings.

It would be bad to do so.

Key died 3 months ago.

It was just infatuation. Minho was always there, sometimes half naked, taking care of your baby and of all your needs.

He was just there, and you were lonely, and touched starved. And he was hot and gorgeous, you couldn't deny that. All of SHINee were.

That didn't mean anything.

It couldn't.

You still loved Key, so how could you fall for someone else so shortly after his passing?

You must be insane.

Still, when Minho fluttered his eyelashes and looked lazily at you, a gentle smile on his face, you swore you felt your chest tighten.

And when he spoke, you were sure you kinda loved him, because he said the magic words.

"Hey. I got you McDonalds."

"Marry me." You replied, making Minho laugh.

"I have already, haven't I?"

"You wore your ring today."

"Oh, did you watch the show?"

"No." You chuckled.

"How was my speech?"

"Beautiful." You smiled. "I cried the whole time listening to you."

"Nooo." He cooed. "Did Haru cry with you?"

"No, he was smiling. Must've liked his dad's voice." You chuckled, and Minho smiled at you, his thumb drawing circle patterns in your hair, his gentle eyes glimmering in the TV's light.

He didn't say anything, you just looked at each other for a while, before you felt your stomach rumbling.

"So, where's my McDonalds?" You stood up and made your way to the kitchen, followed by a smiling Minho.

He brought the take-out bag and placed it on the table, taking out the contents, and you were surprised to see him eat with you.

"What? You're eating an unhealthy chemical?!" You asked him shocked using the same words he did when you blurted out you're really craving it, seeing him take a bite of a Big Mac.

"Hey, don't say that!" He threatened jokingly. "Don't turn my words against me!"

"But Minho, what would I look at when you're holding Haru if your 6 pack disappears from this burger?" You frowned, then burst out laughing.

"Don't worry babe, it's not gonna go anywhere, I'll exercise extra hard for you tomorrow."

"Yea, do that." You chuckled, trying not to focus on his choice of nickname. "But damn, I wanna exercise too. Get off this baby weight." You looked down at your stomach and frowned. You missed your pre-pregnancy body, and you hated your stretch marks.

"Why? You're so beautiful, though?"

"I'm not. I'm fat and ugly." You frowned.

"Shut up. You look amazing, what are you on?" Minho frowned too.

"Compared to you, I don't!"

"Da-Eun. I live in the gym. You birthed out a whole ass human. How is that comparable in any way?"

"I'm just... missing my old body, I guess..."

"Okay, but your new body is perfect the way it is. However, if you want to exercise, then let's ask the doc at your 6-week appointment if your body's ready, maybe we can hit the gym together if you want?"

"Mhm, okay. But what would we do with Haru?"

"Well, we could always get a nanny. We maybe should, as I'll start working soon and be away from home more during the day..."

"Oh."

"Yea... we were in the middle of making an album when Key-"

"I know." You smiled, placing an assuring hand on Minho's. "That's okay. It's good that you're working again."

"You think so?" He frowned a bit.

"Of course! We need someone to put bread on the table." You winked at him then chuckled.

"At this point it feels like you're only using me for my money." He joked.

"No way, Minho. I'm also using you as eye candy."

"Oh, am I that good looking?" He raised an eyebrow and asked playfully.

"Shut up." You rolled your eyes and laughed.

"Nonono, say it."

"Minhooooooo!" You whined and threw a french fry at him, which he somehow caught with his mouth.

"Throw another one!"

"How the fuck did you catch that?" You burst out laughing. "Okay, here!"

You grabbed another fry and threw it towards him, but instead of managing to catch it, it hit his cheek.

"You suck at catching." You laughed at him as he rubbed his cheek, the fallen french fry discarded on the ground.

"Oh yea? Let's see how you do. Catch this!" He said, and didn't give you any second to react as he instantly threw a fry at you. It hit you directly on the forehead.

"Oh my, you don't only suck at catching, you suck at throwing too!" You laughed.

"No, I just think you're not as good as catching it either!"

"You caught me off guard, so it's not fair!"

"Ok, let's do it again. Get into position."

"Are you ordering me around?" You raised a playful eyebrow at him.

"Why, do you like being ordered around?" He responded with the same innuendo as yours.

"Hmm, depends. Okay, I'm ready. Throw it." You spoke quickly, trying to defuse the dangerous situation.

Minho grabbed another fry and threw it at you, and this time you managed to catch and eat it.

"See? I'm the best. Obviously the better out of the two of us." You boasted.

"Yah, isn't it just because I threw it so good?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Minho." You shook your head and placed your hand on his to fake comfort him.

"What, don't believe me?! You should know I'm really good at sports."

"Sure, sure, whatever makes you feel better." You continued your fake comfort.

"What, wanna see?!" He stood up and immediately came in front of your chair, moving it from the table to make you face him.

He had a determined look on his face as he moved your chair closer towards him.

"You're gonna scratch the floors!" You screamed in horror then burst out laughing.

"Right." He nodded, then placed his arms steadily on your waist and forced you to stand up, before grabbing your body like it was nothing and placing you on his shoulder.

"Oh my fucking goooooooodddddd" You screamed as Minho ran out of the kitchen into the living room with you in his arms.

"Put me downnnnn." You laughed loudly, almost forgetting that Haru is sleeping in his crib right there.

Minho brought you to the sofa and laid you down on it gently, but as he was placing you down, your hands grabbed his back for support, which he didn't expect, so he stumbled and fell right on top of you.

"Comfortable?" You laughed, trying to make the scene less awkward, as you still kept your arms on his back, hugging him.

The living room lights were turned off, the only source of light coming from the kitchen's opened door.

You were barely able to see anything, but feeling Minho's proximity was enough to get your heart racing. You wondered what kind of face he was making, but you were glad he didn't seem to pull away, instead getting more comfortable in your arms.

"Da-Eun?" He asked slowly.

"Hm?" You whispered.

"Are you really okay with me going back to work already? I could try and change my schedule and start later-"

"Of course I'm okay with it, Minho. It's a really good thing to get out of the house and fall back into a routine without thinking of... everything that happened."

"I... I can't help but feel a bit guilty... life is moving on and I want to stay positive, as always, but it's hard to do so."

"Hmm... It's okay to move on, Minho. It's good to work, to release more music and content, to live. You don't have anything to feel guilty for."

You felt his head move in the creek of your neck with what you assume was a nod. It somehow felt like he was asking for your approval to continue to carry on, and you knew that he saw Kibum every time he looked at Haru. As did you.

"Da-Eun... are you... moving on?" He asked slowly, letting you process his words.

"... I don't know. I have to. It's still so... weird to accommodate, but what can I do? I can't believe it's only been 3 months." You smiled sadly.

"I know it's hard for you..."

"It's hard for all of us."

"I don't want to push anything onto you, but I think it would be a good idea to go to therapy so you can heal from this properly." Minho spoke, and you knew it was coming from a place of concern.

"I think so too. About you as well. I am worried you haven't entirely processed what happened, and..."

"Yea. You're right. I'm doing my best though."

"You really are. You're such an amazing person to be around, Minho. You're always making me laugh."

"I'm glad." He chuckled. "I also like being around you. I think we work well together, raising Haru and stuff."

"Speaking of, he's been quite calm tonight. No screaming?!"

"Was he harsh on you during the day?"

"Yes! He cried a lot." You complained, and it was as if Haru heard you, because not even 5 seconds later he burst out crying, making you sigh.

"You jinxed it." Minho laughed and got off of you, going towards Haru's crib and picking him up. "I'll take care of him, so go finish your meal and then sleep, okay?"

"But... you had such a full schedule today..." You frowned, but Minho didn't want to hear it, so, after going back and forth for a few minutes, you decided to listen to him and eat, then go to sleep.

---

(A/N) it seems like we see a bit more progress between Da-Eun and Minho.

How was this chapter?

Love,

Storm

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Chapter VII / Chapter IX (coming soon)

[addictedtomanga]

Shoujo manga recommendations - living together/neighbors

1.      Konyakusei 

Sachi Hanaoka has just lost her parents to a traffic accident and her fear of living alone becomes reality. To add on to her troubles, Kouichi Saonji, the young landlord of her apartment, approaches her and requests that she prepare to vacate since she is now be unable to pay rent. Alternatively, Kouichi proposes a solution: he and Sachi will get married and she will act as his caretaker. Not only will her expenses be covered, but it would also serve as a method to quell his family's nagging for him to find a wife. Despite the lack of genuine feelings between them, Sachi finds herself drawn to Kouichi and accepts his offer. But will the newly wed couple be able to fall in love, or will they remain strangers forever?

2.      Sugar Family 

Since Yuuka's mother died at an early age, Yuuka turned out to be the one taking care of her child-like father. Right before high school started, Yuuka's dad announced his remarriage with Satou Masami. Masami-san turned out to be a reliable, responsible person, so Yuuka finally thought she's off the hook. That is, until she finds out about her new older brother...

3.      Kyou mo Uchi de Machi Awase

After a fire, a middle-aged man meets a homeless single mother and her son at the convenience store. He is instantly reminded of someone he used to know over a decade ago. Could it be...?

4.      Kyoudai Gokko 

Growing up, Rio Takara has always wanted siblings. So when her parents decide to move overseas without her and tells her she will be living with two people around her age, she's cautiously optimistic. But they turn out to be brothers who fight like cats and dogs. Is this what having siblings is like?

5.      Kamiki Kyoudai Okotowari

Iroha was raised by her single mother, but when her mother remarries, they move in with her step-father and his 3 sons. To Iroha, this will be the first time she's living with men. What will happen to Iroha's new life!?

6.      Monokuro Shounen Shoujo 

Kureha Mimachi, a 15-year-old girl, has just transferred into Shiritsu Kenhono High School. However, there is something weird about this school, it is actually a school where the Princes and Princesses of the beast-kind go to...?! Even though Kureha is human, she is there as a way to help the students their lives peacefully with humans and has the role as the "rabbit". Will she be able survive without being eaten by the students...?!

7.      Mademoiselle Butterfly 

Our heroine is a girl who lives as a geisha in Japan. She has a male childhood friend who's always been kind to her and is her favorite. He's a painter, only he paints on human body parts, and she loves it when he paints beautiful butterflies on her arms. She goes to visit him one day and finds a naked woman lying in his room. Immediately after, she gets a customer who's rich and very interested in her. The thought of being away from her friend pains her, but is everything really too late?

8.      Mayonaka Lolita 

After she took some medicines, Michiryuu became suddenly a little girl. People used to say that she was really perfect. That's why she wants to came back to normal quickly. But the only condition if she wants that happen is to find "a personn she'll love". But that's completely impossible for her! So what will happen to Michiryuu...?

9.      Mayonaka ni Kiss 

Natori Nono is a very tough school-girl, she lives with her widowed mother Ayame and her younger brother Takumi in a very small apartment, where she does all the chores. Her boyfriend wants money from her, because he's really poor, too. But one day, Nono discovers that her mother remarried! She married Ichijou Hayato, the owner of the 'Ichijou Group'. Now, Nono lives there (in unaccustomed riches) with her mother, her brother, her stepfather AND her new stepbrother: Ichijou Kasuomi (his father calls him Omi-kun)!!! At first, Nono thinks Kasuomi is not nice. But what will happen next?

10.  Harem Lodge 

Midori lost her mother when she was young and now her father's gone too. But her dad left her with a surprise: a fiancé named Tetsuya. So now, Midori has to live in a good-looking men only apartment (Harem Lodge), which is actually filled with weirdos. What is going to happen to her? Well we just have to wait and see...

11.  Hyakujuu no ou ni Tsugu!

This is the liberated area where you listen to girls will, a girls high school! in this class, there's a king. Me, Yuka! My friends are counting on me and boys are afraid of me! But that kind of paradise will suddenly break up by a thirty-year old man!! dates will take place in golf areas and kisses will have the taste of smoke...

12.  Last Notes 

Haru and Aki are the masters of the branch store - an old-looking and very unusual shop. It sells only one thing: a special kind of incense that, when burned, allows the user to see and speak with the spirit of the dead person that appears in the smoke. Every customer has a different reason for calling up the dead, and how they use this unusual opportunity is up to them...

13.  Hapira Hajimaru 

Asai Sachi's luck has always been considered dreadful. After becoming the class president, she meets Kurono Hyougo, a guy with a frightful face who bears various gruesome rumours behind his back. Hyougo had been living alone in an apartment; but when Sachi mistakenly reveals that Hyougo is a minor, he had to be kicked out. Fortunately, Sachi's father is a realtor, and suggested to have Hyougo live in their unused detached house. Would Sachi's bad luck turn upside down upon meeting Hyougo?

14.  Hana o Meshimase

After Shion's mother passed away, she was left with her father who loves to gamble and evade his responsibilities as a father. Due to that continuous pattern, Shion moves in to live as a live-in employee with 25-years-old florist Shun Mamyuuda. As she begins to learn the value of flowers and life, will she also find her place in love?

15.  Good Morning Call 

Nao Yoshikawa stays behind to live by herself when her parents leave to inherit her grandpa's farm in the country. On the day she moves into her new apartment she soon discovers that it was rented also to Hisashi Uehara—a cute, super-cool and popular guy from her school. Not only did their housing agency unexpectedly close down, the landlord of the apartment tells them that they had to pay more for their apartment then they had expected. With both no money and no home to return to, Nao and Hisashi decide to live together as flatmates.

16.  Nanako Robin 

Yoshino Nako has a saying. "If I'm happy, I can do anything!" In her sister's place, Nako-chan steals the groom of an arranged (political) marriage and helps them elope. But when the Hayami group starts failing, she must pay the consequence by housing the delinquent brother...

17.  Momo Raba 

Chieri (Cherry) was living an ordinary life, until her sister Ichigo (Strawberry) suddenly left her child Momo (Peach) on Chieri's doorstep. Momo is an infant; how is Chieri supposed to take care of a baby while still in high school!? To make matters even more frustrating, two guys are fighting for Chieri's love...!

18.  Men’s Life 

Mio's life is changed in a big way due to an encounter with Rin, an upperclassman who is one-year-older, and...!?

19.  Tonari wa Nani o Kuu Hito zo 

Inaba Suzuna is trying her best to make a campus debut and to have many friends in Tokyo. Until she realized that she miserably fails at living alone. Fortunately, her neighbor, Seto, comes and saves her from dying of starvation. Bright campus life is still far away for Suzuna, but at least, she has a very dependable neighbor!

20.  Yumemiru Taiyou

While loitering in the park, Shimana Kameko, who intended to run away from home and skip school, meets a suspicious man in a kimono. This man, who had been locked out of his house, offers Shimana a place to stay. However, he requests she fulfill three conditions in exchange for her tenancy!?

21.  Taiyou no Ie 

After her mother abandoned her and her father remarried, high schooler Mao Motomiya is left feeling like she doesn't have a place where she belongs. One night, her childhood friend Hiro Nakamura finds her in a shrine eating cheap convenience store food and offers to take her to a restaurant. Their subsequent heart to heart leads to Hiro suggesting that Mao move in with him. To Hiro who has lived apart from his younger siblings all these years after their parents passed away, bringing his family back together in the once-lively Nakamura home begins with the first step of giving Mao a loving place to belong. When Mao reluctantly accepts his invitation, she is surprised at how easy it is to settle in with her longtime friend. Now she must deal not only with mending her relationship with her father and helping the oldest Nakamura brother attain his goal, but also her growing feelings for Hiro.

22.  Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet 

Oono Fumi is a poor second year high school student. Because of her father's debts, she's kicked out of her own home and has to rely on her own connections to survive. Thus begins her life as a live-in housekeeper for a reclusive writer...

23.  Faster than a kiss

Losing their parents, Fumino and her brother hop from one relative to another. Getting tired of all those movings, she finally decides to quit school and work to support her brother on her own. As they sat on a park bench, her teacher appears in front of her and agrees to her demanding of marrying and supporting both her and her brother!! Is he serious or just playing around...!?

24.  Kiss/Hug 

Ryuu, a super-business-like transfer student from England with black hair and blue eyes just arrived! During the night of the Tanabata festival, Ryuu and Yukino became attracted to each other at first sight. He then declares, "You will be mine!" This brought confusion to Yukino, who has zero experience in love. But could she actually be falling in love?

25.  Kanna to Decchi 

Our heroine Kanna is the daughter of the famous builder in town. One day a boy with a hammer appears to train under Kanna's father?! The heart pounding love story of a handsome apprentice carpenter.

26.  Sabaku no Harem 

Mishe a strong willed girl raised from poverty has caught Prince Kallum's attention. Attention as in, "you will become one of my concubines," thus begins Mishe's adventures into Prince Kallum's world.

[jentlemahae]

hi! I am here to inquire about the plot of dream verse 💓

under the cut bcs i got carried away

EP 1: Dive Into You

It is no secret that 20-year-olf Park Jisung was born in luck. He was the full package – tall, handsome, smart, good-hearted, skilled at sports, and extremely rich. His family had found wealth 25 years before, when his grandfather (Park Haru) started the hot sauce business that would become the most successful hot sauce business in South Korea – DREAM FLAVOR. No one knew exactly how he had done it, as it seemed to have happened in the blink of an eye – people always asked him, but all he would do was wink and say, ‘I just had a spark of good luck’. But no one knew how true that was.

Jisung always looked up to his grandfather, and trusted every single word that came out of his mouth. His step-father (Jae-yi), however, had a much different opinion on the old man. He thought Haru was a total nut case, always nagging him obsessing over that damn candle. Truth be told, he did sort of have a point. Haru had a candle he was extremely secretive about, which he kept in a locked room beside his bedroom. You know, the “normal” place where people keep candles. As he was growing up, he always told Jisung that the candle was actually far more precious than it seemed, and that he should never let it blow out. A bunch of popicocks, as his father would say, but Jisung never forgot it.

He still didn’t forget it on that cold day of early May – that is, the day his grandfather died. Some people say death isn’t lonely, but that’s exactly how Jisung felt. Haru was not just his grandpa – he was his role model, his teacher, and most of all, his friend. On his will, he decidedto give Jisung a key to the candle’s room with a note that said, ‘I’m giving my spark of good luck to you and ONLY you. Use it well’. Jisung was torn because he wanted to trust that the last words his grandpa said to him were meaningful, but he couldn’t help but think, ‘What’s this old nut saying?’. Nonetheless, he took the key and went into the ominous room, with nothing but hope as his company. The candle was burning in the center of the dark windowless room, untouched and unsettling. It was just a normal candle you could find at a local market, yet something about the flame made it impossible to look away. Unsure of what to do, he decided to just leave and go home to try to forget about the whole thing. Yet, the trembling flame kept haunting his dreams for the entire night.

The next day, Jisung’s father decided it was time to move into Haru’s house and turn it upside down, with no care to the fact that the body of Haru was almost not even cold yet. He wanted to clean each room, but he couldn’t get into the candle room. Jisung was unsure of what to do – he did think his grandfather was bananas, but he also didn’t want to disrespect the only legacy he had left him. So, he refused to give up the key, and instead offered to clean the room himself. After dusting every inch of the area, he opened the door to let some air in. But as the wind was roaring outside, a sudden violent breeze came through the door and blew the candle out. Jisung rushed over and then ran to get a box of matches, to try to light it up as quickly as possible. However, no match seemed to work, as the fire appeared to refuse to burn again. With a wretched feeling in his gut, he immediately left and went back home to take a nap, trying to tell himself that it was nothing big. Boy, was he wrong…

When Jisung woke up from his nap, the sight that welcomed him was not what he expected – a young boy with blue hair and a green hoodie was sitting on the floor across from his bed. ‘Hi, I’m Mark’, he said – simple words that scared Jisung to his very bones. Raddled and very confused, Jisung decided to call his 5 friends – Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, and Chenle – and asked them to come over, hoping that together they would be able to make sense of the situation. But alas, they did not. As they watched Mark ravaging Jisung’s fridge as if he hadn’t eaten in a decade, they tried to come up with a game plan.

However, quick-tempered Haechan quickly lost his patience, and told Mark either he left on his own, or they were going to call the police. At which Mark looked at Jisung in disbelief and asked him if his grandfather hadn’t told him anything about him. Utterly confused, the boy shook his head, and so Mark told his story to the 6 googly-eyed friends…

Mark was 500-year-old spirit, born under the Joseon dynasty. Once he died, a witch bounded him to the candle – whenever someone lit it, Mark would bring good fortune and money to their family as long as the flame was burning. If it was blown out, the fortune would stop and Mark could wander the earth freely until someone new lighted it again.

The 6 friends exchanged a look and knew they were all thinking the same thing – they had to light that candle up once again.

(end of ep 1, now I’m gonna go more quickly omg this is so long I’m genuinely sorry)

EP 2: Rainbow

Mark overhears a convo between the others and becomes aware of the fact that they want to put him back inside the candle, but obviously he doesn’t want to. So he makes a pact with them to have 3 days of freedom, and he plans on stealing the candle in the meantime. He wants to go to the beach, so the 7 of them go on a road trip.

The 7 of them do some bonding and Mark tells them more of this story. He was born in a family of slaves and had grown up seeing all the injustices inflicted upon his people by the hands of the hierarchs. So, one day he decided to take matters into his own hands and began retaliating, by stealing from the royals to help his family. But his anger for revenge couldn’t stop at just stealing – he wanted the blood of those who had hurt his people. So, when he died, the witch put him there as a punishment for the murders.

They find out he’s a nice guy so they don’t want to put him back into the candle, as they realize he should have a chance to live too. So Mark tells them there is a way he can be out but still have access to his powers – they need the help of the witch who put him there. Obviously she’s dead by now but her power ran through her family, so she must have a descendant who is able to help them.

EP 3: Diggity

The witch who put him there was called Man Wol Lee and, as they find out, was an ancestor of Haechan. He doesn’t have magic but his twin sister – Hae-soo – does. So they go to her and try their best to convince her (Mark is the only one who manages to get through to her). In the meantime – Haru’s business (who is now in the hands of Jisung’s father) begins to go into trouble + Mark is staying as Jisung’s house (as he’s usually by himself anyway since his parents both work a lot) so the two have a lot of talks and stuff (e.g. Mark explains that when the candle is lit, he is stuck in a limbo called the Dreamverse – i.e. a place stuck between life and death where he has to face his own worst nightmares + tells him how he had met Haru). Anyways, they get Hae-soo to try something witchy so she channels Man Wol’s spirit with a spell book they found (and that Mark translated since he knew old Korean). They find out Mark and Man Wol used to be lovers (uh) in the old times, and she was the one who killed him and then forced him into the candle because she wanted to stop his lust for blood. She tells them the only way to free Mark is to bind someone else to the candle, to replace him.

EP 4: Irreplaceable

(+ Mark starts being mean to Hae-soo bcs he’s mad at Man Wol) They conclude the person they lock up should be a bad person + they don’t wanna kill them so they should find someone who justdied. So they go to the hospital but don’t find anyone (un)worthy enough (they know bcs Mark see what someone has been like while they were alive bcs of a spirit thingy).

*some shit happens*

They discover the candle got stolen. They search for a while, but then Mark disappears – someone must have lighted the candle again.

EP 5: Be There For You

Hae-soo does a locator spell so they’re able to find the candle, and discover that it’s now in possession of Vincenzo Cassano, one of the biggest mafia bosses in South Korea (he had heard of the candle’s powers and he wanted to use it). The 6 boys go to him to try to blow the candle out and free Mark, but they get caught and are taken hostage (they are taken to a storage area near Vincenzo’s house). Thankfully, Hae-soo followed them and blew the candle out, so Mark goes to free them but when he’s about to kill Vincenzo to protect Hae-soo, he can’t bcs spirits can’t kill the people who used to “own” them, so Jisung throws himself in the middle and gets shot instead. To stop him from dying, Hae-soo puts him in the candle.

EP 6: All Night Long

They realize Vincenzo has fled and has taken the candle. So there are two “realities” in the episode.

On one hand, there’s Jisung who is in the Dreamverse. There he sees a world exactly like his true reality BUT everything goes wrong – his grandfather is alive but tells him he’s a disappointment + his mother dies at Jisung’s hands + Jeno, Jaemin, Renjun, Chenle and Haechan force him to kill Hae-soo + they then try to kill him so he has to run away.

*BACKSTORY: Jisung’s father died before he was born + then his mother re-married but then she dies as well when he was 16 + Jisung never got along with Jae-yi and even less after the death of his mom

On the other hand, the others are trying to figure out how to bring Jisung back. Hae-soo and Mark contact Man Wol to ask her more information – she tells them they can enter Dreamverse (with her help ofc) and can help Jisung find an “exit”, which Mark couldn’t use since Man Wol made it impossible for him to access to ensure he would not escape. Jisung can use it bcs the prison world was not created for him. Jaemin, Jeno, Renjun, Haechan and Chenle go to Vincenzo’s house to try to find something to track him down (since the locator spell doesn’t work). But when they go there they find Vincenzo’s dead body and no trace of the candle.

EP 7: Rocket

Two “realities” again.

Mark and Hae-soo go in Dreamverseto rescue Jisung (they find him first and the two mend fences). They convince him they’re real (bcs he’s kinda going bananas and can’t distinguish the Dreamversefrom reality) + they take him to the exit which is a door located in the middle of Dreamverse – the door is the door to the ‘candle’s room’ at Haru’s house. They go there (struggling bcs the others try to stop them + it takes a lot of energy for Hae-soo to keep them inside so she’s weak) and manage to get out (yay!).

Jaemin, Jeno, Renjun, Haechan and Chenle look at the CCTV (Haechan hacks into it) but they can’t see who killed Vincenzo (bcs there’s no cameras in that room) BUT there’s one in the garage so they can see the car of the person who killed him à the car plate! They recognize it so they know who’s the owner. They go back to Hae-soo’s to find them all out + tell them who is the killer (and has the candle) – Jisung’s step-father, Jae-yi.

EP 8: Hot Sauce

Jisung is out BUT he��s not human – he’s a spirit, both alive and dead at the same time (so he can’t feel touch and stuff, that’s important for later). + Jisung has a talk with Hae-soo to thank him for saving her life and apologize for putting him in that situation. He replies that he’s the one who’s thankful bcs she saved his life. They kiss <3 but Jisung can’t feel anything so :(

So Jisung, Jaemin, Jeno, Renjun, Haechan and Chenle go to Jae-yi’s (which is actually Haru’s) house and try to find evidence of him being linked to Vincenzo – Jisung still doesn’t wanna believe it, but they find evidence. Mark and Hae-soo contact Man Wol and explain to her the situation and ask if they can put Jisung’s father in there without killing him. She tells them there’s a way to do with just a drop of his blood + explains the spell to Hae-soo + tells Mark she forgives him. So they go face Jisung’s step-father: there’s a fight and yadiyadiyada but they manage to put him inside so yay!!!

The “owner” of the candle is now Jisung. He decides to use the fortune to continue Haru’s hot sauce business – he puts it in a box (the one from the life is still going on mv). Mark is a human now so he can go anywhere but decides to stay in Seoul and experience life as a normal college student. Jisung and Hae-soo kiss again <3

EP 9: Life Is Still Going On (BONUS EPISODE)

It’s 7 years into the future. Everyone meets again at a dinner thrown by Jisung.

Jisung is the CEO of DREAM FLAVOR and the company has grown even more + he’s engaged to Hae-soo who is doing her medical residency to become a surgeon + Haechan and Chenle are now starting a tech company together (about keeping you safe from hackers etc) + Jaemin is a surgical resident as well + Jeno is now a soccer player in the national team + Mark is getting his second Bachelor’s

They eat and chat + Jisung tells Haechan and Chenle he’s giving them the candle bcs they need the luck more since they’re starting a new business. So he blows it out + the episode ends with Haechan lighting it again.

-FIN-

Thanks for reading omg this was fun :DDD

[ryuukia]

[Translation] Ikebukuro Tsukineko Monogatari Track 1: This is Ikebukuro Block 1!

It felt like I’ve been working on text translations too much lately, so here’s some audio translations! And with this I am also reminded I’m missing 3 cats in tsukipara, Hajime being one of them.....

Anyway, many thanks to Ryota again for helping me proof this! Please don’t repost/reuse my translations. Reblogs and likes are appreciated.

Track 1 | Track 2 | Track 3 | Track 4 | Track 5

-cars passing by and paws steps are heard in the background-

Kakeru: -humming- Haaaa! Today’s also a nice day! With so many people and cars here, Ikebukuro’s as lively as always. Hm?

-meowing in the distance-

Koi: Kaaakeruuu! 

Kakeru: Hm? 

Koi: So it really was you, Kakeru-san! What a coincidence. 

Kakeru: Koi! We haven’t seen each other in a long time, haven’t we? 

Koi: Yeah, around a week. My owners went on a trip outside the city and they took me with them.

Kakeru: Ah, is that so? Where did you go? 

Koi: I’m pretty sure it was a hot spring in Tochigi. There was also a river close by, the fish was delicious!

Kakeru: Eeeh, so you went out too. How nice. My owner has a lot of part-time jobs, so we don’t really get to go out. 

Koi: Aah, I can imagine him being the working type.

Kakeru: Yeah, he is. It’s not like he’s penniless, it’s just that one of the shops where he works part-time is remodelling and they’re out of people. The rest of them are purely hobbies. 

Koi: …Hobbies?

Kakeru: Yeah, hobbies! It seems he likes to work. 

Koi: Ugh... he must be a strange guy if working is his hobby.

-more meowing-

Koi: At least cats have it better...  Ah wait, Kakeru is the same type of guy. You pick up sparkling things for your collection of shiny objects. And pretty often at that. 

Kakeru: Time feels like flying when I stare at them.

Koi: You’re just like your owner.

Kakeru: Even if you say that, Koi’s the same, right? You love fashion. Isn’t that decoration around your neck a new one?

Koi: Ah, did you notice☆? Did you? Fufu, it’s a crape decoration from a souvenir shop! Since I liked it, they gave it to me. It also has a small bell! -clink-

Kakeru: -laughs- You seem happy.

-meow sounds getting closer-

Aoi: Ah, Koi and Kakeru?

Kakeru: Oh, Aoi-san!

Arata: Eh, Pink and Kakeru?

Koi: Ugh, Arata!

Arata: Hey, hey, Pink? What’s with that attitude? 

Koi: Sorry, sorry, I said that without realizing. That was the honest voice of my heart. 

Arata: Hmm, hmm, did you want to meet me that badly? It can’t be helped, you three lonely hearts.

Koi: Gah! Don’t involve me in this!

Aoi: Your relationship is as good as always.

Kakeru: Your relationship is as good as always.

Arata & Koi: How exactly!?

Aoi: You two are not honest at all…

Kakeru: Uhm, are Aoi-san and Arata-san on a walk together?

Aoi: Yes. Since our owners are also free today and don’t have school, they said we could play in Ikebukuro so we all headed out. After that we started to talk about where we could wander. We haven’t explored the back alleys in awhile.

Arata: That’s right. The restaurants in this zone have dishes from various countries and a lot of ramen flavours, so we’re happy even with sniffing the scents. It’s worth exploring.  

Aoi: Enjoying the scents is one thing, but the fact that Arata is ready to eat any unknown dish or thing we’re given terrifies me. 

Koi: He’s a greedy one. I see.

Arata: You’re wrong. It’s more like that moment when a cute, young lady tells me ‘eat this’ and hands me this X object. As a man, there’s no way I can refuse her. 

Koi: That’s just you being openly perverted and an idiot!

Kakeru: Even if the one serving you is a cute, young lady, please don’t eat anything that looks like an X object.

Aoi: I don’t know if he’s manly or just simply reckless. Personally I’m happy with only being petted gently, there’s no need to give me pet food.

Koi: From my perspective as a fellow cat, Aoi-san is innately a really pretty cat with really slick fur. Even the other party must be happy from just touching him. As expected from the prince.

Aoi: My owner only likes to brush me.

Kakeru: Aoi-san and Arata-san’s owners are childhood friends, right?

Arata: Exactly. And since Aoi and me were bought at around the same time, you could call us childhood friends too. 

Koi: If I remember well, Aoi-san’s owner is a veterinarian, and among the abandoned cats brought to him, Arata’s owner happened to pick him-

Arata: Then since Aoi’s owner was envious of him, he went to a pet shop and bought Aoi. And according to the shop owner, Aoi’s of a really honorable pedigree type of cat, so he’s a prince in that sense.

Aoi: It’s not like I’m an actual prince. Whether I’m pure-bred doesn’t have any influence on my daily life. 

Koi: That’s for sure. Ah, but still, I’d easily believe it if I was told he's a pure-bred. He has a really high class aura around him, after all. C’mon, take Hajime-san for example. 

All: Aah!

Arata: Wasn’t Hajime-san from a very appealing and valuable race? 

Kakeru: It seems like it. He’s so valuable that for a cat lover, it would be impossible to put a price on him. It makes one wonder whether he’s a walking premium king.

Aoi: It seems Hajime-san goes out freely in that area though… I wonder if it’s alright.

Kakeru: Hmm, his owner seems like the type that doesn’t really mind it. I was told he’s allowed to do as he wishes.

Koi: Hajime-san’s owner is the spitting image of Hajime-san himself. Whenever he has the time, he comes to play with me. He’s a good person. 

Kakeru: Speaking of which, there was a time when you got so absorbed into playing that you bit his finger, Koi.

Arata: ...Why would you do something so terrible…?

Koi: I j-just… lost myself. But I apologized properly! Both Hajime-san and Hajime-san’s owner forgave me! 

Kakeru: Otherwise, Koi wouldn’t be here with us now. -sparkles-

Koi: Why do you say such scary things with a smiling face!

Arata: Well, Hajime-san himself isn’t the quiet house cat type anyway, so isn’t it a good thing that his owner is such a foolish person? I’m not allowed to stay indoors only either. When the weather is nice, I take naps in sunny places. When the weather is bad, I want to go on adventures.

Kakeru: You end up going out either way.

Arata: The ancient wild blood inside me is boiling. 

Aoi: I don’t think those with wild blood sleep soundly with their full stomachs exposed.

Arata: Shut up, Aoi. That was just… me drying in the sun. I was sitting on the futon on a sunny day like this... -sits down and turns around- and drying my belly fur.

Aoi: Yes, yes. Today’s also a good day to take naps and walk around, but having met everyone like this in particular makes me want to go and say hi to Hajime-san and Haru-san too.

Kakeru: I agree! But both of them might be out already.

Arata: Who knows. On such a nice day, maybe Hajime-san and the others are also basking in the sun.

Koi: For now let’s go look for them. At this time they’re most likely in that park with the owl statue.

Kakeru: Okay, let’s go.

If you like my work and you want to support me, you can now buy me a coffee by clicking right [here]. I also started taking commissions, more details are right [here]. Thank you~

[sobdasha]

revenge is a dish best served long after the fact, so you can really savor the subtlety of the irony on the palate

See, the thing is, the first time I saw just that page of the Mabudachi Arc where Shigure's asking Tohru if she's having fun, spending every minute of every day with the person she loves...I assumed he was being salty.

Because I keep forgetting, and then suddenly remembering for just a moment, that there's a bit over half a year gap between the time when the curse ends, Shigure wins, Shigure gets Akito all to himself and everything he's ever wanted…

...and graduation, when Shigure actually gets those things.

It's probably like late July, the curse is broken, everyone is pairing up all lovey-dovey, Kureno's moving out of town and Shigure's taking his place as assistant to the Souma family head. And so Shigure turns up at the Main House (in a suit, because he believes in dressing for the job and while that means schlubbing it around in a bathrobe and glass of wine as a writer, being the personal assistant of the head of a wealthy and prestigious family--who is trying to symbolically break the cycle of stifling, traditional abuse by switching out kimono for Western-style clothes--means at the least investing in some nice slacks and button-downs) and asks so, when is he being recalled from his banishment and moving back in to the inside estate?

And Akito looks at him like he's crazy and says, "Are you crazy? No, you're not moving back here."

You can't leave that house yet, Akito says, because if you move out those three kids living with you are suddenly going to be homeless again, and you can't do that to Tohru.

Okay, so technically there's no reason Kyou can't move back in with Kazuma--except that the dojo is inconveniently far away from Kaibara High School, I'm not sure Japan has school districts exactly like the US but something I was googling a while ago suggested they have a similar idea anyway about how you go to the school you're easily able to walk to--and of course Kazuma would happily take Tohru in as well. But Akito can't just send Yuki back to live with his parents now.

Shigure is pretty sure this is bullshit. First of all, Tohru runs that house and manages the boys perfectly fine as it is, and in fact she could probably do an even better job without Shigure there. They'll all be just dandy without an adult in the house. And secondly, although Shigure is unaware of this argument at the time, Yuki's girlfriend manages to live alone in an apartment without dying and she's nearly as much of a disaster as Yuki.

Yes, Yuki has a girlfriend, and Shigure remains unaware of this fact for a decent while, partly because Yuki refuses to ever bring anyone over to the house. Oh, Aya has talked about Yuki bringing a girlfriend around the shop for months now, but Shigure assumed that was Aya being Aya.

The girl--some friend from school?--existed mostly in Shigure's mind as a sort of hypothetical, in potentia, a Schrodinger’s girlfriend if you will.

The box won't open until one day when Shigure's lurking about the living room, as the boys do when they're waiting for Tohru to finish dinner, and he wonders aloud where Yuki is.

"He's, um, he's at his secret base," Tohru volunteers as she's bringing dishes to the table.

"Well," Shigure says to Kyou, shooing him toward the yard, "go on then and call him in for dinner. We can't let this good food get cold!"

No, Kyou says, he's not out there. "Secret base" isn't the codeword for his garden anymore, Yuki switched it to mean his girlfriend's apartment. He's at his girlfriend's apartment. And in all honesty Kyou's pretty sure that rat is spending the night.

And here Shigure is--and has been since summer break started--stuck living in this house, having to spend all his nights alone, unable to do with his girlfriend exactly what Yuki is theoretically doing with his own, just because he's an "adult" and isn't allowed to leave Kyou and Tohru unsupervised.

It isn't fair.

"Life's not fair," Akito tells him, a comment that isn't any less annoying for its truth. "You're a walking cautionary tale. This is what happens when you sleep around: you suddenly find yourself as the legal guardian of three children that you can't just move out on and abandon."

Akito kind of low-key thinks this is great, actually. She's more-or-less forgiven him about sleeping with her mom, sure, in the sense of forgiving as "I have to let this go and stop obsessing over this for my own sake, my making peace with this in no way condones his actions, but I'm okay and can get on with my life." But a little piece of her is still annoyed that--no matter how well things worked out in the end--her ploy to punish Shigure by banishing him from her presence and using the curse against him...really didn't work in the moment.

Now he's getting his comeuppance belatedly, and it's amazing. Now Shigure has to be apart from her, and he's suffering and chafing, and it's not even because of something Akito's doing to be petty.

Akito's even learning not to mind having an empty bed and no one she can call to get in it when she's lonely at night, the revenge is that great.

And it really is poetic justice, everywhere you turn. Yuki's apparently got a girlfriend he can spend the night with on the down-low whenever he wants. Kyou and Tohru are allegedly increasing their physical intimacy now that they've dropped the burden of the curse and all their respective baggage, and Shigure can't even find it in him to catch them at it and tease them most of the time because his own situation is just too depressing.

Then there's Dr. "I don't need a new love" who's suddenly changed up the way he puts his outfits together, as if someone other than the usual Souma staff is in his closet first thing in the morning, and who also just in general goes about his work with sickening contentedness. Even Ayame shows up one day like "I think this wedding band really enhances my innate royal elegance, you know, it's so nice to finally break it out, it took us a while to unearth those little boxes out of storage and then we had to polish the shine back on them a bit but my don't they look gorgeous now! Btw Mine's been my wife all this time and please feel free to send us your gift money now."

Everyone knows Haru and Rin have been sleeping together for a while now, Ritsu's making plans to move in with girlfriend Mitsuru, and Shigure can't even hang around with Kagura and Momiji to commiserate because they both get very scathing like, "Oh really, how terrible it must be to have an actual concrete plan for your life that you know is going to make you happy and satisfied, yeah, it's so horrible seeing everyone else all lovey-dovey when you have your own guarantee you just have to wait until March to seize on."

Shigure all but stalking around for the month of March like "Aya you better have gotten your brother an apartment, once he's graduated his ass better be out of here, I will throw him out on the street" and "Kazuma if Kyou and Tohru haven't talked to you about apartment-hunting then I will, I will even do actual work like researching neighborhoods and reading lease papers and helping to cover deposits whatever it takes they are not going to be in this house come April." Everyone else has already been living the happy ending they earned over half a year ago when all Shigure's plans culminated in fruition and now he's going to get his, this is a man with motivation. Desperation. Frustration. Whatever.

Instead of getting punched in the face, Shigure got a retribution that aged like a fine wine. And I'm gonna sit here and toast to that.

[datheetjoella]

The Sweet Taste of Tangerines

Author: DatHeetJoella Fandom: Free! Pairing: MakoHaru Rating: T Chapters: 3/5 Word count: 8,840 (total: 21,440) Chapter summary: The taste of fruit on a summer night made memories resurface, which made Makoto come to the revelation that he was, in fact, an idiot. Notes: This fic is a gift for @rosieharu for the MakoHaru Gift Exchange Summer 2018! I hope that you, and everyone else, will enjoy this chapter! ^^ (more chapter notes at AO3) Read at: AO3, FFn, or here!

                                                 Chapter 3: 15 & 16

The stars were twinkling brightly in the clear night sky, the soft moonbeams shining down to light up the darkness, and Makoto was sitting on Haruka's porch, idly swinging his legs while he was petting the stray cat that was fast asleep on his lap.

As he was running his fingers through the cat's thick white fur and scratched behind her ear, his eyes fell on the small yet incredibly detailed drawing that adorned the back of his left arm and he smiled to himself in endearment. It was a doodle of Iwatobi-chan that had gradually appeared there earlier that day, and it was obvious that Haruka had drawn it out of boredom. Nevertheless, it was beautiful, because Haruka's art always was even when he didn't put much effort into it.

'Cute! Looks amazing, Haru' was written beneath Iwatobi-chan's feet with a brightly smiling face right next to it. Although he had never had as much of an affinity for mascot characters as his soulmate, Makoto looked at Iwatobi-chan with fondness, not just because Haruka had drawn him, but also because he couldn't help but like everything that Haruka loved. His interest in mascot characters was honestly adorable, and seeing them always reminded Makoto of his other half. Therefore, he thought that they were special too.

When he recalled that he hadn't taken a picture of the doodle yet, he quickly took his phone out of his pocket and snapped a few shots in fear that it would disappear before he had the chance to catch it. This was a habit he had never been able to shake and frankly, he didn't want to shake it either; he loved everything Haruka put on their skin, whether it was a tiny doodle or an elaborate portrait, a simple response to his question or a sincere wish of good morning, so he captured all of it to be treasured forevermore. Even though he knew the lines would always live on inside his heart, he liked looking back on all the drawings Haruka had made over the past decade and reminiscing about the time they spent together as he thumbed through the pictures.

On his ninth birthday, his parents had given him a small digital camera so he could take photos without having to ask or show them first. Despite having no secrets for his parents, overtime the drawings and conversations they shared on their skin became more personal and intimate so in hindsight, he really appreciated that they gave him his privacy when it came to his soulmate and their connection.

But that didn't mean that he stopped letting his family see everything: if Haruka had drawn something beautiful, like this Iwatobi-chan, he still showed them out of pride and admiration. Haruka's talent was something that deserved all the praise in the world and whenever Makoto heard someone compliment his art, his chest swelled with appreciation as if it were his own work being talked so positively of.

Once he was satisfied with the pictures, he turned his arm, figuring that he might as well take some of the conversation they had just a couple of minutes ago while he was ahead.

'Want to come over?'

'Sure! I'll be right there!'

Earlier this year, Haruka's father was transferred back to his old office so he moved back to Hokkaido. Haruka and his mother stayed behind in Iwatobi, but as the weeks passed, living so far away from her soulmate became unbearable for Mrs. Nanase. They all agreed that it was for the best if she would move back to Hokkaido too so she could live with her husband. Thankfully, Haruka decided to stay here, because Makoto could only imagine how heart-wrenching it must be to be torn apart from your other half and he definitely didn't want to experience that himself.

Haruka had always been an independent person and managed living on his own just fine, but that didn't mean that it wasn't difficult to get used to his family being gone and it could get very lonesome at times. Because of that, Makoto took it upon himself to prevent Haruka from feeling too lonely so he came over whenever he could. He would never say anything about it, but Makoto could feel it in his very core that Haruka was really grateful and happy to have him by his side.

This past week, they hadn't seen each other as often as they usually did though; Haruka's parents had come over to visit and even though Makoto was happy to see them again, he didn't want to impose too much so he took a step back to let them have some quality time alone with their son.

Truthfully, Makoto had mixed feelings about it. He was glad that Haruka could finally spend some time with his parents, but he would be lying if he said that he didn't miss him during the hours spent apart. Ever since they met at the playground all those years ago, they had been inseparable, joined at the hip wherever they went so being away from him for more than a day stung more than it probably should have.

But Mr. and Mrs. Nanase had left this evening, which only brought along some more mixed feelings for Makoto: he was happy to bounce back into their usual routine of seeing each other every waking moment, but the knowledge that Haruka would be alone at his house again still stung a bit. Though he was sure that if he were to ask Haruka about it, he would say that he was glad to be freed from their constant nagging and fussing over him. It would be a joke for the most part, but Makoto could very well imagine that it was a little overwhelming to have his parents around every last minute after not being used to that anymore, especially since Haruka was someone who treasured solitude and even craved it sometimes.

With that in mind, Makoto hadn't intended to come over immediately after Haruka's parents left, just so he could have some time to himself. But he should have known that Haruka didn't consider his presence to be draining, because shortly thereafter, his arm started to tingle and those lovely words appeared on his skin. It was good to know that Haruka had missed him too.

When he had arrived, Haruka simply told him to sit down on the porch so he did what he had been told without question. It didn't take long before his feline friend strolled along and claimed the spot on his lap. He appreciated her company and had been petting her ever since. Together they waited for Haruka to finish whatever task he was occupying himself with so he could join them during this mellow summer evening.

"Makoto."

Speak of the devil.

The sudden sound of Haruka's soft yet deep voice startled the sleeping cat awake and she immediately jumped up from Makoto's lap and ran off into the night.

"Sorry."

"It's alright," Makoto said as he put his phone back into his pocket, knowing that it hadn't been Haruka's intention to scare her off.

Haruka nodded in acknowledgement before he held out his arm, offering Makoto one of the small bowls he had brought along. "Here."

Automatically, Makoto reached out to accept it and it wasn't until he had the bowl in his hand and Haruka sat down beside him that he noticed that it was filled with pieces of tangerine. Upon seeing them, his stomach did a backflip in combination of gratitude and guilt; Haruka knew that he loved tangerines and he really appreciated his thoughtfulness, but tangerines were pretty expensive during this season and he felt bad that Haruka had blown his money on them for him. "Tangerines?" he couldn't help but question, "You didn't have to get them for me."

"But you like them, right?" was Haruka's initial response, but the bashful side of him tried to brush his honesty off with nonchalance, "I still had some lying around and it would be a waste to throw them out, so I figured we might as well eat them now before they go bad."

That was obviously a lie; these tangerines didn't even look close to almost expiring. On the contrary, they looked really fresh, like Haruka had bought them no earlier than this morning at best.

When Haruka realised this, he quickly averted his eyes and mumbled, "Besides, I like them too," before he popped one of the slices from his own bowl into his mouth, pouting slightly.

A hint of laughter bubbled up inside Makoto because of how cute Haruka was, but fortunately he was able to swallow most of it to save Haruka some embarrassment. Well, he wasn't going to argue that.

Silence settled between them and Makoto let out a sigh of happiness. A quiet summer night spent alongside his soulmate with a refreshing piece of fruit; what more could he wish for?

With a content smile stretching his cheeks Makoto followed Haruka's example and slipped a small piece of tangerine between his lips. The flavour burst out of the skin, spreading sweetness through his mouth as he chewed. He hadn't expected the tangerines to be so sweet around this time of year, but he certainly wasn't complaining. This was how he liked them best, so he gratefully ate another piece and closed his eyes, savouring the taste on his tongue.

Inevitably, the sweetness brought along a fond memory; one of a warm sunny day a little over a decade ago, that was dyed with the sweet taste and scent of tangerines, that tingled with a school of fish manifesting on his arm and thoughts of a person whom he had never met before yet already knew that he loved with all his heart.

Makoto glanced down at his arm, turning it to look at the inside of his wrist. That particular part of his skin was blank, but if he focused hard enough, it was like he could see the outline of that first little fish even now. It was odd to think that eleven years had already passed since then, because he could remember it so vividly that it seemed like it was only yesterday. By now, all the questions he had back then were answered and all his wonders were long since confirmed.

"Haru, you know," Makoto mumbled between bites, tender smile adorning his features in reminiscence, "the first time you drew something on your skin for me, I was eating a tangerine too. Do you remember that day?"

"Of course I do," Haruka affirmed, voice muffled around his full mouth. A playful smirk emerged as he continued, "How could I forget? The blue smudges were on my arm for a week."

The enamoured smile was instantly wiped from Makoto's face to make place for embarrassment. Blood rushed to his cheeks as he turned his head, staring at his feet with his mouth hanging open in an attempt to find the right response to being called out on a mistake he made when he was four. "I'm sorry! I didn't know, okay? My mom didn't tell me that there were special pens and that I shouldn't use regular markers on my skin."

"It's alright, I thought it was funny," Haruka snorted, thinking back to the smile he had worn when he woke up the next day to find that the blue fish were still there, albeit a bit smudged out. "My mom though… not so much."

Although Haruka was chuckling softly as he recalled what happened back then, Makoto had never wanted to sink and disappear through the floor as much as he did now. He shoved a handful of tangerine pieces into his mouth to occupy himself with as he listened to the story he had never heard before, but wasn't very eager to hear either. Despite yearning to know every little detail about Haruka's life from start to present, in this scenario Makoto was pretty sure that ignorance was bliss for the sake of his own sanity.

"It was the day before the wedding of my aunt and her wife, and I was going to be the ring-bearer," Haruka started, amused smile playing at his lips. "Since I had just turned five and didn't really understand anything about weddings or soulmates, my grandmother wanted to explain it to me. She told me about the basics of soulbonds and how we have a skin link with our soulmate, and she gave me a pen to try it out. I was very sceptical about it, especially since it took some time before you drew something back. But eventually you did and by the end of the afternoon my entire arm was covered in fish."

Haruka paused for a second to take another bite of fruit, and Makoto allowed himself to enjoy the fondness of their shared memory of drawing fish on their arms before it would ultimately be shattered by the reality of what happened afterwards in Haruka's side of the story.

"When my mom saw it, she was already displeased," he continued with a rare yet wide grin at what was about to come next. "My aunt and her wife had a beach wedding, and my mother got me this neat, short-sleeved outfit for the occasion, and she didn't want our drawings to ruin the overall look of it. My grandmother told her to calm down because all the ink would be washed off that evening and everything would be fine. Except it didn't."

Dread started to fill Makoto's stomach and he tried to rinse the sour taste in his mouth away with another piece of tangerine, but it was in vain. Suddenly, it didn't taste so sweet anymore.

"My grandmother laughed so hard that she teared up but my mom didn't think it was funny at all. She was so upset that she tried to scrub the blue marks off my arm even though she knew it was useless because the ink was in your skin, not mine." Instinctively, Haruka brushed his fingers over his arm, like he could still feel it when he recalled it. "My aunt said it was fine and that it couldn't be helped because my soulmate and I were just children, but I'm pretty sure they all cursed my grandmother for telling me about soulmates right before the wedding."

Makoto honestly didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. "So you're telling me that at the age of four, I managed to ruin the wedding of two women I don't know while I wasn't even there?"

That description made Haruka snort once more. "Well, with all the attention that my blue arm got, I'd say you were there in spirit. Especially when you started to draw new things over the smudges."

Rationally speaking, Makoto understood that he never could have known that Haruka was playing an important role in his aunt's wedding. But he felt pretty embarrassed about the whole situation nonetheless and he let out a loud groan as he buried his face in his hands out of shame. The idea of it was kind of funny objectively, but he still felt bad that Haruka was troubled because of his ignorance. "Sorry."

It wasn't like Haruka had told Makoto with the intention to mock or offend him, but he just genuinely thought it was funny. It had been so long ago that there was no reason to be serious about it, especially considering they were literal kindergartners when this happened. Still, teasing his soulmate a bit was just fun because he knew Makoto wouldn't take it seriously either; it was always a mutual exchange of playful words. Because of that, it was obvious from the start Makoto wouldn't actually be upset or distraught about something like this, just a little flustered.

In order to comfort him, Haruka put a reassuring hand on Makoto's shoulder. "You did entertain me during the boring reception, so I am grateful for that," he said earnestly, though a hint of teasing was still laced through his tone, "But it did bring more guests over to me to question me about my soulmate. My grandmother was there to help me out because she knew I didn't like talking to people I didn't know very well, and whenever someone mentioned the blue marks underneath, she would jokingly say "Haruka's soulmate is not the brightest crayon in the box", and at the time, I couldn't help but agree."

"Oh, great!" Makoto said sarcastically, averting his gaze in an attempt to hide his own amusement at Haruka's anecdote, but he was unable to keep the smile out of his voice entirely. "So my first thoughts about you were that you're so amazing and talented and that I love you with all my heart, while your first thought about me was that I'm a massive idiot."

Haruka couldn't stop himself from snorting again at that statement and the way he phrased it. "I did think you were an idiot," he confirmed as he moved his hand from where it had been cupping Makoto's shoulder to weave his fingers through Makoto's instead. This intimate touch surprised Makoto and it pulled him from his feigned sulking, looking up to meet Haruka's piercing blue eyes. Haruka smiled softly before he murmured, "But you were my idiot, and I wouldn't want to have anyone else."

Within an instant the teasing atmosphere dissolved to make place for serious tension. Makoto's mouth fell open a little, completely caught off-guard by Haruka's sudden yet heartfelt words. Haruka's face was bathed in a mixture of the soft moonlight and the warm glow from the lamps inside, his gaze focused directly on Makoto, unwavering. The intensity inside his eyes stole Makoto's breath away, seeing nothing but honesty swimming in that sea of endless beauty.

Hesitant fingers reached up to Makoto's face, growing more confident as they curled around his jaw. Slowly but surely Haruka leaned closer, giving Makoto plenty of time to move away if so desired. He didn't, couldn't have even if he had wanted to, because something inside Haruka's gaze had enchanted him and thoroughly eradicated any useful thought that once resided in his head.

At last, their eye-contact was broken as Haruka's eyes fluttered shut, yet Makoto found himself to be captured in Haruka's spell all the same. And he would be forevermore; with a sharp intake of breath, Haruka closed the distance between them and planted his lips upon Makoto's in a firm yet gentle kiss. Every remaining bit of hope to one day break the spell that captivated him vanished immediately, and Makoto couldn't be happier about it; there was nothing that he wanted more than to wholeheartedly lose himself in Haruka.

But before he could respond in any way, Haruka's lips were gone again, much to Makoto's disappointment. Thankfully, they didn't stray very far, as Haruka only pulled back slightly to look at him once more, eyes half-lidded. The intensity lingered, locking Makoto in place with a single look. It wasn't necessary by any means, because there was absolutely nothing in the entire universe that could divert Makoto's attention from Haruka. Not now, not ever.

The scent of tangerines was heavy on his warm breath, ghosting over Makoto's lips so sensually as he whispered, "Because I love you so, so much."

If Haruka's mouth meeting his in their very first kiss didn't make Makoto's heart burst with overflowing affection already, then hearing the sincere words that were embroidered on their soul out loud for the very first time definitely set off the fireworks of love in his stomach, to explode in everlasting joy. As inevitable as this might have been in the grand scheme of things, scripted in their destiny from the moment they were created, it still overwhelmed Makoto with indescribable happiness and an impossibly bright smile stretched his cheeks.

Knowing that he would never be able to find an adequate response that would properly convey how he felt, for words that held that much meaning simply hadn't been written yet, Makoto decided to show rather than tell. He squeezed the hand in his lightly while he leaned in to capture Haruka's lips with his own, initiating their second kiss because he hadn't been able to reciprocate during their first.

Haruka sighed against his mouth, and every droplet of hesitance that once flowed through his veins evaporated instantly, kissing Makoto back with all he got. The feeling of it was foreign, but the emotions that drove it certainly weren't; the passion and affection that had been gradually building up over the course of the past couple of years could finally be expressed. Like the pressure that had been weighing on their chests was relieved at long last as their lips softly pressed against each other. Who would have guessed that kissing would be such a wonderful outlet for feelings too great to be voiced aloud?

The light touch was already amazing, but there was something instinctively telling Makoto to change his approach, for there was even greater pleasure to be found in kissing if he knew where to look for it. With no clue what he was doing and honestly without thinking too, Makoto parted his lips and gently brushed them over Haruka's.

Judging by the small gasp and the slight twitch of his fingers against his jaw, this surprised Haruka, though definitely not in a negative way. He followed Makoto's example and tried to match his pace. They practically melted at the astonishing feeling of their lips sliding over one another's so tenderly, making goosebumps erupt on their backs. A kiss so sweet made their skin tingle like the other's entire body was being drawn on at once; it felt downright tantalising.

In a mixed need for leverage and to feel more of Haruka, Makoto placed his hand on Haruka's waist. He had done it so naturally, with confidence that he never had under any other circumstances, that the thought that Haruka might not appreciate this touch hadn't even crossed his mind - to be fair, not a single thought was crossing his mind at that moment except for the yearning for Haruka's lips, his touch, his love… his everything.

Once more it was proven that they were so in tune with each other that Makoto never had to worry about things like this; Haruka leaned into his touch and tightened his hold on Makoto's hand, showing that the need to feel each other was just as mutual as all of their other feelings.

Although everything about kissing was new and exciting, it was honestly like coming home too. Love was a language that their souls already knew by heart, but that their minds and bodies were gradually learning together, one step at a time. The feelings had been there since the start, but they were slowly uncovering them layer by layer and discovered new ways to do so; as of right then, kissing was definitely the favoured contender on the list. There was no rush, not with the prospect of getting to spend their entire lives together. Yet they found themselves already looking forward to a lifetime of shared kisses, for they were certain they could never grow tired of this amazing sensation.

But they had to break apart at one point, much to their dismay. Makoto ended the kiss, chest aching with lack of oxygen - which wasn't surprising considering everything about Haruka was absolutely breathtaking. Between the two of them, Haruka was clearly the one who had the most lung capacity, because of which it felt to him like the kiss had ended prematurely. To solve this issue, Haruka caught Makoto's lips once more in a chaste yet incredibly loving kiss that resembled their first.

Panting lightly, Makoto pulled back and rested his forehead against Haruka's, not daring to open his eyes just yet in fear of disturbing the magical ambience that enveloped them. It felt like he was slowly waking up from a dream that he never wanted to end, so he wanted to hang on for as long as he possibly could.

Yet when he noticed Haruka's eyes opening once more, he couldn't suppress the desire to meet his gaze. When he did, it dawned upon him that his fear had been unwarranted; having Haruka as his soulmate was truly a dream come true, one that was tangible and real and didn't just depend on the current of the realm of sleep.

Naturally a smile lit up his face again, because how couldn't it? A smile as wide as his cheeks would allow was soon becoming part of his default expression, and it was all thanks to Haruka. With something as simple as a single look, he was able to make Makoto's heart overflow with copious amounts of affection that would take an eternity and a half to be expressed. His presence was so reassuring and comforting that Makoto only felt overwhelming adoration and security when he was by his side.

There was nothing but pure love and giddiness gushing in every last fiber of Makoto's body. He couldn't help but giggle softly at the uncontainable happiness that Haruka showered him in without even intending to, solely by being here for him and loving him unconditionally.

He was tempted to steal another kiss from Haruka's lips, so he did, elated by the fact that he simply could. Although he had often imagined their first kiss in the past, he had never felt the urge to rush into it, because he knew that the universe had planned the perfect time for it anyway. And now that that blissful moment had finally arrived, he didn't understand how he had been able to resist Haruka's lips for so long. Kissing him was nothing short of absolutely wonderful and Makoto would gladly indulge himself whenever he could, for he could never get enough.

It was then that Makoto realised that despite all of his sickeningly sappy thoughts about his love for his soulmate, he hadn't said it back yet - at least, not properly, how Haruka deserved. Maybe Haruka had been right all along: he truly was an idiot.

He tried to get his eyes to focus again after staring off into the ocean of Haruka's irises, because he wanted to look at him completely, just so there would be no doubt about the sincerity that was weaved through the words he was about to say. When Haruka's eyebrows were raised in question, he murmured, "I love you so much, Haru-chan. With all my heart."

For some reason, despite the nonchalance when he had said it himself, Makoto's confession made Haruka blush a deep shade of red. He quickly looked away, unusual bashfulness grasping him and tugging at his heartstrings as he mumbled, "How many times do I have to tell you to stop with the '-chan' already?"

Seeing his ever-so-composed soulmate rendered so shy all of a sudden made Makoto sigh in endearment. Haruka really was too cute. Thinking that it was his turn to tease Haruka now, Makoto innocently protested, "Eh? But you're the one who gave me permission in the first place, Haru-chan," with a playful smirk threatening to break through his demeanour.

That was news to Haruka, and he whipped his head back to face Makoto, sporting a big frown as he sceptically questioned, "When did I do that?"

"The day we first met, when I wrote to you for the first time," Makoto supplied without missing a beat, smiling in triumph, "I asked 'can I call you Haru-chan?' and you wrote back 'do what you want', thus giving me permission."

Recollection flashed through Haruka's eyes, but he wasn't about to admit it. "I don't remember that," he said as he stubbornly crossed his arms and averted his eyes once again, because he was never able to lie to Makoto's face.

"Oh, but I do," Makoto sang, and Haruka hated the self-satisfaction that was vibrant in his beautiful voice, "In fact, I have proof that you wrote it."

"Proof?"

"Yes, I have pictures of it!" Though they were never taken with the intention to become evidence, Makoto couldn't deny that his habit of snapping photos of everything they put down on their skin came in handy in this situation.

This took Haruka by surprise, and his tone morphed from fierce denial to gentle bewilderment. "You have pictures of it?"

"Hm," Makoto hummed in confirmation, "I have pictures of all of our drawings and conversations. Well, almost all." For a second Makoto feared that Haruka might find that weird or creepy, but those worries were as baseless as all the other ones that darted through his mind in times of doubt.

Haruka's eyes widened, seeming like he didn't quite know how to process that information because of the sheer unexpectedness of it all. The knowledge that the vast majority of the things they had written and drawn weren't lost forever like he had always assumed, but that his soulmate had carefully preserved them, was astounding, yet certainly not in an unpleasant way.

"…Show me," Haruka requested after a moment of silence. The softness of his voice made it clear that he wasn't asking out of disbelief or in a need for Makoto to prove it, but out of interest and curiosity; a genuine longing to see the countless of images of all those treasured memories.

"I don't have the pictures of that exact conversation with me, but…" Makoto muttered under his breath, taking his phone out of his pocket and sliding it open. He scooted closer to Haruka and held his phone between them so they could both see the screen as he looked through his folders.

He opened one called 'Drawings' with a little heart in the title, and Haruka gasped involuntarily when numerous pictures of Makoto's skin showed up. Makoto selected the first and he saw the words he had written on his skin less than an hour ago flash by, followed by the Iwatobi-chan he had drawn earlier, both of which still marked his arm at that very instance. Wishes of goodnight, reminders to get out of the bathtub before the water would turn cold, drawings of simple hearts and elaborate hydrangeas, all of it and more depicted on the little pixelated screen of Makoto's phone.

"These aren't all the pictures I have," Makoto said, tearing his eyes away from his phone to look at Haruka again, "and there are some drawings that I missed because you washed them off before I had the chance to take pictures of them, but other than that, they're all on my laptop or in old photo albums."

Haruka's small mouth was still slightly open in the wake of a gasp, hope shimmering in his eyes as he quietly asked, "So you have pictures from the start? Even of our first drawings?"

Makoto nodded. "My mom wanted to take pictures of my arm full of fish so we had something to 'remember and commemorate' our first interaction with," he explained, full of amused nostalgia as he made quotation marks in the air with his fingers. "I was glad about that, because I was really sad when your outlines disappeared when you took a bath; I almost cried because I didn't want them to go away. I thought that anything drawn on our skin was permanent."

"Thank God it wasn't," Haruka cut in, teasing smirk fighting to make its way onto his lovely features again, "otherwise I'd still have those blue fish on my arm."

"Hey!" Makoto protested offendedly as he nudged Haruka with his elbow, but he couldn't stop himself from laughing too when he heard Haruka chuckle. "Anyway, my parents told me that even if the ink disappears from our skin, the lines will live on forever inside my heart," Makoto continued, voice softening in reminiscence as he unconsciously grasped at the front of his shirt with his free hand. "But because I liked looking back at the pictures of those fish, and hated the idea of never being able to see something you drew again, I asked my parents to take pictures of everything we drew. It was probably a little annoying, considering how much we sometimes drew and wrote, but they always complied. Do you remember that they gave me a camera for my ninth birthday?"

"Yes," Haruka replied fondly, envisioning the bright, adorable smile he had worn that day, "So up until then, your parents took pictures of everything we put on our skin?"

"Almost, yeah. Sorry if that feels like a breach of privacy," Makoto apologised. Even if the subjects of their conversations hadn't been more than inquiries to play together and childish chatter about random things, in hindsight Makoto still felt bad if Haruka hadn't wanted to share that with anyone but him.

"It's alright, it's not like you had any other choice if you wanted pictures of it."

As always, Haruka was so understanding of him and Makoto's chest filled with warmth. If anything, Haruka only found it odd that over a decade of time spent together, he had never noticed it before. Makoto somehow managed to plan it just so that he was always able to take pictures before he came over or after he left; they rarely drew or wrote anything when they were together, because there was no need for it in person, when they could just say what they wanted to say out loud.

Then Haruka's gaze wandered back to the screen, smiling softly to himself as he muttered, "Besides, I'm just glad you were able to keep all of it saved up."

The implication was crystal clear to Makoto, and because he knew Haruka would never ask himself, he had to be the one to offer it. "I'll show you all the pictures I have sometime," he promised, already anticipating a quiet evening spent lying side-by-side on his bed as they thumbed through years worth of memories together. "And then you'll see that you gave me permission to call you Haru-chan all along!"

Surprised by this twist of events, Haruka huffed as he turned his head away again. "Well, I take it back. I hereby revoke your permission to call me '-chan'."

"What? You can't just do that!" Makoto objected, finding that that was definitely not in the rules of this game they had been playing since a few years back - even though he made it all up just now.

"Oh no? Watch me," Haruka challenged as he looked back at his soulmate with a determined gleam in his oceanic eyes. "Call me 'Haru-chan' one more time and I'll never let you kiss me again."

Self-satisfaction was now vivid in Haruka's expression, and Makoto simply couldn't believe how severely this plan had backfired. Instead of claiming victory as his own and being allowed to call Haruka the childhood nickname he always had without being reprimanded for it, he was now facing the ultimatum of never using it again or never being allowed to do his newfound favourite activity again. Even if this wasn't dead serious, he wasn't about to take this without protest. "Eh?! That's not fair-"

Before he was able to finish his sentence, Haruka's demeanour was demolished by a chuckle of genuine and uncontrollable happiness. "Just shut up and kiss me already, you idiot," he sighed as he stole Makoto's phone from his hand and slid it shut in one swift motion, discarding it beside their bowls of forgotten fruit. Then he wrapped his arms around Makoto's neck and pulled him in for another kiss; that just showed that if you wanted something, you had to go get it yourself.

A smile at Haruka's blunt words was still stretching Makoto's cheeks as their lips met in their fifth kiss. Rather than continuing their playful and meaningless banter, Makoto agreed that kissing each other breathless was the best thing they could possibly be doing right then. So he wholeheartedly kissed Haruka back and he wound his arms around Haruka's waist to pull him closer.

Even after sharing some kisses and steadily getting used to this wonderful sensation, it didn't become any less special or amazing. On the contrary, as the seconds ticked by, the kiss grew more and more heated and intense and it was like no amount of proximity would be enough. Like their souls were screaming for each other and every layer of cloth and muscle and affection that separated their hearts was one too many.

Haruka tightened his hold around Makoto's neck while he simultaneously leaned in his body, pressing their chests flush together. In a tentative need for more, Haruka tread further into unknown yet exciting territory and he opened his mouth slightly to lick at Makoto's lips. A shiver ran down Makoto's spine as he allowed Haruka to deepen the kiss, clutching at the back of his shirt for leverage.

The taste of tangerines was heavy on Haruka's tongue, but Makoto was sure that even without the hint of citrus, their kisses would always be this sweet. Regardless of how heated they would inevitably get in the future, it was mainly a way of expressing their pure and undying affection for each other and that would shine through first and foremost no matter what the circumstances were; though they were now gradually unravelling the pleasures to be found in shared kisses, the desire for it was yielded by their feelings for each other and that would never change.

Fingers tangled in Makoto's brown locks almost desperately, and he wouldn't have thought that the feeling of Haruka's blunt nails scratching lightly at his scalp could feel so heavenly; it was a wonderful addition to an already perfect kiss. Though at this moment, Makoto was so lost in his love for his soulmate that Haruka could do pretty much anything and he would find it just as amazing.

Haruka's lips were so incredibly soft and brushed over Makoto's so tenderly that they whisked any cohesive thought inside Makoto's head away before it could even be formed. It was like every fiber in his being had turned into sugar and he was melting straight into Haruka's arms; he didn't even feel how Haruka gently pulled him down onto himself until he felt his knuckles grazing against the wooden planks of the porch and he had to twist his wrists to support his own weight.

He didn't mind the change of position at all since Haruka never broke the kiss, so there was no room to complain even if he had wanted to. But he couldn't imagine ever complaining; in his heart he knew he would always seamlessly go along with all of Haruka's whims.

Only when that sweet aching re-emerged inside his chest did Makoto tear himself away from this astonishing kiss, but almost regretfully so. His remorse soon disappeared when he opened his eyes and saw the smile that adorned Haruka's flushed features, his small mouth wet and shimmering in the light that poured down on him. Naturally, a matching smile was etched onto Makoto's face.

Before he realised what he was doing, Makoto gently caressed Haruka's cheek with the back of his fingers and he ran his thumb over Haruka's bottom lip. For a moment Haruka's eyes fell shut once more and he exhaled deeply. His breath was warm as it fanned against Makoto's skin, and even after all those kisses, it still smelled like tangerines. Ocean blue was unveiled to meet forest green again, and Makoto could see nothing but affection swimming inside those deep eyes, reflecting the very contents of his own heart.

Haruka pulled him to himself even further, but it was not for a kiss this time. Instead, he tugged at his neck, forcing Makoto down onto his forearms to be wrapped up in his loving embrace. Their chests aligned and Makoto swore he could feel the pounding inside Haruka's ribcage, pace in sync with the intense yet composed thumping inside his own. Alas their positions prevented him from returning Haruka's hug, so he had to settle for second best; he cradled Haruka's face in his palms and pressed a long yet delicate kiss against Haruka's lips. Then the corners of his mouth curled into an infinitely loving smile as he affectionately nuzzled Haruka's nose with his own.

Happiness radiated off of Haruka's face as he removed one of his arms from Makoto's neck to grab ahold of his hand instead, entwining their fingers. Silence lingered as their gazes connected them down to the core, hearts holding a conversation too powerful to be put into words, for their meaning would slip out to vanish in thin air if ever attempted to be spoken aloud. Makoto didn't know if it was like this for all soulmates or if this was uniquely them, but he loved that they were always able to just understand each other regardless of the circumstances. It was a silly thought, but Makoto liked to believe that even amongst other soulbonds, their relationship was a little special.

Although he would have loved to stay like this forever, his arms were starting to burn beneath his weight and he didn't want to accidentally crush Haruka if the strength in his muscles crumbled. Makoto broke away from their intimate exchange at last, but not without a brief peck to soothe the pain of doing so.

There was no way he could part from Haruka's side completely, so Makoto settled for a good alternative: he turned to lie beside him, keeping their hands linked together, and placed his head on Haruka's chest. Right beneath his ear was the rhythmic beating of Haruka's heart and a surge of warmth shot through his veins as he rubbed his cheek against Haruka's shirt. In response, Haruka's free hand found its way back to his neck and he lightly tickled the small strands at the bottom of his hairline with his fingertips, coaxing a hum of contentment from Makoto's lips.

Instead of letting his eyes flutter shut to feel Haruka's touch even more, Makoto decided to take in the atmosphere that surrounded them, for it was truly adding to their little cocoon of bliss. The parts of the night sky that were visible were filled with stars, twinkling brightly and standing out from the varying shades of blue. Though the moon wasn't within sight, Makoto knew it was stunning and shining just as fiercely as it did in his mind.

He couldn't help but smile to himself as he remembered how he used to fantasize about stargazing with his soulmate, long before he even met Haruka. The endlessness of the sky had always been fascinating to him and he could dream away for hours as he stared at the beauty of the night. And without exception, the need to share this with his soulmate would well up inside of him. Even though he understood that wherever they might be, they could see the moon and the stars too, that didn't change that he wanted to experience it together with them. To be enthralled by the universe together, the very universe that created them and blessed them with each other.

This was certainly not the first time they spent the night together and inevitably watched the stars in tranquility, yet it was in a moment as heavy and meaningful as this one that all those memories came flooding back to Makoto. It really showed just how long they had been together already; a decade's worth of things that he had envisioned doing with his soulmate as a little kid that had fortunately all come true.

But there were also many other things that they had gone through together, things that had never crossed his mind when he was younger but were very important nonetheless. Many joyful happenings such as the birth of Ran and Ren, the twin-siblings who had finally completed their family. Alas there had been sorrowful times too, like when Haruka's grandmother passed away and they were all consumed by grief, but Haruka especially - and therefore, Makoto too.

Although Makoto dearly wished that their future only held happiness and that mourning was left behind in the past, he knew that simply wasn't realistic and that life was made up of a balance of positive and negative events. Yet he found that he didn't dread the prospect of that. Haruka and he had been together throughout every high and low, always there to comfort and support each other, to shoulder any burden too heavy to be carried alone. Even if it seemed like the whole world was against them, Makoto was confident that as long as they had each other, they could get through anything.

As long as he had the love and support of his amazing soulmate, Makoto would defy the universe itself if he had to.

There was no need for such dramatic thoughts though, not when the universe had guided him to a moment as lovely as this one: cuddled together with his soulmate beneath the heavens after exploring the wonderful sensations of kissing for the first time, in the comfort and safety of Haruka's home. This was truly a moment worth cherishing and Makoto knew it would be engraved into the walls of his heart to be remembered forevermore.

Struck with an idea, he tore himself away from Haruka's grasp to search for his discarded phone.

"Makoto…?" came Haruka's soft whine of protest, but Makoto only smiled at him.

"This is something that deserves to be captured too."

Haruka sighed and shook his head in fondness. This really shouldn't have come as a surprise, and though he would never admit it aloud, Makoto knew that Haruka appreciated his dedication to their love and his need to have tangible tokens of their most treasured memories. And though they were still living it right now, they both knew that today was a day that they would never forget and would hold dear for as long as they were allowed to walk the road of life together.

Once Makoto had gotten ahold of his phone, he leaned down to lie beside Haruka again. Faces close together, Makoto reached out his arm and smiled sweetly at the camera, hoping that Haruka would do the same. When the picture was taken, Makoto went to look at it to see if they were both nicely in frame and he wasn't disappointed by what he saw: the soft smile that was adorning Haruka's features was so cute that it spontaneously awoke the butterflies in his stomach.

Pleased by the result, Makoto turned his head towards Haruka and closed his eyes, pouting out his lips in a silent request for a kiss. Although he couldn't see it, Makoto could just feel that Haruka rolled his eyes as another sigh of enamoured exasperation escaped his mouth. Nevertheless, he complied and pressed his lips against Makoto's in the desired kiss; just like Makoto, Haruka would go along with any of his soulmate's whims and demands. Makoto smiled as he felt Haruka reciprocate the kiss and he lifted his arm again to snap another photo.

The kiss wasn't immediately broken after the light flashed, because Makoto had discovered that Haruka's lips were so addictive that he simply couldn't end it after a mere second. This feeling was apparently shared, for Haruka's hand came up to cup Makoto's cheek and his thumb gently stroked over his smooth skin. For good measure, Makoto took one more picture, just to be sure.

When their lips ultimately parted, Makoto's grin widened and he placed a small kiss on Haruka's cute nose as a gesture of gratitude for going along with his somewhat ridiculous wishes.

"It may not be a picture of our first," Makoto said when he was studying the image displayed on the little screen, "but I suppose a picture of our eighth kiss will suffice."

"Oh God," Haruka huffed as he looked away in disbelief. "Please don't tell me you're actually going to count them."

Although that hadn't really been his intention, when Haruka brought it up like this, Makoto couldn't help but tease him a little. "Well, maybe I will," he evoked and he put his phone down, biting his bottom lip to suppress the oncoming smirk, "What are you going to do about it?"

"I'll make you lose count," Haruka vowed and Makoto's eyebrows quirked in feigned surprise, as if that wasn't what he had wanted him to say. Still, that didn't seem to bother Haruka as he bridged the short distance between them and rapidly placed a series of chaste kisses against his soulmate's mouth, and Makoto snorted at the ticklish feeling. When Haruka pulled back, he shot him a challenging look.

Makoto had to do everything he could not to giggle as he replied, "Twenty-one."

The loud groan that sounded out through the quiet of the night demolished the barrier that held Makoto's amusement at bay and he could no longer keep himself from laughing. Haruka pouted as he shifted to lie on his other side, back facing Makoto as he crossed his arms. This only made Makoto chuckle even more and he wrapped his arm around Haruka's waist, putting his head on Haruka's shoulder and he kissed Haruka's jaw in a silent apology for his playfulness.

This action took Haruka off-guard and when he looked back at Makoto, a tiny smile shattered his demeanour. "You'll lose count eventually," Haruka stated with certainty, because they both knew that it was just a matter of time until Makoto was forced to give up and he would win this silly little game.

Well, Makoto wasn't going to argue that either. But in the meantime, he would definitely enjoy kiss number twenty-two as Haruka faced him completely and their lips met again.

Truthfully, Makoto was so lucky to have been blessed with Haruka. Of all the billions of people on this planet, he could have ended up with pretty much anyone as his soulmate, yet the universe had tied him to Haruka; the most amazing person to ever exist, absolutely gorgeous on the inside and out, the personification of utmost perfection - and Makoto was convinced that he wasn't biased. Not a day would go by in which Makoto wasn't grateful to have Haruka by his side, and he would treasure him for as long as he lived.

"Hey, Haru?" he mumbled after a little while, his soft voice disrupting the serene bubble that engulfed them. When Haruka met his eyes, he continued, "Do you think that…"

He cut himself off in an attempt to rephrase his thoughts, averting his gaze and licking his lips as he tried to find the right words. A hand grasped his, squeezing lightly and when Makoto looked back at Haruka, he nodded encouragingly at him, telling him to take his time to say what he wanted to.

Reassured by Haruka's unconditional support, Makoto felt confident enough to try again. He swallowed and scraped his throat before he said, "You know how there are theories of parallel universes? Of infinite worlds similar to ours but with small changes?"

"Yeah," Haruka answered as he slowly rubbed his thumb over Makoto's skin, eyes never leaving his.

"If there was a universe out there where soulmates didn't exist, and we were all created separately… do you think that we would still be together?"

"I'm sure we would."

Haruka's immediate response took Makoto by surprise, and though he appreciated that Haruka felt that way, he didn't know why he was so certain of that. As always, he didn't need to voice his question for Haruka to understand it, and Haruka peered around them in search for a verbal explanation of his feelings.

"I don't think we're meant to be together because we're soulmates," Haruka murmured, the intensity in his beautiful irises locking Makoto in place once more, just so he wouldn't misunderstand what he was saying. "I think we're soulmates because we're meant to be together."

Makoto's heart melted inside his chest when he processed those words. The knowledge that Haruka felt that way made affection rush through every fiber of his being, and he decided to accept that answer for himself too. It was a comforting thought that no matter what universe they were in, soulmates or not, they would always be together, and nothing could ever change the fact that their hearts belonged to each other. Looking at it from that angle, Makoto believed it too. After all, he simply knew that there could never be another person out there who fit him better than Haruka did; no one who he could love as much as he loved Haruka.

He gave Haruka's hand a small squeeze in return as an adoring smile softened his features. "I love you so much, Haru," he whispered as he raised their entwined fingers to his mouth and kissed Haruka's knuckles tenderly, "More than anything."

"I love you too… idiot."

[soulkiba]

Got tagged by @udonbullets for the 11 questions thing! 1. Do you cry because of book/video games/movies? Oh yeah definetely. Or well, I atleast get teary eyed very easily. It’s kind of rare that I really do cry but it definetely does happen like, the end of MGS4 really did hit me hard, that was definetely the video game that made me cry the most. 2. Choose between card games/video games/board games Video games for sure. But card games and Board games can be alot of fun too. 3. A fictional character you would want as a room mate (and they were room mates) First, the “and they were room mates” vine is by far one of my favourtie vines. But regarding the question...hmm hard one. Harvey from Stardew Valley could probably be a pretty pleasant room mate, maybe Haru from Persona too. It definetely should be someone who doesn’t leave trash everywhere and isn’t too loud or like, smokes. And someone whos open minded and who I could just be friends with easily. 4. What do you crave? I mean, I really hope that I can handle everything thats gonna happen in the next few months but like, thats more hoping and not craving. But I guess a thing that I just really crave is actually a boyfriend. I just, often feel pretty lonely since I basically never get to really hang out and do alot of stuff with friends and all, and well a boyfriend doesn’t really have to fill that I guess cause maybe he won’t even live close to me but...I dunno, often when I’m outside on my own I just kinda imagine how it would be doing that or going there with someone who I would love and who does the same back and it’s kinda sad thinking about it cause I just don’t really get my hopes high. I guess the craving got a bit less once I thought more about the fact that I might never actually find someone more and that I well, just shouldn’t put too much hope into it and be more realistic but...yeah. Sorry if that might’ve been a bit negative. 5. Favourite school subject (any level) In elementary school, it was Art for sure. But later I started liking english more and more, probably because I just was pretty good at it and actually kinda was the best in my class until 11th grade. Art kinda died down a bit, just because we nearly always used water colours and I really started to hate that. 6. Favourite song? Hard to say since my taste in music literally changes every few weeks but yeah, there are some songs that are like, my all time favourites but I actually tend to forget them pretty easily. I think one of my favourites is Daybreak and Fireflies, especially Rachie’s cover. My R also really stuck with me. At the moment I’m pretty deep back into my J-Pop/Rock/Vocaloid phase again and I’m really liking I’m Glad You’re Evil too and Disappearance Addiction. Oh and I totally love Fake Happy from Paramore and Sweet Adeline by Avi and the Sequoias! Sorry for the Music Spam. 7.What super power do you wish you had that isn’t invincibility/immortality/invisibility/teleportation? I mean, it’s maybe a bit op but like, Transmutation would be pretty awesome like, just being able to change an Item into something completely different. and it would be incredibly useful too. Shapeshifting must be really fun too though, like being an animal for a bit or something. Or like, being able to pick things up with your mind, really there are alot of really cool ones but they all seem a bit extreme.  8.If you could only live in one place for the rest of your life would you move? If so where to? Hmm...yeah I think I would. My dream place to live is like, a small wooden house near a big lake in the forest. Not like, absolutely secluded, there should be like a small town nearby and like, hopefully internet too and stuff but that would be very nice. Just being able to live near the sea or at a lake would already be awesome though. Not really a preference regarding which like, country or state. 9.Do you like to wear sleeveless tops? Oh no, absolutely not. Doesn’t mean I despise them or anything but I already don’t like exposing alot of my body and especially not my shoulders cause like, I got fairly bad acne and it’s super annoying and I do have it around my shoulders and my upper back and really no one needs to see that. 10.What do you collect? I collected a bunch of things when I was younger but nowadays...not really anything I guess. Mainly cause it often just costs too much money or I just, lose interest in it. 11.One thing you only tell people you get to know? Hmm...I mean, theres definetely a difference if its online or in real life. Like, I do pretty openly talk about myself to people I meet online cause I usually talk to people there, where I know that they kinda have the same interests but when I know someone in real life, it’s alot harder for me to open myself to them. Maybe a reason why I never had alot of friends back in school, Iw as always quiet and never talked about my hobbies or interests cause I was scared of people judging me and that still happens today. But even with people I know online, it can still be very hard to tell them alot about myself cause I’m always kinda scared of being judged or just being plain annoying when I message them. So usually, with people online and with people in real life, the moment when I can say that I’m comfortable talking to them and that I can talk about things where I’m scared that others would judge me, thats kinda the moment that I really trust someone. I hope that kinda answers the question?

[victuuri-victory]

Top 10 Yuri Manga Without A School Setting

edit: removed the “keep reading” line, because it cuts off the post when people reblog it, at least when on mobile

There’s a certain formula for producing bad yuri manga- default highschool setting (+1 if it’s all-girls and all-girls somehow equals all-gay), a unhealthy relationship dynamic, unrealistic-but-stock characters (the shy protagonist and the perfect student council president), strict gender roles of butch x femme, males are never present, you get the idea. There’s lots of great yuri out there that takes place in highschool, but I’ll admit that the saturation of bad stuff has tainted my view of the setting. 

That said, regardless of your views on yuri’s default setting, here’s the Top 10 Yuri Manga with a fresh change of scenery!

10. Gouhou Yuri Fuufu Hon

On some days, we just don’t have it in us for serious, literary stuff. I want this list to include cute and relaxing sugary stuff too, and Gouhou Yuuri Fuufu Hon fits right in. 

I might have a soft spot for moe art, but Hachishiro makes the sickest covers, I’m not even kidding. 

Set in a sort-of-fantasy world where same-sex marriage is accepted and animals ears are a thing, Haru is a shy, younger girl who is married off to Sensei, a novelist oblivious to Haru’s uncertainties on how to be Sensei’s wife. Yes the dynamic is a little stock. You might realize the part on arranged marriage is kinda problematic, but this is a not-serious moe manga that doesn��t go there. It’s nothing mindblowing, and it’s not got much of a plot, but it’s a fluffy and enjoyable slice-of-life piece on marriage and domestic stuff.

The art is cute af, and works very well to convey changes in their emotions.

9. Sweet Guilty Love Bites

Sweet Guilty Love Bites is about four cabaret hostesses who work at Club Rose. It’s separated into “Sweet Guilty” and “Guilty Love”.  In “Sweet Guilty”, Kirie returns from a bad night of hostessing, to discover Myata, a young woman sleeping in the streets near her house. In “Guilty Love”, Niina, a hostess and a single mother, has a one-night stand with Mayu, only to discover the next day that Mayu is the preschool teacher of her daughter. 

Despite the seriousness of what I just summarized, this is a light and fluffy manga with funny moments, and everything ends happily for our dear characters.Though sometimes, the manga struggles to shift from this lighthearted tone when addressing serious life issues that its characters face. 

The art is nothing stunning, but it’s decent and carries the plot just fine. 

8. Rock it, GiRL!!

Rock it, GiRL!! is about a street guitarist and vocalist, Kaname, who is approached by a talent agency to be part of a band. But Kaname is not an ambitous person and thinks little of her talents. Nevertheless, she decides to give a band a shot. She discovers, however, that a) the talent agency love her as a guitarist, but thinks lowly of her vocal ability, and b) the girl who will sing the songs in her place, is an arrogant tsundere, much in contrast to Kaname’s mopey, sappy self. Animosity develops between them, but they must rise above this personal drama as the show must go on. 

I have to say, the characters aren’t exactly sympathetic, but they’ve got real issues, they are offbeat, and are basically a fresh breath of air, away from the standard “sweet, nice, moe girls in a girl band” cliche. Plus the plot is wild, given the seemingly predictable premise. 

The art itself is simple, but in a weirdly cute and silly way. 

7. Murcielago

I would like to defend Murcielago’s presence on this list by saying that yes it is trash, HOWEVER, it is the kind of trash that nobody expects from the yuri genre.

Specifically, Murcielago is guilty-pleasure gore trash. It’s what we’ve seen played out again and again with a certain Western genre, but always with a male character depicted: violent movies centered on a loose-cannon anti-villain protagonist, who is tasked with being a criminal detective but who really does kill more people than the police are comfortable with. In the backdrop, some sort of vast conspiracy is brewing, where all the crimes that the detective solves, are actually linked together, and this whole conspiracy is somehow, quite self-aggrandizingly, all about this detective protagonist (we just don’t know how yet). 

Yes, that was weirdly specific, but we all know that’s an entire genre. 

In that sense, Murcielago is predictable, but it’s also very fun action-packed reading. Plus the gender and lesbian of its protagonist, is something quite unexpected, considering the “cute nice fluffiness” that characterizes most manga lesbians, and the male protags who dominate violent action comics for both manga and Western comics. 

You know she’s gonna be able to solve the crime, you know the Villain of the Week is gonna die, but there’s still a perverse excitement in finding out how she does it, and what ridiculous over-the-top crime features in the latest issue. 

Read beneath that surface, and Murcielago can be a little deeper than that. Our dear psycho-lesbian detective does spare people, and she justifies it by outwardly saying she spares “cute girls”, but that shallow explanation doesn’t hold water. She’s perfectly ok with mutilating and killing incompetent and immoral “cute girls”, which she has made no comment about. She’s specifically sparing a) completely moral “cute girls”, and hiring  b) dangerously competent, morally shadier “cute girls” as her proteges. In fact, when she meets a bomb prodigy, she has no qualms morally corrupting her from a) to b), because she really needs a demolitions expert. She’s secretly building a ruthless army, and we don’t yet know why.  

6. Lonely Wolf, Lonely Sheep

Lonely Wolf, Lonely Sheep involves the coincidential meeting of two girls who are coincidentially both named Imari, when their names are called in the hospital waiting room. Even more coincidentially, they are both there for left hand injuries. They declare their meeting one of Fate and the stars.

The dynamic is a little stock- we have the tall tomboyish landscaper “Big Imari”, contrasted with the petite girly artist “Little Imari”. But this short comic serves up more than just a plotless dose of sugary cute, the arc does turn serious. “Little Imari”’s injuries hide a dark secret, and the past is coming to claim her. 

5. Octave

Miyashita Yukino is a burnt-out pop idol- the industry is not what she thought it was, and she has no idea where to go with life from thereon. The people of her hometown do not welcome her, and believe she must have had to be a slut to get ahead as an idol. What really cuts deep in this manga, is the portrayal and young age of Yukino- the reality of the pop industry and the sacrifices she had make for her dream, such as dropping out of school, has aged her beyond her years. 

She then tries to make a living as a talent manager in Tokyo, but her life still seems devoid of purpose, she is drifting and still yearns for fame. During a regular trip to the nearby laundromat, she meets Setsuko, who is the sister of the laundromat’s owner. She finds some comfort in Setsuko’s company, but her problems do not disappear, and in fact the landromat is facing financial difficulties.

My main problems with Octave is that the characterization can be unsympathetic. Yukino is jaded, and certainly mature in some ways, but she is also emotionally childish- she can be exceedingly mopey, sometimes blames her problems on others, seeks external validation to an unhealthy extent, and generally creates unnecessary drama and conflict with Setsuko, who is emotionally flawed as well. Don’t get me wrong, characters should have flaws, but too much of it, and it rubs me up the wrong way and I kinda want to slap them. The plot also starts to slow rather than speed up as the manga progresses, which is just not to my taste. 

However, I would simply chalk those flaws up to the inconsistent quality of Octave, where the quality is high, the manga is amazing, the emotions, the issues and ennui from the characters and the atmosphere, can be quite intensely felt.

4. Gunjo

If you asked me what the manga embodiment of misery is, I might just point you to Gunjo. Gunjo tears your heart out, and then puts it back in for a split second, just so it can tear it out again. 

“It begins in the moments after a horrible crime has been committed. A woman has asked someone to kill her husband for her. She has asked someone she knows she can use – another woman, a lesbian, who has been in love with her since high school. The woman who requested the death is abusive, derisive. The woman who committed the crime is passive, almost apathetic. She flinches in the face of the other’s harsh words, but doesn’t fight back.” -(Okazu)

They then go on the run, but how far can they go before they’re caught? Does it make a difference that the cunning, abusive woman who has plotted the murder of her husband, was she herself horrifically abused by this man? Can something resembling love ever develop between two people so violent and broken?

Gunjo is amazing in its fan disservice. The murder succeeds because the killer seduces the man, and kills him while naked. But even in this scene, the violence and her disgust completely detracts from any sexual appeal of her nudity. Even in a kiss between the two main characters, their pain permeates.

My problem with Gunjo however, is specifically that the darkness never lets up. Perhaps it is my own sensitivity, but I found it very hard to complete it.

3. Pulse

It’s a full-color! I love full colors. Anyway, moving on, 

Pulse tells the story of Mei, a renowned heart surgeon who is also a cold-hearted playgirl. Lynn is a college student who needs a heart transplant, but she refuses to get one (the risks are high). When they meet, Mei feels a strange kind of pull towards Lynn, almost like she’s truly attracted for once in her life. As they grow closer, Lynn strikes a deal- if she can make Mei fall in love with her, she will get the surgery, but Mei has to be the one to do the surgery. Lynn trusts her.

The premise can create all sorts of problems, but that is surprisingly averted. Mei doesn’t pressure Lynn into sex, nor does she fake romantic attraction. Lynn doesn’t sacrifice for Mei. Basically, Mei is no asshole, she’s just uninterested in people, and Lynn is no pushover. Also, the art is mighty fine. 

2. Philosophia

Philosophia is about a college romance wherein the two anti-social, apathetic main characters, Ai and Tomo, bond over smokes and coffee. But these little things are not enough to exorcise their inner demons. As Ai starts to feel for Tomo, she becomes torn up over these emotions- her existing familial relationships are far from ideal, and that has fostered her inability to really understand love. Tomo is strange and disinterested, and it doesn’t seem likely that she will return Ai’s feelings. Furthermore, Tomo wants to leave the country, and the means by which she gets the money she needs, is best kept a secret. 

Philosophia has both realistic yet unique characters (they do not fall too far into “always mopey” or “always sweet and excitable”, a common problem even in this list), and also incorporates a series of sobering twists and turns.

1. Collectors

Nito Shinobu and Kanzaki Takako both love shopping. Shinobu collects books and Takako collects clothes. But as they move together, let’s just say there are spaaaaaace constraints. 

Collector is nothing grand or wild- this is the Happily Ever After, but Collector is important specifically for showing how life goes on, that it is comedic and fun and relatable. 

Yuri tends to face the opposite problem to Western LGBT material of the past. Older Western material is melodramatic and tragic, the gay identity of the couple is frequently mentioned and becomes a source of tragedy as they face persecution, which ultimately results in their suicide or murder. In yuri, the world is often isolated down to the couple- they have feelings for each other, but other characters rarely exist and if they do, these characters do not acknowledge the romance. “Lesbian” is never said, and talks of marriage are only meant as comedy. 

There has been a lot of praise for Yuri On Ice (which actually involves a male homosexual couple despite the title) for how the other characters are fleshed out too, for how they recognize and acknowledge the relationship between Viktor and Yuuri. There is a similar kind of realism going on in Collectors. There is a feeling of the world actually existing. 

Collectors gives attention to the tender moments, the little things, that make a relationship, instead of it all being grand kisses in front of everyone or a emotionally charged graduation speech. There is no feeling of such performance. Even the fights in Collectors are realistic, not the kind formed from wacky misunderstandings, and in fact the kind with a proper resolution and not where they leave, and then kiss and make up but the problem still exists. 

[recentanimenews]

Fruits Basket – 61 – The Cat Was Right

Totally Invincible

When Tooru leaves the hospital and first sees Kyou, whom she loves, nothing goes as planned. Even as her mind and heart want to go to him and smile, her body runs away as fast as it can…which is, of course, not nearly fast enough to lose the rather athletic Kyou! While Yuki visited, the mere mention of Kyou’s name brought tears to Tooru’s eyes that she quickly slapped away, risking further damage to her head.

Yes, Tooru isn’t running from Kyou because she’s afraid of him, but because of the usual: she’s afraid of being a burden; being unnecessary; causing people pain simply by being around them. She’s afraid of Kyou being disappointed in her. This is what happens when you say your piece and flee like Kyou did. It was a shit move, especially when he knew full well Tooru would take every one of those harsh words to heart.

So it’s as heartlifting to see Kyou get down on one knee and apologize and take back what he said as it was heartbreaking to hear him say those things in the first place to a desperately vulnerable Tooru who was ready to bear her heart but was met with a wall of stone. Kyou has learned a lot from being with Tooru, and one of those things he learned is being more aware of how his words and behavior affect people.

He knows how lucky he is to see Tooru again to apologize, and humbly asks for one more chance with her, because if he’s going to live, he wants to live with her by his side, because he loves her. Tooru responds by asking if it’s really okay for her to stay by his side, and hold his hand, and he points out she’s already holding it, gently places his hand on her face, and gives her her second kiss—the first being when he wasn’t sure he’d have this second chance.

When Kyou laments that being with him means suffering because of his “weird body” (let’s not forget, without that rosary he’s an odd, smelly beast), but Tooru simply tells him she loves him, that that love is “totally invincible”, and he starts thinking maybe he’s invincible too. They hug, both fully expecting him to transform. But he doesn’t, because the curse has been broken.

The Original Promise

It broke because Tooru was able to make a new connection with Akito, and show her that it was going to be okay even if it broke, and that it ultimately be better for everyone, including Akito, if it broke. We thankfully get to see a bit of Akito visiting Tooru in the hospital, where she confesses it all came down to her being jealous of Tooru and how goshdarn pure and pretty she is.

Rather than rightfully reply with a “guilty as charged”, Tooru is Tooru, saying she’s neither pure nor pretty, and if it isn’t too much trouble she’ll thank Akito not to sort people into categories based on “things like that” and use them to keep her distance. If Akito thinks Tooru is pure, then she believes Akito is pure too, and never more than she was when she approached in the rain.

As Tooru and Kyou hug without him transforming, Akito thinks about that visit, and how Tooru repeated her heartfelt desire to be her friend, and Akito’s willingness to be that, resulting in a new beginning, something she never thought possible all her life until meeting Tooru. She feels the hand of the original God on her head, and we’re sent back to time immemorial, and the genesis of the Curse, which was originally not a curse at all.

What it was originally was an effective coping mechanism for the crushing loneliness of the original God, living in his house on top of a mountain, too strange and different to interact with the humans below. The first being to ever visit him was the Cat, who promised to stay by his side and kept that promise.

The cat taught the God that perhaps others who were “different” would be willing to be his friends. He sent out invitations, and twelve other animals responded. The moon quietly watched over the banquets shared by those who were different—what a beautiful collection of words—but eventually the first of them, the Cat, became ill and neared death.

The God enchanted a sake cup that would make the bonds between him and the thirteen animals eternal; that even if they died, they’d be reborn and reunited. But the dying cat neither needed nor wanted eternity, which the other animals saw as a rejection and admonished the Cat.

But the cat was on to something, even back then, at the very first collection of the Zodiac. He beseeched God that they accept that things end, that mortality, while scary and lonely, is what makes life life, and makes love love. The Cat said to God he was fortunate to be with Him for even a moment, but after he died, the other animals ignored his calls for acceptance.

Still, they were still mortal, and one by one died, until only God was left, his house a ruin reminiscent of one of the deserted huts in the Boy’s village in To Your Eternity. Then God died, but was reborn with the others and the eternal banquet resumed. This original memory, which occurred so long ago, was forgotten by all…until it was told to us by the incomparable Iwami Manaka, whose voice moved me to tears on several occasions this week.

Cry With Me

But the promise endured, until present events now have Akito asking the original God if it’s okay for her to stop being special or a god, and just become Akito…to end the eternal, set down the extinguished torch, and begin her life.

As she asks this of her progenitor, the answer is revealed, as one by one the remaining Zodiac members are released from their eternal bonds. For many, like Kisa and Rin, it happens beside Hiro and Haru, respectively—those who already felt the pang of intense and all-encompassing sadness and loneliness that comes with the breaking of the curse. But Kisa has Hiro, Rin has Haru, Ayame has Mine, and Kyou has Tooru.

The coping mechanism is no longer needed. Both the animals and the god are now free to live among one another and with humans who love them and want to live with them. Free to make new beginnings and free to create new bonds. To commemorate this moment, Kyou rips the rosary off his arm and nothing happens. He’s now free to be Kyou, not the Cat, and free to love Tooru, who loves him more than she loves anyone else.

Thank You

All Akito asks as the curse is lifted is for everyone to “cry with her”, but they do more than that. Still sore from the breaking of their bonds, they are actually drawn to her—to Akito, not the God of the Zodiac—and when they do file in one by one, what had been a cold, foreboding, oppressive Souma compound is bathed in warm light.

As the original God states, it would be a long, long time before the cat’s words about eternity not being the answer and the preciousness of mortality became true. But they finally did. Akito may not be a god anymore, but she’s not alone. Tooru makes sure she knows that when she visits with Kyou and the others.

It’s telling that the first person for Akito to embrace post-the breaking of the curse isn’t a former Zodiac member, but the first and best friend of her new non-divine existence: Honda Tooru, who it turns out freed Akito as much as everyone else from bonds none of them ever asked for, and never needed. It is true we mortals must accept that things end, even if that thing is Fruits Basket. But I can’t think of a better or more satisfying ending than the one we’re getting.

RABUJOI WORLD HERITAGE LIST

By: magicalchurlsukui