#And Hajime's words were incredibly supportive at that moment.

[kotelok16]

We will choose our own future!

[4unnyr0se]

❥ OHMAMI | hajime iwaizumi

warnings: timeskip! iwaizumi, fem! reader, car sex, semi-public sex, unprotected sex, hickeys, degradation, manhandling, slight fingering, finger-sucking, riding, oikawa is mentioned a lot tbh, protective and possessive iwa

MDNI | 18+ content

word count -> 4.9k

a/n: okay i started this in early june and now im finishing it so im sorry if it doesnt make sense aaaa

❥ song: OHMAMI - chase atlantic

Iwaizumi was never the one people thought of when asked who their favorite member of the Aoba Johsai team was. He grew to accept it over time, albeit with spite and anger. Everyone was always wrapped up in what Oikawa was doing, wondering who would be his next girlfriend of the week. It was gross how Oikawa hogged all the girls; how could he be so selfish? Fucking jackass. 

Naturally, it was a relief when he graduated. Sure, Aoba Johsai never went to nationals (and yes, it very much stung), but the memories were important, right? Hitting perfect spike after spike, smacking Oikawa around, hearing that glorious school cheer, Iwaizumi had to admit he would miss it. Not the part where Oikawa kept all the girls to himself. 

Graduation came and went, and so did university. It was a breeze. Sports medicine was not a challenging major; he was just really good at the subject. Another graduation came, and Iwaizumi could only think about you and that pretty, perfect face. You were his closest friend in high school, and sadly, you drifted apart during university. You were studying Japanese literature or something, he didn’t remember. It’s not his fault; he was just too busy getting girls for the first time in a while. Totally not his fault…right?

Iwaizumi wasn’t doing himself any fucking favors, he thought about you too much for his own good. Whether Aoba Johsai lost or how insufferable Oikawa was, you were always there for him. You let him lean against your shoulder and complain about his day, his disheveled and messy uniform giving him an even more thuggish appearance. The way your soft, almost angelic hands massaged his scalp, assuring him that he would be okay.  Oh, how he longed for your fingers in his spiky hair again. He had forgotten your scent, your sweet floral scent. Was it roses or lavender? Maybe lilac? Although all the girls in high school wore the same body sprays, yours was different. Was it because you were never scared of him to begin with? Fuck, he missed you.

He sat on the bench in the empty locker room of the gym he worked at, a hot towel draped around broad shoulders as he began to lose himself in his fond high school memories. Images danced around in his mind of your sweet face smiling at him for the first time, the words “Don’t worry, I’ll help you study for the English test!” leaving your soft lips. At least, Iwaizumi thought they were soft. No, he knew they were soft. God, you were so kind to him. You even ignored Oikawa’s advances towards you, which made him blush and gain so much respect for you in an instant. “Man, I’d really like to punch that guy in his dumb face.” you snickered, covering your bright smile. Iwaizumi swore he could marry you right then and there.

From that moment on, he was your closest friend. You went to all his practices and games, cheering for him when no one else would. “Nice kill, Iwa!” you would shout from the bleachers, proudly wearing a spare version of his jersey. His jersey. If Iwaizumi had no supporters, you were dead. The two of you were inseparable until university rolled around, and Iwaziumi became stupidly popular with the ladies. And sure, college girls were pretty and incredibly loose, but they weren’t you. No one was you, and he missed you every day.

Iwaizumi grunted as he stood up, tossing the towel into a basket. He stepped out of the locker room with his hands in his pockets, whistling a song from his cardio playlist. It was around ten at night, and his gym was one of the few open so late, so there wasn’t anyone there except the front receptionist girl who flirted with every guy who walked in. Truly, he couldn’t ask for better entertainment. 

“Yo,” Iwaizumi leaned across the desk, stealing an electrolyte drink from the employee minifridge. There’s no one here; you should just go home. It’s getting late.” The cool drink touched his lips, the cherry flavoring subtle. “If the boss gives you any crap, you can blame me. I don’t mind.”

The receptionist eagerly stood up and practically ran out the door, throwing her time card at him. “Clock me out!” she shouted halfway out the automatic door. Iwaizumi sighed and shoved the time card in his sweats. She really was a ditz, but at least she got people to sign up for VIP memberships. 

He clocked her out and went to his favorite spot in the gym where he usually deadlifts. Unfortunately, there was no one to spot him. Iwaizumi was a jock, but he certainly wasn’t dumb. There was no way he was dying because he got crushed by a fucking barbell. There is no chance in hell. 

His rough and calloused hands decided just to lift weights instead. That was simpler, more safe. He flipped on his headphones and selected a tune from his more…sensual playlist. It's a sensual indie R&B song that could make anyone feel like a sex god. Why was that song on his playlist? He couldn’t tell you. Once again, Iwaizumi became lost in his thoughts as he lifted the weights up and down with such ease. He worked out for health benefits, but just something about staring at his physique in the mirror made it all worth it. Damn, did he look fine as hell. He was ashamed of how long it took him to realize that he was stupidly attractive, and it took a lot of skill not to develop a massive ego around his looks. 

The automatic doors slid open, the dinging sound drowned out by his noise-canceling headphones. His green eyes locked on the floor mat below him, concentrating on passing the time by any means necessary. He paused briefly when he saw two tiny white sneakers enter his field of vision, standing considerably close to his muscular form. “Sorry about that,” he mumbled, placing the weights on the ground. “Music’s loud, y’know?” His eyes trailed upwards until they finally met your gaze, his pupils shrinking in shock. His hands gripped his headphones, softly filling the room with sensual music. “Holy shit.” Iwaizumi’s mouth was agape. He looked like a fool. “Uh, hi.”

“Hi, Iwa.” you smiled brightly, taking his headphones from his rough hands and placing them around his thick neck. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Three years, I think.” Fuck, he forgot how much smaller your hands were to his own. It’s so cute.

“Three years since university, yeah,” Iwaizumi mumbled, wiping the glistening sweat away from his forehead. “I can’t believe it’s been that long. You don’t look any different. Not that it’s a bad thing!” he stumbled on his words, silently cringing at his immature actions. He never got this flustered. He hasn’t been in a while. Less than a minute talking to you, and he was a stammering mess. This wasn’t like him at all. His tough persona might as well be tossed out the window. 

You offered him another sweet smile and rubbed his shoulder, the sweat not bothering you in the slightest. “Change is a good thing, y’know,” your words were gentle and comforting, oozing with wisdom beyond your years. Another thing Iwaizumi thought was perfect about you was that you always knew the right thing to say. “You’ve changed too. You��re way more buff than the last time we saw each other!”

“Damn right,” he smirked, subtly flexing his biceps. Were you looking? He hoped so. “I’m a personal trainer, so I gotta stay in shape. Plus, I train Oikawa, so whenever I’m pissed off, I just do a couple sets.”

“You still hang out with Oikawa? I thought you hated him.” you raised an eyebrow, placing a hand on your hips quizically. 

“I’m getting paid to tell him what workouts he should do. Can’t complain about that money,” Iwaizumi rubbed the back of his head, fluffing out his spiky hair. “Besides, I’m allowed to kick his ass whenever I want. That asshole deserves it. He somehow got even more cocky after he got back from Argentina.”

You rolled your eyes and found a nearby workout bench, crossing your legs over each other. “I didn’t think Loserkawa could become even more full of himself. You’d think being in a foreign country would humble him slightly.”

“Right?” a deep chuckle escaped his chapped lips as Iwaizumi sat beside you, minding the distance. He bit down on his lower lip slightly, just for a moment. Would you mind if he sat closer to you, like in high school? “He even started speaking Spanish, but he’s not allowed to do that around me.”

“Because you’ll throw a dumbbell at him?”

“Because I’ll throw a dumbbell at him.”

You giggled and scooted closer to Iwaizumi, the scent of sweat mixed with his cologne filling your nostrils. He smelled more mature than in high school, but that’s a given. “I see you’re still the same ol’ spikey-haired guy.” you ruffled his hair, knowing that you were the only one who could do that without getting a beatdown. 

Iwaizumi blushed, averting his eyes from your gaze. Fuck, he really missed your touch. “So, uh, what brings you to the gym? Were you looking for a membership or something?” 

You shook your head, casually wrapping your arm around his shoulder. Were you trying to kill him? “Nah. If I’m being honest, I saw you in one of the windows while I was out for an evening walk. It’s been a while, so I wanted to say hi.” You momentarily looked down at your shoes, a faint blush gracing your cheeks. “Besides, I missed you.”

“You walked here by yourself? At night? Are you crazy?” Iwaizumi shouted, grasping your shirt to pull you closer. “It’s not safe at night. You didn’t have anyone to protect you! Do you know how stupid that sounds?” his nostrils flared, a mixture of anxiety and rage overcoming him. “What if something happened?”

You gasped, your brow furrowing. “Well, excuse me! I didn’t know I needed permission from someone I haven’t spoken to in three years to take a fucking walk!” you ripped his hand away from your shirt. 

Iwaizumi groaned, hanging his head. “You’re right, I’m sorry. It’s just…” he took a deep breath. “It’s not safe for someone like you at night, and I’d never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you because you wanted to see me.” 

You rolled your eyes and pulled his chin up, staring into his oceans of green. “Just because you’re worried about someone doesn’t give you an excuse to be an asshole about it,” you smiled in assurance. “Next time, I’ll bring something to defend myself. Okay?”

Iwaizumi smirked. “You’re the only person allowed to call me an asshole, y’know that? If you were anybody else, I’d beat your skull in.

“Then I’m lucky that I happen to still be Hajime Iwaizumi’s favorite person after all these years,” you bit down on your lower lip. “Unless…you have a girlfriend. Then she’s probably your favorite person.”

“No girlfriend, I don’t have the time,” he shook his head, moving himself closer. “I had a girlfriend before, but then-”

“Oikawa took her from you?” you cut him off.

“Fucking Oikawa took her from me. He dated her for two weeks, then dumped her for someone he met at a bar. Can you believe that?” he clenched his fist.

“Unfortunately, I can,” you gave an exasperated sigh. “I guess Oikawa will always be Oikawa.”

“God help us,” Iwaizumi chuckled. “Hey, I gotta lock up the gym. Can you wait outside, and then I can drive you home?”

You raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? I don’t wanna be a bother.”

“Why would you be a bother? I’m just keepin' you safe, dummy.” Iwaizumi assured you, getting up and brushing off his pants. “Wait here. I’ll come to get you. I don’t want you standing outside. There’s a lot creeps around here who want nothing more than to get close to a pretty girl like you.” he turned around, not realizing that he had just complimented you. You were left with a brighter blush on your face, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear. Did Iwaizumi think you were pretty after all this time?

Eventually, he finished what he needed to do to close up the gym: he wiped down all the machines and ensured everything was organized for the morning shift. He grabbed you by the wrist and practically dragged you out of the gym, having an unusually tight grip.

“Dude, what are you doing? I know how to walk,” you tugged your wrist away from his hand, rubbing it. “You’re acting weird. Did something happen when you were cleaning up? “I just don’t want you to stray too far, that’s all. Keep close to me, or else I might end up killing somebody.” he shoved his hands in the pockets of his sweats, making his way to the car. He was weirdly protective over you, but it only bothered you slightly. 

Having your big, strong best friend wanting nothing more than to keep you safe in a parking lot was…well, it was sexy. Iwaizumi was sexy, and he knew it. You wondered if he knew that you thought so, too. How, when you were in high school, you would daydream about him pinning you against the wall and kissing you until you couldn’t breathe. How your mind would wander in college, staring at him from across the dining hall, watching as he unconsciously flexed his biceps in such a way that made you swoon every single time.

With his hand wrapped protectively over your shoulder, he clicked the keyfob and unlocked his car. It was a larger vehicle, boasting proud rims on the tires. “You can get in the passenger seat. I have snacks in the glove compartment if you’re hungry.”

“Since when do you have snacks in the car?” you sat in the passenger seat, buckling up. “That doesn’t seem very healthy, Mr. Personal Trainer.” you giggled, making air quotes. 

He playfully rolled his eyes, getting into the driver's seat. “I have to drive long distances for work sometimes. So, to keep me sane, I keep little snacks in my glove compartment. Granola and crap like that. Protein bars.” 

“Oh, so snacks that aren’t actually snacks?” you winked. 

“Shut up,” he clicked his seatbelt in, revving the car. “Do you wanna choose what we listen to or not? Also, type your address into the GPS while at it.”

“Or I could look through your messages.”

Iwaizumi shot you a glare. “Don’t even joke about that.”

You giggled, typed in your address, and then opened Spotify. “You have a lot of playlists. Why?”

He shrugged his shoulders, flexing the muscles. Fuck, he was so fucking sexy. “I dunno, I guess I just have one for every occasion. When you’re working with Oikawa, music typically helps,” he smirked, raising an eyebrow. “You can pick from any song on any playlist.”

“Then I choose this one,” you selected OHMAMI, handing him back his phone. “It’s from your playlist that has a heart emoji as the title. What’s that for?”

Iwaizumi felt his face become overrun with a blazing blush. His hands gripped the steering wheel as he pulled out of his parking spot, turning the car towards the exit. “Oh, uh, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“But I wanna know!” you whined, crossing your arms over your chest. “C’mon, we just caught up a second ago, but you never kept any secrets from me.”

He sighed and bit down on his bottom lip. “Fuck, okay. Fine,” he took a deep breath. “It’s…this song is from my sex playlist. Specifically from college.”

Your pupils blew up, your hand immediately flying to your mouth to stifle a chuckle. “You have a sex playlist? And this is a song on it?”

“That’s what I just fucking said, didn’t I?” his face was red and anger and embarrassment. “See, this is why I didn’t want to tell you!”

“Iwa,” you tapped his thigh. “Sorry for laughing. It’s just that sex playlists are usually romantic and, no offense, but you never seemed like a romantic kind of guy.” 

He furrowed his brow. “I can be romantic, “ he made a sharp left turn. “I just haven’t had a reason to in a while, that’s all.”

“Aw, I’m sorry, man,” you pouted. “I’m sure someone will come along that can make you want to use this playlist again.” you smiled at him, flashing your teeth.

“Yeah, hopefully,” Iwaizumi sighed, stealing a glance at you. You were perfect, absolutely perfect. He was mentally kicking himself for not making a move. But then again, there was a sexy song playing, so the mood was set. Maybe you wouldn’t mind if his hand squeezed your thigh, dancing lower and lower. Maybe you wouldn’t mind at all. 

He continued to drive, the music from the stereo being the only thing to prevent the car from being silent. His mind wandered places: obscene, filthy places. He wondered what noises you would make if he ate your pussy out in the passenger seat. Would you taste as sweet as he imagined? Iwaizumi just knew your pussy was tight, how it would flutter around his cock as he bounced you up and down on it in the backseat, your hand flat against the roof of his car with the music blaring. He was so deep in thought that he neglected to realize the tent growing in his sweats. But you noticed.

Your eyes darted back and forth to his hard-on, squeezing your legs together at the sight. You suspected he was hiding a monster down there, and now you were sure of it. Surprisingly, Iwaizumi never got hard around you before today, at least not to your knowledge. It was like it was calling you to, desperate for your hands to slide up and down.

“Uh, Iwa?” you groaned, crossing your legs over each other. 

“Hm?” he didn’t take his eyes off the road.

“You have like…a huge boner right now.” you blushed furiously, cringing to yourself. Could you have chosen a more awkward set of words?

Iwaizumi choked on his breath, swerving the car slightly. He glanced down at his sweats, and lo and behold, he was hard. “O-Oh, fuck. Shit, that wasn’t supposed to happen.” he groaned, clenching onto the steering wheel once more.

You squirmed in your seat. “Hey man, don’t worry about it. You can’t control when you get hard, right? S’not a problem.”

He thought for a moment, mumbling under his breath. He canceled the navigation and pulled the car into a parking lot by an abandoned gas station frequented by local teenagers. Luckily, there was no one there right now. “I can’t,” he breathed in, refusing to meet your gaze. “I can’t control it when I’m around you,” he parked the car. “You drive me so fucking crazy.”

You squeezed onto the leather seats, your face still blazing red. “You’re telling me that I made your dick hard?” 

“Yeah, that’s what I just fucking said.” he groaned, unclicking his seatbelt. His eyes finally met yours, full of want. “You made me hard, princess.”

Princess. The nickname rang in your ears. Fuck, it was like hot honey rolling off his chapped lips. “Iwa…” you breathed out, gasping as he tugged on the collar of your shirt, pulling you closer to him. The center console was the only thing that separated you two. 

“Princess,” he whispered. “I’ve wanted you for so fucking long. Ever since you said, you wanted to punch Shittykawa in the face.”

“Really?”

“Really.” his eyes landed on your lips, beautiful and begging to be kissed. “I’ve wanted you for so fucking long. Please,” his hot breath grazed your cheek. “Please tell me that you want me to. But I’m warning you right now,” he kissed your burning skin. “Once you tell me you do, I won’t hold myself back anymore.”

A sensation began to bubble inside your belly, his words causing your core to throb with want. You parted your lips, wetting them with your tongue. “Iwa,” your voice was barely a whisper. “Please, I want you.”

Iwaizumi let go of your shirt, his eyes flaring with passion and lust. “Get in the backseat, now.” he growled, climbing over the center console. You eagerly followed him, finding a spot on his lap. His hands secured themselves on the fat of your hips, making sure you didn’t go anywhere. It's not like you wanted to, anyway. 

“I’ve been waiting for this for so fucking long, princess,” he groaned before slamming his lips against yours in a frenzy. His lips assaulted yours, greedy and shameless. Your mind became TV static, your lips dancing with his as if it was a reflex, as if you had done this a million times before. You moaned into the kiss as he groped you without a care, his hands slipping under the hem of your gym shorts. You gasped as his warm hands wandered, exploring you as if he was attempting to map out your perfect curves.

His hand was scolding hot as it ventured to finger the elastic, ripping the cheap fabric. He swallowed your surprised gasp, smirking into the kiss. “Fuckin’ cheap fabric,” he growled, his hand massaging up and down your panties. “I’ll buy you a new pair, don’t worry, your pretty lil’ head about it.” 

Iwaizumi broke the kiss, resting his head in the crook of your neck while his fingers continued their gentle dance across your clothed, dripping cunt. The digits ran up and down the soaked material, causing him to shudder. “Fuck, you’re this wet from just a kiss?” he groaned against your neck, the sharpness of his canines grazing the sensitive skin. He could have sworn he could hear your heartbeat coming from the veins. Your pulse was thundering, it was fucking addictive. His lips ventured up and down your delicate neck, leaving wanting, open-mouthed kisses in the spots that made you squirm so beautifully on your lap. His teeth nibbled down on your sweet spot, causing your hips to buck into his hard-on.

“Needy fucking girl,” his voice rumbled, fingers dipping into your panties to toy with your sobbing slit. You whimpered, resting your forehead onto his own as the calloused pads of his thick fingers teased your clit. “Fuck, you’re soaked. D’ya even need me to finger this pussy, or are you such a fucking slut that you’re this wet all the time?” his hands cracked against your ass. “Hm? Talk to me, princess.”

“Only you!” you yelped. Iwaizumi chuckled darkly, lifting his head from your neck to greet you with a blown-out stare. His eyes told you everything you needed to know; they told you that he wanted to fucking ruin you on his cock like he’s been wanting to all these years.

“That’s what I like to fucking hear,” he slapped your ass again, making you gasp and jolt. His lips quickly met yours once more as his finger bullied its way inside your cunt, curling inside without mercy or forgiveness. “Shit, you’re squeezing around my finger. Do you really need to get fucked that fucking bad, hm? Is my girl a little slut?”

“M’not a slut!” you sobbed, tossing your head back. Your hands gripped his muscular shoulders with white-hot-knuckle strength, making Iwaizumi hiss in pain. Not that he was complaining. He fucking loved it.

“Fuck, I can’t take this anymore,” he pulled his finger out of your weeping cunt, licking off your slick. “Ya taste so fucking good, shit,” he groaned, sliding off his sweatpants and boxers so that his cock could spring free. You moaned at the sight, taking in his magnificent length. He was small by no means necessary, boasting a lengthy and girthy cock with an angry red tip that was leaking precum. “Turn around and hover above it.”

You did as he instructed, pushing your ruined panties to the side so your pulsating core was just above his angry cock. His hands snaked around the small of your waist, pulling your flush up against his chest. “You’re gonna be a good fucking slut and let me fuck you on this cock, yeah? If I think you’re being too quiet for even a second,” his voice dropped to a deadly whisper. “I’m gonna fuck you stupid.”

“Iwa,” your words died on your tongue as his fingers were abruptly shoved into your mouth, making you gag.

“Don’t fucking call me Iwa,” he demanded, his cock teasing your entrance. “It’s Hajime now. Don’t be a dumbass and forget it when I’m breaking you on this cock. Am I clear, pretty girl?”

You nodded, tears swelling in your eyes. His fingers slid out of your mouth and back onto your hips, squeezing the fat. “Be a good little slut and take this cock,” he growled, biting down harshly onto your neck before slamming you onto his cock without mercy, refusing to give your tight pussy anytime to adjust. 

“Oh god, yes,” Iwaizumi moaned against your neck, bouncing you expertly on his length. His eyes were hooded with lust and desire as he looked over your shoulder. The sight of your pussy swallowing his cock was magnificent. Especially how you struggled to take his length, you poor thing. Maybe he’ll be nicer to you next time. “Do you see yourself, princess? That pretty pussy is swallowing me whole. Good fucking girl.”

You writhed and squirmed on his lap, helpless as Iwaizumi used you like a toy. His hands reached around to pull down your top, exposing your bralette to the hot atmosphere. He pulled your bra down as well, shamelessly pinching and squeezing your pillowy mounds as his cock drove itself inside you with reckless abandon. 

“Y’been hiding these perfect tits from me too? Naughty fucking girl,” his hand dropped your breast and smacked your clit, earning a shriek from your bruised lips. “Can’t believe I waited this fucking long to grope these tits, fuck. I wonder what else you’re hiding, hm?” his hips never relented, continuing their rushed and desperate pace in harsh and fast strokes. 

“You look like such a slut right now. God, I wish I could see that pretty face,” he purred against the shell of your ear, licking the cartilage. His praise was so fucking addictive, making you shamelessly clench on his cock. “Oh, y’like when I call you pretty? Get fucking used to it.”

“I’m gonna make you ruin yourself on me,” his voice rasped, the tip of his cock twitching inside of you. “You’re gonna cum all over this fucking cock, and then I’ll cum inside, yeah? No one’s ever gonna fuck this pretty cunt again unless I say so. Until your Hajime says so, okay, princess?” he smacked your clit again, gathering your slick on his fingers. “Who’s the only one that can fuck this pretty pussy?”

“You! It’s yours, Hajime!” you sobbed, the rest of your meaningless rambling dying on your lips as he shoved his fingers inside your mouth once more. Your tongue wrapped around the digits, tasting your delicious slick. Your pussy fluttered around his cock, trying to pull him impossibly deeper inside of you. You were so fucking greedy.

Iwaizumi snarled against your neck, fucking you even harder. His hips continued to snap as he drove himself deeper and deeper inside, the sensation of your pussy doing its best to milk him being all that he needed. “You’re gonna fucking cum, yeah? That’s it, princes, make a fucking mess on me. Get your Hajime all sticky with your cum like a good fucking girl.”

With Iwaizumi’s encouragement, you finally let go. You came with a wanton sob, the bubbles in your belly boiling over to send you crashing over the edge and into oblivion. You could have sworn you saw white. Iwaizumi fucked you through it, whispering sweet nothings as your release coated his cock. 

“Oh, shit,” he groaned into your neck, biting down once more on the bruised skin as his cock twitched one final time, his release spilling inside to fill your cunt up so nicely. “Good fucking girl, take it all.” his hands fell to his hips, slumping against the leather seat.

“Hajime,” you groaned, reluctantly pulling yourself off his cock. His cum ran down your ruined thighs, mixing with your slick. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you to do that.” you offered him a weak smile, staring at your ripped and forgotten-about jean shorts. “Dammit, you ripped them! These were my favorite pair. And now I don’t have any pants!” you scolded him, hitting him over the head with the fabric. “We’re in a parking lot, and I have no damn pants!”

“Relax,” he sighed, pulling up his pants and boxers. “Did you forget I was driving you home? Besides,” he pecked your lips. “I’m coming over, and we’re gonna cuddle and shit. Whatever you want.” he blushed, not meeting your gaze. He was still scared of you seeing him blush even after you were so intimate.

“Whatever I want?” you teased. “You’re cute when you get all flustered, Hajime.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

[angelfleurry]

Could you do dangonronpa 2 cast kiss head cannons

SDR2 Kiss Headcanons!:

Hii, Anon!! I wasn’t sure if you meant first kiss or just general kiss headcanons, so I just did general. If you want first kiss headcanons, feel free to request again!.

Spoilers ahead <3

~~

Hajime Hinata:

♡ My guy is so awkward bless him.

♡ Does he need a reason to kiss you? Is there an appropriate moment? Is it okay if he just…

♡ Oh, oh you’ve kissed him, okay.

♡ Okay, his turn.

♡ He’s so nervous, but simultaneously so very eager to kiss you.

♡ He tends to lean in, but he does it so awkwardly that you can’t help but giggle.

♡ He kind of pauses at that, and just looks at you for a moment.

♡ It’s only when he sees that kind expression on your face that he realises he’s okay.

♡ That’s when he just goes for it.

♡ Doesn’t kiss you very often in public, if not at all, he’s more of a behind closed doors kind of guy.

♡ He’s very romantic with it, it surprises you.

♡ Always has a hand supporting you, even if it’s not necessary, as he kisses you.

♡ Hajime’s kisses aren’t short, but they’re not long, they’re just at that perfect middle length.

♡ Once he figures out how to get there, that is.

♡ Doesn’t know what to do when you kiss him.

♡ He just sits there, processing, looking at you as his face reddens.

♡ He kind of debates kissing you back in his head, and half the time he goes for it, and the rest he just dips his head and pulls you close.

♡ Is very much a lip-kisser, it just feels right.

♡ If you need a bit of comfort, he’ll kiss your forehead.

Nagito Komaeda:

♡ It took a while to get to this stage.

♡ There were moments, just split seconds, where everything seemed to be building up to it.

♡ But then, the moment would be lost.

♡ Nagito would start to talk, or some interference would occur.

♡ It did frustrate you a little bit, but you knew that was just your eagerness talking.

♡ Truthfully, you knew it was to be expected, so you just decided to wait it out.

♡ It’s not like you were reliant on the idea, it was more so you just wanted to.

♡ But, if there’s one thing about love, is that you must pay mind to the other person.

♡ And you, my darling, did remarkably at that.

♡ You knew the time would come, and as long as everything else about your relationship was healthy and happy, you were in no rush.

♡ Eventually you both got past that initial stage, but we can save that memory for another time.

♡ For a majority of the time, Nagito’s a very hesitant kisser.

♡ What I mean by this, is that he’d rather wait for you to initiate something that even dare to do it himself.

♡ However, once you do it, he’s so ecstatic.

♡ If you could peek into his brain, all you’d be able to see would be soft pink bubbles fizzing up to the surface, popping energetically.

♡ He feels so hesitant to even say the words, as if he’s being too entitled, but he’ll ask you to kiss him again.

♡ Sometimes, he has waves where he’s incredibly clingy, and this will be where he allows himself to initiate contact first.

♡ Treats you as if you were a porcelain doll, even if he’s really needy for contact.

♡ It’s as if he thinks you’ll break should he be too quick, or too harsh.

♡ Forehead kisses are really special for him.

♡ They make him feel so safe, so cherished, even if he struggles to comprehend that fact.

♡ If you kiss him on the lips, that’s it, he’s so bewildered every time.

♡ Always raises a hand to the spot you kissed him, and just sits there for a second, processing.

♡ When you look at him, though, he’s smiling.

Kazuichi Souda:

♡ He can be such an awkward kisser, it’s adorable really.

♡ Kazuichi’s very eager once that initial barrier’s been moved past.

♡ Sometimes, you won’t even be able to fully enjoy it as he kisses you so very quickly.

♡ He can’t help himself.

♡ But when it’s at that reasonable pace, it’s actually very tender.

♡ Like, you can tell the man desperately wants to kiss you, but there’s such an edge of sweetness to it.

♡ It does something to your heart, honestly.

♡ Likes to play little games where you both go back and forth giving each other light pecks.

♡ He’s got a preference for kissing your lips, but if you tell him there’s somewhere else you enjoy being kissed, he’ll gladly oblige.

♡ If he’s going somewhere where it means he won’t be with you, he always kisses you goodbye.

♡ He’ll do it in front of his friends, and your friends, so long as that’s okay with you.

♡ He just loves to show off that he has a partner!!

♡ Enjoys being able to kiss you when you’re both cuddled up together.

♡ Please, please, surprise him with kisses!

♡ Give him that peck on the cheek, kiss his forehead, go for the lips!

♡ Makes him all giddy!!

♡ It’s so funny how he can be so composed in public, or as composed as Kazuichi can be, but then behind closed door’s, he’s so bashful.

♡ His face goes bright red, even if he tries to act cool about it.

♡ But, he can’t shake that quivery smile as he wraps his arms around you.

♡ “You’re so cute, ya’know that?” he’ll ask, and all you can do is laugh.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu:

♡ He’s very quick with it.

♡ I just can’t picture him being one to regularly kiss.

♡ It’s nice, of course it is, but it’s just not something he initiates.

♡ He won’t complain if you kiss him though, just make sure it’s okay with him first.

♡ He doesn’t regularly want to be kissed like that, and you respect that.

♡ If he does kiss you, it’s very quick.

♡ It’s not harsh, but it’s quick.

♡ It’s like a swift peck and then he’s out.

♡ Always gives you kind words of acknowledgement as he does it though, he’s not neglectful.

♡ He doesn’t really know what to do with himself, so he prefers not to get too snuggly.

Gundham Tanaka:

♡ Nose kisses, NOSE KISSES.

♡ He’s not kissed anyone before you, so he’s still learning about his preferences!

♡ But, he’s discovered he’s really fond of nose kisses.

♡ It’s not as nerve-wracking as lip kissing is, but it’s still a way he can physically show he loves you.

♡ Finds it really endearing when you tell him to close his eyes so you can kiss his nose.

♡ He does the same to you, and you find at just as sweet.

♡ He’s also fond of nose-brushing.

♡ Like, the both of you just gently rubbing noses together.

♡ It’s calming for him.

♡ He’s also fond of kissing your hand.

♡ It’s just so formal, but so wonderfully romantic.

♡ The perfect way for a dark lord such as himself to show his affection to you.

♡ Is convinced you’re performing some kind of ritual on him.

♡ Is it really this normal to feel so very…fuzzy once you kiss him?

TeruTeru Hanamura:

♡ Oh my goodness, he’s so down.

♡ We all know Teru’s got a major issue when it comes to more deeply intimate shenanigans, but what may be a surprise is that he’s honestly a big sap when it comes to physical affection.

♡ Kiss him anywhere, he’ll welcome it.

♡ Only time I can picture him not wanting to is when he’s extremely, and I mean extremely, stressed. Just try and help out if you can then.

♡ However, this is a very rare occurrance.

♡ After all, it’s TeruTeru - he’s more than happy to indulge himself in your affections.

♡ But, that doesn’t mean he won’t do the same for you.

♡ The second you start dating, this man will in fact try to be affectionate with you.

♡ Once it’s specified you’re okay with kissing, that’s it.

♡ Is very much kissing you once you wake up.

♡ It’s probably his favourite way to greet you, even if you’ve not left the same room.

♡ It’s so nice to see a smile start to form on your face after he does it, and it only encourages him to kiss you again.

♡ Is no stranger to kissing your hand either.

♡ “Oh, sweetheart, you’ve got something on your face,” he’ll tell you, smiling, “Let me…”

♡ That sly fox!

♡ It’s very hard to not be all giggly once he’s done kissing you, even if it’s just a simple peck on the cheek.

♡ Has a surprising touch of wholesomeness to him in this regard.

Nekomaru Nidai:

♡ He finds it adorable.

♡ The idea you want to kiss him sends him to a laughing fit, but it’s all from a kind place.

♡ Is very much open to it.

♡ He’s very awkward with it though.

♡ A very messy kisser, but it’s alright!

♡ He wants to hold you, but he’s a little worried he’ll be too heavy-handed.

♡ Kind of guide him if that’s what you want, and then he’ll settle.

♡ Forehead kisses are a cherished form of affection.

♡ His lip kissing skills need a bit of work, but you don’t mind guiding.

Ultimate Imposter:

♡ Oh, this one’s difficult!

♡ He’s not sure whether to be himself, or be the person he’s impersonating.

♡ Surely you know, right?

♡ I can’t imagine him letting you enter a relationship with him without informing you of his identity.

♡ Or, lack of thereof.

♡ As a result, I feel like his kisses are lacking in something.

♡ He wants to kiss you, and he will, but he’s blocking his proper emotions.

♡ Still, he’s rather soft about it.

♡ Just tell him you love him afterwards, it’ll give him a bit of ease.

♡ If you’re to kiss him, he’ll be happy, but he can’t quite show it.

♡ Likes it when you kiss his hands.

♡ It feels strange when you kiss him on his lips.

♡ He loves the feeling, but it takes him aback.

♡ How on Earth can a man so devoid of any identity still be able to be loved so tenderly…?

♡ Does he cry or not, that is the question.

[prinzrupprecht]

What do Shinsegumi members think of your relationship

This is random. Idk why it came up to my head..

Sorry if I missed anyone.. Chiruran sometimes ignored character development with some characters.

Kondo Isami

He’s the biggest supporter of Souji and never was too judgemental. You were taken in by Kondo when you were small before Souji came into the picture. When he found Souji, you catered to him instantly making sure he felt at home. You and Kondo didn’t care where he came from or about the demon that resides in him. This is what made Souji become so attached to you and Kondo. Kondo had let the two of you bond most of the time knowing what could come out of it. Kondo cares a lot for his happiness even if their jobs put their lives on the line. You were already aware that such things could happen to them or even you. It was inevitable knowing the two of you would get closer through the years and become exclusive. He hears you and Souji talking about the future all the time which warms Kondo’s heart.

Hijikata Toshizou

When he first joined the Shieikan dojo, he had no idea about you and Souji being more than friends and had asked you to duel him. Even after accepting it and witnessing his bad swordplay. Souji was annoyed by him at first asking you to fight. Hijikata didn’t care if you were a woman, he just wanted to practice with anyone. Souji warned him to pick on someone else who wasn’t his girlfriend. Hijikata didn’t believe that Souji could even get a girlfriend and thought all samurai were too busy fighting and had no time for that stuff. This made Souji give him a murderous stare. Hijikata felt defeated and didn’t want to get his ass beat again by Souji. Hijikata never bothered you again for sword practice and respected the two of you afterwards. He even promised Souji that he would also protect you if something happened to him.

Saitou Hajime

He was around for a while before the other members. Saito was a strange one in the group and was rowdy, he didn’t know about Souji and you at first. He always assumed Souji was a simp but had used another word for his excessive attention on you. Saito tried to get you to date him to see what would Souji do if he got with you before him. You quickly were taken back and declined him saying you were already with someone. Someone? Souji? He had to be him. He laughed it off and said he didn’t like you anyway. You were confused but left it as is before going back outside to sit next to the short boy. This had confirmed what he suspected but he wouldn’t bother you again or get on Souji’s nerves knowing he was the strongest and things could end badly for him. Normally Saito was cocky but he lost numerous of times to Souji.

Yamanami Keisuke

He was the most respectful member of the Miburoshigumi group. He was also the most observant and smartest of everyone. He didn’t necessarily approve of you and Souji since they’re putting their lives on the line daily so this made him wary. He couldn’t directly tell this to Souji knowing he would get defensive. That boy was incredible with his sword skills and it is unlikely he would die easily anyhow. Yamanami mostly kept to himself and let the two of you enjoy time together even if it was short, he noticed how you’d stay with Souji no matter what. Even if others told you to leave Kyoto, you refused and wanted to stay by Souji’s side. This warmed up to Yamanami more about how persistent you’ve become and slowly started to support your relationship with him.

Nagakura Shinpachi

He was more serious and didn’t care for the two of you doing whatever, he was more concerned for Souji and his responsibilities and hoped he wouldn’t neglect any for you. Souji got mad at him a few times for bringing up the future possibilities. Souji wanted to live in the moment and it pained him that such outcomes could put you or him at risk.

Harada Sanosuke

He was relatively quiet and kept to himself. He didn’t care for what others do and did. He didn’t mind you at all even if he looked scary, you treated him the same as everyone else. He respected Souji like he does for the other members.

Kamo Serizawa

This man was the absolute grossest person to be around with. If it wasn’t for you being someone close to Kondo, you were certain you would’ve been taken advantage of by him unwillingly. Souji was always with you when Kamo was presented in the same room which put you at ease. Yet, Souji hated him the most. Kamo never cared if the two of you were together. Especially his sexist comments and other sexual vocal remarks towards you were mainly to get Souji to show his true demon side. Well, Kamo was certainly correct that all the built-up tension he caused certainly made Souji want to kill him more than anything.

Note: I wanted to add Abiru and Todo but these two were barely shown with character interactions so I lacked some understanding on them the most.

[nxtsnw]

fluff moments with them

characters: kokonoi, ran, inui

summary: pt. 2 of randoms and comforting moments to spent w these pretty boys!!

I wrote this a while ago, the inuis part is a repost. I'm currently thinking about taking a break, I will let you know. Hope yall will like it ♡

genre: fluff!! comforting

pt. 1 ~ m.masterlist

HAJIME KOKONOI

You weren't late for your date, so Kokonoi had lost his bet. And when his mood soured, you smiled as you finally got your hands on your boyfriend's makeup stuff.

Your prize for winning was the opportunity to finally put on Koko his makeup. Everything was up to you, from the color of the eyeshadow to which lipstick to match from his collection.

The boy was calmed by the delight in your eyes. He had now accepted his fate.

Finally, he noticed that your taste in pairings wasn't all that terrible, so he began tying his hair and wearing a goofy pink headband. You pondered for a long what colors he would look best in for what he was wearing, and in the end, among the various options, you chose a coral red lipstick and a matching eyeshadow of the same color.

Proud of your choices, you went to him to start. . It was amusing to see him sitting on the bed, scrolling through his phone while waiting for you.

He had a confused expression, but he was pleasantly surprised by the colors you chose.

His bright smile filled up his face, and when his eyes met yours, they pleased you as well. You sat on his bed, he leaned back on the backrest, and you leaned forward slightly to get a better view of his face. He had slightly freckles that you hadn't noticed, and he looked so appealing on him.

As your hand brushed over his face, the serious expression on his face lightened, and he began to giggle as a question mark appeared on your face regarding which brush to use.

The atmosphere became less tense as the minutes went by, and the background music added to the enjoyment. So he gradually brought his hands to your hips. There was no malice intended, only closer physical contact. You continued his games and moved your face closer to him, but he did the same.

He wears makeup regularly, so staying motionless came naturally to him. He laughs when he has to correct some steps, and then insists on doing your make-up look. It's a little weird at first because it's your first time, and you're not sure how to position yourself.

You pulled away till a little flush did not cover you and both of your faces. Your bodies were incredibly close together, but nothing made you two feel uncomfortable. The heat from his body managed to warm you as well, and his calm gaze relaxed you.

So the time passed in silence until you completed your work.

Despite a few minor errors, you were pleased with your job. And the cosmetics suited everything about Kokonoi, from his pale skin to his raven black hair. The red gave the young man's face a sense of purity. He was also blushing while looking at you, and the natural blush was the finishing touch to that flawless make-up. All of the shades were beautiful, and the curve of the eyeliner was ideal for his eye shape.

"I don't want to damage this wonderful makeup, and I know I'm fighting the impulse to kiss you right now," he said after looking in the mirror.

His words echoed in your ears, and your heart began to race. Until you approached him and kissed him on the lips. It was only a matter of seconds, and you didn't want to destroy the artwork you had created too.

He lifted your face in his hands and kissed your forehead, taken aback by your action. Since the lipstick mark had been left, he began to giggle and then went to choose which colors would beautify your face that evening.

RAN HAITANI

It wasn't easy being Ran Haitani's lover. You were both busy with your personal life, and he was always busy as a member of a gang. Knowing that he always put you first motivated you to do everything you could to support him as much as possible.

He was always trying to spend as much time as possible with you, and it was only with time that he began to open up to you.

You were precious to him.

He doesn't often state it in words, although there were a few surprises here and there: simply because he couldn't think of any other way to communicate himself because he had never been taught.

Ran leaned back against the door, and slid to the floor, as quietly as possible.

It was 2 am and Ran still hadn't returned. You two had recently purchased an apartment in the center, and you were sitting on the sofa waiting for your boyfriend at the moment. You weren't typically concerned about when he'd come back, but that day he assured you he'd be back sooner than usual. You were about to nod off when you heard keys slipping into the lock and a head peeking out.

He had returned. He looked around, confused, and carried a bouquet in his left hand. His hair was tangled and unkempt, his eyes were half-closed, and he had a few too many scratches on his face. After closing the door, he rested his right hand on his side. Because his lights were turned off, he probably didn't notice you.

"Damn, I am late," he whispered placing his hand on his forehead.

You stayed a few seconds to observe him.

"I look so bad too, shit," he continued before attempting to get up and switch on the light. As he staggered to the switch, he felt a hand on his shoulder; it was you.

He backed away, frightened. And he saw you. In his eyes, you looked beautiful despite your unkempt hair and odd green jammies. He smiled at you, you smiled back, and his eyes lit up.

"You heard me?" he asked you. You nodded. His face darkened a little.

"Don't be concerned. But I don't have the energy to do anything today. Sorry, I will sleep on the sofa so I won't bother you." he then told you to bring the flowers.

"Don't read the message on the bouquet in front of me," he said with a wink. And you didn't hesitate to kiss him on the cheek.

Finally, you decided that you would not have left your partner sleeping on the sofa. That night, no words were required; as if only your minds communicated. You took his hand in yours and pushed him towards the shower after placing the flowers in a vase and the note on the table. He went into it a little hesitantly. After about five minutes, he strolled out wearing only shorts. He chuckled as your face became red.

So you started dressing the wounds, which were fortunately not deep. You were about to go to bed when you realized his long hair was fully soaked, and he immediately began to sneeze. You unwillingly stood up to get the hairdryer. He pretended nothing had happened, even though his exhaustion was worse. But you persisted and sat him up to dry his hair. He suddenly awoke when he heard the hairdryer noise.

Ran had never let anyone touch his hair. But it was you, his partner, that he loves so much. He positioned himself well so that you could be as comfortable as possible. And he was staring into space, but the thought of him was fixed on you, sighing a little, drying his hair at 3 am.

That hair was velvety, soft, and mint-scented. As soon as you finished, you noticed that he had fallen asleep. You couldn't explain how you hadn't noticed: he had been sitting and silent the entire time. You sat near him and let him lie down on the bed, pushing him slightly.

You could feel the arms that would embrace you, as well as the aroma of mint that had returned. Ran Haitani was hugging you.

"Thank you. I love you," he said softly before falling asleep.

When he whispered those two words to you for the first time, a rush of delight washed over you, lulling you into that unforgettable night.

INUI SEISHU

"These flowers remind me to think of you! because your hair is a combination of white and yellow, and their aroma even if is hardly detectable it is still my favorite!" the young girl y/n said these remarks to her best friend, Inui Seishu.

"I don't like those. I like red roses since they remind me of your constantly reddish cheeks," and even so, your face was turning crimson.

The only thing you could remember was that after it both of you started naturally laughing while a field of chamomille flowers was surrounding both of you - Oh, and his laugh was so pleasant.

The next day you had to move to another city with your family, thinking that you would never meet again that boy.

But you were wrong.

It was passed five years, and you were back again there.

Walking along the old streets brings to your mind a lot of memories, and when you were passing by a field of chamomile flowers you remembered him.

This boy with an angelic face, whose face you were in love with. You started to smile about how stupid that sentence you said could have sounded funny. But these were your feeling, and still, there was something special in these flowers. You kept strolling down that street, wondering how he could have changed in so many years.

Who knows if you would still have the courage to tell him these words you said to him that time. The only thing you were sure about was that now you could have the opportunity to define him in even more sophisticated words, as your vocabulary had vastly expanded over the past years.

You still have the memory of his face vivid in your memory.

You just happened to sit right where you had that conversation with Inui five years ago. Looking at the chamomile flower field you started to bring that sweet memory to mind.

It wasn't only their material beauty; there was something more endearing about the flowers that reminded you of him at the time. Their aroma was noticeable, and their hue also gave out apeaceful and comforting vibe.

Watching them was like a break from the world, a moment of meditation with only their pure beauty stuff your mind.

You might also mention how gentle he was to you, always putting you first. Always leaving you your favorite food from school, helping you to tidy your school bag, and even bringing you home when your parents couldn't.

These little details were unsaid clearly by your words at the time. The fact that he associated you with red roses for your checks made you smile and flush like an idiot.

You were still watching at these flowers, thinking about him when someone sits next to you.

"Uhm sorry if I bother you, but you remind me of the roses girl. By any chance, are you y/n l/n?" the strangers asked you.

With your heart starting beating faster you turn around to the one who pronounced that sentence.

"Inui??"

"Oh, thank God. hey, it's been a while y/n" he said. He was so different from that time, a scar around his eyes caught your attention for a second, but then you started to watch his pretty eyes and his hair that was not changed so much after all. His angelic face was still present, he kept his comforting expression still there.

"I'm sorry if I didn't say anything that time, but I didn't know how-" and you lost track of what he had just spoken to you.

"Yes, indeed! You won't believe me when I tell you that I was thinking about you right now," and he simply grinned, saying:

"You are now even more pretty than the last time I saw you."

"You've always been so beautiful, and Inui, you still remind me of these flowers, although I could tell you a lot of other reasons why," you replied pointing to the field of flowers in front of you.

"And I still think about you when I see red roses. Even now your cheeks are red, but this time your lips are too. Your scent is charming as it has always been" he added with nonchalance.

It was a magical evening, just you two talking about roses and chaamomille flowers.

tagging list: @frosttea @mrssunasimpowo @elychee @sonder-paradise

(click here If you'd like to join my taglist♡)

[wickedgamesoyaoya]

Buddy! Congratulations! I’m so proud of you. You deserve it. 💜🤩 this event is everythingggg. When I was reading through the quotes I was picking where it was from and I just 🤩🤩

Can I request a fluff piece with Iwa? (Phrase 5 or 6) written or SMAU it doesn’t matter cause I love all your stuffs 😘���

~♏️

The journey from the hospital to your shared home could easily be classified as an interrogation, albeit an unsuccessful one. After confirming that you were no longer in any pain, Iwaizumi had begun his investigation into the details of what occurred. However, instead of answering each targeted inquiry with a calculated response, you elected to sing out a song-lyric to tease your already stressed boyfriend. With the fibreglass supporting your injured hand and the pain killers lacing into your bloodstream, you felt perfectly normal. Hell, you wished you had the cast when you punched the idiot earlier. That way you could have broken more than his nose.

Once the vehicle pulled into the driveway, Iwaizumi instructed you to remain inside with an unnaturally long sigh. Your brows knitted together in curiosity as you watched him jog around the car to greet you on the passenger side. After tugging open the door completely, his gaze travelled from your cast to the surrounding area.

“You know my other hand works fine, right? And nothing is going to happen, stop that.” Exiting the car, a playful smile graced your lips. It was a small attempt at dismantling his concerns, and it could have worked if he bothered to return his attention to you.

“No.” His refusal was muttered plainly, indicating the matter was not up for debate. That was the thing with Hajime. Once his overprotective nature had activated, there was no stopping him.

“Haj, don’t be mad at me. I’m okay, I promise.” The second after he finished closing the passenger side door, you hooked an arm through his before batting your eyelashes up at him.

“I know you’re fine, but I’m not. I don’t like seeing you hurt.” The athletic trainer squinted at you, swallowing the growl that threatened to sound in his throat. “Can you blame me?” Removing his stare from yours, he fished out the keys to the house. As he unlocked the door and guided you inside, a sigh of defeat rolled off your lips.

“I guess not.”

Iwaizumi was mostly satisfied with your admission, a fact illustrated by the weakened scowl on his features. Now that he successfully brought you into the safety of the living room, he could breathe a little easier.

“Just go rest. I’m gonna make us some food.” He was about to shrug off his coat when his irises landed on you and the facial expression you had adorned.

The infamous puppy dog expression. One of the many expressions that would melt the man’s heart within seconds. With an intake of breath, he curled an arm around your waist, leading your body closer to his. Eliminating the space between your faces, he placed a gentle kiss against your jutted bottom lip then another against your forehead. Each kiss that was applied had more of an impact on your body than the injury he was currently nursing. Noticing your weakened knees, a faint smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“Idiot.” Once he released you from his hold, Iwaizumi administered a flick to your forehead, an action that led your dramatic self to collapse onto the couch behind you.

“My heart.” As you tried to recover from the soft gestures, your boyfriend finally removed his jacket, tossing it against the corner of the couch. Before he exited the living room, the trainer stole one final glance in your direction, humour bringing his eyebrows to raise. Of course, you were pretending to “melt” into the couch.

This was the same girl who punched a guy in the face hours ago? You really were something.

Minutes after Iwaizumi exited the room you shifted on the couch, no longer interested in maintaining a performance for an empty audience. As you squirmed around on the cushions, attempting to find the best position, you discovered his discarded jacket. Plucking the fabric up, a mischievous grin plastered against your visage. If you couldn’t cuddle with your boyfriend, you could at least cuddle with his jacket. 

The cloth had also completely absorbed his intoxicating scent, filling your senses with him.

Yeah. You could sleep like this.

Dinner took Iwaizumi a little longer than he anticipated. The recipe had stated the prep and cook time should be around an hour – it took him almost two hours. His ego was slightly bruised by his failure to complete the task during the allotted time, but at least it tasted good. After setting the table, he removed the apron from around him and then proceeded to the living room. Not once did it occur to him that he left a certain object within your reach - something you were not supposed to find. 

To his horror, you were no longer asleep on the couch. Instead you were playing a game on your phone with his jacket blanketing over you. Once you noticed his presence, excitement ignited inside your eyes. But confusion joined the emotion seconds later when you traced the panic he was struggling to conceal.

“Come on. Food is ready.” Clearing his throat with an artificial cough, he reached forward to grab the coat casually. Except instead of releasing the fabric, you grasped it tighter, sitting up in the process.

“Why are you being so suspicious?” The question spills from your lips too soon, because the answer is granted a moment later. The final tug on the material had resulted in the emergence of an item you were unaware of for the last two hours. The velvet box dropped onto the ground, the low thud sounding louder than the chaos ensuing inside of Iwaizumi’s chest.  “Haj…”

“It’s empty.” Scarlet coloured his neck as he engaged in a staring battle with the inanimate object. This was wrong – this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. But lying would certainly not fix the situation now. “Okay, it’s not. Let’s just pretend this didn’t happen.”

If you were drowsy before you were absolutely awake now. The butterflies inside your stomach were celebrating and your heart was seconds from caving in from the suspense. “Hajime. If you don’t ask me that question now, I’m going to ask you. And I want you to realize that I don’t have a ring, so I’m going to tie a rubber band around your finger.” 

He hated how he knew you would say something along those lines. 

Lowering himself onto one knee, he retrieved the box and tried to calm the sirens alarming inside his mind. He had something prepared – something he had rehearsed 100 times in front of the mirror, and 100 times in front of Oikawa. So why the hell was he frozen? Slowly his eyes lifted from the box to meet your expecting gaze.

“L/n f/n, you are one incredibly infuriating woman.” A laugh escapes your lips at the statement, and the sound brings a smile to his mouth. “You drive me insane. Sometimes I don’t know if I should be protecting you, or if the world needs protection from you. But what I do know is there is no one like you. You make me want to kill people I don’t know, but you also make me a better man.” The tears blurring your vision cause his heart to shoot up from his chest into his throat, the sensation wasn’t painful, however. It only made his following words sound much lighter. “I love you more than I ever knew was possible. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Whether that means picking you up at the hospital when you’re an idiot, or loving you when you act like a clown… I want to be there for it all. So, will you make me the happiest man and marry me?”

By the time he finally voiced the question you were patiently waiting for, your cheeks were puffed and stained with mascara.

“Of course I will, you gorgeous man!” Instinctively you offered out your right hand, forgetting the protective layer around it. For a moment your eyes flickered from the cast to the ring held out ahead of you. Iwaizumi expelled a chuckle at your dilemma, then took your left hand, slipping the ring on.

“You know in some countries they wear these on the left side anyway.” The adrenaline of the situation had hit its climax, and all he could do was grin at you with love and joy.

Once the ring was settled against your finger, another chorus of sobs rang out as you jumped onto him, peppering kisses all over his face.

“I love you so much. Let’s go get married now.” Pausing your storm of affection, a toothy smile was presented towards him. Iwaizumi rolled his eyes playfully then ruffled your hair.

“How about we eat first and then go get married?”

A/N: I really hope you guys like this lololol

General taglist:  @haikyuufairy  @newfriendjen @lvoejimin @moonlightaangel @gyozaaaaa @byun-nies @thevillagehiddenintheinternet @amberalisa @graykageyama @yourstarvic @chaichai-the-weeb @dreamstormings @chibishae34 @haikyuusimp91 @volleybloop  @rajablast @idiot-juice-enthusiast @melonmayhere @cuddlesslut  @athenarosaline @memes-and-money @coconut-dreamz  @mismatched-loves @elianetsantana @tsumume @tsukkismamagucci @the-golden-jhope @camcam1617 @azumane-kun @prettyforpapiiwa @swoonhui 

Bolded means I can’t tag ya ~

[koutarousangel]

━ hometown glory.

prompt : you were incredibly nervous to return home, especially since you knew that he’d returned home too. loosely inspired by this.

genre : angst to fluff

warnings : i mean at this point i can put swearing as a warning every time cause they’re apart of my everyday vocabulary lmao.

music suggestion : hometown glory - adele, happiest year - jaymes young, from the dining table - harry styles.

author’s note : @asdfghjkl7things​​ thank you so much for your support and your request ! i hope you like it !

you and hajime started dating during your third year in high school.

it was a surprise to practically everyone who knew you two, but the both of you had promised each other that you’d keep it on the down low as you were getting to know each other. mostly bc the two of you had friends that never knew how to shut up.

and what you had between you wasn’t really anyone else’s business.

you’d comforted him when they’d lost to karasuno, telling him that it wasn’t his fault and that he’d done all that he could, and you told him that if he wanted to, he could play volleyball again, or do whatever he wanted.

he’d consoled you when you failed the one exam that you needed to pass to go to the university of your dreams and he encouraged you to take the make-up exam, studying with you and making sure you were more than prepared.

you were each other’s rock and you genuinely thought that you were going to last.

until you got into an argument which turned into a full-blown fight bc the two of you were moving away from each other to study your respective courses.

you were scared of long-distance bc you didn’t want to hold iwa back, iwa tried telling you that you could make it work, but as you insisted, he accused you of never really loving him and that you were just finding a way out.

ouch.

four years later, the both of you were college graduates, and something drew you both back to japan.

walking through your hometown felt strange. it was familiar, heartwarming, but at the same time it felt as if you were a tourist, discovering everything for the first time. it had been a while since you’d walked through the streets of miyagi, having gotten used to the streets of london so much that the peace and quiet was almost far too loud. you’d thought about it, staying in london and finding a job there, settling with a brand new life but part of you missed japan so much, your family, your friends … him.

“you know,” your friend looked at you pointedly as she wiped a vegetable piece away from the corner of her mouth, “he’s back in japan, right?” it was almost as if she was fighting a smirk.

a sigh left your lips as you shook your head a little bit, “i know… he posted something on instagram,” the subtle confession that you still followed him on social media came out as a grumble, because you knew that your friend would make it her priority to never let you live it down. which was why you’d never told her that you’d accidentally liked one of his posts.

her eyes widened to the size of saucers and she practically choked on her drink, batting at your upper arm, “you sly fox you, so you do follow him!” you halted her frantic movements by grabbing her wrist.

“i do, which is also how i know that he has a girlfriend,” it was almost comical, how your friend practically deflated at your comment, scowl growing on her face, “it’s been four years, it was bound to happen.”

still, seeing him with his arm around her shoulders made your heart ache and you had angrily swiped away at the tears that spilled down your cheeks, because it was your fault. keeping him back had never been your intention and that’s what you felt you would have done had you remained in a relationship together. all that distance, the drastic time difference, attending separate colleges full of new experiences. you wanted hajime to have the world.

it was almost as if fate was trying to play some sort of cruel trick on you, because as your mind raced with thoughts of your old high school boyfriend, you felt yourself collide with someone and as soon as you heard your name being uttered by the person in question, you swore your heart wanted to jump out of your chest.

“hajime…” his name tumbled out of your mouth in what practically could be constituted as a breathless gasp, as if seeing his face in person after four years had completely winded you.

the man in question took a slight step back, taking a good look at you, almost making sure that you were really in front of him, and not his imagination toying with him. “small world,” was his only comment as he scratched the back of his head, awkwardness settling between you two as you wrapped your arms around yourself, the chill in the air suddenly very prominent.

“would you like to get some-” “i was going to go get some” the both of you spoke at the same time, nervous words overlapping each other. “coffee…” a smile as your shared thoughts fell together in perfect harmony, as if nothing had changed.

you had walked to the coffee shop in silence, questions of why you’d agreed to get coffee with your ex racing through your mind but the reason was simple … you didn’t want to walk away from him, not yet at least. sneaking glances at him while he grabbed your coffees made your heart thump faster than it had in a while, reminiscent of the first time you’d went on a date together.

there was a slight fear that it would be far too awkward to handle, but the two of you fell into a comfortable conversation, telling stories of your college days, how you’d gotten so drunk one time that you ended up stealing a plant and taking it back to your dorm, or how he’d once gotten so hungry during a late study session that he and his friends went to a mcdonalds drive through, even though they didn’t have a car.

you laughed until your face hurt, and you hadn’t realised, but the two of you had instinctively gotten closer to each other, and his arm had ended up wrapped around your chair, you leaned over and shoved him whenever he said something to tease you.

it was as if these four years apart never happened.

as your shared laughter died down and you finished off your drink, iwaizumi looked down at his lap and shook his head slightly, chuckling to himself and making you smile softly, “what?” you questioned, poking his shoulder.

“it’s still you, you know?” he looked up at you, eyes locking with yours as he gave a slight shrug of his shoulders, “the person i see by my side at the end of the day.”

his words hit you like a punch to the gut and you almost forgot how to breathe. you cringed, nose burning as tears tickled the corners of your eyes as you pushed your chair back, standing up and grabbing your belongings, holding them close to your chest as you rushed out of the coffee shop.

you could hear him calling for you, but the blood had rushed to your ears and you were trying your hardest to keep from crying, but as soon as you felt his hand around yours, you spun around and shoved at his chest, once, twice, tears dripping freely onto the pavement, cheeks burning red with anger and sadness, heart that was excitedly jumping around, now quietly sitting in the corner, thumping cautiously as you felt him grab at your hands to stop you from hitting him any further.

“you can’t say that shit hajime! you can’t say it, not after four years of nothing … you didn’t try to fight for me, convince me to stick with you through it all, and you have someone else! how sick can you be? saying that shit to me, stringing that girl along …” the anger wasn’t making you think straight, words spilling out of your mouth without you mulling them over first. 

it was iwaizumi’s turn to get angry at your words, “you broke up with me!” he pushed your hands away from his before pointing an accusatory finger at you, “you broke up,” and he turned his finger shakily at himself, “with me.”

your mouth dropped open and you closed it again, gaping at the air like a fish out of water, hoping the words would come to you, “i wanted what’s best for you,” you managed to whisper, “i wanted for you to be happy.”

“and you came to that decision on your own!” his chest was heaving now, bottom lip trembling as he tried to keep his strong facade, but it was crumbling, “how dare you, decide for me what’s best for me?” his words were only making your chest ache because they were true. you were scared that you were not enough for him, that you’d never be enough for him, “you were what’s best for me, i wanted to share everything with you!” but you were wrong. 

he let out a strangled laugh, “and that girl? she knew it too. i tried going on one date with her, and when i tried going home with her, she pushed me away and told me that i was just kidding myself and setting myself up to get hurt, because my heart was with someone else.”

the two of you were practically in hysterics, wild stares at each other, tears staining your cheeks and some threatening to fall on his own. this was how the argument was supposed to go four years ago, not with you doing everything in your power to walk away. you needed to talk it out, communicate with each other; the only reason it had reached this point, as if you were two people in some kind of romantic movie on the sidewalk professing your love for each other, was because all these emotions had accumulated during the past four years.

after he let out a couple of strangled breaths, iwaizumi’s shoulders slumped, and he raked his hand through his hair, shaking his head and going to sit down on the sidewalk, arms on his knees and head bowed forward.

you watched him for a couple of moments, hand pressed over your mouth as you tried not to sob. the man who’d held your heart so firmly in his hands even if you were continents away had never given up on you. suddenly you didn’t feel so pathetic, but the guilt was eating you alive. you’d never meant to hurt him so, you adored him and you really did want the best for him.

swallowing back the remainder of the tears, you looked up at the sky and sniffled softly, before taking a couple of brave steps forward, kneeling down and wrapping your arms around his shoulders, burying your face into his neck, “i’m sorry, i’m sorry, i’m sorry,” you chanted softly, knowing that no matter how many times you said it, silently praying that he’d accept your apology, even though you didn’t really deserve it.

his hand rested gently on your forearm and he kept his head forward, pressing soft kisses to your wrist and the back of your hand. iwa hesitated for a moment, before he rested his hands on your waist, carefully guiding you to his lap and wrapping his arms around you, rocking you back and forth and shushing you quietly as you continued to sob into his chest. the way he said your name was as soft as a butterfly coming to rest on a fingertip, and he gently guided your face up to look at his.

“i forgive you,” he admitted to you, giving you a small smile, “i’m sorry for yelling, i’m sorry for letting you go ... ” his forehead came to rest against yours, and his eyes were closed. you could feel your heart practically soaring, having him so close again, him accepting your apology. 

your hand came to rest on his face, thumb gently drawing back and forth across his cheek, before leaning forward and leaving a tentative kiss on the side of his mouth, watching as his eyes all but shot open, cheeks burning red under the palm of your hand as he looked into your eyes, “i forgive you too hajime.”

~ three year timeskip. ~

you were anxious. more anxious then you had been ever in your life. 

you’d been with hajime ever since you reconciled now, going through all the motions with settling into your life back in japan, finding a job you both love but still there were struggles. like how hajime worked himself to the bone, hell bent on being the best athletic trainer the national volleyball team had ever seen. you laid blankets on his shoulders when he slept at his desk while he was writing reports or planning injury prevention programs. meanwhile, he carried you to bed whenever you fell asleep on the couch because you couldn’t sleep in an empty bed, or when you were studying for your job and you fell asleep at your own desk.

your relationship was strong, communication prominent during the whole time, because you knew what could happen if it wasn’t there. the two of you never went to bed angry with each other, he always brought home flowers if he fucked up, hiding his face behind the bouquet as he uttered an apology and you always made sure to bring him a cup of tea to bed if you stepped out of line, before cuddling into his side and muttering a small ‘i’m sorry’ into the silence.

vip tickets gave you the perfect view of the volleyball court, adorning the japanese flag on one of your cheeks and a polo shirt that matched hajime’s with ‘iwaizumi’ spread across your shoulders.

it would be your own name anyway, you thought, as you twirled the engagement ring around your finger, grinning brightly before looking up at him and giving him an encouraging wink, mouthing an i love you at him.

you’d returned home twice; to japan the first time, and to iwaizumi hajime’s heart the second time.

[t0wnspersonb]

Don’t Hold Back (Iwaizumi Hajime x Reader)

Anonymous said:

Hi there 🦋anon here! Would It be posible to request a scenario in which iwizumi s/o is an ice skater and she has a pretty bad fall during a competition resulting in her getting her ankle pretty bad injured and has a result is not allowed to skate for months. As a consequence she starts doubting her abilities for sports, she is scared of junping and making figures and tries to hide it from him until one day she collapses unable to hold it back anymore but iwa is still there for her? Please!

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Word Count: 2,171

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I apologize if this is absolute shit anon and that it took so long for me to write it😭😭😭 I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything new so I apologize for that too! I’ll hopefully be updating more, I’m finally looking through my inbox and seeing what I want to write. I’ll be doing two more requests before I close it. I have a couple more stories I want to get out. I will let you guys know when I’ll be taking more requests! I hope you guys like this one and please give me some feedback:)

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“Does that hurt?” the doctor looked at you expectantly, carefully rotating your ankle.

 You shook your head.

 “Good. It looks like the physical therapy has paid off. I was worried that the surgeries weren’t -”

 You had stopped listening at that point, your eyes trained on the window behind the doctor. A brightly colored butterfly floated effortlessly in the wind, its wings beating softly as it fluttered about.

 That was how you were on the ice; it was effortless, elegant, beautiful, it was everything that butterfly was… until you ruined it all.

 Six months.

 You haven't skated in six months.

 All because of your ruined ankle.

 After three surgeries, countless hours of physical therapy, heartache, and far too many tears, you were finally at this moment.

 So then why did you feel so incredibly empty?

 Why weren’t you excited?

 “- with the right precautions and easing your way back in, I don’t see why you can’t begin skating.” the doctor finished, giving you an encouraging smile. 

 “O-Oh. Really?” you stuttered out nervously.

 “Of course. But like I said, you need to ease your way in, I don’t recommend doing any competitions just yet. But an hour or two on the ice won’t hurt.” He said thoughtfully.

 You simply nodded.

 The rest of the checkup finished in a blur and you found yourself walking on the sidewalk, deep in thought.

 It was wintertime, your hands were stuffed deep into your coat pockets as you trudged through the snow.

 Normally you loved this kind of weather, but recently… recently the gloomy weather seemed to seep into your very being, leaving you exhausted and cold.

 “Hey.” a familiar voice called out, you looked up to see Iwaizumi leaning against the entrance to the park you were planning to go to. A place you often frequented when you wanted to be alone, when you wanted to think.

 “Hi.” you said quietly, walking towards the tall ace. Iwaizumi didn’t say anything as you pressed your head into his chest, nor did he make any movement to pull you closer.

 You guys just stood there.

 “Why didn’t you text me back? I was going to pick you up from the hospital.” he finally said once you pulled away.

 You guys began making your way into the park, sitting down on the swings.

 “I’m sorry.” You said softly, eyes casting up to the dark sky. It was snowing again, meaning that you should head home soon. “I didn’t even bother looking at my phone. Too much on my mind.”

 “Well what did the doctor say?” he asked, his gloved hands holding onto the chains linked to the seat.

 “Said I could start skating again. Slowly. No competitions for a while.” You said, frowning slightly.

 “That’s good though. You haven’t been on the ice in months.” Iwaizumi said pointedly.

 “Yeah. It just seems weird… like it’s been years rather than months.” You sighed.

 You felt a gloved hand gently pull a strand of hair away from your face. Iwaizumi gazed at you with a soft expression.

 “Well don’t push yourself. We don’t need you falling again and breaking your ass or something.” he said, smirking as you laughed at his statement.

 “Or something.” You repeated, eyes glancing down at your snow-covered shoes now. 

 “Shut up.” he rolled his eyes, tousling your hair, causing you to pout and push at him. “It’s going to be fine. You need to calm down. I better get going, Crappykawa wants everyone to meet up for practice early today.” 

 He stood up, dusting the snow off his pants before he grabbed the chains right above your hands, he leaned down closer to your face.

 “Kiss me.” he demanded, staring into your blushing face, while you wanted to blame it on the freezing weather, both of you knew exactly why you were blushing.

 “This is a public place.” you countered back, your heart racing in your chest at his demand, and how close he was to you.

 All thoughts of skating and your injury went out of your mind, and all you could think about was Iwaizumi now.

 The sly bastard.

 He knew you too well.

 “And?” he scoffed, carefully grabbing your chin. “You’re my girlfriend. It’s not like that’s indecent.”

 Before you could counter his lips were already on yours. They were cold and slightly chapped, but his mouth fitted against yours perfectly. He angled your face up more, causing the kiss to deepen.

 Your hands gripped at the front of his coat, either to pull him closer or to shove him away, you weren’t sure. But the kiss ended far too soon for your liking.

 “Get home safe. I’ll call you after practice.” he said huskily, pressing his lips to your forehead briefly before pulling away completely.

 That man was incredibly infuriating. 

 But you loved him anyway.

 It was like fate the way you guys ended up dating. Your friend had dragged you to one of Aoba Johsai’s games, she was crazy over their captain and had hoped to talk to him afterwards.

 But you were completely disinterested, you couldn’t care less about the sport, or any sport for that matter. If it didn’t involve figure skating, it didn’t matter to you.

 And then you saw him play.

 You were always a sucker for muscular ruffians. It was his arms that drew you in.

 When the team won, you and your friend found yourself in front of the captain of the team and captain muscles.

 Once you laughed at his ridiculous comments aimed at Oikawa, the rest was history. You guys hit it off instantly and soon began dating.

 You thought that it was going to be hard at first, considering how busy you guys were, but it worked out somehow.

 You appreciated all the effort and support he put in the relationship. Iwaizumi was your rock, a constant comfort in your life.

 You knew that he was worried about you, ever since your injury you knew you were being distant but… you couldn’t help it. You also didn’t mean to either. It just happened.

 Figure skating was your entire life, something that you’ve done since you were little. You were damn good at it too. It was the competition right before nationals when you injured your ankle.

 You were crushed.

 It was a simple mistake too. A jump that caused your complete downfall. 

 You didn’t want to skate anymore. You didn’t want to taste that humiliating defeat again, you didn’t want to feel powerless anymore. You remembered the comments, the circling doubt that after you healed, you wouldn’t be in the top anymore.

 You hated it all.

 So then why were you here?

 You stared at the rink, the ice was smooth and ready to be used… but… you felt sick to your stomach.

 It had been several weeks since the doctor’s visit. 

 You wanted to get out of the house for a bit and then you found yourself here, at the skating rink. Where you had spent countless hours and countless days practicing.

 But it was now or, never right?

 You had to find out. This was the moment that was going to determine if you were going to continue skating.

 Carefully you set yourself on the ice. Your lower lip ached from the way you were biting it so hard. 

 Then you started to move, gliding against the ice easily, like a fish in water. 

 It felt familiar. 

 It felt good.

 It felt free.

 You felt truly free in this moment, your eyes slipping shut as you moved around.

 Maybe… maybe you could still do this. Your heart has never felt lighter until now.

 This was what you were missing. 

 Feeling a bit more confident, you decided to try a triple Salchow. 

 Your form was wonderful, the spins were graceful… but then. Fuck. You panicked when it came to the landing which caused you to fall on your bad ankle.

 You could feel your lower lip quiver as you stared at your hands placed on the ice. Your ankle throbbed in pain for a moment before subsiding.

 But your heart was throbbing in pain now. 

 You couldn’t do it. 

 You failed.

 Again.

 Frustration and anger gripped at your heart; tears were now falling onto the ice below you. 

 You screamed, your hand balling up into a fist, your knuckles slamming down into the ice as you cried out in anger.

 You didn’t even notice the pain in your hand now, nor the blood dripping down your fingers when your skin split. 

 “Y/n!” a strong familiar hand grabbed your bloody fist, preventing you from hurting yourself further.

 You looked up into familiar dark eyes. Iwaizumi was staring at you in worry. 

 “What are you doing?” he scolded, tenderly uncurling your fist, assessing the damage. “You idiot! Look at your hand! Why would you do this to yourself?”

 “I can’t do this anymore.” you whispered angrily, wiping at your eyes with your good hand.

 “What are you talking about?” He frowned.

 “I can’t skate anymore Hajime!” You wailed out, the emotions you were suppressing, the emotions you kept hidden from him, came bursting out. “I can’t do this! I’m not good anymore! I failed! I can’t jump! How can I be a figure skater when I can’t jump!? I’m a failure!”

 “SHUT UP!” Iwaizumi roared, causing your hysterical words to die down. Was he… was he actually mad at you right now?

 “You’re being stupid.” he scowled, his eyes gazing at you with intensity. “Of course, you can’t jump right now. You just got the okay from your doctor to start skating again! You shouldn’t even be trying to jump right now!”

 You sniffed softly, remaining silent as he continued to scold you. 

 “You were supposed to ease into it! If you mess up your ankle again you definitely won’t be able to skate anymore, is that what you want!?”

 “How can I start skating again when I know I’ll just fail! How can I start skating again when everyone in the competition believes that I can’t make it!?” you snapped back, tears welling up in your eyes again.

 Iwaizumi’s angry expression melted into something incredibly soft as he stared at your tearstained face. 

 “What are you talking about babe?” he cupped your jaw carefully, gently titling your face up so he could look at you properly. “You’re not a failure. No one is doubting your abilities but yourself.” his rough fingers wiped at your tears softly. “So, what that you injured yourself? Accidents like that happen all the time. Look at Shittykawa and his knee. An injury isn’t a reflection of what you’re capable of. Everyone knows that you’re an amazing figure skater. Everyone is waiting for you to get back on the ice. But you can’t rush it.”

 His eyes softened further as he took in your beautiful face. “You need to take things slow; I won’t let you injure yourself again. I definitely won’t let you quit either. Besides you really think that I would be dating you if you weren’t an incredible athlete? I don’t date losers babe.” he teased, smiling once you began giggling softly at his statement.

 He pulled you into a gentle hug, his muscular arms securing around your shoulders easily, pulling you against his chest.

 Your fingers gripped at the sides of his jacket, burying your face into his warm chest. His familiar cologne filled your nose, easing the tightness in your chest and filling you with warmth.

 “Don’t hide your feelings from me.” he mumbled, a soft blush coating his cheeks as he stared off towards the far wall. “I want you to tell me these things. Don’t keep me in the dark, I can’t be a good boyfriend if you don’t tell me what’s bothering you.”

 He grabbed your shoulders, carefully pushing you away so he could stare at you once more. “Rely on me more.”

 You stared at him in awe. Your heart thumping in your chest pleasantly. Iwaizumi was the epitome of your ideal man. You loved him completely.

 “You’re so manly Haji.” You blurted out, red rushing to your cheeks at your confession.

 “S-Shut up stupid!” he scowled, looking away from you. He liked that though, he liked that a lot, fuck why were you so cute?

 You couldn’t help but reach up, softly pecking his flushed cheek. He looked at you in shock until he grabbed your face, his mouth pressing against yours in a searing kiss.

 The kiss spoke volumes in how you guys felt about each other. The admiration of each other's strengths, the mutual adoration and love you guys shared. It was all said in that kiss.

 “That’s disgusting Iwa-chan! Other people use this rink!” a familiar voice called out. 

 The kiss ended all too soon, and your sweet boyfriend turned incredibly angry.

 “Shut the hell up Shittykawa! You’re such a crappy guy! At least I have a girlfriend!” he snapped angrily. 

 “That’s mean Iwa-chan!” 

 “Go die!”

 He was definitely the man of your dreams.

[theultimatefanficwriter]

Recipe for Perfection-Teruteru Hanamura x Nayako Hayashi(OC)

Commission by @potatorobotgirl! Thank you so much! I appreciate it! This is the first time I’ve written for someone’s OC, so I hope I do Nayako justice! I am so SO sorry it took so long! My motivation left me for a while! I hope you still enjoyed!

Nayako looked up at the diner she was approaching. The sounds of music and conversation could be heard from inside, delectable smells escaping into the air. The magenta haired girl peered anxiously through the restaurant windows as she came to a stop at the doors. She could make out the faces of all her classmates, and besides them the establishment was completely empty. 

“Teruteru did say he closed the diner for this party.” Nayako murmured to herself. She let out a sigh and gently slapped her face. “Come on, Naya. You told Teruteru you’d be there. If you don’t show it’ll hurt his feelings! You know everyone in there! You can do this!” After giving herself a pep talk, the dancer quickly opened the diner doors before she could change her mind.

The soft music grew louder as Naya stepped into the building, and the delicious scents engulfed her, causing her stomach to let out a growl. As if that quiet sound alerted him, the party host himself suddenly made his way up to Nayako, a happy smile on his face.

“Ah, Naya! You made it!” Teruteru greeted her excitedly. “I was beginning to worry!”

The slightly taller girl forced a smile onto her face. “S-sorry, Teruteru. I lost track of time. But I wouldn’t miss a chance to taste your dishes for the world!”

The chef puffed his chest out proudly. “Well of course you feel that way! No one has such decadent dishes as yours truly!” He glanced over at where the food was being served, and his face fell slightly. “Though, uh...if you want to have a taste for yourself, you may want to hurry.” Nayako tilted her head, and Teruteru continued with a sigh. “Akane is hogging it all.”

Naya looked with him into the dining area, and sure enough, the Ultimate Gymnast Akane was shovelling food into her mouth almost faster than the eye could track. The chef looked at this with a hint of annoyance. Nayako chuckled softly. “Thank you for the warning, Teruteru. I’ll go and get something now.”

Teruteru nodded. “Yes, that’s probably a good idea.” He agreed. He smiled at her. “I hope you enjoy yourself, mon cheri.” He gave the dancer a wink, causing her to blush slightly, before heading off elsewhere in the restaurant. 

Once he was gone, Naya sighed and turned back to the food table. There was a large amount of people gathered there, and she felt her nerves begin to act up. The purple eyed girl swallowed back her fears and slowly approached the table, doing her best to avoid any interactions with the others.

Unfortunately this proved to be futile, as Chiaki turned from her conversation with Hajime and smiled softly at her before walking over to the shorter girl. “Ah, hey, Nayako.” She greeted the dancer. “I’m glad you came.”

Naya smiled nervously and turned to the gamer. “O-oh, hi, Chiaki.” She returned the greeting. “Yeah, I didn’t wanna miss one of Teruteru’s get-togethers.”

“You got here just in time.” Nayako jumped slightly at Hajime’s voice, the Reserve Course student apparently having followed his friend over. “Akane hasn’t gotten to all of the food yet.”

Akane glanced up from her place on the other side of the table. “Mmh?! Mhers hstl pwhty!” She attempted to speak, her mouth stuffed with food. 

The crimson haired girl chuckled quietly, getting her own plate and beginning to fill it as she avoided looking at the others. “Y-yeah, Teruteru warned me about that. But it’s ok. I-I’m not really that hungry anyway.”

“That’s surprising!” Everyone looked over at the voice of the other dancer of their class, Hiyoko, as she approached the group, a smug look on her face. She smirked up at Nayako. “You’d think a fat pig like yourself would be eating as much as that hog over there!”

“Hiyoko, that wasn’t nice!” Mahiru chastised, coming up behind her best friend. “We’ve talked about you being nicer to people, remember?” The shorter girl grumbled and crossed her arms.

Meanwhile, Naya’s anxiety was beginning to rise along with the amount of people around her. Her breathing started growing heavier, although it remained unnoticed by the others. She began talking softly to herself in an attempt to calm herself down. “It’s ok. You’re ok, Nayako. These people are your friends. You know them. Just take a breath.”

This seemed to work, as her breathing stabilized and she was able to push her worries to the side once more. She looked around at the others and saw they were chatting amongst themselves. 

“Hey, Nayako!” The girl turned her head towards Mahiru when her name was called. The photographer smiled kindly. “I was talking with Hiyoko earlier, and we were wondering if you would be up to performing with her later?”

The purple haired girl tilted her hair in surprise, looking to the shorter dancer. Hiyoko was avoiding her gaze, a small pout on her face. Naya looked back to Mahiru. “Really? She wanted to perform...with me?” She asked uncertainly.

The red haired girl nodded. “Yeah! I mean, we’ll have to ask Teruteru if it’s alright, but I’m sure it’ll be no problem. The two of you are both Ultimate dancers, so it would be incredible to see you two perform together for everyone here!”

The thought of having all of her classmates watch her dance, their eyes on her as she danced...it made her begin to once again hyperventilate. Mahiru noticed and narrowed her eyes worriedly. “Nayako? Are you alright?”

Naya swallowed and gave her a shaky smile. “Y-yeah. Just fine.” She lied. “I...I’ll get back to you on that.” She told her quickly, and without another word she turned and walked to the other side of the dining area, Mahiru and Hiyoko watching her with puzzled looks.

Nayako made her way to a table and sat down, placing her plate of food down and taking a deep breath. She looked over to her classmates and watched as they all mingled together, talking and laughing. She sighed and looked away. “I wish I could do that.” She muttered, picking at her food with a fork. “I wish I wasn’t so afraid of being around others.” 

“Ah, so this is where you went off to, mon cheri!” The dancer was pulled from her thoughts as Teruteru’s voice was heard. She looked over and saw the chef walk over to her. 

She gave him a soft smile. “Hi, Teru.” She greeted him. “Yeah, I just wanted to sit down to eat.” 

Teruteru nodded and took a seat across from her. “Of course.” He smirked and raised a brow. “And how are you enjoying the food? It’s the most delectable cuisine you’ve ever tasted in your life, correct?”

Naya giggled and took a bite from the food. A wide smile crossed her face, and she quickly nodded. “Mmm!” She swallowed and beamed at him. “It’s incredible, Teruteru! I’ve never tasted anything better!”

A smug look crossed the chef’s face, and he puffed out his chest. “Well thank you, my dear. I’m glad you are enjoying it.” Naya smiled at him, feeling relaxed for the first time since she entered the restaurant.

“Hey, Teruteru!”

However it wasn’t long lived, as Akane quickly made her way over to the two of you, Hajime and Chiaki close behind.

Teruteru looked up to her. “Ah, yes? Can I help you, Akane?” He asked her.

The gymnast grinned and nodded. “Yeah! I was wondering if you had any more of those...uh…Ya know, the meat in the pastery?” She looked to Chiaki. “What’re they?”

“Beef wellington?” Chiaki answered her.

Teruteru’s eyes widened. “Wh-Have you already eaten them all?!” He exclaimed, flabbergasted.

“Hey, they were really good!” Akane defended herself. “‘S not my fault!”  

“Hey, Hajime! There you are!” Kazuichi’s voice was heard as the mechanic approached the group. Hajime turned to his friend as the pink haired boy placed a hand on his shoulder. “Dude, have you seen Sonia’s dress?! She looks so hot!”

“Avert your eyes, mortal, for scum such as you have no right to gaze upon the dark queen.” Gundham’s voice was heard as he, too, walked forward, sneering at Kazuichi.

Pretty soon an argument broke out between the two, and as their voices rose, so did the anxiety in Naya’s gut. The voices seemed to get louder and louder, and Nayako’s chest began feeling tight. She shut her eyes as she started breathing heavily.

“Nayako?” She lifted her head up at Teruteru’s voice and saw his worried eyes looking at her. “What’s the matter? Are you alright?”

The dancer opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out.

The chef furrowed his brow and stood. He gently took Naya’s hand and helped her stand. Her shaking legs could barely support her, so Teruteru allowed her to lean on him. He then led her away from the others, who hadn’t noticed her condition.

The two made their way to the kitchen, and as Teruteru closed the door, the sounds of the restaurant could no longer be heard, allowing Nayako to start to calm down.

Once Teruteru noticed her breathing had returned to normal, he placed a gentle hand on her arm. “Nayako?” He called her name gently, and she looked to him. “Are you alright now?”

She nodded, taking a deep breath. “Y-yeah. I-I’m fine.” She assured him. She gave him a small smile. “Sorry. I-I didn’t mean to worry you and ruin your good time-”

The chef quickly shook his head. “Oh, no no no! If you were having a problem of some sorts I’d rather make sure you’re alright!”

The purple eyed girl smiled softly at that, her chest fluttering at that sweet gesture. “That’s really nice of you, Teruteru.” She sighed. “I...I don’t like large crowds.” She admitted. “I have really bad social anxiety, but I didn’t want to disappoint you by not coming, so I tried to ignore it, but…”

Teruteru frowned. “Naya...While I appreciate you doing that for me, your health should come before anything else.” He told her. He thought for a moment before grinning. “I have an idea. Wait here for a moment, alright? I won’t be long!”

Nayako tilted her head, but nodded. She watched as the shorter boy walked out of the kitchen. She sighed and sat down, pulling her knees to her chest and waiting.

~~

About twenty minutes passed. Naya had closed her eyes and was now fully relaxed when the door opened. Her head shot up and she looked over relaxing once more when she saw Teruteru. 

He smiled when he saw her and walked to her. He held his hand out. “Mon cheri, if you please.” He said, a grin on his face.

Naya couldn’t help but giggle as she took his hand. He helped her up and led her out of the kitchen. They walked out into the restaurant and past it. The dancer furrowed her brow, unsure where they were going until Teruteru stopped at a room that read ‘VIP Room.’ He pushed the door open and Naya gasped at what she saw inside.

There was a table in the middle of the room with a white table cloth on top of it. It was adorned with candles, and on either side of the table was a plate with delicious looking food. Soft music filled the candlelit room.

Nayako covered her mouth as a smile crossed her face. She looked to Teruteru, who was looking at her expectantly. “Teruteru...did...did you do this...for me?” She asked quietly.

He nodded. “But of course.” He confirmed. “I wanted to make sure you were comfortable. This gathering is for you as much as it is for the others. If you aren’t having a good time, I want to help fix that.”

Naya hadn’t felt this happy in a long time. “Teru...you didn’t have to do this.” She said, “This must’ve taken so much work! You didn’t have to do this for me.”

“Of course I had to!” The chef insisted. “You looked so uncomfortable. You’re one of my friends, Nayako. And while you are at my restaurant, it is my duty to help you.” He held his hand out to her. “Now, shall we?”

The dancer smiles softly and nods, placing her hand in his and allowing him to lead her to the table. He pulled out one of the chairs for her, and when she sat down he pushed it back into the table. He then walked around to the other side of the table and sat down himself.

“Now you can enjoy my delectable dishes with only yours truly around!” Teruteru said cheerfully, a grin on his face. 

Nayako wasn’t sure what to say. She was still surprised Teruteru did this for her. She felt so happy, and she looked to her friend. “Thank you so much, Teru.” She said softly. “This...this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

The pudgy chef waved her off. “It was really nothing.” He placed his elbow on the table and his chin in his palm as he looked at Naya, a smirk on his face. “For you I would go to the ends of the Earth~”

The purple haired girl blushed lightly, looking away from him. “S-stop that.” She murmurs. “I know you’re just saying that because you flirt with all the girls.”

Teruteru frowns. “Well, that is true, but I don’t do something like this for every girl in our class.”

Nayako blinks and looks over to him. “...What are you saying?” 

The shorter boy chuckles. “Just that I think you’re pretty special. I’ve liked you for a while. More than I’ve liked the others.”

The girl felt her heart beat quickly in her chest. “Are...are you serious? Do you really mean that?” When Teruteru nodded, Naya swallowed nervously. “Well...I-I’ve really liked you for a long time too...You make me feel calm even when I’m around a lot of people. You’re nicer than people think you are.”

Teruteru looks at you in surprise. “R-really? You like me back?!” He exclaimed. “I thought you were going to reject me! Considering….who I am.” He looks at her and smiles softly. “Well. Guess we were both surprised.” The boy leans across the small table and cups Nayako’s face. He tilts his head, a small smirk on his face. “...May I kiss you, mon cheri?” He asked in a soft voice.

Naya’s face flushed a light pink, and she nodded.

That’s all he needs before Teruteru chuckles and leans forward, pressing his lips against the dancer’s, both of their eyes closing as they enjoy the moment. It was soft and sweet, the opposite of Teruteru’s outward personality. It made Naya smile, knowing this was something only she got to see. The non-pervy side of the chef. The side that was a romantic. The side that wanted more than just sex. The side that wanted love.

After a short while the kiss ended, and they were both smiling at the other. “My, my, my sweet. Even my most delicious dessert could not compare to such a delicacy.” Teruteru chuckles with a grin.

Naya giggled, a light blush on her cheeks. “It was amazing.” She whispered. “Thank you for this, Teruteru. It was lovely.”

“Anything for you, mon cheri.” He told her. He picked up a fork. “Now, I know we indulged in dessert first, but we really should get to the main course.” He teased.

Nayako giggled and nodded before picking up her own fork. The two enjoyed the rest of their night together, making small talk and enjoying the other’s company.

Nayako had never felt so calm.

[estherwritess]

Boxer! Iwaizumi Hajime x reader

wc: 1573

genre: fluff

Abruptly being awoken from your sleep, you swatted your hand around you trying to find the noisy culprit responsible for interrupting your much-needed sleep. Subconsciously, you already had a gut feeling about who could possibly be calling at this ungodly hour. While lifting your hand up you managed to croak out an almost undecipherable “hello?”.  

The deeper, masculine voice unmistakingly belonged to your long-time friend, Iwaizumi Hajime, the shakiness, worry and sheer uncertainty in his voice makes you feel instantly more awake.

“Y/N, could you come to the club please? I need you right now.” The phrase is enough to send you almost flying out of bed; your mind silently cussing him out, partly for making you worried, and partly because you just wanted sleep. It wasn’t uncommon for him to call you after any kind of boxing game and neither was it uncommon for boxing games for the adult men to take place later at night.

He’d always call you whenever he needed help. You, the reliable one as always. Your feet seemed to carry you towards the front door, haphazardly grabbing your keys from their designated spot on the counter of your apartment; the other hand trying to wipe away the sleepy feeling washing over you in waves.

There you are, wobbling on your legs, pushing open the door to the familiar club you’d spent so much time with your best friend. Nothing really prepared you for the sight you’d soon be facing. There he was, sat on one of the benches, dimmed lights filled the room with low light. Your eyes took him in, curiously searching for the reason as to why he could’ve possibly called you right now. Hands wrapped in protective tape, wrists resting right above his knees as his head was cast downwards. The gym was mostly empty except for a few people cleaning the space up; making your way over to where he was currently sitting you made sure to call out to him.

“Hajime...? What’s up?” Your voice cautiously rung out, easily rising out from the background noise. As his body turned to face to you, a less-than-genuine smile forced its way onto his face; you could tell whether it was genuine, you’d like to think of yourself as a little Iwaizumi analysis guide after spending so many years with him.  However, you could never really figure out if he felt the same way ever since you’d developed that small nagging crush in your third year. The feeling was always there, quite like a little figurative devil that followed you around, you had become quite the expert at hiding it after almost leaking your little secret. You weren’t one to make a move if you weren’t sure there was a chance that the person would actually feel the same way.

Your eyes moved to the bruising forming on his chest, reddish splotches on his chest and arms. Older bruises were still present, making the view all the more worrying to you. His chest and stomach were littered with blue-purple-ish and red patches. His lip was busted and his eye seemed to be swelling shut.

You could swear you felt your heart drop to your stomach; your body lunging forward, grabbing his hands as he winced at the sudden movement. “Some carefulness wouldn’t hurt,” his light-hearted joke didn’t seem to be changing much about your current state of worry, your eyes searching to meet his as he kept trying to avoid your unwavering gaze.

“What happened?” your voice sounded thick with concern; brows furrowed.

“I think you can tell what happened, you’re smart Y/N, I lost a match” the side of his mouth curled up; his token expression whenever he took a playful dig at you. As you got closer to his face, you couldn’t help but graze your finger over the busted lip; wondering if it hurt as much as you thought it did. When he winced you pulled back, you felt as if you had been pulled out of some kind of dream. The stare you both gave each other felt like it lasted ages, you managed to tear yourself away, clumsily finding your words.

“C’mon, let’s get you out of here” you avoid any kind of eye-contact, pursing your lips as you lend him your shoulder; Draping his arm over it, you help him up and start walking back to your car. A deafening, tension-filled, silence took over. Neither one of you said anything as you quietly opened the passenger door of your car, giving him support as to allow him to climb in. You sneak a glance at him from the corner of your eye, keeping an eye on the road; he looks slightly distraught.

“Not used to losing, Hajime?” a small smile settles itself on your lips as you let your gaze fall back on the road, fingers drumming rhythmically on the steering wheel. He hummed, eyes skimming over your relaxed figure leaning against the car seat, he notices every single detail about you. Your presence makes him feel at ease, something about you has always made him feel that way. You somehow knew what to say during the moments when he was speechless, you were reliable and you had an incredibly kind heart. You’d been friends for over 6 years, you met in high school and kept the friendship going throughout college. He supported you in your pursuit of higher education, while you supported him in his ambition to go pro with his boxing.

Iwaizumi had always been the type who found hiding his feelings to be much easier than straight up admitting them; it felt so personal, almost like he was letting someone see him vulnerable. He didn’t enjoy that feeling very much, so he found it best to stick things out. Oikawa had nagged him about it countless times, how he was wasting time, he’d never listen though. So, there he was, bruised and beaten; he was lucky you’d driven out there so late at night to help him out. Without being aware of it, a smile made its way onto his face.

Turning off the engine you practically stumbled out of the car, trying to quickly get to Iwaizumi’s side, his eyes apologetically looking at you. You draped his arm around your shoulder once again, offering him something to hold on as you made your way to your apartments’’ front door. The way you fumbled around for your keys, nearly dropping them, then in attempt at grabbing them they were almost whacked away by your hand, was clearly less than elegant. Nonetheless, it got an amused chuckle out of the boy next to you. His free hand going up to cover his mouth, nose scrunched and eyes closed. You freeze for a moment, letting yourself admired him; a genuine happy expression on his face was rare. Not unseen, but pretty rare, so you let yourself look for a little longer.

You eventually pushed the door open, helping your best friend inside, guiding him to the small couch you had in your equally as small living room. As you set him down, you padded towards your bathroom, rummaging in your medicine cabinet. As you gathered your materials- disinfectant, a few compresses and bandages- you proceeded to hurry back to the living room. He’d leaned back, arm behind his head as he aimlessly swiped on his phone; blue light illuminating his roughened-up face.

You clear your throat, his gaze returning to you, you hold up the small box containing your bare first aid supplies as you flash him a small smile.

“Let’s get you fixed up alright?” you say as you take a seat next to him, as silence fills the room you get to work. Your fingers skillfully clean the little cuts and scratches with the disinfectant; working your way up from his arms and stomach you finally reach the small wounds on his face. You grip his chin to hold his face still with your thumb and index finger, lifting it up to get a good look.

Trying not to get flustered under his unflinching gaze you divert your attention to the cotton pad lying next to you. As you dip in the liquid and lift it up to clean the last of the little wounds, you feel his hand grip your wrist. You’re like a mouse in a trap at this moment in time, his eyes as staring directly back at you, feeling your cheeks heat up you try to speak up.

“…Hajime?” You furrow your brows, trying to figure out why he was being so quiet. Had you said something wrong? You let your hand fall down from his chin, placing it on Iwaizumi’s arm that had gripped your wrist. Your anxious internal monologue was briskly interrupted as you saw him lean in closer. Instead of your previous thoughts, your thoughts were now scrambled, you swore you could feel your heartbeat in your throat.

His hand found itself on your chin, slightly lifting it up; your breath hitched in your throat as you felt his lips on yours. This is something you’d been wanting to do for so long, so why were you this nervous? As you feel him pull away, he gives you a half-lidded glance, leaning back while placing his arms behind his neck he gave you a teasing smirk.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a while now.”

_____________

TAGS!: @hihiq​ @heccingdead​ @mitzwinchester​ @tiger1719​  @sunshines-and-tatertots​ @izzyphantomgamer​  @macaronnv​ @viridemv​

[hqprotectionsquad]

Spin the Bottle (Iwaizumi x Reader)

hello! this is my submission for the HQWN’s summer fic exchange! this fic is for sabrina, @iwaqchan ! sabrina, i hope you enjoy this! i tried to combine spin the bottle and 7 minutes in heaven to make it ~extra~ cliché!

summary: Was it painfully obvious that Iwaizumi has a crush on you, or is it just common knowledge amongst the third years on Seijoh’s boys’ volleyball team? Either way, you’re going into a closet with him and he’ll see if he’ll act on his feelings. tw: cursing, alcohol word count: 2130

“Holy, now this is a party! Oikawa, did you organize this? I bet you did,” Hanamaki smirks when he enters the basement of Oikawa’s house, as if the location wasn’t already indication enough of the owner. The parents are away, the juice has been acquired, and everyone’s here. Seeing everyone so casual stirs something in Iwaizumi’s heart and a small grin curls on his lips as he sips from his cup. It won’t be long until this get-together gets rowdy, so he’ll be enjoying the somewhat tranquil nature while he has it.

Iwaizumi leans against the wall and his first instinct when he sees you is to stick his tongue out at you in between drinking. “Hey.” You go in for a hug because you’ve been friends long enough, but Iwaizumi doesn’t see you that way. He lingers in your touch before pulling away. “Good to see you, thought you were going to ditch?”

“Like I’d miss Oikawa drunk off his ass for a night. Believe me, I’d switch around any plans for this party.” You laugh. “I mean, we just graduated, of course I want to party with my friends.”

Iwaizumi twirls the air with his finger. “You’d consider us all friends?”

“Dumby.” You punctuate your sentence by shoving his shoulder. “Yes, of course I consider us all friends. I wouldn’t have gotten through high school if it weren’t for this friend group. This really large friend group, now that I’m thinking about it.”

“You can blame Oikawa for that.” For as long as Oikawa has lived and breathed, he has never not gathered people together. It’s one of his redeeming qualities, not that Iwaizumi could count that many. Oikawa’s found his place in many groups and he’s never upset when he’s cut out because he can always return to the volleyball team. He always has a home there, and so does Iwaizumi. Oikawa is a cool guy at times.

“He’s a funny person, that’s for sure.” You laugh to yourself. “Are we starting something? Oikawa seems to be running all over the place trying to rearrange things.” 

“I try to not look at him.” Iwaizumi chugs the rest of his drink. “Hey, do you need another drink? Or a drink in general?” He asks after noticing your hands are empty.

“I’ll just come with you.” You both grab your drinks with light banter flowing between the two of you, and Iwaizumi can’t get this small smile off of his face. You’re just so funny, and so wonderful. Being drunk with you is wonderful. 

There’s something about your flushed cheeks and your hair in a messy style that makes Iwaizumi think of things that he should not be thinking of his friend, but he just wants a pass for once. He wants to allow his mind to run wild while he can. When he’s in university, across the ocean, he won’t have anyone like you to keep him company. He’s sure he’ll find friends, maybe even friends who speak his native tongue, but at the end of the day, Hajime fears it will be a lonely experience when he’s away across the sea.

“Hey, hey, we’re starting spin the bottle now!” Oikawa announces in his drunken stupor. Iwaizumi can tell this stupid man can barely keep his own after he arranged the couches so that the center could stay empty for bodies to inhabit it. For once, Hajime wants all of them to have a carefree night. He doesn’t want to worry about his overbearing parents, volleyball training, or homework assignments. Hajime just wants to be here.

The two of you rejoin the group, crossing your legs when you connect the circle. Hajime purposefully sits across from you because it seems unlikely that the bottle will spin towards him if he’s sitting right next to you. His narrow gaze is on you for most of the game, only leaving when Oikawa ends up kissing Makki without complaints.

“Oikawa!” Makki brushes his lips with the back of his hand, but there’s a grin on his face nonetheless. “We should make this more interesting, not that Oikawa kissing me wasn’t interesting enough.” He taps his chin as if ideas will come about by this physical action. “I think...we should spin the bottle, but instead of kissing, seven minutes in heaven?”

The rest of the cohort yells in approval.

It’s your turn to spin the bottle, and for some reason, Iwaizumi’s heart pounds against his ribcage and it’s incredibly distracting. For the most part, the other third year boys tease him about his crush on you, though he’s only really told Oikawa about it. Even just telling Oikawa is enough to spread it far and wide, so he’s surprised that you don’t know about it. Nonetheless, Iwaizumi looks around the circle. Would it be justified if he said he was jealous of how everyone’s waiting to see how the bottle will land?

Would this situation be different if Iwaizumi sucked it up and told you how he felt before today, before everyone got so drunk that their only choice is to sit down? His lips curl into a pout. At least Iwaizumi’s thought process hasn’t been taken over by the alcohol; his ability to overthink is still golden.

The girls form circles with their mouth as they glue their eyes to the movement of the glass bottle and the boys all try to look in different directions, so that if they aren’t chosen, there’s no hard feelings.

Iwaizumi’s knee bounces and all he’s staring at is his lap and his fingers that tightly clasp around his own bottle of beer.

Again, the yelling starts and Iwaizumi snaps up to look at everyone’s faces, then looks down at the bottle.

Him.

It landed on him.

The neck of the bottle is facing straight towards him. There’s no dispute about that.

“You guys know what to do!” Oikawa’s words pulls Iwaizumi’s head from the clouds. His best friend nods his head toward a closet. “That should be big enough for you guys.”

Mattsun, who sits beside you, gently taps you over and over again before you roll your eyes and get to your feet and reach out toward Iwaizumi.

“I’m not going to wait all day, Iwa,” you tease and pull him up as best as you can, but he’s definitely a big guy. Iwaizumi doesn’t mind that when he’s also on his feet, you’re still holding his hand. Your hand is small in his grip and he loves the fact that your fingers are on display in this position at least. He can see all the folds of skin on your knuckles and your neat fingernails too.

The other boys cup their hands around their mouth and howl in support. Iwaizumi turns his head and he’s really glad you also aren’t looking back because he glares at the third year boys. By now, everyone at this party must know why his heart is on his sleeve.

“I’m putting the timer on now,” Makki’s voice is heard behind the two of you as you enter the closet. Could this even be classified as closet? Besides the racks of clothing, it’s a spacious room.

Iwaizumi settles down on the floor, knowing he won’t be able to take anything if he continues to stand and you follow suit.

“So,” you smile as you break the ice. “Did you actually want to do something, or, um, should we make sounds to pretend like we are? Because I don’t really know how you feel about that.” You play with your hands when you say this and you can’t look up to his face.

“Why are you so serious, (Y/N)?”

“Because,” it’s hard for you to continue. “You’re one of my greatest friends.”

“So are you saying you don’t want to kiss me?” This comes out a little rougher than Iwaizumi expected, but he opts not to say anything more.

“No, I’m not saying that, I’m just saying—”

“Then let’s kiss. It’s not a big deal, you know. We’re not going to see each other for a long time after this summer, so we might as well make the most of it.”

 “You’re being for real?” You mutter and he doesn’t even take a beat before pressing his lips onto yours. Always been precise and never afraid to dive in deep. You respond as any sane person would and kiss him back. Hands are quickly added into the mix and you didn’t quite expect his tongue to come in too, but are you complaining? Not when you’re the one moaning into his mouth.

“You’re so hot,” Iwaizumi breathes out his words when you disconnect and there’s even a bit of his saliva that you wipe off your mouth. “(Y/N), where’d you learn how to kiss like that? I should’ve told you that I liked you a long time ago if we’d be kissing like that all the time.”

“Hajime, you like me?” This has to be the product of having one-too-many drinks. Iwaizumi can definitely keep his own weight, but the more he drinks, his mind goes wild. “Like you’re not kidding?”

“I know I’m drunk or whatever. I like you so much.” For once, Iwaizumi has allowed himself to be off his game, but even now, he’s conscious of his decisions. Maybe two more shots would have prompted him to act and throw away his inhibitions. His hand still is squeezing your waist, pressing his fingers into your flesh. His head is reeling and the way your lip is between your teeth, biting down so lightly, is only contributing to his intoxicated cloud. 

“I like you too.”

“Will you go out with me?” Now, it’s his turn to bite his lip and he’s really trying to be sober right now because he wants to remember every single moment of this conversation. Tomorrow, he might remember bits and pieces, but he wants to replay this whole movie when he wakes up with his hangover. He wants to remember how you’re one of the best kissers he knows and he’s glad he knows that firsthand. He wants to remember how you told him your feelings in four words and how your lip biting is driving him absolutely crazy.

You don’t know what to respond and you’re sure Oikawa will swing the door open, looking to each of you for evidence that you actually accomplished something behind this closed door.

“Fuck, I know that we’re seniors and we only have this summer, but I’ve liked you since first year. I have, I swear to God, and I’ve never liked anyone the way I’ve liked you because you’re just so perfect.” He doesn’t even know if his words are making sense at this point but Hajime hopes that the more he speaks, he’ll be convinced that this is the only way he could have truly confessed to you. “I hope you’re not going to reject me, but if you do, can you just still be my friend, because I swear I’ve heard people get awkward when someone tells them how they feel—”

His words are cut off but nothing other than a hard kiss. He doesn’t know if you wanted him to just shut up or maybe you feel the way he does. Maybe you feel the same butterflies he does, the same ones that are flapping their wings against the walls of his stomach.

When you release with a popping sound, you press a hand against your lips, feeling the swelling across the expanse of your skin. “I like you. I don’t think I would’ve kissed you like that if I didn’t.”

Before Hajime could get a word in, the rest of the partygoers peer into the closet, their eyes glowing and questioning. “Alright, time to get out!” Oikawa announces, holding out a hand for you to get up. Well, Hajime’s not going to lose to his best friend this time and he also holds out a hand, expecting yours to match it, and you do. You get up together and out of the door, making your way back to the circle.

Oikawa stops Iwaizumi in his tracks and you’re still holding onto him as he’s stuck in place. “So, Iwa-chan, I’m guessing everything went well?” He cups Iwaizumi’s ear to whisper words that everyone else is left guessing on. Iwaizumi doesn’t even have to look at Oikawa to know that he’s smirking.

Iwaizumi looks down at his hand, considers his balled fist, and sails it right into Oikawa’s bicep. Nothing hard, but Oikawa makes it out to be as if he’ll die from the punch. “Shut up, Shittykawa.” 

Still, when you lead Iwaizumi back to the human ellipse, there’s an undeniable smile on his face that rivals the twinkling stars.

general haikyuu tag list: @dorkyama @kingkags @clowninfortodoroki​ @ykchaos​ @kingkagss​ @alienvarmint​

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[milkacchan]

My fav haikyuu boys w an s/o who plays hockey

And s/o gets into a fight on the ice

First of all I do not play hockey but I wish I did so much bro

Kuroo:

• Mans is wearing your Jersey number

• He's sitting as close to the glass as possible

• And he's cheering you on as loud as he can

• He's probably with Bokuto or Kenma

• But his main focus is on you

• He's lowkey mesmerized by yours plays

• And the sheer tough and rough of the sport

• He's watched you wipe out a few times and he can tell by your body language you're getting frustrated

• But he freezes when he see's someone of the other team push you over and he winces when he see's you wipe out again

• "Oh no- (Y/N)!

• Things are starting to get chaotic

• And then he sees you get up and he see's you skate over

• And then he see's you swing

• "Fuck!"

• Bokuto/Kenma is cringing next to him

• Kuroos pale

• and oddly turned on watching you obliterate the person in front of you

• And then the masks come off and then he's worried worried because you take a first to the face and he hears your frustration from the rink

• And then your first collides with their face again

• Cue the chorus' of 'oh fuk'

• He's VERY worried

• You stand up after being pulled away

• the other person was pulled away as well

• You've got blood pouring down your cheek and he thinks he's gonna pass out

• He's pushing past people (followed by whoever he's with) as he eyes follow were you are

• "Babe? Babe you okay?"

• You flash him a bright smile. "Always. Just part of the game honey."

• God he's so in love with you

Bokuto:

• Mans is also wearing your jersey number

• he's fucking COLD

• decked out in warm clothes

• He's absolutely the loudest in the stands

• You can hear him on the ice

• He makes sure of it

• And knows a little about hockey, you watch it all the time

• But this is the first time he's been able to see you play

• n he's watching youu

• vibe and do your thing

• And then you make a point and he's !!!!!!

• but then he watches you get shoved over and hit with the stick and he's !!!!!! >:(

• Your hand reaches out and grabs the other person's skate and you yank and they fall backwards

• the teams are descending into chaos

• baby is cheering you on

• SCREAMING your fucking name as you pummel this person below you

• He's internally worried tho dont get me wrong

• but

• He's also caught in the moment

• he didnt think fights REALLY happened but here it was

• you werent lying

• He can see the blood on your Jersey and he's Definitely worried more after that

• "Nice hit out there, babe!!!!"

• "Thank you, Bo!" You wave at him before you're off the ice

• And he's just watching you with a dumb grin and lovey eyes

• He supports the fuck out of you okay

• He's definitely on your ass after the game, checking to make sure you're okay

• You've got a bruised cheek bone

• You assure him you're fine

• "But what about the blood on your jersey?"

"Pretty cool right? Just my nose though, I got all that taken care of. I'll probably have to get a New Jersey though.. blood stains."

• And then hezs kissing you bc you're just so perfect and unaffected by what happened

• "Baby you're so strong," 🥺

• "Aw bo,"

Akaashi: (the following is based of a true story) (the Bruins)

• Your team won

• :)))

• by a point in the last 4 seconds

• defense baby

• Akaashi is cheering next between bokuto

• Bc Akaashi is your boyfriend but Bo is also one of your best friends

• Neither wanted to miss it

• They're both wide smiles and proud of you for doing so well

• Internally planning dinner for after

• Its a vibe

• Theyre vibing

• And the other team is getting salty

• hence a team wide fight begins

• And Akaashi is immediately feeling uneasy as he watches the fans start to stir the pot too

• And suddenly a girl in the stands grabs your hockey stick and she hits you with it

• Akaashi is lunging foward and Bokuto is right behind him

• It takes you 0.000089 seconds to turn around and climb over the wall, immediately going for her

• Two men are trying to hold you back but they're quickly pulled off as other members of the team follow suit

• "the pretty boy with the green eyes and the owl are mine!" You yell to your teammates

• They confirm and you watch the girl run (try to anyway) up the steps of the stands and your right behind her

• You just so happen to corner her in the stand row above where Akaashi and Bo are

• You havent realized this yet

• He watches as you pull her back, she's still swatting at you, screaming curse words and phrases

• He watches without moving and pull the girls shoe off, using that just as she'd used your hockey stick

• Finally, when she's screaming apologies instead and you're done ripping her a new one

• You looked at the row next to you, grinning happily when you see who it is

• "Keiji, hey, glad you could make it,"

• You're bleeding

• The side of your head is bleeding Oh god

• he's about to answer when you press a chaste kiss to his lips

• "Hope you enjoyed." You drop the shoe "hello to you too, bo."

• then you're heading back down the stands, bumping into your teammates

• It was then Akaashi realized, you were absolutely 100% the one for him

• You're suspended for 8 games oop

Oikawa:

• Oikawa had seen you come home with plenty of bruises and scrapes

• he understood, he played volleyball and he knew how hard sports could be on your body

• But he never thought it'd be from another person

• But he shows up to your game

• iwachan dragging behind him

• Because no way was he going alone too many people

• And they're just chilling in the stands, having fun like they did when they were kids

• cheering and what not

• And Oikawa looks away for a SECOND

• someone calls his name and he glances black, figuring it to just be some fangirl

• But then everyone's yelling and the announcers are talking

• and iwa shoves him and Oikawa looks back

• to see you 🥰

• Getting the shit beat out of

• And his heart stops and his breath hitches.

• "Wo-Woah, Hold on-"

• He watches as your head hits the ice and he's yelling

• He's absolutely gripping Hajimes sleeve in pure panic

• It doesn't last long though because soon you're up and your shoulder rams into the other person's stomach knocking them back on their ass

• "Holy fuck dude," Hajimez eyes are wide

• "Jesus-"

• He watches as you fall onto the person beneath you

• It doesn't look like you're hitting them, more yelling than anything

• But you're definitely fighting off the people trying to pull you off

• His stomach is doing flips

• When he see's you after the game, you're in his arms in a HEARTBEAT

• he's squeezing you and then inspecting your bruised and bloodied face

• Dinner consists of a hospital visit, stitches (which you really didnt like) and almost falling asleep against Oikawas chest as Iwa drove home

• Oikawas sure to tell you how proud he is though

• and that he's happy yall won the game :)

Iwazumi:

• He knew practices were tough

• He knew the sport itself was a tough sport

• But he didnt know about the fights that often happen during hockey games

• Iwa probably went alone

• He's sitting closer to the ice

• And he's watching with a smile as you do your thing

• And the game progresses and he's got a drink and he's munching on popcorn

• completely mesmerized by the game

• He thinks the game is incredible all on it's own

• It's tough

• you're against elements

• Skating is hard

• He didn't thi k it was hard until you took him to a rink and the two of you practices and he fell on his ass so many times

• his butt was bruised for weeks

• And you've got pucks that HURT when they hit you

• all in all you have to be tough

• but his eyes always drift back to you

• just in time too

• He watches the person on the other team, swing their hockey stick and hit you in the back of the legs

• He's immediately standing

• His drink forgotten as it fell to the floor

• "H-Hey!"

• His heart falls and he sees you stand up

• But from how it looked, the way you fell /must've/ hurt.

• Your team seems to take no mercy on the other player before you can get up

• It did seem that you laid a good punch in

• A few good punches based on how they fell back

• But you were lost in the swarm of players

• And he can see (vaguely hear) that despite your coaches pleading, you're still going to play the rest of the game.

• He has the urge to flick you

• you're just like shittykawa.

• Never giving yourself a break

• when the game finally ends (your team wins)

• you're off the ice first, looking up to flash iwa a smile, one he clearly knew was pained.

• He's outside the Locker room waiting for you

• He takes your hand and the two of you are off to get home

• Of course, he scolds you in the car.

• But then he hesitantly admits that it was cool to zeesee but you still should've stopped playing

• He makes you dinner

• And you watch a movie while he has your legs in his lap so you can ice your knees

• he's 100% taking you to get them checked out tomorrow morning

[igirisuhito]

Title: Afflicted Relationship(s): Kamukura Izuru/Komaeda Nagito Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito Rating: Mature Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / ? Chapter Summary: Komaeda weighs his options, Kuzuryuu begrudgingly listens to his worries Trigger Warnings: Panic attacks, mental breakdown, dismissing mental illness, IV stuff

[Ao3 Link]

┈┈┈┈․° ☣ °․┈┈┈┈

Hinata was sprawled out on the floor lying face up. His body was lifeless, save for the occasional twitches of his fingers and eyelids as neurons and muscles misfired in a feeble attempt to keep him conscious.

I knelt down, taking the boy's heated face into my hands and angling it up towards mine. He was incredibly pale, the only colour remaining on porcelain skin the flush of his fever. His breathing was slow and shallow, every little warm breath close enough to taste on my lips as I leaned in close. There was no way I couldn't begin to panic when he was in such a state.

"Hinata-kun! I understand if you're so repulsed by my actions that you've passed out, and I know it's more than I should ask of you..." The words came out of my mouth too rushed and barely intelligible, so I took a deep breath. "But please give me some sign you're okay."

My hands were beginning to shake, enough so that my hold on Hinata’s face became too loose to support the weight of his head. His face slipped from my grasp, his head lolling to the side as a soft gasp escaped my lips.

Did I kill Hinata-kun? No, that's ridiculous. You can't kill somebody by kissing them. I mean, you can, technically, but not like this. Surely not?

I wiped the remaining saliva from my lips, subtle evidence of a possible cause of death. Carefully rising to my feet, I stared down at Hinata’s weakened form. Fear was beginning to take hold, anxiety burning through my bloodstream and forcing me to move.

I can't lose him, not to such a hopeless cause. Hinata-kun didn't deserve to die such a pointless death by my hands, he deserved something grandiose, something exhilarating.

This kind of death would just be… boring. Wasteful.

"Tsumiki-san!!" I called out, my feet setting into motion as I made a dash for the room's exit. For a second, I felt a passing relief that Hinata had collapsed before Tsumiki had accidentally seen the repulsive things I was doing, but quickly scolded myself for thinking such a selfish thought. Hinata’s life was in danger and here I was glad that Tsumiki didn’t see me sucking face with him? How pathetic.

There was no doubt about it. It was my own luck that had caused Hinata to pass out. It was protecting me from being caught preying on him. That realisation caused something deep within my chest to ache with repulsion, dread, undiluted terror.

Despair.

I can only assume it was that same twisted luck that guided me into Tsumiki's arms, causing me to bump straight into her as she was coming into the room. All of the school's advice against running into halls went wasted on the likes of me. We slammed hard into one another with an "Oof."

As Tsumiki went crashing to the floor, the saline bag in her hand was squished into her chest, causing it to burst and soak her clothes with salty water. They stuck to her body damply, clinging to her skin in an erotic way. Her skirt had also flown up in the process, flashing me with an inappropriate amount of thigh along with her white underwear.

"Uwahh! K-K-K-Komaeda-san!!" She squealed, pulling her skirt down in a desperate attempt to save her dignity as her face flushed a bright red.

"A-ah, I'm so sorry you had to even accidentally touch somebody as disgusting as me!" I reached out a hand, offering to help her up. "My apologies for running, but it appears that Hinata-kun has collapsed."

"Wahh?! D-D-Don't worry about me, t-that's what you should be concerned about!" Tsumiki grabbed my hand, allowing me to help pull her up to her feet.

Without another word she scooted past me and into the room, abandoning the spilt saline bag on the floor. She practically pounced on Hinata's lifeless body, throwing herself into her brilliant talent as she pressed her ear to his chest and a hand to his forehead.

“He- he’s burning right up! Wh-why was he even out of bed? What was he doing before he collapsed?!" She began exasperated throwing a flurry of questions at me, all whilst examining Hinata's eyes for any sign of possible head trauma.

"He was…" I paused, teeth teasing unconsciously at my bottom lip. "Kissing me. We were making out."

The nurse's head snapped around in a fashion not so dissimilar to the creepy way an owl's would turn unnaturally. Her grey eyes bore right into me with an expression of rage mixed with shock. "A-are you s-s-serious?! K-Komaeda-san that's so irresponsible! You should know that you'll catch th--"

“Of course not!” I slid my hands up the sides of my arms, gripping at the sleeves of my jacket as I pulled my eyes away from Tsumiki’s. “Don't you know that kind of thing only happens in fiction? It would be repulsive for somebody like me to take advantage of an Ultimate’s illness for my own selfish desires. The very thought makes me want to vomit in my mouth!”

Tsumiki narrowed her eyes for a second, before realisation set in and they shot back open. “O-oh! I see…”

“Ha, hahahah.” Bringing my hand to my mouth, I touched my lips absentmindedly and glanced towards Hinata's body still laid out on the floor.

Was it wrong of me to say that? I can't have Tsumiki knowing of my intentions, she would stop me without hesitation. Perhaps the others would tie me up again, then I would miss the murder and the investigation... how awful. But, I can't shake this odd feeling that this is the wrong thing, that I should tell the truth. There is a possibility that not being honest about the cause of Hinata's fainting spell could lead to complications further on.

It could even be the one thing that leads to his death. After all, his condition is somewhat worse than Owari or Mioda's…

But owning up would reveal our intentions and likely ruin any chance of allowing the Ultimates to shine even brighter…

No. I shook my head free of the thoughts. The silence had dragged on long enough, Tsumiki was going to start questioning my words unless I spoke up soon.

“Well then… should we move him?”

"R-right!" With a few fervent nods, Tsumiki hopped off Hinata's body. "Yes! Please help me get him onto the bed so I can properly tend to Hinata-san's needs!"

Hinata-san's needs… huh?

Nodding in return, I brought myself back to Hinata's side and knelt down to the floor. "Well then, would you be okay getting his legs?"

"O-of course!" Scrambling to his legs, Tsumiki quickly slid her arms under the back of Hinata's knees. "I'm r-ready to lift him when-whenever you are."

I hooked my arms under his armpits, making sure not to take note of just how damp and sweaty he was with fever. There was a moment of eye contact, a quick nod, and then we both lifted him.

Thankfully the hospital rooms were so small, we didn't have to move Hinata incredibly far to return him to his bed. Tsumiki rearranged his sheets, carefully tucking Hinata back under the dull blue comforter as she examined his arms.

"I-I-I was coming to re-replace his IV… but it l-looks like he's p-pulled it out…" With a rather disdainful expression, she glanced over to the IV pole. "Again…"

Just as she had said, Hinata's line was pooled on the floor, the small tube that had presumably been in his arm now having smeared blood on the floor. The machine had stopped infusing, in fact it had been switched off entirely so as to not alert Tsumiki, and now the remaining fluid in the line had drained onto the floor.

"He's been rather uncharacteristically troublesome, hasn't he?" I couldn't help but chuckle, glancing over at the restless, almost pained look on Hinata's face. "I'm sorry, it's reprehensible that I would laugh at your struggle, but I could never see Hinata-kun kicking up such a fuss in his usual state."

There was a short moment of silence before Tsumiki giggled as well, clasping her hands together. "Y-you're right! H-Hinata-san is v-very different. But it's okay! We w-will get through this!"

"That's the spirit! Your hope is amazing Tsumiki-san! To still haven't given up on Hinata-kun like that… it's amazing! Truly nobody has a tolerance like that of the Ultimate Nurse!" As I took a rather sharp inhale, I couldn't help the big grin that spread on my face. "Seeing you in action like this has brought a worthless nobody like me hope and distracted me from all my worries!"

Ah.

My… worries.

My smile became a little more strained. Tsumiki was looking at me with a mix of disgust and fear, the enjoyment she had been feeling at receiving compliments far gone.

I didn't let my smile fall as I blinked slowly, realising it was probably time for me to leave her be. Lifting my hand, I waved to her as I began to head towards the door. "Well, I won't get in your way any longer. Goodbye."

As I left the scene, I glanced back one last time at the room. In the place where Hinata had collapsed, the spider lily he had been holding earlier was laid on the floor, likely having been abandoned when he came towards me. It seemed as though it had been crushed among the chaos, red petals scattered and bleeding onto the linoleum floor.

I turned away quickly.

Why do I… feel so distracted? Why am I so scared ?

He kissed me. He wants me to spread it. He told me to spread it. That should be my top priority.

So why do I so desperately want to turn back? To return and sit by Hinata's side, taking care of his every need instead of spreading hope?

As I stepped out into the hallway, I shut the door behind me with a shaking hand. That sensation in my chest only continued to grow as I made my way back towards the waiting room.

I should be putting a plan into place, something that would allow me to spread the disease faster. Something that would perhaps lure someone here, bring them in contact. Or perhaps I could bring the infected into the quarantined hotel? Or go back into Hinata's room to go check on him again? Tell the others that Hinata was dying and that we so desperately needed them to come do something before it became the fault of me and my filthy luck and the blood of an Ultimate coated my hands and I would be so deservedly executed.

Unconsciously, my fingers found their way into my hair, winding themselves around the coarse locks and pulling tightly. There was a familiar sound ringing in my ears, the loud buzzing of a swarm of insects. They filled my ears and mouth and eyes with their filthy touch, tainting everything in sight, destroying the world before me.

"It's your fault he's going to die." They whispered, barely audible beneath the white noise. "It's always your fault. You know this."

My mind was racing, my lungs were burning. It was if a black poison was seeping over my mind, dripping down over my eyes, obscuring my vision and thoughts. I couldn't think straight, everything was so overwhelming it was almost funny.

It was funny, so I laughed. It hurt my chest and wheezed like the final pitiful exhale of a corpse, but I laughed.

And I laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed.

Until something hit me hard on the back of my head, knocking me from my daze and causing me to choke on my breath.

"Oi. Stop freaking out, it's fuckin' creepy."

I blinked a few times, my vision beginning to clear as those dark shadows were chased back into the corners of my vision. The hospital's lobby slowly came into vision, along with a very angry looking Kuzuryuu. He scowled, crossing his arms over his chest tightly and forcing himself to sit up taller.

Ah, of course. How unsightly it must be to watch someone like me being so pathetic.

All my attempts to apologise were drowned out as I coughed and spluttered, attempting to regain my breath. The world was much clearer now, my eyes readjusting to the tropical sunshine streaming through the windows. It appeared as though I was now sitting down in the waiting room, yet I had no memory of moving from the wards and into the lobby.

I unballed my fists, my fingers aching from the strain as they unfolded and released my hair. The pain pulling at my scalp faded, and slowly I brought my shaking hands down to my knees. To my frustration, they instinctively gripped tightly at the fabric, clutching tightly until the denim burned into my palms.

Opening my mouth, I attempted once again to say some kind of apology for my misgivings, but all that came out was a rasped "Ah," closely followed by a shaky "Sorry."

Kuzuryuu huffed, his nose crinkling as he prepared to spit some kind of insult, but instead of ripping into me, he paused. There were a few seconds of still silence before he sighed loudly, allowing his body to relax a little and posture fall. "He's fine, don't get so fuckin' worked up about it."

"I'm… sure you're right." A breathy laugh forced itself out, as if squeezed out from the tight feeling in my chest. "After all, you are an Ultimate."

"Wha-? You think being an Ultimate makes me right about everything?" He scoffed, not in a tone as if he were looking down and mocking me, but more one of amusement. "They're wrong about you being crazy, you're just a fucking moron like me. Or maybe I'm the crazy one for even talking to you, who knows?"

It was difficult to think of what to say in response to that. I decided not to think too long on it, instead choosing to laugh along with him. "Perhaps."

The small smile that was on Kuzuryuu's face slowly dropped. The positive feeling in the air evaporated like mist and a heavy silence settled over the room. All that could be heard in the empty waiting room was the sound of Owari sobbing as though her life depended on it echoing down the corridor from her room. Eventually, Kuzuryuu broke the silence as he sighed loudly, leaning back in the stiff plastic hospital chair as best he could.

“I think I’m… starting to get your whole crazy ‘stepping stone to hope’ shit.” He paused to scoff at himself, as if he was in shock that he would say such a thing. “Ever since Peko saved me, it feels like I owe this life to her, or to everyone else. It’s like it’s not my own anymore. Just a spare.”

"If I'm not wrong, you're referring to Pekoyama-san's sacrifice? It’s no surprise you feel that way, but there was very little you could have done to prevent her execution.”

Kuzuryuu still grumbled after I asked, sounding frustrated by the question. It was no surprise, he had reacted rather poorly when I brought it up during Owari’s fight as well, but dancing around the topic seemed pointless. What Pekoyama did for the one she loved was amazing, there was no logical reason to not acknowledge that.

“It’s that stupid fucking Monokuma’s fault! But what kind of fucking person am I to let Peko take the blow for me after all that I said? It’s messed up. The only reason I didn’t die is because she shielded me, a tool ‘til the end.” As he said the last few words, Kuzuryuu slammed his fist against his leg, growing more frustrated as he continued to think about it.

I shrugged. "Pekoyama-san was an amazing person. She died for the sake of your hope, so that you could continue to be a beacon for your family and the Kuzuryuu Clan. There's no point in being angry at her for doing the right thing…"

The right thing, huh?  

"What she did wasn't the right thing! The right thing would have been for her to stay with me!" Jumping out of his chair, Kuzuryuu glared down at me. "No death is a 'hopeful thing' you dumbass!"

Spreading hope is the right thing to do, so that's what I should do, right?

"Hey! Are you even listening to me? Jesus, you really are messed in the head." He scrunched up his nose in a snarl. "I'm trying to be more forgiving and a better fucking person and all that shit but you really piss me off, going on about how everything is great as long as it's for fucking hope !"

I don't need to worry about my feelings. I just need to spread hope, like Pekoyama-san did.

I looked up at him, locking eyes as I smiled widely at the Yakuza. "I think I get it now. Thank you, Kuzuryuu-kun, you are a truly wonderful person. I'm sure Pekoyama-san is proud of you."

"What?! What the hell are you talking about, you bastard? Don't go around saying things like that." In an attempt to hide his reddening face, Kuzuryuu turned his head to the side, looking away from me.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." I raised my hands in a defensive position, hoping to calm him.

"Whatever… just go take a break or something." Still refusing to look at me, Kuzuryuu grumbled. "I'll take care of things here, alright?"

I nodded. "Thank you, Kuzuryuu-kun, you really do make a brilliant leader."

"Just get out of here!"

Laughing softly, I carefully rose to my feet, still feeling a little dizzy from lack of oxygen. As Kuzuryuu began to head back towards the wards, I realised something.

"Wait! How did you know about what happened to Hinata-kun?"

"Huh?" He stopped, spinning around to face me. "Because you came in here cackling like a maniac. You wouldn't answer my questions so I checked in with Tsumiki about it. By the time I got back you were still out here having your breakdown, just now sitting down and babbling away to yourself creepily about how you were a murderer."

"Ah." Yeah, that sounded right. "Sorry about that."

Kuzuryuu shook his head, muttering something under his breath before pushing open the doors to the corridor and continuing on his way.

I figured it was probably time I did what he said too and took advantage of this opportunity to put my plan into action.

With a wide smile, I headed towards the entrance of the hospital, pushing open the doors before stepping out into the warm sunlight.

[hoshigomi]

2019 in Takarazuka!

This was my first year of living full time in Japan, and so I got to see more Takarazuka than I would EVER have anticipated would be possible to me. I feel really lucky. Here are my thoughts on this year- I didn’t limit any category to one answer because I wanted to give my respects to everything that caught my heart this year. It gets a little long, but feel free to give it a read!

Favorite Grand Theater musical:  My favorite Grand Theatre Musical was Beside the Foggy Elbe, but it was ALSO God of Stars. These shows could not BE more different. Elbe was my favorite show in the way that Yukigumi’s Gaisenmon was one of my favorite shows last year and in the way that Hoshiai is some people’s favorite show. It’s my favorite show maybe EVER in that I cried during every single one of the [redacted #] performances I got to see. I’m not usually a fan of Heavy Serious Show, but this one may be my top favorite show of all time. (Feel free to read my review here- I can not BEGIN to hash out my feelings for this show in this tiny space!) I have literally never seen a show more perfectly suited for the people performing it than God of Stars was to Hoshigumi. It was stomach-ache funny and heart-ache touching and one of the most respectful, brilliant, plays-to-their-strengths, META taidan shows I have EVER seen- for every taidansha, and the upcoming top combi. God of Stars is overflowing with love and humor, and that’s exactly the kind of show that grabs my heart and refuses to let go.  Special honors for 2019 go to Soragumi’s Oceans 11 because I love the hell out of that show and Makaze’s Danny, Susshii’s Saul, Seiko’s Queen Diana, Madoka’s Tess, Moeko’s Livingston, and Kazuki Sora’s Linus were specifically my favorite portrayals of those characters that I have ever seen. 

Favorite revue:  Hands down, the Grand Theatre run of Estrellas. Estrellas felt more like a rock concert than a revue to me at first, and then I learned to put in words that it felt very Chiegumi in a way that I LOVED. This revue flowed like none other, and  I have really special personal ties to it as well, it having been Kai’s last revue in Takarazuka. I wanted to list standout numbers, but is it really a “standout number” if I can list like 12? There was so much CONTRAST and so many OPPORTUNITIES and so much, again, LOVE in the whole thing!! The chuuzume? Playful! The white number? Sincere! I cried every time! The pop star medley? OOF! BACK? INCREDIBLE! Starlight Parade? Beautiful! Estrellas was the best revue of the year and this is a category in which I don’t personally believe there was any competition.  That said, I want to give special honors to Eclair Brillant for showing a side of Beni’s Hoshigumi that we never really got to see in revues (plus that bolero, which might be the best standalone NUMBER in Takarazuka this year, and the kuroenbi which again, blended personality with crisp blacks and whites and was a MASTERFUL passing of the torch), and Krung Thep which I loved a lot, despite having to see it with a weird flip flopped cast (F for Reiko :( ) Even though I only saw that one once some moments (the boxing number, Sakura generally just kicking ass, the chuzuume, Miya and Tamaki’s duedan) really stuck with me. Music Revolution used Pachelbel’s’ Canon and Neon Outfits in a way that I would never have thought would work, but did, and also featured an INCREDIBLY beautiful taidan number despite it being like, no one’s taidan. 

Favorite small theater musical:  HONESTLY, against ALL ODDS, Kamatari. I didn’t expect to even LIKE Kamatari, but between the HAUNTING score, the performances by Beni, Airi, Hanagata Hikaru, Seocchi, Kuracchi, and Mikkii SPECIFICALLY, the BEAUTIFUL set, and the touching and volatile relationships between the characters, I was HOOKED. It didn’t need a complicated plot- the character relationships drove everything, and I thought it was absolutely masterful. This one slid under a lot of people’s radars- please give it a look for yourself if you can!  Special honors to Mozart, which I don’t think I have to explain,  Diamond as Big as the Ritz for looking fun as HELL though I admit I DIDN’T GET TO SEE IT, On The 20th Century (unfortunately forever lost to time but featuring two of the most professional, brilliant lead performances I have ever seen), and On The Town, for being a faithful, loving take on a classic piece of musical theatre that I would have gladly seen more times than I got to.

Favorite numbers: (In no real order)

L’Operap and Bim Bam Boum  from Mozart.

石を割って咲く桜 from Mibugishiden, because those voices give me CHILLS.

The Gift and Bolero, (Eclair Brillant’s sexy, sexy chuuzume and INSANE artsy number, respectively.)

Some Other Time from On the Town.

Pop Star/Hoshi Ni Negaiwo/Starlight Parade/Championne/星サギの歌 in Estrellas.

Beer Matsuri (prologue) in Beside The Foggy Elbe.

The title song from God of Stars.

愛した日々に偽りは無い from Oceans 11

We Need Love and Adventure In The Life from Casanova straight up slaps.

I haven’t seen Aquavitae but boy the theme song is catchy.

Favorite lead otokoyaku role:  Beni in Beside The Foggy Elbe. I woulda given her the award for God of Stars but her Karl was TRANSFORMATIVE and HEART wrenching. It’s always nice to see someone break out of their comfort zone (or in Beni’s case, the zone that she really just gets the most credit for THRIVING IN), and do something new. Karl shocked me in all the right ways. Beni playing vulnerable? Oof.  Special honor to Coto as Mozart because what the fuck how is anyone that talented, Makaze as Danny Ocean (because duh), Tamaki Ryou as Gabey in On the Town because boy does she nail earnest lovesickness, Daimon as Oscar Jaffee (for MUCH the same reason as I loved Beni as Karl), and Daimon as Yoshimura Kanichirou (which yeah I did have to look up his name but boy THAT was also a TRANSFORMATIVE role!)

Favorite lead musumeyaku role: Before me I have two envelopes and one says “Maaya Kiho as Lily Garland” and the other says “Kisaki Airi as Eileen”, and when I open the envelopes they both say “winner.” Maaya Kiho is probably straight up the most talented person in all of Takarazuka right now and I AM prepared to stand by that claim. Lily is very much the lead role in 20th Century, This was a beyond Broadway caliber performance and I would love nothing more than for her to reprise her role everywhere and anywhere. Airi’s Eileen was maybe one of the best musumeyaku roles I’ve ever seen, and she knocked it out of the park with humor, gravitas, earnesty, vulnerability, and skill that comes with being a musumeyaku with That Much Experience under your belt and That Juicy of a role to work with. Special shoutouts to: also Maaya as Christine in Phantom, if that counts as 2019.

Favorite supporting otokoyaku role: Wow, this one is a three way tie. Shocker.   One of my greatest regrets though one I can’t really change is that I never got to see Mikkii as Mercutio in RetJ. The good news is that her performance as Fune no Esaka in Kamatari had EXACTLY the same kind of UNHINGED, POWERFUL, DANGEROUS energy that I love about her Mercutio. If you know me you know I can NOT get enough of Tenju Mitsuki onstage, and this role was a BIG, BIG validation of my obsession. Also a MASSIVE role for her. Asami Jun was DISTRESSINGLY NASTY and impressive as Saitou Hajime in Mibugishiden. If she was onstage, it was HARD if not impossible to look away from her. In 2020 I want nothing more than for Aasa to continue clawing her way up the ladder- she’s one of the ones who’s working to earn everything she’s got, and BOY, does she deserve all of it and more. Tobias, lovingly, lovingly, lovingly brought to life by Nanami Hiroki in her final Takarazuka role was an angel, a (quiet) voice of reason on a stage full of fools in Elbe. She didn’t have much stage time, but she imbued every second she did have with everything that got her where she is today. While he wasn’t an attention grabbing character, the subtle work she did with him was beautiful, stable, and warm. (And what a send off.)  I was also impressed by and want to shoutout to: Seo Yuria as Nicholas in God of Stars, Hanagata Hikaru as Soga no Iruka (also Kamatari), AKATSUKI CHISEI as Chip in On the Town, Kazuki Sora as Linus in Oceans 11, and Amato Kanon as Johnny in Elbe, who didn’t do a whole lot besides yell, and still made my shoulders SHAKE with laughter every time she ran on.

Favorite supporting musumeyaku role:  Hands down, mother fucking Shirayuki Sachika as Hildy in On The Town. Excuse my language but what a brilliant performance, hooooooly shit.  BIG bonus shoutouts to: Junya Chitose as Diana in Oceans 11, Shirotae Natsu as Louise Bollinger in Algiers, and Kozakura Honoka (voice of an ANGEL, does THE MOST character work, BEAUTIFUL NUANCED FULL REALIZED stage presence, IN THE MOMENT ALIVE choices) as Aloysia in Mozart. 

Favorite up-and-comer (and/or shinko performance if you saw any):

Amato Kanon

Amato Kanon

Amato Kanon

Amato Kanon

and 

Amato Kanon

My favorite shinko performance was the God of Stars shinko, led by: Amato Kanon, and my favorite 2020 shinko performance is the Hoshigumi RetJ shinko that I am assuming will also be led by Amato Kanon as Romeo. 

Kanon aside, if you like dancers, I urge you to look at Ruri Hanaka in literally anything. Also, if you see any pictures of Yukigumi 105th Tsukise You, please send them to me. 

Best Ensemble:  Hoshigumi just like in general. I know I say this all the time, but my love for them came from this. Without fail, this troupe turns out ensemble show after ensemble show, and even the things that AREN’T ensemble shows become them because of how every actress milks their background opportunities for all they’re worth. I could write ESSAYS on the shit I’ve seen go on in the backgrounds of their scenes. I could write NOVELS, and I would be doing it for my own pleasure.  No matter how you feel about WHAT they do, I think you’d be hard pressed to deny that they’re a very particular sort of group with a really high, warm, messy but intense type of energy about them. It works for me. They dealt with a lot this year, from their top being VOICELESS on a big taidan raku, to a top combi taidan, to a weather canceled top combi maeraku, and carried themselves through it all with grace and love and smiles and intentional positivity. I adore everything they are and everything they mean to me. This troupe got me through a lot this year, and I consider it such a privilege to be so enamored with every one of them. 

Someone you gained a new interest in:  This year I kept a planner where I had an entire page dedicated to every day this year and on January 2nd I have a little drawing of Yuunagi Ryou’s background sailor outfit from Elbe and the note “I definitely have a crush on her.” Now, 12 months, 3 reijou, 2 ochakai, and two embarrassing half conversations later, I sometimes look at her and go like “oh that one sure is mine now, huh.”  She’s lovely. Watching her onstage is a type of fun and intrigue and ??? that I’ve never had with anyone else. I like her scratchy Showa voice. I like when she dances with her floppy hair. I like that she draws herself as a sheep on all her stuff. I like her half smirk and freckles. I think she’s neat. Thanks, Shimo, for making losing My One True Takarazuka Love a little easier on my heart and eyes. To 2020 and beyond. <3

Someone you did a 360 on:  MAISORA HITOMI! I have to admit that I was not only not excited for her to transfer over, but also kind of angry when she was announced as Coto’s partner. And then I saw her in God of Stars. And I still wasn’t SOLD. I appreciated what they did with her and Coto, and that they were given chances (and some SAPPY meta lines about building a new future together), but I didn’t GET it. (Though BOY is she a beautiful dancer.) And then the Mozart rehearsal footage started rolling in, and the interviews started rolling in, and she was having FUN and coming into her own and adjusting beautifully, and what surprised me most, really PLAYING with her new partner and troupe. And then I SAW MOZART and I was sold. I saw shonichi and I was a teary bleary MESS by well before their duet dance, and in their duet dance I saw FRIENDS, and I saw two people who were LOVING working with each other. I saw two people having fun. Long story short, her role as Constanze was INCREDIBLE and compelling and it’s INSANE when you realize how YOUNG she is. I can’t WAIT to see where she goes from here. I’ve realized that I wasn’t fair to her at first. I adore her now. In my house? We love and respect Maisora Hitomi.  Oh, also Seo Yuria who I’ve realized over the past 12 months that I would not only die for, but also kill for if the need should arise. 

Personal biggest headline:  Kai taidanned this year.  There’s no possible world in which that WOULDN’T BE my biggest headline. They could swap all the tops and make a TMS kid a top musumeyaku and this would still be my big news.. Kai was the person who caught my heart six days into knowing what Takarazuka was and she was just. So perfect to me and for me. The entire experience of getting to be her fan, even for a short time, was a dream. Nothing about it ever felt hard or scary or stressful, and the people I met through her are some of my favorite people in the world to this day. It was a whirlwind of a run and a taidan experience and though I would do it all again if I could in a heartbeat, what we, and what she has now, is beyond I think any of our wildest dreams. I still feel so lucky about her every single day. Runners up include like Beni losing her voice completely during Estrellas senshuuraku (can’t wait for THAT to air on Skystage) and Hoshigumi losing maeraku for Beni/Airi/Mao/Renta/Riran taidan to Typhoon Hagbis (which also evacuated me from my apartment.) They could not catch a BREAK this year.

Favorite (???)  random memory or happening: 

Aasa Trending on Twitter just because she’s hot. 

I don’t LOVE it but the transfers, from Hitoko to Aichan to SEIRA HITOMI??? to Shidou to Ayaki Hikari were all pretty fuckin’ weird.

Shiiran kissing Kai on Star Talk.

Everything Kai did post-taidan. 

The time I saw God of Stars and Beni broke so bad she made Airi almost cry trying to stop herself from laughing and then Coto lost it and they got off track two distinct times before Hanagata Hikaru had to step in and start the scene over. 

Getting called back at a certain someone’s ochakai because I was so nervous I walked away without shaking her hand.

Kanon’s first shinko lead (mic issues and restarted show and all) left me with a hope for the future and a warmth in my heart that I have never felt before. 

Looking at @zukadiary​ at intermission of Kamatari and realizing that whatever summary was on Takawiki up until that day for that show was WILDLY off, and having to look it up to figure out what the fuck we actually just watched, because it sure wasn’t what I anticipated. 

Most looking forward to: Anastasia, which I spoke into existence, and also Hoshigumi’s Romeo et Juliette which you can NOT convince me isn’t going to be Hoshigumi’s second GT.

[commentaryvorg]

Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Bonus 2 - Demo

This is a commentary of the demo of DRV3 from the perspective of someone who is coming back to it after seeing the entire main game. There will be significant spoilers for the main story.

Welp, turns out that covering the demo is going to be more of a pain than I anticipated, because I didn’t already have it, and it’s no longer available in the UK store. So I’m going to have to use a Youtube video of it, which is a lot more annoying than you might think, because you have no idea how useful the game’s backlog function has been for this commentary.

I suppose I should preface this by mentioning that I did see the demo of this game before experiencing the game proper, but it was a fan translation of the Japanese demo something like a year or two earlier, so my memory of it by the time I saw the main game was pretty fuzzy. I only remembered a few things: that Kaede was the protagonist and the Ultimate Pianist, thinking it neat that we had a protagonist who was female, and who had a talent rather than being ordinary. I vaguely remembered Tenko, Himiko and Ryoma’s character quirks – I suppose thse were the ones that stuck in my mind. I remembered Kokichi being kind of a dick who kept trying to make the trial about himself and was therefore clearly this game’s answer to Nagito, because of course Kokichi had to try and be the centre of attention even in the demo and so that stuck in my mind.

And I remembered an astronaut dude who at least superficially seemed to have the kind of personality I generally like in a character – but I very firmly told myself not to get too excited about this, because this is Danganronpa and there is every chance that the narrative won’t give a fuck about how likeable he is and he’ll just get randomly, gratuitously killed off and I would regret ever getting attached to him. This, uh, may have partly influenced my belief during the main game that the narrative considered Kaito expendable and was totally going to kill him off at the slightest provocation, even after he started being very clearly important to the story.

It also very obviously did not stop me getting attached to him as the actual story progressed. I remember desperately trying to rein myself in throughout the first half of chapter 2 as Kaito became more and more adorable and good and Exactly My Kind of Character in his support of Shuichi. Then I got to the part during the investigation in which Kaito gave his speech about believing in people just because he wants to while acknowledging that there’s a risk to it that he’s simply choosing not to worry about so that he can believe wholeheartedly. This was so perfectly applicable to what had been going on in my own head with regards to getting attached to Kaito himself – I so desperately wanted to believe in him and care about him and get invested in his story, yet I was so afraid of what might happen if I did. But thanks to Kaito’s own words, I decided right then and there to not let that fear hold me back any more.

…That’s a first-time-me story that I really should have told at the time during chapter 2 but didn’t, so you’re getting it here instead. Anyway! The demo.

“Daily Life”

Kaede:  (My last name roughly means “passionate red maple tree”. It doesn’t really fit me, but… I still like my last name.)

Kaede starts us off with an introduction of herself, probably trying to make this reminiscent of the DR1 opening. They can’t exactly do that in this game’s real opening, what with the whole pregame-and-reset thing. It’s pretty awkward here that she’s telling us about her last name when nobody’s going to be calling her that in English, so it’s probably for the best that didn’t stay. I think “passionate red maple tree” suits her at least a little, though – she is very passionate!

Kaede:  (Huh? Wait, who am I even talking to?)

That’s a good question! There’s going to be quite a bit of sort-of fourth wall breaking in this demo. But… this is Danganronpa V3, in which a lot of what seemed like fourth wall breaking wasn’t really doing that at all. So maybe this is actually Kaede just being pushed into being all self-introductory in her inner monologue by the Flashback Light that created her, and here she’s having a brief moment of realising that makes no sense.

She finds herself waking up at a desk – again, like the original DR1 opening and less like the actual DRV3 opening. There’s no falling out of a locker and no Shuichi (not here, anyway).

“Makoto”:  “Oh, are you awake? Good morning, Kaede.”

Instead, there’s… Makoto.

So here’s the thing about this demo. Makoto, and later Hajime, are randomly in it. Going into the demo with the assumption that DRV3 is in a different universe from the Hope’s Peak story makes this just seem like a silly fourth-wall-breaking thing. It also wouldn’t work to imagine this is set in the Hope’s Peak universe, because then Makoto and Hajime should both be much older than high school age, not to mention whatever shenanigans should be going on with Hajime. So it’s easiest to assume that, oh, this is just some silly uncanonical nonsense because it’s a demo and it doesn’t need to make sense.

But! Having finished DRV3 and gone back to this demo knowing the truth of the V3 story, this actually can make some kind of sense within the V3 universe. Because this is a universe where Makoto and Hajime exist as fictional characters. This whole demo could in fact be some show set up by Team Danganronpa to build hype for their new series before it properly starts, including pandering to those genwunners and twoers in the audience by featuring Makoto and Hajime – which is to say, people cosplaying as them. Hence me using inverted commas for his name in the quotes here like I did for everyone Tsumugi cosplayed in trial 6. It’s not really Makoto Naegi at all.

(This still doesn’t totally work in the canon DRV3 universe, because, given the reset and the fact that they were accidentally their pregame selves at first, it seems unlikely that Team Danganronpa would really have done this “demo” in between the reset at all. This isn’t quite something that actually happened in canon before the story we saw began – it’s more just an AU scenario that could have hypothetically happened before the main killing game started, if things had gone a little differently.)

Makoto introduces himself as the Ultimate Lucky Student and even gets a proper Ultimate title card for it.

Kaede:  “Only one student in the entire country!? That’s amazing! You must be really lucky!”

No, Kaede, it doesn’t mean he’s always really lucky; that is not how luck works. He just got incredibly lucky this one time but is otherwise entirely ordinary. Luck as an actual goddamn superpower like it supposedly was for Nagito still grates on me (and there’s no convincing proof to me that Makoto also had that superpower).

Makoto mysteriously already knows Kaede’s name and talent. He explains that it’s because information about the students here is on public record – that is how the real Makoto learned about everyone in DR1, after all – but that’s probably not really the truth here, is it.

There’s a very genuinely-fourth-wall-breaky letter on the desk telling Kaede that to progress the story she just needs to come to the gym, but she can wander around and have the other students introduce themselves to her first if she wants. Obviously anyone doing this demo for the first time would want to do that – the whole point is getting to know the characters!

The layout of the school has been changed a bit in the demo to make things simpler and keep some locations a surprise. Kaede was in not Classroom B on the second floor, but Classroom A, aka the lookout classroom. Or what would function as a lookout classroom if only there was a basement, but the stairs to the basement have instead been replaced by a big red door that will lead to the trialgrounds. The stairs to the second floor are completely blocked off with an opaque shutter, so that all you can access is the first floor, and they moved the gym closer than usual to cut out the part of the corridor containing the locked things leading to Himiko and Kaito’s labs. Apparently they didn’t want to give any kind of tantalising promise of further areas that you’ll get to fully explore in the main game. Meanwhile, the front door that would lead out into the courtyard instead connects directly to the dorms, so that the demo never even shows us that they’re trapped inside a dome.

Everyone’s introductions are more or less the same as they will be in the main game, with Makoto filling in the part in the conversation that Shuichi would have played, if need be. Certain parts are left out if they were less about the character and more specifically about the main story in a way that isn’t relevant in the demo.

Rantaro is the first person we meet. Makoto says he doesn’t know Rantaro’s talent because it wasn’t on public record, but is still insistent that he definitely has a talent. This is totally because he’s just being good old hopeful Makoto and definitely not that he knows exactly what Rantaro’s talent is and why it’s being kept a secret right now, right.

Hajime is also hanging around in the corridors as if he’s a regular student. He gets “Ultimate ???” as well in his title card, even though he goes on to admit that he doesn’t have a talent. He doesn’t mention the Reserve Course, though. I guess the Ultimate Academy isn’t supposed to have one of those.

“Makoto”:  “Well, Hajime, we have seniority, but… She’s the protagonist this time around.”

Ahaha, here we go. One of the things the demo very gleefully does is make a big deal of how Kaede is the protagonist. Did you know Kaede is the protagonist of this game, guys? Because she is very definitely the protagonist of this game.

This would also sort of work with the whole fiction thing, except not so much, because the in-universe protagonist is supposed to be Keebo. So this is a thing that really is just out-universely here for the sake of the demo and doesn’t quite make sense in-universe with what Team Danganronpa are doing here.

Kaede:  (And also… what did they mean by ‘protagonist’?)

At least, for her part, Kaede is very confused by all this.

Shuichi is also just hanging around in the corridor like a totally regular student and not the actual protagonist of this game. I didn’t remember him from the demo at all until seeing him in the main game jogged my memory, because without him being Kaede’s investigation partner, he kinda just blends into the background like the introvert he is.

Shuichi:  “I don’t even remember enrolling in this academy. But it seems I did…”

Bonus dialogue you get from talking to him again after his main introduction shows that he’s very much thinking about the important questions, though. In the main game, while nobody remembered being kidnapped, everyone’s general assumption was that they were brought here against their will and forgot how. However, in the demo, it seems most people are assuming they somehow got enrolled in this academy and are just having a slightly odd version of a school introduction. Only a few people are questioning this idea.

(Kaede actually mentioned at the very beginning that she remembered being kidnapped, but then the writing apparently forgets about that, because she never mentions it to anybody else. Nor does anyone else mention remembering something similar.)

Since there’s no outside in the demo and therefore no wall to be thinking about trying to get over, Kaito is just in the dining hall here. Everyone whose introduction in the main game is in a location that doesn’t exist in the demo just gets put somewhere random instead. Kaito’s lines about getting over the wall are therefore also removed from his introduction, which means that we sadly don’t get as much of a sense of his unshakeable determination and philosophy about not complaining when you could be trying to make things better.

Kaito:  “But now that I’m thinking about it, why am I at this academy? I wanna blast off into space ASAP! Weird situations like this are only gonna slow me down…”

Kaito is also asking the important questions. Why is he doing this thing that isn’t working towards going to space? That doesn’t make any sense as something that he’d choose to do! He should be in astronaut training, not enrolling in some weird academy!

Maki immediately introduces herself and her cover-story talent rather than not wanting to do so at first. She also doesn’t have any of her lines about how she doubts they’ll be able to escape this and they shouldn’t be working together with strangers, so a lot of the hints towards her interestingness are gone from the demo, boo.

Maki:  “I don’t even remember enrolling in this academy, but… Do you know what’s going on?”

At least she’s asking the important questions, too! I wonder if that “but” is a hint at her thinking “but at least this isn’t as bad as having to kill people”. Or so she thinks.

As Kaede finishes meeting everyone and is about to head into the gym…

“Makoto”:  “Sorry, but this is where we part ways. I can’t go past this point. …Because you’re the protagonist now, Kaede.”

Kaede:  “What?”

“Makoto”:  “From here on, you’re the one who’s going to learn about this situation we’re in. You might feel despair… but I don’t want you to throw away hope!”

Oh man, the buzzwords. I’m pretty sure that even post-DR1-ending, despite literally being declared the Ultimate Hope, Makoto did not throw around these buzzwords as meaninglessly as this. This really is just someone desperately trying to sound like him, isn’t it.

It’s also very strange that apparently Makoto can’t be with her for the explanation of the killing game. You’d think, even if he already knew what was happening (which, fair enough, Makoto has done this before), he’d want to be there with Kaede to reassure her through the bad news. But he has to leave for no particular reason.

(Also, reminder, Kaede is the protagonist, you guys.)

Kaede:  (Protagonist? Hope? Despair? What does any of that mean?)

Heh, I like how she’s also bewildered by the sudden buzzwords and not just the protagonist part.

For some reason it’s only Kaede and not all the other students here getting this announcement about the killing game. I guess, since this is not remotely how it happens in canon, writing sixteen characters having new reactions to this would be too much of a pain for what’s only here to justify the demo having a trial.

It does also mean that most people – including Kaede herself, since Monokuma alone doesn’t count as a witness – don’t have alibis for the “murder” that’s about to happen.

Monokuma:  “While you live together, you’re all responsible for maintaining the harmony of the academy. But if someone was to disrupt that harmony…”

Geez, is this the game scrambling to justify the Killing Harmony subtitle again? I wonder what this was in Japanese. (But I’m not quite curious enough to actually check, because this is only the demo.)

Kaede:  “D-Don’t mess around with us! I would never… murder anyone!”

Hee, that’s also there even though this is the demo.

Monokuma:  “Don’t you see, Kaede? This is how your story begins.”

Kaede:  “‘My story’? What does that even mean?”

They really are dropping hints to the whole fiction thing even in the demo. Although, again, this doesn’t work so well in an in-universe sense because Keebo is the in-universe protagonist (and because Tsumugi was definitely planning to have Kaede get herself killed in the first chapter, probably largely for the sake of Shuichi’s story.)

Monokuma then tells Kaede to go and check out her room in the dormitory. It seems he already knows that she’s going to find someone dead in there.

Kaede’s door awkwardly has Makoto and Hajime’s portraits slapped onto it as well. Monokuma shows up to explain to her that this is the “Protagonists’ Room”, for all three of them! (Did you know Kaede is the protagonist.)

Once she goes inside, everything’s a mess, with slash marks all over the furniture and walls, kind of like in the first case in DR1.

And Yasuhiro Hagakure is dead in the shower with a kitchen knife in his stomach.

“Deadly Life”

Monokuma:  “Geez, this is like the second time he’s died already… Eh, you guys can just ignore that.”

As Monokuma cheekily alludes to here, this is an amusing little nod to the original demo of DR1. Apparently, to keep Sayaka’s death a surprise for the main game, they instead made Hiro the victim there. Looks like they decided to make him the victim again here!

Given the reality of the situation, this cannot really be Hiro, because he doesn’t exist. Which means that most likely, nobody is actually dead at all – this is just a Hiro cosplayer doing their best impression of a corpse.

Hajime is here to help investigate the dorm room. Kaito, Miu, Kirumi and Ryoma also show up in the room to investigate. (But apparently nobody else thought that confirming if a murder has really taken place and trying to figure out the culprit so they don’t get punished was important? Not even Shuichi?)

It’s also relevant to note that nobody looks very closely at Hiro’s “corpse” to confirm whether he’s actually dead.

Kaito:  “So does this mean someone believed that the only way to get out of here… was by killing someone?”

Ryoma:  “Hmph… The dead body is proof of that. There’s no way a body would end up quite like this by accident.”

Kaito:  “Damn it… why’d they kill him? Why didn’t they just talk things over with us?”

Kaede:  “Yeah, we haven’t searched the whole school yet. There could still be a way out of here.”

Kaito:  “Yeah, that’s exactly right! And they resorted to this, right off the bat… When we find the culprit, I’m gonna punch some sense back into them!”

I love how Kaito this is. He can’t get his head around the fact that anyone would give up so quickly. He realises that they most likely just did it because they were scared and wanted to escape and therefore it’s somewhat understandable, but even then, he can’t see why they would resort to it so soon without having tried every other possible option first, including talking to everyone else and trying to co-operate. He’s not angry at the culprit for being a cold-blooded killer, but rather for being so weak, in the sense that they didn’t even want to try and get stronger, and so they did something this awful out of cowardice.

And also look at him and Kaede clearly being on the same wavelength about working together to escape and not giving up!

Kaito doesn’t contribute any Truth Bullets to this investigation, but I’m delighted that he’s here in this room anyway so we could have this little insight into the way he thinks about things like this. This is nuanced enough that people playing this demo before the main game just to get a basic sense of the characters probably aren’t really going to think much of it – but it’s here anyway, because Kaito is this nuanced and complex of a character and he would react like this in this situation, regardless of how unnecessary him doing so is to the purpose of this demo. I love Kaito so much.

Ryoma:  “Going straight to an investigation? That’s pretty forward-thinking of you. Even if you’re used to seeing dead bodies, it’d be stupid not to feel anything.”

Meanwhile, Ryoma is already being perceptive and making observations about Kaede’s character, which is a very him thing to be doing.

Kaede:  “But we have to do this. I don’t want everyone else to die…”

Ryoma:  “Hmph… You’re rather motivated to stay alive. I wish I had… No, never mind.”

There’s also a little hint at Ryoma’s lack of motivation to live and desire to find one, which is neat!

(It’s a shame that, even though Kaito is also here and presumably overhearing this, he doesn’t comment. I’d have liked that a lot.)

The lack of any hair in the room was a clue in this case in DR1, but this time, there’s a single short brown hair here, about the colour and length of Makoto or Hajime’s. This is despite the fact that Hajime claims he’s never been in the room before now and that Kirumi cleaned all of the dorms shortly before the murder was discovered. Kaede also notes during this conversation that it’s odd she hasn’t seen Makoto since she went into the gym. Hmmm.

Just as Makoto finally shows up and is about to help Kaede investigate everywhere else, the Monokubs appear. They have not been in the demo until now. Why did they need to be in the demo at all. It would be a more favourable advertisement of the game to pretend they don’t exist, you know, demo writers! They literally do not contribute anything of value to the narrative by showing up here.

Kaito:  “Buncha cowards… Trying to interrupt my investigation with their stupid crap.”

Oh, Kaito. This is basically chapter 1 Kaito, who has no sidekicks yet and is instead desperately trying to feel like he can make a difference by doing something. Hence him making a point that this is his investigation. He leans towards this kind of attitude a couple of times in the main story, too, particularly in chapter 1 when he has no sidekicks, and in chapter 4 when he’s feeling like his support of his sidekicks isn’t enough and wants to be more of an action-oriented hero. This is bound to be the reason he’s here in this room at all despite not contributing anything to the player’s investigation – because he’s trying to do something about this, even though he doesn’t really know how!

Kaito:  “Whatever… If I get serious, I can solve this case in no time flat!”

I don’t like this, though. It implies that he’s currently not being serious and would ever willingly slack off from something this important. That’s not in character. Kaito is always trying his hardest and always wants people to know he’s trying his hardest; he’d never use “oh but I just wasn’t really trying” as an excuse for the gap between how much he wants to make a difference and how much he actually can. It reads like some writer is superficially trying to get across the fact that Kaito talks big without backing it up, without truly understanding why he’s that way and keeping it in line with that. It’s odd, since the conversation just earlier showed quite a nuanced understanding of Kaito’s character, as opposed to this.

(If I were playing this demo myself, I would immediately talk to Kaito again after this to see if he has anything else to say on this matter, but because I’m forced to use Youtube, I can’t see if he does. There are words that Kaito said that could have been interesting that I’m unaware of dammit this is why I’m mad I had to use Youtube for this. Admittedly it’s most likely just him repeating those lines, or continuing to be written badly… but what if it isn’t.)

Kaede asks Makoto where he went off to, and he claims he was wandering around the school trying to find a way out or at least a map to help Kaede out. That does not properly explain why he insisted he couldn’t come into the gym with her in the first place, but okay.

Hajime stays behind to guard the crime scene while Makoto accompanies Kaede out of the dorm to investigate elsewhere. Makoto is getting a lot more screentime than Hajime in this demo. Still more genwunners than twoers in this audience, apparently.

Maki:  “The crime occurred in the Protagonists’ Room. Stupid name aside, that’s your room, isn’t it?”

Aha, good old Maki, always Done™ with everyone’s nonsense.

Maki:  “I don’t intend to just go with the easiest answer… But at the same time… I have no reason to trust you guys either.”

This is very Maki, not wanting to trust people without a good reason but also not being so stupid and hasty as to jump to any conclusions just because she doesn’t trust anyone.

Himiko:  “Kaede, is it true? Did a murder really happen?”

Apparently some of these people really didn’t actually go and check out the body for themselves. You’d think they’d want to confirm it… but to be fair, it is very believable that Himiko in particular wouldn’t.

Kokichi:  “Why’d ya kill him, Kaede? Did you really wanna escape that badly?”

Of course this is Kokichi’s immediate greeting to Kaede upon seeing her during the investigation. Of course.

Kaede:  “N-No! I didn’t do anything!”

Kokichi:  “So you’re saying the culprit has to be either Makoto or Hajime… Because if you didn’t do it, then that’s what you’re getting at, right?”

And of course he’d also think that she’d happily turn on the two people apparently closest to her and throw them under the bus to protect herself.

He really does (most likely, not that you can ever be sure with him) seem to believe it’s one of the three of them simply because it was their room. Look who is jumping to conclusions because he doesn’t trust anyone.

(I should point out that the room was unlocked the entire time and so there is literally no concrete reason to suspect the room’s owners above anybody else.)

“Makoto”:  “Did you see Hiro?”

Tsumugi:  “No, I didn’t. I think I’d definitely remember seeing hair like his.”

If the students who aren’t in the room right now didn’t see the body, how does Tsumugi know what Hiro’s hair looks like? This might be a very subtle clue as to the mastermind’s identity, because of course Tsumugi would know what Hiro’s hair looks like anyway.

(I’d say that actually she could have seen him from the Monokuma File, but based on Himiko’s comment earlier, I’m not sure if everyone necessarily has a Monokuma File to even know for sure that someone’s dead?)

Shuichi:  “One of us killed Hiro… That’s what Monokuma said… But… I don’t think that’s the only possibility.”

Indeed it isn’t. There’s also the possibility that nobody killed anyone.

…I still don’t know why Shuichi isn’t in the dorm room to actually confirm whether or not Hiro is dead and do a proper investigation himself. Then again, if he did, we’d immediately know this class trial is bogus, so.

Kaede:  “Shuichi, do you suspect me, too?”

Shuichi:  “Ah, you don’t seem like the kind of person who would kill somebody… But… until I find evidence that proves you innocent…”

Kaede:  “That’s true…”

Shuichi:  “S-Sorry, it’s not that I *want* to suspect you, I just…”

Kaede:  “No, it’s fine… That’s what the Ultimate Detective is supposed to do…”

Aww, Shuichi. He’s caught between the part of him that hates suspecting and accusing people (even when he has no particularly strong reason to trust Kaede in this universe) and the detective side of him that knows it’s the right way to deal with this situation. I complained about him not investigating, but maybe it’s simply because he’s afraid to thanks to his issues, and without the bond with Kaede that he has in canon, he can’t overcome that fear and manage to investigate anyway. Shuichi really does only manage to be a hero with others’ help.

Kaede:  “Don’t worry about me, just do your best to investigate. That’s what’s going to save us.”

Shuichi:  “… …Okay.”

Kaede:  (Huh? That was a dull response… What happened?)

Kaede is noticing that he doesn’t seem enthusiastic about the idea of investigating to save them! A tiny, tiny little hint at his issues, since for the most part this demo really doesn’t want to focus on Shuichi at all. (Kaede is the protagonist, after all.)

During a conversation with Kiyo, he notices something about the way Makoto is talking about the investigation and trial.

Kiyo:  “…You speak as if you are familiar with the process, yes?

“Makoto”:  “That’s… also something that we can talk about later.”

…

Kaede:  (Does Makoto know something…? I can trust him… can’t I?)

Of course, this reads perfectly innocently to anyone who knows Makoto is the protagonist from a previous Danganronpa game, but it genuinely must look pretty suspicious to Kaede. It’s a big testament to her general optimism and belief in people that she does still trust him even after all this.

One of the knives in the kitchen went missing while Tenko and Himiko were having tea in the dining hall. This is still really brazenly ripping off the first case of the first game.

And that’s the whole investigation, so everyone abruptly assembles in the trialgrounds which are right behind the red door, no elevator or Shrine of Judgement or anything.

“Hajime”:  “Monokuma… I don’t know what you’re scheming, but… I won’t let you do whatever you want!”

Monokuma:  “You’re an upperclassman protagonist… I think you can come up with a better line than that.”

“Makoto”:  “Hajime’s right! You can’t just do whatever you want with their lives!”

Monokuma:  “Geez, that’s basically what Hajime just said! You two need punch-up writers or something! Whether this demo is exciting or not depends entirely on you!”

Bahaha, this is such a deliberate attempt at pandering on the parts of Makoto and Hajime’s cosplayers, and is also so blatantly Monokuma calling them out for being kind of bad at this.

They have an awkward situation with this trial, given that there’s eighteen students here and only sixteen podiums. Obviously the game devs didn’t want to remodel the trialgrounds to have two extra podiums just for the demo.

Monosuke:  “I know! Let’s just pick two people at random and rip ‘em apart with the Exisals!”

The Exisals have not been shown or otherwise mentioned in this demo. This line must rather confuse people seeing this before the main game.

Obviously there is no actual Exisal-murdering and two people simply have to sit out. Kokichi decides out of nowhere that Keebo should sit out because of course he does, lol Keebo’s not a person or anything, and then it conveniently turns out that Rantaro was with Keebo the whole time so they can vouch for each other not being the blackened and both safely not take part. Rantaro not being part of the demo trial is probably because he’s not a part of any trials in the main game either. Keebo sitting out is… just because Kokichi is a robophobic dick, apparently. (In an in-universe sense, you’d think Monokuma would have more of an issue with this, because isn’t Keebo supposed to be the audience’s camera? More indication that he really isn’t the only camera they have, then.)

Rantaro demands that at least he and Keebo are each allowed to ask one question at the end if they don’t agree with everybody else on who the blackened is, and that in doing so they could potentially restart the discussion. This doesn’t ever matter because the demo’s going to end before the trial reaches a conclusion, but it does show that Rantaro is a very smart and cautious person.

Kaito:  “I’ll be carrying your lives, too! I’ll definitely do something about all this!”

But don’t worry, Rantaro and Keebo, Kaito is going to do something about this! You know, about this whole trial. Of course he is. Definitely. Even though it’s just the demo and it doesn’t really matter, his tendency to insist this out of his desperation to be able to make a difference is still here and it’s great. I also love the way he says he’ll be carrying their lives. Like he’s bearing that burden for them.

Kaito:  “And don’t worry! We’ve got the Ultimate Detective on our side!”

Also this!!! Kaito doesn’t seem to have interacted with Shuichi at all this whole demo, but that’s not going to stop him from believing in him, because with a talent like that he’s bound to be awesome, right? It is very delightfully reminiscent of the main story that Kaito says this immediately after his own bold declarations. Despite his big words and how much he genuinely intends to do his best to fulfil them (because Kaito is always trying), he knows that Shuichi’s really the one most able to save them in this situation. Kaito’s relying on and believing in Shuichi’s ability to be the real hero here. I love this tiny tiny nod to their delightful friendship dynamic in canon.

Shuichi:  “Huh?”

Shuichi is not used to people believing in his detective skills. Kaito really does mean it even though he’s only just met you, Shuichi!

Class Trial

In the trial, Makoto has Rantaro’s podium and Hajime has Keebo’s. I’m quite surprised that they didn’t do it the other way around – Keebo is after all basically meant to be Robot Makoto, and that would have been one reasonable excuse for leaving him in particular out.

Things start with people throwing out some baseless ideas. Tenko of course decides someone male must have done it.

Shuichi:  “We can’t rule out suspects that way… We need to look at all the possibilities.”

Shuichi, at least, is being rational about this. He doesn’t say much in this demo, but what he does say is always quite sensible.

Tenko:  “Kiyo looks creepy! That’s suspicious enough for me!”

Aaaaagh coming from Tenko in particular that’s just painful. Demo why would you do this.

By the way, fun fact: the English voicework for this demo was almost certainly recorded after that for the main game. How do I know? Because of Kaito’s voice. For the earlier trials in the main game, Kaito’s voice sounds a lot rougher and growlier, which becomes less of a thing as the game goes on. It’s gradual enough that you don’t notice it while it’s happening, but going from trial 4 Kaito back to trial 1 Kaito gives quite a noticeable difference. I assume this is because his voice actor started out consciously trying to emulate his Japanese voice, which is indeed quite gruff, but then as things went along he got more into the character and developed his own instinctive feel for Kaito’s voice, one which wasn’t as growly as it started out. And here in the demo, Kaito’s voice isn’t growly at all; it sounds like his lines from trial 4, not trial 1.

(The voice actor getting more into the role has to be the only reason for the gradual shift, because really, in-universe, Kaito’s voice should have been subtly getting more rough and growly as time went by, thanks to his illness getting worse. It’d have been really fun if that had been a thing. Alas.)

Kaito:  “He didn’t even have a chance to resist!”

Like in the main game, Kaito is the first person to be refuted. In trials where Shuichi is his sidekick, Kaito doesn’t tend to make any arguments at all and just sits back and lets Shuichi handle it (with the exception of trial 4, for chapter 4 reasons). But in trial 1 he didn’t have a sidekick and was instead trying to feel useful by actually contributing to the discussion despite knowing he might be wrong, kind of like in trial 4.

In the actual trial 1 in the main commentary, I explained why Kaito wasn’t being stupid even though he was wrong, but in this instance, he has simply been very rudely handed the idiot ball. Kaito was one of the people who investigated the dorm room! He saw the signs of a struggle!

Obviously, this argument is also mirroring the very first argument you refute in this case in DR1. But then they should have given this line to someone who actually wasn’t in the room and didn’t see the state of it, of which there are plenty of options. In DR1, the person who makes this argument is Chihiro, who didn’t investigate the room out of fear – and in fact, him making this assumption despite not knowing the facts was likely a sign of his issues about feeling weak, because of course he’d have been afraid of being killed by someone stronger without even being able to fight back, so he projected that onto Sayaka.

But Kaito making this argument here? Doesn’t make any sense or have any good reason for it. They’re apparently trying to have Kaito be the first person to be refuted like he is in the main game (and perhaps for similar reasons), while also having the first refuted argument in this case be the same as it was in the DR1 case. Either callback (or call-forward) alone would be fine, but doing both of them at once does not work and ends up very uncharitable towards Kaito.

Kaito:  “Okay, so that room wasn’t such a mess to begin with, then.”

They try and justify this by having it so that apparently Kaito thought the room was always that messy, but no, that doesn’t justify anything. Sure, I can potentially imagine Kaito as someone with a messy room himself (though if so it’s probably the “organised chaos” type in which he knows where everything is even if nobody else would have a clue), but this was more than just a messy room here. There were slash marks everywhere! Things were outright broken! Kaito is not stupid, and it is very rude of the demo to twist him out of character in order to give people a first impression of him that makes him seem like he is.

Kaede:  (The two people who fought in that room were…)

-      Kaede and Shuichi

It’s ridiculous that the demo is making us do a multiple choice to figure out that Hiro fought with the culprit, what the hell, that’s a Psyche Taxi level of stupidly obvious question there… but it’s interesting that this is one of the obviously-wrong answers. There’s been absolutely no indication of any kind of connection between Kaede and Shuichi in the demo, except for this.

Kaede:  “Of course, it was Hiro and the culprit.”

Kaito:  “Huh!? Really!?”

No! Stop it! Stop making Kaito seem like an idiot! He is not stupid! This one doesn’t even have any kind of excuse of trying to be a call-forward to the main game! There is no reason for this!

Kaito, I am so sorry you got handed this idiot ball, please just throw it away and pretend you never saw it, you don’t deserve this.

Miu: “Who else would it be, dumbass!?”

If that was supposed to be setup to give someone an excuse to call Kaito an idiot for the further bad writing that’s about to ensue, then, this is still uncalled for. When people call Kaito an idiot, they are not meant to be actually literally right about it!

Kaito:  “Who you callin’ a dumbass!? I’m Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars!”

…

Kokichi:  “Hey, you two idiots over there… Stop chit-chatting and keep this discussion moving.”

Miu:  “Hey! Don’t lump me in with that idiot! You’re talkin’ to the gorgeous girl genius, Miu Iruma!”

Kokichi:  “Yup, you two should be lumped together. Your statements are on the same level.”

No, they really, really shouldn’t be, and this is still doing a horrible disservice to Kaito. Kaito usually reacts strongly to being called an idiot, sure, but he does not do so by talking himself up, because he is not actually insecure enough to need to “prove” he isn’t one (unlike Miu, whose boasts always reek of insecurity). Comparing him to Miu like this is making it look like Kaito only talks himself up to save face for himself and protect his own ego when it’s being battered, like she does, and that he actually is just a useless idiot beneath these empty words, especially when he really just was one thanks to that undeserved idiot ball. That is so incredibly not even remotely the point of Kaito’s character, oh my god. Please stop, demo. How can you get some of the Kaito parts so right but others so horrendously wrong.

(It makes me feel better to imagine that Kaito’s actual main writers, the ones who created a very carefully-crafted character arc full of all of his delightful issues and principles and complexities, were just, I dunno, on lunch break or something, and some clueless intern with only a very superficial knowledge of Kaito as “an idiot who talks big” got to write some of his lines here while they were out. That clueless intern is probably also the one responsible for the tiny handful of Misogyny Bullets that hit Kaito and briefly forced him out of character for one line each throughout the main story, right?)

Moving on, Kokichi begins making a big point of how he suspects everyone whom the room belonged to, because of course he does. (Look at him acting all high and mighty and more intelligent than the two supposed “idiots” and then immediately turning around and jumping to unfounded conclusions. Clearly the smartest way to handle a class trial there.)

“Makoto”:  “The discussion won’t move forward if we all just point fingers. Like Shuichi said, we need to talk about all the possibilities.”

He may just be an actor pretending to be Makoto, but he’s got a goddamn point. Kokichi’s accusation flinging is never actually helpful.

Kaito:  “Yeah, what he said! No way Kaede’s the culprit!”

Welcome back, Kaito, it’s good to see you again! This is a very Kaito thing for him to do. He’s barely spoken to Kaede or seen much of her in the demo, but he did have that conversation with her at the crime scene where she agreed that the culprit should have tried to work together to escape before giving up and resorting to murder. His instincts are telling him that she really meant that and really is this kind of person! He has a hunch, and he’s right, because his hunches always are!

Kokichi:  “Kaito! This trial won’t go anywhere if you don’t suspect anyone!”

And this is a character dynamic involving Kaito that’s actually correct and relevant in the main game such that it makes sense to hint at it in the demo, thank you.

Shuichi:  “What we have to determine now… is the murder weapon.”

And of course Shuichi is the one who’s focusing on the actual logic and getting the trial back on track instead of arguing. This was a very trial 4 exchange we just had here.

Despite Shuichi’s attempt at being sensible, everyone else then starts arguing over whether certain people could have killed him with their bare hands, because it seems that nobody who saw the body feels the need to tell them it was a goddamn knife and also apparently no-one read the Monokuma File. I guess at least Kaito smashed his idiot ball into several smaller pieces and shared it around the group.

Shuichi:  “There was no indication the body was punched. I don’t believe fists were the murder weapon.”

Shuichi I know you’re hesitant about doing this detective thing and you maybe didn’t go to the scene but you clearly read the Monokuma File just tell them it was a knife please.

Ryoma:  “Then our murder weapon is… the knife stabbed into his gut?”

THANK YOU RYOMA I don’t know why you didn’t say this sooner but.

Kaede:  (I wonder… Was the murder weapon lodged in Hiro’s abdomen really a knife?)

Yes, Kaede, it was a fucking knife! But apparently the game wants us to be more specific about the fact that it was a kitchen knife. I don’t know if this works better in Japanese in that the word for kitchen knife doesn’t include the word “knife”, but even if so, it is still a type of knife! This is something else that was an argument made in the original DR1 case – someone says the culprit used “some random knife they had on them”, and Makoto counters that it was a kitchen knife because the more relevant point is where it came from. So really, to make this be even remotely sensible here, that should also be the question Kaede is asking herself. Not was it even a knife. What the hell.

This is specifically an excuse to demonstrate the Mind Mine minigame, which is a pretty bad example of it because the other two images that are options in it aren’t even knives. Not that Mind Mine is ever really a super justified minigame that doesn’t point out something rather obvious, but.

Another thing I remember about the fan translation of this demo that I originally watched was that this part apparently made the translator flip tables, because they broke immersion to have Kaede’s line announcing her answer also include something to the effect of “oh my god Kaede I can’t believe you had to do a whole minigame just to figure out it was a kitchen knife what the hell”. Same, though, random fan translator from years ago. Same.

Kaito:  “Yeah, I caught a glimpse of it too… That was definitely a kitchen knife.”

Oh hey, look who’s capable of observing and understanding basic facts! Yes, hello, we would like to apologise for our previous misinformation and inform everyone that Kaito is, in fact, not stupid, please disregard everything you may have heard in the past few minutes implying that he is, thank you.

Shuichi:  “A knife… I do remember seeing a knife in the kitchen. That could be it.”

Angie:  “I see, I see… An excellent deduction from the Ultimate Detective. Well done.”

Yes, clearly, Shuichi is the only person in this room capable of realising that kitchen knives come from the kitchen. I know I said Kaito isn’t stupid, but he still obviously pales in comparison to this detective genius right here.

Shuichi:  “Ah, it’s not because I’m a detective… I’m still in training…”

Shuichi is also apparently the only person sensible enough to realise that it wasn’t even a clever deduction. This is supposed to be a hint at his insecurity, but also he’s just making a very valid point.

Maki:  “You really don’t need to be a detective to know that the knife came from the kitchen.”

Thank you, Maki, for being one of the only other sensible people here. God, Maki is always such a breath of fresh air.

Kokichi:  “Geez, who cares about the murder weapon?”

Kaito:  “What do you mean, ‘who cares’!?”

Kokichi:  “We can already guess who the culprit is. There’s a super-duper huge hint already.”

Yeah, who cares about actual concrete evidence when we can randomly sling accusations around based on completely circumstantial stuff! This is so very Kokichi. I also appreciate that Kaito’s the one to question him.

After some discussion in which the three protagonists insist it wasn’t them, led largely by Maki, who of course has no qualms about suspecting them even though she’s not going to conclude it definitely was them yet…

Kokichi:  “Ugh, I already told you it’s not Kaede. Suspecting her right off the bat is so mean!”

Of course, the demo’s got to also have some of Kokichi’s transparent two-faced insincerity in an attempt to make everyone else’s belief in and defense of each other sound hollow and empty. Wouldn’t be Kokichi without that.

Kaito:  “Hey! You’re the one who brought it up!”

And Kaito’s the one to call him out on that, because of course he should be!

“Makoto”:  “We need to talk this over more to uncover the truth. This is a test.”

Kaede:  “Huh?” (This is a test…?)

The way it lingers on that comment makes it seem relevant. Maybe this is just another nod to this being a demo, which is meant to “test” players’ skills in preparation for the main game. Which could also potentially be the idea in-universe, if this is indeed being done as a test-run before they wipe everyone’s memories of this and put them in the real killing game (though as I said before, this still can’t have been quite what happened in real canon given the whole pregame reset thing).

Gonta:  “Gonta not good at tough subjects… but Gonta will work hard for everyone’s sake!”

Kaede:  “That’s right! We need to work together so we can overcome this class trial!”

Yaaaay, Gonta. He hasn’t really done much of note in this demo but he’s still here and doing his best! And also here’s some Kaede being very herself.

“Makoto”:  “Everything’s gone smoothly so far, but…”

Kaede:  “Huh? Did you say something, Makoto?”

“Makoto”:  “No… it’s nothing.”

Hah, Makoto really is acting quite suspiciously now, isn’t he.

Ryoma:  “Either way, we’ve got three main suspects now…”

No, we haven’t, we only ended up on this topic because of Kokichi’s random accusation slinging, can we get back to talking about the knife, please. Ryoma, you are meant to be smarter than this.

Kaito:  “It’s not any of them! I believe in these guys!”

Oh, Kaito. I’m a little more surprised that his intuition is giving him a fully positive read on “Makoto” and “Hajime”, but he hasn’t interacted with them that much either and their acting has been fine so far and made them seem superficially heroic, so, eh, fair enough.

Shuichi:  “If we can determine who took the murder weapon from the kitchen… that would clear Kaede of suspicion.”

Yes, thank you, let’s talk about the evidence. Shuichi’s is always the most sensible voice in the room. I also like how he’s thinking of it as clearing Kaede of suspicion – he really doesn’t want to think she did it.

Kirumi:  “First, we should listen to Kaede and the others’ testimonies.”

This whole thing of awkwardly veering the topic onto these three suspects in particular (thanks to our convenient Kokichi in the room just wanting to be overly suspicious of everyone) is actually an excuse to demonstrate a Mass Panic Debate. Which is a horrendously bad example of one of these. They’re supposed to happen when people get so riled up at being suspected that they all talk over each other, but Kaede, Makoto and Hajime have been quite calm and level-headed about this, and each happily agree to Kirumi’s suggestion to let them testify. So they shouldn’t need to talk over each other!

And then, to make things even more confusing and distract even more from what’s supposed to be the point of a Mass Panic Debate, Monokuma and his cubs awkwardly interrupt to declare that Kaede can’t participate and they’re arbitrarily going to make someone else testify about their alibi instead of her. This is of course because Kaede is the protagonist and so can’t participate in a playable debate, and it’s also because the person they’re having testify instead is someone who actually has testimony about who took the knife and is therefore the relevant thing to shoot at. But my god, does this end up giving a completely unclear and misleading impression of what a Mass Panic Debate is even supposed to be for. When I first saw this demo, I remember being confused as hell and thinking it was pointlessly gimmicky to have three Nonstop Debates at once for no apparent reason. It completely fails to communicate the idea that these are supposed to be less about the gameplay and more about narrative tension (even if only one of the Mass Panic Debates in the main game really pulls that off to its full potential).

The third testimony in question is from Himiko, who was having tea with Tenko when somebody took the knife. Specifically, she was lecturing Tenko about the difference between real magic and a magic trick, because of course she was. It’s cute that Tenko was happy to listen to her.

Tenko doesn’t know who it was who came in, because it was a dude, and so, being Tenko, she didn’t pay him any attention beyond that. This jogs Himiko’s memory, though…

Himiko:  “Nyeh… now that I think about it, someone was in the kitchen. Someone who’s no longer with us…”

…and then she decides to tell us all who it was in the vaguest possible way instead of just saying “it was Hiro” or “it was the victim”. Which is in fact a very transparent way to shoehorn in, drumroll please, the actual stupidest Psyche Taxi segment in the game, for real this time! At least if you count the demo as part of this game.

Credit to them, they actually did put Kaede in the car and not Shuichi. I think  her car might be a little different, too? The idea of driving through Vegas to pick up sex workers is… basically just as out-of-character for Kaede as it was for Shuichi, given that she’s a huge piano nerd without many friends, not that that part of her character has been illustrated at all in the demo. (She’s still picking up women, but then there are a few comments Kaede makes that strongly hint she’s bi, so hey.)

The two (at least it’s only two; even they couldn’t stretch this out into three or four) questions asked here are: “Who is not here?” [Victim/Culprit] and then “Who is the victim of this case?” [Hajime/Hiro/Makoto]. Yup, they actually thought those were questions that anyone ever would have to think about at all.

…I mean, they probably didn’t really. And to be fair, this is pretty similar to how stupid actual Psyche Taxis are, so, uhh, representative demo gameplay???

Kaede:  “Are you saying Hiro’s the one who went into the kitchen?”

Because obviously Kaede had to drive a taxi through her mind to figure this out, and nobody else in the room figured it out in less time than it took her to do that. And she also couldn’t possibly have just asked Himiko to clarify who she meant in the first place.

But hey, the one who took the knife from the kitchen was in fact the victim. More references to the DR1 case! I wonder if we’re supposed to think that Hiro was secretly planning murder and not just taking it for self-defence. Honestly I wouldn’t entirely put that past him; if anyone would be the kind of coward looking for an easy way out that Kaito was denouncing back in the investigation, he seems a reasonable candidate for it.

Having realised that the one who took the knife isn’t the culprit after all, suspicion falls back on the three protagonists, particularly Kaede as she discovered the body.

“Makoto”:  “No, that’s wrong!”

“Hajime”:  “Yeah! You’ve got that wrong!”

Monokuma:  “Oh? The two leads just said their catchphrases! Finally, this is getting exciting!”

Man, this is apparently some genwunner-audience-shallowness worthy of trial 6 if they’re supposed to think that a couple of people just yelling “no, that’s wrong!” somehow makes things the height of entertainment. Admittedly the rest of the trial has not exactly been riveting, but still.

“Makoto”:  “Kaede… don’t give up hope. Keep going and you’ll be able to reach the truth!”

He can’t just tell her to not give up – he has to throw in that buzzword and make sure everyone knows that this is about hope. Look, guys, he’s totally Makoto.

Kaede:  “But, how do I prove my innocence?”

“Hajime”:  “That’s…”

…But neither of them actually know how to do this and are just spouting meaningless protagonisty lines.

Kokichi:  “Fine! I guess my decisive testimony will help us find our culprit!”

Oh boy, it’s Kokichi Making Everything About Himself time.

Gonta:  “You know who culprit is? That means everyone not have to get punished!”

Aww, Gonta. Look at him naively believing everything Kokichi says, this is totally not foreshadowing for anything important and tragic in the main game, not at all.

A couple of the other slower characters also go welp, great, this means the trial can be over soon.

Shuichi:  “Kokichi… if you had information like that, why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

Kokichi:  “Well, if I said something that important right away, that wouldn’t be much fun.”

But at least Shuichi is still being the most sensible and realising exactly what is so fishy about this. (This is also the question he has to worry about himself with regards to his own lies that he tells in canon.)

Kokichi’s response is “lol, for fun”, though, because of course it is, and that is exactly what he would do if this testimony he’s about to give weren’t a lie. Especially considering that that’s the usual reason why he really does frequently withhold important information from everyone else in canon.

Kokichi:  “Anyway… the culprit is Makoto.”

From just the text alone, this could seem like it’s deliberately being reminiscent of Kokichi’s “Well, then… the culprit is Gonta” line in canon. But alas, the delivery is completely different – which I guess is fair enough, since here he’s just lying.

Kaede:  “Huh? Wh-What are you saying?”

“Makoto”:  “…”

Interestingly, Makoto doesn’t immediately try to deny this.

Regardless, Kaede decides she’s going to believe in Makoto, and so she’s going to lie for him. Finally, a mechanic introduced in this demo that, A, is an actually interesting new mechanic and not a pointless minigame, and, B, is represented properly!

(There’s no Debate Scrum in this demo, sadly. I’d say it’s because they couldn’t come up with a proper excuse for one, but honestly they could probably have scraped together a short one about whether or not Makoto did it, similar to the one about Shuichi in canon.)

Kokichi:  “I saw Makoto leave that room by himself! I swear!”

Wow, that totally doesn’t sound like a lie at all.

“Makoto”:  “I didn’t go into that room even once… so Kokichi must be mistaken.”

“Kokichi is lying.”

There’s eight different white noise lines for this last statement, most of which are quite easily identifiable. Even though this one is less obviously so, I bet it’s Maki. It sounds like her.

So Kaede lies that she was with Makoto the entire time until the body discovery.

Kokichi:  “Hmmm… Kaede, you’d rather choose a lie than the truth, just to protect Makoto?”

Kaede:  “Do you have any proof to show that I’m lying, Kokichi?”

Kokichi:  “Nope, none at all. I lied about seeing Makoto.”

Welp, that didn’t last long at all.

Kaito:  “Why you…? Don’t mess with us!”

Again I love that Kaito is the one to call him out on this! He hates that someone would be this insincere and selfishly mess with their lives just for his own petty entertainment.

Kokichi:  “I just wanted Makoto to talk, so I simply tricked him into speaking.”

Kaito:  “Why beat around the bush like that?”

This is so Kaito – he’s not using the word here, but this is his concept of manliness! Don’t beat around the bush, just come straight out and tell people what you want from them! If he wanted Makoto to testify, he should have just asked him instead of being insincere and indirect and manipulating him into it.

Kokichi:  “Cuz it’s still not clear where Makoto was before and after the indicent, right? Aw maaaan… I totally thought Makoto would talk if we started accusing him.”

And your lie didn’t help us clear anything up any more than just asking him directly would have done, so good fucking job, as usual. It almost seems like Kokichi’s actually acknowledging here that his lie didn’t work, but really he’s probably telling himself it totally would have worked if Kaede hadn’t jumped in with her own lie, because Kokichi can never be wrong about anything.

Some of the others point out that Kaede is also lying because she was on her own shortly after the body discovery and it’s weird that she and Makoto would split up after finding a body. Since Kaede’s lie is so provably false, it’s surprising to me that Kokichi backed down so soon on his own lie rather than just trying to disprove Kaede’s. Maybe his actual intent was that he thought Kaede was the culprit and expected her to throw Makoto under the bus to protect herself, and then when she didn’t, he realised she’s probably innocent and backed off? Maybe? But then again, Kokichi expects people to throw others under the bus to protect themselves even when they are innocent, like he was trying to get Kaito to do to Maki in trial 2, so, eh, I kinda doubt he’d see anyone not doing that as actual proof of anything. There’s too much selflessness and trust involved in that idea.

Gonta:  “Huh? Kaede… tell lie?”

Aww, Gonta.

Kaede:  (I need to be more convincing if I want them to believe me. I’ll remember that next time I need to lie… Of course, I hope that time never comes.)

Heh, that sure is a rather transparently this-is-just-a-demo thing for her to be thinking.

Kaito:  “We just got dragged around by Kokichi’s lies… We didn’t clear a single thing up!”

Exactly! God I love like 80% of the Kaito in this demo. All of the bits that aren’t horrendously out of character are so wonderfully him.

Everyone awkwardly laments that they still don’t have any more of a clue who did it other than maybe the three owners of the room and maybe in particular Kaede for no good reason. (Come on, guys, the rooms weren’t locked, literally anybody could have seen Hiro wandering into that room and taken their chance to kill someone.)

“Makoto”:  “It can’t end like this. No one wants an ending like that.”

Wow, that is so hilariously trial 6 of him. I am very sure the demo writers are doing this on purpose at this point.

Hajime decides he can prove it wasn’t Kaede, so he starts talking in very vague terms about “it” that was on the floor in the dorm, and something off about the crime scene. I’m not sure what the latter thing he’s supposed to be referring to is – Kaede’s comments in the investigation suggested there was supposedly something suspicious about the blood on the knife handle, so it might be that, but I couldn’t tell myself what was off about it. (There might not even be anything off about it, because this is about to go precisely nowhere. Then again, maybe it was the fact that it’s actually a prop knife because “Hiro” wasn’t really dead? Although “Hajime” probably wouldn’t want that to be known, would he.) The former thing is clearly the short brown hair found on the floor after Kirumi had cleaned, which suggests it is not Kaede but is instead either Makoto or Hajime.

But before Kaede can actually properly mention either of these things Hajime is vaguely alluding to, Monokuma interrupts and declares that the demo is over, and the trial abruptly ends.

So we never actually find out who supposedly killed Hiro – but I think the clues make it pretty clear that it was supposed to be Makoto.

On my first time seeing the demo, I was certain it couldn’t be Makoto because I already implicitly trusted that he’d never kill anyone. But that’s only if it was the real Makoto. Since this is just a cosplayer, and this is just a show being put on by Team Danganronpa for some very superficial demo entertainment, anything goes. I can totally see them pulling out the shocking twist that Makoto murdered someone, just for the hell of it.

All the clues point to Makoto – the hair that’s either his or Hajime’s, his extremely unexplained disappearance, plus a couple of moments in which he acted quite suspiciously, such as the way he didn’t immediately fervently plead his innocence when Kokichi claimed he had proof. And even if it had actually been a real murder, none of the people here who are real people and not cosplayers just acting would snap and give up that quickly on getting out of here without resorting to such drastic measures, just like Kaito said.

Then, right at the end of the demo, over a blank screen, there’s this.

“Makoto”:  “Hey, how was… our acting?”

Monokuma:  “Puhuhu, it wasn’t too shabby! I especially liked how convincingly you wasted everyone’s time!”

“Hajime”:  “I was a little worried about the end there… Hope it was exciting enough. Welp, since we got through it smoothly, that’s it for today!”

Monokuma:  “Smell ya later!”

“Makoto”:  “Good job, everyone!”

“Hajime”:  “Good job! See ya!”

…………

“Hiro”:  “Heeey! Wait for meee!”

This sure is a thing. I’d actually forgotten this bit was here while coming up with my theory that the Makoto, Hajime and Hiro we see in this demo are just cosplayers and nobody died – and this basically completely proves that this idea really was what the out-universe writers were going for here.

On a first viewing of this demo without having seen the main game, Makoto asking about their acting would potentially just seem like him referring to how he and Hajime hid the fact that they’d already been in another killing game – and, perhaps, the fact that they knew Hiro wasn’t really dead and this was all staged. But even then, it’s kind of odd that they’re asking this to Monokuma, like they’re in league with him, which doesn’t seem right for them at all.

But it makes every single bit of sense after finishing the main game if you assume that they really were cosplayers just putting on this demo as a teaser for the in-universe audience. When “Makoto” asks about their acting, he’s asking if they were convincing enough as Makoto and Hajime in the first place. They work for Team Danganronpa, so of course they’re in league with Monokuma and having a casual conversation with him. And everything about the way they’re talking comes across like actors or directors being all “welp, that’s a wrap, good job out there on set today, guys, we sure made an entertaining show!”

This bit didn’t need to be in the demo at all, but it’s really fun that they put it here anyway. It’s a very subtle, cheeky little hint to the real truth of everything that nobody’s going to be able to piece together without already knowing the truth and is just going to assume is meaningless demo shenanigans until then.

Also, while obviously nobody actually died, Team Danganronpa was still presenting a fiction in which Hiro totally did die, and within that fiction they apparently still totally had it in mind that Makoto killed him. They didn’t really have to hint towards anyone having done it at all, but they still had Makoto’s actor go out of his way to put in deliberate hints that it was him. I wonder how many of the audience picked up on the hints, and how shocked they were if they did. Gasp, their precious Makoto did a murder!! How could he fall to despair like this!?

[lotusdiscussthis]

@yunevii 

I read your tags and I was afraid to respond to it considering you didn’t show it on the reblog. By putting your comments on the tags, I could’ve easily overlooked it, so I didn’t know if you really wanted to talk about it or not. In the end, I’ve decided to link you to give you my reply anyway. I hope you don’t mind.

I don’t blame you for not agreeing. After all, my perception of Saihara can be hard to believe when I haven’t given enough explanations as to what made me look at Saihara in such a negative way. It’s mainly due to having to reanalyze the story in a different perspective after discovering things that paints the supposedly innocent detective in a different light. But I’ll try to explain my thoughts the best that I can...

“kokichi often makes conversations go in frustrating circles because of his lies...

True, talking to Ouma also gave me headaches when I first played. Though sometimes the best way to determine someone’s nature is to not always rely on their words, but through their actions. It’s easy to say things like “I’m really evil” and act like the bad guy, but if your actions contradict with that behavior, that would naturally raise questions.

Let’s take Ouma’s evil speech after Gonta died. He said he enjoys their suffering, yet in the previous chapter, he urged Himiko to express her grief properly. How is it that he would go that far for someone he barely even knows, only to suddenly make a big show about he loves their suffering later on? Or when Ouma looked like he faked being injured only for Saihara to notice him wobbling as he walked and failed to notice how he was blanking out while talking to him? Or how about when Ouma was screaming “WE want to live, so don’t get in our way!” mid-trial while arguing with Kaito? We’ve just forgotten that part when Ouma later explains, “Oh yeah, me and Gonta were totally planning on getting you all killed so you wouldn’t have to face the horrible despair of the outside world!” None of this makes any sense. 

How is it that Saihara would overlook these major redflags that would contradict the fact that Ouma was a heartless person? If I can notice this myself, how is it that the protagonist, the Ultimate Detective, can’t??? (Also, reading between the lines is kinda what detectives do, so this is no excuse)

“i think more than anything saihara wanted to feel like kokichi was on his side-...” 

I will be frank, you shouldn’t expect people to do anything for you so simply. That was pretty much what I was trying convey in my original post. To think that somebody on the opposing side as you is automatically suspicious, not good, or wrong is just incredibly flawed reasoning. Especially since the reason why Ouma wasn’t on Saihara’s side in the first place was because he was mostly siding with Kaito the whole time. And Kaito, a man of instinct/belief/blind optimism, mostly showed hostility towards almost everything Ouma says and does. Ouma clearly knew the gravity of the situation and yet, he gets treated like the pariah because almost nobody wants to listen to what he has to say.

Ouma tried several times in the beginning to speak logically about their circumstances, yet practically everyone would automatically think he’s trying to start up pointless trouble. Like when Ouma said if Gonta were to continue being gullible, he was going to get killed. The reason why we saw Ouma as the bad guy in that moment was because everyone around him started to get all defensive and called him insensitive for saying such things after Kaede and Rantaro died. Which isn’t rational. THEY ARE IN A DEATH GAME. Whether Ouma had said anything or not wouldn’t have changed that fact. 

Out of everyone, Ouma has proven to have put in the most effort into showing his trustworthiness by spitting out the facts and warning them all to be careful, but it was everyone else (besides Miu and Gonta) that had rejected his help in the end.

On the one hand, Saihara hadn’t really done anything to earn Ouma’s support and friendship since meeting him. Even if Saihara was truly expecting what you had claimed, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s selfish for him to think that way. He doesn’t owe Saihara anything.

On the other hand, Ouma also did say at one point he was on everyone else’s side. And in the 5th trial, he had put everything on the line for his final plan to work and put an end to the killing game. Knowing that, does it still sound like he was not on his friends’ side? Even if you’ve figured it out, Saihara somehow couldn’t bring himself to comprehend this fact.

“...but talking to him always feels like a battle just to get the truth out” 

If the ‘truth’ you are referring to is about knowing Ouma’s true intentions and plans, then there’s a good reason for that. Ouma did mention in the beginning that carelessly opening up to people would be dangerous. And no, I don’t think he was speaking as Mr. Paranoia as much as the fandom loves to see him as. I think he said that because Monokuma would most likely be listening in on their conversations and that one of their friends is most likely the ringleader. (Just like how Kyoko was cautious of talking to Makoto out in the open in DR1) And turns out he was correct. So if he explained that much in the beginning, shouldn’t that give the listener (Saihara) a better idea as to why he shouldn’t be too outright with his intentions? There’s only so much you can do without getting careless within a killing game. 

“also by the time saihara says that he’ll never get kokichi to change kokichi had proven to be not just hard to talk to but pretty heartless and villainous as well” 

I would like for you to recall how Ouma first introduced himself... Now this is something I’ve always found curious, but never really dove into too deeply in case the story were to prove me otherwise at some point. But now that it’s been a year since I first played, I just have to ask those who think that Ouma has a single sadistic or villainous bone in his body.....

What kind of antagonist would out themselves as a liar in the beginning? In a killing game, no less?

We all know that he’s an incredibly clever boy who knows how to play mind games and put on an act that would befit the situation. So if he was truly serious about winning the game and was willing to coldly disregard the lives of others, wouldn’t it make more sense to not reveal that problematic aspect of himself? Wouldn’t it give him a better advantage to NOT play the flaming jerkwad role and piss everyone off to the point of wanting to kill you? Much like how Komaeda played innocent until Hajime and Chiaki cornered him into admitting that he set up the murder plan and then showed his crazy side. Ouma could’ve played himself up just like that as well, but no. Instead he kept claiming he’s nothing more than a liar.

Admitting to a bunch of (supposed) strangers that he’s a liar just makes no sense at all. Although, to disregard his intentions as just him being crazy or just him screwing around would be oversimplifying things. Even Nagito had an understandable method to his madness... 

“though he hadnt done anything drastic he does fuck up the trials and says (lies) about how much fun the killing game is”

When you say “fuck up the trials”, you mean when he took Ryoma’s motive video or saying that he killed Angie? I had to ask to make sure because just simply saying “he screwed up the trials” is not a clear enough explanation. Anyway, we never actually knew the real reason as to why Ouma stole the motive vid. We were made to think he did it for kicks, but in the end, he explained on Ryoma’s behalf that his motive video was empty when nobody knew what could’ve made him lose his will to live. I guess he also speculated that Maki was Ryoma’s killer and wanted to steal it before she got a hold of it. After all, she was the original holder of his video and nobody knew about her and Ryoma’s encounter besides Ouma, so nobody would’ve questioned her as to why she had his video. And I think Ouma was waiting for an opportune moment to shove the evidence in her face if things went differently. (I’m just guessing here tho.) But I do believe Ouma has reasons for why he does what he does, instead of simply doing it for jokes.

On the matter of him claiming that he killed Angie, he said so himself that he was trying to lure out the culprit by pretending to be the killer. He said if he played the killer, the actual blackened would likely push the blame onto him. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s more of a valid reason to do it than simply screwing around.

It’s rather funny to me how the fandom talks about how Ouma screws up the trials, but what about Tenko, Himiko and Maki??? 

Tenko kept others from questioning Himiko for the sake of the investigation, Himiko would sooner let everyone die for the sake of keeping her magic a secret, and Maki stupidly kept quiet and put the trial on hold so nobody would figure out her talent. And yet, Saihara would sooner side with them and lie for their sake in the middle of the trial even though he had just about as little relations with them as he did with Ouma. Why????

“its really hard for saihara to feel like he’s on his side despite how much he does want to work with him”

I’m sorry to say, but Saihara had that opportunity to work with Ouma when the boy himself made the offer in the VW. Without considering it or even questioning him, Saihara just ignored him and logged out. Saihara clearly had no intention of working beside him.

“i do kinda agree that he didnt really ask that many questions but kokichis answers really had proven to always be super vague or just a lie” 

Which vague answers are you talking about exactly? I wouldn’t know how to answer that myself because that’s not specific enough. Give me an example?

“the point is i really dont believe saihara is an arrogant person.”

I’m afraid that the screencaps I’ve shown in the original post aren’t the only proof I have to show that he’s an arrogant person. I wanted to mention them in a different post, but I’ll give you a few other brief examples.

He has insinuated that Ouma is stupid despite the fact that we’re talking about the same dude that has pretty much been doing more detective work than the actual detective did. Not to mention that Saihara’s the one that believed Ouma was the mastermind and screwed up the first case majorly.

After the 5th Closing Argument, Saihara claimed his detective’s intuition was flawless even though it was clearly just conjecture in the end. He had practically no proof to back up what he had laid out for them. He may have gotten Kaito to exit out of the exisal but only because he had to lie. That doesn’t prove that was what actually transpired. Only Kaito knows about what had happened between him and Ouma, and seeing how Kaito was following the script he was given, we wouldn’t know the extent of it.

This one really peeves me. Because he thinks he knows better, he thinks he gets to shut down someone else’s emotions because he thinks they’re lying when he couldn’t possibly have gotten the chance to know one thing about him. Whether you think someone is insincere or not, it’s not your place to disregard their feelings like that. 

There’s also the fact that Kirumi got unexpectedly personal and called out on the fact that Saihara doesn’t even listen to others in the 2nd trial. It was weird how she could make these accusations at all like she knows something...

And despite the fact that Tsumugi claimed it was Kaede’s twin as the possible suspect, Saihara would sooner disregard the piece of evidence because he trusted his intuition moreso than looking into possible facts. Same can be said in the first trial too, where he trusted his intuition to pin Kaede as the culprit despite the fact that she WASN’T...

I’ll just stop it here...

“i dont think its right to compare gundam and kokichi” 

Well, I don’t see how it’s wrong either, honestly... Considering how the game itself gave me a lot to work with to show how much these two said characters contrast with one another. I actually made something before that would showcase a lot of comparisons between Ouma and Gundham. So if you wish, you can look for yourself and see what I mean... (Link to Self-Sacrificing Duos post) And a friend of mine actually analyzed a scene between the two when they had a moment in TDP and the game even subtly hinted about them being similar! (Link to Gundham and Ouma TDP moment post)

It’s kinda hard not to compare when there are a number of things you can compare within this franchise, not just Gundham and Ouma. They are all by the same creator after all and he loves to re-utilize his own tropes.

“wow i should not have written all this in the tags its so long sorry i make it sound like i dont like kokichi when i really do. he’s a great character just really hard to get along with. i hope this made any sense lol”

It’s no problem. I just hope that what I’ve explained made sense ^^; I apologize if I come across as harsh or anything like that, but I couldn’t find myself expressing certain points any better than I did... 

Hopefully, this gives you at least a better understanding of where I’m coming from.