#Anzu has not had as many opportunities

[quickdeaths]

@more-than-a-princess asked: 14, 15, and 18 for Anzu, and 17 and 21 for Tsubasa!

14) has your muse had feelings or experiences that seem to / do conflict with their identity? are these general knowledge? does it alter how others see them, or how they see themselves?

Anzu is a very girly girl, all things considered. She likes pretty clothes, makeup, hot boys, being the center of attention etc. She's soft-hearted and cries at sad movies, she likes doing karaoke with friends, and her shoe closet is insane. In most ways, she is the platonic ideal of an average teenage girl, and it's hard to really see her as anything but that, even when witnessing some of her less flattering gremlin-like behavior. She would certainly say that her feelings and her experiences line up completely with girlhood, with no incongruities or confusion at all. Even her most "against-type" hobby/interest (bugs and bug-catching)... her thinking is less that it being common knowledge would somehow affect how others see her as a woman, and more that it would affect how they see her as the cutest woman alive.

That said, there is one big area where her experiences are... complicated. Despite the fact that kabuki was invented by a woman and the original kabuki theater groups in the early 1600s were entirely women, it has been an almost exclusively male-dominated venture for almost 400 years. This is something that Anzu finds complicating, because she loves performing, she loves the exaggerated makeup and the costumes and the stories. She has no concerns about her father accepting her identity in a vacuum - rather, her concern is that her father would say "I love you so much, daughter, now you have to quit performing because kabuki is for men." Anzu doesn't respect the idea that she's somehow not worthy of her job because of her identity.

It doesn't affect her own perception of herself, because Anzu knows the history, she knows the banning of women was a decision rooted in misogyny, and she knows that the excuses that some people cling to about keeping it that way are weak. Overall, her experience is less being worried about her identity being disrespected or invalidated, but rather her identity being seen as a reason to disqualify her from doing what she loves.

15) if the thing that originally caused them to realise / start the chain reaction to realising they weren’t cishet had not happened, how much longer would it had take to end up here?

For Anzu, there was no "one event" in terms of her identity realization. Anzu has understood that she's different since she was able to recognize that she liked her sister's cute clothes more than her own. There's basically no universe where Anzu, being the person she is, doesn't realize that she's different, and be able to put into words how basically as soon as she knows the right words in question. That doesn't mean there's not something interesting to this question, though, because while Anzu had it figured out early, she had a roadmap that she ended up not following.

Originally, she had always intended to sort of keep her gender to herself, and her sexuality within her close friend circle only, until she was college-age or even after graduating. That was when certain legal options open up to her anyway, and while she wouldn't have been happy about it, Anzu is nothing if not an excellent performer. She assumed that would be easier than being open about everything. But, while she was looking into moving back to Tokyo and enrolling in HPA, she got back into contact with Shinobu, saw how she was finding ways to assert her identity in what is basically a hostile environment, and that willingness to perform cisheteronormativity basically immediately shattered in Anzu. If someone with a million more reasons to keep things close to the chest was being open, then Anzu couldn't find her own justification to keep herself from doing what she wanted, though her parents' knowledge of things is still a bit hazy.

18) how does their family feel about the matter? friends? coworkers?—and does their thoughts matter to your muse?

As far as family goes, Anzu's older sister, being an HPA staff member, knows and is keeping it a family secret for her. Her mom has some idea that Anzu is kind of unique, but the full extent hasn't been conveyed - she probably thinks that Anzu is just a crossdresser, and as someone with her own background in the entertainment industry, she doesn't find that particularly strange. Anzu's father is the one who really doesn't know much at all, and that's because while she knows he would accept and validate her, as stated above, she's worried he might try to keep her from the stage because of it, and she needs to prove that she belongs.

Her friends and coworkers are a mixed bag. Her personal friends all know and naturally they're supportive and kind (they wouldn't be her friends otherwise). Her coworkers... They don't call her 'Anzu,' but rather 'Goto-san,' or 'Goto-senpai,' so it doesn't always come up. Her stage name is gender-neutral, but it isn't like she picked it - there were 11 men that used that stage name before her, so in the context of the theater tradition, it's still understood as a man's stage name. For people doing short stints, who knows how much they know, but anyone who has any length of time working with her gets the picture eventually, and if they're not cool with it, they can find another theater because "I'm a better actor and a bigger star than you❤️"

Basically, Anzu very rarely (if ever) feels personally shaken in that part of her identity (now her personality? what kind of person she is? who Anzu Tachibana really is? those are different stories). She knows she's an incredibly cute and sweet girl who anyone would be lucky to be in the presence of, so the opinions of others to the contrary don't bother her. When it becomes a problem, and where she feels unease, is the idea that other people might think they understand better than her how she should interact with the world because of her identity, and what things should and should not be available to her.

17) how are their feelings towards pride and related phenomenons?

Big fan, no complaints! Tsubasa considers themselves as needing that kind of thing less than other people (author's note: ehhhhh), but their guiding philosophy is that people should live their lives as they want to. You like a certain hobby or interest? Awesome! You want to dress a certain way? If it makes you happy, it's the only way to live. You want to use a name or pronouns that are different than some previous set? You got it! Everyone should be the only administrator of their own body and their own surroundings, in Tsubasa's eyes, with no one else getting to have a say about it.

Because Pride is, in a lot of ways, a celebration of that, Tsubasa's happy to attend. They know that for a lot of people, it's a liminal space where they can express something that can't easily be expressed elsewhere, and they're glad that it exists to give people that safety. Seeing people unashamedly enjoying themselves and living authentically or exploring how they want to live charges their cyber angel batteries and gives them a lot of joy. Plus, also, Pride is a great place to meet cute gay girls. 10/10.

21) what words do they reclaim, what are they okay with being reclaimed, and what do they do not want to used to describe them?

As it relates to like, uncomfortable words, Tsubasa is really only okay with "queer." As a general rule, even if a word doesn't bother them, they don't know if it might bother other people, so they steer away from anything that could be considered sensitive or offensive. As far as for themselves, their preference is only non-gendered terms. Partner, child, person, skater, cyber angel rather than man/woman/boy/girl/son/daughter/boyfriend/girlfriend etc. They are nonbinary, and they also accept being called x-gender, and while they are a lesbian, they are not a woman and they don't want to be understood or referred to as such. They're more likely to accept "masculine" terms as gender-neutral (dude, bro, that kind of thing) than "feminine" ones (sis, girl, etc.), which is partially personal preference, and partially that, as a skater, they see those masculine terms as almost "subculture words."

That said, Tsubasa is a laid-back person, and they're more likely to consider something as being born of ignorance rather than malice. They'll correct someone rather than get angry (most of the time, at least as it relates to themselves), and even someone who is being actively, purposefully malicious, they try to stay cool, since a big emotional reaction is usually what that person is fishing for. The best way to know their stance on a word or descriptor is to ask them about it - they don't bite unless you ask them to.

[herri-writes]

Frozen in Time

Chapter 2: Under the Deep Blue Sea

Izumi Sena x Reader (F) (!!)

Synopsis: After a reunion in the office, fate kept making their paths crossed and connecting, much to the photographers' dismay that it ended up with her in a circle meeting with someone.

Note: I am far too gone at this point. My priorities is Antique Legends Mika and acads. This fic is next in line. Sht got delayed bc I felt sick due to red week.

Kaoru being bitchless is real. Bro is already maidenless while being a shy mf towards Anzu/Player *Evil cackling*. DW Kaoru, there's Rei for your coping mechanism in being bitchless.

It was hard for Izumi to admit but he had a crush on you back in his childhood. Even though he clinged at Makoto often, Arashi teased him for being too blushy when you're near Izumi. Since your attention is Arashi often, you didn't notice nor realize that Izumi is also there all along but you always did whenever you had photoshoots with him together.

Now that he knew that you're that modeling agency's little princess, he remembered how you acted towards someone you're close with. He knew how you made his attention turn to yours when he wanted to be with Makoto all the time. But since Makoto's attention is on you, it'll be Arashi's opportunity to pester and annoy Izumi once she gets the chance.

"(Name), face the camera." You smiled and faced the camera while you sat on the grass cutely just as the photographer, your uncle, called your name. As you smiled and faced the camera, a flash came out and captured the adorable moment in his eyes. "Heh, you look cute in this picture. I'll tell my wife about this."

"Uncle, you can't just brag to Auntie every time you take a picture of me~" You pouted and crossed your arms. He patted your head as he messed up with your hair and teased you. "Aw~ is the little princess pouting~?" "Quit it!"

Izumi gazed at you and the photographer from afar while sitting on the bench and drank his water. Arashi on the other hand sighed and leaned on the bench's backrest and groaned, "Boooooring~"

"Shut up, Naru. You're soooo~ annoying when you complain." He closed the bottle with the cap and put it beside him. Arashi rolled his eyes when she saw Izumi staring at you and smirked a little. "Seems like Izumi has a crush."

"I don't." He blankly replied and she quickly retorted, "You're denying. You're staring at her."

"I'm not staring at her and I'm not denying."

"You are denying it."

"I'm not."

"You are."

"I'm not." Arashi grinned and gave him a smug look at his answer.

"You aren't."

"I am." Izumi became surprised at the answer he blurted out and winced. "You played dirty!"

Arashi giggled and she let out a mischievous glint in her eyes. She jumped off from the bench and shouted out, "Big Brother Akiomi! Izumi has a crush!" Arashi called her senior and ran off to where he was. Izumi chased her and shouted, "I don't! Naru, how many times do I need to repeat that? You're so~ annoying!"

You turned your head to see Arashi laughing while running away from Izumi, who is chasing and yelling at her. You curiously blinked and blatantly ignored them while turning your attention back to the camera on your hand.

Makoto walked beside you and sat down and looked at the camera. The more you pressed the button, the more he saw pictures of you, Izumi, Arashi, and Makoto together.

The two young models began to feel tired after all of that running. Izumi sat beside Makoto while Arashi sat beside you, looking at the pictures on the camera with you.

"Makko, we look cute in this one. Don't you think so?" You showed the picture to Makoto and he nodded.

It's a picture of you, Arashi, Makoto, and Izumi sitting beside each other on the bench and Akiomi standing behind the four of you, behind the bench. In the picture, you held Arashi's arm and clinged on it while shyly facing the camera and she leaned closer to you and smirked at Izumi as she held your hand on her arm. Makoto only sat there, behaving while smiling as he faced the camera but Izumi clinged on him like a clingy child and pouted while looking at Arashi. Akiomi on the other hand leaned close as he rested his arms on the bench’s backrest and stood there, acting like a big brother to the four young child models.

Makoto chuckled nervously and scratched his cheek with his finger. "But Big Brother Izumi is clinging on me... while you..."

"I know, but it doesn't matter," You replied as his voice faltered. "It doesn't matter if you face the camera or not as long as it's a memory to remember once the camera took a photo in the memory that stays in your mind until you grow up."

"Even if it's blurry or a mess because you moved or something moved and made you not take a photo of that memory anymore, it's still a memory." You said and his eyes sparkled. "So this one is already a memory?"

You nodded as you hummed and answered, "Yeah!" You remembered something you wanted to do in the future and beamed, "I want to take pictures of different kinds of memories when I grow up someday while I'm modeling and posing for the camera. It's better to not waste a single second not making a memory to remember, you know?"

"Then we'll grow up together and make more memories with the others!" He lit up in agreement and you nodded. Your eyes began to sparkle and smiled brightly.

Izumi saw how your eyes shined and sparkled when you told him your resolve. He began to like the way your eyes shined and how you smiled that his lips curved to a smile, making Arashi snicker.

But that resolve didn't last when he heard that you'll leave the city the day after. It also means that you'll never be able to make more memories with them as you grow up. You did grow up but you couldn't see them anymore as you are far away from them.

Izumi woke up from his sleep at his dream, which is a nostalgic memory of his childhood. He sat up on his bed and was surprised that he woke up minutes before his alarm rings. He moved closer to the side of the bed and got up on his feet to prepare himself for the day.

Minutes later, your alarm clock beeps that you slammed your fist to turn it off and pushed it off your bedside cabinet. "Five more minutes..." You groaned and slept more.

Nyaitsu jumped off his cat basket and climbed onto your bed. He crawled on you until he walked on your back but fell on the bed as you shifted your body to lie down on your back. Nyaitsu jumped on your chest and sat on it and meows to wake you up. Since his meows weren't heard, he planted his paws on your face and kneaded your cheeks. 

You stirred in your sleep and opened your eyes. The first thing your eyes saw after you opened it is Nyaitsu hovering above your face. You smiled at the kitten's actions and patted his head and his back. "Good morning to you too, you silly cat."

You sat up and stretched yourself awake. You left the bed and got up to your feet, preparing for your morning meeting with Knights as their photographer. You exited your room and prepared breakfast for you and your fellow apartment mates. You put the bread in the toaster and made coffee from the coffee machine, enough for three.

To avoid any sacreligious attempts in traditions, you scooped out a few cups of rice from its container and poured it on the pot, enough for three stomachs for the morning and washed it on the sink with running water. You turned off the faucet and poured the rice water slowly and never wasted a single grain of rice. You turned on the faucet once again and filled up the pot with the right amount of water and turned it off. You wiped the excess water on the outside part of the pot with a dry towel and put the pot on the rice cooker and closed the lid as it automatically cooked on its own.

You took a pan out of the counter cabinet and flipped it with your dominant hand and placed it carefully on the stove. You added oil and heated it up before it goes moderately hot, hot enough to cook three eggs and six strips of bacon. 

You opened the fridge and took out three eggs from the egg tray and a pack of bacon from the freezer and opened it. You then gradually added the eggs on the pan after cracking the shell open, followed by the bacon on the sides and nudged them with a spatula. The bread jumped out of the toaster and landed safely on the plate as you caught it on time.

The scent of eggs and bacon filled up the air from the kitchen. The aroma seeped through the bedroom of your two other companions in their own bedroom, waking them up for the new, busy day.

You turned off the stove and scooped the eggs and bacon with the spatula and placed it on a plate. You took Nyaitsu's bowl on the counter and poured milk on his bowl and placed it on the counter. The kitten jumped on the counter and drank his milk for the day.

Just in time, the coffee finished blending and the pitcher was nearly full. You let out a carton of milk and pour milk in each cup on the desired amount for each coffee drinker in the apartment, followed by pouring hot coffee in the cup until it reaches the neck of each cup.

You took three bowls for the rice from the kitchen cabinet and opened the rice cooker as it finished cooking, ready to be eaten and give energy to its consumer. You fill the bowl with rice using a spoon to scoop it out and put it on the bowl on its desired amount for each person.

You prepared the table and placed a table mat on one side and two on the other, followed by a bowl of rice for each person and a hot cup of coffee as an energizer on the top right side and chopsticks on the right side of the bowl.

A yawn was heard in the living room and loud thud on the couch. "Mornin'..."

"Good morning." You greeted back and saw your cousin lying down on the couch. Your eyes shone a glint of mischief and you snickered.

"Aren't you supposed to be at the office at this hour?" You began to grin as you told her a lie that made your cousin shoot her eyes wide awake and rushed to the table and sat on her seat and thanked the food. 

She quickly ate and nearly choked herself and drank water. After she's done with her breakfast, she left the table after thanking the food once again and rushed to the bathroom to clean herself and to her bedroom to change into her work clothes.

You heard her bedroom door slammed open and rushing footsteps heading its way to the front door. "I'm leaving!" She exclaimed as she opened the door and realized when she looked at her watch. A cackle escaped your throat all the way to your mouth when she realized that she's too early before her leaving hours. You snorted and snickered, "You seem so stupid when you're rushing."

"Shut up!" She closed the door and returned to the table, drinking her coffee, annoyed. You smirked, "That's what you get from what you did to me yesterday~" You sat on your chair at the table and thanked the food before eating.

At the same time, inside Starmony Dorm, Izumi ate the breakfast Niki made for everyone and ate alone in the dining area. He drank his miso soup from his cup and rice with his chopsticks. He seriously ate that his presence alone scared everyone.

All except one.

"Senaaaaa!" Leo exclaimed in the early hours of the morning that he nearly spat out the miso soup he just sipped from his bowl or choked on the rice that he just chewed.

"Leo, it's too early," Izumi reminded him after he gulped down his food and continued to eat. "Aren't you going to eat?"

"Not when I asked Ritsu to prepare your personal favorite~" Leo revealed a bento box with various kinds, including the shrimps as the main attraction for the silver-haired idol.

"I'll take it out for lunch." Izumi said and he completely finished his meal and took his tray and left the table. Leo sighed and pouted as he sat on the chair, propped his elbows on the table and leaned on both of his hands. He sighed out and looked at Izumi, worried.

Last night, whenever no one was looking, he caught Izumi glancing at something with a sad look. It wasn't shown on his face but his eyes said it all and how he constantly sighs by exhaling air out of his nose. Whenever the topic is about the junior photographer, (Name), he remained quiet and ignored everyone and it was different from how he acted back then in his Yumenosaki Academy days as a student.

Leo's brow twitched while he watched Izumi placed the bowls and utensils in the dishwasher and placed the tray on the stack with a sad look in his eyes. Izumi's lips are formed on a thin line and his brows furrowed. The composer sighed and never hesitate to ask him one question that could make the model's facade falter.

"Is this about (Name) again?" A glass shattering was heard in the kitchen and Leo's eyes let out a glint when he guessed it right. "Don't forget that we'll meet her at the meeting later."

An idol passed by and turned their head when they heard glass shattering as it fell. "Senior Sena? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Leo..." Izumi turned around to face Leo from the kitchen as he glared. "Don't you have other matters to attend to...?"

Leo answered, "I'll be at the meeting later, Sena."

Izumi stormed out of the kitchen and took the neatly wrapped bento box off the table and left the dorm, fuming in anger.

Tsukasa sighed as he took a broom and a dustpan to clean the glass off the floor to avoid any accidents. He sighed as he swept the glass and looked at Leo, "You know, it's really wrong to cross the line, Leo."

"I know but I didn't mean to trigger him..." Leo sighed and slumped on the table, stressed because he stepped on a landmine named Izumi Sena.

You arrived at Ensemble Square on time and gulped down, nervous for what's about to come. You didn't bring Nyaitsu with you because you know that he'll disturb and distract anyone for the whole meeting. You fumbled your pocket, not used to the feeling of Nyaitsu not sleeping in your coat pocket. You could only sigh and try to inhale and calm yourself down as you entered the main entrance and stood at the lobby.

You sat on one of the benches lined up at the center of the lobby and waited. You were messaged by Arashi that someone will pick you up at the lobby and escort you to New Dimension agency's office. You felt glad that you have connections within Ensemble Square, even if it's someone from your past that you haven't met for a long time.

You waited for that person to pick you up and listened to the music with your earphones and hummed.

Your phone buzzed and you saw Arashi's contact name and she sent you a message, a notification showing on your screen.

My Queen

(Name), is your escort there yet?

He's coming there in a few minutes. Stay there.

You unlocked your phone and replied to her message.

Little Princess: Why? Who's picking me up?

My Queen: Can't say until he comes to the lobby.

Little Princess: He? Who's the "He"?

After a few seconds, Arashi didn't reply back. You felt nervous that you don't know who's picking you up and taking you to the agency office in Ensemble Square. Your phone buzzed that you nearly jumped out of your seat and looked at the message she gave you.

My Queen: Probably ur crush;)

You narrowed your eyes as you tried to decode what she meant and typed back, not dealing with her humor today.

Little Princess: Where did your proper typing go? Out of the window?

My Queen: Just wait, princess. Your beloved knight will be there to get you and take you to our castle>;)

Little Princess: Haha very funny, Rashi.

You rolled your eyes at the classic joke. Well, that can't be helped because it's a Knights thing. Arashi once told you in the message that they used that as an endearment towards their fans by addressing them in the status they wanted them to call as their loyal knights. You smiled when she said that. Now you know that it's often used in their songs, touching their fans with their lyrics.

You hoped that Arashi would come here to pick you up soon. You continued to listen to the song playing in your earphones and waited patiently.

At that moment, someone entered the main entrance and stopped at the lobby. His phone buzzed as he reached the lobby and fished out his phone from his pocket and the first thing he saw was the Knights' group chat at Hold Hands popped up on his notification screen. He raised his brow when he saw Tsukasa messaging his seniors, followed by Arashi telling the others that they chatted at the wrong group chat.

Knights | Operation: Photographer

Tsukasa: Where's Senior Sena? Is he there yet?

Arashi: Tsukasa, wrong chat.

Ritsu: Naru, it's not like he'll see it. Is (Name) there yet?

Arashi: For goodness' sake, Ritsu.

He deadpanned as he saw his name and yours in one notification and sighed. He looked up from his phone and saw you at the seats, sitting there and waiting for someone. He wanted to walk closer but he couldn't. He wanted to leave but he stayed there, staring at you from afar.

You turn your head to see who's at the lobby and your eyes widen to see that Izumi is there looking at you from the entrance. You stood up and checked your phone and Arashi messaged you that Izumi will pick you up at the lobby, followed by a winking emoji.

You returned your gaze on him and you saw him looking at his phone and sighed before putting it back in his pocket and walked towards you. You stood there and froze on the spot as he walked closer. He stood there, a few steps away from you and said, "I'm here to pick you up."

Surprised, you blinked twice and nodded. You took off your earphones and put them in your coat pocket. Izumi saw you nod and walked ahead of you and you followed behind him as he escorted you to New Dimension's office.

Izumi stopped at the elevator and pressed a button, making you stop behind him. He waited for the elevator doors to open and crossed his arms, leaning his weight on one leg and the other tapped its foot while waiting. You fiddled your leather strap with your fingers and waited for the doors to open.

As the elevator let out a ring, the doors opened. Izumi turned to face you and said, "Ladies first." You nodded and entered the elevator first, followed by him and pressed a button to close the doors and pressed seven to go up to the seventh floor. You felt the lift carrying you and Izumi up towards the destination and waited.

The whole ride felt awkward as you stood beside Izumi while you looked down on the floor and waited for the lift to stop. You closed your eyes and held your breath, waiting for that one small ring once again.

Izumi glanced at you, looking at you with a blank expression. He saw how you held the camera like your life depends on it. Of course, a photographer is not a photographer without a camera and it's the most important item in their occupation. He wanted to say something or reach you but in the end, he still did nothing.

You close your eyes until the elevator stops. Your body shook and lost your balance. You held your camera tightly on your hands as you tripped on your feet and tumbled backwards. Izumi saw this and immediately caught you in his arms to prevent you from falling to the floor and held you closer to his chest. You slowly opened your eyes when you didn't feel your back hitting the floor and the first thing you saw was Izumi, whose face is close to yours.

To you, it felt like time stopped when your gaze met his and locked. Your face is close to his in proximity that you could feel his breath touching your lips. You gulped down at the way he held you in his strong embrace and held your breath.

The elevator bell rang and the doors opened. Outside of the elevator, Arashi and Ritsu are revealed and the two knights gasped at the sight in front of them. Ritsu fished out his phone out of his pocket and took a picture before running away from the scandalous crime scene. Meanwhile Arashi, whose arms were once crossed, her dominant hand moved to cover her smirking lips with her fingers and snickered.

Izumi held you back up and asked you, "Are you alright?" You nodded and backed away, exiting the elevator, followed by Izumi who stood there beside you and placed a hand on his hip. He asked another question and looked at you. "You better be careful next time. You're not used to elevators?"

You wanted to nod but you shook your head instead and stood behind Arashi and hid away from Izumi.

"(Name), are you being shy again?" Arashi chuckled and patted your head. Izumi looked at Arashi, dead in the eyes. What did he do to make you shy away from him?

"Rashi... w-we should head to the conference room..." You tugged her sleeve and she nodded. "Right, right..." She turned her head to face Izumi and said, "We should go. She has other things to do after the meeting." She said and walked away with you in tow.

As the three of you were close to the NewDi conference room, Arashi looked at you and saw how shy you seemed. A light bulb popped out of her head and lit up when she thought of something to make you less nervous since it's your first meeting with Knights as their photographer for the project.

"(Name), do you want me to carry you?" Arashi asked you and you blushed a little and waved your hands in front of her. "Rashi, you don't need to."

"Come on, it's been years since I last did that to you~" She made grabby hands to tease you. Out of instinct, you grabbed her wrists and raised it up in the air. You two stopped walking and the both of you stayed in that position. Due to your gap in strength, she escaped your grasp and attempted to grab you by your waist. As she successfully caught you, she hoisted you up in the air and spun around like a parent carrying their child to see them smile and put you down on the floor.

"Rashi..." You laughed and giggled as she put you down on the floor and she hugged you and gave you a small squeeze.

"I can't help it. I missed this." Arashi chuckled and nuzzled her cheek on yours.

From being timid to laughing like a child. Your smile can brighten one's day. It can also turn one's cold aura to warmth. Heat is more stronger when made contact with the cold and it quickly spreads.

Your smile affected Izumi so much that he let out a small smile. It melted his cold heart but he knows that your smile was made by someone who is close to your heart that he glanced away, avoiding your smile. Izumi entered the conference room, hiding away his softened yet sad gaze with his cold glare once more.

Before Izumi entered the conference room, three other members of the same unit saw how Izumi looked away when he saw you smiling at Arashi. Ritsu yawned and Tsukasa sighed. Meanwhile Leo puffed out his cheeks and scoffed.

"See?! That's what I meant when I said Sena seemed sad whenever (Name) is involved!" Leo groaned and exclaimed as he sat on the couch and threw his hands to show the entire scenario to Ritsu and Tsukasa.

"So our Frost Knight's getting colder or warmer?" Ritsu asked and Leo answered, "Probably both. He's cold whenever (Name) isn't around and becomes warm when (Name) is around."

"Probably because of the fact that she's Izumi's childhood crush." Ritsu chimed in and stood up and lied down on the other couch in front of them. "Naru once told that to me once back then at practice last time."

"He what?" Tsukasa looked at Ritsu, taken aback at what the vampire stated. "Naru's words. Not mine." Ritsu yawned and replied before napping for the day.

As Izumi entered the conference room, everyone minded their own business in their own way. Leo composed on the floor, Ritsu napping on the couch, and Tsukasa looking at the papers given to him from a folder. Izumi looked at everyone in the room and gave them a look that he thought that everything seemed suspicious but none of them mind it at all. Actually, they felt his gaze as their movements stuttered and continued to ignore him.

Everyone in the room heard laughter from the outside and turned their heads to look at where the laughter came from.

"You're mean..." You pouted at Arashi and she only chuckled. "I'm doing what I can to make my princess happy~" You rolled your eyes at her statement and walked ahead as she opened the door for you to enter the conference room. "After you, my lady."

You smiled at her and said, "I appreciate your kind gesture, my dear knight." You curtsied and entered the room, followed by Arashi who closed the door and took your hand as she escorted you to the seats and sat beside you.

Tsukasa cleared his throat and spoke, "Now that everyone is here," He then turned to face you and continued, "We'll begin the meeting with our photographer for this collaboration project, Picture Perfect, with (Name) of YMSK Modeling Agency."

"P-Please to meet you..." You stuttered as you replied and you felt Arashi's hand on yours. You look up to see her amethyst orbs staring back at you as she softly smiles and rubs her thumb on your hand, calming you down.

You cleared your throat and spoke up, "Please meet you everyone. I believe that we met two days ago with I, as a junior photographer, who is under my senior's guidance. Since Suou mentioned my name, then there is no need for more details to be stated after the introduction."

He then passed the papers given to him by the vice president of the agency to you and read it quietly. It's a list of schedules and general information of every Knights member in detail and your schedule being the first one in the sheets of paper given to you. You blinked your eyes twice to see if your mind was hallucinating and shook your head but your eyes never lied to you today.

"Are you sure I'm supposed to have this...?" You asked Tsukasa and he nodded and answered, "Well, according to the information of the collaboration project, you'll be with us for a year starting this spring so you need those and it's important."

"I see..." You murmured and read the general information profile of each Knights member before the schedule. Arashi patted your shoulder and reassured you. "It's okay, (Name). How about this? You'll hang out with us Knights once we have the time. And oh, I want to introduce you to my circle. We always have shopping dates~"

"Including mine, too." Ritsu yawned and lay down on his side, his head leaning on his hand on the couch. "I can introduce you to my circle too and have tea together at the garden. In exchange, you'll be my pillow."

You nervously chuckled at Ritsu's condition and looked back to reading the profiles. Your gaze fell on Izumi's profile and gulped. It includes his occupation, his height, age, what unit he is in, and his preferences in general, which is his likes and dislikes.

Your gaze shifted to the handwritten information as it caught your gaze and you thought that it is not a part of the profile. The handwriting is a little messy but rushed and you stared at it, deeply.

Likes: That one junior photographer

You look up to face Tsukasa and you see him waking Ritsu up. Arashi leaned close to read the information profile and she snickered. She knew that it's someone's handwriting which is oh so familiar to her. She glanced at the sleeping knight and smirked.

"Did someone write on Mr. Sena's profile...?" You asked as you looked around to everyone. There was no response until Izumi took his profile in your hand and returned it to you. He blankly looked at you and crossed his arms. "So? What about it?"

What about it?

What about it...?

You were about to ask him when he immediately replied, "That's not my handwriting so you can ignore that." Izumi continued and returned to his seat. 

You blinked and nodded and returned your attention to your schedule on hand and read it. Your eye twitched when you saw Izumi's name being the first one to be seen on your schedule for this day, right after your free hour, which lasts until noon, after lunch break. He has time to meet with his friends at the circle he joined after your free time. You held your sigh, thinking that you'll be stuck with him for the rest of the day.

'Of all idols...' You held your sigh and hid your face behind the papers. "Looking forward to cooperating with you in this project, Mr. Sena..."

After the meeting, you sighed out, sipping tea on the couch while missing Nyaitsu's presence but you had to leave him behind because of work purposes. You're not working at the modeling agency right now and you're at a different workplace, where pets aren't allowed at all. 

Out of habit, you kept touching your coat pocket where Nyaitsu slept often and you let out a weak groan as you held your camera and looked at the pictures of the sweet kitty being left behind in your aunt's office. You really missed him, that you wanted to touch and pet him all day, that it brought you to the verge of tears and sipped your tea in silence.

"What's got you sighing, rookie?"

You nearly spat your tea that you gulped it down and choked and coughed as a result. You felt a soft pat on your back and a voice calming you down. "Hey, calm down. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

You look up to see Izumi looking at you, worried. That same feeling where time stopped came back once again the moment your gaze locked with his.

The cold gaze you often saw shifted to soft, warm gaze out of worry. Those eyes, the ones that have the perfect color of the blue sea, could make you drown if you dived in— the very same eyes that looked at yours made you feel that you might sink, drown, and die. It's so deep that you could barely reach the surface and fade in the depths of the deep dark blue sea.

Though that frozen time was of a short moment, you held your breath and closed your lips shut. You gulped down that lingering nervous feeling inside you down to your throat. You immediately looked away and nodded.

"I-I'm fine. No need to worry." You didn't turn to face him and still look away, avoiding him.

He sat beside you on the couch and asked you a question. "I heard that you became a photographer after you left the modeling agency." You nodded at his question. "And I heard that you're also an alumnus of Yumenosaki Academy." You nodded again.

You turned to face him and asked a question, "I heard that you kidnapped Makko at DDD, am I right?" Izumi tilted his head and asked, "Who's Makko?"

"Makoto Yuuki." Izumi paled and he winced, "I thought those news only stayed at the Idol Course..."

"Well, darn, Broadcasting Committee has a lot of ways of obtaining information." You blankly answered and shifted your attention to the camera and looked at the recent pictures you took.

He asked you another question, "Do you hate me that you always run away whenever I'm near you?"

You nearly dropped your camera at his question and you fell silent. You breathed in and out and turned your head to face him. "It's not that I'm scared... It's just because I messed up something..."

Izumi raised his brow and looked at you. You showed him a picture of Izumi on your camera and it's the accidental picture you took when he passed by at the seaside.

"So you were scared to show up because of that?" Izumi asked and smirked, "You never changed at all, (Name). You always took accidental shots and it seemed good to the eye whenever you did that."

"What do you mean by that?" You tilted your head and he answered, "Remember when you adjusted the camera's lens and pointed it to me when we're kids? When I turned to face you, that was when the flash came out. But when I look at the picture you took, it seemed like it was frozen in time. The picture didn't seem blurry at all when I moved or when your hands shook due to the camera being heavy because you're just a kid back then."

Your mouth opened slightly agape when he reminded you of the past. A blush dusted on your cheeks as you saw him smiling at the memory.

"Zumi, don't move..." You said as you held the camera and adjusted the picture quality with the lens and slightly pressed the shutter to focus.

"Hah? Why are you facing that camera on me—" Just as Izumi turned his head to face you, the flash came out of the camera. You panicked when he retorted that you pressed the shutter and the camera was too heavy for you to hold. "Ah, sorry!"

Izumi walked closer to your side and looked at the picture you just took. His eyes widened in surprise and in curiosity. He grinned and said, "Whoa. I didn't expect that it'll be a good picture, (Name)."

"Heh, how could I forget that? It happens all the time whenever you hold your uncle's camera." He snickered, making you flush in embarrassment. You gripped the camera on hand firmly and didn't say a word while reminiscing about the past. "Mr. Sena..."

He only chuckled and smiled. He patted your head and grinned as he muttered, "Sorry, I can't help it when it's you, (Name)..."

You looked at him and you were amazed at his smile. The smile he showed you is different from the one he used on stage and on TV shows.

His cold gaze became soft like the spring breeze. His sharp brows softened, making his gaze seem gentle to one's eyes. His lips curved into a soft smile, a smile that one will use when they look at something they love and treasure wholeheartedly and unconditionally. Your heart palpitated at the sight of his smile right in front of you. You wanted to move but the feeling of his hand on your hand made you melt into his touch and close your eyes as you leaned on his touch.

"Mr. Sena... mind letting me go...?" You murmured. You felt like you're getting soft like a cat, like how Nyaitsu will be like when he was petted by you. If you are a cat, you would purr and lean on their touch while they pet you and gently scratch your chin, the back of your ear, on your head, or rub their hand on your back. Izumi could practically see you as one when you softened at his touch.

"You really never change at all, (Name)..." He muttered as he removed his hand off of you and smiled.

"Aww~" You hear someone cooing and you turn your head to see who it is. It's Arashi holding up her phone and taking a picture of you and Izumi for the whole time. You deadpanned at your childhood friend and you saw the composer composing a song with his music sheets and a pen on the table. Ritsu grinned as he rested his head on his arms on the table and snickered, "We saw everything, Secchan. Don't deny it, okay?"

Izumi deadpanned and scoffed and turned away from you. "Whatever..."

"Fufu, Izumi, you seemed like you wanted to hug her when you petted her. So cute~" Arashi squealed as she cooed at how adorable the sight is to her. She covered her lips with her fingers and chuckled while holding her laughter.

The blush grew on your face and you shied away as you drank your tea from the can. Ritsu snickered when he saw the blush crept up to your cheeks and teased, "Secchan, go comfort your princess. She's all flustered now."

"Your Princess?!" You were red at this point that you brought Tsukasa's hair to shame. Izumi glared at Ritsu and clicked his tongue. "Let her be."

But not for long, Arashi sat closer to you and looked at you with a glint of mischief in her eyes. Her amethyst orbs look at you with intent, in a sly way. She leaned closer and engulfed you to a hug, holding you captive in her embrace.

"Ra— Arashi— Ms. Narukami?!" You stuttered as you tried to say her name when you addressed her at work. She whispered into your ear and said, "Let me tease him indirectly with you, okay?" If you saw her winking, then there's probably a star popping out as she winked.

Then, she began to pepper your face with kisses as she squeezed you tight. Your eyes widen because from the public view, it'll seem as scandalous but who can deny Arashi's affection when she is the sweetest being known in the world, rotting you from the core as she gave you diabetes due to how sweet she is.

"M-Ms. Narukami...?!" You are melting at this point. She is turning you into a putty in her hands. You began to ask yourself what she was implying and who she was indirectly teasing with.

"Naru, you're being unprofessional right now," Izumi crossed his arms and looked at her, nearly annoyed as he kept his serious expression on his face. But Arashi is still doing it and she gave him a smug look as she looked up and began to rock her body with you in her embrace. "Aww~ Can't I give your princess affection? I'm sorry, I can't help it because she seemed like she needed it~"

"I'm sorry but whose princess…?!" You exclaimed and blushed at the nickname Arashi gave you. This is the second time they called you Izumi's princess. You heard her chuckle that it made you jolt.

She then leaned closer to your ear as she asked you, "Am I right, (Name)?" You know you're not looking at her but you can see her half-lidded eyes and her mischievous grin from the back of your mind and that scared you as she looked at you darkly. You blinked twice and your lip twitched at her expression right now. Her voice sounds like she's telling you not to say or answer anything other than "yes". You could only nod and she squeezed you tight in response while nuzzling her cheek on the back of your head.

Izumi and Tsukasa just sighed. Arashi smirked and asked, "Jealous? Why not try doing this to her?" 

Tsukasa's cheeks were dusted with pink and Izumi scoffed, "I'd rather die." Izumi rolled his eyes and glanced at you for a moment. The way your face is covered by lipstick marks and how you blushed made it seem cute for one to see that Izumi nearly snapped. He begins to think of himself in Arashi's situation right now. He gritted his teeth and looked away.

"Suuchan, Naru's not talking to you, remember...?" Ritsu snickered at the blush on Tsukasa's face and grinned. 

"I-I know that." The young leader cleared his throat and looked away. Ritsu's grin widened and asked him, "Don't tell me you have a crush on our photographer here?"

Tsukasa's pink blush turned red, matching his hair. "I don't—" "Yeah, yeah, you have a crush on Anzu, aren't you?" Just as Ritsu ignored Tsukasa's denial, unfortunately, his blush grew the more he thought of you and him together.

Tsukasa Suou, the young leader of Knights, began to blush as he put his own hair to shame as his blush grew more red because the photographer named (Name).

"Senior Ritsu!" Tsukasa shouted at Ritsu but the vampire knight just napped, ignoring the garnet's words of denial. He clenched his fists as he glared and grimaced at Ritsu but he didn't want to catch a certain ginger's attention and turn away.

"Ahahahahahaha! Sena, you're blushing!" Leo laughed and let out a music book. "Thanks for the inspiration, Sena. You and (Name)'s flushed faces give me inspiration." He then began to compose a song in silence while watching his favorite love triangle trio being chaotic in front of him. 

The three other knights looked at the three of you. Arashi embraced you firmly in her embrace, looking smug as she looked at Izumi, who was glaring at Arashi and deep in her soul. His glare could bring a blizzard as gaze became colder and colder while you who seemed to be in a predicament in the midst of the borderline of warmth and coldness.

"Is a love triangle unfolding right in front of us?! Inspiration is overflowing!" Leo exclaimed as he laughed again and continued to write at another set of pages in his music book. "I'll name this... The Queen's Princess and The Icy Cold Knight!"

'Why am I being surrounded by them...?' You thought while you surrendered in Arashi's overwhelming affection and Izumi's cold stare. You glanced at the others, staring at you. Great, you've made yourself an audience. You grimaced and suffered internally in this war between Izumi and Arashi.

You've remembered that you always went to AOUMI back in your high school days after school or on summer vacation. You had no idea that this is one of the places that the circle Izumi is in has a meeting here— probably the 13th reason why your cousin always goes here even if she disliked going to places with aquariums.

A long, distressed groan left your throat as you walked your way towards AOUMI Aquarium's entrance. This time, you were scheduled to attend OCEANS' circle with someone at AOUMI Aquarium in the afternoon after 1. The task given to you is to take a photo of every circle meeting that every Knights member is in and you sighed.

Currently, you were being dragged with someone. Someone like...

"Stop falling behind. You'll be late for the circle photoshoot." An annoyed sigh left the model's lips as he pulled you by your wrist until the two of you arrived in front of AOUMI Aquarium's main entrance. "Aren't you supposed to get to know each unit member of Knights with this? So, please cooperate. You're so~ annoying, you know that?"

Yeah, now you know who it is.

Izumi dragged you all the way from Ensemble Square to AOUMI's entrance the moment he knew that you were fifteen minutes close to leave for Izumi and OCEANS photoshoot. All the way there, he huffed out a sigh whenever he mentioned that you're late on the schedule. The reason why you're late is because of Ritsu, who napped on your lap after Arashi left you alone with Ritsu and Izumi. 

"Sakuma— I mean, Ritsu, can you let go of me...?" You called the sleeping vampire knight and poked his cheek to stir him awake. As expected of Ritsu, there is no response from him. You sighed and attempted to gently shake his shoulders but the next attempt was futile. He is still asleep.

"Ritsu, can you please wake up? I am running late for Mr. Sena's circle meeting..." You shook his shoulders once again but there was no response. You sighed out once again and gave up.

You gently pinched Ritsu's cheek and as a result, he stirred in his sleep and wrapped your waist with his arms and held you close in his nap. You deeply inhaled and held your breath, close to wake him up out loud.

You are so close to snapping when you tried to shake Ritsu awake but Izumi carried you away from Ritsu just as he tried to wake the sleeping vampire, pissed for making you and Izumi late. Izumi carried you out of the break room in his arms, carrying you like a princess being protected by a knight. Since he saw a damsel in absolute distress, he couldn't help but to do so.

The moment you stepped inside the main entrance with Izumi, you bit your lip when you nearly forgot to wear your facemask. You often did this to hide your identity out to the public eye and to avoid unwanted attention. Also, you felt glad that you were known as the junior photographer of YMSK Modeling Agency and not as (Name). A chill went up to your spine when you remembered a memory that you oh so not wanted to remember and shook it off.

Just as you and Izumi entered the main entrance, you fished out your face mask from your pants pocket and quickly put it on. Izumi glanced and looked behind him, seeing you wearing a face mask on. He wanted to question it but he just shrugged it off and looked for his fellow circle members, who were waiting for him at the front desk at the lobby.

"Isn't that...?" A familiar blonde looked at you and Izumi from the side of the counter and he grimaced when he recognized you. "Geh...! It's (Name)..." The corner of his lip twitched and he nervously laughed. "Apologies, I-I have to go to the restroom..."

"Kaoru? Where are you 'heading' to?" A slow, wave-like tone asked Kaoru, who was about to leave and the blonde jolted, not knowing that he'll get caught with his former club president of Marine Life Club and his fellow OCEANS circle member, Kanata Shinkai of RYUSETAI. Kanata then continued to ask him, "Izumi is already 'here', you know...?"

The four other OCEANS circle members turned their heads to see you and Izumi walking closer to them. While their attention is on the model and the photographer, Kaoru disappeared from thin air, taking UNDEAD's name quite far to literal context.

Just as Izumi looked to see if everyone in OCEANS was here, he raised his brow in confusion and asked them, "Where is Kao? I thought he's excited to meet (Name)."

"Lord Hakaze is..." Souma glanced to see if Kaoru is behind him but to his surprise, the blonde is no longer there. Kanata answered, "Kaoru went to the 'comfort room'. He seemed a bit 'suspicious' today." He paused for a moment and continued as he shifted his gaze on you, "I think it's because of this 'photographer' here~"

"P-Please to meet you all. I'm (Name), Knights' photographer for the Picture Perfect Collaboration." You bowed and introduced yourself as a greeting and Kanata sloppily smiled. "Nice to 'meet' you, (Name). Welcome to AOUMI Aquarium. Puka puka~" He greeted back and he began to slowly sway his body as he waved his arms, acting like a jellyfish swimming underwater.

A smile was formed on your lips but it was hidden behind the mask and yet your eyes showed that you like this kind of unique greeting given to you. Suddenly, an exclaimed question was heard from someone you knew in the past, that made your eye twitch.

"A-Anzu?! What brings you here...?" You turn your head to see Kaoru talking to Anzu and he seemed to be... nervous? You fell silent, confused at how the huge flirt and infamous playboy of Yumenosaki Academy suddenly became a nervous wreck. You blurted out a question, "What happened to that guy...?"

Izumi turned his attention to you and answered, "Kao tried to change himself after Repayment Fes but it seemed like he started to act like a total idiot when Anzu was in the same room as him. He's trying to change from his past self but his constant flirtings towards that certain person is making him look stupid while being a stuttering and flustered mess." You couldn't help but to blink thrice out of pure surprise, taken aback at the huge change of the Kaoru of the past and the Kaoru of the present. You wryly smiled and thanked Izumi for the answer and looked back to Anzu and Kaoru.

You thought their conversation would last until Anzu turned her gaze at you and waved her hand to say "hi". Meanwhile Kaoru, the moment he looked at where Anzu's attention went to, he paled when his gaze fell on to your shy figure. Out of instinct, probably a habit of yours, you hid behind Izumi's back.

Checking to see if he's still looking in your direction, you peeked from Izumi's back to see if Kaoru is still looking at you. Just as you saw that he's still looking at you, shocked because a person from the past, his fellow alumnus from his previous Alma Mater is right here in the same place he is in, you quickly hid behind Izumi and became more timid than you always were.

For the first time in Izumi's life ever since the day of the collaboration project, you came closer to him of all people. He knows that if you chose to hide behind someone, it's always someone you're close with but him seeing you like this made his heart squeeze and internally screamed at how cute you looked. But he could imagine Makoto as you in this situation but it went worse when he looked behind him, seeing you hide behind his back like a cornered mouse.

From the distance, at one of the passages to the lobby of the aquarium, three pairs of eyes were taken aback that their jaw dropped, also aghast at the sight before them.

Tsukasa's words remained stuck at the tip of his tongue and he gulped. "Whoa, did Ms. (Name) just...?" He hid his mouth behind his hand, stunned at the sight.

Ritsu, who is wide awake after his momentary nap and is more awake when he sees you hid behind Izumi. "W-Wow..." He couldn't help but to be speechless as his eyes widened in surprise and snicker. 

"Well, it seems like we don't need to give Izumi a good push after this." Arashi on the other hand, recovered herself from shock and sipped the smoothie she bought at her date with Mika at Pretty 5's circle activity and recorded the whole scene with her phone. 

"Where is Tsukippi when we need him? He really needs to see this..." Ritsu sighed. Meanwhile, the composer in question is absent due to his fountain of inspiration overflowing and he has to remain stuck inside his dorm room.

The garnet haired knight sighed, "We have no other choice but to have his status as M.I.A. because his INSPIRATIONS is actually overflowing out of him, thanks to Ms. (Name) and Senior Sena..." He then facepalmed and looked back at OCEANS, who stood there, also surprised.

"Senacchi," Kaoru called the silver-haired knight's attention and continued after the long pause. "She's Knights' photographer?"

"And also Izumi's future girlfriend." Arashi continued Izumi's words under her breath and snickered.

Izumi nodded in response and answered, "And she's here to take pictures of every Knights member in their circle meetings, which is her current task this week." The others in OCEANS nodded at his answer and looked at you, who is clinging behind Izumi with your hands on his coat.

"You know, Senior Sena, you two seem like you're dating." Adonis couldn't help but to point out a certain thing between you and Izumi.

You leaned closer to him to hide your blush and your grip on his coat tightened. Izumi's face is dusted with pink on his cheeks that he huffed out and rolled his eyes in response. "Now, all of you, aren't we too late on the schedule? Let's just go." He said and he turned around to face you and held your shoulders and gently pushed you as you both walked away from them, avoiding further comments to be given to you and Izumi.

"Okay, it seems like Senpai didn't score a (Name) point today and Izumi is winning." Arashi commented and sipped her smoothie, near empty. She smirked and said, "Looks like it's an aquarium date but there's multiple potential third wheels."

"Nah, make it a fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh." Ritsu then grinned as he laid his eyes on Kanata, Adonis, Souma, Kaoru, and Anzu, who came along with you for the project. Ritsu then grimaced as he laid his eyes on Anzu. "Can't she just stay away for a moment? I need to see Izumi and (Name) together."

Arashi chuckled and answered, "Probably later. Let's just wait until they reach the souvenir shop. It'll be cute. I'm pretty sure of it."

The day with OCEANS went smoothly as expected. You took a few shots of Izumi talking to circle members while the rest of them are all solo pictures of him. Every time your lens faced Izumi, you felt a gaze behind you that you became paranoid, making you frozen in place.

But, during all of that, you couldn't help but to admire how beautiful the aquarium is. Though it's one of the well-known entertainment spots, it felt like the water healed you while admiring the fishes and other sea creatures swimming in the blue waters. The ocean world is still full of mysteries but seeing it in person makes your heart at ease.

Before everything else, Anzu gave you a brochure about the contents of the whole aquarium, including a map. You fish out the old brochure you have with you since last year and check every detail on the map. You were not surprised that things have changed in the area so you accepted the new brochure and kept the old one in your bag. The more time passes by, the more things change all around you so it's not a surprise.

You visited this aquarium often back in the good old days as a Yumenosaki student and you haven't realized what made you feel attached to this place ever since the day you took a step inside the building for the very first time in your life. Your frequent visits once started at that one quiet summer, sometime around after Tanabata Festival.

"Come on! It'll be fun, I promise!" A person from the idol course tried to convince you to come to AOUMI Aquarium with him. You raised your brow and asked him, "Why are you so persistent on taking me there to the aquarium, Hakaze?"

"I don't know anyone else who to invite with. Kanata gave me these tickets to the aquarium and there's two of these so I can't just waste it because of his kindness." He answered, then he begged you as he folded his hands and bowed his head. "So please, go to the aquarium with me tomorrow morning. Just for once. Does nine in the morning seem good? Nine-thirty? Ten o'clock?" You sighed after he begged you to go out with him.

You massaged your forehead and inhaled deeply and answered, "Fine... Meet me at the entrance at nine-thirty." 

Kaoru grinned in response and said, "Alright~ It's a date, then." You irked at the word "date" that you snapped and glared at him. "It is not a date, Hakaze."

The next day, you waited for Kaoru to show up while looking at your wristwatch. It's five minutes close to nine-thirty so you are pretty early from the agreed meeting time.

You grimaced when you thought about why you agreed to go out with Yumenosaki academy's infamous playboy. Somehow, you couldn't help but to let out a distressed sigh when he thought of coming to you and asked you to go out on a date with him.

'It's just a one-time date, self. It'll end once the sun sets...' You thought as you still waited for Kaoru. Speak of the devil, he's finally here, wearing casual clothes, fit for the autumn season. He wore a white cotton shirt and blue denim pants and black converse shoes. His name may translate into fresh breeze but the summer breeze blew his blonde, mullet hair gently, slowly waving from the wind.

"Did I make you wait, pretty?" Kaoru smiled as he looked at you. He looked at your outfit for the day, which is a white summer dress, paired with a blue denim tote bag. For your footwear, you wore brown slippers, fitting for the casual summer wear in the city.

You scoffed, "Isn't this the wrong time for an aquarium date in the summer, Hakaze?" You crossed your arms as you asked him. He chuckled and answered, "It's the right time for the date, (Name). There is a dolphin show at the grand pool at the outdoor area of the aquarium later. Of course, we have to stay close to each other so that you won't get lost in the area."

You narrowed your eyes at him and glared. Surely you know that he'll be sticking closer to you and wrap an arm on your shoulder or on your waist. You hissed, "I am not letting you lay a finger on me, Hakaze."

"Wow, that's some scary glare you got." He chuckled but you could see that he began to pale at the sight before him. Much deserved for the person who forced you to go on a date with him.

You rolled your eyes and turned away. "See you in never, Hakaze," And entered the aquarium as you waved your hand, holding your ticket and leaving him behind. You went to the front desk and gave your ticket in exchange for a brochure, containing a map and the contents of the aquarium's area. You let out a distressed sigh as you wandered around the aquarium alone, without Kaoru with you.

Distracting yourself from the memory, you shifted your gaze to look at the circle members but it only stayed at Izumi as his figure alone caught your attention. You couldn't help but to raise your camera to your head and face the lens on Izumi and click the shutter. You always take quick shots and this shot made your heart skip multiple beats.

The deep blue waters emitted from the aquariums' lights made his hair shine from the light, making stand out from your perspective. His icy blue eyes matched the color of the water, making you compare the hues of his irises to the waters of the blue sea. You shifted your gaze back to the actual scene in your point of view and back to the picture on your camera. 

Somehow, it made you think you fell for him more but you shook your head when you focused on the task at hand. You know that he is beautiful in all angles and it makes you have a full-hearted crush on him but you always roll your eyes whenever you ignore it and shrug it off.

Stage one: Denial. Welcome to the denial stage, dearie. Congratulations on denying your crush on Izumi Sena. You have two options: Pine over him or open out your feelings to him. Pick your poison. The effects will be less lethal when consumed but the consequences will be dangerous.

"Are you done admiring?" Izumi asked you and he smirked. "I know I'm beautiful but don't stand there idly. Let's continue to go around." Izumi walked off and you followed behind him, sighing because he somehow read your mind. You hoped that he didn't read your expression about your tiny crush towards him that grew overtime.

Meanwhile, back at Starmony Dorm, Leo continued to compose a song about the cold knight and the shy princess. While composing, he pouted like a child and scoffed, "I felt jealous... I hope (Name) will trip if she's too clingy at Sena..."

You let out a small sneeze, almost like a kitten sneeze. Your sneeze caught someone's attention and he turned his head to face you. He noticed that you didn't wear your coat. It was left behind when Ritsu clinged on you like a cat that you had no other choice but to strip it off of you when you escaped from his clingy embrace.

The idol in question wore your coat and let out a smug smirk. "Sorry not sorry (Name)..."

"Are you cold?" Izumi asked you and you shook your head. It's rare for you to sneeze when you're healthy like a plant, getting enough water and sunlight. "I'm not. Let's keep walking." You sniffed and rubbed your nose and walked ahead.

A hand on your shoulder stopped you from walking when you froze. You turn around to see who stopped you but it's just Izumi, who took off his coat that hung on his shoulders and placed it on yours, making you wear it, partially. A blush dusted your cheeks and for the umpteenth time, you thanked your mask for covering the lower half of your face.

"When it's too cold for you, don't force yourself and tolerate it. You'll get sick if you do so." Izumi said as he patted your shoulders after he adjusted his coat on you. "You don't want to get sick while working, don't you?"

His cold gaze became warm but his face remained serious. In terms of proximity, he is nearly close but far enough to give you space. If you could recall your first "date" with Kaoru, this is way too different. You are frozen, not because of this side of him being all warm in presence and gaze alone but because your idol crush, Izumi Sena, nagged at you like a worried mother while being affectionate to you in the most comforting way possible.

His gentle touch on your shoulders made you feel warm and fuzzy all over while covering your body with his coat and adjusting it for you, keeping you warm from the cold temperature from the air conditioning in the building. Somehow, his coat did make you feel more warmer the more your blush grew from an innocent pink to a flustered red.

You remembered how his actions contrasts to his snarky, cold, and intimidating behavior which is actually gentle, warm, and protective. His soft touch, his firm yet gentle hold, his protective embrace contrasts to his cold gaze and intimidating aura. You felt like a cat, wanting more of that warmth as you craved for it. You realize your thoughts that you shook it off and shy away.

You're so shy to face him that you quickly turn away from Izumi to hide your blush, that was creeping up to your face all the way to your ear. Steam probably began to come out of your ears when you felt it hot from the blush. You held your fist close to your chest to calm your palpitating heart, that is beating fast and loud.

"L-Let's just go. We don't want to keep them hanging around in the same place..." You briskly walked away after you said that to Izumi. Honestly, you wanted to bury yourself alive for being too shy towards him right now. Since you're acting all flustered towards him, the urge to bury yourself increases.

A small, shaky sigh exited past your lips as you walked past the other OCEANS circle members. Question marks popped out of their head in confusion while Kaoru's jaw dropped open. To him, it seems like Izumi is getting maidens while the blonde remains maidenless until the day he dies. At this point, Kaoru already knew that your heart was stolen by Izumi at first glance.

Izumi on the other hand, is stunned when you suddenly walk away all flustered. There is probably something he never knew about you ever since you first met him at the seaside back then.

It is obvious that Izumi couldn't hold his feelings longer, now that his long time abandoned feelings towards you now resurfaced, making it obvious towards Arashi, who has known him since childhood. As dense as an oil in an heterogeneous demonstration experiment, you never realized any of these small changes of Izumi's behavior and actions towards you from the others. You, on the other hand, never noticed it. You wondered if it's just the same Izumi you once remembered in the past and let it slide.

Arashi's grin widened while she hid behind the pillar. "My, my, seems like Izumi is close to realizing Princess' feelings towards him," She snickered and covered her lips to hide her grin while letting out a dark, mischievous aura that seeped out of her. "This'll be fun if he knew about this. I wonder how he'd react if he did know about it."

"But you know that it'll affect their career if Izumi knew, remember?" Tsukasa pointed out a fact about something that'll result in a taboo known in the entertainment industry. Ritsu yawned and answered, "But Secchan will reject her feelings in the end, of course."

Tsukasa couldn't help but to facepalm and quietly groan out, "You know, that will affect our progress in this COLLABORATION once it happens, remember? Let's just... leave them alone. If one of them begins to pine for the other, then let's just tolerate them by listening to their confessions out while hearing their lovesick sighs."

Arashi and Ritsu nodded at Tsukasa's suggestion and grinned as they faced each other. Both are looking forward to yours and Izumi's pining.

Back to the OCEANS circle members (plus you and Anzu). The group passed through the jellyfish section, where various jellyfishes float in the water like small clouds as they formed as clusters. Since the room is slightly dim, they began to glow.

"Jellyfishes who live near the daylight zone and at the twilight zone are bioluminescent. Examples of these bioluminescent jellyfish are the Moon Jellyfish. Some species of moon jellyfish are capable of bioluminescence, producing light through a chemical reaction in their bodies. This light is used for a variety of purposes, including attracting mates, deterring predators, and attracting prey." You read the fact about the jellyfishes in the brochure and your eyes sparkled. 

You shifted your gaze to the view of moon jellyfish swimming under the water, with the glass revealing the whole display. 'What a new discovery...!' You brought out your camera and made sure the flash was off. You pressed the shutter and took a picture of the beautiful sight in front of you.

You live your whole life by the land and at the city that you always went to the seaside to admire the blue crystallized waters, changing colors as the sun rises and falls to the horizon. You always love the sea but it pains you that you could only stay on land. 

You wished that when you can live for yourself, you'll live by the sea, admiring the sea breeze, carrying the sea's salty scent, brush your feet by the brushing waves, listening to it crashing and susurrates to the sea and back to the land. It is your greatest dream and you will make it come true with your own hands to the most of your abilities.

But at the same time, the waves scared you that you feared going to the water. The ocean is vast and wide, also deep. You feared that you'd drown once the waves washed you away from the shore. 

You always dreamed of yourself, under the surface, sinking down to the depths, desperate to call but the waters muffled your cries. Fear washed over you as you flail your arms and legs under the water, desperate to see the sky that was shown above the surface. 

The you in your dream suffered from the cold water, making you suffocate from the water entering your system and from hypothermia. Your eyes are dull and skin paler than a paper. You lost your life as you sank deeper into the deep, dark depths of the ocean.

Then, the deep, blue waters in your dreams made you remember his eyes. The more you gaze deeply, the more you sink deeper. You were scared to look at him or face him. And yet, those arms that held you and embraced you made you feel like he dragged you out of your despair under the waters' surface. You were saved, by him and him alone.But those arms that hold you close to an embrace, the hands that gently touched you, treated you like a princess or a friend made you think otherwise. Those hands of his reached you from the depths and pulled you back to the surface, saving you from the suffering you've lasted.

"A-Anzu," You turned your head and called the producer. "Can you hold my camera for me?"

"Of course." She replied. You gave your camera to her. You placed it on her hands and put the strap around her neck, letting it hang loose. You smiled and thanked her, "Thank you, Anzu." You return to the tank where the jellyfishes are and admire them. 

The sea is indeed full of wonders that you couldn't help but be amazed by the sight. You gently placed your hand on the glass tank as your eyes glinted in amazement and your mouth slightly agape. You took off your mask from your face and continued to admire the beauty of the sea jellies floating under the water. A soft smile forms on your lips as you exhale out, breathless at the sight.

Unknown to you, a click coming out of the camera was heard as you were in a trance, your mind in a fleeting reverie was broken when the click was heard. You blinked your eyes, sending you back to reality. You slowly turn your head to see Izumi with a camera on hand, the lens facing you as the camera hides his face. You could see the smile on his lips when he lowered the camera down to see you, now looking at him.

"I can finally see why you look more beautiful with a smile on your face, (Name)," He complimented you with a soft smile on his face. His cold gaze was no longer there. His gaze radiating with gentle warmth, matching his sincere smile.

You do know all too well that once your gaze is locked with his, the time stops. And for the first time, your heart palpitated at his smile alone. His compliments made your heart flutter. "What's making you shy away from that smile of yours when you tend to avoid one's gaze or hide behind the mask?"

"I love seeing you smile. So please, will you smile more often... for me?"

A blush grew on your cheeks as he complimented your smile and asked you to smile more often for him. You turn your head and shyly look away, while hiding your stutters inside your throat as you cover your mouth with your hand. For the first time in your life, you heard those words that are full of genuinity and kindness, not the ones you often heard in photoshoots when you're being taken a photo of.

And for the first time, Izumi is the first person to tell you those words out of pure kindness.

"Th-Thank you, Mr. Sena..."

After the whole photoshoot tour around the aquarium's indoor area, the group arrived at the souvenir shop, the last and final destination before ending the day. Kaoru felt so tired that he sat on the bench near the souvenir shop with Souma comforting him and Adonis gave the brunette a bottle of water to drink.

"It seems like Rei's stamina loss rubbed off on me..." Kaoru sighed, earning a sneeze from the self-proclaimed vampire in RhythLin office, concerning his glasses-clad companion.

Your eyes widen at the sight of the merchandise lined up on the shelves from the outside of the souvenir shop. Your eyes sparkled at the sight, almost beating the sparkling lives of Trickstar. You shake your head to remove the temptation and look around to see Izumi is nearby and see if he's still holding your camera. You paled when you didn't see him around and nearly panicked.

A tap was felt on your shoulder that you jolted. You immediately turn to face who tapped your shoulder and it's just Izumi, holding your camera in his hand.

"Something wrong?" He asked and your hand shakily pointed at the camera on his hand.

"Ah, right. Apologies," He placed it on your hands, ready to hold your camera and hang the strap on your neck. You thanked him and immediately zoomed away to take pictures quickly since Izumi is near his fellow companions in the circle, starting from the circle members resting by the bench to taking solo shots of them.

After taking pictures for a moment, you saw Izumi entering the souvenir shop. You tilted your head in confusion and discreetly trailed behind him.

Anzu caught a glimpse of you entering the souvenir shop and went to the entrance to check on you and see what you were doing. Just as she peeked from, her eyes stared and widened in surprise. The producer couldn't help but to blink at the sight and shook it off when Kanata leaned behind Anzu and peeked on what caught the producer's attention at the souvenir shop. A smile formed on his lips and watched at the sight before them.

At the plushies section, you secretly took a picture of Izumi looking at the plushies that took the form of marine creatures, mostly on cephalopods and marine mammals, especially dolphins and whales. While you're taking a picture of him, she couldn't help but to wonder what made Izumi so deep in thought while looking at the plushies he had on hand.

Izumi wandered by the shelves where the plushies are and pondered, 'I wonder what does (Name) like...?' He thought as he looked at the dolphin plush sitting on the shelf. He took it and held it in his hand and reminded him of something, 'Kao once mentioned that she went to the dolphin show here last year at summer constantly that time...'

'Wait. Why am I thinking of (Name)'s interest in sea creatures?! This is not you, Izumi!' He shook his head and looked back at the plush on his hand. 'Somehow, dolphins remind me of her back then... Playful, talented, obedient, and eye-catching. Right now...'

Izumi returned the dolphin plush to the shelf and glanced at the octopi plushies beside the whale plushies. He let out a small smile and whispered, "She's pretty and shy and aloof."

Somehow, while taking a picture and observing him quietly, you began thinking of giving him something, like a keychain or a phone charm but you know that he is not interested in such items. Until your mind thought of giving a plush that reminded you of him but you honestly don't know what kind or shape or form you would give to him as a gift or a mark of gratitude.

'Is a jellyfish plushie a good gift for him?' You thought as you subconsciously went to the other side of the plushie shelves' marine sea jellies section, opposite to where Izumi is. 'What about a whale...?'

You shook your head and moved on to the next plush near you. "What is shiny and silvery like...?" You muttered under your breath until you saw a gray dolphin plushie, with a pearl on its snout, showing like it's playing it. 

'I think I found one...' You thought as you picked up the dolphin plush and hugged it and nuzzled your face on the soft plush. You let out a joyful hum when you feel how soft the plush is on your arms. It's so soft like a marshmallow or a fluffy pillow. A contented sigh leaves your system as you indulge yourself with the plush toy in your arms.

You felt someone looking at you and you turned your head where it came from. Your cheeks were dusted with a shy blush as you saw Izumi holding a phone on one hand while the other holding an octopus plush with the color coincidentally matching his eyes that is blue.

A blush crept up to your cheeks as you hid your face behind the plush. Flustered, you shy away and stutter out, "Y-You didn't see anything...!" You then turn away, avoiding his gaze. He replied, "I don't. Really." You prayed to Mother Earth to take you alive and become one with the soil.

Unknown to you, he took a picture of you with his phone. He couldn't help but to take a picture of you when you're hugging that plush. It's cute, he thought. He put his phone back in his pocket and followed you to the counter to purchase the octopus plush he had on hand.

'I felt like I wanted to perish...' You thought as you scurried away and went to the counter to pay for the plush. You placed the plush on the counter and purchased it just as you gave your money to the cashier on the exact price of the plush. You took the paper bag on the counter and exited the souvenir shop.

You walked your way towards Anzu's side and let out an anxious, shaky sigh. Your sigh startled the producer and asked you, "Are you alright? You seem to be in distress."

"I am not a damsel in distress..." You retorted and sighed out, "I'm just... in a rush..."

The producer saw how you have blue, red, and white on your face that it concerns her. If you're wearing your face mask, then she could only see blue and red. She shrugged it off and nodded as she hummed in confusion to your strange behavior.

She looked behind you and saw Izumi walking out of the shop with a paper bag in hand, carrying from the handle. Seeing that the time of the circle meeting is coming to a close, she asked out, "It seems like we're done for the day. Is there anything else you wanted to do before leaving the aquarium?"

You looked at Kaoru who nervously looked away from Anzu and shook her head, Souma holding a small turtle plush on hand, also shaking his head, Adonis holding a bottle of water for himself since he gave the rest of the bottles of water to the others and answered no, and Kanata shook his head and answered, "It seems like there is 'nothing' else we could do here since we're all done going 'around' inside the aquarium." Everyone nodded at Kanata's reply and all left the aquarium to return to Ensemble Square.

The moment everyone exited the aquarium's doors, they were greeted by the twilight sky. They all didn't realize that it's finally dark outside that they spent too much time together in the aquarium's indoor grounds. Everyone then chatted about their day and what happened the day before as various reactions were done by each person.

"Anzu, do you remember that time when Senior Hakaze—"

"Adonis, let's not talk about me right now..."

"Well I remember when Kao—"

"Senacchi, don't."

As you listened to their conversation, you couldn't help but to smile. Seeing that Izumi made friends with someone other than Knights and Makoto. You could remember that he always clinged on Makoto often and never forget the fact that Izumi kidnapped Makoto once on the day of DDD, making the whole unit disqualified in the event.

Shaking that aside, you can see that he changed from his personality but his cold demeanor became warm the longer he spent time with Knights. That thought alone made your smile widen and made you remember that you forgot to put your face mask on. You put your face mask out from your pants' pocket and wear it on your face.

Distracting yourself from your thoughts, your gaze shifted to the city lights as you walked on the path. The night life in the city is so bright, just like the lives that were often held at Ensemble Square. You couldn't help but to let out a quiet smile curved on your lips.

Your momental trance lasted short when an arm pulled you and dragged you beside him. "Don't get too close to the side street. You'll get hurt." You then realized that Izumi pulled you to the opposite side away from the street and close to him. His arm wrapped around your shoulder and held you protectively.

You were flushed due to the proximity between you and Izumi that your breath became visible as you breathe. You two kept walking, close to each other while Izumi kept you warm from the spring's cold weather. "I-Izumi, aren't you too close?" You stuttered and he turned his head to look at you. He warmly smiled, "So you finally said my name. I've been waiting for you to call me that."

"I— I mean..." Your voice faltered as you kept locked gazes with him. Izumi's arm on your shoulder is firm, firm enough for you to back away from him. And yet, you didn't. "You mean, what?" He let out a small smirk and you looked away.

"L-Let's just go..." You walk ahead, releasing yourself from his hold and he follows you behind. He put his free hand in his pocket while his other hand held his paper bag and smiled as he saw you walking ahead from everyone. You hugged your paper bag close to you and pressed the lower half of your face as you hid your pout behind it.

Kaoru gritted his teeth and shed tears as he clenched his fist, feeling proud for his best friend for making a move on the girl he met after a long time. Kanata can only think of two seahorses in love when he sees you two close to each other. Souma's eyes glinted in astonishment when Izumi pulled you closer to him, as if he's protecting you from harm. Adonis and Anzu only smiled.

You began to summarize the events that occurred today from the Ensemble Square to the aquarium and back. Firstly, you thought about what happened to Ensemble Square, starting from the part where he escorted you from the lobby all the way to the 7th floor of ES building and saved you from your lightweight fall when the elevator stopped. Next, he gave a pat on your head and his aura became warm, warm enough for you to feel as he put aside his cold demeanor towards you. 

For the events that occurred between the two of you at the aquarium, it started when he offered you his coat against your will but he did that to keep you warm. Next, he took a picture of you when you smiled at the moon jellyfishes at the jellyfish exhibit. And lastly, he acted like the gentleman he is by pulling you away from getting close to the street. What's next? Walking you back to your home? You wouldn't know.

Too flustered and shy to let anyone close to you, you briskly walked away from the group. Seeing that you walked fast and a few steps away from everyone, Izumi followed you as he walked behind you including Anzu, making sure you won't fall or break anything on you.

"(Name), wait for us!"

"(Name), don't run off like that! You'll hurt yourself!"

The other three members of Knights gave up on spying on you and Izumi when all of you rested near the souvenir shop. All of them returned to Starmony Dorm and called the composer to form a meeting with him at the common room.

Serious in the face, they all formed a conclusion as they looked at each other, each holding a whiteboard in their hands.

Tsukasa looked at his seniors holding a small whiteboard in hand and uttered, "Everyone ready?" The rest of them nodded as they held their own whiteboards.

"Now!" At his signal, they all flipped their own whiteboards to reveal their answers.

"Let's watch over the two while their relationship progresses."

"More inspiration to write."

"New tea to spill to FLAVOR."

"Leave them alone."

At this point, one of them gave up as they let out an exasperated sigh.

W/N:

Bro is too gorgeous that I use Taylor Swift's gorgeous in every fic possible... (Including my Valentine's Day Hiiro fic). Might as well as use Enchanted next time... *sigh*

Taglist: @thelocal-idiot​

[opaleyedprince]

obligatoryyyy jjk oc post time!

kamo sakuya || kamo senri onoue (zenin) anzu || inumaki aiichiro gojo nagisa || gojo hokuto

sakuya is one of a pair of twins born to the kamo clan a year before gojo's own birth. even as a child, he displayed obvious signs that he had inherited the clan's technique of blood manipulation. this coupled with his mastery of reverse cursed technique at a young age greatly reduced the limiting factor of the family technique, allowing him to develop his own offensive and defensive uses of it and truly make the technique his own; not simply a tool he happened to be given by the family.

he was hailed as the up-and-coming head of the clan and promised to a child of the gojo clan in both of their youth. though he was a frail thing in his younger years, when he and his twin attended kyoto jujutsu high he developed a love for strategy and battle that suited his stubbornness and capacity for staying positive in the face of what others would consider certain defeat. in the present, he acts as the clan head, doing his best to efficiently take care of his duties and responsibilities so he can spend his time off with one or both of his husbands.

senri is sakuya's twin, and while he inherited the clan technique, she was born with no cursed energy whatsoever, not even possessing the ability to see curses. with her heavenly restriction, senri has advanced senses and reflexes, including a highly refined danger sense that allows her to not even need to see curses and makes her a beast in combat; after years of training, she is even able to control how sharp each sense is at any given time, such as holding back her strength or dulling her senses on purpose in order to interact with the outside world without it overwhelming her.

she refuses to tolerate anyone talking down to her or her brother, and she is not afraid to goad people when she knows the situation will ultimately shake out in her favor. even as a child, she had a knack for reading people's emotions, a talent she used to embarrass the adults in her life a lot. she and her brother are each the other's keeper, and so long as he has any say in the matter she will always have a place in the family. like her brother, she is very stubborn, a trait that has served her well over the years and made her unshakeable in the face of those who deride her presence in the sorcerer world.

anzu was born outside the zenin clan, and in fact outside the jujutsu world altogether. her mother left the clan at a young age and took up freelance work as a sorcerer, eventually meeting and falling in love with a fashion designer. although she has no connection to the zenin (who were told she had no cursed energy or potential whatsoever upon her birth), her other mother's side of the family is quite large and very well-off, and they all adore her dearly. she was afforded every opportunity as she grew up on one of the family's many estates, learning physical and jujutsu combat from her zenin mother and being tutored by her other mother in non-sorcerer areas of study.

a true prodigy from birth, her technique manifested when she was only four years old: shadow manipulation and the ability to summon shikigami. with her access to private tutors and the expertise of her mother, she flourished. she speaks at least three languages apart from japanese and japanese sign language, and is working towards degrees in business and textile sciences. when she was around ten, the estate was visited by a white-haired man who was unbothered by her mother's blade at his throat, and claimed he only wanted to help them. in the present, anzu is intermittently visited by one satoru gojo (sometimes accompanied by one or both of his husbands) for additional jujutsu training, and she looks forward to the day when she'll be able to leave the estate for extended periods of time.

aiichiro is a little over a year younger than toge, and although they aren't actually siblings (rather they're cousins) he still views him as a big brother figure and someone he holds up as the exact sort of sorcerer he wants to be. he has the snake eyes and fangs inscribed on his cheeks and tongue in white rather than the black marks toge bears, and as a child he followed the other boy everywhere he went, always copying him or begging to get clothes/food/other things that were just like his. the two were almost inseparable, and the entire family assumed they would both become accomplished sorcerers.

as he grew, aiichiro developed a stutter, and this coupled with his generally shy and withdrawn nature, and his appreciation of things most others found distasteful (bugs, "pest" animals, and death) made him the target of severe bullying at the hands of other children. because of this, he spoke less and less as he grew older, wearing a mask to hide his cursed speech markings and writing most of the time; only using sign to communicate with people he trusted and felt comfortable around. in the present, he is working privately with two members of tokyo jujutsu high's staff to catch up to toge and the others, refining his technique and trying to find a reliable method of strengthening his vocal cords.

nagisa is a gojo who obviously inherited both of the clan's techniques from birth, surviving assassination attempt after assassination attempt as she grew up with very few protections provided to her. the attacks on her life forced her to grow quickly, and she developed a paranoid streak that - while inconvenient for those around her - kept her alive. she spent more time as a special grade than she did as a non-special grade, and as a result of her experiences she is curt and fatalistic when it comes to the world around her. she survives on a steady diet of coffee and one to two meals per day, and is very frugal with her money despite her family's status.

her decision to have a child was born out of a desire for someone she could trust, something that would be hers and not belong to the clans or the higher-ups of the sorcerer world. when it appeared her child had inherited no technique at all, she didn't mind; the child was special to her simply by coming into the world. she was considered the best and regularly given missions that would have been suicide for anyone else, until one day she failed to return from a routine assignment. in the present, all existence of her has been wiped from the records, with the only remaining sign of her being a redacted report that lists her as missing in action.

hokuto spent their youngest years without a single sign that they had inherited any technique; in fact, many of the clan members assumed they must have had a heavenly restriction. for those who targeted them, it was considered almost a mercy to remove the ungifted child of the gojo family from the world. it was only after a particularly close attempt on their life that they revealed they had in fact inherited both clan techniques, and had been repressing their cursed energy due to the stress simply existing put on their mother's body. they spent their childhood training with their mother, who taught them everything she knew about their family techniques; even sharing things she had kept from every other soul alive and allowing them to bloom into a gifted jujutsu user. she didn't teach them out of a desire for a soldier, but rather because she wanted them to be able to survive anything the world threw at them.

when not training, they spent their time playing in the woods or bothering another child several years older than them - a member of the zenin clan who had been born compltely without cursed energy - much to that child's annoyance. it was only after their mother vanished on a mission that hokuto's attitude of nothing mattering crystallized into an almost malicious noncompliance, and upon graduating they departed from the jujutsu world altogether, severing their ties to it completely. in the present, they spend most of their days using six eyes to cheat at cards and otherwise swindle people out of their money. they have a general disregard for respect towards their elders and have nothing but disdain for their world. simply put, they are a deadbeat sorcerer.

[jewwyfeesh]

Idol Research Plan - Knights

Writer: Happy Elements

Character(s): Knights

Translated by: jewwyfeesh

Ritsu: Okay, okay~ Tsukipi, Secchan, that’s enough, stop bullying Suu~chan, yeah? We should give our King some face when we’re in front of Anzu~

Please adhere to my sharing rules :)

Season: Spring Location: Break Room

Tsukasa: I had always thought that I still have many shortcomings as the King of Knights. So I am rather Surprised that my seniors have made this assessment of me, for I was not expecting it at all…

Izumi: Haa? What are you talking about?? This content will be shown to our Princesses later on. If we only talk about the shortcomings of our King and nothing else, wouldn’t it seem like we knights have no idea how to make judgements?

Leo: I wasn’t expecting Suo~ to be so interested in hearing our criticism! In that case, I can criticise you as much as you want, and you can start listening whenever you want! I’m really kind, ya know!

Ritsu: Okay, okay~ Tsukipi, Secchan, that’s enough, stop bullying Suu~chan, yeah? We should give our King some face when we’re in front of Anzu~

Suu~chan, perhaps it’s rare for you to receive such formal assessments from us… but believe it or not, we’re serious about it.

Arashi: Ritsu-chan’s right. We Knights are known to always be at odds with each other, and argue a lot…

But… Anzu-chan did set up a rather rare opportunity for us to exchange some heartfelt words with each other. So, Tsukasa-chan, you can accept our encouragement and praise without worry ♪

Izumi: …After Leo-kun and I graduated, did the both of you indulge Kasa-kun a little too much, Kuma-kun, Naru-kun? Even though he is now King, he’s also our junior. It’s only right that the both of you are stricter with your juniors.

Leo: Sena’s saying that kinda stuff all over again! Don’t pay him too much attention, Suo~! After all, you’re King, and King’s orders are absolute! You should follow in my footsteps – do whatever you wanna do with confidence! Wahahaha!

Tsukasa: With much effort, the atmosphere finally settled into something way different from our usual, but immediately rebounded into Knights-typical chaos… Haha, I suppose us Knights acting like this has already become the norm for you, right, Onee-sama?

[unfriendlyamazon]

restaurant au rough ideas (noting i have no actual kitchen experience):

joey works as executive chef and kitchen manager (it's his baby) in this he did go to culinary school and is probably well noted and recognized among other food people (i had him working as sous at a michelin star restaurant, yes i am pulling some carmy backstory for him) he genuinely loves cooking and loves taking care of people with food and i want kind of homey dishes for him (actually could see him going izakaya for this, but i'm not sure yet)

seto as sous chef (am i predictable? yes) i always want to give him a ben wyatt ice town past and i think it might be good here, where maybe he tried to open his own restaurant and things did not go well and he's very bitter about it, also loves cooking the other scene i have in my notes is him cooking takikomi gohan i think this would be a sort of revisiting his passion story for him

and they're going to need an investor which is where pegasus could come in! i think he hires duke as a general manager to make sure his money is being spent wisely, which leaves duke as something of a plant and people struggle to trust them. i actually like to write duke cooking but i think their business savvy would play better in the role here, and they slowly start to fall for the restaurant too

serenity i did give natalie's role as sort of accountant to the restaurant partially to force her to get involved and because she doesn't want to see her brother fail. she doesn't want to be a part of this but fate forces its hand. it also gives her an excuse to work with duke a lot and maybe something could happen there i dunno.

i loooove to make tristan a baker so i'm definitely putting him on desserts i like marcus' storyline of having started as a line cook at mcdonalds and now he gets to be creative so i can see tristan finding something good in the restaurant industry and finally being able to embrace that.

anzu as host or maybe the world's best server who gets an opportunity to step up it fits with her work in the service industry in the manga and i feel like the girl knows she has to pay the bills somehow, but like everyone else gets way too invested and is made to shine

yugi is the world's fastest line cook his fingers fly with that knife i think he and joey went to culinary school together and joey called in a favor you know yugi would be at his back in a second. i'd probably put ryou on the line too tho i don't have a strong storyline for him honestly i just need to fill in space. that's not enough chefs but listen there are only so many characters in ygo

rex and weevil as dishwashers that's it

[suiseisyojo]

to belong in a magician's hat.

「sakasaki natsume x akiyama reine // natsurei + platonic wataru」 ↳ commission for @kunehori ! wc: 1,592 a/n: thank you sooo much for commissioning me! kohaku and i thank you dearly♡

They say a single rabbit is a lonely rabbit—that they’re social creatures who thrive in having company. But for Reine, who has always been on her own, she found herself occluding the radiance she didn’t know she had by hiding in the shadows and small, makeshift burrows away from others.

How long has she been doing this?

“Are the lights not fixed yet?” Natsume’s mellifluous words caressed Reine’s ears as he leaned over her petite frame, golden eyes probing the way her fingers moved punctiliously across the control panel.

Shaking her head in disappointment, Reine’s vexation towards herself bypassed the way the tips of her ears brightened up from the propinquity between her and Natsume. “I can’t seem to figure out the timing between the third set and the chorus⋯ No matter how many times I adjust it, it’s always off somehow⋯”

The noise of the booth’s door creaking open resonated within the compact space, galvanizing the pair into leering over at Anzu who had just timorously stepped inside, her voice meek yet filled with benignity as she asked, “Do you two need some help?”

“Ah, Kitten♪” Natsume’s eyes appeared to twinkle as soon as Anzu padded in, those elusive and charming sparkles making Reine’s heart ache. “Little bunny and I are trying to rearrange the lights for Switch’s upcoming Live.”

“I don’t mind taking a look at it,” Anzu proffered her expertise, glancing between Reine and Natsume as they made way for her to examine the panel, “Switch always has elaborate light shows during their performances. It can be pretty tricky.”

The way Natsume and Anzu talked to each other⋯ it was cordial, familiar.

“Thank you; you’re already familiar with how we like them to be. And I want the lights to be perfect, because 「I want my special someone to look at me and fall for me」,” Natsume sent a wink towards Anzu as he beamed.

Reine didn’t like it. She didn’t like it at all; and yet, she still wanted to see that twinkle in Natsume’s eyes forever.

“Um⋯ I-I’ll leave you two to it here,” Reine stammered out before she could even make sense of the entanglement of harrow and pain twisting in the pit of her stomach, “I should go check on Sora-kun⋯!”

And before Natsume or Anzu could even bid her goodbye, Reine rushed from the booth—all while ignoring the pair of eyes that followed her figure.

✧.

In the palm of her hands, Reine gaped at the stars scintillating there—wanting to stop them from slipping through her fingers, yet slowly cleaving her hands apart in order to fulfill their true potential.

Ever since she bound herself to a personal contract, Reine had been making subtle (or at least in her eyes) efforts to garner opportunities for Natsume and Anzu to be alone together; or to have them think of the other.

Unfortunately, each attempt, no matter how little, exacerbated the queasiness coating the seams of Reine’s body.

Why did she have to feel so sick all the time? So tired? So exhausted in a way that only leaves her feeling worse?

Asleep in the sunshine, with her silhouette still standing, Reine was incognizant to the boisterous and spirited presence approaching from behind her.

“Ta-da!☆” Copious doves went flying around Reine as Wataru popped up next to her head, cheek almost pressing against hers. He only ascertained she was startled awake when she relinquished a panicked squeak. “Oya? You were asleep, Usagi-chan?”

“Y-Yeah⋯” Reine heaved an anxious exhale as a yawn soon followed, her glossy lips parting cutely.

“No wonder my birdies were reluctant to pop out! My apologies,” Wataru expressed his contrite with a sigh of his own, his hands promptly gripping her waist as he guided her to the nearby benches, “Still, it’s dangerous to sleep in the middle of the walkways!”

That’s when Reine realized her location outside Yumenosaki, small body being nestled down by the ever-eccentric senpai. Even she knew she never would’ve done that normally—falling asleep in the open? Without hiding?—and she had no choice but to blame it on the pulsating pain searing her core.

Was she allowed to feel jealous when she’s the one trying to pair two people up? When she’s the one stabbing herself over and over again?

“I know, I’m sorry,” Reine apologized to Wataru, albeit she could tell her own tone was disheartened and gloomy when she hadn’t meant to sound so execrable.

“You seem trouble, Usagi-chan,” Wataru observed smoothly as he sat himself down beside her, silvery locks descending over his shoulders as his head tilted towards her, “I’m a pretty good listener; I’ll hear what’s plaguing your heart with sadness♪”

Wataru talked even funnier than Natsume, but Reine supposed that’s because he is the one who taught Natsume a lot of his magical tricks. Could she even trust Wataru with her own feelings like this? They hadn’t really interacted much before⋯

“I-I’m not sad,” Reine corrected, strained voice and half-lidded gaze betraying her want to stay calm-and-collected, “I’m disappointed all my efforts aren’t being seen.”

“Your efforts? You aren’t talking about your work as a producer, are you?” Wataru hummed, his shrewdness once again bursting forth like confetti from a true magic show.

“No⋯ I’m talking about Natsume-kun and Anzu-chan,” Reine elucidated, trembling fingers playing with the hem of her skirt as she gathered her hands in her lap, “I’ve been trying to help them get closer, but it just hasn’t been working.”

Reine wanted them to hurry up and realize their feelings so that she can start to stitch together her broken heart; start to pick up the shattered pieces and heal. Because she was in love with Natsume.

“Oh, Usagi-chan, you’re trying to play cupid?” Wataru suspired with sympathy in his words, reaching his hand forward to tilt her head up with his fingers, “It’s not working because you’re pulling the arrow from your own body.”

Perplexity suffused through the aperture leading to her thoughts, and Reine couldn’t fathom the unorthodox articulation. “What do you mean, Wataru-senpai?”

“You’re trying to make the vestiges reach somewhere they were never supposed to be,” Wataru further said, only magnifying her confusion as his finger pokes over her chest, “the magic you’re looking for is already long gone.”

Wataru was definitely an even weirder wizard than Natsume.

✧.

Reine couldn’t understand what Wataru was talking about, the equivocations behind his remarks feeling more akin to a curse than a spell, and she continued to be left alone with her thoughts as she rested her head upon an abundance of towels whilst curling herself into a ball.

Images of Natsume’s enthralling visage coruscated in her head as her eyes fluttered shut, the way he looked at Anzu—the way they talked and laughed together. It hurt.

Natsume was the one who pulled her from burying herself completely, who’s dazzling smile and spells saved her time and time again. And here she was again, trying to conceal herself after all the protests she’s lived through.

Squeezing her eyes shut with more force, as if her negative thoughts impelled her to do so, Reine bawled as the door to her nesting spot was ripped open.

“Found you~♪ You were in here, little bunny,” it was Natsume’s countenance that enveloped her vision as her blue irises blinked rapidly, lashes flitting, “You sure love this broom closet.”

“H-How⋯?” Reine faltered in her words as his appearance before her obfuscated her mind, nearly causing her to blank out, “No, what are you doing⋯ Were you looking for me?”

Crouching down onto his knees, Natsume bowed himself down to her diminutive height as she remained laying on the closet flooring; cleaning towels and rags cushioning her body. “Why did you run away earlier?” he questioned, squinting his eyes to evince an iota of tetchiness.

“Run away?” Reine swallowed thickly, perceiving that faint annoyance in Natsume and wanting to cringe away from it. She knew what he was alluding to, yet she was too bewildered to properly talk with him.

“As if you have any business with Noeri-senpai. You’re so obvious,” Natsume in spite of the festering defeatism felt his lips curving into a unbridled half-grin, “You always have the same excuse when leaving. Are you trying to be subtle?”

“What.”

This conversation was happening too fast for Reine to unravel and register—and yet, Natsume continued.

“So, tell me⋯ what are you doing here instead of by my side?” Natsume asked softly, the melodic power his voice retains gripping her as another frown overturns his mouth. “I have fun playing with Kitten, but I miss you too much to enjoy myself to the fullest.”

They say rabbits can die of loneliness.

Dewy tears coalesced in Reine’s eyes as she fixated on Natsume, the pain that’s been besetting her spilling over in the form of a choked sob, “I’m trying to help you find happiness.”

The stress of losing a beloved companion or partner can be all too much to bear.

“Haah, I already found my happiness,” Natsume reassured her, bringing his hand forward, “I found it in this closet a long time ago.”

It’s time to stop hiding—the brightness she yearned to belong to her is right in front of her. Sliding her hand into Natsume’s, Reine felt herself being pulled from the darkness once again.

Not able to squander another moment, Natsume pressed Reine’s body up against his and brought his lips to her cheeks; kissing away each and every glistening tear.

It’s been inside her all along.

[landofzero-archive]

Your Yorishiro - Trouble talking 2

Writer: Kanata Haruka

Season: Winter

(Location: ES Hallway)

(A few days later. The day of the talk show meeting)

Nagisa: …… Oh, hello, Anzu-san. It’s nice to see you today.

…… You’re coming to today’s talk show meeting, right?

…… Yes. I’m glad I got it right, I thought maybe I had misunderstood.

…… Usually, Ibara keeps track of every detail, but this time I’m on my own.

…… Come to think of it, the person I’ll be conversing with on the program is Adonis-kun.

…… I’ve talked with him at the Starmony Dorms, but we didn’t have many opportunities to casually talk with each other.

…… So I’m glad to have the opportunity to talk with him at length this time.

…… Oops, this isn’t the time to be standing around talking. We’ll be late for the meeting. Let’s hurry up a little, Anzu-san.

(Location: Meeting Room)

Nagisa: …… Hello, Adonis-kun. I’m sorry I made you wait.

Adonis: ………

Nagisa: …… Adonis-kun? Is something wrong?

…… He won’t respond even when Anzu-san calls out to him. He’s been staring at something for a while now.

…… Is that the program proposal you were given in advance?

Adonis: …… Hm? Anzu and Ran-senpai, you’re already here? Sorry, I didn’t know you had arrived.

Nagisa: …… Don’t worry about it. You must have been so focused that you didn’t even notice us getting here.

Adonis: I was just nervous, so I’ve read very little of it.

Nagisa: (…… It’s true that his grip is so strong that the part where he’s holding the proposal is wrinkled.

…… It seems Adonis-kun’s nervousness is more intense than I thought.)

Adonis: Sorry, Anzu, Ran-senpai. I might cause issues for the both of you.

Nagisa: …… What do you mean by that?

Adonis: I’m not good at talking. So I’m not confident that I’ll be able to talk well.

I once appeared on a radio program with UNDEAD, but at the time I was able to do it because of Hakaze-senpai and Oogami’s support.

So I might end up causing trouble for Ran-senpai this time.

Nagisa: …… I see. I understand why you apologized.

…… But if you knew you weren’t good at talking, why did you accept the job?

Adonis: …… Because I wanted to grow more as an idol.

Idols don’t just sing and dance. I want to do more for my fans.

But that’s my side of things. It’s unrelated to the people who will be inconvenienced by my failure.

So I feel like I should apologize in advance to you, Ran-senpai……

Nagisa: …… I understand your feelings.

…… You’re kind and honest. I think that’s wonderful.

…… Actually, I’m the same as you, Adonis-kun.

Adonis: The same as me? What does that mean?

Nagisa: …… It would be easier for me to have Ibara’s instructions, but right now the agency’s policy is to show my earnest self.

…… But I still don’t know the correct answer as to how to show my earnest self.

…… I thought that not knowing the correct way to behave was similar to not being good at talking.

Adonis: I see. I guess Ran-senpai was worried like I was.

Nagisa: …… That’s why we should both do our best to grow through this recording.

…… It’s precisely because we’re imperfect that we can find the joy in growth.

Adonis: You’re right. Hearing you say that made me feel at ease. Thank you.

Nagisa: …… I’m glad your tension seems to have eased. I’m sorry for keeping Anzu-san waiting too.

…… Fufu, I’m glad you don’t mind. Thank you.

…… The start time has already passed, so let’s begin the meeting quickly.

(A few minutes later)

Adonis: —I see. In other words, this time we’ll have to listen to the concerns of our viewers.

The program has already prepared an application form and is collecting information from viewers about what they’d like to discuss with us.

The content is…… Right. We still can’t see it can we?

“We’ll ask the two of you to choose a problem that will be featured on the program later,” huh. Understood.

Nagisa: …… The difficult thing is that it’s not enough for the both of us to just talk about the issues.

…… Adonis-kun and I have received a reputation in the eyes of the public as being “adult-like,” and the program wants to make use of that reputation.

…… So they would like us to solve the problems with calm, adult-like advice and have a discussion related to those problems.

Adonis: …… Even just talking to someone is difficult, so I wonder if I’ll be able to do it.

Nagisa: …… The part I added is only a request on the part of the program. If it’s too difficult, I think they can decide if it’s possible to leave that part out.

…… That part is just a decoration to make the program even more exciting. So what’s most important here is the content.

Adonis: Content. In other words, they’re asking for help with a problem……

To begin with, we have the problem of not being good at talking, but I wonder if we can do something that big……

Nagisa: …… I agree. If you suddenly asked me if I could do that, I would have my doubts too.

…… In the end, I guess we have to do a rehearsal together first?

Adonis: Rehearsal? Do you mean to practice beforehand?

Nagisa: …… Yes. You won’t know what the problem is unless you try it out first.

Previous | Directory | Next

[aeoki]

Seven Bridges - Love and Peace?: Chapter 6

Location: Yumenosaki Garden Terrace Characters: Adonis, Arashi, Mika & Hitsugi

Arashi: …Oh. I was just scolding Mika-chan a while ago but look at me chatting away now. Learn wisdom by the follies of others.

Mika: It’s fine. It’s originally me and Anzu-chan’s job – I appreciate you wantin’ to help ♪

Look, Anzu-chan’s also smilin’ and noddin’ her head.

Arashi: Well, aren’t you two getting along splendidly? I have a feeling things were pretty tense between you guys at this time last year.

Mika: Ngh~ I didn’t really know Anzu-chan back then. I also had a lotta stuff goin’ on and was pretty insecure.

But now, I know that she’s someone nice.

Adonis: Yeah. You two are good-natured and admirable. You guys are taking the initiative to take on the school cleaning job even though the pay isn’t great.

I’d like to follow in your footsteps but I’m not skilled. Even if I tried to clean, I might end up making things messier instead.

So I’d like to help by doing the labouring tasks such as carrying the rubbish. Bring them to me once you’ve collected a good amount – I’ll take them all to the rubbish disposal area.

Arashi: Adonis-chan, you’re the one who has the least to do with this, but you’re the most motivated. I knew you were that kind of person but… you’re truly the definition of someone good-natured.

Mika: Yeah. I was kinda scared to approach you since you look scary, Otogari-kun, but it seems I was mistaken. You’re Naru-chan’s friend, after all – You’ve gotta be someone nice.

Arashi: We’re not really friends. Just members of the same club.

Adonis: Yeah. I think that’s a fair assessment. Although, it is a bit sad to hear.

Mika: Ahaha. You guys look like friends to me. Naru-chan doesn’t really like getting close to others.

Arashi: My! I love Mika-chan and Anzu-chan though!

Adonis: I see. I’ll work hard so that I’ll also be loved the same amount.

Arashi: …I think my words were pretty cruel but that doesn’t faze you, huh, Adonis-chan.

I kinda don’t like that part of you, you know~? ♪

Adonis: I see. Then I’ll work hard to improve on that.

Mika: Ahaha. You guys are so in sync! Looks to me like you guys get along just fine…♪

Anyway, let’s hurry and finish up. We’re all members of powerhouse units, so we’re all busy.

I’ll split my earnings and give you two the amount you two helped with, of course.

Arashi: Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m just lending a hand so you don’t have to push yourself and collapse. I don’t need the money.

Adonis: I also don’t need it. If I can take this opportunity to get to know everyone better, then that in itself is my reward.

Mika: Okay, I hope we’ll continue to get along in the future. Both in private and for work ♪

Adonis: Right. We haven’t had many opportunities to work together, but I’d be happy if we could use this chance to stand on the same stage and perform together someday.

Arashi: Oh my, a “Knights”, “UNDEAD” and “Valkyrie” concert? It would make headlines everywhere if that really happens someday ♪

And, of course, you’ll be our producer for it, won’t you, Anzu-chan? ♪

Mika: Ahaha, it really makes you dream–

NGHAAAAAHHHHHH!?

Arashi: What’s wrong, Mika-chan!?

Mika: N-N-N-Naru-chan! Look, look at that!

Arashi: Look at what…?

Adonis: Hm. Am I seeing things? I seem to be seeing a pair of legs growing from the ground.

I’ll ask just to be safe but that’s not a special sort of vegetable grown in this country, right?

Arashi: Of course not! Gosh, that’s a pair of human legs, isn’t it?

What? Did someone abandon a corpse here? Or is it Ritsu-chan showing off a new sleeping position? He can sleep everywhere, after all.

Mika: I-Is it a mannequin? Someone wanted to prank us and buried it in the ground…

Adonis: No, the legs twitched. Those belong to a living human.

Kagehira or Narukami, could one of you go get a shovel from the P.E. storage room? Anzu, I’d like you to go to the infirmary and call for Sagami-sensei.

Arashi: Sagami-sensei ditches his duties the moment he has a spare minute, so it’s highly possible he’s not in the infirmary. Geez, it really makes you wonder what good Kunugi-sensei sees in him.

Adonis: I hope you can get going instead of standing here muttering. I’ll try digging with my hands until the shovel arrives.

Mika: O-Okay. You sure are calm, Otogari-kun.

Adonis: I was raised in a country where I had no choice but to assume that anyone around me could lose their life at any minute.

Mika: …………

Adonis: Anyway, better to move your legs than your mouth in a situation like this. I’ll start too.

I’ll dig now. I don’t know who it is but they’re still alive.

If they’re alive, I want to save them. I’ll protect them.

…… …… …… ……Alright, their face is out. I’ll make sure they can breathe properly.

 ???: “Mmm…”

Adonis: Thank goodness. Are you awake?

???: “Yeah. I’m fine.”

Adonis: Why were you buried here?

No, I apologise. You shouldn’t try to speak right away – I’ll get your whole body out now.

???: “Look.”

Adonis: Hm? Don’t speak. You shouldn’t waste your energy. Focus on breathing.

???: “Look, you’re gonna regret saving me one day.”

Adonis: ………?

???: “But I’ll still thank you for it.”

Adonis: ? You’re welcome…?

???: “Burying myself in the ground ended in failure. I couldn’t breathe and could hear my brain cells breaking apart.”

“Ahh, I’m losing bits of myself again.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

[leaderoffestivals]

CROSS FIRE: Epilogue 1

Madara: Well then, shall we get going, ‘Leader’?

Kuro: Yep. I’ll be countin’ on ya, ‘Leader’.

Scenario Writer: Kino Seitarou (with Akira) Season: Summer Characters: Kiryu Kuro, Mikejima Madara, Nagumo Tetora, Sazanami Jun, Otogari Adonis 

<A few days later. During the filming of the CROSS FIRE Promotional Video.>

Adonis: Fufu. So, here you are as well, Anzu. I’m really glad I was able to work together with you thanks to this recent Shuffle Project. 

Once the shooting of this video is over, most of the work for this job will be completed; only the main show will be left. I can’t help feeling a little dejected about it, but still—

Thank you for giving us such a fun job to work on, Anzu.

And, although you may be feeling a little uncomfortable on this set filled with men, I hope you’ll be able to relax and enjoy the show anyway. 

Jun: Thanks for all your hard work, Anzu. I’m all changed into my outfit too. 

It has been a truly wonderful opportunity to witness Anzu’s talents as a Producer up close and personal through this Shuffle Project. I’d definitely have to thank Ibara and Ohiisan for their pushiness based on that alone, huh!

Nope, it’s nothing. I’m just talking to myself, please ignore me ♪

Come to think of it—this outfit has a really foreign style, doesn’t it? Or should I say it has a fantasy feel instead? 

Madara: Well, it’s an image PV we’re filming after all, so they’ll definitely want the storyline to stand out from reality so as to grab everyone’s attention. 

The concept is about two factions fighting in a temple——

It seems Anzu-san decided on the casting direction after learning about the showdown between Kuro-san and me. However, we reeeally didn’t expect it to fit so well with the ‘anything goes’ spirit of CROSS FIRE!

Kuro: ‘Anything goes’, you don’t say. That only takes me back to the practice match we had the other day. 

I honestly didn't expect ya to bust out so many moves I’d never seen before—or that you would throw in a whole bunch of mind games to boot. The match ended up bein’ such a mess, or I should say—

Ugh—We ended up turnin’ the match into such a terrible mud-fight, hittin’ out at each other’s weaknesses. I don’t ever wanna have to fight like that ever again. 

Madara: Haha! Ohhh, come on now, Kuro-san. You say that, but weren’t you enjoying yourself thoroughly back then, too? 

It’s unfortunate the match resulted in yet another draw due to the time running out, but with this, there are no longer any regrets or grudges between us now! Most importantly, we managed to have fun during the match without any injuries at aaall!

All’s well that ends well! Don’t you think so too~, Kuro-san?

Kuro: Tch! Where do you get the bare-faced cheek to be sayin’ such chummy words? It’s obvious as hell you were mercilessly aimin’ fer my face back then.

It’s true though—I’m really glad neither of us got hurt as well. If we’d gotten injured, we wouldn’t be able to carry out the rest of our work after that.  

Jun: Ahaha! All of us in the audience really enjoyed watching that white-hot match as well!

It was so entertaining to watch Mikejima-senpai fight, switching up tactics and techniques so as to not let his opponent have a break. 

Nagumo-kun has been going around Seisoukan, enthusiastically telling everyone he meets about how amazing Kiryu-senpai’s performance was, too ♪

Kuro: Oi, Tetsu. Don’t go around broadcasting the incident far and wide like that. You’ll have people wonderin’ why you’re still gettin’ excited over a fist-fight at yer age. 

Tetora: T—that’s not true. In fact, I think it’s something to be proud of!

I’m sure I won’t be forgetting about that match anytime soon. Every single move Taisho made has been deeply etched into my memory!

I really wish the filming would start quickly so I can start moving my body too. I just can’t endure waiting any longer! ♪

Kuro: Oh, is that so? Well, if Tetsu’s that happy fer my sake, I guess that’s a good thing too. 

Even so, you better not be dwellin’ too deeply in the achievements of the past, because we have a job to do in front of us today. 

Tetora: Of course! I’ve already thoroughly memorised the job flow and can start filming right away!

Mikejima-senpai and the others, who’ve spent several years wandering after refusing to abide by the teachings of the temple, will return to stand in front of Taisho once again——I can’t help but remember the practice match with this setting; it’s such a thrilling setup that stirs the blood!

Adonis: Haha~! Are we going to have a rematch with each other so soon? We definitely won’t lose to you this time. 

I was worried about how I would fare at first, because I don’t have any experience in acting. However, I’ve heard this image PV will not be using our voiced lines directly as they are. 

Thanks to that, I’ll be able to put all my focus into the action. 

Jun: Hehe! That’s what you say, Otogari-san, but haven’t you been fervently memorising your lines? I saw you murmuring your lines to yourself when we were doing our muscle training together.

I guess deep inside, you must be thinking it would be such a shame if you couldn’t do justice to your character, right~?  

Adonis: Fufu~. You might be right about that.

However, I do think that it would be enough to do just that for this job, this time. 

Witnessing Kiryu-senpai and Mikejima-senpai’s battle up close has got even me wanting to speak to everyone in BUTOUKAI through the language of fists, too. 

Pitting oneself against the other in a contest of strength bound by the spirit of sportsmanship seems to be like… … a way to connect with your opponent’s heart, or something close to it.

Jun: Don’t say it like it has nothing to do with us, Otogari-san. This time, we’ll all be fighting together, too.

Although we’re just a shooting a promotional video and not having an actual showdown, I’m really looking forward to sparring with Nagumo-kun during the filming. ♪

Tetora: Fufu! I’m gonna have to apologize to Senpai beforehand, cos I’ve been training my body fastidiously for this day, so I definitely won’t be losing to anyone in a battle of strength ♪

Madara: Umu! It’s great that everyone’s is so fired up. ♪ We trulyyy are the Shuffle Unit of comrades who share the common interest of muscle training, indeed!

Well then, shall we get going, ‘Leader’?

Kuro: Yep. I’ll be countin’ on ya, ‘Leader’.

Madara: … … Hahaha. Doesn’t it feel reeeally weird to be having two Leaders?

Are you truly fine with this? If we were to judge solely on the content of the practice match, I would feel Kuro-san had the upper hand.

Kuro: Nah. The results are the results, aren’t they? It’s totally on me fer not bein’ able to KO ya.

This ain’t the Dragon King Competition where victory can be decided by superiority. Let’s have a showdown to determine the true victor in the future, however many years from now. 

Madara: Ho~. That sounds like a reeeally distant future, indeed! I’ll be happy to accept your challenge anytime you want to, though!

Kuro: There’s no need for ya to be holdin’ yer breath for that. I already said I’ve had my fill of fightin’ with ya, haven’t I?

Besides… …

Madara: Huh? Besides—? 

Kuro: Nah, it ain’t nothing at all.

Madara: Mu. It looked like you were about to say something, though? What is it? Keeping secrets is reeeally bad, you know~?

Kuro: It ain’t what you’re thinkin’ at all. It just sounds pretty dumb if I were to say it out loud, that’s all.  

Madara: Haha! Can it be you’ve been wanting for us to be Leaders together from the very start, Kuro-san? Wow~, I’d be very happy if that were true~ ♪

Kuro: Well, that’s pretty much it. You and I are comrades in training after all, so let us support each other as we run down this final stretch, like bosom buddies will. 

(… … Haha. I say that, but honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to keep everything together if you hadn’t been here to share the leadership role too, Mikejima. 

If I had to manage the demands of the CROSS FIRE management execs, as well as those of everyone here in BUTOUKAI as Leader on my own, it would’ve been way too much for my body to handle.

Practice and singing, shooting the PV and performing as round boy… … And on top of that, after the practice match became such a hot topic, a slew of special programmes were hastily added as lead-ups to the main show as well… 

We were already hella busy enough as it were.

Haha~! I guess it’s because this Shuffle Unit’s a one-off job, so everyone ended up being way greedier than usual, wanting to experience more things. I’m really fortunate to have such a reliable ally by my side ♪) 

Madara: … …? What’s going on, Kuro-san?

Kuro: Nah, it’s nothin’ ♪

Let’s announce the heroic figures of our BUTOUKAI with a resounding roar to the world. 

Madara: Yes, let’s. The enemies of yesterday are the friends of today; Let's go capture our amazing synergy and teamwork on camera. ♪

—————-To be continued——————-

Chapter 13  /  Epilogue 2

Translator’s Notes: 

[ten-thousand-year-elegy]

Lorepost: Chapter Ten, “Veritas”

By popular reader request, TTYE lore posts are companion pieces for each chapter of the story breaking down all of the Legend of Zelda lore and references made in each chapter, for readers looking to learn more about LoZ or just refresh their knowledge. This chapter contains explanations for: Farosh the Dragon, Rare Yu-Gi-Oh! Lore, and A METRIC FUCKTON OF SPOILERS.

This entry is very spoilery! Since a few people requested it, I’m going in-depth on the Yuugi-tachi’s hallucinations in the jungle, and often these will be things that the gang themselves don’t manage to figure out - tons of foreshadowing, references to other timelines, etc. etc. No direct spoilers for future TTYE chapters, just hints.

I’ll put the non-spoiler ones outside of the “read more” tag, and the spoilers under the tag.

In Another Few Hours, The Sun Will Rise

Surprise, it’s Yu-Gi-Oh Lore! This is a really stupid scene from the 4Kids dub that has achieved eternal memedom. I had to put it in because I have no self-restraint.

Farosh

Farosh is one of three dragons that appear in Breath of the Wild. I’m actually not sure if this is confirmed in canon or not, but many fans believe that the dragons - Dinraal, Farosh, and Naydra - are guardian spirits corresponding to the three Golden Goddesses who created Hyrule, Din, Farore and Nayru.

Despite them arguing all the time, Eri does see Kaiba as a friend, so she takes the opportunity to show him something she knows he’ll like - a dragon. (Maybe she feels guilty about the fact that she deliberately annoys him all the time. Or not.)

SPOILERS AHEAD, YE BE WARNED.

The Footsteps Following Honda: The Skull Kid

Kudos to all of you who guessed Skull Kid! Honda is the only one who can hear these footsteps. Skull Kid is a mysterious imp present in several Zelda games - it’s implied in Ocarina of Time that children who wander into the Lost Woods and lose their way will eventually become Skull Kids. One Skull Kid in particular is a central character in The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, who causes havoc when he gets hold of an ancient and powerful mask and tries to bring the Moon down with his newfound powers. Which brings us to….

The Moon Is Falling: or Why Honda Can’t Sleep

“Couldn’t sleep at all,” Honda muttered. “The moon was too fucking bright.”

Honda isn’t quite getting the whole package here - terrifying face and all - but the moon does seem rather too large, too close, and too bright. Another theme of Majora’s Mask is insomnia: many characters in the game cannot or will not sleep due to the impending threat of the falling moon, and Link himself must repeat the same three days over and over without sleep as he frantically tries to save the land of Termina from its doom.

The Haunted Wasteland: Kaiba Dreams of a Desert

Kaiba dreamed of Egypt.

He followed a bobbing lantern through a desert storm. Sand drove relentlessly into his eyes, his mouth, his nose, between the crevices of his armour - it was the only thing ahead of him and the only thing behind him. The lantern was the only other thing in the world. He had to keep moving, keep dragging one foot after another; his boots sank further into the ground with every step-

Kaiba is mistaken. He’s not in Egypt - he’s in the Haunted Wasteland, a massive desert that Link must cross in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to reach the Desert Colossus. The only way to safely cross the Haunted Wasteland, with its constant sandstorms and dangerous quicksand, is by obtaining a magical artifact called The Lens of Truth. This lens allows you to see a ghost with a lantern that guides you along the only possible path.

Saria: Anzu dreams of a parting

Just as Yuugi finally started to drift off, Anzu let out a little gasp beside him.

“Anzu?” he whispered. Anzu rolled over to face him. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks were streaked with tears.

“What’s wrong?” Yuugi reached for Anzu, but she met him halfway, grasping both of his hands desperately in hers.

“Yuugi,” Anzu sniffled. “We’ll…we’ll be friends forever…won’t we?”

Anzu is dreaming of Saria, Link’s best friend in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Link and Saria grow up together in the Kokiri Forest and love each other dearly. When Link is called to adventure and has to leave the Kokiri Forest, he and Saria have to say goodbye. This scene is Anzu’s dream and it’s Saria that she hears laughing in the woods. The dream affects her particularly because she and Yuugi are childhood friends and the feelings resonate strongly with her.

Link and Saria’s parting is even sadder than it seems: because Saria is a Kokiri, she will never grow up. Link finds out that he is not a Kokiri and thus he grows up and surpasses her in age. Then Saria discovers that she is the Sage of Forest and has to leave for good to be the Guardian of the Forest Temple.

Why does Eri think the jungle smells nice?

For this chapter I wanted the hallucinations to cover a lot of sensory ground: seeing, hearing, and even smelling. I chose to give Eri olfactory hallucinations partly because they would be subtle enough that she wouldn’t be able to put everything together immediately.

Eri sniffed the air. “Hey, it smells really nice here.”

“Uhhh…” Jounouchi took an experimental sniff, then wrinkled his nose. The air smelled, all right, but it was a pungent mixture of odours - earth, animal musk, rotting vegetation, the heady perfume of jungle flowers - that bordered on oppressive.

Yuugi looked around, bemused. “You like this smell?”

“Don’t you?” Eri inhaled deeply. “It’s so light and fresh and flowery.” Suddenly, she turned to face Kaiba, folding her arms. “What did you say? You have a problem with me breathing in air now?”

Here, Eri is smelling the Forest Haven from Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

Eri sniffed the air. “I don’t know what you’re all complaining about. You can smell the sea from here. It’s nice.”

Jounouchi turned around to look at her, eyes boggling. “No, dumbass, you can’t smell the sea. It’s way too far.” He reached out and pinched Eri’s nose between his fingers. “Something wrong with this? Hey, Anzu, do a diagnostic on Eri.”

“No!” Eri protested, scrambling out of Jounouchi’s grasp. “Leave my nose alone!”

And in this instance she’s smelling Outset Island. The reasons for this will become apparent next chapter :)

[edenaeris]

[food fantasy] dessert crisis / chapter 3

🦋 Writer: Mitsuki

🦋 Featuring: Ritsu, Mao, Izumi, Eichi, Anzu

[ Ois~su♪ ]

Season: Spring

Location: In front of 2-B classroom

Izumi: Tch. Really, why ask me to come? Could have just asked Naru-kun or Kasa-kun.

Naru-kun is even on the same class as Kuma-kun. I had to take such a long detour when the problem could’ve been solved easily. Sooo~ annoying!

Hm? That person over there, if I remember right his name is Isara, isn’t it? I think he’s Kuma-kun’s childhood friend?

Hey you, Isara. Is Kuma-kun in the classroom?

Mao: Ah, it’s you, Sena-senpai. Yeah, Ritsu’s inside right now.

Want me to call him for you?

Izumi: Yeah, I need to talk to him.

Mao: Just a sec.

Ritsu: Oh? Were you looking for me, Secchan?

Izumi: Yeah. Knights has work in the afternoon, so keep an eye on your phone and make sure you don’t fall asleep and miss the call. You gotta remember it, alright?

Ritsu: Okay, okay, I get it. No need to worry, Secchan.

Izumi: Well, my job here is done. I’ll be taking my leave now.

Woah! Hey, transfer student, don’t just stand behind others all quiet like that. Scared the shit out of me!

Huh, so you saw me talking to Kuma-kun and decided to wait till we finished because you didn’t want to disturb?

Alright, alright, it’s fine, no need to keep apologizing, jeez. Anyway, you have something to do with Kuma-kun since you were looking for him, don’t you?

Then, I won’t hold you up anymore. Bye.

Ritsu: Wow, so many people coming to see me today. Seems like I’ve become a highly requested person.

Haha, just kidding. So, what’s up? What do you need from me?

You came to talk to Maa~kun and me? What is it about?

Mao: Ah, right. Because Sena-senpai came here, I forgot to tell you before.

So, this is what happened. Today, when we were chatting in the StuCo room, I mentioned that you were reading about sweets-making in the library.

Prez looked quite interested after hearing that and said he wanted to have lunch at the Garden Terrace with you, me, and Anzu, so he could go for the “make your own meal” option and watch you make some treats.

Ritsu: Haha, that does sound like something Ecchan would do.

He must also have said something like “This is what is like to enjoy the life of an ordinary high school student, having lunch with your classmates”, right?

Mao: Ahaha, spot on! He really did say that, sheesh.

In any case, now that Anzu’s here too, we should get going to the Garden Terrace. Prez must be already there too, just waiting for us.

Location: Garden Terrace

Eichi: Over here~ You’ve finally made it.

Ritsu: Seems like you’ve been here for a long time, Ecchan. You must be really looking forward to this meal, right~

Eichi: Haha, of course. After all, I’m having lunch with my classmates, so it’s only natural for me to be happy.

And I feel like this will be a quite nouveau experience for me.

Before you guys arrived, I went ahead and took a look at today’s menu.

There seems to be a good variety of dishes today, including steak, pizza, and omurice, among many others. How tough, I have no idea what to choose.

What about you? What do you want to eat?

Ritsu: I’m having the same as Maa~kun. So Maa~kun, you can go and choose for us.

Mao: Eh? Why do I feel like you just pushed the problem on me…

Hm, do you have any recommendations, Anzu? Hm? You say the steak looks good? Okay, I’ll have the steak, then.

Same for you, Ritsu?

Ritsu: Yup, yup. Must be yummy if Anzu’s the one who recommended it.

Eichi: Then, I’ll have the pizza. It’s apparently today’s special dish, and I think I’d have to wait a long time for another opportunity to try it~ [1]

What about you, Anzu? You say you’d like the omurice?

Alright. Then, let’s share a delicious meal with each other, shall we? Ahaha.

Time: After a while

Ritsu: I’m so full~ It’s making me a little sleepy.

Hm? You’re saying that it’s easier to gain weight if you sleep right after a meal, Anzu?

Don’t worry, I’m aware. In any case, didn’t you want me to make some sweets in the Garden Terrace’s kitchen? Let’s go, then.

Eichi: Oh, how unusual for you to look so energetic this time of the day, Ritsu-kun.

Ritsu: To be honest, I’m really sleepy right now, but I can’t afford to be sluggish while cooking, so I have to perk up. 

I’ll have a proper nap once we finish eating the snacks together.

Hm?

Mao: What’s wrong? What you’re looking for, Ritsu?

Ritsu: I can’t remember where I left my drawing from last night.

Well, forget it. I already have an upgraded version of that design in mind anyway, so you should look forward to it. Fufufu~

[ ☆ ]

ㅤ

Notes:

Fun fact, this is an easter egg. In the collab, the bloomed cards have the Enstars characters cosplaying as the characters of Food Fantasy. Ritsu as Red Wine, Tsumugi as Peking Duck, Mao as Steak, and Eichi as Pizza (yes, all the characters have food names, that’s the whole plot of the game, they are basically the personifications of each of these foods).

ㅤ

🦋 Translation: Eden

🦋 Proofreading: Mia (ENG)

ㅤ

← prev ✦ all ✦ next →

[gettatranslations]

It's Hot But I'm Drinking a lot of Hot Water。Yumigeta Ako (23.09.05)

Good evening🌛

I'm Yumigeta Ako 🛑

Thank you very much for your comments yesterday！

Today I have something I want to tell you all…

Yesterday I told a super duper huge lie！

Yakiniku isn't the meat dish that makes me the happiest！

Karaage makes me the happiest 💕

The karaage that my mom makes uses chicken tenders！So they're really delicious and taste richer than the usual version with dark meat♪

I do like yakiniku、but if today was my last day on earth I would want to eat green miso soup and Mama's homemade karaage…！

All of your comments about karaage made me remember😂

Also as I said in today's blog title‼️

I've been drinking a lot of hot water recently even though its so hotー！

As for why、

Recently I've been spending hours every day dancing at rehearsals for our Autumn Tour、and Yoyogi rehearsals so I'm sweating a lot！

And、I'm always sweaty at the best of times！

So even when I'm only sweating a little bit I use a super duper cold cloth to wipe away my sweat…🌹

That cloth is so cold it makes my body feel like it has a breeze on it while I'm dancing☃️

But、then I'm really cold

So I drink hot water to regulate my body temperature

⬇️

I dance again

⬇️

I sweat again

⬇️

I wipe away my sweat using a cold cloth

⬇️

I get cold

⬇️

I drink hot water to regulate my body temperature

It's endless…

Endless Summer🎶

I don't know what else to do😭

I want aircon as strong as these sheets that mean I don't get hot no matter how much I dance

Maybe Ako's 「Heat Battling Story」 will continue again…

⋆┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈⋆

Well then it's time for today's 【Gettaa Life】✨

Yesterday！

I got a new family member…！

Called iPad-chan〜

I've wanted one for ages！

Since I've joined Morning Musume。I've had more opportunities to use digital media so I thought it would be easier to have a device larger than my phone to write on！

So I finally Getted one✨

And〜 Yesterday I played around with it a lot and I found an amazing way to use it

Which is

「Playing a slide show of Anzu-chan photos」！

I can't see Anzu-chan since she's in Shizuoka、and since the screen is about the same size as her、it's like I'm actually watching her which is really healing💕

And I also watched last year's RockIn performance footage❗️

No matter how many times I watch it it always always inspires me…

Now I want to eat grilled ham。

I also changed the lock screen、and drew some pictures！

It's ーsoーmuchーfunー

I Getted 「A new way of being healed」✨

I've gotta be careful not to fill it with lots of games…

That's all！This has been 【Gettaa Life】！

⋆┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈⋆

T/N News and information has not been translated

⋆┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈⋆

Today I have a quiz for you all！

What is my favourite sushi ingredient❗️

I don't think I've said what it is… possibly。

Guessing the variety I like is also OK🙆‍♀️

Aburi〇〇 or 〇〇maki

Also tell me your favourite sushi ingredients🍣

Well then I'll see you tomorrow！

This has been YumiGettaa Ako！Good night🐻‍❄️🐻‍❄️🐻‍❄️

[quickdeaths]

"Well," Ji-yeon said, crossing her arms and giving a light shrug, "they should have listened, you're right, but that's just how things go. People who have power and status always think they're better than those who don't." With one last sigh, she stood, walking to Shinobu and putting an arm around her shoulder. "People like Shinobu-san's father. If you haven't met him, he's a piece of work, and this country has too many men like that running things." In Shinobu's own case, she had nothing against the physical contact, but the mention of her father earned a small wince. There wasn't any reason to bring him up, was there? What is this all about, Miss Ji-yeon?

If Shinobu had thought of asking that question aloud, though, she wouldn't get much opportunity to, as Ji-yeon continued. She was always so magnetic, moving and speaking and existing with such boundless charisma, that even like this, it was difficult to want to yank away her spotlight. Besides, after what she'd just explained to Sonia, all about her own history, wasn't it a bit too insensitive - even for Shinobu Yaguchi - to try and redirect the conversation? There was something unsettling in her stomach, some pit of feeling that they couldn't quite place, but that hardly seemed a reason to upset any existing conversation.

After a few moments, Ji-yeon loosened her arm from around Shinobu's shoulder, making space in such a way that it seemed the three of them were all together, rather than any two of them with a third on the outside. "But, that's enough about me for now," she offered, distancing herself from the previous topic. "You're in the other 77th class, right? But, you and Shinobu-san didn't know each other until more recently?" Shinobu hadn't said as much, but she supposed it wasn't impossible to put together. She hadn't known Sonia during her first year at Hope's Peak, when Ji-yeon had been there, so it was obviously a more recent friendship.

"Mm," Shinobu agreed with a light nod. "Miss Nevermind and I only met each other last autumn." When Shinobu put it like that, it seemed like no time at all. Only half a year or so, if that. Truthfully, it had been Shinobu's intention to mark Sonia as a friend for Anzu, and Anzu alone. After their first meeting at the fundraiser, it seemed as though they got along well enough, but they always imagined that Sonia would grow tired of them. Rather, Anzu was someone more suited to her friendship.

And, indeed, Anzu had played a part in things. As extroverted as she was, she had invited Sonia out more than a few times - to cafes, shopping sprees, host clubs and the like. That would have been fine, just that. Yet, though the progression had been slow - a school lunch here, a hallway conversation there - it seemed as though more and more, Shinobu was finding herself drawn to Sonia, or acting uncharacteristically because of her.

She'd brought Sonia to her family home after Miss Hara had lost her temper, even knowing how her father would react if (and when) he learned of it. They'd exchanged Valentine's and White Day chocolates, personalized and meticulously planned, far beyond how Shinobu typically treated the holiday. She'd explained about Miss Uesugi, and the looming threat of a matchmade engagement, and then held Sonia's hands in the snow as they'd walked back to school when, in retrospect, it surely would have been easier just to allow Sonia to take her security car.

It had only been half a year, and yet it was hard to imagine her daily life without Sonia in it. Even on days where they didn't see each other at all, owing to busy schedules and unforeseen circumstances, Shinobu still thought of her. A few weeks ago, having erred in her estimation of how long it would take and thus arriving to the cinema early, Shinobu had struck up a brief conversation with a staff member, who had recommended to her a foreign horror film about the spirit of an ancestor haunting its descendants, and the efforts of a pair of shamans and a gravedigger to banish it. All the while, Shinobu had wondered, idly, in the back of her mind, whether Sonia had seen the film. If so, what she thought of it, and if not, if she'd like to see it with her.

Often, she found herself thinking of Sonia. Perhaps it had simply been too long since she'd made any sort of friend, or even considered herself capable of friendship. "We met by chance at a fundraiser for traditional Japanese arts." Ji-yeon nodded, clicking her tongue. "It makes sense that your family would be invited," she murmured, before looking to Sonia, "but it's surprising to hear that you were in attendance, too. I know those events around here are usually invite-only." Her tone of voice made it clear enough to Shinobu what Ji-yeon thought of that distinction. "Do you have a related talent, or something, Sonia-san? Ultimate Art Historian, or Ultimate Curator? Maybe, Ultimate Japanese Culture Enthusiast?" That suggestion was spoken with a bit of irony to it that, for reasons Shinobu couldn't quite place, made her bristle. "Even I've never been invited to one of the fancy fundraisers that Shinobu-san gets dragged out to, so you must have some kind of in."

"Mine too," Sonia agreed, returning Ji-yeon's smile as she watched her take her seat. "I am very privileged to have been given numerous opportunities to listen to Tchaikovsky's work in concert, and while I enjoy the ballets, it is his Opus Number 32 that is my favorite, the Francesca da Rimini. I did not know that about his romantic and sexual preferences, though." It was a shame, in a way, that he'd passed before the Bolsheviks decriminalized homosexuality for men. Then again, it was criminalized, decriminalized again, and the past two decades of LGBTQ 'rights' in Russia were diminishing year after year. She didn't approve of it, but it wasn't something she could proclaim directly either.

She also doubted that meeting a new friend was not the time to discuss history, particularly LGBTQ history when her new friend was a lesbian and Sonia herself was heterosexual. No matter what she could learn from a book, or a documentary, or a lecture, it would pale in comparison to someone's lived experience. And Ji-yeon wore her lived experience in her clothes and her words. As much as Shinobu tried to protest her friend opening up about her life, it wasn't so strange to Sonia. In a professional capacity, people opened up to her and her family all the time on official visits. The key was finding the thin line of how she could respond that didn't sound so formal, so rehearsed, but at the same time did not sound too casual or insincere.

So she behaved naturally: with raised eyebrows in interest, a pensive expression, and a nod in-between every few sentences or so as she listened to Ji-yeon Iida's story without interjecting with questions or exclamations. But first, drinks: one that Sonia caught in surprise, her face lighting up in delight. "Thank you, this is very kind of you!" She replied, her smile warm as she reached to unscrew the cap. "Strawberry Calpis is delicious, I appreciate it."

Something sweet, to listen to a rather sad and bitter story. Sonia frowned upon hearing the demise of Ji-yeon's father. In truth, she did not know what she'd do without her own: her mother's departure she considered far too many times than was likely healthy, but her father...he had so much to teach her still, and she had so much to learn. He was so often absent and Sonia did her best not to resent him for it, but to cherish the time they had together. Sometimes through music: their socio-economic statuses were different, but Sonia wondered if Ji-yeon too had enjoyed sitting beside her father when she was small, listening to him play an instrument. Sonia's experiences were hits of the 60s through 90s on electric and acoustic guitars.

Sonia nodded, continuing to listen and holding herself back from mentioning she indeed knew the Crown Prince of Japan and the French President: both had either visited Novoselic for an official visit or Sonia had come to visit them, each one complete with several days worth of talks, events, and a state dinner. It wasn't something to bond over, she felt: it instead appeared like boasting, which she felt wouldn't be appreciated."

"I am really sorry those experiences happened to you," Sonia replied once Ji-yeon had shared her life story. Sonia wasn't at fault, not really, and yet she felt compelled to apologize. Because these were people like her family, with wealth and power and with no real incentive to do much good with it beyond personal satisfaction. Ji-yeon didn't seem to recognize what she was, so perhaps she hadn't made the connection. Something Sonia was grateful for. "They should have listened, beyond your beautiful music. To your ideas, and how they could help others whose voices and songs should be heard."

She gave a questioning glance towards Shinobu, as if asking if it was okay to speak further. They seemed just as moved by Ji-yeon's story as Sonia was, and by the hurt she could see in their red eyes, it was not the first time they'd heard this story, either. She wouldn't get permission nor answers from them, though Sonia wished Shinobu could smile instead. Or at least express the same content look she'd seen on their face when Ji-yeon took the stage, when she carefully took her cello into her hands, when she'd bowed during the loud and enthusiastic applause. Shinobu had looked so at ease then, so happy then, supporting their friend.

"But," Sonia continued with a hopeful smile, "I think you are right: people must listen to what you have to say one day. You were once dedicated to your musical studies and still create beautiful music, I think showing the same passion towards politics will create something equally beautiful that so many will benefit from." Deep down, a part of her hoped that Ji-yeon could still find some joy in music: not to perform it for a crowd and on command, but for herself. More than anyone, Sonia thought, she deserved to play for herself.

[foibles-fables]

tilda x lis 🥺👉👈

oooooh yes!!! I haven't had many opportunities to stew over headcanons for these two yet, so this is the perfect chance, and I appreciate it!

who is more likely to hurt the other? I think these two were destined to hurt each other, and did so plenty of ways--Lis, by leaving (something Tilda never really healed from), and Tilda, through ANZU and other secret-keeping.

who is emotionally stronger? Lis. While she can become outwardly overwhelmed at times, she's very good at buckling that down and doing what needs to be done. Tilda's the opposite. Cool and collected on the outside, storm on the inside.

who is physically stronger? Lis! Gal grew up on a ranch and is probably still hauling all kinds of science equipment. She's got that Functional Fitness.

who is more likely to break a bone?  I feel like. Tilda. Would break something going like. Skiing, or something. I have no justification for this answer beyond the fact that the idea of Lis signing her cast is kind of adorable.

who knows best what to say to upset the other?  Lis is very blunt, but Tilda has a needling way of choosing her words to get under a person's skin. I think she'd win out.

who is most likely to apologize first after an argument?  Lis, maybe, to break the tension. Tilda has a mighty cold shoulder.

who treats whose wounds more often?  Tilda, taking care of all the tiny little wounds Lis gets while doing hands-on work with hardware.

who is in constant need of comfort?  Hmmmm both. Though Tilda is somewhat more overt/dramatic about it.

who gets more jealous?  Tilda. I get the impression that jealousy wasn't a factor that occurred on Lis's part.

who’s most likely to walk out on the other?  Well Lis left the relationship but Tilda literally went to space, so. It's a toss-up.

who will propose?  In a world where things actually worked out? Tilda would've come up with this whole elaborate lavish luxuriant very material plan to propose--only to be proposed to first, when Lis tosses her a ring while walking through the mud at one of the national parks.

who has the most difficult parents? all the parents area dead, bro. Though I can't see Tilda's guardian being very warm or easy to please.

who initiates hand-holding when they’re out in public?  Probably Tilda, as a show of possession. Lis might not be as automatically-inclined to PDA.

who comes up for the other all the time?  I feel like Tilda would flaunt Lis like a work of art (affectionate).

who hogs the blankets?  Lis. She sleeps like an absolute gremlin.

who gets sadder?  Neither of them gets outright sad often. Lis gets anxious, Tilda gets quiet and cold. Communication suffers.

who is better at cheering the other up? Both find ways to cheer the other up! Tilda lavishes Lis with plenty of words of affirmation, and Lis gets Tilda out of her own head and helps connect her to nature. Suprises her with different viewpoints, even if they're tough for her to accept.

who’s the one that playfully slaps the other all the time after they make silly jokes? Tilda. Lis's got disarming jokes.

who is more streetwise? Tilda. She had to survive posh boarding school and incredibly difficult social spaces.

who is more wise? Lis was given absolutely fantastic worldviews and advice from her mother, likely on the regular. And there are some lessons Tilda never really learned.

who’s the shyest?  Again--not specifically shyness, because Lis is plenty charismatic and outgoing (I am ignoring her HFW characterization because it's Wrong Sorry), but she has a social battery equivalent to a 2003 iPhone.

who boasts about the other more?  Definitely Tilda. Tilda boasts in general. Absolutely. Zero question.

who sits on whose lap? Think about Tilda draping herself dramatically over Lis's lap. You're welcome!!!!

[neovenatorgirlteeth]

HEHEHE HIII, what are YOUR favourite dinosaurs/prehistoric species!!

OOOOOOOHHH BAPY ITS TIME. Thanks for asking!!!! I could literally talk about dinosaurs and palaeontology for days without stopping if you’d let me. You have opened Pandora’s box and it ain’t shutting.

Sosososo I’ve always been a fan of the sauropods, and Brachiosaurus was my first favourite dinosaur, but it was pretty quickly overtaken by Sauroposeidon!! This behemoth from middle Cretaceous USA has often been restored as a pumped-up Brachiosaurus due to its incomplete nature, leading to height estimates of up to 18m tall!!!! MAKING IT THE TALLEST ANIMAL TO EVER EXIST!!!!!! That’s pretty sick in my opinion, though more recent estimates have shaved it down to a still impressive 15m after considering its place on the sauropod evolutionary tree, closer to the titanosaurs than Brachiosaurus is. Sorry I couldn’t help but say my piece about Sauroposeidon while I had the opportunity. It’s still my favourite dinosaur, though the mysterious Bruhathkayosaurus did hold the title for a little while when I was like 8? 9? And I sometimes consider Dreadnoughtus to be joint favourite thanks to a combination of Prehistoric Planet and some talks that I listened to by its discoverer, Kenneth Lacovara.

OTHER FAVOURITE (non avilaean) DINOSAURS INCLUDE, in no particular order:

SAUROPODOMORPHS

Dreadnoughtus, as I mentioned

Unaysaurus

Argentinosaurus

Apatosaurus, PALAEOACCURATE ONLY

Mamenchisaurus

Liaoningtitan

Brachiosaurus

Dzharatitanis

THEROPODS

Dakotaraptor, thanks to Saurian

Latenivenatrix

Zhenyuanlong, thanks to Steve Brusatte

Therizinosaurus

Anzu, again, Saurian

Khaan

Yutyrannus, particularly when restored with the headcrest

Juratyrant

Gorgosaurus

Metriacanthosaurus

Saurophaganax, mainly because it has a kickass name

Carcharodontosaurus

Neovenator, obviously

Eustreptospondylus

Baryonyx

Oxalaia, which is really fun to say

Masiakasaurus

Dracovenator, like Dilophosaurus but more obscure. And from South Africa.

Coelophysis

ORNITHISCHIANS

Triceratops

Turanoceratops

Protoceratops, thanks to Dinosaur Planet

Stegoceras

Aralosaurus

Edmontosaurus, particularly E.annetens

Saurolophus

Charonosaurus, like Parasaurolophus but more obscure. And from China.

Maiasaura, because in BestInSlot hated it in Jurassic World Evolution so it reflexively became one of my favourites out of spite/pity. It’s also cool in its own right don’t get me wrong.

Orodromeus. Hee hee. She dig

Lurdusaurus. I actually think it was Beasts of Bermuda that sold me on this one

Altirhinus. The schnoz on this man

Iguanodon

Rhabdodon

Dryosaurus

Heterodontosaurus

Scelidosaurus, particularly after seeing Prehistoric Kingdom’s rendering of it

Jakapil, newly discovered and straight on the list babey

Stegosaurus

Tuojiangosaurus. Spikey

Sauropelta

Borealopelta. WE KNOW WHAT COLOUR IT WAS!!!!

Ankylosaurus

Saiachania. Yes it is because of Dinosaur King.

Crichtonsaurus

Ok I lied there was an order. I sorted them by taxonomic Order. Also sorry there was so many I kept thinking of more. That was 52 I total??? 53 if you include Sauroposeidon. I just couldn’t decide.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!!!!!

Particularly as of recent, I’ve become really interested in non-dinosaurs, particularly the megafauna of Cenozoic South America. Though I do have a side blog dedicated to lomg whale Basilosaurus, it’s tying with the terror bird Devincenzia for the top spot I think.

OTHER FAVOURITES INCLUDE:

BIRDS

Kelenken, another terror bird

Gastornis, thought to be terror bird-esque up until recently when it was revealed to be a fruit eater

Dinornis, the Moa

Hieriaaetus, Haast’s Eagle

Confusciousornis

Anchiornis, if you consider it a bird

Vegavis

MAMMALS

Megatherium, the largest of the giant ground sloths

Doedicurus

Panochtus

Macrauchenia

Toxodon, which probably lived like a hippo

Thylacosmilus

Hyaenodon, in all its many species

Enteldon, my favourite of the Entelodonts

Embolotherium, the best looking brontothere imo

Chalicotherium

Ancylotherium. I would say thanks to walking with beasts but I think that applies to too many animals here.

Deinotherium

Platybelodon, which I stumbled across in an old encyclopaedia with a friend and had a good laugh at

Coelodonta

Paraceratherium

Leptictidium. The schnoz on this man.

NON-DINOSAURIAN ARCHOSAURS

Hatzegopteryx. WHADDA GAL AMIRITE?

Barbaridactus, thanks to Prehistoric Planet

Tupandactylus

Tropeognathus, thanks to Walking With Dinosaurs, even if they do call it Ornithocheirus.

Thalassodromeus

Istiodactylus

Germanodactylus

Archosaurus. The schnoz on this man

Silesaurus, which is NOT a dinosaur

Desmatosuchus

Saurosuchus, a big land croc

Redondasaurus, one of the largest Phytosaura

Erythrosuchus, with its huge stupid head

Areripesuchus

Dakosaurus, a sea croc

Plesiosuchus, one of the largest sea crocs

Purussaurus

Barinasuchus

Quinkana, the last of the land crocs

NON-ARCHOSAURIAN SAUROPSIDS

Varanus priscus, aka Megalania

Mosasaurus

Tylosaurus

Thalassotitan, also because it has a kickass name

Platecarpus

Pliosaurus, particularly P. rossicus

Kimmerosaurus

Rhomaleosaurus

Tuarangisaurus

Nothosaurus

Temnodontosaurus

Opthalmosaurus

Tanystropheus. NECK

Longisquama

Coelurosauravus. It’s a liddle flying lizard!

Scutosaurus. Chonky dude

NON-MAMMALIAN SYNAPSIDS

Inostrancevia, thanks to Primeval

Lycaenops

Diictodon

Placerias

Lystrosaurus, the survivor

Estemmenosuchus

Tapinocephalus, a barrel of a beast

Edaphosaurus

Dimetrodon

Ophiacodon

NON-AMNIOTE CHORDATES

Koolasuchus, the last of the giant amphibians

Metoposaurus

Prionosuchus

Anthracosaurus

Hynerpeton, thanks to Walking With Monsters

Macnamaraspis

Xiphactinus

Thrissops

Cladoselache, a shark relative

OTHER

Arthropleura

Pulmonoscorpius

Pterygotus

Lyrarapax

Opabinia. IT HAS 5 EYES!!!!

Perisphinctes, a Jurassic ammonite

Belemnotheutis, a Jurassic belemnite

Paradoxoides, a Cambrian trilobite

Ok that’s finally everything. APART FROM THE PLANTS no I’m joking. You see what I said about days? Yeah.

Thank you again for the ask! I hope this wasn’t to much :3

[jasonsbones]

One thing I think is a lil disappointing about fans that never get past the Anime, is that there’s a lot of interesting character depth that goes into Yugi in the older manga/s0 anime Yugi is cynical. He’s darkly humoured. He’s skeptical, he’s frequently shown being annoyed or frustrated.

But he’s polite, sometimes to the point of (defensive) manipulation. His speech comes from a very careful, calculated place- you see it when he’s trying not to cause a ruckus during the fortune teller, he’s so politely trying to say ‘hey you might not be bullshit but I 100000000% know it’s bullshit but I’m too polite to say it in as many words’

Yugi is friendly, he’s polite. The fandom regularly reduces him down to this marshmallow that never has a dark thought (and I honestly love that Marshmallon is a monster he uses, and that the fucker has DAGGER TEETH). Personally, I feel part of that blame comes from the whole Shadi room bs, where what VERY LITTLE we see of Yugi’s open door is toys. When we see in Anzu’s (and that poor guy Shadi just. Turned into a zombie.) room, there’s a lot of interesting abstract representations of her and her self-perception, her dreams and desires. We don’t get that with Yugi, we see fragments of innocence. Shadi doesn’t even go in.

A lot of the early manga implies that Yugi is filled with dark thoughts- that his Yami acted on. He doesn’t regret a lot of the fucked up things he knows he’s a part of! He’s just a bit scared because it’s a whole lot to deal with (and I’m echoing sentiments from other users, tbh, about this part, but it’s also due to my recent re-read of the manga).

Yugi’s not pure. He’s kinda just... normal. He yells at kids (he even cusses some out at one point lmao over a gacha), he makes rude comments, he watches and talks about porn videos with his friends. He just starts his story with an EXTREME sense of self-doubt and extremely poor self esteem and self image. Honestly, I could see Yugi on his own getting into some dark places, or living quietly while never seizing opportunities outside of high school. His friends, his relationship with Yami/Atem, brought out the good qualities he already had. That’s what having friends does- and a part of him probably understood that, the lonely kid that he was.

Sometimes you see a seed of good and you know you need more tools to cultivate them. Yugi needed friends, and worked hard to obtain and keep them, and yet, almost the entire story, he’s thinking that it’s not due to his own inner strength to keep going and keep trying.

Honestly... also. I think if Yugi were a pure character... he wouldn’t have defended Jou, or saved Seto. “Pure” people have this habit of expecting everyone to be morally perfect, or make the right choice every time without guidance or help. It’s hard for them to see how traumatised people aren’t perfect model examples of how to deal with trauma, why isn’t your suffering more beautiful, less filled with hatred and vitriol? Yugi isn’t, has made mistakes and been harsh in anger, knowingly used dark dangerous magic to protect his friends- and so he doesn’t expect perfect trauma from others.

It’s a good quality to have.