#Asakusa Kid

[bleuskais]

Oizumi Yo in Kiba: The Fangs of Fiction (2021) || Asakusa Kid (2021)

[incorrecteizouken]

Kanamori: So it was a good movie. It wasn’t a great movie, but how often do you see a great movie?

Asakusa: Oh, I saw a great movie last night. Yeah, it was on the late show. It was… um…uh…uh…oh, what was it called? It’s a classic. It's…um…uh…oh, I hate this! I hate it when this happens!

Kanamori: Well, what was it about?

Asakusa: Uh, it’s about this newspaper tycoon and he’s dead and everybody’s telling stories about him and…

Kanamori: It’s Citizen Kane.

Asakusa: No, that���s not it. No, no, no, no. But it’s something like that. It’s uh…it’s um…

Kanamori: Okay, who was in it?

Asakusa: Orson Welles is in it. And it’s called…

Kanamori: Then this is Citizen Kane. It’s Citizen Kane.

Asakusa: No, that isn’t it. That isn’t it, but you’re not far from it. It’s uh…

Kanamori: Well, who else was in it?

Asakusa: Uh…I don’t know.

Kanamori: Was Joseph Cotten in it?

Asakusa: What else has he been in?

Kanamori: The Third Man, The Magnificent Ambersons…

Asakusa: Oh, The Magnificent Ambersons! Yes! Yes, yes, he was in it! Oh, that’s one of my favorite Orson Welles movies!

Kanamori: Well, this is definitely Citizen Kane then. You’re talking about Citizen Kane.

Asakusa: No…no, no. But it’s…it’s something like that.

[thoughtsforsoob]

txt!being called pretty boy by their s/o

a/n: I’ve actually been to the hello kitty store mentioned in Kai’s part :) I went to Tokyo recently and stayed in Asakusa (where that store is located). If you’re ever gonna go to Japan and love hello kitty, I highly recommend that specific store bc…if you didn’t know, there are hello kitty stores ALLLLLL OVER Japan. Not even kidding. I think I spend over $400 just on hello kitty merch, snacks, etc… I may have a little obsession :) anyways, enjoy and requests are always open

[lyranova]

Hi guys! So this is my first Fire Force Oneshot in well over a year, I apologize for that. I’m still not 100% back into my old fandoms yet, but I’m getting there! I’ve been working on this oneshot off and on for about…a year think 😅. So I hope you all enjoy and I apologize if it’s a bit OOC. Also this oneshot is based off THESE headcanons 🥰!

Word Count: 1,749

Warnings: None

———

“ I’m not doing it.”

“ Please Beni, it’s only for a couple of hours. Please!”

“ No, I’m not doing-.” Beni started as he suddenly watched his wife grab her bag and walk towards the door.

“ Thanks dear! I’ll see you two in a few hours!” She shouted over her shoulder before she walked out of the house, Benimaru was suddenly left standing there, in the doorway, with his mouth partially open in disbelief.

Earlier this morning his wife had asked him to watch their daughter, Natsuki, while she went to the market for a few hours. Of course he refused, not because he didn’t want to spend time with his daughter, but because he had never spent time alone with her. Even though Benimaru looked calm on the outside, on the inside he was almost uncharacteristically nervous!

He looked over at his daughter, who looked right back at him with an almost curious gaze. She was probably wondering why her mother was leaving her with someone with little experience. He almost chuckled at the thought, if he were Natsuki he wouldn’t trust him either.

Benimaru walked over to her, picked her up out of her highchair, and gently held her in his arms.

“ Alright, looks like it’s just you and me today, kid.” He told her with a sigh, he looked down and saw what appeared to be a look of skepticism on his daughter's face. “ What? It’ll be fine.” He added with a shrug, but just in case things happened to go awry, he walked over to his house phone and decided to give Konro a call.

When Konro answered he knew exactly what this call was going to be about. Beni’s wife had informed him a few hours ago that she would be leaving the two alone and that he wasn’t allowed to help Beni unless it was an emergency.

“ I’m not coming to help you if that’s what this call is about.” Konro said with a small chuckle, he heard Beni make a weird noise as he had been caught.

“ I need your help Konro. I-, Natsuki stop squirming, I-, please Natsuki I don’t want to drop you!” Benimaru muttered as he wrestled the squirming child, Konro chuckled again as he listened to the father argue with his daughter.

“ Beni, you don’t need my help, you don’t even need your wife’s help with this.” Konro said as Benimaru scoffed on the other end of the line.

“ Of all the people in Asakusa I didn’t expect you to be the one to lie to me Konro.” He muttered, of course Konro had told small white lies in the past, but not blatant ones like this.

“ I’m not lying. I don’t think you realize how good you are with Natsuki. Wasn’t it you who was the first person to tell what her different cries meant? And not to mention you’re pretty much a pro when it comes to feeding her.” He pointed out.

“ Those things were just luck.” Benimaru muttered, Konro sighed.

“ If that were true do you really think your wife would have left you two alone, and for hours at that?” Konro asked, they both knew he had a point, if Beni’s wife really thought he wouldn’t be able to handle it she would have asked Konro to go over there, or she just would have taken Natsuki with her.

“ You…have a point.” Benimaru muttered, he glared slightly as the older man chuckled.

“ Listen Beni, you can do this. I know you’re nervous since this is something different and something you have very little experience in, but do you really think you’re the first and only parent who's ever felt like this when they were left alone with their kid for the first time? I bet if you ask any parent in Asakusa they’d tell you what I just did.” Konro could just see Benimaru looking away and rubbing his neck nervously. Konro chuckled, he probably knew Beni better than Beni knew himself.

“ You’ll be alright, besides, it’s only for a couple of hours right? You can do this.” Konro reassured him, and Beni just sighed.

“ Fine…but if something goes wrong, then I’m going to tell my wife it was all your fault because you didn’t help me.” Beni told him, to which Konro chuckled in response.

“ Alright, that sounds pretty fair to me.”

The men hung up and Benimaru looked at the now settled baby in his arms and gave her a slightly strained smile. He could do this, it wasn’t like he was fighting a hundred infernal’s right? He could do this.

At least that’s what he thought.

Things started off great after Benimaru had gotten off the phone with Konro, he and Natsuki had lunch and he had hoped that maybe she would try to take a nap.

But that didn’t happen.

Actually the complete opposite happened, instead of getting tired like he thought she would, she got a burst of energy. She began to crawl around and reach for things even though he would try to stop her, she accidentally knocked things over and broke them, and at one point had somehow locked herself in Benimaru and his wife’s closet! Benimaru sighed as he finally found Natsuki just sitting on the floor of the closet, playing in her parents clothes.

“ Natsuki, you’ve been crawling around for nearly an hour. Aren’t you tired yet?” Benimaru asked as he picked his daughter up and held her in his arms, she suddenly giggled and tried to squirm around in his arms which told him that no, she wasn’t tired yet.

“ Captain! Captain!” Benimaru suddenly heard someone shout as they went running through his house, the dark haired man turned and looked, it was one of his brigade members.

“ What’s going on?” Benimaru asked as Natsuki finally stopped squirming and looked at the man who was trying to catch his breath.

“ Captain, there’s two Infernal’s in the marketplace! I think it’s the old fisherman and his wife!” The man said quickly after he caught his breath, Benimaru nodded seriously before following the young man out of his house.

Benimaru knew he couldn’t bring his daughter with him as he went to take care of the Infernals, but as he looked at the younger members of his brigade, he didn’t trust them with his daughter. They were slightly nervous, sweat was collecting on their brows and their hands were trembling slightly.

“ Beni! Have you heard about the Infernals already?” Konro asked as he ran up to the younger man, Benimaru suddenly turned and handed Natsuki off to Konro.

“ I did and I’ll take care of it. While you take care of Natsuki.” He told him quickly before following behind the younger members of the brigade towards the market.

“ W-Wait Beni! Beni!” Konro shouted after his younger friend, but sighed as he was ignored. He looked down at Natsuki with a small smile. “ Looks like it’ll be just us for a bit huh?”

———

After Benimaru and his brigade took care of the Infrenals they began to rebuild what they had destroyed during the conflict. Benimaru had wanted to stay and help out, but his brigade members insisted he go home and be with Natsuki, that they could handle it and he could help out tomorrow.

Benimaru eventually gave in and slowly began to walk back to his home. It always took a toll on him whenever he had to put down an Infernal, especially when it was someone he saw on a regular basis such as the fisherman and his wife. He hoped that there would come a day where he would no longer have to do this, that he and his friends and family could all just live in peace without the worry of Infernals and Spontaneous Human Combustion.

As Benimaru finally made it to his home he was pulled out of his thoughts by a near whining noise, and as he looked up he saw Natsuki struggling against Konro’s grip.

“ Are you alright?” Konro asked as he stood up and walked over to his young friend. Benimaru reached out and took his daughter from him and held her tightly in his arms, which she reciprocated.

“ No. But I will be.” Benimaru muttered as his daughter wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, he almost wanted to laugh, it was as though she knew he needed a hug.

As he and Konro parted ways and Benimaru walked into his house with his daughter in his arms, he silently hoped that the day of peace would come sooner rather than later. For his daughter’s sake at least.

Another hour passed before his wife came home, she quietly announced herself before slipping her shoes off at the door. She silently walked into the house and saw her husband and daughter sitting together on the floor. Benimaru was holding Natsuki gently in his arms as he read her a story, and the two laughed at one of the passages he just finished reading.

“ You two look like you’ve had a productive day.” His wife said softly as she entered the living room, Benimaru smiled softly at his wife.

“ Yeah, it started out pretty rough, but we finally found our footing.” He told her as he glanced down at his daughter, who began to rest her head against his chest tiredly.

“ I heard about the Infernals…are you okay?” His wife asked as she crouched down beside him and gently moved some of his dark hair out of his face. She knew that he probably wouldn’t be okay for a long time, he always took these things harder than he would ever let anyone know.

“ I’m…I’m getting there, Natsuki’s been a big help.” Benimaru admitted quietly as the young girl in question closed her eyes and began to drift off into sleep.

“ I’m glad she was able to help,” His wife kissed the top of his head before reaching out towards Natsuki. “ Here I’ll take her to bed.”

As his wife reached out towards their daughter Benimaru moved her away and shook his head.

“ No, I'll take her to bed.”

“ But-.”

“ I’ll do it. Just sit down and relax, I’ll be right back.” Benimaru insisted as he stood up and carried their daughter towards her room as his wife watched them walk away with a fond smile on her face.

The two seemed to have bonded even more while she was away, which is exactly what she had hoped for.

———

Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you have a good day 🥰!

[aozui]

POKER FACE previous series masterlist next OOO: IWAIZUMI’S PHONE warnings - language, crude humor, suicide joke, mention of g*n currently playing devil’s advocate by the neighborhood

- very much a rich kid friend group, sue me!! issei is flat broke but iwa insists he mooches off of him especially with all he does for the nightwing movement. MAN IN THE CHAIR ISSEI! WHO CHEERED

- trust fund baby iwa owns about five properties, frequents two. introduces himself as an entrepreneur but he really just dabbles in real estate and occasionally trades stock.

- 1: a penthouse in asakusa, and 2: safehouse/hideaway in nakano. 45 minute drive distance between each location

- mattsun has his own place but guess who’s penthouse has three extra guest rooms? + issei’s whole coding system is set up there #hacker #computersciencegraduate #IT #techbro

- if you skipped over alisa & omi’s tweets because you read the yn introductions, read again :) they’re different

- minor detail but — old money: yn, omi — new money: iwa, alisa

- mattsun knows jackshit about bikes omi’s is actually an all black kawasaki h2 <3 biker boy I love you

- everything pre-timeskip haikyuu is canon here, except after, makki drifted away from the group and oikawa’s lore is … yet to be revealed for now . just know they are NOT on good terms

- slight alisa x issei but it is most definitely not endgame sorry! think of it more as a flirty friendship I guess

- iwaissei are co-parenting a tuxedo cat named danny devito

- nods to @nectardaddy’s mirage ! (sorry for the mini spam dodger)

TAGS @nectardaddy @nekozaki @yogurtkags @s1ckntw1st3d @anqelfries @akaakeis @corvid007 @moonstros1ty @thatonecroc @chososcamgirl

[byou-shin]

my sim style : male sim edition

just want to show my sims :D unedited cas screenshots of them with some weird clippings here and there

Their names~

Adam｜Glenn

Morgan｜Gabriel

Shakir｜Farhan

Longwei｜Radu

Xion｜Randa

Minato｜Blade

Nozomi｜Moa

Asakusa｜Taiga

Also I changed my mind switching reshade to gshade cuz apparently I had to delete my game too to completely remove reshade from it? Nah.... with my circumtances rn I don't think i'm able to work it all out :')

Some sims commentary~

Adam - I changed him a liiiitle bit (skin and some adjustment), he looks like a doll more than before haha, so cute and pretty <3 just like I concept in my head at first, a sickly-looking gothic vampire-child doll Xion - honestly I'm still thinking whether i want him to be in Paradise Prison universe or not... if he's in PP i wanted to make him the first "Adam", since his real name is also Adam. So the little Adam could be called Adam (Xion)'s child (he's 32 (in human age) btw). If he was in normal universe, I want to make him a tattoo artist in Shibuya district. Idk! Radu - he's basically the backbone of my sims haha (actually tho! He's made of Blade, I just aged him up to late 40s lol <3, but I used him sometimes as a base to make another base since 2022.. :D) so yea there would be some clones of this guy, whether it's Blade clone or Radu clone in the future I think... like HE'S THE BEST LOOKING sim I've ever made TT3TT)9 Asakusa & Taiga - at first I want to make them in a deathcore band but I'm too lazy to make other members ngl lol. Asakusa is basically an "older brother" to Taiga since he lived poor and since kid he always sneak into Sakusaku's room to sleep together aaah they're really cute broskiz

[keouil]

and this is the light that arrives despite everything

"i think megumi deserves the world," gojo says. "but since that’s in short supply these days, aren't we the next best thing?" 4k. gojo/shoko. angst. also on ao3.

The whole thing is laughably, dryly, almost pathetically clinical. 

“What do you know?” is the first thing Shoko asks as soon as they’re out of the legal office, Gojo’s hand at the small of her back guiding them back into the town car. She turns halfway, seizing half his arm before looking up at him. “What do you know.”

Asakusa was beating down on them like bullets fired long range, the harsh winds of October whipping and lapping against her black knee-length dress and his navy blue dress suit. Formal wear, the summons demanded. For the formal signing. The legal aid had been enamoured with Gojo from the get go, and Shoko had the vaguest thought had he actually propped up his shoe and told him to lick it clean, he would have. He fawned over him the entire time and tried to put as much of a good word for himself and his services, all the while completely missing the coil in Gojo’s shoulders nor his uncharacteristic silence at such open displays of admiration.

Shoko tried to give him as many outs.

Her hand poised above the paper, pen lingering in her hand, looking to him for the nth time and looking closely enough to detect any miniscule—however profoundly tiny—hint of hesitation on his part that she was prepared to carry over into hers and decide for the both of them then and there. But there he just stood for an hour, stone-faced and jaw set in determination, never leaving her side through the whole thing; present in a corporeal sense, but emotionally so displaced he might as well not have been there at all.

“Gojo,” Shoko tries again, softer, tugging on the sleeve of his coat. 

Gojo’s hair covered half his eyes, making them even more hooded and unreadable in the rain. He doesn’t say anything, but she feels the hand on her back move a little. Flexing, shifting, grounding. His other hand was clutching an envelope of papers, this very real proof of the very real thing they just did that was going to change the trajectory of both their lives forever in a very real way.

“I told you,” he says, the single blue glint from the corner of his eye arresting, biting, dousing; so much more weighted than the raging downpour. “It's just a feeling.”

It started with Getou, because all things do.

Shoko stumbled on one of the gravel paths, a hand immediately coming up to stabilize her around the elbow. “Shit,” she swore under her breath, grimacing down at the awkward bend in her ankle as she grabbed unto Gojo’s sleeve for purchase. “Just great. Shit, fucking—”

“The kids are here,” came his low reply at her side, subdued. 

Shoko braved a glance around the cemetery, autumn foliage peppered throughout the area and the sky streaked golden orange. “No,” she surmises. “No, they’re not.”

“They are,” Gojo responded in turn, leveraging the hand on his arm to guide them into one of the nearby benches by a willow tree. “They’re masking their cursed energy, but I can sense them. They’re not far away.”

Shoko winced slightly as she’s gently guided down to sit. “But why? How could they even know about this?” she inhaled sharply, testing her leg and not missing the way Gojo didn’t let go of her until her weight settled. Even then he hovered. “More importantly, what’s the point?”

“Do they need one?” Gojo crouched down on the leaves, taking her foot out to examine it. “They’re kids. Freaky killer twins.”

Shoko can't think of a reply, instead settled for just observing him slowly working her out of the heels Utahime made her wear if for propriety’s sake than anything. It’s a metaphorical funeral, she argued earlier that morning as Utahime dabbed just the slightest hint of blush to her sunken cheeks. Far as I know he can burn in hell. Utahime paused, peering over her carefully, maybe crestfallen, maybe disappointed. You don’t mean that. 

And Shoko had just blinked at her reflection in the mirror, trying to summon enough bravery in her soul to swallow down that part of her that did, in fact, not mean a single thing she just said. 

Because he was still her best friend. And to grieve that version of him, if anything to conclusively close that chapter in her life this biting September winter, she could still do.

And when she saw Gojo’s hands do the clinical motions of working out the kinks in her sprained ankle, his eyes just glazed over the pavement, not even tracking anything in particular but just—in a way—suspended, thinks Shoko: Maybe this can be their metaphorical healing too.

“Alright then,” Shoko decided for both of them. “Time to get wasted.”

The bar Shoko takes him to is somewhere around Chiyoda, hundreds of university pubs lined along the main street. The sun had finally set, only the soft glow from neighboring izakayas and kushisashi stalls lighting up the busy pathway. Shoko leads them to one of the local artisan parlours that specialized in sweet whiskey, and it doesn’t escape her that Gojo immediately went for the stool next to another patron. She always did favor the corner. Getou knew. It’s a tight fit as with most izakayas this late into the rush hour, but they make it work.

“I think Yaga is going to ask me to take in the kid,” Gojo said as soon as they were settled, apropos of nothing. 

“Which one?” Shoko clarified, flagging down one of the waiters to order an extra serving of edamame and peanuts.

“Both,” Gojo supplied, reaching out to grab her beer. “But mostly the Zen’in kid.”

“Megumi?” Shoko asked.

“The one and only,” Gojo admitted wirly, a lone finger circling the rim of her Kirin. Shoko frowned at the beads of perspiration trickling down all the way down to the wooden countertop, and holds the bottle above just enough to wedge a coaster in. She felt Gojo’s hands linger on hers for a second before continuing, still as quietly, “He thinks it’s going to be a good exercise in responsibility or whatever.”

“Because that’s always a solid reason to take up foster parenting,” Shoko mused. 

“He’s going to be a jujutsu sorcerer,” Gojo added distractedly, still playing with the lining of her glass and palming it. “Most Zen’in kids manifest cursed energy young. It’s rare if they don’t.”

“Gojo,” Shoko said, inspecting him more carefully now, and: “Gojo,” she tried again, when he still won’t meet her eye, more a question than a statement, “You’re not seriously considering this.”

Gojo shrugged. “Why not?” he said. “He has no one.”

“You have no one,” Shoko pointed out.

Gojo looked at her square in the eye then. “I have enough.”

Shoko let his gaze linger far longer than she should have. Then she deflated, a little, just enough to take the beer out of his hands and switch it with a small glass of sweet whiskey. 

“I think I can do it,” Gojo steeled, looking at her now with intention, such open and naked desperation. “We can do it.”

“We?” Shoko frowned. “You don’t seriously mean—”

“You’ll help me, right?” Gojo interrupted.

Shoko choked a little on her drink. “W-with a child?!”

Gojo didn’t like her sputtering, and he made it clear in the open disdain on his face. “Shoko,” he swiveled in his chair a little to face her properly. “You will help me right?”

“Gojo, shut up,” Shoko snapped irately, gesturing to him with her glass as the alcohol loosened her lips along with her grief. “You cannot seriously be considering this. We cannot take care of children. We are children.”

Gojo assessed her words, mincing it in his head. She knew if it were any other day, he would have been able to logically divorce himself from the idea and realize how impractical it was and how illogical he was being. But it was a personal blow, she thinks, the knowledge that Getou not only defected from them but for kids. And when has Gojo ever made decisions that didn’t agree with his heart? She lost him the moment he even so much as considered them in the graveyard. It’s how she knows the exact moment the gears turned in his head, and can almost say the exact words, as soon as he does: 

“We’re young,” he conceded. “But they’re younger.”

-

Gojo tries again after a few years. 

“No.”

“You’re basically his mother.”

Shoko brings up a scalpel, making sure the silver glints under the lights just so. “Wanna try saying that again?” 

“It has to be you,” Gojo crosses his arms, unyielding as he leaned on one of the medicine cabinets in front of her. “It just has to.”

“But why?” Shoko argues, voice rising just a touch louder and bouncing off the thin walls of the morgue. “I can’t cook for shit. I’m always smoking. My place is always a mess. I don’t have the patience to deal with children like you do, Gojo. I don’t even do clinic hours just to avoid people.”

“Megumi likes you,” Gojo lays out plainly, like that explains everything.

“For now," Shoko insists. "When I’m not intruding on his space as a court-ordered adult assigned with the impossible task of keeping a 13-year-old alive,” she trails off. “He likes me more than you right now because I get to go away. I get to be the fun friend of his annoying guardian that occasionally visits and gives them too much ice cream. Please don’t take the fun aunt role away from me, Gojo, good lord.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Gojo takes a few steps closer to her table. “Even Tsumiki likes you.”

“She likes everyone,” Shoko waves her off, turning to arrange a few more sterilizing tools. “Tsumiki is an outlier. She’s basically raising herself at this point.”

Gojo couldn’t argue with that. “Yet Megumi is still protective of her.”

Shoko turns her head to the side, appraising him. “That’s actually a good thing, you know.”

Gojo finds himself out of words to rebut anything she’s been saying, and so settles again with, “So then whose going to protect me?”

“Ha,” Shoko scoffs, coming back up to douse a few embalming tools in alcohol. She dabs a few of them with cotton swabs, before adding sharply, “Protect yourself.”

Gojo reaches out to tug a strand of her hair. “Dunwanna.”

“What are you, a child?” Shoko makes a face, slapping his hands away. “Didn’t Yaga move you up to a special grade sorcerer? You can handle a few children.”

Gojo groans. “Then help me if it’s so easy!”

Shoko, already on her third consecutive shift of the day, decides then that was enough. It would have been fine if the request was as simple as helping to babysit once in a while, or teach Tsumiki what to do when Megumi’s fever spiked randomly, or make sure their plants stayed watered when Gojo whisked them off to random vacations. But what he was asking of her was far more grander and permanent.

“Gojo,” Shoko starts evenly, putting down her tools to regard him properly. "Don't you think Megumi deserves better than us?"

Because what even was this? Two barely qualified twentysomethings playing adults, Gojo in some way still so unprepared for the gravity of what he put upon himself but braving through the uncertainty of it all just because so much of his ethos revolved around making sure every child in the world was unharmed. Shoko gets it, really she does, because hadn’t she chosen the healer path to do something similar?  

But all the same:

Aren't they barely scrapping through? Aren't they still waking up at odd hours in the night to hear the screams from a village not even that far away from the school, endless agonizing sounds of distress and the image of a hundred curses leaking out from a single source? Aren't they, at their core, just barely passing through the bare minimum for what constitutes functional these days and have always just felt disqualified as human beings? If they can’t even take care of their best friend, a child was going to end up in a worse fate under their hands.

"I think Megumi deserves the world," Gojo says honestly, somehow having moved closer to her there was barely a foot distance between them. "But since that’s in short supply these days, aren't we the next best thing?"

"You know I've always been proud you took them on despite everything," Shoko admits, her gaze softening. "But I think you forget sometimes, Gojo, that you never should have had to. It wasn’t fair on you. We were kids ourselves then. We're kids now, don't you think?"

Gojo surveys her quietly for a moment. "What would you have me do then?"

"Something, anything," Shoko reasons, stepping closer an inch. "I can't — He can't — Megumi is a genuinely good kid, and we got lucky, but—” she stops. “...The violence will ruin him."

"You think I like this?" Gojo gestures to the morgue, their predicament, their unending grief. "If there was a way to guarantee the Zen’in aren’t going to kill him in his sleep, I would have shipped them off overseas the moment Toji died.”

Shoko looks at him a little sadly. "I think," she says, gently. "That you're just doing your best."

“Then do it with me,” Gojo pleads, also stepping closer. “Please.”

“Even if I wanted to,” Shoko reminds him, softening her tone. “I’m leaving.”

Gojo snaps out of it just like that, his features greying and morphing. “No,” he scoffs hotly, taking a step back. “No, you’re not.”

And really it’s that dismissal, Shoko thinks, this so casual wave of his hand that commanded reality bow to him like he’s used to for years; that sparks her ire. She was coming into her own, like most women were their age, she thinks. But God forbid she thought of anyone else aside from herself.

“I know you’ve been ignoring me for the past three months I’ve been telling you,” Shoko begins carefully, trying to reason with him. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I am leaving. It’s just for a few years. Just until I get my license.”

“Why can’t you get it here?” Gojo demands, a mean line etched into his brow.

“They don’t offer a license in RCT-aided invasive procedures in Japan,” Shoko explains slowly, the argument rolling off her tongue easily the many times she’s had to spell it out for him. “This is a good thing, Gojo.”

“I’ll make them offer it,” Gojo huffs, already pulling up his phone. 

Shoko stops him with a hand on his arm. “There are some things even the strongest can’t do, you know.”

-

A day before Megumi enrolls in Jujutsu Tech, Shoko shows up at his apartment.

“Are you sure about this?” is the first thing out of Gojo's mouth, stepping aside to let her in. The smell of sterile latex gloves and alcohol lingering in the air as she passed by. He’s grown as used to it as the smoke fumes. 

Shoko glances at him from the corner of her eye. “Are you?” she retorts. “It’s not too late to pull his application out.”

Gojo trails after her, hands in his pockets, silent and contemplative.

Shoko sets down the bags of takeout on the kitchen counter. “You’re his legal guardian,” she reminds. “He’s your kid.”

“Your name is on the application form,” Gojo supplies, coming up to help unload some of the containers into clean bowls. “As well as your SSS details.”

Shoko rummages around for forks and spoons, moving out and about the kitchen with ease. “Right,” she nods, conjuring two identical mugs they bought on a summer trip in Busan. “And you’re sure the Zen’in are coming after him either way?” 

“I’m almost positively sure they marked his grave as soon as his energy manifested,” Gojo elaborates, moving their food to the living room table. Saying a little louder, adds, “He has the thing.”

“What thing?” Shoko pipes back, going back and forth between two bottles of soda. 

“The Zen’in thing,” Gojo offers, then adds, “And I want Coke.”

A beat. “Shit,” Shoko looks up from pouring their drinks. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Gojo confirms.

A few more sounds of shuffling feet and utensils clicking together before Shoko finally settled down beside him on the floor, moving his Coke—with 2 sugar cubes added—towards him. “What does this mean? For Megumi being a Zen’in?”

“Not sure yet,” Gojo reveals, transferring his walnut shrimp—Shoko’s favourite—to her plate. “Hopefully nothing for now.”

“What did Yaga say?” Shoko urges, shoving a piece of spring roll into her mouth.

Gojo reaches over to wipe a crumb off the corner of her mouth, before leaning back to rest his back on the couch. “He’s looking into it.”

“And what does Megumi think?”

“He doesn’t know.”

A beat again. “But,” Shoko starts. “You’re going to tell him, right?”

Gojo thinks on it, allowing himself the space to be doubtful and hesitant, a state he’s not familiar with expressing publicly and in such close quarters for the world to see. It’s a vulnerability, he thinks, this unmasking; even just the very idea of looking anything out of place. It’s a luxury he so rarely gave himself, but found himself slipping into almost seamlessly when it’s just them, like this: Gojo’s favourite takeout food sprawled in his living room table, Shoko’s favourite jazz blues on repeat on the turntable, her bare foot just barely touching his pant leg under the table as their shoulders brush.

“I’ll think about it,” he concludes. 

-

Gojo doesn’t.

He never gets the chance to because as soon as he tries getting his thoughts in order, no sooner is he plagued with dreams of Shibuya in hell: bodies haphazardly thrown about the crossing, blood leaking and purging and streaking from every corner, the shouts of so many people in agony and death it was hard to separate it from the own ringing in his ears. Sukuna in monster form. Nobara with a bloody eye. Nanami eviscerated. Yuuta wearing a skin so much like own but with his particular brand of anxiousness the similarity would have been jarring if it wasn’t so frightening.

It’s not quite a dream, something so visceral as that.

No, Gojo thinks, It’s an omen.

-

“What do you know?” Shoko tries again, some time after the signing, when Gojo was supposed to take them back to the school but told his driver to make a detour to some rundown hole-in-the-wall cafe by the slums of Kabukicho. The coffee was bitter and he was already on his fifth sugar cube for the iced tea. Shoko tries again: “Gojo,” she urges, levelling him with a look. “Seriously.”

Gojo gives her an easy, clipped smile. “Nothing,” he replies, but the foundation is a little cracked and she sees right through it. “I told you. It’s just a feeling.”

“I don’t trust your feelings,” says Shoko, leaning back into the chair. She feels Gojo absentmindedly play with the tips of her hair no sooner. He’s always been more physical when agitated. “I don’t trust you right now, to be honest.”

That amuses him if anything. “No,” he says, the ghost of a smirk on his face. He just looks haunted. “I don’t think you do.”

Shoko takes in his features—the gaunt in his posture and the loss of all pallor in his normally so vibrant skin—contemplative. “You don’t just suddenly cash in a favor you’ve been hounding me for since we were eighteen in a span of a few days,” she surmises. “You forced my hand. You never do that. Why.”

“Did I?” Gojo lifts a brow, feigning ignorance. “Remind me again, who insisted she be put down as Megumi’s emergency contact at the hospital?”

“This is exactly what I’m talking about,” Shoko’s anger is a slow crawl, dangling nearer and nearer the edge as she leans closer to try to meet his eye. “You never used Megumi like this before. You know I will always, always cave where he’s concerned. I just want to know why you’re doing this now, and not for like, the past five years.”

“If you already care that much about him, what about making it official was so hard?” Gojo sneers at her, his ire like a firecracker once lit up. Too bright and too dangerous all at once.

“Gojo,” Shoko evens out her breath, counting to three in her head. He wasn’t seeing logic now, and so she had to. “You weren’t just asking me to be his legal guardian if—God forbid—you’re not able to anymore,” she exclaims. “You told me Megumi wasn’t getting a lick of your money or clan protection if I didn’t agree with your plan. You backed me into a corner and used my affection for him against me.”

Gojo already has his mouth to retort, but Shoko shuts him up with her own no sooner.

“You keep saying we have to look out for each other now that no one else will,” Shoko reiterates, voice still eerily leveled and calm. “But friends don’t force each other into impossible decisions like the one you just did and expect me not to ask questions. I’m not even mad, not really,” she slumps in her shoulders a little, maybe frustrated but more so tired, just trying to meet his stubborn wayward gaze. “I just want to know why.”

“Isn’t securing Megumi’s future reason enough?” Gojo challenges, still not looking at her. He was still close—closer now, even—the physical space he took up growing more and more suffocating.

“It should be,” Shoko confesses. “But Gojo,” she continues, her tone sharpening just a fraction, before: “You asked me to be your wife.”

Silence.

Then:

“I told you it’s just on paper,” Gojo says dismissively, just a second too soon or maybe too fast, the glint on his ring finger he was gesturing at her accosting. The one tied to her hand suddenly felt like the weight of the world. “The estate is easier to pass on this way while he’s still a minor. I told you this already.”

“You made it clear that was the only way Megumi was going to stay supported,” she goes off, voice gaining steel. “What the fuck was I supposed to do?”

“You could have said no at any point,” Gojo tells her, a relentless and unforgiving bite to his words.

That just about did it for her. “I have said no. Countless of times over countless of years. I told you I was always going to take care of him no matter what happens and that I don’t need a goddamn paper to force me to.”

Gojo levels her a look of such restrained boredom she knows it’s also taking an effort on his part to play this off. Like they didn’t just sign death sentences for each other. Except she was the only one falling through the cracks and he refused to let her know why.

“I understand clan marriages operate on a different wavelength than us mere humans,” Shoko breathes out, trying to labor her nerves. She can feel the beginnings of a rumble make their way to her chest, lending her words a shaky tenor she can’t quite get to settle as easily as he usually did. Gojo always got her to come undone at the snap of a finger. “But have you even asked me just once—even just once—these past few years why I had such a problem with it? That maybe I didn’t want to be married, fake or not?”

Some distance away the door to the cafe opens, the wind chimes signalling the arrival of a new customer. Instead of the usual wind flute, however, an ominous villain laugh played from the overhead speakers. Halloween was a few days away, and Tokyo took its decorating seriously. Shoko sees Gojo studying a group of guys wearing oni masks, his gaze unusually tight and even more oppressive than usual. If possible he was growing more agitated by the second, telltale sparks of purple energy unconsciously spiking from the tips of his fingers. 

“Gojo.”

Gojo’s eyes snapped back to her, the blue in them blazing and fueled with adrenaline. That told her everything she needed to know, and maybe should have known so much sooner, she thinks: the moment he all but hunted her down to her apartment and forced her to sign their marriage papers and execution of will, all hurried hands and disoriented six eyes as he rambled on and on about a fucking feeling.

“What do you know?” Shoko forces out slowly, arresting his stare in hers, a little breathless. “Just tell me. Maybe I can even help.”

She watches Gojo take his time to calm his breath, inching closer to her, needing physical touch. Until finally, “I’d die for my students," he manages. "You know that right?” 

“The entire jujutsu world does,” Shoko provides matter-of-factly.

Gojo nods grimly. “Then just think of it as something like that. Insurance.”

“Insurance for what?” Shoko grills.

“I just need to make sure he’s safe and taken care of,” Gojo repeats, more to himself. “That—” he stops. “You all are.”

Shoko considers that for a moment. “Safe from what?”

“Everything,” Gojo says vaguely.

Shoko indulges him, if anything to at least to give him a space to pour all this apprehension in. It seemed so unlike him to unravel. “Fine then,” she grants. “What do you want me to do?”

“Toji,” Gojo says right away.

“And?” Shoko gestures for him to go on.

Gojo blinks. “That’s it—”

“And,” Shoko prods.

Gojo peers over her for a moment. “The Zen’in thing,” he says finally. “He deserves to know.”

Shoko nods. “And?”

Gojo looks defeated. “Shoko,” he begins. “That’s it, really—”

“And.”

Gojo locks eyes with her, sees the determination all but burrowed all the way to the marrow of her bones. He sighs deeply, before finally saying, “That I’m sorry he had such a shitty family. That I’m sorry I was the best he could do with. That I wish despite all of it he still learned a thing or two. That I'm—" he pauses. "Proud. Nonetheless."

Shoko feels her entire soul leak out from under her. It’s silent for a few minutes, the sound of rain pelting down the windows and the beeping of coffee machines, before she manages to wrangle enough of her voice to come out in a hoarse, dejected, maybe even a little watery, “If you would just tell me—”

“Enough.”

“Is—is it that bad?” Shoko keeps going, turning to face him properly, a pool in her voice with all her floundering. “Like Amanai bad or—”

“Stop it.”

Shoko shakes her head, snapping herself out of the memory. “I-it can’t have been that bad, right? This feeling you had. Maybe it’s just—”

“Stop talking.”

“I get visions too, you know,” Shoko continues on shaky legs, all the structure of her soul soaking out from under her. “I’m basically an insomniac. I haven’t slept since Get—”

“I said enough, Shoko!” Gojo snaps, finally, brute arms coming up to hold her by the shoulders. He was so close the blue in his eyes swam. And my god, he was drowning too.

“Enough,” he says again, gentler when he notices her flinching. “Enough,” he repeats, inch by inch bringing her back down until she can feel her limbs take form again. “Enough,” he says, finally, holding unto her still and with enough force his soul imprinted on her too. 

Now they were both underwater.

-

“Megumi and close proximity and convenience aside,” Shoko kicks at the rocks peddling their feet, walking back home from the bar they went to after Shoko demanded a nightcap, Gojo steering them into the longer route back to school. They were passing by an empty playground, Gojo already healing the alcohol from his system and Shoko unsteady on her feet as she tried walking on a balance beam. “Seriously. Why me?”

“Ieiri-san,” Gojo chides amusedly behind her, ready hands poised to steady her. “If you haven’t noticed, you’re kind of the only one I have left.”

Shoko rolls her eyes. “You didn’t even like me that much in highschool.”

“Wrong.”

“You tolerated me at best.”

“Also wrong.”

“I wasn’t even pretty yet then.”

Gojo laughs, an airy little thing, the breaths of an inside joke only he was getting taking form deep inside his soul. He catches sight of Shoko’s floundering hands vainly trying to balance herself, the golden glint of metal shining under the moonlight. 

Gojo says quietly, more to himself, voice like liquid silk as he stared after her.

“You could rip me to shreds, Shoko.”

[fextsubs]

Makoto - NTV's Downtown DX (23.12.14)

When you guys ask us if there's RRRX updates:

Makoto - NTV’s Downtown DX (23.12.14) THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE

Stream/Download

Synopsis: Makoto joins Downtown DX's Alcohol Lover SP to talk about his drinking habits, and gives us a sneak peek at what it's like to go out drinking with THE RAMPAGE.

Translator Notes: - Downtown DX is hosted by the popular comedy duo, Downtown, composed of Matsumoto Hitoshi and Hamada Masatoshi. Other guests of note in this clip are: Kudo Mio, an actress and model; Cotton, the comedy duo composed of Nishimura Shinji & Kyon; and Tamabukuro Sujitaro, a comedian and member of the duo Asakusa Kid. Raws provided by JPTV Club.

[fusulyesheep]

Ok idk where im going with this and is also past over midnight here, and Im kind of insane but wtf do you mean there is almost none fanfics nor fanarts of three eizouken girls together???? Don't get me wrong knas is really cute, kanamoei and asakusa have a wonderful dinamic + they know each other for more time, and knmz is also so cool and I love rsubame cuz she is a bit of a dork and with kanamori is funny as hell!! And mzas is just peak weird kid to weird kid communication BUT HEAR ME OUT

We can have ALL three dinamics together!!! Is right there everybody please!! I implore you! I know there is almost no people left in this fandom but rhey are the best poly relationship ever and they are dating in my head 😭

[sensitiveheartless]

Tagged by @iwritenarrativesandstuff! :D Thanks for the tag, sorry it took me a little bit —

I didn't really know what I was doing, but I tried my best!

6 characters that are me-coded (more or less):

I don't have the mental collectedness for tagging at the moment, but if any of y'all see this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged! :D

Rambling about why each character is here under the cut for the sake of space:

Nakajima Atsushi from Bungou Stray Dogs: genuinely the character I relate to the most of the BSD cast! (Which might be surprising considering my clear fixation on skk, but honestly Atsushi's plot sometimes hits a little too close to home for comfort, and I draw skk for comfort so. that is why I draw them more aksdjfksd) But yeah, Atsushi remains a very important character for me — I appreciate the fact that there's never a single moment where he just suddenly moves on from everything he's gone through, cause trauma really doesn't work like that.

Asakusa Midori from Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!: She is an art gremlin who isn't the best at interacting with other people, and who can and will go on lengthy rambles about the media she cares about. Watching her as a kid especially feels like watching myself sometimes :0

Fujioka Haruhi from Ouran High School Host Club: she is one of the first characters in anything I watched who had a gender thing going on that I truly vibed with! (Also just in general, I tend to vibe with protagonists who aren't fully on board with being protagonists, which I think Haruhi counts as aksdjfksjdf)

Rincewind Discworld from Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series: Speaking of characters who aren't on board with being protagonists, here is possibly the most reluctant protagonist to ever protagonist! The drowned rat of a wizard who spends all of his books attempting to run away from the plot, and whose happy ending is finally getting to be a side character who doesn't get involved in the main storyline! Idk man, I just find his absolutely terrified determination to stay alive relatable. Also he isn't a very good wizard, but he is trying his best, which is also relatable.

Shang Qinghua from The Scum Villain's Self Saving System: I guess continuing the cowardly-but-doggedly-determined-to-stay allive trend in this, I find Airplane very relatable the same way I find Rincewind relatable! They are disasters. I am also a disaster.

...Also he's a shitposter.

(Sidenote, but I wish I had his hands. I would dearly love to be able to write that many words a day without my joints murdering me in cold blood lol)

Ursula from Kiki's Delivery Service: This one is kind of cheating (I couldn't think of a sixth who I thought was actually like me currently aksjfksjf), but she was one of the first characters I looked at as a kid and went "I WANT TO BE THAT :O" because she lives in the woods and gets to sketch crows!! And do art!!! All the time!!! I love her. So I am putting her here as a self indulgent hope that I will become like her someday!

[rubylarkspur22]

Can we hear more about co-protagonists Tanjiro and Nezuko?

(i need to hear about the sass Nezuko will spill during the Hashira meeting)

Oh, of course!!

So! Nezuko wakes up from her coma, a little confused from her just waking(AKA the "I Just Woke Up After A Very Nice Sleep, And My Brain is Still Addled" Brain). So, she's a little confused as to why a chunk of bamboo is stuck in her mouth, and just... rips it off. And then promptly realizes her canines are significantly sharper than they're supposed to be. Noise gets her attention, and she meets the wooden eyes of Urokodaki's tengu mask.

This leads to a lot of questions while they wait for Tanjirou to come back. She definitely wasn't happy when she found out Tanjirou got sent to a mountain packed with feral and starved demons, and demands to know why her kind brother, who would never hurt a fly unless said fly swung first and hurt someone he cared for, is being sent to commit violence. Cue another long explanation about what she missed. After a minute, her brain catches up and, "Oh, yeah! I remember that dickwad! B****** just waltzed like he owned the place, too! Never caught his name, though." After those conversations, she notices Urokodaki praying for her brother's safety, and starts doing the same. She only hopes Hinokami is willing to protect her big brother now as he had when the monster attacked.

While they wait for Tanjirou, Urokodaki does also go about helping her relearn speech. And then she gives him a heart attack by walking outside midday. "How was I supposed to know I should expect a fiery death?!" "All demons instinctively fear the sun!" "Well, then, maybe I was meant to do this the whole damn time!"

Then Tanjirou comes back, and is very happy Nezuko is back to some form of her normal self. And hey, she's okay in sunlight! No need to panic about her becoming a pile of ashes! He still carries her in a box, though, sometimes. But Nezuko likes to be in the sun because it's her way of regaining her energy alongside sleep.

Asakusa rolls around, and Nezuko tries to keep Tanjirou from running off. She knows that look, she knows Tanjirou found him. But despite her protests, he still runs off. Nezuko gives chase, staying close to the shadows and other people, and watches Tanjirou confront the monster that cut down everyone else in their family like it was nothing. The siblings meet Tamayo and Yushiro, and Tamayo asks Nezuko if she's had any human flesh or blood. When Nezuko mentions she can walk in sunlight, Tamayo tells her to keep this new ability a secret unless absolutely necessary, lest Kibutsuji try to capture and devour her.

Zenitsu's portion of things go a little differently. He definitely tries to flirt with Nezuko, and she promptly threatens to use Tanjirou as a battering ram on the blond boy's skull. Nezuko and Tanjirou get separated in the Tsuzumi Mansion, which causes the former to panic because her selfless idiot of a brother has broke bones and is somewhere in this godforsaken death house, And-- CRAP, THERE'S A BOAR TRYING TO CUT HER HEAD OFF!! Yeah, Inosuke just chases Nezuko throughout the mansion until they get outside. Nezuko inevitably ends(or greatly reduces) his bloodline, which is what Zenitsu wakes up to. A guy in a boar head wheezing in pain whilst clutching the Hashibira Family Jewels, and Nezuko glaring at said boar guy with her leg raised suspiciously like she caused the damage.

And Nezuko is definitely calling Rui every insult she knows, including the ones with language she had been heavily scolded for using when her parents were alive. Kie and Tanjurou are gaping at Nezuko's language while desperately trying to cover their dead kids' ears. Yoriichi and Sumiyoshi are helping, and silently wondering how Nezuko picked up such... colourful language(spoilers, it was Saburou... By accident).

And now for the main event, the Hashira trial. Nezuko's just chilling in her box, waiting for Tanjirou to handle things, when some guy with a sword just up and STABS HER before trying to coax her out with blood. When another dude says she won't come out in daylight, she goes "Try me, b****" and pops right out. And then promptly slaps Shinazugawa, hurls at least one insult per Hashira(she isn't quite past Giyuu stabbing her for no clear reason), and picks up Tanjirou like "Don't ever talk to me or my big brother again." while glaring daggers at them. She's standing in the sun, she knows their blades must have lost their effectiveness.

While at the Butterfly Mansion, Nezuko easily bonds with the girls there. She acts so human, they practically forget she's a demon most of the time. She's also present for the talk with Shinobu about Kanae and her dream, and the two later have a girl to girl conversation about what their respective late families would want of them. And after the coin flip scene, Nezuko can't help but giggle. She recognizes a crush a mile away, having been the focus of a few back home(y'know, being the town beauty and all that). When Tanjirou asks her what's so funny, she brushes it off and insists he'll find out another time.

Mugen Train, she gets smuggled onto the train in her box. No ticket, no spell, no problem. Once the conductor leaves, she hops out and immediately goes about observing the situation. She still headbutts Tanjirou in the head, fully anticipating she'll start bleeding and be able to use that. After the train derailment, she is fully ready to fight Akaza, his personal code be damned. "Oh, you don't fight women? All the easier for me to gouge your eyes out, mf!" Akaza has never seen a girl so angry. He had nightmares for weeks, especially because of the blood arson. Does this save Rengoku? I don't know, I'll leave that up to your imagination!

Then Entertainment District comes around. Nezuko still goes Full Form, but manages to reign herself in. Luckily, being photosynthetic makes restraining her hunger much easier! This means she's conscious for the fight with Gyutaro, which makes it go in their favour with a much more instantaneous solution for that poison! Plus, that might reveal the secret of the red blades sooner!

Swordsmith's Village goes about the same. Genya probably gives Nezuko the idea to chow on demons, but I don't know how well that's going. At the end, however, as Hantengu burns in the sun, Nezuko just smirks at him before leaning down and telling Muzan(through Hantengu) that he can suck a dick, and that he'd better start praying because karma is coming for him.

During Hashira training, Nezuko takes up some sword training. Not sure what Breath she uses. Either way, she trains. When the antidote gets manufactured, Nezuko asks if she can wait to take it. Tamayo doesn't think it's a good idea, but Nezuko insists with the promise she'll be careful.

Infinity Castle, most of the fights go pretty much the same. Except the Kokushibou fight. Nezuko get sent there because the one brain cell Muzan's five brains share managed to clink in the right brain to think "Hey, the logical step to capture the super important demon is the throw her at my most powerful subordinate!" Unfortunately, he didn't account for the three Hashira and that demon-eating kid also showing up, or for Kokushibou to want to bond with his descendant. Or Nezuko being a feral gremlin who's 100% down for arson and has the power to commit it as she pleases. She definitely manages to save Genya, I am undecided on Muichirou. But Nezuko saving Genya earns her Sanemi's respect and gratitude.

Sunrise Countdown goes a little easier. No one's actively dying from poison, even if Tanjirou's still half-blind. Nezuko and Tanjirou tag team Muzan, with Nezuko striking from a range while Tanjirou goes for close quarters. As the sun rises, Nezuko jabs herself with the antidote to get her transformation back into a human started before Muzan dies. Muzan, seeing the rising sun and noticing Nezuko injected herself with something, makes one last desperate attempt to devour her, but all the Demon Slayers fight to protect her as Tanjirou pins Muzan to keep him from escaping.

Does Demon King Tanjirou still happen? Debatable. If he does, Muzan used his blood while trying to dislodge Tanjirou's grip, and eventually settled on just transferring all his blood to Tanjirou. But it doesn't last nearly as long as canon because Nezuko will have just taken the antidote. As such, she'll still have access to her Blood Demon Art. The way I see, she notices something off with Tanjirou and charge tackles him before lighting him up with several loud and tearful apologies. Because she knows it's gonna be painful but she has to burn out Kibutsuji's cells before they transform Tanjirou. The fire extinguishes as Nezuko's use of Exploding Blood actually speeds up her transformation since she's using her demonic cells to ignite the fire, but it's enough that it'll at least delay Tanjirou's transformation long enough for someone to restrain him if they need to. Kanao shows up, gives Tanjirou to booster dose to finish off the last cells, and both the siblings collapse from exhaustion. They're both unconscious for at least a couple months.

Afterwards, life goes on as normal. The lives lost are mourned, the Corps disbands(possibly with some more ex-Hashira to celebrate the end of the demons), and everyone lives happily ever after. Nezuko laments losing her demonic strength, but is also happy to be back to normal.

[pearls-notes-from-asia]

Day 5

We went to Asakusa in the morning. I asked Josh to take some photos of me + strawberry tanghulu, but they were so bad—all 11 of them—that I guffawed in the middle of the street looking at the pictures. I can't tell if it's him or me, honestly.

Other than tanghulu, we had dango, salted cucumber, mochi, Taiwanese fried chicken, matcha latte with warabi mochi, matcha beer, yakisoba, regular okonomiyaki, some carbonara okonomiyaki, and sake. (The average sake here is so much better than the nice sake we've tried at home.) Then, at the Ginza station we stopped for some hot brothy soba with yuzu. That was probably my favorite meal so far. It was a standing noodle counter in a corner of the leaking part of the station. I thought I'd be too full to have more than a bite, but I finished half the bowl.

We were originally going to get back to the Airbnb so Josh could work, but we met up with Talladas instead. It was nice to see familiar faces. They had already had an eventful morning—lost bags, three kids plus stroller on a bus in rush hour, Pokemon Mega Center. We got coffee with them and sat outside on a rooftop swapping dating/engagement stories in Sunshine City. That first picture is Savannah wandering off to admire the tiny house in the garden. Does she know she's that small too? So stinking cute.

There was Wi-fi at the mall so Josh worked for like an hour and then tried to find some shoes. Sunshine City is much better with people in it. He didn't find anything, but I found the ice cream that Michelle recommended. Cremista? It was good. Creamy but light—like actually light, no dairy aftertaste, and the cone was made out of shortbread wafer biscuit.

We got back around 6 and ordered kaisendon. I thought about how hard it must be to be Japanese in the US... how can seafood taste so different, so remarkably better in one place compared to another? We all live on the same planet. We even share the same oceans. It's a mystery, somewhat. We'll just have to enjoy the seafood here while we can.

[incorrecteizouken]

*at a restaurant*

Mizusaki: We want kids' menus!

Kanamori: You order adult food, though.

Asakusa: We still want to color.

[apoptoses]

There is SO much potential for a Devil’s Minion story set in Tokyo. Armand at his wildest, most inquisitive, playful and earnest and Daniel being his perfect partner in crime. And uhh yeah I’d like to hear more about the sexy toys vending machine 👀

It's extra good because being in a country where neither person can read or speak the language is the great equalizer. At last Daniel and Armand would be on the same playing field in some aspects.

But they would love it because the nightlife is endless there. You can find concerts and nightclubs and bars open literally 24/7 in any part of the city. There's not one street they'd walk down and find everything closed. Even when the trains stop running at 1 am there's taxis waiting to take you anywhere and for once in their lives they wouldn't have to hunt for a house party to go to because the party in Tokyo is always in public spaces and never private.

And the shopping. Good god the shopping. Every train station houses a giant multi level department store open until 9 or 10pm, full of staff bowing and bringing you anything and everything you touch. The clothing store clerks would love Armand. They would dress him up like a living doll and gush over how handsome Daniel is, and send them both out the door with bags and bags of beautifully wrapped things. And if it was festival season they would insist on putting Armand into a yukata and sweeping his auburn hair up with a kanzashi covered in dangling flowers.

(festival season would be the best, because the parades are lit by paper lanterns and run into the night. The fireworks? Insane. The little game booths? Armand would be fascinated. He'd catch tons of goldfish on the little rice paper fans and give them away to the children that have crowded around them)

Outside the stations they'd find Don Quixote, the seedy discount items store that sells everything from colored contacts to wine to hair dye. They have random small home appliances, lightly used luxury brand wallets and purses, makeup. The biggest variety of condoms you've ever seen in your life. And they're open 24 hours so Armand could look at stuff literally all night.

They'd spend one night at a high end hotel in Roppongi, with a view of Tokyo Tower. Another just outside the city where they can get a room with their own private onsen. And another-

Well, those seedy motels with no windows. Love Hotels, rented by the hour or all night. Perfect for the vampire and his mortal lover. You pick your room and pay at a machine without interacting with a human being at all. All of the rooms are themed, all of them have a giant bath tub with jets. All of them contain a vending machine full of toys. Vibrators, silicone toys meant to be fucked, you name it, they have it.

(and also most of them also contain tvs with some kind of game system, so when Armand isn't tormenting Daniel he'd be sitting on the edge of the bed playing pong)

Armand would love the goth kids in Harajuku. He'd befriend a gaggle of wasted salarymen in Asakusa. Somehow they would end up in a hostess club with every working girl there crowded around them, delighted by Armand and Daniel both and drinking champagne.

It's the wildest, weirdest week of Daniel's life and perhaps the one he loves most because it's all just fun that neither of them have ever encountered before. For once it's not just Armand discovering things but Daniel finding strange stuff to be fascinated with too, and they absolutely, positively must go back after he's turned.

[minteayoongimakesmewoozi]

Since you said any AUs... what about a 'nothing bad happens' Pokemon AU? I'm unsure if you did one of these already. People don't die/murdered, sure there might not be 'perfect' lives (Like Zenitsu still being an orphan/adopted, Inosuke growing up in the wild, etc) but Tanjiro and Ayame do still have their families. Still in the same professions, but their families want them to be happy and go on a ~adventure~ Cue Pokemon shenanigans, meet the Gym leaders(hashiras), and fight evil organizations(demons).

A sadder one... Tokyo Ghoul AU. Who would be a ghoul, is someone a 'half-ghoul'? Are they all human... or is someone lying?

;3c

a pokemon au!!!!! much like anyone my age, i too have had my pokemon phase. that being said, the only pokemon game i ever played extensively was pokemon red, and i haven't watched a pokemon episode in over a decade. so...... the pokemon i assign everyone will most likely be first gen. bc that's who i am as a person.

Pokemon!AU

- i love the idea that ayame and tanjirou still remain as blacksmith and charcoal burner ngl

- u would expect both kids to choose charmander as their starter pokemon but nope! well, tanjirou does end up with a charmander, but ayame surprisingly chooses a squirtle

- or maybe not so surprising. akihiko had chosen the same.

- but ayame finds a vulpix all alone not far from okutama and ends up catching it. she has both of them out of their pokeballs, so she kinda has two companions that accompany her on the journey

- do gym leaders take apprentices? probably not, but ayame ends up taking a shine to kyoujurou anyway and he has a ninetales, so he helps her with training her vulpix a lot. she jokingly calls him shishou at first, but then it kinda stuck

- ayame and tanjirou set off on their journey at different times but end up meeting in asakusa anyway

- i can totally see zenitsu with a pikachu, but like ash's where they don't really get along at first. eventually their relationship kinda evolves into a "i'm the only one allowed to bully them" kind of thing.

- yes, zenitsu has an all electric team. his adoptive grandfather is a former gym leader after all!

- does nezuko end up joining tanjirou on his journey? yeah sure why not. she loves fighting pokemon, although her starter pokemon is actually a poliwag. keep working hard with ur poliwag, nezuko-chan!

- much like nezuko, inosuke also prefers fighting pokemon, although his best friend is actually a cubone that he didn't fight. they just found each other in the mountains and decided to stick together. i guess because they both have masks????

- tanjirou... hm. it's hard to say what his team configuration is. there is, of course, charmander. but he also has a dratini, a pidgeotto that he evolved from a pidgey, and a growlithe. he caught an eevee in asakusa with ayame and his evolved into a vaporeon

- ayame's evolved into a flareon. she loves her flareon, but she was kinda hoping for a vaporeon too... not that she would ever admit it outloud.

- ayame's team configuration is very obviously water/fire. she wanted it to be more water, but fire pokemon are drawn to her. tanjirou always jokes it's because she's a blacksmith's daughter. she has a seel, a vulpix, a squirtle, and a ponyta. the only pokemon she has that comes as a total surprise is her gastly.

- kanao has a clefairy!!! and also an oddish that kanae helped her find. i can see her team configuration as a fairy/poison type.

- genya...... genya and a mankey. his mankey is the sweetest mankey ever and it's even funnier when genya has resting bitch face. he also has a slowpoke and a staryu, and it was both those pokemon that caught ayame's attention when they met

- who would be team rocket for these kids????? like... i know akaza and douma for sure. oh i guess that would fit. maybe they're just obsessed with tanyame's eevees turned flareon/vaporeon

Tokyo Ghoul!AU

- fjwndkwnwowk how did u know i was obsessed with tokyo ghoul once upon a time???? kaneki ken one of my og fave charas.........

- i can see nezuko as a man-made half ghoul the way kaneki was turned, which still leads to tanjirou being very concerned and overprotective of her

- the higuchis... ghouls. yeah. akihiko joins aogiri tree and ayame has her loyalties with anteiku. obviously their parents die at the hands of the ccg and it's all very tragic. she has four younger siblings to look after and it's very stressful for her

- ayame and tanjirou used to be neighbours, until her parents were killed and she was moved with her siblings under the protection of anteiku

- that being said, i guess the rengokus would be ghouls too, bc of course kyoujurou needs to look after ayame. and hey!!!! free younger sisters!!!!!! (that's not how it works, kyoujurou - )

- it does mean that tanjirou has to work very hard with the ccg, bc it's the only way he can keep up with his half ghoul sister and his full ghoul kinda childhood friend

- maybe there's some sort of trainee program for ccg hopefuls and that's where he meets zenitsu and inosuke

- inosuke... could be half ghoul ig. but like the way the quinx squad are half ghouls

- (i'm very behind on tokyo ghoul: re i'm sorry)

- i think most of the hashiras would be ghouls actually. the only exceptions would be sanemi and obanai

- genya is also a half ghoul though, but bc of experimentation bullshit that killed the rest of his siblings. that just means that sanemi is even more protective of genya - almost like a guard dog

- listen i could go on forever abt a tokyo ghoul au u have no idea

- anyway! kagune! the higuchis are ukaku-types, while nezuko has a bikaku type. inosuke is koukaku-type, and he can make two jagged blades from his forearms - they're shorter than most that will fully wrap around the arm, but that also means he can move faster because of it.

- the kochou sisters are rinkaku-types, although kanao's is actually an ukaku-type like the higuchis. the rengokus are bikaku-types, although their ideal form - so to speak - is a nine-tailed form (i'm pushing the rengoku nine-tails agenda idc). himejima is koukaku-type, same as genya, which is why genya trains with himejima almost exclusively. muichirou is rinkaku-type as well, same as giyuu. they work terribly together though. it's mostly personality incompatibility issues. tengen is ukaku-type, which means ayame also trains with him a lot - and neither of them are happy about it. mitsuri is a koukaku-type! and bc of her muscle density, she's also faster than most koukaku-types (obanai thinks that's so cool of her)

- i can see the idiots squad coming together c of a rogue ghoul that's making it seem like the attacks are from anteiku. very very dangerous for her sisters, and tanjirou just ends up coming along bc nezuko insists that they help her. also bc that's kinda his first case in the ccg training program, so zenitsu and inosuke stumble along the investigation as well.

- okay i have to stop now or i will end up writing a whole fic about this and now i want to aaaahhhh

- wait does this mean the twelve kizuki and muzan are actually the ccg...?

- (wait what if the ccg training program gives them quinques and tanjirou's somehow ends up with hanabi's.........)

[burwellsinjapan]

Day 2: Tokyo & Karuizawa

Everyone was up early again (Ollie and I by 3:30am). Emma, Ollie and I explored and found a fun park along the water, so we then returned later in the morning (7am) with most the kids and grandparents. Even on our first trip at 5am the walkway was super active with runners, bikers, and folks exercising on the kids playground equipment.

We went back to the temple marketplace area to get some souvenirs, though it was a national holiday so everyone and their cousin was visiting or on a field trip.

The kids really wanted to do a conveyor belt sushi place so we went to one in Asakusa in a mall which turned out to be an awesome experience. Lots of options, no wait, good food, very reasonable prices despite my nephews eating about every sushi option available, and custom orders like onion rings (in tempura batter, yum), beer, fries and desserts would come out on a high speed special conveyor belt.

After lunch we headed to the subway to Ueno and got on our Shinkansen to Karuizawa. The kids first bullet train experience… even the station and platform was quite impressive. We all got to sit together and enjoyed a quiet, smooth ride not on our feet (we walked over 7 miles yesterday and probably close to that today!)

By the time we checked in, got to our cabins, it was almost sunset so we walked around a bit and decided we were too tired to go back into the village for dinner, so it was convenient store meals again before super early bed.

—

Anecdote: My sister, my dad and I got to figure out the complicated Rail pass Shinkansen reservation system (but handy that it is self serve if you can brave the machines). There was a sweet Japanese man directing folks to either the counter or the self serve machines. He said he could teach us the machine but it was “difficult and you might want to go to the counter instead.” After being showed the ropes (and discovering our passes had been swapped between my sister and I - and they all are matched to a specific passport), and I was on the last of about 10 screens, choosing seats.. the machine timed out and went all the way back. The man noticed us still there and when we say we lost all our work and were starting again, he goes, “well, I told you it was a very difficult machine.”