#Doumyouji is on his own

[ridiasfangirlings]

Hi Ridia!

So some years back you (or I believe it was you) did a fanfic of a spirit AU where Homra and Yata were winged creatures and Yata lands on an island where he runs into a human (but not actually) Fushimi. Could you send the link if it’s still up. I never finished it and it would be nice to complete <3.

Now onto the Ask!

Imagine Post Reconciliation where Misaru don’t tell people they’re dating, Dōmyōji is going around the dorms to find people to go do an activity with him (doesn’t matter). He gets to Fushimi’s where he knows Yata is currently hanging out but as he knocks on the door it swings open revealing Yata pretty much pushing Fushimi against the wall in a heavy make out. Or it was before he had two pairs of eyes suddenly locked on him.

Dōmyōji slowly closes the door, grabs a random potted tree in front of the door, and just freaking bolts. What proceeds next is Dōmyōji running for his life throughout Sceptor 4 with Fushimi and Yata hot on his trail.

I’m imaging Dōmyōji first escape is when he sees some of the guys entering an elevator and he’s crying out for them to start closing the door and he just barely manages to get in before the door closes with a knife inches from his head (the others are now yelling at him wondering what he did) but a few moments later the elevator stops and he as to crawl out because that is definitely Yata’s voice on the other side. He manages to get into the halls again only to have more knives thrown at him and a Skateboarding thug swinging a bat on him. (Please keep in mind everyone is just gaping at this chase).

Dōmyōji decides the best course of option is to take the stairs and it looks like he’ll escape after crawling underneath one and a flash of blue/red pass him. Except that relief is short lived when Fushimi slowly comes back up and meets his eyes. He makes it maybe one step up before Yata is lifting him against the wall, Fushimis sword pointed at him, and (like he was doing throughout the Entire chase) Dōmyōji just begs for his life.

How this interaction ends I’ll leave up to you ;). (Also I know this is a long ask so feel free to cut some of it if you plan to repeat the whole thing) THANK YOU

If you haven’t found it already (because backlog) I believe the fic you’re looking for is here :)

For the ask, I am absolutely imagining this as a total Looney Tunes-style chase, with Doumyouji running and screaming like he’s in a horror movie as Yata and Fushimi continue to catch up to him in increasingly bizarre ways. Imagine Doumyouji wandering around the dorm, maybe he’s actually looking for Fushimi because he needs to turn in this report that Fushimi made him stay back in the office and fix/get rid of all the drawings. Fushimi told Doumyouji to leave the report on his desk but Doumyouji wants to hand it to him so he can be sure that Fushimi won't try to make him fix it again and that he’s free to go goof off. The dorms are pretty empty because everyone’s at work but Fushimi wasn’t in the office so Doumyouji figures this is the only place he could be. Doumyouji’s just wandering around murmuring ‘Fushimi-san, where are you’ and that’s when he notices that Fushimi’s door is cracked open just a bit. There’s a little light peeking out from the crack and Doumyouji figures that must mean Fushimi’s inside, so he happily slams the door open all ‘Fushimi-san, the report is done!’.

There is dead silence and Doumyouji very suddenly realizes that Fushimi is not the only one in this room — Homra’s Yatagarasu is here too, with Fushimi pushed against the wall and Fushimi’s shirt is unbuttoned and so are Yata’s pants and their tongues are in each other’s mouths. Doumyouji is immediately like ‘sosorrywrongroom’ and slams the door shut, quickly ducking behind the nearest plant as he’s like no no it’s fine they didn’t see me right. A moment later a knife flies by and embeds itself in the wall centimeters from his face and Doumyouji yells his apologies as he proceeds to flee for his life.

Imagine Doumyouji dashing down the hallway, not even looking back because he can hear skateboard wheels and there are knives flying by his head. He thinks if he can get to the office he’ll be safe, Fushimi-san definitely wouldn’t attack with other people around right — and as soon as he bursts into the office another knife flies by his head. Enomoto is working at a computer and just calmly asks what Doumyouji did, Doumyouji sobs that he didn’t do anything as he tries to hide under the copier. Suddenly the copier is lifted fully in the air and Yata is just staring down at him, Doumyouji makes another sprint to the door as Enomoto nervously asks Yata to please put that down carefully, we need the copier. Doumyouji tries to head for an elevator as the doors are closing, Benzai and Akiyama are heading downstairs. Doumyouji yells at them to hold it for him as two knives fly by, Akiyama and Benzai exchange glances and then just calmly close the doors in Doumyouji’s face. Doumyouji is all come on guys as the other elevator starts to open, he’s about to ask for help again when he hears Yata’s voice from inside asking if Fushimi has cornered ‘that guy’ yet.

Doumyouji reverses course and goes for the stairs, wondering if he could jump onto the chandelier to get away. He passes Fuse and Hidaka and begs them to hide him, they take one look down the hall to see Fushimi and Yata still in hot pursuit and are like oh look at the time we better get to work see ya. Doumyouji can’t believe that everyone’s just leaving him out to dry this way, like you guys are all the worst. He makes a jump over the railing of the giant staircase, hoping his Blue power will shield him as he falls — only to be caught mid-air by flying knives and pinned to the wall. Pretty much everybody is staring now as Yata and Fushimi approach him, Doumyouji is begging for his life like I’m sorry Fushimi-san I didn’t mean to catch you making out with your boyfriend. 

This is the point everyone watching notices that Fushimi’s shirt is still unbuttoned and it’s suddenly very clear to all the bystanders exactly why Homra’s vanguard is here in S4. Fushimi is ready to draw his sword when he hears an amused ‘Fushimi-kun’ behind him and realizes that Munakata is among the people watching. Fushimi clicks his tongue and lowers his sword, Doumyouji is in tears like Captain I owe you my life. Munakata gives Doumyouji a calm smile and pats his shoulder, saying it seems that he has gotten himself in considerable danger. However for the good of S4’s building Munakata will need to step in now, he is more than happy to speak with Fushimi and Yata alone and have a friendly conversation about their apparent new budding relationship. Fushimi gets a sinking feeling and Yata suddenly realizes he probably should have retreated while he could. Munakata steers them both away and Doumyouji finally breathes a sigh of relief — until he realizes that he’s still hanging from the wall by Fushimi’s knives and no one is moving to help him.

[helenrourke]

I’ve mentioned it previously, however I’ve always found this two-part side story, “Shall I talk about myself,” some of the best character development written when it comes to Rui.  Taking place two years after the events of Hana Yori Dango, we noticed some changes in Rui and Tsukushi’s dynamic the previous side story.  However, this is where Rui’s character development really shines.

In the beginning of the story, Rui in many ways is still very much the same.  He lacks drive when it comes to the family business.  This was a theme we even saw in the main series in the New York City arc where Kaede mentioned the Doumyouji Group had nothing to fear with Rui not caring about his family business.  However, things change when Tsukasa mentions a girl, he wants Rui to meet.

As many of you have read this short story, you know how badly that date ended and all the drama that followed it.  Especially since Doumyouji can’t speak his native tongue for his own life.  However, by the end of the story, Rui figures out where his feelings really lie and his “role” in his friends’ lives.  I mean he did help Tsukasa properly propose to Tsukushi after the failed disaster of his first proposal.

(Credit to @hana-yori-dango-forever for screen capping)

Honestly, I did enjoy this volume. The only thing that would have made it better was maybe ending the series with a wedding. I mean if Hana Yori Dango Final and Meteor Garden (2018) had a wedding, we can also have a manga adaptation. Yoko Kamino did draw the above artwork, and the one used in the movie (which I'm too lazy to search for right now). But give us a wedding sequel please.

So now we are really officially at the end. There is still the sequel, which I do plan on blogging about my planned reread later this year. However, I think I need a bit of a break. This was fun. I enjoyed doing this. But I'm going to focus more on writing my fics now.

[shoheiakagi]

For the warehouse AU, please tell us about Scepter 4 as the managers! How they interact with the homra boys, how they interact and what kind of relationships they have with the reader, all and any headcanons you have for this would be great! Is there any manager/homra worker boy duos that really can’t ever get along and cause ruckuses at work? Do any of the boys ever go to HR about the managers or vice versa?

Let me just tell you that they’re 100% done with everything.

like I mentioned on the post, munakata is the senior station manager aka the big boss. he spends most of this days in meetings, but when he does have some free time, he comes down to bother check in with his team. seri is the operations manager who runs the entire shift, while fushimi, the alphabet squad, and y/n are the area managers who report to her. Fushimi, akiyama, benzai, kamo, and fuse are the more strict managers, whereas doumyouji, goto, and hidaka are the more laidback managers (doesn’t stop doumyouji and hidaka from arguing with some of the homra guys though). Enomoto is the most timid, having a tough time to confront the homra guys on his own. Doumyouji has been in trouble a couple of times for showing favoritism toward some associates while hidaka had a stern coaching bc he was caught flirting with some of the female associates.

The s4 abc squad is already overworked and underpaid, having to deal with the homra boys just makes the job even more dreadful. everyday, these delinquents come in late, walking as they own the place. it takes a 15 minute back and forth conversation just to tell these guys to do their jobs aka what they’re being paid to do. they sometimes come in smelling like some questionable substances but theyre able to get away with it since they’re not acting any different from usual, and are not considered as a risk to themselves or the operations. Its pretty obvious that fushimi and yata are that one duo that should be kept separate at all times. despite the loud music blaring in the background, the entire warehouse can hear yata yelling and cursing as fushimi taunts and provokes him. after these two, i think doumyouji and bandou would clash the most. theyre both the designated jackass of their respective group, theyre super opinionated, and they’re both easy to anger. i think their similarities is what make them clash the most. there was one time where doumyouji was successfully able to write bandou up, without landing in trouble himself! he was all cocky and in high spirits until the next day he comes across his face plastered in “wanted” posters for being the most disrespectful and authoritative manager in the warehouse (yes, bandou was petty enough to take the time out of his day and make posters on photoshop). *and yes, this happened in real life*

as for the s4 team with y/n. munakata has the least interaction with her since he’s a busy station manager, except for their introductory 1:1 during her first day. but despite their lack of interaction, munakata knows everything that is going on thanks to the human resouces team, aka the silver clan. seri was ready to coach and mentor her, genuinely happy to have another woman on the team after yoshino resigned. but she was disappointed to find out that unlike yoshino, y/n did not have the same drive and passion for the job, and certainly did not mind hanging around those homra boys. y/n is the most distant from fushimi and fuse, since both are pretty cold and not interested in being friendly with her. they both arent shy about making it known that they think she’s an idiot, especially after they get a whiff of her dating one of the homra guys). while theyre not exactly cold, akiyama, benzai, and kamo are also not very close with y/n. at most, theyre polite and cordial (and theyre not impressed with her work ethic). Goto is just there and tries to make some convo with y/n which ends up failing bc he ends up creeping her out. Hidaka and y/n get along pretty well and he did flirt with her pretty hard at first, but y/n learns about how perverted he can be when it comes to women with big boobs, and soon keeps some distance from him. Enomoto is truly the only one that y/n feels comfortable with, which explains why they were able to get so close during their onboarding. Enomoto is a little smarter than he looks, purposely concealing his love for h*ntai and p*rn so that y/n doesn’t get creeped out. He picks up a good chunk of y/n’s workload so that she can go home early, just so he can earn more of her trust. he may or may not have known about y/n’s budding relationship with the homra guy, but was he going to snitch? hell no! even though it sucks he’s not the one y/n is dating, at least he can still be her friend. look, he never really spoke to a pretty girl before, let alone become friends with one. so don’t blame him for not wanting to lose out on this rare opportunity, ok?

and yes i just had to put the silver clan as the hr team lmaoo. idk why but it feels fitting. but lets be real, both the s4 managers and the hmr associates think the silver clan suck at their job as hr. while they do think kuroh is the more competent one, shiro ends making most of the calls since he’s the head hr, and shiro is not the best decision maker out there. most of shiro’s decisions end with hmr getting away with disrespecting the managers and not following their job, which got him to lose respect from the s4 team. shiro later finds himself to be on hmr’s shitlist when he finally does his job and writes them all up for cursing at a manager, not falling for their excuses this time. everyone wonders how neko is part of the hr team, cause she barely does her job. all she does is eat, sleep on the desk, and run around the warehouse. neko is more of the engagement coordinator, but kuroh ends up picking up a lot of her slack, especially when she fails to schedule a meal event which ended up with a lot of angry and hungry warehouse associates

[tomorrowsdrama]

Hyena Ep. 10

Ahh, that’s what I’ve been saying!  It’s a strange feeling when a drama character voices what you’ve been saying for weeks haha.  Good for Hee Jae for doing some self-reflection and gaining some self-awareness.  Also the dirty part of my brain totally thought of other things when he said she was busy pleasing him. 

Hee Jae is seriously such a hopeless fool in love.  I was getting major Doumyouji idiot in love vibes from Hee Jae this episode. Just like Doumyouji, Hee Jae turns into such a fool around his lady love.  Hee Jae also shares Doumyouji’s trait of going all-in and being hopelessly devoted to his lady once he makes up his mind.  That’s why I’m not as annoyed by Hee Jae’s childish jealous antics.  Because he knows how to be serious when it matters and will do anything to protect Geum Ja.  But then again, I’ve always been a total sucker for the whole idiot who knows how to make you swoon dichotomy.

He is definitely a different type of male lead.  I actually feel like his role is usually written as a female character.  You know, the plucky heroine who slowly wins over the cold-hearted asshole male lead with a tragic past and heals the wounds in his heart.  Hee Jae is so forthright with his feelings for Geum Ja (at least when he’s talking to Geum Ja), it’s shocking.  And man, is he putting in a lot of work for Geum Ja.   

Does this look like the face of a kid who will listen?

I think this might just be the most ridiculous character JJH has every played.  Hee Jae spots Geum Ja leaving and does what I can only describe as an awkward big bird run towards her taxi.  It’s such a hilarious sight haha.

I think Geum Ja is seriously regretting ever seducing Hee Jae.

Geum Ja voicing what we’ve all been thinking these past two episodes.  Oh yeah, he’s totally pleased with himself.  Have you ever seen a male lead be so transparent?

I don’t think Geum Ja knows how to deal with someone so stubborn and unusually straightforward as Hee Jae.  She definitely was not counting on him hanging around her after she revealed that she wasn’t Hee-Sun, let alone that he would so doggedly pursue her still.  

(Why do they keep on putting Geum Ja in these horrendous garish jackets with the huge shoulder pads straight out of the 80s?)

Even with all of his jealous antics, he still knows how to be sweet to her.  I like how he just gave her his coat without any prompting and so naturally, too. At the end of the day, he is still so whipped for her.  If he acted like this all the time, I’m sure it would be easier for Geum Ja to remember why she was attracted to him.

He is so happy that she is asking about him.

Omg, was Hee Jae a nerdy bookworm?  That explains how he’d never fallen in love until now.

It’s amazing that the same immature Hee Jae who ran around like a mad man could say something so thoughtful.  I think this conversation captures the difference in their mentalities perfectly.  Geum Ja is focused on their differences and how that makes them incompatible whereas Hee Jae thinks that it’s only natural for two people to have differences.  That shouldn’t stop them from getting closer and they should just enjoy the nice moment that they are sharing.  To Hee Jae, it’s no big deal whereas to Geum Ja, it’s a deal breaker.  Although, I don’t think it’s necessarily just because of Hee Jae’s background that she rejects him.  I feel like Geum Ja has become jaded to relationships and has no interest in any serious ones because of her past.

Gosh, Hee Jae’s expectant face every time Geum Ja says anything to him kills me.  But yep, he’s got the directness and single-mindedness of a kid.  That’s probably why he has no issues with confessing his feelings over and over again.

She sure manhandles him a lot.  It’s quite a feat considering their difference in size.  A part of me wonders if Hee Jae enjoys it.

Is someone getting shy in front of other people?

Haha, I can’t believe he got so flustered just because she put her hand on his chest.  Now I’m wondering just how far they got physically in their relationship.

And then, just as Hee Jae was getting into the romantic scenery, Geum Ja pulls a fast one and leaves Hee Jae all by himself to cool down.  She essentially dumped cold water on him after riling him up.  Poor guy. 

Yes!

Poor lost, gigantic child.

He’s so dumbfounded, he can only laugh.  I’m starting to suspect that Hee Jae might be a bit of a masochist.

Omg I can’t believe he just compared them to husbands and wives.  Hee Jae has no chill at all.

That’s so ironic coming from him.

Poor Ji Eun and Lawyer Na got cockblocked because of Hee Jae and his overdramatic self.  You shouldn’t ruin other people’s fun just because you’re not getting any!

And then Hee Jae hilariously tries to get Geum Ja’s whereabouts from Ji Eun.  Poor Ji Eun needs a raise with all the crap she has to deal with between her boss and all the men (mostly crazy Hee Jae) chasing her down.

Hee Jae: Not on my watch, you won’t.

Someone needs to take a chill pill.  But on another note, the firm’s policy on drinking on the job must be very lax.

Hee Jae is so scandalized at the thought of dating and sex.  WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING WHILE YOU TWO WERE DATING THEN?!

Poor Hee Jae is so upset when Geum Ja does not flat out reject Kevin Jung.  Oh, I always feel so bad whenever Hee Jae gets his feelings hurt.  You’d think I’d be used to it by now.

And then he reminisces bitterly about the “not so memorable” kiss.  Sigh, this poor love fool.

Ahh, and this is why I love Hee Jae.  He’s trying so hard for her.  Hee Jae learns more about Geum Ja’s past and the full extent of the abuse she suffered.  You can tell how much it pains him to know she went through such terrible things growing up.

Dun Dun Dun

For how childish Hee Jae can be sometimes, he really is the one doing a lot of the emotional labor in this relationship.  Geum Ja’s got her walls up so high but he sure as hell is doing all he can to tear them down inch by inch.  It may seem a bit pushy, but that’s probably the only the type of person who can get Geum Ja to take down her walls.  Someone who will stick it through and actually think about her well-being over their own.  Otherwise, she’ll always remain guarded and closed off since that’s how she’s been able to survive for so long.

[chilly-territory]

K Case Files of Blue 2, chapter 3 (part 3 out of 3)

I’ve finally remembered about this one, hooray!

Case Files of Blue 2 by Miyazawa Tatsuki

Chapter 3 (part 3/3) (volume 2, pages 168-196)

† The headquarters brimmed with activity. When Akiyama and Benzai were walking along the hallway, briskly marching ordinary troops passed them by. They had been sent off to different regions on Benzai's orders, and now, as the respective situations in them were finding their resolution, the operatives, too, had started to come back one by one.

"...The Coin Toss theory, huh. Its power certainly is fearsome," murmured Akiyama, and Benzai nodded. "Not only was it used to scatter all those strains across different regions, but the false charges against you were apprently fabricated via its application, as well."

Akiyama's face turned miserable. "But why did they have to choose to falsely accuse me of molesting, of all things? I'm sure there were plenty of other methods if they wanted to put me out of commission."

If he absolutely had to be entrapped by the enemy, he would have much preferred to be abandoned on an uninhabited island like Fuse, or sent on a trip through various regions unable to return like Benzai - those kinds of pretexts, in any case. Sure, his innocence had been proven and he was able to come back, but there was no small chance that he would've been finished socially had something gone slightly wrong. That's what he'd become firmly convinced of after hearing about everyone else's respective situations from Benzai.

"Captain said Kounomura was going to make the truth come to light eventually in any case though, but..."

Akiyama nodded to Benzai's words. Strangely enough, he could believe it. Kounomura had no wish to make anyone miserable through his actions, Akiyama was sure. And their adversary had definitely made sure to prepare more than a few safety nets to that end.

"Well," said Benzai calmly, "it's just probably that he thought that against a guy who is too serious for his own good like you, this kind of ploy would be the most effective, you know?"

Akiyama's expression turned bitter. Indeed, even if it was no more than a ploy, he had to admit that Kounomura had succeeded with flying colors. His approach had really proven exceptionally effective.

"And there's another thing." Benzai gazed at Akiyama's profile. "As a result of catching the real culprit, the girl who handed you over to the police has come forward saying she wants to apologize to you for mistaking you for a groper. What will you do?" "..." Akiyama was in thought for a while, before replying: "There is no need. That girl is just another victim. And since I doubted the authenticity of her claim about groping to begin with, I still have a lot to learn, myself. The reason for what had happened was my ineptitude, and that girl is not to blame for anything."

That attitude, manifesting in him being able to declare such a thing without batting an eye, could be seen as truly manly, but at the same time it could also be called bigoted. Either way, it was just like Akiyama. Benzai found himself smiling at that.

Akiyama continued. "Besides, no matter what people said, I knew no one at Scepter 4 doubted my innocence. And that's more than enough, I'd say, no, Benzai?" "Yeah. Yeah, you're right." Benzai looked away. For some reason, he felt sorry for Akiyama that it was hard to look him in the eye. "Hm? What's wrong, Benzai?"

But before Akiyama could press him about it, there came a welcome interruption in the form of the bright voice of an office clerk Yoshino Yayoi who stood in front of the Captain's office.

"Oh, Akiyama-san! It's so great that the false charges against you have been dropped! Congratulations!" "Yes, thank you." Akiyama smiled.

With that, Akiyama and Benzai accompanied by Yoshino all pushed through the open door to Munakata's office.

Inside, there already were the members of the special ops squad, including Fushimi, Fuse, Doumyouji, Enomoto and Hidaka, along with some ordinary troops, people from accounting, general affairs, and even Zenjou Gouki from the archive room, which was a rare sight.

The Captain's normally fairly spacious office was now packed with people in blue uniforms. And in the center of that mass, Munakata Reishi himself was seated. Chin on his joined hands, he was smiling with a composed smile.

When Akiyama and his companions who'd just made it through the door caught his attention, he announced, "...With this, we have more or less everyone essential present. I apologize for my recent absence." He rose. "Also," looking at Akiyama, he smiled, "Welcome back, Akiyama-kun."

Akiyama gave his king a sincere bow. "I apologize for causing you trouble, sir."

Munakata dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "No need. You are not to blame. The blame is mostly on me, for letting myself be led astray with Kounomura-shi's illusions."

He strode forward to stand in front of his table and cast an eye around to take in all the present.

"That, however, is no longer an issue. Ladies and gentlemen," joining his hands behind his back, Munakata declared, "from this moment onward, Scepter 4 will work towards arresting Kounomura-shi. We're going to teach that good sir who has been amusing himself with games entirely unbecoming of his age and status a lesson. No objection, I trust?"

Noises of approval filled the room. Among the agreeing faces, there was one that didn't look enthusiastic in the slightest, and that was Fushimi's, who then raised his hand.

"...So, Captain, I take it you've figured out where Kounomura is hiding right now?" "No, I have not yet," Munakata confessed flatly. "But," he continued, "in another 24 hours I will because I have extracted enough source information from the routes you had brought me." 'Oh, that,' Fushimi nodded, seemingly satisfied, but the rest could only feel perplexion at that reply.

Munakata beamed. "First, let me explain certain things. To trap us, Kounomura-shi used a strain who could read people's minds and through him, thoroughly analyzed our psychology. Isn't that right, Fushimi-kun?" "Yes." In contrast to his usual fed-up face, Fushimi's report that followed was exhaustively accurate. "Marumoto Keiji, 21, an aspiring photographer and a strain with the ability to read minds through the lens of his camera. Although my efforts to that end are temporarily suspended at the moment, I'm pursuing him - that sickening shit-eating asswipe!" he must have recalled something unpleasant because he slammed the fist of one hand on the palm of his other with a resounding bang.

Munakata, utterly unperturbed by Fushimi's outburst, thanked him for the information. "Thank you, Fushimi-kun. A strain capable of reading minds. Although lacking an immediate offensive ability, he proves quite a hassle when antagonized." Fushimi clicked his tongue especially loudly at that and turned away.

"Fushimi-san looks royally pissed off, no?" "Did something happen between him and that strain, I wonder?" Enomoto and Fuse whispered between themselves, but when Fushimi glared daggers at them, they held their tongues.

Meanwhile, Munakata continued. "That Marumoto character is not the only such opponent. Kounomura-shi had employed even more astonishing means to accumulate the psychological data on us and cause malfunctions in our headquarters' systems. I assume you have already heard about it. He had dispatched a strain with a perception manipulation ability to infiltrate us and had him masquerade as Gotou-kun."

A turmoil rose among the present. Someone who they thought was their collegue was, in fact, a brazen impostor. They couldn't hide how shocking it still felt.

"Captain." Fuse raised his hand. "If that's the case, then where was the real Gotou all this time? Is he okay?" The last sentence sounded tinged with worry. Munakata slowly shifted his gaze from Fuse to Hidaka. "Hidaka-kun. As I recall, you are currently in change of that man's interrogation, are you not? Does he know anything about Gotou-kun?" "Uh, well..." Being the focus of everyone's attention made Hidaka feel a little uncomfortable, but he braved on, "Yes, he speculates that Gotou might be held prisoner in the same facility as Lieutenant Awashima. He also stated that measures had been taken to ensure Gotou's safety."

Fuse nodded. "Well, yeah, considering how they've been going about it until now, it must be true. It was the same when I was stranded on that deserted island, too... But still... That freak was among us for quite a long time now, yes? Yet we all were none the wiser... Damn!" His voice dripped with self-condemnation and frustration.

Munakata's next utterance was put in no uncertain terms. "That is exactly what is so terrifying about strains with perception manipulation abilities. They influence and confuse the brain directly. If you know about the existence of such a strain around you, you might have a chance to break the illusion, but when you don't, you lack any means to resist from the start." "Umm, may I add something, sir?" Hidaka spoke up after raising his hand. "It's something else that guy said. Apparently, he'd avoided running into you as best as he could because there was a high chance you'd discover his identity. Supposing he still had to see you, it was only allowed after the situation was under Kounomura's tight control, as per his plan." "I see." Munakata stroked his chin. "How prudent of him." "Also, as to why Gotou was chosen as the target for the switch on Kounomura's orders. According to Kounomura's comprehensive analysis of the special ops squad, among all the members Gotou was the one most likely to notice tiny changes, that's why it was him that guy'd switched with." "Hmph, reasonable judgement." Hidaka's words made Munakata smile. Many of the troops gathered there nodded in agreement.

Indeed, it rang true. Gotou Ren was a strange guy, to be sure, but he also had a certain keenness and discerning sensitivity about him. A sort of intuitive something that went beyond Akiyama's dependability or Fushimi's brilliant brains.

"Still, we've got to give credit where it's due for the job well done. To think that someone would actually succeed in impersonating a member of the special ops squad right in the middle of Scepter 4... Naturally, it was only possible due to the extensive research on us done beforehand, but the person who managed to pull off something as nigh impossible as this must be quite capable in his own right regardless." "That's true. It seems he's a former police officer himself. That said, there are a few things he turned out to be surprisingly careless about."

Having said all that, Hidaka suddenly remembered himself and fell silent. He had noticed he had touched upon a mildly offensive topic, but was left no route to backpedal and just pretend nothing had happened. All the gazes were focused on him now, and what's more, Munakata himself looked highly interested, even leaning forward a little.

"Erm, well, to explain... you see, we manage something called "Archive E" jointly..."

Enomoto squeezed his head between the hands he put on his cheeks, his face silently but eloquently begging Hidaka to stop, though it really couldn't be helped. After all, it had to do with the case in question. They had a duty to provide all the information they could.

"He apparently misunderstood, thinking "Archive E" is some sort of treasure-chest of classified documents, so he raided the storage site to steal it."

In the end, having learned that that abbreviation stood for something as trivial as "erotic", he flew into rage and disposed of it right in the back yard. That was the cause behind the mysterious disappearance of the erotic book archive that everyone pitched in to collect.

Now that the truth was out in the open, it really was quite silly. For that reason, half of those who happened to be present to hear it wore fed-up expressions on their faces, while the other half snickered despite themselves. In particular, Yoshino Yayoi's half-lidded coldly-looking eyes bore into Hidaka. Who, in turn, was so ashamed he wished for a hole to crawl into. The other members with a connection to "Archive E" were no better, all looking quite uncomfortable, too.

"Hidaka-kun." Munakata suddenly called out to his subordinate with a serious face. "Y-yes, sir?" Hidaka was stiff as a board. "Show me that archive of yours some time." Raising his thumb up, Munakata showed his pearly whites in a grin. "Certainly, sir! Any time!" responded Hidaka eagerly. What a blessing it was to have an understanding superior.

It took Zenjou casually clearing his throat to put the discussion that went off on a tangent, back on track.

Munakata resumed his explanation. "In short, thanks to the spy in question and the aspiring photographer in the person of Marumoto-kun, intelligence on us was gathered and our activities disrupted, while Kounomura-shi analyzed our actions, set traps and nearly paralyzed our work. It's said the world is big, but I suspect this personage might be the only one on the whole globe who could manage a feat of this magnitude." He nodded to himself. "However, like I said a minute ago, now it's our turn. The day after tomorrow we're going to raid the place where this good sir is hiding and apprehend him. And then lecture him with all sternness not to do anything like this ever again."

Under the bombardment of everyone's gazes, Munakata added: "Well, in truth, finding the legal basis for punishing Kounomura-shi presents a slight problem. However, judging from that good sir's personality, I believe defeating him at his own game should prove enough to dissuade him from interfering with us ever again. With that in mind, I would like you to get ready, ladies and gentlemen." "Captain, sir, may I ask a question?" It was Enomoto who timidly raised his hand. "We've been searching high and low all this time, trying to locate Kounomura. Despite that, we couldn't find a single clue to his whereabouts. So my question is, how are you going to pin it down, sir?" "Oh, it's easy." Munakata declared nonchalantly. "We shall simply do what he did and apply the Coin Toss theory, too."

That caused a buzz of agitation to run through the crowd. Fushimi folded his arms and shut his eyes.

"I pulled a few strings and borrowed a super computer that's currently in the process of analyzing Kounomura-shi's activity. We are lucky that he is a celebrity. There is a veritable mountain of data on him in newspapers and magazines that could serve as clues, and there is also an archive of our contacts with him to date. With all of that as the base, we will have an answer in 24 hours."

Most of the present stood there in blank amazement.

"Excuse me, sir," said Benzai. "This is something I've asked before, but it still bothers me. Captain, when exactly did you have an opportunity to familiarize yourself with that theory in detail? I would think the particulars are top secret business information for the Coin Toss company..."

Munakata shook his head slightly. "As a matter of fact, that theory is so complex that even experts in life science mathematics and chaos theory find it difficult to comprehend, so it is out of question for a layman like myself to achieve an understanding of it. Only..." he paused, "I have commissioned an experimental program that applies it solely in the field of pinning down a person's whereabouts." "Commissioned? Whom, sir?" Akiyama tilted his head to the side a little. "America. At present, the FBI is researching and developing an analytical program applying the Coin Toss theory that's limited strictly to criminal investigation. For that reason, technically it's not the same "Coin Toss" as Kounomura-shi used." "Oh!" Akiyama exclaimed before he could check himself and whirled to Fushimi.

Fushimi stood there with an unruffled air and firmly shut eyes.

"That's right," Munakata said. "It was one of the gifts that Fushimi-kun brought back from his business trip, short though it was." Fushimi opened his eyes and let out a sigh. "You gotta take into account that I had to supply them with all sorts of intelligence in return, so it's not really a gift. Besides, the case in point aside, this theory ain't really ready for practical application yet." "What do you mean by that, Fushimi-san?"

It was Munakata who answered Akiyama's question in Fushimi's place. "To start off, terrible cost-effectiveness is the most glaring issue. Obviously, there exist very few supercomputers that could perform such an analysis, nevermind that running it takes a whole day and costs 10 million yen. What's more, trouble pertaining to collecting enough data for such an analysis to even become possible is nothing to make light of. With the above in mind, the tried and tested approach of simply assembling enough man power to handle the task is a better and faster alternative. This time it's a viable option only because we're dealing with a personage as unique as Kounomura-shi, and because the expenses allotted to us in order to catch him are almost unrestricted." "I see," Akiyama nodded deeply.

But Benzai posed yet another question. "But you did manage to catch Tamada, didn't you, sir?" "As the officer who was in pursuit of him, I assume you already know it, but by nature, he's an anarchist and an aspiring artist. You may not tell it at a glance, but he has revealed quite a bit of information about himself through his blog, publications in fanzines, poetry anthologies and such. Furthermore, he had received psychological counseling several times during the reign of the previous Blue King. There are not many criminals with a track record like that though, wouldn't you say?" "No, I suppose not," Benzai replied thoughtfully.

Speaking of, said Tamada, perhaps having embraced Munakata's mysterious aura, swore to turn over a new leaf after serving his prison time. Apparently, once he got out, in order to get employment at Scepter 4, he was intent on sitting for their exam.

"So in short, we're finally gonna do battle with them, right?" Doumyouji chimed in loudly. The reason why he'd kept silent until then was due the lack of sleep he'd been suffering from lately. "Alright! Can't wait!"

For some time now, he'd been forced to do work that contributed greatly toward building his frustrations. And now, at last, his moment to shine was coming.

"But is it really okay?" Akiyama wondered worriedly. "The opponents have a task force consisting of a fair number of strains, no doubt. And one of them in particular, that man named Nakamura Gouki, is apparently skilled enough to give even the Lieutenant a hard time in a fight. Naturally, if you make your appearance, Captain, we're not likely to have much unforeseen trouble to worry about, but in case it does come down to, say, street fighting, some collateral damage might be unavoidable." "Oh, that shouldn't be an issue," Munakata denied resolutely. "I'm quite positive Kounomura-shi only surrounded himself with strains that could be deemed combat-ready troops, like Nakamura Gouki." "Huh?" came the collective noise of puzzlement. Even Fushimi frowned his brows, dubious. "What do you mean, Captain?" asked Akiyama playing the crowd's representative. "Well," Munakata started, "allow me to ask you a question in return. Akiyama-kun. What makes you think Kounomura-shi has a strain task force at his disposal?" "Uh, well..." Akiyama momentarily stopped to think. "Seeing as they took over our duties, even if it was only temporary, they must have a number of people to---" "That was only deception." Not waiting for Akiyama to finish, Munakata interrupted him. "We fell under a certain preconception. Since we are well aware that the job we do on a regular basis is by no means easy, we tend to think that in order for someone else to accomplish it, they'd have to have about the same number of equally skilled people. But as it turns out, that is not necessarily true."

In a sense, it was a statement that utterly denied the very essence of Scepter 4's work. And it was no wonder that those who'd heard it couldn't help being doubtful in its wake. Even Zenjou stared at Munakata in astonishment, like he was seeing him for the first time.

Munakata waved his hand cheerfully. "Oh no, please don't get the wrong idea. I did not mean to disparage our work, I assure you. What I'm saying is the issue to consider is the underhandedness of some of those on the side of justice."

For the majority of the present, those words didn't hit home, but the expressions of Fushimi and Zenjou changed to reflect their understanding, the same as if they'd have said "Oh" or "I see".

Munakata went on. "What in our job is of the utmost importance, in your opinion? Let's see..." Without warning, he pointed at Doumyouji. "What do you think, Doumyouji-kun?" "Erm, the most important part of our job, huh?" Doumyouji looked troubled. "Aw, shucks. Hmm, what might it be? Maybe upholding justice?" "And what is necessary for that end? On what do we spend the bigger part of our time and effort?" "We, uh, maintain public order, catch bad guys... and ummm, sow the good, I guess?"

At that vague answer, those around couldn't help wry smiles raising on their lips along with a warm feeling in their chests, while Munakata shook his head in no uncertain way. "No, that's not it. Unfortunately, you are wrong." In reply to the baffled looks on his subordinates' faces, Munakata elaborated. "The hardest part of our work, requiring the most effort, is to deal with each and every thing in a law-abiding way. This is what unfailingly presents a challenge to us."

Akiyama's mouth formed an "Ah" when he heard that. "...I see. That's what it's about," he was heard muttering under his breath.

Munakata continued his explanation. "In other words, if we were to set out to catch wrongdoers, foregoing the formalities and simply doing what it takes to get the job done, like Superman or Batman, there wouldn't a need for a large scale organization like ours to start with. Coordinating with the police, finding a working balance with the court, negotiating with local residents - it is on those tasks that we spend most of our time, wouldn't you say?"

Doumyouji was still making a face that said he didn't get it.

"When Superman or Batman handle a case, they don't bother going to the courthouse to complete the official procedure, neither do they work on a loan to the police. They don't have to obtain a formal approval from anyone or calculate their exact expenses and fulfill corresponding paperwork. You never see them drawing up reports that have to be submitted to the superior or filing documents pertaining to an investigation, do you?"

With Munakata's elaboration, Doumyouji's face brightened. Seeing as he always endured hellish suffering when it came to his paperwork, to him, that explained everything.

"If I were to put it as bluntly as I can," Munakata added, "simply catching criminals by using illegal means like Kounomura-shi did, such as hacking security cameras or obtaining intelligence through spies, is not really a job especially difficult to do. And that is why I said what I did earlier: from our perspective, the heroes of justice are quite underhanded." "But, in that case," Fuse sounded very frustrated, "wouldn't guys like them always have an edge on us when it comes to accomplishing something? Making us who earnestly jump through the hoops look like fools?"

Munakata didn't wait for him to finish, talking over him. "We have the greater cause to defend. They don't. That's the difference, Fuse-kun." His tone was soft, but at the heart of it was steel-like strength. "And that is precisely why I always say whenever the occasions arises that "our cause is pure". Isn't that right, Fuse-kun?" Fuse was in thought for some time. "Indeed. That's right. We and them have different goals. Now I see," he murmured soon after as if letting the thought sink in deeply into his being.

Munakata gazed at Fuse warmly for a while, then stated, "Everything was but an illusion cast by the schemer extraordinaire Kounomura-shi. Having only a small number of allies makes it easy for him to transfer hideouts, while also minimizing the risk of an information leak. As an added bonus, it certainly helped confuse us and lead us astray. Meanwhile, the actual work was done by Nakamura Gouki and but a few of our adevrsary's most trusted confidants, I assume." "But Captain," Hidaka voiced, "the strains that've been captured all attest it was multiple people that did it?" Munakata's answer was immediate. "And what is the ability of the person you are presently in charge of questioning?" After a moment of vacant silence, Hidaka's eyes went wide. "I see!"

Munakata nodded. "That's right. He made the number of captors appear more than it actually was - every time when a crime committing strain was seized, at that. As a result it looked like there was a whole multi-person force moving at the scene. Let me reiterate: what they were doing looked the same as our work only on the surface, and that is the sole reason why it was even possible. Everything was no more than an illusion created with figurative smoke and mirrors."

For a while, everyone present seemed to be absorbed in his or her own pensive thoughts on the issue.

Watching them with a smile, Munakata commented. "Eventually, we will pin down where our adversaries are hiding. And every false image they have shown us will also come to light." When he continued it was with glee that almost gave one the creeps. "It's finally time to put our opponents in checkmate. Kounomura-shi is already as good as stark-naked before us."

It was then that Zenjou, who kept his silence until now, raised his only hand. "There is one thing that bothers me though." "What might it be, Zenjou-san?" Munakata inquired, unperturbed as ever even at something as uncommon as Zenjou speaking up. "At present, we still have several missing people, starting with Awashima Seri, who have yet to come back. And I think we can't disregard the possibility of them being used as hostages come the worst case scenario."

His words made Munakata fall silent for a while - for the first time today. But then, the Blue King declared: "...I believe Awashima-kun and the others will be back with us soon enough, each having overcome their respective obstacles."

Zenjou's eyes narrowed sharply. "All according to your plan, that included, then?" Munakata shook his head slowly. "No, it is not," he said pensively. "If I had to find a word for it," he smiled, "it would probably be 'faith'."

†

About 2 days before Scepter 4's meeting took place, Gotou Ren, whose place the impostor had taken to infiltrate Scepter 4, was on the sea more than 600km away from Japan. Next to him, a bullet ricocheted with a metallic ching.

"!@#$%^&*(!"

Next, yells in a language he couldn't quite determine could be heard. Which, in turn, was followed by demands to surrender in some broken Japanese with English mixed in.

"Anata no, okasan, naitemasu." //T/N: equivalent to something like "Ur mama cry" Gotou sighted, muttering in a light tone, "My, my, what a pickle."

English wasn't his forte. Due to the fact, he bet on body language as his chosen means to make his resistance apparent.

He stuck his head out a little from the catwalk. "Hey. Me, go back, Japan. Don't jama shinaide!" //T/N: "Don't stand in my way"

With that, he hoisted one middle finger up high in the air. A moment later, he got a response.

"FU*K!" It was accompanied by the sweeping fire from a machine gun.

Gotou panicked, getting on all fours and crawling to hide behind an iron pole. There, he grumbled again in a voice, still lacking any urgency, seemingly oblivious to what unmistakably was a provocation on his part, "My, my, that's why quick tempered foreigners are such a pain."

Presently, he was aboard an enormous ship, the Nefertiti. The overall length of it was 175 meters, with the width being 25 meters. The total displacement tonnage measured at 8900 tons. The highest speed it could achieve clocked at 23 knots, with its crew counting 130 members. It was an imposing military transport vessel capable of transporting 2 helicopters, 30 large trucks and 25 tanks.

Its owner was a private military company called 'SPT' - a multinational enterprise that, among other fields, also engaged in paramilitary activities regulated by a treaty signed in Toronto by 24 countries. A so called Mars-Mercury agreement was enacted between the USA and the EU and designed to keep Japan's economic growth in check. To counter that, in the last 20 years or so, international laws had been developed allowing active operation for a number of private paramilitary companies, with Japan playing a central role.

And this was what Kounomura Zen'ichi resorted to when booking the vessel in question and its crew for the period of 1 month as a private individual. The mission he gave the crew was to reliably keep Gotou Ren away from Japan. He'd certainly gone out of his way to arrange for a military ship just to keep Gotou under house arrest and strict supervision, and then, to be doubly sure, even make said ship put a considerable amount of distance between itself and the mainland Japan. All of which exhaustively proved the utter importance Kounomura attached to Gotou Ren's custody as one of the keys for the success of his plan.

Incidentally, said Gotou Ren was currently on the run from the armed guard units after having broken out of the prison designed exclusively for him by escaping through a door 1 meter thick and locked with an electromagnetic lock that required multiple passwords and a fingerprint of the supervisor to open.

At first, his jailers were quite amicable, but after Gotou punched their platoon leader's lights out, blew up sewer pipes, made three or so of them take a plunge into a septic tank, and two more wallow in wheat flour, their rage had reached the boiling point. Calmly carrying out such acts with a disinterested air about him was what it meant to be Gotou Ren.

The way he went about his breakout was also unusual. For about 2 weeks, he did nothing at all. He seemed perfectly content to just sleep, play smart phone games on the phone supplied to him as a present or paint pictures in isolation, making even his jailers question with concern if he'd even understood his current situation. Still, they had directions from Kounomura to let him spend his time as pleasantly as possible under the circumstances.

Only, Gotou wasn't doing all of the above without a reason. Those drowsy eyes of his kept meticulously watching and observing. And, having found a blind spot, a momentary opening in his guards' defenses, he attacked it and freed himself. And just now, he wasn't just randomly angering his guards. He used their reactions to deduce where on this ship were the most crucial areas.

In the process of running around from his pursuers, he'd arrived at the ship's vast hold.

"Huh?" With his pursuers closing in on him from behind, Gotou leisurely inclined his head. "This is strange. I thought this should be the engine room or something equally important." He ran while compiling a map of the ship in his head, but it seemed he went wrong somewhere. "Mn, I still have a lot to improve on, I guess."

Not sounding especially regretful, Gotou approached a strange cube placed isolatedly in the middle of the hold. He found himself oddly curious about it.

"...I wonder what is this?"

It was then...

"Haaaah!"

...that a tremendously loud scream had issued from inside the construct, making Gotou instinctively take a step back. He had a feeling he might have heard that voice somewhere before.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

This time the war cry managed to pack even more fierceness; cracks, one after another, started running across the surface of the cube as a result, and then...

"Phew, finally it breaks."

...Awashima slipped out of it, twisting her body to fit in through a slender crack. For some reason, she was dressed in a scarlet dress.

"..." "..." For a while, Awashima and Gotou simply stared at one another.

"Why are you here, Gotou?!" Awashima broke the silence first. "...I could ask you the same, ma'am. No, actually, I'm more interested in asking you why you're decked out like that. Lieutenant, are you getting ready for a wedding or what?" "D-Don't be absurd! It's just this was the only piece of clothing provided to me."

Both of them looked mightily confused, but the moment their ears caught the sound of Gotou's pursuers' footsteps from the passage he'd taken to get here, the two donned composed faces.

Gotou briefly outlined his circumstances to Awashima. In short, having taken him prisoner, the chances were the ship was now a long ways off from Japan. Awashima was quick to get a grasp on the situation, and even quicker to make a decision.

"Understood," she said as if it was the most trivial thing in the world. "Let's commandeer this ship."

That took even Gotou by slight surprise. "...We'd be up against more than 50 armed soldiers though?" "Oh?" Awashima smiled charmingly, working on rolling up the sleeves and shortening the hem of her dress to make it easy to move in. "Does that really count as 'many'? You and I are both the Blue King's clansmen, don't forget." "I see." Gotou had found his resolve. Smiling without a trace of tension, he added, "Seems like an appropriate number in that case." "True." Awashima fixed her gaze on the entrance from which the soldiers were likely to appear. "We've got to go back to the Captain's side as quickly as possible, and to that end, every second counts. I have no doubt he's waiting for our return even as we speak."

Gotou nodded in agreement, cracking his fingers.

It was 4 hours later that the ship made a sharp U-turn and started heading back to the far away Japan it had previously departed from.

[happythexceed]

Summary of K Seven Stories 「Episode 3 “Side: Green - Overwrite World -” 」

I was out of town last week, luckily they have an additional screening today. 

Spoilers ahead. Sorry for any discrepancy. I tried to put in whatever I remembered and I’m not so good in remembering details. 

The Idol K

Awashima, Doumyouji and Hidaka were rehearsing a play. This is where the chibi characters were presented as a flat piece of paper as they turned their bodies. In the script, Awashima was torn between choosing Doumyouji or Hidaka as her “love” partner when the Silver Trio paid their visit. 

Neko was able to parrot Awashima’s dialogue. It was said that their Captain was out and asked them to rehearse till he comes back. It was their culture to call their boss as “Captain”. Awashima had read their email and noted that Shiro wanted them to collaborate for a “rice” charity event. She was sorry that she had to reject as Shiro presented the origiri as the payment to them when Munakata stepped in. He accepted the offer immediately much to everybody’s dismay. Munakata explained that Isana-shi (he addressed him that way) had the benefits stated clearly in his email to them and why they should help. Kuroh then realised Shiro used different ways to deal with different company: Homra Entertainment with “feeling” and Promotion Scepter 4 with logic. Next, Shiro is going to Jungle Pro which doesn’t work with “feeling” and “logic”. Even so, Shiro was not going to leave them out (acknowledging their ability). 

“Side: Green - Overwrite World -”

A simple plot with complicated feelings to say presented with abstract art style in some part of the movie. 

It started with Hisui Nagare, Iwa-san, Kotosaka and Gojo Sukuna looking out to the sea. The world of Jungle is wide. 

Hisui challenged the Gold King, Kokujouji Daikaku in order to take over the possession of the Dresden Slate so he could let the people evolve further. Miwa Ichigen and Mishakuji Yukari were watching. The beast have to be tamed with fist. Hisui released his bind and Kokujouji strip his sleeve to take him on. Yukari was mesmerised by Hisui and couldn’t help but to comment that he was “beautiful” but refrained to say further realising Ichigen was watching him. He was not going to stop Yukari but Yukari had to find out the real meaning of “beautiful”. The Slate Kid was watching the battle. “When the old order and the new ideal clash, who would emerge as a winner?”

(Abstract art) Sukuna was the only son of a government official. He had been living in a fully controlled environment living a life his mother wanted and she had given everything she thinks Sukuna wants. He used to have a friend whose dream was to become a J ranker and meet the King one day. Sukuna didn’t think much of it. One day, he realised his “friend” was actually hired by his parents to be his friend and he was paid for it much to his horror. 

Sukuna ran away from home (he rather die than to go back home) and had been using the power of JUNGLE app to throw off his pursuers for some time. He plotted and demanded a pair to JUNGLE players to give him their missions and points after helping them to knock some members of Scepter 4 out. Sukuna, handke name, “Five” met up with “Kuroko” (business ninja) to hand him the chip. “Kuroko” had another mission which was to capture him as requested by his mother. Hisui Nagare had been watching through Kotosaka’s eyes and Kotosaka was proudly presented as a J ranker much to Sukuna’s disbelief. Hisui commented that as a U ranker, Sukuna was not Kuroko’s match. As he aroused his interest, “Kuroko” was given another mission and abandon the mission to capture Sukuna. Sukuna was angry but Hisui got more piqued that he decided to follow Sukuna to observe him even to his hide-out.  Hisui had investigated his background. Sukuna was annoyed.    He wondered why Sukuna would still fight a losing battle. Hisui would like to share with him his “dream” and hope to see him soon when he becomes a J ranker. 

Business ninja, “Kuroko” contacted Sukuna. There was a mission to challenge the highest ranking J ranker, handle name, “Beauty Angel” and there would be a huge JP to be reap if they succeeded. Sukuna spelled out that “Kuroko” needed him to be the bait since he can’t defeat him alone. They agreed with the 70:30 share of JP should they succeed but they would not help one another should either one of them fail.

(Abstract art) Yukari was getting bored on a boat as there was no U ranker was challenging enough for him to draw his sword. Hisui would like him to meet someone before closing up the mission. Sukuna appeared and he challenged Yukari for the very first time. He lost when “Kuroko” was unable to defeat him from the back. Sukuna was knocked out and “Kuroko” took him and they retreated. 

Sukuna was having a fever, he woke up from his nightmare when he thought he saw his mother putting her hand on his forehead and realised it was “Kuroko”.  The business ninja, “Kuroko” was actually a female dressing up in yukata (It’s Douhan but she was not officially introduced here). They were in one of her hide-out and she had been taking care of him. Sukuna wondered why she would help him. Douhan explained that it would be beneficial if he owed her a favour (In actual fact, Sukuna reminded her as her younger brother so she helped helped him). Douhan would withdraw from this mission as she was not one who would fight a losing battle. Sukuna decided to continue. If he ran away from home and if he still run away from this, he would have to run for the rest of his life. 

Sukuna spent most of his points to purchase items to challenge Yukari again. Hisui (through Kotosaka) noted that he would be in deficit if his plan didn’t work out and he might lose his life. Yukari came for the challenge and decided to go all out by drawing his sword right at the beginning. Sukuna was playing tags with him activating all the traps he had prepared but none could even scratch Yukari. Yukari was impressed by how he used the “object” (can’t remember the actual name but it is some ability from JUNGLE app) to deal with him making him think that he had got him. All the more he couldn’t let him off. Sukuna hurt his arm after running away from him. Sukuna led him to a container where they would settle once and for all.  Sukuna can’t run away. He wanted to move forward.

Hisui was touched by Sukuna’s determination but he can’t stop the battle nor he can’t intervene but he wanted Sukuna as his clansman but he didn’t know how.  Yukari would kill him. Iwa sent something out in secret. Sukuna activated the same lightning bolt attack from “Missing Kings” against Yukari and he thought he would try to finish him when he was distracted defending himself but he can’t make it on time. A kunai appeared and Yukari in order to defend himself was unable to deal with Sukuna’s attack and Sukuna had a scythe pointed at his throat. Sukuna cried foul at “Kuroko” mistaken that she came to help him but nope, she received a mission to do that. 100,000 JP was credited and Sukuna officially become a J ranker. Hisui invited him to come and see him. Sukuna accepted so he could decide whether he wanted to beat him up if he didn’t like what he see. 

And so Sukuna was brought back to the underground base and finally met Hisui face-to-face and was surprised a king like him was staying in such a small place. Hisui replied that they had everything despite the size. Iwa asked Sukuna what he wanted to eat for his welcoming party and he would make for him. Sukuna could feel the family warmth coming from them. Hisui asked Sukuna what his dream was? Sukuna thought of what his “friend” said, to become a J ranker but shook his head. Nope, he don’t have a dream. In that case, he wanted him to play with Hisui and he would show him his dream to evolve the world. 

Hisui and Iwa talked when they were alone. Hisui knew Iwa helped him so he could meet Sukuna and he was grateful. Sukuna sees him as his King now but one day Sukuna would find out and realise that his King was actually he himself and he controls his own world. 

[unwrathful]

KHR au in Hana Yori Dango 'verse?

problem: which pairing

OKOKOKOKKOKOKOK HONESTLY THAT CAN BE DECIDED LATER? FUCK ROMANCE I’M HERE FOR DRAMA

enma = hanazawa (it was originally gonna be mukuro, but I changed it lol.)

“tsu~ na~ kun~” ffffff hey look. this could end up 0027 au

bc 1) enma is a cutie

2) I like making xanxus go through angst, for some reason

(it’d also be interesting to think abt how it might’ve worked out in canon, so.)

xanxus = doumyouji (angry bois…..purely based on that)

“the almighty xanxus-sama!” wdym this ain’t canon-

looking back, p sure it is.

byakuran = mimasaka (his sweet tooth bc of his upbringing? yeah)

“onii-chan!!” CAN YOU IMAGINE

AND HIS MUM LIKE?? I’M CACKLING

daemon = nishikado (which makes elena as sara? tragic smh.)

I could choose like, kawahira as nishikado, but…that feels so wrong for some reason…

ngl I’d like kyoko as yuki, but that leads into daemon/kyoko, and uh. can we not kek

gokudera = yuki

only so the reader believes dera would ACTUALLY reject daemon at every turn.

mukuro = sakurako, bc mukuro is a bitch

“I changed my face, for you, xanxus-sama, so you can do what you want w/ it…if you want to smash it, go ahead!”

my skin crawled as I thought abt this whAT THE FUCK

haru (?) as shigure, bc both of them are wild af. altho haru liking xanxus….is…….:|. this one is definitely gonna change

oh wait I forget my own statements

FUCK ROMANCE

yamamoto as kazuya, Ig. putting gokudera in there feels rlly wrong, bc as soon as he enrolls he’d fuck over the f4 anD THAT RUINS THE ENTIRE PLOT??? I MEAN???? it’d be over too quick my dude

chrome = shizuka.....would be great....hmm

but who would be tsubaki???

yeah. this is wild. idk any more lol

[emeraldwaves]

Title: Don’t Look Down DJ AU Chapter 13 *FINAL CHAPTER* (Read from beginning Here or Here) Pairing: Sarumi Rating: M Word Count:  6,555 AO3 Summary: When Fushimi Saruhiko is dragged to a club by some of his co-workers, he refuses to dance, earning him the attention of the lively, up-and-coming DJ, Yata Misaki. After a heated argument, the boys go their separate ways, never expecting to meet again. Little do they know their first meeting is only the beginning of their now intertwined lives.

Full Fic Under Cut. Thank you to @its-love-u-asshole for betaing! And thank you to EVERYONE who supported this fic! I’m so sad it’s over, but I had SO much fun writing this! Thank you <3

It took a while for Saruhiko to convince himself he was content with his phone being as silent as it was. His emails, on the other hand, had been blowing up. A few random musicians he'd never heard of had contacted him asking if he wanted to collaborate. He deleted those of course. Then there were a few from fans, mostly women, who claimed they loved his voice and how his song had helped them through a rough time. One had sent him questionable pictures, and he had deleted that email so fast, he hoped he could just pretend it had ever existed

Doumyouji and Hidaka were constantly asking when he was going to do something new, but Saruhiko had spent the majority of the time ignoring them and brushing them off. He wasn't going to keep explaining to them that he was done with music forever. Both had seemed disappointed, but Akiyama had recently been ushering them away from Saruhiko's desk.

Munakata had also given up it seemed, no longer did he give Saruhiko a knowing look every morning when he came into work, and he had stopped making weird suggestions.

He wasn't upset people were finally giving up on him—actually it was exactly what he had always wanted. He wanted to be left alone, free to go about his daily life as he had been before Misaki, before all this music mess had begun.

And yet, even though it had been a few weeks at this point, Saruhiko still found himself occasionally glancing at his cell phone, pressing the small button on the side to get the screen to light up. For a moment, it felt as though his heart was a bit heavier in his chest.

Perhaps there was one person he had never expected to give up on him. But this person had given up, this person had other people he was more passionate about. People he needed to focus on to further his career. And being ignored was what Saruhiko wanted, that was what he had convinced himself. It was far easier this way.

And he was content, completely content. Touching the side of his phone, he ran his finger over the cool glass screen. It was much better this way, with his phone being silent. He got more work done, and wasn't so damn distracted or annoyed all the time. It was better.

"Ah Fushimi-san," Akiyama's soft voice came from behind him, and he turned around quickly, practically jumping in his seat, as though he had been caught doing something he shouldn't have. "Sorry," Akiyama continued, "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Tch, you didn't," Saruhiko scoffed, folding his arms.

"I was wondering if you could help me with a quick report?" he asked.

Saruhiko flicked his gaze towards his phone again, he didn't really care much about helping Akiyama, but compared to most of his obnoxious coworkers, Akiyama was probably the one he liked the best.

"Um, if you're busy, you don't have to," Akiyama spoke up again, waving his hand a bit.

"It's fine," Saruhiko grunted, clicking his tongue. "What do you need, make it quick."

Pursing his lips, Akiyama handed Saruhiko the folder. "You can just read it over yourself," he said softly. "But...I wanted to ask if you were okay," he muttered. "You seem really down today... well... lately..." Akiyama muttered.

"I'm fine," Saruhiko snapped, taking the folder from Akiyama's hand. So much for Akiyama being the only one to leave him alone so far. At least he hadn't pressured him for more information. In fact, he hadn't really said anything.

"We're all here for you if you want to talk?" Akiyama said. "I mean I know you're not much of a talker..." he muttered trailing off. "Maybe we could all go out again, take your mind off of things."

Saruhiko tried not to crush the folder with his fist. "Akiyama, I said I'm fine," he growled. "And I'm never going to be pressured into going out again," he continued, looking down towards his phone. "That's how this whole damn mess started in the first place."

"Ah...true..." Akiyama muttered. "I didn't even think of that..."

Clicking his tongue, Saruhiko took the envelope and sat back down in his chair, swiveling it away from Akiyama. "I'll bring this back to you in a moment." And thankfully, Akiyama took that as his cue to leave.

He flipped through the folder, reading about the technical issues the computer was experiencing and had in the past. It was hard to focus when all he could think about was how frustrated he was. This was how work had been for the past few weeks. His performance hadn't slipped or anything, he was still on time with his work, actually he'd been working a little faster, since it was a good distraction. Occasionally, he'd get stuck, focusing on the wrong things, his heart throbbing with frustration and anger.

He'd been avoiding music completely as well, not wanting to listen to anything on the radio if he didn't have to. His and Misaki's song was on frequently, and even worse, his and Nagare's song would occasionally pop up too. Neither were things he wanted to listen to, and any sort of music he listened to reminded him of all of the wrong things.

He stood up, making his way over to Akiyama's desk, and he placed the folder back down. "I circled the parts you're going to want to have him replace," he said. "It's not a difficult fix, but it might be expensive if we need to order the parts."

"I...see," Akiyama said taking the file back. "Thanks," he nodded. "And uh, Fushimi-san," he continued. "I'm sorry...about earlier."

"It's fine. I already told you I'm fine. I want to drop the subject," he said. "It's not something we need to focus on. I put it behind me, and I would appreciate it if everyone else did too."

"I know...you just seemed so upset lately."

"I'm fine," he repeated. "If you have more questions about computer stuff you can ask, but this is the last I want to hear about this subject." Not giving Akiyama the chance to answer, he moved back towards his own desk. The less he heard about it, the less he would think about it, or at least that was Saruhiko's theory. He was already moving on with his life.

~~

It had taken almost a week to perfect it, and even then Misaki wasn't sure if it was good enough. He wanted it to be perfect., absolutely perfect. Saruhiko deserved that at the very least. Actually, Misaki knew Saruhiko probably wasn't going to enjoy the present at first, hell he probably would reject it. Misaki was ready to do what he did best—pester Saruhiko until he convinced him to listen.

He had pushed the thoughts of the apology he felt he owed to the back of his mind, and now he could only focus on convincing Saruhiko to forgive him for what he had done.

The song was something reminiscent of the song they had originally performed together. It had similar melodies, only this time Misaki was singing it. Misaki's voice wasn't very good, in fact he often sounded shaky and nervous on his own songs. He liked it so much better when he heard Saruhiko or Totsuka sing his stuff, it made more sense. But for Saruhiko, Misaki wanted to do this. He wanted to prove how much Saruhiko meant to him, how stupid he'd been to push Saruhiko away, and how much Saruhiko had helped him...there was also the slight possibility that he loved him, and though he had mentioned it in the song, Misaki wasn't sure how...literal Saruhiko would take the message.

It was a song Misaki had written for Saruhiko, and Saruhiko only.

The song was a bit slower than stuff he normally made, but he felt that would suit Saruhiko better, and it swelled at the end, filled with as much emotion Misaki could pour into it. He hated his stupid, shaky voice on it, but it would be worth it in the end when Saruhiko realized how much Misaki had put into this song.

There had been parts he'd deleted and parts he'd rearranged. He'd sang the damn thing at least 20 times, but it had all been worth it. Worth it to get the perfect song for Saruhiko, to express everything Misaki was feeling.

He didn't want Saruhiko to forget the way it had felt when they had performed together. The way the beat had flown between their hearts, the way they had kept the tempo together, and how it had been impossible for Misaki to stop smiling for the entire night. He didn't want Saruhiko to forget how amazing the times they had shared together had been. Sure, they’d had some difficult moments, but they'd also had amazing ones, and Saruhiko had changed so much in the small amount of time Misaki had known him.

He couldn't believe he had almost let all this go.

"Yata-san?" Kamamoto said, opening the door to the studio, and Misaki immediately slammed his laptop shut. He had promised himself that no one else but Saruhiko would hear this. "You left your phone in the living room and you keep getting texts, from Kusanagi-san I think."

"Hah?!" Misaki yelled, and lunged forward, grabbing the device from Kamamoto's hand. "Shit!" Misaki cursed, and tucked the phone into one of his pocket's. "I'll answer later. I'm almost done with this."

"The song you're writing for Fushimi-san?" Kamamoto asked.

"S-Shut up! Yes that one," Misaki blushed, folding his arms indignantly, as he glanced away. "I just gotta...figure out how to give it to him. If I send it, I have a feeling he won't open the file..." Misaki admitted.

"What about your songs for your album?" Kamamoto asked. "Have you worked on those at all? I don't want you to do that thing where you get obsessive and forget what you should actually be working on."

Groaning, Misaki leaned back in the chair. "Yeah, I've worked on them a little bit, but Mikoto-san already rejected some of the songs I’d shown him. I don't think I'll be able to produce anything good until I get this shit with Saru sorted," he said, scratching at his neck. "I have a few months, and Kusanagi keeps reminding me not to rush it," he sighed.

"Well at least you're getting a lot of extra time," Kamamoto said. "I'm sure you'll figure out how to fix things with him."

"Yeah!" Misaki nodded. "And like I said...it's...basically done, I just don't know how to give it to the asshole!"

"If you're worried, go give it to him in person," Kamamoto shrugged. It wasn't a terrible idea, and it was pretty typical at this point for Misaki to burst in unannounced to Saruhiko's job. It might make Saruhiko hate him even more, but it was worth a shot to get him to listen. "Have you tried texting him?" Kamamoto asked.

Misaki shook his head. "Not exactly. But I know how he gets about his damn phone, and he hates me right now so there's no way he's going to text back, even if I was to try spam texting him..." Misaki muttered.

"Yeah maybe don't do that," Kamamoto snorted. "And maybe-"

"I think I'm just gonna take my damn laptop down to his office and I'll show it to him myself." He yanked out the chord, and picked up the laptop, shoving it in his backpack next to his bed.

"Uhm...Yata-san. I was just going to say maybe you should wait until he's back at home and you guys could have some privacy."

"No way! He'll never let me in his apartment, are you kidding?!" Misaki said, swinging the backpack around his shoulders. "This is definitely the best way to make sure he listens!"

"What exactly did you do to make him hate you?" Kamamoto asked raising his eyebrow, but Misaki brushed past him, shaking his head.

"It's too long of a story, I'll tell you later once it's all fixed."

"Okay...good luck then," he shrugged.

"I don't need luck," Misaki smiled. "Once he hears this, I just know we're gonna figure shit out!" Misaki said, giving Kamamoto a thumbs up. "I'll be back!" he called out, slamming the door behind him as he dashed down the stairs.

Admittedly, he was a little nervous Saruhiko would never want to talk to him again, but he hoped, with many of the other times he'd spoken with Saruhiko, this would be able to convince him just as he had in the past. He didn't want to be pushy again, or well, pushy enough that it would push Saruhiko away forever, but he wasn't going to let Saruhiko get away from him, not again. He wasn't sure if it was going to solve his music problem, but he hoped fixing things with Saruhiko would help him be inspired again.

He couldn't pinpoint when it had happened, but somewhere along the way, Misaki realized he needed Saruhiko in his life, whether he was involved with his music or not. No matter what, he had to make Saruhiko realize that.

~~

"You don't understand!"

Saruhiko practically dropped his phone onto the ground.

The voice was loud and echoed up the stairs, a voice Saruhiko was all too familiar with. He felt his heart sink, and his palms grew sweaty. He truly had thought all this was over, and yet here he was back at Saruhiko's office. Why? Had he come to yell at him again?

"I'm always allowed to go up!!" the voice yelled again, and Saruhiko hoped Fuse would have enough of a brain to keep the idiot out of here.

A few of the other workers had peered over the edges of their cubicle, all disturbed by the loud noises echoing up the main stairwell.

"C'mon! It'll take two seconds! This is really important! I'm not going to yell or anything!"

Saruhiko found that hard to believe, especially since Misaki was already creating such a damn scene. Why the hell did he always do this at Saruhiko's job? He'd already created a scene multiple times, did he really need to bother Saruhiko more? It had been weeks!

Groaning, he tucked his phone into his pocket, and stormed down the stairs, not surprised when he saw Misaki at the bottom of the stairs. His face was red, and he was panting heavily, holding his laptop in his hand. He looked frantic. Glancing from the laptop to Misaki's face, Saruhiko scoffed. Was Misaki here simply to get his laptop fixed? There were plenty of places he could do that, and though Saruhiko did like to think of himself as the best, he would've thought Misaki would go elsewhere to save himself the awkwardness.

"What the hell are you doing here, Misaki?" Saruhiko scoffed, clicking his tongue angrily at Misaki.

"AH! Saru!" he called out, and practically slammed his laptop on the counter. If it wasn't broken before, Saruhiko felt a little concerned for it now. "Good! You're here! I've been trying to get upstairs, but this guy wouldn't let me through."

"Good, you have no reason to be up there," Saruhiko continued.

"Yes I do! I wanted to see you!" Misaki urged, and Fuse began to slink away, not wanting to get caught between the two. Saruhiko couldn't blame him, based on prior knowledge of how Saruhiko and Misaki interacted, Saruhiko wouldn't have wanted to be around them either.

"You did? Last time you made it pretty clear you wouldn't want to see me ever again. And quite frankly, I'm not exactly happy to see you."

"Okay, see, I knew you'd probably say something like this. 'I don't wanna see you Misaki' or 'Get out of my sight', but you gotta listen to me just this once Saru, please!" he said.

"Just this once? Just this once?" Saruhiko growled. "How many times have you been pushy with me and forced me to do things I didn't want to do!"

Frowning, Misaki slammed his hand down on the counter, the loud noise echoing through the hall. "And how many times did you end up loving what we did together!" he grunted, determination flickering across his eyes.

It was a look Saruhiko was used to, one he was incredibly familiar with. Misaki's eyes which proved he wasn't going to give this up. But Saruhiko had fallen for this too many times, in fact there was a time he would've maybe even admitted he loved that look. Not this time, no matter what, he wouldn't cave to Misaki's demanding nature.

"You're lucky we're in a public place," Saruhiko hissed, crossing his arms. "Please leave. I won't ask you again."

But instead of listening, Misaki yanked open his laptop, wiping the screen off as he hurriedly typed his password. He glanced around the store, his gaze falling on a few of the people. He groaned, but quickly shook his head. "Okay, okay, this isn't how I wanted to do this, but I need you to hear this!" he said.

Saruhiko rolled his eyes, and stormed forward, pressing down on Misaki's laptop to shut it. "I don't need to hear anything," he explained. "And I know you love making a scene, but could you not do this at my job."

Misaki stopped his hand. "Please Saruhiko! Please!" he begged, his eyes looking desperate. The determination was still there, but his bright eyes were pleading. What the hell was going on? Saruhiko was certain Misaki hated him now, and yet here he was, being his typical pushy self.

But Saruhiko had resolved himself to his choice. He didn't want Misaki in his life. Even if he took him back, he knew it wouldn't go well. History would repeat itself, and even if they made up, Misaki would go back to idolizing Mikoto, worshiping him and being excited the two of them were working together. Saruhiko couldn't do it.

The problem, which Saruhiko had no desire to admit to himself, was he cared about Misaki. He liked him, and he wanted to be the only person Misaki cared about. He wanted to be his number one. And with Mikoto around, there was no way that would ever happen.

Sucking in a large breath of air, Saruhiko's body felt cold, a shiver running down his spine. This had to be the end of it.

"You need to leave Misaki. I am busy, and I'm sure you have plenty of music...things you need to be working on. Don't come here again."

"C'mon Saru," Misaki grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "We both said shitty things, but I really wanna...show you this thing. I mean it doesn't gotta be like this, you know?" he said.

Clenching his fists, Saruhiko leaned forward, his eyes staring harshly. "I don't know how many times I'm going to tell you. I don't wish to be involved in the music world anymore. I don't...wish to be involved in your world anymore," he hissed, stepping away from the counter. "Don't bother me anymore."

He turned away, and headed back up the stairs, to return to his work. He wasn't supposed to see Misaki again, and he truly hoped this time he wouldn't have to anymore. He wanted to forget about Misaki, and the way he made him feel, and if he kept pestering him it would be impossible for Saruhiko to do so. Even now, he'd worked so hard to forget about Misaki for the past week and now he had stumbled back into Saruhiko’s life, bringing back memories he had almost completely moved past.

Saruhiko hated emotions, he hated feelings, and above all else, he hated when his heart felt so damn heavy in his chest.

~~

When Misaki saw Saruhiko turn away from him and walk up the stairs, he slammed his hand down onto the table in front of him, and stormed away from the counter, not saying a word to the man who called out behind him to have a nice day.

He had to regroup. There was absolutely no way he could just give this up. This was Saruhiko, and Misaki had resolved to fix this. If he couldn't convince Saruhiko to listen at work, he'd have to find another way to get him to listen.

Which was why he was now sat on the stoop of Saruhiko's apartment, waiting for him to get home. He'd tucked his laptop into his backpack, and curled up, bringing his knees up to his chest. He'd wait as long as he had to, even if Saruhiko didn't get home until midnight.

However, Misaki had forgotten one minor detail—winter was on the horizon, and by the time the sun began to set, he was getting chillier and chillier. He yanked his beanie down further over his ears, trying to cover more of his neck as a shiver ran down his spine. It was nearing 8 PM and Saruhiko still hadn't come home. But Misaki didn't care. He had already resolved to wait as long as he had to. He had to prove to Saruhiko he was serious about fixing...whatever they were.

"What the hell are you doing here?" A voice made Misaki jolt up and glance at his watch, realizing it was close to 10:30, and somewhere along the way he'd fallen asleep. Rubbing his eye, he yawned and stared up at Saruhiko's deep blues.

"You're home!" he called out, jumping up.

"I am. Get out of the way. I told you to leave me alone," he said, brushing past him to put the key in the door.

"No you don't understand! I've been here since I left the store!" Misaki tried to explain.

Saruhiko clicked his tongue. "Then you're an idiot. No surprise there. I told you to leave me alone."

"Since when has that ever stopped me!" Misaki grinned, standing behind him.

"Is that really something to be proud of?" Saruhiko grunted, turning the lock. "Good night Misaki." Slamming the door behind him, he disappeared into his apartment and Misaki let out a long whine.

"What the hell Saruhiko!" he called out. "It's freaking freezing out here! At least hear me out!" Misaki stared at the window, blinking, waiting for Saruhiko to turn the light on and come forward, but after a few minutes Misaki knew it wasn't going to happen.

"C'mon Saru! Just give me a chance!" he cried out again, and he could almost hear the other side of the conversation. Saruhiko had already given him a chance, many chances, more than Misaki deserved. "Okay, okay!" he yelled, waving his hands around. "Give me another chance! Please! I promise, if this doesn't work, I'll leave you alone forever and you'll never have to deal with me again!"

That was a shitty lie, and he knew it, and Saruhiko probably knew it too. "I just want to explain how important you are to me!" he whined.

Still there was nothing, no movement or anything. Was Saruhiko really never going to talk to him again? Misaki knew he was stubborn, but he had figured by now Saruhiko would've caved and at least let him speak for a minute.

He froze in place. Maybe...he didn't need to speak! Maybe he could pull his laptop out, and start the song outside his window, like he was in an 80s movie! Sure, a laptop was different from a boombox, but hell, they could be a new modern classic.

He pulled the small computer out of the bag and kicked his backpack aside. He opened the laptop and pushed down on the space bar, turning the volume up as loud as it could go. He held the computer over his head, standing proudly outside of Saruhiko's window.

He waited, cringing a bit at his own vocals, but he watched the window, waiting for any sign of movement, any sign Saruhiko was listening.

His voice echoed a little bit, but the sound on his laptop wasn't very loud, and the speaker was on the underside, and not traveling very well, as the song began to near the end, Misaki sighed, and pulled it down. Huffing, he shut it slowly and placed it back in his bag.

Misaki shivered again. It was so damn cold, but he'd made a promise and he wasn't about to break it. Maybe Saruhiko hadn't heard him. The laptop speakers had been pretty quiet...

Stretching up, Misaki figured he only had one other option. He'd have to sing it live. He rolled his shoulders back, as shook his body out, as though he were about to start running some sort of marathon. "Alright Saru!" he called out. "You've left me no choice! I'll just have to start singing outside your window!"

A few windows next door had lights that turned on, and Misaki caught a glimpse of a few faces staring at him. Maybe they were going to yell, or call the cops, but so be it. Misaki wasn't going to leave until he was physically dragged away.

He opened his mouth and began to sing, his voice slightly off pitch. At least in his own song, he'd tuned himself to the right notes. It still didn't sound great, but damn did it sound better than this. He sang louder and louder, calling out the emotions of the piece, explaining why he had been stupid to leave Saruhiko behind in such a way. Actually, just singing it, even though it was loud and semi-obnoxious, Misaki felt himself growing more and more emotional.

Suddenly, the door swung open.

"Misaki!" Saruhiko growled, and stormed down the stairs. Wrapping his fist around Misaki's shirt collar, he began to drag him inside. "You weren't fucking kidding," he snapped and slammed the door behind him. "You're gonna get yourself arrested you moron."

"Of course I wasn't!" he said, rubbing his hands together, happy to finally feel warmth rushing through his body. "I have to play you this song."

"A damn song? That's what this is about?" Saruhiko hissed. "I told you so many times I want nothing-"

"To do with the music world! I get it, I get it," Misaki sighed. "Look it's not about that," he said. "Just..." he rubbed his arm, his eyes trailing over Saruhiko.

Damn Saruhiko was all kinds of beautiful. His eyes were gorgeous and blue, the wisps of dark hair brushing over his pale forehead. Even with his brow looking furrowed and angry, Misaki felt his heart flutter just looking at him.

Suddenly he felt nervous, as though there was so much at stake. Saruhiko was in front of him, actually ready to listen, or well as ready as he would ever be, and Misaki couldn't mess it up. "Music...is the only way I really know how to...express myself, without being an idiot," he whispered, and pulled open the laptop, and hovered his finger over the button about to push play. He took a deep breath and slowly shut the laptop. "A-Actually...I'm just going to sing it."

He opened his mouth and began to sing the song acapella. He sang slowly, singing of how Saruhiko had helped him so much, how stupid he'd been to have lost him. His voice was shaky, trembling as he picked up the tempo. He sounded awful, off pitch and weird, and part of him could only imagine how amazing Saruhiko would sound on it, far better than him at least. He got to the end, the part where the music swelled and he sang about wanting forgiveness, wanting to work it out, and he knew he sounded so damn desperate. But Misaki was so lost in his emotions he didn't care how he sounded.

He took a deep breath, singing the last note as he looked at Saruhiko who was silent. He didn't clap or say a word, he just stared.

"Look..." Misaki whispered. "I get it...you hate me now. I didn't mean...I didn't mean to upset you...I just...I just loved working with you and I loved how much fun we had performing the song, I wanted you to come with me and share all these experiences I want to have. I wanted to have them with you. But I was stupid and didn't even think about you! I just wanted what I wanted, like a selfish brat! Then it sucked hearing you do a song with someone else! I was so damn jealous! And it's sucked the past few weeks, you know? It's absolutely sucked! I keep trying to write new music, and it all sucks! I don't even need you to sing it, I don't want you to sing it if you don't want to. I didn't come here to pressure you to come sing again. I just...I just want you in my life Saru!" he yelled, tears streaming down his cheeks. He wasn't sure when he had started crying, but he ran his sleeve across one of his eyes, the tears flowing faster than he could really fix. "I get it...I'm a fucking idiot!" he yelled. "B-But I love you okay? I didn't want to stop...whatever it was we were." He took a deep breath, panting as he tried to catch himself, feeling a little dizzy from how fast he had completely spilled his guts, forgetting to breath properly.

"You done?" Saruhiko muttered.

Misaki nodded. "Y-Yeah..." he whispered, slipping his laptop back into his backpack. "That's...all I wanted you to hear so...I'll leave."

Saruhiko folded his arms and clicked his tongue. "You spent all that time and energy and you plan on leaving now?"

Misaki froze, his hand resting on his backpack. Did Saruhiko not want him to leave? There was an awkward moment of silence between them, neither of them moving, their eyes locked. Misaki had just assumed…

Suddenly, Saruhiko flicked his gaze towards the kitchen, and he unfolded his arms, rolling his shoulders back. Misaki opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he saw Saruhiko do the same. A soft sigh left his lips, one filled with frustration and Saruhiko folded his arms again. He looked tense, and a bit angry, but then again it was rare Saruhiko looked happy. Maybe...he did want Misaki to leave? He had been annoying, but he really wanted Saruhiko to at least hear him out, though now he was wondering if he did more harm than good.

Stammering, he rubbed at the back of his neck, finally speaking up. "I just thought...uh...that you...uh…"

"Shut up." Saruhiko rolled his eyes and leaned forward, yanking Misaki's shirt collar yet again, but this time he pulled their lips together, locking their lips in a kiss. It was an intense kiss too, one that told Misaki Saruhiko had been missing him just as much. Misaki's arms came around Saruhiko's neck, and he pressed his tongue against the taller's, desperately penetrating his mouth. He'd wanted Saruhiko's kisses for weeks now, hell he'd wanted it more than anything.

"Y-You...you forgive me?" Misaki panted, pulling away from Saruhiko, though he stayed close to him, as if stepping back would result in Saruhiko pulling away again.

Shrugging Saruhiko let out a sigh. "Perhaps...but..." he muttered.

"No! Uh...there's no need for a but..." Misaki said frantically, laughing awkwardly.

"But...I should...apologize too..." he grunted, looking positively infuriated with himself. His cheeks were even a little red. "I...I didn't hate doing music stuff with you...I only hated that...maybe you were going to enjoy your time with others more...I didn't want to be...replaced."

"What?!" Misaki yelled and squeezed Saruhiko's cheeks, pulling on them. "Saru! I never would've replaced you! Just cause I was working with other people didn't mean I didn't wanna work with you! You're my favorite! You should know that!" he said.

"Well you didn't make that very clear! All you cared about was Mikoto," Saruhiko scoffed.

"Is...that why you sang with Nagare?" Misaki asked. "Cause you thought I was going to replace you?"

Saruhiko shrugged, not answering verbally, but Misaki could see his cheeks grow a little redder.

"Idiot Saru!" he called out. "I wouldn't have! Hell I'd have you sing all my songs! I thought you didn't want to sing the one with Mikoto."

Scoffing, Saruhiko shook his head. "I didn't, that was a terrible song," he snorted. "I enjoy your style more."

"Well...come sing all the rest of my songs then! I need to make a few more!" Misaki urged, the excitement glistening in his eyes. "A-And...maybe you could sing them...as...you know..." he rubbed his arm, looking awkward. "My, uh, boyfriend..."

"I told you, Misaki I'm done with the music world," he turned away indignantly, but then slowly glanced back at Misaki, a small smirk on his lips. "But...maybe I could...make an exception...for my...boyfriend," he said softly.

Misaki's eyes grew wide. "R-Really?!" he asked, almost breathless.

"Well..." Saruhiko clicked his tongue. "You certainly can't sing them."

"S-Shut up you ass!" he snarled, punching Saruhiko's arm. "I...I tried really hard! On the recording it's not as bad, but...I wanted to say I loved you and shit!"

Rolling his eyes, Saruhiko let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah...right..." he sighed. "I...feel similarly...and...I did kind of...miss your loud stupidity."

Misaki grinned. "Good!" he leaned up, kissing him once again. He'd missed that a hell of a lot more than he'd realized. "So...you'll really sing for me again? Sing for me and...come on tour and be with me?!"

"...Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'll think about it..." he muttered.

"I-I don't care if you don't wanna...I just...wanna be with ya', you know? You...uh, don’t gotta do anything..."

"I know...but I want...that too..." Saruhiko muttered, and kissed Misaki once more too.

"I love you..." Misaki muttered against his lips, and pushed against him harder.

"Mm...yeah, yeah..." Saruhiko whispered, his voice mumbled and shy. Misaki could see how red Saruhiko’s cheeks were, he knew Saruhiko felt the same, even if he couldn’t quite say the words. Instead, Saruhiko wrapped their hands together, and squeezed tightly.

Misaki couldn’t help but smile, resting his forehead against Saruhiko’s. He had no idea where they would go from here, but he was sure it was going to be nothing but perfect, or well, perfect by their standards.

~~

 A few months later

"I'm ready! I'm so fucking ready!" Misaki said, bouncing between both of his feet. Saruhiko rolled his eyes. This had become Misaki's routine, and while Saruhiko found it massively annoying and unhelpful, he couldn't blame Misaki for doing whatever it was he needed to do to...pump himself up.

Saruhiko would've much preferred they do other things to prepare, but he didn't feel like arguing with Misaki as he desperately attempted to get into his own mindset.

"You say this every time," Saruhiko muttered, clicking his tongue.

"Yeah, and I'm ready every time!" Misaki exclaimed.

Rolling his eyes, Saruhiko leaned down to give Misaki a kiss, which made him freeze, his face turning red. Cute. "Idiot," Saruhiko scoffed.

"Look, I know you somehow just space out and do your thing when we go out there, but I still get nervous! The crowds keep getting bigger and bigger!"

They were reaching the middle of their tour, and Misaki was always a reckless ball of nerves before they had to go on stage.

Saruhiko had agreed, offered even, to sing a few of Misaki's songs, and when he had, Misaki had almost no problem finishing his EP album. Kusanagi had released another one of his songs, and sales had been doing quite well. The tour was only making it better.

Misaki's popularity was skyrocketing, and everything was a whirlwind to both of them. With Misaki's rise in popularity, Saruhiko was getting his own following. People were begging Saruhiko to sing for them, just as much as singers begged to sing for Misaki. But Saruhiko and Misaki refused every time, content with each other.

Originally, Saruhiko had wanted to refuse to tour with Misaki, even though deep down, he had enjoyed their performance together. Still, he wasn't quite sure he was ready to drop everything to travel around the country to perform. However, when he realized he'd have to be away from Misaki for months, he'd reluctantly agreed, but on his own terms. He didn't like being away from his main job, but Munakata had told him his job was secure, and Saruhiko could have it back whenever he wanted.

Actually lately, he hadn't hated the whole singing thing, ever since they'd both apologized. Working with Misaki brought out emotions Saruhiko had never known he'd even had, and he didn't mind the sex they usually had after recording sessions. Misaki always seemed particularly fired up after them.

The tour also had been more fun than Saruhiko had expected. He still wasn't a fan of Totsuka or Mikoto, but Kusanagi was fairly interesting to talk to, and Misaki always seemed so excited, he couldn't hate it. Seeing Misaki run out onto the stage, feeling his presence behind him when he sang, Saruhiko wouldn't have traded that for anything. He loved Misaki, the stupid idiot, and whenever he heard their songs begin, Saruhiko was transported somewhere else. A place he felt alive, and happy, comfortable even.

Strange, that on stage in front of thousands of people he felt more comfortable. But he never really felt scared, especially since Misaki was always right there, behind him. The beat of their songs holding Saruhiko's hand throughout the entire concert. They were connected, together, and the whole world knew it.

"Introducing...Yata Misaki and his guest, Fushimi Saruhiko!" Kusanagi's voice boomed into the microphone, and the crowd went wild, cheering and chanting their names.

Misaki jumped up, shaking his hands out as he stepped up onto the steps. Seeing Misaki's energy, the way his eyes twinkled against the stage lights, Saruhiko knew he'd made the right choice. All this time, he'd felt he didn't deserve to be happy, that he should continue on the safe path, the safe journey...and stay away from any risks. But Misaki...Misaki was the best risk, and he loved him.

Misaki turned around, noting Saruhiko's momentary hesitation, and he gave Saruhiko the biggest of smiles, holding his hand out. "You coming Saru?"

 I love you

And as Saruhiko reached forward and took Misaki's hand, their fingers intertwining. He walked up the steps, crossing the threshold onto the black stage. Saruhiko cracked the tiniest of smiles, "Let's do it."

 I love you too.

"Together!" Misaki cheered.

"Together," Saruhiko repeated.

And as the two of them stepped on stage, holding each other's hands, Saruhiko could feel Misaki’s pulse throbbing against his own, their hearts’ rhythm syncing up. Misaki waved when they both looked down at the crowd, and the cheers began to crescendo into the loudest of happy roars.

[ridiasfangirlings]

For some reason this feels like something Munakata would do.

Just ominous Munakata disappearing in the dark after you answer correctly.

That is absolutely a thing Munakata would do, he overheard Hidaka talking about ‘No Nut November’ and thought how intriguing, an entire month for one to test one’s nut-based knowledge. Poor Doumyouji comes running into the office on November first all in a panic, Captain stopped him in the hallway and handed him these nuts, asking him to identify them “for day one.” No one is sure why Munakata would have done this but his mind works in mysterious ways, maybe this is some obscure bonding activity. Doumyouji is worried because what will happen if he doesn’t identify the nuts correctly, is he going to be scolded will Captain feed him to Fushimi-san. Luckily Kamo has wide nut-based knowledge due to being a chef so he identifies the nuts as hazelnuts, with baited breath Doumyouji sends Munakata a text with the right answer. Everyone is staring over his shoulder waiting until Munakata finally responds with ‘correct ✨’. Doumyouji breathes a sigh of relief as Munakata congratulates him for passing ‘day one of Know Nut November.’ The squad all exchange glances like wait there may have been a misunderstanding here.

Of course no one wants to be the one who explains what it actually means so instead the squad has to spend all month being terrorized by Munakata appearing out of nowhere to test their knowledge of nuts. The second day of November Hidaka walks into the office to find his desk covered in almonds, on day three Akiyama goes to brew coffee only to find an ominous bowl of pistachios next to the coffeemaker. Enomoto is making copies and finds Captain has printed out a bunch of pictures of pine nuts, Fuse goes to deliver a report to find Munakata doing a puzzle that features chestnuts. Fushimi gets a pleasant text asking him to identify an image of macadamias and almost blocks his own boss. The squad all have nut-related trauma because no one wants to find out what happens if you give an incorrect answer. Meanwhile at some point Munakata is definitely at a meeting with some politicians and takes a picture of the bowl of complimentary peanuts as he explains his office is taking part in Know Nut November this year.

[helenrourke]

Finally, the pivotal part of the New York Arc. The airport scene.  So much happens from Kaede beginning to realize that maybe she was wrong about Tsukushi (not that she’ll admit it openly, but Tsukushi is the reason she got that business deal).  To Tsukasa deciding to finally break his self-imposed exile from seeing Tsukushi, only to realize that he’s not the only one who cares deeply about her.

I always found it a turning point in the series, when Rui, the boy she had a crush on but only had eyes for Suzuka, now admits that his thoughts of Tsukushi have turned romantic.  Rui’s feelings for Tsukushi are a theme that Yoko Kamio explores throughout the later part of the series.  I believe at one point the author had considered Rui and Tsukushi ending up together, however decided not to do so because of Tsukasa’s popularity.  Rui’s feelings are further explored in the side story that is featured in the final volume.

While this scene I feel is important for our second leads character development, at this point we all know Tsukushi and Tsukasa are the endgame.  However, if we have been paying attention to previous volumes the signs of Rui’s feelings are there.  From the night they slept hand-in-hand at the villa to taking Tsukasa to the fishing village.  It was obvious that Rui cared for Tsukushi, nevertheless at this point Tsukushi saw him as a dear friend.

In the end Tsukushi chooses to go with Rui, not because she’s picked him, but because she knows that Tsukasa needs to fight his own battles.  Sure, she could have gone the easy way and asked for Tsukasa’s freedom.  But if she had chosen that decision would Tsukasa be able to stand on his own two feet and proudly say he’s earned his family’s approval.  Tsukasa is to be the head of the Doumyouji Group one day, he needs to earn his mother’s respect if he is to be a great leader.

I’m sad to leave the New York Arc, but were so close to finishing the series now.

[messier-45]

GoRA Kizuna Meeting #6 Q&A

Q&A from Kizuna Meeting in Ikebukuro on Jan 22nd. This is really long so I categorized them into 5 groups: ①Munakata, ②Fushimi, ③Scepter 4, ④Homra, ⑤K Project, including K7S.

Munakata

Q: Did Munakata study abroad out of his own intention? Red: He received government grant.

Munakata's major was information engineering. (I saw a dozen tweets regarding this. Shocking, isn't it?)

Q: Is there more setting about Captain's studying abroad? Green: The government recommended him to, since it's about time for the country to become more open.

Based on every GoRA member's opinion, Munakata's awakening gotta be an airplane incident. There was a proposal of crashing the plane, making Munakata the only survivor. But... Red: Once we decided that Awashima should be by his side in his awakening, it turns out this way. Green: The only timing for their encounter... Red: That's right. As with Tatsuka & Kusanagi being by Suoh's side when he woke, we want Munakata to have Awashima by his side.

Q. How did Munakata suppress the hijackers? Green: I think he practiced battle skills such as martial arts. Oh and his swordsmanship isn't amateur either. Basically, he's like a superman.

Q: Did you appoint the "Producer Munakata" in R:B? Green: Oh. It was random. I picked the most interesting one among the designs (kimono and such) I received.

Q: Does Munakata-san have any friends besides Mikoto-san? Green: Lol. Umm how should i say this. I think, in school days he hung out with classmates, but that was different from with Suoh. I guess in terms of friends like Suoh, the answer is no.

Q: What's the age difference between Munakata and his older brother? Red: It's decided. But I don't have the notes at hand, so I can't give the exact number right now.

Q: Did Munakata read the documents in "E Archive"? Red: I think he did. Q: Did he talk to the Special Ops about it? Red: No way. He was like reading by himself and thinking, "So that's how it is."

Q: What happens to the sand castle in the short novel "Sand Castle"? Yellow: Not decided yet. It's interesting if it remains. But without the power of the slate, it might crumble a bit.

Fushimi

(Fushimi got especially many asks since Yellow is the only one who can answer them, yet she doesn’t participate in Kizuna Meeting often.)

Q: What happened to Fushimi's uniform and saber after he left (in anime #8)? Yellow: Hidaka brought it back, I think. He'd be flustered like "What should I do? What should I doooo???"

Q: Does Fushimi know that Munakata paid 30 million Yen to save him? Yellow: I'll have to ask Orange to confirm this. But if he knows, I think he'd say things like, "Are you stupid or what?"

Q: In R:B, Akiyama and Benzai fought Fushimi. Do they remember this battle? Green: Since all three of them are intelligent, they can get along well while knowing, "yep, so he was that guy back then."

Q: Can Fushimi drink? Yellow: He doesn't have high alcohol tolerance, but can handle social drinking.

Q: After the ending of season 2, would Fushimi's attitude toward the Special Ops change a bit? Yellow: Sure will! I want to write about what happens afterwards.

Q: Fushimi, in spite of being excellent, values himself low. Does he ever give himself 100 points? Yellow: Um. Rarely, I think, such as when he got something done really well.

Q: Is there any food Fushimi likes? Yellow: Nothing to the extent of "like". If you ask him what food does he like, you'll get "nothing" as a reply.

Q: Does he have a favorite dish in Yata family's cooking? Yellow: Didn't really think about it. I think he'd say "hmm so this is family taste".

Q: In LSW, while being attacked in Jungle mission, did Fushimi feel that Totsuka protected him? Yellow: I wrote "like bathed in sunlight" in the novel. Yes. Fushimi felt it, since the beginning.

Q: What do Fushimi think of Totsuka? Yellow: He doesn't dislike him, but thinks he's annoying. ("Not dislike" is already special, comparing to what he said to Aya.)

Q: When Fushimi left Homra, what were Kusanagi's and Totsuka's reactions? Yellow: They both saw this coming, especially Totsuka. Now that I think of it, Kusanagi would feel so lonely.

Q: Will Fushimi interact with Kusanagi in the future? Green: As the important intelligent units of their clans, they will.

Q: Does Fushimi visit Bar Homra after the ending? Yellow: Basically no, since he feels awkward to. But if invited, he might.

Q: Who has better alcohol capacity? Fushimi-san or Yata-chan? Red: About the same. But Yata seems weaker. Q: What alcohol do they drink? Red: Um... Calpis Sour, like students do.

Q: Would Yata and Fushimi meet Aya again after season 2? Yellow: Not decided whether they should meet or not. Q: I'm curious about how Aya's doing afterwards. Yellow: Thank you. It'll be great if I can write something about it.

Q: Does Kisa know that Fushimi joined Homra and Scepter 4? Yellow: Homra is underworld, so she doesn't know he had been there. Scepter 4 is a government institution, so she's aware of this, I believe.

Q: Will Fushimi and Kisa reconcile? Yellow: Not in the near future, but it'll be nice if they come closer.

Q: Why did Niki marry Kisa? Was it some plan? Yellow: Niki, in his own way, loved Kisa.

Q: Why is Saruhiko's hairstyle like Niki's? Yellow: This can't be explained with reasons.

Q: What's Fushimi Niki's parents' family like? Yellow: It's a family of ancient extraction. Niki was a maverick among them. (Note: Fushimi's family being quite grand isn't really surprising. It was hinted in LSW when mentioning "head family [本家]". If it's an ordinary family without some heritage, no one cares about head family or branch family.)

Scepter 4

Q: Does Saruhiko set his hair every morning? Yellow: Yes. With hair wax, I suppose.

Q: Does Akiyama set his hair every morning, or is that the result of his hair naturally disarranged during sleep? Red: You'll have to ask the anime director regarding this.

Q: Among Munakata, Fushimi, and Enomoto, who has the worst eyesight? Yellow: Munakata. Not decided who comes second, but Munakata has the worst eyesight IMO.

Green: Scepter 4 members goes to family restaurant often. Especially Special Ops, since unlike Munakata, they are common people with common people taste.

Q: Who has the best alcohol tolerance in Special Ops? Red: Akiyama drinks quietly, but he's really good at it. It seems that he often enjoys drinking nice and slow with Benzai.

Q: When did Akiyama and Benzai first meet? Red: When they were students, attending the same school. They've known each other since long ago.

Q: Doumyouji kept going to blind dates (in Countdown manga). Any luck? Red: I think yes. He has good looks to begin with. But in the end, he gets no progress.

Q: Is Konomura (in Case Files of Blue) doing well? Red: Good as ever. He's still travelling around the world. BTW I plan to write about this too.

Q: What's Kusuhara's role in Idol K? Red: He joined Scepter 4, but didn't make a debut yet. He might have the chance to.

Homra

Q: Is Kusanagi-san happy? Green: Don't worry. He finds happiness in bringing happiness to the people around him. So he gets his happiness alright.

Q: Does Kusanagi-san have various recipe for red bean paste cocktail? Green: I heard that red bean paste cocktail does exist in reality. But Kusanagi improved his in trial and error, day by day.

Q: In the after story, did Munakata drink that red bean paste Martini? Green: Kusanagi can make red bean paste Martini tasty. However, the one he made for Munakata was deliberately not.

Q: What brand of cigarette does Kusanagi smoke? Green: What does that dude smoke? ...Nothing weird, just ordinary brands.

Q: Does Kusanagi get to fight in K7S? Red: Oh will he? Um... (really long thinking) ...Ah! He will!

Q: Did Suoh know the arrangements in Bar Homra's kitchen? Did he step into it at all? Red: I think he went in once for dish washing. He basically wouldn't set foot in the kitchen though.

Q: Will Anna attend Ashinaka Academy? A: Not decided yet, but this sounds like a nice idea.

Q: If Anna goes to junior high school while Suoh and Totsuka were still around, what will they say? Green: They'd be like overly-fond parents, won't they! Tatsuka would be acting like a big brother, while Suoh getting a bit jealous about it.

Q: Did Yata's mom name her children Misaki, Minoru, Megumi for a reason? (Note: Misaki means flowers beautifully blooming. Minoru means fruit. Megumi here means spout. Nope, Misaki does not mean vanguard. That's a pun.) Yellow: She gave them plant related names, representing her hope in them growing fast and well like plants.

Q: Are details of Kusanagi-san's siblings decided? Age and stuff. Green: Kusanagi? (Turns to Yellow) Say, any plans for Kusanagi's siblings? Yellow: Eh? We haven't discussed this yet. Green: That's right. Pending.

K Project

Q: How are K characters' birthdays decided? Green: We decided together. "This character should be this zodiac sign. What do you say?", sort of like this.

Red: Ady's middle name might be revealed in the future.

Q: I wonder about Kokujouji's tomb and funeral. A: I think he had a quiet and solemn ceremony.

Q: Did the slate just get wracked without having actual settings? A: We didn't have time to show it in anime, but we did come up with settings, which might be revealed if necessary.

Q: What happens to Homra insignia after the slate is gone? Red: It remains. Q: Including Fushimi's? Red: Yes.

Q: Is there a reason why Neko and Nagare both got heterochromia? Green: Kagutsu Incident did a great deal of damage. Their heterochromia is due to its effect as well.

Q: Will Habari Jin show up in K 7 Stories? Red: Habari in K7S? Eh... Well... Q: Is this a secret? Red: It's a secret.

(This one was from last week's Q&A.) Q: Will Fushimi show up in K 7 Stories? Red: Yes. I suppose every character will. Q: Including Kagutsu? Red: We have visual of him. Can't say if he's gonna speak or not. I guess that counts as yes.

Q: Will some clans' past be elaborated in K7S? Red: Yes. Oops, I shouldn't tell. Please look forward to it.

Red: Last year was for making preparations. This year we'll show the world!

[lindira]

I should be in bed (as usual) but I’m enjoying my alone time, so fuck it. Anyway, I remembered I was tagged in a thing by @thessalian, so I thought I’d go do the thing.

rules: tag 9 people you’d like to get to know better (lindira’s note: I’d like to know people better but I won’t be tagging folks)

top 3 ships:  

Dorian Pavus/Aeric Lavellan (Dragon Age: Inquisition)

Alistair Theirin/Tangerine Mahariel (Dragon Age)

Thane Krios/Rhu Shepard (Mass Effect)

I’m also gonna add a few more ships just for kicks cuz Bioware ships kinda monopolized the field there.

Honda Tohru/Sohma Kyo (Fruits Basket)

Makino Tsukushi/Doumyouji Tsukasa (Hana Yori Dango)

Lucifer Morningstar/Chloe Decker (Lucifer)

Finn/Poe Dameron (Star Wars)

Leia Organa/Han Solo (Star Wars)

lipstick or chapstick: Chapstick/lip balm, though I usually forget to use it. I VERY rarely wear lipstick - or any makeup, really - due to a combination of skin sensitivity from eczema, laziness, and “tomboyishness”.

last song: I was listening to the “Quintessential” album by Steam Powered Giraffe while cutting my son’s hair this afternoon. It’s really good. I HIGHLY recommend watching the video for “Hot Off The Trail” from their new “1896″ album coming this winter. The music! The lyrics! The pantomime! SO GOOD.

last movie: Bits and pieces of Disney/Pixar movies that S~ has been watching lately. His favorite is WALL-E, so I’ve seen that multiple times the past couple weeks. The last movie I watched for watching’s sake was Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. It was fine as just a movie, but not well-written and overall disappointing as a final installment for the main series. Also, SPOILERS - Finn and Poe should’ve kissed. Or Finn and Rey should’ve kissed. Or - even better - confessions of love in stressful situations. Or really anything besides the very awkward kiss between Rey and Ben Solo. UGH.

reading: I don’t do a lot of reading for my own leisure lately. But I’m re/reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with N~ (reread for me, new to him) and really enjoying it. We’ve been reading the whole series and it’s been great seeing it anew through his eyes.

I also read a lot of Goodnight Moon and Barnyard Dance and Moo Baa Lalala for S~. But he’s not really into books yet... lol.

(Not tagging anyone, but feel free to yoink.)

[ridiasfangirlings]

I think way too often about how Saruhiko's taste in street clothes literally hasn't changed in the HOMRA days once we see him out of the Scepter Four outfit in s2. How do you think Yata would react pre-s2 to just seeing Saruhiko out and about in town not in blue? Maybe even interacting with Scepter 4 people not in blue, if he was on an undercover mission

Yata assuming all members of the Blue clan wear blue when they’re off duty because it just seems like a thing they would do (well, maybe just Munakata…). Maybe Yata doesn’t even need to be undercover, like he’s working part time in a cafe and the squad come in on their day off. Yata doesn’t even recognize them at first and they don’t actually recognize him either (he’s not wearing his beanie and thus completely in camouflage). It’s not until they’re ordering that one of the squad pulls out his work PDA to check something and Yata realizes that it has a S4 logo. Immediately he’s on guard, thinking what if those guys are trying to cause trouble for Homra here, but he realizes fairly quickly that no, they’re just here to eat. Yata finds himself kinda watching them out of the corner of his eye, it’s weird seeing the Blues out of uniform. Somehow I feel like he would appreciate Doumyouji’s fashion sense, like Doumyouji looks too casual and cool to be a Blue.

That makes him wonder about Saruhiko, Fushimi took most of his clothes when he moved out but does he even wear those anymore. I actually feel like it might be a little surreal for Yata, like he’s skateboarding around town and spots Fushimi leaving a convenience store or something and Fushimi’s wearing a casual hoodie that he owned when he was in Homra. Seeing the old clothes but with Fushimi’s current hairstyle makes Yata’s heart clench a little and he ducks out of sight, somehow he just doesn’t want to see the expressions of the current Fushimi when Fushimi’s wearing his old clothes. Fushimi wearing different casual clothes is easier to handle, though it’s still strange to see him in the style of clothes that the old him would definitely choose (and the fact that Yata still thinks of certain types of clothes as being ‘things Fushimi would wear,’ like even though they’re enemies Yata just naturally sees this style as something Fushimi would like because that’s what he always used to like). Yata probably kinda subconsciously could only think of post-betrayal Fushimi as someone in a blue coat so seeing him dressed casual feels like it’s wrong, like this Saruhiko is the one that should still be his friend.

[ridiasfangirlings]

Cirus Sarumi AU.

Rvvial circuses for the boys (tho of course Saruhiko left the Homra circus for the Scepter 4 one)

Yata is probably a fire breather or something. Saruhiko obviously is the skilled knife thrower.

How do you think they get along if the two circuses cross paths?

(Bonus points for any ideas for othe circus roles for the other members.)

AU where Yata and Fushimi actually run away and join the circus XD That’s definitely how it happens too, like Yata decides the best way to get Fushimi away from his terrible parents is if they run away and join the circus, and as it happens Homra circus is in town. They stow away on one of the carts when the circus is leaving and are found a couple days later by a very bemused ringmaster Kusanagi.  In order to stay the kids have to prove that they can handle circus life, by shaking hands with the circus’s number one star Mikoto who does all kinds of stuff with fire, like he can do fire breathing and even set his hands and body on fire (it’s a trick of course, and the fire doesn’t hurt anyone who touches it, but being brave enough to try will get you in the troupe). 

The two of them succeed and are welcomed into the circus, at first as just like staff who help with the cleanup and ticket taking and such but eventually they get to join. I actually see Yata as being like some kind of acrobat or stuntman, I could see him doing things like riding his skateboard up a ramp and jumping through rings of fire, or doing a tightrope on a unicycle above a flaming pit. Homra as a circus is definitely centered around ‘fire,’ almost everyone does some kind of act around fire (the only exception is Totsuka, who tames the circus’s sole lion. Totsuka has named him ‘Little King’ and often lets the lion walk around the grounds with him, during the circus Little King and Mikoto will wrestle). Fushimi obviously ends up doing a knife act but he’s dissatisfied with Homra’s way of doing things, like juggling flaming knives and throwing knives through flaming targets is boring and idiotic.

Eventually Fushimi is lured away by another circus troupe, Scepter 4. I imagine S4 is a very eccentric troupe, you know Munakata would want all kinds of fun and interesting acts. Munakata is the ringmaster but regularly joins a variety of different acts, like he joins Doumyouji with the clowns or wrestles with strongwoman Awashima, he will help big cat tamers Benzai and Akiyama do shows with their variety of lions and tigers, Munakata has even tried sword swallowing with Goto and high wire acts with Hidaka. Munakata saw Fushimi’s show when he was scouting out Homra’s act (and definitely not planning to run into Mikoto and lecture him on his boorish fire eating technique). He felt that Fushimi was being held back by Homra’s pointless devotion to fire acts and allows Fushimi to choreograph his own show, promoting Fushimi as the Amazing Hidden Weapons User.

Naturally before leaving Homra Fushimi has to break it off with Yata in the worst way possible (do you think he pops a clown nose all ‘there goes your whimsy, Misaki’). The circuses tend to cross paths fairly often — I imagine they have different clientele, like Homra is more of a scrappy circus that even poor people can go see for a couple coins and sit in the dirt right by the performers, while S4 is more sleek and polished, with proper seating and ticketing tiers and rigorous safety standards and richer people prefer to go see it. Yata is determined to show Fushimi that Homra is the superior circus, while Fushimi always finds time to ‘go into town’ before a performance and just so happen to run into Yata while buying supplies for the show. Imagine sometimes they end up in cities where there’s only one venue for a circus and so have to perform together in separate sides of the same area, Yata will be jumping through his rings of fire when he has to duck to avoid a knife that just so happened to fly perfectly between the rings and almost hit him. The two of them are always squabbling while taking the circus down too, imagine they’re asked to take down the tents together and Yata’s all I can do this faster than that wimp Saruhiko, Fushimi can’t believe a shrimp thinks he can take down a tent faster and now they’re both getting into a fight while also trying to drag their respective tents down. Kusanagi and Awashima both warn that if they don’t take this seriously they’ll be demoted to clowns.

[ridiasfangirlings]

So Yata and Fushimi are dating and Yata starts to befriend S4 very quickly, but he realizes there is still some tension between the two clans members. He is trying to find a way to resolve this when Munakata mentions the Clan Bonding Activities. Suddenly the two go from being “I tolerate you bc you are important to Fushimi “ to “OMG this is what we should do for the Clans. (I’m a firm believer that both men have autism and it’s only a matter of time before they become the best FIL/SIL duo)

Homes is not sure what to think of this “party” but S4? They are panicking! They love Captain and Yata but both can be a bit much so who knows what this party will entail. Andy probably makes a comment that Fushimi could “distract” Yata from planning properly (and quickly dodges several knives).

The party is nearing and everyone is desperately trying to sabotage their plans but nothing is working. A few days before it starts Yata is on the phone with Munakata and says he just has to order a few essential items and they are done. Fushimi, now desperate, decides it’s time to take matters into his own hands. So the second Misaki hangs up, he finds his mouth preoccupied and Saruhiko is on top of him and moving on him and oh god his boyfriend is beautiful and he can’t think of anything else right now.

The big day arrives and Fushimi is walking with a pep in his step and looking smug. Hope is filling up for the Alphabet Boys. They fully believe he has done the impossible . Alas, however, the Captain shows up saying the party is still on, because Yata managed to actually pull off everything despite Fushimi’s best efforts.

Sorry for the long ask, I’ve had it in my head for a few days and if anyone can do it justice, it’s you 😅😅😅

Fushimi would be so irritated that his boyfriend and his King get along, he liked them better when they weren’t talking and weren’t happily making plans behind his back. Like Yata is obviously initially on guard around Munakata because even though he’s accepted that the Blues are mostly okay kinda he can’t quite bring himself to extend the same feeling to the Blue King. He’s also aware that Fushimi’s King is Weird and what if he gets pulled into a Weird thing, but even so Yata feels like he should at least try to get along with Fushimi’s King. Maybe Munakata calls Yata in to his office because he wishes to discuss the remaining tensions between Homra and S4, something that he would normally reach out to Kusanagi for but he figures this will also be a good chance to speak with Fushimi-kun’s boyfriend. Yata agrees that it would be cool if they could all just hang out together and Munakata mentions bonding activities. Yata’s a little hesitant like ‘bonding what’ and Munakata considers, perhaps a large party. Yata takes that in and is like wait that sounds cool, Munakata is immediately cheered by having someone who understands him and suddenly all tension evaporates as they start party planning.

When Fushimi hears about this imagine him confronting Yata like I thought you didn’t want to get pulled into anything weird by the Captain, but what he’s overlooked is that Yata is in Homra and enjoyed bonding activities planned by Totsuka so as it happens his threshold for Weird is high. I mean sure he’s had to talk Fushimi’s King out of a couple things that were a little much — they probably don’t need to have a flash mob to invite everyone, regular invites are fine — but otherwise this is a perfectly regular kind of thing isn’t it. Homra are all for it too, they’re not thrilled about hanging out with S4 but maybe it’ll be fun, and Yata is probably trustworthy for party planning. S4 are just panicking though, like who knows what this party will entail, will we have to fight our way into the venue will there be games that involve us using high powered rifles you just never know. Doumyouji grabs Fushimi and is like save us Fushimi-san, Fushimi clicks his tongue all what do want me to do about it. The S4 guys are like well Yata-san’s your boyfriend, can’t you use some leverage to get him to stop this madness.

What they probably meant was like ‘please talk to your boyfriend and explain that Captain should not be encouraged’ but Fushimi takes this to mean the only way he can get out of attending is to ‘distract’ Yata. And Fushimi only knows two ways of doing that, one involves knives and blood and is probably not a good idea so he goes for the second one. Yata’s busy at their apartment because he just has to order a few essentials, Fushimi overhears him saying that yeah he just needs to get this order in within the next couple hours and decides this is his chance. He immediately sits in Yata’s lap, Yata’s like Saru I’m working here and Fushimi gives him this deep kiss all what was that. Yata’s face is all red and he tries a stammering protest but Fushimi’s already being all needy and touching him and Yata basically can’t resist when Fushimi’s like this so off to the bedroom they go.

The day of the party Fushimi is feeling pretty satisfied, he distracted Yata well enough. The squad are all hopeful that Fushimi talked Yata out of this, Fushimi’s like ‘talk?’ because what do you mean you expected me to have an honest conversation with someone I love. That’s when Yata stops at headquarters to talk to Munakata, Munakata is so pleased that everything is in place for the party. The squad all groan and Yata laughs sheepishly like yeah I got a little, uh, distracted but I got the order in just in time while Saruhiko was napping after….doing work and he suddenly feels this chill up his spine as he realizes he is getting a death glare from his boyfriend. Poor Yata has no idea what he did wrong or why Fushimi just grumbled that Yata had better have enjoyed the other day because it’s the last he’s getting for a while. (But then it turns out the party is pretty normal and actually enjoyable thanks to Yata reining Munakata in and Fushimi grudgingly decides that okay, maybe he won’t punish Yata too much after all.)

[ridiasfangirlings]

immediate post betrayal fushimi playing "emo"(?) music (like complicated by avril lavigne) and thinking no one else in scepter 4 can hear it when everyone can

Imagine him listening to the most embarrassing edgy teenager music while thinking about how Misaki should be chasing him more, and meanwhile he’s totally unaware that everyone else in the dorms can hear him. Like this would be right after he joins S4 too so most of the members are very curious about this kid that Munakata brought into their clan and is giving all this responsibility to. Everyone becomes aware pretty quickly that Fushimi is gloomy and standoffish and doesn’t talk to anyone, most of them probably think he’s some upstart brat who convinced the Captain to give him his own room somehow. Fushimi is fine with not being close to anyone, he just wants to do his work and be competent all on his own, he doesn’t need anyone to help him or like him.

But also he’s a teenager who just broke up with his best friend, so maybe he’s a little in his edgy emo phase and as much as he tells himself that he doesn’t care about Misaki he is pretty upset about the whole thing. So he likes to spend time in his room doing work on his laptop while also playing music in the background to like mimic the darkness in his soul or whatever. Imagine the rest of the squad, walking through the dorms and they hear this music playing and everyone’s like is some kid blasting his music, Doumyouji probably has to quickly yell that it isn’t him. Then Fushimi steps out, looking sour as usual, glaring at all the people who are staring at him as he’s like don’t you all have work to do (and probably assuming they hate him for being in Homra, and not that they’re all wondering what’s got that guy so upset). When he becomes third in command imagine he’s still doing this and no one has told him but that’s why some of the members like Akiyama and Hidaka are sympathetic to him, like sure Fushimi-san seems mean but he’s playing all this angsty music all the time, he just needs a friend.